The Answers Aren't So Clear
Punch. Kick. Sweep step. Back-flip. Punch. Punch. Duck. His body moved on its own, each move swift and sharp. Small flames would trail after his punch or kick. A hidden fury was in every move he made. Ceres would pay. Sweet poured down his face and soaked his training clothes. Zuko let into a sea of punches. After that he jumped up int the air and spun around, flames following him as he kicked out.
"Prince Zuko, enough of this madness!" Iroh cried as he stepped forward. "Three days of training, only stopping to eat and sleep! Rest!" Zuko glared at his uncle through his bad eye, giving it a fierce edge. Had Iroh not grown accustomed to it, he would have stepped back. "You will do no one any good if you are worn out!" Finally, after ignoring his muscles screams of protest, he gave into his uncle and stopped for the moment.
"Uncle . . . . . . I'm going to meditate." Iroh sighed as Zuko went below deck.
"Is he alright, Iroh?" The aged man looked back to see the young avatar.
"Ah, Aang! You startled me! You shouldn't sneak up on an old man like that." Iroh smiled as stuffed his arms into his sleeves.
"Technically, compared to me atleast, you're pretty young." Iroh chuckled and nodded.
"Well, that is true." Aang looked to the hatch Zuko had just left through.
"So, how is Zuko?" Iroh sighed wearily with a distant look on his face.
"Prince Zuko's been working himself to the bone. My nephew has given me full control of the ship as long as we head to the Fire Nation capital. He spends his time training. In the short he has spent training nonstop, he has grown leaps and bounds, as though he was given a key point in firebending. Perhaps he is ready to become a master." Iroh shook his head. "I do not know. But Aang, how is your training coming?" Aang smiled.
"I've gotten down all the things you taught me and told me about."
"Good! You will become ready to be a master soon enough!" Iroh exclaimed. Aang smiled, relieved.
"That's good to hear. I want to be able to stop Ceres and this war before the comet." Aang muttered as he walked away. Iroh watched the young avatar go off with a worried look in his old eyes.
"So do I, Aang, so do I."
- - - - -
His rage boiled beneath the surface, fighting, struggling to break free. The only reason he didn't let it out was because it wasn't the time. The time was when he had that demonic whore in front of him. He would kill it then. His hand clenched into a fist.
Revenge.
It was something that he desired, that he yearned for. He needed it. It was the only thing that kept him going as the young woman he loved laid on his bed, asleep, as if dead. She laid there, her soul locked away inside of her, because of a demonic bitch. And it angered him. It made his rage grow. He didn't think it could get any bigger but then he would think about Katara, laying there, and it would grow. It got to the point that it hurt. It hurt that she laid there. It hurt that Ceres was probably planning to do worse things to her when it stole her body. It hurt that every time he tried to save her, he could do nothing.
He never would have thought that he would experience this again. The agony of watching someone he loved, suffer. He watched his mother die in front of him. He watched her wither away to nothing. He watched as she died and he couldn't do anything about it. But not this time. Not this time. That's all that mattered. Katara. Katara would live. He would give his life if he had to but Katara would live. He would make sure of it. He would not allow her to die! He couldn't! It would break him if he let her . . . die.
"No." He hissed as he opened his eyes. The candles in front of him gave off a light that danced across his face and made him seem darker. "She will live."
- - - - -
"Where's Aunt Brenda?" Zuko asked his uncle as he came up to him, sipping tea at his table. "Where's the Phantom Flame?" Iroh sighed heavily.
"Brenda was forced to dock at a port for supplies. Her ship was running out of them." Zuko sighed and sat down in front of his uncle.
"Uncle, when will we reach the capital?" Iroh looked up in thought and 'hmmed' before answering.
"A few more days. Come, have some tea!"
"I have no time for tea!" Zuko snapped as he stood up. "I need to get to the capital!" Iroh watched him carefully.
"And why is that, Prince Zuko?"
"Because then we can start gathering clues as to where Ceres is!" Zuko growled, tightening his fist as he glared at the floor. "And then I can kill Ceres." Iroh narrowed his eyes.
"Do you really think you can do what even Avatar Senku could not do?" Zuko turned his gaze to his uncle. Iroh did not flinch, like anyone else would.
"Senku did not desire its death as much as I do." Zuko stormed out of the room, making Iroh sigh again.
- - - - -
Punch.
He was training again. It was the only way to become strong enough.
Kick.
He could feel his rage, waiting as if it was a serpent. It tightened around his heart, making it hurt. Everything seemed to hurt. All because of Ceres.
Punch. Uppercut.
He felt his rage tighten around his heart once more. At the mere thought of that . . . . that thing his rage boiled over. He had to find a way to break free. Break free of his rage. He would not give into his rage, for Katara's sake. Atleast, he wouldn't give in yet. He remembered his mother's words and they seemed to calm him slightly. He couldn't give into his rage when fighting Ceres. That would only lead to his destruction. Ceres would use his rage against him if he gave into its blinding power.
Kick, spin, kick.
On the inside, he could feel himself screaming. Screaming his heart out. And that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to scream until his throat was raw. Until his throat bleed. The rage pushed his sanity. But no matter what, he couldn't give in. Then he would be a monster. A monster that no one could love, not even Katara. And that would destroy him. The thought of being without Katara tore at him more than his rage. Remembering that she loved him calmed his rage before he would remember what happened to her. Then his rage would grow again.
"Katara's gonna be alright." Zuko stopped his training and looked over her shoulder at Aang.
"Is there something you need?" Aang shook his head.
"More like, is there something you need?" Zuko clenched his fist as his rage screamed at him. Screamed at him to be let out, to be free to destroy Ceres, to be free to reign over him.
"You know what I desire." Aang leaned on his staff.
"Humor me."
"I desire nothing more than to rid the earth of Ceres. I want to feel its twisted life end by my hands." Zuko had opened his hands and stared down at them. He could barely wait for it. For the moment where Ceres's life force drained away while he choked the life out of it.
"Is that all you desire?" Zuko looked back at Aang. The young Avatar was staring at the hatch door to below deck. "What about Katara?"
". . . . I want to make it pay for what it did to Katara." Aang turned his soft gray eyes back to Zuko.
"You're not answering my question."
". . . . . I failed to protect Katara. I would understand if she did not wish to see me ever again." The child monk smiled softly and shook his head.
"I doubt very much that she would want that."
- - - - -
Today. Today was the day that they would dock in the Fire Nation Capital. It was only a few hours away.
"Are you sure that no one gonna try and capture me?"
"You've mastered the elements." Zuko pointed out when Aang asked him. The young prince of fire would first stop the war. He needed every trustworthy man (or woman, as in his aunt's case) he could get to fight against Ceres. He would then try to ally himself with the remaining nations so they would help hunt down the demon. And the second he found the demon, he would make it pay. The thought of revenge made the prince look back at the avatar. He would need Aang's help. That much he was certain.
". . . . yeah but-" Zuko cut him off.
"By mastering the elements, you've gained the power to end the war. No one in the Fire Nation can stand up to you. Now, the only thing that matters is Ceres." He looked up at the sky. "We only have two weeks before the comet arrives. We need to find Ceres before it can regain its immunity to the elements." Aang nodded before he looked around the ship. Everyone was nervous. It was easy to tell that. They would be coming home. But Zuko still needed them. His crew understood that. Until Ceres was stopped and Katara was safe, he would not rest, so neither would his crew. They were that loyal.
"Are you sure that the Fire Nation will accept the end of the war." Zuko fought back a sigh.
"True, there will be rebels that still want to fight but my reasoning is simple. We need to defeat Ceres and you've mastered the elements. Those two reasons alone are enough for my people to understand and stop this war." Aang nodded after a moment. Zuko, sensing his hesitation, closed his eyes and elaborated. "Ceres is still widely feared in the Fire Nation. And it is still well known because of Avatar Senku."
". . . . I don't understand." Zuko looked back at Aang.
"The idea that an Avatar was not able to kill something, only seal it away, terrifies the people. And because of the war, Fire Nation Avatars are not taken very well with other nations. So after a hundred years, Ceres and Senku were forgotten by the other Nations. Or perhaps they are merely old wives tales. Either way, it is the Fire Nation that remembers Ceres and that's what is important."
- - - - -
Hit a bit of a writer's block . . . . again. Well, I hope that this is good. Please tell me what you think, it helps me get ideas or just plain make the story better. Not to mention it helps the writer's block. So other than that, please review.