Chapter 38: The Death of Zuko

When Zuko saw Katara get smashed into the ground by Robert and not get back up, time seemed to stop. He didn't think he'd ever breathed again. But he did. Get up get up he silently begged. But the universe had never loved Zuko, just like Katara never had.

Nothing happened. Zuko turned to Kakyoin, who looked alarmed and confused.

"I think she still has this under control. This is some kind of trick." Kakyoin said, not really to Zuko, but more to himself.

"No, she's losing, Kakyoin," Zuko said. He could feel his heart pounding.

"There's nothing we can do. It's not the plan. Jotaro will have to take over from here."

"No! We have to help her!"

Kakyoin looked at Zuko, then looked at Katara. She still hadn't gotten up. Robert was laughing, a sound like a frying pan singing good 4 u by Olivia Rodrigo. Kakyoin continued. "We have to follow the plan. I stop Robert if he tries to escape,"

"No! I have to help her!" Zuko could feel a shriek coming up in him. Something in his heart was thawing. Memories and feelings of old tenderness were bubbling over in his brain. It was going to make him violent. His eyes darted around grotesquely, trying to find something he could do. That's when he remembered the thing that would be the end of him. His poison, his own person doom. That Ring. That ring that Kakyoin has got in his nasty little pockets. Zuko looked at Kakyoin and smiled.

"Kakyoin, give me your ring," Zuko said. But Kakyoin was ready. He knew this would happen. Kakyoin smiled too.

"Oh, why do you want it Zuko?" Kakyoin took the ring and played with it joyfully in his hand. Zuko's smile seemed to stretch. It was too big.

"Give it to me, Kakyoin. I have to use it to save someone I…" Zuko's voice died with the magnitude of what the words were. Kakyoin smirked.

"What? Someone you loved? I know. You used to never shut up about it remember?"

"Yez," Zuko's breathing quickened "now give me that,"

"Why should I give it to you?"

"Because I'll kill you if you don't," Zuko wasn't smiling anymore. This behavior would have disturbed anyone else, but not Kakyoin.

"You've always pissed me off, y'know that? You're an entitled, religious, royal brat. You and Aang. But Aang's gone, at least for now. But you're still here, and you still piss me off. Do you think you could kill me? It's actually the other way around," Kakyoin spoke smoothly, sure of every word he said. He wanted to see Zuko squirm.

"I don't care what you think of Aang. I don't care about you or me, in fact, I haven't really cared about myself in a long time. I don't know if I ever really did. I…" Zuko took a breath. "Maybe I'm a bad person… maybe I'm emo because I'm like this because I don't care that you hate Aang. Maybe I'm an awful person because Aang and I used to be friends, but there was too much of an age gap? He helped me through. He helped me so many times, he believed in me. But that was a long time ago. We both changed. But I am sure of one thing. I care about Katara. I used to love her and now I think I still do, even though I'm too emo to love myself. Also, side note. There was this time when I was a young boy and my father took me into the city to see this marching band. So, no, Kakyoin. I will kill you. GIve the ring to me right now."

Somewhere on the hot sand, Katara was lying half dead. Maybe fully dead. That thought crept into Zuko's scrambled brain and stuck there fatally. He was filled with urgency and some long-forgotten desperation. The kind of desperation one feels when they are about to die.

"Give it to me!" Suddenly Zuko screamed and leaped at Kakyoin. Zuko got ahold of Kakyoin's arms and bit into it like a wild animal. Kakyoin let out a low, shrill shriek of pain. But it was mostly an act to give Zuko a false sense of security.

"Give it to me!" Zuko screamed again and he bit harder into Kakyoin's muscular, large arm. He began to taste blood. Kakyoin lifted his arm and smashed Zuko against the rock wall they were hiding behind. It was a swift and sure movement. Kakyoin felt no remorse. Zuko lost the air in his lungs and felt more blood in his mouth. He realized dimly that it was his own. He was dizzy, but he heard Kakyoin speak.

"You will die here, y'know. What a place for a prince to die, hmm? Oh, well. Nobody would have remembered you anyways, lowkey,"

Zuko tried to get up but failed and stumbled. He felt as if he was in the middle of massive darkness, alone. He had a darkness inside him too, but it was leaking out of him by some unseen wound. He felt as if he was becoming translucent. Light, with the wind. Was he dying? The wind seemed to bring something to his hand. Something…

"What's that you've got there, Zuko old pal? A piece of rock, hmm? That's pathetic. Just firebend at me, okay? You'll last longer-"

Before Kakyoin could finish, Zuko's arm burst forward with some new wave of strength. The rock in Zuko's hand passed Kakyoin's face. It didn't touch him.

"Hahahaha! This is sad. You're so weak now, this will be fun! Come on-" Kakyoin stopped.

What was that feeling?

Something was emerging from the side of Kakyoin's head. It was pain. Immeasurable pain, taking the shape in his mind of violent thorns, ripping through his skin. Something wet was dripping down Kakyoin's neck and chest. Now it was on his hands.

"What…?" Kakyoin said. Then he gasped with fear because his voice echoed inside his skull but was quite, an echo. He brought his hand up to the side of his head and felt…

"Where…?" Kakyoin said again in that echoing voice. He became disoriented. He pressed his hand to the side of his head, which was soaked in blood. His ear, it was gone. Zuko had cut it off.

The rich smell of Kakyoin's blood seemed to startle Zuko. His wits returned to him and he scrambled to his feet. Now he had an awful feeling as he looked at Kakyoin, who was looking at him with no feeling at all other than pure, unbridled rage.

"You so annoying, geez," Kakyoin screamed and Zuko seemed to die a little from fear and shock. He had never heard Kakyoin yell before (yes he had). Kakyoin punched Zuko in the face and Zuko screamed. Kakyoin ran at Zuko like a deranged animal and pounced on him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Zuko screamed with shock. The Kakyoin dropped the ring! Kakyoin gasped. How could this have happened? The ring lay on the sand, like a piece of grass. Zuko dived into the ground, towards the ring. Zuko felt the ring in his hand. Without giving it a second thought, Zuko began to tunnel through the ground at breakneck speed.

"GET BACK HERE SO I CAN THROTTLE YOU!" Kakyoin screamed threateningly. Kakyoin began to run on top of the tunnel so fast it would make your head spin. He was like a ginger cheetah. Kakyoin felt as if he was losing. Zuko had the ring in his grubby paws. Kakyoin needed to think fast. Without thinking for another second, Kakyoin reached his muscular fist into the ground and grabbed Zuko by the knees out of the ground! Zuko screamed with shock.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Zuko said.

"Now you cannot get away from me, Zuko!"

"IT'S OVER ZUKO! I HAVE THE HIGH GROUND!"

"Not for long!" Zuko, who was hanging upside down (because Kakyoin was holding him by the knees), kicked Kakyoin in the jaw and knocked out 83 pairs of dentures that Kakyoin has been storing underneath his tongue (for medical reasons and tax purposes). Then Zuko… put on the ring! (he also put on the dentures, but that is a tale for another day).

Kakyoin looked around. Zuko was gone.

"Come back here Zuko," Kakyoin said, sounding awfully depressed.

"No!" Zuko cried joyfully. Zuko thought he was ahead for a moment. But then Kakyoin did the unthinkable. He activated his echolocation.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZ!" Kakyoin screamed, attempting to locate Zuko. He located him. He was sprinting joyfully towards the nearby cliff, which overlooked a great lake. He was not running towards it to jump off, he was going to jump into the water and use it as a catapult to spring him back up onto land so he could go and try to fight Robert.

Kakyoin began to run after Zuko so quickly it would have made a commoner die. What was he going to do? Kakyoin slammed directly into Zuko and they both fell to the ground, only a few feet away from the cliff. Kakyoin found Zuko's invisible hand and ripped the ring from it. Zuko reappeared, looking terrified.

"You really thought you could get away for me?!" Kakyoin roared, panting with exhaustion. He was also feeling light-headed. He had lost a lot of blood.

"You're a monster," Zuko said weakly.

"Me?" Kakyoin questioned cruelty, "You are. That's what I'll tell everyone." Zuko's eyes widened.

"What?" Zuko said in a strangled voice.

"Ah," Kakyoin said cruelly, "I'll kill you and tell everyone it was self-defense."

"But that's true. I did attack you first."

"Shut up, Zuko. That defeats the purpose. It's all in the eye of the beholder."

With that, Kakyoin slung Zuko over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and walked towards the cliff. Kakyoin dangled Zuko cruelly over the cliff. Zuko flailed like a leaf in the wind, being beckoned by time to turn orange and yellow.

"Now, shall I throw you to your death?" Kakyoin questioned cruelty. Zuko thought for a moment.

"If you want. I will probably survive the fall. I'm a fire bender, after all."

With that, Kakyoin tossed Zuko into the wind. As Zuko plummeted towards, he looked like a bird, Ikarus falling eternally but never hitting the ground. Kakyoin looked at the endless sky for a moment. Then he looked down and saw nothing but blue water. No Zuko. Maybe death had taken away Zuko's body.

It was just then that Kakyoin felt the weight of what he had just done. Him. No one had made him do it. Was Zuko just gone? Or was he dead?

Kakyoin fell to his knees and screamed. Then he got back up, and as if in a dream, walked back to the rock. What would he tell his friends?

AN: hi readers! Sorry coming out with this chapter took so long… its just… the death of Zuko is so deeply emotional. I am writing the next chapter right now! This fanfiction will be over soon… but do not mourn! I have several other fanfictions underway… and they are all equally as exciting as this one.