Summary: Bending. What's that? There was no such thing. Until now. Recently, Ozai, a scientist that researches supernatural controls of the elements, discovered four teenagers who were gifted with such powers. Zuko – a teen who discovers he can bend flames to his will. Katara – a teen that discovers her powers over the oceans, rivers and lakes a little too late. Aang – a teenage monk who discovers he has the ability to control air. Toph – a blind, yet powerful teenager who possesses the mastery to manipulate the earth as well as having the aptitude to sense even the slightest seismic activity.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A/N: Heyy, thanks for reading! =) However, I would like to get some reviews if that's okay with you guys 'cause I haven't gotten one since Chapter 2 and I thrive on reviews so it'd
Bending Origin
Chapter 4 – The Dream
By xAvatarLovex
Zuko found himself in a corridor in a place which seemed oddly familiar but he could not tell where he was. As he observed his surroundings, he realized that the walls looked immensely similar to the ones at the Institute. He realized that he might as well explore and make the best of the time he had. As Zuko roamed the corridors of this eerie place, he found no doors and every wall looked exactly the same with no decorations whatsoever. It was almost like the walls had been cloned and then put together. "But there had to be a door of some sort somewhere….since this building did not seem to have a purpose that could be seen in its corridors…" He decided that this seemed a lot like a secret building and he walked over to the left wall to feel for any hidden doorways.
As he advanced through the corridor, he thought that he would not ever find anything but just as he was going to give up hope, he found a slight crack in the wall that would have been invisible if you were just walking past. As he trailed his hand along the crack, he discovered a shape that was like a door but the top was only half the height of a regular door. He felt for a handle of some sort but found none so he tried yanking the piece of wood off the wall. This was the solution. He crawled through the narrow gap and found himself in a narrow tunnel much like that of an air vent. As he crawled through, the tunnel was lit by several light bulbs attached to the side of the walls, illuminating the path ahead-something that was not normal for an air vent. But it was not an air vent. It was what seemed like a secret passage. As Zuko crawled through, the further he went the brighter the light got.
After what seemed like tireless hours of crawling, he finally reached the end of the tunnel. It was a dead end…. Or it was another secret door. He felt around the door and, unsurprisingly, found a latch. HE pulled on it and the door opened, revealing a vast room with a long, meeting table situated in the middle with 10 chairs down either side and one at the end, furthest away from the door. This would most likely be the chair of the head of the meeting. All these chairs were extremely tall and were taller than the occupants' head.
Just then, Zuko heard an odd half-cough, half-murmur type noise coming from the head's chair. Zuko quickly ducked back into the passage and looked around the room. Opposite him was a large set of oak doors that almost reached the roof. To both the sides were large windows of coloured, patterned glass. Through this glass, streamed strong rays of sunlight that lit up the table. Above the table was a glass chandelier with crystal tear-drops. In the middle was a small light bulb that would light up the whole room when turned on. If the surroundings weren't so odd, he would think that the room was quite beautiful. Beautiful! He was Zuko, not a guy who thinks that things are beautiful. As he battled with his mind, the mysterious man at the table half-coughed again. This caught Zuko's attention. As he turned around, he realised he could not clearly see the face as the chair blocked out most of the person's features from the angle Zuko was at.
Opposite Zuko was another air vent, very much like the one he was in. Just then, the panel to the air vent opened and the face of the girl he so wanted, WAIT, WHAT?, known as Katara appeared. She was in a black, tight suit that seemed like the perfect attire for spy business. This make Zuko realise that his attire was extremely unsuitable for what he was currently doing. He realised that he was wearing one of his tightest pairs of skinny jeans, a collar-less top which had the picture of his favourite rock band on it with a navy-blue background, Nike Air shoes and a white, sports jacket. As he looked at Katara, he realised how un-alike they looked by attire and probably by mission, too.
He was here by random chance and she was here because she had a mission to accomplish. He looked into the chocolate brown eyes of Katara's and as she caught his gaze, she smiled slightly and gave him a confused look which easily said 'Why are you here?'
In return he just shrugged. "By random chance" he mouthed.
She nodded in understanding and continued on with the spying she was currently here to do.
As she did this, Zuko turned around to see if he could just crawl out but as he looked at the dark shadowy air vent behind him, his curiosity for the man in the chair in front of him got the better of him. He turned back around, causing Katara to give him an odd what-in-the-world-are-you-doing-? Stare.
He just gave her a look that clearly said, possibly-the-same-as-you.
He looked intently at the chair situated beneath him, showing to Katara that he was trying to identify the person in the chair beneath him.
Moments later, the large, wooden doors in front of the man opened. Katara and Zuko simultaneously sank back into the shadow of the air vent. As the door opened, two burly guards walked in first followed by a set of people dressed in neat suits and another set of guards.
Zuko suppressed a yawn and suddenly realised how tired he was. Instinctively, he raised his right arm where his watch was usually located. However, on this strange day when he needed it, it wasn't there. He glanced at Katara and motioned to his wrist in an attempt to ask her for the time but she just shook her head. She didn't know either.
He glanced downwards to see if he could recognize any of the faces in the chairs beneath. He caught sight of a familiar tanned face that turned out to be that of Sokka's. Zuko gasped involuntarily.
"Who's there?" the head man said, loudly.
Zuko fought to keep his breathing in control and tried to stay as still as possible. Luckily, the mysterious man who, for some odd reason, sounded a lot like Ozai did not notice him. Zuko let out a silent sigh and proceeded to listen intently to the conversation.
Ozai: So, right now I have four of the most powerful people in my care. They are benders of four different elements. They are fire, water, earth and air. I called you all here today to see if you had any idea on further progress with these teens or if we should just leave them be? Or if you possibly have any information?
Sokka: I obtained all their iPods during school hours or when they were at in the shower. Nothing about the Institute and no emails sent since they got here or tweets, Facebook updates or anything of the sort. The only thing is music preferences in genres and favourite singers as well as a few notes on what seems like stories.
Ozai: Very well. Keep up the good work Sokka and you will get a country to yourself after we dominate the world. Oh, and all the food you like. Anybody else?
The crowd: No…,they chorused.
He glanced quickly at Katara to find that she had a stony expression on her face and her lips were set in a hard line. She blinked a few times quickly then turned her head and silently made her way further into the deep shadows of the air vent she came through earlier. It was obvious that something had hurt her. He wanted to call out to her but he caught his tongue just before he did as he just realised that he would be caught by the men beneath him, including Sokka, who seemed to be Ozai's most trusted man since he was sitting in the seat to the immediate right side of Ozai.
At that moment, he heard a muffled noise behind where he was currently seated, watching the scene beneath him unfold.
"You are dismissed," Ozai called, "meet me back here in a month's time and try to find some information on anything to do with this, will you. Even if it's only a date of a small significance like the day when everyone will be unprepared for an invasion."
One after one, the guests pushed their chairs back and filed out of the room, followed by the security guards in the same manner as to when they first entered.
Zuko turned around to find Katara behind him, whimpering. "Are you okay?" he asked tenderly.
*Sniffle* *Sniffle* "I-I-I didn't, Sokka c-couldn't d-do this to m-me. H-he is m-my b-brother. H-h-he would not use m-me l-like this," Katara whimpered and buried her head into his chest.
"Wait, what? Sokka and you are related? How could he!" Zuko growled.
Katara did not respond. He heard a quite sniffle and instinctively placed a hand over the small of her back and rubbed it without thinking. Luckily, she did not mind. Katara poured all her tears out, creating a growing wet patch on Zuko's top but he didn't mind. However, he felt uncomfortable as he didn't know what to do so he did the only thing he could think of. He let her do what she had to do before leaving. He would rub her back continuously and would occasionally murmur soothing words into her ear, like "It's going to be alright," or "Don't worry, everything will be fine in the end – trust me," but he could not guarantee that everything he said was going to be true. As he enveloped her in a light hug and pressed his lips to her forehead. She gasped but did not complain. In fact, she attempted to lean in closer to his warm lips. He felt a smile tug at his lips. He thought that he might as well ask Katara about Aang now.
"So, um, about you and Aang…"
"Oh!" she gasped, "of course you would want to know. I should have said earlier. He's a family friend. He's like a brother to me. We seem really close but he is nothing more to me than a brother that loved me that I never had. Sokka was always distant. He helped me when I needed help but since I couldn't save mum, he seemed furious at first then he became really distant. I was only 5 when mum died and I first discovered waterbending."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Zuko replied, not knowing what to say. He had been 12 when he discovered his ability over fire and at first he was frightened but he later felt dominant over his group at school until they ditched him because they didn't want to lose their popularity as everyone thought he was weird. No popular group would ever hang out with the weird kids. Zuko fell fast in that chart. From most popular boy to the one people hated the most and would never talk to him if they didn't have to. From then on, he decided to use his powers to his advantage. His teachers also knew of his powers but they tried to pretend they didn't know. Everyone but his uncle was distant in his life.
After a few more minutes, Katara started getting up and crawling out of the air vent she and Zuko were currently in. As she did so, she mumbled a very soft, almost inaudible, 'thank you' towards Zuko who just smiled and nodded.
"I'll always be here," he replied and followed Katara down the dark air vent. As soon as he made it to the exit, he felt an odd feeling on his back. He gasped and turned around and to his amazement he found…
A/N: Hello faithful readers! =) Soo… hope you're enjoying it so far and I just had to leave it on a cliffy so if you want the next chapter up soon, please update! I actually have no clue if I should finish this or just leave it and go on with Zuko's life. Or would you guys like a story more from Katara's P.O.V? Review to tell me! =)
Oh, and for those of you who read Harry Potter fics, could you recommend me some good Dramione fics coz I can't find many. If you're a Dramione writer, then that's even better! =)
So, please review now and click that little button down there… it won't hurt you…. :P
-xAvatarLovex