Chapter 38

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Word count 8332 words

(Y/n) POV

I yawned walking out of mine and Zuko's bedroom. I barley slept last night thinking about what was going on here. I will say it felt... strange to be back.

Sokka and Toph tried to make conversation with me but, it just feels weird you know. One second I was on the other end of a war and now I'm back with those people and have to act like I'm okay? No! I'm not okay!

I made it only three steps out before I got jumped, "(Y/n)!" Aang screamed running at me.

I screamed jumping backwards hitting the wall.

"So you're gonna help Zuko with my Firebending training right?" He smiled so bright my dark soul was shuttering, "I don't think you need much more training but it'd be nice for us to work together again! It's just like the Northern Water Tribe! Hey! Maybe you could even give me a lesson on Lightningbending!"

My eyes widened as he acted like nothing happened.

~~~

Azula smirked as jumping out of the way right as my lightning fly through the air, before I could stop it. I didn't even know what I was doing before I saw the lightning fly... Hitting Aang in the Avatar State.

Aang screamed in sheer pain before his entire body went limp, falling to the ground.

"AANG!"

~~~

I gasped rubbing my temple before looking at the boy in eyes. Big mistake.

I bit my lip as he tilted his head, "You okay (Y/n)?"

"I-I..." I stuttered as I clenched my necklace tight for support, "I have to go!" I said before bolting out of the area.

I slowed down my pace since I don't think he followed me and sighed leaning against another wall, before sliding down it.

What is wrong with him? I sat there for a while before a new voice entered my head.

"You gonna just sit there all morning or you gonna stutter with another one of us?" I heard a chuckle before looking up to see Sokka smirking at me as he ate an apple.

I sighed, "You saw that?"

"You mean how you just ran like a scared puppy dog-bear from Aang? Yeah" he sat next to me handing me an apple.

"Thanks," I gave a light smile taking a bit before groaning. "What's wrong with me?"

"Well, I would write it down but... that's a long list and I don't think there's enough paper to cover it," he chuckled so I wacked him in the back of the head. "Hey!"

"Look who's talking," I smirked. "Our whole families fucked up"

"You've got that right...."

"When haven't I been right?" I smirked before deciding to address the Buffalo-badger in the room, "So how bad was it?" I chuckled taking another bite of my breakfast.

"How bad was what? We had a lot of bad things happen to us these last two months" he shrugged.

"The council... and her," I sighed. "How much did you chew them out when I was gone?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, "Yeah.... it was bad"

"Perfect. They deserved it" I chomped my apple.

He chuckled, "I lost myself in that fight. The screaming session I had against the council was nothing compared to what I said to Katara"

"Yeah... thanks for that," I trialed off. "What was it like those two months? Please tell me you didn't all fight" I bit my lip.

He sighed, "It's... hard to explain. Katara's been unable to talk normally and is trying everything to make it up, Toph hates her and Aang's been acting like nothing happened" he rubbed the back of his head.

"That explains why he's acting like I didn't almost kill him. He did the same thing when he found out about the Air Nomads"

"Act like it didn't happen..."

"Till you believe it didn't" I finished the sentence for him.

We then were surrounded in awkward silence as we both finished our food.

My eyes then trialed to his sword holster and I raised a brow, "When'd you become a sword guy?"

"Huh?" He raised a brow before looking at his weapon, "Oh! Yeah... I thought I needed a weapon for the battle" he took it out and handed it to me.

I held onto it carefully as I inspected the fine black material, it looked almost unearthly, "What is this made of?"

"Oh! A meteor!" He smiled.

I gave him a look, "A meteor?"

"Yeah! I got trained by a master and he helped me carve it out of a fallen rock from the sky" he smiled.

"So you're now Sokka, Master of Swords?" I chuckled handing it back to him.

"Yup!" He put it away, "We already have an Avatar, Waterbender, Firebender and Earthbender... so I needed something" he smiled.

"Well it's good for you to have a hobby" I snickered.

"Why thank you- why must you do this to me?"

I laughed again, "I'm kidding, Sokka. It's good for you to have something. I mean.. every leader should have a sword"

He smirked, "It's good to have my smart ass sister back" he held his fist out.

I smirked as well fist bumping him, "It's good to be back with my annoying brother"

"(Y/n)? You around?" I heard Zuko call out for me.

"Over here Zuko!" I called him over smiling even more.

He walked over and I saw him make eye contact with my brother. I looked between them and Zuko bit his lip looking a bit scared while Sokka glared at him.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Uh.. I uh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Breakfast?"

"We already ate" Sokka grumbled.

"Sorry Zuku" I frowned.

He shook his head, "No it's fine. Don't worry about it..." he trialled off, "Uh, are you joining us at training?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I'll be there"

I felt the tension between the boys grow even more before Zuko nodded, "Great! Uh.." he awkwardly kissed my cheek, "I'll see you at training then" he said before quickly ran off.

I blushed shaking my head, he's a little dork.

"Wow. What a loser" Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Yeah.. my loser" I touched my necklace.

"I still don't know what you see in him" he crossed his arms.

"Well the funny thing is there's so much" I shrugged.

"Yeah.. well I see why you didn't tell us who he really was"

I sighed, "So I'm guessing Katara told you he was Lee?"

"No, his uncle did"

I raised a brow, "Really?"

"Yeah. Aang said he got a vision of both you and Katara captured in Ba Sing Se. When we couldn't find you, he came over and told us everything. He's always been your dance partner"

I sighed, "I'm sorry for not telling you who he really was. I was just.... really scared" I continued to play with my necklace.

"Yeah, I see why" he crossed his arms leaning back on the wall.

I sighed, "I know you don't trust him-"

"Understatement of the year" he cut me off.

I flicked him in the forehead, "I know you don't like him, but I do. I did before I was captured, and I did before Ba Sing Se. I... I love Zuko, okay? I know you don't understand why I do, but I do"

He turned his gaze from me as I continued.

"I know how you feel about him, but could you try and be a little civil? I don't care what happens but just at least act friendly to him. Please. For me" I smiled.

He sighed, "Yeah, sure. I'll be civil"

I hugged him tight, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He sighed, "I said I'll be civil, I still don't approve of him... not yet at least"

I nodded, "That works for me"

——————

I walked over to the training session with Zuko and I sat on the opposite end, away from Aang.

Zuko turned to the Avatar, " I know you're nervous, but remember, firebending in it of itself is not something to fear"

Aang nodded, "Okay. Not something to fear"

"But if you don't respect it, it'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo-rhino!" He yelled at Aang making him jolt back.

I cringed watching them train, "Now show me what you've got. Any amount of fire you can make" he told Aang.

Aang nervously took in a deep breath before he tried to firebend, making a small cloud of smoke appears.... and is dissipated, "Maybe I need a little more instruction" he embarrassingly shrugged.

Zuko turned to me, "You've been Firebending with him for almost a year, didn't you teach him anything?"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, "He told me he didn't want to Firebend so I didn't force him"

"I promised myself I'd never firebend, but now I know I need to now. Perhaps a demonstration?" Aang asked us.

Zuko tilted his head, "Good idea. You might wanna take a couple steps back" he smirked before he inhaled deeply and went to shoot out a ball of fire... but only made a small flame.

I looked baffled by how bad it was, while Aang clapped his hands.

I raised a brow, "What in Spirits name was that?"

"I thought it was... nice" Aang shrugged.

Zuko grunted again trying his hardest to firebending. Only making very small flames similar to the first. He grunts and looks at his palms, "Why is this happening?!" he yelled at himself.

I sighed walking to him, "Let me try"

I took in a deep breath and yelled trying to make a bolt of lightning... nothing happened, "What?"

I slapped my two right fingers on left palm trying to fix whatever was happening to me, before trying to strike again... nothing happened.

"What is going on?!" I yelled trying my hardest to make any flames or something, anything!

"Really body, really?!" I yelled at myself, "I wanted to get ride of this power all of my life, and now that I'm happy about it it just disappears!" I clenched my fists before another sharp pain hit my head.

I groaned losing balance and fell back, Zuko caught me right as the pain subsided, "Thanks"

"How bad was that one?" He asked me.

I shrugged, "Bad, but not the worst one"

I then made eye contact with Aang as he bit his lip looking a mix between sad and guilty. Why was he guilty?

"Are you feeling ok-"

"I'm fine!" I cut him off, "I'm fine" I got back to my feet.

"What's happening to us?" Zuko asked.

"Maybe it's the altitude?" Aang suggested.

"Yeah, could be.." he trailed off as we both began to try and make any flames but only were able to produce small ones.

"Just breathe, and..." Zuko made nothing.

"Be quick, calculated and..." I strikes forward but made nothing but a small flame.

"That one kind of felt hot" Aang shrugged.

Zuko's eye began to twitch, "Don't patronize her! You know what it's supposed to look like!" His eyes then widened and looked to me, "Sorr-"

"Don't patronize me" I said trying to make (and failed) larger flames.

"Sorry, Sifu Hotman and Hotwomen" Aang bowed in a Fire Nation way.

"And stop calling us that!" Zuko told him.

As we tried to make even more flames I saw Sokka come over as he sat down eating another apple, "Hey, jerks! Mind if I watch you three jerks do your Jerkbending?"

Zuko then lost it, "Get out of here!"

I crossed my arms, "We're trying to train here"

"Okay, take it easy," he puts his arms up and began to walk away. "I was just kiddin' around. Jerkbending, still got it"

———————

"What are we going to do?" Zuko asked me as we began to walk to the group for dinner.

"We have to tell them what's going on," I sighed. "This isn't fair"

"What's not fair?"

"I've never wanted to be a Firebender! I wanted to be a Waterbender like Katara, or a Nonbener like Sokka! Then the moment I'm happy about who I am, the world takes it away! It's like even my body's against me" I sighed.

He then interlock our fingers together, "I'm not"

"Yeah... I know..."

"Hey Orchid listen to me," he stopped me and made me look at him as he placed a hand on my scarred cheek. "I don't care what's happening. If we lose our bending so be it. I'll still care about you"

I leaned into his touch and sighed placing my hand on his, "I know, and I will for you as well"

We then both leaned into each other and were about to kiss before a fake cough interrupted us.

We looked over to see Sokka glaring at us, "Are you two gonna come and eat dinner or make gogo eyes at each other" he scoffed walking away.

We both began to blush before walking over to see the gaang all digging into their dinner.

I took in a deep breath and sighed, "Guys... we've got some pretty bad news"

"We've lost our stuff"

Toph raised her hands up defensively, "Don't look at me, I didn't touch your stuff"

I glared at her knowing she took something.

Zuko sighed, "We're talking about our Firebending. It's gone"

Sokka then began to laugh making us all look at him, "I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know, how it would've been nice for us if you lost your Firebending a long time ago. (Y/n)'s a different story, I'm sure someone here wished she lost it as well. Hey Katara! You got your wish!"

"Not funny Sokka" Katara looked away.

"No it's hilarious" I crossed my arms.

She then bit her lip before putting her food down, "Excuse me" she said before leaving the area.

"Well, it's not lost. It's just... weaker for some reason" Zuko told them.

"Maybe you're not as good as you think you are" Sokka told him.

Toph chuckled, "Ouch"

I glared at Sokka as he sent me a shrugged, "I'm just being honest with him"

"I bet it's because we changed sides" Zuko suggested.

"I don't know, (Y/n) did your bending weaken when you joined Zuko's old side?" Sokka asked me.

"No... it actually got stronger" I shrugged.

Aang put his hand to his chin, "I don't know. Maybe it isn't because you changed sides... (Y/n) once told me she was stronger when she was angry. Maybe your Firebending comes from rage and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to" he suggested.

Sokka smirked, "Sooo, all we need to do is make Zuko and (Y/n) angry. Easy enough!" He came over before poking us both with a stick he got off of the ground.

As Zuko glared forward I grabbed the stick before snapping it in half and throwing it down the ravine behind us.

"Hey!"

"Look, even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way"

"Same," I sighed. "I've been angry for way to long... and I just want to be happy for once" I crossed my arms.

Toph tilted her head, "You're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source"

Sokka raised a brow, "How's he supposed to do that‌? By jumping into a volcano‌?"

Toph rolled her eyes, "No. Zuko needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is"

"So, is it jumping into a volcano?" I asked.

She shrugged, "I don't know. For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles. One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me. So we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the world" she smiled.

"That's amazing, Toph!" Aang grinned, "I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the sky bison," he turned to Appa who was eating a bucket load of hay. "Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime, buddy"

Appa then let a low growl out before returning to his meal.

"Well, this doesn't help us. The original Firebenders were the dragons, and they're extinct" Zuko crossed his arms.

Aang raised a brow, "What do you mean‌? Roku had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid"

I stiffened knowing exactly what happened to them. Zuko then became a little more annoyed, "Well, they aren't around anymore, okay?"

Aang moves his arms in an appeasing manner, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry"

"But maybe there's another way. The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors"

Aang rose to his feet and began to walk towards us, "Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid"

I stepped back until I was behind Zuko, "There dead Aang. They died off thousands of years ago. But their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now"

"Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins" Zuko suggested.

Aang nodded, "It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present"

Sokka raised a brow, "So, what? Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood a thousand years ago?" He waved his hands in a strange motion.

"More or less," Zuko nodded not realizing my brothers sarcasm. "Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find new teacher's"

————————

"Oh I missed this!" I chuckled standing at the back of Appa's saddle.

The wind was blowing through my hair making me feel right at home.

Zuko had a bored extension on his face as we flew but smiled seeing me before going back to his expression, "We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster" he grumbled making Appa growl.

"Appa's right, Zuko. In our group, typically we start our missions with a more up-beat attitude" Aang smiled looking back at us.

Zuko threw his head back, "I can't believe this" he whispered laying down.

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," he told us before making eye contact with me. "I mean look at (Y/n)! She's enjoying herself"

I bit my lip before smashing down to the saddle.

—————

We landed by the ruins and they were magnificent!

"I can't believe this place is still intact!" I gasped walking in front of the two taking in the entire abandoned city.

"Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these" Zuko exclaimed.

"Wouldn't be surprised. I mean if I was architect I'd use inspiration from the past" I smiled.

I then felt Zuko wrap an arm around me, "Well maybe when this is all over, you can add some things to our Nation" he smiled.

I chuckled, "Get ready for a lot of changes then" I elbowed him in the stomach.

"Well even with everything happening, I'm glad you two are happy" Aang smiled.

"What?" We both raised a brow.

"What? I just said I'm happy for you two" he shrugged.

"You... are?" I tilted my head.

"Well yeah! I mean I told you I wouldn't judge who you liked!" He laughed walking forward in front of us, "I mean, you were always there for me and are my first Firebending teacher. The past can't hurt us"

I then saw a rope in front of us and gasped as Aang tripped over it, "Aang watch out!" I yelled as the trip wire revealed a hole filled with sharp spikes.

He gasped Airbending himself forward and away from the spikes. I gasped in relief before catching a glimpse of his back.

My hands flew to my mouth as I saw a large scar plaguing his back, exactly where I hit him.

Zuko must've saw it too, since I felt his hand rubbing my back for support.

He turned back to look at us, "Zuko... (Y/n), I think the past is trying to kill me" he shook.

Zuko then knelt down, "(Y/n) look at this," he showed me the now broken trip wire. "This booby trap must be centuries old and it still works"

I knelt down to look at it, "How is that even possible? This is just made of standard rope..." I trailed off.

"There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here" Aang bit his lip as Zuko and I stood up.

He smirked at me before running up the side of the wall and around the spikes, jumping next to Aang.

"Where's that up-beat attitude you were talkin' about?" He chuckled before looking to me.

I sighed stepping back before running full speed at the trap and jumping next to the two, "Tada" I gave jazz hands.

"Do you think they'll be more traps?" Aang asked.

"Probably" I nodded.

"Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting" Zuko explained.

————

We walked past a carving in the wall and stopped to look at it, "Look, this seems promising" Aang smiled.

It showed a person being surrounded by two dragons who were breathing fire around him.

"What do you think it is?" Zuko asked before they both looked to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Do you have an idea of what this is?" Aang asked.

"No? Guys seriously. Just because I'm the only one who has a functioning brain cell doesn't mean I know everything," I rolled my eyes as they continued to stare at me.

I sighed, "Maybe it's something about the original source of Firebending. I don't know"

"They look pretty angry to me" Zuko bit his lip.

"I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors" Aang tilted his head.

"Well, they had a funny way of showing it" Zuko shrugged as we continued to walk again.

"Guys... something happened to the dragons in the last hundred years. Something you're not telling me" Aang tried to get the information out of us.

I gasped before another sharp pain went off in my head. This one was longer than my normal and I lost my balance falling forward.

"Hey, hey. I got you. I got you" Zuko caught me as I slowly descended to the ground.

"(Y/n) are you okay?!" Aang gasped running to my other side.

"I'm fine Aang," the pain went away. "I'm fine. I just get these pains"

"So... what happened to the dragons?" He asked.

"My great-grandfather... Sozin happened" Zuko bit his lip.

Aang immediately shot up, "I'M SORRY FOR MENTIONING IT!" He said very scaredly .

Did he know?

Zuko helped me up, "We don't need to talk about... him" Zuko snarled at... him.

We had a long talk about my... problem on our way to find the gaang and right now I just don't want to think about him. Act like he doesn't exist until the problem goes away.

As I regained my balance I stood up still, it felt like I couldn't control the words out of my mouth, "One hundred years ago I started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. My followers who were able to conquer one would become the ultimate firebenders, with firebending talents that would become legendary and you'd earn the honorary title, Dragon" I gasped finishing that sentence covering my mouth.

The boys eyes widened, "What was that?!" They both gasped.

I remained silent extremely scared as Zuko ran to me and placed his hand on my forehead, "Are you okay? Do you have a fever? Are you hurt?!"

"No I'm fine Zuko, it just... came out of me" I explained.

"No, no, no. What if. What if it was a stronger round?"

"Zuko-"

"What if it happens again?"

"Zuko-"

"He's getting stronger by the day isn't he? I can't let this happen, I need you. I need-"

"Zuko!" I yelled making him stop talking as I grabbed him face me, "I'm fine!"

"But you... but you-"

"But I just know my history!" I lied, "I know all about the dragons"

Aang came over as well, "What in the Sky Bison was that?!"

"One of the only... books I had on the Fire Nation was about the dragon conquerors. I used to pretend I was one of them and act like the history was... my own" I made up the quickest bull shit I could muster until they calmed down.

I don't think they believe me from the look they gave each other, but they dropped it as we continued to move through the ruins until coming to a door.

"Wow," I gasped in excitement. "You don't see something like this everyday"

The two doors were hand carved with a sun stone at the top, keeping them closed. 

Aang quickly ran to the gates, drops his staff, and unsuccessfully tries opening them, "It's locked up!"

I looked to Zuko who was rubbing his head, and looks behind us. He then quickly going aside and pulled me with him, to show the sunstone from the column in front of the gates beaming light.

"Wait, It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples. I bet that sunstone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits at just the right angle. On the solstice" he explained making me smirk.

He may act a little scared and head strung at times, but he's the smartest person I know.

"Monkeyfeathers! The solstice again? We can't wait here that long" Aang groaned.

Zuko and I nodded at each other as he pulled out his dual swords, "No, we can't. But we might be able to speed time up," he walked up to the circle carved on the ground on which light from the sunstone is being beamed. He placed his sword on it with an angle, causing it to reflect the light to the doors. "Let's see if we can outsmart the sunstone"

I bit my lip watching nothing happen as Aang pointed it out, "Nothing's happening"

"Shh" I shushed him as Zuko continued to try.

"Come on..." the light fixated on the sunstone as the ground started to shake. Soon the gates slowly opened and the shaking stopped.

"You did it!" I laughed jumping on Zuko as he got up. We enjoyed our moment as he spun me around, "I did!"

Zuko then let go of me as he put his swords away and Aang walked over, "You know, Zuko, I don't care what everyone else says about you. You're pretty smart"

We both smiled at that comment it was so nice... wait.

We walked inside and were greeted by a large amount of statues, all in different poses.

I knelt down and read the inscription out loud, "It says this is something called the Dancing Dragon"

Zuko chuckled, "So this is right up your ally"

I smirked getting to my feet, "More like ours"

The two of us continued to look at them while Aang gasped running to us. He grabbed Zuko by the arm, "Zuko, (Y/n)! Get over here! I want you to dance with me!"

We both raised a brow while Zuko tried to pry off, "What?"

"Aang are you okay?" I asked.

"Just do it!" He yelled grabbing both of us.

——

Both boys were on opposite ends while I was in the middle, "So explained this again?" I crossed my arms.

"Let's follow the steps of the statues. Don't you see? These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson. I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior firebending form" he pointed out.

"Yeah but this only looks like a two person dance, how am I going to learn?" I asked.

"Simple!" He smiled, "Do a combination of both sides in the middle"

I sighed, "Let's just get this over with"

"This better teach us some really good firebending" Zuko grumbled.

We then began to follow the moves and I won't lie, I got into it. I let the movements flow over me as I got lost in the dance before we all met at one end to finish the dance. Both boys put their fists together, while I put mine on top.

As we finished we heard a latch open, and turned to see a golden egg looking statue come out from the ground.

Aang began to jump for joy, "Hurray! Wait, what exactly is that?"

I tilted my head, "It looks like a dragon egg"

Zuko walked forward, "Well, don't touch it!" Aang yelled.

Zuko looked back confused, "Why not?"

"Remember what happened out there with those spikes?" Aang gasped, "I'm just very suspicious of giant glowing gems sitting on pedestals"

"Yeah... this place is probably very heavily booby-trapped" I crossed my arms.

Zuko shrugged before picking it up making me facepalm, "It feels almost alive" he exclaimed before a geyser of viscous slime erupts out from the pedestal and smashed Zuko toward the grates in the ceiling, sticking him there.

"Zuko!" I screamed.

The gates then closed trapping us inside as the slime began to fill the room, "Oh no, it's another trap!" Aang gasped.

We both jumped onto the statues to avoid the slime as Zuko struggled to escape, "Ugh, I can't pull free. It's like some kind of glue"

Aang thought fast and was able to airbend Zuko to the other side allowing him to breathe.

I gasped as the slime caught my foot pulling me in, "(Y/n)!" Aang yelled trying to grab my hand as the slime pulled me in.

I gasped trying to grab his hand, before his painful screams in the catacombs came flashing back to me. I bit my lip pulling my hand back as the slime began to bring me up to the ceiling.

Aang gasped getting caught as well, and before we knew it we all got pushed up to the open skylight.

"I can't move! Zuko, do something!"

"Me? I can't move either!"

"I'm stuck to!" I sighed as it stopped, keeping the three of us stuck.

"At least we have air. Maybe if we stay calm, we can figure a way out of this" Zuko told us as we waited for anything to happen.

——————

It had been at least three hours after the sun went down.

I tried to meditate to keep myself calm as Aang groaned, "You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?"

Zuko scoffed, "At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we'd never have made it past the courtyard"

"Guys please just shut up"

"Well (Y/n) you were no help either! I mean I could've helped you if you took my hand!" Aang yelled at me as I turned my gaze from him.

"He could've helped you and you didn't take it?! Why not?!" Zuko gasped.

"It's not that simple" I sighed.

"What's not? I was trying to help you! Spirits! I've been trying to talk to you for the last two days! You won't even look me in the eye! What's wrong?" Aang asked.

"It's not that simple Aang" I grumbled.

"What's not? What did I do?!"

"Aang..."

"No! What did I do?! Did I hurt you? Is it because I'm the Avatar?" He yelled trying to get it out of me.

"Aang-"

"No! What is it! You won't even let me hug you! Do you know how hard it was to be without you for that long?! I thought you were in danger! I though they were hurting you- no offence Zuko" he gasped.

"Non taken, my families messed up but we didn't do anything she didn't want" Zuko sighed.

"So what is it?! I tried everything to help get you back and now you won't even talk to us! I saw you and Sokka talking, so why can't you with me?! Heck! You don't even talk to Toph! What did I do?!"

"You didn't do anything Aang! I did!" I screamed, "I did! I almost killed you! I stroke you in the back! I've seen the scar so you can't even act like it never hurt! I hurt you Aang! I hurt you! I know it was an accident but I still hit you! I promised myself I'd never Lightningbend and I did! And when I did I hurt you! I hurt my little brother! So why can't I look you in the eye? Because I thought you were dead! Do you know how hard it was to do that? To wake up every morning with the pain of thinking you killed someone extremely close to you?! I hated myself! I despised myself! I gave into my anger and pain and now look at me! I'm not worthy to even look at you! And you act like nothing happened? What's wrong with you!" I cried, "I don't deserve your forgiveness and yet you gave it to me... I'm not worthy"

He went silent for a moment, "No" he sighed.

"What?"

"No. You are worthy of forgiveness" he sighed.

"I know that's your Air Nomad side talking. I know that's what you say but not what you think-"

"(Y/n) stop and listen to me. I was never angry with you. I was never mad at you. When I woke up the first thing I said was I needed to rescue you-"

"But I'm not worthy," I cried. "I'm not..."

"That makes you worthy... you didn't mean to harm me and I'm still breathing. I never blamed you for what happened and I never will. You're my big sister! The girl who always helped us out when we needed you, the girl who kept me in line and the girl who always protected us. When I woke up I just wanted to get you back safe"

I sniffled, "I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry!" I then lost my guard and looked him in the eyes for the first time in months.

He smiled, "You don't need to apologize, but if you need closure... I forgive you. I full heartedly forgive you"

I then felt a wave of relief wash over me as I finally got the closer I've been trying to get for months.

I then sighed looking up at the sky, "So how are we gonna get out of here?"

Zuko sighed, "Well after that drama session I think we don't have a way out"

Aang sucked in a breath before screaming, "Help!"

"Who are you yelling to? Nobody's lived here for centuries" Zuko grumbled.

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Aang scoffed at Zuko.

"Think about our place in the universe‌?" He suggested.

I looked up to the sky and sighed before a pair of footsteps came forward, "Who is down there?"

———————

The warriors took us out of the slime before using aardvark-sloths to lick the slime off of us.

The three of us were then surrounded by a large group of warriors, all in tribal attire.

The Chief walked forward and scoffed, "For trying to take our sunstone, you must be severely punished!"

Zuko glared at them, "We didn't come here to take your sunstone. We came here to find the ancient origin of all Firebending"

One of the warriors holding the golden egg scoffed, "Yeah, right. They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures"

"We don't care about that dam egg. We came to learn about Firebending" I told them as Aang sighed.

"Please, I don't normally play this card, but... I'm the Avatar. Just hear us out" he told them.

Zuko stood up, "My name is Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation," he then but his lip helping me to my feet. "O-or at least I used to be. This is my fiancé (Y/n), daughter of the Water Tribe Chief and the prophesied Southern Dragon"

I used my two fingers to salute them, "Hi"

Zuko sighed, "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's civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence," we all bowed to them. "Please, teach us"

The Sun Warrior Chief tilted his head, "If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters, Ran and Shaw"

Aang smiled, "Ran and Shaw? There are two of them?"

The Sun Warrior chief walked towards us, "When you present yourself 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"

My eyes widened, "S-soul?"

——————

The next morning we were brought to the main alter. An entire Tribe of men and women swarmed us in beautiful outfits.

We were then brought to a room with a beautiful flame burning in front of us "If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the Eternal Flame. This fire is the very first one. It was given to man by the dragons," the Chief explained. "We have kept it going for thousands of years"

Zuko smirked, "I don't believe it"

"You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending" he told us.

Aang then raised a hand, "Umm, Mister Sun Chief Sir‌, yeah, I'm not a firebender yet," he then pointed to Zuko and I. "Couldn't my friend here carry my fire for me?"

"No"

The Chief then took some of the flame and gave it to us. He then handed some to me and I bit my lip as the flame turned blue once it was in my grasp, "Sorry..." I bit my lip, "This always happens"

He smirked before nodding and addressing the three of us as we held our flames, "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior philosophy. 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" he explained.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous," Aang looked at his fire. "It's like a little heartbeat"

"Hey," I smiled. "You can do this"

"Fire is life, not just destruction. You will take your flames up there. The cave of the masters is beneath that rock" the Chief told us.

We then began to walk through a steep forest, before changing to the steep surface.

Zuko was able to make it up to the top first and turned to us, "Hurry up!" He told us.

"You'd think being chased by you for a year would make me a bit faster," I chuckled joining him. "But I'm not"

Aang bit his lip climbing up to join us, "I can't go fast. If I do, my flame will go out" he told us.

Zuko shook his head, "Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small. You're too timid, give it more juice" he demanded.

The Airbender's eyes widened, "But what if I can't control it?"

"You can do it. I know you can," Zuko encouraged him. You're a talented kid"

I smiled seeing Zuko actually encouraging someone besides me. I know he's amazing but him with other people's a different story.

"Hey Aang," I smiled. "If I can be forgiven, you can Firebend"

He smiled as we were greeted by the Chief who was looking at Zuko, "Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for you. Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearance. The masters might not be so happy to see you" he warned Zuko.

"I know I wouldn't be" some tribe member grumbled.

"And you..." the Chief looked to me, "Your soul is being drained by another isn't it?"

My eyes widened, "H-how could you te-"

"He told our master's he'd come for you"

I bit my lip looking down.

"I think some teens are gonna get burned tonight" a tribe member whispered.

"But once they find out I'm the Avatar-" Aang tried to step in.

"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. Three of four members standing before me are all at fault. Only one is stuck connected to the guiltiest" the Chief told us off.

The Sun Warriors then get into a kneeling position and the Chief takes a small portion of our flames and gives the flames to both the Sun Warriors. The Chief turns back and walks away.

I bit my lip looking to the boys and Aang sighed, "We could turn back now. We've already learned more about fire than we'd hoped"

Zuko shook his head, "No, we're seeing this through to the end. We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them"

"He's got a point Aang. We made it this far" I sighed.

"What if they judge us, and attack us?" Aang asked.

Zuko smirked unsheathing his swords slightly, "Well, we're the Fire Prince, Southern Dragon and the Avatar. I think we could take these guys in a fight, whoever they are" he smiled.

I chuckled as we began to walk up to the main pedestal awaiting the masters.

"Bring 'em out!" Zuko demanded.

"Chanters!" The Chief said.

As the warriors banged on the drums Zuko turned to one of the two caves while Aang went to the other. I closed my eyes and held my flame in the centre.

"Those who wish to meet the masters, Ran and Shaw, will now present their fire" they told us as we lifted our flames higher and I kept my eyes closed.

"Sound the call!" The Chief demanded.

Aang gasped, "What's happening‌? Guys, my fire went out" Aang told us.

"I'm sorry what?!" I whispered in fear.

"What do you want me to do‌?" Zuko whispered back.

"Give me some of yours" Aang tried to grab some of Zuko's.

"No, just make your own"

Aang shook his head, "I can't" He then reached for Zuko's flame again.

"Get some from those warriors. Hurry! Stop cheating off me!" Zuko began to yell as both boys started to fight over a flame.

My eye began to twitch looking at their bickering, "Guys stop fighti-" Aang then stumbled back making me fall back... losing my flame.

"(Y/n)!" Zuko gasped running to my side before looking at his hands... which had no fire in them.

"Uh oh" Aang bit his lip.

"This is more then an uh oh Aang" I sighed.

We then turned our attention to the caves as two eyes glowed inside a cave and a red dragon came out, roaring, circling around the bridge.

"Whoa" I gasped seeing it fly around us before seeing a blue dragon coming out of the other cave joining the red dragon as they circle the bridge we stood on.

"These are the masters" Zuko gasped.

I looked at them in awe as Aang whispered to Zuko, "Still think we can take 'em?"

"Sshh. I never said that" Zuko lied.

I moved away from in between the boys to watch the dragons. It was almost like they were dancing around us.

I then gasped, "Guys!"

"What?" They both turned to me.

"Dancing! We have to dance for them!" I smiled.

"(Y/n) I know you love to but ballroom dancing is not going to help us"

"No! We need to preform the Dancing Dragon!" I exclaimed.

Aang gasped, "You're right!"

"I don't know-"

"Just do it Zuko!" We both yelled at him.

He put his hands up, "Alright, alright"

We then took a deep breath and begun to preform the dance as the dragons continued to circle us.

As we all connected in the middle the dragons swarmed us. We all clung together as they glared before us and then spit their flames at us.

We all screamed preparing to be burned and I instinctively held Aang close to protect him while Zuko held onto me and protected my face.

But I didn't feel any burns... instead I opened my eyes to see a circle of fire surrounding us, showing multiple types of colours inside the flames.

"Wow" Aang gasped.

"There's even blue" I smiled.

Zuko's grip loosened on my hand, "I understand"

———

When the dragons left we walked down to join the other warriors and we were still in shock.

"Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined" Zuko smiled.

"It felt warm, but not a terrifying hot" I tried to explain.

"Like firebending harmony" Aang smiled.

The Chief nodded, "Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending"

Zuko shook his head, "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 smiled.

"Doesn't surprise me there" I chuckled.

The Chief shrugged, "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" I suggested.

"Yeah. That sounds like him" Zuko nodded putting an arm around me.

"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" Aang exclaimed.

"Something we don't have to fear. It may seem terrible, but is actually perfect and lively" I smiled.

"Yeah. It's like the Sun, but inside of you. Do you guys realize this?" He smiled looking to the warriors.

"Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors... so yeah" the Chief chuckled.

Zuko continued to smile, "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" Zuko turned to Aang.

"And I lost mine because of my guilt and self hatred. I've been fuelling my bending with my trauma for years now!" I explained.

Zuko looked to me and interlocked our hands, "But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you both defeat my father and restore balance to the world"

I smiled before kissing him, "Wanna see if we improved?"

He smirked and began to make two very large and powerful blasts in the air. He then turned to me and gestured me to try.

I smirked before pulling my two fingers out and blasting a very large and powerful strand of lighting in the air.

They all looked to me as I curtseyed.

"We've got our spark back!" I chuckled as he picked me up and spun me before I locked my arms around him and pulled him in for a longer kiss.

The Chief nodded as I was set down and then gave us all a glare, "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 eyes widened as I prepared to fight our way out but he then smiled. "Just kidding. But seriously, don't tell anyone!"

———————

The three of us preformed the dance to the gaang as Aang explained what we were doing, "With this technique the dragons showed us, Zuko, (Y/n) and I will be unstoppable"

As we finished Sokka rolled his eyes, "Yeah, that's a great dance you three learned there"

Zuko scoffed, "It's not a dance. It's a firebending form"

Sokka began to moves his fingers in a dancing manner, "We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord"

Zuko stomped towards him, "It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old!"

Katara chuckled, "Oh, yeah‌? What's your little form called‌?"

Zuko bit his lip, "The Dancing Dragon" he exclaimed as we all began to laugh.

I put my hands on my hip as we all laughed before Aang looked to me, "Some fiancé you've got there" he elbowed me.

"Yeah" I then got an idea and grabbed him and put him in a headlock before I noggied him.

"Hey let go!" He chuckled.

"Not today little bro"

"I'll get you back for this!"

"Yeah rig-" I gasped letting him go as another pain went off.

I collapse to my knees as I tightly gripped my hair.

"Orchid!" Zuko ran to my side as I waited for the pain to subside.

"I'm fine Zuko" I told him.

"That was longer then the last one" he told me.

"I'll be okay" I told him.

"What was that?" Sokka jumped to my other side.

Katara pulled out her water, "Did you hit your head? Do you need any healing?"

"Smarty-pants, your heart rate slowed down by seven beats. That's not normal" Toph told me a little shaken.

I looked to Zuko as he sighed, "We should tell them"

I nodded before looking to the group, "Guys... I need to tell you something very important"

"What is it?" Sokka ask me.

I sighed bitting my lip, "Do you believe in ghosts?"

•••