Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender
Chapter Seven: Counting Down
Ellie woke up with a groan, sitting up and rubbing her fists into her eyes. Behind her, Appa let out a happy bellow as Aang airbent a melon into his mouth. Katara was rolling up her sleeping bag, and Sokka himself was only just waking up. Sunlight shone on the rocks around them—they had flown for a few days from Hama's village until they reached a beach with large, secluded rocks. Appa was landed and hidden among one of the larger clusters of rocks, and they had set up camp on the surrounding sand. In the distance, waves could be heard continuously lapping at the shore.
"Ready to leave everyone?" Sokka asked, popping up excitedly.
"Sure," Ellie muttered, walking over. "Where are we going next?"
Sokka pulled out his map of the Fire Nation and pointed at one of the larger islands that was the closest to the mainland. "We're here," he told her. "And we're going here:" the boy moved his finger up to a very small island across from theirs. "That's where we're going to rendezvous for the invasion. We're actually kind of ahead of schedule."
"That's good," Ellie nodded. "Nice to see that all of your complaining about us running late was a total farce."
Sokka shot her a betrayed look. Then, he grabbed Aang as the monk walked by. "Appa's good for flying a day over the water without landing?"
"Yeah, sure," Aang nodded.
"And we've got plenty of food!" Katara piped up from Appa's back.
"Well then, let's go," Toph muttered, climbing up onto Appa's back with a few grumbles. "We're wasting daylight people."
"I never thought I'd see the day when Toph encouraged us to fly," Ellie grinned.
"I don't like it," Toph assured them. "I just know that the sooner we leave, the sooner I'll be on the ground again."
"I don't think it works like that," Sokka said as he climbed into the saddle, joining the three girls.
"Everyone ready?" Aang asked from the bison's head. "Yip, yip!"
And they were off flying into the air.
"So how many days do we have left until the invasion?" Katara asked, leaning over and glancing at the map Sokka was holding out.
"Five," he replied.
"Wow," Ellie muttered. "That's only a school week away."
The others looked at her curiously—none of them had ever gone to a real school before. The concept was foreign to them. But Ellie, who had gone to school her entire life before she came to the past, knew just how long five days could feel—and how short.
OA
"This is it! The official rendezvous point for the invasion."
Ellie, Katara, and Aang surveyed their surroundings curiously. They were standing on a grassy plateau that was scattered with various koala sheep. The island they were on was small enough that they could see where it ended. Towards the south was a bay that dropped down from them, and towards the northeast were some tall cliffs.
"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked.
"Before we split up," Sokka replied, "me and my dad found this island on the map. It's uninhabited, and the harbors surrounded by the cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place."
As he spoke, Ellie, Toph, and Aang jumped down off of the bison. Toph sat down on the grass, listening to the others speak, and Aang sank down as well, looking ready to go to sleep. Ellie wrapped herself in her blanket and watched as the two Water Tribe siblings grabbed their bedrolls.
"And we got here four days ahead of schedule!" Katara added, taking her bedroll from Appa's saddle and laying it out on the ground.
"Four days?!" Aang exclaimed, sitting upright, and then scrambling to his feet. "The invasion's in four days?!"
"Whatever," Sokka yawned, laying back on his own bedroll. "That's like—four days from now. Let's all just relax and—" he cut off, snoring exaggeratedly.
"Sokka's right, Aang," Katara agreed. "We're here, we're ready. All we can do now is rest."
"Okay," the Avatar replied uneasily, laying back on the grass and closing his eyes.
Ellie glanced from him to Toph, making a face, and then realized the younger girl couldn't see. The blonde girl let out a sigh, rolled her blanket around her, and curled up on the ground. She listened to the crash of the waves on the harbors below, chirping of crickets—or the equivalent—and occasional bleat of a koala sheep. Slowly, her eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.
OA
Zuko emotionlessly held out his arms, letting his servants pull his outer robe over them. Once his robe was pinned, one man stepped forward with a bowl, and asked. "Fresh fruit, Prince Zuko?" Wordlessly, the young man smiled and shook his head.
"Head massage?" another servant asked. Once more Zuko declined, and a final man stepped forward with a plate full of steaming towels.
"Hot towels?"
The prince hesitated, then grabbed the towel and wiped his face with it. Then, he all but fled the room. He pulled his hands down his scarred face and walked through the palace. It felt so weird to him to have servants all around him after spending three years without any—not to mention the past few months he had spent sleeping in the dirt in the Earth Kingdom.
He was glad to have servants waiting on him again—to be home, surrounded by familiar sights and smells—but something felt…off. Like there was something missing—something wrong. Zuko sighed and exited the main portion of the palace, walking out to the little garden courtyard that was near his mother's old apartments.
The sixteen-year-old walked over to the pond where he and his mother used to sit and feed the turtle ducks. Zuko sank down onto the bench, sitting as cherry blossoms fell down around him. He slumped, dwelling on his conflicted feelings. It was still just as he had said at Ember Island those weeks ago—he finally had everything that he had wanted for the past three years, but he wasn't content.
A shadow fell over him, blocking out the dappled sunlight that fell at his feet. Zuko raised his eyes to the surface of the pond to see his sister's reflection. Without turning, he muttered, "What do you want, Azula?" She had been leaving him alone for the most part ever since they returned from Ember Island. Perhaps she had finally realized that he and Mai would not be pushed together. Either way, she had been spending less time with Mai and more time with Ty Lee, leaving Zuko to his own devices.
"I just came to inform you of a big war meeting that's coming up day after tomorrow," she sniffed.
Zuko turned and eyed her with suspicion.
"Why are you telling me?" he asked, baring his teeth slightly.
"Father thought you ought to know," she muttered. "I would just as well let you stay unaware, but I'm sure Father would notice if you aren't there."
"Well," Zuko said, trailing off, before hardening his expression. "I'm not going."
"Suit yourself," she simpered. "It's your choice."
And she stalked off.
OA
"I know Katara said that we need to spend the next few days resting," Toph said, "but you still need to really work on your earthbending."
Ellie sighed and got to her feet, slouching after Toph as the younger girl walked towards the cliffs. In the distance, a faint pounding could be heard as Aang repeatedly punched a tree. He had been up since before they had, punching that tree. Honestly, Ellie thought the boy was going crazy.
"Now lifting up earth is a bit different from punching or slicing it," Toph explained to her as they came to a halt in a flat, open, grassy area. "You've got to visualize literally lifting it out of the ground." As she said this, she dropped into a horse stance, making thrusting motions with her arms and wrists, and a bunch of rocks flew up out of the ground. "It's almost like carrying it, only you're using a supernatural power to hold it up. That's why larger rocks can feel heavier than smaller ones." She spun the rocks around her and then shot them at the cliff wall. "Now you try it."
Ellie nodded eagerly.
The fourteen-year-old dropped into the same stance she saw Toph using, spread out her arms, and closed her eyes. She could feel the earth in the ground—beneath her feet and all around her. Then, she snapped open her eyes, let her arms drop, and then thrust them up as though she was lifting up invisible weights with her fists. As she did so, a bunch of pieces of earth flew to her call, floating around her. Then, she lunged forward with her left leg, thrusting out both arms and watching the earth fly into the cliffs.
Then, Ellie just the same pose in the other direction, except instead of visualizing pushing the earth, she imagined herself pulling it—curling her fingers as she thrust her arms out. A large slab emerged from the cliff, making a sort of shelf above her head. Then, she pulled it free of the cliff, spinning it above her head before letting it fall to the ground.
"Looks like you've got it," Toph nodded appreciatively. "I'll leave you to it."
"When are you going to teach me to feel the earth like you do?" Ellie asked as the blind girl turned away.
"Baby steps, Ellie," Toph chided her. "Baby steps."
OA
"Sokka, wake up I need to know what day it is!"
Ellie begrudgingly opened her eyes to see Aang pulling on Sokka, who unsheathed his sword and smack his head on a rock in surprise. Toph and Katara sat up as well, bleary eyed.
"Relax, Twinkletoes," Toph grumbled, "it's still two days until the invasion."
"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed, continuing to pull on the older boy's arms and legs. "You've got to get up and drill your rock climbing exercises!"
"What?" The Water Tribe boy sat up.
"In one of my dreams, you were running from Fire Nation soldiers—trying to climb this cliff—but you were too slow and they caught you!" All while the young monk was relaying his story, he was gesticulating wildly and had a crazed look in his eyes.
"But that was just a dream," Sokka argued, getting to his feet. "I'm a great climber!"
Aang pointed to the cliff behind them, which now had a gaping hole in it, and shouted, "Then climb that cliff! Climb it fast!"
Sokka pointed to the cliff with an incredulous look on his face, his eyebrows raised and his mouth drawn down. Aang nodded to him. The older boy sighed and walked over to the cliff, placing his hands on a few jagged edges, grumbling, "Stupid dream. Stupid cliff. Stupid Avatar. I can climb fast!"
Behind them, the three girls shook their heads. Ellie ran a few fingers through her hair to combat some of the tangles, and Toph asked Katara, "Can I have some water." Wordlessly, the waterbender handed her friend the water pouch, and turned back to watch her brother climb a cliff. As Toph raised the pouch to her mouth, Aang turned and shouted, "Don't drink that!"
Surprised, Toph spat it out and Katara bent it back into the pouch.
"Why?" Toph shrieked. "Is it poisoned?!"
"No, in one of my dreams we were running from Fire Nation soldiers and you had to go to the bathroom—we all died because of your tiny bladder! And you—" he rounded on Ellie. "You went crazy and passed out and they killed you!" And then, he turned to Katara, oblivious to Ellie's shocked face. "And you need to wear your hair up more often. In my dream, it got caught in a train and—"
"Aang stop!" Katara interrupted.
"Dude, you're losing it!" Ellie exclaimed.
"You're right," he sighed.
Behind him, Sokka let out a shriek as he lost his footing and slid down to the ground.
OA
Zuko sat in front of the pond once more. This time, he had brought a loaf of bread. As he sat there, he tore of chunks of bread and threw it down to the turtle ducks. The prince finished the loaf, letting the last piece fall into the water, and then sighed, putting his head in his hands.
"I wish you were here, Mom," he whispered. "You would know what to do."
He closed his eyes as his thoughts drifted towards the upcoming war meeting. Then, they snapped open once more as voices echoed in his head and he remembered fire rushing towards his face. Zuko shook his head, as though trying to forcibly shake away those memories.
The war meeting was only a day away.
Despite the surety he had displayed in front of his sister when he had said he wasn't going to the meeting, the boy was unsure. He wanted to go to the meeting. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if his father actually wanted him there. Perhaps he had only been invited as a formality. Besides, how could Zuko go back into that war room after that was the place that had started it all—that had caused him to be burned, disgraced, and banished.
If Ellie where here with him, she would…
What would she do? Tell him to get his head out of the clouds, for sure. But knowing Ellie, she would tell him some cryptic saying, and then say that his father wasn't worth it and that he shouldn't even try to get in the man's good graces. That was essentially how she had responded to Azula.
But how was his father any different from Azula?
Zuko gripped his head. He couldn't think like that. He couldn't think of his father as evil.
OA
"So Katara couldn't work her magic on you, huh?" Ellie asked Aang, who was eyeing her disconsolately. The two were sitting on the cliffs that hung above the bay, their legs swinging in the empty air. Ellie had been practicing earthbending once more when Katara had cornered her and asked her to help Aang calm down.
The twelve-year-old shook his head. "Katara couldn't, and neither could Sokka…or Toph…"
"So I'm literally the last resort," Ellie remarked. "Well that makes me feel better about my life." She laughed and Aang hesitated before joining in. Then, he quieted, wringing his hands.
"What are you going to do?" Aang asked. "To try to calm me down."
"Well my grandmother's a masseuse. I'm pretty sure my shoulder rubs beat Toph's back poundings any day."
"Yes please," Aang said.
Ellie laughed and pulled her legs up, spinning and moving to sit behind Aang. Then, she placed her hands on his shoulders and began to rub them. The bald boy winced and squirmed and exclaimed, "Ow! Too hard! Too hard!" Ellie sighed and began rubbing lighter.
Silence reigned for a few minutes, and then the blonde girl said slowly, "I have a question for you." There was a beat.
"Yeah?" Aang prompted.
"What am I?" she asked. "I mean, what's my role? 'Cause we're both Avatars. Your job is to keep balance in the world. What is my job? My purpose, you know?"
"Wouldn't it be the same as my job?" Aang asked. "Since we're both Avatars?" He paused. "Since we are the only two people in the world that can bend all four elements, we have to help protect the world."
"Yeah, we don't belong to any one nation of bending—we belong to all four, therefore we bridge them—make peace," Ellie agreed. "So doesn't that put us on the same level?"
"What do you mean?"
"If we are both protectors of the world, then I have just as much reason to fight the Fire Nation as you do," she replied. "You don't have to face him alone."
Aang said nothing.
"We'll need to figure this out," Ellie continued. "From now on, there will always be two Avatars—something that has never happened before. We have to figure out how we are going to balance the power. Do we both engage in the fights? Do we both guide together? Or do you do half and I do the rest?"
There was another brief moment of silence. Then, Aang finally spoke up.
"When I ran away," he said, "before I got stuck in an iceberg for one hundred years, I was afraid. The monks told me that I would have to be separated from Monk Gyatso. He was like a father to me, so when I found out I was going to be separated from him, I panicked. I was scared of being alone—I knew that I would have to be to be the Avatar."
As Aang spoke, Ellie's hands stilled.
"The monks said that the Avatar couldn't form earthly attachments," Aang continued, "But what if they were wrong? My love for Katara, that's what motivates me. Sure, I had to learn how to separate my love for her and my will to protect the world, but still. If I had the choice back then to share my power, I would have taken it. It's less lonely that way."
"So are you ready?" Ellie asked, her hands falling down into her lap. "Are you ready to be in this together?"
Aang turned and smiled at her.
"To the end."
"Then let's make a promise right now," she said, "that no matter how many times we fight, that we will always have each other's backs."
She held out her hand. Aang looked down at it, knowing fully well that what they were doing was very significant—that they were setting a precedent for Avatars to come.
"Deal," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.
OA
"Thanks for everything guys," Aang said softly as the five got ready to go to sleep that evening.
"So, do you feel less stressed? Ready for a good night's sleep?" Katara asked.
Aang smiled, and glanced at Ellie.
"Yeah, I think I am," he said. "I feel…lighter."
"Like you're not carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?" Ellie asked wryly.
"Something like that," the airbender nodded.
"Then our work here is done," Sokka yawned, stretching and laying back on his bedroll.
Ellie's face stretched with a yawn as well and she wrapped herself in her blanket, curling up and closing her eyes. With the day drawing to a close, that left only one full day before the invasion, and she knew that they were ready.
OA
"Prince Zuko, everyone's waiting for you," a servant said, dropping into a kneel before the sixteen-year-old. Zuko turned and looked at him in surprise.
"What?" he asked.
"The high admirals, the high generals, the war ministers, and the princess have all arrived. You're the only person missing."
"So, my dad wants me at the meeting?" the boy asked incredulously.
"The Fire Lord said he would not start until you arrived, sir," the servant replied.
Hesitantly, a smile bloomed across Zuko's face.
OA
Zuko walked out of the war room, feeling like something inside him had just withered and died. After hearing his father's terrible, terrible plans, something had snapped. For a while, Zuko had been struggling with his father. He had tried to gain his father's approval, and when he had finally achieved it, he realized that it was not what he needed.
Or at least now he realized that. Now he knew that his father would never truly love him, or accept him. Zuko was horrified by the things he had just heard, and it had catapulted him into making a decision. He was going to apologize to his uncle, and break him out of jail.
Then, he was going to find Ellie, and join the Avatar.
There was nothing left for him in the Fire Nation. Zuko knew then that it was his destiny to help end the war. More than that, it was his destiny to help the Avatar end the war.
Hope you enjoyed! Personally, this one is one of my favorites with Ellie and Aang's little heart to heart. Review if you did! Up next: The Day of Black Sun! I'm so excited.
~LittleMissMycroft