Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm really glad that this story resonates so well, especially since it's a crossover. Thanks to all of you for the support! Reviews would be greatly appreciated too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Zuko's ship, 100 AC
Takai sat in the crew's common room in the interior of their ship, playing a game of chess with Lieutenant Jee. As he moved one of his figures, he leaned back, smirking at the older man whose expression was between puzzled and worried, as he tried to make sense of his opponent's move.
Both jumped as they heard Zuko yell from the floor, a few meters away, "Where's my brother?"
Takai rolled his eyes and stood up. He leaned out of the doorframe onto the floor, calmly saying, "Right here, your majesty. I'm just about to win a game of chess. What do you need me for?"
Startled, Zuko turned around to his twin, who sported a slight smile. He blinked twice before he said, "The helmsman just saw something. We're going to investigate it. Maybe it can bring us back onto the Avatar's trail."
Takai sighed. Casually he walked back to the chess board. He lifted one figure, took another out and said, "Check mate. Maybe next time, Lieutenant."
On deck he saw what the helmsman had noticed. Something in the distance was smoking, and by a lot. He wondered what that would be.
It turned out to have been a prison rig, designed for holding earthbenders. According to a scared and beaten-looking warden, a tanned, blue-eyed girl riled the prisoners up and inspired them to riot. Then the Avatar joined them, and the result was the complete destruction of their little metal boat. Takai's face remained indifferent as the older man knelt before them, fidgeting nervously with his hands as he told his story.
That girl sounded like it could've been Katara. Thinking about it, it was pretty likely that it had been her. A small smile danced around his lips as he remembered their last encounter. She was really something special.
Suddenly he saw something reflect the light of the setting sun. Interested, he walked over and knelt down beside it. Takai's eyes widened. It was a Water Tribe betrothal necklace. Katara's necklace, as he remembered. She must've lost it. Carefully he picked it up and brushed the dirt off the pendant. He wondered about what story could be behind this. To his knowledge, marriage age was considered sixteen years of age. He wasn't really sure, how old Katara really was, but she seemed to be a bit younger than himself. Also, she and Sokka seemed to be the only teenagers at their tribe.
Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat jealous that there could be someone in her life already, someone he didn't know, an unknown danger.
Zuko snapped him back into reality, "Takai, what do you find there?"
Takai jumped, he had been so deep in thought that he had become unaware of his surroundings and it seemed like Zuko just appeared next to him. Quickly, the banished prince snatched the item from his brother's grasp, "A necklace? It seems to be of Water Tribe origin. It must've belonged to that girl. Maybe it can be useful to track them down."
Just as he wanted to let it disappear in his armor, Takai snatched it back, "We should give it back to her when we see her next time. I think it means a lot to her."
Zuko raised an eyebrow, "I'm going to decide what we do with it. My mission can't be jeopardized by your affection for a peasant."
Takai glared angrily at him, "Don't call her that."
His brother glared back at him, "It would be smart not to go down that path, feelings for that girl will just muddle your judgement. Don't forget, she's the enemy."
For a moment they just stared at each other, then Takai put the necklace in his armor, "Fine. But I'm going to store it.", he walked past his brother back towards the ship, bumping his shoulder as he went.
A few days later, Zuko wandered amongst the interior of his ship in search of his brother. They had made halt at a small bay and their uncle had left the ship, taking a walk. By now, he should already be back though. The banished prince wanted to go search for the old man.
On his way he met Lieutenant Jee. Jee told him that, as far as he knew, Takai was in his room. So, Zuko hurried over to their quarters. Standing in front of his brother's door, he sighed. They didn't have such an argument ever since his brother returned. The twins hadn't even talked for the past few days. Anyways, they needed to go searching for their uncle now.
Zuko knocked briefly and then opened the iron door. Takai sat at his desk, only a small light illuminating the windowless room. He was hunched over it, so Zuko couldn't see what he was doing, but he seemed very focused on it. A set of small tools laid next to him. "Takai.", he called his brother.
Takai was startled, surprised he turned to his brother, "Zuko, what's the matter?"
"What are you doing?", the banished prince asked, casually walking over to his twin. He looked at what laid on his desk, it was the Water Tribe necklace. "That again? What are you doing?"
Takai smiled and Zuko could've sworn his brother blushed a bit, but the light was too bad to be sure, "She lost it because the closer loosened. So, I made a better one and replaced it. She should not lose it anymore.", he held the dark blue ribbon up, proud of his work.
Zuko saw the new golden closer glitter in the dim light. "I never knew you're versed in jewelry."
"I'm not. But while I was away, I worked on all kinds of stuff, including very small things. Thus, it was not that difficult.", Takai explained. He thought, if he told his brother about the nanotech he had worked on in the labs of Tony Stark, Zuko would probably think he had gone mad.
Zuko shook his head, "I don't know what has gotten into you. She's not even that pretty."
"You don't have to think her pretty. Maybe you should look for a girl you like too, maybe you'd be more relaxed.", Takai suggested, grinning at his brother.
Zuko huffed, "You start to sound like uncle, maybe you shouldn't spend so much time around him."
"Sparky,", Takai mocked his twin in a playfully sad tone, "I think you're the one that always tugs him along. I just get his attention if I'm hurt or if nobody wants to deal with your anger."
"You know that's not true. In the end, he was the one to call you back. Anyway, speaking of uncle, he should've been back from his walk by now. Let's go and search for him. You can finish your love token later.", Takai blinked, did Zuko just grin? Quickly he stored the necklace safely away in his room and followed Zuko.
Together, they searched the woods for their uncle, calling for the former general as if they were searching for a lost pet. Suddenly they heard the old man's voice, "Over here!", the twins looked at each other questioningly before following the sound.
They met the former general relaxing in a hot spring, seemingly without any care in the world. Takai chuckled, while Zuko reacted bewildered, "Uncle? We need to move on. We're closing in on the Avatar's trail and I don't want to lose him."
"You look tired, Prince Zuko. Why don't you join me in these hot springs and soak away your troubles?", Iroh suggested.
Zuko almost snapped at him, "My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!"
"Maybe you should give it a try, it looks nice, Sparky.", Takai said jokingly.
"My troubles cannot be soaked away. It's time to go!", the banished prince exploded.
Iroh chuckled, "You should take your teacher's advice and relax a little. The temperature's just right. I heated it myself.", he said as he breathed more steam into the water.
Takai raised an eyebrow disgustedly, "Maybe you're right, Sparky. I also don't want to get into that water anymore. Let's go and look for that kid."
Zuko nodded, "We need to leave now. Get out of the water!"
"Very well.", without hesitation, Iroh stood up, exposing himself. Both teenagers immediately shielded their eyes, grimacing.
"On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in half an hour or we're leaving without you!", Zuko suggested, grabbing Takai's sleeve and pulling him away in the direction of their ship. They heard their uncle sigh and slump back into the water.
"Do all old men get like that?", Zuko whispered to his brother.
Takai shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe. Makes me worry too. It does get him what he wants though.", both twins grinned at each other.
An hour later, Zuko was pacing back and forth on deck while Takai leaned over the railing, looking into the forest. Of course, Iroh had not returned in time. "Hey Sparky, cut it out! He knows, we won't leave without him.", his twin's pacing annoyed Takai to no end.
As an answer, his brother growled at him. "Let's go search for him. Maybe something happened to him.", Zuko quickly went over to a crew member, "Get us a rhino ready as soon as possible. You two are coming with us.", he heard Takai whistle from behind him, angrily he turned around, "What?!"
His twin brother grinned at him, "You actually do care about the old man.", and as Zuko just blinked for a long moment he added, "Sparky, you often act rudely or at least dismissive of him. Like earlier, threatening that you'd leave him out there, but in truth, you do care a lot about him, don't you?"
After a short while their search party headed out into the forest. Zuko tried, unsuccessfully, to call out for their uncle as they approached the Hot Springs. They found them empty, except for a large pile of rocks that hadn't been there before. That left both twins rather worried.
One of the soldiers that accompanied them suggested, "Sir, maybe he thought you left without him."
Takai went over to the pile of rocks, it looked like a landslide, but the wrong way around. He wondered, what earthbenders would be able to do if they put some thought into it. He ignored what the soldier said, but turned his head as his brother exploded, "Land doesn't slide uphill! Those rocks didn't move naturally. My uncle's been captured by earthbenders!", Takai nodded.
They sent the soldiers away, Takai didn't even ask why. But it left the two boys riding on the same Komodo rhino. Takai jumped off as he noticed something on the ground, he knelt down shortly, then he turned and called out to his brother, "Hey Sparky! There are ostrich-horse footprints here, at least two, maybe three animals. I bet this was the company that kidnapped uncle."
Zuko nodded, "Let's follow them."
"I think we could also predict the path that they'll take, if they headed in this direction. There's not much choice, we could be faster that way.", Takai argued.
But Zuko only shook his head, "No, we're not going to lose the trail."
Suddenly they heard a roar behind them and seemingly out of nowhere, the Avatar's sky bison appeared closely behind them. Takai caught a brief glimpse of Katara on top of its head. She however didn't notice them. His brother had also noticed the bison, well, Takai had to admit, it was hard to miss a ten ton beast soaring through the sky. His brother was seemingly in turmoil if he should continue searching for Iroh or follow Appa.
Takai shook his head, "Hey Sparky, I'm going to search for uncle. You do you!", by this time he was really annoyed with his brother's fixation on the Avatar. He wouldn't let Iroh down, that much was sure. That little bit of kindness in their dysfunctional family had to survive. So, he headed into the forest on foot. It was true what he told Zuko about predicting their enemy's path, but now that he was on his own, he rather took a different approach, a symbiont-approach, which basically meant following his uncle's smell. They had found one of his sandals before, and the smell was disgustingly strong. As soon as he was out of his brother's sight, the black symbiont skin engulfed him and he hurried through the trees, running, jumping, climbing, whatever it took.
He had to admit, he loved running like this, it had a sense of pure freedom. It'd probably leave a small path of destruction, but only maybe. He enjoyed pulling himself up the trees with spider-net made ropes and catapulting himself forward, somersaulting as he went. Finally he had a chance to do so in this world, even though it couldn't match swinging around New York.
As he came closer to the source of the smell he followed, he landed on a higher cliff. Takai saw that his uncle was chained, his chained hands spread out over a large rock while an earthbender lifted another huge rock above them, clearly intending to crush his uncle's hands. To his surprise, he also saw Zuko on his rhino, halting it a few meters below him and sliding towards the group.
Takai smiled, in the end, his brother made the right decision. How he had been faster than him was beyond him though. Anyway, as Zuko leapt in and kicked the rock away, Takai also decided to engage. Quickly, the symbiont skin redacted, and he jumped down, quietly landing behind one of the earthbenders. That man just said, "Surrender yourselves. It's five against two. You're clearly outnumbered."
Witty as always, his uncle answered, "Yeah, that's true, but you are clearly outmatched."
Takai took that as his opportunity to make his presence known. No one had noticed him beforehand. So, he grabbed the earthbender around his neck, speaking in a low voice, "I suggest, you count again.", which freaked the man out. From one moment to another an intense fight started. Takai threw the man in his grasped over his shoulder to the ground, knocking him out with a hit to the center of his forehead, while Zuko fired fire blasts at the rest of the earthbender company and Iroh dodged the most rocks with his chains.
Takai noticed that one of the earthbenders raised a huge pile of rocks, aiming it at his brother, Zuko being unaware of it, and even Iroh not noticing. Quickly he extended two symbiont arms from his own and pulled the man's feet from under him, causing the rocks to fall on top of the earthbender, knocking him out as well. As quickly as he had sent them out, the symbiotic material went back into his arms, not seen by anybody.
Zuko turned around, surprised as he heard the rocks fall down behind him. The first thing he saw was an Earth Kingdom soldier buried under a pile of rocks, then his gaze turned upwards to his brother, who smiled at him, carefully climbing over the pile. He smiled and nodded approvingly at Takai.
Since all of the enemy soldiers were by now taken care of, they relaxed their stances. Iroh and Takai stood next to each other, both sporting the same content smile. Iroh still wore only a loincloth. Thus, Zuko turned around to his uncle, "Now would you please put on some clothes?"
Thankfully they had brought the old man's clothes with them, so he could change. But afterwards, they faced another problem. On the rhino was enough space for two people. Not three. Takai took that as an opportunity, happily he said, "I guess I'll walk."
"Uncle, while we were searching for you, we came across the Avatar's bison. We should stop by the nearby village and interrogate someone about his whereabouts.", Zuko urged, stirring the rhino forward.
They soon came to the village's gate, a sign telling them it was called "Senlin Village". From the surrounding wall to almost every building it looked quite wrecked, as if some giant monster attacked. Takai wondered what that might've been, but Zuko didn't seem interested. Determinedly he stirred the rhino towards what should be the main hall.
Takai could sense someone in the building. And really a few moments later a man in brownish clothing opened the door. Zuko jumped off the rhino and together the twins blocked his path. The man gasped in surprise. "Having trouble sleeping?", Takai asked.
They both took hold of the man and pushed him back into the main hall, "Seen the Avatar lately?", Zuko added. The man was frightened to his very core, thus he told them everything rather quickly, not wanting to risk any more trouble for his community. Apparently, the Avatar had been here to deal with a mad spirit, Hei Bai. Takai didn't know much about spirits, the name didn't sound any bells. But he did know that the Avatar was supposed to be a bridge between the humans and the spirits. The village leader then went on that Aang had had a vision of Avatar Roku, one of his former lives. And that he had told him to visit Avatar Roku's temple the next day, on the Winter Solstice.
Takai just stared at the man, while Zuko turned around sharply and pulled his brother with him out of the hall. "You won't go there, will you?", he asked his brother. As an answer, Zuko just grunted disapprovingly as he approached the rhino and got back into the saddle, "You know that's Fire Nation territory! Zuko, you're going to put us all in harm's way! What do you think will happen if we're arrested? Father is not exactly known for being merciful! Zuko, this is madness!"
"If you don't want to come along, you can stay here.", Zuko said in that cold tone Takai hated. It reminded him of their father. "Didn't you once say that I should drop you off somewhere in the Earth Kingdom? Well, consider yourself dropped off.", Takai stared at his brother blankly as the other twin turned his rhino around and headed back towards their ship.
As Zuko and his uncle arrived back at their ship they were greeted by Lieutenant Jee. Surprised they learned that Takai was already back and apparently quite angry. "I don't know why, but he walked straight to his room and slammed the door shut.", the Lieutenant said shrugging his shoulders.
Before Iroh could say anything, Zuko dismissed him with a hand gesture. "Set a course for Crescent Island.", he ordered grimly.
In his room Takai laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He rolled over and took out the photo he had brought with him, showing his other family back in New York. He ran his thumb above the picture of each one of them, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Peter and Miles. His gaze stopped at his eleven years old self in the wheelchair. I once told myself that I would never return, he thought, that there was nothing back there that would matter to me anymore. But you cannot erode the past, you cannot delete the memories. My brother is a blinded fool. What should I do about it?
His gaze wandered to Uncle Ben's and Aunt May's faces. They would be clear about that. Family mattered the most to both of them. He could still hear his conversation with Uncle Ben back then when he had told him of his thoughts about his family. The elderly man had knelt down in front of him and taken his only hand in his. "Takai, I understand that right now, you don't want anything to do with that place or that people, but let this old man tell you, there might be a time when you have to face both again. Remember what we taught you, you mustn't give in to your grudges and your hate. It will only destroy you. Allow yourself to be happy."
Takai rolled into a fetal position, still looking at the picture. A few weeks later they had signed him up for a program at Oscorp Technologies. It was somehow experimental, but they were promised that these experiments might lead to a medical breakthrough concerning persons with missing limbs. The chance of getting his legs and arm back had been too tempting not to at least try. Of course, they hadn't been exactly told what would happen.
He remembered it only in parts, being confined to a hospital bed, often sedated, his unclear vision. No visitors allowed, the tubes coming out of him, the other test subjects. Their screaming as symbionts were let loose on them, contorting, becoming mere hulls of human bodies while the alien ate their inside out, black, slimy tentacles coming out of their mouth, just before the alien itself would be killed with an unhuman scream. The small spider that the scientists sat onto his arm, the hurt of the bite, how they told him they hoped he would develop some strange powers from it.
Takai had seen the alien that was destined for him, since he was so limited in his movement, they had just rolled it in, confined into a glass box that had an opening for someone putting their hand through from the outside, but was closed from the insides. He had seen that the alien too had been experimented upon, that it was weak, almost dying already. He took pity in it. Suddenly he had been sure that neither he nor the alien would survive this for long, at least not alone.
Then he began to speak to the symbiont, "Hey there, I'm sorry about what's happening to you.", confused the alien had lifted what seemed like a head, mustering him, "Look, I didn't know what would happen to me here either. But I guess, we'll come closer soon anyway.", the child took all of his courage together as he continued talking, "I can see that you're not in your best state, I'm neither. Most likely, we'll both die before this day is over. But I thought, maybe I could at least free you. What would you do if I did?"
The alien seemed to think about it for a moment, then an almost silent voice was heard, "What would you like me to do? Alone, I cannot do much right now. Without a host, I can't even take revenge for us on these horrible humans."
Takai thought about it, "M-Maybe we could team up? I mean, alone we both can't do anything, but together, we might stand a chance. As long as you don't eat my brain that is."
"But I'm not willing to become your slave, human!", the symbiont seemed angered.
"I didn't mean that!", Takai hurried to say. "I just thought, maybe we could take a different approach."
"You mean, we could become one? No one being the master of the other, but rather one being, half-human and half me? Interesting. Do you trust me enough?", the alien asked.
Takai swallowed, "Does it matter? If you don't keep your word and eat me, then I'll die. If they force us together, I most likely will die too. So why don't take a risk based on free will?"
"You're quite brave for a child.", the symbiont complimented him, "But how do you want to free me?"
Takai smiled, "Because of earlier experiments I developed some new powers, look.", he shot a spider-net from his only hand to the glass box, yanking it closer, close enough that his hand could reach inside. The symbiont slid around it like a small snake and Takai pulled his arm out again, the alien around it. The alien's little head hovered over his palm, tiredly, the boy smiled at it and sank back into the cushion. Somewhere in the distance, an alarm went off.
Quickly, the symbiont flattened out, like a glove around his hand. Then the black material disappeared into his skin. The next moments were agonizing, he felt like his whole body was on fire, while the symbiont merged with his DNA in every cell, every little bit of him. He heard the surveillance machines he was bound to go off, his heartrate went up significantly, as did his brain activity as new senses were added and old ones upgraded. His small body contorted and cramped like if he had some sort of seizure, then he sank back into the bed, exhausted, but alive.
The machines were still protesting, but Takai smiled. His head fell to the side and he watched fascinatedly how black mass grew out of his right shoulder and slowly formed an arm. As it was fully formed, it then turned in color from black to his normal, pale skin color. Then his legs grew back in the same way.
He sat up, for the first time in years all by himself. It took a few of the tubes out of the machines who began to really go off. He smiled at his new-grown legs, happily moving them as they tangled from the hospital bed.
Takai heard people rapidly approaching his room. Quickly, he jumped to his feet, but fell to the ground instead. Propping himself up on his elbows, he admitted that the muscle memory on how to use legs was almost gone. Medical personal and scientists stormed into the room. Before they could realize what was going on, Takai attacked them. Still staggering on his legs, always leaning against the next wall he maneuvered himself through the laboratory, attacking anyone he could find.
He remembered how he finally found the exit. As he opened the door, he saw Peter's shocked face. The older boy had rushed to his side and caught him as he fell, totally exhausted. He looked up at him, a slight smile on his lips, whispering, "Brother.", before he had passed out.
Later he had learnt that Peter had repeatedly tried to get into the lab to visit him. Thus he had come there every day, waiting in the lobby, angrily messing with the receptionist, insisting that he wanted to see his little brother.
Much to his surprise, the Parkers still took him back in. They were not even angry at him for what he had done. To the contrary, they apologized that they had left him there. He smiled at the next memory. Uncle Ben had taken the three boys for a four-week vacation to Hawaii. They had learned to surf, and Uncle Ben had taught them how to fish.
His smile vanished, about a year later, Uncle Ben had been murdered. And a year ago, Aunt May had left them too. Life was cruel, sometimes.
A sound from inside the ship rattled his thoughts, quickly he stood up and went on deck to investigate. He was surprised to see that the noise was the catapult being raised to the deck. Apparently, Zuko had tried to shoot Appa down, but failed.
Angrily he walked up to him, "What do you think you'll achieve with that?", he yelled at his brother.
Just as furious, Zuko turned towards him, "Nothing of your interest. I thought, you didn't want to come along anyway!"
"If you're hitting them, they will most likely fall from the sky and die!", Takai retorted.
"So what? Afraid that I'll harm your beloved waterbender?", the crew members watching could swear that both of the twins' heads slowly gained red color and it seemed like at least one of them was emitting smoke.
"I just think that if you do that, your whole search will need to start over, because, newsflash, if the Avatar dies, he's going to reincarnate. So, you'll then have to search for a water tribe baby that might be him, and I doubt that'll be so easy.", for a long moment, both stared into each other's eyes, breathing heavily, noses almost touching.
Then both simultaneously redacted and straightened themselves, "Alright.", Zuko said, brushing off some imaginary dirt from his armor, "Lower the catapult!", and quieter he added, "But we will stay on their trail.", Takai nodded tensely.
Zuko noticed how his twin's eyes trailed off of him and widened, his expression turning to one of shock. "Shit.", Takai whispered. Zuko turned around and saw what had made his brother curse. A close line of ships patrolled not far ahead.
"A blockade.", Zuko whispered, just as shocked.
Their uncle appeared beside them, "Technically you are still in Earth Kingdom waters. Turn back now and they cannot arrest you.", the old man tried to reason with his nephew.
Both twins looked to the tiny silhouette in the sky. It headed straight towards the blockade. "He must've gone mad.", Takai mumbled to himself.
"He's not turning around!", Zuko stated.
"Please Prince Zuko! If the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do! Do not follow the Avatar.", their uncle tried again.
Takai saw how his brother's body language changed, how he lowered his head and closed his eyes, his hands clenching into fists. He knew what was going to come before he said it. Sorrowfully, Zuko told them, "I'm sorry, uncle. I'm sorry, brother.", then he raised his head and ordered the crew, "Run the blockade!"
Takai dropped his head. He whispered to his uncle, "Maybe we're all just doomed and that's it.", but got no response from Iroh.
Suddenly all the catapults on the blockade's ships fired simultaneously and dozens of fireballs filled the sky. Takai watched in horror as the bison in the sky tried to evade them, some coming dangerously close. If Appa was hit, there was nothing he could do about it. Please be safe, he thought, sending a short prayer to whatever deity, spirits or whatever was guarding them.
Takai was soon distracted as one fireball narrowly missed their ship, the next one hitting them almost directly. The engineer ran out towards them, the man was panicking, "Prince Zuko! The engines are damaged! We need to stop and make repairs!"
"Do not stop this ship!", Zuko dismissed him in a steely tone.
Worriedly, Takai eyed the black smoke coming from the lower parts of the ship, "Maybe this nutshell will stop on its own soon. We're lucky if it doesn't explode."
"We need to stay moving or we'll lose him.", Zuko insisted.
Takai nodded, "I'll see if I can help fix this.", Zuko shot him a worried glance but nodded.
Down in the interior of the ship, the heat was immense. Takai discovered that two of their three main engines were outright burning and the third was not far from it. Since this ship was steam powered, fire was its source of energy, but inside the engines, not over the whole room. Various tubes seemed to be damaged too.
Since they weren't allowed to stop the ship, they couldn't put the fire out easily. This would also stop the ship. Takai's eyes burned as thick black smoke emitted en masse from the engines. He turned towards the engineer, "Get some men and send them to get water and blankets. Don't open any more doors, under no circumstances. We have to be careful to put the fire in the room out, but keep those in the engines working. Drench the blankets in water thoroughly and use them to extinguish the fire on the engines and tubes. Use normal water to extinguish the fire in the room. And keep something in front of your nose and mouth against the smoke!", his voice was already becoming dry and raspy.
He heard his uncle yell from above, "We're on a collision course!"
Takai rolled his eyes, sure. What else? Wasn't their situation dire enough? Quickly he helped the men with the blankets, drenching them in water as quickly and thoroughly as they could. Some tried to clear a path through the flames in the room so they could reach the machines. Takai was the first to take it and place the first blanket over an engine.
Suddenly he realized something. The pressure in the engines was raising more and more. If they weren't fixed immediately, they would really explode. He cursed under his breath, then he yelled over to the engineer, "Give me the tools! Quickly! The pressure in here is getting too high!", the man hesitated, he could guess how hot the metal of the engines would be. But he also knew that Takai was right. He just hoped that the boy wouldn't get hurt too badly as he threw the toolbox over to him.
Takai caught it and went to work. He climbed up and started to fix one tube after another, ignoring the pain that spread in his hands, arms and legs. He had to fix this, or they would all be dead. Thus, he gritted his teeth and continued, even though he knew that it took the symbiont longer to heal burn wounds. The smoke burned in his eyes and made his breathing even harder as well.
He hung from the ceiling as he fixed the last screw. Takai looked around. There was still a lot of fire and smoke in the room, but the machines were working normally again, and not burning. There was even a flame-free corridor before them. Relieve washed over him, he had made it in time. No explosion today. A violent cough rattled through his chest and his body gave in. He fell to the ground, crashing with his front first into a nest of flames. As his consciousness left him, he could make out a few crew members rushing over to save him.
Zuko stood on the railing of his ship, hands clenched around it, his uncle next to him. "What's he up to, Uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?"
"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after, the Avatar.", the old man explained.
"If Zhao wants to follow a trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do.", Zuko said determinedly.
Suddenly the engineer ran up to him, "Prince Zuko! Prince Zuko!", the man stopped out of breath, "Sir, we've put out the fire. The smoke you see is just the rest that is evading. We also managed to make the engines run again. We should stop soon to make thorough repairs still."
Zuko nodded, "Good. Thank you. Where's my brother?"
The engineer hesitated, but then answered, "Sir, Takai led us on, fighting the flames. He even made the repairs, since we had to act quickly."
"Great, but where is he? I want him to join me on a mission.", Zuko inquired.
The man in front of him fidgeted with his hands, not daring to look the prince in the eyes, "He got badly hurt by doing so. As soon as he passed out, we rushed him to the doctor's cabin. As far as I know he's still unconscious."
Zuko exploded, "What?! How did he get hurt?"
The engineer visibly backed down, "Well, there was the smoke, and he probably got some burns while working on the machines. The metal was all hot from the fire. He worked on the tubes on the ceiling, but at some point, he passed out and fell down into the flames. We brought him to the doctor as soon as we could. But the doctor ordered us to bring him to his own room instead and ushered us all out before he began treating him."
Immediately Zuko brushed past the man and hurried towards their private quarters. The iron door to his brother's room was tightly closed. He knocked on it urgently, "Doctor Ye? Doctor Ye! Open the door!"
A few agonizing moments later a middle-aged man with a shaved head opened the door sporting a worried expression. Before he could greet him, Zuko cut him off, "Doctor Ye. How is my brother? Can I come in?"
The doctor thought about it for a long moment. Then he nodded solemnly and opened the door a bit wider and gestured for him to step into the room, "You may come in, Prince Zuko. But please don't be too shocked. Also, please stay calm, we don't need any noise in here."
Zuko walked into the room that was mostly similar to his own. He stopped after a few steps on the foot end of his brother's bed. There laid his twin, unconscious, and his body bruised and on some parts covered in bandages. Two big patches covered his forehead and cheek on one side of his face, another was on his throat. Bandages covered both of his hands and forearms to some extent, as well as parts of his upper body. The skin around the bandages was red and bruised. The blanket covered the rest of his body, so Zuko couldn't see if there was anything else. "What happened?", he whispered, desperate to not show the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
Doctor Ye answered in a calm voice, "He got several severe burn wounds from working with the hot metal. Mostly on his hands and forearms. The fire and the heat also burned through his armor on his legs. The fall probably cracked one or two ribs, as well as the breast plate of his armor, allowing for the burn wound you see on his upper body. The burns on his face and neck also trace back to falling into the flames. On top of that I think he has smoke poisoning, but as he is, I can't say how severe."
Zuko didn't turn towards the doctor as he asked, "Will he be alright?"
"I don't know, sir. Maybe he'll recuperate, but his lungs could be collapsing as we speak.", Doctor Ye told him with a somber expression.
Slowly, Zuko walked towards his brother. He put his forehead against the uncovered side of Takai's, whispering, "Takai, brother, I'm sorry. If I had been with you, I could've, I should've protected you.", he wanted to squeeze his brother's hand, but quickly refrained from doing so. Since both of Takai's hands were bandaged, he assumed, both were full of fresh burns, and he would only hurt his brother if anything. Thus, he briefly laid his hand on his brother's shoulder, adding, "I won't let your sacrifice be in vain. Then we'll return together."
As he turned around, he saw his uncle standing in the doorway, Doctor Ye next to him. Iroh sported a worried expression as he put a comforting hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll watch over him. If you really want to use the smoke for cover you must act quickly. I'll lead us in a different course.", Zuko nodded grimly.
A few hours later Zuko found himself chained to a column in Avatar Roku's temple. All had gone differently then what he had planned. While he did have the surprise moment before, the Avatar still made it into a now sealed chamber. On top of that one of the Fire Sages was apparently a traitor, aiding the boy.
And if that hadn't been enough, Zhao had appeared behind him with his men. His smoke screen hadn't worked as well as he had thought. Zhao and his soldiers were by now circling the sealed door, waiting for it to open. He couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the stick Zhao needed to walk and the pronounced limp in his gait. And for a last detail, the Water Tribe peasants were chained to the column next to him. He still couldn't understand why his brother liked that girl.
"Hey,", the girl now spoke to him, "Where's your brother? Lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike?"
Zuko just blinked for a few moments, staring at her, "How do you even know, he's my brother?", he asked in return.
"Uhm, you kind of have the same face, well, except for, you know.", she stammered. Zuko wasn't so sure that she was telling the truth.
Then he looked at the ground, "To be honest, Takai's nowhere nearby. He got severely injured and is still unconscious, maybe he's dying as we speak.", he said almost silently, the sadness, though he tried to leave it out of his voice and sound neutral, was clearly hearable.
The statement seemed to shock the peasant girl thoroughly, "But, what happened?", she asked.
Zuko sighed, "You remember those fireballs when we crossed the border? One of them actually hit our ship and caused great damage to our engines. Takai went to fix that. He's good with, well, with tools, mechanics and such. The pressure in the engines was extremely high, they needed to be fixed quickly or we would've exploded. So, Takai worked on them. They're all metal and it was really, really hot down there. He has burn wounds on nearly all of his body, and he breathed in a lot of smoke. The doctor said, he could recuperate, but there is also a chance that he will never wake up again."
Tears streamed down the peasant girl's face and Zuko wondered how much of a relationship she and his brother had developed. It was not that they had a chance to meet every day. But he was distracted as the doors to the sealed chamber opened. Zhao's soldiers all shot fire blasts at the person behind the doors, but they were all dodged, revealing Avatar Roku standing there, eyes glowing. He bended a strong stream of fire towards them and the chains around him melted away. The former Avatar continued to bend the lava that was flowing through the temple and began to destroy it.
Zuko knew, he needed to go, and fast. Thus, he for once didn't care about capturing the Avatar and jumped through a hole in the wall into a large tree. From there he made it back to his little boat.
As night fell, he sat at the side of his brother's bed, a single candle illuminating the room. He felt utterly helpless, he couldn't even hold his brother's hand right now, and Takai's sacrifice was all but for nothing thanks to Zuko's own inability to capture the Avatar. He sighed and let his head fall into his hands. At least he's still breathing, he thought grimly, at the very least.
Zuko jumped as he heard a gasp from behind him. He turned around to his brother. Takai's eyes were open, only slightly, hardly noticeable, but open. Zuko could see, his brother was struggling to keep them that way, "S-Sparky?", his voice was dry and raspy, but the sound made Zuko almost tear up.