Zuko left the palace quietly, focusing his thoughts as he made his way towards the Upper Ring. A meeting was coming, one he would lay money wouldn't be entirely pleasant for him. He could already hear the whispering, from court official to rich merchant to servant to customer, about what had happened that day. The attempted takeover of Ba Sing Se by the Fire Nation, the betrayal of the Dai Li...and how the day was saved. His real name was racing through the city, and it wouldn't be long before one person in particular put the details together. And he was going to meet that person now. Privately, he wished Cadence hadn't insisted that Jong and Zhin accompany him to watch his back, since he didn't really need it...and the pair were still using his 'last legal order' as carte blanche to ignore any orders of his they didn't particularly like, such as to leave him alone.
It wasn't long after he entered the Upper Ring that he saw her racing to approach him. She looked pleased to see him, but also thoughtful. He sighed sadly as she approached him. "Hey Jin," he greeted softly.
"Hey Lee!" she greeted happily. "Or...it's not Lee anymore, is it?"
Zuko glanced away sadly. "It...never really was." He lowered his gaze to the ground, feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Jin replied softly. "It was pretty obvious from the start you were a lot more than just a tea server. You had a...larger name, for a larger destiny." She managed a soft smile. "Besides...with Lee, I got to know the real you, and I wouldn't trade that for anything."
Zuko sighed in relief as he felt his own smile returning. "I'm glad, too," he agreed. "It was...nice, making a friend where there weren't any expectations of either of us...where no matter where we were, we could just be us. I've never really had that before, and I'll never forget it."
Jin turned to him, her gaze and tone now worried. "Why does it sound like...you're saying goodbye?"
Zuko turned his eyes skyward. "...the larger destiny you mentioned is at hand," he explained. "Before long, the forces of the world will move towards a clash that will bring about an end to the Hundred Year War. The outcome of that clash will reshape the world, and...no matter the outcome, my role in it all will consume the rest of my days. I...probably won't ever be able to return to Ba Sing Se when it's over. And...even if I can, it...won't be like this. This part of my life, as a simple, happy tea server...that's over."
He turned to glance towards Jin, only to look away. There was something he wanted to say...but he was afraid. Afraid she'd say no. Afraid she would say yes, but for the wrong reasons. And even more afraid she'd say yes, only for it to end in tragedy. As all this raced through his mind, he knew the regret and wonder of not asking would haunt him, and he had to speak up. "Jin...there's something I want to ask you."
She gave him a piercing look, a soft smile taking any fierceness from it. "Is it Zuko asking...or Lee?"
Zuko managed to return the smile, glad one of his worries was unfounded. "It's...Lee asking through Zuko," he explained, hoping he was presenting it correctly.
Jin chuckled a bit. "Go ahead and ask," she encouraged softly.
"Will...will you come with me?" he asked nervously. "Help me...change the world?"
Jin looked him right in the eyes, turning his question over in her mind. She knew how she wanted to answer, but since he had been that worried about asking, she couldn't be that eager. "If I do...will I be able to see my parents again?"
Zuko shrugged. "If everything works out...we'll likely be coming back every now and then officially. There will be time then."
Jin nodded. "And what about the other girl?" she asked. "The one you were still holding a torch for?"
Zuko looked away, not looking forward to this topic. "It's...complicated..."
"Do you still have feelings for her?"
Zuko closed his eyes, pretty certain where the conversation was going. "...yes."
Jin raised an eyebrow. "And you're asking me to go with you...and not her?"
"I'm pretty sure she wants to kill me," Zuko admitted. "I...kinda broke up with her via letter to protect her from my treason..."
Jin couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Can't say I blame her," she replied jokingly. "But if she weren't going to try and kill you...would you be asking her instead of me?"
Zuko fell silent, giving the question serious thought. "...I don't know," he admitted at last. "I...I would want to ask her...but I'd want to ask you, too. I..." He shook his head, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know what to say..."
Jin's soft smile returned. "What's her name?" she asked.
"Mai," Zuko replied readily.
"Known her for a long time?"
Zuko nodded. "Since we were kids. She was my sister's friend, but...we grew close as well. And then...when the assignation was arranged, we started to drift apart, but Cadence helped me patch things up with her. And...when I left to hunt the Avatar, Cadence provided us with a way to stay in contact. It...it was hard to break things off with her...but I had to. For her sake."
Jin smiled softly to herself. A plan was beginning to form in her mind, a plan to help the boy she liked to be the man the world needed him to be. "Where is she now?" she asked innocently.
"In the cells up in the palace," Zuko replied. "Why?"
"No particular reason," Jin answered sweetly. Reaching out, she laid her hand on his shoulder. "Can I get back to you on that?"
"S-sure," Zuko stammered, cursing himself for losing control.
Jin smiled winsomely in a way that reminded Zuko briefly of Ty Lee at her most mischievous. Humming softly, she turned and walked off. Zuko couldn't figure out for the life of him at that moment why she was heading for the palace.
Jin wouldn't happen to also be hiding something like royalty or bending, would she?
A bu- ne- se- he- zi-
TEASE!
6873713 or maybe Jin is an alias...because reasons...
Zuko you done fucked up mate. Prepare for the reckoning for hell hath no furry like two women pissed off.
6873747 like I said... hiding something. I gave some possible examples, not all of them.
That cannot be a good sign for Zuko's future sanity... But I think it's a great sign I'll be laughing later.
Great chapter as always.
I get the distinct impression here that "yes" won the poll.
Short chapter makes me cry for more!!!
6873778
Checking the poll results does indeed state that Yes won by over 100 votes.
Congratulations Zuzu! You just now won nightly threesomes!
6873829 but now there's two to be mad at him for being stupid.
6873849 Hey if Sokka, Ty Lee and Suki can do it why not Zuko?
Is it me or are all guys in fiction fond of threesomes?
6873849 And this version of Zuka has accepted his fate and the ripples created by it. His ass being pummeled into the ground by both of them for him being stupid being one. Let's just hope they remember some of the forementioned ass needs to be stable to change the world in the coming months.
6873864 I must correct you on that.
41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9fzonj3xG1rxc0afo1_500.png
Ty Lee is apparently important enough to Azula that the psycho was able to feel bad about upsetting her. AzuLee forever.
And Sokka still has the Princess.
the love life of zuko, it b crazy
Now Jin will talk with Mai and the two of them will work something out. What that winds up being, and how much Zuko is going to be smacked, is another story. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6873900
Oh shit, I missed that! That is one improvement then... but how many other lives were lost?
Oh, and then she almost killed her. Ah, but you don't know about that. Part of me says that he should know, because she interfered through hasty decision-making, but another part of me, the one that hates plotlines like these but understands their "necessity", knows that he probably won't ever know in order to perpetuate... something or another, I dunno. I mean, it'd be nice to see her develop as a character, but she seems too far gone from that. I mean, between getting captured by those Earth Kingdom soldiers, and being responsible for many, many pointless deaths, I'd say that would be grounds for someone to flit about in some fancy of psychosis... That is to say, if I DIDN'T know for a fact that the last part of that sentence complete balderdash. See, it's like this. Some people might say that they prefer to read a story for its perceived awesomeness and nothing else, and while that's something I used to agree with, I now understand that there are times when adhering to certain principles is incredibly handy for the sake of others taking interest in it. While it's true that this "Cadence" character you've come up with is... interesting to say the least, she would be far more interesting if she were ever confronted on her purview by a second party. That's what creates the distinction between a good fic and a great fic. If she has a troublesome nature that makes it hard to get invested in her actions with, and she gets zero flak from anyone who might be associated with her and KNOW of what she's done... well, she comes across as a Mary Sue, and not in a good way (Trust me, there are some GOOD Mary Sue fics out there)...
... Wait a second, wasn't this a chapter talking about how it's obvious that the answer was "yes"? Right, I should talk about that instead of whatever the first paragraph is. OK, so the answer is "yes"... why? I mean, I get that this was voted for and everything, but why have people vote for it in the first place? I mean, sure, harem fics are superfluous when it comes to certain stories, but... it doesn't seem to fit the nature of THIS story. I mean, you were going for a darker, yet not too dark, yet not entirely sugar-coated version of Avatar or something, right? Well, while there's no doubt in my mind that there MIGHT be some kind of Lord Restoration Act that Sozin or Azulon ever had in reserves, but... Zuko? Really? You're turning the guy that everyone gushes about into some kind of harem protagonist? I mean, there's Multiverser/OC/Oneshots/Reimagining stories that deal with that sort of thing, but... for this kind of story? Seems a bit out of place. It seems like it would be simpler to just have Zuko be with Mai and develop THEIR relationship instead of going to these kind of lengths. I mean, what are you going to do, give Aang his own harem comprised of Katara/Toph/Mang/???
{Tatsurou: ^_^;}
... You're dead to me, figment of my imagination. In any case, I get that Jin might be a character people ship Zuko with, but... it doesn't seem right to have a character whose main purpose was to flesh out Zuko's character to possibly replace someone he legitimately goes out with. It'd be like if you replaced Akane Tendo with Kaori Daikoku.
{Tatsurou: Who?}
A character who only appeared once in the anime, was only slightly memorable, and was never mentioned again.
{Tatsurou: But couldn't someone flesh out her character in order to make her memorable in relation to the fanfiction she's in?}
They could, but it probably wouldn't go over very well, considering she's considered by the fandom to be a prototype for Ukyo Kuonji.
{Tatsurou: No, I was talking about Jin.}
Oh, right... *Sigh* I dunno, have a blast, I guess. I mean, if this is in fact going the route it's seeming to go, and things don't end up like Rosario Vampire (long story short, a guy gets a harem, one of the girls gets jealous, so she helps form a terrorist group), then godspeed. At the very least, make this as entertaining as is possible for someone of your nature. I mean, come on, you're the guy who wrote Cloud "Motherbucking" Strife beat up Sephiroth with a SIEGE LADDER of all things! Let's see this guy SWEAT to keep up with having two lovely ladies with "night-and-day" personalities and manage to make it to council meetings on time! We're talking sweatdrops, auras of pure anger, some thought and care put into every scenario, getting launched into the sky in the crossfires, THE WORKS!!!... OK, maybe just the really tiny one, but I think you get the jist.
6873887
It's not just you, It has to do with taking something that many, if not most, people say could not work in any form and proving them wrong.
Proving that just because Others don't want to see something against the Cultural norms exist, can in fact work.
6874001 No, seriously. What's with guys and threesomes?
6874009
Mostly, when it comes to stories - or anything, really - I dislike 'either/or' choices. In any such situation, I can't help but ask, "why not both?"
Using it for romance just leads to people making more fuss about it.
6874015 I wouldn't understand. I maybe 22, but that kinda thing flies over my head. Plus, I'm not really into polyamory. If this is too far, I'm sorry.
6874001 I spent five minutes staring at the bad grammar in your last sentence.
6874028
I understand everyone has their own opinion.
6874015 Indeed. I like your way of thinking.
Mind doing a Chrysarmordance fiction someday?
6874067
Don't know if I'll ever get back to non-crossover pony fiction, but if I do I'll consider it.
6874070 Thanks!
6874070
6873900 Wait, you mean... I'm not the only person who knows that The Beach exists?! Oh, happy day!
6873795
fix'd for you
Oh.... Mai....
'Forged bonds'
The first thing I thought when reading the title was:
SOCIAL LINK GO!
I wasn't disappointed.
Oh crap...Zuko may or may not have opened a can of worms.
6873778 This can only end in hilarity
This is why I'm still single. Women be cray-cray.
Guess Jin and is going to get Mai and perform some... Splinter Cell.
...
Oh my god, I think this chapter finally did me in. I can't pun more than one.
Surprise surprise.
Not really.
You're too nice, kid.
Like you said, larger destiny.
Let's find out.
This should be good.
Maybe.
They broke up, sorta. And Mai kinda wants to kill him.
Maybe.
Kinda.
What are you planning?
We'll find out soon enough I'll bet.
6874015 yeah but then you come across stuff like Princess Evangile. Where you have four possible romance options with four other non-romance options that end up with a crush on the protagonist by the end of the main arc.
Well well well, the next chapter will be very interesting. I can't wait to see the girls have a talk, though I can see Cadence appearing out of the shadows to keep things civil and lay down some ground rules for being with Zuko.
6873887 More like the writers give a good character multiple love interests and the fans like all of them, especially if one is killed off to take them out of the running.
6874009 Well, in my case it's wanting to see all the characters end up happy. I'll use Naruto as an example. Single favorite pairing is Naruto and Hinata, but I also enjoy seeing Naruto with Hinata/FemHaku/FemKyuubi/Fuu/Tayuya/ and other assorted girls, especially if they have a life similar to his and honestly love him like Hinata does.
Nononono.
Only one Zuko, you can only chose one.
The next chapter is going to be very interesting.
6874591 unfortunately for you the survey said yes so nah
6874591 I don't think it's his choice anymore.
6874362
....um? I don't get it.
6874469 which is why good storytellers limit the number of possible romantic interests to two or three
6874803 there was a survey?!
OMFG LMFAO
6874810 Probably too deep at first but ill try.
1. Mai is in a prison cell.
2. Jin is going to the cell (to most likely break her out which is where the Cell comes from).
3. Now one woman becomes two (it's where the Splinter comes in.
4. There is a game called Splinter Cell.
6874507
These are nice parings for naruto, except FemKyuubi...I have mixed feelings about dating your own tailed beast...not that I object due to bestiality issues...an animal's mind is not the mind of a person...but rather due to the exact nature of well...how they are acquainted.
Can I just say that no matter how much I like Zuko in this story, there's no denying that he's about to have a bad time.
6874857 your pun box is empty isn't it.
6874469 princess who now?
im lost.