17. Aang

“This is a waste of time, Zuko,” he heard Azula approach. “I fail to understand why the Avatar would return here and now of all places.”

“You fail because you don’t have the same spiritual connection as we do,” Zuko lied, not looking away from the sea.

“We…?”

“As you know, Avatar Roku was the last Avatar before fire lord Sozin wiped out the air nomads. But what you didn’t know was that Avatar Roku was also our maternal great-grandfather. Our grandfather sought Roku’s bloodline to produce the best firebenders. That’s you and I are so special.”

Azula was taken aback.

It was a fabricated lie that spoke of a spiritual connection that honestly didn’t work the way he explained. But it played perfectly to her ego.

To be related to an Avatar? To possess a mystical link? She devoured the lie like candy.

Thirty minutes later, everyone witnessed the sky tear open. A pillar of blue light erupted from a glacier in the distance that pierced the clouds and illuminated the frozen wasteland.

The crew gasped. Anyone who was skeptical about Zuko’s claims had their doubts vaporized instantly.

“He’s here,” Zuko whispered.

The fleet surged forward as black smoke billowed from the engines. It wasn’t long until they finally reached the village of Wolf Cove.

Zuko ordered a procession once the ramp lowered into the snow. Soldiers in crimson armor then marched out to form two perfect lines as the royals descended.

Zuko led the way. Behind him walked Ursa, looking regal; Azula had a predatory curiosity in her eyes; Iroh was solemn and silent; Azulon was frail but imposing in his wheelchair with a guard behind him; and finally, Zhao was practically vibrating with the desire for violence.

The villagers huddled together with clear fear on their faces. Sokka stood in front while wielding a boomerang with trembling hands. Katara stood beside him, clutching her parka.

And there, standing awkwardly in the snow, was Aang. The boy from the iceberg. The last airbender.

He looked exactly like the cartoons: small, bald, and innocent eyes. He truly hadn’t aged a day.

“You must be Aang,” Zuko greeted as his voice carried over the wind. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person…”

Aang looked at the armada behind Zuko, then back at the calm, terrifyingly composed teenager in front of him. “Do I know you?”

“No… But you will soon.” Zuko then gestured behind him. “This is my family. And in case no one here was aware, I’m Zuko.” His head cocked back menacingly. “The current fire lord…”

A collective gasp went through the village. Sokka tightened his grip on his weapon.

“What are you saying?” he demanded, trying to sound brave.

“Watch your tongue, peasant!” Zhao barked, stepping forward.

Zuko quickly raised a hand to silence him instantly. Zhao bowed his head in submission.

“I could easily kill you right here, Aang,” Zuko said. His tone was conversational, yet it felt more terrifying than a shout. “My fleet could burn this village to ash before you could act.” The tribe and Aang hesitated. “But I won’t…”

“Then why did you come here?” Aang asked.

“To see for myself just how weak you are. Like I said, I could easily kill you. It would be like crushing an ant. But doing that would prove nothing, and I’m not that interested in ants.” He then turned his back on them as his robes swirled. “I’ll give you a chance to learn what you must until we meet again.”

As he began to walk back up the ramp, Azula followed closely to whisper, ” What are you doing, brother?! He’s right there! We can take him!”

“We’re leaving,” Zuko said without looking at her. “Touch anyone here and I’ll see the act as treason.”

The confusion on the villagers’ faces couldn’t be more apparent. They watched as the fire lord, the most powerful man in the world, simply walked away from the greatest threat to his nation.

Before Zuko could enter the ship, Aang shouted, “Wait! Fire lord, Zuko, I… I’m the Avatar!”

Zuko paused. Not a single moment did he nor anyone here hint at anything about the ‘Avatar’. Not even Sokka and Katara would come to know this until later on.

Zuko, without turning around, simply walked back into his ship without saying another word.

The ships soon turned as engines churned the water. Anyone who dared attack an armada this huge would be asking for a death sentence.

Inside the main ship, Zuko summoned Zhao, where Iroh, Ursa, and Azula also were. The Admiral’s face was hiding his suppressed rage. But Zuko could see right through him.

“Care to speak your mind, Admiral?”

“With all due respect, my lord… You had him. Truth be told, I was not expecting the Avatar to be a child. If we had killed him, the Fire Nation would have claimed the ultimate victory.”

“And then what?” Zuko asked. “Martyrdom? The Earth Kingdom still stands, and there are rebels from the Water Kingdom still opposing us.” Zhao was speechless. “But… Seeing as how you’re so passionate about killing him, why not take your squadron and try it yourself?”

Zhao’s eyes lit up. “Pardon, my lord?”

“You heard me: try and kill the Avatar. If you can, that is.”

It was an obvious challenge, not a direct order, which Zhao was more than willing to accept. But before he could say anything, Ursa stepped forward.

“Excuse me, Zuko,” she began. “I understand that the Avatar’s meant to be hunted down, but why not send an army after him instead?”

“Because the Avatar was written to be able to take down an army,” he explained. “If Admiral Zhao can prove me wrong, then surely he deserves to be a General, no? If the Avatar survives, then he’s worthy of my attention. But if he dies… well, there was no need for me to get involved.”

Ursa truly had no words to counter this logic.

“Consider it done, my lord!” Zhao bowed deeply.

After Zuko watched him go, he quietly rested his eyes, knowing that Zhao was a blunt instrument. He would push Aang and force him to flee in places Zuko would expect.

Exactly as the script required.

Later that evening, Iroh found Zuko on the deck, watching the stars.

“You are playing a dangerous game, nephew,” he softly said. “The Avatar is not like a piece on a pai sho board. He is the spirit of the world itself.”

“The world is already out of balance, uncle. It has been since he disappeared a hundred years ago.”

“Then what is your goal regarding him?”

“To prove that balance doesn’t require a bridge between worlds. When the time comes, I’ll face him myself. But I want him at his peak. And when I defeat him, the world will see that the people of the Fire Nation are the true inheritors of even the spiritual world.”

Iroh stared at him. It was a philosophy that twisted Iroh’s own teachings. It gnawed at the back of his head and the notion that the White Lotus also stood for.

And the way Zuko said, “when the time comes.” It was implying that he believed Zhao would fail.

“You are starting to sound like your late father,” Iroh whispered.

“No,” Zuko said as his golden eyes flashed in the starlight. “He wanted to burn the world. I intend to own it.”

Now Aang was going to run, and Zuko was hunting from the finish line, ready to rewrite the ending. No one, not even Iroh, was going to change their fates.