Chap. 11
Balance
"You know, I'm not really surprised." Sokka said, as the group finished cleaning up the beach.
"About what?" Aang asked, as he turned to face his friend.
"Zuko and the Fire Lord. I'm not surprised that he's that vindictive. Anyone who rules the Fire Nation has to be psychotic." Sokka explained. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Sokka heard the voice of Fuego.
"Don't be so hateful of them alone Sokka. What happened to the Fire Nation is something that lurks in the heart of every nation, though in different ways. The only difference is that they let it get out of hand."
"What are you saying?" Sokka asked in confused anger. "That any of them could have started the war, become tyrants? That I could be in Zuko's position right now?"
Fuego only shook his head. "No, I'm not saying that. What I am saying is the need for power and superiority that fuels the Fire Nation is reflected in all the other Nations, but through different mirrors. But maybe I should elaborate." Fuego added, seeing the confused, and slightly angry looks on his companions.
"Each of the bending arts carries with it a different emotional quality, something inside that defines all who use them. Those qualities have gone on to become defining characteristics of the peoples who adopted the different arts."
"Waterbending is defined by flexibility, the ability to shift positions and see the usefulness in different angles. Waterbenders show this quality in their bending philosophy of changing offense to defense and vice versa, as well as allowing many different points of view."
"Earthbending is defined by stability, being steadfast in beliefs and achievement of goals. Earthbenders show this by demonstrating deep connection to their homeland and ways of life as well as having a very defensive bending style.
"Firebending is defined by power, the need to shape the world around oneself. Firebenders show this by being strong fighters and through extreme loyalty to their home which gives them a view of how to shape. They also use their bending to block one attack with another, enforcing their own power onto the attacker."
"Finally, Airbending is defined by freedom, the ability to choose one's own path. The Airbenders demonstrated this by living apart from the confines of the other nations, as well as using their bending to evade attacks until the chosen moment to strike."
Fuego paused then, as he looked over his companions. Sokka had kept his mask of stubbornness, but Katara seemed puzzled.
"These qualities…" she began. "They all sound good to me. How can they be made evil then?"
"Simple." Fuego replied. "Any quality, taken to extremes, becomes dangerous and evil."
"Flexibility, taken to extremes, becomes indecisiveness and gullibility to new ideas. The Waterbenders could have easily been suckered into becoming warlords if given the idea."
"Stability, taken to extremes, becomes rigidity and dismissal of new ideas. The Earthbenders would have become obsessed with creating a world that mirrored their homeland, at the expense of everything else."
"Power, taken to extremes, becomes the need to control everything around you. The war has been proof of this extreme in the Firebenders."
"Freedom, taken to extremes, becomes anarchy. The Airbenders could have lost their structure and fell apart, creating hundreds of wildcard benders, who could have easily destroyed the world if given the chance."
"I guess, anyone could have started the war then." Katara said thoughtfully. "But if this is true, then it was just chance that the Firebenders started it."
"Right." Fuego said. "Just because a quality has it's extreme doesn't make it bad. Bu jut because a quality is good doesn't make it superior. That's why the Avatar represents all four elements, because when combined, they balance each other out. For example, the power of Fire is tempered by the flexibility of Water. But power also gives focus to the flexibility and keeps it from become indecisive. And the freedom of Air tempers the rigidity of Earth, while Earth's rigidity tempers Air's freedom and keeps it focused on the bigger picture."
"How do you know all this?" Aang asked, as Fuego finished.
The red man sighed and said,"I've been alive long enough to see the horrors of all the extremes. That's why I freed Aang. It's horrible enough knowing one Nation has already fallen to the extreme of another. But when it's your own nation…."
Fuego stopped then, unable to continue. Looking up, he saw the moon in the sky, full and high. "It's late." He said suddenly. "We should get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day." With that, the red man removed his hat, placed it on the ground, and wrapping himself in his cape, lay down on the ground. Within seconds, the others heard loud snores.
"He can't be asleep already." Sokka said in shock, as he moved over to the silent form of the red man. Looking over at Fuego's face, Sokka saw that the eyes were already closed, and underneath the eyelids, were moving back and forth in deep slumber. "Wow. And I thought I was good at sleeping." Sokka commented, with a shake of his head.
"Still, he had a point." Katara said, as she pulled out her sleeping bag and began to spread it on the ground. "If we are going to meet his friends, we should be prepared… just in case."
"Wait, now you're suspicious?" Sokka said in amazement.
"It isn't that I don't trust Fuego." Katara said quickly. "But we don't know who these friends are, or if they're coming here alone or being followed…."
"Riiight." Sokka said sarcastically as he grabbed his own sleeping bag and began to unroll it.
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we can take care of it." Aang added. "Besides, we at least got a good meal out of it."
"Which reminds me…" Sokka said suddenly, as he moved over to what was left of the piles of coconuts. Going to the pile on the right, he grabbed on of the 'milk' coconuts and raised it to his mouth for a sip.
"Um Sokka," Aang said. "We didn't poke a hole in all of them."
"I knew that!" Sokka snapped, as he quickly drew the coconut away. Scanning the ground for something to crack it with, his eyes suddenly came upon Fuego's spear, which the red man had placed on the ground when he'd begun his meal.
"Perfect!" Sokka said, as he picked up the weapon. "You really shouldn't use his weapon." Aang warned, fearful that Sokka would damage the weapon.
Regardless, Sokka stuck the coconut in the sand and did his best to lock it in place. Once that was taken care of, Sokka flipped the butt-end of the spear down and raised it above his head. With a loud grunt, Sokka drove the spear down….. and missed the coconut completely, driving the spear into the sand.
"Dammit!" he swore, as he tried to pull the spear out. But as he pulled, the blade end suddenly began to glow. Katara started to cry out to her brother, but before she could, fire suddenly burst through the blade and into the air. Unfortunately, Sokka's head was down as this happened, so he suddenly noticed a smell akin to burning hair. Then the pain hit.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sokka screamed, as he began to dance around in the sand, trying to put out his flaming hair.
"Sokka, hold still!" Katara yelled, as she struggled out of her sleeping bag. But Sokka was too hysterical to hear his sister and continued running around.
"Aang, can you…..?" Katara began, but Aang was already up and with a sweep of his staff, sent out an air current that knocked Sokka to the ground. Once he was down, Katara turned to the ocean, and quickly bent some of the water out towards Sokka. Moving quickly, she splashed his head with water, dousing the fire. Once it was out, Sokka instantly began checking his head.
"My hair, is my hair all right?" he said frantically as the others came near him.
"I think it looks ok." Said a voice behind the youth. Sokka tunred to see Fuego moving towards him.
"What the hell is with your spear, man?" he yelled. "It nearly fried me!"
"Is that what happened?" the red man asked. "All I saw was somebody dancing around with his head on fire, then I woke up the rest of the way."
Moving closer to Sokka, Fuego kneeled down, and gently looked over the boy's scalp. After a moment, he said, "Looks ok. Katara put it out before it was able to really scorch anything. It'll be raw for a bit, but you'll be fine."
"Great, now will you tell me what the heck is with that thing!" Sokka yelled, as he pointed to the spear.
Fuego replied, "I should have told you. The spear has firebending magic in it. Anyone who uses it can control fire. But unless I will it to work for another person, it will burn anyone other then me who tried to use it."
"And you couldn't have told us that because….?" Sokka asked.
"I didn't think you'd use it that way." Fuego said. "Hell, you probably turned it on by accident. If you don't try to use the magic, it's just another spear. I can heal the burn, if you want."
"Forget it." Sokka muttered, as he started to walk over to his sleeping bag.
Shaking his head, Fuego looked over at Katara and Aang and said, "I just lost whatever trust I gained with him, didn't I?"
"I don't know. Sokka can be pretty angry, but it kinda was his fault." Katara said. "See how he is in the morning." Fuego nodded, and bade Katara and Aang a good night.
As the two of them walked back to their sleeping spots, Fuego started to move back to his. But then he paused a moment. The red man suddenly turned his head to sea, as if there was something he'd heard on the horizon. But for Fuego it more like something he sensed. It was still far away, too distant to even be seen, but the red man could feel it all the same. Underneath his wrappings, he smiled. I knew he'd find it. Fuego thought as he went back to his spot and sank back down. Now all I have to do is wait, and Zuko and I will finally get what we need.