A few days after riding atop Appa, he expectedly got tired and we were pretty much forced to walk the rest of the way to the temple. We trudge along slowly, enervated by the heat of the scorching hot Sun.
"This is humiliating," Katara complained.
"You mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka questioned.
"Both," Katara answered monotonously.
"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people," Aang reasoned, smiling slightly.
"I wonder how the rest of the troops are," Teo mentioned, the only one of us who was rolling along in his wheelchair.
"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out and now he's going back in," Haru sighed.
"Well, I'm not usually the most positive person but we should try to think positively," I advised. "Maybe they escaped somehow."
"Well, I'm positive that they were all captured by the Fire Nation," Haru riposted.
I shake my head, forcing myself to forge ahead.
"I miss Pipsqueak," The Duke whined.
"I miss not having blisters on my feet," Sokka added.
We draw near a rocky cliff and Toph stamps her foot, a smile suddenly splitting her features. "Hey, we're here! I can feel it!"
"Uhhh," Katara stares at Toph in confusion. "I think your feet need their eyes checked."
"No, she's right," Aang confirmed. "We are here!"
"Wow...it's amazing!" Toph exclaimed. All of us get back onto Appa, letting him fly us down the cliffs. And just as Toph said, The Western Air Temple was indeed a breathtaking sight, comprising many inverted ancient buildings standing together in a row, all built on the underside of the cliffs somehow. We landed beside a fountain, the natural mist in front of it providing perfect cover for us.
All of us then alight from him, beginning to go our separate ways to explore the temple. Haru, The Duke and Teo dash off to explore a part of the temple and Aang wanted to follow them, but I cleared my throat behind him, catching his attention after remembering something.
Aang runs over to me, examining my features in concern. "What happened, Suzume? Is something wrong? Are you sick?"
I shook my head quickly. "No, Aang, nothing's wrong. We just need to talk about something."
"Is it about what you did to Azula? Look, I forgiv-"
"No," I cut him off, shaking my head and trying to prevent the memories of the incident from flooding in. "We need to decide what we're gonna do now, after all, that's happened so far. And I think we'll need to call Katara, Sokka and Toph since they are travelling with us."
"Fair enough," Aang nodded. We round up Katara, Sokka and Toph, finding an area with four rocks facing each other oppositely that we could use as seats. We all take our seats on each rock, with Aang and I sharing and sitting together on the same rock.
Aang looks around our group for suggestions. "So, what's the new plan?"
"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan!" Sokka proposed. "Both you and Suzume just need to master all four elements and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes."
"Sounds fine to me," I shrugged.
"Oh, yeah. Sounds great, no problem. We'll just do that," Aang countered sarcastically.
"What's so wrong about mastering the four elements, Aang? It's one of our duties," I reminded.
"I know but it's not even gonna be possible! Where are we supposed to get a firebending teacher?" Aang argued.
"We could look for Jeong Jeong!" Katara suggested.
"And how would we do that exactly?" I asked. "I don't think we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again."
"Who's...oh." Toph folds her arms in irritation. "never mind. If it's important I'll find out."
"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang runs off, taking out his glider and gliding away from us before we could even protest.
"What's up with him?" Toph questioned.
I close my eyes, sensing a little fear radiating from Aang.
"He's scared," I recall what he said when we were opening our chakras. "He doesn't want to learn firebending because he's scared he'll harm people. He harmed Katara once with firebending and that still remains in his mind."
"Oh," Katara looked at me sadly. "I didn't know he felt that way. I hope he knows that I don't blame him."
"Katara, Aang blames himself for what he did to you," I amended.
"Oh," Katara frowns. "He shouldn't blame himself for something like that, besides, it happened so long ago."
"You don't know how he thinks, Katara."
"There's gotta be someone who can teach you and Aang firebending." Sokka taps his chin in thought.
"Wait," I remember something, broaching a rather touchy subject. "but how about the Boiling Rock? Don't you want to go there to save Suki?"
"Well, that can wait," Sokka sighed, looking down sadly. "But we'll definitely go there and we'll go there prepared."
"How do you know Suki's at the Boiling Rock?" Katara questioned, folding her arms.
"Uhhh," I paused. "Well, Azula told us."
"Impossible, Azula would never tell you that, unless she's trying to trick you! It's a trap!" Katara exclaimed.
"It's not a trap," Toph declared solemnly.
"How can you be so sure? She's tricked us so many times before," Katara argued.
"Toph's right," Sokka glanced at me nervously. "She was being honest."
"Look, Katara, please don't get mad at what I'm about to tell you, please." I look at her pleadingly.
She looks at me suspiciously before nodding. "Sure, whatever you did to her can't be that bad."
"I sorta, uh," I paused, averting my gaze from hers. "bloodbent her and forced her to tell me the truth."
"You what?!" Katara was livid, her anger almost tangible as she glared at me. "Suzume, how could you? You were a victim of bloodbending yourself, you know how painful it is! Azula may be evil but you can't just bloodbend her into telling the truth!" She turns Sokka and Toph. "And you two and Aang didn't stop her?"
"It's not their fault Katara, don't blame them. They knew that if they tried to stop me, I would've most likely killed Azula. And I'm truly sorry Katara, I've learnt my lesson. I felt terrible afterwards and I promise to never ever bloodbend again. Please, Katara, we need to let this go and go find Aang."
Katara looked a little reluctant at first but she acceded. "Fine. Let's find Aang, but if you bloodbend again, Suzume, I'm warning you-"
I cut her off. "You can kill me if I ever bloodbend again, you have my word."
The three of them looked stunned and surprised at this, but Katara immediately shakes her head. "I won't ever kill you. And even if I were to kill you, Aang would die too. What's the use of killing both of you after bringing you two back to life? Besides, Suzume, you're my friend, I can't just kill you. Just don't ever bloodbend again."
"I won't," I promised. "Now let's go."
The four of us rush onto Appa, with Sokka at the reins. A swift flick of the reins later and Appa was immediately on Aang's trail, tracking him down as he was gliding with Momo.
"Aang, can we talk about you learning firebending now?" Katara asked.
"What? The wind is too loud in my ears! Check out this loop!" He does a loop in the air with his glider, turning back to smile at all of us. Using this opportunity, I manage to lock eyes with him. 'Aang, I know that you don't want to learn firebending after what you did to Katara but you have to forgive yourself, Katara's forgiven you and you should too. We have to learn firebending either way Aang, it's our duty. So please stop trying to stall and land, we have a lot to discuss Aang and although it isn't too pleasant, you'll have to go through it if we want to defeat the Fire Lord.'
"Fine, Suzume." Aang lands back at the temple with us, looking a little sad before brightening up. "All of us can discuss our plans while I show you the giant Pai Sho table! Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber!"
Toph looks between Aang and me, crossing her arms. "So is this what you two do every time? Communicate with your minds?"
"Yeah, pretty much," I chuckled.
We were about to walk around the temple when Toph stops us abruptly, her expression turning serious, "Wait! There's someone here to see us."
Toph points behind herself and our gazes follow her hand, only seeing Appa at first but once the flying bison stepped aside, we were met with the unexpected presence of an enemy of ours, leaving all of us too shell-shocked for a split-second. 'I can't believe he's still trying to catch us.'
"Hello," Zuko raises his arms up in greeting, waving at us. "Zuko here."
We all get into our fighting stances and this time, I manage to shove down my anger sufficiently, not attacking him but eyeing him down angrily.
"Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so, I just thought I'd wait for you here." Appa growls at him but unexpectedly, he licks Zuko twice. "I know you must be surprised to see me here."
"Not really, since you've followed us all over the world," Sokka argued.
"Right. Well, uhhh...anyway...what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I, uhhh, I'm good now, and well I think I should join your group, oh, and I can teach firebending to both of you." My eyes widen in shock at Zuko's words. "See, I, uhh..."
"You want to what now?" Toph asked in incredulity.
"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?!" Katara shouted.
"Well to be fair, this is the same guy who tried to attack you in the North Pole in a snowy setting and look at him now. Zuko, do you really think you can take down all five of us, singlehandedly? I think you should go before things get out of hand," I advised angrily.
"I'm not here to fight you! I want to teach both Aang and you firebending," Zuko protested.
"But how can we trust you, Zuko?" I questioned. "You've done so many terrible things to us in the past, you tried to hunt Aang and me down and you pretty much helped cause our deaths!"
"Yeah, all you've ever done is hunt us down and try to capture Aang and Suzume!" Sokka agreed.
"I've done some good things! I mean, I could have stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something!" Appa licks Zuko again, much to our surprise.
"Appa does seem to like him," Toph shrugged.
Sokka crosses his arms stubbornly. "He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him. 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 reasoned.
"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka retorted, glaring at him.
"Or when you stole Sokka's club and used it to track us down and capture us?" Katara added.
"Look, I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should have sent that Fire Nation assassin after both of you." Toph and Sokka's eyes widen in shock, and so does mine. "I'm going to try and stop-"
Sokka pulls out his boomerang aggressively, pointing it at Zuko. "Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?"
"Well, that's not his name, but-" Sokka curs Zuko off.
"Ohhh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend!" Sokka mocked sarcastically.
"He's not my friend!" Zuko argued in anger.
"That guy tried to blow us all up!" Toph yelled.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Zuko glances at Aang. "You once said you thought we could be friends. You know I have good in me."
Both Aang and I exchange glances while Katara, Sokka and Toph stared at us dumbfounded. 'You did say that, Aang.'
'I did, Suzume. I really did believe that there was some good in him, but after what he did in Ba Sing Se, I'm not so sure any more.'
'I remembered when he was crying when Azula shot Iroh down, he genuinely looked sad and I thought that he was misguided, he just needed someone to guide him. But that did all change in Ba Sing Se after what he did to us. So what should we do, Aang? Maybe Iroh did guide him back to the right path. Should we believe him?'
'I-I don't know, Suzume, we'll just have to see what the others think and make a decision from there.'
After surveying our friends' angry faces and upon realising their feelings of borderline murderous anger (well that's how I felt anyway) towards him, Aang comes to a decision and shakes his head. "There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us."
"You need to get out of here. Now," Katara warned.
"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore!" Zuko argued.
"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 kneels down, bending his head and raising his arms in a genuine gesture of surrender. I gaze at Zuko in shock and utter confusion, I'd never seen him like this before. Instead of intensifying as I expected it to, my feelings of anger were slowly beginning to diminish, superseded by that of curiosity and befuddlement. 'Maybe he's not lying, Aang.'
'We can't be too sure, Suzume. He probably still is.'
Before I can reply, Katara already blasts Zuko with water, "No, we won't! Get out of here, and don't come back! And if we ever see you again, well, we'd better not see you again!"
Zuko walks away in defeat and Katara turns to look at us, only speaking to us once Zuko was out of sight. "Why would he try to fool us like that?"
"Obviously he wants to lead us into some kind of trap," Sokka reasoned.
"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," Katara added.
"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," Katara affirmed.
"Well, he looked genuine back there. He looked like someone who really wanted to help us and I do feel like he does have feelings," I reasoned, Sokka and Katara gazing at me in surprise and disbelief. "Remember when Iroh was struck down by Azula with lightning, Zuko knelt down beside him, weeping and refusing to leave him."
"Suzume, you've already fallen for Zuko's trap, that's what Zuko wants you to think!" Sokka countered.
"I kind of have a confession to make," Aang spoke up. "Remember when Suzume took care of both of you 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 shuddered in disgust.
"Sokka, I looked at it, and I told you, there was nothing there!" Katara argued.
"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap!" Sokka protested.
"Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me," Aang admitted.
Katara glances at Aang in disbelief. "No way! I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself!"
"Yeah," Sokka nodded in agreement. "face it Aang, you're nothing but a big prize to him. Besides, Suzume would've saved you."
"You're probably right," Aang admitted.
"I wouldn't have been able to save you Aang," I conceded. "even if I did try. There would've been too many security guards to ward off, and I would've been captured. So Zuko did save your life."
"Actually," Toph pipes up. "he wasn't lying."
"Oh, hooray! In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list," Sooka mocked sarcastically.
"I'm just saying that considering his messed-up family and how he was raised, he could have turned out a lot worse," Toph reasoned.
"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 added sarcastically.
"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 countered.
"Easy for you to say! You weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates!" Katara riposted.
"Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island!" Sokka added.
"Or when he tried to capture Suzume and me at the Fire Temple!" Aang augmented the pot of Zuko's already growing list of wrongdoings.
Katara, Sokka and Aang stare at me expectantly but I shake my head. "Maybe Toph is right. I know what I saw that day, a broken, misguided boy knelt over the body of his uncle, crying tears of genuine sadness. He may have been evil and he's done a lot of terrible things in the past, but maybe Iroh guided him back to the right path. That's all I'm saying, he looked sincere and genuine back there."
"It's just a trick, Suzume," Katara groaned in frustration. "He just wants you to believe that he changed but once you get comfortable with him, he'll strike." Katara then turns to Toph. "Why would you even try to defend him?"
"Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact." Toph pokes both Aang and me in the chest. "Aang and Suzume need 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?"
"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher!" Aang opposed.
"Aang, we need to give him a chance," I reasoned. "You need to trust me."
Aang looks at me hesitantly before shaking his head. "Sorry Suzume, but I'm with Katara and Sokka on this one. Zuko's too dangerous to be trusted."
"You're darn right about that, buddy," Sokka nodded.
"Well, I guess that settles that," Katara crosses her arms.
"No that does not settle it! I'm as much of an Avatar as Aang is, and I'm saying that we give Zuko a chance!" I argued.
"Well, majority wins, Suzume," Sokka riposted.
"Ergh! I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here! Let's go, Zume!" Toph grabs my hand, dragging me away from the trio.
Once we reach a secluded area in the temple, Toph begins venting her anger. "I can't believe they won't believe anything we say! It's like they're so blinded by their past anger."
"That kinda reminds me of, well, me," I admitted frankly. "But I can't blame them, you weren't there when he chased Aang and me down relentlessly around the world. He did many bad things to us in the past, but this time, if I put everything aside and look at this situation fairly, I have to admit, Zuko looks like a changed person, he seemed truly genuine there."
"I know right! Look, Zume, I have an idea, we'll visit Zuko tonight when the rest are asleep, I want to see what he has to say for himself," Toph declared.
"Uhhh, is that a good idea?"
"We can find out if he's being truly sincere or trying to trick us," Toph explained.
"Fine, we'll do that but it'll be a little hard to know where he is though," I pondered.
"Zume, you're forgetting that you have the best earthbender in the world with you. I'll find him," Toph reassured. "All you need to do is follow me."
"Somehow I don't detect any lies in that sentence," I joked.
"I never lie about anything, Zume." Toph grinned. "Just remember that."
Time Skip
It was nightfall by now and Toph and I left the temple discretely, going off into the nearby jungle to look for Zuko with Toph leading the way. Once we spot a campfire burning, Toph signals for me to follow her behind discretely.
"That's him," Toph whispered.
I see Zuko shooting up from the ground, looking around nervously. "Who's there? Stay back!"
Zuko launches an arc of fire at us and I quickly airbend an arc of air to meet it, putting out the fire and coming out of our hiding spot. "It's us."
"Oh," Zuko relaxes his fighting stance. "So...is there anything I can do for you two?"
Toph and I both sat opposite him. "We just wanted to talk, Zuko."
"About what?" Zuko asked in confusion.
"About your change, Zuko," I answered. "You seemed genuine back there, though the rest didn't believe you, both of us do."
"Thanks," Zuko beamed. "I appreciate that. And yes, I was being genuine back there, I really have changed, I'm not the same person that I used to be when I first hunted you and Aang down. I'm sorry for chasing you and Aang down and for all my past wrongdoings, I really want to make it up to you all by becoming you and Aang's firebending teacher."
Toph and I both exchanged a surprised glance and we nod.
"So Zuko, how did you change?" Toph asked.
"My uncle," Zuko looked up into the sky. "he always guided me back to the right path when I was wrong. I've realised all these years that I was misguided by my father and I've abandoned him because of it. My only focus now is helping Suzume and Aang get ready to face my father."
"Your uncle really did come through then," I nodded. "Well then, it sounds like you truly have changed. I'd take you as my firebending teacher, but I don't know about Aang, he still seems reluctant and I can tell that he still doesn't trust you."
"I understand." Zuko bowed his head.
"But we could try convincing him for you," I mentioned.
Zuko looks at me in surprise. "Both of you would do that?"
"I don't see why not," Toph smiled.
"As it stands right now, there are no other firebending teachers out there that we know of except you. You're pretty much Aang and my only shot at learning firebending," I added.
"Thank you, Suzume and Toph." Zuko bows before us respectfully.
I nodded in acknowledgement, reciprocating the act. "Although, I have to say that Aang is a little reluctant to learn firebending because he's scared of hurting people with it because he hurt Katara in the past with it."
"Well, fire can be dangerous and wild, so as firebenders, we need to be more careful and control our bending, so we don't hurt people unintentionally," Zuko explained.
I feel my jaw drop and I stare at him in shock, even Toph looked astounded.
"You really are meant to be our firebending teacher," I muttered in awe, gazing at him in shock. "I'll definitely have to tell Aang about this, we'll try convincing the others. It's getting a little late so we'll both have to get going. It was nice talking to you, Zuko." We rise from our spots.
"You too, Suzume and Toph," Zuko bows before us respectfully.
We both nod, heading back to the campsite and getting some sleep. We woke up the next morning to find Sokka, Katara and Aang standing over both of us and Aang in particular looked a little upset.
"Suzume, Toph I know what you both did last night." Aang crossed his arms.
"Aang, we just wanted to talk to Zuko about his change and believe it or not, he truly has changed," I reasoned. "Did you listen to our conversation?"
"Only a little at the beginning, but that's not important! Don't do that again, Suzume. He's just trying to lure you in," Aang argued. "You might get hurt the next time you do that."
"You have got to be kidding me," Toph groaned in frustration. "I was there with Zume, Zuko really has changed!"
"Well, that means he's succeeded in tricking both of you," Sokka sighed. "But he won't fool the three of us."
"Sokka, you have to trust me. When we spoke to Zuko last night, he really did sound like he regretted every terrible thing he did in the past to us and he sounded remorseful, he really wants to change for the better," I reasoned.
"Why are you even defending him so much? It's like he's your boyfriend or something," Sokka mocked, pretending to make smooching sounds and mimicking my voice. "Oh Zuko, I love you so much."
"Absolutely not!" I growled, shifting the rocks beneath Sokka's feet and causing him to stumble. "How dare you!"
I glance at Aang, who looked saddened and surprised by this. 'Aang, don't listen to Sokka. He's just mocking me, I don't have any feelings for Zuko, I promise. I only love you.'
'I love you too, Suzume.'
Aang turns to me, his features brightening up a little. I then continue with what I wanted to say, "Aang, you should've heard him talking about firebending. He really is meant to be our firebending teacher. He said that-" Before I could finish my sentence, an explosion goes off near us, causing the rubble from the upper column of our roof to drop.
We were about to flee when we hear Zuko's voice.
"Stop!" We turn to look at Zuko in shock, seeing him running at Combustion Man. "I don't want you hunting the Avatars anymore! The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop." Combustion Man merely shoves Zuko aside, continuing to combust the area around us. We hide behind a wall, hearing Zuko continually ordering him to stop.
"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you! All right, I'll pay you double to stop!" Zuko implored.
I peer over the wall, seeing Zuko kick Combustion Man as he fires, causing him to miss again. Combustion Man subsequently takes aim at Zuko and Zuko creates a wall of fire to stop the attack but is pushed off the ledge. 'Oh no.'
Aang emerges from the fountain, running to the side and doing a spinning back kick, airbending and kicking up the dust around him, and leaping straight up just as a blast from Combustion Man explodes beneath him. Aang spins in mid-air, airbending a tornado and kicking it at Combustion Man. Combustion Man leaps over the tornado and fires another blast as he descends. Aang lands and quickly backflips away from the blast, landing next to us. Combustion Man leaps to a small ledge close to us and rolls, firing a blast just as he stops. The blast hits the fountain of water and we shield ourselves preemptively. Katara runs forward and bends the water from the pool, jumping up and bending a huge wave up between us and Combustion Man. She descends from jumping, bringing her arms down and crossing them. The wave matches her arm movements, becoming icicles which launch themselves at Combustion Man in both directions.
Combustion Man brings his metal arm over his face and lifts his metal leg to shield him from the attack. The icicles break against him and Combustion Man flings his arms down to shake off the ice shards and steps forward, an angry frown on his face. We quickly hide behind another wall, seeing Combustion Man now scanning the area cautiously.
"Toph, launch me to him," I whispered. "I have an idea."
"If you say so," Toph earthbends a pillar of rock underneath me, propelling me up into the air to him. Combustion Man spots me immediately and starts firing right away. I evade his blasts, drawing light from the Sun with my fingertips and aiming them at all three of his eyes with my fingertips on my other hand, temporarily blinding him. I then waterbend water from the fountain at him, freezing it instantly and trapping him inside it.
I land beside him, looking into the ice, "That should do the trick."
I see him glaring at me from within, beginning to see the ice melt. 'Uh oh.' I quickly run behind a wall just as the ice breaks.
"How are we supposed to stop him?" I grumbled. "This guy is pretty much unstoppable." Combustion Man fires a blast at the wall I was hiding at and it crumbles, revealing my position. I quickly draw light from the Sun again, directing it into both his eyes and temporarily rendering him blind.
I make my way back to the group hastily, peering at him, now already recovering. He looks around, firing a blast close to where we were.
"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 protested.
"I know how to get an angle on him!" Sokka takes out his boomerang, aiming it at Combustion Man and roughly measuring his throw. "All right buddy, don't fail me now!" Sokka launches his boomerang. The boomerang swings through the air, making it to Combustion Man and knocking his third eye, causing him to hit the ground. The boomerang returns to Sokka and he begins grinning triumphantly.
"Yeah, boomerang!" Sokka grabs his boomerang joyfully, frowning in disappointment after seeing Combustion Man rise again. "Awww, boomerang."
We run further back into the temple, seeing Combustion Man gear up again, but this time, he looked dizzy and it seemed like he couldn't aim properly. His next shot fails to escape, causing an explosion around him and resulting in the building he was standing on getting destroyed.
All of us stare on in shock as we watched the building descend and even more surprising perhaps, we see Zuko climbing up a vine, unharmed from what happened just now.
Zuko approaches us again and Aang looked at him in disbelief and surprise, though he still did thank him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but ... thanks, Zuko."
"Hey, what about me? I did the boomerang thing," Sokka reminded.
"Yeah, thanks Sokka," I smiled. "Your boomerang pretty much saved us."
"Don't stroke his ego, Suzume." Katara rolled her eyes.
"Hey! I deserve to be thanked!" Sokka protested.
Ignoring their bickering, Zuko proceeds with what he wanted to tell us, "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. But I'm realizing 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. All I want to do now is play my part in ending this war, and I know my destiny is to help both of you restore balance to the world," Zuko stared at both Aang and me. "I spoke with Suzume and Toph yesterday night and Aang, I know that you're scared to firebend because you're afraid of hurting people but you'll eventually have to learn it. I'll tell you what I told Suzume yesterday, fire can be dangerous and wild, so as firebenders, we need to be more careful and control our bending, so we don't hurt people unintentionally."
I nodded, looking at Aang whose eyes widened in disbelief. He looked at me and I nodded, prompting him to give in. "I think you are supposed to be Suzume and 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 care for. We'd like you to teach both of us."
Both Aang and I bowed respectfully before Zuko and Zuko returned it, starting to smile a little. "Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group."
"Not so fast." Aang raises his hand. "I still have to ask my friends if it's okay with them."
"I have no problem with Zuko joining our group," I smiled.
"Me too," Toph agreed.
Aang turns to Sokka. "Sokka?"
"Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If both of you think this is the way to do it, then, I'm all for it," Sokka shrugged.
Aang then turns to Katara. "Katara?"
Katara shoots a withering glare at Zuko before she concedes, looking back at both Aang and me. "I'll go along with whatever you two think is right."
Zuko approaches us in excitement. "I won't let you two down! I promise!"
Aang and I both follow Sokka as he shows Zuko to his room. "So, here you go, home sweet home, I guess, you know, for now. Unpack? Lunch, soon? Uhhh...welcome aboard?" Zuko turns back to Sokka, smiling at him slightly. Sokka quickly turns back to us, all of us walking away and giving Zuko privacy. "Okay, this is really, really weird."
"I can't blame you for thinking that way," I shrugged. "Who knew pretty much one of our worst enemies in the past would join our group? But I'm just glad he's seen the light."
"Me too," Aang beamed before he turned to me solemnly, looking apologetic. "And I'm sorry for doubting you Suzume, I should've trusted you and given Zuko a chance from the beginning."
"Yeah, sorry about that, Suzume." Sokka rubs his head sheepishly.
"It's okay. At least both of you managed to put aside your previous grudges against him and accepted him into our group."