Chapter XII: The Western Air Temple
At the end, the invasion turned out to be a total failure. The exhausted and reduced invading force had no choice but to surrender and be captured, Aang sat on the back of the saddle, staring through the clouds with tears in his eyes, he felt bad about having to leave the invading forces behind, but, on the other side, Hakoda was right, they should hide in a safe place so that Aang could get ready to defeat the Fire Lord when the time came. While they were flying, Aang could see a shadow approaching towards them, it seemed to be a Fire Nation war balloon, for a second he start to think that someone was following them to attack them but then he concluded that perhaps it could be Zuko, he was not sure if it was him, the balloon was flying several meters away.
After flying for a long time, the group landed in an open field, Appa was exhausted, the hot sun beating down on them as they continued on their way on foot.
"This is embarrassing" Katara commented.
"What's embarrassing? that our butts get completely kicked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka asked.
"Both" she replied.
The group continued their journey with their heads down wondering what the adults were doing at the time, probably heading to a Fire Nation prison or something similar. None of them noticed the small red dot that followed them high in the clouds.
"Okay, guys, we're here!" Toph exclaimed near a cliff.
"Are you sure? there's nothing here" Sokka said looking out over the vast plain.
"Wow, that's amazing!" she continued.
"You're right!" Aang said running towards a small stone post "we're here! everyone comes closer!" the others ran and stood on an intricate stone floor of some unknown origin. Aang created a current of air towards an opening in the post and the floor began to slowly fall towards a cavern "welcome to the Western Air Temple"
Meanwhile, Zuko, who had been following the Avatar Team from the invasion on their war balloon, arrives first and descends to the Western Air Temple with a rope. Walking around, he remembered the last time he had been there and that had happened a week after his banishment.
*Flashback*
The banished prince, with a fresh burn on his face and a single eye bandaged was in the Western Air Temple with his uncle standing in one of the temple halls staring at the horizon. Iroh was standing behind him.
"What a dazzling sight" Iroh commented.
"The only sight I'm interested in seeing is the Avatar in chains" Zuko said without even looking at him.
"You know? the Avatar has not been seen in a hundred years" the old man told him "the chances of finding him here are very slim"
"First, we will explore each of the Air Temples. Then we will travel atound the world, looking even the most remote places until we find it."
"Prince Zuko, it's only been a week since your banishment. You should take some time to heal your wound and rest" Iroh suggested, lately he had seen his nephew tired and completely obsessed with his purpose of finding the Avatar to bring him to his father and that was not good for his health. Instead of listening to his uncle and doing what he suggested, Zuko turned to glare him.
"What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation?" the young banished prince yelled, Iroh just sighed, there was no point trying to reason with him, Zuko stopped looking at his uncle and looked back at the horizon "the only way to regain my honor is by finding the Avatar and that's what I will do"
Iroh did not say anything else, he just lowered his gaze, turned around and walked away from that corridor, leaving the young prince alone.
*Flashback end*
He could not help but feel ashamed to relive that memory; however, his lament did not last long, he was interrupted as soon as he saw Appa's shadow flying above where he was, he ran out of there as fast as he could to hide, at least until he managed to convince the Avatar team that he was on their side all this time and that he wanted to help them to stop the war. He made camp in a wooded area not far from the Western Air Temple, set up a makeshift tent, and when finished, he ducked into the basket of his war balloon to check the supplies, found a rope with which to tie the balloon and a small metal box, he opened it and inside it he found water and some jerky meat.
Later, almost sunset, after taking out the metal box with the limited rations that he was supposed to try to keep between that night and early tomorrow, Zuko began to practice his speech with a badger-toad to convince the Avatar team to be accepted as Aang's firebending teacher.
"Hello, Zuko here" he said with a bit of nervousness "well, I guess you probably already know me... more or less... uh... the thing is, I have a lot of experience in firebending, and I consider myself quite good at that, well, you know, I suppose you've seen me before when I was attacking you. Uh yeah, about that, I think I should apologize for that, even so, I'm good now, I mean, I thought it was good before, but now I realize I was bad, but... anyway... I think it's time to join your team and teach Aang firebending"
"Riiii-biiit."
"Ergh, you're not much help, you know" Zuko said to the toad he was talking to "this doesn't make sense, they will never believe me... what would my uncle do?" he asked himself with a thoughtful voice "Zuko, you must see inside yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then, your true self will reveal itself... ugh, even when I'm speaking for him, I can't understand what he's saying... what would Azula do?" he started to speak like a girl "listen to me, Avatar. I can join your team, or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends, you choose… ok! that doesn't sound right, I'm trying to make them like me and possibly let me join in, not to kill me"
That same night, Zuko could not sleep for a few hours, he remained sat on the ground looking at the flames moving wildly in the small campfire that he had lit so he would not be cold while he slept in the open field. To say that he was nervous was not enough, he was anxious, eager to meet the Avatar team but not to fight, but to ask them to give him a second chance and let him join them, happy to know that he would finally do things right but at the same time. For a long time he was afraid, afraid that Aang would not want to have him around, not even as his firebending master and rejected him again, Zuko would feel lost, because finally, after facing his father, betraying his sister and leaving everything back, he realized that just having Aang around him make him felt warm inside, a heat that he had never felt before running through his insides, he did not even feel it when he used his firebending techniques, the heat he felt when he was around the young Avatar it was totally different.
After being lost for a long time in his own thoughts, Zuko managed to close his eyes and finally fell asleep, if everything went well tomorrow night, he would be sleeping in one of the bedrooms in the Western Air Temple.
The next day, the day dawned sunny, bright, and hot, too hot, Zuko woke up thirsty and sweating from the heat, maybe it was not a good idea to sleep outside all night. He needed to find a place to cool off and drink some water, the water that he had kept in his metal box that he took from the war balloon had run out the day before and the only thing left in the box were some pieces of jerky meat that he would eat later, if his memory was right, he remembered that not far from his campsite there was a river, it was early in the morning for someone else to come to the place where he was, so he had some time to walk to the river, cool off, drink some water and go back to the campsite. Knowing that he was only going to the river Zuko took off his robe and only kept his pants and boots on, after that he began to walk towards the river, he walked for a few minutes feeling the heat of the sun warm his skin, which only made him made him sweat a little more, but all his effort was worth it because he finally reached the river, he approached to the edge kneeling in it, seeing his reflection in the crystal clear water, he scooped up some water with his hands and drank it, he felt so good to feel something cold slide down his throat, once he double-checked that no one was around, Zuko finished taking off his clothes, leaving his underwear on, he placed his pants and boots on a nearby rock, went back to the river and dived half of his body in the cold water. He instantly felt his entire body tremble at the contact with the coolness, so he waited a few seconds before submerging completely. A few seconds passed and when he felt his body get used to the cool water, Zuko began to swim and from time to time he poured some water on his head to cool off, he spent an hour in that river until he noticed a shadow fly overhead of him. The firebender turned his gaze and saw how the shadow disappeared from sight until it disappeared behind some trees, at the idea of being observed, the firebender jumped out from the river, ran away from there forgetting to go to pick up his clothes and hid behind some bushes, his golden eyes could see the mysterious person come out of the trees, seeing that this person was nothing more and nothing less than Aang.
"What is he doing here?" Zuko thought as he saw the young Avatar walking towards the river, he carried with him what seemed to be a jug to collect water and take it to the Western Air Temple. Zuko remained hidden in his place attentive to the next movement of the boy, when, suddenly, he could see how he took off his clothes not far away from him but he stopped when he noticed that there was some clothes placed on a rock not far from away from him, at that moment, the firebender wanted to hit his forehead with one hand, how could he be so stupid to leave his clothes there? now Aang would know that he was there, but apparently the boy could not recognize the clothes, he only believed that there was someone else there, so he began to look around before going into the river.
"Hello? is there anyone there?" Aang asked, Zuko did not answer, he just remained quietly hidden behind the bushes, after a few seconds looking around, Aang just gave up and got into the river. Another hour passed where the firebender looked Aang swimming in the river, he could appreciate his slightly pale shoulders being illuminated by the warm sun of that day, he contemplated him for a moment more until he could see that Aang stopped swimming to check if there was someone nearby, then Zuko noticed how the young Avatar lay his back on the edge of the river, in an area where the water covered only half his waist, he closed his eyes and slowly his hand reached under the water disappearing into it.
"What is he going to do now?" Zuko thought, a part of him wanted to go to the place where Aang was to appreciate it more closely but he did not want to move from there, his curiosity forced him to stay and continue watching from a distance. He came out of his thoughts when he heard a sigh of relief come out of the young Avatar's mouth and his cheeks flushed when he knew what he was doing at that precise moment.
On the other hand, Aang let his hand roam freely through the river cold water, he held his breath as soon as his hand brushed against his dick, holding it firmly and blushed furiously, his dick was already aroused by a simple touch and needed to be released soon. Aang inhaled and exhaled for a short minute, Zuko, who was on his knees behind the bushes, he could feel his own cock throbbing inside his underwear just by seeing the young Avatar's actions, if only he could come out of his hiding place and...
His own thoughts were interrupted as soon as he saw how Aang took his dick and began to stroke himself, biting his lower lip to avoid moaning aloud, the young Avatar keep there under the water, caught in his own wave of heat as he dealt with his needed erection. A soft moan escaped from his lips and his mind began to torture itself with thoughts of a certain firebender.
"Mhmm... Zuko" Aang said between moans and gasps as he clenched his erection and began to move his hand up and down quickly, the pleasure he felt was overwhelming, he couldn't help but imagine Zuko there with him, touching his body with his warm hands, biting the skin of his neck while slowly brushing his erections creating a nice and incredible friction between them "aah~ Zuko..."
Zuko's face turned red like blood itself when he realized that he also had an erection, so he put a hand in his underwear, his hand took his cock and began to lewdely stroke it at the time his thoughts began to race, he fantasized with Aang kneeling in front of him, imagining that the hand holding his arousal belonged to the little monk, he wondered how soft those hands would be and how they would feel compared to his own hand. He also dreamed of Aang going a little further, lowering his head between his legs, tenderly kissing his cock and introducing the tip into his mouth, Zuko threw his head back and gasped at that thought, he wanted Aang to love his body tenderly, he wanted him as much as he wanted him, he wanted the young Avatar to be the one who gave himself entirely to him, to turn around and offer him his ass so he could fuck him as many times as he wanted.
Zuko bit his lower lip hard, reveling in the sensation of his hand stroking his cock as he lost himself in his erotic fantasies involving the young airbender, he also thought of Aang moaning at the sensation of losing his virginity, moaning in pure pleasure, climaxing as they made love in his own thoughts. And that was what he needs to reach his limit, he imagined himself cumming inside Aang, releasing his secent inside him and making the boy beg for more.
Both Aang and Zuko bit back a groan as they reached their limit at the same time, spilling cum from their dicks. Aang's body trembled at his recent orgasm until he calmed down, with a frustrated sigh he stepped out of the river to dry himself off, he had already wasted too much time there and had to go back to the temple before someone get worried about his long absence. After dressing up, Aang go back behind the trees to collect his glider, before going back to the temple, he collected up some water in the jug he had brought with him and then flew away.
Zuko looked at him fly away from the river until he lost sight of him, he came out of the bushes to collect his clothes, got dressed and walk back to his temporary campsite, as soon as he arrived, he sat on the ground, opened the metal box and ate the jerky meat scraps left there, he finally made up his mind, it was time to go to the Western Air Temple and try to convince the Avatar team to let him join them. Upon reaching the temple, Zuko hid behind some rocks listening to the Avatar team discuss what they would do next now that the invasion plan had failed.
"Okay what will we do now?"
"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is to go back to the old plan" Sokka replied "you just have to master the four elements and face the Fire Lord before the comet arrives"
"Oh yeah, that's great. No problem, I will do it" the airbender replied without interest.
"Aang, no one said this was going to be easy" Katara told him.
"Well, it won't even be possible where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?" Aang hated this, he hated it so much, it seemed like he could not do his job well.
"We could look for Jeong Jeong" Katara suggested, Aang sighed as he leaned back against the stone he was sitting on.
"Yes of course. As if we could find Jeong Jeong again" he said, looking away.
"Who the hell is...? nevermind, when you have something important to say, I'm going to talk" Toph added, murmuring that last phrase in a low voice.
"Oh well, I guess we can't find anyone" Aang spoke trying to dispel the conversation about firebending that left him confused and frustrated.
The team was now more than at a loss as to what they were going to do now, they had no idea what they were going to do to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrived, they began to discuss different plans and strategies, when, suddenly, someone appeared behind the rocks, it was Zuko.
"Hello, Zuko here" he greeted in the most friendly way possible but apparently that did not work because Katara, Toph and Sokka got into attack position "I guess you probably already know me, more or less, the thing is that I have a lot of experience in firebending, and I consider myself pretty good at it. Well, I think you've seen me before, you know? when I was attacking you? Uh, yeah, I think I should apologize for that, but I'm still good now. I mean, I thought it was good before, but now I realize I was bad, anyway, I think it's time to join your team and teach the Avatar firebending, I guess you are surprised to see me here"
"Not really, since you've been chasing us all over the world" Sokka said.
"I know this may seem like a surprise considering everything we've been through, but I want to join your team, I want to help you defeat my father and restore balance in the world. This war should not have continued as it has done until now, I am ashamed of my ancestors for having brought this kind of chaos to the world and…" Zuko turned his gaze towards Aang, who tried to avoid that kind of contact with him, he could not let him notice the blush on his face "and I can teach you firebending"
"How can we trust you? how will we know that later you will not betray us?" Sokka said remembering what had happened in Ba Sing Se, calling Zuko's attention who turned his gaze away from Aang.
"I know it's difficult to trust me after everything I've done and I'm sorry, but I've already betrayed my father and sister to be able to defend what is right, there is nothing for me there" Zuko explained looking again at Aang a bit hurt and confused. Aang felt sorry for him and was going to say something to him but when he noticed the looks his friends were giving him, he had to change his mind.
"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done, we'll never let you join us!"
Zuko had to admit that that answer hurt him, he couldn't believe that Aang could say something like that to him, but he understood, if the airbender had betrayed him he would also feel bad for what he did, however; he was snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Katara's voice.
"Get out of here, now!" She exclaimed.
"I'm trying to explain that I am no longer that person."
"You better go if you don't want us to attack you" Sokka said with a threatening tone in his voice.
"If you don't accept me as a friend" he leaned down and extended his hands "then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner"
"No, we won't!" Katara yelled and attacked Zuko with waterbending, he could have dodged the attack, but he did not do it, instead he closed his eyes and accepted the attack as he did the same with his destiny. He looked at Aang again as if he was waiting for him to interfere or help him but he did not do it, the airbender reacted and wanted to get closer to help him but Katara stopped him "get out of here and don't come back! and if we ever see you again... we better not see you again!"
Zuko got up off the ground dripping water from the attack that Katara threw at him previously. Aang could swear he even saw tears forming in his golden eyes but before he could decide what to do, Zuko was already gone. He felt bad for him, but there was nothing he could do to try to comfort him without his friends becoming suspicious of the situation and his strange behavior. After Zuko left, the discussions started again, but this time they were different.
"Why the hell did you chase him away like this?!" Toph asked raising her voice, she could have a strong and powerful personality when she wanted.
"You don't know Zuko like we know him!" Katara said angrily "he followed us around the world trying to kill us and capture Aang. That's all he wants; that's why we can't trust him"
"I have to make a confession" Aang said calling Katara's attention, making her look at him "do you remember when you two were sick and Zhao captured me?"
"And you made us suck on those frozen frogs?" Sokka interrupted with a sarcastic tone in his voice, but with an annoyed look on his face "how could I forget? I had a wart hanging from the back of my throat for a month"
"Sokka, I checked it and I told you there was nothing there" his sister said giving him a serious look.
"Well, I don't know what it is… but the wart hanging on the back of my throat is mine!" the Southern Water Tribe boy exclaimed annoyed.
"Even so, when Zhao chained me in his fortress, it was Zuko who entered and took me out" Aang finished telling them "he... risked his life to save me."
The young Avatar smiled slightly when he remembered the moment when Zuko, disguised as the Blue Spirit, had infiltrated Zhao's fortress in order to take him out of there, without a doubt, what he had done had been something very kind of him and it was in that moment when he began to think that perhaps there was some kindness in him; however, the voice of a certain waterbender brought him out of his thoughts.
"No way, that's impossible, I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself" Katara said, interrupting her friend, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Yeah, accept it, Aang. You're nothing more than a great prize for him" Sokka said supporting his sister's theory.
"That's not true!" Aang exclaimed surprising his other two friends, including Toph, well she just widened her blind eyes upon hearing those words "uh... I mean, you're probably right"
"And what was all that madness about freeing Appa? what a liar."
"Actually, he wasn't lying" Toph said, calling her friends attention.
"Oh, hooray. From a lifetime of evil, we could exclude animal cruelty from his list, don't you think?" Sokka commented sarcastically.
"I'm just saying that, having a dysfunctional family and the way he was raised, I'm surprised he didn't turn into someone much worse... someone like Azula."
"You know? you're right, Toph" Katara replied with a sarcastic tone similar to her brother "come on, let's find him and give him a medal that says 'he's not as jerk as he seems'"
"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he sounded sincere. Maybe your feelings of anger and pain are not letting you think clearly" Toph told them without turning her head towards her friends, deep in his heart, Aang had to admit that maybe his friend was right about what she was saying. But sadly, Katara and Sokka were not of the same opinion.
"It's easy for you to say, you weren't there when the pirates attacked us" Katara exclaimed.
"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island village" Sokka said clenching his fists.
"Or when he tried to capture me in the Fire Temple" Aang said, he hated this, but this time he had to agree with his other two friends.
"Why are you trying to defend him?" the waterbender asked to the earthbender.
"Because, Katara, everyone is ignoring a crucial act" Toph said as she approached them and stomped the ground with her foot "Aang needs a firebending teacher, we can't think of a single person in the world suitable for the job and now, when one appears on a silver platter, don't you even consider it?"
"I'm not going to have Zuko as my teacher" Aang replied as he stood next to Sokka and Katara.
"You're absolutely right" Sokka said supporting the young Avatar and turned his gaze towards Toph "you my friend, don't have it"
"Well, I suppose this is already solved" Katara said wanting to end the discussion, that only made the earthbender angry and growled furiously.
"I'm starting to wonder who the blind is really here."
With these words spoken, Toph left the temple and began walking to the woods to find Zuko. It was already dark and Zuko was sleeping in his tent or at least that was what he was trying to do, his thoughts were focused on Aang and what he had told him when he tried to convince him and his friends to join his team.
"What am I going to do?" the ex Fire Nation prince thought as he snuggled into the blanket that wrapped his body "should I keep trying until they accept me? what's wrong with me?" he could feel the tears coming from his eyes, he was crying "I'm so stupid why is it so hard to be good? this is a complete mess" heard someone go through the bushes "who is there? get away!" the person turned out to be Toph, but being unable to see in the dark, Zuko immediately attacked the intruder. Toph tried to protect herself, but the soles of her feet burned as soon as she took a few steps back "sorry, I didn't mean to, it was a mistake"
"Get away from me" Completely blind, Toph scooted onto her hands and knees in fear; Zuko tries to help her, but she pushes him with away with earthbending.
As soon as she was gone, Zuko screamed in frustration.
"Why am I so bad at being good?!" He exclaimed a little annoyed with himself.
It was morning when the group began to wonder about Toph's whereabouts. She tunnelled through the cliff where the Western Air Temple was located using her earthbending, exited the tunnel and fell to the ground.
"Toph, what happened to you?" Katara asked with a worried face.
"I burned my feet" Toph replied as she tried to keep her feet in the air.
"Oh, no, what happened?"
"I just told you that I burned my feet" the earthbender repeated, doubting if her friend was listening to her or simply pretending to be deaf.
"I meant how" Katara corrected herself.
"Well, I went to see Zuko to talk to him last night."
"You what?" Aang said, who could not believe what he heard.
"Zuko? but why?"
"I just thought it could be useful to us" the earthbender said as Katara drew water from her canteen and began to heal her feet "and if I spoke with him, we could reach an agreement"
"So, does he attacked you?" Sokka asked.
"Well, he did it and at the same time he didn't want to. It was some kind of accident."
"But did he attack you with firebending?" Aang said, Toph sighed and affirmed at her friend's question.
"You see? you trusted Zuko and you get burned… literally" Sokka exclaimed.
"It's going to take a while for your feet to get better" Katara said once she finished her healing treatment "I wish I had worked on them sooner."
"Yes, me too" the earthbender said as the waterbender put the water back in her canteen.
"Zuko is clearly too dangerous to leave alone, we will have to go after him" Sokka suggested to his friends.
"I hate having to go looking for a fight, but I must admit that this time you are right" Aang said feeling a bit disappointed "after what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice"
"He's cunning, but we'll find a way to capture him."
"Just invite him to come back here" Toph suggested as she tried to get up from the ground, Aang and Sokka helped her "he already offered himself as our prisoner once"
"Yes... make him come back and tell him that he will be our prisoner, then we corner him and we will consider him our prisoner there" Sokka said considering his friend's suggestion.
"You are a master of surprises, Sokka" Katara commented as she walked behind them. Unbeknownst to them, Combustion Man appeared on the highest ledge of the temple and prepared to attack the group. Zuko arrives and stops him from attacking the group with a safe shot, redirecting his attack, and alarming the others, who went to find a safe place to take cover.
"Stop!" Zuko exclaimed trying to prevent the assassin from attacking them even more "my sister sent you, didn't she? I don't want you to capture the Avatar" Aang was surprised when he heard Zuko say that Azula had sent an assassin to finish them off "the mission is canceled, I order you to stop" Combustion Man did not hear him, he pushed him aside and shot at the fountain destroying the top, Zuko got up from the ground and tried to stop the assasin with his firebending "well, listen, I'll pay you double what she gave you"
Combustion Man, instead, turned to Zuko and knocked him off the ledge of the temple, though he managed to grab onto a vine just in time. Aang and Katara used their water and airbending to counterattack Combustion Man, however their position leaves them at a serious disadvantage against him and his barrage of explosions. Unable to get a direct line on them, Combustion Man changes tactics and begins targeting the structures, intending to blow up the entire temple from the cliff.
While shielding themselves from attacks, Sokka underestimates Combustion Man's position based on the angles at which the explosions hit the ground, he threw his boomerang, curving it around a corner, hitting Combustion Man directly at the third eye tattoo on his front, blocking his chi and leaving him disoriented. Combustion Man attempted to shoot another attack but having his chi blocked, he causes everything around him to explode, causing the structure he is standing on to break off the cliff and plummet into the misty canyon below the temple. all that remains of Combustion Man is his metal arm, which also falls into the depths of the cannon.
Seeing that the danger was over, Zuko climbed up the vine and reached the ledge of the pagoda, once at the top of the ledge, he walked to the fountain corridor and found the Avatar team waiting for him.
"I can't believe I'm going to say this but thank you Zuko" Aang said as he raised his gaze to the firebender.
"Hey! what about me? I did the boomerang thing y'know?" Sokka said as he moved his arms in a goalie position.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain well yesterday, I have been through a lot in recent years and it has been difficult, but I have realized that I had to go through these things to learn the truth" Zuko told them "I thought I had I lost my honor and that in some way, my father would give it back to me, but now I know that no one can give you your honor, it is something that you earn for yourself by choosing to do the right thing. All I want to do is play my role to end this war" Aang could feel that his words were honest and sincere and that now, more than anything, he could trust him "and I know my destiny is to help you reestablish the balance in the world" he turned his gaze to Toph "I'm sorry 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 learn to control my element so that I can't hurt anyone ever again"
At hearing this, Aang recalled the moment he injured Katara by burning her hands when he was trying to learn to practice firebending for the first time.
"You were supposed to be my firebending master, when I tried to learn firebending for the first time, I burned Katara" Aang said to the boy in front of him "and after that, I never wanted to practice firebending again but now I understand how easy which can be hurting the people you care about, this time, I would like you to teach me"
"Thank you" Zuko thanked him "I'm so happy that they accepted me into their group"
"Not so fast" the young Avatar stopped him "I still have to ask my friends if they're okay with that" he turned at Toph who was sitting on a rock behind him "Toph, Zuko was the one who burned your feet, what do you think?"
"Go ahead, let him join in" Toph replied nonchalantly "it will give me plenty of time to make him pay for burning my feet."
"Sokka?"
"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm fine" Sokka replied with a shrug.
"Katara?" Aang asked looking at the waterbender with concern, she looked at his friend and then looked at Zuko who seemed nervous and finally made a decision.
"I'll agree with what you think is right" she replied, this response made Aang smile slightly.
"I won't let you down, I promise" Zuko promised enthusiastically.
Sokka awkwardly led Zuko into a bedroom for the ex prince to use, he began to unpack his stuff. As he left the bedroom, Sokka commented to Aang how strange it was to have Zuko around. Once established, Zuko took out Iroh's portrait and fondly recalled his uncle's advice about destiny.
*Flashback*
"If I have to, I will spend every day of the rest of my life chasing the Avatar" Zuko said to Iroh "I know it is my destiny to capture him"
"You know, Prince Zuko? destiny is a funny thing" Iroh advised him while placing a hand on his shoulder "you never know how things are going to work, but if you keep an open mind and heart, I promise you that you will find your own destiny one day"
*End flashback*
He snapped out of his thoughts as soon as he saw Katara appear in the doorway and she stepped closer to confront him.
"Everyone else may have believed your transformation, but you and I know that you have struggled to do the right thing in the past'' the waterbender warned with a threatening tone in her voice "so let me tell you something right now. Give a step back, make a mistake, give me one more reason to think that you could hurt Aang and you will no longer have to worry about your destiny, because I will make sure that your destiny ends right now... permanently"
She turned and left the bedroom, leaving a visibly disturbed Zuko pondering her threatening words.