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Chapter 9: In Which Everyone Talks
Zuko nearly didn't make it in the door.
Until he stood directly in front of the old, wooden structure, vines all over, he didn't realize what exactly he was doing. That was when all the emotions hit him at once.
His old and new selves were completely different. They made different choices, different friends! While his old self had searched years for the Avatar, now he was more worried about his family—and, you know, the impending end of the world (which he probably would have been worried about anyway). What was he doing here? In light of the situation, everything going—
As it turned out, he didn't need to make the decision. The door swung open and knocked him backwards.
"Zuko!" The girl exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"
Zuko struggled upright, one hand covering his nose. "If I'm going to keep visiting you, I may have to start climbing in the window." She laughed, and Zuko smiled in spite of everything.
"Come on, let's go inside," she finally said. "I'll get some tea going."
Ursa paced around the bridge in frustration.
"We need to talk about this, Iroh. Zuko is convinced that the universe has been altered? Where does that even come from? Does he need help?"
"You are just angry because he went out as the Blue Spirit," Iroh pointed out, "And are using this as an outlet."
"He risks his life for people we don't even KNOW!" Ursa complained.
"Then he does the right thing," Iroh replied.
"Right thing? Arrrgh!" Ursa groaned. "Why do you always side with him, Iroh?"
"Because, much of the time, he's got some pretty good ideas."
The door slammed open, cutting off further discussion. "Hel-looooo everybody!" shouted Lu-Ten cheerfully. "Let's get to planning the course to Crescent Island for Zuko's birthday!"
Iroh and Ursa looked at him pointedly.
"Azula's?" he offered.
"Why are we even talking about this?" Ursa demanded.
"Hey, I'm pretty sure it's someone's birthday today—"
"No it's not, and—"
"Somewhere in the world," Lu-Ten proclaimed, his voice dropping a dramatic octave, "a baby is being born."
"I'm not talking—"
"Oh, come on, Ursa. There are so many people in the world, that it has to be someone's birthday today!"
"Stop it with the b—"
"As such, it is our duty—our duty—to celebrate in one way or—" A chart hit Lu-Ten in the face.
"We cannot go to Crescent Island," Ursa snapped loudly.
"Why not?" Iroh asked. Ursa grabbed another chart, and spread it out on the table.
"This," she explained, jabbing her finger at the chart, "is where we are. This—" she indicated another spot, farther away, "This is Crescent Island. Starting here," she pointed at a third spot in between the first two, "We would be sailing straight into Fire Nation waters."
"Hey! Is it the Fire Nations birthday?" Lu-Ten asked. Ursa slumped.
Abruptly, Iroh walked over to the door and opened it part way. There was a noise of feet slapping the floor as someone ran away.
"Azula," Ursa sighed. "Someday, that's going to get her in trouble."
"How do you know it's not Aang?" asked Lu-Ten, curiosity aroused.
"It's not Aang because Aang is in the galley," Ursa explained.
"How do you know?"
"Because I told him not to go in the galley."
Lu-Ten stared at her blankly.
"I told him not to go in the galley so that he would be curious as to why not, and—"
"And search the galley for the cause, rather than going out to explore," Iroh inferred. Ursa nodded to him. Realization dawned on Lu-Ten's face, and he laughed.
It wasn't long before Aang ran into Azula.
"Hey," he asked, "do you know where the engine room is?"
She stared at him in confusion. "What?"
"Do you know where the engine room is? I want to find out who the Mechanic is."
"How… ha… haCHOO!" Azula looked at Aang sheepishly. "How are you going to do that?"
"Well, I got bored with the galley, and then I found a bag of Lychee nuts in there," Aang explained, "and I thought maybe, if we made a trail of them, the Mechanic would follow the trail out onto the deck."
"You think that will work?" Azula asked.
"Sure! I used to do it with flying lemurs all the time!"
Azula shrugged. "Oka-ay."
"I can fix it," Zuko said at length.
"You can fix what?" the girl asked, giving him a funny look.
"I can fix what happened. What happened to you, to the Water Tribe, in the Fire Nation, I can fix it," His voice got louder and louder.
"Zuko?" she asked. "You're not making much sense. And in any case, I don't think… you can fix what happened to me." Her head dropped.
"I think I can, because it wasn't supposed to happen."
"What?"
"Look, something has altered the universe, okay? You're home wasn't supposed to be destroyed, but someone did something to the universe, and it happened."
"How are you going to fix that? You're just you."
"But I have the Avatar."
She stared at him for a few seconds.
"I found the Avatar, and we are going to set things right."
"You think you can do it?" she finally asked.
"I know I can," he replied firmly. She straightened back up.
"Then give me a little time to pack."
"Huh?"
"I'll pack, and we'll be on our way," she restated.
"But you-"
"If you're so sure about this."
"You want to come?"
"Duh. If there's some way to bring Kyoshi Island back, then you have me on board whether you want me or not."
Zuko half-chuckled. "Heh. You are amazing, Suki. You know that?"
"Of course I do. Now give me a moment to get ready," the former Kyoshi Warrior grinned, "because we've got some cosmic repairs to make."
I hope this was an okay chapter, what with the talking and everything. Please review, if I didn't say that already.