SCR Ch. 2: The Berry

Sozin's Comet Revisited

Azula sat perched on her red chair trimmed with the finest gold, like a sleek cat lounging confidently on a piece of furniture as if it owns the entire place. One of her servants gently brushed the soft, long hair draped over her shoulders and the other held out a glass bowl of cherries for the hungry princess to munch on. Azula plucked each individual cherry carefully from the bowl and rolled the perfect piece of fruit between her sleek fingers, before popping it into her mouth and slipping her hand back in the bowl for another one.
Stop shaking! The servant of the cherries instructed herself nervously, There’s nothing to be afraid of. Everything will run smoothly. As soon as she finishes this bowl, it will all be over…the petrified servant bit her lip and tried to smile. Azula turned to her suspiciously. Azula noticed everything.
She snatched another cherry. The servant couldn’t stop her heart from pounding violently as she peeked at the chosen piece of fruit. Rolling the cherry delicately between her fingers, Azula suddenly froze. Her sharp eyes flickered to the abnormal piece of fruit in her hand. It was the same shape as a cherry, same size, same color…but…something was wrong. Azula raised an eyebrow as she noticed the shiny texture of the berry’s skin. She had seen this before….she quickly scanned through her memory. A strong male voice rang through her head, “Azula, stop! Don’t you dare pick those berries. No, these are not cherries. These are logan berries, and if you ingest them they will really hurt you…just imagine what your father would do to me if I had of let you gobble up that wretched fruit…”
Azula frowned deeply and slapped the bowl of cherries out of the shaking hands of the servant.  The bowl shattered loudly; the blood red juice of the injured berries splattering across the white floor. The servant girl tried to control the tears brimming up in her eyes.
“Do you know what this is?” Azula asked her coolly.
“A…cherry…your highness?” The girl squeaked.
“Are you sure?” Azula grabbed the girl’s chin and squeezed it between her cold fingers. She pressed the glossy berry against the girl’s paling cheek.
“No…” the girl gulped.
“Then what is it?” Azula continued, rubbing the berry against the girl’s jaw, her cheekbones…
“It’s a…logan berry.” She answered breathlessly.
“Correct. And why are feeding me this logan berry?”
“I don’t—"
“Perhaps you didn’t hear me.” Azula hissed, pressing the berry against the girl’s ear. The girl shuddered violently.  “Why are you feeding me this logan berry.”
“Because I…” the girl stuttered, tears trickling against the berry pressed tightly to her cheek, “Because I was…instructed…to.”
“By who?” Azula demanded, brushing the berry against her nose, her lips…
The servant’s eyes flashed in panic.
“By the white lotus so—“ suddenly the girl screeched and fell back. “Oh, I can’t tell you! I can’t tell you!” Azula snatched her arm.
“Do you know what this berry does to you?” She growled furiously. The servant couldn’t answer through her hysterical sobbing. Azula swiped a long nail into the girl’s skin and squeezed the berry against the wound, the bright blood mixing with the black juice of the fruit. The girl clutched her arm and screamed, falling to the floor and writhing in pain. Azula marched briskly past the howling girl, bending down to pick up the single white lotus tile that had rolled out of her pocket.
“Lock her up,” she yelled at the guards, “I’m not done with her yet.”
She swiftly made her way to the fire lord’s chamber. She had to make sure her father was not enjoying a mid-day snack. Blue fire sprang up from the hand still dripping with black juice. Back in princess’ chamber the servant girl suddenly lay motionless, weeping quietly.

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Katara sat on the porch of the beach-house and watched Aang’s firebending lesson. She yawned and patted the sleeping momo on the head. The only reason she sitting here listening to Aang’s goofy laughter and Zuko’s irritated scoldings and watching bursts of flames flicker into the air continually was because she needed to grab Aang as soon as Zuko let him free. She wanted to teach him how to gather water out of the humid air, and they were on a pretty tight schedule, after all…
Suddenly the noise and the dancing flames stopped abruptly. Katara grinned and stretched. Finally!
“Are you done with me now, Sifu Hotman?” Aang asked impatiently.
“Not yet.” Zuko replied.
Katara sat back down, disappointed.
“There’s one technique you need to know before facing my father. How to redirect lightning.”
Katara stopped petting momo and stared at Zuko, suddenly intrigued by their lesson. She had no idea he was capable of such power. Just think how much suffering could be prevented with such a useful ability—Katara knew first-hand just how painful and complicated lightning injuries were to heal. Well, with Zuko around, maybe she would never have to deal with such an awful mess again…Aang bounced up and down eagerly.
“If you let the energy within you flow, the lightning will follow it. You turn your opponent’s energy against them.” Zuko instructed, demonstrating. Katara watched him closely, and was shocked at how familiar the moves felt to her…
Aang realized the same thing, “That’s like waterbending!”
Zuko nodded, “Exactly. My uncle invented this technique himself by studying waterbenders.”
“So, have you ever redirected lightning before?” Aang inquired curiously.
“Once. Against my father.” Zuko admitted.
“How did it feel?” Aang pressed, his eyes shining.
“Exhilarating. But terrifying. You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body. But you know if you make the wrong move, it’s over.”
“Well, not over over, right, I mean there’s always Katara and a little spirit-water action…” He grinned and turned to Katara, who snapped out of her thoughts, “Am I right?”
“Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you.”
Aang’s face fell, “Oh.”
“You’ll have to take the fire lord’s life—before he takes yours.” Zuko reminded him seriously.
Aang blushed, “Yeah. I’ll just do that.”
“Now, show me your technique, smarty pants.”
Aang nodded and imitated Zuko’s demonstration, moving his arms across his upper body and trying to feel the energy flowing with his movements. But it was hard. He was so used to bending the energy within the various elements, that the concept of bending the pure, invisible energy within his own body was challenging for him to wrap his head around. His brow furrowed in frustration as he struggled to co-ordinate his movements.
“I can’t get the right feel for it! I can bend the energy of any element, but I don’t understand how the energy in my own body feels and moves. Zuko, can you please just shoot lightning at me? If I’m dealing with an element’s energy, I’m sure I’ll get it right away.” Aang suggested impatiently. Both Zuko and Katara gaped at him.
“Absolutely not!” they both exclaimed at the same time. Katara stepped forward.
“Okay. Calm down Aang. Do your technique again, Zuko.” Zuko obeyed. Katara pulled the water out of her flask. “The energy in your body is very similar to the energy in the elements—it’s all connected, and you know that. You just can’t see or really feel the energy within your own body. But when you redirect lightning, you have to be able to move the energy in your body, so that the lightning will follow it safely and controlled. I have a sneaking suspicion that water will also follow the fluid movement of energy in your body…” Katara gently guided her water to Zuko’s gracefully moving arms and let it go. Sure enough, as Zuko moved the energy through his upper body, the water traveled right along with it, skimming cleanly over Zuko’s skin. Zuko’s eyes widened as he felt the strange sensation of the water moving freely across his body.
“Wow!” Aang cried. Katara caught the water when Zuko finished his movement.
“Alright, Aang, go ahead.”
Aang concentrated fiercely on his technique, but as soon as the water hit his skin, he relaxed and grabbed it.
“No Aang, don’t waterbend! Leave the water alone, just let it follow your energy and flow over you. This is not about bending the elements, it’s about bending the energy within yourself.”
Aang took a deep breath and tried to ignore the water. Sure enough, he soon felt the sensation of the water over his skin and moved fluidly to guide it.
“It’s working! Now I can feel how it moves…”
Soon they were moving the water in a circle—when Aang had transferred the water to the other side of his body, Katara caught it and passed it on to Zuko, and then back to Aang…
“What do we have here!” a voice suddenly exclaimed, knocking the energy-benders out of their concentration. The water splashed on the ground.
“Wow guys, that’s really amazing.” Suki was impressed.  
“Well, now the Avatar knows how to redirect lightning.” Zuko told them.
Aang nodded and stepped forward, showing off his technique, which was now much more graceful and natural.
“Well, he’s only three months too late.” Toph smirked.
“Way to go guys—this is exactly what we need—to share everything we know with each other. Sozin’s Comet is only four days away, and we have to be ready for anything.” Sokka pointed out.
Zuko nodded thoughtfully. He had dreaded breaking the devastating news to the gang, now was the time to come clean. “Then I guess I have some important information to share. You probably should sit down for this.”
The gang looked up at him worriedly and expectantly.
“Things are about to get worse than you can even imagine. The day before the eclipse, my father asked me to attend an important war meeting. It’s what I had dreamed about and wanted for so many years. My father had finally accepted me back. General Shinu reported that Earth Kingdom rebellions had prevented the army from achieving total victory in the war. When I commented that the people of the Earth Kingdom can endure anything as long as they have hope, Azula suggested that we take their precious hope and the rest of their land and burn it all to the ground. My father agreed that we must destroy their hope and set a plan. He is going to use the power of the comet just as fire lord Sozin did to wipe out the air nomads, only this time around he plans to end the earth kingdom. Permanently. From airships, he will rain fire over their lands, a fire that will destroy everything. And out of the ashes, a new world will be born, a world in which all lands are fire nation and he is the supreme ruler of everything. I wanted to speak out against this horrifying plan. But I’m ashamed to say I didn’t. My whole life I struggled to gain my father’s love and acceptance. But once I had it, I realized I lost myself getting there.”

Katara dropped her head into her hands and muttered, “I can’t believe this.” Toph angrily flung a rock four miles into the sea.
Sokka shook his head, “I always knew the fire lord was a bad guy, but his plan is just pure evil.”
Suki’s head fell wearily on his shoulder and she closed her eyes, frowning.
“What am I going to do?” Aang wondered weakly.
Zuko raised his head and looked at him seriously, “I know you’re scared, and I know you’re not ready to save the world. But if you don’t defeat the fire lord before the comet comes….there won’t be a world to save anymore.”
Aang’s eyes suddenly flashed, “Why didn’t you tell me about your dad’s crazy plan sooner?” he groaned and rubbed his forehead, pacing swiftly, “This is bad, this is really, really bad.”
Katara stood and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Aang, you don’t have to do this alone.” She assured him.
Toph leaped up, “Yeah. If we all fight the fire lord together, we have a shot at taking him down!”
“Alright!” Sokka cheered, “Team Avatar is back!”
“Fighting the fire lord is going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done together,” Aang admitted, “But I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”  He smiled as everyone pulled together into a group hug. Zuko stood awkwardly behind them. Katara turned around briefly and gestured for him to join. Zuko rolled his eyes and shook his head stubbornly, but Momo leaped on his back and pushed him forward.

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Azula strolled into the fire lord’s chamber and knelt before her father. Fortunately, he wasn’t busy snacking on cherries.
“Azula, thank goodness you’re here. The strangest thing has happened today.”
“I can’t even imagine.” Azula lied.
“Three of my top war generals have been found paralyzed.”
“Really. How very strange indeed.” She jumped to her feet and spun around, grabbing a guard by the wrist as she left the chamber.
“What is it, Princess?”
“I hereby ban cherries from this nation.” She hissed, flinging away his arm. He stumbled away to deliver the news.
Azula flew down the long staircase into the twilight outside. She pushed away the berry bushes lining her path, sending sweet and round fruits flying—it was picking season, and they were ripe and ready.  Azula ducked under a group of dark trees. There, sitting peacefully in the darkness, exactly where it had been thirteen years ago when Uncle had taken his niece and nephew berry-picking, was the dark green berry bush she was looking for. Just as she had suspected, it was completely and abnormally empty of glossy berries. A single white lotus tile sat innocently in the tall grass. She snatched it up and turned away furiously. The dark bush lit up the night as the blue fire tore at its leaves.