THE LONG NIGHT
STORY 2:
After meeting the fire bending masters zukos bending felt stronger than ever. Finding the power of the sun within left zuko with the internal drive he needed. Appas saddle felt more uncomfortable than ever and he knew the hours in the air would be brutal.
"I'll fly app, you need your rest." He offered to aang "I don't know zuko, flying appa can be pretty tricky." Appa roared softly
"It can't be that difficult, besides you flew us all the way to the sun warrior civilization." Aang looked at zuko with heavy questioning eyes.
"Okay, just make sure to hold the reins tight-but not too tight or else appa will-"
"AANG, I got it." Aang nodded and climbed into the saddle for take off.
"Yip yip" zuko said quickly snapping the reins just right. Appa ascended and started for the western air temple.
To zuko the ride felt even longer than when he was a passenger. He ran his tired fingers through his long dark bangs revisiting everything he had just learned in daydreams. Everything sorta looked alike in the air. The cliffs of the temple were hard enough to find on their own. He felt groggy which lead him lowering Appa a bit "everything okay?" A small voice asked. Zukos eyes regained life and the bison lifted again in the air. "Yea, I-I thought I saw something…down there."
Aang looked over the side of the saddle. "What?" Zuko hesitated awkwardly for a moment. "Oh, uh…frogs." The eye contact was long but finally Aang broke his stare "that's…interesting zuko."
Another silent hour in the air finally lead them to the western air temple. "EASY!" Yelled zuko as Appa flew excitedly down faster than he had the entire ride. The group saw them approaching and waited by the Fountain, where Appa landed with a thump. They wanted to hear if the duo found anything helpful about the ancient origin of fire bending. Aang started talking right away wanting to show everyone the dancing dragon moves him and zuko learned together. Zuko shrugged it off knowing the others would laugh but aang persisted. They began a display of their new found firebending and ended carefully following the steps of the dancing dragon.
"With this fire bending form zuko and I will be unstoppable." They ended with their fist touching in perfect form. Small clapping came from katara, toph, sokka and suki
Katara spoke first. "That's uh nice little dancing you guys learned."
Zuko felt his embarrassment rise again. "IT'S A SACRED FORM THAT HAPPENS TO BE 1000's OF YEARS OLD."
"Oh yeah what's your little form called?" Sokka added, after a reluctant pause zuko answered…"the dancing dragon." Everyone laughed to themselves and zuko decided it's better to let it go. With a frowned expression he looked toward them and took a silent breath of social defeat.
Toph decided based on his heart beat it would be a good idea to break the silence. "Who's hungry? I'm starved, I say we make some dinner and twinkle toes can start the fire." Anngs smile grew wide. "That's a great idea!" He raced off quicker than wind itself toward the middle of the temple. Zuko lowered his head and followed the others where rice was waiting to be cooked in a large pot. Everyone's bed rolls were still laid out the same way they were the night the boys left. Zuko shook the dust from his blankets and sat.
He thought to himself why am I so tired? I can't look weak in front of everyone.
His mind wondered while the others talked, and ate. He slipped in and out of tiredness looking around occasionally to see if he had missed anything important. His bowl of rice was empty and he decided no one would notice if he just rested his eyes for a bit. He sat legs crossed and leaned forward moving his empty bowl of rice away. His chin sat perfectly in the palm of his hand with an elbow holding him in an upright sitting position. His brows dropped a bit and his face relaxed with the cool breeze that sang through the temple. He felt his elbow slip a little and fixed himself, licking his lips before resetting again. The room got quite after one of sokkas jokes and hearing his name broke him from his almost nap. "Zuko? Zuko are you okay?" He opened his eyes to see everyone looking at him. He lifted his head with his mouth parted. "Yea? Why?" Katara noticed him slowly nodding off "you've been pretty quite over there since we started talking about the fire lord."
"Oh I-uh haven't noticed." For the first time since before their visit to yon rha katara wondered if zuko was really team avatar. Why else would he be so quite and frankly unhelpful when it came to discussing the fire lord? His precious nap could wait until after they were done planning for sozin's comet. Zuko said in a low extra gravely voice "I think we should all turn in for the night, we have a lot of training to do tomorrow." Everyone exchanged glances.
"I'm not tired." Said sokka "me either" agreed suki" sokka stood and stretched "maybe a little walk around the temple will tire us out." He looked at suki with a smile "sure, can't hurt to try." She joined him and they walked off holding each other. Katara got up to go get clean water from the fountain for her water bending pouch which left zuko and the rest behind. Aang and toph kept on talking for awhile but zuko figured the sun was already gone so he might as well do what everyone else should be doing-sleep.
His bedroll felt firm against the hard rock floor but it didn't matter, he closed his eyes and focused on what he could control. His breathing, slow and paced. His inner fire, steady and warm. His bending, with thoughts of his bending he slipped into a deep needed sleep.
The others tended to the fire for awhile before turning in themselves. Katara waited up for her brother, she wasn't particularly tired either. Thoughts of what zuko may be plotting clouded her perception and judgement as she stewed in them. She looked over at him on the other side of the fire. Outstretched on his Mat with a blanket loosely covering his lower half. She saw his fingers flinch and face do the same. What is he doing? Can we really trust him? Sokka aproched loudly with suki laughing, katara's eyes snapped to them then back at zuko.
"Katara what are you doing?" Sokka had to ask. "I'm waiting to see if zukos having second thoughts?"
"Second thoughts on what?"
"He was acting so weird at dinner tonight, and now I just have this gut feeling."
"Katara, give it a rest, get some sleep, I'm sure everything is fine. The guys probably just tired is all."
Zuko shifted a little bit letting a small moan slip. He closed his mouth again and resumed sleeping peacefully. Sokka saw his sisters concern but honestly didn't think zuko was an issue at all. He knew she needed to put this idea of zuko secretly plotting behind her. He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll watch the fire for a bit, you need to get some sleep."
"I'm fine. I'll watch the fire." She said sternly looking through the flame at the fire bender. Sokka knew when his sister was set on something and returned to his own spot hoping with a little sleep she would relax soon.
Katara watched the fire as everyone else slept.
The embers crackled though the night only to be heard between snores from toph, aang and sokka. She peered through the fire again. For the first time in the last few hours and heard a voice, sleepy and familiar.
"We need to get the avatar to… no…no I'm not, how could you say that?" The voiced stopped itself but katara was already interested. The pot of rice wasn't empty, she could easily pretend to refill her own bowl and get a good listen. The pot was on the other side of the fire just behind a certain sleeping fire prince. His breath was deep. She walked toward him noticing how his chest rose and fell drastically. She accidentally kicked his old food bowl, causing him to goan in his sleep and switch to his back. His mouth opened again and she feared having to explain herself. To her relief he started letting out very soft snores, barley even noticeable. His hand was behind his head and the other on his stomach like he was star gazing.
She started to dish out a little rice being more carful than before, when she heard it. Zuko talking in his sleep again. This time she was close enough to really make it out, even if it didn't make a lot of sense to begin with. " I can't believe you won't listen to me. I don't want to-you don't-I uh…I don't know" she looked puzzled, but decided to just whisper to him and see what he would say
"Hey zuko?
"Mmm?"
"You know aang right?"
"The avatar, yea."
"What are you doing?"
"Mmm"
"Zuko?!"
"Mmm…mhm?"
"What are you going to do with aang?"
She hoped he would say help him, or fight the fire lord or anything helpful but instead she heard
"We just need to get over the river."
…"what river??"
"The river of the burning…"
He trailed off again snoring just a little harder now.
"Zuko…zuko?"
He wasn't answering anymore so she closed the lid down on the rice and started back to her side of the fire just as she noticed a light. Dead asleep zuko whirled only the tips of his fingers creating a spark. Her eyes widened…he couldn't be? Sleep bending?-no. The sparks fell on the rock floor going out immediately but she asked him
"Who are you fighting? Tell me who."
He made a few inaudible sounds that were far from words and stretched his arms out creating a fire ball, she ducked down and he punch forward letting it shoot off and explode in the air. The blast woke up everyone except for zuko. There was no evidence, no burn marks on the walls or ceiling. Everyone looked around with wide worried eyes ready to fight. "HES SLEEP BENDING WE GOTTA STOP HIM!" Katara yelled and pointed to zuko. No one saw anything "maybe you should get some sleep now." yawned sokka. "The night is really starting to get to you."
"Get to me? Look at him!"
Everyone did, sokka rubbed his eyes. "Katara, bed, now!"
"If I'm so crazy then what woke everybody up?" No one had an answer for that, aang volunteered. "I'll watch zuko if it will make you feel better." He blinked heavily and slowly. katara felt safe enough knowing at least zuko was being watched. She went to her bed roll while sokka poked at the flames base and aang moved his things closer to zuko.
"Sleep bending isn't real is it aang?" Sokka asked
"I don't know." Aang shrugged his shoulders "I've never seen it."
A few hours went by, sokka noticed aang falling asleep again. The night was so still and peaceful he decided not to bother him. Everything seemed fine and he decided to return to his dreams of endless meat.
Everything stayed still as the moon in the sky. Except for zuko. He flicked his wrist up a few times creating a small heat wave without any fire. His body temperature rose and his breathing deepened. With each exhale a small flame flickered from his mouth. The heat wave from his left hand started to grow red in color. Katara senced something was off and woke up. She looked around feeling the heat. The fire was beginning to die so where was that coming from?! She noticed the faint red waves coming from zukos palms and saw aang laying close to him looking dangerously motionless. She shook sokka "sokka get up I think he hurt aang!"
Sokka looked around and saw the glow coming from zuko and aang on the ground. He knew aang fell asleep but katara might be right about one thing, he is sleep bending and he's about to do it again! Sokka jumped up to try and wake zuko but he stretched again and punch to the side creating another fireball, much weaker this time but way closer to knocking sokka off his feet. "WHOA!" Sokka yelled dodging it.
"ZUKO WAKE UP!!" Kataras voice pierced through to sleeping zuko like an icy dagger. The fire bender spat out a fire like dragons breath that was so strong it woke him up coughing and leaning forward. The flame ended up going right on the fire giving it life again as if it never went out in the first place. Zuko coughed violently for a moment before catching his breath. Everyone was awake again from all the noise. Aang apologized over and over to an unforgiving katara for falling asleep
"WHEN DID YOU START SLEEP BENDING?!" She barked at zuko not even giving him a chance to take in a proper amount of air first. He patted his chest with a fist shaking his head. "What kind of dreams are you having that are causing you to bend at us?!" She asked again. Zuko was still trying to find his second wind but started coughing the words. "Nothi-ng. I-wasn't bending at- you." He thought for a second before correcting himself "I wasn't-bending." Sokka corrected him Nicley. "Actually I did see a fireball or two just now."
"If anything it's cause your crazy sister startled me. Don't you know you aren't supposed to wake a bender, any bender like that! By screaming at them!!" He coughed a few more times before asking "what's your deal anyway?" Katara looked stunned for a moment before answering. "My deal? What's my deal?! You're the one sleep talking about aang and now shooting fire at everyone." The camp was silent. Zuko felt everyone's eyes on him. Without a word he gathered his things, his embarrassment took over. He sank into thought again I was sleep talking? Why was she watching me sleep like that… and if I did bend why wouldn't she just wake me. Instead she screamed so everyone saw, everyone was watching me…just waiting for me to do it again. They were waiting for me to make a mistake, just like my father and azula. I can't believe them, I can't believe katara.
He stood without saying a word and walked to the far end of the temple right to the edge with his blanket. He heard a few exchanged words behind him but didn't care to make them out. He had tried to prove himself and still everyone was just waiting for him to slip up. He sat on the edge with his feet hanging off the side for a moment and laid back flat on the ground. The wind blew straight up the side of the temple melodically in the most calming way. Did he really bend at them? He could have…muscle memory maybe from just a few short months ago. He felt his hands, warm and a little dry. He felt angry. How could he not remember just bending if he even did bend, sokka said he saw it. Why would he make that up. Maybe keeping his distance from the avatar and the group would be best. He felt himself growing tired again and remembered the many many rooms in the temple. He decided to go back to the room they had originally given to him when he joined team avatar. He didn't notice a single head still raised at the campsite. Somberly he walked to the room and let the comfort of a real bed take him away from his thoughts.
He started dreaming but a sound stirred him. He opened one peaking eye and at the sight of nothing closed it again…wait, There it was again! This time he jolted to an upright position and rubbed his eyes to see clearer. The room was dark. He let out a frustrated sigh and for the last time tried to sleep but this time he heard it perfectly. It was the sound of footsteps coming right in the room, his room. "Stay back!" He warned and a small fire busted out of thin air above his ready hand. "It's me!" Toph yelled back with her hands up. She kicked the ground with her heel causing a rock to jet in front of her blocking her from the fire. Zuko didn't bend at her. Instead he reached for a lamp and lit it with his ready fire. "What are you doing here?" The little earth bender commanded to rock back into the structure where it belonged and approached the bed. She jumped and sat on the end with her feet hanging off the side and he moved to match her. Toph made sure she was comfy before she spoke "We were worried about you."
"We? Huh that's not what I got. You don't get it, everyone just looked at me like I made some huge mistake! I can control my bending, I do. But even if I make one mistake it changes how everyone sees me."
"Not everyone, you might not have noticed but I didn't exactly see what happened. Maybe you could actually tell me so I know what In the world is going on."
Zuko thought honestly for a minute. "Well, I don't know exactly. I remember I was dreaming about aang. We…all of us were fighting. It was just a dream so I don't really remember all of it. I remember trying to keep fire nation solders away from everyone then a voice from I don't know where started asking me where was I and what was I doing. I got ready to give one final blast ignoring the voice but then katara started yelling and I didn't know where I was for a second. My mouth tasted like smoke and my throat burned. I wanted to ask her why she yelled all of a sudden but I couldn't stop coughing. Then she just started accusing me of sleep bending, I've never done that! Or if I did why didn't she just tell me instead of making it a big deal and making everyone afraid of me again?"
"Maybe she was trying to make sure you didn't hurt yourself."
"It seemed harsher than that."
"Well I can tell you, it dosent matter what people thought before. After you left no one really knew what to think."
"I just couldn't stay there. Ugh."
"At least you have this place."
"Yeah I do." His voice began to lag a bit and Toph knew that was his first sign of sleepiness, she wondered if he just needed a friend or maybe she could even solve his problem. It just sounded like In his dream he was so worked up it made him act it out. She decided to gently wear him down a little. "I bet you're still pretty tired huh?" Zukos eyes blinked a few times and he rested is back against the wall behind them. His legs still stayed over the side of the bed. "No." He answered short and fast. Toph didn't need her special abilities to know he was lying. She could hear it in his voice that he was one soft breeze, or long story away from passing out. that's just what she could use to help him. A long story. "Zuko, can I tell you something?" The fire benders brow lifted without opening his golden eyes "mhm." Toph purposely started to drone a bit, she didn't pay close attention to her own words since she knew he couldn't be listening too closely. She told an old earth bending tale about harnessing energy and about leaving your major conflicts for a more wakeful mind. As she spoke she heard the small tapping sound of his head touching the wall as he nodded off again. He was trying to fight it but couldn't. She heard it touch one last time and that's where it stayed, soon afterward she heard his breath become mouthy and slowed. She stopped talking and felt the bedding with her palm to confirm he was sleeping. She felt a bust of energy surge through his body and he kicked his legs out. "Remember, let all your day to day conflicts go. They are not where you are right now." She said to sleeping zuko. Zukos body released its held tension and he slumped in his position. His Crossed arms relaxed and shoulders dropped without waking. Toph decided not to leave zuko alone just incase he started bending again. She propped herself against the wall too with her bangs hiding her face and tried to get a little sleep herself.
The next day katara noticed the absence of the two, the sun had started to peak and she was the first one awake. She decided to go look for Toph who had conveniently lost a piece from her earth kingdom head band. It was easy enough to see she had gone into the temple but where? Katara checked all the rooms in the first and second hall, she finally came to the room zuko had the first night there. Without even thinking he could be there she walked straight in not expecting to see Zuko and Toph. They were fast asleep with their arms crossed. Tophs head was on zukos shoulder with her neck bent down. His cheek rest on the top of her head with his face pointed toward the ceiling. His mouth was open making katara very nervous from last time. They looked like peaceful siblings, completely in sync. Katara watched for a moment before approaching the two who still sat upright against the wall. her words fell with disgust, her arms tightly crossed. "Well well" both pairs of eyes shot open at the sound of her voice. Zukos cheeks blushed embarrassingly with his face still frozen in its sleep position. The two sat up like solders. "Katara lay off!" Yelled Toph. Zuko looked stunned. "The poor man is just trying to get some sleep and what do you do?! Badger him and make him feel unwelcome here. Trust me I get it. When I first joined this group we didn't exactly get along so well. He's done nothing to you, so what if he made a mistake, he didn't know."
"Didn't know?! He almost took out sokka if he didn't duck." She argued back.
"Actually…" a new voice joined them from the doorway, it was sokka. "His fire was pretty weak, I gotta agree with Toph on this one, zuko didn't know and I think we should be helping him work through this thing rather than chase him off." Zuko didn't know what to say. "I'm hear for you pal." He continued before hoping on the bed on the other side of him and throwing an arm around him. Zuko stiffened up and tried to find the right words. "Look, I'm sorry I was so defensive before, I had no idea any of that had happened. I would never intentionally bend at any of you."
"Oh you wouldn't? What about back in ba sing se? Or when you attacked the water tribe?" Sokka knew what needed to be said to katara. "That's all water under the bridge now, he's helped us a lot in the last few days. How can you not see that. That stuff is in the past."
Zuko looked apologetically into kataras eyes. "I really didn't know, I think my inner conflict just got the best of me while I was sleeping." She took at step back at his finishing words. "INNER CONFLICT?! There should be no inner conflict, you're either with us or against us. There is no in between."
Zuko corrected himself. "What I mean is, I don't feel good about fighting against my country but I know it will help. It's needs to be done, that's why I'm here. To help restore balance. I really didn't want to talk about it but maybe it will help you understand where I'm coming from. Maybe talking about things will help me understand myself." Katara listened waiting for him to finish.
"I've just been worried. I just found my new drive…but what if my bending still isn't strong enough to take down my father or azula. I've been having dreams about us, all of us fighting our way into the fire nation. Some times we succeed and some times we don't, I just don't want to make any more mistakes. I've done that enough. This whole plan has to go perfectly, or else the whole world is in trouble." Toph spoke next without hesitation unapologetically "what he means is he's scared and you riding his butt about some sleep bending isn't helping." Zuko scowled at her before accepting the truth. With closed eyes to avoid feeling anymore Shame he answered "Yes, I don't want to admit it but I am scared." Finally kataras icy presumption melted and she dropped her intensity. "Zuko… we all make mistakes, I'm sorry I was so hard on you. I just heard you talking in your sleep about aang and the fire lord and-" "you assumed the worst." Sokka finished for her. She glared at him with annoyance "yes, I did. Why don't you all come out for breakfast and we'll practice together as a group today." Zuko smiled "I'd like that." Everyone got up and followed katara back outside near the fountain. Toph grabbed zukos arm to hold him back for a moment before they joined the group as a whole "If it makes you feel any better, you didn't bend anymore last night and you are part of this team, for good." He smiled again and the two caught up to the others where aang and momo were playing. Zuko felt his fears leave him as he focused on his newest drive for the day. Training as a group with his, friends. With nothing but excitement in his heart he knew tonight he would rest peacefully, knowing team avatar had his back and he had theirs.