One of the Fire Nation war tanks broke ranks and advanced into position. Aang stepped in front of Katara, shielding her and taking a defensive stance. Just when he thought the surprises were over, Toph and Sokka emerged from the tank. "Sokka?! Toph?!"
"Suki, too! She's driving!" Toph grinned, waving in Aang's direction.
"Aang! Katara! Weren't you guys supposed to pick me up?!"
"Sorry, Sokka! We've been kinda busy..." Aang scratched his head.
But Katara crossed her arms over her chest, matching her brother's annoyed expression. "So you decide to hitch a ride with the Fire Nation Army instead?!
"For your information, Katara, we weren't hitching a ride! We were trying to slow them down! And what about you two? Since when did defending the Fire Nation colonials become a part of the Harmony Restoration Movement?!"
Althroughout their argument, everyone else was confused. General Mak turned to his commanding officer. "Fire Lord? What's going on?!"
"I'm not sure..."
General How from the Earth Kingdom army approached Aang. "Listen to me, Avatar! Harmony can be restored right now! My army will treat the colonials we arrest more justly than the Fire Nation treated us! You have my word! However, we cannot accomplish anything if the Fire Lord's army stands against us! We have a saying among the council of five: An army with no leader is a dragon with no head!"
"An army with no leader is a dragon with no head... Did General how just imply that I should kill Zuko?!"
The general's next words confirmed his thoughts. "You alone have the power to end this quickly."
Avatar and Fire Lord shared a tense look, shared an understanding. The inevitable was near.
"General How, there has to be another way!" Aang turned to the older general.
"You know well the cost of war, Avatar. I ask you to exchange one life for many!"
Aang was about to argue further but they were disrupted as the ground shook violently. As the shaking stopped, several screw and bolts flew from the Fire Nation war tanks, and the wheels fell to the ground with resounding thuds.
"HA! Look at that! Idea guy's still got the touch! Oh, and good work, Toph!"
"The dragon may still have its head, but perhaps now, it lost its legs." Without wasting a second, he ran back to the his army and shouted. "Quickly, Earth Kingdom troops! While the Fire Nation is in disarray! By Royal decree! Enter Yu Dao and arrest the colonials!"
Hearing the opposing general's command, Zuko gave out his own order. "You're not all in tanks, are you?! Soldiers of the Fire Nation! Defend our people in the city of Yu Dao!"
And so the onslaught began. Firebenders and earthbenders ran to the front lines and charged towards the city gates where Aang and the others were.
In his mind, he saw it all. Destruction, death, another war between nations. Sadness and anger surged through him. He jumped between the forces, eyes and tattoos glowing, the wind around him howling and halting the advancing forces as he slowly ascended in the air. "The Harmony Restoration Movement was such a simple plan! Why couldn't you just follow through--!"
"Snap out of it, Aang!" Katara grabbed him from mid-air and took him away from the front lines. The action effectively took him out of the Avatar state. Without the Avatar, the fight between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation began. "Don't you remember what we talked about? You have to be calm to make sure your decision is right!"
"But all these people! They're gonna kill each other!"
"Let me worry about them!" She had taken him back on top of the city gates, holding his arm tightly. "Aang, let me tell you why I changed my mind. Seeing the people of Yu Dao, seeing Kori's family... I also saw our future."
Katara had sent Aang away to think everything through, to clear his mind and make the right decision. He flew far away from Yu Dao, up the valley and found a spot away from it all. He sat cross-legged, reached for the prayer beads around his neck, and called for Avatar Roku.
Once he felt the presence of his predecessor, he opened his eyes. "I had a dream about you, Avatar Roku."
"Fulfill your promise and restore the world to Harmony!"
"That's what you said in my dream... But lately, I've realized how much I love being an Air Nomad, and I'm the last one! If I turn my back on my people's philosophy, won't it just disappear?! A-and besides... my people's philosophy isn't all that I love—"
"The Avatar must hold the world above his own nation, his own friends... even his own family."
"W-what are you saying?"
"Zuko's mother, Ursa... is my granddaughter."
Dread filled Aang. "Then... Zuko— Roku, how could you possibly—"
"Because you are the Avatar! To succeed where I failed, you must hold the world above all else! Empty yourself, Aang, and contemplate the world, then you will understand!"
Zuko attacked along with his soldiers in the frontlines, sending constant fire fists and jabs at armored earthbenders to keep them at bay from reaching the city gates. "General How! Withdraw your troops immediately!"
"With all due respect, Fire Lord Zuko! You stand on Earth Kingdom soil! Here your words have no authority!"
A blinding beam of light shot up from the mountain side, stopping their attacks, and from the distance, Aang returned to Yu Dao, the elements in his hands. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.
He descended between Fire Lord Zuko and General How, and everyone can see that he was ready to pass his judgement. "Aang, I-I know how this looks! But I swear to you in my heart—"
Zuko held his ground as the earth beneath his feet cracked and trembled. As Aang held his hands apart, the ground split between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers.
The nightmare was turning into reality as the sky darkened and he stood at the edge of the chasm. Zuko sighed in defeat and took off his war helmet. "None of that matters does it? I'm doing exactly what my father would have done."
He figured that his death was inevitable. And a part of him was ready to accept it. In his mind's eye, he saw Chiyo smiling, holding out his hand for him to take. But he was powerless to move.
He felt tired. Tired of it all.
He felt weak.
He felt helpless.
He felt the ground beneath his feet give way, and he didn't flinch as he fell into the chasm.
He felt a hand grab his own and stop his descent. Zuko's eyes snapped open and found Aang taking him up and out of the chasm and back on solid ground.
Once he was sure that Zuko was safe, Aang turned to the Earth King, standing with Katara, Kori and the Yu Dao resistance. "Look at who you are fighting, Earth King Kuei! Fire Nation, yes, but also the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribe, and now, Air Nomad! This is who stands against your army! It took me a while, but I finally understand! You're not just fighting a colony, you're fighting a whole new kind of world!"
Both Earth King and Fire Lord saw what Aang wanted them to see. The four nations, no longer divided.
The four nations standing united.
The four nations as one.
"So... I was right then?" Zuko stood up weakly, months and months of sleepless nights finally catching up on him. "All along...my decision... was right?"
His vision darkened, and he fell forward unconscious.
"Zuko!"
I am happy that I am by your side
I can dream freely because I am by your side.
I can smile and I can laugh now that I am by your side.
And I pray you won't ever leave my side.
If you see my true heart and find your way to me,
If you see my true heart and feel its beating,
Then let me give you my true heart,
So you can stay by my side forever.
Though weak, Zuko opened his eyes, gold meeting amber once again. And briefly, he wondered if he was still dreaming. "C-chiyo?"
"Hey, you..." She smiled brightly, using the tips of her fingers to swipe away the hair that framed his face.
He didn't mind the aching protests of his body as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his bare chest and burying his face at the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. "Chiyo..."
She gently ran her hand over his back. "I'm here, Zuko. I'm here... Just like I promised."
They didn't know how long they stayed in each other's embrace. Everything else seemed to melt away, and nothing else seemed to matter.
For all he knew, he could have died peacefully back at Yu Dao and this was heaven.
His heaven.
Iroh cleared his throat as he walked in on the pair, turning his head sideways with a huge grin on his face. "Now that my nephew is awake, why don't we all have some tea?"
"He really should have come earlier on his own." Iroh placed a small basket of soup dumplings in front of his nephew before going back to the counter and pour tea into the tall glasses. "Sometimes, he forgets that he always has a place here. He may be Fire Lord now, but he is still a stubborn boy!"
Aang sat down in front of Chiyo and Zuko after his "talk" with Avatar Roku. She pushed a plate of rice cakes towards him. "Thank you for taking me here, Avatar Aang." He grinned as he began stuffing himself with the colorful rice cakes.
"I feel like I've been asleep for a week." The longest sleep Zuko ever had since he had taken the throne a year ago.
"No, just four days." Aang said casually after he had swallowed.
"Oh..."
"Little Chiyo, could you help me with these?" Iroh called from the kitchen.
Chiyo excused herself from the table, wrapping the blanket around Zuko's shoulders and kissing the top of his head before heading to the kitchen to help Uncle Iroh.
"The Earth King's agreed to talk when you're ready." Aang started, finally optimistic about the situation. "We'll meet him in Yu Dao. A small group of the city's residents are gonna join us too. Whatever happens though, Yu Dao can't stay a Fire Nation colony—"
"It can't go back to being an Earth Kingdom city either." He pressed.
Aang agreed with Zuko. "I know. It has to be something new. That's why we need to meet."
The subject of the horrifying dream came up in their conversation. It turns out, they all had it. They expressed their sentiments and their grief, about their flaws and their weaknesses, their struggles and questions.
"You know in that dream, a woman stood with us on that mountaintop, watching from the shadows." Zuko set aside his plate, his hunger satiated.
"Was it Chiyo?"
"No... I think she was my mother..."
"Sometimes, dreams are the way a person's spirit reveals the answer to his own problems." Iroh came back with Chiyo, placing a tray of tall glasses with straws on the table. "But then again, sometimes they are just the result of eating spicy food before going to bed!"
Zuko thought about his words. "Maybe finding my mother would connect me to a part of my heritage that isn't so murky and confusing."
"You mean Roku's blood line? I don't know..."
"I never told anyone of this, but right after I became Fire Lord, I sent out search parties looking for her."
"Have you tried with Auntie June? I'm sure Nyla can find her." Chiyo handed the tall glasses to them.
Zuko nodded. "Yes. They all came back empty-handed. What can I do now that I haven't already tried?"
"It's a new world, Zuko. You need to take some risks." Aang raised his glass to them. "We all do."
Chiyo and Zuko raised their glasses as well and drank the beverage.
"Oh!"
"W-wha—"
"Pffttt! What is that trying to sneak into my mouth?!"
"I've never had tea that's so... chewy!"
"It's actually quite good!"
Iroh delighted them with his newest concoction. "First, I cook the balls of tapioca until they are soft and tender. Then I put them in the tea, where they sit like little pearl-snacks at the bottom of each cup! Add a little milk and TA DA! A revolution in tea is born!"
Chiyo thoroughly enjoyed hers, loving the addition of the tapioca pearls with the milk and tea. "I bet Lady Quinta will love this!"
Uncle Iroh's grin turned into a grimace as he thought of what the strict ceremonial tea mistress would say.
"Oh dear."
Lady Quinta: Oh dear?! OH DEAR?! Oh, I'll tell you what I ought to say, old man!!! *&!*&%#*^*%!%*
>This censorship is brought to you by Iroh's Milk Tea and Sokka's Cactus Juice<
-TheGreatestConWoman-
is suddenly overcome with the craving for Milk Tea. Join me in my misery.