Wandering Firebender

Sixty Three: New Context

"Delivery from Fire Lord Zuko, sir!" There was a knock on Elio's door first thing in the morning. Elio, who was still resting in bed, sat up in surprise. His hair fell over his eyes, and he brushed it back.

"Uhuh? What?" He called out in confusion.

"The Fire Lord asked me to bring you your new uniform, sir!" A female servant said through the door. Elio rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before jumping out of bed and answering the door.

"Hi, morning. New uniform? Did I hear you right?" Elio asked. The servant nodded and held up the folded clothes. Pieces of Fire Nation armor had been placed on top of the clothes.

"He asks that you try them on right away, in case anything doesn't fit and needs to be replaced." She said. Elio blinked a few times and took the clothes and armor.

"Of course. I'll throw these on right now. Thanks."

"You're welcome. As soon as you are ready, the Fire Lord asks that you join him in the inner courtyard again." She informed him.

"Okay. I'll be there." Elio nodded and closed the door. He turned around and walked to his bed. He laid out his new uniform across the top of his bed. He was surprised to see how complex this uniform was – there were a lot of pieces to it:

Black pants and a tight black shirt with red stripes on the sleeves. On top of that, a red short sleeve shirt. Over that, a long black vest that went down to his knees – it had golden trim across the middle, the edges, and even around the neck. He was also given gold ring-shaped cuffs to wear around his wrists. His boots were red with golden trim that went down the underside of the shoe.

Over all that, he was given a plate of armor that covered his chest and shoulders. The armor was black, also with a gold trim across the edges. The golden trim went up the middle of his chest and extended out into the shape of a flame. As if that wasn't enough, there was also a golden Fire Nation insignia on the pad that went over Elio's right bicep.

It reminded him so much of Azula. Didn't she wear something like this?

Elio got ready to leave the room before trying on the new uniform. The armor gave him the most amount of trouble, but once he finally had everything on, he looked at himself in the mirror. For the first time in his life, he looked like a true Fire Nation soldier.

Of course, the uniform suited him. It would just take some time to get used to...

"Good morning." Elio greeted Zuko when he came out to join him in the inner courtyard. Zuko turned towards him and nodded.

"Morning. Wow, everything fits." He noticed.

"Yeah. I've never worn Fire Nation armor before. I'm used to having more freedom to move my arms." Elio commented, moving his arms out in circles to show how the armor restricted his range of motion.

"You get used to it. Aside from that, how does it feel?" Zuko asked.

"It fits fine. Only thing is I don't have anything to carry my staff with." Elio commented.

"Your staff?"

"Yeah. I always carry a staff with me. I'll need some kind of holster for that." He said.

"Alright. Well, we'll handle that when you get back." Zuko said.

"Get back? Get back from what?" Elio asked.

"Everything's ready. I'm giving you your first assignment today." Zuko told him. Elio's eyes widened a little.

"Oh wow. That's much sooner than I thought."

"You said you wanted to be useful, didn't you? Well, it's not anything too serious this time. I'm sending some relief supplies to Ba Sing Se. You'll be meeting with the Earth King. Make a good impression, reassure him that the Fire Nation is pursuing peace."