Behind The Royal Lies: The Chronicles of Sun Hee Xiao

The Beam Felt Around The World

(A/n: Okay so this is the first episode from the Fire Nation's perspective. We are finally in Book One! Whoohoo!!! I think I'm gonna do every idk maybe 20 chapters one Book and try to publish the first episode in the book then drop the rest in sets of five? I'll figure it out don't worry)

We all mourned for my brother. Almost everyone. No one got to see his body, not even Iroh and he was there for the slaughter. No, the Earth Kingdom thought it best to slay my brother infront of his father and brothers in arms from the gate they could not breach. There they decapitated and ripped his corpse to shreds. They hung his, and a couple other men, on the grand wall. 

As if the defeat wasn't enough they had to dangle it in our faces that we couldn't even retrive our dead prince. 

When father left I don't think he thought of me. I can't picture in my mind him even knowing what I looked like either. We never wrote. I had assumed for a moment that he had died to. And I was fully prepared to mourn for him and my brother. It was war and they were in uniform. That was always a possiblity. If you don't get a letter saying otherwise, you assume they never got the letter and were dead. But then I got the message from one of the returned soilders. 

He said father was alive, and that he left the military for now. 

I felt both relived and in shock at myself. I was so ready to let go of my father, send him to the spirit world with Lu Ten without a second thought. Without a tear too. 

But Iroh was alive.

I was secretly embarrassed to have thought that and never say a thin to anyone about it.I would've been a orphan and I wouldn't care! Still don't if we're being honest. I've never really needed him and he never wanted me. We disliked each other mutually and that was just that. I was expecting my father to return. He had left the army, surly he would come home to grieve with his family right? He'd come home and greet his last surviving child.

As you know, he did not come. He stayed far away and we all moved on. 

But I can't forget that he just up and left me like that. Sure, he needed time to greive too. He had just lost his son. But I had lost a brother! My best friend! The closest thing to a parental figure because Iroh was to shit to do it himself. Lu Ten raised me. It was like losing everything!

And everyone else in our family is either emotionally constipaited, or Zuko!

I had no actual friends outside of school either. So it was really him abandoning me and I had to come to terms with that. Like damn, my own father doesn't want. So who will? 

Azein was a good distraction. He was so kind and understanding. He let me breath and I could be me for a moment. Then came Rin and I can't help but question will I ever have to lose these two? I hope I don't. I don't want to be alone again. I would still live but I wouldn't really be alive enough to care.

This time isn't like the last. I'm not a child anymore. I'm not being abandoned because you can't abandon a person twice. You leave and you don't look back. I've outgrown this little stale mate and now I know what I want. And it has nothing to do with Iroh. He can leave with Zuko, I don't care. Zuko needs him more than I do. I have other things to do.

Our "family" is fucked up. 

Especially Ozai's. He and Ursa really turned they're children into messes.  Azula is left behind now. She has no one other than her father to keep her in line and honestly that is horrifying. He'll manipulate her to become whatever he needs and then throw her away. I have to watch her. I always knew that she lacked basic empathy, I do to but I'm... learning? I don't know how to descirbe it. I'm trying to be normal. To think about emotion like instinctual stratige rather than whatever it's suppose to be. 

Life in the palace is calm. To calm.

Iroh and Zuko have been absent from the court for almost a year now. Ozai grew a grey hair, Azula is furthering her training but I am still ahead of her. Rin is growing to be a firebender. Azein and I have taken him to the fire sages and they confirmed that he would be a strong bender. They also predicted our next child will be a conbustion bender. Food for thought. Ozai was very interested in this. So much so that we have to keep having this conversation with him.

"He's only three-"

"Exactly! He will have the trials soon in under a year, we must prepare my nephew!"

I sigh and continue gazing at the Fire Lord tapistries. I will be up there one day, I might as well figure out how I wish to be depicted. I'll make sure they get my nose right. "He is my son Uncle. I decide when he starts his training, and Azein and I believe waiting until after the trials will be better. He'll be able to deal with the temp better that way. His lungs will be better developed as well."

Ozai huffs and goes to yell at me but Azula and one of the fire sages enters the room. Azula smirking with a look of catbug that ate the canarybager I raise an eyebrow simultaniously with my Uncle. What the fuck is she so smug about?

The sage rushes to bow and I nod signalling for him too stand properly. "Rise, please inlighten me on.....whatever your reason is to rush in on our conversation ever so rudely." I once again have to fight the need to roll my eyes at Azula. 

Ozai grunts in agreement with a look of absolute indifference. "Yes, do tell."

The sage seems to be nervous but Azula  just puffs her chest out with pride. I can tell that whatever the hell is going on it was important. It better be or Ozai was gonna kill them both. Is it bad that I hope he does kill Azula? It probably is but, eh. It would work in my favor. (Gotta admit I'd miss her a bit though)

"Oh father I am sure you will find this very interesting! Tell him," she nugdes the nervous sage forward who was shivering. I think I knew him. He was always hiding and only came when requested. 

"The Avatar is a alive."

Well damn.

"Pfft-"

Ozai looks at me disappointed and probably confused. "What?"

"HahahahHaAhhahahahahhh-you-pfft-y-you.Hahahaha- you sent Zuko to f-find the A-avata!"

"Yes...?"

"T-to-hahahahahahAHHH-pfft- to regain his honor and throne-pfft hmha! But you thought he'never- now he has a shot at coming home! Maybe he will and prove to not be a complete-hahaha- waste!"

it wasn't really that funny, but it was a food for thought.

(A/n: OOoookay, sorry this too me so long to publish! I haven't given up this or any other story yet but I am writing others! I have some fanfics from other fandoms in my drafts and am focusing on those as well so my  attention is pretty split. To those still reading THANK YOU I hope that your all safe and sound! Did you hear about the fucking spiders that can fly? Anyway, I'm thinking of how to write out a schedule for myself but no promises. I am known to be pretty random in when I post because I typically only write when I know what the hell I'm doing.)