𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 | zuko

25: BATTLING

Jin -

This is going to be short.  Fire Lord Zuko had spies in the Earth Kingdom.  He's learned that Earth King Kuei is sending his armies to Yu Dao to extract the Fire Nation colonists forcefully.   So he's decided to take his troops to Yu Dao and fight the Earth armies off to keep the colony.  

I'm bringing the group to the battlefield, but I didn't want to just invade on you, so I'm sending you this letter.  Come to the city reaches of Yu Dao as quick as you can if you do decide to help.  I don't know how long the battle is going to last.  But I know it's going to come.

Suki 

It arrived at my hotel room with three days left in the week.  That meant Suki wrote it the night I left.  

I had to go.  I knew I did.  But Suki said she didn't know how much time she had.  Was the fighting going on now?  What was happening?  Sending a letter back would take much too long and of course, there was the wait for a reply.  

I was worried.  So I decided to go.  I had days left before I had to go home, so I used that time.  I quickly took whatever I might need, and changed into clothes easy to move in.  Really, I only took my staff with me.  I hoped I wouldn't be gone for long.

I took the fastest train to the outskirts of Yu Dao and went quickly from there.  I could hear the battle going on in the city.  It was loud.  There were people my age fighting each other -- protesters fighting the Yu Dao revolutionaries, and Fire Nation Soldiers fighting Earth Kingdom ones.  

General How of the Earth Kingdom now stood face to face with Zuko.  I watched from afar as they yelled at each other, fighting.

"General How! Withdraw your troops immediately!" yelled Zuko, shooting a fist of fire toward him.

"With all due respect, Fire Lord Zuko, you stand on Earth Kingdom soil!  Here, your words have no authority!" bellowed the general, deflecting Zuko's blasts.

Suddenly, a beam of light came from a dome of rocks in the mountains, and Aang rose from it in the Avatar state, making the wind blow all around him.  All eyes were on him.

He descended upon Zuko.

"Aang, I know how this looks, but I swear to you, in my heart...!" He stopped and sighed, taking off his helmet.  "None of that matters, does it?" he said loudly, to both himself and Aang. "I'm doing exactly what my father would have done."

The land started to split with a loud rumble. Aang was doing it from above to separate to the two sides, but under Zuko's foot, rock crumbled, and he slipped.

"Zuko!"

But he was already falling.  Aang, still in the Avatar state, dove down in the newly made canyon.  He grabbed his arm and flew back up with him, Zuko looked surprised that he would have saved him.  

Above, Katara created an ice airway and came toward the side of the land with the gates of Yu Dao.  Aang landed with Zuko, who fell over.  

Aang ran to Katara, and they hugged, then turned to face the Earth king.  I stood amongst the group behind them that stood in front of the entrance to Yu Dao.  

"Earth King Kuei, look at who you're fighting!" announced Aang to him.  He gestured to the crowd.  "Fire Nation, yes -- but also Earth Kingdom -- Water Tribe -- and now, Air Nomad."

Aang took another step forward.  "This is who stands against your army."

"And against the Fire Nation army, too!" said one of the boys from the resistance. 

"It took me a while, but I finally understand," continued Aang. "You're not just fighting a colony.  You're fighting a whole new kind of world."

The Earth King looked at Aang thoughtfully, as the protesters yelled from the other side of the rift.  

"Don't listen to that ash-maker propaganda, Earth King Kuei!"  said one of the protesters.  "Harmony now!"

The other protesters echoed those last words as the Earth King put his hand up for quiet.

"Quiet!  Quiet! I need to see what I... what I..."

He turned to look at our diverse group that stood in front of the entrance to Yu Dao.

"I just need to see."

Aang turned to look at Zuko, who had been standing, but was now leaning over, hands on his knees.

"Zuko...?" said Aang and I.  

"... so I was right, then...?" he mumbled.  "... all along... my decision... was right..?"  

He was breathing heavily, and he wasn't balanced.  He fell over.

"Zuko!" I yelled, along with Aang, rushing toward him as he fell onto the ground.

一 ꩜ 🌊 🌏 🔥 一

"Jin," called a voice outside the door of my hotel room, a place closer to the Jasmine Dragon than the Elephant Koi Escape, though it is smaller.  It was Aang's voice.

"Zuko's awake," he said.

I got up quickly off the bed and opened the door.  It had been four days since Zuko had fainted.  I told my parents and Kyra I was staying for a couple of days longer because Zuko wasn't feeling well.

Well, it wasn't a lie.

"Really?" I said to the Avatar, who was standing there, smiling.

He nodded. "He's in the Jasmine Dragon with Iroh," Aang said.

"Thank you," I said, quickly bowing then passing him and running down the stairs,  down some streets to the teashop.  It was evening, and pretty dark out.  The dark blue sky had no clouds.

"Zuko?" I said, opening the door.  The shop was closed, but the lights were on, and there was someone sitting at one of the tables, dressed in light green.  He stood up.

"Jin," he said.  He stood in the same spot, but I walked toward him.  

He smiled.

"Jin, I'm so s --"

I cut him off there, kissing him for at least five seconds.

"You don't have to be sorry."

"No, I do," he said, his hands in mine, both by our side.  "I should never have kept things from you.  I don't know why I didn't ask you for help."

"You have so many people who care for you, Zuko.  Who love you.  I love you, Zuko."

"I love you, too, Jin."