Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar and I'm not making money. And no, this isn't one of those funny disclaimers. Just read the story. Idiot.
Aang woke slowly, with a relaxed look on his face. His eyes were still closed, and he was in a good mood after a long night's sleep.
Then he opened his eyes.
He was in the Western Air Temple.
They fled there after the Day of Black Sun invasion failed.
The invasion failed.
He failed.
Reminded of this harsh reality, he got up and walked to the small fire, which had been rebuilt after last night. His friends were sitting around it, eating rice and discussing the war in a manner that was very odd for teenagers. As Aang walked closer, he heard Sokka say, "Well, all I know is that yesterday was an eventful day."
"I think you're going to need a better word, Sokka," Aang said sleepily while rubbing his eye.
"Aang! You're awake!" Katara said in a way that reminded everyone of a night aboard a Fire Nation ship, which was weird, since she just saw him last night.
"Hey Katara," Aang said, trying to sound casual. He realized that that 'Hey Katara' was unlike any other 'Hey Katara' in the history of 'Hey Katara's. He had kissed the girl of his dreams! He was too busy the day before to let it sink in, but it was one of the best moments of his young life. Aang realized that it was true that even the darkest cloud had a silver lining. But it was best now to play it cool and ignore it. Be aloof, like Sokka said all those months ago. The right moment would come.
"So, what are we talking about?" Aang said as he tried to change the topic.
"We're planning," Sokka replied.
"Snoozles is planning. We're here to agree with him, tell him he's special, and hit him when he's an idiot," Toph said.
"I'm serious," Aang and Katara looked over and saw that Sokka was, for once, completely serious, "We need to figure out how Aang's going to learn firebending and defeat the Firelord." Aang sat down, took a bowl of rice, and tried to figure out what they should do next.
After fifteen minutes of relative silence, Toph said, "It's like beating your brain against a wall! We have no placeto go from here."
Katara sighed as she got up. "I think Toph is right, at least about the sitting here part. We should take a break. Hopefully something'll come to us."
About 30 feet above them, and 2 miles to the east, Zuko was making his way toward them.
"I really should have learned how to fly that stupid war balloon," Zuko muttered to himself as he walked through the forest. It took a while, but eventually Zuko made it to a cliff cutting off and going down into a valley.
"Great," Zuko thought, "I've gone completely in the wrong direction. Now who knows where they went." As he walked away, the traitor prince thought he heard some voices below him. Zuko made his way over and peered over the edge of the cliffside. He saw the points of what looked like… buildings?
"What the?" Zuko said, "Upside-down buildings?" It occurred to Zuko that perhaps the airbenders could somehow change gravity, until he realized that it was an optical illusion, and you walked on the underside of the buildings. "This is the kind of thing Uncle would love," Zuko thought. If only he could be here with him, to show him how to start on his new path in life. Pushing these sad thoughts out of his head, Zuko prepared for his descent.
In the Western Air Temple, it was an average day for the children. Haru, Teo, and The Duke were relaxing and looking around. Aang was training with Katara and Toph, and Sokka was making a very important decision between his two great loves: his boomerang and his sword. Now that they weren't undercover, he could use his boomerang. But he was trained in the art of the sword. This was a difficult decision indeed.
Zuko had been walking around for a few minutes when he heard some talking, but he couldn't identify the voices as the Avatar or his friends. When he followed the voices he discovered their sources were an earthbender practicing, and a crippled boy and a young child watching.
"Er, excuse me?" Zuko said, making his presence known, "Do any of you know where I can find the Avatar?"
"Who wants to know?" said the boy in the wheelchair, rolling forward.
"Easy, Teo," The earthbender said.
"I don't mean the Avatar any harm, but it's urgent that I speak to him," Zuko said.
"Alright, he's this way."
They took Zuko to a courtyard, where the Avatar he had spent so long hunting was practicing bending earth and water at the same time. With one hand, he was moving a rock, and with the other, he was freezing and unfreezing some levitating water. His teachers were supervising, occasionally correcting his form. The warrior was holding up a sword and a boomerang, and looking back and forth between the two.
"Hey Aang, there's someone who needs to talk to you," the young boy said.
"Who would b-" The words died in Aang's mouth as he and his friends turned around and saw Zuko's scarred face. The Avatar reacted quickly, as he had been trained to. He flung the rock at the Fire Prince, then froze the water into icicles and did the same with them. Zuko dodged the rock, and sliced the icicles with his twin swords, then put them into his scabbard and threw them to Aang's feet. The Duke, Haru, and Teo sensed they weren't needed and backed away.
As he put his hands on his head, Zuko said, "Easy, Avatar, I'm not here to fight."
"Well, this is a new approach," Sokka said. None of the members of the Avatar's group knew how to react to this odd spectacle.
"I need to talk to you."
"Well, he's not listening," said the waterbender, whose name escaped Zuko.
"Easy, Katara," the Avatar said, "if he doesn't want to fight, let's hear what he has to say," he then turned to the Fire Prince, "What do you want, Zuko?"
"I- I've come to apologize. And to tell you that I've changed."
"Seems like an awful long way to go just for an 'I'm sorry,'" the warrior said with an accusing tone.
"No, I want to help you defeat my father," Zuko said. The waterbender laughed out loud.
While Zuko and the girl were arguing, the Water Tribe boy said, "Toph, shouldn't you make some sort of cage? You know, so that he doesn't kill all of us?"
"Why?" Toph said, "He not going to fight. And shouldn't we be accepting all the help we can get?"
"I got it, Sokka," the Avatar said as he made a few motions with his hands and feet. Sharp stones came up at the ground and Zuko's body was trapped by tall rocks that formed a cone around his body, with the pointed edges aimed at his jugular.
"Give us one reason we should listen to you!" Katara said angrily as she pulled some water out of her skin.
"Because the Avatar needs a firebending teacher!" Zuko yelled. And with a softer tone, he said, "If he wants to have a chance against my father, he will need to master firebending. And I can teach him."
"Great! We need a firebending teacher for Twinkletoes." Toph said.
"Toph, Toph, Toph… You're so naïve. He's lying. He'll take Aang back to the Firelord while we're sleeping."
"Sokka, Sokka, Sokka… You're an idiot. He's not lying. I can feel it."
"He isn't?" the Avatar said.
"Well, his heartbeat is normal. Can he lie as well as Azula?" At this, Aang, Katara, and Sokka burst out laughing.
"Wait a minute," Sokka said, "Where's your uncle?"
Katara leapt on this opportunity, "Yeah, if you're so good, why isn't Iroh with you?"
Zuko looked at the ground, trying to avoid the jagged rock, "He broke himself out of jail before I could tell him I'd changed sides."
"Oh, that's convenient," Katara said sarcastically
"Can any relative of Iroh be that bad?" Toph asked. Once again, everyone laughed, including Zuko.
"You're on a roll," Sokka said, and Zuko thought he saw a blush on the blind girl's cheeks.
"She's never met my father," Zuko said.
"She's never met you," Katara snapped.
It briefly crossed Zuko's mind that the Avatar's girlfriend is really cold.
"Uh, guys, huddle up?" Aang said. The four of them walked away from Zuko and put their heads together. Zuko watched as he reached out of the cage and scratched his nose, cutting his wrist on the rock. He heard angry whispers from Katara, Sokka, and Toph and wondered what the odds were that the Avatar and his friends would kill him. Zuko stopped halfway. He didn't like what he found.
"The bastard will kill us in our sleep!" Katara whispered angrily.
"He's being sincere, I can feel it. Besides, who else will teach Aang firebending?" Toph said.
"People don't just change like that. Once an evil firebender, always an evil firebender," Sokka said. Aang was watching the three-way argument, while having one of his own in his head. What Katara and Sokka were saying went against everything the monks said about forgiveness, but how could he allow his worst enemy to be his teacher?
"How about we keep asking him questions, and see if we can get him to let something slip?" Sokka said.
"Fine," Toph replied, and they broke the huddle.
When they came back to Zuko, the Water Tribe siblings took turns interrogating him, with Toph acting as a lie detector. Meanwhile, the Avatar stared up at Zuko, as if the answer to the decision he had to make was on his scarred face.
This continued for a few minutes, and when Katara, Sokka, and Toph turned around to consult, Zuko looked at the Avatar and said very quietly, "You once asked me if we could be friends. I'd like to find out."
The Avatar and the Fire Prince locked eyes for a long time as memories of an escape from a Fire Nation base and a question that was never answered flashed through grey and golden eyes.
Then, the Avatar did something that surprised both Zuko and himself: he lowered the earth cage. However, Zuko was leaning back on it, so he fell backwards to the ground. The Avatar extended his hand to Zuko with a slight smile on his face. Zuko took his hand and got up.
At the sound of Zuko falling, the other three members of the Avatar's group turned around. When Toph realized what had happened, she went over and gave a high five to Zuko, much to his confusion. Katara and Sokka were considerably less happy, though. "Okay, what the hell just happened?" Sokka asked.
"I need a firebending teacher, so I think we should let him join. I believe in second chances, and besides, we could take Zuko if he tries anything," The Avatar said.
"Thank you, Avatar," Zuko said as he bowed. Aang respectfully bowed back.
"Well," Sokka said, "we can't really override Aang's decision. He's the one who needs to learn firebending."
Katara sighed. "Fine. Let the Firelord's join. But I'm against this."
"Noted," Toph said, "Now, when's dinner?"
At dinner, Zuko sat several feet away from the fire and the other members of the group, eating quietly. When everyone finished, they sat around the fire talking. Katara left the circle, saying she was going to bed early. As she walked by Zuko, she leaned over to him and said, "Hurt Aang and I will make damn sure that it's the last thing you ever do."
Zuko just sat there as Katara walked away, trying to comprehend that the Avatar's girlfriend just threatened his life.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, guys. I've been up in Canada for 6 weeks with no internet. I've decided that it'll be 5 chapters, excluding the prologue. There'll 2 ½ chapters following Zuko and his quest to join the Gaang and 2 ½ chapters following Aang and focusing on Kataangy goodness.