CHAPTER 9: THE IMAGINED WAR

Zuko stood alone infront Team Avatar and the Kyoshi Warriors. He contemplated on a course of action, an explanation that could upturn their lack of trust towards him. All he knew was truth was not the way to go. A reincarnated soul from another world and brought by mysterious spirits might be a bit too over the top. Perhaps just a part of the truth would suffice their worried minds.

“Aang and Sokka, can I talk to you guys in private?” He asked. Trying not to show any reason for them to doubt him at the moment. This was the best choice of action. There were too many unknown variables for him to reveal even some part truths.

“No! I want you to live this place and never follow us!” Aang defied whole heartedly. For some reason he whole heartedly did not trust this man. Not because of any alterior motives he sensed but he felt threatened by him.

“I agree with Aang,” Sokka added. “We will never trust you and we don't want anything to do with the Fire Nation!” Sokka was by far the most distrustful of the bunch. Every instinct of his told him to be skeptical and he happily obliged.

Hearing their flat out refusals, Zuko stood silently taken aback for a moment. Perhaps he was being too nice here, different from the personality he used at the South Pole. Maybe they needed a bit more force to hear him out. That could be easily arranged given his abilities in this body. Although he still felt sore in places and fatigued in others. He was still well enough to show them some devastating Firebending.

“Let me show you something that will convince you to give me a chance!” He warned and threw away his cloak to reveal his Fire Nation uniform. Instinctively everyone took steps back to avoid the incoming attack they all sensed coming.

Zuko closed his eyes and held up hands to his chest like he was praying. Suddenly the air started to heat up faster then the rising sun. It got so hot that it started to feel like a furnace. Even standing 5 meters away everyone could still feel it. Eventually the heat got so strong they had to move back even more, 10 meters. Zuko suddenly opened his eyes which shot up the temperature even more. First he extended out his right hand to the side. While his other hand remained by his chest. He followed suit by extending out the left hand to stand open. His arms stood wide open. Suddenly the air surrounding him sparked into stream like whips of fire. The fire started to gather up over his head and twirled like snakes into a ball of fire.

The ball started to gather more fire and started expanding as it rose higher. Until eventually it got so large it created a shadow over half the village. The massive ball with a diameter of 10 meters stood hovering above the village. Heating up the surroundings so much that some planks started to burn from the sheer intensity of the heat. The ball looked like a sun created on earth.

This was an attack Zuko created after his time training with his uncle. First he gathered immense amounts of Ki and used it to heat up the surrounding air. Once hot enough he used another massive amount of Ki to create fire in the heated air. Using his bending he gathered the fire into a massive ball. The sheer heat of the ball created more fire in the surrounding areas which in turn added to the ball which in turn created more fire. The attack was created for large scale targets. It’s downsides owed to its destructive potential. For starters it used a tremendous amount of Ki and taxes heavily on the stamina of the body. Zuko only thought of it after noticing he had more Ki then Zuko ever did. Just maintaining the ball was incredibly difficult. The most disadvantage was the amount of time it took to get the ball to become so powerful. If Zuko stopped using Ki the ball would start to burn using more oxygen which would lead to him and everyone passing out.

With everyone fearing for the worse. The mini sun that suddenly arose in the village suddenly dispersed almost as quickly as it appeared. The dispersing flames seemed to fly away while avoiding the village and the island entirely. Within a few seconds the village cooled and everything returned to how they were. Except ofcourse for a few buildings that caught fire and were now smoking. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the danger appeared to pass, but the man responsible still stood infront of them. Zuko stood with a smirk while looking at the panic ridden faces of Aang and Sokka.

“If I wanted to not even the Avatar could survive that attack. I trust you now believe I am not after your lives.” He declared honestly.

Aang and Sokka exchanged a look as if to confirm what the other was thinking. Suddenly they had no other choice but to hear him out. They nodded to confirm their defeat.

“Fine, let’s talk Prince Zuko.” Sokka answered. There was not even a sign of anyone objecting. They knew Sokka had no real choice in the matter.

“Follow me to the dojo,” Suki suddenly said. “You can talk privately without anyone bothering you there!” She added.

“Thank you,” Sokka thanked her. The villagers nervously stood back and watched Suki lead them towards the dojo. The dojo was located toward the northern end of the village and isolated away from the rest of the village. The nearest buildings were the quarters of the Kyoshi Warriors.

Sokka walked at the front with Suki. Aang walked slightly behind them. Listening to their worried and scared expressions amidst the dire situation. Zuko walked a little behind him while Katara walked away from him. Zuko was caught up in his mind of what to tell them to believe him. He really needed their help to enter the Fire Nation but he also couldn't tell them the full truth. It only convinced him more that a half truth was the best way to go. As his thoughts returned he noticed the presence of Katara behind him. She seemed to be walking slowly on purpose to avoid getting too close. Zuko didn't care though. This was his chance to get know her.

He immediately halted his movement and waited for her to catch up. As expected she too halted. Zuko turned to her and looked straight at her.

“What’s your name?” He calmly asked with an indifferent tone. Katara almost panicked at his simple question. She held her nervousness and stood calm to answer.

“Katara.” She answered.

“You're the girl from the South Pole?” Zuko continued. Although he knew all that there was no way he knew about her without her introducing herself. Aang and Sokka did introduce themselves but she was standing at the back with the rest of the villagers.

“Yes, I was born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe.” Katara answered with a similar indifferent tone.

“That necklace? Does that mean that Sokka is your betrothed?” Zuko held back the laugh at the ridiculous question.

“Ew, gross! No, he's my brother!” She quickly corrected his thinking.

“So who's the lucky guy to be your betrothed?” Zuko added, intently looking at the necklace. Eventually she had to reach for the necklace with a saddened look.

“Why are you asking about betrothed? This necklace belonged to my grandmother, it doesn't mean that I'm engaged.” Her answer went exactly as he wanted.

“My apologies,” he began. “In the northern water tribe the necklace you are wearing is a sign of engagement of a young maiden. The necklace is forged by her betrothed for her. I assumed it was the same in the Southern Water Tribe but I think it might be that your grandmother originally came from the north.”

Both Katara and Sokka stood stunned by the sudden revelation. Aang was not that surpised given that it was a common thing in his time. Suki was not invested enough to show much of a reaction.

“So she came from the north? Funny she never mentioned it!” Sokka said.

“I always assumed it was a family heirloom passed down in our family,” Katara added.

After the moment passed the group continued towards the dojo. Within a few minutes they arrived in the dojo. The few trainees still in the dojo were asked to live to the quarters or to the village. Some senior members along with Suki stood surrounding the dojo and training area incase of a disturbance.

In the dojo itself sat Katara, Aang and Sokka on one side. Zuko sat alone facing them. The air of the room felt stuffy and hot. It wasn't the doing of Zuko but the morning sun heating up as midday started to approach.

“So here's the thing,” Zuko began almost immediately. “A few days ago I was in a very difficult battle with a powerful firebending master. Unfortunately I was defeated but in my defeat I had a vision. In my vision I saw a bloody war against an unknown group of assailants. This was not a war like now with humans but there were some powerful spirits behind the scenes. I don't know how but all I saw was a blood bath. I needed to find out more so I asked my uncle of a way to contact the spirits and he told me about the duties of the Avatar as the bridge between the spirit and physical worlds. He told me about the home place of Avatar Roku, my great-grandfather. If I go there on the Winter Solstice with you then I can apparently talk with Avatar Roku and learn more of this upcoming war.”

With his piece said, Zuko stood back and allowed the trio to process what he just said. He expected Sokka to follow but Aang and Katara might be a bit slow.

“Avatar Roku, you mean the Avatar before Aang was your grandfather?” Sokka made sure he heard correctly.

“Avatar Roku was my mother's grandfather and Fire Lord Sozin was my father's grandfather. Which would make them my great-grandfathers.” Zuko corrected.

“Damn, what a family you have!” Sokka commented.

“So you don't actually want me to go into the Fire Nation but just an island in the Fire Nation?” Aang asked.

“Correct, there is a blockade of fire nation ships and I cannot return without the capture of the Avatar!” Zuko confirmed.

“Hence your need for Aang.” Sokka added.

“I still don't understand why you cannot return to your own nation without the Avatar?” Katara asked the one question they were all thinking.

Zuko took a defeated long exaggerated sigh and recalled the events that lead to his banishment. The gruesome details of his duel with his father trickered a feeling of sympathy from the group.

“From your own father?” Katara rhetored as her tearful eyes looked at the burn marks on his left eye.

“So this war you mentioned, who starts it?” Aang got straight to the point.

“I don't know,” Zuko answered. “All I know is that it threatened everyone, including the Fire Nation. My uncle is an enlightened person who knows of the spirits so he believed me but... my father is not the same. A war is coming that will engulf the whole world, not just disciminate a single nation.” Zuko almost believed his own lies. The ironic thing was, everything he said was true, he just didn't know it at the time. No one could have predicted the things that would come to pass.

The reason he wanted to meet Roku was simple. In the original series, Roku foretold of the impending doom of the comet that would lead to victory for the Fire Nation. Perhaps he would be aware of what was happening in the spirit world with Vumala. All Zuko needed was to capture the Avatar and get through the blockade. If he forced the Avatar they would fight and he wasn't confident of defeating Aang without killing him. Vumala was very specific with his words. ‘The Avatar must survive’. Those words rung in his mind everytime he looked at the naive boy infront of him.

“So what exactly is your plan for this?” Aang asked of Zuko. His tone suggested he was ready to trust Zuko. ‘How naive?’ Zuko thought.