A/N: Told ya! I didn't make y'all hang on that cliff too long! : )
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me.
It seemed as though no time at all had passed; the ground was still collapsing, shaking, the terrified cries and groans assaulted him as he came to himself once more. This time though, he knew what to do. Righting himself, he sat on the gently shaking ground as he caused a ball of flame the size of the swirling balls of air the Avatar sometimes used to ride on, in front of him. He used jets of fire to begin it spinning and once it was spinning he released it into the air and guided it with carefully placed jets of fire until it was spinning fast enough, and had drawn in enough air that it was able to levitate on its own. Maneuvering it far above the tree he kept feeding the greedy spinning fireball jet after jet of flame, then, when it got too far away he began to throw fireballs at it, watching closely as it began to grow in size exponentially. Instantly, he realized it wasn't growing fast enough, and he knew what he had to do. Tired as he was beginning to be, he once again straightened his arms and caused himself to, rather jerkily, leave the ground behind.
Quickly, he encircled himself with his fiery protection sphere and then he began to spin, as he spun he used his remaining foot, and then to his surprise, his stump, to add fire to the swirling fireball below him as he used the jets of fire from his hands to keep himself aloft. Spinning faster and faster the same direction as the giant swirling fireball he had created, he slowly allowed himself to descend until he was directly in the center of the raging inferno. Growing larger and larger with every bit of fiery fuel it received, it was certainly a ball no longer, but instead a giant sphere, large enough to swallow a small farm and then some. As it grew, Zuko kept it moving up so it would not burn the tree before he was ready. He had somehow reached a higher state of consciousness, because although he was spinning faster than the human body could normally withstand, he was very much alert, and he somehow knew exactly where the tree was, that the tree person was still alive, and how large the fiery inferno must be to do what had to be done.
All at once he realized it was time and in one last heroic effort, he rocketed directly up; at the same time he gave the raging, spinning, sphere of inferno its marching orders and in the blink of an eye it plummeted straight down to where the tree was and slammed into the earth and kept on going; engulfing the entire area in flame, instantly obliterating everything it touched. The tree, every bit of its massive root system and everything else simply disappeared. Upon collision with the ground the violent fireball was unable to hold together and exploded; the sheer heat of it igniting and disintegrating everything with a few hundred feet. Hardly able to breathe, the boy fire bender was forced to propel himself quickly upwards as the oxygen had been completely sucked out of the air nearby.
The incredible sight of the devastation he had wrought was somewhat lost on Zuko in that moment; he felt as if he had been deafened from the roar of the intense conflagration he had created, and then again from the explosion on impact. His arms were shaking and his body felt like it was shutting down. He realized he must to get to the ground, somewhere, immediately. He dropped his protective sphere and jerkily forced himself away from the area, away from the lingering fires, too exhausted to even worry about a forest fire. His strength gave out a few feet above the ground and he plummeted to land hard on his stomach on the forest floor, his last conscious thought was of the tree person, wondering if what he'd done had been right, had been enough; then he sank into oblivion.
In an attempt to keep himself from worrying about the prince who had become as a son to him, the old former general puttered around almost mindlessly, hardly paying attention to what he did, yet trying to concentrate on it fully. He was snapped out of his concentration by a large 'boom!" that almost felt like it shook the earth. His entire body jerked reflexively; that was no ordinary sound, there was bending behind it, he could almost smell it and could certainly feel it. He was astute enough to know that it was quite far, and he felt the icy fingers of fear crawl up his spine. The direction in which it had come from was the same general direction that Zuko had taken when he left. In that moment he had grand thoughts of grabbing a few things and hiking off in the direction of the sound. He shook his head, that wouldn't do; he could easily get lost and might miss Zuko should he come back to camp. Iroh sank heavily onto a log outside the shelter and dropped his face into his hands. He could do nothing but wait.
Through the branches and leaves of the tree, and the roots threading the ground, she could feel the intense heat that Zuko, as she realized she'd been calling him by name, was creating. She felt the air tremble, waves of heat bearing down on her—no, the ancient tree. They would no longer be one in the same; either this would be her grave, or the incredible boy weaving his flames above would be her savior. The ground shifted and the tree sank once more, roots bending to the breaking point and causing her incredible pain. She began to lose her grip on reality and screamed; screamed with no mouth, projecting her agony out and away, continuously, crying out his name, begging, pleading with him to save her before it was too late.
Then, something broke though her panic, she—no, the tree, felt the oxygen in the air begin to deplete. Immediately, the nearly prehistoric tree began to attempt something she would have thought impossible. It was trying to oxygenate the air, forcefully and quickly. Her thoughts paused for a moment on the tree that she had been a part of for so long. Even facing certain doom, the tree was trying to protect those around it by supplying life-giving oxygen. She felt an immense regret, before her world was instantly turned into searing, scorching, screeching, intense heat. In that moment, she knew she had chosen correctly. The pain of the tree disintegrating was only a flash, once it was no more she no longer felt any pain, only warmth.
She felt the sheer force of the swirling, raging inferno as it exploded into nothingness; leaving behind a gigantic crater, burning ground, trees and vegetation at the outer ring. The blazing heat was gone, the air was still low on oxygen, and the fires set by the blast were beginning to hungrily devour their victims. It was but the work of a moment to ascend blissfully up towards the heavens and merge with some large clouds to form a quick downpour, localized over the blast radius and beyond. The clouds, overly heavy with moisture as she fed them, did their duty masterfully; the ground was soaked, the crater partially filled with water, and the outlying areas no longer even smoldering by the time she relinquished her hold on the clouds. So devoted was she to her task, that in her hurry to douse the fires she nearly forgot all about the one who had saved her. "Zuko!" She thought desperately, and used the connection of the drops of rain and the humidity in the air to feel where his body might be and was there in an instant. She banished the water drops landing on his prone body and shifted to vapor to feel if he might still be breathing. To her great relief she felt a soft breath from his nostrils, he was alive.
In her current form she was unable to truly interact with him in the physical plane without causing him to become any colder (or any wetter) than he already was. Her frustration at her inability to touch him only grew until she finally caressed his hand, his shoulder, as she endeavored to awaken him. It would only feel like running water to him though, she was certain, and was insufficient to rouse him. Realizing that she would need something more, she began to attempt to form a human body. It had been so long since she had been able to do such a thing that she was having a difficult time creating something useful. At last she managed to produce something vaguely humanoid from the remnants of the rain and moisture in the air and forced herself to solidify those parts of her new form that were touching the ground, and that would be used to interact with objects. Quickly she discovered two rocks, and carefully picked them up, concentrating on keeping her 'hands' solid enough to hold the items. She moved slowly back near Zuko, but at a safe distance, and then began to strike the rocks together, creating a sharp cracking sound, over and over.
She didn't have very long to wait, for the boy was beginning to move, groaning as he did so. She instantly stopped and let the rocks fall through her once again liquid 'hands'. Moving as close as she dared, she 'watched', or rather, felt, using the moisture in the air, him begin to open his eyes. A moment of panic coursed through her, what if he hated her? What if he was afraid of her? Would he attempt to attack her? What if she frightened him with her new form? She began to move away, but stopped after only a short ways; if she were too far away she would no longer be able to 'see' him as clearly. This form, as her tree form before, had no eyes with which to see so she was forced to make do in other ways. Her thoughts were cut short when the boy in question fully opened his eyes, blinked a few times, rubbed them, and then gasped, scooting himself into a sitting position and taking as much o defensive posture as he was able.
"Who..what are you?" Zuko stuttered staring at the strangely humanoid form seemed to be made entirely of water, flowing, churning, swirling water. The water reached out what could be considered a hand towards him and held it there, unmoving. He sat still for increasingly long moments before he reminded himself that he was Prince Zuko, not a coward, and slowly reached out his hand to touch the water. Instantaneously gratitude and happiness flowed into him like a waterfall; he nearly snatched his hand back the emotions were so strong. "Thank you so much, you did what I thought to be impossible, you freed me from my prison and gave me back my life, I cannot begin to truly show how grateful I am to you!" He recognized immediately the voice from the tree and tilted his head slightly to take a closer look at the being in front of him. "It's you, isn't it."
It was more of a statement than a question, "you're the tree person." He felt through the connection of the water touching him that he was correct. It seemed as if the water were smiling, even if it couldn't do it physically, and he heard a gentle laugh, like a babbling brook. He realized he liked that laugh; he wanted to hear it again and again. "Yes, I am the 'tree person'." Zuko nodded then blushed and asked "I kind of always assumed I guess but" he hesitated "are you male or female?" The water transmitted to him such amusement, once again that wonderful laugh. "Ah it feels so good to laugh…Zuko I am female by nature." He was strangely pleased at this, and wondered at himself. Suddenly he realized something important, "I don't know your name!" he blurted out without thinking. The tree person sent a small laugh his way and seemed to smile at him. "I have not needed such a thing as a name in many a moon, but once I was called Umi." Slightly embarrassed he smiled a small, quick smile. "I like it." He fell silent, unsure of what to say, or do.
He thought to stand up, and, remembering how he had moved himself before endeavored to do so again. Once again he placed his hands at his sides and attempted to move off the ground. He noticed Umi released their connection and stepped back to give him room. He only managed a foot or so before exhaustion overcame him and he lost his control over the fire and it winked out. He felt a jolt of fear and humiliation that turned to pain strike through him as he dropped heavily to the ground. Too ashamed for her to see his face he turned away from the watery form of Umi as she flowed over the ground to his side, instantly worried for his safety. "Leave me be!" he ground out, then quietly, "don't look at me…"
She connected to him once again by gently allowing the water of her 'hand' to flow against the skin of his shoulder. Umi found it impossible not to know how the boy was feeling at that moment and sent a wave of comfort to him. "You are not alone Zuko, I am here and I will not leave you. I am not so callous that I would not help you when you have given me life and freedom." He looked up at her watery form and for a moment he thought to refuse, he could make his own way! She smiled to him. "Please let me come with you. Now that I am free, I truly have nowhere to go." She let some of her own emotions flow through their link, "Also, I am now truly alone. The tree, the forest, and its denizens were my only companions for longer than I am able to count. They are gone, and I wish.." she hesitated, "I..I wish not to be alone."
Zuko felt her pain, her loss, and somehow he realized it was only a very small portion she allowed him. It was because of him everything had been destroyed, even if he'd done it to save her. It was only right that he should take care of her. He almost snorted aloud at that preposterous thought. The banished Prince Zuko, crippled and maimed, trying to protect a water spirit, what a joke. A strong wave of reproach flowed over him and he realized that through their link of water she seemed to be able to fully discern his thoughts and feelings, more so than he had originally understood. "Never think of yourself in that manner!" She scolded him. Zuko almost smiled at that moment, "you sound like my uncle." "Thank you, your uncle is a very kind, wise and understanding man."
Shaking his head the nephew of that uncle blew air out his nose in an almost-snort. "Why do I get the feeling that with you around I am going to be out-numbered?" Umi smiled through their connection and answered that she hoped then that he might absorb it one day, given enough soaking. Zuko caught the irony and hint of a pun in her words and barked a laugh he didn't realize was coming on. "I've had about all the soaking I need for one day" he quipped, "why don't we find somewhere comfortable to stay the night and start out early in the morning?" She agreed, knowing he was very tired and would need his strength to make it back to his camp. "I will search for a suitable place to stay while you rest." Zuko scowled, "I'm not an invalid, I am capable of finding my own shelter!" Carefully limiting the amount of emotions she allowed through their connection Umi attempted to impart to him the logic in allowing her to find shelter for him. "I have the ability to search a very large area instantly using the root systems of the trees that still remain in this area; I can search a large radius in mere moments." She allowed a sigh through "and if truth be told, after spending so long within a tree, it would be nice to reconnect with a few trees, even momentarily." Zuko somehow felt she was still trying to spare him but let it go, what she said made sense, and he was very, very tired.
It was only the work of a few minutes and Umi found what she sought; a large tree with wide overhanging branches that would serve as the perfect shelter for the night. Once the decision was made she turned herself to the task of getting a sleeping Zuko there. He had been fast asleep in the short time it had taken her to return. The few attempts to waken him had failed and she was loathe to keep trying as it was becoming dark. Unwilling to rest out in the open or leave the boy to do the same, Umi stood, conflicted. Suddenly, she had an idea. She held a 'hand' over his sleeping face and drew on the water in the air, creating a miniature snow cloud. In moments the cloud began to gently snow on the prince's head. It wasn't long before a very groggy Zuko was blinking the snowflakes out of his dark eyelashes and dragging up a hand to brush off his face. "Mmph" he mumbled, "whazzee idea?" Umi couldn't restrain an amused chuckle. "It is almost dark; we should seek shelter." Zuko hummed to himself and shook his head as if trying to shake off the sleep, but certainly trying to shake off remaining snowflakes. His face felt damp from the ones that had already melted. Blasted water spirit making it snow on him… After a moment of contemplation he almost shrugged, it might have been worse; she could have been an earth spirit.
A/N: Can you believe it; another chapter, so soon! I had a really, really hard time coming up with what Zuko was going to do about freeing Umi, I hope it's not too disappointing after all that build-up..haha!