It was Momo licking me that woke me up in the morning. The air was much cooler down here however I was warm thanks to the blanket I was huddled under. "Momo?" My little lemur friend chirped then licked my cheek again with concern before he then flapped his ears. "I'm sorry, I scared you yesterday didn't I?" I smiled to him softly and reached out, stroking back his ears.
"You scared us all." Blinking I looked around to see Aang and everyone else sitting there, including Haru, Teo and The Duke. That's right, I had scared everyone. I'd completely lost control over myself and everything that I had been holding in ever since I was young had just ripped itself free.
"Yeah, you nearly blew the entire temple off the mountain!" Sokka exclaimed before his sister hit him to tell him to shut up. Hanging my head in shame I sat up and crossed my legs, naturally adopting the position as I struggled to find something to say to them. "I mean…it wasn't that bad." Sokka corrected himself at Katara's glare before she sighed then came to sit by my side, placing her hand on mine.
"Is there something you need to talk about?"
"No." I answered instinctively though I knew she didn't buy it. "It's nothing. I just need some time." Pressing my eyes shut for a moment I got myself under control before I lifted my head. "Why was he here? Was he trying to capture Aang again?" Everyone glanced to one another with puzzled and distrusting expressions, making my eyebrow shoot upwards as Momo scattered all over me before settling on my lap after I'd caught him and placed him there, tickling his chin so that he'd purr and go to sleep.
"Actually, he wanted to join us." My grip tightened on Momo and he screeched.
"What?!" I looked to Aang for conformation and he nodded his head.
"Zuko said that he had changed and that he wanted to help us. He even offered to teach me firebending." My brother supplied and I lifted my hands to my head, gripping it tightly in shock and disbelief. This can't be happening. "We told him that we didn't trust him and that he couldn't join us, and that's when you came back and sort of lost it." Helpful, Aang, really helpful. That makes me feel so much better.
"Of course we don't trust him!" Katara burst and I jumped slightly at her sudden outburst. "He's just trying to get us to drop our guard, he'll betray us again, I know he will!" It was unlike Katara to feel so uncompassionate towards someone but I was glad that she held my sentiment. I held so much anger and rage inside of me that I could hardly contain it and it sounded like she did to. "And besides, he'll just upset Thyra so there's no way he's ever getting near us again." With that seemingly being the end of the conversation, I excused myself to go and wash up with the intent to have some privacy.
At the fountain I splashed my face and rubbed the cooling water against my skin, the cold waking my mind up properly. Sitting down I began to wash my hands and arms, slipping off my one shouldered toga so that I could wash properly. "Thyra?" I had heard Aang's footsteps approaching, his soft footfalls ingrained in my mind but I had not looked up to greet him. "About yesterday, are you sure there's nothing that you want to talk about? I could feel your anger and pain and it definitely isn't nothing. As your brother it felt awful to see you like that, I don't want you to be suffering in silence anymore." He announced to me and I chuckled quietly before I looked up at him.
"Aang, you understand what it's like to be in love, don't you?" I asked him and instantly he blushed, rubbing the back of his head bashfully as the red of his cheeks only deepened.
"What? What do you mean? I mean sure I do I guess but that doesn't mean…"
"I know how you feel about Katara, Aang, you think you could hide that kind of thing from your big sister? Please, give me some credit." I teased him before inviting him to sit down next to me, which he did. "Being in love isn't easy, I know that you understand this just as much as I do. But the thing is, sometimes it's even harder than that, sometimes it's impossible."
"How do you mean? How can love feel impossible?"
"Well, when you've been hurt by the person whom you gave your heart to, it's sometimes impossible to forgive them." Reaching out I put my arms around my brother and pulled him close. "The only thing I could love more than anybody else in the world is you, Aang. When Zuko turned against you and joined Azula, I could feel my heart breaking into a thousand pieces. You nearly died because he was weak and I shall never forgive him for that. That's why it hurts so much. I hate him, but I love him too. I can't forget how he was with me when I didn't have my memories, and even now I'm struggling to convince myself that he's not that same guy who danced with me underneath the fireworks at Ba Sing Se." Pulling back I lifted a hand and wiped away a stray tear, warm and wet against my hand before I then placed it into the water where the fountain cleaned away the evidence. "When I feel something, I feel it more fiercely than anyone else ever could, that's why I'm always so careful with my emotions."
"I know. You are the most empathetic person that I know." Aang told me and I smiled at his compliment as he then lifted his head proudly. "I'm not going to let him hurt you anymore, Thyra, and I won't let him hurt me either, so maybe you have to forgive him in order to move on. Gyatso would say the same, he'd say that in order to release the anger within you have to find its equal balance." Gyatso would have said something exactly like that, since when did my little brother become so wise and knowledgeable?
"You're the best, little brother." Smiling I hugged him again before I let go, pinching his cheek playfully. "I'll figure it out, don't worry. I'll find my balance and then everything will go back to normal." I promised him before continuing to wash. Aang left me in peace and I mulled over his words, scrubbing at some dirt on my toga to clean it however I was interrupted when I heard loud voices. Toph had come crawling back to the temple and I saw Katara healing her feet, making me blink as she was then carried over by Aang and Sokka as I slipped my toga back on. "Toph? What happened to your feet?"
"Zuko burned them." Katara answered immediately and my jaw dropped, leaping to my feet to rush to her side.
"It was an accident! I startled him and he just reacted out of instinct." Toph insisted but I wasn't interested in that right now. I lifted one of her feet out of the water to inspect it closely, seeing it was red raw and beginning to blister. "Ow!"
"Sokka, Aang, I have bandages in my bag, can one of you get them from me?" Aang went to go get them as I put Toph's foot back in the fountain. "I'll wrap up your feet with some ointment to help soothe the burns and cushion them for you. Don't worry, we'll fix this." Rubbing her head affectionately Toph nodded her head as Aang quickly returned. I bound up Toph's feet after she'd numbed them in the water, allowing me to tend to them. Just as I was finishing the last one, the hairs on the back of my neck began to tingle. I felt like we were being watched.
Suddenly the air swelled with heat and I cried out, leaping into the fountain and thrusting out my hands to create a huge sphere around us all as something crashed into the rocks and exploded, sending them in all directions however my air sphere kept them at bay before I dropped it. "What happened?! What was that?!" Eyes scanning the horizon I then saw that creepy guy who could firebend with his mind. Oh crap.
"Oh no! It's Combustion Man!" Sokka freaked, his fingers still gripping onto the back of my toga whilst hiding behind me.
"Everyone move, get Toph and let's get out of here!" I ordered, flinging out a hand however just as Sokka and Aang picked up Toph, a familiar voice echoed through the canyon, my heart jolting into a fast paced drumming rhythm which I could feel pounding heavily in my head.
"Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore." That idiot, what is he thinking? He really thinks he can take on that guy alone? He's going to get himself blown off the mountainside. Not that I care. Why should I care? Unless he can drag that weirdo down with him then he's not good for anything except for using up precious air. "The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!" After Zuko was shoved out of the way I saw another attack coming, the air rippling outward in preparation which gave me all the warning I needed.
"Down!" I sprung around and body tackled everyone to the ground, once more airbending a sphere around us to protect us from the blast and the resulting falling rocks also. This time I wasn't going to just take the hit, this guy needs to be dealt with. Wrapping up the air from the sphere I redirected it back at Combustion Man, forcing him to jump to the side to avoid getting blasted by a fierce wind that shattered the rocks behind him.
"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Zuko continued to tried, coming at Combustion Man again with a fireball however it missed after he was grabbed by the shirt. "All right, I'll pay you double to stop!" Taking this moment of opportunity I airbent my glider to my hand, racing around the fountain to draw fire. It worked a little too well. The next shot missed my by a bare few feet, the heat exploding outwards with the flames and I had to dive behind a pillar to avoid being hurt. The others had taken their chance to get to better cover, all of us hiding as Combustion Man shot again.
"Aang! Cyclone, now!" I yelled before the both of us jumped out and began to airbend, sweeping the air around us before pushing the small but powerful cyclone directly at Combustion Man, forcing him to jump however he had already released another shot so I kicked outwards towards my brother, pushing him out of the way as I summersaulted backwards also. Looking around as I landed, my eyes landed on Combustion Man firing a shot at Zuko, making my stomach drop to the floor. "Zuko!" Without even thinking about it I sliced at the air, spinning around with a slice of my foot to create an arc which slammed against Combustion Man and pushed him off balance, his heavy frame helping to keep him grounded however his shot still made impact against Zuko's fire wall and when the smoke cleared, he was gone.
I ran forwards, glider in hand and ready to fly however my path was cut off by another blast, Combustion Man aiming for me once more. "Thyra hang on!" Aang called out to me then attacked our opponent with another cyclone, this time making it bigger and forced him to jump, soaring through the air as I ran to everyone else and gathered up Toph into my arms to run with her, pulling Sokka with me as Aang and Katara tried to stall Combustion Man. For the moment, Sokka and Toph were the most vulnerable, especially Toph since she couldn't see so I drew them further away from the line of fire.
"We're going to be okay Toph, just hang on." I said as I put her down and she instantly clung to Sokka's arm as I looked up and quickly pulled both Katara and Aang around the corner as they ran towards us. I held out my arm, blocking everyone behind me with a grim expression whilst also fearing for Zuko. He can't have been knocked off that ledge, he must have found a way to escape. No, don't care. Don't think about him, Thyra, he doesn't matter. With us out of his sight, Combustion Man began to fire at random, making the entire place tremble.
"He's going to blast us off the mountain at this rate!" Toph yelped as she clung onto Sokka even tighter. Katara moved closer and tried to peer out so I pulled back, letting her take a look however almost immediately another explosion hit the ground nearby.
"I can't step out to waterbend at him without getting blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here." She said to everyone else as she quickly pulled back. If I was fast I could possibly fly out and try get above him, but he'd see me coming and I wouldn't have much of a chance to land a hit, his bending was too powerful for air alone.
"I know how to get an angle on him." Sokka suddenly announced then stepped up, gently pushing me backwards as he reached back and drew his boomerang from the sheath he carried it in, waiting and measuring carefully before he looked at it. "Alright buddy, don't fail me now." He prayed before taking a final breath and throwing it. We all listened as his whistled through the air, gradually growing quieter before it then grew louder once more and the blasts stopped. "Yeah, boomerang!" Cheering triumphantly as he caught his tool again, I turned to look up at the ledge where Combustion Man was beginning to stand up again. At least he landed a hit. "Aw, boomerang!"
"Move!" Shouting quickly I thrust out my hands and pushed everyone back behind the pillar before diving behind it myself, Combustion Man aiming directly for us with another attack. Any moment he would have blasted his way through and then we'll be in serious trouble. Suddenly the explosion came, however it didn't come at us. In fact the pagoda that Combustion Man had been standing on was blasted off the mountainside and as the rubble and debris cleared, his metal arm crashed down at my feet. "Okay, now that's just creepy." Shuddering I pushed it away with my foot however Sokka suddenly snatched up, eyes wide and sparkling.
"Aha this is so awesome! I knew boomerang wouldn't fail me!" He cheered as he lifted up his trophy whilst the rest of us caught our breath back. Suddenly I remembered Zuko and the others so I quickly raced out and looked the ledge and saw him climbing back up. I can't explain the relief I felt before it then returned to bitterness, so with a turn on my heel I hurried towards the others who peaked out from behind the safety of the doors they were hiding behind, asking if everyone was okay and fussed over Teo who was covered in dust, though he didn't seem to mind and definitely didn't mind me making a fuss.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks Zuko." I looked around upon hearing my brother say his name but quickly looked away again, face going rigid and pale as my emotions writhed in my chest once more.
"Hey, and what about me? I did the boomerang thing." Sokka protested in an attempt to keep the conversation light. Zuko walked towards us calmly and without that usual air of arrogance that he used to carry, making me stop and observe him quietly as I leaned against one of the pillars out of his sight as he had his back to me.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well 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." He began in a soft and humble tone that I had never heard from him before. "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. 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." He made a gesture that I couldn't quite see towards my brother and I could see his face soften slightly. "I'm sorry for what I did to you." Zuko continued, bowing to Toph as he did so. "It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally." After a few moments I watched my brother step forwards, resolve evident in his features.
"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara and after that, I never wanted to firebend again." Aang recounted and I thought back to that day and how devastated he had been. No wonder he was touchy about the subject of learning firebending, he must still feel guilty about that. "But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me." Almost immediately Zuko bowed again, his head hung low and my face hardened. I'm not buying this humble display. I just…I just can't.
"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast." Aang stopped him, making Zuko's head rise again. "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?" For a moment Toph said nothing, thinking it carefully over in her head before she smirked and pounded a fist against her palm.
"Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet." That's just like Toph, tough as a rock. Next Aang turned to Sokka, asking him his opinion also. It seemed a little harder for Sokka, however he too came to his own conclusion after deliberating over it for a few moments.
"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." For a moment Zuko relaxed, however when Aang then turned to Katara I saw his shoulders and back tense once more as he awaited her decision. Katara was just as distrusting of him as I was and I was curious to know what she thought. Both Toph and Sokka were okay with having Zuko join us and their reasons were fair, however I was still conflicted. Aang needed a teacher, but Zuko had burned us all too many in the times. Was it really alright to just forget these kind of wounds?
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right." She decided and Zuko immediately exhaled with relief.
"I won't let you down, I promise." He vowed but when Aang held up his hand, Zuko stopped.
"Wait, there's one more opinion I need to hear, and if she says that you have to go then that's final." Aang said, brow furrowing firmly before he pointed towards me. Zuko turned however I looked away, refusing to look him in the eye. A light breeze cooled my cheeks as I leaned back against the pillar calmly, completely different to how I responded to him yesterday. If I just pushed all the feelings aside and pretended they didn't exist then soon enough I won't feel them at all. "Thyra? What is your vote?" Aang pressed, forcing me to make a decision. As much as I wanted to say no, Aang needed a teacher and this was the safest option. Relatively.
Pushing myself up I began to walk away, wanting to get away for a while however before I left I stopped, taking my time to form the words so that I spoke clearly. Turning my head minutely, my voice carried on the breeze, though it was cold and biting, full of malice and mistrust, something that no one missed as my decision finalised everything.
"He can stay."