Howdy folks! Wow, remember this one? That we haven't updated in nine months? Well, here's a bit more. Here's the thing about this fic and also about Delinquence... we can't really make any promises that these two fics will get completed. Transference is pretty much done, it just needs touch ups and for us to stop being lazy assholes and just post it. This and Delinquence however have a LOT written but are unfinished and we haven't worked on them in at least a year. Lots of distractions and other projects, etc, etc. Whether we end up getting inspired to finish these fics or not remains to be seen but we'll go ahead and put up what we do have of them with many apologies if they never see completion.

Anyhow, on with chapter four!

In spite of Sokka's best efforts to sooth his frayed nerves, unbeknownst of the source of his frustration, it seemed that Zuko's worries on the subject of marriage were only beginning. The Fire Lord's lead advisor, Jushou, was a valued and respected member of his court, but was unquestionably an embittered man. No one could really blame him, as from the moment that he was appointed to advise the seventeen-year-old Fire Lord, it was well known that Zuko would take the advice of first his uncle, his ambassador or the Avatar before Jushou himself. So though he held quite a prestigious position, he was fourth in line in an unstructured system of power. As a result, he'd unintentionally been demoted to an educator to the young Fire Lord in the ways of the runnings of the court and politics in general. When he had, however, brought up the subject of marriage even before his first kiss with Sokka, Zuko had forbidden him of speaking on the subject again in the interest of creating a tradition of chosen, loving marriage associated with the throne instead of the political arrangements that had been the norm in the past.

As a result of the unestablished hierarchy, the relationship between Fire Lord and advisor was a stiffly professional one. Jushou was efficient, polite, and good at what he did but over time the warmth he had for the court had drained away. So it was with the utmost delicacy and manners that he cleared his throat to speak up from Zuko's left side (Iroh was on his right) during an advisor's meeting about internal affairs.

"My Lord," he began in his gentile way, "I would like to call attention to a message that arrived this morning." He offered an open palm to one of the many scribes that waited for instruction and the young man placed in his hand a scroll that was then handed to Zuko. "Governor Kanso of the Hyuuki province has requested the honor to visit the palace and..." A pause here, Jushou seeming to weigh his words carefully. "...to introduce to the illustrious Fire Lord his eldest daughter."

Zuko waved vaguely, eyes on the other paperwork laid out before him. "We've got more important matters to attend to than entertaining the whims of every minor noble... The Governor is on the guest list for next month's dinner, correct?"

The moment's hesitation that followed was filled with a decidedly tense silence from the rest of the court before Jushou answered carefully. "Yes, sire. He is."

"Good, very good, Jushou. Now, shall we move on to--"

"Nephew, if I may interrupt for just a moment?"

Zuko blinked, met eyes with Iroh questioningly, but then did nod, palm open to indicate he should continue. "Of course."

"With only the deepest respect, Lord Zuko," Iroh began with words carefully crafted for the court. It was well known that Iroh had been just as worthy, if not moreso than Zuko to take the throne upon Ozai's fall. As such, the elder of the royal family was careful to show Zuko only the greatest respect in court, lest they forget who their leader actually was. "I would strongly advise accepting Governor Kanso's request for audience. The Governor is a man highly respected in his province and the Hyuuki people have been the leaders in the country for international trade. It would be unfortunate to let the Governor believe his efforts have gone unnoticed by refusing him counsel."

Zuko frowned, thoughtfully and managed to disguise his annoyance. He'd been getting better at it lately, under his uncle's guidance that the Fire Lord should be able to keep his personal feelings more opaque. So he merely frowned, vaguely and put on what he hoped was a well-crafted authoritative expression. "We have only the utmost respect for the Governor and the work he has done... Perhaps... it would be beneficial to the image of... the palace, to commend him in person." Zuko even remembered to direct his eyes toward Jushou, a raised brow asking for his confirmation.

There was the subtlest glance between the Fire Lord and his elder relative, Jushou far more practiced in opacity than the young ruler. He nodded once. "As his grace wishes." The scroll was handed back to the waiting scribe, along with orders. "Draft a letter in response to the Governor and extend invitation for private counsel with the Fire Lord."

"And tell him to bring some of that blue iris tea!" Iroh put in cheerfully, offering an impish smile when the entire court glanced at him.

"Is there anything else?" Zuko asked his advisor, politely ignoring his uncle's outburst, though barely managing to contain an upward quirk of his lips. One hopeful bride wasn't too bad, it would be simple enough to maintain a polite rapport during their visit. Maybe it would even spur some positive gossip, that the Fire Lord wasn't completely ignoring the issue... right?

"I believe that's all for this afternoon, sire," Jushou assented, offering a cordial smile. Ten minutes later, the room was empty but for Zuko and Iroh who gave him a pat on the shoulder with a wide hand.

"Well done, Nephew."

Zuko sighed, allowing his shoulders to curl forward as the rigidity of authority left him. "I hope the Governor's tea is worth it."

"I'm sure it will be a most pleasant visit. You may wish to inform your friend quickly though that you've agreed to such a thing... I had expected you to tell the court that you would take his request into consideration."

"Oh spirits," Zuko groaned, rubbing at his brow. "He's going to kill me." The truth was, a few weeks ago, he would have said just that, that he would consider the man's request. Jushou would have been annoyed, but he'd have recovered. Now though... Zuko was jumpy. He was paranoid. And he was desperate for solutions, for anything to buy him time. For what, exactly, he wasn't yet sure.

There was another pat, this time to the back of Zuko's hand. "Every mighty river has its turbulent rapids but ultimately leads to a calm and majestic sea." A pause. "But do speak to him as soon as possible."

Despite Iroh's sound advice and Zuko's good intentions, finding a spare moment to talk to Sokka was easier said than done. Though he left the morning's meeting with the goal of finding his ambassador, Sokka was in the middle of the daily sparring practice with the newest recruits. To his credit, Zuko lingered until they were done, but by then, Sokka was already running late for a Very Important Meeting with the local merchants guild and barely had time to exchange greetings with the young Lord. It was another two hours before Sokka returned to the palace, and by then, Zuko had been pulled back to the rest of the day's various responsibilities. He'd hoped to catch him for a late lunch, but by then, Zuko couldn't seem to track the tribesman down, and ended up following the directions of a cook, two chambermaids and the stablehand's son and still had not managed to catch up with Sokka.

It was late afternoon by the time Zuko found a guard who remembered seeing the Water Tribe ambassador returning to his own rooms, and it was there at Sokka's door that Zuko finally arrived. He allowed himself a brief moment to catch his breath and nod at the men who stood guard in the hallway before entering the common room. He waited for the door to slide shut behind him before pressing forward, but there was no one else there. Zuko frowned. No one in his office either. The bedroom, though, that door was shut.

"Sokka?" he called, knuckles rapping lightly at the painted wood. "Are you in here?"

There was silence until he started to call again and was interrupted by a flat and muffled, "Go. Away."

The speed with which Zuko's heart sank into his stomach was unsurprisingly nauseating. He knew. Of course he knew! It had only taken Zuko six hours to find him. Of course he'd found out.

The first quiet thump against the door was Zuko's brow, a second was his palm. "Sokka... let me explain."

There was another pause, followed by the stomp of feet across the polished floor. The door, however, did not budge but when Sokka's voice came again it was in an angry hiss from the other side of the wood. "Oh, there's nothing to explain. I heard everything from Jushou's scribe. Congratulations, I'm sure she's lovely."

Zuko swallowed back a groan. "I don't know! I've never met her! Look, her father's and important figure in international trade, I couldn't tell him not to come! What did that little weasel tell you anyway?"

"You could have stalled long enough to at least TELL me before you started making arrangements to talk about marriage!" was the snapped reply with a slap of hands on the other side of the door. "We haven't even talked about this stuff for almost a year! And then this!? I'm not your fucking concubine, Zuko!" A slam startled him -- Sokka's fist connecting with the wood followed by footsteps storming away again.

"I--! I know that! I know you're not!" Zuko shouted back, both hands on his side of the door now, as though he could will himself through the solid wood. "I just... You don't understand! People are talking! You said it yourself! That the cook was talking about it!"

"Well they won't be talking anymore!" Sokka snarled back with a forceful finality.

"Sokka!" Zuko pounded at the door almost frantically, hands clenching tight in white-knuckled fist. "Dammit, don't do this! I tried to tell you! Sokka!"

The only sound from within the chambers was a quiet 'wumf'. Probably Sokka flopping into a chaise or the bed.

His silence, however, did nothing to calm the man on the other side of the door. If anything, the opposite. "Dammit, Sokka! Don't you dare ignore me! I'm trying to explain! It's about appearances! It's about reassuring the people!"

"You better be quieter," Sokka finally answered, voice dripping with bitter sarcasm. "Somebody might hear you."

Suddenly the fluttering pulse in Zuko's stomach turn leaden and his brow furrowed deep. "Fine. I guess I shouldn't bother trying to prove your father wrong after all. Maybe I should marry this girl after all, then at least he won't have to worry that the Fire Nation thinks his son is a whore."

The silence that followed was thick and heavy -- until suddenly the door jerked open and Zuko was face to face with Sokka's reddened and narrowed eyes and thin, scowling lips. "What the hell did you just say?"

"You heard me," Zuko answered, with only the briefest pause of surprise, only one step backward before he steeled himself and met Sokka's eyes. "Maybe if you'd told me that the whole damned nation is clamoring for me to get married and make an heir, I wouldn't have had to hear it from your father."

There was a sort of shiver that went through Sokka then, his steely expression shifting into something that more resembled rage. "You're going to blame this on me? ON ME? And you talked to my DAD about this and didn't say anything about it!? Do you plan on ever talking to me about ANYTHING important -- or am I going to find out from the cook when you get your wife knocked up?"

"I'm trying to talk to you!" Zuko groaned, both hands rising to press helplessly at the sides of his head. "Excuse me for not wanting to burden you with the fear of becoming some... some villain of Fire Nation history! I've been trying to find some sort of solution so no one gets hurt, dammit! I didn't think that your father was right! I didn't think you'd rather leave now than find a way to... to fix this!"

"What I'd rather," Sokka snapped, "is to have some sort of say in how my damn life plays out -- which, believe it or not, I thought was very closely tied to yours. Which, in my mind, meant that we would tackle these sort of problems TOGETHER instead of you hiding things from me and making decisions without ever asking for my input. Please forgive me, illustrious Fire Lord Zuko, for thinking this was something more than sex."

"Well, welcome to the world of Fire Nation high society, Ambassador," Zuko ground out, the words catching in his throat. "Where no one has any say in how their lives play out. Not even-- no, especially not the Fire Lord."

"Oh, I beg to differ." And the door slammed in Zuko's face.

It was a testament to how well the Fire Nation palace was built that even with all the power Zuko could muster, after the shout of rage and the booming explosion of blue-tinged fire, the only evidence of the Fire Lord's presence was a singed and faintly smoking door.