𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍 | prince zuko

¹⁹

CHAPTER NINETEEN

     AS SOZIN'S COMET'S ARRIVAL WAS DRAWING NEARER, the group began training excessively to ensure they were ready, especially Aang. He trained extensively with his friends, focusing mostly on his firebending with Zuko since he had only just begun learning not too long ago. Zuko was much harsher with his training, pushing Aang to the absolute limit. As the days began to pass, the group lessened a bit on their training. In other words, they had gotten lazier as they lounged around the vacation home previously owned by the Fire Nation Royal Family on Ember Island. When Katara offered Aang and Zuko a glass of watermelon juice, Aang was quick to rush over, only for Zuko to remind him that his training wasn't over yet.

"Come on, Zuko. Just take a break. What's the big deal?" Suki sighed, Sokka next to her and drinking from a watermelon while they watched the Fire Prince train the Avatar. Zuko sighed and gave in, letting Aang relax for a bit.

"Fine. If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day, then go ahead," he said hotly as he turned and walked away from the group, Momo following after him.

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy, but I know just the thing to change that! Beach party!" Sokka yelled, ripping off his robe, Yan grimacing and looking away in disgust. She sighed in reluctance and decided to join the group at the beach, sitting near the water's edge as she wasn't a big fan of the beach. Everyone was having fun, Toph working on her sandbending and creating a tiny diorama of the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, Katara surfing the waves on an ice surfboard, and Aang and Sokka making sand sculptures of their respective loved ones: Appa and Suki, though Sokka's sand sculpture looked nothing like Suki.

As quickly as their fun began, it ended when a fireball came flying through the air, colliding with Sokka's sand sculpture. Aang went running when more fireballs were shot at him as the group looked on, very confused about why Zuko was suddenly attacking him. They rushed toward the vacation home as Zuko went flying out of an upstairs window into a tree, ending the fight.

"What's wrong with you? You could've hurt Aang!" Katara scolded him while they hurried over to Zuko who laid in a pile of leaves and branches after tumbling out of the tree.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you? How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's Comet is only three days away?" Zuko shot back, annoyed that everyone wasn't doing anything to prepare. He noticed that everyone held the same expressions on their face as they looked at him. "Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?"

"About Sozin's Comet... I was actually gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came. I'm not ready. I need more time to master firebending and I need to work on my earthbending." Aang explained to a shocked Zuko.

"Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord right now, he's gonna lose. No offense." Sokka added in.

"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war. But they pretty much won the war when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse." Katara further explained, her expression saddening.

"You're wrong. It's about to get worse than you can even imagine. The day before the eclipse, my father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It was what I dreamed about and wanted for so many years; my father had finally accepted me back. During the war meeting, he discussed what he had planned to do; during Sozin's Comet, the firebenders have enhanced bending. My father proposed that they attack the Earth Kingdom and burn it to the ground, turning every town, city, and village in the world into the new Fire Nation so he can rule everything as the supreme leader.