Steam Will Rise

5 Youth

Six years earlier

"General Iroh I'm honored that you chose to attend this meeting."

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda, but the honor is all mines."

Chief Hakoda sat down at the large round table and the General followed suit. His staff began to bring in lunch.

"I heard you are quite the tea aficionado. I hope that our tea will live up to your rather high standards."

"I have heard a great many things about the waterbending tea practices of the great Southern Water tribe, I am sure that your tea will be to my liking."

"Good. Now if we can get down to the official business of our meeting; The Steam Alliance the marriage of your nephew to my daughter. One hundred years of war and the reparations you've paid out have left the Fire Nation greatly in debt, and if the Southern Water Tribe has to keep fighting this war against the North we will be unable to sustain our way of life. Though the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation are strange bedfellows I do believe this alliance will help us more than it would hurt us."

"Yes. I can agree upon that." Iroh took a sip of tea and closed his eyes in delight. "Wonderful. Whatever waterbending techniques you are applying to the tea by all means keep doing."

Chief Hakoda chuckled. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Pardon my interrupting , please continue with the business at hand."

"Of course. There is the matter of you having no heir if you were to, may thee Spirits protect your soul, die today without a proper heir it would throw the Fire Nation into complete chaos."

"Yes. My nephew is set to become Fire Lord when he comes of age, but he will need to produce an heir and, although I don't believe a child or any person for that manner should be referred to as such, a spare."

"You already know my daughter was set to marry the Northern Chief's son, Hahn, but the more I talked with Pakku the more I gathered he instilled in Hahn that his most important duty was to produce an heir whether my daughter was ready to do so or not. Chief Pakku merely sees Katara as an incubator."

"I can see why you broke the marriage contract." Iroh said,

"Ever since Pakku learned of Madame Wu's prophecy about Katara being a waterbender of unparalleled power that is all he's been able to see when he looks at her." Hakoda's voice took on a sharp edge that was punctuated by the furrowing of his brows. "He doesn't think of her as a human being capable of her own thoughts and free will. As strong willed as Katara is I don't think I have to paint you a picture of what will happen to her if she were to move away from her home and marry into a society that views women as chattel. I respect that in the Fire Nation there is equality among the sexes."

"That is at least one good thing that the Fire Nation has going for it, eh?"

Hakoda smiled wryly. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't have my own concerns about my daughter marrying into the Fire Nation, but I do know that your nephew is not his father, nor is he anything like Pakku or Hahn."

"No he is not. My nephew has struggled. He grew up in a harsh and unforgiving environment, but he has always had good in him. He has not let his past turn him into a harsh or unforgiving person. He is not cruel. In fact Zuko behaving differently from his father is what got him banished from the Fire Nation in the first place."

"I've heard the rumors about his banishment, but I don't believe any of them, I would like to hear from you the real reason why Prince Zuko was banished."

"Naturally I blame myself. Prince Zuko wanted to sit in on a state of the nation briefing. I knew he wasn't ready for the meeting but he earnestly wanted to go because one day he would be Fire Lord and he wanted to learn all that he could as soon as he could. I warned him not to speak during the meeting as those in politics can be a bit sensitive."