Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 42: Stands and Missing
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Fire Nation)
As the others lounged on the stairs, Aang was practicing his Firebending under Zuko's and Azula's supervision. "More ferocious!" ordered Zuko as he watched the Avatar. "Imagine striking through your opponent's heart!"
"I'm trying," Aang told him. This was a little harder than it looked.
"Trying isn't good enough," Azula stated. "Now let us hear you roar like a tigerdillo!" The Air Nomad spun and roared lightly, breathing a small amount of fire. Realizing he did it wrong, he smiled sheepishly. "That sounded pathetic! I said ROAR!"
He did it again and this time, he roared. Three jets of fire came to life, two from his hands and one from his mouth. The amount of fire and heat scared Momo, who ran behind Zuko's leg and held onto it. Zuko, as while as Azula, gave a small nod of approval.
"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara asked, holding up two watermelons with holes and straws.
"Ooh, ooh! Me, me, me!" said Aang. He tried to make a run for it, but Zuko grabbed him by his robe.
"Hey! Your lesson's not over yet!" he told the Air Nomad. "Get back here!" He hoisted him up off the ground.
"Come on, Zuko," Suki said. "Just take a break. What's the big deal?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto asked as he lay on the top step, cigarette in his mouth.
"Fine," Zuko growled. He let go of Aang, who immediately ran for the watermelon in Katara's hands. "If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail-sloths all day, then go ahead!" He walked away.
"Maybe Zuko's right," Sokka said. "Even though we got back from Konoha a few days ago, we've done nothing but sit around the house. It's made us kinda lazy."
"And do you suggest we do?" Azula asked as she walked to the stairs.
"I know just the thing." He stood up and pulled his clothes off, revealing swim trunks underneath. "Let's hit the beach and party!"
Naruto groaned. "No. Please, let's not do that."
"What's the matter? Can't swim?" Suki asked the blonde.
He looked at her. "Please remember the fact that if we want to experience a stampede of Fangirls, all I have to do is get wet. I'd rather not go that again, thank you."
"Yeah, we heard what happened at Tóng," Katara said with a giggle.
"Anyway, it's decided. Let's go to the beach!" Aang shouted. They all grabbed the necessary stuff and went down. Naruto decided to stay on the cliffs and work on his book. Jiraiya decided to help a little bit.
The others went down to the beach. Sokka leapt in first, hitting the water with a splash. Katara decided to surf the waves using her Waterbending to make a surfboard out of ice. Suki decided to sit on a blanket and relax. Azula also sat on a blanket, but she was further back so she could watch all the chaos.
"Check out my Appa sand sculpture," Aang told them as he finished said sculpture. It truly did look like Appa, complete with arrow and horns. Even Appa (the real one) was admiring it. Akela took one look and went back to sunning himself.
"Not bad, baldy," Toph complimented him. "But I've been working on my Sandbending. You're gonna love this." She bent the sand to form a fairly big replica of Ba Sing Se.
He walked closer to it and peered down, amazed at what he saw. "Wow, you even made a little Earth King and Bosco."
"Try and top that, Sokka," she challenged him as he worked on his own sculpture.
"Oh, I know I'm not going to beat that," he replied. "But here's mine." He stepped, reveling a sand sculpture that no one really knew was.
"Is that a…blubbering blob monster?" Aang asked as he looked at it.
"It's Suki," he answered, shocking the Airbender.
Both he and Toph started laughing. "Suki, we'll all understand if you break up with him over this," Toph told her.
"I think it's sweet," the Kyoshi Warrior replied, getting her a kiss from Sokka.
"It's the thought that counts," Azula agreed.
"But it doesn't even look—" Aang began to say, only to be interrupted when a fireball came out of nowhere and smashed into the sculpture. Looking through the dust cloud, he saw Zuko leap off the cliffs, shooting fireballs at him. He leapt across the Ba Sing Se sculpture that got hit by a fireball and hid behind his Appa sculpture.
"What are you doing?" he asked Zuko, who had landed on the sand and went after him.
"Teaching you a lesson!" he answered, throwing another fireball at him. He leapt out of the way, letting it destroy the sculpture. He leapt for the cliffs and Zuko followed by climbing up them.
"What happened?" Katara asked as she landed back on the beach.
"Zuko decided to stage a surprise attack," Azula said like it was nothing too dangerous. "He's chasing Aang right now."
"We're going after them, aren't we?" Naruto asked from above. His only answer was the others running back up to the house. "Come on, Jiraiya," he told the Toad Sage as he stood up.
As Aang ran for his life, he ducked down to avoid a fireball thrown at him. He ran up a big rock and leapt into the top of a nearby tree. Zuko leapt over the rock and onto the ground, bending another fireball at him. He leapt for the roof as the fireball hit the tree, setting the leaves on fire.
"Get a grip before I blast you off this roof!" he told Zuko, who joined him on the roof via climbing.
"Go ahead and do it!" the Scarred Dragon replied. He threw another burst of fire at him, forcing him back over the roof. He hopped over an edge and then slid down the other side before leaping into the house through a window.
He skidded through a doorway and hid behind a nearby dresser. As he peeked past the edge, he saw Zuko crash down from the roof and take a stance. He gave the dresser a hard shove and sent it flying at him, which he destroyed effortlessly.
He followed Aang into the hallway. Bending his fire into circles, he set the surrounding area on fire. He then augmented the fire into a tunnel and sent towards the Airbender. He kept on running, but the tunnel soon caught up with him. He reacted by using his Airbending to extinguish the fire where he stood.
"Enough!" he shouted, bending the air into a tunnel of his own. It barreled its way towards Zuko, extinguishing the fire and sending him flying out of the house. He crashed into a tree and fell to the ground.
"What's wrong with you?" Katara demanded as the others stood in front of him. "You've could've hurt Aang!"
"He wasn't even trying," Jiraiya commented.
"Now's not the time," Naruto told him.
"What's wrong with me?!" Zuko repeated as he stood back. "What's wrong with all of you? How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away?" Everyone (except for Naruto, Azula, and Jiraiya) just stared at him. "…Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?"
"What's going on?" Azula asked.
"About Sozin's Comet, I was actually gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord after it came," Aang admitted.
"After?" she repeated.
"What?" Naruto asked, completely surprised.
"I'm not ready," the Air Nomad confessed. "I need more time to master Firebending."
"And frankly, your Earthbending could use some work too," Toph told him, making him grimace.
"Aang, hold still," Naruto told him. "I'm going to kill you." He yelped and stepped away. He was still weary of the Paragon, but it wasn't because of what was inside of him. In fact, after he had told them about the Kyūbi, they took it rather well (Sokka had stated that considering the things they had gone through, a demon fox sealed inside him was still surprising but not by much). He was still nervous around the blonde because of what he did in Konoha.
"So, you all knew Aang was going to wait?" Zuko asked the others.
"I didn't," Jiraiya answered.
"Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord now, he's going to get killed," Sokka stated.
"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the Comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war," Katara tried to explain what Aang was thinking. "But they pretty much won the war when Naruto took control of Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse."
"Somebody always says it," both Naruto and Jiraiya thought.
"You're wrong," Zuko told her, turning away. "It's about to get worse than you can even imagine."
"What do you mean?"
"The day before the eclipse, my father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It was what I dreamed about for so many years. My father had finally accepted me back."
(Flashback)
He walked into the room and made his way to his place. "Welcome, Prince Zuko," Ozai greeted him. "We waited for you." He walked up the stairs and stood at his father's right side. He bowed once and then sat down. He noticed that Azula was sitting on the other side and that Naruto was leaning against a nearby pillar. However, he also noticed that Yāo Jing was sitting with the generals. "General Shinu, your report."
"Thank you, my Liege." He stood up and walked to the other end of the map. "Ba Sing Se is still under our control. However, Earthbender rebellions have prevented us from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom?"
"What is your recommendation?"
"Our armies are spread too thin, but once the eclipse is over and the invasion defeated, we should transfer more domestic forces into the Earth Kingdom."
"Hmm, Prince Zuko," he said to his son. "You've been among the Earth Kingdom commoners. Do you think that adding more troops will stop these rebellions?"
He broke eye contact and look down at his lap. "The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything as long as they have hope."
"…Yes, you're right. We need to destroy their hope."
"Well, that's not exactly what I—"
"I think you should take the hope, as well as their land and burned it to the ground," Yāo Jing said aloud.
Despite surprising mostly everyone by speaking aloud, Ozai seemed to take her words seriously. "Yes…yes you're right, Yāo Jing." He stood up from his seat and began to walk down the stairs. "Sozin's Comet is almost upon us, and on that day, it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred suns. No Bender will stand a chance against us."
"What are you suggesting, sir?" Shinu asked.
"When the Comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads," he told them. "Now, I will use it to end the Earth Kingdom permanently." That statement surprised Zuko, Azula, and Naruto. "From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands." He stated, walking across the map. "A fire that will destroy everything; and out of the ashes, a new world will be born, a world in which all the lands are Fire Nation, and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"
The generals began to clap at what he said, when Naruto spoke. "You'll be the supreme ruler of everything, huh?" he asked. "I take it that means you're planning on attacking the Elemental Countries as well?"
"Of course, I mean what I say, Lord Naruto," the Fire Lord answered. "I trust you will be there to help us conquer those lands."
He laughed at that. "You would have your ass handed to you within five minutes of getting there. Maybe less if any of the Countries decided to fight against you together. You think I can be the difference in your planned conquest of the Elemental Countries? There are thousands of people like me that can give even the best Firebenders a tough time. We're overstretched in the Earth Kingdom as it is. Attempting to expand the war into the Elemental Countries will be a fool's errand."
"I think you're overestimating your former home."
"No, you're underestimating them. But since you won't believe me, I'll just say this" He suddenly disappeared from everyone's view. But before anyone could do anything, he reappeared right next to Ozai, his jian resting its edge on his throat. "If you even think about setting your sights on the Elemental Countries, you will not live to see its shores," he threatened quietly.
"Lord Naruto, I beseech you to step down immediately, before you do something completely stupid!" said General Shinu nervously as the rest of the generals trembled in fear when they saw Naruto's eyes in a different shape. Once Naruto reluctantly sheathed his jian into the scabbard, General Shinu grabbed him by the shoulder and shook his head, but not before Naruto abruptly walked out of the room.
(End Flashback)
"I would've loved to see that," Jiraiya declared, looking at the blonde with pride and approval shining in his eyes. "Nice going, gaki." Naruto didn't say anything in reply, he just avoided eye contact.
"I can't believe this," Katara said as she absorbed everything Zuko, and Naruto had said.
"Oh, it gets even better," Naruto said in a fake cheerful voice. "Yāo Jing also plans to make the purge go more quickly. She's having an army mass at the northern part of the colony territories and move south. She had the Royal Flaming Asshole's complete approval."
"I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is pure evil," Sokka said.
"What am I going to do?" Aang asked.
"I know you're scared," Zuko told him as he stood up and walked over. "And I know you're not ready to save this side of the planet. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet comes, this side of the planet will be gone."
"Well, why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plan sooner?" he demanded as he turned around and walked away.
"That would be because we thought you were still going to fight him before the Comet came," Azula answered. "But apparently, you decided to keep us out of the loop."
"This is bad," the Avatar declared, cradling his head and falling to his knees. "This is really, really bad."
"Aang, you don't have to do this alone," Katara assured him.
"Yeah," Toph agreed as the others joined her. "If we all fight the Fire Lord together, we got a shot at taking him down."
"Ladies and gentlemen, Team Avatar is back!" Sokka declared.
Aang stood back up to face them. "Fighting the Fire Lord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together," he said. "But I wouldn't want to do it any other way." Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Katara all laughed as they walked over and have him a group hug.
"Come on, you guys," Katara told the others. "Being part of the group also means being part of group hugs."
While Zuko did join the hug, Naruto, Azula, and Jiraiya held back. "No thanks, I'll just hug my girlfriend," Naruto told them.
"Plus, I can see the incoming sky bison." Jiraiya said.
"What?" Aang asked. As if to answer his question, Appa flew in and landed right next to them. It kinda looked like he was trying to join the hug; the problem was he knocked everyone in the hug down. Both Jiraiya and Naruto got a laugh out of it.
After they managed to get Appa off, Zuko took Aang back into the courtyard. "There's one technique you need to know before facing my father," he told him. "It's how to redirect lightning. If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it." He explained as he showed the movements. "You turn your opponent's energy against them."
"That's like Waterbending," Aang noted as he followed the movements.
"Exactly, my uncle invented this technique himself by studying Waterbenders."
"So, have you ever redirected lightning before?"
"Twice, against Naruto and my father," he answered.
"What did it feel like?"
He stopped the movements. "Exhilarating…" he said, remembering the moments when he threw the lightning back at his opponents. "But it's also terrifying." Aang's hopeful smile fell. "You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body. But you know if you make the wrong move, it is over."
"Well, not over over," the Avatar said, trying to stay upbeat. "I mean there's always Katara and a little Spirit Water action, am I right?" he asked Katara, who was sitting nearby.
"Actually, I used it all up after Yāo Jing shot you," she told him.
"Oh."
"You'll have to take the Fire Lord's life before he takes yours," Zuko told him before walking away.
Yeah, I'll just do that," the Avatar muttered to himself.
Later, on the rocky part of the cliffs, Sokka was preparing for a training exercise. "Gather round, Team Avatar," he ordered as he put a watermelon over a mannequin. "In order to take out the Fire Lord-or in this case, the Melon Lord-our timing has to be perfect." He took a nearby stick and knelt. "First, Suki, Naruto, and I will draw his fire. Then Katara, Azula, and Zuko charge in with some liquidly hot offense," he explained as he drew out the plan in the dirt. "And while the Melon Lord is distracted, Aang swoops in…and bam!" He swiped the third line through the Melon Lord symbol. "He delivers the final blow."
"Uh…what about me and Jiraiya?" asked Toph.
"F.S.-sensei is sitting this one out. As for you, you're the Melon Lord's forces.
"So, I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?"
"You do whatever makes the training feel more realistic."
"Sweetness," she declared.
"Try not to go too overboard," Jiraiya told her.
When they were ready, Toph stood in front of the Melon with big rocks covered in grease and a couple of small fire pits. She also decided to laugh evilly. The others placed themselves in the lower section of the cliffs; the Melon Lord sat on the highest part.
Sokka looked out at the Melon Lord and then motioned the others to go. He, Suki, and Naruto charged forward, but were blocked by soldiers made out of stone. They swiftly cut them down or knocked them down and kept moving up. One of the big rocks was set on fire and thrown at them. Suki flipped over the top while Sokka and Naruto went around the sides.
"Watch it, Toph!" Sokka yelled up at her.
"I am not Toph! I am Melon Lord!" she replied before laughing evilly.
"Remember that thing I said about not going overboard?" Jiraiya called out from his observation spot.
She lit another rock and threw it at the second team. Zuko, Azula, and Katara dodged it and kept on running. They were surrounded by rock soldiers, and they decimated them with virtually no effort. Both teams continued to make their way up the slope.
"Now, Aang!" called Sokka.
Aang leapt from his spot and flew, staff ready. As he flew towards the Melon Lord, he looked at it and his feelings turned from anger into uncertainty. He landed in front of the target but stopped himself just before he struck the fatal blow. When he saw this, Naruto gave Jiraiya a discreet nod.
"What are you waiting for!?" Zuko demanded from behind him. "Take him out!"
"I can't," he said.
Sokka climbed up the slope until he stood in front of him. "What's wrong with you!?" he demanded. "If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lightning right now."
"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself."
He sighed. "Then we have no alternative."
"What?"
"Aang, kill the Melon Lord or Katara dies!" Jiraiya shouted from behind. Whipping his head around, he saw the Toad Sage held her in a tight grip and had a kunai at her throat. "Do it!"
"I can't! I can't kill him!" the Air Nomad protested. He couldn't just take a life like that. iI was sacred!
"Then she dies."
"Sokka, stop him!" he pleaded.
"Kill the Melon Lord, Aang, or let Katara die," Sokka told him coldly. "Those are your choices."
"But I can't do either of them."
"Then you've made your choice," Jiraiya declared. With no hesitation, he slit Katara's throat. He dropped her to the ground, the blood seeping out from her neck onto the rock. "Congratulations. Because of your hesitation, you've lost one of your teammates."
As Aang just stared in shock, Sokka drew his jian. "This is how it's done." He swung the sword once and the Melon Lord's head fell in half. "But thanks to you, my sister is dead."
"You could've stopped him!" he accused the Tribesman. "You just stood there!" He turned back to look at Katara's corpse and just stared at it.
"Let's go everyone," Naruto said. "This exercise is over." When that was said, the blood flowing out from Katara disappeared and she stood back up with no cut on her throat.
"What…How?" Aang tried to ask, completely stunned to see the Waterbender get back up.
"A Genjutsu," Jiraiya answered. "It was to make you think she was dead. I used it to see how you would react to the idea of having to kill someone to save one you know."
"And because of your indecisiveness, she was killed," Zuko told him.
"Wait, you knew?" he asked, looking over at the Scarred Dragon.
"We all did," Toph told him. "Naruto and Jiraiya told us what they were going to and ordered us not to interfere. This test was for you alone."
"And guess what?" Naruto said. "You failed."
Night had fallen as they ate their dinner. Aang sat away from the others as he stared down at his food. "I have a surprise for everyone!" Katara announced as she joined them with a rolled-up piece of paper.
"I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph crowed in triumph.
"…Where did that come from?" Azula asked out loud. Everyone else just shrugged their shoulders. They had no idea.
"Anyway," Katara continued. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this." She opened the paper, showing a painting of a baby on the beach, a big smile on his face. "Look at baby Zuko. Isn't he cute?" she cooed, making the others laugh, except for Zuko and Azula. "Oh, lighten up. I'm just teasing," she told him when she saw he wasn't laughing.
"That's not me," he told her. "It's my father."
"Huh…I can see the resemblance," Naruto stated as he looked at the picture.
"But he looks so sweet and innocent," Suki protested.
"Things change over time," Jiraiya told her with a serious tone, his face grim. He couldn't help but think of Orochimaru when he said those words.
"That sweet little kid grew up to be a monster," Azula stated.
"And the worst father in the history of fathers," Zuko added.
"But he's still a human being," Aang protested, getting everyone's attention.
"You're going to defend him?"
"No, I agree with you." He put his food down and stood up, turning to face them. "Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would probably be better off without him. But there's got to be another way."
"Like what?" the Scarred Dragon asked him.
"I don't know." He immediately got an idea and perked up. "Maybe we can make some pots of glue, and then I can use Gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't Bend anymore."
They just stared at him in silence. "…All those in favor of beating the stupidity out of him, say aye," Naruto said. Quite a few said it.
Aang took that as a sign that they didn't like his idea. "This goes against everything I learned from the monks," he said as he began to pace back and forth in the courtyard. "I can't just go wiping out people I don't like."
"Well, if you've got a good excuse, I don't think people will care," Sokka remarked.
"This isn't a joke, Sokka!" he yelled at his friend, his temper beginning to snap. "None of you understand the position I'm in!"
"Aang, we do understand," Katara said. "It's just—"
"It's just what, Katara?" he asked, cutting her off. "What?"
"We're trying to help!"
"Then when you figure out a way to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" he shouted at her.
"That's it!" Naruto unexpectedly roared. He lunged forward, grabbed Aang by the neck, and shoved him into the nearby rock wall. "You need to grow the fuck up, Aang, and stopped acting like a kid."
"But I am a kid!" the Air Nomad protested.
"No, you're not! You stopped being a kid the moment they told you that you were the Avatar. Ozai must die, accept that fact already!"
"And what if he asks for mercy? Or forgiveness?!" he asked the blonde.
"Doesn't matter. You kill him either way."
"Oh, like you did back in Konoha? That man asked for mercy from you. He practically begged you to let him live and you killed him!"
"THAT MAN DESERVED TO DIE!" Naruto roared at him.
"NO, HE DIDN'T!" he tried to roar back. Only his roar sounded weak in comparison
"Yes, he did," Jiraiya spoke up, getting their attention. "Naruto, let go of him."
Naruto growled his displeasure, but the Toad Sannin was firm. "Fine." He released Aang, letting him drop to the ground.
The Avatar looked up at Jiraiya "And how would you know if he deserved death?" he demanded as he rubbed his neck. He could still feel Naruto's grip on it.
Jiraiya stood up and walked over. He changed in those moments, showing his age. "I know better than anyone else. Orochimaru was part of the Sannin and my teammate. He performed experiments on people, people he had kidnapped. Some were even from Konoha. He would use them like guinea pigs and even killed some of them. All for the sake of achieving immortality and finding every single jutsu that was ever created. He eventually fled the village when his secrets were discovered and became a traitor."
"If he did all of that, then why didn't you kill him? Why did you let him run wild?"
His silence filled the air. "…Would you have been able to kill Sokka if he became a traitor? Or if Katara became one?"" he asked the Air Nomad.
"Of course not, they're my friends!"
"He was mine once too. That's why I couldn't kill him."
Aang tried to argue the point, but his mouth couldn't say any words. Finally, he gave a shout of frustration and walked away. "Aang, don't walk away from this!" Katara told him. She started after him, but Zuko stopped her.
"Let him go." He said to her. "He needs time to sort it out by himself."
Aang sat on the porch in a meditative position. Sitting on a table in front of him was food, water and four candles. As he meditated, Momo flew in and landed in front of him, placing his paws on his lap. "Hey, Momo," he said, petting the lemur's head. "I don't suppose you know what I should." Momo just squawked. "I didn't think so." He continued to meditate as the lemur moved to the side and put his head down.
Later, after the candles had been extinguished and he had fallen asleep, something had appeared off the shore. He woke up, walked to the railing and jumped down to the ground, waking up Momo in the process. The lemur flew after him he walked mechanically down to the beach. When he got to the shore and looked out at the island that had mysteriously appeared, he walked into the water and began to swim towards it.
When he saw what he was doing, Momo flew after him.
The next morning, everyone stood outside in the courtyard as Sokka packed everything into Appa's saddle. "Okay, that's everything," he declared as the sky bison ate his breakfast.
"No, it's not. Where's Aang?" Toph asked.
Everyone shared a look. "Oh boy, here we go," Naruto groaned. He just knew something like this was bound to happen.
"Less talking, more moving, gaki," Jiraiya told him as the others ran inside.
"Aang? Aang!" called Zuko as they climbed up one of the stairs.
"Come on, lazy bones, let's go," Toph shouted.
"Split up and look for him," Azula ordered. No one questioned the order.
As Azula, Toph, Naruto, and Zuko searched each room on one side of the house, the others did the same on the other side. But Aang was nowhere to be found. As Sokka wandered out onto the porch, he noticed something. "He left his staff," he announced as he picked up said staff. "That's so strange."
"Aang's not in the house," Zuko announced as the other party joined them.
"I think I know a way to find him." He held the staff out for Akela. "See if you can get his scent," he told the wolf. Akela sniffed the staff and then sniffed the air. He then jumped over the railing and onto the ground, following the trail he had. "Follow the wolf, people."
They ran out of the house and followed Akela down to the beach. "Hey, I see his footprints," Naruto told them. There were a set of footprints that came from the house to the shore.
"It ends here," Sokka noted. The trail ended at the waterline.
"So, he went for a midnight swim and never came back?" Suki suggested.
"Maybe he was captured," Katara suggested as well.
"There's no sign of a struggle," Jiraiya told her. He had enough experience to know what to look for if there was a struggle or fight, even on a bea
"I bet he ran away again," Toph said,
"Uh-uh. He left behind his gilder and Appa," Sokka said.
"Then what do you think happened to him, oh sleuthy one?"
"Maybe he's on a Spirit World journey."
"Wouldn't his body be here if he was?" Naruto asked the Tribesman. "I don't think even Aang is stupid enough to leave his body on a beach close to the water."
"Good point."
"Then he's got to be somewhere on Ember Island," Katara said. "Let's split up and look for him."
"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph declared as she grabbed hold of his arm, making the others stare. "What? Everyone else went on a life-changing field trip with Zuko. Now it's my turn."
"You do that, Toph," Naruto told her. "The Fucking Sadist and I will hold down the fort."
"And why are you doing that?" Azula asked.
He pointed to his hair. "I would stick out like a sore thumb." He pointed at the Toad Sage. "And he would make a pass at every woman that comes into his eyesight."
"I take offense at that," Jiraiya told him.
"It's true, isn't it?"
After they took the fight back to the house, the others got to work. Azula and Sokka took Appa and flew around the perimeter of the island. Katara and Suki checked the towns, one in which they encountered actors from the play-that-shall-not-be-named (they had to refrain themselves from causing a massacre). Toph and Zuko checked the beaches. Toph tried to tell Zuko her life story before he told her that they should focus on looking for Aang. After she heard that, she declared this to be "the worst field trip ever."
But they didn't find him. They made their way back to the beach house, where Sokka and Azula met up with them. "Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Aang either," Sokka said, jumping down to the ground.
"No," Zuko answered. "It's like he just…disappeared."
"Hey, wait a minute," Toph said. "Has anyone noticed Momo is missing too?"
Sokka looked at Akela. "I thought I told you that you couldn't eat the lemur," he said. The wolf managed to look offended and barked his protest. "Don't give me that. I've seen you eyeballing Momo."
"Sokka, Akela didn't eat Momo," Naruto told him. "I think we would've noticed if he did." There would've been a great deal of screeching in panic from Momo and running away from the wolf.
"Yeah, Momo's probably with Aang," Katara agreed.
"Besides, we have a real problem here," Zuko said. "Aang is nowhere to be found and the Comet is only two days away."
"Then what should we do?"
He stood up. "I don't know." The others just kept looking up at him. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Well, you, Azula, and Naruto are kind of the experts on Aang," the Waterbender told him.
"Yeah, if anyone's got experience tracking the Avatar…it's you guys," Toph agreed.
"How kind of you to notice," Azula remarked with slight sarcasm.
"Be nice," Naruto told her. "Although, we should the one with the most experience speak first." He looked at Zuko, making everyone do the same.
"…Sokka, is everything packed up and on Appa?" he finally asked.
"You know it is. You helped," he answered.
"Then everyone saddle up." They all climbed aboard their respective animals (Zuko, Naruto, and Azula on Fǎn Yìng, everyone else on Appa) and took off, flying away from Ember Island and from the Fire Nation.
"Why are we heading to the Earth Kingdom?" Suki asked. "Aang's not there."
"Just trust me," he told her as they flew on.
(Location: Fire Nation Capital)
A ship stood ready at the docks, waiting for Ozai. The Fire Lord was being carried to the ship by palanquin. A good distance behind him was another palanquin; this one carried his recently legitimized daughter, Yāo Jing.
As they passed soldiers bowing low to the ground (their heads were touching the pavement), Yāo Jing felt that she was getting there slower than her father. "Come on you idiots! Faster!" she ordered the bearers, who began running to the ship.
By the time she had gotten there, Ozai had already exited his palanquin and walked up the steps to the ship. "Sorry I'm late, father," she apologized after she ran up the stairs and knelt. "Good palanquin bearers are so hard to come by these days. So, is everything ready for our departure?"
"There has been a change of plans, Yāo Jing," Ozai told her.
"What?"
"I've decided to lead the fleet of airships to Ba Sing Se alone. You will remain here in the Fire Nation."
"But I thought we were going to do this together. At least let me have command of the second force." She almost begged with that last sentence but managed to refrain herself.
"My decision is final."
"You can't treat me like this," she protested, standing up. "You can't treat me like a castoff, like you did with Zuko and Azula!"
"Yāo Jing, silence yourself."
"But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I DESERVE TO BE AT YOUR SIDE!"
"Yāo Jing!" he barked once. She closed her mouth, crushing the next protest she had, and lowered her head. "Listen to me. I need you to watch over the homeland. It's a very important job that I can only entrust to you."
"Really?" she asked, a small amount of hope showing in her voice.
He turned around to face her. "And for your loyalty, I've decided to declare you the new Fire Lord."
"Fire Lord Yāo Jing? It does sound appropriate, but what about you?" she asked him. If she was to be the Fire Lord, what did that mean for her father?
"Fire Lord Ozai is no more," he told her as Fire Sages began to dress him in armor. "Just as the Bending Countries will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of these lands." A helmet was placed on his head. "From this moment on, I shall be known as the Phoenix King!" He raised his hands up into the air.
A giant banner was raised up behind him with the emblem of a phoenix on it. Imperial Firebenders in black armor raised smaller banners with the same emblem next to the flag of the Fire Nation. Two Firebenders bent their fire into the pots at the bottom of the poles, causing fire to sprout out of phoenix's heads on the side of the poles.
The crowd bowed before the Phoenix King. Yāo Jing did so too, but inside, she felt cheated. She grew up believing that the position of the Fire Lord was the position that held the most power. She had just gotten that position, but her father gave it to her like it was old and boring.
The one who held the most power now was the Phoenix King.
(Location: Earth Kingdom)
"We're here," Zuko announced as they flew to a tavern in a forest. They landed nearby and got off, able to hear the music coming from inside.
"You guys go on in," Naruto told the others. "Jiraiya and I will stay out here." They started walking to the tavern.
"Where am I out here?" Jiraiya asked the blonde.
"To help me make sure the animals don't do anything and to keep me company."
"That's fair." He noticed something standing behind the Fire Paragon. "Naruto, look out!"
He turned around and saw what was standing in front of him. "Hello, ugly," he greeted.
The rest walked into the tavern. A fight was going on inside. "And the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?" Katara asked Zuko.
"June," he answered, pointing at a young woman with black hair, a skull adornment holding her top-knot, and snake tattoos on both of her shoulders. She sat at a table with a cup of tea in hand.
"Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole," Sokka remembered as they watched her fight against two opponents while still holding onto the tea.
"Mole?" repeated Suki. "Her skin is flawless."
"No, she has this giant mole creature she rides around on."
"The shirshu," Zuko said. "It's the only animal that can track Aang's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot of finding him."
June dodged her opponent's punches while also backing up. She tossed the cup into the air, grabbed hold of the opponent as he threw another punch and tossed him at a nearby table, taking him out of the fight. She grabbed the cup as it came back down and drank with both ease and nonchalance.
"That was impressive," Azula said.
"Yeah," Toph agreed. "I don't know who this June lady is, but I like her."
(Location: Aang & Momo)
Aang woke to the feeling of Momo licking his face. "Hey Momo," he greeted as he sat up. "I just had the strangest dream." That was when he noticed the surrounding area looked a little different. "Wait." Both he and Momo looked out to the sea.
Ember Island wasn't anywhere in sight. "Where are we?"
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you have sent me.
Okay, I know that there are going to be a few of you who will be disappointed about how I wrote the reaction of Team Avatar to the whole Kyūbi thing. But let's face the facts, they've had to deal with a panda spirit that can turn into a grotesque monster, meeting a past life, pirates, a giant fish-monster made out of water, wild animals that will either kill them or help them somehow, sneaking into a city and then trying to bust someone free, getting stuck in a swamp that showed them people they will meet or have known, escaping a giant owl who is obsessive about his library (and is also somewhat homicidal), fighting off a very big water serpent before helping someone give birth, destroying a giant drill, politics while trying to find their bison, escaping a coup and pretending they're dead, sneaking the enemy's own land, dealing with an old woman with a hell of a grudge, leading an invasion and escaping when it failed, accepting their former enemies as allies, finding out that dragons still do exist, arranging a prison escape, and of course, being kidnapped and taken to the other side of the planet and getting involved in a plan to kill a traitor. Finding out that one of your allies has a nine-tailed demon fox sealed inside him is rather tame after all that.
The reason I have wrote in a second force of Fire Nation soldiers intent on burning the Earth Kingdom down is quite simple: I needed something else so I could use all the characters effectively and in such a way that they don't overcrowd each other.
If you think about it, Naruto is right. The minute Aang was told of him being the Avatar was the same moment he should've realized that his childhood was over. If he had realized that and acted like it, some of the more stupid things would probably never have happened. I know there are going to be some of you who will argue that he was only twelve, it doesn't matter. It was time to put on the big boy pants, and he didn't.
I'll see you all next chapter!