Author's Note: This story has two dedications.

First, to the people on Kataang Forever, who have done so much to help build my confidence so that I had the courage to publish any manner of fiction at all. Special thanks must be given to bombalurima, who was instrumental in helping to bring the character you are about to meet to term.

Second, to DS-Hina of DeviantArt acclaim, whose beautiful piece "ATLA - Reunion" remains a major impact on my ATLA fandom and the major spark that ignited the idea for this story.

Enjoy!

Kenzo walked down the hall of the palace at full speed, typical for a day in session. If he went any faster he'd have to put a full running arm swing into it. Yet that didn't stop him from noticing a great many things as he made his march to the council chambers, the same march he'd now done many times over during the whirlwind of months since he'd been appointed one of the Fire Lord's newest council members.

He noticed his reflection in the gilded mirrors lining the walls, bright hazel eyes staring back at him. He saw a fairly handsome young man, pale skin and pure, thick black hair typical to his nation. The hair was grown out long enough to be meticulously styled but not quite enough to put in a nobleman's ponytail as Kenzo knew a fashion on its way out when he saw one. His robes were red and gold like those typical to all councilmen. The face he saw was angular and striking, but not altogether unfriendly. It gave off an intense sort of gregariousness. He had paused momentarily to appraise the image, smirked, and continued on his way, not a twitch of motion wasted in the process.

The mirrors were supposed to be symbolic for reflecting upon oneself as one did one's duty to the people or somesuch. He suspected it was all really part of a dowry between the children of the glassmaker and the original architect, but nonetheless, Kenzo was all for duty to the people. He'd been for the people and his nation for years, from the moment he decided to forsake his secondary education and enter the political arena early. He was for them when he made not a single mistake on his civil servant exam. He was still for them when he shot like the fire his nation worshiped right to the top of his village's local government, bringing it to the economic and cultural forefront of the province in the remarkably short process. And he knew he could do so much more for them when Fire Lord Zuko, in a stroke of wisdom belying his own youthfulness, saw fit to purge a slew of Ozai loyalists simultaneously, forcing emergency appointments direct from the Fire Lord as per Fire Nation law.

And what fine choices he had made, in Kenzo's opinion. The most forward thinkers and brightest upcoming leaders in the nation were selected, he among them. For like Zuko, Kenzo was firmly of the opinion that the Fire Nation could do much better with its countless blessings. War, as he saw it, was far too costly. Hoarding technology only to use it to destroy trade partners was economic suicide. Spending so much time on historical glorification was educational tomfoolery. He had to take far too much of his learning into his own hands, with far too many late nights spent in the remote libraries he'd begged his parents to bring him too. Those were the only ones who'd managed to hide some of their most important books of foreign lands from the burnings...

But those days were now from an entirely different era. His confidence in that was unshakable. Between his skills and the Fire Lords' charisma, the old guard would crumble soon enough. The Fire Nation would be more prosperous and powerful than ever before in its history, and the Avatar would not have to worry about "balance" for the rest of his days. Not when world trade would be so facilitated by his nation's groundbreaking new economic policies, just as soon as he secured their passing in the council. He didn't see the point in accounting for their failing.

He'd yet to meet the Avatar, though Kenzo had long made it a priority if he ever had the opportunity. Besides the enviable political connection it would be, he seemed like a rather decent fellow by all accounts. At least from what he'd heard, mostly from Fire Lord Zuko himself.

Kenzo passed a large portrait of the Fire Lord and his wife, the two looking immaculate and perfect aside from Zuko's infamous scar. Though he knew the artist was taking liberties, Kenzo could not say he thought the real life couple was all that different from the portrayal.

Certainly the quiet, loving air captured in the painting was there. He didn't think even his parents had a love quite like theirs. And they were such beautiful people, inside and out. He'd learned of Lady Mai's razor sharp wit early on, and delighted in challenging it. And Fire Lord Zuko's passion was something he admired nearly as much, perhaps even more. Upon arriving to the capitol, Kenzo had planned on fast becoming an essential political ally to the Royal Family, but he never saw the burgeoning friendship he'd found with both of them. Overlapping interests and personality traits were undeniable forces for such a union, though. It had been a rather pleasant surprise in his early career here, both professionally and personally.

Kenzo noticed a stocky man with a fantastically warm presence a few paces ahead of him. He walked over to meet the gentleman, whose gray hairs could not possibly detract from the vibrancy of the man's face.

"General Iroh, always a pleasure my good man!" Kenzo greeted, flashing his well practiced smile, though in genuine fashion for the man.

"General only of my tea leaves, as you well know Kenzo," Iroh replied genially. Kenzo placed his hand on the older man's shoulder and held him at arm's length. He mock appraised him first.

"Hm, I don't know. I'd say you look like you were getting ready for war, impeccable shape as always. I fear I'll never quite catch up with such business as I trouble myself with. Such is life!" Kenzo said jovially.

"All you need is patience, Kenzo. Something I think you may be lacking...and something which you may need in the foreseeable future. So very much like my nephew: so much potential, and so much yet to learn," Iroh noted sagely, his face still wistful but friendly.

"Duly noted, good sir," Kenzo agreed, his tone half stuck in his usual charmer's timbre and half earnest in his agreement. "Is there any particular business that brings you around here? Any assistance I might be able to provide you with?

"No, I'm afraid I'll need to tend to this alone. You are needed with my nephew anyway, I'm told there are great and urgent matters your reputed oration will be needed for," Iroh said, truthfully. "And," he spoke now in a slightly hushed tone, "I am not sure it would be allowed anyway. I am paying my niece a visit again."

Kenzo had trained his sterner poker face as well as his smile, so he locked it in even if he knew the former general could likely still see his reaction. His Adam's apple twitched, he knew that would be the give away.

The reaction was not fear, as one would expect and most would agree with. Kenzo was not afraid of the princess, nor did he hold much ill will toward her, nor did he support calls in the council chambers for her treatment to be abandoned, when Fire Lord Zuko would allow such calls to be tolerated at all. No, he did not care that the treatments were being met with limited success, and he did not care that she was by all accounts another soul lost to her father's greed, and a taker of countless other souls herself. And it was partly because he simply could not judge a person he'd never met, partly because he could not accept the notion that cruelty could not be defeated by the better aspects of human nature, and partly because he saw something in her when he stared at her portrait. Something beyond the cold, foreboding beauty. When he looked hard at what the artist captured, and used all the skill he could muster in reading a person's face as he'd practiced so many times in his career...he saw a flicker of warmth. The same warmth her brother and uncle gave so freely, the warmth that was slowly enveloping Lady Mai when she was near her lover, the warmth he could not see in Ozai but could see a hundred times over in Lady Ursa. He had studied the royal family in painful detail at school after all, Ozai saw to that. And with that warmth, Kenzo could not shake the thought that she might be saved someday, the inkling from his mind that she might feel the joy her brother did. And how much greater would her famous beauty be then, he wondered...

But it was still a distant musing, and one he could not aid. Zuko would not abide visitors not of her medical staff, or not related to her. He would have to pack away that gleam in his eye for now. He nodded and bade the general good bye, and wished him well in his day's work. The two men parted with one more amicable grin and a hearty handshake.

Kenzo continued down the hall to the large, ornate double doors that guarded the threshold into the council chambers. They had never held such pivotal debates, as the future of the nation had never been so fragile in this era of rebuilding. He noticed the one person perpetually unfazed by it all, or so she seemed. Lady Mai was a pillar of strength to her husband and friends, and a joy to spar wits with. Kenzo approached her even more eagerly than his usual flirtations with the noblewomen, sometimes if only for the fun of making his boss squirm.

"Lady Mai, your radiance blinds me such that I should go blind if you were to ever grace us with a real smile!" Kenzo exclaimed bombastically, clasping Mai's hand and bending to his knee as he kissed it ceremoniously. He looked back up with a grin.

"Then I better be careful not to slip up, or else you'd never see my look of disdain toward your charming," Mai wisely deadpanned. Both knew it was all a game, their serious moments had yielded more than a few welcome insights and opinions. Indeed, their rapport had built even faster than that of Zuko and Kenzo. Kenzo thought it was nice to have such an intellectual foil.

"Zuko is already inside, he's even grumpier than usual. Wants to get started to get it over with, I think. You're just barely on time, as usual," Mai said with a smirk, her arms crossing in mock authoritativeness.

"Not a moment too soon or too late, my dear lady! Precision in all things leaves more time and energy for more pleasant matters, like long talks in the tea garden with you and your darling husband. Or perhaps with a pretty lady looking for a suitor, do let your servant girls know I'm without a courtship," Kenzo rattled off, fussing with his robes in a futile attempt to get the look he wanted for today. "Well, I must be going then, I'll have him back to you before nightfall, trust me on that my Lady Mai," he said with a wink and a flourish of his hand, grasping the handle of the door and pulling it open just a crack. Mai simply maintained her reserved smirk and lifted a hand in a semblance of a wave.

Kenzo entered the grand chamber with his head held high and his stride as confident as the one he entered the palace with. The elder men on the council had made it no secret that they would rather he showed more humility with so little experience to his name. Kenzo just told them he was making up for the shame they exuded after having allowed Ozai's reign of terror to go unchecked. The Fire Nation's politics were nothing if not consistently incendiary.

He took his seat on the right side of the room, at Zuko's left hand side. Even he knew it would be a political sin for anyone involved if they tried seating him to the right hand of the Fire Lord. Still, he was but one seat away from being his left hand man, and that was no position to scoff at. Zuko could only spare him a slow nod as he entered, this portion of the proceedings had to be more than a little ceremonious and the Fire Lord was expected to be stoic at this juncture. With Kenzo's arrival, Zuko rose to call the day's business to order.

"I call upon the members of the Fire Lord's council, grant me you wisdom and aid me in guiding our great nation on the path of the sun!" Fire Lord Zuko exclaimed, his voice strong and proud. He took his seat at the throne again. Zuko's right hand man, an experienced but level headed man who simply lacked the political clout to oppose Ozai in the olden days took the roll of the present councilmen and brought about the first order of business.

"Fire Lord Zuko," he began, his voice methodical and refined, "we must reach a consensus on the proposal to begin exporting our machine goods and technology to our fellow nations..."

"Our rival nations," another man said, his steel gray eyes matching the color of his beard. "Peace does not mean favoritism! We are fools if we think it acceptable to hand over our greatest resource! Fire Lord Zuko, you must put an end to talk of this madness at once, we are tempting the fates!" The man was an outspoken supporter of Ozai, now remaining only because of his popularity in a troublesome province.

It was Kenzo who'd brought the proposal to bear in the first place. He had his supporters, though not a majority. It was too controversial for Zuko to move without a clear victor in the debate. So far, the council was inclined to side with whomever won the battle of wits for the day. But never enough to seal the decision.

Many heads nodded. Many eyes were now on Kenzo, waiting for his first move. It was expected that the young politician would break under such pressure soon, he was not deaf to the whispers around the capitol. Not when he saw fit to speak with everyone who made eye contact with him while walking down the street. It was his duty to know his constituents, after all.

Kenzo kept his debate poker face, consisting of a constant smirk, not unlike the face Mai used on him to keep him guessing where her next witticism would come from. It was far easier than keeping a blank scowl. He sat with his back erect at the front of his chair, arms resting on the table and hands holding each other.

"The only fate we are tempting, my esteemed colleague, is utter bankruptcy," he countered. "We have already agreed to pay reparations for the damages caused by our aggression, Fire Lord Zuko's decision on that was absolute." He turned his head to the Fire Lord and gave a short nod before starting again. "To order the guilds to give away their trade secrets is one thing, but to deprive them of selling to foreign customers with perfectly decent gold is the only true madness being spoken in this room!"

"We would be selling away our only true defense! How can we weaken our military advantage when the Avatar is so fully loyal to the Water Tribes upon his marriage?" the old loyalist fired back.

"And we all know our rivals cannot be trusted to make a fair deal, they would no doubt tempt our craftsmen into selling their life's work for next to nothing," another equally opposed but much calmer council member said.

"The merest trinket of steel would fetch a small fortune in Ba Sing Se, I have watched it happen with my own eyes at the ports with the traders, and activity I'm sure you'd both know little of," Kenzo argued, now rising to his feet with one hand still planted to the table. His staunchest ally flicked his long white beard out in front of him before speaking.

"The funds it would generate cannot be questioned, Lizin" he said. "I believe Kenzo's logic is sound, it is time we stopped assuming war is our next step and took advantage of a unique economic opportunity,"

"A unique opportunity to end the greatest nation the world has ever seen, in a rather avoidable folly," replied Lizin.

"An opportunity to make the entire world as strong and prosperous as we envision ourselves to be! A chance to go down in history gentlemen, as the leaders who saw fit to open the gates of progress without blood, with perfect balance and harmony!" Kenzo persisted. They were the same arguments as in other days before, put differently. The Avatar's endorsement of the motion perpetually failed to help the talks, instead it polarized the Avatar's most mistrustful citizens of the Fire Nation.

And so it went for hours, with Fire Lord Zuko asking pointed questions when needed and doing his best not to lose his temper with the growing lack of civility unfolding before him. In the end, the issue was tabled yet again, but several other measures were successfully passed by Kenzo and his like-minded colleagues. Several far more minor decisions were put forth by their enemies and granted, in a typical gesture to allow them to save face. Another day would have to be the one that made history.

Zuko adjourned the meeting before it would be too late for the men to eat with their families, a move that always told Kenzo much about who to trust, and who to assume had not the ability to maintain a semblance of integrity. The men in the former group always looked relieved, and thanked the Fire Lord for his consideration. The latter may have done the same from time to time, but later spoke of it in clandestine talks as a mark of the Fire Lord's hopeless weakness and emotional baggage. Once again, talking to his people was a solemn duty and he made it a point to take it very seriously. The fringe benefits were proving vital at this level of politics.

Kenzo waited for Zuko, always the last one to leave the room by Fire Nation tradition.

"Another hard day's work, eh Zuks'?" Kenzo jibed, having figured out ahead of time that he could get away with the nickname.

"Not long enough for you, I'm sure," Zuko said without bothering to stop and look at his closest political ally. "But you understand, right? It's not worth bickering any longer, I owe that to Mai. We all owe it to our wives, and each other."

"I not only understand it, you know I commend it," Kenzo replied. "I have the utmost confidence we can pass this cleanly, without you risking a political upheaval with the people. They will see a unanimous decision from their council."

Zuko slowed down and looked at his new friend, pursing his lips and exhaling deeply. "I do want to see it happen. I just want the nation to be behind it fully when it begins. We can't risk division within ourselves, I don't want to call upon Aang to solve a civil war for us."

"All wise points, but you sound pessimistic. That's the first obstacle we need to overcome," Kenzo said, the two of them now walking side by side. Zukos hands remained by his side in a natural motion, Kenzo's were gesturing rapidly as he spoke. "The second is to convince you to at least make it known you favor such an initiative going forward. The opposition to your plan of greater unity with the world won't realize we're angling toward compromise as they adjust to stay within the Fire Lord's favor. Just consider it at least," Kenzo finished. Zuko looked pensive.

"For now," Kenzo said as he opened the door for Zuko to the hallway containing The Fire Lord's series of private quarters,"just focus on the missus. Perhaps on the fabrication of an heir with her as well, but only if you romance her properly at dinner. It's better luck if the child is conceived under purely loving circumstances, you know."

"For another time, I think we'd both prefer if you joined us," Zuko said with a smile and a gesture for Kenzo to enter in after him. It wasn't the first time he'd eaten with the royal couple on such an invite, but it was the first it me it was so spur of the moment. Kenzo scrambled to not appear taken aback.

"You are.. certain? Do your wife and uncle approve?" Kenzo asked.

"Uncle has deemed it necessary to eat and spend the entire evening with my sister, and I doubt Mai will have a problem with her less-than-secret admirer coming to dinner," Zuko jabbed with a chuckle.

Kenzo took one hesitant step forward before falling back into his normal gait, into the quarters. He ate well with Mai and Zuko, they shared company they'd come to treasure to take their minds off the trials of the days that had passed, and the days to come. It was an intense, frustrating life, despite the gold and prestige and glamor. It was everything individuals such as them, who valued their friendships and their families, should never have thrived in. But it was the world they knew they had to conquer to keep the world beautiful for their neighbors, and their children, and the generations to come.

At least that's how Kenzo put it when someone asked him why he bothered with it at all. A hard day's work for a chance at a decade's joys for the people of his and every other nation, he'd take the trade every time.