The match of a lifetime

I was walking around the Western Air Temple when I noticed Zuko sitting on the edge of the cliff on which the temple was situated. He appeared to be deep in thought, but I wasn't interested in what he was thinking about, I wanted to know how good he was with those beautiful looking swords that he carried around on his back. They were wonderfully detailed, the handles were made out of gold, and the scabbard had gold inlaid on it.

Though his swords were a pretty sight for someone like me who is fascinated with the variety of weapons that exist in the world, I wouldn't trade my sword or my boomerang for any other weapon imaginable. I had my boomerang since I was a small boy, and I could control it just as well as Aang, Toph, my sister, or Zuko could control their bending. My sword I made myself, crafted from a meteor that I had found. It could cut through anything, and it was totally black, one of my favorite colors.

I decided to challenge Zuko to a fight, just for fun of course because now he wasn't our enemy. I just wanted to see how I would compare against him in a fair fight, one that didn't involve bending, just strength, speed, and wit.

"Hey Prince!" I called as you might call a pet. It took a while, but Zuko finally answered without looking at me.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I noticed you've got a nice pair of swords. I need to keep practicing with mine or else my skill and my sword will get rusty. What do you say we have a little fun? How about we have a sparring match?"

"You wouldn't stand a chance against me." He said in a bored and dismissive voice.

Oh! It is on now! I just wanted to have a little fun, but his remark made this very personal. He still thinks that he's better than me, even though he's supposed to be our friend and ally. This was one fight that I would not lose.

"You think you're so tough! Why don't you take me on, and show me how good you are? Are you afraid to fight without your bending?"

It worked, I had finally goaded him.

"Fine" he said, and I could see the familiar grimace, and the faintest trace of a snarl on his face.

I got into my stance, and I waited for him to make the first move. Slowly he drew out his swords, and waved them in circles around his arms. Apparently he was loosening up, then when he was finished we both stared at each other. Aang and the rest of the group had come to watch, their attention was distracting, and when I had looked away for the tiniest moment he attacked.

Suddenly I realized that I may have bitten off more than I could chew. Zuko's arms were little more than blurs as he waved them around slicing the air. Then all time seemed to stop as I saw one of his swords flying through the air towards me, I blocked the attack, but the combined weight of Zuko and his swords made my arms ache.

The words of Piendao, my sword master came to mind. "Know your surroundings, and make them fight for you."

Since we were on a cliff I decided to let Zuko push me towards the edge. As we were getting closer I pretended to let fear flit across my face, I saw Zuko smile, he fell for it. As Zuko closed in for what he thought would be the finishing move, I dodged out of the way. Zuko was barely able to stop himself, he stood teetering on the edge, his arms flailing as he tried to balance himself, his butt sticking out comically. Oh, how I wanted to kick it! I amused myself and the rest of the group by poking him with the tip of my sword. He let out a tiny squeal, and then whirled around. His expression was a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Okay! I'll give you that one, but you haven't won yet!"

My little joke seemed to double the intensity of his attacks, but I was not going to surrender.

Zuko slashed at my legs, I only just jumped above them and out of the way. What was he trying do? Make me shorter or something? I countered by making a horizontal slash at his stomach. He sucked in his gut, as my sword blade barely missed making a very sharp and very painful gash. Then to keep him on his toes, I made the same type of slash in a vertical direction. He did a back flip to avoid the sword, and while turning in the air, he managed to kick me in the face. I went down, but I was not out. I got up, just as Zuko landed on his feet.

Zuko and I squared off again. We both started circling each other, sizing each other up. Neither one of us wanted to attack first for fear that would be our fatal mistake. Zuko paused for a moment, and looked at me with genuine respect.

"You fight pretty well. Better than you did when we first met anyway."

"Thanks" I said with a half smile.

Then as if this moment had never happened he shot out "Don't think that you still have a chance to beat me, because you don't!"

"Quit flapping your gums, and let your swords do the talking." I sneered.

"I will." He said, his words barely a whisper.

This time Zuko took aim at my head, both his swords coming in as if to close a trap . I ducked and Zuko's swords cut through the point where my head was seconds before, then they kept on going until his swords nearly touched each other behind his back. I took the opportunity to knock Zuko to the ground, and then I shoved my sword into his throat.

"Ha! I won!" I shouted flushed with my victory.

Everybody cheered, and I smiled and waved as if I was part of a parade.

"Not quite,"

I turned to stare down at Zuko who had one sword thrust towards my torso, and the other crooked behind my knees.

"If I wanted to, I could cut off both your legs, and impale you before you hit the ground."

"And if I wanted to, I could stick this through your throat, which I already did."

"But you didn't. No, you took your eyes off me to wave to the crowd." Zuko and I were at a stalemate.

"Fine, it's a tie, agreed."

"Agreed."

I offered my hand, and I helped Zuko up.

Finally, after a pause where we both stared at each other, both of us started cracking up.

"We have got to do this again sometime" Zuko said with a smile.

"And next time I will beat you."

"Don't count on it Prince" I shot back.

"By the way I was wondering if you'd let me try out that, uh--what do you call that thing that you throw?"

"My boomerang? I don't even let Aang or my sister play with it!" Then I smiled.

"Yeah you can borrow it for a little while, but first you're going to have to learn how to throw it. It's harder than I make it look, believe me."