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There wasn’t a moment of hesitation in Zuko as he placed himself in front of that lightening and let it strike into his chest. He’d pulled it from his flesh, managing to throw most of it into the sky, but he could still feel that power lacing through the veins of his heart as he lay on the scorched patio. From the corner of his gaze, he could see Katara desperately trying to avoid the frenzy of flames being thrown at her. Zuko tried to rise, struggling with his breathing as he fought to do anything to help her.
Collapsing back against the stone, the wind knocked out of his chest, Zuko lost sight of the fight as Azula’s flames lite the courtyard on fire. He could feel the heat beating down on him, but there was nothing he could do as the flames continued to needle at anything it could devour. The pulsing in his chest grew faster, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster…..
His heart stopped.
The heat left his body. He was cold, like the quiet embers of a long-smoldered flame. The Fire Nation courtyard was no longer burning around him; the courtyard wasn’t even there at this moment. He stood in a mist coated swamp, with towering overgrown trees bloating out the milky blue sky above. There was silence; a silence so deafening it brought a ringing to his ears. Zuko’s hand grasped the front of his tunic. The fabric was whole, and the skin underneath was unblemished, no sign of the lightning strike that had seared through his chest.
Glancing around the strange setting, Zuko struggled to find anything to provide him answers. His gaze caught a figure nestled in the branches of his head. He shouted at the person, gaining no answer in response. Trying again, Zuko shouted as loudly as he could in hopes of gaining attention. Still the figure didn’t turn, only continued to sway where they stood in the branches.
Deciding that there wasn’t a better approach, he attempted to light his knuckles ablaze and shot a flame up the tree. No fire broke through the air. That cold feeling in his chest settled once more. He could feel a cold wind moving through his body.
The figure finally seemed to notice him. In a blink, they were gone from the knotted tree branches and was now standing before the startled Prince. The figure was not human, that was something quickly realized. They were tall, nearly double the height of Zuko, even as they were hunched forward with their shoulders bunched around their perfectly rounded face. They wore a long moss coated cloak, with black nailed claws peaking through the fabric. A set of dark green eyes took up the majority of their face, with a narrowed lip resting below and a bundle of black feathers spiking from their head.
Zuko took a step back, only for the creature to lumber forward. He leaned down more, so their gaze was matching. The weird bird like creature gave a sniff, smiling in satisfaction. “Greetings, young fire-blood. You are lost, no?”
Words lost Zuko’s lips as he stared into their glistening green eyes. It was strange, but for a flash he thought he could see another figure moving in those orbs. “Just leaving!”
As he turned to dash away, one of the clawed hands reached out, snagging into his tunic. Zuko felt his feet leaving the ground as the creature rose to its full height. Dangling there, he grabbed at the claw to try and break himself free, with no success. His attempts only brought a further smile onto the creatures lips.
“Now, now, now, now. No need to leave now! You are lost, no? I can help. It’s as I do, help young lost ones find their way. I can help you, little fire-blood. You merely need accept you are lost. I will bring you where you belong. You are lost, no?”
Silence set around them as the creature continued to hold Zuko several feet above the ground. He found himself staring into those eyes, once more seeing the figure that moved behind the green orbs. His mother’s face peered at him, smiling in that way she always had, with her hands folded into the sleeves of her dress and her hair falling like a blanket around her face.
Beside her, his father placed a hand on her shoulder, and offered his other to Zuko, with a smile on his face that he never once provided. Uncle was chuckling fully, offering a steaming cup of tea to a Lu Ten who was whole, alive, and offering a wink as he beckoned Zuko in. Azula’s face was plastered with the same welcoming smile as she sipped at her chilled drink. Mai stood beside her, giving him that gorgeous smile as she nibbled on a pastry. In the back of the crowded garden, he could spot the deep blue of Katara and Sokka’s parkas as the rest of their friends came and joined the party.
Everyone was smiling. Everyone was happy. He watched as his mother embraced Aang, and his sister handed a fruit drink to Katara. Zuko found himself melting into the scene that he knew would never exist. It felt real. It felt like he’d always been standing in the garden with them. The Katara in the vision looked at him, and in her gaze he saw only the most vibrant of blue. There was something unnatural about the color being presented before him. As the warmth before him continued to grow, he felt that cold within his chest searing away rapidly.
When the ice licked at his chest and sent a pulse through his chilled heart, Zuko found himself snapping out of the scene. Katara! The blue of her eyes was replaced with the memory of the deadly blue of the fire that had been trying to strike them both down.
“Fuck!” Unable to get the claw out of his tunic, Zuko slammed his feet into the creatures chest, shoving himself away. With the impact, the strange bird beast gave a cry as the force ripped the fabric, sending Zuko tumbling. He took the near five foot drop with grace, rolling once before getting to his feet.
Zuko ran. His feet slapped against the mist covered ground as he attempted to flee. The trees only continued to grow around him, the sky growing dark behind the pillows of foliage. He dodged a branch snaking across the path, only to find himself nearly slamming into the Spirit once more.
Those mossy green eyes grew wider, as the snaggled toothed frown dripped with saliva. “Why do you run? I merely want to help. Do you not want help? You are lost, are you not?”
The fire didn’t not come to Zuko’s fists, but it came with his words. “I am not lost. My friends are in danger, I don’t have time for this. Kindly fuck off!”
“Friends? I can give you friends, that I can. Friends like you want them. Friends like you need them. Friends not in danger. I can give you all you desire.” A blackened claw was presented to Zuko. His eyes started shifting once more. “You’re friends are lost, I can make them no longer so.”
Taking a step back, Zuko prepared to either flee once more or attempt to fist fight the Spirit stalking him through this foggy forest. The air around him shifted, the fog growing darker around the towering creature. The Spirit hunched into on itself, seemingly trying to appear small as a presence stepped behind Zuko.
“Enough, Vorare!” The deep male voice cut through the treeline. There was a hand placed on Zuko’s shoulder; the warmth was very welcoming and strangely familiar. “Leave the boy alone.”
“I mean no ill,” the spirit clasped its claws together, bowing their head to the side. “Fire-blood is lost. I mean no ill. No, no, no, no, no, I do not. Merely wish to help.”
“Leave,” the man spoke with an authority given with age and power. Vorare looked like they wished to argue, reaching towards Zuko once, before their shoulders tensed and they slithered towards a tree. With one forlorn glance at Zuko, they clambered their way up the tree branch, and out of sight. A croak of some creature filled the silence, before several others started chattering away in casual noise.
Turning to the man who’d rescued him, Zuko felt the cold in his chest once more. The deep red and gold of his robes was a contrast to the dulled greenery surrounding them. His beard and long hair were an aged white, and framed a face that Zuko could see his mother in. He’d memorized her face so well, that he could tell where she’d gotten her sharp slopped nose, her thin rounded ears, and her upturned lips from. Zuko saw the same honey gold tone of his own eyes on the old man.
Dropping to his knees, Zuko bowed as low as he could as Avatar Roku stood over him. He already could not feel the beating of his heart, and if he had, there was every chance that it would have stopped in that moment. With his hands placed against the damp ground, Zuko fought to push his words from his throat.
“Avatar Roku,” the was a shake to his voice, “I am sorry. On behalf of Sozin’s line, on behalf of the Fire Nation as a whole, I humbly apologize for the actions taken against you.”
In a familiar response to his apology, a set of hands dragged Zuko from the kowtow, and forced him upright. Roku didn’t drag him into a suffocating hug the way Uncle had, but the previous Avatar held him firmly with withered hands on his shoulders. He looked at Zuko, smile growing on his lips. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I-”
“No. There is no apology you need to give me. You are not Sozin. You are not responsible for his actions, nor the destruction he wrought. You are righting the wrongs of those before you, and I could not be prouder of the man who are becoming.” Roku placed a hand on Zuko’s not scarred cheek, brushing his tangled black hair off his forehead. “I see so much of myself in you; those eyes are like looking into my own. But that nose, there is not doubt you got that from Ta Min.”
“So you know? That I’m…”
“A descendant of mine, I do.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
Roku chuckled, withdrawing his hand from Zuko’s cheek. He gave his shoulder a tug, drawing the pair to their feet. “I will not allow any more apologies from you, especially not one concerning your birth.”
“I feel like I apologize for that a lot,” Zuko muttered under his breath.
“Well stop. I am proud to claim you as my own. You have been through far more than one your age should, through hardships that would have broken weaker men, and yet you stand before me, with such kindness and grace in your heart. You realized the destruction brought on by this war, and chose to risk everything, to give up all you’ve known, on the chance of making things better in your world. You have fought so hard, given so much of yourself with no demands in return.”
Roku looked off for a moment, before looking back at Zuko. “I could not be prouder of who you have become. And I could not have asked for a better teacher to instruct my reincarnate in the way of our flames.”
Zuko’s thought was instantly ripped from this moment, and back onto the friends he knew to be in danger. “Is Aang alright? Where is he?”
“He is with your father at the moment.” With the panic grasping at Zuko’s chest, Roku once more gave his bony shoulder a comforting squeeze. “He is alright. While I cannot tell you what is happening with him, or the rest of your friends, I can assure you that he is alright.”
“I need to get out of here. Katara is in danger. I can’t leave her to fight alone.” Zuko’s gaze dashed across the clearing. For the first moment, he stopped to think about where he was and what it meant. “This is the Spirit world. Am I dead?”
“Dead, no. The lightening attacked your heart, and the damage was indeed great, but you are not dead. Teetering on the edge would be a simplified answer. But no, you are not dead.”
“Then I need to get back. Please, is there something you can do?”
Roku sighed deeply. “That I can. I will always be thankful for the chance to meet you, but you do not belong here. The world very much does still need you.”
As Roku reached a hand towards Zuko’s forehead, the prince took a half step back. “Wait! Sorry. I just, I have to ask. My mother… is she… is she here?”
Those lips so much like his mother’s turned into a smile. “No. She is not here. If she is anything like her own mother, I can assure you that you will find each other again.”
With that bit of reassurance, Zuko nodded, stepping back up to the aged Avatar. Roku placed his hand on the teenagers forehead, spreading his fingers so he could touch each of his temples. With a steady breath, he looked the young man in his eyes. “I just have one mere ask of you.”
“Anything,” Zuko found himself responding.
“Stay by Aang’s side. Ending the war is the first challenge. Peace will be an even greater one. And while I have no doubt in you or him, I know it will require the two of you to usher in a world better than anyone can imagine.”
Roku closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He offered one last remark before sending Zuko from this space. His eyes reopened, the light of the Avatar state nearly blinding Zuko as the coldness in his chest was instantly replaced with pulsating pain.
“I am proud of you. Never forget that.”
There was an unbelievable pain rupturing from his chest. With a deep groan, he felt the air passing back through his lungs. Cracking an eye open, he was greeted to Katara’s tear stained face being alight by the healing water on her hands. The pain in his chest started to fade, but he could still feel that unfamiliar heat nipping at his heart.
“Thank you, Katara.”
She smiled down at him, brushing the tears from her face. “I’m the one who should be thanking you.”