AN: Ok so I'm not gonna complain on how I only got a review or two, but I would truly love to hear from the hundreds of you who read this story every time it pops up on the updated list of stories. But enough about that. Here is the next chapter, please enjoy and the first 5 people who I have never heard from reviews, they will be the ones to receive the next two chapters before I even post them! So enjoy and review!
Sokka paced the floor of the teashop as the others sat around exchanging unsure glances back and forth. All but Zuko knew what was going on.
"Ok, so let me get this straight," he began, his tan arm extended outward towards Zuko, "he's dating the woman who tried to steal him away from you," he then flung it over to Katara, "when you were a concubine in the palace and you're," back to Zuko, "telling me that you've been together ever since two years ago, and you say," again to Katara, "that this woman knows him," back to Zuko, "and you think," his finger slid in Katara's direction, "that she is the one who killed him three years ago?"
"Is that what you're telling me?" he asked in a squirrely tone.
Katara nodded and Zuko shook his head.
"Look, that's crazy!" Zuko shot up from his chair.
"Even if what you say is true, Mai loves me and would never kill me!" this was getting ridiculous. First he's really a dead prince brought back to life, now his girlfriend is a psycho killer. What's next?
Katara couldn't believe that he was doubting all that was before him, "How can you say that?" she asked, rising herself to face him head on.
"She was there, in the palace with me over five years ago! She knew who you were and she despised me for receiving your affection," Katara's voice began to grow, "Mai knows who you really are, she knows what you've done, where you come from. She knows who we are," she gestured to everyone in the room, then pointed a finger towards her chest, "and she's the one who sent you out here to kill me," the thought suddenly dawning on her, it was Mai, it had to be, "didn't she?"
Zuko's eye slowly fell downward, his body following suit as he plopped down in the chair, "Look, I just, I can't bring myself to see that Mai is the one who did all this," he looked up at the others that surrounded him, their eyes gleaming with something he couldn't quite place, but it left an eery feeling in his gut, "if you knew her the way I know her, you'd understand."
Unbelievable! How could he not see the truth when it's slapping him right across the face!
Aang sat there silently observing everything that was being said. He was the peace maker of the group...of the whole world actually and it was his job to settle things, but to get the facts straight first. He needed to talk with Zuko, he needed to fully understand the situation and see if it were possible that this 'Mai' character was some poor unfortunate soul that is being mistaken for the other 'Mai' that Katara has a vendetta with.
Slowly rising he sighed, catching everyone's attention, "I think Zuko and I need to talk," his grey eyes narrowed softly as he looked his fellow comrades in the eyes, "alone, please."
Everyone wanted to argue, everyone wanted to demand that they be present for the conversation but knew that it would be futile to argue with the Avatar. So, begrudgingly they agreed, leaving both Zuko and Aang in the main sector of the teashop, alone.
With a soft smile on his face Aang motioned for Zuko to follow, his voice was calming and steady as he spoke, "Come Zuko, walk with me," it wasn't really a request but more of a demand in a nicer tone that most come in and Zuko knowingly obliged.
The two entered the streets of Ba Sing Se in silence, walking down the stone pathways as the Earth Kingdom city was coming to life.
Vendors along the street sides opened their shops, their cheerful bright faces and happy voices calling any and all to view their goods. Children running around in their school robes, having a moment or two of fun as the steadily made their way to the school yards. Parents conversing quietly with one another as they walked their rambunctious children to school and the everyday bustle of people flowing about the streets.
It was a beautiful day in Ba Sing Se.
A vendor adjacent of where the two young men had been walking was selling delicious, plump fruits. Many in which caught the young Avatar's eye.
"One mango please," he requested, the vendor bowed humbly as he recognized the blue tipped arrow that ran down Aang's forehead.
"An honor it is to have the Avatar browse at my shop," the vendors voice quivered slightly as he handed the mango over. As Aang handed him his pay, the vendor scrunched his nose and nodded politely, "A gift for you my lord."
With a raised brow Aang nodded, then lead Zuko onward.
He began slicing the fruit in two with his airbending, something he had always found entertaining and began to pull the seeds from the core.
Zuko watched hesitantly as the walked, weaving through the crowd.
"What do you know about me Zuko?" Aang asked softly.
Taken back by his question Zuko summoned all the information he had learned about the young Avatar before speaking, "You were only a boy when your people were attacked and killed. You disappeared when you were 12 never to be seen again for over a hundred years. You were found by two watertribe siblings and trained with great masters for four years. Then at the age of 16 you took down the Fire Lord and restored balance to the world."
Spoken like a book.
Aang sighed as he continued to pluck the seeds from the fruit, "That's good for a summative," he smiled as he glanced over at Zuko, "but let me tell you some things that you won't find in any report, that you won't read in any book."
Zuko slowed down somewhat as he listened to the Avatar speak, "When I was twelve years old, the monks came to me telling me that I was the Avatar," he sighed, his fingers grazing the fruit, soaked in its supple juices, "I was afraid and to be honest, I never wanted to be the Avatar," again his gaze sought out Zuko's face, he could see confusion written all over but he went on.
"I had been raised by Monk Gyatso, he was a great mentor and a father like figure to me. The council believed that I was too attached to him and that our relationship would interfere with my training as the Avatar. So, they were going to separate me from my guardian and it took a toll on me."
He lead Zuko to a small area, backed into several buildings. A fountain with lamps surrounding the outer periphery secluded from the crowds, a place where they could talk.
Both sat down together on the outer edge of the fountain, continuing their talk, "When I heard this, I did the only thing I could think of," he paused, the sheer memory of his betrayal still wrenching a pain in his heart, "I ran away."
Without even thinking, Zuko breathed outwardly, "Why?"
Aang looked at him, then cast his gaze downwards, "Because I thought that if I ran away from my problems, then I wouldn't be haunted by them," he shrugged his shoulders, "but I was wrong."
Taking the Avatar's words incorrectly Zuko snapped backwards, his eyes narrowed, "I'm not running away, I'm just...confused!" he corrected.
Giving him a calming look, Aang to a bite into one half of the mango, it's supple juices leaking slowly from the wound he had inflicted with his teeth, "I never said you were, you are the one who jumped to that conclusion Zuko. Not I."
This made the young firebender feel quite ridiculous. With a deep breath he apologized and asked that Aang continue.
"As I ran away, storm clouds gathered. The monks believed that storm clouds represented hardship and troubled times ahead...and it was true."
There was a bit of silence between them as Aang once again took a bite out of the mango, this time offering Zuko the other half, "Here," who took it with thanks.
"Then one of the most terrifying things happened to me. My bison Appa and I got caught in the storm. The sheer force of it threw Appa out of control and into the ocean," Aang shrugged, "something happened and I was frozen in a block of ice for the next hundred years."
Zuko listened intently as he took a small chunk out of his half of the mango, wiping the juices away as they slowly leaked through the corners of his lips, "I would imagine."
Aang nodded, "Next thing I knew I was waking up to Katara's smiling, yet amazed face as she pulled me from the iceberg one hundred years later. It was only after meeting her and Sokka, who I might add wasn't too fond of me when we first met," Zuko gave him an incredulous look, but Aang nodded with a smile, "it's true! He thought I was some spy from the Fire Nation who happened to be floating around in a chunk of ice...sometimes he isn't all that bright."
Both laughed heartedly at Aang's joke but then the conversation turned serious once more.
"After I had learned everything that had taken place in my absence, I knew I had to put an end to the tyranny that was caused because I was too afraid to face my destiny as the Avatar," Aang gazed out across the way, lifting his hand gently, lighting the candles that sat idle in the lanterns, "if I had accepted my fate, this war would never have happened the way it did and maybe things would be different," he mumbled.
Zuko, for some odd reason couldn't believe what he was hearing from the young Avatar, he needed to set something straight with him, "What? How can you say that?" he demanded.
Aang looked over at him, his grey eyes filled with sorrow, "You're the Avatar and yes you ran away but if you hadn't, perhaps you would have died all those years ago with your people! Destiny brought you here, a hundred years later for a reason, because you were destined to end the war three years ago, not a hundred years ago."
A smile breeched Aang's features, "Thanks," he said softly, Zuko nodded in return.
"I mean, things don't just happen by coincidence, they happen because there is a reason to the madness of destiny. No matter how small or how great, everything falls into place because it was meant to be," suddenly his eyes grew wide and then a smirk splayed across his lips as he glared over at Aang, "you did that on purpose," he jokingly pushed Aang.
It was weird because he felt like he knew him, like he really knew him and messing with him didn't seem so foreign to him at this moment.
Aang merely shrugged his shoulders as he pushed himself off the fountains seating, "You're the one who said it, not me," he extended a hand out to Zuko, "just remember your words to me. Things happen for a reason, though we may not understand the madness to the spirits methods, they have a purpose."
Zuko sighed as he grabbed hold, "Yea, I'm right."
This reply received a small chuckle from Aang, "Yes you are. I told you my story to perhaps better open your eyes to your own situation. Katara says that Mai knew who you were all those years ago, there would be no way for her to forget who you are now. My gut tells me that if its your killer we're after, then I think we've already found her."
This wasn't something Zuko wanted to accept, but if Aang was right, which he was, then why did it feel so wrong?
"But what if she isn't the killer? What if it was someone else?"
Aang shook his head, "I doubt it, but it's possible. A man has many enemies when he turns against his nation for the better of the world."
Zuko gaped at him, then straightened himself out. He read the history about himself...spirits this was going to be weird, and knew that when he betrayed his nation there were many who sought for vengance and wished death upon him.
If Mai didn't do it, then who did? And if she did...why?
"Come on, lets head back," Aang called as he began to walk the stretch of the path that lead back out into the streets of Ba Sing Se.
Zuko shook his head slowly, ridding his thoughts from his mind at the moment and followed the Avatar. There was so much to think about and honestly so little time. But one thing was for sure, he needed to apologize to Katara. He hated hurting her, though he had only met her, but the thought made his heart ache with such fright that he didn't want to suffer through such things. But also because, though he only met her last night, he had tailed her for weeks, months even and began to grow on her little by little with each passing day without knowing. It was only after he had come face to face with her, touched her, he connected with her.
And he knew that it was a connection that would last him a lifetime.
So what did you think of Aang and Zuko's moment? Tell me what you think. And like I said, if you haven't reviewed and your one of the first five to review, I will send you the next two chapters a week before I post them! So click the button below!