The Burning Tree AKA Agni himself makes an appearance at the Seige of the North, and Zhao has a revelation in the literal sense.
Under the red moon, Zhao savored his victory as he felt the Moon Spirit struggling within the waterskin. "I am a legend now!" he said with relish. "The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon Slayer! Zhao the... !"
Zhao froze as he realized something was wrong. The red hue of the moon was gone. "What?" he said in frustration and confusion. Because the moon was gone. As if the full moon was suddenly a new moon. He looked down at the bag containing the spirit, the fish still struggling within. He thought he'd have to kill the spirit, but perhaps separating it from the Ocean Spirit had the same effect?
But then...why was there a feeling in his chest, in the spark of his firebending?
"Zhao."
The Admiral turned to face the voice, realizing all too late that his soldiers had vanished. That the sound of battle no longer filled the air.
But even if they hadn't, he wouldn't have noticed.
There, in the oasis, was a tree. An ordinary tree that would have been normal anywhere else in the world, save this frigid hell.
And that tree was now on fire.
But the fire did not blaze or spread. It waved and kissed the air, its light as warm as the sun on morning dew. It was soft, golden, and reminded Zhao of the Fire Nation, of being home.
"Zhao."
The words echoed in the oasis, and Zhao looked around in alarm. "Who...who's there?"
"Zhao."
"Show yourself, spirit!" Zhao called out, trying to mask his fear with rage, his uncertainty with authority.
And the spirit answered.
The flames of the burning tree surged, grew, and molded themselves into a shape.
The shape of a great bird. A bird of fire, of warmth, of light. A bird of the sun, with eyes brighter than any light to grace the world.
Zhao stared as his feet froze, unable to breathe. Unable to think. He could only...know, who this was. Every Firebender would know who this was. "...Lord Agni?"
The Pheonix raised its mighty wings and showed Himself before Zhao in all his fiery glory. Light spread through the oasis, more vibrant and real than Zhao had ever known. As if all the world had been nothing but a painting before.
Zhao fell to his knees, in awe and respect, bowing to the Great Spirit that watched over the Fire Nation. "Lord Agni, what do you ask of me?"
There was a gentle silence, broken only by the gentle crackling of Agni's own flames.
"Go home, Zhao."
Zhao remained bowing for a moment before slowly looking up in shock, daring to meet Agni's gaze. "Lord Agni?"
"Go home, Zhao," Agni repeated like a kind mentor reminding a student.
"You...you want us to retreat?" Zhao asked in disbelief. "But...we're about to claim victory! To finally put an end to the Northern Water Tribe!"
Agni and His flames did not grow angry at those words. His eyes shifted to the right, ever so slightly.
To the bag that Zhao had in hand, still holding the Moon Spirit. He could feel it, see it still swimming about in there, but it seemed less frantic now. As if it knew that it was safe.
"Would you slay my sister, my wayward flame?"
The voice was less daring and more...disappointed. Sad even.
"Your...sister," Zhao repeated slowly, understanding. Comprehending. Legends always paint the Moon to be the sibling of the Sun. To be family.
"Go home, Zhao."
It wasn't an order. It was a request.
"I can't!" Zhao called out instinctively, bitterly with balled fists and eyes screwed shut. "I've already committed to this! Even if I...if I let the Moon Spirit go..."
He looked up, and Agni stood before him.
The bird's visage was no larger than a man, leaning down to meet the eyes of the kneeling Zhao.
"What do I even say? How do I explain, that we're abandoning this siege to my soldiers, to the Fire Lord? That I gave up with victory right at my fingertips?" Zhao asked, all but pleading up to the spirit. Because he felt so cheated, so wronged to be so close to his goal only to be denied and told to go home, and he could not understand WHY?!
"They will know, it was my words that sent you home."
It was a promise. Kind, reassuring, and certain.
"..." Zhao stared bitterly, angrily before he suddenly felt as though the energy had drained from him.
Agni watched over all the Fire Nation. Some believed that Agni's blessing was the only reason they had not been pushed back in a hundred years. Zhao hadn't thought so, but now and here...?
With a solemn bow, he lifted the Moon Spirit and handed it to the True Lord of All Flames.
Agni took the water sack with one wing, and it burned at His touch. But the fire did not burn the fish within, revealing it to be floating in a bubble of water.
"Foolish little sister."
Agni's tone was loving. And bitter. And relieved. And disapproving. So many contradictory things, and all of them true.
The Moon Spirit's scales glowed brightly, and suddenly Zhao could see a much larger, more divine-looking koi fish of purple moonlight moving forward to nuzzle the blazing beak of Agni. Sun met Moon and there was only love and care to be felt in the air.
And just like that, the moment was over, the Moon Spirit falling back into the pond. Zhao watched numbly as the spirit was reunited with the dark fish, the Ocean Spirit.
But they did not resume their dance, for the Ocean was staring at Zhao.
No, no. It was glaring.
And now he was staring at another large koi fish, made of mystic and dark-blue water. It stared down at the man with all the wrath and fury of the sea, and Zhao knew drowning would be a kind fate compared to what La would do to him.
Before either the Admiral or the Ocean could make the first move, Agni placed out his wing to shield Zhao from the watery beast.
"Do not tempt me, La."
Agni's voice was devoid of gentleness now. Only a burning, blazing, churning warning that threatened to melt stone and make dry the sea.
"My love for my sister does not extend to you."
La gurgled, swashed, and bellowed like waves in the storm as the Seas glared down the Sun.
And the Sun glared back.
Zhao, from Invader of the North to Witness of Spiritual Squabbles, watched it all with a strange fascination as La, Spirit of the Ocean, receded into the pool.
"...Why did you save me?"
Zhao didn't even realize he had spoken those words until his eyes met Agni's.
"Why does a parent protect a child?"
There was the soft warmth, the feel of protection and safety that came from Agni's voice to the Children of Fire.
"I...I don't understand," Zhao said numbly. "Lord Agni, do you...disapprove of our war?"
Agni held his gaze for a long time, and Zhao felt as if all the secrets of the universe were behind those eyes.
"I do not carry judgment for how my gift is used, Zhao."
Zhao furrowed his brow. "But then...why are you sending me home?"
The light of Agni's eyes grew soft and weary.
"I have watched over this war for nearly a century. I have taken the dead into my wings, and I have harried all spirits that would have war on my people. It is this once, and this only time I ask something: Go Home, Zhao."
There was a strange feeling of guilt in Zhao. It was pleasant, it was heartwarming to know that Agni had indeed watched over and protected the Fire Nation. And who was he to deny this one order from the Great Spirit of Fire?
"What of the Avatar?" Zhao couldn't help but ask.
Something stirred in Agni. Something wrathful.
"Destiny works against you. Raava's host did not see My Comet a hundred years ago. He must see it before he might fall."
Zhao furrowed his eyebrows. So, destiny wouldn't allow the Avatar to be dealt with until the comet came.
He almost smirked. That was better than knowing that destiny was actively working against the Fire Nation. They just had to outlast the Avatar, then they could destroy him.
Destroy. The world reminded him of Jeong Jeong, his old and foolish teacher.
Zhao looked back up into Agni's eyes and dared to ask the great question.
"What is fire, Lord Agni?"
The flames of Agni bloomed and soared around them in brilliance.
"Fire is Life. Fire is Death. Fire is Destruction and Creation. It is Rebirth and Renewal. It is passion, love, hate, and all that fills the heart. It is power, it is imagination."
Zhao could only stare in awe. He had been a fool. He was sure Prince Iroh had been a fool too, same as Jeong Jeong. To view Fire as Life, or as Death, and not realize it was both and everything between them? So obvious, yet so hard to see when swallowed by one aspect of flames.
"I...always thought you would be more intimidating," Zhao couldn't help saying.
Agni leaned down and Zhao could feel the pointed stare Agni poured into his eyes.
"No child should fear their parent."
There was an implication there, one that Zhao knew intimately and exactly what Agni was implying, memories from years ago rushing to Zhao's mind. Of an Agni Kai, of a boy pleading for his father's forgiveness...and Suffering becoming a Prince's teacher.
A prince that Zhao had assassinated. Traitor though he had been, it was obvious that Prince Zuko's death was not one Agni approved of.
"Take my children home, Zhao."
Zhao bowed his head in acceptance. What else could he do?
He looked up and saw the blood-red moon, and the Moon Spirit still held in the bag in his hand. Without prompting or word, Zhao leaned down and released the Moon Spirit back into the bond.
He didn't apologize. He wouldn't. If Agni had not intervened, he would have slain the moon.
But even as the spirits began to dance, the moon stayed a blazing red and the waterbenders could not bend. The moon would keep its scarlet hue, and allow the Fire Nation to leave.
Yet in the soul of every Fire Bender invading the Northen Water Tribe, there was now a single call within the inner flame that they could not refuse.
Go Home.
End of Chapter
Well...there we go. Obviously heavily inspired by the Burning Bush scene of Exodus, speciically the version from the "Prince of Egypt." I know its probably a surprise that this happens to Zhao of all people, but eh, if anything is going to cause a change in someone like Zhao, its going to be Agni himself coming down to talk to him.
And yes, talk, not demand. While Agni isn't really canon, he is prevalent in canon to the point of being expected at times. That said, I find many depictions of Agni to be...lacking. Most just lump him into the idea of him being disappointed or angry with the fire nation. I like its a lot more naunced than that.
Here, he doesn't WANT the war himself, but he does not try to dictate how his people should behave. Regardless, he does care for them and wards off many spirits that would try to harm the Fire Nation.
Basically, thisi s me giving depth to the concept of Agni, and Zhao too by proxy. And I figured if Agni ever made an appearance, it should probably be duringthe seige of the north.
Not sure what I'd do with this idea if I made it a full fic, but this oneshot was still fun to write.