Welcome to the first original chapter of the FF, I hope you like my Episode, tell me what you think!
Book 1.17: Zuko's Decision
Water.
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony.
Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.
Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished.
A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua.
And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they're ready to save anyone.
But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.
The night before with Jeong Jeong and Zuko…
The feeling got worse when he stepped into the hut and saw Jeong Jeong already turned in his direction, fixing him with a knowing look.
Nervous Zuko bowed before him.
He wondered what Jeong Jeong wanted from him.
"Raise boy.", said the deserter. "And take off this silly mask, I know you are Iroh's nephew."
What?!
How could he?!
Jeong Jeong let out a huff. "Other than your uncle, I will not entertain your silly games. Your uncle wrote to me, he had a feeling, we would meet, he asked me to talk to you. So this is what I'm going to do."
Well, wearing the mask still, seemed silly if Jeong Jeong knew it was him.
But how did Uncle Iroh know that he moonlighted as the Blue Spirit?
His uncle was way more aware of things than Zuko taught.
Slowly he took off the mask and kneeled in perfect seiza before the deserter.
The older man looked at him with a fire in his eyes, which made Zuko feel small and unimportant.
"I will not sugarcoat anything, this may be Iroh's way to guide you to the truth but it's not mine.", began Jeong Jeong. "This whole plan of yours is foolish! Capture the Avatar and Daimon so that your father gives you back your honour? Think boy! If your father wanted you home he never would have sent you to an impossible mission! It was just luck that they reappeared."
"N-No, that's not truth.", spoke back Zuko. "He knows I could do it and-"
"Don't interrupt me!", silenced Jeong Jeong. Zuko bit down his lips. "Foolish boy, think! Would a loving father really challenge his 13-year-old boy in an Agni Kai, because his son had the best interest in mind for the army? You must understand that your quest to capture the Avatar and Daimon is not merely a personal mission, but one that carries grave consequences for the entire world. The Fire Nation's relentless campaign of conquest has brought nothing but suffering to the other nations - the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and even our own people. We have become a force of destruction, our flames consuming all in their path. The Avatar and Daimon, the bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds, are the last hopes for restoring balance and healing the wounds we have inflicted. To capture them would be to extinguish that glimmer of hope, condemning the world to an eternity of war and oppression under the Fire Nation's rule."
Jeong Jeong paused, his piercing gaze meeting Zuko's, imploring the young prince to truly hear his words.
"The path you walk, boy, is one of darkness and despair. It is not too late to turn back, to see the truth that your own nation has hidden from you. The Fire Nation is not the beacon of power and prosperity it claims to be, but a force of ruin and devastation. Only by embracing the true meaning of firebending - the warmth, the life, the connection to the natural world - can you find the strength to break free from this cycle of violence and lead your people towards a brighter future."
Zuko just…he was lost for words.
"Remember, boy, remember your journey and what you have seen. How the children you travel with see the Fire Nation. How the whole world sees the Fire Nation!"
Oh spirits, it was like Zuko was pulled in two directions.
On one side, he heard Jeong Jeong's words, remembering how Aang and the other seemed to not see the Fire Nation as the heroes who would advance the primitive nations as his country sold to them, but as monsters who destroyed their lives.
And Aang…Aang was because of his Great-Grandfather the sole survivor of…a Genozide.
He couldn't sugarcoat it.
Whatever the Air Nomads wanted to attack them, killing an entire nation…it was too much.
To harsh.
To brutal.
To unforgivable.
Then there was the other side, who still longed for his home, for his father's approval for his birthright…
It was like thunderstruck him.
He…he only thought about what capturing Aang and Hua would mean for him.
Not what it would mean for these two bright kids, for the world, for the people of the other nations, for Katara and Sokka.
"Master…", he began slowly, fear in his heart. "If…If I brought Aang and Hua to the Fire Nation what will happen to them?"
"Finally you are asking the right questions. They wouldn't be killed."
Oh, thank the spirits.
"But so barely kept alive that death would be a mercy!"
No…no!
"My father wouldn't do this to…to children!"
"He burned your face and banished you, his own flesh and blood. What makes you think he would treat his enemies kinder, even if they are children."
It was like a slap in the face.
Zuko felt tears spring in his eyes, yet he wouldn't cry.
He hadn't cried since he had been banish.
"Can you live your life with this burden?", asked Jeong Jeong cold. "Could you sit on your throne, knowing two children are under brutal and inhuman torture, any hour of the day? I would fear especially for the Daimon, she is already a pretty girl."
So fast that Zuko's head snapped up, you could worry he broke his neck.
"No, you can't mean…"
"Rape is a preferred tool to break the spirits of women and if the female in question is the number one enemy of the state…"
Jeong Jeong stopped, yet he didn't need to speak. Zuko could imagine it.
He felt so sick he threw up.
Could he doom Aang and Hua to such destinies, for his honour?
What honour was even in this all?
There was none…
"Think about my words boy, now leave."
Fast he put his mask back on and when Hua talked to him, he gave her just a pat.
Zuko needed to talk to his uncle.
Urgently!
His ship followed them unseen since he returned to it the first time.
So he could board it fast and walk up to his uncle.
He didn't give his Uncle the time to greet him and just shouted: "I talked with Jeong Jeong. He talked to me in your name! Uncle it's time you tell me the truth!"
General Iroh had a pensive look on his weathered face. He knew this conversation would not be an easy one, but it was a necessary step in Zuko's journey of redemption.
"Zuko, my dear nephew, I feel it is time we had an honest discussion about the Fire Nation and the path we have been walking." Iroh's voice was gentle, but firm. "For too long, we have been blinded by the propaganda and lies fed to us by those in power. The truth is, the Fire Nation's conquest and subjugation of the other nations is a grave injustice, fueled by greed, fear and the thirst for domination."
Zuko shifted uncomfortably, his brow furrowed. "But Uncle, the Fire Nation is powerful, prosperous. We are bringing order and civilization to the world."
Iroh placed a weathered hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"That is what they would have you believe, my boy. But the reality is far more complex and sinister. The other nations suffer under our rule, their cultures erased, and their people oppressed. This is not the noble destiny the Fire Lord speaks of." Iroh's eyes grew distant, tinged with regret. "I have seen firsthand the devastation our armies have wrought. Too many innocent lives lost, too many families torn apart."
Zuko opened his mouth to protest, but Iroh raised a hand. "I know this is difficult to hear. I struggled with these truths myself for many years. But we must face them, Zuko, if we are to find the moral courage to make amends." Iroh's gaze burned with conviction. "The Avatar and Daimon offer us a chance at redemption, a path to restore balance to this war-torn world. We must help them, Zuko. It is our duty, as members of the Fire Nation, to right these wrongs."
"That's why you agreed on that I travel with them!", gasped Zuko. "You wanted me to make friends with them…to see things your way!"
"Yes, it was my hope."
"Uncle I…"
"I see you are very much confused, but I think it's time I tell you a family secret. The reason why your soul is torn apart in two directions."
Tired Zuko just sat down beside his uncle.
What would come next on this day full of revelations?
"You know how the grandfather of your father was Firelord Sozin."
"Of course Uncle."
Iroh took a deep breath and placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"What was kept secret from you are the grandparents of your dear mother. It's Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue."
No…it couldn't be!
Shocked Zuko sprang up and stared at his uncle.
Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue?!
It means…
"I have Water Tribe blood in me. Azula has it too! I just…why?", asked Zuko.
So Iroh began to tell him how his parents met.
His mother Ursa had been the Lady of Hira'a and thanks to her Water Tribe grandmother a master herbalist.
Her fame was so grand, that she was invited to the Fire Nation Palace to show her abilities to Firelord Azulong, whose wife Ilah had been at the time sick with an unknown fever.
No one knew how she had done it, but Ursa managed to heal Ilah.
Azulong wanted to give her treasures, however Ursa asked for one thing.
For the hand of Prince Ozai.
In the time she had been in the palace, she had met the young prince.
Ozai wasn't always a power-hungry egomaniac. Years ago he was just the second-born prince who searched for his place in the world.
The two spend time with each other and fall in love.
It was a bit of a scandal.
Yes, Ursa was a noblewoman, still in her blood flow Water Tribe, even from the former Daimon!
Could Azulong allow such a pair?
In the end, he did, but only because the Fire Sages told him about a prophecy which said a royal descendant of Roku and Lixue would bring great power to Azulon's lineage.
They married and had Zuko.
All seemed good.
Just Iroh admitted no one knew why Ozai suddenly became the man he was now.
And this was the end of the story.
Pensive Zuko stared at the ground.
This was…a lot.
He needed time.
He needed to think this over.
All these revelations today.
His uncle understood him.
"Why don't you lay down for a while? Some sleep will do you good."
With a simple nod, Zuko made his way to his cabin.
Iroh signed and prayed to the spirits that Zuko would make the right choice.
The sleep had helped a bit.
Zuko was now determined to make a decision.
Yet for this, he needed to talk to Aang or Hua.
So he said for the time goodbye to his uncle and made his way back to Jeong Jeong camp.
He was lucky and found Hua before the camp on a hill meditation.
Zuko comes near her, yet no sound comes out of him.
He isn't sure how to begin.
That's when Hua opens an eye and smiles at him.
"Hey, Blue, were where you? We have been worried.", she tells him.
He only stares at her.
A bit nervous Hua opens fully her eyes.
"I'm currently meditating, feeling the sun, you know for firebending."
Still nothing from him.
He could see how Hua was getting nervous.
Finally, he moved, coming towards her.
"Please don't run away.", he begged her as he took off his mask. "I want to talk to you."
When Hua saw who he was, she switched to a defensive position.
"Zuko!", she snarled. "It was you the whole time! Sokka WAS right, you are the enemy!"
Tears fell from her green eyes, however, before he could explain himself she attacked him with fire blasts.
He had trouble to counter them.
The time with Jeong Jeong already born fruits.
"Hua please listen!"
"I'm not listening to you, you…you….sneaky bastard! Did you have fun playing our friend, waiting to snatch up Aang and me?!"
"It was the plan, but now-"
"Aha, you confess! I won't let you take me away none let you near Aang!"
They got a bit back on forth, before Zuko managed to grab her hands, making her stop firebending.
He saw in Hua's eyes she was ready to unleash another element at him, so he fell down on the ground before her and bowed.
Hua gasped surprised.
"Please Daimon Hua, listen to me. I just wanna talk, I don't want to capture you. I will stay in this position, till you tell me to rise."
It was still between them for a few seconds before Hua declared: "I don't trust you, so stay this way and tell me what you want to tell."
And so Zuko told her all about his talk with Jeong Jeong and then with his uncle.
Then he even told her why he was so after her and Aang.
It was then that Hua told him to face her.
Big fat tears fall from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry Zuko.", she sniffed. "Your father is an utter bastard."
Finally, they sat down beside each other.
"I understand you better, but what do you want from me?", asked the Daimon curious.
"Please tell me the truth about how it was 100 years ago."
She did it without a problem.
Hua told him about her life, her life with the Air Nomads, all the friends she had in the world, even in the Fire Nation and how his Nation was once a place full of love and laughter.
She talked about Kuzon, a firebender and one of Aang and her best friends in the whole world.
A boy so loyal and kind, his fire warming them when it was cold, who did little tricks to amuse them.
The world and his Nation from 100 years ago sounded…right.
How it should be.
"Did you get the answer that you sought?"
Slowly Zuko nods.
He had made his decision.
That's when they heard Appa and he put his mask on.
Now he needed to tell the others all this too.
Katara stared at Prince Zuko, how he was bowing before them, telling his little cry tale and believing they would just take it in.
Ha!
This was surely just a scam so he could grab Hua and Aang.
Sadly it seemed only she thought this, Aang and Hua were crying and even Sokka seemed touched.
Her brother who had been all the time mistrusting of Zuko, believed his tale!
What was going on?!
"I'm sorry I tricked you.", said Zuko right now. "But I think it was destiny that I travel with you. I learned a lot of things."
"Oh, and what that would be?", snapped Katara.
She ignored how the other looked at her in a please stay calm way.
"For so long, all I wanted was for my father to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honour I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please him. My father, who, banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a thirteen-year-old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could he possibly justify a duel with a child?"
"He can't, no one can't.", mumbled Sokka. "Your father is a sick bastard."
Zuko nodded and continued: "Growing up, we in the Fire Nation were taught that our country was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it! We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."
"Wise words.", smiled Aang.
"And pretty ones.", added Hua.
Both kids were still crying.
Katara was disbelieving.
"Oh come on, you can't believe what he says!", she jumps up and points at the still kneeling Zuko. "He hunted us down from the South Pole and then played our friend. He used our trust and he will do it again."
"Please Katara, you don't know what you say…"
"I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through!", cries Katara touching her necklace. "Me personally! The Fire Nation took my mother away from me."
"I'm sorry.", says Zuko, looking at her like he knows this pain. "That's something we have in common."
Huh…!
Surprised Katara stares back at him. No, the hurt in his eyes was real.
However, Zuko told them of the night his mother vanished.
Now all were crying.
"The worst part is I don't know if she is dead or alive. Sometimes I think it's better for her to be dead than wandering the world all alone without a home. Sometimes I hope she found a place to live in peace."
"Not knowing is terrible, mmh.", sniffed Katara and gave him a friendly pat.
The boy just nodded.
"Okay we all know now Zuko's tragic backstory and his chance of mind.", began Sokka, sniffing away his last tears. "But Zuko what are you planning now?"
Since her hand was still on his shoulder Katara felt how Zuko took a deep breath.
"I would like to help you. My Uncle is the better firebender, but I think no one should know that I changed sides, so Uncle Iroh will be sailing with my ship, playing the role of hunting Aang and Hua down, while I teach Hua firebending.", explained Zuko.
A happy shout came from Hua and, incredibly, she hugged Zuko.
Stupified he patted her head.
Katara had to admit it was cute.
"Oh, that's so great! I have a firebending teacher!"
"Okay, you will help Hua to learn to play with fire, but what then when we face off against your father?", wonders Sokka.
"I don't think I will ever get the throne, I'm still and will be a banished prince, but I will help you defeat him. Also maybe we can manage to get my uncle on the throne. With him, the Fire Nation can become good again."
Aang gave him a big smile.
"That sounds good. Also, I'm sure your Uncle will lift your banishment."
A little crooked smile formed on Zuko's face, which strangely made Katara's heart race.
Besides his stupid ponytail, he was actually quite handsome…
With that, all was now clear and they could be friends without secrets.
So Zuko had only one thing left to do.
When all were sleeping, he wandered over the river they camped and cut off his ponytail.
He let it fall into the river, watching it flow down.
It had been the mark of the banished prince, but now he was the ally and firebending teacher of the Avatar and Daimon.
He swore by his mother he would do good and be better any day.
So yes I changed the backstory of Ozai and Ursa.
It was my headcanon before the comics ruined it.
I hate the comics and always thought Ozai became slowly an utter bastard, he had to be a nice man before to snatch someone like Ursa up.
So I mixed it a bit with the comics.
I hope you are all okay with this ^^
Until next chapter :D