Dragon At Heart

Chapter 26

A/N

The last chapter got more reviews than any before. Thank you!

I got several reviews wondering about the puppet scene, asking why Zuko over-reacted so much to a silly play. I didn't underline it in the chapter, but since it wasn't as clear to everyone as I thought it was, I'll answer to that here.

It is true that the Fire Lord character is acting in self-defense when attacking the 'evil earthbender' and thus Zuko's reaction to his deed is uncalled for.

However, the reason why Zuko over-reacts isn't reallythe one he gives to the readers ('this is unfair and brainwashing'). Granted, he is unhappy to see that Fire Nation children are brought up hating the other nations (just like he himself was), but this isn't a news to him. Nor is it the real reason he is so upset.

The real reason is that the scene reminds Zuko of how badly Ozai treated him. The puppet Ozai isn't being unreasonable when attacking an enemy soldier, but the real Ozai was exactly that when burning and banishing his son.

When Zuko went to watch puppet shows as a kid, he saw the 'Fire Lord' as his grandfather and had no ill will against the character. Now that he sees the puppet as Ozai, he can't help but to feel irrational anger towards the character to the point where he is silently rooting for the 'evil earthbender' puppet, whom he himself has more in common with than he'd care to admit.

Despite what he thinks to himself, Zuko isn't really angry about what the 'Fire Lord' did on stage. He is angry for the things his father has done in real life, namely keeping up the war, raising Zuko to hate other nations and then banishing him at thirteen. He is also angry at himself for hating his own father because his hate further sets Zuko apart from his countrymen (who have no problem with the play) and proves that he is a traitor.

I hope that sort of explained what I was thinking. And now, back to action.

()()()

26. Mysterious Stranger

"Aang", Sokka whispered angrily while untying the knots binding Katara to the chair, "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I... I didn't want Katara to get hurt..." Aang mumbled.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Sokka humphed, "It was a show. A performance. Did you really think that guy was going to let the dragon burn my sister? Come on."

Aang bit his lip. He knew Sokka was right.

I really screwed up.

It wasn't like Aang hadn't realized that they were watching a performance. On some level, he had known full well it was all just an act.

Still he hadn't been able to stop himself from reacting. Not when there was even the slightest chance that Katara might actually get hurt, and a risk of injury was always present when bending was involved.

An act or not, Aang didn't know enough about firebending or Fire Nation plays to know if there was a real risk that the stunt would fail. So he couldn't just stand idly by while Katara was potentially in some type of danger. He couldn't take that risk.

Enough people I care about have already died because Iwasn't there to stop it.

"Hey, that's the Avatar", someone standing in the crowd pointed out.

"We better get going", Sokka suggested.

ooo

Why is the Avatar here, in a Fire Nation colony, of all places? Does he secretly want to get caught?