Mind reeling, Zuko barely felt the old woman break free of his hands and flee. Standing in the middle of the Water Tribe village was a man garbed in Air Nation saffron robes. The airbender clutched a war glider in one hand. He even had the ancestral full-body tattoos of his barbarian people, the symbol of him gaining mastery of airbending by having taken another's life.
This man was no chicken-hawk airbender cowering behind Omashu's walls with the last remnants of his people. This one stood tall, shoulders squared, with an air of the heavenly raiders of old.
Yet those details paled before the burn scar over the left side of the other man's face. His left was narrowed in an perpetual glare, one that formed a lopsided expression when paired with the unexpected friendliness painted on the unmarred portions of his face. While it was widely known that the long-lost Avatar had possessed a facial scar, its exact description had been preserved only by the Fire Sages. Long had that secret knowledge filtered out pretender and false Avatars.
"You. You're him. Avatar Ong."
Distantly, Zuko heard the villagers gasp in shock.
"Aang," said the Avatar. "It's pronounced 'Aang'."
Zuko thought his heart would burst out of his chest. He'd trained for years for this day, practiced and mediated and pored over dusty anti-airbender manuals. As much as the surge of hope inside his breast invigorated him, he couldn't ignore the reality before him. He had only found the Avatar. He hadn't captured him yet.
"If I go with you peacefully," the Avatar said, summoning a flame to his open palm to suggest the alternative course of action, "will you promise to leave everyone here alone?"
Zuko straightened his shoulders. "Yes. You have my word."
The Avatar dispersed the flame and surrendered his staff.
Once they were aboard and the Avatar manacled, Zuko directed Lt. Jee to set a course for the Fire Nation. He then contemplated the prize accompanying the Avatar. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."
Calling the Avatar's expression in response 'venomous' barely did it justice.
"Take the Avatar to the prison hold," Zuko ordered. It was only once the scarred man was out of sight that he allowed himself to feel fear.
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branchandroot
The World of Broken Glass [3/14] - Zuko
Date: 2010-11-29 08:11 pm (UTC)Mind reeling, Zuko barely felt the old woman break free of his hands and flee. Standing in the middle of the Water Tribe village was a man garbed in Air Nation saffron robes. The airbender clutched a war glider in one hand. He even had the ancestral full-body tattoos of his barbarian people, the symbol of him gaining mastery of airbending by having taken another's life.
This man was no chicken-hawk airbender cowering behind Omashu's walls with the last remnants of his people. This one stood tall, shoulders squared, with an air of the heavenly raiders of old.
Yet those details paled before the burn scar over the left side of the other man's face. His left was narrowed in an perpetual glare, one that formed a lopsided expression when paired with the unexpected friendliness painted on the unmarred portions of his face. While it was widely known that the long-lost Avatar had possessed a facial scar, its exact description had been preserved only by the Fire Sages. Long had that secret knowledge filtered out pretender and false Avatars.
"You. You're him. Avatar Ong."
Distantly, Zuko heard the villagers gasp in shock.
"Aang," said the Avatar. "It's pronounced 'Aang'."
Zuko thought his heart would burst out of his chest. He'd trained for years for this day, practiced and mediated and pored over dusty anti-airbender manuals. As much as the surge of hope inside his breast invigorated him, he couldn't ignore the reality before him. He had only found the Avatar. He hadn't captured him yet.
"If I go with you peacefully," the Avatar said, summoning a flame to his open palm to suggest the alternative course of action, "will you promise to leave everyone here alone?"
Zuko straightened his shoulders. "Yes. You have my word."
The Avatar dispersed the flame and surrendered his staff.
Once they were aboard and the Avatar manacled, Zuko directed Lt. Jee to set a course for the Fire Nation. He then contemplated the prize accompanying the Avatar. "This staff will make an excellent gift for my father. I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks."
Calling the Avatar's expression in response 'venomous' barely did it justice.
"Take the Avatar to the prison hold," Zuko ordered. It was only once the scarred man was out of sight that he allowed himself to feel fear.