Title: Toward the Rising Sun
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Zuko, Aang, some Zuko/Katara
Warnings: none that I can think of, beyond my horrible sense of humor
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to the nice folks at Nickelodeon.
Summary: Zuko and Aang need to learn to trust each other. Cue the road trip to find the Sun Warriors, with plenty of arguing, dirty jokes, and pirates besides. S3 AU. [Heals All Wounds #4]
A/N: Thank you to jin_fenghuang for the beta!
6.
Aang shifted awkwardly as he knelt on the flagstones in the Sun Warrior temple. It was high in the ruins of the old city. A large stone chedi rose to a pinnacle nearby and in the distance he could see the twin spires of the mountains.
The stone was smooth with wear, warmed by the tropical heat and also the dragon's fire. Scorch marks, many of which had been made in the past few minutes, blotted out the marbling of the floor, leaving only soot and a vague feeling of impending doom behind. Aang startled as "his" dragon – the blue one – snorted again, jetting a small gout of flame toward the floor. Steeling himself, he bent lower, pressing his nose against the blackened stone.
He could feel the dragon's breath ghost across his neck. He swallowed deeply against the sensation, ignoring every instinct that told him to fly far, far away.
Finally, the dragon withdrew. Aang could hear murmuring from the Sun Warriors. Only about half sounded displeased. He really didn't know what to do with that.
Cautiously, he peeked up from his kowtow.
The dragon glared forcefully at him from several paces, body coiled into a relaxed, yet somehow challenging posture. To Aang's right, the red dragon nuzzled Zuko.
Oh, come on! Aang groaned.
Moving slowly, Aang drew himself to his feet, his eyes locked with his dragon the entire time. He had to assume he'd been found worthy – since, you know, still alive and all. Or possibly he just wasn't worthy of being eaten. The second one actually sounded better, since Aang didn't want to be involved in any kind of dragon-and-firebending ceremony at the moment, particularly not one for mating.
The dragon snorted and Aang startled back a step. Lips pulling wide over the dragon's sharp teeth, Aang could swear it was laughing at him.
And he could hear the Sun Warriors actually laughing behind him – or that one guy, anyway.
Aang stood up straighter, letting his anger from before come back to him. Okay, so this dragon wasn't the one who wrecked their ship and broke his staff, but he was standing in Aang's way. He needed to learn firebending and get out of here and save the world, so he wasn't going to let something stupid like a dragon laughing at him stop him.
Glowering back at the dragon, Aang stepped confidently up to the animal. He raised his hand, not entirely sure what he was going to do, and in return the dragon dipped its head.
Huh.
"The great masters Ran and Shao have accepted their riders," intoned the Chief from behind them. Aang drew his gaze away from the dragon to where the Chief stood, arms up raised. The Sun Warriors behind him knelt in respect. "Life flows from the heavens to the oceans and settles on the land before it can be sparked anew. Ran and Shao follow the ancient cycle; the Avatar and the Fire Prince shall guide them, and be judged."
"Wait," Aang asked, raising his hand slightly. "That wasn't the judgment?"
The Chief raised his eyebrows.
"No," he said simply.
From across the temple square, Zuko looked up from his communion with his dragon to shake his head in disappointment. Well fine then, Aang thought, scowling.
Soon enough, Zuko was clambering up onto the back of the red dragon and that's when the full force of the Chief's words hit him.
"Riders?" he asked in horror.
"Indeed," the Chief said. He didn't have to sound so amused all the time. It was really getting to Aang. The large man helped to boost Aang up onto the dragon's back, soothing away the shivers and bucks that signaled the dragon's displeasure. It didn't seem that he had been accepted so much as noteaten; something clenched deep inside him at the thought. He'd never been afraid of flying before, and disorientation as much as anger seized him as he recognized the fear for what it was. The Chief noticed. "I had thought an Air Nomad would take easily to this."
"Thanks," Aang gritted out. Because really, he needed that.
The Chief backed away, turning to the giant furnace set into the temple wall. He held out his hands and the flames snapped into his control, becoming ordered and unflickering. He dimmed them, lowering the fire until it was little more than a yellow wisp among the coals. And then he knelt.
The dragon shuddered beneath Aang's legs as it inhaled. He grasped for purchased, pulling on its horns, and in a rushing, terrifying moment the dragon expelled a gigantic jet of orange flame over the Chief's head. From not far away, Zuko's dragon did the same. With trust and unwavering confidence Aang could hardly believe, the Chief rose, his hands pulling flames from the dragons' fire. Moving smoothly with ceremonial grace, he sent those same flames back into the furnace.
Aang's grip on the dragon went lax as he watched, stunned. He gathered himself together just enough to look over to Zuko; the other boy seemed more than intrigued. He had a look on his face just on the verge of revelation, of great understanding. Which was good, Aang recognized in the small part of him that was not jealous or terrified. Maybe with a moment more to process, that part could have grown.
Unfortunately, his dragon flapped his great wings, rising into the air with nauseating, rippling movements.
"Whoa!"
Aang wheeled his arms, struggling to keep his balance, before flattening himself down onto the dragon's head, hands holding fast to his horns. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to breath evenly through the disorienting, awful motion of flight. Appa totally had one up on this guy, that's all Aang knew.
The dragon ascended in great, slithering circles, climbing higher and higher into the sky. Aang wanted to look – he could feel the cooler air gusting past his cheeks and ruffling the fuzz he was growing out on his head – but he didn't even dare. Finally, the dragon's flight eased, sinuous tail whips replaced with the unpleasant, but predictable wing flaps.
Aang cracked an eye open.
The ocean lay out before him, jeweled blue twinkling in the high sun. At least that was familiar. Carefully, he pulled himself upright, sitting back into the dragon riding position that he knew from riding Fang. Somehow it had been a lot easier in the Spirit World.
It was at that moment that the dragon decided to dive, straight down. Aang gave a hoarse shout, feeling himself lift up from the dragon's back. Looking to the side, he saw Zuko's dragon also diving – although she was moving more slowly and smoothly, he thought sourly. It was like Zuko was actually… guiding her.
Right. Aang bit his lip, eyes going to his hands where they lay on the horns and to the very rapidly approaching ocean below. He hadn't been judged worthy yet, so that meant he still had something to do. He needed to learn from the master, and maybe it needed to learn from him. The dragon had already taught him a lesson about the air – mostly that flying wasn't always fun – and now it looked like it was his turn to teach something about water.
And not crashing into it.
"Um, hey there, Mr Dragon Sir. I think maybe we should pull up now," he said, pulling on the horns.
The dragon growled and smoke washed back over Aang. He coughed, blowing out a gust of air to dissipate it.
"No, really," Aang continued. He put his back into it, bracing his foot on a horn as he pulled. "I really don't think you want to do this. Think of your family! You have a mate and an egg – or you will! If you don't eat them, I don't know if…"
The dragon jerked his head abruptly, unseating Aang so he held only to the dragon's horn, legs dangling in the wind as they flew straight down. The water was so close now. Aang braced himself, taking a deep breath as they hit.
Water rushing in around them, making Aang's ears pop. He gritted his teeth against the pain of the sudden impact, exhaling with a rush to create a bubble of air around them. His dragon struggled beneath him, trying to throw him off once more, but this time Aang clenched his legs tightly around the animal. He pressed a hand to its flank, a silent command, and then lifted his hands up, streaming the water to create a tunnel around them.
The dragon calmed and for a long moment they swam, Aang's heart racing in time to the dragon's quickened pace through the water. He looked up and saw a mirror image above the surface of the water, Zuko's dragon flying just on the other side.
Giddily, he took a break from his waterbending just long enough to wave to Zuko – who, surprisingly, waved back. He might have even smiled.
Zuko's dragon began to ascend once more. Aang craned his neck, watching it go, and then with gentle nudges from his knees, he urged his own dragon up. To his surprise, it responded. They burst from the surface of the water and Aang pushed the bubble surrounding them out to collapse in shimmering sheets of water. Much of it fell directly onto Zuko and his dragon; both reared up to glower at Aang.
He grinned. This was definitely more like it.
As if to emphasize Aang's feelings, his dragon flicked its tail, spraying more water at the other two. Water dripped down Zuko's face. He wiped it away with a determined expression and pulled back on his dragon's horns. The dragon slowed, circling above Aang and then settling to fly behind them.
Oh, no.
Aang turned in surprise, just in time to see Zuko and his dragon both sent a jet of fire over his head. He ducked down reflexively, flattening onto his dragon, who grunted in displeasure. Tentatively, he drew himself up – which the dragon seemed to like even less.
"Come on, work with me!" Aang begged, reaching out to grasp the dragon's horns once more. The dragon shook him off, forcing him to cling harder just to stay atop him. Aang exhaled deeply, throwing an angry look over his shoulder. Why did Zuko always have to mess things up? Well, Aang wasn't going to do it this time. The dragon tilted his body, banking sideways to avoid another fireblast – at Aang's command, he realized suddenly.
"Oh," he blurted out. His eyes widened as he looked down at the dragon's head. Its eyes were half lidded, content even as it swam and slithered through the air, avoiding the fire. It liked this. And it liked Aang himself a lot better now that he wasn't freaking out. He patted the dragon's head, asking softly, "So, I've just got to be confident?"
He could totally do that. A grin lit his face, and soon they were soaring into the clouds above the island. Balancing on the dragon, he stood to bend the clouds into his hands. He pushed them back, directing them into a thick fog in Zuko's path which quickly burned away. Aang gathered the wind rushing past him into his hands, swirling them to produce an airscooter ball, and then he pushed it back. It whirled in the sky, creating an eddy beneath the wing of Zuko's dragon, and she faltered. Distracted, Zuko put his mind to righting the dragon, and Aang pushed ahead past him to land on the mountain top of their destination.
"Yes!" he called, punching the air. He'd won. Or something.
Actually, he wasn't really sure what he'd just done. His dragon heaved beneath him, smoke and flickers of flame coming from his great snout as he breathed. His claws dug into the mountainside, crushing rocks and scoring jagged gashes into its side as he scrambled up the peak. His head darted from one side to the other, and Aang realized he was looking for his mate. He seemed concerned. Aang felt a pang of worry.
Slowly, gracefully, the red dragon appeared from the mists. She flapped the clouds aside with sharp, precise movements of her wings, to land on the other peak. She cocked her head to the side, eyeing the blue dragon. She kinda looked coy somehow.
Wow, he suddenly got the feeling that those two needed a room and that he didn't want to be in it.
Aang started awkwardly considering the options for how to dismount – he could probably manage to get down the mountain with airbending, since it was pretty steep – when his dragon once more launched into the air. He had even less consideration for his rider than before. He flew directly at the red dragon, and the two met in mid air, clashing with their claws as they flew circles around each other.
The other dragon became a blur of red as Aang struggled to stay on top his dragon. The wind battered at him and, bracing his legs against the dragon's sides, he lifted his hands free of the horns to channel the air away, streamlining the flight. Squinting, he tried to make out what Zuko was doing.
He didn't see him.
The red dragon jerked into another dive as the blue dragon flew above him, and Aang's eyes caught on a figure in Sun Warrior red, tumbling through the air.
Without another thought, he leapt from the dragon's back, breaking the air in front of him as he dove down, trying to reach Zuko as quickly as possible. The other boy flattened himself out – giving Aang time, he realized. Reaching out a hand, Aang snagged the curled toe of the other boy's boot and then his ankle. Zuko twisted in his grasp, fumbling to grab onto Aang and free his hands. As quick as he did, Aang airbent down as much force as he could.
His cushion saved them, but did not spare them a rough tumble down the remaining stairs.
"Oof!" Aang gasped as Zuko landed directly on his middle. He laid his head back on the stone, gasping for breath as he stared up at the still fighting dragons that circled between the mountains. Zuko drew himself up and off Aang just long enough to collapse beside him.
"That was really…." Zuko started.
"Yeah."
Zuko met Aang's eyes for a long moment, then stood, dusting himself off. He offered a bow.
"Thank you."
Aang inclined his head and mimicked the Fire Nation style bow, pressing his fist to his flat palm. He still wasn't sure he understood the other boy – that he ever would – but they were sharing something spectacular here. It was hard not to find a more even keel in the sight of it.
Although, at the same time, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to watch.
"Uh, are they done yet?" Aang asked, screwing his eyes shut and averting his face from the dragons above.
There was a moment of silence from Zuko and then a heaved sigh as the other boy ventured a look.
"Oh," he said. He tugged on Aang's arm. "You have to see this."
"Really?"
Aang slowly cracked an eye open, trying to look without actually looking, before he realized there wasn't anything to look at. Well, there was. The red dragon and the blue dragon had take up poses on the bridge between the two mountains, eyes half lidded and great curls of smoke escaping from their mouths as they waited.
"They want us to do something," Zuko said. He started impulsively up the stairs, shouting back to Aang, "Come on!"
Aang wanted to cheat, going up the rather extensive stairs that led to the platform, but he'd learned his lesson. Bending during a ritual involving the other elements was one thing. Bending to get ahead and run up the stairs faster in front of the firebending masters he'd already offended with waterbending… well, that sounded like a risk he didn't need to take.
Zuko was panting at the top when Aang arrived, having ascended at a more cautious and sedate pace than he ever would if there weren't dragons at the top.
"So what do you think we need to do?" Aang asked. He leaned toward the other boy and away from the wide yellow eyes of the blue dragon. It did in fact seem very judgmental, at the moment.
"What was it the Chief said?" Zuko scrunched his face as he tried to remember. "Life comes from the sky to the sea and then to the land."
"'To be sparked anew'," Aang said with him.
Zuko drew himself up. The midday sun gleamed above him, shining off the Sun Warrior necklace he wore in a great halo, lighting his determined face. An excited smile pulled at his lips. It made Zuko look altogether younger and warmer – not at all like the distant and angry prince who had fought against Aang. He looked just a bit like Kuzon, for a moment. It was nice to see him in his element.
It was nice to think that fire wasn't all bad.
"I know what to do," Zuko told him. "You have to trust me."
Aang started and he shrugged uncomfortably, backing away just a bit. Yeah, he knew that was the point of the whole exercise. In fact, it was the point of this whole trip, and while it wasn't like he hated Zuko so much he'd let him fall to his death, that 'trust' thing was still a work in progress.
"I don't know about this…"
"Aang. They want us to firebend. Can you do that?"
"Well, I –"
"So you have to trust me."
Aang gulped and nodded. He didn't like this – but he didn't have to like this. He just had to survive it, and hey, he'd survived Zuko throwing fire at his head plenty already.
Zuko backed off several paces. He bowed to the blue dragon behind Aang and then half-turned, bowing to the red dragon. He closed his eyes, calming himself, appearing to draw strength from his deep breaths. His eyes opened and he moved – almost gently – pushing out a handful of fire in Aang's direction.
Aang mirrored him, biting his lip as he reminded himself of the lesson he'd learned in the air. Confidence.
He caught the fire in one hand and looked up in surprise to Zuko, who offered him a quick nod of approval.
"Keep it alive," Zuko admonished quickly.
Grinning, Aang fed the flame, closing his eyes as he felt it breath in and out with him. With Zuko at his back, he turned to the blue dragon and offered it his fire. The dragon snorted, gust of wind almost blowing the tiny flame out and Aang gritted his teeth back against his first instinct – he wouldn't shield the fire with wind. Instead, he pushed his chi into the fire, strengthening it against the gust. The dragon tilted his head, breathing out to the side, and just as quickly Aang had to rein in the fire.
The dragon met his eyes and then leapt down from the platform. The red dragon did the same in front of Zuko, and the two boys stumbled together.
"I thought he liked me!" Aang protested.
"It's another lesson," Zuko said, although there was little confidence in his voice. More like fervent hope.
And as one, the dragons breathed fire around them. Colors swirled, shimmering with heat and just beyond their reach. Aang watched with wide eyes as his own flame was torn from his grasp, as if a leaf, and flung into the whirlwind of fire.
When it calmed, Zuko turned to him, looking shaken as if from a deep revelation.
"I understand now," he said. "For so long, I thought fire was rage and pain. That's what father always taught. But fire is life."
"Like the sun," Aang added.
Zuko nodded, plowing ahead with rambling words.
"But it's not just that. Fire consumes – it needs you. Your strength and your confidence, and if you don't have either it will eat you alive. Fire has a price."
That was sounding less nice. Aang raised a finger, trying to think of a protest. Master Jeong Jeong had said similar things, and he was pretty crazy.
"Everything has a price," Zuko continued. "Everything worthwhile. You have to fight for it and you have to give something for it."
Aang tried to process that into something more positive.
"So what you're saying is… fire is symbiotic. It needs you, just like you need it," he concluded.
Of all the bending forms, it had always seemed weird that an airbender would learn fire last. Fire was versatile like water, while the forms were acrobatic like airbending. The intermediate step of learning earthbending had never seemed entirely necessary to Aang, and not just because he hated moving stupid stubborn rocks. But firebending wasn't a manipulation like the other forms. It was a creation, and before he understood himself, all his strengths and weaknesses and all his changeability, he could never give of himself to make fire.
Aang putting out hand, patting the blue dragon on the leg.
"Thanks, Mr Dragon Sir," he said. "I learned a lot."
Zuko coughed politely, shaking his head.
"Aang… that's not… I don't think you should touch him there."
Aang looked again and backed away in horror. Right. Not a leg.
Down the staircase, the Sun Warriors had gathered. The Chief was tapping his foot impatiently. Aang jerked his head toward the man, asking Zuko,"Why don't we get out of here?"
This is the end of my horrible dragon sex jokes. I promise.