Still holding those hats?
I've had a lot of people request a make up scene between Jet and Zuko. I'll explain: I considered doing it, but going off Jet and Zuko's personalities I don't think they'd ever really 'make up.' I can't see them doing a big dramatic 'I'm so sorry' 'Oh it's okay' type thing. I see them as sort of tolerant of each other, not friends.
"More ferocious! Imagine punching through your opponent's heart!"
Amaya turned to Zuko with wide-eyes. "Is that really necessary?"
"Do it!"
She yelped and turned, putting more power into her attacks as she spun and kicked, fire streaming around her.
"Good! Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo!"
"Erm, meow?"
Zuko blinked. "That was pathetic. Come on, I said roar!"
Amaya turned, through her arms out to the side, tossed back her head, and roared, fire shooting from her mouth and her fists. She turned and looked to Zuko questioningly. He nodded.
"Who wants a nice, cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara called from where she, Sokka, Suki, and Toph were lounging on the stairs watching the day's training session.
"Oh, my favorite!" Amaya said happily. She took all of two steps towards Katara before she was being strangled by her shirt.
"Not yet," Zuko snapped. "Your training isn't over for today."
"Oh, come on Zuko, what harm could a little break do," Katara coaxed.
"Fine," Zuko snarled. "If you want to lounge around, be my guest, but I'm not getting involved."
"He's been so snarly lately," Amaya sighed. "I mean, I understand that we should keep working, but seriously, would a five-minute drink break really be that horrible?"
"I kind of get where he's coming from," Suki shrugged. "Lounging around the house all day has made us kind of lazy."
"I've got just the cure for that!" Sokka said, standing up excitedly and ripping off his clothes. "Beach party!"
Since no one could think of a downside to this, it was into their swimsuits and off to the beach they went. Suki spread out a towel and lounged while Katara and Amaya stripped down to their underthings and splashed in the water for a while before Amaya got out. Katara kept surfing, jokingly swerving towards Sokka as he frolicked along the waves.
"How do you like my sand-Appa?" Amaya asked as she jammed a log into the head for a horn.
"Not bad, but I've been working on my Sandbending," Toph grinned confidently. "You've got no prayer, Twinkle Toes."
"Oh yeah? Bring it!" Amaya grinned as Sokka crawled out of the water nursing his head and started his own sand sculpture.
Toph turned and stomped. Sand rose into the air in a cloud and when it settled, a model of Ba Sing Se with amazing detail was revealed. Amaya got down on her knees outside the sunken wall and gaped, making out even the details like the corners of the palace roof and the drapes in the windows.
"Wow," she blinked. "There's even a little Kuei and Bosco. They're so cute!"
"What's Sokka doing?" Toph said with a frown. Amaya looked over to see Sokka crouched in front of a pile of sand, hacking at it frantically with a shell.
"I… honestly have no idea."
She got up and the two girls went over to see what Sokka was doing.
"Well, do you like it?" Sokka asked excitedly.
"It's… a giant pile of sand with a grin," Amaya finished lamely.
"It's Suki!" Sokka said, swelling offendedly.
Silence, then both girls burst out laughing.
"Break up with him now Suki," Toph advised.
"I think it's sweet," Suki said, and she was rewarded by a kiss on the cheek from a pleased Sokka.
"It doesn't even look like a squished version of you," Amaya said, shaking her head.
A fireball flew from the sky, slamming into Sokka's sculpture. Toph and Amaya scrambled away. Amaya leapt over Toph's Ba Sing Se as a trail of fireballs hit the ground behind her. She turned to look for her attacker but saw nothing but an approaching blast. She leapt over her Appa and rolled, pressing back against it tightly. Fire roared across the neck, effectively decapitating the sand masterpiece and reducing it to a lump. Amaya poked her head out and gaped when she saw Zuko standing there and scowling.
"What are you doing?"she demanded.
"Teaching you a lesson!" Zuko responded and he struck. Amaya jumped out from behind the Appa into the open sand. Immediately she began processing. Zuko could jump high and could do some pretty impressive acrobatics, but no one could jump higher than an Airbender. That in mind, she sought high ground, knowing the climbing would slow him down.
She jumped the cliffside in small increments, fireballs following all the way to the top. She ran across the top of the cliff, ducked under a fireball, and leapt off a pointed spike onto the top of a palm tree where she crouched. Zuko jumped, landing in the sand below and firing. The leaves caught fire easily and Amaya jumped again onto the roof of the house. She turned and took a ready stance as Zuko landed behind her.
"I will blow you off this roof Zuko, so help me!" she shouted.
"Do it!" Zuko challenged, and attacked. Amaya slid across the tiles and grabbed the frame of a window just below the edge. She swung inside and dove for the nearest cover available. A wardrobe door hung open and she slipped inside, crouching in the shadows just as a hole was blasted through the ceiling and Zuko dropped in. His back was to her, but Amaya hit the wood with her elbow as she lunged, alerting him. He turned just as she connected, taking him to the ground under her. She straddled his stomach and pressed his shoulders to the ground.
"What is your problem?" Amaya demanded.
"What's my problem?" Zuko snapped. "What's yours? Sozin's Comet returns in three days and you're lounging here having beach parties!"
Amaya reared back, surprised. "Zuko… I was going to wait until after the Comet to face the Fire Lord."
Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "You were… What?"
Amaya sighed, removing her arms and settling back on her heels. "My Firebending is nowhere near close to how good it needs to be, and frankly my Earthbending still needs work too. If I face the Fire Lord now I'll lose, and that's not me being pessimistic, it's a fact. I'm just not strong enough. Besides, the whole goal of attacking before the Comet returned was to stop the Fire Nation before it won the war. That was pretty much shot when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get worse."
"You're wrong," Zuko said simply and Amaya looked at him nervously. "Things are going to get a lot worse."
"What do you know?" Amaya asked fearfully.
"It happened a few days before I left. I was called to a War Council, something I'd been wanting to attend since I was young. They started out talking about rebellion in Ba Sing Se and how to stop it. My father asked what I thought, and I said that as long as the Earth Kingdom people had hope, they'd keep fighting."
"Which is true," Amaya agreed softly. Zuko nodded.
"He asked what I thought I would do to remove their hope. Azula said we should burn their land. My father agreed, but his plans took it so much farther than that. Amaya, when Sozin's Comet returns, he intends to do what Sozin himself did and wipe out an entire nation. He's going to destroy all the Earthbenders in the air ships and… and after that he'll take the Water Tribes I guess. He wants to rule the world, and if he destroys the Earth Kingdom… he could definitely do it."
Amaya's mouth was open, her eyes terrified but detached. In her head she could see it all, the screaming Earth Kingdom people as they burned alive, the destruction of a whole people, and Ozai standing over it all, smiling.
"Zuko," Amaya whispered. "Kiss me."
"Why?" he asked, frowning. "I mean, not that I'm opposed, but…"
Amaya shook her head, pressing a hand to her mouth. "Because if I don't do something to distract myself I think I'm going to be sick."
Zuko hugged her close and pressed his lips to hers. Amaya sighed and slumped against him, losing herself in the sensation of slightly chapped lips against hers.
"Oh come on!" raged a voice and the two broke apart, looking up sharply. Sokka was standing in the doorway, flanked by Katara, Suki, and Toph. "He attacks you and you two still can't keep your hands to yourselves?"
"You tell them," Amaya sighed, getting off of him. "I think I'm going to…" She ran from the room, her hand covering her moth and her other arm over her stomach. While Zuko explained, Amaya went to the bathroom and crouched over the toilet, wincing at the smell as she retched. She took deep breaths before turning and leaning against the wall.
To wipe out an entire nation… How could anyone think that was justified? Her mind couldn't even begin to comprehend the reasoning behind something like that. Power? That wasn't anywhere near a good enough excuse. Nothing justified a genocide of innocents. There was only one word for it.
Evil.
She'd never really believed in the concept of evil. She'd always thought people to be inherently good, that the 'evil' in them was a product of their circumstances. People were capable of bad things, but true evil? She hadn't thought is possible outside of the realm of fairytale villains.
She'd never thought she'd have to face something like this. The same thing that had been done to her people… She couldn't even imagine living through that. Some days she was grateful for the fact that she was frozen and didn't have to witness it. But here it was once again, in her lifetime, no less. Was she put on the earth purely to try and stop this?
Yes, she was.
Up until now she'd never really understood what it meant to be the Avatar. Sure, it was easy to imagine herself sitting in a grand house, all-powerful, old, and comfortable, with a loving husband and adorable grandchildren. Up until now, she'd never had to face the duty that came with being the Avatar.
Duty. It all came down to that. It was her duty to save the Earth Kingdom as she hadn't been able to save the Air Nomads. It was her duty to stop the Fire Lord. She didn't have a choice, she had to do it. She may have had a sound reason for putting off the attack on the Fire Lord, but the truth was she was trying to put it off. She kept hoping, somewhere deep inside where she didn't consciously have to face it, that this would all go away, that maybe the Fire Lord would surrender and the world would magically repair itself.
But that was the hope of a child, not an Avatar. She had her duty, yet here she sat, cowering and making excuses. She wasn't strong enough, they should wait for a surprise advantage, he'll be stronger if we go ahead. But all the excuses in the world wouldn't change anything though. She had to do this And she had to do it now.
Slowly, Amaya pulled herself off the ground and walked out of the bathroom, moving through the hall and out onto the balcony. She sat there watching the sun set over the sea and enjoyed her last few moments of peace.
"I told them." Amaya nodded as Zuko came and sat on the rail beside her.
"I suppose… I suppose it never really sunk in until now that this really did have to happen. Deep inside I was always trying to put it off in the hopes that it would go away." Her eyes hardened. "That's it. No more hiding." Her face crumpled. "But what am I going to do, Zuko?"
"I know you're scared Aya. If it was up to me you wouldn't have to do this. And I know you're not ready to save the world, I won't even try to deny it. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet returns there won't be a world left to save."
"Zuko, don't freak out okay," Amaya said, her voice wavering. "But I'm going to start crying on your shoulder in probably about five seconds."
Zuko turned to look at her and he could see her brave mask, but tells still slipped through. Her quivering lips, her wide eyes. He pulled her close, leaning her forehead against his chest. "It's okay," he said as he felt her shoulders shake. Her hands reached up and wrapped around his shoulders as she sobbed, wet tears dripping onto his shirt. "It's okay Aya," he murmured over and over, and he held her while she sobbed.
It was silent that night as they all stood on the porch in a loose circle, waiting for someone to say something, to break the pause. Amaya took a deep breath.
"This is going to be the hardest thing we've ever faced together," she said softly. "But if we work together, we've got a real shot."
"Alright!" Sokka cheered loudly, breaking the stillness. "Team Avatar is back! Air, Water, Earth, Fire, Fan, and Sword!"
"Then let's do this!" Toph cheered. They all moved together in a tight group hug, Amaya dragging Zuko along forcefully.
"So I guess we need to head out if we're going to get to the Fire Lord in three days."
"There's one last thing I need to teach Amaya," Zuko said. "Then we can go."
"Okay," Sokka said, immediately going into planning mode. "Katara, Toph, you guys are in charge of getting some food together, then helping Suki get everything packed and on Appa. Zuko, you teach Amaya. I'll make sure all the weapons are in shape." He took a deep breath. "Let's get to work."
"Okay, Suki and I come around and draw his fire," Sokka explained, doodling in the sand with his stick. "Katara and Zuko come in with some liquid hot offense. Then Amaya swoops in and delivers the final blow. Got it?" Sokka asked.
"What about me?" Toph said.
"Right now, you're the Melon Lord's forces."
"You mean I get to chuck flaming rocks at you guys?" Toph said, sounding a little too excited for comfort.
"Whatever it takes to make the training more realistic," Sokka shrugged. "Remember guys, we pull out tomorrow, so we have to do as much as we can."
"Sweetness," Toph beamed.
Their tactics established, they all took their stops and the fighting began. Sokka and Suki raced in, dodging a flaming rock before they were faced with a trio of rock soldiers that slid towards them. Suki knocked one over and Sokka sliced through one, ignoring the last as they raced forwards. Katara and Zuko came in hard and fast before they were distracted by a circle of soldiers ringing them.
"Amaya, now!" Sokka yelled as Katara and Zuko carved through the ranks. Amaya ran forwards, shooting off of the top of a spur of rock lightly and coming down towards the frozen Melon Lord with a punishing blow from her glider.
Something inside her wrenched and Amaya's thoughts froze. She was… going to kill him. It was just an effigy, but she was going to kill him. She was going to be a murderer. The thought was so inherently wrong, went against everything in her moral code and everything that she'd been taught while being raised as a monk, that she was almost physically bowled over by it.
As it was, she froze, dropping to the ground in front of the Melon Lord with her staff six inches from his head. She stared at his comically evil smirk and felt knots drawn in her stomach. Death, to deal out such lasting judgment upon an individual… What gave her that right? She didn't feel that anyone deserved death. Death wasn't something you could deserve in her mind. It wasn't supposed to be a punishment; it was supposed to be the natural end to a cycle.
She was the Avatar, yes, and that gave her the power to deal out judgment, but did it give her the right? People looked to the Avatar as a sort of spiritual judge, but did she really have any more right than any person off the street to condemn someone like that? And if she did, then why didn't everyone else? Was everyone to judge everyone else? No, that would lead to anarchy and waves of bloodshed.
"What's wrong with you?" she dimly heard Sokka. "If this was the real thing you'd be pumped full of lightning right now!" He stood in front of her, staring at her angrily and Amaya lowered her eyes to the ground.
"I'm sorry," she said weakly. "It just… felt wrong. I didn't feel like myself."
Sokka looked at her coldly, before drawing his sword and swinging it viciously. The Melon Lord's head fell to the ground in two pieces and Amaya physically flinched at the horrible squelching sound.
"That's how it's done," Sokka said frigidly. Amaya shut her eyes tightly.
It had to be done… There was no other way…
She stretched out her foot and stamped hard on one half of the melon. It squished under her foot. Sokka nodded to her encouragingly.
Amaya felt dirty.
Her dinner tasted like ash as the others discussed the horror that was Fire Lord Ozai. She wished Katara hadn't found that picture. She was being forced to acknowledge the good in the life she was expected to snuff out. It made it so much worse.
"I don't get why you're so upset Amaya," Sokka said, slurping on noodles. "Ozai is evil and he needs to be taken out."
Amaya sighed, standing up and pacing while she fiddled absently with the chopsticks in the bowl. "This goes against everything the monks taught me," Amaya mused. "Am I supposed to just go around and wipe out people I think aren't quite good enough?"
"I pretty sure it's okay, since you're the Avatar," Sokka snorted. "I mean, if it's in the name of the great cosmic balance and all that, I think the universe with understand."
Everything that have been building up inside her exploded at that amused and Amaya whirled on him. "Shut up Sokka!" Amaya roared. Startled expressions met her as she hurled her bowl to the ground with every ounce of strength and anger in her frame. It shattered, pieces flying everywhere. One flew up and nicked Sokka on the arm.
"Amaya, what is wrong with you?" he snapped, touching the cut.
"This isn't a joke Sokka!" she snarled. "You don't get it, none of you, the position I'm in!"
"We do understand," Katara said tensely, looking angry. "We're just trying to help!"
"You want to help?" Amaya hissed, baring her teeth viciously. "Then stop trying to make me a murderer! When you find a way to defeat Ozai without killing him, let me know. Until then, just… just leave me the hell alone!"
Amaya fled, streaking from the courtyard furiously with the wind aiding her speed. She ran to her room and threw herself onto the bed, screaming and howling into her pillow with all her might until her throat was raw and painful. Her coiled muscles slacked as she slumped forwards on the sheets.
"Gyatso, I need you," she bleated pitifully. "What do I do?"
The solution came surprisingly easy to her. The first step to solving any problem is meditation the monks had always said. So she made her way to her pack and pulled out four thick candles before moving out onto the balcony. She lit them with a flick of her hand and settled in front of them, regulating her breathing and clearing her mind of anything extraneous.
Eventually anything extraneous faded to anything at all, and she slept.
Amaya awoke to voices chanting in her ears. It was primitive, primal, and jerked at something inside that pulled her to her feet and forced her over the rail and on the long trek down to the beach. Her eyes were glassy as she paced across the sand, fixed on the island just across the bay. She stepped into the water and then lunged forwards, her arms carving through the waves.