"First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me." I heard Zuko say. I was crouched inside the room, having snuck in while the guards were leaving. I was hiding behind a tapestry of sorts.
"Why would she lie to me about that?"
"Because the Avatar's not dead. He survived." Zuko said.
"What?" Ozai exclaimed, shocked and horrified.
"In fact, he's probably leading this invasion. He could be on his way here right now."
"Get out! Get out of my sight if you know what's good for you!" Ozai yelled, standing and pointing at the door.
"That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore." Zuko said.
"You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!"
"Think again. I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen." Zuko said, pulling out his swords. Ozai sat down, dismayed at the turn of events.
"You go Zuko." I whispered under my breath.
"For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn." He pointed a broadsword at his father. "My father, who challenged me, a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child?"
"It was to teach you respect!" Ozai yelled.
"It was cruel! And it was wrong."
"Then you have learned nothing!"
"No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own! Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness." Zuko said. I beamed. He had finally learned. Ozai only laughed.
"Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?" Ozai sneered.
"Yes." Zuko smiled proudly. "He has."
Ozai only grew more furious.
"After I leave here today, I'm gonna free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm gonna beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who has been a real father to me." Zuko said. I smiled.
"Oh, that's just beautiful. And maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure." Ozai said.
"But I've come to an even more important decision. I'm gonna join the Avatar and I'm going to help him defeat you." He said. My jaw dropped.
"Really? Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless. You've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?" Ozai asked.
"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." Zuko put his swords away. "Goodbye."
"Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during the eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?" Ozai yelled, now on his feet. My eyes widened. Zuko abruptly stopped and turned to face his father. Ozai smiled.
"What happened that night?"
"My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son, and I was going to do it. Your mother found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan, a plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared. Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."
"Perhaps. Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason." Ozai closed his eyes, and I knew the solar eclipse was beginning to end. "Your penalty will be far steeper."
Ozai opened his eyes and, in split seconds, generated lightning, firing the bolt at Zuko. Zuko slid back several feet from the impact of the bolt, yet managed to redirect it. He fired the lightning blast near his father, sending the Fire Lord slamming into the back wall. Ozai snarled and attacked Zuko again, but I bent a wall of rock in the way, before slamming a boulder at him. I pinned him to the wall via earthbending and then stepped from the shadows. Zuko was already gone.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"The name's Avery." I said. I then sprinted out, right after Zuko. His dad went apeshit.
"Zuko!" I called quietly. He froze and turned, surprised.
"Avery?"
"How've ya been? Don't stop running." I added.
"Fine, I guess."
"Things been good with Mai?"
"Uh..."
"I'm kidding. I know the jist of what happened. My parents are a bit creepy." I said. "So, you're really joining the avatar?"
"Planning to, yeah." He said. I nodded. "You did?"
"Of course. They're pretty cool. Really loud though. Can't get a second of shut eye." I laughed briefly. "I suggest not joining right at this second. Sokka might stab you."
"Uh, right."
"Well, I gotta go join up with the GAang." I paused, grabbing Zuko's wrist to stop him for a second. I leaned up and kissed him briefly before pulling back, winking, and running away.
"Avery, where have you been?" Sokka asked once we were in the saddle.
"I told you I was going to find Ozai, but did you listen? Nope. You fought his psychotic daughter. Zuko did hit Ozai with lightning though, so I guess something good did come from this." I said. Sokka quirked an eyebrow.
"Zuko hit his dad with lightning?"
"Yeah. Ozai tried zapping Zuko, but he redirected it at his dad. Ozai doesn't like it when he finds out about the Avatar is alive." I said.
"Oh..." Appa groaned as he flew in. Aang looked at the airships. Sokka and Aang looked very dismayed at the turn of events. Katara ran up to Appa as he landed. Aang looked at her with a saddened look on his face. Sokka dismounted, followed by Toph, then me.
"It was all a trap! Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move! We've just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."
"They've got air power, but so do I!" Aang opened his glider. "I'm gonna do what I can to slow them down." He tossed his glider into the air and took off, Momo following close behind.
"Appa, you and I can help too." Katara said, mounting Appa and following Aang.
"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" Sokka said. They didn't hear. I sighed, cleared my throat.
"Hey! Everyone, back to the subs!" I screamed. They began running. Sokka smirked and we began sprinting. The team began navigating the way down the sides of the volcano. A hatch at the bottom opened on one of the airships.
"Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs!" Sokka yelled. Toph and I bent a ceiling of earth overhead. They released bombs. The bombs rained down and detonated. One bomb landed very near the earth ceiling, causing it to start crumbling. Toph propped it up by bending two earth columns to support it. It was still smaller than earlier, leaving Sokka exposed. I grabbed him and bent a rock over us. The airships passed over. The team ran out from under the ceiling.
"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara asked.
"They're heading for the beach... They're gonna destroy the submarines!" I said.
"How are we all going to escape?" Sokka asked hopelessly.
"We're not." Hakoda said.
"Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win." Sokka said, determined.
"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win. On another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together." Hakoda said.
"What? We can't leave you behind! We won't leave anyone behind!" Katara said, grabbing her father.
"You're our only chance in the long run. You, Sokka, and Avery have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive." Hakoda said.
"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle." Bato said.
"I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by." Tyro said.
"I'll stay with you. I've had experience in prison." I said.
"Avery," Hakoda placed a hand on my shoulder with a fatherly look. "I need you to go with Sokka. Keep him safe and in line for me."
"But..."
"Please?" Hakoda said. I sighed and hugged the man, already feeling a strong bond to the man.
"Fine, but only because you asked." I said, wiping at my face.
"They're at the beach already!" Sokka said in alarm. We watched. Thu, Due, and Huu attempted to deflect the bombs with waterbending; they managed to destroy some. The swamp monster grabbed several more and tossed them away. One bomb, however, landed inside the seaweed figure and detonated. Steaming piles of seaweed landed onto the ground. Huu, along with Thu and Due, emerged from the mess, defeated. Five bombs were released onto each of the submarines, destroying all five of them. The team looked on in disappointment. Sokka closed his eyes resentfully. The Mechanise was an earth column along with Toph and helped his son mount Appa.
"Bye, son." he hugged Teo.
"Bye, Dad. I'm really proud of you." Teo said.
"I'll miss you, Pipsqueak." The Duke said to Pipsqueak.
"Take care, The Duke." Pipsqueak replied, helping The Duke into Appa's saddled. I shook Pipsqueaks hand.
"This is very brave of you." I said. He smiled sadly.
"Keep The Duke safe for me." He said.
"Of course." I promised.
"We'll be back for you, Dad." Haru said to Tyro, who smirked.
"If we don't escape on our own first." Tyro said. They bowed to each other and Haru earthbent himself up. I turned to see Hakoda with Sokka and Katara, a hand on each of their shoulders.
"We lost today, but we've never been this close." He knelt down to face his two children. "We tasted victory, and that counts for something."
"We'll miss you, Dad." Katara said as the two hugged him.
"Bye, Dad. We won't be apart for too long this time. I promise." Sokka said. Hakoda closed his eyes. Aang, sitting on Appa's head, had tears streaming down his face. Katara approached him, who had broken away from her dad and brother, put an arm around his shoulders and smiled at him proudly. Aang wiped away his tears and rose to face the invasion force.
"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm gonna make this up to you."
"We all are." I added. I grabbed Sokka and pulled him into the saddle. Our team turned to leave on Appa. Appa moaned and took off as the team looked back sadly at those remaining.
"Where can we go?" I asked.
"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while. The Western Air Temple!"
Tada! I told you I'd update soon. Haha, Avery kissed Zuko.
Disclaimer:...
So, what'd you think?