Chosen by the Spirits | A male reader x Avatar the Last Airbender story

Chapter 36- Imprisonment

I woke up with a start, my eyes shooting open suddenly. I was staring at a wall and laying against a cold, hard metal floor. The floor was rumbling slightly, and I felt the impression that I was moving. I was in some room, made of metal, that was dark and rather cold. My clothes were uncomfortably damp and the half of my face which had been laid against the floor was rather cold. But this did little to worsen my mood; I had just received some amazing news.

"Aang is alive," I muttered to myself in amazement. Maybe the world wasn't screwed after all.

"Indeed. I have felt it, too," A voice said from behind me. But it wasn't a voice that alarmed me. It was Uncle Iroh. I moved up into a seated position so I could turn to face him. Every surface of wherever the hell we were appeared to be made out of the same cold, black metal. It was only once I had sat up that I realised that two thick black wrist-restraints were placed over me. These were different to regular handcuffs; while a chain still connected the two restraints, I could tell that the freezing water vapour trick I used to escape from Zhao wasn't going to work. The side of both wrist-restraints had symbols that spelt out 'top security prisoner of the fire nation'. It was abundantly clear that I would not be waterbending while they were around me.

Through the dim lighting, I could see that Iroh wore similar restraints around his wrists. His grey hair was dishevelled and he looked... sad. Broken, almost, as if there was no more joy in his life. It was truly a depression sight to see such a kind person be so miserable.

"Where are we going?" I asked Iroh, and it surprised me how much fear was present in my voice as it cracked.

"A high security prison it seems. Probably in the fire nation capital," Iroh sighed, depressing me further. There was a silence between us for a moment before I broke it.

"Thank you for saving my life," I said genuinely to the wise man, though he gave me a confused look. "When I was unconscious. I know that Azula wanted me dead, but you convinced Zuko to spare me,"

"You don't need to thank me. It was the right thing to do," Iroh responded, and it made me feel at least slightly happier to see a weak smile appear on his face. "Besides, it was the least I could do. You saved my life by not releasing that huge wave,"

"That wasn't me, it was Tui and La," I clarified, and Iroh nodded slightly.

"Yes, the spirits are very powerful," he agreed. "I think it is very honourable that you choose to use their power for good,"

There was a brief silence for a moment as whatever vehicle we were trapped inside continued chugging along. I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep for, but I assumed that we were in the Fire Nation by now, if that truly was our destination. After a few minutes, Iroh spoke to me again.

"It is probably a good idea not to mention the Avatar's survival," he explained to me, and I nodded in understanding. It could be an advantage to Aang and the team for the fire nation to assume that the Avatar was dead. Then, Iroh's eyes glanced from me to the cold, metal floor of the vehicle. "I know that Prince Zuko has made a huge mistake, but believe me when I say that, deep down, he has good in him,"

"I know he does," I admitted with a sigh. When I had been trapped in the crystal cave with Zuko, I knew that there was the potential for him to redeem himself. Unfortunately, my little speech in the cave hadn't meant anything to him. I saw how upset Iroh was that his nephew had turned on him, so I did my best to comfort the kind old man. "If, for whatever reason, I talk to Zuko, I'll do my best to convince him," I said with a small smile, which Iroh weakly returned.

"You are a good person, (Y/N)," he told me kindly. "You have grown a lot since we first met in that forest,"

"I have?" I questioned as I recalled the conversations that we had shared that evening months ago. "I don't know... I remember that we talked about destinies. It's been months and I still don't know what my true destiny is," I confessed. I had always been told that my destiny was to protect the Northern Water Tribe, but that had been thrown out of the window ever since I was banished.