Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Here's my day so far: went to jail, lost the boy of my dreams, and probably permanently lost my honor. Still, things could be a lot worse.

Oh, right... I'm falling to my death. Not much time for redemption here. How'd it all come to this, you ask? My end starts at the beginning.

I had a fairly standard childhood if you don’t count my abusive father and my mother leaving when I was young. But things took a real downturn when I was thirteen and disrespected my father. How rude is that? Clearly, I needed punishment. Father saw fit to burn and exile me with the promise of the restoration of my honor if I found the Avatar and brought him to justice. It’s been a lonely journey looking for him.

The only family member who ever really looked out for me was my uncle. He always said I was destined for greatness. Of course, his definition of greatness and mine are very different, but over time he’s grown used to it.

When I was exiled from the Fire Nation, I set out to find my destiny. It turns out the Avatar had the exact same idea. Years later I met Mr. Guru Goody-Goody. And our glorious rivalry was born!

At one point I had it all. The Avatar was presumed dead and I had restored my honor as Crown Prince. Could this be what I was destined for? A dream life filled with luxury?

Of course not! I had to face my father and break the cycle of abuse and lies that ran deep in our family. Father permanently exiled me after. But that didn’t matter any more. A much different fate awaited me.

I sought security from the one person that would never turn me away. Uncle Iroh. He was in jail in the Earth Kingdom, but it was all too easy to commit some felonies and join him. He taught me the differences between right and wrong. That sometimes law and morality are not equal, and we must work outside of the law to make it fair.

The Avatar on the other hand, he got it easy (if you don’t count the whole sole survivor of a mass genocide bit). The power to control all elements, invulnerability, and the ability to look good bald!

But I had something far, far greater. My ability to cause problems! A knack for sowing mayhem. Uncle always had mixed feelings about that but supported me either way, as long as I was helping people. Even when I was in and out of jail, Uncle supported me.

After a few years and with some time off for good behavior, I was allowed (compelled by the city of Ba Sing Se) to better myself through learning at college. It was there that I once again ran into Mr. Guru Goody-Goody. He had already amassed a gigantic army of soft-headed groupies, who were all amazed that he was ‘the bridge between our world and the spirits’. Ugh.

He bought their affections with showmanship and the ability to make his eyes and tattoos glow. So I too would do something great to earn their praise. I created a new way to bend, making a sword from flames that looked rather cool, or so I thought. I didn’t have the best control over it immediately but thought that presenting it in class would be a good idea. You can probably inference what happened from there.

That's when I learned a very hard lesson. Good receives all the praise and adulation while evil is kicked out of class. I couldn’t regain my honor by learning or trying to be a “good citizen”. While they were learning basic history, I learned how to make smoke bombs and the best way to summon lightning. Some days it felt like it was just me and Uncle against the world. Uncle always tried to get me to work at his tea shop, but I couldn’t last a day without yelling at customers. Who orders ‘tea with no leaves’? That’s just hot water!

No matter how hard I tried I was always alone. Was this my destiny? Wait... maybe it was! Being bad is the one thing I'm good at. Then it hit me; if I could never regain my honor, then I was going to be the best villain of them all!

I was destined to be a supervillain, and we were destined to be rivals! The die had been cast! And so began an enduring epic lifelong career…and I LOVED IT!

Our battles quickly got more elaborate. He would win some, I would almost win others! He didn’t need to take a name, the Avatar would always be popular and well known, currently residing in Ba Sing Se. I decided to pick a moniker that was a little sinister, a little mysterious. I chose to wear the one thing I had from my mother, her blue theater mask. I was now The Blue Spirit, allegedly handsome criminal genius and master of all villainy!

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: The Man in the Observatory

Zhao

Zhao was already having a bad day. His guards were being lazy on duty, and today he had to do the task he hated the most. Check up on The Blue Spirit, who was currently in custody. Zhao didn’t know much about the man, but this villain rarely spent more than a month in prison serving his numerous life sentences. No one knew who he was, and no one was allowed to find out by removing his mask, as decreed by the Avatar.

As he reached the Blue Spirit’s cell, Zhao felt a dull pain in his stomach. Oh great, I bet it’s another stress ulcer.

The Blue Spirit grinned up at Warden Zhao, who was glaring at him through the window in his cell door.

“Good morning Zhao. Good news, I’ve decided to denounce my quest of rejecting honor and to become a good person, striving for honor and goodness.” The Blue Spirit sprawled across his chair dramatically.

“It’s Warden Zhao to you, and you're a villain! And you’ll always be a villain. You’ll never change and you’ll never leave.”

The Blue Spirit shrugged, “Worth a try.”

“I still don’t know why the Avatar made us let you wear your mask in prison,” Zhao grumbled.

“For fun, obviously,” The Blue Spirit said, deadpan. He actually didn’t know why Aang insisted on letting him keep his identity secret. He didn’t want to think too hard about it.

Zhao ignored him, “You got a present in the mail.”

“Is it a turtleduck?”

“No,” Zhao dismissed, “It’s from… a tea shop in the Upper Ring?”

“Huh,” The Blue Spirit said, “What is it?”

“Just a teacup, I guess you can have it. This better not be another one of your escape attempts.”

“Who, me?”

“Don’t play coy. How on earth am I going to rise above this position if you keep on making me look bad?”

The Blue Spirit leaned back in his chair, “Oh Zhao, don’t you see? You’re stuck with me forever.”

Zhao groaned.

The Blue Spirit was smiling under his mask, Zhao could just feel it. He wanted to get away from the prison cell as fast as possible, but kept cool in front of his guards.

“Any chance you could give me the time? I don’t want to be late for the opening of the Avatar Museum.”

“Counting all your life sentences? Looks like you’re gonna miss it by several thousand years.” Zhao smirked, walking off.

“Oh, am I?” The Blue Spirit burst into laughter. Zhao continued walking.

…

Sokka

“Happy Avatar day, Ba Sing Se. It’s a beautiful day in beautiful Middle Ring where we’re here to honor a beautiful man: Avatar Aang. His heart is an ocean that’s inside a bigger ocean. For years he’s been protecting us since he defeated the Firelord and has worked tirelessly for peace among the nations before settling here in our lovely city of Ba Sing Se. Now it’s our turn to give something back. This is Sokka Qanik, reporting live from the dedication of the Avatar museum.” As he signed off from being live, Sokka relaxed and grabbed a cup of tea.

Jet chuckled and slung his camera over his shoulder, “Wow! Okay, the stuff they make you read on air, unbelievable.”

Sokka stared. “I wrote that piece myself, Jet.”

Jet laughed awkwardly, “What I was trying to say was, I can’t believe that in our modern society filled with propaganda and government lies, they let art get onto the news.”

Sokka winced. “Nice save, Jet.”

“What are we- like, let's just get tea together or something.” Jet trailed off.

Sokka ignored him. “Come on! It's time to get in the Avatar Day spirit!”

“If I was the Avatar, the Blue Spirit wouldn't be kidnapping you all the time, that's the first thing.”

“That's sweet, Jet-”

“And I'd be watching you, like… a dingo-possum watches a human baby.”

Sokka didn’t even know what to say to that.

“Okay, that sounded…okay, that sounded a little weird.”

“A little bit, yeah.”

Jet fiddled with his wheatgrass stalk nervously before accidentally dropping it on the ground. As he bent down to look for it, Iroh grabbed Sokka and used various herbs to knock him out. As he picked up the stalk of barley and brushed the dirt off of it, Jet didn’t notice as Iroh drove away with an unconscious Sokka.

…

Zuko

“Hey!” Zuko yelled, “I want some tea with this cup!” He began to rattle the door handle to make as much noise as physically possible. This was a daily occurrence in this prison.

Zhao groaned, “Can someone else please deal with him? Get him tea for all I care, maybe from the same tea shop that sent him the cup?”

“Uh, sir, is that a good idea?” one of the guards asked.

“Do I look like I care right now?” Zhao rounded on the guard, “He does not shut up. Ever. All he does is talk about honor, or his quest for rejecting honor, or tea! I couldn’t care less at this point if he escapes.”

The guard frowned but nodded and began to order some tea from the Jasmine Dragon.

…

Iroh

“Hello!” Iroh smiled at the guards,“And also, sorry!”

“What?” a guard asked, looking up.

Iroh carefully poured himself a cup of tea. With all eyes on him, he sipped it delicately before breathing fire at all of them. Scrambling away, the guards tried to escape as Iroh made his way to Zuko.

“Stop!” A guard said, blocking the door.

“Let him pass,” Zhao interrupted, looking at the guard.

“I- what? Why?”

“Do you really want all of Ba Sing Se to know that we got beat up by a tea shop worker?”

“Huh,” the guard said.

“The Blue Spirit will be back anyway, it’s not like it matters. This gets out to no one.” Zhao threatened his guards.

Iroh’s eyes widened. Never in his life had he seen Zhao this utterly drained. Zhao was so sick of Zuko plaguing the prison that he hadn’t recognized Iroh or his nephew by his voice.

“Well, then I suppose I will be on my way,” Iroh said as he opened the door to let Zuko out.

Zuko tilted his head at Zhao as he left his cell and grinned. “You were right. I'll always be a villain.”

Zuko devolved into villainous laughter and nudged Iroh, who halfheartedly laughed with him. Zhao only groaned thinking about the possibility of the Blue Spirit getting captured and sent back.

…

Aang

“Alright! Put your hands in the air.” Aang glided down in front of a cheering audience, smiling widely.

King Kuei greeted him happily before he announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Avatar!”

“You can call me Aang!” He called out with a smile.

“Avatar Aang!” The audience roared and cheered loudly.

Aang smiled, but it was off. He could feel it, but only King Kuei was close enough to really notice.

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just... Katara, you know? She’s giving birth in the next couple of weeks and it makes me antsy to be away.”

“But you’re the Avatar! You’ll always be able to protect her, and she’ll protect you if necessary!”

Aang nodded solemnly, “I hope,” as he took flight on his glider to begin to address the audience.

“Hello, Ba Sing Se!”

…

Zuko

“Oh, Uncle. There’s no place like Evil Lair.”

“I’ve tidied and kept it neat for you while you were… out.” Iroh didn’t like to refer to Zuko being in prison as prison. Zuko didn’t really understand why.

I missed you, his sweeping and dusting and tidying said, but Zuko wasn’t listening.

“Okay thanks Uncle,” Zuko nodded, “Now, let’s get to work!”

…

Sokka

Sokka woke up to slightly smelly darkness. The bag over his head was very familiar, the rough burlap fabric, the absolutely rank odor. The Blue Spirit had captured him again.

“He's awake! Quick!”

“I know where I am,” he yelled. “Blue Spirit, I know who this is, I know it's you. Y’know, for a self-proclaimed evil genius, have you ever thought about, oh I don’t know, washing this bag? It stinks!”

Given how gently the sack was taken off, Sokka could tell it was definitely Iroh who had removed his bag.

“Thanks,” he nodded to Iroh, who smiled mischievously in return. Ah, old people. Terrifying, Sokka thought.

“Mr. Qanik, we meet again,” The Blue Spirit said, sprawled across a chair in what is in Sokka’s opinion, a typically gay villain fashion.

“Really, would it kill you to wash the bag?” Sokka asked. “I think this time the smell made my eyes water.”

“You can scream all you wish, Mr. Qanik. I’m afraid no one can hear you.”

Sokka stared at The Blue Spirit. “I can’t see your eyes through that mask but oh boy if I could-”

“Why aren’t you- Uncle, why isn’t he screaming?”

Iroh sighed then looked at Sokka. “Mr. Qanik, if you don’t mind?”

Sokka shook his head. “It’s gonna have to be a no for me, but thank you for asking politely.”

The Blue Spirit groaned.

Sokka craned his neck to look around the lair. “Is there some kind of jerk supervillain website where you get jerk tesla coils and jerk blinky dials to practice your jerkbending and look villainous?”

Iroh shrugged. “Actually, most of it comes from an outlet store in-”

“Don't answer that,” The Blue Spirit interrupted.

“Caldera City,” Iroh whispered.

“Uncle! He's using his nosy reporter skills on you to find out all our secrets.”

Iroh shook his head, “Sokka, you wouldn’t!”

Sokka smirked. “I would, actual- Wait wait wait, what secrets? You’re so predictable!”

“Predictable!” The Blue Spirit yelled, “Do you call this… predictable?” He pulled a lever to open the floor beneath Sokka to show angry catgators circling.

“Your catgators, yes! Yeah, I was thinking about it on the way over.”

“How about this?” The Blue Spirit pulled another level to summon a rack of blades, both large and small, inches away from Sokka’s face.

Sokka didn’t flinch. “Cliche.”

“No,” The Blue Spirit snapped, “Look! Watch.” He pulled more levers, sending an array of different weapons at high speeds to Sokka.

“Boring.” Sokka yawned.

The masked villain pulled lever after lever down at Sokka, but Sokka remained calm. Sokka wasn’t, and couldn’t afraid, for several reasons, one being that he trusted Aang to save him, and another being that as scary as the Blue Spirit was in public, he was just a man about the same age in a mask as him who ran around with his uncle playing with knives and fire and never actually hurt anyone (well, beyond corrupt government workers of course).

“Huh,” Sokka tutted, “The spiderfly’s new.”

“Spiderfly?” he asked, stepping closer. The Blue Spirit saw the spiderfly hanging in front of Sokka and began to improvise.

“Yes! The- the spiderfly. Even the smallest bite from this species of “arachnis diptera deathicus” will instantly paralyze-”

Sokka blew the spiderfly onto The Blue Spirit’s mask.

“Agh!” The Blue Spirit yelled, apparently having forgotten that he was wearing a mask. After eventually swiping it off of his face, The Blue Spirit glared at Sokka before realizing that the man had no idea. He decided on a less subtle gesture.

“Zuko! That is impolite!” Iroh reprimanded.

“Give it up Blue Spirit, your plans never work.” Sokka said, “Now can I leave?”

The Blue Spirit groaned, “Let’s stop wasting time and call your boyfriend, shall we?”

“You know he has a wife right? He’s literally my brother-in-law-”

“Do I look like I care about the meaningless semantics of your personal life?”

“Honestly I can’t tell, partly because you’re wearing that mask.”

The Blue Spirit groaned again, waving another inappropriate gesture to Sokka.

…

Aang

“It is with great pleasure that I present to the Avatar this new museum!” King Kuei announced with a smile.

Aang cut the ribbon neatly in two with a neat blast of wind.

Suddenly, smoke billowed out from buildings all around the block. A projection of Zuko in his Blue Spirit mask grinned down at the people below. Sokka was in the background of the frame with a gag in his mouth. Aang had a feeling that Zuko was not going to let the capricious reporter interrupt his announcement.

Aang locked eyes (or where he guessed Zuko’s eyes were) through the projection, “The Blue Spirit.”

Cackling, Zuko jutted his chin forward, which brought the mask’s features into the light. “Bravo, Avatar.”

As the crowd booed, Zuko shook his head, “Booo! What have you ever done that was worth anything?”

The crowd’s booing dissolved into apprehensive murmurs.

“Zu- Blue Spirit, I should have known you would have tried to crash the party.” Whoops, that was a close one there, Aang thought, It’s not a fair fight if everyone knows who he is.

“I’ll do more than crash it!” Zuko snapped. “This is a day you and Ba Sing Se shall not soon forget!”

Aang narrowed his eyes. “We all know how this ends: with you behind bars!”

“Wow, I’m so frightened!” Zuko mocked. “You will leave Ba Sing Se or this will be the last you ever hear of Sokka Qanik!”

Sokka nodded at the camera, still gagged.

“Don’t panic, Sokka! I’m on my way,” Aang promised. In response, Sokka shrugged and mumbled a few choice words through the gag about the Blue Spirit’s prowess as a villain.

“To stop me, you need to find me first, Avatar!” Zuko crowed, leaning even closer towards the camera.

Suddenly free of the gag, Sokka yelled, “We’re at the abandoned observatory!”

“What? How did you get your gag off?” Zuko whirled around to face Sokka.

“He tied it looser because you don’t wash this gag as much as you should, either,” Sokka gestured to Iroh, who smiled sheepishly.

“Ugh! We’re not at the observatory! Don’t listen to him! He’s crazy!”

As Aang took off on his glider towards the observatory, Zuko cackled again and turned off the projection, leaving the crowd in silence.

…

Zuko

“Oh Agni, you didn't think you were in the real observatory, did you?” Zuko slunk over to Sokka, the garish grin on his mask currently fitting his face.

“Ready the fire beam, Uncle!” He demanded.

“Fire beam, readying,” Iroh repeated, going over to manage the complex machine.

“Over here, old friend!” Zuko called through the camera, a projection of him against the wall for Aang to see. “In case you haven't noticed, you’ve fallen right into my trap.”

Aang looked up at the camera. “You can’t trap justice. It’s an idea, a belief!”

Zuko tilted his head. “But, even the most heartfelt belief can be corroded over time.”

“Justice is a non-corrosive metal!” Aang shot back. Zuko looked over to Iroh, who shrugged.

“But metals can be melted by the flames of my anger and villainy!”

“We all know this is for revenge, Zuko. And that’s best served cold.” Aang said firmly.

“But it can be easily reheated in the microwave of evil! And don’t call me by my name when we’re working! I can’t believe you almost exposed my identity to the city!”

“I think your warranty’s about to expire!” Aang shot back. “Okay! I’m sorry for almost saying your name! But I’ll do what I want when we fight. You don’t broadcast calls for the city to see anymore since I figured out your identity months ago, it’s not like it’s new information for anyone here.”

“Maybe I got an extended warranty!” Zuko snapped. “And that’s very rude, Avatar. How am I going to get the people to fear me if they can’t see me fight?”

“Warranties are invalid if you don’t use the card for its intended purpose!” Aang yelled back. “Fight better, maybe?”

“Hey!” Sokka yelled, “I cannot believe I’m the only one subjected to this! It’s not fair!” Sokka looked across the room at the older man. “Oh, besides Iroh. Iroh, is he like this at home? How do you handle it?”

“He is. I tune it out usually.”

“Uncle! Qanik! Shut up!” Zuko yelled. “Now tell me, Avatar, can you withstand the full concentrated power of the sun and a comet? Uncle, fire!”

An awkward silence ensued as nothing happened. Zuko was minutely grateful that he no longer broadcasted fights to the public before being filled with overwhelming frustration.

Zuko groaned and walked over to Iroh. “Uncle! Why isn’t it firing?”

“Nephew, it’s not here yet.”

“What?”

“It’s not in an optimal position, Zuko. It’s warming up, you could say,”

“Warming up? The comet is warming up?”

“One…second…more…and…just a teeny tiny, little bit more.” Iroh hedged as he looked out at the sky with his telescope.

Aang sat down on the floor. “What are you going to do anyway?” He asked.

“Well, Avatar, remember Sozin’s comet? There is a smaller comet on its way. Since I’m the one to discover it, I’m naming it Ursa’s Comet.”

“For your mother?” Aang asked.

“Yes, for her, because the Fire Nation system of naming comets only after Firelords is stupid.”

“Also!” Iroh added, “Ursa’s comet will make a reappearance in a year exactly.”

“Don’t tell him that!” Zuko snapped.

“I see,” Aang nodded sagely, “And what are your plans with this comet?”

“Don’t prompt me!” Zuko said angrily, “So, my plans for this comet are to harness its power, combine it with the sun, and finally DESTROY YOU once and for all!”

“Zuko, even if you destroy me, I’ll be reborn.”

“Details,” Zuko waved him off lazily.

“You know, you don’t have to fight me. You chose to not capture me in the end and you rejected your father’s abuse, why would you come back to it?”

“Shut up, Avatar! He wanted you brought back alive, so I’ll kill you.”

“But only making a path to spite others won’t lead you to happiness, Zuko, just survival.”

“I don’t care,” Zuko’s voice was cold. Aang nodded sadly.

“And we are ready in just a few…hang on one second.”

Aang called out to Sokka through the monitor, “I’m on my way, Sokka.”

“Uncle, I told you to have things ready. I’ve told you countless times.” Iroh bowed his head apologetically.

“Your plan is failing.” Sokka said gleefully. “Just admit it.”

“Yeah, good luck with that one!” Iroh muttered, causing Sokka to snort.

“Whose side are you on?” Zuko demanded.

“The losing side!” Sokka leaned back in his chair before swearing as it tipped towards the catgators. Iroh moved surprisingly quickly to catch Sokka, righting his chair before he could fall. “Thank you, Iroh, could you stamp my frequent kidnapping card?”

“Sorry, Mr. Qanik-”

“Call me Sokka.”

“Sorry, Sokka. We discontinued that promotion.”

“Aw, a shame,” Sokka smiled at Iroh. “Same time next week?”

Iroh prepared his herbs to knock out Sokka again, but before he could, the sound of Aang yelling echoed out of their speakers throughout the lair.

“Bleeding hogmonkeys!” Aang swore as he tried to jump off the ground.

Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. “What did he just say?”

“Bleeding hogmonkeys,” Iroh repeated blankly.

“Monkey feathers!”

“Ten seconds to full power.” The machine alerted them.

“10”

“I’m trapped!” Aang cried, unable to lift off the ground and fly away on his glider.

“9”

“What are you playing at, Avatar?”

“You mad genius-”

“8”

“Your dark mind-”

“7”

“has finally paid off!”

“6”

“It- it has?”

“There are no air currents-”

“5”

“In this observatory,”

“4”

“Yeah, so?”

“3”

“Nephew?” Iroh pointed to the loading screen, “Uh-”

“I can’t fly without air currents,” Aang said and demonstrated his lack of flight by flapping his arms like a bird.

“2”

Zuko was in disbelief. “You’re the Avatar-”

“1”

“And you can’t make your own air currents?”

“Comet in range,” The machine interrupted as it turned on.

Suddenly the observatory exploded with heavy smoke and noise, leaving Zuko, Iroh, and Sokka stunned into silence.

Iroh was the first to speak as he strained to look at the pixelated image without his glasses. “I don’t think even he could survive that.”

“Let’s not get our hopes up just yet,” Zuko said brusquely.

“Look!” Iroh crowded the screen as the smoke cleared. Where Aang had been just a minute ago, there was now only a blackened spot on the floor, his singed glider lying next to it.

“Aang!” Sokka strained against his bonds.

“Aang,” Zuko repeated softly, saying the Avatar’s name for the first time.

After a beat of silence, Iroh spoke.

“You- you did it, Prince Zuko.”

“I did it,” Zuko echoed, barely hearing the words.

“He did it,” Sokka whispered.

“I did it!” Zuko cried.

“You did it!” Iroh smiled as Zuko hugged him.

“Now, Ba Sing Se is MINE!”

After a beat they awkwardly let Sokka go, watching him begin to sob as he ran home. It was much harder for Zuko to see Sokka cry than he thought it would be. This is what it would always come down to, so why was he so surprised? Zuko hated himself for having doubts about this, this was what he wanted to do, so why did it feel so wrong?

…

Zuko

After taking a moment to bury the feelings of doubt, Zuko joined Iroh in celebrating their victory by setting random objects in the street on fire, which was something that Zuko saw as the natural course of action and something Iroh saw as a way to cheer up his nephew from whatever funk he was in.

“We did it, Zuko. We did it.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Us!” Iroh looked pointedly at Zuko, who ignored him.

“I did it!” Zuko said gleefully as he destroyed a cart of cabbages, ignoring the merchant.

“We both did it,” Iroh repeated.

“Not us, I!” Zuko insisted.

“Perhaps you a little more than me, but I’ve been here this whole time supporting you.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko asked.

Iroh sighed. “Do you want me to schedule a press conference for you?”

“That would be preferred.”

…

Sokka

At the press conference, the Blue Spirit was clearly still celebrating. He tilted his head at the reporters, visibly joyful. Well, as visibly as possible with a mask covering the entirety of his face. Sokka hated him. He hated everything about him.

“Thank you for coming! As you know, I, the Blue Spirit, defeated the Avatar, the most powerful bender in the world! Are there any questions? Yes, you at the back.”

“Why are you still wearing your mask?” One reporter asked.

“You never know,” The Blue Spirit said easily. “Anonymity is… beneficial. I can’t curb any uprisings if you all knew what I looked like.”

“I have a question,” Sokka pushed his way to the front. “I’m sure that we’d all like to know what you plan to do with us and this city.”

“I’m glad you asked!” The Blue Spirit said, “Imagine everything awful and horrible, now make it worse! In the meantime, please carry on doing your normal duties.”

…

When the Blue Spirit said, “Imagine everything awful and horrible”, memories of the war and losing his mother flashed through Sokka’s mind. He prepared for the worst all month long, holing up at home with as much food as possible. He was fairly surprised, maybe even dumbfounded, when things remained relatively quiet. Sure, there was the nightly rampage, where the Blue Spirit would run around with dual swords and carve a caricature of Warden Zhao into walls or do random vigilante activities, but other than that, the city remained fairly peaceful.

Huh. Weird. Sokka thought.

Chapter Text

Zuko

It had been 9 months. The Blue Spirit had completely transformed the government system of Ba Sing Se and to be honest, no one was complaining. He dismantled the Dai Li, took down the walls dividing Ba Sing Se, and promoted all tea shop owners in the city to have power as official government advisors. No one was fully sure why he made that last decision though. People theorized it was because his head advisor, Iroh, hadn’t been seen in the public eye for some time, and had maybe quit. The Jasmine Dragon was fully back in business, but no one seemed to make the connection between the kindly old man who ran the best tea shop in Ba Sing Se and the man who helped the Blue Spirit kill the Avatar.

Zuko had been a force of chaos upon their city for so long that when he finally calmed down no one knew what to do. So they continued in their fragile little way, fearful of what might come.

Now, Zuko moped at his desk and talked to a turtleduck toy, “I know, I know. I understand you, little well dressed turtleduck. Like my quest for dishonor, your quest for water will never be satisfied. I thought I’d beaten mine for a while by giving up on it and embracing my villainous tendencies, but it’s all a vacuum, isn’t it? It’s…What’s your vacuum like?”

Iroh burst into the room as he played a pipa cheerily, “It’s a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the girls in the city, they look so pretty!”

“Hello, Uncle,” Zuko said, not looking up.

“Is something wrong, nephew?”

“Just think about it. We have it all. Yet we have nothing. It’s like when we first took this city and I returned to the Fire Nation. It’s just too easy now.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ve lost me, nephew.”

Zuko looked up wearily. “I mean, we did it. Right?”

“You did it, nephew. You’ve made that clear.”

Zuko narrowed his eyes, unsure if Iroh was being passive-aggressive. After incorrectly deducing that he wasn't, he continued. “Then why do I feel so- so honorless?”

“Honorless?” Iroh repeated. “Haven’t you already given up on that, Zuko?”

“Yes, but also no? I don’t know anymore, Uncle.”

“What if tomorrow we could go kidnap Sokka Qanik? That always seems to lift your spirits.”

“Good idea, Uncle!” Zuko rose from his seat, but then sighed. “But without him, what’s the point?”

Zuko looked out the window at the statue of Aang as he sunk back into his chair.

“Him, nephew?”

“Nothing,” Zuko snapped, then regretted it.

Iroh bowed his head. “I will just go back to running my tea shop. As always, you are welcome to work for me. I would enjoy the company.”

…

Sokka

Sokka Qanik had lost his best friend, and he was still devastated.

“He was always there for us. Dependable. Perhaps we took him for granted, or maybe... we never really know how good we have it until it's gone. We miss you, Aang. I- I miss you..” Sokka faltered, choking back a slight sob. He cleared his throat and continued, “It’s been close to a year now since the Avatar’s death. Nothing has changed since that day. I just have one question for the Blue Spirit: are you happy now? This is Sokka Qanik, reporting from a city without a hero. Coming up next, are you ready for the end of this city as you know it? What you need to know.”

As he cut, Jet came up to him. “Aaand, we’re done.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Jet,” Sokka said blankly.

“Wait, Sokka.” Jet said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sokka awkwardly slung him off. Jet continued, either oblivious or not caring, “I’m having a partyLake Laogai, gonna be off the hook, or whatever. You should come over. It’ll have a big fire pit and it’ll go all night. You should be there.”

Sokka sighed, “Lake Laogai? Jet, that doesn’t seem like it’ll bring back the best memories. And I don’t really feel like being around a bunch of people.”

“No, no, no! That’s the best part, it’ll just be you and me.”

“Wow!” Sokka pulled a face, then tried to cover it up. “That- um, that’s certainly very tempting. But-”

Jet interrupted him, “I did hire a wedding photographer. That’s just in case something crazy happened and we wanted a picture of it to have forever. Like a memory, you know?”

Sokka shook his head. “I’m gonna pass. I have some work here that I need to do, anyway.”

“Cool. So, Thursday? Soft Thursday?” Jet insisted and grabbed Sokka’s arm again. Sokka barely had the energy to gently push him off this time.

“Goodnight, Jet.”

“That’s a soft yes on Thursday,” Jet called as Sokka quietly shook his head. More like a soft no, but what am I gonna do? His friend Smellerbee is my boss,. I can’t mess that up..

Sokka looked up at the Avatar statue. “Hey Aang, how’s it been? I don’t know if wherever you are Katara is with you, but we still haven’t found her.”

As he walked into the museum, Sokka didn’t notice a man with a blue mask sneaking in nearby.

…

Technically No One/ Omnipotent Third Person Narrator

Zuko didn’t know what he was going to do. He stared up at Aang’s face carved out of marble and sighed.

“I made a horrible mistake. I didn't mean to destroy you. I mean, I did mean to destroy you, but I didn't think it would work.”

Across the museum, Sokka spoke to the Avatar’s statue as well as he leaned against the rail.

“Oh Aang, what are we supposed to do? Without you, evil is running rampant through the streets.”

“Avatar, I’m so tired of running rampant through the streets. What’s the point of rejecting my quest for honor when there’s no good to try and stop me?”

“Someone has to stop the Blue Spirit.”

Zuko

“I had so many evil plans to try: collar bombs on the corrupt politicians, stealing food from all the restaurants to redistribute to the poor, cherry bombs in all the toilets for fun. I mean, I control the government now so the politicians have no power and I’ve already redistributed the food. But now no one’s brave enough to make it difficult! I miss the way you and I would fight until you saw what I was actually planning before letting me help some people then sending me to jail,” Zuko sighed.

“You know, I never got to say goodbye. So it’s good that I have this time now to talk before I destroy the place. Nothing personal, it just brings back too many painful memories.” Zuko sighed as he attached the bomb to the statue.

“Hello? Hello?” a familiar voice called from across the museum, “is someone else there?”

“Sokka!” Zuko whispered in disbelief to himself.

Zuko panicked, what was he going to do? Sokka would see him and there’d be nothing he could do about it! Wait, he thought, removing his mask.

“Oh,” he said out loud, embarrassed at the simple solution. He made sure to carefully secure his disguise in his backpack. Wouldn’t want that getting out.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

“Hi?” Zuko braced for Sokka to recognize him.

“Oh, it’s you,” Sokka said, breathing a sigh of relief. “I know I’ve seen you before, but where?”

“Uh, I used to work at the tea shop, the one on Main Street?” Zuko tried to gently herd Sokka to the elevator.

“Oh! I remember you! You cussed out a customer for ordering tea without leaves and then getting mad when you served her water! Lee, right?”

“Yes that’s- that’s me,” Zuko winced. “I’d love to chat, but I have to go. I’ve heard that they’re having the walls and ceilings removed.”

Sokka frowned. “That sounds like quite the renovation. I guess I’ll um…catch a ride down with you then.”

…

After awkwardly standing in silence for a few minutes, Sokka spoke.

“I still keep thinking that this isn’t real. Like when we were first here and he came back.”

“Yeah,” Zuko lamented, “I remember… hearing about that.”

“If only the world had a reset button.”

“I’ve looked into the reset button, the magic behind it is impossible,” Zuko confided as his eyes grew teary.

“Oh Lee. I don’t really know you that well, so I’ve never seen you be anything but angry.”

“The Avatar is gone and now there’s no one left to challenge the Blue Spirit.”

“Oh, come on, Lee!” Sokka rubbed his shoulder encouragingly. “As long as there’s evil, good will rise against it.”

“I wish,” Zuko replied sullenly.

“I believe someone’s gonna stand up to the Blue Spirit. Someone has to,” Sokka said, half to himself.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s like they say. Heroes aren’t born, they’re made!”

“Heroes can be made,” Zuko repeated. “Of course! All you need are the right ingredients.”

“Yeah, bravery, strength, determination-” Sokka listed as they stepped off the elevator and onto the pavement outside.

“-And spirit magic! With that, anyone can be a hero!”

Sokka frowned for a second in confusion but dismissed it. “Exactly!”

Zuko looked at the bomb at the top of the statue and winced as he noticed that it was beginning to smoke. “I think you should go!”

“Oh,” Sokka said, bemused. “I’m sorry, I kind of thought this was gonna end differently.”

“What?” Zuko asked. “I- Oh.”

Sokka smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah, I mean to discuss the possibilities of a new hero, here’s my number. You should really go though. Oh look here’s a cab!” Zuko awkwardly typed his number into Sokka’s phone before hurrying him into a taxi.

As the cab drove out of sight, Zuko looked back up at the statue.

“I’m sorry, old friend. It’s time to put the past behind us.”

Zuko solemnly put his mask back on. “Only the future-” He jumped as the museum began to explode. “I’m too close! Agh!”

…

“So Uncle, I was thinking. What if we created a new Avatar?”

“Create a new Avatar? Wait, wait…what? Why would you do that?”

“Uncle, I’m a villain without a hero. My quest of rejecting honor has no purpose if no one seeks to hold me accountable for it. In other words, I have no purpose!”

“A yin with no yang…” Iroh mused quietly. “But Nephew, your purpose is beside the point. It is impossible to create a new Avatar, a new one has already been born. The cycle continues.”

“I don’t need the Avatar to fight. I just need a new Avatar to battle with. The Avatar is just a person fused with a spirit, right?”

Iroh sighed, “Correct.”

“Then we should be able to make our own Avatar if we can find a way to the Spirit World and convince a spirit to bind with a person.”

“That… does not seem entirely improbable.” Iroh shrugged.

“Now, ask me how I'm going to do it! Ask!”

“How are you gonna do it, nephew?”

Zuko demonstrated his series of poster boards.

“I’ve already traveled to the Spirit World through a spot where the borders between our world and theirs are blurred, and I found a suitable spirit for our hero. He offered to wait in this arrow until we can find a good host.” Zuko held up a glowing crystal arrow, where a dark blue and black mass swirled inside.

“Did you go through a Claire’s? I have heard that the borders are quite thin there.” Iroh asked.

“Yes of course I went through a Claire's, Uncle, I’m not an idiot. It’s the easiest place to travel through.”

“And what is with the bow and arrow? We are not living in the past, Zuko, we have modern technology to use.”

Zuko rolled his eyes, “The spirit insisted on an arrow! I would have asked for a gun but he said no.” He pointed to the next poster board. “Our next step is to find someone - I don’t know who yet - the spirit will fuse with, which will make a new Avatar. We’re going to train that person to become Ba Sing Se’s new hero.”

Zuko whipped back the curtain covering the final poster board with a flourish. “And then finally, I’m going to fight that Avatar in a never ending series of epic battles between good and evil. Which will put everything back the way it was when the world made sense.”

Iroh stepped back to look over Zuko and all of his poster boards. Zuko’s eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was a mess. He smelled like he hadn’t showered in a week.

“Nephew, I think this is a bad idea.”

Zuko grinned. “Yes, this is a very clever idea for the greater good of bad and dishonor!”

“Zuko, this is the kind of bad that you might think is good from your “bad” perception, but from a “good” perception, it…it…it’s just plain bad!”

Zuko waved his hand around vaguely. “Uncle, you don’t know what’s good for bad!”

“And if something goes wrong?”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “This is the perfect plan, but in the teensy tiny, really rather improbable off-chance that the spirit needs to get out, he told me a way to free him from a human host if necessary. But that won’t ever come into play. I’m running off of three caffeinated cups of tea and half of a donut, and I am ready for evil! Now, we must find a suitable subject. Someone with great honor, of noble heart and mind. Who puts the welfare of others above their own but will uphold the law and-”

Zuko was cut off by his cell phone ringing. Sokka’s face grinned up at him as the contact blinked. “Uncle we’ll have to continue this conversation later, it’s a friend calling.”

“Really?” Iroh crowded Zuko to peer over his shoulder. “Is it a boyfriend?” He teased in a singsong voice that made Zuko flush.

“Uncle! Of course not! Not that I would tell you if it was,” he added defensively.

Iroh gasped, “You wouldn’t tell me? Zuko!”

Zuko shushed Iroh and finally picked up. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Is that Sokka Qanik?!”

“Uncle, shush!”

“I just want to thank you for inspiring me the other day.”

“No need to thank me, you inspired me too.”

“Great. It’s time we stood up to the Blue Spirit and showed him he can’t push us around.”

“You’re right!” Zuko turned to whisper to Iroh, “He’s so cute! He thinks he can find us!”

“I’m already hot on his trail,” Sokka asserted.

“Right. And what gives you that idea?”

“Zuko?” Iroh pointed at the security cameras.

“I just found his secret hideout!”

“Shit!” Zuko swore, causing Iroh to glare at him. “How did he find my hideout?!”

“Sorry for the wait, how did you find his hideout?”

“This is the only building in Ba Sing Se with a fake observatory on the roof.”

“Okay, it’s fine,” Zuko reassured, half to himself. “There’s no way he’ll find the secret entrance.” Iroh looked guiltily at the floor.

“Ha! There’s a doormat here that says ‘Secret Entrance’,” Sokka declared, his voice crackling over the speaker of the phone.

“Uncle!” Zuko hissed.

“I kept forgetting where it was!”

“He’ll discover all our secrets! How could you do this?!”

“What?” Sokka asked, “I can’t hear you super well.”

“What? Oh, not you, Sokka, I was just yelling at my... decorative sword antiques. Don't do anything until I get there.” Zuko shoved the spirit bow and arrow into a random closet and began to run out the side entrance.

…

“Sokka!”

“Hey, Lee! Oh, I’m glad you're here. Wait, how did you get here so fast?”

“Well, I uh, I happened to be speed walking nearby when you called.”

“In.. that?” Sokka gestured at Zuko, who hadn’t thought to change clothes. He was in his days' old pajamas, with slippers on.

“It’s called … casual speed walking. But that’s not important. I’d better take the lead, in case there’s any danger. This way looks exciting!” Zuko pointed to the glowing exit sign above the door.

Sokka shook his head. “No, it says exit.”

“Exit is the abbreviation for ex-citing, right?”

Sokka only chuckled as he rummaged through a closet. “Whoa!” He exclaimed, pulling out the spirit bow and arrow. “This is the motherlode!”

“Oh I’m sure it’s not that cool,” Zuko dismissed and tried to grab it.

Sokka didn’t notice Zuko struggling as he continued to look at the spirit bow in the light. “Wow! Just look at this thing.”

“Wow!” Zuko echoed as he continued to casually grab for it.

“Y'know, I really could use your help in deciphering all this.”

“Really?”

“You're an expert in all things related to the Blue Spirit, right?”

“Not really,” Zuko hedged, “I just visited the museum a few times.”

“Well, no matter. You’re cute and smart so I’m sure we’ll work well. Together we could figure out his plan for the city and stop it. Are you in?”

“Oh,” Zuko said, a blush across his face. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Sokka grinned and left Zuko to check out another room.

“Code: Set off The Booby Traps,” Zuko hissed to Iroh, who was under the floorboards.

“You know Prince Zuko, the whole point of a code is-”

“Oh, code: Just Do It, Uncle!”

The walls began to close in, forcing Sokka and Zuko next to each other.

“I can get us out of here, I’m sure,” Sokka said confidently as Zuko dragged him towards the exit.

“Shit!” Zuko swore again as Sokka tugged his hand out of his grip and began to run towards his poster boards. Zuko ran out of sight to put on his mask as he sighed and muttered more curses under his breath. Hesitating for a second, he realized that the Blue Spirit appearing in ‘Lee’s’ clothing would be mildly suspicious, so he donned a black robe hanging on the wall. He hit the override switch, stopping the walls from closing in any further so he could make his entrance.

“So, you’ve found my lair!” He dramatically unsheathed his dual swords.

“Wait, where’s Lee?” Sokka searched frantically. “What have you done with Lee?”

“Yes, uh, Lee,” Zuko repeated. “I’m doing... horrible things to that man! I don’t want to get into it, but y’know, blades, fire.”

He awkwardly put a sword down to open a trapdoor and pretended to be Lee.

“Oh, please, don’t! Not the blades and the fire!”

Flipping his head out of the trapdoor, he turned back to Sokka, “You know the drill.”

“Oh no! Not the miniature replica of the famous drill used in the siege of Ba Sing Se by Princess Azula of the Fire Nation, younger sister to then-Crown Prince Zuko in 100 AG! Aaargh!”

“Let him go!” Sokka demanded. “Let him go or-”

“Or what?”

Sokka notched the arrow and pulled back, aiming it right at Zuko but not shooting. “Or I’m gonna find out what this weird looking arrow does.”

“No! Please don’t shoot that!” Zuko raised his hands. “I’ll get him.” Zuko descended into the trapdoor occasionally yelling “No! Unhand me!” and “You’ll never take me alive!”

After waiting in the room for a few minutes, Zuko took off his robe and mask and made his way back up.

“Are you okay?” Sokka put a hand on his forearm.

“I did my best,” Zuko said gravely. “Here, let me hold the bow for you.”

Sokka shook his head, “I got us covered.”

After he ducked out of sight again, Zuko snagged his black robe and mask to quickly become the Blue Spirit again.

Zuko launched himself at Sokka and tried to grab the bow away from him.

“Let go, it's mine!”

“Lee, run!”

“You're going to break it!” Zuko seethed.

“This is a weapon! Your weapon! I’m not giving it up!”

Arrow still nocked, Sokka tried to shove Zuko away by slamming into him, but Zuko’s prying hands caused Sokka to let go of the arrow.

As it crashed through a window and into the street, both men stopped fighting when they heard a cry of pain and surprise.

“Oh no!” Zuko said, aghast.

“Why do you care?” Sokka snapped. “Your weapon performed its function. It hurt someone.”

Zuko waved him away, climbing on a box to look out the window.

From outside, Jet lay on the pavement with the arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

“Ow,” he groaned.

Popping out of his hiding place, Iroh asked, “Who on Earth is that?”

Zuko turned to Sokka, who had already run to a different part of the building to look for Lee. After taking off his robe and mask again, Zuko rejoined Sokka’s search.

…

Zuko

“That was exciting!” Sokka remarked.

“Yeah,” Zuko replied offhandedly.

“You were pretty brave in there, I've never seen anyone but Aang stand up to him like that.”

“Thanks,” Zuko muttered.

Jet sat up upon hearing Sokka and Zuko return.

“What’s going on?”

“Well Jet,” Sokka began, “It’s half my fault and half the Blue Spirit’s fault, but you kind of have an arrow in your shoulder.”

“I- what?”

“Let me see,” Zuko pushed past Sokka. “I’m trained in… medicine.”

Pulling the arrow out of Jet’s shoulder, Zuko looked at the now-empty crystal arrowhead. “Huh,” he muttered to himself.

“OW,” Jet complained, rubbing his shoulder.

“Lee you can’t just pull arrows out like that!” Sokka reprimanded, checking on Jet. “The arrow will have left a huge… wound?” he trailed off, his hands hovering over Jet’s now smooth skin beneath the rip in his shirt.

“What happened?” Jet asked again, straining his neck to look.

“Nothing,” Sokka said, “I misspoke earlier.”

“Okay,” Jet said. “Well, I think a bee stung my shoulder. I was just about to make my frontal assault to rescue you, but like, fifty Dai Li tried to attack me. So, I uh, had to beat them all up and I, I did and they were all like, crying and stuff…”

“You’re very brave,” Zuko said sarcastically.

“And who are you?” Jet accused.

“Oh, this- this is Lee. He’s my partner.” Sokka said as he looked into Zuko’s eyes.

“Partner?” Jet asked, glaring at Zuko.

“Yes. Partner,” Zuko echoed.

Jet managed to stand as Sokka helped him up. “Well, look partner,” he spat, “I’m his partner. He doesn’t know what he’s saying, he’s been through a traumatic experience-”

“That doesn’t seem to be in very good taste,” Zuko pointed out as he looked at Jet’s brightly colored Blue Spirit themed shirt, “I didn’t know they made those.” He frowned.

“Well, I think that they’re cool,” Jet said defensively. Too defensively, Zuko noted to himself, I bet he has a whole closet full of those, oh Agni. Zuko continued to stare at Jet’s shirt in growing horror. I wonder how many other people have these shirts. Oh Agni, what am I going to do? Can I sue the maker as the Blue Spirit? I don’t own creative rights to this mask. Oh Agni.

Sokka let out a sigh, startling Zuko from his inner, Jet’s-wearing-a-tacky-shirt-with-me-on-it, Thank-Agni-I-don’t-have-my-mask-on-because-I-almost-threw-up- inspired turmoil. “I better take him home. Thanks again, Lee.” He stepped forward to hug Zuko, which temporarily left Jet unbalanced. “I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Please do,” Zuko said softly.

“That was weird for everybody,” Jet grumbled, “Because you accidentally hugged him instead of me.”

…

After he waited for Sokka and Jet to be out of sight, Zuko walked back into his lair.

“Code: Did You Find Out Who It Was?” Iroh asked.

“Code: Get the Car,” Zuko answered firmly.

“Code: Right Away Nephew. But first, I have a request.”

Zuko sighed, “What is it, Uncle?”

“Since the spirit disguise I got was plain green leaves, can I be a tea spirit?”

“Uncle, is that even a thing?”

“It’s not like he would know,” Iroh said defensively. Zuko reluctantly agreed.

…

As they got in the car, Zuko asked Iroh, “Do you have any open shifts at the Jasmine Dragon?”

Iroh brightened instantly, “Of course! I always keep one open for you, so long as it doesn’t spread my employees too thin. Would you like to take it?”

“Yes,” Zuko said, unsure of why exactly he wanted this.

…

Jet showed up to the tea shop in an even more awful Blue Spirit shirt. This one was bright blue, with rainbows and a way-to-buff-for-Zuko’s-twink-figure-Blue Spirit on a flying bison. Zuko couldn’t help it, he saw that shirt and was consumed with such rage he began firebending and burned Jet’s shirt off his chest, upon which a new shirt sprang from the ashes, somehow more horrible and with Zuko’s own face plastered all over it instead and the quirky caption “I’m never happy!”

Zuko woke up with a start, covered in a cold sweat, and shuddered. “Thank Agni, it was only a nightmare.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: The Teashop of Two Lovers

Iroh

“So Zuko, I was wondering,” Iroh began, as he drove them to Jet’s apartment.

“Yeah?”

“I will always have a spot for you at the Jasmine Dragon, but I’ve been thinking. How on earth are you going to train the new Avatar? He’s seen you without your mask. Granted, he did think you were Lee.”

“See this is where the fun comes in, Uncle,” Zuko grinned, grabbing a glass vial from a pocket. “When I traveled into the Spirit World, I met some other spirits who were happy to trade a way to mimic their appearances for some flowers that only grow in Ba Sing Se. I’ll appear as a plant spirit to the new Avatar and he’ll have no idea it’s actually me, Zu- the Blue Spirit.”

“I see. Very clever, nephew,” Iroh nodded.

…

Zuko

When they arrived at Jet’s apartment to find him sprawled on the floor, the plan started to get muddled; as if it wasn’t muddled the second Zuko’s phone rang earlier. Zuko winced when he nudged Jet onto his back.

Jet’s face had become distorted, blue ridges running up along his sideburns with deep black spikes. The spirit had fused with him entirely, and it was not as photogenic as Zuko had led Iroh to believe.

“Zuko,” Iroh said sternly, “Was this spirit you found… reputable?”

“I have no idea why you would say that, Uncle,” Zuko said, his voice monotone as he tried to quell the growing nervousness that was currently attacking his stomach with pins.

“The poor boy looks like a monster!” Iroh hissed at Zuko, “How could you do this-” His voice died as Jet began to stir.

“Rise, my... glorious creation,” Zuko said, raising his arms dramatically, which highlighted the full effect of the plants and flowers covering him, “Rise, and meet us! Your glorious spirit guardians!”

“What’s going on?” Jet mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Easy, my child.” Zuko hummed, mimicking the one spirit he had spoken with, whom he had told Iroh had sounded a bit like the cabbage merchant down the street.

“Who are you?” Jet asked, carefully standing up.

“I am a plant spirit, but for now, I represent all spirits,” Zuko hedged, saying random phrases in a wizened tone in an attempt to appear sage, “The spirits have chosen to make a new Avatar, and we chose you.”

“So I’m a new Avatar?”

“Yes, that’s what I just said,” Zuko snapped before going back to his “spirit voice”.

“And who are you?” Jet turned to Iroh, staring curiously at his enchanted appearance.

“I am but a humble tea spirit, young Avatar,” Iroh said solemnly, gesturing to his leaves. Internally he was laughing at his ridiculous nephew and the gullible new Avatar, but he managed to keep it together for the plan.

“Is this some kind of dream?”

“This is a dream come true. You’ve been blessed with unfathomable power. Your power and skill will soon rival the former Avatar.”

“Whoa!”

“Exactly,” Zuko said. “We’ve come to guide you on your path to be Ba Sing Se’s new hero and battle the Blue Spirit, the terror of Ba Sing Se and evil super genius!”

“I don’t remember anyone ever calling him an evil super genius...” Jet frowned.

“Well he has been,” Zuko said, pointedly ignoring Iroh’s small chuckle. “But that’s beside the point. I know this is a lot to take in. It may take months for you to come to grips with-”

Jet hesitantly created a small current of wind in his hand, before yelling, “No way!”

“One thing you should know first though,” Zuko hesitated. “The spirit you bonded with had a particular, look and his appearance has affected your face. You don’t look fully human anymore.”

“WHAT?!”

…

“Action!” Zuko called.

“Oh Spirits! Someone help me!” Iroh read from the script in a monotone voice.

Jet ran into the practice room, shoving Iroh aside to begin dismembering the plastic Blue Spirit dummy. Zuko and Iroh winced as Jet burned the mask off and melted the cheap plastic into goo on the floor.

“Stupid firebender! How’s it feel to get burned?”

Iroh walked over to Zuko and whispered, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine,” Zuko said, unsure who he was reassuring.

…

“Okay, another thing you need to master is good banter while fighting. Jet- Jet look at me, listen to me, you need to be able to make snap comments back to the Blue Spirit. We’re going to practice. Here, I’ll start. ‘The flames of my evil burn bright! You cannot retake Ba Sing Se, for it is mine!’ Now you say something cool back at me.”

Jet fiddled with his single stalk of barley, chewing it, “Haha, you rhymed. Doesn’t it look cool when I do this?”

Zuko and Iroh sighed in unison.

…

“Uncle, he's annoying and useless! How am I going to train him to have all the values of an Avatar when he spends half his time chewing barley and the other half trash talking my mask?” Zuko groaned in his lair. Iroh was patiently making tea on the stove, adjusting the temperature with his bending.

“Have you considered changing teaching tactics? Just as no flame is identical, people learn in different ways.”

“What?” Zuko asked, trying to puzzle out what Iroh meant.

“He likes video games a lot, right? What if we made a giant video game and-”

Iroh was cut off by an alarm going off on Zuko’s phone.

“Oh, sorry Uncle. It’s my shift at the Jasmine Dragon.”

“Ah, my nephew,” Iroh said fondly, “Working customer service and not blowing his cover as a supervillain. They grow up so fast. Don’t kill any customers today, please.”

“Why would you say that? I’ve never killed anyone!”

A silence settled between them as they remembered how Zuko had come into power.
“At work,” Iroh muttered.

“Fine.” Zuko answered, throwing on his apron and preparing to leave. “I’m having dinner with Sokka Qanik after my shift too, so I won’t be home for a while.”

“Zuko,” Iroh cautioned, “Do not get too attached.”

“Of course not, Uncle,” Zuko said, feeling the lie slip down his throat.

…

Sokka

“Suki, I have a date tonight!” Sokka hissed to his ex-girlfriend, who was now a barista at a tea shop. Suki was not amused that Sokka had come to bother her with his drama during her work hours, but her boss was a sweet old man, as long as she completed orders on time without fuss he didn’t mind her chatting with friends. Everyone in the former Lower Ring said that he was an ex-convict but she was sure that was nothing more than a rumor.

“Sokka, I’m busy, see?” She gestured to the spotless counter, where absolutely zero work was getting done. There wasn’t much of a rush for tea at 5 pm.

“Ha ha,” He said sarcastically, hopping up onto the counter. “Look, his name is Lee and he’s really cute and I haven’t dated since… you know. I’m worried I’ll mess it up.”

“I’m sure he’ll love you, Sokka. You’re a real charmer- wait, Lee?”

“Yeah, what about him? I think he used to work here, right?”

“More than used to work here, Sokka. His uncle runs the place. But yeah, he also currently works here, his next shift is in five minutes.”

“Man, would sure be something if I ‘accidentally’ ran into him here, huh?” Sokka smiled. “I could tell him how nervous I am about our date and I’m sure he’d say something completely cute and dumb like ‘what date?’”

They laughed together before a customer came through the door, at which point Suki loudly sighed and pushed Sokka off the counter.

…

“What date?” Lee asked when Sokka confided in him.

“What?”

“We’re having dinner tonight, right? Not a date.”

“Lee, do you know what a date is?”

Lee frowned, “Well, I’ve never been on one.”

“The only requirements for a date are that we like each other, and have fun. Do you think we can do that?”

Lee smiled softly. “Yeah.”

In a moment of bravery, Sokka leaned across the counter to peck Lee on the cheek. “See you in a few hours?”

Lee’s light smile blossomed into a deep blush as he nodded silently.

As Sokka turned to leave, he saw a shadowy figure outside but thought nothing of it.

…

Zuko

“Sokka, your meat jokes are… unrivaled. I see why everyone talks about them.”

“Thanks, Lee, I never knew you were so funny.”

“And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh before,” Zuko looked into Sokka’s eyes and smiled.

Sokka grinned. “Yeah, it’s been a while. Feels pretty good.”

A light silence settled between them as they looked at each other. The silence only deepened.

Zuko hesitated before he tentatively said, “I know that losing him must have been hard for you.”

“Oh it was, he was my best friend, you know? Not to mention my sister disappeared the same night. After months of investigation the police just… gave up.”

“Sokka, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not like you killed Aang.”

Zuko swallowed. “I didn’t-”

“Dude don’t worry, I wasn’t suggesting otherwise,” Sokka placated. “Listen, this is a little heavy for a first date, but you’ve become a bright spot in my life, among all this darkness.”

Zuko could barely speak, what on earth would even he say? He was responsible for Sokka’s sadness, and now his happiness? What would Uncle say? What would Aang have said? Zuko said the only thing he found his lips could form the words to, and even that was a strained, “Thank you.”

…

Sokka and Zuko sat atop an apartment building roof, looking at the city below them.

“I used to come up here with Katara and Aang all the time. Aang loved to just watch the city from above, to see the inner workings of everything. It was one of my favorite things to do. Now, look at it. It's a dump.” Sokka gestured sadly at the parks, which had devolved to a state of ruin. Not many park cleanups were happening when a supervillain controlled the city.

…

Iroh

Iroh dragged his heels as Zuko forced him to help clean up the park with rakes and garbage bags. Zuko seemed more animated than usual, stuffing garbage into bags with a force that Iroh had not seen for a while.

“Nephew, while I appreciate that you are taking care of your city at a fundamental level, nature, I have to ask: why now?”

“We can’t battle the Avatar in a dump, Uncle. It would be rude to both him and the city!”

“Yes, but-” Iroh shook his head when he saw Zuko ignoring him, humming to himself and picking up garbage. I wonder what’s going on in his life. If only he’d tell me.

…

Jet

While Zuko and Iroh were cleaning up the parks, Jet spent his time in other, non-useful endeavors. Over time, he had built up a following online for playing Minecraft with his friends, who had named themselves the “Freedom Fighters”.

“Hey Jet, are you streaming later today?” Smellerbee’s voice filtered through his speakers.

“Yeah, maybe in an hour or so. But get this,” Jet said as he furiously mined diamonds, “Right before the Blue Spirit took over, the city was facing petitions to ban Minecraft.”

“What?!” Smellerbee’s shrill voice rang through the speaker of Jet’s phone, “Why?”

“Because it involves manipulating the earth around you, and it “mocks” earthbending,” Jet chuckled. “That’s partly why I like the Blue Spirit so much, he tossed that petition out!”

“Jet,” Smellerbee sounded apprehensive over the phone. “Didn’t he toss out… all petitions when he took over office?”

“No,” Jet protested, “He kept… the petitions to ban the traveling Ember Island Players?” He trailed off, hoping to hide that he had opened a tab on his computer to search the current pending petitions.

“You looked that up, didn’t you?”

“What? Of course not, you idiot,” Jet snapped. “Don’t be stupid.” As he spoke, Jet could feel himself wanting to take back the words, to yank them back down his throat. This wasn’t something worth snapping at, deep down he knew that the same way Smellerbee did.

“Okay I get it,” Smellerbee placated. “Look, I have to go… do something else,” She signed off awkwardly, leaving Jet to explore what was supposed to be their shared server in silence. Please come back, Smellerbee, Jet pleaded silently, I don’t want to be alone.

…

Zuko

Zuko and Sokka sat together on the roof again, sitting in comfortable silence.

“I hate him sometimes,” Zuko said softly as he leaned against Sokka, thinking the other man was asleep.

“Who? The Blue Spirit?” Sokka stretched groggily, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah,” He did not elaborate. If left to himself, he would never elaborate. Sokka didn’t press.

...

“Jet! Please! Not the tea!” Iroh cried as Jet waterbent the tea out of his cup and into the grass.

Zuko stared as Iroh solemnly knelt by the grass, “Zu- Plant Spirit, as we spirits know, there is no use crying over spilled tea, but as a- a Tea Spirit sometimes I cannot help it. How delicious it could have been, we will never know,”

“Sure,” Zuko nodded awkwardly, “That makes sense.”

…

“Okay, okay,” Sokka leaned in closer, his eyes lighting conspiratorially. Zuko felt his face redden as his hand met Sokka’s on the plush couch. “Here’s a secret- I know the Blue Spirit’s true name.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, Aang, Katara, and I knew.” Sokka interlaced their fingers with a smile.

“Well, who is it?” Zuko asked, fearing the answer. In his mind, an awful dream unfolded in the blink of an eye. “You,” Sokka pointed an accusing finger at Zuko, glaring. “It was you. I hate you” , his mind whispered. Zuko shook his head, then squeezed Sokka’s hand lightly as some small reassurance to himself.

Squeezing back, Sokka whispered, “His name is Zuko. He’s the exiled son of the former Firelord.”

“Huh, weird,” Zuko feigned. “I wonder what he wants with Ba Sing Se,”

“I thought I knew once,” Sokka said almost wistfully, “Okay, now you tell me something. Something you’ve never told anyone.”

Zuko hesitated. “I don’t really know what I’m doing with my life. I haven’t really for a while. I thought I did, but that turned out to be nothing but disappointment.”

Sokka didn’t respond at first, and for a minute Zuko rushed to fill the silence, “Of course, I know that it’s silly and I’ll figure something out. It’s just hard, you know?”

“It’s okay,” Sokka said, his voice soothing Zuko deeply. “Figuring out who you are can take your whole life, it’s okay if you haven’t found yourself yet. I know you will.”

…

“Jet, I think you’re ready for this.” Hand trembling slightly, Zuko handed Aang’s former glider to Jet. It was a little singed, but otherwise intact.

“Do you have someone special in your life, Jet?” Iroh asked as he looked over the glider carefully. Zuko noted with distaste that Jet was already mishandling it, but decided not to mention anything.

“No, not yet,” Jet grinned like a shark. “But there's this one guy I've got my eye on currently.”

“Good,” Zuko nodded, attempting to appear wise. “Romance can be ... very inspiring.”

“That's what I hear.”

“All you have to do is save him, and he’ll be yours.” Zuko regretted the words the minute they left his lips, but what could he do? Wise spirits didn’t retract statements about romance, at least from what he knew about spirits.

Iroh rushed forward, holding out a tray. “Who wants tea?”

Zuko scowled but took a cup as Jet grinned brightly and grabbed one for himself.

“Tea all the way around!” Iroh said happily.

“Thank you, O wise tea spirit.” Jet nodded.

“To Jet!” They toasted.

“Tomorrow, you will fight the Blue Spirit, and the city will know your name!”

…

Zuko smiled fondly as he saw Sokka speak on TV, the grin lighting up his face.

“This city is changing. It has been for some time, but none of us realized it. Well, I didn’t at least. We’re slowly recovering. The parks are being restored by anonymous volunteers. The banks have opened again, and local food pantries wake up to mysterious donations every morning. Has something happened to the Blue Spirit? Has he given up being evil, or has someone changed his heart? This is Sokka Qanik, cautiously optimistic and pleasantly confused.”

“Well you seem in a very good mood tonight, nephew,” Iroh smiled as he carefully measured Zuko to order a new robe for general villainy. Iroh was not much with a needle and thread, but knew a vast network of people, including some seamstresses who were willing to make a villain a robe for some extra cash and guaranteed protection against landlords and muggers.

“Huh?” Zuko snapped out of a lazy daydream. “Yeah. Uncle, is this going to take forever?”

Tongue between his teeth, Iroh squinted as he finished his measurements. “All I have to do is record your measurements for the alterations of the robe and send them to my seamstress friends. It should arrive tomorrow morning. They tell me that they are thinking of calling this new one, ‘Black Serpent’”

“Black Serpent, that’s certainly… supervillain-esque,” Zuko glanced down at his watch before wiggling out of Iroh’s grasp. “I have to go, Uncle, I can’t be late.”

“What? Where are you going, Prince Zuko? Your battle against Jet is tomorrow morning, you’ve barely practiced your firebending and you don’t have a plan!”

“Uncle, I have to… run a quick errand. I’m sure you can handle the details.”

“Details? Zuko, you could be killed. Besides, you don’t run errands. What’s going on here?”

Zuko didn’t answer, staring at the floor.

“Are you going out to see Sokka? Zuko, you know getting attached will not be good for you.”

“That’s none of your business, Uncle,” Zuko said, his voice acidic.

Shaking his head sadly Iroh continued, “Zuko, have you fallen in love with him?”

Zuko didn’t answer, letting the silence build into something roaring and painful. “I-” he began, but what would he even say? The truth? Yes, I have entirely and I’m terrified. Or would he lie and bury the feelings deeper, like he always did?

“Zuko,” He cautioned, “This will not end well. I do not wish to see you hurt.”

“I don’t care,”

“What will you do when he finds out?”

“He’ll never find out, Uncle. That’s the point of lying!” Zuko hissed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you weren’t a villain at all.”

Zuko tried to walk to the door, but Iroh got there first. Blocking him, he stubbornly refused to move.

“Stop being a child, Uncle. Let me go,” Zuko growled, trying to push past him.

“Zuko please, this is for your own good.”

“How would you know?”

“I know this much, the villain does not get to fall in love! You knew this when you chose this path!” Iroh shook his head, “You cannot juggle being both Lee and the Blue Spirit forever. What will happen when Sokka realizes?”

“Maybe I don’t want to be the Blue Spirit anymore! Maybe I just want to be Lee!”

“What?”

Zuko frowned before scowling, regretting speaking, “You heard me!”

“Zuko,” Iroh pleaded in a hushed voice, “You cannot hide from who you are. This will not end well. I don’t want you to get hurt-”

“Get out of my way!” Zuko demanded, his voice faltering.

“No! My purpose in life is to look after you! It has been since the moment your father banished you!”

“I never asked you to!” Zuko yelled, stalking back to a chair in the lair.

Following him, Iroh asked, “What are you saying? You don’t need me?”

Zuko turned to face him, glaring and hating himself for it, “I’ll make it clear. Code: I Don’t Need You.”

Iroh sighed before rummaging around the lair, grabbing a bag of his clothes and all of the tea he could find. “Fine! Code: I’ll Just Pack My Things And Go!”

“Code: Fine!”

“Code: Fine Back!”

Zuko scowled, not dignifying Iroh’s retort with an answer.

As he walked out of the lair, Iroh called, “Well, good luck on your date!”

“I will, Uncle!” Zuko snapped.

“That doesn’t even make any sense, Zuko!”

“I know!”

After Iroh left, Zuko collapsed in a corner, putting his head in his hands and cried. Zuko waited for Iroh to come back, but of course, he wouldn’t. This is clearly how he was always meant to end up, alone. He couldn’t think that a quest of escaping honor would ever leave him happy, could he?

Sniffling, Zuko wiped away his tears and got changed. He still had a date to go to.

…

Sokka

“I’ve gotta be close, I can feel it!” Sokka groaned as he stared at the news article titled “Mysterious New Hero Seen Training By Zoo”. “Okay, I’ll just take a step back. Clear my head.”

He walked out to his balcony and sighed, staring at the bustling city below him. Looking back at his papers through the glass, Sokka was exhausted. Something was going on, something new. He had bits and pieces, but no concrete evidence yet.

“Heh,” he chuckled to himself, “It would certainly be cliche and ironic if when I looked closely I’d see an outline of a hero or something wait oh Tui and La-”

Sokka groaned as he saw the insignia of the Avatar, with a subtle change that he couldn’t quite identify but made him uneasy. “Are you kidding me? Months of actual work and searching and then it lines up! This is ridiculous!”

Lying against the balcony rails, Sokka almost didn’t notice the figure next to him.

“Hey, Sokka,” Jet drawled, the deep blue ridges on his face looking even more terrifying in the light.

“Shit!” Sokka screamed. “Who are you? How do you know my name?”

“I usually just scare criminals. You haven’t been naughty, have you?”

Sokka recoiled, “Ew.”

“Aw, I thought you liked bad jokes,” Jet lamented, stepping closer.

Something ignited in Sokka then. Perhaps it was the indignation that his research was solved by a cliche, maybe it was months of grief for losing both his best friend and his sister at once, or maybe, just maybe, it was that this stranger had said that his jokes were bad. In all likelihood, the combination would not bode well.

“My jokes aren’t bad-” Sokka started, furious.

“I’m totally messin’ with you,” Jet interrupted, playfully touching his arm. “I’m the new Avatar,”

“That’s not possible,” Sokka dismissed, “You’d be a baby,”

“Nope! Different spirits. Why else do you think I’d look like this?” He gestured to his face and grinned, showcasing the full extent of his new face. Sokka gasped again.

“Aw,” Jet said, reaching forward to touch Sokka’s hair, which hung loosely around his face, “Your hair looks so much nicer like this.”

“You don’t get to like my hair,” Sokka said, ducking from his grasp. “What do you want?”

“I thought we maybe could go for a date around town. Get to know each other a little.” Grabbing Sokka, Jet didn’t wait for an answer. He jumped off the building and using Aang’s glider, flew around the buildings, narrowly missing some. Surprised, Sokka didn't react at first, but when he saw how close he had been to death he began to yell and try to get away from Jet.

“This must be very thrilling for you!” Jet said gleefully as Sokka grabbed at the glider.

“Let me go!” Sokka yelled back.

Jet laughed, “I guess I’m being a bit presumptuous. Here, I’ll rescue you a few times so we can be romantic. Haha whoops!” He dropped Sokka, who fell, grasping at air and screaming.

Lazily gliding over to save him, Jet caught Sokka and rolled, putting them in a situation that was very uncomfortable for Sokka, unsurprisingly. “Good thing I saved you. You are lucky to have such a great Avatar here!”

Sokka refused to speak, pushing away from Jet and falling again.

“Shit!” Jet cursed, gliding down to catch him again. “Look at that! Another perfect save by the Avatar!”

Glaring, Sokka yelled, “Put me down, right now!”

Gliding over to a random house in what was formerly the Upper Ring, Jet landed on the roof. As soon as Sokka saw bright yellow tiles a wave of both grief and nostalgia washed over him, Of course we’d end up here, why wouldn’t we?. Jet dropped Sokka on the tiles and landed neatly a few feet away, sending Sokka sprawling across the roof of the house he had stayed in years ago. As he got up, Sokka felt how cold the tiles were and remembered the last time he had been in that house. With Aang. With his sister. If I only I knew then that that would be the last time we would be together in that house.

As he got to his feet, Sokka yelled, “Are you crazy? I could have died!”

Jet grinned, “Oh, I’m sure you wouldn’t have! Not when you had a hero like me at your side,”

“Who are you? Really?”

“Try to guess,” Jet smirked, pulling out a single blade of barley and placed it in his mouth, making a teasing face to Sokka.

“Jet?” Sokka said, disbelieving.

“Isn’t this great? Now we can be together,”

“No, no no-” Sokka shook his head, backing away on the roof.

“Wow, we’re having our first fight!” Jet winked and crept closer, “This is so us.”

“Look, there is no ‘us’! Okay? There will never be an ‘us’-”

“But I have powers! I’m the Avatar,” Jet interrupted, showcasing his ability.

Sokka shuddered, “Jet, you have to listen to me-”

Jet shook his head, not answering.

“We need to find out how this happened to you, maybe when I was investigating the Blue Spirit?” Sokka began to talk to himself, wracking his brain for the answer, “There’s gotta be an explanation for this-”

“Here’s the explanation!” Jet burst out, breaking through Sokka’s thoughts, “I’m the Avatar, and you're SUPPOSED to be with me!”

“I'm trying to warn you, Jet-” Sokka insisted.

“It's Avatar! I’m the Avatar, NOT Jet!!!” Flying off on his glider, Jet left Sokka to stand on the roof of a house he had hoped to never see again.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: Zuko Alone

Zuko

“Sorry, I’m late.” Sokka rushed into the restaurant, his hair out of its usual wolftail.

“Your hair looks fun,” Zuko said bashfully. And cute, his mind added.

“No time for small talk (thank you I like your hair too). The Blue Spirit has created a new Avatar and I know why.”

Zuko froze. “You know why?”

Sokka continued, barely noticing Zuko, “Lee, it all makes sense now. He missed losing to Aang, so he made a new hero to kick his ass! Oh Tui and La, is he a masochist?”

Zuko choked on his drink, “That’s stupid. Why would he do that?”

“But why pick Jet?” Sokka mused. “Jet is the worst possible person you could pick!”

"He doesn’t seem awful," Zuko argued, defensive.

Sokka gave him a weird stare before continuing. "It …it…it boggles my mind!" He declared.

"I am very... boggled as well. But that’s no reason to waste what we have right now. Jet can wait a few hours," Zuko placated, placing his hand on the table next to Sokka's.

Sokka smiled. "I’m sorry, Lee. You’re right. I could really use something safe and calm, away from all of this insanity."

He raised his glass of champagne to toast, "To Lee. For being my normal in my crazy, upside-down world."

Zuko winced but smiled weakly. "To being normal."

…

Sokka

"Sokka?" Lee asked, looking down at his plate.

“Yeah?”

“What if I wasn’t as normal as you thought? As a completely random example, what if I wore a theatre mask that was a random primary color. Do you think we would still… have this?"

“Of course, dude,” Sokka reassured. What a weird, specific example he thought. “You can’t judge people by physical appearance, or choices in apparel.”

“That’s fair.”

“Yeah, you judge them based on their actions.”

“Well that seems petty and unwise,” Lee said, deadpan.

Sokka laughed. “You’re so ridiculous, Lee.” He moved to kiss him, who hesitated for a second before kissing him back. Sokka smiled against his lips as he interlaced his fingers with Lee’s, continuing the kiss.

Eventually, they broke apart to spend the rest of the dinner in contentment, enjoying the food and each other. It was only when Lee offered to pay that things soured.

“One second,” Lee said, digging through his backpack. As he fished around for his wallet, he continued holding Sokka’s hand. Overjoyed from the evening so far, Lee didn’t see when he accidentally knocked his mask out of his backpack and onto the table.

The waitress was the first to notice, gasping loudly as she recognized the design. The mask of the Blue Spirit was one of a kind.

Sokka’s hand grew slack in Lee’s, no, Zuko’s hand.

“What is it?” Zuko asked, and Sokka felt his world begin to fall away again.

“Zuko,” The name tasted bitter on his tongue.

Zuko

“What?” Zuko’s blood ran cold as Sokka called him by his name, his real name. “How- how did you know-”

Sokka ripped his hand from Zuko’s, his voice still icy and clear, “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out until now.” Taking a shuddering breath, Sokka ignored his facade of calmness beginning to splinter, and asked, “How could you?”

Zuko turned to look at his backpack and then at the table, and that was when he saw it, clear as day. His mask grinned up at him, the paint faded but still jarring.

“What about everything you just said? About not judging by choices in apparel or physical appearance? I’m still me!” Zuko asked desperately, reaching his hand out to Sokka.

Sokka grimaced as if in pain, and it tore Zuko’s heart in two. “I can’t believe you. You kill Aang, take over, and then what? Trick me into beginning to-” Sokka hesitated, “-to fall in love with you? You’re evil, but why this? Tui and La, what could you possibly hope to gain?”

Zuko tried to speak, but the words died in his throat. He could only stare hopelessly at Sokka, pleading for him to understand.

Sokka laughed, his voice full of anger, “No, no, you’ve got to be kidding. Do you really think that I would ever be with you?”

Zuko bowed his head. “No.”

He watched helplessly as Sokka walked out of the restaurant.

…

“Uncle!” Zuko cried out as he entered his lair. “Uncle you were right! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

When he was met with only silence, Zuko choked back a sob. “Fine! I can do this on my own then!”

Muttering to himself, Zuko unveiled what he had been saving for his battle against Jet. It was a new mask, with hand-carved teeth curving upwards into a horrific grin and painted bright cobalt blue. Only a shade darker than Sokka’s eyes, his mind added unhelpfully. The mask was somehow both so like his original mask and so unlike it that his head swam. Who was he? What did this mask make him into?

Zuko took a breath and put on the mask.

As he carefully snapped the clasps into place he said aloud, “If I can’t be Lee, then I guess I’ll be the Blue Spirit.” Why can’t I be Zuko?

…

Assembling a press conference and fully decorated for battle, Zuko addressed the news anchors.

“I’ve heard talk of a new Avatar,” he sneered, hoping that his lack of emotion wasn’t showing in his raw voice. “Where is the one they call Jet? Challenge me, if you dare!”

Zuko sent a wall of fire into the air, frightening the news anchors. For a moment, he forgot Sokka and his uncle and felt alive. The flames grew higher, licking the sky and filling the air with ash. Zuko could taste the embers as he swallowed, waiting.

He waited for two hours for Jet to show up before finally calling it quits. Maintaining a wall of fire that strong had drained his energy, but Zuko could hardly feel it as he stomped to Jet’s apartment, rage fueling his footsteps.

“You absolute unprofessional clown!” Zuko incinerated Jet’s door with a blast and marched in, pointing an accusing finger at the new Avatar.

“Aang fought with honor and respected our battles! He would never have kept me waiting the way you did today!”

Jet leaned back from his gaming chair, headphones slung around his neck. “Blue Spirit! I’ve been wanting to see you. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve been rocking your merch,” Jet pulled the collar of his shirt up to show yet another Blue Spirit shirt, this time a patterned button-up.

Zuko stopped cold, the fire in his hands dying, “Okay, one: that is the worst shirt I’ve ever seen. It’s not my merch, it’s some cheap knockoff- you’re being scammed and you deserve it. Two: it’s THE Blue Spirit, and we were supposed to fight in a glorious battle of honor! Do you know how long I waited for you outside City Hall?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jet dismissed, “I understand what you’re saying. Could you just…just be quiet for one second, I’m trying to finish this game, I’ve been doing a speedrun all day.” Jet gestured vaguely with one hand as he continued to play Minecraft. Zuko narrowed his eyes as Jet tried to defeat the Ender Dragon. Then his eyes focused on how high tech and sleek Jet’s computer was, complete with a light-up keyboard, which was definitely not something Zuko remembered seeing last time he visited him.

“You were never going to show up, were you?” Zuko accused, “Wait, what in the name of Agni is all this?” he nudged a bag overflowing with cash on the floor, gesturing to several other identical bags. “Jet, where did you get this?”

“Oh, that,” Jet said, smirking, “Yeah, I stole it. That’s right up your alley, right?”

Zuko shook his head, barely comprehending. “No it’s not! There is no honor in mindless stealing. You’re a hero. You’re the new Avatar, you can’t do this.”

“Mindless stealing?” Jet asked, “Would you call this mindless stealing?” he proudly displayed a pile of stolen necklaces and watches, all which were finely made and would have gone very poorly with his Blue Spirit themed body pillow or Blue Spirit tee shirts. ???? “Being the Avatar sucks,” Jet dismissed. “It’s work, work, work, twenty-four-seven. And for what? I only took the gig to get the guy and it turns out Sokka doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“Sokka Qanik?”

“Yeah, Sokka Qanik. I saw him having dinner and making googly eyes at some idiot worker from the tea shop.”

“I see,” Zuko said, hoping desperately that Jet didn’t notice the trace of scarlet flitting across his face before realizing that he was wearing a mask.

Jet continued, oblivious, “Who needs all that noise! That’s why I think we should team up.”

“You…wait…what?”

“With my powers as the new Avatar and your criminal history, we could rule the city!”

“You want to team up,” Zuko repeated blankly.

“I even drew up some new costume designs, see?” Jet paused his game, grabbing a loose sheet of paper on his desk. A crudely drawn depiction of Zuko with a new mask that looked like a smiley face next to Jet in only a pair of tight pants decorated the note. Zuko was not impressed.

“You’d be the brains behind the plots, but you wouldn’t actually do anything because I’m more powerful, so you’d get a smiley face mask and because I’m buff I would be shirtless.”

“I can’t believe you. With all your gifts, all your powers, and you…you waste them for your own gain. Even as a villain, I fought against the law to help more than just myself. But you? You’re despicable.”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point!” Jet said, smiling.

“No,” Zuko shook his head, “No! I'm the villain! You’re the good guy! I do something bad, and you come and get me. That’s why I created you!”

“Yeah, right! You’re nuts! The spirits told me-”

“The plant spirit, right? Guess what, genius!” Zuko yelled blindly, grabbing a bottle of the disguise enchantment from the spirit and smashing it on the ground. As smoke swirled around him, Zuko saw the magic laying over his clothes once again, rugged thorns and flowering vines creeping up his body.

“I’m the plant spirit!”

“You tricked me?” Jet said in disbelief, his game forgotten.

“There’s more!” Zuko said angrily, dissipating the magic and ripping off his mask, “I’m also the tea shop worker dating Sokka.”

“No!” Jet yelled.

“Yes!” Zuko exclaimed. “Too bad that you left the restaurant early because you sure missed us kissing!” He securely fastened the mask on his face again, the garish grin mocking Jet.

Jet stood up, fists shaking with rage. His eyes began to glow as he spoke, “When I get my hands on you I’m gonna-”

“I know!” Zuko interrupted him. “Oh, how I’ve been waiting for this!”

Jet roared, throwing Zuko back against the wall with a gust of wind.

“So the Avatar strikes the first blow!” Zuko said, grinned under his mask. “But evil returns with a backhand!” Zuko sent a wave of flames at Jet, pushing him backward and sending himself out the window. Using fire to propel himself, Zuko landed on a balcony nearby.

“You got anything else?” He yelled upwards at Jet, “I could go all day!”

Screaming, Jet launched himself at Zuko.

Scrambling away, Zuko couldn’t resist calling out, “Jet, you have to banter! I can’t work with screaming!”

Jet rushed forward, grabbing Zuko by the collar and dangling him over the edge of the apartment building three stories up. “This is for stealing my boyfriend!”

As Jet dropped him Zuko swore and used his fire again as a cushion to fall. “You know, Sokka was never actually interested in you.”

“That’s a LIE! You turned him against me!” Jet roared, sending giant fireballs at Zuko, who absorbed them into his own fire.

…

For a while, Zuko actually wasn’t losing the battle, making him worry that the new Avatar he had created wasn’t very qualified, and that he would have to resort to making a new one soon. However, everything began to fall apart when Jet started earthbending.

Sending giant chunks of brick, Jet finally caught Zuko with one, fracturing a few of his ribs. Groaning, Zuko raised his hands in defeat, letting Jet grab him by the collar again. “That was a good first fight! Of course, I have a few notes and suggestions for the next battle-”

“Notes?” Jet asked, his head tilted dangerously. “Notes for what? There isn’t going to be a next battle.”

“Giving up already?” Zuko teased, before hissing in pain as Jet shook him. “It’s okay, you can take me to jail now.”

“Jail!” Jet laughed, and finally, Zuko began to feel afraid. “Jail? No, I was thinking more like the morgue.”

“Hey!” Zuko scrambled out of Jet’s grasp, taking a few steps back. “This isn’t how you play the game!”

“Game over!” Jet said, summoning water and freezing it into a dagger of ice.

Zuko took off running, ignoring his aching ribs.

Jet raced after him, but using his remaining bottles of various enchantments from the spirits, Zuko escaped.

…

He wanted to run to the tea shop, but he knew he would not be welcomed. He had well and truly messed everything up, and now the city would pay for it.

Looking at his phone, Zuko hesitated. Then he dialed a number and called.

Sokka

Somewhere across the city, Sokka picked up his phone and sighed.

“Lee- Zuko? What do you want?”

Chapter Text

Sokka

“Did Aang have a hideout or anything?” Zuko’s voice was rushed and hurried through the speaker of the phone, crackling and cutting out.

Sokka closed his eyes and sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I mean, he had a bunker kind of, but I haven’t been there in years.”

…

“Do we have a plan?” Zuko asked, craning forward to look out the window.

“Well, no,” Sokka confessed, “I assumed you would have come up with something, that’s what you do right? Make evil revenge plans?”

“Sokka, I-”

“Looks like we’re here!” Sokka braked suddenly, possibly on purpose (totally on purpose). Zuko was thrown forward against the dashboard.

“Oh! My giant blue mask!” Zuko yelped.

Sokka felt a small glint of satisfaction as Zuko corrected his mask. Serves you right, he thought. He cleared his throat and said, “Why are you still wearing that? No one else is gonna be there.”

“Oh, good point.” Zuko nodded and left his mask on the carseat.

…

Zuko

“Wait,” Sokka held up a glass of water. Ice cubes swirled lazily as condensation dotted the outside of the cup.

Zuko leaped out from the closet, Aang’s Kyoshi warrior robe slung over her shoulders. “What is it? What did you find?” Zuko also had a Kyoshi fan headdress placed haphazardly on his head. He had a feeling that Sokka was amused, but decided it would be in his best interest to not pursue that.

“Zuko, this glass has ice cubes in it!”

“Yes... that’s what happens when water gets cold.” Zuko frowned, not knowing the point Sokka was trying to make.

Sokka shook his head, “Aang’s been dead for a year. Don’t you think it’s a little odd that the ice hasn’t melted yet?”

“One of life’s great mysteries,” Zuko said sagely, channeling his inner Iroh. He quickly pushed that thought aside. Sokka rolled his eyes.

Aang, who had lost all critical thinking skills upon seeing his best friend, froze when he entered the room. Trying to creep away, he stepped on a floorboard that alerted them both of his presence with a creak.

Aang smiled sheepishly. “Hey guys, it’s me.”

Both Sokka and Zuko let out screams, running to furniture to gain a vantage point. Instinctively, Zuko stepped in front of Sokka, who pushed him aside with a scowl.

“Aang, you’re alive?” Sokka’s voice was trembling, the voice of someone who had been mourning his best friend for a year and had barely started to heal.

“You’re alive?” Zuko echoed, suddenly feeling very out of place.

“I’m alive.”

“But- I- you were an ash spot on the ground. You were dead.”

“Are you a ghost?” Zuko asked, drawing near. Aang let Zuko get closer but gently pushed his hand away when Zuko tried to touch his face.

“There had better be an amazing explanation for this.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Okay, okay, okay. You both deserve the truth. But I can’t tell it alone. Sweetie?”

Katara suddenly appeared from around the corner, a baby slung on her hip. She smiled when she saw Sokka but her expression grew cold when her eyes lighted on Zuko.

“Sweetie, who is this with Sokka?”

“Oh, it’s Zuko!” Aang said brightly. Zuko gulped as he saw Katara’s eyes harden. She summoned a water whip from her drinking pouch, balancing the toddler and preparing to fight. “What’s he doing here?”

“Sweetie, it’s okay,” Aang reassured, putting a hand on her forearm, “They aren't here for trouble.”

“Katara?” Sokka choked out, “You’ve been missing for a year. You were pregnant. I thought you were dead.”

“See this leads us exactly into the story, Sokka,” Aang said, trying his best to placate both his wife, who was still glaring daggers at Zuko, and his best friend, who was staring at them with grief and anger.

…

Sokka

“...You had kidnapped Sokka again and I had to stop you, yet again. At that point, Katara was only weeks away from giving birth, and I worried abouth her and the baby every day. When your fire beam struck, I used airbending to escape and hide under the building.

“As I hid I began to realize that despite all my powers as the Avatar, each and every citizen of Ba Sing Se had something I didn’t: a choice. I can’t be both the Avatar and a good father, or even a good husband. I would always have to put the city first. Katara mattered too much for me to do that. I couldn’t risk losing her like I did the time I fought your sister. This is the cost of being a hero I think, never being able to put anyone first. I felt helpless and afraid for the future. Then it suddenly hit me, I do have a choice! Being the Avatar is a lifetime gig, but who says I can’t take a few years off to start a family? I couldn’t just quit though. That’s when I got the brilliant idea to fake my death.”

Zuko and Sokka could only react in stunned silence, so Aang continued, “Once your fire beam hit, I’d never felt so alive. So I burned the floor to look like a soot spot before entering the Avatar state to lie low under the water for a little bit. Sidenote: trying to trap me on the coast of Lake Laogai wasn’t your best plan. The Avatar was dead, for all the world knew. And then Bumi was born!”

“Bumi?” Sokka questioned.

“Yeah,” Aang said, smiling, “Katara went to live in the bunker with me and we’ve raised Bumi for a year. Do you want to hold him?”

Sokka hesitated, his hand reaching for Zuko’s. Surprised, Zuko let Sokka carefully interlace their fingers. Zuko squeezed Sokka’s hand in reassurance and nodded. With a weak smile, Sokka let go of Zuko’s hand and held his arms out to hold Bumi.

Bumi was a little under a year old, and very drooly. Sokka didn’t mind. “Look,” he said sternly, pointing an accusing finger at Aang and Katara, “I understand why you did this, but I just wish you’d told me. Bumi gets a pass, I like him.”

“Sokka,” Katara pleaded, “You have no idea how much I- how much we both wanted to tell you. It was just too big of a risk, with you getting kidnapped by Zuko so often.”

“Wait,” Zuko interrupted, “You both knew my name?”

“Yeah,” Aang answered, “I’m married to Katara, you think I wouldn’t have told her and Sokka instantly?”

“How did you find out, anyway?”

“Oh, I’m friends with your uncle!” Aang answered brightly, “We all are.”

“What?!” Sokka smirked at Zuko’s stricken expression, which devolved very quickly into raucous laughter. Bumi joined in, not understanding but smiling with glee. Zuko responded only with a semi-dignified glare that Sokka winked at. He huffed, a light blush sprinkling across his cheeks. Sokka suddenly had to focus very intently on not dropping Bumi.

“Yeah, he saw me getting groceries a few years ago, and since he’s already such great friends with my friend Toph, we hit it off immediately! Now he occasionally comes over for Pai Sho and tea.”

“I’m going to kill that old gasbag the next time I see him,” Zuko muttered.

“What?”

“Not actually,” he sighed, “I just can’t believe this,”

“Where is the old man, anyway?” Sokka asked, slinging Bumi onto his hip. The baby gurgled appreciatively, grabbing for his sleeve.

“I- he-,” Zuko faltered, “I don’t know. We got into an argument before I went to that dinner with you and I haven’t seen him since. I yelled at him- I said awful things.”

Sokka didn’t know how to react, “Zuko, I’m so sorry,”

“I’m nothing without him, and now Jet is destroying the city. Aang, please, we need you to come back, just this once,” Zuko pleaded.

Zuko

“I’m sorry. I really am. I’m done. For now, at least. I want to watch Bumi grow up and maybe raise other children too. I can’t do that as the Avatar, but I can do that here.” Aang shifted Bumi to his shoulder so he could pick up his glass of water. Katara had gone to practice her waterbending after a tearful hug with Sokka, leaving Aang to hold Bumi.

“But we need you,” Zuko said, looking up into Aang’s eyes. Aang hadn’t been shorter than him for many years, which was a source of constant teasing and banter between the two. Jet was taller than Zuko as well, but he was just annoying about it.

“You know, hotman, there’s a yin for every yang.” Aang said, echoing a sentiment Iroh had told Zuko earlier, “Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzon. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together,” Aang smiled fondly. “He was one of the best friends I ever had, and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you. You aren’t inherently bad, you’ve never been, and even if you rejected your quest for honor…” He paused, “I don’t know if you remember me saying this the last time we met, but only making a path to spite others wouldn’t lead you to happiness. It didn’t. Now, you have a chance to grow. It’s taken me a long time to discover who I am. I think that it’s time for you to find your true self, outside of the influence of your father, and stop defining who you are purely in opposition of others,”

After exchanging goodbyes with promises to visit for the holidays (assuming they were even around at that point) Sokka and Zuko left the bunker.

They traveled to Zuko’s lair in silence, only speaking when Zuko stepped out of the car.

“Hey, who needs him?” Sokka said in what was a clear attempt at morale boost. It was not successful. “We can beat Jet by ourselves. We should make a plan to trap him and then you safely extract the spirit!”

Zuko sighed, “We can’t. The failsafe won’t work without lightning, and without Uncle I can’t summon enough to power it.”

“So that’s it?” Sokka asked, “You’re just giving up?” He grabbed Zuko’s arm, pleading.

Zuko shrugged him off. “I’m the bad guy. I don’t have any honor. I never will. Every plan I have ends in disaster, and the one time my plan works it causes an even bigger problem. I don’t save the day. I don’t fly off into the sunset... and,” He paused, his voice dropping to a whisper, “I don’t get the boy. I can’t do this. I’m going home.”

“Home?”

Zuko laughed without humor, a cruel, joyless sound, “Prison. Where I’ve always belonged,”

"But Zuko you can't-" Sokka protested.

"Why not?" Zuko snapped, "I caused this problem and made it worse. I don't think helping it is possible at this point,"

“Fine, I’ll do it myself,” Sokka snapped, slamming the door and speeding away.

Zuko watched Sokka leave and felt his heart begin to ache. He also began to wonder how he would get back to the city.

…

Sokka

“Jet!”

Jet turned his head and crashed down onto the cement next to Sokka, sending asphalt and rock flying.

“Sokka, it’s a little too late to come crawling back now, I'm over you,”

Sokka sucked in a breath, steeling himself. “I've come to stop you, Jet,”

“You?” Jet laughed, “Oh, wow, okay. What are you gonna do? Use your ‘detective skills’ to make me feel like the bad guy?”

Sokka sighed, “I was going to talk you down from this. I know you, we worked together for a while. I want to help you see reason,”

Jet laughed again bitterly, “You don't know me, you ignored me all the time and now that I’m suddenly famous and powerful you’ve become obsessed with me. Frankly it’s a little embarrassing for you, but at least you’ll get a front row seat as I destroy the city,”

“Jet, please,” Sokka looked up into Jet’s eyes, “This isn’t you. You’re a goofy cameraman who loves streaming video games with his friends, not an evil Avatar. Avatar Jet is not you, I know it.”

Jet nodded slowly to Sokka and took a step forward before twitching as if listening to someone else. Jet’s eyes began to glow black, “This is me, Sokka. I’m sorry you can’t see that,”
With a wave of his hand, Jet sent a wave of water crashing over Sokka’s head.

Sokka struggled until everything went black.

Chapter Text

Zuko

Zuko was clicking aimlessly through channels on the TV in his cell when something caught his eye.

“Blue Spirit!” Jet sneered through the TV, “We have some unfinished business. I'll be waiting in the Upper Ring. And just so you don't get cold feet-” Jet paused to gesture to Sokka, who was tied up.

The remote clattered to the ground.

“Sokka!” Zuko said desperately to the TV screen, barely making out his face in the pixels.

“Come on Sokka, call for your hero to come rescue you.” Jet crowed.

Zuko could tell Sokka was biting back a scathing remark about either him or Jet.

Looking directly into the camera, Sokka began to talk.

“Blue Spirit, no, screw that. Zuko. I don’t even know if you’re listening, but if you are, what are you doing? You’ve only run from one thing your whole life, and it’s certainly not Jet. Spirits, it’s annoying, but it makes you who you are. Strong, tough, able to take a punch,” Sokka half smiled, the fond expression slipping across his face before he remembered what was happening, “Living as a coward in prison is not you, and you know it. This city needs you. I- I need you,”

“Sokka,” Zuko whispered, touching the TV screen.

Jet turned the camera back towards his spirit-disfigured face, his eyes glowing black, “You have one hour. Don’t keep me waiting,”

The TV disconnected and Zuko got up, knocking on the door as hard as he could.

“Zhao! Zhao! Listen to me, you have to let me go. I have to stop Jet!”

There was no answer, but Zuko could see the shadow of someone standing right outside his door.

“Agni above, I don’t have time for this! What, do you want me to say sorry? Because I will. I am sorry for hurting this city, ”

Silence. The shadow didn’t move.

Zuko walked away from the door and sighed, “I suppose I can’t blame you. I’ve done nothing but hurt everyone. I terrorized this city and removed its hero. Created a new one who’s now a villain. I lied to Sokka and I- I hurt my uncle Iroh. He cared about me more than anyone has. He only wanted what was best for me, and I pushed him away. Please don’t make this city pay for my wrongdoings.”

The cell door creaked open.

“Apology accepted, nephew.” Iroh said, smiling.

“Uncle!” Zuko cried, running forward and hugging him. “But- how? Why?”

“When Sokka said your name on TV, I knew I had to get here before Zhao realized.”

“Oh,” Zuko nodded, craning his neck to see Zhao hogtied on the ground and chuckled, “Did you get the crystal?”

Iroh nodded, “Yes, but we’ll need to work together to power it.”

“But what about Sokka? What if Jet kills him first?”

“I can distract Jet while you free Sokka,” Iroh said grimly.

“Uncle, no. I can’t let you get hurt either!”

“Zuko,” Iroh planted his hands on his shoulders, looking into his eyes, “Whatever happens, just know that I love you, and always will.”

…

Sokka

“Citizens of Ba Sing Se!” Jet yelled, bending a column of air under him like a miniature tornado, “This man ferociously ripped out my heart after years of leading me on! As your new leader, I see that it’s necessary to demonstrate why that will no longer be tolerated!”

Jet lowered onto the roof of the building almost gently before bending huge columns of rock underneath the house, sending it careening upwards.

“Jet!” Sokka yelled as he began to roll off the roof. Jet caught him lazily before dropping him back in the center of the roof. “I know there’s still good in you, you don’t have to do this!”

Jet laughed bitterly, “Sokka, you’re so goddamn naive. You see the good in everybody, even when it’s not there.You’re living a fantasy. There is no Painted Lady! There is no Father Glowworm! And there is no King of Omashu! Zuko isn’t going to rescue you. This is the real world, and you need to wake up!”

“Hey!” Someone yelled from the ground. Jet paused to look who it was, and stopped bending out of surprise.

The Plant Spirit was back, in full fake vines and flowers. He shook his fist up at Jet, who glided down in rage.

“Blue Spirit!” Jet roared, “I’ll have your head on a stick!”

The Plant Spirit paused, “Ew,” He leaped up, he used firebending to propel himself to the rooftop.

“Zuko!” Sokka cried, inching towards him. Zuko made no noise as he grabbed Sokka and jumped off the roof, firebending with one hand.

“I knew you’d come back.” Sokka said as Zuko dodged Jet’s bending and got to the ground.

“Frankly, I would not have bet on that,” He responded grimly.

“So what’s the plan?” Sokka said, watching Jet struggle to keep up with Zuko.

“Mostly not dying. Usually I make the plans and Zu-”

“Whoa!” Sokka yelled as Jet earthbended a particularly large chunk of house at them. The Plant Spirit dropped Sokka at his feet and sent a wave of fire breath at the rock, shielding them mostly from the rubble. A few chunks of rock got through, hitting him in the stomach.

“No!” Sokka cried, running over to the Plant Spirit’s limp body. Unfortunately, Jet got there first.

“That was easy. Looks like there’s only one loose end now!” Jet sent a wave of fire at Sokka triumphantly.

Soka braced for the wall of fire descending on him, covering his face and hands. It never arrived. He peeked through his fingers to see Zuko in his Blue Spirit costume standing in front of him, diverting the fire back to Jet, who buried himself in earth for protection.

“But- wait,” Sokka stumbled, “If you’re Zuko then who-”

Jet temporarily blocked, Zuko stopped firebending to rush over to the Iroh, the plant spirit disguise slowly wearing off.

“Uncle!”

“I’ll be alright,” Iroh wheezed, “Just a flesh wound,”

“Your ribs, they’re broken aren’t they?” Sokka said hopelessly.

“Yes, but we’ll be fine if we can get out of this soon,” Iroh smiled weakly.

“But how?” Zuko said desperately.

“I don’t know,” Iroh lamented, sitting up, “I cannot bend in a state like this, and you need two people to power the crystal to capture the spirit in Jet.”

“We have to come up with something, we have to come up with something NOW,” Sokka worried, wringing his hands. He didn’t notice Zuko growing still beside him.

Zuko straightened, “Sokka,”

“What?”

“Go, Take my uncle with you to get help and let me deal with this-”

“He’ll kill you!”

Zuko continued, “Then you should both go live with Aang and your sister. I’d never be able to forgive myself if I lost you both,”

“No,” Sokka protested, grabbing Zuko’s arm.

“Go!” Zuko shoved Sokka into a building before flipping off Jet, cajoling him into a chase. Sokka watched in fear as Jet roared, following Zuko closely.

…

Zuko

Zuko felt sweat running down his face, the inside of his mask becoming foggy. Wait, why do I even need this at this point?he thought to himself, ripping the mask off and continuing to run.

“Catch me if you can, Jet!” He called out, not daring to slow down to look behind him. He could hear Jet growing closer.

…

Sokka

Sokka looked up and saw a glint in the sky, “Spirits,” He stared at the sky, making sure he wasn’t imagining things.

“Hey!” He called to Zuko, who was a little busy fighting Jet, “Remember the day Aang died?”

Dodging Jet’s blasts, Zuko called back, “This seems like a weird thing to bring up right now, Sokka!”

“This is no different!” Sokka called out desperately, hopelessly. Everything besides the comet was different, and he knew it. Here was Zuko, defending the city. Jet was no longer a bystander but the force of corruption razing the city. Zuko was never the force of corruption, Sokka realized.

“What?”

“Things are the same and different!” Sokka yelled, gesturing to the sky and trying not to alert Jet at the same time.

Zuko looked up at the sky and realized, “I get it!” Ursa’s comet was making its reappearance, the faint comet shining against the pale blue sky.

“What? You get what?” Jet demanded, drawing closer.

“Nothing!” Zuko said quickly, running into an abandoned building. The boost from Ursa’s comet would help, but he would still have to summon a lot of lightning on his own.

Zuko began bending lightning desperately, struggling to keep his mind clear. He couldn’t see Sokka from inside the building. He couldn’t see Iroh either. Both could die and he would have no idea. There would be no final goodbye. This would be it.

Suddenly, Zuko understood Aang all too well. There was nothing he wanted to do more than give up with the crystal and keep Sokka and Iroh safe, to hold them close to him and run far, far away from Jet. But he had created Jet, he made this problem and it was up to Zuko to fix this even if it killed him.

He pressed on, creating lightning and charging the crystal and praying to the spirits that Sokka and Iroh would be okay.

Everything was going actually okay until Jet found Zuko.

Jet roared, splitting the building in half, “This is the last time you make a fool out of me!”

Zuko cursed as he stopped bending lightning. Shit, I only need one more bolt He dodged the debris and yelled back, “I gave you this ability! I made you the hero! I made you the new Avatar! You made yourself the fool!”

He and Zuko grappled as Jet’s tornado brought them higher and higher in the air, reaching the tops of skyscrapers. Jet dissipated the tornado as it dropped them on the roof of a random skyscraper. (Later Zuko would find out that this building was in charge of producing Blue Spirit tees, and would later send them a cease and desist letter, sparking a months long court battle, but that’s a story for another time)

Jet let go of Zuko, his eyes returning to their normal shade, “You have to help me, this isn’t me! I’m cool and not evil and strong!” But before Zuko could respond, his eyes glowed void black again.

Jet grabbed Zuko’s collar, dragging him to the edge of the roof. “Spirits, what a loser! You never won a single fight against the old Avatar, did you really think you would come even close to my power?”

Zuko smiled grimly in response, clinging tightly to Jet, “It was never about winning against Aang, but that’s not something you’d understand.”

Jet spat at Zuko, dangling him over the edge of the building. “You’re a pathetic and honorless nobody, Zuko. Whoever you fight or whatever side you’re on, you’re always the loser and you always will be. I can’t wait to watch you splatter on the pavement as I glide above you,”

Zuko held the crystal so tightly in his hand that the sharper edges cut into his palms, “There’s a benefit to losing, you learn who you are,”

He pushed himself away from Jet, letting himself fall. Jet looked shocked, but then began to glide to the ground to make good on his promise. Zuko ignored him, concentrating only on the power of the comet above him.

…

So, this is how it ends. Normally I’d chalk this up to my last glorious failure. But not today! What can I say?

Zuko braced for the pain and summoned a final bolt of lightning as he fell, sending it through the crystal and out his left hand.

Old habits die hard, he thought wryly, remembering his last Agni Kai.

…

Sokka

Jet frowned as he watched Zuko summon lightning, arcing it through his own body, “Did he just... die?”

“Not sure,” Sokka hedged, looking up at the sky.

“No matter.” Jet dismissed, summoning a ball of fire in his hand, “Goodbye, Sokka.”

“Fire? Really, Jet,” Sokka stalled as he watched Zuko fall towards Jet, “It wasn’t that long ago that you thought firebending was barbaric and honorless. “Mindless destruction” I believe you called it. What would your friends think?”

“Sokka-” Jet began before interrupting himself, “Shut up,” He drew closer, summoning a fireball.

“Nope!” Zuko yelled as he haphazardly used firebending to propel himself into Jet, ramming the crystal into his mouth. Jet coughed and choked, dark black and blue smoke pouring out his ears and nose as the crystal turned opaque. Zuko hesitantly removed the now full crystal, grimacing.

“Is he… dead?” Sokka asked, poking Jet’s limp body with his foot, “The markings on his face are still there.”

Jet groaned and stirred, and the crowd that had gathered around the three gasped.

“He’ll probably keep the markings forever, but the spirit is trapped here now,” Zuko reassured the crowd, holding up the crystal, “I think,” The crowd drew back, muttering anxiously.

“Zuko,” Sokka said, and Zuko felt such a surge of happiness at his name leaving Sokka’s lips with a smile, “You did it. You saved us,” Sokka said, smiling.

“I did, didn’t I?” A small smile crept over Zuko’s face before sliding off in horror, “Oh Agni, what about Uncle?!”

“Zuko!” Iroh pushed through the crowd, holding his side, “I may have… over exaggerated some injuries. You needed the final push.”

Zuko sputtered, “I can’t believe you!”

Iroh dismissed his sputtering with a wave of his hand, “Look around, Prince Zuko. Look at what you have done, what you have saved.”

Zuko looked at the crowd who was still apprehensively quiet, unsure if they were free yet. People that had smiled at him as Lee, customers who had ordered tea, people who had yelled at him in the tea shop, random strangers on the street who spread their joy. He had saved them all.

“I’m the good guy now, I think,” He finally said.

“Nephew, honor is not won in hopeless grasps for power, but rather in selfless acts for the sake of others, all others. In saving us, you have saved yourself. I think you should go to the hospital though, you did get hit with your own lightning.” Iroh gently looped an arm around Zuko, letting his nephew lean on him.

“Yeah, asshole,” Sokka said in a way that was both lovingly and full of rage, “You could have DIED,”

Zuko smile weakly as he began to feel the full effects of what he had done, “Uncle may be right, Sokka, I did it for honor,”

“Spirits,,” Sokka said ina faux-exasperated tone before slinging his arm around Zuko’s other side, “I’ve got you,”

Everyone followed as Sokka and Uncle helped Zuko to the hospital. The crowd cheered for Zuko, for all that he had done and all that he would do, because he was a hero, their hero.
...
I thought I knew what honor was, but this feeling that I have when I look at the crowds of people I’ve saved, or even just Sokka and Uncle, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Funny, I guess destiny is not the path given to us, but the path we choose for ourselves. This path that I walk now, it may not always be happy or easy, but it has purpose.

We visit Aang and Katara every Friday for Pai Sho and tea. Sometimes Toph or Suki join us. Aang told me how proud he was of me, and that mattered more to me than any praise I’d ever get from my father. Katara is pregnant again, she says that if this one is a girl she’ll name it for her mother. Iroh and Bumi get along so well, he has surpassed Sokka as Bumi’s favorite person, much to Katara’s chagrin. After being bribed with Uncle’s tea, she has become more warm to us both.

We cannot risk telling the world that Aang is alive until the children are grown, and even then we can’t predict how the world will react. I’ve promised Aang that I will do what I can to keep the world in balance until he’s ready to come back. I’ve gained so much more than I ever thought possible, and I love this life I live. I live with honor everyday, and I am happy.