Chapter Text
In hindsight staying behind to face Azula had been a terrible idea. He had never won any sort of battle against her before, despite being the older sibling, and should have followed his uncle. Escape to fight another day. Preferably when the gap between their skill levels did not fall so heavily out of his favour.
Once the Dai Li opened a tunnel and pushed him in, he had little time to spare for any thoughts until the tunnel ended and he was left sprawled on the hard ground.
A shuffle of feet and a rustle of cloth was all the warning he had before someone spoke his name in disbelief. He got to his knees, and he looked up, his golden eyes meeting the bright blue of the Water Tribe girl the Avatar travelled with. He’d heard her name called quite a few times, but his mind was drawing a blank at the moment, so he kept quiet to reduce the risk of offending her.
The tunnel was closed, but there were crystals everywhere that let off a strange yet soft luminescence. It made the underground space feel a little less oppressive and far lighter than he’d expected. At least he didn’t have to waste his energy to keep a flame in his hand. That was about the only small mercy he felt the universe had seen fit to grant him at the moment.
He turned away from the girl, exposing his back to her. He hunched his shoulders and hugged his knees, hoping she attributed his behaviour to being captured and not because he was desperately telling himself that this girl was not his sister and would not try to kill him the moment he gave her an opening. Turning his back to her meant he was leaving himself wide open. At least she didn’t have her waterskin and so was likely unarmed. It was only a small comfort amongst the strained silence.
Zuko’s mind was racing though. He knew the Avatar was in Ba Sing Se due to the flyers about his sky bison. The Firebender had even gone to find the sky bison and use it to capture the Avatar. His uncle had followed him, asking him some hard questions and throwing some unwanted truths in his face. He’d ended up setting the beast free and falling ill once back in their apartment.
Life had seemed better once he’d recovered, although the strange dragon-like serpents in his dreams had weirded him out a lot.
The blue one, sounding much like his sister, had a soft voice that spoke calm, honeyed words. It was enticing and persuasive. The red one sounded like his uncle, but he was loud and angry. Although the words made sense, the tone was frightening, making him want to turn away. The floor had crumbled beneath him, sending him falling into a dark void so he ended up following neither reptile.
The silence was broken by his fellow prisoner, but they ended up finding common ground in their missing mothers.
Then she offered to heal his scar.
His eyes fell shut at the not-quite-there feeling of her fingers on his scar tissue.
Zuko was tempted. He was very tempted. His scar was a distinct, painful symbol and reminder of his disrespect towards his father, even though he’d never intended such a thing. If she really could heal it, really could remove the physical stain of dishonour that marked him… But if it was healed, would his father think he hadn’t learned his lesson? Would he think Zuko weak or disloyal for not bearing the burden of his punishment like his father wanted?
He didn’t get the time to think as the Avatar appeared in a newly created tunnel, accompanied by...Uncle?! He scowled as the young Avatar glared at him over the girl’s shoulder as they hugged, clearly visible around his uncle’s bulk.
Then his uncle was telling him to basically become a full-blown traitor and Azula appeared, her Dai Li agents trapping the old man among spurs of crystal.
Zuko felt like he was suddenly back in his dream with the two serpents, although this time it truly was Azula and his Uncle vying for his ear. His uncle wasn’t shouting and Azula’s words weren’t quite as honeyed, but she certainly made it feel as though her way was the better way. Indeed, the only way to get exactly what he’d wanted for the last three years; to return home and be welcomed by his father.
Azula left the choice up to him. He stalked away from his uncle, following the path his little sister had taken. He wanted to view how things were going before he jumped in. If fate was on his side, then the battle would end swiftly, and he would never have to decide. Perhaps he could find some other way than betraying the one family member that had stuck by him during his banishment, even though he wasn’t pleased by the traitorous talk.
He peeked out into a large cavern that had channels of water flowing through it. The Waterbender was taking full advantage of her element, as were the Dai Li. Azula was, of course, perfectly fine with her self-generated blue flames. The Avatar was using a mix of air, water and earth, but no fire. He obviously hadn’t started learning Firebending yet.
The teen’s thoughts were a mess. It had been nice to live a life devoid of the pressures his father and nation placed on his shoulders, but it did feel like he was just running away. He couldn’t run forever, he had a duty as the crown prince of the Fire Nation, even if he was currently banished.
But it was so hard to trust Azula’s words. She lied as easily as breathing and had nearly captured both him and Uncle as prisoners with him none the wiser. He was too eager to go home, too blinded by having his dream handed to him on a silver platter. This time he could earn it instead, which would be much better. What if it turned out to be just another trap though?
Zuko grit his teeth and let his breath hiss through the tiny gaps. You wouldn’t throw lightning at me, but I guess it can’t hurt to ask for a sign or some sort of help with this decision. Come on, universe, is siding with Azula worth it? Is it my destiny to join her against the Avatar? Or will I be better off siding with Uncle like before at Azula’s ship?
He didn’t expect the universe to answer him. It never had before, unless ignoring him counted. He waited several seconds, huffed, and took a tiny step forward as the battle shifted in the Avatar’s favour. Was that a sign that he should side with his sister? That she was right when she said she couldn’t do it without him?
The banished prince gasped silently; a fierce pain having stolen his breath. He fell to his knees heavily, the noise easily muffled by the sounds of combat and yelling echoing around the cavern. A pulse of pain forced him onto all fours, eyes wide as his heart pounded. Another pulse, the most agonising one yet, made him curl up instinctively as though to protect most of the soft spots his body had in one attempt.
His eyes were scrunched tightly shut and his breathing was reduced to tiny, ragged pants, making him feel light-headed and dizzy. It felt like the tunnel was spinning wildly around him even though he knew he was lying on the ground.
As fast as the pain came, it ebbed away.
Zuko blinked, cautiously uncurling onto all fours. He scrambled back to the tunnel exit, looking into the cavern.
Azula was still losing. It was slow, but sure. Maybe the pain had been a sign. A very big, very crude sign. But for what? To side with or against his sister? He felt no closer to an answer. He both felt and heard footsteps behind him and his head whipped around.
It was Uncle, standing there staring at him as though he were some strange spirit.
“Do not take this the wrong way,” Iroh said, hands clasped in front of his stomach in a way that prevented quick Firebending, “but do not let the young female Firebender in the cavern see you. She is very skilled, so I beg of you to leave this place as quickly as you can. I am going to help the Avatar. The female Firebender is crazy and needs to be stopped. Do not let yourself be captured.”
His uncle stepped past him and jumped into the fray, prompting the Dai Li to aid Azula. The fight was now far more even for the moment. But Zuko was only half paying attention to the fight. His uncle said many strange things, most of which went right over Zuko’s head, loathe though he was to admit it sometimes. It made him feel a bit stupid. But that had been especially strange, even for his uncle. He got the gist of the message though: Uncle didn’t think he could face Azula. He didn’t want to team up with the Avatar and his Waterbender, but he would show Uncle that he was not afraid of Azula! She may have captured him before and tossed him down here, but that didn’t mean she would capture him again! If he could face her without the Dai Li interfering then he had a chance.
Zuko leapt from the tunnel, landing a little less gracefully than he planned.
His uncle was on his right, as was the Avatar and several Dai Li agents. Azula was on his left. The Waterbender was almost in front of him, quickly headed to his left on a wave of water, aiming right for Azula.
Before he could decide what move to make, the young Avatar exclaimed, “A dragon!” in a happy, awed tone.
A dragon? Where? His uncle had killed the last one. It was that fact, alongside his fire breath technique, that granted him the title of Dragon of the West. The Avatar was looking in his direction, a giant grin plastered on his face. Zuko looked behind him on both sides but could see nothing except the rocky cavern interior and the numerous clumps of bright, glowing crystals that were everywhere down here.
He turned his attention back to the battle, wondering what the bald little monk was playing at. Perhaps he was hallucinating. Maybe there was a spirit dragon in here. The Avatar could see spirits, right?
Iroh blasted back two agents and turned to Zuko, dark amber eyes wide and full of fear and concern. “No, get out of here!” his gruff voice called almost desperately.
While he was grateful to see his uncle cared, the lack of faith in his skills rankled.
“No! I can do this!” he yelled back in defiance.
Strange growls and roars reverberated around the cavern, bouncing back and forth off the walls and crystals. Everyone stopped what they were doing, even Azula and the Dai Li, to stare at Zuko.
His little sister appeared shocked, but she quickly pulled herself together, a crafty gleam entering her cold, calculating gaze. “Well, well, what have we here?” she said loftily. She took one step forward in his direction, like a predator stalking her prey. “So small. But a trophy is a trophy, and I’ve always wanted to carry on this family tradition! Even underground, in the heart of the Earth Kingdom, the sun smiles upon me!”
She grinned and shot a huge burst of bright blue fire right at him.
Zuko tried to get in the right stance to deflect or dissipate the flames, but his body would not obey, his limbs responsive but with garbled signals. The flames were only a few feet away when he gasped, crouched down, ducked his head and tried to curl up to minimise his surface area. He could feel the heat and see flickers of blue through his closed eyelids, his mind flashing to memories of the Agni Kai against his father.
Burned by another family member.
The heat and colour passed. There was no pain this time. Surely he wasn’t that lucky. Was he dead?
No, he could hear Uncle shouting angrily and the sound of fire blasts a short distance away. The Avatar was also yelling angrily, which was just confusing. Why would the monk be angry over Azula attacking her older brother? It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it happen before, nor should he care since they were enemies.
Zuko opened his eyes. He blinked, bewildered to still find nothing but darkness in his view. He shifted, trying to see if another angle would help, when his shoulders flexed and his view was suddenly unobstructed, like the curtains of a palanquin being parted. He froze, tensing every muscle, and the curtains froze as well, now blocking his side views like blinkers on an ostrich-horse.
“Hey, are you okay?” asked the Avatar, dashing to a stop only a couple of feet away. “Your wings didn’t get burnt, did they?”
The Airbender was moving his upper half here and there, craning to look at each of the things blocking the sides of his vision. Zuko could have sworn he just heard the Avatar ask if his wings were fine. His wings . Zuko did not have wings.
Zuko looked over at the obstruction to his right. It was easier to get a better view with his good eye. It looked much like the typical structure of any winged creature that was part bat, with long skeletal fingers ribbed with a membrane. He flexed his right shoulder experimentally, willing the wing to extend. It did.
Zuko had wings.
That dragon the Avatar was yelling about… The strange things his uncle said… Azula speaking of a trophy…
The banished prince gulped quietly and turned his face down, spotting scaly arms ending in sharp, wicked looking claws that were digging into the earth as he tensed again in panic. He jerked his head back up, meeting the Avatar’s gaze. The monk was starting to look concerned, a light frown furrowing his tattooed brow.
“Whoa, hey, are you hurt? You should get out of here and avoid that crazy girl with the blue fire,” the Avatar said, worry present in every syllable he uttered.
The teen could feel his right eye twitch. He was a dragon. That pain he’d experienced must have been a transformation and his uncle had stumbled across a dragon, completely unaware it was his very own nephew. Now here was the Avatar, worried over his wellbeing, while his sister was trying to kill him and bring his carcass back to Father as a trophy in the honoured tradition of dragon slaying his great-grandfather Sozin had started.
This is a really big sign, universe. I’m not sure if I should thank you or not, he thought, bordering on hysteria.