Well, this is my first story I've decided to post, so I hope you all enjoy it. It's just a short one-shot based on the events in the later part of S01E08 When Extremes Meet. (Also, I have no idea what genre this would be.)
The shadow was always there, watching, waiting.
It was late. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Why had the Avatar become so uncooperative lately? Couldn't she see that he was trying to save Republic City?
It stirs there at the back of his mind. It's growing restless.
He knows his assistant is getting worried, so he resumes signing the papers that mean nothing. Who cares about mundane taxes when there's a war coming? He had the safety of the city to worry about.
The shadow sees something before he does. It grins with malicious glee.
He hears the window open. He is surprised. The Avatar is standing in his window, clearly very angry. She looks so much like his brother.
The shadow brings up unwanted memories of that night Noatak ran. The shadow remembers how weak he was, how he couldn't stop his own brother from leaving him alone with that monster. The darkness that followed that night.
No, not now. He's left that part of his life behind him. He dismisses his assistant and listens to the Avatar. The Avatar demands that he let her friends leave jail. He reminds her that if she had been reasonable, they wouldn't have been imprisoned in the first place.
It reminds him that he could do so much more to them. Punish her through them. He is the strong one.
He pushes the unwelcome thoughts away. He doesn't want to become his father. The Avatar blames him for everything awful that's happened in the city. It wasn't his fault; it was Amon's. How could she not see that? She'd seen what Amon could do.
The shadows tells him that he can do worse, shows him the memories where he let his darkness loose to please that monster.
He refuses to do those things to any human. He knows what it feels like, and he has never wanted to make another person feel like that. The Avatar says he's just as bad as Amon.
The shadow knows that he is. He just denies it.
No. He won't let that monster loose. He gives the Avatar one more chance to see reason. She refuses and attacks him. He retaliates, pushes her back.
It waits in the back of his mind. The darkness knows its time will come soon.
He tries to keep himself under control. He never aims to hurt the Avatar, only to show her who she's dealing with. Compared with him, she's barely begun her water-bending training.
That earned him a cold laugh. It reminds him that she can also bend two other elements.
The wall behind his waterfall begins to swing towards him. He sees it, and he thinks he wet his pants. He's not sure, because the wall knocks him out into the main room before he could avoid it. He grabs the rail at the side of the balcony.
The shadow gives him a little strength, shows him what he's missing.
He lets go of the rail. He refuses to let the darkness loose again.
It goes back to waiting for the cracks in his will to grow bigger.
The Avatar steps out through the hole in his office. "Who's a half-baked Avatar now?" She jumps down onto the ground floor and sends a wave of earth flying towards him. He's shoved back against a wall. She comes towards him, deadly fireballs in both hands.
The shadow knows its time has come. There is nothing left for him to fight with. The cracks are spreading. The darkness begins to grow larger.
His eyes widen. There's no more water around him. He… he has no choice. He needs to protect himself. His hands form the familiar puppeteer shapes his father taught him, forced him to use. It's been over twenty years, but he still remembers.
The shadow breaks open the cracks. It knows it's won. It doesn't need to wait any longer.
Please review. I love hearing feedback on what I write (although you probably hear this from every writer here).