Author Notes- This is my first fanfiction, let me know what you think!
{The First Agni Kai, The Boy in the Iceberg, The Avatar Returns}
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"Listen Kira, today I have an important war meeting with the Fire Lord, go and play with Zuko." Father said.
"Can't I please go to the war meeting too?" She asked.
"No. Run along and play with your friend," Father commanded, as he walked out of the house.
Kira sighed, then ran off to find Zuko. She found him in his regular spot, near the turtle duck pond.
"Hey Zuko," She called.
His face lit up as he saw her.
"Kira! Come over here!" He yelled, beaming.
She walked toward him and sat down under the nearby willow tree.
"What's wrong?" He asked, looking at her dejected face.
"Father's going to a war meeting with the Fire Lord, but he won't let me go! It's so unfair! How am I supposed to be a general if I don't go to war meetings?" Kira burst out.
Zuko smiled, "I think I can help with that," He said.
"How?" She asked.
"I am the crown prince of the fire nation. I can order the guards to let me in," He said grandly, "besides, I need the experience too."
"Let's do it! Come on."
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Zuko strode towards the 2 guards in front of the door that opened into the war room, with Kira following behind him. The 2 guards moved to block them from entering which earned them a glare from Zuko.
"Let us in!" He demanded. A hand reached and grasped Zuko's shoulder. Kira whirled around and saw that the hand belonged to General Iroh, Zuko's uncle. Relief coursed through her veins, Kira knew that the general was not going to get them in trouble. She knew that the old man was just a funny guy who cared greatly for Zuko, despite his reputation as the Dragon of the West.
"Prince Zuko, Kira, what's wrong?" He asked gently.
"We want to go to the war meeting, but the guard won't let us pass!" Zuko explained angrily.
"You're not missing much, these meetings are dreadfully boring," Iroh laughed.
"If I'm going to rule this nation one day, don't you think I should start now?" Zuko asked, with a hopeful expression.
The general sighed, "Okay, you two can come in with me, but you must promise not to speak. These old people are a bit sensitive about their ideas."
"Thank you Uncle," Zuko said, as Kira nodded her thanks as well. They both followed General Iroh to the war room, where they took their places at the corner of the map of the Earth Kingdom. Father stared at her angrily, but said nothing. Once they were settled the meeting commenced.
"The Earth Kingdom forces are concentrated here. A battalion of their fiercest warriors and strongest earth benders. So I am recommending the 41st division," Father said, moving a Fire Nation piece across the board toward the Earth Kingdom pieces.
"But the 41st is made entirely of new recruits, how do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom battalion ?" Another general asked. General Hai if she remembered right.
Father grinned viciously, "I don't," He answered.
"They'll be used as a distraction while we mount an attack from the rear."
Kira stifled a gasp. How could her father even think of doing such a horrible thing? Beside her, Zuko leapt to his feet.
"You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and protect our nation, how can you betray them like that!" Zuko exclaimed. Silence followed, as every general in the room looked at him with shock and disdain. Suddenly, the room became very hot. Kira turned around and saw that the curtain of fire surrounding Fire Lord Ozai was raging and tall. Oh no, this couldn't end well for Zuko.
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"Zuko, please stand down! My father might be old, but he is a master!"She begged.
"No! Backing down now would be dishonorable. I can beat him," Zuko insisted.
She felt tears pricking behind her eyes. They were just outside the battle arena and Zuko was getting ready to fight Father in an Agni Kai. She wasn't worried about her father, he could take care of himself, but Zuko couldn't. He was just a beginner, and Father was a master!
"Don't worry," Zuko said gently, "I'll be fine."
She opened her mouth to argue more with him, but he was already climbing up the stairs that lead to the arena. Kira looked at him nervously, then went and sat next to General Iroh in the spectator stands. She was so focused on Zuko that she didn't notice his opponent until she saw Zuko's eyes widen and a look of horror cross his face. Kira looked at his opponent, and inhaled sharply. It wasn't her father on the battlefield, but the Fire Lord himself.
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"Please father, I only had the Fire Nation's best interest at heart! I'm sorry I spoke out of turn!" Zuko cried, terror shown plainly on his face. Kira covered her mouth with her hands, tears coursing down her face. On her neck, the black stones on her necklace were bruning, but she didn't care.
"You will fight for your honor!" Ozai boomed.
Zuko fell to his knees and bowed deeply, "I meant you no disrespect, I am your loyal son."
"Rise and fight Prince Zuko," Ozai ordered.
"I won't fight you," Zuko answered.
"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher." Ozai now stood right in front of Zuko staring down at his son's tear streaked face. He raised his hand, which was full of fire. Kira realized what he was going to do a second before it happened. "NO!" She shrieked, as Ozai blasted fire straight into Zuko's face. Zuko screamed. Zuko screamed, and the world shattered around her.
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Kira was sitting right next to Zuko's bed in the infirmary, looking at the bandage that covered almost all of the left side of his face. Guilt tore at her heart, this was all her fault. Zuko wouldn't have been at the war meeting if it hadn't been for her. She heard a creak behind her as the door opened. Kira looked to see who was entering, and saw that it was General Iroh.
"What did the Fire Lord say?" She asked. A few hours ago a servant had come to the infirmary and told Iroh that the Fire Lord had ordered him to go to the throne room. Iroh had gone to the throne room, leaving Kira alone to watch over Zuko. But now he was back, and Kira wanted to know what the Fire Lord had said to justify hurting his son so badly.
"Ozai said that since Zuko didn't fight, he.." Iroh's voice quavered, and it took him a moment to compose himself.
"Ozai banished him." He finished quietly.
"No.. No! How dare he! How dare he do this to Zuko and then banish him!" She choked out. Iroh put his hand over hers and she saw that tears were slowly dripping down his face.
"There is still hope, if Zuko finds the Avatar, and brings him to the Fire Lord he can come back," Iroh told her.
"How can we tell him?" She asked. Zuko loved his nation with all the fiery passion of a fire bender. Kira knew that he would see that he wasn't supposed to come back from his banishment. The Avatar hadn't been seen in 100 years, and the Fire Lord knew that.
"I'll tell him," Iroh answered, interrupting her train of thought. "You should get some rest," He continued, "It has been an eventful day."
She nodded and walked out of the room. She had no intention of resting though. She was livid, and she needed to get some of that anger out. She went out to the garden, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and, with a quick movement of her hand, made the 4 black stones on her necklace hover above her hand. The stones glowed with lava and she shaped them into a shuriken, then hurled it at a bush. With a few deft movements she destroyed the bush, until only a black stump remained. She walked away, slightly less angry than before. She was still furious at Ozai, and worried about Zuko, but using her element always made her feel better. She was a lava bender after all.
-The Next Day
"Miss?" A servant knocked on the door of Kira's room. "General Iroh has requested your presence in the infirmary, he says that Prince Zuko has woken up," The servant finished.
"Thank you for telling me," Kira said, as she opened the door and headed to the infirmary. As she entered the room she saw that Zuko was sitting up in his bed, and that Iroh was standing right next to him.
"Is it true? Am.. Am I really banished?" Zuko asked, his voice rough and raspy. Seeing him like this, broken and sad, unleashed all the feelings Kira thought she had bottled up inside. They flowed out of her like lava erupting from a volcano.
"I'm so sorry, Zuko. It's all my fault! I asked if you could get me into the war meeting, you never would have gone to the meeting if I didn't ask you to! And know this happened! You're banished, probably forever, and.." She trailed off, sobbing profusely. Zuko reached out and clasped her hand in his. He pulled her into a hug and said, "It's not your fault, Uncle warned me about the dangers of speaking, I just didn't listen." After a short pause, he continued. "I guess this is goodbye, then?"
"What do you mean?" Kira asked.
"We're leaving today," He answered, pointing to himself and General Iroh.
"Oh, well I'm coming with you," Kira replied, a tiny grin hovering in the corner of her mouth for the first time since the Agni Kai.
"What?" Zuko whispered, confusion spreading over his face. "Why?"
"Because you're my best friend! And there's no way I'll be able to face my father again after what he said in the meeting. Also, I'm sure I could never even be in the same room as Ozai without attacking him! " She finished resolutely.
Zuko's eye that wasn't covered by the bandage widened. "Are you sure? You might not be able to come back home at all."
Kira held him at arm's length, staring into his amber eye. "Zuko, listen, because I'm only going to say this once, I don't care. Besides, you'll have more luck finding the Avatar if you have another set of eyes."
Zuko's face hardened. "Yes, I will find the Avatar and bring him to my father in chains!" He declared, anger framing his voice.
"Yes, I'll help you, I promise!" Kira said fervently. She would do what she could, anything to allow him to come back to his nation. She would stay by his side, no matter what.
-2 years later
Kira was sitting in front of a mirror brushing her waist length hair. She divided it into 4 portions and started to braid one of the quarters. As her fingers moved her mind started to wander to the events of the last 2 years. She, Zuko, Iroh, and the rest of the crew had been searching for the Avatar for all that time. The first month they had gone to all the air temples and then after that they had journeyed all around the world, following every little rumor that hinted at the location of the Avatar. Eventually the places where they hadn't been started to disappear. Which is why they were now at the frigid icy land that rested at the bottom of the sighed, most of their journey had been enjoyable, she loved the freedom that living on a ship provided, but this place was freezing and if Kira hated anything it was being cold. It's still better than the palace though, she reminded herself. She hadn't realized how much she hated her life in the Fire Nation until she had left. It wasn't that she disliked the palace function,she actually loved them, when she had been allowed to go. It was the fact that her father controlled every bit of her life and expected her to be a perfect little china doll of a daughter. Her father.. It had been his plan that Zuko had spoken against, the whole reason her best friend had gone from a kind 13 year old to snappy and furious 15 year old. She felt the rocks in her necklace start to heat up and she forced herself to take a deep breath. She would not lose control of her bending, no matter how angry she got.
"Kira! The prince seeks your presence on the deck, he says it's important," one of the crew members said, raping sharply at her door.
"Alright, I'll be there in a moment!" Kira replied. She arranged her finished braid into a crown around her head, then secured some of her remaining hair into a top-knot with a red hair tie. She then gathered the rest of hair into a ponytail. After that she tied three golden hair ties onto the pony tail around 4 inches apart. Finally she grabbed her dark green cloak and strode out of the door, heading toward the deck.
There she found Zuko standing at the prow of the ship, with Iroh sitting right behind him, drinking tea.
"There you are! I have finally found the Avatar!" Zuko said, his good eye wide with hope.
"Really?" She asked incredulously. There had been many instances where Zuko had found traces of the Avatar that had just ended up being regular natural phenomenons. But if this time it was really the Avatar, then they could be on their way home.
"Yes really!" He snapped, responding to her skeptical tone. "Tell her Uncle!"
"There was a bright light that split the sky, coming from that direction," Iroh told her, pointing to a big mass of ice. "Though it is probably just the celestial lights," He added, with a pointed look at Zuko.
"Wow, that might actually be him. Zuko! You've found the Avatar!" Kira beamed, before Zuko could snap something furious at his Uncle. She was happy for him, capturing the Avatar had been his life goal for the past 2 years, but she wasn't sure if she was happy. On the one hand her best friend would have his life back, but on the other hand, what would happen the next time he spoke out of turn? Kira also didn't want to go back to the Fire Nation, back to being a perfect doll of a daughter, back to groveling at the feet of the person who would burn his own son with no regrets. No, she would help Zuko capture the Avatar and go back home. He needed this.
"We just need to track down the source of the light and the Avatar will be mine. Helmsman! Set a course of the light," Zuko ordered.
-The next day
"Where is the Avatar? I know you're hiding him!" Zuko glowered, scanning the faces of the frightened Water Tribe villagers. Kira sighed, she didn't want to threaten the villagers, but she knew that there was no way they would willingly help anyone who was part of the Fire Nation.
Suddenly Zuko yanked an old woman out from the crowd and Kira inhaled sharply. Surely he wouldn't threaten an elderly person!
"He'd be about this old, master of all the elements," He scowled, throwing the old woman back into the arms of a girl a few years younger than them. Then he made an arc of fire right above the heads of the gathered people.
"Show me where he is!" Zuko ordered. Behind them, a scream rose into the air as the boy that had charged them when they landed ran toward them brandishing a club. Zuko grabbed hold of him and in one quick movement flipped the boy in the air. He landed sprawled on the ground. Zuko then firebent at him, dodging as the boy threw a boomerang at him. A tiny, tiny boy grabbed a spear from somewhere and while shouting,"Show no fear!", threw it at the boy Zuko was fighting. The guy charged Zuko again, holding the spear in front of him, and then watched in astonishment as Zuko broke the spear into pieces and then bonked the boy's head with the remaining piece of the spear. Kira tried to hold back her giggle, this Water Tribe boy was so horrible at fighting it made her feel rather sorry for him. Then the boomerang came back and hit Zuko in the back of the head and she couldn't keep the giggles down anymore. Zuko glared at her, then summoned blades of flame below his fists. He opened his mouth to yell, perhaps another command for the Avatar, when a flash of black and white bowled him over. Zuko landed on his face, with his helmet landing on his backside. Now she was laughing in earnest, it was just so funny!
"Hey Katara, hey Sokka!" a bald boy riding on the back of what she now realized was a penguin chirped.
"Hey Aang," the boy, Sokka, moaned.
Zuko stood up, frowning ferociously. He settled into a fighting pose and gestured to her and the rest of the soldiers to circle around the bald kid. They advanced on the child, but then he brought his staff down and made a wall of snow cascade down on their shoulders. How did he do that? They boy had airbender tattoos but there was no way he was the Avatar, the Avatar was more than 100 years old! Wasn't he?
"You're the airbender, you're the Avatar?" Zuko cried incredulously, advancing on the child,the Avatar?
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko said scornfully.
"Well you're just a teenager," The Avatar replied. Kira frowned, didn't this kid know anything? Zuko was anything but a normal teenager. As if to prove her point Zuko threw a ball of fire straight at the Avatar. He yelped and spun his staff around, dissipating each flame that Zuko hurled at him. The embers from the fireballs flew out behind him, coming extremely close to the villagers. Some of the little kids screamed in terror. The Avatar looked back at them and lowered his staff.
"If I come with you will you leave everyone alone?" He asked, looking at Zuko. Zuko nodded and 2 guards came and grabbed the Avatar from behind. He went with them with no fuss at all.
"No! Aang, don't do this!" The girl who had caught the old woman begged.
"It's okay Katara, take care of Appa for me," The Avatar, Aang, said, turning his head around to look at her. With that they walked into the ship as the gangplank closed behind them.
Soon they arrived at the deck of the ship. Zuko held the Avatar's staff in his hands examining it.
"This will make a good gift for my father,though I guess you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks," Zuko looked down at Aang, then ordered, "Take him to the prison hold! Uncle, take this staff to my chambers!" Iroh looked at the staff then handed it to another soldier.
"Would you mind taking this to his chambers?"He asked, and then followed Zuko as the soldier nodded. Kira was tempted to follow him, but she decided to stay outside instead, even though it was so cold, and keep watch just in case one of those Water tribe people got any ideas. She stared at the sky, bringing her dark green cloak closer to her as the cold started to seep into her bones. Then, something caught her eye. The Avatar was running pell mell toward the tower in the middle of the ship with a bunch of soldiers running after him. Kira sprung into action, pursuing the boy as fast as her legs would take her. She whipped out her blow gun and tried to aim, but he was running too fast for her paralyzing darts to land. She shoved her blowgun back into its holster and tried to catch up with the Avatar but he was already too far ahead for her to catch up.
"Zuko! The Avatar has escaped!" She yelled. Ahead of her the sounds of fire and large clangs reverberated along with footsteps pattering away. Kira ran out to the deck, looking for any sign that the Avatar was flying away. Then she saw Aang's staff flying through the air, and watched in amazement as the staff turned into a glider. With a bolt of surprise she realized that the Avatar was going to use the glider to escape! She brought out her blowgun, but the boy was too far away and she couldn't use her lavabending. Then, to her horror, she saw Zuko jump out from the balcony and grasp the Avatar's foot in his hand, dragging him down with his weight. She ran to catch them, then saw that Zuko was already on his feet, and changed her course to land a roundhouse kick on the Avatar. The boy went flying overboard, but then something rocked in the ocean below. She saw the reason why a moment later. The Avatar was bending a TORNADO of water underneath him, and his eyes were glowing and his face was twisted in a horrible angry way. Aang landed on the deck of the ship bringing the tornado water down and around with him, blasting her hard against the wall of the deck and shoving Zuko overboard!
"ZUKO!"She shrieked,as she ran towards the spot where he fell overboard. She grasped his dangling hand and pulled him up. As she was doing this the rest of the crew was facing off against the Avatar and, surprisingly, 2 of the Water Tribe children on what looked like a giant bison. The girl was bending a piece of the remaining water from the Avatars water tornado. She thrust it at the soldiers, or tried to, she actually ended up freezing the boy, Kira thought that he was Sokka, behind her. As soon as Zuko was on the deck he leapt to his feet and charged the waterbender, who was holding the unconscious Avatar in her arms, and Kira followed him. The waterbender bended some more water as they approached her, Sokka, and the bison, but this time she actually froze Kira, Zuko, and the other soldiers into a block of ice.
"Come on Sokka!" The girl yelled, seemingly unaware that she had frozen his feet. Sokka hacked at the ice with his boomerang until he was free, muttering something like,"I'm just a guy with a boomerang, I didn't ask for all this flying and magic!" Once the boy was free he leapt onto the bison and with a "yip yip" the bison flew. IT FLEW! As it was taking off, Iroh walked out from the tower of the boat. He took in the scene in front of him,the crew trapped in a block of ice and the flying bison, with a look of confusion.
"UNCLE! Blast down the bison!" Zuko yelled,the freezing ice around them seeming to have no effect on his a shrug Iroh blasted a huge jet of fire straight at the flying bison, but it was deflected out of nowhere by the Avatar's spinning staff. The fireball collided into a nearby wall of ice, bringing the ice and snow down onto the ship. The bison flew smugly into the sky until it was just a black speck.
"Well,"Iroh said,"Good news for the Fire Lord. The Fire Nation's greatest enemy is just a little kid."
"That little kid just did this," Zuko replied, moving his head to indicate the rest of the snow filled ship.
"Uncle, get the rest of the crewmen and tell them to dig this ship out of here. And get us out of this ice!"