A/N: Only two this time...sorry...hope you enjoy them.
Restless
Zuko's ship, more luxurious than the one he spent three years aboard while searching for the Avatar, glided smoothly through the frigid waters of the north. He was headed to the great city of the Northern Water Tribe; Arnook was hosting the yearly conference of all the world leaders. Zuko hadn't been north since the time he had hidden on Zhao's ship and then infiltrated the city of ice. The city held bad memories, lots of them.
Many lives were lost in the siege of the north and many of those were Fire Nation lives. Lieutenant Jee, one of Zuko's senior officers during his search for the Avatar, was among the casualties. His body was never recovered, of course, but it was somewhere in the vast deepness of the ocean, just bones now, sitting pressed up against some underwater rocks or buried beneath the shifting sands.
Zuko shuddered. As a child he'd heard stories of restless spirits; those born of fire who somehow missed the ceremonial burning of their physical bodies and were doomed to wander that ephemeral place between the physical world and the spirit world.
He stood on the ship's deck as the sun set. The cold air was bracing and he wrapped his cloak tighter against his lean frame.
"Aren't you cold," Mai asked as she encircled his waist with her arms.
Zuko smiled at her words, recollection of an earlier sea voyage jumping instantly to mind.
"I'm fine," he replied. "I'm just thinking about Jee and the others who died here."
"Do you believe the stories?"
"I don't know, Mai, but I sense something here. Do you feel it?"
Mai moved out from behind her husband and grabbed hold of his hand. She looked out at the calm water and then up at the sky, a rich palette of pinks and oranges. Everything seemed fine, but she couldn't shake the sensation of another presence. Maybe it was her imagination and maybe not.
"I feel something, Zuko. I wonder if we're just talking ourselves into it."
"You're probably right," the Fire Lord sighed. "We should go below deck and have our dinner. The sea air makes me hungry."
He squeezed Mai's hand and took a last look around.
"Where are you, Jee?" he whispered to the almost dark.
As he moved forward, his warm leather boots making a soft thumping sound on the metal of the deck, he missed the reply to his question.
"I'm here."
Death would be Better
Defeat was tiny in stature but powerful beyond anyone else in the world. Defeat was kind and forgiving and merciful. Defeat could be fierce when needed. Defeat was the Avatar and his name was Aang.
Ozai didn't bother to look up when the shadow crossed the threshold of his prison cell. Zuko had left no more than an hour before. He probably came back to spout more of his 'Irohian' philosophy. Ozai could hardly blame the boy for wanting to gloat. After all, Zuko had been on the receiving end of torment from him often enough.
But it wasn't Zuko. The step was lighter and the shadow shorter. The former Fire Lord raised his head and grinned a feral grin. He could already feel the mantle of his good breeding falling away. Ozai felt like an animal at a zoo or a circus; a terrible attraction for those who dared to view his sorry, limp and haggard looking form.
"Why are you here?" he growled like a hyenabear.
"I wanted to make sure that you were okay," Aang answered calmly.
"Why would you care? You're the victor. Enjoy your spoils. Don't sympathize with the enemy. It makes you seem weak."
"I don't believe that," Aang replied.
He still wore his yellow monk's robes, and his face looked remarkably peaceful, as if an incredibly huge weight of responsibility had vanished. It had, of course, and the evidence sat right in front of him, scowling angrily.
"You're naïve, boy. That will come back to haunt you."
"I prefer to call myself 'optimistic'. I think there is hope for you, Ozai. I think there's hope for anyone who still breathes."
Ozai spat onto the cold stone floor and glared at the boy.
"How dare you say that? What hope is there for me here? Do you think that my son will ever free me?"
"No, I don't believe he will. And I agree with Zuko. But you could become a better person."
Ozai howled then. It was a terrible sound and Aang had to fight the impulse to cover his ears.
"You should have killed me, Avatar. This defeat you handed me is far worse than death."
