Chapter 63

Episode 19, Sozin's Comet: Part 2: The Old Masters

We walked pretty much to the middle of Ba Sing Se where we reached a camp with a few tents around a big fire place.

"Here we are," Bumi grinned and stretched out his hand to point to the camp. "Welcome to old people camp."

Zuko looked around. "Where... where is he?" he softly asked.

Piandao pointed at the biggest tent at the end of the camp, "Your uncle's in there, Prince Zuko."

Zuko nodded and we were left alone. I gave his hand a squeeze and shot him a warm smile. "You can do this," I soflty told him before kissing his cheek and leaving him to talk with his uncle. He nodded and walked toward the tent. However, he didn't enter but sat down in front of it with crossed legs.

Knitting my eyebrows, I walked up to him and sat beside him. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "I'm not okay. My uncle hates me and I know it." He looked on the ground and my face softened. "He loved me and supported me in every way he could. And I still turned against him. How can I even face him?"

"Zuko," I said softly, "As far as I know your uncle, he will forgive you, no matter what. You're clearly sorry for what you did."

He nodded. "More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life."

"And to be honest, uncle Iroh would never hate you. I'm sure of that. He may be sad or disappointed that you turned against him and lost your way but he would never hate you for that."

Zuko looked at me and smiled briefly. "Thank you," he whispered.

I nodded and blushed slightly. "Now get in there and talk it out with him," I smiled and nudged his side and he took a deep breath before getting up and entering the tent.

"You are so in love." Katara's teasing voice reached my ears and I tensed and blushed madly. Quickly getting up from the ground, I turned to my twin. She had her arms crossed and a smirk on her face which widened when she saw my red face.

"Shut up," I whisper-yelled before briefly looking over my shoulder at the tent.

She only laughed as I pressed my lips together, glaring at her. "Oh my, you didn't even deny it."

"I told you to shut up," I said and dragged her away from the tent. She was still chuckling and I knew I wouldn't hear the end of this for the whole night.

The next day, Katara, Suki and me helped preparing breakfast while Toph sat beside us doing nothing. I wanted to wake Sokka to help us but he wouldn't wake up so I gave up after a few minutes.

Katara still had that teasing smile on her face and an amused glint in her eyes while I was shooting her warning glares every now and then. If Toph heard that, I wouldn't get out of this for the rest of my life.

I narrowed my eyes at Katara who glanced at me with a smile but my face lit up when I saw uncle Iroh and Zuko appoaching us.

"I'm gonna go wake Sokka," Suki said and left.

I nodded, still focused on these two and when uncle Iroh saw me, he smiled and opened his arms. I let out a laugh and ran up to him, englufing him in a hug. "I missed you old man."

He chuckled, "I told you I could get out of prison on my own."

We parted the hug and I nodded with a smile on my face. "Yeah, I can see that."

Zuko looked between us and knitted his eyebrows.

"Jasmine dear visited me when I was in prison," Iroh told Zuko with a smile, pulling me into a side hug.

I chuckled and slightly shook my head. Zuko snapped his head in my direction. "Why would you do that? You could've been caught"

Smiling, I grabbed his hand, "But I wasn't. Come one let's have breakfast first, I'm starving," I said and dragged Zuko with me.

All of us, including Sokka, were sitting together for breakfast. I have no idea how Suki managed to get my brother out of bed.

"Uncle, you're the only person other than the Avatar who can possibly defeat the father lord," Zuko said in a serious tone, looking at Iroh. I stopped eating, thinking about if I had heard him correctly.

"You mean the Fire Lord," Toph said and pointed her chopsticks at Zuko.

"That's what I just said," Zuko countered and knitted his eyebrows. I giggled as Toph shrugged and went back to eating.

Uncle Iroh hummed and looked on the ground deep in thought. We were counting on him as our last option.

"We need you to come with us," I said and looked at the old man.

He put his bowl down, still looking on the ground. "No, it won't turn out well."

My stomach dropped and I put my lips in a thin line. There goes our last chance of defeating Fire Lord Ozai.

"You can beat him, and we will be there to help," Zuko insisted but I had a feeling Iroh wouldn't give in.

"Even if I did defeat Ozai, and I don't know that I could, it will be the wrong way to end the war," Iroh said and looked at Zuko, "History will see it as just more senseless violence. A brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord."

Zuko looked at his uncle with big eyes. "And then, would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?" He asked in a hopeful tone.

Iroh shook his head. "No. Someone new must take the throne." He looked at Zuko, "An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honour. It has to be you, Prince Zuko."

His face fell and he couldn't look in his uncle's eyes. "Unquestionable honour? But I've made so many mistakes." I put my hand on his, giving it a squeeze.

"Yes you have," Iroh said, "You struggled, you suffered, but you have always followed your own path. You restored your own honour and only you can restore the honour of the Fire Nation."

"I'll try uncle," Zuko said and closed his eyes, looking away. I smiled slighlty, feeling proud of him. He went through so much but still found his own way on his own; he's a strong person and has grown so much since I first met him.

"Well, what if Aang doesn't come back?" Toph asked speaking out the question all of us wanted to know the answer to.

"Sozin's comet is arriving and our destinies are upon us. Aang will face the Fire Lord," Iroh said but it was still hard to believe that. Aang has been missing for a few days now and there was still no sign of him. Not even June could find him.

"When I was a boy, I had a vision, that I'll one day take Ba Sing Se. Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation so the Earth Kingdom can be free again." Iroh looked at all of us.

"That's why you gathered the members of the white lotus," I said as realization hit me. We all have a part to play in this war and we all have our own destiny. The only thing left to do was to believe in ourselves and the others. I took a breath and smiled slightly; Aang would come back to fullfill his destiny.

Iroh nodded before looking at Zuko, "Zuko you must return to the Fire Nation so that when the Fire Lord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order. But Azula will be there, waiting for you."

Zuko's face hardenend and he nodded, "I can handle Azula."

"Not alone," Iroh quickly said in a serious tone and folded his hand in his lap, "You'll need help."

"I'll go with you," I said and linked our arms, looking at Iroh who nodded in approval.

Zuko glanced at me. "Are you sure?" he whispered and eyed my face.

I nodded looking into his eyes. "I'm not leaving you alone."

He smiled slighty and his cheeks turned pink. "Thank you," he whispered and I smiled before intertwining our fingers.

"What about us?" Sokka asked, "What's our destiny today?"

Iroh picked up his bowl and put it on his lips, smiling into it. "What do you think it is?"

My brother put his chin between his fingers. "I think although we don't know where Aang is, we need to do everything we can to stop the airship fleet."

"And that means, when Aang does face the Fire Lord, we will be right there if he needs us," Toph said and punched into her own palm with a smirk on her face. Iroh only smiled at us when we got up ready to fullfill our destinies.

Sokka, Suki, Toph and Katara would be on their way to stop the airship fleet. Master Piandao gave Sokka a map so they could find their way there easily.

Zuko and me would take Appa to fly to the Fire Nation and defeat Azula if necssary.

Before we went our seperate ways, we said our goodbyes. I hugged Suki and Toph tightly before turning to Katara. She gulped and nodded before I engulfed her into a tight hug as well. "Be careful out there," I whispered and she nodded.

"You too. We'll see each other in a few days," she said and I nodded.

Then I turned to Sokka with tears in my eyes. He pressed his lips together before opening his arms. I gave him a bone-crushing hug and and shut my eyes tightly to prevent myself from crying. He stroke my hair and hugged me back. "Take care of yourself and the others okay?" I whispered and he hugged me tighter.

"Will do. Don't do anything stupid and reckless," he whispered and we parted the hug. I shot him a smile and wiped my eyes before a tear could roll down.

"Hey, no last words or something," I said and cracked another smile even though I really didn't feel like smiling. Sokka nodded hearing the hint of seriousness in my tone. "This time we'll come back as heros for sure."

"We'll met back here in a few days," he said and pulled me in another hug, "Just stay alive," he whispered.

I nodded. "You too big bro," I whispered and he let go of me before pulling Zuko to the side and talking with him. They glanced at me briefly while talking before Zuko nodded. With one last wave Zuko and me got on Appa.

Uncle Iroh approached us with a small smile. "Good luck you two," he said and I shot him a small smile.

"Uncle, if I'm gonna be the Fire Lord after the war is over, what are you gonna do?" Zuko asked. I still couldn't believe that Zuko would be Fire Lord after all this, it seemed so unreal to me.

Iroh's smile widened, "After I reconquer Ba Sing Se, I am going to reconquer my tea shop and I'm going to play Pai Sho every day."

We all nodded at each other one last time. "Goodbye uncle Iroh," I said and he nodded.

"Goodbye everyone. Today destiny is our friend. I know it."

And with that Zuko and I started our journey to the Fire Nation while the others went their way.

I was looking at the sky when it suddenly turned a red orange colour. The comet has arrived.

"It's begun," I mumbled and took a deep breath before a determined expression covered my face and I balled my fists. This time we would be victorious and end the war for good.