Under the Cherry Blossom ↠ Zuko x OC ✔️

04 | The Day of Black Sun

Prince Zuko runs through the underground, secret bunker. He plans to confront his father, then release Uncle Iroh and Arlington from prison. He stops in front of a small, metal door. Zuko deeply inhales.

"I'm ready to face you."

Zuko opens the door and is immediately confronted with elite guards protecting his father. Fire Lord Ozai is just about to take a sip from a steaming cup of tea when he notices his son.

"Prince Zuko, what are you doing here?" Ozai asks.
"I'm here to tell the truth."
"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting." The Fire Lord waves his hand and his guards leave through doors on both sides of the chamber.

"First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me."
"Why would she lie to me about that?" Ozai asks. 
"Because the Avatar is not dead. He survived." Prince Zuko explains. 

Fire Lord Ozai suddenly become alarmed. "What?!"
"In fact, he probably is leading this invasion. He could be on us right now."
Ozai stands up and threatens his son. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you."

"That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore." Surprisingly, Zuko remains calm. 
"You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!" Prince Zuko's father is seething with rage now. Ozai begins to walk towards Zuko, until the Prince unsheathes his broadswords and points them at the Fire Lord.
"Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen." Zuko commands. Fire Lord Ozai sits back down.

"For so long, all I wanted was you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me; a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?" Prince Zuko keeps his eyes locked on Ozai. He continues to point his swords at him.
"It was to teach you respect." The Fire Lord hisses.
"It was cruel! And it was wrong."

"Then you have learned nothing." Ozai counters.
"No, I've learned everything! And I had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

Fire Lord Ozai loudly laughs. "Your Uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"
"Yes. He has." Zuko smiles.
Ozai can only frown in disapproval.

"After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh and Arlington from prison and I'm going to beg for their forgiveness. Uncle is the one who has been a real father to me. And Arlington, she loved and supported me more than you ever have. She's been there for me when no one else was. She stood by my side through thick and thin."
Fire Lord Ozai laughs. "That's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure." He sarcastically says.
"And that pathetic, worthless airbender. She never loved you. No one would ever love you!" Ozai continues.

"But I've come to an even more important decision. I'm going to join the Avatar. And I'm going to help him defeat you." Prince Zuko states.
"Really? Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, you've got your swords, why don't you just do it now?" Ozai has a sly grin on his face. He's trying to play Zuko.
"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny. Goodbye." Zuko sheathes his swords and begins to walk away.

"Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me but you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the Sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your Mother?" Fire Lord Ozai smirks, knowing what he said will trigger Zuko.

Zuko stops in front of the doors and turns around.
"What happened that night?" He asks.
"My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son. And I was going to do it. Your Mother had found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared. Your Mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished." Ozai explains.

A single tear rolls down Prince Zuko's cheek. "So she's alive." His voice cracks.
"Perhaps. Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."

Fire Lord Ozai steps forward and swings his arms out, creating two arcs of electricity from the tips of his fingers. He thrusts his fingers forward and fires an incredible bolt of lightning at Zuko. To Ozai's surprise, Zuko catches the lightning with the tips of his fingers. Zuko slides backward from the force of the attack, the lightning surrounding his body and making his hair stand. He pulls his arms in as the electricity runs through his body, then thrusts his other hand forward, redirecting the lightning in Ozai's direction. This creates and explosion which knocks the Fire Lord against the wall. When he focuses on regaining his balance, Zuko flees the room to find Uncle and Arlington.

↠ ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠

The Fire Nation prison is in shambles. Bits of stone are scattered about the place and prison guards are knocked unconscious. Prince Zuko runs through the chaos to his Uncle's cell.

"Uncle!" He shouts.

Zuko looks at Uncle Iroh's destroyed cell. There is a huge hole in the cage and the surrounding bars are bents outward. A guard is lying on the ground, dazed. Zuko lifts him by his shirt collar and slams him against the wall.

"Where is my Uncle?" Prince Zuko growls.
"He's gone. He busted himself out. I... I've never seen anything like it! He was like a one man army!" The guard says.
"Where are you keeping the airbender?" Zuko's grip on the guard tightens.
"On the top floor. It's the only cell on that level!" The guard cringes away from the Prince.

Zuko drops the prison guard to the ground and sprints up several flights of stairs. His heart is pounding. 'What if I'm too late?' At the top of the stair case, there's a small hook with keys hanging off of it. Zuko snatches them and runs down the hallway.

He stops in front of Arlington's cell door. Zuko is terrified to see what's on the other side. Terrified to see what they've done to Arlington. His hand shakes as he unlocks the door.

What Prince Zuko sees breaks his heart. There, passed out on the ground, is Arlington. She's covered in bloodstained bandages. Her clothes are torn and covered in dried blood. 'She looks so weak. What have I done?' Small pools of blood surround Arlington's skeletal body.

Zuko drops to his knees and cries. Carefully, he takes Arlington into his arms.
"I'm so, so sorry." Zuko's voice cracks as he cries harder. He pulls Arlington closer and stokes her hair.
"My beautiful, Arlington. I'm here. I'll never leave you again." Zuko softly kisses her forehead.

Prince Zuko spends several minutes just holding Arlington in his arms before picking her up bridal-style and carrying her out of the prison. He constantly checks to make sure she's not in any pain.

Zuko carefully slides down the mountain the prison is on. He gently places Arlington on the ground while he sets up the Fire Nation war balloon. Once the balloon is ready, Zuko picks up Arlington and gets situated for take off. He lies Arlington down and uses his blanket to make a pillow for her.

The balloon floats up into the sky. Zuko holds on to the ropes and stares at Appa, who's in front of him. The Prince plans to catch up to the Avatar and join him.