With Toph directing me through the rocks she used her earth bending from my back to push an opening all the way through to the temple itself, right to where Aang and the others were gathered and when they saw me walking through carrying Toph, they all immediately stood up with worry, Katara hurrying forwards. "Toph, what happened?"
"My feet got burned."
"Oh, no, what happened?" Wanting to know the exact details, I continued to carry Toph over to fountain, tired from walking for hours so I let her slide down where Aang and Sokka caught her then helped lower her down gently, holding up her feet and sitting her down on the edge of the fountain so that Katara could get a better look.
"I just told you, my feet got burned."
"I meant how." Toph and I shared a guilty glance before we turned away.
"Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night." Everybody reacted just as we expected, with disbelief, shock and frustration. "I just thought he could be helpful to us and if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out." Bending the water out of the fountain, Sokka looked at me as I slumped down, bending water out then just dumped it over my entire body to wash off the sweat and drank a little too to recover.
"So he attacked you?"
"Well, he did and he didn't. It was sort of an accident."
"But he did fire bend at you?" Aang clarified and Toph was unable to lie to them.
"See, you trusted Zuko and you got burned. Literally."
"Hold on, Toph told you it was an accident. She stepped on the campfire, that's how her feet got hurt." I explained once I'd regained the ability to speak, turning over to look at everyone. "Zuko didn't mean it."
"You were with him?!" Sokka's jaw dropped as I frowned at him pettily.
"Uh, duh?" Sokka just smacked his face with both hands, unable to think of anything to say in reply as Katara bent the water back away from her feet.
"You were lucky Kayo was able to work on them so soon, but it's still going to be a while before they heal enough to walk on." Now regaining himself, Sokka started to speak his mind about what should be done with Zuko.
"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him."
"What? No!" Immediately getting up, I argued against Zuko being hunted down like he was some kind of criminal. "Zuko isn't a bad person, this was an accident! He didn't mean to hurt Toph at all, he was just startled when he didn't know who was approaching his campsite." I tried to reason with them, wanting them to see that Zuko was here to help us. "He's not here as our enemy, why aren't you guys listening to what he's saying?"
"Because he is our enemy. He's done nothing but hurt everyone around us to try and get to us!" Sokka argued strongly as I just retaliated.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, and Zuko is no exception! You're all just blindly judging him for what he's done whilst he was confused and lost, it's unfair! You're all taking all the blame and hurt you feel from what the Fire Nation have done and putting it all on Zuko."
"Sorry Kayo, but you don't exactly get a vote this time around, your opinion is biased after all." I swear I was this close to hitting Sokka but I somehow managed to restrain myself. "Zuko can't be left unchecked. We need to do something about him."
"I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice." Aang agreed, which just made me all the more frustrated.
"He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him."
"Maybe just invite him back here. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once." Toph suggested, resting her feet in the water to keep them cool.
"Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner. Then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it!"
"You are a master of surprise, Sokka." Katara drawled, finally making me snap as I yelled at them.
"You're all such kids! Ugh! I need an adult to talk to around here, you children are driving me crazy with how stubborn you are!" The downside of being one of the older people was that everybody else's immaturity got real annoying real fast. I blame Iroh. If he didn't teach me so much, I'd still be that same carefree and ignorant girl that was pulled out of the ocean. I walked off on my own, intending to get some peace and quiet somewhere alone but before I had even taken two steps away from the fountain, the sound of consecutives bangs followed by an explosion caused me to freeze, recognising it as the sound from the guy who could shoot fire from his mind.
The ledge above the fountain exploded and I was right in the line of fire. "Kayo!" All the kids screamed as I ducked, covering my head and instinctively pulling water from the fountain to cover me as I dove for the ground rolled out of the way, shielding my head with my arms as everybody else ducked down too. When the rocks settled, we all sprang back onto our feet, forgetting all arguments and focusing on protecting each other.
Just as Toph was pulled out of the water, however, we all heard Zuko's voice echoing throughout the cavern, drawing our attention to what was happening. "Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!" That prince can be such an idiot sometimes. It's a wonder he'd managed to stay alive until now by himself. "The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!" Another blast followed, Combustion Man clearly not taking orders from his benefactor anymore and the top of the fountain exploded as I jumped, throwing out my arms to cover all four of their heads and pull them down close to me, shielding them as some smaller rocks and rubble hit my back, causing me to wince and groan from the blows. Zuko continued trying to make the assassin stop, his voice still as clear as if he were standing right next to us. "If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" There was a pause and I dared not even think what was going on up there. "Alright, I'll pay you double to stop!" Well, at least he was trying.
We were pinned down, unable to move because everywhere around us was too out in the open to risk trying to run, we'd get targeted immediately and I get the feeling this guy wasn't just after Aang anymore. Since we'd all eluded him, I feel like this was a personal vendetta now. Each blast tore away more of our cover and more of the temple as well, leaving us with very few options and even less time. When there was a pause in firing, we all dared to look out over the edge of the fountain in order to see Combustion Man standing on the cliff with Zuko at the edge, now facing one another. Before I could figure out what was going to happen, Zuko rushed to make a shield of fire with his hands as our assassin fired directly at Zuko. "No!"
Rising up in alarm, Aang and Katara grabbed my arms to keep me from running out into open as we all stared, waiting until the smoke cleared to reveal Zuko had vanished. A pulse flared through me, cold and daunting as I felt like vomiting. Katara pulled me back down as Aang rushed out, air bending a twisting cyclone which he then sent straight at Combustion Man who merely leaped over it like it was nothing, falling through the air before using his metal arm to catch hold of a ledge and slow his fall before it broke, allowing him to land on a new ledge with a new vantage point on us.
Katara and Aang bent the water out of the fountain to shield us all from the blast before she ran out to create a huge wave between us and the assassin. Forming two waves of icicles, Katara launched them at Combustion Man who was forced to shield himself from the attack with his arm, giving us time to break free and run for it, choosing a pillar which we could all hide behind as I held Toph in my arms, having grabbed hold of her to carry her away. As we hid, explosive sounds began to fire randomly and constantly, blowing up one of the pillars and causing everything to shake violently.
"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side." Toph said urgently as I lifted my arm to shield her face from debris, using my hand to catch stray pebbles, stones and dust. Katara cautiously looked out, trying to see what she could do before hastily pulling back as another explosion boomed close by.
"I can't step out to water bend at him without getting blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here." Seeing Sokka thinking up something, his face suddenly brightened as an idea came to mind.
"I know how to get an angle on him." Taking Katara's place, Sokka pulled out his boomerang and pressing his back into the wall in order to watch where the blasts were coming from, reading the angle before lifting his boomerang, judging the distance and the curve he'd need to hit his target before taking a breath. "Alright buddy, don't fail me now." Throwing his boomerang with all his might, it spiralled away and curved, sailing through the air as we all crowded precariously at the edge of the pillar to take a look at whether or not it would hit.
Rather astonishingly, the boomerang struck dead centre in the forehead, right in the middle of that weird tattoo before flying back to Sokka, my jaw dropping in disbelief as he leaped up and caught with a triumphant yell. "Yeah, boomerang!" We had hoped it would at least knock him out, but when we saw the guy standing back up, all celebration and cheer quickly dissipated. "Aw…boomerang!" Complaining that his plan didn't work, we all dove back behind the pillar, expecting another explosion and possibly death now that we'd given our position away.
There was an explosion, but not one near us, so when we all stepped out to see the pagoda Combustion Man was standing on falling into the chasm below, we all just stared as it dropped, taking the assassin with it, presumably. "Um…what just happened?" I questioned, utterly confused at how that had ended before I remembered Zuko. "Zuko!" Turning around quickly, I breathed a sigh of relief to see him climbing the vines he'd caught onto when he'd been blown off the ledge, settling my racing heart. That was a dumbass move, but at least he was okay.
We waited for him to come over, the rubble littering the ground from where the entire temple had almost been demolished. I sat Toph down on a large rock to give my arms a rest, standing back slightly as Zuko approached us all as Aang hesitantly spoke first. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Zuko."
"Hey, and what about me? I did the boomerang thing!" Sokka interrupted, lifting up his boomerang and I giggled lightly.
"That had to be the most impressive thing I've ever seen Sokka, and I've seen some really awesome things." I assured him, patting him on the back as we grinned at each other, like our argument never happened in the first place.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday." Zuko started as he walked towards us all, speaking more calmly and more confidently in comparison to yesterday. "I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard, but I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honour, and that somehow my father could return it to me, but I know now that no one can give you your honour. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right." At that point he looked at me so I just arched an eyebrow and smirked him with an 'I told you so' look, but said nothing. "All I want now is to play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world." I looked at Aang, wanting to know what he thought about Zuko's words and saw that Aang had softened a little as Zuko then turned to Toph with an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a fire bender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally."
Something seemed to change in Aang then, his expression shifting as he thought for a couple of seconds before stepping forwards to address Zuko. "I think you are supposed to be my fire bending teacher. When I first tried to learn fire bending, I burned Katara,and after that, I never wanted to fire bend again." He revealed, making me look to Katara who hugged her arm and looked away. "But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me." Bowing in acceptance to Zuko, I saw the prince's face warm as he bowed in return.
"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast." Cutting him off before he could get carried away, holding up his hand. "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?" Turning to her first, Toph only needed a moment to consider before she decided.
"Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet." She grinned, punching a fist into her hand.
"Sokka?" This took a little more consideration, as Sokka's first instinct was probably to go against letting Zuko anywhere near us, but decided that it was best to trust in Aang, shrugging nonchalantly.
"Hey, all I want is to defeat The Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it." Nodding to Sokka, Aang then looked at me.
"Kayo?" I smirked, folding my arms before looking pointedly at Sokka.
"Well, according to someone here, I don't get a vote because I'm biased." Guiltily rubbing his head, Sokka apologised.
"Okay I guess that was a little unfair of me, you were just trying to defend your prince or whatever." With a laugh I wrangled him around the air and started knuckling his head to mess with him a little, berating him lightly for being so stubborn before I grinned at Aang.
"You know what I think Aang. You need a teacher, and I said I wasn't going to be much help beyond basics." Finally turned to Katara, who had stayed silent all this while and we all looked at her, Sokka wriggling out of my grip. She glowered at Zuko, frowning deeply as he fidgeted nervously, waiting for her verdict until finally she closed her eyes, choosing a similar response to her brother.
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right." Relieved and overjoyed that they'd finally come around, Zuko eagerly stepped forwards.
"I won't let you down, I promise." Everyone turned to walk away, viewing it as the end of the discussion. Toph reached up as I leaned down to lift her up, placing her arms around my neck as I looked over at Zuko, smiled, then carried her away, feeling light hearted and had a certain thrum in my heart which felt almost like a happy tune.
