Death by Lightning (OC x Zuko) book 3

Chapter 8

It's done. It's finally done and I am finally allowed to have my electronics back. I am so sorry for the inconvenience. Please forgive me. Good God, it feels great to finally publish something though.
~Caramel Rage.

"This is just great!. Thanks Zuko. Couldn't leave the damn thing alone could you?" I shouted at the prince. He just had to touch the gold egg in the middle of the room. Like that has ever gone well for anyone! There is always a boobytrap. No amount of bending I could muster worked against the evil greenish goo. It flowed from the pedestals Aang had insisted he and Zuko dance with, which apparently wasn't as useless and I thought. At their finish, a glowing egg-shaped gem protruded from the ground and the High and Mighty Prince Zuko decided it would be a good idea to touch it.
"Well at least we have air! Maybe if you calmed down, we could figure a way out of this!" He shouted back at me.
"You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" Aang agreed with me.
"At least I made something happen. If it were up to you two, we'd never have made it passed the courtyard."
"Maybe thats because this whole damn place is boobytrapped!"
"Help!" Aang started yelling
"Who are you yelling to? Nobody's lived here for centuries."
"He's right Aang, my people were the last ones here."
"Well, what do you think we should do?" The monk asked.
"Think about our place in the Universe?" Zuko suggested. I attempted to drop my head in exasperation, but the goo held it in place.
"God, you're depressing."
"It's just an idea." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Like you even know what you're doing here." I tried to glare at him.
"I am here to protect the Avatar at all costs. I am here to save this world from your daddy dearest. I was also here to repopulate the air nomads, but God knows that's not gonna happen now."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Nomads have to come back somehow." I shrugged.
"So the Spirits whole plan on how to get them back is based on you having kids?" Zuko's face scrunched up a bit as he figured it out.
"Oh honey, that isn't even the best part."
"What is the best part?" Aang asked.
"I'll tell you when you're older." I chuckled humorously.
"You said yesterday that the spirits wanted you to be the same age as me... and now this... wait, does that mean-" Zuko's thought process was cut off by a mystery voice.
"Who is there?" It demanded to know. The boys and I looked around to see a taller man in tribal clothing covered in war paint. He glared down at us with a fiery intensity as some men, who were clearly lower in the hierarchy, held fire to see us better. None of us spoke for a long while and the Chief guy repeated the question.
"We're... tourists?" I responded as more of a question than a statement, leaving the Chief unamused. Some warrior looking guys pulled up the gate that trapped us and started in on Zuko and Aang.
"Stay away from them!"
"Get back!" Zuko struggled against his goo bonds. The men ignored our protests and one pulled out a small clay vase before dripping some of its contents onto the green goop. The slime bubbled and steamed as it suddenly started to fade from view. The purple liquid inched closer and closer to Zuko's skin and when it touched I expected him to cry out in pain, but it just slid off deeper into the goopy prison, slowly letting Zuko free. They repeated the procedure until both boys were free. One of them shoved each boy before the Chief and spoke menacingly at them.
"Try to run or fight back, and you will be killed." They each looked at me worriedly. Two of the men then approached me and poured the purple solvent onto the goo encasing me. It fizzed just the same as it did with the boys, but when it neared my skin I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation for pain, but none came. Instead I felt the cool water-like substance flow off my skin.
I peeled myself off the wall and climbed out of the sticky pit.
"For trying to take our Sun Stone, you must be severely punished!" The Chief said right off the bat, skipping introductions.
"We didn't come here to take your Sun Stone. We came here to find the ancient origin of all firebending." Zuko argued, a small glob of goo still stuck on his chin.
A rat-like man who stood next to the chief disagreed. "Yeah, right. They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures."
"Nope, he's actually being honest for once."
"Please, I don't normally play this card, but... I'm the Avatar." Aang said confidently.
"So am I by the way." I raised my hand half heartedly. The rat man, who seemed to be and advisor of sorts, looked to the Chief in confusion.
"Just hear us out." Aang pleaded.
Zuko sighed, "My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Or at least, I used to be. I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending, to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way, the original way. When we came here, I never imagined the Sun Warrior civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence. Please, teach us." He and Aang then bowed their heads. Noticing I did not do the same, Zuko kicked my foot in encouragement.
"Fine." I muttered and I copied their motion. The Chief considered us before responding.
"If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters Ran and Shao."
"Ran and Shao? There are two of them?" Aang asked.
The Chief ignored the question. "When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you. They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry. If they deem you worthy, they'll teach you. If they don't, you'll be destroyed on the spot." I glanced at my traveling companions and saw a worried look on Zuko's face. "Come." The Chief turned on his heel and started heading away from us. We all glanced at each other before following after him.
"What's with the face?" I whispered to Zuko.
"It's nothing." He shrugged me off.
"Ya right. I may not like you Zuko, but I know you. I know when you're lying and when you are worried about something. So spill."
"I just..." He searched for words, "He said that the masters would read our souls... our ancestry. Aang is Avatar goodie goodie so he'll be fine but I- my ancestors started this war! What if I haven't changed as much as I think I have. No matter what I do I'm still as honorable as the kid who couldn't stand up to his father." He spat out the last sentence in disgust with himself.
"Look," I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him from walking. "You are honorable. No matter what you've always done what you thought was the right thing, and that is honorable even though you are generally wrong. But this, what you're doing now is right. You're correcting not only your mistakes but those of your asshole ancestors all while getting back at your dad. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me." I shrugged and continued walking, but he held me back. I looked at him in confusion as he fought to meet my eyes.
"I- uh, I wanted to say I was sorry." He stuttered. That caught my attention.
"For what...?" I asked cautiously.
"For what I said yesterday. The way we argued... I shouldn't have said those things." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I-it was out of line and I had no idea about-"
"Drop it." I commanded. He gave me a startled look at the harshness in my voice, but I forcefully softened it to explain myself. "I don't really know where that came from. I know and remember what happened to me in that life, and I remember how it felt then it happened, but I have no connection to it. It feels like a lifetime ago; so much so that it seems like I was just a spectator to the whole thing as it happened to someone else. It's all third person. I didn't even remember until Roku showed me you standing up to your dad." I shrugged again.
"Wait, you saw that?"
"Ya... nice job on the deflection by the way. You kicked lightning's ass!" I joked.
"How could you have..."
"Where's Aang?" I interrupted, looking around for the bald head before taking off in the direction I had seen him last. After a moment Zuko caught up and kept pace with me. "Where did they take him?!"
"Probably to the masters, he'll be fine." Zuko consoled, but still looked around rabidly. I turned in a circle only to be hit by a brick wall, or rather a bare muscular chest. I fell back a step before looking into the eyes of said wall of bricks.
"Come." the warrior man commanded, motioning for me and Zuko to follow. I was only a step behind the strange man while Zuko fell back a bit. The warrior led us to a temple where, at the top, I saw Aang and the Chief.
"Oh, hey guys. I was wondering where you went." Aang smiled as we reached the top of the pyramid structure.
"We got caught up." Zuko inputted before I could say anything. Aang shrugged and looked back to the Sun Chief.
"If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame." The Cheif gestured at the flame before them. "This fire is the very first one. It was given to Man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years." He sounded very prideful in this fact, but it all sounded a bit overboard to me.
"I don't believe it." Zuko said in bewilderment.
"You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending."
Aang just looked unsure. "Um, Mister Sun Chief, sir? Yeah... I'm not a firebender yet. Couldn't one of my friends here carry my fire for me?" He motioned to me and Zuko.
"No." Was the simple, stern reply, causing Aang to look more uneasy. "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy." He grabbed two handfuls of fire and handed half to each boy. "You must maintain a constant heat. The flame will go out if you make it too small. Make it too big, and you might lose control." Aang cringed, and looked at the flame he still hadn't collected from the Chief's palm.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous." He apologised as he stared at the little flame in awe. "It's like a little heartbeat." The chief turned and grabbed another handful of fire and offered it to me, but I refused.
"No thanks, Your Royal Flameness." I held my hands up, "I'd probably destroy your whole city." I said in a mild joke, but I wasn't kidding. I didn't feel like I could trust myself until I could figure out what- or who the hell was inside me and how to get rid of it. I didn't want to give it the power of the ever so important 'secret of Firebending'.
"Fire is life, not just destruction. You will take your flames up there." he pointed to a nearby rocky mountain as he put the flame back in the fire. "The cave of the masters is beneath that rock." He then turned on his heel and headed towards the mountain. All his people began to follow and lastly the boys and I joined.
"Hurry up." Zuko commanded after a long trek of walking. Aang was falling behind with his less than impressive flame.
"I can't. If I walk too fast, my flame will go out." Aang put a protective hand around his flame as he crawled atop yet another large rock.
"Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small. You're too timid. Give it more juice." Zuko urged.
Aang looked unsure. "But what if I can't control it?"
"You can do it. I know you can. You're a talented kid." Zuko said softer, encouraging the little Airbender.
"Wow," I giggled. "From capture to compliment. I think Zuzu really has changed." I ruffled the prince's hair as I skipped ahead a bit. His flame grew a bit in aggravation. but he quickly mellowed out.
"From crazy to psychotic, what a surprise." Zuko rolled his eyes. I ignored his attempt at a comeback and continued on.
By dusk, we had reached the base of the mountain where we would carry on on our own without the Sun people.
"Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you. Your ancestors," He looked pointedly at Zuko, "are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearances. The masters might not be so happy to see you." Zuko lowered his head in shame. I was gonna speak up in his defence, but I kept myself quiet for the moment.
"I know I wouldn't be." The chiefs attendant remarked. He had been giving us shit ever since we got out of the hole and I was sick of it. WIthout a second thought, I handed a punch right in his nose, knocking him out cold. Everyone looked at me, bewildered at me actions but I just stood up straight and pretended as if it were nothing.
"Continue." I smiled.
"But once they find out I'm the Avatar..." Aang started, but the Chief cut him off.
"Have you forgotten that you vanished allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world? The decline of the dragons is your burden too."
That also wasn't entirely his fault! Zuko couldn't exactly stop his ancestors, and Aang didn't know there would be a storm!
I glared at the chief as both boys looked ashamed. The chief took a piece of each of their mini fires and sent them to a warrior who bent them around himself in a circle and sent it to the next warrior, who did the same until the line was complete.
"We could turn back now. We've already learned more about fire than we hoped." Aang showed his slightly less pathetic flame.
"No, we're seeing this through to the end. We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them." Zuko denied.
"What if they judge us and attack us?"
"Well, we're the Fire Prince and-"
"Ex." I interrupted.
"We're the ex-Fire Prince and the Avatar." He glared at me in annoyance before turning back to the monk. "I think we can take these guys in a fight, whoever they are." He said confidence. "Bring 'em out."
"Chanters!" The Chief commanded. Zuko and Aang glanced at each other and we all took a deep breath before ascending as the warriors beat the drums. Before I could take another step, a firm hand pulled me back harshly. Zuko turned around ready to act only to see the Chief holding me back. "Only those carrying the eternal fire may meet the masters." Zuko and I shared a long look before he nodded and continued going up, dragging a less enthusiastic Aang behind him. I watched as they went up, wringing the fabric of my clothes in my hands in anxiety to what would happen if I wasn't up there.
I heard a groan behind me and I turned to see the Chief's advisor waking from his unexpected nap. He rubbed the swollen part of his face gingerly before glaring intently at me.
"Got a problem?" I asked threateningly. He shook his head silently and stood, moving to the back of the crowd. I looked back up the mountain to see the boys had finally reached the top.
"Those who wish to meet the masters Ran and Shao will now present their fire." The chief called up. Both boys turned and bowed to a cave on either side of them.
"Sound the call." The Chief told one of the warriors, and a horn-like noise sounded. Both boys stood there, barely visible from the sun glare when suddenly Aang started attacking Zuko. My eyebrows furrowed together until I realized the monk had lost his fire and was trying to steal some of Zuko's. I heard them arguing about it and dropped my head into my hands in annoyance. The Chief looked to a warrior with the same emotion. When I look back up, I see both flames have gone out.
"Those idiots!" I mentally smacked the two of them and I started up the stairs again, only to once again be held back by two warriors. I looked to the top of the mountain earnestly willing the boys not to be stupid.
Then I saw them, two of the most majestic and beautiful creatures I had seen in my life. One red and one blue, circling the boys and deciding their fate. Two dragons who were going to decide whether they would teach them, or eat them.
"Oh, here it comes." The advisor suddenly chimed up. "Any moment now... dinner for the masters." I balled my fists.
"Quiet, Ham Gao." The Chief commanded.
"What? Everyone's thinking it." He defended.
"Hey, Hammy. I already deformed your face, want a body to match?" I threatened. When he once again backed away like the coward he way, I moved my gaze back to Zuko and Aang. They were moving in sync to the statues we had seen in the other building before Zuko got us slimed. The Dragon Dance they called it, telling me because I still could hardly read this godforsaken language. The dragons moved with them, the blue following Aang while the red stuck with Zuko.
"Judgment time." The Chief said once they finished.
The dragons floated on either side of the boys, staring at them intently. Then, simultaneously, they both unleashed a burst of fire at the helpless boys.
I was speechless, thoughtless, nothing was going through my mind as I fell to my knees, staring at where the Prince and monk once stood. A single tear went down my face.
"Fear not Airbender, your companions are fine." The Chief put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"H-how?" I tore my eyes from the still billowing fire to look at him. "How could they be okay? Say they are in a better place and I'll send you right after them."
He chuckled a bit before responding. "Notice how the fire swirls around where they stand. A circle shape blowing around them. Within that barrier, your brother and boyfriend are learning the secrets of fire." I stood and wiped my face in embarrassment.
"How did you-"
"Know about you two?" He assumed the end of my question. "The way you act around one another. Clearly you two are in love."
"Aang is my brother." I defended.
"Yes, but the Prince is not."
"He is also not my boyfriend. He was... but never again."
"You'll see." The Chief smiled.
The flames surrounding the boys soon stopped and they bowed to the masters before coming back down the staircase, awe in their eyes.
"Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined." Zuko began.
"Like firebending harmony." The monk finished the thought.
"Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending." The Chief agreed.
"I can't believe there are still living dragons. My Uncle Iroh said he faced the last dragon and killed it."
"So, your Uncle lied." Aang asked.
"Dude, it's Iroh. He wouldn't kill a dragon." I chimed in.
The Sun Chief smiled. "Actually, it wasn't a total lie. Iroh was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well.
"He must have lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them."
"All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Katara, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is... it's energy, and life."
"Yeah. It's like the Sun, but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?"
"Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors... so yeah." The Chief replied in full snark. I giggled a bit.
"That's why my firebending was so weak before. Because for so many years, hunting you was my drive... it was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world."
"Well that's insightful." I joked.
"Now that you have learned the secrets, and you know about our tribe's existence, we have no choice but to imprison you here forever." My jaw fell slack in shock at his words. "Just kidding. But seriously, don't tell anyone!" He commanded. We all bowed to each other, and I gave a threatening glare to Hammy, before our trio parted ways from to Sun People to go back to our ship.
"You think you can actually fly it this time?" I asked the renewed Zuko. He only smiled at me.
"How about we let the newest Firebender give it a go?" He suggester. Aang's ears perked up and he overenthusiastically jumped off the rock he was sitting on.
"Oh! Me, Me, Me!" He hopped from one foot to the other waving his arm around. Zuko and I laughed at his reaction.
"Okay," Zuko winked at me. "But that means you've gotta fill it up too." Aang didn't seem to realize what a hellish task that was as he remained unphased by it.
"Okay!" He shouted as he started filling the large balloon.
"You have fun with that little man." I rubbed his bald head in encouragement as I planted myself on a rock. Zuko came and sat next to me.
"Nice one." I smirked, holding out my fist. He looked at or weird before I grabbed his hand, made it mirror mine, and fist bumped it. "It's like a 'good job' thing. From the other place." He only shook his head and smirked lightly.
"You punch each others punches?" He simplified.
"I guess."
"I've been wanting to talk to you." His tone was serious, but light.
"Okaay." I answered unsurely.
"I want is to be friends. I don't want us to fight. I know it won't be like before, but I think we could at least not hate each other." I thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Well, I guess that you've proven yourself to be an asset, and you have made it up to me since Ba Sing Se with the rescue and all. I'll give you another chance Zuko." I agreed be fire clarifying. "But just friends."
"Ya,just friends." Zuko reiterated, putting up his fist. I giggled.
"You're such a dork." I rolled my eyes before fist bumping him.