Reborn In Water || ATLA

Face Down

The Warriors of Kyoshi

"Well, I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's got to end. As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found." - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

🌊 🌋 🔥 🌪

"Kyoshi Island has managed to stay out of the war this far Zuko," Aelita said to her friend as they saddled up a set of komodo rhinos. They had received word that the Avatar was on a small island off the coast of the Earth Kingdom mainland, the birthplace of the last Avatar born to said Kingdom. All too soon they would be disembarking on the unsuspecting island in search of the last airbender. "They haven't been touched by the Fire Nations' presence, one of the last few places the war hasn't sullied and I don't want to see their people hurt now when it can be avoided."

"As long as they hand over the Avatar willingly, there will be no need for anyone to be hurt." Zuko assured her half-heartedly, his focus elsewhere.

"At the South Pole you promised no one would get hurt and you were ready to burn down the entire village," she shot back in annoyance, her own temper rising. "I hate seeing what this bullshit war does to innocent people!"

"You need to keep your voice down!" Zuko hissed at his friend. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her close so that none of the nearby crew could hear her. "You pledged your loyalty to the royal family and the Fire Nation. I know you don't agree with my father's tactics but you don't have the freedom to say it out loud."

Aelita jerked away and closed her eyes. Losing her Dad after he had sacrificed so much of his own life to fight the Fire Lord's battles had left her bitter and seeing the world firsthand quickly had her questioning the propaganda that was spoon-fed to Fire Nation youth the moment they were born.

The Fire Nation was the greatest country in the world. The war was never meant to be. Fire Lord Sozin set out to share his people's wealth and knowledge with an ungrateful world. The other nations needed the Fire Nations' guidance.

It hadn't taken long for Aelita to realize it was all a crock of shit. It wouldn't take anyone with eyes long to see it so long as they didn't choose to remain ignorant. The four nations were meant to exist separately and harmoniously on their own, not under the rule of one dictator. There would be no winner in this new world Ozai was shaping. After all, his own sons hadn't even been safe.

The turmoil that followed in the war's wake made the young girl's stomach churn. While following Zuko on his search she had seen entire cities that had been burnt to ash and villages plagued by famine while nearby Fire Nation colonies thrived. Aelita had watched a mother sob while her husband buried her child that had been caught in the crossfire, and her heart shattered the first time she had overheard as a pregnant wife had learned her husband wouldn't be coming home. It was all too much, too unnecessary.

The only small relief Aelita had to cling to was knowing her Dad had done everything he could to avoid contributing to the bloodshed. He had never spoken out against the war, to do so would've been an immediate death sentence, but General Kenshin had gone into each battle opting for strategy over force, causing as few casualties on either side as possible. Growing up in a country built by violence had left him a pacifist, and he encouraged Aelita to remain as kind as possible, like the mother she hadn't had the chance to know.

Zuko flinched when Aelita pulled from him. "The wrong person hears you and it will get back to my Father." He continued, worried about her well-being. He reached out and laced his fingers with her right hand, tracing circles around the ring she wore. His ring. "After I capture the Avatar and I return home you'll be coming with me, which means you'll be in the same palace as my Father again. If he hears of you openly opposing him or the war, I don't know if I'd be able to save you again."