General Iroh walked the corridor toward his nephew's cabin, in absolutely no hurry, not because he was old and tired of conflict—though he was—but because it was so hard to even wrap his mind around the insanity of the last few days, which all felt like the world was falling apart until the little Ray-ven of light broke through the grey skies of despair. Something had finally gone right, and it felt to him like a chance to turn it all around, but only if he said and did just the right things.
He could hear soldiers and sailors walking, coughing and muttering here or there with their own theories about what the hell had even happened at Crescent Island, but ignorance truly would be bliss for them, as they were in no position to do much but get swept away one way or the other when the time came, no matter what anyone told them.
He stopped at Zuko's door, where thin light showed the battered and bruised boy and girl likely weren't asleep, at least. But it was hard to tell without the expected shouting, breaking of furniture and death threats. There wasn't even any impatient pacing. Either Raven had finally killed his poor nephew or they were actually, really, truly getting along again. It felt like opening the door was the same as flipping a coin on the matter.
He slowed, stopping just before the door, and lifted one hand as if he was really going to knock and confirm which way the wind had blown, and he let out a long gravelly sigh, the worries had driven every thought of what he meant to say into hiding again.
"Alright," he whispered to himself. "First: Raven must inform her father of Zuko's innocence."
Second finger. "The Avatar. Who knows where loyalties lie now...?"
Third finger. "My fool brother will see Zhao's death as an act of war, even though Zhao started it... I think." He sighed through his nose.
Fourth finger. He hesitated a moment, like the words tasted old and scorched. "Raven must know much about Arzaya, and maybe Nagi and Koani. Those old ghosts can't just be left alone, I am sure of it."
He stared at his hand a second longer, hoping there'd just be more reminders so he wouldn't have to disrupt the fantasy that his nephew and his troubled betrothed were actually getting along, but not too well.
He couldn't think of a fifth thing. It was hopeless. Iroh balled that hand to a fist, and gently knocked. Three polite raps that always clanged too loud on the noisy metal of warship hulls.
Silence. But the door wasn't even fully closed, much less locked, and with a gentle encouragement it slowly opened, revealing the more than warm air—although it was nice in the frigid early morning air—and brighter than usual light. There was also a pressure in the air, like a face full of steam from a boiling pot you couldn't pull away from or cover. They still had Arzayanagi leaned in the corner against the wall and his fixed wardrobe, and it fueled every fire, and lit every excitable emotion within the room.
He listened for a moment before stepping in to see the full room. It briefly felt like an oven, oppressive even, but it seemed Arzaya accepted his presence and the edge of the heat and tingling in the back of his mind dulled almost as soon as it became a discomfort.
"Prince Zuko? Lady Raven?" he tried, softly.
No answer, but there was a generous helping of insane muttering coming from a roughly parabolic mound of sheets and blankets on the edge of the bed. Zuko and Raven were scarcely moving in there, facing the upright very assuming spear but apparently happy to be wrapped around each other somewhere in there. Iroh had to get within arm's reach, and lean down to figure out what muffled trouble was echoing in there, with just enough light to make out two pairs of eyes, one bright yellow and one hazel, which did at least briefly flicker to him—they weren't a total loss.
"Azula always lies... Azula always lies... Azula always lies..." he finally heard from them, not even quite in unison but close, as they ever so slightly rocked unevenly this way and that.
"Hmm, uh-" Iroh began, but everything he had meant to say had slipped away already, and he just smiled like a fool at them, not sure what else to do. "You haven't eaten, have you?" he defaulted to, and nearly facepalmed it was so far off from the important topics at hand.
There was a sigh in there somewhere, Zuko skipped half an "Azula always lies" but was back at full muttering force for the next. It was so weird it was almost funny. Not quite. Iroh's smile was one purely of nerves, and he wasn't sure if he hoped they could or couldn't tell. It seemed Lady Raven's cheek was pressed firmly against his nephew's shoulder in there, and that was, at least, strong evidence she had thoroughly dismissed all desire to turn him into charcoal.
Their eyes wouldn't move for long from Arzayanagi. Even motionless, the spear was making the lantern flames lean in, with pulses like it was taking breaths that caught only fire. Invisibly, it seemed to breathe in sanity too.
"Azula always lies, Uncle," Zuko murmured, stronger.
"Azula always lies, General," Raven echoed.
"Azula always lies, mmm-hmm," Iroh cautiously agreed, hoping to pass the deranged shibboleth.
"Azula always lies," they both nodded.
Iroh felt distinctly like he'd forgotten something, and he'd need to pop out and come back maybe in a little never, but he took a deep breath and risked setting off the unstable teens, and also possibly an ancient vengeful ghost.
"Uncle," Zuko suddenly stated, just as Iroh tried to speak, and he was caught frozen with his beard down.
"...yes?" Iroh dared.
"Azula always lies," Zuko whispered.
"Azula always lies," Raven whispered.
"Perhaps... you two should come out for some fresh air?" Iroh offered, unable to help but glance at the suspiciously iridescent gleaming of the spearhead, like Arzaya was just daring him to blame her for what was happening.
Iroh risked losing a limb, and gently tugged back on the red blanket hood, then the protective sheet underneath it, and finally the redundant identical security sheet below that, and the two actually looked charming and adorable with her all tucked up against Zuko like he'd turn to cinders the instant she let go. They looked up at him, corners of their mouths tightening, but they had no complaints, and apparently the muttering couldn't be sustained in better light.
Raven's right eye twitched as she hoarsely stated, "the princess must pay, General."
Iroh just gave first her and then his nephew a look, clear enough to come across as 'help me out here.'
Raven did look like she wanted to tell him, but her eyes went wide and her head tilted to the side, like it was just too much and too soon.
Iroh took a deep breath, and asked, "and what, precisely, did Princess Azula do?"
Zuko's eyes went wild for a flash, shooting over to Raven, and he tensed up so suddenly she gave a quiet high-pitched yelp, but finally he bared his teeth.
"Murdered Asha," he said, tone clipped or it'd be incoherent shouting. "Blamed me," and after a long pause like it really, really hurt but he refused to let it come out in his tone, he added, "dad knows."
The cabin suddenly felt very small. Too close, in fact far too close to that deadly spear and the fury within it, even unflappable Iroh was feeling an awful lot like a target of opportunity, but no such vengeance lashed out in response to that revelation.
"That," he murmured, "does… explain things."
That was when he really noticed how red the rims of her eyes were. Surely not from crying. Lady Raven Arza did not do that. She almost seemed to be in physical pain at the sheer force it took her to keep it that way in front of him. Iroh was happy to keep her secret either way. The lines on Zuko's face were so tired he looked like he'd turned from late teens to mid-thirties in the last few hours, and was getting a healthy head-start on a mid-life crisis.
Raven's gaze pulled involuntarily back to Arzayanagi.
With Zuko getting it out there, her voice came to her, roughened as it was. "Used Arzayanagi to do it," and her jaw near split off her face she clenched so hard, and she breathed, "Arzaya's... so angry she's out of her mind." She swallowed, her voice becoming a croak. "Who wouldn't be?" And she tilted back like she was going limp, but Zuko held her up, firmly in place.
Iroh looked to the spear like it was going to give its thoughts next. At least it dispelled a lot of the questions he had, so he wouldn't have to get them straight in his head again.
"My nephew," he said gently. "If the Fire Lord knows, then I must ask: are you intending to side with House Arza?"
Zuko's head snapped up so fast the blanket slid off one shoulder. No one present needed it explained this meant fucking war. Not just a few battles and skirmishes to redraw borders. Fucking total war. There was no talking your way out of that kind of casus belli. A lot of people were going to die. That was inevitable. One does not simply cover up the murder of Lord Arza's youngest daughter and avoid needing to commission several war memorials afterwards.
"Yes," he said immediately, like he was pissed off his uncle had to ask, and he shot to his feet, knocking Raven aside; she curled up and pulled the sheets close as he pointed his finger and bellowed, "AND SO ARE YOU, OR YOU SWIM HOME."
Iroh raised both hands, palms open, a placating gesture that was also, very subtly, a reminder that he was not there to argue with anyone.
Zuko flopped back down, not even looking to drag the red blanket over Raven just in case. There wasn't exactly a change of clothes for her on his cruiser. He just stared. He couldn't get himself to say sorry, but Iroh appreciated that it seemed like he wanted to.
"Easy," Iroh soothed. "I am with you, wherever you go, Prince Zuko." His eyes softened. "Even when you make it difficult," he chuckled, only slightly pained.
Zuko's rage sank, and then his face, and he looked up at Iroh with the most intense expression of guilt and shame he'd ever seen on the poor troubled boy's face. It wasn't like he'd been hunting his uncle down for unjustified vengeance, but the parallel misdirected rage was hard to miss.
Raven's pouty expression was peering from a now tightly wrapped sheet hood, clenched with her fists under her chin as Zuko soothingly caressed her thigh. She managed to formally say, "thank you, General Iroh." Not that it was necessary.
"It is a difficult time," Iroh gently said. "And I understand."
Raven straightened in the sheets like it was time for spine stress testing, and she swung upwards with an intense look on her face, not even noticing Iroh's sudden wide-eyed panic as Zuko's hand moved like lightning, pulling the sheet up to wrap around and cover her. "We need to find my father's fleet," she stated directly, and like it was a fully accepted plan of action already, she resolutely went on, "I need to tell him right away it's all a lie. He needs to capture Azula and throw her in the goblin closet at the earliest opportunity." Her mouth twisted. "That bitch doesn't get to die easy."
Iroh's gaze flicked, carefully, to Arzayanagi again. But he gave Raven the oddest look. "The what...?" he wondered.
Raven froze, all the stern focus shattering, and she pulled the sheet over her face, and turned away in shame. "Throw her to Arzaya, I mean."
Iroh chose not to comment on the furious girl's demand that his niece—guilty as she seemed to be—should be handed to a mass murdering ancient spirit of an insane cult leader, but by his mildly taken aback face, it could be gathered he would prefer a more diplomatic solution. He saw that Zuko also winced at the notion, but he too wasn't going to argue with Raven over that, certainly not in that moment. They could at least wait for her to find clothes first. Raven read Iroh's glance at the spear as particularly meaningful.
"I know..." she said immediately, sharper, defensive. "I know we shouldn't stay this close to it." And as if to prove someone else's point she exhaled with a puff of smoky cinders out her nose, and between her lips. "But... I have to talk to Arzaya. Just... building up to it." And with one quick glance seeing Iroh's curiosity. "I might have been, uh, a little harsh with her last time?"
Zuko was going to let Raven just do whatever she wanted with the thing, so Iroh inclined his head.
"If it would help," he said carefully, "then… do so."
Raven swallowed like she was about to stick her hand in lava on a dare. She reached down, tapped her fingertips to register hostility, and the lanterns sputtered around him. Finally she grasped it again, leaned forward with a mildly exasperated Zuko staying dedicated to the task of leaving the exact nature of his betrothed's uncovered chest to his uncle's imagination.
"I'm sorry," she instantly said. "I was lied to." A quick breath, then as if to prevent response, she rapidly went on, "you still can't 'borrow' Aang, that's weird and gross, please don't bring it up." She blinked hard, apparently not receiving any immediate protests, and her tone broke to almost fearful and pleading like the stress might break her. "But... do you know where Dad is? He has to know, right? Please don't yell at me right now."
She went still, listening. It wasn't quite anger, something more like conflicted hurt, in response to her ancestor.
"Please don't scoff at me either," she said, voice cracking. "Come on..."
Zuko and Iroh shared the exact same look of empathy at Raven struggling to get along with her family, ancient and removed by many generations as Arzaya was.
As if interrupting Arzaya, she suddenly stood, requiring more deft work by Zuko, and she demanded, "and why did you show me that weird vision?" Almost tearful again, she quietly croaked. "That was… horrible. Are you trying to make it impossible for me to ever sleep again, or what?"
She froze again, listening. Her face shifted, clearly genuinely surprised, and her eyes darted to Zuko and Iroh, like she wished she could confirm with them what she was hearing, until her mouth opened and hung for a moment.
"O-oh," Raven breathed. "I guess so..." she trailed off, not sounding convinced of something.
Then almost conspiratorially quiet, eyes away like she was looking north—she wasn't, but no frame of reference—she gave a quiet and compliant, "Northern Water Tribe? Alright... I'll bring you to Dad."
She lowered Arzayanagi as if it had gained weight while she held it, then set it down gently, respectfully, like putting a sleeping monster back into its cradle as she set it in the corner of the wardrobe and wall again. Raven's hands lingered on her knees and clenched the sheets, and her breathing stopped for a moment, before she urgently stood again.
"Damn it, Raven!" Zuko gasped and sighed, standing up with her to wrap her properly in the sheet.
Iroh may have caught a half-second of one-sixth of a nipple in there somewhere, but he wasn't going to say.
She either didn't notice or didn't care.
"Come on," she hissed, tugging Zuko along as he scrambled to bring a sheet for himself too. "Fresh air sounds nice."
She first almost lunged for the door, then swept around the corner, only to shuffle slowly the instant she was in the corridor, Zuko instantly at her side, both still wrapped in the sheets like stubborn royal trauma burritos. But he still stuck out and kept a hand on her at all times, and she kept on appreciating it. Iroh followed them out, cautiously closing the cabin door, and just a few more feet away the pressure of Arzayanagi faded completely, at which point Raven's expression went from serious and tired to frantically twisted, and she took the weirdest shuddering breath.
Instantly on a tirade without context, Raven hissed, "she doesn't know I know!" with the energy of a mad drunk believing he'd just discovered he was really a robot clone. And she puffed up her chest immensely to wag a finger and blurt, "for one, she's a fucking airbender. I think the fire is all Nagi! HOW. DOES. NOBODY. KNOW. THIS?!"
Zuko blinked, brain clearly struggling to keep up.
Iroh's brows knit. "Lady Raven," he began carefully, "who—"
"You do NOT want to be on her bad side, either of you!" Raven barreled on, steamrolling right over sanity with something close to a grin. "Holy fucking just kill me, what the FUCK. That bitch is CRAZY, you have NOOO idea."
"Uhh..." was the best Zuko had.
Raven grabbed at her own hair like it was trying to escape her head, then pulled the sheet hood tight again, and focused on Zuko for a long while like it was already too late for him.
"I can't fucking believe she's not the one that sent me that... vision," Raven whispered, horrified. "Where did it COME from?! Did she even send the other one?! I... am I going crazy?!" And Raven made a full suite of strangled, rancorous noises that could never be voluntarily produced until she had no choice but to take a deep breath, and bellow out, "AAAAAAAHH!" which may or may not have helped. And she turned to Zuko, snagged his sheet where a collar might be, and stared unblinking in his patient but confused yellow eyes. "She was this psycho when she was AANG's age, gah! Aang was right about her! What is WRONG with her?! Even I wasn't that crazy..." she trailed off. Finally she saw the blank, slightly agape look on Iroh just behind Zuko, and gave a quiet, "er... Arzaya, I mean." But built up again a very genuine warning like they better confirm they heard it, "seriously. DON'T piss her off." And she took one last deep breath, just to shudder and stand there.
Iroh gave a dry, bewildered, "ahh, I will avoid that, Lady Raven."
Zuko just shrugged. "She blew up Zhao, she's fine with me."