Wow, so much for getting this out quickly. Sorry about that. Well anyways, here's the last chapter for ya!
Ursa yet again finds herself face-to-face with her brother, each on opposing ends of the arena. Their parents spectate from the sidelines as the two begin their usual habit of staring at each other, waiting for the impending battle to commence.
It comes as a great surprise to all when Ursa is the one who fires first.
She expected Iroh to counter it with his own attack, so she is prepared. She flicks her formerly injured foot up as high as she can, forming a protective dome of fire around herself as she turns and ends in a crouch.
Her father did not exaggerate Katara's healing capabilities. Within eight weeks Ursa had regained full mobility of her right leg. There is still a large scar wrapped around her knee, but now she displays it with pride. It was because of it that she had discovered her new ability in the first place.
As the fire dome fades away, Ursa glances out of the corner of her eye to see her twin in a full charge right towards her. His target waits until the last possible moment to roll out of the way, but Iroh carries through like a komodo rhino being taunted by a red cape. And, just like the animal, the boy soon doubles back twice as riled up as before.
The duel that ensues could have been moments, minutes, months for all they knew. Multiple Avatar lifetimes could have passed before their eyes, and the two would never have been the wiser.
Iroh does most of the attacking, but Ursa manages to smoothly sidestep and evade every one of his strikes. Not without much difficulty, though; there are several occasions where Iroh would nearly outmaneuver her, and she would barely avoid losing it all. Ursa can feel her pulse throbbing throughout her whole body, but she knows that she needs to bide her time and wait for her chance.
That chance comes just after Iroh begins to gain the upper hand. He had faked left, then quickly sent a burst of flame to his right, forcing Ursa to skid back several feet. But as Iroh walks forward to deliver the final blow, she sees the tiniest window of opportunity.
Jumping to her feet, Ursa finally releases the firebending form that took her months to perfect.
A beautifully executed Flaming Snake wraps around Iroh's unsuspecting waist, lifting him off of the ground. However, not so much as a lick of fire is touching his body.
It all goes back to when Ursa discovered air pulsating above the candle. She worked tirelessly to achieve something she wasn't even sure could be done. But finally, she found a way to make her fire push against the energy, which in turn pushes against the culprit, thus allowing Iroh to be picked up and moved without being harmed in the process.
That is until Ursa slams him into the ground. They're still siblings, and years' worth of payback was long overdue.
Ursa is quick to cover her brother in a fiery blanket, restraining him from making the slightest movement.
It's fitting that her discovery enables her to use her bending without having to harm her opponent. She sees the effects of fire at it's worst whenever she looks into her father's face, not to mention experienced them firsthand herself.
That's where part of her drive comes in: her desire to make a difference. Although years have passed since the end of The Great War, the world has yet to fully recover from a century of terror caused by her forefathers. Ursa wishes desperately to follow in her father's footsteps and one day show that fire can not only harm, but heal as well.
Suddenly Ursa finds herself, for the first time in her life, on the other end of the battle's outcome, in which she is the one offering a hand to Iroh. But she's quickly taken aback when as she lifts him up, he continues the forward momentum by pulling her into a warm embrace.
"I knew you could do it, sis," Iroh says.
As Zuko and Mai move to join their children, Ursa is reminded of the other, slightly more selfish half of her drive: her undying thirst to prove herself, to prove that she's every bit as good as her brother, to prove that she is a force to be reckoned with.
And years from now, when Ursa succeeds her father as Fire Lord after he steps down, and Iroh becomes general of the United Forces (a path his son will one day take as well), she will look back upon this day and smile. For it was not when she received her crown, but when she defeated her twin in a petty little training match, that she achieved just that.
Once again I must state that I am not entirely sure if this makes sense. But my reasoning is that if the Avatar Universe can have dudes blowing stuff up with their minds, then this is a possibility, too. Thanks for reading!