Author's note: HOLY CRAP, SHE MADE A NEW CHAPTER!
HOLIER CRAP, WE'RE FINALLY TO BOOK 2!!
Yes, I finally did chapter 16 part 3, the final part of Book 1.
Book 2 will, as stated before, be DRASTICALLY different than the last version. That version was ucky. DX
I'll be skipping the whole coma thing and just going straight for the good stuff.
Enjoy!.....If...anyone still reads this anymore.....Doubt it. -__-;;
The Lone Earthbender
Book 1: Water
Chapter 16 Part 3
End of Book 1
Xemone rushed towards the location of the Avatar's energy signal, plowing through mounds and mounds of snow in an intense blizzard, but suddenly stopped when she saw what looked like a shooting star fly through the sky.
It was no shooting star. It was the spirit of the Avatar flying back to his body, she could sense it, and it didn’t make her happy.
Xemone growled at the sight of this. She knew that by the time she caught up to the Avatar that he would no longer be in the Avatar state and probably wouldn't be able to enter that state for quite a while afterward, as he would be exhausted.
She growled in anger, but knew there were plenty of other lives for the taking while she waited for him to regain his energy back at the city, so she rushed back to the icy city. At least she could have a little fun before the real show began.
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The Avatar returned to his body with a bright flash of light and awoke only to realize that he was tied in ropes on a cold stony floor.
He looked around to find himself in a snowy cave with Zuko sitting in the corner.
"Welcome back" said Zuko.
"Good to be back." said Aang with an attitude as he took a deep breath and blew Zuko smack into the cave wall and flung himself outside the cave to escape. He tried to crawl away in the snow, only to have his feeble efforts be stopped by Zuko.
"That won't be enough to escape." said Zuko.
As he was about to grab the Avatar, the Avatar’s flying bison, carrying the Waterbender girl Katara, her brother Sokka, and the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe.
"Appa!" exclaimed Aang in delight.
The bison landed and let Katara jump off. Katara took a fighting position in front of Zuko.
Zuko turned and took his fighting position, "Looking for a rematch?"
"Trust me Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match." Said Katara as she blocked the fire attack Zuko then sent. "Hmph, I thought your Earthbender girlfriend would've been here by now."
"She is not my girlfriend!" yelled Zuko as he launched another attack.
Katara dodged.
"Though speaking of which, you haven't seen her have you?"
Katara attacked again with a burst of water and knocked Zuko over, but he quickly regained his composure. "I haven't seen her since our last battle." Replied Katara.
Aang’s eyes then opened wide and he said in a trembling tone. "I--....I know where she is..."
Zuko and Katara both stopped immediately at the tone of his voice.
"How would you know,Aang? You didn't even see her at the oasis right? You were in the Avatar state." Asked Katara.
"I--...I can sense her...Such evil energy...So powerful...."
"Where is she?!" demanded Zuko.
"I think...she was heading over here for some reason before...I can sense her presence close by, but it’s fading. I think she's heading back to the North Pole..." Aang then gasped in horror as visions of chaos and massacre flowed through his head.
"What is it Aang?!" asked Katara as she ran towards him.
Aang’s eyes flew open and he said in a panic, "I think she's going to slaughter everyone at the North Pole!"
"Oh no!" gasped Yue, "We've got to stop her!!"
"Don't worry Yue, we will." Said Sokka as he grabbed Yue’s hand.
Katara then reached for Aang to prepare to leave, but was blocked by Zuko, who sent a fire blast her way.
Katara blocked with a small wave of snow and sent him flying with it.
She grabbed Aang as Sokka slid down Appa and cut Aang's ropes off.
Zuko got up, charged at them and said "You're not getting away
that easily!"
Katara turned and created a giant ice ball with the snow and froze in a threatening position.
Zuko stopped in his tracks, still in a fighting pose.
"Look, it's a full moon Zuko. My powers are immense at this point in time and you have no chance to beat me until sunrise. Your friend is out there. You have two choices. Attack me, lose and be left here to die, or agree to a temporary truce and help us and you may find her.”
Zuko snarled.
"Either way you're not getting Aang, but choose the latter and you will stay alive and maybe get your friend back." Said Katara.
Zuko snarled again and stewed in frustration.
"We can use you anyway. You probably know a lot more about what she really is than we do. I mean, we didn't even know she was part demon until now." Said Aang.
Zuko huffed and agreed in an annoyed tone "Fine." He got up on Appa, alongside the others and they rode off to stop Xemone from causing utter destruction.
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Zhao and a group of his soldiers trekked through the city as the Waterbenders attacked with their heightened abilities. Zhao and his soldiers made their way through them slowly, following a special map to the oasis that he has had since his time in the Earth Kingdom Library as the Gaang, Yue and Zuko flew through the sky, searching for Xemone who was far ahead of them.
"So many awful things are happening in the Northern Water Tribe..." Stated Yue in a sad tone.
"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. We'll take down that Earthbender girl, defeat the Fire Nation and everything will be ok." said Sokka, trying to comfort the Princess.
"Hmph, you haven't seen her in her demon form? She's totally unbeatable.” said Zuko as he stared at the sky.
"Well, we have the Avatar and the Avatar is the most powerful being to ever live. There's no way she can defeat him." said Katara in a stern tone.
Zuko gave a slight chuckle "You just keep thinking that, girlie.”
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At the oasis, Zhao had arrived and was finally setting his master plan into motion.
A quick grab into the water and he bagged the moon spirit's physical form in a bag, which, in turn, turned the moon blood red.
The red light beamed over everything and the Waterbenders’ powers were instantly gone as the light hit them.
They were now powerless against the Firebenders, who were going through with an even more vicious onslaught of attacks towards the Water Tribe.
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As they flew through the air Yue suddenly grabbed her head in pain.
Sokka rushed to her side "What's wrong?"
"I feel faint." replied the Princess.
"I feel it too." said Aang in a distressed tone, "The moon spirit is in trouble."
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Xemone finally arrived at the main city and reached the battlefield, which had now become entirely one-sided due to the Waterbenders’ lack of power from the absence of the light of the moon.
Being drawn more towards the stronger soldiers of the group at the time, Xemone started taking out the unsuspecting Firebenders one by one.
Surprised by this strange interruption, they soon directed their attack towards Xemone.
She lunged towards them all, quicker than the eye could see, and the Waterbenders watched in horror as nothing could be heard, but three things; screams, bones crushing, and blood splattering.
The Water Tribe soldiers retreated quickly, taking advantage of their chance, as Xemone continued her slaughter.
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Zhao raised the bag that held the moon spirit captive to the sky and proclaimed in triumph, "I am a legend now....The Fire Nation will forever tell stories about the Great Zhao, who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the conquerer! Zhao the moon slayer!! Zhao
the Invincible!!"
Just then, Momo jumped on Zhao's face, tugging at his sideburns and scratching his face as he yelled "Get it off!!
Get it off!!"
Momo jumped off his face and flew onto the arm of the Avatar, who had finally arrived at the oasis.
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Xemone sensed him. She could sense the Avatar even if he's not in the Avatar state; it just takes a little longer to fully lock onto him. Xemone smiled, while covered in Firebender blood and standing over many dead soldiers, and lunged towards the direction of the Avatar. Her ultimate target was soon to be met....She’d grown tired of waiting. She was going to get her prize, even if she had to force him into the Avatar state.
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The Gaang and Zhao's soldiers took battle positions and faced off against each other.
Zhao smirked, "Don't bother." he ordered his soldiers. Zhao placed his fist over the bag which held the moon spirit.
"
Zhao!! Don't." said Aang, knowing what he was planning to do.
"It's my destiny" replied Zhao "Destroy the moon and the Water Tribe."
"Destroying the moon won't hurt just the Water Tribe." warned Aang, "It will hurt everyone...including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world."
"He's right Zhao." Said Iroh as he approached Zhao.
"General Iroh?" questioned Zhao, "Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"
"I'm no traitor Zhao! The Fire Nation needs the moon too! We all depend on the balance. Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold!
Let it go! Now!”
Zhao took a minute to think, before bowing his head, and seemingly caved into Iroh’s demands. He knelt down and dumped the spirit back into the oasis, which turned the moonlight back to its normal, white brightness as the small fish swam around with its counterpart happily.
Suddenly Zhao’s expression turned maniacal and he sliced through the water with his firebending, killing the moon spirit, instantly. Iroh, Aang and the others watched in horror as the moon disappeared completely and the sky turned black....
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Xemone stopped as she sensed something. She looked up at the blackened sky. She breathed in deep, let out a long sigh and smirked. The only thing she loved as much as killing was darkness; pure blackness. She drank it in, her red eyes glowing brightly, but then remembered the Avatar and quickly continued towards the oasis.
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Iroh attacked Zhao with a vengeance, but Zhao managed to deflect his attacks, his maniacal smirk never leaving his face, until Iroh got to his bodyguards, which were toppled like dominoes under his onslaught. Seeing this, Zhao decided to not take his chances, and ran away, unnoticed.
As the ocean spirit swam around the corpse of its dead counterpart, Iroh, Aang and the others gathered around the oasis. Iroh picked up the charred moon spirit gently, his eyes heavy with a somber tone.
"There's no hope now...” said Yue. “It's over..."
"No, “said Aang in a deep, distorted voice “it's not over." Aang's tattoos and eyes started to glow as he entered the Avatar state. He slowly walked into the waters of the Oasis, before stopping right in the center.
He took an almost meditative stance and stared at the ocean spirit, who stared back at the Avatar until his eyes also started to glow and the oasis waters glowed brightly alongside them. Aang sank in the water, as if melding with the oasis and the ocean spirit itself and a blue, radiant light covered the North Pole.
The waters from the oasis and the city itself combined themselves with the mysterious light to create a giant creature of water; gargantuan and powerful, with an almost reptilian look to it, with the Avatar in the center of the beast, matching its movements to his own. The Avatar
was the creature. The water tribe villagers bowed before the behemoth and the Firebenders attempted to attack it, only to be washed away by a single swipe of the humongous creature’s hand.
The creature attacked the enemy machines and the soldiers below, until it sensed something, and only a second later felt something slice its arm off.
The watery arm fell onto the ground below and the Avatar looked at what attacked it.
The Gaang also witnessed this after leaving the oasis and looked over to where the attack came from.
They all gasped when they saw the transformed Xemone standing like a statue, eyes glowing red, her sand shrouding her to shield herself from the water.
"Is that...Is that the Earthbender girl!? Xemone!?" asked Katara, her eyes wide with shock.
"Her eyes are so cold...so dead." stated Yue, "I can sense it, as Aang did back in the snow. Such a murderous, evil soul; I'm feeling ill just standing here."
"She sliced off the creature’s arm with such ease. I can see why Aang was so worried." said Sokka, "Urgh, if there's one thing we don't need right now, it's a super-strong demonic Earthbender attacking our only means of victory right now."
"Hey, Zuko! Can't you do something about her--" asked Katara before she cut herself off.
She found the spot where Zuko was before bare. Zuko had run off.
"Zuko?! ZUKO!!" yelled Katara.
"Figures the guy would bail on us." commented Sokka.
Xemone faced the creature with a stony expression. The Avatar rebuilt the creature’s arm with ease from excess water around the city.
The Avatar and Xemone locked gazes, before the creature attacked Xemone with an onslaught of water attacks. She burst through all of them easily and aimed for Aang with an assault of numerous sand needles shooting towards him.
”Aang, look out!!” yelled Katara.
The beast caught the needles with his arm and, like footprints being washed away at the beach by the tide; they deformed and poured onto the ground as wet sand.
Xemone raised her hand and the sand on the ground returned to her.
The Firebenders below attacked Xemone, confused on which enemy was the enemy they should be focusing on, but she easily knocked the fire attacks away with her sand.
“Pathetic insects….” thought Xemone.
She wrapped her sand around the Firebenders and lifted them up off the ground, constricting them within the sand.
Katara watched as the Firebenders yelled in pain, "Oh my God...Is she going to..."
Sokka grabbed Yue and Katara and held their faces to him to shield them from the sight of what was about to happen.
Xemone bended the sand, relishing the Firebenders yells of agony one more time, before slapping her palms together causing the sand to slice all the Firebenders in half; their severed bodies falling to the ground as blood rained on Xemone's head.
The water that made up the Avatar's creature form was now stained red with blood and the Avatar became enraged at this and slammed his giant fist onto Xemone, who just shot through the fist, cocooned in her sand and sand-slapped the monster in its face.
Zhao tried to escape from the North Pole for the safety of his ships, making his way across an ice bridge, but was stopped by a fireball that shot in front of him from behind and a cloud of smoke and snow blocked his path. He looked behind him to see Zuko standing in a battle position.
Zhao became surprised at this site, "You're alive?"
"You tried to have me killed!!” yelled Zuko as he launched another attack towards Zhao.
Zhao blocked his offences "Yes I did. You and your Earthbender friend are the Blue and Red spirits; enemies of the Fire Nation. You two freed the Avatar, and that is unforgivable."
Zuko prepared his assault again, "We had no choice!"
He then kicked fire up at Zhao, but Zhao blocked.
Zhao knew he wouldn’t escape without taking care of the nuisance that has bothered him for years. He then took off his cloak to prepare for battle.
"You should've chosen to accept your failure. You're a disgrace. Then at least...you could've
lived!" Zhao angrily shot an attack at Zuko, who dodged and they began a close range fire-duel.
Fire flew everywhere and punches landed back and forth until Zuko knocked Zhao off the bridge and into the water.
Zuko was about to continue his attacks on the Admrial when he heard a huge crash behind him.
The giant water creature, created by the Avatar, crashed through a huge wall behind him.
Zuko looked to see the Avatar in the center of the beast.
"The Avatar..." Zuko looked closer to see what he expected he would see.
He saw a red glow in the sky and at closer inspection he saw Xemone in her demon form.
Zuko gritted his teeth.
Zuko looked back into the water and looked back at Xemone. He had a choice to make and it had to be made now.
He huffed then ran towards the red light, leaving Zhao in the water.
Zhao snickered, "Fool..."
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Iroh and the others returned to the oasis as Xemone and the Avatar fought, desperately trying to figure out some way to fix this mess. They placed the dead physical form of the moon spirit’s body back into the oasis waters.
"There’s nothing we can do...It's dead." said Katara in a saddened tone.
Iroh then took notice of the white haired princess in the group, "You have been touched by the moon spirit...Some of its life is in you."
Yue’s expression became somber, “Yes…it gave me life...” her expression turned to a determined one, “maybe I can give it back."
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Xemone and the beast continued their battle, their focus solely on each other.
The beast trapped Xemone in a water sphere made from his fist. Xemone started to drown, but expanded her sand in all directions causing the giant to lose his grip, sending Xemone to the ground, catching herself in her sand.
She then made a loop with her sand around the beast’s neck and tightened it, slicing the giant’s head off. This seemed to cause the Avatar great pain, but was rectified when he regenerated the creature’s head with more water.
She tried to shoot her sand directly at the Avatar, but the beast's fluid body kept protecting him from her onslaught.
Xemone was becoming enraged, and this was being mirrored in her energy, which was becoming more violent and wild.
Zuko ran, the red light getting brighter, but then stopped and realized there was very little he could do to stop Xemone in this state. Last two times he got lucky,
very lucky. but luck didn't seem to be on his side this time.
If even the Avatar has trouble staving off the demonic Earthbender, what hope does one Fire Nation prince have?
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"You don't have to do that!" yelled Sokka in desperation to Yue as he tried to save his love from sacrificing herself.
"It's my duty Sokka..." replied Yue in a stern yet saddened tone.
"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!" Sokka clutched Yue’s hand in his tighter.
"I have to do this..." Said Yue as she let go of Sokka’s hand and approached Iroh, who was holding the moon spirit's physical form in his hands.
Yue placed her hands on it and closed her eyes. Seconds later the fish glowed under Yue's hands and she fell over into Sokka's arms, lifeless.
"
No!" Yelled a distressed Sokka as he caught her in his arms. He checked her pulse to see if she was still alive, but...
"She's gone..." Said Sokka in a saddened tone. He held Yue in his arms tighter and repeated softly, "She's gone..."
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Zuko watched Xemone attack the beast over and over. She was so focused, yet so wild. It was intense watching her fight the beast, mesmerizing even. Zuko knew he had to stop this, but how?
Just then Zhao came into sight from out of nowhere. Zuko was startled “Zhao!”
Zhao watched Xemone in the sky and said to himself with awe. "Incredible power...So immense. She's rivaling even the Avatar's strength. I'm sure the Fire Lord would be ecstatic to have her as well as the Avatar. A two for one deal..."
Zhao whistled a signal to his soldiers, the ones that were still alive anyway.
As soldiers gathered around them, Zhao yelled "
Fire at the red girl!!"
Zuko’s eyes grew wide, “Wait!”
The soldiers sent a barrage of fireballs at Xemone, which just proved to infuriate her even more than she already was as she saw the flames barrel towards her.
She turned her attention towards the soldiers, directed her sand into numerous large spikes and launched them at the soldiers. Most of them ran away as they just saw her creating the spikes and were spared, but a few were caught in the spikes and were skewered.
Zhao yelled at the soldiers who were running, “Cowards!! You get back here and capture that monster!"
Xemone quickly turned her attention towards the Admiral.
Zuko saw this and instantly knew her intentions, "Run, Zhao!!"
Xemone then quickly bolted over to Zhao, and stood face to face with him, mere feet away from each other, a look of murderous intent in Xemone’s eyes.
Zuko ran for Zhao to try and save him from the fate that Xemone was sure to deal to him.
Xemone stared at Zhao; Zhao panicked and launched a fire attack while yelling "Monster!!"
Xemone dodged easily, as if the attack hadn’t even been launched, and quickly wrapped Zhao from head to toe in her sand.
Zhao struggled against the entrapment, but couldn't break free.
Zuko was close to them, but not quite close enough "Don’t!!"
It was too late.
Xemone crushed Zhao's body in the sand like a grape, and blood splattered all over.
Zuko stopped in his tracks, some blood staining his face, and stared at the sight in shock of what just happened. Xemone glanced at Zuko for a second before returning to the Avatar. Zuko recomposed himself for a second and quickly got an idea.
He ran to find Iroh.
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Sokka held Yue's lifeless body in his arms as he grieved over the loss of his love. Moments later, Yue's body vanished in his arms.
Iroh released the fish, which had healed from Yue’s energy and had regained life, back into the oasis, where it swam around energetically.
The oasis started to glow, the light forming into a human shape, and a figure soon appeared.
It was Yue's spirit, dressed in beautiful, flowing clothing befitting that of a god. Sokka, Iroh and Katara stared in awe at the beautiful sight of the princess.
Yue's spirit said gently, "Goodbye Sokka…I will always be with you." Yue's spirit then took Sokka’s face in her hands, and kissed Sokka gently on the lips. Sokka began to kiss back as Yue's spirit faded away and the moon returned to its rightful place in the sky; illuminating the darkness.
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Zuko found Iroh in the oasis and in a panicked tone asked "Uncle! Do you know anything about spiritual seals?!"
Iroh replied "A little bit, but I’m no expert. Why?"
"Follow me!" yelled Zuko as he grabbed his Uncle's arm and ran back to the battle ground.
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As the moon returned to the sky, the Avatar looked up to see the luminous moon overhead. Knowing his job was done, and the battle before him was pointless, the beast returned his watery form back to the sea and returned the Avatar back to dry land.
Xemone looked up also as the beast disappeared. She became enraged, knowing she had lost her chance to destroy the Avatar in his Avatar state.
She yelled in anger at the sky, and then stood still for an eerily calm moment.
Zuko and Iroh hid behind an ice mass and watched Xemone as she stood, stewing in anger.
Zuko asked "Do you think you can do it?"
Iroh replied "I'm not entirely sure. Afterall, we're very unclear about the specifics of her demonic power and I'm not exactly an expert on demonic seals."
"We just have to subdue her before we have an even bigger slaughter on our hands."
They then observed as she looked like she was about to go on a rampage again just to blow off some steam.
"Now!!" yelled Zuko.
They both launched a fire attack at Xemone. Xemone turned and blocked quickly with her sand. She smirked at the challenge and bolted towards Zuko and Iroh.
Iroh ran around her towards a pool of blood left by Zhao. Zuko was left as a distraction. He ran away from her as fast as he could. Xemone's sand quickly caught up to him and she grabbed Zuko by the ankles and dragged him towards her.
"Urgh...Uncle, hurry!!" yelled Zuko as he feared for his life against the murderous Earthbender.
Iroh then appeared so quickly it was almost assassin level speed. He grabbed Xemone and put her in a choke hold. Zuko tackled Xemone to the ground, pinned her and pushed her face-down into the snowy ground. She struggled with all her might. They were holding her so still she couldn’t manage any sort of attack.
Iroh said "Hold her very still, Zuko”
He then drew a complicated symbol on the back of Xemone's neck, which was the center-point of her main seal, with Zhao's blood. He said a chant very quickly and slammed his palm into the symbol, which drew a quick flash of red light.
Xemone’s struggle ended as the flash dissipated. She became extremely still and then fell, unconscious, as her demonic aura slowly faded away, her horns shrunk and her eyes returned to normal.
Iroh sighed "I'm so relieved that that worked..."
Zuko replied with a matching sigh, "Yes...So...is she really back to normal now?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Like I said, I'm not an expert in the makings of the demonic world and we know very little about her demonic side, but I think she'll fine."
"Hey Uncle, why did you need Zhao's blood to seal it?"
"I didn't specifically need Zhao's blood. You see the oasis is filled with pure, spiritual waters, totally untainted. For some reason I think when Xemone became in prolonged contact with the water, it agitated her demonic side, causing it to release itself and spring forth. Not to speak ill of the dead, but I thought that making the seal with the blood of an evil man, would do just the opposite."
"I don't get it..."
"Think of it like this.Xemone's demon half thrives on death, hatred and evil. When in contact with the purity that is the oasis waters, it "starved" her demon half, so to speak. So I decided to quell the demon's hunger by sealing it with an evil man's blood."
"Hmph..." Replied Zuko as her stared at Xemone's motionless, unconscious body. "We should get her out of here."
"Agreed" Said Iroh. They then picked Xemone up and ran for shore...
Morning broke, but the moon still stayed in the sky. Yue's father and Sokka stared at the moon together.
Yue's father said "The spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born. It was of a beautiful, brave, young woman, becoming the moon spirit." He then breathed in quickly to quell the tears that were coming to his eyes "I knew this day would come..."
"You must be proud" Said Sokka.
"So proud....and sad..."
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A make-shift raft floated down in the sea. Iroh prepared a sail for it as Zuko looked out onto the horizon and Xemone slept.
"I am surprised Prince Zuko, surprised that you are not at this moment, trying to capture the Avatar." Said Iroh, raising his eyebrows in curiousity.
"I'm tired..." Replied Zuko softly.
"Then you should rest...A man needs his rest." Iroh walked back over to the sail and Zuko stared at Xemone. She was covered in blood from head to toe and was dripping wet from her battle with the water leviathan, created by the Avatar.
Zuko sat down next to her, took off his over coat and placed it over Xemone to keep her warm. He then laid himself down beside her and closed his eyes to rest.
Iroh smiled for a moment at the sight of Zuko’s kind gesture, but then looked at Xemone.
He then thought to himself
To slay people mercilessly and be unable to stop yourself...To watch yourself from the inside as you do the unthinkable...To wake up afterwards covered in blood, haunted by the memories of everyone your demon half has slaughtered...each time you transform you get more violent and unpredictable...It's like your human side is being eaten away every time your demon half shows itself...How much torture can you take, young Xemone, before you're lost forever?"
