Tale Of Two Avatars

Sozin's Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King

The next day, Aang and I practice firebending with Zuko in Ozai's courtyard while the rest of the group watched on behind us. We were at it for quite some time already and both of us were beginning to tire out. 

"More ferocious! Imagine striking through both your opponents' hearts!" Zuko ordered. 

"I'm trying," Aang complained, turning back to Zuko in irritation.

I imagine Ozai standing in front of me, unleashing a loud cry of rage and shooting powerful fire punches and fire blasts with all my might and energy as a result of my anger. 

"Good," Zuko nodded in approval. 

"All I had to do was imagine your father," I shrugged. "No offence, but I hate that man with a burning passion."

"Was that meant to be a joke?" Sokka called out from behind, chuckling slightly. "Because that was a good one."

"No, it wasn't Sokka. I was just stating how I felt," I informed. I hear Akemi's words ringing in my ears again, but frankly, it was so hard to release the hate I felt for that man, especially considering all his misdeeds.

"Oh," Sokka sighed. "I expected that from you."

"It's a good thing that you hate him," Zuko nodded. "it means you'll be ready to face him when the time comes. I can't say the same about Aang."

"I am ready, I just...have a different way of handling this. Besides, hate isn't a good thing, Suzume," Aang reminded. "We've talked about this before and you need to let go of that hate, or else you won't achieve balance within yourself."

"I guess I just feel really mad at him, maybe hate is a strong word, but I just feel extremely mad at him for everything he's done," I amended. "It's okay to be mad at someone, Aang, especially after they've done many unacceptable things. You can't always treat everyone nicely, you can give them chances to redeem themselves but if they constantly don't take that chance, we just have to deal with them fairly. Take Zuko for example, he learnt his lesson, saw the light and changed for the good. People like him deserved to be forgiven but people like Ozai, who I'm sure has had many opportunities to change for good but refused to do so have to be punished fairly. And punishment does not necessarily mean that we have to kill him. We can't always smother people with kindness all the time, nor can we smother them with anger or hate, and that's why we must find a balance within ourselves."

"I know, Suzume," Aang groaned. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't get too caught up in your feelings of anger or else you might do something you regret again."

"I understand." I nod in understanding. "I won't, besides, you'll be there with me, Aang. You'll keep me in check, I trust you."

"So you won't kill my father?" Zuko glared at me. "After everything he has done? We can't let him live any longer otherwise more innocent people will die!"

"It's complicated Zuko," I sighed. "I've never killed someone before and neither has Aang and I bet you've never either. Look, it's going to take some time for both Aang and me to come to a decision on this and until then, we'll just keep practising and doing what we can to defeat Ozai."

I spy Aang giving me a nod of approval beside me and Zuko grumbles. "Fine. Let's continue with the lesson! Now, both of you roar like a tigerdillo!"

I unleash all my anger at the Fire Nation, roaring loudly and channelling my anger into the blasts of fire that came out of my mouth and hands, making them large and powerful. Meanwhile, Aang roars lightly, only small blasts of fire coming out from his mouth and hands.

"Good, Suzume," Zuko complimented and directing his attention to Aang, he scowls at him. "Aang, that sounded pathetic! I said roar!"

Aang roars a lot louder this time, three large bursts of fire coming out of his mouth and hands. Zuko nods in approval and I give him a thumbs-up, smiling and praising him. "Good job, Aang!"