Title: The Aftermath
Rating: T+
Summary: It is 10 years after the events of Sozin's Comet. Under the rule of the pacifist Fire Lord Zuko and the guidance of the Avatar, many expected the world to heal from the damages suffered during the century-long war. But evil is still afoot, and threatens to disrupt the peace once again ...
Disclaimer: I don't own any components of ATLA.
Warning: Mild adult themes. Also, for this chapter my Author's Notes are quite controversial. Don't read it if you're easily offended or are sensitive to topics like death, capital punishment and euthanasia.
Chapter 4: The Cookie Crumbles ...
In the Fire Nation Palace
The room had a musky odor, filled with the thick smell of ammonia from the occupant's sweat and urine. Kuzon hadn't bathed in 2 weeks, since his Father had forcefully dunked him into the river. What he had thought was a long delayed fishing trip turned out to a devious ploy by his Father to get him to bathe. He had been so excited when his old man walked in one day, cheery smile on his face, and told him they were finally going to be taking that fishing trip that he'd had promised him so long ago. Kuzon had been so excited to go to the Jang Hui river - he knew it had been heavily polluted earlier in the war, but now it had recovered and homed many of the rare varieties of tuna-koi it once did. Ever since he was young, Kuzon had loved fishing, it was one of his many hobbies. His mother used to say he was like a miniature version of his Dad, but the Fire Lord always argued that he was never that mischievous or playful. Those had been genuinely happy moments, and when Yue came on her occasional visits, they'd had so much fun together, playing pranks on the unsuspecting adults. But he hadn't seen her since that dreadful day 5 years ago.
The day he'd lost his Mother, the day his Father had failed to protect his family. The day his life was ruined.
Thinking back to his conversation with the Fire Lord - Kuzon didn't recognize that man as his Father - he felt his ears grow hot.
--
They had reached the banks of the Jang Hui river, and Kuzon was mesmerized by its breathtaking beauty. It had been everything Aunt Katara told him it would be ... and unsurprisingly it was nothing like what Aunt Toph had said it looked like.
"It's just water, just a giant blob of water, what's there to see? Don't you have swimming pools in the Palace?'
Brimming with excitement for the first time in 5 years, and genuinely happy to be spending time with his Father, Kuzon dashed to the bank, and enthusiastically set up his fishing equipment. His Father came behind him, helping him to hook bait onto his line. Kuzon smiled, happy of his Father's presence ... until he felt 3 sharp jabs to his back, and fell over, immobilized. The Fire Lord had blocked his chi paths.
His Father stood over him, a menacing figure. All of Kuzon's affection for Zuko dissipated.
"You will take a bath today, Kuzon, I won't stand for your nonsense anymore.
Kuzon swore. Uncouth, colorful vocabulary spilling out of his untamed mouth.
Zuko slapped his unmoving son across the cheek.
"No son of mine uses that kind of language!"
Kuzon glared at his Father and his two golden-brown orbs - or whatever was left of them - were filled with hate and anger.
"I am not your son," Kuzon spat out, his voice dripping with pure venom. "Because you are no Father of mine."
The Fire Lord stood there for a moment before turning on his heels and walking away.
Kuzon's yelling and piercing screams reached Zuko's ears.
"Don't walk away from me, come and face me like a man!"
"You are a coward! A weak pathetic coward!"
Zuko continued to walk away from his immobile son as the adolescent continued spewing insults his way.
"Mum died because of you. You couldn't stop it. You were responsible for her death."
That finally drew the ire of the Fire Lord, who lashed out at his son, large waves of flames sweeping toward his son. Realizing the folly of his action, he withdrew his flames just before it reached his son. The flames dissipated into nothingness.
Kuzon smiled. A wicked, vindictive smile.
"You know it's true, Fire Lord. It's your fault. It's always been. Even when she was alive, you treated her like rubbish. You cared more about your precious Fire Nation than your family."
The Fire Lord didn't bother responding to his son's verbal taunts. He only finally turned to his face the swearing Kuzon when he reached the carriage.
"I will not take this childish petulant nonsense from you. For Agni's sake, Kuzon, grow up. You're not a kid anymore."
"Of course, Fire Lord, I lost any semblance of my childhood 5 years ago, because of this!" Kuzon snarled, the disfigured left side of his face scrunched up in a grotesque manner.
Zuko's left hand instinctively found its way to the area around his left eye, where his scar used to be.
Shaking his head as he stepped into his carriage, Zuko motioned for his soldiers to draw near to him.
"Ensure that my son is properly washed and send him back home when you're done."
"Where are you going, Sir?", one brave soldier asked.
Zuko sat down in the carriage and looked the man in the eye.
"I have a country to run. There are much more important things to do than disciplining my unruly child."
--
Kuzon smiled as he applied the finishing touches to his scroll. He laid the parchment out for the ink to dry. He was pleased. His masterpiece was complete.
In the dim glow of candlelight, the big block characters that made up the title of his scroll read:
"The Sins of Fire Lord Zuko"
His Father was going down. A simple messenger hawk to the nearest news agency would ensure the piece would be published. Zuko's removal of Ozai's tough censorship policies would be his own downfall.
In the reclaimed Earth Kingdom City of Shandu
The battle had been fierce, but with Katara by their side, they had managed to dispatch the combined might of rebel Earth and Fire Nation forces. Majority of their enemies were benders, and even though the Kyoshi Warriors and Sokka's men were severely outnumbered and outmatched, Katara proved to be the deciding factor, turning the battle towards their side with a magnificent show of bending. Drawing upon a large body of water nearby, namely the Shandu Lake, Katara had defeated hundreds of men with sheer force and volume of water.
The citizens of Shandu had happily welcomed their liberators, and the governor himself had insisted that they stayed in the palace for their troubles.
It had been a few hours since their grueling victory. It was mid-afternoon, and the weather was hot but strangely, not humid. Perfect weather of tanning. As the waterbender made her way down the halls, she couldn't help but overhear guttural moans of pleasure coming from the rooms nearby. Such ... interactions were always bound to occur, with an army made up of two factions, one purely female, while the other purely male. And after battle, especially a victory; with testosterone levels increased and adrenaline still pumping through their bodies, the men were extremely ... primal in their desires. The Kyoshi Warriors were more than happy to comply, as they too had certain needs, which had never really been met because of the no-male policy of their group.
As Katara walked toward Governor Shun's room, she tried to filter out the sounds of pleasure coming from the palace rooms, but stopped trying to, the moment she heard a cry of delight, issued by a familiar voice.
"Oh, Ty! I've missed this so much!"
That was, without a shadow of a doubt, Sokka ...
Despite not wanting to, her ears focused, concentrating on the noises coming from that room. Yue knew what was going on, the amount of noise and the frequency of the moans gave Katara the notion that Sokka was having the time of his life. She quickly brushed that image out of her head.
Ewwww ... that was just too gross.
But Katara couldn't stop thinking about it for one reason. She'd thought Sokka had finally done the right thing and had stopped his sordid affair with Ty Lee. Were they back together again?Or was Ty Lee just satisfying Sokka's libido?
She decided not to bother. She would confront Ty Lee and Sokka individually the next day. For now, she pushed that unpleasant situation to the back of her head and walked away from the governor's room, deciding not to spend the next hour discussing reparations. It could wait till tomorrow. Katara smiled. She had her husband to thank for her now extremely useful ability to avoid problems. His carefree nature had rubbed off on her, and all she wanted to do now was to suntan on the roof.
--
Katara was adorned in nothing but two skimpy little articles of clothing, which showed her flat and toned midriff, her slender limbs. It also played a part in accentuating her large assets. Puberty had been been particularly generous to her in the chest area. She laid down on a mat, soaking up the rays of the sun. Ahh ... relaxation. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw an advancing white dot, which grew larger and larger in size, until it became clear to her that it was Appa, and that her spouse was riding on top.
Katara leapt to her feet, worried something might have happened in the Altai Mountains, to the Air Nomad Colony. Aang would not leave them if there weren't.
"Aang, what's wrong?", Katara yelled out nervously as Appa landed on the roof with a surprisingly light thud. "Did anything happen to the colony?"
Aang tried to look his wife level, but he couldn't. Not because of his height, he had long since caught up with his spouse, but because of his guilt.
"Remember you told me I would tell you my secret when I was ready?"
Katara nodded, recalling the conversation they'd had a few days ago.
"Well, I'm ready, Katara."
Aang breathed in a large breath of air, then spoke quickly, trying to get the deed over and done with quickly.
"What happened with Azula 5 years ago ... caused my time as the Avatar to end. I'm no longer the Avatar, Katara, the cycle has continued, the next Avatar is a kid in the water tribe. That's it."
Aang felt the impact of a sharp slap from his wife.
"You ... you idiot!", Katara yelled, fire present in her round blue orbs. "You kept this from me for 5 years? I'm your wife for goodness sake! All that crap about your Avatar duties being completed by taking down Ozai, that was all buffalo yak droppings! You ... lying scumbag!"
"Well, at least I bothered to tell you!", Aang shouted back indignantly. "Roku asked me to fly straight to the Fire Nation and tell Zuko the truth, but I took a detour so that you would be the first to know! Because you are my wife! And I care about you enough to tell you first!"
Katara's normally soft eyes burned with untamed fury.
"So, you thought of telling me the truth only as an afterthought? Only after Roku forced you to reveal the truth? What then, if Roku hadn't intervened, would you have kept up this ridiculous charade? How long would you have kept it going? We are at war, Aang. We have always needed the Avatar, but we accepted your 'I have completed my duty to the world' nonsense. Why? Because we trusted you! We trusted you, Aang, but you've betrayed our trust. You've betrayed me!"
Katara paused, breathless from her long tirade. He anger diminished, and pools of water started forming in her beautiful blue orbs.
Aang walked up to her and put an arm around her.
"Don't cry, Katara, you look too hot in this outfit to be weeping."
Katara shoved Aang aside, her anger returning as quickly as it had dissipated.
"Get off me, your jerk!", she attempted blinking away her tears as they threatened to fall. "Our whole relationship for the past 5 years has been nothing but one big lie. One big lie after another. All the supposed heart-to-heart conversations we had about why you felt you had served your duty as Avatar? All that was false! And to think I actually believed you in the end! I actually thought I'd understood you better, that we moving forward in our relationship. Before that, all you'd wanted was sex! We hardly spoke!"
Katara couldn't fight it anymore. Tears fell.
"But Katara ...", Aang protested. "One of the reasons you loved and eventually married me was because I was the Avatar, the all powerful bender. You heard Aunt Wu's prediction! I couldn't afford to lose you! I didn't want to lose you."
Katara raised her teary face.
"You spied on me when I was at Aunt Wu's? And you really think I married you because of power? Do you honestly think I am that shallow?"
Fury crept back into her voice.
"You ... are a selfish, obsessive man, who wants me locked away so I can be yours and only yours forever. For years I wondered why you couldn't master the Avatar State. Now I do."
Aang's face was a picture of displeasure. "No, Katara, I love you, and you know our love is real. And when love is real, it transcends lifetimes. Remember when we kissed in the Cave Of 2 Lovers? The crystals lit up. Our love is as real is that of Oma's and Shu's. We are meant to be together ... forever."
Katara wiped away her tears. She had stopped crying and now instead, had a steely look in her eyes. "No, Aang, you have deluded yourself into believing what you want. You are not worth crying over. You are a worthless, pathetic man, who has never grown up."
Aang howled in anager. He released a strong gale, sending it Katara's way. She stuck out her hand, lowering the temperature of the air around her by manipulating the moisture present. A sudden gust appeared from behind Katara, and slammed into Aang's attack. The powerful airbending strike was sent right back to a startled Aang, who watched on as his own offense smashed into him.
Collapsed on the roof, he looked up angrily at Katara. "What kind of dark magic is this! Where did you learn that?"
"One of my real friends taught me that." Katara paused, having a sudden epiphany, and realizing something she hadn't considered before. "Zuko."
She walked away, leaving a shell-shocked Aang on the ground.
Iroh's quarters in the Fire Nation Palace
The Dragon Of The West's room always smelt pleasantly of Jasmine. But his uncle's tea obsession had taken its toll on his bladder in his old age, and he had to visit the bathroom more frequently these days. And that was what Iroh, master firebender was doing at this moment. Waiting, Zuko took a seat in his Uncle's posh room, richly decorated with various memorabilia that the old man had acquired through the years.
Iroh finally emerged, a smile on his face indicating his bathroom visit had gone pretty smoothly. "Ah, if it isn't my favorite nephew."
"I'm your only nephew, Uncle", Zuko corrected. "I know I've already bothered you with too much stuff - first calling you back from the Jasmine Dragon and then dumping all that administrative work on you, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to place another burden on your back."
"I'm sure you've heard that Ozai and the Earthbender Rebels have kidnapped Kuei. What could my Father possibly want with the Earth King?"
Iroh sat down opposite Zuko, the smile on his face replaced with a frown. He poured himself and Zuko a cup of tea. "Come let us drink before discussing any unpleasant matters. I always feels it considerably lessens the burden of one's troubles."
Zuko complied. As the Fire Lord took a few sips of the hot tea, Iroh spoke up, having finished his very much faster.
"My brother is a very intelligent and cunning man. I believe he has realized the flaw of the Avatar's Energybending."
Zuko curious, put the cup of tea down. "What do you mean, flaw? Aang removed all his firebending, how could that be a flaw?"
"Ah, but nephew, Avatar Aang removed his firebending. With every situation in the world, when you remove something, it has to go somewhere. Firebending is energy, and energy cannot be destroyed, only transferred."
Zuko's golden eyes widened. "So you are saying his bending went somewhere else? Where could it go? It's not like there's a orb of firebending power floating around somewhere is there?"
The Fire Lord's question was only greeted with silence from Iroh. His only response was to pour himself more tea.
"Is there??"
Iroh finished his second cup of Jasmine, and placed it back on the table. He looked at Zuko and sighed.
"No, Zuko, not in our world. The firebending energy cannot exist on this plane. It is a spiritual energy which those of us who are born firebenders inherit from Agni. When your Father's bending was removed, it got transferred to the ..."
"The Spirit World!", Zuko exclaimed. "By Agni, he's planning to go into the Spirit World and get back his powers!"
The Fire Lord paused, considering some bits that didn't fit in with this new piece of information.
"But why would he need the Earth King?"
Iroh raised a hand, urging Zuko to listen.
"Back in the days before Avatar Kuruk, there were many volatile and unstable portals to the spirit world, and the boundaries between the worlds were very thin. It didn't seem to be much of a problem, as most spirits are benevolent, and didn't bother the humans in that era. But one fateful night, the malevolent Koh, the Face Stealer, stole Avatar Kuruk's bride, dragging her into the Spirit World. He stole her face, and many others through the numerous portals available. Avatar Kuruk then decided to destroy all the portals to the Spirit World, leaving only the shrines left. He carved spell symbols from the ancient language of the Gods into those shrines, ensuring that the boundaries between worlds were re-established, and that only the Avatar could access those portals. He managed to seal the shrines, and was successful in destroying all other portals bar one. That one portal in a small offshore island continually survived Kuruk's attempts to destroy it, so he bended that Island to the middle of the ocean, and carved a large spell symbol on the underside of the island, ensuring that no spirit would be able to leave that place. It became known as the Island of Shambala, the haven of Spirits. The 45th Earth King Han made it his life's ambition to find the legendary Island Of Shambala, and it was rumored that he did, and created a map so that his descendants could also journey to the Spirit World and achieve enlightenment like he had. "
Zuko caught on. "That was how you got to the Spirit World in the first place ... through this Island, which you found through the map ... which the Earth King is in possession of?"
"Yes. Now, my brother is trying to get to Shambala. He must have already obtained the map from the Earth King, but it takes weeks for even the most experienced seaman to find the Island, so we still have time to spare."
Iroh paused, visibly tired and thirsty from all the talking, and gulped down 3 more cups of tea.
Zuko continued.
"We must stop my Father from getting back his bending, but even if the worst case scenario occurs, I believe you and I can defeat him together. I've worked out the flaws in the combustion technique, perfected it such that it is almost as fast and deadly as lightning, and you have obtained minor control over magma. We can defeat Ozai."
Iroh took a deep breath, and then continued. "No, Zuko. We cannot defeat him. Although you've improved remarkably over the years, you are still nowhere near the level Ozai once was, and my control over magma is extraordinarily minute as I can only cool it down. Yes, together, we could probably take out the normal Ozai but ..."
"Normal Ozai? What do you mean?", Zuko protested, unsure of what his Uncle meant by that.
Iroh explained.
"The removal of his firebending occured on the day of Sozin's Comet. It's power still lingers in Ozai's removed bending. With Energybending, the Avatar bended out all the firebending in Ozai's body, even the cosmic energy from the comet that was attached to it. So ..."
The Fire Lord interrupted his Uncle once again.
"So if Ozai gets his bending back, he will be as powerful as he was on the day of Sozin's Comet."
"Yes, Nephew, so it is imperative he not get back his powers. The Avatar only stopped him through an accidental trigger of the Avatar State, which as far as I know, he still has not yet mastered. No one will be able to stop him. Ozai will carry out his original plan and burn the world to the ground, and build a society crafted in his own ideals and beliefs. It would be the end of civilization as we know it. Ethics, conscience, morals will go out of the picture. My brother is an ambitious man, always has been. He has great plans for the world, and will see it to that his vision is fulfilled."
Zuko nodded, understanding.
"We have to get to the Island before him and stop him from getting his bending back. We can use air bison, I heard the air nomad colony has been doing very well."
Just then, a panicked soldier burst into Iroh's quarters. It was Admiral Jee. He had been a fine character - back when he was a Lieutenant - on Zuko's ship almost a decade ago, and the Fire Lord had given him every opportunity to rise up the ranks.
"What is it, Admiral?", Iroh asked, deceptively cheerfully. Zuko had long ago seen through his Uncle's facade. He acted carefree and aloof so that it would lighten the weight of the burden on his shoulders. It was a simple but effective way of managing stress and anger.
"Kuzon, my Lord," he turned to Zuko, "has fled his room, the only thing we found missing was the late Fire Lady's kabuki mask."
Iroh's mood considerably dampened, and quietly remarked under his breath.
"It's the banished prince all over again."
--
--
--
--
Author's Notes: One of my favorite chapters to date. Really enjoyed writing this one. It's basically the first turning point of my fanfic. So psyched I was about this chapter that I stayed up till 2 a.m to finish it! Anyway, a few things to clarify. Yes, I intended for this to be a Zutara fic, but the development of backstories are essential to my fic. And I know, one problem people may have with this chapter would be my depiction of Aang. I know initially it seems a bit OOC, but this is the kind of person I honestly think Aang could easily become were we to follow canon. This is because the series failed to deal with Aang's obsession over Katara, which we have seen displayed many times throughout the show. He gets angry when there are even minor suggestions(no matter how unfounded) of Katara with another guy(seen in Season 3, episode 17: The Ember Island Players). He was angry and unbelievably impatient when Katara did not immediately reciprocate his feelings after he'd forcefully planted one on her(also seen in The Ember Island Players). He also sarcastically commented and ridiculed the possibility that it was - I quote - "Katara's turn to go on a field trip with Zuko."(seen in Season, episode 16: The Southern Radiers). In the 'The Southern Raiders" scene, he came across as very jealous and bitter, as he openly mocked the idea of Zuko and Katara going on a trip together. If that doesn't reek of possessive/jealous/stalker-boyfriend behavior, I don't know what is. And what do these kind of people do? They delude themselves so as to justify their way of thinking and their actions. They fear losing their girl, and become paranoid and delusional. This exactly fits the profile of my Aang.
For me, the Katara-obsession was the major flaw that Aang had in the series, which denied him access to The Avatar State. I would have thought the series would have ended with him solving this major problem, resulting in him accessing the Avatar State to defeat Ozai. But instead an accident triggered it. Wow. Talk about an anti-climax.
Okay, if you're an avid Kataang fan, you are probably quite ticked off right now. But feel free to post your grievances, and explain why you think Aang isn't a creepy possessive/jealous/stalker - boyfriend. But I wouldn't expect my small viewing audience to have any problems with it. (I hope!)
I also thought that energybending was a far too convenient plot device that allowed the makers to cut out the killing of Ozai for the sole purpose of keeping the ratings down . I understand that as a kids' show, they had to pander to the whims of parent's groups who did not want excessive violence on a chlidren's channel. But sometimes evil people just have to be killed, or they might come back to haunt you. Say if you had a chance to kill Hitler - sensitive topic I know - or throw him in jail forever, which would you choose? I know I'd choose the former, because as long as he's alive, he could come back to haunt us, because by his very existence on this Earth, there is a chance no matter how small, that he could still influence what happens in society.
And on to my last and final point. Okay, so what happened with Katara redirecting Aang's attack? Well, if you have either studied Geography or Physics, you would know that due to the differing air pressures, wind travels from a colder place to a warmer one. So there. Of course, this scientific principle is exaggerated a lot here, but this is the Avatar-verse, I would expect bending to create an area of much higher air pressure than naturally possible.
P.S. I am so sorry I've made almost every main character a jackass thus far. But it sure adds to the drama, doesn't it?