𝙄𝙉 𝙀𝙓𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀 ⤁ prince zuko

thirty four | the assasin

Sitting around a steaming pot with the others, Mari sipped soup out of a bowl.

"Has anyone seen Toph? She's been gone since last night." Katara said worried

On cue, rock crumbled in one of the walls and Toph came crawling through like a badger mole.

"Toph! What happened?" Mari said getting up.

"My feet got burned!"

"Oh no, what happened?" Katara said running to help her sit up.

"I just told you, my feet got burned." She repeated, annoyed.

"She meant how, Toph." Mari shook her head.

"Well, I kinda went to see Zuko last night."

"You what?" Aang and Mari said at the same time.

"Zuko?" Katara gasped.

Sokka made a frantic noise and brought his hands to his head.

"I just thought he could be helpful to us. And if I talked to him maybe we could work something out."

"Well he did, and he didn't. It was sort of an accident." Toph said

"But he did firebend at you?" Mari asked.

Toph sighed. "Yes, he did."

"See you trusted Zuko, and got burned..literally." Sokka pointed out.

"Mari told us already we couldn't trust him." Katara agreed.

"Come on, she only said that becuase he broke up with her." Toph said

Mari's mouth dropped. "He didn't break up wi- We never- Ugh! Toph it doesn't even matter. You can't trust him."

"It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I couldv'e worked on them sooner." Katara said waterbending around the burns

"Yeah, me too."

"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him." Sokka suggested

" I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph. I don't think we have a choice.

"He's crafty but we'll find a way to capture him."

"Maybe just invite him back here, he's already offered himself as a prisoner once." Toph said as Aang and Sokka lifted her up and placed her feet into the fountain.

"Now I know how the rest of you feel, not being able to see with your feet stinks." Toph huffed


"Stop!" Shouted an all to familiar voice, followed by an explosion.

"I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore." Zuko shouted to the man with the eye tattoo, Combustion Man. They were standing on a cliff, facing the temple.

"The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop." He shouted, holding his arms out to block the tall man.

The assassin only shoved him away and continued to attack.

"If you keep attacking. I won't pay you!" The five heard Zuko shout. "Alright! I'll pay you double to stop!"

The assassin turned to Zuko, shooting a blast towards him, sending the prince flying off of the cliff. Mari lunged forward and sent a sland of earth flying towards Zuko. It connected to the cliff next to him and stopped him from falling.

Mari gasped in relief but was pulled back by Aang when another explosion blast was shot right for her.

Aang then sent a mini tornado flying towards him, which he quickly jumped over.

The five hid behind a wall while he continued to blow things up, looking for them.

"He's gonna blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph exclaimed.

"I can't step out to waterbend without getting blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here." Katara exclaimed.

"I know how to get an angle on him!" Sokka said, drawing his boomerang. "All right buddy, don't fail me now!"

The boomerang flew forward, hitting the man right in the third eye tattoo, knocking him to the ground.

"Yeah boomerang!" Sokka shouted, running out from his hiding spot. His face fell when the man got up again. "Awe boomerang." Sokka said sadly.

The man took another breath before shooting another blast, only this time it failed and blew up in his face.

---

After, Zuko walked towards the group cautiously.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but. Thank's Zuko." Aang said.

"Hey what about me? I did the boomerang thing." Sokka said, earning a harsh nudge from Katara.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday, I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world" He turned to Toph. " It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending, so I don't hurt people unintentionally."

Aang looked at Zuko, shocked. "I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me."

"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."

"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?" Aang asked."

"Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."

Aang turned to Sokka. "Sokka?"

"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it."

"Katara?"

Katara glared at Zuko. "I'll go along with whatever you think is right."

"And.. Mari?" Aang said, cautiously, turning to the girl.

Mari stared into the prince's eyes, anger forming in her stomach. She was quiet for a moment before looking away. "Whatever." She said dismissing herself from the group.

Aang shrugged and turned back to Zuko.

Zuko grinned slightly . "I won't let you down! I promise!" He exclaimed.

The rest just walked away, leaving him there.