- Third POV -
Suddenly, the soldiers who are downstairs start climbing the ladders. With two mightly blasts, Aang depopulates the two scaling ladders nearest him as the masked guy knocks the one final soldier off his. Aang brings over his two scaling ladders and steps onto the one the masked guy has just emptied. He hands one ladder to the guy.
"Take this. Jump on my back!" Exclaims Aang. The masked guy gets on Aang's back while Mizuki gets on the masked guy's back. Aang begins to use the ladders as massive stilts, shedding one each time a step is taken. The first ladder shed still has some Fire Nation soldiers on it, but it falls into the dust.
"Give me the next one!" Shouts Aang. The masked guy hands him over the second ladder, Aang uses the ladder as a massive stilt. Aang, Mizuki, and the masked guy jump from the last stilt and just manage to grab the edge of the final wall. However, they're unable to hold on and fall to the ground. Aang uses airbending to soften their landing. The masked guy draws his swords as four firebenders unleash their flame on them. Before the masked guy can do anything, Aang stands in front of him and Mizuki and airbends the flames away.
"Hold your fire! The Avatar must be captured alive! You can kill the others!" Shouts Zhao. Upon hearing this, the masked guy instantly comes up behind Aang and crosses his swords in front of Aang's throat, much to his surprise.
"What are you doing?!" Whispers Mizuki furiously. The masked guy simply grabs Mizuki's wrists with one hand, and uses the other to hold the sword in front of Aang's throat. Zhao glares angrily at the masked guy.
"Open the gate" Says Zhao.
"Admiral, what are you doing?" Asks a soldier confused.
"Let them out, now!" Demands Zhao. The gate is opened and the masked guy backs out with his captives. Mizuki raises an eyebrow, is he trying to get us out of here? If that's the case, I might as well help him.
"How could you let them go?" Asks a soldier.
"A situation like this requires...precision" Replies Zhao. The masked guy continues backing away from the fortress, still holding a sword to Aang's throat. Zhao's standing on top of the balcony, looking down at the trio.
"Do you have a clear shot?" Asks Zhao. A Yuyan archer nods silently.
"Hey, mask guy. Zhao's going to shoot us. He's got trained archers. If you let go of my wrists I'll airbend the dust of the ground and we'll be able to escape" Whispers Mizuki. The masked guy looks at her for a second.
"Knock out the thief and dualbender. I'll deliver them to the Fire Lord along with the Avatar" Demands Zhao.
"I'm being honest! Look at my arms! Do you think I cut them on purpose? Those archers have a deadly aim" Whispers Mizuki annoyed. The masked guy hesitates for a second, but lets go of Mizuki. The archer releases his arrow. Mizuki quickly airbends some dust. However, the masked guy gets shot by an arrow on his mask and falls back due the impact. His head hits a stone and he loses consciousness. Aang removes the guy's mask, only to find out it's Zuko. Aang and Mizuki stare at him in horror. After hesitating for a few seconds, Aang and Mizuki decide to help him. They each take one of Zuko's arms and put it around their shoulder.
"Quick! Recover the Avatar!" Shouts Zhao furiously. The main gate opens and a crowd of Fire Nation soldiers emerge. They start running towards the dust cloud.
❀❀❀
It's morning, Aang's sitting on a nearby root while Mizuki is sitting next to it, leaning her back against it.
"You know what the worst part of being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?" Says Aang as he looks at Zuko. Mizuki looks up at Aang, don't make the same mistake I did Aang. Please. Upon hearing these words, Zuko sends a huge fireball flying towards Aang who dodges it with ease. Mizuki quickly bows down and uses the root of the tree as protection.
"What's wrong with you?! We saved your life, and now you're trying to kill us? You haven't changed at all, huh?" Exclaims Mizuki angrily as she stands up and approaches Zuko, who takes on a fighting stance.
"Don't come any closer!" Threathens Zuko.
"What are you gonna do? Kill me? Haven't you killed enough people?" Mocks Mizuki. However, before she can do anything, Aang throws his arms around Mizuki and holds her back.
"What are you talking about?" Asks Zuko.
"Mizuki, stop it! This isn't like you!" Pleads Aang.
"Sorry, I just...I'm a bit tired" Apologizes Mizuki. Aang lets go of Mizuki as looks at her with a worried expression written on his face. Did something happen between Mizuki and Zuko?
"It's okay, come on. Let's leave" Comforts Aang while escorting Mizuki away, leaving a confused Zuko behind. His head filled with thousands of questions. Why does Mizuki hate me? What was she talking about? I never killed anyone. What happened when I was unconscious? Did she heal me again? But...why? Why would she look out for me if she hates me so much? After a while, Zuko goes back to his ship. He walks past his uncle on the main deck.
"Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song" Says Iroh.
"I'm going to bed. No disturbances" Mumbles Zuko. Iroh rubs his head confused before he continues to play music. Zuko's lying awake in his own chamber, lost in thought. He looks at the Fire Nation symbol hanging on his wall before rolling over.
❀❀❀
"We're back guys" Sighs Aang before he collapses backwards onto Appa's tail. Mizuki puts her basket filled with mushrooms on the ground and grabs her waterpouch.
"Aang, how was your trip? Did you make any new friends?" Gushes Sokka while Mizuki starts healing Katara.
"No, I don't think I did" Replies Aang upset before he rolls over. Upon hearing those words, Mizuki starts to tear up. Why did she try to befriend Zuko? If only she hadn't been so naive, maybe...just maybe her parents would still be alive.
"Why are you crying, magical spirit creature?" Asks Sokka confused.
"Magical spirit creature?" Mizuki starts to laugh as she begins healing Sokka. After doing so, she puts her waterpouch away. Before going to sleep, Mizuki looks at her friends. 'How dangerous' she thought, 'to finally have something worth losing'.
To be continued
Word count: 1.160
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The dualbender (atla) book 1
Fantasy[completed] [currently under editing] Mizuki is a girl who lost her parents to the Fire Nation when she was twelve. After two years of hiding, escaping and trying to survive she found the Avatar with some help of the two Water Tribe siblings. She de...
