Before you get too excited this is actually very naughty of me. I have had no time, nor inspiration, for writing lately but this story has been sitting on my computer, partly written, practically begging to be updated and my restraint finally failed. So here is the much awaited chapter 1.
Please note, updates may be sporadic. I have only written up to the middle of chapter 3 and I have promised myself that I will update Secrets at least another three chapters before uploading chapter 2- by which time chapter 4 will probably be on the way knowing me (insert eyeroll as you wish). So I am very sorry to dash any hopes of regular updates but please don't despair. I am trying very hard to write around A levels, Uni applications, my Geography teacher, responsibilities in school, riding, archery, a weekend job and attempting to have at least some free time to myself that doesn't give me a headache because I've been staring at a screen all week. But I will not let this story just sit around gathering dust.
Other than that, please read, enjoy and if you are able, leave a review good or bad (but please no flames). Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was produced by Nickolodeon and written by two guys whose names escape me at the moment.
The creak of the ship was still unnerving at times. Zuko lay listening to the now familiar sound of creaking machinery and the slapping of waves against metal and wondered how his life had come to this. Everything he had held dear had gone; everyone except Uncle. The fact that he was with him on this trip should have eased the pain and yet now it was torture. The only people on the ship who knew his secret was himself and Uncle, he couldn't trust that there wasn't someone in the crew who was reporting back to his father. Probably to tell him how much he was failing in capturing the Avatar.
For a moment, Zuko thought he heard the flapping of wings and his heart lifted for only a moment before remembering that it was probably only an owl-cat or something. He was never going to see Junsuina again in all likelihood. Of course, very few people knew that she even existed and bringing a twenty-foot long dragon on a trip like this would spread the word that dragons were not an extinct species. He couldn't afford to anger his father any further than he already had.
Zuko sighed and pushed the thoughts of loneliness and melancholy away as he did every morning. This was not the purpose of his mission. He was to find the Avatar, capture him, take him to the Fire Nation and regain his honour and title. Nothing else mattered other than getting home. Of course there wasn't much left at home but going home would be an advantage for the people of this world. Zuko didn't want war. He had seen what it had done to the many nations he had travelled through, not to mention his own experiences. An end would prevent the Fire Nation falling into bankruptcy and prevent the inevitable backlash that the end of the war would bring to the Fire Nation. If he wanted his country to survive, they and not any other nation had to instigate this change. He wanted his people to live not barely survive.
He groaned and dragged himself out of bed. The floor was cold to his bare feet and he repressed a shudder, not only from the fact that as a fire-bender he preferred the heat to the cold but also because it didn't bother him so much. A part of him, small and buried and must not be seen rejoiced at the cold touch, at the feeling of push and pull and… Agni, stop it! Zuko thought clutching his head a moment as his concentration slipped. This happened a lot now, being here amongst the water rather than the heat from the sun. The Polar Regions, especially in the winter, were known for being either dark or sunny. Down south, the sun ruled but it was weak and could not overrule the water no matter how long it was out (and approaching the winter solstice that was most of the day). He growled internally, knowing that he needed to get a grip on this.
"No matter what Zuko, you must never show anything but fire to the people around you. Promise me, you won't practise anything but fire in another's presence!" Zuko had kept that promise ever since he had made it at the age of seven but at times like this it was hard. Three years at sea and every day it seemed to call a little louder. He silently shouted at the little voice in his head that was doing the incessant calling to shut up before scrambling into his armour and out on deck for fire-bending practise. The sun and feel of heat would chase away these stupid urges. Hopefully.
Unfortunately, his day was doomed from the moment he stepped out of his room, nearly crashing into Lieutenant Jee. The man sneered at him and Zuko returned his look with a glare of his own.
"Your uncle is waiting for you at the helm," Jee snapped, annoyed that he had been used as a messenger. Zuko suspected the man was actually pissed that he had been promoted on an exile's ship but his crew was filled with all the indispensables of the Fire Nation fleet. The cook was a rejected naval officer; the firebenders drop-outs from the Naval Academy and the rest (other than Jee) were either dismissed sailors of questionable honour or had failed the entrance exams. All had been ecstatic about their new jobs, at least until they heard what it was and what it entailed. Then they all directed their hatred towards Zuko who, having just had half his face burnt off had not been in a forgiving mood and made things just that much harder for them. Realising, too late, his mistake of pushing away the crew, Zuko had resigned himself to acting the bratty prince which, considering his frustration over bending and failing at finding the Avatar, wasn't hard.
"Dismissed Lieutenant. Find me three volunteers for practice later on deck," Zuko ordered, already walking away from the man. He needed that practise and soon. It wasn't just the water calling to him now and Zuko was glad they were nowhere near any earth at the moment. He didn't think he could handle three foreign elements calling to him at once. Agni, how did the Avatar deal with this? Probably doesn't considering he hasn't been seen in nearly a hundred years. He's most likely dead and this is nothing but a wild goose chase. Might as well give up and pretend to be a waterbender. Zuko shook off those thoughts as he climbed the ladder to the control room/helm. The helmsman was probably the friendliest of the lot, having once accidently caught Zuko sneaking off the boat and had promised that Zuko's midnight adventures when they were moored would stay strictly between them. In fact, Zuko actually quite liked the man although he would die rather than admit it out loud in front of this crew.
"Ah, nephew," Iroh said as he entered the room. The smell of tea and roast duck wafted over to Zuko, making his stomach growl. It probably wasn't a good idea to skip breakfast most mornings (although that was more to a lack of variety in every meal than anything else. There was only so much seafood one could handle). Hearing this, his uncle looked up from the Pai Sho board, smiled brightly at his nephew and handed him a bowl of his favourite meal. Zuko might have made a face if he hadn't learnt by now that to turn your nose up at roast duck would mean extra work later in practise that would leave you exhausted. And anyway, roast duck wasn't all that bad, it just got boring after three years living off that and fish. What Zuko wouldn't give for a plate of fire flakes right now! "It seems we are close to the Southern Water Tribe. I was wondering whether we ought to turn back north or carry on going on this particular direction." Zuko internally sighed and thought about it for a moment.
In truth, Zuko had been paying attention to where they were. Another day or so and the village would be aware of their presence and as little threat as they were to him, he didn't really want to panic them. It wasn't like they were going to the tiny village anyway.
"Keep this course for one more day, and then turn north." Zuko returned to his bowl of food as his uncle contemplated his words. "I want to make sure we don't miss anything." He couldn't help hearing his uncle's quiet sigh, no matter how much he tried to tune it out. He knew his uncle wanted to settle down somewhere, maybe open a tea shop and mourn his son in peace. But instead, he had chosen to accompany Zuko on a pointless chase of a phantom that hadn't been seen in so long and probably never would be. He had followed Zuko into exile, never to see his country of birth ever again and Zuko didn't want that for him. There was so much tied up to capturing the Avatar that failure wasn't an option. He had to do it, if not for uncle, then for his people and his sister's sanity. That is, if she hadn't lost it already.
He finished his breakfast in silence, waiting for his uncle to finish his respective Pai Sho game with the cook. The man had yet to learn that there was no winning against Iroh. The man was too crafty by far, no matter his eccentricities. Then again, they also thought that Zuko was weird as well, having to pause every once in a while to check that he was bending the right element and hadn't given himself away by accident. Right now though, they really needed to turn north before Zuko actually did give away his secret but he had to be sure the Avatar wasn't here. And he had to be absolutely certain because he had made up his mind that he wasn't returning to the poles again after this trip.
Katara really wondered about her brother at times. Currently, Sokka was checking his own muscles out in the water and generally being a sexist idiot as usual. She sighed and gazed into the water, wondering what would happen if she tried catching dinner with her waterbending. As novice as she was with it, she was fairly sure that this wouldn't end how the last few times had ended. And honestly, if Sokka hadn't shouted about catching his own fish last time, they wouldn't have gotten wet.
Pulling off her glove, Katara took a deep breath and concentrated on the push and pull of the water. She had learnt to flow with the water rather than against it and she enjoyed the sense of cleansing that the bending brought to her. She gasped as she watched a bubble of water rise from the water, fish swimming in it. She gave a happy little giggle as she danced the ball over her head, crying over her shoulder, "Sokka, look! I got one!" Unfortunately the moment ended when Sokka pulled back to spear his own fish, puncturing her water bubble and sending dinner over the side. She watched as her brother tensed up, looking over to glare at her.
"Why is it," Sokka started, "that every time you play with magic water, I always get wet?" Katara winced, knowing that this was pretty much true. It had been a while since she had splashed herself.
"It's not magic Sokka its waterbending a-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. A sacred art unique to our culture." There was a hint of bitterness in there, reminding Katara that as much as her brother tried he would always come second to her unique abilities. As if she needed reminding of that. She would point out that Sokka was technically head warrior with their father gone and Chief until he returned but right then was not a good time. There was a sound of cracking and Katara glanced over her brother's shoulder to see splitting floes, a dangerous occurrence for two people in a canoe. And the current was taking them right towards it.
"Go left!" Katara cried, spotting a wider opening on the left rather than the closing one on the right. "Left!" Sokka struggled with the paddle, trying to push the boat towards the left but the current forced them right. Desperately trying to avoid the floes they realised at the same time that they were about to be crushed by the approaching floes of ice.
"Jump! Sokka shouted, grabbing her parka and throwing himself onto the nearest floe, taking her with him. For a moment the breath was knocked out of her as she hit the ice, the cold seeping through her clothing, but only for a moment.
"You call that left," she muttered, hearing the crunch of their last canoe disintegrate behind them.
"Well, why didn't you use your magic waterbending skills to get us out of their?" Sokka snapped, annoyed that his sister was pinning this one on him. Katara scowled, angry at his retort.
"You know what? I've had it with you!" she shouted, a familiar rush running through her and she stood over her brother. She noticed his eyes getting wider, heard the cracking of ice but at the moment was too annoyed to care. "Do you know how much work I have to do around the village? I wash the clothes, cook the meals, mend the tents! Have you ever smelt your socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!" She would have added more if Sokka hadn't squeaked, "Katara!" before a wave nearly knocked her off the floe. She was saved by Sokka grabbing her, once again showing he was quicker on his feet than she could ever be, and chucking her back onto the ice whilst keeping a tight grip himself. Once it was all over, Sokka turned to her half-scared, half-annoyed.
"You've officially gone from weird to freakish Katara," he said, disbelief in his voice. A large ice floe, one that had been there for weeks was now gone, an ocean in its place along with another, smaller, spherical one.
"I did that?" she whispered, stunned. She'd never done anything like that before, intentionally or not.
"No Katara, it simply fell apart by itself," Sokka muttered, rolling his eyes. Before she could reply she noticed something strange in the ice floe in front of them.
"Sokka… you see the boy too right?" she asked, staring. Sokka opened his mouth, probably to retort with something sarcastic, but closed it again once he saw what was in front of him.
"Yeah…" he breathed finally. Katara decided that she had to find out what they were but before she could move the child in the iceberg did. Two glowing eyes snapped open, staring right at her, drawing the breath from her lungs in a gasp.
"He's still alive!" she cried, grabbing Sokka's tiger-seal bone club.
"Hey!" Sokka yelled giving chase for his precious weapon as his sister jumped over the floes to reach the boy.
"We have to help him!" she shouted, swinging the club back.
"Wait, Katara we don't know who he is!" he shouted back, too late as his sister flung the club into the ice. He grabbed her before gale force winds shoved her off the ice. They both held their breath as a brilliant white light shot skywards and out of the iceberg crawled a boy, strange arrow symbols glowing. And then, as if being released from the ice had turned him from spirit (because that was what Sokka was convinced this boy was at the moment, as unspiritual as he was) to human, the tattoos stopped glowing and the boy was now nothing more than that. A boy, fainting down the ice, dressed in orange and yellow robes, bald with blue arrow tattoos on his body. Katara flung herself forward before the boy could hit his head on the ice.
Scowling, Sokka leaned forward trying to get a better look at him. Their father and grandmother had once told them that only the Air Nomads wore orange and yellow, monks and nuns both. But the Air Nomads had been wiped out a hundred years ago at the start of the war. Whoever this kid was, Sokka knew he couldn't trust him. He certainly wasn't going to touch him and so, resigned to the fact that his sister wouldn't let him go until proven to be a spy, Sokka poked him with the end of his spear, hoping to get the little cretin to wake up and reveal his colours.
"Hey, stop that!" Katara snapped, waving his spear off. Sokka scowled but was prevented from answering when the boy gave a groan. Katara returned her attention to the boy who seemed to be staring at her with some confusion. "Are you alright?"
"I need… to tell you something…" the boy whispered, voice hoarse from disuse and surprisingly young. Sokka stared at him suspiciously but Katara leaned in, hopeful.
"Yes, what is it?" she whispered.
"Come closer…" Katara leaned in, hoping that the boy wasn't about to expire on her. What happened next surprised both Katara and her brother. His eyes snapped open and a goofy grin suddenly appeared. "Will you go penguin sliding with me?" the boy asked, voice suddenly going at a hundred miles an hour, not a hoarse tone in sight. Katara recoiled backwards, shocked.
"Um… sure," she said.
"Katara," Sokka hissed, grabbing her arm. "He could be a Fire Nation spy!" Katara opened her mouth but was cut off by the sound of a groan. The boy, who had picked himself up off the floor, gave a gasp and disappeared, shouting, "Appa!"
"What's an Appa?" Sokka muttered as his sister shook him off.
"Lighten up Sokka. He doesn't look harmful." He muttered something dark under his breath before following her round the ice floe to where the boy had run off to. He then instantly wished he hadn't when he caught sight of the huge, six-legged thing the boy was attempting to wake. His mouth fell open, too shocked for words.
"What is that?" Sokka managed, once he regained his voice. The boy turned, eyes alight.
"This is Appa, my flying bison," he said as if that wasn't a crazy thing to say. Sokka stared at him a moment, wondering if the kid was delusional from being stuck in the ice.
"And this is Katara, my flying sister," Sokka deadpanned. Katara scowled, rolling her eyes. The bison opened its mouth with a yawn, its tongue reaching out to lick the boy lifting him off the ground. It then suddenly started breathing deeply and the boy ducked just as the creature sneezed. Sokka found himself drenched in monster snot. Screaming at the disgustingness of it, and considerable humiliation, he dropped to the ice, writhing to get the stuff off. He could hear Katara giggling in the background.
"My name's Katara and that's my brother Sokka. What's your name?" she asked, friendly as ever. The boy instantly opened his mouth to answer.
"I'm Aaa… Aaa…" the boy started, suddenly breathing in deeply. "Aachoo!" he sneezed and then disappeared ten feet into the sky. For the second time that day, Sokka found himself staring at the boy in shock. "I'm Aang," the boy said brightly once he had dropped back to the ground.
"You just sneezed and flew ten feet in the air!" Sokka intoned, hearing his voice rising in pitch in shock.
"Really?" Aang said, looking up. "It felt higher than that." Katara gasped, realisation setting in.
"You're an airbender!"
Zuko stared at the bright light for a moment, wondering if he was seeing things. When it didn't disappear after a second or two several emotions slid through his chest at once. Relief that his quest was nearly over. Joy that he would be able to go home and attempt to patch things up. Hope that things would get better. And determination that he wouldn't give up until the Avatar was safely in a dungeon somewhere back home.
"Finally…" he breathed, keeping his eyes on the light, memorising where it had appeared. Then he turned and gestured towards the light. "Helmsman! Head a course for the light!" Soon he thought, soon, I'll face you Avatar. You'd better be ready.
"I'll give him the message," a quiet voice at the back of his head said and Zuko cried out, flinging his subconscious away from it. He hated it when the spirit had to do that.
"Go. Away." He mentally growled at it, ignoring the stares he was getting from the crew, clutching his scalp through his hair. He had once contemplated leaving his head bald for a time but then decided that he didn't like the feel of the wind racing over the skin of his head and so had borne a few weeks of looking a little strange with fuzz where his hair had been shaved off so the healers could reach and heal his scar properly. There were still many parts that were shorter than his original phoenix tail but they were barely noticeable now.
"Zuko," his uncle intoned behind him, sounding concerned. Zuko had yet to tell him of the annoying spirit that had taken up residence in his head (or had it always been there?) and he didn't want to worry the man any more than he already did. Spirit contact was dangerous at the best of times and if one was friendly with you, you had to know all about it and not let it anywhere near your mind until you were sure of its intentions. Zuko knew this from secret extensive research and he also knew that he had no clue what his spirit's intentions were, other than give him cryptic messages, normally through nightmares.
"I'm fine Uncle," Zuko said once he was sure the annoying cretin was gone. Or at least, that he wasn't going to talk anytime soon. He wouldn't admit it, but it freaked him out when it started talking, acknowledging that he was not a normal child. He often wondered if Azula had a spirit stuck in her head as well which might explain why half the time she was cruel and uncaring towards him.
"That's not what makes her so different," the voice said quietly, almost comfortingly. Zuko turned on his heel and stalked away quickly, barely hearing his uncle's warnings about not getting his hopes up over some lights in the South Pole. He had to get away before he started doing something else strange in front of his men. He slammed his door behind him once he reached his room, effectively letting the ship know that he didn't want to be disturbed until they reached the Avatar or the village.
"Why can't you leave me alone?" Zuko snapped sulkily back to the spirit, wondering why now, of all times, it had decided to be more active.
"It is not my duty to be lax."
"Then leave me alone."
"That would be lax." Zuko growled and this time he wasn't sure whether it was in his head or out loud. The thing was so infuriating at times.
"I thought you had to help the Avatar stay alive. Why are you bugging me?" he snapped, a part of him fearing the answer because it was always the same.
"You know why." No, actually, I don't Zuko thought but he knew that whether he wanted it to or not, the spirit would have heard. Ever since he could remember the spirit had told him that he was there for a reason. When Zuko asked him why it was always the same: 'you know why' or 'you already have all the answers'. But he didn't. He didn't have a clue what he was doing or what the spirit wanted from him and he was already under enough pressure from his father to excel. He didn't need any extra.
Zuko sighed and turned towards his desk, rubbing the spot at the bridge of his nose, hoping that that would somehow alleviate the pain from a growing headache. They seemed to be happening a lot lately with all the thinking he was doing. With another puff of air, Zuko set himself down in front of a set of five meditating candles, lighting each with a pinch of his fingers. He barely even had to think about it as he assumed the position for a long time of meditation. Sometimes, things went awry when he meditated and he had once made the mistake of thinking that he would only sit for five minutes, not even bothering with this particular pose and found when he woke that he had actually been meditating for nearly five hours, muscles now stiff and sore.
He reached out with his inner flame, pushing away any other callings and ignoring them for the time being. He needed this moment of quiet and tranquillity. Anything less and he would be unsettled until he tried again. In… and out… in… and out… Zuko could feel calm settling over him as his concentrated on breathing, on the flames, on the position of the sun in the sky. He allowed himself a small smile, one of triumph that this would not lead to anything nasty. As usual, he had thought too soon.
Something large and red flew past his face and Zuko gasped, recoiling away from it. A comet, striking its way to the earth. He watched as it flew over the Fire Nation, filling its people with destructive power, power that would topple any nation the world had left to offer. Two dragons rose into the blood red sky, dancing around each other in a vicious fight, one red and one blue. They almost looked familiar.
"Junsuina…" For a moment, Zuko was convinced that the red dragon was his beloved friend returned to him. But when it coiled round to look at him properly, Zuko saw that it wasn't Junsuina at all but Fang, Avatar Roku's dragon and the dragon he had mistaken as Lengkù was Kirai, Sozin's dragon.
"The world will fall to fire!" Kirai shrieked, blasting Fang away with blue flames, exactly like the ones Azula could produce. Fang dodged around them, coiling himself around Kirai tighter and tighter until she could barely move.
"You're wrong! The world still has hope!" he replied, snapping at her face. Kirai managed to wriggle free and laughed bitterly in Fang's face.
"However delusional you get, you forget one thing Fang," she laughed, almost floating out of the way of a fire blast from Fang's powerful jaws. "I control the fire!" And suddenly, flames were rushing towards Zuko, towards his face, searing, burning and he was screaming…
"Zuko!"Someone was shaking his shoulders and Zuko jumped out of meditation, ready to throw fire at the nearest person. He met the worried eyes of Iroh, sitting close to where he had been a moment before. Eyes scanning the rest of the room, he relaxed once he realised there were no dead dragons attempting to finish the job his father had started. His uncle continued to give him that worried look, the one where he waited for Zuko to confess everything he was hiding. But it wouldn't work this time. He couldn't tell Uncle about this particular problem.
"I'm fine, Uncle, I'm…" he trailed off, taking another look around the room, noticing the disarray and winced. "I did it again didn't I?" Iroh sighed, pushing himself painfully to his feet and nodding.
"None of the crew noticed, only I. I had come to see if you wished to explain yourself over a cup of calming jasmine tea." Zuko resisted letting the air trapped in his lungs from escaping in a relieved sigh. It wouldn't do for all of his hard work keeping mother's secret for it all to be undone by some disrupted meditation.
"I am fine Uncle, really," Zuko said, knowing it was futile. His uncle always knew when he was lying. "How long until we reach shore?"
"Another day or so. Do not avoid questions Prince Zuko. This could be important." Iroh was giving him that look, the one he only brought out when he was interrogating someone. Zuko gulped, hoping his uncle couldn't see how intimidated he was. It didn't work. Iroh's expression dissolved back into one of worry, an expression that seemed to be permanently painted on his face recently. "A mountain cannot contain an ocean Prince Zuko. Speak to me."
"That doesn't even make sense!" Zuko snapped, throwing his hands in the air, fire flowing from them and coming dangerously near the tapestry bearing his nation's insignia. "There's nothing to speak about, so stop telling me to talk!" He hoped Uncle didn't hear the slight catch to his voice but by the sad expression on his face, he had. However, Iroh seemed to accept that Zuko wasn't planning on talking anytime soon and so left the room, turning only at the door to glance around at his nephew's back with a look of sad concern.
The moment Iroh left Zuko couldn't keep the tears at bay anymore. Lying to his uncle became worse at every opportunity.
Sokka wondered if Aang had been born with any sense. First, he claimed that Appa, a ten-tonne snot-monster, could fly. Then, he had somehow convinced Katara to explore the war ship. The only good thing that had come out of the escapade was that Katara had learnt that Aang had been stuck in the ice for nearly a hundred years. Big whoop. So he was probably not Fire Nation, but he had set off that signal which could bring a boat right to the village. It couldn't afford to lose any more people. Any more than two people leaving and there wouldn't be enough people to hunt for tiger-seals or narwhales and forage for berries in the area that thawed out for the summer. Or winter near the equator.
And now this. He had no other choice but to banish Aang from the village. Hopefully that would lead anyone in the nearest vicinity to follow the ten tonne fluff monster that Aang rode and ignore their tiny and – yes he had to admit it- pathetic village. There was nothing of importance here, nothing that they could gain. Their only waterbender was a fourteen year-old untrained girl who taught herself out on the ice shelves when she thought no one noticed. Sokka did, although he didn't say anything. He would just sit and watch her, hoping that no one would come to take her away like they took away their mother. He knew how desperately that Katara wanted to learn waterbending, but this was not the way. Not following a child with no clue as to where he was, what to do or even when he was.
He could hear them faintly over by Appa. The beast didn't seem bothered by the cold and neither did Aang for that matter. He didn't really want to know how that was. Probably something to do with airbending and all that mumbo-jumbo that Aang talked about. Well, that was all very well a hundred years ago but now there were people starving and homeless, wandering around looking for somewhere away from the war. He wasn't going to let Katara experience that. He had made a promise to Dad to protect this village and his sister.
Aang finally mounted the stupid fluff monster, waving sadly as he urged the thing to turn around and leave. Katara and the other children watched him go with similar expressions of disappointment but for very different reasons. The children were just sad to see their new playmate disappear, much more fun than the grouchy sixteen year-old Sokka who had little choice other than to prepare the kids for the possibility that they may have to defend the village whether they wanted to play or not. He hadn't had much time for playing either. Katara was just mad that she couldn't go to the other side of the world to learn water-bending and made that very clear once Aang was gone.
"Thanks Sokka!" she shouted when the speck that was the air-bender could no longer be seen. "There goes my one chance to be a waterbender!"
"I made a promise to Dad to protect this village!" he shot back, knowing what her argument would be. "And I promised I would look after you, too!"
"I can look after myself Sokka!"
"That's what Mum said too and look what happened to her!" He instantly wished that those words hadn't slipped loose from his mouth. Katara's face instantly washed of colour and his sister stared at her as if he had just slapped her in the face. Sokka felt guilty about what he had done but it was true. Their mother had lied, she had told Katara she would be fine and they, being only children, had believed her. They had seen their mother hunt, watched her fight off tiger-seals when the occasion called for it. She was capable of looking after herself too, even without bending abilities. But after that raid, she had been dead and there was nothing either of them could do to change that fact.
Katara whirled away and ran off, too stunned to do much else. Sokka sighed and turned away. There were things to be doing now, more important things than upset younger siblings who were only thinking about what they wanted and not how it would affect the rest of the tribe. Sokka had never called his sister selfish before, even in his mind, but now he cursed her bending prowess. He would love for his sister to learn under a Master, to be able to be a proper bender but that could not happen at this moment in time and Katara had to accept that. The needs of the village came before her own.
Sokka had thought that Katara knew that. Now he wasn't so sure.
Aang was quite honestly confused. He had never been to the South Pole before and the pure whiteness of everything was just baffling. Everything looked the same which was great for gathering clean water and playing in the snow. Not so great when you're trying to leave and head north. After getting lost once or twice by nearly heading back to the village, he pulled out one of the maps that had somehow survived his dip in the ocean and managed to navigate north just as night began to fall. It wouldn't be a comfortable night but at least he would be on his way to the Southern Air Temple- home.
Aang couldn't wait to get home. He couldn't wait to teach the new acolytes the air-scooter and how to outsmart Monk Gyatso at Pai Sho. He even missed the stuffy Elders and their old fashioned ways, missed the way that most of them would nag at him to practice his air-bending more often instead of goofing off and throwing pies at them instead. But most of all, he missed Monk Gyatso but it had been a hundred years… he figured that most of the people he knew would be dead from old age by now or Elders themselves.
He wasn't sure how to feel about the giant warship that was stuck in the ice near the village. After exploring it and discovering that, yes, it was a real warship and that whoever had designed the thing it had been for the sole purpose of violence and destruction. He had never seen weapons like those on the ship and the way Katara talked about the war… well, it was clear that much had changed since he had learnt that he was the Avatar. And that was one thing that he really didn't want to think about.
The black snow was what alerted him to the fact that something wasn't right. Aang had seen many natural weather patterns in his short (or long depending on the view) life, what with living on the top of a mountain and everything, but black snow was not one of them. It didn't taste right either, kind of sooty like the air in the Fire Nation after a volcanic explosion. But there were no volcanoes in the South Pole, of that he was certain. So Aang turned his gaze out to sea, wondering what was going on. His blood ran cold at what he saw.
When Sokka had freaked out about the flare from the ship going off, Aang had thought that he was just being paranoid. After all, there hadn't been a war raging when he had lived at the Air Temples and it seemed unlikely for it to drag on for a hundred years. But now the reality of the world hit him hard in the face. Sailing down into the natural bay close to the village, and not looking like stopping, was a ship similar to the one that Aang had been exploring earlier. It was of a similar design but had clearly been updated at some point in the last fifty years, although not by much. The ship was old, but still strong regardless of the fact that scale covered the bottom of the ship giving the tell-tale signs that it would soon start to rust and fall apart.
"Oh, Spirits Appa," Aang muttered as he watched it glide past, looking as predatory as a panther-bear. "We have to warn the village!" Appa stared at him balefully and groaned. Aang nearly hit himself with his glider, remembering that Appa had just spent a hundred years in an iceberg and swam all the way out here plus getting lost. The Sky Bison was tired and he would not move before tomorrow. But then again, the ship was still a fair way from the village. It probably wouldn't arrive until some point tomorrow morning but by then it might be too late.
"What do I do, Appa?" Aang mused out loud, knowing the bison couldn't talk back. Appa groaned again, as if stating 'it's alright, go warn them without me'. Aang grinned but he was tired too. He couldn't warn anyone if he was exhausted by the end of the trip. "Guess I'll just have a quick nap…"
When Aang woke the sun was breaking the horizon and the ship was gone. Appa would not be waking anytime soon and there wasn't anything else he could do to get to the village faster than on foot. Unless…
Zuko could barely believe that this was what was left of the Southern Water Tribe. He had been up near the north to know that they had a towering city. He knew that the Southern Raiders had admittedly attempted to do away with the waterbenders in the nearer south. He also knew about the one unauthorised raid that had had no grounds to be here but surely it hadn't left it in this state? What happened to sister tribes?
It's none of your business how the Water Tribes interact with each other is it? Find the Avatar, focus on that. Not this. He knew that his head was right but something in his heart ached for these people, something he had tried to bury after his mother could no longer protect him from his father. Ozai was unforgiving to those who were weak of mind and he considered mercy and empathy emotions that entered those categories. No wonder he was considered a failure.
"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko paid little attention to the idiot Water Tribe boy who was clearly half trained. He had had better weaponry skills at the age of seven than this boy had. The silly little attempt with the spear and boomerang had done nothing but give Zuko a headache and a temper. "Where is the Avatar?!" The siblings just stared at him, confused. They were the eldest children (and that made no sense because surely they would have had playmates once upon a time?), the others compromising of elderly or very young. Dependents, nothing more and all of them with the same Water Tribe skin. No, none of them could be the Avatar. He would have come forward by now.
Something barrelled into the back of Zuko's legs and he yelped as he hit the floor in an undignified heap. He growled, shaking his head and looking up to see a boy, no older than twelve or thirteen, being thrown off of a penguin-seal and giggling towards his new friends. But the most striking thing about him was the airbender tattoos on his head and his orange robes. You have got to be kidding me.
"You're the Avatar?" The boy looked surprised to be caught out (and was that guilt flashing in his eyes, at the corners of his mouth?) before standing, a more serious expression on his face. Zuko grit his teeth together, his anger raising his body-temperature and melting the snow on his armour. Something about him reminded him of Azula; probably in the easy manner that he slipped into a bending stance showing that he was a master at a young age. Oh and doesn't that bring back pleasant memories. He shoved the thought down and circled the Avatar, hoping that the spirit would keep quiet. It was none of its business what he did anyway.
"I'm right here," the boy said to shocked gasps from the Tribe. Zuko prevented himself from rolling his eyes. Was it that hard to figure out? No one had seen an air-bender for a hundred years. Did they think that he had only known the Avatar?
Without giving the child any more leeway than he already had, Zuko took the first step in the fight, throwing a ball of fire the boy's way. He caught the shock on the child's face, the sudden panic that oh spirits this was fire he was dealing with, as he spun his staff round, creating a whirlwind of air that blew the fire away. Zuko contemplated this a moment, before moving to the side, blasting a shot of fire at him with a punch before jumping in the other direction, kicking fire out with his left foot as he went. The boy obviously didn't expect this and jumped out of the way, almost into the decoy fire. If Zuko had known that the Avatar was this easy to defeat, he would have brought less soldiers.
Something's not right here he found himself thinking. Why wasn't the Avatar using water to counter-act his fire moves? Or earth? Or even fighting fire with fire? Why only air?
"You are asking questions you already know the answer to," that quiet voice at the back of his mind whispered and Zuko had to physically prevent himself from flinching. He couldn't break down and argue with the thing here. Not while he was in the middle of a battle. The airbender took advantage of his momentary distraction to throw an air blast at him, so strong that for a moment the idea to counter-act this with his own almost overtook him. Instead Zuko threw himself down, rolled and came up with another blast of fire. This time the airbender heard shrieks as the deflected fire came dangerously close to the village children. Zuko could see the horror on the Avatar's face as if this were his fault. I'm not the one who deflected it into their midst idiot!
"If I surrender, will you promise to leave these people alone?" the airbender demanded, not hearing the gasps and cries of the girl behind him. Zuko blinked, thrown for a moment, before nodding. Who was he to stop the boy from coming quietly? Zuko nodded, the closest this boy was going to get to an agreement and gestured for his soldiers to surround the child.
"No, Aang!" the girl cried, moving as if to run forward and fight them off, but she was stopped by the boy warrior. He supposed from their similar looks and attitude that they were siblings and something in him wrenched painfully at the thought that not all siblings hated each other the way that Azula seemed to hate him. He turned away, burying the feelings that rose with that simple gesture.
"You are not to blame for what has passed," the spirit said, as if trying to be helpful.
"Shut up," he mentally muttered to it, before addressing his men. "Set a course for the Fire Nation!" he shouted, waving them back onto the ship, intending to escape into his cabin as quickly as possible. "I'm going home!"
"But what waits for you there Prince Zuko?"
"Go away!" There was almost a sigh, the spirit retreating some. Zuko had the vague realisation that he still needed to give the men orders as to where to take the Avatar, but something was just not right about the whole affair. How was he going to explain that this child was the Avatar and not just any old airbender that had somehow survived? Better yet, how was he going to explain how he knew that the boy was the Avatar?
Hang on a second, he thought, freezing in the corridor and forcing the procession behind him to a halt. How do I know that this boy is the Avatar? How did I know when I saw him?
"How do you know I'm not a malicious spirit?" Panic rose in Zuko's throat, almost so bad that he nearly raced to his rooms for solitude right then and there. The ship was moving again, making its way out of the ice but that wasn't enough to distract him. Here he was, a prince of the Fire Nation, capable of treason and talking to a spirit that he had no idea as to who or what it was. And now he instinctively knew who the Avatar was, almost as if he had known the boy his whole life.
"Sir?" The quiet voice came from one of the officers to his left. There was a clear question there, wondering about his health. You look like an idiot. Keep moving. Sort out weird spirit stuff later.
"Take the Avatar below decks and make sure he's restrained. Remove his staff and put it somewhere safe. It'll make a good present to my father." Orders given Zuko fled to the confines of his cabin, fighting off a complete breakdown as he went, internally screaming in panic at the sudden revelations that had made themselves present.
If only Junsuina were here he thought, now running to get to his cabin. She would be able to calm me down. But Zuko hadn't seen the dragon in three years, although somehow he got the feeling he wouldn't be waiting too long until he would see her again.
There was something very wrong with the teen leading this crew. Aang knew barely anything about the Fire Nation in this era, but somehow he couldn't help thinking that the boy was not quite right. As if there were something odd about him that he tried desperately to hide but came up in moments such as before. Aang contemplated this as he walked down through the corridors of the ship, deep down towards the holding cages were. Surely behaviour such as the boy had been exhibiting couldn't normal in the Fire Nation now could it? He had just stopped, right there in the middle of nowhere. Even Aang, who was even more scatter-brained than the rest of his friends, didn't just stop and then change direction like there was nothing wrong. And the way he moved… if Aang didn't know any better he would say the boy was fleeing from something.
The two soldiers guarding him didn't seem particularly intimidated by a twelve year-old airbender. In fact, they were practically ignoring him, shoving him along when he got too slow for their liking. But Aang had no intention of staying on this boat to wherever it was that they were taking him (Fire Nation remember?). He had to find his glider and get out of here and then back to help Sokka and Katara. He hadn't known them very long but they were still good friends. And he could understand Sokka's paranoia now, what with everything that had just happened. And so he put his plan into action of getting out (it was bad and roughly made but at least it would get him somewhere).
"Sooo…" Aang began casually, "I bet you two haven't faced an airbender before, huh?" He noted how the pair stiffed, one glancing back towards the other.
"Be quiet," the one behind him growled. Aang mentally shrugged and sucked in a deep breath of air. He held it in a moment before letting it out as a large gust of air, throwing the soldier in front forwards and himself into the one behind.
"You guys wouldn't happen to know where my staff is?" he asked as the two staggered to their feet. One blasted a fireball at him and Aang yelped, leaping out of the way. "Guess not. Thanks anyway!"
Aang had no idea how to get around the ship but he figured that it was one step at a time. He ran off through corridor after corridor. He came upon another set of soldiers, vaulting over them and using the spike on one of their helmets to cut through the rope holding his hands together. One problem down, about three more to go. First up, his staff.
The ship was a maze in disguise. His first route took him to the engine rooms, furnace hot and clearly not where they would keep a wooden antique. So he headed up another way, opening as many doors as he could. He came up with nothing, except for one room with an old man lying asleep in bed. Aang whispered an apology, even though the man didn't even stir, and carried on. The next room however, turned up both what he wanted and exactly the person he wanted to avoid.
The teen didn't notice him at first, too deep in meditation. Aang figured that if he was really quiet then he could sneak in, grab his staff and sneak out without him noticing, being able to escape scot-free. But just as he was about to grab his staff something made him stop and turn towards the teen. It didn't look like a good meditation. His brows were drawn together (at least they would be if he had two eyebrows, rather than the one. How had that happened?). His lips moved slightly, as if talking to someone and Aang could have sworn he heard a sort of whispering coming from the boy in his head.
"Spirit touched," a voce whispered. It sounded kind of like an old man. "He is spirit touched." Well, that kind of made sense but Aang was pretty sure those people who were spirit touched were usually peaceful. And not so young. But the spirit-touched had also freaked him out. They were different, removed from the world in a way that wasn't natural. This boy, who Aang had a strange feeling of familiarity about, was about as different from them as could be. He was scary but in a violent way not a creepy 'I know this world better than you ever could' way.
Whatever the teen was, something seemed to have alerted him that he wasn't alone any more as his eyes suddenly flew open and Aang found himself staring at a pair of pale gold eyes, different from any fire-benders than he had ever before. Even Kuzon, who had done some epic tricks with fire, hadn't had eyes like those.
"I should have known," the boy muttered, getting to his feet –was that a slight stumble? This wasn't right- and falling into a bending stance. Aang was now very sure that something was off about the teen and knew that whatever he did, he couldn't fight him again.
"I won't fight you," Aang said quietly, backing away from the angry teenager, reaching behind to grab his staff. He had a feeling that despite his good intentions, the boy-soldier wouldn't listen to him anyway.
"You don't get it do you?" the other boy spat scathingly. "You're my prisoner and I will return you to my father!" For a spirit-touched, he really wasn't in touch with the spirits. That, or the spirits wouldn't leave him alone and Aang could remember the one teaching that Monk Gyatso had drummed into him. One must never enter the spirit world alone, Aang, for it can be a dangerous place. To be the Avatar or even spirit touched is a dangerous responsibility for it makes you vulnerable to malicious spirits as well as the benign ones.
"I'm not going back to the Fire Nation with you." And I really think you should get some help. The boy said nothing more, simply sending a wave of fire towards him with an angry shout, but Aang could see something in his eyes. Was it fear? Anger? He wasn't sure but whatever it was, Aang was sure something had disturbed the teen deep down and this was simply a way of releasing whatever it was. And so be it. Aang had been taught offensive moves, despite air-bending being mainly defensive or evasive, since he was supposed to be the Avatar. And the Avatar had to prevent (well fix now) the war against the Fire Nation.
Aang dodged the initial fire blast and jumped behind the boy, hoping that they wouldn't end up setting the ship on fire but the boy simply pivoted, lunging at him with hand-to-hand rather than bending. Shocked that he had been outwitted so easily, Aang jumped backwards, suddenly unsure of what to do. Martial Arts were not something taught to an air-bender except in context of bending. Aang didn't have the first clue as to how to fight someone without it and wondered for the first time how those without bending managed. He would have to ask Sokka later, if he ever saw the Water Tribe boy again.
Spotting a way out, Aang ducked under the boy's arm, shooting an air-blast at the mattress on the floor, on which the boy was standing on, and sending both the mattress and the boy flying into the ceiling. He fled the room, weaving his way up, knowing that somewhere there would be an observation deck that he might be able to use to fly away on his glider. Up and up he went, dodging soldiers whenever he could, blowing them out of his way when he couldn't. He reached the helm, surprisingly high and also in the same place he wanted to go, which was filled with only the helmsman, who turned to stare at him as he ran past.
Just as Aang thought he was home free, something grabbed his foot, sending both him, his glider and whoever was crazy enough to grab someone mid-take-off plummeting back down to the deck, nearly twenty feet below them. The resultant crash knocked the air out of Aang's lungs, something he wasn't very used to. Gliding was one thing he was especially good at. Gasping for air, he struggled back to his feet, to see the spirit-touched already standing. Does he ever give up? How did he even get here? That hit up on the ceiling should have knocked him out! Aang really didn't want to fight this boy. He didn't seem bad just very confused and there was definitely something very wrong with him, whether he would admit it to himself or not. But clearly, the boy really did want to fight him as another blast of fire came his way. Aang yelped and ducked, attempting to at least fall into a defensive stance when the low grumbling roar of a sky bison could be heard.
"Appa!"
"What?" The teen didn't look very impressed by a flying bison, turning his attention back to Aang who, too late, realised he was ready for another fight again. This time, Aang couldn't have stopped the blast if he tried. With a cry, and not a small amount of impending doom, Aang found himself falling backwards, down, far too far down to be normal, before hitting something incredibly cold with a splash…
Zuko ached. He hurt and he was angry and the spirit just would not leave him alone. All his frustration and anger over everything that was happening went into one huge fire blast that, too late he realised, sent the air-bender over the side and into the ocean. Well, this was turning out to be a brilliant day.
The creature bellowed in a way that Zuko supposed meant pissed off. Not worried, angry that he had dared touch its spirit-brother. This really isn't my day isn't it? First, I find out that the Avatar is a twelve year old boy. Then I get stuck with visions of people burning alive and now this. I should know better.
"Yes, you should." The spirit muttered, strangely sad. Zuko swallowed.
"Something even worse is going to happen now isn't it?" It wasn't every day that Zuko suddenly felt the need to talk to the spirit like a normal person. It didn't answer. Instead, the boy Avatar rose from the ocean in a whirlpool of water, eyes and tattoos glowing in the Avatar state, and Zuko had enough time to think Fuck before a wall of water slammed into him, throwing him exactly where the Avatar had fallen before. The cold was shocking, mind-numbing and for a moment, Zuko wondered if it would be so bad just to drown.
"No!" the spirit shouted in his mind, power suddenly flowing through Zuko's veins. "Don't ever think like that! You are our Nation's only hope!" For a moment Zuko found himself staring at his body, third person and felt his stomach drop. No, no, can't let them know, not now! But whatever he said did not stop what was happening.
"You'll let them know! They can't know! Stop it!" Water… water in his lungs, trying to bend out of it but couldn't let the crew know…
"If you do not, you will drown!"
"I can swim!"
"Not in water this cold!" Drowning… Still drowning and the bison was flying off…
"The Avatar will not know."
"The Avatar already knows! Don't do that! Anything but that!" Coughing, spitting but still underwater… Agni, I'm going to die…
"I am sorry Prince Zuko."
Aang had no idea what had just happened. One moment, he had been floating in the water, the next he was back on the ship and exhausted. More exhausted than he had ever been in his life and yet… something was missing. No matter that Katara had just frozen firebenders in ice, there was something missing on deck, something that had been there only a moment before. But in his current state, Aang couldn't figure it out.
Sokka dashed up onto Appa, having hacked his way free of Katara's accidental ice blast. The pair had brought supplies and he could only guess that they intended to travel with him now. Well, that was great and he would be enjoying this knowledge even more if there wasn't that one fact nagging at the back of his mind…
"The water… Look at the water."
"Roku, you're going to get us all killed." Voices… he thought he had heard those voices before. Of course, past lives he thought, wanting to hit himself on the head. The monks had informed him that he would be able to contact his past lives when close to the spirit world, especially after coming out of the Avatar state, which he supposed was what had just happened. Which meant, that water-bending Sokka and Katara were telling him about had come from him. But there was still something wrong…
Aang leant over Appa and spotted something floating in the water, just under the surface. Something black and red… Oh spirits Aang thought in horror. That soldier. The boy was under the water, having been flung overboard like a rag doll by Aang. He felt sick. They had to go back; they had to pull him out from under there at least. No one would survive for too long under there…
Just as Aang was about to dash for Appa's reins however, a pair of glowing eyes snapped open under the water and he twisted. A new glacier formed, dragging the boy out of the water and onto dry land (or at least as dry as an iceberg could be). The glow faded and he flipped over, coughing water out of lungs and gasping for air. Aang winced, even though he was now just a tiny figure in red.
Yes, there was definitely something very wrong with that boy. And it wasn't because he had a scar or because he was spirit touched. It was because of what gift the spirits had given him.