"No. Stop." Noren spoke out, his voice low, head bowed. Zuko had gotten up to leave, but his conscience could no longer take it and he knew he had to set things straight. He turned to his wife and held her hand in both of his. "Noriko, I knew this moment would come sooner or later..."
She was puzzled. "W-what's going on?"
Instead of answering her, Noren looked up to Zuko. "Go ahead, young man. Do what you came to do. Tell her... that you have not forgotten who you are."
He looked at the faces gathered round the table; an expectant Noren, a bewildered Noriko, a confused Kiyi and a silent Lady Reiko. There it was again, that inner conflict that raged inside him. He had conceded defeat for his mother's happiness. What was Noren thinking? "I..."
Zuko glanced once more at Noriko then to Noren, who nodded in further encouragement.
"My name is Zuko. I am the Fire Lord... And I am your son."
They sat there in stunned silence before Noren got up, dropped to his knees and bowed deeply to Fire Lord Zuko. "When I saw you in the crowd, I recognized you immediately... because of the scar. I had learned all I could about Ursa's life in the Royal Palace. And I knew it would come back to haunt us someday."
He looked down at the man bowing before him. Noren, no... Ikem. His mother's first love. The man who might turn out to be his biological father.
"Forgive me for not confessing the whole truth when you and your friends were here, Fire Lord. I had hoped to give you enough information to satisfy you, yet still protect my home here with Ursa."
"U-Ursa?" Noriko turned to her husband, questions arriving faster than answers.
He pulled back from the bow and faced her. "That was your old name, my love. From your old life. You were once a princess, and the Fire Lady. You had two children, one of whom grew up to be the Fire Lord."
"What are you saying, Noren?" She held Kiyi in her arms, clutching the girl to her chest tightly.
"You don't remember any of this because a powerful spirit altered your memories. But once you return to the Capital, maybe—"
"Wait!" Zuko, with tears in his eyes, knelt in front of them. "M-maybe this is where I belong too! W-with my mother, my sister, a-and my true father..." He looked at Noren as he said the last word.
But Noren was alarmed by this. "But.. that's not possible... Ursa and I... We... We never—"
Too engrossed in the revelation, they failed to notice the ceiling give way until it was too late. Sokka came crashing through the roof, narrowly avoiding Azula's lightning attack.
The moment she saw Zuko, she kicked him to the far end of the room, adrenaline-fueled rage in her blood as she then turned to the woman she had been longing to face for months, if not years.
"YOU! Finally!" She stood on top of the table, looking down at Noriko menacingly. "I can't tell you how long I've dreamed of this moment!"
"Mommy!" Kiyi held on tighter to her mother, terrified by the sight of Azula's disheveled hair and hate-filled eyes.
Something snapped within her as she watched the young child clinging onto the woman.
Lightning ignited from her fingertips as she stared down at them. "Tell me, mother! Did you have to have a new daughter because your last one turned out to be such a monster?!"
"Stay back, Azula!" From behind her, Sokka shouted, breaking her from her stride.
"HA! Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson, snow peasant! Where's your little toy?"
YOU ARE READING
The Apprentice's Choice (an Avatar: The Last Airbender Fanfiction Zuko X OC)
רומנטיקהBook 2, Sequel to "The Concubine's Apprentice" "Are you done?" Her blood ran cold as she realized she wasn't alone. She looked up and through the reflection, she saw the source of her suffering, the bane of her existence. Her mentor. "Ye...
