The Waterbender's Wager
NOTE: Welcome to the penultimate chapter! This is an exciting part of the story (at least for me) and I hope you like it.
The scenes with Zuko here are a re-imagining of the vision he had in Book 2 but given the setup of this story, I thought they would work just as well.
Enjoy the chapter and please let me know what you think of it!
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"Zuko!" Katara cried as she chased the wave.
But the waters were calm and the firebender was nowhere to be seen. Katara tried to bend the water to try and find Zuko but all her efforts were in vain. No matter what she attempted to do, the waters refused to reveal him to her.
Katara turned back to the temple and saw that the structure was glowing with the same bluish light that had shone from the wave. She knew then that this was some new trial but for the first time in her long journey, she wanted to protest.
"Bring him back!" she shouted frantically at the temple, "What have you done with him?"
For a few moments, there was only silence and this infuriated Katara even more. She marched resolutely towards the temple and continued to shout angrily.
"Welcome, waterbender, I am the Moon Spirit," greeted a deep, female voice from somewhere within the temple, "You have done well to have come this far."
In any other circumstances, Katara would have been thrilled and impressed by this, and would have responded with wonder and reverence. But though she was surprised by the voice, she could not forget what had just happened to Zuko. She couldn't believe that the spirits who guarded the temple would treat someone so harshly and she was too worried about Zuko's fate to care about how she addressed the ancient being before her.
"Please let him go!" she pleaded, "Why are you doing this? He has done nothing wrong!"
"How can you say that?" the voice replied, "How well do you really know your companion? Is he not a firebender? Have his people not invaded our lands and oppressed our people for a hundred years?"
"He cannot be held accountable for all the crimes of the Fire Nation," Katara replied.
"But he is no ordinary citizen of that country," the voice continued, "Have you forgotten who he is?"
"I have not," Katara answered, "but…"
"He is the son of the man who has continued the war that has caused so much suffering across the Four Nations," the voice interrupted her harshly, "He is the heir to the throne of the Fire Lord."
"He is not like his father," Katara argued.
"But how can you be so sure? Can you stake your honor on this claim?"
"I can and I will," Katara said resolutely.
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He was falling. Deeper and deeper into such a darkness as he had never known before.
Strangely enough, he could not feel the waters around him, even if he knew he had been taken by a mystical wave and dragged into the sea. He only felt like he was falling and floating in endless space, no longer in the world that he knew.
"Katara!" he cried out in vain, as his words only echoed in the darkness, with no one to hear him.
Several times he reached out and flailed his arms. But there was nothing to hold on to, only a void. So soon, he stopped trying and could only hope that he would survive this somehow.
And he was confident that Katara would find a way to save him. He could have easily lost hope if not for his faith in her. The world could abandon him and she would still try to find him, of that he was certain, and the thought brought him great comfort.
But soon, he found that he was not alone, that a sinister presence had arrived to torment him. Out of nowhere, a glowing figure of a blue dragon appeared and it began to circle him menacingly.
Zuko said nothing but watched the creature carefully, waiting for it to strike. He was not sure if his firebending would work in his current environment but he would try his best to defend himself against this new foe.
"Zu-zu," said the dragon in a sing-song voice that Zuko knew only too well.
He frowned. It was impossible for Azula to be here but he now knew that he was up against an entity who knew him well enough to torment him with her voice.
"Looks like you've made a new friend," the blue dragon taunted, "Good for you. You have few enough friends left anyway."
Zuko said nothing and just watched the dragon continue to circle and stare at him menacingly.
"It's thanks to the little waterbender that you've managed to survive this long," the dragon continued, "but you don't need her anymore. You've kept your word and accompanied her to her destination. You're free to leave her now."
Zuko made no reply and the dragon seemed to look at him with amusement.
"Still as stubborn as ever, I see," the dragon teased, "I would have expected no less from you."
The dragon seemed to coil around the firebender's body, not tightly but threateningly enough, and then it positioned itself so that they were face to face. Zuko glared at it and maintained his stiff posture.
"Now, what if I told you, you could return home?" the dragon said.
There was a flicker of surprise in Zuko's eyes but he said nothing. But his reaction had not been missed.
"Now, you're interested," the dragon continued, "What if I told you, the secrets of this Water Tribe moon temple are more valuable than even your precious waterbender realizes? That what will be revealed may change the course of the entire world? And if you acquired this secret, you could return home triumphantly. Father would accept you with open arms, all of the Fire Nation would be grateful to you, and even your sister would show you some begrudging admiration."
Zuko frowned, but remained unfazed.
"You could have everything you ever wanted," the dragon proceeded, "and all it would take is defeating the waterbender. You know you can do it. You are strong enough. You can easily overpower her when the moment arises. Think of all you could gain in return for one small act of betrayal. After all, you kept your word. You are now free to do as you please."
"Never," Zuko replied resolutely.
The dragon raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Well, well, how nice of you to finally speak to me," it said wryly, "but think about what you're doing."
"There's nothing to think about," Zuko said gravely, "I don't care what you're offering me. I will never betray Katara."
The dragon circled him again and seemed to erupt into malevolent laughter.
"Oh, Zu-zu, always such a weakling," it taunted, "don't tell me you've developed feelings for a waterbender? How disgraceful!"
The words did not sting him as much as the dragon thought they would. But Zuko was taken aback by the truth about his affection for Katara. Deeper feelings than he had ever experienced before had developed throughout their journey and he only just realized how much she meant to him.
He worried for a moment that she would never be able to feel the same way about him but he dismissed the thought immediately. That did not matter. He would do everything he could to protect her.
Zuko did not know how long he spent arguing with the blue dragon, whether only hours or days had passed. But he refused to give in.
Besides, for all its trickery, the dragon had grossly miscalculated. It mistakenly believed that he still cared about empty glory and honor in the Fire Nation when his banishment and his traveling with Katara had given him a better perspective on the world.
He believed in Katara, and he cared for her, as he had not cared for anyone else in his entire life. He was not afraid to admit it. He knew now that he would do anything to return to her. But if he could not, he would never break his word to her.
"Do your worst," he challenged the dragon, "but I will die before I ever betray her."
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Katara and the Moon Spirit had been debating for hours about Zuko's fate. But the waterbender refused to buckle down, despite her growing exhaustion. She would prove that Zuko could be trusted and she would save him.
"He has had ample opportunities to betray me during this journey," she recounted, "But he has shown no intention to do so. If he ever wanted to harm me, he could have. He has always kept his word to me."
"And you think that is enough?" the spirit asked.
"That is more than enough proof of his character," Katara answered as she continued to extol Zuko's virtues, "He is brave, honorable, kind, generous, and has a good heart. I've never met anyone like him."
"You care a great deal about him?" the Moon Spirit asked.
The waterbender was taken aback by this. Her eyes widened and she realized that she may have revealed too much. In a moment she knew that she had meant everything she had said about him and that as the journey progressed, her feelings for him had grown deeper than she had ever anticipated.
She had no idea if such feelings were reciprocated though she was fairly certain he had some admiration and esteem for her. For the moment, she did not wish to dwell on the prospect of an unrequited affection. All she knew was that what she felt for him was real and strong, and she would fight for him until the end.
She did not intend to hide anything from the spirit, and she knew she was speaking the truth, even if it was something she had only just confronted in herself.
"Yes, I do care for him," she replied, almost shyly, "very much."
"Then, your affections for this firebender have blinded you," the moon spirit warned.
"My feelings for him don't make anything I've said less true," Katara argued.
For a moment, the Moon Spirit did not reply, and the temple continued to glow in an almost sinister fashion. But Katara was going to stand her ground.
"And what if I told you that you will have to choose between him and the sacred secrets of the temple?" the Moon Spirit challenged, "That the price of those secrets is the life of your companion?"
"I choose him," Katara said without hesitation, "I will never abandon him, not for anything."
"Think about your choice carefully," the spirit warned, "This would mean that you would not be deemed worthy of the honor you have worked so hard to attain. If we return him to you, you will never get this chance again."
"Then, so be it," the waterbender replied gravely, standing straight and facing the glowing temple with determination.
"Nothing is worth one person's life," Katara declared, "If this is the price to be paid for the secrets you hold, then it is a price I refuse to pay."
