"This is humiliating." Katara said. I quirked an eyebrow.
"You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?"
"Both." She replied to her brother.
"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." Aang said, petting Appa's head.
"I wonder how the rest of the troops are." Teo said.
"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in." Haru replied.
"I miss Pipsqueak." The Duke said.
"I miss not having blisters on my feet." Sokka said.
"Hey, I offered you a ride." I said.
"When?"
"A half hour ago when you first started complaining." I snapped.
"Can I?" The Duke asked. I knelt and he climbed onto my back. I boosted him onto my shoulder where he gripped my head. I held his knees and stood, starting to walk again.
"Can I have a piggy back ride?" Sokka asked.
"After all that whining? You wish." I said. The Duke laughed.
"Hey, we're here! I can feel it!" Toph said.
"Uhhh... I think your feet need their eyes checked." Katara said. There was a cliff in front of us.
"No, she's right. We are here!" Aang said.
"Wow... it's amazing!" Toph said.
Appa flew us in and I dismounted first, helping Teo and The Duke down.
"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple. I wonder if there are any secret rooms." Teo asked. Haru hopped down next to him with a bright smile.
"Let's go check it out!" Haru said. Teo and The Duke followed Haru. Aang tried to, but was cut off by Katara.
"You guys go. I think we need to talk about some things."
"I'll race you, Duke!" Teo said.
"I told you, it's The Duke!" The Duke said. The three took off into the temple.
"Why can't I go?" Aang asked.
"We need to decide what we're gonna do now, and since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this." Katara said.
"Fair enough. So, what's the new plan?"
"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."
"Oh, yeah. That's great, no problem. I'll just do that." Aang said sarcastically.
"Aang, no one said it's going to be easy." Katara said.
"Well, it's not even gonna be possible! Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?"
"We could look for Jeong Jeong!"
"Yeah... right. Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again."
"Who's... oh, never mind. If it's important I'll find out." Toph said.
"I know that feeling." I said, lounging against a rock.
"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang said, before getting up and storming off.
"What's up with him?" Toph asked. I shrugged. My nose itched as I picked up a slight scent of amber.
"There's gotta be someone who can teach him firebending." Sokka said. I stood.
"I'm going to explore. See ya."
"Hello... Zuko here, but I guess you probably already know me, sort of. Uhhh... so, the thing is I have a lot of firebending experience, and I'm considered to be pretty good at it. Well, you've seen it, you know, when I was attacking you. Uhhh...yeah, I guess I should apologize for that. But anyway, I'm good now. I mean, I thought I was good before, but I realize I was bad, but anyway, I think it's time I joined your group and taught the Avatar firebending." A badgerfrog croaked at him. "Well, what's your answer?" The badgerfrog hopped on his head then hopped away. "Yeah... that's what I'd say, too. How am I supposed to convince these people that I'm on their side? What would Uncle do?"
"Give some sort of advice." I muttered to myself. He imitated Iroh.
"Zuko, you have to look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self, reveal itself." In his normal voice: "Even when I'm talking for him I can't figure out what he means. What would Azula do?" He imitated Azula. "Listen, Avatar, I can join your group, or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends! Your choice!" In his normal voice: "I guess I'm just not that good at impersonations."
"I dunno, you're pretty good." I said, stepping out from behind the tree I was hiding behind. Zuko yelled in surprise before falling onto his butt. I laughed.
"Geez, Zuko. You're too easy." I said, extending a hand. He took it, and I pulled him to his feet.
"So, you're going to confront them soon?"
"Yeah. What did you think of the speech then?" Zuko said. I shrugged.
"I react differently than they do. Speaking of which, they're calling for me right now." I said. I turned and waved before walking away. "Or you could come now!"
"Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now?" Katara called.
"What? The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!" Aang proceeded to do a loop.
"Aang, I think we should be making some plans about our future!"
"Okay, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!" Aang agreed, landing.
"I think that'll have to wait." I said. They looked to me, and I pointed. Appa shifted to reveal Zuko. He waved.
"Hello... Zuko here." He said. The GAang prepared to attack. "Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here." Appa growled at him then licked him twice; Aang became surprised. "I know you must be surprised to see me here."
"Not really, since you've followed us all over the world." Sokka remarked.
"Right. Well, uhhh... anyway... what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uhhh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach firebending to you." The GAang expresses shock. "See, I, uhhh..."
"You want to what now?" Toph said.
"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?" Katara exclaimed.
"Yeah, all you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!" Sokka said.
"I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!" Appa licked him again.
"Appa does seem to like him." Toph said.
"He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. I'm not buying it." Sokka said. I shrugged.
"I dunno, you could lick him." I said. Sokka sent me a disgusted look and I snickered.
"I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past." Zuko said.
"Like when you attacked our village?"
"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us with that crazy beast?" Katara said.
"Hey!" I said. "That was me ya asshole!"
"Sorry, I forgot." She said.
"Look, I admit I've some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm going to try and stop-"
"Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?" I said in unison with Sokka.
"Well, that's not his name, but-"
"Ohhh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!" Sokka said sarcastically.
"He's not my friend!"
"That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph yelled.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me." Zuko said. Aang looked to Sokka, who shook his head.
"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us." Aang said.
"You need to get out of here." Katara said.
"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!"
"Either you leave, or we attack."
"If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner." Zuko knelt down, holding out his wrists.
"No, we won't!" Katara yelled. She blasted water at him. "Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!"
Zuko got up and walked away.
"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara said.
"Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap." Sokka said.
"This is just like when we were in prison together at Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."
"He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes."
"The thing is, it worked. I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt, but obviously, when the time came he made his choice, and we paid the price. We can't trust him."
"I kind of have a confession to make. Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?" Aang said.
"And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!" Sokka said.
"Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!"
"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!" Sokka insisted his sister.
"Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me."
"No way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!" Katara said.
"Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him." Sokka said.
"You're probably right."
"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!"
"He wasn't lying!" I yelled. They looked to me in surprise before slipping back to be assholes.
"Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list." Katara said sarcastically.
"I'm just saying that, considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse." Toph said.
"You're right, Toph! Let's go find him and give him a medal. The 'not as much of a jerk as you could have been' award!" Katara snapped.
"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly." Toph said calmly.
"Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"
"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!"
"Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!"
"Why would you even try to defend him?" Katara asked angrily. Toph snapped.
"Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact: Aang needs a firebending teacher! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job! Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?" She stamped her feet on the ground to a point where the ground shook slightly.
"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher!" Aang said.
"You're darn right you're not, buddy." Sokka said.
"Well, I guess that settles that."
"Ergh! I'm beginning to wonder who are really the blind ones around here!" Toph yelled. She walked away.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sokka said.
"It means, you three are huge assholes." I said.
"Hey!" Aang said.
"It's true! Sure, Zuko has done some pretty stupid things, and has made some really bad decisions, but he's still a good person with a golden heart!" I said.
"Oh really?" Katara sneered. "How can you tell? Spiritual magic?"
"Everyone but Katara leave. Right now." I said. "We need to talk."
"But-"
"Go." Katara said. Once Sokka and Aang left, I snapped.
"You thick headed moron! Have you ever considered that you're not the only one affected by the war? That loved ones have been taken away from other people? That other people besides you're effing mom have died? Have you ever wondered how we got our scars? Zuko was burned by his own father. I was abandoned and abused. Azula's parents never loved her. Toph's parents don't understand. Sokka became a man when he was only a toddler. Aang is only one kid, expected to save the world. He's only twelve years old."
"Well I'm only fourte-"
"I don't care! I'm sixteen, I should be with my family celebrating! Not hunting down a lunatic. Katara, I understand that you've taken on a motherly role. I get it, you feel responsible for the GAang." Katara looked surprised. "But if you're going to take that seriously, you need to learn to forgive."
"But I forgave you."
"I know you did. But that isn't my point. You need to understand and you need to get off your high-horse. I mean, you're being such a huge ass. You weren't the only one betrayed in Ba Sing Se."
"What do you mean?"
"Zuko betrayed me too. He betrayed me multiple times, broke multiple promises, and made multiple mistakes. What I'm trying to say is, if you're going to take your motherly role seriously, you need to learn to forgive."
"But why? Why did you forgive him?"
"Because he was my best friend. I love him." I admitted. She looked surprised. "Yeah, I said it. I love Zuko, and you have to deal with it."
"How could you love him."
"Because he's a good person, Katara."
"How do you know that? How do you know he won't stab you in the back?"
"Uh, guys? Are you two alright?" I snapped my head to look at Sokka and Aang. "Are you two still talking about the jerk bender?"
"Katara was just asking me how I know a good person from a bad person." I said. I looked Katara in the eye. "It's a matter of scent. If the color is good, so is the person. If the color is bad, then the person is bad. And right now, your scents make me sick."
"Has anyone seen Toph?" Katara asked as we sat for breakfast. I was sitting on the fountain rim, ignoring the the main trio, only reacting to Toph, Teo, The Duke, and Haru when they tried interacting with me.
"I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday." Sokka said.
"Maybe she's just exploring the air temple. There are some pretty fun spots to practice earthbending."
"I don't think so..." I said.
"I think we should go look for her." Katara said. "What do you think, Avery?"
"Let her have fun with her rocks. I'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again." Sokka said. I ignored both of them.
"We can go check for her!" The Duke said.
"Yeah! I want to ride that tunnel down to the Hall of Statues again. It will work a lot better now that I fixed my brakes." Teo said. I smiled. Haru, The Duke, and Teo exited. There was a large rumble. Toph fell down the pile of rock that she created from a wall.
"Toph! What happened?" I asked, getting up and running over.
"My feet got burned!" Toph said.
"Oh no, what happened?"
"I just told you, my feet got burned!"
"I meant, how?" Katara asked.
"Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night." Toph said.
"You what?" Aang gasped.
"Zuko?" Katara asked.
"Uhhh...!" Sokka said. Wow, that was deep Sokka. Tell us how you really feel.
"I thought he could be helpful to us." Katara began to try and heal her feet. "And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out."
"So he attacked you?"
"Well, he did, and he didn't. It was an accident." Toph said.
"But he did firebend at you?" Sokka repeated.
"Yes." Toph sighed.
"See? You trusted Zuko, and you got burned. Literally!" I slapped Sokka upside the head.
"It's gonna take awhile for your feet to get better." She stopped healing. "I wish I could have worked on them sooner."
"Yeah, me too." Toph said.
"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him." Sokka said.
"I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice." Aang said. I rolled my eyes.
"He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him."
"Maybe just invite him back here." Aang and Sokka went to pick her up, but I shooed them and grabbed her myself. "He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once."
"Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it!" Sokka said.
"You are a master of surprise, Sokka..." I said sarcastically. I set her on the fountain edge, dipping her feet into the water. She sighed in relief.
"Ahhh, that's the stuff. Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks." I sat next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Suddenly, a wild explosion hit the ground, shaking us. I picked up Toph and Team Avatar made to run away before I froze. Zuko was facing Combustion Man.
"Stop! I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!" Zuko moved to stand in front of him. "The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop."
"No, Zuko! Get away from him!" I yelled. Combustion Man shoved said teen out of the way and fired again.
"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Zuko attempted to firebend at him, but Combustion Man grabbed him. "All right, I'll pay you double to stop!"
Zuko kicked Combustion Man as he fired, causing him to miss again. He then took aim on Zuko. Zuko created a firewall to stop the attack but was pushed off the ledge. I screamed.
"Zuko!" Aang fired a tornado, which the assassin jumped over and fired again. Aang narrowly avoided the blast by jumping back. Combustion man fell and landed on a ledge as he fired and missed again. Katara bent water from the fountain and turned it into ice spikes, but Combustion Man appears unaffected. The assassin looked up and realized we had 'disappeared' but continued firing. We hid behind a wall, out of sight.
"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph said, grip tightening on my arm. Katara looked out only to duck back behind the wall.
"I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here." She said.
"I know how to get an angle on him!" He took out his boomerang.
"Sokka, you're a genius." I said. After another blast, he snuck his head out, but had to hide from another shot. He projected Combustion Man's angle with his boomerang.
"All right buddy, don't fail me now!" And he threw his boomerang. The boomerang hit the assassin in the head where his third eye tattoo was, causing him to hit the ground, before it returned back. "Yeah, boomerang!" he jumped up and grabbed it, but Combustion Man got up, albeit clearly shaken. "Awww, boomerang..."
As our team ran back to their hiding spot, Combustion Man geared up again, but was dizzy and couldn't aim properly. His next shot failed to escape, causing an explosion around him resulting in the building he stood on getting destroyed. My jaw dropped and my eyebrows shot into my hairline. The GAang looked on, shocked. Haru, Teo, and The Duke all appeared from behind a pillar, also shocked.
"He's gone..." Sokka said. The GAang cheered, but I was felt empty. Zuko... he sacrificed himself trying to protect us... I looked up as I heard footsteps and smelt a familiar scent.
"Zuko!" I gasped, rushing forward. I gripped onto him in a hug. "I thought you were dead."
"Payback?" He said. I laughed into his shoulder.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but... thanks, Zuko." Aang said.
"Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing." Sokka said.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday, I've been through a lot in the last few years and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow, my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world. I'm sorry for what I did to you." He let go of my waist to bow to Toph. "It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."
"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me." Aang bowed before Zuko. Zuko bowed.
"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?"
"Go ahead and let him join." She pounded her fist into her palm jokingly. "It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."
"Sokka?"
"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it."
"Katara?" Aang asked. She glared at Zuko for a moment and Zuko started to become nervous.
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right." Aang smiled.
"I won't let you down! I promise!" Zuko said.
"So, here you go, home sweet home, I guess, you know, for now. Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uhhh... welcome aboard?" Sokka said. Zuko glanced back and smiled at him. "Yeah."
"So, you're officially a GAang member. How do you feel?" I joked. Zuko looked to me with a smile.
"Honored." He said. We laughed. Zuko pulled out a painting of Iroh and set it down. He smiled, obviously remembering something about his Uncle. Zuko suddenly noticed a clearly disgruntled Katara at the door.
"Avery, could you give us a moment?" Katara said. I hesitated before heading for the door.
"Don't kill each other." I said. I pressed my back to the wall outside the room and listened in.
"You might have everyone else here buying your... transformation, but you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past. So let me tell you something, right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang, and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends... right then and there. Permanently." Katara threatened. She then walked away and stormed past me. I grabbed her wrist, stopping her from getting too far. I narrowed my eyes.
"Same goes for you, Katara. Hurt him, I end you." I said. I then let her go and went back into Zuko's room, closing the door. "You alright?"
"I don't really know at this point." He said. I smirked.
"Hey, don't worry about Katara, okay? She won't hurt you."
"How are you so sure?"
"Because if she hurts you, she'll have a very pissed off half-spirit to deal with, along with three, very upset spirits." I said.
"Chi, Hei-Bai, and Lin?"
"Yeah, they get a bit protective." I said. Zuko smirked, pulling me to him.
"I can't blame them, I want to keep you happy too." He said. I blushed, but grinned.
"Trust me, Pouty, you do." I jabbed him in the chest, frowning. "But I'm still pissed at you."
Dawww, I didn't even mean it to be that cute. Ha, then it was funny.
Disclaimer:...
So, what'd you think? Katara and Avery are threatening each other, I wonder how that'll turn out...