They trudged up the last few steps to the temple door, thirsty and exhausted. Zuko closed his eyes. "No."
"No what?" Sokka said blankly. "No, you're not going in? No you dragged us up here for nothing?"
"I know where I want to lay him to rest." Zuko turned off the steps. "Don't follow. I want to do this by myself."
Katara and Sokka shrugged at each other, the movement visible out of the corner of his eye.
The snow crunched under his boots as he made his way up the temple mountain, to a low outbuilding, a tattered curtain covering a gap in the wall. His arms burned. His back ached. The boy who had seemed so little and fragile on the ice seemed to double in size with each step Zuko took. He pushed aside the curtain, and ducked under another, swallowing hard as he passed the hundred year old bodies of fallen Fire Nation soldiers. At the far end or the room, bathed in summer sunlight from the hole in the broken ceiling, sat a skeleton, slumped against the wall in saffron robes. Zuko cradled Avatar Aang in his arms and laid him down gently in the snow covered lap of the long dead Air Nomad.
Zuko collapsed. His legs gave way, and he sagged down on a bare piece of floor, empty of bones. The tree branches and roots that had grown in from the outside seemed to blur together as he stared.
For a split second, he could have sworn he had seen the boy rise from the monk's lap and lay a hand on his scull. Zuko blinked. The sight didn't go away. Aang smiled sadly at the fleshless face. "Gyatso," he whispered. He turned to Zuko. "Thank you. For bringing me here, it was nice of you."
"Don't mention it," Zuko returned harshly.
Aang took his hand away from his mentor's corpse awkwardly. "I should have been here before, but I ran away."
Zuko stared pointedly at a crack running up the wall.
"But you're here now," Aang plowed on. "And you kind of are me, right? You're my reincarnation."
"What's your point?" Zuko mumbled, at a loss. He was sitting in a ruin, talking to a dead little boy, and he was just too tired to figure out if it was all a hallucination, or a dream.
"You can fix things now." Aang glided across the snow and bones and sat down next to Zuko. "You can stop the war and put the world back into balance."
"I'm not going to fight the Fire Nation!" He was so sick of saying it, trying to make everybody see, and now here he was saying it to his own hallucination. Zuko hunched in on himself.
Aang put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Come with me."
"What?" Zuko threw his hand off. "No!" But Aang grasped the ties on Zuko's armor and Zuko felt himself lifting up. As he stared down at his own body, the world tilted and shifted around him.
When Aang let him go, they stood on a dark, empty mountaintop, hemmed in on all sides by dozens more peaks jabbing into the shadowy grayish yellow sky. Aang wound his way around the mountain, beckoning for Zuko to follow.
Hidden under the bright, glimmering orange and yellow leaves of a gnarled tree clinging to the mountain face stood the mouth of a cave. Those leaves were the first splash of sharp, true color he had seen since Aang had brought him here, and Zuko couldn't help staring at them as the boy swept them out of the way with one hand and walked into the cave.
Zuko put his hand on the tree trunk and sank down against it. From underneath the leaves, it almost looked as if the sun were shining.
A deafening roar erupted out of the cave, sending Zuko leaping to his feet. The shadows inside the cave moved, and something huge lumbered closer to him. Zuko punched at the shaggy head that breached the darkness-
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branchandroot
Laying Aang to rest at the Southern Air Temple, Part 3/7
Date: 2012-05-15 06:05 am (UTC)They trudged up the last few steps to the temple door, thirsty and exhausted. Zuko closed his eyes. "No."
"No what?" Sokka said blankly. "No, you're not going in? No you dragged us up here for nothing?"
"I know where I want to lay him to rest." Zuko turned off the steps. "Don't follow. I want to do this by myself."
Katara and Sokka shrugged at each other, the movement visible out of the corner of his eye.
The snow crunched under his boots as he made his way up the temple mountain, to a low outbuilding, a tattered curtain covering a gap in the wall. His arms burned. His back ached. The boy who had seemed so little and fragile on the ice seemed to double in size with each step Zuko took. He pushed aside the curtain, and ducked under another, swallowing hard as he passed the hundred year old bodies of fallen Fire Nation soldiers. At the far end or the room, bathed in summer sunlight from the hole in the broken ceiling, sat a skeleton, slumped against the wall in saffron robes. Zuko cradled Avatar Aang in his arms and laid him down gently in the snow covered lap of the long dead Air Nomad.
Zuko collapsed. His legs gave way, and he sagged down on a bare piece of floor, empty of bones. The tree branches and roots that had grown in from the outside seemed to blur together as he stared.
For a split second, he could have sworn he had seen the boy rise from the monk's lap and lay a hand on his scull. Zuko blinked. The sight didn't go away. Aang smiled sadly at the fleshless face. "Gyatso," he whispered. He turned to Zuko. "Thank you. For bringing me here, it was nice of you."
"Don't mention it," Zuko returned harshly.
Aang took his hand away from his mentor's corpse awkwardly. "I should have been here before, but I ran away."
Zuko stared pointedly at a crack running up the wall.
"But you're here now," Aang plowed on. "And you kind of are me, right? You're my reincarnation."
"What's your point?" Zuko mumbled, at a loss. He was sitting in a ruin, talking to a dead little boy, and he was just too tired to figure out if it was all a hallucination, or a dream.
"You can fix things now." Aang glided across the snow and bones and sat down next to Zuko. "You can stop the war and put the world back into balance."
"I'm not going to fight the Fire Nation!" He was so sick of saying it, trying to make everybody see, and now here he was saying it to his own hallucination. Zuko hunched in on himself.
Aang put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Come with me."
"What?" Zuko threw his hand off. "No!" But Aang grasped the ties on Zuko's armor and Zuko felt himself lifting up. As he stared down at his own body, the world tilted and shifted around him.
When Aang let him go, they stood on a dark, empty mountaintop, hemmed in on all sides by dozens more peaks jabbing into the shadowy grayish yellow sky. Aang wound his way around the mountain, beckoning for Zuko to follow.
Hidden under the bright, glimmering orange and yellow leaves of a gnarled tree clinging to the mountain face stood the mouth of a cave. Those leaves were the first splash of sharp, true color he had seen since Aang had brought him here, and Zuko couldn't help staring at them as the boy swept them out of the way with one hand and walked into the cave.
Zuko put his hand on the tree trunk and sank down against it. From underneath the leaves, it almost looked as if the sun were shining.
A deafening roar erupted out of the cave, sending Zuko leaping to his feet. The shadows inside the cave moved, and something huge lumbered closer to him. Zuko punched at the shaggy head that breached the darkness-
But no fire came.