Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 20: Hiding and Home
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Unknown)
Aang opened his eyes with a small groan. He got up from the bed he was on and sat on its edge. The process made him groggy. He shook his head to clear away the grogginess and placed his hand on his bandaged chest (he also vaguely noticed that his chest wasn't the only thing that was bandaged). "What happened?" he asked . Noticing something out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the banners in the room were of a deep red color. Turning his gaze back to the bed, he saw the flag of the Fire Nation looming over him. "Oh no!" Realizing that he had to escape, he grabbed his gilder staff, opened the door and made his way into the corridor.
It was difficult for him to walk down the corridor. He had to use his gilder staff as a third leg and the wall for support. He came to a corner when he heard someone say "You hear something?" He looked around the corner and saw two people dressed in Fire Nation armor. Using his gilder, he bent a blast of air at the two of them and started running (or in this case, hobbling). "He's awake!" the soldier cried. They went after him, which only made him increase his hobbling. "Stop! Wait!" the solider called after him.
Aang didn't pay any attention. He tried to climb a staircase out to the deck but tripped on the last step. He fell to the ground. His gilder slid across the deck to where two Fire Nation soldiers were feeding a familiar lemur. "Momo?" he asked, confused. The lemur gave a screech of delight, ran over to him, jumped on his shoulder, and licked his face.
"Twinkle Toes!" cried Toph, who had been standing at the rail with Katara. "That's got to be you!"
"Aang, you're awake!" Katara said as everyone crowded around him. They were either wearing Fire Nation armor or red cloaks that said they were from the Fire Nation.
"Are you sure? I feel like I'm dreaming," he replied, rubbing his eyes. Everything he saw just didn't look right to him. Maybe he was still groggy.
"You're not dreaming. You're finally awake," she said, giving him a hug, which made Momo fly away.
"Aang, good to see you back with them living, buddy!" said a familiar voice inside a Fire Nation uniform who gave him a quick hug. Standing next to him was a white wolf.
"Sokka? Akela?" asked Aang. As he kept looking at everyone, he began to feel woozy.
"Uh-oh, somebody catch him, he's going to—" Toph began to say as Katara tried to grab him. She just missed as he fainted and collapsed to the ground. Katara held him as they all looked at him, Appa joining in the looking as well.
(Location: FNS Burning Sun)
Zuko stood on the deck, looking at the moon in its full glory. Mai approached him from behind. "Aren't you cold?" she asked, standing by his side
"I got a lot on my mind," he told her. "It's been so long, over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed," he said to himself.
She yawned. "I just asked if you were cold. I didn't ask for your whole life story." When he looked away, she gave a small laugh, walked up behind him, and turned his head to face her. "Stop worrying." The two of them shared a brief kiss before she walked away, leaving him to look at the moon again and contemplating what has changed.
Unbeknownst to him, Naruto sat on top of the tower, watching the moon as well. Hearing someone landing on the tiles next to him, he looked over. "Do you always come up here when you want to be alone?" Gaara asked.
"You got something on your mind?" the blonde asked back, looking up at his friend.
He sat down beside him. "Why do you hate the Konoha shinobi?"
Naruto went silent. That was a question that he didn't even want to talk about, let alone answer. "I don't hate them. I want them to leave me alone."
"They still care for you, you know that."
"Kami take it, not you too!" he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was already touchy about the subject in question, and Gaara bringing it up was the last thing he wanted.
"Why do you insist on pushing them away?" the Kazekage asked. He was intent on finding the actual answer to why the blonde had left their side of the world.
He took his fingers away from his nose and looked his friend straight in the eye. "Gaara, look at me. I'm not the same person I was three years ago. They just can't seem to grasp that. This is my life now and I want them to leave me alone. They didn't comply, so I made them."
Things fell quiet between them as they sat on the roof. "…Naruto, you've never asked me about how I was resurrected."
"Does it matter?" he asked. "You're alive."
"I was rescued by Chiyo, an elder of my village, and a team from Konoha."
His face became neutral. "I see."
"Are you not going to ask which team was sent?"
"Quite frankly, Gaara, I don't care. You're alive and a bunch of shinobi from Konoha helped. That's all there is to it."
"…It was Team Kakashi," the redhead told him.
He groaned, putting his face in his hands. "You just had to say it."
"When they saw me dead, Sakura and Sasuke fell to their knees and cried. They were mourning the fact that they had lost another of their friends, like they had lost you."
"I told you, I don't want to hear this," he said, voice muffled due to his face being in his hands.
"You should be proud of them. They're quite well known in the world of Shinobi. They're known as the Konoha no Sakura Hō-ō and Kurojishi no Sharingan."
"Enough, Gaara," he declared, pulling his head back up. "I don't want to hear about them. I'm not interested about what they did or what they're known as. Change the subject."
He sighed. "Very well, why were you up here anyway?"
"I had an idea, so I'm mulling it over."
"What's the idea?"
"I was thinking of writing a book. Something along the lines of what I did in Ba Sing Se." It had been a vague idea in the back of his head just as they left Ba Sing Se. But as he thought it over, he began to like it more and more. "Although I would have loved to read a book about deadly court intrigues, if that book existed."
"You mean like a spy novel?"
"Yeah, but I'm having trouble coming up with a name for the main character. Right now, all I have for a last name is Ryū. I can't think of a first name."
Gaara looked up at the moon, noticing how white it looked at that moment. "Does Shiro sound good to you?" he asked.
Naruto thought it over. "Hmm…Yeah, I like it. It works. Thanks, Gaara." He cleared his voice. "The name's Ryū. Shiro Ryū," he intoned, looking completely serious, before breaking out into a huge grin. "Oh yeah, that works. I also know about how he acts now. I gotta go write this stuff down before I forget!"
He leapt off the tower, landed on the deck and ran below deck. Gaara just watched him run off. He stayed there for a few minutes before also jumped off the tower, using his sand to cushion his landing. He then quietly walked back down below deck.
(Location: Team Avatar ship)
"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship?" Aang asked as one of the crew put a robe over his shoulders. "Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one who's completely out of it?"
"You need to take it easy, okay? You got hurt pretty bad," Katara told him. "…I like your hair," she said, trying to be a little less awkward.
"I have hair?!" he asked, freaking out as he felt the top of his head. Sure enough, there was hair growing there. "How long was I out?"
"A few weeks." It had been a scary few weeks.
"Everything okay?" asked Hakoda as he walked over.
"We're fine, Dad," Katara told him curtly.
"I'm Hakoda, Katara and Sokka's father," he introduced himself to the Avatar.
"He knows who you are. I just called you 'Dad,'" she snapped at him.
"…I guess you're right."
"Nice to officially meet you, Chief Hakoda," Aang greeted him, holding out his hand. It never hurt to be friendly.
"It's an honor to meet you," he replied, clasping his arm.
"Great, now you guys have finally met. So would you mind giving a little privacy?" Katara asked her dad rudely.
"…Of course," he said before walking away.
"Are you mad at your dad or something?" Aang asked her as she scowled at her father's back.
"What, not at all. Why would you say that?" she asked, confused. He shrugged but the motion made him clutch his side in pain. "Maybe we should go upstairs. You need a healing session."
She took him back inside, into the bedroom. After having him sit down, she bent water out of two nearby jars and placed her hands on his back, over the red scar he now had. "Tell me where the pain feels most intense," she told him, her hands covered with glowing water and touching his back.
Aang gave a small grunt of pain. "A little higher," he told her. As she moved higher, he got a flashback of him rising out of the crystal cocoon in the Avatar State. "Wow, you're definitely in the right area there."
"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there. Let me see if I can…" She bent the water away from his back, but when she did, he arched his back in pain. He remembered going into the Avatar State a second time, before getting hit in the back by a bolt of lightning.
"I went down!" he said as he came out of the memory. "I didn't just get hurt, did I? It was worse than that. I was gone, but you brought me back."
"I just used the spirit water from the North Pole. I don't know what I did exactly," she told him truthfully, looking down at the floor. That night, she had been half-afraid that she had killed him instead of healed him.
He turned around to face her. "You saved me."
"You need to rest," she told him, placing a hand on his face. He couldn't help but agree with her.
(Location: Fire Nation)
The old twins, Li and Lo, stood on a balcony addressing a crowd below while Azula and Zuko waited in the tower behind them. Although both siblings had preferred to keep their return to the Fire Nation a low-key event, the Fire Lord insisted that his people be allowed to see their Prince and Princess return from a campaign in the Earth Kingdom. Naruto walked behind the Royal Children, in his formal Fire Nation military uniform, but he kept his Paragon Medallion hidden.
"Your Princess Azula, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital," Li said.
"In Ba Sing Se, she found her brother Zuko," Lo said. "And together they faced the Avatar…"
"And the Avatar fell!" the twins spoke as one. "And the Earth Kingdom fell!"
"Azula's agents quickly overtook the entire city," Li announced. "They went to Ba Sing Se's great walls…"
"And brought them down!" the twins spoke as one again. In the building behind them, Azula and Zuko shared a small smile. Naruto groaned inwardly when he heard the twins' announcement, referencing the Dai Li's controlled collapse of the Outer Wall, even though Ba Sing Se had a large and perfectly functional gates.
"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the city through the walls and swarmed over Ba Sing Se, securing our victory!"
"Now the heroes have returned home!" the twins spoke in unison.
"Your princess, Azula…" Lo announced. Azula knew that was her cue and walked onto the balcony. The crowd cheered as they saw the princess of the Fire Nation. They always cheered for her. But now, they put a little more into it.
"And after three long years, your prince has returned!" Li said.
"It was he who led the Dragon's Fangs in the Siege of Akawan, defending it from the Earth Kingdom. He challenged the Earth Kingdom general to single combat and won and earned the title of the Scarred Dragon for setting free the dragon that was held captive!" Lo cried.
"Zuko!" shouted the twins. Zuko walked onto the balcony, garbed in formal armor and with his hair done up into a top knot. The people cheered louder for him than they did for Azula. Some of them began to chant "Akawan! Akawan! Akawan!" He knew that they were chanting his victory, cheering him for being there at the right time. But somehow, the chanting felt hollow. All he could feel was the faint warmth of the giant fire behind him as well as its shadow covering him.
Yet, the twins were not done with the royal children, for they decided to continue with their procession, this time targeting the blond in question. "When Kouzan faced certain death and our soldiers were outnumbered, the Paragon of the Fire Nation rose to the occasion and planned a surprise for the enemy!" Lo continued.
Li added her bit as well. "Together with Princess Azula and her allies, Lord Naruto faced the Earth Kingdom's armies, and slayed its general in the field of battle!"
"The Fire Nation's newest hero, Lord Naruto!" the twins finished, much to the wild approval of the crowd.
Naruto waved at the crowds as they cheered loudly. Yet, he could not help but see the irony of this situation, while at the same time faintly winced, as he spotted the guards struggling frantically to hold off a gaggle of women trying to approach him. "I would have loved this kind of adulation, if I was still a naïve, 12-year-old boy back in Konoha," Naruto thought. "Now I'm being given recognition for the wrong reasons."
(Location: Team Avatar ship)
Everyone had gathered for breakfast. Since everyone was there, Sokka decided to tell Aang what was going on. "After what happened in Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety," he explained as he sat on a crate. Akela lay next to him on the deck. "We flew back to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone. Well, not completely alone."
"Bosco?" asked Aang.
"Yep. Soon the bay was overrun by Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then, we've been travelling west." He pointed to the map he now held. "We crossed through the Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."
"But what exactly happened in Ba Sing Se? I thought the Dai Li obeyed you." He still wasn't sure of what exactly happened during the takeover. All he really knew was that Shù Yè wasn't who she said she was and nobody realized it until she revealed it herself and betrayed them.
Sokka's expression fell, changing into a small scowl. "…I didn't think that Naruto left that book on purpose. I had gotten cocky. I never thought that he could use the law about the Dai Li as well. I should have figured that he would've had control over the Dai Li as well."
Everyone was silent for a minute. "…So, what now?" Aang finally asked.
"We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan," Hakoda told him.
"It's Sokka's invasion plan," Katara said pointedly to her father.
"…Yes, Sokka's plan," he agreed. "We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth Kingdom's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable."
"So, we're planning a smaller invasion," Sokka continued. "It's just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke."
"Good to see you again, Aang," Pipsqueak said, while The Duke ate from atop his head.
"And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage. We have you!" he declared, looking straight at the Airbender.
"Me?" Aang asked, confused.
"Yep, because the whole world thinks you're dead." To say the Avatar was stunned might have been an understatement.
(Location: Fire Nation)
Zuko walked down the corridor, before finally stopping at a door. He reached for the door and opened it, walking into his own room. It had been three years since he had been in his own room, and yet it looked like it hadn't changed at all. Everything was exactly the way he left it.
"I wondered when father ordered it to be cleaned," Zuko thought to himself with a little cynicism. Then he noticed something on a nearby table. Walking over to it, he noticed it was a sheath for Dao swords, with said swords lying next to it. He just stared at them. "I'd thought he would have them thrown away."
In his exile, he used the standard issue of Dao swords and he had also stolen a pair when he and Iroh were on the run. But the ones in front of him…they were his. He had forged them after his training with Piandao.
It was funny, looking at them for the first time in three years made his left palm twinge. He could still remember when he had begun the process of forging the swords. He had cut his palm on a block of metal, almost covering it in his blood. Despite of that, the block of metal seemed to be the right one for him and he gave to Piandao. The one thing that had always struck Zuko as odd was that he had smelted the block of metal while it still had his blood on it.
He reached for the swords, picking them up and feeling their weight again. As he held them, he felt like he was finding a lost part of himself. He thought he had heard a faint voice say"Where the hell have you been?" in the back of his head, sounding very annoyed. As he saw went through a few basic motions to get the feel for them again, he saw the familiar inscription on the two blades.
(Flashback)
"Sifu, what do these inscriptions mean?" Zuko asked as he showed the inscriptions on his swords to Piandao.
"It is something that my sifu had taught me. While the language is ancient, he told me what they say."
"What's that?"
"The inscriptions say this: Abandon your fear. Don't give an inch. Advance and never stop. If you retreat you will age. Be afraid and you'll die."
(End Flashback)
"Um…Prince Zuko?" said a voice behind him. He swung around and pointed a Dao sword at a middle-aged man in servant's garb. The man gave a cry of surprise and flinched away.
"Who are you?" Zuko demanded, holding the sword point just between the eyes.
"M-my name's Há!" the servant yelped. "I was ordered to be your personal servant."
He withdrew the sword from Há's neck. "Next time, don't sneak up on me. I might've killed you," he warned him.
"My apologies, sir, I will remember that," he said, bowing low in apology.
"Good. Leave me be for now."
Há bowed again. "Yes, Prince Zuko." He left the room, leaving Zuko alone in the room.
(Location: Team Avatar ship)
"The world thinks I'm dead?" Aang asked as he stood at the rail "How is that good news!? That's terrible!" The natural balance would be disturbed if people thought he was dead. He had to make it right.
"It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't be expecting you on the Day of Black Sun," Sokka tried to explain.
"No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!" They heard the horn of another ship. Turning their gaze to the sound, they saw that it was another Fire Nation ship. "I'll handle this," Aang declared, grabbing his glider staff. "The Avatar is back." He opened the gilder, but it hurt him. He tried to ready himself for takeoff when he felt something holding the gilder down. Looking down, he saw that Akela held the staff in his teeth.
"Aang, wait!" Katara said. "Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation." Despite wanting to show that he wasn't dead, he could see her logic. Sweating, he gently tugged the gilder away from Akela and folded it.
"Everyone, just stay calm," Hakoda told them all. "Bato and I will take care of this." The two Water Tribe men finished their disguise by putting on their helmets. Meanwhile, Pipsqueak and The Duke used a large bundle of cloth to hide Appa, Momo, and Akela.
"I hate not being able to do anything," Aang whispered as he and the others hid in the staircase.
"Hopefully, you won't need to," Toph replied.
The two ships got closer to each other. As they sat side-by-side, a ramp was lowered so the Fire Nation captain could walk across. "Commander, why are you off course?" he asked as Hakoda saluted. "All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving towards Ba Sing Se to support the occupation!"
"Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet," Hakoda lied as he and Bato shared a look with each other. "We have orders to deliver some cargo." It was a simple lie, one they just had to stick to. If they did that, getting out of this should be easy.
"Ah…Eastern Fleet," the captain mused to himself. "Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way."
"I'm sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir," Bato tried to assure him.
"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?" he asked, ignoring what the fake Fire Nation officer had just said.
"Next time, we'll send two hawks to make sure you get the message," Hakoda told him. They saluted and the disguised Fire Nation soldiers turned around and walked away.
"Sir…Admiral Chan has been on leave for two months at Ember Island," one of the soldiers that accompanied the captain whispered to him.
"What? Why doesn't anyone tell me anything? Something's not right, they should've known that. I think this is a captured ship." They started to walk back across the ramp. "Just stay quiet until we're safely across the ramp. Then we'll sink this ship," the captain whispered to the soldiers.
Unfortunately for him, Toph heard the entire thing. "They know!" she yelled out for everyone to hear. Slamming her hand onto the deck, she bent the metal ramp to fall into the water, taking the captain and the two soldiers with it.
Katara then bent the ocean to rise and push the other ship away from them. They took that advantage and started to sail away. Meanwhile a ladder was thrown down for the men in the water, so they could get back on board their own ship.
(Location: Fire Nation)
Zuko sat in the garden, throwing bread pieces at the turtle-ducks. Hearing movement to his side, he looked and saw Azula sitting down next to him. A brief look behind him confirmed that Naruto was up in the tree. "Funny, last time I checked; the turtle-ducks were afraid of you," he commented as he kept throwing pieces into the pond.
"Naruto covered me in breadcrumbs and then threw me into the water when he saw how I treated them," she replied, a small smile on her face. "The little ones are quite the nibblers." She placed a hand in the pond. The baby turtle-ducks came and started rubbing their heads against it. "By the way…congratulations," she said as she felt her hand being rubbed.
"…For what?" he asked, confused.
"For earning the title of Dragon," she explained. "I realized that I had never actually congratulated you."
"I never expected you to congratulate me. I kinda expected you to insult me about it," he told her with complete honesty. He had fully expected her to be completely jealous and make fun of what he did.
"I can't be proud of my older brother?" she asked, sounding a little offended. Before he could answer, they heard a sword hitting the ground.
Turning around, they saw Naruto's jian sticking out of the ground. "Sorry, just making sure gravity was still working," he told them as he jumped down from the tree and pulled the jian out from the ground.
"Was that really necessary?" Azula asked him, pulling her hand from the water. If the sound the baby turtle-ducks were making was anything to go by, they were disappointed in the loss.
"I had to check. I didn't have a coin handy."
"What exactly are the three of you doing?" Yāo Jing asked as she approached them. Her voice made the turtle-ducks swim away. "And why do you look so down, little brother?" she asked Zuko.
"I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years since I was banished," he told her.
"So?" she asked, making it sound like it wasn't a big thing.
"So, I didn't capture the Avatar," he reminded her. That had been her fault. If she hadn't interfered in Old Ba Sing Se, the Avatar would've been in chains by now.
"Who cares? The Avatar is dead." She caught the look he had on his face as he looked away. "…Unless you think he somehow miraculously survived."
Katara's words went through his head again.
"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important."
He turned his attention back to his half-sister. "No, there's no way he could've survived." They glared at each other, almost daring the other to make a move.
"Well, then I'm sure the two of you have nothing to worry about," she said before walking away.
"She's done something," Naruto said after she had left the garden. "The two of you keep your guard up." Both Azula and Zuko nodded in agreement. They had caught what Yāo Jing had said. If they weren't careful, it would not be good for them.
(Location: Team Avatar ship)
The enemy ship was chasing them and firing flaming rocks at them. "Load the Toph!" Toph commanded as she took an Earthbending stance. Pipsqueak placed a large slab of rock in front of her. Using her Earthbending, she lifted the rock and throw at the enemy ship, crushing one of their catapults. She fired off another one to intercept another incoming missile.
Sokka, Akela, and Aang stayed inside. When Aang tried to go out and help, Sokka stopped him. Aang just banged his head on his gilder staff. "I am completely useless!" he mentally yelled at himself.
The enemy ship aimed a harpoon down into the water and fired. It flew into the water and breached the hull, letting water to flow in. After being pulled out, it left a bigger hole and more water flowed in. Katara, however, was already on top of it. She quickly froze the water around the hole, sealing it off. "I'm gonna give us some cover!" she told the others. She bent the ocean to turn into vapor, giving them a fog screen. But it didn't really work, as the next missile destroyed the supply of rock slabs they had.
"I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Aang declared. He tried to run and join the fight, but Akela had grabbed the hem of his robe and held him in place.
"You're still hurt, Aang," Sokka told him as he brought him back inside. "And you have to stay secret. Just let us handle this."
"Fine," he said curtly.
"Akela, make sure he stays inside," Sokka ordered the wolf before running out onto the deck as another missile almost slammed into the deck.
The two ships sailed out of the fog, giving the enemy clear vision again. They fired another missile, which slammed into the deck and caused a fire. Katara quickly doused the fire with water from the ocean.
"How are we doing?" Toph asked Sokka.
"Things couldn't get much worse," Sokka told her. It was at that point, the Serpent from the Serpent's Pass burst out of the water with a roar. "The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" he asked to no one in particular.
"You make it too easy."
The Serpent was about to attack them when it was hit by a missile. Turning its attention to the other ship, it dove into the water and wrapped itself around it, letting them get away. "Thank you, the universe!" Sokka cheered as he watched on.
"You're very welcome," Sifu's voice whispered in his ear, momentarily surprising him. "Be glad I know how to nudge these creatures in the right direction."
"You sent him after that ship?" he asked underneath his breath, so no one would hear him.
"Nope, the ship did that by itself. I just had the Serpent come here."
Hours later, they docked the ship at a town. Aang was in his room again, trying to rest. The door opened, letting Sokka, Toph, Katara, and Akela walk in. "Hey, Aang!" said Toph. "We're going into town to find some dinner." They were hoping to make it like it was before, just them and no one else.
"Well, I am pretty hungry," Aang said, his stomach agreeing with the statement. "Maybe dinner's a good idea."
Sokka took out a headband from a pouch on his belt. "Here, tie this around your head. It'll cover your arrow," he told the Air Nomad, offering the headband to him.
He looked insulted at the mere prospect of wearing the thing. "I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly!" he snapped before turning away from them.
"Aang, come on. Be practical," the Tribesman told him.
He turned his head to glare at him "Oh yeah, sure, be practical! Like how you were practical about the Dai Li. I guess you're not as smart as you think you are!"
Everyone was silent for what seemed to be a long time. They had never known Aang to insult someone and yet, he just did. "If you're going to act like this every time you're beaten, I can see why the Paragons keep watch over the Avatar," Sokka told him in a controlled voice before turning around and walking out the door, Akela behind him.
Katara motioned Toph to follow him, leaving her and Aang alone in the room. "I think I understand why being a secret bothers you so much," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "You don't want people to think you failed."
"You're right, I don't," he replied. "But the problem is, I did fail!" And he failed in a spectacular way. He had lea the Fire Nation right into Ba Sing Se and let them take it over.
"Aang, that's not true," she protested.
He sat up "It is true," he told her as he got up from the bed. "I was in Ba Sing Se. I was there! But I lost. And now the Earth Kingdom has fallen for good." The Fire Nation had all but won because of his actions.
"It's not for good." She stood up as well. "Remember, there's still a plan, the invasion!"
"And I hate the invasion plan too!" he half-shouted at her. He grabbed hold of the flag that stood above the bed, tore it off and threw it to the ground. "I don't want you or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes! I've always known that I would have to face the Fire Lord. But now I know I need to do it alone."
"Aang." She walked around the bed, her arms already out for a hug. She desperately wanted to hold him and make it all okay, like nothing was wrong.
"Katara, please!" he said, making her stop. "Just go…please."
She turned around and walked back to the door. "Is there anything you need?" she asked, stopping at the door.
"I need to redeem myself. I need my honor back," he declared.
She stayed at the door for a second. "You know if Asuma and the others were still here. One of them would've probably whacked over the head for what you've said." She said before finally leaving. "Sokka have also whacked you in the head for the same reason. You're starting to sound like Zuko."
"Well, they aren't here, are they?" he muttered to himself, looking down at his staff. He also felt offended by her comparison of his outburst to Zuko. "It's just more people who would've risked their lives for me. It's better that they're gone."
(Location: Fire Nation)
Zuko walked through the palace, coming to a stop at a curtained entrance. The last time he stood before this entrance, it was before that fateful meeting. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he pushed past the curtain and walked into the throne room. He saw his father, sitting on the throne, his face obscured by the shadow cast by the fire. He walked forward and when he was close enough, he got to his knees and bowed low.
"You have been away for a long time," Ozai said, looking down at his son. "I see the weight of your travels has changed you. You have redeemed yourself, my son." He stood up and walked down the steps. Zuko raised his head and saw the face of his father, a face he hadn't seen for three years. "Welcome home."
(Location: Team Avatar ship)
Katara walked back to Aang's room, carrying a tray of food. "I brought you some food," she said as she came through the door. But the room was empty. "Oh no…" She whispered, dropping the tray and running down the hallway.
Sure enough, Aang was flying over the ocean, intent on waging a one man war against the Fire Nation. However, he was still injured. As he held his side in pain, he fell towards the water. He managed to recover before hitting the water itself and flew on. He was determined to do this.
Katara ran out onto the command tower deck, where Hakoda and Bato were. "I'll leave you two alone," Bato said after he noticed the tears in her eyes. He could already tell that this needed to be a private conversation.
"What's wrong, Katara?" Hakoda asked his daughter.
"He left," She told him.
"What?" He was a little confused. Who had left?
"Aang. He just took his gilder and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone. That it's all his responsibility."
"Maybe that's his way of being brave."
"It's not brave, it's selfish and stupid!" she all but shouted at him. "We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn't he know how much we need him too? How could he just leave us behind?" She demanded.
"…You're talking about me too, aren't you?" he asked quietly in return.
"How could you leave us, Dad?" Tears fell from her eyes but she tried to wipe them away. "I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran and she loved us, but we were so lost without you." He had been a constant fact in their lives until the day he left. After that day, they just didn't know what to do.
When she looked away and cried into her hands, he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Katara," he told her.
She gave him a hard hug. "I understand why you left. I really do, and I know you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I am so sad and angry and hurt!"
"I love you more than anything," he assured her. "You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day I was gone and every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much it would ache." But they were also what kept him going and kept him fighting the Fire Nation.
(Location: Fire Nation)
"I will admit that I was outraged when I first learned that you decided to walk right into Akawan. But that rage has now turned into pride," Ozai said as he walked around Zuko. "I am proud of you, Prince Zuko. I am proud because you and your sisters conquered Ba Sing Se. I am proud because when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment: You and Azula slayed the Avatar."
"What did you hear?" Zuko asked. He was shocked at what he heard. The last time he had checked, the Avatar had been sprinted away from them. He wasn't dead.
"Yāo Jing told me everything," his father said to him. "She said she was amazed and impressed at the power and ferocity the two of you possessed at the moment of truth."
While he knew that was not the case, he decided to go with it for the moment. "My older sister flatters us. We did what we had to do, no more, no less."
Ozai walked back to the throne. "You may leave. There will be a party later to celebrate you and your sister return." Zuko stood up, bowed to his father once more and turned around to leave the throne room.
(Location: Aang)
He kept on flying, but as he did, he kept getting closer and closer to the water's surface. When he looked ahead, he saw something he had forgotten about. "The blockade," he said to himself. But he wasn't going to stop by that. Using Airbending to help him, he took a deep breath and closed the gilder.
He dived into the sea and used Waterbending to push himself past the ships. Once he was a safe enough distance, he broke the water's surface. Using his gilder to hold himself, he gasped for breath. He saw a log drifting by and swam towards it. After resting on it, he had an idea. Using his gilder as a sail, he used the log as a surfboard. But his good luck ended as a storm came through and the waves got choppier. He eventually slammed into a wave and lost hold on his gilder.
(Location: Fire Nation)
Zuko left the throne room, his mind racing a mile a minute as he walked through the halls. As he turned at a corner in the corridor, he ran into Azula and Naruto. "Good, I was looking for you two," he said to the two of them.
"What's the matter, Zuko?" Naruto asked. After coming out of the meeting he had waited three years for, the blonde would've expected him to be a little more happier (then again, that might be a little difficult with the Royal Flaming Asshole).
"Yes, what is the matter, little brother?" Yāo Jing asked from behind them. When they all turned to look at her, she was standing confidently in the middle of the hallway, a smug smirk on her face.
Zuko looked her straight in the eye. "Why did you tell Father that Azula and I killed the Avatar?" he asked her. Beside him, Azula's eyes widen slightly at the news, while Naruto's just went flat.
"You seemed so worried about how Father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar," she told him easily enough. "I figured if I gave you and Azula the credit, you would have nothing to worry about and Father would see that the two of you were working together."
"But why?" asked Azula. Yāo Jing never did something like that out of the simple goodness of her heart. She didn't have a heart to begin with.
"I thought it would be a good idea to make it look like you two were working well together in Father's eyes," she answered with a careless shrug of her shoulders.
"Nothing that's simple," Zuko said, "Not with you. You've got another motive." She always did, ever since they had been children.
She chuckled darkly. "Really Zuko, what other motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you two get all the glory for defeating the Avatar?" she asked. "…Unless, somehow, the Avatar was actually alive." She smirked at them. "All that glory would suddenly turn to shame and foolishness. But you said it yourself, that was impossible."
"You illegitimate bitch," Naruto said, realizing what she had done. She had trapped Azula and Zuko by telling a simple lie to Ozai.
"Now, now, Naruto, that's not nice," she replied, waving her finger at him, like he was a child who had misbehaved.
"Let me guess, if the two of us were shamed, you would finally have you always wanted?" Zuko asked her.
"It's a possibility," she admitted with the smirk still on her face.
Azula barked a curt laugh at those words. "It'll only happen if the two of us are dead in the eyes of Father. You're a mistake, Yāo Jing. You always have been. Even Father thinks so."
The smirk she wore died away when she heard those words. She started to walk forward until she was almost face to face with her half-siblings. "If Father thought I was a mistake, then I would be dead. Apparently, I'm good for something." She turned around and walked away. She stopped and looked back at the two of them. "Make no mistake, Zuko, Azula. I will get what I want." Her gaze turned to the third person. "And when that day comes, I will enjoy breaking you, Naruto."
He scoffed at those words. "Lady, people have been trying to break me since I was born. I haven't broken yet. And you don't scare me." She said nothing. She just continued to walk away.
(Location: Aang)
He held onto the log for dear life as the storm howled around him. He saw his gilder floating in the water, but he knew that if he tried to get it, the ocean would swallow him whole. He let out a scream as a tidal wave sent him under, but he was able to recover and swim back up to the surface with the log. "I'm not going to make it," he whispered to himself as he once again held onto the log. "I failed." As if to answer, lightning roared and flashed briefly in the sky. When it was the spirit of a man long dead floated above the water. "Roku?"
"You haven't failed, Aang," the spirit of the previous Avatar said to him.
"But everyone thinks I'm dead again," he protested softly. "They think I've abandoned them and I'm losing this war. I'm letting this side of the world down."
"If anyone is to blame for this, it is me," Roku replied. "I should have seen this war coming and prevented it. You inherited my problems and my mistakes. But I believe you are destined to redeem and save this side of the planet."
"I don't know." He had been trying to do that ever since he woke up to see Katara's face above him. And yet, at that moment, it felt like an impossible task.
A pool of light shined down on him. "You already saved the world," the voice of Princess Yue told him. He looked up and saw the moon breaking the clouds apart. The storm died down as the vision of Yue, garbed in white, descended towards him. "And you'll save the world again, but you can't give up."
Aang looked up at her. She was a reminder of what he could've done better. But she was also a reminder of all the people he had tried to save and did. "…You're right. I won't give up," he declared with conviction. He bent the sea to push him forward on a tidal wave while he used the log as a surfboard. Yue raised her hands and made the wave bigger, pushing him farther, before ascending back up to the moon. When the wave had finally died, Aang had washed up on Crescent Island, which was still erupting due to his actions.
(Location: Fire Nation)
Zuko tried to keep his breath calm as he stood outside the door that would lead into the ballroom. "Nervous, sir?" asked a nearby soldier.
"Somewhat," he admitted. "The people I've usually talked to for three years were soldiers. If I snap to attention and say sir, we know I belong in the military."
"With all due respect sir, I think you're already in the military." The joke made the soldiers and him chuckle, loosening the tension a little bit. "Are you ready, sir?" the soldier asked the prince once the laughter stopped.
He stopped laughing and took a deep breath. "Might as well."
They opened the door and marched into the ballroom, where the party was in full swing. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Scarred Dragon, Prince Zuko," the lead soldier announced. The nobles there politely clapped for as he descended the staircase. He looked around the huge, grand ballroom that was draped in colors of red.
"Hey, Zuko, how have you been?" another teenager came up to him and asked. Before he was exiled, Zuko thought of him as a close friend. Now, he was just another face in the crowd.
"I've been well," he replied curtly, before walking on.
"C'mon man, don't be a stranger," the guy replied, trying to catch up.
Zuko stopped and glared at him. "You are a stranger. Don't bother me," he told him before walking away again, leaving a stunned teenager behind.
"He's seems to be doing well," Naruto noted. He and Azula as well as Ty Lee, Mai, and the Sand Siblings watched Zuko's progress as he made the obligatory walk through all the nobles there and talk to them.
"This is his first time back in court in over three years," Azula replied. "It would be impressive if he didn't make a fool of himself."
"He just blew off a potential bootlicker in the first two minutes," Kankurō said. "I think he'll do okay."
"But that's just bootlickers," Temari countered. "He still has to deal with the actual nobles and military leaders that are here tonight." And those were on a whole different level then bootlickers.
"You're forgetting one thing, Temari," Naruto said to her, his voice completely serious.
"What?"
"Fangirls," Gaara answered for his friend.
Both Kankurō and Temari were surprised by that. "You have got to be kidding," Temari declared.
"No, trust me. Zuko has Fangirls," Naruto assured them.
"It's true. We saw them in Kouzan," Azula supported. It had been a little disturbing to see at the time, but they had been there. "Luckily, Governor Shun has managed to keep them at a tight leash."
"Um…guys?" Ty Lee said. "Could we stop talking about Zuko's Fangirls? Mai's aura is getting darker." They looked at Mai. While they couldn't see her aura, they could the growing expression of murder on her face and the small twitching of her hands, like they were demanding to throw something.
"Azula!" cried a familiar voice. They turned to see who spoke. They got their answer when the speaker came up to them and gave Azula a hug, who returned it.
"Kori?" asked Naruto. But as he asked, in his head he was thinking "Thank you, Kami." By having Mai distracted, she wasn't thinking about murdering people.
"Oh, hey Naruto," she greeted the blonde, breaking the hug with Azula.
"You say hi to her first, then me? I'm hurt," he said with a hurt expression that everyone knew was a fake.
"Oh, don't worry," she told him with a smile on her face. "You're still my big brother."
"Well, that's a relief," He said as the hurt expression evaporated from his face.
"Kori, what are you doing here?" Azula asked her. She was surprised by her appearance, but she still welcomed it.
"You don't remember your last letter?"
Almost instantly, she remembered it. "Oh, my apologies, I had completely forgotten about that."
"Hold on a minute," Naruto interrupted the two of them. "What do you mean, letter?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two girls.
"While you were off conning the Avatar, I was trading letters with Kori," Azula told him. "My last letter offered her the chance to stay with us for a part of the summer."
"And I took her up on that offer," Kori finished.
Naruto kept looking back and forth between the two of them before finally slumping his shoulders. "Well, there's nothing I can do about it now," he conceded. "But Kori, I want to you do two things while you're here."
"What?" she asked him.
"One: don't Earthbend. Two: Never be alone with her." He pointed to Yāo Jing, who stood by Ozai in a servant uniform. While she looked smug to be near the Fire Lord, she also looked annoyed by what she was forced to wear.
"Why should I stay away from her?" Kori asked. She had thought that person had been a servant.
"She's dangerous and she doesn't like me, Azula, or Zuko. She will try to use you against us."
"…You're not kidding, are you?" He had sounded completely serious the entire time he had spoken, but she wanted to be sure.
He gave a grim smile. "Welcome to politics." He heard a small noise, like someone clearing their throat, beside him. "Oops, sorry," he apologized to the Sand Siblings. He turned back to Kori. "Kori, this is Gaara no Sabaku and his brother and sister, Kankurō and Temari. Guys, this is Kori Morishita, daughter of Yu Dao's mayor," he introduced them to each other.
"Hello," she greeted them with a bow, which they returned.
"So, you any good with a weapon?" asked Temari. The kunoichi could see that the girl had trained with something but wasn't sure what it was.
"I've trained with a meteor hammer."
"I should know," Naruto commented. "You've tried to put me on the receiving end of the thing many a time." And every time, she had failed.
"I will beat you one day, Naruto. Make no mistake," she promised him with convictions and determination in her voice.
"And I will always look forward to that day," he replied, silently approving of the fire he could see in her eyes. He looked over at Zuko, who was now talking to a group of nobles. "Now would probably be a good time to lend some support for your brother, Azula. Show the nobility that you are actually brother and sister, not two people engaged in a power struggle over the throne," he told her quietly.
She nodded in agreement and the two of them walked over to where Zuko stood, Naruto hung back a little so that Azula could look like she didn't have a babysitter. "The thing that astounds me is that even though you could have been killed once it was all over, you still led the defense. Why would you do that?" one of the nobles, a middle-aged man with a gut, asked Zuko.
"It was my duty as a prince of the Fire Nation," Zuko answered evenly. He had been careful with group he talked to and this one was no different.
"But you were banished," the noble's wife pointed out.
"Even if he was a banished prince, he was still a prince," Azula said, stepping into the group and into the conversation. "My brother did the right thing when he led the defense at Akawan."
"Oh, Princess Azula," the nobleman greeted her with a bow. "So, you approve of your brother's actions?"
"Of course, I do," she answered. "I would have done the same thing. Although, I don't think I would have been able to fight on the front lines and come up with those spontaneous decisions." She admitted with a little laugh. I think that Zuko has a knack for this kind of thing"
Zuko shrugged his shoulder with nonchalance. "I spent three years on a ship surrounded by military personnel. You tend to pick up a few things."
"Will you be taking an active part in this war?" a third noble asked him.
"I hadn't thought about it," he admitted. "I mean, I have no official ranking. The soldiers I led just called me commander."
"Ah, yes, the famous Dragon's Fangs. From what I've heard, the Earth Kingdom armies are afraid to go anywhere near Akawan because of them." He slapped Zuko on the back. "You've done a fine job with them, lad."
"I just did what I had to do." It had been his duty and he did it with all he could.
"Um…Prince Zuko?" said a small voice.
He looked around but didn't see anyone talking to him. "Yes?" He asked, not sure where the voice was coming from.
"Forgive me, Prince Zuko. My daughter is terrible shy," the first nobleman apologized. He moved to the left a little, revealing his daughter, a little girl with short, black hair. "Now come on dear, ask Prince Zuko your question," he told her.
The daughter, who looked to be about ten years old, looked at Zuko, and buried her face in her father's side. "I-I'm sorry!" she squeaked.
Zuko knelt so that he was at eye level with the girl. "Is it my scar?" he asked her gently. She nodded once. "Very well…now try looking." She did and saw that he covered his left eye and ear with his hand, masking the scar. "What is your question?"
"I…I was just wondering how you were able to breath lightning," she said to him.
He smiled. "When I was exiled, my Uncle decided to try and teach me how to generate lightning. I couldn't do it, so he decided to teach me how to redirect it instead. Once I had gotten the movements down, I wanted to try it with actual lightning, but he refused. So, I went to look for my own. I ended on a mountaintop in the middle of a storm. It was in that storm I met someone; someone I never would have expected to meet."
"Who did you meet?" she asked, curiosity coloring her voice.
"I met the King of the Dragons, Bahamut," he answered with a semi-grand voice.
"Really?" asked the girl, looking at him with wonder in her eyes. "You met the Dragon King? What did you do?"
"I insulted him straight to his face. In return, he threw lightning at me, which I redirected back at him," he said with a straight face
"What…what did he do?" she asked, almost afraid to find out. That did not sound like something one should do.
"Laughed it off and told me it had been a long time since anyone had done that to him. He came to visit me in my sleep when I was at Akawan and show me the path to breathing lightning," he finished.
"Can I learn how to do it?"
"Are you a Firebender?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Then you'll have to discover the secret for yourself. If I told you how to do it, it would only make it harder for you."
"Okay! I'll be sure to discover the secret!" she declared with determination. Zuko smiled at her before standing back up and saying one last thing to each of the people there. Once he did, he walked away, taking his hand off of his face in the process.
"The kid's got spunk," Naruto commented as both Zuko and Azula walked near him, allowing him to fall behind his princess. "She'll make a good Firebender."
"Yes, she will," Azula agreed. The three of them didn't go to any more groups. Instead, they went back to their own.
"How are you doing, Zuko?" Ty Lee asked as he finally joined them.
"I'm not having the impact that's expected," he answered with a frown on his face. Whoever he spoke to have the same look on their faces. It was a look that told him that they didn't think he would be good enough.
"You seem to be doing fine to me," Kori said. He hadn't started a brawl with any of them, so that was a good thing.
"Zuko, this is Kori Morishita, from Yu Dao," Naruto quickly introduced her to the Scarred Dragon.
"Hello, Kori," he greeted. "But despite my words and what I'm trying to say, they don't believe in me," he told them all.
"Well, what do you have to do to get them over to your side?" Temari asked him.
"I don't know. I've been away for three years and Uncle didn't teach me court politics." He had been more inclined to learn Firebending techniques and how to survive then how to speak the right words to the right people.
"Then you must win them over another way," Gaara told him.
"Got any ideas?" He couldn't think of any.
"One," Naruto said. "It has its downsides and if it works, odds are we'll be hiding for the rest of the night." The others looked at him once he had said that. It was a weird thing to say.
"What exactly are you planning, Naruto?" Mai asked him suspiciously.
Luckily, Mai didn't have to receive an answer. She tapped Azula on the shoulder and pointed at the two men approaching her from the side. All of them formally bowed to the newcomers, except for the Sand Siblings, who didn't recognize them. Naruto slightly winced inwardly when he realized that Governor Shun had arrived at the party, accompanied by Vachir, who was surprisingly armed with just a pair of daggers.
"It's been a while, Lord Naruto. I heard of your role in helping the Princess with the conquest of Ba Sing Se, and I would like to congratulate you both for accomplishing what even the infamous traitor General Iroh had failed to do." Both Naruto and Azula tried their best to not show any emotion, and even Mai had to prevent Zuko from reacting. It did work a bit, but Governor Shun turned to the Prince in question. "My Prince."
"Lord Shun. It's been ages since we last talked, and I believe it was before I set off to lay siege at the North Pole," Zuko spoke gently. His face turned a bit dark. "I thought you'd be in Kouzan, managing the colony."
Governor Shun nodded in agreement. "I do, but there is something that needed to be done. Your father, the Fire Lord himself, has personally ordered me to come to the capital, to give a briefing on the Battle of Kouzan."
"Why would my father be interested in a battle like that?" Azula asked curiously. She started to notice Mai and Ty Lee taking several cups of watermelon juice and gave them to the rest of the group. "I mean, he is always busy administering the Fire Nation."
"Well, a group of officers who are Lord Naruto's allies were clamoring for his promotion to Lieutenant, but you'll see the surprise." Governor Shun beckoned for Naruto to walk towards the throne, where the Fire Lord himself sat. "Now is the time, Lord Naruto."
Naruto knew exactly what Governor Shun wanted him to do. Although he did make that kind of promise back when they started to leave Kouzan, it was not something that the stern looking man would forget. Moreover, as he continued to walk closer towards the throne, Ozai's smirk continued to grow until he stopped and bent his knee. Governor Shun made a silent gesture for the bell ringer to ring the bell, as to force everyone in the party to become silent.
"Fire Lord Ozai," Naruto began, "I apologize for the lack of respect that I have shown towards you and the throne in which I am sworn to obey. Furthermore, as Paragon of the Fire Nation, I have seen the errors of my ways, and have come to learn that even the Paragon must remain loyal to the nation that they serve."
Ozai's smirk vanished suddenly. "What brought you to apologize to me, after so long? I would prefer to execute you for your blatant disrespect."
Naruto continued on. "If that is what My Lord and Liege wants, I would accept any punishment." Ozai beckoned for him to stand up.
"I will assume that this is more than just an attempt to make me change my mind about your promotion, correct?" Ozai asked suspiciously.
"Not at all, My Lord. As Governor Shun pointed out to me, the title of Paragon of the Fire Nation is almost like a noble title, only it has special responsibilities. He has also admonished me for my ill-behavior and habits of making too many enemies within the Fire Nation."
Ozai paused for a minute as he slowly digested what Naruto had said. While it is true that past Paragons of the Fire Nation have stepped up under their authority in case the Fire Lord could not legally exercise their authority, he had not forgotten their main responsibility, which is to prevent the Avatar from going insane. Finally, he gave a small nod and sat down on his throne once again, but Naruto raised his hand.
"My Lord, if I may make one more request on my part?" Naruto asked again. This time, everyone stopped to hear what he will say next.
"What would that be, Paragon Naruto?"
"I would humbly request to have a sparring match with His Highness, Prince Zuko."
Only the people who were nearest to the throne could see the small smirk Ozai wore. "Interesting," he finally said. He stood up from the throne. "The fight shall be held in the Agni Kai chamber," he announced to all in the ballroom. "We will allow Lord Naruto and Prince Zuko a half hour to prepare." He walked down the steps, Yāo Jing behind him, and out a door. The rest of the noblemen and servants followed his idea.
Zuko stood on one side of the chamber while Naruto stood on the other. They had changed from the heavy, formal robes they wore for the party to simple training shirts and pants. Now they were just waiting for the fight to start.
"My Prince!" yelled out Naruto. "You're giving me an advantage with your top knot."
He understood what Naruto meant. He reached up and undid the hair piece, letting his hair fall down. Judging by the whispers the teenage daughters were whispering, they approved of his decision. "How do you want to do this?" he asked his opponent.
The blonde shrugged his shoulders. "Just show them what you got."
"Paragon Naruto, are you ready?" Ozai called out from where he sat. It was a throne that was in the exact center spot in the benches, giving him a good view of each side. As he spoke, the servants holding their swords walked towards them.
"My Prince and I are ready, Fire Lord," Naruto answered back formally.
"Let's get this started," he answered, drawing his jian from its sheath. The servant walked away with the sheath.
"Prince Zuko, are you ready?" the Fire Lord asked his son. He nodded once, drawing his Dao swords. Há walked away with the Dao swords' sheath as well. "Then begin." At those words, the gong rang, signaling the combatants to start their fight.
They charged each other, swinging their swords with the intent to kill. The Dao swords and the jian clanged together as they made contact. They held them there, trying to force the other one back with strength. The hold was broken when Naruto tried to sweep Zuko's legs from underneath him, forcing him to backflip away.
They stared the opponent down, slowly circling each other. They exchanged a few strikes, testing the other's reaction time and speed. "Is this a dance or a fight?" Naruto asked, swinging his jian at Zuko's shoulder.
"It is a dance, Naruto, just with swords." He parried the jian with one blade and tried to swipe at Naruto's midsection with the other. However, the jian swatted the blade away and struck his shoulder, cutting through the shirt.
"I guess so." The room was silent as the sleeve fell off his arm and fell to the floor. "Are we done warming up?" the blonde asked the prince.
He looked at his bare arm, then at his opponent. "Yeah, we're done." He spun into a roundhouse kick and bent a fireball at Naruto, making him duck. He pressed his advantage, swinging rapidly. His advantage didn't last long, as Naruto quickly recovered.
The swords strike swung so fast, it almost looked like there was more one of them (two in case of the Dao swords). The spectators lost count of how many times one of the swords was inches away from drawing blood. Zuko had been right, it was a dance. And everyone in the stands could see it.
They swung at each other at the same time, which sent both the jian and the Dao swords flying into opposite sides of the arena walls. They only shared one look with each other before running to different sides of the arena floor and leaping into the crowds for their swords, making the people scatter when they landed. They grabbed their blades, turned back around and leapt back into the arena floor, allowing the people to sit back in their seats. Using the edge of his sword, Zuko bent a thin slice of fire at Naruto, who disperse it with a swing of his jian.
They faced each, panting lightly. Then they looked at themselves. Zuko's shirt was shredded because of the cuts the jian made. Naruto's shirt was shredded as well but had also caught on fire (not a big one, mind you, just a slow burning on the edges). Noticing that their shirts were barely more than scraps, they tore off the remnants.
"Oh, sweet Agni," Kori muttered as she looked at the two of them. A blush grew on her cheeks.
"Enjoying the view?" Ty Lee asked with a grin on her face.
"Oh yes."
"Naruto is something to look at, I'll admit to that." She was having a hard time looking away herself.
"Um…I wasn't just looking at Naruto."
Azula had a look of slight disgust when she heard those words. "Kori, that's my brother!" she almost shouted at her. She may not get along with him well, but it was still disturbing.
"I can't help it! He's right there," she protested, gesturing at him. "How am I supposed to ignore something like that?"
"I don't know. Count the cracks in the wall or something!"
The two fighters shared a smile of acknowledgement with each other before charging again. This time, Zuko brought in Firebending. Since his hands were occupied, he used his feet. Every time he did a kick, fire was used as well. Sometimes it would hit Naruto, singeing his skin but it would heal in a matter of seconds. The rest of time, he dodged the fire.
"Well, Naruto has certainly improved from three years ago," Temari commented as she watched the two continue. It was completely different from how he fought three years ago.
"Is our big sister interested in him?" Kankurō asked her with a slight teasing tone in his voice.
"That's not even funny, Kankurō," she told him with a scowl on her face. If she had her fan on her, she'd brain him.
"Enough," Gaara said to the two of them. They stopped once they heard that order.
The fight raged on, the fighters getting fiercer and fiercer. Naruto also began to bring in punches and kicks, although Zuko did an impressive job blocking them. Sometimes, one would flip over the other, trying to strike the head. But the other would block and spin in the direction they landed.
"He deserves his reputation as a master of Dao swords," Naruto thought as they once again circled each other, trying to see a weakness in the other.
"Yes, he does, kit," the Kyūbi agreed as he watched the fight from inside his cage. "Be careful, one misstep, one mistake and it'll be over for you."
"He may not be a master of the jian, but his ability to improvise makes up for that," Zuko noted. "There were more than a few close calls when he kept changing his sword hand." He looked at himself and at Naruto. Both were now panting, slowing tiring. The pants they wore had seen some damage. They had gone long-sleeved pants to ragged shorts, which also displayed their legs to the single female members of the audience.
"Shall we wrap this up, Prince Zuko?" Naruto asked. Zuko's response was to bend whips of fire off the edges of his Dao swords and swing them at the blonde. He danced around, over, and through the whips. Zuko then bent the whips to form into a circle of flame, trapping him. He leapt easily out of the fire but that was what Zuko wanted.
As Naruto was airborne, he was breaking himself into his yin and his yang energies, and then bringing them back into one. As his opponent landed, he breathed lightning. It flew towards at Naruto, but as it turns out, he was ready. He took the stance that Zuko knew was the one for redirecting lightning. It struck his sword arm and traveled down into his stomach. He brought back up into his other arm and threw the lightning back at Zuko.
He was surprised, but he was able to recover. He took the same stance, let the lightning hit one arm and let it travel down into his stomach before bringing into his other arm and throwing it at Naruto again. He caught it again and tried to throw it back, but his aim was poor this time. The lightning fell to the arena floor and hit it hard.
The ground shook, causing cracks to appear in the arena floor and shooting up dust. It caused a smoke screen so no one could see what was going on inside. When the dust finally cleared, Naruto was kneeling on the floor with Zuko standing over him, the Dao swords resting their points on his neck and heart. However, Naruto's jian was also resting its point on Zuko's stomach.
The gong ranged again and Ozai stood up his throne. "This fight is a draw. Both combatants have proved themselves capable in the art of fighting. I applaud Prince Zuko for his use of Firebending and am also pleased to have seen the breath of lightning myself," he praised his son.
The crowd erupted into applause. Naruto and Zuko withdrew their swords from one another and stepped away from each other. "Good fight, Zuko," Naruto said as Há and the other servant approached them with the sheaths. He handed his jian off to the servant, who took it without any hesitation and sheathed it. He bowed and walked away.
"Yes, it was," Zuko replied as he handed his Dao swords to Há, who sheathed them, bowed and walked away. "When did you learn how to redirect lightning?" He had never shown how to do it to anyone else.
"I saw you practice the movements back in Ba Sing Se," the blonde answered. "Didn't realize what it was for until you breathed lightning at the ambush. I figured it out afterwards. But I guess I still need to figure it out." He looked around the chamber and his face sprouted a look of panic. "Uh…Zuko, we should probably leave now."
"Why?" the Scarred Dragon asked, confused by what he said.
"We're hot, we're sweating, we're not wearing shirts, our pants are now ragged shorts, we've just finished a spectacular fight, and every woman in the audience who is single are looking at us like we're the last two men on this planet and they want to pollenate like nobody's business," Naruto quickly rattled off the points.
Zuko looked at the crowd and understood immediately. Naruto's definition pretty much hit the nail on the head. All the single girls (teenagers and young women alike) were crowding the front of the stands, pure lust shining in their eyes. He turned back to Naruto. "Shall we run for our lives?" he asked in a calm, pleasant voice.
"Oh yes, let's," Naruto answered in the same voice. The two of them ran out of the Agni Kai chamber with both frantic speed and energy. The ladies who were single chased after them. Eventually, they barricaded themselves inside Azula's private bathing room and didn't come out for the rest of the night.
(Location: Crescent Island)
Aang woke up and saw that it was morning. He also saw that Momo was licking his face. Sitting up, he saw Appa standing in the water and that Katara, Sokka, Toph and Akela were running towards him. "You're okay!" Katara cried as she hugged him. The others soon joined, making it a group hug (even Appa and Akela joined in), kneeling in the waves.
"I have so much to do," Aang said as they broke the hug.
"I know, but you'll have our help," she reassured him. He would always have their help.
"You didn't think you couldn't get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" Toph asked the Air Nomad jokingly.
"What about the invasion?" Aang asked.
"We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse," Sokka told him, his face had a neutral expression on it. "And we also have to do something else."
"What's that?"
"Stand up, Aang." He did so and Sokka did as well. Then, to the surprise of everyone (except Akela), he rammed his fist into Aang's stomach, making him to collapse to the ground with a pained gasp.
"Why did you do that?" the Avatar asked the Water Paragon, trying to get his breath back.
"Because that was probably one of the most boneheaded things you have ever done! And because Kiba and the others weren't here to do it," he answered. "Don't give me that look, Katara. You know as well as I do thathe deserved it," he said after seeing the glare on Katara's face.
She would've said something in Aang's defense, but he stopped her. "He's right, Katara. I shouldn't have done that. Sorry," he apologized to Sokka, who accepted with a silent nod.
"Hey, what's…?" Toph began to say as she picked something out of the water. "Oh, it's your gilder." It was indeed Aang's gilder, ruined beyond repair.
Aang stood up again and took the gilder from her. "That's okay," e said as the others stood up as well. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive." He flew up to a small ledge that stood over the flow of lava. He raised the staff, gave a last couple of spins before stabbing it into a small trail of lave. He flew away to rejoin the others. Had he stayed a few seconds longer, he would have seen the staff catch fire and begin to burn. It was a small monument, one that said to the world that the Avatar was dead.
(Location: Fire Nation)
By the time Naruto finished bathing himself after his intense spar with Zuko, the Prince entered his room with a frown. Azula soon followed. Naruto noticed that Mai, Ty Lee and Kori weren't there. Mai's decision to host Kori proved to be a wise decision, as Yao Jing's presence would have made it even more dangerous for the visitor from Yu Dao. Since Naruto's public display of humility in front of the nobles, and the Fire Lord, some of the officers who initially disliked the Fire Nation Paragon, now started to tolerate him a bit more. However, the officers and nobles who were loyal to Yao Jing, remained hostile to Naruto.
"Since when did you start addressing our father in such a formal tone?" Zuko asked curiously. "It's not like you've had a change of heart."
Naruto nodded grimly. "Both Azula and Governor Shun told me that if I was going to be promoted to an officer's rank, I needed to start showing the Fire Lord some respect. I didn't even have a choice in the matter, as Governor Shun also told me that the title of Paragon is almost like an officer's rank, only it's not."
Azula placed her hand on her brother's shoulder. "I was there when Governor Shun chewed him out. As much as we don't like to admit it, having Naruto promoted to at least the rank of Lieutenant would dampen the resentment that the senior officers have towards him.
Zuko closed his eyes and sighed in resignation. After hearing Azula's story about their time in Kouzan and Yu Dao, including the incident with the cocky lieutenant who bravely challenged Naruto to a fight, he started to understand a bit more behind the charade, but Naruto was not comfortable with his role. "Well, in that case, I will make a formal request to my father to put you under my command. I know your main role is to protect my sister, but it will take time for you to get used to your new position." Azula opened her mouth in shock, but Zuko held up his hand. "Azula, you know as well as I do that the nobles will expect us to take a more active role in the war."
"I do. Besides, by keeping Naruto as our common ally, we could use him in any power struggle against Yao Jing. She may not look competent in my eyes, but she's a dangerous schemer." She turned to Naruto with a determined look. "Naruto, promise me one thing only."
Naruto looked back at her. "What is that?"
"Promise us that if you are forced with a command to become Yao Jing's bodyguard, you will refuse. Not just out of loyalty to us, the trueborn children of our father, but out of the ancient laws of succession, as set by Fire Lord Zoryu."
Naruto nodded. He knew what she meant. During the reign of Fire Lord Zoryu, he was engaged in a vicious power struggle against his illegitimate brother, Prince Chaejin. The struggle was caused by the numerous extramarital affairs that his father and predecessor had engaged in, which resulted in Chaejin's birth. Personally, he could not help but compare Ozai's role in the birth of Yao Jing to former Fire Lord Chaeryu's dalliances.
"Don't worry about it. I won't bow down to a vicious little schemer like Yao Jing. It's what she would have wanted," he told Azula. "I'd prefer death to servitude under her."
End
Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews you've sent me.
Yes, it wasn't Azula who trapped Zuko. It was Yāo Jing who trapped Zuko and Azula. This would only enforce the idea that they have to watch each other's backs.
Kori will be joining us for a little bit. Did you think that after Yu Dao I was going to leave her there until the whole colony crisis? Try again. Also, for those of you who think she is, Kori is not an OC. She is from the comic The Promise. I just brought her in a little earlier.
This is not the last time you're going to hear of Shiro Ryū. And yes, I know I used the James Bond quote, I did that on purpose. I plan to make him the Naruto world version of James Bond. Don't expect a lot of details right now. Remember, Naruto's still developing both him and the story.
The fight was partly inspired by the fight scene in The Final Flight of the Osiris, just not so erotically. And if anyone can figure out where the last lines that Naruto and Zuko said before running away came from, I'll give you a cyber-cookie.
As Aang getting punched, face it, he had that coming. There is no person in the world that abandons his friends to do something stupid and gets off with a group hug when they finally catch up with him. If anything, he would've beaten black-and-blue with no hug, whatsoever.
I'll see you all next chapter!