"Just because you make a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake." — Georgette Mosbacher

/

I wake up the next morning shivering, soaked through with dew. I'm met with aches and pains whenever I move. Great. What a spectacular way to start the day.

I lean back against the side of the basket and stare up at the red material of the balloon. I can't even be bothered to use the Breath of Fire to warm myself up. I deserve to be miserable. I lost any right to be comfortable and happy long ago.

I could just sit here all day but I came here for a reason. And I do have some basic needs that need to be met. I need to at least be functional no matter what I think I deserve. I'm no use to the Avatar dead.

I force myself up. To find water and hunt down some breakfast. I even manage to bring myself to wash up a bit in the stream nearby. And now I'm procrastinating.

If I'm completely honest with myself, I'm terrified. I've done terrible things to all of them. They aren't going to trust me, and I have no right to expect them to. I have no idea how to prove I've really changed this time, especially after everything I've done. Who am I kidding? They're going to eat me alive. And I deserve all the hatred they have to throw at me. I've had so many chances to do the right thing. And I've squandered them all. If they want to punish me for what I've done, I deserve it.

Well. There's no use in delaying the inevitable. I find a coil of rope in the basket's storage and make my way to the edge of the cliffs.

I never appreciated how truly stunning the cliffs of the Western Air Temple are the first time I was here. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. What a naive, narrow sighted little boy I was. And honestly, maybe I still am? But no more. My eyes are open now and I can't unsee the atrocities my father has committed in the name of "the greater good." I wish I could have seen earlier that all my father has ever wanted is to gain universal power. I really wish I'd listened to my Uncle way back then. Maybe some of this pain I can hardly keep from overpowering me would be more manageable. And I wouldn't have been such a horrible person to everyone. I really was a jerk. Maybe I still am?

I set up the repel line with numb fingers. There's so much regret and I'm afraid I'll never be able to make it all right. Maybe I never can.

I don't know how the first Air Nomads of the Western Air Temple built the temple into the underside of the cliffs. All the buildings are upside down. Or, I guess, right side up? Depending on your perspective. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's beautiful.

The temple is as eerily quiet as the first time I visited. Well, at first. I can hear Teo, Haru, and the Duke running around the temple and exploring its many secrets. I keep well out of their way. I don't know them at all but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't take kindly to a firebender sneaking around their hideout.

It's only as I'm creeping about that it hits me how important it is to stop my father. I can't let what my grandfather did to the Air Nomads happen to the Earth Kingdom. I can't believe I was complicit in the same thing almost happening to the Northern Water Tribe.

Ugh. At this rate I'm going to be a wallowing puddle of misery and self-doubt. If I could take it all back, I would. All I can do now is pay the consequences of my actions. That's the honorable thing to do.

I finally track down Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to what looks like it might have once been a central courtyard. I stick to the building not attached to the courtyard and above them in the hopes that Toph won't sense me. I'm not ready to face them yet. But I'm also no longer so full of myself to think I can sneak around Toph. She'll sense me sooner rather than later.

"Aang wait!" Katara sounds frustrated. "We need to talk."

"About what?!" Aang yells, spinning on her.

Katara takes a startled step back. "About what we're going to do next." Her eyebrows are pinched together. I know that look. She's trying to appear calm while holding back her hurt at Aang's tone.

Ugh! When did I get to know these people so well?!

Katara takes a breath before continuing, "And, since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this."

Aang settles grumpily onto a low stone wall, crossing his arms. "Fine. Fair enough. So…what's the plan?"

I try not to snort. It's a miracle these guys haven't been captured or killed. They always seem to lose more than they win. Or maybe they're just really good at getting away? I captured Aang how many times and it was still Azula who struck him down. Though, if I'm completely honest with myself, my heart hadn't been into capturing Aang for a long time. Probably starting way back when I rescued him from the Pohuai Stronghold and didn't even try to capture him after he rescued me. I still can't fathom why he did that. If our positions were reversed, would I have rescued him?

Anyway, I couldn't bring myself to even try to capture him. Not after he asked me if we could have been friends. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?

I have to shake myself. Come on Zuko. Concentrate!

"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan!" Sokka sounds way too excited about the idea. "You just need to master all four elements and confront the Firelord before the Comet comes."

Aang glares at Sokka. "Oh, yeah, that's great. No problem. I'll just do that."

"Aang," Katara tries. "No one said it was going to be easy."

"Well, it's not even going to be possible! Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?!" Aang throws his hands up in frustration.

"There's Jeong Jeong."

And me. If they'll have me. Who am I kidding? They'll eat me alive as soon as I show my face!

Aang snorts. "Yeah, right. Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again."

The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stand on end. Someone else is here.

"Oh, well." Aang is still talking. "Guess we can't come up with anybody."

I scan the surrounding buildings, my instincts screaming at me that Aang is in trouble. And then I see him. I curse vehemently under my breath, leaping into action before I can think better of it.

The others are oblivious to the lumbering man of death above them. Aang has grabbed his glider. "Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple—"

The words haven't even fully left Aang's mouth before I ram into him from above, knocking him flying to the ground. I barely have time to cross my arms in front of me, absorbing and redirecting Ránshāo's combustionbending shot into the roof of the building I had been perched on moments before. I still take the brunt of the shot directly to my ribs. Thank the Spirits the Avatar is short! I'd probably be dead if he wasn't.

I'm sent flying into a pillar behind me, my already bruised ribs deciding they've had enough. The crack of breaking bones is deafening in my ears. I bite down on a scream, slumping to the stone, struggling to stay conscious through the roaring pain.

Through the haze of agony, I find Aang in the blowing dust from the explosion. His eyes are as wide as saucers, his mouth agape in shock. "Zuko?!"

Author's Note

And this is where I start taking creative liberties with the story line. I always felt like Zuko should have played a more integral role in fighting Combustion Man than he got in the TV series.

Ránshāo literally translates to "combustion."