Pro-Bending Circuit | Round One

Team & Position:Laogai Lion Vultures, waterbender

Prompts Used:(word) donut | (location) Ba Sing Se | (character) Aang

Bonus:Use of my element (water) | Submitted in the first week | Connected team storylines

Word Count:1,432

Summary: Part one of The Avatar and the Firelord for the first round of the Pro-bending Circuit. After the war, the Gaang are finally able to look to the future. But the future holds challenges of its own. For the Avatar and the Firelord, their respective stations can sometimes be isolating and lonely. Luckily some friendships are so strong they even transcend lifetimes… If you want to read the other three parts, look for their locations in the Author's Note at the end of the story. Enjoy!

Part One | The Avatar & the Firelord: Spring Rains in Ba Sing Se

Destiny is a funny thing.

It flows like a river. Separating. Converging.

The peace of the Jasmine Dragon is punctured only by Uncle's tsungi horn and Sokka's argument with Toph about the finer points of painting. It should come as no surprise that the blind girl is all over him.

The earthbender yawns dramatically. 'My tutors always said the downstrokes should be deft. You know, assertive.'

'You can't even see the downstrokes!'

'Don't need to. There's nothing assertive about you, Snoozles.'

Suki drips a little tea onto the table as she leans over the subpar artwork. 'My firebending looks kind of assertive…'

Sokka turns smugly to Toph. 'See.'

The earthbender blows her bangs from her face. 'No. I don't.'

Zuko knows, he knows, as soon as Aang enters the room from the balcony. Katara's hand is clasped tightly in his, and the two of them are as pink as the sunset over the Sulfur Pools on Ember Island. They beam and giggle like the tide, pulling one another over towards the group.

The waterbender disentangles herself as she reaches Suki, whispering into the Kyoshi Warrior's ear.

Zuko takes the opportunity to tap Aang on the shoulder. 'Got a minute?'

Today, destiny is our friend. I know it.

Aang's grin shimmers, light on the ocean. 'Sure.'

The sweet comfort of their victory oozes throughout the room. Their friends laugh, their smiles unburdened by bounty hunters, assassins, or princesses. Or futures of fire and ashes. They have made plans to see one another again. They have plans, now, that are more than comets and eclipses.

Zuko notices that the airbender's eyes are level with his chin. The boy has grown…

'Did Katara like the view of Ba Sing Se from the balcony?'

'I think she did,' he replies, leading the way down the front steps. Zuko's raised brow turns Aang's cheeks crimson. 'We didn't look at the city much.'

The Avatar is a boy. He is vulnerable knees and skinny limbs and narrow shoulders squared like a man. He shouldn't need it, but Zuko can't help but want to shield the boy from the grim reality that awaits him. The war was one thing, a trial of blood and death, but bringing about peace? What would that even look like? Aang is sweet-natured, likable, good through-and-through. But the kinds of decisions he would need to make to bring his peace and balance to the world… high and noble intentions won't necessarily build lasting peace between nations scarred by a hundred years of hatred and fear.

The not-quite-a-man-Avatar would need help.

Water is the element of change.

'You know, Sokka and Suki are going to travel the Earth Kingdom with the Kyoshi Warriors now that the war's ended.' He follows the young monk towards Appa's temporary paddock. 'They're going to arrest any war criminals or soldiers of opportunity who've deserted and stayed behind. There have been reports of incidents all over the fringes of the Earth Kingdom.'

Appa's soft muzzle seems to centre the boy. 'I know. Sokka told me.'

Zuko tries to sound nonchalant but playing it cool has never been his thing. 'I know you'll need to travel a lot over the next few years, too… have you thought about asking Katara to come with you?'

It's like storm clouds over the sun; the Avatar's smile falls. 'I can't ask her that,' he says, threading Appa's hair between his fingers. 'She's been away from her family and her people for so long because of me.'

The People of the Water Tribe have a deep sense of community and love…

Zuko folds his arms over his chest and shrugs. 'No one can tell another person what their destiny holds.' He remembers a time when he was Aang's age. Less thoughtful, more impatient and hot-headed… 'You should ask her.'

...it holds them together through anything.

'You think?'

'Sure. She's a waterbender, Aang. She knows how to go with the flow. It would be wise to have someone as capable as Katara with you in the coming months.'

Some of the uncertainty drains from the young monk, like the receding tide from the sand. 'Yesterday, we went flying over Ba Sing Se.' The memory of clouds and whipping winds draws joy back into the boy's expression. 'From that high, the walls of the city look like a tiny donut on the earth… Katara did say she felt at home on Appa, just like an air nomad would.'

Zuko doesn't reply. The faraway gleam in the Avatar's eye makes him miss his friend's lightheartedness already. In a lot of ways, Aang reminded him of his uncle…

'It would be nice to have company, wouldn't it, buddy?' Aang asks Appa even as his cheerfulness falters. 'I guess we're all going our separate ways tomorrow. Sokka and Suki with the Kyoshi Warriors; you and Mai to the Fire Nation; Hakoda back to the Southern Water Tribe…' He turns to Zuko with a burden meant for men decades his senior. 'I'm glad the war's over, I really am, but is it wrong that I wish some of it could stay the same?'

Zuko is Fire Lord, the father of his Nation, but right now he's sixteen and sad for his friend. 'I know what you mean. I spent so long trying to make my father love me. I wasted all that time on him when I should have been helping you guys.' He smiles at Aang and claps his shoulder. 'But the best part is, we get to make new memories. We get to build a new world, together.'

One of the best things about Aang is how incurably cheerful he is. 'And we can visit, right? Me and Katara and Appa and Momo?'

Zuko thinks of the challenges awaiting him at home. A country on the brink of economic disaster, a country divided and likely to erupt into civil war, a country that needs new hope…

'I hope you'll visit, Aang. I'll need you.'

'And we can go to the Fire Springs? I bet Katara would love to bend volcanic water!'

Aang and Katara's visit would be like the coming of the spring rains, the cool change that would dampen the fires of discord… just maybe…

Before he could extend the open invitation — 'You two can build a house at the Fire Springs!' — thunder cracks and snarls in the growing humidity of Earth Kingdom summer. The rains in Ba Sing Se don't start gently. The dry season is over; now the rains will storm.

Aang laughs as the heavens pour down upon the city, the Jasmine Dragon, their heads. His delight at the downpour draw a soft smile to Zuko's face. Aang might be a child, but his joy is infectious. If anyone can soothe the burns on the world, it's him.

'Aang! Zuko! What are you doing?' Katara leads the rest of the group to the open doorway of the Jasmine Dragon, laughing at their bedraggled state.

Sokka strokes a beard he won't grow for years. 'Not very Fire Lordly,' he admonishes, tilting his nose up in a fair display of poshness. That is until Toph turns the stairs into a slide and sends the Water Tribe boy into a muddy puddle.

'You're right, Sokka! It really isn't dignified!' she laughs. Suki's giggle draws the little earthbender's smirk her way. The warrior squeals as she slides into the rain beside her boyfriend.

'Toph!' they chorus through twin smiles.

Katara quickly evens the score, sending Toph stumbling into the sheeting rain with a splash of water to the back of her head. 'Katara!'

Iroh is wise enough to step into the downpour under his own power. 'Would you accompany an old man, Lady Mai?' His tone is suddenly all things frail and elderly.

Mai just rolls her eyes. 'Your friends are weird,' she tells Zuko, wincing as she steps out into the downpour.

Katara creates an ice ramp and slides gracefully down next to Aang. Sokka and Suki are either shaking mud from their clothes or dancing… it's unclear to Zuko. It doesn't seem to matter to Toph; she joins in with a lewd dance move characteristically all things Toph.

Aang offers Katara his hand and they begin a dance that looks suspiciously Fire Nation...

Pushing damp hair from his face, Zuko looks up at the teaming sky. Perhaps the Fire Nation needs less flames… no new fire festivals or ember rituals. Perhaps his people should be out in the streets, dancing in the rain.

Part one of four for the first round of the Pro-bending Circuit. If you want to read the other three parts, they're on my teammate's accounts in the following order

1 | The Avatar & the Firelord: Spring Rains in Ba Sing Se (FictionIsSocailInquiry)

2 | The Avatar & the Firelord: Burning Time (ManofManyHats)

3 | The Avatar & the Firelord: Falling (misszeldasayre)

4 | The Avatar & the Firelord: Watch The Sparks Dance With The Snowflakes (Zentauria)