35
Everyone walked along the ground as they continued onward to the Western Air Temple. The ground was barren, and the climate was scorching. They had been walking for hours, and everyone was tired. On the trip over, those who weren't really part of the GAang had talked together, getting to know each other better as they were going to be staying at the temple for some time until they were able to leave for Aang to continue his mission. The entire time, Kotaro had stayed quiet, his eyes blank and dull, not saying a word to anyone. Xana, who had known him for years, was very concerned. She had never seen Kotaro like that, and it made her uneasy. The only time she could get him to say anything at all to her was when she asked him what happened, and he brushed her off with a grunt. She kept poking and prodding him with questions, hoping to get some kind of answer, but he didn't say anything. Eventually, Sokka had to stop her so she wouldn't make Kotaro feel any worse than he already did. When Xana asked Sokka what had happened to make Kotaro act that way, he promised to explain it later. He didn't really want to be the one to break the news to her about Hoshiko's death, her real honest death that he had witnessed with his own eyes, but Kotaro was hardly in a state to talk to anyone, so he would have to do it. Aang swore that when they got to the temple and everyone had settled in, they would hold a memorial service for her, and that was all he could do at the moment, but it was enough. Hopefully.
"This is humiliating." Katara said.
"Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation, or having to walk to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka asked.
"Both." Katara replied.
"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." Aang said, reaching over and affectionately petting the bison.
"I wonder how the rest of the troops are." Teo said.
"They're probably on their way to a prison." Haru said, "Seems like my dad just got out, and now he's going back in."
"I miss Pipsqueak." The Duke said sadly.
"I miss not having the scales on the bottom of my feet chip." Xana replied, glaring at her calloused, scaly feet.
"Hey!" Toph said brightly, "We're here!"
In front of them was the edge of a huge cliff.
"Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked." Katara said.
"No, she's right." Aang said with smile, "We are here!"
Everyone looked around, seeing no sign of any temple on the ground they stood on.
"Wow… it's amazing." Toph breathed in awe.
Farther along the ledge of the cliff, Zuko landed the war balloon and hid it among the trees in the natural foliage growing not too far away from the Western Air Temple. Hoshiko looked out at the temples, amazed by the sight. The architectural designs were similar to that of any temple you would find in the Fire Nation, but instead of a deep red color, they were a color of green, like the buildings in the Earth Kingdom, but they all hung at the bottom of the cliff, so they all looked as if they were upside down.
"They're beautiful." She said as she gazed at them from Zuko's camp. He looked over at her, seeing that the bandages he had applied to her shoulder were starting to look a little worn out.
"You should change those." He said as he grabbed a rope and walked over to the ledge, tossing it out after he had tied one end of it to a tree. She looked at the bandages on her shoulder and grimaced.
"They're starting to get pretty gross, huh?" She said, she turned around, "Where'd you put them?"
"In the same bag I put everything else in." Zuko said, he tugged on the rope a couple of times to see if it was secure enough for him to use. Hoshiko went over to the bag in question and easily found the bandages. "I don't think you'd want to go back to the others with bad bandages."
Hoshiko looked over at him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to see the temples and where the avatar decided to camp." Zuko said, he grabbed onto the rope and started to lower himself down, "You should probably stay here."
"Pffft." Hoshiko scoffed, walking over to him, "Just because my shoulder's a little hurt doesn't mean I can't come with you." Zuko raised his eyebrow at her, as if to ask 'Oh, really?'
"Lift your arms above your head." He told her, she did so, and grimaced, groaning as she lifted up her arm that had the injured shoulder. She brought her other hand to it as she lowered her arm down. "You can't come."
"Oh, fine." Hoshiko said, standing at the edge as Zuko lowered himself down. She walked away, going back to the bandages and preparing to unwrap the ones she had on at the moment.
Zuko lowered himself down lower and lowered himself down, carefully sliding down the rope as he looked at the statues of once-famed air benders whose names nobody remembered anymore.
He had been here once before, and could remember it as if it had been yesterday.
"What a stunning view." Iroh said as he looked out at the expanse beneath the temple.
"The only view I'm interested in seeing is the avatar in chains." Zuko said, glaring out at the misty lands below. His scar was covered up with a bandage.
Iroh frowned sadly at his nephew, and went over to him, "You know, the avatar hasn't been seen for a hundred years." He said, "The chances of finding him here are very slim."
"First, we'll check each of the air temples." Zuko said, "Then we'll scour the world, searching even the most remote locations until we find him."
"Prince Zuko…" Iroh said softly, "It's only been a week since your banishment. You should take some time to heal and rest."
"What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation?" He snapped at him, "The only way to regain my honor is to find the avatar. So I will." Iroh sighed at his nephew's stubbornness and walked away, going to check and see if any of the soldiers had found a trace of the avatar, not that he expected them to.
Zuko sighed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose. Looking back on it now, he couldn't believe how he had behaved towards his uncle and to his men. His hunt for the avatar had ruled his life back then. Now he knew better than to let something as simple as honor blind him from what he needed.
He looked up when he heard the sound of the avatar's bison, and ducked behind the corner of a wall as the animal landed on a building further away with all its passengers aboard. Zuko wanted to approach them to see if he could join their group, but he wasn't sure how to approach them after all the years he'd spent chasing after them, so he turned and left, going back to his camp about a half mile away from where they had landed.
Teo looked up at the high ceiling of the balcony he and the others stood on. "It's so different from the Northern Temple." He said, able to see how the architecture had differed due to the area. Excitedly, he thought aloud, "I wonder if there are any secret rooms?"
Haru ran ahead of him, "Let's go check it out." He said, Teo, The Duke, and Xana all followed him. Aang went to join them, but was stopped when Katara came out, using his staff to block his way.
"You guys go." Katara said when the others noticed she had stopped him, "I think we need to talk about some things." They nodded and headed up a flight of stairs, Teo getting some help from Haru, as it was very difficult to wheel up a flight of stairs on his own.
"Hey Duke, I'll race you!" Xana said excitedly as she took off down the halls.
"I told you! It's The Duke!" He said as he, Haru, and Teo all went after her.
"Why can't I go?" Aang asked Katara once they were gone.
"We need to decide what we're going to do now." Katara said, "And since you're the avatar, maybe you should be a part of this." Aang followed Katara over to where Sokka, Kotaro, and Toph were already sitting.
"Fair enough." He said, although he looked like he wasn't pleased with being in a meeting instead of exploring the temples, "So, what's the new plan?"
"Well, if you ask me," Sokka said, "The new plan is the old plan. You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."
"Oh. Yeah. That's great. No problem. I'll just do that." Aang said with a sarcastic bite.
"Aang, no one said it's going to be easy." Katara said, trying to comfort him.
"Well, it's not even gonna be possible!" Aang said, "Where am I supposed to get a fire bending teacher?"
"Um…" Katara thought for a moment, then said, "We could look for Jeong Jeong!"
"Yeah, right." Aang said, "Like we're ever gonna run into Jeong Jeong again!" Kotaro looked at him oddly.
"Who's…? Oh, never mind." Toph stopped herself from asking, "If it's important, I'll find out."
Aang jumped up, "Oh well! Guess we can't come up with anybody." He said, smiling as he thought the meeting was over, "Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" He grabbed his staff and began to run towards the edge of the balcony, Momo following him eagerly as he opened up his glider and took off, the lemur just behind him.
"What's up with him?" Toph asked once he was gone.
Sokka put his hand to his chin in thought, "There's gotta be someone who can teach him fire bending." He said, trying to think of who might be able to do it.
Katara looked over at Kotaro, who still had that dull, dead look in his eyes. "Kotaro, are you okay?" She asked him, "Ever since the invasion, you've been weirdly quiet." Sokka and Toph looked to the Shinjun, waiting for him to say something, but he didn't respond to Katara's question. He simply stood up and walked away from them. Katara looked after him worriedly. She turned to her brother, "Sokka, did something happen when he went with you to find the Fire Lord?" Sokka hadn't told her anything about their trip to the Fire Lord's bunker other than that Azula had found them and that it had all been a trap from the beginning. Toph looked away sadly, and Sokka made the same face as he looked at his sister. He went over to her.
"Katara, we need to talk…"
"What do you mean you won't come with me?!" Zuko asked Hoshiko frantically.
Hoshiko winced at his loud tone of voice and stilled her twitching ear before turning her attention back to her bandages, "I mean exactly that." She said, "Zuko, they shouldn't accept you just because I give them the okay. They need to accept you for who you are, and I can't help with that."
"It would be easier if you just came with me!" Zuko said.
"Yes, and it will be harder for them to completely trust you on my word alone." She said, "It might get you a good start, but they won't accept you as readily as you think they would."
"I know that," Zuko said, beginning to pace, "But I have no idea how to approach them. I can't just walk up and say 'Hi, mind if I join your group?'! They all hate me!"
"Kotaro's in their group." Hoshiko said, "He doesn't hate you. You and he are friends, right?"
"I guess…" Zuko muttered. Hoshiko looked at him pitifully and gave one last tug of her bandages to make sure they were secure enough to stay on her arm, and then turned to him.
"Okay, why don't we just do a little roleplaying?" She asked, Zuko looked at her oddly as she turned to face him from where she sat, "Pretend I'm everyone, and just say to me what you plan to say to them. I'll help you work out a good way to talk to them, okay?" Zuko nodded and turned to her. "Whenever you're ready." She looked up at him with an eager face, ready to hear what all he had to say.
Zuko took in a breath of air, then let it out before getting ready to come up with something to say to the avatar and his group. "Um… Hello, Zuko here. But, I guess you probably already know me… sort of." Hoshiko winced a little at his greeting, but made a motion for him to keep going, "Um… So! The thing is, I have a lot of fire bending experience, and I'm considered to be pretty good at it. Well, you've seen me. You know, when I was attacking you?" Hoshiko grimaced and shook her head, telling him it was a bad idea to mention that, "Uh… yeah. I guess I should apologize for that."
"Yeah." Hoshiko said in agreement.
"Uh… but anyway, I'm good now." Zuko continued, "I mean, I thought that I was good before, but I realize I was bad, but anyway…" He let out a sigh, "I think it's time I joined your group, and taught the avatar fire bending." Hoshiko looked at him, her expression looking like she was still waiting to hear the rest. She was a little surprised when he didn't say anything else. "Well? What's your answer?"
"Um… it could be better." Hoshiko said, wincing a little bit. Zuko sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Yeah, I think so, too." He said, he gripped at his hair in frustration, "How am I supposed to convince these people I'm on their side?" Hoshiko shrugged, not really sure how to go about the matter. Zuko paused for a moment, rubbing his jaw in thought, "What would Uncle do?" Putting on a phony voice similar to his uncle's he said, "Zuko, you have to look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself." Hoshiko let out a snort of laughter at his impersonation, and Zuko spared himself a grin.
"What does that even mean, anyway?" She asked him. Zuko paused.
"I don't know." He said dejectedly, "Even when I'm talking for him I can't understand what he means!" Hoshiko smirked a little at his answer. Zuko thought again, "What would Azula do?"
"Oh, I know this one." Hoshiko said, standing up. She put on a fake air of arrogance as she used a higher-pitched voice and said, "Listen, avatar. I can join your group, or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends. Your choice." Zuko laughed at her impersonation of his sister, and she laughed with him. Once they were finished laughing, Zuko turned to her.
"But, seriously, what can I do?" He asked. Hoshiko thought for a moment.
"Well… just go for a serious approach, I guess." She said, shrugging one shoulder because it hurt to shrug them both. "Tell them the truth, and be honest. And I wouldn't try and mention anything about attacking them, because that could lead down a very bad road."
"Right…" Zuko said, not really sure if her advice would help.
Not too far away from them, a badger frog let out a croak.
Kotaro lay down in his sleeping bag, not feeling the energy to do anything else. He heard the frantic shouts of Teo as he kept zooming down the hall, his brakes had broken in the race with the others, and he was going down the hallway straight to a wall.
"I can't stop!" He shouted to the others. Haru, thinking quickly, created a very steep ramp of earth that went upwards, and Teo went up. He flinched as he approached the top, thinking he would be thrown off, but it was too steep for that, and he came rolling backwards safely. Haru came up to him and he smiled at him in thanks. "I must have broken my brakes. I'll need to work on those."
The Duke and Xana came up to them, "You okay?" Xana asked, concerned that he might have been seriously hurt.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Teo said.
Everyone heard a loud gurgling noise and looked over at The Duke, who flushed embarrassedly and put his hand over his stomach.
"What?" He asked them, "I haven't had anything to eat since this morning."
"I think we could all use a little food." Haru said, he put his hands on the handles on the back of Teo's wheelchair. He turned him around and they headed back to the main area to see if there was anything for them to eat. As Xana walked, she noticed Kotaro's sleeping bag not too far away. She glanced back at the others, who had run into Sokka. She didn't hear what they were saying and went to check on her friend.
"Hey, Kota?" She called quietly, hoping to get his attention. He didn't answer, for a moment, she thought he might be asleep, but saw his eyes were open and walked over to him. "Are you okay?" He didn't respond, and she became worried. Thinking he was like this because of the failed invasion, she tried to lift his spirits. "So we lost the invasion. It's no big deal, really. There'll be another chance for Aang to fight the Fire Lord." He still didn't respond. She looked at him sadly, unaware of the conversation that was going on between Sokka and the others.
"A memorial service?" Teo wanted to know why they were having one, "But we didn't lose anyone in the invasion."
"We did lose someone in the invasion." Sokka explained, "Someone really important to us. And when I say that, I mean she was a really good friend. She wasn't with us on the invasion force, but we saw her later on, and… well, it's hard to explain. We're doing this service to pay her respects in her death."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to attend." Haru said. He pushed Teo along, "Come on, let's go."
"Katara's by the fountain." Sokka said to them over his shoulder as they left. He noticed Xana wasn't with them and saw the reptilian girl sitting down next to where Kotaro lay. She was rubbing his shoulder, trying to comfort him. He looked at him sadly and walked over, soon able to hear what she was saying to him.
"There's always another day to fight." Xana said, "And if we aren't the ones to take out Ozai, then there'll be the next generation. You shouldn't be so upset over one bad fight. It was just one battle, not the entire war."
"Kotaro," Sokka called his name. Xana turned her head towards him, but Kotaro didn't move, "We're about to hold her service. Come on." Xana jumped when Kotaro pushed himself up from his sleeping bag and got out. Xana quickly got up and followed Kotaro as he walked down the hallway. She looked at Sokka confusedly.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"We're holding a memorial service for Hoshiko." Sokka said, Xana suddenly stopped in her tracks. Sokka looked back at the reptilian Shinjun, who looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"You're… You're lying, right?" She asked him, she made a small smile come on her face, "This is some kind of joke, right?" Kotaro stopped ahead of them, and looked back at Xana. "I mean, I thought it was weird that she wasn't with you guys at the invasion, but… she's not dead… right?"
"She's dead, Xana." Kotaro said, speaking his first words since the invasion. They both looked at him, and Sokka saw how tired he looked, and tears formed in his eyes as he said, "…I was the one that took her life." Xana looked at his eyes, searching for any sign that he was lying, that it wasn't true. She didn't find it. She let out a choked sob, and Kotaro went over to her, his arms embracing her as she leaned into him, beginning to cry into his shoulder, sobbing loudly. She said incoherent things as she cried, most of them were different questions asking "Why?" or "How?" Kotaro didn't move as she cried, letting her release all her emotions. He was quiet the entire time. Once she was calm enough, they began walking through the hallways, where Aang and the others waited to give Hoshiko their respects.
Not long after the ceremony was over, Aang went out to try and cheer himself up by using his glider to fly around the temple, weaving in and out of the inverted towers. He had been doing this for hours, and after a while, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Kotaro began to seek him out. They all got on Appa and flew around until they saw Aang and began to follow him as he went around the spires of the temple.
"Aang, can we talk about you learning fire bending now?" Katara called up to him from Appa's saddle.
"What?" Aang called back, "The wind is, uh, too loud in my ears! But check out this loop!" Aang used his air bending and performed a rather impressive loop-de-loop among the towers. Kotaro sighed at the sight of him. It was clear he didn't want to discuss the matter, but you had to give him points for trying to avoid the subject with air bending.
"Aang!" Sokka yelled up at him, louder than Katara, "I think we should be making some plans about our future!"
Aang, seeing that they weren't going to give this up, called back, "Okay!" He flew over to the fountain where they first landed, the others following him. "We can do that while I show you the giant pai-sho table." Everyone began to get off Appa as Aang put away his glider, "And you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!"
"I think that will have to wait." Toph said, everyone looked at her oddly, and she pointed at something behind Appa, who moved to reveal a shaggy-haired Prince Zuko standing on the same ledge as they were. How had they not noticed him?
"Um… Hey." He greeted awkwardly, everyone immediately put up their defenses, except for Kotaro, who did nothing. He knew how Zuko really was, and had no intention of fighting him, "I heard you guys flying around down there, so… I just thought I'd wait for you here." Appa went up to the fire bender, and gave him a big, affectionate lick. Zuko quickly wiped the bison saliva off his face, not noticing how Aang looked at him in shock, "I know you must be surprised to see me here-"
"Not really, since you've followed us all over the world." Sokka bit out. Zuko winced a little at the mention of it.
"Right… Well, uh…" He wasn't sure how to start. Hoshiko said to be honest, and it was probably best if he could get his point across as fast as possible, "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is… that I've changed. And I, uh, I'm good now. And, well, I think I should join your group- oh, and I can teach fire bending… to you." He looked at Aang when he said the last part, "See, I, uh-"
"You wanna what now?" Toph asked in surprise.
"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you?" Katara snapped at him, "I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!"
"Yeah!" Sokka said in agreement, "All you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang!"
"I trust him." Kotaro said, his comment shocking everyone. He met their gaping faces with a shrug, "What? I met him a couple times before. He's a good guy."
"Clearly you met him under different circumstances." Sokka said, giving him a small glare.
"I've done some good things!" Zuko said quickly, going off of what Kotaro said, hoping it would gain the trust of the others, "I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba-Sing-Se, but I set him free! That's something!" Appa gave him another lick once he was finished.
"See? Good guy." Kotaro said.
"Appa does seem to like him." Toph said.
"He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him." Sokka said, "I'm not buying it."
Zuko hung his head a little, "I can understand why you wouldn't trust me. And I know I've made some mistakes in the past-"
"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka growled.
"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" Katara snapped, glaring at him.
"Look, I admit I've done some awful things." Zuko said, bringing his hand up to his forehead, "I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after you, I'm gonna try to stop-"
"Wait! You sent Combustion Man after us?!" Sokka shouted angrily, pulling out his boomerang. Kotaro looked at him in surprise, not expecting that piece of information.
"Well, that's not his name, but-" Zuko was cut off.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!" Sokka said sarcastically.
"He's not my friend!" Zuko said quickly.
"That guy attacked us in the middle of the night out of nowhere!" Kotaro snapped, now angered with the former prince of the Fire Nation.
"And that guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph growled.
Zuko was about to say something, but stopped, realizing that this was an argument he couldn't win. He looked over at Aang, who had remained silent for all of this, "Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me."
Aang looked at the others, all of them showing their fury on their faces. Sokka shook his head, telling Aang it was a bad idea to simply let Zuko into their group. He turned back to the scarred prince, "There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us." Zuko's expression fell to one of despair.
"You need to get out of here. Now." Katara said, wanting for Zuko to get out of her sight as soon as possible.
Zuko's despair turned to an expression of determination and he said, "I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!"
"Either you leave, or we attack." Sokka said, pointing his boomerang at him. Zuko saw that there was no way he could get them to trust them so easily, and he expected something of a fight, but this…
"If you won't accept me as a friend," He said, getting down on his knees and holding out his wrists, "Then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner." It was the least he could do after everything he'd done to them.
"No, we won't!" Katara said, pulling out water from her canteens and making it wash out over him, throwing him onto his back. "Get out of here and don't come back! And if we ever see you again… well… we'd better not see you again!" Zuko, seeing how resolved they were going to be, hung his head and made to get up as they walked away, leaving him to stay there soaked in his clothes. Kotaro stayed behind and went over to the prince, holding out his hand to him. Zuko looked at him in surprise. Kotaro just stayed silent, waiting for him to take his hand, which he readily did.
"Thanks." He said as Kotaro helped him out. As Zuko stood up, he caught a whiff of an all too familiar scent. His eyes widened, and he suddenly jumped back from Zuko, covering his mouth and nose with his hand, his eyes wide. Zuko looked at him in confusion as Kotaro stared at the ground, "What's wrong?"
"…I-I'm sorry." Kotaro said quietly. Zuko saw him force a smile on his face as his eyes began to fill with tears, "My mind must be playing tricks on me… I thought I smelled something that…" He trailed off, and Zuko saw his expression was a mixture of guilt, depression, and fear that he might be going crazy, "Never mind. Forget it." Kotaro quickly wiped his eyes before he looked back at Zuko, his smile disappearing. "Look, you should leave before anyone else sees you." Zuko nodded and began walking back to his camp. As he walked by, Kotaro caught the scent of Hoshiko again, and he visibly flinched. He closed his eyes tightly. He shouldn't give himself false hope this time. He had been right before, about Hoshiko still being alive, but he only saw her again to kill her. There was no way she could be alive now. It was just impossible.
He could feel that painful void filling his chest again. Hoshiko was gone. And she was not coming back.
Hoshiko looked at Zuko with wide eyes and a gaping jaw, "You did not." She said in disbelief.
"I can't believe how stupid I am!" Zuko said, pacing back and forth, "I mean, what was I thinking?! Telling them I sent an assassin after them?! Why didn't I just say Azula did that? They would have believed that! Stupid!" He smacked himself on the head to try and punish himself for his stupidity. Hoshiko got up and gently took his wrists to get him to stop hitting himself.
"Okay, clearly this is going to take more work than we thought." Hoshiko said, "It was a bad idea to send you there on your own. Tomorrow, we'll go back together, and I'll tell the others what you did for me, and that you can be trusted." Zuko sighed, calming down and agreeing with her. She smiled once she saw he was done. "Now, seeing as your mistakes are no longer our topic of conversation…" She seemed a little hesitant, "Did you see Kotaro?"
Zuko looked at her, and nodded, "Yeah, I did."
"And how did he look?" Hoshiko asked suddenly.
"He looked…" Zuko thought about it, "Really tired. And he was really quiet, especially compared to how talkative he was when I saw him before." Hoshiko's expression fell into one of worry.
She turned away, bringing her thumbnail to her mouth as she tried to think. He's not as okay as I hoped he would be… She thought to herself, This is bad. I need to talk to him, and soon.
Later on, everyone was getting their things together to prepare for sleep, they spoke about Zuko's sudden appearance. "Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara asked.
"Obviously, he wants to lead us into some kind of trap." Sokka said.
"This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba-Sing-Se." Katara began, "He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."
"He wants you to trust him, and feel sorry for him, so you let your guard down, then he strikes!" Sokka said.
"The thing is, it worked." Katara said, "I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt. But, obviously when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. We can't trust him."
"I kinda have a confession to make." Aang said, "Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?"
"And you made us suck on frozen frogs?" Sokka continued, "How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down at the back of my throat for a month!" He opened his mouth and pointed to his uvula to prove his point. Kotaro looked at him oddly. Frozen frog sucking? How was that supposed to help an illness?
"Sokka, I looked at it and told you there was nothing there!" Katara said, clearly annoyed with his choice of conversation.
"I could feel it!" Sokka said, "It's my throatal flap!"
"Anyway," Aang began, wanting to move off the subject of warts and throat flaps, "When Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me."
"No way!" Katara said, "I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself."
"Yeah, face it Aang." Sokka said, "You're nothing but a big prize to him."
"You're probably right." Aang said.
"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!" Katara said.
"Actually," Toph piped up, "He wasn't lying."
"Oh, hooray!" Sokka said in sarcastic happiness, "In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list!"
"I'm just saying that, considering his messed up family and how he was raised," Toph began, "He could have turned out a lot worse."
"You're right, Toph," Katara said, "Let's go find him and give him a medal! The 'Not as Much of A Jerk as You Could Have Been' Award!"
"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere." Toph said.
"I have to agree with Toph on this one." Kotaro said, "When I first met Zuko, it was under an assumed name, but he was a really good guy deep down, even if he is the prince of the Fire Nation. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings get in the way of thinking clearly."
"Easy for you to say!" Katara snapped, "You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"
"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka said.
"Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!" Aang said.
"Why would you even try to defend him?!" Katara demanded of the two.
"Because Katara," Toph said, going up to her, "You're all ignoring one crucial fact: Aang needs a fire bending teacher! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job, now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?!" Her words were accentuated by her stomping feet.
"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher." Aang said firmly.
"You're darn right you're not, buddy." Sokka said.
"Well, I guess that's settled." Katara said, crossing her arms over her chest with a note of finality.
Toph let out an angry groan, "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here!" She turned and stormed off away from them, Kotaro following her to make sure she didn't have an earth bending tantrum and destroy part of the temple.
She didn't seem to mind as he came with her as she walked. She turned her head back at him once, noticing his silence. "You're a bit more talkative than this morning." She noted.
"Well, I feel a bit better than I did this morning." Kotaro said. Toph stopped walking, and he stopped with her.
"I'm really sorry about what happened." She said. Kotaro shook his head.
"Don't be. We couldn't have known what would have happened." He said.
"You sound like you're taking this surprisingly well." Toph said, she turned to face him, "Are you… over it?"
"No." Kotaro said instantly, "I can't get over it. I'll never be over it." He looked away from the blind girl, "Hoshiko was a part of me. She was half of my soul. And now, for the rest of my life, I'm going to feel this awful void in my chest because she isn't here anymore." He reached up for his chest to the place just above his heart. "I'm just trying to accept it for now, seeing as the world still needs us, and then I can have a tantrum about it once it's over." Toph's expression saddened. Kotaro noticed it right away. He came up to her, patting her shoulder, "Don't be like that. Everyone dies eventually. I just have to accept it, and then I can move on." He walked past her and she furrowed her brow in thought, wondering what she could do.
That night, Toph snuck away from the camp and went to where Zuko, or at least what felt like Zuko, had camped out not too far away. She did her best to be quiet, and was surprised to feel that there was someone else with him. As she got closer, she accidentally crushed a stick that roused both Zuko and his friend from sleep.
"Mmf…Who's there…?" The other person asked, their speech slurred by their sleep.
"Stay back!" Zuko shouted, waving his arm and shooting out a wave of fire.
"It's me!" Toph said quickly, bending up a slab of earth to protect herself from the flames. She took a step back, and got too close to the fire, "Ow!" She fell back once the fire had disappeared. Zuko looked to see that it was Aang's earth bending teacher, he never knew her name. He felt horror seeping in through his skin when he realized what had just happened.
"You burned my feet!" Toph shouted, suddenly terrified.
"I'm sorry!" Zuko said quickly, getting up with his friend, "It was a mistake!"
"Get away from me!" Toph shouted, shooting off pieces of earth at him. Zuko easily avoided them with some footwork. He quickly caught up to her as Toph was crawling away.
"Let me help you!" Zuko said, Toph only responded by throwing another rock at him, "I'm sorry!" She threw another rock at him.
"Toph, stop! He didn't know it was you!" His friend called, and she froze. She knew that voice. Once they realized she had stopped, Zuko's friend came up to her, putting her hand on her shoulder, "It was an accident." Toph slowly turned her head.
"…Hoshiko?" She asked quietly. Hoshiko smiled softly at her.
"You kind of spoiled the surprise, you know." She said. She let out an 'oof!' as Toph suddenly tackled her with a hug. She hissed in pain, "Shoulder! Shoulder!"
"Oh, sorry." Toph said, readjusting her position to still hug her friend.
"Other shoulder!" Hoshiko groaned. Toph readjusted again.
"Sorry." She said. Hoshiko let out a sigh of relief once the pain was gone. She used her good arm to return her embrace, and Zuko let out a breath of relief. "You're alive! I can't believe you're alive!" She hugged her tighter, "Kotaro shot you with lightning! I couldn't feel your heartbeat! I thought you had died."
"Well, I did, for a little while… I think." Hoshiko said, "Zuko, a little help?" He nodded and went over to get Hoshiko and Toph into sitting positions. Hoshiko put her hand on Toph's shoulder, "Can you stand?"
"No, my feet are really starting to hurt." Toph said, "How are they? Can you tell?" Hoshiko looked down at the bottoms of Toph's feet, and saw they had become red with the burn, but she couldn't see much else.
"Not in this light." Hoshiko said, "But it doesn't look too bad. I think you'll be okay after you see Katara." Toph nodded. "Zuko, get her over by the fire, I think I saw some aloe growing near here that will help this." Zuko knelt down and hooked his arm under her knees and another around her shoulders as Hoshiko got up to go and get the aloe.
"I'm so sorry." Zuko said as he carried her over to the fire pit, "If I had known it was you, I would have never…"
"Just be quiet." Toph said as he put her down.
"Ah-ha!" Hoshiko's voice came from behind a bush, she came out with an aloe stalk in her hand, "I was right!" She went over to Toph and took hold of her ankle, beginning to dab the bottom of her foot with the plant juices. "We don't have anything to help the pain, sorry."
"S'okay. So long as it gets better." Toph said, "I can't believe you're still alive! How did it happen?"
"It's a very long and complicated explanation," Hoshiko said as she covered the heel with the juice, "And at this hour, I don't have the energy to tell it. Maybe in the morning, after we've all gotten some rest?"
"Okay." Toph said. Hoshiko put down her foot and went to begin work on the other.
"By the way, what are you doing up here?" Hoshiko asked, "I thought the others wanted nothing to do with Zuko."
"They don't." Toph said, "But I wanted to come up here and judge him for myself." She smiled, "And I'm so glad I did! You're okay!"
"Well, not completely." Hoshiko said, "My arm is kind of useless right now." She dabbed the heel of Toph's foot.
"You have to come back and tell everyone!" Toph said, "Or just show them, at least!" Hoshiko looked up at her, "Why didn't you come with Zuko when he came by earlier?"
"Because I wanted them to trust Zuko for who he was, not because of who he brought with him." Hoshiko said. "He's not as bad as everyone thinks he is."
"I'm glad you think so." Zuko said, Hoshiko grinned at him.
"I just wish the others weren't so thick-headed about it." Toph said with a grunt.
Hoshiko let out a small laugh, "Well, you can't exactly say that, after everything that's happened, you'd trust your parents not to be too overbearing, would you?" Toph grimaced.
"That's true." She said.
"In all fairness, you and I haven't seen Zuko's bad side," She looked at him, "And hopefully we won't have to." Zuko nodded, seating himself beside the two girls, "So we can't really see why they don't trust him that well."
"Yeah…" Toph said quietly, Hoshiko looked at her questioningly as she finished applying aloe to her feet.
"What is it?" She asked, noticing her behavior.
"You really need to come back." Toph said, "Everyone thinks you're dead! We had a funeral and everything!"
"I will come back." Hoshiko promised, "Tomorrow. You can count on it."
"But what about Kotaro?" Toph asked, Hoshiko froze, "He needs you! He thinks he killed you, and he's miserable about it!" Hoshiko's shoulders sagged.
"I thought he might be." She said quietly, "He'll be the first person I see tomorrow."
"What about now?!" Toph asked.
"Kotaro isn't some weak child," Hoshiko said, "He'll be fine for one more day." Toph couldn't argue with that. From what she'd seen of Kotaro, she had to admit, he was pretty tough. "Besides, wasn't there something you wanted to talk about with Zuko?"
Toph turned her head in the direction of the fire bender who was just beside her. "Yeah, there were a few things I wanted to know."
"Then why don't you two get started on that, while I get some bandages for your feet?" Hoshiko suggested as she got up. Toph turned to Zuko, and began their conversation by asking him how he came to want to join them, and he began the lengthy story of his experiences in the Fire Nation, leaving out different parts of the story he didn't think were important at the time while Hoshiko went over to get some bandages. As she was searching through the bag, her mind wandered to Kotaro, and she frowned sadly. Was he really as bad as Toph made him out to be? Did he love her that much? Her heart clenched painfully and she brought her hand up to her heart, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. She hoped with everything she had that Kotaro would be okay when she saw him. She looked up at the starry sky, silently praying to the moon (Yue) for help.
As a spirit of great power, Yue had many duties that needed attending to while the moon was in the sky, like making sure the waves rolled correctly and making sure that the moon never got too close to the earth. Occasionally, she would hear the voices of people praying as she passed over their lands, and would look upon them and see if their prayer was what they truly needed, and not just what they wanted. To try and make people a little happier, she would manipulate things so the outcome would work in their favor, but most of the time, she didn't do anything. She was young and foolish compared to the other spirits (In her opinion) and she knew that humanity was able to work out most of its problems on its own at one point or another.
But when she heard the voice of her friend praying to her, she immediately turned her attention to her.
Yue, please, Kotaro is in horrible pain. He's the one I told you about before, my hanbun tamashi. Please, just for tonight, ease that pain while he dreams. I'll see him tomorrow, just make sure that tonight his dreams are filled with good things.
Who would she be to deny her dear friend?
So, in her spirit form, she traveled down to earth just for a moment. She went to where Kotaro was lying down, wide awake, willing himself to fall asleep. She used her powers to make a sudden wave of deep sleep come over him and he fell asleep instantly. She closed her eyes and focused on his mind, travelling to his dreams and gently forming them into something that she knew would make him happy.
Kotaro stood out on a white expanse, he wanted as a wave of bright color suddenly whooshed by him and he was standing in a beautiful green meadow.
"Kotaro," He turned around and saw Hoshiko standing behind him. A smile broke out on his face and he went to her, taking her hands in his. He placed his forehead against hers and he just stood there, holding her close.
"I missed you." He murmured to her.
"So did I." Hoshiko replied, leaning up and capturing his lips in a slow kiss.
Yue opened her eyes and saw Kotaro let out a peaceful sigh as he slept. She smiled at her work, and so he wouldn't be miserable about it being a dream when he woke up, she would make sure he forgot it so he wouldn't be depressed.
"Kotaro." The wolf Shinjun's eyes slowly opened with a small grunt. He looked to see Xana standing over him, "Come on, breakfast time."
"Okay, I'm up." He said, pushing himself to a sitting position. He stretched his arms above his head and smiled in satisfaction when he felt his spine pop in different places.
"How'd you sleep?" Xana asked as he got out of his sleeping bag.
"I slept great." He said, rolling his head to one side, getting many pops of the neck as a result. He smiled, "Best I've had in a while."
"Yeah? Did you dream?" Xana asked. Kotaro paused for a moment, thinking.
"I… I think I did." He said, "I don't remember." Xana shrugged.
"Oh well." She said, "Dreams are like that sometimes. You remember the ones you wanna forget, and forget the ones you want to remember." She kept walking and they reached where Katara was serving out some freshly cooked rice to everyone for breakfast.
She handed a bowl to Kotaro and Xana and looked around, seeing that their party was missing a member.
"Has anyone seen Toph?" She asked.
"I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday." Sokka said, yawning.
"Maybe she's just exploring the air temple." Haru suggested, "There are some pretty fun spots to practice earth bending." Xana nodded, her mouth full of rice.
"Yeah, yefderday, Hawoo and ah had a lil' baddel in one o' da roomf." Xana said, she swallowed her bite, "It was lots of fun, pitting sand against earth."
"I think we should go look for her." Katara said, looking down guiltily, worried that what she said might have driven her off.
"Aw, let her have fun with her rocks." Sokka said, sitting down near his sister, "I'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again."
"We can go check for her." The Duke said.
"Yeah!" Teo said, "I wanna ride that tunnel down to the hall of statues again. It'll work a lot better now that I've fixed my brakes." He moved the handle on his chair and smiled at the others, who remembered how it came to be that way. He zoomed off, Haru, The Duke, and Xana following him as they went off to go look for Toph. Kotaro noticed the small glance Xana shared with Haru, and how they both smiled a little bashfully.
"Well, I'll be…" He murmured in surprise.
"What?" Sokka asked, Kotaro shook his head.
"Nothing." He replied. His attention was pulled away when a sudden BOOM sounded nearby and they saw a hole in one of the walls of the temple, and Toph came tumbling out of it.
"Toph!" Katara exclaimed in shock, "What happened?"
"My feet got burned." Toph said, sounding like it was old news. Once she was through talking with Zuko the previous night, she slept over on their campsite. She left before either of them woke up, certain that they would be at the air temple later on that day and crawled back to the others, her bandages had gotten caught and snagged on a few pieces of foliage, so her feet were bare as she came back, and it was very difficult for her to move around on her hands and knees when she was so used to seeing with her feet.
"Oh no!" Katara went over to her feet, where she could see the remnants of some bandages on her ankles, "What happened?"
"I just told you." Toph said, "My feet got burned."
"I meant how?" Katara asked irritably.
"Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night, and-" Toph was cut off.
"You what?!" Aang exclaimed.
"Zuko?!" Katara exclaimed.
"Euugh!" Sokka let out.
"I just thought he could be helpful to us." Toph said, explaining her reasons as Katara bent her water out of her canteen and covered Toph's feet in it, beginning to heal them. "And if I talked to him, we could work something out! So I went, and-" She was cut off again.
"So he attacked you?!" Sokka said.
"Well, he did, and he didn't." Toph said, "It was sort of an accident. But he-"
"But he did fire bend at you." Aang said. Toph sighed, clearly not going to be able to get her message across to them.
"Yes." She said, no longer trying to tell them about what happened, because they obviously wouldn't listen.
"See?" Sokka said, "You trusted Zuko, and you got burned. Literally!"
"It's going to take a while for your feet to get better." Katara said, "I wish I could have worked on them sooner." She put her water away.
"Yeah, me too." Toph said.
"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone." Sokka said, "We're gonna have to go after him." Toph's eyes widened at his words.
"I hate to go looking for a fight," Aang began, "But you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice."
"He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him." Sokka said.
"But it was an accident!" Toph said, "He apologized for it and everything! And on top of that-!"
"Toph, why are you still defending him?" Katara asked in surprise. Toph let out an aggravated groan.
"Fine! Don't listen to anything I have to say!" She snapped. She crossed her arms and scowled as Aang and Sokka came over to her to pick her up.
"Why don't we just invite Zuko back here?" Aang suggested to Sokka as they picked her up. "He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once."
"Yeah!" Sokka said, "Get him to come back, and say he'll be our prisoner, then really make him our prisoner! He'll never suspect it!" Kotaro rolled his eyes as he and Katara followed the two of them to the fountain.
"You are a master of surprise, Sokka." Kotaro said sarcastically as they sat Toph down by the fountain, putting her feet in the cold water.
"Ah, that's the stuff." Toph sighed in relief, "Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks."
Hoshiko walked beside Zuko as they headed over to the temple. "Are you sure about this?" Zuko asked. Hoshiko nodded.
"They're all very thick headed." She said, "This is the best way I can help." They walked closer to the camp, and Hoshiko froze when she saw a large, muscled form walking around one of the temples. She grabbed onto Zuko's arm to make him stop to see what she saw. It was the assassin he had hired, and he was here! "Zuko, stop him!" He dropped all of his supplies when he saw he was getting ready to attack, he dashed down onto the temple grabbing onto a vine and swinging on it towards the man while Hoshiko slunk into the shadows and traveled along the wall. Zuko got there just in time to redirect his attack from the avatar to the roof of the temple they were on.
"Stop!" He shouted, his voice carrying through the temple to the others as they hurriedly tried to get Toph away from the scene, "I don't want you hunting the avatar anymore!"
Aang looked up in shock at Zuko, seeing that he was facing the assassin he hired. The man didn't listen as he stood up again, and looked down at where Aang was, preparing to fire again. Kotaro's eyes widened as he saw a thick, black shadow move out from the wall, and saw Hoshiko's form step out of it.
"The mission's off!" She shouted at him, running up in front of him, holding out one arm, the other one was bandaged up, "We're ordering you to stop!" Kotaro rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating this. The man didn't listen and pushed her out of the way as he fired off again, destroying the fountain on the temple. Zuko ran at him, fire forming in his fist.
"If you don't stop, I won't pay you!" He warned him. The man didn't listen and caught his shirt before he could land a hit, his fire going off harmlessly away from him, "Alright, I'll pay you double to stop!" The man didn't listen as he pushed Zuko away and fired again. Once the hit landed, no damage showing to anyone except the temple's fountain, he turned to Zuko. He took a deep breath and prepared to fire at him. To try and protect himself, Zuko created a huge wall of fire around him as the hit came towards him. He was pushed back by it and fell off the ledge of the temple. Hoshiko saw this, and glared fiercely at the man, using her hand to bring up the shadows and wrap around his shoulders and arms. She wrapped one around his third eye to hinder his attacks. He turned back to her and she pulled back, yanking him back towards her. He turned around and skidded to a stop before she could do anything and fired off at her. She let out a shriek as the explosion sounded, sending her back into the wall of the temple with a pained groan, knocking her unconscious.
"Hoshiko!" Kotaro shouted. Enraged, Kotaro ran out, miniature bolts of lightning flying from his fingertips as he ran towards the edge of the platform and fired off a lightning bolt at the Combustion Man. He easily used his abilities to cause a huge explosion to counteract the lightning, blocking it.
Aang glared at Combustion Man and ran forward, jumping up as he blasted down at them again and he used air bending to create a huge tornado and have it fly towards him. He jumped above it and fired at him again, barely managing to land on another spire of the temple before firing once more. Katara used her water bending and brought up a huge wave of water from the temple's fountain and turned it into frozen icicles that fired at him. He used his metal arm and leg to shield himself from the majority of the blows. Once they were finished, he looked to see that none of the targets were there. Thinking they must be hiding, he blasted one of the pillars that held up the fountain to the temple, blowing it to smithereens. Luckily, it wasn't the one that they were all hiding behind.
"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph said fearfully.
Katara glanced out from the pillar, Kotaro doing the same on the other side, and they flinched back when he fired off another explosion at them.
"I can't step out to water bend at him without getting blown up!" Katara told the others over the ringing in her ears.
"And I don't think either of us can get an angle on him from this position!" Kotaro said.
Sokka thought for a moment, then grinned wickedly, "I know how to get an angle on him!" He said, he carefully moved past his sister and watched as another blast came down on the temple. He followed the path the explosion had come from, estimating where Combustion Man might be. He gaged the distance again and pulled his boomerang back, "Alright, buddy, don't fail me now." He threw the boomerang, watching as it made its curved path through the air, heading straight for Combustion Man and whacking him right on his third eye tattoo, knocking him over. Sokka grinned in victory and came out from behind the pillar, shouting, "Yeah! Boomerang!" as he caught the boomerang in its return path. He looked back up at the man, and the smile fell as he saw that he was getting back on his feet, looking ready to fight again from their distance, "Aw, boomerang!" He whined. They all ran to hide behind the pillar again, not seeing his new disoriented state. His vision was fuzzy, and it was difficult to focus on the targets, but he would not let them get away. He fired off another round, only to have it severely backfire, and destroy the entire tower instead of his enemies, taking him with its crumbling remains as it fell to the bottom of the ravine.
Everyone watched the remains of the tower fall with gaping expressions, unable to believe what had just happened.
Not too far away, Xana, Haru, Teo, and The Duke all stuck their heads out from where they had taken cover from the sudden attack, all of them were shocked and amazed as well.
Aang and the others looked up to see Zuko had escaped death by grabbing onto a long root that had been growing over the side of the ledge he'd been pushed over. Hoshiko was just coming back into consciousness as Zuko was starting to pull himself back onto the ledge. She gasped and ran over to him, grabbing onto him with both arms, letting out a groan of pain as she used them to help pull him up. Once he was safely on the ledge, he smiled at Hoshiko in thanks, and she returned it and they both got up, going to head down to the ledge that held the fountain.
"Hoshiko!" Sokka cried delightedly when he saw her. She laughed as she was suddenly embraced by him, then Aang, then Katara, and she suddenly fell over from the combined weight of her friends. "We thought you were dead!"
"Nope, just unconscious." Hoshiko said, "I'm fine now, except for my shoulder, but that will heal with time."
"Where were you?" Sokka asked.
"After the invasion, I hitched a ride with Zuko." Hoshiko said.
Sokka looked up and glared at Toph, "And you didn't think to tell us she was alive?!"
"No one was listening to me!" Toph said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Aang said, tightening his embrace. Hoshiko grimaced as it hurt her shoulder a bit, but she decided to bear with it.
"We thought you were dead!" Sokka said, "How did you survive a lightning bolt?"
"It's a long story, and I'll explain it later." Hoshiko said, "Now could you all get off me? I'm suffocating!" They all did so, and helped her stand up. She looked up and saw Kotaro standing just a few feet away. She looked at him sadly and walked over to him. "Look, I wish I could have contacted you sooner, but-" She was cut off as Kotaro suddenly grabbed her face and crashed his lips on hers. She reacted to his kiss immediately and brought her good arm up and around his neck. They stood there for a few moments, sharing kisses, until Hoshiko tasted something wet and salty. She pulled away to see Kotaro was crying. She frowned and gently wiped away one of his tears.
"I thought I had killed you…" He said, his voice breaking. Hoshiko pulled him close in a hug and he returned it, resting his head on her shoulder, his tears staining her shirt.
"I'm sorry." She murmured quietly, "If I could have contacted you, I would have. And I would have saved you all this pain… I'm so sorry." Kotaro clutched her, holding her close.
The others around them watched in respectable silence, knowing what this reunion meant to them. The silence was broken as Zuko, who hadn't been as fast as Hoshiko, came around the corner and towards them. Aang turned to him to give him his attention as he came closer.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Aang began, "But… Thanks Zuko."
"Hey, what about me?" Sokka asked, he took a pose, "I did the boomerang thing." Aang ignored him.
"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday," Zuko began, "I've been through a lot in the past few years. It's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world." He turned to Toph, "I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident." He bowed to her, "Fire can be dangerous and wild. So, as a fire bender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally."
Aang was quiet for a moment, then he said, "I think you are supposed to be my fire bending teacher." Everyone looked at him in surprise as he went over to Zuko. Hoshiko especially, it seems she didn't need to vouch for Zuko after all, "When I first tried to learn fire bending, I burned Katara. And after that, I never wanted to fire bend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love." He made the typical fire bending greeting with his hands and bowed, "I'd like you to teach me."
Zuko let a small smile come onto his face, and he bowed in the typical Fire Nation greeting, "Thank you." He and Aang righted themselves, "I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast." Aang said, "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them." He turned around to face Toph, "Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?"
Toph was quiet for a moment, then said, "Go ahead and let him join." She clapped her fist in her hand with a grin, "It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."
Aang smiled at her answer and turned to another, "Sokka?" Sokka looked between Aang and Zuko, then shrugged.
"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord." He said, "If you think this is the way to do it, then… I'm all for it." Aang smiled and nodded.
He looked over at Kotaro and Hoshiko, "Kotaro?" He looked up from where he was holding Hoshiko to him. He looked over at Zuko, then back at Aang.
"I know he's a good guy." He said, "And he brought Hoshiko back to me." He pressed his face into her hair, making her smile, "Let him join."
"I'm with him." Hoshiko said, smiling as she leaned into him. Aang nodded and smiled again, pleased at the sight of the two of them reunited after so long.
"Katara?" He looked to the girl, who glared at Zuko, remembering his betrayal towards her in Ba-Sing-Se. Zuko's heart pounded in nervousness. If there was anyone who had a grudge against him, it was her. She turned to Aang.
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right." She said, sounding a little reluctant. Zuko smiled in relief.
"I won't let you down! I promise!" He said, walking towards them. No one said anything to him as they moved away, going about their business, leaving Zuko to go and get his things.
Katara went up to Hoshiko as she walked with Kotaro, holding his hand. "Hoshiko, you better let me take a look at your shoulder." Hoshiko nodded and followed her, Kotaro was with her as they went somewhere a little private so she could help heal her. Hoshiko removed the shoulder of her shirt and Katara undid the bandages, revealing the huge burn underneath. She pulled out her water and pressed it to the burn. Hoshiko hissed at the sudden coldness of the liquid, but quickly became used to it. Kotaro leaned over and kissed Hoshiko's cheek, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand in a comforting way. She smiled at him.
"I'm not in pain, don't worry." She assured him. Kotaro didn't say anything, he just stayed by her side. Katara moved the water around the burn soothingly, checking how bad it was. It didn't seem as bad as Aang's burn after Azula had shot at him, but Kotaro's lightning hadn't been meant to kill. "Is it bad?"
"Not too bad." Katara said, "If you let me work on it some more tonight, it could be healed by morning." Hoshiko nodded.
"Then I'll see you tonight." Hoshiko said. She moved her shirt back over her shoulder and stood up. "Is there a place where I can sleep tonight?"
"Beside me." Kotaro said, the two girls looked at him and saw his gaze was focused on Hoshiko, "This place has a lot of empty bedrooms, I bet we can find one big enough for both of us." Hoshiko smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Okay then." She said, her voice soft. Katara smiled at the pair, glad to see them back together. She got up, putting her water away and leaving them alone to have their own little moment.
Sokka led Zuko down the halls to one of the empty bedrooms of the temple.
"So, here you go." He said, gesturing to the room as Zuko walked in, "I guess, y'know, for now." Zuko perused around his room silently and Sokka stuck his head in, trying to sound friendly, "Unpack. Lunch… soon. Uh… Welcome aboard?" Zuko looked back at him, smiling and nodding in thanks. Sokka nodded in return, "Yeah." He turned around, leaving Zuko to get settled as he went back over to where Aang was, "Okay. This is really, really weird."
Aang let out a small chuckle, "It's an adjustment for all of us."
"Yeah, but I every time I look at him I get the urge to draw my sword." Sokka said, glancing back at the room.
"I'm sure you'll get used to him." Aang assured as they walked away.
Zuko began going through his things, taking something out of his bag. He looked at the portrait of his uncle, feeling a heavy weight on his heart as a memory surfaced in his mind.
"If I have to," Zuko said, "I will spend every day of the rest of my life hunting the avatar. I know it's my destiny to capture him." His uncle reached out and put a hand on Zuko's shoulder with a grin.
"You know, Prince Zuko," He began, "Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out, but if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday."
Zuko smiled. His uncle had been right. He did find his own destiny, but not at all in the way he expected it to be. Back then, he thought the avatar was the only thing standing in the way of his honor and his way home. He knew better now, of course, but he still had a lot of things to make up for, but hopefully, if he ever saw him again- No, when he saw him again, he would be able to earn his forgiveness. The sound of footsteps caught his ears and he looked to see Katara standing in the doorway, a dark scowl on her face.
"You might have everyone else here buying your… 'transformation,'" She began, "But you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past." She walked into the room and came up to him. "So let me tell you something right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang… and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends. Right then and there. Permanently." With that, she turned and walked out of the room.
Zuko couldn't really blame her for hating him, considering what had happened in Ba-Sing-Se, but he could only hope she would come to accept him with time.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a high-pitched squeal and saw a green flash run past his doorway, hearing a cry of "Hoshiiiiii!"
He went to the doorway and saw Hoshiko had been tackled by the reptilian girl he knew as Xana. She was hugging her tightly, and Kotaro was beside the two of them, trying to pull her off of Hoshiko so she could sit up. Xana had tears in her eyes as she spoke, "Hoshiko, you're alive! When Sokka told me you were dead, I was so miserable! I thought I'd never see you again, and I never told you how much I liked your sense of style!" Hoshiko let a small smile creep onto her face, "Yeah! And that would make you smile like that!" She jumped out of Kotaro's arms and back onto Hoshiko again, but she managed to stay standing this time as her friend held her in a vice. Hoshiko returned the embrace with a soft smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not dead yet." Hoshiko said, "I don't think Kotaro could kill me if he tried." She looked over at him, and saw him look away with a pained expression. She frowned, not thinking her joke had hurt him that much. She turned her attention back to Xana, "Besides, I'm not the only new member to this little team."
"Hmm?" Xana looked up at her questioningly, and Hoshiko pointed to Zuko. "Oh, hi Lee."
"Actually, that's Zuko." Kotaro said, "He used a fake name while he was with us at the encampment." Xana looked back at him, then back at Zuko. She unlatched herself from Hoshiko and leapt onto him to give him a hug. Zuko stumbled back at the sudden gesture, and his face flushed in embarrassment as he returned the embrace.
"Welcome to the group!" Xana said cheerfully, "It's nice to actually know your name!"
"Uh… yeah." Zuko said awkwardly, "Thanks." He looked back at Hoshiko and Kotaro, who were snickering a little. He gave them a helpless look, and Hoshiko reached over to pull Xana off of him.
"She does that a lot." She said, trying to excuse her friend's behavior. She tried to move her away, but she just latched back onto Hoshiko again. She sighed, "Really?"
"What can I say?" Xana said, "I'm in a huggy mood." She snuggled into Hoshiko. She suddenly gasped and jumped up, "Oh! You need to meet Haru and the others!"
"Who's Haru?" Hoshiko asked, only to let out a small yelp in surprise as Xana grabbed her wrist and started dragging her away. Kotaro let out a small chuckle at their behavior. He looked back at Zuko.
"So, how are things?" He asked, "I mean, so far."
"Well, I just got a death threat from one of your friends," Zuko said dryly, "So you can guess." Kotaro's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Don't tell me. It was Katara." He said, Zuko nodded. "She told us about that time in Ba-Sing-Se. Just give her some time to get used to you." Zuko nodded uneasily, not sure if Katara would be able to accept him at all. He looked down the hallway where he saw Xana introducing Hoshiko to Haru, Teo, and The Duke. He looked back at Kotaro, and saw he was watching the same thing.
"She's a lucky girl." Zuko said, catching his attention, "Getting back to you after all this time. If I hadn't found her in the bunker, she might have ended up a prisoner and never came back to you." Kotaro nodded slowly, looking back at Hoshiko.
"Thank you," He said quietly, "For bringing her back. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't." Zuko nodded once and Kotaro left, going over to Hoshiko and the others, who all seemed perfectly happy. Zuko watched their group a moment more, then went back to his room and shut the door.