Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate hearing the feedback from you guys!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender
XxXxXxXxXxX
Ozai focused and tried to do as Hama had commanded but he couldn't feel it, whatever it was! He felt the power inside him, the power of water, but it was the opposite of what he was used to! He was a Firebender, not a Waterbender, so how was he supposed to be able to battle the Avatar without all of the elements? How had the Avatar triumphed over this for all of their lifetimes?
The thought of the Avatar being more skilled and able enraged him; his eyes snapped open. "You're a terrible teacher! I don't feel anything!"
Hama only raised a brow at him. "Then that's your fault, not mine. I am your Master and you must work to become a Master Waterbender. It's the opposite element of the first you were given and you must change your mindset. It takes time and you must practice. Perhaps if you spent less time fucking your wife, you would be able to feel the pull."
Snarling, Ozai tried to control Hama's body as he had seen her do to others countless times, but he couldn't do it! Changing his approach, he stepped towards her, sensing an opportunity. "Are you jealous, Hama? Do you miss me? Is that it?" He brushed his fingers along the swell of her breasts; he stared into her blazing blue eyes. "I've been neglecting you, haven't I? I must rectify that."
"The only thing that you must rectify is your terrible waterbending."
"Perhaps if I felt more… relaxed, I would obtain some skill." Ozai stepped even closer, towering over her; he felt arousal churn inside him. "A true teacher would do anything to see her student succeed."
"Obtain the skill by yourself."
"Only with your guiding, caressing hands will I be able to obtain it."
Hama flicked her fingers and Ozai felt fear instantly overwhelm his arousal as he felt the very blood in his veins lurch; he was abruptly flung back, unable to do anything to stop it.
"I could use some relaxation myself, Piandao, but you must first show me some strides in your training." Hama suddenly released him and Ozai immediately tried to breathe fire as an intimidation tactic in response to remind her who was the supreme authority, but he couldn't - his fire was gone! All he now had was his waterbending because Vaatu had switched the energy inside him! His sudden fear must have shown for Hama smiled - and it was all teeth. "Consider it a reward. Wouldn't a true teacher assign goals for her student to complete?"
"You minx," he growled out, recognizing that he was powerless in this situation; there was nothing that he could do. "I'm going to- "
"Use your waterbending in full capacity," she interrupted smoothly and calmly. "The first element that you learned and mastered was fire, and your blood is that of the Fire Nation. Water is its opposite and because of it, I believe that your initial struggle with feeling the pull is understandable."
Ozai tried to control his temper; he wasn't fully successful. "What pull are you talking about? You keep mentioning it but I don't know what you mean."
Hama blinked before realization appeared over her features. "Of course… I keep forgetting that you're not a Waterbender."
"You're not as good as a teacher as you thought," he muttered darkly.
"As you have said in the past, Firebenders draw upon the energy within themselves, energy that is provided by Agni's light," she ignored him as if he hadn't spoken. "That is what you are used to. With earthbending, you still have a direct connection to what you were drawing upon because your body was connected to it. And while I'm no Airbender, they control the ubiquitous air and always feel it. With waterbending, it is different. Waterbenders draw their power and energy from the moon, and our bending is strongest during the night, especially during a full moon. You have to grasp that connection, something that is foreign to you because you have always looked within yourself or felt it surrounding you."
"And the pull?"
"You need to feel the pull of the moon. Only then will you be able to become a Master Waterbender and then a Bloodbender." Hama motioned for him to follow her and reluctantly, he did so. They stopped at the shoreline to the coast; she turned to him. "Step into the water and immerse yourself in the element. Feel it touch every part of your body, caressing you in ways that surpass any lover. Then feel the moon, its energy and feel your body react to it; let it flow through your chi as you begin to control it."
He clenched his fists and inhaled slowly; he entered the water and dunked himself. When he burst back up, he blinked the liquid away and followed Hama's directions. As he had done before countless times ever since he could remember, he centered himself but instead of searching for his inner flame, he sought out the moon. Without his input, his eyes shut as he felt the energy around him, how the water lapped against his body gently, never still. In time, he fell into a trance as his body began to rock in time to the water; it was a push and pull relationship and Ozai intimately began to understand. It was just like a good fucking; it was only spectacular if both participants did their part.
"Good." Hama's voice reached him but it was far away; it barely pierced through his trance. "Focus your chi on the water around you and administer your new-found connection over it; guide it and it will follow you. There is no more loyal friend than that of water."
Ozai followed her instructions and at first, he felt nothing change but then the water stopped lapping against his body for a brief moment before it resumed. Slowly, his eyes opened and there before him, water was being moved in the air, following the movements that he had been unaware that his arms were making. He had done it; he was a Waterbender.
He was closer to becoming his own Avatar!
Hama clapped steadily and he snapped out of his stupor. "You are a quick learner, Piandao. I believe I now understand what Chin V must have felt."
Turning back to her, he ascended to the shoreline where she stood; the water seemed to part for him. "There will be much more relaxation with you than with that failure."
"Is that what you think?"
"I want my reward," his eyes darkened. "I will get it one way or another."
She didn't resist as he descended on her, stripping her out of her garbs as he lowered her to the ground; she was nude before him and he felt his manhood rise to its full length at the sight. Quickly, he entered her and began a rhythm, grunts escaping his lips for pleasure was all that he knew until it ended when he ejaculated into her.
"Interesting use of your training time," Vaatu murmured behind him and Ozai smirked; he dimly wondered if they had been observed the entire time.
"It was a good use," he pulled his softening member out and rose to his feet as Hama pitifully tried to cover herself.
"Leave us, Hama. I must speak with Piandao."
Hama surprisingly remained silent and scurried away, dressing herself as she disappeared. For a moment, the silence was prominent between him and Vaatu before his ally spoke, not caring of his nudity.
"Do all mortal men mate with multiple women?"
"Only the powerful ones."
"But the Avatar only mates with your daughter from what I know."
Ozai's mood soured rapidly. "As you've said before, the Avatar is no mortal. And don't speak of that whore to me; she is no daughter of mine, only a failure."
"And you now seek to compensate for your past failure in siring children by doing so once more?"
"I will do it right this time."
"The Avatar was close to stealing that chance from you at the Northern Water Tribe."
"You were of great help," he hissed angrily at Vaatu. "You let the Sky Bison leave. It led the Avatar right to us!"
"Only to serve a greater purpose," his ally countered calmly. "I needed the Avatar to follow us."
"You wanted him to follow us? He could have destroyed us all; he would have if it weren't for Hama!"
"During my eons-long imprisonment in the Tree of Time, I learned of a way to disappear between the Mortal Realm and Immortal Realm by passing through the Void of Eternity, slipping into the fabric between spaces; it's how I teleport and after I escaped from my prison, I tested it. When Raava and I created the Mortal Realm, we were still young and foolish; those powerful enough can sense the mistakes that we committed in tethering the Mortal Realm to the Tree of Time to merge with the Spirit World. There are small rips that I harness, small passageways that lead to the Void of Eternity, of what the Mortal and Immortal Realms float inside by being tethered to the Tree of Time. Thankfully, the Avatar knows nothing of it and just as I foresaw, he tried to follow us but he failed to find us because of my useful trick. How else were you able to go into the Spirit World before you mastered your chakras? How else have I teleported us away from the Avatar in the past?"
Ozai blinked in shock, "I've been in the Void of Eternity? That's… I would remember."
"Your conscious mind would be obliterated by it. I have induced slumber on you and any others who I have brought there. Only when we are permanently bonded will you be able to be subjected to the Void of Eternity with no effects."
"Why did we need the warships and airship, then? Why didn't you just take our army immediately to the North?"
"Even for one such as me, it would leave me weakened, and I could not risk it. Traveling through the Void of Eternity with our fighting force that was in the ten-thousands while keeping everyone deep in slumber so that their minds wouldn't be pulverized would have taken too much of my power. I'm not at full strength, not yet."
"And why did you want the Avatar to follow us and fail? What 'greater purpose' did you mean?"
"Agni and Devi have had over a year to find Indra but they continue to be eluded by her. The fact that the Avatar failed will only push him that much more; he will be relentless in his search. With only Air remaining to complete us, the Avatar will focus all of his energy into finding Indra and he will lead us to her."
"And the girl? She hardly knows airbending; her attempts were laughable."
"Yes, but her chi is full of air, touched by the Avatar himself. That is crucial; she is the key. I have a plan to fetch a true Master of Air to teach you, but I believe that I will wait until we get Indra to administer it. It will give you more time to master waterbending under Hama's tutelage."
"Do you have a plan to fetch another army? The Avatar and my failure of children wiped out our last one. Because they destroyed all of the ships, none of our allies were able to leave the North. My worthless son and whore daughter would never leave the survivors alive. That doesn't include the Water Tribesmen who undoubtedly want vengeance and they will get it by shedding the blood of the remaining men and few women from the army. All we have now are the two-hundred Children of Chin who returned after Chin V's failure at Ba Sing Se; they're not enough… Do you have a plan?"
"I do… There is always discord in the hearts of men. I will tap into it. It has already begun."
XxXxXxXxXxX
Stepping soundlessly into the prison cell, Azula smirked predatorily; her mind was clear of distractions and she relished the looks of wariness on her father's followers. The guard outside glanced at her but she waved him away; he reluctantly used his waterbending to seal the cell. All of the prisoners were shackled, a mixture of ice and metal that somehow functioned effortlessly, and she stepped toward the two men who stared back at her; they bore a resemblance to each other.
"You two have the bearing of men used to authority, so I will start with you." Azula stared down at them hard; she cleared her expression of anything but cold rage - she would get her daughter and mother back! "Where are they? I heard you both, heard you all speaking during the battle to communicate with each other and your allies of Fire, so I know that your tongues function correctly." They remained silent and she felt a small surge of pleasurable glee fill her mind; she didn't let it show on her face except minutely. "You wish not to speak? Perfect. I was hoping for that… Do you know who I am?"
"Fuck you!" The man on the right sneered; his face quivered from the intense cold but his eyes flashed with fiery rage. "Let me loose!"
"So you will speak."
"We ain't tellin' you nothin'!"
"Based on common logic, you just declared that you would tell me anything. Did you know that?"
The man on the left stirred, "The fuck she talkin' about, Satish?"
"Who cares, Manik?" Satish finally looked away from Azula and she watched their exchange with interest. "She's crazy. Keep your mouth shut and we'll be fine. Chin V and Piandao will rescue us eventually."
"Chin V?" She peered down at them, "Who is Chin V?"
"Fuck! I just told her the boss' name!"
"Shut up!" Manik hissed, "Take your own advice and keep your mouth shut!"
"I assume that you two are brothers for you look similar." Azula glanced at the other prisoners; they kept their heads down and seemed occupied with conserving their body heat. "You never answered my third question. Do you know who I am? Have you any idea?"
"You work with the Avatar!" Satish spat, ignoring Manik's advisement, and his body seemed to come alive; it shook with rage but he could do nothing to unleash it. "You're nothing but a firebending whore!"
"I am Princess Azula of Sozin's line, wife of the Avatar, and soon-to-be Mother of the Air Nomads. Why else do I wear Air Nomad garbs?" The hatred augmented suddenly in their faces but it also contained fear. "Before you start panicking, you do not need to worry about an encounter with the Avatar. You are mine."
"We ain't scared of you, you fire bitch! We ain't scared of the Avatar, either!" The words escaped Satish's curled back lips in a rush of fury. "Fuck him! Kyoshi will pay for what she did!"
"What does Avatar Kyoshi have to do with this?"
"Everything! She murdered our sire, and Chin V and Piandao will help us get our vengeance!"
"Damn it!" Manik cried out, "Stop talking!"
"Oh… whoops."
"Very interesting…" she filed that information away for later. "I can see in your eyes that you do fear the Avatar - rightly so - and the reason why he is not here is that while he was taught to control his emotions as a child by the Air Nomads, he never learned to deal with true hatred." Azula leaned forward predatorily, standing over them. "That is what he feels currently because of his self-perceived failure: hatred. He hates you, he hates my father, he hates the spirit to whom you have pledged your souls, and he hates himself. He feels overwhelmed," she silently admitted that while most of what she said was true, she was also stretching the truth. "If the Avatar were here, you would most likely be dead from the Avatar State…"
"We ain't tell you nothing, you sick whore of Sozin's blood!"
"But do you know what I was taught as a child, what my father deemed that I should learn…? How to extract information from men like you - and men above you, as well. You see, my daughter and mother were kidnapped; the spirit you follow and my father are responsible. What do you know? What is their location? Where are they?" They glanced at each other before they started laughing; it was unrestrained, mocking, and boisterous. Azula smiled down at them and began to laugh, too. "Oh, I know. That's amusing," her smile vanished off her face in the blink of an eye and all that was visible was the cold, all-consuming rage.
She immediately wound her fingers and the tell-tale sound of sparks crackling was heard; it overpowered the sound of their fading laughter. Pressing her fingertips to Manik's forehead, she let the lightning flow; the man's skin shuddered and bubbled before the head exploded in a shower of red mist and the lightning destroyed the ice wall behind them, the sound thunderous.
"Manik!" Satish screamed in horror.
Azula calmly ignored the blood staining her Air Nomad garbs - she would request that Aang or Katara or any Waterbender wash it at a later time - and stared down at Satish; he was deprived of any other words, terror and anger fighting for control of his face.
"I suppose that I am a little out of practice," she sighed woefully before she leaned even closer, cold golden eyes trapping Satish. "You will help with that… Tell me everything."
XxXxXxXxXxX
It didn't make sense and that was what bothered Hama; she couldn't stop the thoughts and words that played in her mind like a mantra. It distracted her while she was training Piandao until it finally culminated in needing to take action. The words came and overwhelmed her, suspicion a silent scream in her mind. She needed to know the truth and she trusted only one person to give it to her.
"Step aside," she stood before two Children of Chin, their dark green eyes disconcerting. "I am to speak to the prisoners."
"You?" One of their ugly faces split into an amused smile. "What would you need to speak to the prisoners about? Is it about your cycles- " he was cut off as Hama gripped his body in her power; she then gripped the other's to keep him from attacking.
"I am more powerful than any Earthbender. I even briefly held the Avatar himself in my grip." Hama leaned forward, peering at their frozen, petrified faces. "Your Chin V failed in his mission but I haven't. I am teaching Piandao waterbending and he will destroy the Avatar and all those who follow him." She released them and they lurched backward, almost falling over each other. "Do not test me. I am above you, and I would gladly crush your hearts."
"Okay," the man gestured for her to pass. "I'm never going to look at you again."
"That would be preferable," she shut the curtains to the ornate tent; her eyes were immediately drawn to the chained woman known as Ursa. The airbending child was kept away but near the woman at the same time, gray eyes full of fear.
"The Bloodbender," Ursa murmured and the bitterness was apparent. "Only through you was my husband able to survive our fight. You are why he still lives to haunt the Four Nations. His words are still able to seduce the weak-willed. You love him, do you not?"
"I wouldn't call it love, just an arrangement." Hama stepped closer and raised a brow. "He clearly loves you and it was obvious that he didn't want to truly harm you at the Northern Water Tribe. Otherwise, you would be dead. His heart belongs to you."
"He is in no possession of a heart," the woman hissed through clenched teeth. "You should see that but it is evident that you are too busy being his harlot to see clearly."
"As I said, it's an arrangement."
While the woman couldn't look away because her head was trapped by a metal clamp around her forehead that left her imprisoned against the wall, her golden eyes did look past her. Hama wasn't bothered; she stared down at the intricate prison that Piandao had constructed for his wife. She was stretched by her limbs, extended to their full length, and around each limb in different portions were clamps that kept her stuck to the solid stone wall behind her. She couldn't use her firebending to escape because her feet and hands were frozen in place, immovable; the airbending child was held by a metal chain around her waist that was attached to the wall.
"You hurt me," the child whispered, staring up at Hama with terror and anger. "I tri- tried to run but I- I couldn't. You- you did it to me," the air began to sway around them but it was weak.
"Stop, Samir," the woman commanded gently. "Not here; we are not in a position of strength."
The child sniffed, tears on her cheeks; the air calmed down. "You hurt me."
"I did," she sat down before the two prisoners. "I don't regret it. It was the Avatar's fault for bringing you there."
"Daddy will come!" The girl stared at her with gray eyes - and they were the exact same as the boy, Kuzon's all of those years ago when she had stumbled upon Katara and the Avatar's group. "He will stop you."
"He doesn't even know where you are."
"Why are you here?" Ursa demanded, pulling Hama's focus away from the child. "What do you want?"
"The truth."
"Truth?"
"Yes. You're the only one who I trust to be honest with me."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you're the only one who has nothing to lose."
Ursa's golden eyes filled with a strange light. "What is it that you want to know, Bloodbender?"
Hama paused before she spoke, gathering her thoughts. "You said things to your husband at the Northern Water Tribe. I never knew that he was married; he never mentioned you."
"Unsurprising," the woman replied flatly. "If he wanted to lure you to his bed, he would not have spoken of me."
"I wasn't aware that he had children and a wife. You said that he scarred your son and locked away the mind of your daughter - and I learned that her name was Azula. He said that Azula was a whore, that she fucks the Avatar, and that she would be dead by his hands if it weren't for the Avatar."
"He shot mommy with lightning!" The child cried out and held a hand against her chest. "He did it right here!"
Looking away from the child, finding that she felt undeserving of being in the presence of such innocence, she continued. "Zhao called Piandao 'my liege' in his final moments, something that had never happened before; he said it reflexively as he tried to bargain for his life. None of this makes sense based on what I know of Piandao; you… you need to tell me what I'm missing."
Silence.
"Oh… how deceived you have been," Ursa stared at her with subtle mirth; she seemed surprised and incredulous at the same time. "I almost pity you, Bloodbender… My husband is not Piandao, never has been; he is the former Fire Lord Ozai of Sozin's line."
Hama laughed but it sounded shrill even to her own ears; she stared at Ursa for a moment and when she glimpsed the sincerity shining in those golden eyes, she staggered back, tripping over her limbs. She laid there on the ground, her senses malfunctioning; colors swirled through her vision and her hearing faded. Her mind rebelled against the words but they were too strong; they filled her fully and echoed with the force of an Airbender's fury.
Events began to make sense in different ways, particularly Chin V's blatant hatred for Pianda- …Fire Lord Ozai. They had fought after the tale of Avatar Kyoshi and Chin the Conqueror and just as Chin V was going to die, Vaatu had appeared to stop it, but only to begin torturing the Lavabender. Had Chin V somehow been aware of the true identity behind the man who stole the name 'Piandao'? Was that why Piand- Fire Lord Ozai had always looked at Chin V in a superior way? Why Chin V stared at Pian- Fire Lord Ozai with such veritable fear and hatred that Hama had never been able to understand? What about how Pia- Fire Lord Ozai was such a powerful Firebender, using his firebending with such an ease that Hama had never before seen? Was it because he had always been a Firebender from birth and only had his firebending returned to him by Agni once Vaatu freed him?
Just thinking of that name - Fire Lord Ozai! - chilled her heart and the realization that she had engaged in amorous activities with such a monster split her soul to the bone. Something began to rise inside her and she barely turned over as she retched horribly, nausea swimming through her, clouding her senses. How had she been so blind? She should have known!
"You really did not know…" the words from Ursa barely reached her; they were far away, diminishing in the gloom, horror, and misery in Hama's mind. "Has anyone known? Did he steal the swordsman's identity without anyone the wiser? And Zhao? He is alive?"
"He- he is Ozai," she breathed out, placing a hand to her chest, feeling the blood in her body quicken its rush; her heart was racing from the combined assault of her all-consuming fear and rage. "I must… I can't… I la- laid with hi- him. He is of Sozin's line!"
"Free me," Ursa whispered urgently, golden eyes beckoning. "Together, we can stop him from harming this world even further. Just help me get out of these chains."
Hama swallowed, staring at her in a new light, anger increasing exponentially. "You're his wife! You're a Firebender! You- you bore Fire Lord Zuko!"
"What does my son have to do with this?" The words were dangerous, the golden eyes narrowed, and she felt her rage compound. "He is a greater man than Ozai could ever be!"
"No," she hissed, standing to her feet as she backed away. "He's a monster just like his father… You're a monster," she dashed out of the tent past the Children of Chin without another word, hysteria a loathsome burden to her mind.
She ran back to her personal tent, gathering her things but she suddenly stopped as she realized something; this would be her revenge - it was perfect! For decades, she had lusted after the chance to kill Fire, to gain vengeance on the atrocities that Sozin led. Now she could kill an heir to Sozin, a Fire Lord; she would control his body and torture him for days, memorizing every minute detail.
Smiling sharply, Hama returned her things and began to devise her plan. Quickly, she ran into a problem. Vaatu would never allow her to harm Pi- Fire Lord Ozai, his precious vessel, and she could not battle against Darkness and Chaos; she was only a mortal Bloodbender and Vaatu possessed no conventional body or blood. Remembering the image of Chin V's terrified and agonized face as Vaatu sunk his shadows into his body after the battle with P- Fire Lord Ozai, she vowed that when she had the chance, when the opportunity arose, she would strike with the combination of over half a century of unrestrained hatred. For now, to see her new goal fulfilled, to keep suspicion away from her, she would continue her role as Master and lover - the thought sickened her! - but it would be worth it to kill one of Sozin's blood.
Hama would finally have the vengeance for which she had always yearned; it would be glorious and freeing, and Fire Lord Ozai would never see it coming.
XxXxXxXxXxX
A stiff silence permeated through the tent until it was pierced by the sound of sniffling.
Ursa tried to turn her head to look at Samir but the clamp around her forehead prohibited the movement; the sniffling grew louder until it resembled weeping.
"Samir," she called out gently but seriously. "Let me look at you. Come as close as you can."
The sound of crying slowly stopped and Ursa looked as far as she could to the side while ignoring the intense pain it caused her eyes. Her granddaughter achingly came into view and the pain in her eyes was insignificant compared to the sudden pain in her heart.
"Grandma," Samir choked out, eyes red, lips trembling. "That lady…"
"I know," she soothed and cursed Ozai vehemently; she yearned to simply hold her granddaughter but couldn't. "Come closer if you can."
Samir strained against the chain around her waist and desperately reached out her small hand; Ursa felt the fragile fingers brush against her own and she gratefully savored the brief contact of innocence until Samir was forced to pull away. It was infinitely preferable to her husband's lecherous, depraved touch.
"I don't like it here," her granddaughter's voice shook. "Where's daddy? Mommy?"
"They are looking for us," she swore. "I know they are; they will not stop until they find us."
"He… grandfather took us from daddy."
"Ozai is not your grandfather," the sudden vehemence in her voice surprised but her surprise didn't diminish the sudden fury that she felt. "Never consider him as such."
"But- but he's your husband and you're my grandma; he's mommy's daddy."
"Yes, but he is full of hatred and evil; he feels no love for you, unlike your mother and me."
"He- he comes in here and does… things to you. Are you a whore now li- like my- my birth mother?"
Ursa's eyes shut painfully, "I told you that whenever he comes in here to shut your eyes and not to look until I tell you that it is okay."
"But I heard noises."
"I am not a whore, Samir," she said slowly, spacing her words for maximum effect. "I am sorry that you witnessed such things, that you heard his grunts and groans. I am sorry that you are here and that I failed to stop him."
Samir sniffled again, "Is he… hurting you?"
"No," she instinctively tried to shake her head but was unable to. "Everything that I do, I do willingly."
"I miss them, daddy and mommy," the words were raw and broken; they contained no understanding. "I miss Uncle Zuzu and Katara. I miss Appa and Momo. I want to go back," the air began to pick up in the tent; it swirled with raw fury but it was a weak gust. "I don't like it here!"
Ursa's eyes were suddenly wet, welling with thick, bitter tears. "I do not like it here, either," she whispered soothingly; she needed to be strong! "We are together and that is what matters. Your father will find us, Samir; he will not rest until he rescues us. Nothing will happen to us, okay?"
"O- ok- okay," her granddaughter choked out and fell silent, the sound of her sniffles ever-present; the wind vanished.
Closing her eyes, Ursa reaffirmed her vow. "I will keep you safe, Samir," she whispered; she would do what she must. She only cared about one thing; she would continue to willingly be her husband's whore and let him spill his seed in her for as long as he wanted if it meant that Samir would be protected and unharmed.
So far, her granddaughter had been fed and while chained to the wall just as Ursa herself was, had more freedom where she could move her arms and walk around; it was the chain around her waist that kept her in the vicinity. Ursa refused to antagonize or attempt to refuse Ozai, for she knew who would face his wrath if she did. She had no power here and with the Bloodbender's blatant contempt for Firebenders, she had no means of escape. She couldn't risk anything; she would have to bide her time and pray that Avatar Aang and her daughter find them.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Aang felt more in control of his emotions, although they still lingered like a foul stench; he no longer felt that he would slip into the Avatar State at any moment. During his rare times of sleep, images haunted him and the vision that he had received had kept him from true rest. He had spent much of the past days speaking with Raava and she had given him worthy counsel, advising him about what needs to be done and while she didn't know what possible tricks Vaatu was using to escape, she vowed to keep thinking about it. She had even given him an idea about what to do with Agni and restoring the Firebenders - and he intended to use it.
Now, he inhaled deeply and entered Lee's cell. Immediately, he felt the bitter chill but at the same time he also didn't; it didn't affect him. For whatever reason, it looked like it didn't bother Lee, either, and he noticed that the sizzled features had disappeared; they looked completely normal, as if he had never been burned by fire that should have melted his flesh and blackened his bones. Beside him, Zuko exhaled a small flame from his mouth and stared at the imprisoned Lee with burning golden eyes. His friend had requested to be included in the interrogation since he needed a brief reprieve from smelling corpses and Aang hadn't refused him, specifically since Lee's reaction and words to Zuko were intriguing, telling.
"Am I that notable?" Lee's mocking voice drifted into his ears; the Energybender was still imprisoned in the ice that Aang had shaped. "Both the Avatar and Fire Lord deign themselves to visit my cell after a few days of isolation. I should feel honored, but all I feel is hatred for you both."
"I'm beginning to feel the same about you," Zuko muttered.
Aang walked towards Lee silently and then placed his thumbs on the Energybender's forehead and after using waterbending to remove some of the ice, on his solar plexus.
Lee shook mightily, panic and horror on his face. "No! Stop! Don't do it!"
"I'm sorry this happened to you," he whispered and used his energybending against Lee's; it was a fight for dominance. Slowly, the foundations of Lee's malevolent energybending and chi became visible and he began to understand exactly what Lee did, but he needed verbal confirmation. He was also astonished at how strong Lee's chi was, how much energy flowed inside it. Save for Aang's own, it was more saturated than any chi that he had ever encountered but the horrifying realization quickly came: it was stolen energy, siphoned away from other benders and probably some who he had infected with his plague. It was also how Lee had been able to heal from those injuries; the abundant chi energy had made him stronger, more durable, and more resilient. If not checked, it would keep him alive for centuries.
Aang's determination hissed through his teeth as he began to drag the darkness away; it was a fierce struggle and he realized that Vaatu's shadows had been inside Lee for years. There! He dug deeper and with a cry of effort yanked all of the darkness out; it tried to immediately go back but Aang's hands glowed white and the darkness dispersed into nothingness with a screeching sound.
"The fuck?" Lee hissed and his head lolled back, eyes blinking rapidly.
"It will take a minute," Aang consoled flatly before he waved his hand and released the ice. At first, Lee did nothing but after several more moments, he staggered to his feet. Zuko subtly shifted his stance into one of combat, but Lee didn't try to attack or flee somehow; he actually stared at Aang, stunned.
"You've grown a lot, Aang," the words were stupefied and Aang glanced at Zuko in bemusement; his friend looked just as befuddled. "I never thought… You were always so small and thin but now… you look imposing. The last time I saw you, while you had grown, you were nowhere near your current height."
"Do- do I know you?" He finally asked because that line of thought was the only thing that made sense. "Have we met?"
Lee blinked and glanced down at himself. "That's right… I'm different, now. You don't know me as… this, but I know you. I've always known. I was given a chance to see you and I took it. After I was rescued, I hated Fire as everyone should but I had faith in the Avatar, especially after I learned and saw that the Great War was over. I thought that you would continue a natural progression but then I saw you. I was deposited at your location; Vaatu was near you and you never even knew. He wanted me to see how much of a failure you were. I met you in this form, in a manner of speaking."
Aang shook his head, trying to understand, trying to make sense of it all. "What are you talking about?"
"It was near the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather." Lee's once-insane eyes glimmered with anger and memories. "Everyone had flocked to see you; there were thousands of us and I was among them, just one of the little ants at whom you were nodding and waving."
"When was this?"
"Of course. You don't remember. There were thousands of us and only one of you years ago." Lee's tone darkened, "The almighty Avatar had better things to do, especially when you became a recluse. You forgot about the people and the people wanted one thing: the eradication of Fire. We saw you and at first thought that you would do it, but then we realized that you wouldn't. You failed us! Your allowal of the continued survival of Fire was inexcusable. Vaatu offered me the means and I did what I must to extinguish the Fire Nation - and my plague will do it."
"So you hate me, too?" Aang questioned incredulously, "I know that I didn't do my duty as great as I could have, but I… I was broken. I needed healing."
"I was broken, too, and I found my source for healing: the destruction of Fire. It was something that you would never give me but Vaatu would. He gave me energybending and I have unleashed a virus that will kill everyone of Fire." Drifting his glance away from Aang, Lee immediately tensed at the sight of Zuko and the insane rage glimmered in his eyes; it was as all-consuming as if he was still in Vaatu's darkness, and it was a dreadful sight. "You. Fire Lord Zuko… I've waited a long time to have the chance to kill you and if Aang weren't here, I would. You cut off my hand," the stump of a hand was held up for emphasis. "You bastard."
Zuko seemed both dismissive and angry. "You tried to kill me."
"But I didn't actually kill you, whereas you killed me in Ba Sing Se! You killed me before I got to see the end of the Great War!"
"What does that mean?" Zuko stepped forward, "I have never seen you before in my life! I killed no one in Ba Sing Se except Earthbenders who rebelled against Azula and me and a few Dai Li agents."
"And almost killed me," Aang added calmly, wanting to see Lee's reaction.
Zuko winced, "Yeah, that, too."
"You really are a monster!" Lee snarled, teeth flashing; they were blood-stained. "You kill everyone and it was me at the forefront!"
"But you look nothing like the Earthbenders and Dai Li who I killed; you have Fire Nation features. You're one of my traitorous subjects!"
"I would never be one of Fire! They sicken me! My name is not Lee. I took that name when Vaatu rescued me as a reminder of the boy and uncle who had killed me."
"And me and Uncle Iroh are who killed you?"
"Yes! You began me on that path and that bastard Dai Li killed me after I stopped trying to kill Aang!"
Aang's lips parted - it couldn't be! - and he gasped. "Jet?"
A shudder passed through Lee - Jet? - and he smiled; it was a peaceful expression. "Hearing that name again… it feels good. It's been a long time."
Staggering back, Aang shook his head and tried to make sense of everything. "You're dead! You died under Lake Laogai! It was… nine, almost ten years ago!"
"You remember- "
"We know… I know!"
"You have a good memory," the vague smirk stimulated his mind and he remembered it on another face.
"You're Jet!"
"Obviously born again, you could say."
Aang blinked hard, "I don't believe this! It's not possible! You look different! You have obvious Fire Nation features instead of Earth Kingdom! You are younger than you should be! You died! The dead do not walk the Mortal Realm! It breaks the Laws of Balance!"
"Believe it, Aang," Jet - Jet! - suddenly snarled and glared at Zuko. "Because of him and his firebending uncle, the Dragon of the West, the Dai Li tortured me and then eventually killed me. When Vaatu freed me, to whom I owe everything, I took the name that was used by the skin-melted bastard as a reminder of what happened to me, to never forget who killed me. Lee is for Fire Lord Zuko and Jet is for Lee."
Zuko finally snapped out of his shock, glaring back at Jet. "You're the one who attacked me at the fucking tea shop! Don't blame me! It was your own damn fault!"
When Jet dashed forward with a roar of fury, Aang, in response, used his waterbending to imprison him once again. "Enough! I'm having a lot of trouble understanding this, but I'm going to because you will tell me everything that you know… Jet."
"Why would I do that, Aang?" Jet only laughed, "I owe everything to Vaatu. I'm not going to betray him; he saved me."
Aang's face contorted and his own rage was back; he dimly noticed that Jet immediately looked wary. "Ozai and Vaatu took my daughter!"
"And my mother," his friend added darkly. "Start talking."
"Fuck you!" Jet glared at Aang with poisonous rage, "That's right. I had almost forgotten. You traitor! You wed one of Sozin's line! You fuck her? You place your hands on such evil? You share a daughter with her! That's how you choose to bring back your people? Through her? You're a fucking disgrace!"
"The only disgrace is you!" Zuko snapped furiously. "You continue to add crimes to your legacy!"
Before Jet could respond, Aang spoke and his anger bled through. "Right now, I don't care that I knew you during the Great War. I don't even care that you died, or that you're somehow alive and have a different face - a Fire Nation face instead of an Earth Kingdom one - and body-build. All I care about is that you worked directly for Vaatu, spread a plague through energybending to destroy the Fire Nation, and are one of the reasons why I wasn't able to save Samir and Ursa from Ozai. You kept Zuko from telling me that he had seen Ozai at the top of the Spirit Oasis!"
Jet's features scrunched, "Why do you keep talking about Fire Lord Ozai? Vaatu doesn't work with that fucker."
"Yes, he does."
"No, he doesn't. I would know because listen…" Aang leaned forward and used soundbending but didn't hear anything different; everything that he already heard was just louder. "If that were the case, if I was working with that fucker, you would literally hear my skin crawling."
"Who did that spirit work with, then?" Zuko demanded aggressively, "Who did you work with?"
"Like I would tell you. Go ahead and torture me as much as you want but I'm never saying anything. I'd rather die again."
"That can be arranged," his friend growled. "Start talking!"
"Fuck you!"
"Who did you work with?" Aang stared down at Jet and released him from his prison as encouragement. "Tell me. Don't worry about Zuko."
Jet reluctantly spoke after standing back to his feet. "I worked with Vaatu, Piandao, Hama, Chin V and his followers, and then Zhao."
"Zhao?" Zuko whispered, "He's dead! I watched it myself!"
"I forgot to tell you," he murmured and turned around, feeling a pressure building behind his forehead; he massaged his temples. "I learned from La that Zhao was impossibly alive; it was something about Vaatu freeing Zhao from his prison."
"But I watched Zhao die by the hands of the Ocean Spirit!"
"You have a habit of condemning people to die, Fire Lord!"
"You don't know what you're talking about! I tried to save him, but he pulled away!"
A nightmarish puzzle began to conceptualize in Aang's mind as he stood there; there was only one non-bender listed and Vaatu wouldn't work closely with one. His counterpart valued only power and a swordsman had none in comparison to a bender.
"And the man you know as Piandao, what… what is his role?"
"He's becoming the new Avatar to destroy you; he's Vaatu's greatest ally."
"Piandao? He's Vaatu's vessel?"
"Yes."
Zuko immediately paled, "We've been so blind. How… how? How are you alive? How is Zhao alive? Nothing is making sense! You said that you were dead, but you're alive with a different face and body."
"I'm never telling you anything!"
Aang took over, trying to stay calm - how deceived they had all been! "Perhaps you will be more receptive when you learn who the man you call 'Piandao' really is. It's horrifying but clear to see what has happened and the only one who can't see it is you, Jet. The former Fire Lord Ozai stole the name of the swordsman, Piandao. You've been working with Ozai this entire time and- " he gasped as another horrifying thought occurred to him and he swallowed thickly. "Sokka! We sent him after Piandao thinking that it was- "
"Oh, Agni," his friend cursed and true fear was on his face. "We have to find him!"
"We will," he assured, trying to conceal his own sudden terror and dread.
"This entire time, my father has been… masquerading as Piandao?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense," he whispered. "I cut off Ozai's arm and he suddenly has it back. I don't know how; it's Ozai's face and the only thing that has changed is the name. Piandao is Ozai."
Jet's face had drained of blood and he looked shaken, horrified. "What? No, I would have known if… It can't be! NO! Pian- Fire Lord Ozai is who is Vaatu's vessel? That is the man with whom I slaughtered the Order of the White Lotus?"
Aang felt faint, "It was you? You murdered my followers?"
Before anything else was said, Jet suddenly vomited, collapsing to his knees; he shook and curled into himself, the fight leaving him in a rush. "Oh, Devi. I- I did those things! I helped Fire Lord Ozai! I- I killed my fellow Children of Earth and those innocent Water Tribesmen! All I wanted was Fire's destruction, not to work with Fire Lord Ozai! Oh, I- I… I raped those women alongside him!" Horror was carved into Jet's pale, distraught face, "Forgive me, please. I- I'm sorry!"
Zuko stared down at him and Aang was speechless as his friend took over. "Interesting… Now you feel regret, but only when you learn that you were working for my father the entire time. That's shallow. Your skin's crawling now, isn't it?"
Jet's horror-stricken face snapped upward and the rage reappeared. "Don't think that changes my hatred for you! I'll still see you and your uncle and the entire Fire Nation die!"
"You're not leaving the Northern Water Tribe alive," his friend hissed. "Your crimes are seemingly innumerable and you show no regret for your actions towards me or my people."
"Did you really do those things, Jet?" Aang asked sorrowfully, horror a deep emotion inside him. "You… raped women alongside Ozai? You killed innocents?"
"Yes. I should lose much more than my hand," Jet's words were full of self-loathing and misery. "I'm a monster."
"You mean, lose your eleventh toe?" Zuko's tone was cold, on the verge of an explosion. "I'm pretty sure that my sister or Katara would suffice as that executioner. It wouldn't surprise me if Azula castrated someone during the Great War."
"Katara?" Jet gasped and flinched. "I- I can't see her!"
"I wouldn't ever let you see her!" Zuko spat out, a hideous snarl on his face. "I wouldn't let her talk to such a monster."
Jet's eyes widened in fury, "Let her…? You said that you love her after putting down your blade! So you hold her heart? No! You have taken everything from me! She was a soothing presence in an otherwise chaotic world that your people spread!"
"She would despise the monster that you've become," his friend snapped. "She owes you nothing; she will be my Fire Lady."
"What? You bastard!" Jet rose up again but Aang sighed and imprisoned him swiftly. Even while kneeling, Jet's rage was impressive. "You've corrupted her! I'll kill you!"
"I did nothing except love her and I was blessed enough that she loves me back."
"No! She would love me!"
"Liar. You worked for you-know-who and my father. You killed many innocents, including her people. Worst of all in her mind, you raped multiple women alongside my father. How would Katara feel about that? We both know the answer."
Surprisingly, Jet didn't rise up and bellow or screech; he bowed his head in sorrowful acceptance.
Aang inhaled slowly and they all remained silent for several more moments before he spoke. "Zuko, I believe that your nostrils have cleared of the stench. You should go."
"What? I- I should go?" Zuko looked incredulous and angry. "Jet is my responsibility! He unleashed the plague on my people!"
"You can deal with him later," he replied calmly, understanding his friend's anger, knowing where it stemmed from. "I need to speak with Jet alone and with you here, you add a presence that he both fears and hates; he would rebel. I can learn things from him, but I need to do it alone."
Zuko calmed himself before he nodded. "Fine. It's probably a good thing. More time with him and I'd kill him," his friend stepped towards the wall and using his waterbending, Aang opened it for him. When Zuko was gone, he sealed it shut and looked back down at Lee.
They were alone.
"I'm sorry, Aang," Jet whispered, eyes staring at the ice beneath him. "All I wanted was for Fire to die and when you wouldn't do that, Vaatu would."
"I can't save you," he stated both bluntly. "While I knew you during the Great War, you have committed horrible crimes against me by killing my Order and worse crimes against the Fire Nation with your plague. Only Zuko will deal your punishment."
"Just kill me, please!" Jet looked up at him beseechingly. "I saw you in the battle! You killed people. Kill me, please. I don't want to die by that skin-melted bastard's hands for a second time!"
"No. I'm not going to kill you." Aang shook his head sadly, "You don't understand. Zuko and Iroh aren't responsible for your death, you are. We had spoken with Smellerbee and Longshot; they told us what happened, the truth of the matter. You were all going to Ba Sing Se for a fresh start but you couldn't let go of your hatred for Fire, and when you met Zuko and Iroh and discovered that they were Firebenders, it consumed you. You were obsessed and brazenly attacked Zuko. Your actions led to your death. You need to stop blaming others for your own deeds."
"The Fire Nation murdered my family!"
"And they murdered mine!" Aang roared suddenly, staring down at Jet. "Are you arrogant enough to think your loss is bigger than mine? Why couldn't you be like me and not seek vengeance? I had more reasons than you to do it but I didn't!"
Jet stammered, "Bu- but you're an Air Nomad! You're different! You were a stupid fucking kid!"
"Maybe, but not anymore. I am all of the elements, all of the nations; that is what the Avatar is. I could have slaughtered the Fire Nation anytime I wanted, but the crimes of a few aren't the crimes of them all."
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Your obsession led to your death, not Zuko or Iroh."
"You're wrong!"
Aang, recognizing that he wouldn't be able to change Jet's mind, released him once more from his prison. "I can't save you from whatever fate Zuko decides, but I can make it quick. Tell me what you know of Vaatu. Tell me everything that has happened. How are you alive? Why do you look different? What about Hama? How is she younger? How was the Order slaughtered so meticulously? Where are my daughter and mother-in-law? How does Ozai have both of his arms? I need to know."
Jet swallowed and nodded. "You can make it quick?"
"Yes. What do you know?"
"I was in the Gardens of the Dead… One day, Vaatu appeared before me." Aang swallowed his disbelief and listened closely; he created a perch of ice for himself to sit on and he made one for Jet, too. "He said that my hatred and rage had been great enough for him to sense, even in the Gardens of the Dead. He offered me a chance to live again, to get my revenge on Fire and I eagerly jumped at it."
"So Vaatu is willing to break the Laws of Balance; the dead do not live again except as reincarnations." Aang breathed out, feeling a piercing headache rupture through his mind. "They don't get a second chance, but he's breaking the rules… That's no surprise. Why do you look different? Was it Koh? Did the Face Stealer give you a new face."
"No. This isn't my body, it's someone else's, a Fire Nation scribe who worked in the Caldera. Vaatu pulled my spirit out of the Gardens of the Dead and I… commandeered this body, you could say. I think that Vaatu used energybending to do it but it's all a blur. The man had a family, a pregnant wife. Vaatu wanted me to kill her; he said that it was a test."
Aang's eyes shut painfully. "You killed her?"
"At first, no. I questioned him about you. I thought that you would destroy Fire when you realized how stupid you were as a kid and that while I would get a second life, I wouldn't need to do it. Vaatu offered to show me and he took me to see you at the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. I knew just by looking at you that you weren't ever going to do it even though the people wanted it. So I agreed with Vaatu and then I went back and killed the man's wife. I strangled her. In reward, Vaatu gave me energybending and taught me how to use it; he also hinted at the plague but the rest was all my tool of revenge. It was… difficult to master energybending; it took a long time but I finally was able to when I realized that this new body that I had been given was a Firebender's."
"What did you do?"
"I infected my own chi with the plague. I was the first chi-stealer because of it and when I snuffed out that damned inner flame and changed things, that was when I was finally able to master it." Aang shuddered at the implications but continued to listen; you never want to tinker with your chi! "It was impossibly hard to keep from spreading the plague, but I held on as long as I could and it was worth it. Then I stole the scribe's identity just as Pia- Fire Lord Ozai apparently stole a swordsman's and worked as a scribe for the Dragon of the West while he was regent. It was to get- "
"To get Embers for Ozai. Iroh wrote us a letter explaining everything that he knew."
"I still don't regret it, you know?" Jet leaned forward, eyes turning as cold as the prison they were in. "I'd unleash my plague again in a heartbeat."
Aang sighed, hiding his horror and anger. "I know. What about the Order?"
"Ahh… I don't think that I know everything, but before I worked as the scribe for the Dragon of the West, I do know that Ozai and I were given the location of each member of the Order. Vaatu would deposit us near the location and Ozai and I would go in and slaughter them. They were always grouped together and since I wasn't able to steal the chi energy of a Master bender, I took the ones who weren't Masters. That fucker dealt with all of the Masters…" Jet was sorrowful and regretful, hints of anger in his tone. "I had never encountered such a powerful Firebender. I knew that he would be Vaatu's vessel, but I had never imagined that it was Fire Lord Ozai."
"How did you know the location of the Order's members?" Aang demanded, "It was the most powerful organization in the Four Nations, my organization. It was slaughtered down to fou- three members! How was that possible?"
"There was a man in the Order; he was the Sage of Earth, I believe."
"Kanan," the name flowed off Aang's lips smoothly but he still couldn't picture the man.
"Yes, that was his name. He felt what many people did: indignant at Fire's survival. I spoke with him on several occasions and he complied with everything that Vaatu wanted. I thought that he would show more loyalty to his organization, but no."
"He had been corrupted," he leaned his head back to calm himself. "That's it? That was all it took for this begin? Hatred for the Fire Nation?"
Jet shrugged. "We all hate Fire and want revenge for the Great War and the millions of deaths, but with Kanan, there was another thing."
"What?"
"He grew to hate you, Aang, because of your refusal to annihilate Fire. He, too, was furious that you were ignoring your responsibility to restore the Air Nomads."
Aang didn't breathe but then his fists clenched. "I was a boy! How dare he presume to tell me to sire children when I was still a child myself? I know who you're talking about, now. I have a face to put to a name," he closed his eyes tiredly, his anger and energy spent. "It's just like how Sozin had Afiko; there was betrayal from an insider. So Vaatu corrupted him and he gave the location of nearly every Order member. Why? Why not give them all? There were no reports that Bumi, Iroh, or Pakku were ever attacked."
"Pi- Ozai wanted the Dragon of the West to be alive when it was all finished and then he promised me that I could kill him. Vaatu didn't want King Bumi's location revealed because he had promised Chin V revenge against him. And no one wanted to face the Master Waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe; he would have had too much of an advantage, even for one such as Ozai."
"Revenge against Bumi?" Aang blinked, "Who's Chin V?"
"All I know is that he's descended from Chin the Conqueror."
"And what did Bumi do to him?"
"Disfigured his face; it's an ugly sight."
"For Vaatu to promise something like that, Chin V must be valuable."
"He is."
"So Chin V is an Earthbender, then? Did Vaatu promise him revenge against Bumi if he taught Ozai earthbending? Is that it?"
"Yes, but he isn't just an Earthbender. He's also a Metalbender and Lavabender."
Aang's eyes widened and words from months ago from his friend's lips echoed in his mind: '...slashing his face with several daggers of solid stone.'
"The murderer of Sheil!" He cried out, the pieces clicking into place. "Chin V was who murdered Bumi's son; he's the Lavabender! I finally have a name to give my friend."
"It might not be needed."
"What do you mean?"
Jet stared at him, "There were no Earthbenders for this invasion to the North, but make no mistake, there were hundreds of Earthbenders under Ozai's employ and Chin V was his general. While we all attacked the Northern Water Tribe, Chin V and his Earthbenders were to attack Ba Sing Se."
"No!" Aang stood to his feet and scrunched his face; he had failed again! "Bumi will have stopped them! He had Toph, Bor, and Suki! Ba Sing Se would never allow an invasion to happen!"
"I'm telling you everything that I know, Aang." Jet shrugged, "I won't lie. I want that quick death and I suppose that this is me… making up for working with Ozai."
As soon as he was through in the North, he vowed to immediately fly to Ba Sing Se - and he still needed to find Samir and Ursa! Feeling overwhelmed, Aang collapsed back onto the perch.
"What about Hama?"
"The Waterbender?"
"Yes. Why is she younger? I knew her during the Great War; she was an old woman."
"I don't know, but she is the one who healed Ozai after you cut off his arm. It was through something called bloodbending and something that Vaatu did. Hama is also going to be Ozai's waterbending Master."
"This is a nightmare," he muttered and rubbed an exhausted hand down his face. "And my daughter and mother-in-law?"
"I had no idea that they were going to be taken. I can't help you there."
Aang grit his teeth but a thought appeared. "Actually, you may already have… Ozai has three elements and the only remaining one is air. He needs an Airbender to teach him but the only one who could truly teach him is me. Samir can't teach him anything; she's a beginner… What if Vaatu will use her as a host?"
"What?"
"A host!" Fear and anger coursed through him. "As you took over that scribe's body, a dead Airbender will seize Samir's! The spirit itself couldn't use airbending; it would need an Airbender's body and Samir is the only one in existence save myself!" Aang narrowly avoided staggering at the realization, "Vaatu will somehow pull an Airbender out of the Gardens of the Dead, corrupt him or her, order them to commandeer Samir's body, and then he'll have a Master Airbender to teach Ozai airbending! He's going to use my daughter!"
"That makes sense."
"Where are they?" Aang demanded, standing to his feet. "You should have an idea where they'll go. For some reason, I can't feel Vaatu himself, only his darkness in others. He hides from me, but if you know where Ozai and Vaatu will go, I'll be able to stop them both and save Samir and Ursa."
Jet sighed, "It won't be the same place; it was mentioned that they needed a new base during the trip to the North. Before the invasion of the North, the camp was at Pohuai; it's a stronghold in the- "
"I know where it is. I was briefly captured there."
"I didn't know that."
"You wouldn't have."
"It was used because of its location; it was close enough to the ocean without being suspicious and it was almost a straight shot to the Northern Water Tribe once you passed land."
"Where do you think that Ozai and Vaatu would go, then?"
"If I had to guess… I'd say somewhere else in the Colonies. It's prime chaos there; there are many who Vaatu could sway to his side. I don't know, though. It could really be anywhere. Maybe even the fucking Fire Nation. My plague has left plenty of room for so many have already died - and many more will die!"
"And how exactly did you… use your energybending to cause the plague? I have a theory but I want to hear what you have to say."
"The moment when Vaatu hinted at what I would be able to do, I thought about it; it took me a long time. Just as you snuffed out Ozai's inner flame- how did he get his firebending back?"
"Agni."
"Of course, that damned Fire Spirit." Jet's strange, unfamiliar features contorted; the potent, poisonous rage had returned. "I hope that my plague kills him."
"I won't let that happen."
Jet stared at him in disgust, "And that's why you're a failure, Aang. You said earlier that your loss is bigger than mine, yet you are too pathetic to use your awesome power to destroy Agni and all of his monstrous children. That's the difference between you and me. Do you really think that the Air Nomads would feel good about you doing nothing to avenge their horrible deaths?"
Aang tilted his head, locking eyes with Jet's dark ones. "My people, all of the Air Nomads… they can't feel anything, Jet. They're dead. It's something that you have yet to realize. They're at rest in the Gardens of the Dead, their souls forever unburdened with mortal emotions; there, they will remain unless they are reincarnated. My people never preached vengeance."
"I felt furious when I was dead!" Jet spat, spittle exploding past his curled-back lips. "I wanted nothing more than to leave the Gardens of the Dead and wreak my vengeance on Fire. I wanted to live again! Vaatu rescued me and I made sure that Fire paid for what they did."
"And why do you hate Fire so much?"
"They murdered my parents! They took everything from me!"
"The question that you asked me applies to you, as well. Do you think that your parents would feel good about you killing and spreading destruction in their names?"
Jet snarled, teeth gleaming, "Fuck you, Aang! You know nothing! Fire must die and my plague will do it. They deserve it! Look at what they did to the world!"
"Look at what you've done to the world, Jet. Vaatu will destroy this world if he feels like it; he doesn't care about humans at all. The only human that he would care for is Ozai and that's it. Everybody else who follows him are tools that he manipulates and forces to serve him."
"You lie! My plague was for the good of the world! Fire will die because of it."
"Will it?" Aang questioned lightly, ignoring Jet's teeming emotions. "During the battle, I glimpsed you fighting Zuko and I felt your darkness, but Zuko contained you. It was interesting. I had been about to help him when I felt your energybending reach out and try to taint Zuko's firebending chi, but I didn't need to because it didn't work. Fire will not die, Jet. They are beaten and it will take time but they will rebuild with a Master like Zuko leading them."
"No!"
"Yes. I will help oversee the return of firebending."
"You're wrong," Jet adamantly shook his head. "I just didn't have enough time to infect the Fire Lord. Eventually, one of my chi-stealers will. He's not a Master!"
Aang, in response, shook his own head. "Who knows more about energybending, Jet?"
"Fire will die! Vaatu promised me!"
"What did you do to spread the plague?" Aang asked calmly, changing the subject. "How did you infect Firebenders?"
"Just as you took Ozai's firebending, I snuffed out Firebenders and replaced it with the need to feed, to spread - just like Fire. It was my creation, designed only to target Firebenders because of Fire's nature. It wants to feed and consume everything in its path, but my plague would only be able to do that with Firebenders themselves. They were the hosts and my plague takes their firebending away and attacks other Firebenders until an outsider rightfully puts them down."
"That's clever…" he had confirmation and it was as he had suspected; he contained his horror. "You thought it through."
"Of course, I did. I thought about nothing except the extinction of Fire and those who would deny me it."
"Thank you," he stood to his feet and nodded; he walked towards the door and opened a doorway to walk through with his waterbending.
"Aang?"
He slowly turned around, "Yes?"
"I'm sorry that you lost your daughter and… mother-in-law, but I don't regret my plague at all." Jet's eyes were hard, uncompromising. "Vaatu gave me the means to destroy Fire and I did what I had to. I would do it again with zeal. You're too weak to do what needs to be done and that's why you lost your daughter and mother-in-law. They're probably dead. Maybe now you'll use your awesome power to destroy those responsible as you should have done with Fire. Maybe you won't need someone like me to fix your mistake this time."
Aang turned back around and exited the cell; he passed Zuko who, unsurprisingly, was waiting.
"Did he tell you everything?"
"It's worse than I thought," he whispered. "Of course, it's worse than I thought! This is a nightmare."
Zuko placed a steady hand on his shoulder, "We'll get Samir and my mother back, and we'll stop Ozai and Dark."
"Thanks," he stared at his friend sadly. "There's nothing that I can do to stop his death- "
"No, there isn't."
"- but I did tell him that if he revealed everything that… that I could make it quick."
"Very well," his friend didn't look happy, but he didn't look angry. "His punishment will be administered now. My duty as Fire Lord calls for nothing less."
Aang closed his eyes and turned away. "He's… he's all yours."
XxXxXxXxXxX
Zuko re-entered the cell and stared at Jet, still trying to triumph over his shock over the revelation of whom 'Lee' actually was. A lot more of the words exchanged between them made sense and he wondered briefly how he was going to explain this to Katara. Should he even tell her? He couldn't answer that question yet.
"It was always going to end this way," he stared hard. "Surely, you know that."
Jet glared at him, "Maybe, but it doesn't matter. I win. I made your people and firebending die out. My plague will be my legacy. Yours is one of failure and death, just as all Firebenders."
"I'm glad that I didn't turn out like you. I could have, but I didn't. Because I'm stronger than you," he smiled thinly. "I conquered my consuming hatred but you… you fell prey to it because you're weak."
"Weak? I am stronger than your kind, Fire Lord!" Jet stepped forward and Zuko watched with what he hoped was a similar expression of boredom that Azula often donned. "I have decimated your people! I have gotten my revenge and there is nothing that you or anyone can do to fix it! Not even Katara's healing hands could do it!"
"You're wrong," his tone darkened at Jet's mention of Katara; that bastard didn't have the privilege to speak her name! "Aang is the Avatar and this falls under his domain; he will fix what you have wrought. I'll make sure of it."
"Not if I kill you first!" Jet dashed at him and Zuko was ready; he whipped out one of his swords in the blink of an eye and side-stepped Jet and in a smooth motion, decapitated him. The forced hitch of withered breath reached his ears and he watched unblinkingly as Jet slackened and then toppled forward; his head unevenly rolled away, a trail of blood staining the ice.
He punched his fist forward and the body was engulfed in flames; he stepped around it, ignoring the sound of boiling blood, and picked up the head. The face was permanently etched with that consuming hatred, eyes wide and lips parted. Zuko gripped it in his hands and held it away from himself; he then spewed fire from his lips and dropped the head, staring as flesh and eyes were melted and bones were then blackened. This time, there would be no regeneration from a killing blow.
Satisfied, he exited the cell and motioned for the guards to shut it. Aang was staring at him sadly.
"It's finished?"
Zuko exhaled in relief and the guards left after the cell was sealed. "Yeah, it is."
"I wish that… he had chosen a different path."
"With Dark in his psyche, that would have been impossible. Jet did all of this on his own; he is responsible, not you. You have a terrible habit of blaming yourself for things that are out of your control."
"But I'm the Avatar."
"And I'm the Fire Lord," he huffed out a brief snort of laughter. "It took me a while but I have learned not to blame myself for my subjects' decisions. Look at the Nobles who betrayed me. I don't blame myself about that, I blame them because they chose to do that; it's their actions, not mine."
"I know," his friend whispered and slid down the ice wall until he was sitting. Zuko sat next to him. "But if I can see the future and have all of this power, what's the use? I continuously fail. No matter what I do, it's not good enough."
"You may hold all of the power in the world as a fully-realized Avatar, but you can't do everything," he placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. "You can't stop all of the bad that is going to happen. You can't save everyone, Aang. Some people are just… they're too far gone. Jet was one of those few people and my father is certainly above him on that list. No matter what you say or do, they're never going to change from their evil ways. It becomes a crime to those who are redeemable to keep those monsters alive; they're better off dead."
Aang's eyes shut, "Is… is everybody too far gone who seems that way?"
"No," he shook his head adamantly and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Look at me for example. For a long time, I thought that I was too far gone, but I really wasn't. All I needed was to realize how evil my father's actions were and what my people were spreading and then a little push in the right direction. Look at Azula. Everybody throughout the other nations kept telling me that she was irredeemably evil and sometimes I even believed them. I visited her every day for eight years and while progress was made, it wasn't enough." Zuko turned to fully face Aang, staring at him. "It wasn't until she ran into you when she truly changed for the better; you saved her Aang. You proved that she wasn't too far gone." Aang inhaled shakily and tears welled in his gray eyes but Zuko kept talking. "Now you're married to her and she adores you more than I ever thought that she could feel for someone. You did that. Not me, not mother, not anyone but you. All of these people under Dark's control, most of them aren't too far gone, either. It's only a special breed of bastards like Jet and my father who are irredeemable."
"Yo- you're right," his friend wiped away the tears. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"You're drowning, that's what's happening. So much has happened these past days and none of it good. Your daughter and my mother were taken by my father, the biggest monster in the world. You have also learned so much these past weeks and they, too, weren't good."
"Jet told me how the Order was slaughtered so easily."
Zuko's eyes widened, "How?"
Aang laughed brokenly, "It was the Earth Sage; his name was Kanan. I don't know if he's still alive, but he betrayed the Order and joined Dark just as Afiko betrayed the Air Nomads and joined Sozin. Kanan wanted revenge against the Fire Nation- "
"Of course," he sighed and pinched his nose. "That's what seems to be the recurring theme with everyone."
"- but he also hated me." Aang's voice shook, "He hated that I wasn't taking my duty to repopulate my people seriously."
"That's… that's the dumbest reason that I've ever heard." Zuko felt his anger rise, "What a fucking- "
"Was he right?"
Zuko stared at Aang in shock, "No! You were a child! You weren't ready for raising an entire nation. You had your personal problems to deal with and even now, you only just started being a father."
"And now my daughter was kidnapped by Ozai to use as a host for a dead Airbender."
"What?"
"It's how Jet is- was alive. Dark pulled his soul out of the Gardens of the Dead- "
"He can do that?"
"- and put it into another body. Yes, he can. I don't know how, but I think he used energybending to do it. I had never thought of that, but I believe that Samir's body will be used by a dead, Master Airbender who will teach Ozai airbending."
Zuko digested all of that with a strange sense of fascination but he shook himself out of it. "The Earth Sage, Kanan's hatred for you and Samir's kidnapping are not your fault. Just as the Great War wasn't your fault, this isn't either!"
"Maybe if I had- "
"Stop it! You already had the chance to change things in the past, remember? But you chose not to!" Zuko doubted that he would have had the strength to do that if he were given the chance. "Don't start fantasizing about things that you could have changed because you can't do it! What's done is done. We can only work forward to keep any of this from happening again."
Aang sniffed and nodded, "We have a lot of work to do, then."
"And we'll all do it together," he pulled his friend to his feet. "You're not alone, Aang. We all have your back and when - not if, when - we fix all of this, we will still have your back."
"Thanks, Zuko," Aang wiped away his final tears, standing tall. "Let's get started."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Thank you for your interference, Avatar Aang," the heavily-bandaged Onartok said; he had been found near the Spirit Oasis, barely alive. It was only through Katara's intervention that he had survived. "Without you, I fear that we would all be dead. Because of you all, the Northern Water Tribe still survives."
Azula saw her brother incline his head, "My father is responsible for this and it is only right that his children see him stopped."
"I had trepidations about you both, Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Azula, but they have proven unfounded." Onartok's gratefulness was clear in his eyes. "Thank you."
They were all seated in the Throne Room at a large table of ice. Aang, for the first time since Samir and her mother had been taken, no longer seemed distracted; it was a stark relief. Azula still remembered how she had had to keep him from going into the Spirit World every day to try and find Vaatu, Samir, and her mother. She sat next to him closely, finding that she needed the closeness and that his now-calm presence soothed her in ways that she couldn't describe. Across from them sat Zuko and Katara; her brother was clearly still furious that their mother was taken, but he had calmed down, as well; it was similar to Aang's change. Had they spoken?
Azula pondered; she knew for certain that while she and Zuko had blamed no one but their father for Samir and their mother's kidnapping, Aang had blatantly blamed himself. Now, there seemed to be a change; it was subtle but since she knew her husband better than anyone, she saw it. He seemed more relaxed and in control, and for the first time since she learned that her daughter and mother were taken, she felt hopeful. It was all because of Aang.
"What did you gain from those prisoners, Azula?" Katara asked from her place next to Zuko, leaning forward; many of the surviving Water Tribesmen who sat at the table looked at her, too. "Do you know where Samir and Ursa are?"
"No," she felt her lips pinch in barely concealed rage, but it faded under her practiced mask of regal poise; it also helped that Aang's calming presence was near. "While I failed to receive what I needed most, I did learn some interesting things… The non-bending Children of Earth who attacked were from a cult-like family known as the Children of Chin."
Aang finally reacted, "Wait, as in Chin the Conqueror?"
"Didn't Avatar Kyoshi stop him?" Onartok interrupted, "That was centuries ago."
"Yes, and these Children of Chin have never forgotten," she remembered what Satish had told her. "They hold a deep hatred for the Avatar and have worked for centuries to secure their demise. They failed with Kyoshi and Roku but by allying with you-know-who, they felt that they could finally succeed this time with Aang."
"Chin V…" Aang whispered beside her. "And the Earthbenders of that… family are who hit Ba Sing Se while the North was attacked."
Stunned silence.
"How did you know that?" Azula peered at her husband, considering. "I was about to say that. Did you decide to speak to them, as well?"
"They attacked Ba Sing Se?" Katara's eyes widened, "Are Toph, Bumi, Bor, and Suki okay?"
"It was a pincer movement," her brother murmured in confirmation and Azula was certain that Aang and Zuko had spoken already about the subject. "It's quite smart."
Aang sighed, "Yes. There has been no news about any success or failure, so I think that Bumi fought them off. And no, I didn't speak to these Children of Chin. I learned of the attack from… Lee; he revealed all that he knew to me. No, he didn't know about Samir and Ursa, either."
Katara leaned back and Azula did the same. "And who is he, exactly? He was crazy, saying that he knew my love and mercy or something. He said that Zuko killed him. Did he tell you what he meant?"
She saw her husband glance at Zuko and he grimaced. "He was a man consumed by darkness; he became a monster and unfortunately, he will not leave the North alive. His crimes are worse than originally thought."
"But he knew things and said things," Katara said in bemusement. "Was he just raving?"
Zuko sighed loudly and ducked his head for a moment; she saw him come to a decision. "It was Jet."
Katara blinked, "Jet…? Yo- you mean?"
"Dark took his spirit out of the Gardens of the Dead and placed into a Fire Nation scribe. I think that he used energybending to do it, manipulating one's life energy or their spirit." Aang answered tiredly, "He was not the Jet who we knew, Katara, not at all; he was a monster."
"He's alive?" Katara whispered and glanced at the exit of the Throne Room; she looked overwhelmed. "What? But… why- why would he do those things?"
"He was in Dark's clutches for years," her brother answered quickly. "He always hated Fire but this time, it really did consume him. He killed innocents and raped women; he was a true monster."
Katara looked horrified, "That can't be…"
"He confessed, Katara," Aang said gently, sadly. "I was there myself; his crimes were immense and… inexcusable. He didn't regret his plague at all; he said multiple times that he would do it again."
"I need to see him." Katara stood to her feet, "I need to understand."
"You can't!" Azula watched curiously as Zuko grabbed his lover's arm and pull her back down. "He's dead."
"What? But you just said- "
"I killed him… He attacked me."
"So you actually did kill him this time," she murmured in amusement, not feeling pity or compassion at all for this Jet; she also felt no surprise for both Aang and Zuko had been speaking of Jet in the past tense. "How painful did you make it?"
"Painless," her brother glanced at her in irritation. "Because he told Aang everything, it was a quick death."
"Aang?" Katara looked at him in shock, "You allowed this?"
"I had to," her husband rubbed his face with a tired hand. "It was a difficult decision, but yes. Most of Jet's crimes were against the Fire Nation and his plague has wiped out many of Zuko's people. So it fell to Zuko to deal with him. I couldn't interfere. That's one of my duties as Avatar. I can't challenge the laws of the Four Nations, especially for such horrible crimes."
Katara froze briefly before she nodded slowly. "Are you sure that- that it was him?"
"Yes. He made it clear," her brother gripped his lover's shoulder tenderly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you."
"No," she shook her head. "I'm glad that you did. Thank you for being honest." Katara shook herself and her eyes were desperate for a change in subject. "So what else did you learn?"
Azula cut in, "The Children of Chin disclosed that their leader, Chin V is also a descendant of not only Chin the Conqueror but of Avatar Kyoshi, as well."
"What?" Katara leaned forward, eagerly grasping the subject change. "Is that true?"
Aang stiffened beside her, "Really? I can feel Kyoshi right now and she doesn't believe- hold on," her husband's eyes closed and for several moments, nothing happened. Then his eyes opened, "Kyoshi says that she did bear Chin the Conqueror a son, but her son killed himself many years later."
"Interesting," she murmured. "I wonder if- "
"How can we trust the information that these Children of Chin gave?" Zuko asked challengingly, "They could be lying."
"Oh, I doubt that," she purred, smiling coyly. "I asked them nicely, Zuzu. When that did not work, I elected for more… realistic tactics."
"You destroyed two of our cells, Princess Azula, with those realistic tactics." Onartok frowned at her, "If people had been in those other two, they would have been killed."
"But no one was in the other two," she waved her hand dismissively. "Ultimately, it does not matter if Chin V is a descendant of Avatar Kyoshi. We know that he attacked Ba Sing Se- "
"And that he's the man who murdered Bumi's son, Sheil." Aang cut in and Azula wondered how much Jet had known; she felt irritated because it seemed that she hadn't even needed to interrogate the Children of Chin. "He hates Bumi and Bumi hates him. Chin V is also a Metalbender and Lavabender; he's the pinnacle of what an Earthbender can become."
"Don't forget about Zhao," her brother reminded and Azula froze for a moment at the thought of her once-nearly-betrothed, the brute. "He was alive."
"Was," her husband glanced at her and she felt relief when he gripped her hand. "He was liberated from his prison in the oceans by Dark months ago, apparently. La told me; he was so angered by the actions that he was corrupted easily. Zhao was sacrificed by Ozai to obtain water to his power, so we don't need to worry about him."
"I always considered him a pawn," she murmured. "A brute and a pawn."
"And here's the most horrifying thing that we learned, at least in my opinion." Zuko stared at everyone, although the Water Tribesmen had all elected to remain quiet throughout the discussion. "Everyone has kept mentioning Piandao- "
"Yes," she nodded. "The Children of Chin were quite vocal about how Piandao will destroy the Avatar. I have wondered about the statement because it implies that a swordsman could slay the Avatar; it is a fallacy."
"Le- I mean Jet said 'Piandao,' too," Katara said softly. "Now that I think about it, there were several of those non-benders during the battle who mentioned 'Piandao,' also."
Zuko glanced at Aang, "Do you want to say or should I?"
"Say what?" Onartok demanded, "What is it?"
Aang sighed heavily, "We learned that Ozai stole Piandao's identity and has been masquerading as him; it's why we keep hearing that name instead of Ozai's." Azula's eyes widened and her lips parted - she should have known! "We can only assume that the true Piandao, the swordsman was killed when nearly the rest of the Order was."
Katara gasped in horror, "Sokka! We must find him before he gets to Ozai!"
"For all that we know, he might have already stumbled upon my father," she pointed out calmly. "They may be dead- "
"Don't say that!" Katara glared at her heatedly, "Is that what you want? You've never liked Sokka!"
Azua raised a brow and waved away both her brother and Aang. "I hold sympathy for your brother; he is about to, if he has not already, learn that his Master, for whom he would risk much, is actually my father, the man who will kill him immediately without any thought except pleasure. Your brother is intelligent in strange ways; he will be able to concoct an escape quickly. The only reason why I raised that point was that we must be prepared for such an eventuality."
"And are you prepared for the thought of your daughter and mother being killed?" Katara snapped, "Are you? They could be dead for all that you know!"
"Yes, I am," she leaned forward and her features darkened as she felt her hands fill with flames; the table of ice began to melt from where she sat. "And if that does happen, I will personally bathe in the blood of everyone who works with my father, regardless of their so-called innocence. They will die painfully. I will cut off their penises with a dull blade, squeeze their testicles until they burst- "
"Okay!" Zuko shouted with a pale face, "That's enough!"
"I agree," Aang finally spoke, and she felt immediate remorse, not for her words but for saying them in his presence, when he squeezed his legs together in an unconscious effort of protection. Azula also noticed that all of the Water Tribesmen stared at her in newfound horror, their bodies clenched. "We are not speaking of that subject again. Do you understand? Ursa will not be killed by Ozai; he is obsessed with her. Samir will be fine."
"Why?" Azula demanded, "I thought that you said that she was a way of wounding you and me."
"I did say that, but I believe that Samir is important to Dark's plans."
"How?"
"Just as Jet was taken out of the Gardens of the Dead and placed into a new body, I believe that a dead Airbender will be put into Samir's body so that Ozai will be able to learn airbending. He is already a Master in firebending, lightning-generation, and earthbending, metalbending, and lavabending. We can only assume that because Chin V was his Master. I don't want to underestimate him. Ozai has waterbending now and Hama is his Master, which means that he will learn bloodbending. All he needs is air and there is no one alive who could teach him except me. And in a vision that I saw before I went to learn lavabending under Avatar Jinzhai, I saw Ozai walking on air as a true Airbender and he and Dark were permanently bonded." Azula closed her eyes at the thought of such a horrible reality; she contained the fury that threatened to erupt. "I hope to keep that from coming to pass, but… I don't know. He may gain all of the elements and somehow bond with Dark permanently. Hama is probably already teaching him waterbending, wherever they are."
"That woman!" Katara hissed before her face cleared, "Wait, why would Hama ever work with Ozai? She despises Fire with the same zeal that… Jet did."
"She probably only knows my father as Piandao," she offered after a moment. "What a brilliant deception. He pretends to be born a non-bender who was rejected by the Fire Nation to gain more followers through sympathy and shared injuries from Fire only for him to be the former Fire Lord, the second most powerful Firebender in the world behind the Avatar."
"I've already told you," her husband sighed with what sounded like resignation. "I think that Ozai is a more powerful- "
"And I disagree with your assessment, Aang," she stated evenly, smirking at him for a moment. "Nobody except Dark and Zhao and all of the Fire Nation Nobles who betrayed Zuzu would have known his true identity because his face was never familiar to everyone in the Four Nations. Only a select few, such as us and the Nobles, would have ever known who their leader truly was."
"This woman of whom you speak, Hama, somehow controlled my body." Onartok cut in with fearful eyes, "How did she do that? I couldn't move and she forced my limbs to bend unnaturally."
"I had suspected," Katara said sadly. "While healing you, I noticed signs."
"How did she do that? What kind of unholy power has she tamed?"
"It's an art that is known as bloodbending, the one that I just spoke of." Aang's voice was patient; he seemed aware of what potential reaction could appear. "A prodigiously skilled and powerful Waterbender, particularly during the full moon, can control the very blood in one's body."
A horrified gasp echoed from all of the Water Tribesmen but Onartok slapped his hand on the ice to silence them. "I would say that what you speak of isn't possible but I felt it myself; it was terrifying. But it wasn't a full moon during the invasion. It was close, but not full. How did this Hama do that?"
"She works for Dark…" her husband explained slowly. "He has taught her things that no mortal has known for a long time. I suspect that she mastered her dark chakras."
"And that is?"
"Something that we don't have time to discuss," her brother cut in. "We finally have an advantage over Ozai and we can't waste time or we might lose that advantage. We know what he's going to do and we think we know how he's going to do it."
"Zuko's right," Aang looked at everyone, gray eyes stead but filled with authority and hidden power; Azula was reminded of why he was hers. "For the first time, in spite of the direness of the situation, we know more about Ozai and Dark's plan. We can stop them!"
Katara smiled and it lessened the stress in her features. "So what's our plan, Aang?"
"We've done everything that we can in the North. The rest will be up to Onartok and the Water Tribesmen."
"We can do that, Avatar Aang," Onartok inclined his head. "We will be able to rebuild because of what you've done. We will forever be in your debt."
"You will be the temporary Chief of the North until Sokka returns, Onartok."
"I will uphold our people's traditions and culture to the best of my ability."
"Do not think that this position is permanent," she raised an eyebrow at Aang's flat tone; she was surprised but also relieved. Her husband understood what was at stake and wasn't willing for anything disastrous to happen again. "I will be angry if you do and you don't want that."
"No, I don't."
"Good. Sokka is the heir and he will come to claim his rightful throne." Aang finally looked away from Onartok, moving his gaze to Azula, Zuko, and Katara. "While we are on Appa flying- "
"Don't forget about Druk," Zuko reminded in interruption. "I'll be riding on him."
"- back to the Earth Kingdom, I will be in the Spirit World speaking to Wan Shi Tong about Dark and other things." Aang sighed and rubbed his face; she felt concerned. "I received a vision during my rare time of sleep this past night of Wan Shi Tong's great library in flames and his severed head at the forefront of the image."
Katara's eyes widened, "Who could kill a spirit that is truly immortal?"
"You did not speak of this to me," she frowned.
"I don't know, but if anyone could, it's Dark." Aang looked slightly chastised, "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to speak of it immediately. I needed to think."
"I understand that feeling. How will you be able to come back, then?" Azula stared at him, "When you teleport, your body is gone but it returns to the point where you teleported from. Even if you did it on Appa, he would have already moved on; you would appear over the ocean."
Aang paused and scrunched his face for a moment. "Thank you. I hadn't thought of that. I'll need someone else to come- "
"I am accompanying you and no one else," she cut in, holding his gaze. "There would be no one better and you know it."
"Yes. I'll use your spirit as an anchor point so that while you return to your body, I'll be able to appear where you do." Aang's lips twitched for a moment before his face cleared to show his serious intent. "After that, we'll go to Ba Sing Se to check up on Bumi after Chin V's failed invasion. We can get Toph and Bor and then go get Sokka from wherever he's at. If we're close to Ozai, and if we know where he's at, we can attack and get Samir and Ursa back. Hopefully, we can end this new war by doing that and keep that vision I saw of Ozai from happening."
"That would be fantastic," her brother muttered. "I don't hold that much hope, though."
"What was it that you said? Hope for the best and prepare for the worst?" Aang asked, "Well, I agree with that. I hope that everything goes according to the plan, but I'm going to start preparing for it to go wrong, too."
"Will you be departing quickly?" Onartok asked, "How soon?"
"As soon as possible. Preferably after this meeting."
"Before you go, I wish to give Lady Katara a gift for saving my life, along with the lives of our kin. As temporary Chief, I bestow upon her a full water-skin of Spirit Oasis water. Because of you, I get to see my wife and daughter again. Thank you."
Katara's eyes widened, "You're welcome, Onartok. Thank you for the Spirit Oasis water. I'll use your gift wisely."
Onartok turned to one of the men. "Torkok, go to the Spirit Oasis and fill a water-skin for Lady Katara."
Torkok nodded and left the Throne Room.
"What is this Spirit Oasis water?" Azula questioned in bemusement, "Why do your tones suggest that it is sacred?"
"Because it is," the words were serious and her eyes locked onto Katara's blue ones. "The Spirit Oasis water is what I used to heal Aang after… Ba Sing Se when you nearly killed him in the Avatar State."
Lightning erupted behind her eyes and Azula remembered; her hands curled into fists at the reminder of her worst deed but Aang gently wrapped one of his larger hands around her own. His gray eyes held no condemnation or anger, just understanding and it was enough.
"Once Katara receives her gift, we will leave for Ba Sing Se." Aang called out, pulling her to her feet; she saw both Zuko and Katara rise, too. "It's time to take the fight to Dark and Ozai."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Can't you tame a Badgermole or something, Bor?" Toph's irate voice reached his ears from where she sat on his back and while annoying, he felt relieved. If she felt well enough to complain and whine, then that was a good sign. "We're moving so slow; it would go by a lot faster on their back instead of yours."
Bor adjusted his hold on her thighs and her fingers dug into his shoulders for stability. "I don't have that experience. It would be too hard to do right now."
"It's easy. I used to play with them."
"We can't get distracted by another pursuit," Suki's voice wasn't as patient as it usually was. "We have to focus on trying to find Aang."
"That's kind of hard when we don't even know where the Sun Warrior Tribe is," he muttered. "What did you say about it, Toph?"
"It was pretty close to the Western Air Temple because when Twinkletoes and Sparky went on their little field-trip - I'm still waiting on mine, you know? - they weren't gone for long. So just go in that direction."
"That requires crossing the ocean somehow," he reminded. "We don't have a Waterbender with us."
"Just raise a walkway of earth and then we can cross the entire thing," the reply was flippant and Bor felt his relief increase at the sound before it faded; she was either really good at distraction or she had accepted what had happened - and he was certain that it was the former. "We just reached the Colonies, so it shouldn't be too much longer."
"Does your friend always have such a positive viewpoint?" Jin whispered to Suki, "She's unperturbed about anything."
"I wouldn't say that," Toph answered easily for Suki. "I'm unperturbed now because nothing can top getting my feet scorched by the fucking Butcher. I don't even care if I drown. Nothing beats it. Plus, I'm keeping my mind off the pain. While the wraps and the salve that Suki bought at that village help - and the shirt that she got for Bor which allows for a better grip - it still fucking hurts."
"That's… a unique outlook," Jin said slowly. "Does a Badgermole think that way, too?"
"You bet! You know what else a Badgermole can do?"
"What?"
One of Toph's hands left his shoulders and patted his cheek. "It could go a lot faster."
Bor sighed, "I'm going as fast as I can. I'm not as strong as a Badgermole."
"You also don't have their stamina."
"I know," he let a chuckle escape him to cover his small irritation. "You're heavy."
Toph gasped in apparent outrage but he heard the slight laugh. "If I was anyone else, I would order a servant to run you through with their rapier!"
"So is the servant in this scenario Suki or Jin?" Bor dared, trying not to laugh. "My vote goes to Suki; she's walking strangely."
A howl of laughter pierced through the air as Toph laughed. "See? This is why I love you, Bor."
Suki glared at him, "You try traveling on such a journey while being pregnant with twins."
"Well, I can't really do that," he said unapologetically. "I can't become pregnant."
"Yeah, he gets the easy part!" While he couldn't see Toph, he could easily visualize the huge grin on her face. "Suck it, Suki!"
"He does, yes, but you could become pregnant, too, Toph. If you're to marry Bor, you'll need to provide an heir to Ba Sing Se's throne."
Toph froze on his back for a moment. "Well, I'll do pregnancy a lot better than you, then!"
This time Suki laughed freely, "You just cursed yourself to have horrible pregnancies, Toph. Keep talking, please. It's making the trip more bearable."
"What's making it more bearable is watching you- …damn it, I can't see you. What makes it more bearable is hearing you walk while I get to be carried like a Queen."
"You'll get used to it, then." Jin finally said, "You'll be Queen of Ba Sing Se after you marry King Bor."
"Then everyone will know how fucking awesome I am!"
"It won't take them long," he laughed. "I knew it immediately when we met."
"All I remember from that day was how your heart was beating rapidly."
Bor rolled his eyes, "I was in the presence of the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Of course, my heart was rapidly beating."
"I've always known that you're quite the sweet-talker." Toph's head rested on top of his own for a moment as he continued walking. "I may be tough, but you'll definitely be a good King. If you can move me with your words, you can move anyone."
"Do you think that a Noble is going to try to take Ba Sing Se's throne?" Jin suddenly asked, "You are the rightful King, King Bor, but you are not there."
"If they survived the siege of the Butcher's men, it wouldn't surprise me. I am King, but right now there is something more important. Once this new war is over, I'll reclaim my throne- "
"With me on your side!" Toph punched the air dramatically, "I'll crush the skulls of anyone who dares to renounce your claim."
"I feel more confident already."
"You should. Since that fucker did you-know-what, I know that I'm never going to show restraint again to anyone who goes against me."
"You'll be a warrior-Queen," he smirked. "Just as all the legends of old, you'll be remembered- "
"As a kick-ass! Oh, I may even change my name from Queen Toph to Queen Tough just as that play did!"
Bor shook his head in amusement and looked at Jin. "I wasn't lying about taking back Ba Sing Se after this new war is over. It's my birthright and I'll make my grandfather proud."
"Bumi will always be proud of you, Bor," Suki's eyes were soft. "He loved you fiercely."
Finding his eyes suddenly wet, he blinked rapidly and nodded shakily; he inhaled roughly. "I know but I still need to feel proud of myself. All I feel like is a failure for… for failing to save him."
"I don't think that he would have wanted to be saved."
"What?" Bor stared at Suki incredulously, "What are you talking about?"
Suki sighed, "He lost all of his limbs because of the Butcher. If he had somehow lived, what kind of style of life would he have had? He would have been miserable. You aren't a failure, Bor. You did everything that you could."
"She's right," Toph whispered above him gently. "I loved Bumi, too, but it's not your fault."
"I'm not there yet," he swallowed and stopped walking; Suki and Jin stopped, too. "I know that… that he would have been miserable but I can't not think that it was my fault. I hope that Avatar Aang is understanding; he… could blame me, and part of me thinks that he should."
"Twinkletoes is understanding; he'll be grieving, too, but he won't blame you." Toph's fingers began to massage his tense shoulders and he slowly started walking again. "If he does, I'll beat the shit out of him. I'll be that kick-ass."
Her words gave him the desperate reprieve that he needed. "Challenging the Avatar? You must really love me, then."
"I do," she shrugged against the back of his head. "I tried not to, but you grew on me - like a fungus."
"And then you insult me," he chuckled. "There's the Toph who I know and love."
"You two have a strange relationship," Jin commented with small amusement. "Thryn and I were never combative verbally."
"I'm sorry about your husband," he sorrowfully said after a moment. "He seemed like a good man from what you've shared."
Jin nodded but didn't say anything else; it was silent as they continued walking but it wasn't awkward. They all seemed to understand each other and when Bor felt Toph burrow her face into the side of his neck, he felt hopeful that maybe, he wasn't such a failure for his inability to save his grandfather's life.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Zuko continued to steal glances at Katara during the trip back to Ba Sing Se; she hadn't said a word since Aang and Azula had entered the Spirit World, and he felt worried. He petted Druk's neck and came to a decision.
"I'm coming over," he called out and before Katara could respond, Druk flew closer to Appa and Zuko hopped off of his animal companion into Appa's saddle, sitting directly across from Katara.
She stared at him in amusement, "Was the Fire Lord lonely?"
"Without you, I'm always lonely," he hoped that sounded smooth as he glanced at his sister's lifeless form, making sure that she wasn't in danger of falling out of the saddle; she was still tied to the grip of the saddle with rope. "What are you thinking about? You've hardly said anything."
Watching as she tensed briefly before a forced calmness overtook her features, Zuko frowned as she responded. "Nothing's wrong. Why would you think that?"
"Because I know you," he leaned forward, a desperate feeling clawing inside; he suddenly knew the reason. "It's about Jet, isn't it?"
Katara looked away, "I can't help it. I keep thinking about him."
Zuko sighed and pinched his nose before he calmed himself; he refused to be angry. "You knew him. It's understandable."
"Does it anger you? Me thinking about another man?"
"If it was anyone else, no, but since it's that bastard, yes. My feelings aren't what's important about it, though. Your feelings are the only thing that matters. Are you angry at me?"
"Why would you say that?" Katara finally looked back at him, eyes confused. "Why would I be angry at you?"
"I killed him," he left out the part how he had gladly killed Jet and how the only thing that he regretted was that it was a quick death. "It was me who ended his second life."
"The part of me that wishes that he could have been different is angry about his death, but the rest of me… I don't know how I feel. I learned that he was somehow alive and had done horrible things such as unleashing the plague only to learn that he had already been killed before I could have gained any closure or answers."
Zuko felt awkward and wished that his uncle were here but he pushed through it. "I only ever knew him as a fool and monster- "
"But that's how I knew him, too," she whispered, features drawn, and he was struck by the sadness in her beautiful eyes. "That's how I really knew him: as a fool and monster. When I first met him… I was attracted to him and I didn't see him for who he was until it was almost too late. If not for Sokka, it would have been too late. When we ran into him in Ba Sing Se after he lost his memory- "
"Which was because of me, apparently," he muttered in derision. "He blamed me for that and how it led to his death."
"It was no one's fault but his own. I saw glimpses of the person who he could have been during those few days, but there was still something off about him. Then he was killed and I've felt guilty ever since. If I had been able to heal him somehow, maybe he could have changed and not become the monster that he did."
"He wouldn't have changed," Zuko stared at her honestly. "He was consumed by his hatred. You told me that he was willing to destroy a peaceful village full of women and children who had never wronged him and he would have if it weren't for Sokka's actions. He was already a monster by that point and since he was already at that point, Katara, he wasn't going to come back from it. That's comparable to Sozin, wiping out a group of peaceful people only because of their blood. There was nothing that you could have done; you shouldn't feel guilty. The guilt has always lied with Jet and it always will. He chose that life, Katara; he willingly allied with Dark and committed some of the worst crimes imaginable. None of that is on you. You're an amazing person and the fact that you do feel regret and sadness about such a man shows how compassionate and good you are."
Katara wiped away sudden tears and shuffled closer to him; she embraced him and Zuko buried his face into her hair. "I love you," she whispered against his chest. "You seem to always know what to say."
"That comes as a surprise," he chuckled. "I'm always struggling for the right words. Uncle Iroh always knew what to say and I'm just saying what I think that he would say."
"Your uncle is your conscience?"
"Apparently."
"He taught you well, then," she leaned up and kissed him quickly; her eyes were wet. "I always dreamed of who I would marry and even harassed a fortune-teller about it, but I never imagined that the Fire Lord himself would be perfect for me."
"I'm sure that your reaction would have been of disgust if you knew the future when we first met."
"Absolutely, but we were both young and foolish back then." Katara smiled and he felt relieved that she wasn't burdened by thoughts of Jet any longer. "Don't pretend that your reaction wouldn't have been the same."
Zuko nodded, "Maybe, but back then my only thoughts were about capturing the Avatar and restoring- "
"Your honor," she finished, eyes twinkling. "It was your only love."
He laughed, "Yes, but you're my true love," he closed his eyes at how sentimental that sounded but when he reopened them to look at Katara, she was smiling widely, happily.
"I never took you for a romantic, Zuko."
"I didn't either. I guess that you bring it out of me."
"Don't sound so sullen," she slapped his chest playfully. "If it makes you feel better, you're my true love, too."
"It does," his lips twitched. "Just don't tell Azula that I said that; she'll never let me live it down."
Katara's laughter was pleasant to his ears and she pulled his head down to kiss him quickly once again. "Don't worry. Your sister won't learn of the Fire Lord's declaration of love. I won't ruin your feared reputation."
"Thank you. You have no idea how much she teased me when we were children."
"I think that I have an idea… if what I've learned of your childhood and my own treatment of Sokka are any indication."
Zuko continued to hold her and was quiet for several moments, not responding. "Thank you for 'playing nice' with my sister. I know that you two have history and none of it good, but it means a lot to me, more than you know, that you were willing to let bygones be bygones."
"Well, I knew that Azula wouldn't be going anywhere, no matter how much I had originally wished it." Katara looked at Azula's lifeless, immovable form near him. "Aang loves her and she has changed; she's not that… that weapon- "
"That Ozai molded her into," he finished softly.
"- anymore. Yes. While she is the same in some ways, she's also so different. It's paramount in her interactions with Aang, Samir, you, and Ursa." Zuko ignored the thought of his mother and niece being in his father and Vaatu's grasp. "Even with me, she's different. That bitch who I hated more than almost anyone is not who she is anymore. I'll never forget what she did during the Great War and I doubt that I'll ever forgive some of what she did, but… I'm thankful that she's on our side and that Aang has found someone who loves him and will challenge him in all the best ways."
"Whatever the reasons, thank you." Zuko turned to look at his sister's body. "It was horrible, that first year during her imprisonment. I had lost all hope that she would ever heal; she had steadily deteriorated before my eyes, becoming worse, and no matter what I did, who I hired to fix her, nothing worked. Even Aang himself, when he had visited her several times during his stay in the Caldera after the Great War, had said that something inside her was broken and that he didn't know if it could be mended."
Katara stared at him in sympathy but he glimpsed the subtle fascination in her eyes. "What happened? How did she begin to get better?"
"It… it was Aang, actually."
"I heard the men talking at the North; they were in awe of Aang, treating him like a god- "
"He's the Avatar."
"But it was beyond that; they whispered about his mighty patience."
"What do you mean?"
"They knew about Azula, who she was during the Great War. They were in awe that Aang was able to romance a heinous murderess whom he promptly healed, redeeming her to the good side simply by being kind and patient, by the power of his love."
"That's true," he nodded slowly. "Aang is why my sister and I are closer than we've ever been in our lives. After he left all those years ago to help the Earth Kingdom after the Great War, he wrote me a letter; he pretty much ordered me to dismiss the chi-blockers from service. He told me that if Azula had her firebending, it might help her heal, having something to focus on."
"It worked?"
"Yes. That was how she slowly got better. Shockingly, she never attacked anyone once she regained her firebending and never tried to escape. I felt hope and for seven more years, I visited her every day and got to see her get better, but it wasn't enough. She eventually plateaued and she stayed that way for years. While she had made a lot of progress, it wasn't enough to release her from her cell."
"But you did release her from her cell," she pointed out slowly. "You're the one who let her escape."
"Only to keep her alive. If it hadn't been a dire situation because of that prick, Kuei, I would have continued to keep her in that cell - probably for the rest of her life." Zuko's lips curled and he felt happiness. "But she broke past that plateau because of Aang; she became a real person again and fully healed. When she and Aang showed up to the Caldera after I messaged her, the change was apparent to me; it was vivid in comparison, especially after she woke up from that lightning strike that Ozai unleashed."
"When she and Aang became… married in Air Nomad culture; she has been reformed by her marriage and has ceased to be a threat to the world."
"Yes. I'm so proud of her and thankful for Aang for what he was able to do."
"She got her redemption," Katara smiled gently. "You both did."
"And we're both thankful for it."
"I'm thankful, too, and Aang certainly is."
XxXxXxXxXxX
That's all for this one, everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed it and I'd also really appreciate it if you left a review; it would help me out!
**Ozai learns waterbending under Hama! I debated how much struggle Ozai would have with waterbending and I eventually decided that he would have absolute trouble at first, but once he actually changed his mindset, allowed himself to be immersed in the water, he would get it - at least a little. He won't master it anywhere near the rate that he did earthbending, that I can assure you, but since he's a grown man who pushes himself tirelessly until he can kill the Avatar, he'll be able to actually use the waterbending pretty quickly - because he's just as relentless as his son when Zuko was hunting the Avatar.
Ozai and Vaatu talk and it's revealed how Vaatu disappears. I always intended to explain that and not leave it as simply "plot." Since, in this story, a young Raava and Vaatu are who created the Mortal Realm with the Tree of Time's permission, I figured that surely, they must have made mistakes. In mythologies across the world in history, it is filled with deities making mistakes, so I used Raava and Vaatu's inexperience in their creation as to why Vaatu can disappear.
**Azula interrogates some Children of Chin! I could easily see this scene or something like it playing out during the Great War. So now that her mother and daughter were kidnapped, she reverts to that mindset but because Aang is there and she's more in control, at peace, and healed, she won't get lost in it.
**Hama learns of Ozai's deception from Ursa! Okay, Hama was shown to be clever in Canon. She had to be to escape from prison and hide out in a Fire Nation village for years while manipulating everyone into thinking that she was harmless when she was actually one of the most dangerous people in the world. Just like many in this story, just like a certain someone who I will come to in a bit, she loathes those of Fire with every recess in her heart. While she could have chosen to free Ursa and together, they could have potentially killed Ozai, she was blinded by her hatred of all Firebenders, along with the realization that Ursa is the mother of Fire Lord Zuko, to travel the most logical path available to her which would be to fight with Ursa against Ozai or simply escape immediately. With Vaatu there, he is the deterrent that keeps Hama from trying to crush Ozai's heart because she remembers what happened to Chin V and she rightly fears Vaatu. So she decides to continue to 'play' at being loyal to Vaatu and Ozai until the right moment, for her hatred is so strong that she wants vengeance so bad that she's willing to do whatever it takes - and that includes continuing to sleep with Ozai. To be blunt, Hama's that depraved and desperate.
**Ursa vows to Samir that she'll protect her! Look, Ozai is not stupid and he would never allow Ursa a chance to escape; he wouldn't leave an 'out' in which she could attempt an escape to get her and Samir out of there. He would think of everything that she could do and plan accordingly. So Ursa has no chance of escape currently and she has to deal with the cards that she's been dealt; she can do nothing else. Ursa also has to think of Samir and she determines that currently, the only way to keep her granddaughter safe is to do what Ozai wants and that is willingly give her body to him. It's sick, I know, but that's Ozai for you.
**Lee is revealed to actually be Jet! I know that some of you saw that coming from the last chapter, so good job. I got the idea to bring Jet back because I thought that he'd be interesting and plus, his death had been ambiguous (although not really). I've seen way too many stories and threads that claim that Jet was such a good guy and he got redemption by the time of his death. That could not be more wrong. Jet was willing to pull a smaller-scale Fire Lord Sozin by wiping out an innocent village just because he hated the Fire Nation - and that's when he was only 16! Then when he gets to Ba Sing Se, he was given the chance to change, but his hatred and dark impulses were too deep. He brazenly attacked Zuko and his actions led to his death, no one else's. Yes, he was 'brainwashed' and yes, he tried to kill Long Feng, but anyone except child Aang would have tried to kill Long Feng in that situation after being used in one of the most invasive and violating ways imaginable. Jet didn't attack Long Feng because it was the right thing to do, he attacked because he wanted revenge.
So I wanted him to be a villain in this because that's the only logical progression, especially if he's been exposed to Vaatu. Remember, he HATES the Fire Nation. Just the suspicion of a Firebender (Iroh) caused him to lose his shit and become maniacally obsessed even when he had no evidence. He would want them destroyed and when Vaatu and Piandao (Ozai) promise him that, he jumps at the chance to ally with them, to finally have his true revenge. When Aang reveals who Piandao really is after figuring out what had happened, Jet only regrets working with Ozai and raping women and the innocent deaths that he caused, but in his mind anyone of the Fire Nation is guilty. So he doesn't regret his plague at all. He makes it abundantly clear and that is why he cannot find redemption. Jet was always more of a sociopathic/psychopathic character. He was shown to barely have a conscience and he was very charming while having a delusion of grandeur that it was his duty to rid the world of the Fire Nation. Those are considered characteristics of a psychopath and while Jet does feel emotions and was accommodating by explaining everything that he knew, none of that makes up for what he did.
Then Zuko kills him and Aang allows it. That is something that MUST be done. Jet would never have changed. It's a fallacy to think otherwise. Aang is a mature adult who realizes that even though he's the Avatar, he cannot do anything to save Jet except promise a quick death. Think about it. This is a severe political situation dealing with a notorious, unapologetic terrorist. Jet helped slaughter the Order of the White Lotus and more criminally, killed many of the Firebenders in the world with his plague. He must answer for his crimes and only the Fire Lord (Zuko) can administer the punishment. If you think that Zuko would have shown mercy or something, that's wrong. He is a King and must do what is best for his nation and plus, he never liked Jet. It's an effortless decision for him to make.
I hope the explanation for how Jet was able to return was believable. It's his spirit that inhabits a new body, so he looks completely different from what he once did, but he's in full control because energybending is a manipulation of one's life energy and being able to enter the chi and other stuff. I pictured the spirit, the soul has to be energy for after someone dies, their spirit or soul is left. To exist, something must have energy, so the spirit or soul is energy and that is how Vaatu was able to bring Jet back.
**Aang, Azula, Katara, Zuko, and all of the men of the Northern Water Tribe who survived the invasion talk! There, much is revealed and they determine their game-plan. Before they leave, Katara is gifted a full water-skin of Spirit Oasis water (I wonder what that will be used for?)
**Bor, Toph, Suki, and Jin continue their journey trying to get to the Sun Warrior Ruins! They are pretty much just hoping for something good to happen because they are alone and need to tell everyone else what happened.
**Katara and Zuko talk about Jet! It was shown in Canon that Katara felt sorrow at Jet's death and great guilt, so I'm pretty sure that she would have felt the same for this second time. Zuko sprouts some of his own 'Uncle Iroh' advice and then she stops feeling sad.
I think that was everything so leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter. I'd really appreciate it!
Stay Safe
ButtonPusher
