22. Sozin’s Comet

Some time later, the sky slowly began to bleed.

It started as a bruise on the horizon that slowly widened into a burning orange. Sozin’s Comet was thrumming against the atmosphere of the world.

Zuko sat on a throne that had been moved to the center of the Great Plaza. He was perfectly still as his hands rested on the armrests. And his eyes were closed.

To his right stood Azula in her armor. Her manic energy was barely suppressed. To his left sat Ursa. Behind them, Azulon and Iroh also sat with unreadable faces.

Practically the whole family’s eyes were locked on toward the sky with awe.

Below the dais, the plaza was a sea of crimson. Legions of soldiers, tanks, and the elite Imperial Firebenders stood in formation. Beyond the palace gates, the citizens of the capital gathered.

In the shadows were the Grand Lotus members of the White Lotus: Jeong Jeong, Pakku, and Bumi. They were able to hide in secret thanks to Zuko compelling them to come and shielding them from the audience.

All their faces were upward as they bathed in the amber light.

It was the grand finale. The stage was set exactly as Zuko had envisioned it.

Iroh leaned in and whispered, “Are you sure the Avatar will come?”

Zuko didn’t open his eyes. “He will, uncle. Aang has been so predictable that even he can’t resist his fate. Especially when I sent him a personal invitation.”

“And if he brings an army?” Ursa respectfully asked.

“Come now, mother,” Azula smirked her way. “You don’t think our fire lord wouldn’t have seen that coming either, do you?”

“Well, yes, but—”

“He won’t be bringing an army,” Zuko interrupted. “He thinks he needs to face me alone to restore balance. That’s what the air nomads taught him. Now look where they are.”

As if on cue, the comet crested the mountains, and the world ignited. It was a physical sensation, like a rush of heat that flooded Zuko’s veins.

Every firebender in the plaza felt it. Soldiers gasped as their inner flames roared to life and expanded their chi reserves a hundredfold. Azula laughed at the sight.

When Zuko finally opened his eyes, she saw that they were reflecting the apocalyptic sky. The sight couldn’t have been more pleasing to her.

“It’s time,” he whispered.

He looked toward the horizon and saw a speck appear against the burning clouds. It grew larger before resolving into the shaggy, six-legged form of Aang’s flying bison.

“It’s the Avatar!” a soldier cried out, pointing his spear.

A ripple of tension went through the army as the crowd gasped.

Zuko smirked. “Finally…” Then he stood up from his throne. “I wonder what you’ll show me this time… Aang.”

Appa descended in the center of the plaza, allowing Team Avatar to slide from the saddle—Katara with her water skins, Sokka gripping his space sword, Toph with her feet planted wide, and Aang.

The boy looked only different. While his face was set in that same grim mask of determination, Zuko could see the fear behind the eyes. Aang was terrified inside.

Zuko walked to the edge of the high balcony, looking down at them like an emperor viewing gladiator games. His voice boomed for everyone to hear. “You’ve arrived! I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost.”

Aang stepped forward. “I’m here, Zuko. I came to tell you that you don’t have to do this. The Fire Nation cannot disrupt the world any longer.”

Zuko chuckled darkly. “You sound like a broken record, Aang.”

“We’re tired of you mocking him!” Sokka shouted.

Yet when he said this, the chants of boos plagued the area. Sokka immediately felt discouraged by people roundabout. He became even more disheartened when it took only one hand for Zuko to silence them.

“I wasn’t mocking him,” the fire lord replied as his gaze bore into Aang. “I was educating him. Let me ask you something, Avatar: Do you truly think that I’m here for peace? Look at the sky and look at my army. This is a conquest like you nor any Avatar before you had ever seen.”

“One hundred years ago, my people killed your people,” Zuko continued with false sympathy. “You should be upset as the last airbender. So why not use your skills to take revenge? Why not try to kill me where I stand?”

Aang shook his head as his knuckles turned white on his staff. “I won’t kill you out of hatred. The world is imbalanced because the Fire Nation refuses to listen to reason.”

“That’s right,” Katara added. “Violence isn’t the answer.”

Yet the crowd booed. “Traitors!” someone yelled. “Cowards!” another shouted.

Zuko raised a hand, and the crowd fell silent instantly again. “Why speak of balance when you don’t even understand the source of your own power?”

“I do,” Aang insisted. “Even if you claimed to have set everything up for me, it was my friends who helped me learn all the elements.”

“Please,” Zuko mocked. “I thought we already went over this. You’re just a child playing with a weapon you know nothing about. Think I don’t know about you? Tell me, do you know what lives inside you?”

Aang frowned. “The spirits of the past Avatars.”

“Wrong… Inside you is a malevolent spirit. A parasite that possessed the first man thousands of years ago to wage a war it could not win alone.”

The plaza went deadly silent. Even Iroh looked at Zuko with startled eyes. This was lore lost to time with secrets buried in the era before the four nations.

“What are you talking about?” Aang asked in a wavering voice.

“Raava,” Zuko said, naming the spirit. “You Avatars are a cage to it. Before you was Roku, before Roku was Kyoshi, before Kyoshi was Kuruk, and before Kuruk was Yangchen.”

Zuko began to recite the lineage. “Think I’m done? There were also Szeto, Salai, and Gun. Go back ten thousand years, Aang. Before the nations. Before the bending arts were divided, the first Avatar was a thief named Wan.”

Aang was stunned. The name Wan triggered something deep in his subconscious, like a memory that wasn’t his. “How… how could you possibly know all of this?”

“I know the origin,” Zuko declared, spreading his arms. “I know the Harmonic Convergence, and I know that you’re nothing more than a vessel for an ancient struggle that has nothing to do with peace. The fact of the matter is, Avatar… I know everything!”

The revelation hit Aang hard. His spiritual foundation and his belief in the sanctity of the Avatar cycle all cracked for the second time. If he was just a vessel for a spirit, was his fate even his own? He couldn’t tell right from wrong now.

“He’s lying!” Katara shouted. She then grabbed Aang’s arm. “Don’t listen to him, Aang! He’s trying to get inside your head! Your life isn’t a lie!”

“Yeah!” Sokka yelled, waving his sword. “Don’t forget all we’ve been through! We’re your family now, and what matters is what’s in front of you!”

Even Momo, sensing the distress, chattered loudly before landing on Aang’s shoulder to nuzzle his ear.

Aang took a deep breath. He looked at his friends and managed to find his center—pushing the doubt away.

“You’re wrong, Zuko,” he said as his voice regained its strength. “It doesn’t matter where the power comes from. It matters what I do with it. And I am going to stop you.”

Zuko smiled. It was the smile of a predator who had just seen the prey enter the trap. “Then you have no other choice but to fight me.” When he stepped off the balcony, massive jets of white flames erupted from the soles of his boots. Then he landed softly in the center of the plaza like a dragon. “Right here. Right now.”