Chapter Twenty-Seven
His father was waiting for an answer and, unfortunately, Aang didn't yet have one.
He knew what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do. And those two things were very much at odds with one another.
Aang hated himself for being conflicted at all. There were two paths set before him and they were simplistically demarcated. There was a right course and a wrong one and Aang was not confused about which was which. If he chose the former, he would retain his self-respect and honor, but he would likely lose his life, literally and figuratively. If he chose the latter, he would regain his precious relationship with his father, but he would lose his soul in the process. He would become unrecognizable to himself.
Ozai wasn't merely asking for information on the Avatar. His aim wasn't simply to coerce a few secrets from Aang. He wanted nothing less than pure and complete devastation. Because he was well aware that his son had formed a bond with the young demigod, Ozai fully sought to use that friendship to his own advantage. Hunting the Avatar had proven to be a fruitless endeavor and recent reports out of the Earth Kingdom attested to how powerfully formidable the young Avatar was. He was made even more apprehensive by his failure to locate his daughter. The Firelord was not a foolish man. If the Avatar, unrealized and only a child, could devastate armies and armies of Ozai's soldiers almost singlehandedly, what destruction could he possibly wreak once he had learned all the elements?
The Firelord was painfully aware of his precarious circumstances, just as he was aware that a full frontal attack against the Avatar would prove a waste of time. He had to disable the boy from the inside and for that…he would need his son. Only Aang had the opportunity and means to penetrate the Avatar's inner circle and take him down from the inside. Only Aang knew the boy's weaknesses and fears. By breaking his son, Ozai would break the Avatar as well. Two birds with one stone, his son once again at his side and the Avatar swirling dust beneath his feet.
Aang suspected that was his father's ultimate plan and yet there continued to be a part of himself that asked, "Is it worth it?" Ultimately, everything came down to a life or death decision. Was he prepared to die as a martyr…or live as a traitor? The answer was simple and Aang suspected he'd made the decision even before he was really aware of it. Though he had gone back and forth for days, weighing the benefits and the hazards, he had always known. He was going to die for what he believed in and he was going to be hated for it.
When Ozai came to him later that afternoon, Aang didn't even wait for his father to ask the question. He simply said, "No."
Ozai's reaction to his refusal was calmer than Aang had expected. "No?"
"I won't…I can't do what you ask…"
"Is it a question of loyalty?" his father demanded in a silken tone, "Do you feel some misguided allegiance for them, Aang? Have you forgotten that they are the reason you're here? They left you behind."
"They are my friends," Aang whispered, bringing his weary gaze up to meet his father's glacial one. "He is my friend. I won't betray him."
"Is this really what you want?" Ozai spat, his features twisting with rage and disgust. "You think your conditions are untenable now, just you wait!" he threatened. "I will make you wish you had died in your mother's childbed!"
Aang flinched over his father's sudden and complete reversal, hating himself for the disappointed tears that filled his eyes because he should have known better. He should have never allowed himself to hope at all that his father truly did love him and that his refusal to comply with his father's wishes would incur anything besides vicious loathing. "Do what you feel you must, Firelord Ozai," he whispered amid his rolling tears. "My loyalty is to the Avatar and always will be."
Ozai stepped close to the bars, his voice lowered to a vibrating whisper when he declared, "You are no son of mine. From this moment onward, you will be treated as the traitorous parasite that you are." He stepped back from the cell with an expression of satisfaction and disgust. "I sincerely hope your Avatar is worth your life because that is how you will pay for your treachery."
His public execution was scheduled for dawn at the end of the week. He would serve as a sign to the entire Fire Nation how swiftly and harshly traitors would be dealt with, no matter who they were. The Firelord could have made it easier by setting his death sentence for a sooner day, but he wanted Aang to stew in the reality of what was to befall him. In preparation for the day, the guards attending Aang made a special effort to work him over whenever the urge arose so that, only two days from his execution, Aang lay brokenly in the middle of his cell with little care whether he lived or died. The guards came and went, the clank of metal mingled with heartless jeers and cries of mercy from fellow prisoners, but Aang barely acknowledged the sounds. He was too tired, mentally and physically.
"Dinner, your majesty!"
The announcement startled Aang out of his half-conscious state. However, he didn't respond to the guard's snarling taunt nor did he move when he heard the telltale sound of his "lunch" scraping across the earthen floor. He lay so still that, for a moment, the guard wondered if his prisoner had already died. Concerned, the prison guard paused and, using the long poker he'd used to slide the tray inside the cell, prodded Aang several times until the boy finally released a pitiable groan.
"You should eat up," he told Aang, "Conserve your strength."
The words seemed almost encouraging and having them from the mouth of one of his tormentors compelled Aang to lift his head with a befuddled frown. But when he glanced outside his cell, he was met with empty space. The guard was already gone. Though any sort of movement caused him agony, Aang managed to push himself upright. He leaned into his cell wall, still contemplating the strange encounter.
Why would one of the Firelord's guards care if he kept his strength up? He was two days away from execution. If he died by firing squad or perished from hunger on his cell floor, what did it matter? Did they simply want him coherent so that he could provide them with a more entertaining show when the day came? Were they trying to poison him? Make him ill?
Aang glared at the tray of food mutinously. In an act of defiance, he kicked it aside so that cold gruel splattered all over the cell floor. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction! If he was going to die, he was going to do so with as much dignity as he could.
Half an hour later, however, Aang was regretting his impulsive decision to throw his lunch aside. His stomach rumbled painfully from the weeks and weeks of malnourishment he'd endured. To his horror, his pride willingly took a backseat to his hunger. He scurried forth to the middle of his cell, his chains dragging behind him, and gratefully snatched up the hunk of stale bread that had come with his meal. He was in the middle of devouring it hungrily when something odd caught his attention.
A curious, gruel covered lump.
Inching forward cautiously to investigate, Aang wondered if he'd been right about the poison after all. With shaking fingers, he plucked up the lump and, using the hem of his tattered prison-issued shirt, wiped away the dried remnants of food as best he could. Aang discovered it wasn't a lump at all, nor was it was poison. In his palm was a Pai Sho tile. And not just any Pai Sho tile either…it was the White Lotus tile.
It was a message. It was a promise. It was salvation.
His uncle hadn't forgotten about him after all.
****
Sokka climbed to the edge of Appa's saddle and peered down at Zuko, unable to bite back his amused smirk. The younger boy sat, holding Appa's reins with one hand and maniacally scratching his scalp with the other. Momo was perched beside him, thumping his paw behind his ear in like manner. Even across the distance separating them, Sokka could hear Zuko's disgruntled mutterings of "stupid hair, stupid itchy hair," quite clearly.
"Why don't you just shave it off if you're so miserable?" he laughed.
"It'll be fine once it grows some more," Zuko replied crossly, though he'd already considered Sokka's suggestion more than once already. "I don't understand why growth equals itching. It's driving me crazy!"
Truly, his hair growth was really only a superficial mask for what was really bothering him. It was a single question that had been pounding in his mind for days now. Where was he going to find an earthbending teacher?
At first, there had been no time to think about it. Survival had been his first priority. After narrowly escaping death in the lovers' cave outside of Omashu, Zuko had turned his attention towards putting as much distance between himself and his pursuers as possible. Though he hadn't had very many dealings with Azula, his brief altercation with her left him with the impression that she was relentless. Must be a family trait, Zuko considered wryly.
However, now that the danger was no longer immediate and the rush of adrenaline that he'd experienced while in the cave had faded, all Zuko could do was brood and worry, think about Mai and then brood some more. Though his friends had said next to nothing about their circumstances, Zuko suspected that Sokka and Katara were worrying almost as much as he was. None of them had even had a moment to process the miraculous news they'd received about Aang or even speculate on where he could be or if they could get to him because it was almost impossible to focus on anything past that single, burning question: where was Zuko going to find an earthbending teacher?
Sokka had come up with the idea to contact General Iroh on possible suggestions, in addition to letting him know that Aang was alive, but it would be at least a few days yet before they received word from him, possibly more because they were moving around so much. Unfortunately, Zuko didn't have a few days to wait. Each hour that was lost for training was another hour closer for the comet. He was painfully aware of that reality, as were his friends.
"So is this your plan?" Sokka queried dryly, snapping Zuko from his obsessive musings.
"Is what my plan?"
"We've been riding around the Earth Kingdom for days," Sokka clarified, "Not that I mind having a lull in between people constantly trying to kill us, but…I'm thinking we need some kind of strategy. Circling the Earth Kingdom aimlessly and watching you scratch yourself silly isn't helping matters."
"You don't think I know that?" Zuko snapped.
"Far be it from me to tell you how to do your job," Sokka soothed in reaction to Zuko's surly tone, "but don't you think we'd have more success on the ground, as in shouldn't we stop and check out some of these towns we've been passing by? Or do you have a specific place in mind?"
Distracted by a particularly itchy spot above his ear, Zuko only caught the tail end of Sokka's question. "I'm sorry…what did you say?"
The older boy rolled his eyes with an exasperated groan. "Where are we going?" Sokka pronounced slowly.
Zuko made a face at him. "We're headed towards the middle Earth Kingdom."
"Any place in particular?" Katara asked.
"Nope," Zuko replied.
An uneasy glance bounced between the Water Tribe siblings before Katara voiced the unspoken question between them. "Then…um…why are we going there?"
"The Fire Nation is mostly situated around the perimeters of the Earth Kingdom," Zuko explained. "They haven't yet made it into the middle part of the territory so we should be safe there for a while." He threw them both a disgruntled look over his shoulder. "I realize I'm a little lost about what we should do at the moment, but I'm not a complete idiot. Finding an earthbending teacher won't matter much if I'm not safe while I train!"
"Got it," Sokka replied in amused meekness, "Do not question Zuko."
Zuko sighed in contrition. "I don't mean to bite your head off, Sokka. I'm feeling the pressure. That's all."
"It will work out, Zuko," Katara murmured softly with her usual conviction.
When he glanced up at her and saw that, in her eyes, she absolutely believed what she was telling him, Zuko believed it too. He sighed again. "So what do you think I should do now?" he asked.
"Land," Sokka answered without preamble. "You're never going to find an earthbending teacher up here."
They chose a small, but wealthy town located in almost the direct center of the Earth Kingdom. After feeding Appa and Momo their lunch and erecting camp, the three teens disguised themselves and decided to take a strolling tour of the province. As inconspicuously as possible, they prowled the township for Earthbenders. They began with the marketplace, which was unexpectedly teeming with people. The crowed was incredibly large, almost abnormally so. It was definitely too many to be such a tiny community. Zuko wondered vaguely what was going on, because the excited commotion definitely wasn't due to his arrival.
"What's the name of this place?" Zuko wondered.
Sokka consulted the map. "It says Gaoling."
"Think they've ever heard of the Avatar before?" Zuko grumbled.
Katara snickered at his peevish tone. "I thought you didn't like having all the attention."
Zuko shrugged in consideration. "Eh, you get used to it after a while." He then turned towards Sokka with a large sigh. "So how are we supposed to do this anyway?" he asked, "Am I supposed to just walk up to random people, tap them on the shoulder and say, 'hey, you wanna teach me earthbending?'"
"Maybe they won't be so random after all," Katara concluded, her widened, blue eyes fixed on something ahead of them, "I think I just figured out why this town is so busy." She caught hold of Zuko's arm and pulled him towards the posted scroll tacked on a wooden stake only a few yards away. "Look at this," she breathed, "It's some kind of earthbending tournament that's happening this evening. It says that only the best Earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom will be competing…"
"Did you say tournament?" Sokka asked, "Now that's what Sokka's talking about!" He swiftly and shamelessly smooshed himself between Katara and Zuko with an excited whoop, his eyes eagerly scanning the length of the scroll. Katara shoved him aside so that she could grin at Zuko broadly. "See? I told you," she announced victoriously, "It worked out exactly like it was supposed to."
"Katara, I—,"
"No, I won't let you be pessimistic," she interrupted stubbornly, "This is exactly what we needed! Of all the towns where we could have landed, we chose here…almost like we were led to this place. It can't be a coincidence! Maybe we were meant to come here all along, Zuko."
"Katara, read it again," Zuko said dryly, thoroughly stomping on her destiny theory with his next words, "It's not a tournament…it's a glorified bending match and the whole thing is probably staged. I doubt any self-respecting Earthbender would bother to participate. If there's a place where I won't find a decent teacher, it's there."
"Well, laa dee dah," Sokka teased, "You sound pretty snooty for someone who doesn't know the first thing about earthbending. I'm sure these fellows are highly trained."
"Not trained enough to teach me," Zuko declared haughtily, "When I learn earthbending, it will be at the feet of a master, not some glory hound miscreant. I want to be trained by someone with poise, grace and dignity as well as incredible power. I want a teacher who takes their bending gift seriously and doesn't use it in frivolous pursuits. I want someone who is experienced and wise both physically and mentally. I want someone like…like Master Pakku."
Katara's misconception that he was talking about her was instantly dashed. She scowled at him. "Well, gee, thanks a lot for the ringing endorsement, Zuko."
"Yeah you're okay too," he added in an offhand manner, which only prompted an offended huff from Katara. "The point is," Zuko pressed on, "these guys aren't good enough."
"Beggars can't be choosy," Sokka reminded him.
Zuko crossed his arms stubbornly. "I'm also not going to accept any idiot off the road as my teacher," he declared frankly, "I'm desperate, but I'm not that desperate."
"Well, at least come and watch the match with us before you make up your mind," Sokka cajoled.
"I'm not interested," he maintained. "If you and Katara want to checks things out, I won't stop you. But, as far as I'm concerned, it will be a waste of time."
"Fine," Sokka replied with an accepting shrug, "Suit yourself."
****
Zuko couldn't believe they actually went without him.
He leaned against the thick, outer wall of the wrestling arena and pouted. More than an hour had elapsed since Sokka and Katara had been swallowed into the stampeding crowd eager for prime seats to Earth Rumble 6. Every so often the deserted silence outside the arena would be split with the deafening cheers that sounded from inside, interspersed with rhythmic chants of "bandit, bandit." Each time the crowd roared, Zuko's disgruntled scowl deepened. He thought of Appa and Momo and how they would be all over him once he returned to camp because he, Sokka and Katara had been gone so long and his mood soured further. Being covered in bison slobber and lemur hair was not exactly how he wanted to cap his evening.
Petulantly, Zuko wondered if Sokka and Katara's insistence on seeing the match had more to do with their own entertainment and less to do with the need to find an earthbending teacher for him. Often, it seemed that whenever something was done for "his" benefit, he was always the one who ended up unhappy. "Figures," he mumbled to himself.
However, just as he'd made up his mind to go marching into the arena to inform Sokka and Katara what a complete waste of time it all was, the crowd finally began filing out. Not wanting to be trampled as the Gaoling citizens ooh'd and aah'd their blow by blow replay of the event, Zuko sidled around to the other side of the building to wait for Katara and Sokka. He had no sooner propped himself back against the earthen wall than a large panel of it suddenly slid away and a girl popped furtively from the opening. She looked no older than twelve, clad in a green tunic and bare feet and she seemed to be up to no good.
Instantly suspicious, Zuko frowned as he watched her. However, he quickly assimilated that she wasn't planning mischief, but seemingly trying to avoid it. As he stood there trying to puzzle out why she'd chosen such an odd exit in the first place, he found himself further confused by the careful way she darted her head about. It was as if she were looking for someone. And that might not have been so odd if it weren't evident from the faded color of her green eyes that she could not see a thing. The girl was blind and yet, conversely, she didn't act like it.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped suddenly, shocking Zuko into momentary speechlessness because he hadn't imagined she was aware of him at all. "Well?" she prodded impatiently, tapping her foot.
"I…uh…well…" And then because he hated being put on the spot, Zuko demanded rather bluntly, "Aren't you blind?"
"Yeah!" she confirmed without shame. "You got a problem with that?"
Ignoring her attitude, Zuko followed up with yet another forthright question. "If you're blind, then how did you know I was staring at you?"
The girl snorted. "If you can hear, why can't you take the hint to get lost?"
Zuko circled her, peering closely. "How are you doing that?" he wondered aloud. "Are you faking it?"
Her earthbending attack was quick and subtle. The spike jutted up out of the ground right below the arch of his foot. Zuko eluded its rise on a current of air so that the cylinder of rock never even touched him before flipping back to the ground unhurt. "Are you crazy?" he burst out indignantly. "Do you always attack people who ask you questions?"
However, the girl ignored his querulous response because she was too busy asking questions of her own. "How did you do that?" she demanded with narrowed eyes.
"How'd I do what?"
"You…you just disappeared a minute ago!" she accused him.
"I didn't disappear," he denied.
She bared her teeth and attacked again, this time attempting dual spikes on either side of him. Zuko flipped to the safety of a nearby boulder, narrowly avoiding the punishing collision of the two blunted tips. "And people say I have anger issues," he grumbled. She tried to subdue him a third time, splitting apart the large rock beneath him so that he went crashing face first towards the ground.
Mere seconds before he made punishing contact, Zuko blew out a gust of air that kept him momentarily suspended above ground before gracefully catapulting him to his feet. The girl emitted a low growl of frustration. "Where are you?" she muttered to herself.
"Now I get it," Zuko cried as he floated upright, "You can only see me if I'm making contact with the ground, can't you?" His answer to that was a hurtling rock, which he lightly side-stepped. Zuko could see that his evasion only further frustrated her because it was evident she was having difficulty locating him. Knowing that, Zuko carefully kept himself suspended above ground. "You're pretty good at that," he said, complimenting her earthbending.
Rather than accepting the praise, the girl merely used the sound of his voice to discern which direction she should launch her next attack. She shook the ground, rumbled and flipped it to no avail. Still, Zuko was impressed. Her bending was proficient and adaptive. He didn't doubt that with a few minutes more she'd devise a way to land her blows even while she couldn't see him.
"Why don't you stop with the disappearing act and just fight?" she growled.
"I don't want to fight you," Zuko said, "But I am impressed. I think I'll let you teach me earthbending instead."
The girl snorted. "Before or after I break you in two?"
"You'll have to find me first," Zuko taunted.
He didn't realize that she was working her way up to that. The seismic perception that allowed her to see him as a result of the vibrations his feet made against the earth was failing because he somehow managed to avoid contact with the ground. However, she was becoming aware of other things, like the tiny swirls of dust that seemed to kick up in the direction of his voice. It gave her a fair indication of where he was even when he wasn't speaking to her. She smiled to herself.
"You're pretty light on your feet, aren't you?" she noted huffily, "What are you? Some kind of fairy dancer?"
Zuko blasted himself a bit higher off the ground with an outraged, "What?" and that was the exact moment she chose to strike. The rock boulder pummeled into his mid-section, knocking him to the ground hard. He rolled upright with a pained groan and found the girl standing over him, smirking.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen," she teased him.
"That was a lucky shot," Zuko grumbled.
"No one's ever done that before," she told him.
"Done what?" he asked as he rolled to his feet, "Disappeared on you? Made you work so hard?"
"Figured out the way I see," she clarified meaningfully. "That's pretty amazing."
"Your bending is amazing," Zuko countered. "I was serious when I said I'd let you teach me."
"Who says I want to?" she challenged.
In a rare moment, Zuko humbled himself enough to ask, albeit impatiently, "Well, would you?"
The girl shrugged and began taking several, skipping steps backwards in retreat. "Maybe…we'll see…" she evaded, "Ask me again sometime later!"
"Wait! I don't live here and I won't be staying long! How am I supposed to do that if I don't know where to find you?" he called after her.
"You'll find me if you want it bad enough!"
"What's your name?" he asked seconds before she disappeared from sight altogether.
The answer that came back to him was unexpected. "Bandit!" He was still staring after her in muddled confusion when Sokka and Katara found him.
"Where were you?" Katara scolded. "You were supposed to wait for us outside!"
"Forget about that," Sokka interrupted excitedly, "You just missed the greatest earthbending match ever!"
"That's not even the important part!" Katara exclaimed, "We think we found you an earthbending teacher!"
"In there?" Zuko snorted. "Not likely! I just found my earthbending teacher, Katara, and she's amazing. I doubt anyone you saw in there was even half as good." He frowned when he realized that he knew next to nothing about her, aside from some cryptic name and added rather sheepishly, "Well, I sort of found her. She didn't exactly agree, but she didn't say no either!"
"Zuko, you didn't see this girl," Katara insisted, "She was phenomenal."
"I still think she was faking it!" Sokka muttered, "No way did a blind girl take out all those big, burly guys on her own. It had to be a set up."
Zuko did a doubletake. "Wait. Did you just say this fighter was blind?" he demanded sharply.
"Yeah, she was," Katara confirmed, smiling because she realized that they finally had his full attention. "They call her the Blind Bandit."
