"Are you going to keep him locked up in our appartment? Should I make some tea for him?
AND THEN WHAT? You never think these things through. This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. YOU HAD HIM AND THEN YOU HAD NOWHERE TO GO!"
-Uncle Iroh to Zuko
🔥🔥🔥
I landed on the ground, skidding, pain searing through my burned skin like never before. I sat up, panting as an explosion ripped through the orange and red sky.
I got to my feet. Where was the Fire Lord? Looking around, all I saw was earth. Pillars of earth stacked up to the sky. I pressed my back against one of them. I tried to lift my necklace that had clattered to the ground, only to see my hand trembling with fright. I cursed under my breath. And then there was a loud boom!
The Fire Lord had landed just behind me. I tried to hold my breath so he wouldn't hear me.
"Oh, Avatar. Where are you?" His voice was menacing. I tried to keep my breathing under control. "I can hear you. Why are you hiding?"
On the count of three, I would jump in front of him. One, I thought. Please hurry, Aang. Two. I won't make it. Three. I leaped from behind the pillar, facing him.
His eyes widened with surprise. "You?"
"Me," I cracked a smile. I kicked my leg against the air, taking power from the Comet. Fire burst against him, but he barely moved an inch. A smirk sat on his face.
"You think you can defeat me? I knew I would crush that Avatar, but I'll throw you into nonexistence if you fight me. Where is he hiding?"
"Why," I said, feeling for the vapor in the dry air, "do you sound worried?" I slashed my hand through the air, but only a thin sliver of ice spiraled towards him. He broke through it. I needed to get near the ocean, and fast.
"Do you know who you are?" he asked, punching fire. There was so much, I barely managed to cut through it. The burn on my arm brought tears of pain to my eyes. Heat against burns didn't help. They made matters worse. But I laughed.
"Are we playing a game?" I asked, glancing at my feet. My shoes had cut marks into the ground. "My turn. Do you know who you are?"
"You count as my blood," he said with a smirk. "Why did you decide not to join me?"
"You're pathetic," I said, dodging another attack. I started to make a run for it, needing to get him close to the ocean. I ran faster, ducking this way in that. I looked up, and there he was, flying. The same way Azula did, using a boost of fire. I reached out towards the ocean, pulling it towards myself. A wave covered me, but I didn't get wet. And I pushed the wave towards him. Closing my fists, I froze it around him. He went crashing to the ground. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
I slowly back away, feeling relief as droplets of the cold water splashed against my burn.
And the ice shell exploded. Of course. What had I been expecting?
"You and Azula are almost sisters," Ozai pressed, kicking fire from his feet. My hair fell around my shoulders loosely, strands in my face as I rolled away from his attack.
"I am nothing like Azula," I snarled, water whips forming at my arms. I took a few steps back, slashing at him. He broke through it. I shot icicles at him, the tips of the water whips whizzing through the air as the cracked against earth, shattering.
"You are everything like Azula. Don't you see? Me and your father, we were the best of friends."
"And that's why he ran away from you?" I let out a humorlessly laugh, slashing through the air. He skid back as a powerful blow landed against his bare chest. "Stay back. He left because, even as your cousin he knew how evil you were."
