Author's Note: Here's a one-off character study inspired by my W.I.T.C.H./Avatar What If story, "What If Zuko Won?", which is in the W.I.T.C.H. section and features the cast of both W.I.T.C.H. and Avatar . In "What If Zuko Won", the Prince of the Fire Nation (using the power of W.I.T.C.H.'s Heart of Candracar) single-mindedly pursues his destiny (a destiny the Avatar creators wimped out on) and is itself a spinoff of my epic "W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar" (Read it! It's great!)
This is a short tale of the new Fire Nation from the perspective of a troubled teen girl who unknowingly meets her idol. It occurs immediately before, during, and after "What If Zuko Won?"'s pivotal Day of Black Sun chapter (Chapter 5), which is vastly different from Avatar's DOBS. The only similarity is both feature an invasion during an eclipse. Everything else is changed. My Day of Black Sun is even better than Avatar's. IMHO, of course. Seriously, it's damn good, and the showcase battle, Toph the earth bender vs. Cornelia the Earth Guardian, is awesome!!
"Oh no, young lady! You're not going to school looking like that!" said the angry parent as she tore the object out of her daughter's hair.
"Mom! No!!" cried the teen girl.
Storming out of her home, hurt and humiliated, and with her mother watching, the Fire Nation lass made her way to school bereft of her special charm.
So, on the way, she looked around, made sure no one saw her, then stooped down and...grabbed a flower. Placing the bright bloom in her dark locks, she continued on her way.
Because today wasn't any ol' day. Today was special. The day her class was going to travel to the Royal Zoo and see her!
Day of Black Sunlight
By Shawn Evans
Based on events in W.I.T.C.H. in the World of Avatar
W.I.T.C.H. and related characters copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and related characters copyright Nickelodeon
Unfortunately, she wasn't there. Only the flying fire girl made an appearance.
Sulking, Jun Yi separated from the pack, plopped herself down on a zoo bench and threw her flower to the ground in disgust.
Soon, she was joined by another, who sat on the far end of the park furniture.
"Seat's taken." Jun Yi calmly announced.
"Excuse me?" the newcomer replied. She nervously fidgeted with the scarf wrapped around her head, a scarf that completely covered her hair.
"I'm using this bench!" Jun snapped.
"Are you waiting for someone?" the new girl asked.
"I was. But it looks like she's a no-show." Jun Yi dejectedly uttered. "The Plant Spirit was supposed to be here, but, never mind!"
"Oh. Sorry." the blue-eyed miss sincerely said. "If it makes you feel any better, the 'Plant Spirit' isn't that special!"
"You know her?!" Jun excitedly inquired of her fellow conversationalist.
"What?? No!" the unnamed girl emphatically denied. "I just...hear stuff. That's all."
"Oh. Sorry to get all up in your face like that." Jun Yi apologized. "I was just...you wouldn't understand."
"Try me." the new arrival said in a clearly interested voice.
"School has always been a pain, but I muddled through." Jun began her tale of woe. "Then the war ended, and I thought things would change. I mean, Fire Lord Zuko is pretty cool. Well, way cooler than Ozai, although, with that scar, he's kind of creepy, too, I guess!"
"Creepy and cool?" the strange teen joked. "Yeah, I totally get that, believe me!"
"But those two girls!" Jun Yi's emotions revved up. "Taranee the Fire Angel and Cornelia the Plant Spirit! I mean, wow!!"
"You like them, huh?" the unknown girl giggled.
"Who wouldn't??" Jun Yi replied. "They're totally awesome!"
"I sense a 'but' in there..." said the sensitive newcomer.
"But...Not everyone agrees. A bunch of us at school started putting flowers in our hair. We called ourselves the 'Precious Flowers'." Jun elaborated.
"That sounds wonderful!" the bright-eyed lass stated.
"The school headmaster didn't think so! He banned flowers from the school!" Jun Yi pouted.
"That's too bad." the conversationalist commiserated.
"Yeah, but it didn't end there! Then came the fights!" Jun Yi sadly added. "Over stupid things, like, who was stronger...The Fire Angel or the Plant Spirit?"
"Really??" said the very surprised young girl.
"You'd have to be a moron not to realize it's the Plant Spirit! I mean, come on, she's a Spirit! Plus, she defeated Fire Lord Ozai all by herself!" Jun argued.
"Would you believe she beat Ozai through sheer luck?" the incognito teen told the disbelieving Jun Yi. Then she quickly added "Er, that's what I hear, anyway!"
"But the school stuff wasn't the worst part." Jun Yi sighed.
"No?" the new girl responded.
"No. The worst part is my parents!" Jun bitched. "They're so old and fuddy-duddy, they don't realize the world's changing right before their eyes!" Then her demeanor changed, and Jun Yi managed a smile. "Heh. Did you know there was a traveling musician staying at the inn who sings songs making fun of Fire Lord Zuko?"
"No, I didn't know that." the conversational companion replied. "What kind of songs?"
"Funny ones!" Jun Yi answered. "Like, 'There once was a girl from Firetucket'..."
"Hold on! I think I heard that one!" the long-legged lass quickly put a stop to the dirty limerick.
"And he had dance songs, too! But the important thing is, no one arrested him! The police, the soldiers, all left him alone! That never would have happened under Ozai!" Jun Yi exulted.
"That's great!" the stranger agreed.
"Yeah, but the 'rents..!" Jun Yi inhaled deeply, then drew out her exhalation. "My parents still think it's like the old ways. They're worried that something will happen to me!"
"Well, they're parents! So sure they're worried about you!" the unnamed maid commented.
"No, you don't understand!" Jun Yi explained. "They think there'll be a knock on the door, and the Fire Nation will draft me on the spot into the Army!"
"Oh! But...That's not going to happen. Right?" The junior miss' voice trembled slightly as she asked the question.
"Of course it won't! Zuko ended the war! They don't do that anymore!" Jun Yi complained. "But stupid mom and dad believe things could change like that!" Jun snapped her fingers disdainfully as she said it. "So they're pushing me to marry some nobleman's son I don't even know so I'll be 'set for life'!"
"That's terrible!" the young lady clucked her tongue in sympathetic agreement.
"Oh, listen to me! Moaning about my problems, and I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Jun Yi." she said as she extended her hand.
"Hi, I'm Co-cough-uh, Lillian!" the nervous newcomer spat out as she pumped Jun Yi's hand in greeting.
"Lillian...That's unusual. And that doesn't sound like a Fire Nation accent." the perceptive Jun Yi declared.
"Ah, no. I'm...from the Colonies!" 'Lillian' quickly covered her tracks.
"Really? Me, too!" Jun shared. "My dad works for the government, and we moved here because some job opened up! What about you? What's your story?" Jun Yi innocently inquired.
"Nothing as exciting as that." Lillian opened up. "I had to move here to...stay with relatives."
"What school do you go to?" Jun Yi wondered.
"I, ah, don't go to school. I have a private tutor." Lillian revealed.
"Really? Are you royalty or something?" Jun was impressed. She had never met a VIP before.
"I wish!" Lillian laughed. Then her mood became much more somber. "No, it's just that my...situation has changed so. Moving here and, separated from my friends and family. It's been tough. But, when it comes right down to it, you'll do anything for the people you love." Lillian averted her eyes, and shuffled her feet.
"Wow. I had no idea! Here I am with my sob story, but you..!" Jun Yi was struck by what the youngster had been through.
Lillian smiled, and put her new friend at ease. "No, it's okay! Living here has been...an adventure. Fun, even! So don't feel sad for me. I'll be back home before you know it!"
Lillian and Jun Yi parted with a hug. "I have to go now, Jun. Don't be so mad at your parents. Sure, they can be a pain, but if they really love you like I think they do, they'll come around! You'll see."
"Yeah. Thanks." Jun thought about it. So much so she barely noticed Lillian's head scarf bunched up, revealing wisps of golden hair.
"Bye." Jun Yi waved to her newfound friend.
Jun turned around and walked toward her school group. Then she realized she forgot something.
Wheeling 'round, Jun Yi spied Lillian exiting the zoo through a little-used back door.
Jun ran to catch her. "Lillian!" she called out. "Some of the school kids are having a dance at the inn! Do you want to..."
But found her way blocked. By large, beefy, Fire Nation Royal Guardsmen!
"...Oof!" Jun bounced off an armored soldier.
"Hey! Watch it, kid!" the guard barked.
"But, Lillian..." Jun Yi, lying on the ground, began.
Then she saw a fiery person descend from the sky.
Fire, flying? The Fire Angel? Jun thought to herself. Then she determined the figure was a man. Fire Lord Zuko?
The Fire Lord entered the guarded carriage.
The same carriage that held the girl who called herself Lillian!
As the mongoose dragons at its head pulled the carriage away, Jun had a revelation...
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"...It was her! The Plant Spirit!" Jun Yi shouted. And got a mouthful of fist for her trouble. "Unhhh!"
Sprawled on the school floor, Jun struggled to get up and defend herself.
"Yeah, sure, Jun! You met the Plant Spirit! Shut your lying mouth!" the scornful, petite leader of the 'Precious Flowers' girl gang ordered. Though small (woefully undersized, really), the snobby girl no doubt felt secure in her position due to the fact that next to her stood the Fire Nation she-hulk who pounded Jun into the ground. Both members of this odd couple wore flowers in their hair, although the big girl, strangely enough, sported long, blonde tresses.
"It's true! She had hair of gold, and she was with Zuko!" Jun Yi claimed.
"Yeah, right! Everyone knows the Plant Spirit is, like, seven feet tall! She's not some kid!" An Sui, the leader of the 'Precious Flowers', exclaimed.
"She's supposed to be able to change her appearance, too! So why couldn't she look like a kid?" Jun forcefully argued her case.
"Ryoko..." An Sui unleashed her beast to exact more punishment.
But before the pumped-up 'Precious Flower' could continue her beating of the second year student, Jun seized a portrait of the Fire Lord off the school wall and slammed it into Ryoko's head, dislodging the behemoth's 'Plant Spirit' wig and revealing her big bald cranium!
Jun might even have won the fight.
Except the school disciplinarian broke it up.
"That's enough!" he ordered. School security then took the battling girls into custody.
"Seeng as how you girls like fighting so much..." the school headmaster informed Jun Yi and Ryoko in his office. "...I've invited someone here who can make better use of your energies."
The headmaster motioned to the door, and an Army sergeant entered!
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You were drafted??" Jun Yi's horrified mother cried.
"No, Ma, it's not like that!" Jun attempted to explain. "It's community service, so I have to work temporarily for the home front defense forces. They said it'd be simple labor. Not combat!"
"Because you were fighting! Wait till your father gets home!" Jun's mother threatened.
"I wasn't fighting! I was defending myself!!" Jun Yi yelled at her mother. But the older woman ignored Jun's protests. Why doesn't she understand? Jun seethed with rage, but was helpless to change the situation.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Jun was ordered to clean the weapons in the armory. No problem. she thought.
Then to launder the soldiers' stinky clothes. I can do that. she believed.
"And make sure you get all the mongoose dragon droppings off the boots! Ha ha!" the sergeant jeered.
Okay. Not so much fun. Jun Yi bitched.
As Jun struggled to scrub the feces-caked footwear, she made a mental note to write a letter to Fire Lord Zuko and ask him to put diapers on the mongoose dragons. She had heard he took requests, plus he was on a big kick to 'clean up' the Fire Nation, so why not give it a shot?
Then her mind drifted to more important matters.
For the last couple days her parents and, she noticed, a few other adults, had seemed more nervous than usual. Jun had overheard them mention a 'dark day', but thought it had to do with financial matters. She had no idea what was to occur.
BOOM!
The Fire Nation capital was under attack!
By the Avatar!
Running out of the army barracks, Jun Yi glimpsed the gliding air bender high in the sky!
Also, some huge, furry, flying animal.
Must be his air bison! Jun surmised.
Then her sightseeing was broken up by the arrival of the earth bender vehicles!
WHAM!
KRA-KOOM!
Their boulders tore into the capital's buildings!
As Jun sought cover, the local fire bending militia ran past her to engage the enemy in battle!
The city's defenders forced the Allied tribes of earth, air and water back!
Jun thought the danger would soon be over. No one had ever defeated the mighty Fire Nation, after all!
Then...things got dark.
Really dark!
The eclipse had arrived, and with it, the loss of fire bending.
Jun Yi couldn't believe what she saw next.
The Fire Nation army...in retreat!
And immediately after that, the air was full of earth bent projectiles!
Rocks and boulders crashed into buildings all around!
Jun ducked for cover, but not everyone was as fast as her.
A child, separated from her mother in the panicked evacuation, wandered in the street.
With a small dot in the sky, that steadily grew larger and larger, drawing ever closer to making landfall.
The tot was going to be crushed! Killed!
Jun leapt into action!
She grabbed the kid, and was about to jump to safety, when she saw it.
Her doom!
The huge boulder rocketed toward her.
Jun froze, and then it was too late to do anything.
She quickly thought of her parents, how they had been right about everything...
...Then...
...The boulder veered off course and landed harmlessly in the field beyond the city's buildings!
It was promptly joined by other launched, rocky weapons of war and destruction!
Jun and the child were saved! But how??
Jun Yi noticed other city residents looking up, behind her.
She turned around, and saw...The most wonderful thing. Ever.
The Plant Spirit!
Flying!
With a wave of her arms, Cornelia the telekinetic Plant Spirit effortlessly sent the stony missiles...elsewhere.
And all the oh so sophisticated capital city urbanites could do was stare. Their lack of respect angered the young Fire National.
"What's the matter with you people??" Jun ripped into the lackadaisical crowd. "The Plant Spirit just saved all your worthless lives!"
Then, as one, the citizens of the Fire Nation bowed down to their savior.
(A savior who, by the way, took no notice of their fealty, as she was already on her way to confront the invaders, soaring high into the atmosphere so she could use the dark shade of the eclipsed sun to hide her arrival).
Jun Yi heard the motorized approach of the Allies' war machines in the distance.
And then...nothing.
Silence.
She knew what that meant.
The Plant Spirit had stopped the foreign intruders in their tracks!
(Plus, Jun could see huge plants towering over the city, the earth tanks trapped in their sinewy vines. Some of the plants were even as high as the mountain where Fire Lord Zuko was building that dome-shaped thing, Jun noted to herself).
Jun Yi swelled with pride. No one was more powerful than the Plant Spirit! The Fire Nation teen was so pleased with herself, that she had picked the mightiest and strongest warrior to idolize!
Jun placed a flower in her hair in tribute to their Spirit benefactor, an action immediately copied by others on the scene.
The ferocious battle for the capital city was soon over, the enemy forces in full retreat and, despite being on clean-up duty, Jun abandoned her post to search for her heroine. Cornelia, the savior of the Nation! The mighty Plant Spirit!
What she found was…unexpected, to say the least.
Cornelia wandered, almost as if in a daze, through the Royal Gardens. And she was crying!
Apparently someone had died in the battle. Jun overheard Cornelia mention a name: "Sokka.' Jun wondered if Sokka was Cornelia's Spirit World lover, come down from the Heavens to lend his lady aid, only to fall victim to the cowardly weapons of the earth benders!
Though obviously distraught, Cornelia didn't step on a single flower in the garden as she made her way to the Palace entrance, Jun noticed. She deftly stepped aside, sparing the multi-colored blooms.
Finally, Jun Yi caught up to her larger-than-life idol. But, given Cornelia's turbulent emotional state, the young Fire Nation girl did not know what to say.
So Jun plucked the flower from her hair and offered it to the weeping Spirit.
Who, at that point, didn't seem much like a Spirit at all.
Instead, she appeared…human. So very, very human. In fact, so very much like the girl she met that day on a bench at the zoo.
Cornelia took the flower and held it in her hand.
"Thank you." she simply said.
Then Cornelia went into the Palace to be alone in her grief.
At precisely the wrong time for Jun Yi! The Royal Guards seized her!
"Trespasser, eh? Well, little missy, you know what the penalty for that is, don't you?" the guard threatened.
"No! Lillian! Wait!!" Jun screamed in terror.
"Ha! There's no 'Lillian' here to save you, stupid peasant!" the cruel guard taunted her.
"No. Let her go. She's a friend." Cornelia stood in the doorway, her voice commanding and resolute despite her recent trauma.
"As you say, milady." The guard instantly released Jun. Then, as quickly as she appeared, Cornelia was gone again.
"If I were you, girly, I wouldn't push my luck!" The guard, who was following Zuko's orders to protect Cornelia at all costs, cautioned the rebellious teen.
Jun Yi decided that was pretty good advice, and left the Palace grounds.
When she got home, she didn't tell her parents where she'd been. Jun lied, and told them she was stationed at the port, which saw no action at all.
In fact, in the days to come, she didn't tell anyone what had happened to her. Or that the 'Plant Spirit' (who really wasn't a Spirit) considered her a friend. Jun spent the time trying to make sense of it all. She learned Sokka was no Spirit lover, and was, in reality, some Water Tribe nobody who led the invasion forces!
This caused Jun considerable anguish!
Why would Cornelia be so upset at an enemy's death?
Then Jun Yi remembered the flowers in the garden, and how Cornelia avoided trampling them.
And it all became clear.
Cornelia wasn't just a 'Plant Spirit'. She was so much more. She was all life. And everything, no matter what or who, from the smallest blade of grass to, yes, the life of an enemy, had value!
All life was sacred.
It was a life-changing moment for Jun. It went against so much of what they had taught her over the years in school, but she knew it was right! (Plus, she finally figured out the whole environmental thing Fire Lord Zuko was doing!)
She wondered about going back to see Cornelia/Lillian.
Then decided not to press it. Jun had only met her by a stroke of luck, after all. The two girls traveled in different worlds.
Plus, she liked having secret knowledge no one else knew. Let the others make fools of themselves with their false image of the 'Plant Spirit'. Jun knew the truth.
That the 'Plant Spirit' was really a girl like her.
Young. Unsure. Scared. Of the unknown, sure. Of being an outcast, friendless, alone...maybe. But mostly, scared of losing those closest to you.
What do you do then? Whatever you can, and pray it's enough.
Jun Yi thought about things, about what she learned, about her future, and told her parents she'd meet the son of the nobleman. But she wouldn't promise anything more than that.
Also, she decided to study a new subject in school. Airships! Jun heard the Fire Lord was making a big push to expand into the skies for peaceful purposes - observation, transport, communications - and she wanted to be in on that!
But Jun wasn't about to tell her parents of her decision.
Well, not right away, in any case.
The future was looking very good, indeed!
The sky's the limit, right?
Or maybe not. Maybe it was limitless.
Whatever the case, Jun would be there, ready to take it on.
Notes
This is my teen/school drama story. There's a lot of such drama in W.I.T.C.H., but it's lacking in my W.I.T.C.H. fics because in my stories they're away from home. This is a way to make up for that.
I think any kid going to school in the Fire Nation would have to be tough, or they'd be stomped on. It's very Darwinian/survival of the fittest. So there probably aren't very many of the soft, princessy types, like Cornelia. (Maybe in the exclusive, elite Royal Fire Academy, where Daddy is the General and the kids are watched over like hawks, they have princesses. But not in the public school). So someone like Cornelia, who's soft AND strong, has undeniable appeal to the kids, especially the girls, who attend school.
I see Ryoko as the illegitimate daughter of Combustion Man, and An Sui as a bargain basement Azula. That is, An Sui is not rich or powerful like Azula, but she is just as mean and devious.
In case anyone hasn't read it, in "What If Zuko Won", Prince Zuko 'convinces'/forces Cornelia the Earth Guardian (called the 'Plant Spirit' by the people, because in the Avatar's world earth benders can't affect plant life) and Taranee the Fire Guardian (called the 'Fire Angel' because she can fly) of W.I.T.C.H. to overthrow Fire Lord Ozai. Zuko, who possesses the Heart of Candracar, could easily do it himself, but he has his reasons for involving the two Guardians.
Lillian is the name of Cornelia's younger sister. This isn't the first time Cornelia used her sister's name to conceal her own identity (Cornelia did it in the TV episode F is for Facades in Season 2 of W.I.T.C.H.)
One of Fire Lord Zuko's changes is that he does not send juvenile delinquents to 'reform school' (that is, the coal mines, as mentioned in Avatar Episode 3-2, The Headband). Public service is the order of the day.
Witnessing innocent Fire Nation citizens in danger explains why Corny's so ticked off at Toph and the other invaders in Chapter 5 of What If Zuko Won?
This story is meant to express the hope that, while things may look bleak in the main storyline (and it's only going to get worse - a LOT worse - before it gets better), on the larger scale, our heroes are winning. They're changing hearts and minds, changing people's lives and, through them, changing the Fire Nation and the world.