Firelord Tajima's sudden interest in Air Nomad culture was met with a cordial invitation to visit each of their temples. He accepted the invitation and, deciding that Madara needed to see more of the world, took his eldest son along.
They have only reached the second destination on their itinerary, but Madara has already seen enough mountains for a lifetime. He has also heard more than enough about monastic lifestyle and their vegetarian diet.
Madara listlessly stares at a scroll as a monk enthusiastically educates him and his father on their culture. The monk claims that each temple is unique, but the differences between the Southern and Eastern Air Temples are minute at best in the crown prince's opinion.
Never much of a scholar, he wishes his father had an interest in something other than a group of pacifists. This sudden trip interrupted his firebending training just as he was approaching lightning generation, but apparently "academic pursuits are just as important as physical training." The long-winded guide at the last temple made sure they had a thorough knowledge of all things Air Nomad before they left, but Tajima insists they visit each individual temple.
Bored out of his mind, Madara asks to use the restroom. Tajima allows it on the condition that he hurries back. Trying to conceal his eagerness to escape, Madara courteously rises from his seat and pushes it back into the desk like his tutors taught him. Each step toward the door feels like another step toward freedom. His hand grasps the door with more force than is absolutely necessary, but he makes sure to gently shut it behind him.
Finally free, he exhales and makes his way to the bathroom. Or, he tries to. For the life of him, he can't remember where the monk said the bathroom was and he would rather not return to the private library he just left. Father wouldn't be pleased by the faux pas of not remembering the location of the bathroom which was clearly pointed out during the tour, and the monk would probably offer to guide him to the bathroom and back to the room.
His knees knock together as the cool draft that seems to be ever-present in every air temple skims the back of his neck. If nothing else, Madara is grateful that Tajima's interest in other nations never extended to the savages at the north and south poles. The thought of trying to outpace the freezing of his waste while relieving himself is not a pleasant one.
The halls of the Eastern Air Temple wind just as much as the temple in the south. In no time at all, Madara is completely lost. He couldn't find his way back to the library if he wanted to. His pride won't let him confide his mistake to any of the passersby that inquire if he needs help. Thankfully, he manages to find a corridor that leads outside. The afternoon sun illuminates his shame as he hastily finds a bush to empty his bladder onto.
"Hey, ya made it in time! I thought you were gonna wet yourself for sure, ya know."
Madara's back stiffens and his self-made stream stops. He glares over his shoulder at an odd-looking female air nomad about his age. Her skin tone and eyes are more in line with the looks of the Water tribe, but he doesn't know of any people with golden hair. She blankly stares back at him as if the situation is perfectly normal. He snarls, "Go away."
She momentarily frowns before crossing her arms and grinning. "What? Can'tcha go if I'm here?"
Baffled that she didn't immediately heed his command like all of his subjects do, he sputters, "Most people are like that!"
She taunts, "Ya sure you aren't just sensitive?"
Unappreciative of the hold-up, his bladder cries out in protest. His voice approaches a plea, "Just turn around!"
"Or what?"
His desperation detracts from his authority, but he proclaims, "The crown prince of the Fire Nation commands you!"
Eyeing his clothing, she nods. "O~h, you're one of the guys everybody was makin' such a huge fuss about! Hey, are you a firebender?"
" Yes! Now, turn around!"
"Fine, fine," she relents and finally turns around so he can finish his business. His stream resumes as he tries to think of a way out of this situation. She isn't a citizen of his country, so he can't just banish her to erase the evidence of this encounter. Unfortunately, he doesn't come up with a viable solution to his predicament by the time his personal crisis has been averted, either.
He readjusts his clothes and turns around. She turns to face him and comments, "Yeesh, did ya drink a whole tub of water or somethin'?"
Madara seethes. "Silence."
"That weird speedwalk ya did through the halls was pretty funny, though."
"Not another word of this. To anyone. Ever," he threatens.
A grin stretches across her face. "What'cha gonna give me for keepin' your secret?"
His brow furrows. He thought the monks didn't believe in material gain. All the same, the last thing he needs is his father to catch wind of his uncouth behavior. "What do you want?"
Suddenly excited, she exclaims, "I wanna see some firebending!"
Madara dismisses the request, "Firebending is a weapon, not a party trick."
The girl pouts before her face lights up with a smile once more as an idea comes to her. "Fine, I challenge you to one of those agni-somethin's."
He barely restrains a gape as he clarifies, "An Agni Kai?"
"Yeah, that!"
"It's your funeral," he warns. To his confusion, all she does is snicker and beckon him to follow her.
She leads him to an empty, open space. Madara eyes the steep drop on the other side of their make-shift arena. The girl calls out from a few paces ahead of the cliff, "Ya scared?"
"Not at all," he snorts. "This is a duel, so I'll do you the honor of asking your name before I maim you."
"Name's Naruto! What's yours?"
"Madara," he answers as he gets into a fighting stance. If she didn't even know the proper name of an agni kai, he doubts she would know the other rules, so he doesn't bother holding her to them.
Following his example, Naruto readies her staff and widens her stance. "You ready?"
"Yes," he replies before sending several fire blasts her way. Frustratingly, she easily dodges each one. Naruto dances around each of his attacks and only counterattacks as he begins to tire. He gets a second wind and successfully bats away her staff, but it doesn't make a difference in the power or precision of her attacks.
The fight lasts much longer than he expected it would. He comes close to landing a direct hit several times, but air has whipped him in the face twice as many times. She is quite the skilled fighter—for a pacifist.
Just as he sends a fireball her way, she counters with a blast of air. The two attacks meet and explode. The close-range impact blasts them to opposite sides of the clearing. Naruto lands in a heap in the grass while Madara is sent hurdling over the cliffside. Rolling onto her feet, Naruto hears his screaming and runs to the cliff's edge. She cups her hands around her mouth and yells down at him, "What're ya doin'?! Fly back up here!"
Madara's eyes water and his cheeks flap as he screams. The wind roars in his ears as he plummets. To avoid watching the ground rush up to meet him through squinted eyes, he turns around. He sees a tiny figure leap off the cliff after him. Madara shouts at the fool, "What are you doing?! Now, we're both going to die!"
Diving toward him, Naruto's short hair whips in the wind as she shouts back, "Why aren't you flying?!"
He shouts the obvious, "Humans can't fly!"
"Airbenders can fly," she argues. "I heard firebenders can, too!"
"You heard wrong!"
Naruto pouts before instructing, "Spread out your arms and legs so I can catch up!"
Madara does his best to adjust his limbs as she closes the gap. Her tiny hand reaches out to him and he tries to catch it. Panic sets in as they remain just out of reach. Naruto uses a blast of air to propel herself toward him and they finally clasp hands. She pulls him toward her and yells, "Hang on!"
He unabashedly clings to her as her staff unfolds into a glider. The speed of their descent slows, but not enough to ease Madara's mind. With a kick away from the cliff face, Naruto sends them careening toward a nearby valley. Their rough landing kicks up quite a bit of dirt, but Madara has never been so happy to be filthy. Beneath him, Naruto nonchalantly continues their argument, "I coulda sworn I heard that firebenders can fly, though..."
Hastily letting go of her and backing away, he stands and faces away from her. He dusts some of the dirt off of his ruined robes as he insists, "Whoever told you that was lying."
She rolls onto her feet as she replies, "I guess..."
Casting a wary glance at the steep mountainsides surrounding them, Madara asks, "Anyway, how do we get back from here?"
"You're too heavy to fly on my glider with me...but you held onto me pretty tightly, so maybe we can air scooter up," she suggests while lowering into a squat. Naruto pats her shoulder and calls, "All aboard!"
Face flushed, Madara hisses, "Absolutely not!"
Confusion evident in her expression, she asks, "Why not?"
"I refuse to ride on top of your shoulders," he explains with great exasperation. Setting aside the fact that Madara has no idea what an air scooter is, his father is already going to be furious that he skipped out on the lesson. He doesn't need to further fuel the firelord's ire with the ridiculous sight of the crown prince riding on a girl's shoulders like a child.
"If you don't wanna, we're gonna have to walk, ya know," she reminds with a pointed look at the winding path leading back to where they were.
Regardless of the scowl on his face, he maintains, "We walk."
She stands and shrugs, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya."
It takes them hours to climb the seemingly endless staircase. Madara learns to appreciate the servants that carried his palanquin up these very stairs. He and Naruto stop to take several breaks during the climb, but they are all for his benefit. Frustratingly, she keeps up a constant stream of chatter as if on a casual stroll while Madara desperately tries to conceal his heavy breathing. Worse still, Naruto isn't even winded by the time they reach the top.
The welcoming party waiting for them is livid. Naruto cringes as the severity of the head monks send disapproving glances. They begin to scold her on the spot, but a middle-aged man with white hair steps in. Assuring them that he'll take over from there, he directs Naruto away and out of sight.
Just as Madara expected, his father is not at all pleased with his absence or the state he returns in. Tajima excuses the both of them to make his displeasure known in their lodgings, but his temper eases when Madara explains the situation. Surprisingly, the firelord is actually quite interested in the details of his fight with Naruto. Once Madara regales him with a recap of the entire fight, he forgets his anger entirely. A pleased smile on his face, he commends Madara for a job well done and sends a servant to fetch their dinner.
Taking the unexpected praise and leniency at face-value, Madara simply eats his dinner and listens to his father's summary of the day's cultural lesson.
~xXx~
To Madara's surprise, Tajima allows him to skip out on the next day's lesson with a knowing smile on his face when Naruto arrives to collect him. He sends them off with a smile as she grabs Madara's hand and tugs him away. It's unclear whether air benders are just naturally faster or if she's somehow bending the air around her, but Naruto ends up impatiently dragging him through corridor after corridor until they stop at some kind of stable.
Strange, six-legged animals munch on hay bales. He recalls that they're called sky bison before Naruto announces, "We're going flying today!"
Madara sighs, "I already told you: firebenders can't fly."
"They can if they ride a sky bison," she argues with a grin and whistles. "Gama!"
A sky bison triple the size of the ones gathered around the hay lands beside her. Naruto pats the beast's head and jumps atop it. Once settled, she directs an expectant look at Madara. He reluctantly approaches and attempts to climb into the saddle on Gama's back. Impatient with Madara's exaggerated caution, Gama scoops him into his saddle. Straightening out of the undignified heap he landed in, Madara huffs. Naruto snorts and commands Gama to take flight.
Madara maintains a tight grip on the saddle as they lift off. Tension gathers in the pit of his stomach as Gama gains altitude. The massive sky bison and the Air Nomads tending to them shrink until Madara can barely see them. Trying to hide the unease in his voice, Madara suggests, "Isn't this high enough?"
Unfortunately, Naruto immediately catches on. She casually mentions, "Gama and I have been practicing a new trick, ya know."
Hoping that he maintains a semblance of calm, he asks, "And what is that?"
She grins over her shoulder. "Barrel rolls."
~xXx~
Air Nomads are thought to be peaceful, calm people. Naruto, however, is not.
After she gives him multiple heart attacks in the sky while cackling maniacally, they land and she challenges him to a game of airball. While Madara prefers her practical culture lessons to droned lectures, he doesn't appreciate her merciless victory over him in a sport that clearly favors airbenders. Naruto talks him down from burning the whole set-up and drags him from one scenic view to another to distract him.
Over the course of his visit, she asks him all about the Fire Nation, his family, and the outside world. By the end of the trip, Madara could navigate the temple in his sleep and Naruto knows more about his country than the average citizen.
The day the firelord's entourage is set to leave, Madara and Naruto brainstorm as they avoid the subject of farewells. They sit atop a set of stairs as they watch sky bison calves play in the field. Cheek cupped in one hand as she rests an arm atop her knee, Naruto posits, "Couldn't ya just blast fire outta your feet?"
Madara allows, "Balancing on top of a sustained blast might work..."
"...but?"
Eager to avoid garnering attention and being called to formally bid the temple farewell, he trails off, "The field..."
"Oh...yeah," Naruto sighs.
Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, Madara notes that she lacks energy. Usually she would be bouncing off the walls (or running on them) and tripping over herself to show him her original air bending tricks, but her spirits dampened considerably after the morning announcement that the firelord and crown prince will be departing shortly. Even her normally vibrant smiles are lacking.
Finally addressing the elephant mandrill in the room, he promises, "I'll practice when I get home. I'll be flying circles around you by the time I visit next."
Hope evident in her tone, she turns toward him and asks, "You'll come back?"
"I said so, didn't I? You had best come up with more techniques by the time I come back or you'll be a terrible bore to spar with," Madara huffs and turns away from the supernova of a smile on her face.
Leaning into his personal space, she vows, "I will! I'll even catch you when you fall outta the sky again!"
Madara whips back around to remind, "I didn't fall, you pushed me off the mountain."
"So, my air blast was more powerful than your fire? 'Cuz that's what it sounds like you're sayin," she goads with a smug quirk to her lip.
" No. Your weak air merely fueled my fire—"
"So, ya blasted yourself off the mountain?"
"No, I just—you—" Madara sputters as Naruto's grin grows wider. Finally, he signals her victory with a groan. She laughs and he wonders why he's even going to miss a disrespectful girl like her.
A sudden, wet sensation on his cheek startles him out of his frustrated musings. Slapping a hand to it, he turns toward Naruto just as she turns away. But, not quick enough to hide the red on her cheeks. Speaking even faster than usual, she bids him farewell before jumping to a rooftop and darting out of sight. Before he can chase after her, one of his attendants finally locates him and brings him back to join his father's procession.
~xXx~
Once the firelord completes his tour of all the temples, Madara's life returns to normal for a few years.
It takes an embarrassing number of failures before Madara finally masters propelling himself across the ground on a sustained flame. For all of Izuna's amusement at his brother's experiments, he readily admits that the skill is pretty amazing. With their combined mastery of firebending, they manage to tweak the technique until the both of them can fly short distances.
So absorbed in their breakthrough, Madara is utterly shocked by the news that his bride-to-be will be visiting the palace. He had assumed that his marriage would be arranged, but he assumed he would have more time before he was expected to settle down and prepare for the throne. When he confronts his father about it, Tajima reassures from behind a wall of flames, "Not to worry! I won't be abdicating any time soon nor do I expect a wedding before the end of the month."
From his kneeled position, Madara asks, "Then, why?"
"You should at least be familiar with the girl if you want an amicable marriage."
"As the firelord wills," Madara responds. He begins to stand, but takes a knee once more. He requests, "May I make a trip to the Eastern Air Temple?"
Tajima's eyes narrow. "I was planning to return soon, but if you're still interested in that girl you met..."
"May I make the trip," Madara presses. Admittedly, the thought of having Naruto as his concubine has crossed his mind in the dead of night a few times. His feelings may have strengthened in their time apart, but Naruto's feelings might have done the opposite. Only seeing her again will sate his curiosity.
The firelord sighs, "After you meet with the noble's daughter, we will discuss your trip to the temple."
With a deep bow, Madara rises and exits the throne room.
~xXx~
If nothing else, their meeting is short. Madara grunts when appropriate as Wakana carries on the conversation by herself, but all he can think about is how her hair isn't bright enough. Her skin isn't sun-kissed enough. Her smile isn't wide enough. Her voice isn't loud enough. She isn't enough.
Sipping tea gives him something to do as she runs out of acceptable conversation topics and resorts to reciting poetry to pass the time. Seemingly an eternity later, the teapot runs dry and they're stuck in a painfully awkward silence.
Now that he looks at her, Wakana seems quite nervous. She concealed it well at the beginning of their introductory meeting, but the cracks in her facade are beginning to show. If Madara recalls correctly, her family lives in the northwestern province. He asks his first and only question to her, "Have you ever visited the Western Air Temple or met anyone from it?"
The hope in her eyes at his conversation starter fades at the niche query, "I am afraid I have not."
"A pity," he comments. Even Madara is uncertain whether he is talking about her lack of experience or the girl, herself.
~xXx~
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
The thought plagues Madara's mind as he marches on the Eastern Air Temple among the ranks of a Fire Nation battalion. They quickly overwhelm the pacifist monks and the raid proceeds ahead of schedule. Training in the palace doesn't even compare to the horrors of the war his father seems hellbent on starting.
Trying to ignore the looks of recognition and betrayal that greet him, Madara runs through the halls of a burning temple as he desperately searches for Naruto. He couldn't bear it if she looked at him like that, but maybe she'll forgive him for this...someday.
Madara doesn't even know how he could possibly get her out of here or where he could send her, but he doesn't let that stop him. He scours the entire temple; every room, every drafty corridor, every hideaway she showed him.
But, Naruto is gone.
A part of him had known that she wasn't here when she wasn't one of the first responders to their attack on the temple, but he had been too relieved that she wasn't mowed down like the would-be defenders were. He allowed himself to believe she was hiding, but the Naruto he knew wouldn't have ever run from a fight. He clung to the hope that the monks may have tried to sequester her in a safe place for the women and children. Upon confirmation that she wasn't found there, the thought that she might be at another temple does little to comfort him in light of the other raids occurring at each respective temple.
Naruto is strong. She might have survived. Somehow.
~xXx~
Madara never stops wondering.
He returns to the palace after the four simultaneous raids exterminate the Air Nomads, numb. After a few days, Tajima calls him to the newly appointed war strategy room as he plans the next campaign. Madara had only been enlightened of the raid a few days prior, but he apparently proved himself worthy of being brought into the war council. Tajima has his eyes set on the Water Tribe—the next nation the avatar will be born into.
Madara volunteers to lead the attack. Their army decimates the Southern Water Tribe in no time at all. At the very least, none of the inhabitants of this frozen wasteland knew him. They merely try their best to defend themselves from his attacks or make a desperate attempt to flee.
Years pass. Fierce battles rage as the Fire Nation steadily creeps into the Earth Kingdom. He marries Wakana. Despite the fanfare and extravagance, their wedding is as joyful as a funeral procession. The wedding night is a chore. Neither of them are eager to consummate this union, but they must. Mere weeks later, he rejoins his brother on the battlefields.
His only son is born during a failed invasion of the Northern Water Tribe. Despite his frustration at the inconvenience, Madara returns to the palace to bestow a name upon him. His feelings change the moment he lays eyes on his son. Indifferent as Madara may be toward his wife, their son is perfect. He names the boy "Chikara," and regularly makes trips back to the Fire Nation capital to see his pride and joy grow.
For a time, life is almost...pleasant.
Decades pass. Madara nearly forgets about the little air nomad girl that charmed him in his youth. However, the guilt of personally aiding in the annihilation of her people remains ever-present as he wages war alongside his brother, and later, his son.
The dull shine of life dims and finally fades to black during the siege of Ba Sing Se. Izuna falls in battle and Chikara follows soon after. Grief overwhelms Madara. He grows sloppy. Even then, it takes the formidable earthbending master quite a bit of effort to blind him in his right eye. The following stab to his chest might have killed him if not for his subordinates' quick intervention and first aid.
Madara survives, but he isn't entirely certain if he's grateful for it.
Shipped back to the Fire Nation like damaged goods, he wakes to find that his father is dead. One of his half-brothers chased Wakana from the palace and stole Madara's birthright in his absence. His fury should rage as an inferno throughout the halls of what should be his palace, but all he feels is a detached irritation. Without his family, who does he have to fight for? Even if he felt so inclined, he no longer has the power to take back the throne.
To keep up appearances, the best physicians are called to the palace to tend to Madara, but they depart the moment his condition improves enough to be passable on the surface. Internally, his lungs are in tatters. His depth perception suffers significantly, but he supposes that no longer matters.
Breathing is a chore now, but he musters a weak chuckle. The boy claiming to be the firelord fears Madara as he lay in his sickbed. Such weakness is unbefitting of his title. But then, being left to rot in the world's most lush prison cell is hardly worthy of respect, either.
~xXx~
The midafternoon sun shining through the sole window in his room wakes Madara. He looks to his bedside table for his lineup of medications, but finds none. Slowly rising to an upright position, he eases out of bed. He grabs his cane and ambles toward the table. No medications to be found there, either.
Eyeing the door, he wonders. Approaching the door at a gradual pace, Madara waits for his attendant to burst through the door and lock it behind her. His anticipation grows as the door handle yields farther than it has since he entered his would-be mausoleum. For the first time in over half a century, Madara steps into the hall.
He meanders through the halls of what used to be his home at a frustratingly slow pace. Everything looks the same, yet different. The ornate tapestries and decorations are in the same places, but the designs on them have changed. Home decor has never interested Madara and he only feels a detached sense of disappointment as his temporary escape leads him out of the disused branch of the palace and toward the gardens.
A voice he thought he would never hear again cajoles, "Aw, come on, Sasuke! Don't be such a stick in the mud!"
He curses his advanced age as it takes him an eternity to reach the veranda on his arthritic legs. Finally, he rounds the corner and catches a glimpse of golden hair. His breath catches in his throat as a living relic jabs what must be his great-grandnephew in the ribs repeatedly with her elbow. Short, choppy locks whip around her face as the tiny Air Nomad suddenly looks toward Madara.
Naruto hasn't changed a bit. Literally.
Just as Madara is considering calling out to what must be a mirage, she tugs on Sasuke's sleeve and asks, "Who's that?"
Sasuke turns to look at him. His face immediately contorts in distaste. He turns his back on Madara and leads Naruto away with a hand on her back."No one of concern."
"How come I've never seen him before—"
"Which chandelier was it that interested you?"
"The one in the east wing," Naruto replies while grabbing Sasuke's hand and tuggin him toward the chandelier she undoubtedly has nefarious plans for—just as she used to drag Madara around the Eastern Air Temple.
Left to his own devices, Madara stares blankly after them. Of course, she wouldn't remember him. He doesn't look anything like the prepubescent boy she knew. The years have worn on him and he isn't even the same person anymore. He doesn't even deserve to see her after all he's done, but he'll treasure their reunion for however much time he has left.
Eventually, someone is sent to herd Madara back to his cell. He goes without much of a fuss. He was never going to get far, anyway.
~xXx~
A few days later, the door knob jiggles violently as someone desperately tries to enter Madara's cell. He admires their persistence as this continues for several minutes. Most would have realized that the door is locked and given up within a few seconds, but not this fool, apparently.
Madara makes his way to the window. Resting his cane against the wall, he lifts the window just enough for fingers the reach under. His body aches for the effort, but the nob stops jiggling and the sound of footsteps pounding against the marble floors fades into the distance. Settling into his chair, he waits for the trespasser to find the trail of breadcrumbs he left out for them.
She doesn't keep him waiting long. A swift heave fully opens the window and a gust of wind follows in Naruto's wake as she lands in his prison cell. Despite the graceful touch of her feet to the ground, her face is a mess of tears as she wails at him, "You said you'd come back!"
"I'm sorry," he rasps. For not coming back. For burning down your home. For turning the world against you.
Upset as she is with him, Naruto rushes over to him. Her hands wedge in between Madara's back and his chair as her arms wrap him in a fierce embrace. She sobs into his neck as he returns the gesture.
He holds her tighter and his old bones creak as she does the same. She is much too small. He easily curls around her. Supple, youthful skin starkly contrasts with his wrinkles. Her vibrant hair drowns out his dull, grey mane.
He tainted their long-overdue reunion many years ago, many times over, but they remain like that for a long time as they privately lament days long past. Days they'll never get back. Years they could have spent together.
But, it's too late for apologies. It's too late for them.
Sorry that I have bad news to add on to a sad ending but...
This serves as both my last post on this site and my announcement that I have permanently moved over to AO3 (same username) due to some unsavory comments I have received on my work on this site. I will not be updating any of the stories I have uploaded here, and I don't plan to delete them...at the moment. Hopefully, I'll see you over on AO3!
