The Next Generation : Chapter 9 By: Juria Notes: Any characters you do not recognize in this story probably belong to me, unless you've never seen Avatar. Other than that, I'm done, so enjoy! Updated Ages: Mia : ( Toph and Zuko's daughter ) 14, Hitome : ( Sokka and Ty Lee's daughter ) 13 , Saito : ( Sokka and Ty Lee's son ) 17, Takumi : ( Mai and Jet's son ) 15 , Yin : ( Aang and Katara's daughter ) 15, Gyatso and Ozai : ( Aang and Katara's, and Toph and Zuko's sons respectively ) 10.
Once she had stopped running, Mia managed to get a look at her surroundings. She didn't even remember the flight on Appa, across the sea, to here, a deserted island. She just remembered running, running until her legs hurt, until she couldn't run any more. Mia fell on her knees into the sand, letting the past few hours sink in. "Ozai, why?" she muttered.
Saito calmly stood in the shadows, watching the glances between his sister and Takumi, his hands twitching, wanting to reach out and knock him out. How dare he hurt his sister one minute, and become the object of her affection the next. He wouldn't allow this union to go un-challenged. However, now was not the time.
"Is everyone alright?!" Sokka finally managed to ask, once he stopped shaking. He was quickly answered with an erupting argument between Jet and Zuko, Aang trying to maintain the peace. "Smooth move, Zuko. Thanks to you two, the little brat turned out much worse than his namesake, good job." Jet said sarcastically. Zuko glared at him. "What did you say?" "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult the two worst parents in the history of our world!" Jet bellowed.
At this, Toph interrupted Zuko. "WHAT?!" she shrieked, stomping towards Jet. Thankfully, Katara and Mai both had gotten between them, while Longshot and Aang tried to calm Jet down. "Come on Aang, you know it's true. Maybe if Zuko would have disciplined his son once in a while, this wouldn't have happened!" he shouted. Zuko's eyes narrowed, and he walked as close to Jet as he could get, ignoring Smellerbee, Saito, and even his own daughter, who were all trying to avoid this conflict. "You don't know a damn thing about raising a child yourself, so why don't you just back the fuck off, right now." Zuko said firmly. Jet pushed himself as close as her could get, his eyes locking with Zuko's. "Make me."
Enraged, Zuko leapt into the air, over everyone's head, crashing into Jet. The two men rolled around in the sand, exchanging punches, Jet dodging the occasional fireball, until they scrambled to their feet. Both men wiped the blood from their lips, then got into their fighting stances once again, only this time, a wave of water came crashing towards them, freezing both of them to a rock wall. Katara stood with her arms crossed, glaring at both of them with a stare both Yin and Gyatso knew all too well. "What is the matter with you two?! You're friends, you should save this macho male-ego bullshit for the enemy, not eachother!"
Jet and Zuko glared at eachother, then Zuko huffed, melting the ice surrounding him, and threw one last fireball at Jet, this one melting his ice-prison. As Jet fell into the sand, he stared up at Zuko, who offered his hand in friendship. Jet sighed, then grasped his friend's wrist, lifting himself off to his feet. "Almost had you." he said with a chuckle. Zuko shook his head and laughed. "Yeah." Katara, meanwhile, still had her arms crossed, and the glare on her face. "So, are you two boys done fighting, or do I have to get Toph over here too?" she asked in a tone that made Yin cringe. The two men nodded in agreement, then each went off to apologize to their respective wives, hoping they wouldn't tear their heads off too badly.
However, as one fight ended, another fight was brewing, as Saito watched Takumi get closer to his sister, clutching his father's sword in one hand, and Jet's swords in the other. "Now, now is the time." He said to himself, before standing up on the hill and glaring down at his rival. "Takumi! I challenge you!" he shouted. Takumi stared up at his friend with a confused glance, while Hitome had a puzzled look on her face. "Come on Saito, this game's getting old." Takumi said with a chuckle. He stopped laughing once the look of horror engraved itself on Hitome's face. "What is it?" Takumi asked, more confused than anything else. Hitome glared up at her brother. "Saito, why now?" she asked, tears in her eyes as she ran to her father.
Takumi's lips curled in a snarl. "Saito, what the hell is she talk about?!" Saito's eyes narrowed as he threw Jet's swords in front of Takumi, then smirked at him. "You'll see, soon enough." Takumi stared up in shock at his best friend, then he calmly pulled his father's swords out of the sand, rising to his feet. "Alright, you're serious. You want me, you got me." he stated, then charged to meet his friend, blades clashing and giving off sparks in the moonlight.
Meanwhile...
Ozai strode through the halls of the Fire Nation stronghold, gazing from time to time at his soldiers as they scraped and clawed, trying to unearth the former great castle of the fire lord. He watched as his elite team of bodyguards bowed, and rose before him, their leader speaking. "We've checked the surrounding areas as you requested, Fire Lord Ozai, and any prying eyes were either captured, or are currently working on resurrecting the castle." the young warrior said, his curved blades hanging by his side. Ozai smirked with a sick pleasure in his eyes. "Thank you Tao, you and the rest of your team may leave me now." he said, motioning them out the nearby door. Tao stopped as his foot touched the outside area of the door, then withdrew it back in. "Sire, permission to speak freely?" he asked.
Ozai raised his eyebrows quizzically, but nodded. "Of course Tao. You are, after all, my most trusted friend." the young fire lord said with a reassuring nod. Tao's hands nervously twitched for a few minutes as he spoke. "With all respect, Fire Lord Ozai, I can understand, in Ba Sing Se, why you turned on your family, but why attack your own mother? Would it not have been more impactful to attack the former Fire Lady instead?" Ozai pondered his friend's question for a few brief moments. "Because, my dear friend, it wouldn't have sent as strong a message if I had killed my grandmother. All it would have done was enrage my father, and while I feel I can destroy him, I am not ready to fight him, yet." he said with a smug smile.
As Tao started to leave, the young fire lord placed a hand on his shoulder. "Tao, my friend, as you see before you, everything I do has a purpose. If I hadn't attacked my mother, then the message wouldn't be sent, loud and clear, I will stop at nothing to obtain my birthright." Ozai chuckled, then playfully patted his friend on the shoulder. "Not to worry, you and your friends and family will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts, I promise you. As for my family, I have made the choice perfectly clear, join me, or die."
Meanwhile...
Sparks flew as Saito and Takumi's blades locked, Saito pressing harder and harder with each strike. "Why are you doing this?!" Takumi shouted. Saito responded with a second swing, then a quick kick to the ribs, sending the younger boy falling backwards. "I'm doing this for my sister Takumi, you should never have gotten involved!" he shouted, thrusting downward, the blade aiming for Takumi's head, but missing by inches. Takumi countered by bringing both of his feet into Saito's chest, then rolling out of the way as he came crashing into the sand.
Sokka and Ty Lee watched in a panic as Hitome came running up them, a nagging feeling in Sokka's gut telling him things weren't right. Somehow, he prayed to the spirits that he was wrong. "Mom, dad, Saito challenged Takumi! What do we do?!" she asked, panicking and crying. Katara's eyes widened at those words. "What? I thought you had to be 18 in order to challenge someone." she said with a puzzled glance to Sokka. Mai and Jet both glared at Sokka. "Ok, can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Mai asked, her hands telling her to pin Sokka to the wall.
Sokka sighed deeply. "In the water tribe, there is one rule that not even the highest chief can overrule, the challenge of a sibling. It's used to determine if the younger sister or brother can date, or even be with, a suitor. Usually, it's not even necessary, unless the suitor in question happens to be an outsider, then it's practically demanded. Recently, there were only two other challenges in the entire water tribe's history, north or south, the involved an outsider." he said, cocking his head towards Zuko and Aang, who simply nodded. "It's a brutal fight, both warriors use no bending, fighting with whatever martial arts they know. I barely survived it." Zuko explained. At those last cryptic words, Mai covered her mouth in shock, while Jet's glare burned a hole through Sokka. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked, comforting his wife. Sokka shook his head. "No, the law states that any interference results in both combatants deaths, and with the way Saito respects our heritage, I wouldn't put it past him."
At this point, Mai let her daggers fly, pinning Sokka against the stone wall, then she walked towards him, one more dagger in her hand. When she reached him, she held it against his throat. "Can you promise me that my son will not die?" she asked, tears in her eyes. Sokka nodded. "I give you my word." With that, Mai pulled her knives out from the wall, giving a small chuckle as she heard Sokka hit the ground. Ty Lee looked at her old friend with a pleading "forgive me" look, and Mai calmly nodded. "So, what happens now?" Jet asked. Sokka looked out at the flickers of clashing blades in the moonlight. "Now, we wait."
TBC...
Next Chapter: Mai stared at the broken body, floating in the water, chest barely rising and falling. "But, this is impossible." she said with a quizzical stare, until Zuko and Aang lifted the weakened woman from the water. Then, she saw her face, and there was no denying it. "Azula." was the last word she said before fainting into darkness.
AN: Unfortunatly, until a friend of mine gets me the names she's creating for some of my characters, after this chapter, I can't go any further. Trust me, it's not over, just on a bit of a break. Enjoy!
