(Notice, I do not own the original Avatar: The Last Airbender characters or storyline. They are owned by Nickelodeon. This story and all character's else-wise ARE owned by me.)
(This may be changed in a future date. I'm not too sure I really like how these 'Acts' turned out.)
Act VII: Fierce Opponent
After two hours of steady meditation, Zuko began to prepare for the duel between himself and Ora. Stretching his limbs from their current stiffness, the exiled prince stood up and found his uncle behind him, sipping tea. Ignoring the old man for the time being, the prince quickly moved over to a set of white robes set out for him in front of his uncle. Iroh stopped him by wrapping his hand around the younger boy's wrist. "Zuko, there is one thing I must warn you about the girl before you fight.", he implied, waiting for the prince to give him his full attention. Zuko slowly turned his gaze on his uncle, waiting for him to continue.
"Keep your distance at all times, nephew. While she may charge at you, you must keep the distance between yourself and her."
Zuko studied the now worried look on his uncle's face, taking it to mean that Ora was perhaps a fierce opponent in close quarters. Putting this valuable information to mind, the young man nodded and then freed himself from his uncle's grasp to turn and change.
Giving himself a short few moments to change and finish his overall preparations, Zuko stepped out of his room. After waiting for his uncle to follow, the two began to walk to the far left of the compound, where a loud hammering could be heard from. Approaching this scene, the young prince took in the workings of Ora's guardians and several servants as they put the finishing touches on setting up an impressive dueling ring.
From his observations, Zuko could see that no trees existed for many meters around the ring, nor running water. Gravel was the ground source, but this had been mostly covered by a immense red tarp. The tarp had been marked with set boundaries by a white rectangle. This eliminated the chances that the girl was an earth or waterbender. Which left him to decide that she was indeed a firebender.
Inwardly humoring himself and calming his doubts, the young firebender approached the ring with renewed vigor. If indeed she was the firebender he had all but declared her to be, he had little to fear. Then thoughts of Azula came to mind. Could the girl know anything about blue flame tactics or the creation of lighting? These were factors he had foolishly overlooked.
Zuko began to worry again. He had yet to master these traits. Would he be strong enough to defeat her if she had them? He had little time to debate over this, as it was at this moment Botan and Ora had chose to appear, the latter dressed in similar robes as he.
A difference about her dress however, were the arms of her shirt. They had been removed. In the absence of her sleeves were bandages covering her entire arm, excluding her fingers. This confused Zuko because he had seen her upper arms earlier, and he could not remember any injuries present on them. Why had they been bandaged now? Would that not inhibit her from performing firebending?
Again the young man was torn from his inside debate as he felt two hand rest themselves on his shoulders and tug at him to turn around. Thinking that this was his uncle urging him to ready himself for the mock Agni Kai, he complied easily. He was right on the person, but not on the issue.
Iroh studied his young student's conflicted expression and sighed. "Remember what I told you, nephew", the older man offered, but saw that these words reached deaf ears. Shaking the young man, he gained a little more attention and repeated his warning.
Zuko nodded in compliance. "Uncle, I have one question." Iroh's eyebrows raised, waiting. "Why does she wear bandages around her arms and hands?"
Iroh closed his eyes and bowed his head, obviously not wishing to give a full explanation for this question. What he did depart was the simple statement, "They are to your benefit, nephew."
Zuko angrily huffed at this answer. She was putting herself at a handicap for him? Did she think that he was that weak of a fighter? Cursing under his breath, he began to prepare himself for the fight. He would teach the girl a lesson he knew she needed, that much was sure.
In a matter of seconds, a male voice Zuko identified as the waterbender Xiong's announced to both players the circumstances of the mock duel, emphasizing the importance of an immediate loss were one to attempt to take the life of the other purposely. "Are both fighters prepared?", he asked next, receiving nods. "When each is ready, you may begin.", he ended, walking softly away from the center and to the side of the ring.
Zuko was the first to turn around. Unsure as of who would be the first to make a move, the young prince stood in his first stance, legs wide apart and a hand out in preparation to unleash his first strike.
Ora spent little time estimating Zuko as she began the attack. She ran, faster than the boy could imagine, in his direction, hands crossed and raised infront of her. He had little time to move out of the way as she came crashing into his spot, almost tripping Zuko as he felt the earth shake underneath his feet.
She was an earthbender? Zuko growled at the thought. She had put herself at a much higher handicap than he had originally perceived. But why, why had his uncle implied that she was at a handicap by her arm bandages?
Again he dodged as the girl came his way. It was all he could do but block and move out of the way as she sent strong, fierce attacks towards his chest and face. He could hear his uncle screaming. Quickly finding a spot, the young man flipped out of the immediate area of Ora, leaving her to stomp a foot once more into the ground. Again the ground shook underneath him, but something else caught his eye. No one else seemed to feel the incredibly strong vibration under his feet, even Xiong, who stood only a few feet from Ora herself.
Extremely confused, the prince steadied his stance as good as he was able, watching as Ora drew herself back in a similar position, apparently catching her breath. Taking this opportunity, Zuko quickly unleashed his own attack, sending several waves of fire in the resting girl's direction.
Ora's eyes narrowed on her former emotionless face. Quickly changing her stance to one Zuko identified as something akin to a waterbender's, the girl pulled herself towards the fireballs and swung her arms back as she caught the fire. Effortlessly she channeled the flames outside the ring and into the nearby wall of the compound, just meters from Xiong's head.
Ignoring the tall waterbender's girlish scream, Zuko immediately stopped his attack. "What are you!", he screamed, angered by this new development. "You cannot control fire and earth both! That is only something achieved by--"
"The Avatar", Ora finished, still in a fighting posture. "And you would be right, in any other case. There is only one Avatar, and I am not him."
After a while, Zuko regained his composure and began to glare at the girl heatedly. "Then what exactly are you doing?"
Ora smiled and stomped the earth below her. "You'll find out soon enough.."
Again growling, the prince gave into yet another cryptic answer and began his assault. He moved in, closer and closer as he watched the girl simply redirect the flames, her bandages beginning to burn away the process. Cunningly, Zuko saw a chance to land his first hit on her and dashed in.
He could faintly hear the renewed shouts of his uncle as he grabbed the upper arm of the young woman and squeezed down his heated palm in to her newly exposed skin. She winced as the pain sunk through and quickly freed her arm out to throw a punch at Zuko face.
Something felt strange as he touched the girl's skin. His head throbbed for a brief second as he held on to her, coming close to causing him to be hit as she swung out with her other arm. He could not have seriously been that exhausted already, they had barely began to fight!
He found as he studied the girl from his new position, her fighting posture had changed yet again, this time to an all-too-familiar firebending stance. Unsure of how to react to this, Zuko settled at mimicking her.
To his surprise, the girl began to fire at him. Her shots seemed to start large at first, only to end up in the shape of pin-like daggers as they closed in. Unable to entirely dodge this melee-like attack, one stuck his shoulder. The pain that resulted was intense, exactly as it were to feel if she had stabbed him with the true weapon. Groaning outloud, he covered this injured area, but rapidly regained himself as he stood back straight, a new grimace on his face. "You're a firebender", he remarked.
"Not exactly", came his reply. "But yes, I can firebend."
"What about earlier? Was that earthbending?"
"No", Ora answered, absently rubbing her injured arm, "just an illusion."
Zuko starred hard at the girl, confused and appalled. She was playing with him, either lying about her abilities or completely insane. But then it struck him. No other had felt the earth move.
In a move to test this theory, the prince charged in again, ready to land several hits to the girl's abdomen. He watched as she gracefully dodged his attack, first moving her feet to the left, and then by spinning her full self in the similar direction. Surprised, Zuko could do nothing as she came back towards him, her now flaming arms out, body spinning like a top.
The impact was brief but hard enough that it knocked the boy back and onto the ground several feet away. No longer came his uncle's screams. Just silence and the roar of blood to his ears. Pulling his sore body up, he watched as the girl came again, this time flipping sideways several times until she was a foot away from him. Without warning she launched a flying high kick on his chest, knocking Zuko onto his back and breathless.
Screaming, he rolled to his side as he noticed the girl's heated foot had burned through his shirt. Moving as quickly as he could despite the pain he felt, the prince regained a fighting stance and looked to his awaiting opponent.
Her hair, which had once been pulled back into a bun, now hung loosely at places. Her clothes, once white and clean, were now burned and ripped in several areas. Her arms seemed to glow with the burns that he had inflicted. But what struck him the most were her eyes. No longer the bluish-grey they had once been, they seemed to now glow with a golden intensity he had never encountered before. Unable to comprehend what changes had actually taken place between himself and the girl now before him, the young boy raised his hand in mercy. "I am done."
The girl eyebrows furrowed at this announcement. "No...we are not", she corrected, her voice dark and menacing.
This caused the boy to step back. What had happened during their fight? His body was sore, and he knew that the girl herself should be falling apart from the looks of her. Yet she demanded that he continue. She reminded him sorely of his father.
Before he could answer, she came again, her battle rage like a beast's, ferocious, merciless toward's it's prey. Zuko yelled as he jumped back, this fight had been short, that was true, but he could not continue much longer And just as he was about to crumble from the exhaustion and pain, a pair of strong hands came from behind and lifted him straight again.
Weakly turning his head to his rescuer, he saw that it was his uncle. The older man's face was heavy with the look of pity, not entirely directed at his nephew, but at the young girl before him. Turning his head back he watched as she cluelessly studied this new person.
This new person seemed to confuse the raging woman, but not enough to quell her desire to fight. In horror, Zuko watched as she came again towards him, fist raised and ready to shoot out her attack. The prince could barely pick out Iroh's new screams as the older man pulled himself and the boy out of harm's way. In a flash, Iroh relaunched himself towards the girl, blocking her attacks. "Ora, calm down!" he shouted, as he grabbed her advancing fist.
In a flash Botan approached the girl from behind. Zuko cowered in fear as the girl physically shook in anger towards him while in Iroh's hold. Then, as Iroh began to speak in a softer tone to the girl, the prince watched as she immediately started to crumble in sorrow between the arms of the adults holding her.
Unsure of how to react to this change of pace, the prince steadied himself best he could in a standing position. However, before he could walk towards the trio, Iroh's hand shot up stopping him. "Stay away", was his only command before returning to gather the girl up from the ground. Slowly Zuko watched as both adults now supported the girl up to her feet.
Ora starred back at him, her eyes now a blue-grey again were filling with tears. She slowly hung her head in obvious shame as she took in his fearful expression and then spoke softly to her supports. Exchanging quick glances towards each other, they let her go and watched as she approached the young man.
Zuko, still quiet afraid of the girl, began to back away. The young woman stopped after seeing this and hung her head. "Zuko...", she started, only to be stopped abruptly.
"What are you!", the prince yelled, his voice wavering.
This time the girl did look up, her face masked with anguish. "I am a mistake", she said. "I am sorry", she added, and then turned away, walking from the arena.
Zuko, unnerved and exhausted, simply fell to the ground, too tired to act brave any longer.
Act VIII: Who I Am
Xiong sat by the outside fire as he watched his wife put up the final pieces from the fighting ring they had used earlier. He noted the dark patches under her eye and the frown that seemed to be permanently attached to her face. The waterbender knew that she was upset, that was evident from the crying she had done as she bandaged their young mistress' exhausted body earlier. "Yumi...", he began.
Yumi shook her head 'no' as she hung up the last few tools in the storage house, turning around to find her husband close behind, his arms already opened to draw her into a soft embrace. She let herself fall into them and sighed. "It's hard to brush aside the pain, Xiong, when I see her become like she was. It's hard to accept that she's–"
"Hush", replied to his wife's sorrowful explanation. "It's difficult for all of us to accept, she's our leader as well as friend. But we can never be weak, for her sake. We just have to hide our fears behind our masks of loyalty."
New footsteps caused the surprised couple to turn around. Yumi's mother softly spoke to them, similar evidence of her own sadness echoing through her words. "Lady Ora has asked us to come to the main hall."
Nodding, the couple bowed to the older woman and then turned back towards one another. Yumi studied her husband's eyes before she spoke. "I am still upset, please explain to Ora that I have decided to keep watch over Hea instead."
Xiong nodded and embraced his wife one last time before turning his back and walking towards the main house. He was unsure of his leader's intentions, but he knew that it had something to do with the activities from earlier. Sighing, he reached the door of the main hall.
Opening the room access, he was greeted with even deeper aura of grief. Ora sat in the middle of the room, dressed in a long burgundy kimono, her hair pulled up in an ornate design, decorated with small pearls. Botan sat beside her, plainly dressed and completely emotionless as she studied her son-in-law. Nodding once to the man, the older woman motioned for him to sit on the opposite side of their mistress.
It was then that he knew something important was about to occur. Quietly Xiong moved to the left side of the frail noblewoman, bowing his head as she looked up to watch him descend onto his assigned place and pillow seat. He noted that Ora's hands, delicately lying on her lap, were newly bandaged. Slowly he placed a hand her her arm, then looked into the girl's glassy eyes. "Yumi is unable to come", he quickly stated. "Are you sure this is wise, Lady Ora?"
The girl simply nodded, unable to say anything more as once again the doors to the hall were opened. Iroh, smiling despite the majority, walked in with his nephew in tow.
As the two men sat in their own seats across from Ora and her guardians bowed slightly, ready for the issue to be discussed. Botan was the first to speak, her tone now firmer. "Iroh, Zuko, it is our mistress' wish for her actions to be explained. But due to her...condition...", she started, unable to find the best word to describe the young woman's obvious disposition, "she is unable to address such herself. In her stead, she has asked me to do so." Iroh nodded for the woman to continue, while Zuko kept his eyes on Ora. Botan seemed to take little notice of this as she went on. "I will make this brief, for the sake of both parties. Now..."
She was stopped as Ora placed her hand in the older woman's. "Forgive me, Aunt, but I will brave enough. I should not hide from my mistakes, no matter what they may do to myself." And receiving the approval from her friend, Ora turned back to the guest, locking her eyes with Zuko's.
"I am a lifebender, young prince", she started, flinching only slightly as Zuko's horrified expression. "I see you know what that entails, given your expression." Zuko nodded, despite being very taken back by this news. Ora continued, her voice shaking despite her wishes. "Benders are usually warned in their earlier ages against using such tactics to overthrow their opponents. Only the most despicable of humans use these tools. Even waterbenders, who have the easiest advantage in this approach will never sink low enough to use them. But this is not an option for me. I was born to use the forbidden arts, and despite how much I detest them, I cannot deny they exist as a part of me.
As a young girl, my mother and father noted that I had trouble controlling my bending. Yet they said nothing to me of it, because to them, it was a gift to have a daughter who could both bend fire and earth. I was a prodigy, it mattered little that I could not control my gifts.
But something occurred to my parents on my third birthday. My bending seemed to disappear for hours, sometimes days. Strange to them, it seemed once they touched me, these gifts would come back to life almost instantly. I believe they only thought of these problems as something that would happen to a young child such as myself. But my mother finally realized something was wrong when my father went away for several months, and the day after his departure my ability to fire bend did as well.
This threw my mother into a panic. She wrote to my father immediately, explaining in detail of what was happening to me. Several days later, news came from your uncle that my father had been killed. Apparently someone had intercepted the letter and assumed that I was the new avatar.
We barely escaped with our lives a day later as guards attacked our compound, killing all our servants and guards. Had it not been for Botan and my mother knowing of a secret passage under our home, we would have died as well.
My mother and I hid for several years after that fight. She was not welcomed back in the Earth Kingdom, as she had married into the enemy forces. So we stayed for year hidden by Northern Water Tribe, where we met Xiong, a friend of Botan's.
Much happened that year. As a child, I did not understand why I no longer had a father, and why I could no longer play with my friends. And especially why I was now a fugitive. So it did not occur to me that I should stay hidden in my new settings. Thus, one day I stumbled onto a group of children my age playing with their toys. Excited, I asked to join them. I had made new friends. Sadly, that did not last long.
As we were playing, I watched in the distance as a boy of our age now practicing his bending. I was a little girl, so of course I was entertained by this. I had never seen someone make water move before. Not even Xiong. Excited by this new discovery, I decided to pretend that I was a waterbender too.
Children think little of touching or hugging one another. And in this case, I had touched a girl, or two, as we played with our dolls. In my defense, I did not know what I was then. No one knew. Lifebenders did not exist, or at least, they weren't supposed to.
I began to mimic the man's moves. And to my surprise I could also make the water float! As young as I was, of course I had little training, so my version of the boy's trick was weaker. Thatdid not matter to the other girls around me. They clapped and giggled as I moved the water around myself.
Soon after, Botan happened to catch my act. Reacting quickly, she grabbed my shoulder and began to pull me away from the girls. I jumped away from her, wanting to show her my new trick. To my surprise, I didn't bend water any longer. I was bending white fire."
Before she could continue, Zuko interrupted, "Lighting."
Ora nodded, and then continued again, "Knowing nothing of this, I was very afraid, and immediately caused the lighting to go off into the distance. Thankfully all it struck was a pole, but that was enough to get my mother and I kicked from another home.
Before we left, an old woman approached us and told my mother and Botan of a place in the Earth Kingdom where we could live. That place was here. And so we again moved our lives from one home to another, all in the efforts of protecting me from the world.
As you may have guessed, we have remained here from that point onwards. Botan's daughter, a former private in the fire nation army, decided to move here a year afterwards. Xiong, who Botan had told everything to before our arrival to the Northern Water Tribe, came to visit several times, and much more once he met Yumi–until a year afterwards, when he decided to stay here forever, after Yumi and he were married." The ox-like man smiled and blushed, obviously embarrassed that his mistress shared such information about him.
Ora went on, "When I was seven, I had already been in training in all available bending styles that my guardians and mother could teach me. They thought me to be the Avatar, as it was the only explanation they had for my abilities.
It was Yumi who discovered how I inherited my true nature. At seven, it bothered my mother that I was still going through spells where I would not be able to use some of my bending. So she asked Yumi to teach me basic sword fighting skills in hopes of me always having a defense. My mother had acknowledged that one day the fire nation would learn of me, and so I was trained in order for me to have a chance to keep myself alive.
Yumi had been trained in the fire nation as a spy, and so she knows all-to-well how to pick up information about her enemy's behaviors. As my teacher, she acted no different. In just three days she had discovered the reason I lost my abilities was due to the contact I had with the people that held them.
She told her mother, who in turn told mine. Eager to find out more about the strange behavior of Avatars, they sent Xiong out to gather information. In a matter of weeks he returned, but not with the news my mother expected. I wasn't the Avatar.
Like the Avatar, I can master-and use-all of the four elements. But unlike him, I must touch others in order to do so. The Avatar has all elements at his disposal when he wishes.
In reality, I am a very weak individual. In a fight, I must somehow come in contact with my opponent before I can yield any powers over elements. That is why your uncle told you before our fight to keep your distance. If you do, I cannot fight you through bending. Luckily, my powers allow me an offense when I am attacked, but it takes much of my basic strength to do so.
When you and I fought, Zuko, you repeatedly shot out fire blast that I had to direct away rigorously. If you had continued that for much longer, I would have been defeated easily. But you thought you had an opening, and in ignorance you came in too close–even touched me–and allowed me to use your own strength against you.
As have said before, I absorb the ability to utilize the bending of those who come in contact with me. There is another weakness to this, however. Once my body aligns to a certain form, be in this case fire, my emotions are also changed to those that fuel the person's actions." Stopping, Ora turned her head away momentarily, clearly unsure how to continue.
It was Iroh who chose to speak in this moment. "My nephew is very angry it seems."
Zuko wanted to speak, but could not as Ora returned her now tormented gaze to him. "He is like the fire itself...like the fire itself", she whispered. And again she went silent, this time leaning over to Botan.
The older woman nodded towards her mistress, somehow able to hear words others in the room could not. Slowly, the two stood up and bowed to the guest and Xiong before retreating into the rooms behind them, marking the end of the meeting.
Xiong spoke before Iroh and Zuko could leave. "The Lady Ora is not a horrible person, it was never her choice to be what she is."
Iroh nodded, "I do not believe she is bad either. However, I do believe she does not seek the real use her powers could have. She only sees them as a curse."
Xiong shook his head in disagreement. "When they sent me out to find what I could about her, it took me little time to discover that she wasn't the Avatar. Ironically, I knew she wasn't before then. So did Botan. But we did not know what else she could be. On a whim I searched for what I could be told of lifebenders. Mostly there were the normal myths, but one man, from a Swamp water village I traveled through reaffirmed my opinions.
He also told me that what we were teaching her was wrong. Learning how to bend the elements through others wasn't her calling. 'What she does now is only a defense', he told me. 'All we had taught her was how to be a sloppy Avatar.' And before I could leave him, he told me what she really was. He explained that in essence, she was the Avatar's greatest opposition.
'The Earth has to keep a balance', was the man's explanation. For one great thing must be an equal. But she does not equal the Avatar in strength, that much is obvious. If she attacked him and did not have a substantial defense through bending, the Avatar would easily overtake her. In this way, the Earth is not in her favor. This does not bother Ora. I believe she would prefer never to fulfill her destiny."
"What is that?", questioned Zuko.
"I was not told that, even the man in the swamp did not know much of it. What he did say, however, was that something would happen to Ora...", Xiong looked at Iroh briefly, sighing, "...and perhaps it already has...and she would lose herself, her 'innocence' as a human and complete her destiny. Something important would happen between her and the Avatar."
"Could she destroy the Avatar?", asked the younger man.
Xiong stared at the floor while he answered this question. "Yes. From what information I have been given of the Avatar, she would kill the boy in seconds."
"Could her guardians protect her from such a fate?", enquired Iroh.
"I do not believe so, my Lord. You witnessed the change in her behavior when your nephew touched her earlier. She soaks in everything a person feels inside. And sometimes I think she even becomes a part of the element she bends. I do not think we would stand a chance against her if she took on the Avatar."
"What if one of you happened to touch her after she encountered the Avatar?", suggested Zuko, who by now had moved from his stiff kneeling position into crouch on top of his pillow.
Xiong shook his head 'no'. "Recently Yumi, Botan, and I have observed that our mistress holds on to the power she wishes, despite the fact that she has been touched by others. We have not told her this, because we believe it would cause her distress."
Zuko jumped towards the man, completely overcome with amazement at the guardian's decision. "You are hurting her by keeping such things hidden from her! Why are you keeping such an important issue about her abilities hidden!", he shouted.
Xiong sat silent for a long while, staring into the brazen boy's eyes, his brow drawn together in anger. "Because", he said, his voice furious at first and then very sad several seconds later as he continued. "Because if we were to tell her that, it is confirming our fears. It is admitting that she cannot change her destiny, and everything I've told you about her is true. It is admitting that she is that demon from the myths, something that uses the souls of others at it's own discretion. It is admitting that she is nothing more than a tool of chaos and destruction."
Tears poured down the man's face as he began to sob. "And we don't want to. Because we don't want to let go of the hope that inside that girl is the soul of someone who would rather stay here, in the midst of these trees, remaining an unknown person for the rest of her life. Nothing more than a fathom. Nothing more than the unknown reality of a bender's myth."
The two guest did not say anything after the man stopped his confessions. Zuko watched as his uncle carefully reached over and consoled the troubled man before excusing himself and his nephew from the room.
The young man now understood why they had been so secretive around him. Had he been a spy himself, such information as this would have surely gained him back his place beside his Fire lord father. Ora would have been one of the biggest assets the fire nation could have ever contained against the Avatar.
But looking at his uncle's face, he knew he would never do anything to harm the girl in this manner. Before him stood a solemn man who had already known such information for several years and had decided, for some strange reason, to keep it to himself. Why, Zuko did not know. Perhaps he would ask him later. For now, he had been more than satisfied with knowing Ora's real identity.