Chapter 10:
Hours later Aang found himself in a cell below the deck of a Fire Nation ship. It was dark and cold and eerily quiet. He couldn't pinpoint how long he had been there and he had yet to figure out how he would get out.
Yet he wasn't as intent on leaving the ship, not yet. There was a question he wanted the rebels to answer before he left and that was why.
He hadn't realized how the rebel attacks had been going down before last night. It was ruthless and sad. If this was what was happening to more and more people, he couldn't stand back and watch anymore. Not if it meant that his friends and Rena could possibly be hurt.
But he wanted to look at it from a different angle than going straight into the battle plan Sokka had. If he found out why these rebels were acting this way and try to reason with them, then maybe he could talk them out of the plan.
Before long light poured into the dark room several guards entered the room.
"General Lee wants to see you," one of them said gesturing for him to get up. "Don't try anything."
Aang followed them down the hallway. "Don't you think you could use some more light around here?"
"The Fire Nation Army isn't too big on making our prisoners comfortable," the man said.
"Still though, might make things a little bit easier for you," Aang pointed out. "What exactly are you guys planning to accomplish here?"
The two men exchanged a look as if deciding whether or not to tell him. "We'll let General Lee explain that to you," the first man finally said.
They entered a room lit by torches, decorated in red, with the fire Nation insignia on the wall and a photo of former fire Lord Ozai. Lee, the man who had trapped Aang, was sitting in the middle of the room.
"Please Avatar, sit," he said gesturing for Aang to sit in front of him.
Aang did and the guards waited outside the door.
"That was an impressive fight you put up last night," Lee said. "Much more interesting than at my rebel camp last week. That little ambush plan you and your friends put together was quite predictable."
Aang didn't say anything. He remembered nothing about that day. All he knew was that the fight was the reason he had lost his memory.
"My men tell me Fire Lord Zuko plans to intercept me at Ba Sing Se. Tell me everything you know."
"There isn't really much to tell," Aang said reluctant to give away the plan.
That response didn't sit well with Lee. He held up a flaming hand close to Aang face clearly saying with his expression he'd melt his face if he didn't say anything. "I'll ask again, what is Fire Lord Zuko's plan?" he said more aggressively.
Aang blew out a gust of air extinguishing Lee's fire. The mans fierce expression wavered a bit but then he glared again.
"I see you're not going to make this easy. I remember you very well Aang. The young Avatar, so evasive, light on your feet, didn't attack with brute strength like a real man."
"How do you know me?" Aang asked.
"Of course, you don't remember. It was many years ago. I was rising through the ranks as a young general under Admiral Zhao. We had surrounded you as you were training under Zhao's old firebending master Jong Jong. You set our ships on fire leaving us stranded for days. I have to admit I was impressed."
Aang struggled to remember something about that day but nothing surfaced in his mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't place a face to the names Zhao or Jong Jong.
"Are you ready to tell me what the Fire Lord plans to do?" Lee asked.
"How about you answer a few questions for me first?" Aang said.
Lee glared at him but didn't object.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why does it matter?"
"You've uprooted people's lives and caused violence throughout the area. There's got to be a reason for it."
"You're the reason."
"Why me?"
Lee looked up at the picture of Ozai. "Ozai was a great Fire Lord. Under him, the Fire Nation symbolized power and strength. We were at the top. We controlled the world. No one questioned us. Then you came along. You don't realize this Avatar, but when you took down Ozai, you ruined a whole group of people's way of life.Our lives were the ones that were uprooted."
"But the Fire Nation could learn to live with the other nations. From what I understand, it's been going quite well."
"It's not about learning to live with other nations. It's everything that the Fire Nation built ever since Fire Lord Sozin was destroyed! The Fire Nation was great with a rich culture and heritage that we wanted to pass on. And with your new so called peace restoration, that has been lost. This is what we're trying to regain. We want to rebuild the Fire Nation to the greatness that it once was.
Aang thought about that for a moment. Lee was right, he didn't know what had happened over that 100 years, or at least he hadn't been there to witness it first hand. That was generations of people who had lived a certain way and all of a sudden it had changed like night and day. For that, he felt guilty.
"I'm sorry," Aang said. "I didn't realize what you and your people had gone through. I guess we had more so been trying to look at the world as a whole rather than seeing everyone as individuals with different experiences."
"You would be surprised how many people still hold on to the values of Fire Lord Ozai. It's not something you can get rid of after 100 years. But what would you know? You were in an iceberg that whole time. You didn't see how the world changed. You just appeared onto the scene and tried to fix what wasn't broken."
"What can I do to help?"
Lee looked surprised. "You want to help?"
"I'm the Avatar, my duty is to help all people. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it."
Lee narrowed his eyes at him studying him for a moment. "First I need your word. Swear your allegiance to us. Swear that you won't go back on your words."
"I swear."
What the heck is actually happening with this story?! What kind of person is Aang turning into?!