I'd call you a genius, except I'm in the room.
Avatar Sokka
The Truest Blue
Zuko had only ever seen his uncle fight once.
Oh, sure, there had been other fights. Small and extremely one-sided beatings on random muggers who thought the fat old man with a full purse and expensive Fire Nation robes was an easy mark. They barely counted as fight. Who fights someone and then takes them for a cup of tea or a game of pai sho?
There was one time when Uncle went all out. When they were investigating the Northern Air Temple, they'd come across a pair of bandits, who were raiding nearby Fire Nation settlements. Mr. Smeller and the Lady Bee were more competent than a third of the garrison stationed there, and even managed to steal one of the mechanists' fancy new war tanks before War Minister Qin began to take them seriously.
He hired an assassin. This assassin had a deformity running through his chi, which made any fire he tried to bend combust. He lost an arm and a leg as a child, before somehow learning to master his malfunction and transform it into a lethal weapon.
Not only was he a powerful bender, but he was ruthless and cunning. He soon hunted down Smeller and Lady Bee, and he killed them ruthlessly. But he didn't stop there. The bandit pair had a daughter, who probably didn't even know her parents were bandits. When their estate (the bandits had grown quite rich off of Minister Qin's incompetence) was attacked she hid inside of the war tank, and when the assassin returned the tank to War Minister Qin, he dragged her out by her braided hair and tried to kill her.
That was a mistake.
Zuko had never seen his uncle so enraged before. It was like seeing the gentle waves of the open sea transforming into a hurricane in an instant. And a force of nature would have been less frightening than Iroh was! If Ba Sing Seh and the last of the dragons couldn't stand against him, then what chance did this assassin have? His saving grace was that Uncle could be very merciful to a man begging to live on all fours.
Zuko had asked his uncle why he had never used his powers like that before.
Iroh had said; "One does not summon lightning to swat a fly."
Zuko thought about this, as he watched the Avatar in action. As a wave of water lifted the fire nation battleship high enough that it was over the flying monk's head. As the retaliating firebenders couldn't even get their flames past the wall of air in front of him. As shards of ice pinned the firebenders to the deck.
Toph could only stare.
Zuko got out some rope.
"Wow… this is incredible." She said.
Zuko grunted, as the Avatar gestured and the wall of water carried the ship away.
"I mean, I've seen some impressive bending before." Toph said. "Mostly by me of course, and then I wasn't really seeing it…"
Zuko tutted under his breath. "This is the worst rope I have ever seen."
"Do you think I'm pretty?" Toph asked.
Zuko's head shot up. "What!?" He sputtered.
"Am I pretty?" Toph looked at her refection in the water. "I mean, it's not like I have any point of reference for things like that, but you've probably seen girls before haven't you? Objectively, am I pretty?"
Zuko stammered, and tried to look anywhere but where Toph was standing, in an incredibly pretty water tribe girl's body. "Why would you ask that?"
"Oh just… curious." She said shyly.
Then the avatar flew over to them.
Zuko prepared to fight an unstoppable force of nature with nothing but a club (he'd lost the machete to the blubber of a lion seal). But the Avatar simply frowned at him, as if her were a naughty or… disappointing child. Who did the Avatar think he was, grandfather?
"Hi!" Toph stood in front of the Avatar, and while he wanted to scream at her to run, he knew objectively that she'd have a better chance than he did. "My name's Toph. Nice to meet you." She held her hand out to shake and…
… and batted her eyelashes?
And was she biting her lip?
Oh. Oh Agni.
She was flirting with him.
It seemed to work, as the Avatar suddenly stopped glowing. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
There was a space of silence, where nothing could be heard except the arctic air. And then Zuko had to speak.
"… Were you just flirting with the Avatar?"
Toph was blushing furiously. "No!" She yelled.
"Unbelievable." Zuko bent down and began to tie the Avatar up. "I have to tie the most powerful being in the world up with the worst rope in the world because you woke him up to flirt with him."
"I didn't wake him up to flirt with him!" Toph yelled. "I mean – I wasn't flirting with him! I mean –" She scowled and gave up. "Never mind. What's the deal with the rope?"
Zuko was infinitely grateful for the subject change. "This rope is terrible." He explained. "It's so thin and frayed, I don't even know what it's made of since there's no straw down here. Seaweed maybe? Is this seaweed rope? I don't even know."
Toph pointed to the blue arrows on his head. "Are those tattoos?"
Zuko nodded. "Yes. I think they have some sort of cultural significance to airbenders."
"Does your tattoo have cultural significance?" Zuko looked at her with surprise. What tattoo was she… "That awesome fire tattoo your body has on its face."
Zuko fought down the flash of panic that always came with the thought of his scarring. He distracted himself with the knots before the smell of burning and the image of a hand over his eye overwhelmed him. He'd avoided mirrors for two years, but sometimes he'd catch a glimpse of himself in some water, and now… now he'd seen what he was like without water in the way. He'd seen his scar like other people had seen it.
"That wasn't a tattoo." He said, through painfully clenched teeth. Why was this girl so irritating?
He finished tying up the knots, and sat back hoping they would hold. Toph seemed to be considering what she said next. He steeled himself, and hoped that she wouldn't still hound on his 'tattoo'.
"What happened with the colors back then?" She asked.
Zuko frowned. "What do you mean?"
"His tattoos." She said. "They… I don't think they changed color exactly but…"
"Glowing." Zuko nodded. "His tattoos and his eyes glowed."
"Katara?"
Both of them looked at the Avatar. He was waking up. "Katara, what's going on?" The Avatar winced then looked down at his ropes. Then he looked at Zuko.
Toph was looking at him as if she'd done something wrong, but didn't know what, and needed him to tell her. The Avatar, Zuko was pleased to see, was looking at him like he was the embodiment of all that was frightening in the world.
Zuko looked at them both imperiously. He was, after all, a prince.
"You!" Zuko was temporarily baffled when the Avatar made a strange flopping motion, like a fish flopping around in dry land, that somehow managed to get him upright on his feet. "Who are you are you and why do you look like me?"
Zuko drew himself up to the fullest height his body would allow. "I am Zuko! Prince of the Fire Nation! And you're my prisoner, Avatar!"
The Avatar gave a scream of panic. Zuku smiled, as he realized the Avatar had realized the full seriousness of his situatio-"
"My boomerang! Where is it!? What did you do with it!?"
…
…
…
"What?" Zuko asked.
"My boomerang." The Avatar gestured to the pouch on Zuko's back. He'd been wondering what to call the strange curved bone knife that was stored there. Except, the holster was now empty. "I swear, if you've touched my boomerang with your filthy fire nation hands…"
"Why would I touch your… boomerang." Zuko sneered at the bizarre name. "I must have lost it in the rapids."
"The rapids!?" The Avatar squeaked.
Zuko sighed. "What's your name?"
"I'm Sokka." The Avatar said, squinting suspiciously at Zuko. "That's my body you're wearing." He looked over at Toph. "And since Katara would never keep quiet for more than ten seconds, I'm guessing your some sort of fire nation spy too?"
Toph put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Earth Kingdom, actually." She said. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, well, I'm not." Sokka said, with a frown.
"That's understandable." Toph said. "This is your sister's body, right?"
"That's right." Sokka said sternly. Zuko pretended he was as oblivious as Sokka was to Toph's look of disappointment. "So you better keep it in good condition. I don't want her moaning at me if I get her body back and her hair loopies are twisted in a knot or something."
"Sure." Toph shrugged. "So, how does it feel to be the Avatar?"
Zuko decided to intervene. "Don't ask the prisoner any more questions!" He snapped.
"You got to ask him questions." Toph pouted.
"That's 'cause I'm in charge here!" Zuko said.
"Really? Could you spare a moment boss man?"
Zuko spun around at the sound of his voice – his real voice. He expected to come face to face with his real face – but instead he found a nose the size of his head. And below that, long rows of teeth. And angry, glaring yellow eyes, attached to a mountain of white fur.
The sky bison breathed hot air into his face.
Zuko's body, sitting nonchalantly on top of the bison, waved at the three of them. "Hello kids! Let me introduce you to my old buddy Appa!"
In the end, Captain Jee had to enlist most of his men to haul Iroh out of the water. By the time they dragged him over the side of the ship, he was shivering from the cold, and frost was forming on his beard despite the blankets draped over him.
Things… were not adding up.
Jee looked once more at the huddled figure of the General. He was drinking some warm tea, while directing the crew to melt the iceberg.
The General Iroh Jee knew wouldn't even be chilled. When they were sailing North to get to the Northern Air Temple, Iroh had even gone swimming in the arctic waters for an extended period, and tried to get the firebenders on the crew to join him. He knew a special technique to keep himself warm.
The Iroh huddling before him… seemed to have forgotten that technique.
As well as the technique some firebenders used to propel themselves through the air. True, the General was more rotund these days but he could have at least attempted it while Zuko was throwing him overboard.
And why had Zuko thrown him overboard anyway? He knew that spoiled brat had no respect for his uncle, but he'd never seen such blatant mockery before.
Something was up.
And nothing happened on Jee's ship without him finding out about it.
There was a crack like thunder, and enough of a path had been melted from the iceberg that the ship was able to grind its way down and back into the water.
Jee winced at the sound of metal against solid ice.
As soon as the ship was seaborn again, he slipped into command. "All engineers below deck, begin assessing the damages! I want any holes patched immediately, and the engine repaired as soon as we can after that!"
The crew began their work, running down into the ship like they've had two years of practice doing. Jee would have joined them, but he hesitated. People of fire didn't wait to do what they were told. They made things happen. The question was, should he confront Iroh about what was happening, or should he take the subtle approach and wait to see for himself?
Then Iroh raised his head. "Captain Jee… while we were suspended upon the iceberg, did you see the small village south of here?"
"Yes General Iroh." Jee answered respectfully.
"That is our new destination."
Jee nodded. The village was the only inhabited place for miles. It was no Fire Nation outpost, but the General was charming, and they might be able to get help repairing their ship. No… Jee reconsidered. The General thought in terms of people. The village would be the most likely destination for Zuko to head towards, or for the Avatar. Either way it was a well-thought out tactical decision.
Still…
Jee decided to take the subtle approach.
"Why are we heading there sir?" He asked.
The frostbite on Iroh's beard began to melt away.
"Because it has been some time since I last sacked a village." He said with a grim smile.
Jee did not consider himself an easy man to scare.
But those words… should never come out of the lips of a man like Iroh.
It would be foolhardy in the extreme for a lanky boy armed only with a club he didn't know how to use properly, to fight against two master earthbenders in command of elements not their own, a trained water tribe warrior in command of all the elements, and an angry adult air bison.
So naturally, Zuko gave it his best shot for a full five seconds before he was knocked unconscious and Sokka began to tie him up.
"My name's Bumi by the way." Bumi said, as Sokka did his thing. "King of Omashu, world's greatest earthbender, old friend of the Avatar."
"Sweet." Toph shook his head. "The name's Toph. Undefeated champion of Earth Rumble Six, world's greatest earthbender, and new friend of the guy we're tying up."
The pair of them glared challengingly at each other.
Bumi giggled. "Oh, I like you."
Sokka finished with his knots – being Water Tribe ment they were far superior to the knots Zuko had used, even if the rope was poor. "I'm Sokka." He said. "I'm… nobody special really." He shrugged. "Uh… nice to meet you your majesty. Sorry you had to get stuck in a firebender's body."
Bumi waved his apology off. "Ah, it's no problem at all. I'm a hundred and twelve years old you know, it does me good to be young again. This kid clearly keeps himself in shape!" He patted Zuko's face affectionately.
And suddenly his eyes glowed.
"Glowing!" Toph pointed out immediately. "His eyes are glowing!"
Sokka was about to snark something about being the captain of the Obvious ship, when suddenly Bumi stood ramrod straight, and looked around as if he was seeing things around him for the first time.
"I… I'm me again!"
Sokka did not need to be a genius to know what those words implied.
Whoever was there hiding behind his face, Zuko's body stretched its hands out and lit fires in the palms of his hands. "I'm me again!" He laughed.
Unsure of what to do, Sokka quickly stepped up and head-butted Zuko's body.
It stumbled, his feet catching itself and getting into a ready stance for a fight…
One foot stepped on Sokka's body.
His eyes glowed again, and he stumbled away from the tied up kid.
"Wow." Zuko's body said, reaching up to the forehead. "All of a sudden, I feel the same way as I felt when I became King of Omashu."
Sokka… could not even imagine what that meant.
"What did you do, head-butt the king?" Toph asked.
"Nope." Bumi said, shaking his head. "Head-butted his daughter. It was a whirlwind romance."
What.
Sokka facepalmed. "Okay, never mind that for now. Your eyes glowed for a moment, and after that it seemed like Zuko was back in his body!"
"Really?" Bumi raised an inquisitive eyebrow and leaned close to Zuko. "iiiiiiiiinteresting. So how do you know…" He spun around and pressed his face into Sokka's. "That I'm not still him!?"
"Because Zuko doesn't have your sense of humor." Toph said sagely. Sokka didn't know Zuko as well as she seemed to, but he nodded all the same. He didn't get a 'chuckles' vibe from the guy.
"Eh, true." Bumi said, frowning speculatively at the unconscious prince. "So, it seems that contact with someone in your body, gets you to switch back to normal. But… you can also switch back to strange?" Bumi chuckled. "Not that I'm ungrateful to be back in this body."
"Hey, what's wrong with my body?" Sokka pouted.
But it still didn't make sense. Sokka frowned down at his body, no doubt forming bruises from the one-sided fight the fire prince inside had put it through. He'd touched the body before, while he was tying him up. No doubt Zuko himself, had also touched him when the reverse was true. So why hadn't Sokka returned to his old body?
… Not that he wasn't grateful that the prince of the most evil nation of earth wasn't also the Avatar. But Sokka was a man of logic. Rationality. He needed answers. He needed the truth of what was behind this.
"So we can get back to our old bodies?" Toph asked.
"Maybe." Bumi shrugged. "It worked with Zuko. But it didn't work with Sokka for some reason."
Sokka was gratified to have someone around who thought on the same wavelength as he did. "I think… it's because I'm in the Avatar's body." He said. "I had a dream before I woke up – or at least, I thought it was a dream. There were all these other people… I think they were the previous Avatars."
"Was Aang there?" Suddenly, Bumi was pressing himself against Sokka's face, giving him a close up view of Zuko's scar.
"Yeah, but… he kind of wasn't." Sokka backed away. "He was there, but I didn't speak to him. He looked sick. I think the airbending girl, Yanseng? She said he wasn't fully connected to the rest of them."
Bumi snapped his fingers. "That's it then!" He said. "Aang's not home at the moment, so the past Avatars need someone else to do his job! They aren't going to let you switch bodies if they need to conduct another job interview!"
That was so massively unfair! Not that he wanted Zuko to be the Avatar, but the Fire Nation prince got to switch out, and he didn't? There was nothing he could do about it, but he really wanted to at least have a good mope.
"So the Avatar did this?" Toph asked, mulling it over in her head. "They figured Aang was sleeping for too long, so they scrambled everybody's bodies around and hoped for the best?"
"No." Sokka shook his head. "I don't think so. It sounded like someone else did this, someone the Avatars have dealt with before."
"Did they drop a name?" Bumi asked.
Sokka scratched his head. "Well see… the thing is, I thought it was a dream, and I was really paying more attention to the fancy outfits they were wearing…"
"You forgot, didn't you?" Toph frowned.
"I'll remember soon!" Sokka declared. He tapped his head assuredly. "It's all in here somewhere! Don't worry, I'll remember eventually."
Toph rolled her eyes, then focused on Bumi. "Say, how did you know the Avatar's name, anyway?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow at Bumi. That was a perspicacious question.
"Like I said, I'm an old friend of his." Bumi said, his mad wide grin softening into something more serene. "I'm a hundred and twelve years old. Back when I was a kid, I knew Aang. We had the most fun together… a couple of days before Sozin's Comet came, and all of the Airbenders were killed, some acolytes came looking for him. They told him he was the Avatar, and he'd ran away. I didn't know where he went. I thought he'd definitely come back – Aang may need some space to get his head together from time to time, but he always did the right thing in the end. And now I know why he didn't return – somehow, he got trapped inside an iceberg!"
"Well, now we have to find him, and get him back in his body." Sokka said, slamming his fist into his palm. "That way I can get back into my body, and he can save the world!"
"Yeah, that's great." Toph mumbled. She was clearly distracted by something.
He followed her gaze.
"So, what do we do with this guy then?" He asked, tapping Zuko gently. There was no glowing, and he was still in the avatar's body.
"Take him along!" Bumi said, obviously delighted at the idea of having the crazy prince of the crazybenders joining their merry little… team? Friendship? Rebellion? Was that what the three of them were now?
"We can't take him along!" Sokka protested. "He's fire nation!"
"I agree with the geezer." Toph opined. "He's a bit of a grouch, but he can be okay."
Sokka didn't have much friends. There wasn't anybody around his age in the south pole, except for his sister. But he could see that Toph was already friends with the prince. Looking at Bumi he saw… a spark of intelligence? That was the same look his dad had just before he got a crazy brilliant idea. Except for the thing he was doing with his eyebrows.
That shouldn't be physically possible.
"You haven't even gotten to know him!" Bumi said, patting Sokka on the back. "Give him a chance."
"He did help break you out of the iceberg to fight the actual crazy firebender." Toph said, pointing to the distance.
Sokka didn't realize that Zuko had helped him break out of the iceberg. Why would he break him out just to tie him up afterwards? He was about to concede that Toph had a bit of a point, when he followed where she was pointing. She was pointing to the smoke of a firenation ship.
Sokka had vague recollections of dealing with a firenation ship. It wasn't him that dealt with it of course, but the other Avatars, who of course weren't bothered by something that small when they were busy interrogating the new Avatar. He only vaguely remembered placing it on top of an iceberg.
So the smoke coming from the engines definitely should not have been moving.
In particular, it should not have been moving south.
"It's heading towards my village!" Sokka realized with a cry of alarm.
Toph peered at the smoke. "Oh!" Her eyes widened. "It's moving! Sorry, I'm used to not using my eyes."
Bumi stroked his chin. "You think you can get your Avatar on?" He asked.
"Yeah, just glow it up and toss them onto another iceberg!" Toph nodded.
"Alright." Sokka nodded. "You're right. Time to go Avatar on them." He settled into a fighting stance, waved his arms, and yelled; "AVATAR HO!"
…
There was a distinct lack of glowing.
Sokka shook his arms and tried again. "Avatar on! It's Avatar Time! I call upon the power of the Avatar!"
And still nothing.
Toph was beginning to giggle.
"Come on guys!" Sokka whined to the Avatars of days past. "I thought you guys were on my team! We had that whole interview process! Okay, here's the deal; I'm gonna count to three, and then we're gonna take out some fire nation trash!"
He was aware that he looked utterly ridiculous as he made waving motions with his arms. "One… two… three!"
"… Three!"
"I said three guys, that was your cue!"
"Wow." Toph was snorting behind her hand. "The Fire Nation doesn't stand a chance against you."
"Maybe it only works when my life is in danger." Sokka said, frowning at Toph. "Quick, throw an ice boulder at me."
On second thought that was probably not his best idea.
Before he could retract that comment, Bumi laid a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think that's how the Avatar State works." He said calmingly. Sokka was surprised that Bumi could sound calm… he'd been so erratic for most of the time he'd known him.
"You see, the Avatar State is like falling from a really, really long way up from the lowest point you can find, and then falling back down again with you family and friends joining in." Bumi continued, sagely. "You have to clear all of your chakras, and be one with both yourself, and the earth you intend to land on… except, you know, not shmushed into the earth. Just one with it."
Sokka took a second to contemplate this quasi-mystical drivel. And only a second.
"That's ridiculous and doesn't explain anything." He said with a straight face.
"Look, at least you're the Avatar." Toph said, shrugging. "You can bend all four elements, at least one of them ought to work for you."
"Yeah well…" Sokka's arms weaved like a cobra weasel. "I'm not feeling any avatar mojo." He shrugged helplessly. "I've never even understood how Katara does it. All that nonsensical 'feeling the connections in things' and 'directing to flow of the currents' and 'being the wave'. What does it all even mean?"
"It means when we get through this I'm gonna be putting you through the bending work-out of your life." Toph snarled. "I get that you've never been a bender, but you're a bender now!"
"With no training." Bumi cut in. "Still, the previous Avatars seem to think he's the man for the job. So, what are you gonna do Sokka?"
"What?" Toph and Sokka asked in tandem.
"The Avatar spirit doesn't choose just anyone." Bumi said. "Now, there's a fire nation ship headed in the way of your village. Their firebenders aren't masters, but they're not untrained either. Forget about you being the Avatar. You're the only hope your village has. Focus on that, and tell me how you're gonna save them."
Sokka ran his hand over his bald head. This was a test. Bumi was testing him! Was he insane? Oh, wait, no, of course he was insane. "If you have another idea I'd love to hear it!" Sokka said. "But that's a fire nation warship! With firebenders! I've got you, Toph, and me, and the three of us aren't good enough! I can't just save the day, I need more firepower, I need a plan –"
Sokka paused.
And he smiled.
He'd come up with a plan.
And as he mapped his plan out to Toph and Bumi, he felt fairly reassured by the growing respect in Toph's eyes, and the look of approval on Bumi's face.
Lesson One: Bumi is a lying liar.
Toph learned this after Sokka had finished outlining his plan. They'd all hopped on to Appa, who Bumi promised would fly. Sokka took the reins like Bumi told him, he yelled 'Yip Yip' despite how embarrassing that was, and Appa took to the air.
Only to collapse into the water the next second.
Toph was looking forward to flying. Hence, Bumi is a lying liar.
Lesson Two: Bumi is a sneaky old trickster.
This was evident, because when Appa swam to the shore and dropped the three of them off, it was Toph who ended up carrying Zuko. How did that happen? One minute Bumi was claiming to be an old man with a bad back, and the next he was skipping merrily ahead like a three year old while Toph followed behind him, trying not to collapse.
When this was all over and they had their bodies back, Toph was so looking forward to teaching him who the world's real greatest earth bender was.
Lesson Thee: Royalty is full of crafty lying liars.
She knew this, because Zuko was only pretending to be unconscious.
She decided that she wanted to be royal when she grew up. They had all the sneaky fun.
Katara was older than her, and she didn't spend all her time polishing her nails like some girls she knew, so she was fairly strong. Probably stronger than Toph's younger body was. However, Toph worked out; did actual earth-bending style strength training. And she had a lower center of gravity. Katara bent like a blade of grass, and with that much weight up top she was getting close to tipping over.
Rather harsh lessons, but she never liked it when her teachers were patronizing, and she learned quickly.
"I know you're awake Blue." She muttered.
Zuko stayed silent.
She put him down on the ground. "Let me be clear on this." She told him. "When I was a blind earth bender, I learned to see using the vibrations through the earth. The vibrations of people's heartbeats in particular. And people's heartbeats change when they're lying, when they're asleep, when they're feeling different emotions."
"And even if I weren't a water bender, even if I couldn't sense your heartbeat change and your blood beating differently, I can still feel your pulse because I'm carrying you. When I say I know you're awake I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE! So quit pretending, because if I have to drag your blue rear end any further, I'm gonna drag it in the direction of the water!"
Zuko cracked his eyes open, and met her glare with a blue eyed grimace of his own. "Do you always drown people when you don't get your way?"
Toph smirked. "Nope. I just threaten to drown them."
Zuko muttered something about his sister.
Toph giggled. "Sorry Blue. But being pushy is as new to me as being able to see. I like it, and we don't really have time for kiddie gloves. So here, let me cut your legs free, and we'll be on our way."
She tried to act casual as she took out the knife Bumi had given her. She tried to act like she didn't pity him. She'd been in his position before; she'd been trapped in her own mind, unable to think about being someone different then what her parents told her she was. She knew that she wouldn't have wanted pity, and more than he probably did.
But it was true. She didn't have time for kiddie gloves. She didn't have time to liberate her first human friend from acting how he thought a fire nation prince should act. She needed him to trust her as much as he could, because she could see him clearly. And even the real him hiding underneath the fire nation prince didn't trust easily.
"Why?" He asked, as she kneeled down began awkwardly cutting the ropes binding his feet.
"Why what?" She asked.
"Why are you untying me?" He asked. "And why did you turn me into the Avatar? I… whose side are you on anyway?"
"Ya know, I'm glad I used to be blind." Toph said. "You people with eyes see the strangest things. Like 'sides'. What's that about?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "We're friends, aren't we?"
"Are we?" Zuko asked, in a low growl. "All you've managed to do so far is half drown me and threaten me, and let the Avatar I've worked to catch for two years escape."
Her jaw dropped. "Seriously? Two years? What, did you find a lion turtle at the end of a rainbow and decide to go for broke?"
He glowered. He actually glowered at her!
She smirked, and with a snap finished cutting through the ropes. "I've seen you fight well enough to know, that you could probably take me out with just your legs free, if you took me by surprise and I was holding something in my hand." She turned the machete around and offered him the hilt. "Just hear me out?"
He said nothing.
"I'm your friend." Toph explained. "And I'm trying to be a good one, but the only friends I've ever had before are some badger moles and some stinky old body builders who wanted to beat me up. So maybe I'm doing some things wrong, but I thought you were the kind of person who'd want to help kids in trouble."
He was staring at her intently now. That was a good sign… probably.
"The crazy fire bender guy in your uncle's body, is headed towards Sokka's village. We think the villagers are in danger. Even the kids. Now Sokka – he doesn't trust you. He thinks you're his enemy."
"I am." Zuko said.
"Yeah, I guess you are." Toph shrugged. "But he has a plan to save them." It was a good plan. For the first time in her life, Toph was essential to someone's plan. He didn't doubt her one bit. He needed a job done, and he told her it was her job to do it, and it just felt so very good to be needed by someone.
"And you want me to follow the plan?" Zuko asked. She caught a dangerous look in his eyes.
"No." Toph said. "The plan doesn't involve you at all, and I want you to be involved. Sokka doesn't trust you. He wants to keep you tied up for the whole plan, but I think you can help. I think you want to help, because you're not the type of guy who'll leave a whole village to burn."
"You don't know me at all." Zuko hissed. "You've only known me for half a day." And now Toph was beginning to get a little scared. But she wouldn't show it.
"I know that if you touch your body, you'll switch back into it." That startled Zuko, but Toph suppressed the urge to smirk. "That wasn't a dream, when you woke up in your own body. Bumi touched you while you were tied up, and you switched. The only reason Sokka didn't switch into his body, is because he's the Avatar now. He didn't want you to know this, his plan was for Bumi to keep away from you until he led the village to safety, and we'd bring you with us to the mainland."
Zuko was up in an instant, the knife in his hands expertly cutting through the ropes that bound them. By the time Toph had stood up in shock, Zuko had the knife to her throat.
Don't show fear. Nobody is allowed to tell you how to feel.
She smirked at him. "You wouldn't." She said. "I've done nothing but help you."
"You don't know me." He hissed. "You tried to drown me."
"I am your friend." Toph insisted.
"You're trying to manipulate me." Zuko said. "I don't know much about friends, but they don't do that."
"I don't know much about friends either." Toph considered, as he watched his expression grow gradually angrier. "Maybe I'm bad at being a friend. But that's not the point. The point is…"
"Kids are in danger." Zuko snapped. "That's the point."
He turned and tucked the knife into his belt. "Don't mistake me for one of them." He said.
Toph smirked.
"Stop smiling." Zuko's back was still turned. Well well, he was more perceptive than she'd given him credit for.
Bumi popped up on top of an ice archway ahead. "Hey whippersnapper!" He yelled, seemingly unconcerned with Zuko's freedom. "The thing is here! I found the Thing!"
"I'm right behind ya geezer!" Toph yelled back.
Zuko watched the man in his body disappear again. "And you said that's Bumi?" He asked.
She nodded.
"The king of Omashu?"
She raised an eyebrow. "He did mention being a king, but I thought that was just Bumi being Bumi." She joked.
He nodded, seriously. "And if I come into contact with him, I'll return to my body?"
"That's what Bumi and Sokka think." Toph said. "And I get the impression that they're both pretty smart."
Zuko grunted. "If they were smart, they wouldn't have trusted you to keep me tied up." Zuko all but growled. "I won't make the same mistake."
Toph shrugged, and he smile widened. Zuko was pretty cool when he tried to be!
Things were finally looking up for Mongke.
This village was more poorly defended than any in the earth kingdom. A small wall and a poorly built tower constructed by some sort of flimsy powder that melted into water in his hand. That was all that separated him from the village. There weren't even any warriors to bar their way. Just women and children.
Helpless. Fragile.
Glorious.
Still, he'd pretended to be Iroh for this long. Why not continue the charade? He spread his arms wide dramatically, as if he were in the theater. "Where!? Is! The! Avatar!" He yelled.
The villagers crowded together, fear radiating off them. It sent shivers up his spine, like he was hunting fox rabbits in the countryside again.
An old lady stepped forward (and he began counting the ways he could kill her, with or without the use of his fire). "There is no Avatar here." She said, sternly.
"Oh no?" Mongke sneered. "The Avatar has been spotted nearby. How can we know he's not here without searching your village?"
The elderly crone stood aside and gestured to the huts, inviting him to search as he pleased. The other villagers began to back away, frightened.
This was just pathetic. They were practically groveling before him, and still not a warrior in sight. There was no challenge here, merely the terror of the defeated. The Firelord was an utter fool, if he didn't realize they could capture this land for the Fire Nation. Then again, why would the Fire Nation want this land? It was quite possible the small huts would look even more pathetic with the comically over sized Fire Nation banners draped over them.
He glared at the old crone. "I think you're hiding something from me."
"I am not." The wrinkled baggage replied.
"I think you're…" He didn't get to finish. A ball of that strange white powder hit him on his shoulder plate.
Dusting it off, he sent a smile at the children. This was perfect. Their mothers pulled them together (all quaking in terror) but one mother was too slow. And one little girl had an impressive throwing arm.
He caught the ball of powder. And it melted into water in his hands.
"Why would I waste my time searching your pathetic huts?" He asked the crone, who was for the first time showing signs of terror on her own face. Good. "You will tell me where the Avatar is, or I will start killing your people until you do."
"We don't know anything." The crone was shaking. "There is no Avatar here."
Mongke looked at Captain Jee, and nodded towards the brat who'd tossed the ball. "Kill the girl."
The mother screamed and ran. The others picked up their children and followed her.
Captain Jee was hesitating.
Mongke threw a firewall that seared through the huts in its path and frightened the villagers like fox rabbits being guided towards hunters. Iroh's body was truly incredible, despite the portliness. He'd never felt so POWERFUL!
The girl was scared, but she threw another snowball.
Mongke blasted it out of the sky with a laugh. "You're going to need something deadlier than that!" HE laughed.
And then something hard hit him in the back of the head.
He spun, a sudden dizziness overtaking him. While he stumbled the crone propelled herself forward and wrapped a cloth around his neck. She pulled hard, with surprisingly powerful arms, and suddenly Mongke was losing oxygen.
"Run!" She heard her yelled.
He wanted to run, but she had his neck. How was he supposed to run?
Then the dizziness stopped, and he sat up. How did he get on the ground? Captain Jee was restraining the crone. "Captain!" He snarled. "How could you let someone strike me from behind?"
"I was too distracted with the little girl you ordered me to kill!" Captain Jee snarled back.
Mongke spun around. Where was that girl anyway? Where were the rest of the villagers? They were all…
They were all pushing their children onto a Sky Bison.
A genuine sky bison.
Mongke was not what you'd call a studious man, but he knew his steeds. He knew every animal one could possibly ride one. And never mind the fact that they were as extinct as the air benders, that was a sky bison.
And in front of him…
Was the boy in the iceberg. Holding a strange knife in one hand, and an ornate staff in the other.
"The Avatar!" Mongke frowned. He could attack him but…
There was a sudden chill in his spine.
He turned to the other fire benders on his crew. "Well, what are you waiting for?" He asked the skull-faced goons that were counted among his crew. "Take the Avatar!"
The hesitated, but Mongke knew he was more frightening that any other man except for Iroh. And he was in Iroh's body. The five fire benders charged the avatar.
He felt confident at first. The Avatar even looked nervous. However, Mongke didn't notice the sky bison turned slowly as the fire benders approached. When they got near enough, he slapped his tale into the ground, stirring up a storm. The white powder erupted into the air, engulfing the fire benders.
For a moment, Mongke was blinded too.
Then he heard the yell of panic.
Fire started erupting in the blinding whiteness. The sound of metal clashing on metal could be heard. A silver glint spun through the air, and the muted sound of bodies falling could be heard.
When the powder settled, there was only one figure standing. The Avatar lightly brushed the power off his shoulders and bald head, staring at Mongke. "That's right." He said with a confident grin. "I'm that good."
Then the powder finished settling, and Mongke realized that he could see the soldier's bodies and armor poking out from their places in the ground.
The Avatar stood in a dramatic pose. "I am the Avatar!" He declared to Mongke. "You want a piece of me, feel free to come get it!"
Mongke almost wet himself.
But he quickly blamed it on Iroh's old body, and grabbed the old crone. He lit a fire under her face. "Stay back, or the lady dies!" He yelled.
"No!" The Avatar lunged forward, throwing his strange knife.
But the knife was poorly balanced, and it spun far to the right of him. Mongke sneered, and brightened the fire in his palm. "Not another step or she dies!" He yelled, halting the Avatar in his tracks.
"General Iroh!" Mongke turned to face his captain, and saw the glint of silver. Eyes wide, he tilted his head back and the knife passed by. How in the world had the knife come back? Was there someone behind him who had caught the knife and thrown it for a return? Was it some airbending trickery?
He followed the knife as it flew past him… and into the hands of the Avatar who had closed the space between them.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!"
It was a roar like that of a lion bull, and if that wasn't enough to shock Mongke into letting go, the Avatar's swing of his knife was. He winced and withdrew his hand, but obviously the knife was not designed for cutting, nor for being wielded as a club. Mongke lashed out with a fire kick to the boy's stomach.
The Avatar rolled quite a distance away, dropping his weapons. Mongke was surprised. Why was the Avatar using only his weapons? Why wasn't he bending?
Mongke grinned. Why wasn't he bending?
"Tired from tossing my boat around boy?" He asked, his confidence returning to him.
In the corner of his eye, he saw the crone beating a hasty retreat. He launched a fireball at her.
"NO!"
The Avatar had grabbed his closest weapon – the staff – and leaped in front of her, protecting her from the blast with his own body. But he didn't try to bend the fire away. Mongke laughed as the boy rolled around on the ground, trying to put out the flames.
Then he rose up, wreathed in smoke. He tore off his shirt, full of holes, and took an ostrich horse stance, pointing his staff at Mongke.
"Heh, maybe you aren't the Avatar." Mongke chuckled. "You don't seem to be able to bend one element, let alone four! You're pathetic."
The boy visibly winced, but he rallied. "At least I don't attack old ladies when their backs are turned." He growled. "You're spine's already like a limp noodle, so why would I need to bend anything else? I don't need elements to help me fight a coward."
Mongke had been called many things in his life.
Never coward.
He forgot fire, and charged the Avatar with his bare hands.
The avatar ran to meet him, and swung his staff.
It quickly became apparent that the avatar had no idea how to use the staff though. He wielded it like a club, with absolutely no defense. Mongke quickly worked out a strategy of blocking the staff attacks with one hand, and using his freed hand to knock the Avatar around.
Punch to the gut, punch to the ribs, uppercut, kick his shins for a change, another to the ribs, backhand, downward slam, Mongke laughed, and he laughed, and he picked up the exhausted Avatar by his collar and flung him away.
"With you as my prize, I'll become the Firelord in no time!" Mongke boasted.
Then the crone reappeared, leveling a shovel at him.
He laughed. "Hiding behind grandma boy?" He asked.
"You have no idea." The Avatar muttered.
"It won't save you." Mongke smiled. "Nothing can save you. You rose from the ice, only to find your doom waiting for you."
*crack*
"I am General Iroh." A ruse, but a useful ruse. "I have razed the Earth Nation, and laid siege to Ba Sing Seh's walls. You are just a boy."
*crack*
"A boy hiding behind an old lady's skirt." Mongke sneered, lighting a fire in his palm. "But all you've accomplished is ensure I will kill her first."
*crack!*
The Avatar was smiling.
Mongke looked down. His last few footsteps had been followed by an ominous cracking noise. As it turned out, he was standing right in the middle of an increasingly widening crevice in the ice.
"What?" He asked, stupidly.
The Avatar stood, leaning on his staff for support.
"This is the part where you run back to your ship." He said cheekily. "And tell your bosses that the Southern Water Tribe is not up for grabs. This is the part where you order your men to fun away, and they never trust you again. This is the part where you realize you're out of your league."
*Crack-A-Boom!*
The ice erupted to Mongke's left. The crevice widened, forming a gap between him, and his two prey. More powder filled the air, someone ran along ahead of it. That someone was the water tribe girl from earlier, in a stance Mongke recognized from earth benders. She thrust her fists out, and the crevice widened some more, allowing something large and dark to emerge from the mists.
A flare shot out, and Mongke deflected it with a deft palm strike.
The looming shape before him was another fire nation ship.
And at his helm, holding a flare gun, was a figure that would haunt his nightmares.
His new nephew Zuko.
Cackling. Like. A. Madman.
"What took you so long?" The Avatar yelled at him.
"This ship has a lot of weapons!" Zuko yelled, picking up a crossbow. "We had to get all of them!"
Mongke's eyes widened, and he launched a stream of flame at Zuko… which promptly faded into nothingness.
Zuko was standing in the Firefly stance.
The stance he'd just learned this morning.
The stance which was supposed to help meditation, to put out small fires or light something small like a tea kettle or a chimney.
It was not a stance that lent itself to putting out a master fire bender's fire.
Not unless he was much, much more powerful than the fire bender in question.
And the only reason Mongke was damp, was because Iroh's body had poor bladder control.
The water tribe boy leaned over the side of the ship, and threw out a net. The five unconscious fire benders were caught, and dragged into their stolen fire nation ship.
"General!" Captain Jee was yelling from the gangplank. "General, they're one a collision course! We have to get out of here!"
And that was when he saw that the water tribe girl had carved to crevices out of the ice. The first one was merely a crevice, to separate him from the Avatar.
The second crack was rapidly filling with water. It was that crack the ship was sailing on. And it was that crack that was currently opening directly underneath their own ship.
Mongke ran for the gangplank. "Start the engines!" He yelled.
The cracking of ice was now like a thunder, and each step he took on the fragile grounds was a shaky step indeed. The gangplank was already being raised by the time he made it to the ship. Thankfully though, Jee was there to haul him up.
And then the ships collided.
Mongke was slammed against the wall, and was render unconscious as an old fire nation ship impaled their slightly newer model on its helm and pushed them out to sea, away from the Southern Water Tribe.
Zuko found himself impressed, as he locked the old ship's steering in place.
Sokka knew that there was a Fire Nation ship some miles out in the arctic wastes. It had been left there, stranded by an ancient battle between the Fire Nation and several water benders. Surprisingly, the water tribe hadn't repurposed it before now, but then, without Toph to break the ice how would they free it?
Toph excelled at breaking the ice. And she only got better the further along she got. The boat didn't even have to slow down for her to keep up, she matched their pace and excelled with her power.
Zuko disabled the traps (why were there so many traps? If this ship was abandoned in a hurry, he could only commend the soldier who stayed behind to ensure the water tribe would not find it worth it to repurpose the ship) and steered the vessel as Bumi brought the weapons on the deck.
It wasn't a plan Zuko would have come up with. And it wasn't a plan his sister (Azula always lies) would come up with either. Maybe Mai could have done this, if she had a head for tactics. A final trick hidden up one's sleeve.
Zuko would have just taken them head on. Not all at once, but he was sure if he had his old body, he would have been able to pick them off one by one from the shadows.
His old body was scurrying down the side of the ship and onto the ice.
No, no, no, not getting away that easily.
Zuko finished fixing up the steering controls. The pair of crushed together ships would reach the nearest naval station in a day or so. He didn't know whether to pity Mongke or Zhao for when the two of them met.
Pity is a weakness. You must have none for your enemies, and less for your friends.
Zuko took his leave, and went down to the ice.
To say Zuko was upset, was an understatement.
The day started out with waking up in a body possessing what felt like only half of the muscles he was used to having. And with none of the bending. And then, if that wasn't enough, he discovered there was both a water bending warrior in the Southern Water Tribes, and a conspiracy that involved switching people's bodies around.
All at once, the world tried to force Zuko's view to change.
It wouldn't change so easily.
He could accept the surviving member of the Southern Water Tribe. He already knew that most of the Fire Nation's military commanders were morons. His sister (Azula always lies) had often called him that, and he knew he wasn't a genius like her, and couldn't expect the other members of the Military Council to be geniuses.
But just because he liked to take the direct route instead of getting into convoluted games did not make Zuko a moron. Not by any means. And while he could accept being less cunning then his sister (Azula always lies) he would be fixing the Military Council's woeful incompetence when he became Firelord. Then he'd deal with the water bender problem himself.
He could also accept a conspiracy to switch bodies. No matter how bizarre the conspiracy. He'd often helped Lu Ten peace together the conspiracies of court; he'd sneak into council member's homes and offices, piecing together documents and revealing their deeds to Lu Ten. He'd long since become used to the idea that there was always something he didn't know, that an entire group of people would. The only ones more adept at uncovering these secrets were Iroh and his sister (Azula always lies).
That this particular new conspiracy involved body switching was also a surprise. But he could recover from surprises. Conspiracies were, by definition, a group of people determined to commit some crime in secret. In his experience, sloth, wrath and pride were sins that did not lend well to secrets, whilst envy and lust did not lend well to sharing. What truly brought a conspiracy together was greed. Pure greed. Whoever was behind this body switching… they wanted something out of it.
But Zuko couldn't figure that out. Mostly because of the unceasing talk of his new… friend.
He should have let her drown. Really, he should have. It would have been only fair.
Toph was the most contradictory person Zuko had ever met. She would fight him, and then she would hug him. She would drown him, and then tell him it was for his own good. She would fight him to a draw, and then almost die to a pair of mindless animals. She would be strong, and then she'd be scared (not very scared, but he could see it in her eyes sometimes).
In short, although he hated to admit it… Toph reminded him of himself.
And if there was one thing in all of this world that Zuko truly, fully, hated… it was himself.
But even that didn't cover it. For all that she reminded him of himself, she also reminded him of his sister (Azula always lies). Toph had that look in her eyes, like she was seeing through everyone, seeing past their skin and into their workings. She was a prodigious bender, able to adapt to water from earth astonishingly quickly. She took the same sadistic pleasure in hurting people, although she seemed to at least think it was a game, and was ready to apologize if anybody was truly hurt.
There was no clear definition for Toph. She similar and different to anybody Zuko had ever known.
For so long, Zuko had seen the world in only black and white.
Toph saw in colors that Zuko couldn't fathom.
Who even cares? Why are you even thinking about this?
The strangest quality of the girl – the strangest by far – was her ability to trust him completely. She'd defied the Avatar's plan, cut him loose, and handed him some weird water tribe knife, and trusted him not to kill her.
He wouldn't have of course, but she didn't know that.
He'd tried to use her naiveté to his advantage and scare her, but she was frustratingly impossible to scare. Still she trusted him. She trusted him enough to give him his old body back, and with his firebending back, he could easily defeat her no matter how much of a prodigy she was.
Nobody had ever trusted him like that.
His Uncle had always looked at him with pity… always, always with PITY! (You're so pathetic Zuzu! (Azula always lies).)
Mai trust him with her life… but never with her secrets. She worked for Azula and would never betray her like Toph betrayed the Avatar (Don't get me in trouble Prince Zuko, I'm more scared of Azula (Azula always lies) than I am of your feelings).
Lu Ten trusted him with secret spy missions, as a comrade in arms. But he never trusted Zuko as a prince or a brother (hold on little spark, it'd probably be better if I told grandfather about this).
He thought his mother trusted him (you're a prince Zuko, you can do anything you set your mind to and I know you'll do great things) but he was wrong (Zuko, sweetie, I'm going away for a while).
So why did this annoying earth peasant trust him so much?
Weren't they at war?
Zuko felt the dao swords attached to his side. They were better than his water tribe weapons, even if they were dusty and rusted with age and neglect. He'd bring them up to shape.
She had an Uncle side to her too. She would make friends even with enemies, and she would be a lot less annoying if he could just discard her madness instead of listening to her.
All of these thoughts had come to a head. Usually, he'd like that. He'd heard a story once, about how an Earth King had created a massive knot, and challenged people to undo it. The wisest earth nobles had tried and failed to undo the knot, but Avatar Jafar had simply cut through it. Some people may call it simple minded, or inelegant, but Zuko always preferred the direct path to any convoluted games of intrigue.
But there was no direct path here. And he had no sword with which to cut through this knot.
Was Toph his friend, or his enemy? What would he even do with a friend?
Would the best strategy be to go with Toph and lure the Avatar in a false sense of security?
Should he try to find the Avatar, or should he try and get his body back?
Did he help the Turtle Crab, of the Eagle Hawk?
But that was when he had his epiphany. He went with her briefly, because he couldn't just let Mongke waltz into a village of defenseless children and women in his Uncle's body. After that fight was wrong, he realized; he need to prioritize.
That's what his uncle did, after all. As he said, 'A compass cannot point north, if there is more than one north to follow'… or at least, that's kind of what he said. Zuko wasn't too good with metaphor.
Bah, whatever!
Zuko began to stalk towards the Avatar. He was standing in a group of his new admirers in the village. Or would it be old admirers? They seemed to admire Sokka well enough, whether he was Avatar or not. Toph was getting her fair share of attention, while Bumi (in his body!) was off to the side, talking with gran-gran.
"Sokka that was so cool!" And then Zuko was dogpiled by a well-trained army of infant water tribe soldiers.
"Hey, I helped too!" The Avatar protested.
"Mr. Avatar! Mr. Avatar!" The kids pulled him forward, until he was face to face with the Avatar. "This is Sokka! He's the bravest warrior in the village!"
The Avatar puffed up a little. "I noticed!" Sokka said.
And it would be so, so mean to try and attack the Avatar in front of the kids, wouldn't it?
He was a man of honor after all.
The Avatar reached forward, uncertainly.
"Thank you for helping me save… this village."
My home. Thank you for helping me save my home.
Zuko missed his home.
Why was life never fair? Why could the Avatar keep his home, while Zuko had to wander around the length and breadth of the earth?
He was angry, so very angry, but he kept his inner fire under control.
"Anybody would have done the same." He said.
It was not a promise to stay on his side. It was not a lie. Zuko was more honorable than that. It was a promise; as far as their interests were aligned he had no reason to capture him, but when their alliance was over he would drag the Avatar back to his father.
Their bodies were switched. Zuko glared at Bumi again. Somebody had switched their bodies. He would get to the bottom of it. That was his top priority right now; as much as he wanted the Avatar, as much as he wanted home, it would have to wait. This was bigger than that.
Blue. That was what Toph had nicknamed him. She didn't know that he often dressed as the Blue Spirit. She didn't know how he sometimes ran afoul, in secret, of the maniacs his father employed (honestly, most of them were either corrupt or incompetent, why did his father raise people like that to power?). It was sometimes relaxing to strike back at people like the general who had sent his men to die.
So he would be Blue. He would put aside Zuko for now, and offer the Avatar no harm under the guise of Blue. It would be dishonorable not to defeat him in his own face. In a way, it would be relaxing to get away from his scar, from his pathetic attempts at firebending, from being recognized everywhere he went.
"Attention everyone!" He called out to the crowd. A small gesture of trust, to show that the plan would be followed… for now. "It's not safe here anymore! I'm sorry, but we have to move the village to a new location."
Some of the children seemed happy with this news. The parents too, though a majority were nervous.
"As you can see, we've found the Avatar." Sokka said. "Katara and I will be going with him, to help save the world from the Fire Nation." Now that was a lie. A blatant one. "We'll help you set off, and Zuko will protect you until you reach a new place to call home. Don't worry about him being a firebender. I trust him."
I trust him. Another blatant lie, but it seemed to work on the villagers.
The Avatar reached up (he was so small) and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you." He said simply. "I guess I may have misjudged you."
"Let's just find a way to get our bodies back." Zuko said. "After that, we can go back to being enemies."
Toph had an annoying smirk on her face.
Being enemies was so much simpler than being friends.
Bumi was proud of his new friends. He hoped they'd be as good friends to Aang as they were to him.
The fire bender seemed like a grouch, but he hadn't tried to take his body back even though he knew how. That was a big mistake for Toph to tell him, but Bumi liked mistakes. You could learn a lot from mistakes. Like how he learned Zuko was maybe an alright kid, like his Uncle kept saying.
And Toph was a sneaky sneaky liar. She'd make a good queen someday. She'd displayed a tremendous amount of power, even as a water bender, so perhaps her claims of being a better earth bender than Bumi were less exaggerated than he's previously thought. She was still a sneaky liar who lies though, so he'd believe it when he saw it.
And Sokka. Sharp as a spearhead that one. If Bumi hadn't met Bumi, he would have said Sokka was probably the smartest kid he'd ever met. That one would go far, and Bumi hoped he'd go in Aang's direction. He'd make for a most curious Avatar.
They'd finished loading Appa up with supplies. The kids seemed to be too tired or exited to fight, but bless their hearts, Bumi had no doubt they would quarrel again and more than once until their quest was over.
"Alright Appa." Sokka said, sitting on the bison's head. "Let's see if you really can fly. Yip-yip!"
With a groan, Appa lurched forward. One awkward hop. Then another shambling leap. Then finally, with a groan that shook the icy ground, Appa took to the skies.
Bumi nodded to himself, as he watched them ride into the sunset. "Yep." He said. "I can believe that they'll save the world."
"They surely will." Gran-gran nodded next to him.
A/N: So first, just a reminder for next chapter; Jun is in Ying's body. King Kuei is in Zhao's body. Katara is in Suki's body, and Suki is in Yue's body. Hakoda is in Mongke's body, Mongke is in Iroh's body, and Iroh is in Jet's body.
Other switches will be revealed in due time. It's much more exciting, don't you think, if you have no idea where Ozai ended up? Or Azula, or Long Fen, or any of the other villains who we will meet over the course of this story. They could be anyone. Be afraid.
As you can see, Zuko's thoughts are more disjointed than the others. It's my belief that Zuko went just as crazy as Azula; even after years of being worked on by Iroh, it took a spirit vision quest for Zuko to become a rational human being again. Ozai worked a doozy on both his kids. And now, on top of having a very bad day, Toph is trying to fix Zuko quickly and without any training. There will be consequences.
I hope you're all enjoying this story. Feel free to guess where it will end in your reviews. I mean, I already know where this story is headed. But I'm not the only one in the world with good ideas, and I'd like to hear yours. Either because they might be good enough to change the story's direction, or because I like to laugh at how ironic your predictions are compared to what's coming.
Especially for ships. I only have one canon ship planned so far for this fic. But it's up in the air who else will fall in love with who. If you have anything to say on the romance, please go ahead and say it.