2,377Reviews:
DZ2: It's exactly that...only if Harry actually was the heir.
Nai Darkor: Yeah, it's all pretty easy to judge from the outside. Though for war in general, I am actively against it as I don't see any point in wasting lives because people can't compromise and talk over problems and because you occasionally get power-mad assholes for leaders.
Fire turtle: I haven't decided but for the moment I'm leaning on 'no.
Silver-Serenity22: Sorry, but no.
Chapter 52 -
"But why, why did he do it?" Princess Azula asked.
Iroh let out a small sigh before sipping on his tea, he had been somewhat hopeful that the prince and princess would have at least stopped fighting if they had simply spent some time together, and apparently, it had worked. Although now they were united in asking a question that he didn't particularly want to answer. Not just because it was a horrible thing in general, but also because of how close he was to the subject.
"Please Uncle, we need to know," Zuko spoke next. "We can't understand why this happened. It just doesn't make sense to us."
"Why would Harry burn a village to the ground?" Azula demanded. "There's no way he would do that just for the fun of it, there must be a reason."
"There is," Iroh nodded, taking another sip of his tea before he started answering. "Shortly after we discovered Harry and the powers that he could wield, many of us in the Fire Nation had started to wonder about his potential. Some of us at the time had theorised that with enough training, he could be the strongest firebender in our nation."
"Which he is," Azula said, unable to stop the small bit of pride in her voice.
"Indeed," Iroh agreed. "Many in the Fire Nation saw his potential and realised he was special. Some believe even to this day that he was created as a counter to the Avatar, many had believed that he had been the Avatar and we had somehow missed the rebirths into the Water and Earth tribes, at least they did until it had been proven that the Air Nomad Avatar is still around. There are many theories regarding how he came to power, some even consider the possibility that he had been blessed by a spirit of some sort.
Your own grandfather had seen Harry and decided that he would be a brilliant asset to the Fire Nation, believing him to be the proverbial grain of sand that would tip the scales enough for us to end the war once and for all. Unfortunately for him, Harry had no intention of fighting in the war, no matter how much he was pressured. He thought the same of it as I do."
"And what do you think about the war?" Zuko asked softly.
"I think it's a pointless, sad and quite frankly stupid thing that has cost all of us far more than was necessary," Iroh said, grimly, bluntly and very honestly. "How many villages and families have been killed in the other nations? How many Fire Nation soldiers have we had to bury for this war? Even in our own family? When I was younger, I brought into it, I was happy to destroy and burn whatever was necessary. I led a six-hundred-day siege on Ba Sing Se and tossed my men at their walls like toy soldiers. What would have happened had I won? What would have happened to the people inside? I've come to realise that it was perhaps a good thing that I hadn't succeded."
"You really mean that, don't you?" Azula couldn't help but ask.
"I do," A lone tear dripped down his face. "I had just breached the outer wall of the city when he fell, my son, Lu Ten. I received the news and then...well...I suddenly didn't feel much like the 'Dragon of the West' anymore. I had lost the most important person in my life, my beloved son, my family, all because of a war that I didn't start, all because of a war that did nothing but cause death and destruction for all involved. My son...my own flesh and blood...he died...and I wasn't even there. Did he call me? Did he wonder where his father was? Did he wonder why his father would rather blast a wall over and over instead of being with him? Why...why did I lose my son?" The tear was no longer alone.
"Uncle," Zuko swallowed deeply, unsure what to say. He looked to Azula and saw the oddest thing, he saw his sister - for the first time he could ever remember - look almost sad as she stared at Uncle Iroh with unblinking amber-gold eyes. He normally didn't try to guess what was going on in Azula's head, but he liked to think he had a rough idea. He liked to think that Iroh's story had made her feel sad for him, at the very least she was probably going to be considering what would happen if Harry had somehow ended up dead without her there.
"I'm sorry," Uncle Iroh apologised, wiping the tears off of his face. "I appear to have gotten off topic," He coughed before continuing. "Harry refused to fight, your grandfather wasn't happy about that, but he was at least patient enough, he hoped to convince Harry to fight. He understood that a willing warrior is far better than a reluctant one. But then he...' he bit the fireball', as the saying goes. Your father took over, he was far less patient. I am unaware of what had happened between him and Harry, but not even a week after he had become Fire Lord, Harry was sent out to fight. The village you stumbled upon, probably wasn't the first and likely wasn't the last village that Harry was sent to. Your father wanted the word to be spread and sent him to various locations all around the world, he wanted everyone to realise that the Fire Nation had a great new weapon with untold levels of power. He wanted them to know that nobody was safe, nobody."
"But why? Why would Harry destroy these villages?" Azula asked. "How did our father force Harry of all people to do that?"
"Truth be told, I don't know, but whatever he had on him, it's no longer working. The Fire Lord wants him under his control, if not then he wants him gone."
"Either Harry works for him or he doesn't work at all," Azula realised. Her father thirsted for power, he had taught her to do the same. She could understand that. Harry was one of the strongest benders around - if not the strongest - and it made sense to keep him on their side or risk him spoiling their chances of winning the war. On a certain level, the whole thing made sense to her. But with that being said, Harry was hers and there was no way she was letting him be permanently imprisoned or worse, no matter what her father said. She'd find a way to prevent them from fighting...somehow.
"You need to leave!"
"What the? Who the hell's that?"
"Listen to me, please! You need to get out of here!"
"It's some small boy."
"You're in danger!"
"Seem's he's had too much of the good stuff,"
"Please! The Fire Nation is waiting a short distance away! If you don't surrender then you'll be destroyed. All of you!"
"Surrender? Are you daft, boy? We don't surrender to anyone!"
"You'll die! All of you! You need to leave! Surrender! Either one! You're in danger!"
"Please listen to me!"
"The Fire Nation must have fallen real far if they're sending little kids as messengers,"
"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha!"
"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha!"
"Please!"
"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha!"
"You're going to die!"
"Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha!"
"I'M TRYING TO SAVE YOU!"
"Someone shut the kid up,"
"I'm trying to...aargh!"
"Need another rock kid?"
"I'm trying...to save you! Please! Let me save you!"
"He's crying, this is getting sad now."
"Someone get this kid out of here."
"I tried...Merlin knows I tried."
"What is he-"
"Forgive me, I'm truly sorry."
"What are you...wait...what's the kid doing?!"
"I'm so sorry."
"AAAARRRRGHHHH!"
"HOW'S HE DOING THAT?!"
"RUN! RUN!"
"THE FIRE'S SPREADING TOO FAST! WE CAN'T STOP IT! WE CAN'T...AAARGGH!"
"HARRY!"
"Harry! Harry wake up!"
"NO!" Harry snapped up to his feet, grabbed whoever had touched him and slammed them hard down onto the ground.
"Harry! Let go of her!" A voice yelled, it sounded like Aang. Harry shook his head and looked down his arm, realising that he had Toph pinned to the ground by her throat. He leapt back as if burnt, landing on his back and crawling back until he was a satisfactory distance away.
"So...can I say I told you so?" Sokka asked in a sing-song voice whilst standing near a nearby tree, despite his tone, he looked quite worried, standing by with his club and boomerang in hand.
"What's going on?" Katara asked as she and Aang helped Toph up.
"Harry was having a nightmare," Sokka began explaining. "Toph wanted to wake him up, I told her not to, but she didn't listen."
"You said he's not..." Toph paused, coughing. "...you said he's not...nice when he gets woken up...you didn't say I'd get choke-slammed if I did it!"
"Here, drink this," Katara said, offering Toph some water.
"Thanks..." Toph gulped down the water before nodding her thanks to Katara. "...so..." She said to Harry who was getting up. "...Is that normal for you?"
"No, I...I'm sorry..." Harry said, staring down at the floor. "Really sorry, Toph, I..." The ground shifted and suddenly Harry felt himself land on his back.
"Call us even," Toph said with a small smile. "Don't worry about me, I've had worse."
"If you're sure," Harry said, kipping up to his feet.
"That was hilarious," Sokka chuckled for a moment, a very brief one as he soon fell face-first on the floor.
"Oops," Toph said innocently.
"I like this one," Harry admitted, gesturing to Toph.
"What's not to like?" Toph shrugged her shoulders.
"I can think of a few things," Sokka muttered as he got up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes.
"You sure you're okay?" Harry asked Toph.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine, what about you?" Toph asked him. "Seemed like you had a pretty bad nightmare."
"More of a memory," Harry muttered before answering her question. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Anyway, let's get onto some training."
"We're going to start earthbending?" Aang asked excitedly.
"Not yet," Harry told him. "I want us to take a day to review your other bending, Toph can use the time to understand how we both fight, it'll help her decide on how to teach us."
"That makes sense, I guess," Katara said thoughtfully. "Truth be told, I've got a few waterbending techniques I would like you both to try out."
"That's fine with me," Toph shrugged. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do. I have to admit, between the Avatar and the Emerald Dragon, I'm expecting great things."
"Well, Aang's a master airbender," Katara replied. "He's also more than decent at waterbending."
"I'm alright at airbending," Harry began.
"More than decent," Aang cut in with a grin. "If you were born in the Air Nomads then you might have gotten your air tattoos now,"
"Still, I'll give that particular point to you," Harry replied. "As for water -"
"Not as good as Aang but you're definitely close," Katara supplied.
"Hmm, well I only know a few basic techniques for earthbending and you might be slightly surprised to know that I'm not half bad at firebending." He said dryly.
"Yeah, well...I can work with that." Toph said thoughtfully. "What about him?" She asked, gesturing to Sokka.
"Ponytail?" Harry asked. "Oh, he's a master as well."
"At what?"
"Shit-bending. As evidenced by all of the crap that comes out of his mouth."
"Hey!" Sokka squawked. "That's a bit much,"
"Much what, Ponytail? Crap?" Toph snorted.
"I hate you," Sokka told Harry flatly.
"Not as much as I hate myself," Harry told him confidentially.
"I'm sorry, is that a challenge?"
"It just might be,"
"They like each other really," Aang whispered to Toph. "They just also like irritating each other,"
"Fair enough,"
"Azula," Ty Lee said as she walked into Azula's room, on her hands obviously, closing the door behind her with her foot before smoothly transitioning onto her feet. "How have you been? You've been moping in your room for ages,"
"I'm not moping," Azula said from her seat at her desk, looking over a scroll.
"Even Mai thinks you're moping," Ty Lee pointed out. "Besides, your aura tells me the exact same thing."
"You know I don't believe in that," Azula said distractedly.
"Is it about Harry?" She asked suddenly, causing Azula to finally look up from her scroll. "It seems like the logical conclusion,"
"Maybe," Azula hummed, looking back down.
"You want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Azula said bluntly.
"Well, when you want to, I'm here for you," Ty Lee said, laying back on Azula's bed.
"Who says I'll ever want to?" Azula huffed.
"I do," Ty Lee shrugged. "You forget, Azula, I'm your friend too. I'm not as close to you as Harry was, but we're close enough. You're thinking about Harry, that's why you're stuck in this room and brooding."
"It's not just Harry," Azula sighed.
"What is it then?"
"Harry, my father, my uncle, my brother, myself." Azula rubbed at her eyes. "I'm questioning everything now, and I don't like it. I wish everything was as simple as it used to be."
"We can't change the past, Azula, we can only shape the future," Ty Lee replied.
"Where'd you get that line from? Harry? Uncle Iroh?"
"Fortune cookie," Ty Lee answered honestly. "You've been too busy lately, you need to relax a bit or you're going to go mad. Do you want to spend a night with me and Mai? Having fun, talking, gossiping. Oh, maybe we could find a hot spring near here."
"That does sound nice," Azula admitted. "I just think that -"
"Azula?" Zuko's voice called from outside of the door. "You busy?"
"Come in," She called with a roll of her eyes. The door opened and Zuko walked in.
"Hi Zuko," Ty Lee waved brightly.
"Oh, hey Ty Lee," Zuko distractedly nodded at her before turning to Azula. "A message arrived, I think you should take a look at it."
"What message?" Azula asked in a bored tone.
"I don't know," Zuko said, handing it to her. "But it's from the Fire Nation," She looked up at him sharply. "Yeah, it's from the Fire Lord."