Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, its characters, designs etc. Those are © Mike and Bryan, and Nickelodeon. Li Feng, Mistress Choi, Xue Bao and other original characters are © me, Lady Asvin.
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Ominous drums filled the air as the arena slowly filled with spectators. The training sands quivered with reflected sun; a haze hovered above the gold-inlaid borders of the arena as two men disrobed and prepared to fight their match. A ceremonial priest held up the Qi Shi Qi Gai scroll and began to read.
"Honorable brothers and sisters," he read in a booming voice. "The Qi Shi Qi Gai is the code by which our ancestors created all laws and bound the people to them. His Imperial Majesty the Fire Lord has stepped forth today to settle a question of his honor and adherence to the Code!" The crowd cheered, save for two women seated on opposite sides of the arena. One, Noblewoman Wei Mai Qin, wore her usual disinterested expression. Only her sharp gaze betrayed an interest in what happened around her. The other, Ambassador Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, held no such reservations; she leaned forward, attempting in vain to see the players of the death trap a bit better. She chewed on her bottom lip, and around her, other ambassadors and their servants whispered at her shameful behavior.
"Bow!" declared the priest; Zuko and Nobleman Wei did so, the aristocrat bowing a scant inch lower than his Fire Lord in a mockery of respect. They rose, and Katara could almost smell Zuko's fighting spirit take hold; across the arena, Mai turned to Xue Bao.
"I want cold kanonfruit juice," she declared quietly. "Now." The old woman scuttled around the family and ran toward the palace; a scullery maid accosted her as she entered the back door of the kitchen.
"Has the fight started?" asked the girl, a giant pregnant belly obvious under an apron and faded robes. She had the wrist tattoo of a twice-incarcerated Boiling Rock ex-prisoner.
"They just finished the Rites," said the chaperon, grim-faced. The girl's mouth set in a flat line.
"I hope His Highness kills General Li Feng," she said matter-of-factly. Xue Bao paused in the middle of her task, holding an enormous kanonfruit and searching for a juicer. She looked from the maid's face to her belly, and back.
"For your sake, child, I hope so too."
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Arena.
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"I am wounded!" cried the nobleman, collapsing onto the steaming sand. The crowd let out an outraged roar; Zuko had merely grazed the man's shoulder with a fireball. Because the battle was one of honor, however, the priest had to abide by the challenger's word.
"Bring out General Li Feng!" shouted the man, tapping a knotted wooden stick to the floor and sending a burst of flame to each of the lanterns in the corners of the arena. One flame meant the original challengers were in the ring; two meant the match had resorted to seconds. Katara stood, completely disregarding the flurry of whispers and gestures she caused.
"Your Highness!" she shouted, a voice among many. But he heard her; he turned his head to meet flashing gold eyes with moonstone blue ones. "General Li Feng was the one!" The one? Which one? He never got to ask. "The one that destroyed Suki's life!" called the waterbender. Zuko understood clearly now why the name had sounded so familiar to him as he had read the challenge. He realized also that he was no longer only fighting for his own honor; he fought for the honor of the Fire Nation, the honor of the Kyoshi girl and all the others whose lives had been ruined by this monster of a man. He fought for the honor of the Avatar, who had brought a general peace to lands constantly enveloped in conflict; most importantly, he fought for her, because he knew she watched him, believing in him, and he couldn't let her down again.
Does that mean I'm getting on that ship tomorrow?
What if it wasn't an accident?
Do you trust me?
What if it was meant to be?
Their love was strong and they found a way.
Love?
Zuko took a deep breath and turned to face his next adversary. On the sidelines, the Warden of the boiling rock sidled up to his aristocratic brother and whistled loudly in his ear. Nobleman Wei, annoyed, looked up at him and pointed to his daughter.
"This better be worth my donation, Jin Tei," he said shortly, staring across the arena.
"Don't worry brother," said the Warden, malice flashing openly across his face. "Li Feng was born for this." Down in the sand, Zuko studied the General; the man was enormous, two or three heads taller than him and three times as wide. His arms alone could crush a metal dinghy into scrap.
"Now would be a really good time for Toph to give me a baseline on this guy," muttered Zuko, and the ceremonial priest stepped into the sand again.
"Bow!" They did.
"I'm gonna crush your skull, Your Highness," mocked the giant. "With all due respect." Zuko narrowed his eyes; the sun was bright in his face, nearly obscuring all view. For a moment, the world went a blinding white. Zuko looked around the arena; Li Feng had disappeared. A tendril of fear wound its way down his spine and a cold sweat began to emerge from his pores. Where is he? Is he behind me? That's-
BOOM went the sand next to Zuko's left foot, scouring most off whatever skin was exposed. It began to bleed freely, and Li Feng appeared behind him.
"Ready to play?" He sent jabs of flaming metal toward Zuko's ribs; trying desperately to avoid them, Zuko had no time to counter. Another blast of sand to his right; what was this man trying to pull? Zuko squatted close to the ground and attempted to send a hissing flare under the man's legs, only to be rewarded with a kick in the head. This isn't working. I can't attack! The man was too close; he continued to physically kick out and lock arms with Zuko, occasionally sending him flying with what appeared to be land mines. I can't lose! He gritted his teeth. This man hurt the people who took me in! For a moment, Zuko let go of the battle; Katara's face floated across his mind, morphing into Mai's long, horse-like one. Don't ever break up with me again. Zuko's mouth tightened grimly as he recalled her icy words; there was no way he could just sit back and be the "perfect prince" any longer.
"I'm sorry Mai," he muttered. Li Feng upset another land mine near Zuko's back; his tunic ripped to shreds, exposing skin and blood. The Fire Lord abruptly stood tall, surprising his opponent; the man had kept him crouching through most of the battle. "This ends here!" he yelled, and took a deep breath.
It's a move I learned from studying waterbenders.
He extended his hands and bent his knees, settling into a now-familiar stance. The sound of the crowd receded, and the fight suddenly became his absolute center of focus.
Just you and me. This way nobody else gets hurt.
Li Feng had ripped off his tunic and was charging toward him, for all the world like a rhino bull on a rampage.
Wait for it…
The sand began to sizzle and hiss, sending up warning that something was getting ready to happen. The crowd had gone silent; Li Feng continued to come toward him, grunting and seeing red.
Wait for it…
Sand was exploding on the far sides of the arena; whatever had exploded next to his leg before was letting loose on the outskirts of the fight.
It was supposed to be a bending battle, Zuko realized distractedly, an honor-bound Agni Kai. They brought him here to mock me. The man was getting closer; Zuko focused on a spot that would soon be under his feet. Li Feng was almost blocking the sun in Zuko's face.
Now.
The man shot up as flames engulfed him; his entire weight seemed to be supported by the pulsating blue and red of the inferno Zuko had summoned under him. The flames grew in size and intensity, rolling the man up and about like a macabre puppet. He was screaming now, the manifestation of his pain and agony filling the air right along with the smell of charred flesh and fabric. Before the crowd's eyes, Li Feng's skin blistered and popped; his muscles exposed their inner workings to the world as their top layer shriveled off completely, a used carapace.
He had a reputation for misbehaving with the women prisoners. They brought me to him. A 'special session', they told me…
Zuko let the man fall.
As if time had slowed down, the hulking mass of steaming, sizzling, bubbling man floated down toward the sand, twitching as he realized his eyelids had almost completely burned off. A gasp came from the stands.
"He will live," boomed Zuko to the spectators. "But I have won the tournament." He fixed the crowd with a look, gold eyes flashing. "My honor is no longer in doubt." He found one face in the crowd. "And I have debilitated a man responsible for atrocities not fit to even speak of." Zuko bowed to the priest as medics came onto the sand, and then turned to bow to Nobleman Wei. "Our matter is settled," he called to the nobleman in the stands. Nobleman Wei smiled, a brittle, cracking mockery of a smile. The Warden, standing next to him, shifted nervously from foot to foot, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Your Highness," said the nobleman, and bowed; with that, he took his family and left. Mai turned for one last look at the arena; her watery eyes were flat, revealing nothing. She caught Zuko's eye and quickly twirled on a foot to join her family. Shoulders back, Zuko turned to face the medics; suddenly he was flying, far into the hot morning sky. It's the day of uncle's festival, he mused as he flew, the skin on his arms and legs and neck stinging strangely. I wonder why I'm wasting time. From the stands, a piercing cry parted the crowd of ambassadors. Tears collecting in the corners of her eyes, Katara felt around for a water source; she found it in a tiny well off the arena.
Maybe I should…
She commanded the water to her, a brackish wall shooting straight up.
Maybe I should be the one thanking you.
From his stretcher, General Li Feng fingered a tiny onyx rock. "Pompous brat," he muttered; tossing the rock, he made a patch of sand explode. In the stands, Katara pushed and pulled the water to surround Zuko, attempting to extinguish the flames and bring him down safely.
Please be ok.
The water left Zuko on the ground, gasping for air; Katara jumped the stands of the arena and headed toward him.
I want to see you smile.
"Medic!" she screamed. "I need a medic!" But the medics just looked at her; the crowd was silent, staring at her, making a spectacle of herself on what most believed to be the Fire Lord's charity. Realizing she wasn't going to get help, the waterbender rolled up her sleeves.
"Aristocrats," she muttered, and brought back her stream of water; Zuko had settled into unconsciousness and was losing precious blood by the second from his skinned limbs and neck.
"Here, child," said a voice, and Katara turned to discover the kind face of Xue Bao hovering above her. A stretcher stood by her feet. "Let me help you."
"But – Nobleman Wei – and Mai- aren't you-?" she stuttered, looking at the woman.
"Explanations later. Right now, your Fire Lord needs attention."
My Fire Lord?
The two women loaded Zuko onto the stretcher; picking it up, they realized it was difficult to carry, ungainly between them. Katara turned to meet the eyes of the crowd; no one would offer help, and many were already filing out of the arena.
My Fire Lord...
"Where are his chambers?" gasped Katara, heaving with the effort of carrying the stretcher.
Mine.
"Follow me," said the old woman. Zuko moaned, eyes fluttering open; Katara, struggling with the stretcher, did not notice.
Look at me, he willed her. He couldn't open his mouth to speak. I'm alive! Don't worry! But his silent pleas were no good; the last thing he saw before sinking back into a cloud of unconsciousness was Katara's face, streaked with tears, eyes squinting in worry and pain.
Because I'm selfish.
