Book 1: Water
Chapter 1: The Boy in the Iceberg
Chapter 2: The Avatar Returns
A/N (2022): Hello my dear friends. I've come to the decision that it's finally time to give this story some TLC. I started writing this story years and years ago, and though it's not finished, I thought it would be better for the story overall if I rewrote these beginning chapters alongside writing new ones.
Please be aware that because of this, there is quite a drop off in writing styles between this first chapter, and until about Book 2. The bones of Book 1 are good, but they deserve to be written in the style that matches me as an adult, and not as the 14 year old girl who started this fic. If you've been with me since the beginning, these rewrites are especially for you :) If you're just joining me, I do apologize for the good bit of plot points that exist in Book 1. Bear with me, it only gets better the more you read!
I've loved this story for such a long time, and now I'm just so excited to see what the final product becomes. I hope you are as well!
Enjoy.
Emi's heart dropped in her chest as a familiar smirk came across the face of the man who sat across from her. She'd been so careful, and had followed her strategy to a tee. It had all been for nothing; as soon as Uncle Iroh slid his last Pai Sho tile into place, she knew she'd been beaten. "I'll beat you one of these days, Uncle." She warned, her deep royal purple robes swishing around her feet as she stood and stretched. Iroh wasn't her real uncle, of course, but he'd been raising her as his own for nearly half of her life. The title was the very least of what he deserved, in her eyes.
"Of that, I have no doubt." He replied with a fond laugh, chucking her under the chin just once, something he'd done a hundred times over, now. It made her smile, even in the face of her defeat, and it remained on her face as she began packing up the rest of the game tiles.
The peace was short-lived. They'd been playing Pai Sho on the deck of the ship rather than in the main cabin because Zuko had refused to come inside for several days now. "You two and your foolish games!" He sneered, never faltering as he paced up and down the long length of the ship. "We need to be focusing on capturing the Avatar!" Her eyes met Uncle's for a moment, just long enough for him to ignore the warning in her gaze.
"Zuko, my nephew, maybe it is time to give up this search. Many generations before you have tried to find the Avatar, and none have succeeded." Uncle began, probably believing for all the world that his argument was reasonable. It wouldn't matter. Sure enough, Emi watched as Zuko whirled to face him, furious.
"How could you say that? My honor, my throne, everything, everything I have depends on me finding him!" Zuko yelled, pounding a fist against his chest as if what he felt now threatened to burst from inside him. With a concerned frown, Emi crossed over to him, laying his hand on his shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. He turned his gaze to her, and she read the silent plea in his eyes. It never had been very hard for her to understand him, or he, her. He'd never give up his hunt for the Avatar, and Emi would never leave his side as he did. Finally, Emi broke her gaze and turned back to Uncle, her hand remaining on Zuko's shoulder.
"Zuko's right Uncle." She said, shaking her head at the disapproval that flashed across his face. "He's out there somewhere, and we can't go home without-" Her words drifted off as something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, and as Emi glanced over Zuko's shoulder, her eyes grew wide. Behind him, a brilliant beam of blue light had shot into the air, and her breath caught in her throat. She had only read about that blue light, but she knew what it could mean. She just didn't want to get her hopes up again.
"What is it?" Zuko asked, following Emi's eyes. "No…"
"Do you think…?" Emi asked in a whisper, watching Zuko intently.
"It has to be!" Zuko answered, pulling away from her and crossing to their ship's railing in two large steps. "Men! Follow the light! Now!"
"You two," Uncle started, a hint of a plea in his voice. "We've been down this road before. It's just the Celestial Lights." Placing a hand under her elbow, he gazed at her evenly. "You should sit, have a cup of tea. Calming Jasmine, perhaps?"
"We don't need tea, Uncle. We need to capture the Avatar." Zuko argued over his shoulder, and Emi gave Uncle an apologetic look as she pulled from his grasp. She joined Zuko at the front of the ship and looped an arm through his.
"It's him. It has to be." He muttered, seemingly to himself, his hands gripping the railing hard enough to turn his knuckles white.
"We'll find him, Zuko." She said softly, looking up at him. Zuko turned to look at her then, his eyes roaming over her face. He did it all the time, and she'd never figured out why. She was the same as she'd always been; had the same blue eyes and same black hair she'd had since the moment she met him. The Top Knot she pulled the top half into now was different from all those years ago, she supposed, and her cheeks tended to turn pink from the cold, now that they were near the South Pole. There was the hope too, but that had certainly never changed. How badly she just wanted to capture the Avatar so that they could finally go home. After a moment, he dipped his chin in a small nod.
"Yes, we will." Behind them, she heard Uncle sigh and ignored it. She knew that this was actually, finally him. They wouldn't be disappointed like they had in the past, no matter what Uncle thought. Secretly, she wasn't sure how Zuko could handle it if they were.
Emi walked up the stairs to the top of the ship at the same time Uncle came inside, holding two cups of tea. She handed him a cup wordlessly and sighed.
"He's still not going to come in, is he?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not." He said, frowning. "Will you talk to him?" She'd been close to the Fire Nation prince from the moment she came to the palace, it seemed. He was her best friend, and she was often able to ease his temper when others could not. In an instance like this, however, she doubted there would be much of anything she could say to sway him. His banishment and their hunt for the Avatar had hardened something in him, and she couldn't blame him for it.
"I can try, Uncle, but you know how he is." She said, resigned, allowing Uncle to slide an arm around her shoulder before bidding her goodnight. Propping her shoulder against the door, she pushed out into the frigid night air.
"Uncle, I already told you I-"
"Zuko, It's me." Emi interrupted.
"What do you want?" Zuko asked harshly, and Emi rolled her eyes at his tone. Drawing up beside him, she tapped the back of his hand and held out the cup to him, her brows raised expectantly.
"I brought you this." He took the tea from her but made no move to drink it, or to even look at her, and she frowned. She wouldn't push him tonight, though it was awfully tempting too. Leaning against the icy railing, Emi crossed her arms and tucked her hands into the folds of her robes in an attempt to protect her already numb fingertips. "I'm not going to ask you to come inside, if that's what you were wondering. Mostly because I know you won't listen." She tilted her head as she looked up at him, disappointed that she received not even a quirk of his lips in response to her statement. He really believed this was it, then. It made anxiety flutter in her stomach. Rubbing a sleeve against her cheek, she shook her head. "Just…try not to get ill, okay? It's freezing out here, and you have to be at your best." She said quietly, a frown pulling at her lips. After getting only a nod in response, she gave his arm a small squeeze and left him to his thoughts.
The next day, Emi watched quietly while Uncle taught Zuko. He had the potential to be a powerful bender; she could see it in the way he watched his opponents, the way he never held anything back. But he didn't listen to Uncle much, she thought. He sent a few more fire blasts towards the crew members he was training with, and then Uncle interrupted.
"No, Prince Zuko. Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. Breath becomes energy that extends from the limbs and becomes fire. Now, get it right. " He said sternly. Zuko let out a frustrated growl.
"This is ridiculous! I have been running this all day. Teach me the more advanced set!" he snapped.
"No! You have not yet mastered the basics. Run it again!" Uncle snapped back, clearly growing frustrated.
Emi shook her head at the two firebenders. She didn't exactly keep track, but if she sat and thought about it, she knew there weren't a whole lot of lessons where they didn't end up at each other's throats. She watched as Zuko snarled angrily, flames licking between his fingers, and stood up to intervene. Nothing would get done if they continued on their own.
"The Avatar is the last air bender. He has had 112 years to master the elements. I cannot defeat him with the basics. You will teach me the advanced set." Zuko advanced on Uncle as he spoke, and Uncle crossed his arms, seemingly content to let him. Emi stepped between them and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, shaking her head.
"C'mon Zuko, It's my turn anyway. You know you have to know your basics, they provide stability. I'm sure Uncle will teach you as soon as they are." She insisted, tugging Zuko away from a still irritated looking Uncle. Zuko followed her, grumbling.
"I do have them down! And all that stability stuff is water tribe talk." He said, although it sounded dangerously close to whining. Smiling, Emi sympathetically patted his cheek, and he swatted her hand away, but not before she caught a glimpse of his lips quirking upwards. It made her happy, even if it lasted only a moment.
"We're practicing anyway." She informed him, dodging the streak of fire he sent at her, and quickly responded with one of her own. Zuko huffed in response to her statement before concentrating solely on their sparring. Emi was glad for the chance to practice her own basics. While it was well established that she didn't prefer to fight and would defer to Zuko when the time came, she refused to rely on Zuko and Uncle to take care of her.
Still, she had to work hard to match Zuko's every movement. She'd raise hell if he went easy on her, something that he'd suffered her wrath over more than a few times before. But he was unusually focused, and as they sparred she felt the heat from his flames draw uncomfortably close to her. He'd put her on the defensive, and she grit her teeth as she attempted to land a hit anywhere close to him. Diving out of the way of a particularly well-placed hit, she grimaced as she rolled across the hard metal ship deck, pain lacing up her back and sides. Much to her dismay, Zuko halted immediately, recognition flashing across his face.
"Wait." He said, coming to her side and carefully helping her to her feet, disapproval crossing over his features as she grit her teeth. His next words were soft, not to be overheard, and laced with concern. "That's enough. You aren't supposed to be fire bending this much." Emi shook her head and stepped out of his arms.
"Don't be ridiculous Zuko, I'm a firebender." She said, frowning as she tucked a stray hair back into her top knot. She always hated when he brought this up.
"But you know that-"
"Zuko, we will begin your training now." Uncle interrupted his next words, but Emi had already known what he was going to say. It was a discussion that they had often. Zuko nodded, even as his careful eyes swept over her again.
"Go get some rest." He insisted, ushering her towards the door of the ship with a hand on the small of her back. She sighed in response.
"Okay, fine." She answered, pretending that she didn't notice the trembling in her legs and that no one else would either as she made her way to the ship's cabin. With one last glance over her shoulder, she was glad that at least Zuko and Uncle didn't look quite so upset with each other anymore.
"Zuko, surely you didn't have to drive the ship right into their walls like that. The village is so small." Emi said, tugging at Zuko's fire nation helmet. He pulled out of her grip and charged forward, ignoring her question altogether. She could feel the pent up energy rolling off of him in waves, agitated and tense.
"Stay in the ship. This doesn't concern you." He snapped. Emi bristled and glared at him, tugging on his arm with enough force to actually stop him. Though she couldn't be sure that was actually true, with the way he could overpower her. More likely, he knew he was trying his luck with her, even with all he was feeling in that moment.
"Don't you dare." She warned him, poking a finger against the cold metal of the Fire Nation armor that he wore. "I've been by your side every moment of the last three years, and I won't be pushed to the side now." He wasn't pleased, she could tell that by the set of his jaw, but she didn't care. Everything had led up to this; his fear or anger or whatever wasn't going to get in the way.
He glared at her but said nothing, and as he stared forward once more, she could see his entire focus shift to the task at hand. The thought settled her, made her forget about his tone. She understood how he must feel; could feel how tight his throat must have been, how his fists were clenched at his sides just as hers were. They both stood still as the door opened, revealing a small cluster of water tribe citizens clad in heavy blue coats.
In an instant, a warrior was running at them with a terrific battle cry, but Zuko threw him easily over the edge of their walkway and into a bank of snow, before Emi even had a chance to blink. She sighed and wondered why only one brave man, who had to be right around the same age as her and Zuko, or perhaps a bit older, had been left to protect the entire village. Should others from the Fire Nation come calling, they wouldn't stand a chance. She and Zuko moved forward as one, and her eyes scanned the crowd as he came to a halt in the snow, standing just over his shoulder.
"I think the young girl would know." She murmured, standing on her toes to speak into his ear. Zuko nodded and stalked up to where a teenage girl was standing by an older woman. Her heart clenched at the fear on their faces.
"Where are you keeping him?" he growled, snagging the older woman by the fur lined hood of her coat, and rattling her a bit. "He would be about this age, master of all the elements?" Through her growing guilt, a realization hit her.
"Zuko, wait. They don't know." She said, moving forward to wrap her hand around his arm, prompting him to let her go. Zuko looked at her, confused, so she elaborated. "They don't know what he is." If the water tribe didn't know that this man was the Avatar, then she did not want to be in charge of telling them. Then, over Zuko's shoulder, she spotted the warrior running at them once more, his weapon held high in the air. Her eyes widened, and Zuko moved without needing a word from her, pushing her behind him and shielding her from an upcoming blow. He blocked the warrior's hit just as easily as before and tossed him aside, adding a rush of fire for good measure. Emi's face twisted in sympathy.
"Emi, get back." He told her as the warrior flung his boomerang at their heads. Emi did so without arguing, for once. She was a good bender, but fighting was not something she enjoyed doing if she didn't have to, especially against someone who was just trying to protect his people. The warrior ran at Zuko with a whale-tooth spear, which Zuko simply broke and tossed aside. The boomerang, however, came back with a vengeance, whacking Zuko in the back of the head and making Emi very grateful that she had fixed the damn thing. When fire daggers shot out of his hands in fury, she decided to step in.
"Zuko, stop." She said firmly, stepping in front of him to be between him and the villagers. "Please," she said softly. "We mean no harm. But it is very important that we find this man." The warrior opened his mouth furiously, probably to argue against her 'no harm' claim, but he was cut off as a whirl of black, white, and orange flew past them and Emi gasped as she was covered in a sheet of snow.
The whirl of movement turned out to be simply a young boy wearing orange and yellow robes. He greeted the two teenagers, calling the girl Katara and the warrior Sokka. Not that that was of a particular interest to her; all she saw at the moment was another threat. Zuko must have been thinking along the same lines as she was, because they both dropped into defensive stances at the same time, though Emi did drop back just slightly, allowing Zuko to angle in front of her. A sudden burst of air blew the dark waves of her hair away from her face, and Emi straightened as surprise washed over her.
"Looking for me?" The boy taunted.
"You're the air bender?" Zuko asked, the shock in his voice an echo of her own thought. "You are the Avatar?" The boy couldn't have been older than 13. The collective gasps from the tribe confirmed her suspicions that they didn't know the identity of the young Avatar.
"Aang?" The girl, Katara?, asked, confused.
"No way." The warrior, that was Sokka, added, amazed. Zuko paid no attention to either of them, and instead began circling the avatar. Emi moved off to the side. She had accompanied Zuko this far, but she knew this was not her fight. She looked to the tribe, whose every member was glaring at Zuko in hatred. All except Katara; she was glaring at Emi. She tried not to balk under the fury in that stare. A thought came to her then; that they deserved it for what they were doing. "I'm sorry." Her lips formed the words but no sound came out, the apology offered before she could register that she was doing it. Really, she didn't even know why she cared; every moment for the last three years had led to this, and she'd known what she was doing the whole time. But the way Katara glared at her…it made her heart twist in her chest. She was sorry, she realized. Even if it didn't matter.
Her attention was drawn back to the fight as one of Zuko's fire blasts came dangerously close to the members of the tribe. Small screams of terror lit the air and Aang immediately came to a halt.
"If I go with you, will you leave them alone?" he asked, motioning to the tribe. Zuko nodded and in a flash, two of the crewmen were flanking Aang, leading him to the ship. Emi drew up beside Zuko, putting a hand on the middle of his back and looking to the ground, unable to face those around them.
"Please Aang, don't do this!" Katara begged, and Emi hated that she glanced up at her, hated the tears she saw brimming her eyes.
"It will be fine Katara. Take care of Appa until I get back." The Avatar called over his shoulder. Emi followed Zuko and their Crew to the ship, but not before casting another apologetic glance over her own shoulder. None of it mattered now, but she really was sorry.
Katara stared at the spot where the fire nation ship was with tears in her eyes, her mind whirling. There was something about that girl that was with the firebender that she couldn't quite put her finger on. And she'd apologized to her, but why? Katara didn't understand. If she knew what she was doing was wrong, then why was she traveling around with the hot-tempered firebender? And why had she stepped in when Sokka was in danger?
Katara twisted her fingers together, trying to make sense of the situation. But then she remembered how the firebender had thrown himself in front of her when Sokka attacked. They must be really close, she thought, for there was no way that selfish boy, clearly intent on hurting people, would have done that if they weren't. No matter her fury that they had taken Aang, that apology mattered to her. She needed to know more.
"This," Zuko said, holding up the Avatar's staff, "will make an excellent present for my father. Take the Avatar to the prison chambers, and take this to my quarters." He commanded, handing the staff to Uncle, who then in turn handed it to a different crew member. Zuko turned to her with a small smile, holding out his hand. "Come celebrate." Emi painted a smile on her face in response, but waved him along.
"Just a moment." She replied, and Zuko squeezed her shoulder.
"We did it." He whispered triumphantly, flashing her another smile before making his way to the ship's cabin. As she watched him go, the smile fell from her face. Crossing to the railing, Emi leaned her forearms against it and hung her head. She didn't need to look up to know that the person who came up beside her was Uncle.
"Something is bothering you." Uncle stated. He had a habit of doing things like that, just knowing that something was wrong without even having to ask. Not that she was probably doing that great of a job of hiding it. Emi reached up to run a hand through her waves, but couldn't, not with the top knot that she wore. She rubbed her hand against her cheek instead.
"When we captured him," she paused, having a hard time even speaking her thoughts aloud. "When we captured him, all of the hope left those people's eyes. I could see it happening." Finally she looked up, her eyes trained on the chunks of ice in the distance, rather than on Uncle. "I always knew that the avatar was the only one who could defeat the Fire Nation, and that we had to capture him to win." She closed her eyes, and when she spoke again, it was barely a whisper. "What if we aren't meant to?" It was treason, to say the very least, but she could see the despaired eyes of the Southern Water Tribe every time she closed her own.
Uncle didn't disagree with her. His hand came to her shoulder. "That may be the case." He said, his voice equally as soft. "But who reigns victorious at the end of all of this is not for us to decide." Emi wanted to ask him what could possibly be the point of all of this then, but the thought was interrupted by the loud, screeching noise of metal giving way. Wincing, Emi clapped her hands over her ears and watched with wide eyes as the Avatar jumped out of the prisoner quarters and sprinted into the main cabin. Stepping forward anxiously, she shook her head when one of the crew members announced that the Avatar had escaped.
"No kidding." She called to him in exasperation.
"I'd better go in and help them." Uncle said, heading inside and leaving Emi to glance around anxiously, searching for Zuko. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she saw the Avatar and his orange glider flying overhead. Zuko was right behind him, leaping out to snag his foot and dragging him down.
"Zuko be careful!" Emi yelled up at him as they descended, the Avatar's glider unable to handle the weight of them both. When they hit the ground, Emi rushed towards them, mirroring Zuko's fighting stance as she came up beside him. She didn't want to fight this boy, but she would, she realized. If it meant she could still stand alongside Zuko, she would. A loud roar suddenly echoed around them, and Zuko threw an arm out in front of her as the shadow of some massive beast was thrown over them.
"What is that?" He glanced down at her for a moment, his shock written across his face. Emi only shook her head and took a step closer to him. Whatever it was, the Avatar was calling out to it happily, and Zuko leapt into action. She kept close to him as he attacked, the powerful burst of fire he sent too much for the Avatar, who had been caught off guard. He stumbled with each step, and with one last growl, Zuko sent the Avatar tumbling off of his ship and into the water. Emi tried to ignore the way her heart twisted in her chest, but she didn't think she was breathing.
Above their heads, Katara's desperate voice was calling out the Avatar's name, over and over again. Aang, Aang, Aang. She wanted to beg her to stop, before the guilt swallowed her whole. Then the sea around them was flaring to life, that same bright, unnatural blue that had led them here, and she felt Zuko's arms come around her. Over his shoulder, she watched the Avatar rise on a towering elevator of water, his eyes and tattoos glowing eerily. Her breath finally returned in short, uneven gasps, and as their crew cowered around them, she couldn't stop herself from hiding her face in Zuko's shoulder, not when she knew the Avatar was barrelling towards them. Zuko's grip on her tightened as they were thrown into the air, her own cry impossibly loud in her ears as she clung to him. She slammed against the railing of their ship with a pained groan, calling out for Zuko as he slipped from her grasp and fell into the water below.
"Did you see what he did?" Katara asked, leading the massive beast down to their ship.
"Now that is what I call water bending!" Sokka exclaimed as he leaned over the side of the saddle he was riding in.
"I dropped my staff." The Avatar said, standing up shakily. Emi watched it all without moving, frozen in pain and guilt and a thousand other emotions. She should stop them. She owed it to Zuko to do something, anything. But when Sokka's wide eyes met hers, holding the Avatar's staff in his hands, she didn't charge at them. She didn't drop into the same fighting stance she'd practiced until her feet were numb, ready to fight. No, instead she waved them off frantically, mouthing "Go, go, go." until they burst into action. And she didn't allow herself to stop and think about that action, not for one single second. Instead, she rushed over to the side of the ship and gripped Zuko's icy hands, tugging him back onto the ship.
"Zuko I couldn't fight them by myself, I'm sorry." Emi said, the lie falling from her lips with no hesitation. Zuko ignored her and quickly pulled her to the center of their ship, urging her to move faster.
"Hurry, help me shoot them down!" he said, linking their fingers together so that a massive fire ball could be formed between them. Before it could reach the bison, the Avatar swept his glider through the air with a broad stroke, causing the fireball to crash into an iceberg instead. Zuko's arm came around her once more as ice and snow rained down on the ship in heavy chunks, and Emi could hear the trio laughing in the distance.
Then there was silence. Emi looked over their ruined ship with one hand over her mouth, horrified. She had done this.
"Well, good news for the Fire Nation." Uncle said from across the way, surveying the damage with his hands on his hips "The Fire Nation's biggest threat is just a little kid." Zuko's head snapped around to glare at him.
"That little kid just did this, Uncle." Emi said shakily, indicating to the half-buried ship. Zuko grit his teeth.
"We won't underestimate him again." He growled. "Men! Dig out the ship and follow him." He commanded, balling his hands into fists as he crossed to the cabin without a single glance at any of them. Emi watched him go anxiously, not seeing Uncle until he appeared beside her. His hand hooked around her elbow and pulled her away from the rest of the crew.
"You did a good thing." He said quietly, and Emi looked to him with wide eyes.
"You saw?" she asked, frowning. If he did, then who else? He nodded, chucking her under the chin.
"But don't worry, I can keep a secret."
"Hey guys, did you see what that girl did?" Sokka asked as they sailed away from the carnage that was the Fire Nation's ship.
"Yeah," Katara said slowly. "She let us go. It's strange. When that Fire Nation boy and Aang were fighting, she looked so sad, and then she apologized." Now that Aang was safe, Katara couldn't help but run the Fire Nation girl's actions in her head, over and over again. "She mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to me, that way no one else could hear, just like when she was telling us to go." She explained. She watched as Sokka pursed his lips.
"Does that mean we can trust her?" Sokka asked, his brows furrowed. Katara shook her head, propping her chin against her hand.
"I don't know." She answered softly.
A/N: Thank you for reading, friends. I hope you continue to do so :)
