Disclaimer: I don´t own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters and never will... Sad but true.
Chapter 3
The voice made the group jump, but both Katara and Sokka took a relieved breath when they realized who had spoken. They looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. Zuko, Suki and Toph just stood next to them, unsure what to do.
The Gaang looked at the old man, who had spoken. Behind him three more men had appeared.
Toph made a face. "Why are we surronded by old men? And why do I´ve got the feeling that you know each other well, again?" Katara laughed.
"Not just any old men. Old masters and friends." She stepped foreward to bow to her waterbending teacher, Pakku.
The waterbending master chuckled and bowed to his former student in return. "It is respectful to bow to an old master but how about you give your granddad a hug?"
A smile strechted across Katara´s face." So you and Gran Gran have made up" She reached up to hug her new grandfather. He nodded, a content smile on his face.
Sokka gave an excited squeal. "Welcome to the family Great Gramp." He jumped at his newfound grandfather and gave him a hug. "No!" Pakku shoved Sokka off of him. "You can still call me Pakku." "Ahh. But Great Gramp is so much nicer." Sokka made a disappointed face and looked at the master hopefully, but he stayed hard. "No!"
Sokka stomped his foot like a little child. "Darnit!"
"It´s nice to see, that Sokka is the same as ever and I really hate to ask the same question twice a day, but could you please explain to us, who this people are?"
Toph gazed at the four men. Katara looked back at her and pointed at the man before her.
"That´s master Pakku. He was my waterbending teacher and is Sokka´s and my new grandfather." Pakku bowed to the little eartbender.
Sokka pointed at another man. "Master Piandao. He taught me the art of the sword."
Piandao also bowed. "Hello to you, too, Sokka."
"And that´s master Jeong Jeong. Aang´s first firebending teacher." The deserter nodded at Katara, who had spoken, then bowed deeply to Zuko. "It´s an honour to meet you, my Prince."
Zuko bowed in return. "It´s also an honour to meet you, master Jeong Jeong. I´ve heard a lot of you." The deserter smiled. "I believe that it wasn´t the good things you´ve heard."
Zuko had to laugh. "I believe you´re right with that. But it is a compliement when you know that the, who are on Ozai´s side, have spoken those things." Jeong Jeong smiled knowingly.
Sokka walked to the man, who had spoken first. "King Bumi. An old childhod friend of Aang. And the King of Omashu."
Bumi laughed and snorted. Then waved at the group of kids before him.
Suki steped foreward. "So, how do you all know each other?"
All the masters laughed and Bumi answered. "All old people know each other, don´t you know that?" He snorted again and laughed harder.
"We´re all part of the same ancient secret society. A group that transcends the divisions of the four nations." Piandao´s voice carried over the wind to the Gaang.
Zuko smiled. "The Order of the White Lotus."
The Gaang was follwing the group of masters through the thick forest to their camp. While they walked, Bumi told his story how he reclaimed his city. The Gaang was impressed. How couldn´t they be? Bumi fought a whole army all on his own.
The old man didn´t seem like it, but he was one of the strongest earthbenders alive.
In front of wall of earth the masters came to a halt.
"Listen. We trust you, but of what you are going to see will not be spoken. To no one.
We have the biggest resistance camp that has ever existed. In our ranks are hundreds of soldiers of every nation, training to end this war and bring peace to this broken world. They who know, hope in us, we are their hope. Failure would imply defeat.
You have to swear not to tell anybody, even if he seems to be a friend. Treachery isn´t uncommon and we can´t risk that we are discovered. We recognize someone of us by the white lotus tile. If you encounter someone like this, you know you have found help."
At this master Piandao holt the Pai sho tile for the friends to see. It looked plain, but they knew now what power stood behind this single tile. He threw it into the air, before he caught it again and placed it in his sleeve.
"Are you willing to swear your loyality and fight to stop this war"
The friends looked at each other then answered as one. "We swear."
Jeong Jeong nodded and smiled. "Then may I welcome you to our humble camp."
The group took the last step up the wall. They gazed at the sight below them and gasped. They had never seen anything comparable to this.
Deep inside the thick forrest beside Ba Sing Se´s outer wall, hidden by the age-old trees, stood tent after tent, next to each other as far as the eye can reach.
The camp was buzzing with life. The Gaang saw men and women alike bending fire and earth, a few even bended water.
In the middle stood some tents that were bigger than the rest. It was clear to see that there lived the powerful ones, who held the whole camp together.
Zuko gazed at one certain tent in the middle. He didn´t know how, but he knew that that was his uncle´s tent.
It was a rather plain tent, but he could nearly feel the calmness and control vibrating of it. Zuko couldn´t stop to stare at it and didn´t even really realize that the group had moved on.
He gave the tent one last glance then joined his friends.
The group had in the meanwhile begun to make their way down to the tents when Zuko joined them again. They came across multible sparring places and fighting areas. Everyone prepared for the day that would decide over their future. The day the decision had to be made who won this war.
"We have members all around the world, in every nation. For one month we meet her to train and live together in one community." Jeong Jeong explained the camp to the Gaang.
"The tents over there belong to the family of the fighters and refugees we have acknowledged trustworthy. So don´t wonder if you see children running and playing around."
The friends looked around in wonder. It was like the Order of the White Lotus had built a whole city in just one month.
The group had arrived at the middle of the camp. Master Piandao pointed at those tents.
"Here live all the masters. We make sure that nothing goes wrong and we teach the benders what we know. Your tent will also be here."
Zuko gazed around. He has lost the orientation and couldn´t see his uncle´s tent any more.
Master Pakku noticed his confused stare and raised his finger to show him one tent in a little distance. "Your uncle´s tent is over there."
Zuko nodded his thanks at the old waterbending teacher and walked to it.
He caught himself walking slower and slower the nearer he came the tent.
When he had finally arrived he couldn´t find the courage to pull the tent´s drape aside and Zuko fell to his knees.
He just couldn´t go inside.
Zuko nearly laughed at the irony of his situation. For the past weeks all he wanted was to apologize to his uncle. Now that he stood on the brink accomplishing that, he chickened out.
He couldn´t be suprised. He was just too much of a failure, his father had seen that from the beginning.
He could do nothing more than look at the floor, not even when he heard soft footsteps approaching him.
Katara gazed at the firebender. Zuko had sunken to his knees in front of his uncle´s tent, unable to build up the courage and step in.
Debating with herself, Katara decided to go to the broken prince. Clutching her arm nervously in front of her she approached him.
"Hey." Zuko didn´t look up. "Hey."
"You alright?" At this his head snapped up and he gazed angrily at the nervous girl.
"Do I look ok?" Katara flinched. She hadn´t expected such harsh words. But what would have happened anyway? She couln´t expect that he would miracuslousy calm down, after she had appeared. It wasn´t as if she meant anything to him. She just seemed to always forget that she was no more than a little peasant and that she could only talk to him, because he also traveled with the Avatar.
Zuko winced when he saw the lovely waterbender flinching. How could he snap at her like that? She only wanted to help and he didn´t even deserve her compassion. She was way to good for him. He stared ashamed at the floor, but shot his head up when he felt a hand on his arm.
Katara looked at him full of believing in her eyes. Believing in him? Zuko shook his head. He should stop assuming the most impossible and stupidiest things. Katara didn´t like him like that, Katara didn´t like him like that, Katara didn´t like him...-
"Zuko? Are you listening to me?" The firebender pulled himself out of his thinking and sighed.
"I´m sorry for yelling at you. I don´t know what has come over me." He gazed at her sincerely and hoped that she would understand.
She did and nodded. "I know that you´re scared that your uncle won´t forgive and accept you back. You´re scared that he will turn his back to you and ignore you for the rest of your time and you couldn´t handle it because he is the person you love the most.
But of what I´ve seen of him, Iroh isn´t that kind of man.
You know, he loves you with all of is heart. "
Katara paused and Zuko noticed the light blush on her cheeks. What would he give to know what she was thinking right now.
And would he give to know how she knew him so well. Was he that easy to read?
In one point she was wrong, though. His uncle was not the person he loved the most, not anymore.
When she continued her blush still hasn´t vanished and she stared in his eyes. "He will take you back, no matter what. You have changed. Aang knows that, the group knows that, I know that. And most important, you know that." She still hadn´t broken his gaze.
"But he has supported me in any way he could and how have I paid him back? I turned around and betrayed him. I have done nothing to stop them throwing hin into prison. I have done nothing to protect him, not like he protected me always. How could he not hate me?"
Zuko couldn´t speek anymore. He felt an sob in his throat but didn´t dare to cry openly in front of Katara.
She looked at the firebender intensly.
"You are sorry for what you have done, right?" He nodded. "More sorry than I´ve been about anything in my entire life."
Katara smiled softly at the firebender. "Then he will forgive you."
Zuko stayed quiet for some time before gazing at Katara again.
"You´re right, thank you, Katara." Zuko stood up, took one last deep breath and vanished inside the tent before she could respond. Katara looked after him. She chose to ignore the way her heart jumped when he had said her name and thought about their conversation.
She hoped he hadn´t noticed her blush. But she couldn´t help to want him to love him as much as his uncle did. That was impossible, though and she should start to accept that.
She rose to her feet. Tomorrow she wouldn´t be pining after him anymore. Tomorrow she would move on. Tomorrow she would realize that that was an impossible task, one that she would never accomplish.
When Zuko entered his uncle´s tent he had a whole speech of apologies, but he had never the opportunity to say them. "Uncle-"
His uncle was soundly asleep and snored with all what he got. At a loss what to do, Zuko couldn´t help but smile lovingly at his uncle that could break down whole houses with his snoring. He kneeled down and waited.
Sadly beside kneeling and waiting all he could was thinking.
Thinking about Aang´s disappearance, the camp of the White Lotus, his uncle and... Katara.
He couldn´t stop thinking of her. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and not just beautiful on the outside. She was beautiful at the inside, too.
He hoped she was right with what she had said about his uncle. He knew that Iroh had cared for him, but that was before he betrayed him under Ba Sing Se.
In prison his uncle couldn´t even bear to look at him, what if he still felt the same way?
But Zuko had no idea how to prove his uncle that he had changed, for real this time.
He could do nothing but hope.
Zuko sat motionlessly on the floor of his uncle´s tent for what felt like hours, but couldn´t have been more than half an hour, when Iroh awakened.
Stretching his arms above his arms over his head Iroh noticed another presence in his tent. A short backward glance confirmed his suspicion. His nephew sat silently and cross-legged on the floor. Iroh turned his back again, waiting for his nephew to speak.
Zuko struggled to keep his emotions under control. "I know that you probaly don´t want to see me, but you have to know that I´m so, so sorry of what I´ve done. I´m ashamed and I have no idea what I can do to make you trust me again."
He couldn´t keep his control any longer and felt the first tear ran down from his right eye. He shook his head.
"I can´t go on without you, Uncle, I will-"
Zuko didn´t get to continue. Iroh had captured him into a fierce embrance and both cried heavily.
"How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me." Zuko wiped the tears out of both of his eyes, but they wouldn´t stop.
His uncle shook his head. "I was never angry with you. I was sad because I tought you lost your way."
"I did lose my way." Zuko hung his head, ashamed of his actions.
Iroh smiled. "But you have found it again. All on your own and it has brought you here. I can´t say how happy I am that you have found to us."
Zuko also had to smile. "You know, it wasn´t that hard. You have a very strong scent, Uncle."
Iroh laughed. "Don´t tell me you have met lovely June again? And without me?"
The banished prince smiled. "We have."
"We? I think you have neglected to tell me something." Iroh gazed at his nephew. Zuko met his uncles gaze and smirked. "Don´t you have heard? I have joined the Avatar´s group."
Iroh smiled. He was proud oh Zuko. Proud that he had finally found his true destiny.
The next morning the Gaang and Iroh sat outside their tends and talked about the upcoming proceedings.
"We have to hurry. The comet arrives in two months and we still don´t know what is happening then." Iroh stared angrily at the floor.
The Gaang was confused. Didn´t the Order know of Ozai´s plan to set the Earth Kingdom on fire?
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked the question everyone thought and looked puzzled at his uncle. The old man sighed, then turned his face to look his nephew directly in the eyes. "My brother is planning something, but we do not know what."
"But we do know." Sokka spoke up. "He is planning to burn the whole Earth Kingdom down, so that `a new world will grow out of the embers´. Zuko told us."
"That´s not what I mean, my young friend. We know about this plan, but our sources had reported us of an even bigger plan. But like I´ve told you, we know that he is planning something, but we have no idea what that something really is."
Sokka wasn´t convinced and the rest of the Gaang looked also sceptical. "What could be bigger than burning down the Earth Kingdom?" asked Katara and looked incredulously at the retired general. The man in question sighed.
"The Order of the White Lotus has existed for centuries and fought for balance and peace. Not even the most well-read scholar knows when we were founded or that we still exist. We have knowledge of things that no human dared thinking, things that shouldn´t see the light of day. This knowledge was written on ancient scrolls and stored away in many secret places in every nation. It was decided that no one should ever find them, but we have come to believe that Ozai has found some of this scrolls and plans to use them for his advantage, to use them to conquer the world.
Burning down the Earth Kingdom is just a distraction for his real plan."
The Gaang didn´t know what to say. They all realized the seriousness of the sitaution. If Ozai really found those scrolly full of knowledge he would become the most powerful bender in the world. Even more powerful than the Avatar.
"What can we do?" asked Zuko and the rest of the group looked determined at the general.
Iroh smiled sadly then turned to Zuko and Katara.
"I need you two to break in the Firepalace."
A/N:
Poor Zuko has too much self doubts. Luckily Katara seems to can pull him out of them and
the plot thickens. Imagine what could happen on their upcoming journey? Maybe they even build up the courage to tell the other how they feel. We´ll see. ;D