Probending Circuit - Round One
Part Four of The Avatar and the Firelord
Team: Laogai Lion Vultures
Position: Firebender
Bonus/Prompt: Medium: (character) Korra / submitted in the first week / connected Team story / use of my element
Word count: 2221 (excluding A/N and title)
Watch the Sparks dance with the Snowflakes
"My lord, a message from Chief Sokka has arrived. It is of utmost importance."
Firelord Zuko motions for the servant to pass him the letter, then dismisses him with a wave of his hand. The servant bows and backs out the door of the small study. The envelope looks official, the way so many did in the past, and Zuko gives vent to a weary sigh. Official Water Tribe correspondence is ninety percent complaints about trade right negotiations gone south (literally) and assorted other logistical problems. Zuko has no nerves to deal with yet another one of them, but he rips open the letter anyway and glances over the mess his friend calls 'handwriting'. Three decades of chieftainship had done little to alleviate Sokka's utter incompetence with ink, but Zuko quickly learned to decode this violation of perfectly good paper.
The message is brief and to the point, a welcome change from the usual formalities and ambiguity, and Zuko's eyes grow wider with every word:
The White Lotus found the Avatar at the South Pole. Her name is Korra, and she's a natural at bending. As great as the news is, I'm afraid we'll see some Red Lotus activity in the near future, and I'd like to have you by my side when that happens. I'm sure Izumi can take charge. - Sokka
No headline, none of the usual pleasantries. An urgent message indeed. A glance out of the window, at the setting sun, and the decision is made. The letter turns to ashes in Zuko's hand. Preparations are in order.
Druk is not fond of snow, and Zuko shares the sentiment. His breath of fire protects him from the cold, but this colorless snowscape never caught Zuko's fancy. How the people of the Water Tribes manage to feel comfortable among the ice and snow... it'll remain forever a mystery.
He leaves Druk at the edge of the city, where the faithful dragon can find a cozy cave. Zuko himself heads straight for Town Hall, where he hopes to find his old friend. There is a palace for the Chieftain, built back in the day when the Southern Water Tribe was struggling for presence at the global market, but Sokka refuses to use it for himself. It provides lodging for important guests (such as the Firelord), but the Chief needs to be among his people.
Zuko's bright red Fire Nation garb stands out like a lion turtle in Lake Laogai, and he feels the curious and sometimes hostile gazes of the water folks drilling into his back. The Southern Water Tribe has changed so much since the last time he's been there. It's been what, twenty years since his presence had been required? The houses have become higher and denser, the streets narrower. Where kids used to play, the black oil of Satomobiles now leaves its marks. The stage at the village square still exists, but when Zuko checks his memory, it definitely seems to have shrunk. The square itself seems to have shrunk, while the city has grown so vast. His walk stretches into a forty-minute hike across packed snow. And even though Zuko is still fit and remarkably agile for a 75-year-old man, he's not getting any younger. The great double doors of Town Hall are a welcome sight, and so are the wooden boards beneath Zuko's feet when he walks over to the reception desk.
The man behind the counter recognizes him immediately. The scar, the crown... Zuko is sure he's never seen this person before. He appears to be in his mid-twenties, and his green eyes betray Earth Kingdom ancestry – proof that the world is healing.
"Firelord Zuko!" the receptionist half squeaks and scrambles into a bow. He just misses the traditional Fire Nation bow, but Zuko appreciates the gesture. He smiles mildly, and the receptionist seems to relax. "Chief Sokka is expecting you. Please, this way."
Still smiling with amusement, Zuko follows the receptionist upstairs and waits patiently while the man announces him. When he's finally let into the spacious room, Sokka immediately welcomes him with a broad grin and open arms.
"Great to see you, old friend. It's been too long."
"Indeed it has."
The two men part and Zuko takes some time to study his friend. Sokka is beaming with joy, but underneath it, Zuko can spot a weariness he knows all too well. The leader of the Water Tribe has bags under his eyes, obviously stemming from a lack of sleep, and worry lines wrinkle his face. Zuko chooses not to comment on it.
"How is your family doing?" he asks instead, but regrets it a second later when Sokka's face falls.
"Bleak. Suki unexpectedly fell very ill. Katara and Akina are with her on Kyoshi, but..." Sokka trails off and Zuko places a hand on his shoulder. He gets the meaning. Sokka wouldn't even be here if he didn't have an Avatar to attend to.
"I'm sure Katara takes good care of her," Zuko tries to encourage his friend – missing the mark once again.
"I'm worried about Katara, too," Sokka confesses. "You know how devastated she was when Aang passed away. The news about Korra, his reincarnation... It really drove the point home."
True. Both men fall silent, caught up in memories of the times they spent with Aang, times when the Avatar's optimism would still brighten up their days, the times when their Four Nations band put their heads together to come up with the best solution to a problem, the times they struggled and fought side by side, and watched the world grow past the destruction and resentment of the Hundred Year War. The times they laughed together, cried together, supported each other.
They could always count on Aang's boundless energy to carry them through anything. And then, suddenly, this energy had been snuffed. Like a candle in a storm.
A sad smile spreads on Zuko's face. For a moment, he wonders if Korra likes penguin sledding. It hadn't been too far from this very spot where a 24-year-old Aang convinced a 29-year-old Zuko and a 28-year-old Mai to sit on an otter penguin. Too late Zuko remembered, he was already screaming when it hit him that the memory of a twelve-year-old Avatar speeding into the Water Tribe village on the back of one such animal should have been a warning. For a long time, his first meeting with Aang had been something he'd rather just forget – the humiliation of getting run over by an otter penguin, and then the impact of his helmet hitting his posterior in a most ridiculous manner. Today, it's a source of melancholy.
"So..." Sokka apparently has decided that enough is enough. "How is your family doing? I could use some good news."
A soft chuckles escapes Zuko's throat. "They're doing fine. Mai is sharp as ever..."
"Doubtlessly," Sokka comments with a mock sagely nod. Zuko smiles, not minding the interruption in the slightest.
"Izumi does a great job as Firelord, and you know Azula."
"Yeah, nothing is knocking that woman down. I'm happy to hear everyone is doing okay."
The two men keep chatting for a while, updating each other on their lives. Zuko makes a pot of tea in the meantime, but they soon decide to cut their reunion short. There are more pressing matters to attend to.
"What are you planning to do regarding Korra?" Zuko asks once the two men sit on Druk's head, flying over the frozen tundra to the village where the young Avatar lives.
Sokka shakes his head wearily. "The White Lotus keeps pestering me about permission to build a compound a few miles outside the city, where she can be guarded at every time of the day. But I don't think that essentially locking her up is what Aang had in mind when he asked us to protect his reincarnation."
"I agree. It's probably safer if she remains with her family like a normal girl. Isolating her would be like lighting a beacon."
"Exactly. But I had to promise the White Lotus to permit their project in case anything happens to Korra."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Zuko comments solemnly, and the two old friends fall silent. Druk soon lands on a snow hill just outside a cluster of igloos and tents, showering his riders with white. Though Zuko is very glad he didn't have to make this flight in a storm, he's still a little disgruntled. Sokka doesn't even seem to notice, he simply leads his snow-powdered friend to an igloo a few steps away. He knocks and a young woman with two braids framing her face opens the wooden door. Zuko is pretty sure her name is Senna, Sokka told him the names of Korra's parents during their flight. Senna's eyes widen at the sight of her visitors, but she quickly composes herself and smiles. "Good afternoon, Chief Sokka. And you must be Firelord Zuko. Welcome. Please, come in."
She steps aside and the two men enter the igloo. A third man is walking up to them while a girl lays on furs on the ground, poring over a sheet of paper, a box of crayons at her side.
The man nods a greeting at Sokka, then bows at Zuko. "I am honored to welcome the Firelord into our home."
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tonraq."
Tonraq turns around to face his daughter, who remains completely undisturbed by the visitors. "Korra, where are your manners? You can't ignore our guests."
The girl looks up. She seems a bit miffed when she puts her crayon back into the box, but she stands and pads over. Zuko can't help noticing the baby fat still evident on her body, and for a brief moment, he wonders if it's alright for such a young mind to be laden with the duties of an Avatar. He feels a surge of protectiveness. He wants the girl to grow up happy, with her family around her. The way Aang deserved to grow up. It's partly Zuko's fault that his late friend didn't have a normal childhood. He hunted him, tried to capture him. Nobody is going to capture this girl on his watch.
"Hello, Chief Sokka," the girl in question says with a bow of her head. "Hello, mister."
"Hello, Korra," Zuko replies with a gentle smile, noticing his eyes have become wet. Standing in front of this girl, he can almost feel Aang's spirit breezing through the room.
Korra cocks her head. "Are you crying, mister?"
Tonraq seems to freeze in his spot, Senna covers her mouth, both parents shocked by their daughter's straightforwardness. But Zuko doesn't mind. Instead, he kneels down to Korra's eye level.
"I'm okay, Korra. I'm just very happy to meet you."
The girl looks confused for a second, but then she grins. "Nice to meet you, too, mister."
Zuko straightens; his joints aren't as agreeing with kneeling as they used to be. But he's still smiling. "Please, call me Zuko."
"Alright, Uncle Zuko!"
Senna and Tonraq couldn't look any more ashamed by now, but Sokka laughs. "Hey Korra, don't you want to show Uncle Zuko what a great firebender you are?"
Korra's face lightens up even more, and she goes back a few steps. Then she sets her feet into a firebending stance, breathes deeply and throws a punch, releasing a powerful stream of fire.
Zuko nods appreciatively, teacher mode activated. "Not bad. But try to widen your stance a little. And put more weight on the balls of your feet instead of your heels."
Korra gives him a funny look, and Zuko realizes he might have overdone it with the grown-up terms. "Look, I'll show you."
"Okay everyone," Sokka cuts in, facing Tonraq and Senna. "Let's give those two hotheads some space until they've hotted it out."
"Delightful as ever," Zuko deadpans, but he smiles gratefully at his friend herding Korra's parents out of the hut.
"Ever seen a dragon?"
Nine years later, a thirteen-year-old Korra is sitting on a stairwell to a pavilion, sulking and bored out of her mind. Her firebending teacher is such a stick-in-the-mud! It's always No, Korra! and Stick to the form, Korra! and Your foot is the tenth of an inch too far to the left, Korra!
She loves firebending, and she's really good at it (if she does say so herself). But her teacher has nothing to do with it. And he isn't even that good! There is this firebending sequence she tries to reconstruct from her childhood, and he doesn't even know it! He thinks she made it up, and he doesn't want her to practice made-up moves. How backward is that?!
She gets up from the stairs. She'll do it now, just because she can!
She breathes deeply. She remembers to spread her arms and raise her knee for the first motion, then she plants her foot firmly to the side. Then...
She sighs, it's no use. She can't remember the next form. She can't even remember who taught her the sequence. The only thing she can remember is its name.
The Dancing Dragon.
Yo, this is the final piece of the Lion Vultures' team story. While every part works as a standalone, check out the others! You won't be disappointed!
Part One | Spring Rains in Ba Sing Se | by FictionIsSocialInquiry
Part Two | Burning Time | by ManofManyHats
Part Three | Falling | by misszeldasayre
THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! \^-^/