꧁ chapter twenty-three ꧂
appa's seal of approval

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"THIS IS HUMILIATING" Katara groaned.

"You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka asked sarcastically.

"Both"

"Sorry guys," Aang apologised, "But Appa gets tired carrying all these people.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are?" Teo asked aloud.

"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in" Haru answered, looking downcast.

"I miss Pipsqueak" The Duke sighed.

"I miss not having blisters on my feet" Sokka complained when Toph stomped her foot down.

"Hey! We're here, I can feel it" She announced.

Meiluna looked around at their barren surroundings in confusion.

"Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked" Katara replied uncertainly.

"No, she's right," Aang confirmed, "We are here!"

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"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple," Teo looked around in astonishment, "I wonder if there are any secret rooms"

"Let's go check it out!" Haru replied excitedly, running off as Teo and The Duke follow after him.

Aang moved to join them but Katara blocked his path before he could.

"You guys go, I think we need to talk about some things" She called out.

The two moved to sit with Toph, Sokka and Meiluna.

"Why can't I go?" Aang asked.

"We need to decide what we're gonna do now, and since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this" Katara explained.

"Fair enough, so what's the new plan?" He asked calmly.

"Well if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan! You just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes" Sokka answered happily.

"Oh, yeah. That's great, no problem. I'll just do that" Aang replied sarcastically.

"Aang, no one said it's going to be easy" Katara spoke gently.

"Well, it's not even gonna be possible! Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?"

"We could look for Jeong Jeong" Katara suggested.

Meiluna looked up in curiosity,

"Wait, who's-"

"Yeah, right," Aang spoke over the girl, "Like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again"

"Don't worry, if it's important, we'll find out" Toph told Meiluna.

"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang feigned dissapointment before he got up and flew off with Momo.

"What's up with him?" Toph asked.

Sokka thought for a while,

"There's gotta be someone who can teach him firebending"

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"Hello, Zuko here," The Prince raised his arm in greeting, "But I guess, you probably already know me, sort of. Uh,"

He awkwardly lowered his arm and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, the thing is I have a lot of firebending experience and I'm considered to be pretty good at it. Well, you've seen it, you know, when I was attacking you," His eyes widened in embarrassment for a moment, "Yeah, I guess I should apologise for that. But anyway, I'm good now. I mean, I thought I was good before, but I realised I was bad,"

His shoulders slumped, realising how pathetic he sounded.

"But anyway, I think it's time I joined your group and taught the Avatar firebending"

The badgerfrog he spoke to let out a croak.

"Well, what's your answer?" He yelled angrily.

The badgerfrog jumped onto his head before hopping away further into the forest.

"Yeah, that's what I would say too," He mumbled to himself, "How am I supposed to convince these people that I'm on their side?"

Zuko paused his pacing.

"What would Uncle do?"

He started to imitate Iroh,

"Zuko, you have to look within yourself to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself"

He shook his head in confusion,

"Even when I'm talking for him, I can't figure out what he means. What would Azula do?"

He tried to imitate his sister,

"Listen Avatar, I can join your group or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends. Your choice"

Zuko groaned in frustration.

"What would Meiluna do?"

He used a high pitch squeaky voice to try and impersonate the Princess,

"I promise I won't try to kill the Avatar anymore!"

He blew a kiss awkwardly to a tree before he stopped to sit down,

"I guess I'm just not that good at impersonations"

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"Aang!" Meiluna called out to the boy as she sat on Appa.

"Can we talk about you learning firebending now?" Katara pressed.

"What?" Aang pretended not to hear as he flew on his glider, "The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!"

Meiluna had to admit, the loop was pretty cool.

"Aang, I think we should be making some plans about our future!" Sokka insisted, while Appa landed on the ground.

"Okay, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!" Aang said as he made his descent.

"I think that'll have to wait" Toph spoke seriously before pointing behind herself.

Meiluna looked at the girl strangely, following where she pointed.

Appa shifted slightly to the side to reveal the figure that stood behind him.

"Hello, Zuko here"

He waved awkwardly. Meiluna felt her nails dig sharply into her palms in an attempt to check if she was dreaming. She noticed the others assume fighting stances as she remained completely still, staring at the Prince blankly.

"Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here" He explained before Appa proceeded to lick him twice.

Aang lowered his staff seeing this.

"I know you must be surprised to see me here"

"Not really since you've followed us all over the world" Sokka seethed, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Right. Well, uh," Zuko hesitated nervously, "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uh, I'm good now. And well, I think I should join your group. Oh," He turned to face Aang,

"And I can teach firebending to you"

"You want to what now?" Toph asked in complete disbelief.

"How can we trust you?" Meiluna asked, looking at the boy angrily while she crossed her arms defensively.

Prince Zuko met her gaze for a second before looking away in shame.

"How stupid do you think we are?" Katara exclaimed angrily stepping forward.

"All you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang!" Sokka added.

"I've done some good things!" Zuko weakly defended himself, "I mean I could've stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!"

Appa turned to lick the Fire Nation prince once again.

"Appa does seem to like him" Toph admitted.

"He probably covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him," Sokka looked at Zuko doubtfully, "I'm not buying it"

"I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past" Zuko explained slowly.

"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka asked.

"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" Katara questioned.

Meiluna remained silent, unable to coax the words out of her mouth, her light glare still trained steadily on Zuko.

"Look, I admit I've done some awful things, I was wrong to try capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe," He briefly looked at Meiluna, "And I never should've sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm going to try and stop-"

"What?" Meiluna couldn't help but interrupt him.

"You sent Combustion Man after us?" Sokka accused angrily as he pulled out his boomerang.

"Well, that's not his name, but-"

"Oh, sorry," Sokka replied sarcastically, "I didn't mean to insult your friend"

"He's not my friend!" Zuko fired back.

"That guy locked Luna, Katara and I in jail and tried to blow us all up!" Toph yelled out.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Zuko turned to Aang, "You once said you thought we could be friends,"

He looked up making eye contact with Meiluna,

"You know I have good in me"

Meiluna looked away to avoid his gaze.

"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done," Aang spoke up, "We'll never let you join us"

"You need to get out of here. Now" Katara warned sternly.

"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" Zuko attempted to argue.

"Either you leave, or we attack" Sokka threatened.

"If you won't accept me as a friend, then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner" Zuko pleaded as he knelt down, his head hung low and his arms raised in surrender.

"No, we won't!" Katara yelled as she sent a blast of water his way, "Get out of here and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!"

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"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara asked.

"Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap" Sokka answered bitterly.

Meiluna hummed in agreement. She couldn't exactly put it past him, that he could still be affiliated with the Fire Nation.

"We should still let him teach Aang" Meiluna concluded whilst inspecting her nails.

"No way!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Luna, he already lied to you in Ba Sing Se," Katara spoke coldly, "He lured you in, making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings"

"He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes" Sokka added.

Meiluna shook her head.

"He said we can take him as our prisoner, he's the only firebender we know," Meiluna looked up, as she spoke, "We don't need to trust him"

Sokka and Katara looked at her skeptically.

"He made his choice, and Aang paid the price," Katara crossed her arms, "We're not asking him for help"

"I kind of have a confession to make," Aang spoke up shyly as everyone turned to face him, "Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?"

"And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month" Sokka replied.

"Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!" Katara snapped.

"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!"

"Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out," Aang continued, "He risked his life to save me"

"No way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!" Katara yelled.

"Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him" Sokka said with a small frown.

"You're probably right" Aang spoke uncertainly.

"And what was all that stuff about setting Appa free? What a liar!" Katara exclaimed.

"Actually, he wasn't lying" Toph clarified.

"Oh, hooray!" Sokka cheered mockingly, "In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list"

"I'm just saying that, considering his messed up family and how he was raised, he could've turned out a lot worse"

"You're right, Toph," Katara smiled sarcastically, "Let's go find him and give him a medal. The not as much of a jerk as you could've been award!"

"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly" Toph argued.

"Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!"

"Or when he burned down Kyoshi island!" Sokka added.

"Or when he tried to capture me in the Fire Temple" Aang continued.

"I can't believe you two would even try to defend him!" Katara looked between Toph and Meiluna, fuming.

"Because Katara, you three are ignoring one crucial fact," Toph pointed toward Aang, "Aang needs a firebending teacher! We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job! Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?" She yelled angrily, stomping on the ground, making it shake slightly.

"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher!" Aang rejected immediately.

"You're right you're not buddy" Sokka spoke.

"Well, I guess that settles that then" Katara scowled.

Meiluna stepped forward as she spoke abruptly.

"This isn't about us," Meiluna looked between her friends, feeling a swell of emotions bubble up within her, "Our goal is to end this war and if learning firebending from Zuko is what that takes, then that's what we'll have to do!"

Meiluna felt dizzy. Her head was spinning with regret, anger and frustration.

Why did Zuko have to come back?

Meiluna wanted to scream, she could've gone the rest of her life just hating him, it would've been so much easier.

"He had plenty of chances to prove himself!" Katara yelled angrily, "He will always be evil and he is not going near Aang!"

"You're not the only one he's hurt Katara! Everything isn't always about you!" Meiluna yelled back, her voice louder than anyone had heard before.

Katara and Sokka seemed slightly taken aback.

Meiluna huffed in frustration. She wasn't quite sure why she was getting so upset so quickly, she just couldn't stop her anger from spewing out of her.

"It doesn't matter," Meiluna spoke again, "It doesn't matter what he did, we don't have time to talk about this," She glanced at the Avatar,

"We just need a firebender"

"Katara's right, Luna," Sokka looked to the girl wearily, "You have no idea what you're talking about"

"I know exactly what I'm talking about!" Meiluna felt her frustration build up again, "Why aren't you listening to what I'm saying?"

Katara, Sokka and Aang stayed silent. They had never seen the Princess come so undone before. Even after Yue's passing, she had managed to always present herself in an acceptable manner.

Seeing her, you'd never expect for her to be experiencing the inner turmoil she was. Now, her hands were shaking, her cheeks were pink and her voice was unsteady. She was unravelling and they didn't know how to stop her.

"Zuko is our only chance to stop the Fire Nation and you three are so self-centered you won't even think about how our decision will affect the rest of the world!" She yelled as the others stared at her in shock at her outburst.

Meiluna took a step back, inhaling and exhaling a deep breath silently. She tried to compose herself, her voice returning to its normal calm tone. Hearing her words, however, left everyone feeling anything but calm.

"We don't need to trust him but we do need his firebending, and if you can't understand that, then I can't help you"

Katara and Sokka remained expressionless, seemingly having their minds unchanged.

"I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here" Toph stormed off.

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Meiluna strolled around the Air Temple, trying to calm herself down. She felt completely embarrassed.

Of course, Meiluna was sure she was right in this situation.

But she felt she should apologise for her behaviour. She had never felt anger like that before, and she didn't know how to handle it, so it spilled out of her, hurting her friends in the process.

All of a sudden, she heard a large rumble. She quickly made her way over to the source of the sound and saw Katara, Sokka and Aang approach Toph, who lay on the floor.

"Toph! What happened?" Katara asked with concern.

"My feet got burned" She answered, shifting uncomfortable with the pain.

Meiluna let out a soft gasp seeing her injury. The others heard her rush over, letting her through.

"Let me heal you, Toph" She spoke softly.

"What happened?" Katara questioned.

"I just told you, my feet got burned" Toph repeated.

"I meant how?"

"Well, I kind of went to see Zuko last night"

Meiluna stopped her healing for a moment when she heard his name.

"You what?" Aang asked in disbelief.

"Zuko?" Katara spat his name out as if it were poison.

"I thought he could be helpful to us," Toph explained, "And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out"

"So, he attacked you?" Sokka asked in shock.

"Well he did and he didn't," Toph spoke quietly, "It was sort of an accident"

"But he did firebend at you?" Aang questioned.

Toph let out a sigh,

"Yes"

Sokka shook his head,
"See? You trusted Zuko and you got burned, literally"

Meiluna finished healing Toph, gently helping her sit up straight.

"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone," Sokka concluded, "We're gonna have to go after him"

"I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Toph, I don't think we have a choice" Aang agreed.

"He's crafty but we'll find a way to capture him"

"Maybe just invite him back here like Luna said," Toph suggested as she stood up slowly, "He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once"

"Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner," Sokka smiled mischievously, "He'll never suspect it!"

"You are a master of surprise, Sokka" Katara rolled her eyes.

The sudden sound of an explosion broke the group from their conversation.

Meiluna's eyes immediately shot up to see Zuko standing in front of the Combuston Man.

"Come on!" Katara grabbed her arm, dragging her in the opposite direction.

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"I can't believe I'm saying this," Aang spoke gratefully, "But thanks, Zuko"

"Hey what about me? I did the boomerang thing" Sokka whined.

"Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's been hard" Zuko explained, facing the group.

"But I'm realising that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honour, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honour. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right"

Zuko paused as he turned to face the Avatar,

"All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world"

He turned to Toph, bowing his head slightly,

"I'm sorry for what I did to you. It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild, so as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people