Nearly everyone who was present at the revelation were stunned into silence when they heard this Firebender come out and say something so crazy. "I'm sorry, did he just say what I thought he did?" Both Sokka and Katara thought together as even the Firebender who previously threatened them now looked he got hit in the head too hard.
"You…You're the Avatar?! Bu-But I've known you since we were kids! If you were the Avatar then I would've noticed!" Zuko argued as he was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. "Or at least you wouldn't have let Azula push you around that much…"
"Well I'm telling you, it's the truth…So leave these people alone!" Jin reiterated as he lowered Zuko's arm that was poised to throw a fireball. "I already said that I'd go with you so you've accomplished both of your goals now…There's no need to go any further with them."
Zuko looked to the group with budding frustration but then sighed with a resigned glare; "Alright…But I want answers about all of this on the ship, you got that?" He retorted and looked to Jin with a serious look on his face before he gestured to the other soldiers to back off and head back onto the ship.
"He…He really got them to leave…Without hurting anyone or damaging anything…" Sokka thought to himself as the ship pulled out and headed away towards the larger battleship that was off of the coast. "See, Katara? He goes home and no one else had to get hur-Katara? Katara, Where'd you go?" He called out as he noticed that his sister wasn't even standing beside him after they escorted Jin off of their island.
The Waterbender was currently sat in their tent re-reading all of the journal entries with the added context that Jin had been the one writing them and with him saying that his whole desire was to escape to the Earth Kingdom. "If what he said to us was true and if he was the one writing these….Then he could've just left us and escaped…."
"There you are!" Sokka remarked as he went to go grab another spear along with pocketing his boomerang. "I thought you would be here since you weren't arguing with that guy."
"Sokka…I know it sounds crazy but…I wanna go help Jin get free from that Fire Nation ship, whether he's the Avatar or not is questionable but I don't feel right in watching him sacrifice himself to keep us safe after re-reading his journal." Katara explained as she shut the book. "So I'm going after him! If I'm right about this and he IS the Avatar then we can help to make a difference, but if I'm wrong and he's not then we can at least help him escape…Don't try to talk me out of this, Sokka because I'm gonna do this whether you like it or not."
Sokka meanwhile just looked up with an oar in hand; "So does you wanna ride in front or did you wanna paddle?" He asked, showing that he had the same idea as Katara who had a growing smile on her face, he helped them sneak past Gram-Gram to get to the boat and then made their way towards the battleship.
—Meanwhile, on the ship—
Zuko knew that if Jin was telling the truth, they ought to make sure they get back at double time, however he also recalled that the young boy was a childhood friend of his; Back when he was still the Prince-to-be and his parents were friends with Jin's due to his father being a high ranking government official in service to the Fire Lord. "Jin, I have to ask you…If you WERE the Avatar then why run? You could have been a great help to the Fire Nation in winning the war."
Jin was currently sat in his "cell" which looked a lot similar to Zuko's own room but less auspicious. "Don't you remember the stories about the Avatar? They're supposed to bring balance to the entire world and keep unity along with the peace…Even you can see that what the Fire Nation has been doing isn't right." He pointed out and then looked to see Zuko's scar. "Though I think you should have realised that already…I was there at the ceremony when you had your Agni Kai…"
"I didn't run away like you did! I was exiled, along with my Uncle and we were told to find a way to regain honour if we ever wanted to come back." Zuko snapped but then changed his tone; "And if I brought the Avatar back, then I can be restored….Think about it, my childhood friend as the Avatar and me as the next in line to become Fire Lord, it'd be like the second coming of Azulon and Roku."
Jin looked up at Zuko with a neutral expression; "You know how that ended right? Besides, what makes you think that someone like Fire Lord Ozai will even let me out of his sight once he realises that the runaway son of a Fire Nation Governor was the Avatar?"
"Just think about it!" Zuko pressured him; "Once we're back in the Fire Nation, you'll be treated like their hero alongside us and we can help put an end to the war…You'll complete your purpose and do it alongside us…Because even after all this time, I still considered you my friend…which is why I want to make sure you get home safely…Azula's friends would be happy to see you, not to mention that me and my sister will be right there alongside you…It'll be like nothing changed."
Jin then fired back with a rather blunt point. "I ran away from home BECAUSE nothing changed! People still got hurt because of us and people are in a worse state because of the Fire Nation, not just the Waterbenders or the Air Nomads!"
Zuko was starting to get annoyed at Jin's protests; "Jin…You can make things right, you can come back to the Fire Nation and help put an end to this war…I've spent three years of my life trying to get the chance for redeeming myself and Uncle, so stop being selfish, start acting like the Avatar and make the right choice!" He snapped; Letting the choice settle in the air before heading to the door, he looked like he was about to say something but he relented.
Jim winced a little as the door slammed and locked behind him; He figured that not even Zuko would take chances with him and a potential escape, especially when it meant that his return home was assured now. He was now alone again; Left to mull over his thoughts and to come to terms with the very thing that compelled him to run in the first place.
"I had heard you got found but never did I think that you of all people would be the Avatar…" Another older voice mentioned as the doors opened up to show the famous General Iroh standing at the door with a guard, "You can leave us be for now, I have a feeling that Jin won't be trouble." The old man remarked as he walked into the room to join Jin.
The guard saluted and left, the door closing behind him but not locking, "M-Master Iroh…"
Iroh chuckled as he felt a small feeling of relief that Jin remembered his former teacher. "You have no reason to call a disgraced General like me, Master…As I am sure that Prince Zuko said, we've both been exiled." He mentioned, recalling the young boy that joined Zuko for Firebending training and noticed how much had changed; The boy was now sporting a low and loose black ponytail that reached his shoulders thanks to the time spent out at sea, while he was still taller than Iroh, he stood at Zuko's height but slightly bulkier than the prince.
"I know…And the only way that you can return is to come back and present me to the Fire Lord." Jin mentions with more upset tone. "But…I don't know what'll happen if I do and what that'll mean for everyone further down the line."
Iroh poured the two some tea since Jin's hands were shackled; "The future is something that a lot of people spend their entire lives trying to understand…Sometimes, the better way to grasp the future is to weigh the right choice in the moments now." He explained with a relaxed tone, Jin was their prisoner but he was also Iroh's student just as much that Zuko was, he knew it was a difficult decision for the Avatar but also for a boy who simply wanted to escape a manipulative home.
"The right choice…What choice DO I have? I either return to the Fire Nation and become Fire Lord Ozai's weapon at worst or at best kept at home as a prisoner…The other option is that I take away both your chance and Zuko's to try and fulfil what is supposed to be my destiny…I don't even know what's the right decision…" Jin blurted out his conundrum as he could feel this quandary pressing on him like armour that was three times too heavy for him.
The sound of a tea cup clinking against the table signalled Iroh's input as he looked to his student; "You continue to weigh too much on your mind, Jin…Remember what I taught you back when I was still showing you and Prince Zuko how to Firebend; Your spirit as a whole is like a bonfire: clear burning and bright for all to see…But all this negativity and overthinking is like putting too much wood on top of it…It stifles the flame and makes it dim." Iroh explained as he placed a wooden plate on top of Jin's still hot tea, "If you wish to become a capable Firebender or at the very least; Know what you must do as a person…You need to weigh the facts in front of you and choose. Choose what path that you want to take and that will be YOUR right answer; No appeasing others, no trying to find out how to not upset someone…The choice that you can make clearly that you won't regret." He gave his last tidbit of wisdom for Jin before getting up and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Only you know that, so I want you to think about what you really want."
Jin put those thoughts through his head again as the door slammed shut behind him. "No regrets, huh? I guess I can live with that kind of mentality…" He mumbled to himself as he looked to the cuffs and then to the locked door; "Knowing Zuko…He's gonna want to follow up on those questions…I can probably use that as my escape…Let's see if that training with Master Iroh bears fruit." He thought as he then started to alter his breathing, his nostrils letting out steam and each focused breath from his mouth did the same, aiming the heated air to his shackles.
—Some time later—
Zuko was standing outside of the door to Jin's cell/room, truthfully; He felt conflicted, on one hand he knew that it was only right that he saw his childhood friend return home for starters and to ensure that he could fulfill his duty as the Avatar, but on the other hand; He knew that Jin's parents weren't exactly…reasonable people and part of the reason that he himself was exiled was because he objected to his father's decision on a military strategy. "Maybe I should try a different approach…I haven't spoken to Mai in a while but I know she tolerated him and Ty Lee liked him enough…Maybe the prospect of hanging around with friends again could make him see sense…" Zuko would muse as he then looked to the guard, knowing that since it was just them, he wouldn't need the extra protection because Jin was rarely the type to lash out. "Leave us." He ordered as the guard saluted and marched off, leaving the two alone as Zuko opened the door.
"Quality time together again, Zuko?" Jin asked curiously as he looked up at the Prince. "Because I wasn't honestly expecting you back so soon."
"Jin…You and I are still friends, remember? When you ran away…I wasn't sure why…Whether it was something we said or because you had something going on…But I can see why now, come back with us!" Zuko reiterated the point he made earlier. "My father won't remain the Fire Lord forever and I am the next heir when I bring you back so once I take his place, you and I can make changes…Try to bring about things in a different way…We can still be friends but we can do more…I know Mai and Ty Lee would still be happy to see you again."
"Zuko, Those are more of Azula's friends, not our's…Besides, I doubt that Princess Azula will let that happen…She'll find a way." Jin pointed out as he knew the kind of person that Azula was; Ever since they were kids, Azula always was nice to him at the start of their meets but then somehow she found a way to undo that niceness just as quickly. "Besides, I…I want to do something about this NOW, not after decades of waiting for Fire Lord Ozai to step down."
"Jin…If you do this with me then we can definitely do something effective...I don't want to force you to do this but I'll kick myself if I don't take the chance." Zuko pointed out. "If you're not going along willingly then I won't have much of a choice…"
"No choice, huh?" Jin remarked as he then started to stand up. "Zuko, I just want you know that despite everything that happens, you're still my friend."
Zuko raised an eyebrow, thinking that he finally got through. "So you'll go through with it?" He asked with a relieved tone; "Honestly, you won't regret this."
Jin however frowned as he realised that what he was about to do was the point of no return. "No…But I'll regret it if I don't do this." He stated with a frown as he took a deep breath.
Zuko wasn't prepared when he saw Jin blow out a powerful breath of fire directly at him; The element of surprise plus his friend's sudden use of a technique that he only saw his Uncle perform had knocked him backwards into the steel wall. "Jin…You…" He would groan out as he then passed out briefly.
Jin gave him one last customary look back and felt sad; "Believe me when I tell you this, Zuko…I didn't want it to come to this…" He admitted and then broke the weakened cuffs before running off into the halls.
It was only after Jin had left the room when the guards came back and saw Zuko collapsed on the floor. "Prince Zuko! What happened?"
Zuko however had decided that if Jin was going to make this difficult, then he needed to go all in. "The Avatar escaped…Sound the alarm and get him back into custody!" He ordered as he got to his feet and felt his anger grow more by the second. "Fine…You want to play at being the hero? Then I'll do whatever it takes to get you back to the Fire Nation whether you like it or not!"
Jin ran along the labyrinthian hallways and tried to remember which way he came in from when the sound of the alarms went off. "Looks like Zuko's awake…I guess I can't really blame him for getting mad…But I can't just give up either…"
"THERE HE IS!"
"GET HIM!"
Jin got into a martial arts stance as he saw the guards getting ready to apprehend him. The first one rushed at him with a spear and a battle cry as the guard knew this kid was more powerful than he looked but this kid also kicked the spear away and thrust a double fisted punch forward into his chest to knock him off balance.
The guard fell to the ground as he was winded but then decided to not take chanced and began to shoot fireballs from his fists with each punch he made. "You're not escaping this ship in one piece, Avatar!"
Jin however was used to fighting Firebenders due to his training with Iroh, sparring with Zuko's wild attacks and Azula's "Target Practice" with her fireballs, He ducked under the swathe of fire and delivered an upwards kick to knock the guard upward and then grappled him into a slam back down into the ground. "I can't afford to sink the ship with all of us still on it…If I go up top, there should be a boat I can use to escape!"
By the time he got to the top of the deck and could see the sky again, he could see that they were just a little way off from the Village that the Water Tribe were at but something else surprised him.
Sokka was using a spear to knock out one of the guards and using his boomerang to take out another, Katara on the other hand had managed to get a handle on her Waterbending and was currently knocking around the other soldiers with solid whips of water that either knocked them overboard or just on their backs. "Jin!"
"You two…What are you doing here?! I thought that whole speech about me going back and leaving your village alone was so that you DIDN'T get hurt!" Jin yelled at them as he ducked under a spear swing.
"Well, you're not the boss of us, Mr. "I'm the Avatar!" so you better get used to the help!" Sokka snarked as he rolled away and tripped a guard with his leg. "It didn't feel right to just let YOU suffer so we could live easier…"
Katara nodded as she raised up the water that had splashed on the metal floor and used it to block a fireball. "He's right, if you're the Avatar like you say you are…Then we wanna help you make sure that everyone can live safely, not just us on our own."
"You know that this means you'll be going away from your village for…I don't even know how long this will take…" Jin pointed out as he then blocked a punch from a guard and judo flipped them over his shoulder.
"This is for the sake of the world, Jin...You can't do this alone and we can't sit by in good judgement to let you wander on your own." Katara retorted but then yelped as she was blasted by a fireball from behind.
"This is where you were hiding, Avatar…There's nowhere else for you to run." Zuko growled as he got into a stance while Iroh stood back to not intervene at this time. "Once the Fire Lord hears that you are the Avatar…There's nowhere for you to run."
Jin nodded; "Maybe not…But I'm still going to fight for what I think is right…No regrets." He remarked as he got into a similar stance that almost mirrored Zuko's except his was open palmed while Zuko had balled fists. A few moments passed in a blink as the two started to attack each other with a mix of martial arts and with flashes of fire as the two Firebenders clashed with each other.
"Whoa…So this is what a Firebending fight looks like…" Katara thought as she watched both boys blasting fire at each other with equal ferocity; While Zuko's Firebending was larger and more wild with his anger, Jin's Bending seemed to look more focused, concise and in control as each blast from him seemed to be more intent on keeping Zuko back than actual damage.
"You can't hold me back like this forever Avatar!" Zuko yelled as he then rushed forward with a powerful kick that swung a powerful horizontal wave of fire towards Jin.
Jin swung under the wave with an acrobatic slide under the fire blast and before he or the others could recognise what had happened, he had managed to knock Zuko upward into the air and back a few feet with a powerful blast of wind from his open palms. "What the…Did I just…Airbend?"
"That…That was Airbending! Well I guess we know for sure now, Jin is the Avatar!" Sokka thought to himself as he finally saw the proof, along with just about everyone else. "We should run, now!" He yelled to Katara and to Jin as they snapped back to attention.
"There are riverboats stocked on the ship! We can grab one and speed on out of here!" Jin sugested as they rushed towards the back of the warship to try getting one loose.
"I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE!" Zuko roared as he reared himself back and thrust two powerful blasts of fire directly at them; Knocking Sokka onto the boat, Katara hit the ground hard and Jin who had been on top trying to untie the boat got knocked into the freezing water below.
The last thing Jin heard before he splashed into the water was Katara's cry and suddenly everything went dark.
"Wake up…"
"H-Huh?"
"You know who you are? Do you not?"
"I…I'm Jin…A Firebe-"
"No! You are more than that now…You are no longer just Jin of the Fire Nation…You are Avatar Jin! The Firebending Successor to Avatar Roku…Wake yourself and harness your strength to SAVE. THE. WORLD!" With that rousing voice in his head, Jin's eyes were forced open and started to glow in a pure unfiltered white.
The soldiers each grabbed Katara and Sokka to restrain them and prepare them for the brig. "They are secure." One guard stated as he held up Katara's water pouch.
"Good work, now grab one of the boats and start fishing for the Avatar! Once we reclaim his body, we can return home." Zuko declared but then stumbled a little as he felt the waves growing stronger and knocking the ship around. "What in the…"
A gigantic splash was heard as Jin rose out of the water in the Avatar State; He was currently clad in a towering water spout from the waist down, his eyes glowing in a vibrant white and his dark haired ponytail flapping in the gusts of wind. With a fluid motion from his arms that looked like Waterbending; Jin used the waves to rock the ship and push it against the wall of a glacier before freezing it in place.
"Okay, I think that's our cue to go!" Sokka yelled as the sudden knock against the wall sent the riverboat down to the water below, he helped Katara to her feet and then guided them down to the speeder.
With Zuko and his warship now trapped between the block of ice and a frozen wave, he could only watch as Jin slowly lowered down as he lost the energy. Though to his misfortune; Katara and Sokka were able to row the boat out enough to get under Jin and catch the winds enough to sail off. "You win this time, Avatar…But I WILL make sure that you are dragged back to the Fire Nation…"
By the time Jin woke up; He was seeing that Sokka was watching around to make sure no one was after him while Katara used her Waterbending to push the boat further and further across with the Fire Nation army off in the distance; "Huh…I was dreaming all that."
"Oh no…That wasn't a dream." Sokka mentioned as he turned to face Jin and sat on the boat once they were in the clear; "You're the real deal!"
"Sokka…"
"No, seriously! We just came to the rescue of the Avatar, it does not get any cooler than that!" Sokka grinned as he bounced in place; "Look, I-uh…I'm sorry about judging you earlier…I got paranoid and worried that you would wake up swinging." He mentioned as he decided to take the time and apologise.
"Look, I don't blame you…if I saw a ship crashed with a foreign soldier in it then I'd probably do the same." Jin waved it off as he sat up.
"So why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar? Then you wouldn't have gotten tied up and interrogated like that in the village?" Katara asked, still curious as to why Jin not only didn't tell them but why he ran away in the first place.
Jin decided to explain; "Well…To start off; Would you have really believed me if I had told you, knowing that I was from the Fire Nation?" He asked and saw the "Point taken" looks on their faces before deciding to continue. "And as for the other question; One of my parents was a government official for the Fire Nation and they wanted to get cosy with the Fire Lord…I took the Avatar Determination Test like every other kid in the Fire Nation."
"Avatar Determination Test?"
"The Air nomads put their children through a test where they have to choose between several objects and the ones used by the Avatar. The Earth Kingdom does something different by using bones to narrow down the location of the Avatar when they come of age. In the Fire Nation; They put us up to fight against specialists who can use different bending styles to both check whether we were proficient at Bending and combat at a minimum or to trigger a response if you were the Avatar."
"So they put you through combat training? That doesn't seem too bad…" Sokka mentioned as he thought about the process.
"Normally it's not...But the Fire Lord ensured that those Benders fight for their freedom once they beat enough people…First we fight an Airbender, secondly a Waterbender…After that is Earth and then we fight a Firebender….It was when I made the Earthbender's rocks split that they realised that it was me…So when they got their Avatar, I suddenly felt like I was in a lion-Bear's den and I was the piece of meat so I ran…I got the nearest ship I could steal and ran." Jin finished explaining as even recounting the story made him feel guilty; "And so here I am…A runaway with guilt towards my home and everyone feeling suspicious when they notice where I'm from."
"Well…We did promise to help you see this through…So you won't be doing this alone." Katara assured him as she picked up a map. "So you said about getting to the Earth Kingdom but you don't necessarily need to go there to get an Earthbending Teacher…Plus you need to learn the elements in order."
"Mhm…I know Firebending well enough, so next should be Airbending followed by Water and then Earthbending." Jin listed off. "But how am I gonna find an Airbender who can show me? I thought the Nomads died out in th-" He stopped as he remembered a voice that echoed in his head when he went into the Avatar State, one that he had never heard before. "The Southern Temple…."
"Jin? You okay there, buddy?" Sokka asked as he redirected the boat.
"The Air Monk's Temple in the South…There's gotta be something there." Jin said as he felt a little more uplifted bow that he had an idea on where to go.
"Then let's get going." Katara agreed and Sokka nodded along as Jin started to use his Firebending to power the riverboat and get them speeding along the waves as fast as they could to get to the Temple.
Not knowing of what was there awaiting them…