So, here it is: the thank you to all my reviewers of my first story "Conclusion of Peace".
A special thanks to my 100th reviewer xyzisme with your challenge you gave me lots of beautiful ideas for this story and some more.
And a big thank to Appa-Appa-Away for being my beta.
Fire Proof
When Zuko told us he had lost his bending, all I could think was 'Serves him right!' and 'Why didn't this happen sooner?', but when they made plans to go and search for these stupid Sun Warriors, ice cold fear gripped my heart.
This is a trap! You have to give it to him; Zuko is an amazing actor. He plays his role very convincing, but he can't fool me, not again. Now that I'm aware of it, I won't let my guard down.
"Not so fast!" I intervene as Aang and Zuko get ready to leave, "You don't actually think I am so stupid as to let you take Aang away from us? This is what you've wanted for years and now you've finally tricked Aang into going willingly with you. But you can't fool me!"
Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Toph shaking her head sadly and slapping her forehead with her left hand. She still hasn't learned her lesson; she still thinks I am acting stupid. But they will all thank me later for my cautiousness. I won't let Aang get into any danger; I won't take chances with his safety; the safety of the whole world.
"I'm coming with you," I continue, "whether you like it or not. I won't let you two go alone." Pointing my finger at Zuko I growl, "And if you have a problem with that, you can go alone and don't you dare come back before you are ready to teach Aang firebending!"
"Katara …"Aang starts to say. But I don't want to hear any of it; I know he wants me to have faith in Zuko and I know I can't.
"No, Aang! Don't you see? This is a trap, nothing but a cheap trap!"
"I don't mind if you come along," Zuko says, a little too defensive. His act is slipping, good.
Right now, they all think I'm paranoid or stark crazy, but when we return, they will know that I was right; they will be thankful that I hadn't broken down under their condescending glares.
She still doesn't trust me. I hadn't expected her to, if I'm honest, but it hurts, a lot. I still don't know how or why it happened, but suddenly we had been so close, down in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se. And then Aang had to come crashing in, ruining our moment effectively and of course, she had to run to his side immediately. God, I had been so jealous, though I really don't know why, but I'm sure that was part of the reason I made that poor choice back then.
How could I possibly prove that I have changed for good, after that? What can I do to make her see? I only hope that she will realize real soon that I am only here to help. I don't think I can stand the atmosphere much longer. And I hope that this trip ends fast. She is staring daggers at my back, I know it; I can feel it.
"We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster," I complain.
"Appa's right, Zuko. In our group, typically we start out our missions with a more upbeat attitude," Aang retorts, after a strange conversation he'd had with the big furry animal.
A more upbeat attitude?! Any minute now he is going to tell Katara and me to shake hands and forget our stupid quarrel. As if it was that easy. I imagine Sokka sitting beside us making a supposedly funny remark, like, 'More? Katara already beat him up enough with her attitude.'
I only hope that, by the end of this trip, she understands that I'm not the enemy anymore.
It is driving me crazy! We should have left Katara at the Western Air Temple. I know I can trust Zuko; she is worrying for nothing and is seeing signs for betrayal everywhere. Just like that trap the Sun Warriors had build to keep trespassers out. As I stumbled over the rope and almost fell into the sharp spikes, she immediately accused Zuko to have done that on purpose, as if it had been his fault.
And when we were about to open the ancient temple, she told me to stand back, afraid something terrible might come out to attack me. Sometimes I love to be mothered by Katara, but now is not such a time. How am I supposed to concentrate on learning how to firebend when she is constantly nagging?
Hey, what is that? There is an inscription on the first statue, it says "The Dancing Dragon" … hmm, and what could that mean? Oh! I know, these statues they actually …
I try the stance of the first statue and the stone I stand on moves, looking at all the other statues; I realize that they perform some sort of ritual. Excited, I ask Zuko to dance with me. By the look on his face, I must have embarrassed him and I feel really sorry, but in the end, he does it anyway. Katara is smiling and it feels like the sun is finally rising.
We follow the movements of the statues and as we finish the lesson, a little pedestal raises in the middle of the room, with a big, shining stone, the shape of an egg on top. Zuko has to take a closer look; I'm not sure that is a good idea, but before I can voice my concerns, Katara beats me to it.
"Hands off, mister! I just know this is one more of your stupid little traps."
"What? No! Why would you say that?!"
Not listening to her, he takes the egg anyway and is immediately splashed to the ceiling by slimy green stuff, which comes from underneath the egg.
"Ha, I knew it! Aang get out of here, quick!"
"But what about …"
"NOW!"
Something in her voice and demeanour makes me obey without further questioning. But when the heavy stone doors of the temple close behind me, trapping Katara and Zuko inside effectively, I get scared. I had seen the green stuff rising rapidly, if nothing happens soon, my friends will drown in it.
"Are you happy now?!"
"Why should I be happy?! I'm glued to the ceiling, for heaven sake and in a few minutes this slimy glue will swallow me alive, what is there to be happy about?!"
He has a point; of the three of us, he is in the worst position right now, but I'm not much better off. If I don't get a good idea really soon, everything will be lost. At least Aang is safe.
This stuff … what ever it is - it is liquid, so maybe … There is no better way than to just try it. HEY, IT WORKS!
It is far more difficult than simple waterbending; its viscous consistence is making it rather tiring to bend this goo. And it seems I can't stop the flow, but I succeed to keep it at bay, so it doesn't touch me.
Zuko still hangs face down from the ceiling, if this stuff reaches his face it will be his end. Looking into his eyes I see he is truly terrified. I can't be so heartless to let him die like that. To concentrate on two different bending fronts of this gooey stuff is harder than I initially thought. I have to get closer to Zuko quickly; the liquid has almost reached him.
I bend the water in my pouch into a solid area and step onto it. As expected the liquid doesn't stick to the ice and I can surf on it towards Zuko, driving the liquid away from him while I get closer. I am careful not to touch any spot the sticky liquid had already reached, but it is steadily rising and finally, there is no escape. My right shoulder gets caught on the ceiling too, right beside Zuko. With one arm partly trapped, my bending isn't enough and I fear that this is our end. But suddenly the walls shake and the liquid quickly flows away.
Aang had used earthbending to bring a part of the wall down. But my joy for being rescued lasts only a few seconds, when I notice that the small space I am glued to isn't enough to hold me any longer and I start to fall.
I see Katara move slightly towards the ground and her eyes widen in fear. With lightning fast reflexes, I reach out to her and catch her in my arms. As she looks at me, I can see all kinds of emotions warring in her eyes; anger, wonder embarrassment, fear …
"Please, don't let me fall!" she pleads.
"I won't!" I promise shortly.
I couldn't, even if I wanted to, since I'm covered head to toe in the extremely sticky liquid, but there is no use in pointing that little bit of info out to her. I am glad that I managed to catch her; a fall from this high might very well end with a broken neck. And I am glad that I managed to get my arms right around her in time; to imagine that my hands could have also be glued anywhere else on her body right now ... Oh boy, I hope I am not as red as it feels like.
Suddenly, Aang regards us through the grating.
"I can't get you out of there alone. Hang in there, I'll get help!" and before we could say something to stop him, he flies off with his glider.
Shortly after he is gone, I notice that my shirt starts to tear and suddenly we rush towards the floor. I realize that I would crush Katara if I landed on top of her, so I turn our bodies in the air until she is on top. I succeed just in time, but now it's me who is getting crushed and the pain is almost unbearable. "Argh!" I wonder if my spine is broken.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry! You got hurt and I can't help you, because I can't reach your back…" Katara starts to babble. But all of a sudden her demeanour changes, as she obviously gets angry at me again, "and this is all your fault anyway! I told you not to touch the egg!"
I don't feel like arguing with her, I have other problems at the moment. If I wasn't hurting all over and Katara was a little nicer, I would thoroughly enjoy the position we are in … she on top of me, locked in a tight embrace, unable to move away … But as things are, all I'm hoping is for Aang to return real soon and help us out of our predicament.
To my eternal shame, I have to admit, that it actually feels really nice to be in Zuko's strong muscular arms. I really want to help and heal him, but glued to the spot as we are, it just isn't possible. After what seemed like an eternity, but I guess it was really just about half an hour, some strange animals come inside and start to lick away the sticky stuff. But before I can enjoy being able to move, again I realize that we are surrounded by seemingly ancient warriors.
They demand that we go to the firebending masters and neither my protestations that I'm a waterbender nor Zuko's pleas change their minds. I have to give it to him; he really tried hard, he even admited that all of this is entirely his fault.
We are supposed to carry a little flame to the top of the mountain. Great, how am I supposed to do that?! Oh spirits, help, the warrior is placing a flame into my hands; this is going to hurt … or not? Why doesn't … WOAH ... there is a little flame dancing in my hands. How is that possible?!
Questioning, I look at Zuko and notice his mischievous smile. He winks at me and it's then that I realize that he secretly bends my little flame with his left hand, while concentrating on his own with his right. He can be quite inventive when he wants to be. I used to think that this is a bad thing … until now.
As soon as we are out of sight of the warriors, I finally heal Zuko's back and the thankful smile he gives me at that makes me all warm inside. As we resume our way, I start to get serious doubts.
"These are masters; they will notice that it isn't me who's doing the bending."
"Maybe we don't have to bend; maybe it's enough to just present this little flame."
"I don't think so, when have we ever gotten off so easy?"
"Right … so, what about I show you some firebending moves to make it look more convincing?"
"What! Now? I don't think I can …"
"Aw, come on! You are a talented girl; you can do it. Do you remember the moves Aang and I did, down in the temple?"
"Not all of them."
For the next few minutes we train. He's showing me the moves and I am doing my best to imitate them and it seems that I slowly get the hang of it.
"Do you think you could do the firebending for me while we move like that?"
"Yes, I think I can; as long as the flames don't have to be too big. I still have this little problem, remember?"
Aw, he's so cute when he is embarrassed …
We finally reach the top and the Sun Warriors are already there. How did they do it? I haven't seen them go up as well. They must have used a secret pathway. Now the chief tells us that our heats and souls will be read by the masters and if we are found unworthy, they will kill us.
Oh. My. God. What now?!
"Zuko," I hiss, "this can never work! They'll know."
"If the worst is going to happen, you'll still have your waterbending and I have my swords. Together, we can take them on."
'Why did I insist to come with you on this mission? Why didn't I stay safely at the temple? Of course everybody was right about Zuko; he is no longer a threat.' I wonder not for the first time today.
We ascend the many stairs and present "our" fire. A giant, angry snarling dragon comes out of the cave straight at me and I almost wet myself. I close my eyes, expecting full well to be eaten alive, but when nothing happens I tentatively open them again. We are circulated not by one, but two dragons, a red and a blue one.
"What's happening? Are we supposed to do something?" I ask Zuko in a hushed voice.
"I'm not sure … we could try our firebending moves."
"I don't think we could fool a dragon."
"We don't have to. We just do the moves without actually bending. You can do that, right?"
We give it a try and as soon as we are done the dragons sit down at either side of us, regarding us intently. It feels as if they are looking straight into my soul and maybe that's exactly what they do. After a while, the dragon facing me comes closer, we stare into each others eyes and I can see his judgement over me; it doesn't look good.
I feel my knees go weak and my whole body starts to shake violently. I guess this has alerted Zuko to my predicament, because the next thing I know is that he is jumping in front of me going down on his knees and is pleading with the dragon to spare my life. And when he offers his life in exchange for mine, something inside me breaks.
With my inner eye, I see the last few days on fast forward and I finally see Zuko's actions for what they really are; attempts to atone, to make things right. And I wish with all my heart that we both make it out of here alive, so that I get a chance to show him how much I appreciate his help.
Finally, I come back, with Toph and Sokka as backup, but Katara and Zuko are nowhere to be seen. We find them on top of a nearby mountain, but the Sun Warriors, who obviously aren't extinct as everybody assumed, wouldn't let us go near. The chief of he Sun Warriors told us that a sacred ritual is taking place and that the Firebending Masters are about to judge Katara and Zuko and if they are found unworthy, our friends will die.
We watch the events with bated breath. One of the warriors states spitefully that Katara is about to be a dragon snack and I am half glad that my seventh chakra is blocked, or I might go all Avatar on the lot of them. I will be forever thankful to Zuko for saving Katara's life.
Suddenly the dragons spit fire; its one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen, but I feel like dying because Katara and Zuko are engulfed in the flames. I am sure I have lost my friends, my love, until the Chief exclaims that they are deemed worthy.
As Katara and Zuko descend the stairs they both wear awed expressions on their faces.
Of course Sokka has to make fun of them as soon as they reach us.
"Hey, you two, nice dance!"
"We didn't dance!" they answer in unison.
"Ah no?! For me it looked eerily like dancing."
"Katara," I interfere, "that was 'The Dancing Dragon', an ancient and sacred form of firebending! I was so amazed when you performed that!"
That was supposed to be a compliment, so why is she blushing?
"Aw, Sugar Queen, now you learn how to bend fire?! I didn't know you had it in you!" Toph says with a smug smile, "I wonder why the dragons deemed you worthy … could it be that they had seen the new Fire Lady in you?"
"What! Me? No way!" Katara answers heatedly.
Did she just get a deeper shade of red? Curious!
"You can deny all you want, but you can't fool me! The vibes you two send off speak volumes; something happened between you two, something has changed," self-satisfied, Toph folds her arms and looks with her unseeing eyes expectantly at Katara.
"You know you can't lie to me."
Instead of a reply, Katara looks to the ground, biting her lip. When she looks up again, she turns to Zuko and they exchange a deep and meaningful look, leaving me to wonder what exactly had happened while I was gone.
Xyzisme was rewarded for being my 100th reviewer with giving me a challenge.
And this were the particulars:
Zuko and Katara are in the Western Air Temple, and Katara still doesn't trust him (it's before the Southern Raiders ep) and they are put in a situation - you decide what, hopefully nothing too serious - where they have to rely on each other to get out. I hope they get together and if possible, Toph is smug or funny about it! :)
I hope it was to your liking. Please let me know what you think.