Chapter 17- Are You Really Happy To See Him

"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara wondered as the Gaang set up camp. You just sat again the wall, looking down at the ground with your knees pulled against your chest.
"Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka answered with a scoff.

"This is just like when we were in prison together at Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings," The more Katara talked about him, the more anger builds up in you.
"He wants you to trust and feel sorry for him so you let your guard down, then he strikes," Sokka explained.

"The thing is, it worked. I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt, but obviously, when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. We can't trust him," You placed your hands over your head and tried to ignore their hateful words.

"I kind of have a confession to make. Remember when you two were sick and I and (Y/N) got captured by Zhao?" Aang asked, making you shiver at the mention of that man.
"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 opened his mouth.

"Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!" Katara groaned.
"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!" Sokka argued, while Twig nuzzled you for comfort.
"Anyway, when Zhao had us chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got us out. He risked his life to save us," Aang explained

"No way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!" Katara scoffed, and your blood began to boil.
"Yeah, face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him," Sokka crossed his arms.
"You're probably right," Aang mumbled.

"And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Appa and Twig free? What a liar!" Katara said, but Toph spoke up.
"Actually, he wasn't lying," She told you all, making you look up at her.
"Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list," Sokka sarcastically said.

"I'm just saying that, considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse," Toph shrugged, making you hun in agreement.
"You're right, Toph! Let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award!" Katara huffed.

"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly," Toph suggested.
"Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!" Katara complained.

"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka pointed out.
"Or when he tried to capture me at the Fire Temple!" Aang piped in.
"Why would you even try to defend him?" Katara growled at her.

"Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact: Aang needs a firebending teacher!" Toph pointed out with frustration in her tone.
"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 shouted at them, which made Twig flinch at the ground shaking.

"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher," Aang simply said as Sokka crossed his arms.
"You're darn right you're not, buddy," He said as Kayara nodded.
"Well, I guess that settles that, it's one against three," She told Toph, who groaned in frustration.

"That's two against three," You finally spoke up as you stood to walk up to them.
"You're not saying anything (Y/N)! You get more tricked by him, and we don't want you to get hurt!" Sokka demanded and tried to push you back, but you grabbed his hand and pushed him aside.

"While I may be your girlfriend, I'm not going to sit around while you talk bad about my childhood friend," You glared at them.
"Friend?! (Y/N), he captured you just because you're below him! After all that time of chasing you and degrading you for your status, he's still your friend?!" Sokka shouted, and you nodded.

"Yes! The reason he did all of this is to try and make his father proud because that's what he thought he needed to do to have his dad love him!" You said with exasperation.
"Are you forgetting what he did?! He burned down Suki's home, he burned your skin, he tried to assassinate us, and he said those cruel words to you at Ba Sing Se!" Katara yelled at you.

"I know! I didn't forget!" You shouted back.
"Then why are you defending him?!" Sokka demanded.

"I still think there's good because we were friends and-"

"That's the thing (Y/N), 'were'! You were friends but then he betrayed you!"

"That's not true!"

"Then why is he still hurting you?! Why are you trying to defend him after what he did?! Why do you still love him-?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!!" You shouted as the Air Temple grumbled and shook, the wall slightly cracked by your yelling. Everyone stopped yelling as you took a deep breath, Twig slowly walking up to you.

"I know I shouldn't defend him after what he said, and after he tried to have me marry to him, but I just can't!" You yelled, tears weld up in your eyes. Toph placed an hand on your arm.

"I... just don't know why I still love him,"

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"Can you still stand?" You asked Toph as you placed her feet into the fountain after she returned from trying to talk to Zuko.
"Maybe," She sighed, leaning against you.
"Zuko's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him," Sokka suggested.

"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 sighed.
"He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him.
"Maybe just invite him back here. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once," Toph suggested as she laid her head against you.

"Yeah, get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner, then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it!" Sokka grinned.
"You are a master of surprise, Sokka," Katara sighed, and you just shook your head.
"That's not going to happen," You mumbled, and Sokka turned to you.

"Why? Because are you still have Stockholm syndrome for him?" He asked all snarky, but you just gave him a deadpan look.
"No, because Combustion Man is standing there like a rock," You said and pointed over at a temple, where Combustion man stood there, watching down at you all.

"Oh shi-"

BOOM

The blast would've gotten you all killed, but you saw Zuko kicking the man off. You quickly used bending to push everyone to safety, and you all ducked under pillars. Aang ran and sent a tornado at the man, but he dodged it and got closer to attack.

"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side!" Toph shouted.
"I can't step out to waterbend at him without being blown up and I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here!" Katara complained as everyone tired to think of something, but then Sokka felt like something was off, so he turned to you.

"Where's (Y/N)?!" Sokka shouted, and they all turned to see you gone, then Teo looked up and his eyes widen.
"There!" He pointed at you jumping on a platform and levitating a ring of lava in your hands.
"(Y/N)!!" They all shouted as you made it up and the two of you had a stand off.

"One thing you should always learn, never deny a prince's demand," You said as he tried to send an explosion at you, but you lifted a wave of lava to block it, which made lava explode everywhere. The man retreated back as he avoided the lava, so you jumped over him and slid to avoid the oncoming boomerang sent by Sokka.

It hit Combustion man on the third eye, which made him groan in pain. You continued to jump off of the temple as the man got up and tried to shoot an explosion at you, but he couldn't see well and ended up exploding the temple he was on, which only showed his metal arm falling off the cliff.

Zuko tried to hold onto the vine he was on, but it was quickly breaking, and snapped in half. He yelped as he started to fall, but felt a grip on his wrist, making him look up to see you holding him tight, and his eyes lit up with happiness.

"(Y/N)!"

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"I can't believe I'm saying this, but thanks, Zuko," Aang said as you all stood in front of Zuko. Katara was still protective of you, but didn't hold on to you this time.
"Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing," Sokka quickly mumbled.

"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 started while looking down.
"But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me," Zuko told you all.

"But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. 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," You gave a small smile at his words, and Twig hopped on your shoulder.

"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 unintentionally," He bowed at Toph.

"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Katara, and after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love. I'd like you to teach me," Aang told Zuko, and it made you nod as you know the feeling too.

"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group," Zuko bowed at Aang.
"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them. Toph, you're the one that Zuko burned. What do you think?" He asked Toph, who shrugged

"Go ahead and let him join, it'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet," Toph grinned.
"Sokka?" Aang turned to Sokka.
"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it," He shrugged and raised his arms up.

"Katara?" He turned to the waterbender, who thought for a moment
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right," He simply said and looked away.
"(Y/N)?" You just looked up, giving Zuko a hopeful, but wary look, and nodded, making Zuko beam brightly.

"I won't let you down! I promise!" Zuko said with determination, but everyone turned and walked away. You stayed and stood in front of Zuko for a moment, before giving him one last bow and walked away.

"Don't worry (Y/N), I'll make it up to you after all those years... I promise,"

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Zuko dropped his bag on his new bed, looking around at his new place to stay, before taking out a portrait of Iroh, and a few scrolls. It were the scrolls of 4 year old you sent to 7 year old him, he kept every single one ever since you left.

Zuko the get a presence behind him, and turned to see Katara leaning against the doorway.
"You might have everyone else here buying your... transformation, but you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past," Katara mumbled lowly as she walked up to him.

"So let me tell you something, right now," She gave him a death stare as she growled lowly.
"You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt not only Aang, but if you even do much as say a mean comment to (Y/N), and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore," She threatened him.

"Because I'll make sure your destiny ends... right then and there. Permanently,"