Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

 180 AG Republic City

Zuko landed Druk within the confines of the park that had been built around the third portal to the spirit world. From what he had been told over the phone something strange had happened near the portal, and since Avatar Korra was busy dealing with a case of humans encroaching on a spirit's territory, she wasn't around to look into it. So, the police had done the next best thing and called in the experts that they knew would be available.

This meant calling upon the white lotus and requesting them to send in their elders. Which at this point was just him and Toph. Katara's passing a few years ago, shortly after Ursa had given birth to Lu Ten, a nice compliment to her twin girls Mai and Ty Lee, had forced Zuko to think about all the friends he had lost over the years. Suki had been the first, losing her life to pirates that had decided attacking Kiyoshi Island was their best option in the wake of peace finally having been achieved and ports becoming far more fortified. Mai had followed her a few years later, and Ty Lee sacrificed herself to protect one of her friends not long afterward. Sokka managed to make it past Suki's death, putting all of his energy into helping lead the four nations into a greater future before eventually dying in a plague. Aang had just burned himself out as trying to be everywhere at once took its toll on him, and eventually he pushed himself too far.

Zuko had thought that that would be how he would die, back when he was driving himself into the ground trying to make amends with the other nations and keeping the fire nation safe both from internal conflicts as well as any retaliatory movements from the other nations. The closest he had come had to be after Mai's death, as taking care of the fire nation and making sure that Izumi got all the love and affection, she could ever need had spread him far too thin. If it wasn't for the palace staff who adored him, he probably wouldn't have made it to thirty much less ninety-six.  Firebenders didn't tend to live that long, which had led to someone starting a rumor that Agni had made it so Zuko wouldn't die until the fire nation was no more.  Zuko personally wanted to know who started the rumor, mainly so he could question their sanity in public rather than in private.

The police had also called in Jinora, her experience with the spirit world and the phenomenon's proximity to the third spirit portal making her insight incredibly valuable. Although Zuko had heard that Tenzin had opted to tag along despite the fact that his daughter was an adult, more spiritually aware, and engaged to be married. Although that last bit might have made him more insistent on coming along. Tenzin and Kai had never really seen eye to eye. Zuko had been protective of Izumi as well, but she had been the target of many of his political rivals, hoping to remove his influence from the country by ending his bloodline. Then there were all the families in the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes that had never forgiven his family for the war anyway. Putting up with all that shit had made him very protective, especially since Izumi was his only child.

Zuko shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts that clung to his brain like cobwebs. The feature that had the Republic City police concerned was more pressing than his memories, and he focused his attention on it. "It appeared yesterday," the young policeman told the group as they approached it, "We noticed one about two months ago that was twice the size, but it had only lasted for about five minutes. We suspect that they have been appearing for the last seven years and we just haven't noticed because they are either gone too quickly or potentially were too small to be seen without looking for them."

The group approached the strange phenomena cautiously. It looked like a flame had been suspended and stretched in place, the feature glowing a soft white, shifting slightly, like it was caught in a gentle breeze, but no such breeze was blowing. Zuko glanced at other members of the group, with Jinora looking interestedly at the phenomena, although Tenzin was holding her back from touching it. Toph on the other hand looked slightly frustrated, probably unable to sense the phenomena as it was off the ground, or unable to recognize what it was even if she could. She never did like not knowing things.

Zuko walked around the phenomena, making sure to keep some distance from it as there was no telling what it would do if one touched it. He wanted to see if looking at it from a different angle might give them some clue about what it was. Unfortunately, there wasn't any real change in it that Zuko could see. It looked so much like a flame that Zuko decided to try connecting to it with his bending.

As soon as Zuko's bending touched the strange phenomena, it changed. It had gone from a beam of moonlight to a bright red flame, the center growing brighter as Zuko felt himself being drawn in. Zuko attempted to dig in his heels, to keep from being pulled in, but he was still being pulled toward it. "Druk! Toph!" he called hoping one of them might be able to help him fight against whatever force was attempting to pull him into whatever this was.

An earthen wall rose from the ground, stopping Zuko from sliding any further forward while Druk came to settle behind him, his whiskers wrapping around Zuko's torso, attempting to pull him back away from whatever the phenomena was. Zuko had to keep from yelling as he felt like he was being ripped in half, the pull of whatever it was growing stronger by the second. The earthen wall gave away, Zuko being dragged forward, any more attempts to keep him from moving being thwarted by the force dragging him into the depths of whatever this thing was.

As Zuko entered the strange phenomena, he heard Toph scream his name and he turned to glance back, seeing Toph reaching for him while Druk, who hadn't loosened his grip on him at all was pulled in with him. Republic City fell away as Zuko was fully engulfed by whatever it was that had pulled him in.

He fell backward, the sensation more akin to sinking in the ocean than falling through the air, both feelings he was intimately familiar with. The sensation of Druk's whiskers around his torso loosened, and Zuko reached out into the dark void he was surrounded by, in the hopes to reach for Druk to reassure him that he was still there, still alive.

He wrapped his arm around Druk's head, which was smaller than it had been in years. Zuko frowned as he pulled the dragon he had raised in close when he felt like he had been grabbed around his chest. Pain suddenly erupted in his chest and the almost floating sensation changed, suddenly feeling like he was being thrown, his hair, suddenly black flying around the edges of his vision when the sensation of something hitting the back of his head caused him to lose consciousness. 

Chapter Text

Todoroki Shouto sat on his bed contemplating his life. There wasn't much to contemplate because he was only five years old, but most of what he was thinking about had been from the last year or so, ever since his father started making him train. His father constantly pushing him in training and his mother’s attempts to protect him played in repeat in his mind, although it may have been multiple incidents that were just so eerily similar to one another that he couldn't tell the difference. That might have helped contribute to his mother losing her mind and hurting him.

These thoughts were running through his head when a storm suddenly kicked up in his room. Wind blew through the small space, disturbing the book he'd left open on his desk earlier, and sending the few clothes that he'd left lying around into the wall. Shouto put up a hand to protect his face from the harsh wind, but it died down not long after it had kicked up.

Shouto glanced around his room, trying to figure out what could possibly have caused the small storm and noticed someone lying on the ground. They were wearing a short red robe with gold trim that was held closed with a belt around their waist, almost looking like they had a small bathrobe over their pants. There was something strapped to their back, and their black hair covered their face. Shouto inched toward the edge of the bed, not sure if he should approach them, unsure if they were even alive.

Curiosity got the better of him, and Shouto slipped off the bed tiptoeing over to where the stranger was lying. As he got closer, he noticed white bandages, much like the ones on his face, pulled tight against their chest, hidden under the robe. There was also what looked like a small lizard cuddled against their chest, like they had been protecting it when whatever happened dropped them in the room. As Shouto got close enough to look at his face, he could see that the stranger's expression was pained, and it wasn't hard to guess that their injury was probably hurting them. Shouto brushed aside the hair to get a better look at the stranger's face, but as soon as his fingers made contact with their skin, they groaned, causing Shouto to freeze in place.

They shifted, turning over so they ended up on their back, which allowed Shouto to get a good look at their face, and see the large angry looking scar that covered where their left eye sat. Shouto couldn't help but cover the bandages on his face, as if doing so would keep the wound on his own face from turning into that. The scar looked rough, going all the way up to the stranger's ear, mangling it. Shouto was pretty sure their eyebrow was gone too, although it was hard to tell through the hair that had fallen over the scar, and Shouto wasn't about to attempt to brush the hair out of the way and wake the stranger up.

If the stranger did wake up Shouto had no idea what would happen. They could be attempting to kidnap him so as to get revenge on his father, or they could just have ended up there by accident, a quirk having accidentally dropped them into his room. Shouto didn't know, and he didn't want to get his father. His father would probably tell him to handle it himself despite the fact that the stranger was more than twice his size and he had no idea what their quirk could be. He was scared, but his father had never cared about that before.

Shouto tried to figure out what he should do, if he should get someone, but his mother was no longer in the house, so she couldn't help him. Shouto's thoughts turned to his siblings. Touya was gone, had been for months. Not that Shouto had known him very well. With father insisting that he be kept apart from his siblings Shouto was lucky that he even knew their names. Fuyumi would probably be the one to go to. She was the next oldest, and Shouto was pretty sure she would smile and wave at him on the few ocassions that he would see them on the way to the training dojo. Touya and Natsuo seemed to ignore him more or less, so if anyone would be willing to help him it would be Fuyumi.

Shouto got up off the floor as quietly as he could, doing his best to keep his eyes on the stranger, but they didn't move. He didn't want to turn his back on them, just in case they were playing dead, but he realized he was going to have to turn around so he could find the door knob to open the door as he pressed himself against the door frame. He glanced away from the figure briefly, just so he could confirm where the knob was before returning his attention to them. They hadn't moved while he had been looking away, and now that he had hold of the door knob, he opened the door just enough to slip out, the figure still unmoving as he quietly closed the door behind him.

It wasn't until after he had left his room that Shoto realized he had no idea where Fuyumi's room was. He'd only ever seen her in the courtyard, and he doubted she would be there now. It was late at night, and as summer was drawing to a close it was starting to get cold. Besides, from what he'd heard from his mother she preferred for them to be in bed by this time. Fuyumi was the one that seemed to be the one most likely to follow mom's rules so she was probably in her room. However, since Shouto had no idea where any of his siblings' bedrooms might be he decided to head to the courtyard anyway so he could work it out from there.

Shouto wandered down the halls, doing his best to stay quiet so as not to attract his father's attention despite the fact that his father's room was in the opposite direction. It didn't matter that he knew his father was either asleep or on patrol right now, Shouto couldn't risk getting caught. Father had spent a lot of time keeping Shouto apart from his siblings, and he would probably be even more strict about it since his 'creation' had been damaged. Shouto peeked around a corner, to see just another hallway, looking almost exactly like the one he had just tiptoed through.

Shouto had no idea what was in those rooms, or where in the house he was really. He had rarely left the path that went between his room, the dojo, and his mother's room, so he didn't really recognize the rest of the house, and that kind of scared him. He had no idea what could be lurking around the corner, and with his mother gone everything just seemed to be larger and more intimidating. He curled up into a ball, doing his best to hold in his scared tears.

"Shouto?" asked a vaguely familiar voice, causing Shouto to turn his head enough that he could see whoever the voice belonged to.

Shouto was pretty sure it was Fuyumi, small spots of red in her mainly white hair were blurred by Shouto's tears but still visible. There was someone next to her, the small red bangs surrounded by white meaning it was Natsuo, who actually looked concerned as he crouched down with Fuyumi in front of Shouto. "Are you okay?" Natsuo asked, as he reached out with his hand settling it on Shouto's shoulder.

Shouto wasn't really sure what to do so he just blurted out, "A strange person just appeared in my room, and I don't know what to do!"

That caused his siblings to pause, and they glanced at each other before turning back to him. "Do you want us to come with you?" Fiyumi asked as she offered Shouto her hand, and he had the sudden thought that they might not even know where his room is.

Shouto nodded and took Fuyumi's hand cautiously. She gave him a small smile and didn't immediately start dragging him away, so Shouto started walking towards his room, hoping he hadn't gotten lost in the part of the house he didn't recognize. Natsuo started walking on his other side, and Shouto found he kind of liked it. Touya and Natsuo had never really paid him any attention, so it was nice to have him there.

It actually didn't take that long to get back to Shouto's room, as he had just gone down two corridors before his siblings had found him, and with the company of his siblings Shouto wasn't as scared anymore. The stranger hadn't moved that much while he was gone, their head having shifted so that their scar was face up and without hair draped over it, or at least not over the eye. The scar actually seemed to go up into their hair, which had Shouto covering the bandages over his own eye with his left hand, thinking back on his own injury and wondering if the strangers had hurt just as much or if it had been worse.

Fuyumi tugged Shouto over to his bed, sitting down next to him on it, and wrapping her right arm around him to pull him into her side. It made Shouto feel safe, and Natsuo sitting on his right, staring down at the stranger made him feel just a bit better about this. He wasn't alone. They could handle this. All that was left to do was wait for the stranger to wake up.

Zuko groaned as the aches and pains that had been residing in his joints for the last couple of years seemed to have migrated to other parts of his body. His chest in particular was hurting like it hadn't in years and Zuko wasn't sure what could possibly be causing it. His back hurt as well, which was something that he had actually been fortunate enough to managed to have avoided dealing with unlike some of his contemporaries, although he supposed that was probably because he had worked on maintaining his physical health over the years so that he could continue to be there for his family even though they didn't really need him anymore.

When Zuko finally got around to opening his eyes, he was met with a rather unfamiliar sight. The ceiling seemed to have a light in it, casting the room in a rather gentle glow, but the pattern of the ceiling was not something that Zuko was familiar with. He was used to wood, or stone as the way that a room was protected from the elements, and whatever was making up the ceiling was certainly not either of those materials.

Zuko then cast his gaze around the room, surprised to see three young children sitting on a bed a few feet away from him, their eyes fixed on him. He couldn't help but stare back, trying to figure out what could possibly be going on. He didn't know why whatever had happened at the spirit portal had landed him here, and from the looks on the children's faces they weren't about to offer any information. From the looks of the room, there wasn't much of anything that Zuko recognized there. Well, that wasn't really true. There were the things that were fairly standard in a child's bedroom, like clothes and blankets, although there was a disturbing lack of toys. That almost had Zuko wondering if their father was anything like his own. Most of his toys had been destroyed by either his father or Azula as soon as the protection that Lu Ten provided disappeared.

He decided to sit up, if only so he could talk to the children better but found that moving his torso caused him a lot of pain. Zuko wasn't sure what could have happened, his hand coming up to his chest to feel for a wound, and that was when he realized that he had changed more than he had thought.

Zuko's hands were not old and withered, age spots sitting on the tan skin like they had been when he had left on Druk to attend to the problem in Republic City. His hands were like those of his youth, covered in callouses and minor scars that were a result of either slipping up with a blade or narrowly avoiding an assassination attempt. His forearms were bare, something that he could only get away with when wearing casual clothing when he was younger. He hadn't been able to do that for years, not since before Mai's death as taking care of Izumi, Tom Tom, and Kiyi had him busy all the time alongside his duties as Fire Lord, making it practically impossible for him to be able to do something casual.

He had only gotten away with it before then because he had managed to convince the attendants that he was able to fight off assassins more effectively in casual robes, but once Mai was gone, his guard had double in order to keep both him and his daughter safe. The last thing the Fire Nation wanted was for Azula to attempt to take them out so she could take the throne. For as much as some of his rivals hated him, Azula had proven herself to be too unstable to be able to take the throne, and there was no way the other nations would accept her as the Fire Lord. Zuko had been lucky that they hadn't forced him to have her executed because for as much as Zuko had spent his childhood resenting his sister, he didn't want her dead, not when their father was the root of all their problems.

Another shocking thing was the presence of Druk on his chest, and he knew it was Druk because he had taken care of the dragon since he had hatched, something the size of Druk would indicate had been recent and not almost eighty years ago. The dragon's claws were resting on bandages that covered his chest, having managed to slip under the outer layer of his robe. Zuko could feel the heat of Druk's exhales on his skin and was glad that he was too small to be snoring sparks yet.

Zuko decided to try and sit up again, this time ignoring the pulling in his chest as he used one hand to hold Druk in place. He had a pretty good idea of what might be causing the sensation, but he would have to wait to confirm it. First and foremost, he had to attend to the children that were sitting on the bed staring at him. "Hello," he offered waving at them, although it was kind of awkward, like most of his social interactions had been when he was a teenager, "My name's Zuko."

"I'm Shouto," the youngest said from where he was tucked between the two Zuko assumed were older siblings, sending Zuko a little wave that had the corner of his mouth rising slightly because of how cute the kid looked. However, Zuko was slightly concerned at the bandage he was pretty sure he saw wrapping around the boy's head. He wasn't certain though, since the boy' hair was white, or at least the half facing him was.

"I'm Natsuo," the other boy replied as he stared down at Zuko, not bothering to wave, almost looking like he was trying to be intimidating, which was rather hard to do because he was obviously a child. He was more cute than anything.

"What are you doing here?" the last child asked, clearly a girl, and probably the oldest of the three, her right arm wrapped around the youngest protectively.

"I don't know," Zuko admitted honestly, as he shifted, leaning back against the solid object at his back, a wall, a dresser, a desk, he didn't know, "I was out in the park and suddenly I was here."

"So, you got hit by a quirk?" the youngest asked, turning to face Zuko more fully, his right eye shining while his left was covered in a bandage that had Zuko's scar aching in sympathy.

"I guess," Zuko offered with a shrug, before realizing that the whole reason his back hurt was because he was wearing his dao. He had never slept on his back with his dao on, and he hadn't been carrying them when he went to the spirit portal. He really had been brought back to when he was sixteen, and honestly, Zuko didn't really see that as a bad thing. It probably would have been much worse for a ninety six year old man to have been lying on the floor of a child's bedroom, not that either option was a good one if he thought about it.

"Where are you from?" Shouto asked as he leaned forward, not very far because his sister was holding him back using his shoulder.

"Caldera City," Zuko told them, seeing no point in lying, and before he could really stop himself, "What happened to your eye?"

Shouto shrunk back slightly, although not by much. His eye was obviously fixed on Zuko's scar, something he had gotten used to over the years. While he had been ashamed of it when he was younger, his friends helped him to see that it was a mark of triumph, a sign that he was much stronger than people thought and a symbol to his people that he was willing to put his life on the line for them. It had made the general public's acceptance of him much easier than he had been worried about.

"Why do you care?" the eldest asked, as she pulled her little brother back protectively.

However, Zuko didn't pay her much attention, his focus on the youngest, seeing something so very familiar in his eye. "I'll tell you what happened to mine if you tell me what happened to yours," Zuko offered, his voice low and gentle, or as low and gentle as he could make it. His voice had turned rough with all the time he spent working to perfect his firebending, driving himself to the brink of heat stroke far too many times after his mother had disappeared.

"I scared Mom," Shouto admitted, tears gathering in his eye, "She thought I was Father and threw the kettle at me."

Zuko felt his heart ache, wanting to reach out and pull the boy into his arms and comfort him like he had done with Izumi in the past, but he had a feeling the other two wouldn't let him. So he decided to keep his end of the bargain. "My father gave this to me," Zuko admitted, noting how the children's eyes widen in shock and surprise, "I had spoken up out of turn in a meeting I wasn't supposed to be attending against something that would have hurt a lot of people. My father got mad, claiming that I was being disrespectful and burned me."

The children were crying, and Shouto slid off the bed before running over to Zuko, almost crushing Druk between them as he did his best to hug him. Zuko wrapped his arm around the child, holding him close, soothing him the same way he would have soothed Izumi or any of his grandchildren. The children gradually calmed down, the older two coming to settle next to Zuko on the floor, Although Zuko wasn't sure if they were doing it because they wanted comfort or if they were trying to protect their brother.
Eventually their tears slowed and the eldest asked, "What happened next?"

"My father sent me away," Zuko told them, opening his arms for the older kids to get closer should they desire, "He told me I could only come back if I did an impossible task."

"That's awful," The older boy, Natsuo exclaimed, although he covered his mouth a moment later, all three of the children glancing towards the door.

They stared at the door, as if expecting it to fly open, their father on the other side. Zuko knew the impulse, having had to walk on eggshells in the palace after his mother left. Once they were sure that they door wouldn’t suddenly fly open, they turned back to Zuko. "What did you do?" Natsuo asked, his voice much quieter now.

"I spent three years trying to do it," Zuko admitted, his shame at having spent so much of his life chasing the approval of a man that never cared for him while hurting the one man that did care along the way, "He eventually let me come back home, but I realized that he just wanted to turn me into something I wasn't, so I left."

He left out Azula's involvement, not wanting to think about his sister's actions in all this, how she had been twisted by their father into a monster that he never managed to save. Zuko had spent years grieving for her, after she had become her own destruction, chasing the approval of a man that hadn't loved either of them. Besides, they didn't need to hear about that.

"We should leave," Natsuo said, the words obviously meant for his siblings, his gaze fixed on his sister, "Touya's dead and Mom's gone. Dad's only going to get worse, and Shouto doesn't deserve that."

Shouto burrowed into Zuko's chest, Druk having decided to move up to Zuko's neck to avoid getting squashed by the child on Zuko's lap. Zuko switched his gaze between Natsuo and his sister, the two of them almost seeming to have a staring contest with how intense their gazes were, how they didn't even blink, but seemed to be having a whole conversation that Zuko had no context for.

Eventually the girl dropped her eyes, her gaze shifting to Shouto and Zuko before resolve hardened her expression. "Okay," she said, staring straight at Natsuo, "Let's leave."

Chapter Text

Fuyumi had been concerned when she had first come across Shouto out in the part of the house that Father had never let him enter before. He looked so small, helpless, and scared that it hurt her heart to consider what he might have been feeling in that moment. She had been even more concerned when he told her that there was a stranger in his room, and even though she had no quirk training she would defend her brother if she had to.

So, she let Shouto lead her to his room, and sat with him while they waited for the stranger to wake up. No need to get Father if they didn't have to. The scar on his face was concerning though. It reminded her far too much of what Touya looked like after he had overused his quirk burning himself in the process. Except the scar on the stranger didn't look like an accident. It looked too contained to be like Touya's scars.

When the stranger woke up, he introduced himself as Zuko. Fuyumi had never heard of a name like that before, but she wasn't about to trust him. Their father was one of the highest ranked heroes in Japan. There was no telling what Zuko could be up to if that was even his real name. 

Fuyumi had gotten scared when he turned his attention on Shouto. His injury was still healing, and it wasn't like it would be hard for someone to grab him since he was only five and still learning how to use his quirk. He'd probably fare better than Fuyumi or Natsuo though considering how Father had been training him to fight for the last year or so. However, there was something in Zuko's eyes, something like understanding, that made him look like he was less of a threat.

Fuyumi hadn't been prepared for him to offer up the story of his scar in exchange for Shouto's and she hadn't expected Shouto to actually say anything. Fuyumi couldn't help but wondering if that was part of Zuko's quirk, if he could make people tell him whatever he wanted to know, or if there was just something about him that made Shouto want to share. Other than the obvious.

Fuyumi guessed that having someone who had clearly been hurt the same way encouraged the explanation more than anything else. After all, it was the first person that could truly relate to Shouto in a way that she and Natsuo were incapable of. Not that they had really been around to relate to. Father's insistence that they be kept apart from Shouto meant that they were distant figures in his life and had no idea what he was going through in their father's care because their father didn't care about them.

When Zuko told them how he got his scar, Fuyumi believed him. It wasn't the story itself, which was heartbreaking on its own, but the look in his eyes when he told it. It reminded Fuyumi of how mom's eyes looked when she talked about father, so full of pain and shame for being unable to do anything about it. It was that look that had Fuyumi believing him, allowing her to extend some measure of trust. 

Then Natsuo asked what had happened after he got his scar. Fuyumi had thought that the story couldn't get any worse, until Zuko told them what his father did. It was so hard to think about being unable to come home. For as neglectful as their father was, he did provide for them, giving them food, clothes, and a roof over their heads. Fuyumi couldn't imagine what it would have been like to have been thrown out on the street, especially as injured as he would have been.

She wasn't that surprised that he had wanted to go back home, but it was obvious that he regretted it. She could hear the shame in his voice, that whatever had led to him going home wasn't worth it, so she wasn't surprised when he told them he left. He'd probably spent so much time living on the street that it was better to leave then stay in a home that wasn't safe. 

Fuyumi looked at Natsuo, who was giving her a very familiar look. A look that had become incredibly common over the last six months. Natsuo kept saying that they needed to leave, that Touya's death had made it obvious that they needed to get away from their father before it killed them too. Fuyumi had always disagreed, that Father would be more careful now that something terrible had happened. It was clear Natsuo didn't agree, and it was obvious that Zuko's story was only going to encourage him.

Fuyumi wasn't sure what she could say against him now. There was one argument, that if they did run away, they wouldn't remain free. Their father was the second ranked hero in Japan. He could easily have all the heroes and law enforcement in the city looking for them. There was no telling what would happen when father finally had them back and running away would be giving up on him. They had to give him a chance to be a better person, a better father.

Natsuo stubbornly stared back at her, his gaze flicking to Shouto and Zuko for a second. Fuyumi glanced down at Shouto, someone who she had seen so little of because of their father and saw how he clung to Zuko. Saw how gentle Zuko was with Shouto, far gentler than their father had ever been with any of them. It reminded her of their mother, and Fuyumi knew that they were going to have to leave, if only so Shouto would be able to have this gentleness for more than just tonight. Besides, if they didn't leave there was no way that Father wouldn't find out about Zuko, and she didn't even want to imagine what would happen then. "Okay," she said reluctantly as she met Natsuo's eyes, "Let's leave."

It was obvious that Natsuo was barely restraining himself from jumping up and shouting in triumph. The thought of Father hearing them was the only thing keeping him silent. After all, they shouldn't be in Shouto's room, and if he came in here then Zuko would be ripped away from them, and he was the only way they were going to survive leaving.

"We have to pack," Natsuo stated, the words drawing Shouto from Zuko's chest, "Do you think you can help Shouto?"

"Of course," Zuko replied as he made to get up. 

Shouto's grip on his shirt tightened, and Zuko's right arm wrapped around Shouto's legs, holding him close to his chest while his left arm was used to leverage himself up off the ground. He altered his grip on Shouto as he straightened, the action one that seemed completely natural and subconscious, which had Shouto sitting on his right hip. "Is there a bag that I can pack his things into?" Zuko asked, his left hand coming up and rubbing Shouto's back comfortingly.

"I'll get it," Natsuo interjected, before slipping out of the room, only pausing at the door to check that the hallway was clear before leaving.

After Natsuo left, Zuko glanced around the room, his eyes settling briefly on the dresser and closet, probably planning what they would need to take with them. "What do you suggest we pack?" Fuyumi asked, since Zuko would probably have a better idea of what would be important to take with them when they ran, given he had done the same thing.

"At least three sets of clothes," Zuko told her as he walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer, "You'll want at least one outfit for cold weather, and ideally one for warm weather as well. Blankets would also be useful as they can help protect you from the elements. Money is something that you would ideally want to bring along, but that is self-explanatory. First aid supplies are also important if you have access to them because they can be rather expensive."

Fuyumi couldn't help but look at his chest, the bandages now hidden by the folds of the fabric. The area the bandages covered probably wasn't small, given they were the stark white of bandages that used to have to be used when treating Touya's burns instead of the tannish color of elastic bandages. She was about to ask him about it when the door opened, and her heart stopped for half a second before realizing that it was Natsuo returning with a duffle bag.

"This should work," Natsuo said as he plopped the duffle bag down on Shouto's bed, "It isn't that big, but we just need it to hold Shouto's stuff so it should do."

"Thanks," Zuko offered as he gave Natsuo a small smile, "Are there enough bags for you and ..."

Zuko turned to look at Fuyumi and she was reminded that she hadn't introduced herself, having been too wary of Zuko earlier. "I'm Fuyumi," she told Zuko as she gave him a small wave, "And I'm pretty sure we have bags that we can pack our stuff into."

Fuyumi also noted that she would have to check Touya's things because Zuko's outfit was way too recognizable. It probably hadn't mattered much before when he was out on his own and might have been to make accessing his injury easier, but if they were going to run away together then they needed to stick out as little as possible. Getting Zuko some regular clothes, since his obviously hadn't come with him would be a good idea. 

"You should probably stick that in the duffle as well," Natsuo commented as he pointed to the sword? strapped to Zuko's back. 

Zuko gave a small shrug of agreement, his left hand going to the clasp on his right side, somehow able to undo it without even looking or moving Shouto from his hip. Fuyumi was kind of impressed. Zuko laid the sword into the bottom of the bag, before turning to the dresser. "You should probably go pack your bags," he told them as he hiked Shouto up to get a good look at what was in the top drawer, "The sooner we leave the better."

Fuyumi nodded as she made her way to the door, Natsuo giving her the all clear to head out after glancing both ways. The hallway was empty as they made their way to their rooms, although it wasn't that surprising considering how late it was. When they were a little ways away from Shouto's room she turned to Natsuo and said, "Zuko suggested we pack three sets of clothes with at least one set for cold weather."

"I know," Natsuo's shot back in a quiet whisper, "I've kind of been planning this for a bit. The internet has a lot of advice for running away from home."

Fuyumi found that she was a weird mix of shocked and unsurprised. It wasn't like Natsuo had been hiding the fact that he wanted to run away, but at the same time it had seemed like something that he had been implying that they should do when they were older and thus able to take care of themselves. It had seemed more like a pipe dream when he had talked to her about it, not something that he had been actively planning this whole time. It made her wonder what she had missed.

Despite her daze Fuyumi managed to make it to her room without incident, and instantly went to her closet, pulling out the duffle bag that she had used for gymnastics. She hadn't used it in almost five years, having quit the sport to spend more time with Touya who had been taking Father's favoritism of Shouto hard. She hoped that by giving him more attention and spending more time with him that she might be able to help him in some small way. It clearly hadn't been enough.

Fuyumi grabbed a few sets of clothes to put in the bottom of her bag, adding one of her winter coats on top of that. She also grabbed her school bag, removing her schoolwork, leaving it on the desk, before sticking her tablet, favorite books, charging cords, and diary in it. She also packed a small photo album that she had managed to recover from her mother's room after she had been admitted to the mental hospital. It was mostly full of pictures that their father wouldn't have approved of, and Touya was actually smiling in a few of the older ones, back when his hair was red and father praised him.

Fuyumi also made sure to grab some of her favorite things, like the music box mother had given her, and her favorite stuffed animal. She also made sure to carefully pack Touya's shrine. She didn't want to leave him there with Father, it felt too much like abandoning him, so she made sure to wrap the parts of the shrine in her favorite blanket so they could set it up when they found a place to stay.

With Touya's shrine secured, Fuyumi stood in the center of her room glancing around trying to figure out what else she would need to bring with her. She spotted her money stash, having been saving up to buy something, it didn't really matter now, and she added the money to her bag. She glanced around the room, feeling rather apathetic to the rest of the contents. It was just stuff after all, stuff she didn't need and couldn't carry. 

Fuyumi left her bags on her bed as she slipped into Touya's room. It had gone mostly untouched since his death, her mother occasionally coming in and cleaning it, but that was all that really happened. Putting his things into storage would have felt too much like erasing him, so none of them had really made an attempt. There was a duffle bag in Touya's closet as well, left there from when he used to train with father as his flames tended to be a little too dangerous. He had continued to use it when he had started training in secret, but it had remained at the house the day he had died. 

Fuyumi hoped he wouldn't mind as she pulled it from the closet and started to fill it with some of Touya's clothes. She didn't want to mess with his things, but Zuko needed clothes that would let him hide, so she grabbed some of his. However, it wasn't until Fuyumi was putting a few pairs of Touya's pants into the duffle bag that she realized, Zuko was clearly older than Touya had been, and was probably taller. Part of her hated that she couldn't even remember how tall Touya was, but the thought drove her to her mother's room. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Zuko wasn't as tall as father.

She grabbed a few pairs of her mother's pants, and some of her tee shirts. She did her best to stick to ones with solid colors and casual cuts because it would look weird for Zuko to be wearing clothes that were obviously feminine in make. Fuyumi didn't know too much about clothes, but she did know that pants tended to be rather different between the two genders. After some thought, Fuyumi also grabbed some of her mother's socks, as they would be useful even if Zuko wasn't the one wearing them. 
With the clothes acquired, Fuyumi slipped back into her own room to grab her own bag before heading back to Shouto's room. She did her best to be quiet so as not to wake the housekeeper, but she felt like every shift of her body caused the bags to rub together and produce a lot of noise, although it was probably rather quiet. The silence just seemed to amplify every sound and worry about what would happen if father found out had Fuyumi cautiously but quickly making her way to Shouto's room. 

As she entered the room, she was somewhat surprised to see Shouto on the floor, half hiding behind Zuko's leg while Natsuo helped Zuko pack several blankets. They had been folded neatly, but it was obvious that the duffle bags just weren't meant to hold so much material. They had looked over at her when she entered, and it was kind of obvious based on the look on Natsuo's face that he was kind of exasperated by the amount of stuff she had brought. "Yumi, we don't need to bring your entire wardrobe."

"It's not," she shot back defensively, but quietly, "I grabbed some clothes for Zuko. What he's wearing isn't exactly inconspicuous."

Natsuo gave a nod of concession at that, and Fuyumi handed Zuko the duffle bag with the clothes. Zuko took the bag with a grateful look on his face, and took a step towards the closet, although stopped when Shouto moved with him. He crouched down, which got Shouto to let go of his pant leg as he got down to his level. "I'm just going into the closet to change," Zuko told him, his voice soft as he ran a hand through Shouto's hair, "It'll only take five minutes, okay?"

Shouto looked very reluctant to let Zuko go and change, looking like he was barely holding himself back from wrapping his arms around Zuko’s neck and just hanging off of him. Zuko seemed to recognize this, so he reached up and pulled the rather reluctant lizard from its spot around his shoulders. "Would you be willing to hold onto Druk for me?" Zuko asked as he held the small lizard out to Shouto who stared at him with wide eyes, "He's very special to me, so as long as you have him, I will come and find you. Okay?"

Shouto nodded as he cradled the small lizard, one that appeared to be rather intelligent as it gave Zuko a look before settling in Shouto's hands. Shouto pulled it close to his chest, staring at it curiously while Zuko slipped silently into the closet. Since Shouto was distracted by the lizard, Fuyumi decided to help Natsuo try and pack the blankets into the bags. They managed to fit a few in the separate duffle bags, as they were smaller blankets, ones that you would expect to find on a child's bed, but two of them were larger, something that would fit on an adult's bed, which made them harder to pack into the bags. The managed to fit the smaller of the two blankets, but the larger one just wouldn't fit, even when they removed everything but their clothes from the duffle bag. 

"We'll just have to carry it," Zuko said as he came up behind them, his footsteps silent as he approached. He had apparently decided to dress in all black, Touya's oversized hoodie managing to fit Zuko perfectly. "By the way, is there a coat closet that might have a coat for Shouto?"

Fuyumi thought about it, but it was unlikely. Shouto never left the house so there was no reason for him to have a coat. Fuyumi couldn't even think of if they still had some of the clothes that Touya and Natsuo had outgrown. So, Fuyumi just shook her head and told him, "Not that I'm aware of."

Zuko then grabbed one of the blankets and picked up Shouto. He took back Druk who he slid into the pocket of the hoodie, before bundling Shouto up in the blanket and placing him on his hip. Shouto didn't seem to mind it as he laid his head on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko then loaded both Shouto's and Touya's duffle bags over his left shoulder, and made to pick up the largest blanket, but Fuyumi grabbed it. His hands were already full enough.

Zuko gave a slight huff but didn't say anything about it. "So is one of you going to lead us out?" Zuko asked, shocking Fuyumi slightly, before she remembered that Zuko had just appeared in Shouto's room, so he obviously wouldn't know his way around the house much less out of it.

"I'm doing it," Natsuo stated confidently, "I've managed to map out a route that avoids all the cameras. As long as we're careful they won't know how to find us." 

Fuyumi gaped at her younger brother, while Zuko nodded in acknowledgement. Natsuo just kept surprising her, although she shouldn't have been all that surprised that he had been sneaking out. He had always been far more social, and considering their father's neglect towards them, it probably wasn't all that surprising that he felt the need to sneak out to see his friends. Natsuo led them to his room, the route going from his window to the fence around the property, most of the journey made in shadows. Clearing the fence was a bit of a chore, but Zuko ferried the bags across while Natsuo showed Fuyumi how to climb it. Soon they were on the other side and free to disappear into the night. 

Chapter Text

 It hadn't been hard to help Shouto pack.  His wardrobe was rather plain so all they had to do was grab a few sets of clothes.  He wasn't all that attached to any of the books, and there were no toys whatsoever.  There also wasn't a coat in the closet or the dresser.  It was possible that there was a coat closet in the house, but Zuko had the sneaking suspicion that he just didn't have a coat.  Zuko gathered all of Shouto’s blankets, just so that if he didn't have a coat he could bundle him up in that.  It would mean Zuko would have to carry him but considering how Shouto didn't seem to want to let go of him, he figured he probably wouldn't mind.

Fuyumi confirmed the lack of coat, but Zuko was slightly surprised that she had managed to collect some clothes for him as well. It wasn't too surprising that his attire would be out of place in this world.  Part of him was touched that she had thought of him, while another part of him was saying that it was just smart as it was better if they didn't draw attention to themselves.  He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, before running into another issue, mainly that Shouto didn't want to leave him.  Zuko could understand, he hadn't really wanted to let go of the people he loved when he was five, but it wasn't a good idea to have him in there with him when he changed, especially if he had any knives on him.

So he managed to convince Shouto to wait in the room, handing Druk over as a sort of reassurance.  The dragon would never forgive him if he abandoned him, and while their connection didn't seem to be there, Zuko had a feeling that it would develop as they got older.  Druk had been about five when they first made the mental connection, so it would probably just take time.  He wasn't really sure where he could go to change so he slipped into the closet, which thankfully had a light.  He looked through the bags of clothes and found some dark clothes that he approximated would fit him.  Better to avoid being seen as much as possible.

It turned out that he did have some knives on him, one of them tucked into his boot, one strapped to his thigh, and one tucked into his belt.  He kept his boots on, leaving the knife in there just in case, while he slipped the other two into the bag along with his clothes.  He ended up having to exchange one of the shirts he grabbed for one that was a little larger, but the coat was black and fit him perfectly, so he figured it didn't make much of a difference.

Once he was done changing he slipped out of the closet, taking back Druk who was settled in his pocket.  The dragon nipped at his fingers to convey his annoyance, but it was nowhere near as hard as he could bite.  Zuko knew that.  He then bundled Shouto up in a blanket and the group headed out, following a path that Natsuo claimed would allow them to avoid the cameras that would result in them getting caught.  He was going to have to trust him, since cameras weren't all that great from what he remembered, although his granddaughter, Ursa liked to call him an old fogie for not keeping up with all of the technological advancements that were happening.  Now he was going to have to learn all about the technology  of this new world, especially if he was going to take care of these three kids.  

Once they left the house behind, they headed straight for the most part.  Natsuo was still leading the way, able to point out security cameras that would record them, allowing the authorities to be able to track them once they were discovered to be missing.  He pointed out their blind spots, guiding them down a path that kept them from being seen, or if they couldn't avoid it entirely, making it hard for people to tell that it was them.  Gradually the city around them changed.  Houses became few and far between.  These large buildings that stretched towards the sky becoming more common, although they were occasionally broken up by a shop or two.  The buildings also started to look more worn, dirty, and almost neglected.

The layout of the city was very different from any city that Zuko had seen before, and he started to notice metal contraptions strapped to the sides of buildings.  The contraptions almost looked like staircases, railings along the outer edge while there was a landing on the outside of each floor.  They didn't go all the way to the ground, instead stopping on the second floor, although he could see what looked like a ladder strapped to the side.  The ground was covered in dirt and filth, which only got thicker the more they walked into this neighborhood making Zuko rather aware that he couldn't let the children sleep on the ground.  There was no telling what could happen.

After they had been walking for that was likely hours, Zuko decided to see if they could get up onto the metal contraptions.  It would help keep the kids safe, as long as he made sure that they weren't next to the railing, and it would keep them up off the ground.  The ladder that led up to the metal staircase from the ground was suspended about eight feet in the air, but it wouldn't be that hard to reach. He probably could have bypassed the ladder entirely if it wasn't for the fact that he would probably be carrying a lot of weight as he would need to get all three of the kids and the bags up there.  He shifted Shouto so the child was on his back instead of his side, and then tied the blanket around him so he would be less likely to fall if he was jostled.  Once he was secure, Zuko jumped straight up, managing to grab the ladder, climbing it the rest of the way to the lowest landing.  He dumped the duffle bags on his arm onto the landing before dropping down to grab some of the other bags.  He was able to take the kids bags on the second trip, and the largest blanket on the third.

With all the bags up there, he decided to make the space more comfortable and pulled out the blankets.  He started by draping the second largest blanket across the landing, covering both the floor and draping it over the railing to help keep the wind off them.  Then he mostly unfolded the largest blanket, before folding it over in a slightly different fashion and laying it down on the metal as a sort of mattress.  It wasn't the worst thing he'd ever slept on, so he figured it would do.  He then slipped down, grabbing the kids one at a time to prevent any accidents, although Shouto had been rather unhappy to have been left up on the blanket mattress while Natsuo and Fuyumi were collected.  Once they were all up there, he handed the last blanket over to the older kids. He didn't really need one as being a firebender meant he generated a lot of heat, and in the small space it would probably end up getting trapped.  They shared a skeptical glance opening their mouths as if to protest, but Shouto draped his blanket over Zuko in the clear declaration that they would be sharing his.

With that taken care of they laid down to get some rest, and he realized that he might have strained his chest injury.  The scar was probably mostly healed, but that didn't change the fact that the skin was still new and tender, and would pull, especially with the amount of exertion he was putting it through.  He was good at ignoring the pain though, and he was kind of glad that Katara wasn't around to get mad at him for it.  Shouto was practically clinging to him, but Zuko didn't mind that, not when the kid obviously needed the physical reassurance.  Natsuo settled down next to him, while Fuyumi settled down next to the wall.

With everyone settled, Zuko used his breath of fire to warm up the area, hoping that he could at least make it more comfortable for the kids.  Natsuo seemed to appreciate it as he cuddled in close while Shouto just burrowed into Zuko's chest, putting more pressure on the scar, but he could handle it.  Natsuo dropped off rather quickly, his breath evening out not long after he settled, while Fuyumi seemed to be shivering on the edge of the group.  

Zuko tried to get Fuyumi to come closer, using his breath of fire to raise the temperature around him, but he was honestly worried that she wasn't really feeling it.  She scooted a little closer, drawn in by the incentive of warmth, but she was still a little too far away to be cocooned in warmth with the rest of them, so he pulled Druk out of the hoodie's pocket and handed him to her.  Druk seemed to understand what he was attempting to convey as he curled up around Fuyumi’s neck, his inner fire radiating a natural warmth that helped her slip off to sleep, and with the kids taken care of Zuko finally let himself drift off.

Zuko woke rather abruptly seemingly a few hours later when the sun rose. He honestly couldn't tell what direction the sun was in because of the buildings blocking his view.  If it wasn't for the small boost of energy that he received with the sunrise, he wouldn't have even known that the sun was up.  He hadn't been in this position since living in Ba Sing Se, and at that time he couldn't let anyone suspect that he could be a firebender, making acknowledging sunrise risky.

Zuko checked on the children, and to his relief all of them were still sleeping.  Druk had migrated from Fuyumi’s neck to her stomach sometime in the night, but otherwise the kids were exactly where they had been when he fell asleep the night before.  While he didn't want to leave them alone, he was going to have to scout out the area, looking for places where he could get food, and see if there was any local gossip he could use to his advantage.  If there was one thing he had learned during his avatar hunt and time as the Blue Spirit, gossip is very useful, especially when it contains a nugget of truth.

So Zuko reluctantly removed Shouto's grip from his jacket, situating him between Natsuo and Fuyumi so he couldn't accidentally roll off, even if that was unlikely considering how little he had moved during the night.  Druk glanced up at him sleepily, reminding him of when the dragon was newly hatched and hated when he got up in the morning, opting to nap on his shoulders all day instead of actually getting up with the sun.  That changed after about four months, which was about when the young dragon started putting out sparks.  

Zuko stared down at the kids, his chest tight at the thought of leaving them even for a short time, but he had to, so before he could regret it, he made his way down to street level and started scouting out the area.  He was glad that the streetlamps were still lit, as with the sun still being hidden by the massive buildings he wouldn't have been able to get around otherwise.  Not that it would have been much of a worry considering how little activity there was.  There were a few cars that passed every once and a while, with the few people out on the street being either homeless or drunks.  Their presence just reaffirmed that it was a good idea to have the kids sleep up in the metal contraption as opposed to out on the ground.

As Zuko walked into an area that appeared to be made up of shops more than anything, the smell of food had his stomach rumbling and his feet instinctively heading in that direction.  He had no idea how long it had been since he had last eaten.  He'd been having a light lunch with Izumi when the call came in, and he had left for Republic City not long after finishing.  The flight on Druk had only taken an hour, but with everything that happened afterward he had no idea how much time had passed.  Even if he had truly reset to his body following the end of the war, he had been really bad about eating unprompted as he would get buried in his work, until one of his friends came to pull him out.  The servants had been too afraid of inciting his temper at that point to attempt to push it like they did after Izumi's birth.

So, it was unsurprising that he found himself drawn to a bakery that was clearly getting ready to open, although Zuko wasn't sure about the time.  He tended to use the sun to tell time, at least back when he didn't have a clock and even then, he had no idea when sunrise happened here.  For all he knew it was later in the day then he was used to.  The Fire Nation tended to have a fairly consistent dawn due to their tropical climate, but he had no idea how that would translate to this new world.  He suspected that they were in a colder climate due to the current temperature, but he couldn't be sure until he learned more.

Zuko was broken out of his thoughts by a door opening about five feet in front of him, the smell of delicious baked goods practically sucker punching him with its strength.  His stomach let out a loud rumble at the smell, so loud that it practically echoed in the alleyway and had him freezing in mortification.  "Sounds like someone's hungry," the person standing in the open doorway commented, a box of something in their hands.

"N-no, I'm not," Zuko insisted, although it sounded lame even to his ears.  Ninety-six years old and he still can't lie for shit.

The person, (man? Zuko was pretty sure it was a man,) chuckled as he set down the box right inside the door before grabbing a bag full of pastries from it.  "So, you're saying if I shoved this bag of pastries into your arms it would just end up in the garbage?" they asked, and he had to fight from visibly drooling at the sight of the food.  

"Of course not," Zuko replied, just barely managing to keep his hands at his sides to prevent himself from giving into temptation and just grabbing the thing, "Why in the world would I waste perfectly good pastries?"

"Sounds like I'd be giving them to the right person then," the man said with a victorious smile on his face, "Now, how many bags do you want?  It was a slow day yesterday, so we have plenty of pastries to spare.  No one really likes them when they're a day old."

Zuko eyed the bag that the man was holding.  "One bag should be enough to feed me and my siblings," Zuko admitted, although the kids were more like his children than his siblings.

The man's smile fell, and Zuko wondered what had upset him.  He dropped the bag of pastries he had been holding into the box before thrusting it at him.  Zuko barely managed to suppress a flinch at the sudden movement, although it was better that then instinctively punching out with flames.  "Take them," the man said as he held the box out towards Zuko, "You probably need them more."

Zuko hesitantly took the box thanking the man quietly.  It wouldn't hurt to see if he could provide more information, would it? He decided it would be best to try and get as much information as he could, especially since he would have to head straight back to the others with the food.  They could probably make it last for a bit, which would be nice.  It would mean that their biggest worry would be water and shelter for the time being.

"Anything I should know about the area?" Zuko asked hesitantly as he shifted the box in his hands to make it more comfortable to hold, "We're new."

"Don't be out late at night," the man started, the advice something that tended to be a more universal thing than he'd been hoping for, "There are several bars in the area, so drunks are far more common.  There's also a haunted house a few blocks away.  It's rather obvious considering how overgrown it is compared to its neighbors.  The haunting is actually real so don't go trying to prove yourself by going inside.  Nobody's been killed but it's only a matter of time."

"Okay," Zuko told him, although he was definitely going to go check it out.  Considering how long he had spent dealing with the spirits of his world an unruly ghost would probably be fairly easy to deal with.  Besides, whether it was a spirit or a person he was pretty sure that he could handle it.  "Thanks for the information."

The man waved him off as he went back into the bakery, the door closing behind him.  Zuko went and scouted out the area, finding the house that the man had described rather easily.  He took a quick trip into the house and found that there wasn't a spirit there, but there was a boy covered in bandages, curled up on a mattress in one of the rooms. He supposed that the boy might be the source of the rumors, either making them up so people would leave the house alone, allowing him to squat in peace, or causing all of the phenomena that led people to believe that it was haunted.  

Zuko left the house determined to come back later with the kids.  They could probably talk the current resident of the house into letting them stay, as he could provide them with food and warmth at the very least.  Everything else could wait until he had gotten a job and he would be able to afford taking care of them, but one more child wasn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

He made his way back to where he had left the children with Druk and was relieved to find that they were safe, still cuddled together on the metal structure.  At least they were until Shouto, who he must have woken up when he jumped up onto the structure with the box of food, scrambled from his spot between his siblings into Zuko's lap.  Natsuo and Fuyumi rose rubbing their sides where Shouto had stepped on them in his mad dash to get to him.

Zuko held Shouto close, not missing how the boy clung to him, his tiny hands fisted in his jacket.  "It's okay," he soothed, the position reminding him of how he cared for Izumi after nightmares, "I'm okay.  Things are fine.  I just went out to find food."

The mention of food had the other two perking up, and Zuko pulled out one of the bags of pastries that he had been given from the bakery.  He pulled out a few of the pastries, about the size of his hand, and upon noting how cold and hard they were, he channeled a bit of warmth into his hand, enough to warm the pastries but not burn them.  Natsuo grabbed one of them, the surprise on his face rather obvious.  "How did you make it warm?" he asked before taking a bite of it, "Is that your quirk?"

Zuko remembered them using that term earlier, but he still didn't know what it meant, so he decided to be as blunt as possible and figure out what was going on later.  "I'm a firebender," he told them, the blank looks on their faces telling him that he really wasn't in the four nations anymore, "I can produce and control fire.  I heated them up by warming up my hands just enough to transfer heat to them."

"That's cool," Shouto said, his eyes starry as he accepted one of the pastries before turning to face his siblings, although it allowed him to settle fully into Zuko's lap, cuddling as close as he could.

He smiled, glad that they weren't afraid of him being a firebender.  It had been a long time since he had come across someone who feared firebenders on sight, but they still existed.  However, when he had been sixteen the first time, it was difficult for him to leave the fire nation and not have to deal with at least one person that hated him on sight because he was a firebender and thus evil. He went through the bag eventually finding a fruity pastry for Druk.  The dragon had a sweet tooth to rival Aang, not that anyone but Zuko knew it.

With everyone else taken care of Zuko took out a pastry for himself, warming it between his hands until it softened.  He took a bite out of it, the bread giving way to a sweet but sort of spicy filling.  It was good, although quite a bit sweeter than he was used to, and he was curious as to what it was.  It wasn't a pastry that he was familiar with, and he pondered what it was as he slowly devoured it.  Fuyumi seemed to have decided to wait until he was done eating to ask, "What are we going to do now?"

Zuko leaned back against the railing, his hand snaking around Shouto's stomach as the boy sat in his lap licking the sugar off of his fingers.  "While I was out getting food, I found a place where we might be able to stay," He told them, a stern look keeping them from cheering at the news, as Zuko didn't want to find out that the building they were next to was inhabited by them waking up the residents, "When we're ready to go we can head over there and see about settling down."

Natsuo and Fuyumi cheered silently, the need to curb their enthusiasm unable to fully contain their excitement, but at least they weren't being loud about it.  Shouto appeared to be rather indifferent, instead burrowing into Zuko's chest.  Zuko smiled softly as he tightened his hold a little keeping the young boy secure against his chest.  He could do this. 

Chapter Text

Touya, or Dabi as he was thinking of calling himself, got up late in the morning and wandered down to the kitchen, wondering what he should do for food that day.  He had some canned goods that he managed to snag from a donation bin for the local homeless shelter, but he should attempt to save those and see if it would be possible for him to nab something from one of the local shops.  There was a bakery a couple blocks away that he might be able to beg some day old pastries from, although given how late in the day it probably was they might not have anything left.  He knew he wasn't the only person in the area that begged food off of them.

He might be able to get some items from a nearby convenience store.  Most people tended to turn a blind eye to him after seeing his bandages because it made them uncomfortable.  He'd used it more than once to shoplift items, and he would do it again if he had to.  At least he had a safe place to sleep at night.

Most people thought the house was haunted.  It had been the thing that had originally drawn Touya to it.  He was practically dead already so what did it matter if he hung around people who were actually dead.  If it wasn't haunted, then he either had a place to stay or someone who would put him out of his misery.

As it turned out, the place wasn't haunted, just empty.  There were some signs of habitation, but after a month of no one showing up and claiming the clothes and other shit in the house, he figured they must have moved on already.  He'd done some exploring after that and had come across a journal in one of the rooms that apparently belonged to the person who started the rumor, someone who had a quirk that could make them invisible for short periods of time.  They had found the place while it was between hands, started the rumor, and then used their quirk to make it seem real while they were squatting there.  The last entry had mentioned that they had finally gotten a job so he assumed that meant they had finally gotten a place of their own, although he couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just buy the house.

Although, with how much work would probably have to be put into making the place livable and the fact that utilities are a thing, he could kind of understand it.  The paint was peeling off both the walls inside the house and outside.  It was also kind of drafty and one of the windows was definitely stuck.  The insulation also wasn't that great, and he was already considering what he would do when fall gave way to winter.  Summer may have just ended but with how many other people he knew were out on the street in the area, he didn't want to have to fight for the space.

A couple of thuds from just outside the house pulled him out of his thoughts and he ducked behind the counter, ready to throw flames at any threat that might present itself.  It was well known in the neighborhood that the place was abandoned, but that didn't mean that there weren't dumb teens like himself that would be willing to take the risk.  He could hear the sound of hushed voices as the back door creaked open.  There were multiple sets of footsteps, and Touya couldn't help but be curious.  He peeked over the counter to get a good look at the intruders and was met with two very familiar figures.  "Fuyumi?  Natsuo?"

"Touya?" his younger siblings asked in unison as they turned to look at him, sounding exactly like they had when he had, somewhat accidentally, faked his death six months before.

He left his hiding place behind the counter.  For as much as Fuyumi defended their father, she had never tried to hurt him.  Natsuo on the other hand had shared his views, although he made no attempt to act on them.  However, just as he stepped out into the open, a third figure entered, closing the door behind them.  The third figure was taller than either of them, wearing all black and was holding a bundle to their right hip while they closed the door with their left hand.  "Who's that?" Touya asked as he stepped back behind the counter just in case.

The tall figure turned to look at him, a large burn scar stretching across the left side of their face.  Touya could also see that the bundle on their hip was none other than Shouto, who briefly glanced towards him before burrowing his head into the stranger's shoulder.  Natsuo ran forward saying, "That's Zuko.  I'm so happy your alive!"

He found himself being engulfed in a bear hug by his younger brother, aggravating the damage caused by his injuries, causing him to hiss in pain.  Natsuo seemed to have heard it, as he released Touya just as quickly with a mumbled apology.  Fuyumi approached at a much slower pace, and hesitantly opened her arms for a hug. He debated whether or not to give it to her, her aloofness and apathy towards him when they were living together still stinging slightly, before finally deciding that he would be willing to give her this, since it had probably taken a lot for her to leave their father.  She had been the only one of them to believe in him after all, so her leaving meant that something made her lose faith in him, something more than Touya dying.  It was hard not to be bitter about that.

Her hug wasn't as hard as Natsuo's but the contact still hurt.  He managed to keep from expressing it though, somewhat used to having to deal with some level of pain every time he interacted with anything. The stranger had stopped about halfway across the room before kneeling on the floor with Shouto on his propped up knee.  "Hi, I'm Zuko," he said, giving Touya a small wave, "Are you living here?"

He stared at him, trying to figure out if he should trust him or not.  His siblings seemed to, considering they were letting him carry Shouto, but that didn't mean he should.  "So, what if I am?" Touya countered as he crossed his arms, ignoring the pain such an action caused him, as the bandages tightened on the injured and tender skin.

Zuko just shrugged saying, "Then are you okay with us staying here with you?"

He didn't know what to do.  It was clear that his siblings trusted him, and he was acting more polite than a lot of people Touya had run into out here, but he was still a stranger.  There was no telling what he would do if he said no, so it would just be easier to say yes if only because it would mean he could keep an eye on him.  "Sure," he told him with a shrug, hoping that he managed to keep his suspicion out of his voice, "But you're responsible for your own food."

Zuko nodded, before whispering with Shouto, who didn't seem to want to let him go.  Touya didn't know what to make of that.  He'd only ever seen Shouto being carried by their mother or led around by their father, always at a distance, well except for that one incident.  Seeing him in a stranger's arms, especially with how clingy he was being, he didn't know what to think. Shouto had been the one born perfect, the ideal heir, the masterpiece for as long as he'd been alive, but separated from their father he almost looked like he was trying to hide.  Part of Touya wondered if he was trying to hog Zuko's attention as well.

Then Shouto turned to face him, and he saw the bandages that covered his left eye. He could have only gotten that in training.  Touya almost wanted to laugh at the irony, that their father had clearly damaged the child he wanted to become his successor, to defeat All Might.  The injury under the bandages probably wasn't all that different from the scar on Zuko's face. It made sense why Shouto would be clinging to him then.  Father wasn't great, which made a random stranger a definite upgrade, especially since they could somewhat understand what he’d been through.

Shouto very reluctantly detached himself from Zuko's coat as he slid onto the floor, leaving the blanket behind.  Zuko's right hand rubbed his back while the left reached into the front pocket of the hoodie.  The hand exited a moment later with a red lizard that he handed to Shouto.  He held the lizard cautiously as the older boy stood, draping the blanket he'd been bundled in onto the nearest piece of furniture, which happened to be a rather worn armchair.

Zuko then slipped out of the house, his footsteps surprisingly silent as he left.  Fuyumi went over to Shouto, talking softly with him while the lizard moved from his hands to around his neck, making it look like a small scarf instead of an animal. The two of them went to the couch sitting down together.  "What happened?" Touya found himself asking as he stared at a sight that he never would have thought possible before today.  He'd been certain that nothing short of a miracle would have gotten Fuyumi to abandon their parents, clinging to the thought of a normal family tighter than she had clung to her own siblings.

"Well after you 'died' things got worse," Natsuo told him, his expression part way between a grimace and a scowl, "Apparently Father had been doing something to Mom, leading to her being terrified of him.  She was so scared that when Shouto surprised her while she was making tea, she threw the kettle at him resulting in the injury on his face."

"Mom did that?!" Touya exclaimed incredulously, louder than he probably should have as he saw Shouto flinch out of the corner of his eye.

If there was one person that he would have thought incapable of harming Shouto it would have been their mother.  She had pretty much abandoned the rest of them after he had been born, and Touya often saw her cradling him in her arms with a gentle smile on her face, a smile that none of them had been on the receiving end of for years.  Of course, she hadn't really cared about them getting hurt in the past, so he supposed escalating to hurting them herself was just an eventuality that he hadn't considered.

"Yep," Natsuo stated as he crossed his arms, the scowl fully engulfing his face, "Father had her put in a mental institution for having damaged his Masterpiece.  Zuko appeared in Shouto's room last night after having been hit by a quirk, and well, he's better than father."

Touya actually snorted at that.  "Like that's a hard bar to clear," he retorted, "I'm honestly surprised that you trust him as much as you do."

"It's not that hard," his brother replied with a shrug, "He clearly cares and Shouto's way too attached.  The only way Zuko can get him to let go is if he leaves Druk with him."

Before Touya could respond to that the door opened, admitting Zuko who was carrying a cardboard box that had cloth spilling over the edge of it.  Shouto shot up, rushing to him while he was closing the door behind him.  Touya watched, expecting the older boy to get bowled over or tripped up by the five-year-old attacking his leg, but he managed to not only keep his feet but keep walking, even with Shouto clinging to his leg.

The box was deposited on the coffee table, and Zuko picked Shouto up before sitting down on the couch.  He settled him on his lap before glancing between the three of them.  "Would it be rude of me to ask how you three know each other?" he asked, which honestly startled Touya.

"This is our older brother Touya," Fuyumi stated, her face oddly closed off as she stared at the stranger, "We thought he had died about six months ago."

Zuko nodded in acceptance, not a hint of recognition at the story.  That was strange.  Touya knew full well that news of his death had circulated for weeks after it happened, a scandal that had marred his father's reputation since he had failed to save his son despite being in the area.  He had almost laughed at how he had gotten more recognition from his father thinking he was dead then he ever had when he was alive.  The laughter had turned to tears before it had ever cleared his throat and stained the bandages that had been on his face.  He'd spent most of the time ever since trying not to think about it.

"Why did you do that anyway?" Natsuo inquired, drawing the attention of the room to Touya, making him want to crawl out of his skin.  Well, what little skin that hadn't been burned off in the fire.

"It wasn't intentional," Touya told them doing his best to avoid shifting nervously and aggravating his wounds, doing his best to ignore thinking about the days right after the accident where he was too overwhelmed by the pain to be able to think properly much less be able to do anything, "I don't really remember what happened but when I was finally conscious again it had been several days and I had already been declared dead."

Touya tried not to think about the laboratory looking space where he had woken up, or the creepy doctor that had apparently been taking care of him.  He tried to banish the echo of the panic he had felt at being in the unfamiliar space, hurt and seemingly helpless.  He had run at the first opportunity, even if it meant he was out on the street with no idea where he was or how long he had been out of it.  He'd been able to scrounge newspapers that filled in the blanks, his death written in large bold letters for everyone to see.

"I get that," Zuko offered pulling him out of his thoughts, his tone far too casual considering what Touya had just said, "I was declared dead once after someone blew up the ship I was on.  I had been on the deck and blown out to sea, although I managed to make it back to land.  However, it turned out everyone thought I was dead, so I went into hiding."

"When did this happen?" Touya asked, wracking his brain trying to think of anything like what Zuko had described having been reported to have happened within the last couple of years, "And why don't you recognize us?  The story was reported all over Japan.  You had to have been living under a rock not to know this!"

"There's a simple explanation for that," Zuko stated, looking slightly nervous, "I'm not from around here.  I don't know what quirks are, or what Japan is, and the technology I've seen is far more advanced than anything from where I came from."

Touya stared at the older boy, not expecting that.  He honestly shouldn't be that surprised.  Quirks can do a lot of things, but someone appearing from a world that didn't have quirks or Japan and yet was able to speak perfect Japanese was unusual.  "How do you know Japanese then?" Natsuo asked, looking as stunned as Touya felt, "If you have no Japan where you come from then how can you speak our language?"

"This is fire speak," Zuko stated, his brow furrowing thoughtfully, "It's the language of the Fire Nation.  Is Japan an island nation?"

"It is," Fuyumi answered, looking intrigued by this turn of events.

"So, things aren't completely different between here and the four nations," Zuko mused thoughtfully, "I suppose that quirks are probably the equivalent of bending then.  Do you just have earth, water, fire, and air or are there more varieties?"

"Quirks can be just about anything," Fuyumi explained as she pulled out her phone tapping something out on the screen, probably to pull up examples, "The first recorded quirk was of a baby that glowed.  Our father has a quirk that allows him to produce and control flames, although I'm pretty sure he can only control the flames he produces.  Our mother on the other hand has a quirk that lets her produce and control ice.  Touya has a fire quirk like our father's, Natsuo and I have ice quirks like our mother's and Shouto got a blend of both."

Zuko nodded along to the explanation, seeming to understand what he was being told.  "Bending is a little different," he informed them, the hand not in contact with Shouto extending, a small flame appearing in the palm, "A bender can manipulate their element.  Airbenders can manipulate air, waterbenders manipulate water, earthbenders manipulate earth and firebenders manipulate fire.  Fire benders are the only ones that can produce their element as air, water, and earth are readily available in the natural world.  There are subclassifications of each of the bending types allowing an earthbender to bend metal, or a waterbender to manipulate ice."

The flame in Zuko's hand danced merrily, changing colors as he talked before disappearing as he closed his hand.  "That's cool," Natsuo commented his eyes bright and curious, "What are the subtypes of firebending?"

"The main one is lightning bending," Zuko told them as his hand went up to scratch Druk's head, "And I will not be demonstrating it.  It is loud and destructive, especially when done incorrectly.  I've had it blow up in my face more than once."

"Is that how you got your scar?" Touya asked without thinking.

Fuyumi and Natsuo froze while Shouto buried his face in Zuko's chest, but Zuko himself didn't look too bothered by the question.  "You aren't the first person to think that" he admitted, his hand going to rub Shouto's back comfortingly, "But it takes a lot of effort to burn a firebender.  We don't burn easy so any burns we have come from someone intentionally doing it.  In my case, my father was angry at me for speaking out of turn and held me down as he burned my face."

Touya felt vaguely ill at that, but he was also kind of jealous.  Every time he used his quirk he risked getting burned, while Zuko didn't really have to worry about that.  It made something twist in his chest, but it was tempered by the knowledge that for the burn to be as bad as the one on his face was, it had to have hurt a lot.

The heavy silence that had fallen upon the room was abruptly broken by Touya's stomach growling.  Part of him was glad that he had bandages covering what was left of his face because he's pretty sure he would have flushed as the room's attention turned on him.  Zuko grabbed the box with the cloth in it, removing the cloth from the top to reveal bags of pastries.  He felt his mouth water at the sight of the food, the reminder that he hadn't eaten yet had him inching closer.  "Go ahead and pick whatever you want," Zuko told him as he held out the bag, "There's plenty to go around, although it will only last a couple of days.  However, that does mean we will have a few days to get more food."

Touya debated with himself whether or not to mention the canned goods he had stashed in the kitchen.  He ultimately decided not to.  If they needed them then he would bring it up, but it wasn't like they would go very far split between the five of them anyway.  He sat in one of the armchairs, the one closest to the door just in case, savoring the sweet treat that he was devouring.  Some shuffling had him zeroing in on the source of the sound to find Natsuo sitting in the armchair across from him, pulling a notebook out of his backpack.

"If we want to stay out of father's hands we're going to need to come up with new identities," Natsuo stated as he opened the notebook to a specific page, one that looked a little crinkled and worn, "We're going to need different names and probably quirks too.  I've got a list of ideas I had been thinking about using when I finally got away."

"You have a list of alternate identities?" Touya asked incredulously, finding it hard to believe that this was his little brother, "Why in the world did you make that?"

Natsuo's face darkened as he met Touya's eyes a chill running down his spine.  "You died Touya," he stressed, his words thick and wet like he was barely holding back tears, "You died, and nothing changed.  Not really.  Shouto was still isolated, and Fuyumi and I might as well not have existed.  Father wasn't going to change, and things weren't going to get better.  And then mom broke.  There was no living in that house, only surviving until we could get out."

His volume rose as he spoke, eventually leading him to rise from the chair as tears started to pour down his face.  Touya had shrunk back into the armchair, unsure of what he could do to appease Natsuo or calm him down.  Zuko intervened, Shouto sitting on his hip as he got up and pulled Natsuo into his chest, the arm not holding Shouto rubbing Natsuo's back.  His arms encircled Shouto and Zuko as he sobbed into the older boy’s chest.  Shouto got in on it too, hugging Natsuo's head as he cried.  Fuyumi rose joining the hug from opposite Shouto, and Touya, feeling awful for having pushed his brother to the point of crying got in close unsure what to do.  He really didn't want to join the hug, already having enough trouble with his bandages as it was, but he also felt awkward just standing there, especially since he was the reason Natsuo was upset.

He put his hand on Natsuo's shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze in apology.  He turned slightly, just enough that he was able to give Touya a small wet smile.  With that he started to pull back from Zuko, causing the others to release him.  "Thanks," he said as he retreated to where his stuff sat, wiping his nose on his sleeve as he went, "I needed that."

Zuko gave a nod of acceptance before moving to sit down again, the action prompting the rest of them to follow.  As Touya sat he looked around the room and was struck by how strange it was to have his siblings here, filling a space that he had accepted would remain empty months ago.  They had never been able to sit around like this, and part of him couldn't help but wonder how long it would last.

"So Zuko," Natsuo started, a pencil poised over a fresh page of his notebook, "Do you want me to make you an identity or...?"

"That would be best," Zuko told him as he leaned back on the couch, "I don't know much about the technology you use here, so I think it would be best if I left it up to the expert.  I'm going to need an identity here if I’m going to take care of the four of you after all."

Touya's mind halted at that.  He hadn't expected to have been added to the group so easily.  Sure, they were his siblings, but Zuko was a stranger, and the fact that he was taking care of them at all was kind of weird.  Even their own parents hadn't really taken care of them, their father having hired a housekeeper to feed and clothe them rather than doing it himself, and Mother had stopped trying when Shouto had been born.  And Zuko, someone who couldn’t be that much older than him was going to take care of all four of them.

"Why?" Touya inquired, his mind too stuck on Zuko's words.

"My father threw me out at thirteen," Zuko told him, his expression a mixture of anger and sorrow, "I know how hard it can be to have no place to go and no support.  I had to shoulder the burden alone before.  If I can keep you from having to do the same, then I will."

Touya couldn't help but stare at him, unsure of what he could possibly say to that, eventually letting himself be drawn into Natsuo's talk about their new identities. 

Chapter Text

Natsuo slipped out of the house early in the afternoon.  It was nice to be away from his bastard of a father, especially with his siblings, but they needed to keep an eye on the news, something that couldn't happen at the place they were currently staying.  The house had no electricity or running water, which wasn't that much of a problem, but if he wanted to keep up on the news he would need internet access, and charge in his laptop.  So, he slipped off to find the nearest public library and set up in one of their study rooms if possible.

He disguised himself before he left, although he didn't put too much effort into it.  The beanie covering his hair wasn't really out of season as it was starting to get colder and considering how he was trying to imitate Touya's dress style it made the inclusion of the beanie more believable.  With his red streaks hidden beneath the hat, no one would know that he had heterochromatic hair, and thus would have a harder time linking him to Endeavor.

Natsuo managed to find a library about four blocks away from the house, and there was plenty of space for him to set up shop, right next to an outlet even.  He got out his laptop, and after doing a check around the room to make sure that no one was paying too much attention to him, set his things up.  As his laptop booted up, he pulled out his notebook of things that needed to be done to keep them safe.  It had started long before they had actually run away, but he had made some very important additions now that they had Zuko with them.

He was going to have to see if he was in the system, checking to see if he really didn't exist here, or if the quirk or cosmic force that brought him to Shouto's room had just taken someone and implanted his memories into them.  Natsuo honestly doubted it since it would have been too much work, and Zuko didn't seem too surprised by his appearance, but you could never tell with quirks.  When he was nowhere to be found, Natsuo got to work making hiss new identity.  He was going to need it if he was going to get a job.

Natsuo couldn't help the smile that slid onto his face at the thought of Touya's shocked look the day before when Zuko was talking about taking care of them.  It made sense why he was shocked.  If father couldn't be bothered than why would a random stranger be willing to take care of them. He had spent so much time doing everything for himself that it was probably weird to have to rely on someone else for once.

Natsuo logged on to his laptop and went straight to his browser.  He would need to set up the redirects before going to the records and making their new identities, and he might as well check the news while he was at it.  Natsuo went to the first news site that popped up, and he wasn't surprised to see Endeavor's face front and center.  Almost every article seemed to be about the investigation into Natsuo and his sibling's disappearances, although they seemed to be focused on Shouto with him and Fuyumi being almost after thoughts.  One of the articles seemed to speculate on the home situation, given that their mother had been put in a mental institution less than a month before, but it was buried by all the other articles. He had a feeling that that was intentional.

Natsuo moved on after that, going through the process of setting up the long chain of signal redirections.  He was glad that he had gotten a VPN for the laptop that auto renewed each year with the charges being sent to his father's credit card.  Endeavor obviously hadn't noticed or just didn't care.  Either way it meant that he had good protection on his laptop and wasn't going to have to pressure Zuko with the impending charge to renew that service.  He had a feeling that he would have renewed it if asked, which was kind of weird to think about.  This sixteen year old from another world was more willing to take care of them than their own father.  Just kind of shows how sucky Endeavor is.

With the long and complicated path set up Natsuo turned his attention to his target, the city's public records. He had been interested in making fake identities after watching a movie with his friends where spies hired hackers to make them fake identities so they could go on the run from their governments.  It had been kind of silly and cliche, especially with the romance between the two spies, but it had led to him deciding to look into what went into making fake identities.

His skill with computers served him well, as he was able to learn a lot about what official documents and the like looked like, as well as all the information that was needed to make a fake identity look authentic.  It had made him aware of just how much went into creating a fake identity, especially if you wanted it to hold up to scrutiny.  It went beyond just making up a fake name and details to make things seem legit.  You had to plan for people to dig deeper, which meant that you weren't just creating one fake identity, you had to create at least three.  One for the person and two for their parents.  Now there were some ways to cheat, like removing the father from the picture, but it would definitely be more legitimate with both parents.

Natsuo had spent six months planning this out and had manage to work out almost four generations back.  Going back much further would require altering the records even more as it would be in the flux period when quirks were becoming more common and thus one was not always guaranteed to have a quirk.  Natsuo had practically made a game out of it, pitching it as a story to his friends, giving him plenty of ideas for the exploits of the family that Natsuo was going to pretend was his own.  He'd thrown a lot of the crazier stuff out, like the idea that his grandparents were fraternal twins that had been separated at birth and married not knowing this fact.  That was just going too far, but simple things like his grandmother being a baker who had a fire quirk that she used to enhance her baking was something that was honestly kind of nice and went with one of the stories that Zuko told them.

He had to make sure that they weren't too crazy, as he couldn't have them standing out.  If they stood out then people would attempt to find them elsewhere, and he didn't want to have to go and alter archives to plant news articles about this crazy thing that happened.  Their family would be best to stay small and average.  It probably wasn't going to stay that way, not with Zuko being as far from average or normal as you could get, but that was fine.  Extraordinary people often had rather humble origins.  All Might was a perfect example of this, as he seemed to come out of nowhere and became the greatest hero in seemingly the whole world.

There were some additions that he made to his outlined story though.  Zuko had told them about his uncle and cousin, giving names and descriptions of them, although he mention that they were also dead.  Apparently his cousin had died when he was ten, and his uncle had died more recently due to stress and old age.  Natsuo had to tease details about his aunt out of him, although it turned out that Zuko didn't know that much since she had died in childbirth, which was was good ten years before he was born.  So he could have a little fun with it, although not too much.

After setting up their family history, Natsuo got to work on setting up their identities.  Zuko's name didn't really need to be changed, since there wasn't anyone that would really be able to link him to the missing Todoroki's.  The rest of their names were pretty common, but they were kind of concerned that if they all kept their names that they would be found simply because it would be rather suspicious to have kids the right age with the right names.

They had all agreed that Shouto's name wasn't going to change.  He wanted to keep it, so they were going to let him keep it.  Fuyumi had decided to change her name though, opting to go by Keiko, a name that she had always thought was cute.  Touya wanted to change his name as well, but pretty much everyone had vetoed Dabi.  It was too unique and would stick out to most people, so they managed to find a name that was a little more common.  Shingo was a little unconventional, but not as out there as Dabi, so he was placated for the most part.  Natsuo had opted to default to something generic, his new name being Saburo, a standard name for a third son, which would help to hide them more.

The next part which had probably been even harder was deciding what their quirks were going to be listed as.  Zuko could pretend to have a really generic fire quirk, something that would be supported by his bending, something that didn't get much of a flowery description because of how a dime a dozen they seemed to be.  Shouto wouldn't be able to hide his, too young to have learned enough control to not accidentally use it, but they couldn't use the term half hot half cold.  Natsuo decided to call it elemental manipulation, as they could probably bullshit that so far, he had only expressed fire and ice while implying that as his quirk develops it could turn into more.

Touya's decision had been the most surprising, as he opted to be listed as quirkless.  Natsuo and Fuyumi had both asked him if he was sure about it, and he had told them firmly that he was.  It was the best way to hide him since most people wouldn't look twice, and with how injured he was because of their "accident" it would help sell the whole act.  Fuyumi was keeping her ice quirk, albeit under a different name.  It would make Shouto's quirk seem more plausible considering the fact that if they all had fake quirks people would start to wonder where the ice Shouto showed had come from.  Natsuo understood her reasoning, so it made it onto her official records.  As for himself, he decided to use his skill with technology to his advantage and claimed that his quirk allowed him an innate understanding of technology, so he could use any technology as soon as he got his hands on it.  It was kind of risky, but wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

After that Natsuo set up school records, basing them off of their own.  Touya's rather average grades didn't seem too out of place given his decision to be labeled as quirkless, while Natsuo and Fuyumi’s were pretty good. He hadn't been too sure about what to do for Zuko's, given that he had told them how he’d apparently done poorly with his teachers, but that didn't seem to reflect his actual knowledge.  Natsuo ultimately decided to give Zuko better than average but not amazing grades.  He didn't have any for Shouto since the accident that killed their "parents" would have happened right before the school year, and given what was implied to have happened afterward, none of them would have been in school.  Natsuo could only hope that the schools they managed to find would be sympathetic to their plight.  After all, Zuko working to provide for them would paint a pretty tragic picture, one that most people would fall for in a second.

Speaking of working, it would probably be a good idea for him to do up a resume for Zuko.  Considering what he had told them the day before, they likely didn't have resumes, and if he was going to get a job, he was going to need it.  It wasn't that difficult to write up given the fact that he had literally just made up most of the information, although it was going to be rather difficult with a lack of address and phone number.  Natsuo decided that he could let him use his cell phone for now, and they could figure out the rest later, but the lack of an address was going to hurt them.

Resolving to come back to it later when they would have a better answer for it, Natsuo took a moment to check the news once again before getting ready to leave.  There wasn't that much of a difference, which made sense, as he had only been at it for a few hours, but the news of their disappearances had been diluted with news of villain fights and other attention grabbing headlines.  It didn't take Endeavor's face off the headlining story, but it did make it seem like less of an overpowering presence.  With that thought, he closed the browser and logged off, heading home to his family.

Zuko was kind of nervous as he made his way to the bakery.  The man he’d met the day before was really nice, and he hoped that he would be able to help him, but he wasn't the best with talking to people.  The closest he had ever come to talking with someone normally had been with his friends, and if he was being honest, none of them were normal.  After he had been crowned everyone else had treated him formally, and despite his best efforts, he hadn't managed to get them to tone it down much.  Even after he retired, he was constantly being bowed to and called his formal title, by everyone but his family and friends.  Friends that had died off much faster than he would have liked.

He shook his head, doing his best to banish those thoughts as he approached the bakery.  The owner, (employee? manager?) hadn't seemed to mind Zuko's awkward mannerisms the day before, so hopefully it would be fine now.  That was assuming that they would be the one manning the counter. He knew from his time working at Pao's tea shop that the owner didn't necessarily work, and employees wouldn't always be friendly.  He was a perfect example of that.

As Zuko slipped into the bakery he took a moment to look at the baked goods they had on display.  He recognized a few of them from the bags that he had been given the day before, while some of them were ones that he recognized from when Deku had taught him how to cook or when he had gone to Seiji about learning to bake so he could make cookies with his grandkids.  Seiji had taught him how to use his firebending to heat food, which she like to use to make the bread dough rise faster.

Zuko was pulled from his thoughts as a familiar voice called, "Hey there kiddo."

He barely suppressed the urge to snarl, 'I'm not a kid'. He would have vehemently protested the label at sixteen, he had protested it at thirteen, but having gone through the process of raising his own child he knew that until you are undeniably an adult you will always be a kid. So Zuko glanced up at the counter to see the man from yesterday standing there at the register. He was kind of glad that it was recognizable considering how different the world was. "Hi."

Zuko had to resist the urge to hide his face in his hands at that lame greeting.  He really was sixteen again and just as awkward as ever. The man didn't seem to mind though as he leaned forward in a very casual position.  "So how are your siblings?" the man asked, and he was kind of surprised that the man remembered that.

"They're good," Zuko told the man, not seeing any reason to be unfriendly as long as he didn't accidentally reveal too much, "They were happy to have the pastries.  They were really good."

"I'm glad to hear that," the man replied with a smile, "Are they in school right now?"

Zuko wasn't quite sure what to say, so he opted to take the out that the stranger gave him, hoping that he wouldn't ask for details.  "Yeah."

"So why aren't you in school?" he asked, making Zuko feel kind of stupid for not realizing what the true follow up question was going to be.

"I'm looking for a job," he admitted, wanting to fidget to relieve some of the tension, but the feeling was squashed by instincts that had been reawakened by his young body, "Since our parents are gone someone has to take care of us.  I was actually hoping to ask you if anyone is hiring."

The man looked rather surprised at that as he straightened, a concerned look on his face.  He opened his mouth as if to ask a question, but apparently thought better of it as his gaze settled on Zuko's scar.  He then relaxed his posture as he asked, "Would you be willing to start tomorrow?"

It took him longer than it probably should have for him to realize what the man was implying.  "What time do you want me to show up?"

"How does eight sound?" the man offered, a soft smile on his face.

"I'll be there," Zuko told him as he gave a shallow but grateful bow, "You won't be disappointed."

"I don't doubt it kid," the man replied, his smile growing brighter, "Do I get to know my new employee's name?"

"Yoshida Zuko," he offered, glad that he had talked with Natsuo about it the night before.  He would definitely have been on the spot if they hadn't come up with a proper family name, at least he assumed so.  Not many people had family names back in the four nations.  That was reserved for nobility since they were important enough to have one, although as part of the royal family it hadn't been necessary for him.  It was going to be kind of weird to have to tag on that first part from now on, but it was going to help the kids so he would get used to it.

"Miyake Hiroki," the man told him as he held out a hand in what Zuko assumed had to be greeting.  It was kind of like the water tribe grasping forearms he guessed, although the man definitely grabbed his hand as soon as it was close enough.  He let the man go through the motion shaking his hand up and down before releasing it. The action was weird but once again, something he was going to have to get used to.

Zuko left after that not wanting to overstay his welcome or get roped into a conversation that might lead to him having to lie.  He was grateful for the man giving him a chance, but he had four kids to protect, and he wasn't going to put himself in a position that might compromise their safety.  The man was still a stranger after all, a kind one that was helping him, but a stranger none the less.  He did his best to ignore the voice in his head reminding him that the kids were strangers too.  It wasn't hard, since they were kids, and he had always had a soft spot for protecting people, especially kids.

Zuko slipped into a store on the way back to the house.  They had been discussing how the kids were going to disguise themselves the other day, and Touya had mentioned dyeing their hair black. He didn't really know much about dye, or at least hair dye, but Fuyumi had explained it for the most part.  He figured it was probably best if he picked it up on the way home so they would be able to learn how to use it and see what they looked like with the dye in their hair.  It would also mean that the kids would be less at risk of getting caught, since their faces were being plastered all over the place.

Zuko kind of understood it.  He would have been desperate to get Izumi, Tom Tom, or Kiyi back if they had gone missing, but from the short segment he had seen of the interview with Endeavor, Shouto was the only one he seemed interested in getting back. He had shuddered when the pro hero called him, 'his masterpiece'.  It reminded him too much of his own father, who had constantly exalted Azula as the perfect daughter, up until she no longer fit his standards of perfection.  That hardened his resolve, and he knew that if Endeavor ever did find them that Zuko would fight tooth and claw to keep them out of his hands.

He found the cosmetics section mostly by luck, recognizing some of the powders as ones that were often used in court, before finding what he was looking for.  It had taken a bit of searching as there were whole sections dedicated to what felt like singular products.  Zuko didn't really understand why there were several different types of the same item with wildly varying prices.  He grabbed a few boxes of the cheapest black dye and stopped by the medicine aisle.

Shouto's bandages needed changing.  Zuko's would have as well, except he had taken advantage of the kids falling asleep early the night before to deal with it then.  He wasn't surprised to find that there was some dried blood on them as he had torn the new skin of the scar, but it wasn't that hard to deal with.  Using some of the water that they had produced through combined use of the kids' ice quirks and his bending, he cleaned his chest and then used fire healing to take care of the tear.

Fire healing was something he had discovered with Katara following an assassination attempt when they were doing their best to try and save the guards who had protected him.  While trying to cauterize a wound, Zuko instead healed it, leaving only a minor scar where the guard had been stabbed.  Zuko had passed out afterwards, but knowing that it was possible, he spent years learning how to cultivate the skill, eventually teaching it to others allowing the hospitals in the fire nation to become more effective.

Zuko had decided that he wasn't going to skimp on the medical supplies.  Sure, he could heal, but he wasn't about to offer that information up to the kids just yet, since holding a flame to your injury, especially if it had been a burn, doesn't really look like it would heal it.  With the supplies in hand, he made his way to check out, being fortunate enough to have come at a time when the store wasn't all that busy, meaning the wait wasn't that long.  The cashier checked out the items and had spent half a second looking like they wanted to say something, but their mouth slammed shut upon seeing his face.  Zuko had no idea what they were thinking, but he was glad that they didn't say anything.  He wasn't good at conversation, especially with strangers.

"So, whose hair are we doing first?" Touya asked as he stared at Fuyumi who was reading the instructions for the hair dye for what felt like the hundredth time since Zuko brought it home.  He couldn't help but wonder how she didn't have the label memorized by now.

"We can't do Shouto's," she said as she put the bottle of dye down on the coffee table before plopping down on the couch, "Not until his face is completely healed.  The bandages would get in the way, and I don't want to risk it getting infected.  The same goes for you Touya."

Touya nodded his head in concession, glancing over at where Shouto was cuddling with Zuko, fresh bandages on his face. The older kid had taken care of changing them when he had gotten back, and they weren't all that surprised that he knew how to do it.  He had come out looking relieved though, which probably meant that Shouto's injury wasn't as bad as Zuko's had been.  Touya doubted he would have gotten a scar as bad a Zuko's from having a kettle thrown in his face, but it was probably nice to have the reassurance given that with the bandages covering the damage, it was left up to the imagination how bad the injury was, which was dangerous given the inspiration available.

Touya's bandages had been changed as well, but he had managed to convince Zuko to let him do it himself.  He had already wrapped them twice before, and both times were by himself.  Getting another person involved would just cause problems, more than he already had to deal with when it came to the nerve damage that went hand in hand with burns of this severity.  Besides, it meant no one else would see just how messed up his body really was.  With clothes it was easier to hide the damage, and he didn't want to think about what Zuko, or anyone really, would say about his scars.

"We can start with mine," Natsuo volunteered as he set aside his notebook, having been in the process of updating the list of things they needed to do to hide, "You've spent the whole afternoon looking over the box.  Doing it on my hair will give you some practice before you have to do it to yourself."

Fuyumi bit her lip nervously before nodding, heading into the bathroom with Natsuo.  Touya couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. 

Chapter Text

Fuyumi sat on the couch in the living room, fidgeting with her newly black hair.  It was weird, the darkness at the edges of her vision so unfamiliar to her.  Zuko had showed her a way of tying back her bangs so they wouldn't bother her.  It had helped slightly, but the feeling of her hair tied back like that was unfamiliar in a completely different way.  Of course, her biggest problem with the whole situation was that it was new.  It was a reminder that everything had changed, and that the home she longed for wasn't there.  If she was being honest with herself, it had never existed, having been an ideal in her head as opposed to reality.

Fuyumi shook her head trying to dislodge the thoughts that clung like cobwebs to her brain, but they were stubborn, refusing to let themselves be removed. She huffed turning her gaze to the room in the hopes that she might be able to find something else to focus on.  It didn't take that long.

The room was kind of a mess, blankets randomly draped over the furniture and the crumbs from their breakfast on the cushions of the seats.  There was also a random shirt and sock just lying on the floor. She got up, grabbing the blankets.  It would probably be best to take them to the master bedroom.  They had been sleeping on the bed together as it was massive, and the house wasn't that warm.  Zuko radiated more than enough heat to make the space comfortable, so all five of them slept in there together.

Fuyumi had found out some interesting things about her brothers this way.  Natsuo was a blanket hog.  It didn't matter how evenly the blankets were distributed when they all went to sleep, by the time they woke up over half of them would be wrapped around him.  He had tracked them around the house after he woke up, apparently unable to feel warm until he was fully awake.  It probably didn't help that his quirk made his body temperature slightly lower than normal, which just made the chances of hypothermia when using it even greater.

Shouto on the other hand barely moved when he slept, staying in the same position all night as far as Fuyumi could tell.  He would just curl up on Zuko's chest and fall asleep, the only noticeable disturbance being that he would no longer be on top of him in the morning, because Zuko would already be up.  Fuyumi didn't understand it really.  She was almost certain that he was the last one to fall asleep, at least it had seemed that way for the past three nights, and he would be up at dawn the next morning.  Zuko claimed it was a firebender thing, that the sun gives them energy, so he woke with the sun every day, but it didn't explain why he was up late into the night.

Fuyumi had also discovered that while Natsuo is a blanket hog, Touya is a pillow hog.  There weren't that many pillows to go around, but both nights they had been in the house he had lounged on them like a cat in a sunbeam.  He was also protective of his stash of pillows, making a big deal of anyone trying to take any of them.  Druk had tried running off with one of them the day before, apparently trying to drag it to the window for a spot to sun, but Touya wasn't having it.  Zuko had managed to defuse the situation when he got home, folding one of the smaller blankets to make a perch for the lizard but it had been a rather tense situation for a bit.  Which is just kind of funny to think back on now because her brother staring down a lizard that is only a foot long at most is just kind of amusing.

Fuyumi made the bed, almost tripping over someone's clothes as she did.  Once she was done with the bed, she picked up the clothes, sticking them in the hamper that they had set up the night before.  She knew that there was a laundromat in the area, had spotted it on the way to the house, so they would be able to wash them, which had her wanting to keep them contained.  She would hate to end up forgetting something when going to do laundry, especially since they were probably going to have to do it rather infrequently so as to avoid getting noticed.  Her brothers didn't seem to care though if the pants she tripped over were any indication.

She left the bathroom where she was storing the hamper, and almost tripped over a pair of shoes that had been left in the hallway.  That had been the final straw.  Shouto's vision was halved for the time being because of the bandages, and if she was capable of tripping over the random shit her brothers left lying around with two working eyes then he would probably be tripping over the stuff even more.  Besides, if felt good to be able to do something familiar in such an unfamiliar place.  It grounded her in the moment, and she needed that.

Fuyumi grabbed the shoes, depositing them next to the back door before going to find her brothers.  She found Shouto first, her younger brother sitting in one of the rooms with an eastern facing window, Druk laid out on the folded up blanket beside him.  The lizard, they were going to have to ask Zuko what species it was, was sunning itself, the small wings on its back stretched out as far as they could go.  Shouto had his knees pulled up into his chest his arms wrapped around them as he stared out the window.

Fuyumi decided not to disturb him.  He hadn't really talked yesterday while Zuko was gone, so she doubted he would really be in the mood to talk today.  As much as she wanted to spend time with him, she also knew that he needed his space at the moment.  Besides, she didn't really want to sit around for a couple of hours.  She needed to do something, so she turned around, going to see if she could find Touya or Natsuo.

Fortunately for Fuyumi, they were in the same place, a room that was even messier than the master bedroom and based on the clothes on the floor it had been where Touya had been staying when he had lived here alone.  Unfortunately for them, this meant that she was going to force both of them to help her clean.  "Boys," she said as she stepped into the room, the two of them tensing before turning to look at her, "I need your help."

"What do you need help with Yumi?" Natsuo asked, the tension leaving his frame for the most part, although not completely.

"You two are going to help me clean," She stated firmly, crossing her arms when they both shook their heads and leaned away, "You can't just leave your stuff lying around the house.  There's no telling who could trip on it.  Besides, if we clean, we could actually use the rest of the house instead of just the master bedroom, living room and bathroom."

Fuyumi might be able to get her own room.  She was going to need it eventually.  Sleeping in the same room with her brothers just wasn't a viable long-term solution, and while they might not be able to fix up the house there were other ways of making the room livable.  She would probably end up running off with more of the blankets than Natsuo would like but better that than having to deal with the issues that would arise as they got older.

"Why right now?" Touya whined as she got closer, ready and willing to drag them from the room if she had to.

"What better time than the present?" Fuyumi retorted as she grabbed their arms.

Touya yelled in pain as he jerked his arm back out of her grip.  Fuyumi immediately felt guilty.  She hadn't meant to hurt him, but it was easy to forget that the burns extended to under his clothes.  In an attempt to try and make things better she said, "You could go sit with Shouto.  It's best that he's kept out of the way while we are cleaning, so he doesn't cause any mischief."

No one mentioned that Shouto was the one least likely to cause any problems unless it had to do with father trying to take them back.  Touya nodded, taking the out that she had offered, heading off towards where their brother was sitting, apparently already knowing his location.  It took her longer than she would have liked to tear her eyes away from Touya's retreating form, but when she met Natsuo's she knew that he was just as concerned as she was. She shook her head to clear it, before bending over to start picking up the junk in the room.  She really needed a distraction.

Touya could feel his siblings' eyes on his back as he retreated to the bedroom that Shouto had decided to hide away in.  He had to fight not to rub the arm that Fuyumi had grabbed.  He didn't want them to know how much it had hurt, how much even the slightest pressure would hurt now.  Of course, the biggest problem was that it was irregular.  There would be some spots that were so sensitive that the bandages had to be looser or else he would be in unbearable pain.  In other spots it was numb, to the point that he could probably be stabbed there and not even realize it.  It was something he vaguely remembered from the appointment that had his father telling him to give up.  Burns, especially ones of the severity that he was dealing with caused nerve damage.  In some cases, the nerves would be completely destroyed while in others they could be exposed and hypersensitive.

Touya had been willing to risk it back when he was training to be a hero, to prove to his father that he could be an effective hero despite his limitations.  Now that he was living that reality, constantly having to deal with the pain caused by the nerve damage and further away from gaining his father's approval than ever before.  It was hard, especially on the days when the pain seemed to flare and made it impossible to sleep because no matter what position he was in it would aggravate one of his sensitive spots.

It didn't take Touya long to reach the room where Shouto was sitting.  The house wasn't all that big, getting across it would probably take five minutes if you were going at a nice leisurely stroll.  Their father's house was at least twice the size if not more so.  However, the smaller layout also meant that it never felt as cold or empty as that place had.  If it wasn't for the lack of utilities, it probably would have been a pretty good home as is.

Touya stopped in the doorway, taking a moment to just observe Shouto.  The last time he had really seen him he'd been a baby, crying in their mother's arms as his quirk activated for the first time. He'd been so jealous, that Shouto had become everything their father had wanted that he tried to attack him.  It had done nothing but have their father pushing them away even more, keeping them from being able to make contact with their youngest brother.  Any remnants of that urge that might have survived nearly dying had disappeared when he saw Shouto's bandaged face as it was obvious that having father's attention was as destructive than not having it.

"What’re you thinking about?" Touya asked as he stepped into the room, glancing around the interior for a place to sit other than on the bed next to Shouto.

He didn't want to have to deal with more pain after recovering from Fuyumi grabbing his arm.  Mattresses had not been very kind to him as of late, but a mattress would be better than sitting on a tabletop or leaning against the wall.  The room was rather bare though, probably one of the reasons why he rarely bothered to come in here.  However, the lack of anything substantial meant he had no choice but to sit on the bed.

Shouto watched him as he approached, his visible eye tracking Touya's movements as he made his way across the room before settling on the edge of the mattress. He was clearly debating about wanting to talk, and Touya wasn't going to push him to talk if he didn't want to.  It would probably be better for the two of them to just sit there in silence.  Less chance of one of them saying something they would regret.

Eventually his gaze turned back to the window, his chin resting on his knees.  Touya almost missed him saying, "I want Zuko to come home."

Touya didn't know how to respond to that.  Comfort wasn't exactly his area of expertise, that was more Fuyumi or Zuko. He was only really good at fighting, or complaining if he was being completely honest.  Natsuo had asked him to go bother someone else about their father after all. He tried to think of what he could say or do that might help his little brother.  Eventually, he put a hand on Shouto's shoulder, the action surprising his younger brother as he turned to look at him.

"It'll be okay," Touya told him, hoping he sounded a whole lot more sincere than he felt, "You just have to be patient.  Zuko will be home before you know it."

Shouto looked at him skeptically before turning back towards the window, his right hand going up to pet the rotten lizard that had tried to steal one of Touya's pillows yesterday.  The room fell silent once again, but he didn't mind it, staring out the window just like his little brother.

Shouto was nervous.  He hated the anxious feeling that twisted his stomach into knots the whole time that Zuko was gone.  He knew it was necessary, that Zuko was working a job so they would be able to afford food and other things, but that didn't stop him from developing a lump in his throat that didn't disappear until Zuko was back home with them.

Druk helped slightly.  Zuko had told him that as long as he had Druk, he would be able to find him, so Shouto refused to leave the lizard's immediate vicinity, even if it meant that he would be holed up in the only one of the upper rooms that had eastern and western windows.  Druk was rather catlike for a lizard, spending as much time as possible sprawled out in the slightest bit of sun they got in the house.

One (upside? downside?) thing about this arrangement meant that he was sitting apart from his siblings.  It was probably the most normal thing that had happened since they came here.  His siblings were elsewhere in the house doing things together while he was here by himself.  At least he wasn't having to go through father's training here.  Shouto didn't like fighting his father, didn't really like fighting at all, but he was aware that it was necessary for a hero to be able to fight.  Even rescue heroes had to fight villains if only to protect civilians.

Shouto remembered watching TV with his mother, getting to see the clip of All Might's debut where he was saving people from a gas main explosion.  He knew that All Might these days was more famous for the villains he fought, but it was nice to see that his first priority had been to help people. He wanted to be like that, using his quirk to help people as opposed to fighting villains like his father wanted.  He didn't care about being number one, he just wanted to make sure that other people didn't have to lose the people they cared about.

Shouto was afraid.  He was afraid of his father, had been ever since the first training session when he spent the whole time beating him to try and get him to use his quirk to fight back.  He was afraid that Zuko would be taken away like mother was, his calm and comforting presence disappearing in an instant.  He was afraid that they would get found and he would be taken back to his father, forced back into that seemingly endless cycle of beatings and insults.

Shouto buried his face in his knees, doing everything he could to keep from crying, or at least making it obvious that he was crying.  Father had told him that heroes don't cry, that only the weak cry and so to make him strong he wouldn't be allowed to cry.  It usually just made him cry harder, his mother intervening around that time to protect him.

Something rough touched Shouto's hand, and he jerked back, his head coming up to find that it was just Druk pressing his nose against his hand. He stared at the lizard, not quite sure what to make of it, especially since its eyes were a lot like Zuko's.  They were that strange gold color that he supposed could have been part if its quirk and they held so many emotions.  They were old eyes, understanding eyes, just like Zuko's, and Shouto couldn't help but wonder if there was more to Druk than meets the eye.

Zuko was working diligently in the Rising Sun Bakery, currently kneading a large batch of bread dough.  He had arrived at the bakery slightly before eight, deciding it was better to be early rather than risk showing up late.  The bakery had already been open for about an hour, although it was obvious that there wasn't too much activity.  That didn't mean that there was no activity, as he'd passed two or three people with small pastry bags from the bakery, but they clearly weren't dealing with high traffic just yet.

When Zuko entered the building, Miyake Hiroki, he wasn't sure what to call him, smiled, waving him behind the counter. He had approached easily, although he tensed when the man put his arm around Zuko's shoulders.  It had taken a lot for him to not move and throw the arm off, not wanting to risk the job, and fortunately the man dropped his arm a moment later when he called a Miyata Ichiro out of the kitchen.  It turned out the two men were husbands and the owners of the bakery.  Miyake tended to handle the business side of things while Miyata was the one who had a passion for baking.

Miyake sent Zuko into the kitchen with Miyata, the two of them having agreed that he would probably be best served in the kitchen.  Miyata gave him a tour of the small space, pointing out any potential hazards, as well as any rules they had.  There had been one other employee in the kitchen, one that Miyata told him helped with prepping.  They would be gone by ten to go to class and would likely be back around four or so to help man the counter. They didn't tend to do much baking in the afternoon unless it was something that could be made quickly, or they were doing some catering, otherwise they would just be cleaning the kitchen.

It was more complex than working in Pao's tea shop, but Zuko understood why, and having learned the value of hard work he wasn't about to complain.  Especially not since from the sounds of it he wouldn't have to deal with customers constantly commenting on his face.  His employers seemed to understand that he didn't want to talk about it, and he was grateful for that.  The story behind his scar may not be as painful as it used to be, but it still got annoying to have to recount it all the time, something that would probably get worse as it wasn't like he could just go and publicize the story like his father had.

Now Miyata was teaching Zuko how to make the basic menu items, the ones that they made fresh every day.  Apparently bread dough could be used for a variety of Western pastries, making it a staple in the bakery.  There was also a variety of traditional Japanese desserts that they made, but the Western ones had to be made fresh every day.  Once Zuko was done kneading it they would set it aside and let it rise. He may or may not have been using his firebending to make his hands warmer while working the dough in the hopes that it would help it to rise faster.  Seiji tended to hold the bowl in her hands when she heated it, but Zuko couldn't do that without having to explain why he was doing it, and he suspected Miyata had plans for what they would do while the dough was rising so he was just going to follow his lead, like a good employee should.

Natsuo was not happy to have been dragged into cleaning the house by Fuyumi.  He had been talking with Touya about what had happened since he was declared dead, hoping that a bit of lighthearted small talk might help him deal with the feeling of wrongness that came from being at the house when he was supposed to be at school.  He had managed to somewhat avoid it yesterday in the library, the location itself likely helping to keep it at bay, but in a house that had no internet connection and no set library meant that he was having trouble dealing with the twisted feeling telling him he shouldn't be there.

Touya had told him about the whole reason everyone thought the house was haunted, and he had actually started thinking up ways to help keep the lie going, making it easier to hide them while they were living there.  No one really came into the house anymore, so they didn't have to worry about that, but they could do some stuff with the exterior.  Natsuo wasn't sure what to do yet, but he had time to think about it.  He could even ask his siblings for ideas.  Fuyumi was pretty smart when she wasn't being willfully ignorant.

Natsuo was surprised by some of what they found while cleaning the house.  There was an office that appeared to be relatively untouched, the computer at the desk having caught his interest.  He would love to be able to set it up somewhere to be able to check out how powerful it was.  Natsuo wasn't as skilled with hardware as he was with software, and until they were in a position that they could have access to computers and the internet he wasn't going to take it apart.

There were also several bedrooms, three of them looking like they were guest rooms, at least that's what he thought they were based on the lack of personal items in them when compared to the other bedrooms they had found.  There were two bedrooms besides the master bedroom that had things in them suggesting that someone had lived in there.

The house also had a basement, something that they weren't going to dare to enter without Zuko home.  There was no telling what the conditions were like down in the basement, and without Zuko around to provide light for them to see, entering now was just asking their imaginations to run wild.  So, they left the basement alone, instead going to go clean up the pantry which wasn't that hard since it had obviously been cleaned of food a long time ago if the thick layer of dust on the shelves was anything to go by.

One place that Natsuo and Fuyumi hadn't dared to venture into at all was the attic.  While it wasn't as dark as the basement due to not being underground, it was creepy in its own way.  It probably also hadn't helped that when they were headed up the stairs, they came across a spider in a web that stretched across the stairway.  Fuyumi had had a panicked staring contest with it before retreating back down the stairs.  While Natsuo wasn't afraid of spiders like Fuyumi was, he wasn't about to go out of his way to do a chore that his sister was forcing him to do.

It wasn't like there was that much to clean anyway.  The place had been abandoned for years, so it wasn't like there were people living there making a mess all the time.  Sure, there was the person that had made the rumor, but there was no sign that anyone else had been living there until Touya took up residence.  There had been some scattered clothes, but nothing much of interest.  At least Natsuo was more familiar with the house now. 

Chapter Text

 Touya had waited about a week after his siblings had arrived at the house to sneak out to train.  It might have been more accurate to claim that it had taken him that long to get used to being around people again, but he wasn't about to admit that.  He would also deny that it was nice to have his siblings around, even if they were having some trouble figuring out how to interact with each other in this new situation.  Zuko's presence hadn't been as intrusive as Touya had been worried about it being initially, although that might have had to do with Zuko being off at work most of the day.  He always came home with food though, and they would sit in the living room and eat together.

Touya couldn't remember them doing that before, not even when Shouto wasn't even a gleam in their father's eye.  Father rarely ever bothered to show up for meals, and the few where he was there, mother was not.  Those meals tended to be rather awkward as Fuyumi and Natsuo had to figure out how to talk to a father that was never around.  They had become even more so when it was discovered that Touya's quirk was killing him, and father stopped his training.  The few times they had eaten together after that, Touya ignored him, making the already quiet dinners silent.

That was not the case with Zuko.  He wasn't as unapproachable as their father and would actively encourage conversation by asking them about their day or complaining about his own.  If nothing of interest happened that day, which tended to be the case with all of them kind of stuck inside, he would tell them stories about the world he came from, and Touya was surprised by how good he was at telling stories.  His small talk was lackluster, but his storytelling skills were breathtaking. He had found himself being drawn into the stories despite the fact that he had been doing his best to ignore Zuko, not wanting to like him as much as his siblings did.

However, Touya knew he was going to have to keep training if he was eventually going to get revenge on his father, so he was going to have to sneak out.  He knew that his siblings slept pretty soundly, none of them having caught him sneaking out in the past, so he just had to wait until they had fallen asleep.  He wasn't too sure about Zuko, but with him being pinned by a sleeping Shouto, Touya figured it wouldn't be that hard for him to slip out.

Touya slid off the edge of the bed, something that wasn't all that hard since he'd set himself up on the right side of the bed, Zuko having opted to sleep on the left, probably because it made it easier for him to slip out from under Shouto in the morning. He then tip toed away from the bed towards the door, his steps as silent as he could make them, something the carpet lining the floor contributed to.  He opened the door as quietly as he could, wincing slightly as the hinges creaked, but a peek at the bed show that there hadn't been any movement at the noise.

Touya let out a quiet sigh of relief before slipping out of the room, mostly shutting the door behind him.  He kept his steps quiet as he made his way away from the room, not wanting to risk getting caught because he became careless too soon.  He started to walk normally as he reached the living room believing that he was far enough away from the bedroom to be able to do so.  He slipped through the kitchen to the back door, and was in the process of putting his shoes on when a voice asked, "What are you doing?"

Touya would later deny that he yelped as he dropped his shoe, whirling around to see Zuko leaning back against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. He was staring at Touya with a raised eyebrow, clearly waiting for an answer, but he could only wonder how the older teen had managed to sneak up on him.  "How?" he breathed, hoping that voicing the thought might help his mind move past it, and if he got an explanation that would be even better.

"I'm a light sleeper," Zuko explained, as he shrugged casually, "Comes with having to watch your back all the time.  And I've always been good at sneaking around.  My father used to punish me if I dared to breathe too loudly, so I learned how to blend into the shadows at an early age."

Touya should have known better than to ask.  Zuko tended to drop little tidbits like that into casual conversation, seemingly unaware of how horrifying the information was.  Of course, given that it was all he had known, he probably wasn't aware of the fact that it was horrifying.  At least with Touya the sneaking around was a choice he had made and not a necessity.

Zuko's inquiring gaze hadn't dropped in intensity at all, and Touya had a feeling that it wouldn't stop until he answered.  He didn't want to, he needed to leave if he was going to go and train, but Zuko was bigger, stronger, and most importantly, not injured so there was no way that he would be able to fight him and get away.  He doubted making a break for it would do much good either, especially since he'd have to get the door open first, and Zuko was right there.  The confrontation would wake up the others anyway and they would be more likely to take Zuko's side than his.  "I was going to go train," he admitted as he dropped his shoe back onto the ground, "But I guess you're not going to let me."

"Not right now," Zuko told him, which had Touya glancing up at the older boy's face, noting how it had softened a bit, looking almost sympathetic, "You need your sleep after all.  If you want, I could do some training with you tomorrow after dinner.  I need to keep up with my own training, and if we do it together than I can help make sure that you don't get hurt anymore."

Touya was having trouble processing what he just heard. He'd heard the words Zuko had said, and understood what each of them meant individually, but their combined meaning was something that his brain didn't seem to be able to process.  "You're going to let me train?" he repeated, figuring it was best to get clarification just in case, "Even though my quirk burns me?"

"It's not like you can just not use it," Zuko told him, his mouth tilted down into almost a scowl, "Your quirk is a part of you.  Training it in a way where you're in the least amount of danger is the smart thing to do.  As long as I'm around to bank the flames, you'll be able to train with little risk of getting burned."

Touya still couldn't believe the words that he was hearing, but there was a part of him that clung to them.  That clung to the idea that he could train, that he wasn't worthless because he was stuck in this place unable to use his quirk.  Touya ran to Zuko, hugging the older boy tightly as he said, "Thank you," on repeat.  Zuko's arms wrapped around Touya, hugging him back, although he was surprised to find that the hug didn't hurt like every other one he'd received since the accident.

Touya kind of didn't want to let go of Zuko, wanting to enjoy the fact that he was having contact that didn't hurt at all.  However, his body betrayed him as he soon had to pull back to yawn.  Zuko chuckled as he turned to head back to the master bedroom.  "Come on," he said gesturing with his right hand, "If we're going to do training tomorrow, we need to be well rested.  I learned that lesson the hard way."

"How?" Touya asked as he let himself be led back to the bedroom, which probably wouldn't hold all of them for long.

"When I was younger, my father always told me that I was a poor bender and that it meant that I was not working hard enough to improve my bending," Zuko told him softly, as they moved at a rather sedate pace, "So, I started practicing all the time, driving myself to the brink of exhaustion to try and improve enough to meet his standards.  I later found out that not only was my father being a horrible person with unrealistic standards, but that the way I had been taught was wrong, something that made things even harder."

Touya nodded along although his attention had definitely started to drift.  It was clear that he was exhausted, so he let Zuko's gentle hands guide him back to where he slept on the bed.  It wasn't hard to just drop onto the pillows that had been left there because they were the most comfortable thing for Touya to sleep on.  A blanket was draped over him not long after, and he let sleep claim him, doing his best to save the memory of what just happened so he would be able to hold Zuko to it the next day.

Touya spent the day too excited to sit still.  He knew he was going to have to wait until Zuko got home from work to do any training, but the day seemed to pass so slowly.  Part of him wondered if this was what Shouto felt like during the day, that all he wanted was for time to move faster so Zuko would be home already.  He ended up wandering around the house, cataloguing the changes that had been made ever since his siblings had moved in.

It was cleaner, that was for sure.  After giving the house a general clean, Fuyumi had started deep cleaning a different room each day, apparently needing something to do with her time.  Natsuo wasn't around, but Touya wasn't all too surprised about that.  They needed more things for their disguises, and Natsuo still had all of father's credit card information so it would be easy for him to place a few orders, although it would mean having to keep an eye on their father's house so they could see when the packages arrived.  They wouldn't have to worry about it for long if he used express shipping though.

Shouto was sitting with Druk like usual, and Touya remembered that they still hadn't asked Zuko what Druk is.  It wasn't like animals with quirks were uncommon, but since he came from a place that didn't have quirks, there was no way that Druk was just a lizard with a quirk.  Especially not with the intelligence in its eyes.

Eventually Zuko got home bringing food with him.  The five of them sat in the living room, Shouto in Zuko's lap as they dug into the pastries that hadn't been sold that day.  They were delicious, still warm even, although that might have been Zuko's doing since he could apparently warm things with his firebending.  Touya ate quickly, excited to have someone to train with.

Once they had finished eating, the leftovers getting stashed for breakfast the next day, Touya went up to Zuko and asked, "Can we train now?"

"Yep," Zuko told him with a smile, as they made their way to the backdoor, Shouto still on his hip, "We can do it in the back yard.  I do my morning katas out there so there should be enough room."

Zuko paused at the edge of the patio, putting Shouto down, reassuring him that they would just be in the yard, and he could sit and watch them if he wanted.  Shouto wasn't happy about it, but he opted to sit on one of the lawn chairs that was sitting on the patio.  Zuko gave him a small smile before taking off the hoodie he'd been wearing.  He tossed it to Shouto who caught it, hugging it close to his body as Zuko joined Touya on the lawn.

"Can you hold your flames without them burning you?" Zuko asked, the question almost as confusing as his decision to plop down on the ground two meters from Touya.

"Kinda," Touya replied uncertainly, doubt suddenly filling his mind as he wondered if he was going to like this training, "Why?"

"I like to start training with meditation," Zuko told him a flame appearing in between his cupped palms, "Firebenders meditate with flames but since a quirk works differently, I guess it would make sense that you don't do that.  Still, meditation helps you to center yourself, which will make training easier.  And meditation is rather easy to do.  You just need to sit and breath deeply, letting your thoughts flow through you until your mind is calm."

Touya nodded, not quite understanding what Zuko was saying, but accepted that it was important, so he would listen to him for now.  Training with father had mainly been about using his quirk on targets, learning how he could fight with it.  He mimicked Zuko's posture, deciding that he could try and maintain a small flame like Zuko.  He knew his father could do something similar, it was how he maintained that flaming facial hair after all, and that thought pushed him to try.

A small blue flame appeared in Touya's cupped hands, and he stared at it, part of him relieved to still have this little bit of himself.  He'd been so proud when his flames had turned blue, showing just how strong he was, but it hadn't taken long for that to turn sour as his father told him he could no longer be a hero. He pushed that to the back of his mind, focusing on the flame in his hands.  He just breathed, his focus on the small flame in his hands.  It was kind of nice, calming in a way that he hadn't expected.

"Alright," Zuko said, suddenly right in front of Touya, startling him enough to make him lose control of the flame, although it dissipated before it could do any damage, "I think that's enough meditation for now.  So how have you trained in the past?  I can't exactly train you the same way I would other firebenders, but I can try and build on the training you've done in the past."

"Well," Touya started, unsure of how Zuko would react to hearing about his previous training considering how different the training that Zuko had already giving him was, "Father set up a series of targets for me to hit with my flames in order to help with my power and control.  When I started training on my own, I just kept doing that."

Zuko looked at Touya thoughtfully, no judgement in his gaze which had him relaxing slightly. He didn't want to admit it but he kind of liked Zuko and he didn't want him to be disappointed or upset with him.  Eventually Zuko asked, "Do you need to be standing still to use your flames or can you incorporate them into combat moves?  Do you know any combat moves?"

"Not really," Touya replied, thinking back on how he had thrown his fire more than anything else, "Like I know how to kick and punch but nothing beyond that really."

Zuko nodded, his face scrunched in thought.  "Bending uses movement," He told Touya as he stepped back, before going through a set of what looked like martial arts moves, "I could easily just throw punches and kicks with a bit of flame attached to them, but to truly bend I have to move."

Zuko repeated the moves, but this time there were flames dancing around him, some following his motions while others blasted out ahead of him.  It was amazing to see, and Touya wished he could do the same thing, his fire dancing around him in the same way.  "Can I try?" he asked, eager to be able to throw his flames around like that.

"You have to learn the basics first," Zuko told him, causing Touya to wilt, "I will help you work up to it, but there is no guarantee that it will look the same for you because your quirk is unique to you and will act differently.  However, it doesn't mean you won't get to throw around fire while working up to it.  Even the basics have a touch of flame."

Touya felt himself brighten at that.  He liked using his flames and if he got to use them in a way that wouldn't hurt him, even better.  He couldn't wait to see what Zuko was going to teach him.

The slight alteration that the addition of training caused to their daily routine had led to changes in the house, especially during the day.  Fuyumi often found Touya and Shouto sitting together with Druk, sometimes talking but often sitting in silence as they stared out the window together.  For Natsuo, it had inspired him to start looking up videos on self-defense and the like, telling her that they should learn to protect themselves just in case.

Fuyumi could understand why.  They had to worry about potentially being found and taken back to their father, a fate none of them wanted to contemplate, but they had also been talking about going back to school.  She liked school, and she would love to be able to attend classes again, which meant locating nearby places they could go.  However, they were also going to have to be careful about bullies, something that hadn't been that big of a deal before because their father was the number two hero.  Without that protection, they could potentially be the target of bullies, if what was often depicted in movies and shows was accurate.

Besides, life was unpredictable and knowing self-defense was one of those things that it wouldn't hurt to know.  Watching Zuko train Touya had made it obvious that while he could use firebending to fight, he probably wouldn't do too bad without it.  The katas that he demonstrated were perfect martial moves even before one added flame to them.  So that night at dinner, about two weeks since Touya's training had started Fuyumi asked Zuko, "Would you be willing to teach Natsuo and I how to fight?"

"Sure," Zuko told them with a bit of a shrug, while Touya looking almost affronted at the suggestion that he wouldn't get to train alone with Zuko anymore, "Do you want blade training or just hand to hand?  We don't really have practice swords, but if we're careful my dao should work."

Fuyumi's brain stuttered slightly as it went back to that first night and the thing that had been strapped to Zuko's back.  Apparently, it had been a sword, and as cool as it would be to learn how to wield it, she knew that it would be better to stick to the more practical option.  "Just hand to hand," Fuyumi answered and Zuko nodded in response.

"I'll help you two through the basics after getting Touya started on his new set," Zuko told them.

Fuyumi shared an excited glance with Natsuo.  They might not be able to wield fire like the others but it was nice to be able to train with them.  "Would you...?" Shouto started, although he clammed up as the attention of the room was suddenly on him.

"What is it Shouto?" Zuko asked, his tone soft and he hunched down slightly so he could make eye contact with Shouto who was acting rather shy, "What is it you want to ask?"

"Would you teach me too?" Shouto asked, his visible eye wide and sincere, "I want to be able to protect people just like All Might."

"Of course," Zuko told him, a soft smile on his face, the look almost fond, "I guess we'll all be doing training in the evenings then."

Fuyumi nodded with Natsuo and Shouto, although Touya looked more than a little sullen.  Fuyumi wasn't quite sure what to make of that.  She didn't think that pointing it out or saying anything would help so she decided to just focus her attention on eating the quiche that Zuko had brought home today.

Once they were all done eating, they made their way to the backyard.  It was kind of strange actually being out there instead of watching from inside the house, or on the porch.  It had been months since Fuyumi had been out on a lawn, unable to bring herself to play soccer or tag with Natsuo or her friends because it made her all too aware of Touya's absence.  While it was nice to have him back now, he wasn't exactly in a condition that would really allow him to play the way they used to, since the chance of them hurting him accidentally was too high.

"Okay," Zuko said as he stopped at about the middle of the lawn, "I know you three have been watching, so you have seen me and Touya meditating.  Not everyone meditates the same way so if you end up finding a different position that works better for you go ahead and use it.  I had a friend that meditated best just lying on the ground, so it's fine if that's what you end up doing.  The whole goal of meditation is to relax and center yourself."

After Zuko was done saying that he sat on the ground, his legs crossed and his cupped hands out in front of him a flame dancing in his palms.  Fuyumi mimicked his position, although she folded her hands into her lap instead of holding them up.  She didn't really have a thing that she could do with her hands otherwise, but just sitting there and breathing was kind of nice.

She closed her eyes, allowing herself to just be one with the world around her, the gentle breeze holding a slight chill, an indicator of the autumnal shift.  They were a little ways into October now, and it was getting colder.  However, summer hadn’t ended all that long ago, so it was easy to ignore the chill.

"Okay," Zuko said suddenly, and Fuyumi was struck by how much the area had darkened in what felt like no time at all, "I’m going to have Touya run through the basics before I show him the new set, and then while he's working on that I'll teach you some of the basics for hand to hand."

Fuyumi nodded, excited to get to learn all about hand to hand.  However, it was also interesting watching Touya go through his moves, the katas seeming much sharper than they had before.  Fuyumi wasn't sure if it was just her though, since Zuko was facing away from them, his body language rather neutral.  However, she decided if there was something wrong than Zuko would probably say something.  He wasn't saying anything so there was probably nothing wrong.

Once Touya finished his katas, Zuko went over and talked him before demonstrating a few moves.  Touya then copied his moves and Zuko had him make some alterations.  Touya then ran through it again with the corrections and Zuko nodded approvingly.  Zuko then showed him another set of moves, ones that were meant to follow up the first set based on the starting position, and Touya eagerly copied the moves once again, stumbling partway through.  Zuko said a few things to Touya before he had him run the set again, the flow of the lesson one that Fuyumi had seen from a distance several times.

Once Touya had managed to do both sets without stumbling, Zuko gave him some instructions before turning to the rest of them.  He started explaining the basics of hand to hand, telling them how repetition is important because it will help create muscle memory, allowing them to focus on the fight instead of worrying about how they are going to do a certain move.  He also showed them how to punch properly, warning them about the injuries that one could receive from doing it wrong, and even telling them how best to direct their energy when going to punch someone for maximum impact.

He left Fuyumi and Natsuo with instructions to punch out in front of themselves about a hundred times in order to help build up the muscle memory, warning them that they were going to have to get used to it, since it was an important part of hand to hand.  Fuyumi resisted the urge to groan as she got into position and started punching.  Zuko then took Shouto off to the side, the two of them talking about something.  Fuyumi could see Shouto holding out his left hand a flame hovering above it, much like how Zuko held the flame when they were meditating.

Zuko started talking with Shouto about something, showing him how to manipulate the flame it seemed, when Touya yelled.  Everyone in the yard turned to look at him, part of Fuyumi worried that he had burned himself in the process of training with his flames.  However, he didn't appear to be hurt, just angry as he glared at Shouto, who was doing his best to hide behind Zuko.  "What's wrong?" Zuko asked as he approached, his hands out as he moved cautiously, like he was approaching a wild animal.

"Why are people always flocking to Shouto and leaving me behind?" Touya yelled apparently uncaring of anyone in the houses around them potentially overhearing, "Father gave up training me for Shouto.  Mother abandoned all of us for Shouto.  You're ignoring me in favor of training Shouto.  Why is it always like this?"

Zuko stepped forward, probably going to say something reassuring, remind him that he wasn't being abandoned, but Touya bolted, leaving the rest of them standing there in shock. 

Chapter Text

 Touya fought not to cry as he ran.  Things were actually going great for once.  He had everything he could have asked for since the accident.  He had people who cared for him, he had good food, and he was getting to train up his quirk despite his body's limitations. He should have known that it wasn't going to last, especially not with Shouto around.  Shouto had always been the perfect child, the one that his father proudly declared to be his heir, having been the one to win the genetic lottery in their home.

When Zuko started training Touya, it felt like things were finally going his way for once.  He was able to develop his quirk and was getting all the attention he could possibly want from his teacher.  He wasn't even getting hurt, as he was not only learning how to control his flames better, but his teacher was actively working to make sure that they didn't hurt him. He had finally gotten everything that he could possibly have wanted from his father, and he relished it.

Then his siblings wanted in on it.  He had known that Natsuo and Fuyumi had been looking into self-defense and stuff like that, but he hadn't expected them to go to Zuko about it.  It made sense in retrospect.  They wanted to learn how to fight and had someone who clearly knew how to fight that could teach them.  He tried not to be too upset about it since it was important for them to be able to protect themselves, and learning how to fight from Zuko was just the best possible way.  What he hadn't considered was that Shouto would ask the same.

It had been a lot harder for Touya to swallow back his jealousy then, especially since Zuko looked happy to have them joining in on the training.  He couldn't help but be bitter about the fact that his siblings were butting into his time with the older teen, when he would be able to train.  It was a time that was for just the two of them, but Touya was able to rationalize that there wasn't any other time that he would be able to train them since he would be at the bakery for most of the day.  Sure, there were the few days off that Zuko had, but he only had those once a week and something that Zuko had been drilling into Touya's head was that repetition was important.  They couldn't exactly do it during the day while he was gone because he had insisted on being there to prevent any injuries.

Touya supposed that Zuko had decided to give him something new in order to keep him distracted while he trained the others, to make it easier to hide that he was ignoring him.  He had probably thought that having to focus on his moves would prevent him from looking over at the others to see what they were doing.  It worked for a bit, Touya having to focus on the moves he was making to keep from tripping himself.  However, when he had finally gone through the motions a few times without tripping up, allowing him to easily move through the set without much thought, he glanced over at Zuko with the others.

He had been teaching Natsuo and Fuyumi proper posture for throwing a punch, something that he had taught Touya when he was starting off.   He didn't spend too long with them though, as he was soon with Shouto, guiding him through controlling his flame.  Touya had lost it at that, part of him wanting to be the only one who was learning how to wield flame from Zuko, wanting to have that special connection with him.  So, he let his anger out, not in flames like he had in the past, but in words before running off.

Touya hadn't really been paying attention to anything until he finally slowed, becoming aware of his surroundings once again.  He found that he was in a forested area, trees in every direction, much to his surprise. He had to shove down the part of him that couldn't help but remind him what happened last time he had been in a forested area, the tears running down his face not helping with the memories.

He reached up and wiped the tears away, the pressure on his face helping to jolt him out of his memories, along with the darkness of his tears.  As much as crying blood stung, it was a clear indicator that he was no longer under his father's thumb, no longer reaching for a validation that he was never going to get.  It was just hard to remember that when it seemed like history was repeating itself.

There was a quiet rustle behind him, and he turned his fists raised, ready to fight.  Zuko was standing at the edge of the clearing, his hand above his head, releasing the branch that he had just shaken to get Touya's attention.  Part of him was grateful that the older teen hadn't tried to touch him because there was no telling how he would have responded, although part of him knew that he probably wouldn't like whatever he was there to say.  He wouldn't be surprised if the sixteen-year-old didn't want to train him after that.  Both of his parents had already given up on him so why would his fake brother be any different.

"Do you want to talk?" Zuko asked, his voice soft, although with how Touya was at the moment it was grating, almost condescending in its tone.

Touya violently shook his head back and forth before plopping down at the base of a tree, hoping that the other boy might take the hint and leave him there alone so he could brood in peace.  Apparently, that wasn't going to be the case as he could see Zuko settle himself down a little over a meter away from him, leaning against another tree.  "You remind me a lot of myself," the firebender told him, Touya's eyes shooting up to look at Zuko in spite of himself, "When I was thirteen, freshly burned, and angry at the world.  It didn't help that I had internalized a long time ago that whenever anything bad happened to me I was at fault for it.  I was angry at myself for all of my perceived faults and spent so long letting that anger fuel me.  Even when I managed to lose it, to find something that made me content, made me happy, it didn't take much for it to return."

He was fully focused on Zuko now, taking in every word, even if he didn't quite agree with what he was saying.  Sure, Touya was angry, but it wasn't aimed at himself.  He knew where his anger was directed, and it was directed at Shouto.  Shouto had been the cause of so many of his problems.  He had managed to bury the anger towards him for a bit, but seeing him take yet another thing away from Touya had brought it all back out.  Besides, the way Zuko was talking, it sounded like it had been a long time ago, which was weird considering the fact that he was supposedly just sixteen.  He honestly sounded more like one of those wise old mentors as opposed to a teenager.

However, Touya wasn't about to let that thought derail him.  He'd had enough of people trying to placate him, telling him that his goals were unreasonable or his feelings were exaggerated.  He wasn't about to let another adult figure in his life dismiss his feelings.  He doubted Zuko would be happy to hear it, so he decided to stay quiet.  Besides, the last thing he wanted to do was give him the satisfaction of getting him to talk.  

"However, you also remind me of my sister," Zuko continued heedless of Touya's attempts to ignore him, although his words surprised Touya since the other teen hadn't mentioned any siblings up to this point, just friends and a cousin, "There are several superficial similarities between you.  She had blue flames too, but I think it goes much deeper than that."

Zuko paused, and it wasn't the sort of pause indicating that he was looking for some sort of response.  It was a thoughtful silence, the kind that implied that he was trying to think of what to say next.  Touya just sat there, too curious about what the other teen was getting at to interrupt the thought process.  This felt weighted, heavy, like if he didn't let Zuko get it out now he would never have another chance to learn this information.

"Azula was my younger sister," Zuko told him, his eyes closed as he leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree he was sitting in front of, his expression that of a person remembering painful memories from far in the past, "She had been a prodigy firebender, showing flames at a young age and able to master even the most advanced firebending moves with ease.  She was the standard when I was a child, and I constantly being compared to her by my father because she was perfect in his eyes.  To my father nothing less than perfection was good enough."

He paused taking a deep meditative breath.  Touya couldn't help but wonder how in the world Zuko thought the two of them could be similar.  If anyone was like Azula it was Shouto, the perfect gifted child that everyone flocked towards.  "Azula spent most of our childhood growing under Father's praise," Zuko told him, and the memory of father praising his blue flames flitted through his mind, "But the problem was, he didn't love either of us.  We were constantly competing for his love, spent so much time at each other's throats for the acknowledgement of his affection.  It took me a long time to realize what he had done, having seen not only what real parents were like, but also having seen just what my father was willing to do to others for power.  Azula had become like him, becoming cruel and cutthroat to get ahead, all so she would be gifted the little scraps of affection that father sparingly gave.  In the end father didn't really care about her, tossing her aside as soon as his goal was within reach.  It broke her, to discover that after everything she did, that for all the work she had put into helping our father achieve his dreams, she was no better than me in the end."

Touya had flinched at that. His father telling him to give up the dream that he had built up in his head had been a hard pill to swallow.  Especially since his father had started ignoring him, just like he had always ignored Fuyumi and Natsuo. He had felt betrayed, like his father had turned on him and given up despite the fact that Touya hadn't. He could kind of see what Zuko was saying, but he didn't really understand why he thought it was important for him to know. However, it seemed that Zuko wasn't done telling his story.

"The funniest thing about all of it was probably the fact that Azula had spent most of her life being jealous of and hating me," Zuko told him with a mirthless laugh, something Touya barely noticed as he felt like he had just been slapped across the face, "She had been jealous of how much people liked me while everyone else was afraid of her.  Even our mother was afraid of her because of how much she took after our father, being equally cruel and ruthless.  She had celebrated at my potential death and had even tried to kill me herself on multiple occasions.  I had hated her when I was younger too.  It was easy when she was constantly putting me down and being the one that I was always being told to act like because she was perfect.  But eventually I realized that she wasn't the problem, our father was, and I tried to reconcile with her.  It didn't work.  She was too caught up trying to regain father's favor, regain the love that had never existed, which ultimately led to her downfall."

Touya felt slightly ill upon hearing that, but he didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure that there was anything he could say.  He didn't care about his father's love or affection anymore, had accepted that the man had mistreated him.  That Endeavor had mistreated his siblings, making their lives just as bad if not worse than his own.  That despite his love for his siblings he had wanted to hurt them for butting into what he felt was his.  "I'm a monster," Touya murmured as he stared down at his bandaged hands.

"You are not a monster, Touya," Zuko declared with such conviction that he couldn't help but hope that he was right, "You are a boy that has been hurt by the people that should have loved him.  You're someone who has to learn that love is not conditional.  I'm not like your father.  I will not abandon you for any of your siblings, nor will I abandon any of your siblings for you.  The four of you are very important to me, and I will do whatever it takes to keep all four of you happy and healthy.  Just because I am spending time with one of the others, doesn't mean I don't care about you."

Touya felt raw at that declaration, like Zuko had managed to see through him and get right to the heart of the matter.  He cried, allowing himself to sob into his knees, the heat that had always come with his tears disappearing before it could do any damage.  It felt like a twisted reflection of the day everyone thought he died, but the slight weight of an arm across his shoulders reminded him that things were different now, things were better now.  That thought helped him to get his emotions back under his control the tears slowing to a stop.  "What do I do now?" Touya asked as he leaned into Zuko's side, feeling rung out by all the crying he had done that night.

"Come home for a start," Zuko told him as he rose, a flame appearing in his left hand, "You need time to process this, and the others are worried about you.  It's going to take time for you to be okay, but you aren't alone in all this.  You have your siblings who want to be there for you, and you have me in whatever capacity you are willing to accept me as. Healing is a long and painful process, a process that is different for everyone, but is easier to endure with loved ones."

Touya stared up at the offered hand wondering if this was a trick.  Father would have never bothered to spend so much time with any of them, making sure that they felt safe and loved.  It was that thought that urged Touya to accept the outstretched hand, to accept that there was a way forward, and that maybe things would be okay.  At the very least he owed his siblings an apology.

Zuko led Touya back to the house, his thoughts straying to his little sister.  He hadn't really thought about Azula in a long time, not since he'd received news of her demise.  She had been attempting to restart the war, hoping that in the conflict she would have been able to wrest the throne back from him since none of the assassins or Ozai supporters.  The problem had been that her paranoia had isolated her from her allies, so when she attempted to capture an Earth Kingdom town, she was alone and unable to defeat the earthbenders protecting their home.  He had cried when he heard the news, but he had gradually come to accept that there was nothing he could have done to stop her.

Telling Touya about her was difficult, if only because he spent the whole-time dancing around the context of the whole situation.  The kids didn't know that he was royalty.  That he had been under the scrutiny of nobles his whole life, and constantly found lacking because he just wasn't like them.  He couldn't even begin to explain the things he had been put through by both his tutors and his family because of their station.  Zuko had a feeling that little would have changed if they weren't part of the royal family.  If his father hadn't been a prince, he likely still would have been able to treat them the same because there was no one to stop him.  Uncle Iroh had rarely been home, and Grandfather had never really cared about them.

The only thing that might have changed was mother.  If father didn't have the power and authority of one of the royal family than she might have run away with Zuko and Azula long before they were turned against each other.  Of course, if Ozai hadn't been a prince, he wouldn't have been able to marry her anyway.  She was already being courted when she was taken to become his bride, so if it hadn’t been for his station and Grandfather looking to merge Sozin and Roku's bloodlines they would never have met at all.

Zuko was pulled out of his musings when they got back to the house, which was honestly a good thing.  He'd learned a long time ago that pondering on what if's was an exercise in madness, especially when it came to something as complex as human behavior.  Fuyumi and Natsuo were eagerly checking on Touya to make sure that he was okay while Shouto attached himself to Zuko.  He didn't mind as he needed something to help ground him in the present.  Talking about Azula had dredged up old memories, and he had learned a long time ago that they could easily overwhelm you if you weren't careful.  Especially if you had as many as he did.

He hiked Shouto up on his hip, he knew how important it was to treasure when kids were this small because they grew up all too quickly, which gave Druk the opportunity to climb up onto his head.  Zuko let him.  It wasn't like last time where the dragon risked knocking the headpiece out of his top knot or ripping the ribbon holding his top knot together.  With his hair loose like this, there wasn't much damage that the dragon could do, so he wasn't going to complain about it.

When Touya finished reassuring his siblings that he was okay he turned to Zuko.  Shouto flinched, burying his uncovered eye into his shoulder.  A flash of guilt crossed Touya's face, but it quickly disappeared as his face firmed in resolve.  "I wanted to thank you for the advice old man," Touya said, and Zuko tensed, unable to hear anything past the 'old man' despite the fact that the teen was still speaking.

"Why did you call me an old man?" Zuko asked when Touya had finished talking.

He shrugged.  "You're really smart and give good advice," he stated plainly, "Like those old mentors in movies.  Although with how you talk sometimes it makes me wonder if that is what a grandparent sounds like."

Zuko wasn't sure what to make of that.  He knew that some of his behavior was from what he had learned raising Izumi, or helping out with his grandkids, but it wasn't that surprising since he was taking care of kids again.  It was easy to fall back into that mindset, almost too easy, but he should have known that one of them would have noticed the behavior eventually.  "Why did you get so caught up on that?" Natsuo asked as they made their way into the living room, plopping down onto the couch beside Fuyumi who chided him quietly, "That was a weird reaction to what Touya was saying."

Zuko dropped into one of the armchairs as he debated what he should tell them, knowing that evading the question would be suspicious, but there was no telling how they would respond to the truth.  Part of him, which sounded a lot like Toph, told him he should just man up and tell them about it, no matter how awkward it might be.  "Before I was dragged here," he started, still not sure about what he was going to say, "I had lived to be much older than sixteen.  I'm not sure why I became sixteen again when I was brought here, but I honestly didn't know how to respond to the whole situation."

"How did you know you were sixteen?" Fuyumi asked, looking more curious than cautious, which was encouraging to say the least, "And how old were you before you were brought here?"

"You know the injury that was on my chest when I arrived?" Zuko inquired, Fuyumi and Natsuo nodding while Touya looked at him slightly confused, causing him to life up his shirt to show him the scar, "I got this when I was sixteen, having held onto lightning for too long when redirecting it.  Before I was brought here, I had been about ninety six years old."

The kids were all staring at him in shock, except for Shouto who either wasn't paying attention or didn't care as he cuddled into Zuko's side.  He wasn't really sure what to do, so he just sat there waiting for them to process what they had been told.  Touya was the one that came back to himself first as he said, "Wait, were you actually a grandfather?"

Zuko chuckled slightly as he remembered his grandkids.  "I had actually been a great grandfather," Zuko informed them, doing his best to keep from laughing at how shocked they looked, "They were only a few years old though.  They'll probably grow up hearing all about me from their mother and grandmother."

The kids seemed to wilt slightly at that, although Zuko wasn't quite sure why.  With how old he had been, it was more likely that he would end up dying within the the next decade, and the situation would have been more or less the same.  He may have been rather spry for his age, but he was just as vulnerable to injury or disease as anyone else.  He had already outlived many a Fire Lord having grown as old as he had.  Not to mention he had outlived almost all of his friends.  Death would have been a kindness.

"Are you going to try to go back?" Natsuo asked, the question sounding rather sad and resigned, although it had Shouto clinging to him like he would disappear if he loosened his grip.

"No," Zuko stated clearly, resisting the urge to smile when the kids all relaxed at that, "As much as I love my family, they were going to have to let me go eventually.  Besides, you guys need me more.  I'm not about to leave you to the mercy of your father."

The kids fully relaxed at that, before they all started yawning.  Zuko chuckled softly.  "We should probably go to bed."

They nodded, but as they were headed to the bedroom Touya said, "Before I forget, what is Druk?"

"He's a dragon," Zuko told them, finding himself surrounded by suddenly bright eyed kids.

"That's so cool!" Natsuo exclaimed, a yawn dampening the excitement in his voice, "Can he breath fire?"

"Not yet," Zuko informed them as he herded them into the bedroom, "But you can freak out about it in the morning.  Right now, it's time for bed."

The kids reluctantly went about getting ready for bed, and Zuko indulged in a small smile.  Despite how difficult the night had been, they were ending on a high note, and he could only hope that things would get better from here.

Things were a little tense the next day, and Touya hated that he was the cause of it.  Shouto was obviously avoiding him, having practically pressed himself into the wall when Touya went to check up on him during the day.  Natsuo wasn't really acting that different as he went out to the public library to stay up to date with the news, mostly involving the efforts being made to find them.  However, it turned out that some of the supplies had also arrived.

The thing Natsuo had been most interested in was the contacts that would make their eyes look like Zuko's.  It had been rather hard to find gold contacts that didn't also make your eyes look feline or canine, but he had managed to find some.  It had taken him a long time to convince Touya to try on the contacts with him, but Touya loved his little brother, and his puppy dog eyes were just way too good. He knew he was going to have to learn to say no to them eventually, but today was not that day.

It felt kind of weird, and Touya was almost worried that he was going to damage his eyes more than they already had been.  Fuyumi watched them put in the contacts, apparently having decided to watch the two of them do it first before doing it to herself.  He was tempted to call her a coward, but she did have a point.  They would need one of them to be able to do something if the contacts damaged their eyes after all.

Fortunately, they were able to put in the contacts with no major issues, although it was trippy as fuck staring into the mirror afterward.  Touya hadn't dyed his hair yet as Fuyumi refused to let him due to the chance that his burns could become infected, but it was much longer than he was used to having it.  He hadn't really taken any time to look in the mirror since the accident, and so seeing himself covered in bandages with eyes that were a few shades darker than Zuko's was weird.  He took a moment to imagine what he would look like if his hair was black, and the area covered by bandages resembled the scar tissue surrounding Zuko's eye.  It was uncomfortable for him to think about, but it felt right, or at least more right than his old appearance used to be.

They had decided to wear the contacts for the rest of the day, partially so they could see what Zuko thought of them, and partially so they could get used to wearing them.  They were going to have to wear them on a daily basis when they started going to school again, so they might as well figure out any potential complications now instead of when they could end up bringing everything down around them.

Dinner had actually started normally, Zuko having failed to notice the changes to their eyes at first, although he had noticed that something was different when he got home.  Touya was kind of impressed, although he might have just noticed that they were acting differently because they were eager to show off the new contacts.  Shouto was still clinging to the firebender, although he seemed to be more desperate than usual.  Touya tried not to read into that too much.

Once they were done, they headed out to the backyard to train, although Shouto had hung back on the porch at first, glancing over at Touya when Zuko told him that it would be fine.  Touya didn't like the fear in Shouto's eye.  He feared that he had irreparably damaged the relationship that the two of them had managed to build, and as much as he wished he could blame someone else he knew it was all his fault.  Shouto had been innocent in everything after all.  He hadn't asked to be born with the quirk that their father wanted.

Touya tried to hold onto that thought as they went to meditate.  Shouto wasn't the one at fault.  Father was the one that had built his hopes up.  Father was the one that cast him aside as soon as he was revealed to be less than perfect.  Father was the one that had hurt all of them including Shouto.  He wasn't going to let his anger at his father be turned on his baby brother.  He was going to be better than that.

Touya tried to think like that, Zuko's story about his own childhood having been a cautionary tale as much as a memory.  It was obvious that Zuko regretted being unable to save his sister, so Touya was going to try and come back from the well of hate and jealousy he felt for Shouto, if only so he didn't put his siblings in the same position.  Natsuo and Fuyumi would probably never forgive him if he did.

Once they finished their meditation, Zuko had Touya run through the basics he had taught him.  It was easy, almost thoughtless after having done them on a daily basis for about three weeks.  Then came the set that Zuko had taught him yesterday.  It was harder, some of the moves only half remembered, so he was told to run through it again. He supposed it was a consequence of yesterday's outburst and he only had himself to blame for that.  However, once he had gone through the whole set it started to come back to him, getting easier.

Zuko nodded approvingly before heading over to where the others were standing, watching with a wariness that was justified after yesterday.  Touya tried not to feel hurt, he knew it was only rational that they would be afraid, but it didn't change the fact that it did hurt.  It wasn't long before Zuko left Natsuo and Fuyumi to their own devices, his attention shifting to Shouto.

Touya did his best to smother the stab of jealousy he felt at seeing the two of them together.  Shouto deserved to be able to train his quirk just as much as Touya.  He turned to the side, putting himself in a position where his siblings would mostly be out of view.  It wasn't going to be easy, but he was determined to make this work.

Chapter Text

A little over a month after they had run away from home, Zuko declared that Shouto's burn no longer required the bandages.  Natsuo and Fuyumi had crowded around behind the firebender as he unwound the bandage from around Shouto's head, wanting to get a good look at the injury, or rather the scar that it had left behind.  Touya was hanging back, things still a little tense between him and Shouto, although he'd been making an effort to be better.  Fuyumi was glad because she really didn't want to have to pick between her siblings and she knew Natsuo felt the same.

Fuyumi had actually held her breath as it got down to the last layer, the whole world seeming to slow down as Shouto's injury was finally exposed to the world.  She knew it was dumb to have gotten so caught up in something simple, but seeing the bandage and not knowing what was under it had been driving her crazy, especially since Zuko was proof of just how bad it could be.

When the gauze under the bandage was finally removed, Fuyumi felt oddly disappointed.  It wasn't like she wanted her baby brother to be horribly injured, but her father had been acting like it was some grievous injury that had resulted in Shouto nearly losing his eye.  The scar that surrounded Shouto's eye could possibly be passed off as a birthmark, nowhere near as bad as the scars that both Touya and Zuko had.  However, it was also relieving to see that, to know that while Shouto had been hurt, the injury itself wasn't bad enough to severely impact his future.

"Hey Shouto," Zuko said as he crouched down in front of him, "Could you put your hand over your right eye for me?"

Shouto did what was asked of him without hesitation.  Fuyumi was kind of impressed, and slightly jealous, at how easily Zuko was obeyed, even as she wondered just what he was doing.  He then held up a finger saying, "I want you to follow this with your eye, okay?"

Shouto nodded his right hand remaining firmly clasped over his right eye.  Fuyumi watched as Zuko started moving his finger around, doing some up, down, and side to side stuff with it, before waving it around wildly.  He ended the whole routine by tickling Shouto, who didn't even put up much of a fight, instead falling forward into Zuko's arms while giggling, causing them to drop to the floor in a small mess of limbs.  Fuyumi couldn't help but chuckle with him at the sight.

"Well," Zuko said to the room at large as he sat up drawing Shouto into his lap, "I am happy to inform you that not only is the burn fully healed, there was no damage to his eye.  The only thing we might have to worry about is some slight issues with depth perception as your eyes get used to working together again."

Fuyumi was glad that the worrying was over, but Zuko's words brought a rather horrifying thought to the forefront of her mind, and she couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "Can you see out of your left eye?"

It wasn't something that she had thought to ask before because Zuko didn't act half blind, but given that he'd had over eighty years to develop coping strategies it wasn't out of the realm of possibility now that she thought about it.  "No," Zuko told them, the energy of the room having grown heavy and sad, "I lost the sight in my left eye after getting the burn, and the hearing in my left ear was also affected which is why I like to keep any conversations on the right.  That way I don't end up mishearing anything."

"I'm sorry," Fuyumi said feeling awful for having ruined the mood.

"It's fine," Zuko told her as he got up off the floor, Shouto hugging his neck tightly, "Besides, we should probably see about turning Shouto into a little mini me, shouldn't we?"

Fuyumi accepted the distraction, especially with how thrilled Shouto looked at the prospect.  He let go of Zuko's neck, and would have fallen to the floor if the older teen hadn't caught him, setting him down gently.  She then took him into the bathroom, and dyed his hair, happy that he obeyed her every instruction easily.  She debated whether or not they should really put the contacts in his eyes, but when he started to beg, she caved easily.

Once the contacts were in, Shouto ran out to the living room where the others were sitting, talking about something.  Fuyumi exited the bathroom just in time to see Zuko getting dive bombed by the eager five-year-old.  He smiled as Shouto started chattering at him about the process, a thoughtful look on his face.  He pulled a comb out of his pocket, saying a few words to the five year old who nodded, turning around so Zuko would have easy access to his hair.  He then combed it back, pulling as much as he could into what looked like a high ponytail, although the lower half of his hair wasn't long enough to reach.

Zuko then had Shouto jump off his lap and stand in front of him, an appraising look on his face.  There was a part of Fuyumi that was chilled at the look, remembering when her father had looked at him in a similar way.  Any resemblance disappeared a moment later though as a soft smile settled on his face. However, she couldn't help but be wary as she got closer, settling down in the nearest armchair as she waited for Zuko to say something.  "You look almost like I did at your age," he told Shouto, who jumped into his arms, apparently happy to hear that, "I had longer hair and my face was a little thinner, but other than that you look practically identical."

"Except for the scar," Shouto stated, looking more than a little resigned to the fact.

"We could change that," Fuyumi offered, surprising herself with her words, but she decided that she would voice the thought that had been living in the back of her head since seeing how superficial the damage was, "Make up would be able to cover the scar.  We'd probably have to look around to find a good concealer, but it wouldn't be that hard to hide it.  Not that we wouldn't be able to pass it off as a weird birthmark if we needed to."

Shouto looked excited at the prospect of hiding the scar, and Fuyumi started thinking about some of the requirements the concealer would need to have.  It would have to be waterproof since they wouldn't want it to wash off in the rain, and they wouldn't want it to smear either. She was probably going to need Natsuo's help with that, but there was a good chance that they would be able to figure it out.

Zuko was walking home from work on December twenty first, a slightly larger than usual bag in his arms.  When he had mentioned his birthday, back in early November when Miyata turn thirty two, he hadn't expect anything to come of it.  Celebrating his birthday had never really been a big thing for him, but he should have known that Miyata and Miyake were going to do something with that information.  They had sent extra treats home with him on Fuyumi's birthday, but he hadn't expected them to make him a full cake with custom icing.  He tried to tell them that it was too much, but they weren't having it, claiming that with all the work he had been doing because of the impending arrival of Christmas he deserved to have a treat.  They had gone so far as to invoke his "siblings" to get him to take it.

Zuko hadn't really had it in him to argue after that.  The kids deserved to have something nice, especially since he had been gone pretty much every day that month.  They seemed to constantly be doing catering projects for Christmas parties, which usually meant that they were doing several large batches of cookies or pastries, some of which included decorations.  He hadn't known what Christmas was when Miyata had started teaching him how to make the treats that were apparently specific to the Christmas season, but he had gotten Natsuo to fill him in that night.  It was a weird tradition, but one that Zuko was interested in engaging in, if only so the kids could get to enjoy it.

Zuko had been slyly buying gifts for the kids after work, hiding them in the basement after they had gone to bed.  Without electricity the room was rather dark, and none of the kids really liked it.  He wasn't that fond of it either, mainly because being underground brought back memories of things that happened underground, and none of them were all that pleasant.  Aside from being underground, the basement wasn't that bad.  It had clearly been used as a storage space, with mostly furniture being kept down there.  There was a large dining room table and several chairs that appeared to be a set, since the design that rimmed the table complimented that of the chairs.

Zuko was pulled out of his thoughts by a cut off scream followed by a muffled thud, one that generally indicated that someone had just been thrown against a wall.  He followed the sound without thinking, and came across a fairly standard mugging, although the person doing the mugging had insect like blades protruding from their back instead of a knife in their hand.  The blades were pulled back clearly ready to strike if need be, while the mugger's hand covered the woman's mouth, preventing her from screaming.  She was staring at the mugger, clearly terrified, but shaking her head as she clasped her bag tightly to her chest, her knuckles white.

Zuko had seen red at that moment, running over to the alleyway where the mugging was happening, and kicked the mugger in the shoulder to get him away from his victim.  The mugger snarled as they raised their blades, but it was far from the most intimidating thing that he'd seen.  Azula had been scarier at age four.  The mugger lunged at him, slashing at his head and chest, but Zuko was easily able to dodge out of the way, his experience as the Blue Spirit and dodging assassination attempts serving him well.   It wasn't hard to dance around the blows, allowing him to get behind the mugger and knock them unconscious with a blow to the back of the head.

Zuko turned back to the woman who was standing at the mouth of the alleyway, her phone held up to her ear as she spoke frantically into it.  He hoped that she was calling the police, because the last thing he wanted was for this criminal to get away because he couldn't afford to drag their ass to a police station.  He didn't want to leave the kids home alone any longer than he had to, especially with how cold it was.  He also noticed that he had dropped the bag of goods on the sidewalk, so he went and retrieved it, before checking on the woman.  "Are you okay?" Zuko asked as he approached her, taking a moment to do a cursory inspection for any potential wounds she might have sustained before he got there.

"I'm fine," she said, sounding slightly shocked as she looked him over, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Zuko replied, the words more genuine then they would have been last time he was seventeen, "It wasn't my first fight."

The woman nodded, her gaze having turned more thoughtful and appraising, but there was also respect in her eyes.  "The police will be here soon," she told him, her gaze falling on the unconscious mugger, her hand subconsciously gripping her phone tighter.

"That's good," Zuko offered for lack of anything else to really say as he positioned himself between the woman and the mugger.  He decided to check on the contents of his bag while waiting for the police to arrive, at a loss for what else to do and unsure about how to break the slightly awkward tension.

Fortunately, cops arrived a few moments later and the woman gave her account to one of the officers while the other cuffed the mugger and put them in the back of the police car.  Zuko had a feeling that they got called out a lot based on how bored they seemed when they arrived, although their expressions had quickly shifted to surprise upon seeing the unconscious mugger.  "So, you were her savior?" one of the cops that had talked to the woman asked as they approached, a notebook open and a pen ready to write down what he said.

"I guess," Zuko replied, feeling more than a little uncomfortable talking to a complete stranger, especially since law enforcement had never really been on his side unless he or someone he knew was in charge of it, "I just heard her scream and ran over to help."

"Uh huh," the cop commented as they wrote that down, "So how did you take out the mugger?  What is your quirk?"

"I have a fire quirk," Zuko told them, producing a small flame in his left hand before putting it out, "But I know hand to hand, so I used that to knock them out."

"Okay," the cop said as they closed their notebook, apparently having gotten all the information they'd been looking for, "I'd suggest you be more careful in the future kid.  Quirk use is the thing that has you going from good Samaritan to vigilante."

Zuko nodded and started making his way home once again, glad that that whole situation was resolved amicably.  He wasn't exactly unfamiliar with being a vigilante, not with how much time he had spent going out as the Blue Spirit, but it was interesting that there were apparently different laws in place here.  It kind of made sense, as if everyone used their quirks whenever they wanted things would be chaotic, but it also left a rather interesting loophole.  As he got home he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.  He could look it up later.  Right now, he is going to enjoy his birthday with his new family.

Christmas had been fun, although Zuko knew that it was lacking from what he had managed to overhear at the bakery.  They didn't have a tree or stockings, but there were presents, and they were able to spend the whole day together just enjoying each other's company.  A lack of electricity meant that they were mostly relying on candles for light, and there weren't any movies or big feasts but it had still been a great day. He'd been surprised to receive gifts from the kids, apparently Natsuo had been abusing the knowledge of his father's credit card information, and he was happy that they had appreciated the gifts he'd given them.  He had tried to make most of the gifts fairly practical, but he had also indulged in some toys and games for them, wanting them to be able to be kids while they were still young.

Zuko had gotten a bonus for working the Christmas season, which had been difficult with several seasonal hires.  Almost all of them had been older than him and were clearly upset at seeing a child working a full-time job.  He honestly wasn't sure if they were upset because they thought someone under eighteen shouldn't be working full time, or if they were upset that he was working full time while they were all just temporary workers.  He'd done his best to ignore them, as it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before, although it had carried a lot more condescension last time.  There had been far too many generals and advisors that thought he was an idiot because he was young.  The fact that most of them had been trying to overthrow him hadn't even been a surprise.

While there was less going on with the approach of the new year, that didn't mean that things were back to normal.  People, no matter what nation or universe, liked to throw parties, and food was a big part of them.  Zuko was pretty sure that for as much work as they were doing, it could have been much worse.  He'd seen what the palace kitchen looked like when they were prepping for a ball or conference, so he was willing to take slightly more work than usual over that.

Zuko had decided to take some of the money that had been part of the bonus to buy materials to make a Blue Spirit mask.  He could easily picture the mask in his mind, having admired it greatly for years before actually wearing it.  It had been a strong connection between him and his mother while she was gone, as well as a physical representation of his love of theater, and there was part of him that wanted to rekindle that.  It may also have been because he wanted to be able to be able to use the mask just like he used to, at least in the enacting vigilante justice sense.  He had decide to get the supplies on a day off, shortly after New Year's, and took Shouto with him since the five, almost six-year-old hadn't been out of the house that much.  Besides, it would help Zuko figure out what to get him for his birthday next week.

Shouto had been overjoyed, happily bundled up in the coat that Zuko had gotten him for Christmas as they made their way to the store.  It was a bit of a walk, and had required them to take a short ride on the train, but soon they had reached the store.  As they entered the store, Zuko noticed how Shouto was practically pressing himself into his leg, almost like he was trying to hide behind him.  It was slightly concerning, although after a bit of observation he realized that Shouto was just overwhelmed by all the new sensations that he probably hadn't experienced before.  There was a part of him that was upset about the kid having been isolated for so long, almost wishing that Endeavor was there so he could give him the sucker punch he deserved.  However, that though was nothing but fantasy, and Zuko did his best to accommodate for the clingy five year old.  At least this way he could have some exposure to the regular world before he started attending school.

There was a little bit of wandering around the store until Zuko located the paint, deciding to grab the whole rainbow instead of just blue and white so as to make it less suspicious.  Besides it would mean that the paints could be used by the kids should they so desire after he had finished.  Glancing around the aisle, he managed to find some black ribbon and a small sewing kit in the same area, the two items being added to the cart.  He explored the area a bit more, looking over all the different art supplies and noting Shouto's interest in the crayons and coloring books.  They would probably make a good birthday gift, although the supplies might be a great thing to just get for the kids in general.

After exploring the art supply section, Zuko meandered off to find blocks of wood that he would be able to turn into the Blue Spirit mask.  Finding the wood blocks was a little difficult, taking them much deeper into the store than he would have liked but they were eventually located.  He grabbed a few of them, wanting to give himself some room for error, before heading towards the check out in a slightly round about way.  He watched Shouto as they made their way back through the store, doing his best to watch for what might catch Shouto's eye.  It was a little hard to tell, since Shouto was staring at pretty much everything in wide eyed wonder, but there was a deepset want in his eyes as he stared at the toys, something that he had been denied in Endeavor's house.  Zuko vaguely remembered the kids talking about playing soccer together in the yard, which was one of the only times they would get a glimpse of Shouto, and he knew exactly what to do for his birthday.

Soon enough they had paid for everything and gotten home, with Zuko taking the wood blocks out to the patio.  Shouto had run off to either play with Druk or draw Fuyumi into a board game, which probably depended on whether or not he would be able to locate the young dragon.  Zuko was glad that he was getting better at handling their separation, although from what Fuyumi told him, when he was at work Shouto would still be sitting with Druk all day.  They would have to figure out how that was going to work when he started school in April, but there was time to deal with that later.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Zuko focused on the wood in his hands.  The patio was the ideal place to do this since it was made of rock and the piles of snow around him provided a place the quench the flames if needed.  It also meant that if he dropped it, then they didn't have to worry about anything else catching on fire.  While he doubted he would, he also knew that it would be best not to tempt fate.  With his luck it wasn't worth it to invite bad things to happen.

Zuko then pulled the memory of the Blue Spirit mask to the front of his mind, the large, fanged mouth, the small but working eyeholes, the fins on the side of the head that hid where the straps were and the small almost crown like fin at the top.  Then there were the small details that one wouldn't notice unless they spent a lot of time looking at and wearing it.  There was the indentation for the nose with small holes to allow one to breath.  The thinness of the wood at the mouth, allowing the wearer to be able to speak and project while still hiding their mouth completely.  The thickness of the wood at the forehead, allowing it to be able to withstand damaging blows with little more than a scratch.  He doubted that would be necessary, but it was a good design choice to keep in.

Zuko then took a deep breath, before a small flame blossomed at the tip of his left pointer finger. He took another breath, mentally preparing himself as he started tracing out what the mask would look like, thankful that his art skills were a fair sight better than Sokka's.  Izumi and Ursa had spent most of his retirement trying to get him to find a hobby, and while age old insecurities kept him from doing much painting or sculpting, he had found that there was a certain meditative quality to creating art.  "What are you doing?" came Touya's voice, nearly startling Zuko into dropping the wood block into the snow.

Zuko turned towards the door and looked at Touya, who just stood there, curiosity shining bright in his eyes.  It wasn't a look that the teen wore often, tending to be reserved for learning combat moves, so Zuko decided to indulge him.  It would be nice to be able to show him that his quirk was capable of more than just fighting.  "I'm doing wood burning," he explained as he gestured for Touya to sit down beside him, "If you're careful, you can use fire to burn away parts of the wood, not only giving it a different color but whatever design you want.  I'm currently using it to make an old theater mask from one of my favorite plays, but there are a lot of possibilities."

"Could I try?" Touya asked, staring eagerly at the block of wood.

Zuko tilted his head thoughtfully, considering the idea.  He'd gotten four blocks of wood, so if he saved a second one just in case the mask he was currently working on didn't turn out right, then that would give Touya two blocks with which to learn.  Besides, he could always buy more wood later on.  "Sure," Zuko said as he grabbed another block from the shopping bag, "Just remember you have to be careful.  If you ignite the block, just drop it in the snow.  If that doesn't put it out than I can handle it."

Touya nodded summoning a flame to his hand the same way Zuko had.  However, he sat there for a moment before actually putting the flame to the block.  Zuko was glad.  If Touya had paused while his flame was pressed against the block, then it definitely would have gone up in flames. He turned his attention back to making the Blue Spirit mask, having managed to get through the outline of the mask when there was a flash of heat next to him.

Touya hastily dropped the now flaming block into the snow, doing his best to back away from the flames while Zuko made sure the fire was out before pulling the block out of the newly formed puddle.  The design on the block was partially scorched and undefined, looking like a few randomly curving lines.  It sort of reminded him of fire, but he wasn't going to say anything, because there was no telling what Touya had been aiming for.

"You should probably wait until it's dry to continue," Zuko told Touya as he handed him back the block, "But when it does, if you want I can show you how to vary the intensity of your flames.  When you do that, it provides you with different shades."

Touya looked intrigued at that, and Zuko had a feeling that he had just discovered the perfect birthday present.

When Zuko brought up the kids going back to school he wasn't surprised to learn that Natsuo had already done a lot of research on it. He could easily believe the claim that he'd been doing a lot of research before they ran away, so he already knew most of what he needed to look up in order to include his siblings in it.  It wasn't that hard either as Natsuo and Shouto would be in elementary school while Touya and Fuyumi were going to be in middle school, so they only needed to identify two schools.

Natsuo came up with a small list of both types of schools in the area, ranked according to which ones he thought were best, a small list of pros and cons to go with each.  Zuko was impressed, having known adults that wouldn't have put nearly as much effort into something similar, despite it being their job.  Of course, while they were discussing the schools, they had to address the elephant in the room.

"Do we think that Shouto is going to be able to handle going to school?" Fuyumi asked, looking at her younger brother who was sitting in Zuko's lap.

"He has been getting better," Natsuo offered, somewhat halfheartedly.

They all knew that Shouto was still having a lot of trouble when Zuko wasn't home.  When he was home, Shouto could almost be normal, no longer being constantly clingy or having to keep the firebender within his line of sight all the time, but when Zuko wasn't home he rarely left the room that Druk was in.  He had gotten to the point that he was able to do more than just sit there, having been drawn into games and the like, but only as long as the dragon was in the room.

"It's not like he could just take Druk to school," Touya pointed out, having been selected as the most recent perch of the dragon, who was sitting on top of his head, "They wouldn't allow it."

Natsuo's face turned thoughtful at that, before he pulled out his notebook, jotting something down on one of the pages.  "What is it?" Fuyumi asked, trying to angle herself so she could see what he was writing.

"There might be a way for him to be able to take Druk to school," Natsuo informed them briefly glancing up from his notebook to shoot them a grin before going back to writing.

"Really?" Shouto asked, his voice full of hope and excitement.

"I'll have to do some research," Natsuo told them, although Zuko felt that was a given, "But we might be able to register Druk as an emotional support animal.  It's not like we would be lying."

"What's an emotional support animal?" Zuko asked, not recognizing the terminology, although that wasn't really surprising.

"They're animals that help people deal with emotional trauma," Fuyumi explained as she stared at Druk thoughtfully, "Usually they are trained to help their owner with their problems, helping them with panic attacks or flashbacks.  Druk technically helps Shouto with his separation anxiety, making it easier for him to function normally when you aren't around."

Zuko looked at Druk, trying to gauge his feelings on the matter.  He seemed rather indifferent about it, and that was the best that Zuko was going to get out of him at the moment.  Part of him wished that they had managed to maintain the connection that they had before, where they would be able to easily communicate with their minds, but Zuko supposed that Druk just wasn't physically old enough for that yet.  However, he did at the very least know that Druk didn't mind spending time with Shouto, and it would let him get out of the house too.  He was approaching the age that he started to get really active, so it would do him some good.

"Okay then," Zuko said as he glanced at Natsuo, "I guess we'll see about that."

It turns out that it takes a lot of work to get an animal registered as a certified service animal, especially one that wasn't from one of those schools where they apparently train animals.  However, they managed to get it all worked out over the course of the next month, especially since this was a case where getting a different animal wouldn't help.  Druk wasn't happy about the collar he had to wear, denoting him as a service animal, but at least he would only need that outside the house.  It had been rather amusing to feed the employee handling the paperwork the lie that Druk was a fire skink lizard with a dragon quirk.  Any differences in appearance could be chalked up to the quirk.

Once that was out of the way, Zuko got to work on signing them up for school.  Fuyumi and Touya were easily accepted into Natsuo's number one choice for middle schools, but it was harder to find a school that would be willing to accept Shouto after finding out about Druk.  They would claim that it was something else, but it wasn't hard to read between the lines.  Fortunately, there was one school that was willing to accept Natsuo and Shouto, even with the small fire breathing lizard attached. 

With the paperwork all squared away, Zuko then took the kids out to get school supplies and clothes so they would be able to make a good impression on the first day of school, or in Fiyumi's case have some nice clothes to change into after getting home.  It was while they were grabbing shoes that Touya revealed that since he was pretending to be quirkless there was a certain type of shoe that he needed to wear as they were made bigger to accommodate the extra toe joint that quirkless people had.  

Zuko thought it was stupid, especially since there were plenty of people that needed to get custom made shoes due to their quirks.  It was ridiculous, especially with how expensive they were compared to other shoes of the same size and make.  It didn't even really make sense because an extra joint or the removal of a joint, didn't really affect the size of the feet that much.  Zuko was a prime example of this as he would probably be genetically quirkless should a doctor actually look and he could wear the normal shoes just fine.  However, Touya did admit that he like the quirkless shoes better as they put less pressure on his scars down there, so the criticisms were bitten back as well as Zuko could manage.

About two weeks before the new school year was set to start, they were sent all the information they needed for the start of school, from class information, schedules, and the login information for Touya's online classes.  Zuko had no idea how Natsuo had arranged for a mail address separate from the house, but he was grateful for it, and soon it was almost time to send them off to school. When the day arrived Zuko practically rushed through his morning routine so he could get everything ready for the kids, packing lunches for them and making sure their school supplies were in their backpacks, all the while hoping that their first days would go well.

Chapter Text

Touya probably had it the easiest of all his siblings.  He didn't actually have to head to the school and interact with all the strange new kids.  He was just heading to the library where he would set up Natsuo's laptop and then log into his classes for the day.  He felt kind of bad for using Natsuo's laptop for this, but his little brother had assured him that it was okay since otherwise it would just be sitting in the house being useless.  At least this way it would have some time to charge.  It had helped to ease his guilt slightly, but it still didn't change the fact that Touya wasn't going to have to interact with a bunch of strangers.

Well, that would be the case as long as there weren't too many people at the library.  While he doubted that there would be many people at the library he didn't really know that for a fact, having never stepped foot in one before.  Father had always gone on about how interacting with the common people were below them, and he'd not even been to school until his father had decided to toss him aside.  He hadn't thought to highly of school when he went there, seeing it more as a punishment for being born less than perfect, as opposed to the new opportunity that his parents thought it was.

The last six months had allowed him to look back on it and see that it wasn't as bad as he'd thought it was at the time, although he still wasn't all that impressed.  His father was loud and proud about being a hero, his name being wide spread throughout the country, so when people heard his name they knew exactly who his father was.  It had led to pretty much everyone in his grade approaching him at one point to ask him questions either about his father, about his quirk, what he wanted to do in the future, etc.  It was annoying, especially when kids who had to have been fans of his father would speak up in his defense and say he wasn't like that.  How the fuck would they know?!

Before Touya could go too far down that line of thought, which would probably have led to him using his quirk eventually, he reached the library.  He took a deep breath, doing his best to calm himself down before he did something stupid, and entered the building, not really knowing what to expect.  The entrance was a surprisingly open space given how small the building was.  Looking around the space he could see a small area for kids, then several clusters of bookshelves dotted around the room, and in between the gaps he could see bookshelves lining the walls.  Off to the right was the book return box as well as bathrooms and an office door.  To the left there was a line of computers and three study rooms.  

He made his way towards the study rooms, discovering that they had locks on them which indicated whether they were occupied or not.  The first one was occupied but the second one wasn't, so Touya slipped in locking the door behind him, hoping that they wouldn't mind.  They probably wouldn't since this is kind of what the rooms were meant for. He then pulled out Natsuo's laptop booting up, before getting out his school supplies.  He was glad that Natsuo had given him the login information to memorize a while ago, so he wasn't left wondering what the password was. He had actually laughed out loud when Natsuo first gave it to him because Endeavwh0rei5@b!tch wasn't really what he was expecting.

When the laptop got to the home screen, he pulled up the web browser, referencing the letter with his student login information to figure out how to get to the student portal.  Fortunately they had provided him with the proper website, so all he had to do was type it into the search bar and it took him right there.  It took him straight to the login screen and he referenced the letter again making sure that he had his login information right.  It was one of those standard logins, with the username derived from his name and his birthdate acting as the temporary password.  Touya wanted to do something as creative as his little brother when creating his new password, but he was wary of doing so because he wasn't sure if the school would check it, if they could.  He didn't want them getting mad at him for something that no one else is supposed to know about.

Touya sat there for a bit, trying to come up with a decent password, eventually making one that played on a combination of his family's new and old names and ages.  The seemingly random string of letters and numbers should be fine.  Just to make sure he wouldn't forget it, he wrote down Zy94Ts13Fk11Ns9Sy5 on the letter, at the bottom so it looked like it was some random code he just jotted down instead of his password.  He then folded the paper and slipped it into his notebook so it was out of the way but easily accessible. With that taken care of he was shunted to his first class, ready to see what the day would bring.

Fuyumi was grateful that Zuko had walked her to school that day, because she was absolutely terrified.  It wasn't like she hadn't been to school before, but the intrusive thought that she could be found out and taken back to her father had made her extremely anxious.  She knew it was unreasonable fear.  She knew that there was no way for anyone to be able to recognize her, not with black hair, amber eyes, and a completely different hair style.  She could barely recognize herself these days, so there was no reason to think that someone else would.

That didn't stop her from being on high alert as soon as Zuko left, her eyes flitting around the school yard doing their best to see if there was any recognition in the eyes of the people around her.  No one really seemed to be paying attention to her, which allowed her to relax slightly but not completely.  There was no telling when someone could recognize her, and she could only hope that the disguise would work for long enough that no one would.  Besides, she was pretty sure that none of her friends had gone to Nabu Middle School, so there was little chance of her running into any of them here.  To most people her name was more recognizable than her face.

Eventually she worked up the courage to make her way into the school, hoping that the map of the school that had been sent in the mail would be good enough to allow her to reach her classes easily.  Mapping out routes between classes with just the map relied on a best case scenario when it came to foot traffic and the like.  It would probably take her some time to find the actually best route between classes, but she hoped that what she knew about the school would work for the day.  As she entered the school she could see that there were groups of kids bunched up in the hall, friend groups and cliques that seemed the block the walkway for the most part.  It was more than a little daunting but Fuyumi steeled herself and slipped through the hallway took advantage of the small amount of space left between the groups.  It didn't take her long to reach her morning math class, although she couldn't help but wonder why they had to do math first thing in the morning.

The class gradually filled as the start of school grew closer, but she was focused on just getting her supplies out so she would be ready for whatever they were going to learn.  She could only hope that missing out on six months of school wouldn't affect her too much.  When the bell rang there were some people scrambling to get into their seats and pull out their things, a few kids getting disgruntled at the seating situation, but it wasn't like they could do anything about it.  Soon after role was called, it had taken Fuyumi a moment to realize when the teacher was calling her name. 

She wasn't used to being called Yoshida Keiko, the name having been used only in jest up to this point despite the fact that it had been her legal identity for the last six months.  Her siblings were too used to calling her Fuyumi and she didn't want to abandon the name entirely.  She knew that she couldn't use it at school or out in public, but she loved the name her mother had given her, and no longer using it would be like erasing part of herself.  Getting used to it was going to be difficult, but no harder than any of the other things she had done for her siblings.  So, she did her best to focus on her class and avoid accidentally writing Todoroki Fuyumi in the name spot of her worksheets.

As the day went on Fuyumi felt a little better about school.  It was different from what she was used to but in a good way.  She wasn't exactly popular, probably because she didn't really stand out to people, nor were people flocking to her like they might have back when she was the number two hero's daughter, and she liked it better this way.  She liked that she was allowed to just do her own thing without having to worry about how it might reflect on her father.  She was no longer under the scrutiny of the public who were eager to see just what kind of child the daughter of a high ranking hero was.  She enjoyed the freedom of being able to head to the library without having to worry about a whole crowd of people following her, to not have to worry about what people would think about her when she decided to pick up a fantasy novel or a romance manga.

Being known as Endeavor's daughter was suffocating.  It made her feel a bit like a lab rat, or a circus animal, with the whole world watching her to see what she would do next, her whole life on display for people to observe and judge.  As Yoshida Keiko she didn't have those expectations hanging over her.  She didn't have to prove herself to anyone other than herself.  She didn't have to worry about people constantly asking her about her father.  It was kind of freeing to be just another student, no longer under the microscope.

Natsuo walked to school, hand in hand with Shouto.  Zuko had wanted to be here with them, helping Shouto to make the transition to school easier, but Fuyumi had asked, practically begged, him to accompany her to school, and unfortunately, they were in opposite directions.  He could only go with one of them, and with how concerning Fuyumi's actions had been his choice was obvious.  It probably hadn't help that Zuko needed to head straight to work afterwards.  At least they go to have Druk with them.

The dragon had decided that he wanted to ride on Shouto's head, and while he wasn't that big, he had gotten big enough that he was technically half on Shouto's head and half on his backpack.  He looked like a sunning lizard, which Natsuo supposed wasn't that far off, but he knew what kind of damage Druk was capable of.  He had seen the sparks that Druk had started spewing a little over a month ago, and he was afraid for when sparks would turn into flames.  There was also the very real claws on his feet.  He had already used them to shred a few of Zuko's shirts so Natsuo figured that if he was motivated enough, they could break skin.

Shouto was obviously nervous, as his grip tight as he held Natsuo's hand, much like he had held Zuko's clothes in the early days.  It wasn't quite the white knuckled grip that he had used, but it wasn't that far off and it was kind of painful.  He did his best not to let it show though as he felt that Shouto would drop his hand in an instant if he gave any indication that it was hurting him.  Natsuo was honestly kind of proud to be the one that Shouto was drawing comfort from, but he knew that if it wasn't for Druk's presence on top of his head, he would never have made it this far.  However, he was impressed with the progress that Shouto had been making as he doubted that they would have been able to do something like this even two months ago.

As they got to the school, Natsuo started looking for the door that led to the main office.  In the letter they had gotten from the school, the principal had asked that they come to the office just so they would be able to show Shouto's teacher what Druk looked like so there would be no confusion.  Natsuo couldn't help but wonder what kind of confusion they thought would be happening with Druk since he not only looked nothing like other animals, but also was, very reluctantly, wearing his service animal collar.  No one would be able to claim that he is just a pet.

The doors weren't that hard to spot so it didn't take them long to reach the office.  When they entered Natsuo wondered what he should do, as it was clear that they mostly expected to have adults in here.  He noted that there were several forms sitting on the counter with pens and clipboards, although he wasn't sure what the forms were for.  There was also a small bell, one that Natsuo recognized from movies as an object that was often used to summon the attendant at a bank or something like that.  He debated hitting it when a woman came around the counter.

She was fiddling with a folder that held a few papers, but eventually looked up and spotted them.  She startled slightly, probably not expecting them there before pausing to taking in their appearances, her gaze lingering on Druk for a minute before recognition lit up in her eyes.  "You're the Yoshida kids, aren't you?" she asked as she set the folder in her hands down on the counter while Natsuo nodded, "I'll take you to Principal Fujimoto."

Natsuo followed her, squeezing Shouto's hand reassuringly as they made their way deep into the office, passing what appeared to be the detention room and the nurse’s office before reaching the principal's office.  The woman held the door open for them while she announced their presence to the man seated at the desk.  He looked to be an older gentleman, but not very old.  He had some grey streaking through his brown hair, most of it centered around his temples.  There were some wrinkles on his face, especially around his eyes which were brown like his hair.  He was bigger than most people tended to be, not tall but a little wider and rounder.  Natsuo didn't necessarily want to call him fat, but he definitely wasn't trim.

"Hello there," the man said, his voice cheery and gentle, a warm smile on his face, "So you two are Yoshida Saburo and Yoshida Shouto, correct?"

"Yes sir," Natsuo replied, reminding himself that he was going to have to get used to being called Saburo.  They hadn't really been using the new names at home so it was probably going to be difficult, but it wasn't impossible.  Part of him hoped that people would just refer to him as Yoshida san, so he wouldn't have to deal with the potential cognitive dissonance.  

"Good," the man stated as he shuffled the papers on his desk, "Now you know why I asked for the two of you to come here, right?"

"So that Shouto's teacher can be introduced to Druk," Natsuo answered, wondering if the principal really thought that they were as dumb as his questions seemed to imply.

"Correct," the man responded as he sat back in his chair slightly, "My secretary has gone to get Shinozaki sensei so she can be introduced to Druk.  I assume Druk is the thing resting on Shouto's head?"

Natsuo had a feeling that Druk didn't like being called a thing very much as he had gone from at rest to alert almost immediately.  Zuko had told them about what Druk had been like last time, how he was snarky and proud and obviously resented being a hatchling again.  Natsuo could kind of understand it.  He wouldn't want to be turned into a baby again, especially if he could remember his whole life from before.  Having to suddenly adjust to being capable mentally but physically incapable would be rough.  Zuko didn't have it as bad since he wasn't reduced to being a literal child, but if he had it probably would have made the situation worse.  He was the one taking care of all of them after all.

Shouto seemed to have noticed Druk's outrage as he was letting go of Natsuo's hand, lifting both of his hands above his head so he could use both of them to take Druk off his head.  Natsuo didn't know if he was using both hands to be respectful to Druk, or if he was worried that he might have to grab the infant dragon to prevent him from doing something stupid.  Either option was possible, but Natsuo was pulled out of his thoughts as the door opened behind them.

Natsuo half turned to see a young woman with brown hair and eyes dressed in a modest blue dress entering the room, her gaze settling on the two of them for a long time.  As she came around to stand by the principal's desk she studied them a little more openly, with significant attention being placed on Druk.  Natsuo wasn't sure what to make of it, as he inched closer to Shouto just in case.  "This is Shinozaki sensei," the principal said gesturing to the young woman standing beside the desk, "Shinozaki sensei, this is Yoshida Saburo and Yoshida Shouto.  The lizard in young Shouto's hands is Druk."

The teacher nodded before kneeling in front of Shouto.  "Can I take a look at Druk?" she asked gently as she held out her hands in offering.

Shouto looked uncertain, his attachment to Druk likely making the decision harder.  Natsuo didn't blame him.  Druk may not be able to speak but he was just as much a part of their family as the human members.  They didn't know these people, and just because they allowed them to have Druk come to school with Shouto didn't necessarily mean they trusted them.  Shouto ultimately looked down at Druk, clearly leaving the decision up to the dragon.

Druk stared up at him for a moment, before letting out a slight huff and climbing from Shouto's hands to Shinozaki sensei's.  She held Druk carefully, likely able to feel the claws that Natsuo suspected somewhat sharp, looking him over as she did.  She paid a lot of attention to his head and wings, although she examined him thoroughly from tip to tail.  When she completed her examination, she handed Druk back, Shouto visibly relaxing once the dragon was in his hands.  Shinozaki sensei stood after that, brushing off any dirt that might have gotten on her clothes when she knelt down.  "Thank you for letting me look at him," she told Shouto, the small smile on her face genuine as far as Natsuo could tell, "I know he has his collar denoting him as your service animal, but I wanted to make sure that I knew what he looked like just in case the collar fell off."

Shouto nodded, looking a little unsure about the whole situation, but Natsuo couldn't blame him for that.  It was his first time going to school, and the first time he was out of the house without Zuko.  Druk was the only thing keeping him from melting into a puddle of nerves, but things weren't all bad.  The teacher clearly respected Druk and Shouto's need for him, which was probably the best they could hope for at the moment. Just then the five minute warning bell rang and Natsuo suddenly realized that he had no idea where his class was.  "Kawakami san will take you to your classroom," Principal Fujimoto said, apparently having noticed Natsuo’s temporary panic.

"Thank you," Natsuo said, watching as Shouto walked off with his teacher as the secretary took him in the opposite direction to what was apparently his new classroom.

Natsuo barely got to the classroom before the starting bell rang, and he was a little worried about standing out as he exchanged his tennis shoes for sandals.  He didn't have to worry about it too much though as just as he had gotten his shoes off two more boys burst through the door breathing heavily.  He ignored them and the excuses they were feeding the teacher as he put his bag away in his cubby before being directed to his seat.  The teacher was Maki sensei, an older man that had white hair and wrinkles but a gentle smile on his face.  There was a part of Natsuo couldn't help but wonder if Zuko would have looked like that before he was dragged here, albeit with the scar marring the left side of his face.

Once everyone had been seated, the class did some getting to know each other games before turning to actual classwork.  Natsuo was relieved to find that it wasn't that difficult.  He'd been worried that the six months he and his siblings had spent in hiding would have led to them falling behind, and he knew he hadn't been alone in that fear.  They couldn’t really just start at a new school the middle of the term, especially when all of Japan was probably looking for them, so they had hidden away letting their knowledge and skills stagnate.

As Natsuo did the work, he realized some of it stuff he had learned sometime before running away.  Part of him recognized that this was probably review work, to make sure that they hadn't forgotten what they had already learned before moving on to something new, but he was pretty sure that he had covered this over a year ago,  He couldn't help but wonder if he had technically been working ahead.  He knew that his teachers had been constantly competing for his attention, trying to make themselves look impressive to the child of the number two hero.  He couldn't help but wonder if they had been giving him harder work, setting him up to fail so the teacher would look impressive when they managed to help him get a good grade in the class.

The alternative was that his father had insisted that he go to one of those advanced schools One that did accelerated learning because even though he was practically invisible in the house he was still Endeavor's son.  Being normal wasn't acceptable, he had to be better than all the other kids.  Natsuo was sure which option was the more realistic one, or which one was more disturbing to think about, so he decided to shove that thought to the back of his mind.

Focusing on it wouldn't help him, especially since it pointless now.  It wasn't something he could really confirm, not with how he had left all of his old schoolwork back at Endeavor's house, and personally he didn't want to know.  Sure he could probably look up his old school, but honestly he wanted to leave that part of his life behind him.  It would do him better to stay engaged in the moment and forget about what happened at his old school and such.  The only good thing that had come out of those experiences was his friends, and he couldn't even talk to them now.  As much as he had enjoyed hanging out with his friends, he wasn't going to risk his siblings safety just to see them again.  Besides, he could just make new friends.

When break time came, Natsuo took the opportunity to chat with some of the other kids in the class.  There were some very obviously tight knit friend groups, having been friends for a long time, so he decided to talk to some of the stragglers, hoping that he might be able to make a group like that on his own.  As nice as it would be to get a lot of friends quickly, inserting himself into an already established friend group would be difficult, especially since they would have a lot of history he wouldn't get, which would be an exclusion all on its own.  Besides,  most loners he had met tended to be more interesting anyway.

There had been a little hesitancy at first when he approached them, but he had managed to befriend a girl named Iwai Akane by the time they were called back into the classroom.  She was tough and kind of opinionated, but he liked that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, especially when one of the apparently popular kids had tried to step in and derail their conversation.  It was entertaining to watch her verbally eviscerate someone, and she was more than willing to tell him all about the kids in the class that she knew.  When they made their way back into the classroom he was almost disappointed that they were at opposite ends of the room, although that thought fled his mind when he found a note sitting on top of his desk.  That concern quickly turned to dread as he opened the note and read it.

Shouto wasn't sure about school.  Father had claimed he didn't need it, insisting that he could learn everything he needed to know at home, claiming that spending time around the general population would only taint him.  While Shouto didn't really believe his father's words, he was still unsure, mainly because it would be the first time that he would be separated from all of his siblings since they got away from father.  He'd take spending the day with Touya back when he was still mad at him over this.

However, if he wanted to go to UA, he needed to go to school.  He wouldn't be able to pass the entrance exam without knowing the information they would consider to be essential, and the only way to learn it was to go to school.  He was kind of jealous of Touya who didn't actually have to go to school because he was taking online classes.  Shouto understood why Touya was taking online classes, and he didn't want his brother to be put in a position where he could get hurt, but that didn't stop Shouto from being jealous.

So there he was, walking to school with Natsuo, wishing Zuko was there, but knowing he couldn't be.  Natsuo was fine though, and Druk's place on top of Shouto's head meant he could feel the low hum the dragon was letting out.  He had a feeling that it was Druk's way of providing reassurance, since it wasn't like he could talk to him like Zuko could, and he was a bit small to give hugs.  Shouto was happy that he was trying though.

Natsuo had told him that they would be heading to the office when they got to the school, but Shouto didn't really know what to expect.  He had only really seen what an office looked like in movies, and the little bit that he could see when they entered looked nothing like that.  There was a counter with some stuff on it and a few chairs that sat along the wall.  Natsuo glanced around, looking unsure, which had Shouto inching closer to his brother, suppressing the urge to bury his head into his side.

A woman came around the corner, stopping when she noticed them.  She talked with Natsuo, Shouto figuring he could let his older brother handle everything while focusing on the hum Druk was releasing.  He trusted Natsuo to take care of him, and he would be little good as a panicked mess.  He hoped that focusing on Druk would make it easier to calm down, to ignore all those bad thoughts that had him wishing he was back at the house, or better yet in Zuko's arms.  He always felt safe in Zuko's arms.  However, Zuko wasn't here, couldn't be here, so Shouto had to focus on the one other thing that could calm him: Druk.

The lady took them to meet the principal, and Shouto wasn't paying that much attention to the conversation.  However, when the principal called Druk a thing Shouto felt a jolt of outrage and indignation that he knew wasn't his own emotions.  As much as he cared for the dragon, and thought of him as a very interesting person, the emotions were much stronger than Shouto had initially felt when he heard that.  Zuko had mentioned that Druk could convey thoughts and feelings using his whiskers, so Shouto wondered if one of them had brushed his head as Druk made to sit up. 

Knowing that it would probably be in their best interests to avoid Druk getting in trouble on the first day, Shouto dropped Natsuo's hand so he could pick up the dragon.  He knew that it was easier to just use two hands and get Druk to come willingly than risk him scratching up his scalp as he tried to remove him with one.  The last time one of them had tried that, it hadn't ended well.  No one had been hurt on that one occasion, but a blanket was slightly shredded.

Then another woman, one that he assumed was Shinozaki sensei came into the office.  She seemed to be calm, her presence reminded him of mom, how she had been when father wasn't around, and they would watch TV together.  Shinzaki sensei had been careful with Druk while she examined him, clearly able to see how dangerous he could be, but at the same time treating him gently, like Zuko did.  Shouto wasn't sure if he could trust her, but he had the feeling that he could come to trust her in time.

When she took him to the classroom, she had offered her hand, but Shouto hadn't taken it.  He knew how easily an adult could squeeze a child's hand, his father having almost broken his once or twice, so he kept his hands to himself, cradling Druk between them.  Shinozaki sensei didn't seem to be offended as she led Shouto to the classroom, the room already mostly full of kids, probably his classmates.  She led him over to a set of cubbies, telling him to pick one that wasn't already in use to store his stuff.

Shouto chose a cubby close to the door, the third one up from the floor which left it just about eye height for him.  When Shouto turned around he discovered that pretty much the whole class was staring at him.  He didn't like it, their gazes freezing him in place as the attention of the room was fixed on him.  He didn't like that.  It had never boded well in the past, so it doubted it would be good now. Shinozaki sensei called to the class, which managed to pull their attention to the other side of the room, something Shouto was grateful for.  Druk licked his cheek, the little dragon's attempt at showing support, which did help, just a bit.

Shouto barely remembered to switch out his sneakers for the classroom sandals that Natsuo had told him about before slipping into the only empty seat in the room.  The other kids at the table shifted to look at him as he sat down at the table, before returning their attention to Shinozaki sensei, although their gaze would eventually find its way back to him only to return to the front when they made eye contact.  He could feel other kids in the room turning to sneak glances at him from time to time as well, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on the lesson instead.

It wasn't long before Shinozaki sensei was walking around the classroom. handing out workbooks that they would apparently be using for the rest of the term.  It was a book meant to help with their handwriting, so the lessons seemed to be geared towards copying kanji, which he doubted would be that hard.  There were a lot of lessons in it, with each page or so being considered one lesson and Shouto could see other workbooks off to the side, one of which was for math while another one was turned so he couldn't see what it said on the spine.  Shinozaki sensei had them write their names on the cover of their books, and Shouto easily wrote Yoshida Shouto on the line meant for his name.

Natsuo had showed Shouto what the kanji for his new name looked like and helped him practice writing it so when they started at school he could easily write it.  Personally, Shouto liked how Yoshida looked, preferring it to Todoroki, although considering how one of them was linked to his father and the other wasn't, it wasn't really a surprise. He honestly felt that the name Yoshida Shouto looked right, like it was meant to be that way.  Todoroki was shackled to a father that didn't care, who hadn't been afraid to hurt his child, his children, and he was glad to be rid of it.

Shinozaki sensei instructed them do the first two exercises in the book, which had them copying basic and often used kanji.  Shouto hunched over his book as he did the exercise, feeling the need to protect it like he had tried to protect his books from his father.  Druk seemed to have decided to drape himself on Shouto's head again, which left him not too far from the table top.  Shouto kind of liked that the dragon was sticking so close to him.  He was used to following Druk around the house, trying to stay close to the dragon who migrated to the next sunbeam popped up, since he started hopping between rooms in the house despite the fact that there was a room where sun tended to be readily available most of the day.  Shouto suspected he was doing it on purpose so Shouto would be doing more than sitting in that one room all day.

Eventually Shinozaki sensei had them put their workbooks away, telling them that they were heading outside for break time.  Shouto's siblings hadn't really told him about this so he didn't know what to expect, and found himself dragging his feet slightly.  Druk had gone back to letting out his low hum, which resonated weirdly with him pressed completely against Shouto's head.  It was different from how it felt earlier when he was half propped up by Shouto's backpack, probably because he was also in contact with his neck and shoulders without the backpack to rest on. He didn't mind though as it helped Shouto to stay grounded, the comfort of having Druk there with him despite how scary it was being in an unfamiliar situation.

Shouto traded the sandals for his sneakers and followed his classmates out of the room, their excitement managing to lift his mood slightly.  Shinozaki sensei led them out of the room and to a playground, something Shouto had only really seen on the TV before.  He could see a large play structure with slides, climbing walls, and all sorts of little puzzles that they could do.  There was also a swing set that had four swings on it. On a cart off to the side there were also some toys like jump ropes or bouncy balls.  Standing next to the cart was an adult that Shouto assumed had to be the watcher or supervisor of the area, given how they were constantly glancing around the space.

Now he could kind of see what break meant as his classmates booked it for the play equipment, Shouto wasn't sure what to do.  The play structure was crowded rather quickly, and he didn't want to get caught up in that so he wasn't going to go there.  Just looking at the kids packed into that space made him nervous, so he was going to avoid it for now.  The different toys had been scooped up rather quickly from what he could see, but maybe he could talk to one of the other kids and see if they would let him play with them.  "Hey," someone in front of Shouto said startling him out of his thoughts.

Standing in front of him, was one of the kids from Shouto's table.  They weren't alone either as a couple other kids from the class, and some he didn't recognize stood behind them, their attention making him nervous.  "What's that on your head?" the kid at the front asked reaching for Druk which had Shouto backing up, soon hitting the wall with his back.

Druk hissed at them, which Shouto appreciated because he couldn't bring himself to speak.  Not that the hissing got them to back off though.  Instead they seemed to be closing in on him, hands reaching for Druk as they said something.  It didn't take long for Shouto to be surrounded, voices overlapping as they asked about Druk and tried to touch the dragon despite the fact that he clearly didn't want them to.  It wasn't long before Shouto felt the weight on his head disappear, and he started frantically looking around for Druk, panic building in his chest.

The bodies around him continued to press him, forcing him against the wall.  His vision blurred as the pressure increased, the overwhelming feeling of being trapped took his mind back to the dojo and cowering in front of his father as he told him to fight. He could do nothing but curl up into a ball and cry, tensing in preparation for the first blow. 

Chapter Text

Zuko was nervous.  He knew he shouldn't be, and he did his best not to show it when he got to work, but he was nervous.  Part of that was because he felt bad for not having walked Shouto and Natsuo to school.  He had wanted to, and that had been their original plan, but Fuyumi had been too nervous about walking to school on her own.  She was used to being accompanied by her brothers in the past, and after Natsuo had reassured them that he could walk Shouto to school just fine Zuko had accepted it.  Shouto clearly wasn't happy about it, practically clinging to Zuko that night, but he had ultimately agreed that it was best.

Fortunately the walk to Nabu Middle School had gone without incident, and Fuyumi had even hugged him before heading into the school. He's been kind of surprised at that because other than Touya who had understandable issues with touch, Fuyumi had been the least contact oriented of the kids.  Shouto was so obviously touch starved that Zuko had no problem giving him all the physical affection he could desire, and while Natsuo didn't indulge in hugs often, he engaged in touch in other ways.  He would accept high fives, pats on the back or shoulder and ruffling of his hair.  Ruffling Touya's hair had become their main way of showing the teen affection, since the damage from his burns made hugs too painful most of the time.

Once Fuyumi was on the school grounds, Zuko made his way to the bakery, hoping that the kids would have a good day at school.  He had no idea what their school day would entail, if it was like that standard schooling in the fire nation had been like or if it was completely different.  He hoped that it was nothing like his schooling had been, and if it was he wouldn't hesitate to pull them from the schools.  He doubted that would be necessary though, since they were in classes instead of having tutors.

Those thoughts had plagued him all the way to the bakery, the route from the house to the bakery having practically been ingrained into his muscles.  Even if he hadn't been familiar enough with the route to be able to walk it in his sleep, the smell of baked goods would definitely have drawn him in, the aura of anxiety at the house having made it difficult for anyone to eat that morning.  at least he had packed all of them healthy and delicious lunches.  After a brief greeting from Miyata, Zuko easily slipped into the daily routine at the bakery, measuring out ingredients, mixing ingredients, rolling out dough, etc. 

Then at about midmorning, his phone rang. Zuko hadn't realized that it was his phone at first, Natsuo having helped him set the ringtone since it had been his phone first, but he just wasn't used to using it.  Back in the four nations they were used to what he now knew to be called rotary phones, and there was no such thing as a ringtone.  Besides, it was sitting next to the door on a charging cord much like Miyata's own phone.  It wasn't until Miyata pointed it out to him that Zuko realized what was going on.

Zuko didn't bother to wash his hands off in the rush to pick up the phone, panic filling him.  He could only think of one reason why anyone would be calling him, and he could only pray to Agni that it wasn't the case.  He had some trouble getting the phone to register his attempts to answer the call, the dough on his fingers acting as a buffer, but it eventually it registered his actions.  "Hello," Zuko answered as he pulled the phone up to his ear, hoping that he'd managed to keep his voice steady enough to not betray his anxiety.

"Hello, may I speak with Yoshida Zuko?" a female voice at the other end of the call asked, the tone perfectly professional, not giving anything away.

"I'm Yoshida Zuko," he confirmed, the pit of dread in his stomach deepening.

"This is Endo Elementary School.  We need you to come to the school," the woman told him, and Zuko couldn't help but wonder if it involved just one or both of the boys, "There has been an incident with your brother, Yoshida Shouto and he is currently unresponsive."

Zuko felt his chest constrict at that news.  He couldn't imagine what Shouto was going through, and he knew he had to get there as quickly as possible.  He grabbed his coat, doing his best to rub the dough on his hands off on his jeans and he told Miyata that his brother needed him. The baker waved him off, an action he barely registered as he was already sprinting out the door.  Zuko was grateful though sprinting towards Shouto's school, only stopping when crossing the road.  He wouldn't do Shouto any good dead.

In what felt like forever and no time at all he found himself at the school, a woman standing in front of the main building.  She seemed to have been waiting for him as she approached him a relieved look on her face.  "What happened?  Where's Shouto?" Zuko asked as they met in the middle, his concern for Shouto driving him forward.

"The other kids were interested in his service animal," the woman explained an apologetic look on her face as she led him to a fenced in area, and Zuko could see Shouto, curled up into a ball pressed against the wall, "I hadn't thought to tell the kids to stay away from it, especially with how much Shouto-kun didn't seem to like the attention.  When we brought the students out to play a few of them surrounded him while trying to get a good look at it, and he curled up against the wall.  We can't get him to speak, and he flinches away from touch.  We suspect he's having a panic attack."

Zuko was inclined to agree with their assessment as he rushed over to Shouto, stopping a few feet away from him.  He instinctively recognized the posture that he himself had used back when he had flashbacks to the horrible Agni Kai.  Shouto was clearly protecting his face and chest, an attempt to minimize that damage that could be done in a beating.  It was a position that Zuko had learned at a young age, on the few occasions that his father took his punishment into his own hands.  Uncle had learned the hard way that the way to draw him out of a panic attack was with soft words and a calming presence.  Any touch, no matter how well meaning would just reignite the panic.  He hated that Shouto was showing these same tendencies and it made him hate Endeavor even more.

"Shou?" Zuko said calmly, softly as he sat on the ground staring helplessly at the child he had more or less claimed as his own.

As he sat there waiting for a response, he felt Druk settle on his shoulder, worry and shame radiating off of the dragon.  Zuko rubbed his head in a way he knew that would calm him, hoping to convey that he didn't blame him.  He knew there wasn't much that Druk could have done against the kids.  At least not without hurting them, which would have led to a whole separate set of problems.  "Shouto?" Zuko called, hoping that he would be able to break through Shouto's panicked haze, "Shou can you hear me?"

He watched Shouto critically, looking for any sign that the child might be aware of the world around him.  Since he couldn't touch him the only thing he could really do was talk to him and hope that he would hear.  Zuko knew from experience that sometimes all anyone could do about a panic attack was to wait it out.  He hoped that wouldn't be the case, and fortunately it didn't look to be the case this time as Shouto started to uncurl.  "Shouto."

That got a reaction as teary eyes were suddenly fixed on Zuko.  He'd never been so relieved to see tears in his life, even as they poured down Shouto's cheeks. He only had a second to brace himself before he had a six-year-old dive bombing his chest.  Zuko easily gathered Shouto into his arms, letting him cry into his chest as he whispered reassurances.  The world had narrowed to just the two of them, and that was just fine.  His child needed him to be there, so he would be there.

Eventually Shouto's tears dried up and his breathing slowed.  Zuko was unsurprised to glance down and find that Shouto was asleep.  Panic attacks were exhausting, especially for someone so young, so he wasn't going to begrudge him the nap.  He shifted Shouto into a more comfortable position before leveraging himself up off the ground, doing his best to avoid jostling the six year old too much.  Once he was sure that everything was fine, he glanced around to find that the woman who had brought him there was gone, and another woman had taken her place.  "I'm Kawakami san, the school secretary," she informed him, and Zuko realized she was the woman who had called him, "Principal Fujimoto asked me to bring you to his office as soon as you were available."

"Lead the way then," he told her, gesturing with his right arm to indicate that he would follow.

She nodded, leading him back towards the entrance.  When they reached a set of double doors she held it open for him, which he thanked her for even if she didn't need to do so.  From there it didn't take long to reach the principal's office.  "Please, take a seat," the man told him as he entered.

Zuko did as he was told, automatically adjusting Shouto as he sat down.  He'd had to do it plenty with Izumi who often wouldn't take naps unless she could take them with her papa.  There had been many a meeting that he had carried his baby girl into, and those were usually the ones where his advisors were best behaved.  They knew the penalty for waking his child, so the typical shouting and insults evaporated immediately.  Zuko hoped he wouldn't have to deal with that here, especially since Shouto was a lighter sleeper than Izumi had been.  "You wanted to see me?" he asked, his voice low and quiet to avoid waking the child in the room.

"Because of the incident," the principal started softly, his gaze briefly flickering to the sleeping child before returning to Zuko's face, "I felt it was best to discuss what will be done going forward.  Shinozaki sensei will be reprimanded for her lapse in judgement, and the children will be receiving a lecture on service animals this after noon.  The monitors will also be informed to be more aware of your brother to prevent an incident like this happening again."

Zuko nodded, the actions being taken seeming to be appropriate as far as he knew.  He hoped it would prevent any more incidents in the future, but there was no real way of telling.  "Will our brother be informed of what happened?" he asked, as it occurred to him that Natsuo should probably be told about it, although he couldn't quite remembering the fake name he was using, "He's going to at least need to know that Shouto's been sent home."

"Saburo kun will be informed of what happened,” the principal told him, and Zuko did his best to commit the name Saburo to memory, "Kawakami san is currently retrieving Shouto's things from his classroom, so you will just have to sign him out to be able to take him home."

"Okay," Zuko breathed as he relaxed back into the chair, his brain scrambling to adjust to this new situation, "Thank you."

The principal nodded, and soon the secretary returned with Shouto's coat and backpack.  Zuko rose from the chair, accepting the backpack which was slid over his shoulder while the coat was wrapped around Shouto.  Once that was done, the secretary led him to front counter, which had a sheet that allowed parents and guardians to sign their children out.  As Zuko went through the process of filling it out he heard the secretary say, "You know, if I hadn't read his file I would have thought you were his father."

He looked up at her to see a soft smile on her face as she stared at the two of them.  Shouto shifted slightly in his grip, and Zuko automatically adjusted his hold, the action one so familiar that it was almost thoughtless.  He returned his attention back to the form, eager to get Shouto home so he could rest comfortably.  It didn't take long, and soon Zuko was walking back towards the house doing his best to protect Shouto's ears from the loud traffic.

It was pointless though as Shouto woke up while they waited at the second crosswalk.  He didn't seem to be aware of his surroundings at first, as he just rubbed at his eyes sleepily while letting out a jaw cracking yawn.  Zuko had to stifle a chuckle at how cute he looked, but the slight vibrations of his chest seemed to have alerted the six year old to the fact that he was being carried.  He buried his face in Zuko's shoulder, although there was no telling why he did it.  Zuko supposed Shouto could have been embarrassed, but given what had happened earlier there was no real way to know.  "Are you mad?" 

The words were quiet enough that Zuko could barely hear them over the traffic around them, but clear enough that there was no questioning what he had just asked.  It hurt his heart to hear that, and he pulled Shouto closer softly stating, "I'm not mad.  I could never be mad at you for having a panic attack.  They just happen when you've been through bad experiences like we have."

Shouto lifted his head, his eyes fixing themselves on Zuko's face, likely searching for any sign of deception.  Zuko let him look, his attention fixed on the sidewalk ahead of them to make sure he wouldn't trip and fall.  Eventually, Shouto's head went back to laying on his shoulder, apparently trusting that Zuko was being honest.  The scrutiny reminded him of how Touya had looked at him at first, and he reached into his pocket for his phone, figuring that it would probably be a good idea to tell Touya what happened so he could walk Natsuo home after school.

When Zuko slipped into the bakery via the employee entrance he saw Miyata doing some work at a counter with his back to the door.  "Tsunado san, can you take over kneading the bread dough?" he called out, startling Zuko who was removing his phone from the charger.

"Wrong employee," Zuko shot back, causing the baker to whirl around, apparently having been startled in turn.

"What are you doing here, Yoshida san?" Miyata asked his eyes seeming to have trouble deciding on whether to focus on Shouto or Druk, "I would have thought that you would still be at the school, or maybe have gone home given the situation."

"Forgot my phone," Zuko informed him as he tried to remove the remnants of the dough that he had been kneading when the call came in, "Do you mind if I wash this off before I go?  I need to inform the rest of my siblings about what happened."

"Sure," Miyata replied with a shrug, "You'll probably get best results if you wet a towel and use that to get the dough off.  It'll be more likely to come off when wet."

Zuko nodded, having suspected that that would be the case.  He had to set Shouto down to be able to scrub at the dried bits of dough, and the kid instantly hid behind his leg, even as Druk alighted down to his shoulders.  It took Zuko a few minutes to clear most of the dough off the phone, although there were still some spots that were going to need a little more work to clear up.  However, the screen was clear enough for Zuko to be able to unlock it and head to his contacts.  He informed both Touya and Fuyumi about what happened, before asking Touya to pick Natsuo up after school.  The teen gave him an affirmative, lifting a great weight from Zuko's chest.

With that taken care of, Zuko turned his attention to Shouto whose coat had fallen to the floor.  He picked it up, and helped the six year old put it on, before picking him up and settling him on his hip.  "I'll still be in tomorrow," Zuko informed Miyata, who had been joined by Tsunado while he was distracted, "Everything should be fine then."

"You're allowed to call in sick if they're not," Miyata told him as he handed over Zuko's lunch box and a pastry bag, "You've got plenty of sick days saved up and family emergencies definitely count.  Now go.  You should probably get your little brother home."

Zuko nodded, unsure if that was just how Miyata and Miyake ran their business or if that was actually how it worked.  It wasn't like he had any experience with that sort of thing, as sick days were nonexistent for a Fire Lord.  Especially one that is trying to make sure a hundred year long war stays ended.  Although, this job did have days off, so it made sense that if you were sick they wouldn't want you coming in and potentially getting others sick.  That was good to know.

Zuko carried Shouto home, and the two of them spent the rest of the day curled up together on the couch.  They just sat there basking in each other's presence, and even managed to get a nap in after lunch.  That nap had abruptly ended when the others got home, Natsuo pulling Shouto into a tight hug as soon as he was in the house.  Fuyumi scolded him for not taking his shoes off first, but it was obvious that her heart really wasn't in it, as she glommed onto Shouto as soon as Natsuo moved.

Even Touya had gotten in on the comfort as he reached around Fuyumi to ruffle Shouto's hair before settling down in one of the arm chairs.  It didn't take long for all of them to settle down, and Zuko broke out the cookies that had been sent home with him while they sat and talked.  It didn't last long though as Fuyumi insisted that they had to do their homework.  They all pulled out their assignments, leaving Zuko to go and see about preparing dinner while they did their thing.  However, he took a moment to pause at the kitchen door and glance back at the four of them, vying for space on the coffee table or using books as a writing surface, warmth filling his chest.  He loved these kids, and Agni help anyone who dares to hurt them.

They all agreed that Zuko would walk Shouto and Natsuo to school the next day, after Fuyumi declared that she could handle walking to school on her own now that she knew the way.  Shouto didn't mind at all.  It meant he got to spend more time with Zuko, which he wasn't about to pass up, even if it was due to what had happened the day before.  They were all worried about it happening again.  Not that any of them were going to say that. Although they didn't really need to.  Shouto could see it on their faces.

Despite that, Shouto was happy to have Zuko walking him to school, even if he felt a bit bad for having caused so much trouble the day before.  Zuko had spent so much time reassuring him, telling him that it hadn't caused any real trouble, and that it wasn't his fault if he felt overwhelmed or crowded.  Zuko also told him that if he needed help he just had to go to a teacher, and they would help him.  Shouto was unsure about that, as he couldn't imagine what Shinozaki sensei could have done to prevent what happened the day before from happening.  However, he would trust that Zuko knew what he was talking about.

When they got to the school, Zuko had hugged both him and Natsuo, although Shouto had been more than a little reluctant to let go.  Despite the warmth that filled Shouto's chest at the show of affection, he couldn't help the fear that lurked in the back of his mind that he would get cornered again and end up in the same position as the day before.  He tried to suppress those thoughts by thinking about what Zuko had told him, and while it didn't make the fear completely go away, it did make it easier for him to head to class. 

Fortunately, Shouto remembered how to get to his classroom, taking the route that Shinozaki sensei had led him down from the office.  It was somewhat comforting to have relatively familiar surroundings as he made his way to the room, although he grew more nervous as he approached.  He came to a stop outside the door, taking a meditative breath in the hopes that it might allow him to center himself before entering the room.  Druk seemed to recognize what he was doing, and started humming as he pressed down against Shouto's head, a reminder that he was there with him.

With that little bit of reassurance, Shouto opened the classroom door, feeling somewhat relieved to discover the room not yet full of his classmates.  He knew it wasn't going to stay as empty once the bell rang, but he didn't feel as nervous as he had been the day before when the whole class was staring at him.  As he glanced around the room, he noticed Shinozaki sensei sending him an apologetic smile before turning her attention back to the board.  Shouto wasn't sure what that was about, so he put his things away before heading to his seat. As he sat down he noticed that the girl across from him was the one that had first approached him about Druk the day before.  He wasn't sure how to feel about that.  "Hey there," she said, shooting him a wide grin, "I'm Hamasaki Kyoko."

"Yoshida Shouto," he replied shaking the hand that she had thrust at him.

"Can I pet your lizard?" she asked, her eyes fixed slightly above him, clearly looking at Druk.

Shouto shook his head, remembering the guidelines for service animals.  While they were on duty they weren't supposed to be treated like pets because that would make it harder for them to do their job.  Druk hadn't been able to do his job the day before because of all the people trying to pet him, and Shouto didn't want his classmate to think that they were allowed to pet him whenever they wanted.  Besides, Druk didn't like the attention anyway, as he could feel him trying to disappear into his hair. 

Kyoko opened her mouth, whether to whine or argue, Shouto couldn't tell, but Shinozaki sensei stepped in telling her, "Druk is on duty.  Remember the lesson from yesterday.  You should never mess with a service animal when they are on duty."

Shouto was grateful for the intervention as Kyoko slumped in her seat, clearly unhappy about being unable to pet Druk, but also accepting of their teacher’s words. However, he was less happy to suddenly find himself the focus of his teacher's attention.  "Did you see the work that I assigned?" she asked him, and Shouto nodded, having found the note with his workbooks in his backpack, "Did you complete it?"

"Yes," Shouto told her as he opened his workbook to the right page, "Would you like to look at it?"

Shinozaki sensei nodded as she came around the desk, taking a brief moment to look over the work, before giving him a smile.  "Very well done," she told him, and Shouto let the corners of his lips tilt up in a small smile, "I'm proud of you."

Those words clung to Shouto even as Shinozaki sensei got up to address the whole class and start the day.  As they started on their next lesson Shouto managed to break himself out of his stupor, focusing on the lesson she was teaching them instead of the praise that he wasn't used to getting.  It wasn't that hard, the lesson was more interesting than being caught in his own head, and soon they reached break time.

Shouto reluctantly got up, trailing behind his classmates as they made their way to the door to head outside, but when Shouto reached the door, he stopped.  He didn't want to go out there, not wanting a repeat of yesterday.  Shinozaki sensei knelt down in front of Shouto, having apparently noticed his apprehension.  "What's wrong Yoshida san?"

"I don't want it to happen again," Shouto told her as he curled in on himself, and he could feel Druk sliding from his head down to his shoulders, "I don't want to get surrounded again."

"You won't," Shinozaki sensei told him, her voice soft and gentle, but nowhere near as soothing as Zuko's, "Your classmates were told after you left yesterday not to do it again."

Shouto wanted to believe her, to trust that his classmates wouldn't do it again, but he couldn't.  Not after how weak and helpless he had felt, the lingering terror of what his father had done to him in the past settling like ice on his spine.  He couldn't go back to that, the overwhelming fear that had been drawn out of him simply by trapping him.  He didn't, couldn't stand to go through that again so soon.

So instead of responding Shouto just backed up shaking his head.  He had no idea how Shinozaki sensei was going to respond, so all he could do was brace himself for harsh words and harsher hands.  "If you want to stay in here, you can," Shinozaki sensei said, causing Shouto to open his eyes and stare at her in shock, "If you aren't comfortable going outside with the other children right now, that's okay.  We'll work up to it."

Shouto could only stare at her, part of him wondering if this was how Touya had felt when Zuko had said that he was going to take care of them.  This complete and utter shock had certainly been on his face that day, and when Shinozaki sensei made her way back to the front of the classroom to set up for the next lesson, it pulled Shouto out of his stupor.  He made his way back to his desk, watching Shinozaki sensei as she moved around the room prepping for their math lesson, and Shouto couldn't help but think that maybe things could work out for the better.

Zuko had been rather tense for the first couple of days following Shouto's panic attack at school.  It had been terrifying to be called to the school for such a thing, but as the days went on Shouto seemed to be doing better.  Natsuo and Fuyumi appeared to be doing well at school too as Natsuo had a couple of friends and Fuyumi, while not as social, did have people she liked to hang out with.  Touya was content to just have his classwork, although he spent a lot of his spare time working on his art.

Zuko was glad that the kids were enjoying themselves, as well as getting an education.  He knew that it was important as it would likely allow them to make a living for themselves when they got old enough.  That didn't mean that they weren't also having fun.  Zuko had been happy to hear about their games, glad that they could just be kids.  It was something he felt they wouldn't have been able to do in their father's house. It was nice, listening to the four of them discuss their favorite subjects in school or the funny thing that happened at lunch that day.  He was happy that he could give them such an opportunity.

"So, what do you intend to do in the future?" Miyata asked one day, about a month after Shouto's panic attack.

"What do you mean?" Zuko responded as he rolled out the dough that was going to be used for apple fritters.

"As much as Hiroki and I love having you here," Miyata started, pausing as he slipped the tray of pastries in the oven, "You probably want to do more with your life than be our perpetual third wheel."

Zuko laughed, although the initial question was still poking at him, pushing him to answer. The problem was he hadn't really thought much about what he would want to do, having spent so much time worried about taking care of the kids.  It wasn't like he was good at making plans anyways.  His friends had spent years making fun of him for it, and any plan he did make tended to be poorly thought out.  "I'm not sure," Zuko admitted as he grabbed the apple filling from the fridge, "If I could do anything, I'd want to open a tea shop.  My uncle taught me how to make the best tea."

He missed Uncle Iroh, had spent years mourning him since the day he died when Zuko was just twenty-eight.  It wasn't that surprising; he had been an old man when Zuko had been born and losing Lu Ten had seemed to age him significantly.  Zuko had spent his time since becoming Fire Lord trying to spend as much time as he could with his uncle, to show him the appreciation that he hadn't been in the right mindset to show during the years at sea.  This had led to frequent visits to Ba Sing Se to visit the Jasmine Dragon, something that tended to result in lessons on tea making.  He had let Iroh draw him into so many lessons about how to make tea properly and had decided to honor his legacy by spending years perfecting the technique.

"Where's your uncle?" Miyata asked, pulling Zuko out of his nostalgic stupor.

"He died," Zuko told him, doing his best to keep his good eye clear of tears, "Before Shouto was born.  He was kind of old and had never really been the same since my cousin died."

Miyata gave Zuko a sympathetic look, which he ignored in favor of focusing on his work.  He'd had a long time to grieve and lingering on the past didn't do anyone any good.  He loved his uncle, and had told the kids about him, just like he had with Izumi, Ursa, Lu Ten and Azula.  He wanted his new family to know about his old one, if only so they would be able to have some sort of connection with them through him.

When Zuko finished the apple fritters and had moved on to making chocolate chip cookies, Miyata told him, "You should look into learning foreign languages."

Zuko was slightly surprised by the out of nowhere statement, but managed to keep from jumping as he asked his employer, "Why?"

"Hiroki would be able to tell you more," Miyata said as he pulled several trays of goods from the oven, "But fluency in both English and French are useful in the business world.  English is especially important as it is one of the most used languages in the world."

Zuko filed that information away for later. If there was one person he would consider asking about it, it would be Natsuo.  He seemed to know all about computers and the like so if anyone could help him with this than it would be him.

 When Zuko asked Natsuo about it that night, the boy looking thoughtful.  "There are a few ways that you can learn other languages, and I could easily download one of them onto your phone."

"Really?"

Zuko was honestly kind of impressed by how powerful these phones were.  They didn't need to be connected to the wall to accept calls, they could apparently send messages with text or even images, and now they can contain programs that would allow him to learn another language.

"Yep," Natsuo replied between bites, "Duolingo has a version that can go on your phone, although it doesn't have as many languages as the one on the computer.  That doesn't mean there aren't an impressive number of languages that you can learn though.  What brought this up?"

"Miyata asked me what I wanted to do in the future," Zuko told him, seeing no reason to lie or avoid the question, "I mentioned opening up a tea shop."

"Like the Jasmine Dragon?" Fuyumi interjected, looking rather excited at the prospect.

Zuko nodded, and all four of the kids light up with excitement.  "That would be so cool," Touya said, before perking up a bit. "Could I design the logo?  I could use Druk as a reference."

"Sure," Zuko replied with a slight shrug, gesturing at the dragon that was devouring a dumpling, "Go right ahead.  I can't wait to see what you come up with."

Touya cheered before pulling out the sketchbook Zuko had gotten him for his birthday.  It was over halfway full by now, and Zuko had only had the pleasure of seeing a couple of the drawings.  Touya was rather protective of his book, apparently only wanting them to see the ones that he considered good enough, but what little they had seen looked incredible. It was obvious that the kid was talented, and Zuko wanted to foster that talent whenever he could.

When it came time to train, they actually had trouble getting Touya to put down the sketch book, with Druk retreating to the back porch being the thing that ultimately got him to move.  Zuko was impressed.  Six months ago, he wouldn't have thought that Touya would be willing to skip training for anything short of fatal injuries.  Now it seemed that they were going to have to find ways to keep him from getting too caught up in his art.

The kids had made very obvious progress over the last six months, with Natsuo and Fuyumi having gotten to the point that they could actually spar with each other.  It was interesting to watch as Natsuo definitely had Toph's wait and see approach to a fight while Fuyumi was very aggressive, pressing forward like Zuko had in his youth. The biggest issue with training was trying to figure out how to train their quirks as well as their bodies, especially since it would help him figure out how to train Shouto's ice side.  He didn't want to leave Shouto imbalanced, so he had been attempting to train him using what he'd learned about water being.  The problem was the flow of water didn't work as well when it was all just ice, no stopping point in between.

Once training concluded for the day, they went to bed.  Fuyumi had set herself up in one of the other bedrooms once winter had passed and she no longer needed to crowd with her brothers to conserve warmth.  Touya and Natsuo had been debating about moving into the room that Touya had been sleeping in before they arrived, while Shouto was content to spend every night curled up on Zuko. He didn't mind, but it meant he had to wait until after all the kids dropped off to sleep before he could slip out of bed and changing into his blue spirit outfit.

As he prepared to head out onto the streets, he stopped, sparing a moment to look back at the kids and smile.   

Chapter Text

 Touya worked on his latest logo idea, his mind practically bursting with different things he could do to make a good Jasmine Dragon logo.  Druk was surprisingly tricky to get to stay in one place for a long time, but that could have been because he and Touya were still kind of tense with one another.  It had been a while since they had actually fought, but the dragon could be rather huffy.  Zuko had told him that that was just how Druk was, which had earned him a tail smack to the face, but it hadn't been hard enough to leave a mark so Touya figured he wasn't that offended.

Touya had been surprised with how much he liked art, but after Zuko had showed him how to use his quirk to burn wood to make pictures on wood blocks or planks, all sorts of ideas started coming to mind.  They were somewhat unclear and very hard to translate from his head through his flames to the wood, but he wanted to be able to so badly.  Then Zuko had gotten him a sketchbook and more supplies for wood burning.

Touya honestly hadn't thought that he would like sketching as much as he did.  It wasn't like wood burning, didn't use his quirk in any way, so he hadn't expected to like it, but it was almost hypnotic how he could be pulled into drawing whatever he could think of on the page.  His early sketches had fire featuring in them, some of them being sketches of him and his siblings training, while others were darker, the fire being used to destroy, with the destruction generally being aimed at their father.  He didn't want the others to see those, to know just how much he wanted to hurt him.

Some of his sketches had been even worse, as he turned his fire on his siblings.  There was one particularly gruesome one where Shouto was being given a scar exactly like Zuko's.  Touya barely remembered sketching it, but he had actually gotten sick afterwards, tearing the page out of his sketchbook and burning it, even as the image that had been on it was forever seared into his memory.  He did that to every picture like it, refusing to let those images linger, where they could be seen by his siblings, even if by accident.  As much as it hurt him to destroy his sketchbook like that, it would have hurt even more for them to know about the monstrous thoughts living in his head.

Gradually, he had started sketching other things, nicer things, like things from the stories that Zuko would tell them.  The world of the four nations was apparently full of hybrid animals, so he had fun imagining what they looked like, sketching out different varieties.  He had shown one or two of these sketches to Zuko, curious to see if he managed to get anywhere near close to the creatures that the firebender had described.  The elephant koi had gotten a laugh out of him, with an elephant trunk attached to the face of a koi fish looking rather silly.  After all, where was the fun in just drawing a giant koi fish.

He had also started sketching his siblings, but they were more like photographs from common incidents around the house.  There was a sketch of Druk napping on Shouto, or Fuyumi laughing at Natsuo who had tripped over the strap of his backpack because he hadn't put it away.  One of the most striking, and the one that no one was ever going to see, was Zuko standing over the four of them smiling, the look on his face oh so gentle and content.  He was going to hoard that one for himself, his own personal reminder that the old man cared for all of them, that even if it felt like he was favoring one of the others he still cared for him.

He'd also started sketching what he discovered were called landscapes.  His first one had been of the night time view from the room he had claimed as his own before his siblings arrived, the streetlamps and lit windows making the scene look much different than it did during the day.  He'd actually spent many a sleepless night staring out the window down the street before his siblings arrived, so when he finally decided to sketch it, the familiarity had probably made it easier.  When he attempted to do another landscape, a sketch of a park he'd discovered wasn't far from the house, it was significantly more difficult, although he was proud of himself for not setting his pencil ablaze in frustration.

Touya eventually decided that some of the sketches in his book were good enough to turn into actual works of art, using the boards of wood that Zuko had gotten him.  He knew he had to be careful, he didn't want to destroy the board and have to start all over again, so he took his time, first using a pencil to outline the sketch for the most part.  He'd decided to keep it fairly simple to start off with, using a sketch of the library that he went to for his online classes.  Once he had gotten the sketch to a satisfactory level of detail on the wooden plank, he went go in with his fire, starting with the high intensity flames, easing off as he worked on the picture.

It was much harder to do than he'd thought, even with the tools that Zuko had gotten to make it easier for him to burn the wood.  When he finally finished, he was spent, the amount of concentration and control needed to maintain the proper heat was mentally and physically exhausting.  It didn't help that the fingers that had been holding the metal stylus were both cramped and tender from the heat.  He nearly dropped the picture, but Zuko had apparently noticed and managed to catch it before it could fully slip out of his hands.  "Thanks," Touya told him before a yawn had him practically cracking his jaw with how wide his mouth opened.

"You need some rest," Zuko told him as he did his best to help support him as he started to sway, "This was impressive work.  Tomorrow we can see about varnishing it so it will be safe from the elements."

Touya nodded, barely remembering to grab his sketchbook as Zuko led him to bed.  He had hardly hit the pillows when he fell asleep.

It turned out that just like most things wood burning got easier with time.  Zuko had recommended doing smaller pieces to get used to it before trying to do a another large piece.  He was right of course, as while the amount of energy needed to make each piece was still significant, he didn't have to put as much thought into his control anymore.  It was almost instinctual now, knowing how much heat he needed to produce a certain shade on the wood.  Touya had made three more large pictures before Natsuo brought up making an Etsy shop.  "What's that?" Zuko asked around the ramen they had gotten as take out for dinner.

"It's a place where people can sell art," Natsuo told him, his hand going to his pocket to pull out his phone before remembering that Zuko had it, "When you make a page on Etsy you have the art that you have already made to sell on the site, but people can also pay you to do up an original piece just for them.  We'd have to worry about packaging and shipping things when they are bought, but it is another way we could make money."

Zuko gave a conceding nod to that last point before turning his attention to Touya.  "I'm not going to force you to sell your art if you don't want to," he told him, and part of Touya that he hadn't even realized had been tense relaxed, "We'll only set up the Etsy thing if that is what you want to do.  It's your art so you are free to do whatever you want with it."

He fully relaxed at that.  It was nice to have a choice, to be allowed to decide whether or not this was something that he would want to do.  "I'll think about it," he told Natsuo, who accepted his words with a nod.

It was nice not to have any pressure put on him about the decision.  No one was asking him about it about, pestering him for an answer like he had expected.  In fact, Touya had almost forgot about it as summer arrived and Natsuo's birthday was steadily approaching.  He had decided that he wanted to make something special for his little brother, and while browsing the internet, looking for some sort of inspiration, he found himself on Etsy.  He wasn't quite sure what had landed him there, but he take a look, deciding that he might as well check it out while he was there.

Touya wasn't sure how long he spent on the site, but he knew afterward that he was going to have to work with Natsuo to help him set up a page.  Being able to help supplement the income of the house was just one of the benefits of making an Etsy page, and honestly, he wanted to be able to do something to help out with the house.  He loved his art but hiding it away in the house meant that it wasn't getting appreciated by anyone else, and he kind of wanted that.  He wanted his art to be seen by others and appreciated for what it was.

So that night, he talked to Natsuo about what they were going to need to do to set up the page, planning to do it the next day after school.

Natsuo's birthday started out like a normal day.  He got up, got dressed, had breakfast, and was sent to school with the lunch that Zuko had prepared.  There had been a little extra treat with a note that wished him happy birthday, which he tucked away.  He liked having tangible reminders that Zuko cared far more than his father had.  His father probably didn't even know when his birthday was, much less would give him special treats or gifts.

Mother had always been the one to do that.  She would get them gifts, make them their favorite foods, or do something special with them to celebrate their birthday, but father couldn't have been bothered.  Natsuo doubted that Touya or Shouto would have ever gotten an acknowledgement of their birthdays from their father.  For as much as he liked to call them his masterpieces he didn't seem to care about them all that much.

Natsuo didn't know if it was a coincidence or not that the day the police declared their disappearance to be a cold case was on his birthday.  He was kind of surprised that the case had stayed as active as it had with no evidence or leads at all.  He honestly doubted that they had even noticed him sneaking in to retrieve the packages that he had purchased.  He hadn't really bothered since shortly before Christmas since there wasn't really a need to anymore.  Zuko was getting paid enough that they weren't hurting for much of anything, even if they didn't use a majority of his paycheck.

But the police hadn't released any information about the case since last October, so the fact that it was only being declared a cold case nearly nine months later meant that someone had been doing their best to keep it open.  It wasn't hard to guess who it might have been.  Endeavor had been publicly and physically more violent since the announcement was made that morning.  Natsuo had heard one of his friends listening to the number two hero ranting about the decision, going on about how he needed to reclaim his masterpiece.

It made him feel slightly ill to think about.  He didn't care that he didn't rank high enough on his father's priority list to be worth getting upset over, but the fact that he devalued Shouto in such a way was disgusting.  Natsuo loved Shouto, had finally gotten to know the baby brother that had been kept from him over the past six years, and the thought of him back in Endeavor's clutches was enough to make him physically ill.

Natsuo hugged Shouto close when they met up after school, and he couldn't help but be grateful that he didn't ask about it.  He just hugged him back before they made their way home.  When Fuyumi got home, he could tell that she had seen part of the clip as well, her smile a little more forced than usual, her hugs slightly tighter edging on desperate.  Touya pulled all of them into a hug when he got home, and Natsuo couldn’t help but let himself enjoy the closeness that he had with his siblings.  He never would have had this while living with Endeavor.

They had decided to play a board game while waiting for Zuko to get home, all of them a little too keyed up to be able to work on homework.  After a long and surprisingly brutal game of Sorry, Zuko arrived, slightly later than usual, but with an armload of pastries and take out.  Natsuo probably shouldn't have been that surprised that he’d gotten spring rolls and noodles from his favorite place, but he was.  He had only mentioned it once several months ago when they were trying to figure out what to do for Touya's birthday.

"Thanks," Natsuo said as he accepted the box of food from Zuko, "I'm surprised you remembered."

"You told me it was your favorite place," he replied as he set a bowl of Miso soup in front of Shouto, "Of course I was going to remember.  You all deserve to have what you like on your special day."

Natsuo smiled at that.  It was nice to have someone who wanted them to be happy on their special day.  His last birthday had felt almost forgotten in the wake of Touya's accidentally faked death, with Fuyumi and his friends being the only ones to even acknowledge his special day much less attempt to celebrate it.  He had honestly doubted that his parents even remembered.  Mom hadn't been doing much celebrating with them since Shouto had been born, so it was nice to have that now.

Once they had finished dinner, Zuko presented him with the cupcakes that had been sent home from the bakery.  There were only half a dozen, but they were chocolate, his favorite flavor.  Everyone, including Druk, was given one and it was funny watching the young dragon trying to clean the frosting off his face but instead get it everywhere.  Natsuo had a feeling Druk was getting a bath tonight whether he liked it or not.

When the cupcakes were gone, Zuko pulled out a present, passing it to Natsuo.  He was curious what he had gotten him.  Shouto had loved the toys, Fuyumi seemed to enjoy the books, and Touya was all over his art supplies, but he had no idea what sort of gift Zuko would get him.  So, he ripped it open to discover a phone and tablet.

"I thought you might like a new one," Zuko admitted as he pulled the phone out of the box, "Since I'm using your old one.  And since Touya uses your laptop for school I figured you could use something that's more powerful than just the phone.  Laptops are really expensive so I hope the tablet will do."

Natsuo wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure he could say anything, not without bursting into tears. He tried not to be obvious about how much missing his phone had unbalanced him somewhat, reaching into his pocket to grab it for some reason and finding it not there. He fought not to do it at school because of how hard it would be to pass off the gesture as anything other than what it was, but at home he found himself doing it all the time. Zuko had to have noticed and understood what the gesture meant.

It seemed Touya had noticed how hard it was for Natsuo to speak as he passed him another gift.  Based on weight and shape, it wasn't hard to deduce that he had made some art just for him, which was touching.  Touya was protective over his art, only really letting anyone see it if he was ready to let them see it, so the fact that he was giving this to Natsuo meant he was happy with it and willing to let it just be his.

As Natsuo tore away the wrapping paper, he could see the picture that Touya had made, and froze. Even with just the small glimpse he had gotten of it he knew what it was.  He slowly brushed off the rest of the wrapping paper and stared down at the plank of wood seeing a picture of them.  It was all of them together sitting on the couch.  Zuko sat on the left-hand side, Shouto sitting on his lap, leaning back against his chest.  Fuyumi was right next to him, a smile on her face as she sat half turned towards him like they had been talking.  Natsuo was next, a hand covering his mouth as he appeared to be laughing, hunching slightly towards Touya who sat on the end, a small smile on his face.  Druk was draped over the back of the couch, his head just visible between Natsuo and Fuyumi.

Natsuo was honestly blown away.  He would have thought this was a photograph if it wasn't for the fact that they had never sat like that, had never all been on the couch at once.  There was always at least one person sitting apart, usually Touya himself, so there had never been an opportunity for them to get a picture like this.

Natsuo felt himself hit with a wave of want and something else.  Pride maybe?  He wanted the image in the picture to be true, for the five, or six of them really, to be able to sit on the couch and just have a good time.  On the other hand, they could already do this, sure the couch would be crowded, but they were close enough that the image depicted wasn't impossible, not like it would have been back with Endeavor.

"Thanks," Natsuo told his brother, the lump in his throat making the words softer.

Zuko came around the coffee table and hugged Natsuo, the sudden wet patch on Zuko's shoulder making Natsuo aware of the fact that he was crying.  He hugged him back tightly, finally understanding Shouto's reluctance to let go of him in the early days.  Zuko was warm, gentle, and could be taken away at any moment, making Natsuo want to hold onto him for as long as he could, so he could soak up as much of the warmth and gentleness as was possible.

It wasn't long before everyone else got in on the hug as well, and Natsuo was content just to sit there and enjoy the warmth of his family.

"Do you know how to drive?" Miyata asked one day, not long after Zuko had gotten to work.

"No," he told him as he shed his coat, fall was getting rather chilly, before heading to the sink to wash up.

"Hiroki and I were thinking of doing delivery this year during the Christmas season," he explained as Zuko dried his hands, "The shop was starting to get a little packed with the people coming to pick up orders, so he thought this might be an easy solution to the problem."

"And you want me to be the delivery driver?" he concluded as he slipped his apron on, considering the situation.

Miyata nodded.  "The ability to drive is a useful skill to have," he told him, although Zuko was somewhat doubtful of that given how many people he saw walking, "And it would help get you away from the more argumentative seasonal hires."

Zuko almost laughed at that.  While it hadn't quite escalated to blows, it was clear that the seasonal hires, especially the adults were not happy to have to listen to him.  He knew the type all too well.  There was just something about having to listen to someone younger than you that makes people aggressive.  Honestly, he was just glad that none of them had attempted to continue the arguments outside work hours.  He wouldn't have been willing to stand for it, especially on Fuyumi's, or his own, birthday.

"I'll think about it," Zuko told Miyata as he got to work mixing up their bread dough.

Zuko did think about it.  He thought about it for the rest of the day, before bringing it up to the kids after dinner.  "Learning how to drive is useful," Natsuo stated with a bit of a shrug, "And it's not like knowing how to drive would negatively impact anything.  It would just be another skill you'd have."

"It'd make it easier to get everyone to school," Touya pointed out as he leaned back in one of the armchairs, "Driving is faster and allows you to carry more.  The only problem is we would have to get a car, and we'd have to buy this place before getting a car, so no one gets suspicious."

"We need to buy this place anyway," Fuyumi pointed out from where she was playing go fish with Shouto, "Between utilities and repairs, we need to buy this place if we want it to stay livable.  I'm already dreading this winter, and I'm sorry but moving back into the master bedroom with you guys even if only for three months is less than ideal, especially if it happens to be that time of the month."

They all winced at that.  Zuko had been somewhat prepared to deal with Fuyumi's period given he had raised Izumi without Mai around, but the incident just reminded him how invaluable Katara had been while his daughter was growing up.  She had helped her through the rough first couple of them and had been there for Izumi to talk to when she needed it.  He didn't have that kind of support for Fuyumi, but he did his best to support her as much as he could.  At least she had some friends at school that she could talk to about it.

Honestly the biggest problem might have been having to explain to the boys that Fuyumi wasn't sick or injured, her body was just doing its thing.  They didn't really understand, and to be honest, Zuko didn't quite either, but he knew that it was normal for women, and so the boys didn't need to freak out because of the blood.  Shouto had probably taken it the best, just hugging Fuyumi and promising to share his cookies with her when it happened.

"What would I need to do to buy the house?" Zuko asked, hoping to redirect the conversation and his thoughts back to what was important.

"A bank account," Natsuo replied as he gazed off into the middle distance, pulling his knowledge from wherever he got it, "Most people tend to take out loans when buying a house because they tend to be expensive, but that's something that you can ask about at the bank.  Of course, there's no telling how much the house costs without contacting the people that own it."

"How is someone supposed to contact them?" Zuko asked, since he knew that people tended to live in the houses they owned.

"I think the for-sale sign is still out in the front yard," Touya told him, looking thoughtfully at the front door, "I might have to do some trimming to find it, but I doubt they would have been willing to remove it considering how scared most people are of getting anywhere close to the house because of the haunting."

"I guess we'll just have to look then," Zuko responded, ready to head out to the front yard to get a look.

"It can wait," Touya told him, the rest of the kids making no moves to get up and help, "It's not like we could buy the house right now.  We have other stuff to worry about."

Zuko nodded in concession, before turning his thoughts back to what had started this conversation.  "How would I go about learning how to drive?" he asked, as he sat back on the couch.

"There should be some schools in the area that teach it," Natsuo told him looking thoughtful, "I'll do some research.  It shouldn't be that hard to find one."

"Okay," Zuko agreed, trusting Natsuo to do what he said.  It was kind of sad that he could trust a ten-year-old to give him better information than he had ever gotten from most full-grown adults back home.  Although considering when he'd physically been seventeen the first time, the smartest person he knew was barely sixteen himself, it wasn’t all that different.

Ichiro hadn't known what to think when Hiroki had first told him that he had hired someone to help in the kitchen.  It wasn't like he had really needed help in the past, Tsunado san's help in the morning having been enough for the past three or four years.  He was going to argue, but there was something in Hiroki's eyes, pleading with him to give the person a chance, so he had opted to reserve his judgement.

When Ichiro met Yoshida san, he could kind of understand what Hiroki had seen which made him willing to go to bat for him.  The kid was clearly nervous, who wouldn't be with a scar that big on his face.  There were only a few ways that he could have gotten a scar like that, and none of them would have been pleasant.  So, he was willing to give him a chance.

Yoshida san was surprisingly intelligent and a hard worker, something that had Ichiro quickly warming up to him.  The kid didn't talk much, but it was easy to read between the lines.  He adored his younger siblings, always having a small smile in his voice when he talked about them.  He didn't talk much about their parents, only ever saying that they were gone, but there was some underlying bitterness.  Ichiro could understand that.

Hiroki was the same way about his parents, his bitterness towards them more obvious and biting than Yoshida san's, although not without reason.  They were on of those traditionalist families, and had kicked him out of the house at sixteen for coming out as gay.  Every attempt at communication or reconciliation had been used to berate him, damning him for his life choices.  Ichiro could remember holding him for hours as he cried because his parents refused to come to his graduation or their wedding.

Although, it wasn't until after Hiroki started going to therapy and healing that he accepted his parents would never love him as he was, that he started being bitter towards them.  Ichiro couldn't help but wonder what had led Yoshida san to be so bitter towards his.  It could be something simple, he was a teenager after all, but if Ichiro let his mind wander, it tended to return to the scar on his face.  He didn't want to think that a parent was capable of doing that to their child, but before he met Hiroki he didn't really think a parent would be capable of kicking their kid out.

After he started entertaining the idea that Yoshida san might have been abused, he started looking up what abuse victims acted like.  Notable habits or potential triggers that could used to identify someone with that kind of PTSD.  It started as a way of reassuring himself that the kid hadn't been abused, to prove to himself that it was all in his head.  It didn't work.

It just made him more aware of behaviors that might have been cultivated because of abuse.  Like how Yoshida san did his best to stay in a position where he could escape if needed, or how he tried to stay out of arm's reach of anyone he doesn't trust.  The way he tensed when he was touched even in the most casual of ways.

Then the call came.  He had kind of been surprised that Yoshida san hadn't been constantly checking his phone for texts or notifications on social media like most kids tended to, or that his phone had managed to remain silent during work hours for six months.  Ichiro hadn't managed something like that, friends, family, or scams calling him during the day.  But then the kid got a call that had him paling.  He had barely been able to say that his brother needed him before sprinting out the door.

Ichiro had thought that he wouldn't see his employee until the next day, but a little over half an hour later he walked through the door with a young boy on his hip and a barely registered comment about forgetting his phone.  The kid looked a lot like him, and the white knuckled grip he had on Yoshida san's clothes was more than a little concerning, especially with the lookin the kid's eyes.  Ichiro could tell that the kid was afraid of him, and he didn't like that thought, especially not when combined with the way he seemed to be trying to hide behind Yoshida san.  That kid was clearly saw him as a potential threat.  He tried not to think about the signs of abuse.

He did his best to distract himself with work after that.  It wasn't that hard because he hadn't realized just how much he had come to rely on Yoshida san's presence until he was suddenly gone.  However, all it took was a moment of calm, the mere opportunity for his mind to wander, that he found himself thinking about scared amber eyes and a white knuckled grip. 

He'd always known that Yoshida san had younger siblings that he was providing for, he had never really been quiet about that fact, but it wasn't until he brought the kid in that Ichiro finally got it.  This seventeen-year-old had put his life on hold to take care of four younger siblings, four children.  That would be a daunting task for any adult much less a teenager, but he didn't really have that much of a choice did he?  Not with the way the kid clung to him, every inch a scared child.

Ichiro had started paying more attention to Yoshida san after that, doing his best to help the kid out on occasion.  He was limited in what he could do, only able to give him advice that he may or may not take, and send home goods that they hadn't managed to sell.  The kid had never said much without prompting, so he was understandably shocked when one day the kid asked him, "What would I have to do to set up a bank account?"

Ichiro nearly dropped the bowl of dough that he'd been carrying at the question. He had thought that it would have taken much longer for Yoshida san to become comfortable enough with him to actually ask questions without prompting, although the fact that they weren't facing each other might have helped.  "Well, do you have a bank in mind?" he replied, part of him celebrating at the trust being shown, while another part was trying to bring up the memory of setting up his own account so he could actually help.

"Not really," Yoshida san said, his expression pensive as he rolled out the dough for cinnamon rolls.

Ichiro nodded, remembering when his mother helped him set up his checking account when he was younger.  She was an accountant and had done her best to teach her son everything he needed to know about handling money.  She had even taken Hiroki under her wing when they had started dating, which had led to him discovering his skill in business.  "Well, the most important things are a form of legal identification and money to deposit," Ichiro informed him, "If you got a driver's license then that would work."

He wasn't trying to pressure the kid into learning how to drive if he didn't want to, but if this was a moment that he could use to give him a reason to want to, he wasn't going to waste it.  Hiroki and Ichiro had been debating getting a delivery driver for a long time, and it would help Yoshida san avoid having to deal with the less than stellar behavior of the seasonal hires again.  He had almost been certain that the kid would have fought back viciously had it actually come to blows.

"That's kind of why I was asking," Yoshida san told him, although he didn't really look up from where he was applying the cinnamon roll filling, "My siblings and I had been talking about the feasibility of getting a car."

"So, you're going to get a driver's license?" Ichiro asked, kind of excited and maybe even a little proud.

Yoshida san nodded.  "After talking it over with my siblings it seemed like the best option," he admitted, his face turned away but his shoulders rising towards his ears in embarrassment.

"If you're going to drive the delivery van you need a special kind of license," Ichiro told him, remembering what Hiroki had told him about it when they discussed it the night before, "We'll pay for the classes and everything since you're learning it for the job.  All you need to do is get your license and get your commercial driver's license and then you'll be our delivery man."

Yoshida san nodded along before frowning slightly.  "But how do I set up a bank account?"

Ichiro smirked, glad that Yoshida san couldn't see his expression.  "Get your license and I'll show you." 

Chapter Text

Zuko started going out as the Blue Spirit as winter gave way to spring, as the lack of snow would make it harder for anyone that might attempt to track him across the rooftops.  He had planned out a few potential routes from the ground, identifying spots that would probably be hotspots for muggings, but it wasn't until he was actually out on the rooftops that he realized how disorienting it was up there.

He was used to dealing with houses that were at most four stories tall.  The smallest apartment building he had seen in the area had at least ten stories.  It was all too easy for him to get turned around up there, with very few identifying features up on top of the roofs.  This led to him spending the first week or so just getting used to traversing the area, figuring out how best to get around, as well as how to be able to spot crimes from so high up.

When he started noticing areas where crimes seemed to be more common, more muggings, robberies, etc. he made sure to swing by those areas more frequently.  It was the smart thing to do after all.  He wanted to help the people there feel safer, like they would be able to go out into the street without the risk of being attacked, so making sure the areas where attacks were most common were patrolled meant that he would be able to save the victim more often than not.  He would even stick around after knocking the criminals out, to make sure that the victim would be safe until the police arrived.

He had been stunned by how surprised some of the victims were, which had him concerned and curious.  So he decided to try and use the googling skills that Natsuo had been trying, and mostly failing, to teach him.  He found that crime rates were still rather high despite the number of heroes in the area, and that most heroes had little regard for collateral damage.  There were some heroes that were more known for it than others, Endeavor being one of them, but it didn't seem to be treated as seriously as it should have.  It didn't help matters that these articles would often be accompanied by pictures of the aftermath of fights, streets being torn up, civilians being patched up by paramedics or taken away in ambulances, and the heroes were nowhere to be found.

Zuko was honestly kind of disgusted.  He knew that there had to be something wrong in this place for Endeavor to be considered the second greatest hero in the country while being cruel and abusive towards his children, but he hadn't expected it to be so blatant.  Even in the Fire Nation during the hundred year war they had to put in a lot of time and effort brainwashing the general populace into believing a certain way so their actions in the war didn't come off as awful as they truly were.  There didn't seem to be anything like that here, although given how the kids responded to this sort of thing there might be.  Regardless, it was ridiculous that heroes could get away with so much, with the only real sign of consequences being a drop in approval rating.

He had known that something was wrong when Fuyumi and Natsuo were so shocked at Touya being willing to have himself labeled as quirkless.  Zuko hadn't understood the issue.  Non benders could be very powerful people, and he knew better than to underestimate them, so he didn't see why being quirkless would be such a big deal.  He was horrified to learn just how mistreated they were, how it was apparently the norm to treat them like they were less than human because they failed to develop a supposed superpower.  He'd had to try very hard to avoid flashing back to before his bending had manifested, and how he was treated for having been thought to be a non bender.

He refused to let that sentiment stand, the idea that anyone is less capable just because they didn't have this oh so special superpower that everyone else did.  He had known several people that had done great things despite being unable to bend, had married one of them, and he knew that if quirkless people tried they would be capable of great things as well.  The kids were somewhat surprised to hear him say that, but it wasn't long before they were agreeing with him, hearing about all the people that Zuko knew that couldn't bend and most certainly didn't have quirks but were capable of great things.

It probably didn't hurt that he could show them exactly what a quirkless person would be capable of with enough training.  The work he had been doing with Natsuo and Fuyumi at first did nothing for their quirks but would be sufficient to protect them from attackers and maybe even allow them take on villains should they so desire.  Not that Zuko would be encouraging that unless they decided they wanted to go into heroics like Shouto.  Even then what he taught them was for their defense and not to get into fights.

Zuko almost wished Sokka, or Mai were there, that they could show the kids just what could be done without a quirk or bending.  If he was being honest, should he ever come face to face with Endeavor, he might lay him out without bending just because he could.  However, he knew that the thought was nothing more than a fantasy.  Fighting their father wouldn't do the kids any good and was more likely to land him in jail, while they would practically drop into his abusive lap.  So, he would have to content himself with just imagining it.

Zuko had been actively acting as the Blue Spirit for about a month when he ran into a hero for the first time.  He had honestly been kind of surprised that he'd run into a hero as a vigilante before he met one as a civilian.  With how much people talked about them he thought that they would be everywhere, and yet this was the first time he'd encountered one outside of a news broadcast in the six months he'd been there.  Although he had always known that running into heroes as a vigilante would be more likely, the fact that he hadn't seen any in the area before just seemed to display how much they really didn't care.  He wasn't all that impressed  by the hero either, as they started yelling at him as soon as they arrived, seemingly uninterested in the criminal that he had just brought down.

He knew that one of the factors that determined a hero's rank, and that was a stupid concept in and of itself, was their effectiveness at being a hero, not that many of them seemed to be all that effective.  So while the hero being upset with him made some amount of sense it didn't mean them attacking him was justified.  His esteem for the hero lowered even further when their attempt to capture him nearly resulted in the civilian getting hurt.  He was tempted to knock the hero out as well, if it wasn't for the sound of sirens approaching.  He had decided that it was better to retreat than deal with this idiot for much longer.  Besides,  then the civilian would be at less risk of getting caught in the crossfire.

The second time Zuko came across a hero was also the first time he had been shot.  He had come across what looked like a drug deal going down, if the large cases that were being passed between two heavily armed groups in a dark alleyway were any indication.  He’d actually been debating whether or not he should engage the criminals when the hero appeared, attacking the two groups.  As bullets started to fly, he jumped in to help the hero, disarming as many people as he could while protecting them.  It was a smart move, especially since their quirk allowed them to produce a glue like substance that hardened quickly, allowing them to pin the criminals in place.

With the criminals held in place, the hero had turned to look at Zuko, a conflicted look on their face.  He was prepared to defend himself if it came to that, but they made no move to attack him.  Instead they looked thoughtful, like they were debating something with themselves.  Eventually they came to a decision, nodding their head before saying, "You've got about five minutes before the police get here.  At that point I will be legally obligated to capture you."

Zuko had nodded, leaving the hero behind with the incapacitated villains.  He wasn't about to risk getting captured if he didn't have to and they made not attempt to attack him or follow him as he left, so he figured they were one of those decent heroes.  He didn't stay out for much longer, he'd already been on his way home before coming across the drug deal, and it was not long after he'd left the site behind that he realized he'd been shot.  The adrenaline had probably numbed his brain to the pain radiating from his left side, but as it faded away he had to grit his teeth to prevent the exclamations of pain from leaving his mouth.  He was going to have to take care of that before heading back to bed with the kids.  He didn’t want to worry them after all.

He was glad that the bathroom wasn't far form the back door, and that most of the pathway was tile.  He did not want to entertain the idea of how difficult it would be to get the blood out of the carpet before the kids woke up.  As he slipped into the bathroom, doing his best to remain as quiet as possible, he contemplated what he was going to need to handle this.  He was used to fixing himself up, being the Blue Spirit hadn't been risk free after all, and sometimes when dodging assassination attempts he would end up being the least injured, insisting that the doctors take care of his guards before worrying about him.  The only time he'd ever really got treated first was when he was unconscious, which his healers found both moving and exasperating. 

There wasn't much he could tell about the wound with it still covered, so he stripped off his shirt to discover a hole just above his left hip leaking blood.  Attempting to twist around to get a look at the potential exit wound hurt, so Zuko turned around, a small flame in his hand to provide the light needed to check his reflection in the mirror.  It was nasty and rough, oozing blood, which was slightly reassuring since it meant the bullet hadn't hit any major arteries.  He poked at it, the wound burning like someone had shoved a hot poker into his gut, but he'd dealt with worse. Since the bullet had apparently gone straight through him, all he really needed to do was close the wound.  He slipped off his gloves before summoning flames in his hands, pooling as much chi as he could into them before pressing one hand to either side of the wound.

He bit his lip hard in an effort not to make any noise as the chi pooled in his hands pulled chi from his reserves to repair the damage done to his side.  The two chis mingled, the energy combining to repair his damaged flesh, the tissues coming together until his side was whole once again.  As he released his bending, allowing the residual heat from his actions to dissipate he was hit by a wave of exhaustion.  Fire healing a wound of this severity would have been draining under normal circumstances much less when doing it to oneself.  He just stood there for a moment swaying before collapsing forward, barely managing to catch himself on the edge of the sink, smearing blood across the white surface.

He took a moment to just breath, letting the sink hold his weight while he tried to collect the last vestiges of his energy.  As he caught his breath, he could feel blood dripping down his chin from where his teeth had managed to break skin. Taking care of a wound like that wasn't too difficult as he pressed two fingers to it, closing it without much pain or any indication of injury at all.  With that taken care of, he turned his attention towards cleaning up, washing away the blood on his body and removing the rest of his outfit, so he could slip it into the wash.  He could clean up the rest of the blood in the morning.

There was a part of him that was worried about one of the others waking up to see the horror show in the bathroom, but he couldn't work up the energy to care all that much.  He had been listing since he had healed his wounds, and he doubted he would be able to clean it all up without passing out.  At least being a firebender meant he was up long before the rest of them, but all he was worried about in the moment was the siren call of sleep.  When he got back to the bedroom, he just slipped on a pair of sleeping pants and slipped into bed part of him being grateful that Shouto slept on his right side.  With that thought he went to sleep.

The third time Zuko met a hero, they actually run into him.  He had been been running the rooftops after a hard day at work, when he noticed a group of about four individuals attempting to break into a shop.  He took a moment to observe them, making a plan in his mind before dropping down to face them.  Calling it a plan might have been a slight exaggeration, given it was mainly figuring out which ones he should take out first.  

When he landed, knocking who he assumed was the ringleader out easily, it didn’t faze the rest of the group that much, as they all slid into fighting stances, clearly prepared to strike.  He would have applauded them on their ability to remain focused and adapt to the situation if they were using those skills for something more legal.  The robbers exchanged a few glances before two of them ran at him attempted to attack him, but he easily dodged out of the way, having fought much greater numbers in the past.  The third seemed to be trying to get the fourth member out of the way, probably so they could try and get away.  Then something slammed into his back.

He had whirled around, wondering if they had backup he had missed that was attacking him from behind, but he was met with what was clearly a hero costume.  At least he assumed that most people didn't go around wearing a skintight suit that seemed to be perfectly split down the middle with one side being green and the other blue.  The hero's eyes widened as they looked up at him, having apparently tripped into him, and they jumped back getting into a rather shaky fighting stance.  The robbers quickly reminded Zuko of their presence as they attacked the two of them, forcing the firebender to focus on not getting hit.  

He disengaged from the fight, putting some distance between himself and everyone else, wondering if it would be a good idea to retreat and just leave things up to the hero.  They weren't doing that great as a hit to the chest from the largest of the robbers sent them flying back into a light pole.  Zuko cursed himself in his head as he jumped in to protect the hero from another blow, knocking the large robber back a bit.  That seemed to give everyone a chance to gather themselves as the robbers regrouped and the hero got to their feet.  The robbers squared off in front of them, one pulling the unconscious member back towards an alleyway while the other two assumed fighting stances while activating their quirks. The smaller of the two grew a set of what looked like spider legs out of their back, while the other appeared to cover themselves in scales which he assumed were meant to protect them from harm.

The scaly one lunged at the hero while the spider leg one lunged at him, the extra arms aiming to stab him.  He danced out of their reach and into an alleyway, dodging one of the stabbing limbs before redirecting the other one into the wall.  The robber whimpered slightly as the limb crumpled against the brick.  The robber didn't use that limb to attack after that, so Zuko decided to use that to his advantage, redirecting most attacks into the wall, until he could slip behind them and knock them out with a blow to the back of the head. With the robber unconscious, he turned back to the rest of the robbers just in time to see the scaly robber fly past the hero through the window of the store. He looked out over the fight, seeing that one of the streetlamps had been knocked over, when he noticed the final robber attempting to sneak away.

It wasn't that hard for Zuko to catch up with the last robber, and with their attention on the road in front of them, he easily knocked them out.  He carried the criminal back to where the rest were lying, but once he got within arm's reach, the hero try to grab him. He dropped the criminal as they swiped at him, which indicated that he should probably get out of there.  As he tried to make it onto a fire escape to get away, the hero managed to slap his back.  He wasn't that concerned about it at first, but as they brought their hands together a force ripped him from the fire escape, pulling him towards the hero. 

He knew this had to be due to their quirk, so he did his best to relax and roll with the impact, making his sudden contact with the store's wall less damaging than it would have been if he had tensed.  It still hurt though, his ribs not appreciating the jarring impact.  The spot where the hero had touched him seemed to be fused to the wall, and the force seemed to even be acting on his body, keeping him from just ripping his shirt to get away.  That didn't stop him from attempting to free himself, and it wasn't long before the hero lurched forward, looking rather nauseous, the force that had been holding him to the wall disappearing.

He decided to take advantage of this opportunity and dashed into a nearby alleyway, the hero's attempts to stop him being weak at best, as they were hunched over, clutching their stomach. It took seconds for him to get onto the rooftop, putting some distance between him and the hero before turning back.  It was mostly just to make sure that the hero wasn't going to attempt to follow him and leave the criminals so they could potentially get away, although there was a small part of him that was concerned for the hero themselves.  Fortunately, it seemed the hero knew better than to try anything as they took a few wobbly steps towards a trash can and leaned on that until the police arrived.

He sat on the roof for a few moments catching his breath, as he watched the police talk to the hero and arrest the robbers.  They did a cursory inspection of the area, probably logging the property damage by the looks of it, before eventually taking both the hero and the criminals away.  He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the police hadn't tried looking for him, because it was unlikely that the hero hadn't told them about his presence.  He didn't think he could handle another fight, especially since he could feel his bruises blooming, and so he decided that it would be best for him to just head home despite the early hour.  He had a feeling his bruised ribs would thank him in the long run.

The fourth time Zuko ran into a hero as the Blue Spirit, it was a quiet night.  Nothing had really been happening, so he had been taking the opportunity to get to know the area better.  He already had a pretty good grasp of the neighborhood, but he decided to fan out a bit and get a feel for the surrounding area.  He had just stopped on the rooftop of an apartment building when he heard someone land behind him.  He did his best not to reveal that he heard them, although his hearing had honed in on them.

It was good he was paying them enough attention as he was, as it allowed him to dodge the projectile they had thrown at him, the vibrant green orb bursting as it hit the edge of the roof.  The stone hissed as the liquid spilled out, and he knew he was going to have to be careful if they were going to throw around acid all willy nilly.  He turned to face them, wondering if he was facing off against a hero or a villain.  Not that there was much of a difference between them when they were willing to lob acid at strangers late at night.

They were about his height, which was about five foot nine since his latest growth spurt, and while the colors of the costume were definitely muted, it was obvious that they weren't exactly meant to hide.  They probably weren't one of the big spotlight heroes, but they looked a little too mainstream to be a vigilante.  He doubted that they were a villain either, with their equipment looking too well cared for to belong to any of the villains in the area.  Their silhouette suggested that they were likely female, but Zuko knew that counted for little in a world where people could potentially change their appearance at will.

"I hadn't believed Splicer at first when he told me about you," the hero stated as they pulled something off their belt and slipped into a fighting stance, "I figured if there was a vigilante in my territory then I would have known."

He stayed silent as they talked, doing his best to maneuver himself slowly and carefully into a position where he could get away quickly.  He wasn't about to talk, not with how distinctive his voice was.  It had softened as he got older, but at the moment it was still the rough voice caused by too many instances of near dehydration when he was younger.  So, he watched them, ready to jump away at the first opportunity, easily diving away from the object they threw at them.  However, he found that the hero had positioned themselves between himself and potential exits that didn't involve diving off a fifteen story roof, so he was going to have to charge past them to get away.

"What are you doing here?" they asked, as they walked towards him, both hands going to grab more objects from their belt, "Why are you going around busting heads in my neighborhood?"

Part of him wanted to be snarky, to tell them that they clearly aren't doing enough to protect the neighborhood since the crime rate was still as tragically high as it was.  There were so many heroes that supposedly patrolled in the slums, but it never seemed to affect the crime rate in the region at all.  If anything, it just seemed to make things worse as the pile up of collateral damage and casualties ended up driving more people to despair, leading to more villains.  He couldn't be sure that what he was doing was helping at all, but he could say that he was probably doing a fair sight better than the heroes.

But he wasn't Sokka, and talking while fighting for his life just left him open to get distracted.  The hero glared at him before running forward, clearly coming in for a tackle.  Zuko decided to use this to his advantage, and jumped over them, a roll bringing him back up to his feet as he sprinted away jumping to the next rooftop before they could recover.  He ran a few rooftops over, before using a fire escape to drop down into an alleyway, hoping that putting some vertical distance as well as horizontal distance would help him lose them.  He had taken a long scenic tour of the area before deciding to head home.  The last thing he wanted to do to put the kids at risk because of some asshole hero. 

The fifth time Zuko had a run in with a hero there was actually more than one there.  He had found himself drawn to a commotion happening towards the edge of the neighborhood, where the transition from the slums to the nicer part of town happened.  He wasn't all that surprised that a bust was happening, gangs and drug dealers were just part of the area, but there was clearly something big going down because there were pro heroes there.  They kind of stuck out amidst the crowd of police officers.

He briefly entertained the idea that they were just looking for experience or credibility since they looked kind of young, but that didn't really matter.  What mattered was the fact that there was a shootout happening, and the police clearly needed help.  They were trapped behind their cars, barely able to return fire while the heroes seemed to be looking for an opening.  He could give them that opening.  So, he snuck into the building, hoping that he could do this quickly enough so that he could out of there before the heroes decided he was worth capturing.

It wasn't really that hard to sneak into the building.  It was a fairly standard three story house, with very close neighbors on three sides, and it seemed like the entire place was being used for whatever the gang was doing.  With the police drawing all of the attention downstairs, there was no one to notice a shadow slipping in through one of the upper windows into an empty room.  Honestly, getting into this place was easy compared to Pouhai stronghold, or any number of Fire Nation army camps.  He felt almost overqualified to be doing this.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he approached the nearest door, peeking through the doorway to find that on the other side was a gang member packing what was probably drugs into a duffle bag.  They were probably hoping that they might be able to get it out of there even though the rest of the group would probably end up captured.  It probably wasn't even that unreasonable of a thought given how the police could only have set up a perimeter at best, so slipping into a nearby residence and waiting things out was probably smart.  Since the gang member's attention was on what they were doing, it wasn't hard for him to sneak up behind them and knock them out.

Zuko then tied and gagged them, knowing that it would probably be best to hide fact that they were under attack from behind for as long as possible.  Once the gang member was secured, he slipped down the steps, once again weirdly grateful that behaviors he had learned in the palace during his childhood could be repurposed.  As he made his way down the staircase leading to the rest of the house, he identified spots that would produce noticeable sound which would most likely draw someone's attention.  He then easily avoided those spots as he descended to the next level of the house.

There was more activity on this level as gang members were retrieving guns and ammunition, looking to set up at a higher angle to make shooting the cops easier.  It was almost disturbing how quickly the flurry of activity died down as the members settled into the rooms that they were shooting from.  Zuko let himself fade into the shadows, watching the few gang members that hadn't settled, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.  He found it a minute later when there was just one person in the hallway, the rest having settled into the rooms at the front of the house, and he struck quickly, downing the gang member before dragging them off to the side and tying them up.

With that gang member out of the way, and the hall clear of any witnesses that might alert the rest of the gang to his presence, he crept to the closest door, peeking into the room.  There were three gang members in the room, two at the window shooting down at the police while one sat back, reloading or unjamming the guns that the two shooting members discarded.  It was a terrifyingly efficient method, and he suspected that this wasn't the first time a shoot out like this had happened.  He slipped into the room, choking out the slightly removed member between guns.  Once they were out he slowly drew his dao, hoping that the hilts of the blades would make it easier to take out both shooters at the same time.

He struck quickly, but only managed to knock out one of them.  They were smaller than the other one and had whacked their head on the window frame when he hit them.  The other gang member jolted forward but had remained conscious, whipping the gun around as they turned to face the room.  It was clear that the hit had affected them as they swayed slightly, but they were still holding tightly to their gun.  Zuko's first priority was disarming them, having no plans to get shot again any time soon.  He used one of his dao to direct the barrel of the gun up towards the ceiling, before kicking the hand holding the gun.  There was a crunch, and the gang member screamed, dropping the gun as they cradled the hand he'd just kicked, which looked a little broken.  That left them distracted enough to not defend against the well placed blow to the temple.

The hit knocked them out, sending them to the floor with a soft thud, although Zuko knew it wouldn't be long before reinforcements arrived.  It wasn't like the fight had been quiet after all. He turned towards the door his blades raised, just as two armed gang members burst into the room.  They paused for a moment, although he wasn't sure if they were shocked or just assessing the situation before attacking.  If it was shock they recovered quickly, raising their guns against him and shooting, despite the fact that he stood over some of their fellow members.  

Zuko did his best to dodge the bullets or deflect them with his blades, if possible.  He'd never tried so he wasn't sure if it was possible, and that momentary distraction had him pausing briefly enough to get hit.  Pain exploded in his right shoulder, but he ignored it as he ran towards the gang members.  The two of them froze in shock, making it easy for him to disarm them and knocking their heads together. With the two of them out of the way, he slipped into the next room, which had two gang members at the window, and he took them out as fast as he could.  He felt slightly bad about ramming their heads into the wall, but he wanted to end this quickly, so he could head home and deal with the gunshot wound.  As he exited the second room he cleared, he was surprised to find the two pro heroes from earlier in the hallway.

One of them was dressed in what looked like a black jumpsuit with strange goggles over their eyes and a white scarf that seemed to be floating around their neck.  The other was clearly a woman, one he probably wouldn't have thought was a pro hero if it wasn't for the mask on her face.  She was dressed in a very flattering way, showing off her curves, although one of the sleeves of her shirt had been ripped off.  She also had a whip on her belt, which didn't look like it had been used, yet.

"This level's clear," the figure in black said, voice deep, clearly masculine, their eyes clearly fixed on him despite the fact that they weren't visible.

Zuko just nodded in acknowledgement and made his way to the descending staircase.  It was just easier to do his best to just get this over with and hope that the heroes wouldn't try and attack him until the gang members had been dealt with.  He had to leave soon, but with help he would hopefully be able to leave sooner.  With the pro heroes, it was much easier to clear out rooms, and soon the police were able to storm the house, dealing with the few gang members that hadn't been taken out yet.

As soon as the police surged forward, he slipped away, eager to get away from the crime scene and back home so he could deal with his injuries.  When he got home, he discovered that aside from some minor bruises the shot to the shoulder was the only injury he had sustained the whole fight, which he was both impressed with and disappointed by.  He was impressed that he had managed to make it through several barrages of bullets without finding himself full of holes, but the fact that he got hit at all showed just how poorly he had planned ahead.  Not that he had really planned ahead, instead just deciding to jump in and attempt to take a few of them out.  He really needed to work on that.  There were far too many days were he felt like he was back at square one.

As Zuko checked his wound, he was disgruntled to find that this wasn't as straightforward as the last one.  There was no exit wound, which meant that the bullet was still in his shoulder and would need removed before he could heal it.  He was glad he had actually taken the time to look up gun shot wounds after the last one, since that would probably make dealing with this one easier.  He wasn't looking forward to removing the bullet from his shoulder, but he was going to have to if he didn’t want to potentially cause even more damage to his body by sealing a piece of metal into it.

He dug around under the sink, which was tricky with his right arm's limited movement, but he eventually managed to find what he was looking for, pulling out some tweezers and the rubbing alcohol.  He could sterilize the tweezers with his firebending, but he didn't want to potentially burn the tissue inside his shoulder while trying to find the bullet, so alcohol it was.  He set the objects down on the counter before also grabbing a hand towel to stick in his mouth, so he wouldn't bit through his lip like last time.  The only thing he really needed now was something to hold the alcohol.

Zuko found a small soap dish under the sink and poured some alcohol into it before dropping the tweezers in the alcohol.  He then put the rolled-up towel into his mouth, before picking the tweezers up with his left hand and bringing them to the entry wound.  He did his best to keep his right shoulder as still as possible, gripping the edge of the counter with his right hand, hoping to avoid making this more difficult than it already was.  He took a deep breath before pushing the tweezers into the wound in a probing move, trying to figure out where the bullet might be.  He bit down hard on the towel as the alcohol in the open wound burned, but not as much as brushing against the bullet in his shoulder did.

He had to fight to stay still when he brushed the bullet with the tweezers, the metal having seemed to lodge itself in the muscle there.  He saw black spots dancing in front of his eyes, causing him to remove the tweezers from the wound.  He rinsed the tweezers in the alcohol, doing his best to ignore how red it became, and just breathed through his nose, doing his best to collect himself.  Once Zuko felt calm enough he picked up the tweezers again, and just went in, feeling around to make sure that the bullet hadn't fragmented.  It hadn't but it didn't change the fact that the bit of metal in his shoulder hurt, and he was determined to just pull it out so he could heal his shoulder.

It burned, nowhere near as bad as his face had, but it hurt as he pulled the tweezers with the twisted bit of metal out of his arm and dropping them into the small dish.  He then pooled flames into his left hand and pressed it against the wound which was starting to bleed more freely with the bullet gone.  It was just as draining as it had been last time and he slumped forward, no longer able to hold himself upright.  He spent several minutes just leaning over the sink breathing, before tiredly mopped up the blood on his shoulder, resolving to clean the bathroom when he got up at dawn, although it also made him think that he was going to have to figure out a way to minimize the mess when he got hurt in the future. 

With that thought in his head he made his way to the master bedroom, which only held Shouto at the moment since Touya and Natsuo had moved into a room of their own as soon as the weather started to warm.  They would probably be back as soon as the chill came, but that probably wouldn't be for another few months.  He was kind of glad though, since it would allow him to put Shouto on his left and not have to deal with him lying on the still tender shoulder.

The next time Zuko ran into a hero was about a month later.  He'd been doing his best to avoid doing too much in the immediate aftermath of the shot to the shoulder, especially since it had still been tender for over a week. He used his firebending to soothe it at night, but he had to be careful during the day to not draw attention to it.  There wasn't much that would make it hurt, but it hurting at all would have the kids wondering what happened, and he didn't want them to know just yet. Well, part of it might just be habit talking, as he was too used to having to hide his activities as the Blue Spirit from people he loved, mainly so he didn't worry them.

Zuko had been having a particularly bad day that day.  It wasn't anything to do with the weather, which had been rather nice that day, being pleasantly warm but not too warm for being in the height of summer.  Work that day had also been rather unremarkable, although conversation was a little dry as Miyata seemed to understand that he didn’t feel like talking, and unlike Sokka didn't feel the need to fill the air with chatter.  The kids had even enjoyed going to the park together since they were apparently on break from school.  His bad day had nothing to do with the world around him, and everything to do with him.

If Zuko had to describe what he was feeling, then he would be inclined to say that he was homesick.  It was this irrational feeling that he had had many times before, back when he was a teenager the first time, desperately wanting to go home to the Fire Nation, and later longing for a rusty old ship or a small apartment in Ba Sing Se.  The weather just reminded him so much of the Fire Nation that day, and he found himself longing for those familiar shores.

He knew it was stupid to be so fixated on it, especially since him being back in the Fire Nation would most likely mean that the kids would be on their own, with no one to care for them but each other, and he refused to let that happen.  He loved them dearly and he would fight Agni himself if it meant being able to keep them with him and safe.  Although there was also a part of him that felt guilty, that he was able to so easily abandon the land that had been his home for ninety years for a couple of kids.

Going out as the Blue Spirit had been a way to try and cope with his feelings, to try and escape them somehow, like donning the mask would help to suppress them or just make them easier to deal with.  It wasn't really working, the jaunt over the rooftops just reminding him of how different the four nations were when compared to this new world.  All the differences just seemed to stick out in stark relief, leaving him off balance.  He felt wrong, out of place, and while he loved the kids, he missed his friends and the small family that he had built from the ground up.

He leaned against the edge of the roof, his restless thoughts drowning out the rest of the world, but not so much that he was unaware when someone landed on the roof behind him.  He whirled around, his hand going to his dao, to find the pro hero from the raid, his strange white scarf not as active as it had been, and the goggles were no longer on his face, revealing black eyes.  Zuko relaxed slightly, but not by much.  He remembered what had happened last time he'd encountered a hero on a roof.

"You're surprisingly hard to find for someone who tends to stick to one area," the hero commented, his hands in his pockets, his body language casual and non-threatening.

Zuko didn't speak.  The Blue Spirit didn't speak.  It was a rule he had made for himself back in the four nations and he was going to maintain it.  So instead, he just shrugged, his hand releasing to dao so his arms could cross in front of him.  There was no point in inviting conflict if the hero wasn't going to start it.  He hoped the hero wasn't going to try and force him to talk.

Apparently, the hero understood what the shrug meant, as he also shrugged before saying, "Underground heroes aren't like the others."

Zuko didn't know what he was talking about, but he could ask the kids about it later.  Or look it up himself.  He was still getting used to information being readily available at the touch of a button.  He couldn't help but wonder if the internet was something that they would have been capable of creating back in the four nations.  He barely restrained himself from shaking his head.  He needed to work on not thinking about that.

"Underground heroes don't get the recognition or resources of spotlight heroes," the hero told him, and he couldn't help but think that that was yet another failing of this whole society, "So we have to get a little creative.  We aren't all that different from vigilantes like yourself, so it wouldn't be unreasonable for us to team up from time to time."

Zuko felt like he understood what the pro hero was saying.  It made sense to utilize every resource at your disposal.  It was what had driven him to become the Blue Spirit in the first place, an attempt to hide his identity while using his rather unique set of skills to gather information, secure supplies that were being withheld from him by spiteful commanders, or attempt to aid his people in what little ways he could when it could easily be called treason.  He could sympathize with the hero's plight, but he didn't exactly see how he would be able to help.

He gave a slight nod of concession, and the pro hero seemed to recognize it for what it was, as he nodded in response.  The hero then pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it at Zuko.  He caught it reflexively, having let his guard down enough not to assume that it was a trap apparently.  He cautiously examined the object he had been given only to find that it was a phone.  "That's a burner phone," the pro hero told him as he turned it on, "My number is programed into it so you can contact me any time you might need assistance from a hero, but I will also use it to get a hold of you when I need information or help like I did last time we met."

The phone booted up, not requiring a passcode or anything, which was convenient.  The home screen was empty of the apps he was used to seeing on the phone Natsuo had given him and when he checked the contacts he was able to see that there was one contact with the name Eraserhead attached to it.  Zuko was going to trust that there wasn't anything tricky going on here, so he nodded at the pro hero before turning the phone off and slipping it into a pocket.

The pro nodded back and Zuko made to leave, the encounter having helped settle something in his chest.  "By the way," the hero said as he was about to jump to the next building over, "You might want to see about learning sign language if you aren't going to talk."

Zuko filed that thought away as he took off into the night. 

Chapter Text

December ended up being even busier than it had been the year before.  With Zuko getting his driver's license and doing delivery routes for the bakery, on top of taking care of the kids, it was exhausting.  One wouldn't think that driving a van would require that much physical effort, but with how nerve wracking things could be on the road, and the fact that Zuko had to manage all the deliveries on his own meant that he would get home at night ready to go to bed.  Fortunately, he wasn't quite running himself ragged, but he knew he wasn't that far off.  Having kids to take care of kept him from reaching that point because he knew that he wouldn’t be any good to them dead on his feet.  At least he wasn't skipping meals as much as he had as the Fire Lord.

Zuko had to wonder if the regular eating is what was causing him to grow so much.  It had taken him so long to finally reach his adult height the first time, having been about twenty-two when he finally stopped sprouting randomly, although he had held his breath for another two years because it hadn't been uncommon for him to have nearly a year between growth spurts. He'd only been here for a little over a year, and he had already reached the height he had originally achieved at twenty.  He kind of didn't want to consider the implications of that.

The kids asked him as a group to give them all a small allowance so they could get Christmas presents for him and each other. He gave it to them, trusting them to be responsible, and he was rather surprised when they each got him a different tea plant.  Although he really should have expected it.  He'd been rather unimpressed with the tea bags that they had gotten from the store, an experience the kids hadn't shared.  Zuko supposed his uncle had spoiled him for tea, and he told the kids all about Iroh and Jasmine Dragon.  He supposed that the gift of the tea plants were a not so subtle hint that they wanted some of this famed brew, which he could brew competently, although not as well as his uncle.

Getting a bank account set up had been easier than Zuko had feared, although it probably helped that Miyata had come along to give him advice.  His boss was willing to sit there and explain everything to him in a simple but concise way, appearing unbothered by any of his questions.  By the end of the day, he had an account set up that he could draw on for regular expenses, a savings account that he directed money for the house and a car into, as well as an emergency account, just in case something happened.  He had taken all the money he'd saved up over the course of the last year and deposited it, splitting it between the three funds, and then Miyata did some paperwork so they would be able to funnel his pay to his account in the future.

One thing that had been giving Zuko more trouble than he expected was learning sign language.  He'd been attempting it ever since Eraserhead suggested it, but it was difficult for him to make progress on that front.  Since they didn't have internet at the house due to not owning it yet, and the fact that he was trying to keep the Blue Spirit stuff a secret for now, that meant he could only look up lessons on sign language during his breaks.  Not that it was easy to see them on the small screen.  Of course, that wasn't even taking his daily lessons on Duolingo into account.

The house situation was something that Zuko hoped to have some sort of solution for soon, as after the snow had melted they found the for-sale sign, which had been buried under the undergrowth in the front yard.  He'd saved the realtor's number in his phone, resolving to look them up later when he had to time.  He was somewhat hesitant to just call them because while he had never had to buy a house himself, he was pretty sure they were not cheap.  Making a house tended to be rather expensive, so he figured buying one would probably require him to save up a bit.

"So, when are you going to buy the house?" Natsuo asked sometime in late March.

"I figured I'd wait a bit," Zuko admitted as he set down his food, "From what I've heard houses are expensive."

"Not this one," Natsuo retorted with a laugh.

"Really?" Zuko exclaimed rather surprised at the information.

"Yeah," Natsuo replied as he pulled out his phone, pulling something up, "The rumor that this place was haunted drove the price way down.  Combine that with the fact that it's been assumed to be abandoned for the last ten years and so should be falling apart, it actually isn't that expensive. Since they're selling it as is, if you purchase it sight unseen, then we could easily start cleaning it up and getting it fixed before the utilities are started."

"What's 'as is'?" Zuko asked as he reached out to accept the phone so he could look at the realtor's page, although he had a pretty good idea of what it might mean, "Or sight unseen?"

"As is means that the owner won't be making any repairs to the property to make it livable," the ten year old informed him as he scrolled through the page, "Buying as is would be you essentially saying that you don't care about the state of the house.  This often happens with corporations or construction companies because they tend to demolish the old house down anyway.  Sight unseen just means that you're buying it without doing a tour of the property, which would leave them unaware of us already living here, and honestly, given some of the reviews I read they'd probably be grateful for not having to come here again."

Zuko could definitely see the merit of the idea, although at the same time he couldn't help but wonder, "How do you know all this?"

Natsuo just shrugged.  "I researched it."

"How do you know how to research this?  Are there classes on how to google to find exactly what you're looking for?"

The ten year old laughed, which was nice to hear even if that wasn't Zuko's intention.  He was genuine in his confusion and more than a little concerned about the answer.  "Well," Natsuo started as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, averting his gaze off to the side, "It's just something I've kind of always done.  Mom and the bastard were never around to ask questions, so I'd head to Touya who would tell me to just google it if he didn't know the answer.  I always had to read four or five articles just to make sure I was getting genuine information, and sometimes I would end up falling down rabbit holes about random topics.  That kind of makes it easier to research topics now because I've already got a method down."

Zuko wasn't sure how to respond to that.  While the kids had been rather upfront about their treatment at their parents hands, it wasn't until this moment that he truly realized just how messed up that situation was.  Natsuo had been three going on four when Shouto was born and he was effectively cut off from both his parents.  Touya and Fuyumi were the closest things he had to parental figures for years, and he'd developed skills that were difficult to learn all on his own.

Zuko turned his attention back to the realtor's page in an effort to ignore the sudden and unpleasant realization.  The house was listed at a million yen, which was kind of ridiculous since the next cheapest house they had listed was more than ten times as much. The description given of the house made it obvious that they would probably like it taken off their hands, and while he wasn't totally sold on effectively lying to the realtor about seeing the house.  However, he supposed it was better if they did it that way because he couldn't risk these kids ended up back in their father's hands.

"So how would you suggest I go about doing that?" he eventually asked as he handed the phone back.

"Call the relator," Natsuo told him as he turned it off before slipping it back into his pocket, "Set up a meeting with him and have a check ready so you can pay for the place.  Once they sign ownership over to you then we can start cleaning things up.  We can see about talking to contractors about fixing stuff up after the utilities have been turned on."

Zuko nodded along with Natsuo's explanation.  The process made sense although he was going to have to do some checking to make sure that they would have everything they needed in place when he did go in to see about buying the house.

Zuko was genuinely surprised at how easy it had been to purchase the house.  He hadn't expected it to be too difficult because of what Natsuo had told him, but he had been expecting it to be harder because that was just how his luck worked.  For every good thing he had happen, three things had to go horribly wrong.  Part of him couldn't help but wonder if he had left that behind in the four nations, although he knew better than to hope for such a thing.

He'd actually waited a couple of weeks before contacting the realtor, as he wanted to make sure that they had a bit of a financial buffer.  Since he didn't really spend much of his typical paycheck, and holiday bonuses covered gifts and school supplies, buying the house was actually in the realm of possibility.  He wanted to have a little extra money on hand just in case, but it was also kind of amazing that they could get the house so easily.

The meeting had been surprisingly quick, the whole thing from the greeting to the signing of the papers taking maybe a half hour.  The agent had been rather relieved to finally have the property off his hands, and while Zuko did feel slightly bad for tricking the man a bit, it was easily drowned out by the relief of no longer having to worry about potentially getting found out.  Once the keys had been handed over, Zuko found it much easier to breath without the constant anxiety of potential discovery choking him.  After that he had to go through the process of getting utilities set up.  They had to wait until the end of the month for the water and the electricity to be turned on, but considering how they had been mostly fine for the last year and a half without them, two weeks wasn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

Snice they no longer had a reason to hold back, and it was really bugging Fuyumi, they started clearing out the front yard, getting rid of the overgrowth and unburying some of the garden ornaments that had been left there.  Some of them had suffered significantly in the years they had been left there without care, leading to them getting tossed for the most part.  The backyard received a similar treatment although much less effort had to be put into it since Zuko kept the middle of the yard cleared for training.

They took their time clearing out the edges of the yard, having to detangle some of the stronger weeds from the fence around the property.  This had led to them discovering the remnants of what looked to be a garden at the back of the yard if the trellis was anything to go by.  Zuko could only guess at what might have been there originally, but it had been overtaken by weeds in the years since the house had been inhabited.

Cleaning out the inside of the house came next.  The furniture in the basement was brought out, and found to be in surprisingly good condition, although most of it ended up being put back down there since they just weren't sure where to put it.  The rooms that hadn't been used up to that point were cleaned out, although there wasn't that much to clear out of them.  The attic had been a solo venture for Zuko because none of the kids wanted to deal with the number of spiders up there and he'd dealt with worse.  Most of what was up there joined the garden ornaments in being pawned because there wasn't much reason to keep it around.  They didn't really have much reason to keep old toys, clothes, and china around.

When the utilities were finally turned on, he decided that they should see about getting internet set up as well.  The kids were all for this, eager to be able to use it for whatever they needed it for, like Touya's Etsy shop or Natsuo's research.  It would also be useful for Zuko.  There was a lot about this new world that he didn't understand, and while he wasn't the best at googling, he wouldn't get better if he never did it.  Besides, when the kids asked for things, he would do his best to accommodate them.  Access to the internet was important to them, so Zuko got an internet provider to come to the house and set it up.

He'd also used some of the money that they got from pawning the items to help with decorating the house, and especially their bedrooms.  Touya and Natsuo got a set of bunk beds in the room that they shared since they didn't want to separate quite yet.  Zuko had gotten a pillow top mattress for Touya, hoping that that might help with the situation with his scars, although they discovered after his first night on the new bed that it didn't help.  He spent several nights sleeping on pillows again until Zuko could take him to the store to get a feel for what type of mattress would allow him to sleep comfortably.  They ended up getting a memory foam mattress for him which helped significantly.

Fuyumi had gotten Touya's original mattress, since the one in her room had been somewhat lacking, as well as some furnishings for her room.  She had decided to paint the walls of the room blue, replaced the dresser with one form the basement, and got Zuko to fix up the closet for her.  The desk, chair and bookcase that had been left in the room were cleaned off and repaired if needed, but she saw no need to replace them.  They worked just fine the way they were.

Zuko had set up a separate bedroom for Shouto, one that was rather nice with red walls, a decent dresser, and a desk with a chair.  The desk and chair had actually been pulled from the basement, having been in surprisingly good condition, and just the right size for a seven year old.  However, Shouto still spent most nights in the master bedroom, either driven there by nightmares, or having opted to bypass his room entirely to spend the night with Zuko.  The master bedroom had also been repainted, but there was no need to really change it since it was already comfortable.

They had also decided to work together to paint the outside of the house, seeing as most of the paint was flaking off the sides of the building.  Right around when summer break began, Zuko had gotten several cans of a nice forest green paint, and the five of them had worked together to paint the exterior of the house, although he had taken care of the second floor mostly by himself.  He didn’t want one of them to end up in the hospital because they fell off the ladder.  This proved to be a smart decision as the kids started messing around, getting paint on each other after Natsuo had accidentally dripped paint on Touya, leading to green handprints all over their skin and clothes.

Once everything they could handle was squared away, Zuko turned to what they would need a contractor for.  The biggest concerns were the roof and the insulation since he had managed to figure out how to unstick the stuck window.  He had been surprised to find a contractor that specialized in doing insulation work on already built houses, although he wasn't as surprised when he met with them to discover that the crew had a combination of quirks that allowed them to do it quickly and easily.  One of the crew members had an x-ray quirk that allowed them to see into the walls, while another had a quirk that allowed them to essentially teleport materials as long as he knew exactly where it was going.  The two of them working together easily did a room a day so in a little over two weeks they had done all the insulation in the house.

The rest of the work crew didn't really have quirks that completely benefitted them in construction, just a few minor strength quirks, one that could stick to just about every surface, and one that could see in infrared, but they were still capable.  They spent the two weeks re-shingling the roof so that any breakdown that had happened in the years of neglect was dealt with.  Zuko was glad, because the last thing he wanted to deal with was all the problems leaks would cause.  He was quite happy with the work they did, even though it was a little expensive.

By the end of the summer the house was everything that Zuko could have hoped for, and things seemed to be going just as well at the bakery.  He had gotten a slight promotion back in February, which meant he was making even more money than he had before.  He was still working in the kitchen most of the time, but now he would also do deliveries, and he had also been given the title of manager.  He had thought it was rather unnecessary since they only had like four employees other than himself and Miyata, but his objections had been disregarded.

The bakery had been getting significantly more patronage over the last eight to ten months, if the amount of goods they were baking were any indicator.  Zuko was the one employee that tended to be around all the time which tended to mean that Miyata would often leave managing the newer employees to him.  He wasn't sure if Miyata was just antisocial, or got a kick out of how awkward Zuko was when interacting with complete strangers, but he did his best to make the most of the situation.  

Miyake had to give up manning the register as there was more paperwork for him to do than he was able to handle every night, which had initially led to them hiring one person to man the register during the day.  The holidays had seen a lot of business but the strain of it was alleviated somewhat by seasonal hires, as temperamental as they could be.  However, when the holidays were over, business was still rather busy which led to them getting another person to man the register and another in the kitchen to help Zuko and Miyata. There were rumors that there was going to be more hires in the near future, but he wasn't going to put much stock in the rumors until there was some evidence to back them up.

Besides, the rumors that were going around about him were less than flattering.  Zuko figured that the more recent employees thought that his hearing was worse than it was, or else they wouldn't have dared to gossip about him while they were in the same room. They theorized about how he got his scar, their ideas ranging from an accident to bullying gone too far, to him just being an idiot. It took a lot not to respond to them, to tell them in gruesome detail how he got his scar, but it wouldn't do him any good, especially if they decided to ask follow up questions. They also liked talking about why he was made a manager, supposing that since he was very intimidating that he could make most Karen's, as the employees seemed to call them, back down.

That theory had a little more weight to it than Zuko would have liked.  He had only been called out to the counter a few times, and he had seen how the color would drain from someone's face when they first saw him. He was all too familiar with how people's eyes would get stuck on the left side of his face, unable to look away, but also being too uncomfortable to comment. It probably didn't help that he tended to maintain a neutral expression, which with how the left side of his face was, meant he tended to look angry most of the time. He usually didn't like that, but there were times when it came in handy.

The most memorable incident was the time that he got brought out to shouting.  It was late in the day, not all that far from closing time, and business had been good that day, so the shelves were more than a little bare.  They weren't going to make any more goods for the day, and were in the process of cleaning the kitchen.  Zuko had actually been washing the dishes when one of the cashiers had come to get him.  The lack of activity in the kitchen had been made up for out front as there were two cashiers, which allowed one of them to fetch him while the other was being berated by the customer.

He'd been less than happy to be dragged out to the yelling, especially since he recognized this type of customer.  The kind that bought into that nonsense that the customer is always right and thus tried to make them bend over backwards to accommodate their usually ridiculous requests.  He had dealt with them plenty back in Pao's tea shop and he didn't expect them to be any better here.  In fact he was pretty sure that they would be worse given how entitlement seemed to be integral to this society.  The unfortunate employee was practically in tears as this madwoman berated her for not accommodating her properly.  "What seems to be the problem here?" Zuko asked as he approached, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"This lazy girl refuses to get me the cinnamon rolls I ordered," the woman announced, not even looking at him as she spoke, instead opting to glare down at the target of her ire, "I insist you fire her and get me the pastries I ordered."

"Hamasaki san, why don't you head into the kitchen?" Zuko told the employee that was trying desperately to hide her tears, "It's almost time for your break anyway."

It wasn't, and they both knew it, but she took the out.  It was probably for the best as Zuko wasn't sure how she would respond to his reaction to all this.  "Well?" the woman demanded as she finally looked him in the face.

Part of Zuko couldn't help but enjoy the sudden paling of her face as she registered the scar on his own.  Back in Ba Sing Se most people had been rather sympathetic to his disfigurement, as some of them, especially in the lower ring, bore scars of their own.  While they weren't exactly allowed to talk about it, it wasn't that unusual.  Pretty much everyone understood so there was no real reason to ask.  Here, someone with burn scars like him could only have gotten it in a few situations, and pretty much everyone would be too uncomfortable to ask about it. 

"I believe the employees have already informed you that we have run out of rolls and will not be making anymore today," Zuko stated plainly as he glanced over at Shimada san who nodded in agreement, "Unless you have any other business you wish to conduct, I would kindly ask you to leave."

The woman seemed to gather herself, or at least attempt to gather herself as she opened and closed her mouth multiple times, looking almost like a fish.  Zuko could practically see the argument that she was gearing up for, and the look on his face must have conveyed his displeasure at the thought, because she paled once again before fleeing the store.  He ignored Shimada san's poorly smothered laughter as he went back into the kitchen, so he could finish washing the dishes.  He had very little patience for people like that. 

Alongside Zuko's promotion, Touya's Esty store had started selling. The teen had also decided to go to a public high school and started taking art electives to help improve his art, which was already pretty good.  Some of his art had managed to sell, a few of the smaller pieces that were barely the size of a fist, and his first piece which was just impressive over all.  Things had gotten even better since he added pottery to his repertoire, injecting some color into his selection.  It was honestly amazing what he had managed to create, and Zuko was so proud of him.  He wasn't afraid of saying it either, even though it had resulted in Touya crying the first time it had happened.

That incident had led to Zuko hating Endeavor even more, and while he wouldn't admit to anyone, not even the kids, he was enjoying the Flame Hero's fall from grace.  The man had dropped from being the number two hero to fifth in the year following his kids' disappearance, and with how unhinged the man acted, he wouldn't be surprised if his ranking continued to suffer for it.  It was surprising how, as far as he had seen, no one seemed to be considering the idea that the kids ran away instead of being kidnapped.  He supposed that people just saw what they wanted to see, hoping that if enough people thought that way that it would make it true.

Zuko hated Endeavor, and what he had done to his children, but he couldn't do anything about it, at least not to the man himself.  He was going to help the kids in whatever way he could, so he was making plans to build an art shack for Touya in the backyard.  Part of him had wished that Toph could have been there so the place could have been done with stone within a few hours.  Unfortunately that simply wasn't an option, so he was focusing on finding some kind of varnish that would help fireproof the construction as much as possible.  

Zuko had also been thinking about setting up a little greenhouse in the backyard where he could keep the tea plants.  They had been doing fine in their pots, and would probably have to be brought inside when it started to get colder.  He liked that he had access to the leaves now, and it wouldn't be that hard to set up a drying rack in the pantry so he could dry out the leaves to use.  He could possibly do it with his firebending, but he didn't want to risk the quality of the tea leaves by doing so.  Besides, it gave him time to get the necessary supplies to be able to make the tea properly.

Natsuo had come across something suspicious in the master bedroom.  He'd gone in there looking for something of Zuko's, whatever it had been had fled his mind as soon as he came across the phone.  It wasn't his old phone that he had given to Zuko to use, that one had a case on it, and it wasn't one that tended to get used a lot these days.  It was a smart phone, but it was an older style, one that didn't tend to have much memory or battery life.  It also had a very clean screen, just a few smudges on it that looked like they had been wiped at to clean it.

Natsuo knew that there were a few innocent reasons that Zuko could have been keeping it in the desk drawer.  Maybe he found it on the street or maybe it was one of his friend's from work and he had forgotten to grab it before leaving, but those explanations didn't seem right.  So Natsuo plugged it into a charger, just in case, and it turned on.  It wouldn't be hard for him to figure out the passcode, there were only a few things it could be based on the very few smudges on the screen, but he was surprised to find that it didn’t seem to have any security measures.  That was a little strange, although it would support the phone being Zuko's.

The phone didn't have much on it which wasn't really a surprise.  Poor memory didn't really lend itself to a surplus of apps, so not downloading any apps was a good call.  In fact the phone seemed to be even blanker than a new phone, having just the bare necessities to be called a phone.  He almost wanted to know how they managed to remove all of those "essential" apps that were absolutely useless.  He checked the contact list next and nearly dropped the phone when he saw it.  There was only one contact on the list, and it belonged to Eraserhead.

While it wasn't a name he recognized, it was clearly a hero name, and there was no reason for Zuko to have a phone with a hero's contact information.  At least, not one that Natsuo knew of.  So he went to conversations, since for all he knew Zuko had just picked it up off the ground and didn't know what to do with it.  He hoped that was the case.  He really hoped that was the case, but he also knew better than to get his hopes up.

After opening the messages, he knew that while Zuko could have just picked it up off the ground, it was rather unlikely.  The exchanges had been few, but one of them had been from last night.  Zuko hadn't gotten home from work yet, so clearly, he had to have been the one to send the text.  If he'd found it this morning why would it be hidden away deep in the desk rather than sitting on top of it?  The texts may have been few, but it was obvious why the phone was in their house.

Natsuo waited until after dinner that night to bring it up.  "Zuko, why do you have a phone with Eraserhead's contact information?"

Zuko froze before sighing.  "I assume you saw the texts?"

Natsuo nodded, which had Zuko sighing once again as his siblings glanced between the two of them.  He shifted slightly in his seat so he would be able to see all of them at once.  "The reason I have a separate phone with Eraserhead's contact information is because I have been going out as a vigilante called the Blue Spirit.  Eraserhead is an underground hero that is trying to establish contacts in the vigilante community so he can get our help when he needs it since he doesn't have the benefits a spotlight hero would have."

"You haven't been using your bending, have you?" Fuyumi asked, her brows furrowed in concern.

"Of course not.  I used to use the Blue Spirit as a way to act as a covert agent back in the four nations, and doing any bending would have been disastrous.  I trained myself not to bend or speak while acting as the Blue Spirit.  I do have a rather distinct voice after all."

Natsuo nodded along with his siblings.  He could always tell when Zuko was speaking because he sounded completely different from everyone else, although Touya’s voice was actually pretty similar, although his was still cracking.  Even if all of them were talking at once, Zuko was still clear enough to be heard because his voice stood out.  "You haven't gotten too hurt, have you?" Shouto asked as he stared at the firebender, his eyes large and slightly watery.

"I've managed to handle all my injuries," he told the youngest, although Natsuo was slightly suspicious of how he rubbed his right shoulder, "I've only gotten hurt when I was completely outnumbered, and even then, it would have been much worse if I wasn't as skilled as I am."

That had Shouto perking up slightly as he cuddled into Zuko's side.  There was a small smile on the adult's face as he gave him a slight squeeze.  "So," Touya prodded as he leaned forward, a mischievous look in his eyes, "What sorts of stories have we been missing out on about your Blue Spirit adventures?"

Zuko's face was thoughtful, and Natsuo had to assumed that he was searching through his ninety-seven years of memory to come up with a good story.  Honestly, it wouldn't be surprising to discover that his stories didn't go exactly as he told them, although he usually told them the more mythological stories from his home unless they asked something direct like this.  There had been a few where it was hard to tell which was which with just how many insane details there were.  "Let me tell you about the time the Blue Spirit broke into Pouhai Stronghold to free the Avatar."

Natsuo had a feeling that this one was going to fall into that latter category, but he was willing to just sit back and listen as Zuko used his amazing storytelling to keep their attention, for now.

Natsuo should have been surprised when he caught Zuko preparing to sneak out later that night, although the sneaking was probably because he didn't want to wake Shouto who as laying in bed asleep.  "So, how much have you been doing as the Blue Spirit?"

"Not much," he replied as he leaned against the wall, situated in such a way that his swords wouldn't scratch off the paint, his mask in his left hand, "I've mostly been taking care of petty crimes.  Ran into Eraserhead when I happened upon a police shoot out with a gang and decided to help the law enforcement officers.  He found me a few weeks later and gave me the phone."

"I might be able to help you do more," Natsuo offered, hoping that he was being convincing enough, "I can keep an ear out on the police scanner so you can be on top of crimes in progress, or give you some tips on how to handle certain criminals.  I could also tell you about other vigilantes in the area."

"Natsuo, you need your sleep," Zuko insisted concern in his eyes as he stepped forward and put his hand on his shoulder, "I appreciate what you are attempting to do, but you're just a kid.  You shouldn't be taking on such a large responsibility."

He deflated slightly at that.  As much as he hated it, Zuko kind of had a point.  He was always quick to remind them that they were still kids, and that they should let themselves be kids regardless of what their father had done to them in the past.  Natsuo also knew that no matter how smart he was, staying up late a lot would make him less attentive at school.  He'd spent way too much time staying up with his friends in the past to know just how catastrophic it could be.  "Fine," he huffed as he started to head back to his room.

He was almost at the stairs when he heard, "Natsuo."

He turned around to see Zuko staring down at the Blue Spirit mask in his hands, before looking up to meet his gaze.  "Eraserhead advised me to learn sign language to communicate.  I haven't been having much luck with that.  Do you think you could help me out?"

Natsuo grinned and nodded, his mind already jumping to a few things he could use to narrow down a good source for learning sign language.  He might not be old enough to be a man in a chair, but he could still help. 

Chapter Text

Pretending to be quirkless was easier and harder than Touya thought it was going to be.  He had known that pretending to be quirkless wouldn’t be easy, keeping his flames under control, especially when he got emotional would be hard but it seemed like the perfect middle finger to his father who treated them more like quirks than people.  He knew that interacting with other people would be difficult since quirkless people seemed to be considered worthless wastes of space, but it wasn't like he was unfamiliar with the feeling.  His father had made him feel like that all the time after it turned out his quirk was killing him, so he didn’t think faking it would be that hard.

Maintaining the façade of being quirkless was made even easier with Zuko's training, as it afforded him better control over his quirk.  It also helped that for his last year of middle school, he didn't have to interact with that many people face to face, so it was much easier to handle his anger and such.  When he started going to the nearby high school, he was surprised to find most of his peers ignoring or avoiding him, like they would be able to catch quirklessness from him.  It was a little ridiculous, especially since he could see the measures that other people were taking to avoid him, but it suited him just fine.  The less he had to interact with people the better.

However, Touya was also abruptly faced with the fact that quirkless people experience some pretty serious systemic abuse, and he might not have noticed if he didn't have his previous experience to compare it to.  Almost all of his teachers treated him asking questions like he was wasting their time, as if he should have been able to pick it all up when they first told him, or have been able to understand it automatically.  He knew he wasn't dumb, his mediocre grades before stemmed from a lack of interested more than anything, so there was no reason for them to treat him like that.  He'd never had to deal with that when he asked questions before, so it was a little jarring.

His online classes also seemed to be different from what a normal classroom lesson would be like.  He knew that it was going to be that way since he was the only student and it was a different medium, but there was more to it than that.  Despite the fact that he had access to the teacher's whole presentation there were some holes in them, which often led to him just looking it up online.  In fact, by half way through the year he had stopped bothering with the teacher's presentations and just looked up the concept or information online so he knew he wouldn't be missing anything.  

While his teachers wouldn't be able to pull that off in in person classes, he wasn't thrilled with being in a classroom again.  Whispers followed him pretty much everywhere, and there were even a few people that were daring enough to insult him.  They usually wouldn't come within arms reach of him, but they were happy to throw rather lame insults at him.  He couldn't decide if their behavior was sad or pathetic, but he supposed it could have been worse.

Since no one seemed to want to touch him, he didn't have to endure the pain of having his scars messed with, which was a blessing because with how much they ached at the slightest change in weather he liked not having to deal with sudden jolts of pain.  It was honestly surprising how he could see guys rough housing in the hallway and none of them ever accidentally ran into him.  Honestly he wouldn't mind if the rest of his high school career continued that way, but all good things eventually have to end.

He blamed the biology teacher.  They had been talking about the systems of the body in class, when one of his classmates, a girl on the other side of the room, had raised her hand.  It had taken a bit for the teacher to notice her hand, but since she was one of those entitled girls who seemed to think the world revolved around her, Touya wouldn't have been surprised if she interrupted the lesson if she went unseen for any longer.  When the teacher did acknowledge her, she asked, "What sort of disease caused the markings on Yoshida san?"

She sounded disgusted, like she was offended that he would even exist in the same room as her looking like that, and Touya had to keep from laughing.  On some level he knew that it was a serious question, but it also made the last three months made so much more sense.  He almost wanted to play it up, to make up a fake disease that would damage your skin and steal away your quirk, but it was safer to just stick to the cover story.  "Would you please explain it to the class Yoshida san?" the teacher asked, jolting him out of thoughts.

Touya's head shot up to the front of the room to find the teacher staring at him looking almost as uncomfortable as the girl had sounded.  In fact he could feel practically every eye in the room on him, and he didn't like it.  It was itchy and uncomfortable, and he had to fight to keep his hands on his desk instead of scratching the back of his neck or something like that.  Irritating his scars, even in a comfort gesture would just make things worse.  "I would rather not, Hasegawa sensei."

Whispers erupted around the room at those words, but he refused to let his body respond to it.  Sure he was uncomfortable and didn't want to the attention of the room to linger on him any longer than it needed to, but even recounting the fake story around his burns was kind of traumatic.  Just thinking about the fire pressing in on him eating away at his skin made it hard to breath, so the last thing he wanted to do was tell that to a bunch of people that treated him like trash.

"That wasn't a request, Yoshida san," Hasegawa sensei stated ominously, as he seemed to be trying to stare Touya down, to make him cave, "Do I need to give you detention?"

Touya couldn't afford to get detention.  Zuko probably wouldn't care, especially if he heard the reason why, but the pottery teacher, Miyashita sensei, only let him spend his breaks in the pottery room if he maintained his academic career.  Getting a detention could definitely put that in jeopardy so as much as he hated it, he was going to have to tell the rest of the class what "happened".  There was a part of him that suspected that not even his teacher knew, that as soon as he reached the word quirkless in Yoshida Shingo's file nothing else mattered.

Touya took a deep breath as he stood, turning so he could address the class as a whole, and maybe gauge their reactions to his story.  "This is burn scar tissue," he explained, gesturing to his face, since that was the only place they could see the scars, "It's from getting caught in a car fire and surviving."

'Unlike my parents' sat in the back of his throat, tempting him to speak those words into being and completely sever his connection to them, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.  Endeavor was still frustratingly alive no matter how much Touya wished that wasn't the case, having been dead to him for a long time.  But even saying that was kind of a lie, as the Flame Hero's influence was still being felt everyday, his voice echoing the ideologies espoused by the real hero .  It was almost overwhelming, but another voice, one warmer and gentler had started to drown it out.

However, he wasn't sure how to feel about his mother.  He wanted to hate her, he wanted to hate her so much but he couldn't.  She hadn't been there for him, been a presence in his life before Endeavor had managed to sink his claws into Touya's psyche, but at the same time she was just as much a prisoner in that house as any of them.  He vaguely remembered her trying to help him but he had been too twisted, too broken to accept it, and that made it hard for him to hate her.

As Touya moved to sit down, there was some morbid satisfaction in the back of his head as he watched his classmates faces shift from something almost self congratulatory to horrified.  For as high and mighty as they could get about their quirks, he knew for a fact that none of them would have fared any better in the same situation.  The rest of the class period was fairly calm as Hasegawa sensei got back to the lesson, although he seemed to be moving on autopilot, not actually engaged in the lesson.  Although no one else was either.

It felt like it only took a day for the news to circulate around the school as the amount of whispering going on around Touya doubled.  Sometimes he would be able to hear what they were saying, wondering about whether or not he was telling the truth, how far the scars went, etc.  It honestly made him glad that Zuko had been able to get him excused from taking PE classes because the last thing he wanted was to have to worry about getting jumped in the locker room so they could see just how scarred he was. 

However, the downside to all this was that there was no longer a fear of touching him.  Most people still avoided him for the most part, and went out of their way to avoid contact, but there were some people who seemed to have taken this news as permission to harass him at every opportunity.  It was a group of upperclassmen, ones that seemed to think his mere presence was an offense, and had spent the most time trying to insult him, with their attempts ranging from abysmal to mediocre.  There were plenty of kids his own age willing to hurl abuse at him, but these four seemed to have decided that he was the source of all their problems and thus deserved their ire.  Part of him wondered if they got off on other people’s misery.

“Hey Yoshida san!” the leader of the group, one Hidaka Goro, called out.  He often claimed that he had just barely failed to get into UA, although the reason why changed every time someone asked.  He had a fire quirk, one that wasn’t anywhere near as impressive as Touya's, but he couldn't say that.  He was pretending to be quirkless after all, and mentioning Zuko's bending almost felt cheap since it was more impressive than any quirk he'd ever seen.

“What do you want Hidaka san?” he asked, putting enough exasperation into his voice to convey how much he did not care about what any of them had to say.

“Is that any way to speak to your sempai?” Hidaka’s second in command, Inada Jiro jeered as he leaned forward, clearly using his quirk to make himself bigger so he could look down on Touya.

He merely lifted an eyebrow at that, hoping he'd managed to do a decent job of imitating Zuko's disappointed stare.  He honestly just didn't want to deal with them, didn't care if they were trying to make him call them sempai, and could honestly do without the frankly irritating conversation.  So, he decided it was better to turn around and take a different route home than entertain these losers any longer.  He heard their indignant “Hey!” as he started to walk away, and then one of them ran up and grabbed his arm.

Touya felt sharp pain lance up his arm, and he instinctively reacted, doing whatever it would take to make it stop.  He grabbed the wrist attached to the hand grabbing him and twisted.  He vaguely heard someone yelp as bone ground together in his grip, although he didn't dare loosen it.  He wasn't about to give them an opportunity to hurt him more.  His captive managed to yank their arm out of his grip, deciding to take a swing at him while they could.  

It was almost laughably easy to dodge, Zuko was much faster than this even while sparring, so Touya decided to return fire with a punch of his own.  The unfortunate upperclassman got a fist to the face, and the very audible crunch made him pretty sure that he had broken the boy’s nose.  The rest of the posse stared in shock as their friend fell to the ground holding his nose as it gushed blood.

Touya took their momentary pause to toss his backpack to the side, glad that he didn’t have any projects in it.  After nearly two years of training with Zuko it was as easy as breathing to slip into a fighting stance, ready for whatever would come.  The firebender had made sure that he knew how to fight without using his quirk, just like his siblings, and the moves that worked with his quirk were still effective even without flames.  Either way, he was prepared to deal with the bullies when they finally recovered, and came at him.

It didn't take that long, with Inada running at him first, apparently hoping to use his intimidation factor and height against Touya.  It was an amusing if futile strategy.  Zuko was nearly two meters tall, and since Touya was a good twenty centimeters shorter, he was used to having to fight against a height advantage, which was easier to account for than a skill advantage.  The deciding factor here was that the skill advantage was on his side, and Inada was soon leaning on the wall of the alleyway wheezing as he held his ribs.

Hidaka threw a blast of flames at him, whether he was aiming to distract or injure, Touya couldn't tell, but he was more than capable of dodging fire.  The third member of their group tried to use his elongated limbs to trip him up, but all they did was provide more leverage.  He grabbed their wrist as he dodged their grasp and yanked, the sudden pull throwing them off balance.  They tried to entangle him in their limbs as they went down, but he instead kneed them in the face.  There was a barely audible crunch as he broke another nose, and they fell to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs and blood.

Hidaka actually looked scared as Touya ran towards him, his hands going up to protect his face as several punches hit various body parts.  He paused for a moment, which the older teen seemed to think was the perfect opening and tried shooting a blast a fire at him point blank.  He could feel the heat as he ducked out of the way, before deciding to just end this kicking the upperclassman hard enough to send him flying back into a tree.  There was a loud snap, and he wasn’t sure if that was a branch or a limb breaking.  Honestly it didn’t matter much, as the older teen didn’t move, staring at him with fear in his eyes.  “How?” the third year asked, his voice barely audible.

“My older brother taught me how to fight,” Touya informed him as he went back to the alleyway, grabbing his backpack from where he'd dropped it, the other boys shying away from him, “Is teaching me technically.  Aren’t you glad you didn’t have to fight him?”

Touya didn’t bother looking at the bullies as he left.  He knew he had just put the fear of Zuko into them and that was enough for now.

Touya should have known that one fight would not get the bullies to back off.  He had actually felt pretty good when he'd gone the rest of the term without having to deal with Hidaka and his goons.  He'd actually smiled when he'd seen them walking around the school all stiff, broken noses on display for the whole world to see.  He was rather proud of them, proud that he'd managed to beat someone older than him even if his sparring with Zuko tended to end with him surrendering.

He'd pretty much forgotten about it over summer break, taking the time to hang out with his siblings whenever possible, and painting the house together had been fun.  It had been nice to just be a kid, having fun with his siblings even when helping out around the house.  Hanging out with his siblings at the park or at the house was a great way to spend the summer, especially since it gave him more inspiration for his art.

The good feelings from his summer helped making the transition back to school a little easier, although there was a part of him wished that one of his siblings or even Zuko was there.  It was strange to have gone from being rather independent with Endeavor to so connected under Zuko's roof.  It nice though, as the genuine connection with his siblings made him realize just how lonely he had been before.

Classes were pretty much the same as they had been the term before, but on the way home Touya found himself face to face with Hidaka and a much larger friend group.  Although he wasn't sure he could call them all friends.  They were probably more like lackies, especially since several of the new ones were lowerclassmen.  It wouldn't be that hard for Hidaka and his group to intimidate them into coming, although it also wouldn't be that hard to convince them to come and help beat up the quirkless kid. 

"I see someone did some recruiting," Touya commented, hoping his voice stayed in that unbothered tone despite how worried he was.

"Can't have scum like you going around like you own the place," Hidaka shot back with a bit of a growl.

"Projecting much?" Touya mused, his lips twitching upwards in a desire to smirk but he attempted to muffle it.  No need to make the situation more dangerous than it already is, although that ship had probably sailed.

However, it was satisfying when some of the group snickered, with a few of them nodding in agreement.  Hidaka looked like he was ready to tear Touya's head off, but it wasn't like he had managed to do anything to him last time, so he wasn't that worried.  However, it was only a matter of time until things kicked off, and he knew better than to turn his back on them, so he casually slid is bag off his shoulder and tossed it off to the side.

The group seemed to recognize the significance of the action as many of them tense, the central four being the tensest of all.  They knew what he was capable of.  There were no words exchanged, but seemingly as one the group descended on Touya.  The eager ones that charged in quickly were met with punches and kicks that carried as much power as he could muster, while the more cautious ones approached with apprehension but conviction.

The first hit that landed on him was more of a glancing blow than anything, but it had managed to graze one of his sensitive spots causing him to cry out in pain.  It wasn't long before he took another hit, and he knew that he wouldn't come out on top in this fight.  It was too draining to fight so many at once, to have to try and keep an eye on everyone and everything around him.  He was making them work for every blow they landed, but it was obvious not long into the fight that the best he could do was try and minimize the damage they did to him.

At some point he ended up mentally checking out, aware of what was going on around him, feeling the blows land, or dodging their hits but he wasn't putting any conscious effort into it.  He could feel the pain they inflicted, although it felt distant, almost muffled by the empty nothingness he felt.  It was almost like being back in the training dojo, but the flames weren't anywhere near hot enough for that, nor were the fists big enough.

Touya wasn't sure when they decided to leave him alone, but it had taken him some time to collect himself after they all decided that beating up on him was no longer fun.  He ached when he finally got to his feet and made his way home, although he really should have expected the ear piercing shriek when he got home.  "Yumi, I don't need my ears bleeding too," he whined as he leaned over to take off his shoes, leaving them in their designated spot next to the door.

"What happened?" Natsuo asked, his eyes wide and concerned as he set his laptop aside.  Touya must look pretty bad if his little brother was willing to set aside his tech.

"Some people don't like sharing space with a quirkless person," he replied, a sharp sting of pain making him aware of the fact that his lip had been split, "I think I'm going to have to start taking a different route home."

"You can worry about that later," Fuyumi stated firmly, a borderline murderous look on her face, "For now let's get you cleaned up."

Fuyumi led Touya to the bathroom, like he didn't know where it was, while Natsuo went upstairs, probably to get him a change of clothes.  When they entered the bathroom, Touya was suddenly made aware of why his siblings were so concerned.  He looked awful.  

The split lip had dribbled blood down his chin, and upon closer inspection it was less of a split lip and more like he had bitten it hard enough to draw blood.  A bruise was blossoming on his left cheek, seemingly right on top of his cheekbone making the surrounding area, including his eye, red and swollen.  There was also a scrap along his jaw, and a cut somewhere along his hairline, hiding the source of the small river of blood running down the side of his face.  

He knew that any bruises he might have on his torso would be pretty much impossible to see, the purplish hue of his scar tissue making it hard to distinguish bruises from scars.  Natsuo arrived with a nice pair of loose pajamas, the ones Touya liked to wear when his scars were bugging him.  They were also really easy to change into, something that was handy when lifting his arms to high just made things hurt even more.

It took a bit to get Touya out of his school uniform and into it seemed his legs had managed to avoid taking much damage.  There was a bruise on his right thigh, but considering how he could feel at least six different bruises on his chest alone he was going to take that as a win.  There were any incredibly visible bruises on his chest or arms, just some areas of slight discoloration, but there was a cut on the back of his right shoulder.  

Natsuo was gentle when cleaning the cut, just like he had always been while taking care of Touya's wounds.  It was kind of sad to think that his little brother was better at first aid than the average adult, but Fuyumi had always been too squeamish to help out with treating his burns when he was younger, so Natsuo become his go to helper.  He never complained, and Touya suspected that he had spent time researching how to take care of wounds, back when he would come back pretty much every night with burns from training.  

Natsuo slowly but carefully cleaned all of Touya's wounds, the disinfectant making him hiss in pain, but it was mild compared to everything else he had experienced that day.  Soon all of the cuts were bandaged and he went out to the living room to collapse in his favorite armchair.  It was nice and puffy , putting little pressure on his scars or bruises, just letting him relax for a moment.  Only a moment though because he still had homework to do and he'd lost too much of the day already.

Natsuo joined him not long after settling on the end of the couch closest to the armchair while Fuyumi and Shouto sat on the floor at the coffee table, working on their own homework, Shouto occasionally asking Fuyumi for help.  Touya got to work on his English homework, the language was a nightmare to learn, and did his best to just settle.  It was kind of easy, the warm atmosphere and gentle ambient noises making it easy for him to just relax.

Touya had just finished his math homework when Zuko got home with dinner.  The smell of delicious yakisoba quickly filled the living room, as the door slammed shut.  Deciding it was better to wait before starting his history homework, Touya put his stuff away so it wouldn't risk getting stained by the food should something end up happening.  Of course he'd nearly managed to have forgotten about his injuries until he heard Zuko say, "Touya?" concern laced deep in his tone.

The teen glanced up to see Zuko's face, figuring it was best to just get it over with.  He was surprised to see the naked concern in the firebender's face, even as anger seemed to be bubbling up behind it.  "It's nothing," Touya told him as he glanced away, suddenly feeling ashamed of himself, "Just some bullies."

"Touya," Zuko breathed, that one statement of his name filled with more emotion, more love, more care, more concern, than had ever been in Endeavor's voice.

That was what broke the dam.  Touya felt himself crumple as the weight of the situation, the bullies, his father's lasting impact, and the tonal whiplash of finally having someone there that fucking understands and cares for him hit.  He didn't fight the arms that held held him, firm and yet gentle, somehow managing to avoid brushing any of the bruises or sensitive spots as he was allowed to just cry. 

When Touya finally came back to himself, he was surprised and somewhat embarrassed to find himself in Zuko's lap.  "Are you feeling better?" the firebender asked apparently having noticed that he had calmed down enough to stop crying.  

"Yeah," Touya replied surprised at how hoarse his voice was as he accepted the tissue so he could clean up his face.

He glanced around the room his siblings all gazing at him with concern.  It felt weird, to have them looking at him like that so he turned back towards Zuko's shoulder, only to find that his bloody tears had definitely stained his shirt.  "I'm sorry," Touya said, diverting his gaze down to his lap.

"It's fine," Zuko told him, completely genuine from what Touya could see when he looked up, "Now you should probably eat.  You're going to need the energy to be able to heal from this."

Touya nodded although something about that comment was a little odd.  He decided to ignore it for the time being, instead focusing on the yakisoba.  It was a little cold, but using the tricks that Zuko had taught him he managed to warm it up so it was more enjoyable.  He could feel his siblings watching him as he ate, but he ignored that too.  He'd be just as worried if one of them had come home from school all beat up and burst into tears.  It was strange to think that two years ago, if that had happened he wouldn't have known or cared.

After they had all finished their dinner, Zuko shifted Touya on his lap, his face serious and slightly closed off.  In fact, he was angled so that while he would technically be talking to the room at large, what was being said was meant for Touya.  He took a deep breath before saying, "Back in the four nations it was possible for some people to be able to use their bending to heal.  It was most common in the water tribes with all the female water benders being taught how to heal, but other types of benders were capable of it.  In fact, I can use my firebending to heal, which would allow me to heal your injuries if you're okay with that."

Touya knew he was staring, but he needed a moment to process this, to process that Zuko was capable of healing.  There was a part of him that bulked at the firebender's words, that insisted that fire couldn't heal, but he wasn't the kind of person who would lie about something like this.  He wouldn't claim something like this so he could hurt someone like that, especially not one of them.  

Another part of him questioned why Zuko had never brought it up before.  The fire healing could have helped his burns heal faster, although therein lay the problem.  Touya didn't trust Zuko before he started training him, and even then it took a bit to build that trust.  He would have left if Zuko had proposed using flames to heal his burns, and after that there was no good time for him to bring it up.

Touya trusted Zuko, that he was being honest and genuine.  "Okay," he said, mentally preparing himself for what was about to happen, "Go ahead and use the fire healing on me."

The firebender nodded, holding his hand out to the side, golden flames dancing in his palm.  Zuko had called it dragon fire in the past, the tapestry of life, so it kind of made sense that they were the flames that were being used to heal.  As the flames were slowly brought to Touya's face he closed his eyes, preparing himself for the inevitable burning sensation, but it never came.  

Instead his face was engulfed in a gentle warmth, one that Touya easily associated with Zuko.  It was comfort and safety and an undeniable sense of belonging that it had taken him far too long to recognize.  There was a slight stinging at his hairline, but it was easy to ignore, especially as the heat moved away, brushing against his shoulder.  It hurt a bit more, but not much, and it was nowhere near as bad as it would have been to have someone poking his sensitive spots.

From there, Touya could feel the warmth moving all over his torso, easing away the ache of his bruises and never pressing hard enough to really cause him pain.  Eventually they stopped, but he could feel them hovering near his shoulders, not quite touching him but definitely close enough that their warmth could be felt.  "Is there anywhere that still hurts?"

"My leg," Touya replied, pointing to spot where he could feel the bruise, "That's the only spot they managed to hit on my lower half.  I think they were aiming for my face more than anything."

He could hear his siblings gasp, almost managing to cover Zuko's sharp inhale.  Despite that, the heat of the flame pressed against his leg didn't change at all.  It was an impressive amount of control, one that Touya aspired to achieve one day, although he knew he had a long way to go.  Zuko had well over eighty years to cultivate it.  "You can open your eyes now," the firebender told him, even though he could feel the sudden absence of heat.

As Touya opened his eyes, blinking in the suddenly bright living room he was hit with a wave of exhaustion.  His limbs felt tired and he wanted to do nothing more than just fall asleep right then and there.  He slumped forward pressing his head against Zuko's shoulder, the firebender's natural warmth just inviting him to fall asleep.  "Natsuo, you should probably get him up to your room before he falls asleep.  I doubt either of us wants to fall asleep on the couch."

Touya almost protested, perfectly content to just fall asleep right then and there, when the rational part of himself spoke up, noting how uncomfortable it would be to sleep hunched over like this.  Sure tomorrow was Sunday, but he didn't want to spend the day dealing with the pains of sleeping in a bad position.  So, he reluctantly let his brother drag him up to their room, mourning the loss of Zuko's warmth up until he laid down, falling asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

Sunday was a nice day, and Touya spent most of it lazing around with his siblings.  He didn't have that much energy and actually napped most of the day.  Zuko explained that it was a side effect of the healing process as it used both of their life energies to heal him.  While the firebender could recover via sun exposure, Touya recovered by sleeping, so he spent most of the day napping, only really getting up for meals or to use the bathroom.

When Monday rolled around, he felt a pit of dread open up in his stomach, threatening to swallow him whole.  He didn't want to have to deal with Hidaka and his goons, especially since they would probably be unhappy about the fact that he wouldn't be showing any signs of the beaten he'd gotten just a few days before.  They wouldn't be able to do more than shout what they thought were insults at him while at school, turns out the principal was very against fighting, but there was nothing stopping them once he left the campus.  

It made the school day tense, but also kept him on his toes, so any attempts to trip him were easily spotted and avoided.  Of course the worst was yet to come as the school day let out and Touya was mentally mapping out the new route home that he'd come up with that morning in his head.  In fact he was so far in his head that he nearly missed when a familiar voice called "Shingo!"

Touya's head shot up so fast he was pretty sure he gave himself whiplash, but that was shoved to the back of his head as he stared down at Zuko, who stood at the bottom of the stairs.  His pseudo older brother was ignoring all the attempts at flirting that some of the girls were making, or the whispering that had sprung up at the use of his fake name.  Part of him couldn't believe that this was happening, claiming that this had to be a dream, but no matter how many times he blinked the firebender still stood there, looking increasingly concerned.

Touya shook himself out of his stupor and rushed down the stairs, curious about what might have led the firebender to come pick him up from school as opposed to one of his siblings. "Hey Zuko," he greeted as he reached the bottom of the stairs, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had the day off so I thought I'd come and pick you up from school," he claimed, and Touya was abruptly reminded of the fact that Zuko was protective and after what had happened on Saturday, he really should have seen this coming.

So, he decided that there was no point in fighting it, especially since he didn't really want to.  Sure this couldn't happen every day, but it was better to enjoy it while it lasted than complain about it.  They started down the street, Zuko clumsily starting the small talk by asking about his day, but they easily fell into conversation after that. 

It took Touya longer than it probably should have to realize that they weren't heading to the house.  They were in the neighborhood, but Zuko had turned onto a side street much earlier than he would have needed to for them to get home.  The area was only vaguely familiar, probably from the six month period between his faked death and his siblings finding him.  It was strange to think that it had only been two years ago, and the area seemed to have changed more than one would expect.  

Before he could ask where they were going, the alleyway was suddenly cut off by Hidaka and his friends.  "Who's your friend Yoshida san?" Hidaka asked casually, although Touya could hear the edge in his tone.

"My older brother, Zuko," he replied in an almost offhanded manner, but he couldn't help the pang of vicious satisfaction at seeing Hidaka and his gang wince, clearly remembering what he told them the first time.  

"Are these the guys that beat you up?" Zuko asked, the question almost casual if it wasn't for the under current of anger in his tone.

"Yep," Touya answered, barely restraining himself from smirking at how the group paled, "Although they seem to have lost a few members since Saturday.  They probably wanted to avoid getting their noses broken again."

"Just how many noses did you break?" Zuko exclaimed, clearly shocked by that news, although Touya wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Two the first time," Touya admitted honestly, knowing that any attempt at lying would easily be sussed out, "I think I spotted about four of them with the swelling to indicate a broken nose at school today."

"You technically broke size noses," Hidaka interjected apparently assuming that he was in trouble of this, "Okazaki san and Hamaguchi san are actually out sick because of you."

Zuko actually chuckled at that news.  "I'm impressed," he said as he turned to Touya, a proud smile on his face, "Eight broken noses and no one dead.  You've gotten much better at regulating your strength.  Now you need to learn to pace yourself."

Touya felt his cheeks burn, part of him proud for having impressed Zuko, part of him embarrassed about the rebuke.  "What?!" someone from the entrance of the alleyway shouted, not that he really cared to look, instead basking in the warmth of his parental figure's smile.

There was a sudden crackle of flames, and Touya could see Hidaka shooting a blast of flame at them.  Zuko almost lazily caught the blast, a heavy sigh escaping him.  He turned to face the group at the mouth of the alleyway, the flame still flickering in his hand.  "I suggest you leave," he said, his voice conveying just how done he was with the whole situation, "And leave my little brother alone.  You've seen what he can do, so don't tempt me into demonstrating just how out of your league you are."

He closed his hand extinguishing the flame it held, causing Hidaka to gulp.  Touya had to fight not to laugh as they all rushed to get as far away from there as possible, shoving each other into the walls of the alleyway in the fight to make it out to the street as quickly as possible.  Honestly all attempts to contain his laughter failed and it wasn't long before he was doubled over as full belly laughs escaped him.  He could even see Zuko chuckling out of the corner of his eye.

It wasn't long before they had all managed to get out of there, leaving them alone in the alleyway as their laughter died down.  Touya could vaguely feel his sides protesting the extreme movement they had just been put through, but it was relatively easy to ignore.  "Thank you," he said, as he offered a small be genuine smile, "I know it probably won't do much in the long term, but it's nice to know you have my back."

"Of course I'll have your back," Zuko told him as he ruffled his hair, a slight chuckle in his voice, "I promised to protect even if it's from egomaniacs like them.  Although to be honest, that fire was way too cold to be an actual threat."

"Really?"  As far as Touya knew any amount of fire was a threat.

"Did you see how dull and red they were?" Zuko asked, forcing Touya to think back on it, "Without an appropriate fuel, those flames would disappear as soon as they hit something.  He's the equivalent of a matchstick.  I haven't handled flames that cold since before meeting the dragons.  Even Shouto produces hotter flames."

Touya had to shove that thought to the back of his head or else he would burst out laughing again, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stay upright if he did.  So to distract his mind he tried to think of something else, like where they were.  "So where are we going?" 

"Well, we're already here," Zuko replied as he gestured to the door next to them, "This is the employee entrance for the bakery.  If you notice them following you or you're worried about them jumping you just run here and knock.  I'm pretty sure Miyata would give me five minutes to scare them off if need be.  The alternative option is coming in the front and asking one of the cashiers to get me.  Now why don't we go grab an after school snack?"

Touya nodded, feeling a little better about this whole situation.  He had a plan and back up.  Even if he got hurt Zuko could fix it.  Things would be fine.

Shouto had come to love school.  He had always wanted to be able to play, to get away from his father and his training, but he had never had the chance to imagine what going to school would be like.  He hadn't seen much about it on TV with his mother, since they tended to watch hero shows, and after getting out of the house he had other things to worry about.  Once going to school had become a certainty as opposed to wishful thinking, he wasn't in the right state of mind to ask his siblings.  So, he hadn't known what to expect when he started at Endo Elementary school.

His first day hadn't been the best, with Zuko having to come and help him with a panic attack, and it had affected the rest of his first year.  It took a whole month before he felt comfortable enough with his classmates to be willing to head outside with them during break time, and even then, he was rather hesitant to actually play with anyone.  Ever since someone had tried to snatch Druk from his usual perch, Shouto had been hesitant to let anyone get within arm's reach, and the blatant quirk use on the playground just made things worse.

Fortunately, he had several classmates that seemed to understand and were willing to spend time with him even while keeping their distance.  They respected his need for space, and managed to have entire conversations that didn't even include a mention of Druk.  They weren't angling to get their hands on his service animal, or nag him about why he needed it, so he was willing to let them get closer, to interact with him, even if he was somewhat afraid of what might happen.  Eventually he started playing with them, kicking a ball around the yard with varying levels of enthusiasm.

Of course, as he grew closer to his classmates (friends?), he started learning more about them.  Masako was a cheery girl that had two older brothers and a younger sister.  She loved spending time with her younger sister while she didn't really like her brothers.  She also was slightly ashamed of her quirk which allowed her to change the color of different pieces of clothing.  She wanted to be a hero badly, but she didn't think she would be able to because of her quirk.

Umeko was in a similar situation.  She was bright and cheery and really wanted to be a hero, but her quirk wasn't really suited for it.  She had the ability to make fruit grow and ripen, which she often used in her family garden to sneak the fruit she wanted to eat, especially the strawberries.  For as good as it was for being able to sneak fruit, it wasn't that great for fighting villains.

Yuta was shy and not very talkative, but Shouto knew he was really smart because he tended to be one of the first people to finish their assignments in class.  He did his best avoid talking about his quirk, usually doing his best to derail the conversation when it stray to quirks, which was often.  The extreme avoidance made it seem like he was quirkless and just didn't want to admit it.  Eventually, Kyoko ended up revealing that he has a transformation quirk that allows him to turn into a cockroach.  Shouto decided to pretend he didn't know since Yuta was obviously embarrassed about it.

The only in their group with a mutation quirk was Sumiko, and it was honestly kind of cool.  Her hair was actually made of tentacles that she could regrow to whatever length she wanted when they were cut.  She tended to have them about halfway down her back, but if they got long enough to fall past her waist then she started having trouble with headaches and neck pain.  She was one of the nicest in the group, albeit a little shy, and she would often use her tentacles to turn the page when reading, taking advantage of the suckers on them.  

Taiki was the last member of their group, and he felt that his quirk was kind of underwhelming.  His quirk allowed him to make people's hair grow as long as they had the nutrients necessary to support it.  He'd inherited it from his parents who happened to run a pretty popular hair salon, but he didn't want to just be a part of the family business.  He wanted to be a hero, like pretty much every other kid their age, and most of the group agreed that out of all of them he'd be the one most likely to make it.  After all, his quirk probably had the best combat potential since he could blind his opponents as long as they weren't bald or malnourished.

Of course they didn't know about Shouto's quirk.  The last thing he wanted to do when his father was blasting the news with his description was give people the key to finding him.  He knew that Natsuo had put something different into the public records, but it didn't change the fact that his quirk was fire and ice.  It could only be fire and ice.  As much as he wished he would be able to produce or do something else with it, it didn't change the fact that it was fundamentally fire and ice.

Zuko had helped him to see that that wasn't necessarily bad.  He told him that he could be better than his father, that he could control his fire and use it in a way to help not hurt.  That he could learn to use both sides equally, that he could use them separately or together.  He showed him that these opposite elements could do something beautiful together, but it didn't stop the fear of someone figuring it out should they ever learn what his quirk was.

So, when his friends didn't ask, he didn't offer.  It was probably best that way, as it would mean there was less chance of Kyoko finding out about it and spreading it to the whole school within a week.  He just let people think whatever they wanted to think because as long as they didn't know the truth things would be fine.  It probably didn't hurt that Druk had become more in tune with his emotional state, making it easier for him to be able to do his job of keeping Shouto calm.

That was how life was at Endo Elementary and it was fine until one day, some bullies attacked.  Shouto had been somewhat aware of the bullies, mainly by virtue of them being the most popular, or notorious, kids in class.  They had some impressive quirks.  Yuma had a strength enhancement quirk, one that allowed him to grow twice as strong as he normally was for about five minutes.  He tended to collapse or pass out immediately afterward, which made it one of the least impressive out of the five of them, but he'd used it to great effect against kids in the upper grades.

Then there was Koji who had a magnetic quirk.  It allowed him to manipulate any ferromagnetic metals, like steel, although he seemed to have some control issues.  One time when he was trying to get a kid to get off the swing set, instead of messing with the chains of the swing to stop it or something like that, he instead pulled the whole structure down.  It would have been a terrifying display of power, if it wasn't for the fact that it was the equivalent of a toddler throwing a tantrum.  That part of the playground was cornered off for a week since the school had to replace the whole swing set.

Choko was a somewhat cruel girl with a rather interesting quirk.  She could produce a gel like substance from her hands that dried rapidly.  It was also kind of strong, which meant it worked well as a shield or could be used to bind someone in place.  It was a quirk that would be of great use in the heroics industry and she knew it.  She wasn't afraid of lording it over the other kids out on the playground, and had trapped more than one kid that had attempted to fight back.

Mami was the nicest kid in the group, and great to be around if the other four weren't around.  She was probably the weakest of the five of them, especially at school.  Her quirk allows her to control plants and accelerate their growth which she can use to trap people.  Having access to only grass made her less effective, although she was still able to trip people up which made it easier for the rest of the gang to catch the poor victim.  Shouto had a feeling if it wasn't for the others, the two of them could have been good friends, having had a few nice conversations with her while waiting for Natsuo after school.

Akira was the leader of the bullies and probably the most malicious.  They had the ability to shape shift, so they could be a boy one day and a girl the next.  Their natural appearance as far as he could figure was white hair and red eyes, almost like an albino. Not that they ever spent much time like that as they preferred to use their quirk to spy on people. They spent a lot of time pretending to be someone else so they could get their friends to spill their secrets, which would then be spread around the entire grade.  Yuta had nearly become a victim when Akira approached him one day.  Druk had actually recognized that it wasn't Shouto's friend, and warned him before he could say anything beyond a greeting.  They weren't good at acting like Yuta anyway, being far too social.

That's why, Shouto knew nothing good was going to happen when the bullies approached the small group when day while they were kicking a ball around.  "Hey losers!" Akira called out as they approached, "What do you think you're doing on our lawn?"

Shouto was slightly annoyed because the bullies had never really bothered with this part of the school yard before, so they were clearly just coming around to stir up trouble.  The others shied away from the bullies, apparently willing to abandon their game to avoid inciting a conflict but he was sick of this.  He was tired of the bullies getting away with everything because no one was willing to stand up to them, so he turned to face them, doing his best to channel Zuko.  "Who said it was yours?" he asked as he stood tall crossing his arms as he stared them down, "We've been playing here pretty much every day this year, so if anyone could lay claim to it, it would be us."

"Well, lookie here," Akira mused mockingly as they stepped towards him, swaying almost like a snake, "The cry baby's grown some balls."

Shouto did his best impression of Zuko's unimpressed stare.  It wasn't the first time that they had made fun of him for his panic attack, cry baby having been the name they used most frequently, but they had done it so often that their taunts were little more than background noise.  It had upset him at first, but Zuko made it clear that they were just trying to get him to react, and he was pretty strong for having been able to recover from his panic attack as quickly as he had.  He still didn't like being crowded and trapped, but who did?

"Just leave us alone," Shouto told them, refusing to move from that spot.

Akira laughed, high, shrill, and a tiny bit crazy, before lunging forward to punch him.  That was a big mistake.

Shouto had spent over a year and a half training with Zuko.  While they spent a lot of time training his quirk, he'd also been learning how to fight.  Hand to hand training meant that he not only knew how to throw punches or kicks, but also how to avoid them, and with how much Akira was telegraphing their punch, it wasn't hard to turn it against them.  He grabbed the bully's wrist and using their forward momentum flipped them over his shoulder and onto the ground.

He could hear the gasps of the people around them, but it was distant, like they were much farther away than they actually were.  At the moment his attention was on his attacker, preparing for their next move.  Akira just laid on the ground looking stunned, like they hadn't expected that and didn't know how to respond.  No one seemed to know how to respond.

Suddenly there was a yell, and he turned to see Yuma running at him, his glowing green eyes being the most obvious indicator that he had activated his quirk.  Shouto dived out of the way of the other kid's charge, Druk taking to the air to avoid getting squished.  He was thankful that Fuyumi had taught him how to do dive rolls, one of the few things she remembered from her time in gymnastics.  He had landed in a position that made it easy for him to get up and face down the raging bully who ran at him again.

Shouto danced out of the reach of the other boy, doing his best to stay far enough away so he couldn't be grabbed while remaining close enough to make charging impractical.  Suddenly the grass around his feet sprouted tangling with his shoes.  It wasn't quite holding him in place, but the grass slowed him enough that Yuma was able to grab him.  He held him up by his shirt, using the couple inches he had on Shouto to attempt to intimidate him, but the position felt far too familiar.  It felt like his father trying to get him to fight, dragging him into the air so he would do anything other than cower against the wall.

Shouto fought to get free, to get away from that memory, from the nightmares that had him going back to Zuko every night.  He kicked, he punched, he fought to get out of that grip and away from that presence, that hot burning presence that had caused so much pain in his life.  He pushed back in a way he hadn't been able to when he was younger, in a way he hadn't known was possible before.

Suddenly, there was something touching his cheek and an overwhelming feeling of safety and comfort, and warmth overcame him.  Shouto froze, the world finally coming back into focus as Druk hovered in front of him, a whisker pressed against his cheek.  Beyond the dragon stood the bullies and his friends, all of them staring at him in terror as they were encased in ice.

He felt awful.  He hadn't meant to hurt anyone.  He only wanted to show that he wasn't scared of the bullies, that he wasn't going to roll over and just let them do whatever they wanted.  He had wanted to stand up for those he cared about, to prove that they didn't have to live in fear of the bullies.  But he messed up.

Shouto used his fire to melt the ice, figuring that it was the least he could do since he had trapped all of them like that.  The bullies seemed even more scared after that, running off as soon as they were free.  He turned to his friends, hoping that they could just go back to playing, but they were backing away from him with horrified looks on their faces.  "What's wrong?" Shouto asked, a pit opening in his stomach.

"We thought you were one of us," Taiki stated, being the only one who was apparently willing to look at him, "But you're not."

"What do you mean?" Shouto asked, dread shooting through him.

"We thought you had a weak quirk," Masako told him, tears running down her cheeks, her voice thick and wet, "We thought you could understand us.  Understand our struggles.  But you can't.  How long will it be before you turn on us too?  You're just as bad as they are."

Masako ran off after that, Umeko and Sumiko running after her.  Taiki and Yuta shot him a glare before running off after them, leaving Shouto standing there alone.  It felt like something broke in his chest, and he sat down, burying his face into his knees as he cried.

Zuko was worried.  Shouto wasn't looking that great and Druk hadn't let go of him since they had gotten home from school as far as he could tell.  He had felt a spike of fear and concern through their mental bond earlier, and from the looks of things that had been in response to whatever had happened to Shouto.  Part of him wished that the bond was developed enough that they could convey thoughts instead of just feelings, but he knew better than to expect that to change anything.  Wishing for things had never done him any good in the past, so he was better off waiting for the kid to come to him.

He didn't really have that long to wait.  While he was getting ready for bed that night, forgoing a shirt since Druk didn't like him wearing them for some reason, Shouto slipped in, waiting at the edge of the bed while Zuko brushed his teeth and washed his face.  "What's up Sho?" he asked as the seven-year-old glommed onto him as soon as he was out of the en suite.

He didn't respond right away, so Zuko scooped him up and carried him over to the bed.  Shouto was getting heavier, but he was more than capable of handling the weight, and he wasn't about to complain when his child clearly needed him.  "I got into a fight with some bullies today," he told him, his voice thick with unshed tears, "And I ended up using my quirk.  After the bullies left my friends got mad at me and told me that they aren't my friends anymore."

Zuko felt his heart ache as he hugged Shouto close, thinking back to when Izumi was going through the same thing.  So many people had wanted to befriend her because she was the princess of the Fire Nation, and she had been devastated when she found out what they were saying about her behind her back.  It was a horrible experience that had driven her to her father's arms.  He'd held her as she cried, offering words of comfort and reassurance, before teaching her about fake friends.  

"If they stopped being friends with you after that, then they weren't your friends in the first place," Zuko stated, prompting Shouto to look up at him, his eyes wide and full of tears, "Real friends stick by you.  They tell you when you're wrong, help you when you make mistakes and stand by you when it feels like the whole world is against you."  He would know.

Shouto looked up at him, clearly on the verge of balling his eyes out.  Zuko pulled him close, giving him as much comfort as he could while the first tears started to slip from his eyes.  It was probably the best thing he could do for him in the moment.  Sometimes one didn't need reassurance that everything was going to be alright, or that things would get better from there.  Sometimes all someone needs is a good cry, a chance to grieve for what was lost.  

Shouto needed that in this moment.  He was an earnest child, one that could very easily be hurt by the cruel world around them, had been hurt by the cruel world they lived in, so Zuko would shelter him while he grieved, mourning the friendships that he had treasured.  Eventually his cries subsided, and Druk nudged the tissue box from the nightstand toward him so he could blow his nose and wipe away his tears.  "Thanks," he said, his nose stuffy and eyes puffy, but he looked better than he had earlier.

Zuko also grabbed a tissue to clean up his chest, which had Shouto looking a little guilty.  "It's fine," he told him as he tossed the tissue in the garbage can, "I've dealt with far worse."

Shouto's eyes drifted to the various scars on Zuko's chest, sadness in his eyes.  The blade scars were thin and easy to overlook in the face of the two gunshot scars and the lightning scar.  It had faded with time, but he knew that even decades in the future it would stand out against the surrounding skin.  Just like the scar on his face, which had been his most striking feature, during and after his reign.

"How do you make real friends?" Shouto eventually asked as he leaned against Zuko in a move that showed how tired he was, but also seemed to say that he would not rest until he got an answer.

"You do what you've always been doing.  Be yourself.  Fake friends can be kind of hard to spot, but there are a few signs that you can look for.  See if you can find out about what they're saying about you when you're not there.  That's how Izumi discovered that her friends were just trying to better their families' social standing and they didn't even like her.  Or ask them how they feel about you.  If they like being your friend just for being your friend, then they'll tell you."

Zuko knew that.  It was how he knew Aang, Sokka, Katara, Toph, Suki, and Ty Lee were his friends.  His insecurities had him questioning himself all the time, and he had confronted them about their friendship more than once, but he supposed bonds forged in the middle of a war and strengthened by the establishment of peace weren't easily broken.

Shouto yawned, breaking Zuko out of his thoughts, and he let his lips curve up into a small smile as he gathered the seven-year-old in his arms and laid down to go to sleep.  He cuddled against his shoulder before whispering, "Thanks."

Zuko let his smile widen slightly before pressing a kiss onto Shouto's forehead, and letting sleep take him. 

Chapter Text

 Fuyumi loved winter.  Touya liked to claim that she only liked it because of her quirk, and while it might have played a role in her adoration of the coldest season of the year there was more to it than that.  She loved the crisp winter air, the chill seeming to make everything sharper, clearer, cleaner.  The world covered in a layer of fresh snow, an image of white that went as far as the eye could see, undisturbed by footprints or tire tracks was one of the most beautiful things in the world to her.  The frosted patterns that graced the windows every morning were amazing to look at, although being out in the snow was probably one of the best parts about the season.

While Fuyumi's quirk allowed her to create ice, there was something different in the malleability of snow, how it could be molded into just about anything without all of the amount of time or energy that needed to be put into doing the same with ice.  It also had it's own charms over ice.  Fuyumi could remember her mother taking her to her first and only snow festival, and walking down the street seeing everything that people who didn't have ice quirks could do with the snow that fell was incredible.

Her mother had loved snow festivals, even going so far as to tell Fuyumi that she had been born at a snow festival.  She claimed that her parents like to joke about how she wanted to see the snow sculptures so badly she had popped out quickly and easily.  She had been so wistful about the snow festivals, that Fuyumi had suggested that they go together.  Her mother had agreed and they managed to sneak off to see one, although they didn't get to spend that long there.  The only reason they had managed to go to the snow festival the next year was because Father had been out of town on a case, and mother didn't want to risk him finding out so they couldn't stay long. 

Fuyumi supposes that she should have seen her mother's sadness earlier, having been the only one of them to have spent enough time with her to see how much strain the marriage was costing her.  She should have known that there was something fundamentally broken in their family when they could never seem to sit down for a meal together.  She should have noticed when their mother started jumping at shadows long before she burned Shouto.  It all seemed so obvious in hindsight, having had two years with which she could look back on all of it and see how different it was compared to life with Zuko.

However, there was little her guilt could do now.  They were out of the house, out of the clutches of their father, and their mother was out of their reach.  It had been so long since they had last seen her, and that didn't sit right with Fuyumi.  There was a part of her that felt guilty that it had taken her this long to think about it, but now it seemed all she could think about was her mother and what might have happened to her.  Eventually she decided to talk to Natsuo about it.  If anyone could get information on someone it would be him.

"Hey Natsuo," Fuyumi asked that day after school, unsurprised to find her little brother wrapped up in his favorite quilt.  It was shaping up to be a rather chilly January, and until Zuko was home to make some of his delicious tea, this was his preferred method of staying warm.

"What is it Yumi?" he asked as he slipped his homework into his backpack, exchanging it for his tablet.

"I was just wondering if you knew anything about what happened to mom," she admitted, hoping that he wasn't holding a grudge towards her like Touya.

Natsuo's face was strangely blank as he stared off at the wall.  It wasn't the kind of blankness that would indicate that he was trying to remember something that he had to dig deep to recall, nor was it the blankness of him trying so hard to keep from expressing his emotions because they would upset her.  This blankness spoke of a lack of emotion in general towards the topic, which was kind of scary to think about because it was their mother.  Fuyumi wasn't sure if this strange apathy was better or worse than the rage he'd expressed towards their father.

"I don't know much," Natsuo eventually admitted, looking frustrated for having had to say it, "I remember Endeavor mentioning that he was going to send her to a mental hospital, but I have no idea where he might have sent her and if she could have been transferred since then.  It shouldn't take me too long to find her if that's what you want?"

He glanced up at her, his fingers hovering over the tablet as if he was going to start that very moment.  Actually, it would be more surprising if he didn't.  "If you don't mind," Fuyumi told him, giving him the chance to opt out should he really not want to see mother ever again.

"Okay," Natsuo replied, turning his attention to his small screen in a very familiar manner.

Fuyumi nodded, which was more for herself than it was for him, as he was clearly already engaged in his research.  She knew from experience that he tended to block out the rest of the world when he got like this, and nothing short of his body rebelling for food could possibly pull him out of it.  She left the room, focusing her attention on doing her own homework in an attempt to forget about it for the moment.  It was best to leave information gathering to the professionals, after all.

The first thing Natsuo did when Fuyumi asked him to gather information on their mother was google her name.  Todoroki Rei pulled up several pages of results, most of them being articles from shortly after they ran away.  They were mostly about where she was in the whole situation, which had led to Endeavor's PR team scrambling to release a statement about her mental break before speculations had managed to get too wild.  There were a few articles that attempted to delve deeper into it, although there seemed to be two directions that the articles would take in regards to what it could possibly mean.

There was the much louder and more hero friendly interpretations of the situation speculating that following her son's death and the constant stress of having to worry about her husband's well being that she snapped.  It leaned hard on the idea that their marriage was ideal, and the few that suggested the marriage was stressful in and of itself didn't dare to suggest that there was any form of abuse happening.  Not even the articles that suggested a divorce could even be in the cards suggested that abuse was possible.

Then there was the minority, those disillusioned people that weren't willing to take the media's representation of the situation at face value.  Those that questioned why they didn't find out about Endeavor's wife being in a mental institution until almost a month later.  Who wondered if there was more to the story than the flame hero would be willing to admit.  It was interesting to see the thoughts of those who had probably been hurt by the system, who questioned everything and were willing to take things to the extreme in the exact opposite direction of the media.

It was intriguing to read those articles, to see how they were not only able to deduce that there was likely abuse going on, but even go on to suggest that the abuse was what caused most of their family's problems.  They pointed out how the abuse could have led to Touya's death, which contributed to their mother's mental break, which then lead to their disappearances.  Only one article even dared to hint that they might have run away though.  

In fact, the prevailing theory that was circulating in these articles and discussion boards was that Endeavor had killed them.  With the blood found in the training dojo, and the absolute lack of any evidence that they had been kidnapped, there were people that believed that the whole search was a cover up to hide that the kids were dead.  There were some people who took that narrative and then spun it out, suggesting that their mother had been put in a facility where she could easily be taken care of, either by drugging her into a braindead stupor or just straight up killing her, so no one would ever find out about the blood on his hands.

It was almost kind of sobering to think about how they might not have been that wrong.  While Natsuo had never personally been in the training dojo or trained with Endeavor, the fact that there was traces of both Touya and Shouto's blood showed that the training wasn't harmless by any means.  It was terrifying to think of what might have happened if all of them had been subjected to the training.  Would they have all made it out safely?  Hell, would they have managed to live as long as they had?

There was a part of him that for some reason felt like playing devil's advocate, reminding him that as soon as Endeavor found out Touya's quirk could kill him, he stopped training him.  It almost felt like he was giving the hero too much credit though, because at that point the damage had been done.  The association between training and paternal affection had been established, leading to Touya training in secret, causing his near death and separation from the rest of the family.  Honestly, that had started almost as soon as their quirks came in, because nothing mattered more than having a fire quirk, which had Endeavor straight up ignoring half of his kids.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Natsuo started gong over the different hospitals that had care facilities for the mentally unwell, and started working through their records to try and find any sign of Todoroki Rei.  He went through the records of every hospital in Shizuoka prefecture and all of the adjacent prefectures, but was turning up empty.  Not even the hospitals with the greatest amount of cyber security, ones that either exclusively catered to heroes or were supported by heroes, provided him with answers.

Natsuo was ready to expand the search to hospitals around the country, and maybe even beyond, when a thought came to him.  Mom had to have had a different last name before she married Endeavor, so it was possible that he'd used that name when committing her.  It would have not only lessened the chances of anyone connecting them to each other, while also making it more difficult for anyone to find her.  The problem was Natsuo had no idea what her name might have been before, so he had to get into her public records to find that out.  

It was honestly kind of strange looking at her public records.  The picture that was on her page for her identification depicted her with short hair, a face that was kind but also slightly defiant, and her eyes brimming with something that looked like hope or just life.  He wasn't quite sure but he knew that whatever that something was, it had been thoroughly beaten out of her before Natsuo had even been born.  The record also revealed that her maiden name was Himura, and he couldn't help but be curious about the family he had never gotten to meet because of Endeavor.

The family wasn't that big, as Rei had been the only child, and her parents were just middle class workers.  Natsuo spent more time then he probably should have staring at their photos, wondering what could have possibly encouraged them to sell their daughter to an up and coming hero.  If it wasn't for them then Endeavor would never have been able to marry their mother, abuse both her and them, driving all of them out of the house in one way shape or form.  Sure if they hadn't Natsuo and his siblings never would have been born, but he felt like that was preferable to the abuse the so called flame hero heaped on them.

Armed with these new names to look up, Natsuo spent what was probably far too much time going through his maternal grandparent's social media.  There were signs that they obviously loved their daughter, making sure to always wish her happy birthday, or inviting her to events that he knew she never got to attend because of Endeavor.  When things had gone south, they were clearly worried, especially with the number of demands of information from the number two hero at the time were any indication.  There was a part of him that wanted to meet them, while another wanted nothing to do with them, wanted to abandon them like their whole family had been abandoned.

It took a lot of time for Natsuo to get back on track, eventually taken the knowledge of his mother's maiden name and going through the hospitals again, seeing if there was a potential match.  It took longer than he would have liked by he eventually found a Himura Rei, age thirty six in the Saitou Umeko Psychiatric hospital.  The patient in question had been admitted two years before following a psychotic episode involving boiling water.  While the medical files didn't have any pictures attached, Natsuo could feel in his gut that he'd found his mother.  The admission papers revealed that she had been brought in by her husband who remained unnamed, for obvious reasons, and that she had been hysterical when brought in.  While most of what she was screaming had been unintelligible, she was apologizing for something and trying very hard to get out.

For her first week in the hospital she had been lightly sedated and put on a self harm watch after she broke her wrist trying to escape.  They eased off the drugs over the course of the second week, but she remained on self harm watch, as there was no telling what she would do when she regained lucidity.  Once she had been weened off the drugs, she was assigned to a psychiatrist who was going to attempt to diagnose her so they could start some sort of treatment regime for her issues.  Unfortunately, she didn't seem to want to talk, and while she was responsive she didn't show any obvious signs of mental disorders, except maybe depression.

Then came the news of their disappearance. Natsuo felt kind of guilty as he read about how the news of the Todoroki kids disappearing had caused her to have another episode as she broke the TV in her room screaming that it couldn't be.  She then attempted to fight the staff that restrained her, before they finally managed to sedate her.  They had to keep her sedated for the next month, even switching drugs because she had begun to build a tolerance that gave her enough time where she was lucid to attempt to escaping again.

The staff kept a closer eye on her as they weened her off the drugs before she could become addicted, as they suspected she would attempt to escape at any opportunity, and so kept her under the highest security they could.  Natsuo wasn't sure if it was dumb or not for them to have several psychiatrists try to reach her while she was like that, but he didn't have the degree, so he wasn't sure.  He supposed it was unsurprising that all of their efforts were failing, although she had started displaying signs of deep depression, going so far as to refuse to eat, or do much of anything.  The only time she did anything was on their birthdays, making small ice sculptures with her quirk that were usually confiscated by the staff.  

Natsuo felt absolutely horrible to discover that on his birthday, the day the police declared their case to be cold and the three of them dead, his mother became unresponsive.  She made no attempt to stop them from taking the ice sculpture she had made that morning, had no reaction to food being placed in front of her, and she didn't even seem to recognize when her body needed to carry out certain processes.  Eventually they just hooked her up to an IV drip and let her be, the few feeble attempts they had made to reach her failing.

It was absolutely awful to read about, and Natsuo knew they had to do something about it.  While he had very few memories of his mother, he wanted to help her so badly, to free her from the awful place Endeavor had trapped her.  However, they couldn't, not without risking getting caught.  Zuko had put so much time and effort into keeping them safe, things that would go to waste if they went to free their mother.  It felt awful to condemn her to spending the rest of her life in that place, but when the other option was putting them in a place where Endeavor could find them, Natsuo would be selfish.

Besides, if she was catatonic, there would be little point in freeing her.  If she was unresponsive then they wouldn't be able to keep her from starving, and at least in the hospital they would be able to keep her alive until they could free her.  It would take years, and there was no telling if they would be able to pull her out of her catatonic state, but at least the risk of Endeavor taking them back would be practically nonexistent.  Although, that thought did spark an idea in Natsuo's head.  He started looking up things about people who have gone catatonic, and anything that might be able to reach their consciousness in their catatonic state.  

It took a while for him to go through enough research to reach a satisfactory conclusion, but apparently familiar smells were found to be able to draw catatonic patients out of their catatonic state.  The problem was Natsuo couldn't think of any sort of distinctive smells that they might be able to use.  Or at least ones that wouldn't produce a potentially negative reaction.  He could distinctly remember what the house smelled like, but he highly doubted his mother would like a reminder of that place, not with how much misery she had been subjected to within those walls.

Fortunately, there was an easy way to figure this out, and it was to outsource the problem.  The next day at dinner he turned to Fuyumi and said, "I found mom."

The air in the room shifted in that moment as his siblings processed the news he had just announced.  Zuko seemed to be processing the news as well, looking uncertainly at Shouto.  Touya was the first one to come back to his wits as he asked, "Why?"

"Fuyumi asked me to," Natsuo replied as he pulled his tablet closer so he could show them where she was being held, "She was just wondering what had happened to mom after the incident since Endeavor wouldn't tell us anything."

"So where is she?" Fuyumi asked, her face a mixture of excitement and nerves.

"Saitou Umeko Psychiatric hospital," Natsuo informed her, "It's not too far from where Endeavor lives."

Natsuo wasn't sure how to feel when he discovered that fact.  It was obvious from the doctor's logs that Endeavor hadn't bothered to come and visit her, but it was also one of those hospitals where careers go to die.  The staff was made up of people that either had a bunch of infractions on their records or were rapidly approaching retirement age, and the lackluster staff was complimented by the lackluster security.  It was mostly focused on keeping the patients in the hospital, so there had been little resistance to his intrusions into the system to get the information he desired.  

"Why are you wondering about her now?" Touya asked sounding more confused than angry which was a good thing.  He had always held more animosity towards their mother than the rest of them and if anyone would insist they forget about her it would be him.

"The snow made me think of her," Fuyumi admitted, her expression turning wistful as a small smile graced her face, "I think one of the best memories I have about her is when we went to a snow festival."

"When was this?" Natsuo asked, having no recollection of this event, and by the look on Touya's face he didn't either.

"I think I was five, maybe six," Fuyumi mused as she stared off into the middle distance, focused on remembering, "Father was out of town for some reason and had taken Touya with him.  You were just a baby so of course you wouldn't remember, but that was one of the best days of my life."

There was a part of Natsuo that felt it was unfair that he couldn't remember this, that he had no recollection of what must have been one of the best days ever had while living under Endeavor's roof simply because he had been too young.  He pushed that thought away though, instead focusing on what he wanted to say.  "Well, mom's birthday is coming up soon and I think we should see about getting her a gift."

"Mom's birthday?!" Fuyumi exclaimed, looking both excited and confused by the prospect, "When is mom's birthday?"

"February seventh," Natsuo revealed, taking in his siblings' looks of shock as he revealed the date.

"That's only two weeks away," Fuyumi exclaimed worriedly, wringing her hands.

"Are you sure about this?" Touya interjected, concern etched into his expression, "The last thing we need is give Endeavor potential leads."

"Well," Natsuo drew out the word in his well known, 'I'm planning something, but you might not like it' voice which had him meeting several sets of narrowed eyes, "I was thinking that Zuko could just Blue Spirit his way into the hospital to deliver the gift, and as long as we don't leave any evidence that it was from us no one will know, except maybe mom."

Fuyumi and Touya's brows furrowed in considering while Zuko glanced between them.  It was obvious that the firebender was going to leave the decision up to them, and Natsuo wasn't sure whether to be grateful about that or not.  His older siblings gradually went from staring at him to staring at each other, eventually nodding in unison.  "So what sort of gift did you have in mind because I will not be making her any artwork," Touya stated as he turned back to face him.

"I'm not sure," Natsuo admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, "I don't even know what mom likes."

That confession had the room's attention shift from Natsuo to Fuyumi and Shouto, the ones most likely to be able to answer that question.  "I know she liked making tea," Shouto offered timidly, his hand going to cover his scarred eye as he leaned back into Zuko, "There was one that she drank a lot, but I don't remember what it was."

"I know what your talking about," Fuyumi stated, almost looking frustrated with herself for not remembering it, "It smelled like lemon and flowers, right?  I can't remember what it was called."

Shouto nodded glumly, and Natsuo bit his lip, unsure if they would be able to figure this out in time.  "Do you think you could identify it if you could smell it?" Zuko asked, abruptly reminding the siblings that he was there and could help.

"I think so," Fuyumi said, her voice uncertain even as her face set in determination, "It wouldn't hurt to try at the very least."

"I'll pick some up on my next day off," Zuko offered, looking sincere despite his distaste for teabags, "That way you can figure out which one it is that your mom likes."

Fuyumi shot Zuko an appreciative smile, and something in Natsuo's chest eased.  There was something in him that felt that there was something right about it, like it was helping to fix this incredibly messed up situation.  Then Touya's voice cut off that thought by asking, "How is Zuko supposed to get around the security, or is there even security?"

The attention of the room was back on Natsuo, and he sat up slightly, a little proud of what he had to offer.  "There is some security," he revealed, opting to be a little mischievous about the whole situation, "But it's not that great.  Honestly I can easily loop the footage so there would be no evidence of Zuko's entrance or exit except for the gift."

His siblings shot him impressed looks, which made a part of him warm with pride.  He knew that the whole situation was messed up, but he hoped that this might help make it just a bit better.

With the description Zuko had it actually wasn't that hard to find the tea he was looking for.  There weren't that many teas that tended to combine lemon and floral notes so the question was lemongrass and jasmine or lemongrass and chamomile.  Both Fuyumi and Shouto took a good whiff of the two teas before agreeing that lemongrass and chamomile was the tea they were looking for.  While they did debate whether or not to wrap it, they ultimately decided against it, since the smell would make it obvious what is was, and not knowing was the majority of the fun when it came to presents.

Zuko was a little concerned when he noticed that the tea's marketing was based around the fact that it could help with anxiety and difficulty sleeping.  It was kind of obvious why their mother might have been drinking it, and while he knew that tea had good medicinal purposes, the specific uses of this tea were rather telling.  However, he wasn't about to point that out to the kids, especially since they were all capable of reading the label for themselves.  Besides, at the end of the day it was just his speculation as to why she might have chosen to drink this tea over other varieties.

When the sixth of February arrived, Natsuo was really nervous and fidgety, sitting on the couch, fidgeting with his laptop, or just doing whatever he could to pass the time.  Zuko knew that attempting to go the usual reassurance route wouldn't work as it would just make the kid more nervous, and if he were being honest he was nervous too.  He'd never had to deal with this sort of situation before, and he didn't want to mess things up.  Not with how much the kids were counting on him.

Shouto almost didn't want to let Zuko go when he went to get changed into his Blue Spirit outfit.  He understood why, the kid knew he was going to do something dangerous that could lead to them getting caught, but at the same time it wasn't the riskiest thing he had done.  Fuyumi had eventually managed to get him to let go, but Zuko knew as soon as he got back the eight year old would be clinging to him like a baby koala.  

When Zuko finally left, Natsuo told him that he would text once the footage was looping, giving him a half hour or so to sneak into the hospital and leave the tea behind.  It was a little nerve wracking not knowing when the text was going to come but that just meant he would spend some time circling that area, which made the experience even more stressful.  The Blue Spirit had never really gone that far out before as there was no need.  It was in the nicer part of town where pro heroes were more common, making it more dangerous for vigilantes like himself.

Of course, that also meant he didn't really know the area especially from the rooftops.  Natsuo had showed him what the place looked like from the street and from an aerial view on google, but neither perspective was anything like being on the rooftops.  Zuko had been tempted to stray out that way during his patrols during the time between, and had made some moves outward, but he'd stopped long before he'd reached the hospital either because he risked getting turned around, or he spotted a hero that he needed to avoid.

Fortunately he wouldn't have as much trouble when he reached the hospital.  Natsuo had showed him what the building looked like, drawing a path straight to where their mother's room was, and it happened to have a window.  The window technically had a lock, but it was one that he knew how to open from the outside long before he ended up there.  The fact that the security of this place could be hacked by an eleven year old, albeit an incredibly smart one, didn't suggest that they were all that concerned about security.

The minimal security on the hospital almost had Zuko wondering if Endeavor sent his wife here in the hopes that she would die.  If someone who had a grudge against him and actually believed that they had a decent relationship found out about her staying here, it wouldn't take much for them to sneak in and kill her.  He felt kind of awful for thinking it since the lax security was also allowing him to leave her a gift, but someone could just as easily sneak in and murder her, all for the slim chance that they would make the flame hero feel something.

It was almost eleven when Natsuo finally texted him that the cameras were looping.  Zuko had only managed to find the hospital about ten minutes before, and he knew that it was possible for people to track phones thanks to Eraserhead, so there was a part of him wondering if Natsuo had been watching to make sure he would be able to pull it off before even attempting to loop the cameras.  It wasn't something he would feel confronting the kid about, especially since it wasn't really harming anything, but it made him wonder.

He shoved it to the back of his head, instead focusing on his approach.  There was a decent amount of distance between the hospital and the buildings around it that Zuko had to run across the lawn to be able to climb up to the room he needed to, but fortunately, that side of the building happened to be significantly shaded by its neighbor.  climbing up the side of the building was difficult, but he was used to climbing up rather smooth rock faces so painted over brick wasn't that difficult, the edges of the bricks providing just enough of a ledge for his fingertips.

When Zuko reached the window, he used one hand to hold onto the window frame, while the other pulled out a switchblade he'd bought to open the window.  It wasn't even that hard to do, allowing him to push it open just enough that he could haul himself into the room.  He landed as quietly as he could on the floor, waiting a moment to see if there were any signs of detection, but he didn't hear anything to indicate that the staff or Todoroki Rei had noticed his presence.

As soon as he felt the coast was clear he rose, doing his best to open the pouch on his hip silently.  Natsuo had suggested he start using it shortly after the whole reveal, and Zuko tended to carry first aid supplies in it so he could either help victims that had gotten a little roughed up, or patch himself up after a fight.  However, it had had enough extra space inside of it to hold the box of tea, which he then placed on the bedside table.

The woman on the bed, who Fuyumi resembled greatly, rolled over in her sleep, causing Zuko to freeze for a moment so as not to potentially wake her up.  He knew it was kind of irrational because he wasn't anywhere near close enough to touch her, but he still didn't want to risk it, not with the kids to protect.

Eventually her breath fell back into the standard rhythm that indicated one was asleep, and Zuko slipped out of the room, doing his best to close the window behind him.  He couldn't lock it, but hopefully an unlocked window would be less suspicious than an open one.  Once that was taken care of he left the hospital grounds and started making his way back to his normal patrol zone, shooting a text off to Natsuo that things were taken care of.  He hoped Rei liked her gift.

Todoroki Rei woke early on the morning of her thirty seventh birthday feeling that something was off.  She had spent the last two and a half years in the mental hospital her husband had condemned her to, barely surviving, wishing every day that the doctors would just put her out of her misery and let her starve.  

It hadn't started that way.  When she had first been brought in she had been stuck on the fact that she had just hurt her baby, she had crossed a line she swore she would never cross.  As much as she hated her husband and what he'd done to their children she had never attempted to strike him before, and she was horrified that her first and only attempt to retaliate had hurt her child.  Shouto's cry of pain had been like acid, eating away at her, echoing in her head hours after the deed had been done and she had been carted away.  

At first she had wanted nothing more than to get back to her kids, to be able to defend them from her husband and apologize for what she had done.  She wished more than anything that she could apologize to Shouto, but it wasn't long before she accepted that Enji wouldn't allow that to happen.  If he had his way she wouldn't see her kids ever again, and no one was going to stop him from getting his way.

Then the kids had disappeared.  Shouto was the one they talked about, but the lack of Natsuo or Fuyumi begging for their brother to be returned just made it all the more obvious that they were gone too.  She had actually attempted to escape the hospital then, wanted to go and look for her kids, to do what Enji couldn't be bothered to do and make the effort to take care of Natsuo and Fuyumi as well.  The staff wouldn't let her though, and it was through a haze of drugs that she watched as the odds of them being alive grew slimmer and eventually they were declared dead.

Something broke in her that day.  When she had been married off to Enji she had hoped that just maybe they would be able to have a somewhat normal relationship despite him just wanting her for her quirk.  Once it was obvious that she was little more than a broodmare to him, she tried to make the best of the situation with her kids.  There was no reason for her to believe that their family would ever be a healthy one, but she hoped to at least make it somewhat functional.  Then she was put in a position where she had to choose between her children, and she ultimately decided to save the youngest.  She didn't love Touya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo any less, but Shouto couldn't defend himself like they could, especially with Enji's attention on him.

She wished she had been able to reach Touya.  He had always been stubborn, and basking in Enji's praise from a young age gave him a twisted view of the world.  Nothing she said ever seemed to get through to him, but it also felt like she just hadn't tried hard enough.  His death had hurt her at her core, the unbearable thought that one of her children was gone, without a body to even bury left her heart broken.  

Enji's lack of emotion in the wake of Touya's death just made things worse, and the fighting they had done about Shouto's "training" had gotten even worse.  She couldn't do it anymore, refused to do it anymore.  She refused to let him walk all over her, to let him spend his time turning their children into his copies so he could finally achieve the dream he didn't deserve to have.  She had gone to her mother begging for a solution, and then Shouto had showed up, scaring her.

With the kids gone, it felt like her world had lost all purpose.  There was no point in going on anymore what with Enji having destroyed her life, and the only people she lived for most likely dead and gone.  She felt hollow, like someone had torn out everything in her chest, leaving her to just breath as what little life she still had in her leaked out slowly and painfully.  She stopped eating or drinking, because what was the point anymore.  She felt like a toy on a shelf that was just there to sit forgotten until it was either used or gotten rid of.

Then things changed.  She'd woken up to a smell that wasn't the harsh lemony smell of disinfectants or the sharp sting of alcohol.  It was much softer, almost fresh, and she opened her eyes to find a small box on her bedside table.  It was a familiar box, one that she picked up gingerly to examine, not quite believing what she was seeing.  It was the lemongrass and chamomile tea she used to drink.

She wasn't quite sure how it got there.  There was no way one of the staff would have left it there for her.  She was not allowed to have any sort of hot liquid.  She wasn't allowed soups, only iced coffee or tea, and no control over the temperature of her showers.  Enji had made sure that they knew she was being brought there because of a incident with hot water, so none of them would provide her something that would require hot water.

She opened the box, and found on the bottom of the top, "Happy Birthday Mom!"  Rei had to fight back tears in that moment, recognizing her daughter's handwriting, tracing the kanji with her finger.  She opened the drawer of her bedside table, slipping the box of tea into it, refusing to risk one of the doctors or nurses seeing it.  The box told her everything she needed to know.  Her kids were still alive and cared about her, and she would wait however long she needed to to get out of there so she could see them again.

Chapter Text

Fuyumi was nervous. Her teachers had announced that career counseling was coming up and she had no idea how to handle it. The teacher did little to explain it, claiming since all of them wanted to be heroes there was little reason for them to really talk about it.  Even when she tried asking more about what would happen she was brushed off, told that there was nothing she needed to worry about. 

Fuyumi strongly disagreed, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it.  All everyone, even her friends could talk about was how much they wanted to be heroes, and were aiming to get into UA or one of the really impressive hero schools.  However, she didn't want to be a hero. She knew what being a hero meant to most people, and that was the last thing she wanted.

She hated fame, hated being in the spotlight, so there was no reason for her to want to be a hero. Besides, drawing attention to herself would be a great way for someone to figure out that she was Endeavor's daughter, making it rather easy for him to locate Shouto. She wasn't about to do anything that would put her baby brother at risk, so becoming a hero was definitely off the table.

The problem was she had no idea what to do beyond that. Hero may have been crossed off her list of potential occupations, but there were so many other options that it was kind of overwhelming.  When she looked up a list of potential occupations there were close to a hundred jobs on just the first page.  She tried to think about what it would be like to do some of the jobs, and had come to the realization early on that she would not be able to handle working in the medical field.

She didn't like the sight of blood. She didn't like hearing about injuries that people had gotten, especially her brothers, and talking in depth about the human body made her skin crawl.  Even seeing people get injured in movies was uncomfortable for her, leading to her hiding her face if the wounds were bad enough.  She could say very confidently that she would not be doing anything that involved medicine.

It was kind of disappointing to come to this conclusion even if it wasn't a surprising one.  While considering the medical field she had briefly considered the idea that if she became a nurse she could see if she could get transferred to the hospital where her mother was, allowing the two of them to be somewhat close, even if her mother didn't recognize her.  Despite her misgivings when it came to medicine she had been willing to put them on hold if that was a possibility.  However, she looked up the hospital, discovering that the earliest anyone had transferred there was fifteen years after attaining their residency.  They were more likely to get her out of there before Fuyumi could transfer, so she let go of the idea.

So, she had a little over a month to fret, spending all of her free time pouring over job descriptions, when it was finally time for her to have her one-on-one meeting with her teacher.  She had no idea what she was going to say to him, when he asked, "What kind of hero do you want to be?"

"I don't want to be a hero," she told him earnestly.

"Well, UA is the best-" her teacher stopped when he finally registered what she had said, "You don't want to be a hero?"

"No sir," she replied, fighting not to fidget in her seat under the sudden scrutiny.

"Well, I can point you towards a few good high schools that will fast track a medical degree," he told her as he pulled out a different file.

"I don't want to go into medicine either."

Fuyumi's teacher stared at her with a completely baffled look on his face. He clearly wasn't used to someone telling him this, probably hadn't ever had someone tell him that they didn't want to be a hero before, so he was being forced to do something other than recommend hero schools. "What do you want to do then, Yoshida san?"

"I don't know."

He stared at her, something uncomfortable in his eyes and Fuyumi started to fidget slightly, her hands wringing in her lap as she fought not to look down at them so she could avoid the discomfort of meeting his eyes. Eventually he looked back down at the papers on his desk and pulled out her transcript. "You have excellent grades, Yoshida san," he stated as he turned it around so she could see it, "You could easily get into a hero school with these grades. Or any school really. You could do anything you want to, so what do you want to do?"

Fuyumi wanted to scream that she doesn't know, that she had no idea what she wanted to do, and that it was ridiculous to tell her this without bothering to help her try and figure out what kind of options she had. But she couldn't scream, she couldn't yell, because this was an authority figure that had power over her, and if there was one thing she knew, it was that authority figures must be respected. There was no telling what happened when they weren't. Her father had no qualms about hitting her mother after all.

So, she stayed quiet and just shrugged. Her teacher let out a disappointed sigh before handing her a small stack of pamphlets for different schools in the area, hero schools included. "Look these over," he told her before waving her off, "They might be able to give you some inspiration. Now send in Yukimura san."

Fuyumi nodded, slipping the pamphlets into her bag before exiting the office and telling Yukimura san to go in. She did her best to pretend everything was normal while the pamphlets sat in her bag like a heavy weight.  It was hard though, especially with everyone around her talking about the applications they were going to be filling out later in the year for their perspective high schools.  Her friends were even chatting excitedly about it, attempting to draw her into the conversation before eventually accepting that she just wasn't up to talking about it.

She was grateful that they didn't pry, and instead just listened to them chat excitedly for the future.  There was a part of her that felt a little guilty about how relieved she was to spot Natsuo exiting the school because it gave her an excuse to leave without being rude.  She had been a little hasty in her retreat, something that her little brother had noticed if his curious and somewhat concerned expression were anything to go by.  She shot him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and they walked home, the pressure she'd felt at school fading away as they made their way home.

It was rather freeing, to feel that all the expectations she had felt at school simply disappear as soon as she was in the house. None of her brothers were going to bother her about her day or her plans for the future, so she just breathed, letting her worries fall away. Or fall to the background at the very least. She was still worried about the future, about what she was going to do with her life, but it wasn't as all-encompassing as it had been at school. 

After she put her coat and shoes away, she entered the living room, finding Touya hunched over his sketchbook at one end of the couch, a box of cookies sitting open on the coffee table.  Natsuo seemed to have retreated to his room, which was a little strange but not completely out of character.  Shouto wasn't around, which could mean he was either in the master bedroom, the backyard, or his bedroom, depending on what kind of day he'd had. Fuyumi grabbed a cookie from the box and plopped down onto the couch next to Touya, who was working on sketching out another Jasmine Dragon logo.

There were several different ideas on the page already, each of them looking impressive in their own right, but clearly Touya wasn't happy with them. One close to the top had Druk form the side posturing over a tea pot, his tail wrapped around it protectively, like it would sometimes wrap around Shouto's arm. Another was just the little dragon breathing fire from the side, making him look like those old carvings with the snake like waves in his body. The one Touya was currently working on looked like Druk was sitting, although there were several different variations on that exact posture.

Touya glanced up as she sat down next to him, but his eyes were soon back on his work as he said, "Hey Yumi."

"Having any luck?" she asked as she peeked over his shoulder, surprised when he didn't try to hide it away.

"I think I've almost got it," her brother replied as he stopped to erase some mistake that he made, "It's gonna be Druk sitting and drinking a cup of tea. Although I do have another one I rather like. It's the steam coming off a cup of tea turning into a dragon."

"That's cool!" she exclaimed as she leaned closer, doing her best to avoid pressing against his arm while still trying to get a good look at what else he had drawn, "Can I see it?"

Touya nodded, flipping back a few pages before stopping at one that had a bunch of sketches of Druk in various positions. There were a few logo attempts on the page, and one of them was the cup with the dragon steam coming off of it. "You're so talented."

The words had slipped out of Fuyumi's mouth, not that it made them any less true, but the longing contained in the words was something that she would have preferred to keep hidden. She hated that she was jealous of Touya for having found something that he was good at and loved doing. She was happy for him, proud that he knew what he wanted to do, but that didn't stop her from wishing that she knew what to do with her life.

"What's wrong Yumi?" he asked, concern in his eyes as he stared at her.

"It's nothing," she insisted as she glanced away, not wanting to burden him with her problems, and unable to stand the look in his face that made her feel so incredibly guilty at the same time.

"It's not nothing if it's bothering you," Touya insisted, his voice firm and yet gentle at the same time.  He must have learned that from Zuko.

"It's stupid," she stated, feeling tears building in her eyes.

"Fuyumi, it doesn't matter if it's stupid or not, it's bothering you," Touya said, his hand cautiously coming to rest on her shoulder, "Tell me about it."

Fuyumi took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, while also preparing for Touya to tell her that she was just being stupid about the situation. "We had career counseling today," she explained, her eyes trained on her hands which were resting in her lap, playing with the cookie she had grabbed earlier, before taking a bite to distract herself, "I have no idea what I want to do. I don't have anything that could help me in getting a job. I feel useless."

Fuyumi could feel the tears leaking from her eyes, rolling down her face. She used one hand to wipe them away, but didn't move otherwise. She had no idea what Touya was thinking, part of her didn't really want to know what he was thinking, too afraid that he would think that she was pathetic.  It wouldn't be the first time she would be told she was over reacting.

That meant she was wholly unprepared for the arms that suddenly encircled her. The slight leak from her eyes became full-blown sobs as Touya did his best to comfort her. She knew it was dumb, that she shouldn't be getting so emotional over this, but she couldn't help it. Eventually she let herself relax and soak in the reassurances being given to her by her older brother.

Eventually he started to pull away, and Fuyumi was abruptly reminded that he had chronic pain due to his burns, which meant that comforting her had probably been causing him pain. "Sorry," she told him as she scooted over, leaving about half a cushion between them.

"It's fine," he told her as he slipped off his school uniform's jacket, "But Yumi, you know you don't have to worry about that stuff right now, right?"

"I-"

Fuyumi couldn't make herself say it. She couldn't bring herself to say this little white lie that he's right, and she knows that she doesn't have to have everything figured out right now. She could only swallow back the words that wanted to bubble out of her throat telling him that she did have to have this figured out, that she couldn't afford to just laze around and not do anything.

"Yumi," Touya said firmly, her eyes snapping up to meet his, "You're fifteen. You have plenty of time to figure it out. There's plenty of things you can do in high school that will help you figure out what you want to do. You could join clubs, do extracurriculars, take all sorts of electives. You don't have to have it figured out right now. I bet you if Zuko were here he'd tell you the exact same thing."

Fuyumi sighed, something settling in her at those words. "Thanks, Touya. That was really insightful."

Touya shrugged as he leaned back. "Zuko told me something similar when I first set up the Etsy page and started questioning whether or not art was even my thing because no one seemed to like it."

Fuyumi was shocked. Touya's art was amazing. There had been no doubt in her mind that he would eventually start seeing some business, and it wasn't surprising when people started commissioning work from him.  

"Yumi you aren't the only one with insecurities," he told her, apparently able to read her mind, or maybe her expression, "Endeavor messed all of us up. You spent too much time trying to achieve impossible standards hoping that if you were good enough than the rest of the family would be able to come together. I became fixated on training because that was the only time he showed me any affection. Natsuo had to start teaching himself everything from a young age because Mother and Father weren't around to teach him, and Shouto needs a fucking service animal to be able to go to school. We're messed up, but we're getting better and that's what matters."

Fuyumi nodded, a small smile on her face, one that Touya returned. He was right. They were getting better, and she would focus on that instead of worrying about things she couldn't change.

Touya knew that he told Fuyumi that she didn't have to have everything figured out right now, but he also knew that if he let her stew in her anxiety it was only going to make things worse in the long run.  He was speaking from experience after all.  He'd spent so much time watching his Etsy page, waiting for someone to buy something or commission him that it had started affecting his sleep schedule.  Natsuo had actually had to take away his phone so he would sleep at night.

So, he felt no remorse whatsoever when he said, "Fuyumi needs some career advice," in the middle of dinner.

Fuyumi had gotten halfway to hitting his arm before remembering his scars, so had to settle for just glaring at him.  Of course, the movement had the rest of the family turning to look at her while he hid his smug smile behind his food.  She lowered her gaze, so it was fixed on her bowl, too nervous to say anything.  "What sort of advice do you need?" Zuko asked, as soft and nonjudgmental as always.

"Well," she started, her gaze not rising from her bowl of soba, "Today was career counseling day and the teacher didn't really give me any advice after I told him I didn't want to be a hero or go into medicine.  I'm not really sure what I should do, although Touya gave me some really good advice."

Zuko's gaze shifted to Touya, his eyebrow raised in question.  "I told her that she should use electives and extracurriculars to explore her options," he informed him with a bit of a shrug, "Not a lot of them are good for determining a future career path, but it's better than having a panic attack because of all the pressure."

Touya pointedly ignored the stare aimed at him from across the table.  He knew how to recognize a panic attack from experience, having panicked more than once when changing his bandages, or waking up to see blood on his sheet because one of his scars had cracked while he was asleep.  Thank god Zuko had taught him how to take proper care of his scars so that didn't happen anymore.  He knew Fuyumi's triggers were different, but that didn't mean the panic attack didn't look pretty much the same.  "Well," Zuko said, drawing the table's attention, "What do you like to do?  Is there anything you're good at that might help us figure out what kind of job you would enjoy?"

Fuyumi's expression turned thoughtful, her eyes becoming distant as they stared off into space.  Her face scrunched as her head tilted to the side.  "I'm not sure," she admitted eventually, "I like spending time with all of you but that doesn't exactly provide me with a job."

"Okay," Zuko said thoughtfully as his gaze fell to the rest of them at the table, "Any thoughts?"

Shouto shrugged as he continued to dig into his soba.  "She's really smart," the eight-year-old commented shooting her a smile, "She always helps me with my homework, and makes things easy to understand."

She tilted her head, clearly considering what was just said.  Shouto's words were true after all.  Touya had often seen the two of them sitting together, Fuyumi explaining whatever concept he hadn't managed to grasp the first time.  She was patient, probably the second most patient person in the house, right behind Zuko.  She could be a capable teacher.  He could practically picture it.

"That's actually really helpful," Fuyumi finally said, shooting Shouto a smile, "Thank you."

Shouto returned the smile, the gap from his most recent lost tooth making it look both innocent and mischievous.  Zuko ruffled his hair, a gesture he leaned into, instead of defending against like most people.  No one really said anything after that, but it was fine because Fuyumi had a solution, and that was the best that Touya could have hoped for.

The transition to middle school had been interesting for Natsuo.  Nabu Middle School was closer to the house than Endo Elementary had been, and very few of the people he knew in elementary school had gone there.  Most of his friends at ended up at Aldera middle school, and while they stayed in contact, not seeing each other every day had put some distance between them.  Akane was one of the few friends that had  the transition to Nabu with him, but they had been growing apart for a bit.  She had a habit of calling him a nerd because of his love of technology, and while it had mostly been in good fun at first, she'd been getting progressively meaner.

That had led to Natsuo deciding to end their friendship, which forced the rest of their friends to have to take sides, most of them siding with Akane.  He was a little disappointed, but he wasn't going to force them to hang out with him if they no longer wanted to.  He could make new friends.  There were plenty of people around them so it wouldn't be that hard.  At least he wasn't getting crowded like he had when it was well known that Endeavor was his father.  He would take being friendless over that any day.

The first day of school had gone fine for the most part, except for the fact that his home room teacher had done a 'getting to know you' game while he called role that required everyone to announce what their quirk was in front of the entire class.  Natsuo was pretty sure that teacher was quirkist and to get around the requirement to not breaking student confidentiality by telling everyone who was quirkless or had weak quirks, he engaged in public humiliation by forcing them to tell all their peers.  Fortunately, no one in his class was quirkless, or he might have seen red, but there were some people who had been uncomfortable telling people about their quirks due to strength or limitations.

Natsuo had little problem revealing his fake quirk which had gotten a mixed reaction from the class.  There were some that jeered at him, while others had looked thoughtful.  He honestly hadn't known which was worse.  However, it was easy to ignore everyone else as they got to the lesson, since he had been last.  Benefits of picking the name Yoshida he guessed.

He honestly didn't have that many people attempt to make fun of his fake quirk after that class had passed.  The school bullies seemed to be more interested in targeting the people who had weak quirks and knew it, unlike someone like him who straight up didn't care.  However some of the insults that got thrown around had him thinking that this was probably being carried over from their elementary school since they all seemed to know each other.  Not that he paid too much attention to what they said when he would intervene.

He blamed Zuko.  The firebender's rashness had to have rubbed off on him at some point, as he often found himself getting between a bully and their victim, forcing the bully to redirect their attention onto him.  Very few had attempted to physically hurt him, but those that had, learned their lesson rather quickly.  The first time he was sent to the principal's office he had bruised up a kid’s face.  It didn't matter that they were almost a year older than him, they were acting like a child, so he thought of them as such.

This habit of stepping in when bullying happened did manage to make him a few friends.  Hibiki was the first person he ended up befriending.  Apparently, no one ever bothered to stand up for him because of his weak quirk, which had led to him just rolling over whenever a bully came around.  It didn’t help that his parents couldn't care less as long as his injuries didn't land him in the hospital.  Natsuo had been the first person to really care about him, leading to the two becoming fast friends.  

One thing that Hibiki had shared early on in their friendship was his supposedly weak quirk.  It was called Echo, and it allowed him to repeat anything he had heard perfectly, in the person's voice and everything.  Natsuo was very interested in his quirk, as it could have very interesting applications allowing him to do infiltration or undercover work.  He offered to teach his friend hand to hand, which would not only allow him to defend himself, but potentially help him get into a hero school or police training program.  Having trained with Zuko for close to three years, he was pretty sure he could teach him how to throw a punch at the very least.

Natsuo was surprised at how much he had remembered from Zuko's teachings.  There would be times when he'd be teaching Hibiki things after school in the park, and he'd catch himself quoting Zuko verbatim.  Remembering the moves was easy with how many times he'd been forced to do them over and over again, but the words that had been said quickly became background noise, sound tracking the moves he was making.

He didn't tell Hibiki about the quirk training.  As much as he could try and pass it off as stuff he had learned from watching Fuyumi, or rather Keiko train her quirk there were noticeable differences in how their quirks functioned.  For Natsuo, his ice would extend from a point of contact.  If he wanted to direct his ice, he could use movements to guide it, but he had to keep that point of contact with the surface he was using.

Fuyumi on the other hand seemed to generate blasts of cold, allowing her to create ice in a certain location as long as her hands were pointed in that direction.  Something she managed to do that Natsuo could never hope to, was being able to throw her ice.  Her quirk allowed her to freeze the water in the air and then direct it, which was kind of cool.  Natsuo on the other hand couldn't do that as he had to have a hand or foot on the surface he was trying to freeze.

Shouto's ice side almost worked like a combination of their quirks.  It worked best if he had some contact with a surface, usually using his foot to generate the ice, but he was capable of generating it with his hand.  The ice generated by his hand tended to be chunks that were best suited for throwing unless he was pressing his hand to a surface.  He could direct the ice when it was being generated on a surface, and something Zuko had them doing to stretch their quirks was working on their control.  He would have them try to create detailed ice sculptures, and they were both getting better at it, although it was obvious that Natsuo had little talent with art.  His attempt at making Druk had gone horribly, and while he managed to produce a little more detail each time, it didn't change the fact that the sculpture looked nothing like Druk.

Natsuo ended up making his other friend at the park, as Hibiki recognized a kid wearing the uniform from their middle school getting picked on by a couple of high schoolers.  Being the brave dumbass that Zuko raised, he jumped in, getting the high schoolers to back off with minimal bloodshed.  They clearly weren't used to having to deal with someone fighting back so had decided to bow out before he taught them a lesson they wouldn't soon forget.  Ryota was grateful for the help, even if he was a little upset that it had come from a first year.

Ryota was a second-year student at Nabu middle school, and it turned out that the leader of the bullies was his cousin.  They both had ice quirks but since his cousin's was stronger, he liked to pick on him to assert dominance.  It probably didn't hurt that he was a good three years older.  Ryota had learned not to fight back because it always made things worse, so he was surprised when Natsuo got him to back off.

Natsuo had shrugged it off.  He'd run into plenty of bullies that wouldn't bother to continue picking on their victim as soon as an outsider arrived, either fearing repercussions, or unwilling to mess with an unknown element.  The few that had bothered to fuck around and find out hadn't lasted very long, which had garnered him quite the reputation.  Most bullies tended to vanish when they spotted him in the halls, despite the fact that he knew Touya had done worse.  He had yet to break anybody's nose.

Even when he did get into fights with bullies, he tended to fight more defensively than his brothers, preferring to redirect the bullies’ attacks into each other as opposed to just moving to hit them.  They would often complain about his cheap tricks, but Natsuo felt that they should be grateful that he had decided to do it that way.  Even though he was just a first year, he had a decent amount of muscle, just like Endeavor.  He probably would have broken something if he had gone on the offensive.

The excitement around his treatment of bullies was replaced as soon as midterm grades came out and it was revealed that Natsuo was top of the class.  He wasn't that surprised, as he'd been staying on top of his work, even if he was no longer under the pressure to perform well.  Education was important, and if he ended up reading three or four lessons ahead that was no one's business but his own.

However, there were more than a few of his classmates that attempted to make it their business, as they started approaching him with the desire to get him to do their homework for them.  Only one person had been dumb enough to try and threaten him, while everyone who hadn't been scared off by the display of violence had attempted to bribe him to do their work.  He rejected those offers as well telling them that he might be willing to tutor them, but he wasn't going to just do the work for them as it defeated the purpose of the homework in the first place.

For the people that had attempted to get him to tutor them, he had accepted a few offers, although it became readily apparent that he was not teacher material.  There were too many things that seemed obvious to him, so when the person he was tutoring asked him to explain it multiple times, he would get frustrated at their apparent lack of intelligence.  As a result, he went back to ignoring everyone who he wasn't friends with.

As the term drew to a close, things calmed down as his classmates seemed to have gotten the memo and backed off, when one of their history lessons reminded him of something.  They had been covering the importance of the tea ceremony, which had been picked by one of his classmates as their research project, and his thoughts strayed to Zuko.  

The tea that Zuko preferred to make was made in a manner more akin to historical methods than modern ones, although it wasn't that much of a surprise given how his world compared to theirs.  It was good too, much better than any modern teas, with no need to add any sweeteners or something like that.  He'd told them all about how he'd learned from his Uncle Iroh, a man who seemed to love tea more than anything else. He loved the man, telling them all about his kindness, his patience, and the tea shop he had opened.

That had Natsuo wondering what it would take to open a tea shop.  What would they need to get in order to have a working tea shop, and what sort of modifications would have to be made for Zuko in particular?  Natsuo started writing all these questions and more down in the margins of his notebook.  He had some research to do. 

Chapter Text

 As Fuyumi's sixteenth birthday approached, Zuko was surprised to have Natsuo pull a somewhat stuffed folder out of his backpack after dinner.  "What's this?" he asked as he set aside the laptop he'd been using for sign language lessons.  He'd been teaching the kids as well, which not only allowed him to practice more but also taught them sign language which could be useful in the future.

"There's this storefront for sale," Natsuo told him as he opened the folder to reveal that the top page had a picture and small blurb of information, "Usually you would have to rent a storefront, but the landlord is selling it because he's tired of it getting destroyed in villain attacks.  If you buy it, then you can do the renovations needed to make it the perfect Jasmine Dragon.  Since you'd own the entire building, it wouldn't be that hard to set up a greenhouse on the roof for a fresh supply of tea, and you wouldn't have to worry about certain monthly expenses."

"Is that what the rest of the papers are about?" Zuko asked as he flipped the first page to discover the start of a bullet pointed list about how to make the perfect Jasmine Dragon.  He honestly should have known.  The twelve-year-old didn't let anything stop him when he wanted something, and honestly the list was probably just the start.  He honestly had to admire that kind of determination, although it could get out of hand if left unchecked.

"For the most part," Natsuo replied with a nod, "I'm still working on some of the research, mostly seeing what would be required to open a business, but my preliminary research is promising.  Honestly the biggest problem is probably going to be staffing, but that's something that can wait a bit.  No point in hiring employees when you don't have a business yet."

Zuko nodded in agreement turning his attention to the bullet point list.  It was honestly kind of interesting because he would give the core argument either for or against the proposed plan, give a few bullet points backing up the argument, and then provide a few counter arguments.  There were many good arguments on both sides, including ones that he honestly wouldn't have thought of.

It gave Zuko a lot to think about and he flipped to the front page to see what might have been written there. It was mostly just a short blurb about the store front that was for sale.  It had the listing on it, which included the contact information of the current owner, as well as a small report that he suspected Natsuo had made after visiting the property himself.  The amount of detail in the notes was the biggest indicator of this.  The number of windows broken and where.  What kind of damage the interior had suffered.  There were even notes on the size and topography of the roof.

Zuko was definitely going to have to have a talk with him about this, because breaking and entering was a pretty serious offence.  He knew he didn't really have a leg to stand on considering what happened on their mother's birthday, but still.  Hiding the digital trace of his presence, if there was one to begin with, was a whole different matter from hiding the physical trace of his presence.  As good as Natsuo was at sneaking around, he was nowhere near Zuko's level, and him getting caught would have disastrous consequences.

"Natsuo, did you break into the store front to get this information?" Zuko asked, figuring it would probably be best to get confirmation before lecturing him.

The twelve-year-old looked a little sheepish as he said, "Technically I didn't break in.  The front windows are completely shattered and there's nothing over them to keep the elements out.  Besides, there were signs that other people had snuck in to do... other stuff, so it's not like anyone would notice."

"Natsuo," Zuko started his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose in the hopes that it might stave off the headache he could feel on the horizon, "While I appreciate what you've done, that was very risky.  If people have been sneaking in there to do things, then there could be cops or pro heroes that watch that place.  And the fact of the matter is, it's probably going to be even more damaged by the time I could look into buying it."

Natsuo had paled when pro heroes were mentioned, although Zuko personally felt that whatever was happening in the empty store front, be it drug deals or other things would be too low level for the flame hero to bother with.  Honestly it was something that was more likely to be handled by underground heroes, and the last thing he wanted to do was meet Eraserhead without the mask because he was picking his "little brother" up from the police station.  Of course that was assuming that they didn't just bring Natsuo straight to the house, which had the potential to be all kinds of awkward.

"I just wanted to be thorough," Natsuo offered quietly his eyes focused on his hands in his lap, "After messing up Fuyumi's birthday, I've been doing my best to make sure to triple check everything so I don't mess up like that again."

"Fuyumi's birthday?" Zuko echoed, not really understanding what was wrong.

Natsuo cringed slightly but elaborated.  "When I was making our fake identities, I didn't actually bother to reference our actual files so when I put in Fuyumi's date of birth I made it one year lower than Touya's because they're a year apart.  So when we got enrolled in schools and the two of them were suddenly two years apart I looked into it and found that they were technically born the same year.  I can't go and change it now, but I can make sure to avoid stuff like that in the future."

Zuko understood that.  After making a mistake like that he would want to do whatever it took to make sure that it was never repeated, especially since he was in a position where he did make a lot of the same mistakes when he was younger.  He decided to shift his attention from Natsuo to the file to give the kid a chance to gather himself.  

Setting aside his concerns about Natsuo breaking in to check the place out, it did seem promising.  After flipping through the packet one more time he made up his mind.  "I'll go over my accounts and see what I can do," Zuko offered, watching out of the corner of his eye as Natsuo's head shot up excitedly, "There's no guarantee I can buy it, or afford to renovate it in the near future, but we'll see."

Apparently that was enough to have Natsuo cheering in triumph, and Zuko couldn't help but smile at the sight.  The kid was so excited about something he'd only heard stories about, and he couldn't blame him.  He had fond memories of visiting the Jasmine Dragon, having occasionally managed it when Uncle Iroh was sick or on vacation, although it was its own sort of vacation for him.  It had only managed to stay open a few years after his death, and Zuko hadn't been able to bring himself to head over there afterwards, too afraid of being overwhelmed by memories of times that he wished had lasted longer.

Making a Jasmine Dragon, even if it wasn't the same as Uncle Iroh's had been, would still be a way of honoring his memory.  A beautiful memorial to the Dragon of the West, even if he was the only person who truly understood it.

Zuko had waited until partway into the new year before meeting with the owner of the storefront, the holiday rush having exhausted him like years prior. The man kept shooting him him skeptical and suspicious sideways glances, something he did his best to tune out as they toured the shopfront. The man clearly doubted that he would be able to pay for the location, saying things like, "Are you sure about this?" or "You seem a little young."  Then there had been, "Are you sure you can run a business?". 

Zuko had barely managed to restrain himself from responding, 'I've run a country, I think I can handle a business'.  He knew that the two were not exactly comparable, but he figured a business would have a lot less paperwork and fighting with officials to make the shift from wartime to peacetime.  Fortunately learning to keep his thoughts to himself was something he'd learned a long time ago, and he had the scar to prove it.  So instead of engaging in conversation, he focused on the building.

Natsuo's assessment was still fairly accurate, the main differences being the amount of trash lying around and the broken window in the office that looked like a rock had been thrown through it.  Some of the other windows were cracked not outright broken, and he suspected he could use his firebending to help get rid of the damage.  Of course that wasn't something he should try and test on the windows in question, but the thought did occur to him.  He'd never tried something like it before, but it would be interesting to experiment.

The interior of the building was sound for the most part, the main room on the first floor having sustained the most damage.  It looked like someone had been thrown through the front window, before getting thrown back out through the door.  Which was a major problem because the door opened inward.  The floor was also pretty scuffed up, probably from the fight and the tables that had been knocked around.  Honestly, he probably would have replaced the floor anyway because the dark speckled stone didn't look inviting.

There was a kitchen behind the counter, separated by a door, which looked a lot like the kitchen in the Rising Sun bakery.  He wouldn't have been surprised to hear that this place had been a bakery in the past, although a café probably would have been appropriate as well.  It wasn't really big enough to act as a restaurant, but it would be perfect for a tea shop.  Zuko could practically see how a slight alteration to the layout would allow it to emulate the old Jasmine Dragon as well as it could given the circumstances.

The second level had storage rooms and an office or two, one of which had a safe built into the wall.  That was probably for holding the money the store or shop earned during the day.  He knew how important it was to have change, although he was probably going to need Natsuo to talk him through dealing with these newer registers as while they were familiar, they did have more functions than just calculating the bill and holding the money.  At least that was what he assumed from all the new buttons on it.

The roof was actually rather familiar, as it was a place that Zuko had stopped on occasion while out as the Blue Spirit.  It was kind of funny to think about, especially since he was pretty sure this was the roof that Eraserhead had stopped him to give him the phone.  He could practically picture their exact positions despite the fact that it had been the middle of the night then and it was the middle of the day now.

At the end of the tour, Zuko glanced around, imagining the changes he would make to the shop, changing it from its current state into something he could see Uncle Iroh being proud of.  The owner was shocked when he asked for the paperwork, pulling out his checkbook so he could pay for the storefront right then and there.  It took a few minutes to get everything squared away, but soon, the keys were in his hand, and he was making plans for how he was going to go about transforming the shop.

The first thing Zuko did was look at contractors, starting with the one that had done the work on the house.  They were the people that he was familiar with, so it felt like the most logical place to start.  Since a lot of what needed to be done was superficial repair, he ended up ultimately deciding that going to them probably wouldn't be the best decision.  There was no point in getting specialists to do work that they weren’t specialists in.

Of course wading through all the different contractors in the area was a struggle, especially since not all of them would do work on businesses.  Fortunately, Natsuo had compiled a small list of contractors to look into after Zuko told the kids that he had bought the space.  There were three contractors that he gave him information on, each of them with their own list of pros and cons.  The first contractor was the most expensive one, and the one that operated the furthest from the location.  They were a contractor that tended to provide good quality work, but would charge more when doing work in their area because of the whole issue with villain fights and the gang turf wars that happened on occasion.

The second company was one that had a fairly good reputation and was more in the area.  It was a little cheaper due to the fact that a lot of the people lived in the area, so they didn't have to travel as far, and it isn't like they didn't already have to worry about the criminals and villains.  They seemed to be a pretty decent company, but apparently Natsuo was very good at getting at what they didn't want the public to know.  He had dug deep when doing his research and found that they had close ties to one of the gangs in the area.  Picking them could potentially mean inciting a turf war and that was the last thing Zuko wanted.

The last contractor was the cheapest and seemed to have the sketchiest appearance.  The company had been started up by a former criminal, and they ended up getting a lot of their work through criminal organizations due to those connotations.  However, if one bothered to look deeper, it appeared that it was started up by a group of former criminals who were trying to get out of criminal work but nobody would hire them, so they came up with the brilliant idea to start up their own company.  Their criminal contacts were the only things really keeping the business afloat.

Zuko had barely finished the summery before deciding that he was going to hire them. They were the cheapest option, but hiring them would also help out some people that deserved to be given the second chance that no one else seemed to want to give them.   He knew what it was like to be in that position, to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to see anyway out other than just digging the hole even deeper, so he hoped that he could throw a bit of rope down to them.  It would probably earn him a less than ideal reputation, but he could handle that.

However, even with the rather cheap option, Zuko was still going to have to save up for it.  He started by allocating more of his pay toward the shop account since the emergency fund hadn’t really been used over the last two years, and there had yet to be a big draw on the account for general expenses.  The raise he'd gotten when he was made manager provided them with plenty of money and the holiday bonuses didn't hurt anything.  They weren't even paying that much for food in the grand scheme of things, so he decided allocating more money for the shop was just a smart idea.

So Zuko spent the next several months working hard, saving up so he could get the storefront renovated.  It was late May when Natsuo pointed out that it would be the best time of year to get the place fixed, especially because it would mean that the crew probably wouldn't have to deal with extreme heat or pouring rain.  He knew he was right, and if he was being honest with himself, he was partially delaying because he was scared of what was going to happen, that he wouldn't be able to live up to his memories or his dreams of making a Jasmine Dragon for the kids.  However, he would only end up disappointing them if he didn't try at all, so the next day he set up a meeting with the contractor.

Kubo Tetsuya was very interested in why a kid had set up a meeting with him, asking to hire him for a job.  Tetsuya wasn't exactly the best person to be judging someone on their choices, seeing as he joined a gang when he was twelve and graduated to the Yakuza when he turned sixteen.  He had become possibly the biggest enforcer in the business, before meeting his wife who wasn't very fond of his lifestyle.  After their first child had been born, he decided to quit the business, not wanting to have his family get caught in the crossfire should things go wrong.  Apparently he wasn't the only one that wanted to leave, because as soon as he expressed the sentiment, there were a few guys that decided to leave with him.  It probably would have gone south real quick if it wasn't for the fact that he was on good enough terms with the head, who respected his decision even if he didn't like it.

Of course, that might have had something to do with the fact that Tetsuya was tough enough to give even some of the best mercenaries a run for their money.  His quirk allowed him to generate barriers, and he probably would have made a good hero if he hadn't been born on the wrong side of town.  However, beggars couldn't be choosers, and so he had to make the best of the life he had.  He'd spent his whole life dealing with a shit deck, and he'd continue to deal for as long as he would need to.

Going into contract work wasn't his first choice when exiting the criminal sector, but it turns out that attempting to get into private security as a well-known enforcer was impossible.  A few of the other guys knew how to build things, having had to repair their places with their dads since no one liked working in the slums, which gave them a way to potentially make a living.  Very few people were willing to hire known criminals to make stuff for them, much less renovate their homes, but criminal contacts came in handy in some cases.  Despite them having left the Yakuza, they were still willing to hire them to repair buildings after shootouts or busts, as well as fortify safe houses.  Everything was above board so there wasn't much that could be argued against it.

However, their reputation was pretty well known, which made him wonder why a kid thought it would be a good idea to hire them.  He could understand that they might be naïve or just hadn't heard the stories, but they had to be suspicious about it, right?  But their voice hadn't held any suspicion when they had called him up to set up the meeting.  Which had led Tetsuya to look him up.  It wasn't that hard.

He wasn't sure if it had been a good or bad idea.  The kid was just twenty, taking care of four younger siblings ranging in age from nine to seventeen.  Their whole family was dead, leaving just the five of them.  The worst part was probably seeing the kid's picture.  He had clearly been through a lot to have a burn scar that big on his face.

Curse his bleeding heart.  Tetsuya adored his wife and their kids, but there were some days that he couldn't help but feel that having a heart made things harder.  Still, he had agreed to meet the kid and he was going to do it.  All he had to do was wait for the kid to show up at the office.

There was still about ten minutes before the meeting when Yoko, the angel that she is knocked on his door telling him, "A Yoshida Zuko is here to see you."

Tetsuya took a deep breath before saying, "Bring him in."

Yoko nodded, slipping out the door only to come back a minute later with a young man that was unmistakably Yoshida Zuko.  Tetsuya found himself slightly surprised by just how tall the kid was, having clearly broken six feet.  He also seemed to be built leanly, although there was significant strength in his handshake.  Tetsuya sat back in his chair, wondering just what the conversation would bring.  "So why did you wish to set up a meeting?"

"I was hoping I could hire your company for a job," Yoshida san replied as he pulled a file out of a messenger bag, "I recently bought this storefront, and I wanted hire your company to renovate it."

Tetsuya accepted the file and opened it to find several sheets of paper inside, some with photos attached.  The papers listed the work that would need to be done with the pictures supplying the visual of its current state.  Replacing the front door would be difficult but not overly so.  The floor would probably be the most time-consuming thing to do, while the windows would be high on the priority list.  In fact, it would probably go, door, windows, floor and walls...  Greenhouse would be last, but they would also be mostly out of the way at that point, which is something he would probably prefer.

"This is going to take a while," he told the kid, who didn't seem bothered by that answer at all.

"I knew that was probably going to be the case," he replied with a shrug, "But all good things take time.  Do you have an estimate about how long it would take and how much it would cost?"

"I'd have to get a look at the actual site to give an accurate estimate," Tetsuya mused as he flipped through the papers again, "Just to see if there are any environmental complications.  My best estimate at the moment is that this will take three to four months and cost about five million yen at least."

Yoshida san nodded, looking almost like he expected that answer.  "Is there a time that you would be able to meet with me at the site so you can assess it?" he inquired, looking completely calm despite what he had just been told.

"My crew isn't working a job right now," he answered, things not quite adding up in all this, "Do you have a day that would work best for you?"

"I could get next Friday off," the kid said, making the pieces fit a little more neatly than before, "Does that work for you?"

"It's fine," he stated dismissively, before turning around and asking the question that had been on his mind this whole time, "Why are you contracting us?  I get that we are probably the cheapest option, but you had to have heard about us."

Yoshida san nodded looking pensive, before replying, "You guys are trying to be better, to get your life back together.  I know how hard it can be, to try and do the right thing while it feels like the whole world is against you, and I can't help but admire you for it.  If I can help you out, why wouldn't I?"

Tetsuya felt slightly blindsided by that reply, barely able to process the rest of the meeting as they discussed the next meeting before saying goodbye.  The kid had been earnest, his eyes holding respect, and understanding, maybe?  It felt weird to be so oddly seen by someone half his age.  It also reminded him of just how messed up the world was, that a kid, would have this mentality.  What was the world coming to?

Zuko had a good feeling about the meeting he'd had with the contractor.  They weren't beating around the bush, or telling him things that didn't really matter, or trying to convince him that he needed to do other things to guarantee that nothing bad would happen.  Not that he had thought that something like that would happen.  He'd been all too familiar with people trying to give him the run around, so it was rather nice to have someone who was willing to be nice and straightforward with him.

Zuko had actually spent the week looking forward to the meeting at the shop, and had called to set up a time since they hadn't really talked about it.  The secretary's tone had been a little odd when they talked, but Zuko knew that it wasn't normal for a twenty-year-old to be as mature and knowledgeable as he was.  Twelve-year-old's weren't supposed to be as smart as Natsuo either, but that didn't stop the kid from constantly impressing him.

They were meeting at the shop at ten am, and Kubo had informed him that he would be bringing a few extra people, one to do an inspection, while the other was to give an opinion on the feasibility of the project.  Zuko had informed him that it was fine, and factored that into his plans.

He had been overjoyed to discover that there were types of bread dough that could be put in the refrigerator or freezer to keep them semi fresh and usable, and he made one of them on Sunday, reserving a portion in the freezer.  When Friday came around, he took the reserved dough out of the freezer, warmed it up again, before turning it into a dozen cinnamon rolls.  They finished just in time for the kids to eat them for breakfast, and Zuko walked Shouto to school while Natsuo went to middle school and Touya and Fuyumi walked to their high school.

Once the kids were at school, he made a quick stop at the house, recovering a few of the cinnamon rolls and a thermos of tea he had made, which wasn't as good reheated as it was fresh, but it was a far sight better than most of the tea he’d seen people sell.  With the refreshments secured he made his way to the shop, arriving at about nine.  He took the extra hour until the arrival of the contractors to clean the place up, getting rid of any dust or dirt that had been blown in, shards of glass, and debris that was clearly form people using drugs.  He was pretty sure there were at least two windows that hadn't been broken, now were which was kind of disappointing.

He had finished cleaning and was reheating a cinnamon roll when Kubo arrived, flanked by a professional looking man that fit the stereotype of an office worker to a tee, and one that Zuko recognized from the pictures of the crew that were in the office and on their website.  It was one of the smaller men, which was probably why he was there to handle the assessment, but Zuko didn't doubt that if a fight broke out, not that he wanted to start one, the man would be perfectly capable of kicking ass.

"Good morning gentlemen," he greeted as he set his cinnamon roll on a napkin, one of many he had brought, "I'm glad you made it safely."

Kubo nodded.  "Yoshida san, this is Ogawa Shigeru with the city commission.  He's going to run an inspection for any health and safety violations that might exist that we would have to account for.  And this is Akiyama Kenji.  He'll be looking the place over to come up with an estimate."

Zuko nodded, understanding completely.  "I just cleaned the place up so go ahead and do what you need to do.  I also brought refreshments if you get hungry or thirsty."

While Ogawa and Akiyama got to work doing their inspections, Kubo stayed and talked to Zuko.  They discussed the contract, which included the payment plan, the time scale and penalties for the work not getting done or falling behind on payments.  After that they started discussing minor things about the job, like the kind of tile that would be used for the floor, how the walls should be done and stuff like that.  He was glad Natsuo had prepared him for this by going over it at home, trying to figure out how to reproduce the tea shop he remembered as closely as possible.

When the others eventually came back, Zuko reheated the tea and rolls so they could enjoy them while they were warm instead of cold before listening to their reports.  The health and safety inspection hadn't really turned up any major problems, as most of what was there was caused by the broken windows and could easily be dealt with as soon as they were fixed.  The cost assessment came out to about the same as was estimated in the office.  The thing they predicted would cause them the most trouble was the front door as they were probably going to have to completely redo the frame.

It was pretty much what was expected, so they went back to the office to sign and file the contract.  From there they just needed to secure the building permit so they could do the work.  It wouldn't be that hard since the inspection went well, and Zuko was glad that the dream of a Jasmine Dragon for this world was getting closer to becoming a reality. 

Chapter Text

With the shop being renovated, Zuko felt a lot like he did when he first managed to bend lightning.  There was an electric feeling under his skin, a sense of anticipation, and a gradually building excitement at the creation of a new Jasmine Dragon.  He wasn't alone in his excitement either as the kids were showing it in their own ways.  Touya was perfecting the logo that he had settled on, sometimes forcing Druk to pose for him so he could make sure that he got the whole posture right.  Natsuo would sometimes drop little hints in conversations about the research he was doing to make sure that they would have all their bases covered when they opened the shop.  Shouto and Fuyumi were rather straightforward, just expressing their excitement to get to visit the shop once it was up and running.

It was kind of nice and a little reassuring that the kids were as excited for it as he was.  They clearly weren't doing it out of obligation, like he had for his uncle back when they first started working to Pao's tea shop, and it was nice to see.  He knew that he had a tendency to give people what they wanted even if it hurt him, and while he grew a backbone during his early years as Fire Lord, he tended to melt for kids.  He never spoiled them, being something that he tried to actively avoid doing with Izumi, but he had trouble telling them no.  He was just lucky that the kids that he'd taken under his wing weren't the kind to abuse that.

Of course, even with all the research Natsuo was doing to make sure that everything about the Jasmine Dragon would be perfectly legal and above suspicion, Zuko knew of several things that would need to happen before they could open the shop.  They had to furnish it, decorate it, and probably most importantly of all, hire employees to work there.  He knew a lot about hiring people, something he'd had to do a lot right after the end of the war as there were far too many empty positions for his liking.  Of course there was probably a whole different hiring process here, so he was better of going to the person that would know best about it.

"How does the hiring process work here?" Zuko asked Natsuo one night, as he was going over his accounts, making sure that there wouldn't be any issues with paying the contractors.

"Well," Natsuo said as he set aside his laptop, the document on the screen talking about opening businesses in Japan, "The first thing to do would be to put out a notice that you are hiring."

Zuko nodded along commenting, "I remember that.  It's really hard to fill a position if no one knows it needs filled."

Natsuo nodded in agreement.  "Yeah I figured that would probably be pretty universal," he stated while he pulled out a notebook flipping through it before stopping on a page that seemed to be covered in rather sloppy handwriting, "Generally after you start receiving applications you want to set up an interview where you can talk to the applicants and see about hiring them.  It's really easy to find a list of good questions you should ask during the interview, although you can probably wait on it for a bit.  There no point in putting out a hiring notice while the building is still being repaired, and we probably don't want any strangers coming here."

"Very true," Zuko replied, his mind easily able to come up with several scenarios about just how wrong that would go, "When do you think I should start putting out notices?"

"Maybe next January?" Natsuo offered with a shrug of his shoulders, "That would give you a few months to get the place furnished so interviews could take place at the shop."

Zuko gave a slight shrug as he thought about it.  "It probably would be best to wait until then at the very least," he stated before turning his attention to the laptop screen, "So how's your research going?"

"Well," Natsuo started as he pushed the laptop towards Zuko so he could read it more easily, "There's some paperwork that going to go into starting up the whole business, but after that it doesn't look like there is that much to do.  Once the Jasmine Dragon has been opened the biggest thing is going to be staying on top of expenses and there are a few ways to make things cheaper and easier."

"Like using the tea plants you kids bought me?" Zuko pointed out as he slid the laptop back over to Natsuo.

"Yeah," the twelve year old agreed distractedly, "But there are other things like buying things in bulk, and stuff like that.  Touya and I have also been talking about him making pots and cups for the shop."

"Why?" Zuko asked, hoping that Natsuo didn't take it the wrong way.  If Touya wanted to freely make the pots and cups for the shop, he would find some way to make it up to him, but he also didn't want the teen to feel pressured into doing it.  It was Touya's art and only he should decide what would be done with it.

"I mean, it started as a discussion about his ceramics," Natsuo explained, sounding a little sheepish as he deliberately avoided Zuko's gaze, his eyes fixed on the computer in front of him, "He was telling me about the different projects he'd been working on in class, and I asked him about whether or not he could make tea cups or pots.  When we were talking about it, I did point out that it would be great exposure for him as a lot of people would be able to witness the quality of his work which might encourage them to commission him."

Zuko let out an amused huff at just how defensive but cute the twelve year old was being was being as he tried to explain the whole situation.  "Natsuo," he said, which managed to snap him out of his anxious ramblings, "As long as Touya is the one who decides to make them of his own volition, then it's fine.  Just don't pressure him about it, okay?"

Natsuo nodded and he chuckled, ruffling the kid's hair to show that everything was okay.  He ducked his head away, but as Zuko made his way to the kitchen, he was able to spot a small smile on his face.

Tetsuya had gotten a lot of questions when he told his men about the job.  It was hard to believe, and honestly there were days when he would have to go and check the contract just to confirm that it wasn't just a crazy dream he'd had.  It was the first job of theirs that hadn't come from Yakuza or Yakuza connections, which just had the entire crew confused.  They'd spent the almost fifteen years been explicitly ignored by the general public for the most part, so being offered a job at a fair price was shocking to say the least.

There were a few of the men that couldn't help but wonder if this was a scam of some kind, that whoever had hired them just simply wouldn't pay after all the work was done and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.  More than a few of them had done brief stints in jail, and any judge looking that their case would probably throw it out based on that alone.  The other theories were pretty much the same with the most optimistic ones being that they might get partial payment, but not all of it.

Tetsuya had been doing his best to fight the rumors, but hadn't been having much luck in that regard. The crew were well aware of their reputation after all, and so finding someone that hadn’t been put off by their past was strange and suspicious.  Especially with the number of gangs in the area.  There were a few that liked to piss the Yakuza off, and stealing the Yakuza construction crew for a few months would be right up their alley, if they didn't hate the whole crew on principle.

Kenji had actually been a great help in abating the rumors, talking at length about what he knew about Yoshida san, and praising the refreshments he'd brought them.  Tetsuya hadn't been sure about it at first, especially given Kenji's tendency to exaggerate, but supporting his subordinate's claims seemed to help with the slight paranoia.  At least in regards to the likelihood of them getting paid at the end of it.  One issue they did run into fairly quickly, was the violent reaction the local gangs had to their presence.

They weren't really met with any hostility up front, their reputation more than proceeding them, leading to gang members occasionally stopping to glare at them from across the street.  It was almost kind of funny seeing gang members crowd the sidewalk across from the store front to glare at them like a bunch of moody teens, which honestly wasn't that far from the truth.  They would occasionally yell insults at the crew, but it was honestly kind of ridiculous given how all of them could scatter as soon as one of them would leave the building.  

It was kind of surprising that there hadn't really been any vandalism or increased damage since they started working on the building.  The windows had pretty much all been broken when they arrived on June first, but other than that things were going rather smoothly.  Although it seemed it wasn't for lack of trying.  There were a few days when they had arrived to find signs of a scuffle having happened outside the shop, but all of their things would be perfectly fine when they checked.  The local vigilante, because there was little chance a hero would manage to keep a fight that contained, was clearly going above and beyond to keep this place safe, something they could appreciate at the very least.

When the crew started work on the stop they had to shore up the front of the store so when they took out the door frame, they didn't end up bringing the second floor down on them.  There wasn't much of anything up there, but the materials that made up that space still had weight that could spell disaster for them if they weren't careful.  Taking out the supports was risky, as with the position of the front windows being right next to the door, taking out the door frame would mean that all the support in the middle of that wall would be gone.  Honestly, with how messed up the door frame was it was a surprise the place hadn't collapsed yet.

The crew took their time, making sure that the temporary support structure was secure before doing anything that might compromise the building's integrity.  Once they were done shoring up, they took out the door frame, first removing the rather mangled right side, before taking out the slightly sturdier left.  Taking out the left side had been a nerve wracking experience, because if they had messed up the support structure at all, taking it out would bring the building or just that side of it really, down on top of them.  Fortunately, everything went according to plan.

With the old door frame out of the way, they were able to start rebuilding the brickwork that framed the doorway.  They did their best to make the new brickwork that they were putting in match the original brickwork, although the difference in shade was kind of obvious to anyone paying attention.  It was rather hard to convincingly make new bricks look like old bricks and without doing some artificial aging, so there wasn't anything they could really do about it.  Besides, they weren't getting paid to do that.

After the brickwork was set they tested it to make sure it was sturdy.  The best way to do that without potentially ruining all the work they had put in up to that point was to have two crew members press on the bricks to see if they would shift, which would indicate that either the sealant wasn't dry or they just didn't use enough.  Once the supports proved to be stable they went about putting in the door frame.  Putting in the commercial glass door with it's hallow metal frame was actually a first for them, since most doors they'd installed tended to be inside, but it wasn't really that difficult.  They put the metal frame in place before going through the process of fusing the metal to the brick, making it more secure.  When all that was done, they got the door in place and made sure that there were no gaps or anything that might compromise weather proofing.

Once they had finished the door, they had to go through the process of replacing all the windows.  It felt slightly ridiculous to have to replace every window in the building, but it was necessary.  Fortunately, Tetsuya and Yoshida san had already anticipated this so it was factored into the cost, even thought there had still been four or so unbroken windows when the inspection had been done.  Honestly the relatively small amount of broken glass that they'd had to remove since starting the job seemed to indicate that either Yoshida san was coming and cleaning it up or he'd hired someone to take care of it for them, which was nice. 

Replacing the large glass windows in the front was a long and tedious process as they didn't want to accidentally break the glass and have to start all over again.  It wasn't exactly easy to break them, but given how large the windows were, and the brittleness of glass in general meant that they probably would break it if they weren't careful.  They were dedicating entire days to the process of installing them, although that came after going through the process of removing all the glass pieces still in the frame, before taking out the frame itself.  They had managed to install the first window, and were in the process of getting the second in when Yoshida san stopped by.

Tetsuya could only be thankful that they weren't working with the window glass that day, or they definitely would have needed to buy another sheet.  "Hello Yoshida san," he called out to the kid who was carrying a large bag, "What brings you here today?"

"I just came to see how things were going," the kid replied, his voice sounding slightly rougher than it had the last two times that he'd spoken with him, "I wanted to see what it looks like in progress.  Also, I brought some treats for you guys since you're probably using a lot of energy fixing this place up for me."

Those words had definitely gotten the men’s attention and soon space had been cleared on the counter so the bag could be set down and emptied.  It had a box of assorted pastries, some napkins and paper plates.  Tetsuya hung back. letting his men at the treats first, since they had been doing some pretty good work so far.  The kid ended up talking to them while dishing out the pastries, since several of them didn't have the cleanest hands at that moment.  He didn't seem to mind, often smiling at the ones who bothered to thank him.

Tetsuya noticed some rather familiar looks appearing on the faces of his men.  Those looks were ones that they tended to get when talking about their families or friends.  That was the look they got when they had something that they wanted to protect.  He could even hear some of them mumbling about keeping the kid.

It wasn't hard to imagine why they would feel that way.  They rarely got this kindness.  Despite having spent several years outside of the criminal element, people were either apathetic or hostile to them.  Only their close friends and family really bothered to treat them like regular people, so this was definitely a novelty.  It probably didn't hurt that he brought treats with him though.

Soon enough the rest of the crew had all gotten something, leaving the path to the kid open for Tetsuya.  "There isn't much left," Yoshida san told him as he approached, "Apple fritter or cheese Danish?"

"Cheese Danish," Tetsuya replied, not really recognizing either of the foods, although he could tell that they were probably western in origin, "So what really brought you here?"

"I did just come to check up on the progress," the kid told him as he handed him a plate with the pastry on it, "This was the first time my day off coincided with your workday, so I decided to come check on how things were going.  I know this neighborhood isn't great, so I was kind of worried that some vandalism or something like that might happen while you were working here.  I don't want you to have to waste time repairing things twice."

Tetsuya didn't know what to say about that.  He'd been aware that they would probably have to redo some of their work, which was why he had padded the time frame so they would be able to deal with potentially having to make the repairs more than once.  It wasn't something that they had to deal with often as they tended to work in areas that were protected by the Yakuza, so there was little chance of anything or anyone messing up the work site.  That wasn't the case here so he'd figured it was better to just be safe, especially since heroes wouldn't give a damn about the construction work happening in the area during a fight.

And the kid was worried about them getting caught in the middle of that.  He had to be too good to be true.  "Things have been going well," Tetsuya told him, figuring he could at least fill him in on what they had been doing, "As you can see, we've replaced the door and one of the front windows.  The other one goes in tomorrow, and we should have the rest of them done by the end of the month."

The kid nodded along, his eyes going over the work they had already done.  It wasn't much, less than they should have had done over the course of nearly two weeks, but it was better to take it slow and do it right than to move quickly and mess things up.  He opened his mouth, probably to ask a question when a phone started going off.

The kid jumped, pulling the ringing phone from his pocket and dismissing something before turning back to Tetsuya.  "Sorry about that.  I need to go.  My little brother's teacher set up a meeting this afternoon, and the alarm is my reminder to get ready so I get there on time.  Is that okay?"

"It's fine," Tetsuya told him, doing his best to be reassuring, "It sounds important so you should really focus on that.  Everything's fine here so you don't have to worry about it."

"That's good," Yoshida san said, breathing out a sigh of relief, "I guess I'll see you later then.  Keep up the good work and be safe."

"Take care," Tetsuya called, although it was probably lost in the many farewells that the men gave him.

Yoshida san turned back towards them long enough to give a quick wave before taking off, rushing to get to wherever it was he needed to be.  The men got back to work not long afterward, although they did occasionally shoot glances back towards the counter where the things that the kid had brought sat forgotten.  As they wrapped up at the end of the day Shiro, his second in command asked, "Do you think adoption is on the table?"

"He's twenty," Tetsuya deadpanned as he went through the process of securing all the equipment as well as the tarp they were using to cover the currently empty window, "And taking care of four younger siblings.  Do you think you can afford to adopt five kids?"

Shiro shrugged at that, which was probably as close to concession as he was ever going to get from the man. "He's sweet though," Kenji piped up, causing many of the men around the room to nod in agreement.

"Maybe we could see about getting him a little protection," Masaru suggested, which had those around him perking up, "I'd be willing to throw down with anyone that wanted to wreck this joint.  The kid's too nice to have to deal with the constant destruction."

"I agree," Tetsuya replied, a grin splitting his face as his men cheered in unison, "We'd better spread the word that this establishment is to be left alone, unless they'd like to deal with the full force of my wrath."

Zuko rushed home from the storefront, hoping that he'd have enough time to change before heading to Nabu Middle School.  He had intended to head to the shop earlier, so he would have more time to talk with them, but his activity as the Blue Spirit was starting to catch up with him.  Ever since the contractors had started working on the shop, people have been going out of their way to try and vandalize it.  He'd been heading out every night to just make sure that the hard work would be undone overnight.  The attacks had even been regular enough for him to tell Eraserhead about it.  The pro said he'd look into it, but until they showed any signs of stopping, Zuko would head out every night.

However, his nightly routine meant that he tended to be more tired during the day.  It had gotten to the point that Miyata had noticed, and with the way the man was fussing, one would have thought Zuko was sick.  Although the man did seem to believe that that was the case.  He actually insisted that Zuko had to start using more of his vacation days if only so he could get more sleep or else he would call Shingo so they could tag team him.  

Zuko didn't know if the man was bluffing or if his boss and eldest child had exchanged numbers while he wasn't looking.  He wasn't sure how to feel about it if that did happen, and when Natsuo's teacher called to arrange a parent teacher conference, it gave Zuko a slight out in the situation, as he took a day off but still had important things to do.  He was a little concerned about what Natsuo's teacher would like to talk about, but he doubted it was that bad.  Out of all the kids, Natsuo was probably the most level headed.

Of course the one thing Zuko hadn't anticipated doing that day was falling asleep after taking Shouto to school.  After dropping the youngest off at Endo elementary, he'd gone home intending to build a kiln in the back yard for Touya when the combination of the warm sun and soft grass put him to sleep.  His stomach had woken him sometime later, and he realized while getting lunch if he wanted to visit the shop, he would have to leave not long afterward.  

He stopped by the Rising Sun on the way to the shop, hoping that the pastries would be a nice pick me up for the men.  He turned out to be right, as the men seemed rather happy to receive the treats, but he wasn't really able to talk to them before his alarm went off, leading to him having to rush home.  He was halfway there when he realized he left the trash on the counter and felt kind of guilty that they were going to have to take care of that.  He'd have to apologize the next time he stopped by.

When he got home he changed into his nicer clothes, which wasn't much all things considered.  Miyaka had gotten him a nice button up shirt and slacks for his last birthday, claiming that he would need them for dates, not that Zuko had felt all that inclined to date.  Even if he wasn't wholly dedicated to his kids, it still wouldn't feel right, not with all the secrets he would be keeping from them.  Any potential partner would be held at arm's length until he was sure that he could trust them, which would put too much strain on the relationship.

Regardless of the realities of his romantic prospects, the clothes were still good quality, and would hopefully provide the teachers with a good impression.  The teacher hadn't really told him anything about the situation so he hoped that a good first impression would make things a little easier at the very least.  

Once he was changed he walked to the school, the occasional crowd of children indicating that school had let out for the day which honestly made sense.  A teacher wouldn't want to have to juggle a class and a parent at the same time.  Agni knows he wouldn't have been able to do it, although firebending was more volatile than a room full of preteens, if only by a slim margin.  

Zuko shoved those thoughts away as he reached the school and had to remember the instructions he had been given to reach the classroom where the meeting would be held.  It was kind of eerie walking through empty hallways, his footsteps echoing in the empty space.  Fortunately it wasn't long before he reached the classroom.  Inside was Natsuo sitting next to his teacher's desk, the teacher looking stern and disappointed.  "Are you Yoshida Zuko?" the teacher asked as he entered the room, surprise appearing on his face for a split second before falling back into its previous expression.

"I'm Yoshida Zuko," he agreed as he made his way over to them, sitting next to Natsuo.

"I'm Ito Shinichi," the teacher said as they held out their hand to shake, "I'm glad you were able to make it today."

"May I ask what this is about?" Zuko inquired as he snuck a glance at Natsuo who looked like he was trying so hard to appear bored but was terrified.

"Saburo has been getting into fights," Ito told him, "We gave him warnings at first because nobody was really getting hurt, but the fight he got into the other day resulted in another student's nose being broken."

Zuko didn't really understand what was going on here.  He knew that fighting in school wasn't allowed, but he also knew that Natsuo wasn't the kind of kid that would go out looking for a fight.  There was clearly some context missing here, so he turned to him and asked, "What happened?"

Both Natsuo and the teacher looked surprised, but a lot of the tension in the kid's shoulders bled out at the question.  "I was hanging out with my friends when we came across some third years beating up on a first year calling them names and I told them to stop," he explained straightening as he did so, "I told them to stop and actually had to pull one of them off of the kid and they weren't happy about it.  So they decided to take a swing at me, and since you taught me how to defend myself I fought back.  The kid whose nose I broke had been sneaking up behind me when I accidentally elbowed them in the face."

Zuko felt both amused and furious hearing what was going on.  Amused at how an attempt at poor sportsmanship backfired horribly, and furious that Natsuo was the one being punished for all this.  "Have you had meetings with the other students' guardians?" he inquired, his gaze shifting to rest of the teacher as he put a protective arm around Natsuo.

"No," Ito replied cautiously, looking rather nervous and unsure.

"Have you scheduled any meetings with their guardians?" Zuko asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Not as of yet," Ito responded, shrinking back slightly.

"And why not?" Zuko was honestly furious now, but he had to keep his temper in check.  Burning down the school would be bad.

"The students told us that Saburo had attacked them and they were just defending themselves," the teacher defended, seeming to have regained some of his confidence with that justification, "And since Saburo has a history of getting into fights we felt it was prudent to bring the issue to you so it could be corrected for at home."

Zuko remembered how Natsuo had talked about his friends, how they had been bullied and he helped them, and the fights were making a lot of sense with this extra context.  "Are you aware that our brother is quirkless?" he asked, the sudden shift in the conversation seeming to throw the teacher off balance.

"I do remember seeing something about that," Ito replied hesitantly, "But I don't see how that is pertinent to the conversation."

"Shingo has been bullied significantly because he is quirkless," Zuko explained, wondering if it was really going to have to spell it out for them, "That's why I started teaching them self defense in the first place.  Saburo has seen the effect that bullying has had on our brother.  Have you bothered to consider the fact that the whole reason he gets into fights is because he's trying to stop bullies?"

Ito sat there sputtering for a moment before seeming to collect his wits.  "As noble as his intentions may be, it would be best for him to get a teacher."

"Because that's worked so well in the past," Zuko stated sarcastically.

"I've seen teachers walk straight past bullies beating up on their targets," Natsuo interjected, a quiet fury in his voice, "I know you won't help them, so I do what I can."

Zuko's heart filled with pride in that moment and he knew as soon as they were home he was going to heap loads of love and praise onto him.  He didn't deserve these amazing kids.  He had to focus though.  They needed to finish up this meeting before that could happen.

"I think it's clear that Saburo is not the problem here," Zuko stated, his gaze fixed on Ito, "And if something isn't done about it, I'm sure the authorities would be interested in conducting an investigation."

Ito gulped and nodded, seemingly unable to say anything else.  Zuko took that as the sign that it was time for them to leave.  He rose from his seat, Natsuo following his movement, even going so far as to tuck himself into Zuko's side as they left the room.  Zuko was a little worried about how much Natsuo was shaking, although as soon as they exited the school he burst out laughing.  It was kind of nice to hear the kid laugh loud and long considering what had just happened although it had been kind of amusing.

"That was great," Natsuo said as his laughter finally abated into occasional chuckles, "I've never seen Ito Sensei so expressive before.  I thought he was going to faint."

"I'm glad it was so amusing for you," Zuko told him sarcastically, although not really.  With how terrifying that must have been, it was kind of nice that things turned out the way they did.

There was a slight shift in the atmosphere as Natsuo's laughter fully died down, he was was suddenly looking away from Zuko.  "You aren't mad, are you?"

"Why would I be mad?" Zuko asked, completely confused by this sudden shift in tone, "I'm proud.  I'm so fucking proud that you're willing to step up when others aren't.  I know you're not the kind of kid to get into a fight just for the sake of fighting someone, and no one should make you feel bad for doing the right thing."

Zuko then pulled Natsuo into his arms, giving the kid a hug that he hoped conveyed all the pride and love he felt for this child.  "Thanks Dad," he said, his voice sounding surprisingly wet, although Zuko's mind got caught up on Dad.

"What did you call me?" he asked, just kind of stunned hat having the label again, even if he had thought of them as his kids for a while now.

"Shit," Natsuo exclaimed, seeming to realize what he had just said, attempting to pull out of the hug, "You aren't mad are you?"

"I'm not mad," Zuko promised as he released Natsuo, "If anything I'm honored and kind of stunned."

"You really shouldn't be," Natsuo stated as he started walking again, "You've been acting like a dad to us this whole time.  I'm surprised Shouto wasn't the first one to slip up since he's been referring to you like that for over a year."

"Shouto's been calling me dad behind my back for over a year?!" Zuko echoed, surprised he hadn't found about this before.

"It might have been longer," Natsuo commented, which felt like even more of a gut punch, "We weren't sure how you would react to it, so we've been doing our best to avoid it.  The others will probably be happy to hear that we don't have to anymore."

Zuko didn't know what to say to that so he just let the conversation end there.  The rest of the evening went well, with Shouto being overjoyed that he could finally call Zuko dad to his face, which was equal parts sweet and heartbreaking.  His obvious hesitance turning to joy at the response just made his heart ache.

Zuko tried to push those thoughts out of his head when he took to the rooftops that night.  Eraserhead told him to meet up on the roof of the building that was getting targeted, which helped him to focus his thoughts.  Taking care of the vandalism was important, and something he could only really do as the Blue Spirit.  

When he arrived on the rooftop, Eraserhead was already there, his goggles already on his face, although his posture indicated that he was watching the street below.  He approached the pro hero, who seemed to take notice of him when he was about ten feet away.  It was probably the goggles.  They didn't allow for a very good peripheral view.

"Things have been quiet so far," Eraserhead commented as he shifted, arranging himself so he was half facing Zuko while still able to see the street, "There have been a few suspicious characters that have passed by, but no signs of trouble as of yet."

Zuko nodded, somewhat unsurprised by that news.  The attacks on the shop had been happening between eleven and two in the morning, which could lead to spending the next several hours there sitting and waiting for something to happen.  The problem was, when he was forced to wait, his minded tended to wander and that was rarely a good thing.

The meeting at the school earlier was upsetting, especially because despite what Zuko had said, he couldn't really enforce it.  Reporting the school would only do good if the people in charge actually bothered to investigate, and he didn't really have faith in the government to care.  With everything he'd learned about this world, what he'd seen and experienced, had him doubting that change would be possible the way things currently were.

Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a jaw cracking yawn, his body reminding him that he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep recently.  "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you make a sound," Eraserhead commented, wry amusement in his voice, "I don't know how you manage to stay quiet all the time but there are a few people I know that I wish knew that skill."

Zuko shrugged.  He didn't really know how to respond to that so he just let his attention drift back down to the street.  His thoughts started to stray again when Eraserhead asked, "What's bothering you?"'

Zuko returned his attention to his companion, hoping the confusion in his body language would be obvious enough that he wouldn't have to sign it out.  "You're worried about something," Eraserhead elaborated as he shifted to they were more face to face, "And it's distracting you,  So, what's your problem?"

Zuko wasn't sure what to tell him, especially since he really didn't want to risk the hero figuring out his identity.  So he just signed, "School," hoping that might get the hero to back off.

"What?  Are you having problems with university courses or something like that?" Eraserhead asked, catching Zuko off guard, "Because sneaking out like this will only make your grades worse."

Zuko didn't know how to respond to that at first.  He knew his vigilante activities weren't good for his sleep schedule which is why he'd tried to limit himself early on, but he also knew he had to derail this conversation before wrong conclusions were made and a lecture was given.  "Not me," he started, hoping that the signs wouldn't be too confusing, "My kid's school.  Bullying problem."

"Huh," the hero commented, his demeanor shifting slightly, "What-"

The question was abruptly cut off as a loud slam came from the street below.  The two of them peeked over the edge to see a large van with four or five people standing next to it, grabbing crowbars, paint, and a variety of other things from the back.  Without a word the two of them jumped down, taking the would be vandals by surprise.  The fight was rather short as a result, and Zuko was soon taking off for home while Eraserhead waited for the police to arrive.

It was honestly kind of nice to have things wrapped up so quickly, because his bed was definitely calling him.  As he was putting his things away, he noticed a text from Eraserhead that said, "What's the name of the school?"

Zuko grinned almost as wide as his mask when he sent, "Nabu Middle School."

Zuko did his best to check up on the renovations of the Jasmine Dragon at least once a week, preferably while the work crew was there.  They were fun to talk to and he learned a lot about the work they were doing in the process.  He made sure to bring treats for them every time he came because they deserved it.  They were doing a lot of work for him, and put up with all the questions he asked them which probably slowed the process down considerably, so he figured it would only be polite to express his appreciation.  The fact that they were reformed criminals meant that they needed the appreciation more anyway, since most people didn't seem to want to give them a chance.

His visits were often met with smiles, and the work seemed to be getting done faster than they had thought it would.  At the end of July, they had replaced all the windows redone the floors, and had gotten the walls almost completely redone.  The only thing that they really had left to do was build the greenhouse on the roof, and there was a little over a month left in the contract.  Zuko had jokingly commented that he was probably going to have to give them a generous tip for the good work, and someone had shot back that the treats were good enough.

The men in the crew had definitely taken a liking to him, which Zuko wasn't sure how to process.  They liked trying to ruffle his hair, which was a little annoying as he had decided to let it grow out and had been tying it back.  It was long enough that he could tie it back into a top knot or wolf tail, which made the attempted ruffling awkward, but also meant that they tended to ruin his hair more often then not.  However, the worst part was when they did it he would have a sudden pang of longing for his friends.

All of them had ruffled his hair at some point, even Toph despite the fact that she had never really managed to get very tall.  These casual interactions that he was having with what were effectively strangers had him wishing that he had his friends back, that he would be able to interact with them like that again.  He did his best to hide the sadness he felt when those thoughts hit him, out of the blue and generally with no warning.

It didn't help that there were sometimes that he could have sworn he saw one of them out on the street.  A brief glimpse, barely a second, and whenever he tried to get a second look there was nothing.  He tried not to be disappointed every time it happened, but it couldn't stop the swell of hope that he felt, every time he spotted something familiar, only to lose sight of it in the blink of an eye.

He did his best to try and rationalize those feelings when they kept him up at night, when he was running across rooftops because his mind was running at the speed of thought and refusing to slow down enough for his body.  Spotting someone with what looks like a wolf tail doesn't mean it's a wolf tail.  Seeing a flash of blue on someone's arm doesn't mean they are an airbender that got their mastery tattoos at twelve.   Just because it looks like someone has hair loops doesn't mean they actually have hair loops.  Toph wasn't the only person in the world to sport a large bun.  Mai isn't the only person to have severe posture and twin buns.  There are plenty of people as bubbly as Ty Lee.  Suki is by no means the only person to wear face paint or carry golden fans.

He missed his friends, and it was hard to live in the present when flashes of his past kept swimming into view, daring him to follow them and risk drowning in his memories.  He supposed that was what made the Jasmine Dragon so important to him.  It was a connection to the past that he had forged, that was not burdened down by memories to the point that it would drown him.  At least he hoped it wouldn't.

When the Jasmine Dragon was finally renovated, it had been interesting to walk around, seeing walls that were so different from the ones in his memory, and yet had become those of the Jasmine Dragon.  He'd taken a big box of treats to the office for them having done such a great job, and several of them mentioned that they'd be keeping an eye out for what he would be doing there.  Zuko would have thought they were joking if it wasn't for the genuine curiosity and excitement on their faces.  Well, at least he would probably have customers at the grand opening.

There was still a lot to do before they could open as the Jasmine Dragon, but it was a lot of interior decoration.  They needed chairs and small tables to allow people to sit, he had some painting that he wanted to do on the walls, and then there was doing up the information that would go on the window.  Of course, he wanted to have the logo that Touya had designed to feature prominently, and it would be best if he put it up on the wall himself.

Zuko's first day off after the Jasmine Dragon was renovated, happened to be on a day when the kids didn't have school, so they grabbed some paint and tarps from the store and went to the shop.  After setting up the tarps so that the tiles would be covered and paint wouldn't drip onto the floor or counters, they got to work putting on the base layer.  They left the door open of course, so the paint fumes wouldn't collect in the room with them and cause any problems.

It had been a fun day, as the five of them were able to hang out and goof around a bit.  They did their best to keep the paint from getting in anyone's hair, but it was no holds barred on the clothes.  They all knew what they would be doing that day, so they wore some of their shabbier clothes, ones that they wouldn't mind getting ruined.

It took a long time to get the place properly painted since Zuko could only do it on his days off and they needed several base coats before they could start painting the designs.  As fall gave way to winter, he had to stop the painting for a bit as it had just gotten too cold and too dark to work there, especially with the door open.  So, he decided that it was the perfect time to go through one of the other items on the list: getting security cameras set up.

Natsuo directed him to a security company that would set up the cameras quickly and easily, feeding them into one of the upstairs offices which would act as a sort of security office.  Zuko used one of his days off to observe as they got everything set up.  There were only a few cameras.

One was in the main office, so they could keep an eye on the safe where the money would be stored.  One was in the main room facing the door, situated in the upper corner of the room, near the door to the kitchen.  It got pretty much the whole room, only lacking the area directly beneath it which was behind the counter.  There was a camera on the roof, positioned right above the roof access door, which allowed a good view of the greenhouse as well as the rest of the roof.  There was also one in the back at the employee entrance to the kitchen, to make sure that no one could sneak in through there.

Zuko was happy to have those there, making him feel a bit better about the safety of the location.  With his other days off, while waiting for the weather to warm up again, he started setting up the beds in the greenhouse.  He wasn't transferring the plants, not until there would be someone to take care of them, but it didn't hurt to set up the raised beds.  It would make it easier to transplant things when the grand opening was close enough that there would be a designated gardener.  He had also taken a moment just to mark out what plants would go where, so it would make the transplanting much easier and faster.

When things started to warm up again, Zuko almost got blindsided by something he really should have remembered: Touya's graduation.  It was kind of hard to believe that the angry thirteen-year-old he had met a little over four years ago was an adult that could do whatever he wanted, within reason.  There was also something comforting in knowing that he was an adult now, as if anything happened to Zuko he would be able to take care of the others.

This also meant that Touya no longer had obligations during the day, so if he wasn't working on commission work, he was at the Jasmine Dragon working on painting the interior of the shop.  Zuko had nearly been blown away when in the span of a little over a week he had pretty much finished the main room.

The only thing that needed to be done, in Zuko's opinion, was a little tribute to the family.  Along the back wall he had each of them put a paint handprint, a way of marking the shop as a place belonging to their family.  He liked the idea that even if they weren't there physically that there would always be a part of them there.  The line up was interesting as Shouto's had gotten smudged in his excitement and Touya's looked a little strange due to his scarring, but honestly Zuko wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

Chapter Text

 Aizawa Shouta was a man of practicality.  He didn't bother with fancy food, preferring high calorie portable foods like jelly pouches.  He learned how to fight quirkless, something that tended to be frowned upon, but also gave him an advantage in a fight due to how unexpected it was.  Villains also didn't tend to know how to defend against quirkless fighting, which combined with his capture weapon and his quirk tended to give him the advantage in most fights.  

Creating a partnership with the Blue Spirit had been another act of practicality.  Underground heroes didn't have the benefits of spotlight heroes which made gathering information and manpower for raids a lot more difficult.  Those in the underground community did help each other, but they also tended to make connections with vigilantes.  Now one always had to be careful when it came to working with vigilantes because people that tended to break one law weren't all that shy about breaking more.  There was also the fact that more than a few vigilantes were vigilantes so that they could use their quirk whenever they wanted bypassing the licensing that heroes had to undergo.

The Blue Spirit was not like these vigilantes.  His quirk wasn't obvious like most people's tended to be, and despite working with him for almost four years, Shouta still wasn't sure what it was.  He suspected it had something to do with the swords the man used, why else would he carry a outdated weapon like that, but there was no real evidence to support it.  If the Blue Spirit did use his quirk then it was subtle enough to go unnoticed and he was capable enough to fight without it.

The first time Shouta had used his quirk on the Blue Spirit, it was more a collateral move as his aim had been to erase the quirk of the man the vigilante had been fighting.  Most people didn't like Shota erasing their quirks, with Hizashi being the first and generally only exception to the rule.  The fact that the man didn't seem to notice or mind the erasure had been somewhat comforting and encouraged Shouta to cultivate their relationship.

He was somewhat cautious about what he revealed to the vigilante, because despite everything else he was still technically breaking the law, but he was a little more open with information and had even taken to training with him.  Very few people used quirkless fighting, but the odds of encountering someone that could fight quirkless were never zero, so the training was useful for the both of them.  It was also a rather eye opening experience in regards to just how strong the Blue Spirit was.  

He could effortlessly throw Shouta across the roof and was capable of taking hits like a champ, even able to avoid grunting when he did get hit.  That wasn't too surprising given how the man had managed to stay silent when taking a bullet to the shoulder the first time they met.  The fact that he hadn't disappeared immediately after getting injured like that had probably been one of the things that had inspired Shouta to seek him out.  Most heroes would have abandoned the fight after getting hit like that, but the Blue Spirit had stuck around until the police were able to handle it themselves.

Seeking out the Blue Spirit had been harder than he thought at first.  He had an area that he tended to patrol, and it wasn't all that surprising that it was in the rougher side of town.  It was easy to map out the area that the Blue Spirit tended to cover, and Shouta started spending a lot of time in that area, keeping an eye out for the vigilante.  There were more than a few near misses, where the vigilante had left the scene just before Shouta got there, but after a month or so he finally managed to corner the man and give him the burner phone.  If there was one vigilante he was willing to bet his life on it was this one.

So far the gamble had paid off with the Blue Spirit having his back on every occasion and even providing good information that helped to take down a villain or track down a criminal.  He'd also helped with a few raids, having been rather vicious when Shouta asked him help take out a human trafficking ring.  A viciousness that made a whole lot more sense now that he knew the vigilante had at least one kid of his own.

Honestly when the Blue Spirit had mentioned school there was a part of him that was worried that the vigilante was still in high school, especially given how he seemed to grow over the time that he'd known him.  It was hard to tell since he tended to stand in shadow, but Shouta was pretty sure that the vigilante had grown since they'd met.  Of course, given the new context of him having a kid in middle school, it could just have been a ruse to throw him off, purposely slumping down to make himself seem shorter than he actually was.  It wasn't something without precedence, although he tended to see it done in reverse with someone who was rather short trying to make themselves look bigger and more intimidating than they actually were.

Learning that the Blue Spirit's child was dealing with bullying at school was something that Shouta honestly thought he never would have learned.  Just as he had been attempting to keep the vigilante at arm's length, he had clearly been attempting to do the same.  Even though he'd taken Shouta's advice to learn sign language, he didn't tend to communicate that much, usually just relaying info learned while scouting during a raid.  There wasn't really a reason to communicate any more than that.

Shouta supposed he should have expected something personal when he asked the vigilante about what was bothering him.  Sure the guy's body language clearly expressed that whatever he was thinking about was upsetting him, but he really shouldn't have said anything.  The Blue Spirit was a capable fighter even when distracted, but there had been something that had encouraged him to ask.  There was a traitorous voice in the back of his head that sounded a lot like Hizashi that insisted the Blue Spirit was his friend and 'didn't friends help each other?'

Shouta had almost been glad that the vandals appeared, cutting the conversation short before things could get too personal.  There was a part of him that couldn't believe that he'd been about to ask the Blue Spirit for the name of his kid's school.  He knew what it was like to be bullied in school, how half the time it would be ignored by the teachers because of a students perceived faults, or simply because they want to maintain the illusion that they are a good school when they are anything but.  There were far too many times when he'd been hurt by the teachers inability or unwillingness to do anything, which had him empathizing with the vigilante.

It was clear he cared about his kid and the frustration in his movement made it obvious how upsetting it was to be dealing with the situation.  So, against his better judgment, Shouta asked, leaving it up to the vigilante as to whether or not he wanted help with the situation.  He hadn't expected such an immediate response, with the vigilante sending him the name of the school within hours of him sending the text.  It was a huge show of faith and trust, one that he was not going to take advantage of.

His most immediate course of action had been to look up the school in question, using the underground database.  One could learn a lot from what was logged in the underground database.  It was something that vigilantes would be wholly unaware of due to the fact that they were vigilantes but they unknowingly provided a significant amount of the information.  Underground heroes learned a lot of information from informants, vigilantes, and other heroes, which was then compiled into a database that Nezu was said to be in charge of.  While the database didn't have everything, it was a far more through then public databases were.

Nabu Middle School didn't have any red flags upon cursory inspection which was a point in its favor.  Criminal organizations running out of schools were rare but not as unlikely as the general public liked to believe, and the school was in an area where that wouldn't exactly be surprising.  The staff were relatively clean as well, with most speeding or parking tickets on their records.  There were a few with minor misdemeanors like illegal quirk usage and a few DUIs but nothing that wasn't really earthshattering.  Even minor connections to unsavory individuals was absent, although people were rarely overt about things like that.  On the other hand, the student body was rather interesting.

There were several students with direct connections to criminal organizations.  Most of it was relations to gang members, something that wasn't exactly unheard of given the area where they lived, and it appeared that none of them had joined quite yet.  It wouldn't exactly be surprising if they had, but without any proof it would be mere speculation.  There was one student that had a connection to the Yakuza, one Yoshida Saburo, although when Shouta looked into it the connection was weak at best.  Consider the fact that his family wasn't from the area they were probably unaware of the Yakuza connections that the contractors they hired had.

Once he was done with the student profiles he pulled up the school's records.  While they definitely weren't reliable, he knew that they could provide insight into the situation at the school especially in regards to if there were any salvageable staff members.  At first glance there didn't really seem to be any, with punishments being practically nonexistent and the being a rather clear bias in the reports.  There were a few connective threads in the reports from the last couple of years, with Yoshida Saburo sticking out as he apparently got into fights a lot.  In Shouta's experience this would usually mean that he was the one being bullied, but given the outside context he couldn't be sure.

There were a few ways that he could read this situation.  The first was that the kid and his family were completely innocent, with him having to deal with a bunch of bullies at school, and his older brother unknowingly hired former Yakuza members to fix up his shop.  That knowledge also made it obvious why it was getting attacked by vandals but that was a whole other problem that he didn't know how to handle.  Another reading could be that the kid was a bully and his family had Yakuza connections which was why they hired the contractors.  On the other hand the kid could still be a bully and oblivious to the Yakuza connections.  Yet another interpretation could be that the family was Yakuza but the kid was bullied in school.

The whole situation was giving him a headache, especially since he just didn't have enough information to be able to state anything definitively.  The other kids that tended to be involved in multiple fights were a mix of gang affiliated and not, which was rather interesting to see, although it did give some insight into who were probably the aggressors in each situation.  Once Shouta was done looking over the reports, he decided that he would have to do some reconnaissance.

He scouted out the area around the school, learning the area as well as determining the best methods for collecting information.  His usual method of pretending to be a homeless person would only do so much in this situation, eavesdropping on young teens could only yield so much information, and talking to them would be out of the question.  If they didn't avoid him because he was a stranger, then they would probably avoid him because he looks homeless.  Besides, the questions he would need to ask would be rather suspicious, and probably blow his cover.  

Another struggle he had to endure was proximity.  He couldn't be too close to the school because that would be suspicious as hell, especially since it was on the edge of one of the most crime ridden areas in the city.  He would probably be under attack within an hour as concerned citizens would call the police or the nearest hero, and they probably wouldn't take his concerns seriously.  There were too many heroes that had been bullies when they were kids, and the ones that patrolled the area most often were exactly those kinds of people.  They probably wouldn't see anything wrong with the situation and would be more upset that he was trying to help a vigilante no matter how indirectly it would be.

He decided to place a few hidden cameras in areas close to the school, mostly in places that he knew were kids were easily cornered.  Getting cornered in alleyways just off the school campus was a common occurrence when he was younger, although he also made sure that behind the dumpsters or under the bleachers was in sight of a few of the cameras just in case.  If they caught any illegal activities on them, it would be easy to go to the police and be able to get a warrant that would force the school to five him access to their security camera footage.  With that footage he would not only be able to expose any shady things going on at the school, but also show the evidence of bullying despite the zero tolerance policy they claimed to enforce.  

Shouta even got a body cam.  It would be useful to have recordings of any interactions he might have while undercover, but it would also allow him to record what happened around him while he was asleep.  Due to his patrol schedule having him up all night, he tended to spend the day sleeping, when he wasn't doing information gathering or hanging out with his friends.  Since this wasn't an official mission he would be doing it on his "free time" which would wreck his sleep schedule rather quickly.  The body cam would help to insure that even if he wasn't awake to collect the information he would be able to collect it regardless.

It almost seemed like overkill, going to such great lengths just for bullying, but honestly it was worth it.  Shouta had spent too much time growing up being the target of bullying and if he could help out a friend along the way, so be it.

The actual information gathering took much longer than Shouta would have liked.  He had decided to start his homeless man routine a fair distance away from the school and gradually move closer, hoping that it would make his presence less suspicious than it otherwise would have been.  His choice of food actually helped with the ruse, as most people seemed to assume that the jelly pouches were all he could afford, which in some cases did lead to him getting handouts. 

He treated all of them with suspicion, but one source managed to prove themselves to be somewhat trustworthy.  The source in question was a man that was around Shouta's age, although he couldn't really tell if they were older or younger than him.  He saw them five days a week at about six in the evening and they would be carrying a pastry box from a bakery in the area that Hizashi was rather fond of because it sold western pastries.   The other man worked there, and also happened to have rather loose lips, so Shouta managed to get a lot of gossip out of him.

A lot of it was rather trivial with a Zuko-san and Shin-kun featuring almost as much as his bosses.  Shin-kun was apparently a teenager they had taken to harboring in the bakery to protect him from bullies, which had been interesting, although the fact that he was in high school meant that if he decided to follow up on it he would be splitting his attention and that wouldn't help.  So, he moved on, doing his best to forget about all of that while he refocused his attention on the school.  

His first real lead in the whole situation came in a park a few blocks away from the school, when he was rather rudely reminded of one of the drawbacks of using the homeless man disguise.  He didn't know what had inspired the teenagers to approach him and jolt him awake, but he wasn't happy about it.  He was even less happy about it when they started yelling at him, attempting to force him to be their entertainment for whatever reason.  

Their jeers and prodding kicks had disappeared rather quickly when someone yelled at them to knock it off, and he turned his head to see Yoshida Saburo making his way towards them, a somewhat timid Mori Hibiki trailing after him.  There was a part of Shouta that was mildly amused to see a group of roughly five high schoolers back off in the face of a middle schooler, although given how often he apparently got into fights he probably had a bit of a reputation.  It probably didn't hurt that he was solidly built with a frame that wouldn't look out of place amongst the top ten heroes.

One the high schoolers had retreated, Yoshida and Mori actually asked him if he was okay, which was kind of surprising.  Most people generally wouldn't give a damn about a homeless person being attacked by delinquents, so it was unexpected, although maybe he should have expected it since the young man had managed to scare the others off with a mere yell.  Once they had been reassured that he was fine they wandered off a bit to a open part of the park and started sparring.

The spar was interesting as there was an obvious skill disparity which favored Yoshida, but he rarely pressed this advantage.  In fact, he appeared to be teaching Mori how to fight, and quirklessly at that.  It kind of made sense given that neither boy's quirk was really suited for combat, but people didn't often encourage others to take that route to become a hero, if that was even their goal there.  From what little Shouta managed to overhear, neither of them were fond of heroes.

Over the next couple of weeks, which was probably longer than he should have stayed in the park, Shouta found himself learning a lot about the boys and their school by association.  From what he could gather, Yoshida was teaching Mori self defense, which he had learned from his older brother.  It was interesting to watch because Yoshida clearly knew what he was doing but would often brush aside any compliment stating that his brother was better.

Then came one rather memorable day where Shouta broke his cover.  It had been a standard if rather chilly day, winter had been slow to leave the area and he was glad that he could just curl up inside his sleeping bag and ignore the world, when Yoshida and Mori arrived.  The thing that had him instantly alert was an icepack pressed up against Yoshida's left eye, and as they got closer an obviously fat lip.  "Are you okay?" he asked as the kids sat down on the bench near him instead of going to spar like normal.

The boys turned to look at him, causing the icepack to shift enough to expose the black eye Yoshida was sporting.  He couldn't have gotten that easily.  While he might not be on Shouta's level when it came to fighting prowess he wasn't a slouch either.  "It's fine," Yoshida told him, wincing slightly at the way the words pulled on his fat lip, "Honestly my sister's mother henning is probably going to be the worst part of this."

"What happened?" Shouta asked, a worry percolating in the back of his head.  He didn't want to immediately jump to abuse as the cause of Yoshida's injuries, but he also couldn't rule it out until he knew what happened.

"He got jumped," Mori informed him before Yoshida could really say anything, "The bullies don't like that Sabu-san gets in the way and prevents them from being able to beat others up, so they ganged up on him.  They look much worse though and Fujioka sensei wrote all of them up.  I'm surprised you weren't included in that list though.  Usually everyone in a fight ends up getting in trouble."

Yoshida scoffed slightly, and said, "I'm pretty sure that's because they don't want Zuko breathing down their necks.  Ito sensei probably told the staff about what he said during the meeting, and his reaction to me getting suspended last term probably has them walking on eggshells around me."

"What were you suspended for?" Shouta couldn't help but ask, his curiosity overwhelming any sort of logical thought, although since it was giving him information about the school he was investigating it wasn't like it hurt anything.

"Fighting," the boys answered in unison, although Yoshida continued with, "There were some older kids picking on a few first years and when I told them to stop they swung at me instead.  I try not to hit back because I don't want to really hurt anyone, but I ended up directing one guy's punch into the wall which broke his hand.  They suspended me for the rest of the week and Zuko was ready to just have me transfer schools, but I talked him out of it.  The staff don't really care about the students and do nothing to stop the bullying so having me switch schools would just allow the bullies to go around unchecked."

There was part of Aizawa that wished he could talk the kid into becoming a hero, because that was the kind of attitude a real hero needed.  Although, they might be able to help him with his current project, if they didn't immediately reject it on principle.  "Would you boys be willing to help me with something?" he asked, not liking but understanding the suddenly guarded expressions.

"What sort of thing do you need help with?" Yoshida inquired, his posture tense and defensive while Mori scooted closer to him.

Shouta took a moment to glance around the park and make sure that no one nearby could overhear him.  "I'm a pro hero," he told them as soon as he felt it was safe, causing both boys to straighten in shock, "I've actually been attempting to investigate your school for discriminatory practices and administrative abuse, but until I have some sort of tangible evidence I can't conduct a full investigation or else it would be deemed a waste of resources."

"So what do you want us to do?" Yoshida asked as he relaxed slightly.

"I'm going to give you body cams," Shouta told him, glad that he was willing to at least entertain the idea, "You just need to wear them at school and as soon as I have the footage I need to begin the investigation I will."

"That doesn't actually sound that bad," Mori stated as he finally relaxed.

"What's the catch?" Yoshida asked his eyes narrowed at Shouta in a way that made him look like he was mimicking someone more intimidating, probably his older brother.

"There is no catch," Shouta told him, trying to be convincing without putting too much emotion into his voice, "I just need you to wear the body cams to school, you can come here to download the footage at the end of each day and as soon as I have the footage I need you'll be reimbursed as information gatherers."

Yoshida stared at him thought fully, before glancing at Mori who seemed to be giving his friend a pleading look.  Yoshida huffed lightly before saying, "We'll do it."

It took longer than Shouta would have thought to get the footage needed.  It seemed like after the incident that caused Yoshida's black eye the teachers had started cracking down on the bullying, making the place seem like it wasn't as corrupt as other places.  Mori had posited the theory that after the very obvious sign that they weren't doing anything about the bullying they had to make it look like they were, since Zuko apparently wouldn't be afraid to go to the authorities about this.  That even seemed to be the case as there appeared to be administrators doing an investigation of the school in the footage.

The staff managed to keep the ruse going through to the start of the next school year, which ended up exposing another issue with the plan.  Yoshida was well known for stopping bullies, so his mere presence tended to deter them.  It would have been impressive if it wasn't also making it impossible to get the footage he needed.  He didn't want to tell the kid to stop stepping in, but his refusal to let bullying happen was making the operation rather difficult.  Fortunately, Mori didn't have the same presence that Yoshida did.

The teen had been absolutely beaming when he ran up to Shouta presenting his body cam, even able to provide an approximate time that the incident happened.  The footage showed a second year using their quirk on a first year, who was screaming for help.  At least two teachers walked by before Yoshida arrived, ending the situation right then and there.  It was perfect, and there was a part of him that couldn't wait to ruin the careers of the teachers that had just walked past.  People who didn't do anything in those situations didn't deserve to be teachers.

Shouta took the footage to the police and was not only able to open an investigation into the school, but leveled criminal negligence charges against the teachers that had ignored the bullying.  From there a police analyst retrieved the footage from the school's security system and started scrubbing it for other instances of negligence.  The whole administrative staff was under fire for letting the situation escalate as much as it had, and most of the staff was replaced within a month, having either been removed due to their own criminal negligence or having opted to retire in order to limit association.

Shouta personally didn't care much for the amount of press the situation got, especially since there were more then a few people claiming that it wasn't really doing any harm to the kids.  Part of him was glad that the police had taken over the investigation after he provided them with the evidence as he wouldn't have been able to stand being the public face for the situation.  The underground community had actually praised him for it, several of them claiming to have gone through similar situations in school, making it more personal and cathartic.  

Meeting with the teens for the last time had been interesting.  It should have been a short and simple exchange with the two of them giving him the body cams while he gave them their payment, but they managed to draw him into a conversation about their future career opportunities.  Shouta hadn't been able to stop himself from mentioning that the two of them would make great heroes.  Yoshida had been against it, but Mori was actually interested, so he offered to recommend him to UA.  

It took the teen a bit to accept that this was actually real, but Shouta was willing to show how serious he was about this.  He offered to train Mori so eh would be prepared and on par with with the other recommended students who had likely been training their whole lives for the exam.  The teen accepted, swapping contact information so they would be able to set up a training schedule.  Hizashi was definitely going to tease him for getting attached, but he wasn't about to let someone with talent and morals miss their chance to become a great hero.

Nezu watched the news pensively, the story about the recent overhaul of Nabu Middle School playing yet again.  It seemed like it was all anyone could talk about these days.  Although Nezu enjoyed the details that were left out of the news report more than what they kept in.  There had been several attempts over the last few years to have an investigation into the school, but they had all been surface level at best.  The teachers were good at making it appear like they were doing their jobs, but it was obvious that the investigators weren't really putting that much effort into the investigation.

This investigation, on the other hand, had managed to go much deeper, and the cause of it went completely unmentioned in the news story.  Nezu had been curious when Eraserhead had started investigating a school that for all intents and purposes appeared to be unremarkable. He had at first wondered if the hero had received a tip of something shady happening at the school, but after several months with no update he had more or less forgotten about it.  

That had clearly been a mistake when out of the blue, reports were suddenly popping out of the woodwork about the rampant bullying and criminal negligence at Nabu Middle school.  This development had intrigued him so much that he looked into the investigation done by the police to find that Eraserhead was behind the whole thing.  A little digging had uncovered the fact that he had hired two of the students, victims of the administration's actions, to collect the evidence needed to start the investigation.

Nezu vaguely remembered when Aizawa was a student at UA, how he managed to overcome all the obstacles placed in his way by others, and had even managed to recover from the loss of his friend.  Aizawa would be a great teacher, one that would put the students before the system, instead of vice verse.  However, he would probably need some incentive.  Being a teacher didn't pay much better than being an underground hero did, and the resulting loss of sleep wouldn't help either situation.

It would probably help if there were some friendly faces amongst the staff.  Yamada and Kayama would also make good teachers, and he even knew which classes they would do the best in.  All he had to do was figure out how to bully those teachers into early retirement. Although, he did know someone who would help.

Chapter Text

With the Jasmine Dragon mostly complete, it was time to start hiring employees.  Zuko had gone to Natsuo as soon as he felt that the shop was fully furnished, only requiring the transplanting of the tea plants and purchase of supplies being truly necessary.  He had been somewhat unsurprised that the teen had already created online job listings, and had even gone so far as to do up fliers that could be put up around the neighborhood.  A copy of the flier had then been printed up, and taken to a print shop where they had two hundred copies made. The copies were then given to Touya who went around the neighborhood putting them up when he wasn't working on commissions or building his kiln.  He had been using the one at school to do glazing before, but now that he had graduated, he needed his own, and Zuko had already gotten one started.

They worked together on the kiln when Zuko's days off overlapped with school days, and the work inspired him to start work on a small forge.  He dual dao were just too small for him, a fact that he had come to terms with somewhat recently.  This hadn't really been a problem for him in the past as when he outgrew his old swords he would either be able to make a new pair at Piandao's estate or grab one from the armory.  He had been using the too short blades, which was growing inconvenient as he started missing his strikes by several centimeters due to the blades not being the right length.

So he needed to make a forge to be able to make new blades, but the problem was he never really had experience doing it.  He knew the basics of what was needed, having had to re-forge his blades more times than he probably should have, but it seemed like the details were escaping him.  It wasn't too surprising given that it had been over five decades since he had last been in a forge, but that didn't mean it wasn't frustrating.  He decided it would be best to take his frustration out on the grass and look the rest up later.  "What's this for?" Touya asked as he slid is latest set of tea cups into the kiln.

"A forge," Zuko told him, as he overturned the dirt in the part of the lawn he had marked out, "It's used for metal working.  I wanted to make some new blades."

Zuko barely kept himself from laughing when Touya's face quickly transitioned from curious to excited to pleading.  There was a part of him that wanted to covertly snap a picture of the expression, just so the others could see it.  However, technology was not his strong suit, even if he had gotten better at using it.  "There's a lot of work that goes into making one of these things," he informed the eighteen-year-old who deflated slightly, "But once it's set up I would be willing to show you how to use it."

Touya cheered, and Zuko wouldn't have been surprised if the entire neighborhood heard it.  Piandao would be happy that his teachings were being passed on, even if they weren't being used for their originally intended purpose.  However, he probably wouldn't mind given that there wasn't really a need to fight like they had in the past.  For as messed up as this world was, at least they weren't at war.  His kids didn't have to worry about being drafted into a war they were taught was just but was built on a foundation of lies, nor fight for their lives against people who hated them just because of where they came from.  

Zuko shook his head to dispel those thoughts, a small smile tugging at his lips, as he ruffled the teens hair.  His hands were batted away halfheartedly, although both of them were chuckling.  Part of him was proud that Touya had managed to come so far over the years, going from being a hurt thirteen year old focused solely on getting revenge on a father who didn't care to an eighteen year old who would sacrifice everything for his siblings.  He could only hope that Uncle Iroh could see or know that he had managed to help a kid that had been so much like himself at that age.  Agni knows his uncle had an incredible amount of patience to put up with him back then.

Applications for positions at the Jasmine Dragon slowly started trickling in, with some positions being more sought after than others.  There were plenty of people that wanted to be pastry chefs, and a few applicants for the cashier position, but dishwashers and gardeners were apparently hard to find.  He hoped that the applicants for those positions would at least be competent, especially since there were more than a few people who seemed to think that their quirk would just get them the job given their resumes.  There was a part of him that was actually glad he would disappoint them.

He'd been rather worried about the security of the shop as he had gone about furnishing it, worried that the vandals would only be one of many threats to the shop, but things had been rather calm recently.  After Eraserhead had helped him arrest a group of vandals the attacks had slowed to once a week before decreasing to once a month, although he hadn't seen any sign of them in the last two.  He supposed that Eraserhead might have gotten them instead, considering the fact that he would sometimes see the hero in the area on patrol, but the shop was still surprisingly safe.  He'd even checked the security cameras to make sure that no one had broken in.   

The footage was rather interesting to say the least.  While apparently no one had broken into the shop to steal anything, there had been more than a few fights that had happened right in front of the shop.  It was hard to tell what happened, especially since most of the time something would suddenly appear and obscure the windows, but since the shop hadn't been damaged he wasn't going to look into it too hard.  It wasn't like he could do anything anyways, since there was no way to identify any of the combatants.  At least the shop wasn't getting wrecked in the scuffle.

It was a good thing that the shop was in such great condition because it gave Zuko the perfect place to hold interviews.  He'd had over a dozen applicants by the end of the month, which led to him arranging interviews for his next days off.  He set up a half hour for each interview with a good ten to fifteen minutes between them so if an interview did run over that it wouldn't affect any of the others.  There were some complaints about the dates, mostly whining if he was being honest, but when he asked if he should remove them from the list, they would change their tune.  He made note of it on their applications anyway because that did not bode well for the actual interview.

The next part of the process was actually coming up with the questions he was going to ask them.  He started by looking up interview questions online, most of which were written down on his list, but they also didn't feel like they were enough.  He spent a long time staring at the list, and looking up even more online, but it just wasn't working.  It felt like the list was missing something important but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.  So as had become his habit, he talked to the kids.

"Does this look like a good list of interview questions?" Zuko asked one night, handing the sheet of paper over to the kids so they could look at it.

"The list is pretty good," Natsuo offered as he cross referenced a similar list on his phone, "There isn't really anything I would add to it."

"There's nothing about quirks on here," Fuyumi commented as she passed the paper off to Touya. 

"He shouldn't be asking about quirks," Touya stated, setting aside the teacup he had been working on to accept the paper, "It'll just make any quirkless people uncomfortable, and a quirked person would probably be happy to brag about their quirk to anyone who will listen unprompted."

"I didn't plan to," Zuko admitted, over four years in and still not comfortable with the ubiquity of quirks, "In the four nations you don't just go around asking people if they are benders unless it pertains to the job.  But I'm not that surprised about the quirk thing.  There were a few applicants that seemed to be pushing to be hired simply because they had a quirk.  Besides, it just feels like there's something missing from the list and I don't know what it is."

The kids looked thoughtful at that, prompting Touya to look down at the list with a little more scrutiny. "You should also ask how they feel about quirkless people," Natsuo added as he leaned forward in his seat, "Touya's pretending to be quirkless, so it's a fair question to ask. I doubt you want to hire someone who's going to treat one of us like shit."

"Language," Zuko scolded, not even looking up from what he was writing.  He knew it was kind of hypocritical since he had been trying out the extensive list of swears he learned on his ship at Natsuo's age, but it was a habit engrained in him from when he was raising Izumi.  They were different swears of course, but from what he'd learned in the bakery, he now had two different sets of swear words in his head.

"Honestly, it is a question you should ask," Touya offered, completely ignoring Zuko's interjection, "You should also record the interviews.  Let them know that you are going to record the interview at the start, and actually do it.  Some people aren't careful about their words, but anyone that seems to be actively censoring themselves probably knows that they're usual behavior isn't acceptable."

Zuko thought about his words, and realized that there was a kernel of truth in them.  People that behaved differently when they were being recorded, he'd seen it more than once at the bakery when people's attitude would do a complete one eighty when they realized they were being recorded.  Of course it wasn't always the case as some people would just double down in their words, which could be more than a little infuriating when they were wrong the whole time.  At least it would serve as evidence that he wasn't being unjust, and would allow him to go over the interviews again later.

He made a note to figure out how to record the conversations, preferably with video, although the security system could probably help with that.  There was a camera in the office, which may or may not have audio capabilities.  He was probably going to have to check that, but Natsuo would probably be able to help him figure something out.  That kid was probably smarter than his whole court put together. 

When Zuko went to go check on the office of the Jasmine Dragon, he discovered that Natsuo and Touya had apparently decided to rearrange the office a bit to make things easier.  The filing cabinets that had been left there were pushed into the corners, so they took up less space, and a few chairs were placed around the desk in the room.  They had also added a computer, with the login in information for the thing on a little notebook in the desk.  He discovered upon booting it up that the young teen had also placed cameras around the room, ones that were a lot like the security cameras, which was kind of the function they served.

When he asked Natsuo about it, since he was pretty sure none of them had gotten a desktop, the teen revealed that it had actually been in the house when they bought it.  Once they had started getting access to their utilities, he'd plugged it in to figure out it's qualifications, before refurbishing it.  It was a perfectly serviceable computer, especially for a small business.  Zuko couldn't say anything to dispute that, and he only hoped that what work he would have to use it for wouldn't be too complicated.

When the first day of interviews arrived, Touya and Zuko went to the shop early in the morning to clean it before the interviewees arrived.  There wasn't really that much to do since the shop wasn't in use and there hadn't been any recent attempts at vandalism.  After they cleaned up what little dust existed, Touya settled himself in the main area, offering to act as a go between so Zuko wouldn't have to be getting up all the time to let people in, or out.  He wasn't surprised and didn't mind that the now adult would be sketching in the meantime.  He had far more important things to worry about.

Nishimura Hishiko was nervous as she made her way to the Jasmine Dragon for her interview.  She had known growing up that getting or keeping a job as a quirkless person was difficult, and when she had seen the flier about a new shop hiring on her way home from work she decided to apply.  She was hoping that getting a part time job there would make it easier to make ends meet.  Her job at the grocery store wasn't the best, and didn't pay very well, but there was no guarantee that this new job would either.

She had seen at least five different businesses attempt to start up in that storefront before getting ruined by gang warfare or villain attacks. If the first one didn't do them in, the constant barrage of repair bills would.  But she needed the money.  Even with her four roommates, they were barely making ends meet as it was, but that was just standard for quirkless people.

It didn't help that two of their roommates were older, and thus limited in the jobs they were able to get.  They were also the first to be let go if a workplace had to cut costs, despite the fact that they were doing twice as much work as their quirked counterparts.  It was unfair, but that was unfortunately life these days.  The quirkless community had been shrinking, both because of birth rates and suicide rates.  There were only half a dozen kids in the area that were quirkless, and most of them were in elementary school.  She worried that that would never change.

When she got to the shop, she could see a young man with some severe burn scars leaning over something on the counter.  She jumped when she opened the door, having failed to realize that there was a bell set up to alert the person at the counter about a new customer.  The young man's head shot up at the noise, and Hishiko found herself staring into some rather nice amber eyes.  "Are you here for an interview?" he asked, his voice kind of rough, a bit like someone who was a chain smoker, or dealing with the aftereffects of smoke inhalation.  One of the scenarios was more likely than the other.

"Yes," she replied doing her best not to stare at his burn scars.

The young man picked up a phone from the counter, slightly off of where his attention had been before she entered.  "You're ten minutes early," he informed her, although the tone was very matter of fact, not dismissive or reproachful as she had received in the past, "You can take a seat while you wait.  The other guy's still up there."

She nodded before pulling out a chair at one of the middle tables.  It was the chair next to the wall, so she could see the whole room and even out into the street.  The young man went back to whatever he had been doing before she entered, so Hishiko pulled out her phone if only to have something to fiddle with.  She was very nervous and while she had been getting a lot of support from the quirkless community, she knew that there were far too many quirkists in the area for her not to have messages telling her that she's better off just killing herself.

In the end she turned her phone on and started playing a game on it, something basic that she could just play and not have to worry about concentrating on too much.  She'd spent the last week being anxious about this interview, having led to several near misses at work or home as her clumsiness had gone from an occasional annoyance to a workplace hazard.  Fortunately, years of being tripped by her classmates, or randomly shoved had led to her being able to regain her balance rather quickly, so while she stumbled, she never fell.

In what felt like no time at all and an eternity at the same time, the man that must have been interviewing before her stomped out.  That didn't help her nerves one bit, and as the young man led her up to the office, she fought to swallow back the terror that threatened to choke her.  It did end up dissipating somewhat, being replaced by confusion as the man at the desk in the office was also rather young, the left side of his face marred by a burn scar as well.  "Good afternoon.  I'm Yoshida Zuko," he told her as he held a hand out to shake, his voice rough as well.

"Nishimura Hishiko," she responded as she shook his hand, "Thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"Thank you for applying," Yoshida san said as he sat back with a casual smile, "Would you mind if the conversation was recorded?  It's just for safety purposes."

"Not at all," Hishiko replied, not really seeing a problem with the conversation being recorded as long as he didn't try and get personal information out of her.

Yoshida san nodded, turning to the side to press something before focusing his attention on her again.  "So," he started, his golden gaze almost seeming to pin her in place, "Tell me about yourself."

"Well," Hishiko started, the answers she had spent so much time preparing having seemed to fled her mind at his scrutiny, "I've been working in cafes and stores for about twenty years, starting when I was sixteen.  I was often put in charge of the register, but I have also done stocking, cooking, and cleaning.  I can be a bit clumsy, but I have a good head for numbers, and I follow instructions."

"That's good," he commented as he started to write something down, "I noticed in your application you marked that you were applying for all the positions.  Why is that?"

Hishiko bit her lip nervously before replying.  "I have experience with all the positions, so I applied for all of them hoping that if you decided I didn't fit in one of the roles that I could be put into another.  I have been a dishwasher at the Yukimura cat café, I work the register at the Sarutobi grocery, I used to garden with my grandmother, so I know how to care for plants, and I have some cooking experience from the Hashimoto bakery."

Yoshida san wrote several things down, although he did look rather pleased with whatever he was writing.  "Now, why do you want this job?"

"I am looking to supplement my income," Hishiko told him, seeing no point in beating around the bush, "My current job doesn't pay a lot, and even living with several other people I am barely getting by."

"I see."  He didn't look very happy about that.  Hishiko wish she could have lied, and told him that she was very interested in whatever the shop was going to be, but she had always been a horrible liar.  It was better to be honest and prime him to hate her, rather than wait for the reveal of her quirklessness that was sure to come up in a later question.  "What is your greatest strength?"

"My problem solving and people skills," Hishiko answered, the question one that she knew quite well, and one which the answer to hadn't changed much over the years, "There was one time when I was working at the grocery and had to handle a woman that was returning some items that she had been unsatisfied with.  I was not only able to keep the situation from escalating with how upset she was getting, but also get her the appropriate refund for the situation."

"Impressive.  Now what is your greatest weakness?"

"Confrontation.  I have a hard time confronting people when they are doing something wrong, or when they tell me I am doing something wrong.  I tend to give in a little too easily, which has led to me making mistakes in the past."

Yoshida san actually paused and looked at her, his golden eyes seeming to stare into her soul, causing her to freeze, not daring to breath while trapped in that gaze.  Soon enough his attention was back on the paper in front of him, and Hishiko had to work to keep her breaths even and steady.  "How do you handle pressure?"

"I do well under pressure.  Stress actually helps me focus, so when things get busy, I can keep a level head, and prevent things from falling apart."

"What led you to apply here?"

Hishiko had to actually stop and think about that.  She had passed many fliers about people hiring but what had specifically drawn her to the one for this place?  "It's close to my home," she offered, although she had a feeling that there was something more to it than that, "It's more convenient than most places that are hiring, and I liked the color scheme."

That got a small chuckle out of Yoshida san, so she figured it was a win, albeit a small one.  "What's your experience with brewing tea?"

Hishiko had to think about that.  She was familiar with coffee, it was the only reason she could function some days, but tea was something she had only ever had at her grandmother's house.  The woman loved the stuff, and would try plying her daughter and granddaughter with some every time they were over.  Hishiko hadn't minded because her grandmother was one of the few people in her life that hadn't cared about her diagnosis at age four, and even told her stories about back when quirkless people were the majority not the minority.

"I don't really have any," she eventually replied, because she couldn't for the life of her remember if her grandmother had ever tried to teach her how to brew tea.

"What are your feelings on tea?"

"I like tea.  I used to drink it with my grandmother all the time, but that was years ago."

Yoshida san had a small wistful smile on his face as he made a note, and Hishiko couldn't help but wonder if he had had a similar experience.  "What's your opinion on quirkless people?"

Hishiko felt her brain stutter at that question, which was something she honestly never expected to hear, not aimed at herself or anyone around her.  There were so many people that disregarded quirkless people, with some being actively hostile to them.  It wasn't uncommon for quirkless people to be the target of crimes or discrimination, so she could only hope that he wasn't one of those people.  "Quirkless people are humans just like everyone else and deserve to be treated better," she told him, hoping that she hadn't come off as defensive as she felt she had.

He didn't seem to mind though as the corner of his mouth twitched upward, like he had been about to smile but had stopped himself.  Hishiko hoped that boded well for her, but she knew better than to be optimistic.  He probably knew that he had managed to catch her out, to get her to admit that she was quirkless without explicitly saying she was quirkless.  "I think you'll fit in quite well here."

Hishiko felt her jaw drop at those words, at the implication behind them, not daring to hope that it might be right.  "Do you mean-?"

"Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon Nishimura Hishiko," Yoshida san told her as he got up and held out his hand, "Would you like to take a moment to discuss salary?"

"Of course," she replied, feeling oddly detached from herself as she shook his hand, part of her saying that it was a trick, a trap, but she couldn't help but hope that he was being genuine with his words.

"Now I was thinking of having you work in the kitchen where you would be able to take on any task that might be needed at any point in time," he told her as he sat back down, his manner very professional, which had her straightening instinctively, "How does two thousand yen an hour sound?"

This had to be a prank.  There was no way that he could possibly be offering her such a good salary.  She could only dream of having that kind of salary.  "That is far too generous," she finally managed to choke out.

"I think it's rather fair actually," Yoshida san replied, his lips tilting downward slightly, "You will be doing a significant amount of work and probably training future employees, so it’s a decent salary."

"You do know I'm quirkless right?"

She shouldn't have said it.  She should have kept her mouth shut and let him think whatever he wanted about the quirk she had.  A salary like that was worth quitting her job over.  She would easily be able to pay for the apartment with that salary.  Now it was going to change, she just knew it.

"I know," he said casually, so very casually, like it didn't send her mind spiraling at the fact, "That won't affect your salary.  You are just as capable of handling the job as a person with a quirk if not more so.  Your quirk status isn't going to affect my decision."

Hishiko felt blindsided by his words, like she was unable to cope with what he was saying because it contradicted everything she had experienced up to this point.  She didn't realize she was crying until he held out a handkerchief, making her suddenly aware of the streams of tears running down her face.  She accepted the cloth with a thankful nod, wiping away her tears and blowing her nose as the tears slowed to a stop.

"This has all the information you'll need," Yoshida san told her as he pushed a paper across the desk towards her, "I’ll call sometime this next week to work out a schedule, or would you like me to email you?"

"Email would probably be best," she told him as she folded the paper and slipped it into her purse, "Thank you for this opportunity."

"You're welcome," he told her, a warm smile on his face, "Shingo should be up here in a moment to escort you out."

The young man from downstairs opened the door a moment later, and Hishiko followed him out, feeling oddly drained as she passed a young woman that was clearly there for her own interview.  As she made her way back to the apartment, she felt almost giddy, excited for what the future was going to bring.

Zuko sat on the couch reviewing his notes from the interviews.  There had only been four people he had been willing to hire on the spot, and three of them were quirkless.  All four of them had been shocked at his offer, but he could tell that they were all too used to the status quo of this world.  He hoped that he could change that.  There were another three people that he was kind of on the fence about due to one reason or another.

One of them had actually been told by Kubo to apply, as his criminal record made it rather hard for him to find honest work, and his lack of strength made it difficult for him to work in construction.  Zuko was only slightly hesitant to hire him because of his foul mouth.  Touya really didn't need more curse words to add to his vocabulary.  Other than that things seemed pretty okay.  Shinya had apparently been a messenger boy in the past, one that didn't really care who he was carrying the messages for.  After getting arrested in a raid of a drug ring he decided it wasn't worth it anymore.  His prison record ruined his career options, but he liked to bake so he would probably fit in well in the shop.

Zuko already knew that Hishiko was going to be his number two as she was the only person who had experience in all of the different positions.  Chika would be their gardener, her quirk making her ideal for handling the plants, while her gentle demeanor and nonjudgmental nature would make it easy for her to get along with her coworkers.  Kenjo would be in the kitchen with Touya and Hishiko, his time as a cook making it the ideal place to put him.  Sakura would be the one best suited for running the register, her outgoing nature and friendly personality making her the ideal person for handling customer service.

It was still disappointing that there were at more than six people that applied that he could not hire in good conscious.  All of them had quirks, but that wasn't what had made them unpalatable for him.  They seemed to hold the belief that because they had a quirk, they had a right to have the job, despite their lack of experience, or in some cases distaste for what the job actually entailed.  It wasn't that much of a surprise that they were all fairly young, and most likely unaware of how entitled they were being, but Zuko wasn't bothered by having to give them that reality check.  It had been especially satisfying when one of them tried to threatened him.  He didn't care for people that were willing to resort to violence to get what they wanted, and that got them put on the permanent ban list automatically.  Natsuo was already working on getting a restraining order put out against them so they couldn't attempt to actually carry out their threat.

The two that had potential were tricky.  One of them was quirkless, he could tell by their shoes, but they were angry and confrontational.  They weren't fond of people with quirks, and basically said that right to his face.  In fact, Zuko had spent most of the interview feeling rather uncomfortable as they just ranted about their problems and how messed up society was.  While he could understand where they were coming from, that did not excuse their behavior.  He didn't want to create a hostile work environment, which would probably happen if he hired them.  

The other one had a quirk, but there was something in their mannerisms that seemed deceitful.  Sitting across from her had almost felt like he was face to face with Azula again, where lying came as easily as breathing.  In those situations, there was no way to separate the truth from the lies until after she was gone and he had time to puzzle through everything, if he ever got the time.  It almost felt like she was challenging him, daring him to say something against her, to tell her that she couldn't work there for whatever reason, and he hated the mind games.

So, he was going to turn it over to Natsuo.  He could probably look into them, look into whatever it was he did to get information on people and give his take on them.  They both had some good qualifications, but he just needed to be sure.  Why was it so hard to find good help? 

Chapter Text

Zuko had been dreading this meeting.  He'd avoided talking about the Jasmine Dragon at the bakery, feeling too awkward to tell his current bosses that he was working on securing a different job for himself on his days off.  Natsuo had helped him get things set up legally, and with the grand opening of the Jasmine Dragon less than a month away, he knew he had to tell them.  So, he arranged a meeting with Miyake, hoping that things wouldn't end up going too horribly.

"Hey Yoshida san," Miyake greeted as he opened the door to his office, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"I came to post my two weeks’ notice," Zuko replied as he handed over the letter of resignation that Natsuo had helped him write up.

"Well, I’m sorry to hear that," Miyake replied, looking genuinely sad as he accepted the letter, "Is there a reason why?"

"It has nothing to do with the bakery," Zuko blurted out, not wanting to make him feel bad about the whole situation, "It's just- I’m getting ready to open the tea shop that I've always wanted to, and I can't exactly work here and manage my shop at the same time."

Miyake stared at him for a moment before letting out a shocked huff.  However it didn't take long for the older man to compose himself, a look of pride maybe settling on his face as he stared at Zuko. Eventually he shook his head, a small but sincere smile on his face.  "Is that all?"

"I was also wondering if I could place an order?" Zuko asked, honestly feeling significantly more self conscious about this next request.

"Oh?" Miyake said, his left eyebrow raised in question, which made his scar itch at the reminder that he could not do the same.

"I was hoping to purchase a variety of pastries to sell at the grand opening since things won't be fully set up quite yet.  It would not only provide the Jasmine Dragon with more goods to sell, but help promote the Rising Sun Bakery."

Natsuo had suggested it.  It was just like how the tea cups and pots would promote Touya's art.  It was kind of a win-win for all of them, as long as the grand opening went well.  "I'll talk to Ichiro," Miyake told him, as he carefully set aside the paperwork, "It'll be sad to see you go."

"It's not like it will be permanent," Zuko offered, which was partially to reassure himself as well as Miyake, "My siblings love this place too much to stay away for long.  Besides, you could always come and visit."

Miyake looked thoughtful at that, a small smile gracing his face.  "I'll have to keep that in mind," he stated before turning back to what he had been working on before Zuko arrived, "Now, don't you have work to get back to?" 

"Yes sir," Zuko replied as he left the office, the guilt in his chest easing slightly with the delivery out of the way.

Miyata took the news rather well, at least as far as Zuko could tell.  The man had pulled him aside and told him that he was proud of him, and that had been it.  Well, up until his last day when they had apparently decided to throw him a bit of a party after work, celebrating the impending opening of the Jasmine Dragon.  He had been touched by their actions, and the fact that they had managed to get the kids there without him knowing was rather impressive.  

Once Zuko had the day to himself, he started doing the necessary steps that were necessary for the Jasmine Dragon's grand opening.  He started by organizing the supplies that had been ordered, totaling five hundred paper cups in twelve ounces, sixteen ounces, and twenty-four ounces, with two thousand lids, and two thousand paper sleeves with the Jasmine Dragon logo printed onto them.  There were also five thousand paper plates and five thousand napkins in the order.  Zuko had been slightly concerned when Natsuo first told him about it, worried that it would be too much, but after getting everything moved into the shop he was starting to wonder if it was enough.

He also made sure to transplant the plants from the greenhouse at their home to the greenhouse at the Jasmine Dragon, having gotten Chika to do it with him, in addition to the plants that she had offered to add from her own garden.  Her ability to accelerate plant growth was going to be useful, although it would mean they would need to make sure and keep the fertilizer well stocked as using her quirk drained the soil of its nutrients.  Luckily, she knew of a good brand that was affordable, water soluble and could be bought in large quantities.

Transporting the ceramics to the shop was rather harrowing, and just reminded Zuko that he needed to get a car.  All it would have taken was one careless driver and days of Touya's hard work would have been wasted.  Fortunately, their caution allowed them to get all of the ceramics there safely, and he proudly unpacked them, marveling over the skilled craftsmanship.  They were incredibly smooth, and each pot had been decorated differently, with the type of tea that would be made in them having been worked into the design.  There were little details like the pot for jasmine having jasmine flowers on it, or the pot for chai having cinnamon sticks worked into the design.

Stocking the kitchen had been happening gradually, as they got mixing bowls, stand mixers, large baking sheets, and stuff like that.  Miyake had actually given some advice on where to find those items, revealing that there was a whole store that sold materials for restaurants and cafes, from equipment to ingredients.  Zuko had actually been debating whether or not to get the organic flour, sugar, and the like.  They were more expensive, but given what he had learned about the food of this world, would probably be healthier and better in the long run.

The two days left before the grand opening were dedicated to training. Zuko may only have five employees, six if he included Touya, but he wanted to make sure they knew how to do everything, and that included making the tea correctly. In fact, the entire first day was dedicated to learning how to make the tea. If they were going to be a tea shop, they had to actually make good tea.  The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Uncle Iroh by making a lot of hot leaf juice.

He had shocked most of them with his disgust for tea bags, although the employees came to unanimous agreement that he was right after trying the tea he made them.  Zuko was glad that Natsuo had made him invest in a very good electric kettle that could be programed, since there was no way that his quirkless employees would be able to figure out at what point they needed to remove the water from the heat for each tea.  He even put a chart up next to it, a reminder of what setting was needed for which tea.

He had spent a lot of time teaching them about the amount of tea leaves to use when making a cup of tea, how long to steep them, and what to do with the used leaves.  A compost bin had actually been a brilliant idea on Fuyumi's part as it allowed them to somewhat recycle the tea leaves as the used leaves could be turned into fertilizer for the greenhouse.  It was a quick and easy way to get rid of the leaves without being wasteful.

Zuko also taught them how to clean out the pots correctly, so they wouldn't have to worry about leaves getting stuck to the inside of the teapot and potentially ruining a future batch with a fermented taste.  Hishiko paid extra close attention, as did Touya, although that might have been because he was making sure his creation had gone through its first use unscathed.  He was clearly proud of them, but there was no telling how something would perform until after it had gone through its first use.

The next day was spent teaching them as many recipes as he could, although he started with standard Japanese fare, figuring he could teach them some of the western foods he wanted to sell at a later date.  They only had so much time, and they would need to clean the kitchen in addition to making whatever they were going to make.  The tea sweets had been an obvious starting point, as they were meant to go with tea, and could be stored for the next day, kept in the refrigerator.

They had managed to cover several other sweets before having to clean up at the end of the day.  For the sweets that were best fresh, they were split up between the employees, with Zuko taking any remainders, while the ones that could be stored with no effect on quality were put away to potentially be sold the next day.  Honestly, he was kind of glad that the food he brought home wasn't all they had to eat, or else he would have had to worry about the kids getting hyped up on all the sugar.

When they got home, later than they would have liked, Fuyumi had already made a pot of ramen with the broth that Zuko had done up a few days prior.  It was his favorite from back in the palace, full of flavor with a nice hit of heat, and it went well with just about any meat that one might pair it with.  It was a bit expensive to make, but he could easily make a large batch that would make several meals, and the kids loved it, so it was a win-win.

After dinner they got in some training in the backyard but Zuko was too distracted to really get into things.  Fortunately the kids didn't seem to mind and soo they were getting ready for bed.  As he lay in bed, trying to get some sleep before the next day the anxiety over what tomorrow would bring hit him full force.  He had no idea how tomorrow was going to go.  Natsuo had done up fliers announcing the grand opening, and put out an announcement on social media, having gone so far as to make a social media page and website for the shop.  He knew that Natsuo knew best, he was the expert who had done a lot of research after all, but anxiety still twisted in his gut, making it practically impossible for him to get comfortable.

He spent a half hour trying to sleep before changing into his Blue Spirit gear.  Maybe a run would help calm his brain.

While the run had exhausted his body so he could finally sleep, it did nothing to calm his racing thoughts.  When he woke with the sun, he almost didn't get out of bed due to a splitting headache.  It felt like the time Sokka had actually managed to hit him in the head with his club, and the last thing he wanted to do was get up.  However, he had to get up, because he needed to see this through.  Besides, it wouldn't be the first time Zuko had done work, especially interaction heavy work, with a headache.  He hadn't let him affect him following the war, so it wouldn't let it get to him now.  

Sliding out of bed, Zuko decided to do his morning training without a shirt on, hoping that a little more sun exposure would at least give him a bit more energy, so he'd be able to handle what the day would bring.  It didn't actually take that long for the increased exposure to not only provide him with a bit more energy, but also take the edge off his headache.  He honestly hadn't expected that.  He had thought since the sun he got was very sparse, it wouldn't have as much of an effect as it would at say, midday, but apparently, he was wrong.  He was fine with that though.  As long as it didn't hurt him, he didn't mind being wrong.

Hoping to get a little more energy for the day, Zuko decided to make breakfast out on the patio, using his firebending to heat that pan that he cooked the bacon and omelets in.  By the time the food was done, he was feeling much better, so he decided to get ready for the day after leaving to food out on the counter for the kids.  In what felt like no time at all, he was at the Jasmine Dragon going through the last minute prep for the shop which included a stop that the bank.  The stop at the bank was just to withdraw some money for change, but he decided that it would be a good idea to make sure that the account that was for depositing their earnings was set up.  With something like that it was a good idea to be careful, especially since that was the account he would be using to pay his employees.

It didn't take long to set everything up, which was probably because of all the work he'd put into getting the ready.  Kenji and Hishiko arrived just before eight, taking up their stations in the kitchen.  Sakura wasn't due until eleven, and Chika would arrive around one.  Zuko was storing the money from the bank in the register when Touya exited the kitchen with a box of pastries from the Rising Sun Bakery.  He artfully arranged the treats in the display case before slipping back into the kitchen, although not before mouthing "Teach me".  That had Zuko chuckling as he went to the front door, flipping over the sign telling people that they were open.

Things started out slow, people coming to check the place out every once and a while, some just taking a look at the menu before leaving.  However, just after ten, the entire work crew that had renovated the shop showed up.  "The place looks great,” Kubo commented as he approached the counter, peering up at the menu on the wall, "So you made a tea shop?"

"Yep," Zuko replied, trying to remain professional, but with how empty the shop was he wasn't trying too hard, "It was my uncle's dream.  He taught me how to make amazing tea before he died so it's kind of a memorial to him."

"That's nice," Kubo said, a sentiment that seemed to be echoed by the rest of the group, "Do you think you can serve all of us?"

"Just a second," Zuko told him because he wouldn't be able to run the register and make the tea at the same time, "Hishiko!"

"Yes, Yoshida san?" Hishiko asked as she stuck her head out of the kitchen doorway.

"Could you take over the register?" Zuko asked as he stepped back, flicking a hand to light the burner while he grabbed the kettle, "We have a large crowd."

Hishiko nodded, and Zuko turned, taking his time to fill the kettle with water before placing it on the burner.  He made the fire low heat, so it would heat the kettle slowly, giving Hishiko enough time to get their orders.  She ended up giving them in groups of three, which resulted in four sets total.  There were two orders for ginseng, three for chai, six for black, and one for jasmine.  They were all in to go cups, which was fine.  They probably had stopped by on their way to a job, and just wanted to show their support.  They had always been rather nice.

Sakura arrived shortly after they left and made the day much easier.  Her presence was very much appreciated that afternoon, as there had been a few large groups that had decided to just pop in apparently.  He'd heard a few of them wondering what was so special about this place, but he ignored them.  If they didn't like it, they didn't have to stay.  No need for them to waste his time if they didn't want to be good customers.

He had been overjoyed when the kids showed up after school.  Fuyumi showed up first, snagging a table close to the counter with four chairs around it.  Natsuo and Shouto showed up together, Druk having draped himself over Shouto's shoulders taking a nap from the look of things.  It was a an amusing sight given just how big the dragon had gotten but Shouto didn't seem to be bothered by the weight at all.  They joined their sister at the table, and Zuko got them drinks that they could enjoy while working on their homework.

When the shop finally closed that evening, Zuko let out a sigh of relief.  Despite how nerve wracking it had been, he was glad that the shop was finally open.  As he put the money away he was surprised at how much they had managed to make.  He’d been aware of the fact that they had a lot of people come, but for a grand opening with little advertising, they had managed to make a lot of money.  Part of him was worried that it was a fluke, that they wouldn't get that many repeat customers, but another part of him was hopeful, that this was the beginning of a bright future.

The cherry on top of the whole event was the picture he managed to get of his family and staff standing together in front of the shop, which still had the banner declaring the grand opening of the Jasmine Dragon.  A quick word with Natsuo guaranteed that the photo would be printed up and framed soon enough.  Zuko wanted a tangible reminder of this, that all the money had hard work that had been put into the building had culminated in this, and nothing could take this moment away from him.

Business didn't die down as time passed, and by the end of the month, Zuko had to come to terms with the fact that he was going to have to hire more people.  He was glad that there were a lot of people that enjoyed the tea, the word-of-mouth recommendations having been great enough to at least double their clientele.  Zuko didn't mind the business, as it meant that he could pay his employees well and still be able to take care of his kids without issue.

He had gotten a few applications, and within a week they had three more staff members.  One of them, Rina, had a mutation quirk, a pair of almost comically oversized horns growing out of her head.  The horns were very inconvenient, limiting her peripheral vision and were heavy enough to raise her center of gravity even higher than it already was.  She were used to people making fun of them, so it was kind of nice to be surrounded by quirkless people who didn't really care.  However, despite her quirk's drawbacks she actually enjoyed cleaning, and willingly took on the head dishwasher position.

The other two were quirkless.  Daichi was the younger of the two and had graduated from high school at the same time as Touya.  This helped the two of them to bond leading to them spending most of their free time chatting.  Zuko had honestly been surprised when he came across the two of them bent over Touya's sketchbook, considering how protective of it the teen usually was.  Although, he had been a bit more lax with it since Shouto had started drawing with him.  It wasn't out of place to see the two of them sitting together on the couch drawing, sometimes even comparing their art. 

The last of the new employees actually turned out to be a roommate of Hishiko's.  Masako was loud and boisterous with a take no shit attitude that Zuko honestly had to admire.  She was only in her mid twenties, and given everything he knew about this place, that attitude should not have survived.  She was smart too.  Apparently, she was trying to earn enough to go to college as she wanted to become a support specialist.  She hadn't managed to make it into any of the high schools that had classes on them, the schools either being very selective like UA or rejecting her due to her quirklessness like so many others.  That left college as her only option, and it was too expensive for her on what was considered the normal quirkless wage.  However, working at the shop could actually provide her with a decent enough income for her to make it.  

Natsuo loved talking to her when she was on the register and there was a bit of a lull.  The two of them could talk tech for hours, and almost had on more than one occasion.  It didn't hurt that, Masako was just easy to get along with, and combined with her penchant for talking a lot, it made her the perfect person to be put on the register with Sakura.  The only problem was the two of them were terrible gossips so anything they were told was spread to the whole neighborhood within an hour of them learning it.  They had also gone absolutely wild when Shouto called Zuko "Dad" for the first time.

Now it wasn't really a new thing as the kids had gotten comfortable to using it at home following Natsuo's slip up the year before.  To be honest, Zuko was proud that they thought of him as a father figure.  However, the kids had been doing their best to avoid saying it in public because of all the questions that would arise as a result.  While he had been acting as their primary caregiver for the last four years, there would still be questions.  The problem was none of that mattered to Shouto who had no reservations calling Zuko Dad.

The incident happened on what had been a fairly normal day about two months after the Jasmine Dragon had opened.  They had several customers, most of whom had been coming on a near daily basis since they had opened, seated around the room, although the table next to the counter was left open specifically for the kids.  The regulars seemed to have recognized the connection between Zuko and the kids, and respected their desire to remain close.  It was kind of nice.

Fuyumi wasn't in the shop, having informed him that morning that she would be meeting with some classmates after school to work on a project for class.  Zuko saw no problem with it as long as she was at home by the time they closed, or gave him a call should she end up staying out later.  That meant that Shouto and Natsuo were going to be the only ones at the table that day, which was fine.  The two of them were very diligent about getting their homework done, although Shouto tended to rush through his work so he could get back to the latest book he'd been reading or a drawing he was working on.

The bell above the door rang, signaling that someone had just entered when Zuko heard, "Dad!  Dad!  I got full marks on my math test!"

Zuko turned to see Shouto running up to the counter, a piece of paper in hand with Druk on his heels.  The ten year old stopped in front of the counter, holding out the paper for him to see the bright red 100% at the top.  "That's great Shou!  You deserve a treat for that.  What would you like?"

"Cookies!" Shouto exclaimed excitedly, "Chocolate chip please."

"Well, since you asked nicely," Zuko teased taking a few of the cookies off of the plate in the display and putting them on a paper plate he could take the the table where Natsuo was already working.

Once the cookies were handed over, Zuko prepared a pot of chai for the boys to share.  They seemed to agree with him that tea needed to have flavor and a strong one at that.  When he delivered the tea to them, he wasn't too surprised that Shouto had decided to share his treat with his older brother if the crumbs on the laptop were anything to go by.  It didn't really matter though.  Shouto was free to share his treat with whoever he wanted.  

However, it hadn't been hard to spot the looks that people were giving him as he returned to his place behind the counter.  He didn't understand why they were giving him those looks at first, and just did his best to ignore it as he got back to work.  It wasn't until they were cleaning up after closing when Masako said, "I thought he was your little brother."

"He is," Zuko told her, easily following her gaze to where Shouto was standing, helping Hishiko put away the teacups.

"Then why did he call you dad?" Masako replied smugly, like she had caught him in a lie.

"Because our parents have been gone since he was five?" Zuko shot back, raising his right eyebrow in challenge, "I have been the closest thing to a parental figure my siblings have had over the last four and a half years, so if Shouto wants to call me Dad, I'm fine with it."

Masako looked properly chastised and apologetic at that and the subject was promptly dropped.  However, Zuko had noticed that the tip jar was a little fuller in the aftermath, and he couldn't help but wonder if what he had said to her might have caused it.  He hoped not.  He didn't want people to give them money because they felt sorry for them.  He'd rather it be a reflection of their appreciation of their work, not an unsubtle attempt at pity.

However, just because his employees could annoy him doesn't mean that he didn't care for them.  In early September, Sakura was manning the counter alone while Zuko was working on washing out a tea pot.  Their night owl tea was rather popular, so he found himself having to wash the pot out more than a few times a day.  They had just been chatting about what it was like since summer break had recently ended, which lead to Masako having different hours due to starting her university courses.

The conversation was put on hold when the bell above the door rang, prompting Sakura to give the standard greeting.  Zuko would have been content to ignore the conversation going on behind him if it wasn't for the customer's tone.  There was something off about it, and when he turned around he was surprised to see the customer look enraged by Sakura's mere presence.  In fact, there was a part of Zuko that was almost concerned that the man might lunge over the counter to attack her.  "Sakura?" he called out, as he dried off his hands, the focus of the room having shifted to him, "Why don't you go take a break.  I can cover the counter for a bit."

Sakura nodded, retreating quickly, and there was a part of Zuko that was sure that he had seen tears in her eyes.  Hopefully Hishiko would be able to help with that.  It took barely two steps for him to go from the sink to the register, and he took those brief seconds to examine the man.  He was just slight taller than Touya, and was probably a bit more muscular than him, but not by much.  He also exuded an air of superiority that had Zuko wanting to knock him down a peg or two.  "Hello sir," he greeted, pouring as much distain as humanly possible into the honorific, "Would you please tell me your name?"

"Ikeda Itsuki," the man replied, sounding far too confused at such a simple question, "What's going on here?"

"It's quite simple," Zuko stated as he penned the name onto the ban list that sat right next to the register, "I'm afraid I must ask you to leave and never return."

He wasn't sorry.  He hated dealing with people like this, and the last thing he wanted was for his employees to have to deal with them.  That was part of the reason the ban list existed in the first place.  "What?" the man exclaimed, his voice filled with anger as he glared ineffectually across the counter, "I demand to speak to the manager."

"I am the manager," Zuko told him plainly as he crossed his arms, staring the man down, taking advantage of every inch he had, "In fact I am the owner of this store."

"Then why are you hiring quirkless filth?" the man demanded, slamming his fist down on the counter, although he likely did more damage to his hand than the stone surface.

"Sakura is a hard worker and a good employee," Zuko stated firmly, his expression hardening at the insult to his employee, "Now I would ask you to remove yourself from my shop before I have to call the police and have you removed."

That seemed to have caught the man off guard as he was suddenly gaping at Zuko, looking almost like a fish on the beach.  "But I'm a paying customer," he argued back, although his voice was as weak as the argument.

"There is nothing you could pay that would be of any worth to me," Zuko told him finally getting to say exactly what he thought without having to worry about stepping on anyone's metaphorical toes, "Your attitude far exceeds any form of compensation that you could provide and I refuse to let anyone treat my employees that way.  Your bigotry gives you no right to treat anyone like that, so I will kindly ask you to remove yourself before I have to take matters into my own hands."

The man stood there sputtering for several moments before stomping out, loudly declaring, "This place is worthless anyway.  Quirkless people will ruin it, mark my words."

Zuko couldn't care less what he thought, and given the number of people in the room that didn't seem to share his opinion, there wasn't likely to be much of a loss in business as a result.  With no customers to help, he turned back to the sink so he could finish washing the tea pots, when applause stuttered to life behind him.  He whirled around to see all the regulars that had just watched the confrontation, standing there clapping.  A few of them were even cheering, and he was pretty sure one of them had recorded the whole incident.  

Fortunately the applause died not long after it started, and Sakura exited the kitchen shortly afterward.  She thanked him for standing up for her, admitting that the man had been one of her bullies back when she was in school.  Zuko wished he could say that he was surprised, but he wasn't.  After Touya's experiences in school it wasn't really shocking to hear that others had faced similar issues.  At least he could protect his employees in the shop, and prevent any of their tormentors from being able to hurt them any more.

As time passed and the weather started to grow colder during the march towards winter, Zuko had been badgered by the staff to include a few more hot drinks to the menu.  There were requests for hot chocolate and apple cider, with people like Masako declaring them to be the perfect wintertime drinks.  He had countered with teas centered around Christmas treats like gingerbread or candy canes, although it did little to deter the hot chocolate fanatics.

Eventually a compromise was reached.  A special holiday menu was drafted, one that included the themed teas that Zuko had developed as well as the Christmas staples.  Hishiko had actually showed him a very good hot chocolate recipe, one that her mother had apparently made when she was a kid. The drinks were for a limited time since they were season specific, and more than a little time consuming to produce, but there were plenty of people sampling them.

Zuko had also started growing familiar with the regulars in the shop, including several new ones.  The most interesting had been a white weasel like creature who introduced himself as Nezu.  Fuyumi and Natsuo had both freaked out upon discovering that because apparently he was the principal of the most prestigious high school in Japan, known for the many heroes they had produced, their father being one of them.  Nezu had only ascended to the headship of the school within the last ten to fifteen years so he would have had little influence on their father, but he had improved an already impressive school into something that everyone strove to achieve.

Zuko had decided to do a little research after hearing that since Shouto wanted to go there so he could become a hero.  Learning all about it would not only help him develop his skill with technology, but it would also allow him to do some above board information gathering.  Not long into his investigation he learned that there was a lot of tension between Nezu and the hero commission, who were apparently in charge of maintaining this hero society, instantly making the principal the person he wanted to talk to the most.  However, he was also aware that just walking up to him and talking probably wouldn't be the best way to go about things.  He'd have to figure out some way of inspiring the principal to agree to a private meeting without putting the kids in danger.

However, not long before Zuko's birthday he heard a very familiar voice in the shop.  In disbelief he whirled around to see a young looking Katara standing there in front of the counter.  "I'd like two cups of tea," she said, her gaze meeting his as a smile settled on her lips, "And one of them is for you." 

Chapter Text

When Katara died part of her had hoped that she would end up in the spirit world with Sokka, Suki, Mai, Ty Lee, Iroh and maybe even Aang.  While she hated leaving her family behind it would be worth it if she was reunited with the people she'd lost.  However, that didn't appear to be what happened, although she didn't really know what was going on.  It felt like moments after she'd said goodbye she heard Toph's voice calling for Zuko.  Toph sounded young and scared, completely at odds with the woman she had become.  So Katara reached out, hoping to help in whatever way she could.

She felt a tugging sensation before she was suddenly jerked forward and dropped into another world that was so very different to the one that she was familiar with.  Everything from the buildings to the people to the language was strange to her, and that was before she even knew about quirks.  It had taken her some time to adapt to this new world, especially since she didn't have any familiar faces there with her.  Every other time she had been thrust into a new situation, she'd always had someone she knew with her.  Now she was alone, but she would manage.  She always had.

The authorities sent her to live with a family while they looked for her parents.  There was a part of her that wanted to tell them not to bother, but at the same time, there was no telling if others had come there, especially since she had been following Toph calling out for Zuko.  She couldn't guarantee that they were there, given how things tended to work out for them, but she had hoped that she would be able to find them if they were.

It had been interesting to be placed with a family in this world.  The differences that she had noticed early on had a cascading effect when it came to the families.  She had been less than impressed with the parents, who were showing some definite favoritism.  When she went to school, a novel experience for her, she discovered that apparently everything was about quirks, which just made her hate the place even more.  The kids here could be just as bad if not worse than the adults.  The casual cruelty combined with a lack of empathy to make it nearly impossible to like.  There was an exception though.  

There were three kids in the family that Katara was sent to live with.  The oldest was a boy that definitely had bought into the societal standards, acting like having four arms made him the most important person in the world.  The middle child was a girl who could genuinely be nice, but also bought into the nonsense about how important quirks were, leading to her acting downright cruel on occasions.  The youngest, Hitoshi, had a quirk that resulted in him getting the worst kind of attention, and Katara just couldn't let that stand.  She made it her mission to protect him, especially from the people they lived with.

Things gradually escalated leading to both Katara and Hitoshi being moved to new foster homes.  She hated that they had been separated, but he promised to keep in touch.  The Yukimura family was definitely better than the Kimuras although it wasn't a hard bar to clear.  One advantage they had was having two kids that Katara could actually get along with.  When she was getting ready to move out, there was a part of her that was almost sad that she would have to leave, although it didn't hold as much sway as it would have towards the beginning of her stay.  

That was all because of her dumbass of an older brother.  Katara had gone to a high school that was aimed to get students into STEM fields, and her interest in medicine, mostly driven by her natural healing ability, had led her to the school.  After several near misses, she managed to corner Sokka, who was in the same school just a year ahead of her, and was working on quirk analysis.  There was something relieving in having her brother with her again.  Sokka had been the one person that she could always rely on so having him with by her side was calming.

Barely a year later Sokka discovered that Toph was there too, attending UA high school.  Finding her had been very exciting, especially since she had some of the answers that they had been searching for ever since they had landed there.  However, it had been difficult to find her since apparently the principal of UA was invested in protecting his students from potential threats by blocking access to their private information.  When they finally managed to find her, it turned out that she had some answers, but not enough, although Katara doubted that any of them would, except Aang. Of course, there was no telling if Aang would have been able to come with them since he was an avatar.  Korra may have been disconnected from her previous lives but that didn't change the fact that he was part of the avatar spirit.

So Katara had done her best to foster the connections she had here, although finding Suki while out apartment hunting was just a stroke of luck.  The two of them banded together, finding a place that they could afford that also happened to be rather close to both Toph and Sokka.  She did end up having to shoulder some of the costs as Suki started training to become a police officer.  When she wasn't working she was either studying or training, so the responsibility of taking care of everything else had fallen to Katara.  She didn't really mind though.  Suki was her friend and didn't go out of her way to make life difficult unlike certain others that could be named.  Then Katara had gotten a text from Hitoshi, informing her of the location of his most recent foster home.

She had gone to visit him, deciding to take advantage of the fact that the eleven-year-old had managed to contact her.  The kid needed someone in his corner and Katara was willing to be that person if needed.  Hell, she'd volunteer for position as soon as he announced it.  He was pretty beat up when she got there, but it was hard to tell if it had been because of his foster parents or bullies.  Hitoshi was kind of cagey about it and since most of the injuries were on his torso and limbs, she was willing to give the adults the slight benefit of the doubt.  She wished she could adopt him, but without the proper certification which took years to get she wasn't going to be able to do anything.

After he went back to his foster home, Katara had decided to wander around a bit when a flier caught her eye.  It was old, that was obvious based on how faded and worn it was, but the words on it intrigued her greatly.  It was inviting people to attend the grand opening of the Jasmine Dragon.  She didn't know if the name was chosen purposefully, with the same connotations that she had with it, or if the owner had just thought it sounded cool.  She would never know if she didn't bother to go and check it out, so she spent several minutes deciphering the address, which wasn't that far away.

Figuring she had nothing to lose, Katara heading in that direction, thinking about the Jasmine Dragon she had known in her youth.  It had been a significant part of her life despite how short its run had been.  The first Jasmine Dragon had been open less than a month after all, forced to close because Azula had captured Iroh.  She had felt incredibly guilty for having gotten him caught after actually getting to know both him and Zuko.  It had taken her years to fess up to it, and it was easily laughed off by Iroh who had always been rather forgiving.

So, she felt drawn to the name, and interested in just what sort of place would be using it.  She knew it wasn't going to be the same as the Jasmine Dragon she had known in her youth, even if Iroh was the one running it, but she had had to see it one way or another.  Besides, if there was anyone that would know the significance of the name it would be her friends.  Even if one of them wasn't behind it then they could be hanging around it to try and find the others.  Although nostalgia would probably also be a factor.

She wandered that direction, memories of the old Jasmine Dragon buoying her and acting as a shield against the potential disappointment.  She was easily able to spot the shop from down the street, the painted dragons on the large glass windows practically acting like a beacon.  When she finally reached the shop, she was struck by how quaint it was.  The Jasmine Dragon she had known had been rather lavish, meant for the nobles of Ba Sing Se, and run by the prince of the Fire Nation, who tended to treat certain luxuries as a given.  Zuko had always been a bit humbler about everything which Katara had always found interesting especially when compared to Iroh.  When he would visit the Jasmine Dragon he would either blend right in, or look incredibly out of place, depending on whether or not he was wearing his royal regalia.

This Jasmine Dragon was only slightly fancier than a normal shop, the cream and forest green color scheme keeping the walls bright despite the dreary weather, and the cups clearly being higher quality.  However, it also had that homey feel that she hadn't felt in a long time.  The apartment she had gotten with Suki was comfortable, especially as they started to settle, but it wasn't quite homey yet.  It probably wouldn't be until they actually got around to decorating which was difficult since Suki was spending most of her time at the police academy or work.

As Katara made her way up to the counter she spotted someone she hadn't seen in a long time, and mentally chastised herself for not having realized it sooner.  If there was one person that would put in the time and effort to recreate the Jasmine Dragon, it would be Zuko.  While he definitely stood taller than he used to, either a result of not being exhausted all the time or something having changed here, his scar was unmistakable, especially with his hair pulled back in an almost top knot. In fact, his hair was up in what looked like a cross between a top knot and a wolf tail, with the top half being pulled back while the rest was left to fall naturally.  It suited him.

Katara felt nervous all of a sudden, unsure of how to proceed.  Now that she knew where to find Zuko she could could leave, give herself some time to process this before coming back to talk to him.  On the other hand she could talk to him and the two of them could talk for the first time in years.  Before she could overthink it, she stepped up to the counter and said, "I'd like two cups of tea," her gaze meeting Zuko's as he whirled around at the sound of her voice, "And one of them is for you." 

Zuko just stood there staring at her like he couldn't believe that she was actually there.  She understood.  When she had finally managed to meet with Sokka face to face, the two of them had just stared at each other for several minutes before screaming. "Katara!" he exclaimed, a smile practically splitting his face as he rushed around the counter, pulling her into a hug, "I haven't seen you in so long."

She relished the hug, his warmth just as comforting as it had been when they were kids, and she could feel just how strong he was.  She wasn't that surprised as he had always been the one to take their training more seriously, and she doubted being in a new world had stopped him.  When he pulled back, Katara realized that things must have changed more than she thought.  "Did you get taller?"

"Yeah," Zuko muttered awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck in a soothing motion, "I'm about one hundred and ninety-five centimeters now."

Katara tried not to be jealous.  She had grown to the exact same height she had been last time, which had left her about eight inches shorter than all of the guys, with Zuko having been the shortest at six foot two.  He'd only been about a half an inch shorter than Sokka who was rather proud of having managed to outgrow the oldest in their group, although Aang had both of them beat.  He had grown to be six foot three and like teasing them about it, so she could only imagine what their reactions would be to seeing that Zuko was now taller than both of them.

"So, what kind of tea would you like?" Zuko offered eventually as he slipped back behind the counter, "It's on the house."

Katara smiled, her thoughts going towards all the different kinds of tea he'd made her in the past, before deciding that they needed to start with the classic.  "Let's see how your jasmine compares to your uncle's," Katara told him as she sat at a table close to the counter.

Zuko shot her a playful glare before turning back to the tea pots, and Katara thought back to Iroh's tea.  It was a distant memory now, and she honestly wasn't sure if she could even remember what his tea had actually tasted like.  She liked to think that she would recognize if the tea was better or worse than then Dragon of the West’s, but she couldn't be sure.  One effect of having lived for so long she supposed.  She was pulled out of her thoughts by a young voice calling out "Dad!"

She looked up to see a young boy with black hair running towards the counter, Druk on his heels.  He was looking at Zuko who had turned at the exclamation, a warm smile on his face.  "Hey Shou!" he said as he leaned forward, the flame under the kettle moving in time with Zuko's breath, "What's got you so excited?"

"We were doing some Christmas activities in class today, and I wanted to show you the picture I drew," The kid, Shou she assumed, pulled a paper out of his bag and handed it to Zuko, who looked it over carefully.

"This is amazing," Zuko stated, sounding completely genuine in the compliment, "Shingo needs to see this."

The kid beamed up at him as he slipped through a side door, returning less than a minute later with a young man who had burn scars that resembled Zuko's covering the lower half of his face and descending down below his collar.  She had to fight not to flinch in sympathy, knowing how painful burns could be although never having experienced one of that severity.  The young man smiled down at the kid who had a proud smile on his face.  "So where's your masterpiece?"

He sounded like Zuko.  Not enough to get them confused, but there was enough similarities that she would have mistaken them for his kids if the age gap wasn't enough to discount it.  What was probably the worst part was that his whole attitude was screaming young Zuko to her.  Those awkward mannerisms coupled with genuine care and affection hidden behind a gruff exterior.  

"It looks great Shouto," he said eventually, ruffling the younger boys hair, "You're definitely developing your own style.  Can't wait to see it in color."

Shouto grinned up at him as he carefully slipped the paper back into his backpack.  Once the picture was secure he turned toward where Katara was seated.  He froze when he spotted her and backed up Zuko was standing probably making the jasmine that she had ordered.  "Hey Dad," he asked in a voice that was probably meant to be quieter than it actually was, "Who's that?"

Zuko turned, a look of realization crossing his face as he glanced at where the child was pointing.  He then walked over to Katara's table a hand on the back of the child while Druk climbed up onto his shoulders before going boneless.  "Shouto this is Katara," he told the little boy, realization dawning in the kid's eyes, "Katara, this is Shouto, my younger brother."

"Nice to meet you Shouto," Katara said as she offered a hand to the child who managed to recover enough to shake her hand before turning back to Zuko and whispering something in his ear.

He let out an amused huff before ruffling the kid's hair.  Katara wanted to coo at how cute the interaction was, especially as Zuko leaned over, whispering something in the kid's ear.  The kid brightened up, nodding before running up to the table and pulling out the chair next to Katara's.  The kid then climbed up onto the chair and turned to face her with the most serious and unintentionally hilarious face she'd ever seen.  "So what are you doing here?" he asked, his gaze critical.

"I just saw a flier for this place and thought I'd check it out," Katara admitted, seeing no reason to lie to him, especially since Zuko was clearly attached, "I was just hoping to do a little catching up with Zuko before I have to leave."

"Why would you have to leave?" Shouto asked, his gaze more curious than critical.

"Work," Katara informed him as she pulled up a picture of her in her scrubs on her phone, "I'm scheduled to work the graveyard tonight."

"Why would you work in a graveyard dressed like that?" Shouto exclaimed, causing Katara to finally lose the last slivers of her self control.  

She started laughing.  It was just small giggles at first as she tried to muffle it, but it grew, especially once she caught of glimpse of Shouto's confused face which had her full belly laughing.  She could do nothing but press her face into her arms as she tried to regain control of herself, her laughter eventually wearing her out.  She managed to pull herself together, and raised her head from her arms to find a cup of tea sitting in front of her.  Zuko was sitting at the table across from her with his own cup of tea and Shouto was nursing a cup of hot chocolate with a plate of sugar cookies.  "Better?" Zuko asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

Katara nodded not trusting herself to speak at that moment, but having definitely calmed down enough that she could handle taking a sip of the tea.  It was better than Katara remembered, although she shouldn't be surprised at that.  Iroh had been determined to teach his nephew how to make a good cup of tea, and Zuko spent every one of Iroh's birthday's or anniversaries working to make the perfect cup of tea.  Toph was the only one brave enough to try anything past his third attempt, but it seems that he did eventually manage to get it.

"This is amazing!" Katara exclaimed as she set the cup down, remembering Iroh's words about how tea was not a drink but an experience, "You've come a long way."

Zuko groaned hiding his face in his hands.  "Don't remind me."

Shouto poked him in the arm.  "What's she talking about?" 

Zuko sighed heavily as he sat up, wrapping an arm around Shouto.  "Be glad you're too young to remember my first attempts," he told the kid sagely, "It smelled disgusting and my friends were half convinced that I was trying to poison them."

Shouto nodded along, honestly looking too cute for words.  To avoid doing any more potentially embarrassing things, Katara turned her attention to her tea, enjoying the small sips that she was taking.  Her almost meditative state was interrupted when the child asked, "Why did you laugh after I asked you about the graveyard?"

Katara did her best to focus herself, so she wouldn't burst out laughing again as she faced Shouto.  "You had misinterpreted what I meant and I thought it was funny," she explained, doing her best to make it look like she was looking him in the eye and not over his shoulder like she actually was, "I actually work as a nurse at the hospital and we call the night shift the 'graveyard' shift.  Since pretty much everybody is asleep at night, nothing really happens unless there is an emergency, it's really quiet or 'dead' as some people might say.  It's kind of a joke we came up with to make up for the fact that we're going to be staying up the whole night."

"That sucks," Shouto offered with a frown, before turning his attention to the book sitting on the table in front of him.

Zuko chuckled, reminding Katara that he was there.  She looked up at him, part of her having trouble accepting that he was back and looking so young.  She'd gotten so used to seeing him with a beard and white hair that it was hard to accept that the man sitting across from her was truly her best friend, the one person that she could always vent to about Aang or the kids and not make her feel guilty about it afterwards.  He was the man that trusted her to help take care of his daughter because his wife was gone, and helped her through her grief when she lost her husband.  He was her brother in all but blood and she hated spending the last five years clueless as to the details of the situation, but instinctually knowing that he was in danger.

 "Are you okay?" Zuko asked, a concerned frown overtaking his face.

"I'm fine,"  Katara said as she waved his concerns away, "It's just been kind of tough these last couple of years not knowing where you were or if you were even okay."

Zuko's face fell, guilt quickly replacing the concern and Katara felt guilty for even saying it.  She opened her mouth to apologize, but he held up his hand, stopping her.  "It's okay," he told her, despite the fact that 'okay' was the furthest thing from how she felt in that moment, "Things happen.  I hate that we lost contact with each other, but I had to take care of my siblings.  At least now you can catch me up on everything I missed over the last few years."

Zuko smiled at her, and the guilt in Katara's chest eased although it didn't disappear completely.  She hated how horrible she must have made him feel, despite the fact that it was out of his control.  So, in order to distract herself from the ache in her chest she turned her thoughts towards the last five years.  "Sokka's doing pretty good," Katara informed him, remembering how the two of them were as thick as thieves, "He's currently doing work as a hero analyst.  It pays pretty well and gives him something to do with that big brain of his."

"No surprise there really," Zuko commented as he sipped at his tea, "There's no telling what would happen if he went unsupervised for long periods of time, and mentally challenging work will keep him from coming up with any more stupid prank ideas."

Katara laughed, this one a little more contained than the last.  Laughing at Sokka had been her hobby since she was four and brought his snow fort down on top of him.  As long as the teasing was in good fun she could get behind laughing at her brother.  "Well, keeping the group together definitely gives him something to do," she offered as she sipped at her tea, watching Zuko through her lashes, "Although Toph didn't make that too difficult.  What with going to UA and dominating at the Sports festival.  She's just a few months away from being a full fledged hero."

There was a small part of Katara that reveled in the glorious spit take Zuko had taken when he heard that news.  It wasn't too out of character for Toph, given her whole attitude, but she could practically see the migraine developing.  She had been the one that had probably spent the most time complaining about Toph's destructive tendencies, but Zuko who usually had to deal with all the repercussions of the earthbender fighting everyone in sight, or rather range of her seismic sense.  That didn't make it better, in fact it was more terrifying because her seismic sense probably went farther than one could see and worked around obstacles.  He had adopted her as his younger sister, which led to him having to deal with all the consequences the title carried with it. There was no end to the complaints or bills, and they were convinced that the only reason she had started a police force was so that she could beat people up legally.

"At least she's doing something productive with all that energy," Zuko muttered, prompting another laugh from Katara, one that was joined not long after it started.

It didn't take them long to calm down though.  They continued to chat for a while enjoying the company and sharing stories but eventually Zuko had to get back to his shop while she had to get home and eat if she wanted something in her stomach before starting her shift.  She wasn't due to start until ten and she kind of wanted to catch a nap before then.  It wasn't until she got home that Katara realized that the only way she knew how to contact Zuko was by visiting the shop.

While she wouldn't really mind that because the tea was amazing, her unusual hours would make it difficult for her to visit.  A quick glance at the clock told her that it was too late to head back to the shop.  She stood in the kitchen trying to figure out what she was going to do when she noticed a piece of paper caught on her key ring.  She pulled it off and examined it, discovering that it had Zuko's fake name and his phone number.

Breathing a sigh a relief Katara input the number into her phone a shot a text to him, thanking him for the foresight.  He soon replied back that it wasn't a problem, voicing a desire to see her again in the future.  She wanted it, to be able to go and see him again maybe with one of the others juts to have proof that she wasn't crazy.  Sokka would be a good choice.  He tended to have more flexible hours and would probably love to see Zuko again.  Besides, he mentioned that he felt a little outnumbered lately.

Zuko was sad to see Katara go, but the fact that she was there in the first place was incredible.  While he admittedly hadn't put a lot of effort into trying to find them, he'd been convinced early on that there was no point in hoping.  Toph was the only one still alive and while she might have come through the portal with him there was no guarantee.  Now he knew that not only was she there but so were at least three of his friends.  It was better than he would have ever dared to wish.

Zuko was glad he'd managed to slip his number into her pocket before she left.  He hadn't really had the chance to offer to exchange numbers and Katara's rush to leave meant that it would be impractical to attempt it then, so slipping the paper into her pocket was his next best option.  Although if she didn't manage to find the paper with his number she would be able to just come back to the Jasmine Dragon.  It wasn't like he was hiding from her.  

The rest of the workday passed at what felt like a snail's pace, but it was by no means the worst day he'd ever had.  It was easily better than most of his tenure as Fire Lord, the days of having to do seemingly endless amounts of paperwork to keep the nation from falling apart underneath him easily outdoing it.  Back then days would blend together until the combination of exhaustion and stress led to him getting sick.  Of course the cherry on top of that situation was that he also had to deal with assassins eager to get rid of him so they could go back to the war that they had been taught was so righteous and justified.

Being the Fire Lord in the wake of the Hundred Year War was miserable, a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone, not even his father.  Although Ozai would have just restarted the war because that man liked to watch the world burn.  Establishing peace and keeping it was a difficult task, one that was not helped by pretty much every branch of the government working against him.  It took years of reforms, peace talks, and investigations to get the government into a functional system that would allow the Fire Nation to prosper.  Once peace had been established and the threat of the war restarted was practically nonexistent things got much easier.  It was one of the few things he was happy about when handing rule over to Izumi.  The other was that her kids were adults already, so she wouldn't have to juggle childcare on top of ruling the nation.

Of course, there was paperwork involved in the running of the Jasmine Dragon but no where near as much as he would have seen on a daily basis as the Fire Lord.  Most of it was rather simple, the forms actually looking rather similar to paperwork he had to do for the Wani back in the day.  That, combined with his time as Fire Lord, allowed him to develop a strategy to be able to do paperwork quickly, giving him the freedom to be as involved in the shop as he was.  There was some paperwork that was unfamiliar to Zuko and Natsuo had been invaluable when it came to dealing with it.  The fourteen year old was far more thorough in his research than Zuko could hope to be given his level of skill with technology, so the fact that he was willing to help with what would seem like minor issues was amazing.

It didn't stop there though.  Natsuo had also started researching cars and car dealerships so Zuko could finally get a vehicle with which to ferry them around.  He was honestly content to leave the kid to it since he didn't really understand most of the terminology surrounding them.  He was willing to admit he was out of his depth and be content to listen to what the kids told him because he trusted them not to take advantage of him.  They had proven time and time again that they were trust worthy so he would trust them.

However, until they did get a car, they would be walking, which included the trips to and from the Jasmine Dragon every day, and Zuko honestly didn't mind.  The kids seemed kind of mixed on it, as Shouto clearly loved it, Natsuo tended to grumble a bit, Fuyumi didn't seem to care, and Touya was probably the most vocal about his distaste for it.  While it did him good to get some fresh air, Zuko could understand that the weather was making it more than a little uncomfortable, aggravating the scars.  The chill in the air was biting and he had a feeling that he might have to start making them some tea before they made the trek home so they would have something to keep them warm as they walked.  Druk seemed to notice how cold Touya was though and decided to move from Zuko's shoulders to his.

"Oof," Touya exclaimed as the dragon landed on his right shoulder, which apparently wasn't one of the overly sensitive spots, "You're getting heavy.  I won't be able to carry you like this much longer."

Zuko actually snorted, and Druk shot him a 'Don't,' before he said, "That's nothing. I used to have to deal with Druk climbing all over me until he was bigger than me. Imagine what it would be like to have a crocodile just randomly climbing onto your shoulders while you're working."

Touya looked vaguely horrified at that as Zuko opened the door to the house, barely containing his laughter at the expression. 'I'm shredding your blanket tonight,' Druk muttered darkly as Zuko got into the house, and hung up his coat.

'Are you going to take responsibility for acting as a blanket if Shouto comes to me about a nightmare then?' Zuko shot back.

Shouto had been getting better about sleeping in his room, or rather sleeping in Natsuo's room since Touya had decided to move into a separate room after graduating since he no longer had to be up each morning for school.  Of course, it had been exchanged for having to get up for work at the Jasmine Dragon just a few months later, but he tended to get up a little earlier to beat his siblings to the bathroom anyway.

Shouto still dealt with nightmares and only Zuko could help him after those.  They often featured his father in some form, usually taking him away from the family they had made.  He knew that as long as Zuko was around that couldn't happen, so he would always seek him out afterwards.  He didn't mind, but with how Endeavor had made the news earlier because he had made a bad call in a fight that day, it wouldn't be surprising for Shouto to end up in his bed that night.

Fuyumi had made katsudon for dinner and it was good if lacking the kick that Zuko would have liked.  Things were progressing normally with the kids talking about their day, Shouto proudly talking about the picture he drew, Touya mentioning some drama that went down in the kitchen, Fuyumi telling them about her first tutoring session with Natsuo's friend, and Natsuo occasionally interjecting when he wasn't reading whatever he was looking up on his phone.  Then Shouto said, "I got to meet Katara today."

All eyes were suddenly on Zuko, which he honestly should have expected.  He had told them all about his friends, as much as was safe for him to tell them, although that didn't stop them from asking for more stories.  He wasn't exactly comfortable telling them about stories from the war, and he knew it was going to come up eventually but now that he knew some of the others were there, he didn't want to tell the stories without them.  He had a feeling that it would be best if they told the stories together just so there was a decent amount of context on both sides.

However, he had a feeling that they wanted to know if it was really the Katara he knew.  "She showed up at the Jasmine Dragon," Zuko told them, watching as their eyes turned wide, "Probably because she recognized the name.  I suppose you could think of that as a happy consequence.  She's working as a nurse right now, but she promised to be in contact."

The kids looked excited at that, probably at the idea of getting to meet the people he had told them so much about.  "When will we get to meet her?" Fuyumi asked.  She had always been the one most attached to the stories about Katara.

"We'll have to see," Zuko told her, trying not to laugh at how she pouted at that, "She has my number so we can see about arranging a meet up so you can get to talk to her."

Fuyumi perked up slightly at that, apparently content with the answer.  They went back to talking, although it was now filled with speculation about what was going to happen now that one of his friends had made an appearance.  Zuko was content to just let them speculate, just as eager to see what the future would bring.

It took a few days for Katara to actually text Zuko, barring the initial exchange of numbers, and hearing from her was exciting.  Having someone from his old life would have been thrilling on its own, but the fact that she was connected to several of the others completely changed his world.  He was no longer alone in his experience, living as a old man in a young body, and while the kids all knew about his past they couldn't understand it, not like his friends could.  Having someone he could talk to about all the differences between their world and the one they left behind, made him feel more at home and less crazy.

It didn't take long for them tp start texting back and forth, days occasionally passing between responses, as life just made them too busy to bother.  It had been rather nice to get a 'Merry Christmas' text from Katara, one he eagerly returned before focusing on the festivities at home.  Christmas at the Yoshida household had been incredibly festive as they had a tree, stockings, and presents, and ended up spending the day lounging around watching movies or playing games together.  Zuko could understand why people looked forward to a holiday like this as the warmth and cheer from being able to spend time as a family was incredible.

After the start of the new year that Zuko asked Katara if she would like to come a visit, to get to see where they lived when not at the Jasmine Dragon.  He had so much he wanted to tell her, to be able to talk about without having to worry about being overheard.  It wasn't like they could just openly talk about their past without people getting suspicious, and given how one of Zuko's regulars was the principal of UA they really didn't need the extra scrutiny.  Eventually she admitted that she had been doing her best to coordinate with Sokka so the two of them could come to the shop with Katara's unusual work schedule being the major sticking point in the whole situation.  Besides, both of them had questions about his "younger siblings".

Given the sensitive nature of that conversation, Zuko told her he would much rather have that conversation in private instead of in public.  She understood that but told him that she at least wanted to bring Sokka to the Jasmine Dragon so he would be able to come and visit him on his own time.  With all that out in the open they were able to coordinate things perfectly.  She would bring Sokka to the Jasmine Dragon close to closing time, and then they would walk to the house together.

Zuko was pretty sure he had shorted her out by mentioning the house because the conversation ended there and wasn't picked up again for almost a week.  The fact that the first thing she said afterward was 'Who did you rob?', he was pretty sure that she'd gotten the wrong impression.  When he tried to correct her assumption, Katara said she didn't believe him.  Considering what she knew about him, he kind of didn't blame her for it, but at the same time, he wouldn't have done something so stupid when there were people who could get caught in the crossfire.  For as reckless as he could be in regard to his own health, he wasn't in the habit of putting other people at risk.

It was almost February when Katara finally managed to provide Zuko with an idea of when she and Sokka would be stopping by, at least that was what he thought she was talking about amidst all the complaints about both her job and Sokka's.  He was glad that he was going to get to see them again and made sure to make a note for Fuyumi that they were going to have some more people over for dinner.  Of course, he told the kids in person, with the note being a just in case.

The kids were excited, especially Natsuo who had apparently taken the time to look both Katara and Sokka up after Zuko told them that they were there.  He kept going on about how much he wanted to talk to Sokka about his hero analysis, and Zuko got the sinking feeling that the two of them were going to make his life far more difficult when they combined forces.

He kept that thought to himself though.  No point in spoiling the mood with his feelings of doom, not when he was honestly just as excited to see his old friend. 

Chapter Text

"Hey Zuko," Natsuo asked the day before Sokka and Katara were due to come over for dinner, "Are you going to tell them about us?"

Zuko glanced over at the teenager, who seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention.  "I was planning on it," Zuko admitted, seeing no reason to lie about something like this, "Do you not want me to?"

"Well," Natsuo started, shrinking back in his seat looking incredibly uncomfortable before he was cut off.

"We've been talking," Touya stated, although he was pointedly not looking at Zuko, "And we were hoping that we could just tell them a cover story for now.  We get that they're your friends but we don't really know them and you have mentioned how Sokka kid of has a big mouth.  We just want to get to know them a little before they find out about the whole situation."

Honestly, he could understand why they would be hesitant even though Sokka and Katara would probably sympathize with the kids.  Toph probably would have been ideal considering she has experience with sucky parents, but both Sokka and Katara had dealt with kids from abusive households before.  He was a prime example of that after all.  However, he also understood how hard it was to trust people and the only reason they trusted him at all early on was because he was their only option.

"Okay," Zuko told them, causing the kids heads to shoot upward with shocked looks on their faces, "If you need some time to get to know them that's fine.  It's your secret after all.  I'm not going to force you to tell them anything you don't want to or tell them anything you want me to keep secret."

He would have liked to tell them, to have someone to talk to about everything, someone that would truly be able to understand, but he wasn't going to force it.  After all, most of his work had been for the kids, and he wasn't about to put all that at risk because he was too impatient.  Besides, Fuyumi had been eager to corner Katara for a conversation anyway.  He was just going to have to remember to call them by their fake names tomorrow at dinner, which would probably be the hardest part.

Sokka hadn't known what to think when he had originally landed in Japan, although he hadn't had much time to do anything. He had landed in the middle of the street and gotten hit by a car. Fortunately, the person who had hit him stopped and he had been taken to the hospital in what was effectively no time at all. They dealt with his injuries for the most part, but when they started looking for his identity, things had turned up blank. He managed to provide them with his name once his jaw had healed enough for him to talk, since his right arm was still in a cast.

They hadn't been able to find any information about him, and from what little he'd been able to research there was no sign of the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, or Water Tribes anywhere in this world. So, he decided to make the most of his lot and started looking into the quirks people seemed to have. They appeared to be a bit like bending, although they were far more common and had a greater variety. He was absolutely fascinated by all the different varieties of quirks and started looking up hero fights so he could better understand how they functioned. Very few people seemed to be willing to just post videos about their quirk it seemed.

About a month after Sokka had been brought to the hospital he was introduced to the Takenakas. They were a couple that happened to both work in medicine and so would be able to handle his care when he was released from the hospital. They would be acting as his guardians until he was old enough to take care of himself. Sokka wanted to argue that he would be able to take care of himself once he was healed, but he rapidly discovered that it wouldn't be the case here. 

He had no idea how to navigate this new society based on abilities that looked like bending and treated anything resembling a non-bender poorly.  He'd done his best to fake one of these so called quirks, pretending that his skill with his boomerang was a manifestation of a trajectory altering quirk.  What he didn't expect was for the act to end up being real as everything from pillows to soft balls to become homing missiles in his hands.  Discovering the limits of his own quirk was what led him to quirk analysis.

The field was interesting, especially in its applications.  Analyzing quirks would help with identifying villains, or discovering criminal patterns, or just helping heroes improve.  One aspect of it was used to help develop support tech for people, either making their quirks more powerful, mitigating the downsides to their quirk, or how to dampen the effect of a quirk, usually in the cases of them being particularly dangerous.  It was interesting to read about and had Sokka looking up footage of hero fights online to try and practice his analysis.

His new guardians saw this and decided to sign him up at a school where he could learn the skills needed to make his analysis a viable career. Sokka had been surprised to learn that people earned a lot of money analyzing fighting styles, quirks, and all that jazz because of his own experiences.  After the war was over and the threat of it restarting was practically non existent, he'd had very little chance to use his strategic mind, instead having to turn his intellect towards other pursuits. Sure, he had spent time learning the ins and outs of politics so he could help keep the peace he had fought hard to achieve, but it wasn't what he was really good at, and there was no need for a strategist once the war was over.

Now he could not only use his brains the way they were meant to be used, but he could also make money doing it. Sokka almost felt like it was too good to be true, like it was a dream that he would soon wake up from. Instead, he found himself in a class with a bunch of like-minded people that were interested in hearing his thoughts about the latest hero fight or whatever. It was a strange position to be in after having spent much of his life unable to really find his place in the world.

However, that did little to dampen his elation at finding Katara again.  Or rather the two of them ran into each other one day in the library and proceeded to have a collective meltdown.  Once they had recovered from the freak out they exchanged numbers and started hanging out.  Honestly it almost felt like something was slotting into place because as much as he loved the friends he'd made, he missed the people that had more or less been his family. Katara was his sister, but Toph, Mai, and Ty Lee had also become his sisters. Aang and Zuko had become his brothers, one far more literally than the other, and Suki had been the woman he loved. They meant the world to him, and the possibility of having them back spurred him into action.

While he had been somewhat clueless about how to use the technology when he first landed in Japan, his classes had definitely help train him in how best to utilize the internet. He started the search by attempting to look up the people that were most likely to have been brought to this world.  Toph wasn't using her last name, which wasn't really a surprise, although it made finding her much harder.  While she had managed to reconcile with her parents after talking things out over a long time, she never quite forgave them for how they treated her when she was a child.

Zuko didn't quite have that problem, although none of the people that came up in his searches quite fit his description, or just didn't have the right background to fit their situation.  It made sense once Katara told him about Zuko having apparently adopted several kids, which had Sokka wanting to talk to whoever did up their fake identities because they were remarkably thorough.  Mai or Mei was a surprisingly common name, so he didn't have much luck in his search.  There were a few Ty Lees and Aangs that he discovered when looking them up but they were either to far away to go and visit in person to check, or were lacking in crucial details like the Ty Lees that actually turned out to be guys.

Discovering Toph had actually happened by accident as they were watching the UA sports festival in his video analysis class when she arrived and curb stomped the competition.  He was honestly kicking himself for not having thought of it first.  It made far too much sense for Toph to have gone into the hero biz. It had all that she ever could have desired. The excuse and right to beat people up whenever she wanted? Sign her up because why not get paid to do what you love.  With that information in hand Sokka started digging into her as much as he could at that point so he could get an address if a number wasn't available. He ended up stalking her social media to find any clues about where she might be living so he could potentially run into her on the street.

It was actually surprisingly difficult to find any information on her or her classmates.  It was frustrating, and had caused him to rant at Katara more than once.  She would often sit there in silence, or water whip him if he was being especially annoying.  However, there were a few occasions when she would provide some feedback, which ended up sparking the idea that finally allowed him to find Toph.  While Sokka was having trouble locating Toph he could find the family that was fostering her and work from there.  

It had been surprisingly easy to find them.  There were only so many Yamamotos in the world after all, and discovering that one of those families had quirks that worked a lot like earthbending gave them their most logical target.  A quick look at their social media confirmed that they were Toph's foster family, and so Sokka convinced Katara that they should go visit them together.  They had almost been turned away at the door, if it hadn't been for a petite earthbender that charged at them as soon as she registered their presence.  He'd been expecting the tackle hug, but that didn't stop him from getting bowled over. Zuko was the only person who Toph had never managed to knock over with one of her hugs, and Sokka like to think that it was because she went slightly easier on the firebender. It was better for his dignity that way.

Toph then provided her foster family a plausible excuse as to why two strangers were visiting before dragging them off to exchange stories.  They spent the whole afternoon talking, and just barely managed to exchange numbers before having to head home.  Not that he was all that bothered.  The circle had gotten a little bigger, and there had been some questions about how they all ended up here answered.  Sure there was more that went unexplained, but with spirits that was pretty standard.  He was pretty sure not even Aang understood them and he'd been the fucking avatar.  

While Sokka worked to stay in regular contact with both Toph and Katara, his third year of high school proved to be rather busy.  HE was scrambling to stay on top of his class load while doing an internship with a local analysis agency, while also getting a driver's license.  His adopted parents were actually really helpful with this as they not only paid for his driving lessons but also gave him a lot of advice about looking for a job or an apartment after he graduated.  The advice was rather useful as it allowed him to secure a job and an apartment less than a month after graduating. The apartment actually happened to be just down the street from his job, was pretty decently priced, and apparently the building housed most of his coworkers.  It turns out that hero analysists make a lot of money doing their job, especially if they were good at it, so the apartment building owner did everything they could to appeal to the analysists.

Then Katara graduated and started looking for a place of her own, which lead to her running into Suki. Sokka had been so happy to have her back even though she wanted to take things slow. She was looking to become a police officer and to do that she was going to need to be able to focus on her classes, something that was going to be made difficult if she was hanging around Sokka all the time.  They would still hang out, especially when Katara felt that Suki was driving herself to exhaustion with her rather extreme schedule, but when she told him to back off he did.

He kind of understood why she wanted the space as his own work started to pile up. It wasn't because he was bad at organizing it, which he was but that wasn't the point, it was because his work had become rather popular. Sokka didn't know what had led Sir Nighteye to seeking him out for analysis on gangs and Yakuza activity, but that had gotten him a glowing recommendation which had led to so many heroes coming to him with their own analysis.

He didn't hate the work, in fact he enjoyed it. It was fun getting to watch clips of hero fights to try and analyze the heroes quirk in addition to what they had told him in the briefing file. With so many heroes wanting an analysis he was able to just switch between heroes when he got tired of watching clips of one. It didn't help that for some of them every fight seemed to be the same as they just tended to use the same move over and over again. He hated to see that in some heroes where their quirks could be used for so much more, but they limited themselves to that one move because it seemed to be all they could think to do.

In the midst of all the work he had nearly missed when Katara found Zuko. Her text had been just one out of several notifications on his phone, and if it wasn't for the fact it was from Katara, he might have ignored it. But this was his baby sister and for as annoying as she could be, she didn't tend to text him when she wanted to mess around. She preferred to do that in person so she could see his annoyed expression. He'd almost dropped his phone when he saw the contents of her message, and immediately went to dig deeper because there was no way he was just going to let this pass by.

He honestly felt dumb for not having thought about looking up the Jasmine Dragon or anything that would be significant to him and his friends.  Sure, Zuko had apparently opened it sometime this last year, but he knew how to set up alerts for key phrases at this point so it was on him for not doing that.  Even with the piles of work he had to do, it didn't take long to set something like that up.  After all, he'd managed to do something similar to notify him about any future news about the Jasmine dragon during a five minute break between videos.

Finding a time to actually meet up with Zuko again was more than a little frustrating, but it was worth it to finally see the firebender again. Although, "That's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Zuko asked from his spot behind the counter, his feet hidden from view which could mean that he had worn heels to make himself look taller than he actually was.  Mai used to do it all the time, despite the fact that she was the tallest of the girls.  It had been absolutely humiliating to be shorter than her until he discovered her secret, although he eventually had managed to surpass her even when she was wearing those shoes.

"You're taller than me," Sokka huffed, knowing full well that he was pouting, but Zuko and Katara were the only witnesses, so he didn't really see a reason to stop, "You're not allowed to be taller than me."

"I don't really get a say in how tall I am," Zuko told him as he rounded the counter and was revealed to be wearing, sneakers. Not even the sneakers that had that extra cushion under the heel, just standard sneakers.  A lot like the ones Sokka himself was wearing.

"It could be worse," piped up a voice from the kitchen door, startling Sokka.

He turned to look, spotting Zuko's supposed younger brother, Shingo. The dude kind of had a point as he was just two years younger than Sokka but was significantly shorter, just a bit taller than Katara actually. "You could still have some growing left to do," Sokka groused, knowing that he was never going to make it past his current one hundred and ninety centimeters.

The kid actually snorted at that. "I'd rather not," he stated, pushing off from the door frame and coming to stand next to Zuko, "The last three were painful enough. Besides, my fourteen-year-old brother is taller than me. I have come to accept that I am going to be shorter than him and there isn't really anything I can do to change it."

Sokka had so many questions he wanted to ask, but before he could say anything, Zuko went up to the door and turned over the sign, which declared the shop to be closed. "What would you like to drink?" Zuko asked as he made his way back to the counter, casually throwing a flame onto the burner like they were back in the vacation house on Ember Island, although his tea wasn't nearly as good back then.

"Chai," Sokka said as he leaned against the counter, Shingo moving into the seating area taking a rag to the tabletops, "You know me. If I'm drinking hot leaf juice, then it has to have flavor."

"Let's hope Uncle Iroh didn't hear you say that," Zuko commented as he started measuring out the tea leaves, "I wouldn't put it past him to rise from the dead and haunt anyone who dared to insult his beloved tea like that."

Sokka laughed, having missed the ability to banter like this. He enjoyed the company of the friends he had made here, but no one got him like the gaang. Things were just easier, flowed better this way, and he didn't find himself wishing that there were other people who got the inside jokes. Having Katara around had made things better, but Zuko was the one person that got him the best, who understood a lot of his frustrations and sympathized with his struggles. He got Sokka in a way no one else did, and he was glad to have him back.

It didn't take long for him to finish the tea, pouring it into a to go cup that had a paper sleeve on it with the shop's logo. Looking at the logo he was ninety percent sure that whoever Zuko had hired to make it had used Druk as a model. That was the only explanation he could come up with for the dragon to be so recognizable to him. He'd lost enough staring contests with the danger noodle to know exactly what he looked like.

Zuko placed a drink in front of Katara as well, before packing three more onto one of those trays meant to hold multiple drinks. Sokka wondered who the other drinks were for, but he merely shrugged and took a sip of his tea. It was perfect, nice and flavorful while not being so hot that he burned himself trying to drink it. Of course, it reminded him of all those days spent in the Jasmine Dragon talking with Iroh, or after he passed, hanging out with Zuko for whatever reason, enjoying the tea they ordered from the kitchen because Sokka wasn't about to risk his life on Zuko's learning curve.  The tea had definitely improved though, and part of him could hardly believe that Zuko had brewed it given his early attempts.

Katara decided to start up a conversation with Zuko while he went about cleaning the tea pots, the two of them managing to draw Sokka in rather easily. It felt like old times, being able to joke around like they were young again, which he supposed they kind of were, and just being able to be themselves, no responsibilities hanging over them. It was effortlessly easy to forget about what had brought them there because they were back together even if the group wasn't whole.

It wasn't long before Zuko was done cleaning and told them to wait a minute while he grabbed his coat. Sokka was content enough to wait, sipping on his tea, enjoying the flavors that other places had failed to create satisfactorily.  It was a nice backdrop to his examination of the walls which contained some rather detailed artwork that easily blended with the style of the logo.  The sound of footsteps drew him out of his musings, and he turned toward the kitchen, glad he hadn't been taking a drink at that moment or he would have spit it all over the shop ruining the cleaning that had just been done.  

He should have known that Zuko would not be alone when exiting the kitchen.  After all, at least one of his fake younger brothers worked here, so he should have expected the additions.  Shingo was walking with Zuko, bundled up enough to hide most of his burn scars with a box of something in his arms. The youngest, Shouto, he was pretty sure at least, hugged close to Zuko's side, looking almost like a mini Zuko with the same hair cut and a similar eye color. Druk, who he didn't even know was there, had apparently decided to drape himself over Zuko's shoulders, which wasn't that big of a surprise.  He'd been the dragon's favorite perch after all, even past the point that most people would have allowed, and Sokka's shoulders couldn't help but ache in sympathy. It couldn't be comfortable to have a four foot long lizard just hanging off one's shoulders.

Sokka didn't know what to say about it, and just ended up following Zuko and his entourage through the streets to a house that was kind of isolated in the neighborhood. The houses on either side of it were clearly empty, and he couldn't help but wonder why that was. It didn't even look like a bad house, being a simple two-story thing that was painted a nice forest green. It didn't really make sense for people to have an aversion to it, although considering the fact that Zuko lived there, there's probably some rumor going around about it.  He always attracted the worst kind of attention, especially from spirits.

That thought made him kind of apprehensive to enter the house, as who knows what could have happened here.  After all, it wouldn't have been out of the realm of believability to think that a spirit had crossed into this new world with them.  Then the door to the house was opened, and Sokka forgot all potential misgivings he might have had as he immediately felt himself drooling at the amazing smells coming from inside. "Come on in," Zuko said as he stepped back giving them room to enter, "Dinner should be ready, so we'll eat and then do some catching up."

Sokka agreed whole heartedly with that plan, eagerly slipping into the house and going through the ritual of removing his shoes and coat as had become habit over the last four years. It had been weird at first, since in the South Pole such an act would have likely led to the person dying, but here it was warm enough that they didn’t need the insulation that shoes provided. Once that had been taken care of, he made his way to the dining room table which had a whole spread of delicious smelling foods on it.

He sat down on one of the chairs and reached for the dumplings which smelled pretty meaty, when something whacked the back of his hand. He could see the tail end of a water whip retreating, and he turned to see Katara pointedly glaring at him, clearly willing him to behave by sure force of her expression. He huffed but knew it would be best to wait for Zuko before digging into his food. The girl who had been setting the food on the table ran off to talk to Katara, and Sokka had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what was going to happen there.

It wasn't long before everyone was at the table, Zuko sitting at the head while the rest of them were down the sides with the girl having taken up residence beside Katara. Zuko cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. "Before we eat, I believe introductions are in order," he said before turning to Sokka and Katara, "I've told the kids all about you, so I figured it's only right for you to get to know them to."

Sokka turned towards the kids, which allowed him to see that the burn scars on the eldest was worse than he thought.  It was one thing to read that a person's body was seventy percent covered in second degree burns, it was another thing entirely to see burn scars covering the bottom half of his face, his neck and most of his arms.  Zuko seemed to have noticed where his attention was as he said,  "This is Shingo.  He's an artist, and he actually designed the shops logo and made the cups and pots that we use."

"Wow," Katara exclaimed, sounding genuinely impressed, something that usually took a lot of effort to do, or at least it took Sokka a lot of effort to do, "That's incredible.  You're really talented."

The kid nodded at the praise, although Sokka notice that he scooted towards Zuko which was kind of funny.  The firebender responded in kind, without even looking at the teenager as he moved on to the next kid.  When he noticed which one it was, his expression grew noticeably concerned.  However, he did go on to say, "This is Saburo.  He's really good with technology, and did a lot of the information gathering to allow us to get the Jasmine Dragon up and running."

"Hi," the kid said as he extended his hand across the table to shake Sokka's hand, "I've wanted to meet you for a long time.  How would you rate your skill with technology?"

"Better than average?" Sokka offered, confused by the question and the behavior of the room, "Why is Zuko so nervous?"

Saburo actually laughed, although it didn't take him long to answer.  "He's afraid that the two of us will team up to take over the world," the kid replied as he sat back in his seat, "He was always saying that we're the smartest people he knows so he wouldn't put it past us."

"I mean," Sokka started, a grin easily sliding onto his face as the discomfort Zuko clearly felt about the two of them talking, "I wouldn't be against it.  Although I would definitely want Zuko in on any world domination plans.  After all, he has the most experience running a country."

The kids jaws dropped at the same time as Zuko's head fell into his hands.  Clearly he hadn't told them about that, and it was with malicious glee that Sokka was ready to spill all the tea about this particular part of Zuko's past.  "You ran a country!?" Shingo exclaimed as he shot to his feet, his attention fixed on Zuko, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"There was never really a good time to," Zuko told him as he rubbed his temples, although he also made sure to shoot a glare at Sokka who just grinned unapologetically back at him, "Besides there's a lot of baggage mixed up in the royalty situation, a fact Sokka should know."

Okay, that made him feel a little bad.  He dutifully tried to ignore the glare Zuko was shooting him while something in his chest squirmed.  "Wait," Saburo interjected, holding his hands out like he was trying to stop everyone from moving by sheer force of will, "You were royalty?"

Zuko sighed, shooting Sokka another glare before turning to the kids and saying, "I was royalty.  I was born prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, and had ascended to the throne shortly before my seventeenth birthday, which actually happened to be the age I was when I woke up here."

"What sort of baggage is wrapped up in that?" Shingo inquired as he sat back down his face curious, as opposed to his siblings who looked apprehensive.

"So, you know how my father burned me," Zuko started, which had Shingo shooting out of his seat all over again.

"What the fuck!?" he screamed as he stared at Zuko, although the most telling thing was the lack of reaction from his siblings, who had clearly known about it, "When the fuck did you mention anything like that?"

Confusion briefly darken Zuko's face before realization cleared it away.  "You weren't there when I told your siblings," he explained, which didn't help the teenager's expression.

"It was the only reason we left," Saburo muttered, low enough that his brother didn't hear it, although it appeared that his sister had as she smacked his arm.

"Fuck," Shingo said with feeling as he ran his hands through his hair, "Your father's worse than mine, and that's saying something.  Fuck."

He dropped back down into his chair, slumped in what was probably emotional exhaustion.  Sokka knew that feeling.  "Please tell me that is doesn't get any worse," the teenager begged, although Sokka knew for a fact that that wasn't the case, and Zuko was nowhere near a good enough liar to be able to say such a thing.

"Depends on your definition of worse," Zuko responded diplomatically, "After all, he maimed me in front of hundreds of spectators then banished me, saying I would only be able to return if I accomplished a functionally impossible task, while having just an old rusty ship and a borderline mutinous crew to aid me.  If it wasn't for Uncle Iroh I probably would have died long before meeting Sokka and Katara."

"I hate your dad," Shingo declared sullenly, "He's the worst."

"Yes he is," Zuko agreed, before turning back to Sokka and Katara, "The last two are Shouto, the youngest, and Keiko, who made dinner tonight.  I know Keiko is eager to talk to Katara, so why don't we dig in and enjoy our meal."

Sokka nodded, grabbing as much of the food as he could fit on his plate, somewhat surprised that he'd managed to hold back during the back and forth he had accidentally started.  He'd gotten better about regulating his appetite but with this much tasty food literally under his nose he usually would have forgone propriety and just gorged himself already.  After he'd finished his first helpings, he loaded his plate up with seconds, but ate it slow enough that he was actually able to indulge in conversation.  His attention tended to switch between Zuko and Saburo, the former talking to him about what had changed since they last saw each other while the latter talked to him about tech.

The kid actually provided him decent conversation, even managing to stump him with a few of his questions, and it was probably a more intellectually stimulating conversation than any of the ones he'd had over the last year.  Clients didn't tend to know much about analysis, and honestly didn't care about the finer points while his colleagues tended to be just as mentally drained as him at the end of the day, which would dry up good conversation on it's own.  Katara on the other hand just lacked the background needed to make smart comments about the topic in question, often leading to her just sitting there with a glassy eyed stare as she nodded her head.  It was honestly getting to the point that Sokka wanted to throw in some random phrase just to see if she was really paying attention, and what her reaction would be if she was.

However, there was also a part of Sokka's brain that couldn't help but think about how suspicious the situation with the kids was.  Given the earlier conversation he didn't come across all four of them together, and Saburo's comment made it obvious that they had run away from their home after meeting Zuko.  While he was probably the best person to be taking care of them considering his own experiences, and having already raised a kid of his own, but there was still something wrong here.  

Sokka decided to tuck that thought away in the back of his head to research later.  He hoped it was nothing, but just in case, he would make sure it was nothing.  After all, Zuko was his best friend, and friends look out for each other.

Natsuo logged on to his laptop surprised to find several messages waiting for him.  When he started researching what needed to be done to create a website for the Jasmine Dragon he ended falling deep into the world of coding.  While the website had easily been created with a website manager that even Zuko, as tech illiterate as he was, could use, he found himself entangled in a vast community of coders.  He learned several different kinds of codes, and discovered adverts for coding jobs online.  

He'd taken the first one just to test his proficiency in coding, and had managed to net himself some good money.  It hadn't taken long for him to start going to check the listings after finishing his homework, taking the most interesting, the hardest, or most well paying jobs available.  He'd actually started to make a name for himself in the community, and was reached out to by one of his former clients.  

xXfuriousfurryXx had provided him with what had possibly been the most challenging job he'd ever seen, although it had a surprisingly simple solution at the end of the day.  They had contacted him a few days after the job had been completed, telling him that when they had initially posted the job they were just hoping for some ideas that might spark a solution.  They were not expecting someone to actually provide a decent solution, although it still ultimately had to be altered to work.  Despite that they were impressed with his coding ability and offered to mentor him, apparently having recognized that he was new to the community.

Natsuo had accepted the offer, and soon xXfuriousfurryXx was sending him weekly coding challenges to solve, each one more difficult than the last.  It was honestly kind of thrilling to have such difficult challenges thrown his way, which made it even more satisfying when he managed to solve them.  However, their communications tended to be rather sparse unless Natsuo was asking for advice, or his mentor was pointing out an interesting job he could take.

Natsuo had mentioned the coding work to Sokka at the dinner in an attempt to gauge his level of competency with technology.  It was kind of shocking how good he was with tech considering just how bad Zuko was, even after five years, but he didn't really have a formal education in using it like Sokka did.  The hero analyst proved that he was decently competent, even able to do some basic data mining, something Natsuo highly doubted Zuko would even be able to imagine doing.

However, Sokka wasn't on the forums that most coders were, so Natsuo was more than a little concerned at the notifications alerting him to the multiple messages he'd received from xXfuriousfurryXx.  With more than a little trepidation he opened them.  

'Someone's trying to find you.'

'They've been researching you and your siblings.  I've been attempting to block them.'

'They managed to circumvent me.  They know you're Todorokis.'

Natsuo sat there, staring at the messages in shock, unable to comprehend anything beyond, "They know you're Todorokis."  It was like the world had grinded to a halt at those words, and there was nothing he could do to move beyond them.  He just stared at them, until they disappeared.  

Suddenly Touya was sitting in front of him, his mouth moving but Natsuo wasn't hearing anything.  He barely registered his brother grabbing his hand and placing it on his chest.  He felt his breathing subconsciously syncing with his brothers, words finally managing to pierce the silence surrounding him.  "It's okay.  You're okay.  Just breath with me Natsuo."

Natsuo nodded, just breathing with Touya, the rest of the world seeming to come into focus as he did.  "It's okay, Natsuo," Touya said as he let go of his hand, "Everything's fine now."

Natsuo knew that wasn't right, his head subconsciously shaking in denial.  "No it's not," Natsuo stated firmly, "Someone knows."

"Knows what?" Zuko asked as he knelt down beside Touya, worry written across his features.

"Someone knows we're Todorokis," he told them, their faces freezing with shock, "Someone knows we're Todorokis and it's only a matter of time before they take us back."

Chapter Text

Natsuo's words had an immediate effect on the rest of the kids.  Shouto had instantly latched onto Zuko, his hands fisting in his shirt, like if he held on hard enough he wouldn't be able to leave.  Touya started taking deep breaths, likely in an attempt to keep his temper, something he probably picked up from Zuko due to how often he found himself using it when he learned about what Endeavor had been like.  Fuyumi had visibly started to panic, pacing the room while doing small calming gestures like wringing her hands or tugging on the ends of her hair.

Zuko knew he had to do something to get the kids calm at least so they could address the issue together.  Pulling Shouto close he knelt in front of Natsuo and said, "It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that!" Natsuo exclaimed, curling in on himself even more.  

His outburst seemed to have gotten the attention of his siblings as soon Touya and Fuyumi were right next to him, hugging him tightly.  "Well then, we should make a plan," Zuko stated, hoping that might help draw the fourteen year old out of his funk, "There are probably things we can do to protect you kids.  You're smart.  I'm sure you can come up with something."

"I can protect you," Touya offered as he pulled his little brother closer, "I'm nineteen.  I'm sure there's some way that we can make it so you guys don't have to go back to Endeavor."

"I'm eighteen too," Fuyumi interjected as she ran her hand through Natsuo's hair, "And only declared missing not dead.  I'm pretty sure between the two of us we can make sure that none of us will have to go back to father."

"But what about Zuko?" Shouto asked, pressing himself into the firebender's side.

"I'll be fine," he told the eleven year old as he gave him a gentle squeeze, "What we need to focus on is keeping you kids out of Endeavor's hands.  Maybe you could look up different ways to avoid having to go back to your father?"

Zuko looked to Natsuo, who looked nervous but thoughtful.  It was obvious that he was already thinking of ways to successfully stay out of Endeavor's clutches, and that was the best that they could hope for.  As long as Natsuo had something to focus on he wouldn't be panicking and would be able to come up with a solution that would work.  

Zuko made to get up, but was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist.  He glanced down to see Natsuo had grabbed his arm, although he released him as soon as he noticed.  "Sorry," Natsuo apologized as he withdrew his hand.

"It's okay," Zuko said as he settled down on the floor in front of him, "You need comfort right now.  However, we might want to move to someplace more comfortable than your bedroom floor.  How does the couch sound?"

Natsuo nodded, and Zuko rose, followed by the kids.  He was immediately sandwiched between the two youngest, and he draped his arms over them, hoping they were able to draw some comfort from it.  Of course in their grouped up state they ended up blocking the hallway as they made their way to the living room, but Fuyumi took advantage of that, arriving with an armful of blankets that she started draping over her brothers. 

Shouto and Natsuo thanked her as they cuddled into Zuko's sides, looking like they could fall asleep at any moment now that the immediate panic had passed.  Fuyumi settled on Natsuo's other side, while Touya opted to settled down in an armchair like normal, although he was seated on the one that was closer to the rest of them.  Given he usually preferred the other one with it's proximity to the kitchen, he was clearly trying to be supportive while not really being able to be part of the cuddle pile.

As they got settled Zuko started humming.  It was something he did with Izumi, especially when she was suffering from nightmares or a bad scare.  It happened more often than he would have liked, a combination of assassination attempts and an overactive imagination driving her to seek him out more often than not.  He'd found out pretty early on that she responded well to his humming, so it had become his primary method to calm her down.  He hadn't really used it all that much here as Shouto tended to need physical reassurance more than anything else.

However, it didn't take long for his humming to have an effect on the kids.  Natsuo slumped against his side, body relaxing as sleep took him, and Shouto appeared to be doing the same.  The eleven year old climbed into Zuko's lap, fitting his head under his chin before letting himself relax into sleep.  Fuyumi cooed, adjusting the blankets around her younger brothers before snapping a picture and yawning.  "I'm going to my room," she whispered as she rose, "Sleeping out here wouldn't be good for my back."

Touya and Zuko both wished her good night as she made her way to her room.  Of course sleeping on the couch wouldn't be good for any of them, but it also wouldn't be a good idea to put Shouto and Natsuo in their beds.  They needed the reassurance that they were not alone, that they were cared for, which meant it would probably be best to just carry them to the master bedroom.  The bed in there was huge, easily holding all three of them, and it would keep them from making a panicked dash around the house when they awoke from their nightmares, if they had any.

Just as Zuko was trying to figure out how to get the two sleeping boys from the couch to the bedroom, Touya said, "We really need to come up with a cover story."

He glanced over at the nineteen year old, whose attention was focused on the boy in his lap.  Zuko knew that Touya felt extremely guilty about how he acted when they were younger, and saw his recent relationship with Shouto as a way of being the big brother he should have been before.  It wouldn't be that surprising if he decided to fight Endeavor physically or legally to keep his siblings out of the bastard's hands.  "Honestly the best option would just be to tell the truth," Zuko offered as the thought of Endeavor getting his hands on these kids caused him to tighten his grip, "They ran away.  My involvement in their decision doesn't really matter, and you were already gone anyway.  It's not like Endeavor has the best publicity at the moment."

Touya nodded his head in concession.  They both know that most of the headlines Endeavor made these days weren't the good kind.  The last time he ended up in the news it was all about how his recklessness during a battle had caused a gas explosion, leading to lost of property damage and civilian casualties.  While there were some people still willing to cut him some slack because he was "grieving his kids" the vast majority were not having it.

"I wonder what it takes to get a death certificate overturned," Touya mused as he pulled out his phone, his fingers tapping across the screen much faster than Zuko's could go.

"Well, you've probably already done the hardest part," Zuko teased as he poked Touya's foot with his own, "After all, not dying is essential to the process."

Touya kicked him back but didn't say anything too engrossed in his phone.  Zuko left him to it, trying to maneuver his arm so he could scoop up Natsuo and be able to carry the two boys to the bedroom.  "What?!" Touya whisper shrieked as he shot up from his chair, his eyes staring down at his phone in horror.

Zuko checked to make sure that the two youngest hadn't been woken up by the outburst before directing his attention to Touya.  "What's wrong?"

"They found a piece of my jawbone," Touya told him as he handed over the phone, his face as mix of emotions that Zuko wasn't sure how to decipher, "They declared me dead because they found a piece of my jawbone and nothing else.  How could I have even lost a chunk of my jawbone and not even noticed?"

"I don't know," Zuko admitted as he handed the phone back, being unfamiliar with the medicine of this world, "But at least that means it should be easy for you to be able to prove your identity."

"True," he replied as he took his phone back before plopping down into the arm chair like a sullen teen, "They should have my DNA on record at the very least.  It would be rather hard for someone to fake that."

Zuko shrugged before leveraging himself up off the couch with Shouto and Natsuo in hand.  Getting up took a lot of effort, but once he was upright, he was easily able to alter his grip on the boys so the trip to the bedroom would be as painless as possible.  "Good night," he told Touya who responded in kind as he went to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep.

Unsurprisingly, the night wasn't very calm as Natsuo woke from nightmares twice during the night, while Shouto only woke once.  The younger boy was easily lulled back to sleep as soon as he was able to confirm that Zuko was there, but Natsuo needed time.  He practically launched himself out of the bed, the close proximity to someone who ran warmer than normal seeming to make things worse.  Zuko would then spend several minutes reassuring him that he was safe before he could uncurl from his position against the wall.

So it wasn't really a surprise when Natsuo got up in the morning and looked like absolute shit.  "You should probably stay home," Zuko told him as he sat down at the dinner table, grabbing one of the plates of breakfast that had been prepared, "I'll call the school and tell them your sick.  You can spend the day researching.  Is that okay?"

Natsuo nodded tiredly, and there was a part of Zuko that hoped he managed to get a nap in as well.  When Touya arrived, he pulled him aside and said, "Would you be willing to stay home with Natsuo?  I'm going to tell the school that he's sick, and I'm afraid if there isn't someone here to remind him to eat he'll just spend the whole day doing research."

"Of course," Touya replied as he glanced over at his younger brother, "Besides, it would probably be useful for me to be here anyway.  After all, if Endeavor does try to take us back, I'm going to be the one fighting him on it."

Zuko nodded before slipping into the next room to call up Nabu middle school to inform them that Natsuo wouldn't be in school that day.  The secretary thanked him for informing her, before telling him that they would compile a packet of work that he could do to make up for his absence once he was feeling better.  The call ended not long after that and he went about his day like normal.

Touya's absence at the Jasmine Dragon didn't really change much.  He told Hishiko that Shingo wouldn't be there because he was taking care of their sick younger brother, and she just said that she hopes he gets better soon.  They didn't really need to call anyone in to cover for him, which made Zuko wonder if the kitchen staff were doing extra work to cover for him or they just didn't need that many people working in the kitchen.  He wasn't sure, and he didn't want to test it either, so he just made a note of it.

The day passed rather uneventfully, at least in terms of what was going on in the shop.  Experience made it easy for Zuko to keep his worry off of his face, and he was easily able to brush away any concerns about his siblings not being in the shop.  It was rather easy to get the regulars to accept that his little brother just had a cold, with a few of them even offering up home remedies to help him get better.  He'd even jotted a few of the better pieces of advice down, to use when one of the kids actually got sick.

However, things got interesting on his way home.  It was unnervingly quiet as he made his way home, the lack of Touya or Shouto making it feel like something was missing.  Although he didn't stay alone for long as Sokka appeared about a block away from the shop.  "Damn," he exclaimed as he fell in step with Zuko, "I was hoping to get here before you closed.  Of course, that's on me for getting distracted."

"Well, I can make you some tea when we get to the house," Zuko offered as they turned onto the street the house was on.

Sokka frowned as he stared down the street.  "Actually," he said as he turned to look at Zuko, a strange expression on his face, "There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Okay," Zuko replied cautiously, not sure he was going to like the talk they were going to have, "What is it?"

"It needs to wait until we're at your house," Sokka told him as he glanced around them, "It's not exactly something to talk about in public."

Zuko shrugged, since Sokka was probably right about that.  Anything the two of them would have to take about, except maybe the weather wasn't exactly something to talk about in public, so taking it to the relative safety of the house was the best option.  The rest of the walk was silent as Zuko pondered what Sokka would possibly want to talk about.  Given how little they had spoken since being reunited, it could be any number of topics.  Who knows, maybe he'd managed to find another one of the group.  

When they got to the house, Zuko let Sokka in, and went about putting away his coat and shoes.  As soon as he turned around to ask what was going on, a stack a papers was thrust into his chest.  "What the hell?" Sokka exclaimed as Zuko grabbed the papers, trying to get a good look at them, "What in the world were you thinking?"

Zuko's confusion at his friends words evaporated as he saw exactly what the papers were.  The top one had a comparison between Todoroki Shouto and Yoshida Shouto on it, with some angry scribbles on there to show just how upset Sokka was when he managed to figure out the connection.  However, that was nothing compared to how Zuko felt in that moment.

His best friend had put his kids through so much anxiety in the last twenty four hours and he was furious.  Sokka seemed to recognize the look on his face as he stepped backwards, but it was too late.  Zuko grabbed him by the ear like an errant child and dragged him to the staircase, up to Natsuo's room.  He was probably the one that needed to hear this information the most.

Natsuo had spent most of the day glued to his laptop.  Touya had taken it away once or twice to make him eat, but otherwise he'd spent the day doing his best to trying and figure out how best to handle Endeavor finding them.  With the sudden discovery of their identities, it was only a matter of time before he came for them.  At least if they were prepared, they wouldn't have to be with him for long.

Honestly Touya had been a great help in the whole situation.  Not only was he the one that would have the best chance to keep them together and away from their bastard of a father, but he also provided some good ideas for cover stories they could give to potentially keep Zuko out of jail.  They both knew it wasn't likely, not with how suspicious the whole situation looked, but they hoped that it would at least make it easier to get him out once they had escaped Endeavor's clutches.

Having gotten as much done as he could, Natsuo was tempted to head downstairs for dinner, when the sound of someone stomping up the stairs reached them.  He barely had a chance to glance over at Touya who was looking equally confused when the door burst open to reveal Zuko dragging Sokka by his ear.  

Zuko looked pissed while Sokka was begging to be let go, which just made the situation even more confusing.  The fire bender let go of the ear, only to push his friend into the room and block off the doorway so he couldn't escape.  "Tell them," he demanded while glaring at Sokka.

"Zuko, don't you think you're being a little-"

"Tell them," Zuko interrupted, his tone stern and commanding, "Tell them exactly what you did."

"Fine," Sokka huffed as he turned to face them, "I thought your story was a little weird, so I looked you guys up.  It took some time to get through all the nonsense, and I found out who you really are."

It took Natsuo a moment to process that information, but as soon as his brain processed the meaning of the words, his body was in motion.  Sokka managed to turn so the punch didn't break his nose, but it did knock him backwards into the wall.  "Why?!" Natsuo demanded as he glared at Zuko's friend, "Why did you have to go snooping?  Why couldn't you just leave it alone?  Why didn't you just trust Zuko?"

"Zuko doesn't exactly have the best judgment when it comes to kids," Sokka stated as he glanced over at the firebender, like he expected him to take a swing as well, "He cares too much about kids to let them get hurt, even at his own detriment, so someone has to make sure he's not biting off more than he can chew.  Besides, I didn't think it would really hurt anything."

"Sokka you gave them a panic attack last night," Zuko interjected from where he was leaning against the door frame, "They thought their father had found them."

That seemed to get through to the analyst as his expression shifted from annoyance to horror.  "I didn't think about that," he admitted as he hung his head sheepishly.

"You have a habit of doing that," Zuko told him, although the tone was more teasing than reproachful, "I swear you can be the smartest and dumbest person I know."

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka groused as he shoved half heartedly at Zuko, "Laugh it up asshole.  Besides, how did you even know I found out?"

"I have a program in place," Natsuo told him, although he wouldn't be revealing the existence of his mentor, "One that monitors the activity of both our identities.  It warns me if someone's poking into them and especially if they are looking at the code behind them.  After all, all it would take is for someone to realize that the Yoshida's weren't entered into the system until the day after the Todorokis disappeared for them to draw the obvious conclusion."

"True," Sokka conceded with a slight shrug, "Although your protections were rather impressive.  It took me a while to work around them."

"How did you manage that?" Natsuo inquired, eager to learn more about the how so he could prevent more people from reaching the same conclusion in the future.

"Tech talk can wait," Fuyumi interjected from the door way as Sokka opened his mouth to speak, "If I let the two of you get started dinner's gonna get cold, and you need to eat.  You're only fourteen Natsuo and I doubt you ate that much while you were being all anxious."

Natsuo shrugged.  Now that he wasn't worried about everything falling apart around them, his stomach was making it's presence known.  It probably had something to do with the smell of dinner drifting it's way up the stairs.  Either way, Fuyumi was right, so he made his way down to the dinner table, eager to eat some quality food.

Sokka had been incredibly worried when he discovered just who Zuko had taken under his wing.  While he didn't put as much stock in heroes as most people, the fact that the kids' father seemed to be a little unhinged had him worried for his friend.  Of course it didn't take him that long to draw some parallels between Endeavor and Ozai, which honestly had him questioning his friend's sanity.  The whole gaang knew how messed up Zuko's whole situation had been, which had Sokka questioning his sanity for inserting himself into this one.

At least the situation seemed to be going well.  None of the kids seemed to going the Azula route and trying to kill their siblings, which was a good thing.  Zuko being put in that situation again would be absolutely brutal, probably even more so than it had been the first time.  There were too many factors working against him when it came to Azula's situation, but with these kids, who he'd spent the last five years raising, it would be devastating.  He'd probably blame himself for one of them going bad, thinking that he hadn't done enough for them.

So Sokka had decided that he would go to Zuko about it after work and ask him for an explanation.  This whole situation was just poised for tragedy, and the last thing he wanted was for his friend to have to go through that heartbreak all over again.  Of course, being distracted by that for most of the day meant that when he got out of work, he was going to have to rush if he was going to make it to the Jasmine Dragon before closing.  

Unfortunately, he didn't quite make it, instead spotting Zuko walking away from the shop as he rounded the corner.  He ran up to his friend, deciding to join him on the way home so they would be able to talk.  When he told Zuko that, it was clear that he was curious, and probably more than a little suspicious, but he was willing to let it slide.  Part of Sokka was grateful that he wasn't demanding answers from him right then and there, but it also meant that he had plenty of time to work himself up.  

He knew Zuko could be stubborn when confronted, especially when it came to dangerous situations.  He didn't really take threats to his own life seriously, unless there was something only he could do.  Being there for Izumi had helped them get him to take better care of himself, but the danger the kids posed wasn't physical.  Or at least it didn't really threaten his life.  

It would be all too easy for someone to be able to claim that Zuko kidnapped them, and then he would be locked away for a very long time.  Sokka didn't want to lose him, especially since he'd only just gotten him back.  Hell, Toph would be furious and probably break into the prison herself to free Zuko.  The situation was just too precarious and to be honest, Sokka wasn't sure he could trust his friend's judgement in this case.  

So when they got to the house, Sokka was a bit more forceful than he had intended to be, hoping that he might be able to drill some sense into Zuko's head.  What he hadn't expected was to be grabbed by the ear and dragged upstairs to explain everything to Saburo, or Natsuo technically.  It was an embarrassing situation to be in, but then he got punched in the face.  He knew if he hadn't turned his head, his nose probably would have been broken, but instead got the beginnings of a black eye.  He honestly wasn't sure which one was worse.

He felt kind of bad when they informed him of how many problems he had caused them that day, but he felt that it wasn't as bad as they were making it out to be.  He didn't want to cause a panic, and didn't know that his investigation was going to trip any alarms.  It made sense in hindsight that they would try and keep an eye on if anyone would connect their two identities, but he hadn't even known it was possible before Natsuo told him.

Fortunately, the slight panic he had caused hadn't strained their relationship too much, and he should have expected that Natsuo would want to learn how he did it.  The kid absorbed information like a sponge, and he was smart enough to be able to apply that knowledge in some very creative ways.  He was grilled over dinner at first, although Zuko put a stop to it after the two of them tried to leave with their plates so he could give a demonstration.  He insisted that the demonstration could wait, since Natsuo had school the next day and Sokka had work.  It was a little disappointing, but not that surprising given that it was Zuko.  He wouldn't know fun if it bit him in the butt.

Once dinner was over, Sokka got ready to leave, deciding it was best to head out before he ended up causing any more panics.  He should have expected Zuko coming to talk to him.  "You know you can't tell anyone about this, right?" Zuko asked as Sokka put his shoes on, "You can't tell Katara, Toph, Suki, or any of your other friends."

"I know," Sokka told him as he straightened up to look his friend in the eye, "You don't want to risk someone finding out about them, which is fair enough.  Although I can't help but wonder why you're subjecting yourself to the whole situation.  Doesn't it hit a little too close to home?"

Zuko scoffed.  "Why do you think I'm here?  These kids need me.  They need someone who can understand their situation, who can help them break away from the toxic mindset force fed to them for years, and let them grow into their own people.  Touya was like the worst mix of me and Azula when I arrived, and I'm proud of the man he's become."

Sokka glanced toward the kitchen where he could see Touya and Fuyumi doing the dishes together, the older of the two smiling at something the other had said.  Looking at him it was almost easy to see the person Zuko was describing, but also seemingly impossible because of how incredibly angry someone like that would have been.  He could almost imagine that situation, and quickly banished it from his mind because of how terrifying it was.  "I'm sorry," he offered as he grabbed his coat from the closet.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Zuko told his gaze on the kids in the dining room, "After all, you would have been sending them back into their own personal hell if you'd told anyone."

Sokka couldn't help but stare at his friend incredulously.  "It's not like you would have gotten away unscathed," he commented as he turned toward the door, "You probably would have been jailed for kidnapping them.  Toph would kill me if I'd done that."

Zuko shrugged.  "It's not like it would be that bad.  If I could survive boiling rock, than whatever they've got here would probably be a piece of cake."

"Zuko you were in there for a day, maybe two," Sokka deadpanned as he whacked his friend's arm, "I don't think you can make that call."

"I think you're forgetting something," Zuko stated as he folded his arms, staring Sokka down, "Not only was I stuck in the cooler, which would have been absolute hell if I hadn't figured out how to regulate my temperature properly at that point, but almost all the guards and prisoners would have been willing to kill me for being a traitor."

"What?!"

Sokka and Zuko both turned toward the kitchen where all for of the kids were standing there shocked.  "Looks like you have a story to tell them," he snickered, earning him and elbow to the ribs from the firebender, "You should start from the Western Air Temple.  I'm sure they'd love to hear about the conversation we had on the way over and your completely lack of empathy."

"Sokka I couldn't tell if you were joking or not," Zuko stated defensively, "I heard you have more emotion in your voice when talking about a failed hunt than you did when talking about Yue.  How was I supposed to know that when you said your girlfriend turned into the moon you were actually being serious."

The kids just looked even more confused at that, and Sokka knew it was his time to leave before he got dragged into the whole story telling process.  While he was good at it, he also tended to be a bit long winded, and Zuko had been right about him having work the next day.  So he turned and opened the door, the cold wind on his face reminding him of the black eye he'd been given earlier.  "Hey Zuko," he said as he turned back into the house, "Would you be willing to heal this real quick?"

Zuko turned to look at him before smirking.  "You deserved that.  I'm not going to let off easy after what you did."

Sokka huffed, giving Zuko a half hearted punch to the arm before turning back to wave at the kids.  "Don't forget to come over on Sunday," Natsuo called out as he waved to him, "If you don't I'll spam your phone about it."

"I will," Sokka agreed.  There was no doubt in his mind that Natsuo would absolutely follow through on that threat if he failed to show.  "Maybe you can convince Zuko to fix my black eye in the mean time."

"We'll see," Zuko said as he waved Sokka out, "Just don't do any more stupid shit in the mean time."

Sokka shrugged as he walked away, which was probably the best answer he could have given.  He could already imagine all the teasing he would have to deal with at work the next day, and he couldn't tell them what actually happened.  At least if he said he did something dumb and paid the price he would be telling the truth.

Chapter Text

Sokka had to head to work the next day, which made his interactions with his coworkers interesting.  The kid had managed to get him pretty good and the ice he applied after getting home had only managed to mitigate the damage.  Katara had also informed him that she wouldn't be doing anything about it either since she was stuck working graveyard shifts for the next week.  So he was stuck with it until he could convince Zuko to help him out.  

When he got to work, he told his inquisitive coworkers that he'd hurt himself doing something dumb.  He'd refused to elaborate it so they had started taking bets on what they thought he'd done in an attempt to get him to crack.  It was honestly kind of telling that they came up with so many different reason for him to have gotten hurt with most of the being somewhat plausible.  There was the rather mundane 'he ran into a door and doesn't want to admit it' to a more extreme 'he got caught up in a villain attack'.

The more outlandish stuff was discounted pretty quickly because if he'd ended up in a situation like that he wouldn't be hiding it.  Someone suggested that it might have been from a spar with Suki, which had actually happened before.  Sparring was a way for the two of them to able to hang out without it causing Suki to cut the whole hang out short since it helped with her future training.  Well, as long as they managed to spar without making out at some point.  It wasn't his fault that she was just super sexy when fighting.

However, Suki being the source of his bruise was also discounted rather quickly.  She had actually given him a black eye before and he didn't give them a run around then, straight up telling them that she'd given it to him during sparring.  A few of his coworkers did suggest that the two of them had gotten into a fight resulting in the black eye, but honestly if that happened Sokka would probably have trouble walking.  Suki could be absolutely brutal when upset, and his good looks could only get him so far.

He also hadn't had much contact with her lately.  She had a big test coming up so he was banned from bothering her so she could study.  Not even their weekly spars were allowed due to the aforementioned tendency to turn spars into make out sessions.  He respected her drive to become a police officer even if it did mean that there would be weeks like this where he wouldn't get to see or talk to her.

Fortunately he only had to endure a day of the teasing.  He wished he could have headed over on Saturday to show Natsuo what he did to discover their secret, but unfortunately that happened to be a school day.  Sokka didn't really get why they had school almost every day, although school had practically been a foreign concept to him when he arrived there.

He decided that since he had to wait a day, he might as well go over what he'd done to get the information since he was going to have to demonstrate it tomorrow.  It wasn't that hard to retrace his steps and go through the system all over again.  He'd struggled a lot at first with trying to work a way through the wall that had been put up around the data, but had eventually decided to go around it, dodging most of the protections, allowing him to easily part what little was left.

He debated whether or not Natsuo would be able to understand it, but dismissed that thought almost immediately.  The kid was smart, way smarter than he had any right to be, which was kind of exciting.  It was rare that Sokka had someone that could actually keep up with him, especially when it came to tech.  It was hard to find anyone that could understood his technobabble, even among his analyst friends, so having someone that would understand was going to be fun.

Sokka showed up at the Yoshida house at about the nine the next morning.  While it did kind of suck that the Jasmine Dragon wasn't open on Sundays, it also kind of made sense.  Zuko had to take a break sometime, and what better day than the day when the kids are home from school.  If there was one thing that could break through his tendency to overwork himself it was his kids.  Originally it was an attempt to give Izumi the best childhood possible and now it was taking care of these kids.

Sokka knocked on the door, which was opened a moment later by Zuko.  "Hey Sokka," he greeted as he opened the door wide enough to let him in, "Have you eaten?  Natsuo had some trouble sleeping last night so he only just got breakfast."

"I ate," Sokka admitted as he shed his shoes and coat, "Although I wouldn't say no to more food.  Or tea for that matter."

"Come on," Zuko replied with a roll of his eyes, "I did up some tea to go with breakfast and we do have some leftovers.  Some people weren't as hungry as they usually are."

Sokka followed him into the dinning room, plates of food spread out across the table.  There was a small plate of pancakes, with some toppings in bowls around it, a picked over plate of dorayaki, and some tamagoyaki.  He could also see the tea pot that must have been used for breakfast sitting on the kitchen counter, the design far rougher than that of the tea pots at the Jasmine Dragon.

Natsuo was sitting at the middle of the table and perked up when Sokka entered the room.  He was looking a little better than last time he saw him, although he was very clearly tired.  "Can we go to my room now?" he asked turning to look at Zuko who was pouring Sokka a cup of tea.

"Not until you've finished your food," the firebender told him in a firm but gentle voice, "And don't try and scarf it all down.  The last thing we need is you choking yourself, especially since Sokka wanted something to eat to."

Sokka had to fight not to laugh at how quickly the kid deflated before perking up again.  Honestly, he could understand the kid's excitement, he'd always been happy to learn new things as a kid, especially when it was something he wanted to learn more about.  However, food had always been his first love, so he wasn't the kind of person to skip a meal the way Zuko was.  "There's no need to rush kid," he told him as he grabbed a dorayaki, "I still have to figure out how to talk Zuko into fixing this."

He gestured to his black eye, as he spoke and Natsuo looked back down at the food.  That just made Sokka feel bad because he did deserve it after all.  Zuko had spent so much time taking care of these kids by keeping their identities a secret, and the last thing he should have done was put that in danger because he was curious.  Sure he was worried about Zuko, but the firebender was more than capable of taking care of himself.  "I'm sorry," Natsuo said, his gaze still fixed on his plate.

"Kid you don't have to apologize," Sokka told him, his heart squeezing in his chest, "I deserved it.  I did something dumb, and got hurt as a result.  I've had far worse, and if you hadn't hit me Zuko probably would have."

"You've got that right," Zuko interjected as he placed a cup of tea in front of Sokka, "I can't tell you how many times this idiot has said or done something that got him hurt.  And I wouldn't hesitate to hurt anyone if they proved to be a danger to my kids, even my friends."

That got Natsuo to look up, and Sokka did his best to give the kid a reassuring smile to show that he didn't really hold it against him.  That seemed to reassure him as he went back to eating his food.  Sokka did the same, enjoying the dorayaki with the tea, which wasn't as flavorful as he would have liked but was still good.  Eventually they finished eating, and went upstairs to the room that Zuko had led him to the last time he was there.

Now that he had a chance to look at it, Sokka could tell that is was the bedroom for the two youngest.  A set of bunkbeds was pushed up against the wall with a dresser placed at the end.  There were a few pictures pinned to the walls, pictures that tended to have either Zuko or Druk in them.  There was also a sort of wood plaque on the wall that was a picture featuring all of them, although it had to have been made years ago given how small Druk was.

There were also two desks, one of which happened to have a rather nice looking laptop on it.  Natsuo pulled out the chair to that desk before gesturing to the other one.  "You can use Shouto's chair," he said as he opened the laptop and turned it on, "He never really uses his desk.  He prefers doing his homework in the living room so he can ask Fuyumi for help."

Sokka was somewhat skeptical about whether or not the chair would be able to hold his weight given that it was meant for an eleven year old, but it held up just fine when he sat down.  He doubted it would stay that way, but it wasn't like he was going to be there for long.  His coding didn't really take that long to type out, especially with the time he'd spent working on it the day before.

"Here you go," Natsuo said eventually as he pushed the laptop in Sokka's direction, "Show me what you did.  Then I can go over the code and patch up the hole you managed to find in the firewall."

"Well, it wasn't really a hole," Sokka told him as he started writing out the code, "I just sort of went around your protections.  See?"

Sokka gestured at the lines of code on the screen before hitting enter causing the program to run and pull up the metadata on the Yoshida public records.  Natsuo's face turned thoughtful as he took the laptop back, his eyes scanning over the code rapidly.  He started doing some tapping and Sokka got up to stretch, more for something to do rather than any need to.

"Hey Sokka," Natsuo said after a few moments of silence, "Do you have a quirk or are you just faking it for the register?"

"I actually have a quirk," Sokka replied, a smile coming to his face as he thought back on when he discovered that fact, "I was kind of shocked when I discovered it, but it's pretty cool and works with my brand.  I am the boomerang guy after all."

"Well, I think you might have been using your quirk to get around the firewall," Natsuo told him, causing Sokka to blink in confusion, trying to register exactly what he was being told, "Because I can't get your code to work for me."

"Show me," Sokka demanded as he joined Natsuo at the desk, focusing his attention on the laptop screen.

The kid complied, writing the code out line by line before activating it only to get an error message.  He then went and copied the code that Sokka had written out, pasted it into a new window and activated it, only to get the same error message.  "That can't be," Sokka muttered as he leaned over and examine the code, looking it over for any flaws before activating it.

After a moment the computer brought up the metadata for the Yoshida profiles, and he couldn't help but stare in disbelief.  "I guess you've been subconsciously using your quirk to subvert the firewall," Natsuo offered, as Sokka processed this information.

The thing was, it did make sense.  His quirk allowed him to alter the trajectory of projectiles he had thrown so it wasn't too much of a stretch to think of his code like a digital projectile.  He wanted it to get around the firewall and it did.  "I don't think there's any way to block quirks like this," he offered as he sat down, thinking about all the implications of what he'd just discovered, "Although I don't think I've heard of any quirks like this."

"It's not exactly something that people would publicize," Natsuo stated, which was true, "And honestly most people probably wouldn't think to use their quirk like this.  Training with Zuko has opened us up to new possibilities with our quirks, and since you're more creative you could probably come up with more."

Sokka thought about it.  His job was in quirk analysis after all, and there were so many ideas he had for heroes that would probably never get used because they were unwilling to test their limits.  "I might be able to," he said eventually, seriously considering the idea, "We could talk to Zuko about taking clips of all of you using your quirks.  That's what I tend to use when doing my professional analysis, so we might be able to talk him into it."

"I'll talk to him about it," Natsuo offered, as he shut down his laptop and closed it, "Especially since I'll probably be the one filming them.  Zuko is absolutely awful with technology, and we'll have to figure out when to do them so people don't see us using our quirks.  Touya and I don't have the same quirks on paper."

Sokka paused at that before remembering what their fake profiles said.  "How did you come up with that anyway?"

"I'm good with tech so I figured it would be easy to fake.  Touya on the other hand actually came up with the idea of claiming to be quirkless on his own," Natsuo explained as he got up from his desk, "I actually tried to talk him out of it when he first suggested the idea, but he was set on it.  It probably also had something to do with his mindset at the time.  To Endeavor quirks were everything, so when Touya lost favor with him, it was a good as being quirkless.  Now it doesn't matter what that pompous fireball thinks."

"That's rough," Sokka said sincerely, only for Natsuo to burst out laughing, "What?"

"Zuko told us that story," Natsuo told him in between laughs, "Did your girlfriend really turn into the moon?"

"Well it was more complicated then that," Sokka replied, unable to keep from chuckling a little bit, "But that was kind of the gist of it.  The moon spirit had died or was dying and my girlfriend, or crush really, gave her life to save them."

"That sucks," he offered as they reached the living room where the rest of the family was.  

Touya and Shouto were sitting together on the couch, sketch books in their hands as the elder showed the younger how to draw something.  Fuyumi was writing in a notebook, although Sokka couldn't tell if she was doing homework or creative writing, not that it really made a difference.  Zuko was seating in one of the armchairs reading a book while Druk draped himself across the firebender like a scarf.  It was a funny sight to see, but it also struck him that he'd never seen him so relaxed before.  Between the war, his duties as Fire Lord, and taking care of these kids he'd never really relaxed before.  It was kind of sad.

Sokka was jolted out of that rather depressing realization by Natsuo announcing, "Everything's fine.  Sokka was just using his quirk in a weird way to get around the fire wall."

"Of course he did," Zuko said as he marked his spot in his book before setting it aside, "Now I should probably fix that black eye, shouldn't I?"

"It would be appreciated," Sokka stated with a slight shrug and what hopefully came across as a cocky smile.

Zuko huffed but rose from the chair, prompting the danger noodle to go bother the people on the couch instead.  He then directed Sokka to sit at the dinning room table, probably to avoid him sprawling on the floor.  While Sokka had yet to experience fire healing, he'd heard that it tended to take more out of a person than water healing did.

Once Sokka was seated, Zuko tilted his head to the side and asked, "Anything interesting happen lately?"

Sokka was slightly surprised by the question but just shrugged before replying.  "Not really.  Suki's been studying for a big test so I haven't gotten to see her lately, and Katara's been doing a lot of graveyard shifts."

Zuko hummed in acknowledgement as golden flames appeared in his left hand.  "What about Toph?"

Sokka closed his eyes as the fire was brought closer to his face, the flames too bright to look at for much longer.  "She's been busy too," he replied, "Since she's graduating soon.  In fact I've been meaning to talk to you about her graduation."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Sokka said as he fought to keep still while the slightly uncomfortable warmth was pressed against his face, "She wants you to come.  It's a week from Wednesday, so it's understandable of you can't make it, but she'd really like you to be there.  Plus Suki will be there too."

Zuko huffed as he withdrew his hand, prompting Sokka to blink open his eyes.  It honestly wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting, but now he could give the firebender baby seal eyes.  "I'll see if I can make it," he said as he covered Sokka's eyes with his hand pushing him away, "I can't guarantee anything, but I would like to see them again."

"Yes!" Sokka exclaimed throwing his hands into the air, the movement causing him to shift enough to dislodge the hand on of his face.

Zuko huffed, but there was a smile on his face, so he was probably trying to hold back laughter.  "You should probably head home," he said as he turned toward the kitchen, "I need to make lunch, and while you don't like my spicy broth the kids love it."

Sokka nodded, remembering the one time he'd tried Zuko's spicy broth and was unable to taste anything else for the rest of the day.  "See you later," he called out as he got his shoes on, "And text me if you're coming.  You're probably going to need a ride to the location."

Zuko waved him off, and Sokka took that as acknowledgement.  His friend was busy after all, and the future was actually looking pretty great.  They were so close to getting the gaang back together, and getting to see Suki's face when she saw Zuko for the first time would absolutely be worth the punch he would get as a result.

Zuko was glad that things had been figured out and was seriously considering what Sokka had told him.  While the question of what had happened to Toph in the whole situation had been in his mind since he landed here, he'd never really had the chance to really consider it until Katara showed up and told him.  Getting to see her again would be amazing, and he was seriously considering going to her graduation.  

He'd checked with Hishiko first thing Monday morning and she was completely on board with him going to the graduation.  She even offered to do all the brewing herself to assuage his concerns.  Touya had jumped into the conversation and with Hishiko convinced him to take that day off so he could go to Toph's graduation.  It felt kind of unfair, but they also pointed out that he hadn't really taken a day off for himself in the nine months since they opened.  They did have a point with that, so he decided to go through with the plan.  

He was honestly excited to see Toph again, and the anticipation of the reunion was palpable.  Unfortunately his good mood was ruined later that week by a less than enjoyable experience. It had been a normal day for the most part when what was clearly a hero walked into the shop. He was about Sokka's height wearing a navy blue bodysuit, white boots, white gloves, and a white mask.  There were also silver lightning bolt decals running down his limbs and across his chest. 

Now, Zuko didn't really have a problem with heroes.  Sure he didn't like the system and felt that some of the heroes didn't really care about what it meant to be a hero, but he didn't hate heroes.  He wouldn't spend so much time helping out Eraserhead or supporting Shouto's dream if he didn't like heroes.  However, this hero had a swagger to them that just screamed arrogant.  It was definitely a cause for concern, but until he did something ban worthy, Zuko would leave him be.

When the hero entered the shop they took a moment to glance around, probably looking to see if they had any admirers, when he paused.  His gaze had settled on one of the regulars, Tachibana.  They tended to keep to themselves, often sitting in the Jasmine Dragon doing work in their laptop, having just one cup of tea and one pastry, usually a cinnamon roll while they sat there. They didn't talk much when ordering, but Zuko had managed to make them smile once or twice, and they had mentioned that their boyfriend had recommended it. Clearly, they liked it if they kept coming.

Zuko wouldn't have thought much of the hero looking at Tachibana san if he had moved on, but he had turned away from the counter, walking towards them.  He wasn't sure why the hero was walking over to them, but he had a bad feeling about it.  Since there wasn't anyone in the shop that really needed his help, he focused on that situation, ready to spring to action should he need to. "Well, well, well," the hero said as he stood over Tachibana who looked like they could care less about his presence, "What are you doing here? I thought you were on parole."

Tachibana looked absolutely done as they rolled their eyes saying, "Last I checked, visiting a tea shop didn't violate my parole. Even if it did, I’d gladly break parole for this."

Zuko barely managed to keep from laughing at that, although part of him was honored that someone thought so highly of his shop. Some of his regulars weren't as reserved, clearly chuckling at what was one of those sincere statements that could also be taken as a joke. The hero tensed, and Zuko was instantly on alert as the slight smell of ozone filled the air. The hero raised his right hand, the fist wreathed in electricity.

Zuko jumped over the counter, grabbing the hero's fist as it made its way downward, toward Tachibana's face. Zuko knew that pulling it back would take too much strength and effort so instead he pulled the arm down, using the hero's momentum against him as his arm was being pulled back in a way that made him vulnerable. "I don't condone fighting in my shop," Zuko told him as he pulled the heroes arm back, just enough so it hurt, "Get out and don't come back."

The hero fought to get free of Zuko's grip, and when he let the man go, he turned around and tried to punch him.  The attack was laughably easy to dodge, but letting the fight go on too long could lead to people getting hurt and things getting damaged. So, to end the fight he grabbed the hero's fist and twisted their arm behind their back. From there he walked them towards the door and one of the customers graciously opened it, although they looked more than a little amused at the situation.

Zuko then shoved the hero out the door, and stood there arms crossed, preventing him from attempting to bust his way back into the shop.  He stumbled forward, probably more than a little surprised by the force that had been used. "You can't do this!" the hero yelled as he whirled around, and attempted to shove Zuko out of the way.

"I think you'll find that I can," Zuko told him as he stood his ground with folded arms, staring down at the petulant hero, "This is a private business, and I can deny service to whoever I want. This is also private property that I own, so if you attempt to enter my store again, I will call the police and have you arrested for trespassing."

The hero's face turned red, although in anger or embarrassment Zuko couldn't tell. Probably a bit of both. The hero just blustered there for a moment, sparks buzzing around him, before eventually walking off allowing Zuko to get back to his shop. The first thing he did was go over to Tachibana who was gathering their things. "Do you have a name for him, so I can put him on the ban list?"

Tachibana glanced up, a slight smirk on their lips as they said, "His hero name is Tazerbeam. Since he's spotlight you should be able to find his name in the registry, although he probably won't be coming back.  In my experience, egos like his don't take kindly to being bruised like that."

Zuko allowed a slight huff of amusement to leave him before asking, "Do you want anything? It's on the house. You shouldn't have had to deal with him harassing you like that."

Tachibana looked a little surprised at the question, but with a small smile responded, "Could I have another cup of tea to go? I’m meeting with a client in a bit."

Zuko nodded, and he returned to behind the counter, doing up another pot of chai tea, and doing up two to go cups. Tachibana was surprised when he handed over the tray of drinks but thanked him and hurried off.  He hoped their meeting went well.

Fuyumi was working on her homework when she noticed Touya leaning over his sketchbook, probably more than was healthy.  "Are you sure you should be leaning that close?" she asked, deciding she could take a break to check up on her brother, "Aren't you going to hurt your back or your eyes like that?"

"It wouldn't make much of a difference," Touya told her as he straightened, "I already have plenty of aches, and my eyesight won't be getting better anytime soon."

"Are you sure about that?" Fuyumi asked as she set her work aside, "Glasses are an option after all.  I have one of my old pairs if you'd like to try them."

"Are you sure?" Touya inquired, clearly trying not to look as hopeful as he sounded.

"Glasses can make a big difference," she insisted as she got up, "If you took mine away I would still be able to function, but not as well as if I had them."

"How bad is your vision without your glasses?" Touya asked, sounding more interested than he had before.

"Not too bad," she told him as she grabbed the case that held her old pair from her dresser, "If I was sitting on the couch and not wearing them I probably wouldn't be able to read the subtitles on the screen.  I could be a lot worse though.  I have a friend who can't see more than a foot in front of her without her glasses."

"That sounds terrible," Touya exclaimed as Fuyumi returned to the living room with the glasses, "How do you know if you need glasses?"

Fuyumi shrugged as she handed over the glasses case.  "It depends.  I was having trouble reading stuff on the board at school which was what prompted mother to take me to the optometrist to get my eyes checked.  For one of my friends it was as simple as being unable to distinguish their dog from a tree in the park."

Touya took the glasses out of the case and glanced hesitantly at Fuyumi before putting them on.  It was almost amusing to watch his expression change from one of skepticism to wonder.  "I didn't realize my eyes were that bad," he said as he glanced around the room like he was seeing it for the first time, "I thought I was just tired or some shit like that."

"We should probably talk to Zuko, see about getting you in to see the doctor," Fuyumi mused, as Touya took off the glasses, "Then you could have glasses that work for your eyes.  It would make things a whole lot easier."

Touya shrugged.  "I don't know.  It's not like I really need them.  I'm not trying to read something twenty feet away from me anymore."

That was kind of suspicious.  "Touya, how long have you been having trouble seeing?"

"A while," he admitted sheepishly after a very long pause, "Endeavor used to tell me that glasses and stuff like that were for nerds and that I shouldn't stoop to that level.  I think I just started ignoring the fact that things looked blurry at a distance."

"That's awful," Fuyumi said as she got close to her brother, wanting to hug him but knowing better than to attempt it, "We really should talk to Zuko about this.  The last thing you need to be doing is parroting Endeavor's words."

"Do we have to?" Touya whined, something that was almost comical given his size.

"Fine," Fuyumi conceded, "We'll drop it for now."

"Thanks," Touya said as he leaned back into the couch, clearly relieved.

Fuyumi checked the time realizing that it was time to start dinner, so she went into the kitchen thinking about how this was the perfect time for revenge.  She managed to keep her cool while making dinner, dishing dinner, and part way through when she said, "Hey Zuko?"

"Yeah?" Zuko responded as he glanced up at her from his bowl of soba.

"Touya needs to go to the doctor," she told him, causing her older brother's head to shoot up as he glared at her, his foot connecting with her shin in annoyance, "The eye doctor specifically."

"Is it true?" Zuko asked as he turned his attention to Touya who shifted his focus.

"Yes," he replied, looking like the words were being dragged out of him against his will, "Fuyumi noticed it this afternoon."

"So when would you like me to set up an appointment?" Zuko inquired, looking like he was about to go and grab his phone to book it right then and there.

"Maybe next month?" Touya suggested with a slight shrug, "Or even later than that.  It's not really a big concern."

"Touya, this has to do with your health," Zuko stated firmly, clearly out to make a point, "To me it is a big concern.  I'll respect your timeframe, but don't assume that it doesn't matter because it doesn't seem like a big deal."

Fuyumi felt a bit guilty about putting Touya on the spot like that, but it was probably the best thing she could have done.  Touya definitely wouldn't have brought it up on his own, and Zuko was continuing to prove why he was leagues better than Endeavor.  Honestly it made her feel like everything was going to be alright.

Chapter Text

Suki's arrival in Japan had been rather interesting.  She'd gone from a battle against pirates to hearing Toph calling out for Zuko to dark and echoey halls.  She'd discovered the next day that she had landed in a high school, one that catered to anyone who either failed to get into a specialized school or just didn't know what they wanted to do with their lives.  It wasn't hard for her to snag a uniform and pretend to be a student, and she easily made a few friends who simply assumed she had just moved into the area.  

In fact it took more than a year for the staff to figure out that she didn't belong.  Of course by that point she was already a staple in the classrooms of the school, and it was obvious that if they reported her to the authorities then they would probably have to deal with an investigation into the school, something they didn't really want to deal with due to how crowded the place was and how overworked all of them felt. 

So Suki's homeroom teacher took custody of her, fortunately giving her someone to go to about all the questions she had that she couldn't really take to her friends.  It was nice to have someone who actually knew about how getting jobs and such worked, which just left her wondering what she was going to do with herself.  It didn't actually take that long for her to conclude that she should keep doing what she's always been doing.

Now, she couldn't exactly be a Kiyoshi warrior but from what she learned about the police force it did appeal to her, far more than being a hero did.  Besides, She was far more comfortable working in a group as opposed to working alone.  Even when she was working as Zuko's bodyguard following the war she always had one of her fellow warriors with her.

There were some days where she wanted nothing more than to be back on Kiyoshi Island with her warriors, the girls that she'd known almost her whole life.  They had grown up together, trained together for most of their lives and they were as close as sisters could be.  Even Ty Lee had managed to worm her way into Suki's heart, her bubbly personality and incredible kindness allowing her to easily adapt to her new role.  Of course there was another person that Suki would love to see again.

Sokka was an incredible man that didn't try to force her into a role she didn't think she was ready for, although that sometimes made things difficult.  She wanted to be with Sokka, loved spending time with him, but she also had a duty to Kiyoshi Island, the home that she loved.  Sokka understood and didn't even try to pressure her to leave, while also having a duty to his home, knowing that he had to put in a lot of work to restore it with the war over.

She had been both shocked and unsurprised when the first trace of her friends that she discovered since landing here was that of Toph, beating people up in a school tournament.  Wile locating her was incredibly difficult it did give Suki a goal, something to do when she wasn't in class or doing homework.  While she knew the general area that Toph probably lived in going house to house to try and find her was probably a stupid thing to do so she could only hope for accidental run ins on the street.

And that was exactly what happened.  It wasn't with Toph per say, but bumping into Katara while apartment hunting was probably a blessing in disguise, especially since the waterbender was already in contact with Toph and Sokka.  It felt like something had slotted into place that day, like having the knowledge that she wasn't alone there had helped to ease the discomfort she felt interacting in this strange world.  

She was almost immediately included in the group hang outs and while her feelings for Sokka were still very much present, she knew that it would probably be best for them to wait on dating.  She knew that he was disappointed about her decision but didn't try to push it, although there were times when the two of them just couldn't help themselves and would kiss.  

It was this that kept her from spending more time with him while dealing with her studies as she didn't want him distracting her from her work.  While she was much better at self regulation than a certain Fire Lord, there were times when she would get too caught up in her work, and need someone to pull her out of it.  Katara was generally pretty good at it, but she could be stubborn at times leading to Sokka getting involved.  

He was able to creatively pull her out of her work binges, but it also meant that her study session would be derailed from that point onward.  So when the finals for her first semester came up she was more or less blocking everything out.  She didn't bother reading the group chat, she stayed off of social media, and more often than not she locked herself in her room with her books.  Fortunately the tests were before Toph's graduation, but she spent the day between her finals and the graduation ceremony recovering from the amount of stress she'd experienced.

Getting ready for Toph's graduation wasn't that bad, since they planned to get there about nine in order to get good seats it meant she would have at least an hour to get ready even if she decided to sleep in.  She didn't, her habit of rising at six in the morning having been ingrained in her long before she moved in with Katara, although she was justifiably shocked when Sokka knocked on the front door at eight fifteen in the morning.  "Good morning!" he exclaimed as Katara let him in, while nursing a cup of coffee, "Are you two ready to go?"

"I thought we wouldn't be leaving for another half hour," Suki stated as he came over to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Did you guys change the plans on me again?"

"I told you last night," Katara said as she ducked into her room, probably to grab her purse, "We're picking someone up on the way there, so we're heading out early."

Suki thought back to the night before.  She had been kind of out of it, trying to recover some mental stamina by watching one of those kind of mindless slice of life anime while snacking on junk food.  Katara had watched some of it with her after getting back from an early shift at the hospital, which might have been when the stop was mentioned.  Honestly the day before felt like a blur.

"Or you just thought you did," Suki suggested, not really wanting to admit fault if it wasn't certain, "You are kind of forgetful when you're tired."

Katara opened her mouth to fight back before pausing in consideration.  They both knew it was possible and had happened before, although it tended to be caught more often when being referenced in front of a whole group of people.  It also tended to be her repeating information that she had given before as opposed to forgetting to inform someone of something.  That didn't mean that it was impossible, just unlikely.

"Either way," Sokka started drawing their attention back to him, "We really need to get going if we want to get to the school early enough to get good seats.  As much as I love the Yamamoto's I don't want to be stuck next to them when Toph graduates."

Suki could understand that.  Toph's foster family had been a perfect fit for the diminutive earthbender, being just as loud and destructive as she was.  It probably didn't hurt that their quirks worked a lot like earthbending so she was right at home with them.  It seemed like a match made in heaven and while she was happy for her friend she also didn't want to go deaf by the end of the ceremony.

Suki downed the last of her coffee before grabbing Sokka's hand, leading him out of the apartment.  Katara trailed after them, making sure the lock the door behind them to reduce the chances of a break in.  Their area was nice, but that didn't mean it was necessarily safe.  Petty crimes like burglary was actually pretty common in the area, far more common than a landlord or insurance salesman would like people to know.  It was just one of those fun things that one learned at the police academy.

Sokka's car wasn't that far from the entrance, which allowed them to get out of the parking lot less than a minute after leaving the building.  Suki was slightly concerned at first when they started driving away from the school, but it honestly kind of made sense that whoever they were picking up didn't live anywhere near the school.  However, it didn't take long for that concern to come back as they strayed into what could generously be called the slums.

Crime rates were practically through the roof in places like these, and if there wasn't a bunch of hero fights happening there was probably a lot of gang warfare going on.  The area started getting a little nicer again which actual houses when they finally stopped.  The neighborhood had definitely seen better days but the house they stopped at was actually looking pretty good.  The lawn was well maintained and the house was clean as far as she could tell, but she couldn't help but wonder who lived here.

"Be back in a sec," Sokka said as he unbuckled and got out of the car, his body language all casual familiarity.

He strolled right up to the door and knocked the door swinging open barely a moment after he'd knocked.  Suki was having trouble seeing who just might have been at the door, but she could see that they were taller than her boyfriend and had dark hair.  This just peaked her curiosity, and she tried to get a good look at them, although as soon as Sokka stepped back to let them past she knew exactly who it was.

Even without the scar Suki would have been able to recognize Zuko.  His body language was something so distinctly him, and she knew how to read it like a book after having spent close to four years shadowing him.  There was something different about him, but she wasn't able to really pin her finger on what it was.  Maybe it was the oddity in seeing him in anything other than robes, but she wasn't sure.  He strode up to the car confidently and got in the back seat with Katara who didn't look in any way surprised to see him.  Sokka slid into the front seat and Suki glanced between the three of them .  

"When did this happen?" she asked, well, demanded really because how long had they been keeping Zuko's existence a secret from her.

"Well, Katara first came into my shop in December and Sokka first came with her a little less than a month ago," Zuko answered thoughtfully.

"And you did tell me?" Suki asked, the question aimed more at Katara than Sokka since she'd spent the past month trying to limit contact so she could focus on her studies.

Katara actually snorted, which she honestly wasn't expecting.  "Do you know how many times you brushed me off when I tried to tell you?" she shot back, sounding more than a little irritated, "Eventually I decided that I might as well make it a surprise since you weren't paying enough attention to hear me."

Suki felt herself turning bright red at the accusation and decided that it would probably be best to just move on to a different topic of conversation.  "So how have you been Zuko?" 

"I've been doing alright," Zuko replied, a small smile on his face as he glanced out the window, "The shop's doing well, the kids are good, and I'm very excited to see Toph.  I haven't gotten to hear that much about her from these two."

"That's cause she wants to tell you herself," Sokka told him as they weaved through traffic towards UA, "She's been so pissed that she hasn't been able to see you, but she understands why.  She wouldn't have been able to get anything done because she'd be running off to visit you after school."

"You do realize that my kids do homework in the shop, right?" Zuko interjected, causing Suki to whirl around as far as she could in her seat to look at him.

"You have kids?!" Suki exclaimed.

"Yeah," Zuko replied, like it was obvious, "I mentioned them earlier.  They're all at school except for Shingo whose working right now.  He actually threatened to tie me down if I tried working after the ceremony today."

Sokka started cackling at that while Suki tried to reconcile the fact that Zuko already had kids here.  "Where in the world did you even get kids?" Suki demanded as she tried to wrap her head around the fact.

"They're runaways," Zuko stated, his tone both pained and sympathetic at the same time, "Their father was awful and their mother was gone so I took them in.  They probably wouldn't have survived that long on their own if I hadn't."

Suki didn't respond to that.  She couldn't really respond to it.  It wasn't all that surprising for Zuko to have taken them in if that was their situation.  He knew what it was like to be in that place, so he was probably the best person to take care of them.  

Suki was pulled out of her thoughts by Sokka saying, "I can't believe Shingo threatened to tie you down.  There's no way his little chicken arms could hold you down long enough."

"While Shingo has no chance of holding me," Zuko agreed, a small smirk on his face, "He is by no means weak.  Honestly, he could probably beat you in an arm wrestling competition."

"Yeah right," Sokka responded, rolling his eyes as he made a turn.

"Sokka," Zuko started, sounding like he was about to start lecturing her boyfriend, "Shingo is regularly carrying around industrial size baking equipment and ingredients.  Not to mention, he trains with me almost every day."

Now that got Sokka to shut up.  Zuko had always been unnaturally strong, something that was completely at odds with his rather thin appearance.  It wasn't odd to see him break stone with just his bare hands during sparring matches, so anyone who'd been training with him for what was probably years was likely comparatively strong.  At least Sokka's greatest asset in a fight was his brain not his brawn so in sparring he would have at least a decent chance of beating them.

The rest of the car ride to the school was comparatively quiet as Katara and Zuko chatting about how the kids had been doing, while Sokka and Suki discussed how her next semester was going to go.  When they got to the school it was pretty packed already, probably because everyone had the same idea of getting there early to find good seats.  The crowd wasn't as large as it would have been for the sports festival, but it was still pretty big and made getting around a pain.

Once they parked they started making their way towards the auditorium, the path there having been signposted for what felt like every ten feet or so.  Of course with UA's extensive campus and intense security measures they probably didn't want anyone getting lost.  However, this did mean that everyone was sort of funneled into these small hallways as they made their way towards the auditorium where their tickets could be checked.

Suki blamed the crowd for what happened next.  One minute she was standing in the hall with Sokka waiting for the line to move and the next she was being knocked backward, only saved from meeting the floor by Zuko's timely intervention.  "Hey Fans," said the midget that had glommed onto her waist, "It's great to see you again."

"It good to see you too Toph," she replied as she finally had the mental capacity to hug back.

Toph released her a moment later, moving to hug Sokka, who got rammed into the wall, and Katara who was also rescued by Zuko.  She then turned to Zuko a confused look on her face.  "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" he replied, looking justifiably confused.

"Sparky?!" Toph exclaimed, as she jumped to hug him, Zuko easily absorbing the impact, although he did rock back slightly, "They didn't tell me you were coming."

"Surprise!" Sokka exclaimed while throwing his hands up like it was a birthday party and not a crowded hallway.

He yelped much louder than he had any right to when Toph punched him in the arm, like they were used to her brand of affection by now.  "Dammit Sparks I'm going to have to learn a whole new pattern for you," Toph stated as she seemed to examine him with her milky eyes, "Who knew a few inches and a couple years of separation would throw off my read of you so badly."

"Is it because I'm no longer as tense as a bowstring?" Zuko asked, only half joking.  

Honestly Suki was surprised that she hadn't notice how relaxed his body language was.  She was used to seeing him jumping at shadows and tense like a blow could come at any second that seeing him relaxed was kind of jarring.  "Eh," Toph replied with a shrug of her shoulders, "There's more to it then that, but it won't take long to get used to.  Now if you'll excuse me I have to go where my class is meeting before the ceremony."

They all said goodbye to Toph who was easily able to carve a path through the crowd with an amusing mix of swear words and well placed violence.  The line started moving a little faster as the got closer to the auditorium, and it wasn't long before they were searching for a collection of seats that would have a good view of the front.  It wasn't actually that hard with how big the balconies were, although there was a point where they were far enough back to not be able to make out any details.  

Once they were seated Suki checked the time, surprised to discover that they only had about five minutes until the ceremony started.  She probably should have expected it given how long the line in was, but it was far less than what she had been hoping for.  She took the minutes before things started to glance around, trying to find the Yamamoto's which wasn't as difficult as she feared it would be.

Toph's adopted parents and older brothers were sitting down at the front of the balcony on the far side.  There was a part of Suki that wanted to go over and say hi, but there wasn't enough time and they would definitely see them later.  

The ceremony started exactly at ten, with the home room teachers leading their classes into the auditorium.  Toph happened to be right behind her homeroom teacher and the teacher clearly wasn't happy about it.  It was almost amusing to see a grown man flinching away from one of her best friends, especially since he had something like two feet on her.  In fact it seemed like everyone was doing their best to give Toph a wide berth.

Once the role call was completed the principal started calling up the student reps to retrieve the diplomas for their entire class.  It was interesting watching the reps on stage while the entire class stood as one unit before sitting back down again.  Suki's own graduation had been a crowded mess from what little she could remember, and they didn't have the same timing as these did.  They were also much larger, making the situation a whole lot messier.

Once the diplomas were handed out, the homeroom teachers started giving their own speeches.  Unsurprisingly the hero teachers gave speeches on the importance of heroics and being able to maintain an image for the public.  There were parts of it that felt very targeted towards Toph, but was still generally applicable.  The support teachers talked more about innovation, and encouraging creativity in their students after they leave.  The business students got a somewhat pointed speech about ethics, while the general education students were given some generally encouraging sentiments from their teachers.

The last person to speak was one of the general education students who gave a very impassioned speech about society and their role in it.  It was a lot like a combination of the speeches that came before but pieced together in a way that flowed better and had a lot more heart felt emotion in it.  Of course the end of the speech was capped off with the schools motto, which was echoed by not only the teachers but the entirety of the student body.  "Plus Ultra!" seemed to echo around the room, filling the space as the student stepped off the stage.

The classes then thanked their teachers for everything they had done before the whole ceremony was closed with a few parting words from the principal.  Once that speech was over, everyone was dismissed, and it didn't take long for the students to start wandering outside.  Suki was ready to join them, surprised at how stiff she could get from sitting for just two hours.

They made their way down towards the exit, meeting up with the Yamamoto's as they went, and gradually made their way outside.  It wasn't surprising to see that the students had grouped up upon being released to say their good byes, but that did make it a little harder to find Toph.  Since she was a little shorter than average they were at a bit of a disadvantage, at least until Sokka spotted bright red wings.

Toph's best friend was someone they had only heard about, but she was very loud about the fact that she was his only friend.  It wasn't even that long before the wings also started to move in their direction, and soon Toph came into sight, dragging a rather reluctant teenage boy with big red feathered wings behind her.  "Hey everybody!" Toph waved as she drew close, not loosening her hold on her friend's wrist at all, "This is Feathers.  Feathers this is Sparky, Snoozles, Fans, and Sugar Queen."

Feathers gave a rather awkward wave with his left hand before trying to pry Toph's hand off his wrist.  After spending a minute trying to budge it and failing he turned his attention back to them.  "I'm Tamaki Keigo," he told them with one last desperate tug on his wrist, "Hero name Hawks.  Toph's told me a bit about you guys but she's never used real names."

Toph grinned unapologetically at that, not that it was a surprise.  As far as she was concerned the name she gave was your real one.  "I'm Yoshida Zuko," he offered with a wave, which prompted the rest of them to supply Tamaki with their own names.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you guys," he said, seeming to have relaxed a little since he was dragged over by Toph.

"It's nice to meet you too," Suki offered, easily slipping into polite conversation.

It wasn't long before the whole group got involved in the conversation, although Sokka was definitely doing the majority of the talking.  He clearly enjoyed having another hero nerd to talk with, but he was also just the biggest motor mouth in the group so he would do most of the talking by default.  Eventually Toph announced, "We're going to the Jasmine Dragon.  I want some tea."

Suki was confused at that, but glancing around she was the only one.  She did remember Zuko saying he owned a shop earlier, and suddenly things fell into place.  "I'm guessing the Jasmine Dragon is yours?" she asked as she glanced at Zuko, whose cheeks colored slightly at the question.

"Yeah," he admitted as he glanced away from them towards the gates of the school, "It's kind of a memorial for uncle."

Suki couldn't help but smile remembering the rather sweet relationship Zuko had with his uncle.  "Well," she started a slightly sly smile on her face, "Let's hope you managed to improve since last time."

"There's nothing to worry about," Zuko told her as the group started to move as one towards the exit, "Remember?  I'm banned from working today, so there's no chance that I'll screw up the tea."

The conversation changed topics as they left for the Jasmine Dragon, although Tamaki split off before they left, stating that his handlers wouldn't like it.  Toph didn't look too happy about it, but didn't complain either.  So they went off to go and see the Jasmine Dragon, and Suki couldn't wait.

Chapter Text

Toph hadn't been too happy when getting asked to check out the strange phenomenon at the spirit portal had led to Zuko getting dragged off by a strong spiritual force.  She wasn't going to let it take him that easily though, and jumped into whatever rift it was that he had been pulled through. Charging in after him probably hadn't been the best idea because she couldn't feel anything on the other side of the rift.  The sheer panic she felt in the moment had her calling out to him on instinct, like they were teens again and not adults in the nineties.  She desperately reached for him, and was met with a tug that yanked her forward, stumbling from nothingness to a sudden blast of sensations.

It was overwhelming, her mind being inundated with so much sudden information that she struggled to process any of it.  It was almost like her first time attending an earth rumble, the rather sudden shock of going from her life of isolation to being surrounded by loud and friendly people.  It was jarring and uncomfortable, but something that she managed to adapt to quickly enough.  Tuning out anything outside of her immediate vicinity, she focused on collecting herself, something made easier by the police who had gotten all of the bystanders to back off a bit.

One of the officers approached her after they noticed she was lucid again, and after a brief talk they decided to take her to the station to look her up.  They soon discovered that there was no Toph Beifong in their records, and she wasn't really surprised.  This world was so different to that of the four nations, ranging from the buildings she couldn't really feel the top of to the metal contraptions whizzing around to the amount of metal people had on or in their bodies.

They asked her about her parents names and she reluctantly provided them doubting that they would find, but not really wanting to see them if they did.  It had taken far too long for them to reconcile after the war, her parents struggling to comprehend that the little girl they thought they knew was completely different from the one that had lived with them for years.  Sparky had been invaluable when it came to deal with all of that, especially since he gave her a place where she could unapologetically be herself. 

In the end it turned out that Her parents weren't in the system either and so they went about searching for families that might be willing to take her in that would be able to accommodate for her blindness.  Of course she argued against it, having spent too long being treated like she was helpless despite being perfectly capable of taking care of herself.  The police had several arguments about her needing a family to take care of her, with the biggest being that she was somehow twelve again.

There was a part of her that felt it was deeply unfair that she had been turned into a child.  She didn't want to have to deal with all the shit her teenage years had put her through again.  Although, she wouldn't be fighting a war or trying to establish peace for years on end so she supposed it could have been worse.  There had been things that she had wanted to do that only kids really ever got away with that she might be able to do now.  That would almost make up for having to go through puberty again.

They found the Yamamoto family who seemed like the perfect match.  The family happened to have quirks that worked a lot like her earthbending, with the patriarch having been recently blinded in a villain attack gone wrong.  Since they already knew how to accommodate for her disability, it made them the perfect family for her to live with.  Toph wasn't sure how to feel about it as she could generally take care of herself, but it would be interesting to explore this new world.  The way they talked about blindness made her feel like it was something that was more generally accepted here, and not something to be hidden away like she was before.

The police took her to meet the Yamamoto's and the head of the family reminded her of one of the older men at the earth rumble.  He had been a soldier long before she met him, and as soon as he could retire he did, having had enough of all the shady shit that the higher ups were doing.  She'd of course asked him what he was doing fighting in an arena, and he told her that he'd spent so much of his life fighting that it felt like that was all he was good for anymore.  He had left about a year before the others showed up, having gotten a letter from his daughter about the Fire Nation army marching on their village.  Toph had learned a lot from him, although not nearly as much as she had learned from the badger moles.

When she had gotten settled with them, they started asking her about these different things like braille or canes or any eye protection that she might need.  They had been rather shocked that she knew nothing about braille, and hired a tutor to teacher her how to read it so she would be able to go to school normally.  Toph was blown away by the concept that she could read using her fingers and eagerly threw herself into the studies, wanting to know if being able to read was as good as people made it out to be.  Her new parents were upset that she hadn't had access to this before, with the mother sounding like she wanted to punch Toph's parents in the face.

Honestly the whole family was great.  They had four sons, their ages ranging from thirteen to twenty-one, with the eldest having taken over their father's hero agency.  The whole family, except for the mom, had what they called earth mover quirks which acted a lot like her earthbending. It was fun to feel the differences between their quirks, with the father having the closest approximation of earthbending and her new brothers having specialties.  They all had a different balance of power and control, which made it interesting when she fought them.  

That was probably her favorite thing about them.  They didn't treat her like she was made of glass.  She could go up to one of them and ask for a fight and get it most of the time.  They didn't try and stop her from fighting, or insisting that because she's a young lady that they wouldn't dare let her do something that could result in her getting hurt.  They didn't even really hold themselves back following her first fight with one of them.  It was kind of funny to think back on how their heart rates jumped when she sent Toshiaki into a tree, only for him to jump up and declare that it was fun.

She had even gotten her brothers to take her on all at once before, which led to Hiroshi suggesting that she become a hero.  Toph had thought about it for a bit, listening to Rikuto talk about what it had been like when he was a hero before being blinded.  The idea had been appealing from the outset, allowing to beat people up for a living in a way that was socially acceptable, and hearing about the good she could do as a hero just sealed the deal. 

Hiroshi had signed her up for the UA recommendation exam and she managed to pass with flying colors, allowing her to get into the primary hero class.  She did well in school although everyone from her classmates to her teachers told her that she wouldn't make it far as a hero because she was blind.  She was determined to prove them wrong so she went hard at the sports festival.  No one stood a chance when they faced off against her, although she was especially rough with those that claimed being blind made her useless.

Honestly that sports festival was the catalyst for a lot of change in her life.  It started with Principal Nezu, who was very interested in some of the things that her classmates had to say about her.  Of course the claims that she cheated were completely unfounded, and the two started having a weekly tea where they would talk about all sorts of subjects.  She wasn't sure who was more terrified by her friendship with the principal, her classmates or her teachers.  

The sports festival had also been really good for her making friends.  There were three or four support students that approached her with ideas for support gear that they wanted to make for her.  While she was skeptical at first they quickly became the only people she would trust with her gear.  It was also during this time that Feathers really came into her life.  

She'd been somewhat aware of him because they were in the same class, but she'd never really spent any time with him.  He was one of those people that was really easy for others to get along with, but there was something in his body language that practically screamed dishonest.  So she was a little surprised when he approached her one day not long after the sports festival to talk.  

It was obvious that it wasn't by choice, as his voice was the only friendly part of the conversation.  His body language just screamed that he didn't want to be there, that he was absolutely terrified, which was hair enough given how she'd knocked him out of the sky during the sports festival.  That alone had her taking it easier on him then she normally would have, since he wasn't one to claim her blindness made her useless.  Although there had been one point in the conversation where he's response was so trained and robotic that she got Ju Dee flashbacks.

She knew after that conversation that he needed help, so Toph did what she does best and bullied him into accepting her friendship. She started sitting next to him at lunch, nicknamed him Feathers since she could hear them rustling every time he shifted, and personally thought it was a much better name than Hawks. Then she got him used to her brand of affection, to the point that he stopped startling into the air whenever she punched him in the arm, before starting in on the least ideal part of becoming friends: sharing.

She didn't like talking about her past and her parents, but she had a feeling that he needed an outlet where he could talk about his situation without having to initiate that talk.  The fact that he referred to his caretakers as his handlers more than anything, just seemed to indicate that he was not in a good situation.  There were actually a few time that he would stop himself from saying anything negative about them, which had her wishing Zuko was there so he could help, having had to break out of his own form of brainwashing to be able to help them end the war.

Honestly her friends from the four nations managing to find her as a result of the sports festival was just the icing on the cake.  She hadn't suspected that any of them other than Zuko would be there, so it was a bit of a shock to find Sokka and Katara at her door one day.  She was so happy to have them, even if they were the people she expected, and the three of them hanging out soon became a nice constant in her life.

Katara finding Suki had actually been a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one.  Suki had always been a fun person to spend time with, albeit someone they lost a lot earlier then they should have.  It was unfair that she hadn't gotten to grow up with them, but it did make things a little better having her there now.  Hanging out with her was fun whenever she could come to meet ups, although it didn't happen often.  With work and school, she was a bit too busy to spend much time with them.

Then during winter break of her senior year, Katara called to tell her that she found Zuko.  Toph had been ecstatic, ready to go and tackle her older brother in all but blood at that very moment, but both her guardians and her friends thought she should graduate before seeking him out.  She had grumbled about it, but accepted that that was the smart idea.  She was close to graduating and needed to finish setting up everything that would allow her to start her agency as soon as she was free, which meant she couldn't afford a distraction like Zuko's presence.  She hated it, but it was in her best interest, so she dealt with it.  Besides, she had that mission from Nezu to complete.

It would have been easier to bear if her friends weren't also major assholes.  They talked about him all the time, and despite the fact that she had yet to have any interaction with him since being brought here she knew he owned a tea shop, had four younger "siblings", and had gotten taller.  Sokka actually wouldn't stop complaining about that bit to the point that Toph had threatened to launch him into a tree if he didn't shut up about it.

So, she couldn't wait for March to get there so she could finally “see” him.  It was starting to make her irritable, and Feathers had noticed.  She was actually kind of impressed considering how he didn't seem to understand most human interaction, a lot like Zuko had been when he came to them at the Western Air Temple.  It had managed to snap her out of her cold fury, at least for a bit because he didn't deserve to have to deal with her anger when he wasn't the cause of it.  It had taken her a while to learn how not to lash out blindly whenever she felt angry, but it was a skill she had managed to get a hold of eventually.

The work that had been keeping her from seeing Zuko was going well though.  Miruko had been giving her some good advice on how to set up a hero agency, something that she had spent the last two years working on since she didn't want to potentially be stifled under the thumb of another hero that the commission considered "safer".  She had shared her experiences with Toph, and had helped her to get all the necessary work done so that they could open as soon as she graduated.

Having friends in the support class really helped in this regard.  It meant she already had a full support crew, who were good at working together and knew her equipment inside and out. They had also introduced her to a lot of business and general studies students, people who wouldn't normally talk to her because she's a hero student.  It didn't take too much work to convince a few of them to come and work for her agency.  In fact most of her agency was going to be made up of people from her graduating class, although the most disappoint part was that Keigo wasn't going to join her, claiming he had his own agency waiting for him, which was suspicious, but she wasn't going to push.

When graduation finally came around, Toph was ready to either tear her hair out, or trap Sokka until he promised to take her to the Jasmine Dragon to see Zuko.  She was so ready to "see" her adopted older brother again that she would have forced Nezu to speed through the ceremony if she thought it would actually work.  She knew enough about the principal that he wouldn't be willing to agree to her request without getting something in return, and she wasn't sure that she wanted to know what he would want.

So, she just had to deal with it.  The Yamamoto’s had brought her to the school early, so she could easily get ready.  There wasn't really that much that needed to happen, although dealing with her classmates was probably the hardest part.  Feathers being there was a plus, and while they had mellowed since first year, they were still somewhat stuck up idiots.  That's why she had to go and take a walk before the ceremony started.

She wandered toward the line where everyone was heading into the auditorium hoping that she might be able to talk with her friends before the ceremony, and had been overjoyed to discover that not only did Suki make it but they had brought Zuko who she had been told probably wouldn't be able to make it because of work.  She was happy to get her hugs from them, but had to reluctantly leave them behind as she had to get back to her class before the ceremony.

Knowing that Zuko was there made the ceremony seem to fly by as she focused on that fact.  It was easy to go through the motions, to just make getting through the whole thing easier.  When they were finally let out at the end of the ceremony, she grabbed Keigo's arm and dragged him out so she could go find her friends. 

It wasn't as easy as she wanted it to be simply because of the sheer number of people that were there, but she eventually managed to feel Sokka's gait, the rest of her friends not far behind him.  Keigo did protest getting dragged along, but she told him that she had to introduce him, whish surprisingly got him to stop squirming as much.  Toph supposed it be because she'd told him all about the others but he'd never gotten to meet them before.  

It was honestly kind of funny how awkwardly he introduced himself, but Zuko had managed to salvage the situation, probably because it was nice to have a kindred spirit in the awkward department.  It didn't take long for conversation to start and Toph released Keigo's wrist as soon as she was sure he wouldn't book it out of fear or embarrassment.  Despite how good he was at acting friendly he was very bad at casual conversation, so Sokka doing all the talking was probably a relief.

Of course Toph could only stand having a conversation in the middle of UA's parking lot for son long, eventually announcing, "We're going to the Jasmine Dragon.  I want some tea."

"I'm guessing the Jasmine Dragon is yours?" Suki asked as she turned to Zuko, which had Toph wondering just how out of the loop the Kiyoshi warrior had been that she didn't know this information.

"Yeah," Zuko admitted, his voice going kind of soft and quiet, "It's kind of a memorial for uncle."

It was a rather fitting memorial in Toph's mind.  The old man had loved his tea, probably more than anything else, and the shop had been one of their favorite hang outs before his death.  "Well," Suki started her tone lighthearted, probably in an attempt to lift the mood, "Let's hope you managed to improve since last time."

Zuko chuckled at that.  "There's nothing to worry about," he said as they started to move as one towards the exit, "Remember?  I'm banned from working today, so there's no chance that I'll screw up the tea."

"How did you get banned?" Toph asked, confused at who might have more power than the owner.

"Well, according to my employees and siblings I haven't been taking enough breaks," he stated, sounding amused at the situation as opposed to angry, "So they demanded I take the day off so we could hang out."

Toph grinned widely.  She wasn't going to complain about having an entire afternoon to spend with Zuko.  "Well, you guys have fun," Keigo said, already stepping away from the group, "My handlers wouldn't want me to waste the afternoon in a tea shop, so I guess I'll see you later Toph."

"Bye Feathers," she offered as he walked away, a part of her resigned to the fact that hanging out just wasn't a thing he could do and furious that he couldn't just hang out with them.

The rest of the group didn't comment, although she could practically feel the questions radiating off of Zuko.  It wasn't that surprising to see that he'd picked up on the not right stuff with Keigo, although it was obvious enough that Sokka could probably see it.  However, the firebender was the one that would have the best chance of helping, since he had been in that situation before.  The problem was, Toph didn't want to tell everyone what she knew about the situation, and getting Zuko alone would probably be difficult.

Just before they made it out to where the cars were parked, they were ambushed by the Yamamoto's.  Toph had felt them coming, but she hadn't said anything, knowing that her brothers could be absolute trolls when given the opportunity.  It was hilarious to hear Sokka scream like a girl when Toshiaki grabbed him from behind, Noboru got Suki, Hirohito caught Katara who'd stumbled backwards into him, and Hiroshi had tried and failed to get Zuko.

"That never gets old," Toshiaki said between laughs as Sokka scrambled out of his grip, "I can't believe your voice still goes that high."

"So this must be Zuko," Rikuto mused as he approached his cane in one hand and Sora's hand in the other, "Toph has been excited to see you these last few months."

"I've been excited to see her too, sir," Zuko offered as he draped his arm around Toph's shoulders giving them a slight squeeze, "We were practically siblings before I had to move away."

If Sokka and Katara hadn't told her about the cover story that Zuko was using she probably would have ruined everything right then and there by asking about it.  There was so much she didn't know about Zuko now, and she wanted to ask so badly, but she also knew that this wasn't the place to ask it.  Besides, now that she had more freedom and greater access to him, it would be easy to corner him and ask the questions she wanted to ask.

When she tuned back in to the conversation, she could hear Hiroshi telling Sokka, "Have her back by four.  We always celebrate graduations by going out to eat, so we need her back by then.  I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"It's fine," Sokka told him, "Suki and I have a date tonight to celebrate her finals being over so we'd probably be getting her home about that time regardless."

"I guess we'll see you later then," Hiroshi said before turning to Toph, giving her a big hug, one that she'd gotten rather attached to over the last couple of years, "See you later little sis.  I hope you have fun with your friends."

"I will," Toph told him, before pulling back and giving him a punch to the arm, "We'd better be going to my favorite ramen place tonight."

"Reservations were made weeks ago," he replied ruffling her hair as best he could, "Now go have fun."

Toph joined her friends in Sokka's car.  As far as she knew he was the only one in the group that knew how to drive, so he often ended up ferrying the group around when they wanted to hang out somewhere that wasn't her house.  It was a bit of a tight squeeze with five people instead of the typical three or four, but Toph didn't mind because it put her right at Zuko's side and he was just as warm as ever.

"Are you seriously cuddling right now?" Sokka asked as he turned around to check behind them while backing out, "Toph it hasn't even been an hour."

"He's warm," she shot back as she leaned into her first adopted brother, "Just because it isn't snowing anymore doesn't mean it's warm.  Besides, I didn't get any winter cuddles because of school so I'm going to make up for it now."

"It's fine, Sokka," Zuko reassured as he draped his arm over Toph, his body temperature even rising slightly as he pulled her closer, "I don't really mind.  It's nice being able to cuddle like this again."

Old age hadn't been that great for getting cuddles either from her friends or her family.  Too many people complained that she was bony, and firebenders were honestly the best since the heat they gave off helped to sooth her aching joints.  Unfortunately Zuko could just cuddle her whenever she wanted him to because he was usually in the Fire Nation with his family, while she was in the Earth Kingdom with hers.  

There had been some people that liked joking that the two of them were clearly putting the work in to be a couple.  Those jokes tended to end with the jokester in question getting buried up to their neck in rocks because ew.  They were effectively siblings and they loved each other like siblings, so the suggestion that they could ever date was disgusting to her.

Her new brothers had actually taken her desire for physical comfort in stride, and Hiroshi had actually suggested that she was touch starved because of her parents tendency to keep her at arm's reach.  It honestly made a little too much sense, but it also made her feel a little less guilty about sometimes taking them away from their work because she needed a little physical reassurance.

It didn't take them that long to reach the Jasmine Dragon, with most of their time actually being spent trying to get out of UA's parking lot.  The drive had taken long enough that Toph was dozing by Zuko's side by the time they got there, but she didn't really mind.  It was nice to just be able to spend time with her friends, regardless of where they happened to be.  Although, she was excited to have some tea.  

Zuko had improved greatly over time, with his tea having gone from borderline toxic to pretty drinkable.  They had actually had several nice talks over his tea, usually catching up after he'd retired.  Turns out when one wasn't trying to keep a country from collapsing in on itself it made it easier to practice certain skills.  Tea making had become his hobby, or one of them anyway, and he'd improved in leaps and bounds.  It was never as good as Uncle Iroh's but it was much better then it had been when he was younger.

When they entered the tea shop, there was a whole chorus of greetings, the whole shop pretty happy to see Zuko there.  "Hey boss," the cashier said, her voice bright and bubbly, "How's your day off?"

"It's been nice," he replied, a soft smile in his voice, "You haven't had any problems have you?"

"We've been fine," came an older more mature female voice from behind the counter, "You worry too much Yoshida san.  Now what sort of tea do you want."

"A pot of chai would probably be a good choice," he told her as he turned toward the rest of the group, "Unless you guys would like anything different."

"Chai is fine," Toph told him, despite both of them knowing that she shared Iroh's love of ginseng, "Now you need to tell me what you've been up to the last five years."

Zuko chuckled as he guide the group to a table right next to the counter, which was the only empty table in the shop.  "Well, I managed to find a place for me and my siblings down here," Zuko told them, seemingly for the whole room instead of just their group, "It turns out supposedly haunted houses are really cheap.  We fixed it up a bit and I got a job at a local bakery while my siblings were all at school.  It took a bit to save up for this place, and we haven't even been open for a year yet, but I think we can expect to stay open for a long time."

There were cheers around the room at those words and Toph smiled.  It was nice to know that he'd been doing well in their time apart, and while she would love to meet his "little siblings" it would probably be best to wait on it.  Sokka and Katara hadn't told her much about them, but the youngest definitely adored Zuko, one of them was crazy smart, and there was one girl who got along well with Sugar Queen.

It didn't take long for the pot of tea to arrive, accompanied by a plate of tea sweets that none of them had asked for, although Sokka didn't hesitate, grabbing one and shoving it in his mouth before anyone could tell him no.  Of course he nearly choked on it in his hurry to eat it, but Suki managed to hit his back hard enough to dislodge the sweet.  

The tea was good, not as good as Iroh's but much better than Toph had been expecting.  She knew from experience that things often got distorted when passing through multiple sources.  It was something they were trained to compensate for at UA since the information they would get when called into battles in progress had probably been passed through at least three different people before they could arrive, so there was a plan for the worst hope for the best aspect to it.  She didn't think someone attempting to use Iroh's technique for tea making after having learned it from Zuko would be that great, but she was pleasantly surprised.

The afternoon was spent talking about all sorts of things, with Suki having to be filled in the most since she had apparently been ignoring things for long enough that she hadn't even known that they'd found Zuko before today.  It was honestly kind of funny because Toph had thought that she'd been the one they'd told the least amount of information so she wouldn't try to go and find the firebender, but it was interesting to be proved wrong.

After finishing at least two different pots of tea, ginseng and jasmine, their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a small kid yelling, "Dad!" and tackling Zuko in his chair.

"Hey Shouto," the fire bender said, the kid's feet disappearing from the floor as she assumed he was either picked up or sat down, "How was school?"

"Good," Shouto replied before asking, "Are these all your friends?"

"Yep," Zuko stated, "You probably don't recognize them because it's been so long."

There was an almost thoughtful pause, the room having gone quiet enough that Toph could practically hear the gears turning in his head.  "You're Toph right?" he asked, probably pointing at her, but since he was off the ground she couldn't sense it, "And you're Suki!"

"That's right," Suki said encouragingly, seemingly already taken with the kid, "And you're Shouto?  Where are your siblings?"

"Shingo's in the kitchen," Shouto stated proudly, "Keiko and Saburo are at home though.  Keiko's making sushi for dinner tonight and Saburo said he had some research to do.  He does it a lot."

Suki continued talking with the kid, while Toph managed to get Zuko's attention back, not that she could ask the questions she wanted to.  It didn't seem like that long at all when Sokka was suddenly announcing, "We need to go.  I need to have Toph home in about twenty minutes, and then Suki and I are going out after dropping Katara off."

"I'll see you guys later then," Zuko said as he got up, giving all four of them hugs.

"You're coming to my birthday party right?" Toph asked as she hugged Zuko, "It's in about two weeks."

"Have Sokka text me the details and I'll see if I can make it," he told her as he gave her one last squeeze before letting her go, "It was good to see you again."

"It was good to see you too," she told him, which managed to get a chuckle out of him.

"You've never seen me in your life," he shot back before sitting down once more with his 'little brother'.

Toph grinned as she left the shop, following Sokka back to his car.  It was so nice to have Zuko back, and even if he didn't come to her party, she knew exactly where to find him.

Chapter Text

It didn't take long for Sokka to get Zuko the information about Toph's birthday party, although it was more of a combination graduation and birthday party.  Her birthday being March twenty third meant that it was just easier to do the two parties together as opposed to holding two separate ones a few weeks apart.  Of course since it happened to be on a Sunday he was encouraged to bring the kids with him, so Toph and Suki could meet all of them.

Of course he wasn't going to force them to come if they didn't want to but there was a generally positive response from the kids about it.  Touya was the only one with reservations and that was mostly because of Toph's particular brand of affection, which was understandable.  However, with the promise to make sure that Toph didn't punch him in the arm.  Zuko was honestly pretty sure that as soon as Touya's situation was explained Toph would do her best to accommodate him, but he would also focus on keeping his promise for Touya's peace of mind.

Of course there was then the question of how they were going to get to the party.  The Yamamoto house was far from where they lived, and Sokka's car wasn't big enough to hold all, especially since he was planning on picking up Suki and Katara and didn't want to make multiple trips.  Now there was the option of public transit, although they would probably have to take a few different lines to make it to the house.

Zuko was somewhat resigned to that idea when Natsuo presented him with a file folder one day after work.  "What is this?" he asked as he opened the file to find a picture of a car staring back up at him.

"We need a car," Natsuo stated, as he plopped down on the couch next to him, "I've been doing some research and these are the best listings I found that have the features we need.  I wasn't sure what kind of budget we might have, so they're organized from least expensive to most.  They're all used cars so we'll have to take them to a mechanic's afterwards to get them checked for any problems, but it would be worth it in the long run." 

Zuko looked over the different cars which were all the same type of vehicle.  While it was a little strange that Natsuo decided minivans were exactly what they needed, Zuko could also see why.  Sokka's car had managed to fit five people into it, but it had been rather cramped.  Toph, Katara, and Zuko weren't even that big, and the backseat was really cramped.  Natsuo on the other hand had definitely inherited his father's stature, which would make the space situation in the back of one of those cars even worse.  And that wasn't even accounting for Druk.

It also meant that there would be more storage space in the car, and Zuko could almost imagine using it to go on a trip with the kids, maybe during the summer.  It would be nice to go to the beach, or a national park that had hiking trails and things like that.  They could maybe even go to a snow festival in the future, and having the extra space would allow them to pack more into the car making the trip more comfortable.

"We'll go on Sunday," Zuko told him, as he went to the computer to pull up his bank information, "It would be best to get a car we all like."

Natsuo cheered victoriously as he got logged in, although Zuko had a hard time keeping a smile off his face.  It was nice to see that the kid could still get excited and have fun despite everything that had happened.  

Looking over his finances, Zuko found that he was doing much better than he would have thought.  While he did keep track of the shops finances and thus his own, he never really paid much attention to the profit they made at the end of the day, usually focusing on how much needed to be allotted to monthly expenses after the shop was taken care of.  What he'd failed to notice before now was that the profit of the shop was greater than his salary had been when he left the Rising Sun bakery, even after he'd payed the utility bills.

He'd known that the Jasmine Dragon was popular and did fairly well, but seeing that really put things into perspective for him.  However, even with that rather impressive portfolio they still had to stick to the cheaper cars.  Fortunately it seemed that most of the cars in that price range that Natsuo provided all came from the same dealership, so it would make the trip on Sunday much easier.  They would only have to go to one place, and could possible get things squared away that day.

When Zuko mentioned the trip to the rest of the kids the next day they were all pretty receptive to it.  Shouto was excited since this could mean he would get dropped off in the morning, while Touya was glad that it meant they wouldn't have to walk all the way home from the Jasmine Dragon, even if it wasn't really that far.  Although he did have a point about the weather.  Last winter had been pretty bad on all their scars.

It seemed like no time at all for Sunday to come, and they started making the rather long trek to the car dealership.  It was in the nicer part of town, outside of the lower class region they lived in.  Walking all the way there was unthinkable, so they took the subway most of the way.  It was emptier than usual, but it was still rather crowded.  Zuko and Natsuo opted to stand while the other three sat next to them, with Touya in the middle, providing a buffer against people who might accidentally brush his scars.  Druk was on the floor by their feet his service animal vest on.

The arrangement worked rather well, as no one bothered them, and Touya and Shouto got in some good quality drawing time in.  Fuyumi had opted to read a book and Natsuo scrolled on his phone while Zuko kept an eye out for the stop.  The stop they got off at seemed to be rather popular as they were far from the only people getting off and there was a whole crowd of people waiting to get on.  The walk to the dealership was a little long, and Shouto ended up asking for a piggy back ride after a few blocks but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Zuko had a feeling that they made quite the sight as they walked into the dealership, Shouto on his back, Druk on Natsuo's shoulders, Touya and Fuyumi chatting behind them.  It didn't take long for them to get taken to talk with a salesman.  With the research that Natsuo had done it was very easy to outline what they needed and the price range they were working with, making it easy to narrow it down to just a few cars that they wanted to look over before making any decisions.

As they got ready to leave, the salesman said, "The kids can stay in here if they would like.  I doubt they want to wander around the lot while you inspect the cars."

"No thank you," Zuko told him before any of them could say anything, "I want the kids' input on the car as well.  They're going to be using it too, and I want to make sure that everyone likes it."

The salesman looked a little concerned, but merely shrugged his shoulders and led them out to the lot where all the cars were.  There was a whole section for minivans which wasn't very surprising, although it definitely looked smaller than the compact car section.  "This one only has fourteen thousand miles on it," the salesman announced, indicating the first car of the row, "And it's in excellent condition."

Zuko nodded along, only vaguely aware of what the salesman was saying as he glanced at the interior.  It was one of the cars that Natsuo had given him a run down on, so he already knew everything their online listing had to say about it.  Which included the minor tidbit that the steering was a little off, something that could probably be repaired by a mechanic, but getting a car knowing that there was already going to be a repair bill in the end didn't seem like a good idea.  Although it could be worth it if everything else was great.

"Could we get inside it?" Zuko asked the salesman, who seemed to be surprised by the question, "Just to check out the seats.  We want to make sure their comfortable after all."

"Of course," the salesman said with a slightly strained smile, making a call into the dealership for the keys.

Within five minutes the car was opened up and Shouto was scrambling inside.  "These are kind of hard," he declared as he bounced on the seat right by the door, "Shingo probably won't like these."

Touya shooed Shouto over before taking a seat next to him.  "Yeah, these aren't very comfortable," he stated as he exited the car rather quickly, "They would probably aggravate my scars."

"Well, then we can move on to the next car," the salesman said as he ushered them toward the next car, making sure to lock that one behind them, "This one has twenty thousand miles on it, but it is still in good working condition."

The minivan was an ugly sort of red, but that could be fixed in time, although they would probably have to live with it for a few months before that could happen.  It also had the issue that the seatbelts would lock up trapping the rider in the seat until they unbuckled themselves.  It didn't help that the worst culprit was the passenger's side, so Touya would likely spend all his time riding in the car in that seat.

Fortunately, they didn't have to ask before the salesman was calling up the people inside for the keys to the car, exchanging them with the ones from the other one.  The seat happened to be better, but when Touya decided to try the seat belt it was immediately vetoed.  The pressure on his scars was just too much.

The next car happened to be the one that Natsuo had rated most favorably out of the five that they had to offer here.  It had what he deemed to be the best balance of all the different factors.  It was an older car that had more mileage on it than the others, but it also didn't really have anything wrong with it as far as they could tell.  The mileage meant that it's parts were probably worn down more than the others, but it wasn't to the point that Natsuo felt it would break on them randomly.  Of course the only way to guarantee that was to take it to the mechanic and have a professional check it out, but it was more promising than the previous two.

When they got it unlocked, Shouto rushed inside and declared the seats to be perfect.  They even gained Druk's approval as he laid out on the seat next to Shouto, looking like a lizard sunning itself.  Touya was also quick to approve the car as the seat belts were a bit looser, applying less pressure to the scar on his shoulder, making it less painful for him.  Fuyumi and Natsuo were rather indifferent, although they happened to fit into it quite nicely.  Zuko then took a moment to try out the driver's seat and decided that this would be their car.

The salesman was happy to hear that and soon they were heading back into the dealership to go through all the paperwork and exchange the keys.  The process took longer than it probably had to as Zuko insisted on reading over every piece of paperwork before signing it, knowing the dangers of just recklessly signing things.  Fortunately the kids had things to do so it wasn't like they were sitting there bored the whole time.  They left the dealership not long afterward with the car, heading home for some lunch.

They didn't really have anything special, just clearing out some of the leftovers of the week before.  Of course once lunch was over, Zuko took the car to a local mechanic, one that Natsuo had told him would be best given the good customer reviews and fair prices.  It was a rather small place that was privately owned, and probably didn't see too much work given it's rather close proximity to the house.  Not many people in the area had cars because of how expensive they were, and how little parking space there was.  They were honestly kind of luck to have gotten a house with a driveway, which was something Zuko wouldn't have thought he'd ever say about himself.

When Zuko got to the shop he was recognized by three of the employees, who weren't regulars of the shop, but had stopped by multiple times since they opened.  It was kind of surreal to just be recognized as the tea guy, but he'd take it over being Fire Lord any day.  They were happy to check his car over for him, and they managed to note some parts that were worn but not to the point of breaking anytime soon.  They also gave him some suggestions on maintenance and things to look out for when the parts did start to fail so he could get them replaced before it became an even bigger repair. 

They even did an oil change for him, which he greatly appreciated and paid them for, although when he tried to pay them for looking the car over they refused, stating that since they didn't have to do any work on it they weren't going to charge him for it.  He'd been tempted to try and push it at first because they had done him a favor, but ultimately decided to just go with it.  It was a little unusual, but at least he could reward them with business in the future.

Fortunately the inspection and oil change had only taken a little over an hour so he was soon back home with his kids.  They were happy to hear that the car was good to use, and Shouto loudly declared that they were going to use it the next day to get everyone to school.  Natsuo and Fuyumi echoed the sentiment, and Zuko could do nothing but agree.  It would make things a lot easier in the mornings, and he wasn't going to say no to being able to spend more time with them.

Of course the issue of who was getting dropped off first was brought up at breakfast the next morning.  Shouto getting dropped off first made the most sense since his school was the furthest from the house and the Jasmine Dragon, and Natsuo could be dropped off on the way to the shop from Fuyumi's high school.  The routine would change in a month as Natsuo Joined Fuyumi at high school, but that was something to think about in the future.

They left about the same time they normally would if they were walking to their respective schools, and while traffic did cause them some problems, they were made it to school relatively early.  Touya and Zuko even managed to make it to the Jasmine Dragon only ten minutes later than they normally would have, not that it made much of a difference.  They usually had a good fifteen minutes before Hishiko would arrive, and another half hour before the rest of the kitchen staff.

Their timing got better as the week went on and Zuko figured out shortcuts they could use to get between the different drop offs.  Natsuo had been somewhat devastated that his online maps had failed him, and it took everything within the firebender not to laugh.  Touya had no such restraint though, and once he got started they all ended up devolving into peels of laughter.  Fortunately the fourteen year old didn't take it too hard, just giving his brother a mock glare before joining them.

Sunday came rather quickly though, and Zuko was both excited and nervous for what was to come.  He wouldn't be able to tell Toph all about the kids, especially since they weren't comfortable enough with his friends to give them the whole story yet, but being able to spend time with her again was a blessing.  She was definitely the friend he'd missed spending time with the most, and while they wouldn't have much time today, there was plenty of time in the future.

Touya had actually made Toph a gift, a small clay statue that looked exactly like her hero costume.  Zuko had no idea what possessed her to revive the stupid Melon Lord outfit, but she'd done it and everyone else was going to have to deal with it.  He would thought she would have continued to use the name the Blind Bandit, but maybe she decided Melon Lord was cooler.  He doubted that though.

The drive to the Yamamoto house was interesting as they went from the neighborhood they lived in, to the slightly nicer area they bordered, to a neighborhood that looked uncomfortably close to the one they had run away from.  Zuko didn't recognize the area, but he could see the tension in the kids as they drove deeper into the neighborhood.  "We can head home if you'd like," Zuko told them, keeping his eyes on the road in front of them so as not to pressure them, "If you don't want to be here then I'm not going to make you."

"It's fine," Fuyumi said, the tremor in her voice indicating how scared she was, "We can do this."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Zuko told her, hoping his tone was reassuring enough.

Zuko listened as Fuyumi took a few deep breaths, her breathing growing steadier.  "I need to do this," she stated, her tone firm in her conviction, "We can't let Endeavor have any more control over our lives.  I refuse to let the memory of him stop me from enjoying myself."

Zuko couldn't help but smile as he turned down the road leading to the Yamamoto house.  "I'm proud of you," he said as he turned into the driveway, which could very easily hold six cars, "Just know if you feel the need to leave early just come and get me.  I don't care if you're interrupting me during a conversation, your well being is my top priority."

Zuko hoped that they understood that last part was directed towards all of them.  They were his kids, and he would put their well being over his own desires any day of the week.  As they got out of the car, he gave them all a once over, to make sure they were doing okay.  Shouto was looking a little paler than usual, and Touya was practically hugging the car, but Natsuo seemed to be feeding off of Fuyumi's resolve, standing stoically by her side.  

Of course their arrival hadn't gone unnoticed, and Zuko was soon bracing himself for impact with an enthusiastic earthbender.  Zuko had learned a long time ago how to plant his feet in order to avoid being bowled over by tackle hugs, so it was almost second nature to drop into a stance that allowed him to absorb Toph's momentum without falling to the ground.  "Hey Sparky," she greeted as she pulled away, "It's great to see you."

"Toph," Zuko started, fond exasperation leaking into his voice, "Just because Sokka still falls for those jokes doesn't mean I will.  But it's great to see you too."

Toph grinned up at him, clearly proud of herself before shifting in his arms.  "So you brought all your siblings?"

"Yep," Zuko replied as he shifted so he would be able to introduce her to them, "This is Shingo, who would like to refrain from your usual brand of affection.  His scars tend to hurt so you can't give a good friendly punch without hurting him."

Toph frowned at something Zuko had said.  He wasn't sure if it was because of the name or the fact that her punches of friendship would not help her win him over.  However, he could only speculate about it since she made no move to ask him about it.  "Next is Shouto, who you should remember from the Jasmine Dragon."

"Oh yeah, the kid!" Toph exclaimed, and Shouto looked like he didn't know whether to be happy that she remembered him or upset at the designation of kid.

Touya chuckled though and gave his little brother's hair a ruffle, messing up his little sort of wolf tail in the process.  It was fine.  It would be that hard to fix if he wanted it fixed, but until then it would just be a little messy.  Zuko would have gotten in trouble if his phoenix tail had ever gotten messy while in the palace, but Zuko was not Ozai and would never be that controlling if he could help it, so the messy hair was fine being left alone.

Natsuo and Fuyumi had both introduced themselves to Toph while he was zoned out, and it was obvious that something they said had bothered her.  Zuko wasn't sure what it was but he could guess that it had something to do with their names.  Toph's feet were really good for detecting liars when they weren't Azula levels of deceptive, but she was a whole different breed.  Zuko was half convinced that Azula couldn't tell lie from truth which is what allowed her to fool Toph's feet, but the only lie the kids would have given her were their own names.

Toph looked like she wanted to ask, when one of the Yamamotos, Toshiaki if he remembered correctly ran up to them.  "We were wondering why things were taking so long," he said, a big brilliant smile on his face, "We were a little worried the birthday girl had run off.  It wouldn't have been the first time."

Toph's expression turned indignant.  "That was five years ago!" she exclaimed as she launched herself at her adopted brother, who just laughed as she took him to the ground.

It was kind of funny to watch as Toph started trying to tickle her adopted brother, the struggle eventually turning into a wrestling match.  It was so interesting to see how much she had changed living in an environment that encouraged her loud personality instead of condemning it.  Of course they were soon joined by another one of Toph's adopted brothers, although he was quick to stop the match.  "Come on you two," he insisted as he got close enough to pull them apart, "You can wrestle later.  Right now is all about Toph's birthday party, and we cant leave her guests unattended."

Toshiaki actually looked apologetic at that, but Toph just gave a grin that was full of wild energy waiting to be released.  Zuko knew exactly what that look meant, and he hoped that she at least would refrain from jumping him while he was next to the kids.  Although, Sokka had always been her favorite target.

The older brother, Hiroshi maybe, led them away from the driveway and through a small covered area that resembled a courtyard at the palace more than anything Zuko had seen since coming her.  Of course there were many differences the most noticeable one being the atmosphere.  It was so casual compared to what Zuko was used to, and he was kind of glad about that. Hanging out at the palace had always been unbelievably formal, no matter what his friends did to try and make it casual.  As Fire Lord he could be called away any minute to deal with some sort of emergency so there was always that tension and anxiety in the air.  None of it was present now, and he welcomed that.

The courtyard was kind of empty, with just the Yamamotos, Sokka, Katara, and Suki present, but that was probably a good thing.  Especially if Toph decided to fight her guests because her adopted siblings were off limits.  At least she would probably leave the kids alone since they wouldn't be used to her behavior.  He hadn't really felt the need to tell them about how Toph liked having spontaneous fights with her friends on her birthday, since getting them to agree to hold and earth rumble was practically impossible.

Zuko had actually been okay with the idea as Toph had presented it, but between his friends and his advisors the idea had been struck down.  So they settled for spontaneous sparring matches throughout the day, something Zuko was quickly excluded from as his guards would try to intervene on his behalf.  Toph was perfectly okay with the interference, but the captain of his guard was not.  They were both disappointed at it because he could have used anything to break up the monotony of signing papers all day.

Zuko was broken out of his thoughts by a strangled high pitched scream as Toph had jumped Sokka, who was probably trying not to sound girly as he was brought to the ground by the comparatively tiny earthbender.  It was kind of amazing how heavy she'd gotten considering her petite frame, but at least fifty percent of it had to be pure attitude.  It didn't take long for Sokka to get out of her hold though.  He had plenty of experience after all, so he was soon fleeing from her grasping arms.  

They had worked out a few rules for the sparring a long time ago, and one of them was not using bending against the nonbenders unless they said you could.  Sokka liked to press the advantage while he had it, while Suki would encourage the benders to use their bending against her.  It definitely made for interesting fights, and they were probably going to have to come up with new rules now that quirks were involved.  

Sokka's had already proved to have interest applications but Zuko had yet to learn if the quirk listed in Suki's file was real or something she was faking.  It would be kind of ironic if she really had gained something akin to airbending, although it would work well with her fans.  That had been what Avatar Kiyoshi used them for after all.

The older brother, who was indeed Hiroshi, introduced himself to the kids, before telling them where they could get food, use the bathroom and all that jazz.  Apparently keeping the food table outside was a little too risky since Toph would engage in spontaneous sparring matches and sometimes spatial awareness fell to the wayside.  Zuko couldn't help but wonder how many times the food table had gotten wrecked before they started engaging in this process because he highly doubted it was just once.  

The kids didn't stray far from him as they joined the party proper, with Touya especially sticking to his right side, almost always visible in his peripheral.  It didn't take long for Toph to switch from hounding Sokka to taking on Suki.  That fight was far more interesting as Suki was actively fighting back, and pulled off some of Aang's classic moves in an attempt to keep from getting trapped by Toph's earthbending.  It was a little strange to see, especially since Suki tended to retain her root when fighting, which didn't work well with the moves she was attempting to pull off.

"Come on Fans," Toph taunted as she threw a chunk of earth at Suki, "You can do better than that."

Zuko watched as Suki's expression hardened and she pulled out her fans.  It was obvious that the gloves were off and Toph was absolutely thrilled.  The fight started again, with greater ferocity on both sides.  Suki's air blasts were definitely more precise with the fans, but she was still having trouble matching Toph's attacks.  As the fight went on it became increasingly obvious that trying to blend the Kiyoshi warrior style with Aang's airbender fighting wasn't really working out, although she seemed to have the most success when throwing Ty Lee's chi bending in with it.

Eventually though, Toph switched targets, and Zuko only had a moment to dive away from the kids before the earth blasts were getting thrown in his direction.  "Still fast, aren't you Sparky?" Toph mused as she tossed more rocks at him.

"I wouldn't have survived if I wasn't," Zuko shot back as he threw a blast of flame at her, one that was easily deflected by an earth wall, but provided enough of a distraction for him to be able to move.

Toph had threaten to call him Twinkletoes 2.0 on more than one occasion because of his light footwork and speed, things he would use to his advantage whenever he fought.  While he couldn't just stay in the air for long periods of time, he could use his agility to make it hard to predict his movements.  It was especially useful against Toph since she tended to remain stationary while fighting, and he could use her attacks against her.

Of course, they knew each other well enough to be able to anticipate each other's attacks, allowing Toph to dodge his fire blasts as easily as he dodged her earthen walls.  However, something he hadn't expected was for her to turn around and tackle him.  The initial impact knocked the air out of him, but he was easily able to recover, preparing himself for the next attack.  "Good," Toph said as she got up off the ground, "We have a little privacy now."

That threw Zuko off guard, but Toph was making no move attack him so he relaxed.  "Did you want to talk, or something?"

"Yeah," Toph replied as she leaned against a pillar, demonstrating just how far they had been carried by the tackle, "I've got a few questions for you."

"Okay?"

"Why are the kids lying about their names?"

If Zuko was being honest with himself, he knew this question had been a long time coming.  Toph was the one person that no one could fool, and the look she'd had on her face earlier had pretty much cemented it.  However, Zuko wasn't going to give her the whole truth because the kids didn't want her to know yet.  She would probably be the best person for them to talk to about that situation, but trust had to be built between them before the kids would reveal any of it.

"They're runaways," Zuko told her as he leaned against the railing that lined the courtyard, "From really influential parents.  Changing their names was the best way to hide them.  Well, that and some dye to disguise their features."

Toph was quiet for a moment, her milky eyes staring off into the distance.  "So how bad was it?"

"What?" Zuko asked, unsure about what she meant by the question and deciding it was better to just ask for clarification.

"Were their parents like your dad, or like my parents?"

"Honestly, they were kind of a mix," Zuko told her, having thought about it more than he probably should have, "Which is arguably worse in my opinion."

Toph merely hummed thoughtfully in response.  "Do the others know?"

"Sokka does," Zuko admitted as he glanced toward the rest of the party, unsurprised to see Touya and Natsuo hanging out next to Sokka while Fuyumi chatted with Katara, "Gave the kids a scare.  He'd decided to do some research because he thought it was suspicious and they thought they'd finally been found.  He's sworn to secrecy, so don't go asking him about it.  I don't think he would be able to keep his mouth shut."

Toph laughed at that, before delivering a punch to his upper arm.  He rubbed the spot she'd hit instinctively, although it didn't really hurt.  She'd long mastered the ability of being able to regulate her strength, so if a punch hurt that meant she wanted the recipient to feel it.  "So why's the youngest's name the same?" 

"He didn't want to change it," Zuko admitted his eyes drifting over to where Shouto was chatting with Touya about a drawing in his sketchbook based on the gestures, "And he was five anyway.  It probably would have confused him more than anything.  Besides why did you pick the name Melon Lord for your hero name?  I would have thought that you would have used the Blind Bandit."

"I tried," she admitted deflating slightly, "But they told me it wasn't a good hero name.  Said it made me sound like a criminal.  So I decided to use Melon Lord and really lean into the aesthetic.  By the time they realized what they'd done it was already too late.  I think my support team loves making my gear as over the top as possible just to drive the point home."

The two of them burst into laughter, and Zuko could just imagine the kind of people that were in Toph's support crew.  She absolutely would be the type of person that just collects those as petty and spiteful as herself.  They eventually fell into a relaxed silence, just kind of sitting there enjoying each others company.

Toph scooted closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder as she idly bent the earth around them to create small sculptures.  They were mostly those of the people immediately there, but there were a few of absent people.  Mei was one of them, as she and Toph had managed to get rather close before her death, and Aang's wasn't all that surprising, but the last one caught his eye.  "Where's Keigo?" Zuko asked as the figure who's only distinguishable feature was the wings, slipped back into the ground.

"He's working today," Toph replied, a wry smile on her face, "'A hero has to be there for the people.'  'A hero's job is to put people at ease.'  It's adorably naïve, but telling him that wouldn't do any good.  However, he did say he would stop by tomorrow to drop off my gift.  I'm not surprised though.  He's never come to one of these."

"That must be disappointing," Zuko offered, not really sure what to say since he hadn't really had birthday parties here, while back in the four nations it was pretty much mandatory for all of the nobility to attend.

Toph shrugged.  "He reminds me a lot of you," she told him, "Especially of when you first came to the Western Air temple.  All nerves and hair triggers, ready to scamper up the wall at the first sign of danger.  Although he has it a little easier."

"Being able to fly would absolutely make it easier to get away," Zuko agreed, imagining what he could do if he had the ability to fly, "Do you think his situation was like mine?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, frowning down at the ground like it had wronged her, "But there are things he says that are just off, and there are times when he responds in ways that are clearly scripted.  It's like listening to Ju Dee parrot the Dai Li's words, or hearing the Fire Nation people repeating the propaganda they'd been fed during the war.  It's kind of sad."

Honestly Zuko wasn't that surprised.  Keigo's use of 'handlers' at graduation made it obvious that something wasn't right there.  It would probably be best for him to talk to Natsuo about it though.  If there was something to uncover he would definitely find it.  "Hey birthday girl!" Sokka called as he walked over towards them, "It's time to open presents."

Zuko watched as Toph got a mischievous look on her face, before charging Sokka.  He was easily bowled over by the earthbender, sputtering the whole way down as laughter erupted around the courtyard.  Toph then left him lying on the ground as she made her way over to the table with the presents stacked on top.  Zuko went over and helped Sokka up, telling him, "You really need to work on rolling with the punches."

"Yeah, yeah," the non bender muttered as he brushed himself off, "You're lucky she takes it easy on you."

"I know how to take a tackle," Zuko countered as they walked toward where everyone else was gathered, "You don't plant your feet right, which makes it very easy to knock you over."

Sokka walked over to Suki, grumbling all the way while Zuko rejoined his kids.  Touya and Shouto had their sketchbooks out, which wasn't all that surprising while Fuyumi was chatting with Katara about something.  The opening of the presents didn't take that long, especially since Toph had gotten a lot of books written in braille, which she said she would look over later.

Touya had gotten rather tense when she got to his gift, clearly nervous about how she would react to it.  She took more time with it than the others turning it over in her hands before turning her attention to the crowd around her.  "This is really well made," she said as she set it aside with a care she rarely used, "Where'd you get it?"

"I made it," Touya admitted with some gentle prompting, "Art is kind of my thing."

"Well, you're very good at it," Toph told him before moving on to the next present.

Zuko could see the top of Touya's ears turning bright red at the compliment, which was both surprising and not.  He had trouble taking compliments early on, and it seemed that despite how well his shop was doing, and how much everybody like his art, it seems that he still had trouble accepting that he was good at it.  

It didn't take long to get through the rest of the presents, and after some cake it was time for them to head home.  Zuko couldn't wait to get home and rest, but as they were getting ready to head out he was approached by Hiroshi.  "It's our numbers," he said as he handed Zuko a folded piece of paper, "Just in case you need anything.  Toph considers you to be family, so your part of our family now."

Zuko was shocked by the gesture, but nodded and slipped the paper into his pocket.  He hadn't been expecting that, but he probably should have.  Toph had clearly ended up with some good people, and while they wouldn't be the first people he'd turn to in an emergency, it was nice to have someone to go to about questions the others couldn't answer.

Chapter Text

Shouta was heading to the Jasmine Dragon for the first time in nearly a year, and it wasn't really by choice.  Well, he could have ignored Nezu's summons, but that didn't seem like the best idea given that this was Nezu.  The principal of UA was tricky and the last thing Shouta would do was underestimate him.  So he went to the meeting.

It was kind of strange seeing the Jasmine Dragon in the day time.  He was used to watching over it at night, catching the crooks that were trying to vandalize it or worse.  He couldn't help but wonder what the owner might have done to provoke the activity, other than hiring former criminals to renovate the place.  However, the attempts seemed to have stopped after they opened, which was interesting.

He'd been tempted to come and see what the big fuss was about, using the context clues of the fliers and menu visible through the large glass windows to try and figure out what the shop could possibly have.  He'd been more than a little disappointed to discover that it was a tea shop, and apparently one of those really snooty ones that didn't include coffee on the menu.  He'd lost all interest in going there as soon as he noticed that.

Hizashi liked it though.  He'd been there just a few days ago, having had his own meeting with Nezu, and he had nothing but praise for the place.  That was honestly kind of surprising given that Hizashi was very picky when it came to his tea, practically considering it sacred, but his coffee could be equivalent to dishwater as long as it had caffeine.  Shouta was the complete opposite, only really drinking tea to placate his fiancé, while coffee was his life blood.

Coffee was practically a pre-requisite for any meeting that Shouta had to attend, and it couldn't be the thin stuff that was often found in police stations because of how rarely they cleaned their coffee makers.  He was unmoving when it came to good cups of coffee, leading to several police stations investing in coffee makers specifically for him.  He wasn't like a stubborn child, refusing to work with them if they didn't have good coffee, but they had seen how effective he could be when properly caffeinated.

So he wasn't looking forward to the meeting.  Nezu wanting to meet with him was ominous in general, nothing good came from dealing with that psychotic rodent, but meeting in a tea shop that he had a surprising amount of history with despite never stepping inside was unnerving.  The principal had to know his connection to this place, but Shouta was just going to have to ignore it and just try and get through this as quickly as possible.

As he walked up to the door, he took advantage of those big windows to scope out the interior.  Nezu was sitting in a table at the back, but there were plenty of other people he recognized in there as well.  Tachibana Mei was an interesting sight, as was Miyamoto Hitomi, although as both of them were former criminals it wasn't that surprising.  He clearly didn't have a problem with former criminals so their presence wasn't strange.  What was strange was the presence of Giran, who was suspected of acting as a villain informant, although they lacked any proof to be able to arrest him.  If that wasn't interesting enough, barely a table away from him was one of Endeavor's many sidekicks, although out of his costume.

Shouta barely kept himself from rubbing his eyes at the sight.  He'd never seen anything like this before, and he was half convinced he was just seeing things.  Of course, there was also the rather high possibility that there were serious consequences for starting fights.  After all, this was Yoshida san's older brother's shop, and if what the kid had told him was right, this was the brother that taught him how to fight.

Shouta stepped into the shop, somewhat surprised to find that all tables were occupied, not that he really had to worry about it.  "Just a minute," came a somewhat rough voice from behind the counter, and even from the back Shouta could see similarities to Saburo.

The older brother, Zuko if Shouta remembered correctly, had somewhat comparable height to his younger sibling and slightly longer black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail.  His skin was tanner than Saburo's and his build was more on the slender side, but he clearly wasn't weak either.  Shouta skipped the counter, instead heading straight to Nezu's table wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.  He slipped into the chair across from the diminutive principal who glanced up at him saying, "Good morning Aizawa san.  I would advise you to order yourself a cup of tea.  This meeting is going to take a long time."

Aizawa sighed, getting up from the chair and heading to the counter, where Tachibana was grabbing a paper to go cup from Yoshida san.  It gave him a moment to study the shop owners face, or more specifically the scar.  It was horrific to look at on pictures, but there was something even more unsettling about seeing it in person.  The way it stretched as he spoke, seemingly determined to swallow his head as it covered most of his face and hairline.  As far as Shouta could tell, he got it in the crash that killed his parents and horrifically scarred his younger brother, although given his quirk it didn't really make sense.  It was strange, and the fact that it resembled a handprint more than anything just made him uneasy.

Eventually Tachibana left and Aizawa stepped up to the counter, startling the tea maker who'd been turning back to the tea pots behind the counter.  "Sorry," the tea shop owner said as he took a moment to catch his breath, "I didn't see you there.  What can I get for you?"

Shouta was a little surprised that he hadn't been seen, although upon closer inspection the left eye had been reduced to a slit, so vision had to be hampered if not nonexistent on that side.  "Do you have coffee?" he asked, knowing better than to get his hopes up.

"No," the tea shop owner replied, sounding somewhat apologetic about that fact, "But we do have night owl tea.  It has a comparable caffeine content to coffee, although it does taste different."

Shouta sighed.  "I'll have a large cup of that."

He was going to need the caffeine more than the flavor for this meeting.  Nezu was difficult to deal with in a good mood, at least from what Shouta had heard about him, and to be honest he didn't want to have to deal with the cryptic bullshit this early in the day.  Sure it was technically ten am, but since his nights were most often spent patrolling, he liked to get some sleep in when he could.  That clearly didn't matter to UA's principal though if he was dragging him out for this.

It took longer than Shouta would have thought to make the tea, although he'd never really paid attention to anything like that before.  He was usually doing something while Hizashi made tea in the background, making it seem like it was a process that took as long as the water needed to boil.  It wasn't that easy, he knew that since the cups were far from boiling by the time they were handed to him, but he usually had something to distract himself while the tea was being made, and not having much to do he could only glance around the shop.  

The number of customers in the shop hadn't really changed, although the person that had been sitting at the table closest to the counter on the left hand side had moved to the table Tachibana had vacated.  There also seemed to be a few people watching him warily out of the corner of their eyes, but they didn't look like they were about to try anything.  There was a part of him that wondered if this was a sort of neutral ground, a place where an unofficial truce was held and no one could start anything while on the premises.  It would make sense given the clientele.

Once he was done examining the customers he turned his attention to the walls, looking over the décor.  It wasn't that bad, sticking to more neutral or earthy tones, with a bit of green to highlight.  Green designs swirled around the walls except for one spot right above the back counter where the tea pots sat.  There were five sets of hand prints, some clearly belonging to children while the largest were probably that of the owner himself.  At least that was what the large palm and long slim fingers seemed to indicate.

Finally the owner placed a large tea cup on a saucer on the counter in front of him.  "Enjoy your tea," he offered as he turned around, rinsing out a tea pot.

Shouta was slightly surprised that he hadn't been asked to pay yet, but he shoved that aside and grabbed the cup going to sit with Nezu once again.  The cup was big, looking like a scaled up version of the cup that Nezu was currently drinking from, and had green designs similar to the ones on the wall curling around it.  As he sat down Nezu grinned up at him, which just made him look even more unnerving than usual.  "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to meet me here today," the principal stated as he folded his hands on the table in front of him.

"Of course I am," Shouta drawled after a moment of silence that was clearly left for him to give an answer to the nonexistent question.

"Well," the principal started, making more of a production of this than Shouta would have liked, "I have recently had several positions open up at UA."

"What sort of positions?" Shouta asked as he narrowed his eyes at his former teacher.

"Teaching positions," he announced as he turned his laptop around, revealing that five of the teachers had resigned or retired at the end of the last year.  

Shouta stared at the list with more than a little confusion.  Gran Torino finally retiring wasn't that hard to believe considering how long he'd been at the school, but there were others like Yuki Ona who he thought would have been there for much longer.  Of course one of the most notable things about the list was that most of the teachers didn't get along with Nezu.  He could remember being in their classes and listening to them complain about the principal or mutter under their breath about the "rat thinking it had the cheese".  He would have thought several of them would have tried to outlast Nezu out of sheer spite, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"You want me to be a teacher," Shouta huffed as Nezu turned the laptop back around.

Nezu gave him a polite nod, and Shouta took a sip of the tea in order to keep himself from banging his head on the table.  He was not cut out to be a teacher, and he could just imagine the rest of this meeting being an attempt to get him to agree.  As he sipped on the drink he found it wasn't actually that bad.  It was lacking the fundamental coffee flavor, but the bitter bite of black tea made up for it.  "So what makes you think I would make a good teacher?"

"Need I remind you of the incident last year?" Nezu mused, bringing something else up with a few quick taps before turning the computer around again to show the article on the bullying situation at Nabu Middle School.

Shouta took another sip of his drink, attempting to think up some sort of retort.  He know that his involvement was kept out of the public reports, but this was Nezu so he really should have known that the rat would have found out, if he wasn't aware of it at the time.  Besides, training Mori had taken up a lot of his free time this last year, and it probably wouldn't be hard for the principal of UA to link the student he recommended to the investigation.

"So you think because of that investigation I'm qualified to teach?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he took another sip of his tea.

"Mori Hibiki is why I think you would be a good teacher," Nezu deflected as he turned the laptop back around, "His performance in the recommendation exam was remarkable, especially considering how much of a disadvantage he was at compared to the others."

"I had a good base to work with," Shouta stated with a shrug, not wanting to take any of the credit away from the kid that worked his ass of to have a sliver of a chance of getting into UA, "And the kid works hard.  Not every hero student is going to have that drive."

Nezu smiled like Shouta had just said the magic word.  "Exactly," he exclaimed, loud enough that Shouta noticed a few of the patrons turn to look at them, "Far too many who get in don't have the drive to excel, to push the limits of what they can do.  They are too complacent, set in their ways, and I need someone like you to push them.  Because of your quirk you had to think outside of the box, and now I asking you to make the next generation do the same."

Shouta considered the idea as he sat back sipping at his tea.  There were plenty of heroes today, usually spot light ones that were clearly only heroes for the fame, never bothering to really improve the world around them, or themselves.  He could also remember how his time at UA was fueled by spite, driven by the desire to prove everyone who had talked down to him wrong.  If it hadn't been for Hizashi and Shirakumo he probably would have stayed that way, 

Now he was driven to prevent what happened to Shirakumo from happening to anyone else, protecting people from the pain of losing someone close to them unnecessarily.  Maybe this would prove to be useful, helping to hammer it into the kid's heads that this isn't a game, and that they need to take things seriously.  There were far too many heroes that acted like they could do anything because of a piece of paper marking them as a hero, and if he could change that, why shouldn't he?

"Okay," Shouta said eventually as he leaned forward, putting his cup back on the saucer, "So what's the position?"

Nezu grinned, a sharp look in his eye reminiscent of a predator that had managed to corner it's prey.  It wasn't long before he was going on about pay, benefits, and the ins and outs of the position itself.  Shouta did his best to pay attention, but the longer the conversation went on, the more right the situation seemed.

Todoroki Enji was not a stupid man.  Most people tended to call him stubborn and hardheaded, but they couldn't deny that his record spoke for itself.  There was part of him that still seethed about the disappearance of his masterpiece, despite it having been over five years since that day, and many people were telling him that Shouto was most likely dead.  He refused to accept that his masterpiece would have died so easily, and so when he wasn't working on a case, he was hunting for clues, beating down any back-alley thugs that might have a lick of information.

However, he was not so unaware of his surroundings that he failed to notice when his sidekicks started acting strange.  They would huddle together whispering amongst themselves which honestly wasn't that unusual at first, but then they started switching out of their costumes when they went on lunch break or would change out of their costumes before heading home, something they hadn’t done before.

Normally he wouldn't care, but it was kind of getting annoying, especially with how often they would be out of costume when not on patrol or at work.  It made calling them for emergency situations more tedious as he couldn't trust them to actually have their equipment on hand so they could get there quickly. After one too many incidents, he decided to figure out what was going on.

The first thing he did was start to hang around their locker rooms more.  They didn't expect him to be there since he had his own and so were more willing to speak their minds when it was just them.  They probably thought he wouldn't hear them, because he overheard some things that were less than flattering towards him, and he barely restrained himself from heading in there and making them aware of what he thought of their opinions.  Beyond that they tended to talk about their associates and this mysterious place that they liked going.

It seemed that this place was the reason that they kept changing out of their costumes, as they talked about another pro having been thrown out for some unspecified reason.  The tide seemed to be changing though as it seemed that at least one of them had gone there in costume and hadn't been thrown out, so they were debating whether or not the owner hated heroes.  Enji was of the opinion that someone who denies service to heroes clearly has something to hide, and he couldn't help but wonder why none of them seemed all that interested in conducting an investigation into the business.

However, he never really heard them discuss the business in detail, as apparently all of them were aware of what it was, so he had no clue what it could be that was enticing them away from their duties so often.  It was well over a month from when he first started his investigation when he had his breakthrough.  He had been headed toward the locker room when he heard Onima call out, "Guess where I stopped this morning?"

"Sweet!" one of the younger sidekicks, he honestly wasn't sure which one it was, exclaimed, "Did you get enough for everyone?"

"Burnin's got the girl's stuff," Onima replied, "And I'll be honest it took a bit to get everyone's orders.  Yoshida san probably thought we were doing intern duty or something like that, but he was really nice about the whole thing."

"Well, he makes the best tea," Kido replied, and at that point Enji couldn't listen any longer, he had to get answers.

"What's going on in here?" he asked as he walked into the locker room, the ten male sidekicks sitting around the room with to go cups in their hands.

"Hey boss," the nearest one exclaimed nervously with a bit of a wave, "Just enjoying a little pick me up from the Jasmine Dragon.  Would you like to try?"

Enji debated whether or not he wanted to lower himself to the level of his sidekicks, but at the same time, he had spent the last month wondering over what they could possibly value over their hero careers.  So, he accepted the cup from the sidekick, and took a sip.

Enji had never been a fan of tea, having preferred to drink coffee if he needed something to help keep him awake.  The smell of tea tended to put him off because his mother had always made him drink tea when he was sick, something to calm his stomach or soothe his sore throat, so he hadn't really considered drinking it recreationally.  However, this tea was good enough that he would be willing to set aside all of his misgivings to get more.

"What was the name of that shop again?" he asked as he took another sip, "I would like to go and get some myself later."

"It's the Jasmine Dragon," Kido said as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "But you might want to change out of your costume before going there.  The owner threw out a hero for some reason, and since then we've been going out of costume so as not to cause problems or potentially get banned.  None of us really want to miss out on the tea."

Enji could understand that, although, "It sounds like the owner has something to hide."

"Well," one of the other sidekicks, one of the more recent ones, from the last five years probably, started awkwardly, "It has more to do with the customers.  I've seen villains in the shop before, but since they aren't doing anything, I couldn't exactly arrest them.  Also, Yoshida san is very much against fighting, probably because of the kids that stop by."

That was intriguing, and just made Enji want to head there even more.  Kids who hang around villains are probably villains in training, so this Yoshida san was probably fostering an environment that would create more villains.  He'd have to go look him up later then.  "I would advise you to get into costume as quickly as possible," he said as he turned to leave the locker room, "We have a long day ahead of us."

A chorus of groans erupted behind him, but he ignored it.  If they were smart like him then they wouldn't have to get changed all the time, leaving more time for patrols and paperwork.  It was their fault for not being smart.  Besides, he had some research to do.

The research hadn't yielded as much information as he would have liked.  The owner, Yoshida Zuko, was strange, given that he'd decided to open a tea shop rather than go into heroics with his rather impressive fire quirk.  Although the reluctance there might have had to do with the scar on his face.  It was uncomfortable to look at, especially since his quirk as it was described should have prevented that.  He must have gotten it before his quirk had manifested, a thought that Enji had done his best to derail before he could start calculating how long ago that must have been.  If it happened to overlap with the beginning of his hero career, he didn't want to know.

Part of him couldn't help but remember the bandages on Shouto's face, the burn that had surrounded Shouto's left eye.  The burn on Yoshida Zuko's face was worse than Shouto's scar ever could have been, if the injury did in fact scar, but the placement was eerily similar.  He had trouble getting the thought to leave his mind as he went about his day.  He could practically see the two images superimpose themselves over each other.

It probably didn't help that he'd looked into the rest of the family and had found himself confronted with an almost eerily familiar sight.  The second son of the family was horribly scarred, not unlike Touya might have been if he had managed to survive the fire years ago.  There was a part of Enji that would never forgive himself for that day, for failing to save his eldest, and only managing to recover a small part of him from the ashes.  At least he knew that the cause of these scars was something as benign as a car fire.

The rest of the children were unremarkable for the most part, although the youngest was clearly attempting to emulate the eldest.  Enji was of the opinion that long hair never looked good on boys, but that didn't stop almost all of them from growing their hair out and tying it back for almost every photo on record.  However, they did make good tea so he supposed it didn't matter what they looked like.

When the end of the day finally came, he decided that it was the perfect time to go and check out the tea shop.  While it may be approaching closing time for the shop, Enji wanted to see this place for himself, if only so he could decide whether or not a full blown investigation was warranted.  The owner's behavior was pretty shifty, even if there was nothing in his background to suggest that he was up to something.  Some men didn't need a reason after all, and it would probably help his position at the commission.

They weren't happy with him, hadn't been happy with him for a long time.  Not since Shouto was presumed dead.  He refused to accept it, refused to go along with the supposed idea that his masterpiece was as weak and trivial as the common missing child.  Clearly his enemies knew how to make him hurt and was keeping his child from being able to escape their clutches, but he would find them.  And when he did there was no power on earth that could save them from his wrath.

Of course, until that happened the hero commission wouldn't be happy with him.  His goal to one day surpass All Might had been a lofty but achievable one when he made his debut over twenty years ago, and the commission was willing to help him make it happen.  They gave him the best PR team, gave him countless missions that he could use to up his numbers in the system allowing him to climb the ranks faster than most experienced heroes.  He had gotten so close to being the number one hero, but that time had passed.

He was no longer second, or even in the top ten. It was mainly a consequence of him spending so much time looking for Shouto which resulted in him not taking as many cases as he used to.  This, when coupled with his less-than-ideal approval rating meant that it hadn’t taken long for him to fall down the ranks.  It had taken three years for him to drop out of the top ten, and this last year just saw him falling even further down the ranks as he was sitting at number twenty-two in the country.  There were plenty of newer more recent heroes that had managed to surpass him, their debuts having supplied them with decent approval ratings.

It probably wouldn’t last for long, as the weight of collateral damage and the reality of hero work brought them down.  When he first made it onto the hero scene, he had been determined to become the number one hero, having believed that All Might had to have been on his way out considering that heroes generally weren't able to maintain a hero career for more than twenty or thirty years at a stretch.  The symbol of peace had already been in the business for fifteen years at that point, and here he was twenty years later, still going strong.  He hadn't been seen in a bit, although his agency did claim that he was taking a bit of a break, so he would probably be back to fighting villains sooner rather than later.

Five years ago, Enji would have been jumping at the opportunity to potentially dethrone the symbol of peace, but with how far he had fallen in the ranks, there was no point to it.  All he could do was hope that he could locate and train up Shouto to act as his successor who would finally exalt the Todoroki name by making All Might a thing of the past.  Which was why he was so determined to find his masterpiece.  Whoever had taken his child had done a good job, managing to have hidden their tracks well enough that even the best had failed to find any leads.

So, he'd taken to interrogating any villains he came across that might have a reason to hate him or connections to an organization that might have been able to pull such a kidnapping off.  He hadn't managed to have any break throughs yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time.  Until there was irrefutable proof that his son was dead, he would search for him, so he could bring him home and make him the greatest hero the world had ever known.

When he reached the area where the Jasmine Dragon was located, he had to park nearly a block away from the shop. The shop was in the middle of a shopping district, which meant that parking space was sparse, especially since it was on that side of town. If the people that lived here weren't criminals or villains, they were too poor to be able to afford cars and thus walked or used public transport to get around. That meant that there was a lot of foot traffic in the area, although people were giving him a wide berth as he made his way towards the shop.

When he got close to the shop, he could see that it was surprisingly full considering how close it was to closing time, and only about half of the patrons were his sidekicks.  The décor was also rather plain, but he supposed that the good tea more than made up for it.  He opened the door, unsurprised at the jingling of the bell, although conversation seemed to die as attention turned to him.  Well, the attention of the room was split between himself and a figure behind the counter, which he easily recognized as Yoshida Zuko.  His back may have been facing the room, but his misshapen left ear made it obvious who was standing there.

Then Yoshida turned, to go cups in hand, although he paused when he spotted Enji, his eyes narrowing in anger?  Distrust?  Hatred?  he wasn't quite sure, but it seemed to sear him like a brand.  The cups were handed off to one of the women at the register as he stepped out from behind the counter walking right up to him.  The hero vaguely noted that the tea shop owner was the same height as him, which made it hard to not stare at the scar.  "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Yoshida said as he stopped a little way out of Enji's reach.

"Why?" he demanded, part of him suspecting the reason why, but wanting to hear just what Yoshida would claim in front of the rest of the shop.

"Given your volatile personality and the neighborhood we are currently in," Yoshida stated, voice perfectly calm and level, as if he had practiced this, "I would prefer not to put my employees or patrons at risk should you end up in a fight, so I would kindly ask you to leave and never return."

Enji could feel his flames flare up in anger, when he saw something shift out of the corner of his eye.  Melon Lord was at a table next to the counter, and had just shifted into what he knew was a combat stance.  He'd seen enough of her fights in the UA sport's festival to know that she was dangerous, and given her protective position in front if the youngest Yoshida, he doubted she would be on his side.

So, he huffed, his flames flaring as he stalked out of the shop.  The sighs of relief that were made in his wake made it hard for him to bit walk back in there and take them all to task about treating a pro hero this way.  It was only the memory of that sightless glare sent his way that kept him moving. It wasn't long before he got home, and took out his anger in the dojo, his frustration having reached it's boiling point.

Zuko thought it was kind of funny when Endeavor showed up in the Jasmine Dragon because almost everyone there knew about the ban list.  He hadn't actually had one when he opened the shop, but after the first bigoted idiot decided to open their mouth in his presence, he decided right then and there that he was going to ban people like that so his employees wouldn't have to deal with the stress.  It was the least he could do for them.  So that night he started writing up a list of people to ban and Endeavor was right there at the top.

Masako had asked him about it after taking a look at the list which he had stashed in the drawer right under the register.  He couldn't tell her that the hero was an abuser whose kids had decided to run away to escape him, but there was plenty of public behavior that he could have beef with him over.  Zuko cited his attitude and the amount of collateral damage he caused in a fight, something he didn't want to have to deal with in the shop.  She glanced at his scar for a moment before letting the matter drop.

It had been interesting when Natsuo told him that a lot of heroes had started coming by in plain clothes after he threw out Tazerbeam, with several of them having been noted to have been from Endeavor's agency.  That was probably the reason Natsuo noticed because keeping track of whatever that man was doing was important, since it would keep them safe.  Zuko wasn’t going to deny them service though, just because they happened to work for Endeavor, although he should have expected that their patronage would eventually lead to the man himself showing up.

Zuko was glad that Toph was sitting with Shouto when Endeavor made his appearance, because he would have had to close the shop right then and there to deal with his panic attack.  Druk's presence probably helped as well, and it was kind of amusing to hear how the dragon would gladly tear the hero apart if he tried anything.  He also suspected that there were a few regulars that would have jumped in to help throw Endeavor out if he tried anything, which was both amusing and concerning.  Although, given how most people in the area felt about heroes it really shouldn't have been a surprise.

There had been a small part of Zuko that wanted Endeavor to fight back, so he could inflict a fraction of the pain that the hero had caused his own children.  However, he knew that it was better to just let him go peacefully if he was willing to do so.  There had been something uncomfortable in the man's eyes though, especially when it came to Zuko's scar.  He could only guess at what the man was thinking, but he honestly didn't care.  Endeavor could think what he wanted and as long as he stayed away from Zuko and his kids, things would be fine.

Of course, just because Endeavor left didn't mean that everything was fine.  Shouto was still upset and spent the rest of the day after closing time within arm's reach of Zuko.  He allowed it, knowing that Shouto needed the reassurance, and he wasn't about to take that from him.  Natsuo had looked ready to plan a murder when they went home, and Touya looked torn between comforting Shouto and helping Natsuo with his murder plans.

Fuyumi had been somewhat confused about their attitude when they got home, although she was just as murderous as her brothers when they informed her of what had happened.  Zuko couldn't really blame them.  Endeavor had made their lives hell, giving all of them issues that still plagued them to this day, and him encroaching on the new lives they had made for themselves, even unintentionally, scared them.  Although, it also reminded them of why they had run away in the first place.  Shouto clearly wasn't alright after that encounter, and they decided as a group that a family movie night was in order.

They had decided to watch an action movie, one of the older ones where quirks were little used to being nonexistent.  It had ninjas in it, which had Zuko suspecting that Touya had picked it because of his time as the Blue Spirit, especially if the shit eating grin on his face was anything to go by.  However, that didn't matter, as Shouto gradually relaxed, eventually falling asleep pressed into Zuko's side.   Fuyumi took a picture of the scene once the movie was over, not that Zuko really cared all that much.

He picked up the sleeping eleven-year-old, his heart warming in his chest as Shouto leaned into his touch.  It didn't take long to get to the master bedroom, with Zuko depositing him on the bed before grabbing his pajamas and slipping into the bathroom to do his nightly routine.  When he got back out, Shouto was lying still on the bed, his face scrunched in pain.  It hurt his heart to see that, and he drew the child into his arms, unsurprised when he woke with tears in his eyes.

Shouto took a moment to register that he was in Zuko's arms before burying his face into Zuko's chest, letting his tears flow.  Zuko just held him close, letting the eleven-year-old draw all the comfort he could possibly need.  He would do whatever he needed to protect his children, and if Endeavor ever tried to take them back, he would fight tooth and claw. 

Chapter Text

Maki Riku was a senior at college who just wanted to get his final project done.  It was harder than he would have expected considering it was the middle of the day, but it seemed that his neighbors had decided that it was the perfect time to fight and fuck right next to the thin wall that separated their apartments.  It was infuriating to think that the one day that week he didn't have class or work he wouldn't be able to get anything done because his neighbor's couldn't not scream at each other for a few hours.

So he decided his best option would be to abandon the apartment and find an internet café or something like that where he could work.  He had no idea where to find one since he hadn't spent that much time exploring the neighborhood that he'd lived in for the last four years.  He didn't see much point in exploring the area since it was the slums, and the only reason he lived there was because it had the cheapest rent.  After his parents had thrown him out for wanting to become an engineer instead of taking over the family business he hadn't exactly had money to spare, so getting an apartment with some classmates had been the best option.  

There were a few places that his roommates had introduced him to, places that were generally safe from the gang warfare or Yakuza activity, so he'd never really had the inclination to go and check out any of the other sights.  He wasn't that much of a rebel.  However, none of them had internet, at least as far as he knew, and they weren't ideal for getting any work done either.  So he strolled down the street trying to find a good internet café or the like.  

It was actually really hard to find one that wasn't crowded as hell despite it being maybe one in the afternoon.  Looking through the large glass windows that sat at the front of cafes he could see just how packed they were, and in some places it was all too obvious that they were hot spots of gang activity.  H was pretty sure he'd been stared down more than once, and the cherry on top of the crap sundae would have been to get robbed on top of being unable to get his work done.

Eventually he found a place that was kind of packed, but there were still a few empty tables and the whole atmosphere was much calmer than what he'd seen in other places.  There were people sitting at the tables, doing work on laptops with cups of tea or coffee next to them, and so he decided the Jasmine Dragon was just the place to go.  As he entered the shop he noticed something that he'd missed from the sidewalk.  On the wall was a large corkboard that had "Banned" printed across the top.  On the corkboard itself were pictures of heroes, villains, and random people that he could only assume had done something to get banned from the shop.

As he approached the counter he was somewhat disappointed to find that this place didn't have coffee, but he didn't want to take his chances elsewhere, so he'd just have to suck it up.  "Good morning!" the cashier greeted, a wide smile on her face, "Do you know what you would like to order?"

"Do you have any coffee?" he asked, hoping beyond all hope that he would be able to get the caffeine he needed to get his project done.

"Unfortunately we don't," she informed him with a sympathetic expression, "But I know for a fact the night owl brew is just as effective when it comes to keeping you awake.  Masako swears by it."

"How much for a large cup of that?" he asked, feeling somewhat relieved that he could at least get some caffeine.

"Five hundred yen," she informed him as she rang him up, before turning to talk to a man who was standing behind her, washing a tea pot from the looks of things, "Also, what name should I call when your drink is ready?"

"Maki Riku," he told her, handing over the five hundred yen before retreating to a table along the wall, which happened to be right next to an outlet.

It didn't take long for him to pull out his things and make a sort of study nest around himself.  He was used to working on it in bursts at work so he had developed an efficient method of packing and unpacking his work.  Unfortunately that was the easy part.  Writing essays had never been something he was especially good at, and it was the thing that had been stonewalling his progress.  He'd thought getting everything else done would make it easier to write the paper, but it hadn't and now he only had two days left to get it done.

He was eventually pulled out of his thoughts by someone calling his name, and the cashier had a mug the size of a soup bowl sitting on the counter in front of her.  He knew his eyes were probably bulging in their sockets as he approached the counter to pick it up not quite believing that it was for him.  "How big is this thing?"

"Thirty two ounces," the cashier replied as she picked it up using a small plate underneath it, "People tend to only get the large to go, but since it looks like you're staying in house you get the mug."

"Where do you even get something like this?" he asked at he did his best to examine it, trying to find some sort of maker's mark.

"They were custom made for the shop," a rough deep voice informed him, nearly making him drop the cup in shock, as he looked up at the man behind the counter, "My little brother makes them.  He's Firewriter69 on Etsy if you want to see more examples of his work."

Riku gave a nod of acknowledgement before retreating back to his table.  Once he was seated he took a moment to examine the cup, which looked well made considering it had been made by someone's younger brother.  The tea was also pretty good once he tried it, with the brew being rather bitter, but no where near as bitter as coffee.  There was a part of him that was worried it wouldn't work, but then he felt that jolt signaling that the caffeine was kicking in.

Secure in the knowledge that he would be caffeinated enough to work, he got started on his project, working haltingly as he tried to muddle out a coherent paper.  There was the occasional jingle of the bell above the door causing him to look up, but none of the people managed to catch his eye until two very familiar people walked in.

Now, Riku wasn't the most avid hero fanboy, but he did like keeping up with debuting heroes, and watched the UA sports festival with his friends every year.  So he was more than a little shocked when Melon Lord and Hawks just waltzed into the shop.  A part of him was able to register that Melon Lord was having a conversation with the man behind the counter, but the rest of him was still processing the fact that they were there.  The two of them had only debuted a little over a month ago, but were already making waves in the hero community.  Hawks was a great spotlight hero, able to find a good balance between villain fights and rescue work, while Melon Lord was beloved by insurance companies.  Her quirk allowed her to minimize collateral damage, which kept pretty much everyone happy in the grand scheme of things.

It was kind of relieving to know that she was the hero in the area given just how much destruction hero fights caused on a fairly regular basis.  He watched out of the corner of his eye as the heroes bantered with the man behind the counter, before leaving with cups of tea in hand.  It was hard to get back to work after that, a fact that was not made any easier when a small plate was set down next to his left hand.

He startled at the sudden appearance of the plate, and glanced over to see that the cashier was the one depositing a plate with a cinnamon roll on it next to his things.  "I didn't order this," he said as he glanced up at her, confusion in his expression.

"It's on the house," she told him as she backed away, "You looked like you could use something to eat, especially with the work you look like you've been doing.  Masako needs to take snack breaks when doing projects too, so I figured you might appreciate the food."

There was a part of Riku, the prideful part that getting kicked out hadn't managed to kill, that wanted to reject the charity, while his stomach suddenly reminded him of how little he'd eaten that day.  Besides, the cinnamon roll smelled really good, and it would go to waste if he didn't eat it.  "Thank you," he told her before turning back to his work, hoping to get a little more done before dirtying up his fingers with the roll.

She nodded before retreating to back behind the counter, allowing him to go back to his work, only lasting maybe five more minutes before the urge to eat grew too strong to ignore.  The roll was really good, having managed to find a good balance between the spiciness of the cinnamon and the sweetness of the sugar.  The roll part was also nice, being light and fluffy, as opposed to dense like some rolls were.  Despite his best efforts some of the filling did get on his fingers but it wasn't as much of a hardship to lick them clean as he probably would have found it otherwise.

Having some food in his system also seemed to help with his work, as he was able to make significantly more progress than he had earlier when another customer entered.  He gave them the same casual glance he'd given others, but this person managed to get him to do a double take.  It wasn't every day that someone went strolling around the slums in a fine suit, after all.  That second look allowed him to register just who had walked into the shop.  

Gentle Criminal was a well known villain, mainly because he loved to post about his crimes online, not that they were as bad as most villain's.  Armed robbery definitely took a back seat to murder, but it was still a crime.  However, the strangest thing was how no one in the shop was reacting to a villain having just strolled in, and his side kick was even making small talk with the cashier.  

Riku tried to ignore the bizarre circumstances and just get back to work when the door to the shop opened once again.  He was pretty sure that things were about to go down as Miruko strolled into the shop, looking completely unbothered by the presence of a villain at the counter.  There was no way this was going to end well, so he started shuffling his things off to the side where he could easily sweep them into his bag when the fighting started.

Except nothing happened.  Gentle Criminal got his tea and left, while Miruko approached the counter, chatting with the cashier like a villain hadn't just walked past her and out of the shop.  It was so strange that Riku half expected music from one of those old shows about strange alternate dimensions to start playing.  It didn't, and nothing really happened as Miruko got her drink and left.

It took a bit for Riku to recover from that strange happenstance, but he shoved it to the back of his mind.  He had a lot of work to get done, and for as strange as this place was, at least it was peaceful.  If nothing else, there probably wouldn't be a fight interrupting his work.

Zuko didn't realize how much easier a car made things until they had one.  He could easily take the kids to school in the morning and be at the Jasmine Dragon before it was time to open.  Also getting home at night didn't take nearly as long as it had in the past.  Not that he didn't like walking, but it was nice to not have to after a long day on his feet and grocery trips were so much easier when they weren't limited to what they could carry on public transport.  Although it had led to some amusing situations, like when the anvil had finally arrived.

Zuko was getting home with Shouto on a Thursday night late in June.  There wasn't as much to do in the kitchen in the summer since they tended to make things that could be refrigerated so Touya had left after lunch to do some commission work.  So Zuko could be forgiven for not expecting to see Touya and Natsuo in the driveway trying and failing to move a crate.  "How the hell are we supposed to get this to the backyard?" Touya asked to the air, probably aiming the question at Natsuo since he was facing him.

"Why don't we ask Zuko?" the other teen suggested as he pointed the van that had just been parked in the driveway next to them.

Touya jumped, turning to face the van as Zuko got out, barely restraining from chuckling at the sheepish look on his face.  "So, the anvil arrived?" Zuko asked, as that was the only item, he knew of that would belong in the backyard and be heavy enough to give the boys trouble.

"Yeah," Touya replied as he tried to give the crate another push, "It was sitting here when I got back from the shop, which was why I texted Natsuo to come home and help me with it.  It's a lot heavier than I thought it would be."

"For the work we intend to use it for it needs to be heavy," Zuko informed him, before squatting down next to the crate and getting a feel for it, managing to slip his hands underneath it, "It needs to be able to withstand all the pounding that's going to happen, and it has to be fairly big for that.  It's not the biggest anvil I could have gotten either, but I don't think we need one that's over a four hundred kilograms."

Zuko then straightened, bringing the crate with him.  It was a little awkward, but that was due more to shape as opposed to weight.  "How the hell are you doing that?" Touya exclaimed, as Zuko made his way toward the door, Druk going ahead to warn him about any potential hazards.

"Training," Zuko told him as he walked into the house, making sure not to bump the walls with the crate, "And the shop.  You wouldn't believe how heavy some of the equipment is.  I've handled worse though."

"Like what?" Shouto inquired as he trailed after Zuko, although he was hanging back enough that he didn't risk tripping Zuko up or getting crushed should he fall backward.

"The engine of my ship was really big, and while we didn't have to take it out often, there were times where it needed to be removed for maintenance or repair," Zuko recounted, the homesickness he felt when thinking about the Wani having faded significantly over the years, "Although the worst things to carry are living creatures.  Druk isn't the worst thing I've had to carry but let's just say that I was his favorite perch for a lot longer than I should have been."

'You weren't good at taking care of yourself,' Druk stated, sounding affronted at Zuko's accusation, 'I was trying to get you to rest.'

'Might have worked better if you weren't also shredding my clothes at the same time,' Zuko shot back as he deposited the crate in front of the forge area that he'd gotten Toph to clear out when she came over to visit the week before.

"So do we have everything now?" Touya asked his eyes bright at the idea of finally getting to learn how to use the forge.

"Yep," Zuko responded as he turned back towards the house, "I can teach you on Sunday, although I don't want you using it by yourself until I think you have gotten good enough to avoid hurting yourself accidentally."

Touya nodded seriously, clearly trusting that Zuko would stay true to his word, and given that he had just seen him carrying the anvil around in its packaging, he probably recognized there were ways that he could hold the young adult to the constraints.  The group was making their way back into the house when Shouto asked, "When are you going to open the crate?"

"After dinner," Zuko informed him, ruffling his hair fondly, "It probably wouldn't hurt it to be left in the crate overnight, but I'd like to look it over, and since we'll be out here anyway for training, it wouldn't be that hard to do."

Dinner was fine, and the anvil was in good condition when Zuko removed it from the crate.  The kids had been awed by the show of strength, and he was tempted to tell them about when he'd used it in the past to break chains with his heel or destroying a solid wooden table.  Those feats were just the tip of the iceberg too, and he had been malnourished back then.  There was no telling what he could do now, and he was cautious about testing his limits as he didn't want to seriously injure himself or get the attention of people that he didn't want the attention of.

Sunday came soon enough and Zuko introduced Touya to metalworking.  Toph had been more than happy to drop off a few chunks of metal the night before after Zuko had called asking if she knew where he could get some.  She'd insisted on bringing him some that she'd salvaged from scrap heaps which she had been careful to clear of any contaminants.  There were three different steel blends that had varying amounts of carbon in them, and the third having a bit of bronze in the mix giving it an interesting color.  Zuko had set that one aside, figuring that it would be best to save that for when Touya was comfortable enough with metalwork to be able to do something with it, although Zuko did take some for the handles of the dao since it would give the hilt an interesting look.

Touya looked ecstatic to finally be learning metal working, and Zuko almost felt bad as his face fell upon finding out that they would be covering safety protocols first.  There were several obvious ones, like when to use the gloves, or using tongs when working with the hot metal, while there were others that needed a bit more explaining like keeping the bucket of oil on the right and the bucket of water on the left so he wouldn't get them confused or accidentally end up dripping hot oil onto the vegetation in the backyard.  While they generally had enough room to work, one could never be too careful when it came to sparks.

Once they had gone over all the safety procedures, Zuko showed Touya how to melt metals, using a crucible that he had actually made for this purpose.  Once the metal had melted completely, they poured it into two molds that he had made, which were just larger versions of his current dao.  He knew about what size he needed to make them, and it was easy to scale up from what he already had.  While the metal was cooling, Zuko told Touya about how to make molds, things to keep in mind while making them, as well as extra steps that he would need to keep in mind when making blades, like the hilts.

Once the blades were done cooling, Zuko removed them from the molds, and taught Touya how to fold the metal, showing him the point at which the blade needed removed from the flames, how to hammer it out on the anvil and when it would need returned to the flames after having cooled too much. Finally, there was quenching the blade, and with how late it had gotten, they had to end things there.  "Same time next week?" Touya asked as they stored the unfinished blades and tools.

"It's a date," Zuko replied as he ruffled Touya's hair, the young adult batting his hand away.

"So do you think we have enough time to help Fuyumi with dinner?" Touya asked as they made their way into the house, stopping for a moment to leave his tennis shoes at the back door.  

"Well, we could just ask her," Zuko replied as he crossed through the kitchen to the bathroom so he could wash his hands, "Fuyumi!  Do you have any plans for dinner?"

"No," she shouted back, sounding like she was doing something in her room, "It's Sunday.  You always do dinner on Sunday."

"How does ramen sound then?" Zuko asked to the house at large, knowing how much volume he needed to use to reach everyone.

There were various sounds of agreement that came from around the house, which wasn't that surprising.  The kids loved the stuff just as much as he did.  "Can I help?" Touya asked as he scrubbed at his hands to get rid of the dirt that had managed to get inside the gloves, "I should probably learn how to make more than cookies and bread."

"Sure, why not?" Zuko replied, and he could practically feel the grin radiating off the teen. Honestly, it would be easier to get him a cookbook, although that probably wouldn't stop him from asking. Cooking together was just another time that they could hang out, although it would be interesting to see if he could get everyone in on it. A thought for another day.

Ty Lee skipped down the street, enjoying the nice summer day.  She liked it when it was warmer, the summer heat reminding her of the fire nation.  It had been rather cold when she had landed in this strange place, left to wonder why she had appeared in the middle of a crowd in clothes that she hadn't worn since before becoming a Kiyoshi warrior.  She personally preferred the Kiyoshi warrior uniform, liking that she had a choice in her decision to look like other girls as opposed to being forced to wear the same outfit as her six sisters just in a different color.

She had approached the nearest person for help, hoping that it might make it easier to figure out what might have landed her here when the last thing she remembered was rescuing Yuri from the fire.  The woman she talked to had taken her to the police office, and she had marveled at the buildings and such on the way there.  The city she was in was so different from every other city she had seen, the buildings being so varied and the amount of glass she could see being used in some of them was staggering.  It was more impressive than even Ba Sing Se had been as even there the buildings had been nowhere near as tall as many of these were.

The police had asked for her name and age, Ty Lee giving them that information as best she could while marveling over the inside of the building.  The large room with the big windows and interesting décor was captivating to her, to the point that she barely registered when they informed her that they could find no record of her.  Then one of them, a large woman with horns and a tail took her to a home where she lived with five other kids.

Ty Lee had kind of enjoyed it there.  The parents were kind of strict, but she was used to dealing with Azula, so it wasn't anything she couldn’t handle.  The kids ranged from annoying to fun, with the youngest being so much fun to play with.  Ty Lee loved to show her different moves, showing off her acrobatic skills in a way that she hadn't been able to for a while.  Sure, she used them all the time when she was hanging out with Azula, or as part of the circus, but it was harder to do them when she was in the Kiyoshi warrior armor.  She had managed to work around the weight issue just a bit, but it wasn't good enough for her to be able to do it all the time.

She had enjoyed being able to cartwheel and somersault whenever she wanted, and when she discovered that she was bendier than she used to be, she took full advantage of it.  Moves that used to be difficult for her were suddenly easy to do, and chi blocking was a breeze with that slight bit of extra reach.  Her friends had been fascinated when she demonstrated the art to them, which had the extra benefit of getting one of the creeps that had been trying to ask them out to back off lest he get a repeat treatment.

Her chi blocking had managed to catch the eye of a self-defense instructor, who approached her with a job offer.  She would teach chi blocking as part of the advanced self-defense classes while also helping out with the lower-level classes and getting paid the whole time.  She had been intrigued by the offer, and since she would need a job once she graduated high school, she figured it was a great idea.  In fact, it made it so she could even leave the foster home early, since the parents were hoping to get some more younger kids once she had left the house.

So, she went out apartment hunting after getting the job, although she quickly discovered that it was much easier to get an apartment with another person than just getting one by yourself, especially since that part of town wasn't the greatest.  Her friends had done some looking, but they had been aiming to move into places that were much farther from her job than she would have liked, so she was left trying to find an apartment that was looking for a roommate.  Instead, she found Mai.

Ty Lee had been overjoyed to have her friend again, especially since she had died far too young.  Not that Ty Lee was really in a position to talk, but the two of them had always been close.  Part of it was bonding over dealing with Azula, and part of it was being some of the deadliest non-benders in the Fire Nation.  They decided to exchange numbers so they could try to find a place together, figuring that they would probably have a better chance by pooling their resources instead of just going it solo like they had.

Eventually the two of them had managed to find an apartment that was decently close to Ty Lee's place of work and was cheap enough for the two of them to afford while still having extra money at the end of the month to treat themselves.  Mai was a little far from her place of work, but she had a car and a driver's license so it wasn't like she couldn't handle it.  When traffic was good it tended to take her less time to get to work than it did for Ty Lee, although when traffic was bad it was usually because of a villain and that would ruin anyone's day.

Ty Lee was not exempt from villains ruining her commute though, as when she was heading home one day, she discovered that a pretty serious villain fight had broken out and absolutely demolished the street that she liked to take.  She didn't want to get caught up in all that, so she took and alternative route, heading over a few blocks to steer clear of the disturbance.  As she walked down the new route, she decided to look at all the different shops, figuring that she might as well treat herself for having to go out of her way just to get home.  There were a few cute cafes, and a nice-looking bakery but there was one shop that caught her eye.

She was not as familiar with the Jasmine Dragon as Mai or any of her friends were, but it was still a name that resonated with her.  She had heard all about the tea shop that Prince Iroh had owned in Ba Sing Se, and only visited it maybe twice before her death, but she knew all about it.  The familiar name drew her in, and she decided to check it out, hoping that just maybe she might find one of her friends there.

As she opened the door she was greeted with a familiar jingle, her favorite cat café having a bell right above the door as well.  The cashier was a sweet looking girl with soft black hair and beautiful blue eyes right above an adorable button nose.  There was a part of Ty Lee that wanted to ask her out, but she restrained herself, instead looking up at the menu.  It looked like standard fare that one would find at a tea shop, although there was no sign of coffee to appease the caffeine junkies.  Iroh probably wouldn't like coffee if he'd had any, although she couldn't say for sure.

As her gaze passed over the different flavors of tea, she couldn't help but think back to her favorite, something that had surprised most of her friends when they found out.  She was a fan of bitter black teas, something that was so at odds with her bubbly and upbeat personality that it had most of them doing a double take.  Mai was the only one who wasn't, although she was someone who also went against type as she preferred fruit teas like raspberry or blueberry.  Sokka had been so surprised by their orders that he had assumed that they had switched bodies and asked Aang if there was anything to be done.  Both Aang and Katara had busted out their waterbending at that before ultimately reaching the conclusion that they were the same people that they always had been.  Sokka was then convinced that they were pranking him and refused to be convinced otherwise.

She eventually spotted black tea at a fairly good price, and there was a part of her that hoped it would be just as good as Iroh's was.  Stepping up to the counter, she got a shy smile from the cashier who said, "Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon.  What can I get you today?"

"Hi," Ty Lee said shooting the girl a brilliant smile of her own, part of her proud at the light blush that appeared on the girl's cheeks, "Can I get a large black tea to go?"

"Ty Lee?" a familiar raspy voice said from behind the cashier.

Ty Lee glanced upward ever so slightly to find herself staring at a scarred face she hadn't seen in years and had assumed she would never see again.  "Zuko!" she exclaimed as she jumped at him, hugging him around the neck, his arms easily coming up to support her as she dangled off the ground, "It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too," he replied as he hugged her back, giving her a slight squeeze before lowering her to the ground, "How have you been?"

"Pretty good," she told him as she glanced up at him, the angle slightly different then it had been last time they had seen each other, "Have you gotten taller?"

"Yeah," he muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sokka's not happy about it."

"Of course, he's not," she stated rolling her eyes as she could easily imagine the water tribe warrior complaining about something that no one had control over, "Still at the same height he was last time I saw him?"

"Yep," Zuko replied, perking up slightly, "So how have you been?"

"Pretty good," she told him as she leaned against the counter, trying to relieve the pressure on her feet ever so slightly, "I'd love to tell you all about it, but I'm kind of eager to get home.  It's been a long day and I still have a ways to walk."

"Of course," Zuko startled, looking slightly ashamed of himself, which had her feeling a little bad for her haste, "Large black tea to go?"

"It's on the house," Zuko insisted as he set a kettle on a small burner, "It wouldn't be fair to make you pay for your tea when I didn't charge Sokka, Katara, Suki, or Toph for their first cups."

"That doesn't seem like a good business plan," Ty Lee retorted, sliding her wallet back into her bag, although not before removing two hundred yen which she deposited in the tip jar.

Zuko actually chuckled at that.  "I'm not hurting for business," he informed her as he pulled out a to go cup and cardboard sleeve, "I could probably half my prices and still be able to pay my employees as generously as I already do."

"That's true," the cashier interjected with a small smile on her face, "Although Yoshida san would probably do it at his own detriment."

"That sounds like him," Ty Lee commented honestly, absolutely certain that he was rolling his eyes despite the fact that he was facing away from her.

Ty Lee ended up spending the few minutes while the tea was steeping chatting with the cashier who she learned was named Sakura, and the two of them actually exchanged numbers before Zuko passed the tea across the counter.  "Thanks, Zuko," she told him as she picked up the tea, inhaling the steam because she knew better than to just start drinking it right away and burning her mouth, "See you later!"

"Bye," he called out as he waved before turning to go clean out the tea pot.

Ty Lee happily left, walking towards the apartment eager to get home and tell Mai about what she just learned.  When she was about a block away from the apartment, she got a text from Mai saying, 'Gonna be late.  Boss insisted on a staff meeting at the last minute.'  Ty Lee texted back and acknowledgement, promising to save her some of whatever she decided to make or order for dinner that night.  Mai thanked her and she almost texted that she had found Zuko but deleted it at the last moment.

She felt that it would be best to take Mai to meet him, instead of just telling her of his existence.  The two of them had always been a cute couple and had taken years to get together properly because they both needed to grow beyond who their parents had tried to force them to be.  Ty Lee had always admired them for that, and besides, getting to see their reactions to seeing each other again after years apart would be priceless.

The thought made her smile as she made her way into her apartment, setting her cup of tea and keys on the counter before turning to remove her shoes.  When she turned back, she noticed that Zuko had written his phone number on the cup, and she pulled out her phone, saving the number before pouring the tea into a mug and tossing the cup.  She decided to order some take out from her and Mai's favorite restaurant before hunkering down on the couch.  She had some planning to do. 

Chapter Text

Dying as the avatar had been strange.  At least Aang assumed that for most people dying wasn't like changing rooms.  He left his body and stepped into that of his successor, Korra.  It was interesting to watch as she grew up, getting see how readily the elements came to her, and the changes that had occurred around the world after his death.  Seeing his friends was incredibly conflicting.

Katara and Zuko were the only ones who ever interacted with Korra, and Aang's feelings on the matter tended to oscillate wildly between gratitude and guilt.  He loved getting to see them whenever he could, but he also hated seeing them age.  He honestly wasn't sure which one was worse.  Katara spent a lot of time with Korra, so he had to watch the gradual deterioration of his beloved wife, but Zuko provided almost the exact opposite problem.  His visits were infrequent so Aang was getting hit with the changes every time he saw him.

There was a part of him that was guiltily grateful that Toph wasn't training Korra.  He wasn't sure he could take seeing her again after all this time, seeing how she'd changed.  There was a part of him, much larger than he would admit, that hoped that she would age like Bumi, staying strong despite all appearances and outliving everyone around her.  She was already a good way there after all.

Then things changed drastically.  Harmonic convergence happened and all previous avatar's spirits were separated from Raava, left to float around the spirit world at their own leisure.  It strange no longer being linked to the other avatars, no longer being one in a multitude of voices that could advise Korra.  Instead he spent his time exploring the spirit world, getting to learn all about it in a way that he hadn't been able to before.  Besides, it was nice to occasionally have tea with Iroh again, or play with a few of the younger and more open minded spirits, even if he couldn't use bending.  It was a nice if somewhat lonely existence, and then the third spirit portal was made.

That had been a day in the spirit world.  Things had already been somewhat tense as spiritual energy had been leached by the human world until a hole had suddenly been punched through the barrier between their worlds creating another portal.  It was kind of nice, to have a place where more humans could come an interact with the spirits, could appreciate the majesty of the natural world, but it was lacking balance.  

The portals at the north and south pole balanced each other, letting the spiritual energy flow between them, maintaining harmony.  The new spirit portal didn't have that.  There was no partner, nothing to balance it, so it attempted to balance itself.  When Aang first came across one of what he liked to call the mini portals he almost touched it, before one of the nearby spirits stopped him.  They told him about how one of their friends had gone through one, never to be seen again.

That had made him curious, so he started going around trying to find one so he could study it, and discovered that he was not the only former avatar to do so.  Roku, Kiyoshi, Yang chin and countless others could be found gravitating towards the portals.  It honestly made sense.  They were a result of a disruption in the balance, end despite the fact that they were no longer avatars, there was still that drive to repair the balance.

Through much debate and speculation they had managed to come up with a solution that fit, even if it wasn't very satisfying.  The third spirit portal was reaching out to something beyond the spirit world, forming tenuous connections that would decay growing smaller until it disappeared completely when left alone.  However, if they were interfered with, they could collapse and the sudden vacuum of spiritual energy would pull any nearby spirits in with it, taking them to whatever the portal had managed to harmonize with.  At least that was what he assumed.  Seeing as no spirit had ever come back, it could have just outright killed them, but Aang wasn't one to be a pessimist.  He left that to Sokka.

He never expected to find out what was on the other side of them until he saw Zuko caught up in the pull of one.  Toph was caught up in it too, trying desperately to reach her brother in everything but blood, calling out to him like they were children again.  Aang rushed to reach them, to try and pull them out of a vacuum before they were gone forever, and had to fight against his fellow avatars to do so.  They begged him to stay, but he ignored their pleas refusing to abandon his friends, barely managing to reach them before they were gone forever.

Aang was disoriented when he landed, his surroundings unfamiliar and empty of people.  Wandering around a bit allowed him to see that not only was this place very different from the four nations, but was full of people that looked like they could pass as spirits.  It was hard not to stare at the people walking around with blue skin, or horns growing out of their foreheads.  However, that was forgotten as soon as he caught sight of himself in the reflection of a large glass window.  

He was tiny.  So tiny.  He hadn't been this small in decades, and he hadn't worn these clothes in just about as long.  The monk robes had been a calculated move on his part, a way to remind the nations that his people were peaceful, and while they were the biggest victims in the war, they wouldn't want their attackers to be treated unfairly.  The last thing he wanted was to give Zuko any more work, so he did his best to remind the other nations about what really mattered which was making sure their people were happy and safe.  It hadn't worked as much as he would have liked, but Zuko had appreciated the gesture.

Aang found himself being taken into custody by the authorities not long afterward for using his airbending to stop a mugging.  He discovered during the brief fight that he only had his airbending, which he honestly wasn't too upset about.  It was his first element and had always been the most instinctual, so while he might miss being able to use the other forms of bending, he was content to just have his airbending.  It also felt appropriate that he no longer had the abilities of an avatar, allowing him to forge his own identity as just Aang.  He honestly wasn't going to miss being the avatar, not with all the responsibilities and problems that came with it.  

After a short investigation, the authorities let him off with a light warning as he seemed to have quirk related amnesia, which when combined with his lack of parents or guardians, led to them finding him a foster family.  Aang didn't have the best time at first.  He would try to get to know the other kids and have fun with them, but there were many that didn't like hanging out with him, and the foster parents would often send him back declaring that he was too energetic and high maintenance for them.  It was his fifth home where the parents had finally taken him to the doctor and gotten him diagnosed for ADHD.  

Aang had been confused, and the doctor explained the condition to him, which made the diagnosis obvious in retrospect.  He was soon started on medication to help him get a handle on his condition, and one of the older kids at the foster home, who also happened to have ADHD taught him a few tricks for managing the symptoms that the medication wouldn't be able to mitigate.  It was eye opening to learn, and soon he was looking into ADHD and conditions like it to learn more.

It wasn't long before Aang had fallen down the rabbit hole of mental illness, how they developed, the various theories that people had made about how the brain developed and the different types of psychology.  He was fascinated by the subject, and when career counseling came around he had a whole list of questions for his teacher to try and determine what sort of occupation would best fit him with his interests.  

Aang had come out of that deciding that he wanted to be a child psychiatrist, and while there wasn't a high school that would be willing to fast track that for him, there was one that would give him several of the necessary courses for his college degree, allowing him to only need two years instead of four to get his bachelor's.  After that, he would need to go to medical school to get his license, and after that all he would need is his residency. 

It was kind of daunting to think about, but Aang was confident in his ability to be able to do it.  If he'd managed to bring balance to the world despite having no clue what he was doing, he could do this.  So he signed up to do some job shadowing at the hospital closest to his college.  It would also help him make connections and give him something to do before classes started up in August.  The medication may dull his hyperactivity but he was not made for sitting still or being patient.

Besides, he really wanted to get to know the area.  Melon Lord's hero agency wasn't that far away, so he had a pretty good chance of maybe running into Toph.  He'd been somewhat torn when he first saw her in the UA sports festival, part of him excited to know that he was there with his friends, but also more than a little upset to be half a country away from them.  He'd spent a lot of time reassuring himself because it could have been worse.  He could have ended up in a different country, a different world even, or maybe not have been able to follow them at all.

It had actually taken him a bit to find a hospital in that area that would allow him to shadow a psychiatrist, due to the large concentration of hero schools in the area.  The hospital that finally agreed was known for its younger than normal staff since they were often the place where people who fast tracked to a medical degree in that provenance were trained before getting sent to another hospital.  There were older staff members as well, generally heading up the departments, but eighteen year old doctors and nurses were common there, so Aang didn't really stick out.

The psychiatrist he was shadowing, Doctor Shinkawa was in his late twenties and was expecting to get moved to another hospital soon so one of the fresh graduates could take his place.  The two of them actually got along really well, and Aang enjoyed talking with him at lunch, since things were kept very professional when they were in the office, even if there weren't any patients present.  It was while they were talking on Aang's second day there that he heard a rather familiar voice call out "Aang!"

He turned without thought, happy that he tended to sit cross legged on the benches so he wasn't tripped up by his legs being trapped because running towards him was a very familiar face.  "Katara!" he exclaimed as he shot to his feet, practically bowling her over in his rush to hug her.

She reciprocated the hug, an almost desperate quality to it, like he would disappear if she let go.  It wasn't hard to guess why.  They'd already been separated by death once, and she had probably thought she'd never see him again because of the avatar spirit.  There was a part of him that was glad he'd fought to follow them, if only because he could be with Katara now.  They had loved each other dearly, after all, and being reunited felt like he was finally letting himself feel the pain of her absence now that she was there to soothe it.  

Eventually the two of them pulled back, and Aang could see tears leaking out of Katara's eyes, bringing his hands up to wipe them away just like he used to after nightmares.  "It's good to see you again," she said as she reached up and wiped at his own cheeks, making him realize that he was crying too.

"It's good to see you to," Aang told her as he got in another hug before leading her over to where he had been sitting, "How are you?"

"I'm good," she replied with a small but soft smile as she lowered herself onto the bench, "What about you?"

"I'm doing good to," Aang told her, having so many questions on the tip of his tongue that he wanted to ask, but knew he couldn't because they were in public, "Want to exchange phone numbers, so we can catch up later?"

"Of course," Katara exclaimed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, doing some tapping on the screen before turning it towards him.

Aang input his information, part of him tempted to look at her contact list to see if she'd had contact with any of the others, but he decided not to at the last minute.  There was no point in setting himself up for disappointment after all.  Once he was saved as a new contact in her phone he handed it back to her.  She then sent him a text and he saved her number, eager to have a connection to her again.  "Aang," Doctor Shinkawa said, getting his attention, "As much as I would like to stick around so you two could talk, I have an appointment at one to prepare for."

"Of course," Aang replied as he cleaned up the remnants of his lunch, "See you later Katara."

"See you later Aang," she told him as he walked away, her sad tone making him want to turn back, but he couldn't.  He had to get through the rest of the day, and then he'd be able to see her again.  Hopefully.

Katara hadn't believed it at first when she had entered the cafeteria to see a bald head with a line of blue down the middle.  She missed Aang dearly, so it hadn't been unusual at first to imagine seeing him, although back in the four nations it was often her own son Tenzin that she was seeing.  In this new world there had been times that she thought she'd caught a glimpse of him, but she couldn't be sure if she was seeing him or if it was just wishful thinking.

So when she'd done her usual methods to clear her vision of any potential hallucinations, and that bald head was still there, she decided to risk it.  At best it was Aang sitting there completely unaware of her presence, and at worse it was a stranger that she could explain herself to.  She was absolutely thrilled to find that it was worth the risk.  He stumbled in his hurry to get out of the seat, and she could have laughed at how much it looked like the gangly limbed flopping he did after major growth spurts.  

Katara had rushed forward to hug him, although he nearly brought them both to the ground due to his sheer size.  He had been the tallest of their group, although Sokka had always had him beat when it came to muscle.  That didn't mean he wasn't heavy though, surprisingly so for someone who spent most of their time in the air.  However, it was nice just to have him back, even if she never wanted to let go of him ever again.

When they finally pulled apart, there was a part of her that wanted to tell him about the others, to tell him that they could all be together again in the near future, but the larger part of her wanted the moment to just be for them.  As much as she loved her friends, Aang was her best friend and other half, and she just wanted to soak in his proximity.  It was nice being able to talk to him even if they had thirty or so years of separation between them.

Then he suggested exchanging numbers and Katara was ready to kick herself.  There were far too many days that she forgot she had a phone.  They weren't really common in the south pole due to the infrastructure needed to support them.  Having one you can carry in your pocket was a novelty that she was still getting used to, especially since Sokka had bought it for her as a graduation gift, at HIS graduation, over her numerous protests of 'That's not how it works'.  She could barely remember her number so it was just easier for her to have Aang input his number into the phone, so they could stay in contact.  It was kind of disappointing that he had to go, but she had a way to contact him, so it made working into the night a little more pleasant.

As soon as she got off work she started texting Aang, a part of her hoping that he would still be up and would be willing to chat with her on her way home from work.  It was amusing to see him do the text equivalent of falling over himself in his eagerness to talk, which helped make the rest of the commute easier.  Not long into the conversation he asked about potentially meeting up for a little catch up slash date and Katara's thoughts instantly went to the Jasmine Dragon.  

They probably wouldn't stay since they would definitely be distracting Zuko from his work, but it was also rather appealing to think about the faces both Zuko and Aang would make when finally face to face again.  It wasn't that hard to build a date around it.  They would get tea at the Jasmine Dragon, then head to the nearby park where they could talk and enjoy their tea, and end the evening back at the apartment with some take out.  

It took longer than she would have liked to plan the date, but it was sort of her own fault.  Her schedule was all over the place, so finding a good day that they would be able to meet up when the Jasmine Dragon was open was a challenge.  Fortunately, they were able to figure it out before Aang's two weeks at the hospital was up.  Since they had each others numbers they could have continued to plan afterward, but it was getting to the point that Katara was having trouble keeping her mouth shut.  She wanting the whole experience to be a surprise for both sides, and long she had to keep the secret, the harder it was.

Fortunately they were able to work out a Saturday where they would be able to meet up in the afternoon to pick up their tea, and Sokka and Suki had a date night that night, so the two of them would have some alone time at the apartment.  It was late enough in the day that she had mostly recovered from her shift the night before, and it didn't take that long for her to get ready.  In what felt like no time at all she was meeting Aang right outside her apartment building, doing her best to keep from laughing at how awkward he looked standing there.  

"Ready to go?" she asked as she approached him, her hands going to play with her purse strap to hide her nerves.

"Yep," he replied as he moved towards her, making an aborted grab for her hand.

Katara gave him a small smile, before slipping her hand into his, leading him to the subway she took to get to get to the Jasmine Dragon.  They made some small talk on the way there, but it was obvious that the things they really wanted to talk about weren't something they could really cover in public, so they were left making small talk about safe topics.  There were a few times that she had to stop herself from mentioning one of the others, but the thought of loud he would be in response to that news kept her from letting them slip.

When they got back to the streets, Aang stopped talking as much and started observing their surroundings.  He took in the appearance of all the different shops, even geeking out over a cat café before they reached their destination.  His expression was surprisingly melancholy as he looked at the shop windows, taking in the logo that Shingo had designed.  She had to tug his hand a bit to get him to follow her inside, but he relaxed when he did.

There was something inherently comforting in the aroma of tea that filled the shop, even if Katara couldn't figure out why.  It might have been because it made her recall fond memories of being in the original Jasmine Dragon with Iroh, or it might have been because tea was always a comforting scent due to the warmth it carried.  Either way, it made the shop feel cozy and inviting.  When coupled with the person behind the counter she knew she could waste hours in here if she didn't have other things to do.

Zuko had his back to the main room washing a tea pot in the sink back there, so she wasn't surprised that Sakura was the one to greet her.  "Good afternoon Katara-san!  What would you like to have today?"

She could see Zuko perk up at the sound of her name but he didn't turn around, probably wanting to finish washing the pot before greeting her.  "I'll have a large chai to go," she told Sakura before turning to Aang, "What do you want?"

Aang didn't answer, didn't even seem to register her question as his gaze was fixed on Zuko.  She honestly wouldn't be that surprised if he recognized the firebender, even from the back.  It seemed like he was ambushing him all the time to try and get him to relax a bit, so he was probably familiar with his silhouette.  "Zuko?" Aang murmured, his voice relatively soft, but it carried enough that the man in question stiffened.

"Aang?" he replied as he turned towards them, steam rising from his wet hands.

Katara dropped Aang's hand, and not a moment too soon as the airbender launched himself over the counter and into Zuko's arms.  The firebender completed the hug, although there was a slightly bemused look on his face as he did so.  Aang was chanting something into his shoulder, although it was muffled enough that she couldn't make it out.  However, Zuko appeared to have understood it, replying, "I'm fine, Aang.  I'm glad to see you're doing well, too."

Eventually the two men separated and Aang seemed to realize exactly where he was.  "Oops," he said as Zuko guided him around the counter so he was on the correct side of it.  

"It's fine," Zuko told him as he leaned back against the counter, "Big dramatic hugs seem to be a thing with us.  Just be glad Toph isn't here to tackle you."

"Does she do it often?" Aang asked, his grin practically splitting his face as he wrapped an arm around Katara.

"Just about every time she's here," Zuko replied with fond exasperation, "So what can I get for you?  The first cup's free."

"Could I have a cup of jasmine to go?" Aang asked with a slight shrug before perking up, "And your number.  I want to be able to stay in contact with you."

"Sure," the firebender replied with a shrug as he slipped back behind the counter, "We really should see about having a get together one of these days.  It'd be nice to have everyone in one place where we could just chat about what's happened over the years."

"That would be fun," Katara mused as she considered the idea.

"Well, we can talk about it in the group chat," Zuko stated as he worked on their tea, "Which you should probably add Aang to.  The others will be so happy to hear from him again."

There was a part of Katara that couldn't help but cringe at the thought of everything that would come out once Aang was added.  As much as she loved her brother and her husband the two of them tended to bring down the IQ of the group with their silliness.  And that was without considering how people would react once they found out she'd kept Aang a secret for nearly a month.  She could only imagine the chaos that would ensue.

Aang and Zuko continue to exchange small talk until the tea was done and the couple was ready to leave.  They said farewell to each other before leaving, and she just knew that she was in for a lot of questions as soon as they were back in the apartment.

There were days when Mai couldn't help but question her decision to be friends with Ty Lee.  Sure their friendship had begun with the mutual agreement to try and keep Azula happy so she wouldn't hurt either of them, but if it wasn't for the Fire Nation royal family they probably wouldn't have bothered talking to each other, much less become friends.  They did happen to compliment each other surprisingly well, but then there were days like today that had Mai wanting to use her for target practice.

Landing in this strange world had been disorienting, but Mai had been trained to deal with unusual situations so she was easily able to adapt to the situation, and started doing reconnaissance at a nearby school.  Her observations had been stopped rather abruptly when one of the young men at the school couldn't seem to take no for an answer and she went to draw one of her knives, aiming to threaten him into submission.

The problem was she didn't have any blades up her sleeves due to them having been noticed by a teacher earlier that day and confiscated.  However, that didn't stop the almost instinctive movement, which had somehow still produced a blade.  She didn't have much time to think about it as a wave of dizziness washed over her and the world went dark.  

She woke up in the hospital what was revealed to be several days later being treated for quirk overuse and anemia.  Apparently when she was brought there she had gained a quirk, which allowed her to produce blades from her body, but by using her body's natural minerals, namely the iron in her blood.  This meant that to survive using her quirk she would need to take iron supplements.  

Mai knew better than to argue with a doctor, but she was sorely tempted to when one of them showed up and informed her that she would be living with the, from then on.  Since she was technically a child with no known family and a serious medical condition that needed monitoring, she was put under the custody of one of the hospital's doctors.  It honestly wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be at first.  They were nothing like her parents, and have even introduced her to a young girl named Momo who had a somewhat similar quirk.  Apparently hers allowed her to make just about anything by using the fat in her body, which meant she was constantly eating so she could stay ahead of her quirk.

The doctor had even enrolled her into a rather nice high school, although she had no idea what sort of job she really wanted to do.  They gave her classes on all sorts of things like computers, first aid, book keeping, and a whole rainbow of other potentially useful skills.  It didn't make it any easier to pick a field after she graduated, but she also knew that she wasn't going to college until she figured out what she could possibly go for.  

Becoming Sir Nighteye's secretary had been mostly accidental.  Her foster parents had brought her to one of those parties only most for the incredibly rich, mainly to keep Momo company, when someone had suggested the position to her.  He was having trouble keeping one more than a month, with the ones that quit complaining either about Sir Nighteye himself or the people that visited him.  It didn't help that he would only hire people who could make him laugh, which was harder than most people thought.

When it was suggested that Mai might be a good fit for the job she had been skeptical but applied anyways.  The worst thing that could happen was she didn't get the job, and she would just be back where she started.  She was called in for an interview a few days later, and something about her deadpan delivery of most of her answers had the hero in stitches.  She was hired the next day.

With an income secured, Mai started looking at apartments near the hero agency wanting to have a space of her own.  She appreciated the couple that had taken her in, but now that she was an adult it was time for her to move on.  There were a few ads about wanting room mates, and while checking out a promising one she discovered that it was Ty Lee.  Once she found that out she couldn't sign fast enough.

Their history made it easy for the two of them to live together, but within the last month Ty Lee had been up to something.  Mai could see it in her eyes and it was putting her on edge.  So when Ty Lee asked her to wing by a tea shop to pick up a drink for her, she couldn't help but be suspicious.  Especially since Ty Lee just gave the address and not the name of the shop.  

That was strange because for as much as she liked to pretend that she was a ditsy, pretty girl, Ty Lee was very intelligent and wouldn't have forgotten the name of a shop she likes.  The only reassuring thing was that she knew Ty Lee couldn't be there to prank her because she would be a middle of a self defense class, like every other Saturday.  It wouldn't be the first time Mai would be arriving with a cup of tea either.  

The shop wasn't that far away from the apartment which was relieving and surprising.  If a prank was happening there at least she wouldn't be subjected to too much outside scrutiny as she rushed home, which helped her to relax a but.  However the close proximity to the apartment had her wondering how they had apparently missed the shop over the last two years they had been living in the area.  Then Mai saw what it was called.

She felt like she had been punched in the gut seeing the Jasmine Dragon on the shop's windows.  She had spent so much time in that shop, learning from Prince Iroh while she tried to figure herself out after learning about all the things her parents had done.  It was the place where she had managed to find herself and fell in love with Zuko all over again.  That name was practically sacred to her, and Ty Lee had kept it a secret.

The chi blocker was going to have to watch her back in the near future because Mai was ready to punch her for not telling her.  Even if it was nothing like the Jasmine Dragon Iroh had run, it was still the Jasmine Dragon.  She would have liked to know ahead of time if only so she could prepare herself for the flood of emotion.  The inside of the shop was just as nostalgic as the name, as the scent of tea leaves hung in the air.  Then she looked behind the counter.

Mai could have sworn that her heart stopped as she saw none other than Zuko behind the counter, a small content smile on his face as he made a pot of tea.  It was possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and she was content just to watch him for a moment.  That meant she got to see the moment he noticed her.  He'd done a double take the moment he'd managed to glimpse her out of the corner of his eye, and if the kettle hadn't already been set down it probably would have been dropped on the floor.

The next moment felt like it was happening in slow motion as Zuko came from behind the counter and scooped Mai up in hug.  He was holding her tightly, but she would be lying if she tried to claim that she wasn't holding him just as tightly.  They just stood there for a moment holding each other before pulling back to look each other in the eye.  "I missed you so much," Zuko stated as he grinned down at her, tears leaking from his right eye as he pulled her back in for another hug.'

"I missed you too," she said into his shoulder, part of her wanting to never let go, to never leave this moment.

"I'd been hoping you were here ever since Ty Lee came in," Zuko admitted as he pulled back reluctantly, but she hadn't mentioned you so I was starting to think it was just wishful thinking."

"Well she hadn't bothered to mention this place at all," Mai told him, trying to slip into her more monotone voice to hide her anger at her friend, although it probably wasn't working as well as she would like, "She just sent me a text asking for a cup of tea from here.  She didn't even tell me the name of the shop!"

"Well, I'll do up a cup for her and a cup for you," Zuko said as he retreated behind the counter, "Although you could come back for it after delivering hers.  I'd love it if we could catch up over dinner tonight."

"It's a date," Mai replied, a small smile on her lips.  She was still going to punch Ty Lee, but she wouldn't hit her as hard as she was going to earlier.  Or maybe she would.  She hadn't decided yet.

Chapter Text

Shouto would have missed it if it wasn't for Druk.  It was rather easy for him to ignore the comings and goings of the patrons of the Jasmine Dragon, especially when working on his homework, but he knew something special was happening when Druk's tail started wagging like an over excited puppy's.  It was kind of hard to ignore because it was whacking his leg, so he decided to look up and see just what might have drawn that reaction from the dragon.  He was more apathetic then Shouto when it came to the people that entered the shop, so if someone got his attention they were probably important.

The woman standing in the shop didn't really look all that special.  She was kind of tall, with long slender limbs and black hair that was tied back away from her face.  She wasn't really wearing anything special either, but the expression on her face was kind of weird.  It looked like she had been punched in the stomach and was halfway to crying, and yet there was also a slight upturn of her lip like she was happy.  Shouto hadn't seen an expression like that since he was back at Endeavor's house and Mom had managed to protect him from a beating by taking it herself.  It was pained but at the same time happy.

Then Shouto heard Zuko inhaled sharply.  It wasn't a sound he made often, usually when one of them was hurt, but there was something so distinctly Zuko about it that it couldn't have been made by anyone else.  He walked around the counter, slowly, like he was afraid that she would bolt if he moved quickly.  It gave Shouto enough time to pull out his phone and start recording the interaction.  He was pretty sure he knew who this was, and his siblings needed to see this.

They approached each other slowly, like they couldn't believe the other was there, although it wasn't long before they were hugging each other tightly.  Even when they finished hugging and separated, they didn't move that far apart.  There was a part of Shouto that couldn't help but wonder if he was going to see them kiss, but they didn't, instead heading towards the counter with their hands intertwined.  It was kind of sweet.

Shouto ended the video there and then sent it to the group chat he had with his siblings, the one that Zuko wasn't a part of.  "I think Dad just found Mom," he added after the video.

It wasn't long before bubbles popped up, showing that his siblings were formulating replies.  

Ice Queen- This is so sweet! 

Natzu- Do you think they're going to get back together?

Flaming Artist- Maybe

Ice Queen- I hope so!

Flaming Artist- That's just because you're into sappy romances

Ice Queen- That's not true!

The conversation devolved from there, although Shouto did find the insults they shot at each other rather amusing.  It wasn't long before he set his phone aside though.  He really needed to finish his homework if he wanted to be able to spend tomorrow with Zuko, Touya, or both.  Besides getting it out of the way early was just smart.  It was easier to remember the lessons, and there was less chance of him having to cram to get it done the day before.  He'd seen how that turned out for Natsuo in the past and wanted to avoid it.

He couldn't help but be curious though, especially when she left the shop and came back within an hour.  Even if Druk's tail hadn't started wagging the moment she entered the shop, it would have been hard to miss her because Zuko brought her over to introduce her.  "Mai," he said looking slightly nervous, "This is my youngest brother, Shouto.  Shouto, this is Mai and she will be joining us for dinner tonight."

Shouto smiled up at her, giving a small wave which she returned.  Her expression was neutral though, which made him nervous too.  She clearly wasn't happy about meeting him, but she didn't seem overly upset either.  She sat down at the table, and instantly had Druk's head in her lap.  The corner of her mouth ticked up briefly as she started petting him.  "Missed me?" she asked as the dragon nudged her hands insistently, "Or the treats I used to give you?"

That actually explained a bit.  If there was one thing Druk liked it was food.  Shouto got back to his homework, having more of an incentive to get it done so he wouldn't have to worry about it later.  He only glanced up briefly when Zuko dropped off a plate of pastries and cups of tea for the both of them.  They thanked him before going back to what they were doing.

It was simultaneously easy and hard to ignore Mai's presence.  She just sat there quietly, only taking the occasional sip of tea, but otherwise being unobtrusive.  However, she also had this presence, radiating quiet confidence and danger.  It has hard to relax around her, especially since she was the woman that Zuko had married a long time ago, and Shouto didn't want to damage his relationship with him.  "What are you doing?" she asked eventually, her bored but not exactly uninterested.

"Homework," he replied, as he turned his head to glance up at her, "If I get it all done today then I can spend all of tomorrow with Dad."

Her expression didn't change much, although the movement of her eyebrows was rather interesting to watch.  They had furrowed slightly as she turned to get a look at the worksheet he'd been doing, before making a jump at the word 'Dad'.  The rest of her face had been mostly unmoving, but her expression seemed warmer then it had before.  "Well, I'll leave you to it then," she said as she leaned back in her chair, her hand going to pet Druk's head which was still in her lap.

Shouto got back to work, hoping to finish his homework as fast as possible.  It wasn't hard for him to get through his history and math homework, but his literature homework tended to slow his progress significantly.  Having to remember books they'd read in class or analyze excerpts from books meant he had to take significantly more time coming up with his answers.  It was kind of tedious, so he didn't really mind the distraction that came in the form of a soft snort and the word "Smart," coming from his right.

"What?" he asked as he turned to look at Mai who was staring at something on the other side of the shop.

"I just noticed the banned board," she replied, a hint of amusement in her tone, "I'm not surprised Endeavor is banned.  That man has no control over his temper and I almost wish I had stabbed him last time I saw him.  Unfortunately I'm only allowed to do that to heroes when they refuse to leave when asked."

Shouto was sure what to make of what she had just said, but something in him settled at her words.  There was the reassurance if nothing else that she would definitely be on their side against Endeavor and it kind of made things easier.  There was no telling how things were going to change in the future, but he could hope for the better .  It would be nice to finally have a mother figure in his life.  "Would you help me with this?" he asked, gesturing to the work in front of him.

She nodded leaning over to get a good look at the paper.  Shouto was pretty sure the only thing homework was good for was family bonding, and it wouldn't be that bad if she joined the family.

Mai was going to strangle Ty Lee when she got home.  When she was dropping off the tea, it was obvious that the chi blocker knew just how upset she was, using her quirk to grab the cup so she could keep her coworker in between them.  She had probably planned everything so her date would save her from Mai's wrath even if they were unaware of it.  Fortunately for her, dinner with Zuko would help keep things from getting more hostile.

Figuring out how they were going to work dinner was a challenge at first, because the only places in the area that didn't have a connection to gangs or the Yakuza weren't that great.  So they decided to eat in, with Zuko's place being the optimal choice, just in case Ty Lee brought her date back to the apartment.  She honestly didn't mind this.  Some of their most enjoyable dates had just been private dinners in the palace, where they could ignore the rest of the world for a bit and just enjoy each other's company.  

Of course, discovering that he had taken in at least two children had been somewhat of a shock, although she really should have expected it.  His heart was too big and kind for its own good, which was one of the things she loved about him.  The youngest wasn't that bad either, as he clearly loved Zuko, and the two of them had gotten along after he asked her to help him with his homework.  She could only hope that things would go just as well with any others he'd taken in.

Druk's presence wasn't as much of a surprise as she would have thought.  For as much as the dragon adored her, he spent most of his time around or rather on Zuko, so there was no reason to think that he wouldn't have followed him to this strange place.  It probably would have been weirder if he wasn't there and his obvious attachment to Shouto was another point in the boy's favor.  The dragon didn't trust easily, so if he was content to hang around the child all day, then he was probably a good kid.

Mai was jarred out of her thoughts as they parked outside of a house that looked as far from the Fire Nation royal palace as possible.  The exterior was a nice dark green, the windows were rather small as opposed to taking up an entire wall on their own, and it was tiny.  The whole house probably could have fit in one of the guest rooms, and she liked that.  The palace had always felt large and imposing but so incredibly empty, making it hard to feel like a home.  She knew that Zuko had felt similarly, and the house was probably the perfect size.  Small enough to be cozy but large enough to house guests if need be.  As long as he hadn't taken in too many kids that is.  He probably would adopt the entire neighborhood if given a good enough reason.

The interior of the house was just as cozy as the exterior if not more so.  There were pictures in the entryway that had Zuko with four kids , one of whom was definitely Shouto, and the space was slightly packed with stuff that showed how lived in it was.  There was the furniture that took up a significant amount of space without overtaking the room, and there were little things like a blanket that was draped over an armchair haphazardly, or a board game that was still sitting out on the coffee table despite the fact that no one was playing it.  The little signs of life made it feel more like a home then a house.

The two older boys and the girl from many of the photos could be seen transferring dishes to what was probably the dinning room table, a surprisingly large having been prepared.  While that might have just been because teenage boys tended to eat a lot, there were a few fancier dishes amidst the spread that had her suspicious.  There was a part of her that couldn't help but wonder if they were going to ditch halfway through the meal so the adults could have some privacy for them to eavesdrop on.  "Mai," Zuko said as he gestured for her to come and stand next to him at the transition from the living room to the kitchen, "This is Shingo, Keiko, and Saburo.  Kids, this is Mai."

Mai wasn't sure if she should say hi, smile, or wave, although the decision was taken out of her hands rather quickly as Keiko rushed forward and hugged her.  "It's so nice to meet you," she said as she gave one last squeeze before letting go, "Zuko has told us so much about you!  Is it true that you used to-"

"Breathe, little sis," one of the boys said as he grabbed her shoulders stopping her mid question, "You can ask all that later.  Shouldn't we eat first?"

Keiko looked scandalized and opened her mouth to retort when the other brother said, "Shingo's right.  You've spent most of the afternoon cooking, so why don't you just eat something before diving in head first with the questions?  Besides, you have a bad habit of forgetting to eat when you get too involved in a conversation."

There was some grumbling, which was honestly kind of funny, but Keiko did sit down, with the rest of the family following suit.  Mai took the seat to Zuko's left, a habit that had been developed because someone needed to watch his blind spot and who better than the woman he trusted with his life.  It gave her a but of an ego boost knowing that he trusted her to have his back, to expose the most vulnerable parts of himself to her knowing that she wouldn't betray that trust.

With the large spread there was no shortage of choices when it came to what to eat, and several of her favorite foods were present.  That lent credence to the claim that Zuko had told them about her, which had her rather hopeful.  Keiko practically inhaled her food, practically daring her brothers to complain as she turned to Mai and asked, "Did you really used to pin people to the wall with knives?"

She almost choked because that was not what she was expecting to be asked about first thing, although it was rather amusing.  Her skill set was unique, partially because her uncle wanted her to be able to defend herself against any potential threat, and partially because Azula would only accept the best to be her friends, however warped the definition was.  It had served her well though, keeping the people she cared about alive against seemingly impossible odds, and was good for a party trick or two.  However, she was pretty sure that Zuko wouldn't want her messing up the furniture so she replied, "I still pin people to the wall with my knives.  Working as a secretary at a hero agency means I get to do it more often then you'd think."

The kids paled slightly, which was suspicious but she wasn't going to press.  Given what she'd seen of a lot of heroes, she wouldn't be surprised to discover that some of them had runaway kids.  If they really thought that acting like an ass in public was socially acceptable then there was no telling what they were like behind closed doors.  Given Shingo's scars she wouldn't be surprised if it was like Ozai all over again.  If that was the case then it made sense why they would flock to Zuko.  "What hero agency do you work at?" Saburo asked eventually, once it was clear that no one else was going to say anything.

"I work for Sir Nighteye," she informed him, noting that the kids relaxed at that.

"So why would you be pinning people to the wall as a secretary?"  Keiko asked before registering what she said, her face turning bright red as her older brother snickered.

Mai hid her small smile behind her drink before eventually answering.  "Well, in addition to my duties as a secretary, I also act as the last line of defense for Sir Nighteye," she explained with a bit of a shrug, "I have a provisional hero license that allows me to apprehend criminals that attack the agency which happens more often then you would think.  Going after the Yakuza and other organized crimes means that he's got the attention of people who have no problem hiring others to do their dirty work.  Of course it's not like I'm unfamiliar with assassination attempts."

There was a mix of horrified and impressed reactions at that, although Zuko shared a commiserating glance with her.  Sure, most of the assassination attempts had been aimed at him, but there were also a fair few directed towards her even before they had finally managed to go steady.  Azula and the other nobles saw her siding with Zuko as a betrayal, so her skills had plenty of use.  Nowadays she was just happy that the assassination attempts weren't aimed at people she really cared about.  "So do you have a hero name?" Saburo asked after a moment.

"Dragoness," she told him, allowing herself to indulge in a slight smirk, "One of my co workers had initially suggested Black Talon, but I didn't want to be that obvious.  After all, if they knew what my quirk was before they arrived they would be able to counter it more easily.  Not that many people expect me to be as skilled with knives as I am."

It was always fun to watch people's eyes widen in shock and she had them pinned before they could even think of getting too far.  With a name like Dragoness they expected a fire or armor quirk, so they tended to be absolutely blindsided by her weapons.  "And I'm sure it has nothing to do with Druk," Zuko mused, a teasing playfulness in his voice.

"Well, I couldn't exactly cite all of my inspirations," she shot back, keeping her tone deliberately light, "Which includes your uncle, the Dragon of the West."

"Zuko told us that story!" Shouto exclaimed, grinning at her excitedly from the other side of the table, "IT was so cool.  I wish I could do something like that."

"With enough time and practice you might be able to pull it off," Zuko offered comfortingly, in a way that didn't sound disingenuous.  It had Mai wondering what his quirk was, because it sounded like Zuko thought he might eventually be able to pull it off.

"It's not the end of the world if you don't manage it," Shingo said as he ruffled the younger child's hair, "You've still got plenty of impressive skills without it."

Shouto smiled up at him, and Mai could feel the corner of her mouth twitch up as well.  It was nice to be in such a loving environment, and she watched as the kids started off on a whole other conversation regarding the potential utility of their quirks.  It was easy to let them talk while she started interrogating Zuko about what had happened after she died.  

That conversation had been a rollercoaster on it's own as she not only got to hear about her baby having grown up into a smart and powerful woman, but about her grandkids, and the great granddaughter that was named after her.  It was kind of mind blowing to think that despite the fact she never got hold her daughter much less her grandkids that they thought highly enough of her to name their children after her.  Of course she probably had Zuko to thank for that.  He'd been more than willing to sing her praises from the rooftops when she was alive, and he'd probably told Izumi all about her while she was growing up.  She could definitely hear some of the accusatory undertone of 'She's your daughter,' in some of the stories he told her.  However, things took a turn when their conversation was interrupted by Shingo saying, "So when should start calling her Mom?"

Keiko hissed something as she whacked the back of his head.  From the tone it sounded like it was supposed to be his name, but the first syllable was too hard for it to be Shingo.  She supposed that it could have been a nickname but that wouldn't really make any sense.  She decided not to comment on it.  Zuko clearly loved and trusted them, so pushing would only upset things.  Especially if things were like how she suspected they were.  

To help pull attention away from the slip up she turned her attention to Zuko who looked like he was caught between burying his head in his hands and laughing.  "That is between you and Mai," he said eventually, as he glanced around the table, "Just because you like to call me Dad doesn't mean you have to call her mom.  Our relationship shouldn't affect your relationship with her."

Mai felt a flurry of confused feelings swirl in her chest.  On one hand she was exhilarated a the idea of being able to have a relationship with Zuko again as none of her admittedly few boyfriends had ever made her feel as loved as her relationship with Zuko had.  there was also a strange mix of sadness and happiness at the idea of the kids calling her Mom.  It was nice that they would accept her so completely as Zuko's partner, but the fact that she had never gotten to experience her own child calling her that hurt.  There was also a part of her that couldn't help if their parents had been anything like her own, leading to them latching onto whatever parental figure they could find.    

It wasn't surprising when the group's attention turned on her, and she shoved all her feelings down with practiced ease, trying to come up with what would hopefully be a satisfactory solution.  "Why don't we get to know each other first?" she suggested, doing her best to keep her tone level but not cold, "I personally would like to get to know you before potentially having to explain to someone why you are calling me Mom."

The kids at least seemed to agree with that, when her phone suddenly went off.  It was her text tone so she wasn't that worried about it, although given Ty Lee's plans for the night she was a little concerned.  so she pulled out her phone and a greeted by a text telling her not to come home that night.  Apparently Ty Lee had gotten lucky tonight.  "Do you have a guest room that I would be able to stay in?" she asked Zuko as she slid her phone back into her pocket, "Ty Lee has company over tonight."

Zuko grimaced slightly, seeming to be somewhat aware of amorous her best friend was.  His expression then turned thoughtful, likely considering her question.  "I think we do have a guest room available," he said eventually, "The bedding probably needs changing since it's been on there for so long, but it wouldn't be that hard to do."

Mai nodded.  It had been interesting learning how to do things for herself at first, but having spent two years living with just Ty Lee, she'd gotten used to doing little household chores like washing the dishes or making the bed.  It would probably take less then ten minutes to get everything switched out.  "We can go do that right now!" Keiko exclaimed as she started dragging Shingo away from the table.

The older boy complain as she yanked him away, although Mai could see that he wasn't putting up that much of a fight.  It he wanted to he could probably have overpowered his sister but he didn't, instead letting her drag him upstairs.  After a moment or two Saburo said, "We should probably go and make sure they aren't trying to kill each other," before ushering Shouto out of his chair and towards the stairs.

"I should probably go take care of it then," Zuko stated as he made to stand.

"NO!" Saburo exclaimed, causing both Mai and Zuko to freeze.  He took a deep breath before saying, "It's fine Dad.  The two of you should enjoy your date.  We'll be fine."

"Okay," Zuko agreed as he lowered himself back into his chair, glancing suspiciously towards the doorway the kids had disappeared through.  He glanced at Mai and said, "They planned this didn't they."

"Probably," she replied with a slight shrug, "Although I can't say I disapprove.  We have so much catching up to do."

The soft smile he gave her in response made her want to kiss him right then and there, but she held back.  If they got started they probably wouldn't stop for a while and she wanted to know what he'd been up to throughout the years.

Zuko was surprised to see how quickly Mai had inserted herself back into his life, but he couldn't find a reason to complain.  Mai had spent most of the Sunday after their first dinner at the house, getting to know the kids before she had to head home, citing work the next day.  However, now that she knew about the shop she seemed to be stopping by at every opportunity.  She would make a quick stop during her lunch breaks, or swing by after work to get a relaxing cup of tea while sitting with the kids if they happened to be there.  Shouto had unsurprisingly gotten attached rather quickly.

The others had also gotten attached rather quickly, with each of them having a different topic to bond over.  Natsuo was very interested in her unique perspective on the inner workings of hero society.  Her status as both a provisional hero and a secretary meant she was less involved in the combat side of things, and more on the information gathering.  The conversations were kind of similar to the ones he had with Sokka, although Mai was definitely more involved with the hands on collection of information.

The older two were interested in her knives but in different ways.  Fuyumi was impressed with her skill, and had managed to get some lessons out of her.  Mai's skill was just as impressive as it had been back in the four nations, and it was amazing to watch the casual ease with which she threw the knives.  Her pupil was nowhere near as good, but she did have more then twenty years on her so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Touya on the other hand was very interested in the knives themselves.  Zuko honestly should have expected it since they started doing metal working, but he was absolutely fascinated by Mai's blades.  The blades that she could produce with her quirk were vey similar to her throwing knives.  They had great balance while also being thin enough that slip through a paper thin gap.  He already resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to teach Touya how to make knives, if only to get him to stop asking.

It was kind of nice to have everyone get along, and there was a part of Zuko the desperately hoped that they would be able to become a family eventually.  He didn't want to rush things though.  He had enough experience to know that that rushing things tended to lead to mistakes which was why he was so surprised when the kids came up to him early in July and said, "We want to tell the others the truth."

Chapter Text

"Are you sure about that?" Zuko asked, before mentally smacking himself for sounding so condescending, "I mean, you don't have to tell them if you don't want to.  You don't owe them anything and shouldn't feel obligated to tell them."

"We know," Touya interjected, a slightly smug smile on his face, as if he thought Zuko tripping over his own words was amusing, although it was quickly turned on his sister, "Considering the number of slip ups that have happened recently, we've been talking about it, and figured that it was finally time to tell them."

Fuyumi turned bright red at Touya's words, although she did whack him on the back of the head so she clearly didn't feel too guilty about it.  "There's also the fact that it will help us figure out how to tell our own friends about it," she said as she dodged out of the way of the retaliatory strike, "We're going to have to tell them eventually and this way we can figure it out by talking to adults we trust."

"And isn't that a novelty?" Touya mused as he struck back at her, although she danced out of his reach putting Shouto between them, not that it helped, "Adults we can trust.  That never would have happened under the flaming trash can's roof."  

"It is a nice thing to have," Natsuo interjected as he stepped between his older siblings, rescuing Shouto from Fuyumi's grip, "And it's honestly kind of amazing that Sokka is the only one that's tried looking us up.  With how much we slip up around Mai she probably already knows most of the story."

That was probably true.  The kids didn't really watch what they said at home, something that he didn't want to change, but it meant that with how much time she had spent there she had probably heard more than just their real names.  If it wasn't for her general blasé attitude and hands off approach to most things she probably would have cornered him for an explanation already.  Honestly if she had, he'd have been stuck in a horrible place trying to figure out how to satisfy her curiosity while not betraying the kids' trust.

"So how do you want to handle it?" Zuko asked deciding to focus on the present instead of what if scenarios.  

The kids glanced between each other, showing nerves for the first time since they initiated the conversation.  "That's part of why we came to you about it," Natsuo admitted, looking more than a little uncomfortable saying it, "You know them best.  How do you think we should handle it?"

"Well," Zuko started as he considered the question, weighing the weight of the information that would be provided with what he knew about his friends, "It would probably be best to tell them all at once.  That way you aren't repeating the information several times, and they can ask their questions all at once.  We've been talking about having a get together, so if you wanted you could tell them then.  I won't force you to if you don't want to though."

The kids relaxed at that.  Zuko wasn't sure if it was because they had a plan or if it was because he said he wasn't going to force them.  It seemed to be one of their lingering anxieties, that he would turn around and force them to do things despite everything he'd said to the contrary.  He couldn't really blame them though.  Those kinds of issues, the lingering anxiety and wariness never really goes away, it just gets easier to deal with.  

With this new goal in mind, Zuko redoubled his efforts to arrange a get together, even offering the house as the location just to make things easier.  It took a while to find a day when everyone would be available, Katara's irregular schedule giving them the most trouble.  Most of the group was off on weekends, so they had decided that a Sunday would be a good day for all of them to meet up, but finding one that she would be available for was tricky.  Fortunately she had a whole week off about mid August, giving them the perfect opportunity to meet up before Aang started his college courses.

The kids had been somewhat relieved when they learned that.  While they were clearly nervous about telling the others, it was even more nerve wracking to not know the time frame with which they were working.  They were probably going to get more nervous as the date approached, but just having a date made it easier for them.  In the weeks leading up to the meeting the kids often came to him asking for advice on what they should say, with Natsuo practically writing up a whole speech to give when it finally came time to tell them.  Zuko was pretty sure it would need to be tossed out less than a minute in simply because his friends would not be able to hold in their questions.

That fact had him telling Natsuo that it would be better to just have a list of bullet points to cover after he asked him to look over a draft of the speech.  The teen had been unsure about the change of direction at first, but when Shouto pointed out how at least three of them knew Endeavor, there was no way they wouldn't react to them introducing themselves properly.  Zuko had also been tempted to point out that their flaming trash heap of a sperm donor had made several headlines because of his search for Shouto that there was little reason for them to think that the others wouldn't at least respond to learning their names.  

Fortunately, Natsuo seemed to have taken his little brother's words to heart as Zuko started coming across small lists that were obvious attempts at breaking things down that usually started with 'Endeavor BAD' and had a few highlights from the last six years.  That was an amusing thing to come across at five in the morning on the kitchen counter.  

However, the stress and anxiety of the situation was clearly getting to the kids, so Zuko decided to plan a little family trip to hopefully get them to relax a little.  Mai was invaluable in the planning process as she knew several excellent vacation spots that her foster parents had taken her to over the years.  Since it was meant to just be a day trip and not an extended stay, she directed his attention to a nearby beach that was just a few hours away.  Memories of vacations to Ember Island had probably influenced his decision, but the knowledge that the kids have never been to the beach had just cemented the plan in his mind.

The kids were thrilled about the trip, especially since Mai was coming with them.  She would be acting as a navigator and guide while they were there, but it didn't hurt that the kids just loved having her around.  She even spent the day before helping Fuyumi make the food that they would be bringing with them on the trip.  Pretty much everything was ready for them to leave early the next morning so they could spend as much time as possible enjoying themselves at the beach.

The drive to the beach had actually been pretty quiet as the kids had trouble getting to sleep the night before being too excited to go to the beach for the first time in their lives.  This meant that when they left the house at five in the morning it hadn't taken long for them to start dozing, leaving Zuko and Mai as the only ones awake.  While they exchanged occasional words they were more than content to just sit there in comfortable silence.  Even when the kids started to wake up they didn't make much noise as Touya and Shouto started sketching and Natsuo messed with his phone.  It was comfortable, although hearing the kid's gasps of excitement when the shore came into view put a smile on his face.

It was difficult to keep them from running off as soon as they were parked, but since they had gotten there early enough they had their pick of spots on the beach.  They set up their stuff in a space that was about equal distance from the water and the parking lot, before making sure that everyone put on sun screen to avoid getting burned.  Shouto almost took off for the ocean before Zuko managed to stop him, reminding him that he needed sunscreen on his back as well.  Touya opted to hunker down on the blankets content to watch Natsuo and Fuyumi build a sandcastle while occasionally offering suggestions.

Zuko followed Shouto to the water, watching over the eleven year old who definitely hadn't learned how to swim yet to make sure he didn't go too far out and get carried away by a sneaker wave or something like that.  Natsuo, Fuyumi and even Mai made short jaunts into the water, splashing around a bit and enjoying the cool water.  Touya opted to stay with their things on the sand, but it was understandable why he wouldn't want to go into the water, so no one tried to convince him.

At about noon they gathered on the blankets for lunch, with Shouto showing his siblings the many shells he'd found while playing in the surf.  Touya was definitely the most interested, examining them carefully, tracing the patterns with his fingers or turning them in his hands to look at them from different angles.  Zuko could practically see the gears in his head turning, figuring out how to work them into his art.  

It wasn't long before they finished eating though and Fuyumi insisted that Shouto had to put on more sun screen before heading back out to the water.  Of course once he'd run off she turned her attention to her other siblings as Zuko helped Mai reapply her sun screen.  Touya barely acknowledge her apply the sun screen to his arms far more focused on his work, although he did take care of his legs when she told him to.  Natsuo on the other hand said, "I'll be fine Yumi.  It's not like I burn easily anyway."

"Listen to your sister," Mai told him as Zuko finished rubbing the sun screen into her shoulders, causing the teen to freeze as he realized who had just spoken, "If Zuko can burn so can you, so just put on the sun screen.  I doubt you want to deal with the pain on the way home anyway."

Natsuo just sat there for a moment staring at her as she took the sun screen from Zuko and started applying it to his back.  Fuyumi managed to break him out of his stupor though by handing him the bottle of sunscreen as she applied it to his back.  His shock was kind of understandable as this was the first time that Mai had, somewhat indirectly, confirmed that she did indeed hear all of their slip ups and at the same time didn't care.  

Part of Zuko wanted to stick around to see exactly what would happen when his brain started working again, but with Shouto out in the surf without supervision he couldn't really stick around.  If the eleven year old knew how to swim, he would be willing to give a bit more freedom in the water, but currently he wouldn't be able to save himself if he was dragged out to sea.  Swimming lessons would definitely be something to invest in for the kids, if only for his peace of mind during future beach trips.  

The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful though as they enjoyed playing in the surf a little more before packing their things back into the car and taking a hour or two to check out the shops before finally heading home.  It was once they were in the car and on their way that Natsuo decided to tell Mai everything.  

Zuko honestly didn't pay that much attention to what was being said, knowing all of it already, instead focusing his attention on Mai.  She was probably the best person to talk to first because she knew how to control her reactions.  The information she was hearing clearly upset her, but her anger wasn't obvious.  To anyone who didn't know her, they would think she was apathetic to what was being said, but he could see the slight tremble in her hands or the very deliberate cadence of her breaths.  She was livid, and fighting not to express her displeasure to kids who did not deserve to feel her wrath.

When they finally got home Mai told the kids to get cleaned up so they wouldn't end up tracking sand all over the place, which had Fuyumi in instant neat freak mode.  Bags were left on the porch so she could empty them outside where the sand wouldn't matter, they could only walk to their rooms and the bathroom, and their dirty clothes would stay in that bathroom.  With the kids distracted for the time being Mai dragged Zuko off to the master bedroom and locked the door behind her.  

As soon as they were alone the emotionless mask fell and the absolute rage that had been simmering beneath the surface became visible.  "I'm going to kill that flaming piece of shit," she hissed as she started pacing the room, twirling one of her blades in her hands like she would use it on the man himself if he dared to appear, "I will actually stab him next time he shows up unannounced.  Those kids deserve so much better than him."

"I know," Zuko agreed as he took her into his arms, holding her as her rage gave way to sorrow, "I know."

It was hard for Mai to go to work the next day, with the hardest part having been getting herself to leave the house.  While she knew logically that they had been out of their father's hands for years, she also knew that stuff like that never truly went away.  After all, she had years of separation from her parents, and years of therapy, but it was still incredibly difficult for her to emote.  She could only imagine the problems they could be dealing with as a result.

During dinner they told her about their plans to tell the rest of the group, revealing the true purpose of the picnic that following Sunday.  They then asked for some help in telling the others, something she gladly agreed to.  The fact that they trusted her enough to tell her despite having only known her for a few months warmed her heart, and she would show them that their trust was not misplaced.  

Although she would be lying if she claimed that there wasn't a part of her that enjoyed knowing that she learned the truth about the kids before Ty Lee did.  There was a part of her that was still kind of bitter about her best friend keeping the existence of the Jasmine Dragon and Zuko from her for an entire month, so she enjoyed the fact that she knew something her friend didn't for once.  The chi blocker probably wouldn't care that she'd known before the rest of them, but the knowledge that she was the first one they told also made it more special.

In what seemed like no time at all Mai was at the house helping to make food for the get together.  Zuko was making his excellent ramen broth, Fuyumi was making sushi, Touya was teaching his brothers how to make sweets, and she was in charge of chopping up the vegetables for stir fry.  It was chaotic, but in a strangely comforting way.  The whole family was in one place and despite the obvious nerves about what was going to be happening later they were clearly enjoying themselves.

Things did get interesting though when the red bean paste that Natsuo was cooking on the stove suddenly caught fire.  Zuko was easily able to put it out, but the question of how the food managed to catch fire was a mystery they didn't have the time to solve.  Touya got to work making a fresh batch of red bean paste while his brother was directed to sit off to the side so no other spontaneous fires occurred.  Not that the teenager seemed to mind as he started scrolling on his phone, his face one of intense concentration.

Of course being banned from the kitchen meant that he was available to open the door when the guests started to arrive.  Ty Lee arrived first, carrying a large box of mochi ice cream she had made the night before.  They were shoved in the freezer immediately, and she plopped herself down next to Natsuo striking up a conversation.  Nearly an hour passed before Aang and Katara arrived, having opted to walk from Aang's place instead of catching a ride from Sokka, bearing pork buns and vegetable dumplings.  

It was interesting seeing Aang for the first time since they had landed there, and part of Mai's brain was finding it hard to accept that he was wearing jeans and a t shirt.  He was slightly shorter than she remembered, and a bit rounder too, but the distinct lack of his air bender attire made it difficult to accept that this was Aang.  Honestly if it wasn't for the shaved head and blue arrows on his hands, feet, and head she probably would have thought it was an imposter.

He wandered over to where Ty Lee and Natsuo were sitting, joining their conversation while Katara came into the kitchen offering to do anything they might need done.  There wasn't really anything for her to do, which was probably a blessing in disguise considering how quickly she would take control if given the chance.  Mai had technically only heard stories about her tendency to rule over the kitchen with an iron fist, and personally she was not eager to bear witness to such a display.  The water bender was terrifying when angry, and messing up food was a fast track to earning her ire.

Of course, just because they didn't give her a task didn't mean she left the kitchen.  She hovered off to the side chatting with Fuyumi until Sokka, Suki, and Toph arrived.  Their arrival was announced by earthbender shouting, "I can't see in there!"

Zuko huffed out a laugh before walking off, probably to handle the whole situation before it escalated to rocks being thrown.  Which wouldn't take that long given Toph's disposition.  Although Mai did not expect to see him carrying the diminutive earthbender through the house thrown over his shoulder.  What was even more of a shock was the fact that she wasn't really fighting him, just pouting as he carried her like a sack of potatoes.  "Look," she could hear Zuko say out on the patio, "I'll get tile installed so you'll be able to see but until then you are not allowed to bend in my house and ruin the floor."

"I'll pay for it," Toph said sounding far calmer and more mature than Mai had ever heard her, "If you're doing it for my benefit I might as well, and I can hook you up with the good shit.  Insurance companies already pay me a fuck ton because of my minimal collateral damage, and I could probably get it discounted because it's accommodating my disability.  It's a great way to game the system."

"Where did you learn this?" Zuko asked sounding slightly impressed but also mildly worried.

Toph started cackling before saying, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Zuko let out an exasperated sigh before walking back into the house, getting Touya to help him take the table covered with food out to the backyard.  That signaled to the rest of the group that it was time to head outside and they all trailed out at their own pace.  Sokka practically dragged Suki out the backdoor, while Katara and Aang moved at a more leisurely pace and Ty Lee assisted with getting the remaining food and dishes outside.

With everyone outside, the socializing started in earnest, as they started exchanging stories about what they had been up to over the last few years.  While there were some interesting anecdotes, Mai wasn't really paying that much attention.  Her focus was on the kids, who almost seemed to be trying to fade into the background.  They were huddled around herself and Zuko and other than a few aborted attempts in Natsuo's part, none of them were saying anything.  It was understandable given what they planned to do, but it would only be a matter of time before one of the others noticed and put them on the spot.

Zuko seemed to recognize this as he started a quiet conversation with Touya and Natsuo.  It was too quiet for her to hear what was being said, but the boys gradually relaxed, no longer looking like they were on the verge of a nervous break down.  It was reassuring and made it easier to focus on the story Sokka was telling about how Suki had broken his nose while sparring. 

Once the laughter had died down following the conclusion of the story, Zuko cleared his throat, drawing the whole groups attention to him.  He shared a look with Natsuo, clearly asking if he still wanted to go through with it and the teenager nodded.  "The kids have something that they want to tell you guys," he said as he wrapped an arm around the kid, "But it can't leave this house.  You can't talk about anywhere but here and you can't tell anyone about it."

The group made sounds of agreement, obviously curious about what they had to say.  Zuko glanced at Touya and Natsuo, with the elder taking over with a deep breath.  "My name is Todoroki Touya, and these are my younger siblings Natsuo, Fuyumi, and Shouto.  Our 'father' is the flame hero Endeavor and he is an abusive asshole."

"That explains why he's not allowed at the Jasmine Dragon," Toph mused as she turned towards Shouto, "Also explains why your heart rate went through the roof when he dropped in."

"Touya and Shouto were the main targets of his abuse," Fuyumi informed the earthbender as she wrapped her arms around her baby brother, "The whole reason he married our mother was to produce a child with a perfect blend of their quirks so they could one day become Japan's greatest hero, even greater than All Might.  He 'trained' Touya until he discovered that his quirk hurt him, and completely ignored me and Natsuo since we have ice quirks.  He saw Shouto as his masterpiece, and separated him from the rest of us so he could train him as much as possible."

Mai watched as the horror set in for the rest of the group, before rapidly turning into anger.  While the almost murderous looks weren't exactly out of place on Katara or Toph's faces, Aang looked like he was about to go into the avatar state with how infuriated he was.  It was actually kind of strange to be able to see the emotion in his eyes.  "I'm going to kill him," Suki announced as she shot up, "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch."

"You can't!" Fuyumi exclaimed, reaching out like she was going to stop the former Kiyoshi warrior.

"Why not?" Suki shot back having at least paused to listen to them before leaving.

"Even if you managed to take him out," Touya started, sounding skeptical of that feat, "The hero commission wouldn't stop until they found you.  He may not be their gold standard of heroics anymore but he's still a hero.  One they've spent a lot of time and money covering for.  Considering how many close calls we've had without them actively searching for us, the odds of getting found would be much higher.  Even if we weren't back in that asshole's hands Zuko would definitely end up in prison."

Mai couldn't help but scowl at that.  It was one of the few things they'd told her to derail her own crusade against the walking trash fire, and it was very effective.  If it came down to it she knew he wouldn't mind going to jail for having protected the kids from the walking trash fire, but she didn't want to expedite the process.  Based on the expressions the others were making they felt the same.

"I could see about arranging an accident," Toph offered after a minute, "It's not like it would be uncommon in the hero business, especially with all the structural damage his fires cause.  All it would take is a bit of rubble falling at just the wrong angle and we wouldn't have to worry anymore."

"And ruin your perfect record?" Natsuo asked, his tone more teasing than anything, "I doubt the insurance companies would approve."

"True,"  the earthbender agreed with a pout, "I suppose I'll just have to settle with making his life incredibly uncomfortable.  Pebbles in his shoes, cracks appearing right in front of him, his phone falling out of his pocket for no discernable reason..."

The group shared a few chuckles at that.  However, once they had quieted Katara turned to Sokka and asked, "Did you already know about this?  You tend to be more vocal when discovering information like this."

"He absolutely did," Natsuo confirmed, a delighted look on his face which greatly contrasted Sokka's sheepish one, "I have an alert system set up in case someone manages to connect the dots, and I almost had a panic attack when he set it off.  If he hadn't confronted Zuko about it the next day, who knows what might have happened?"

"He would have gotten more then just a black eye," Zuko stated, as he gave Natsuo a proud smile, "Although if he'd been any slower he would have been leaving the house with a broken nose."

"Hold up," Toph interjected, a wicked grin splitting her face, "I need details.  Now."

Sokka started to speak but Natsuo quickly took control of the story, telling the whole group how he'd given Sokka a black eye for giving them so much anxiety.  It didn't take long for the kids to offer up another story, one from before they'd run away, and Mai couldn't help but notice how much the kids had relaxed once the information was out there.  The weight of the secrets they were carrying had clearly been getting to them, and now they had people they could rely on.  Their father might still be around, but he wouldn't get anywhere near them if the adults had anything to say about it.

Chapter Text

Zuko sat on the back porch meditating in the setting winter sun.  Usually he wouldn't be home early enough on a Friday to be able to do this, but the day had been anything but normal.  A bug had been going around Shouto's class and when the ten year old had woken him up at three in the morning with his vomiting he had gone, as Fuyumi like to put it, "full Dad mode".  It wasn't helped by the fact that the youngest Yoshida got very clingy when in pain, so he had glommed onto Zuko's side and refused to let go even in sleep.  This did mean that he had to carry him when he got up to do things like get food or clean up the spot that indicated where Shouto had failed to get to the bathroom in time, but at least the new tile made clean up easier.  

Zuko had personally preferred the carpet which had been soft, and made the trip outside for morning training less jarring then it had been back at the palace where every floor was stone.  The hardwood of the entrance hall and kitchen had been nice too, and definitely held their warmth better than the tile did.  However, he was willing to sacrifice that bit of comfort for the chance to have Toph come over.  She'd been so happy the first time she visited after the tile had been installed, finally able to navigate on her own terms.  They had also installed some braille plates marking the rooms she was allowed in as well as what they were.  One thing Zuko had insisted on when meeting with Toph and the contractors what that the tile was to be restricted to the public parts of the house, because the last thing he needed was her barging into his bedroom like she used to.

He took a deep breath doing his best to relax so he didn't pull a Toph on his youngest.  He hadn't been the only one worried about Shouto this morning, and Fuyumi had come straight home after school, insisting he get some fresh air or something so he didn't get sick as well.  She had been surprisingly harsh, to the point that he decided it was better to just do what she said before she actually went and pulled out the big guns.  The last thing he needed on a day like today was Mai's disappointed and worried glare.

A buzzing in his pocket brought him out of his meditative state, and he pulled out his phone to discover his friends were being rather active in their group chat, although one message caught his eye.

Boomerang_Guy:  So what kind of movie are we watching tonight?  I need to know if I should give it a pass or not.

Zuko honestly should have expected something like this.  Sokka had spent last week's movie night complaining pretty much the whole time.  While the slightly crappy holiday rom com had deserved a fair amount of the criticism, the firebender suspected that most of the griping was due to the fact that Katara's pick had won out making him a little salty.  However, the last thing he needed today was a crowd of very loud people hanging out just down the hall from where Shouto was sleeping.

Tea_Lord:  No movie night tonight.  Shouto's sick.

There was a part of Zuko that wished he hadn't told them because at their core his friends were good people and would definitely want to help.  Unfortunately there wasn't really anything they could do at this point, and they would probably end up causing more problems in an attempt to help.  Katara was notorious for that, inserting herself into her loved one's lives and being more than a little over bearing, something the kids did not need.  It was getting kind of ridiculous, to the point that he might have to stop inviting her to get togethers so she would stop stressing them out.  He was pulled out of his thoughts by several messages popping up at once.

Master_Bender:  How bad is it?

Air_Flyer:  That sucks

Kiyoshi_Warrior:  Hope he gets better soon.

Master_Bender:  I'm coming over.

As soon as Zuko saw that message he knew he had to stop her before she actually did.  However, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to do this in front of the rest of the group so he directly messaged her, "Katara you don't need to come over."

Katara: Why not?  I can help.

Zuko:  There isn't much you can do for the stomach flu that Fuyumi isn't already doing.

He'd actually been kind of impressed when the high schooler had showed him that she figured out how to use her quirk to keep the wash cloth cool without freezing it.  It took an incredible amount of control, and he was so proud of her for having achieved it.  Shouto had already been doing better at that point as his body was willing to ingest more than ginger tea and soda crackers, but that little trick was helping to keep his fever down.  

Katara:  Have you been keeping him hydrated?  What's his temperature?  How bad is the vomiting?

Zuko:  Katara I never forgot what you taught me about dealing with sick children.  Shouto is doing fine, and will probably be back to normal tomorrow.  You don't need to come over.

He could only hope that he'd gotten through to her as he switched back to the group chat.  Not much had happened in his absence although Toph had popped in briefly to give her two cents.

Blind_Bandit:  What a shame.  I guess I'll have to drag Feathers home for a movie night.  Besides learning how to talk casually with other heroes will be good for him.

Zuko almost felt sorry for Keigo, although the bird hero could probably use the socialization.  He's always tense when Toph brings him to the shop, and far too many of his responses to questions felt rehearsed or panicked.  He had started to relax a bit since Toph started involving him in social gatherings, no longer letting him use work as an excuse to get out of them.  Finding out that he'd never seen a movie before had her dragging him to movie nights once a month, which also helped get the kids used to spending time with a hero that has a positive opinion of Endeavor.  

It hadn't come up much, mostly just the bird hero mentioning that it was weird to see his best friend treating his role model so badly, as she had started quite literally stonewalling the flame hero during battles, but that little comment had caused some changes in the group dynamics.  Shouto had pulled back, his trust in Keigo clearly having taken a hit.  Touya on the other hand was more than happy to engage the bird hero in debates, especially in regards to what kind of role model the flaming trash heap was.  Fuyumi had done her best to mitigate her brother's harsh tongue when things got a little too heated for comfort, and she was clearly trying to give the young hero the benefit of the doubt.  Natsuo had become more wary of Keigo, but so far had not done anything to indicate a level of hostility or something like that.  He probably had something going on in the background but Zuko was too tech illiterate to know.

The buzzing of his phone alerted him to several more messages in the group chat, having turned towards bullying Sokka for his taste in movies.  Zuko decided not to comment on what was going on, but instead decided that he might as well go and make dinner.  The scent of ginger hit him as he opened the door, and he was reminded of the pot of tea he'd left on the stove.  It was probably fine as it was, not that reheating it would be much of a hardship, if Shouto was even awake to drink it.  

However, dinner was the priority at the moment since the rest of the kids would probably want something to eat.  Setting aside the tea pot he pulled out the rice cooker so he could get the rice going. Getting the rice washed and going didn't take too long, and he was soon pulling veggies out of the fridge to cut up for a simple stir fry.  Slicing up the vegetables was almost meditative, and if it wasn't for his excellent hearing he might of missed the quiet shutting of a car door.  

It was obvious whoever was shutting the car door was trying to do it quietly, and given that Zuko was the only person in the area that drove it immediately put him on edge.  Part of him tried to justify it, pointing out that it could be quiet because of it being further away since the homeless people that squatted in the nearby houses definitely didn't have cars.  However, the part that found it suspicious was immediately validated when Katara opened the front door.  

If he was being honest with himself, Zuko kind of expected this after the text exchange earlier, but he also knew he was going to have to nip this in the bud before things could get worse.  "Katara you need to leave," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper as he approached his friend, intent on taking her back outside before she could do something like wake Shouto up.

"But I can help," Katara protested, resisting Zuko's efforts to get her out of the house, "Even if water healing won't cure the illness I can help with the fever and keeping him hydrated."

Zuko did his best to hold in his frustration as he faced one of his most stubborn friends.  "Fuyumi is handling his fever just fine," he informed her, a little annoyed that he was having to have this conversation, "And I've made sure that he's stayed hydrated.  In fact, he's already able to keep down simple foods, so he's well on his way to recovery.  Your assistance is not necessary and to be honest, not wanted."

"But I can help," she argued, sounding more than a little petulant as she did, "After all, I'm a certified healer."

"Katara," Zuko intoned tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and stave off a headache, "If your help was necessary then I would have reached out to you first.  You know how seriously I take the health of the people I care about.  Showing up here even after I told you not to come is like telling me that you don't trust me to be a good caretaker."

Katara's eyes widened in shock as her brain processed the information, and she was quick to say, "It's not like that at all.  I know how much the kids mean to you and so I thought I would help you take care of them in any way I could."

"You mean you miss having kids to mother and so decided to mother mine."

Zuko left no room for argument.  They both knew he was right, that Katara was her happiest when she had people to take care of, and the kids probably seemed like the ideal candidates.  After all, they were abuse victims that were still recovering from said abuse that needed love and attention.  The problem was her actions would only end up driving a wedge between her and the kids, if he didn't set her straight.

"Katara," Zuko started tiredly, running a hand down his face as he did his best to figure out how to explain this without ruining his relationship with his friend, "I appreciate that you care about the kids, but this is a situation where I need you to step back."

"Why?" Katara demanded, her angry tone briefly taking him back to their early relationship and how she hated him, with good reason.

"You're hurting the kids," he stated firmly, knowing that being blunt was the only way he was going to get his message across, "Their father was abusive but not like mine.  He was controlling, and so your overbearing behavior, no matter how well meaning it is, reminds them of that.  They've been doing their best to suck it up because they know how much you mean to me, but I don't want them to feel that way.  I'm not going to tell you to stop coming around, but you need to control yourself better.  If you keep making the kids uncomfortable I will limit your access to them."

Katara looked like she had been slapped, but to her credit she didn't get loud like she would have in the past.  If Zuko was being honest this was a conversation that should have been had a long time ago, because Katara's overbearing nature had kind of always been a problem, to the point that he stopped telling her when his family members got sick so she wouldn't drop whatever she was doing and march on over to the Fire nation to heal them.  When she got older she was less inclined to do such a thing, especially once Korra had been found, but all bets were off now that she was young again.

"Are you sure they're going to be okay?" Katara asked her expression twisted with worry.

"Are you really doubting my ability to look after the kids I've been watching over for the last seven years?" Zuko retorted, doing his best to convey that he was joking, at least a little bit, "But being serious, they will be fine.  This sort of healing takes time, and I'm not saying you have to disappear from their lives.  You just need to accept that you are not their mother, and need to take a step back if you don't want to seriously damage your relationship with them."

Katara looked a little more settled at Zuko's words, and he could only hope that this would be a turning point for her.  It wasn't like she was a bad person, but her stubbornness had caused problems in the past, so he could only hope that this would stick in the long run.  At the very least he figured she wouldn't try and bust her way in tonight.  Although he had to hope that their discussion hadn't gotten loud enough to wake Shouto.  Then Zuko got an idea.  "Maybe you should talk to Suki about getting a pet.  Something you can take care of so you don't feel as motivated to come and try to smother my kids in affection."

"Actually Aang and I were talking about moving in together," Katara revealed, which kind of surprised Zuko because it hadn't been that long since they found each other again, although it wasn't like he was in a position to talk since Mai came around pretty often since they had been reunited eight months earlier.  

"Then you're probably going to have to stop him from adopting the whole shelter," Zuko joked, although he didn't feel like it was as much of an exaggeration as he would have liked.  The two of them had adopted a lot of animals in their time, and having the kids was most of the reason he hadn't done anything like that here. He had his hands full already, although he did sometimes fed strays when he was out as the Blue Spirit.

"Probably," Katara chuckled, before her expression sobered, "I will try and keep what you told me in mind.  Sokka does say that I'm stubborn and stuck in my ways, but I didn't realize it could hurt anyone.  I hope I haven't hurt the kids too much."

Zuko considered the situation, how the kids' behavior around Katara had changed in response to her nagging, and honestly it hadn't gotten that bad yet.  He had only noticed how they had started attempting to avoid her recently, her mother hen-ing having caused them to avoid attracting her attention.  If she pulled back then the kids might be more comfortable with her, being able to interact with her on their terms instead of having to deal with her inserting herself into their lives.  He could only speculate though, so he gave a little shrug and told her, "I don't think you have but only time will tell."

Katara sighed, before taking a step back saying, "I should probably head home.  You've got this after all."

Zuko smiled a bit at that, and waved as she stepped back towards her car and climbed inside.  He didn't stay there long though, because the boys were going to be home soon and he still had to get dinner done.  The vegetables were still sitting on the counter, and he got back to chopping them, although he didn't remain alone for long.  He had barely finished the peppers and started on the carrots when Fuyumi slipped into the room, looking a little uncomfortable but also relieved.  "I heard what happened earlier."

Zuko hummed in acknowledgement as he continued to chop the carrots, knowing that there had to be a reason for her bringing up the confrontation with Katara.  If there was something she wanted to say, then it was probably best if he didn't say anything, but at least let her know that he was listening.  He knew what it was like to be unheard by the people you care about, and he never wanted to make his kids feel that way.  "I just wanted to thank you for that."

Zuko paused in his chopping, looking up at Fuyumi to see that she was staring down at the floor, clearly trying to find the words to explain what she was feeling.  They stood there in silence for a bit, the hiss of steam escaping the rice cooker being the only real noise.  Eventually she spoke again.  "I don't think I realized just how scared I was of you picking her over us until you threatened to cut her out of your life for our sake.  Under Endeavor's roof everything was about him and how he was perceived.  We didn't matter unless we were exactly what he wanted, and it took me until now to realize that.  So, thank you for being here for us and being willing to do what's best for us."

Zuko could see tear tracks on Fuyumi's face when she finally looked him in the eye, and it hurt his heart to think that she had been holding onto this for a long time.  He opened his arms, offer comfort, and he fell into him like Izumi sometimes had after a bad dream.  "That's the least a parent should do for their children," he said as he held Fuyumi close, rubbing her back as her tears soaked his shoulder, "A good parent takes care of their children, defending them against anything or anyone that could harm them, even if it's their own friends.  After all, the four of you mean the world to me, and I want what's best for you.  Nothing can change that."

Fuyumi started crying even harder, her hands gripping the back of Zuko's shirt tightly.  Eventually she calmed down, although she had exhausted herself to the point that she'd gone limp in his arms.  It honestly didn't take that much effort to shift her into a position so that he could pick her up and carry her to her bed.  After changing his shirt and checking in on Shouto who was thankfully still asleep, Zuko got back to preparing dinner, glad that he'd managed to accomplish something despite having stayed home that day.