Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Duty Versus Love ❯ The Dragon's Rebirth ( Chapter 22 )

LES: Surprisingly, the idea for this chapter came from my non-Avatard father. I was watching the episode “The Firebending Masters” and my dad was watching with me and he made a comment that I almost shot down. But, you know what? It actually made sense. Another strange instance of a non-Avatard picking up on something that an Avatard like me missed. Strange how that works… Thanks place immediately after the Spring Equinox meeting.

 

Chapter XXII: The Dragon's Rebirth

 

It didn't take a genius to realize that Aang was excited to see the end of the Spring Equinox meeting. Not only did that mean that he and Katara had been married for over a year now, but after months of travel, he would be returning home to the Southern Air Temple.

Katara was so glad to see how excited he was about going home; and it occurred to Katara how much they both had rubbed off on each other during the last seven years. Aang, the constant wanderer, had learned to appreciate the comforts of home. And Katara, the tribal woman who valued family above all, had learned the thrill of travel.

On the day before they decided to go home, the family played with their two infants at the same time, with Anil being the most responsive since he was older.

But suddenly, playtime was interrupted when Zuko rushed into the house, sighing with relief. “Oh, good, you're still here. I was worried you had left all ready.”

“Well, no need to worry, because we weren't going to leave until tomorrow.” Aang said, passing Anil to Katara. “What's wrong, Zuko?”

“Can I speak to you alone?” Zuko asked. “It's regarding our Firebending Masters.”

Aang instantly followed Zuko out of the room. Both Aang and Zuko had learned an ancient method of Firebending from the source of Firebending: the dragons. But they weren't just any dragons, but the last two alive in the world today. As the Avatar, Aang had a vast interest in their safety, and the look on Zuko's face scared him.

I hope nothing bad has happened to them. Aang thought to himself.

Once they were a short distance away from the rest, and out of ear-shot from any eavesdroppers, Aang spoke. “What's the matter? Did something happen to Ran and Shao?”

“I'm not sure.” Zuko admitted. “A messenger hawk arrived at my villa just now, baring a message from the Sun Warriors.” Zuko held out a scroll for Aang to read.

The Avatar took it and quickly read the message that was within.

`Esteemed Firelord Zuko,

The last hope for the preservation of Firebending has awoken.

We would be pleased if you and the Avatar could meet us beyond the Western Wall of Ba Sing Se in a week's time at midnight.

Our last hope may rest with you.

~Chief of the Sun Warrior Clan'

“What day is one week from the time this letter was sent?” Aang asked.

“It's today.” Zuko said. “Tonight, at midnight, beyond the western wall of Ba Sing Se. Will you come with me? We can get there faster on Appa.”

“Of course I'll come. I'm just as interested in the fate of the dragons as you are.” Aang said. “It's starting to get late.”

“Yes.” Zuko agreed. “We should go before my body guards realize I'm not in my room.”

Aang laughed at the thought of Zuko giving his body guards the slip, but he could understand why he did it. Maintaining the safety of the dragon's existence was critical. If any ambitious Firebenders discovered the dragons were still alive, they would hunt them down without a thought in order to win honor and glory for themselves.

Zuko joined in Aang's laughter. “Like we really need body guards. Who could possibly go against the Firelord and the Avatar in combat?”

“Not many.” Aang said. “Hold on, I need to tell Katara that I'm leaving.” He rushed back to his family, followed by Zuko. “Um, Katara?” He called to get her attention. “Something has come up and I have to leave. I probably won't be back until well after midnight. Don't wait up for me.”

“Oh, okay, Aang.” Katara stood up and kissed him. “Be safe?”

“Always.” Aang responded before following Zuko out the door once again.

~~~~~~~~~~

They made it outside the Western Wall of Ba Sing Se with plenty of time to spare. Because of the secretive nature of the letter, they were far enough away from the massive walls that it could barely be seen on the horizon. They were quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

Zuko slid off Appa's back and landed firmly on the ground, taking in a deep breath. “Man, it's been so long since I could just enjoy the scenery. Being the Firelord is great and all, but it doesn't give me much of a chance to stop and smell the roses.”

“I know what you mean.” Aang said, jumping off Appa and gently landing on the ground next to him. “It seems I never get a moment of peace, between the demands of the world and my family. Don't get me wrong. I love my family and I wouldn't trade them for anything. It just gets a little much sometimes. I'd gladly give up being the Avatar some days.” Aang glanced at Zuko. “Speaking of families, when are Katara and I going to get an announcement about Mai's pregnancy? It's been years! At this rate, Toph will have children before you!”

“But Toph doesn't even have a boyfriend… and she hates children!” Zuko pointed out.

“Exactly.” Aang said.

Zuko sighed. “It's complicated. I would like a child… and not just because I'm the Firelord. But Mai… she's nervous about having children. For Katara, it was probably a really easy decision to have children with you because she has such strong maternal instincts anyway. She all ready mothered everyone around her even when she was fourteen. Mai doesn't have those motherly instincts. She doesn't even know how to act around her little brother, and he's nearly nine years old.”

“Do you want me to have Katara talk to her the next time we're in the Fire Nation?” Aang asked.

“I don't know what good it will do.” Zuko said pitifully. “I just wish I knew a way to help her.”

The two men sighed and settled down to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearing midnight, and the two friends amused themselves by fighting a good-natured Agni Kai. However, while the duel was friendly, it was still quite epic. Their only rules were that Aang could only use Firebending and couldn't use the Avatar State, and neither could use lightning. Of course, they both knew the very rare technique of redirecting lightning, but it was still too dangerous for a spar. They had both been permanently scarred by lightning, Aang in the middle of his back and Zuko on his stomach, and both had great respect for lightning's awesome destructive power.

With these constraints in place, they were pretty evenly matched. Fire was not Aang's natural element, and he had to keep consciously reminding himself to not use Airbending, which was as natural to him as breathing. That upped the challenge.

Zuko quickly took the offensive during Aang's slightly hesitations, and it was only the fact that even without the Avatar State Aang was the more powerful Bender that enabled him to take control of Zuko's fire blasts and redirect them into the sky.

However, the Agni Kai eventually went to Zuko when he did the seemingly impossible: used a wall of fire to cut off the Avatar's retreat. Once Aang realized that he was trapped, he conceded victory.

“You realize how much glory I just won for myself?” Zuko asked, extinguishing the fire. “I just defeated the Avatar himself in an Agni Kai!”

“Only because I was only allowed to use Firebending.” Aang responded playfully. “I'm at my most powerful when I can use all four elements. If I could have just used Air, I would have won.”

“No, thanks.” Zuko said. “I've been on the receiving end of your Airbending attacks one too many times, back in the old days.”

“All right, then. Consider this victory an apology for the dozens of times I defeated you.” Aang said.

“It was hardly dozens of times.” Zuko said.

However, any further conversation was cut off by a deep roar. The two men looked around for the source and, to their amazement, saw the two massive Dragons, Ran and Shao, flying towards them.

Aang breathed a sigh of relief, pleased to see that the two Dragons were okay and in excellent-looking health.

The two Dragons landed around Aang and Zuko, giving hums of greeting. But, what was really shocking was that, riding behind the red Dragon, Shao's head was the Sun Warrior Chief.

“I didn't know you were spiritually bound to Shao!” Aang gasped as the Sun Warrior got down from his seat.

The Sun Warrior Chief bowed to them. “No, I am not bound to these Dragons. Shao carries me of her own free will.”

Aang noticed the Sun Chief's use of the feminine pronoun when he talked about Shao. Come to think of it, we never heard them called anything except their names or `The Masters'. Aang realized. He didn't pretend to be an expert at recognizing the differences between Dragon genders, but he always assumed that the Dragons were male.

“Wait. Shao is female? Is Ran a male? Can they breed?” Aang asked excitedly.

The blue Dragon, Ran, growled venomously, causing Aang to back away from the angered Dragon. The Sun Chief spoke. “Ran is female. But even if she were male, she cannot mate with Shao because Ran is Shao's daughter.” Shao released a gentle growl, almost a purr. “Shao's mate was killed by a zealous Firebender in my grandfather's time, but not before they had one egg: Ran.”

“That's terrible.” Aang said, glancing over at Appa. The Dragons were going the same way as the Sky Bison. Appa couldn't breed by himself, and neither could mother and daughter mate. It was only a matter of time before the two species were extinct at this rate. “So… why did you say that hope had awoken?”

“It has.” The Sun Chief said. “Do you remember your trip to our ruins six years ago?”

“Of course.” Aang and Zuko answered.

“What do you recall of our Sun Stone?”

Zuko blinked. “It was golden, egg-shaped, and about this big.” Zuko mimed the stone's size with his hands. “It was also warm to the touch.”

“Do you want to know why we guarded the Sun Stone so fiercely?” The Sun Chief asked. Aang and Zuko glanced at each other. The Sun Chief whistled, and the Avatar and the Firelord gasped in shock. A third Dragon moved out from behind Shao, so small in comparison that the large red Dragon's bulk completely hid it. It stood almost as tall as the men, but was many times longer. It was a beautiful golden color.

Aang stared in shock. “I can't believe it! A young Dragon!”

“Indeed. The Sun Stone was not a stone at all, but an egg. It was the last dragon egg known in existence. But shortly after you left us, Kin hatched. He is now the only male dragon in the entire world.”

“This is wonderful! A male dragon!” Zuko exclaimed.

“Indeed, the hope for the Dragons rebirth has been realized. Ran has agreed to become Kin's mate once he matures for the good of the species. May the Spirits will the Dragons return to the world.” The Sun Chief said, bowing to Aang, as if appealing to the Bridge between the Physical World and the Spirit World would influence the spirits to help the Dragons come back. “However, we have an issue to deal with right now.”

“I suppose I should make Dragon-hunting illegal now.” Zuko commented, and Aang nodded in agreement.

“Firelord Zuko… Avatar Aang?” The Sun Chief spoke to get their attention. “Kin has a spiritual bond forming with someone.”

“Who?” Aang asked.

“We believe it is with you, Firelord Zuko.” The Sun Chief said, glancing at Zuko, whose eyes had gotten impossibly wide. “You two were the first to come in contact with the egg in many years, it hatched after you arrived, and has not taken to anyone of my tribe. And it could not be Avatar Aang because you all ready have a spiritual bond.”

“Me? Spiritually bound to a Dragon?” Zuko gasped. “But I hardly know anything about spiritual bonds!”

“Perhaps I can find out if Zuko is really bonded with the Dragon?” Aang pointed out. “I can read Kin's energy and see who he is most strongly connected to.” Aang said, cautiously approaching the golden Dragon. Kin hissed slightly and took a step back from Aang, but he eventually allowed the Avatar to approach.

Aang reached up and touched the Dragon in the middle of its scaled forehead, and the Avatar closed his eyes to focus on the Dragon's flow of Chi.

The Dragon's Chi flowed differently from humans, so it took a while for him to understand and read the Dragon, but he was eventually able to figure it out.

The Dragon had connections of various strength to everyone in the clearing. Aang's own connection was the weakest, because it was a reflection of the simple understanding that all having a bond share. The Dragon's connections with the Sun Chief and Shao were stronger. Kin saw them as parental figures, even though neither were his parents. Ran's connection was the next strongest, though it was mostly one-sided from her at the moment. Ran desperately wanted a mate and hatchlings, and she ached that she had to wait for Kin to mature. Aang also picked up a little something about a Dragon's views on handsomeness. Ran found the color of Kin's scales to be deeply attractive. Aang blushed.

The last connection was definitely a Spiritual Bond. The other bonds were like simple strings attaching everyone to the Dragon. The last bond was vast, active, and pulsed faintly, signaling the meeting of two spirits. And just as the Sun Warrior Chief guessed, the bond connected Kin to Zuko.

“Yes, Kin has definitely been bound to Zuko.” Aang said. “But the Bond is incomplete.” He looked over at the Sun Chief. “Do you know how to finalize a bond with a Dragon?”

The Chief shook his head. “That knowledge has been lost. Soon after the Dragons were nearly, our mystic who kept the knowledge passed away unexpectedly before he could pass the knowledge on to his heir.”

“Well, I suppose we could try the method that my people used on the Sky Bison.” Aang said. “Do we have any meat?”

“But I thought you were a vegetarian?” Zuko pointed out.

“I am. But Dragons aren't.” Aang said. “When I was bound to Appa, we gave apples as offerings. The Sky Bison could sense the bond right away, but it takes a focused mind for a human to sense it. So we offered the apples to the Bison until one of them accepted the apple. Appa was the first Bison I tried because I could feel the bond. He accepted my offering and the bond was finalized.”

“This bond… what is it, exactly?” Zuko asked.

“It's like… it's a melding of spirits.” Aang explained. “I can tell when Appa is nearby, even if I can't see him. I can usually pick up on Appa's emotions and intentions. And when we make eye-contact, it's like I can tell what he's thinking. But it works two ways. Appa and I probably know each other as well as anyone could. So, we'll need some sort of meat as an offering.”

The Sun Warrior Chief nodded. “It is worth a shot. Shao?” They turned to the red Dragon took to the sky. “She'll bring something back.”

While Shao was off hunting, the Sun Chief stroked Kin to calm him down, and Aang tried to explain to Zuko about the Bond and what it would be like.

Several minutes later, Shao returned with something that looked like a young platypus-bear clutched in her front claws.

Aang almost lost his dinner on the spot. Sokka had learned pretty early on in their travels that, while Aang didn't try to stop the others from eating meat around him, the sight of the bloody kills made him physically ill. Cleaned and processed meat was one thing, but this was an intact kill still dripping blood and the animal's final terror still plain on its face.

The iron smell of warm blood made Aang retch, and Zuko noticed. “Aang? Are you all right?”

“No.” Aang said. “I can't… I have to leave. Can you please take it from her?” Aang asked the Sun Chief desperately.

The Sun Warrior Chief nodded. “Of course.”

“As soon as Aang got that reassurance, he rushed off into the darkness, followed closely by the sound of the Avatar losing his dinner violently in the bushes.

“Is the Avatar all right?” The Sun Chief asked, concerned.

“Yes and no.” Zuko said. “He has no illness, but seeing death like this disturbs him. He's the Avatar, but he was a monk first, and they love life. I mean, he made it through the war with no blood on his hands.”

“How long will it last?” The Sun Chief asked. “I know of no Avatar who lived their whole lives without killing.”

“If it happened, Aang would get really messed up. But, if it does, it will be an accident too. And Aang will go to extreme lengths rather than kill. Look at my father. He put his soul and immortal spirit on the line to break him when it would have been so much easier to just kill him. I would have just killed him…”

“True strength is the ability to stand firm in your beliefs even in the face of adversity. To refuse to kill even when facing an enemy that would kill without a second thought shows that the Avatar has strength that is not seen often in the world today.” The Sun Chief directed Zuko to cut off a decent-sized piece of the platypus-bear, which Zuko did, a little clumsily with a borrowed knife.

At the Sun Chief's signal, Zuko offered Kin the meat. The gold Dragon sniffed the meat and gazed at Zuko. Then he accepted the meat and swallowed it in a single gulp.

For several seconds, nothing happened, and then Zuko gasped. “Whoa!”

“Did it work?”

“I… I think so. What?” Zuko seemed distracted, like a person trying to participate in two different conversations at the same time.

“What do you feel?” The Sun Chief asked.

“Hunger, but not my own.” Zuko said. “Oh Spirits, this is weird.” Kin cocked his head slightly, gazing at Zuko curiously before moving over to the kill and tearing into the raw meat with gusto.

The Sun Warrior Chief finished by giving Zuko a talk on the care and feeding of a Dragon, the abridged version, and then bid the Firelord farewell. He mounted Shao, and the two large Dragons took off, leaving Zuko and Kin alone in the clearing.

“So, uh… come.” Zuko told the Dragon, and it seemed to understand. Or, at least, Kin followed Zuko as he walked away.

Zuko found Aang with Appa. The young Avatar was leaning against Appa in a seemingly meditative state, except he looked more pale than usual.

“Aang?” Zuko called.

The young Avatar looked up. “Is it over?”

“Yes.”

“Did it work?”

“I think so. I feel like… like there's another person inside my head.” Zuko said.

Aang stood up, albeit a little shakily. “The bond worked, then.” He said.

“But it's really distracting.” Zuko said.

“It can be distracting at first.” Aang admitted. “But it will eventually fade from your mind. It will be so constant that you'll hardly notice it. In fact, give it a few months, and you'll feel empty without it.”

“I hope so.”

Aang bowed to Kin in the traditional style of the Fire Nation. “Hello, Kin.” The Avatar greeted, moving forward to pet the young Dragon.

Suddenly, Kin snarled at him and backed away. Aang quickly shot a glance at Zuko, who looked concerned, despite himself.

“Zuko, calm down.” Aang said. “You know that I won't hurt Kin, but your nervousness is making him nervous.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn't know.” Zuko said. Both he and Kin visibly relaxed. Only then was Aang able to pet Kin.

“Well, it's getting very late. And we should both head back to Ba Sing Se.” Aang said, mounting Appa and taking the reins. While Kin was large enough to fly, he was still too young to carry a passenger, so Zuko climbed into Appa's saddle. Together, the small group took off for Ba Sing Se.

 

LES: Zuko and the Sun Warrior Chief's discussion about the meaning of courage was inspired by a discussion I had with a fan about whether Aang's actions in the Finale (specifically not killing Ozai) was a sign of courage or an act of cowardice. Needless to say, I saw Aang's actions as very courageous, and this fan saw Aang's actions as cowardly. This debate lasted several days, and this fan was a great opponent, but I eventually won. Or, at least this fan said that I was `kicking their butt.' And if you're reading this, thanks for the debate! I don't feel right about my theories unless I can successfully debate my point of view, and it wasn't like you didn't make many good points. But I do firmly believe that Aang was very courageous. (shakes fan's hand) Thanks once again. And as to what my Dad realized that I didn't…

Dad: That's a dragon egg, isn't it?

Me: (opens mouth to say `no', and then pauses and thinks) Wait a minute…

LES: LOL!

 

Name meanings:

Kin: Japanese unisex name meaning `gold'.