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~ Sozin's Comet ~
The Phoenix King
Ryuu POV
Somethings never change - and one of those things unfortunately happens to be Zuko's work ethic. He was working Aang like an Ostrich horse as he pushed him harder when training. They'd been training since sunrise and Aang looked as if he needed a break, but Zuko wasn't going to let that happen...
"More ferocious! Imagine striking through your opponent's heart!"
Aang retracted his fist and snarled, "I'm trying!"
"Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo! That sounded pathetic! I said roar!"
Suki lounged next to Sokka, taking up the midday sun. Toph as picking at her feet and occasionally flicking a scab or two into the grass while Katara desperately tried to keep the watermelons at a sanitary distance. I was just sparring with myself on the deck - occasionally copying Aang. With a yell, the Avatar released three streams of fire, which made everyone, except Zuko, flinch slightly.
"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara choired. Aang went to run and grab one but was tugged off of his feet by Zuko. Suki pushed herself up using her elbows and rolled her eyes, "Come on, Zuko. Just take a break. What's the big deal?"
With a grunt, Zuko dropped Aang, "Fine! If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead!"
I stopped and swept the sweat from my forehead before leaning on the railing, "Come on, Princess Grouchy, they're kids. Give them a break."
Zuko snarled, "Don't call me that!"
Getting to his feet, Sokka pursed his lips and put his hands to the collar of his tunic:
"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to change all that. Beach party!"
Everyone followed Sokka towards the beach and past a rather irate Zuko. Smirking, I made my way down the stairs and over towards him as he balled his fists. I touched his shoulder and rolled my eyes,"You need to relax sometime..."
"Not until this war is over," he snapped, pulling away from me. He ran towards the beach - his fists ablaze. This - in any way shape or form - was not going to end well. So, in all my infinite wisdom, I decided to try and stop him... Yep, it didn't go well.
He dove onto the beach after demolishing a blob monster statue. I followed suit, dug my heels into the sand and focused on Zuko's movements; they were in patterns, like always, so would be easy to pin down. Before I could, however, Aang went scrambling off with the Prince in pursuit. Sokka mourned the loss of his statue as Toph kicked about a bit of sand:
"What's gotten into Sparky?"
I shrugged, "He's a little- agitated..."
Katara, who had been out ice-surfing, now landed on shore and glanced about the beach, "What happened here?"
Sokka explained how his sculpture had been so cruelly destroyed - then tagged on the Zuko was attacking Aang. No big deal, right? Water girl narrowed her eyes at me with a hidden expression. I shifted uncomfortably as she waded ashore. This was never a good thing when Katara gave you that look.
"Well, come on, let's defend Aang from your boyfriend! "
Laughing nervously, I obliged and led the Gaang back up towards the house, where Zuko had just been blasted from the roof. We stood before him - surprised mostly - as he got to his feet and dusted himself down. Katara stepped forward, acting as mother of the group.
"What's wrong with you? You could have hurt Aang!"
Zuko defended himself with a snarl, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you? How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days? Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?"
I stayed out of this by leaning on a nearby tree as Aang stepped forward somewhat hesitantly, "About Sozin's Comet ... I was actually gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."
"After?!" Zuko and I chorused. The Gaang bowed thier heads to us - either out of fear or respect (who am I kidding, it's fear).
Sokka stepped foward and shrugged, "Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord now, he's going to lose. No offense."
Katara let her head drop some more as she sighed in defeat, "The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the Comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the War, but they pretty much won the War when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse."
"You're wrong," Zuko went all dramatic monologue, "It's about to get worse than you can even imagine."
He told them about a war meeting where his father had come up with the most despicable plan to kill the Earth Kingdom. My gut churned just thinking about it. He stopped and wrung his hands out to let it sink in. The kids were stood there in horrified silence.
"This is bad. This is really, really bad," Aang sunk to his knees. I rested my head back on the tree, "Ya think?"
Katara rested a had on his shoulder, "Aang, you don't have to do this alone."
Toph punched the air with a triple-strike, "Yeah, if we all fight the Fire Lord together, we got a shot at taking him down!"
"All right! Team Avatar is back!" Sokka pointed to each of us in turn.
"Air-" To Aang who posed defiantely.
"Water-" Katara nodded.
"Earth-" Toph grunted.
"Fire and Fist-" Zuko took my hand in his.
"Fan and Sword!" Sokka and Suki held a collection of palm leaves.
Aang tried to hide the fear in his voice as he spoke, "Fighting the Fire Lord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way."
I was pulled along in the current of bodies to join a group hug - Zuko was left standing by himself until we opened the hug for him. He joined, if somewhat tentatively, and smiled when we closed the hug around him. Appa and Momo tried to join the hug, but we ended up toppled over. Zuko had landed with his body over mine, so I jabbed lightly to his chest as he dropped his head and kissed me.
"Ge'off!" I giggled. Toph joined in teasingly, "Yeah, before you make me sick!"
He sat up beside me and smirked as I tried to cover the harsh red colour of my neck and face. I leaned onto him as the others got up too. Suki and Katara had aww-ed at us, whereas the boys and Toph made wretching noises.
"Go teach Aang!" I raised my brow jokingly, "We can finish this later."
"Ewww!" Sokka screeched. Suki elbowed him in the stomach as Zuko and Aang went off to finish training. I rolled about with laughter as the others started misinterpreting my joke as serious. Those kids are hilarious.
...
Later, after scouting out a relatively hidden spot, we put Aang's training to the test. Sokka had set up a wierd looking course involving a melon on a stick...
"Gather round, Team Avatar. In order to take out the Fire Lord - or in this case, the Melon Lord - our timing has to be perfect."
He swept a stick about before drawing a symbol in the dirt, "First, Suki and I will draw his fire. Then, Katara and Zuko charge in with some liquidy hot offense, and while the Melon Lord is distracted, Aang swoops in ... and bam! He delivers the final blow."
Toph and I gaped at him, "What about us?"
Sokka smirked simply, "Toph - You are Melon Lord-"
"Sweetness, " Toph pounded her fists.
"-Ryuu - You are our live Melon Minion-"
I chuckled, "Finally, a chance to beat your behinds!"
They stared at me with a little discomfort. I shrugged at them as Sokka ordered us into position. Toph by the Melon statue with flaming rocks (Note to self: Never let Toph near flaming rocks ever again) and me just infront with a sharpened stick.
"Mwah-ha-ha-ha!" Toph cackled. I joined in fairly quietly. Sokka signalled for training to begin with a twitch of his fingers. Suki and Sokka were cornered by stone soldiers, but demolished them pretty quickly. Katara and Zuko, likewise. Suki kicked up dirt as she approached me - I ducked and kicked at her feet. She leapt up and I managed to catch her ankle with a fist. Sokka attacked from behind as I swung my stick around.
He blocked with his sword - bad decision as I kicked his open stomach - a flaming boulder landed severely close for comfort. The two stumbled back, but then Suki drew my attention by bringing her leg down, which meant Sokka could grab me from behind and pin me down. By then, Aang was at the Melon Lord.
"Do it, Aang!" Sokka yelled. The Avatar hesitated and didn't finish the job. Sokka let me go and stormed up to Aang - Zuko behind him. They lectured the poor Aang on why he should toughen up before they demolished the statue themselves.
...
"I have a surprise for everyone!"
Katara bounded back into the courtyard, where we planed to eat, clutching a scroll. Toph said something about having a thing with Haru, but Katara ignored it and unravelled the scroll- A Baby Ozai picture, which she mistakenly took for Zuko.
"That's not me. It's my father."
An awkward silence hung around us before Suki broke it, "But he looks so sweet and innocent."
"Well, that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster, and the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko turned away. Aang commented that he was still human, to which Zuko snapped. They had a brief stand-off before Aang stormed away. He felt guilty about having to kill Ozai. Don't blame him, really, even if it is Ozai...
Katara went to go after him, but was stopped by Zuko. He needed space.
...
In the morning, we were all prepared to fly off to find a campsite closer to where Zuko knew Ozai would be. Everything was packed and prepared... except Aang. A search later and we found tracks that lead into the sea. Odd. I screwed my eyes up and stared into the sparkling surf.
"D'you think he swam away?" I questioned.
"No, duh!" Sokka rolled his eyes. Toph scoffed, "Then what do you think happened to him, oh sleuthy one?"
Sokka massaged his forehead and came out with, "It's pretty obvious. Aang mysteriously disappears before an important battle? He's definitely on a Spirit World journey."
Zuko joined me in staring out into the surf, "But if he was, wouldn't his body still be here?"
Downcast, Sokka shrugged, "Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."
We decided to split up to search - Toph insisted on going with Zuko as she hadn't had her filed trip with him. It wouldn't be much of a trip, however, as we quickly reconvened at the house after searching the island with no sign of Aang. I facepalmed in frustration.
"Hey, wait a minute. Has anyone noticed that Momo is missing, too?" Toph shifted her feet about as we sat on the stairs to the beach house.
Sokka gasped, "Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time! Appa ate Momo! Momo, I'm coming for you, buddy."
"Really?" I dead-panned, "He's a vegan bison!"
"That's just what Appa wants you to think," Sokka started clambering into Appa's mouth. I restrained a giggle as Zuko calmly commanded, "Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka. We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."
Everyone came to the same conclusion - let Zuko search. He was quite uncomfortable about this, but then was struck with an idea. I shook my head, knowing what he was thinking. We all piled onto Appa and launched off for the Earth Kingdom, where we found... drum roll maestro... June.
Why did we have to find June?!
