Zuko is the enemy! Tee hee. Lol. I had fun with that. Anyway, the dark days are passing... read on and you'll understand!Chapter 38
As soon as I have this realization, I look to my left and see him. "Combustion Man!" I scream. The others jump up and stare where I point. Combustion Man inhales and just as he fires, someone, swinging from a vine, knocks into him.
His blast is knocked astray, harmlessly hitting the cliff next to us. Our savior stands up, shaking back his dark hair, and my stomach clenches. Zuko! Aang and Sokka grab Toph, and Katara snatches my hand, dragging me around the corner to safety.
"Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!" Zuko's voice rings across the canyon. Aang stops, staring at Zuko in surprise. I'm screaming my head off, trying to get Katara to "let go of me!" Because Combustion Man is dangerous, and Zuko is there, alone, trying to take him on.
"The mission is off," Zuko growls. "I'm ordering you to stop." Combustion man shoves Zuko out of the way and attacks again. I'm forced to duck for cover, but when I look again, Zuko is attacking Combustion man, shouting, "If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Combustion Man grabs Zuko and I can see the muscles in his arms flex. Zuko makes a strangled sound of pain and corrects himself. "Alright, I'll pay you double to stop."
Combustion Man shoots at us again. I dive behind the wall, and when I look again, Zuko is being blown back, over the cliff wall. I scream again, trying to run at him, but Sokka loops his wiry around my waist and drags me back, but I see with relief that Zuko has clung to a vine. Aang and Katara launch bending attacks at Combustion Man, but apparently they don't work, because they dive back into cover with us.
"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph shouts over the noise of the explosions.
"I can't step out to waterbend at him with getting blown up. And I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here."
There's a pause, then Sokka exclaims, "I know how to get an angle on him!" Sokka takes out his boomerang and watches Combustion Man in its reflection. "Alright buddy, don't fail me now." He throws his boomerang.
It whizzes out and hits Combustion man right in his freaky tattoo. He falls to the ground.
"Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka shouts, jumping to catch his boomerang. Then, staggering, Combustion Man regains his feet. "Awh, boomerang," Sokka says sadly. I'm tugged behind the wall again, so I don't see it, but I hear it.
There's a loud popping sound, then the loudest explosion yet. I peek around the corner to see that the part of the cliff wall that Combustion Man was standing on has exploded.
Combustion Man… imploded.
I stifle a giggle, but then turn serious when I see that Zuko has finished climbing his vine. With some tricky earthbending, we get Zuko over to our side of the gorge. I'm not sure what to feel. I'd just decided Zuko was the enemy, and now he's saved us.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… thanks Zuko," Aang says, sounding stunned.
"Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing," Sokka says, looking proud. Zuko's face is earnest, and his tone is urgent.
"Listen. I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world," he says. He turns to Toph, "I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."
I look over and see the surprise register on Aang's face. "I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher."
Katara and Sokka give Aang horrified looks, but Toph just looks smug. I'm a little more cautious, waiting to see whether the Avatar truly means it or not.
"When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara," Aang continues, "and after that I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love." Is it just my imagination, or do everyone's eyes flash over to look at me. Aang gives Zuko a bow. "I'd like you to teach me."
Zuko responds with a bow, "Thank you. I'm glad you're allowing me to help you."
"Not so fast," Aang says, and my heart sinks. How can all that be followed by a 'not so fast'? "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one Zuko burned. What do you think?"
"Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet," Toph says maliciously, wiggling her toes. I hold my breath. I had no doubt that Toph would reject him, but now we move on to the Water Tribe siblings.
"Sokka?" Aang asks. I turn my head, staring intently at Sokka, the boy in blue, who I have come to consider a close friend, someone I can trust, rely on. I feel safe with him. Maybe not as safe as felt with Iroh and Zuko in Ba Sing Se, but I know that when the nightmares wake me I can go to him, and he will calm me down with soothing words and logical explanations. But here, faced with an enemy he so desperately hates, will emotion overrule logic?
Sokka looks at his sister, and then me. He shrugs and says, "Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it." His eyes meet mine and I know that he's doing this for me.
"Katara?" Aang asks. My heart clenches, but for some reason, though Katara hates Zuko just as much as Sokka does, I am not as nervous. Katara loves Aang more than anything, and if she thinks he wants Zuko, then she will give him Zuko.
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right," Katara says reluctantly, looking at the ground. I grin, thrilled that Zuko is suddenly back in my life. I thought that my answer would be so completely obvious, so I am startled when Aang turns to me.
"Del?" he asks softly. "Zuko's done a lot to you. Are you okay with him staying here?" I'm confused by Aang's wording. He's so wrong, Zuko has not done a lot to me, he has done everything for me. But despite my excitement and joy earlier, when I lift my eyes and see Zuko's golden ones staring at me, I feel a stab of anger.
Immediately I'm ashamed. Zuko housed me, fed me, protected me, befriended me. But he also left me, scarred me, hurt me. I fell in love with him, and now he's with Mai. Though I've longed for him all these weeks, now that he's here in front of me, I realize that, though I still want him here, I'm mad at him.
When I meet Aang's eyes, I realize that he knew this long before I did. "It's fine, Aang. It's for best, after all," I say neutrally, trying to work through all the new emotions brewing inside me. Why did I not realize this before? Why has it suddenly struck me now, just as I was about to get what I wanted?
"I won't let you down. I promise," Zuko says seriously, and his eyes are locked on my face. Aang nods, and to my right, Sokka picks up Toph and leads her over to the fire pit, where they wait until Katara can join them for another healing session. Aang nods at Zuko once more then heads over to check Sokka for mosquito-ticks.
Zuko does not move. I stare awkwardly at my feet until he speaks.
"Hey."
"Hi," I reply.
"It's nice to see you," he says.
"It's good to see you, too," I answer politely, disturbed by our exchange. We sound like two people who barely know each other, not friends who lived together for a month.
"I was surprised when I heard you were with the Avatar," Zuko says. I wince a little, remember that I betrayed Zuko, and that he might be angry at me, just as I am mad at him.
"How'd you find out?" I mutter.
"The hair, the bow. You're a one-of-a-kind, Del," Zuko laughs lightly, and I finally gather the courage to look up from the ground at him. He's looking very intently at me. I flush and brush my hair back behind my ears.
"How's Iroh?" The question comes out of my mouth without permission, and Zuko flinches. I have officially launched us into the stressful time when we figure out what happened, and how to fix it, and things won't be the peaceful until we finally get closure.
"I saw him a couple times in prison. Then he broke out," Zuko says stiffly. I lift my head again, and feel my spirits lift a little.
"He's out? He's free?" I ask, and Zuko nods. "That's great!" Zuko shoves his hands into his pockets and takes a small step towards me. I automatically respond with a small step back and he backpedals.
"I… uh… I guess I'll see you later then, Del," Zuko mutters. I nod and turn around, fleeing from the courtyard, embarrassed by my words and my actions and my emotions. I wander around for awhile until I hear Sokka coming down the hall with Aang and Zuko. I go out to meet them. Zuko's eyes flash up, and then back to the ground.
I stand by Aang in the hallway while Sokka leads Zuko into his room. I can hear Sokka awkwardly saying, "So, here you go. Home sweet home. I guess, you know, for now. Unpack. Lunch, soon? Uhh. Welcome aboard? Yeah."
Sokka practically runs from the room and comes to a stop in front of us. I arch an eyebrow and Sokka says to us, "Okay. This is really, really weird." They begin to walk away, but I linger, unsure whether I should go and talk to Zuko. I finally decide that when the time is right I will talk to him, so I'm beginning to walk away when I hear Katara.
I stick my head around the corner and see her leaning in the threshold of Zuko's room. "—your 'transformation', but you I know both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past. So let me tell you something right now. You make one step backward, one slip up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I will make sure you destiny ends, right then and there. Permanently."