Chosen by the Spirits | A male reader x Avatar the Last Airbender story

Chapter 34- Crossroads of Destiny (part 2)

 I glanced to my right and saw Katara. We both gave each other a nod, having thought of the same idea. Both of us grabbed a stream of the water that decorated the cave and ran towards Azula, simultaneously throwing the water at her. Azula was quick and precise to defend herself though. Just as I thought that the two waves of water were going to pelt her, she bent a large shield of scorching blue fire. The water simply turned to steam at the first touch of the fire, creating a huge cloud of steam.

I was just about to freeze the cloud of steam, trapping Azula inside, when I saw her jump from within the cloud, run across a nearby crystal and leap into the air, all the while blasting bolts of fire at us. I have to admit, she thinks more quickly than any bender I have ever faced, and it was very annoying. Myself, Katara and Aang, all waterbenders, bent a long stream of water to shield us from the numerous blasts that she sent. Azula leapt onto a nearby pillar of rock, though Aang quickly used earthbending to destroy it, catching Azula by surprise. Still, she managed to dive off of the pillar in time, but she landed directly in the middle of myself, Aang and Katara. We were all in bending stances, ready to attack Azula in a triangle formation. The firebending princess pointed her middle and index fingers of both hands; one at Aang, one at Katara, threatening to kill them if any of us made an attacking move. Still though, Azula was outnumbered and she knew it. She may be one of the most powerful firebenders on Earth, but I'm one of the most powerful waterbenders and, teamed with the Avatar and another strong waterbender, she stood no chance. I felt a small grin creep up on my face as I realised this. Eliminating Azula would be a great victory for us in the war.

While I was still daydreaming about what capturing Azula would mean for the war effort, suddenly something blew me off my feet. A blast of hot red fire hit the earth just beneath me, propelling my body backwards and to the ground. The impact was rough on my back, but it wasn't as painful as the site laying out before my eyes. Aang and Katara, both of whom had been distracted with the bolt of red fire that had come out of nowhere, we now battling Azula a few feet away. But it was the appearance of the red fire that I was focused on. It hadn't come from Azula; towards the entrance of the cave stood Zuko, his fist outstretched. The red fire had come from him. He had stopped us from defeating Azula.

Zuko turned his body towards me as my friends battled his sister. I looked across the cave into his eyes; the hope of a becoming a better person that I saw behind his eyes was no longer there. Zuko had made his choice, and was an enemy once more.

"I thought you were becoming a better person," I desperately yelled at him, as if somehow my words would change his mindset.

"My destiny is to regain my honour and position of Prince to the throne," he shouted back. "This is how I fulfil it,"

Without another word, Zuko began to repeatedly punch the air in front of him, sending many bolts of fire in my direction. I was able to dance around the small balls of fire, and retaliated by throwing a large wave of water in Zuko's direction. He tried to block the wave with a shield of fire, but my wave was too strong. While Zuko's flame shield did reduce most of the force, the wave still washed over him and knocked him off of his feet. I rushed towards him as he got back onto his feet, sending a slice of fire at me. I leapt over the flames and shot a number of ice spikes at him. As Zuko dodged them, I controlled a water whip which I lassoed around his legs, throwing him to the ground as I tugged harshly on it.

Zuko punched a surprisingly large blast of fire at me with a grunt, forcing me to have to release the water whip. He ran at me angrily, a look of pure rage on his face, before I swiftly sent a violent wave of water into his side. He clearly hadn't expected it, as it knocked him off of his feet. As the water swept him through the air, I simultaneously turned it into ice. This trapped Zuko in a wave of ice, rendering him useless. Perhaps back in the Northern Water Tribe, when I had no experience fighting firebenders, Zuko may have bested me in a duel. Now that I had gained more experience and power, I was able to easily wipe the floor with him. However, before I could make a finishing move on his, a wave of blue flames roared in my direction, forcing me to dive backwards onto the floor. I quickly rolled and regain my footing, turning to face Azula. Amongst the chaos, I had lost my control over the wave of ice that Zuko was trapped in, releasing him. Zuko began to fight Aang, leaving me and Katara to deal with Azula.