Sorry it took me so long to update, but…
Just get on with it! Haven't you delayed it long enough?!
Jeez… to think some people would have a little more courtesy for their author.
I have to live with you, how do you think I feel?
Pretty good, you get to live with me.
Just start the story…
Alright then here it is…
Zuko enthusiastically spoke, "Well, if we can look like average fire nation people, we'll be able to meld in and we'll be able to get to the gates of the prison. Then we'll attack the prison quickly and get out everybody out of there as soon as possible."
Toph coldly placed her opinion, "Are you trying to get us killed Flame Boy? Your plan is stupid. We can't get past the Gates of Azulon, we can't just attack a fire nation prison."
Sokka spoke, "I don't know – Zuko maybe right, we don't have much reason to doubt him."
There was an awkward silence.
That Aang quickly broke. "So, we have to look like fire nation people?" Aang asked in a hurried manner.
"Yeah, other wise we're going to have to put up with much more powerful fire benders than you've ever fought against. Well – expect for me of course." Zuko said in a vain sort of voice.
Katara took the bait, "Well then we should have no problem going to the fire nation."
There were snickers and light laughs across the group.
Zuko then spoke in a sober tone, "We need to train and prepare. Sokka, you fight with swords. Correct?"
Sokka's face lit up at the mention of the weapon.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do – you scared?" Sokka asked in a prodding tone.
Zuko smiled, "Scared? You've got to be kidding me."
Sokka smiled and spoke with an air of superiority, "I was trained by Master Pai Dow"
Zuko's mouth dropped a little at this.
Then Sokka spoke up again, "Wait, who were you trained by?"
Zuko avoided the topic, "Aang go start your training, we need you to be ready. I'll join you later, so you can be a little more prepared to fight fire benders."
As Zuko turned away Haru stomped his foot and raised a floating rock in front of Zuko.
Haru spoke, "Who taught you how to use swords?"
Zuko noticed that he wasn't going to get out of this situation, so he prepared himself and took a breath in before speaking, "My uncle raised the possibility by giving me the swords. I learned by myself. When I passed by a town that held some refugee fire benders there was a fight. A fire bender kept on saying that he came here to fight the fire nation, but because he accidentally fire bended, he was beaten and left to die. His wounds were severe his daughter ran up to him and started to cry, but nobody helped they just threw stuff at the little girl and smiled when she started crying and after that – I decided to teach myself to use swords to use swords – to protect. If I fire bended I would have been beaten to a bloody pulp like the guy I saw."
There was pain and sorrow in Zuko's eyes; somber silence throughout the group. Haru dropped the rock floating in front of Zuko.
The fire bender quietly but reverently spoke, "Well let's get back to training. The Duke, Sokka – let's see what you can do."
Katara spoke up, "I have to heal Aang – last time Toph hurled a dagger that could have killed him."
"Wait, Sugar Queen do you want me train him so that he can beat Sokka or beat the Fire Lord?" Toph said accusingly.
Sokka face dropped like a rock, but he did not say anything. Everyone expected Sokka to retort or say something in his defense, but no such message was sent. All Sokka did was drop his head in shame, a look that Zuko knew all too well.
Toph quickly spoke up, "Sokka, I was just kidding. You're a water tribe warrior. You've taken down tons of fire nation guards."
Sokka did not raise his head. The aura around him emanated of shame and sadness.
Sokka's voice cracked as he spoke, "Guys – I know that I've wanted to go to save Suki for a long time, but in the end I'd probably slow you down. Let's face it I can't do – anything."
Katara rushed to her brother and gave him a hug coupled with an encouraging smile, "Are you kidding? You're one best swordsman I've ever seen! You're only second to Master Pian Dow."
Sokka kept his head down and said, "Katara we're the only swordsmen you've seen."
Katara spoke up, "Well, Zuko's a swordsman and he's worse than you."
The gang stared at Katara intently and Zuko gave her a death glare but decided to say something else than what he was thinking at the current time
Zuko was at first unsure what he was going to say because he was about to respond back to Katara's less than generous comment, but came up with something to say, "Sokka, I've seen you fight and you're not that bad that you're dead weight. The Duke asked to train with me so that he could become better, and he'd be able to be a formidable opponent for anyone. He's not great right now, but no one starts off being a master. If you trained under Master Pian Dow you should know that the sword's capabilities are endless. So tell me is this all you have to give to something you love?"
Zuko's short speech was well taken by the water tribe boy. He looked up at the fire bender and stood a leaned his back into a strait posture, "Alright, let's get started."
Zuko looked at The Duke and said, "Would you kindly go get the swords?"
"Sure thing Sifu Zuko" The Duke said.
The Duke ran back to the barracks and Sokka looked at Zuko, "Sifu Zuko?"
Zuko answered in a serious but kind tone, "Yeah, he asked me to teach him and so we have a master-student relationship when we train, but when we aren't training we're friends… I guess." The last few words Zuko muttered were unsure, but no one chose to elaborate on the topic.
The Duke rushed back to Zuko and Sokka and first handed two wooden swords to Sokka and then stuck the hilt of the both swords to Zuko and bowed.
Zuko politely said, "The Duke you're the student correct?"
The Duke looked up and smiled then grabbed the hilt of each sword with each free hand of his.
Zuko looked at the gang, "Aren't you guys going to train?"
Aang spoke up, "Well, we could learn something."
Zuko smiled and then directed his gaze to the two boys who were ready to fight.
Katara spoke up before Zuko could give the signal to start, "Are you going to let a The Duke fight Sokka?"
"Why not?" Zuko asked.
"Well, isn't Duke sort of… young?" Katara stated
The Duke angrily retorted back, "I'm not a too young. I've lost everything the same as any of you had to and now because of Zuko's training I'll become as good as any of you. You'll see."
The group retained their silence while Zuko surreptitiously smiled.
Sokka looked at Zuko and decided to ask, "Zuko, I don't know how good you are, but The Duke's been talking about you like you're some kind of master. So… can you teach me?"
This shocked the gang, but made The Duke and Aang smile. They heard a roar of compliance that came from the flying bison.
Zuko laughed and said, "Sure, but you have to follow under the same rules as The Duke."
Sokka nodded his head.
Zuko spoke up, "Ready positions… and start."
Sokka backed a few feet away, "Isn't this bad, I mean how do you know he's at my level?"
Zuko smiled a wide grin and The Duke flew at Sokka swinging a diagonally at first. Sokka surprised at the boy let his eyes widen and his body tense. For a second he froze out of utter shock at the quickness of the child. The Duke smiled at this reaction and went for the open spot. Sokka, discombobulated and perplexed at what was happening, moved his sword horizontally to his chest but was too slow. The Duke knocked the wind out of him causing him to fall back, clutching his pectoral region.
The group was shocked. All of them ran to Sokka's aid, but Sokka waved them off and stood up.
"How…" was all that managed to escape the water tribe boy's mouth.
"Rule number one: Never underestimate your opponent." Zuko said while subduing his laughter, "And stay in shape, or else you become slow sorta like – I don't know – um… now."
Zuko walked over to Sokka and outstretched his hand. Sokka took it and leveled himself up to Zuko.
"Wow, Duke your pretty good. Jeez Zuko I didn't think you'd launch him at me like that." Sokka said casually which irritated both Zuko and The Duke.
"Looks like we're going to have to quicken him up – what do you think The Duke?" Zuko said sardonically.
"Yep – especially if he keeps on calling you Zuko and not Sifu Zuko. And if he keeps calling me Duke instead of The Duke." The Duke said with a hint of anger.
Sokka seemed a little tremulous. After all Zuko and The Duke were looking at him like they were planning some sort of scheme.
"Well, we have to start our warm-ups." Zuko stated.
The harbinger registered in The Duke's mind and he started to become a reluctant to begin training himself. He knew that it be difficult and every muscle in his body would be soar by the end of the warm-up, but the next comment made it worth it.
"Well, it can't be all that hard." Sokka stated.
Zuko started jogging in a direction. The Duke shot a smile at Sokka and followed the fire nation boy. They ran for a short period of time when Sokka collapsed on the dirt floor breathing heavily, drool seeping from his lips in an effort to try and catch his breath before swallowing the wad of spit coming from his mouth.
The Duke was breathing quickly, but was not in the dire state that Sokka was in, "What, I thought you were bigger than me. Katara said I was too young and look at you. Oh that's right – it can't be all that hard. Nope."
Zuko looked disgusted by the water tribe warrior who was lying on the floor like a beached whale, "The Duke, we have to get back before sun down. I have to teach Aang fire bending."
"So, what do you want to do with Sokka?" The Duke asked.
"I guess I'll just carry him back to camp." Zuko said.
The Duke was dumbstruck; it could be easily read on his face.
Zuko went over to Sokka, brought his head down and hoisted him on his shoulders. The water tribe muttered something maybe in protest, but was too worn out to say anything, much less get off the fire bender.
Zuko turned to face a flustered warrior, "What?"
"Nothing" The Duke replied.
Zuko opened his mouth to say something, but thought that this was not the time to talk about it, so he began the long journey back to the campsite.
Meanwhile Aang was training with Toph and Katara.
Katara shot a huge ice projectile at Aang and Toph shot a huge boulder at the air bender. Aang jumped in the air and used water bending to propel the block of ice at Toph and earth bending to propel the rock at Katara. Toph was knocked back with a thud and Katara blocked the rock by creating a barrier of ice, but Katara was having problems stopping the boulder; she slid back while trying to bring the boulder to a halt. Using the time Aang had he shot a ball of air at Katara which knocked her off her feet away from the path of the slowing boulder.
Katara smiled at Aang, "Great job! Your really getting better at this!"
Aang turned his head to where the earth bender was, "Toph that ice block hit you pretty hard, you okay?" Aang said with a teasing tone.
The earth bender just laid on the floor not moving. The air bender got no response, "Toph are you okay?" Aang asked with apprehension, "Toph? Toph?!"
The two benders rushed to Toph's side while calling her name. There was a big purple lump of the left side of her forehead. Katara healed tried to heal Toph's bruise, but she remembered she could only fix open wounds. She put an hand over Aang's shoulder attempting to give him some solace from his thoughts.
"She'll be okay, she's just unconscious." Katara said reassuringly.
So, they walked back to the camp to see the gang in shock while carrying the unconscious earth bender.
"What happened?!" Sokka shouted as he rose trying to shirk off the pain.
"Aang redirected a ice block and it hit Toph, but for now she's just unconscious." Katara said as she shrugged trying to make the unconscious seem less vicious than it was.
"She'll be alright, but what will happen to the rest of us when she wakes up?" Sokka said in an effort to lighten the sullen mood.
There were chuckles across the group. Sokka raised a finger and used it to trace around the bruise and Aang felt a pang of guilt.
"How bad is the bruise?" Sokka asked in a worried tone.
"It's not that bad. She just got knocked out by the ice block." said Katara.
There was another silence followed which made Aang feel even worse than he had before.
Then Zuko spoke up, "Aang, why aren't you getting ready?"
"Ready for what?" Aang asked.
Zuko sighed, "Fire bending – Why aren't you doing any warm-ups?!" Zuko shouted "For that you are going to do 25 fire punches the right way and then do 75 crunches!"
Aang was at a loss words at the huge amount his fire bending teacher just announced. For a moment he froze.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you moving?!" Zuko screamed.
Aang ran immediately started to do fire punches slowly, which everyone noticed took a huge toll on his breathing; it was like he was running as fast as he possibly could with a 100 pound weight on his back.
"Stop for a second. Run to the ledge." Zuko said.
Aang didn't waste a second. As soon as Zuko had finished what he was saying Aang ran to the ledge. Everyone stared at Zuko with malice in their eyes for shouting at Aang except for The Duke who said, "Don't work him so hard that he won't be able to stand Sifu Zuko."
"Don't worry, I won't kill him." Zuko stated.
This was the wrong thing to say. Katara, Sokka and Haru stood up.
"Sorry, wrong choice of words." Zuko said apologetically.
Katara gave Zuko another death glare, "Remember what I said to you when you first came here."
"How could I forget?" Zuko stated.
Zuko ran all the way to where Aang was.
Aang was doing fire punches in a slow manner and he looked like he was about to faint.
"You can stop now." Zuko said sympathetically, "Everyone looking at you and Toph doesn't help the situation, does it?"
Surprise filled Aang's face, "Th-thank you?" Aang said a little louder than a whisper.
I can't believe Zuko vouched for me.
Zuko decided to reach out and make a little small talk before he started his lesson, "As I was leaving The Duke said, 'Don't train him too hard' and I said 'Don't worry I won't kill him.' That didn't go too well."
Aang eyed down Zuko, smiled and then laughed, "Ha ha ha, that must have been really awkward – thanks for helping out there, but I…"
"Look you shouldn't feel bad. If you knocked out Toph then that means you must be doing something right. Just keep up the good work." Zuko said.
Aang felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, "Thanks a lot Zuko."
"Your welcome, but now we start fire bending" Zuko said.
"But I thought…"
"But you thought wrong" Zuko said, "We're supposed to be fire bending right?" Zuko said.
"Yeah," Aang said, answering his rhetorical question.
After learning a form of fire bending, Aang looked tired. So, Zuko decided he had worked the sweaty air bender hard enough.
"Aang we're done. Head back to camp. I'm going to grab something. I'll be there in a minute." Zuko commanded.
Aang bowed politely and said, "Thank you Sifu Zuko."
Zuko bowed back and said, "Good work pupil Aang."
Zuko turned to walk away and Aang spoke up, "Zuko!"
Zuko turned around and Aang muttered, "I don't think I'll be able to make it back to camp."
Zuko scoffed in the beginning of a laugh, but smiled sympathetically, "Okay, then just wait here, I'll be back in a bit."
Zuko ran out of Aang's eyesight by turning a corner and climbed the rope he had used to come down to the Air temple the first time. He collected some tea leaves, and then bolted back to where Aang was. He came to see the tired air nomad fast asleep.
"Oh, come on." Zuko muttered under his breath.
He came to the air bender, leaned his head down and hoisted the muscular corpse onto his shoulders. Then he ran back to the campsite. As he approached the gang became furious. Toph was awake, but did not say a thing.
"Zuko! What did you do to Aang?" Katara screamed.
"I didn't do-" Zuko's speech was interrupted by Haru shooting rocks at him, Katara flinging a huge wave of water at him and Sokka's boomerang rushing at him. Zuko dodge the rock, and avoided the mass wave of water and ducked to avoid the boomerang.
Tears welled up in Katara's eyes, "I am going to kill you!" she shouted in fury, and she sent a sharp projectiles at Zuko. Zuko knew this time he wouldn't be able to dodge this many. He created a protective shield of fire around him, protecting him and Aang. The ice melted before reaching Zuko.
"Stop!" Zuko shouted "you're going to hurt Aang."
All attacks ceased, and Zuko spoke as quickly as he could, "Aang's asleep."
Then a noise came from behind Zuko, "Are you kidding, after all that noise how would I be able to sleep?"
Aang jumped off Zuko's shoulders and landed gracefully on the ground. The gang rushed to hug Aang, but Katara got there first, "I thought you were dead." She said while holding Aang in tight embrace.
"Nope, I always be here." Aang said reassuringly and then turned to look at Toph, "How's you're head?"
"A little better, Twinkle Toes. Next time I'll remember not to go light on you." Aang grew worried at the idea.
Soon everyone let go of Aang and Aang turned around to face Zuko.
"Zuko are you okay?" Aang asked.
Zuko gave a light nod.
"Sorry, I didn't wake up sooner. Your body is pretty warm." Aang said blushing.
Teo and The Duke laughed at the response plastered on Zuko's face.
Teo spoke up to avoid an awkward silence, "So how'd Aang's fire bending lesson go?"
"Pretty good, he learned a new form that he's going to practice." Zuko stated.
"Yeah, if I can finish it that is." Aang said bluntly, "I don't know how you guys can do that it's so hard."
"Ah you'll catch up in no time. After all you have master the elements like a thousand times." Zuko stated
After the comment there was a uneasy silence until Teo spoke up, "Well since it is night – how about story time?" The boy said with a blithe tone.
"Sure" Sokka said, "Let's talk about the first time Toph taught Aang to earth bend…"
Soon the air temple was filled with laughter which had seemed abandoned for many, many years.
Well, I think the story is coming to an end pretty soon. I'm sorry I took so long to update, but I do have school to worry about. So, I really hoped you liked it.
Well word count says 3,315 so I hope you like it.
