To say Zuko had a rough stretch over the last two weeks had been an understatement. Deserting the Fire Nation to travel with the Avatar and bring an end to his father's frankly ludacris plans? Fine. Actually convincing the Avatar and his friends to give him a chance (and finding out how effective the assassin he hired could be)? A little rough, but still fine. Losing his ability to bend and having to find a lost civilization of ancient firebenders (who kept making snarky remarks about angry adventurers) and almost being flambéed by dragons (who shouldn't exist, mind you)? A talk with his uncle about honesty was probably due down the line, but doable.
Finding himself locked in one of the Fire Nation's highest security prisons in a hair brained scheme to free some of the troops who attacked the capital? Unfortunate, but considering he once infiltrated a Fire Nation armada while declared legally dead, fine.
Facing his (ex?) girl friend whose uncle was apparently the warden of Boiling Rock Penitentiary in solitary confinement, with armed guards likely foaming at the mouth outside the room ready to toss his (formerly) royally flaming ass into the inhospitable liquid that gave the prison its name at her command? Zuko was catastrophically down bad.
The now ex-girlfriend in question unfurled a piece of paper from within her sleeve, anger seeping into her monotone,"A letter, Zuko? After all that, a letter? The least you could have done is look me in the eyes when you ripped out my heart."
Zuko, for the life of him, could barely find the words he was looking for,"I didn't mean to-"
"You didn't mean to? 'Dear Mai, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but I'm leaving.' What exactly did you mean to do Zuko?"
Even with the weight of his own failures as a boyfriend on his shoulders, Zuko tried to hold strong,"Stop! This isn't about you, it's about the Fire Nation."
"Jeez Zuko, it's about the country? That makes me feel all better." Zuko could easily say that Mai being sarcastic was probably one of the most aggravating things he ever had the displeasure of experiencing.
Zuko stood from his chair, facing the girl,"Mai, I never wanted to hurt you, but I have to do this to save our country."
"Save our country? You betrayed our country you bastard. And where did it get you? Prison? Azula is on her way here right now to haul your ass to the capital in chains, and you can stand here and tell me it was worth leaving me for thi-"
She was cut off when Zuko tilted her chin upward and forced his lips over hers, stunning her. They broke a few moments later, and Zuko locked eyes with the girl who forced him to make the hardest decision of his life.
"I'm sorry Mai."
The girl just stared at him for a moment, before the sharp crack of skin on skin filled the room. But before anything else could happen, a guard came to the open cell door,"Ma'am, there is a prison riot, I am here to protect you."
"I don't need your fucking protection,"Mai snapped at the man, who put his hands up in the universal sign of surrender.
"That may be the case, but I was still-"
Seeing a chance to escape, Zuko bent fire at the guards feet, who's reaction was to hop to the side and place his body infront of Mai, who quickly realized what was happening and shoved the guard out of the way.
It was too late, however, as Zuko was already to the cell door, slamming it shut. The two locked eyes through the slot in the door one last time, before Zuko sped off.
'If Azula is on the way, we have a problem. I'm sure I can take Azula, but Azula and Naruto with Ty Lee as well as the rest of the guards?' Zuko didn't even need to finish the thought to know that they needed to get out of Boiling Rock as soon as possible.
Finding his way to the courtyard, the once crowned prince made his way through the rioting prisoners with little effort, only having to take out two guards before meeting up with Sokka at the agreed upon meeting point in the yard. With the water tribe teen was an older man who Zuko could only assume was his father, Suki (Zuko would have to apologize for trying to burn down her village), and the large prisoner known as Chit Sang.
Nodding to Zuko, Sokka surveyed the field around them,"We're all here. Now all we have to do is grab the warden and get to the gondolas."
Zuko nodded, looking to where the warden stood, overlooking the prison yard while barking orders to his guards,"Alright, how do we do that?"
"...I'm not sure."
Zuko had to resist the urge to smack himself in the forehead,"I thought you said you thought this through?"
"I thought you said it's okay not to think everything through?"
"Maybe not everything, but this part of the plan is pretty fucking important-"
"Uh, guys? Hate to break in on your argument but I think your girlfriends got it," Chit Sang called out.
Looking over either of the beefy man's shoulders, Zuko and Sokka's jaws dropped. Suki was literally running across the heads of the rioting prisoners. Scaling the main wall of the prison and swinging herself onto the level one platform (using her feet) she pulled herself onto the first balcony, quickly disabling the three guards who charged her before making her way up to the second balcony, where the warden watched on in shock as yet another guard was debilitated before he found his hands tied behind his back with his own belt, his mouth gagged by his head piece.
"Sorry warden, you're my prisoner now,"she snarked, slamming the man into the wall. By this point, Zuko, Sokka, Chit Sang, and Hakoda had all made it to the balconies, making this prime time to escape. "Let's get out of here!"
The four men panted, and Hadoka smiled,"That's some girl."
"Tell me about it,"Sokka beamed. The party of five (now unwilling party of six) quickly rushed the gondola bay.
Four guards rushed to meet them, but were quickly put at bay when Zuko yelled,"Back off, we have the warden."
Seeing that Chit Sang did indeed have the warden over his shoulder, the guards decided it would be in their best interest to back away, allowing the team to pass through.
While everyone else loaded onto the gondola, making sure to keep the warden visible (can't let it seem like you lost your hostage), Zuko started the gondola. Thinking on his feet, he then kicked out the lever, before taking a running leap to grab onto Sokka's outstretched hand, who quickly pulled him in.
"What did you do that for?"
"I made it so they can't stop us."
Sokka nodded,"That's pretty good thinking ahead."
"Someone has to think."
"Hey, listen here bu-"
"Wait, who's that?" Hakoda asked. Zuko followed his line of sight, and cursed,"That's my sister and her friends."
Sure enough, Azula stood on the gondola bay, with Ty Lee to her left. Naruto being either insanely confident or insanely… well, insane, sat on the guard rail, his arms crossed as he stared out at the escaping gondola.
Azula said something, to which both Ty Lee and Naruto seemed to nod. Ty Lee, through a small series of acrobatic movements, flipped onto the ropes that suspended the gondola in the air and began running towards the slow moving vehicle.
Azula, meanwhile, grabbed the cuffs off of a nearby guard. Propelling herself off of the platform using her bending, she attached a cuff to the wire and used the other cuff as a hand hold, bending out of her three other limbs to propel herself towards a confrontation with her brother.
Naruto… continued to sit there.
While it was weird that Naruto didn't advance with Azula, Zuko didn't have time to consider it with the approaching threat of his sister and Ty Lee.
"This is a rematch I've been waiting for,"Suki narrowed her eyes at the approaching chi blocker.
"Me too,"Zuko bitterly agreed. The two locked eyes, nodding slightly in mutual respect, before pulling themselves onto the roof of the gondola, Sokka following quickly behind the pair.
Almost as soon as their feet found purchase, Ty Lee and Azula touched down, Ty Lee on the near side, and Azula on the far side. Suki and Ty Lee almost immediately began to engage in hand to hand combat, neither finding and opening to land a clean shot as the exchanged blows.
Meanwhile, Azula went into battle against the combination of Zuko and Sokka, which proved to be difficult. Every time she attacked, Zuko would defend and counterattack, which left a blind spot for Sokka to come in with his sword.
Eventually, a stab attempt from Sokka forced Azula to lean backwards. Seeing his sister off balance, Zuko launched two fireballs at her lower body. In an almost inhuman feat, Azula flipped forward, landing on her palms and keeping her body horizontal to the ground, before kicking through, sending a massive fireball at the duo.
In the lower section of the gondola (the only area where anyone was actually supposed to be standing), the warden subtly wormed his arms out of their bonds. Quickly rushing to the nearest window, he snatched the gag away from his face,"Cut the damn line!"
On the gondola bay, before the guards could even consider granting the warden's request, Naruto called out,"Belay that order."
The lead guard raised an eyebrow,"But the prisoner's are escaping, and the warden sa-"
"Look, quite frankly I don't want to be here, as a matter of fact the only reason I supported this plan is that there is a fight in it for me later. A fight that doesn't happen if the Avatar's friends are dead, ergo if you cut the damn line!" Naruto snapped, standing up and getting in the man's face as smoke slowly seeped from his nostrils. Taking a calming breath, Naruto turned back to look at the gondola,"Besides, if you cut the line, Princess Azula dies, which means you have to deal with the Fire Lord, and worse…"
"Worse?"
Naruto looked back over his shoulder, and the guard could've sworn his eye was glowing,"Me."
The guard looked to the other guards, before coming to a consensus,"We've decided not to cut the rope."
Naruto smirked,"Good man."
As the fighting continued on the gondola, Suki pressed Ty Lee towards the central connection, which the girl quickly scaled. Now perched on the highest point on the gondola, Ty Lee noticed an inbound gondola on the opposite line. "Azula!"
Realizing it was her que to leave, Azula smirked cockily, stepping away from Zuko and Sokka and using her bending to send herself flying across to the other gondola.
She locked eyes with her brother one more time,"Goodbye Zuzu."
Team Avatar watched as the enemy force retreated, somewhat confused.
"Why would they just leave? What was the point in fighting us?" Zuko questioned.
"We don't have time to worry about that, we have to get everyone to a balloon as fast as possible,"was Sokka;s response, to which Zuko and Suki nodded.
Mai rushed towards the gondola platform, entirely prepared to make a decision that could end up meaning the end of her time as an esteemed member of the Fire Nation upper echelon. What she didn't expect was to find Naruto, standing calmly, flanked by a quartet of nervous looking guards, watching two perfectly functioning gondola lines.
Naruto, hearing her approach, nodded, before turning back to watch the scene in front of her unfold.
The plan was going off without a hitch.
Returning to the air temple led to a teary reunion as Sokka and Katara were unified with their father again, and Suki came back into the fold. Even Chit Sang was welcomed (despite his questionable moral compass).
"How did I end up in prison? Let's just say one guy owed another guy some money, and another guy was called in to collect. I wasn't any of those guys, I just happened to be passing by."
The newly buffed Team Avatar was content to party into the night, sharing food and telling stories, and get a good night's rest.
Aang woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, along with Appa. Without opening his eyes, the Avatar stretched, content to just let the morning breeze waft across his face. That was, until, Appa started to growl in anger, rousing everyone from their slumber.
Aang hopped off of his friend, turning to face the bison,"What's wrong Appa?"
"Wow, I make the walk up here and only the bison notices me? That kinda hurts."
The reactions to hearing Naruto's voice varied. Aang drew his staff and took aim at the intruder, who sat casually on the fountain. Zuko got into a ready stance. Toph raised a boulder from the ground (much to Aang's silent dismay, as the chunk of stone came straight from the temple floor). Katara opened her flask, hand ready to send the liquid flying towards Naruto with brutal efficiency. Hakoda and Suki, both being unarmed (and still in their prison uniforms), took up combat stances. Sokka tried to get into stance...but tripped on his sleeping bag and landed flat on his face. Recovering quickly, he armed himself with his boomerang, trying to ignore the stinging of his forehead. Chit-Sang, rather than prepare to fight, scooted towards the back of the group, where Haru had taken up a protective position next to Teo.
Afterall, common sense dictated that if four of the people present were enough to exfiltrate Boiling Rock, and a single man was enough to make the entire group come to arms, that single man must be beyond his pay grade.
Naruto didn't even move to stand up from his position sitting on the fountain, instead smirking,"All this for little old me? I'm touched."
"What are you doing here?""Where's Azula?" Aang and Zuko questioned simultaneously.
"Azula is out there somewhere, couldn't tell you where actually. I left her a couple hours ago,"Naruto seemed to ponder for a second,"I mean she's on the way but I couldn't tell you for the life of me how close she actually is. And as for what I'm doing here, I just wanted to get a good look at you, Avatar."
"Me?" Aang asked, somewhat confused. Sure most of the Fire Nation wanted him dead, but it was rare someone wanted to just look at him.
"Yes you, the last time I saw you you were being carried away by the water bender over there," Naruto gestured towards Katara. "So, how far along are you on mastering fire bending? Didn't see you use it in Ba Sing Se, is the traitor your teacher now?"
"Naruto-"
"Didn't I tell you,"Naruto slowly turned his gaze to Zuko as the temperature rose in response to his irritation,"what would happen the next time I saw you?"
Zuko took a single breath, before matching Naruto's gaze,"I'm not afraid of you Naruto."
"You should be the one afraid,"Toph called out.
"Why would I be?" Naruto questioned, genuinely curious.
"You're outnumbered and basically surrounded, doesn't seem like a situation you'd want to try and fight your way out of,"Katara pointed out.
Naruto chuckled,"The last time I was outnumbered and surrounded, eighteen people died, and I walked away scot free."
Aang grit his teeth,"What is wrong with you? How can you walk around proud that you killed so many people?"
Naruto shrugged,"Who knows, maybe I'm sick in the head. You kill as many folks as I have and it becomes kind of like killing cattle. You know how it goes."
Aang looked subtly uncomfortable, and something clicked in Naruto's head,"You've never killed anybody?"
"Leave Aang alone!" Katara tried to come to her friend's aid.
Naruto could only stare at the Avatar. Then he broke out laughing. Not a chuckle, but fully doubled over laughing while pointing at the air bender.
"What's so funny?" Toph questioned, very close to just launching her boulder at the blonde teen.
"He- he's your saviour? He looks like he'd throw up trying to clean a fish! What is he gonna do, speech Ozai into submission? Maybe lock him up?"Naruto couldn't contain himself.
"Just because Aang doesn't go around killing people like you doesn't mean he can't win this war!" Suki shouted, firm in her belief.
"Zuko, you might as well let me kill you now,"Naruto chuckled. "Do you honestly think the Avatar can beat your father without killing him? Scratch that, do you think he can stop what's coming without killing him?"
Before Aang could answer, a low hum filled the air. Across the ravine, birds from the forest flew away. Momo began to chirp and pull at Aang's robes, and Appa gave out a warning groan.
"Sounds like my que. Hope I get to kill you all in the next few minutes! If not, see ya!" With that, Naruto turned away, whistling a jaunty tune, and walked straight off the edge of the temple.
"What the h-" before Hakoda could voice the thought on everyone's mind, a large red cylinder came flying out of the mist of the ravine.
Shock overtook the Gaang for a second, before Aang reacted, slapping the bomb out of the sky and away from the temple, allowing it to explode harmlessly in the air. Rushing to the edge where Naruto had fallen from, Aang was shocked to see three aerial warships (not unlike the one Zuko and Sokka returned in) rising from the mist.
Rushing back to the group, Aang bent closed the large metal shutters designed by the monks to allow them to ward off any siegers.
The temple rumbled as it was bombarded, the support structures meant to keep the temple hanging rupturing under the stress of the numerous explosions.
A chunk of the ceiling broke off, and was on a fast track to turning Katara into a messy puddle until Zuko tackled her out of the way.
"What are you doing?" Katar questioned, obviously not happy that Zuko was touching her at all.
"Keeping rocks from crushing you,"Zuko replied.
"Okay, I'm not crushed, you can get off me now,"was her unenthused reply as she pushed Zuko off and ran to help the others.
"I'll take that as a thank you,"Zuko commented dryly, also springing into action.
Haru and Toph bent a tunnel out the backside of the temple, making it large enough that even Appa could fit. Appa, having had some extremely negative experiences with tunnels, was giving Aang some trouble as he tried to lead him down the tunnel.
It was while wrestling with his bison that Aang realized Zuko was positioned away from the tunnel.
"Zuko, what are you doing!?"
"Just go, I'll hold them off. This is a family visit,"Zuko replied. Rushing outside, the former prince launched a fireball at the cannon of the lead ship, destroying it and rendering it useless. The airships slowed their advance, giving Zuko pause.
Their reason was made clear as another airship rose directly in front of Zuko, perpendicular to the others. In the ship's crows nest stood his sister, with Naruto standing slightly behind her with his arms crossed. Both had smiles on their faces that were frankly horrifying.
"What are you doing here Azula?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!" The girl then flipped her body over the guardrail she was holding and kicked her feet out, sending a massive fireball at her brother.
Zuko was knocked away by the blast as the fireball impacted the crumbling temple floor. Recovering quickly with a determined look on his face, he stood to his feet, running towards the airship. A bomb impacted the temple, causing a support beam to begin to fall. Zuko, seeing this, ran up the falling beam before launching himself through the air, launching three balls of flame for where Azula and her servant were perched, forcing them to hop out of the crows nest and land directly on the top of the airship.
Zuko, despite his momentum, could not grab hold of the airship, which led to Naruto and Azula watching him fall, disappearing into the mist.
It was at this point Aang had given up on forcing Appa to go underground, information that he relayed to his friends.
"Aang, there is no way we can fly out of here," Katara warned the young Avatar.
"There has to be a way,"Aang replied, not willing to waste more valuable time attempting to move Appa.
"We'll have to split up,"Sokka theorized. Turning to his father, Chit-Sang, Haru, Teo, he yelled,"Take this tunnel and escape in the stolen air ship."
"No!" Katara contested,"We can't let the Fire Nation break up our family again."
Placing a hand on her shoulder Hakoda promised,"It won't be long, I promise."
Katara closed her eyes, before nodding, wrapping her father in a hug. She released him and joined Sokka, Suki, and Aang on Appa's back. Toph was currently pressing her hand to the nearby wall,"I can bend out the wall here and we fly out this way."
"There's a lot of fire bending in that direction if I remember correctly," Suki reminded.
"We'll get through,"Aang confirmed, resolute.
With that the five companions rode Appa through the wall of rubble, Toph using her earth bending to turn said rubble into a front facing shield for the bison, while they flew towards incoming fire.
Azula and Naruto launched two fire balls each, largely decimating the shield.
"Naruto, pursue, don't overextend,"the princess ordered.
"You're too kind princess,"Naruto crouched down, breathing in, before jumping and bending out of his feet and hands at the same time, sending him rocketing in the direction of the Gaang. As soon as his momentum slowed and he felt gravity begin to take hold of him, he began to bend from his feet, flying forward in hot pursuit of the enemy.
"Uh, guys?" Suki called.
"What is it Suki?" Sokka questioned his girlfriend.
"The guy from earlier is gaining on us,"Suki pointed to the fast approaching Naruto.
"Oh come on they can FLY now? That's unfair!" Sokka lamented.
"Sokka, or Suki, take the reins," Aang grabbed his glider and jumped into the saddle before running along Appa's tail and rushing to meet Naruto. Sokka threw himself at the reigns and immediately began yanking them like a madman to prevent Appa from going head first into an air ship.
"Aang!" Katara called, hoping to draw him back in, but she was forced to return her focus to using her water bending to prevent Appa (and the rest of them) from being seared alive.
Gliding forward, Aang suddenly spun his glider, closing it, and using his now staff to send a vertical slicing wind towards Naruto. Naruto, seeing this, bent a strong gout of flame out of his right hand to push him out of the way, causing him to roll once. He countered by firing off two fire balls at the falling Aang, who opened his glider with a flurry of wind to dispel the incoming threat. Catching the wind once more, the Avatar flew himself towards the ravine wall, Naruto giving chase.
Running along the ravine wall, Aang dragged a series of rock pillars from the stone surface, forcing Naruto to weave in and out of them. Aang then bent a full wall of stone out. Naruto, realizing his momentum would carry him into the wall no matter what, curled into a ball and flipped forward, kicking his feet out while bending as much fire as he could, exploding through the wall and sending a roaring fire ball straight for Aang.
Aang quickly recognized the danger and used his earth bending to springboard himself away from the wall, opening his parachute and saving himself from the blast. As he flew towards the air ships, hoping to be able to lose Naruto with some quick maneuvers, Naruto gave chase, roaring,"Stop running Avatar! FIGHT ME!"
Azula had a small serene smile on her face as she watched Naruto dog fight with the Avatar, when she sensed something was amiss. Turning around, she was only mildly surprised to see Zuko standing atop another airship directly across from her. 'Like a cockroach.'
Her brother broke their stare off by breaking into a sprint before jumping across the gap between them. Azula quickly launched a fire ball hoping to catch him on the rise, but the scarred traitor batted it aside, while launching a counter shot which Azula dodged backwards away from, allowing Zuko to find purchase on his landing.
Zuko then launched two fireballs, which Azula batted out of the way, before countering with two fireballs and a bisecting wave of flame. Zuko blocked all three while still stepping forward.
Azula stepped forward with a punch, a motion that Zuko mirrored. As fire surrounded their fist, and their fist zoomed in to make contact, time seemed to slow. Upon collision, the combined force of their bending sent them both flying off of the airship they had been fighting on and into a freefall.
Naruto, realizing Azula was in danger, pulled off of his fight with Aang with a curse. Aang, seeing Naruto pulling off, moved to intersect Appa's path.
Sokka quickly pulled Appa around, allowing Suki to reach out and grab a falling Zuko's hand and pull him onto the Bison, with Aang quickly joining them.
Looking to his still falling sister, Zuko remarked sedately,"She's not going to make it."
Naruto soon zoomed into the picture, allowing Azula to grab him around the neck and wrap her legs around his midsection as he used a combination of bending from his hand and feet to slow their momentum.
"Of course she did,"Zuko sighed begrudgingly. It seemed Azula was truly born lucky.
It was rare that Naruto found himself called into the palace for a chat with anyone other than Azula. He had visited for a war room meeting when he was in SSIP, when they were trying to show the young soldiers in training what a day in the life of the top brass looked like.
Today was special, however. Unlike his usual summons, which was just some random palace guard tasked with sending him a message, this summons came from a soldier from among Ozai's personal guard. Naruto wasn't exactly sure if the man who informed him of his summons out ranked him, but he didn't particularly feel like asking.
And so, he entered the royal palace and stood outside the main room as the sun began to set on the Fire Nation capital.
Breathing deeply, he pushed the doors open, his eyes quickly adjusting to the lighting provided by the wall of fire that was kept up by the man sitting on the throne.
Stepping forward, he dropped to one knee, his opposite fist on the floor, head lowered,"Soldier Naruto, reporting sir."
"Rise, boy,"Naruto stood at his superior's command. The fire's died down slowly, lowering back into the ground, and Naruto found himself given his first up close look at Ozai. 'So that's where Azula got her eyes from.'
Ozai was a tall man with broad shoulders, tall enough where Naruto had to incline his head a tad further than he would have liked to meet his gaze. His gaze was cold, calculating, just like Azula's, and it wandered as though sizing Naruto up.
Naruto had to step on the rising urge to request a spar with the man in front of him.
The fires rose again, seemingly having finished his assessment. "As you have already been informed, by this summer's end the Fire Nation shall… expand, and the Earth Kingdom shall be erased from the face of this land."
Naruto nodded,"Yes sir. Anyway I can be of as-"
"When that time comes, I shall shed the moniker of Fire Lord, and the title will be passed onto Azula."
That stunned Naruto, causing him to blink.
Ozai either didn't notice, or didn't care, and as such continued to talk,"She will be in charge of controlling the homeland while I ascend to leadership of the world. As such, she will need to be protected. My traitorous son will likely inform the Avatar and his sympathisers of our plans for Sozin's Comet, and they will attempt to strike. You are tasked with protecting my daughter through her transition into the role of Fire Lord, and beyond. Understood?"
Naruto nodded,"Understood sir. if I have to kill the Avatar myself to ensure she befalls no harm, it shall be done."
"So full of conviction, we need more soldiers like you," Naruto wasn't sure if the compliment was intentional, but he still took it. "Dismissed."
Naruto turned and walked away, the new information stewing in his mind. 'Changes are coming.'
'Indeed they are.'
It was a good thing the day was coming to a close and the palace court was empty, or someone might have seen Naruto jump straight in the air out of surprise.
Zuko stared out into the clouds as they made their way towards the rendezvous point. It was one of the things he found himself enjoying after joining the Gaang. In the clouds, everything tended to feel a lot more peaceful.
"I still can't believe they let us go just to follow us back from the prison." Of course Sokka ruined it.
"Well, you guys did make it pretty easy for them considering you stole the biggest blimp you could fine," Katara pointed out.
"But still… they could've had us in the prison. Why not just atleast capture or kill me and Zuko?"
"Because grand, overdramatic planning runs in the family,"Zuko replied. "Azula wouldn't be happy without the complete victory. If she couldn't get the Avatar too, there would be no point in catching us."
Sokka 'hmmed',"Speaking of plans, Naruto said something that stood out to me. He said 'do you think he can stop what's coming'. What's coming?"
Zuko stiffened, and looked over his shoulder to see the whole group looking at him. He turned back away,"As long as Aang beats my father before the eclipse, we don't have to worry about it."
"Zuko," Aang turned around on Appa's head,"I've been thinking. I haven't learned anything about firebending yet other than that I can do it, my earth bending still needs work, and I'm by no means a waterbending master. I'm not ready to fight Ozai now."
"What?!"Zuko could feel his eyes bugging out of his head. Zuko was under the impression he at least had three out of four tagged and booked.
"So we need to know, what's coming at the end of the summer? What happens when Sozin's comet arrives?"
Zuko was silent for a moment, mulling over what Aang was saying, before replying simply,"The end of the world."
"...what?"
OKAY, I'm alive, stop slandering me in the comments. Anyway, if you've actually watched the show you'll notice a couple subtle deviations from cannon here that will set up for events to play out differently than they do canonically. Aang knows Ozai's plan, Mai and Ty Lee haven't turned traitor (or have they). I'm trying to decide if Sozin's comet is next chapter or the chapter after that, but regardless it's coming soon. However, that won't be the end of the story (ooo foreshadowing).
Regardless, this story kinda took an L when Shinobi Genesis became my pet project, so I'm trying to show it some love before I dive back into it.
I also took the discord out back and put it down. Frankly, my activity wasn't high enough to justify having the people in there waiting for updates.
Anyway, good looks y'all
Kishi