brave soldier boy
For @badthingshappenbingo. Prompt: wiping the other's tears away
"You don't need to be like uncle Ozai or Azula," Lu Ten finally said, watching as Zuko tried his hardest to blink back tears, "because you can be like aunt Ursa, or my father or me. You don't have to be rageful."
"I wish I was going with you."
Lu Ten couldn't help but smile as he watched his cousins firebend in the training yard.
Azula was a marvel, a firebending prodigy at just nine years old, who would grow up to do great things for the Fire Nation; her flames burned bright blue with heat whenever she lost her temper, but he had confidence that she would conquer that temper like she did with every challenge that came her way.
He wasn't the first person who had stood back to watch her calculated, timed movements and knowing that regardless of what position she would hold in the Fire Nation, she would hold it with both fury and grace.
Zuko was very good for an eleven year old in his own right; his flames had come in later than Azula's, but he made up for it with his wit and quick actions in the training yard even if that meant that his foot was pointed the wrong way or his flames didn't hit the target exactly where they were supposed to.
Regardless of how long it took, Zuko would always complete the task given to him.
He only waited to walk up with his hands clasped together after the last of the flames had gone out, knowing better than to sneak up on a pair of firebenders, "when I get back from Ba Sing Se, you two are gonna be better at this then Avatar Roku himself."
"You were finally sent for? By the soldiers?" Azula's eyes shone bright with the fire she had just been wielding as the pair ran up to him.
"Myself, as well as my father. They are about to break through the outer wall, which means it's time for all hands on deck," Lu Ten explained while crouching down to their level, "we leave in the morning."
"I wish I could go with you."
"As much as I think you would be an excellent warrior on the frontlines, Azula," Lu Ten stopped for a moment, hoping that this war would be over before Zuko was the age of enlistment, let alone Azula, "your duty is here, to the people. You have to keep their morale up, so they don't think that this is a waste of time."
"They would be stupid to think that." Azula shook her head with a smile before walking away, presumably to go play with her friends, Ty Lee and Mai.
"You don't have to lie to me, about my firebending," Zuko said once she had walked away while putting away his helmet, "I'm never going to be as good as Azula."
"Hey, I can't firebend at all, remember? All of this is impressive to me no matter what," Lu Ten argued before leaning on one of the training dummies, "and who said you had to be as good as Azula?"
"Uncle Iroh is the "Dragon of the West", you were first in all of your classes, Azula is a prodigy and I'm…" he sighed, sitting down on the grass, "I'm just Zuko."
"You're right. You are "just Zuko"," Lu Ten nodded as he sat down beside him on the grass, holding his arm out to invite his cousin to lean against him, "I don't know about you, but "just Zuko" can be pretty great too."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. Because you are quick on your feet, you always get the job done no matter how long it takes, and you are so kind. I know that if you ever become the Fire Lord, that you will rule our people with a strong but gentle hand."
"Father doesn't want me to be gentle," Zuko muttered, pulling his knees to his chest, "he says I need to be tough, like Azula."
Lu Ten had to bite his tongue before he said something distasteful about his uncle Ozai. Despite his father being next in line for the throne, he was also a general and if his father died on enemy lines, the crown would go to his uncle.
And despite never having been on the receiving end of uncle Ozai's wrath, he knew that if he said something out of line, the punishment would be severe.
"You don't need to be like uncle Ozai or Azula," Lu Ten finally said, watching as Zuko tried his hardest to blink back tears, "because you can be like aunt Ursa, or my father or me. You don't have to be rageful."
"I wish I was going with you."
Unlike his sister, Lu Ten knew that it wasn't because Zuko wanted to fight or to help the Fire Nation but that, even if he didn't know it himself, he was looking for an escape.
Instead of saying that, however, he leaned forward and used his thumb to wipe away the tears on his face before whispering so quietly that he wasn't sure if his cousin even heard him, "I wish I was staying."
When he received no reaction, he knew that he was in the clear and reached into his pocket to pull out the medallion. It had been one of his many achievements in school, finishing first in his officer class. It shined in the golden sun, proudly displaying the goal he had completed.
"You should have this," Lu Ten spoke, setting the medallion in Zuko's palm and wrapping his fingers around it.
"But this is important to you." Zuko protested, but he hadn't pushed it back towards him in retaliation.
"It should belong to someone who is destined to do great things and despite what others might say, you are destined to do great things, Zuko."
He held his cousin tightly in his arms when he sprang up to hug him, feeling the tears soak into his hair and his clothes, "shhh…"
"I'm gonna miss you."
Lu Ten rested his hand on the back of Zuko's head and pulled him in as close as possible, fighting back his own tears as he muttered, "I'm gonna miss you too."
When Zuko finally pulled away, Lu Ten wondered if firebending felt like the pure rage that was cycling through him when he saw where his sleeves had rolled up to his elbows.
And the five pink, fingerprint shaped splotches in his little cousin's skin.
...
He took his time packing.
Realistically, Lu Ten knew that he did not need much. Weapons and armor would be provided, so he took with him what he always took. Night clothes, paper and ink for letters, clothes for under his armor, hair ties and his notebook.
In most cases, the rage making its way through his bones would be written down in that notebook before he ripped the page out and tossed it in the fireplace. A technique that his own father used when his own rage grew to be too much.
But this was more severe than an argument with a fellow recruit; someone had burned Zuko with their bare hand and he had no idea who he could safely confide in.
'Grandfather may see it as an acceptable form of discipline. Father would question everyone in sight and put the two of us in danger. Uncle Ozai...he might have done it himself, he has always been so hard on Azula and Zuko to succeed and if he didn't do it, he allowed one of their teachers to do it.'
Which only left him with one choice, the safest choice.
He made his way to the greenhouse on the eastern side of the palace, the servants side of the palace, and opened the door, unsurprised to see exactly who he was looking for, carefully studying the different plants and separating them out between medicinal and edible.
"Aunt Ursa?"
"Hello, Lu Ten. I heard the news," she put down the stem she was holding into one of the glass jars before turning, her head held high with a small smile like always despite her constant underlying sadness that he could always feel radiating from his aunt, "your grandfather must be proud."
"Can I speak to you? Privately?"
"Of course," she insisted, nodding at the lone gardener who bowed before exiting the greenhouse, "is something wrong?"
"If..." He swallowed, knowing that his next words could be considered in a number of ways, "if someone was hurting one of the heirs to the throne, what would be the best course of action?"
"Treat any wounds, and then make sure that the person who had done it never stepped foot in the palace again. All of the nations, regardless of differences, frown on child abuse." She explained, her voice remaining steady as her hand shook around the stem she was holding, "did someone hurt you, Lu Ten?"
"No, no, I'm fine," he assured her, watching her movements still as she plucked the green and blue leaves from the plant she was holding, "I was speaking to Zuko and Azula earlier, letting them know that my father and I are leaving in the morning and...Zuko had these burns on his wrist."
"As much and as hard as he practices, that is inevitable."
"They looked like fingerprints, Aunt Ursa."
She dropped the plant she was holding and looked directly into his eyes, "Lu Ten, are you sure?"
"I swear on Agni itself."
She nodded, brushing a few loose hairs behind her ear before sealing the jars and turning back to him, "please send him to me. You should be getting ready, I will speak to him."
"Okay."
"And Lu Ten?" She added, forcing him to turn back to look her in the eyes again, "make sure that Azula and Ozai do not hear anything about this."
...
He had been too busy to follow Zuko to where his mother had been waiting for him in the infirmary. He still had to confirm location and tactics with both his father as well as the othet soldiers, even if he wished to take out all of his weapons training on the person who had done this to his cousin.
But, just as he was following his father to the travel cart that would take them to their boat in the first rays of sunlight, he couldn't help but watch as one of Azula and Zuko's firebending teachers left with his luggage all while Ursa watched from the entrance with a glare that put fear into his heart.
His aunt Ursa was terrifying in her own right, but as he tossed his luggage into the cart and sat next to his father, he couldn't help but wonder if Zuko had been telling the truth about the marks.
After all, despite how much abuse was frowned upon in the Fire Nation, disrespecting your elders was even more frowned upon; and with the way uncle Ozai always kept a strong hand on Zuko's shoulder, he couldn't help but wonder if the real enemy had been ousted.
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