Unexpected, an A:tlA fanfic by Tsunami Storm

Chapter 4: The tiniest spark may kindle a flame

"All right, Avatar. Up and at 'em." Zuko whispered, nudging the young Airbender with his crutch. Aang groaned sleepily, then rolled over onto his side. "Not now, Sifu Hotman." He muttered. "It's the break of dawn."

Zuko scowled at the silly nickname, but then countered, "Exactly. Dawn is the best time to start Firebending. And this way you won't have any gawking onlookers to laugh at you if you mess up." And I won't have Katara breathing down my neck if he ends up burning something he shouldn't.

Aang just groaned again and rolled over onto his side, Momo curled up next to him. Zuko rolled his eyes, then glanced over at Appa- who was watching him in interest. "I don't suppose you know how to get him up, do you?" He asked as he limped over to the flying bison. With a rumble of assent, the ten-ton bison licked the 'good' side of Zuko's face, then lumbered off to wake his master. "Ugh." Zuko complained as he wiped the saliva out of his eye with his wrist. Then he almost laughed out loud when the animal guardian licked the Avatar from toe to head, effectively drenching him with slobber.

"Appa!" Aang laughed, standing up and drying himself off with an Airbending maneuver. He then stretched and yawned, looking at the bandaged Firebender excitedly. Zuko nodded in approval, then gestured with his head for Aang to follow him. The prince and the Avatar tiptoed between the sleeping bags of the rest of the Gaang. Rather, Aang tiptoed and Zuko limped- taking care not to put too much weight on his right leg.

Eventually they came to a secluded area, one that the others wouldn't stumble upon by accident. Zuko then reassured the apprehensive Airbender, saying, "I know you're nervous, but remember: Fire- in and of itself- is not something to fear."

"All right." Aang repeated, his eyebrows high and his eyes wide with nerves. "Not something to fear."

"But if you don't respect it-" Zuko cautioned, "-It'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry Komodo rhino!"

"EEAAGH!" Aang reacted, leaning back suddenly on his heels, away from his Firebending teacher.

"Now show me what you've got." Zuko prompted with a slight tilt of his head. "Any amount of fire you can make."

Aang tried, he really did, remembering everything that Jeong-Jeong had taught him. He took in a sharp breath through his mouth, puffed out his cheeks and thrust his left palm to his right. To his embarrassment, only a small tongue of flame appeared- and that burned out as quickly as it had been conjured.

Zuko raised his eyebrow, not knowing how to comment on the Avatar's attempt. His first thought was: That was pathetic! Even I was better than that when I started! Then he remembered that Aang and his friends had lived a far different life than he had, traveling all around the world and hiding from the Fire Nation army. And himself, more often than not. He hasn't had much instruction, maybe just a few days' worth. I had years of training from the best masters in the Fire Nation. He hasn't had much time to practice either. Given that, I'm actually surprised that he can do what he did. It's nowhere near my level of course, but we'll get there. Eventually.

"Maybe I need a little more instruction." A sheepish Aang admitted, glancing at his teenaged teacher almost in apology. "Perhaps a demonstration?" He suggested, looking hopefully at Zuko.

Zuko nodded. "Good idea. You might wanna take a couple steps back." He cautioned, motioning for the Avatar to stand clear. Aang quickly nodded, then obligingly retreated to the rock wall of the upside-down structure. Zuko breathed, tensed and thrust his fist in front of him- turning to the side so that he wasn't aiming at Aang.

"Hey, where's Li?" Katara asked as she looked around the circle of sleeping bags and one Earth-tent. "And Aang?" She added, worry edging its way into her voice.

"Calm down, Katara. They're just Firebending over there on that far building. Or rather, trying to." Toph snickered. She had just felt the faint vibration of Aang's rather feeble attempt and smirked at the Avatar's enthusiasm. "They're not doing anything dangerous, so chill." The young Earthbender suggested. "Just out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's really nothing. I kinda wanted to work on Li's injuries, especially his legs. Then he wouldn't have to use those crutches anymore." Katara answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I really wanted to heal him completely before any tutoring began. I don't want him to hurt himself."

"Well, they're both fine. I can feel it. Li's strong for his age, and we both know the Avatar can take care of himself." Toph stated confidently, folding her arms for emphasis. Then she walked over toward the fountain for a drink, taking care not to step on- or trip over- any of the sleeping bags that were still occupied. The Duke and Haru were snoring gently, Téo was sleeping with his mouth open, and Sokka was splayed in a position so comical that Katara had a hard time keeping her laughter contained. She walked over to the sleeping ten-ton Sky Bison and placed a large bale of hay by his enormous mouth. Curled right in the center of his arrow was the lemur Momo, who looked like he was enjoying a pleasant dream.

But all that was about to change. Katara heard two faint popping noises and then a thunderous explosion. She gasped in horror as one of the structures near Li and Aang's apparent location fell into the deep canyon. "Everybody wake up!" She cried as she sprinted to the circle of sleeping bags. "We're under attack!"

"Wow, Sifu Li! I didn't know you could do that!" Aang gasped in amazement as the structure in front of Zuko's fist fell into the abyss. "But next time, try not to destroy the ancient temple." He pleaded.

"That wasn't me!" Zuko gasped, looking at Aang in horror. "I didn't even bend yet!" He explained frantically as he looked around wildly, searching for the location from which the blast had come. He knew without a doubt who had fired at them, there was no question of that. It seemed that the bounty hunter had finally found the Avatar, just too late for Prince Zuko's mission. What the teen didn't know was that Combustion Man was on a new payroll, and seeking revenge on top of that. Nothing would stop his attack now.

"C'mon, Aang! We gotta move!" Zuko shouted, throwing aside his crutches and grabbing the Airbender's shirt- pulling him behind the lee of the wall. The sudden rush of adrenaline in his system nearly eliminated the pain from his broken leg, so he didn't even notice as the separated shaft impacted into itself more than it had been.

The two boys barely managed to get to the next upside-down pagoda when the one on which they'd been training was literally blown to bits. With that last attack, Aang recognized the form and sound- shouting mentally in horror: It's Combustion Man! Aang then looked at Li- who was leaning against the wall next to him- panting and out of breath. He'll never make it on his own. The Avatar realized. Not in his condition. I don't know how he did that back there. Must've been a burst of energy. He wordlessly activated his new glider, then called "Grab on! I'll get us back to the others!"

Zuko acted immediately, grasping the right handle of the glider with his good arm just as Aang took off. Thank Agni that Yue healed my arm. Otherwise I'd be dead right now. Zuko thought gratefully for the umpteenth time as they soared over the foggy canyon.

Landing near the shuttered section of the temple, Aang swiftly retracted the wings of his glider and handed the staff to Zuko, saying, "You need it more than I do." Zuko nodded in thanks, then limped over to where the rest of the Gaang was hiding- using the glider-staff like a walking stick. Katara ran to the fountain, summoned a huge wave, then turned it into thousands of ice-daggers and hurled them at their enemy.

Unfortunately Combustion Man had anticipated an attack like this, and he used his metal appendages as shields to protect the rest of his body. But by the time the ice storm had ceased and he was able to look up, the Waterbender had retreated around the corner and out of sight. Not able to locate either of his targets, Combustion Man settled for destroying the support pillars that held up the whole temple.

Toph put two hands on the rock wall behind her, shouting in horror: "He's gonna blast this whole place right off the cliff-side!"

Sokka turned to Zuko, who was staring at the ground with a mixture of frustration, anger and regret on his features. Why did I even hire this psycho? I must've been out of my mind! He thought to himself. The guy's obsessed with the hunt. He'll never stop, unless he dies. He has only one weakness, but I'd never get close enough to use it. Blast!

"Hey, Li?" Sokka began, causing the Firebender to jump. "You're from the Fire Nation, so you must've heard about this guy. Does he have any weaknesses? Any way we can beat him?"

"He's a bounty hunter, Sokka. They operate in secret." Mostly. Zuko answered dejectedly. "I do know one of his flaws, though: his third eye. If you hit that bullseye, it's game over for him. But no one's ever gotten close enough to try." The prince explained.

Katara attempted another assault, but was forced to retreat as another blast came dangerously close to hitting her. "I can't step out to bend at him without getting blown up!" She gasped in frustration. "And I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here!"

His sister's words sparked a revolutionary idea in Sokka's mind, and you could almost see the light bulb above his head as the warrior exclaimed, "I know how to get an angle on him!" Swiftly switching places with his sister, Sokka peeked around the corner to ascertain the location of the explosive bounty hunter. Another blast filled the air with dust and debris, but Sokka peered out again to make sure his aim would be perfect. Sliding his trusty boomerang out of its pack, he lined it up in the correct direction and muttered, "All right, buddy. Don't fail me now." Then he chucked it as hard and as fast as he could.

The weapon sliced through the air, curving at just the right moment to connect with the metal man's forehead, producing a very satisfying klunk! of metal on bone. The surprised Firebender was knocked backwards onto his back and the boomerang returned to its owner, who shouted gleefully, "Yeah, Boomerang!" as he leapt up into the air and caught its handle. He beamed up at his adversary, but jubilation turned to disbelief as Combustion Man got back up on his feet, holding his head with his human hand. "Aw, Boomerang!" Sokka whined, disappointed that his attack had not worked. Defeated, the Gaang returned behind the wall to protect themselves. "What do we do now?" A disappointed Sokka asked rhetorically.

Sokka's attempt had not been fruitless, however. As the cyborg assassin breathed in deeply for another psychic blast, his third eye started producing small, popping explosions in front of the man's face- almost as if it were short-circuiting. Then- without warning- the last blast erupted, sending the up-ended pagoda into the abyss below and a silver gauntlet spinning off into oblivion.

After calm and quiet had returned to the temple, three confused faces poked out from behind a wall of the area. Téo, Haru and The Duke were all wearing the same expression, a look that plainly asked, "What just happened?"

Later that day, near noon, Katara and Zuko were sitting by the fountain, healing the innumerable injuries on the young Firebender's back. After about two hours, every single mark was gone from the boy's skin and Katara sighed in relief. "We're getting there, Li." She assured him, stopping to rest for a while. "What do you want to work on next?" She asked after a minute.

"Um-" Zuko paused, disguising his voice as usual. "How about my leg? It'll be easier to get around that way." He suggested.

"Good idea." Katara nodded with a friendly smile, cloaking her hands with the pure liquid. She carefully set Zuko's right leg on the rim of the fountain, then unwound the bandages and removed the boards that Sokka had used as a makeshift brace. The young healer winced when she saw the new scars and burns, and grimaced when she noticed the large bump of Zuko's broken shin bone. She immediately surrounded the leg with the healing water and concentrated on knitting the bone shafts back together.

This isn't good. The lower part of the bone is impacted into the upper part. What did he do? Fall from an airship? She thought to herself. It looks like I'll have to re-break the fracture. He's not gonna like that. Out loud she said, "Hey, Li? Um, it looks like your leg didn't heal right and the bone is impacted into itself. I hate to do this to you, but I'm gonna have to re-break the bone at the fracture site so I can heal it properly."

Zuko grimaced, but then replied, "Do what you gotta do." putting a roll of bandages between his teeth on which to bite down. Katara nodded, then manipulated the water that was already in Zuko's leg and froze it, expanding the fracture and spreading apart the pieces of bone. Not wanting to take any more time than was absolutely necessary, the Waterbender straightened and smoothed out the impacted ends of the bone, fitting the jagged edges together carefully and sealing it with a layer of smooth ice. During this time, Zuko was anticipating a stab of pain from his leg as Katara repaired the bone, but- to his great surprise- it never came. No great amount of discomfort resulted from the process, and only minor tingles indicated that any healing was taking place.

"How are you doing that?" Zuko asked suddenly as the young woman continued to work on his leg. She looked up in confusion and Zuko elaborated, "How am I not feeling any pain?"

"Oh, that's easy. I just numbed the nerves around the site of the break." Katara answered. "Your nervous system allows you to feel pain. I just froze the pain receptors around the fracture, and I'll unfreeze them when I'm done so that you'll be able to feel again." She explained.

"Wow." Zuko commented. "I never knew you were so skilled, Katara. If I hadn't been so thickheaded and stubborn, I would've joined up with you guys sooner."

"What do you mean, 'never knew I was so skilled'? Have we met before?" Katara questioned, confused.

"Uh, I mean- I'd heard about all of you guys and your travels around the world, but the storytellers in the Fire Nation always downplay your abilities. They all say things like, 'The Avatar's group may appear to be powerful, but no one could ever be a match against the might of our proud nation and Fire Lord Ozai.' and stuff like that." Zuko covered hastily, and his story was actually true, in part.

"Oh." Katara frowned as she continued to heal Zuko's leg. "Well, no offense Li, but I think those stories are a load of hot air. Just about everyone in the Fire Nation- that I've met- were racist, narrow-minded, hotheaded jerks that were so proud that they couldn't even see all the destruction they caused. Even to their own people! The Fire Nation army is made of the worst- scumbags that I've ever had the misfortune to meet. And don't even get me started on the royal family!" She huffed, accidentally squeezing the water around Zuko's leg and making him hiss in pain. "Oops. Sorry." She apologized quickly.

"Hey, no arguments here about the army. That's one of the many reasons I left. And I agree, most of the Fire Lord's family has some serious issues. But General Iroh isn't bad in my opinion, and you've never met Fire Lady Ursa." Zuko answered, his countenance falling when he remembered his mother.

"Well, okay. Iroh's a good man." Katara allowed. "It's really easy to forget that he's the Fire Lord's brother. They're nothing alike." She added with a small chuckle and shake of her head. Then she looked up from her work. "Fire Lady Ursa? Was that- Zuko and Azula's mother?" Without warning, she suddenly recalled what the Fire Nation prince had told her in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se.

"You have no idea what this war has put me through. Me personally!" Katara sobbed, squatting down and wrapping her arms around her legs, her tears falling to the cold, unfeeling ground beneath her. She silently touched her mother's betrothal necklace as more tears rolled down her face. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." She cried, unable to look at her companion, who had- surprisingly- adopted a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry." Zuko offered quietly, turning toward the upset girl- who also turned to look at him in response. "That's something we have in common."

"Yeah. She was- is." Zuko answered, his good eye still downcast. He refused to believe that his mother was dead. "No one knows what happened to her, after she suddenly disappeared one night." Except for my father. Zuko added mentally to himself.

"That almost makes me feel sorry for Zuko. Almost." Katara muttered, drawing out the water and returning it to the fountain- as the healing process had been completed. "But then I remember what he did in Ba Sing Se just when I had started to trust him. He betrayed us! Aang died because he sided with his psycho sister! I'll never forgive him. Never!"

Zuko stayed silent while Katara yelled at him- albeit in a roundabout way. She has every right to be angry with me. He thought to himself. And I feel bad about lying to her about my identity. But I can't come clean yet. Aang needs a Firebending teacher, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if she kills me when she finds out who I really am. I wouldn't blame her for it, either. Agni, I'm such an idiot!

"Li? What's wrong? You look upset." Katara asked, bringing the boy out of his mental self-flogging.

"Huh? What?" Zuko asked, clueless as to her most recent question.

"I just asked if it would be okay to work on your left arm, if that's okay with you." She repeated.

"Oh. Sure. Go right ahead." Zuko answered quietly, still distracted.

"You sure nothing's wrong?" Katara prompted, seeing the mental anguish in Zuko's golden eye. When no answer came, she muttered quietly, "The best way to heal emotional wounds is to talk about it. If you ever need it, I'll be there to lend an ear. Metaphorically speaking."

"Thanks Katara." Zuko answered in the same quiet tone, then returned to his pensive state. That talk wouldn't end well for me no matter how I phrase it. But it was nice of her to offer.

Hours later, Katara had managed to heal all of the scars and wounds on Zuko's arms and legs- as well as mend his broken bones- without his noticing. He was still in his own world, regret and guilt pooling in him as energy pools in the 'Sea of Chi'. As Katara was rolling up the now-superfluous bandages, Zuko stated out of the blue: "I once met Prince Zuko. Recently, in fact. About a month ago."

"You did?" Katara asked absentmindedly, not really paying attention. "What'd you think of him?"

"He seemed- guilt-ridden. Like he'd done something terrible, something for which he could never atone. The regret was plain in his eyes, burning like a dragon's unquenchable fire. He was still proud- as a prince should be- but he's nothing like Fire Lord Ozai. His scar is proof of that." He answered, catching himself before he could touch the left side of his bandaged face.

"I've always wondered how he got that scar." Katara mused, intrigued about her worst enemy in spite of herself. "Probably a training accident, or one of those awful 'Agni Kai's."

"I'm not sure, but that's what most people assume about him." Zuko half-fibbed. As both benders sat in thoughtful silence, the sound of wood-on-metal carried over to them as Sokka banged a wooden spoon against a frying pan. "Chow time, you two! Eat it before it gets cold!" The Water Tribe warrior called impatiently, earning himself a smirk from the two over by the fountain. Zuko got up carefully and tested his extremities to make sure they worked properly, without any pain. Satisfied with the results, Zuko smiled, then followed Katara to the campfire and sat down to eat; surrounded by the people he had come to think of as friends.

As they ate, The Duke, Téo and Haru were all shooting mistrusting, furtive glances at the teenage Firebender- quickly averting their eyes whenever he would glance in their general direction and laughing with the others as Aang told them about a prank he and Gyatso had pulled on the Council of Airbenders. The three boys were listening to the Avatar's tale, but something about Li just unnerved them, and they didn't like it.

"How 'bout you, Li? I bet you've got some fun stories to tell from your past." Aang encouraged, grinning at Zuko with his big, storm-gray eyes. Eyes to which not even a hardened Fire-soldier could say 'no'. Everyone else turned to the ex-prince, who looked down at his legs and turned red- bashful from all the attention. He gave a small, apologetic smile to the eager Airbender, then answered, "Sorry Aang. My life isn't bright and happy like your childhood. Stories from my past would probably give you nightmares."

"Aw." Aang complained, looking so pathetic in his disappointment that Zuko actually felt guilty. It wasn't his fault that his early years were like a scenario in most horror stories.

"Well, we could swap ghost stories." Sokka suggested. "Like that time we met Hama in those woods."

"Yeah! I've got some great ones that my dad used to tell me about the Northern Air temple!" Téo interjected, and- not needing any more introduction than that- launched right into his story of the ancient temple.

Two hours later, it was finally Li's turn to tell a ghost story. He decided to impart the tale of how he nearly lost his left eye in the Agni Kai that he'd mentioned to a few members of the group. It wasn't a true ghost story, but it would serve the same purpose.

"-If it hadn't been for that kind Waterbending Healer, I would've lost my eye for sure. I owe the Water Tribe my life, or at the very least my sight." Zuko finished quietly twenty minutes later, giving a grateful smile to Katara- who had helped him so much in the past week- and Sokka, who had found him so promptly. His impeccable timing must have been the work of the spirits; it would be almost impossible for it to have been a mere coincidence.

"Wow. And I thought my life was hard." The Duke commented. "It's like the people in the Fire Nation are born bad. With a few exceptions, of course." He observed, feeling sorry for the newest member of Team Avatar.

"That's really interesting though. I never would've thought that cactus juice could be used as a kind of truth serum." Katara observed, cleaning off the dishes after their meal. "Remember that time in the Si Wong Desert where Sokka drank it straight from the cactus? He was hallucinating all day!"

"He drank it straight from the plant? They're poisonous!" Zuko gasped, horrified. "Only when it's purified is it safe to drink. You're really lucky that you only had a little bit of it." He said, looking at the wide-eyed warrior.

"I guess somebody up there likes me." Sokka joked, thinking of Yue and grinning up at the moon- which was almost full at its waxing gibbous stage.

"Yeah. And hopefully you learned your lesson and won't do it again." Zuko jokingly admonished, elbowing his friend playfully in the arm. "Yue might not be able to protect you next time."

Sokka chuckled and grinned apologetically, then left the group to drill his sword techniques. After he'd left, the rest of the Gaang dispersed- going off to do their own activities. The Fire Prince yawned and stretched, then walked off to his room to get some rest in preparation for the next day when he would teach the Avatar Firebending- their training today having been so rudely interrupted by Combustion Man.

What Zuko didn't notice as he left was a silent Earthbender, his green eyes flashing with inspiration. "Very interesting. Cactus juice acts as a truth serum for Firebenders. Now we'll see who this 'Li' character really is."

End of chapter 4

Next chapter teaser: The Firebending Masters

We finally get back to the canon story in the next chapter! Hooray!

I promise we'll get to a little Firebending from Aang and Zuzu in the next chapter, so be patient and bear with me, please.

How will Azula react when she learns that her assassin failed in his mission? And what's up with Mai and Ty Lee?

Uh-oh. Better watch your back, Zuko, 'cuz Haru's got a plan to expose you! (Hey, they gotta find out some time!)

Until next chapter!

God Bless!

Tsunami Storm