Fire and Aether

Chapter 49: Harmony Restoration (Part 1)

    The fight began immediately, firebenders and earthbenders both attacking without direction. Zuko stood away from the battle, Rose beside him. Aang arrived moments later and stood beside them to talk.
   "One moment, I know, deep in my heart, that I must defend my people." Zuko confided. "But then the next, doubt creeps in. Maybe I'm supposed to follow through with the harmony restoration movement." He could still hear his father's voice in his head. "Rose, Aang, how am I supposed to figure out what's right when his voice is all I hear?!" He turned to Rose, his eyes filled with sadness. "You could have silenced him forever...perhaps then I could have found peace. But you didn't and now I can't!"
    "I'm so sorry, Zuko. I thought...well I don't know what I thought." she sighed.
    In her head, she could hear Roku's voice telling her to turn against her love. Aang heard his own voice reminding him of the promise he made.
    "I don't think I'll ever stop feeling lost."
    He got on his knees then and begged Aang to fulfill his promise. As Aang prepared to do so, he heard Rose's scream then saw his mother. Their eyes filled with tears. Zuko screamed.
    Then Zuko woke up next to Rose, panting and soaked in sweat. She stirred in her sleep and gazed up at him with every color in existence swirling in her eyes. "Zuko? What time is it?"
    "It's late. Go back to bed." he commanded in a low tone.
    "Why?? So you can just run back to your father? I need you to trust me."
    "I do." he said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against his chest. "I just...don't trust myself."
    "Well I do." Her voice was quiet but carried across the room. "I love you and I trust you. Now, let me help you fall back asleep."
    They fell into each other's arms.
                         * * * * *
    Aang and Katara rode into the city, begging the people to leave, only to be attacked. That was when a familiar girl appeared. "We're not going anywhere! My name is Kori Morishita! And we are the Yu Dao Resistance!"
    Kori and her boyfriend, Sneers, explained their stories. Sneers hated the Fire Nation for what happened to his parents but, when he moved here to live with his uncle, he fell for Kori. Aang congratulated them and Sneers continued, explaining that Yu Dao was not Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom. 
   "You mean because Yu Dao is both." Kori corrected. "And let Smellerbee do her worst."
    "Smellerbee isn't the only problem." Aang explained. "Earth King Kuei is coming with his entire army. You can't hope to fight him alone."
    "Well, maybe not. But if the Avatar were to help...where is she?"
    "We don't know but..."
    "But it doesn't matter." Aang answered. "General How could be on his way any moment. We have to separate the nations and restore balance."
    With that, he stormed out the door.
                         * * * * *
    Zuko sat alone, contemplating what to do, his thoughts all over the place. As he sat, he was vaguely aware of Rose walking in. She was silent as she took her place next to him.
    "Tell me what troubles you." she pleaded.
    "I know what I'm doing. The Fire Nation citizens of Yu Dao are my people. As the Fire Lord, I have a duty to protect them." he explained. "But it goes beyond that. When the mayor's wife invited me to stay with them, I didn't just get to see what Yu Dao was like. I got to see what their family was like. They ate together, sitting at the same table. They talked and laughed. And when they argued, they didn't challenge each other to Agni Kais. They're so normal."
   "And it's hard to see it when your home life was so different, wasn't it?" Rose asked, softly.
   "Yes. You, of all people, know how bad my family is. In my heart, I know what I'm doing is right. I'm not defending a colony, I'm defending people. And I'm defending their bonds with one another."
    "I understand. I don't think you're wrong, my love."
    "But there is one fact that makes me doubt myself. Leading an army to Yu Dao is exactly what my father would do if he returned to the throne. From the outside, it looks as if I'm acting just like him. Does it matter if my reasons are different?"
    Rose placed a hand on his shoulder. "It matters more than you know."
    Zuko looked up with the tears in his eyes. His eyes moved to the portrait of Iroh. "I wish I had his guidance." he confessed.
    "Why not go to him and tell him?" 
    "Because I can't bother him. All he wanted was a quiet life. I can't take that from him."
    Rose smiled. "He'd be so proud of you." Zuko opened his mouth to argue but she stopped him. "I know he would. Because I'm proud of you too."
    "I need you." Zuko begged. "I'll always need you."
    "I'm here." Rose said with a smile. "I'll always be here."
    As they leaned in, one of his soldiers entered the room. "Fire Lord, milady, we've landed in the Earth Kingdom."
    Zuko sighed. Placing on his helmet, he turned to Rose who started to braid her hair back. Together, they left the room.
                            * * * * *
    Aang sat on the roof of a house, his thoughts swirling about in his head. Katara sat next to him and he spoke. "I think I know why the nations have to be separate. Because when two nations exist together, the stronger nation can't help but hurt the weaker one or use them."
    "What does Rose say?"
    "She said that separation is an illusion. The five nations are not separate at all. That they are all one and the same." His expression turned to one of fury. "But I don't want them to be the same, Katara! They're all so different and everyone's cultures, customs, holidays, buildings, beliefs, food, clothing--everything that makes them different must be preserved. They can't survive in a world where the nations invade each other, corrupt each other. I have to see the Harmony Restoration Movement through to the end."
    "Even if it means fulfilling your promise to Zuko and hurting Rose?" 
    Aang grew quiet then, thinking.
                           * * * * *
    Sokka sat outside of the Beifong Metalbending Academy, complaining about his sister's relationship with his best friend, Toph only half listening. That's when Suki appeared and the pair ran into one another's arms and kissed. 
    "Oogie!" Toph yelled.
    Suki explained to the pair that she had been working for Zuko. She then brought up the fight between Zuko and Earth King Kuei. "I've been sent to retrieve you both. Rose's family is on the way as well."
   The group got on her hot air balloon and soared into the sky.
                           * * * * *
   By the time Aang and Katara arrived in Yu Dao, Smellerbee and her crowd of protestors were bursting through the wall. They were greeted by Sneers and Kori who held their own against them. Smellerbee rounded on Sneers and confronted him on his decision. That's when they explained their reasoning.
    "This is what I was talking about." Katara said. "Maybe we can make things better here without kicking out the Fire Nation people out."
   Someone earthbended and a fight broke out. 
   "This isn't what I wanted!" Aang shouted. "I want them to leave, same as you, but I want them to leave peacefully."
   Smellerbee looked up and gasped. "I don't think that's an option anymore, Aang."
   They noticed a large army marching towards them. The army stopped and the general opened a scroll. "Attention! Attention! By official decree of Earth King Kuei, the Earth Kingdom reclaims the former Fire Nation colony of Yu Dao! Fire Nation colonials who remain in the city are hereby declared criminals and shall be arrested on sight! The Harmony Restoration Movement shall be completed on this day, with or without colonial cooperation!"
    "This is it, Aang. You're either with us or against us."
    Suddenly, the group turned to see another problem: Zuko and his army had arrived. This fight was going to happen and they could do nothing to stop it.