Rumour Has It

by FictionIsSocialInquiry

The Blue Spirit begins appearing in proximity to rumours of the Painted Lady. She cleans a polluted well and the sickness it caused in a tiny coastal town. The very same night, a crate of rice and cured meat wrapped in flame embossed bamboo appears by the well. It is said, the Blue Spirit is hunting the Painted Lady. Or that he's under her spell. In a way, both are true.

26. Chapter 26

Apologies in advanced for this chapter...

Farewell to Ba Sing Se I

Lightning rises, the Avatar falls.

So does Ba Sing Se. And the Earth Kingdom.

And Former General Iroh, son of Azulon and Illiah now passed, brother of Ozai, father of Lu Ten now passed, uncle of Zuko and Azula. Zuko says the words. Through tears and the whipping winds of the sky bison's flight, he says them. Through the waterbender sobbing over the lifeless Avatar he says them.

'We thank him for his sacrifice. May his soul burn with eternal flame.'

Beside him, the earthbender has her head between her knees, shoulders hunched and shaking.

Beside him, the Water Tribe boy steers the sky bison, his comic's heart in tatters back in that city of death.

Beside him, the waterbender gasps when she restarts the Avatar's heart.

Back in Ba Sing Se, his uncle lays broken and silent.

---

Farewell to Ba Sing Se II

'Leave him alone, Sokka.'

'What's he doing here? What the hell happened back there?'

'Just… leave him be.'

'Katara… it's Zuko.'

Silence.

'As in, the jerk who chased us around the world Zuko.'

Silence.

'We can't just—'

'He saved our lives, mine and Aang's… he and his uncle did.'

'Where is his uncle, Sugar Queen?'

Silence.

'Katara—'

'Come on, Snoozles. Let's keep an eye on Aang while Appa rests.'

'But…'

'Come on.'

---

Destroyed I

The boy is buckled with the bending of fate. He grips his hair in hands, lost to grief, and a ghost takes up residence beside him. The girl squats at his other side, a night-time world of navy and grey lit only by a crescent moon their audience. She is trembling. So is he.

'I'll kill her,' he whispers, to the world that has always tested him in the cruellest ways it can.

Katara's tears track miles down the exhaustion of her skin. She says nothing for what is there to say?

'She was looking right at me, right at me, when she… she…'

He punches the earth and a stone splits his knuckles.

Blood the colour of his nation weeps out onto the grass.

---

Destroyed II

Her softness has always been her strength. She meets his anger with liquid in her bones and he breaks upon her shores.

'I'm so sorry, Zuko,' she says it again and again while her hand grounds him, holds him. He doesn't see her, or his tears, but he's seen enough for one night, enough to last a lifetime.

'So am I.'