Wandering Firebender

Seventy Five: Family

Elio and his crew finally returned to the Fire Nation. When they landed on the airstrip, everyone made their way out and scattered off in different directions. Alger, Sri, and Cindra stood outside of the loading dock and waited for Elio to come out. He had his full uniform on when he did.

"Finally back home." He commented as he joined up with his friends.

"Are we just returning to our rooms?" Alger asked.

"Yeah. I have to speak with Fire Lord Zuko and give him a report. Either way, we won't be flying out for at least another week, so you guys can offload your stuff into your rooms if you want." He said.

"Oh okay. That explains why everyone just started walking away." Sri said with a chuckle.

"Heh, yeah. Anyways, Zuko is waiting for me probably, so I will meet up with you guys later." Elio said, nodding to them before making his way into the Fire Lord's palace.

Because of the timing of his arrival, Zuko ended up inviting Elio to join him for lunch. The two sat down at his table and had their discussion while they ate.

"...I'm glad you were able to handle the issue. Good job communicating with the spirit and resolving things peacefully. Doing so without Aang is something to be proud of. I'm impressed." Zuko said. Elio nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you. Good thing the moon spirit gave me this," Elio said, stroking the white part of his hair. "Otherwise, it could've gone a lot worse." He said with a little chuckle.

"Good thing," Zuko agreed with a nod. "And you were able to help the people repair everything that was damaged?" He asked next.

"Yes, sir. It's all been taken care of now." He confirmed.

"Good. That's good. I'm sure Aang will appreciative hearing about this too. Do you have anything else to report?" Zuko asked.

"No, sir...however, I do have something else that I'd like to discuss. Something personal." He brought up.

"Go ahead. Speak your mind." Zuko invited him.

"Well...since I've gotten back to the Fire Nation, I've only been able to see my family once. I want to repair things with them: my father, my mother, and my sister." He expressed.

"I see...can I be honest with you, Elio? What happened needed to happen, but I'm not sure if there's any coming back from that. It might be in your best interest to just leave it alone." Zuko suggested.

"Yeah, I don't know," Elio sighed. "It's...I don't know. But I'd like to at least try and do everything I can on my end. If it doesn't work out, I'd rather it be because of them and not because of something I could've done but didn't, you know?" He explained his thinking.

"Yeah...what do you have in mind?" Zuko asked...

"An invitation to the Fire Lord's palace?!" Taiga, Elio's sister, exclaimed in shock upon hearing the news.

"Yes. We've been invited to tour the entire palace and have dinner with Fire Lord Zuko. Do you still have that fine black dress?" Rue, Elio's mother, asked Taiga.

"Yes. I'll go and get it ready." She decided.

"It's been some time since I've been in the Fire Lord's palace." Sol, Elio's father, thought aloud as he looked over the invitation again.

"How did...oh. Is this because of Elio?" Taiga asked as the thought occurred to her. Rue and Sol looked at each other.

"Most likely." Sol acknowledged with a nod.

"Ah..." Taiga nodded quietly, not saying anything. There was some silence between the three of them before Rue spoke up.

"Well, we've been given an honorable invitation. It would be disrespectful not to accept it. If the Fire Lord wants us to appear as a family then that's what we should do. Right, dear?" Rue asked, looking to her husband.