A Different Destiny

Chapter 17

The second they came up Zuko knew they had the right place. The entire time he had been in the North Pole his body had been fighting a losing battle against the cold. As a firebender, Zuko could warm himself with his breath of fire but he found it more suited for a chilly night in the Imperial City and not for ensuring he didn't freeze to death. But it was different here. Coming straight out of the water Zuko had mentally prepared himself for a chill that would eat away to his core, but the air held an almost tropical feeling.

Zuko and Katara pulled themselves out of the water onto a patch of grass. Zuko looked around worriedly, half expecting the waterbender warriors to burst through the entrance at any moment.

"Welcome back to the Spirit Oasis." Katara said, gesturing around her. The oasis looked as though it had been stolen from an island paradise and transported to the north pole. The center, where the spirits Tui and La lived, was surrounded by a grassy island connected to the outer structure by two wooden bridges. They had come up just on the far side of one of the bridges.

Katara got up swiftly making her way across the bridge. She stopped in front of the pond. Zuko followed quickly behind her. They watched for a moment as Tui and La continued their eternal dance.

Push and pull.

Zuke broke the silence. "Uh, so what do we do now?"

Katara paused. "Well, I'm not sure. I've seen Aang meditate into the spirit world a few times but I've never even tried anything like that." She dropped into the lotus position and folded her hands in her lap. "Well, here goes nothing." she said, and started a low chant, just above a whisper.

Tui and La.

Push and pull.

"What are you doing?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Shh." she hissed. "I'm trying to align my chi with theirs." She leaned over the pond and placed her hands just above the surface of the water.

Tui and La continued, undisturbed by anything they were doing.

The minutes dragged on and Katara continued rhythmically, but as far as Zuko could tell, nothing had changed. He did his best to be patient, not wanting to interrupt again. He paced around the gardens a bit, busying himself with the landscape, still in awe that such a place could exist at the edge of the world.

There was a yell that pierced the air and Zuko whipped around. Katara had beat the ground with her fists and was now stomping back and forth in front of the pond. If their mission hadn't been so time-sensitive the sight would've almost been comical, like a child that couldn't figure out a puzzle. But Zuko felt for her in that moment, he knew that she was putting a lot of responsibility on herself. Now that Aang was hurt, Katara felt like it was her job to save the world. Not that she wasn't an amazing bender, but she wasn't the Avatar.

He wanted to go to her, comfort her, let her know everything was going to be okay, but he didn't. He stood and watched as her voice cracked and she cried out begging the spirits to hear her plea. There was less formality to her request than he had expected, rather, the words sounded more like a desperate prayer. "Yue, please." she begged.

Then to Zuko's utter surprise, the pond began to shimmer, a misty fog began to spread over the oasis, and an eerie silence covered the area. Zuko moved quickly to stand beside Katara, unsure of what was going on. They both leaned over the water, trying to get a better look at what was going on.

That's when the pond exploded and a geyser of water shot 50 feet into the air. The force of the blast knocked Katara and Zuko backwards off their feet. Zuko turned to see if Katara was okay when an inhumane voice spoke to them. It sounded like the cries of a hundred children. Like metal scraping against metal. Like glaciers slamming into each other.

"YOU DARE BRING HIM HERE!" the voice shrieked, and a white figure materialized where the geyser had just been. "YOU DARE BRING THAT MURDEROUS COLONIZING FILTH INTO THIS SACRED PLACE." Katara started to respond when the figure arched its head back and screamed, bright blue light pouring out of its mouth, racing towards the heavens.

Before either of them could react, the figure rapidly began moving its arms and a huge burst of water exploded from the water and flew towards Zuko. Unable to dodge such an attack, he put his arms in front of his face, hoping to block the brunt of the attack. It worked and his face remained mostly protected, but the attack didn't stop. It hit him with such a force he felt as though he were standing under a waterfall.

Zuko was then knocked off his feet as the water around him began spinning and closing in on him, like he was standing in the middle of a storm. He clamped his mouth shut as water rushed up at his face. He could feel himself being lifted off the ground and could see that he was being totally encased by water. It was like the reverse of what Katara had done to protect them underwater, meaning now Zuko couldn't breathe.

Zuko watched as Katara ran towards the figure waving her arms. The figure turned and with a sweeping gesture pushed Katara aside with a burst of water, and then looked back at Zuko, eyes narrowed. "For generations, your people have done nothing but cause pain and strife. Now their prince will pay for their sins in blood."

Suddenly Zuko felt an icy chill fall over his body and suddenly found it much harder to struggle in the water. She was going to freeze him in here. Panicked, he tried to warm his body with his breath of fire but he didn't have enough air to make much of a difference. Dark spots started to swim in front of his eyes as the lack of oxygen began to get to his mind.

He really hated the North Pole, he thought to himself slipped into unconsciousness.