Fight 47: Contaminated
Lightning bolted and reached its target. The Avatar was crying over Chenlian's lifeless body in his arms. They were in the Crystal Catacombs under Ba Sing Se. He tightly squeezed her and hatefully glared at the approaching person.
"Why did you do that?! It's your fault! You killed her! You murderer!" The Avatar accused Zuko who woke up with a start in his bed, sweating profusely, panting, his heart pounding against his ribs like a hammer. Fear, horror, despair and denial still carved his features. He looked at his hands and saw they were trembling. He passed them over his face to wipe the sweat and felt the traces of tears as he did before more tears fell into his hands.
Ming, a female prison guard, brought food to Chenlian, and noted how her treatment was different from that of other prisoners, the food of course, but also the healer coming regularly, although she'd refuse to see him.
"I have something they want. They can't lose it after the trouble they went through to obtain it and capture me again." The girl replied dismissively with a small smile.
"Why did you rebel against the Fire Lord, was it because of your parents?"
"Well, there's that too, but for the most part, that's just the choice I made after traveling the world, seeing things with my own eyes, and listening with my own hears. As a result, I judged that the Fire Lord was a tyrant, and I couldn't let him destroy everything and rule the world. The four nations must be four again. If something loses balance, they fall and crash. That's the same. Balance must be restored."
"Did your parents rebel for the same reason?"
"It's true they were speaking against the Fire Lord, but they didn't want to depose him, only reason him before he went too far and things couldn't be saved. Enough of our people died in this war. They just couldn't bear to see children dying anymore, nor could they see a point in this war. If we kill our children and grandchildren, who will be left to enjoy peace and prosperity? Besides, the Fire Nation soldiers destroy nature and oppress the occupied. The rest of the world sees us as cruel savages, as ashmakers, and hate us. And we're too narrow-minded and intolerant to see and care. Even though there were other ways, like commerce. Deposing the Fire Lord is what I came to following my exile because I judged that this man had no intention of stopping on his own. We can't breed anymore hate, sorrow, and destruction. It's already too late for him, and I don't want the Fire Nation to follow him in his fall. It doesn't matter who, the Fire Nation needs a wise and righteous ruler on the throne. That's why I'll keep fighting."
"I heard you're a firebending and sword prodigy, so how did you..."
"How did I end up here?" Chenlian finished for Ming who dared not finish her sentence. "Everyone has weaknesses. I believed and fell in love with the wrong person, I lost myself in rage and pain, and was stabbed in the back. If I hadn't been blinded by love, things wouldn't have been so bad..." She looked down, in pain. "It might be too late for him but I won't give up on trying to save my country."
"Then... I can let you escape." The guard offered.
"You can't be serious." The girl dismissed.
"I am. My brother was saved by your father. He kept telling me stories about him, and you that he had heard from your father. When you and your parents were branded as traitors, he couldn't believe it. And he kept saying how much he wished he could repay his debt somehow. I also want to do something for the family of the man who saved my brother." Ming looked straight at her. Chenlian frowned, very suspicious, before suddenly grabbing the female soldier's wrist and pulling. Her other hand gripped Ming's throat but not too tightly, and brought her very close.
"You shouldn't make such suggestions. I'm not in the mood for extended jokes." The teen menaced.
"I know the risks. But I want to do something for you. Not just your father, but also for you. That's what I felt after taking care of you and talking to you. I told you, I'm serious." She stood up to the child's burning gaze.
"Then all the more reason for me not to take you up on that." Chenlian let her go. "I won't cause trouble to the only kind person here. Just your feelings are enough. I feel saved just knowing there are still people like you here." She smiled goodheartedly. She had detected no lie from that person's breathing or pulse, or her eyes. If Ming had been insincere or lacked resolve, she would have faltered and been engulfed. But she didn't. It was because she truly meant well that she had no fear. Azula was the only person she knew who could lie so perfectly that she didn't let anything on and who had such nerves of steel. It would be too big of a stretch to believe Ming could lie and deceive on the same level as Azula did. "If you truly want to do something for me, well, I understand that you don't have much time for me as you're doing rounds, but let's talk again... about you, me, the future, the past, the outside, everything. Also, is Iroh doing well?"
In one of the outer islands of the Fire Nation, Appa, the children in his saddle, was slogging his way down the sludge-infested Jang Hui River. Aang and Momo were frolicking in the putrescent water. Aang was hiding in the gunk and Momo was to catch him when he'd resurface. The lemur won after a few tries. The Avatar looked again in discontent at the most likely toxic filth in which he was swimming and airbended himself up into the saddle. He shared with his friends his brilliant deduction that this river must be polluted and bended the residual goop off himself, sliming them in the process. Another blast of air cleaned everyone.
"Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here. Because normally my fishing skills are... off the hook! Get it ? Like a fishing hook !" Sokka joked, or rather fell short as he raised his fishing pole and showed its empty hook.
"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook." Toph's sally was more successful and the kids laughed, except Sokka who scowled. As usual, the joke worked when it was at HIS expense. Katara noted they were certainly going to need to go somewhere else to get food... assuming that'd fit into Sokka's master schedule. Her brother studied intently a (far too) long scroll of paper he unrolled before her and declared her idea doable as long as there were only two potty breaks today. Aang pointed at a village down the river and suggested to try getting food there.
On nearby uplands, they hid Appa under a blanket of turf, making him look like a little hill with horns. Momo was similarly concealed. The children walked away to the edge of the cliff that overlooked the village built on stilts with every building connected by wooden bridges. Since it was in the middle of the river that explained why Toph couldn't feel anything. An eccentric-looking old man called Dock hailed them from a boat at the bottom of the cliff. He amiably asked who they were. When Katara said they were from the Earth Kingdom colonies, Dock offered to give them a ride into town. They hopped onto the boat and proceeded towards the village. The old man explained they lived on the river because they were fishing town before the factory moved in. And through the gaps in the cliffs, the kids saw the ominous Fire Army munitions factory. The army made their metal there. After having moved in a few years ago, it had started gunking up the river. Now the little village was struggling to survive. Last year though, the Dragon Empress had come. Now that was one noble woman! With sword and magic, she had driven the army away. She had told the townsfolk to take their fate into their own hands, to fight for the improvement of their lives, that if they lived on and from the river, they had to take care of it. They had peace for a time, and did what they could to keep it, to clean the river. But then the army returned with more and crueler soldiers. And they couldn't do anything anymore.
Aang kept quiet, but the mask of the Dragon Empress, a noble woman fighting for the people with a sword... and that magic, could it have been bending? And that way of lecturing people... of rousing them and calling them to fight for themselves... He might be wrong, but he knew of only one such person... Chenlian... Had she come here too?
They arrived in town. Aang thanked him for the ride and the party went to explore. It was an utterly cheerless village, stricken with poverty and enforced idleness. Katara wanted to help but her brother was against it. They couldn't waste time here as they had a bigger mission to focus on. These people were on their own.
"These people are starving, but you turn your back on them ! How can you be so cold and heartless?! " The blue-eyed girl angrily stopped her brother.
"I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic! We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord!" He retorted, causing Toph to slap her hand over his loudmouth and advise him to be quieter when talking about taking out the Fire Lord. "Come on, Katara, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first." He insisted, his voice quieter indeed. His sister reluctantly agreed.
"Let's just get what we need and go." Aang concluded. They approached the counter of an outdoor market stall, staffed, to all appearances, by the same aged fisherman who gave them a lift into town.
"Hey, Dock. You work here too ?" Sokka voiced his surprise.
"I'm not Dock. I'm Xu, Dock's my brother." His statement baffled the kids. Twins? No no no, it couldn't be... They had just seen him. He was even wearing the same clothes. Only the hat was different! "Dock works on the docks. That's why they call him 'Dock', and I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu'." The elderly explained, but Aang didn't get it, and neither did Xu, or Dock, whatever it was. The seller then pulled out a crate filled with rancid gray seafood. He offered a clam for free if they bought three fish. The Avatar and the siblings stared at the foul haul. Sokka pressed on one of the malformed clam and sludge came out, revolting them. They still needed to eat though and took the fish. They also asked him to tell his brother they needed a ride back to shore . 'Xu' ducked beneath the counter, and reappeared as 'Dock' with Dock's hat. "Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift." He passed over the counter and walked away, followed by the teens. A little sick-looking child ran to Katara and begged for food. She gave him a fish, regretting that she couldn't help more. He thanked her and she watched him run back to his bed-ridden mother.
Back at the gaang's campsite up on the cliffs, the benders of the group bended the pollution out of their cooking water while Sokka pondered his schedule. Today's detour had
completely thrown off said schedule and getting back on track was gonna take some serious finagling. He made various repelling suggestions like waking up forty-three minutes earlier every day, cutting out all of the eating breaks or taking food breaks and potty breaks at the same time. Of course they all met strong opposition and were thus turned down. Either way, they'd leave here first thing the next morning. Katara did not speak a word about it but it was clear from her expression that she couldn't get the villagers' plight out of her mind.
The following morning, Appa was lying on his side, groaning, while Katara tended to him. The bison seemed to be sick. Sokka bolted upright. It was awful! Toph noted she hadn't realized he cared so much.
"Of course I care! I might as well just throw our schedule away now!" However, when he noticed his comrades glaring at him for his lack of compassion, he quickly changed his tune, rushing solicitously to Appa's side. "And I'm concerned because my big, furry friend doesn't feel well." He rubbed his cheek and hand against his furry friend. Toph believed Appa must have gotten sick from being in the polluted water, though Aang didn't find him sick... until he pulled the bison's tongue out which had become purple. It couldn't be good. The airbender sought the advice of the healing specialist. Katara believed he needed some medicine and hoped to find the right herbs in town.
Once in the village, they were surprised to see it more bustling, and the people... happier. When they questioned Xu about it, he told them something amazing had happened last night. Food had been delivered to the village by a mysterious and wonderful person... the Painted Lady. He showed them a statuette of the Lady. She was a heavily draped damsel with elaborate eponymous face make-up and capped with a wide-brimmed conical hat. She was part of the town's lore, a river spirit who watched over their town in times of need. He had always thought she was just a legend until now. It was apparently the same for the other villagers who now all had a statuette in hand.
"See, we don't need to help these people, they already have someone to help them. All we need is medicine for our sick friend." The schedule master asserted. However, all the medicine went to the factory so they had none here, which was why there were so many sick people in this village. There was no choice but to stay another night so Appa could rest. Although exasperated, Sokka could only fold... and buy more food. Xu produced two monstrosities, a one-headed fish, and a two-headed fish . After briefly mulling, the boy chose the two-headed one, disgusting his companions. It was technically true you got more for your money like this... but there was no way that horrible mutation could be natural, or any good! It could only be more stuffed with toxins!
Late that night, a mysterious figure, resembling Dock's Painted Lady statuette, glided over the water on a carpet of fog and entered the village. She stepped into what seemed to be an infirmary, where several people were sleeping on the floor, and healed each of them. Her last patient was the mother of the child who previously begged for food. The little one, sleeping at her side, woke up to see the Painted Lady turn to go and silently followed her out the door. He thanked her. She stopped, startled, acknowledged him with a nod, and glided away into the night.
The next day, the travellers returned to the village and at the counter, asked Dock if Xu was around. The old man switched hats beneath the counter and greeted them again as Xu. The children needed more food. Their friend was still sick and they couldn't leave until he was better.
"Oh, well, that's too bad. Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend." The vendor obligingly presented them with a platter of noxious clams whose condition clearly didn't sit well with Sokka, although it was not like there was a choice.
"And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack, and we'll all have a sing-along." The eternal skeptic (Sokka) replied, however, Xu didn't seem to notice his sarcasm.
"Yeah, may be! You know, last night she visited us again. Healed most of our sick folks." The merchant obliviously added, and drank some of his contaminated water again. Aang noted that must be why the villagers (who were erecting a large statue of the Lady in the town square, cheering and applauding) seemed so festive. And the old merchant agreed. It was all because of the Painted Lady.
"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady I mean... spirit ?" Katara was dreamily looking at the statue with her hands joined.
"Well, I hope she returns every night. Otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was." Her brother stated his opinion... which offended her. He just had to look at how much better off these people were! "Yeah, now, but without her they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If she really wanted to help, she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory." He made gestures and sounds to indicate explosive spirit magic. But Aang corrected him about the way spirit magic worked. Katara stalked off angrily as the boys ignored her mood and continued their antics. At the pier at one end of the town, the blue-eyed girl glared fiercely at the factory. It was really their fault after all, that factory was the source of the problem.
That night, Katara slipped out of her sleeping bag and stuffed dried grass into it to disguise her absence. She donned a makeshift Painted Lady costume, wrapping a ragged gown around her, painting her face in a bended ice mirror and finishing off with a wide conical hat similar to the Lady's, with a diaphanous white veil covering her face. When she headed toward the village, Momo woke up, and he woke Aang up. The Avatar spotted the lady just as she slipped out of sight and he chased her. Katara was barely able to keep ahead. He requested her help to heal his friend and mentioned the fact they were on a tight schedule. He was the great bridge between his world and hers and was friends with Hei Bai. He chased her across the river, the village, up to the opposite shore until he caught her. He introduced himself again. Katara greeted him too with a fake voice and said she was very busy. He too was very busy, and he hated it. After peeking from under her hat brim, he remarked that she was a really pretty spirit, unlike the... not very attractive ones he had met so far. She thanked him. It was then that Aang started suspecting her true identity... she seemed awfully familiar... She tried to leave but he sent her hat flying and he recognized her.
The waterbender conceded defeat. At first, she had just been trying to help the village. But since everyone thought she was the Painted Lady... she just kind of became her. That's why she had been sneaking out at night. Now Aang was doubting (with reason) Appa's sickness. And indeed, he was fine, except maybe for the purple berries she had been feeding him. The boy couldn't believe she had lied to everyone so she could help these people. Katara apologized. However, her friend was more amazed than reproachful. She was like a secret hero! That was how she recruited his help... in order to destroy the factory. She knew that her brother was just kidding, but he was right. Getting rid of this factory was the only way to help these people permanently. They entered the factory and wreaked some hard-core bending-assisted mayhem that lasted a good part of the night and ending with a series of explosions that rocked the building. When the wreckers left, the giant pipes stopped discharging their pollution.
The sun was rising as the two benders returned to the camp. Aang was triumphantly laughing and imitating the sound of an explosion but Katara told him to shush up as they didn't want to wake the others. It was too late though. Sokka and Toph were already waiting for the pair. The startled waterbender tried to act innocently. Her angry sibling dumped the dry grass from her sleeping bag onto the ground. He knew that she was the Painted Lady, and that she had been sneaking out at night, and that she had been lying about Appa and feeding him purplizing tongue berries. Toph stuck out her now purple tongue and held up a bag of berries as evidence.
"Katara, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now." He accused his sister who, her head down, went to gather her belongings. He then turned to Aang. "And how long did you know about this ?" He clearly didn't appreciate the Avatar having backed her ill-considered behavior but the monk had just found out this morning too.
A General – Mung – emerged from the smoking ruins of the factory. His already menacing air and appearance were nothing compared to the vindictive glare he fixed onto the village.
The packing kids were interrupted by a strange and ominous sound. Crouching at the edge of the cliff, they saw a detachment of Fire Soldiers on jet skis racing down the river towards the village. Sokka instantly guessed it must be somehow because of Katara and, furious, asked her what she had done. She guiltily admitted she had kind of destroyed their factory.
"You what ?!"
"It was your idea!" She suddenly snapped back at him.
"I was joking! I also said to use spirit magic and made funny noises! Did you even think this through? The army's gonna blame the villagers. They're headed there right now to get revenge!"
"Well, what was I supposed to do ?"
"Leave! Do nothing!"
"No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!" The waterbender strongly asserted and stood up to leave. "I'm going down to the village, and I am gonna do whatever I can." She declared and stalked off. That was Katara. She simply could not ignore people who were suffering right in front of her. And after a moment of soul-searching, her brother followed her. He was coming too. "I thought you didn't want to help."
"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you." Because they were family, she was his one and only precious little sister.
"Sokka. You really do have a heart." They hugged.
"He really does have a heart, doesn't he?" Overwhelmed and tearing away, Aang turned to Toph for confirmation. The earthbender, however, had a low tolerance for this kind of overly emotional prattle and socked him in the chest. He fell back on the ground.
"I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace. But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine... and then you destroy our factory." General Mung addressed the gathered villagers. He was accompanied by four soldiers, two men and two women. Dock popped out of the crowd and argued they hadn't done any of that. Xu popped up in a different place wearing his Xu hat to add that it was the Painted Lady who brought them food and healed their sick, not the army's medicine. "Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it. And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers, too." He waved a Painted Lady statuette and threw it at a pot, destroying it, spilling the rice inside, and scaring the townspeople. "This is a town of thieves and liars!" He destroyed a house with a blast of fire. "Where's your Painted Lady now? We're going to cure the world of this wretched village." At his order, the soldiers began demolishing the town by breaking the stilts. Two of them lit a large flammable ball perched on a buoy in the river, but a mysterious gust of wind from nowhere blew the fire out, twice. "Light it again!" Mung barked. His men obeyed and the flames were blown out again. But then, they heard the eery sound of a flute while a mysterious, thick and sinister cloud of mist started floating over the water from a gap in the cliffs, rendering two soldiers rather anxious. It had appeared suddenly out of nowhere and was pouring rapidly towards them as if animated by a will of its own and engulfed the town. Something strange was going on. Then an ominous growling noise echoed.
"It's the Painted Lady. She's cooooming." The boy whose mother had been healed by Katara whispered, grinning.
"There is NO Painted Lady!" The general affirmed.
"What is that sound ?" A female guard wondered, fear slowly thickening her voice. It was a repetitive thudding noise, as of giant footsteps. The thudding was actually caused by Toph elevating and dropping a large boulder, while Appa was doing the growling, and Sokka was manning the flute.
"Maybe it IS her." Her male colleague ventured. The fog parted dramatically to reveal Katara dressed once more as the Lady. She paused a moment for the theatrical effect and then rushed toward the Fire Soldiers in a burst of waterbending. She leaped and landed on the dock.
"Do something!" The commanding officer pushed his minions forward. As they timidly approached, sword in hand, they were rattled by a blast of airbending from Aang who was hiding beneath the dock. Their forehead protectors flew up and they ran away. "Stand your ground!" General Mung shouted. Katara walked forth until she was above Aang and waterbended two jet skis high in the air before sending them crashing into a cliff. When she raised her hand towards them the remaining Fire Soldiers jumped into the last jet skis and sped off, abandoning their officer alone to hold the fort. "I'll take care of you myself." He bended an arc of fire at Katara. The monk propelled her into the sky on a column of air and the flame passed harmlessly beneath her. For good measure, the Avatar's next blast of wind blew the dock and hurled Mung ricocheting onto the river. As he floundered and surfaced, the waterbender rosed out of the polluted water before him and raised her arms threateningly.
"Leave this village and never come back!" She warned. The defeated officer swam desperately away from her. Some of his subordinated came to fetch him and they all left in a hurry. Sokka and Toph rowed towards the village to stand on the side with Aang. Katara returned as the people applauded her... until Dock, who had come forward, recognized her as the colonial girl, and the little boy as the one who gave him a fish... Once the villagers realized she was a waterbender and they had been tricked, they started railing her. Katara remembered Chenlian. To have to hide her identity in order to help people... to have those people turn against her, to face their rejection, their enmity... because she was a firebender... and still, she loved people and was willing to do anything to protect them... Sokka ran forward to intervene.
"Maybe she is a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you. Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her." He pointed accusingly at them, unable to bear them being so unjust towards his sister.
"Sokka, it's okay." Katara calmed him before looking at the villagers. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself. You already did so, once. You can do it again. Even if you fail once or twice, you have to keep trying until it works. That's what I learned from my best friend, a firebender. You can't give up on yourselves." She calmly, gently, instructed them. Dock acknowledged the truth of her words... and he and the villagers resolved to once more clean the river.
"Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender." He walked closer and smiled. Sokka asked him to keep that a secret. "No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother Xu, on the other hand, hoo! He's a blabbermouth." He stroked his beard. Sokka hit his own forehead with his palm. They were the same person so that was no good at all! Katara wanted to know if he was gonna help them clean. "No, ma'am. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers." He brazenly switched hats right in front of them. "Alright, I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done."
"Aha, I knew it! I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy." Aang grinned triumphantly and pointed at him.
"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu."
"No, I just saw you! You switched hats and called yourself a different name!" The Avatar was growing exasperated.
"Oh, you know who does that ? My brother Dock." Then he added in a conspiratorial whisper. "He's crazy." He laughed. Aang fumed. Sokka had a rather similar expression and Katara was disconcerted. It was hopeless. Dock, or Xu, or Bushi had been drinking industrial sewage for far too long. Either he was always joking... or his brain had been addled beyond recovery.
The day was spent cleaning the river, with extensive bending help from the kids. By sunset, the river was pristine blue again. At nighttime, while everyone was sleeping after their hard work, Katara had gone down to the river. After she touched the water an apparition appeared before her... the Painted Lady spirit... which was 'real' after all. It thanked her and vanished in the fog. Katara smiled.
"I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!"... huh? A small, self-derisive smile curved Chenlian's lips as she opened her eyes. She had finally found the courage to enter the Spirit World and check on Aang and the others, although secretly as she still lacked the courage to face Aang whom she had failed to protect. But those words had deeply affected her. Katara was truly strong after all... Stronger than her... and Chenlian was envious of her strength. If she could be like that... Zuko... he kept coming because he needed her, right? Then maybe next time she should try to... But suddenly, the door to her cell opened, startling her. And even more shocking, it was Zuko who entered and rushed to the bars, holding them, sticking his face close and studying her so intently. Now that was disconcerting. He sighed, apparently relieved about something.
"What did you come here for?" The girl could not help but ask as he was behaving so strangely. He froze up. That dream had made him so anxious. He had tried to focus on Mai, and his life as Prince. But the more he tried to forget, the more agitated he would grow, and the more his thoughts would turn to Chenlian... until this night when his body brought him to her. But he could not say that, because he knew what she would reply. What to say now? At this point, after their previous conversation that was replaying in their minds... They had agreed that they could never see eye to eye, they could never look in the same direction, they could never convince each other, and they could never be together. They had ended everything already. So what could there be left to say now? The silence grew more awkward. He had to say something.
"H-have you been eating well?" Right, he had asked the warden to give her decent meals good for recovering from burns. She raised an eyebrow and stared at him like he had gone mad. Really, what was he saying now? He couldn't have come for something so trivial.
"This is so stupid." Chenlian muttered, sighing and closing her eyes. "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!" But... because of him... Aang had fallen, and Ba Sing Se, and Guang had... Even though she loved him so much, and thought he loved her back... when she'd recall all the pain he had caused and all that she had lost because of him... when she'd feel herself crumbling under the weight of that loss...
"Chenlian... actually..." Zuko started. She balled her fists. "You've always said you acted for the sake of the world... but I think everyone is looking for their own happiness, they're all out for themselves! What's wrong with that? You said that you loved me and wanted to be with me, that it was your true wish! So why won't you act for yourself! Where's the need for you to completely negate yourself like this?!"
"Are you talking about the me rejected by her country? ... Or maybe the me rejected by you?" She inquired, gazing straight into his eyes. He recoiled momentarily under the blow.
"The people you're trying to protect rejected you too!"
"Isn't that only because I'm a firebender, and they suffered so much because of the Fire Nation, because the Fire Nation rejects them? If the war ends, wounds will slowly heal, and no one will have to go through that again. People exist to fulfil their desires. And happiness is only a consequence of that. To protect, to serve, to rule any number of people, to make a family, to own land, a shop, to fight, to destroy, to kill, to get revenge... what must you do, what must you sacrifice to obtain what you want...? How much are you willing to pay to obtain it? Certainly, Aang might have been happier without the burden of being the Avatar. He tried to run away because he wanted to be an ordinary kid. But because he wishes for peace, he will fight for the people as the Avatar. Whether I want it or not, I was happiest when I was with you. I loved you. But because I also wish for peace, in order to grab that future, I will fight you to protect them. Aang, Karara and Sokka are my friends, the only ones who have accepted me entirely. They've trusted me. They care about me. They would have never forced me to choose between them and the man I loved. If I had asked, they would have been ready to trust you and accept you too despite what you did. That was what I wanted more than anything. They are my new family, the comrades of my soul. That is why I will do anything to protect them, and dedicate my life to them, and that vision, those dreams we share. Isn't that the same with you? You did what you had to in Ba Sing Se, and you claim to be happy now; but-"
"I AM happy!"
"Are you really? But even if you are now, were you happy to treat your uncle like this even though he's always loved and supported you? Were you happy when Azula shot me, and I ended here like this? Even though you kept saying you loved me, even though you promised you wouldn't let me suffer like this again..."
"You know that's not what I wanted! I-" Zuko took his head in his hands.
"You just had to... because there was no other way, right? This is the same for me. My future lies with Aang the others who bear the fate of the world on their small shoulders. If it's them, they can create the era of peace, prosperity, and kindness that I've always wished for. And I want to be of help to them. And I am also acting for the sake of the Fire Nation."
"What?! How can that be?!"
"I'm still a firebender, and the Fire Nation is still my home country. But now, it's just a tyrant oppressing the world. We are hated and despised. You've seen and experienced it. I want to end that, and give it back its former glory. There was never any need for our country to expand. What right does a civilization has to enslave or wipe out another? That is a nonsensical war. Don't you think there have been enough sacrifices on both sides? But what about you? Are really happy the way you are now? If you're really okay with the Earth Kindgom being burned to the ground by your father and sister as long as you can spend time with them then..."
"My father and sister wouldn't do that!" The Prince suddenly snapped back, causing an annoyed twitch in the girl's eyebrows.
"You think so? Last time the comet passed marked the genocide of the airbenders by your ancestor Sozin. For having spent time in the Earth Kingdom you know its inhabitants won't go down until there's nothing left for them to protect. And then all that would be left to do was to finish off the Northern Water Tribe. Because Ozai no longer has a heart that can love, he can sacrifice anything. And if you truly believe that he and Azula love you then you're just deluding yourself." She too, was growing more aggravated, and abrasive.
"You're lying!"
"When have I ever lied to you?! When did Azula ever tell you the truth?! And why do you think she did so in those cases?! Wasn't it to hurt you more?!" Chenlian also ended raising her voice. The two glared at each other and sharply looked away. "Zuko, it was your own decision. You knew what would happen and still did it. What you have now, you wanted it to the point you didn't mind what happened to me, Iroh, or anyone else for that matter." The prisoner continued. "I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me!" Was that it? Even though he had Mai and his family, he was still coming to her, was it because he still needed her? "Since you took your decision, I should tell you mine. Someday, I'll leave this place and join back with the Avatar. I'll teach him firebending, and I'll help him defeat the tyrant ruling this nation, and trying to rule the world, Fire Lord Ozai. I'll wait for you until that time. Because I don't want to think that the man I fell in love with is one who could actually bear for so many people to be sacrificed for his own sake. I want to believe the true you to be kind, and meant to be a righteous ruler who helps and protects not only the Fire Nation, but also the world as one of its citizens. The Zuko who helped the weak... If it was him I would have really followed him anywhere and protected him. For him, I would have gone through fire and water, darkness and lightning. So... if you have even just a bit of guilt, regrets, or doubts... regarding what you've done... if you ever loved me, I hope that you will take my hand, and we'll leave this place together..." She was gazing at him with such imploring and disarming eyes that Zuko felt himself weaken.
"Chenlian... That's..."
"I know... We were dear to each other, but we both made our own choice. I wanted to save the world, and I wanted to save you, and I wanted you by my side. But I guess I was just too selfish and greedy. Besides, your beloved father would certainly say I contaminated you with my silly soft-hearted garbage. That's why if, when that moment comes, you're still unwilling to come with me then so be it. I'll accept your decision, I won't say anything anymore. But know that if you can truly sacrifice everyone else for you own sake, then I'll treat you as an enemy and I won't show you any mercy, and not even the feelings I ever had for you would save you." Her resolve was strong, frighteningly strong. It could not be swayed. Her heart might have been shattered, but her soul could never, ever be broken.
The young prince felt his chest tighten painfully but couldn't know if it was from fear or attraction. She was someone who would shine all the brighter, burn all the stronger in the darkness. She strove in periods of difficulty and hardships, with blazing eyes, with a presence so bright it was blinding, so warm and intense it was scorching, and yet, still so comforting, so attracting, so captivating... With her burning, crackling aura, her eyes, her words, her voice, she hurt you and in the same time drew you in with no way to resist, as if you had been caught in a gravitational field... until you felt that even the pain was alright and you no longer had any will to pull away, until you wished to be embraced and consumed entirely. And he was afraid of that. He had finally what he had wanted all this time, now was not the time to fall with her into the abyss – the abyss where he had plunged her – but then why did it feel like she was the one getting higher and higher away from him and reaching unattainable heights far from his grasp while he was the one sinking in darkness?! And what if she let go and forsook him? No. That was impossible.
Author's note: if you're interested in seeing Avatar wallpapers I made, you can go to the fan media section of the AvatarSpirit ATLA forum. I'm sure you'll recognize me as for my username over there, I used this story's OC name lol. In the said forum, there's a link to the full gallery which is hosted by imgbox. As imgbox allows people to comment images, I'd be happy to have some feedback :)... plus the usual feedback about chapters lol, if I'm not asking too much that is.