Giving Up (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

[RichardWhereat]

The special frogs that Homer licked? Because that could be a trip and a half.

 

[Fulcon]

The special frogs that Homer licked? Because that could be a trip and a half.

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Homer Simpson?

Nah, just the same weird frogs that they had in the episode.

 

[l---erddad---l]

The special frogs that Homer licked? Because that could be a trip and a half.

Click to shrink...

No, it's the B-plot in the episode that Zuko saves Aang as the Blue Spirit. Katara and Sokka are sick, and there's a frozen frog they need to suck on while it's still frozen to cure them. It was kinda weird, especially when contrasted with the A-plot.

 

[codeRR]

I like this actually, I honestly had forgotten that Roku himself showed up to go "DESTINY!" But what makes me smile the most is because Zuko is taking in some Water lessons, currents&flows with the intention of changing the end game. He doesn't want to be fire lord and right now I say that's fine and makes perfect sense. How much this would stay after he goes through Earth lessons is...tricky, on one hand it could ground him down and continue with his choice like Iroh seems to have agreed to let him choose.

But it could also make him think of Duty and Roots/Foundation that's deeply apart of Earth....yet again it could also make him plant like a tree and say "try to make me move."

 

[Greatazuredragon]

This has been a very enjoyable read.
The very believable way thatyou changed Zuko and all tge butterflies it caused were a treat.
Great work, keep it up.

 

[GraphiteCrow]

This has been an enjoyable story so far, I just started reading it yesterday so I am now caught up and putting my thoughts down on screen.

I am enjoying this Zuko, his motivations, and his reasons and the journey he goes on that changes him. I am glad he is trying to keep his destiny in his own hands and trying to not be Fire Lord, I guess I am not the only one who predicts a kinder Fire Lord Azula in the future rather than the dour canon Fire Lord Zuko.

It is actually interesting that you brought up Roku in this chapter as I had some thoughts about him in the last chapter. Not to offend but I felt his inclusion into the argument to get Zuko on board with the Gaang a bit forced and unneeded, he spouted out "Do this, it's your destiny, stop being difficult" then repeated the same sort of thing that Iroh did and I think this is the main reason a lot of people thought you were trying to "Railroad" as it were because even one of the characters (who as I said didn't seem needed for that scene) is spouting how he should be 'rail roaded' with destiny just before Zuko agrees to go help the Avatar.

obviously as seen in these later chapters this wasn't the case but while I wasn't one of them I can see where some of the other readers may have been miffed from such a scene. It may have been better to have had Iroh walk into the room rather than Roku appearing. Iroh's inclusion into the discussion would have felt more natural and organic as it is just a progression of many of the arguments they have had before while using many of the same arguments that Roku did and he would have had another reason to walk into the room then Rokus only there for "Destiny Talk", maybe excusing away why he can't train the Avatar because he is too old to go riding around on a sky bison "adventuring" as the Gaang does. I just feel Roku didn't bring anything to the table that Iroh could not have also done, maybe the fact that a spirit is telling Zuko his destiny but it doesn't seem like Zuko cares about what the spirits think. and as such the talk of the currents of destiny would still have fit.

obviously this comes in a bit too late but these are just my thoughts on that. I hope they didn't offend or annoy in some way and I hope you may get something out of it.

 

[ShardAdministrator]

It is actually interesting that you brought up Roku in this chapter as I had some thoughts about him in the last chapter. Not to offend but I felt his inclusion into the argument to get Zuko on board with the Gaang a bit forced and unneeded, he spouted out "Do this, it's your destiny, stop being difficult" then repeated the same sort of thing that Iroh did and I think this is the main reason a lot of people thought you were trying to "Railroad" as it were because even one of the characters (who as I said didn't seem needed for that scene) is spouting how he should be 'rail roaded' with destiny just before Zuko agrees to go help the Avatar.

Click to shrink...

I feel that the use of Roku in this situation is warranted. True, Iroh could have also been the driving force behind Zuko joining the Gaang, but Roku has done the same thing before in the actual series. He forced Jeong Jeong to "stop being difficult" and teach Aang firebending before he was ready. It shows that the spirits (especially Roku) can make rash and wrong decisions.

 

[GraphiteCrow]

I feel that the use of Roku in this situation is warranted. True, Iroh could have also been the driving force behind Zuko joining the Gaang, but Roku has done the same thing before in the actual series. He forced Jeong Jeong to "stop being difficult" and teach Aang firebending before he was ready. It shows that the spirits (especially Roku) can make rash and wrong decisions.

Click to shrink...

To be honest I completely forgot that Roku appeared to Jeong Jeong. I can understand however why he would appear to Jeong as he would be the only person of higher Authority Jeong may listen to. Roku just felt a bit forced in the Zuko scene though, he came out of nowhere, did his destiny spiel then left, something Iroh could have done with a more steady and reasonable hand over the "do as I say!" personality Roku had.

 

[w34v3r]

I feel that the use of Roku in this situation is warranted. True, Iroh could have also been the driving force behind Zuko joining the Gaang, but Roku has done the same thing before in the actual series. He forced Jeong Jeong to "stop being difficult" and teach Aang firebending before he was ready. It shows that the spirits (especially Roku) can make rash and wrong decisions.

Click to shrink...

To be honest I completely forgot that Roku appeared to Jeong Jeong. I can understand however why he would appear to Jeong as he would be the only person of higher Authority Jeong may listen to. Roku just felt a bit forced in the Zuko scene though, he came out of nowhere, did his destiny spiel then left, something Iroh could have done with a more steady and reasonable hand over the "do as I say!" personality Roku had.

Click to shrink...

Ok somehting to keep in mind is that Roku is like that. He's an unsubtle brick of a man, and frankly I don't think he ever really grasped the metaphysics of being the avatar... or of his native element. Which to be fair not a lot of people do.

Also he's not really a spirit, he's more of a ghost attached to a spirit. Spirits being the actual spirits of places and things that spawn in the spirit realm, and ghosts being dead people.

 

[Randomdude]

I love this work so far .
I kinda wonder if/when Zuko reveals Smokebending, will it be like, 'Oh yeah my uncle and me learned to do this by studying Airbending scrolls and you can probably do it too.' ?
And in regards to zukos crises I think Aang would sympathize with it since I think that same issue came up during Aangs canon talk with Avatar Yangchen in regards to enlightenment and the Avatar cycle. Since that same struggle.(earthly concern Duty and detachment/pursuit of spiritual fulfillment) seems to be at the heart of Zuko's current issue.

 

[Stratagemini]

Just started (and finished) reading this today. It's really interesting. I like the way that you linked Zuko's drive to his fire bending strength. Seeing his emotional journey through the elements so far has been extremely satisfying.

 

[Fulcon]

The following is a fanbased work of fiction. Avatar the Last Airbender is the property of Viacom, Nickelodeon, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Koniezko. Please support the official release.


---


The moon hung over the starry sky like a coin of water tribe silver. Surrounded by a blanket of stars and shadow, she watched over the earth beneath as sentinel, calm and to the great frustration of those below her, silent.


Beneath her, working at the stream and impatiently fuming, was Katara.


"C'mon, Moon! Work with me here!" She shouted, holding her hands up like she were entreating the heavenly body to bestow great wisdom upon her.


Watching her trying to learn on the shore was Aang, who looked concerned, as well as Sokka and Zuko, who were both trying to avoid laughing. Sokka was biting his finger. Zuko was letting little dark clouds out the side of his mouth, like he was smoking a pipe.


Katara stood again, and tried to perform the water whip. The water emerged from the stream and once again, slapped her across the face. "Why are you like this?"


Sokka lost it, braying like a mule and clutching his stomach. Zuko accidentally swallowed the smoke he had been exhaling and dissolved into a coughing fit, but recovered fairly quickly.


"Uh...Katara?" Aang asked. "Are you okay?"


"No! No, I am not okay!" Katara fumed, storming up to the camp from the shore. "I don't care what that sage said, the Moon is not a teacher!"


"Maybe you're just a poor student," Zuko snipped, grinning from ear to ear.


"A poor student?" Katara repeated with all the wrath of an offended goddess. "Now listen here you stupid little fire-flake, how is anyone supposed to learn from a giant, inanimate object flying through the sky that doesn't talk to anyone?"


"I have no idea," Zuko answered, still grinning.


"Then how am I a poor student?" Katara demanded, her face scrunched up like Momo's when Sokka played keep-away with the berries for too long.


"Katara?" Aang tried to butt in, calmly and politely.


"You keep making the water smack you in the face," Zuko pointed out, trying to avoid laughing again.


"That's not my fault!" Katara retorted. "I just haven't even been told how to do the technique properly!"






"Katara?" Aang tried to interject.


"The Avatar's been showing you how to do it since you met me," Zuko replied, an arched eyebrow joining his newly subdued grin.


Katara threw her hands up in the air and growled in rage before storming off.


"Katara?" Aang tried a third time.


Katara whirled to face Aang. "WHAT?"


Aang blinked and took a deep breath. "We need to meditate."


"What good would that do?" Katara barked.


"You can't receive spiritual instruction when you aren't centered," Aang started to stand just a little straighter. "If you're letting yourself get frustrated and angry, then it becomes really hard to get in tune with the spiritual aspect of bending. So let's go back down to the river and meditate. Okay?"


Katara let out a petulant breath. "Fine."


They both walked down to the river bank and Zuko had a thoughtful look on his face.


Sokka looked up at his fire bending compatriot with a curious look on his own face. "Whatcha thinking about?"


"What Aang just said," Zuko said with a shrug. "About anger getting in the way of the more spiritual side of bending."


"What about it?" Sokka asked.


"Firebending, for the grand majority of the fire nation now, if fueled by anger," Zuko explained. "But if anger just gets in the way, then it makes sense why there's fewer benders in the fire nation."


"I don't get it," Sokka replied, confusion coloring his face.


"Well, bending is inherently spiritual in nature," Zuko continued. "So if anger just gets in the way of spirituality, and the fire nation is fueled by anger and hate, then there's less spirituality and then, less benders."


"But if anger just gets in the way of spiritual mumbo-jumbo," Sokka pressed, looking annoyed as he tried to figure it out. "How does it fuel fire bending?"


"Well, the pure fuel of fire bending is drive," Zuko explained. "Anger and hate bring a kind of drive. The drive to hurt someone, see them suffer. But it's not as good as pure drive."


"Then why did it take over as the fire nation's bending fuel?" Sokka asked.


"Because a spiritually aware fire nation isn't a fire nation that would fight a war against the whole world," Zuko replied. "Which adds yet another reason to see Sozin's war burn."


"Did you need another?" Sokka asked with a smirk.


"Well, you can't really have too many, can you?"


"Point."


Down by the river, Aang and Katara were sitting on their knees in the soft sand.


"Deep breath in, deep breath out," Aang said. "Just let your mind empty. Everything is okay. Feel the air around you. Hear the river course along. Just take a deep breath. Let the mind empty like a pitcher of water."


Katara took a breath.


Then exhaled.


She took another breath.


Then exhaled.


Yet another breath.


Her snarl of frustration startled Aang.


"Just forget it," Katara said, standing up and walking back toward the camp. "It's not working, I'm not getting anything."


"Katara," Aang entreated.


"I said forget it!"


Zuko blinked in annoyance, but figured it was useless to try to talk to her right now.

* * *​

"A fortune teller?" Aang asked, sounding kind of excited.​

The group was gathered over Aang's map, with Zuko's additions added in charcoal marks.​

"Yeah," Zuko replied. "I thought about seeing her when I was feeling desperate."​

"Why didn't you go see her at all?" Aang asked curiously.​

"Because I had eyes, ears and a brain," Zuko replied, deadpan.​

"See, that's what I'm saying," Sokka said, animatedly gesturing toward the map. "It's a load of platypus bear droppings. You can't possibly predict the future."​

"I think it sounds fun," Katara said, looking like she was feeling better since last night. "Let's go, get our future read and see if any of her predictions come true!"​

"Anything she gets right would just be a lucky guess," Sokka argued. "Seriously, you can't predict the future. That whole thing is just dumb."​

"Well, if people than bend the elements through spiritual mumbo jumbo," Zuko began, echoing the water tribal's words right back at him. "Then telling the future can't be that far fetched."​

"Everything can be explained through rational and intelligent observation," Sokka argued.​

"And fortune telling," Katara snipped with a smug grin.​

"Hey, no! No!" Sokka snapped in annoyance. "All fortune telling is just a bunch of generalized predictions couched in vague suggestions and sometimes fancy pyrotechnics."​

"Sokka, is there a reason a fortune teller makes you this upset?" Zuko asked curiously.​

"Their frauds!" Sokka snapped with a huff.​

"I heard Old Man Jarko played a prank on him and some of the other kids by pretending to be an evil spirit that would roam through the village at night," Katara explained. "He had them going for a whole week before our dad stepped in and put a stop to it. Since then, he's never believed a word about spirit stuff."​

"Hey, he didn't fool me," Sokka denied with all the passion he could muster without screaming. "I knew it couldn't have been an evil spirit because I kept calm and examined the facts. Everything can be explained by scientific examination. Including bending."​

"That scientific examination points to spiritual mumbo jumbo," Aang said with a bright, mischievous smile.​

Sokka groaned, getting right up in Aang's face and tapping his chest with a finger. "You are not helping."​

"Besides, if it's all fake, then what can it hurt?" Zuko asked, shrugging. "We can all use a good laugh."​

Sokka sighed in defeat. "Fine!"​

​

* * *​

The fortune teller was an old lady, called by the name of Aunt Wu. Uncle Iroh would've liked her, she was old and full of wisdom that she preferred to cloak behind a veil of mystery and mysticism. And, if he understood correctly, she had a reliable way of predicting the weather by watching the clouds.​

Zuko was the last of the group to go see her. Aang had apparently gone to eavesdrop on Katara's meeting and came back looking smug and triumphant, but wouldn't say why. Sokka's reading had taken place at their first meeting, and to Zuko's delight, she had said that Sokka was someone heading for disaster, and it would be all his fault.​

Zuko adjusted his seat in the dark room, the only light being the fire directly in the center.​

"We cast the bone into the fire and watch the cracks," Aunt Wu explained, holding a femur. "Those will tell us how things are going to turn out."​

"Go ahead," Zuko said with a nod. He had no idea how that would actually work, but there were a lot of things that Zuko didn't understand how they worked. Metallurgy, Tai Lee, the machinations of the royal court; but he didn't need to understand them to accept that they existed.​

Aunt Wu did so. Zuko watched closely as the bone started to crack down the middle, forking to two separate paths.​

He could guess what those paths were. He sighed at the triteness of it all.​

"You have a very set and defined road ahead of you," Aunt Wu said. "Interestingly, both paths lead to royalty and family. See the crown at the end of both of them? Combined with the tree crack."​

"I'm afraid I don't," Zuko replied diplomatically.​

Aunt Wu hummed. "Well, the first path you are already on, because it's crack starts before the other. It's a good one, relatively straight forward. You are traveling with the Avatar, but the alternative path will open it's doors to you soon. It is marked, if I'm reading this right, by betrayal."​

"Why would I betray the Avatar?" Zuko asked with a frown.​

"Given how thin the crack is, I don't think it's likely, but the start of the break has the Family Tree," Aunt Wu said, pointing at the crack. "So, if you do decide down that path, then it will be due to family."​

Zuko rolled his eyes. "But both paths lead to Royalty?"​

"They do," Aunt Wu said. "You don't don't sound surprised."​

"I don't want the crown," Zuko replied. "I don't want the crown. Or my family, even. Is there a way to change fate?"​

Aunt Wu hummed. "Many in my profession would insist that there is no way to change your fate. But they would be lying. Fate can be changed. But it is a difficult thing, simply because so many forces are hurrying you along this path."​

"Like swimming against the current," Zuko said, his frown deepening.​

"A good metaphor," Aunt Wu replied with a nod of approval. "Young man, fate is what we make of it. It is the long term consequences of our actions and behavior over a long period of time. Right now, your actions and behavior are setting you on this path. The reason fortune telling works, to a point, is because people don't usually change."​

"You sure?" Zuko asked flatly.​

"Don't sass me, young man," Aunt Wu replied, a smirk betraying her wry amusement. "A person may grow, their old wounds may heal and they might transcend their weaknesses, but their fundamental character remains the same. They are who they are."​

"So if someone changes, they didn't really change," Zuko said, reflectively staring into the fire. "They just grew."​

"Exactly," Aunt Wu's smirk grew to a smile. "A cunning gardener who cares for a tree may want their tree to grow a specific way and they be able to carry out their vision; but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot ignore the roots, or how the tree has already grown."​

"So I'm doomed," Zuko said, glaring at the bone. "At least, that's what the bone says."​

"No, no, no," Aunt Wu shook her head. "Have you not been listening? Changing fate is possible. You just need to take charge of how you grow."​

Zuko's glare toward the bone intensified.​

Aunt Wu hummed in thought. "What does a Gardner do with a tree with branches that are growing out of line?"​

Zuko shrugged, having not even the slightest idea.​

"They prune them," Aunt Wu replied. "By pruning branches that have grown out of line, the tree flourishes because it is able to put its energies into the growth of the trunk."​

"What if the trunk is the thing I don't want to grow?" Zuko asked.​

"A crown is not a trunk," Aunt Wu replied, waving that off without so much as a pause for consideration. "It's only a station. A profession. Something that you may be well suited for, a place where you may spare the world a great deal of pain and devastation, but merely a station. The thing about stations is that there are always multiple candidates for the position."​

Like Uncle Iroh, Zuko thought with a smirk. Then a thought occurred to him. "Do you know which crown we're talking about?"​

"From the scar, I guessed," Aunt Wu said. "But don't worry, young man. Your secret's safe with me."​

Zuko just shrugged, and glowered down at the burning bone. "It's just a scar."​

"Indeed," Aunt Wu agreed.​

​

* * *​

"So...Zuko?" Aang began. "Can I talk to you for a second?"​

"No, I'm not going to show you how to make sparks by snapping your fingers," Zuko droned with a thoroughly bored look at his bald pupil.​

"No, no, no!" Aang rapidly shook his head in agitation. "That's not what it's about. It's well...I don't know. Uh...are you, I don't know um...how do I say this?"​

Zuko placed his hands behind his back and waited.​

"Are you...do you have a girlfriend?" Aang asked.​

"Is this about your crush on Katara?" Zuko asked trying and failing to keep the smirk off of his face.​

"Not so loud!" Aang said, rapidly looking around in embarrassed fervor.​

"Okay," Zuko replied, indulging his student by lowering his volume. "But is it?"​

The answer was strained, like it had to be forcibly wrung out of him like filth from a wet flag. "Yes."​

Zuko hummed. "Well, no. I don't have a girlfriend. There was a girl back in the fire nation, but I haven't seen her in years. And I'm not looking, anyway."​

"You're not looking," Aang repeated, relief washing the worry off of his face like a tsunami.​

"Yeah. Not looking," Zuko replied. "I'm really not in a position to be dating someone and honestly, it'd just be a distraction."​

"Whew! Okay," Aang said with a grin. "Thanks, Zuko!"​

"Why do you ask?" Zuko asked with a crooked eyebrow.​

"Oh," Aang froze, looking straight to the side. "No reason. I just, uh...wow, it's getting late, isn't it? I need to go grab some-"​

"Aang," Zuko pressed, grabbing him by the shoulder to stop him from leaving.​

"Look, it's no big deal," Aang deflected, shaking Zuko off. "I was just curious because she talks about you a lot. There's no way she really likes you or anything."​

Zuko blinked, taken aback. "Huh. Okay then."​

That made a strange amount of sense, but it didn't change anything. Zuko still wasn't interested, he had things to figure out.​

"So, uh...see you!" Aang said, jumping away.​

Zuko blinked, staring at him as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop like a flying lemur.​

​

* * *​

When it came to an erupting Volcano, Zuko was surprisingly disappointed. Not in the Volcano, watching it spew fire and molten death into the sky was the greatest thing that he had ever seen, but rather in himself; he had been completely unable to do anything.​

There was a common misconception, Zuko had found, that fire benders could bend lava. He didn't know if that was actually true, but what he did know was that he couldn't do it. So the best he could do was watch his three friends turn away the very destruction that had claimed the life of Aang's predecessor so long ago.​

He could not assist the town's earth benders as they dug a trench to redirect the lava currents. By the time he had found out about the disaster, Aang and Katara had formulated a plan to use the clouds to fool Aunt Wu.​

Zuko couldn't assist the Earth Benders as they dug a trench around the town. He couldn't bend the lava away. They didn't even have enough shovels for him.​

Not for the first time, Zuko felt like an extra. A parasite.​

Like he didn't belong.​

Even with his bending back, Avatar Aang wasn't ready for instruction. Katara's infatuation, if it actually existed or if Aang was merely imagining it, was causing a division in the group. Though, frankly, Aang was only hyper focused on her because she was a very pretty girl who would regularly talk to him.​

Zuko wasn't entirely sure that a tribal girl whose main worries were taking care of her village would do well permanently adopting the nomadic lifestyle of the Avatar. She might've, but he doubted it.​

"Zuko, what are you thinking about?" Katara asked.​

He had been sitting in the little lobby outside of all their rooms, and Katara had sat down beside him. Sokka had his door open, sketching on a piece of paper as a way to pass the time until Katara went to bed; very sly of him, Zuko noted. Aang had hid behind a corner in the shadows in a surprisingly well executed maneuver. In front of him was a small candle, which he had been planning to use for meditation, but that had gotten away from him.​

Zuko looked straight ahead. "I don't want to talk about it."​

"You can trust me," Katara said with a small smile.​

He very nearly snapped at her for ignoring what he said. But that would be bad. How to handle this diplomatically? "Katara. I appreciate that you want to help. Thank you. But I...do not want help. If I want help, I'll tell you, alright?"​

Katara frowned like he had just hurt her feelings. "Are you sure? I can tell you're upset about something."​

"You're right, I am," Zuko said with a nod. "And if I need help handling it, I'll ask for it. But until then, I want to handle it myself."​

Katara sighed in disappointment. "Alright, fine I guess. I'll go to bed."​

She stood up and walked off toward her room, muttering to herself. "Boys."​

Zuko looked down and started focusing on the candle wick.​

With a breath, it grew brighter and taller.​

With a breath, the room was plunged into darkness.​

* * *​

Author's Note: So, I demonitized. I want to take the time to thank everyone who ever supported me in writing, it means the world to me. But...I fell below the bar, and didn't deserve the support. Here, let me post what I did in my post that explained why I did so.​

Before I go into why, I want to thank everyone for their support. Don. Darkama. Chris, Melodychii, Niluka Satharasinghe, Sackthananban Kounlavong, Tlavoc, Zeroharm, Megrisvernin, Miu, Chris, Raven Uzushi, A Person, Nex19, Paloswag, Cole Deucalion, Jacob A Bridgewater, ladiciusevol, Steelcondor, Anonymous, Perseus Red, Trashmage, Ryan, Axodique, Vladtheinhaler, PostLifeSyndrome, Juane Pendragon and Samuel Reed as well as the Super Patrons Melden V, Anders Kronquist, Ray Tony Song, Volkogluk, Aaron Bjornson, iolande, Martin Auguado, Julio, Hackerham, Tim Collins-Squire, Maben00, Ventari, PbookR, ChristobalAlvarez, Apperatus, EPiCJB19, Seeking Raven, Handwran, Russel Beatrous and Richard Whereat. Thank you all so much for your continued support, it helped me out a lot. Words cannot describe my gratitude toward you and my love to you.

The reason it's gone is because, well, I've fallen below the bar. My writing schedule has fallen to pieces. I haven't updated weekly in months and I felt like I was letting everyone down. To say nothing about how I never wanted to make money off of my Fanfiction in the first place. I firmly believe that trying to profit off of my fanfiction did more damage to my writing than I will ever be able to quantify. I will never make this mistake again. If I want to monetize, it will be original fiction and I will do it by designing and selling shirts or something. That way the people who love the fic will be getting more than just a spot in the credits and I won't feel like I'm begging anymore.​

Anyway, I hope this chapter was entertaining. It's a difficult time in the world right now and it was a terrible time to take a break...but I had too. Thanks all for your support.​

Until the next time!​

~Fulcon​

 

[Fencer]

Glad to see this back! sorry you feel like you didn't live up to some standard but regardless of all that, this updates I'll be here to read it!

 

[GraphiteCrow]

I am really liking Zuko's journey to change his destiny. In honor of this chapter, I will make a prediction and will wait to see if it comes true. Zuko is not only looking for a way to change his destiny but he is also trying to find a place for himself. He feels useless with the Gaang as he knows it is not his time to teach and as such is just drifting along until he finds something to do.

You say a path could open that will have him betray the Gaang for his family, I believe when Zuko reunites with Azula he will gain insight into how he can escape his fate and find a way to feel useful again and that will be helping to shape Azula into becoming a great Fire Lord. He knows that Azula has the drive and power but he also knows she does not have the emotional maturity and mental/spiritual balance to become an effective leader so he will join her and become her Uncle Iroh, a person who will believe in her and to try and help shape her into a better person just has Iroh has helped him. Maybe by the time he has helped Azula mature and shown her the truth about the fire nation Aang may be ready to learn fire bending.

It would be an interesting change to many other "Good Zuko" fics that just follow the Gaang around with him as a tag along.

 

[Fulcon]

Glad to see this back! sorry you feel like you didn't live up to some standard but regardless of all that, this updates I'll be here to read it!

Click to shrink...

Glad you're here. Makes me happy.

I am really liking Zuko's journey to change his destiny. In honor of this chapter, I will make a prediction and will wait to see if it comes true. Zuko is not only looking for a way to change his destiny but he is also trying to find a place for himself. He feels useless with the Gaang as he knows it is not his time to teach and as such is just drifting along until he finds something to do.

You say a path could open that will have him betray the Gaang for his family, I believe when Zuko reunites with Azula he will gain insight into how he can escape his fate and find a way to feel useful again and that will be helping to shape Azula into becoming a great Fire Lord. He knows that Azula has the drive and power but he also knows she does not have the emotional maturity and mental/spiritual balance to become an effective leader so he will join her and become her Uncle Iroh, a person who will believe in her and to try and help shape her into a better person just has Iroh has helped him. Maybe by the time he has helped Azula mature and shown her the truth about the fire nation Aang may be ready to learn fire bending.

It would be an interesting change to many other "Good Zuko" fics that just follow the Gaang around with him as a tag along.

Click to shrink...

This...is a great prediction. Thank you so much, have a cookie.

 

[RichardWhereat]

You're feeling better now?

 

[Fulcon]

You're feeling better now?

Click to shrink...

I am, to a point. Thank you for asking.

Have a cookie.

 

[Greatazuredragon]

He had no idea how that would actually work, but there were a lot of things that Zuko didn't understand how they worked. Metallurgy, Tai Lee, the machinations of the royal court; but he didn't need to understand them to accept that they existed.

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Lol, yeah Tai Lee is one of life's great misteries!

Nice seeing this back, thanks for the chapter.

 

[Fulcon]

Lol, yeah Tai Lee is one of life's great misteries!

Nice seeing this back, thanks for the chapter.

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I'm glad that joke landed with so many people.

Have a cookie, thanks for the kind words.

 

[Kalem_Lee]

Good chap. Lots of little tensions playing up.

Love the idea of fire nation pick up tricks. Sad there was no Meng tho.

 

[Fulcon]

Good chap. Lots of little tensions playing up.

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Thank you!

Love the idea of fire nation pick up tricks. Sad there was no Meng tho.

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Being honest, I don't think she really fit the plot of the fic. Really a lot of parts of this fic is me trying to find something interesting to say with canon going...as it does.