Resting in the Flames
At the fire nation, a young man with black hair, blue eyes, and fire nation clothing gets up as a knock is heard outside his door. He gets his armor on and approaches the door. He opens the door sleepily and looks at the man in fire nation armor on the other side. "Yes, what is it?" The young man asks sleepily, rubbing his eyes before yawning. "Commander Xiong, we've been assigned to take Kyoshi Island." The soldier says apologetically for waking him up. "Okay, have you already informed the rest of the men Chang?" Xiong says waking up at the sound of the orders. "Yes, you say to wake you up last so that you can think properly. You haven't failed us yet, but Fire Lord Ozai says this will be our hardest task and you should know that failure is unacceptable." Chang says nodding his head. "I cannot guarantee him victory, but I can guarantee him that I will make it known that no place is safe from the fire nation." Xiong says. "Agreed sir." Chang says as he and Xiong head toward the fire nation boat.
Once they arrive at the boat, all the men near the boat stand up and salute Xiong. "You guys don't have to salute me. We are brothers and we'll always do what is best for each other." Xiong says a bit embarrassed. The men relax. "Sir, we are ready to depart for Kyoshi Island." One soldier said. "Good, let's get this over with so we can get our rewards, what do you say guys?" Xiong says energetically, raising his fist into the air. The men all cheer energetically before Xiong and his men all run toward the boat. The boat sends out several whistles before departing. Xiong heads straight toward his room. He enters his room and sits down in front of two pictures. "Mother. Father. I promise to make the two of you proud. What General Iroh said to me before he left the Fire Nation troubles me." Xiong says toward the pictures.
The scene changes back onto the docks at the fire nation. Xiong is standing in front of Iroh. "General Iroh, what are you saying?" Xiong says surprised for some reason. "I'm saying that my destiny is at Ba Sing Se. Your destiny isn't what you believe it to be, but if you keep your mind and heart open, your destiny will reward you." Iroh says before passing Xiong. Xiong turns around to face Iroh. "Iroh, I don't know what you mean. My destiny is to serve the fire nation til it unites the world or until I meet the same fate as my parents." Xiong says as he watches Iroh walks away.
The scene returns to his boat. Xiong is still daydreaming about that day when a knock on his door snaps him back to reality. Xiong shakes his head and gets up. He turns toward the door and walks toward it. He opens up the door. "Sir, the avatar has just been seen flying away from Kyoshi Island. Should we follow him?" The soldier says. "No Ling. The avatar is Zuko's destiny, he'll catch him eventually. Keep on course for Kyoshi Island." Xiong says shaking his head. "Aye aye sir. You ready to take command or do you need more time?" Ling says looking at the pictures. Xiong looks under his shoulder to look at the pictures. "I'm fine, thank you for your concern though." Xiong says as he walks toward the bridge, Ling moves to the side to allow him to pass.
At the bridge, all the men are hyped up and ready to fight. "We ready to go men?" Xiong says pumping his fist into the air. "YEAH!" The men yell together. "Alright men, let's help fire lord Ozai." Xiong says as the boat pulls up on the shore of Kyoshi Island. Once the boat's on the shore, all the men and Xiong run off. "Okay men, this will be simple. Draw out the Kyoshi warriors and defeat them, once they are out of the way, the island will surrender." Xiong says with his back toward the majority of the island. "Sir." One soldier says pointing behind Xiong. "I was hoping for this to be a surprise, but I take it the smoke gave us away." Xiong says after turning around before sighing. "Pretty much, the avatar isn't here." Suki says in front of the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. "I know, I saw him flee, he's not my target, this island is." Xiong says with his men in battle stance. "You won't take this island." Suki says before the Kyoshi warriors cheer. "We should have this elsewhere, this land doesn't give us that much room without hitting each other." Xiong says concerned for his men. "Agreed, we'll take this to the forest." Suki says as she and the warriors lead Xiong and his men to the forest.
Once they arrive at the forest. "You going to give up?" Xiong says despite he already knows the answer. "I was going to ask you the same thing." Suki says surprised, but just as determined. "Fine. Men, you deal with the warriors, I'll take on the leader." Xiong says and his men nod their heads in agreement. "I have a name fire nation follower, it's Suki. Warriors, leave the commander to me." Suki says introducing herself to Xiong. "I have a name myself. It's Xiong." Xiong says introducing himself to Suki.
Xiong's men and the Kyoshi warriors fight as Xiong and Suki face each other. Xiong sends three fireballs toward Suki. Suki bats the first two into the air using her fans and avoids the third one by rolling to the side. Suki throws her fan at Xiong. Xiong jumps into the air and kicks her fan to the side and it gets stuck in a tree. Xiong sends a wave of flames at Suki. Suki runs and jumps over the wave of flames. She lands on the ground and skids toward her fan. She grabs her fan from the tree. Xiong turns to face Suki and sees that two of his men are knocked out. "This...this can't be happening." Xiong says surprised and slightly scared. "Must be your first time on the war front. Now you see what happens in war and what it costs." Suki says concerned but still on guard. "I know what it costs, I lost my parents in the war." Xiong says closing his eyes before abruptly opening them.
Xiong sends a pulse of flame at Suki before jumping into the air, sending four fireballs at her. Suki avoids the pulse and three of the fire balls, but she gets hit by the last one and gets knocked back. "I'll show you why I'm called the young phoenix." Xiong says energetically. "You are skilled, but I can't say the same about your allies." Suki says as she points her fans to the side. Xiong looks to the side and sees half his men are knocked out. He turns back to Suki and sends seven fire balls toward her followed by a flame wave. Suki bats the fireballs to her sides and jumps over the wall and sends both of hers fands at Xiong. Xiong knocks the first fan to the side and it gets stuck in the ground. The second fan hits his face and he gets knocked back, sliding several inches before stopping. He looks up with a slash mark over his left eye.
Xiong looks around and sees that he's the only person in his group who's not knocked out. "I'll make you a deal. If I win our showdown, you'll leave the fire nation." Suki says concerned. "And if I win, you'll have this island surrender?" Xiong says relaxing for a while. "Sounds good to me." Suki says letting down her guard. "Same here." Xiong says agreeing to the wager. Suki and Xiong look at each other before Xiong sends a trio of waves at Suki. Suki slides under the first one which was a high wave. She jumps over the second one which was a low wave and creates a hole inside the third wave which was too high to jump over but too low to crouch under.
Suki rushes toward Xiong and swipes her fans at Xiong. Xiong blocks both fans with his arms. Xiong and Suki look at each other before the both jump back away from each other. Xiong sends a pair of flame whips at Suki. Suki jumps over both of them at once and sends one fan at Xiong. Xiong jumps over the fan and slams it into the ground before landing on top of it. He looks up and sees Suki fly kicking toward him. He gets hit in the chest and goes flying into a tree. He falls to the ground and tries to get up, but doesn't have enough strength. "Looks like I won." Suki says smiling, happy with her victory. Xiong laughs for a while. "Looks like you have. I am a person of my word. Can I just asked for your help to get my men back aboard my ship? After they are all on, I'll allow your comrades to exit the ship before I depart." Xiong says looking around at his men.
Suki puts her right hand under her chin thinking it over for a while. "Sure, I don't trust you, but you care for your men unlike most fire nation soldiers I know." Suki says as the warriors carries Xiong's men on their shoulders. "They aren't my men. They are my brothers, and I don't leave my family behind." Xiong says as he walks back toward his ship. After several minutes, all of Xiong's men are on the ship and the last warrior exits the ship. Xiong and Suki stand, facing each other, Suki on the beach, Xiong on the retractable door of the ship. "If you weren't fire nation, we could've been friends." Suki says disappointed and slightly saddened. "We'll still be friends, I'll leave the fire nation. Just feel bad for my men." Xiong says looking at his men, who are all still unconscious, some moving though. "I'll be glad when we are friends. See you soon... as allies." Suki says as the retractable door begins to retract. "We'll meet again." Xiong says as the door closes. Suki and the Kyoshi warriors head back to the town as the ship turns around and heads back to the fire nation.
On the way back to the ship, Xiong looks at the sea as he hears a voice. "Commander?" A voice says from behind Xiong. Xiong turns around and sees that all of his men are now awake. "Yes, what is it you guys?" Xiong says as he walks over to his men. "What's going to happen now?" Chang says worriedly. "I am sticking to my word... I am leaving the fire nation." Xiong says depressed. His men are all shocked by the news. "Why would you do that? You said that it's your destiny to unite the land." Ling says surprised. "I will. What we are doing isn't unity, but conquest. I'll be denouncing the war to officially make it known I'm no longer with the fire nation. When I do that, I want you all to attack me." Xiong says looking at the ceiling. "Commander, we can't do that. We've been through too much just to throw it all away in an instance." A soldier says. "Li, I know, but I'd rather go down by myself, than to take you all down with me." Xiong says shaking his head. "Commander, if only the fire nation was led by you at times." Li says looking at the floor. "Nothing, we can do about it now. Let's drink one last time as allies, alright men." Xiong says as he holds up a glass. The men all raise their glasses and drink one final time.
Once the ship arrives back at the fire nation dock, Xiong and his men head to the center of the fire nation. A speaker is standing in front of a crowd of fire nation civilians, saying about how they will win the war. The civilians are all sitting down. Xiong and his men stand on the outside of the crowd and sit down. "We will win this war and the world will be united under our wonderful fire lord Ozai." The speaker says inspiring the crowd. Xiong stands up, making himself stand out in the crowd. "Commander, are you sure about this?" Li says looking up at Xiong. "I have a promise to keep. Just be ready to attack me." Xiong says looking back at Li, a new spark in his eyes. "Okay commander." Li says admiring the spark. "I only hate seeing how Ty Lee will react to the news." Xiong says looking at the sky. "The guys and I knew you had someone you had feelings for, we just didn't know who." Li says victoriously. "Oh, be quiet." Xiong says his face blushing. "Okay commander." Li says chuckling, never seeing his commander's face so red before.
"This isn't unity, this is conquest." Xiong says surprising the civilians and they all look at him. "Young phoenix, why are you going against what you once stood for unwaveringly?" The speaker says looking at Xiong. "Unity doesn't involve taking another's life or destroying another's land. That is conquest." Xiong says still proud of his decision. "They won't see things our way." The speaker says continuing his pointless task of trying to convince Xiong. "Unity does come with disagreements, but compromise is the point of unity, not forcing others to see our way." Xiong says still standing strong. "YOU AREN'T OUR COMMANDER!" Ling yells as he and the rest of Xiong's men get up and fire bend toward Xiong. Xiong moves gracefully among the flames and when the smoke clears, Xiong is gone. "Find that traitor." Chang says as Xiong's men looks around in an organized fashion, looking around for Xiong. "It's good to see you aren't following your commander's path. You are all true members of the fire nation. You will be reassigned to Zhao's group to find the avatar and hopefully the exiled prince Zuko." The speaker says before he sends a messenger hawk to the fire nation capital.
"Your ex-captain is now a traitor to the fire nation." The speaker says frowning.
Xiong runs into the wood with several bags of food on his back. "This will hold me out until the fire nation festival." Xiong says as he runs to a shack. "Good thing I set this up as a private sanctuary. Not even the guys know about this." Xiong says as he runs into the shack. He sets up a hammock for himself and three other hammocks for the food he bought. "Now that I have sometime to think to myself, I can really see what General Iroh said when he left. My job is to unite the land, but not under the banner of the fire nation, but as the avatar's firebending teacher." Xiong says as he relaxes in his hammock. He falls asleep after several minutes.