Note: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did I wouldn't have time to write slash about it (I would be making episode slash).
I've written my little summary thing enough times. You get it already. If not, now is the time to contemplate your own existence.
Sozin's Comet
Aurora
"The comet has reached it's high point in the sky. The firenation troops are already surrounding the earthkindom and watertribes. This is the point where we change destiny, or let the world fall into a dark abyss forever. We cannot allow ourselves to be weak, or to have compassion. If someone get's in our way, we take them down, if there is a wall blocking us, we break it down, and if one of us should fall, we will keep on fighting! The world is counting on us, and we are not going to let it down!"
Aang finished his short speech, feeling rather high and mighty. Everyone who heard it was inspired, except for maybe Iroh, who found the twelve-year old a little more amusing, and Zuko, who was asleep. The gang was ready to face their destiny, to take down the firelord and the firenation. After almost two years of preparation, the final battle was about to take place. Everyone was completely terrified, but they wouldn't let it show.
Aang himself felt more than just fear and determination. He felt regret. Regret for all the wasted time he had spent keeping his feelings from Katara. He knew all to well that both of them could easily die today, and he regretted that he might never get to start a family with his girlfriend, or at least declare their love to the world. The sad thing was, Katara was thinking the very same thing.
Iroh was worried about his nephew, as usual. He worried that he would die in the battle and leave Zuko alone with a new baby and a new life that he probably wasn't ready for without Iroh's help. What's worse was the chance that both he and Jet die in the battle, leaving Zuko completely alone with little Aurora, and probably heartbroken from his losses. But at least both of them would be safe and alive, and that was what he was trying to concentrate on. Ironic as it was, so was Jet.
Toph's mind was more on the future that she had already lost. She had never had feelings for a boy as she had for Sokka, and she greatly doubted that she ever would again. Sokka was thinking about the future that he so easily shrugged off, but he was a little put back by Toph's age. He couldn't help but think, however, that the girl would grow older, and probably be a fox.
Ling had agreed to stay with Zuko, who had fallen asleep not long after Jet had found them. He was exhausted from the birth and blood loss, and Ling figured he wouldn't wake for a very long time. To Iroh and Jet that was all the better. They knew how stubborn the teen was, and they feared that he would decide to fight with them in the battle. So now that he was asleep, the rest of the gang (besides Ling) would leave him and Aurora to go defeat Firelord Ozai. Even if he would be pissed when he would wake up, at least Zuko would be able to wake up.
"I think it's just about time to go. Is everyone ready?" Iroh asked, standing up and looking at the young ones surrounding him. Aang and Katara stood together, holding each others hands. Jet stood in between Sokka and Toph, who could not find it in themselves to be that close, and Ling was sitting on the ground next to Zuko. Quickly surveying his small troops, Aang looked back at Iroh and nodded. "Then I shall take you to his war room. There is no doubt in my mind that Ozai will be there."
The five participating members of the gang nodded again and walked over to the gardens exit. Iroh held back for a moment, taking a minute to look at his precious nephew and new great niece. Ling looked up at him with both sorrow and inspiration. "I'll take good care of him." She said, smiling. Iroh smiled back at her and nodded, then left what he considered the most important part of his life in the little palace garden.
/A few minutes later/
Aurora opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. She was cuddled closely to her daddy, and was as safe and warm as she could be, but still she felt distressed. Though she was tiny and her mind was yet to be developed, she sensed that something was wrong. Something was missing, and she didn't like it. She began to cry. Ling immediately pulled her from Zuko's arms, trying to calm her down so she wouldn't wake him, but it was to late.
Zuko opened his eyes. He looked first to his baby, checking to see if she was ok. When he saw that she was in Ling's arms, he turned his gaze to where he thought his uncle and Jet should be. They weren't there. After taking a minute to scan the rest of his surroundings, he pulled his upper half up. Ling took a hand and placed it on his chest. "No, you shouldn't get up. Go back to sleep." She said, trying to push him down. Even in his weakened state, Zuko was much stronger than her.
"Where are they?" He asked, pushing Ling's hand away and looking at her. She gave him a sad look and stayed silent. Zuko's eyes got big. "How long ago did they leave?" He asked. She remained silent. Zuko, knowing all to well what was going on, began to push himself up. "What are you doing?!" Ling yelled at him, causing Aurora to cry louder.
"I'm going to go help them. You stay here and watch my baby." He replied plainly. Ling stood up, crying infant in her arms, and got in front of Zuko. "You can barely walk! You'll only get in the way and get them hurt!" She said, trying to stop the stubborn teenager. Zuko only glared at her. "I'll stay hidden until I'm needed. I wont get in the way." He said with force. Ling continued to glare at him. "Your making a mistake." She said, but moved aside.
Zuko walked up to her and placed a hand gently on his baby's head, caressing her soft patch of hair. "Think of her." Ling said again, and Zuko looked up at her with sorrow. "I am." He said plainly, then leaned down to kiss his daughter. Aurora stopped her crying, and shut her little eyes in sleep. Zuko smiled, then left her and Ling to go find the other members of his family.
Meanwhile, Iroh had lead Aang and the gang to Ozai's war room. They stood outside the door, trying to judge the best way to get in. Should they simply storm in and attack, or should they wait until someone came out before making their move? "We should go in there, if we wait to long, then it could be to late." Aang said finally, making a good point. Everyone agreed, and got ready to attack. Iroh took the front position, getting ready to blow down the doors with a fire blast.
Katara had out her water whip, and was ready to strike as soon as the doors were down. She stood behind Iroh. Aang stood beside him, ready to fly in after him and towards the Firelord. Sokka and Jet stood side by side, ready to assist each other since they were the only two with the inability to bend. Toph stood in front of them, next to Katara, preparing to defend her friends.
"Everyone ready?!" Iroh asked. The kids all nodded again, each taking a deep breath. Iroh nodded back, them conjured up his fire for the powerful blast. He put a lot of force into the thrust, taking out the doors completely, and sending a large part of the flame into the room to distract it's occupants. Shocked gasps were heard, but before anyone could tell who was already in the room, they were in and attacking.
Toph launched Katara in the air, sending her and her whip out towards their enemies. She landed in a group of five old soldiers, generals in fact, and took them out with one strong sweep. Jet and Sokka ran past the earthbender, striking at a pack of about two dozen lower soldiers in the room to collect information from the generals and send it out to the troops. Toph soon caught up with them and began to help out with the pack.
Aang flew in the air, over all the other battles, and landing right in front of the Firelord's throne. His face was lite with anger and force until his eyes caught Ozai's face. It was a beautiful one, nothing like Aang had imagined. There was no menacing unibrow, no blood shot burning eyes, no wrinkles of stress and anger tainting the face. It was all soft and smooth, like that of cobra. Beautiful, but deadly.
He was frozen, taking aback by the gorgeous face. "No wonder Zuko is so handsome, and Azula is so beautiful..." He thought to himself. He was so preoccupied with the image of Ozai that he hadn't noticed that he'd risen from his throne and was about to strike him. Ozai conjured up a powerful blast of fire and shot it right at Aang. Aang stayed motionless, staring into the flame.
He would have been completely consumed had Iroh not come to his aid. He split the blast in half, fire falling to either side of him. This brought Aang out of his trance, and he twirled around Iroh to strike the Firelord. This was unsuccessful, since Ozai was very fast. In the few seconds that it took Aang to get where he was, he was already somewhere else, this time striking at Iroh.
Iroh dodged his brother's attack, and tried to distract him so that Aang would have time to strike. "You were always a pitiful, soft human being with no force to you. It's no reason you turned traitor, brother, it's just like you to fail." Ozai mocked, smiling wickedly and sending various fire blasts towards Iroh. Iroh either dodged them or broke them, but he never sent a flame towards his brother.
Aang, in the meantime, was about to strike at Ozai when a blue flame was shot his way. He dodged it just in time, and was able to see the face of none other than Princess Azula. She smiled up at him, intent on inflicting revenge for her failure on the day of black sun. Aang jerked his arms and sent an air strike towards her, just missing.
Meanwhile, Katara was still dealing with the five generals she had decided to piss off. She hadn't considered that they had been in the army for more than twice her lifetime, and were ready to fight back. One would fire at her, she would strike him, then another would strike, she would dodge, another would make a hit, she would take it and move on to another, and so this continued until only three generals were left when Azula attacked Aang.
Toph had managed to already take out seven soldiers with various attacks of flying boulders and earth spikes she had shoot up from the ground and stab at them in the gut. She put enough pressure to knock out, but not kill. That could be left for later. Sokka, who was battling a soldier with a sword, had only taken out five. He backed himself up until he and Toph were side by side. They caught a quick glance at each other before making final strikes and taking out their current opponents.
Jet had taken out six, killing two, and was fighting a firebender with his hook swords. The man jerked his fist forwards, sending fire towards Jet, but he dodged it and caught him by his wrist. Jerking quickly so as to break the bone, Jet pulled forwards, using the man's weight against him, and flipped him up in the air. When he landed he smash his head hard, knocking himself out completely.
Jet then brought his attention to Katara, and decided to go help her. He struck at the back of one generals who was striking at her, sending his sword about an inch into the man's spine. He screamed in pain and collapsed. Jet left him breathing, turning his attention to the next general. This left Katara with only one, to her happiness, and she sent water flying right at him. It hit him in the chest, but he remained on his feet.
Aang fought Azula viciously, every strike made to end her evil. Each one missed, but he was getting close. She, though usually fearless, felt a flicker of it as she noticed the airbenders new ferocity. She knew all to well that he was planning on killing her. She made several good strikes his way also, but he either broke them or dodged them. After a while of this, they ended up on her father's throne. She flipped over it as Aang sent air flying towards it, ripping it to pieces.
One of these pieces broke off and hit her in the arm, penetrating deeply. She cried out in pain, and was motionless for just a moment. But that was all Aang needed, and he took his chances, gathering up as much force as he could into his strike. Instead of air, however, he sent out fire. It flew towards the girl, who tried to break it, but who failed. It burnt up to her face, giving her third degree burns all over her hands and arms, and on her chest and stomach. Her face only got second degree burns, one's that would leave no mark.
She shrieked and howled in pain, collapsing and covering her body with her arms. "No..." She whispered silently, and held her legs tightly. The pain wasn't what took her down, it was the fact that she had failed. She had been hit, and now she would live with it for the rest of her life. Aang, as much as he wanted to, could not find it in himself to end the princess, so he just left her as she was. Instead, he turned his attention to Iroh and Ozai.
Ozai gasped and panted. He had made a hundred strikes, using up much of his power, and hadn't even made a mark. On the other hand, Iroh hadn't made a single strike at all. He had simply dodged and broke the blasts. This enraged Ozai even more. "You worthless, sniveling coward! Aren't you going to make even a single strike?!" He cursed, staying in stance but halting his attack. "I don't need to, you've already damned yourself." Iroh said, frowning at his brother.
Ozai frowned, and stared at his brother in confusion. Before he could react, he was hit by a blast of air that sent him smashing into a wall. Smiling, Iroh stepped back and decided to let destiny take it's own course. Ozai's nostrils flared and smoke came from them. He brought his attention and anger towards the twelve year old who had hit him. Just behind the boy he could see his daughter, broken and burned. This only further enraged him.
"I should have left the firenation and ended you myself instead of allowing my worthless son to do it for me!" He screamed, flames flying from his fists towards Aang. Aang dodged them just in time, noticing the change in force. Ozai was tired from battling Iroh, and Aang thanked the old man dearly for it. Aang then sent fire back towards Ozai, who was caught off guard by the flame. He broke it easily, but it greatly shocked him that the boy could bend fire already.
Aang send another blast, this time of air, towards Ozai. Ozai conjured up a wall of fire, blocking the air attack. He then used flames from his throne, so as not to waste more energy, and sent them in a huge wall burning towards the Avatar. Aang screamed and flailed his staff around wildly to block the flames. He was smashed down hard on the ground, and Ozai smiled in satisfaction. He ran towards the airbender to make the final strike. Before he reached him, though, he was hit hard in the side by a ball of fire that he didn't see coming.
/Earlier/
Zuko had snuck into the war room easily. Everyone was preoccupied with their battles, so he was able to quickly hide behind a large column. He stood quietly and watched as his mate battled soldiers and generals, his uncle battle his father, and the Avatar battled his sister. When he saw flame burst from Aang's hands and nearly consume Azula, Zuko couldn't help but feel both relief, and sorrow.
He then watched closely as the Avatar took on his father. The boy was quick and smart, but not so much the man. Ozai had been hit by the first strike, but the others were taking no effect on him. Zuko became worried as Ozai almost completely burnt up Aang in a wall of fire, but the boy escaped. However, he was hurt and was immobilized for just a few seconds, but Zuko knew that was enough for his father to end the airbender.
Though it went against everything he had ever been taught, everything that he had ever believed in, Zuko knew he had to stop the man. He couldn't let him destroy the world's only hope for peace, couldn't let him ruin the future for him and his new family. Zuko gathered all the strength and anger that he had towards the man, and shot it through his fist towards his father's midsection. It hit him in the stomach, and threw him to the ground.
Both Iroh and Aang were completely shocked by the random blast of fire that had knocked down the Firelord. Both of them quickly glanced over to where it had came from, and both were even more shocked to see that it was Zuko who had made the strike. Aang smiled, while Iroh gasped and uttered out his nephew's name, running towards the teenager. When he reached him, Iroh grasped him tightly by the shoulders and scolded him quickly as he jerked him away from the battle scene and towards the broken doors, where he could watch in safety.
Zuko held a blank expression on his face until he looked over at the smiling Aang. Upon seeing him, Zuko smiled back, and every word his uncle yelled at him was lost as he thought about the final decision he had made about his destiny. Aang then brought his attention back to Ozai, who was on his feet with his hand resting on his injured side. Aang felt a power that he hadn't felt in weeks, a power that he knew was no his alone. He felt Roku, and Kyoshi, and all his previous lives burn inside of him, begging to be let out.
Aang let himself be taken over by them as he shut and opened his glowing eyes. He easily floated into the air, looking down at the Firelord. Everyone in the room who was alive and conscious stopped and stared as the Avatar's body became surrounded by a wall of fire. When it went down, there stood not Aang, but Roku. Ozai's eyes went blank as he remembered the stories his grandfather used to tell him about the powerful firenation Avatar.
Roku looked down at the Firelord, feeling the hatred and anger of a hundred years lost friendship and betrayal run through his veins. "This is for Sozin." He said plainly as he sliced his hand forwards, causing a thick wall of white fire to strike the Firelord. Ozai screamed in terror and pain as fire consumed his entire being in a manner of seconds. When the flame was gone, so were any remains of Firelord Ozai.
The room went silent, and Avatar Roku burst himself into flames. When they were gone, he was once again Avatar Aang, looking down at the place where he had killed Ozai. The silence broke after a few seconds, and the soldiers who weren't knocked out fell to their knees in surrender. Aang floated slowly to the ground, never taking his eyes of the scorch marks he had made where Ozai had stood. After a hundred long years, the firenation had fallen.
"That's it. We won." Sokka said in a voice just above a whisper, and everyone smiled. The next few minutes were taken up with cheers and hugs, and a kiss or ten between Aang and Katara, and Jet and Zuko. Toph and Sokka also hugged each other, blushing then letting go. When the short party was done, Iroh stepped over to the surrendered soldiers.
"Inform the troops that my brother is dead, the war is over, and they can all come home and finally rest." He said kindly, motioning for the men to leave. They all nodded and did so, leaving their now ex-enemies behind. Iroh then walked back over to his nephew and Jet, wrapping an arm around Zuko and pulling him in for another hug.
"It was extremely foolish what you did,...and I couldn't be more proud." He said, a tear coming to his eye. Zuko smiled, and hugged his uncle back. "I learned both foolishness and bravery from the same old, annoying, tea-loving man." He said, joking with Iroh. Jet chuckled a little bit at the joke, causing Iroh to frown, but he shut up quick enough. Aang and Katara were taking no time in talking about peace relations and such, but were instead consumed with talking about their plans together for the future.
"We should wait a while to get married. I mean, your only twelve, and I'm only fourteen." Katara said, blushing. Aang blushed back. "Yeah, but I'll be thirteen in a few weeks, and then in two years I'll be fifteen and you sixteen. I think that's old enough, right?" He asked. She blushed some more, and nodded. Toph and Sokka stood by each other, looking in opposite directions. They both had so much to say, but neither could bring themselves to say it.
Zuko looked over at his broken sister, being reminded of the time when his father had burnt off his face. "I don't want her to die...I just...just want her to go away. Banish her, but don't kill her." He said to his uncle, and Iroh nodded. "No, she will be imprisoned until a small ship with supplies and a crew can be arranged to take her away. She'll have to find a new home now." He said, agreeing with Zuko.
"So, I guess that's it." Jet said, moving closer to Zuko and wrapping his hand around his waist. Zuko smiled, and leaned his head up against Jet's shoulders. "You couldn't be more wrong...you big idiot..." Zuko joked, he and Jet smiling. Iroh chuckled.
After a minute, Zuko pulled back from Jet. "Oh! Uncle, I'd forgotten. I have something for you!" He said, reaching into his shirt. Iroh smiled, and watched his nephew. His smile faded, however, when he saw what Zuko pulled out. It was a tiny, white dragon. "Zuko! Where did you possibly find it?!" He asked in great shock. It had been many years since he had seen a dragon, even a small one. Zuko smiled. "Actually, she found me." He replied.
He then handed her over to Iroh, who held her easily in his hands. "I named her Sky, because of her eyes. I think she's lucky, she already saved me once." Zuko said, smiling more. Iroh smiled back. "She's beautiful. Thank you Zuko." Iroh said, looking down at the little reptile. Sky looked back up at him, and squeaked. She then jumped onto his shoulder, and let herself rest there. "She's also very tame." Zuko finished, laughing a little.
"Who needs a mate when you can have a lucky dragon?!" Jet joked, causing both Iroh and Zuko to frown.
Jet just isn't very funny right now. So here it is, the last chapter. Psych! No, I'm going to have at least one more before I call it quits. But hey, I'm thinking of making a sequel, "The Sun Never Sets" or something of the sort, all about Zuko, Jet, Aurora, Iroh, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph and the lives they live after the war. But I'm going to take some time to work on my other (including new) fanfics before I start it.
OMG! I have had the worst week EVER! No one can say their's was worth than mine unless they are seriously injured or dead. Ok, on Thursday the power went out, and guess what? It freaking blew my modem! So I haven't been able to go online until just now. So I said "hey, at least I have the new episode of Avatar to look forwards to." And I wrote this chapter. Like I said, would have put it up, but I had NO INTERNET!
So, it's 8:25 on Friday night, I turn the T.V. on, and I'm just about to watch Avatar. Back at The Barnyard or some other cartoon is on, I'm starting to get excited because it just ended, and then it happens. The cable goes out. I panic, trying to turn it back on, but nothing works. I call the company, these idiots who are building some new houses by me hit a power wire or something, and the cable was out FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! I missed Avatar. I almost went on a killing spree.
I expected a rerun to run on Sunday, but no. I have had no way (without internet) to see "Sokka's Master." I almost didn't make it.
But now my internet is back, I'm downloading the episode, and I've learned a valuable lesson. I really can't survive without technology. And that's my story. :)
