Chapter 20: the blockages
"What are you doing here?" Zuko grits his teeth, he doesn't like that Azula calls him Zuzu and smiles with treacherous smile. It doesn't promise anything good, it really doesn't.
"Isn't that obvious?" Azula visibly sweeps a strand of her raven hair from her face.
"How did you find us?" He asks angrily.
"I always knew you were a traitor, but I never expected you to be ploting with the Avatar."
"Leave him alone, he's our friend now." Aang states. "There is nothing you can do."
"What did you do to him?" Azula's eyes narrow. "Oh, let me guess. My little brother got into trouble, the Avatar and his friends took pity and helped him, and he joined them in gratitude. Am I right?"
The Princess speaks seriously and confident, she has a plan as always, but Zuko can't predict it, her gaze shows absolutely nothing but cold-blooded evil. He knows that no matter what she plans, it will not be good for him or his friends.
"Anyway, I'm not here to fight you." She says again. "I want to make you happy, because you're my brother, you know? You may not believe it, but I care about you, and I know you won't be with these peasants for long because they'll never be your family. Your family is waiting for you in the Fire Nation, you can get love there and everything you need."
"Where are you going with this?" Zuko's fighting stance is no longer that firm. He turns his gaze to Ty Lee and Mai, who are standing beside her in silence. He tries to read something from their faces, but something tells him that they don't know Azula's real plans, because if they knew, their faces would surely show something. They weren't cold-blooded, but actually his friends when they were kids, they wouldn't wish him anything bad unless Azula blackmails them with something and they can't reveal their true feelings.
"Oh, you're so weak, Zuko. You've always been weak, but those your called friends make you even weaker. Fear is the only thing you can rely on. People fear you, people listen to you. Don't let them pity you, don't make yourself shameful, you're royalty, they are the ones who have to serve you."
"Just tell me what you want."
Azula smirks. "You have to be grateful, I try to help you, I know where Uncle is."
"What?!" Zuko stands as if struck by lightning. Is it true? Is she really trying to help him? Does she really know where Uncle is?
And at the same time, a second lightning strikes him in the back.
Azula always lies... Azula always lies... Azula always lies...
"He is alive?" The Prince's voice trembles. "Is he really alive?"
"Zuko, don't believe her, she's lying!" Katara snaps, her hands reaching for her waterskin and uncorking it. She is ready to attack at any moment, she knows the Princess can be very dangerous. And this time she's more alert, she knows her friend Ty Lee can block her chakras so she can't bend. Toph, Aang and Sokka are also ready, they don't want anyone to get hurt, like what happened last time with Iroh when Zuko was still their enemy.
"Why should I lie?" Azula rolls her eyes. "He's my brother, I wish him all the best, but he chooses what's worse by himself. I know where Uncle is, and I know how little Zuzu loves him, so I'm here to tell him where to find him."
Katara's hands twitch, but she doesn't release her waterskin.
"WHERE IS HE?!" Zuko asks in an even stronger voice, his fists clenching in anger, he tries to gather his fire, but it doesn't show up in his palms.
"Listen to her, Zuko." Mai intervenes. "If you don't want to get hurt, don't fight. You know what happened last time, even with your friends you won't beat us. The Avatar is no help for you."
Zuko looks at the girl. His hands are slowly relaxing, he knows how Mai cares of him, she had a crush on him when they were kids. Mai looks at him without any emotion, but this time he can see concern on her face, he knows her well enough to read it.
"It's not true." Aang says. "Maybe I was gone for a hundred years, but I'm back, and I'm different now. I'll do my best to keep you from fulfilling your dirty plans."
Azula just laughs at it. "How sweet, but you're still just a child. What could possibly go wrong?"
"Just talk." He looks at her seriously, his staff firmly pressing on the ground. "And if you don't want to fight, promise to leave us alone."
"Fine, whatever you want." She says casually, rolling her eyes again.
"I can tell when people are lying." Toph states. She stands next to Sokka, who is holding his boomerang in front of both of them in case they need to fight. "I'll know if you try to trick us."
"Come on, you can't scare me like that." Azula mocks. "If you really want to see your precious Iroh, he's in the Fire Nation."
"What he's doing in the Fire Nation?" Zuko is surprised. Is she really going to tell him the truth? Does she really wish him only good?
"Don't you know? There are many posters around the world, you are wanted, those who find you will be generously rewarded. I guess you had to deal with the earthbenders who wanted to get all the gold? So they captured Uncle, and you managed to escape, am I right? The earthbenders brought him to the Fire Nation, and Father wasn't very pleased that you weren't with him. You're still wanted."
"I'm not going to the prison." Zuko cuts off.
"Of course you're not. You can do much better if you are smart. I tried to convince Uncle to tell where you are, but he refused. Father wants to lock you up so I wanted to go easier, maybe even capture the Avatar instead of you and give all the glory to you so you could go home. But Uncle still refused to say where you are, even when I offered him freedom and beautiful life in the Fire Nation. But I found you myself so there is no other choice now, he stays in the prison until he rots, but you can still redeem yourself."
Zuko grits his teeth. Azula plays dirty again. Iroh never knew where he was, their ways parted, Azula tried to get from him what he didn't know, and the scariest part that she is probably aware of it.
"Anyway, if you want to see Uncle alive, you have to come with me as a hero. Or surrender." The Princess speaks again. "If you help me capture the Avatar here and now, you will be able to go home and save your beloved Uncle, and if you're not..." She is silent for a while, watching his reaction. "You will end up in prison with him until you both die."
Zuko slowly retracts from her. He knew something was off. If he hadn't changed and attached to these people, he would have definitely accepted her offer, helped her capture the Avatar and returned home to save his Uncle. That would be a justifiable reason for him, but not now when he has found a new family, when he has fallen for Katara.
He can't just betray them.
He can't betray her.
His eyes meets her's. She sees his indecision, but she feels, no, she already knows he won't betray them, even though he's in a lot of pain because he'll have to leave his Uncle behind. And she's right, Zuko soon covers Aang with his whole body, showing that instead of capturing him, he will protect him from Azula. He knows he is too weak, but he still does what he has to do, his arms are outstretched in both sides, ready to firebend.
"I won't let you near them."
"Zuko..." Aang whispers, concerned.
"You choose what's worse again." Azula smirks. "Do you really choose them over your precious Uncle?"
"No, I choose them AND my Uncle." Zuko's amber eyes flicker in the dark. "Release him."
"Fight me." The girl makes a firm fighting stance, preparing to attack, still smiling treacherously. Her brother watches every movement intently, waiting.
"Make me." He hisses.
For a moment, time seems to stop, with Azula and Zuko standing in front of each other. Mai and Ty Lee are also ready to attack at any moment, Katara still holds her hands to her waterskin attached to her waist, Toph's feet firmly pressing on the ground as she tries to feel vibrations, and Sokka with his boomerang.
"You fool." Azula makes a circular motion, her whole body leaning forward as she stretches her arms with blue fire that flies straight to her brother. Zuko jumps into the air avoiding the blow. Approaching her, he raises his arms, concentrating fire in his palms, but it never comes, when he tries to hit, no fire appears, only his empty hands cut through the air. Azula takes advantage of that and with a light movement shifts herself behind him. A second flash of blue fire shoots at him, but Zuko's quick reflexes help him turn around and face her again. However, it's hard for him to concentrate and take that fire into his bare hands without burning himself, and the third flare is already flying towards him. He doesn't understand what's going on, why he can't gather any fire, but he tries anyway. When the fire doesn't show up, he retreats, avoiding Azula's blow again.
This time, however, Zuko reacts too slowly, the fire flies dangerously close to his face, part of its burning flames slashing his left cheek, touching an indelible scar. He feels fire burning and ripping his skin. It triggers the darkest memories of his past. It's like hell, it burns so hard he can't handle it. He can hear himself screaming, just like the day when his Father left him scarred forever. The boy's head soon hits the ground and he remains lying, gasping for air. But it's not over yet. Between those flashbacks, he can hear screaming voices. They are vague and distant because of the hum in his head, but he knows there are many of them. He tries to raise his head. His eyes dimmed, but he manages to see Aang standing in front of him and making circular movements with his staff, which causes the wind and repels Azula's fire so that it doesn't hit him anymore, a vortex of flames revolves around his bold head until it completely disappears in the night.
"ZUKO!" The monk screams. "Can you get up?!"
He can't answer. Get up as well. A gentle hand touches his shoulder and someone's face leans over him. Zuko sees a curtain of long hair falling to his side and helping hands cupping his cheeks.
He feels them burning...
His whole body is burning...
It's hard to breathe...
Heart is pounding like crazy...
He is squirming in agony...
Something is happening around Zuko, but he can't understand because it's so hot. He doesn't know if it's dream or reality. He sees himself in the Agni Kai arena kneeling in front of his Father, tears flowing down his cheeks as he begs for forgiveness.
"Zuko, it's alright, I'm going to heal you."
What is it? The boy hears Katara's voice and it throws him back to reality. No, he's not in the Agni Kai arena, he's lying on the ground, Azula's fire hit his scar, the scar which left him traumatized forever. Zuko didn't let anyone else touch it before, he can't let that happen again. He tries to stand up but it's hard to move. He tries to see what's happening around, but Katara's face covers the whole picture. Is she crying? He can see her wet face but fails to see why it's wet.
It's too dark, two azure orbs are looking at him. Some cold liquid on Katara's hands starts to glow. It soothes Zuko and he closes his eyes. He feels a pleasant breeze, it seems that he closed his eyes only for a minute, but when he opens them again, it's already daytime. He sees Katara sitting next to him. She doesn't look at him, her eyes are facing the sky, the wind gently flutters her hair. The boy realizes lying in the saddle, they are traveling on Appa, he's moving past the clouds.
Katara suddenly turns around and looks at Zuko, as if sensing that he has woken up. Seeing his eyes open, she smiles and leans in front of his face.
"You're awake!" Her voice is full of joy. Zuko is still trying to understand their situation, his head dizzy for another minute, but soon his vision brightens and he slowly sits up.
"What happened?" He asks in a raspy voice.
"Azula found us, remember?" She says.
"She is crazy!" Sokka outrages, sitting at the back of the saddle, so Zuko couldn't see him. "She said she didn't come to fight us, but she provoked the fight herself! She wanted to capture Aang!"
"That's not the point." Says Aang himself, sitting in front of the reins without turning to their side. "She's just so strong, we have no chance of winning. At least not now. But we know now what she's capable of, we can't make the same mistake again."
"We had to flee." Sokka explains. "You got burned by your sister, and your firebending is gone."
"Your chakras are blocked for some reason and I can't unblock them." Katara looks at him anxiously. "I'm sorry. Does your scar hurt?"
Zuko touches his scar before answering. He clearly remembers the moment the fire slashed his face. He doesn't know if it did him much harm, but his body reacted horribly because of his past trauma.
"I can't feel anything anymore. Thank you."
"The wound wasn't very bad though, but you lost consciousness because your body panicked. Azula tried to hit you again, but Aang saved you. We tried to fight them, but eventually we had to retreat." The waterbender explains shortly. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Don't be so paranoid, Sugar Queen, I'm sure you did good." Toph speaks from the back of the saddle and punches Sokka in the arm. "Unlike this useless thing!"
"Hey, I'm not a healer!" He protests, punching her back.
"Anyway, Sparky isn't that good." The girl reminds, blowing a strand of hair from her face. "He lost his bending. Do you have any idea how it happened?"
"No, but you know how'd you feel without your bending?" Sokka waits for a second, but nobody answers his question. "Useless!"
"I'm not talking to you." Toph flicks his forehead and shifts herself closer to Zuko.
"As I told you, his chakras are blocked." Katara says in a worried voice. "They can be blocked for several reasons. I tried to find one, but I'm still not sure. The blockages aren't physical, I can't feel any deposits that triggered the loss so maybe they are psychological or emotional. I still have to find the exact source of the problem so I can start unblocking his chi. I'm going to work on it as soon as we land."
"Where are we going?" Zuko asks.
"Anywhere. Just away from here."
"We can't hide from Azula forever." He protests. "I'm tired of running, sooner or later we will have to face her."
"I know, Zuko, we've talked about this before. But we have to do this until you regain your bending abilities."
"I'm a hindrance for the group, again." He spits. "There is always something that prevents me from doing things."
"No, everything is going to be fine, I just need to take a closer look at you. When I unblock your chakras, you'll regain your bending."
They spend a few hours traveling in silence. Zuko sits between Katara and Toph, a light wind flutters his hair. As the hours go, the weather gets cooler, but he doesn't feel it. He thinks about Uncle, now he knows he's alive, the only thing he can do is save him, that's why he's so worried about his bending, he wants to get it back as soon as possible. That single thought poisons his mind all this time, and he knows what he has to do, without nobody else finding it out.
"The sun will descend soon." Aang breaks the silence. "We have to go down and set the camp, Appa needs rest too."
No one says anything due to exhaustion. The monk lands the bison in the forest. There is a river nearby where they can go for a swim or heat some water for supper. When Appa finally touches the ground, they all go down and start preparing their camp. Katara notices that even Toph helps carry things and build their tents with Sokka. The girl smiles. The last time they slept in the forest, Toph refused to help, they started arguing and she left. But the meeting with Iroh changed her somehow. She is still the same stubborn Toph, but she doesn't mind when someone wants to help her and she willingly helps others.
Iroh... Katara tries to think of him. She doesn't know how Zuko feels knowing that his Uncle is in prison, but she's sure Zuko's glad he's alive. Is there a way to rescue him? Yes, she believes, she knows she has to help Zuko, that she has to talk about it and tell him all their future plans.
She decides to do it during the healing session...
When the camp is ready and while the meat is roasting on a skewer over the fire, Katara invites Zuko closer to the river. He knows what she wants to do and goes after her without saying a word. The girl shows him to lie down on the grass, and when he does, she waterbends some water from the river and kneels next to him. Before closing his eyes, Zuko sees her glowing hands getting closer. He knows the process will be unpleasant, but he is willing to endure to regain his ability.
"You know we're going to help you save your Uncle, right?" Katara talks, her arms running from his head to feet as she searches for the blockages.
"Maybe?" He answers briefly, doubting.
"You can be sure about that." She smiles even though he can't see her through his closed eyelids. "Azula knows you want to go back to the Fire Nation so she's playing with you, but you know she's not going to kill Iroh?" When Zuko doesn't respond, she continues. "We will help you, but it will take some time, we have to train to be strong enough to rescue him."
"No, we can't wait!" The boy objects and tries to sit up, but Katara's hands push him back to the ground. "What if Azula actually kills him?"
"I know she can actually kill, but we have to take risks. We can't blindly rush into her trap, because that's exactly what she wants. She tries to capture you and put you in the prison as well, we need to be prepared."
"And risk my Uncle's life? What if she is torturing him? What if he's hurt?"
"I know how it hurts you, but you said she's good on making plans. But we have Sokka, he's pretty good too, we'll come up with something, just don't rush yourself, okay?"
"Whatever you say." He mutters, but Katara knows that he doesn't like it at all. She is confused why he agreed with that, but she focuses only on healing for now. Zuko's face sometimes twists, his one eyebrow frowns, but he doesn't complain. Katara knows that the feeling is very uncomfortable when she tries to get inside him, but she must do so.
"Got it!" She announces. "Your blockages are psychological. Let me break them then. It can be even more unpleasant."
The Prince nods.
"It probably happened because you were depressed for a very long time thinking your Uncle was dead." She continues. "Your chakras are blocked by emotional toxins."
"I don't understand." He mutters again. "When I started to feel better, I was able to firebend. I still had it a few days ago."
"I don't know everything about chakras, but maybe they haven't been completely blocked yet?" The girl guesses. "Let me see."
Katara concentrates on trying to do her job. Zuko looks at her with his half-closed eyes. The glowing water in her hands exposes her serious face, a curtain of long hair falls over her right shoulder. The girl then frowns and her hands slowly retreat. "It's weird, I can't unblock them, the blockages are too strong."
Zuko flinches. "What does this mean?"
"Maybe I'm just too tired, the rest will give my strength back. I can try doing it tomorrow, don't you mind?"
"No, I guess?"
She returns the water back to the river and wants to get up, but Zuko firmly grabs her by the arm and pulls her closer. She gasps in surprise, her knees press on the ground, chest almost touching his chest.
"Your hair... why aren't you with your braid?"
"It kinda loosened in the fight." She blushes, feeling the heat spread all over her body. "I'll tie it up tomorrow."
"You look so beautiful with your loose hair..." He whispers, she can feel his hot breath on her dark skin.
"And you look better without your ponytail." She declares seductively, her knees move dangerously close between his legs. "Why did you cut it off?"
"It means I betrayed my Nation." His breath hitches, feeling her body so insanely close.
Katara leans in to kiss him but suddenly stops. She knows if she doesn't, she won't be able to stop herself anymore. Her gentle hands slip out of his grip, the palm lands on his forehead.
"Why are you doing this?" He asks in a much more lively voice. "I don't have a fever."
"I know." She kisses his forehead and gets up, fixing her tunic. "Let's go back to the camp, they are probably waiting for us."
To be continued...
AN: As you can see, I avoided fighting scene, concentrating mostly on Zuko, because you know... he is my favourite character, and I'm saving fighting scenes for later episodes so don't worry. But I still love how this chapter turned out, it's one of my personal favourites, I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you love it too! Thank you for staying with me guys, I really apreciate your comments!
