Avatar the Last Airbender: The Spiritbender War
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. OCs do belong to me
A/N: badkidoh, AmberPegasus, thanks for the reviews
A/N: ArrayePL: Ursa's explanations are coming right up! And much more.
A/N: Sorekai - Iroh and Ozai talking will probably occur in the next couple of chapters. More action right now...
A/N: Poll question - Should Iroh and Ozai have the same birth mother? Considering their age difference of twenty one years? Please answer in your reviews!
Chapter 2
"Princess Ursa," Iroh said, "what are you doing?"
"Helping my husband," she said, a hard look crossing her face. Little Fu and Little Ji were crying, worried, scared. Ozai was still visibly tired, and sweating and hurting. Ursa knelt down and held Ozai close to herself.
"Ursa, you should not be here," Ozai said, between ragged gasps. "It's dangerous, they want to take me away."
"I am the only one that can stop this, husband dear," she replied, serenely. She got up, and walked towards the invaders. "Everyone stop attacking my husband," her voice authoritative. She had not used that tone of voice for years, and it felt almost surreal, strange that this would have been what she would have been used to using if she had been Fire Lady and not exiled. If she hadn't committed that horrible crime for the sake of her child.
"Ursa," Iroh said, "have you gone crazy. Your husband, sent you into exile."
"And that is between my husband and I, brother-in-law," she said. "It is none of your concern." Aang, Katara and Toph now understood, so this was the legendary Ursa, the missing Ursa, who the Fire Lord Zuko had been searching for, and she was back with the evil Ozai.
"Mother…" Zuko stated, "I've found you once again. And you are with him?"
"Yes," she said, "I am with my husband, and my children." She turned to stare at her eldest child. "You are an adult, able to make your own way in the world, I have my husband, and my other children to love and to cherish every moment with. They need me more than you need me." It was hard to say, but it was true. "If you are going to take my husband away from me, take the children's father away from them, then I will not forgive you, even you."
"Mother," Zuko said, "How could you? How could you love that cruel beast?"
"He loves me," Ursa said. "He's changed, for the better. At least give him a chance to prove himself as he has proven himself to me."
"He's tricking you," Zuko shouted, "all he wants is to resume the Throne."
"He's never talked about leaving here," Ursa answered, "we have been happy here, and you want to take us away from our happiness. But I will hear you out, if you will come in for tea. Otherwise, leave. I am content living here with my husband and my children, though it is good to see you again, son."
It was then that an air bison flew down out of the air. "We're here," Tai Feng said, he jumped off his air bison and drew his staff, landing next to Ozai and Ursa and the kids. Two more children joined them, in airbending stances, ready to fight, they were older than Ji and Fu though, about ten. A tunnel opened in the courtyard on their other side, as six more figures emerged, two adults, women, and four children.
"Perfect timing as usual, Feng," Ozai managed to say, as he had time to draw on his internal well of chi energy to heal. An angry look crossed Tai Feng's face, "Leave the Temple," Feng said. Mizuki, and Yue Ying stood ready too to attack, their stances patient, waiting for a flicker of movement indicating an attack.
"Stand your troops down, Zuko," Ursa said, "please." Zuko waved an arm, and the troops stood down. She took little Fu with her, and went over to Zuko, "Fu, meet your eldest brother, the Fire Lord Zuko. Zuko this is your youngest brother, Bei Fu." Bei Fu extended his small right hand out.
"Nice to meet you," Bei Fu said. "Mama Bear told me you were my older brother. And that she loves you. Papa Bear doesn't like you, though. He likes me best. I know because he tells me so." A glare from his father, a giggle from his mother told everyone that little Bei Fu was still quite young noting that he shouldn't have said that in public.
"Come, let us go," Ursa stated. "Come in for some tea." It was obvious she was the one that ran the small household of the Temple, for this was what she was trained to do, what she had done ever since her exile, what she was prepared to do when she was still Princess Ursa.
With another wave of the arm, and an order, the troops went back to the airship.
What was unnoticed was the Avatar Aang staring at Tai Feng and his two children. They were airbenders. He could tell from the stance, the staff that the adult carried and his clothing, though not standard airbender fare, it was similar enough to make him suspect. "Are you an airbender?" he asked, hesitant.
"I can bend air," Tai Feng said, "as can my two children." He turned around to his two children, "Zheng Yi, Xin, this is the Avatar Aang, the current incarnation of the Avatar. He disappeared one hundred years ago or so."
"But you are," Aang replied, "Alive. I wasn't the last." Standing before him was an adult airbender, someone must have survived."
Tai Feng's eyes looked full of compassion, and he sighed, "Avatar, my children are barely twelve, but I am over one hundred and twenty years old, by my last count. And I don't count myself as an airbender, I'm a spiritbender."
"Oh," Aang said.
"You were frozen in ice, for a hundred years," Tai Feng said, "I lived through all those years, with the spiritbenders. But the balance is being restored, airbenders will begin to pop up around in the other nations, through people who have airbender blood in them. That's what I believe."
"Come with me," Tai Feng continued, "I will tell you more about myself, invite your companions to come, I think my younger martial brother Ozai and his family need time alone to themselves. Now, Yi, Xin, go with the other children." Aang, Katara and Toph followed Tai Feng back into another room in the Temple. Tai Feng put on a pot of tea, I hope you like the green tea blend."
The inside of Tai Feng's quarters was sparsely furnished, just a simple wooden table, as befit an ex-airbender monk. However, there were spots of garishness, gaudiness highlighting his difference with other airbenders. In his opinion they were too staid, too boring with their obsession with meditation. That was why he was such a bad airbender; he liked fun too much, besides his other sins.
Inside Ursa and Ozai's quarters, a tense session of tea was what could best describe what was happening. Ozai and Ursa sat next to each other on one side the table, Bei Fu sitting on Ozai's lap. Zuko and Iroh sat on the other side of the table, faces unreadable. "Have some tea," Ursa said, as she served the green jasmine tea.
"Mother, I want you and Bei Fu to come back to the Fire Nation with me," Zuko said, pointedly.
"She will stay with me here," Ozai shot back. Inside he was worried that Ursa and Bei Fu would leave him, because he knew that she loved Zuko a lot and would want to spend time with him.
"I think it is best to let Ursa to speak for herself," Iroh interjected.
"I am staying here," Ursa replied, "with my children and my husband." She took a sip of her tea and put the cup gently down. "Besides, there is still the matter of the treason I committed."
"Mother, I can have that lifted," Zuko said. "Come back with me, come make up for the lost years." He was almost pleading. Bei Fu, played around with his cup of tea. Ozai's hand moved to stop his erstwhile son from spilling his tea.
"I still choose to stay here," Ursa continued, sipping from the ornate cup, "I love my husband, and I know he loves me."
"See how he has brainwashed you into thinking he is a good man," Zuko exploded, "don't you know what he has done?"
"I do," Ursa said, "and I accept," matter-of-fact, she took another sip of her tea. "He is my husband. We promised to love and cherish each other forever, and this time we both intend on keeping the promise. He is happy here, away from the politics of the Fire Nation, away from temptation." Ozai continued to do nothing, just playing with Bei Fu, Iroh sat impassive, observing.
Ozai said, handing Bei Fu over to Ursa, "I did those things, and I am not proud of them. I am sorry for what I did." He took a swig of his now warm tea. "I am truly sorry for what I have done. Believe me. Your mother does."
"That's because you've brainwashed her to believe all your words," Zuko said, "You've even got my brother brainwashed. That's it; I challenge you to Agni Kai." Iroh drew in a sharp breath. A look of worry crossed Ursa's face, Bei Fu looked angry.
"I accept," Ozai answered back angrily, a snap reaction, his golden eyes glared at his disowned son, now Fire Lord. "Now leave." Zuko stalked off, as Iroh followed. Ursa looked…well it was too hard for Ozai to read her emotions.
"Ozai," she said, "you…" she was lost for words.
"I know," he replied, comforting her, "I will go easy on the boy."
"You know he will try to kill you," Ursa stated. "He won't hold back."
"Ursa, you do not need to worry, he's all of eighteen, and still has a long while to mastery of fire," Ozai answered, "I know that I can win and force him to back down. It would be wiser for him to withdraw before though, but perhaps it may not be honourable to do so."
"Honour be damned right now, this is my son and husband we are talking about," Ursa exploded, uncharacteristic for her, "Iroh will try to talk sense into him," Ursa continued. "I know."
"But he will not back down," Ozai answered, "I have made him hate me that much," comforting his wife.
"Let's hope that common sense prevails then," Ursa replied. Her husband agreed. Secretly, she feared the showdown that was about to happen, to have to choose once again between her husband and her child.
"Are you crazy," Iroh said, as they exited the room, "Ozai will kill you. Who is going to take the throne after that? Azula? Ozai himself, will plunge the world into war. What about your wife to be, Mai?"
"No," Zuko replied, "she will see who he really is, and come back to me. And before it gets fatal, she will interfere. If I die, you can still take the throne as you were meant to."
"Are you so ready to take that chance," Iroh asked, "Ozai is a master firebender, it may have been better if I took your place instead."
"No," Zuko said, "I have to do this myself, I have to prove that Ozai is just as evil as he ever was. I am ready to take that chance, Azula was as good as Ozai, and I would have beaten her, had she not tried to attack Katara."
"I know," Iroh said, "but Ozai is another class above her, he has the experience and the natural talent."
"Yes, uncle," Zuko answered, "but I will win."
"If you say so," Iroh replied, sighing. There was no way of stopping his nephew now that he was firmly decided.
Meanwhile, back in Tai Feng's quarters, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph were continuing to drink their tea, whilst talking. Some of the talk got to the technical aspects of airbending which Toph and Katara could not quite follow. Bei Fu ran into the door, "my rotten brother has challenged Papa Bear to a fight," he shouted, "some Agni Kai thing." They all shot up, shit, Tai Feng thought, not the best start. Katara and Sokka looked angry and ready to attack. Toph kept her features well-schooled. Aang was still entranced by meeting another airbender who was alive that he had no other feelings but wonderment.
"Bei Fu," Tai Feng asked, "are you sure this is true?"
The boy nodded earnestly, "they are starting in five minutes."
"See, I don't know why we trusted you in the first place, all of you are evil," Katara shouted, no longer able to contain herself. Her brother nodded in agreement. Toph and Aang did not move.
"No we are not," Tai Feng replied, "you are the ones who decided to disturb our peaceful Temple." He held Bei Fu close to him, ready to spring away if the situation needed it.
"Just what a villain would say," Sokka interjected, angrily, "you are harbouring the world's worst criminal and you expect us to believe that you are good guys."
"If Ozai kills Zuko, I will be the first to take him down, and Lady Ursa trusts him and I trust her judgement," Tai Feng said, "don't you worry your little brain about that." He stood up taking Bei Fu along with him, "I'm going to watch the fight. You are free to come with or not."
The others got up to follow Tai Feng outside to watch the fight. Bei Fu ran over towards his mother and father. When he reached them, he said in a fierce voice, "Papa Bear, be careful." Ozai patted him on the head and replied that he would.
Ozai stripped off his robe, revealing his broad and sculpted chest. He wore plain brown pants, nothing else, it was simple as befit his new position in the world, his new outlook. Zuko was dressed in the fighting armour of the Fire Nation and looked ready to kill.
Ozai and Zuko circled around the courtyard slowly. Ozai knew what he had to do to win. Zuko attacked straight away, sending blue flames at Ozai. Ozai raised his hand in and his own blue flame met the incoming fireball, sending it up into the air where it dissipated, harmlessly.
Zuko began to intensify his attack, using the power of firebending to increase his speed. He became a blur to little Bei Fu and Ursa who could barely follow the new speed that the Fire Lord used. Ursa worried that Ozai would have to hurt Zuko to win.
Ozai called the power of firebending to the fore, to help him counteract Zuko's speed. Zuko had managed to throw multiple fireballs whilst running at high fire assisted speed. Ozai batted aside each one, deflecting them up into the air, away from anyone else. He decided to wait, in this game, his endurance was better than Zuko's. His simple living here, at the Temple, had conditioned him quicker and better than ten years of training at the Fire Nation Palace had done. The rich life of a Fire Nation Prince wasn't so good for keeping the body in full fighting condition.
Sweat beaded down the Fire Lord's face, as he pushed harder putting more and more energy into trying to beat Ozai. He changed his battle tactics to lightning as the man's steadfast defence infuriated him. It was as if he had made firebending into a defensive stance, but unlike the dragon's dance that Zuko himself had learnt which was based on dodging, it was as if he had made fire move like earth, be solid like earth. Ozai just continued to block each and every fire attack that was thrown at him sending it into the air with intricate movements of his hands and arms, or even audaciously, his legs to send a cascade of fire into the air, before flipping over via a handstand and then landing and blocking the next attack again.
Steadfast defence was what was in the front of Ozai's mind as he continued to fend off Zuko's attacks. Frustrate the opponent until he makes a mistake, outlast him and then pin him down. This was nothing more than a training spar for Ozai, in terms of what energy he had to expend in defending himself. But in his heart, it was more important. It was important for himself, his wife and his family. It was his chance to prove that he had changed for the better and that all he wanted was to be with his family, be with Bei Fu, Ursa and the other kids at the Temple. He began to bend the lightning that was being thrown at him. So, Zuko had started to run out of tricks with fire, he thought.
As the lightning arced towards him, Ozai bent it away with a vicious thrust of his arm. It was time to attack, now, as lightning took more energy, than throwing fire. More energy expended meant that it left him more open for a disabling attack. Ozai dodged the next arc of lightning, and charged, with the power of fire, towards Zuko, drawing a sharp gasp of breath from everyone else present. He forced Zuko to flip away, and he pressed forward, attacking, bare-fisted, punching Zuko, a glancing blow on the arm. He fired a basic fireball, punching out, with his right fist, the fireball sailing harmlessly away as Zuko avoided it with a burst of fire carrying him away from the danger.
He retaliated with another burst of lightning, Ozai bend his body left to avoid the lightning, and then controlled the lightning in his hands, by placing his hands, as if catching the lightning itself, and then bent it back towards Zuko, a use of spiritbending, hitting the surprised Zuko, who barely managed to raise his arms in a quick defence. Ozai pushed forwards and used a firewhip, sending it snaking towards Zuko, a liberal usage of waterbending stance to encourage the fire to flow like a river of gas, making it infinitely more dangerous. The liquid fire whip struck a wall of fire, but Ozai repeated his earlier trick, that he had used against Katara, he shifted his strike to a earthbending style attack, hard enough to penetrate the wall of fire.
Ursa gasped, as she saw Ozai's attack strike home, sending Zuko flying backwards, a long scar appeared on the Fire Lord's armour. Ozai attacked, closing in on the recovering Zuko, forcing him to fight hand to hand, where Ozai was definitely a lot more skilled. He threw a left, right combination, striking a block with one, the other digging into Zuko's gut. Ozai grabbed out with his right hand and slammed Zuko into the ground. The ground cracked open as the armour laden Fire Lord was driven down by Ozai's power.
Ozai called lightning to his right hand, and shaped it into a sword, "this is a new technique; I call the lightning sword, Zuko."
Ursa screamed, "Ozai."
A/N: Cliffhanger. Has Ozai already lost control over his new found contentment, his new found peace with the return of Zuko? Was it all a trick? Read the next chapter to find out! Please review.