In the morning, I couldn't help but think about what the Avatar said when I saved him before. He said that we could be friends. Did he mean that? Was he just saying that to be nice? Is it the Avatar's job to be friends with everyone? He knew who I was, he addressed me, but, he still held up the offer of a friendship. Was he being sincere? Was he just saying that so I wouldn't kill him there?
I go outside to clear my head. If I keep thinking about this sort of stuff, I'll explode. Did Azula really mean what she said when she said that she didn't have a sob story? She called them all 'performances.' Azula does care. She just doesn't want to admit it out loud, like, I guess, me. I do care. I just pretend like I don't. I don't want to remember the hard times. Everything was nice before Mother left.
Someone ran into me. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" I yelled.
"Sorry," they said. I looked at them. He seemed awfully familiar. "Do I know you?" I asked.
"Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.
"No, the person behind you-" He looked behind him. "I'm talking about you!" I exclaimed.
"Oh, right, of course," he said.
"I swear I've seen you before," I said, squinting at him. His eyes were blue, odd color for the Fire Nation, and his hair was tied back into a ponytail. "I don't think we've met before," he said.
"You sure?" I asked, leaning closer. "I'm pretty sure we have."
"Oh well, won't you look at the time!" he said. "I better get going! I have to get back now!"
I watched him leave. I really think I've seen him before. He has blue eyes, so he's not from the Fire Nation. He was wearing Fire Nation clothing though. Perhaps he's a tourist? No, that can't be right. We don't get tourists. He reminded me an awful lot of that Water Tribe girl with the Spirit Water…
On the way back, I hear people celebrating. I look over the bridge to see a group of people surrounding a dealer. I scan the crowd to see why they have to see why they have to celebrate so loudly. That's when I see him again. This time, he is sitting next to a young girl with her hair tied up and a boy with a headband. The girl seems to be beating the dealer, but how? I take the bridge across and walk down the stairs. I have to see what's going on.
"How about I make it more interesting?" the dealer asked.
"Interesting? How?" the girl asked.
"Your friend's sword and I'll put twenty silver pieces for it."
"How about fifty," she suggested.
"Fifty it is." The dealer began to shuffle the shells "All right, young lady. Which one will it be?"
She glanced at all of the shells first. "How about that one?" The dealer smirked. "Sorry, miss, but-" The crowd gasped when he lifted his shell. "-but how?"
"I won!" she cheered, throwing her hands into the air. The guy from before grabbed his sword and hugged it. "Space Sword!" Space Sword? What the heck? Who names a sword 'Space Sword'? "Would you like to go again?" the dealer asked, annoyed.
"Hm, no! I'm good!" The small group stood up and walked away. "Way to go, Toph! You actually beat that guy!" the sword guy cheered.
"Yeah! You did great!" the headband guy agreed. Toph? An unusual name for the Fire Nation.
"Honestly, I didn't think you would actually win when you bet Space Sword," the sword guy said.
"Oh, come on, Sokka!" the young girl said, elbowing him. "Don't doubt me!"
"Yeah, Sokka!" the headband guy said. "She's great!"
"I know, I know. I just really didn't want to lose Space Sword."
"You won't lose your sword," she said. "Even though I'm blind, doesn't mean I can't beat him." She's blind but she beat him anyway? How? He used little rocks-
"Yeah, Sokka! Put more faith in Toph!" headband said, nudging Sokka. She must be an Earthbender to move those rocks. That can be the only way she won when she's blind. "Let's head back to camp," headband said. "We shouldn't hang out here too long."
They walked away. I saw them leave town but I didn't go any farther. So the cheaters have camp out of the kingdom. Why do they have a camp? There are plenty of inns here.
Father called me to help determine the size of the new Fire Nation symbol. He wanted it really big, like the height of the palace wall, but I told him it was too big. I said that if he wants a flag to show where we are in charge, the color should be brighter, but the flag should be smaller. "Great idea!" he said. "I never would've thought a brighter flag would work."
Some guards hung the flag outside the palace to show us the new look. He threw his arms towards the flag. "I made another little adjustment, if you could see, I made the Fire Nation symbol darker." He paused. He put his arms back down. "Good choice, Zuko. You really are becoming the son I always knew you could be." Is that a good thing? Does he want me to be a Firelord with good judgment? Or is he saying that because I helped him with the invasion flag? This flag is going to be in the Earth Kingdom when the Fire Nation invades. It will go right on their palace.
Father was still talking but I couldn't hear him over my thoughts. He really wants to invade the Earth Kingdom. There is no stopping him. But…it just feels…wrong. Like…it really shouldn't happen. The Earth Kingdom will fall with our plan. Invading with the comet on our side, through the sky in our airships, blasting fire to the world below us. They will be defenseless.
The only way to have to beat us is if they can somehow blast rocks into our airships. However, that will be difficult since we'll be, I don't even know how high. The Fire Nation will be at a huge advantage. It wouldn't be fair. We will obliterate their hope. Their strength will mean nothing against us. Earthbenders belong on the floor, where there is ground to bend. There will be no way to stop Father. No way at all.
But, why don't I stop him? Why don't I tell him not to? Why don't I tell him that the Earthbenders will have no way to win? Is it because I am scared? Is it because I'm scared he will banish me again? Is it because I'm scared he will scar me again? Is it because I might lose my honor again?
"What do you think? Lovely isn't it?" Father asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Uh, the flag?" I checked. I have to make sure we're on the same page.
"Yes, of course the flag, Zuko," Father said, still looking at the flag.
"Oh yeah, it's, uh, it's great," I said.
"I think so too. Good job, Zuko. You will make a good Firelord one day. You will make many great invasions. You will make the Fire Nation grow." Yeah, sure. If that's what it's like to become Firelord, then I don't want to be Firelord. That's not the role of a leader. Sure, a leader builds, but not through force.