Duel and Revelation

The cold wind cried throughout the silent, stunned stadium, suffusing through Zuko's parka. His fists clenched the seat beneath him, his parents unable to move at his side. The weight on his lungs starved them. No.

Pakku's finger remained ever betraying, ever focused on singling him out. Eyes were finding Zuko, and the black haired boy could barely contain the blush that went brimming to his cheeks.

Then the quiet was suddenly broken. "What firebender? I don't see a firebender," his father declared, looking around, shrugging to the other nobles. Zuko's heart lifted. They don't know it's me, he realised with a start. He managed to pull his fingers from the ice and tucked them beneath his armpits, his palms feeling warm. As long as he drew no attention to himself, they wouldn't know.

"Well, that's strange, considering it's the boy sitting beside you," Pakku sneered, lowering his finger, and a gasp swept throughout the audience, a thousand stares suddenly finding their way to Zuko. He shrunk, feeling violated, tears welling his eyes. He wanted them to stop. His throat was too full to speak. Everything burned.

His mother immediately took offence, rising to her feet. "How dare you!" she snapped. "My son is a nonbender! How dare you lie before your tribe! Before your Chief!"

The attention turned away from Zuko: all eyes went to Pakku. The master bender grit his teeth, balling his fists as he growled, "I know my place, woman, unlike you! Waterbending masters do not lie!"

"Then that makes you no master!" she cried back, and the crowd gasped.

Zuko stared at his mother in awe. His father rose to support her. "You can't prove he's a bender! You can't prove that you saw him bending today, if he even could!"

Pakku suddenly relaxed. "And that's where you're wrong. I can prove he's a bender, and I will prove he was bending in my courtyards this morning."

The audience began speaking amongst themselves, unsure whose side to take. Pakku strode to the line of anxious students, then stamped a foot. An abrupt lurch in the ground sent Peti stumbling forward. Zuko fought back a squeak and pressed into his mother's side. Her hands found his shoulders.

Noktul shot up. "Peti?!" Even Asiaka seemed shaken, hand covering her mouth.

Peti struggled to his feet, recovering from his shock as Pakku announced, "This boy was duelling him in the practice bays this morning. This boy is his teacher, the person who has allowed his firebending to grow stronger, more powerful." The crowd was less still, voices rising in fear, wide eyes frightened as they stared back at Zuko. "He is witness to the true nature of that child, and if he lies and denies it, I'll revoke my challenge for a duel with him!"

Peti stared up at Zuko. Zuko panicked and glanced at his father. But the look on his father's face made Zuko want to melt and never return. You have never looked twice at an element, fire or otherwise. If they find out, they'll take you away. Do you understand?

Zuko preferred the wolves.

Peti glanced at his family. The tension settled and Pakku grew impatient. The ground slipped beneath Peti's feet and the teen went sprawling to the ground.

"Confess, boy!" Pakku snarled. "Waterbenders do not lie!"

Noktul could hardly keep his composure.

Peti grunted, and Pakku leaned in. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't hear that, boy. You'll have to speak louder if you want the tribe to hear you!"

"I didn't!" Peti snapped, pushing himself to his feet. "I didn't teach him anything! I don't care if I lose my chance to be your apprentice! Who wants to work for a man who bullies an innocent child?! He's my cousin! My only cousin! How dare you accuse him!"

Zuko couldn't believe his ears. Peti had just lied. Peti had just given up everything. "No, no, no," he whispered.

Pakku clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "You have challenged my honour and insulted me before our tribe. It is your choice to suffer the consequences."

Peti's shoulders heaved, nose wrinkling. "That is my choice," he affirmed angrily.

Pakku sighed. "Your choice..." he agreed, and suddenly lifted his hand. A surge slammed into Peti with a mighty thwap.

Noktul cried out. "No, no, my son! NO!" he pleaded. He sprinted to the steps and raced down. Zuko's father chased him, calling his name over and over, begging him to stop.

Zuko watched frozen in horror as Peti was assaulted with attack after attack, barely given any time to breathe. His classmates scattered away, standing aside while their friend was beaten down. A cracking whip of water descended upon Peti as its bender did, and with enough force to shatter teeth, it struck his head and sent him sliding across the ground. Peti went limp as Pakku stood triumphantly over him.

Noktul was already at the ground of the arena, hopping over the wall. "DON'T TOUCH MY SON!" he bellowed, only to be washed aside by a geyser. The audience cried out, mothers turning away, hiding their children's eyes.

Pakku raised a stream of water above his head, coiling up for one last, finishing strike above Peti. "This will teach you respect!" he promised, and inhaled for his final move. He wasn't going to stop. He was going to end it, right there and right then.

"STOP!"

Birds started and took to the sky in swarms as the voice rang throughout the stadium. Zuko flew down the stairs, his mother tailing him as he jumped the protective fence and landed in the arena, near breathless as he rushed to his cousin's side, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Stop! You don't have to attack him! Please!" he begged, shaking under the old master's dark, mighty shadow. "They didn't do anything wrong! Peti was just protecting me! Uncle Noktul was just protecting him! Please, let them go! It's me you want, isn't it? I'm here!"

"Zuko, no!" his mother cried from the stands, struggling with the guards that detained her. The audience was transfixed on the scene before them.

Zuko held back tears. This was the only way. His stomach twisted in a deep heat and as he hung his head and turned towards Pakku. "Please, just let them go. They didn't do anything wrong."

Pakku relaxed, letting the water sink back to the ground. "So, the little boy finally grew a spine. You confess that you're a firebender?"

Sweat ran down Zuko's neck, his heart hammering against his ribcage. His worked up his courage, squeezing his eyes shut. I'm sorry dad, he thought. Please, please forgive me. He would've hurt you.

"Yes," Zuko replied, and then it was done. He could never go back.

Pakku grinned wolfishly. "And of course you can prove you are a firebender?"

Zuko grit his teeth, fighting tears. He hesitantly brought his hands to a cusp before him, willing the fire from his skin. A flame suddenly burst to life in the air, dancing and flirting like a playful child, glowing in the sunlight. Relief came to the building pressure inside Zuko and the boy exhaled, subsiding to the reassuring caress of heat.

The audience instantly reacted. "Monster! Firebender! Demon child!" The cries muddied the air as everyone panicked, scrambling to get as far away as possible, a stampede for the exit.

"Kill him!" one nobleman screamed. "Kill the abomination!"

"NO! He's my son!" his mother cried. "Please, have mercy, he's our only son! He's Water Tribe! He's our son!"

Peti groaned, pushing himself to his elbows, hair hanging loose. He looked up and registered Zuko, blinking. "What?" he gasped, pushing himself to his feet. "Zuko! No!"

Zuko met his eyes sadly as he held his fire, and the hope and passion left Peti's eyes. The teen slumped and looked away. The shame crushed Zuko, letting the flame evaporate as his hands went back to his sides. He could hear the sound of scrambling behind him, and looked up to see Noktul rush to his son's side. He stared at Zuko in horror and betrayal, a look that accused, Monster. "Come away from him, Peti!"

Zuko looked away, tears spilling. The other waterbending masters flanked Pakku, trying to coax the bending master away from Zuko as if he contained the plague. "Please, Pakku!" one begged. "He's dangerous! We'll arrest him together. You don't have to face him alone."

"He's a child!" Pakku snapped. "His only teacher was a waterbending student! How afraid can you cowards be of a little boy?! I know my own strength. I do not need you fools to define it for me. What we don't know are his strengths: a child whose bending I had witnessed today. A challenge is a challenge, and he cannot back down from it." Pakku broke the waterbending masters, spreading his hands as if to beckon the world.

"Prove your worth, firebender, and you can go in peace!" Pakku announced. Zuko grit his jaw. "Prove your worth, and you shall earn your place among this tribe!"

Zuko's mother cried out from the stands. Pakku gave a crooked grin. "So, firebender. What do you say?"

Zuko inhaled, suddenly defiant. Pakku had gone too far. He had to end this. Only he could end this.

"My name," he answered, "is Zuko of the Northern Water Tribe. And I accept your challenge!"

The audience stirred in hushed whispers, still crammed toward the back of the stands. Pakku grinned and Zuko glared back, taking a stand the appropriate distance, remembering his etiquette with Peti this morning.

Uncle Noktul tried to haul his son out of the way, but Peti shoved out. "Zuko!"

The firebender met his gaze and held it, shaking his head. A charge passed between them. Peti stopped in his tracks. He didn't fight as his father pulled him to a safe distance.

Zuko's heart squeezed and he sent an assuring, albeit scared, expression to his parents, who continued to fight and protest at the bottom of the stands. Now that Zuko was left alone on the field, the old waterbending master suddenly seemed that much more daunting, tall and grand and confident compared to the eleven-year-old who timidly stood before him.

Pakku leaned down and set his stance, white hair waving in the wind. "The first move is yours," he allowed, and Zuko gulped. He pulled the scarf from his neck and let it ignite in his hands, crumbling to ashes before whispering away on the wind. He tossed his ruined gloves to the side and bit his teeth against the glacial gusts gathering snow across the arena. He spread his feet and focused on his breathing. The breathing always helped.

Slowly, a flame opened in the hot air above his hands, and he cradled the fire to his chest, nurturing it, willing it to be stronger.

Pakku sneered. "Is that all you know, firebender?"

Zuko wrinkled his nose. Concentrate. He widened the birth of the flame and let it condense into hot, glowing energy that morphed and circled around him, flowing from his hands like water from a spring. He inhaled and suddenly closed his fists, pulling them in and then releasing them with a great, "Huurgh!"

A fireball erupted from his fists and went flying towards Pakku! A wall of water shot up as a barrier. The fire burst into a plume of smoke.

Zuko grinned, clutching his fists to himself.

Suddenly, a volley of spikes shot from the smoke. Instinctively, Zuko dropped and spread his hands wide, a huge wave of heat rippling from him. Some spikes instantly went up in a crescent of steam. Zuko flipped midair as the rest sailed beneath him. He landed and stole a moment to catch his breath, blinking. That was close.

Something whistled in the air and Zuko immediately fell to the ground, missing the jet of water by inches. Too close! Wide-eyed, he pushed himself to a stand and sent a response burst of fire in the waterbending master's direction, but his heart skipped a beat. Pakku had vanished.

A harsh crack sounded and a searing pain erupted in Zuko's ribcage. He went skidding to the ground. He grimaced, blinking through shocked tears as he looked up to see Pakku striding towards him, toying with his element like a ribbon.

"Come, little boy, it's going to take more than a few fireballs to make me yield!" He sent a hardening crest of water and ice his way.

Zuko yelped and jumped to narrowly avoid being hit again, the stitch in his side worsening. He clutched it and wheezed through the pain, kicking up a new storm at his feet and thrusting it towards the master.

The heat seared and his parka peeled away at the sleeves, fur singed and smoking. The hem caught fire and Zuko panicked, shucking it till he was left shivering in his tunic. Without the added weight, however, he was free, able to move with more agility as he stepped between blasts of water and answered with his own attacks.

He bent the flame back into molten energy, side-stepping and steering around Pakku as he let his powers go in a fiery launch. Each attack by each opponent collided in a thundering boom. Warm water soaked into Zuko's clothes as he rolled to avoid being frozen in a tower.

"You can give up any time you like," Pakku offered. "I won't judge."

Zuko growled and shot another blast his direction. Pakku barely pulled out of the way, caught off guard. He looked back at the boy and grinned. "Now that's more like it!" he cackled, and kipped atop the massive wave head he pulled from the ground, sliding sideways as it became a rim of ice.

Zuko fired at him repeatedly, just missing the waterbending master each time. Pakku jumped off and landed behind him. Zuko turned to fight, only to be met with another cracking strike to his chest. This time, it knocked the wind from him. He staggered backwards, panicking, struggling to breathe. The air sparked around him, loose hair waving in the mirage of heat. The fire beneath his fingers popped and shrank, evaporating. He couldn't move his lungs. He couldn't breath past the incredible cinching pain that made each ragged inhale futile.

Pakku struck again. Zuko lifted his arm and broke the whip against his skin. Blinded with white pain, Zuko staggered and gulped for precious, cold air. Pakku was nearly atop him.

Suddenly, a shadow overcame the sun. Peti stood between him and the old waterbending master, fists rolled. "Stop!" he declared. "This isn't a fair fight!"

"Out of my way!" Pakku roared.

Peti swung his arms and drew up his octopus form, catching and throwing back the spears of ice sent his way. Zuko hitched and stared in disbelief. One returned spear sliced Pakku's white hair, then a tentacle wrapped around his lower leg, yanking the master's feet out from under him. Pakku growled and ripped the water away. "That is the last time you interfere, boy!"

Pakku swept his hand and Peti suddenly vaulted through the air. "NO!" Zuko screamed. Peti crashed to the ground and tumbled to the wall. Get up. Get up!But he wasn't moving. Peti wasn't moving. Zuko looked between his cousin and the master in horror.

Pakku advanced on him, victorious. "No one left to defend you now, little firebender."

Something twisted deep in Zuko's gut. Enough. His fingers suddenly shot outward, a tremendous heat leaping from his skin as all his energy focused into one focal point, one mere apex at the tip of his fingers. He felt it divide; he felt the energy split in the air around them. The day filled with a bright flash as white-hot lightning cracked and went fissuring towards Pakku with a great, shrieking CRACK!

Pakku met the lightning reflexively with a wall of water. An explosion erupted from the contact. BOOM! The waterbending master was lost in the smoke.

Zuko stumbled in exhaustion. Lids heavy, limbs of lead, he gripped his throbbing side and blinked through the haze. His breaths were shallow. I did it, he thought. It happened again. He let loose a tired sob, clenching his teeth to hold back anymore. All he could hear was his own hitching, ragged gasping. The crowds were solemn and silent. The arena seemed almost…peaceful.

Snow creaked underfoot. Zuko looked up to see Pakku, clothes blackened with soot, emerging from the cloud of smoke. Zuko stiffened but looked away, resigning to his fate. He didn't have enough fight in him left. He couldn't push himself up again. The pain was too great. You win, Pakku, he thought.

"You passed the test," a gravelly voice rumbled. "It would be my honour if you would consent to be my apprentice, Zuko of the Northern Water Tribe."

Zuko looked up to witness Pakku bowing gravely to him.