Chapter 83: Serpentine
"I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass!" Sokka complained.
Toph remarked, "I can't believe you're still complaining about it."
Zuko said, "You're the one that suggested we go this way in the first place."
"Yeah, because I didn't know about the secret ferry!"
Suki appeared beside them, in full Kyoshi Warrior uniform and makeup. "I'm coming too."
Sokka frowned at her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
Zuko and Katara exchanged confused stares. Didn't Sokka want her around?
Suki echoed their thoughts. "Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come."
"I do!" he insisted. "It's just—"
He stopped and Suki said, "Just what?"
Sokka shook his head. "Nothing. I'm glad you're coming."
Zuko and Katara exchanged another glance, perplexed by the interaction.
Suki stared at Sokka for a long moment before smiling and saying, "Good. Let's go, then."
They stood at the entrance to the Pass. Sokka remarked, "This is the Serpent's Pass? I thought it would be a little more wind-y, you know, like a serpent. Guess they misnamed it."
Zuko shook his head. "They didn't misname it."
Suki raised her eyebrow at him. "Something you want to share with the class, Lee?"
Zuko shook his head again. "As long as we're quiet and we move fast then we should be fine. It's not worth worrying about."
She eyed him but let it go.
Ying pointed at a sign and said, "Look at this writing. How awful."
"What does it say?" Toph asked.
Katara frowned. "It says 'abandon hope'."
Ying exclaimed, "How can we abandon hope? It's all we have!"
Katara felt herself agreeing with the expectant mother. Aang, however, disagreed.
"I don't know. The monks used to use that hope was just a distraction, so maybe we do need to abandon it."
Katara frowned at the Avatar. "What are you talking about?"
"Hope isn't going to get us to Ba Sing Se. It's not going to help us find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this Pass."
Katara's frown persisted. Instead of arguing though, she said, "Okay, if you say so."
They started walking, Aang in the lead with Toph, Sokka, and Suki. Than, Ying, and Noli walked in the middle, and Zuko and Katara brought up the rear.
Zuko was there already, but Katara allowed herself to slow down so that she was walking next to him.
Zuko said, "I expected you to argue."
"With what?"
He nodded his head forehead. "Aang's plan to 'abandon hope'. I expected you to argue with him."
She sighed. "He's just sad and angry. He doesn't mean it. I didn't think there was much point in arguing. He would have just got mad."
He frowned at her. "And that stopped you?"
Katara shrugged. "He's got a lot on his mind."
Zuko muttered, "Don't we all."
This time, she frowned at him. "What's up with you?"
He shook his head. "I don't know what you mean."
She snorted softly. "I don't need Toph to tell me that you're lying."
He smirked, despite himself. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He nodded forward again and let his voice drop even quieter.
"It's hard. Seeing what my people have done. What they are doing. This family has fled across a huge stretch of the Earth Kingdom just to escape the flames. It's… like I said, it's hard."
"You must have seen it before, though, right? You've been travelling through the Earth Kingdom for a while now."
He sighed and nodded. "Doesn't make it any easier. The Fire Nation is…"
He trailed off, staring into the distance. She prompted, "It's what?"
He shook his head. "When I was a kid, I thought it was something else. Something good. It could be so much more than what it is. All anyone knows about my Nation, my people, is what they see our soldiers do. We're more than the worst things we've done. Not everyone in the Fire Nation is a soldier."
She frowned at him. "I… suppose you're right. I've never really thought about it."
He shrugged. "Most people probably haven't. It's only fair, I suppose. My people are taught to see the other Nations as lesser. It's makes sustaining the war that much easier."
Katara thought she already knew, but she asked anyway. "What do they teach you about the Water Tribes?"
A grimace rippled across his face. "Katara, you really don't want to know."
She nodded. "I do. I know it won't be pretty, or accurate, but I want to know."
He sighed, but nodded. "Okay. Fine. We're taught… We're told that the Water Tribes are primitive and savage. That that's why they run around in furs and waving clubs around. We're taught that the Water Tribes treat women like objects, possessions. That you worship heathen spirits."
He frowned as he said it. Katara was almost certain that he was censoring himself as he spoke, holding back the worst of it. She let him do it, though; what he'd said was bad enough.
She sighed. "I'd like to say it's all nonsense but… some of that was almost true."
Zuko nodded. "The best lies are based in truth. Azula taught me that."
Katara shook her head. "Maybe Aang is right. Maybe… Maybe we should just abandon hope. Focus on what we have to do."
Zuko sighed. "I can't believe I'm about to give this speech to you.
"Katara. You shouldn't give up hope. Hope isn't a distraction. It isn't a goal to aim towards, it isn't a tool to get you to the goal; hope is what keeps you going. It's motivation and drive. When everything else seems black and dismal, there's hope, shining brightly and guiding the way. Does that make sense?"
Katara stared at him, jaw slack. She said, "Who are you and what have you done with Zuko?"
He snorted and jostled her with his shoulder.
She laughed and said, "Seriously, though, where did that just come from?"
He shrugged. His neck went red. "I just, you know, imagined what you'd say and went from there."
Katara's cheeks coloured slightly. "Thank you."
Zuko nodded, not meeting her gaze. "Don't mention it. Seriously. I have a reputation to maintain."
That made her laugh again. Zuko liked it when she laughed.
They'd paused to take a break, have some water, and go over the route. Suki pointed to a spot on Sokka's map.
"The Fire Nation controls the western lake." She said. "Rumour has it they're working on something big on the other side of it and don't want anyone to find out what it is."
Sokka nodded, face serious. "So if we circle around this way, we should avoid the worst of it?"
Zuko nodded in agreement. "That looks like the route I took last time."
Sokka rolled up his map. He looked over at the family they were escorting. "We should get moving."
Ying nodded and Than and Noli helped her stand. She waved them off. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
They watched as a large, Fire Nation cruiser sailed past.
Zuko breathed, "Empire class."
Suki asked, "What's that mean?"
Zuko shook his head. "It's one of the biggest ships that the Fire Navy produces. There's, maybe, a dozen in the entire world."
She frowned. "An invasion ship?"
"Every Fire Navy ship is built for invasion." Zuko said. "It's been that way since just before Sozin attacked the Air Temples."
Than asked, "How do you know this?"
Zuko refused to meet the man's eyes. He said, "I'm… a student of history."
Than nodded, but didn't look convinced.
Sokka said, "We should keep moving."
Than stood, and the ground gave way under his foot.
"AHH!" he screamed.
"Than!" Ying yelled.
Toph's arm shot out and she used her Earthbending to stop his fall before he'd gone three feet. She brought him back up and re-secured the path.
Ying and Noli both grabbed hold of him, embracing him tightly.
"I'm okay." Than said, a little breathlessly.
Zuko said, "Yeah, but we're not."
He pointed out towards the Fire Navy ship.
A flaming projectile grew larger and larger as it approached them.
Sokka yelled, "They've spotted us! Let's go, let's go!"
Aang whipped his glider out and sent a blast of air, throwing the missile back towards the ship.
Another hit the mountainside above them, sending rocks cascading down around them.
Zuko shouted, "Move!"
They ran forward. Toph did her best to redirect the falling rock.
She said, "Twinkletoes, a little help!"
Aang joined her in Earthbending part of the mountain out above them in order to stop the collapse.
They missed a bit and a rock came hurtling down towards Suki. Sokka shoved her out of the way and it tumbled down towards the water below.
He helped her up and said, "Suki, are you okay? You have to be more careful. Come on!"
Toph muttered behind him, "'Thanks for saving my life, Toph'. Hey, no problem, Sokka."
Zuko heard her and just patted her shoulder.
They keep moving, dodging the occasional Fire Nation missile aimed by the large ship below.
They'd managed to evade the ship. It had taken hours and the sun was starting to set.
Zuko glanced out at the setting sun and said, "We should probably set up camp for the night. Start again in the morning."
The others nodded and began unpacking their blankets and bedrolls. Seeing that Than, Ying, and Noli didn't have anything, Zuko gave up his blanket to the pregnant woman.
She tried to decline it but he insisted. "I'll keep watch tonight. I won't need it."
She relented and accepted the blanket with a 'thank you'. The three of them huddled close together, the blanket mainly wrapped around Ying in the middle.
Katara called out to Zuko. "I'm trying to get a fire going, but the spark rocks aren't working for me. Do you mind?"
Zuko knew what she was implying. He sighed softly but nodded, taking them from her.
He knelt down beside the small pile of twigs and leaves, making sure he was blocking the family's view of what he was doing.
He struck the rocks together and allowed his chi to ignite in the palms of his hands. He cradled it for a second, allowing it to grow, and then let it fall onto the kindling.
Katara smiled in thanks. He nodded back at her, giving the spark rocks back.
He looked over his shoulder when he heard Sokka say loudly, "Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable this ledge is, it could give way at any moment!"
Zuko frowned in confusion. He didn't think he'd ever heard the Tribesman talk like that.
Suki said firmly, "Sokka, I'm fine. Stop worrying!"
Sokka nodded quickly. "You're right, you're right. Of course you are. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. WAIT! Oh, never mind, I thought I saw a spider but you're fine."
Suki sighed loudly and walked over to where Zuko was knelt beside the fire.
She dropped down beside him and said, "Share the watch with me?"
He nodded easily. "You want first or second?"
Suki shrugged. "Either's fine."
He nodded again. "You can take first, if you want. I'll be getting up early anyway."
Zuko said the last part quietly, so only Suki heard. She nodded. "Okay. Sounds good."
Aang stood at the edge of the cliff and stared out at the ocean blankly.
Katara walked slowly towards him, feeling almost hesitant.
She said softly, "You know, it's okay to miss Appa."
Aang said nothing. He didn't even turn to look at her.
She continued, "What's going on with you? In the desert all you cared about was finding Appa and now its like you don't care about him at all."
She knew that she was playing with fire, but her talk with Zuko had made her realise that she'd been letting a few things slide with Aang that perhaps she didn't ought to.
Aang was quiet a moment longer and then he said in a hushed voice, "You saw I did out there. In the desert. I was so… angry about losing Appa that I couldn't control myself. I didn't want to control myself. I hated feeling like that."
She said, "But now you're not letting yourself feel anything. I know sometimes it hurts more to hope and it hurts more to care, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. You have to promise me that you won't stop caring."
She held out her arms and said, "Come over here. You need a hug."
Aang finally turned. He eyed her open arms but didn't approach her. He just put his hands together and bowed to her.
"Thank you for your concern, Katara. But I'm fine."
He walked past her and her face fell.
Suki shook Zuko's shoulder. "Lee. Lee. It's your turn for watch duty."
Zuko woke up and nodded to her. He looked over and saw Katara and Aang laid on opposite sides of the fire, both asleep. Than, Ying, and Noli were laid side-by-side, asleep under Zuko's blanket.
He looked for Sokka and saw him standing alone, just beyond the boundary of their camp. Zuko thought he might be staring towards the Moon.
Zuko glanced over and saw that Suki was purposefully not looking in that direction as she arranged her blankets.
He sighed softly and said, "Don't you think you should go and talk to him."
Suki shrugged, not looking at him. "Why?"
Zuko replied, "Because he's acting weird around you. And not 'he likes you' weird. Besides, I've never known you to be a coward."
That made her look at him. There was a glare on her face. He knew then that he'd got her, and she knew it too.
She hissed, "Oh, you bastard."
Zuko chuckled. "Go talk to him."
She sighed. "Fine."
She stood up and made her way over to the Water Tribesman.
Unsure of how to start the conversation, Suki went with, "It's a beautiful Moon."
She wanted to slap herself for that one. Seriously? Talking about the Moon?
Sokka replied softly, "Yeah, it really is."
She sighed and said, "Look. I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself."
He nodded, still staring towards the bright, white Moon. "I know you can."
"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" She asked.
Sokka was quiet for a long moment. If Suki was being honest with herself, it unnerved her a little. She knew there was more to Sokka than the sarcasm and the humour, but it was unsettling when he dropped the act.
He finally said, "It's… so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened. At the North Pole. I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again."
Suki nodded. The pieces were beginning to fall into place and make sense.
She said softly, "You know, I lost someone I care about. He didn't die, he just… went away. He was on a different path to me, you know. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave and funny…"
She was laying it on thick, but she was hoping it would draw Sokka out of his funk.
It did.
Sokka turned to looked at her and said, "Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?"
She considered it. "No, he's probably about your height."
"Is he better looking?"
Suki broke. She laughed and said, "Sokka, it is you. Stupid."
Sokka's face relaxed and the jealousy bled out of him. "Oh."
Suki took a step towards him and Sokka mirrored her. They were stood nose to nose. She leaned forward a little closer.
Then Sokka pulled back.
He shook his head. "I-I can't."
Suki stepped back a little. She felt her face going red and hated it. "I'm sorry."
Sokka shook his head again. "No. You shouldn't be."
He walked past her, towards the campfire. Suki thought she saw Zuko say something to the boy.
She stayed there, staring at the Moon, a tear streaking down her cheek.
It was a long, uncomfortable, and vaguely awkward night for everyone, save the small family they were escorting. By all accounts, they'd slept soundly.
They'd set off once again not long after dawn, only lingering long enough to have a meagre breakfast.
They'd reached a snag though.
The path had become submerged under the water.
Zuko eyed it. "The water's risen since the last time I was here."
Katara nodded. She stepped forward and assumed a Waterbending stance. She said, "Everyone! Single file, please."
She parted the water down to the seabed and they began walking down and across the bottom.
Katara said, "Aang, I need some help."
He nodded and began bending a large bubble of air around them as she continued to hold up the water.
A shadow passed over them, in the water all around.
Sokka said timidly, "What was that?"
They all looked to Zuko. He said, "That… is potentially a problem."
Katara said, "Zuko, what is that thing?"
He replied, "It's called the Serpent's Pass for a reason."
The colour drained out of all of their faces.
Ying said quietly, "We're doomed."
Aang shook his head. "No, we just need to keep moving."
At that moment, the shadow returned, breaking through the divided water. It began to fall towards them. Ying, Noli, and Sokka screamed.
Toph thrust her hands up and dragged the Earth with them, sending them hurtling up to the surface.
They all fell to the ground.
Sokka gasped, "Okay. Serpent's Pass. Giant Serpent. Makes sense."
He glared over at Zuko and said, "You couldn't have just there was a serpent?!"
Zuko said, "Serpents that size are dormant a lot of the time. I thought we'd be okay."
"Well, clearly not!" Sokka turned to Suki. "Suki, you know about sea monsters, make it go away!"
"Just because I live near the Unagi, does not make me an expert!"
Sokka nodded. He grabbed Momo and held it up. "Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering. Thank you."
Katara yelled, "Sokka!"
Aang brandished his glider. "I'll distract it. Katara, get everyone across!"
He took off into the air.
Katara nodded. She got into a Waterbending stance and froze a path across the water to the other side.
She said, "Sokka, get everyone across. I'm going to help Aang."
She took off surfing across the water, throwing icicles at the serpent.
Sokka stepped onto the ice carefully, testing the strength of it with practiced feet. He turned and nodded.
"Come on, we're good to go."
He moved out and gestured for Than, Ying, and Noli to follow him.
Suki nodded. "You guys follow Sokka. I'll cross next with Toph."
She turned to Zuko and opened her mouth. He interrupted, "I'll go last."
Sokka tried to argue but Zuko pointed at his armour. "I'm the heaviest. I go last."
Sokka sighed but nodded and started leading the young family across the ice trail.
Suki followed after.
Toph stayed where she was.
Zuko said to her, "Toph, you have to go. Katara and Aang can't distract that thing for long."
They both heard Sokka yell, "Toph, come on, it's just ice!"
She hesitantly placed a foot on the ice before quickly retracting it. "You know what, I'm going to stay here on my little island where I see."
Zuko saw something coming in his peripheral vision. Without looking, he snatched Toph up and dived forward.
The serpent's tail smashed through the island, halving it.
Toph said, "Okay, I'm coming!"
Zuko helped her up and directed her onto the ice. He watched her make her way out a little. Sokka, Than, Ying, and Noli were practically at the shoreline. Suki wasn't far behind them.
He wanted to rush out with Toph, help her across, but he couldn't. He could see fracture lines forming when Toph walked. His weight would shatter the ice.
He looked over and saw Aang and Katara still battling the serpent.
Vaguely he heard Sokka shouting, "You're doing great! Just follow the sound of my voice!"
Toph's response made him smirk despite the situation. "It's hard to ignore!"
Sokka ignored her and just yelled, "You're almost there!"
A shadow appeared above them and Zuko looked up.
The serpent had seemingly grown bored with the Air and Waterbenders. It was approaching the thin ice bridge with the little Earthbender shuffling across.
Zuko snarled and damned the consequences. He punched out towards it, sending a blast of fire towards its colossal head.
It reared back, shrieking.
He followed up with another, and another. Trying to draw its attention away from Toph.
He succeeded, in part. It was coming towards him, speeding through the water, but its writhing and thrashing shattered the fragile ice bridge, sending the Earthbender into the water.
"TOPH!"
Toph bobbed in the water, completely blind.
"Help! I can't swim!"
Zuko rushed to the water's edge, ready to dive in, only to be confronted by the great serpent bearing down on him.
In the distance he heard Sokka yell, "I'm coming, Toph!"
And he decided to put his trust in his friends. His friends would save Toph, and he'd face the serpent.
He shot another blast of fire, hitting the creature on its snout and making it shriek and hiss and roar.
Aang swooped in on his glider, sending a burst of air that distracted it momentarily.
Zuko took the opportunity to dive into the water and start swimming as fast as he could towards the shore.
In the distance he could vaguely see Toph's small, green form bobbing up and down in the water, while a larger, green form swam towards her.
He kept swimming.
"Help!" Toph yelled, getting water in her mouth and spitting it out hurriedly.
Her head went under the water momentarily before she struggled back up, gasping for air.
An arm wraps around her middle, holding her up above the water.
She exclaimed, "Oh, Sokka, you saved me!"
She planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Actually, it's me." Suki said, a little awkwardly.
Toph felt her face going bright red. She said, "Oh… well… ugh… you can just go ahead and let me drown now."
They both chuckled slightly and then Suki began swimming forwards, pulling Toph along with her.
Katara shouted to Aang, "Where's Zuko?"
She'd seen Toph getting rescued by Suki, but had lost track of their resident Firebender.
Aang shouted back, "Last I saw he was in the water, but I lost track of him!"
She nodded, even though she hated that they'd lost him again. It had happened when they ran into Chey and Jeong Jeong, and it had happened again in the Cave of Two Lovers. It wasn't a pattern that she liked.
Aang said, "We've got to do something big to stop it!"
Katara agreed. She screamed, "Whirlpool?!"
Aang nodded and gave her a thumbs up. He began swooping in long loops around the creature, wrapping a tunnel of air around it.
As Katara surfed around, she bent the water up until it got caught in Aang's wind tunnel.
A huge whirlpool began to form, with the serpent at its centre.
When it had developed enough, Katara and Aang split off, heading towards the shoreline, where the others waited.
They got there in time to turn and see the serpent get thrown into the mountainside, before falling back down into the watery depths.
Katara looked around and frowned, "Where's Zuko?"
She was met by blank faces. Horror struck her. She turned back to the water, whose currents were still raging from the force of their bending.
"Oh, no." Aang said behind her, looking in the same direction.
Zuko was halfway to shore when the whirlpool formed. He managed to suck in a huge lungful of air before the currents dragged him under.
There was darkness, with occasional flashes of light, accompanied by the burning in his chest that had nothing to do with Firebending.
He struggled and swam, kicking out, and trying to force his way back to the surface.
Very briefly he was confronted by the enraged eye of a huge serpent, but then they were dragged in opposite directions.
He blacked out.
They searched the shoreline.
Katara and Aang did most of the work, using Water and Airbending to speed up the process. Toph tried to extend her Earth senses out but couldn't find him.
Katara saw a smudge on the sand about thirty feet ahead of her. She squinted, hoping.
She yelled, "He's here!"
She raced over, sprinting as fast as she could before dropping down beside him.
She rolled him over and placed her head on his chest, desperately listening for a heartbeat.
Faintly she heard Aang touch down behind her, as well as the sound of the others running up.
She looked up, tears flooding her bright, blue eyes.
She said, "He's alive!"
That was the first thing he heard when he woke up.
"He's alive!"
He spat out a little water as he awoke before breaking out in a hacking cough that felt like he dragging up his lungs.
Firm but gentle hands held him steady, one of them stroking up and down his back as he coughed.
He looked up and through a blurred eye, saw blue.
He smiled faintly. "Thank you, Katara."
It took a little while before Katara decided he could move a short distance.
Zuko argued that it would be better if they were away from the shoreline, where the serpent could strike, or the Fire Navy ship they'd saw the day before.
Eventually she conceded.
He sat with his back against a rock, and Toph and Suki sat on either side of him, refusing to move. Katara had settled herself directly opposite him, eying him closely for any signs of a problem.
Aang and Sokka were hovering; literally in Aang's case. Than, Ying, and Noli were clustered nearby, occasionally glancing over at Zuko. The Firebender was certain that he saw a touch of fear on their faces.
He said, "Guys, I'm fine. We can go a little further. In fact, I insist."
Katara scowled at him. "Zuko, you nearly drowned. You're not fine."
He tried waving her off. "I didn't nearly drown. I've had worse."
That was the wrong thing to say. The Waterbender's face darkened.
She said, "I don't care what you've done in the past, out of necessity or idiocy, but while you're in my care then you will take it easy when I say so. Is that understood?"
Zuko sighed. "Yes, ma'am."
Suki nudged him gently. "Soldiers follow healer's orders when it comes to medical matters. You know that."
He nodded. "Okay, you're right. But I'm not wrong. We can't stay here long."
Toph said, "Sparky, Ba Sing Se ain't going anywhere. The Outer Wall is about a mile or two in that direction."
She pointed, helpfully.
There was a groan of pain. It didn't come from Zuko.
They all looked over to see Ying clutching her stomach, Than and Noli at either side of her and looking worried.
"Oh, no." Ying groaned, face creasing in agony.
Sokka said, "What's wrong?"
"The baby's coming!"
