Author Note: What a journey! End of Book 2 and we did it! I am going to update the chapter now, but I am very busy now. I will update again with a more in-depth author note at the end. Thanks everyone and have a great day!
Chapter 66 - End of Book 2
Deep underneath the Earth Kingdom palace, held a long labyrinth of pathways and catacombs. Century-old paths that had rarely ever been utilized before. Some not even having any torches or natural lanterns to produce faint strands of illumination.
Yet, Team Avatar…or what was left of it. Ben, Aang, and Sokka with the inclusion of Iroh were descending the path. Utilizing the force sense and bond between Ben and Ty Lee, they were able to find this place.
With the help of a map and clearing through it with Earth bending they were making sufficient ground through the old caverns.
"Ben, mind if I ask you a question?" Sparked Aang.
Ben nodded along. Bearing a torch as the young boy began to speak. "Remember the guru. I met him and he taught me a lot of things," Aang paused. Taking a deep breath. "Opening up my chakras and even dealing with my guilt. With my feelings about running away…"
Ben listened on, nodding as he took in the information. "He helped me a lot, Benjamin. But something happened."
"What?" Ben questioned.
Aang sighed. Pausing as he continued walking forward. "He told me that I had to give up my attachments. That I had to learn to let Katara go…"
Ben heard the words that came out of Aang's mouth, his hand going to the back of his neck as he slowly began to rub it. "So, he wanted you to give up on Katara, or did he just want you to let go?"
"Is there a difference." Aang shot back.
"There is," Ben replied. "There is a difference Aang in learning to let someone go and giving up on them. There is a massive difference," His hand went to his chest. "I am learning to let go of my mother. I loved her, I care about her still, but I need to let go of the loss."
"But Katara isn't lost, Ben," Aang snapped back. "She's still alive, she's our friend, I care about her…I love her."
Ben sighed. "I know, Aang, I know," He said. "But I don't think the Guru was trying to make you completely abandon Katara. I think he wanted you to understand that you have responsibilities…that if something ever did happen to Katara, that you'll be able to live without her,"
Aang sneered. Turning his head away. "I don't get it, Ben. Learn to live without her…I just, don't."
"That's what happened to me, Aang. That's the trap, being so obsessed over the loss of someone that you can never move on. It can take different shapes or examples, but the Guru wanted you to learn to let someone go…not to forever give up on your feelings for them, but I believe he wanted you to understand that you may have too."
Aang stifled, trying to walk ahead but Ben's arms seized him. "You won't have time to worry about Katara during your fight with Ozai. Same goes for the rest…maybe he's trying to prepare you to understand that letting go for a second is necessary to save the world."
Ben understood completely what Aang was going through. Honestly, he blamed the Monk for not trying to break down what he was trying to teach Aang. Now, he was angry and confused, conflicted over the decision he had made, and Ben knew he wasn't making it any easier, he probably came to him for reassurance that he made the right choice.
But Ben knew deep down that Aang was a twelve-year-old boy who held the world on his shoulders, they both did, but Ben had been through horrible tribulations and had slowly come to terms with it. Aang still struggled with the purpose of his destiny.
There may come a time in which he may have to choose between Katara and dealing with Ozai, and possibly that was what the Guru was trying to tell him. To trust in her, to put faith in her, to have the ability to let go to do what he must.
Faintly, a Jedi's teachings…
"What happens if she's in trouble. Just like how she is now," Aang shot back.
"You must learn to put your trust and faith within our team…just like I learned to do when I came to that realization within the Sith Temple. Aang, Katara is strong and fierce. She can handle herself, and you can't let your fears of what can happen to her distract you from what can possibly come."
"Have you done that, for Ty Lee?"
Ben's eyes widened at the question. But he could tell that Aang did not speak with anger or trying to pull a fast one on him. Rather, it was an actual question.
Ben thought back to those moments with Ty Lee. But he slowly shook his head in response. "No, I haven't," He replied. "But one day, I will. Someday, I will have to focus on the mission and learn to let go of her…so I can focus and do what must be done."
There was a resounding silence that ensnared both Aang and Ben as they continued down the hall. Until the boy unshakingly spoke.
"So, it's true then…that attachments are wrong?"
But he was shocked to see that Ben slowly shook his head. "You're completely missing the point of what the monk and myself are trying to teach you, Aang," He sighed, reminding himself that he was talking to someone younger and less experienced than himself.
"From what I can understand from my life. From countless wars, battles, and tribulations. From my own connection and view of the force…love and attachment are not wrong or lead to the dark side. What you speak of is passion, strong unbridled emotions, but they can learn to be controlled. Rage, fear, hatred…these are strong passions, but there are ways many men and woman have learned to control them. But passions are not the same thing as love. What I shall seek to teach my students is to learn to control their passions within moments of strong emotions and turmoil, that's what the Jedi failed to teach, what the guru failed to impart onto you. But love itself, true love…it will save you, never condemn you."
Aang took in the information. Ben seeing the spark of light slowly return to his eyes as he slowly nodded.
"I think, I understand now,"
Aang stared back again. "There is nothing wrong with my feelings towards Katara, but as the Avatar I need to learn to let her go. Not fully let her go, but when the time comes…to separate myself from the physical, to do what has to be done."
Ben felt a smirk stretch across his features. "Yes, exactly."
"You really have changed, Benjamin." Aang finished off.
Aang continuing down the path as Ben for a second…stopped. His head going a million miles per hour as the words strike him again. Ty Lee, Katara, Sokka…and now even Aang had said it. He had really changed.
Yet even he knew better. He may have changed and grown as a person…but he should never grow complacent. The Benjamin's from before still existed, and he would be damned to forget them. He thought back to the illusion within Exar Kun's caverns.
The Dark Side Corrupted Marauder of Revan's Sith Empire. It was due to his hatred, his grief, and willingness to kill the past, he had created such a Spector. He needed to come to terms with it and learn to heal.
He would forever honor the lessons and pass it down to those that needed it. To his New Jedi Order.
"That was very wise of you, Master Jedi."
Benjamin turned his head back to Iroh. The old thick bearded man with a balding head, wearing the standard Earth Kingdom robes as he approached Ben.
For a second, he was reminded of Bill. The old man that had saved and rescued him. Always pushing him to become greater than what he was. One of the main reasons he was walking this path now.
"I guess, I just told him what I thought was right,"
Iroh nodded along with Ben's words. Observing the young Jedi Master. Yet, there was something off about the way he glanced at him.
"You remind me of my nephew."
Ben's eyes widened as he turned back towards Iroh. "Zuko, I thought he was your son?"
Iroh shook his head in response. "No, Zuko in many ways is like a son to me, but my own son died many years ago during the first sieges of Ba Sing Sai."
"First sieges." Ben muttered underneath his breath.
His mind drew back towards Jet's aggressive speeches about the fire nation…especially to the once great General Iroh. Who in leagues with Lord Fowl, nearly brought the great walls of Ba Sing Sai down and conquered the Earth Kingdom.
"Is that why you stopped your assault of the Earth Kingdom," Ben questioned. "Because of your son's death."
Iroh was silent for a second. "Maybe, that was a time of great self-reflection and introspection on my part. Honestly, you may not believe me about this, but I've seen in my long years of life the horrors of what the Fire Nation and Sith have done."
Ben squinted. Slowly taking a deep breath.
He wondered what the old Ben would've done during this situation. Would he have killed and cut down Iroh where he stood. He was a war criminal, a bad one in fact. But he slowly took a deep breath…he was better than that, better than to give into primal and sinister emotions.
Ben turned back to him. "Me and Zuko are alike?" He asked. "You hardly know me, no offense."
"None taken," Iroh responded back. "It's just the way you two walk. You both carry each heavy burdens…each withholding a great legacy that must be maintained and set right. Zuko, for all the bad he's done has a good heart…but it has been warped by the abuse of his father. While yourself, you have a great legacy to restore the Jedi to its former glory. You both walk heavy paths."
Ben's eyes widened. "His father, hurt him?"
Iroh nodded. "I do not need to remind you of the great mark his father had inflicted upon him…you see it within his face."
Ben felt his blood run cold, his heart skipping a beat as the words registered along his features. Just like him…Zuko and Ben were both abused by their fathers.
Ben's fathers had left scars on him, both physical and mental but they were not as obvious as the wound inflicted upon Zuko's face.
"Do you wish to know more of my nephew?"
Ben looked strangely at the ground. Both men continuing as the small nod came from Ben. As the old fire nation general slowly began to detail the harsh life of the Fire Nation prince.
"Zuko!"
Ty Lee's voice filled his ears as he slowly lifted himself from his crouch. The girl's arms wrapping around him unexpectedly. Sure, it was common for Ty Lee, but he was shocked to find out she was captured here as well."
"Ty Lee…" He murmured underneath his breath.
She parted from him. His eyes registering her features as he slowly took her in. She looked…different than she had before.
Ty Lee, she bore a cloak that was draped over her shoulders that helped conceal her fire nation attire. Her braid was now gone, her long brown hair was down to the base of her back. But it was something else now, she felt stronger, more confident.
"Ty Lee," He repeated. Usually, he would've been angry that one of Azula's cronies would've touched him. But now…he felt different, the anger inside had been tempered, and he felt more in control. "What are you doing here?"
Ty Lee looked overhead. Seeing Katara slowly approach, frustration and annoyance had registered over her features as she saw Zuko. But Ty Lee didn't care. "It's a long story, Zuko." She spoke.
That was when she had begun to explain everything that had happened within their journey. Her heading off to the circus and being captured by the bandit camp. Fighting them off and escaping, only to find out her father had hired Ben and Team Avatar to save her to conceal her powerful connection to the force.
The liberation of Omashu, her training as a Jedi apprentice, and her relationship with Benjamin. Zuko just watched with a slightly open mouth, faintly nodding as he registered everything that went through her lips.
"Woah, Ty Lee," He muttered. His hand going to his head as he struggled with the amount of information. "That's…kind of amazing."
Ty Lee smirked, rising from her seat as she went over towards Katara. "Ty Lee," Katara spoke. "What is going to happen to us?"
Ty Lee sighed, slowly shaking her head. "I don't know," She answered. "Azula can be merciless. I know that Arya is going to gun for me…but I don't know what she'll do to you or Zuko."
Katara grimaced. Her hands going to her temple as she kneeled. "What are going to do, Ty Lee?"
But Ty Lee was silent. Her hand going to the base of her neck as she slowly rubbed it. She was only within this cell because the Dai Lee agents decided to toss her back in here. Azula had not even went to go and see her, but maybe that was for the best.
Then, it happened. Rock and Earth busted from the wall. Their eyes widening as they whirled to see what was going on. Then, they saw it…Team Avatar.
Ben ran up to Ty Lee. Kissing her and dragging her into an embrace. "Katara!" Sokka cried out as he reached out for his sister.
Iroh had walked over to his nephew, taking him by the hand as the pair rose.
Ben held Ty Lee as he turned towards Zuko and Iroh, but he didn't say anything. Instead, turning to Aang, Katara, and Sokka. "We must go, Ba Sing Sai. It's not safe anymore."
The trio all nodded. The coup was already happening, and Ba Sing Sai could fall in any moment…who knows the legions of Dark Jedi, Fire Nation Soldiers, and corrupt Dai Lee agents there actually was. They needed to leave and find Toph. Live to fight another day.
Ben grimaced for a second, back to running away. But he quickly shook his head from the thought. They needed to leave, and he would be damned to let Ty Lee go.
"Ben," Ty Lee spoke. Whirling his head back to the girl. "Arya and Rowan, there here."
A shot of anger rose through Ben's frame. His features contorted into ones of rage and anger, but only for a second as he took a deep breath. No, he would not give into a pursuit of revenge for Jet…he wouldn't have wanted that. They needed to leave here and now.
"Come on, let's go, far and away from this place."
With Ben's parting words Team Avatar left. Whirling into the massive expanse of the underground sections of Ba Sing Sai.
The roaring waves of the water lines. The brilliant jade crystals that reflected and created a natural light as their footsteps clamped hard against the stone floors.
Their eyes looping towards the exit in where they would make their escape, but then…
A blast of lightning shot towards them. Each member was thrown away, knocked onto their backs as…
"Azula…" Ty Lee hummed. Seeing the fire nation royal princess.
For a second, for a moment…she was stunned. Her mind reeling as flashes of memory traveled along her minds eye. The bullying, the insults, the abuse…she slammed her eyes shut, both hands locking along her head.
But she felt him, his hands along her shoulder as she parted her eyes open. Ben…her Benjamin stared at Azula, he didn't waiver or hold fear. Merely, he sneered at her.
Ben gripped his lightsaber as he drew it. They were bathed within it's rich bronze light as he locked eyes with Azula.
Ty Lee was astonished, Azula. The great fire nation princess in which even the Avatar knew was someone to not be messed with…Benjamin met her challenge. Ty Lee remembered the words Jet had told her, of what was going to come.
"That day is today…" She reminisced.
Her eyes drew towards Azula's frame. "Hello, Ty Lee," Azula's features had contorted into one of rage and desperation. Ty Lee within her connection to the force could feel it, something strange, something that she had always felt but could never put a name on it.
Azula rose her hand towards Ty Lee, btu the girl merely shook her head at her. "This whole time, I've always been afraid of you, but now I wonder why,"
Azula's eyes twitched at Ty Lee's words. The girl taking a stand as she spotted Ben's lightsaber…her lightsaber that was clipped to Azula's belt. "I understand now what you are, just a scared girl…that knew that her mother didn't love her, as much as her brother did."
Azula's mouth unlatched, a blast of lightning trailing towards Ty Lee. But the gift of the force ran through the blood of Ty Lee. She drew upon the force with a pull as her lightsaber went into both her hands. Igniting the blade as she caught the blast of lightning.
She moved forward…on the advance as Azula and Ty Lee, once friends, now enemies dueled within secret underground caverns within the royal palace.
Ben saw Dai Lee agents pool out from the sides as Katara and Aang moved to attack. The blend of martial bending might be able to evade and defend against the waves of warriors, Ben moving to engage with them but…
"Zuko…"
A blast of orange flames traveled like a wall as the Dai Lee agents and Team Avatar were separated. The young, banished prince stood between them. His eyes scanning between his sister that was busy holding off a valiant Ty Lee, while he locked his gaze with Katara and Aang.
His mind at war…wondering what option to take. He raised his fist into the standard fire bending position as his gaze traveled to the Dai Lee agents and…
"Good brother," Azula hissed. Snapping her head towards the trio, dodging the violet beam of light of Ty Lee's blade. "Join me, remember your place…we can end this here and now!"
Zuko's scarred face shot between the pair. His orange eyes in a haze, conflict illuminating as he was faced with another decision…throughout his time within the earth kingdom, through all the lessons he had learned here.
He was back at it, ready to fight the avatar, ready to take there…
"No, Zuko!"
The unfamiliar voice silenced the fighting. Instantly sending all eyes reeling towards the loud yell that shook through the cavern. Zuko's eyes locking towards the Jedi Exile turned Grandmaster.
The boy approached the cliff edge as he glanced at Zuko. His face…once one of tormented anger and wraith. Willing to snuff out his existence, but now it was gone…replaced with features of worry. Such strangeness.
As both boys peered and stared at the other. Benjamin had a grand apophony…something so wide and enlarging that he began to reel within his stance. Ben and Zuko, born on completely different worlds and galaxies…there was a strange irony, they were very alike.
The banished prince of the Fire Nation. Son of Ozai and Ursa, heir to the throne and a great legacy. But he had been abused…his mother leaving him, a sacrifice so he would live.
The Grandmaster of The Jedi Order, the last of the Jedi. Son of Madelil Wilum, and the son of a Mandalorian slaver. Traumatized from warfare, horrified from his experiences, but he still wished to hold to the light and do good. He was abused by his father, but the scars were able to be hidden…Zuko held them branded along his face, his own life sentence.
Maybe, that was why there was a strange comradery between Ben and him after he learned from Iroh his past. Maybe, that was the reason why he stopped…
Because the old Ben would've ripped him in half with his blade without hesitation, but he was a Jedi now…and a Jedi took a life as a last resort.
"Zuko," He repeated his name. Softer, but he approached. "Do not listen to your sister…whatever she is offering you is not real. I know that you don't know me, but I do know you."
Zuko stared at him as everyone watched in anticipation. There weapons poised as the light and the dark rampaged within the banished prince of the fire nation. "Iroh told me, he told me everything," Ben said. Extending his arm as he draped it over towards Azula's side. "I know, it is tempting. But you must understand that what you want, it won't ever be the same…"
Ben took a deep breath. His eyes slightly narrowing as his fingers went through his long tendrils of hair. "Zuko, my father hurt me, like the way your father hurt you. Emotionally, mentally…physically," Ben sighed. Slowly shaking his head as the words parted from his lips. "I'm sorry, Zuko. Our fathers were monsters, and he did not brand his abuse on me…like he did to you."
The scarred eye of Zuko twitched. Feeling the phantom pain of those false flames tickle against his skin as he quivered in reflex. His eyes snapping back towards Azula and then Aang but resting on Benjamin.
"We're our father's sons, Zuko. And whether we like it or not…our father's shadows still loom over us. Even now, but we have to make a decision," He stretched his neck towards Azula. Slowly seeing the anguish and realization dawn on her face. "We can either stay within that suffocating shadow, or we can escape."
Zuko glanced at everyone. His eyes widening as everything circulated in harsh precision. Dangerous, darting, powerful. Encompassing everything all at once as he struggled with this choice.
"You'll never be his real son…he'll make a slave out of you."
Those words, those powerful words registered over Zuko's mind as he saw Benjamin. His gaze uncompromising and stern, but he…
Ben's eyes widened. The spur of force energy circling in all angles as the hissing of his bronze blade compacted with the two other opponents. Rowan and Arya, there eyes radiating with the corruption of The Sith. There bodies riddled with dark side mutations as they each leaped away.
Bending, the force, and the physical might of each warrior present. They would define the course of the world. Benjamin Wilum, Grandmaster of The Jedi Order. Avatar Aang, a Master of The Elemental disciplines. There destinies within this great cavern, would be decided now!
