Yin & Yang

Chapter 27.

"Zuko, you're sleeping in again." A woman's voice reached Zuko's ears. It was soft and caring but distant. It chuckled at him lightly as Zuko felt his body move to one side with gravity as the person sat next to him on the bed. "Get up, sleepy head. Your Uncle is waiting for us for tea." A bright light greeted Zuko's eyes as it filtered in from the open window. Bringing up his hand, he shielded his sight from the early morning light. Slowly the colors around him came into focus and he yawned. "There, doesn't that feel better?" That voice. Zuko came to realize he hadn't heard the voice in many years. Ten or so. Zipping his head around past the vibrant red colors of the tapestries decorating the walls, Zuko's golden eyes landed on Ursa's smiling face. "Zuko. Did you forget about your promise to your father? We're supposed to go meet up with him, remember?" She opened her eyes to him. They shone in the morning light. "Get dressed. Let's go." Her hand reached to him and tussled his hair. Ursa stood up and walked to the door. "We'll be waiting in the Jade Garden." She offered him another smile before leaving the room.

Too stunned to talk, Zuko sat there in the bed. "Mo..Mother?" He looked down to his hands as a tear streamed down his cheek. His eyes widened. His hands! Throwing the blanket back from his lap, Zuko's bare feet slapped the marble of the small room. Practically stumbling into the desk that held a basin for water, the pitcher that actually had water in it, the fire comb he was to wear in his hair and a few other things, Zuko scrambled to grab the mirror that sat in the right drawer. The gold handle flashed blindingly as he snatched it up, bringing it level to his face. He closed his eyes tight as the reflecting light hurt. Trembling, Zuko slowly opened his eyes.

A young man greeted him in the reflection. Scar-less, looking about thirteen years, muscles forming around his biceps and upper chest. His hair looked shaggy and he gasped. His free hand traveled up to the left side of his face and touched the spot he knew should have been scared. Smooth skin traced from his eye back to his ear. Zuko gasped. What was going on? Setting down the mirror, he decided it best to get ready for the day. "Obviously I'm dreaming." He told himself silently. But why this day?

He slid on a black tunic and red pants. Black boots fitted around his feet and a red sash around his waist. Brushing his hair briskly, Zuko pulled it back and secured it in place by a tie that was sitting on the desk. Picking up the comb, he frowned at his reflection in it. "I hope this isn't that day.." Placing it in his top knot, Zuko stood and walked to the doorway of his room.

Ursa smiled and welcomed Zuko as he entered the Jade Garden. It was almost the time of year for the cherry blossom tree to bloom. The koi fish were small and several of them dotted the ponds. His eyes wandered around to the bamboo shoots. They were short and looked more like an obstruction to the beauty of the garden instead of an accent. No flowers had been planted just yet. "Zuko. There you are. Iroh and I were just talking about the war meeting that's coming up. Hopefully we can see the end of it in the near future." Iroh nodded in agreement with Ursa and stroked his beard.

His old and gruff voice spoke out to him. "Come, join us for tea." He motioned to a small table that had been set up. Zuko looked at the two in wonder, his mouth partly ajar. Iroh's attention was drawn past Zuko. He stood to attention and bowed. Ursa did the same. Zuko blinked and then turned around as Iroh spoke. "My Lord. Would you like to join us for some morning tea?"

Zuko stumbled back. In shimmering white robes adorned with red and orange flames, yellow embroidering the edges of the fire, long hair in a top knot and the Fire Lord crown shining brightly in the morning light was Ozai. The Fire Lord looked down to the child, his eyes filled with hate and it seared the younger man to the bone. "Iroh, I have more important things to do." He spat out to the older man bitterly. "I am to meet with the war council in a week. Don't be late." Turning, he left. Zuko shuddered on the ground, tightly closing his eyes. He looked up after a moment to get comfort from his Uncle and mother.

Jet's sneering eyes locked with his. Ursa was gone. A hooked sword brightly flashed in moonlight now. Zuko stood up and looked over the shoulder of a few servants. He turned to a guard, confused. "Aren't you going to help him?" Metal clanging together rang in the night air with the occasional twang from a bow, the singing of the arrow through the air. The guard shook his head. "The Fire Lord wants to fight this on his own." Zuko turned back to the garden.

He watched himself fighting Jet. "Enough of this." A female's voice shot out from the shadows. Zuko looked up from in the crowed and from the garden. Smellerbee had Katara captive!

"I'm sorry for this, I really am." Smellerbee whispered to Zuko. He blinked a few times and felt ropes around his hands, ankles neck and down his back. He looked down to the garden to see himself looking up. Horror filled his eyes as the Fire Lord saw Katara-but Zuko-as a captive and unable to do anything about it. "The cure," Smellerbee tucked something into the folds of his underwear. "This is all I can do for you for now. It won't work completely but it'll help to dull the pain or even give him a silent death." Her voice was hardly audible, Zuko's eyes widened and he looked over to the girl. Her eyes were watering.

He felt his body lurch and the ground drew closer to him.

Zuko stood up involuntarily. The moonlight shone high in the sky and a koi jumped out of the water. The splash from the fish landing in the water woke Zuko from a trance. His eyes darted around frantically. "What's going on?" His arm rose in the air, the hooked sword in his grip.

"You know damn well what's going on!" Katara's angry voice shot to him. "I thought you were dead, Jet. All this time. I bet you've killed thousands by now!" She sounded hurt and she was crying. Zuko's eyes looked up to her. A dagger in her hand, dripping with blood, Katara approached him. Zuko tried to back away but his body didn't respond. "You are the worst kind of person there is, Jet!" Her words were like ice.

'But I'm not Jet!' Zuko's mind shouted out. He failed in getting the words to form on his lips. He suddenly doubled over in pain. Katara had plunged the dagger into his stomach. "Ka..Katara.. Please.." She turned around and began to walk around. "Katara. I'm .. I'm not Jet! It's me, Zuko. Don't you recognize me?" His voice faltered and she stopped. Wheeling around, her hand rose from down at her side to in front of her face. Zuko's body froze instantly.

Rage and hate seeped from Katara's body, her eyes burning into Zuko's. Unstoppable tears streamed her face. "How dare you! After you attack him, had me captive, you try to kill him and now you're trying to tell me that YOU are Zuko?" Her fingers curled and she twisted her wrist to the side a little. Zuko's hand grabbed the hilt of the dagger and pulled it out at an angle. He screamed loudly into the air. "Zuko is the only one to really understand what's going on with my life right now. So many things are going wrong right now and you-of all people-are trying to take him away from me." Zuko's eyes widened as her fingers spread, his body now hitting the ground, legs in front of him and arms supporting from behind.

Zuko looked up fearfully into his fathers' blood lust driven eyes. He took a final step foreword, his arms shifting in the step. His eyes widened as he watched a fire ball ignite at the end of the fist pointed at him. 'Block it!' Zuko screamed to himself. He stood in horror in the crowd behind the walls gazing upon the Agni Kai. 'Do it, now! Hurry!'

It was too late. Zuko's anguished cry and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. Ozai stood above his son a moment. He slowly turned around, "You are now banished. Get out of my city." He announced for the patrons to hear above Zuko's cries. A few of them gasped. Ozai was banishing his son! Taking his time to leave the ring, Ozai's mouth curled in delight as he listened to Zuko's wails of agony.