AVATAR: THE SECRET FIRE SCROLLS
PROLOGUE
The sun had not risen yet from the east and the ground is still moist from the morning dew. Farmers from a nearby village had already started their way to the fields and merchants are pulling the carts full of wares to the Fire Nation's market. Another peaceful morning will soon start. It has been four years, since the great battle between Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Ozai took place. Up until now, people could not believe that peace and serenity finally came to the world, especially since the new fire lord, Fire Lord Zuko had ruled over the Fire nation. Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang helped rebuild and unite all the nations ruined by the war that lasted a hundred years.
This day though, all eyes will be on the Fire Nation. A celebration will be taking place in the Fire Lord's palace for the anniversary of the Independence of the Four Nations - the day that Fire Lord Ozai was defeated, thus, ending the Hundred Year War. All representatives and nobles and political figures will be coming to join the celebration. Of course, the Avatar and his friends, Sokka, Katara and Toph are expected to be present in the party, as they always have every year. A 'tradition' they have upheld to always remind them of the friendship they had built during the times they fought against Fire Lord Ozai's rule.
The palace, a beacon of power and hope to the people of the Fire Nation seemed to glow a fiery red and orange as the rising sun touched every stone in it. It stood quiet and proud, however, the palace servants are all buzzing around like busy bees in a hive. The cooks started the fire on the stoves and ovens. The chambermaids are cleaning every room in the palace and the stable boys are all cleaning and grooming the animals in the stables. This was the moment they all have been waiting for. No mistakes must take place, nothing must be left undone.
Fire Lord Zuko was already awake same time as the servants. He decided to make use of the early hours for a sparring practice with his royal bodyguards. Fire kicks, punches, yelling men can be heard at the courtyard. Iroh had been watching the young prince from the window. He decided to join the group. He went downstairs to the courtyard and approached his nephew. "It is indeed a good day to have some exercise," Iroh said, trying to start the conversation. "Oh, hello, Uncle," replied Zuko, already breathing heavily after sparring with one of his bodyguards. A young soldier, who serves as a water boy for the young fire lord and his company, approached the prince and offered him cool, fresh water from a drinking gourd. Iroh asked for some water also. "It is indeed a beautiful day for a little practice," Zuko added as he enjoys his glass of water. "It will be a little chaotic later once the celebration starts. It's good that you enjoy a morning like this," Iroh said and took a deep breath to enjoy the fresh morning air. Zuko was grateful his uncle was there with him. He recalls the days from his banishment to the day he was crowned as the new fire lord. Iroh had always been there for him - the good, the bad and the worst, when he had betrayed him at Ba Sing Se. His words always gave him the courage to fight on even at the darkest times. "Hey, Uncle," Zuko suddenly said and looked at his old uncle. "Would you like to have a match with me? Let's see if you still got it in you," challenged the young fire lord. Iroh gave a wide grin and walked to the center of the courtyard. He looked at his nephew and positioned himself to a fighting stance. He gestured to his nephew saying 'bring it on'. Zuko understood and did the same thing as his uncle. The soldiers watched in awe as they see the two great firebending masters weave trough a barrage of flames and electricity as they try to avoid each other's attacks.
As the two masters went on with their practice, a tall figure walked along the hallway surrounding the courtyard, followed by two young handmaids. She was wearing a black and red robe with gold trimmings, while the hand maids wore red robes with a yellow belt wrapped on their small waist. She emerged from the hallway and crossed the courtyard towards the two masters. The soldiers saw them approach and immediately stood to greet them. Zuko and Iroh stopped when they noticed the figure approaching them. "I thought I might see you here," the young woman spoke, looking at the young fire lord. "Good morning, dear," Zuko replied. "Lady Mai, you look as lovely as the morning sun," Iroh complemented. Lady Mai smiled at the old man's compliment. Zuko gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and put his hand on her belly. It had become a habit for the young fire lord, since he found out that his wife was pregnant, to feel for the baby's kick. He felt his unborn child kick and it immediately put a smile on his face. "I have just been to the healer and she said that it won't be long until our baby will be born," Mai said. "I hope I don't have to wait that long. I can't carry this much weight any longer, too tiring!" Mai complained. Ever since she became pregnant, she easily gets tired and sometimes would faint. The healers advised her to rest and avoid stressful work. She hated doing nothing and gets bored easily. Zuko looked at Mai. He noticed she was looking pale. "I think you'd better go back inside and rest. You look pale. Are you okay?" asked Zuko, worried that Mai may be tired from her walk in the palace. "I'm fine. Don't worry too much. I'm always pale especially since I'm not allowed to go out as often as I want to," replied Mai. Iroh, who was listening the whole time, cleared his throat and started to speak. "My Lady, it may be better for you to rest for a while before the party and you also do not need to worry about it. We have everything under control," assured the old man. He too had been worried for Mai. The young fire lady obeyed, and bowed before the two men and left with her handmaids.
"Now," Iroh exclaimed as he looked at his nephew. "I think I had enough practice for today. I better go ahead and take care of things before the party starts. You must also take care of some things before the celebration. We have a busy day ahead," he added. He bowed to his nephew and asked his permission to dismiss him. Zuko bowed and made a gesture to his bodyguard to also leave, much to the bewilderment of the bodyguards. As soon as Zuko was alone, he ran to the old tree in the courtyard and pulled out from a hollow part of its trunk, a red cloak and his twin swords. He looked around and saw no one in the courtyard. He ran towards the west wall and leapt high over it.
It was already noon and some of the palace guests had arrived early. Outside the palace, the people celebrated the occasion with feasts and fireworks. Young women danced and threw flower petals of different colors. Children ran a mock in the streets. A stage was set at the square where actors played the scene of Avatar Aang's victorious battle against Fire Lord Ozai. Iroh was the first to greet the incoming guests. The royal couple had not made their entrance yet. Iroh kept looking at the mechanical clock the Mechanic had made, a gift for the young fire lord during his coronation. He's late, thought Iroh. He was getting the feeling something may have gone wrong and was thinking of leaving the party and check for his nephew himself. He knew he had something to do before the party, but he promised he'd return on time. He called for the palace chamberlain and ordered him to entertain the guests for a while. Just as he turned he suddenly heard the sound of the gong. Everyone in the party turned their eyes on the royal couple entering the banquet hall. Iroh breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that his nephew had returned safe. The couple smiled at the crowd as they made their way to their table.
Zuko looked around the crowd. All the guests they invited are present, except for the people he had been waiting, Avatar Aang and the rest of Team Avatar. They're late, thought Zuko. Mai glanced at Zuko and saw his mind was not in the party. She reached for his hand and leaned forward to her husband. "Are you okay?" she whispered. Zuko suddenly realized what he was doing. "Yeah, I'm okay," he answered, and made half a smile. He set aside his thoughts about his friends so that Mai would not worry and concentrated on the party. I'm pretty sure they're fine. They'll be here soon, thought Zuko. The sound of the gong suddenly echoed in the hall. The chamberlain ran up the steps and cleared his throat. "Presenting Avatar Aang of the Air Nomad, Master Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe and Miss Toph Beifong of the Earth Kingdom," announced the chamberlain. The young fire lord immediately stood up and approached to greet them. "I almost thought that you had lost your way. You're all late for the party," he joked. "Well we would have come in early, but 'Twinkle Toes' here wanted to wait for Katara," Toph answered. Aang and Sokka clearly weren't feeling party-ready as Zuko noticed. "We already sent a letter to her office here at the capital, but she didn't send a reply. We thought we could go to her and pick her up. All we saw was her secretary. She was on a business trip!" Aang told Zuko their story. "Of all the things she could've forgotten, this is our 'reunion' and she's on a business trip!" Sokka exclaimed out of frustration. Zuko was silent all the while, but he was also feeling sad that Katara hadn't come. Katara was appointed ambassador for the water tribes in the Fire Nation capital, since the Hundred Year War ended. Usually she would visit the Southern Water Tribe every year. She had not returned to the Southern Water Tribe for almost a year, saying she was busy and often travelling from one place to another. "I'm pretty sure she would have loved to join us, but you know her. Duty comes first before everything else. Let me take you to your table," offered the young fire lord.
The day has almost ended, but the festivities had just begun to get really exciting. Iroh actually had arranged for a band to play all night. Along with that a play from the Ember Island players will take place at the hall. Performers danced and sang to start the play. It was a popular story of the adventures of the Avatar and his companions, this time they'll retell it as it happened. Everyone enjoyed the play, even Lady Mai didn't mind the occasional kicking she felt inside her womb. She imagined the baby maybe dancing to the festive music. The climax of the story is about to start. After a little intermission everyone went back to their seats and eagerly watched the rest of the play. It was now on the part where Zuko and Katara had to face Azula. The actress playing Azula was kneeling, wearing a hooded cloak and her back turned against the royal couple. The actors playing Zuko and Katara entered the scene mounted on a dummy version of Appa. "By decree of Phoenix King Ozai, I now crown you Fire Lord," the actor playing High Sage delivers his line. "Sorry, but you're not going to become Fire Lord today. I am!" the Zuko actor shouted. The hooded actor suddenly stood up and turned. A shot of lightning bolt suddenly came out from her hand and almost striking the royal couple. The crowd suddenly was in a panic. They stampeded out of the hall trampling anything and anyone in their way. Zuko immediately stood up and posed on a fighting stance, shielding Mai. Team Avatar and the royal bodyguards rushed to the scene and stood between the assassin and the fire lord. Again, lightning came out from her hands so quickly that everyone, except the royal couple, were knocked unconscious. "Who are you? What do you want?" demanded Zuko. The assassin didn't answer, instead, took off her hood and revealed her face to the fire lord. Zuko was frozen in fear when he recognized who he was fighting against. "Hello Zuzu. Nice party you're having. Thought I might crash it," the assassin spoke and laughed like a mad woman afterward. Zuko could not believe Azula was the person standing in front of him, trying to kill him no doubt. "I thought you were already locked away forever in that island. How did you escape?" Zuko asked while thinking of a way to control the situation. Azula was cunning and dangerous, which Zuko already knew about his sister. "Oh, well, a woman has to keep personal things a secret. Besides why should I tell my prey that I'm going to hunt him and kill him," Azula answered with a wide grin. Zuko can still see she was still crazy but that only made her more dangerous. Zuko had to think of a way to get Mai to safety and capture Azula. Zuko immediately shot a barrage of fireballs at Azula. "Run!" Zuko shouted, telling Mai to escape. Mai quickly stood up and ran towards the door. Suddenly, she felt a surge of pain all over her body and then unconsciousness. Azula had actually shot off lightning bolts from both hands, knocking both Zuko and Mai to the ground. "Did you think that I'd let both of you escape!" exclaimed Azula. "After all, I only came here to give you my gift, DEATH!" As Azula was preparing to make her final blow, a shot of lightning came out of nowhere and hit her hard. Azula dizzily looked around her to see where the lightning came from. She sees Aang floating and glowing. Aang went into his Avatar State and had shot the lightning bolt. Azula suddenly realized her mistake. Seeing that she won't have a chance in defeating the Avatar, she immediately jets out of the hall, leaving a large cloud of smoke covering her escape. Aang tried to airbend the smoke out of his way, but Azula was already gone.
Zuko was still fighting the dizziness out of his head and tried to get up. He wasn't sure for a moment what happened, but when he remembered what Azula did to Mai, he called out for her. "Mai! Mai!" Zuko cried frantically for his wife. He looked around, ignoring the pain he felt in his chest where the lightning bolt had hit him. He saw that Mai was still lying on the floor, motionless. He tried to stand up and run towards her but he still kept stumbling down, his body is still half paralyzed. "Somebody, help Mai!" he cried out, thinking someone might be able to hear his plea. Aang was the first to rush to Mai's side. He looked for a pulse. "Her pulse is too weak. We need a healer immediately," Aang said to Zuko. The royal guards and soldiers immediately entered the hall and helped the injured. They immediately moved Lady Mai to the royal bedchamber where the royal doctor and the midwife are waiting. Zuko ran to his wife's side despite the nurses telling him to rest. "Mai, please hang on. Help is on the way," he told Mai and held her hand tightly as they make their way to the bedchamber. Aang rushed to Toph who was attended by a nurse. He was looking grave. "Toph, I need to talk to you," he demanded. Toph dismissed the nurse immediately. "Aang, what's the matter?" Toph asked, uncertain if she wanted to hear the answer. "Listen, I need you to go to Katara and tell her what happened. We need all the help we can get for Mai and the baby. I think they're in trouble." Toph was right. "Okay, Aang. I'm going right now. Make sure that you and Sokka keep the palace safe and help Zuko out with everything while I'm gone," she commanded. Toph left immediately and used earthbending to move faster. "Spirits, I'm going to need all your powers for a miracle to happen now," Aang softly whispered as he said a small prayer and went to the bedchambers to see if he can help in any way.