In bed, I wake to the sound of footsteps. I quickly hop out of bed and sneak out into the hall to check. Someone wearing a cloak waited for me to open the door before they walk away. I begin to follow them but I notice a scroll they dropped on the floor. I pick up the scroll and look up to see the cloaked person was gone. "'You need to know the story of your great-grandfather. It will reveal your destiny.'" Well that's weird. I roll up the scroll again and head back into my room. Whatever that scroll means, someone wants to help me. But who? Who could it be that wants to help? Could it be Uncle? Wait, he's in prison. It can't be him.
In the morning, Azula walks past me looking at some paintings of past Fire Lords. "You know, it is never too early for a meeting with the painter. Just make sure he gets your good side." Ha, ha. "I need to ask you something, Azula."
"What?" she asks.
"What do you remember about our great-grandfather?"
I turn around to see her raise an eyebrow. "Oh, Zuko It is strange how your mind works. You know Fire Lord Sozin began the war. He waited patiently for the comet, which he later called Sozin's Comet, and took over because of the power. Later, he died a successful old man."
"But how did he die?" I ask. There has to be more to it than that. There has to be. Why else would that strange person drop off the scroll? What do they want me to know? "Didn't you pay any attention in school, Zuzu? He died in his sleep."
Azula walked away. That can't be it! There has to be more! I need to know! I go out to clear my head but get distracted watching a Fire Dance. Apparently, there is supposed to be a festival today and the main event is a Fire Dance. After looking at a flyer hung up next to The Blue Spirit, I see that the Fire Dancers' names are Chi, Li, and Tai.
The festival ended and I was so distracted, I didn't even know what time it was! I got home, had dinner and headed off to bed. I rolled over and looked at the scroll. I glance at it for a while. "What does it mean?" I exclaim, throwing it. It landed on a candle. Surprisingly, it didn't catch on fire. Instead, a secret message appeared. I grab the scroll. "'The Fire Sages keep the secret history in the Dragonbone Catacombs.'" Secret history? "'Go when you are ready. The history will be waiting.'" That's it. I have to find out what this is about. I get up to leave, putting on my cloak.
I hide behind a pillar to see a Fire Sage walking into the Catacomb's courtyard. The he stops on a medallion. He crouches and blasts fire into it. I watch as a hidden staircase opens under his feet, leaving the center intact. He goes down and the passage closes. I peek around. No one. Good. I walk onto the same medallion and copy the Fire Sage. Sure enough, the passage opened.
I follow the staircase down. The stairs stop in a long hall lined with dragon bones. Too bad dragons are extinct. I would really like to see one. I stop in front of a door with a golden sculpture of Fire Lord Sozin on it. On his robe, is a Fire Nation emblem on it. I put my left hand on it and blast fire onto it. I wait as the door opens. Fire blasted out of the Sozin statue's eyes, nose and open mouth. The door opens slowly, with a loud creak, and opens to a dark room. I hold up my lantern to see the room filled with all sorts of things. Nothing catches my eye except for a scroll hidden under a golden dragon.
I grab the scroll and sit down. "'Fire Lord Sozin's history and his final testimony.'" Finally found what I was looking for! "'As I feel my life coming to an end, all I can think of is a time where everything was brighter.'" Ok, so he's dying. "'I used to be friends with Roku. We used to duel in the Fire Nation palace courtyard.
"'I would usually win, but it was still fun, dueling with my friend. Back then, I was just Prince Sozin. However, I was in line to take the throne soon. Roku was supportive and helped me with everything. He even helped me talk to a girl once.'" I pause. Okay so he can't talk to girls. What does that have to do with anything? "'One thing that made Roku and I close was our birthday. It was on the same day, so we held a big party for both of us. Although the party was for me, I counted it as his too.
"'Roku was sometimes clumsy. While he was watching the girl he liked, Ta Min, he tripped. Luckily, I caught him. While everyone was celebrating, it suddenly got quiet. When I looked to see why, a small group of Fire Sages enters. When I asked them what the matter was, they said they were there to tell the identity of the next Avatar. Before they said anything, they bowed down. They announced the next Avatar was Roku.
"'Everyone, bewildered, bowed down to Roku. I did the same. The Avatar was the chosen one to learn all four elements and keep the world in peace. He was higher than me. Soon, he had to leave the Fire Nation and learn the other elements.
"'However, he didn't want to leave his home behind. When I asked him what was wrong, he said that the Fire Sages told him that he needed no worldly items. I tried to make him feel better by handing him the Crown Prince headpiece. He declined at first, saying it was a royal artifact. I let him have it.
"'Twelve long years passed before I saw Roku again. When he returned, he was a fully realized Avatar. When I first saw him again, I was Fire Lord. I became Roku's best man, when he married the woman he fell in love with many years before. During the wedding, I was still happy for my friend, of course, but all I could see was the vision of my future. The one I had planned many years before. When I tried to tell Roku, he was suggesting that I have fun. I wanted to share our prosperity with the other nations, to spread. Roku, however, disagreed. I asked him other times after, and still, he refused.
"'After a while, I went out on my plan on my own. No Roku to help me. The Fire Nation grew. Those who didn't want to have our riches, we had them join the Fire Nation. Eventually, the Fire Nation grew larger, with each passing week. When Roku came into my throne room, he didn't want me to finish. He tried to stop me. When he turned to leave, I attacked him. His Avatar powers were stronger, and he trapped me. He spared my life.
"'I never saw Roku for twenty-five years after that. While he disappeared, the Fire Nation continued to grow. I took more land, with nothing to stop me, not even Roku. Roku ran off to a secluded island, hundreds of miles away. However, when the volcano erupted, I felt the rumbling.
"'I took my dragon and flew towards his island. When I arrived, I saw him battling the elements, a volcano. I came in to help him. However, I was only helping temporarily. When I saw him fall, I didn't help him. I took my dragon, and left my old enemy there. The volcano's lava covered the island and I could finally get down with my plan. The Fire Nation will be unstoppable!
"'I still had one problem left. I knew the Avatar Cycle. The next would be an Airbender. I wiped out the Air Temples, breaking the cycle. Now I am unstoppable. However, I knew he was still alive. I searched for the rest of my life, searching for our threat, the last Airbender.'"
I flipped the scroll. "That can't be it. Where's the rest of it?" I checked the back. Nothing. I searched for more scrolls. There were no more scrolls.
I put my cloak back on, then head to my uncle's cell. "You sent this, didn't you? It is history everyone already knows! I thought it was going to be new! The note said that I needed to know about my great-grandfather's death. He was still alive in the end."
"No, he wasn't," Uncle said, finally.
"What are you talking about!" I asked. "He killed the Avatar!"
"You have more than one great-grandfather," Uncle said, quietly. ""You are related to Avatar Roku."
"What do you mean? Are you saying that I am related to the Avatar?"
"Distantly," Uncle said. "The Avatar gets reincarnated, meaning, that Roku's spirit is within the new Avatar."
"I'm related to that kid?" I asked.
"You are related to the spirit within him," Uncle said. He still isn't looking at me.
"How? How can that be?"
"From your mother's side."
"Mother? Mother was related to the Avatar?"
This time, he said nothing. "Are you even listening anymore?" I yelled. He still said nothing. "Just forget it!" I said, storming out the prison. How can it be? How could I be related to the Avatar? Why has Uncle never told me before? He's known this whole time and said nothing! Now I need to get him. If he's related, I need to get him. I need to restore my honor properly, not fake it because Azula said that I killed the Avatar.