Azula was here!
Panic was not usually the first emotion one was supposed to feel when their niece came to visit, but Iroh would admit that his family was rather more complicated than average. Given what had happened at the North Pole, Azula's presence was probably a threat to Zuko.
However it was just as foolish to assume the worst in someone as to blindly trust them, and Iroh had learned that treating people with civility opened the most opportunities for a beneficial encounter for all.
He would be prepared to take Zuko and run the moment he sensed true hostility, but for now he would take the chance to talk with his niece in the most peaceful setting he knew.
Over a nice cup of tea.
Hidden behind his cup, Iroh allowed himself a small grin at his niece and nephew's identically pinched expressions as they drank their first sips of tea. For all they both took after their father in very different ways, they'd both inherited their taste buds from their mother's side of the family.
"What's the matter Azula? Is the taste too strong for you?" Zuko taunted, trying and failing to mask his own dislike. Honestly, siblings! They'd gone years without seeing each other, and the first thing they do is start jabbing each other.
Azula sniffed proudly, her ironclad facade of calm shutting across her face at the suggestion of a perceived weakness. "Hardly. I have merely become more accustomed to other drinks recently."
"Oh? Other blends of tea, perhaps?" Iroh interjected. Hopefully Azula hadn't begun developing a taste for wine, as many girls did at her age. The world would not survive Azula's first hangover.
"Not quite." Azula replied, reaching into a satchel and pulling out a jar filled with black powder. She scooped generous spoonfuls into three empty teacups, stirred them and handed them out. "Here, try some."
Zuko and Iroh shared a suspicious glance, suspecting some form of trickery, but curiosity eventually got the better of them. In unison they lifted the cups of strange smelling liquid to their mouths and took a sip.
Poison! Evil! Distilled essence of darkness!
Iroh spat the bitter tincture out like a geyser erupting with water! What was this? Some wicked creation of vilest alchemy? If Azula was trying to poison him, he'd have at least expected her to have the courtesy to disguise it with something sweet!
Yet to his horror, Azula was gulping down the poison like a desert traveller drank the waters of an oasis, and Zuko was humming with surprised pleasure. "That's rather good. What's it called?" His nephew asked.
Azula finished downing her entire cup before answering. "Coffee. It's made from grinding down a bean found on a little island in colony territory, and can temporarily stave off the need for sleep.
Tanya bought the entire island, and is turning the whole place into one big farm. I think she plans to start selling to the nobility once it's producing enough for more than a few people."
One more black mark on that girl's ever-growing list of crimes! Truly this war had corrupted the youth of the Fire Nation if they thought this evil bean soup could be considered delicious!
Zuko finished his own cup, and then his distrustful scowl returned. "Why are you here?"
Azula shot back a coy smirk. "So hostile. After I came all this way to deliver you the good news personally, you treat your own sister with such scorn. Have you become uncivilised so soon, Zuzu?"
"Don't call me that!" Zuko snarled.
"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Iroh interjected politely.
There was no flaw or tick in Azula's smile to give away her true thoughts. She paused, enjoying the suspense, and then delivered the five words Zuko had wanted to hear for so long.
"Father has ended your banishment."
Iroh's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected proclamation. His brother was not one to go back on his own decisions unless they benefited him more than his loss of pride. For what reason would he want the son he'd treated so poorly back at his side?
Yet if he was surprised, Zuko was downright blown away. The look of desperate hope on his face was painful to see. "It's-… it's over! I can come home?!" He all but whispered.
Azula nodded, and for the first time in many, many years a quick flash of worry flickered across her expression. "Indeed. To tell you the truth Zuko, the situation at home is getting rather tense. There's whispers of assassins, rebellions and military coups, and all alongside one person's name."
Iroh frowned. It didn't take a genius to guess who that might be. "Tanya?"
"That's right." Azula replied. "She already has the navy in her pocket, and she's a hero to many of the soldiers deployed in the Earth Kingdom. Amongst civilians she's beloved as well thanks to her victory up north, and the Fire Sages have been spreading the idea that her unusual hair colour is a sign that she's been chosen by Agni.
If the rumours are true and Tanya really does make a bid for the throne it could plunge our nation into civil war at the worst possible moment.
Father needs people he can absolutely trust, people who have stood up to her before, by his side. In the end the only ones you can really trust are your family."
Azula weaved a compelling story. Power had always been Ozai's first and foremost concern, and if there was even the slightest hint that Tanya might threaten the control he held over the Fire Nation, he would begin plotting countermeasures against her.
After what he'd witnessed at the North Pole, he wouldn't put it past Tanya to have ambitions to steal the throne either.
Yet what didn't sit quite right with him was that final statement. Ozai did not hold the trust between family to be sacred; indeed, it was by abusing that very trust that he'd stolen the throne in the first place.
Zuko, bless his poor, wounded heart, looked utterly thrown. His mouth hung open wide enough for a family of bugs to fly into. When his silence lingered for too long, Azula narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you hear me? You should be happy. Excited. Grateful. I just gave you great news!"
"I'm sure your brother just needs a moment-…" Iroh began, but was cut off as Azula turned her glare on him.
"Don't interrupt, Uncle!" Her eyes flicked back to Zuko, and her annoyance seemed to be quickly growing. "I still haven't heard my thank you. I'm not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way."
But Zuko didn't seem to register her words, or anything else in the world around him. He was completely caught in his own thoughts. "Father regrets? He... wants me back?" He whispered, more to himself than Azula.
Azula let out a frustrated sigh. "I can see you need time to take this in. I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."
With that she stood up sharply and left, leaving the two of them to wrestle with the weight of her words. Iroh snuck a glance at Zuko, not at all surprised to find that he was lost in thought.
Despite what his attitude would suggest at first impressions, Zuko was a very trusting young man, even towards people who probably didn't deserve it. It was simultaneously one of his greatest strengths and most obvious weaknesses.
When he learned to temper that trusting heart with wisdom and experience he would grow into a fantastic Firelord, but right now it was plain to see that he was letting his heart rule his head.
Iroh had his doubts about this, and would approach this situation with a great deal of caution, but the chance that it was true was too good to pass up immediately.
Thus he would do what he always did: stay by Zuko's side, keep his eyes peeled for any threats, and gently provide the counsel his nephew needed to grow into the great man he was one day destined to be.
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/Rimanovi