Chapter XIII: The Firebending masters
The sun rose, a new day began in the Western Air Temple and a different day for some. That morning, Aang and Zuko went to a platform located some far away from the rest of the Avatar team after having a quick breakfast, the young Avatar simply followed him without hesitating and now he was there with Zuko, scared and anxious, he would finally learn firebending, an element that (according to him) was so dangerous that he had promised himself that he would never learn again a few months ago, but now things were different and he had Zuko by his side to teach him how to do firebending without take the risk of hurting someone again.
Before start with the training, Zuko tried to reassure him by telling him that firebending was not something to fear if you used it correctly but that he had to learn to respect it or he could lose control, Aang recalled the moment when he hurt Katara practicing firebending with Jeong Jeong.
"Now, show me what you have. Control as much fire as you can" Zuko said looking at Aang with soft eyes, Aang felt uncomfortable for a moment; however, that look managed to comfort him or at least that's what he felt until Zuko shook his head slightly out of his trance and calmed down. Aang took a deep breath, closed his eyes and rolled his hips, reaching out but all he got for his effort was a cloud of smoke. He blushed and looked shyly at his firebender before turning his gaze away, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Maybe I need a little more instruction, a demonstration, maybe? He murmured looking hopefully at his attractive firebending teacher... wait what? where did that thought come from? instead of getting mad at him, Zuko seemed to understand what Aang wanted to tell him and agreed saying it was a good idea.
"You may want to take a couple of steps back," said the prince, took a deep breath, positioned his body and stretched out his hands, growling as he prepared to perform a fire-bending attack.
PUFF
Aang wanted to laugh at such poor performance, maybe Zuko was playing a joke on him because, if he had to be honest with him, that was a very weak flame or maybe he was teaching him that it was okay to have weak fire and that it was not great problem.
"What was that? that's the worst firebending I've ever seen" Zuko muttered to himself and Aang got the distinct impression that it had not been a joke at all.
"I think that was… nice" the airbender commented a bit worried but he tried to stay positive. Zuko tried again and again getting the same result, the prince was upset and Aang did not like that, if only he could do something to help him but what could he do? He did not know firebending and he could not find an adequate solution to Zuko's problem whatever it was.
"Why is this happening to me?" Zuko asked angrily looking at his hands, Aang also looked at his hands, his hands were callused and rough, he began to wonder how those hands would feel exploring his body, sliding his fingers through his abdomen and navel, skimming all the way down, touching areas that not even the young Avatar knew he had before. He blushed heavily and shook his head a little just that that erotic fantasy disappeared as soon as it arrived.
"Maybe it's the altitude?" Aang suggested hoping to cheer Zuko up, but that didn't help much because the only logical answer he had was that Zuko could no longer do firebending, which implied that he no longer had a master to teach you to control this element.
It happened a while where Zuko tried to firebending without success, he started to get a little annoyed because nothing had happened during that period of time and Aang was starting to get bored.
"That one felt kinda hot" the young airbender commented.
"Don't patronize me, you have no idea how it's supposed to be" Zuko replied annoyed.
"Sorry, Sifu Hotman."
"And stop calling me that!"
Sokka, who casually was walking by, saw the scene and could think of no better idea than to tease Aang and Zuko.
"Hey, jerks" he greeted both of them "do you mind if I watch of you both practice jerkbending?"
"Get out of here!" Zuko yelled at him.
"Ok, take it easy. I was just kidding."
Night had fallen, Zuko stepped away from the group and leaned against Appa's side, running his fingers through the bison's soft fur. He had tried everything, went back to basics, tried other moves that were not complicated but all he got was sparks and smoke, no fire. It was gone and he had the suspicion that he knew why, he looked up at the campfire where the group was dining, talking and having fun. Zuko was not quite sure how to explain this, he had to tell them, Sozin's comet was approaching and Aang needed to be ready with or without their help. He straightened his shoulders and walked over to the group, coming up to the conclusion that he should tell them what was going on with him.
"Listen everyone, I have bad news" he said keeping a voice as firm as he could trying not to show how much the situation was affecting him "I have lost my things"
"Don't look at me, I didn't touch your things" Toph said lightly raising her hands to show her innocence.
"I'm talking about my firebending" he continued looking towards the lit campfire "it gone..."
"But how is that possible? a couple of days ago you were using your firebending against the combustion man well, how could you lose it?" Katara asked softly looking at him, trying to discover the reason, trying to help him in some way as it was part of her nature.
"It's not lost, it just got weaker for some reason" he explained "I suppose it must have been because he changed sides"
"That's ridiculous!" the waterbender commented. She quickly covered her mouth realizing what she said "sorry" she apologized feeling bad for him "I didn't... I didn't mean that…"
"I'm not sure, but maybe it's not that" Aang said "maybe your firebending comes from anger and you just don't have enough anger to feed it like you used to"
"Then all we have to do is to make Zuko angry. Easy" Sokka said, he began to lightly hit his ribs and waist with his sword sheated in an attempt to make the firebender get angry.
"Okay! that's enough, stop!" he yelled feeling the disappointment and rage battle inside him. Sokka was even intimidated by the yell Zuko gave him, in fact, he gave him a shy but understanding smile and sat back in his place next to Toph. Zuko began to think that those people were too good from his point of view, he could not believe how acceptable and compassionate they were with him when at first they attacked him by proposing to join in the Avatar team and they did not want to have any relation with him. He turned his gaze towards Aang and began to wonder what would have happened if he had accepted the offer to join him to stop the war, how much things could have changed if he had agreed to be his friend from the beginning "even if you were right" he spoke referring to to what Aang had said about his firebending being fueled by anger "I don't want to have to depend on rage and anger anymore, there has to be another way"
"You'll have to look for a different source, I recommend the original source" Toph suggested.
"And how he is supposed to do that? jumping into a volcano?" Sokka said laughing.
"No" the earthbender said making Sokka stop laughing "Zuko needs to find whatever is the original source of firebending."
Without further interruption, she began to talk about the badger moles, which were the original earthbending masters. Zuko began to feel melancholy with his account, realizing that he could not even consider Toph's suggestion as an alternative solution to his problem.
"Well, that doesn't help me much. The original firebenders were the dragons, but they are long extinct" he said gravely.
"What do you mean?" Aang asked incredulously "Roku had a dragon. And there were many dragons when I was a child"
"Well, the point is that they are gone, ok?" Zuko repeated annoyed and disappointed.
"Okay. Okay, I'm sorry" the young airbender replied trying to calm him down.
"But maybe there is another way" Zuko said as he walked away from the group "some of the first people to learn about dragons were the Sun Warriors."
"The Sun Warriors? well, I don't remember that they existed when I was a child" Aang said getting up and approaching to him.
"No. Because they died thousands of years ago, but their civilization is not too far away from where we are now. Perhaps we can learn something by exploring its ruins."
"It's like the monks told me, sometimes the shadows of the past can be found in the present."
"So" Sokka spoke the Avatar and the firebender attention "maybe you locate a super ancient Solar Warrior energy just by standing where they were a thousand years ago?"
"More or less" Zuko replied, turning his gaze from the Southern Water Tribe warrior "either I find a new way to do firebending or the Avatar will have to find a new teacher"
Aang felt hurt by those words, but again, there was nothing he could do to solve Zuko's problem, they had to find the Sun Warriors civilization so that he could learn another way to regain his firebending. He just hoped this trip would pay off and maybe, just maybe, he might get a chance to spend a little more time with Zuko.
The next day, Aang and Zuko left the Western Air Temple and headed to the Sun Warriors ancient civilization in an attempt to find the secrets of the true meaning of firebending. They both flew in Appa the entire trip without speaking or exchanging glances, we could say that it was a calm and silent trip, completely boring.
"We've been flying for hours" Zuko finally spoke "I don't know, but I thought this would be much faster" he added referring to Appa. The flying bison began to growl at his comment and his lack of enthusiasm.
"Appa's right. In our group, we typically begin our missions with a more optimistic attitude."
"I can't believe this" Zuko complained, he could not find a positive point about the situation.
"Don't worry. You will get used to it."
After a few more minutes flying over the sea, they both reached an island where the ruins of the Sun Warriors civilization were located. Once they landed on Appa, air and firebender began to walk around the place, it seemed that it had been abandoned for a long time and they did not see anyone around.
"Even though these buildings are old. There's something eerily familiar about them" Zuko said as he walked alongside Aang "I can even tell that the fire sages temples somehow descended from this"
"Ok, we are learning something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too. Sometimes the past can be a great teacher you know?" Aang commented as they walked, but he did not realize that he slightly tripped on a rope and some sharp spikes came out of the stone floor, he quickly used airbending to jump to the other side, once he succeeded, the young boy turned his gaze at Zuko "Zuko, I think the past is trying to kill me!"
"I can't believe it" Zuko spoke as he took the rope in his hand "this trap must be centuries old and still works"
"There are probably more" Aang said "maybe this means that we shouldn't be here"
The firebender took a few steps back, started running, run over a wall and within seconds he was standing next to the young airbender.
"Where's that optimistic attitude you were talking about?" Zuko asked "besides, people don't cheat unless they have something worth protecting"
They turned their gazes to some stone stairs built like a kind of pyramid and they went there. Both climbed the stairs until they reached a large stone wall where they could see engravings of a Sun Warrior with flames in both hands and two dragons on either side of him expelling fire from their mouths in a circle.
"Look, this looks promising…" Aang said to Zuko trying to look the positive side of all this "although I'm not sure what he's saying"
"It's the original source of firebending" the ex prince explained observing the engravings of the dragons creating the circle of fire around a Sun Warrior "they seem quite angry"
"I thought dragons were friends of the Sun Warriors."
"Well, they had a fun way of showing it."
"Zuko, something happened to dragons in the last hundred years" Aang said noticing the slight sad expression on the firebender's face "there's something you aren't telling me" without further interruptions, Zuko told the Avatar what happened with dragons a long time ago. He told him that Sozin started the tradition of hunting dragons in the Fire Nation for glory and because they were the last firebenders, he also recalled that his uncle Iroh killed the last living dragon before he was born "I thought your uncle was… good?"
"He had a complicated past" the firebender told him feeling bad for not having the chance to get him out of prison during the invasion and now he had no idea where he could be "family tradition, I guess..." he remained silent for a few seconds until that reacted "well, let's continue"
After walking for a short time they arrive to a stone plaza with a huge golden door that Aang tried unsuccessfully to open, Zuko turned his gaze upon noticing a stone pillar with a red stone on the top, then he looked down at the floor and he could see a red point marking an etched line on the ground.
"It's a celestial calendar, like the one that the fire sages have in their temples" the firebender explained "the door will only open when the sun reaches the correct position on the solstice"
"The solstice, again?!" Aang exclaimed "I can't wait that long"
"Maybe we can't, but we can speed up time" Zuko drew one of his swords and reflected the sunlight against the metal blade. A few seconds passed in which nothing had happened "come on..." a few more seconds passed and finally that golden door opened. Inside there was a stone chamber with statues on different positions. They began to look around the chamber to see if they found anything that was useful, Aang saw one of the statues, he do the same pose and a stone platform descended under his foot, after doing this, he knew what they should do.
"Zuko, come here!" Aang said as he took the firebender's arm and tried to bring him closer to him "I want you to dance with me."
"W-what?!" Zuko blushed at what the young airbender said.
"Aw, please. Just came on!"
They both begin to execute the poses that the statues showed to them as the stone platforms were pushed under their feet. While performing the dance, they did not realize that they activated a key mechanism, at the end of the choreography, a pedestal was raised in the center of the chamber and it had a golden egg. Zuko reached over and was going to take it, but Aang stopped him.
"Don't touch it!"
"Tell me why not?"
"Because it could be a trap."
The firebender did not care about the Avatar's warning and took the golden egg holding it in his hands.
"It feels... warm, almost alive" he commented as soon as he finished saying this, a dark green sticky substance came out of the pedestal causing the firebender to stick his back against the metal bars on the chamber roof. Aang tried to avoid it, but the substance was too sticky, so he ended up clinging to Zuko's side "well, at least we have air. Maybe if we stay calm, we will get out of this"
"I take back what I said before Zuko... you're an idiot."
"Shut up."
Hours passed and Aang began to realize that just having his first mission with Zuko they were trapped by a sticky substance and all because the former prince couldn't keep his hands to himself when it came to taking shiny things! first the past almost killed him, they learned about architecture, apparently all the dragons were dead, Zuko had a family tradition of complicated pasts, the ex prince managed to fool a sun stone, he danced with Zuko and finally the firebender decided to take the golden egg from the pedestal, something Aang had explicitly told him NOT to do.
"You had to pick up the shiny egg, isn't it?" the airbender asked sarcastically.
"At least I made something happen" Zuko replied with the same tone but with the difference that you could notice that he was a bit annoyed by the answer from the boy next to him.
"HELP!" Aang yelled as loud as he could.
"Who are you yelling at?" the firebender asked arching an eyebrow as he looked at the boy next to him "no one has lived here in centuries"
"Well then what do you think we should do?"
"Think about our place in the universe?" Zuko asked, running out of options. Suddenly, the sticky substance around his legs began to harden and Aang froze at the thought that creepy, people-eating monsters were hidden in the substance, which terrified him even more.
"Zuko..." Aang whispered flexing his fingers on the bars he was holding "I think there's something in this stuff."
"What?"
"There's something moving under me."
"Oh, that's just my hand."
Aang widened his eyes and turned his head as best he could, looking at Zuko who was looking at him with a smile.
"Well... maybe you could have told me before I started imagining things!" he said sticking his tongue out at the Fire Nation ex princd, Zuko just chuckled, that sound sent a pleasant heat that flowed through his entire body and Aang looked away before Zuko even noticed his blush. They kept silent for a short minute and Aang felt Zuko's hand move more and now he was curious to know what the ex prince was doing, because unfortunately he could not move from the place where he was, not even a little "what are you doing now?" he asked craning his neck as much as he could, wondering if at some point he would see Zuko's hand come out.
"There's an air bubble around my hand, if I can pass it directly towards you, you could bend it from the inside and get us out of here. I'm trying to move it using the limited firebending I have, something like 'I'm burning a path through this thing' and it seems to be working" Zuko explained with his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on moving his hand to pass the air bubble to Aang, he smiled at his master thinking that the idea was fantastic and that it could probably work.
"Okay, I say again what I told before, you are quite smart" the young Avatar said happily. Zuko smiled briefly at him and then concentrated on his task again, Aang leaned his head against the almost hard sticky substance, he looked at the sky and began to draw pictures with the clouds, waiting for Zuko to finish passing the air bubble, he was for several minutes until his gray orbs began to tire and he soon fell asleep; however, this moment did not last long, his eyes widened as he felt a wave of heat run through his body… and not specifically where it should be.
"AH."
"Oh, sorry… was that your leg? I can't know where my hand is" the ex Fire Nation prince apologized.
"No, that's not my leg."
"So what am I touching?"
At that statement, the former prince squeezed the flesh under the palm of his hand, whatever he was touching, it made Aang blush violently, he tried to move away in an attempt to avoid Zuko's touch, but had no luck with this, a chill ran down his spine when he felt how Zuko began to touch a certain area that made the young Avatar shudder and bite his lower lip in an attempt to suppress his moans.
"Z-Zuko..." Aang said while suppressing a moan that threatened to escape from his lips "your hand... your hand is brushing my..."
"Your what?" the Fire Nation ex prince asked, his hand was now trapped against the young airbender's body, but he could not move it or push it away without accidentally burning him in the process.
"Rubbing my… forget it, I'm not going to say it, it's… too embarrassing" Aang replied lowering his gaze, Zuko frowned a bit annoyed.
"Oh no, you won't leave me like this. Now tell me where my hand is" Zuko said waiting for a response from the young airbender.
"Okay, I can tell that your hand is brushing my... my entrance..." Aang said who felt a new blush spread across his cheeks, leaving them with a beautiful red color.
The reaction was almost immediate, the hand on his butt stopped moving and start to explore curiously, staying motionless against it. The ex prince stared at him with wide eyes before turning his gaze with a slight almost invisible blush dyeing his cheeks.
"Oh" was the only reaction from Zuko. A few seconds later, Aang could feel his teacher trying to move his hand again, but it was clear that the air bubble had somehow disappeared and now Zuko's hand was trapped there, stroking the younger boy's butt "sorry, Aang... I couldn't make this to work"
The young airbender was no longer uncomfortable with Zuko's touch, in fact, it could be said that he even liked having his hand on his butt. He even thought that he could become firebending just by blushing, because due to how hot his face was, Aang was almost certain that very soon there would be fire dancing on his cheeks, Zuko's hand was big and warm. and it made the young Avatar feel safe, supported and protected, as long as he had Zuko close to him, he knew he would be fine, he felt as if all the problems he had to deal with (war and having to learn firebending) were insignificant and unimportant problems. With Zuko touching him that way so softly and gently, it was as if his mind had been released from all the emotional burdens that he had to deal with day after day, that he carried with him for a long time, it was... more than anything euphoria that he felt.
"Aah!" Aang moaned softly when he felt the Fire Nation ex prince begin to brush his fingers against his butt again and pinch it "Z-Zuko, d-don't do that, please"
"Why shouldn't I?" Zuko asked stopping his actions, he turned his golden eyes towards the boy next to him and smiled at him "I thought we were having fun."
"Zuko, I mean it. Stop, I hear footsteps, someone is coming."
"Who's down there?" a man asked with a slightly annoyed expression.
Minutes later, more people came there and helped Aang and Zuko out of the sticky trap, some kind of animals that appeared to be gigantic anteaters removed the substance with their big, slimy tongues. The people who helped them out of the trap were a kind of tribe with their skins baked by the sun, they wore red pre-Hispanic clothes and gold ornaments.
"You will be punished for trying to steal our sunstone" said a man who seemed to be the chief.
"It wasn't our plan to steal it" Zuko explained, trying to justify what happened and the real reason why they were there "we came here to find the ancient origin of firebending; I know my people distorted it to be fueled by anger, but I don't want to go that way anymore. I want to learn the true way"
"If you want to learn the meaning of firebending, then you must see masters Ran and Shaw" the chief said "tomorrow we will take you to the caves where you will meet the masters and they will judge if you are worthy of learning the true firebending meaning"
After saying that, the leader of the Sun Warriors led them to a room with two separate beds so that they could rest and be ready for tomorrow. Zuko and Aang lay down on their respective beds, but the firebender and airbender were sure that they would not be able to sleep that night. Nervousness and excitement ran through their bodies, so Aang turned his gaze to Zuko to talk to him and see if it helped them sleep fast.
"Zuko..." Aang called him but the firebender did not hear him, his gaze focused on the bedroom roof "hey, Zuko!"
"What?" he asked, turning his golden eyes towards the kid who was lying a few inches away from him.
"I can't sleep. I'm too excited about what's going to happen tomorrow, I can't believe we'll meet the firebenders."
"Neither do I."
"How do you think they look? or what are they going to do or say after judging us?"
"I don't know, but if they try to attack us, don't forget that we can protect ourselves."
Aang nodded at what Zuko said and after that little conversation, the young airbender rolled to the opposite side of his bed and tried to sleep; however, his thoughts did not leave him alone, not only because he was eager to meet the firebending masters and what they would be like in appearance, but also because he had many things tosol ve with the Fire Nation ex prince, among them was the reason why he had made the decision to join Azula instead of him when they were in Ba Sing Se, for a moment he believed that Zuko had chosen to be on his side and help them to stop the Fire Nation evil princess, but he was wrong, he had choose her all this time and that affected him in a way, although on the outside he tried to show that he was not hurt.
"Zuko..." Aang called him again, he got no answer from the opposite, he assumed that the firebender had fallen asleep, so he tried to wake him up by calling him by his name "Zuko... Zuko!"
"What do you want now?"
"Uh, I… there's something you and I should talk about and it's about what happened in Ba Sing Se" the young airbender told him but was interrupted by Zuko.
"I don't want to talk about it now, you were right, what I did was wrong and I admit it, I made you and Katara believe that I was on your side and it wasn't like that, I ended up joining Azula before you and that's all I have to say, there is nothing to solve."
"But I assumed that you would also want to talk about that with me, we can't continue to avoid this issue forever and I think it's time to solve it."
"And what should we solve? I already apologized to you that time we met behind the Fire Nation prison and even explained to you the reasons why I had accepted to join Azula before you but you didn't want to believe me, I don't know what else I should do so you can believe me and that you can forgive me" Zuko replied annoyed.
"If you really want me to forgive you and earn my trust and also my friends trust, then you must show that you are seriously sorry for everything you did" Aang said with a serious tone of voice, too serious, which he gave to understand the Fire Nation ex prince that what he was telling him was not a joke.
"And I am! I said it at the Western Air Temple and I say it again now, I'm sorry, okay? I'm really sorry, Azula was controlling me to convince me to join her and I didn't know what to do, at first I was so confused about what my true destiny was and when I finally thought I found the answer, I had no choice but to join my sister, I needed to make her believe that I wanted to be with her, go back home and earn her trust, only that way I could betray her and join you."
"Are you serious? are you sure that's the whole truth and you're not trying to fool me again?"
"Yes, that's the whole truth. I would never lie to you with something like that, I mean it, I just… I just hope that this time you are able to believe me."
"Sometimes just saying it isn't enough, Zuko. I need you to give me more time to think if I should trust you again" the young airbender said, turning his gaze and saw that it would not be long before the sun came out "we better rest a bit before going to see the masters"
"Yes, I guess you're right. Rest, Aang."
In the morning, the Sun Warriors led them to the top of a pyramid where men and women gathered, when Aang and Zuko reached the top of the pyramid, they could see that there was an altar and a large flame on the centre of it.
"This fire is the first" the Sun Warriors began to explain to them "it was given to men by dragons a long time ago and we have kept it alive ever since. If you're going to meet the masters, you must take a part of the fire with you" the man approached the huge flame, took two small flames and gave them to the firebender and airbender who were standing in front of him, Zuko took it with no problems, but Aang began to doubt about taking the flame because he did not know to firebend yet "this ritual represents our philosophy, if you make the flame small it will go out but if you make it too big it could lose control. Each one will take a part with you to the masters to demonstrate your commitment to the sacred art of firebending" he pointed to a mountain a few meters from the pyramid where they were "the masters cave is passing that rock"
As they traveled towards the cave where the teachers were, Zuko stopped on his walk and looked over his shoulder to see his partner who was a few meters away from him. The young Avatar climbed the slope slowly, but at the same time trying to be careful not to extinguish the flame in his hand, just as Zuko was looking at him from afar with anxiety and concern as if he feared that Aang might fall to the ground unconscious in any moment.
"Hurry up" Zuko said a bit impatient, trying not to show Aang that he was partly caring about him.
"I can't if I go fast, my fire will go out" the young airbender replied.
"Your fire is going to go out because you are making it small, you have to give it more juice."
"But what if I can't bend it?"
"You can do it! you are a talented child after all."
Aang blushed slightly, he could not believe Zuko thought something like that of him. After a long walk, they reached a high platform where they would meet Masters Ran and Shaw, he turned his golden gaze to see the Avatar who seemed nervous and Zuko could not help but have the urge to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay but if he did it, he would risk losing his flame and they did not get that far for nothing.
"You must consider that the judgment of the masters is going to be dangerous" the Sun Warrios chief said "if they consider you worthy, they will teach you, but if not, they will not hesitate to destroy both of you instantly"
They both begin to climb up the stone stairs that led them to a platform in the middle of two caves.
"Zuko" Aang spoke calling the firebender attention "what will happen if they attack us?"
"We're the Fire Nation prince and the Avatar, I can always protect you" Zuko said smiling, but his smile quickly faded as he felt his heart stop for a brief second at these words, why had he said that?
"Haha, you're so funny" the young airbender, pulling the firebender out of his thoughts "I did not know you were smiling"
"What are you talking about? I smile all the time."
"No, you don't, but you have to do it more often. It looks... nice on you" when they reached the cave, drums began to beat, they were instructed to show their flames and both benders (air and fire) did. A trembling shook the floor and everything around them, making Aang got nervous, he jumped a bit and on impulse he took Zuko's free hand to hold him tight. Before that sudden action, accidentally his flame goes out "Zuko, my flame went out!"
"And what do you want me to do?" the firebender asked turning his gaze towards the boy.
"Give me some of yours!" Aang said who turned around and approached him trying to reach the flame, but what he did not notice is that his body was quite close to Zuko's, which made the firebender blush slightly at the sudden contact.
"No! that would be cheating" Zuko replied trying to push the young airbender away, but between the fight (and his attempts to push Aang away from him) Zuko's flame also went out. At that moment, two dragons, one red and a blue one, came out of the caves, making the situation worse, the firebender stepped back and pressed Aang's hand hard against his own. The young boy turned his gray gaze to Zuko, looked at their hands holded firmly together and looked up at him again.
"Do you think we still have a chance to kill them?"
"Shh... I never said that!"
But the dragons never attacked them, they were just flying around them chasing each other and that was the moment Aang and Zuko released their hands and stood there, waiting for the dragons next move, almost as if it were...
"Zuko... I think we should dance with them."
The ex prince turned his gaze at Aang and looked back at the dragons.
"A-are you sure?"
"We're supposed to do something. Let's try."
Zuko agreed, they did not lose anything by trying. They turned their backs to start with the first position, copying the dragon dance they saw in the stone statues the day before, they performed the movements according to the dance, almost doing it at the same time as if they were in synchrony, doing this, Aang recalled that time when they both join in the sun dance in the Fire Days festival, only that at that time they were masked and did not recognize each other, but now they could perform a dance freely without the need to wear masks or because they were join in some Fire Nation festival.
The red dragon seemed to follow Zuko's movements while the blue dragon followed Aang's, once again he had to admit that the Avatar was right, he had a special ability to be right in everything he said. They finished the sequence by clashing their fists firmly against each other, Zuko smiled at Aang, who take back the gesture, but the ex prince realized that the atmosphere became silent and the wind was no longer running. The dragons were suspended in the air, staring at them, the moment of judgment had finally arrived, they jumped forward holding the platform with their claws and opened their mouths expelling a wave of fire at the same time, Zuko and Aang covered their eyes in an attempt to protect themselves, but the fire never reached them, so they uncovered their eyes and could see the dragons fire twirling around them, enveloping them in a protective wave of colorful fire, the colors were many and they were beautiful, revealing the true and harmonious way of doing firebending. Both benders were amazed by the beauty of that wave of colored fire that enveloped them without hurting them, at that moment, Zuko came out of his trance as he felt two small hands gently grasp his face and before he could say anything, Aang pulled him back towards him and kissed him. The Fire Nation ex prince could not understand why he had done that, but he take it in and take back the young Avatar's kiss, although it did not last long as Aang pulled away after a few seconds with a slight blush on his face.
The ritual concluded and the dragons returned to their caves, Aang and Zuko began to go down completely excited by what they had just seen.
"That was incredible!" Aang exclaimed who could not contain his excitement anymore.
"I know!" Zuko said who could not contain his emotion either "you know? All this time I was obsessed with capturing you to defeat my father and when I did it, I lost my firebending... but now I think I have found a new fire"
"Really?" Aang asked with his eyes full of illusion.
"Yes and..." the firebender said, he put a hand on the boy's shoulder and placed it on it "that fire is you"
"Z-zuko... I..." the young man speaks a little nervous "I don't know what to say..."
Zuko? Zuko… hey, Zuko!
Zuko reacted by realizing that he was lost in his own thoughts and did not pay attention to what Aang was telling him.
"Huh?" He looked at the child in front of him "I'm sorry, Aang, I was distracted, what did you say?"
"I said that what happened up there was incredible" the young Avatar replied "I could feel and see the true meaning of firebending, what did you feel when you saw the swirl of fire that surrounded us?"
"Uh... I... I'm also a bit surprised by what I saw" Zuko said a little nervous "but... there's something I don't understand" Aang looked at him with a slight expression of shock "and that was the fact that I was surprised when you took my hand what happened? were you scared?"
"W-what?! n-no, of course not" the Avatar replied trying to hide the fact that yes, he had been terribly scared when a roar echoed in the cave making the platform shake "I was... at that moment I was nervous and I took your hand because I wanted to calm down and it worked"
"Okay, because I also felt calm and relaxed when I took your hand. I can't doubt that the dragons fire was beautiful, and I also saw many colors."
"Yeah, it was like firebending harmony" Aang said supporting his comment.
"I see that the masters judged you well" Sun Warriors chief said standing in front of them "and gave them visions about the meaning of firebending" Zuko and Aang looked at each other with an excited smile on their faces. They tried some firebending techniques with good results and commented about these, the Sun Warriors chief felt a little proud of them and turned his gaze towards Zuko "prince of the Fire Nation" the teenager stopped talking to Aang and looked at him "do you know General Iroh?"
"Yes, he's my uncle" the teenager replied the. The Sun Warriors chief smiled at his answer.
"Your uncle was the last one to learn from the teachers and was well judged."
"But he had told me that he faced the last dragon a long time ago and killed it."
"Maybe he just lied" Aang guessed.
"Actually, that's not a lie" the Sun Warriors chief said "Iroh was the last one to learn from the masters. They considered him worthy and passed on their secrets"
"He must have lied to protect them, so that no one else would find them."
"All this time, I believed that firebending was nothing more than destruction" Aang said, remembering the moment when he accidentally injured Katara trying to learn to control that element and what Jeong Jeong had told him when he wanted to learn firebending with him "since I hurt Katara I had so much fear and doubts, but now I know what it really is, fire is not destruction, it is… energy and life"
"Yes, it's like the sun but inside of you" Zuko commented with a slight smile "do you realize that?"
"Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors, so yes" the chief of that hidden civilization replied.
"That's why my firebending was so weak before" Zuko muttered, his gaze shifted to Aang "because for a while I was so obsessed with capturing you to defeat my father and when I joined you I lost my inner fire. But now I have a new inner fire"
"Really?" the young airbender asked looking at him with a smile drawn on his face "and what is it?"
"That inner fire is you" Zuko thought but quickly erased that thought, he was never going to admit something like that, less aloud, it would be too embarrassing "and that inner fire is that I have to help you defeat my father and restore the balance of the world"
"Now that you have learned the secrets and know the existence of our tribe, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever" the Sun Warriors chief said frowning, Aang and Zuko were a bit scared at the idea, but they reassured as soon as that man changed his expression and smiled "just kidding. But I'm serious, don't tell anyone"
Both benders (fire and air) nodded at his warning, maybe they could share their experience to their friends when returning to the temple and to no one else, after all they trusted them so there was no danger of taking any risk by revealing the technique they had recently acquired.
Upon they arrive to the Western Air Temple, after the intense experience they had acquired, Zuko and Aang show the others the firebending movements they learned on their journey to the Sun Warriors civilization.
"With the technique the dragons showed us, Zuko and I will be invincible" Aang explained, of course, they had to do a firebending demonstration to show them what they had learned. Zuko wanted to avoid repeating the dragon dance, but the young airbender insisted and at the end of the dance their fists collided, earning a few applauses.
"Wow, yeah, amazing. So, we are going to perform a dance to defeat the Fire Lord?" Sokka asked between scorn and sarcasm, something that annoyed Zuko a bit.
"It's a technique from thousands of years" the firebender defended himself.
"Oh yeah? And what is your technique called?" Katara asked with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"The dancing dragon" Zuko replied, looking down slightly embarrassed. The other members of the Avatar team could not help but laugh at such an embarrassing response.
The next day, Zuko and Aang got up early so they could start their firebending practice, they did not stop until Katara came looking for them to have lunch with the rest of the team or to take a little break. They continued practicing until the sun went down, which slowly gave way to night, and they were finally able to relax a bit by sitting on the ground with their backs leaning against a stone column that lay right behind them.
"How was that?" Aang asked to his firebending teacher as they sat next to each other "how did I do it?"
"Your firebending is quite excellent, Aang and you're learning too fast" Zuko said.
"Really?"
"Of course. Your firebending grows stronger and stronger with every second, I must admit I'm impressed."
"Thank you, Zuko" Aang thanked him while smiling, Zuko take back the smile and after a few seconds without speaking, the young Avatar spoke again "if you don't mind, I think I could meditate a bit before sleeping, do you want to join me?"
"Why not? although I'm not familiar with meditation."
"Come closer, let me show you. Sit here with your legs crossed, now put your arms like this" he said placing his hands on his knees "clear everything from your mind except what you are going to meditate on" Zuko nodded and cleared his mind, a little undecided on what to meditate on, But before he could decide, an image of the boy next to him was the last to appear in his mind. He concentrated on that, it brought him warmth and peace, he didn't quite understand why, but that feeling pleased him. They both sat in silence for several minutes, Zuko began to move out of control, reached out and wrapped it around Aang's waist, pulling him towards him. At first, the young Avatar did not react, but as soon as Zuko began to caress the sides of his waist, he opened his eyes coming out of his state of meditation and turned his gaze towards the firebender "Zuko, are you okay?"
"What? huh? oh... sorry, I don't know what happened to me."
"I think it was enough meditation for now."
"Yeah sure" Zuko said with a sigh. They both got up from the ground, walked back to their rooms and prepared to go to sleep. Aang fell asleep early, but Zuko lay awake in his bed for several hours, unable to sleep, thinking about what he had done to the boy while they were meditating but he finally managed to fall asleep at around four in the morning.