XVIII.
"Is the Air bender prepared?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, nurse. Gloves, if you please." A Fire Nation woman slipped rough leather gloves over the man's hands.
"Mask." A silk scarf went over his nose and mouth, tied firmly behind his ears. He stood above the unconscious Air bender, one scar already snaked across the boy's head. The man held out his hand to the woman.
"Knife." The boy stirred slightly.
"Clamp." The arrow on his head began to glow.
"Smaller knife, nurse."
"Uh, sir?"
"Nurse, please! Don't worry if you forgot to wash it-the smaller knife!"
"Sir! The boy…his arrow!" She pointed to make her observation more obvious.
"Interesting reaction…do you think it's caused by the herbs we used to knock him…"
"Sir!" Another nurse burst into the circular stone-built room. The man turned.
"What is it, nurse? We are in the middle of a procedure and were instructed by order of Fire Lord Ozai not to be dis…"
"The Air benders-their arrows are…"
"Glowing?"
"How did you know?"
"This isn't comet science; it's brain tampering," he replied. The boy suddenly sat up on the raised stone slab. A wild, strong wind picked up, sending the knives and tools scattering.
"I will alert the Fire Lord about this!" the man yelled and left the two women with the Air bender.
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Another wave of burning arrows slammed into the rocks below, sending the group of soldiers scattering. Bumi and Haru bent a wall of earth up around their makeshift army, the Yuu-Yan taking up posts along the openings in the rock.
Jet grabbed his hooked staffs, crestfallen that his fellow Freedom Fighters weren't by his side. He never realized how close he was to them, almost like brothers. Bumi jabbed a thumb at the palace steps as hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers spilled out.
"This might get ugly."
"For us?" Bumi grinned as only a mad genius could.
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The sound of soldiers flooding out of the Fire Palace caused Sokka and Lenara to turn.
"I knew you'd send out an ambush. Doesn't matter that half those men are your own soldiers," Zuko grumbled. Ozai folded his arms behind his back. He was about to speak when a Fire Nation man skidded to a stop in the doorway, a leather glove bracing his panting body against the archway.
"M-my Lord! The Air benders…"
"Not now."
"But sir, they're reacting! Look at the arrow! The arrow!" The group turned as one. The boy had deposited the infant back in the cradle, but was standing above them on the dais, his blue arrow a beacon and his eyes strangely clear.
"Katara." The boy's voice was familiar. Katara moved towards him, but Sokka nabbed her hand.
"How'd he know your name?"
"Because," she smiled, "he's Aang."
"Uh, no, he's not."
"Sokka, Aang is speaking through him."
"How do you know that?"
"I just…know. Call it instincts."
"Har, har. Well, my instincts are telling me…"
"Sokka, bring Katara out to the geyser fields. I need you guy's help."
"Will you quit talking to us through that kid's head?" Sokka muttered.
"Can you believe there are other Air benders? Isn't that great? You were right, Lenara!" She smiled.
"Aang, this is hardly the time."
"Oh, yeah."
"Avatar," Ozai's voice curled through the air, like smoke on silk, "it's a pleasure to finally speak to you."
"Are you Lord Ozai?"
"Yes."
"You'll be getting yours shortly." The light from the arrow abandoned the boy; confusion fogged the swamp of his eyes. Katara and Sokka moved for the door, but a couple of guards melted from the shadows, blocking their way. Sokka's confiscated boomerang was tucked into one of their belts.
"They don't have time for this. C'mon," Lenara touched Zuko's elbow and they ran at the guards.
"Get out of the way, Katara!" Sokka shouted, yanking his sister out of the path of the fire. Both soldiers released a fatal shot, hardly wary of injuring their crown Prince. Lenara slid under the fire as Zuko arced over it and the two landed on their feet, blazing fire. One guard dropped, the other endured and reached out to snatch Katara for a shield. Zuko blocked him and twisted the man's arm behind his back.
"Go!" he shouted at the siblings. Sokka stooped to snatch up his boomerang from the unconscious soldier and he and Katara ran through the archway. Zuko swept a kick at the man's ankle and as he fell, Lenara delivered a hard kick to the back of his head.
"Try using a woman for a shield now, coward."
"Still a traitor to your nation, Zuko? Disappointing. Your time at sea would have been better spent on your brother."
"I'd gladly trade places. Then he could carry this scar with him and all the sleepless nights spent felling worthless and ashamed."
"Oh, spare me your melodrama," Ozai sighed, "you always did take after your mother in such ways."
"Good thing, too," Iroh began to remove his outer robe, "his mother had a heart, which I am relieved to see has been passed down to my nephew."
"What are you doing, Iroh?"
"You are obviously not going to welcome Prince Zuko back to his rightful place in the family bloodline. Ozai had an amused smile on his face.
"Of course not. He failed to bring me the Avatar. That was the deal, brother. He's lucky I don't do to him what I've done to the Air benders."
"Yes, your graciousness knows no bounds," Iroh snapped sarcastically, tossing aside his sash.
"Are you preparing for an Agni-kai?" Ozai seemed on the verge of a spat of laughter.
"No man should have to fight his father for his respect. It is either earned or bestowed, but never battled for."
"Then he will never have mine. Who could respect such weakness?"
"I respect Prince Zuko. It is not a weakness to challenge the old ways, to value life, to love a woman instead of possessing her. He would not have seen these monks made into ghosts."
"Are you almost finished preaching your gospel, Iroh?"
"I call for Agni-kai: to battle for my nephew's place on the throne. You will accept?"
"Bold, Iroh, but I accept." Ozai removed his cloak, bare shoulders wide as the sea.
"Does your whole family look like they were carved from mountains?" Lenara whispered.
"All except Uncle Iroh," Zuko answered.
"More of an avalanche with him, eh?"
"Not quite. He likes to be misleading. He knows most people take it for granted that he's an old, overweight man."
"Will your father make that mistake?"
"No."
"Are you ready, brother?" Iroh nodded. The two brothers crossed arms, the challenge recognized. The Agni-kai began.
XIX.
The swarm of soldiers was surprised to see the group of rebels standing in a tight cluster, bunched shoulder to shoulder in a circle facing them. As the soldiers ran at their prey, an elderly man slammed his bare foot onto the ground and a long rip in the earth swallowed several soldiers. Another stomp bent the large slabs of rock upwards, draped with shocked soldiers scrambling at the sides for purchase. Those soldiers still left standing slowed their pace, caution now being the order of the day.
"Now what do we do?" Haru whispered.
"We fight," Jet's voice was grim.
"Nope," Bumi folded his arms, "we won't be fighting 'em." Jet turned, incredulous.
"Are you kidding me?" Bumi wiggled his eyebrows.
"We're gonna get slaughtered! We have to fight back!"
Even if we did, there are more of them than us. I don't think we'll make it," Haru pointed out.
"Well, at least we'd go out fighting instead of just standing here with our fingers up our…"
"Just calm down, Jet. Not everything has to be a fight." The soldiers of the Fire Nation had stopped to listen to the boy's loud argument.
"Afraid of getting your hands dirty, Haru?"
"No, but I'd like to avoid a massacre if I could. Some of these men have families!" The soldiers twisted their necks to watch Jet's response.
"And what about my family? I'm sure your sentiments never crossed their minds when they killed my mother and father!" They snapped their eyes back to Haru.
"Violence only begets more violence, Jet. Is that the legacy your parents wanted you to carry in their memory?" Somewhere in the crowd, roasted popped corn was being passed around…
A smattering of slippered feet scurried around the group of rebels. Jet and Haru lost their thoughts in the silk wrapped bodies of the girls who brandished their fans at the soldiers.
"Thanks for stalling them, boys," Suki passed Jet and Haru, a whisper of perfumed water lingering over them, "we'll take it from here."
"Wait a minute," Haru approached her, "there are only a dozen of you and several hundred of them! Your courage is great, but the odds are against you."
"Then you'd better learn to count, Haru. There's more than just a dozen of us." The boys found themselves surrounded by the Avatar's army-Freedom Fighters, Kyoshians, Earth benders, Fire benders-the ranks swelled until it rivaled the Palace guards. Bumi clapped a hand on Jet's shoulder.
"Nice distraction. Now we can fight them." Jet grinned.
"Pretty sly, old man." He noticed Smellerbee and The Kid by his side. His brothers in arms.
A battle recognized, the two armies collided.
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Sokka and Katara reached the steps and reeled at the bright white of the sky. Clouds piled up grey above. The dust below was choked with thousands of warriors, mothers, husbands, and humans fighting a useless but visually grandiose battle.
"Stay close, Katara." Sokka ran down the steps, Katara a shadow's length behind. They sprinted a wide arc around the battle and continued on to the geyser flats. Above it all, the comet hastened to its master…
---------------------------------------------------
Ozai stared his older brother down. He remembered how Iroh used to fight. But Iroh's age didn't fool him-the former general was a magnanimous bastard who spouted fireballs laced with proverbs. Defeating him would sever the last weak influence on his son and serve as just punishment when he executed Iroh in front of the boy.
Ozai brought his arms to his center, collecting the fire inside, drawing from the torches. Iroh prepared to block. Ozai released the fireball skyward and it rained down on Iroh. The old man nimbly rolled away from the blasts of fire and struck out with his own fist, his fire splitting into three shots. Ozai absorbed the blow and didn't seem any less for it. He bowled a large flame at Iroh, then kicked another flare to follow. The first bounced and Iroh barely dodged it. The flame continued past him towards Zuko and Lenara. He took his eyes off his brother, distracted, as Ozai had expected, by his panic for his nephew and the girl.
Lenara snatched the water skin from the unconscious soldier and ripped off the cork. She bent the water in a high arc, killing the flame. Iroh turned back remembering the second flame, but in too little time. His charred body slid heavily across the smooth marble.
"Iroh!" Lenara yelled and moved toward him. Zuko grabbed her arm.
"We can't interfere."
"Are you out of your mind? Your father's going to burn him alive!"
"It's the rules of Agni-kai."
"So? Your uncle's fighting for your honor and you're telling me you won't help him because of an ignorant rule? Since when did you enjoy following the rules?"
"I know, Lenara." Zuko lowered his head, shame coloring his face. Ozai fired another blast and it rolled Iroh's half conscience body. Zuko clenched his fists, white teeth bared.
"The hell with it." Zuko let go of Lenara's arm and marched toward his battered uncle.
"Enough." Zuko bent down, offering his hand to Iroh. The old man gratefully took it.
"You have a lot of guts, boy, dishonoring Iroh during an Agni-kai. Is nothing in the art of battle sacred to you?"
"His life is about the only thing sacred to me at this point," Zuko stood with Iroh's weight around his shoulders.
"You two deserve one another- traitors to the Fire Nation and miserable sympathizers for the lesser savages of this world." Ozai raised his hand.
"It's fitting you should go this way. Zuko…Iroh…surrogate son to surrogate father…try not to stain my floor when you die." Ozai pushed out his arm, but Zuko reached out and grabbed his father's fist in his hand. Ozai tried to push his arm forward, but it stayed effectively blocked. Zuko's arm remained taunt, shaking from the strain. Ozai grunted:
"Foolish efforts, boy."
"What are you afraid of? Scared I may actually overpower you, father? Is that why you banished me? Was I too young to know how powerful I could have been?" Ozai's arm inched backwards.
"You're a coward. You don't have it in you to harm me." Zuko narrowed his eyes.
"Getting a little tired of you talking to me like that." Ozai suddenly lashed out with a kick and sent his son and his brother to the ground. He stood above them, a pale figure against the fire.
"Well, that's a shame, Zuko, because I was rather enjoying it." Ozai's fist glowed. Iroh grimaced, bracing himself for his departure from this world. It took him a few moments to realize his brother was screaming.
Ozai clutched at this throat, his attack forgotten. He gagged, drawing in a wheezy, dry breath. Iroh watched his brother's reaction down to the bottoms of his feet. It was there the old General noticed Lenara, her left hand locked tight around Ozai's thick ankle, her right hand stretched out over the marble floor, water forming a puddle like a shadow beside her body. Her gaze was intense; her eyes no longer green-they were blue. Ozai let out a final wretched breath and folded in on himself, collapsing on the hard floor like a banner that has lost the breeze. Lenara released his ankle as Iroh and Zuko stood. She shook the last drops from her hand.
"Is he…"
"No, just dehydrated. I've heard of Water benders using themselves to take in and pour out water. I was hoping it would work if I could absorb it from another person."
"Looks like you can." Zuko made sure Iroh could stand alone, then knelt down by his father.
"He's not going anywhere," Lenara murmured, getting to her knees.
"Will you be able to, though? Took a lot out of you, it seems," Iroh replied, his voice raspy, but regaining its old strength. Zuko held out his hand and this time, Lenara didn't push it away. She was on her feet, swayed, and heading for the ground in under two minutes. Her body shook from the exertion as Zuko lifted her in his arms.
"I learned to be this graceful on my own, you know."
"Save your energy. What now?" Zuko asked Iroh. His mentor nodded his head at Ozai.
"We have disposed of the Fire Lord. Our task here is finished. Even if the Avatar fails, the Fire Lord will not be able to harness the comet's power."
"Yeah, instead we're getting crushed into granules by a huge, fiery rock," Lenara coughed.
"Nice to see you're looking on the bright side for a change," Zuko replied.
"I am, actually. If this is how I have to go, at least I'm here with you two. Poor Aang-if he can't stop the comet, he has to watch us all die."