Here we go! Thanks to all my reviewers - hope you enjoy this one!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. This episode originally written by Elizabeth Welch Ehasz and Tim Hedrick.
Book 3: Fire; Chapter 17: The Western Air Temple
Aang sailed on his glider with Momo at his side. Sokka, Katara, and Toph followed him on Appa, the bison weaving in an out of the hanging buildings.
"Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now?" Katara called to him.
Aang pretended he couldn't hear. "What?" He shouted. "The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!" He looped around on his glider.
"Aang," Sokka called again, "I think we should be making some plans about our future!"
"Okay," Aang said as they came in for a landing back at the fountain. "We can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh, and you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!"
Toph could feel someone approaching behind Appa. "I think that'll have to wait," she said, pointing in the bison's direction.
They all turned to see Appa moving aside and Zuko standing before them. It took the team only a moment to recover their surprise and assume defensive stances, watching and waiting for Zuko's next move.
Zuko took a deep breath to maintain his composure despite the angry looks on their faces. "Hello," he waved in greeting, trying to look friendly. "Zuko here." This did not disarm them; they continued to face him, ready to fight.
"Hey," he continued, fighting to keep his nerves in check, "I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here." Appa growled at Zuko in greeting and Zuko shielded himself from the wind of the sky bison's breath. Appa followed up by licking his entire back, and then his face. Zuko grunted and wiped the bison slime with his forearm. Aang wondered at this, but wasn't quite ready to let his guard down.
"I know you must be surprised to see me here," Zuko began saying.
"Not really," Sokka broke in, "since you've followed us all over the world."
"Right," Zuko said slowly. He certainly had his work cut out for him here. "Well, uhh ..." he stammered, looking away to gather his thoughts, "anyway … what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed," he said with a little more confidence and dared to look up. But he lost his nerve again when he caught Katara's eye. "And I, uhhh," he stammered again, "I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group. Oh, and I can teach firebending, to you," he said, looking at Aang. "See, I uhhh—"
"You wanna do what now?" Toph broke in.
"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you?" Katara finally spoke. "I mean, how stupid do you think we are!?"
"Yeah, all you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!" Sokka added.
"I've done some good things!" Zuko countered. "I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!" Appa startled him by licking him again.
Oh, don't even get me started on Ba Sing Se! Katara thought, boring into him with fury in her eyes.
"Appa does seem to like him," Toph said thoughtfully.
Sokka put a hand on his hip. "He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it."
"I can understand why you wouldn't trust me," Zuko conceded, trying again and failing to look them in the eyes, "and I know I've made some mistakes in the past."
"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka exclaimed.
"Or when you ..." Katara stopped, unable to get the words out as so many different "mistakes" rushed to her memory at once. She couldn't even pick one to throw at him. "Ugh! I don't believe this!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands and turning her back on the whole scene. She really couldn't believe he was here like this, and she couldn't think through the sudden onslaught of anger and confusion and fear upon seeing him in their camp.
"Look," Zuko pleaded, "I admit I've done some awful things." He brought his hand to his head and closed his eyes as he confessed. "I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you." Toph and Sokka's eyes widened with shock at this, and Katara whirled around to rejoin the group. Unseen by Zuko, he kept talking, "I'm going to try and stop—"
"Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?" Sokka cut him off, brandishing his boomerang.
Zuko looked up. "Well, that's not his name, but—"
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!" Sokka yelled.
"He's not my friend!" Zuko raised his voice in frustration.
"That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph pointed angrily.
Zuko recovered himself and turned to Aang. "Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me."
Aang turned to look at his friends, and Sokka shook his head at him protectively as a warning not to trust Zuko.
"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done," Aang said decisively. "We'll never let you join us."
"You need to get out of here. Now," Katara warned.
"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" Zuko raised his fists and threw them down in frustration.
"Either you leave, or we attack," Sokka echoed his sister's warning.
No, it can't end like this, Zuko thought. I know my true destiny now; somehow I have to make them see. "If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner," he said, kneeling down and raising his arms in front of his face, ready to be fettered.
Katara felt her stomach drop. She wouldn't take the chance with Aang's safety, and she couldn't have Zuko around her – definitely not as friend after how he'd hurt her, and not as a prisoner either. "No, we won't!" she shouted and blasted a water whip at him. She refused to let herself feel guilty for kicking him while he was down. He deserved worse. "Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!"
Zuko stayed where he fell for a moment, stunned, dripping wet, hurt, and at a total loss. He decided to just go and regroup. He stood and walked away dejectedly.
...
"Well, that was interesting," Toph said as the group gathered around to discuss Zuko's request.
"Do you think he's trying to fool us?" Katara asked.
"Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka affirmed.
"This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se," Katara reflected. "He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."
"He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes," Sokka punched out his arm for emphasis.
"The thing is, it worked," Katara confided. "I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt, but obviously, when the time came, he made his choice and we paid the price. I wish we could trust him, but … I don't think it's safe."
"I kind of have a confession to make," Aang spoke up. "Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?
"And you made us suck on frozen frogs?" Sokka noted, "How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!"
"Sokka, I looked at it and told you, there was nothing there!" Katara argued.
"I could feel it!" Sokka countered. "It's my throatal flap!"
"Anyway," Aang continued, drawing the siblings back from their tangent, "when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me."
"No way!" Katara protested. "I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!"
Sokka agreed. "Yeah, face it, Aang. You're nothing but a big prize to him."
Aang hung his head. "You're probably right."
"And what was that about setting Appa free?" Katara continued. "Was that for real?"
"He wasn't lying," Toph observed.
"Oh, hooray!" Sokka exclaimed. "In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list."
Toph took on a defensive tone. "I'm just saying that, considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse."
"Well, it sounds like his mother had a lot to do with that until she disappeared," Katara recalled. "But what if he swings back over to the other side, like a pendulum? He's done it before."
"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly," Toph suggested.
"Easy for you to say!" Katara blurted. "You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"
"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka added.
"Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!" Aang recalled.
"It's not a matter of not thinking clearly," Katara justified. "We have to evaluate the risk!"
"Well," Toph said angrily, "Aang needs a firebending teacher!" she reminded them, poking him in the chest. "We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job! Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?" She stomped her foot in annoyance and the ground shook in response.
"We are thinking about it!" Aang insisted. "Like Katara said, we have to evaluate the risk."
"It's too much risk, if you ask me," Sokka said. "I don't trust the guy."
All Katara could think about was standing so close to Zuko in Ba Sing Se, one of his hands behind her elbow holding them both steady, the thumb of the other hand tenderly running over her knuckles … and then just moments later, those same hands shooting fire at her as he fought to capture the Avatar once again. She had expected him to join them that day, and now here he was. But could she take the risk?
"Master Jeong Jeong said that firebenders walk a knife edge between humanity and savagery," she said. "The human side of Zuko might be able to teach you firebending, but I don't trust the savage side. Is there some way we can work with him while still protecting you if he turns again? Some way for him to prove himself?"
Aang considered. "I think only time will tell, and in that case we won't know unless we give him a chance."
"So you're going to give him a chance then?" Toph said excitedly. "I'll go find his camp and tell him." She turned to go, but Aang called out to her.
"Wait, Toph! Maybe we'd better sleep on it. We haven't actually made a decision yet."
"Yeah," Katara agreed. "I'm definitely not ready to welcome him into our group."
"Me neither," Sokka concurred.
"Well I wish you would stop wasting time and accept him already!" Toph shouted as she turned and stormed off.
...
Zuko hefted himself up a vine as if he were climbing a rope, and clung to the floor above as he pulled himself back up. He took a moment to catch his breath and recover from the ordeal before trying to talk to the group again.
Then, as Zuko approached them, Aang spoke. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but … thanks, Zuko."
"Hey, what about me?" Sokka asked. "I did the boomerang thing."
"Listen," Zuko began, "I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the last 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."
He looked at Katara now, holding her gaze. "You once said I had a twisted sense of honor, and you were right."
He looked back to the group. "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 to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world."
Now Zuko turned to Toph. "I'm sorry for what I did to you," he bowed to her. "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."
Aang looks at Zuko in surprise upon hearing these words, and considered for a moment. "I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher," he said. "When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, 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. I'd like you to teach me," Aang finished, bowing to Zuko.
Zuko bowed in return. "Thank you," he said and then allowed himself a smile. "I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast," Aang said. "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph," he turned to her, "you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?"
"Go ahead and let him join," Toph pounded her fist into her hand jokingly. "It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."
Aang turned to Sokka. "Sokka?"
True to his Water Tribe nature, Sokka just shrugged. "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."
Aang turned to Katara last. "Katara?" he asked, with more trepidation than he anticipated.
Katara glared at Zuko and felt a touch of satisfaction when she saw him start to sweat. She turned to Aang. "For the sake of the mission," she said, "I think we have to."
Zuko let out the breath he was holding and smiled broadly. "I won't let you down," he asserted as he approached them. "I promise!"
Without saying a word in response, Aang and Katara turned to go, while Sokka picked up Toph before following the others deeper into the temple grounds.
Later, after Zuko had gone back to his camp to retrieve his things, Sokka showed him to his room.
"So, here you go, home sweet home, I guess, you know, for now," Sokka said awkwardly. "Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uh … welcome aboard?" Zuko glanced back and smiled at him over his shoulder. "Yeah," Sokka said as he walked out of the room and over to Aang in the hallway. "Okay, this is really, really weird."
Zuko opened his bag and began unpacking. He pulled out a portrait of Uncle Iroh and thought back to their time at this temple three years ago.
"If I have to, I will spend every day of the rest of my life hunting the Avatar," Zuko said. "I know it's my destiny to capture him."
Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know Prince Zuko, destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind, and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday."
Zuko smiled at the memory, and the realization that his uncle's promise had in fact come to pass. My heart and mind are open now, Uncle. And I did find my own destiny. A figure darkening the door caught Zuko's attention and he turned to see Katara standing there. At first he smiled and his heart soared at the thought that she had come to him – that they were alone again and could finally really talk. But only a split second later, he saw the disgruntled expression on her face and his hopes were dashed.
"You might have everyone else here buying your … transformation," she said, anger clearly simmering just beneath the surface, "but I've heard it before." She approached him threateningly. "And I know better than to make the same mistake twice. So give me one good reason why this is any different from Ba Sing Se. How do we know you're not going to turn around and—" Katara stopped short when she saw the painting of Iroh in Zuko's hand. The last time she saw Iroh, he was covering for her to escape with Aang. What if they killed him?
"Zuko, where's Iroh?" Katara demanded abruptly, the fear evident in her voice as a feeling of dread came over her.
Zuko was caught off-guard by her sudden shift in tone and genuine concern for his uncle, and it took him a minute to find his voice. "After the eclipse, I went to free him from prison, but he was already gone. He broke himself out and escaped. I don't know where he is," he said to the floor.
Katara breathed a sigh of relief. "Well good. I'm glad he made it out," she said a little stiffly.
Zuko set down the picture and faced her head-on, holding himself back from placing a hand on her arm. "I don't blame you for not wanting to trust me," he said. "I know I don't deserve it. I can only hope to prove myself over time and earn that from you. I didn't expect coming here to be easy, but I knew it was what I had to do."
Katara wasn't sure how to respond to that, but she was saved by the others suddenly appearing in the doorway.
"Hey, you guys ready for lunch?" Sokka asked.
"Uh, sure," Katara said, quickly exiting the room.
"Come on, Zuko," Toph said. "You can give me a piggy back – payback starts now!" Zuko gave her a small smile, and Sokka shifted Toph from his arms to Zuko's back. The three of them went on ahead while Aang hung back with Katara. He also remembered the last time Katara and Zuko were alone together. He remembered how close they had been standing when he broke through the rock and into their prison in Ba Sing Se.
"What were you talking to Zuko about?" he asked.
"We were just talking," Katara replied defensively. She did not want to talk about Zuko with Aang.
"Oh, was it a private conversation?" Aang asked, sounding innocent.
Katara gave an exasperated sigh. "I asked him about his uncle – who escaped from prison, by the way. Why are you giving me the third degree? Am I not allowed to talk to people now?"
"No, of course you are," Aang backpedaled. "It's just … I was just … wondering, that's all," he finished lamely. Katara walked on ahead of him, with Aang sulking as he followed behind.