.

生

BOOK ONE:

LIFE

CHAPTER SEVEN:

THEIR WAR

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Shen could feel rough pebbles of dirt making an impression on his fist. He was in the traditional starting position of an Agni Kai, kneeling with his back turned on Zuko, still in disbelief that the prince even agreed to it in the first place. He was expecting a lot of reactions - refusal was likely, and rage even moreso, but a melancholy 'okay' was all he got before both sides formed a circle around the two challengers.

He knew well enough that he couldn't beat the Dragon of the West no matter who he called in, but all he needed to do was get through to the head of this whole farce, who was just a boy. Then maybe this would all be over.

Focus. He had to focus. Boy or not, he saw what Zuko could do back on that prison rig, and what he saw was far better than anything he'd seen the prince do before. But Shen was a young adult, and Zuko was 14, and that was probably enough. It had to be enough.

His eyes shot open, and they both rose, turning to face each other in a ready stance.

Neither made a move.

The sun was setting.

A sharp scowl. A roar equally as fierce. Shen leaped forward, fist cocked back. A pillar of flame shot out from the strike that followed. A pillar that was easily dispersed by its intended target, with a form that flowed from his neutral stance and back, and an arm movement almost liquid with fluidity. The next blast from a fire kick was neutralized in much the same way.

And the next attack too.

And the one after that.

After a full barrage, Shen was left panting, barely needing not to rest his palms on his knees, while Zuko looked no worse for wear. It pissed him off how effortless this seemed to be for the prince. The whole fight, Zuko just seemed to be waiting. Listening. Trying to understand. But what else was there to understand about what he'd done the past few days?

"Fight BACK!" Shen gritted out, launching another futile blast. "You'll leave the prison rig guards for dead, but you won't take me seriously?!"

Predictably, the fire dispersed into nothing after Zuko intercepted it with a swipe, and he finally responded.

"What are you talking about? I haven't killed anyone."

"Yet. But you will. You'll have to. Look at the people you stand beside. You think they haven't taken Fire Nation lives?! Torn families apart?!"

That gave Zuko pause, and when another blast came his way, he stumbled on his negation. He was a second slow. Shen pressed the advantage.

"You think they won't do it again?! They wouldn't even hesitate!"

A two handed stream now. Zuko was forced to take a step back, conflict painted on his features. He still didn't fight back as the flames began to overwhelm him. Shen spun, a roundhouse flame kick to finish the volley.

"YOU'RE A TRAITOR!"

"I am your loyal son."

The fire engulfed the prince, and on both sides the spectators watched anxiously as it made to consume the boy. Then it didn't. The ball of flame that encompassed the prince shifted not inward towards him, but around him. As it condensed from a sphere into an orbiting ring of flame, there in the middle of it all was Zuko, moving his arms and hands more like a waterbender than any firebender Shen had ever seen. There was no more patience in his eyes.

"ENOUGH!"

And on that command, Zuko whipped the ring around into a bullet, shot right at Shen's feet. Not with a flicker of heat, but with an explosion. Shen was rocketed from the impact, ears ringing, and skipped like a stone on the packed dirt right back to where he started. In one move, Zuko ended the Agni Kai.

"You think I haven't thought about it?" He shouted with exasperation. His long shadow cast itself over Shen, as the sun descended behind him. "You think I want to do this? Any of it?! Because I don't. I'm doing this because I have to - the Fire Nation must lose this war."

The words came out of Zuko's mouth in a ramble, but no one could deny the conviction held in them. Zuko took a deep breath, and you could see him gathering himself before he began again.

"Nobody here remembers a time before the War. Not me, not you, not Kwang, not even Uncle. But we've ALL had to pay for it. And why? Because a hundred years ago, the Fire Lord decided to commit genocide."

"That's not-"

"I KNOW what you were taught. I'm telling you what is. I'm not a traitor, Shen, and neither are you. The only traitor is the one continuing this war, and he sits on his golden throne back in the caldera reveling in it."

"Your father, is a great man-" Shen began, not quite believing the words himself.

Zuko erupted.

"Ozai is a monster. He made that clear right here - on my FACE!"

No reply came. It was only during the silence that Zuko realized what he had just said. What, in his outburst, he revealed. The expressions around him said everything. Shen's disbelief. Iroh's sorrow. The village people's shock. A murmur from the soldiers behind Shen, loud enough to carry on the evening wind.

"So it's true. The 41st..."

The grips the soldiers held on their spears loosened. Their shoulders slumped. The story of the son who spoke out against a terrible injustice and got gravely punished for it by his own father, it spread in hushed whispers from the capital on that fateful day. Quietly, where those who 'mattered' couldn't hear. But spread it did. And just now, what was dismissed as a baseless rumour spawned from treasonists was confirmed true in the minds of these men. Zuko's expression as he cried out was all it took to convince them.

Almost instinctively, Zuko turned his head to hide the scar away from them. That was meant to be a personal thing, but him and his big mouth... Turning to look Shen in the eyes once again, he continued.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Shen. I'm so, so sorry. But it doesn't change what I have to do. The Fire Nation is broken. The world is too. They have been for a long time. And until someone comes along that can fix that-"

"You know, Zuko, I don't care what everyone else says about you. You're pretty smart."

"-I have to at least try. This rebellion, it's all I can do."

Zuko knelt down then, hand outstretched towards Shen who was still on his back. Nothing but desperate hope in Zuko's eyes.

"So come on, I could use the help."

A moment passed. Then, nothing was said as Shen scrambled to his feet, and ran.

"...Katara probably could've pulled that off." Zuko thought aloud, outstretched hand slowly falling at the same time as his expression. He failed. How could he convince a nation if he couldn't even convince one crewmate?

Movement in front of him caused him to spring back up. The soldiers! They didn't follow Shen to wherever he ran off to, and now there they all were right in front of Zuko. He got into a stance, ready to fight them all to cap off this terribly exhausting day (he's been having a lot of those, but what else is new), when suddenly the one closest to him took off his helmet and carelessly let it fall to the ground.

"I… I've got a kid waiting for me back home. A lot of us do. I didn't want it to be true. I couldn't even imagine…"

It was the second time that day Zuko cringed his scar away from pitying eyes, but that action just caused more of the soldiers to approach closer, taking their helmets off as well.

"We came from Gaipan, not far from here. It's one of the older colonies. Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens live hand-in-hand there. I don't think there's even one person there who wouldn't join you, Prince Zuko."

And before him, one by one, they kneeled.

It was well into the evening that the village finally allowed itself to celebrate. Their men were home! And in the great (by village standards, by Capital City standards it was more along the lines of 'very modest') hall of the town's biggest eatery, they made merry. Drinks were shared, food flew fast, tears of joy were shed at the heartfelt reunion of long lost loves and fathers and sons.

Half of the hall made merry, anyway. On the other half was Zuko and his crew and his newly acquired squadron of soldiers, awkwardly nursing their drinks on their side of the hall, feeling like they're all collectively intruding on a moment and only staying because it felt rude to just leave after all that. That was until Song, to her parents' worry, made the first stride toward Zuko's table to thank her father's rescuers.

She's always been like that. Too friendly. Too trusting. These were Fire Nation for spirit's sake. Even so, it was because of her that it began. Iroh welcomed her with open arms, telling embarrassing stories of Zuko, much to his chagrin. Seeing that, slowly but surely - one soldier going over to the villagers, a family going over to the soldiers - the two sides started to intermingle.

By the time it was definitively the dark of night, the hall was a jumbled mess of reds and greens and foodstuffs. And that was when Kwang came to the conclusion he was dreading coming to, and finally went over to Zuko's table.

They were all smiles, her's obviously brighter, before her father came over. And when he did, they jumped.

"Zuko was it? Let's talk." He rumbled while standing over the two, nodding his head over to an empty corner of the place. Despite himself, Zuko gulped.

"Sure…"

As they left, Song gave her dad a glare that said 'Be nice to your rescuer', which he of course just waved off without even looking back.

"If this is what I think it's about, I swear we were just talking. I wasn't trying anything."

"What? No, that's not what-"

Wait a minute.

"What did you just say?"

"Uhh…"

"Spirits, I hate you."

They reached that corner, with a full view of the rest of the merrymakers, and the conversation continued.

"I'm getting old."

"...That's what you wanted to talk about?"

"Argh, let me finish, brat. I'm getting my thoughts together."

He leaned back against the wall, looking out into the middle distance. After just a moment, he continued.

"I haven't forgiven you. I don't think I could ever forgive the Fire Nation. I've fought too long."

Kwang took in the scene before him. A scene he could've never imagined, not in a million years. Fire Nation and his very own village drinking and laughing together. He couldn't ever have pictured this, or even wanted it. And that was the problem.

"People like me, we can't change the world anymore. But people like you? People like Song? You can. And I'm done standing in the way."

With every word Kwang spoke, Zuko felt lighter and lighter.

"When you head out to Gaipan to return those men, take me with you. A place where Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation live together… I'd like to see it."

He felt like he finally made a difference.