Chapter 5: Foundations of Trust
Katara had to admit, it was weird seeing Danny and Azula walking around the Earth Kingdom palace like welcome guests. The news of the new alliance between the Earth King and Azula had quickly spread through the palace and to the high-ranking generals and nobility of Ba Sing Se.
Surprisingly there wasn't as much tension as she would have expected. Many of the generals were glad to work with the Fire Nation princess if it meant the end of the war. Katara had wondered if they found it so easy to adjust because they had been exposed to the war longer than she had or because they had been living cushioned lives within the central ring.
Regardless, she couldn't believe that the daughter of the Fire Lord was currently plotting his defeat. Although this wasn't the first time Katara had been surprised by the Fire Nation Princess and her retainer. They had only clashed about four times now and Danny had helped Team Avatar when they were stuck in the Si Wong Desert. There was also that temporary truce which had only served to muddle Katara's opinions of Danny and Azula.
It made it difficult to determine whether working with them was a good idea or not. Logically everything they said made sense and Katara hated that. She wouldn't claim to hate logic but she definitely wore her heart on her sleeves. Katara had to begrudgingly admit that of the members of their group, she and Aang were the most emotional. That wasn't a bad thing, but as many soldiers had pointed out. That was likely to get them killed in battle.
Not that it mattered now that they were in a relatively safe space. What mattered now was how weird it was seeing two enemies in the palace. Team Avatar had been reinvited back into the Earth King's palace alongside Azula and her party so that discussions could be made easily. Azula wasn't even trying to hide her identity, she didn't wear her armour but she still wore typical Fire Nation clothing that would identify her as royalty. Danny wore his usual strange clothing that didn't reveal any particular allegiances to any one nation.
Katara had encountered Danny in a kitchen preparing a meal with chefs. Upon spotting her, Danny smiled and waved her over.
"Hey Katara, you're just the person I wanted to see," Danny asked.
"Uh, hi Danny," Katara muttered awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"
"I heard from Sokka that your dad and other Watertribe warriors would be making their way to Ba Sing Se. I'm hoping they listen and agree to the alliance. " Danny said. "I figured preparing a large meal for everyone today would be a good idea, but I don't know anything about Water Tribe foods. Any chance you could show me?"
Katara froze in surprise.
"Why do you want to make Water Tribe food?" She asked.
"I am kind of hoping for today to be the first of many cultural exchanges," Danny said. "So I'm making Fire Nation cuisine, as well as food from my hometown. You guys are going to love pizza. The Earth King's chefs will have Earth Kingdom food ready for tonight, and I already have an Air Nomad recipe that I would love to surprise Aang with. I just need Water Tribe Food."
"Where did you find Air Nomad recipes?" Katara asked.
"I found them at the library before I had to save your asses from the giant owl," The nineteen-year-old grinned. "It took a while to find the right ingredients, that's why I wasn't there when the drill attacked."
"That explains a lot," Katara muttered. "How long have you been planning this alliance?"
"Since we first met," Danny said with a shrug.
"Then why did you continue to fight and hunt us?" Katara asked.
Danny didn't respond instantly. He stopped kneading the dough in his hands and turned to face Katara. His face was solemn as he stared down the sixteen-year-old girl. Danny always fought his battles with a smile on his face and jokes on his tongue. He would taunt his enemies without demeaning them and would even give advice during a fight. It made him seem friendly and approachable. Sometimes people would forget how dangerous he was because of his actions.
But when he was serious and stood almost thirty centimetres over Katara, when she could see the small scars running up his arms and recalled his power and bending, she remembered how dangerous he was.
"Be real with me," Danny began slowly. "If you guys won the war, what would you want to happen to the Fire Nation after the war ended? Would you be content with their complete destruction? Have all their resources torn away to pay for the damages they did to the other nations?
"Would you want them completely eradicated? You told me once that all the people of the Fire Nation were evil," Danny continued. "Would you be willing to accept people who can create fire when people who created fire killed your mother?"
Katara swallowed the lump that had appeared in her throat. She wasn't like Jet, that was what she had convinced herself of, but she couldn't deny the thought that her mother's death was one of the harshest things she had experienced. There was a small part of her that wanted to destroy the Fire Nation for that. Even if she realistically knew that it wasn't everyone in the Fire Nation.
Katara almost bit her lip. Zuko's face showed up again as she considered the face of the enemy, but as she had come to understand he was just as much a victim as she was.
"Look, I'm not saying that the Fire Nation is innocent. In war no one's innocent," Danny continued. "But everyone has their levels of prejudice towards their side. When I first arrived from the Spirit world, I wanted to fly away to one of the other nations since Fire Lord Ozai was a big jerk.
"But I decided to stick around since I met some cool people in the Fire Nation. Xiaomei for example, she's the woman who took me in when I arrived and became like my second mother. And Azula, she was a brat when I met her but she reminded me so much of one of my old friends that I had to stick around," Danny said as his smile returned and Katara found herself relaxing. "I don't know when, but at some point when I was acting as her bodyguard, I decided I wanted to break her narrow point of view and show her what real people were like.
"It took a while. But I think Azula has learnt that she doesn't need to be what Ozai made her into to be a good Fire Lord," Danny added. "And I'm hoping that with her on the throne, the Fire Nation won't be what Sozin made it into."
"So you've been trying to help Azula all this time?" Katara asked.
"Not really," Danny shrugged. "I didn't care about moulding her into the perfect Fire Lord. Who she chooses to become is on her. I just wanted Her to have a friend." Danny said. "When we met, she had two friends, Mai and Ty Lee but if I'm being honest they weren't her friends, just her tools. Ty Lee was too scared to oppose her and Mai always chose the path of least resistance.
"Her dad was a total fruitloop and her family had a severe case of favouritism," Danny continued. "She told me that her mom favoured Zuko while she was favoured by her father. She said Iroh treated her with kindness but still sided with Zuko when he left. She didn't have anyone so me being the big softie I was, I decided I would be her friend, but one she couldn't manipulate or scare into liking her."
"You were there for her when no one else was," Katara muttered. "You're very nice Danny."
"Thanks, Katara," Danny said. "Someone once gave me a second chance when I hit my lowest point so I figured I'd give her one as well."
Katara smiled for the first time since she had been captured. There was something heartwarming about this. She still wasn't sure if she could trust Azula but she felt herself trusting Danny.
"You're a good friend," She said as she shook her head.
Danny beamed in response.
"Don't tell Azula I said this. I don't want to be eating blue fire tomorrow," Danny laughed.
"Your secret is safe with me," Katara said. "I'll help you with making a traditional Watertribe meal. But we'll need to grab ingredients."
"Sweet. I need to leave the dough to rise anyway," Danny said as he grinned.
~00000~
Sokka and Toph were the easiest to convince. Toph didn't particularly care for the political dance between Azula, Earth King Kuei and Aang, but she did agree that Aang needed a Firebending teacher. As far as she was concerned, if Azula could do it, then she should. Sokka also couldn't deny that he thought it was a good idea.
Azula already knew about his invasion plan and suggested that for the day for their attack against Ozai. She admitted that she wouldn't be much help on the day of Black Sun naturally but it would still be the best time to help. Her personal soldiers answered directly to her and would be joining the invasion army, and the Phantom Corps, a unique battalion that operated under Danny would also be joining the invasion force as well.
After the encounter, Sokka had spoken with Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors as he wondered how they had ended up on Azula's side. They had been captured shortly after Team Avatar's journey through the Serpent's Pass. But they had been released shortly after when they decided to side with Azula to end the war.
Suki's decision to work with the Fire Nation Princess quickly made Sokka think that it was a good idea to accept the alliance. It was the main reason why he sent word to his dad to travel to Ba Sing Se. At the very least it was a good idea to have a cohesive plan for the invasion, even if Team Avatar didn't work with Azula. It was for that reason that he sat in on the meetings with the generals and Azula and Danny for the invasion.
Danny didn't look like he particularly cared about engaging in the meeting. Instead, he focused on reading the book in his hands. He occasionally commented here but left most of the talking to Azula. The Fire Nation princess however was in her element in the war meeting. She started by wanting to learn the actual plan for the invasion and then she started adding her thoughts and opinions to better prepare the army for their attack.
"How will you make it across the Great Gates of Azulon?" Azula asked as she inspected the plans. "I could easily allow Danny to disable them but that would ruin any element of surprise that you would have and delay our arrival at the Palace."
"I have an idea to handle that," Sokka commented as he brought out the designs he had come up with.
He rolled them over the table for everyone to see. The designs were rudimentary but they told the basic idea of what was needed. Danny glanced at the designs and his interest peaked. He closed his book and sat up.
"The War Balloons might be spotted if we try to go over the gates and would take up too much space on the ships. But if we went underneath the gates, no one would see us coming," Sokka said. "With a few waterbenders we'd be able to propel them directly to shore."
A grin had been growing on Danny's face since Sokka had started his explanations.
"Did you come up with these yourselves?" Danny asked.
"Yeah, I did," Sokka answered.
"Sokka, you are a genius," Danny added.
"Thanks, Danny. It's nice to feel appreciated." Sokka responded with a smile.
"Do you think these would work?" Azula asked.
"Absolutely." Danny grinned. "The designs need a bit of work but it can work. Sokka, can I join you in working on these Submarines?"
"Sure…" Sokka hadn't expected that. "That's a good name though."
"You'll be in good hands," Azula added as a small but proud smile graced her features. "Danny is the best engineer in the Fire Nation."
"Is there anything you can't do?" Sokka asked.
Danny grinned as he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his neck.
"I'm just that good," He responded.
Danny didn't get too much of an opportunity to brag about his accomplishments as he joined the discussion in earnest about the invasion plan. He also discussed with Sokka about the design implications of the submarines. Sokka found himself enjoying the conversation with the Dark Avatar.
~00000~
Business was slow in the Jasmine Dragon so there wasn't quite enough distraction to prevent Zuko's thoughts from swimming. The chance to finally return home again was present but at the cost of so much tempestuous change. On one hand, he really couldn't deny the truth about their father. He wasn't what anyone would call a good person. On the other hand, Zuko had spent so much of his life hoping to earn his father's affection that it felt wrong striking against him.
If he were being honest, he had to admit that the odds were stacked against his father. He hadn't seen Danny's real strength but he had heard about the things he could do. While hunting the Avatar, Zuko even visited the town where Danny single-handedly ended a revolt by himself. That was when he first met his sister's retainer. If anyone could help Azula defeat the Fire Lord, it was Danny. If the Avatar and his companions joined them then they'd make easy work of his father. And if Zuko joined them, then he'd be welcome back with open arms.
If he was being honest there was no real downside to siding with Azula but the decision was hard to come to. Uncle Iroh didn't seem to have any qualms with the agreement with Azula. He almost seemed happy to hear that there was a plan in place to defeat his younger brother. However, Iroh did notice the growing frustrations in his nephew so he encouraged him to take a walk and clear his head.
And so Zuko did just that. He spent a good portion of the afternoon walking around the area. Eventually, he made his way out of the upper ring and into the middle ring. He walked mindlessly for a bit as he tried to distract his mind from the pressing issue but that was easier said than done.
It was almost sunset by the time Zuko found himself in front of a little bookstore. This was the first bookstore he had come across while in the city so he decided to enter the store and see what he could find. Zuko couldn't say he was the biggest reader, but because of his upbringing, he spent many moments sitting with his mother in silence with a book in hand. Even Azula had joined them a few times. Life was simpler back then. Before Ozai was the Fire Lord and when his grandfather Azulon was still alive, Zuko had time to pursue curious little things like this. Azula never liked reading, she viewed it as a waste of time and would rather spend her time training but their mother didn't take any prisoners when it came to reading. In a way that was something the siblings shared.
Neither were readers but had a mother who loved literature and theatre so they were encouraged to read constantly. Training for the mind, as his mother had described it.
Zuko picked up the first book that interested him, a historical account of the Platinum Affair during the Era of Yangchen. Zuko knew a bit about this particular political nightmare which included the attempted assassination of his ancestor Fire Lord Gonryu in one of the Shang Cities. A lot of the details had been lost to history or intentionally hidden from the general public but this was interesting as it was an account of one of the Companions of the Avatar, a Fire Nation citizen named Jujinta. Zuko had only ever heard a version of these events from the perspective of scholars who studied the lives of Fire Lords, so much so that he hadn't expected that the last Airbending Avatar had companions from the Fire Nation.
It made sense, the Four Nations hadn't always been at war after all and each Avatar had to spend time in different nations to gain a mastery of the different elements, so it shouldn't have been surprising that Avatar Yangchen had a Fire National as a companion, or in the case of this particular companion, a former Fire National. According to the short biography at the beginning of the book, Jujinta was a self-exiled Fire National which hit a little too close to home for the exiled prince.
Before he could ask how this happened to be the first book he picked up, someone noticed him.
"Lee?"
Zuko turned around and spotted the girl he had gone on a couple of dates with. Jin stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves and was holding a few books. Although their first date had an awkward conclusion, for some reason his awkwardness didn't scare the girl away and she kept spending time around the tea shop until they went on a second and eventually third date.
"Jin, what are you doing here?" Zuko asked as if the pile of books in her hands wasn't a dead giveaway.
"I work here." She said with a small smile. "Tea shops aren't the only place to work in the city."
"Right," Zuko muttered as he suddenly felt self-conscious.
"Are you okay?" Jin as she took a step toward him. "You're brow is even more furrowed than usual."
"I have a lot on my mind," Zuko muttered as he turned away from her and quickly placed the book back down on the shelf.
Jin looked at him for a second as if deciding what she should do with the mysterious boy she had a crush on. Instead, she decided to smile before she placed her stack of books down.
"Give me a few minutes." She ordered.
Compared to Mai, who was a very passive and seemingly uninterested girl, Jin was an assertive force who could get anything she wanted with just a few words. Zuko wasn't sure how she managed it but he ended up waiting as instructed before Jin appeared before him again.
"Follow me, let me show you something." She said with a smile.
Zuko could only stare at her with a confused expression on his face. But she didn't relent, she just grabbed his hand and dragged him away.
"I promise you that it's worth it." She said as she pulled him out of the bookshop and back into the streets.
The two walked through the streets for a while before eventually, they started ascending a flight of hidden stairs near one of the buildings. Compared to the city of Omashu, the buildings in Ba Sing Se weren't as tall, especially in the middle ring so it wasn't much of an ascent. Regardless, the roof Jin brought Zuko to gave him a pretty decent view of the surrounding middle ring.
"I discovered this little spot when I first started working at the bookshop. I wanted to bring you here but then you and your uncle got that job in the Upper Ring." Jin explained as she sat down.
The sun was setting now so the warm orange light of the sun washed over them as Zuko took a seat next to her.
"This place is pretty quiet so you can speak your mind here. If you want to, that is." Jin added. "What's wrong Lee?"
Zuko didn't respond immediately as he considered his response. At first, he wasn't sure he should respond. Sharing the contents of his heart hadn't been easy these past three years but he figured a bit of honesty wouldn't hurt.
"I… have a chance to go home," Zuko said cautiously. "When I left, things weren't great for me. They still aren't but my sister believes she can bring me home despite everything."
"Back home to the Fire Nation?" Jin asked after a moment.
Zuko didn't respond immediately. He was taken aback but decided to play it cool. He had already done this with Jet, he could do it again with Jin.
"I'm not…" He began but he stopped when Jin gave him an encouraging smile.
"I've known for a while now," She said. "Since our first date. I wondered how you lit the lanterns so quickly at Firelight Fountain and I realised that you could only be a Fire Bender."
She was so earnest that Zuko couldn't help but believe her but that sparked another question.
"Why didn't you report me or Uncle?" Zuko asked.
"Everyone has their own stories," Jin responded. "I hate the soldiers who drove me out of my home but that doesn't mean every firebender has to be evil. You and your uncle didn't seem to be bothering anyone, just running away from your own problems.
"Before I came here, my dad told me that Ba Sing Se was a city of new beginnings." Jin continued. "So who's to say it can't be a new beginning for a Fire Bender?
"Also Lee isn't a common Earth Kingdom name," Jin added with one last know-it-all smile.
Zuko remained silent for a moment as the information kicked in. He just stared at the setting sun.
"Zuko." He whispered. "My name isn't actually Lee, It's Zuko."
Jin smiled at the honesty and she continued to sit next to him as shared his worries about going home, about Azula and her plan. It was a censored version, he left out a few details but he didn't utter a single lie.
~00000~
"Avatar Aang, how can I help you today?"
Aang had attempted to connect to Roku to get his wisdom but to his surprise, he had accidentally gone further back in the Avatar Cycle and called on Kyoshi. And so the Earthen Avatar sat across from him in the same lotus pose that he sat in.
Aang hadn't expected her to show up but he figured that there was a reason for her to show up instead of Roku so maybe she'd be able to offer new insight that Roku didn't have.
"Avatar Kyoshi, I've been given a chance to end the war by working with the Princess of the Fire Nation to take down and defeat her father," Aang explained. "But I don't know if it's a good idea."
"Are you worried about working with her or working with the 'dark avatar that she travels with?" Kyoshi asked.
Aang didn't have a response immediately.
"Both. I'm not sure." Aang responded.
"When I was young I had my own Dark Avatar of sorts to deal with," Kyoshi said. "I'll spare you all the gory details, but the wrong person was believed to be Avatar at the beginning of my Era. His name was Yun and that belief sent him down a dark path when it was revealed that I was the Avatar.
"Yun took many lives and almost plunged the Fire Nation into Civil War to get revenge against all those who falsely identified him as the Avatar," Kyoshi said.
"How did that happen?" Aang asked.
"It's complicated," Kyoshi responded. "I had to use unorthodox methods, some of which I am not proud of to this day to stop his terror."
Aang knew very little about Kyoshi besides what he had heard in Chin Village and Kyoshi Island. He had come to understand her as a terrifying and powerful force. But the way she spoke now, she had a certain vulnerability to her that she could only share with a few people. Aang wasn't sure if she shared this vulnerability with him because he was the reincarnation of her reincarnation or if she was secretly a vulnerable person but regardless he found himself connecting with Kyoshi in a way he hadn't expected to.
"As you will learn, not every crisis will be solved easily and often you will need to find unlikely allies to help you find the path forward," Kyoshi said. "The Fire Nation Princess is not someone I trust but she might just be the ally you need so that you can learn Fire Bending. As for the Dark Avatar…"
Kyoshi didn't finish her sentence as Aang was interrupted from my meditation when the very subject of their conversation called his name.
"Hey Aang, are you willing to chat?" Danny asked.
Aang's concentration broke and the spirit of Kyoshi vanished, leaving him without an answer to his question. Aang turned from his seat and took a look at Danny. The half-ghost hero of the Fire Nation wasn't alone, alongside him with a nervous expression on his face was the acrobat whom he travelled with. If Aang remembered correctly, her name was Ty Lee but he wasn't completely sure since they had never really exchanged names while fighting. And even then she typically only fought Sokka and Katara while Aang dealt with Azula and Danny.
"Sure," Aang said reluctantly as he leapt down from the wall he sat on.
"So I know you two have kind of met, but I wanted to introduce you guys properly," Danny said. "Avatar Aang, this is my good friend Ty Lee, and Ty Lee, this is the little kid who has to save the world, Avatar Aang."
"Nice to officially meet you Aang." Ty Lee said as she placed her fist in her palm and bowed before Aang.
That style of greeting was the common Airbender style of bowing. Every nation had its own style even when it came to bowing so he was surprised that Ty Lee would bow like an Air Nomad. Although it allowed Aang to relax slightly. It had been a while since he had seen a familiar sight like that. Now that Aang was looking at Ty Lee, he found himself being reminded of the Air Nomads. Her grey eyes and brown hair were common genetic features of Air Nomads. Of course, this wasn't to say that a person of one nation couldn't have traits of others. Not all Fire Nationals had amber, gold or yellow-coloured eyes and not every Water Tribesman had blue eyes. Even his past life, Avatar Kyoshi, didn't have the same bright green eyes that other Earth Kingdom citizens had. Hers were a bit more muted green with a bit of grey mixed in.
"Nice to meet you, Ty Lee," Aang said with a friendly smile.
"So I learnt something interesting about Avatar Yangchen while we were at the library." Danny began with a big grin. "A few hundred years ago a Zhongdu discovered Air Nomad acupuncture techniques and started using them to develop a unique combat style. Avatar Yanchen discovered and rescued a little girl who used this style of combat.
"That girl would grow up and become the first non-bender to find a home among the air nomad temples." Danny continued.
Aang didn't know this story but admittedly he was never a big history person. Of course, he heard about Avatar Yangchen. Many regarded her as a legendary Air Nomad Avatar even if she was a bit controversial. Aang didn't know the finer details as he had run away before his training in the past avatars' lives had begun in earnest.
"That girl was my ancestor," Ty Lee added. "And although she was a non-bender, her children were Air Benders. Eventually one of my ancestors married into one of the Fire Nation noble families.
"They were non-benders and their children were also non-benders, so they were trained in chi-blocking," Ty Lee said. "My entire life has been Fire Nation Nobility, I was hoping you might teach me about my ancestral Air Nomad Culture."
The young avatar could only stare with his jaw dropped. His surprise quickly turned to joy as stars began to fill his eyes. Aang began to ramble on eagerly about what he knew and Ty Lee was all smiles as she listened eagerly.
Danny leaned back and smiled. Ty Lee had been down recently so it was great to see her with a genuine smile on her face.
~00000~
Danny had come to realise that he was the life of the party because without his input it was an awkward affair. From his vantage point, he could see that everyone had arrived and was seated at the massive dining table of the Earth King. Obviously, there was Earth King Kuei alongside his generals as well as the Kyoshi Warriors to represent the Earth Kingdom. Then the Fire Nation delegation which included Azula, Mai and Ty Lee, technically Danny as well since he had a seat reserved for him at Azula's side. Representing the Water Tribe was Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe and his warriors. And lastly representing the Avatar was obviously Aang and the rest of Team Avatar.
Katara and Sokka had been happy to see their father and their other tribesmen and so there was a bit of energy from that side of the table. But overall everyone was silent as the grave. And so it was up to Danny to deliver the good vibes and get the conversation started before the main course was delivered.
Danny had come to learn that typically if a royal was hosting an important guest or if a royal were being hosted there would be a show of some kind and he offered himself at the entertainment for the night. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to invent and rig up a surround sound system so he wouldn't be able to show off his technical prowess. Instead, he focused on a more traditional showing of power.
Danny decided he would stay in his human form, especially since his ghost form was often seen as a Dark Avatar State by others around him. He needed everyone to relax instead of thinking they would be attacked and so human form it was, which didn't matter because Danny could make an excellent showing in his human form.
He stood on a platform of ice that floated above all the guests who sat down, making everyone glance up at him. Everywhere the platform went, small prisms of ice would be left in his wake. Once the air was filled with the prisms he allowed his platform to lower just above the table. Danny stood tall, dressed in his best formal wear with a showman's grin on his face. In his hands were two electronic torches that he had built exactly for this occasion.
The lights turned on and struck the prisms making a rainbow of light reflect out from each of them. As it turns out, Danny was pretty good at math when he didn't have ghosts to fight every second day so he had figured out the best way to angle his prisms so that the light would bounce between all of them. This was the easy part of his little performance. The hard part came when he used his telekinesis to lift all the empty glasses around the table and make them dance around him.
Delicate control over his powers had never been his strong suit but he was determined to make a good impression and make everyone understand that his wealth of power wasn't only for battle and war. Danny noticed the looks of awe from everyone. Even Azula hadn't seen him pull off this particular trick and she had seen a lot of his powers as he trained them.
With her gaze on him, he knew he couldn't disappoint so he swallowed his nerves and continued his routine. With the glasses carefully orbiting around him, he called forth the jug of water that sat on the table and he carefully filled each and every glass before returning them to their hosts. There was a moment in transit where they almost spilled but some unseen force seemed to hold the water in place. Danny noticed Katara's slight smile and made a silent promise to thank her later.
Once the glasses were back with their respective guests Danny allowed the small prisms of ice to shatter and create a very light snowfall onto the surrounding guests. His ice platform raised into the air again and Danny gave a theatrical bow.
"Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Danny Fenton and I would like to personally thank everyone for coming here today. There's been a lot of hostilities between the nations but hopefully today will be the first step in all of us becoming friends!" Danny announced as he ended his bow.
The doors to the dining hall swung open at his proclamation as trays of food were brought out. To everyone's surprise, besides Katara, a large feist with food from all over the world had been presented before them. From the Water Tribe an assortment of dishes like Sea Squid Soup, Seaweed Bread and Smoked Arctic Hen. From the Earth Kingdom an assortment of dishes like braised turtle duck, crab urchin stir-fry, and dumplings. From the Fire Nation an assortment of dishes like Elephant Koi Shui Zhu Yu, Komodo Chicken and Noodles. Air Nomad cuisine was also available primarily in the form of Sweet Rice, Tofu Curry and Sweet Red Bean Cake. Aang looked like he was almost brought to tears when he saw Danny's best attempt at recreating Air Nomad cuisine. Lastly, Danny's unique contribution to the feast, several servings of pizza.
Once the food had been delivered and Danny's performance ended, conversation began in earnest. Almost everyone at the table, except Team Avatar who had been travelling the world, had only tasted their own nation's cuisine so the fact that the new foods sparked conversation from their neighbours.
The seating arrangements also began to change once Ty Lee made the bold choice to go up to Aang and ask for his recommendations on what Air Nomad cuisine she should try first. Eventually, it got to a point where Chief Hakoda and his right-hand man Bato were sitting with two of the generals. Toph and Sokka sat next to Danny as he explained pizza. Azula and Suki talked about how Elephant Koi Shui Zhu Yu was also a dish that was served on Kyoshi Island during certain holidays and about the Fire Bender who brought the dishes to Kyoshi Island.
The tense atmosphere seemed like a thing of the past. And even though there was quite a bit of work that needed to be done for the trust to be built, this event still felt like a good first step in that direction.
CyberActors15: And that is another chapter completed. Also so long as we are here, Can we take a quick second to talk about the Netflix show? I enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked how they combined elements even if the show did feel rushed at some points. Just a warning in the next chapter we will return to the past and hopefully by the time you are reading this chapter, the next couple will be completed. Regardless as you guys know, this is a fun hobby for me in the middle of my more serious writing. Otherwise yeah seems like trust is beginning to form and yes I am taking a lot of liberties with characters here while taking inspiration from the books and fan theories. If you guys haven't read the books yet I highly recommend it because I will draw more information from the books as the story goes on. If you enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review also check out my Linktree (linktr dot ee /CyberActors15) for more of my story content. If you didn't like it, feel free to leave a review and tell me why. Feedback is always appreciated, and Criticism only makes me a better writer. Until next time, peace!