Avatar : Tanya

The room Zuko had been given was the VIP quarters on Tanya's flagship, Azulon's Revenge, and was second only to the admiral's in terms of luxury.

Rich red flags embroidered with the black symbol of the Fire Nation hung beside tasteful paintings of famous military leaders and old battles, and furniture of fine, polished wood surrounded a large double bed with a mattress stuffed to burst with the finest feathers, and draped in soft red silks.

It was the sort of refinery he'd grown up in: a taste of the opulence befitting someone of his birthright.

Yet after years of knowing nothing but the rusted iron walls of his ship and the barest necessities packed within, Zuko was surprised to find himself uncomfortable with all the comforts he'd been afforded.

The exiled prince ran a finger over the good filigree embedded around the edges of his wardrobe, wondering how it was that the royal treasury had been able to afford such lavish decorations for this room, yet had not been able to find a door for his old ship that didn't have broken hinges.

Why was it that back in the homeland, the war council feasted on five course meals after every meeting, yet soldiers on the frontlines in the Earth Kingdom often went for weeks on nothing but ration bars and water?

Why did the workers in the colony towns he'd visited slave away to build mansions for their governors, whilst so many of them lived in slums or the burned ruins of houses?

The goal of The Fire Nation was to share its prosperity with the rest of the world, yet that prosperity only seemed to reach a select few places.

A knock at the door broke him out of his thoughts. "Enter." He called, and watched warily as one of the fully armoured soldiers who stood guard outside of his room entered, and bowed respectfully in a way than none of his crew ever had done.

"My prince." The soldier intoned. "One of the chefs has come to see you. He claims he has your nightly tea."

"Send him in." Zuko replied, and the guard saluted sharply as if given an order of highest priority. A second later an elderly man with a grey cooks apron stretched across his portly stomach hobbled in, holding a tray with the kind of tea sets reserved for nobility stacked neatly upon it.

When the soldier did not leave, Zuko nodded at him dismissively. "Thank you. That will be all."

"My prince…" The soldier replied hesitantly. "My orders are to not leave you alone with any potentially dangerous guests-..."

"Mushi was the chef on my previous ship." Zuko interrupted. "For the past couple of years he has prepared my tea every night. He is hardly suspicious."

The soldier thought for a moment, then bowed again. "As you say, my prince. I will be outside should you call." He turned and marched out the room, closing the door carefully behind him, and Zuko knelt down before the low table where the chef was setting up his tea.

"Mushi? Is that the best name you could come up with?" The chef grumbled.

Zuko huffed irritably. "Perhaps if you hadn't caught me by surprise, Uncle, I would have had time to come up with something better. What's with the chef outfit anyway? I thought you were going to disguise yourself as a soldier.

Uncle grinned in that mischievously goofy way he always did when he'd done something foolish for the sake of his hobbies. "I was. But then I saw this beautiful tea set, and realised that by taking this disguise we could enjoy some delicious Blue Jasmine during our journey.

Zuko had not been comfortable with the deception initially. If Tanya found out it was sure to cost him perhaps the best chance he'd ever get to finally catch The Avatar. Yet Tanya's insistence on leaving Uncle behind hadn't sat right with either of them.

There was only one person left in the world who Zuko could fully place his trust in; one person who had steadfastly stayed by his side no matter what dark and dangerous twists his life had taken.

Why would Tanya want to remove the only one who's loyalty to Zuko was without question? What could she possibly gain from excluding a man renowned for his wisdom and military acumen from an invasion?

The only way it made sense was if Tanya was planning to trick Zuko somehow. Uncle was wise and experienced enough to see through most deceptions, and was not afraid to offer Zuko counsel even when he was at the height of his temper.

Nor could he be bought, bullied or blackmailed into betraying his nephew, for he had proven many times that there was nothing he cared more about. Uncle was his shield against scheming and trickery, and Tanya's attempts to have him discard that shield suggested that she had some sort of machinations in store.

"So how was your meeting, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked, pouring tea with practised precision into both of their cups. "Did Tanya tell you her plan?"

"She did." Zuko confirmed. "More than I expected actually. I'm the only person she's shared the entire invasion plan with." When a doubtful frown crossed Uncle's face, Zuko raised his eyebrow questioningly. "You think she was lying."

"There is an old saying among generals. To deceive your enemies, you must first deceive your friends." Uncle replied sagely, sipping his tea.

"Imagine this. Tanya begins by telling each of her commanding officers that the plan is so secret, so important, that each of them is only allowed to know enough to fulfil their small part in it.

Though outraged, her commanders cannot help but find themselves curious. What could possibly be so special about this plan that even they, the highest ranked, cannot be allowed to know it?"

Uncle sipped his tea. "Then one by one each of them receives a message, telling them to meet Tanya in private. There she tells them that she can trust them, and only them, to fulfil a special role: something she believes only they could possibly accomplish.

And so she tells them a version of the 'great plan' where their role will be the deciding factors between victory and defeat. Something that will earn them great glory and the favour of The Firelord."

"Now each commander believes that they are special: that they are important enough, worthy enough, to be set apart from the rest.

They believe they alone are Tanya's chosen one: that they are uniquely respected, valued, and that they will be rewarded so long as they obey her and keep it a secret from their peers.

Suddenly everyone is loyal to Tanya before each other, and is more than happy to report on any behaviour from their peers that could oppose her.

While together they could have provided a united front against the upstart child that stole the commanding position above them, now each is turned upon the other.

And if any of them do reveal the top secret information revealed to them Tanya will know who the traitor is, for the 'great plan' she told them was different for everyone." Uncle sipped his tea again.

"Tanya's greatest threat was insubordination due to resentment caused by her own meteoric rise. Through this deception she turns her greatest threats against each other, keeping her own position secure. It is a tactic your father has employed frequently."

"But I'm not a member of her commanding staff. Why bother working the same deception on me?" Zuko asked.

"To get you to do something you would otherwise be hesitant to do. Few soldiers would charge at an enemy force that greatly outnumbered their own, unless they believed that another group was about to charge from the other side at the same time." Uncle put his cup down and stared into Zuko's eyes.

"Think not about what Tanya claims her master plan is, Prince Zuko. Look only at what she is asking you to do. It is there that the hints to her true intentions will be."

Zuko fidgeted with the corners of his own cup uncomfortably. "What if she's telling the truth though, Uncle? She was never as bad as Azula; Tanya put a lot of stock in making her word mean something, and never seemed afraid to admit to making a mistake." What few mistakes she made anyway.

Uncle shook his head sadly. "I believe her web of deceit has already begun. Remember what she said about Zhao's murder?"

Zuko nodded his head. "That it was The Avatar who did it? I felt unsure about that too. He's always been so careful about causing lasting harm to anyone before."

"I agree. The air nomads believed very strongly that nobody deserved to pay with their life, no matter what their crime."

"Then who did it?" Zuko asked. "Many soldiers witnessed Zhao begin fighting The Avatar alone."

Uncle nodded. "Indeed. And those same soldiers also found Zhao dead a few minutes later. There was only one person who discovered Zhao's body before them.

One other person who was alone with Zhao in that brief span of time his guards were away." Uncle downed his tea and set it down, his expression grave.

"I think we have to consider the possibility that the one who killed Zhao… was none other than Tanya herself."

...

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