Chapter 108 – Sun Warriors
Nuwa activates [Acting] and looks up at them with a polite smile, her body language going from aggravated to exuding the perfect amount of hospitality. “I am not sure who you mean by Sacred Son, but I can approve an audience to help you find him.” Aang, Dan, and Toph also arrive at this time to see the commotion.
The chief nods with a kind smile and gestures for the 9 others to follow him in. He admonished them on the way, “You shouldn’t rush to violence in such things. That is not our way.” The royal guards who were recently in combat with them follow warily. All of them are firebenders, so both sides were equally empowered by the Comet. There were 15 tired guards and they were all elites. They are fairly depressed to find that the 10 tribesmen held their ground without injury or indication of exhaustion. In fact, even though they barged into the grounds of the Palace, the Sun Warriors only fought defensively.
While leading them inside, more members of the gang peek out to see what’s going on. Nuwa racks her brain to find a way to send these guys on their merry way without killing or imprisoning them, otherwise more will come. Mai and Katara pop up nearby with Izumi and Bumi in their arms, causing the elder to look at each baby carefully for a short time, then pull something out of his pocket quickly before shoving it back in.
Noticing his not particularly stealthy movements, Nuwa immediately jumps to the conclusion that they have some sort of tracking device for Tulen. Her heart sinks. ‘So that’s how they got here so fast. Ugh, it’s what.. something like six hours since I gave birth? This day is such a shitshow.’
Nuwa leads them to the doors of the throne room and says, “Please wait one moment, I’ll see if the Fire Lord is available.” She goes inside and runs over to Zuko who’s playing cards with June, Aiwei, Sokka, and Yue. Without explaining anything, Nuwa pokes his chest hard and whispers, “You will deny knowing anything about their so-called Sacred Son. Even if they point to my son and say it’s him, you will say it’s not. Capiche?”
On the verge of falling over from how hard Nuwa is poking his chest, Zuko nods timidly. He has no idea what’s going on or what a Sacred Son is. Not knowing shit is the ultimate form of plausible deniability.
Nuwa tells the guards to be let in, but leaves directly out a side door before they can come in to fill Azula in on the situation. Now that she’s in solitude and quiet on the way to Azula’s room, she can finally think.
~ ~ ~
‘It’s pointless to run away with Tulen when they have the ability to track him. We might as well confront them and negotiate some sort of agreement. The chief seems like a friendly guy. He’s friendly in canon too. Hahhh.. still, such a bother. I gotta find out how Lord Zata turned himself into a dragon. What a fucking troll, causing me endless troubles even after I banhammered him.’
Nuwa walks into Azula’s room and sees her playing peekaboo with Tulen. Azula looks over with mild embarrassment at getting caught playing a silly game. ‘Oh my gosh, I missed such a great chance! I gotta keep my [Smartphone] recording like a bodycam from now on.’
“Kekeke, looks like you and Tulen are getting along well!” comments Nuwa, who becomes genuinely happy all of a sudden.
Azula humphs lightly and ignores her.
“We have a problem.” says Nuwa seriously, walking up to Azula by the crib.
“We always have some idiots causing us problems.” grumbles Azula. “Let’s just live in the Spirit Realm like you said.”
Nuwa replies, “Babe.. I already told you why I wouldn’t fit there. It’s too backwoods for me and you know my hobbies.. I wouldn’t want to peep on animals and spirits mating. I’m ok if you want to live there with Tulen. I’d need several people to guard my body in turns for the long periods of time I’d be spending outside of my shell though.”
Azula grunts and says, “Forget it. I wouldn’t be fine with your body being defenceless for the entire time you’re with me.”
Hugging her tight, Nuwa says, “I love you too. Now, don’t freak out but the Sun Warriors have come claiming that they’re looking for their Sacred Son. I’m pretty sure they mean Tulen, since they’re an ancient tribe that worships the Sun and idolizes dragons.”
Azula starts heating up.
Nuwa reassures her, “Relax, relax. They’re a peaceful bunch. He’d actually be close by here and safe growing up with them. The thing is.. I’m worried that they’ll put him on a pedestal of worship, which could, in turn, distort his ego and morals. I think as long as we don’t leave him there too long, it should be fine. What do you think about my plan to get some free babysitters?”
Azula watches Nuwa raise her nose to the air proudly and finally understands what Heza meant. Nuwa really doesn’t treat Tulen like how a mother should treat her son. She is missing the maternal instinct to always care for their baby that mothers are supposed to have. Nuwa even seems happy to avoid being around and caring for Tulen. Azula looks into Nuwa’s eyes deeply while Nuwa looks back with some confusion. Finally, Azula says, “If we eventually need to take a vacation and you’re right that we can trust these Sun Warriors, then fine.”
Nuwa senses some turbulent emotions from Azula, but guesses it’s because of the Sun Warriors. “Cool, let’s go to the throne room and see how hard of a line they’ll take.”
Azula holds Tulen and looks at him with pity. She wants Nuwa to genuinely be a mother to him, but she’s aware of Nuwa’s complicated feelings about the matter. Nuwa is a surrogate mother. Some surrogate mothers develop bonds with the babies they carry that last their whole lives, others are happy to be rid of them, and others are neutral. Nuwa is more neutral about him. There’s bad biological mothers too, but in general, the hormones of pregnancy and pains of labor do a great job instilling in biological mothers a need to protect and love their babies.
Nuwa didn’t have the hormonal issues that the other girls had, nor did she have as painful or long of a labor. But the most important factor was the psychological factor: she felt that she felt that she had let Azula down. Even though Azula forgave her, she didn’t forgive herself. Nuwa is vaguely aware of this, but doesn’t really know what to do to change her own mindset. How is someone able to arbitrarily love another more simply because they are supposed to?
For now, Nuwa is [Acting] like a mother around Tulen, but love is especially hard to act out. She can’t keep it up constantly or else it would bottom out her soul force. [Acting] doesn’t let her think like a mother when it comes to decision-making either, which is how Azula caught on.
~ ~ ~
Back in the throne room, the Sun Warriors enter the hall casually, led by Aang, Toph, and Dan. Zuko is sitting formally upon the stage. Behind him, June, Aiwei, Sokka, and Yue are putting away a deck of cards. He says, “Welcome.. Travelers?”
The chief steps forward and salutes Zuko with respect as he chuckles warmly, “Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko. I’m glad you kicked that old coot, Ozai, out and are finally ending the war. Ever since Sozin, the Fire Nation’s interpretation of fire has brought true shame to all of us firebenders. The Fire Nation will surely thrive under your leadership.”
Zuko replies with a bit of a smug attitude, “Thank you too, travelers. It was a difficult endeavor, but we finally succeeded! Anyway, are you dropping by for a friendly visit? I’m not sure why you got into a fight with my guards?”
The chief coughs awkwardly and explains, “We are a secret tribe of firebenders. That’s all I can tell you about us at this moment. We do have a specific purpose for coming here and now I realize that my tribesman got a bit too excited about seeking entry. As I said to the guards earlier, we believe that the Sacred Son of our tribe has come unto this world here.”
“Umm.. What's a Sacred Son?” Zuko replies with slightly exaggerated cluelessness upon hearing the keywords Nuwa had emphasized.
The chief looks around sneakily and notices that the throne room is a bit too crowded. Taking the hint, Zuko dismisses the guards despite their protests, and only keeps the gang with him. “Speak freely, there are only those I trust among us.”
With a deep breath to build suspense, the chief says, “The Sacred Son is described in our sacred texts as a man descended from a dragon!”
Zuko puts on a surprised face and attempts to avoid the topic, “Why does it have to be a Son? What about Sacred Daughters? Is your tribe sexist?”
The tribesmen put on odd faces and start murmuring to each other in confusion. A feisty tribe woman steps forward and says, “Of course there might be a Sacred Daughter too!” The chief looks over and gives her a deadpan look. She snorts at him and says, “The sacred text is clearly outdated when it comes to gender equality!” The other Sun Warriors make various sounds of agreement.
The chief drops his head and gives himself a facepalm. “Fine, we are here to retrieve the Sacred Child, not that it matters either way.”
The feisty lady gives him a stink eye, but doesn’t comment further.
Watching the scene devolve into chaos, Zuko seems surprised that the chief pulled them back together so quickly. He clears his throat of any remaining stifled laughter and replies in a straightforward face, “I don’t believe we have any children that have been born of any dragons.”
The chief strokes his graying, pointy beard and says with narrowing eyes, “Perhaps I can recollect your memory. The baby should have been born recently and may have draconic traits. The outside world will not be safe for him or her, not with dragons being hunted so fervently. It is absolutely vital that the child is brought back to the safety of our tribe at once.”
Zuko begins sweating slowly. ‘How’d these random guys find out about Nuwa’s baby with so much clarity!’
He dons an uncomfortable, but apologetic, face and says, “Old man, we don’t have any babies like that around here.”
The chief smiles subtly, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a shiny golden rock that tugs on Zuko’s Heart chakra, which is the basis of his firebending, the moment he sees it. “This is the sunstone, our tribe’s sacred artifact. It can help you improve your understanding of fire. How about we trade custody? We’ll keep the child safe and you can keep our sacred artifact safe.”
Zuko gulps nervously. He feels like he could make a breakthrough in his firebending with that stone. Meanwhile, the tribesmen start murmuring about how far the chief is going to keep things cordial when they could fight through any resistance, take the baby, and leave. They seem to believe that the baby is immune to fire.
Nuwa and Azula come into the throne room from a side door at this time with Tulen in Azula’s arms. The sunstone shines brightly upon their entry, which causes all the tribesmen to look fanatically at the baby. Azula tightens her hug around the sleeping Tulen and instinctively releases her killing intent and soul pressure upon the Sun Warriors.
At first, the chief shows momentary surprise at Azula’s spiritual attainments, but otherwise shows no reaction, while the other Sun Warriors take a step back in fear. Soon, he begins smiling and says to Azula, “Good. The Sacred Son can only be born from a remarkably powerful young woman like yourself.”
He’s misunderstanding who the real mother is, but Nuwa doesn’t really care to dispute. She sighs and says with [Acting], “I’m guessing our son is the Sacred Son. We want Tulen to have as normal of a life as possible. He cannot go with you, but we can visit occasionally. How’s that sound?”
The tribesmen start to get their courage back as they protest angrily, while the feisty girl curses about female underrepresentation, but the chieftain gestures for them to stop. He closes his eyes and puts the sunstone above his Heart. After 20 seconds, he looks at Azula, despite Nuwa being the one speaking to him. “We will do what his mother says. What is it that you want for him?”
Azula feels awkward being addressed as Tulen’s mother, but she remembers Heza’s words about how she may have to be a mother. She turns to Nuwa, who is looking at her reassuringly. Azula steps up and approximately repeats what Nuwa says, “He’ll stay here for now. You can post one or two of your own here for his protection if you’d like. Otherwise, we can visit, but we don’t want him to live there.”
The chief nods as if expecting this outcome and tosses the sunstone to Nuwa. “This stone has been tied to him. Keep it secret and safe, since it can be used to track him.”
The chief then starts walking out. Their tribe is very much dedicated to seclusion, so they are heading straight back into hiding. The tribesmen begin shouting out angry protests at returning with neither the Sacred Sun nor the sacred artifact, but they are again silenced by the chief. He scolds, “Silence! Will you rip the Sacred Son away from his own mother? If you’re that dedicated to him, then learn the Fire Nation culture adequately and sign up as his maid or bodyguard.”
Then, he leans over to whisper to them out of the earshot of everyone else, “Our fates are already tied. He will come to us on his own when it is time. We have dozens of those sunstones too.” The tribesmen calm down hearing this and reluctantly follow him out.
Nuwa and Azula are surprised to see them go so anticlimactically, when earlier they looked at Tulen with such fanaticism. They share a suspicious glance with each other while Aang, Toph, Dan, and the guards lead them out of the palace. Nuwa mutters, “That old man looks like he has something up his sleeves. Well, whatever. He’s harmless. Forget it. Let’s go back to sleep.”
Azula still seems worried, but Nuwa further assures her that the old man means no harm and joins her in bed with Tulen cradled protectively between them. Nuwa gives Tulen a mild stink eye for blocking access to her cock, but she can tell Azula isn’t in the mood, so she grumbles and dozes off.
(A/N: Nuwa’s got a lot of learning to do about motherhood! Sun Warriors chief is a chill bloke, unlike the feisty feminist.)