30. Gravity

"This will succeed, guaranteed, over your uncle's failed six hundred day siege, beg Your Highness' pardon." War Minister Qin boasted, running his finger along the design expertly. "It's been developing for years, and the result is worth it! The hard metal shell is impenetrable to Earthbenders' attacks, and the drill itself can drill through the outer wall in, I dare say it, a day!"

Zuko stared. "That's...that's impressive, War Minister."

Bumi, still inside the guard disguise, raised his hand hesitantly, as if he was still in class, "Ah, but um, War Minister, what exactly will happen to the people of Ba Sing Se?"

Zuko didn't have time to shoot him a look, but Qin waved his hand, seemingly not noticing that a lower ranking soldier had spoken without his Prince's permission. "Oh, they'll be allowed to live in their lovely city, so long as they swear fealty to their superior, new order of the Fire Nation. The young ones, of course, will be sent to that school, the hmm, Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune. It will be for the best, of course, now that the silly rebellion was put down for good."

Jee quickly put a restraining hand on Sokka, who had obtained a guard uniform along the way (it had involved, he said, some careless watchmen and a deserted laundry business) and looked as if he wanted take his helmet off of his head and hit the war minister over the head with it.

"Ah, yes, of course." Zuko quickly said to fill up the silence. "When will the operation begin?"

Qin smiled eagerly. "Oh, I wasn't going to get started until you arrived, so—" He shoved the lever forward, and the drill began to issue steam and slow clanking noises. "let's go conquer Ba Sing Se!"

Suki rolled her eyes inside the stolen guard's helmet; it was really too big for her, but she told Zuko point blank that she was sick of pretending to be his concubine and refused to stay back at the inn while they observed the drill. "I cannot believe a war machine has a snack area."

Sokka shrugged. "I guess Fire Nation conquerors have to eat, too."

Zuko shushed them. "Really, did you not listen to me while I was discussing basic soldier protocol?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads once as Bumi started to eat a few of the almond cookies. "No."

The Prince glared at them. "You are going to blow our cover if you keep messing around. Stop eating, Bumi! Jee, do not pick up that mango pudding! Listen, once this operation is over, we're going to Chameleon Bay."

"Wait," Sokka said suddenly, eyes narrowing. "We're not stopping this? We're not doing anything?"

Zuko crossed his arms, a bit taken back, but maintaing his composure nevertheless. "What are you talking about?"

"Those people are going to be invaded! The stronghold of the Earth Kingdom is going to fall, and their children are going to be sent to that...that...awful school! It's going to be worse now because the resistance has been broken up, which means most of the Waterbending healers that were in it are gone and there are less students to help and protect them! The adults will have to surrender and live under a cruel regime!" Bumi protested in a fervent whisper, mindful of possible nearby engineers or guards.

"The Fire Nation has done nothing wrong to the newly obtained territories." Zuko replied, a tone of harshness creeping in. "We establish a more organized government, create order—"

Suki wore a horrified look on her face, which she exchanged with Bumi and Sokka. "You...you still believe in that stuff? You don't..."

"What is the matter with you? Yes, they will be a bit sore over the Fire Nation coming in, but they'll realize—"

"No!" Sokka stepped forward. "They're not, they're not civilized, Zuko."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Zuko broke it with a harsh laugh. "Listen, peasant, don't you—"

"Zuko, no..." Suki placed her hand on her concealed fan. "Don't you see? The Fire Nation is in charge. Therefore, no one can stop them from doing what they want. They can do anything." She but her lip when she looked at Sokka. "They can do horrible things, like...kill—"

"Of course, opposing soldiers—"

"No!" Bumi, this time, stepped forward. "Not soldiers. Not just them. Regular people. Moms and dads and kids."

Zuko clenched his hands into fists. "You're lying. The Fire Nation is not that dishonorable."

"They killed my mother!" Sokka shot back, a break in his voice. "They burned her!"

Zuko's mind raced. The Southern Water Tribe. Katara in his office for the first time. Her mother...

"That was for Decree 316—the raid for Waterbenders." A sickening knot tightened in his chest. "Your sister...she's a Waterbender. But she wasn't—"

Sokka's eyes had gone wide, his hands shaking, his knees looking as if they wanted to collapse right onto the floor. "No. During the lesson, Kwan said one woman was killed. That was...Mom. So..."

"The claimed last Waterbender. She must have...sacrificed herself for...her daughter. Katara." Zuko's nails dug into his palms. "She lied." He pictured Katara, smaller and in a blue parka, shivering in the snow, alone and sobbing.

Sokka's shoulders shook, but he looked the Prince in the eye. "Zuko, if Katara confessed, or they found out, would they have killed her?"

"Killed?" Zuko's mind felt slow, detached, stupid. "The order said...to eliminate...any—oh. Oh."

"You see?" Sokka whispered bitterly. "Monsters. All of you. That still doesn't change you. You did nothing when you saw what really happened behind the closed doors of the school. You saw what the teachers and even the other students did. You went along with your stupid plan anyway. You were always around Katara, and she told me how you were nicer, and now that I know that you were the Blue Spirit, you make me sick, how you made her believe you were this cool, great guy. She told me you felt regret, once, that was noticeable, but all you did about it is hide away and protect the one girl you were obsessed about. You still believe in that stupid propaganda they fed to you. And I bet you're just hoping that you'll see Katara again, and you really don't give an artic-flea's arse about this mission, really. I know what you're going to say," he continued as Zuko began to open his mouth, anger pooling in his good eyes. "you love her, you'll never hurt her, whatever. But she won't love you if you don't do anything to make things right. Love isn't enough. You two weren't made for each other, and she could easily marry a Water Tribesman or Earth Kingdom guy and not miss you at all. You threatened her, you hit her, you betrayed her, and the only good thing you did was let her get away from you as soon as she could."

Sokka walked right past the Prince, knocking his shoulder into him as he passed. "I'm going to see what I can do to stop this drill. You can stop me; go ahead. But I'll know where your true loyalties lie. Come on, guys, let's go."

Bumi sliced through another metal support beam with a razor-sharp water blade. He wished he had a partner to help, but, what could he do? He'd also like to be a Metalbender, too...

Sokka was staring at him, looking bemused, but Suki was patting his back. "It's a bit hard to take in, I know." Jee, thanks to his Fire Nation soldier training, was more stoic, but his eyes betrayed his utter astonishment.

"I'm guessing Chameleon Bay is something bigger than I thought?" Sokka whispered, and Suki nodded. He'd like it.

"All right, I don't need to cut through all the way," Bumi was saying. "But, you guys better get out before it blows, before I hit it from the top."

Sokka nodded. "I'll trigger some of the pressure gauges as we go and smash some buttons in, too."

Suki patted her fans. "I'll help keep off the guards. Bumi, be careful. Do you need help at the top?"

"I'll be fine." Bumi answered confidently. "Just be safe. And get Zuko out, too."

"Is that optional?" Sokka grumbled.

"No! He helped us this far. We owe him. And so far, we don't have any guards rushing in or an alarm blaring." Bumi reasoned as he scampered to the ladder. "Go!"

They did so.

"I..."

"Get out of the way." Sokka took a stance. "Just because I am not a bender doesn't mean you shouldn't underestimate me."

"You were a good leader and a good fighter during the resistance," Zuko commented, arms still raised.

"Are you going to fight?" Sokka looked quietly at his left at Jee. "Are you?"

Jee shook his head. "If you mean against you, no." Sokka nodded, then turned his head back to face Zuko.

"Why do you just believe him like that?"

"We trust him because, unlike you, he's helped us! He watched Katara because he was worried about what you would do to her, he helped out during that summer festival thing when none of the other adults did, he stole medicine that saved Kita's life when she was dying from that heater-induced fever, and he's willing to help out!"

Jee looked at the Prince, eyes hesitant but firm. "Sir, I was ordered by your uncle to keep you safe. That's why I came. He has a different path for you in mind—"

Zuko sucked in his breath. "I know. He told me that during that tea ceremony. I had written him about...everything, and he had decided to come over and, and, see if be could persuade me not to."

"Well, you did anyway. Your father must be so proud of you," Sokka snapped dryly. A boom echoed through the machine.

"Let's finish this outside before Aa—Bumi makes this drill explode." Suki started running towards the exit.

"Explode? He can do that? But there's no earth here!"

Suki shot a grim look at Sokka. "We'll explain later."

Suki shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up. "Looks like Bumi's ready—"

"Wait—" Zuko squinted upwards. "He's...running up the wall. Is that an Earthbender trick?"

Everyone was silent as Bumi leapt from the top of the wall, though Suki put a hand to her mouth.

"He'll get killed—he—"

Bumi landed, hard, on the earthen point on the drill as it was carving its way through the outer wall, and the drill shuddered and buckled, quickly falling apart at the seams. Sokka shrieked as he was first hit with mud erupting from the drill—"Blech! How did that"—and Suki quickly yelled, "Bumi! We're down here!"

Zuko gasped as a huge burst of wind from the impact hit his face. "Air?" Bumi was nodding to Suki and moving his arms so that the influx of mud—no, slurry—was redirected away from them. "Powerful bending? Wait, Earthbender—" he narrowed his eyes. "That was air just then. The running along the wall was just like the ancient scrolls depicting—"

Zuko's fists lit up. "Airbending. The Avatar!"

Suki gasped, then swore. "No! Zuko, no!"

Zuko was running forward, fire dancing in his fists. Sokka pulled out of his boomerang—

"You gave me a concussion."

"Oh, shut up. You just have to be woken up every few hours, and Jee thinks you're okay. He's been telling us pretty amusing stories of you've been hit in the head a lot."

Zuko raised his head to glare at the Lieutenant, but laid it right back down. "Ugh. Jee, you are—"

"Oh, just eat your rice, sir—you'll be fine."

Zuko then stared directly at Bumi. "You...I can go home."

Bumi stepped back. "What?"

"With you, I won't be pushed back farther and farther—I would have done what no Fire Lord has done in over a hundred years...capturing the Avatar." Zuko hissed when a new wave of pain shot through his head.

"Yeah, hold the world's savior hostage and let a tyrannical leader rule the world? Did you forget the implications of Decree 316 on the drill, or are you that bull-headed?" Sokka pointed a sharpened stick with a burned fish at the end at the Prince, who glared right back.

"Zuko," Bumi said. "I know our relationship is a bit strained, but I want you to know that when I was growing up, I had tons of Fire Nation people as my friends. My best friend was Kuzon. We had so much fun together—we even saw a dragon. But coming out of the iceberg from a hundred years—"

"Wait," Zuko interrupted blankly. "I think I missed this part of the story."

"Well, I'll tell it later. But the point is, I was really shocked of how the world changed. It was so different and so sad. But...why couldn't it be peaceful again, like it was a long time ago?"

Zuko regarded Bumi for a minute. "That's a tough question. I don't know if I can answer it."

Bumi nodded seriously. "I understand, especially now that I've seen the school and part of the world. But...I hate to do this...but you have to make your choice soon."

Gravity (n): Extreme or alarming importance; seriousness

Yes, I used that definition. Welp, I realized I have ONE DAY LEFT to sort of tie up loose ends, and it looks like that will be a challenge. It looks like the extended, separate fanfic is in the works after this, since Zuko isn't quite "good" yet.

Thanks much to Kimberly T. for inspiring Sokka's big "The Reason You Suck" speech to Zuko, and everyone who reviewed! chromeknickers and Boogum, thanks especially for reviewing almost every chapter here!