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Memories from Western Airtemple	By : DarthAnimus Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality > Slash - Male/Male Views: 16187 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: the Last Airbender" or the characters. I don't make any profit out of writing this.

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Memories of Western Air Temple
Chapter 24
Drawing the Line

“When a firebender learns to separate the negative and positive energies within themselves, they become able to create lightning”, Zuko mumbled to himself, trying to dig through his memory for everything that his uncle had taught him about this style of firebending.
After the rest of the group had learned that Zuko was unable to lightning bend, Katara had at first made fun of Zuko’s apparent lack of skill. Later on the girl had spoken that it was better this way. The waterbender had claimed lightning to be evil and she had admitted that it frightened her, saying that she would feel better if Aang never learned that particular style that had almost killed him once already. Zuko understood how the girl felt and realized that she truly must have held fear towards lightning bending.
The rest of the group seemed to share Katara’s sentiments on the matter of bending lightning. They had all seemed to prefer it that Zuko had not mastered the style and the firebender felt that they were almost relieved to learn this fact, like lightning bending truly was the sign of evil.
It was true that both Ozai and Azula could bend lightning. Zuko had almost met his end at both of their hands in the face of the technique. But those two were not the only ones capable of creating lighting; Iroh could bend lightning as well. And he had also managed to develop the style further, teaching to even Zuko the way to redirect lightning.
Uncle Iroh was not evil; he was probably the furthest from it imaginable. And yet he could lightning bend better than anyone else Zuko had seen. Actually, Iroh could generally bend better than anyone else Zuko had seen. Did that not mean that lighting bending in itself was not evil? No technique was evil in itself, only dangerous or difficult to control.
It did not take an evil person to lightning bend, this Zuko understood well now. It took a person capable of detaching himself from his soul’s essence; someone who was capable of observing himself like one would an object. And with that skill of observation a bender could separate the energies within himself.
Zuko understood the theory well. He had had plenty of time to meditate on the matter and turn the words over and over in his head. It was surprising how well he could contemplate and ponder whenever he allowed his mind to slip from his emotions. It had been becoming easier and easier to do so with the time the prince had spent with Aang and the rest of the Avatar’s group.
It did not make sense. Zuko knew the method for creating lighting so well that he should be able to use the technique. Yet, the teen found himself foiled by those very energies he was supposed to use and bend to his will. They were simply too strong; his energy was simply too divided by itself. He was unable to pull them apart, for they clashed so fiercely inside him, and he did not know what he could do about that. Zuko did not know how to make his young will stronger than those two hundred-year-olds in his heart and soul. The forces within him were simply too ancient to fight; they had become too strong with the time that had passed.
Even when his own body and soul denied him his goal, Zuko’s mind refused to give up. The prince had decided to master this technique whatever it took, ever since he had heard Katara’s badly concealed laughter at his admission to not being able to do so. Even though the girl had not made such jabs at Zuko since their arrival at the villa, Zuko could not forget the past humiliation at her laughter. Zuko may not have been blinded by his pride anymore but that did not change the fact that he had always hated failing. He hated and feared it.
Shaking his head furiously Zuko cursed himself for letting his thoughts wander like that. There was no way he could master the technique with that state of mind. Getting angry and frustrated was what had caused his uncle to shake his head at him in disappointment and Zuko was intent on making sure that the next time they met, Iroh would look at him with pride. The man had once said that he thought of Zuko as his own son; Zuko wanted to somehow show the man that he as well thought that they shared a bond like that.
Forcing his breathing to even out the firebender sought out a state of calm within himself. He attempted to reach that same serene pattern of thought that came with his meditation. He needed to detach himself from the world, from his fears and frustrations.
A breath came in and Zuko remembered the scent of the fresh field flowers Katara had brought into the house earlier that day. She had filled the vases in the hallway with them and had asked Zuko for approval, which the firebender had granted gladly. The prince had even said that he would prefer it if no more flowers were left to die in that house. New flowers for a new family.
A breath went out, bringing with it the memory of The Duke’s voice when the boy had cheered him on during a difficult kata that he had showed to Aang. He also remembered the scolding tone of Toph’s voice as the girl had encouraged him to simply be himself. It was amazing, how well those two had accepted Zuko and helped him come to terms with what had happened between him and Jet. And now Zuko could think of the freedom fighter without a wave of overbearing grief and guilt.
Drawing in a breath, Zuko remembered the taste of dry bread, one Aang had brought for him from Sokka so that the prince could eat something that was not likely to make him ill again. It was the first step from a truce to the friendship that had now formed between the firebender and the water tribe boy.
Blowing out the air in his lungs, the fire prince thought about the feeling of having his uncle’s arms around him in a loving embrace, one like which he never received from his birth father. No trace of desperation was to be felt with that notion and Zuko took a deep breath.
He saw, in a memory, how Aang would smile at him expectantly after completing a firebending move. He saw how the Avatar’s shoulders would shake with laughter and how the boy’s eyes shone during those happy moments they had shared as friends.
All this time, as he went through the exercises to calm each and every one of his senses, Zuko had moved his arms around slowly with only two fingers pointed out in each hand. He felt detached from everything, even his own body, and that was when he saw the flames within himself, one dark blue and the other pure white. The two sides of fire, the one that wished to bring destruction and waste and the one that lit the way in darkness and brought warmth into a cold night. This was the one truth and this Zuko had seen in the flames colored in all the shades of a rainbow.
The air crackled and yet Zuko’s concentration did not break. The firebender kept his focus, slowly bringing his hands together. The negative and positive energies met, caressed each other briefly, and that was when the power surged out of Zuko’s very core, his fingertips guiding the stream harmlessly into the sky.
More white than blue, the lightning struck out fiercely and dangerously, not arching in the way flames could, but snapping into different directions sharply without the discipline of a fire attack. But that was just what his uncle had told him; lighting could not be controlled the way flames could. Once the lighting was cast off, its direction could not be altered.
Taking deep, shivering breaths Zuko became aware of the exhaustion that had overcome his body from the strain of using the technique. Even though his knees shook and he could barely stand, he was satisfied. For once in his life he was satisfied with his form, with the results of his bending and the way he lived his life.
To be continued...
- 23
- 24
- 25
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Memories from Western Airtemple