Chapter Text
As Zuko’s flames spluttered and died out, the Firelord was forced to face the facts: he desperately needed a break.
Ever since he’d taken the throne, he’d been drowning in paperwork. He’d never realized just how much time was spent taking care of new laws, trade relations, skirmishes, celebrations, budget management, and just about a million other bureaucratic things.
The first couple years were probably the worst, since they involved the most cleanup. Not only was he trying to repair everything after a century-long war, but his father had pretty much entirely neglected a lot of duties that didn’t have to do with the war effort directly.
Zuko had originally seen this as part of his penance; the son righting the sins of the father by rebuilding from the ground up. It was painful and boring, but Zuko understood how important the work was, considered it an equivalent exchange for all that had been done.
Around his third year, Zuko honestly thought about faking his death and taking up his Blue Spirit persona again, leaving everyone else to deal with the paperwork.
Of course, he couldn’t do that, but he’d been burning out in a very literal way — anytime he trained, he’d be too mentally exhausted to do any real firebending, hardly producing a puff of flames. He’d written to Uncle Iroh to ask for any suggestions, and within a week, the rest of the Gaang had ended up at the Palace, insisting Zuko host them for a week in the Imperial City.
Since then, everyone in Team Avatar tried to help each other out, maybe pop in for a visit every now and then to make sure they were all taking breaks, since they all needed it — Toph would get bored and be way too hard on her metalbending students, sometimes even feeling as though there wasn’t any real hope for them; Sokka would get wrapped up in his inventions and plans for the South, sometimes going entire days without sleeping or eating properly; Aang and Katara would become frustrated with Republic City and the state of the world in general and get on each others’ nerves; and of course, Zuko would get burnt out.
So, Zuko sighed and stopped his workout, sitting down at one of the benches around the training area. He used a towel to wipe the sweat off his brow, and drank from the waterskin he had nearby. As he did, he thought about what he could do to cure his burn out.
Normally, spending time away from his duties as Firelord and instead with his friends would do the trick, but he had just seen them only a couple months before.
Well, maybe that didn’t count as “hanging out”, since the whole reason they were spending time together was because an ancient Airbender was trying to destroy the world. Zuko considered reaching out, but he knew they were all busy.
Katara had written to the rest of the group that Aang was doing a lot better since the whole Tagah debacle. In fact, he was incredibly excited to be working with the Air Acolytes, and had thrown himself into training them as well as rebuilding the city.
Katara had seemed really relieved, as well as happy in her letter. He was really glad to hear that the two were doing well, but Zuko didn’t really want to get in their way, since they were so busy.
Zuko considered Toph, but she’d recently sent a letter asking him to send any spare trebuchets he might have leftover from the war, so he could only imagine what she had in store for her students. He pitied them, but not enough to turn down her request.
Sokka seemed to be pretty busy too — he’d become obsessed with the flying contraption he’d used in the battle against Tagah, determined to make a proper working model. It seemed silly, but Zuko wouldn’t put it past him either, considering he was the one who figured out how to make the war balloons work.
Zuko groaned as he tilted his head back, looking up at the clear evening sky.
All of his friends were busy, which left him with pretty limited options.
He considered visiting his Uncle, but it was the busy season in Ba Sing Se, which Zuko honestly didn’t want to deal with. Working at the Jasmine Dragon was a wonderful, humbling getaway from his noble duties, but dealing with tourists was not a good way to deal with his burnout. If anything, it just made Zuko more irritable.
No, what he needed was some time to get away, to relax.
As Zuko was considering his options, a gentle breeze blew through the courtyard, and he closed his eyes, allowing his mind to wander.
Strangely enough, the first thing that Zuko thought of was the beach.
Specifically, the beach that was part of his family’s vacation home on Ember Island.
Ember Island....
It had been a few months since Zuko had been there. Not long after the war, Team Avatar had returned to the house, celebrating their victory. They’d all gone back a handful of times as a group, but as they grew older and busier, taking a week-long vacation became less possible, so they’d just stopped going.
Zuko would still go for himself once or twice a summer, and Sokka would join him to help close it up for the winter, but it certainly saw less use over the years.
But the beach house had been refurbished, and it still stood in Zuko’s name.
Maybe Ember Island is just what I need, Zuko thought to himself, opening his eyes and standing up with a stretch.
By the time he’d gathered his things and began to head inside, Zuko was already making a mental list of what he had to pack.
“No, no, no! Where is it!?”
Sokka searched his father’s house frantically, tossing the contents of every chest he could find haphazardly.
“Sokka!” Hakoda scolded, scowling when he saw his adult son rifling through his clothes, “What are you doing?!”
“I’m looking for my adjustable spanner!” Sokka explained in a huff, seemingly oblivious to his father’s frustration.
“Your what?”
“My adjustable spanner!” Sokka repeated, now moving to another chest, having emptied the one he was searching for, “It’s a long, thin piece of metal that’s in a black metal box with my initials on it!”
“Sokka, it’s not here!” Hakoda said, slamming a hand down on the chest just as Sokka was about to open it, “Why on earth would you think I would have it in my bedroom?!”
“Well, I’m quickly running out of places it could be! I’ve searched my entire workshop top to bottom, even told all the kids that they’d get my leftover Fire Nation candy if they found it, but it’s not anywhere!”
“Have you checked your own house?” Hakoda tried, not moving from his spot, in case his son would try to continue searching.
“Of course! And the same thing — I just can’t find it!”
“And why do you need this tool so badly?”
“Because I need to make a very precise adjustment on the wheels for my Flying Non-Bender!”
Hakoda raised an eyebrow, “The Flying Non-Bender? Really?”
“The name’s a work in progress,” Sokka admitted with a wave of his hand, “But I still need my adjustable spanner! Nothing else can do the job!”
“Okay, well, can you maybe get another one until you find your old one?”
“Absolutely not!” Sokka declared rather indignantly, “That was a birthday gift from Toph! She made the box herself, and the tools are very high quality. I need to find it, or she’s going to kick my ass.”
“Ah. I see,” Hakoda said, now moving to sit down on the chest, looking down at Sokka, who sat cross-legged on the floor.
“When was the last time you saw it?”
Sokka scoffed, “If I knew that, then I wouldn’t be here.”
“Right, so what about the last time you used it. Maybe you don’t remember putting it away, but do you remember what you used it for most recently?”
Sokka hummed in thought, closing his eyes and tapping his chin.
“I haven’t had to use it in a while, since I’ve been working on a lot of rough prototypes...” Sokka admitted, still keeping his eyes closed, “No, I didn’t need it for that.... Hmm. The last thing I can remember using it for is —”
Then, Sokka gasped dramatically as his eyes flew open, and he groaned, flopping down onto the floor.
“Sokka, what’s wrong?” Hakoda asked, rather endeared to his son’s dramatics.
“I think I know where it is....”
“That’s great! So, where is it?”
“Ember Island.”
“Ember Island? Isn’t that the vacation island in the Fire Nation?”
“Yup.”
“Why would it be there?”
“Because Zuko wanted my help closing it up for the winter last fall,” Sokka explained, not moving from his spot on the floor, “And we needed to fix some things, so I brought my tool kit. I used my spanner to winterize the pipes, and I’m pretty certain I left it in the kitchen.”
“Ah. I see. Well, maybe you can use something else in the meantime, now that you at least know where it is?” Hakoda suggested.
Sokka groaned as he stood up, shaking his head, “No, I need that spanner, and it’s gonna drive me crazy. I’m just gonna go get it.”
“Sokka, seriously? You’re going all the way to the Fire Nation just to get a tool?”
“Yup!” Sokka replied, already on his way out, “If you want me to bring anything back, let me know before tomorrow morning.”
“Sokka!” Hakoda snapped, and Sokka turned to him with a sigh.
“Look, Dad, I know it may seem stupid but I need my adjustable spanner.”
“Son, you do whatever you feel you need to do. But before you leave, you’re cleaning up your mess.”
“Oh.” Sokka looked around the room, finally seeing all of the clothes that laid scattered on the floor.
Because no matter how many times Sokka saved the world, he still had to clean up after himself.