Zutara Week Day 3 - Fuse
Whew, day 3! This is so much fun though I am not entirely happy how this part turned out. Still, I hope you enjoy it! If you havent already be sure to read day 1 and day 2 first, to know what’s happening.
Have fun!
Read on AO3
Fuse
It was the dead of night and the explosion shattered the silence. The Fire Lord was on his feet in a heartbeat. 'Katara!' he thought and lunged for his swords. He pushed his door open, startling the dozing guard awake. "What is happening?" he demanded furiously and shook the shocked woman by the shoulders who was doing her best to blink the sleep out of her eyes.
Another explosion ripped through the nightly silence and the Fire Lord dropped his grip on the armour and raced up to the deck. He was vaguely aware of the guards that crowded into the corridor and tried to form a protective circle around their liege. But he didn't care. He didn't care at all about his own safety because his mind only screamed 'Katara, Katara, Katara!' and so he pushed them out of the way.
"I'm fine!" he bellowed. "Find out what is happening out there!" He finally pushed onto the deck, the humid night air welcoming him. He stumbled to the railing and his breath caught in his throat.
The town was illuminated by the silvery light of the full moon, the serenity interrupted by fire that bloomed in the dark, erupting in flickering blossoms on the town square. And every now and then they hissed, recoiling from the layers of ice thick as Ba Sing Se's walls. "Fuck," he cursed loudly, his thoughts racing. He slung his swords over his back and looked back to see his guards stumbling clumsily onto the deck. "I'll be fine," he assured and vaulted over the rail.
"Your majesty!" he heard them call but he ignored them. He knew he was being unfair; he knew that they only wanted to protect him but Katara was fighting and Katara was in danger. And he had just won her freedom with the trial yesterday, he would not - could not - allow her to be hurt.
He ran through the narrow alleys of the town that had become so familiar to him in the past weeks, past dying fires and minor scuffles between benders and non-benders alike. All of that didn't matter.
The square was a ruin. The hospital Katara had fortified and protected so adamantly was ablaze and so was the governor's house and Zuko knew that come morning there would not be a single wall standing save for crumbling ashes. Where once had been a well and cobblestones, there was now a slippery icy floor with melted splotches all around.
And amidst the destruction was Katara. Katara, beautiful, furious, terrifying Katara. Suddenly he knew again why he had been afraid to cross her on the battlefield.
Katara had always been a force to be reckoned with. A child prodigy, a master waterbender by the age of fourteen, a bloodbender. She had taken down Azula during Sozin's Comet after all. Even when he first met her, even when she barely managed a water whip, she had been magnificent. He had made the mistake to underestimate her quite a few times. He had learned his lesson quickly. Apparently, two dozen firebenders hadn't.
When Zuko remembered all the battles they had fought, it was not hard to pick the most brilliant one. He might have been tempted to say their first fight after she had found a master, or the one after his betrayal in Ba Sing Se, or even her fight against Azula. Yet, they all paled in comparison to the time they had set out to avenge her mother. He had thought nothing would ever compare to the day she stopped the rain. He had been so very wrong.
Katara stood amidst the smoking ruins of the town square and her chest was heaving heavily from the exhaustion of bending what looked like half the river at once dousing the flames, protecting three rebels that huddled behind her, attacking the guards. Zuko didn't even know where to look first and yet she moved with grace and elegance through her forms as if it was nothing. He could just stare in awe.
Of course, she was bound to slip. Not even the Avatar could hold this up for long and he could bend four elements, not just one. So, of course she missed one.
And Zuko didn't even hesitate.
Because suddenly he wasn't on some backwater island, suddenly he was in the palace again with Sozin's Comet parting the sky and there was lightning rushing towards Katara so he had to jump. He always had to jump.
This time he was fast enough. His feet planted on the ground he redirected the lightning and it exploded in the sky. He grunted and Katara yelled and then there was the next wave of attacks raining down on them. "I got you," he promised as he deflected the fire.
"Thanks," she panted. "I thought you'd never show."
'Always', he told himself and drew his twin blades to cut through a curtain of fire. 'I'll always show.'
He had no idea where all the attackers came from if he was quite honest. He knew the regulations on the household guard of a governor, put in place to prevent exactly this. He knew that a town of that size wasn't entitled to any kind of militia. And yet the firebenders crowding into the square were nearing on thirty. So, where the hell did Yozin get them from?
"I don't understand, Shao," Katara yelled, freezing one of the benders to a wall, "I thought you were on our side."
"I'm sorry," the man sobbed and it sounded genuine. "But the governor pays more." Zuko knocked him out with the pummel of a sword and grunted in disgust.
"These are your rebels?" he sneered
Katara ducked under a fiery blast, slithering on an ice trail and bending up an ice cube with a move that looked suspiciously like one of Toph's. "Some. Dirty bastard baited them with money."
"Where's the rest?" He drove one of the guards back with a quick succession of blasts then stepped back to have her water whip them into some rubble.
"Fighting somewhere else," she said and moved closer to cover his back. "These ones are ours."
He grinned and nodded. "Like old times?"
The sound escaping her throat almost sounded like a laugh. "Sparky, that doesn't even come close. Just hope you can keep up with me."
Now he was laughing, too. "Don't you know the Fire Lord's the best firebender in the world, sugar queen? And this one just happens to be the best swordsman, too."
She laughed and it almost sounded genuine. "Don't let Sokka hear you."
Relief washed over him. If she could joke their chances weren't all that bad. "Won't tell him if you don't. Let's go."
"Let's go," she agreed and cast a quick look back to the rebels she had protected so fiercely. "Get out of here. This'll get ugly." Then she nodded and together they advanced.
It was ridiculously easy to fall into step with her. They had fought each other innumerable times. But that didn't even compare to the times they had fought together.
All members of Team Avatar were almost inhumanly in sync with each other, he had learned that first hand more than enough. And once he had joined them it had been ridiculously easy to fit into the glaring gap that had been in their midst. He had expected it to be easiest with Aang, the Avatar did use firebending as well, after all.
However, it had been easiest with Katara. Katara, the waterbender, the element of fluidity and change, adapt and overcome. Her and Aang were simply a sight to behold while no combination could surpass the instinctive trust between her and Sokka and seeing Toph and Katara together had managed to convince him his last hour had rung.
But Katara and him? That was just something else. Perhaps it was that their elements were opposite. Perhaps it was that they had fought each other so many times. Perhaps it was something else entirely. The only thing he knew was that nothing in this world could surpass the feeling of euphoria he felt whenever he and Katara fought together.
In all honesty, the guards never stood a chance. And he might've even felt pity for them if he hadn't been so furious. But honestly who on earth attacked a waterbender on a full moon? Who on earth attacked the waterbending teacher of the Avatar at all? Who on earth attacked her with the Avatar's firebending teacher by her side? That was foolishness bordering on insanity.
She took out two attackers with a water whip and he followed suit with a fiery one. She bent the scalding steam towards four of them who screamed in pain. Blinded as they were, they went down quickly beneath Zuko's swords.
"Katara, watch out!" he shouted and grabbed for her arm to yank her behind a crumbling wall, trapping her between his arms. The searing heat that licked against his body made him quiver and think of another fight where he had felt the fire far too hotly. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, only glad to shield Katara.
Once the burst of flames died down, he pulled away a little. "You need a break," he stated as he took in the exhaustion that was plain in her face.
"We need to keep fighting-"
"Even you can't keep this up for ever. And you are running out of water."
"The air is humid-"
He growled and curled around her once more as another firestorm raced towards them, spinning to deflect it. "Stop arguing," he hissed, "and run. I'll meet you back at the harbour in half an hour."
"Zuko-"
"Go, Katara!" He pushed her away and she stumbled a little. "I'll be fine."
Another burst of flame, another spin. The horror was plain on Katara's face and it almost broke his heart.
"Don't hurt them. They're not bad people," she pleaded. Then she turned and ran.
Fighting alone felt wrong. There was no other way to describe it but suddenly his movements felt stiff and wooden as he stumbled through the forms. Not only once he waited for another person to complete the attack without anyone being there.
This led to him coming dangerously close to some vicious burns he would rather avoid while he tried to slowly draw the firebenders to the harbour where an angry waterbender would be waiting for them. 'Agni, please let them be that stupid,' he prayed while he considered his chances.
They were bad.
He had figured that out the moment that he had told Katara to run but he hadn't known how bad they would be.
He only figured that out when he found himself backed into a dead end with five firebenders blocking the exit.
'Fuck,' he thought. "Fuck," he said. Slowly he raised his hands. "Stop attacking. I am your Fire Lord."
One of the guards barked a laugh. "Not likely, your majesty. You should've thought about this before sticking your royal nose where it doesn't belong."
He winced. 'Not bad people, huh?' Slowly he dropped into a defensive stance. "Bring it on, then," he gritted, "and let it not be said that the Fire Lord went down without a fight."
The traitors raised their hands, ready to attack and Zuko braced himself, waiting for the blow and-
Nothing happened.
Well, that was not entirely true. Something happened only that it was not the blazing inferno he had expected. Instead the earth shook with a mighty tremor that swept the guards and Zuko of their feet before they went flying one by one.
"Great spirits, your jerkiness." A tall slender figure stepped into the opening. "Do you have to be that dramatic?"
Zuko blinked in surprise. "Toph?" he asked unbelieving.
"In the flesh. Get up, Sparky, you're looking ridiculous."
"What on earth are you doing here?" he asked as he got to his knees.
"Katara sent me. Sugarqueen's got her pants all in a twist because she thought you were doing something stupid." She frowned. "Not that she was wrong."
"I mean what are you doing here? On this island specifically?"
"Aang sent Sokka and Suki. He was very concerned once he heard that Katara got involved in some kind of revolution or something."
"They're here, too?"
"Down by the harbour," she answered as she started walking. "Suki took control of your guards and is beating some sense into the fighters. Sokka is beating some sense into Katara. Anyways, nice work with the town square. That'll take a lot of money to rebuild."
He winced. He'd tried not to think of that particular problem. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."
She flashed him a bright grin. "Come on, Sparky. There's no way I'm missing all the fun. I'm pretty pissed at Katara that she hasn't asked me to come along in the first place."
Zuko 'hm'ed, silently thanking the spirits for that. There wouldn't have been much of a town left once he'd arrived if that had been the case.
An explosion a few streets over caught his attention.
"There they are!" Toph exclaimed excitedly and started running towards it. "Hurry up, Zuko, or they'll be done until we get there!"
Zuko sighed in defeat and started running after her. He almost wanted to chide her as she led him into another dead end before she blasted her way straight through the wall.
"Oh, this feels great!" she said, pointedly ignoring the flabbergasted stares of Zuko's and Yozin's guards alike. Only Katara, Sokka and Suki seemed not shocked at all.
He sighed again.
"What are you waiting for?" Suki yelled. "No slackening on my watch!"
And then the fighting started up again, with bursts of flames and razor-sharp ice daggers and flying boulders and Sokka yelling.
"No quite how I imagined this reunion to go," Zuko grit out once they had formed a tight circle to better defend themselves.
Suki rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you, too."
Sokka just laughed. "Be honest, Zuko. You always knew this is exactly how this reunion would go."
He was still thinking of a clever reply when Katara suddenly shouted: "Take cover!" He had barely enough time to get out of the street before she and Toph shot up on a earth column and she bent a thundering wave from the ocean. Mixing it with the dust Toph bent up the two of them flooded the street with mud. Katara breathed out and it froze solid in place.
Zuko stared in awe for his knees gave out under him. "Great spirits," he murmured. Yeah. That was why he didn't want the two of them fighting together.
Sokka slid down the wall beside him. "Yeah," he agreed. "I'll never get used to it."
Zuko nodded but when he looked up his best friend’s eyes were set on Suki. He frowned in confusion.
Toph suddenly appeared in his field of vision. "We should get back to the harbour."
There was nothing he could say against that so he just nodded and got up, trailing behind the others with Katara by his side.
He didn't know when he had felt this awful the last time. Every bone in his body hurt and he was pretty sure if he stumbled once more, he would just not get up again even though he could feel the call of the rising sun.
Still he managed to stumble to the harbour and stopped before his ship. The docks were mercifully deserted. "Do you think it's over?" he asked.
"No," Katara grit out and he could tell she had just as much trouble keeping it together as he did. "Yozin still didn't show. I'm sure he'll come soon, once he knows my power has faded. And he won't come alone, now that he knows that we've got back-up."
It turned out that she was right. The first rays of sunshine crept over the horizon and Toph announced: "They're here."
"Fire Lord Zuko," Yozin boomed as he stepped into the place, his two sons by his side. "I hereby renounce my allegiance to the throne."
Suki rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go."
"This island and this town are as of now independent entities of the Fire Nation. You and your warriors are no longer welcome here and-"
"-we demand that you leave immediately, yadda yadda yadda," Sokka said with a groan. "Yeah, we know the drill. Just get on with it."
"Yeah!" Toph yelled. "Do you mean to fight us or bore us to death?"
Zuko crossed his arms. "I will accept your surrender any time."
"We will not surrender!" one of his sons yelled. "We-"
"For fuck's sake!" Katara yelled. "Just get it over with."
Fire bloomed. Toph raised a wall of stone. Katara pulled water from the sea and slashed at their enemies.
"Toph, do your thing," Zuko said before he vaulted over the wall. He could feel the earth rumbling.
"I'm not sure if I can keep this up any longer," she panted and sank to her knees.
Zuko set his eyes on the sky. "You don't have to," he answered. "Everyone, stay back."
The moon set.
Katara fell to the floor with a strangled cry.
The sun rose.
Zuko stepped in, the first sunrays of the day tingling on his skin.
He breathed.
The next burst of flames raced towards them.
In.
Fire flared in his veins.
And out.
He parted the sea of fire with one mighty blow.
"Enough!"
And just like that the blows stopped.
Perhaps the attackers were just too startled to continue.
Perhaps the attackers had finally realised who they were fighting against.
Perhaps the attackers were just as tired as Katara and he were.
Probably they realised that Toph had trapped Yozin and his two sons in stone columns.
The reason for it was irrelevant, the only thing of importance was his order: "This fight stops now." And so, it did.
"Go home." And so, they did.
Zuko turned back to the others. "Nice work," Toph commented. Katara leaned heavily on Suki.
"And there's Aang." Sokka pointed to the sky where the distinct shape of Appa drew nearer.
Zuko stepped in to share Katara's weight with Suki. It seemed like the right thing to do. With an arm around his shoulders they watched together as the fires died down and the soldiers went home. They watched together the dawning of a new day.
"That reminds me-" she started with a frail voice.
Zuko hummed. "Yeah." He smiled. "You should get some rest."
