The air ship screeched to a halt, jerking Katara awake; the sudden jolt yanking her body back by her hands which were handcuffed to the steel wall. She let out a gasp of pain as fresh blood trickled down her wrist, the smell of iron and blood filling up the tiny cube.
She had no idea what time it was, it seemed as if she had been in the air ship for days. She blinked her eyes, trying to keep the sweat out of her lashes and waited. She could hear hurried footsteps outside the locked door and as she tried to peer through the window high above the ground to see if she can catch a glimpse any daylight, the door to her cube swung open.
A burly fire nation guard entered the room, followed by two more. Katara watched silently as two of them unlocked the handcuffs and the third one had a spear pointed to her face.
"No funny business." The guard with the spear growled.
The two guards caught hold of her arms and hauled her to her feet. This was the moment Katara was waiting for.
The guard with the spear had no idea what hit him: One moment he was looking at the prisoner's face and the next moment he was down on the floor unconscious, Katara's foot having connected solidly to the side of his head with a sickening crunch.
The two guards were too stunned to react and Katara took advantage of their shock, wrenching her arms free and making a run for the open door. A blast of fire to her right singed her arm, making her cry out in pain and she ducked just in time to avoid another fire blast which might have taken her head off. She stumbled out, grabbing hold of the metal door and trying to shut it but the two guards had thrown their weight against the door, flinging it open.
Katara was thrown off her feet with the force of the door banging open against the steel wall. She scrambled on to her feet, trying to get away but one of the guards had lunged forward and caught hold of her arms. She struggled violently, hitting the guard on his knee cap with her feet. The guard sank on the floor, pulling Katara down with him. However, before she could react, the second guard swung his foot out and hit her hard on her head. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth before everything went black.
"There it is… Roku's home" Aang spoke up as he gently guided Appa down.
Sokka looked down but all he could see were barren rocks and no sign of life anywhere.
"But there's nothing here" Sokka replied, a little confused.
Toph jumped down from Appa's saddle as soon as they landed.
"Yes, there is. An entire village; hundreds of houses, all completely buried in ash." Toph said solemnly.
"What happened here?" Sokka ased, awed.
"All I know is Roku asked me to come to this island in my dreams last night." Aang replied, walking a little further away from where they had landed. "I will try to meditate and go to the spirit world. You guys can try to find the nearest village."
"We are not leaving you." Sokka replied firmly. "Moreover, it's evening already. There is no point going anywhere, we will set up camp here."
Zuko looked up the huge portrait of Fire Lord Sozin, a hundred questions running through his mind. The letter that someone left him last night mentioned that he needed to know the history of his great grand father in order to understand his own destiny. He peered into the majestic eyes of the previous fire lord, a little unnerved at how life like the portrait felt.
The sound of footsteps made him turn back to see Azula walking through the corridor. She gave him a passing glance and continued walking past.
"It's never too early for a sitting with the court painter, Zuko." She called back. "Make sure he gets your good side."
Zuko flinced, his eyes narrowing in anger as he turned back to look up the portrait again.
Azula smirked.
Katara's head felt as if it had been split open in two; she groaned, trying to open her eyes but her eyelids felt like stone. Groggy, disoriented and enveloped in darkness, she finally managed to get her eyes open but the room she was in was so dark, for a moment she thought she still had her eyes closed.
A stab of pain went through her head, making her eyes water. She tried to move her arms but the heavy cuffs on her wrists had her arms chained to the wall. A faint wave of nausea and dizziness hit her and she would have toppled over on the floor if the chains had not held her in place. She blinked her eyes, taking deep breaths and tried to focus so that the room would stop spinning. Her right arm felt heavier than her left and she could feel something wrapped around it, causing a dull but consistent sting on her arm.
What happened? All she could remember was being on the air ship and this was definitely not the ship… It smelled and felt different.
Another sharp pain knifed through her head, almost making her throw up. She gasped for air, sweat dripping down her face…
"Where am I?" She thought miserably.
Aang could not believe what he was seeing. "You were friends with Fire Lord Sozin?" He blurted out in shock. Roku chuckled gently before nodding his head.
"Back then, he was just Prince Sozin and he was my best friend."
Aang was watching but he just could not comprehend what he was seeing. Roku, his past life, was best friends with the Fire Lord, the same Fire Lord who had wiped out the entire Air nomads, the same Fire Lord who was responsible for Aang being the last of his kind!
He didn't know what to feel as he watched Sozin sprinkle grass on Roku's defeated face.
"Love is hard when you are young." Roku's voice floated over him as he watched the girl walking past Roku and Sozin.
"You don't have to tell me…" Aang sighed, his mind going back to Katara. His stomach clenched in guilt as a quick flash of Katara in chains went through his mind.
"Don't worry…" Roku said gently. "It gets better."
"How?" Aang asked before he could stop himself.
Roku looked at him. "You will find out on your own. Now come with me, we have a party to attend."
Aang wanted to ask so many questions but he bit his tongue. Now is not the time, he reminded himself. Roku had more important stuff to show him, his questions will have to wait.
Zuko's eyes couldn't believe what he was reading. The Fire Lord was best friends with the Avatar? He knew the Avatar before Aang was from the Fire Nation but he had no idea his great grandfather was actually best friends with Avatar Roku.
He looked up from the scroll, trying to get a grasp of the story unfolding before his eyes. Suddenly he could hear a small sound outside the door to the chamber he was in and he froze, his heart thumping wildly in his chest. He knew as the crown prince he had every right to be there but he didn't want word to get to his father that he was caught reading the last will of Fire Lord Sozin in the secret dragon bone catacombs. He knew it was no big deal but at the back of his mind, he somehow felt he had to keep this a secret, no matter what. He kept still for a long time, waiting to see if anyone tried to get into the vault. When minutes ticked by and nothing happened, he finally relaxed and went back to reading the scroll.
"You think he is all right?" Toph spoke up, pointing towards the still figure of Aang.
Sokka looked up from the fire he was trying to build; the young monk was clearly in the spirit world. His arrows were glowing and he had been sitting still for more than half of the evening now. Even the sounds of the ocean waves crashing on to the rocks below did not seem to trouble his meditation.
"Yeah," Sokka replied, poking the fire with more wood, "He should be fine."
Toph did not say anything. Ever since the first time she had felt Aang go into the Avatar state in the desert they were stranded in, she has had a small fear of anything that had to do with the Avatar state or the spirit world. She had heard tales from Sokka about how Hei Bai had captured him once and taken him to the spirit world; granted Sokka might have been exaggerating when he had gone into details about what sort of creatures he came upon when he was stuck there for a day; Toph still couldn't help but feel a bit uncomfortable about this world, a world where bending didn't work.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and tried not to think.
Now that Katara was finally awake, her eyes had time to get adjusted to the darkness of the room she was tied in. She had found out the hard way about the iron ball chained to her ankle when she had tried to move her leg and had ended up instead with a very sharp pain when her skin got scrapped against the metal. Hissing in pain, she had tried to move her arms but they held firmly against the wall. She tried to shake the iron cuffs, checking if they were loose enough for her to attempt to break them off but they held on tight.
She shifted uncomfortably, wincing in pain as she tried to get the feeling back in her numb arms and legs.
Suddenly, the door to her chamber was slammed open. Katara shut her eyes, the sudden brightness almost blinding her. She tried to squint her eyes open but the glaring light made it almost impossible for her and all she could figure out were footsteps; at least three pairs, heading towards her. She could hear flames bursting onto torches, finally lighting up the dark room.
"Make her sit in the chair." A gruff voice barked and she was suddenly lifted up from the floor and stuffed into a wooden chair, her hands still tied to the chains on either side of the wall. She bit her tongue to stop screaming out in pain.
"So, you are the feisty one?" The gruff voice continued.
Katara finally looked up, her eyes having adjusted to the light in the room. The man in front of her was dressed in fire nation uniform and he had at least three guards standing behind him.
"Where am I?" Katara slurred, her tongue feeling heavy in her swollen mouth.
"The Boiling Rock." The guard said, his face breaking out into a wide smile.
"It was bitter work" Roku said "But the results were worth it."
Aang watched in awe as Roku stood on the beach, bending all the four elements in four different directions. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as the fully realized Avatar Roku displayed his complete mastery of all the elements. It took Roku twelve years to learn everything; how was he supposed to do it before the comet arrives?
That's why we are attacking during the eclipse, a small voice said in his head.
"Roku…" Aang spoke up. "That's amazing."
"Not really Aang," Roku smiled. "I didn't know that time but the real bitter work was just about to begin."
Zuko was transfixed by what he was reading. He didn't even think it was possible for the Avatar to actually challenge the Fire Lord, the ruler of his own nation. But there he was, a fully realized Avatar Roku addressing his Fire Lord like a common citizen. He knew it would end badly for Sozin even before he started reading the part where Sozin described how Roku defeated him so easily.
Zuko sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. The main reason Sozin wanted to expand his kingdom was to share the peace and prosperity of the Fire Nation with the rest of the world. That didn't sound too bad, did it? At first thought no but he had to agree with Avatar Roku. The four nations were meant to be separate and his time being a refugee at the Earth Kingdom taught him enough to know how different people from each nation essentially were. Trying to get them all under the same ruler, the same culture seemed like a fool's errand.
Zuko shook his head and continued to read the rest of the scroll.
Sokka looked at Aang, who sat completely still in meditation. How long was this going to take?
The evening had long gone and the night had finally wrapped everything up in her darkness, just the faint twinkling stars in the sky bravely putting up a fight to spread their light.
It was decided that Sokka would take the first watch and Toph was going to take over after three hours. He could already hear her snoring inside her earth tent. Sokka tried to relax but his mind was racing; he had to do something. But what? He had read and re-read the scrolls from the library so many times, he could almost recite them word from word.
He sighed, getting up on his feet and walking over to where Appa lay asleep. He climbed up his saddle and searched around till he could find what he was looking for: the sword from Master Piandao. He took the sword out of its sheath, the black metal gleaming in the light casted from the fire. Even after all these days, he still couldn't help but marvel at how natural it felt for him to hold that sword in his hand.
Jumping down from Appa, he made his way over to the fire. It was time for him to get some work done.
Katara lay on the bunk, looking up blankly at the dark ceiling. So this is the high security prison that the guards at the capital city were talking about. She had to admit, it was pretty impressive. But not impressive enough to hold back a water bender, she thought fiercely. They were surrounded by water everywhere, she could feel it all around her; it was only a matter of time.
All she had to do was think of a proper plan this time and think things through. She closed her eyes, a sigh of frustration escaping her lips; the pain was really getting to her and she had no way of healing herself. The prison guards had patched her up with bandages and ointments but all her plea to let her heal herself had fallen in deaf ears. She sighed, turning on her side, the metal chain clanging at the sudden shift of weight. Her hands were still cuffed but at least she was allowed a bunk to lie on…
"You are the first water bender that has been sent to the Boiling Rock in decades." The guard had sneered at her. "We have special orders for you. You are to be handcuffed and your legs chained at all times. Plus dry air is being piped into this chamber so don't even think about trying to bend."
Dry air? Katara had no idea what he was talking about but she was determined. She was going to get out of here… one way or the other.
Aang watched in horror as an old and frail Roku put up a desperate fight against the huge exploding volcano. Even though he was watching in spirit form, he couldn't help but shudder in pure terror; memories of a similar event that happened to him flashing into his mind. That volcano was nothing compared to this and he had had a very tough time trying to save the village. He could understand perfectly what Roku was going through at that moment and he couldn't help but marvel at how he was handling the situation.
"This is amazing Roku," he whispered in wonder. "You are battling a volcano and you are winning."
Roku nodded sadly.
"Unfortunately my success didn't last, Aang. There was no way I could do it all."
Aang looked down to where Roku was now airbending a powerful blast of air from his mouth, cooling the lava into solid rock. Poisonous volcanic gases were bursting out everywhere and Roku was having a hard time trying to get away from it.
"Battling the elements was hard enough", Roku continued. "I had to do it while I could barely breathe. The poisonous volcanic gasses were overwhelming."
Aang watched, his stomach squirming in fear as the Avtara before him was visibly slowing down, the effects of the gasses finally taking its toll. Just when it seemed that nothing could get worse, a second volcano erupted next to the first one. Aang stomach dropped; there was no way Roku could stop both volcanoes.
"Need a hand, old friend?"
Aang looked in surprise; even with all the smoke and dust, he could still recognize the figure soaring above on a blue dragon: Fire Lord Sozin!
Zuko rubbed his tired eyes, his mind racing. Even after everything, his great grandfather still rushed to the aid of his old best friend. He couldn't help but be awed by what he was reading; he knew most of it anyway but to read something like this in such explicit detail was something else. He picked up the scroll and went back to reading.
Sokka went through the motions again and again, sweat glistering on his brow, the sword held steady in his right hand. Step forward, swing the sword, step back, block the opponent's swing, sidestep and bring the hilt of the sword down…
This time he was going to make a difference, this time he was not going to abandon anybody, this time he was going to redeem himself. With renewed vigor, he went back to his stances.
So engrossed was he in training that he didn't notice a pair of blank eyes looking towards him in the darkness…
"Make sense of our past Aang and you will bring peace and restore balance to the world."
Aang looked back from the infant in the arms of the air bender to his past life who was slowly fading away in the darkness.
"Roku!" Aang called out, suddenly terrified. "Roku!"
He had so many questions to ask, Roku can't leave him now. Even as he watched, Roku disappeared from view.
Zuko was fuming with rage. He gripped the bars of the prison cell his uncle was locked in, his knuckles going white.
"The note said I needed to know about my great grandfather's death!" He shouted. "But he was still alive in the end!"
Iroh finally looked up, his sad eyes searching the face of the angry teen for any sign of recognition.
"No, he wasn't" Iroh sighed.
A chill went down Zuko's spine. "What are you talking about?" Zuko asked, his heart beating painfully in his chest.
"You have more than one great grandfather Prince Zuko," Iroh said, his voice sounding raspy from lack of use. "Sozin was your father's grand father. Your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku."
It was as if someone had suddenly forced Zuko underwater; his chest squeezed so tight that it was difficult to breath. He opened his mouth to say something but shock and disbelief had rendered him speechless.
"Why are you telling me all this?" he finally managed to ask.
"Because understanding the struggle between your two great grandfathers can help you understand the battle within yourself." Iroh explained. "Evil and good are always at war inside you Zuko. It's your nature. Your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can now be resolved… by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the fire nation. Born in you, along with all this strife is the power to restore balance in the world."
Zuko could hear Iroh speaking but it was as if his voice was coming from somewhere far away. He closed his eyes, his head on his hands.
"What about Azula?" he asked, his voice so low it was a wonder Iroh could catch it.
"Azula has already embraced the blue dragon", Iroh sighed, closing his eyes in sadness. "She has already chosen to be Ozai's daughter but you, you Prince Zuko… you are still Ursa's son."
Sokka looked at Aang in wonder, the morning sun breaking through the darkness behind them.
"It's like these people are born bad." Toph finally spoke up.
Sokka nodded his head vigorously. " Even after Roku showed him mercy, he left him to die like that."
"I don't think that's the point" Aang replied, rubbing his eyes. "Roku and Sozin were both fire nation; I think it just means that people are capable of both good and evil and even the Fire Lord and the Fire nation should be given a chance to redeem themselves."
"And it's about friendships." Sokka added.
Aang looked at him, the image of Gyatso and Roku laughing together still fresh in his mind.
"Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?" Toph asked.
"I don't see why not" Aang smiled, taking Toph's hand.
"Well scientifically speaking, there is no way to prove that…" Sokka began.
"Just hold hands!" Toph growled.
The shrill bell ringing outside the prison corridor woke Katara up from her restless stupor. She sat up in her bunk, her hands and legs screaming in pain but she ignored it. She had a lot of time to think and she was finally ready. She had a plan.
Book 3: Fire
Chapter 7: The runaway.
