꧁ chapter twenty-eight ꧂
every story needs a beach episode

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"MORE FEROCIOUS! IMAGINE striking through your opponent's heart!" Zuko encouraged as he watched over Aang's firebending practice.

"I'm trying" Aang turned to Zuko, growing annoyed.

"Now let me hear you roar like a tigerdillo!"

Aang let out a light roar as small fire bursts came out of his hands and his mouth.

"That sounded pathetic! I said roar!"

Aang roared louder than his previous attempt as three full bursts of fire came out of his hands and mouth to which Zuko nodded approvingly.

"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara asked with a smile as she held up two watermelons.

"Ooh, ooh! Me, me, me!" Aang jumped around excitedly, moving to run towards Katara.

Zuko quickly grabbed Aang by his shirt,
"Hey! Your lesson's not over yet! Get back here!"

"Come on, Zuko. Just take a break. What's the big deal?" Suki asked as she lounged on the wooden stairs next to Sokka.

"Yeah, Katara makes really good watermelon juice!" Meiluna complimented before grabbing one of the watermelons from her.

She sipped the drink through the straw, loving the sweet taste that filled her mouth.

"Fine! If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail sloths all day then go ahead!" Zuko yelled in frustration.

Meiluna looked over to him, holding the watermelon up to his face,
"Are you sure you don't even want to try some?"

Zuko paused. He looked between Meiluna's innocent smile and the drink in her hands before leaning forward slightly, his arms still crossed defensively whilst taking a small sip as Meiluna held it up for him.

It tasted good. It was cold and refreshing. But just as the taste slowly faded, so did his temporary calmness. He then noticed everyone staring at him strangely when he turned away quickly to storm off.

Meiluna frowned, watching Zuko's increasing frustration get the better of him while she brought the straw back to her own lips.

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around the house had made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to change all that," Sokka stood up slowly before taking off his robe to reveal his bathing suit,

"Beach party!"

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Meiluna lay on the sand, basking in the sunlight while she had also used her waterbending to create a sprinkler using the oceans water, to keep her refreshed.

"Check out my Appa sand sculpture!" Aang announced.

Meiluna sat up slightly, leaning back on her elbows, looking over to the life sized sand sculpture Aang had created.

"Not bad baldy, but I've been working on my sand bending," Toph cracked her fingers, "You're gonna love this"

She quickly used her bending to create a sand replica of the city of Ba Sing Se.

"Woah! You've even made a little Earth King and Bosco" Aang said in amazement.

"Try and top that Sokka" Toph challenged with a smirk.

"Ta da!" Sokka moved to reveal his sculpture.

"Ugh, gross Sokka, what is that?" Meiluna stared at his creation, trying to make sense of it.

"Is that a blubbering blob monster?" Aang asked.

"No!" Sokka stood up defensively, "It's Suki"

Aang, Toph and Meiluna broke out into hysterical laughter.

"Suki, we'll all understand if you break up with him over this" Toph teased.

"I think it's sweet" Suki smiled as she sat up on her beach towel.

Sokka ran over to kiss his girlfriend on his cheek as Aang started to speak,

"But it doesn't even look like- Aah!"

Aang was cut off by a fire blast that destroyed Sokka's sculpture.

Meiluna stood up, quickly rushing to her feet while Zuko appeared and fired another blast at Aang, chasing after him.

"What are you doing?" Aang asked in fear as he hid behind his Appa sculpture.

"Teaching you a lesson!" Zuko yelled before destroying the sand Appa with a fire blast.

Aang jumped back up to the house as Zuko continued to follow him. Meiluna shook herself out of her state of shock as Katara approached the shore,

"What happened?"

"Zuko's gone crazy!" Sokka exclaimed as he attempted to rebuild his sculpture, "I made a sand sculpture of Suki and he destroyed it!"

Sokka paused for a moment,

"Oh, and he's attacking Aang"

Meiluna followed the others in running up to the house. As they approached, Zuko seemed to be blasted out of a window by a powerful gust of wind.

"What's wrong with you? You could've hurt Aang!" Katara asked worriedly.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you? How can you sit around having beach parties when Sozin's comet is only three days away?" Zuko accused as everyone looked at him.

"Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?"

"About Sozin's Comet," Aang scratched his neck awkwardly, "I was actually gonna wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came"

Zukos eyes widened with shock,
"After?"

"I'm not ready, I need more time to master firebending"

"And frankly, your earthbending could still use some work too" Toph added.

Zuko's eyes flickered to Meiluna before facing the others,

"So, all of you knew Aang was going to wait?"

"Honestly, if Aang tries to fight the Fire Lord now, he's going to lose," Sokka answered as Aang looked at him with a frown, "No offence"

"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the Comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war, but they pretty much won the war when they took Ba Sing Se. Things can't get any worse" Katara explained.

"You're wrong," Zuko turned away, "It's about to get worse than you can even imagine. The day before the eclipse, my father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It was what I dreamed about for so many years. My father had finally accepted me back"

He continued to explain his father's plan of conquering the world, to keep them under the rule of the Fire Nation before pausing momentarily.

"I wanted to speak out against this horrifying plan, but I'm ashamed to say I didn't. My whole life, I struggled to gain my father's love and acceptance, but once I had it, I realised I'd lost myself getting there," He spoke with regret, "I'd forgotten who I was"

"I can't believe this" Katara sank to her knees.

"I always knew the Fire Lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil" Sokka muttered.

"What am I gonna do?" Aang asked hopelessly.

"I know you're scared," Zuko stood up, "And I know you're not ready to save the world, but if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes, there won't be a world to save anymore"

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad's crazy plan sooner?" Aang asked as he walked away to clear his head.

"I didn't think I had to. I assumed you were still going to fight him before the comet. No one told me you decided to wait"

"This is bad," Aang buried his head in both his hands, "This is really, really bad"

"Aang, you don't have to do this alone" Katara told him firmly.

"Yeah, if we all fight the Fire Lord together, we've got a shot at taking him down" Toph smiled.

"All right! Team Avatar is back! Air!"

Sokka pointed to Aang,

"Water!"

He pointed to Katara and Meiluna,

"Earth!"

Then to Toph,

"Fire!"

He pointed to Zuko,

"Fan and sword!"

He finished as he and Suki held up some leaves.

"Fighting the Fire Lord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together, but I wouldn't want to do it any other way" Aang smiled at his friends as they all walked over to give him a group hug.

Meiluna turned her head and noticed Zuko standing off to the side, she quickly slipped out of the hug to grab his hand and drag him over to the group,

"You're part of Team Avatar now"

Zuko stared for a moment before allowing himself to smile and joining the hug.

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"Take off your shirt"

Zuko looked at Meiluna with wide eyes making her realise how her words sounded,

"No! I- Because your back- I just-" Meiluna stuttered awkwardly, watching as Zuko's smile grew watching her become flustered.

"Just let me heal you" She muttered as she turned around to get a bowl of water.

The Princess walked back over to Zuko, seeing him sit on the edge of his bed with his back facing her, completely covered in scratches and bruises as a result of his run in with the Avatar. She sat behind him, bringing up the water from the bowl with her bending as she shook her head.

"I can't believe you thought you could fight the Avatar" Meiluna rolled her eyes as she moved her hands further up his back.

She heard Zuko sigh in response as she finished with his healing, moving to sit next to him.

"Was this your room?"

Zuko turned to the girl with a smile. He loved how she would talk to him about anything she felt like. It almost made him forget about all of his responsibilities.

He nodded before explaining,
"I always stayed in this room when my family came here for a holiday"

Meiluna smiled,
"That's sweet"

"Yeah," Zuko looked away, "I haven't been here with them in a while"

"Well, I love this place"

Zuko looked at her with adoration before speaking,
"Me too"

"We should come back here" Meiluna suggested excitedly.

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked curiously.

"If- When we win the war, we should come back here," Meiluna explained, turning to the Prince.

Zuko grinned.

"Really?" He asked her genuinely.

"Sure," She answered happily, "You'd come with me, right?"

Meiluna decided to stand up and walk over to the large window to her right, focussing her attention outside. She adored the scenery of the waves crashing on to the shore full of golden sand. She smiled as she wondered how much Yue would've loved to visit.

She turned her head back around to ask Zuko another question about his time on Ember Island when she noticed that he had also gotten up and stood beside her, looking out the same window.

"I'll bring you here again," Zuko turned to face her, "I promise"

Both of them stared at each other silently for a moment when Zuko felt Meiluna's forehead fall to rest on his shoulder as he felt her soft laughter against his body.

"What's so funny?" Zuko asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Nothing," Meiluna smiled as she brought her arms around him to hug him closely,

"You just make me really happy"

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"There's one technique you need to know before facing my father, how to redirect lightning," Zuko explained, "If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it"

Zuko demonstrated as he spoke,
"You turn your opponent's energy against them"

"That's like waterbending" Aang noticed as he mimicked Zuko's movements.

"Exactly, my uncle invented this technique himself by studying waterbenders"

Meiluna smiled as she listened to Zuko speak of his uncle with admiration.

"So, have you even redirected lightning before?" Aang asked.

"Once, against my father"

"What did it feel like?"

Zuko halted his practice,
"Exhilirating, but terrifying. You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body, but you know if you make the wrong move, it's over"

Aang chuckled nervously,
"Well, not over over. I mean there's always Luna and a little Spirit water action," He turned to her, "Am I right?"

"Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you" She corrected.

"Oh"

"You'll have you take the Fire Lord's life before he takes yours" Zuko told him.

Aang looked uncertainly at the Prince,
"Yeah, I'll just do that"

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"Gather round, Team Avatar," Sokka announced as he placed a carved melon on a mannequin, "In order to take out the Fire Lord, or in this case, the Melon Lord, our timing has to be perfect"

Sokka knelt down to draw the plan he described in the dirt with a stick,

"First, Suki and I will draw his fire. Then, Katara, Luna and Zuko charge with some frozen, liquidy, hot offence, and while the Melon Lord is distracted, Aang swoops in and bam!" He destroyed the Melon Lord drawing,

"He delivers the final blow"

"Uh, what about me?" Toph asked.

"For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces"

"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?" Toph smiled excitedly.

"Whatever makes the training feel more realistic" Sokka shrugged.

"Sweetness"

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"Now, Aang!" Sokka yelled out.

Aang jumped up, preparing to strike the Melon Lord with his glider staff. His expression shifted from one of anger to one of uncertainty as he slowly lowered his weapon.

"What are you waiting for?" Zuko asked, "Take him out!"

Aang shook his head,

"I can't"

"What's wrong with you?" Sokka walked up to the Avatar, "If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lightning right now"

"I'm sorry but it just didn't feel right, I didn't feel like myself" Aang meekly explained as Sokka unsheathed his sword, slicing the melon,

"There, that's how it's done"

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"I have a surprise for everyone!" Katara announced happily as she held up a scroll.

"I knew it!" Toph said, "You did have a secret thing with Haru!"

Everyone looked at her strangely as Meiluna cracked a smile.

"Uh, no, I was looking for cooking pots in the attic, and I found this!" She unraveled the scroll in her hand to reveal the painting of a dark haired baby playing at the beach, "Look at baby Zuko. Isn't he cute?"

The group broke into laughter.

"Oh, lighten up, I'm just teasing" Katara looked to Zuko who seemed to remain expressionless.

"That's not me, it's my father"

Katara quickly rolled the scroll back up as Suki commented,

"But he looks so sweet and innocent"

"Well, that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster and the worst father in the history of fathers" He snapped.

"But he's still a human being" Aang turned to face the group.

"You're going to defend him?" Zuko asked angrily.

"No, I agree with you," Aang stood up, "Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person and the world would probably be better off without him, but there's gotta be another way"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Aang perked up suddenly, "Maybe we can make some big pots of glue, and then I can use glue bending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore"

"Yeah, and then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again" Zuko said sarcastically.

"Do you really think that would work?"

"No"

"Aang," Meiluna spoke softly, "I know this isn't the way you want to do things, but it doesn't look like we have any other options," She glanced back at Zuko, "Fire Lord Ozai doesn't seem like the kind of guy you can negotiate with"

Aang let out a sigh as he started pacing back and forth, "This goes against everything I learnt from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like"

"Sure you can, you're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you" Sokka reasoned.

"This isn't a joke, Sokka!" Aang lost his temper, "None of you understand the position I'm in"

"Aang, we do understand, it's just-"

Aang cut off Katara,
"Just what, Katara? What?"

"We're trying to help!"

"Then when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!"

And with that Aang stormed off.

"Aang, don't walk away from this!" Katara started to follow him when Meiluna called out to her,

"Wait,"

Katara turned back to look at the Princess,

"Give him some time to be alone"

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Zuko just couldn't say no to her. It was the dead of night, the crescent moon was high in the sky, and Zuko was being pulled towards the beach by Meiluna's hand. She had intertwined their fingers together, it was a feeling Zuko was growing familiar with and one he absolutely loved it.

"Why are we here?" Zuko asked as he softly pulled on Meiluna's hand, causing her to halt in her spot before turning to face him with an angelic smile.

"We're having our own beach party," She told him, "You know, since you sorta blew up the first one"

The two of them sat in the sand across from each other. Meiluna began to gather the sand together to begin the making of their castle. Zuko also picked up a handful of sand before allowing almost all of it to slip through his fingers.

Meiluna couldn't stop her laughter as she watched him fumble around, his lack of practice evident. She gently instructed him, her hands occasionally brushing against his own, showing him how to put the castle together.

In the end, Zuko felt slightly confused. He had managed to knock the side of the castle down twice, and had somehow flicked an unecessary amount of sand into Meiluna's hair. He did, however, admire the end product of the small structure he and the Princess created together.

"How is it?" Meiluna asked as she placed a couple of small shells around the top of the castle to decorate it.

"It's perfect" Zuko replied, placing his own shell besides the entrance of the castle.

The two of them sat back for a moment to admire their artwork when Meiluna turned to Zuko,

"You wanna do something more fun?"

Zuko nodded with a smile as Meiluna then proceeded to start removing her clothes.

Zuko immediately panicked as he moved to hold her wrists in place before she could lift her top over her head.

"Uh," Zuko's mind was racing as he felt the knuckles of his fingers brush against her bare waist, "What are you doing?"

"We're going swimming now," Meiluna tilted her head to the side in confusion, "That's what you do at beach parties, isn't it?"

Zuko stuttered out incoherent sounds as he continued to hold on tightly to Meiluna,
"Without clothes?"

Meiluna laughed abruptly at Zuko's embarrassment as the Prince still felt as though his heart was going to leap out of his chest. She moved her hands out of his grip as she pulled her top off causing Zuko to instantly raise his hands to cover his face.

"I'm wearing a bathing suit" Meiluna assured him whilst pulling his hands away from his eyes before standing up.

Meiluna's chest was wrapped in a deep red material, leaving her shoulders and her stomach exposed, with the short matching red skirt she wore