ENERGIES & AFTERMATHS
Some twists during the Battle of Sozin's Comet change a few things, starting with some secret Firebending, and a Lion Turtle. Zutara, slight Tokka, more Sukka and AangTyLee.
CHAPTER 01
SOZIN'S COMET I
THE LIQUID FIRE
So tell me when you hear my heart stop;
you're the only one that knows.
Tell me when you hear my silence;
there's a possibility I wouldn't know.
So tell me when my sigh is over;
you're the reason why I'm closed.
Tell me when you hear me falling;
there's a possibility it wouldn't show.
Katara absently drifted the long, flowing strand of water in a myriad of shapes through the air above her fingertips. Though barley a cup-full in amount, the liquid almost bubbled furiously as she formed it to her will.
Nonsensical dreams and the increased temperature from the comet had kept her awake. Stepping out and heading to the closest stream in her sarashi, it was only dunking her head under the cooling water had calmed Katara's raging thoughts.
Now she absently flicked droplets of water around her fingertips, contemplating the battle that would take place in only a few hours time.
Far above her head, the waxing gibbous tempted it, encouraging it, and promised the young polar woman with all the power she would need the next day. It couldn't have come at a better time for the water bender.
The comet would give the Firebenders an overwhelming advantage tomorrow, and not even would it be limited to its direct passage. Katara had seen remarkable improvements in the Fire prince's bending over the past few days. Small, but gradually increasing. Today it had been an alarming leap in ability.
It was a good thing for the Firebenders who had turned traitor to their own nation in order to stop their manic ruler, but unfortunately they would not be the only ones with a power boost. Every other Firebender would have that benefit too.
Azula would have that advantage. Katara was confident in Zuko's abilities, more than she would ever admit, but there was no denying Azula's already phenomenal skills. With the benefit of the comet... she would be that much worse.
Releasing the water back into the air, Katara sighed in frustration, dunking the soles of her feet onto the surface of the stream.
She thanked the spirits form the bottom of her heart for the tiny advantage they had given her for tomorrow. There was nothing else it could be but a spiritual blessing for there to be a full moon on the day of the comet. It seemed even the spirits rejected foul ideals and notions of the even fouler members of Zuko's family.
Katara was tremendously glad of the lunar aid. Any power boost she could get would be an advantage. Not just for her, but for Aang too. The comet would boost his Firebending, the moon his Waterbending. He'd need both against Ozai.
Provided he showed up at any rate. That wasn't what was bothering her about the full moon though. It was the promise of extra power that worried her.
Against Azula, she would need anything she could drag up, and though the notion was a foul one to consider... she couldn't ignore the possible benefit of using Bloodbending on the princess of the Fire Nation.
She couldn't afford to ignore it. Unpleasant and revolting as it was to her, there was no denying how useful and advantageous it would be against Azula. It would be a huge advantage if she could get it to work.
The reality that this was a war made her wonder if her personal preferences should be impeding her abilities tomorrow.
The snapping of twigs behind her jolted her form her inner turmoil, and a water whip flew to her hands warningly as she whirled to glimpse the person approaching her.
"Katara? What are you doing awake?" Zuko asked, sounding a little winded.
Katara's guard relaxed when Zuko, similarly attired to herself in a pair of long summer shorts, ducked underneath one of the nearby tree-branches.
He was absolutely filthy, covered from head to toe in soot and dirt, obviously from an intense practising session, and his hair clung to his sweaty forehead from physical exertion rather that the heat from which she had been suffering.
"Trying to keep a cool head – literally. That stupid comet has messed up the weather, and heat doesn't really agree with me" she replied with a weary grin, and gesturing to the stream.
Comprehension crossed his face, and taking a seat on the round beside he started washing his face, removing the dirt and soot.
"Really? It doesn't seem that warm to me..." he muttered, half to himself, in reply.
"I believe you're biased, Zuko" she grumbled as he splashed water onto his face.
He muttered something, but she ignore it, instead casting a glance over his upper torso; even covered in soot and filth, her eyes were locked on the movements of his shoulder blade, the sharp flow of the muscles in his arms beneath his pale, taught skin as he scrubbed damp fingers through his shaggy hair.
Frowning, she stomped her blush down and tore her eyes away. Ever since Zuko has joined them, she couldn't help making comparisons between him and Aang. Aang was a mature kid, and the affection he'd shown to her was indeed appealing, but still she couldn't help but compare and crush over Zuko.
Zuko was mature too, but he wasn't a mature kid. She wouldn't call him a man, but he was very close to it. He was proud, stubborn, and was often so blunt he was considered almost cruel, but now that she had finally been given the chance to get to know him, he was almost as kind-hearted as Aang (though thankfully not quite).
He had an ironic kind of common sense for a royal, especially in regards to the war, and... and unfortunately for Aang, his physical appearance was nothing to scoff at. There was no arguing point about it. She knew from a few girlish talks en-route that even Suki and Toph agreed, and they were both heels over head for her brother.
It was all well and good to proclaim about inner beauty and personality, but there was a reason the spirits had designed some people to be more attractive than others. It was the same reason female turtle-ducks preferred males with more elaborate shells. It was to catch interest.
Unfortunately for Aang, whenever Zuko discarded a shirt for bending training, he was much more noticeable. It made her feel guilty (especially after everything she had gone through with Aang), but at least to herself, Katara wouldn't deny that she did have a strong attraction to the Fire Nation prince.
"What on earth are you doing up? You're normally out like a log at this time..." she asked, turning her private observations to pale glow the moon was casting on his skin.
"There was something I wanted to practice. A type of bending... one Azula can't use. I had to make friends with the dirt like Toph for a while though..." he replied, wincing as he plunged his hands into to water and started scrubbing his arms.
Slowly, Katara's eyes had adjusted the bright pale skin in he dark, and she could see now the fierce red burns all over his hands and arms, though not as large or fierce as the one on his face (something that oddly added to the allure).
"Must have been some kind of Firebending if this is what it does to you..." she muttered, sinking her hands into the water, coating them with the liquid, before applying it to his arm.
Zuko winced, but the slow healing process gave way to relief, and he gave an exhausted grin of thanks as she moved her hands to each of the blistered patches on his arms.
"It was, I'd safely say it's worse than making Lightning..." he replied, wincing as the water surrounding her fingertips encroached a particularly nasty burn on his shoulder.
Katara raised her eyes wide at the admission; worse than Lightning? She didn't know if she could think of anything worse than that. Lightning was pretty final if a person was hit by it to her knowledge. For a brief moment, Azula had killed Aang with it...
"What could be worse than Lightning?" she asked, lifting her eyes from her work to stare at Zuko's tired, but satisfied yellow-amber eyes.
"...Lavabending" he replied, after a long moment of pause.
Katara's breath hitched in her throat, her hands forgetting their purpose and letting their watery coating dribble down Zuko's arm as her eyes grew wide.
"L-Lava? You mean... like Magma? Like a Volcano?" she breathed.
Zuko gave a grim nod.
Katara let out the breath that had been stuck in her throat – apparently there was something worse than the creation of Lightning in the Firebending arsenal. She'd never considered the possibility of bending a volcano before...
"I didn't know Firebenders could do that... It sounds more like an Earthbending skill, or something only an Avatar could do, but I guess it explains all these burns" she replied, picking up some more water from the stream and resuming the healing process.
"You'd think that, but magma comes from the earth melting against the extreme heat inside a volcano – an Earthbender can't manipulate the temperature of the earth. They could certainly move it, but not create it themselves. I don't use the earth itself either – it more like extracting the heat from the earth, and then controlling that... It's called Liquid Fire back home" Zuko explained.
That made sense, she decided, gliding her hands to a small burn on his collarbone. Fire bending worked by manipulation of inner heat from what she knew, but lightning was an external heat. This was simmilar.
She could change the temperature of water, but that was more manipulating the state of it. Changing it to ice or a gas either chilled or heated it naturally. She never manipulated the actual temperature – just the state of the water. Zuko was still manipulating his own element, in spite of how fantastical it sounded. How Avatar it sounded.
"I suppose that works but... it sounds..."
Dangerous. Horribly, horribly dangerous, not just for the person it was being aimed at, but the wielder too. For Zuko. The burns on his skin were testament to that. And if Zuko knew how to use it, what made him think Azula or Ozai wouldn't?
"It is dangerous, but only if you can't concentrate or don't have enough energy for it. Azula and my father can't control it. I've seen them try. It's like Lightning in terms of needing a specific mindset, but it's different... It's almost sacred in the Fire Nation, and I think that might be why they can't use it" Zuko said reassuringly.
"Sacred? You think bending Lava is sacred? Why? It could kill-"
Katara froze before the word 'you' slipped from her lips. It had been getting harder to concentrate on not blurting something like that out since Aang had disappeared. The comment from that bounty hunter hadn't helped her nonsensical hopes either.
"- so many people! Volcanoes can destroy whole regions when they erupt! How is that sacred?" she finished, saving the pause more rapidly than she should have for a normal rebuke.
"Katara, the entire Fire Nation is an active volcanic peninsula. We have hundreds of volcanoes. The capital is built inside a dead one – Trust me, I know how dangerous they are, but that isn't it. We don't fear them the same way you do. Volcanoes are a source of life to us." he contested, shaking his head.
Katara felt a sigh of relief on her lips when he didn't catch her momentary fault. It was bad enough that she was confused with the conflicting emotions – she didn't want any more by making Zuko aware of them. Besides, Sokka had mentioned a sort-of girlfriend of his saving them at boiling rock...
"I still don't get it" Katara insisted, shaking her head as if to blow away confusion.
She genuinely meant that too – maybe it was the years of hatred for the Fire Nation and their bending, but the thought of holding volcanoes in religious esteem just rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was growing up amongst the snow and ice. Either way, it was a confusing notion.
Volcanoes were just dangerous as far as she knew.
Turning Zuko to face her, she started work on the slight burns across his chest, and prayed to the spirits that her cheeks behaved themselves. Observations from a further distance were fine – no one noticed those - but close up was suddenly a very different matter.
Zuko frowned, scratching his head with one hand and leaning on the other as she knitted his skin back together with the water covering her hands.
For a moment he stiffened under her touch as her hands pressed flat on a stubborn burn in the lowered recesses of his stomach, but she passed it off as a wince, attention on his words rather than his actions.
"...it's an old story the Fire Sages always recite to the city on New Summer's Eve" he started, and Katara raised an enquiring eyebrow at the sudden bout of story-telling.
"...After the nations took their separate elements, the Fire Nation settlers had to leave the mainland, since fire was so dangerous, and the other benders feared it. When they found the islands, there was nothing to live on. Many of the settlers starved to death..." he started.
Katara pulled her hands back, both finished with healing (something she gave a slight internal sulk at), and intrigued by the impromptu lesson in Fire Nation history.
All the stories she knew of the Fire Nation were by no means pleasant. Most of them involved burning villages and valiant local heroes who defeated the evil Firebenders. She'd never heard something remotely like this, except a few small details from Aang.
She certainly didn't mind learning more about Zuko either; it wasn't much, but even teaching her this likely common legend made his dingy attitude (and it was dingy, even in his good moods) noticeably brighter.
"...We were in danger of dying out, but then the Avatar was reborn into the Fire Nation for the first time, and with the aid of a 'great celestial power', he forced the mountains to explode. He cooled the contents that flowed from them, and then turned it to earth with his Earthbending. The soil was, and remains the most fertile kind in the world, and it saved us. It literally gave us life" Zuko finished.
The story had left her speechless – there was an almost reverent, loving tone in his voice and bright cast to Zuko's expression as he told it. She'd only seen the expression a few times. Both time when discussing the only members of his family he had any emotion for – his uncle and the incredibly brief mention of his mother. Homesickness seemingly had the same effect.
"I'd... never looked at it that way" Katara murmured, fascinated by what she had just heard on a more personal level.
She guessed using Lava wasn't a widespread ability, much like her Bloodbending, but it made her wonder about her own dark ability. If Lava, something so dangerous and deadly could provide life, if in an abstract manner... then wasn't it also possible she could do the same with Bloodbending?
Her healing training with Yugoda hadn't lasted very long, mostly because Katara already had a good knowledge of the human body from helping her grandmother, and had picked it up quickly, but also because there were limits to it.
It focused on unblocking chi-paths, not the actual skin or tissue like Bloodbending did. If that dark art could somehow be incorporated into healing... then it would be balanced, and more acceptable. It would even be useful. And maybe – just maybe – she'd learn to accept in terms of self defence should the need arise.
There was something that bothered her about Zuko's Lavabending story though.
"How do you know Azula can't use it? Or your father? You've said yourself she's a prodigy – what if you just haven't seen her use it?" she asked.
"Because it's sacred" Zuko insisted, as if the one word explained everything, like 'honour'.
Seeing her blank expression, he gave a frustrated sigh, and turned to face her directly. She got another blast into those yellow-amber eyes, and felt her heart quicken. It was such a strange colour, but a nice one. That idea could be applied to Zuko in his entirety though.
"The mindset for Lightning generation needs to be a calm one, and in that she beats me hands down, but for Lavabending you have to respect both the power and life it provides. Without it, the Fire Nation would never have survived. Azula has no respect for anything but herself. The same is true of Ozai – they can never use it simply because of their own personalities" he stressed.
Katara blinked, adding the information to her already whirling mind. Then something about the historical tale blinked back at her. 'A great celestial power'? Surely he didn't mean the comet? It had only been past once before right?
"Why haven't I seen you use it before?" she asked, almost accusingly.
She didn't like the idea that he had been keeping this ability secret from her. Not because of what she had just learned, but just because he hadn't told her about it. He knew all of the extra techniques she had acquired through adapting her Waterbending.
She hadn't said much about Bloodbending, but he was the only person to have seen her use it willingly. She knew about Lightning, and re-directing it, but Zuko had never actually learned to conjure it. All he really had was Firebending and re-directing Lightning in terms of bending abilities.
It had never seemed fair to her that he couldn't be as powerful as his sister simply because of his personality type impacting on bending. She had seen several attempts during the time he had joined them, when he thought no-one else was watching, and he never managed it completely. He'd even expressed his frustrations on the subject with her a few times.
Now he had an ability that Azula couldn't begin to master, despite her prodigious skill, and he hadn't told her about it? She felt offended, especially with all the murky history of betrayal and acceptance between them. Surely she deserved to know about this?
Maybe she was just jealous because of her interest in him personally, but she couldn't help it. There was nothing wrong with wanting to know more about a person you liked after all.
"Too difficult. Most of the time only the masters are capable of creating it. During a lunar eclipse it would be easier, possibly a strong summer solstice, or during a comet passage like the one tomorrow. Just practising the basic manipulation is exhausting at any other time. That's why I've been practising now – I won't get another chance for years, or until i really master my bending." he shrugged, looking a little awkward as he edged away from her hands.
Katara frowned at the dismissal of his abilities in the tone.
"but you can already use it – doesnt that make you a master already?" she asked.
She had always assumed he was already a bending master. Well, maybe not completley the way Iroh or Jeong-Jeong were, but at least very competent. She didn't understand where the self-depreciaton came from if this ability was something Azula would never accomplish. Surley that in itself mad him a better bender than she ever could be?
"I know where to give resepect when it's due. That the only reason I can make it. My bending still needs work, especially in the basics. My grasp is better than it was... but not the best it could be if I'm going to end up Fire Lord" he shrugged, flopping back onto the grass, staring up at the moon, scowl on his face as usual.
"Would you show me?" she asked curiously.
Having heard so much of it, it was only natural to be curious, and the curiosity was beginning to eat at her. The same could be said for Zuko himself. He always struck off by himself for training, and despite being long since accepted by the rest of the group, he some how managed to isolate himself at meal times or even on the back of Appa.
Not by turning away, just by being silent. He was so private that for a person as open as her self, it was almost irritatingly interesting. There was so much they still didn't understand about him. She knew him best, except maybe Sokka, but she still had to think about a lot of his actions, severely sometimes, to understand them.
Blinking at her for a moment, a soft curl graced his lips, and he stood up. Offering his hand out, he hoisted her up from the stream, and lead her through the small thicket back towards the earthen camp site.
"I can't use it here – there's too much vegetation. We don't need a wildfire starting on top of everything else" he explained.
Katara nodded as they headed through the under bush and through the camp site, her fingers locked in Zuko's.
They soon reached a hollow depression in the earth riddled with scorch marks, some still licked with flames, and it was only then that Katara realised her hand was still ensconced in Zuko's.
She felt a dull disappointment when it dropped from his fingers, but followed his instructions to take a few steps back as he shot a single jet of fire from each hand to a spot on the ground. The earth began to glow red in the controlled burst of flame, and slowly, it began to melt.
The orange liquid, for that was what it looked like, gave off a blistering heat as it rose fluidly, almost like a whip of her own water. It gave off a warm, calming glow as Zuko furiously concentrated it into a ball shape. It bubbled bad temperedly at first, before calming.
Parts turned a solid black as the air cooled the surface, only to be broken again as the fiery liquid swirled, suspended in the air. It was beautiful, one of the most beautiful liquids, one of the most beautiful fires she had ever seen. The range of orange red and white-hot glows was like a swirling marble, a heated vortex of colour she could only wish to create with her own bending.
"You called it Liquid Fire... do you think I could...?"
She didn't voice the question directly, or even loudly – awe was foremost in her mind, and she didn't want to voice it just in case there was no chance, but it looked so fluid. She was sure she could have a chance...
"I'm not sure – I'm not a Waterbender so I don't know how you would go about manipulating it as a liquid. I'm manipulating the heat extracted from the earth rather than the components themselves. You could try I suppose..."
"Really? You don't mind?" she asked, her excitement obvious in her voice.
"I don't guarantee results" he smirked in reply, taking a stance and streaming the magma into a flowing ribbon.
Katara glared at him, but turned her attention back to the ribbon of magma that was flowing through the air. Extending the usual senses for her Waterbending wasn't nearly as easy as it seemed. The heat drowned out any actual water in the immediate area, but she was certain that there was liquid in there somewhere...
Hama had been a horrible old woman, but her... resourcefulness had taught Katara a lot about her bending. She had to figure out how to approach it...
She tried not to let the disappointment show on her face when, after nearly half an hour of trying the magma refused to move; she was frustrated. She knew if she had more time she would have been able to hold it! She had felt it, felt the heat flooding her bending, felt the whirling life and ferocity within that tiny stream!
"It isn't water you know – there's nothing in it for you to control. The heat evaporates almost everything" Zuko said bluntly slowly dropping the small ball to the ground, reducing the temperature as he did.
It didn't dissolve completely, and Katara blasted it viciously with a short blast of water. Then blushed as Zuko started laughing at her.
"I know there's no water! It just... it was so beautiful and... I've never bended anything like it..." she mumbled.
Zuko still snickered at her, but he ruffled her hair all the same; her hands batted his away from her hair – she did not need messy hair that would get in her way tomorrow – only to freeze protectively on her head when he stared down at her with those strange yellow eyes.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've never bended anything I could touch with my bare hands. I have a little resistance to the flames from my own bending, but not a lot. I can never touch it the same way you can with water."
Katara blinked, her face flushing at the close quarters he'd inadvertently put them in. He was so close that she could smell the heated dirt and soot on him from the past moment of bending, a scent almost exotic to her. Nothing had that scent in the southern water tribe, or the northern one for that matter.
She was so close that she could have reached her arms around his neck should she wish it, maybe even touch her lips to his rough ones. If she wanted to, which she was certain she didn't. Wouldn't. Couldn't.
"Thanks Zuko – I suppose that does make it fair. As far as all that avatar-balance stuff goes, right?" she grinned jokingly, before taking a slight step back.
Instead of the retort she expected, he frowned, and let out an almost inaudible frustrated breath as he too stepped back.
"We should get back to the tents – we have a long day tomorrow" he called back, turning away and hoping out of the low trench he had been using for practising.
If Katara hadn't been too busy agreeing with him, she would have noticed that something had severely soured Zuko's previously good mood.
My first ATLA fanfic^^ Feels weird to start something not Naruto. Or genderbended in some fashion. But I can't ignore the muse; the call must be answered!
Main pairing will be Zutara, but I have a soft spot for Tokka and Sukka too. as far as the Lavabending goes, there are many theories on it being possible for avatars with Earth and Firebending, but Zuko isn't manipulating the earth. He's manipulating heat extracted from the earth with his firebending, and controlinh it. As stated, he can't do it on a regular basis. I don't plan on him using it against Azula.
There, me defence be over me hearties. Dunno when the next update will be though. I have a too-many-tracks kind of mind.
Song quote; 'Possibility' by Lykke Li.
There is a magic blue button in the centre of the screen below this note... Press it! :)