"Becoming", Chapter 2
Disclaimer: Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko. Stargate SG-1 belongs to Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin, Brad Wright, and Jonathan Glassner. I’m just borrowing their characters and playing with them. I’ll return them… erm, slightly undamaged? ^_^;;
TEXT KEY
Narrative
Thoughts/Intro/Song Lyrics
“Spoken”
Words on a screen/Handwritten on a page
Stressed/Emphasized Word(s)
“RAISED VOICE/YELLING”
ONOMOTOPOEIA
Through the Looking Glass, Part I: Becoming
Chapter 2
All I know is that I’m here
Drifting somewhere in the vast
Somewhere in eternity
And I never want to leave”
-“Here”, VAST
“...Is he okay?” A soft voice said. Daniel groaned, opening his eyes. Everything was blurry and fractured, and there was a sharp pain on the side of his head. Reaching up to his face, he removed his glasses and saw that the lenses had shattered; there were several droplets of blood on the broken pieces of plastic. He sat up, slowly.
“He's awake!” The same voice said. A girl with dark skin and hair, dressed in blue, ran over to him. “Hold still for a moment...”
Daniel blinked as she knelt and unscrewed the canteen he'd brought with him and somehow gathered water around her hand. She looks familiar, but... I can't place from where... She touched the cut on the side of his head, and the pain faded, slowly, the wound mending itself. The water slithered back into his canteen, seemingly of its own accord, and she screwed the cap back on.
“Sorry about that, I don't have my water skin with me...” the girl said. “Feel better?”
“...Yeah,” Daniel said, somewhat amazed. “Who are you?”
“My name's Katara,” she answered. “You hit one of the jade crystals when you flew in here. Must've hurt.”
“I... don't remember that, I must've blacked out,” Daniel said slowly. “Where are we?”
“Beneath Ba Sing Se, as far as I know,” Katara responded, quietly. “Your friend's been awake for a little while, but she was knocked out too.”
Daniel didn't ask what Ba Sing Se was. Translated from Cantonese, he knew it meant “Unconquerable City”. Instead he turned his attention to Sam. “Sam?”
“I'm here, Daniel,” Sam's voice said, off to his right. Sam leaned against one of the rock walls of the cave they had somehow managed to get into.
“What happened?”
“Uh... You fainted on us. Next thing I know, we're here.”
“Jack and Teal'c?”
“Not here. We must've been separated.”
“Is there anyone else here?” Daniel asked Katara.
“Just the selfish jerk in the corner,” Katara said, bitterly, pointing at the figure of a young, black-haired man with his back turned to them. “His name's Zuko. Don't expect to get much out of him, he's been ignoring us for a bit.”
“You don't like him very much, do you?”
“No, I don't,” Katara muttered angrily. “He's been chasing after one of my best friends just so...” She sighed. “Never mind, it's complicated. Your friend said you know nothing about this world, so... it's hard to explain.”
“I doubt we'll be going anywhere soon,” Daniel said.
Katara frowned. “Well... There are four nations: The Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Some people, like... like me and Zuko, can control one of the four Elements. They're called Benders. I'm a Waterbender, and Zuko's a Firebender. The Avatar's the only person on the planet who can control all four Elements.” She paused. “Still keeping up?”
“Yeah, go on.”
“Well... the Fire Nation's been waging a war against the other three nations for the last hundred years. Zuko's father is the ruler of the Fire Nation, and... Zuko's been hunting Aang, the current Avatar... Aang's also my best friend. If the Fire Lord captures him... it's all over. They've won. And that means the end of the rest of us.”
Zuko twisted his head a little in their direction. Daniel caught sight of dark, burned tissue around his left ear and eye. Zuko flinched and looked away again.
Daniel frowned, then decided to take a gamble. “How did you get that scar, Zuko?”
Zuko flinched visibly and turned to stare at Daniel. His eyes were golden yellow, and his unburned skin was pale. He wore green and earth-toned clothes, which Daniel thought was odd; red was usually the colour associated with fire.
“...My father burned and disowned me when I was 13,” Zuko said, reluctantly. “He said I was without honour and the only way I could restore it was by capturing the Avatar.” His voice was tenor-pitched and somewhat hoarse.
Katara rolled her eyes. “See? That's why I hate him. He's been chasing us all over the world for months.”
“Not recently, I haven't,” Zuko corrected, sounding annoyed.
“Then what were you doing in Ba Sing Se?!” Katara demanded.
“My Uncle and I are exiles!” Zuko said, standing up and rising to his full height. “Refugees! We had nowhere else to go! We're wanted by our own people now!”
“Well, what did you expect me to think?!” Katara returned. “That you had given up? You're too belligerent to give up! You just wouldn't leave us alone! You're arrogant, a-and spoiled, and selfish! I think of the enemy, and I see your face!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Sam said, standing up. “Calm down, Katara, this isn't helping.”
“If you hate me so much, why did you offer to heal my Uncle when we were all attacked by Azula in that town?!” Zuko demanded.
“Because at least your Uncle is reasonable!” Katara said. “You should listen to him sometimes, your whole NATION should.”
“I do listen to him,” Zuko retorted, his hands curling into fists. “He's the only real family I have left.” Flames sparked at his hands briefly.
“Guys, calm down!” Daniel said, loudly. Both quieted. “Katara... is... is there another reason?”
Katara remained silent for several moments before turning and sitting down, hugging her knees. “...The Fire Nation killed my mother. They took her away from me.”
“...That's something you and I have in common,” Zuko admitted, quietly. “My mother's been missing for six years. She just... up and left, the night my grandfather died. I never knew what happened to her.”
Katara's eyes widened. Daniel thought he saw pity in her face. “...I'm sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn't...”
“Look, let's just set this aside for now,” Daniel said. “We need to get out of here. Sam, check for-”
“Exits?” Zuko finished for him. “Only way out is up there.” He pointed almost straight up, to a small chute near the ceiling carved out of the rock. “And unless one of you is an Earthbender, I doubt we'll be getting it open.”
“Could blow it open,” Sam suggested.
“There's no way we'll be able to throw a grenade up there,” Daniel said. “It'll drop back down to us before it reaches the exit. You know the laws of physics better than anyone, Sam.”
“But they could be different here,” Sam noted. “That's part of the definition of an alternate universe.”
Daniel sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Toss a grenade up there, but don't remove the pin.”
Sam nodded and removed a grenade from her vest, standing and throwing it as hard as she could up the tunnel in the ceiling. It almost reached the sealed opening before succumbing to gravity and falling back to the ground. It rolled over to Zuko, who picked it up and examined it.
“What is it?”
“An explosive device,” Sam said, simply.
Zuko nodded slowly, then handed the grenade back to Sam, who tucked it back into her pocket. “My Uncle knows I was captured,” he said, quietly. “If the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se, Uncle may have sought his help.”
“He has a name, you know,” Katara snapped. “And Aang left the city. He had to train with a guru. Toph could make her way down here, but she's with her mother right now.”
“Is there a chance Aang knows you're here?” Sam asked.
“He thought I was-well... actually, yeah, he probably does know. Weird stuff happens around him.”
“So he probably would've found a way back to the city, right?” Daniel said.
“He wouldn't sit by if I was in trouble,” Katara replied, soberly.
* * *
Jack awoke to find his hands tightly bound behind his back with thick, itchy rope. Teal'c sat against his back, conscious but not moving. “Teal'c?”
“We appear to have been captured, O'Neill,” Teal'c responded.
Jack blinked. They were on a beach, leaning against a high cliff. It was night, and the sky was perfectly clear. “Wait a sec, wasn't the Stargate in a temple in the mountains? How the hell did we get onto a beach?”
“I do not know,” Teal'c said, quietly.
Quite abruptly, a metal, bladed boomerang embedded itself in the rock just above Jack's head.
“Quiet, you two!” Said a young man with dark skin, dressed in a blue tunic and trousers. His head was mostly shaved, save for a band of dark hair at the top, pulled back into a tight ponytail.
“Uh….” Jack began, awkwardly. “Think you could untie us?”
The young man scurried up to them and retrieved the boomerang. “You kidding? We don’t know you! For all we know, you could be Fire Nation spies. Probably are, since those weapons you were carrying were downright WEIRD.”
Teal’c and Jack exchanged looks. “Look… We’re just…” Jack paused. “Teal’c, where’re Daniel and Sam?”
“They are not present, O’Neill. It seems we were separated.”
Jack sighed, exasperated. “Okay, look, uh…”
“Sokka,” The young man said, dryly.
“…Sokka. We’re explorers, okay? We came here to establish peaceful contact.”
“Then why the projectile weapons?” Sokka asked, pointing at the pile of their equipment off to the right.
“…Self-defense.”
“…Right,” Sokka said. “That’s a pretty thin story.”
“It’s not a story, it’s the truth,” Jack snapped. “We’ve lost our friends, Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter. We need to find them before we go home.”
“They’re not here,” Sokka replied immediately. “You two were the only ones who showed up. And I’m not about to let you go. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Firebenders to get rid of.” He started to walk off, but stopped as a large, six-legged, horned bison landed next to him. Sitting at the bison’s neck was a young boy, no older than twelve, dressed in orange and yellow. A blue arrowhead tattoo adorned his head, and he carried a wooden staff in one hand.
“…I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Sokka stated, quietly.
“Katara’s in trouble,” the boy said, quietly.
Sokka glanced back to a man who appeared to be his father, judging by the similarity of their facial features, who made a gesture as though telling him to go ahead and leave. Sokka climbed on top of the bison. “Let’s go,” he said, quietly.
“Hold on! Wait!” Jack shouted. “We can help!”
“That I doubt,” Sokka said, scathingly. “Aang, let’s go.”
“Wait,” Aang said. “How can you help?”
“Depends, what kind of trouble is your friend in?” Jack asked.
“I saw her chained up and screaming,” Aang replied, quietly. “There were two other people with her as well… I caught a name, I think one of them was called… Daniel?”
“We know him! And we’ve busted people out of prison before. Untie us, we can help!” Jack said, almost frantically.
“Aang-” Sokka began.
“Untie them,” Aang said, quietly.
Sokka sighed, slid off the bison, and untied the ropes binding their wrists. “No sudden moves,” he warned, before climbing back on top of the bison. Teal’c and Jack retrieved their gear and joined them.
“Appa, yip yip!” Aang said. With a sudden lurch, the bison leapt into the air, and they were soaring off north.
“Holy crap!” Jack yelled, clinging tightly to Appa.
“Never flown before?” Aang called back to them.
“Not on a giant bison, no!” Jack yelled back. “Where’re we going?”
“Ba Sing Se. That’s where Katara was last.”
“Hey, what’s that big cloud of dust?” Sokka called, pointing downwards, where there was indeed a large cloud of dust making its way towards a long wall. Appa banked towards it at Aang’s direction. Jack’s eyes went wide as he saw a young girl, no older than Aang was, dressed in green and white and seemingly skating on two large mounds of earth.
“Toph!” Aang called. “Get on!” Appa flew beside her, and Sokka held out his arm for Toph to grasp. She climbed on Appa’s back with them, the mounds of earth crumbling back to the ground. They then flew off over the wall.
“…This place is officially weird,” Jack said, after a moment.
The flight lasted for another few minutes before they landed in the courtyard of a large, oriental-style palace. Toph, Aang, and Sokka slid off of Appa's back and hurried into the palace. After a moment, Jack and Teal'c followed. When they caught up with the three teenagers, they were talking to a young man with a pair of small spectacles perched on his nose.
“-'s fine,” he was saying. “She met with the Council of Five to plan the invasion, and ever since then she's been with your friends, the Kyoshi Warriors.”
“See?” Sokka said. “They're probably hanging out at the apartment right now, discussing... makeup, or something.”
Aang still looked uneasy. “O-okay. Thanks anyway.”
Minutes later, they were inside said apartment, which turned out to be a one-room house. The apartment was, of course, completely empty.
“...There's no-one else here,” Toph stated quietly.
“I knew it,” Aang said. “She is in trouble.”
“...Wait,” Toph said, suddenly. “There's someone at the door.”
Sure enough, a knock sounded just after she said this. Jack raised an eyebrow.
“Actually, I know who it is. He's an old friend.”
Jack's eyebrows rose further as she slid the door open to reveal a rotund man with long grey hair, dressed in green and yellow. “I need your help,” he said, soberly.
Sokka and Aang leapt back in shock.
“You guys know each other?!” Sokka exclaimed, after a moment of tense silence.
“I ran into him in the woods,” Toph explained. “Then he gave me tea and some really good advice.”
The man smiled a little. “May I come in?”
Toph nodded and beckoned him inside, then slid the door shut behind him. The man wasted no time in explaining himself.
“Princess Azula is in Ba Sing Se,” he said, succinctly.
“She must have Katara,” Aang deduced immediately.
“She has my nephew as well,” The man said.
“So not the stereotypical damsel-in-distress princess,” Jack commented. The man glanced at him, arching an eyebrow.
“My niece is cruel, decisive, and domineering,” he said after a moment. “Her father has taught her well.”
“Her father being your brother,” Jack said.
The man nodded. “Ozai is much the same.”
Aang glanced between the two. “Oh, right you guys haven't met.... this is Iroh. He's-”
“The Fire Lord's older brother,” Iroh finished.
“We're explorers,” Jack replied, for the umpteenth time that day. “I'm Jack, this is Teal'c.”
Iroh smiled sadly. “I wish we were meeting under more pleasant circumstances.”
“Iroh,” Aang said, “I had a vision about Katara, but I also saw two other people with her. Is it possible Azula captured them, too?”
“I didn’t see anyone else when she took Zuko,” Iroh said, “But it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
Aang nodded. “Okay then, it’s settled. We’ll work together to find and rescue Katara and Zuko. And maybe we’ll find Jack and Teal’c’s friends along the way.”
“Whoa, hold on!” Sokka objected, scurrying up to Aang. “You lost me at ‘Zuko’. Why are we even considering working with him?!”
“Because we’re stronger together than we are apart,” Aang said, almost sternly. Sokka frowned deeply.
“Alright. A temporary truce! Only until we find Katara and Zuko.”
Iroh smirked a little. “Good. I brought someone who might be able to help us.” He led them back outside the apartment, where a man in black and dark green was bound and gagged. Toph reacted instantly, stomping her foot on the ground and jerking her hands upward. Two slabs of rock pinned the man in place. Iroh then removed the gag.
“Azula and Long Feng are planning a coup,” the man said instantly, a frantic note to his voice. “She’s going to depose the king and the Council of Five.”
“My sister?! Where are they holding Katara?!” Sokka demanded, brandishing his boomerang at him.
“In the crystal catacombs below the city,” the man answered. “Please don’t hurt me!”
Jack stepped forward. “Do you know if another man and woman were with her?” He asked. “Their names are Daniel and Sam.”
“N-No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there… Who knows who else that crazy woman trapped down there…”
Jack and Teal'c exchanged looks. Toph stomped her foot and jerked her hands again, and the man was encased in a third slab of rock. She then knelt and placed a hand on the ground.
“Well whaddya know,” she said. “There is an underground city down there. It's deep. You'll need an Earthbender to get down there.”
Sokka nodded. “Okay. Iroh, Jack, Teal'c, and Aang will go down and look for Katara and the Angry Jerk. Uh, no offense.”
“None taken,” Iroh responded lightly.
“...And me and Toph will go warn the Earth King about Azula's coup,” Sokka finished.
The group nodded, and they set off in their different directions.
* * *
The next several hours (or so it seemed to Jack) found them traipsing through a long tunnel that Aang had been digging, seemingly through simple hand motions. The motions, circular in nature, mimicked pushing something, and every time he did it, a large amount of earth pushed itself backwards. Jack didn’t comment on it, not wanting to distract the boy. Teal’c, as usual, maintained his vigilant silence.
Iroh, walking beside Aang, had a flickering orange flame cupped in his hand. In the dim settings, it only provided a certain amount of light, but with the addition of Jack and Teal’c’s flashlights, it was enough.
After several long moments of silence, Aang finally spoke. “So… Toph thinks you give good advice,” he said, apprehensively. Then he added, brightly, “and great tea.”
Iroh chuckled. “The key to both is proper aging. What’s on your mind?”
Jack listened quietly while Aang and Iroh talked. He hoped he could gain some idea of what was going on, because he was hopelessly lost.
“Power and perfection are overrated,” Iroh told Aang, who smiled a little. “I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.”
“I just… I’m worried about this whole thing with Azula, and Zuko and Katara. I’m not sure if I’ll be strong enough without the Avatar State to stop Azula. But… I just can’t let Katara go. Not like that.”
“I don’t know the answer,” Iroh said, sounding remorseful. “Sometimes… life is like this long tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving…”
As he said this, Aang made one final pushing motion with his hands, and the earth suddenly flew outwards, leaving an opening into a cavernous cave, lit dimly by glowing green crystals. A small canal of water flowed through the chamber. Iroh smiled a little.
“…You will come to a better place,” he finished.
“Great, we’re here,” Jack said. “Any idea where we can find them?” He switched off his flashlight, and Teal’c followed suit; though the lighting was dim, it was still enough to see by. The flame in Iroh’s hand flickered out as well.
“Might as well start somewhere,” Aang said. “Come on.” He ran out into the chamber and jumped the canal. Iroh, Jack and Teal’c followed at a slightly slower pace.
“O’Neill,” Teal’c said, “what if DanielJackson and Major Carter are not here?”
Jack didn’t want to think about it. “Back to square one, I guess…”
* * *
Neither Daniel nor Sam knew how much time had passed since they had woken up in the cavern with Katara and Zuko, and they were only just beginning to wonder about this. The four sat in silence, each leaning against a different wall of the cavern. Zuko looked as though he was about to fall asleep, though he also seemed to be willing himself to stay awake. Katara appeared anxious, twisting at a lock of brown hair that looped back to the long braid running down her back.
Daniel let his head fall back against the wall with a soft THUMP. His eyes and head ached, most likely because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He was tired as well, and nearly dozed of before abruptly being brought back to full consciousness by a minor earthquake. All four sat up.
“What was that?” Sam asked.
Moments later, the wall behind her exploded, tossing her halfway across the room. She landed on her side, groaning and indignant.
A young boy stood in the resulting hole, dressed in orange and yellow, bald, and with arrowhead tattoos on his head and hands.
Wait a sec, Daniel thought, realization dawning on him. That’s the boy from my dream, the one who was struck by lightning!
“Aang!” Katara yelled, sounding incredibly relieved. She ran up and hugged him fiercely. Aang returned the hug, but glared over Katara’s shoulder at Zuko. A rotund man with long, gray hair ran past Aang and embraced Zuko.
“Uncle,” Zuko said, sounding halfway surprised and halfway relieved. “What are you doing with the Avatar?!”
“Saving you, that’s what!” Aang responded for Zuko’s Uncle, anger clearly present in his tone.”
Zuko started to lunge for him, but his uncle held him back. “Zuko,” he said, “stop.” He turned to Sam and offered an arm. “You must be Colonel O’Neill’s friends. He’s right behind us.”
“Oh thank God,” Daniel said, rising to his feet. At that moment, Jack and Teal’c stepped through the hole, Jack waving airborne dust aside.
“Whew,” he said. “Oh, good, you’re here,” he amended upon seeing Daniel and Sam. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place is weird…”
Zuko’s uncle motioned for the group to get going. “Go on, Aang, help your other friends. We’ll be along shortly.”
“Uncle-!” Zuko protested.
His uncle silenced him. “You too,” he told Daniel and Sam. “Go with your friends.”
Sam gladly obliged, heading over to where Jack and Teal’c stood. Daniel hesitated.
“Daniel, come on,” Jack urged. “Let’s go.”
“…You guys go ahead, I’ll stay for a bit,” Daniel said, watching as Zuko and his uncle talked quietly. Jack arched an eyebrow, but knew by now that protesting was probably futile. He, Teal’c, and Sam left and entered the main chamber.
Daniel, meanwhile, slowly moved towards Zuko and his Uncle.
“It is time for you to make the right choice,” Iroh was saying. “It’s time to choose good.”
“He’s got a point,” Daniel agreed quietly. Both turned to face him, Iroh arching an eyebrow. Before anything else could be said, however, another explosion sounded, this time from the opposite wall. Two men, their eyes hidden by Korean-style straw hats, and dressed in black and green, slid down a shallow slope, thrusting their hands forward and imprisoning Daniel and Iroh in several of the Jade crystals surrounding the wall.
Behind them, a young woman strolled in, she too dressed in green and black. She bore a strange resemblance to Zuko, though her hair was much longer than his and was tied up in an angular topknot.’
“How interesting,” she said, looking up at Daniel. “You had a visitor, Zuzu.”
Daniel mentally snorted. “Zuzu”?!
“I wonder how he got in here? I don’t recall arresting him.”
“To be honest, I have no clue how I got here either,” Daniel admitted, struggling against the tightly binding crystals.
The woman scoffed. “That I doubt… Well, I expected something like this from Uncle… But you, Zuko?! Prince Zuko… You are many things, but you are not a traitor. Are you?”
“Release them at once!” Zuko demanded.
“I don’t think so,” she responded. “Zuko, you have an opportunity here… to return home with your honour. If you join me, I can get Father to forgive you. You can have your lost honour back.”
“Don’t listen to her, Zuko!” Iroh protested, struggling as well. “She’s trying to trick you!”
“Stay out of this, Uncle,” The woman snapped. “It’s his choice… Me, or the Avatar. Father… or the Avatar.” She moved to leave, gesturing her two bodyguards to follow her. “I’ll leave you be. It’s your choice. Choose as you desire.” She did indeed leave, with the two men in tow. Daniel grimaced and tried to squeeze his hand through the crystals binding his wrist, figuring that they were too tough to break through brute strength.
“Zuko,” he said, still struggling to free a hand, “I know we barely know each other, but… believe me when I say that this war isn’t going to solve anything. Perpetuating it… only causes more pain.”
“He’s right, Nephew,” Iroh said. “The war has gone on long enough. Azula only wants to cause more pain.”
“I know,” Zuko responded, solemnly. “The Avatar’s friend… Katara… when we were stuck here, she… ranted about how she’d always thought of me as the enemy… Said that… that causing pain and destruction was in my blood… and… it actually hurt. I’ve seen some of the pain Father has caused, and… it needs to stop.”
A smile ghosted across Daniel’s face before turning into a grimace of pain as he finally managed to wriggle his right hand out of one of the crystal rings. He seized his pistol, aimed carefully so he wouldn’t hit his own wrist, and fired, shattering the other ring binding his left hand. He then freed himself from the rest of his bindings.
“So you’re siding with Aang,” Daniel stated quietly.
“In spirit.”
Both Daniel and Iroh looked somewhat surprised. Zuko seemed determined.
“I have a plan.”
* * *
Outside in the main cavern, a fight between Aang and Katara and the young woman who had jumped Daniel, Azula, had broken out. As Daniel hurried out of their former prison, he saw Azula flinging lightning at Aang, who dodged easily on a ball constructed of air. Katara, her hair unraveling from its braid, lifted some of the water from the canal and flung it at Azula like a whip. Azula barely dodged, the water sheering off some of her hair.
Jack, Teal’c, and Sam knelt on a high ridge, trying to cover for Aang, but didn’t seem to be able to get any blows in edgewise. All three were moving much too fast for them to aim accurately. Daniel activated his Zat and hurried over to them, ducking behind a crystal formation as some of Azula’s lightning flew over his head.
“Where’s Iroh and the kid?”
“Zuko? He’s coming. I hope.”
Sure enough, moments later, Zuko dashed into the room from the opening Aang had created when he had rescued them. He was wearing only trousers, boots, and a sleeveless top. He leapt, fire exploding from his hands and feet and striking just near Azula. He landed near the three, in a ready stance, his eyes darting between his sister and Aang.
Then he turned around and attacked Aang.
TEXT KEY
Narrative
Thoughts/Intro/Song Lyrics
“Spoken”
Words on a screen/Handwritten on a page
Stressed/Emphasized Word(s)
“RAISED VOICE/YELLING”
ONOMOTOPOEIA
Through the Looking Glass, Part I: Becoming
Chapter 2
All I know is that I’m here
Drifting somewhere in the vast
Somewhere in eternity
And I never want to leave”
-“Here”, VAST
“...Is he okay?” A soft voice said. Daniel groaned, opening his eyes. Everything was blurry and fractured, and there was a sharp pain on the side of his head. Reaching up to his face, he removed his glasses and saw that the lenses had shattered; there were several droplets of blood on the broken pieces of plastic. He sat up, slowly.
“He's awake!” The same voice said. A girl with dark skin and hair, dressed in blue, ran over to him. “Hold still for a moment...”
Daniel blinked as she knelt and unscrewed the canteen he'd brought with him and somehow gathered water around her hand. She looks familiar, but... I can't place from where... She touched the cut on the side of his head, and the pain faded, slowly, the wound mending itself. The water slithered back into his canteen, seemingly of its own accord, and she screwed the cap back on.
“Sorry about that, I don't have my water skin with me...” the girl said. “Feel better?”
“...Yeah,” Daniel said, somewhat amazed. “Who are you?”
“My name's Katara,” she answered. “You hit one of the jade crystals when you flew in here. Must've hurt.”
“I... don't remember that, I must've blacked out,” Daniel said slowly. “Where are we?”
“Beneath Ba Sing Se, as far as I know,” Katara responded, quietly. “Your friend's been awake for a little while, but she was knocked out too.”
Daniel didn't ask what Ba Sing Se was. Translated from Cantonese, he knew it meant “Unconquerable City”. Instead he turned his attention to Sam. “Sam?”
“I'm here, Daniel,” Sam's voice said, off to his right. Sam leaned against one of the rock walls of the cave they had somehow managed to get into.
“What happened?”
“Uh... You fainted on us. Next thing I know, we're here.”
“Jack and Teal'c?”
“Not here. We must've been separated.”
“Is there anyone else here?” Daniel asked Katara.
“Just the selfish jerk in the corner,” Katara said, bitterly, pointing at the figure of a young, black-haired man with his back turned to them. “His name's Zuko. Don't expect to get much out of him, he's been ignoring us for a bit.”
“You don't like him very much, do you?”
“No, I don't,” Katara muttered angrily. “He's been chasing after one of my best friends just so...” She sighed. “Never mind, it's complicated. Your friend said you know nothing about this world, so... it's hard to explain.”
“I doubt we'll be going anywhere soon,” Daniel said.
Katara frowned. “Well... There are four nations: The Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Some people, like... like me and Zuko, can control one of the four Elements. They're called Benders. I'm a Waterbender, and Zuko's a Firebender. The Avatar's the only person on the planet who can control all four Elements.” She paused. “Still keeping up?”
“Yeah, go on.”
“Well... the Fire Nation's been waging a war against the other three nations for the last hundred years. Zuko's father is the ruler of the Fire Nation, and... Zuko's been hunting Aang, the current Avatar... Aang's also my best friend. If the Fire Lord captures him... it's all over. They've won. And that means the end of the rest of us.”
Zuko twisted his head a little in their direction. Daniel caught sight of dark, burned tissue around his left ear and eye. Zuko flinched and looked away again.
Daniel frowned, then decided to take a gamble. “How did you get that scar, Zuko?”
Zuko flinched visibly and turned to stare at Daniel. His eyes were golden yellow, and his unburned skin was pale. He wore green and earth-toned clothes, which Daniel thought was odd; red was usually the colour associated with fire.
“...My father burned and disowned me when I was 13,” Zuko said, reluctantly. “He said I was without honour and the only way I could restore it was by capturing the Avatar.” His voice was tenor-pitched and somewhat hoarse.
Katara rolled her eyes. “See? That's why I hate him. He's been chasing us all over the world for months.”
“Not recently, I haven't,” Zuko corrected, sounding annoyed.
“Then what were you doing in Ba Sing Se?!” Katara demanded.
“My Uncle and I are exiles!” Zuko said, standing up and rising to his full height. “Refugees! We had nowhere else to go! We're wanted by our own people now!”
“Well, what did you expect me to think?!” Katara returned. “That you had given up? You're too belligerent to give up! You just wouldn't leave us alone! You're arrogant, a-and spoiled, and selfish! I think of the enemy, and I see your face!”
“Whoa, whoa,” Sam said, standing up. “Calm down, Katara, this isn't helping.”
“If you hate me so much, why did you offer to heal my Uncle when we were all attacked by Azula in that town?!” Zuko demanded.
“Because at least your Uncle is reasonable!” Katara said. “You should listen to him sometimes, your whole NATION should.”
“I do listen to him,” Zuko retorted, his hands curling into fists. “He's the only real family I have left.” Flames sparked at his hands briefly.
“Guys, calm down!” Daniel said, loudly. Both quieted. “Katara... is... is there another reason?”
Katara remained silent for several moments before turning and sitting down, hugging her knees. “...The Fire Nation killed my mother. They took her away from me.”
“...That's something you and I have in common,” Zuko admitted, quietly. “My mother's been missing for six years. She just... up and left, the night my grandfather died. I never knew what happened to her.”
Katara's eyes widened. Daniel thought he saw pity in her face. “...I'm sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn't...”
“Look, let's just set this aside for now,” Daniel said. “We need to get out of here. Sam, check for-”
“Exits?” Zuko finished for him. “Only way out is up there.” He pointed almost straight up, to a small chute near the ceiling carved out of the rock. “And unless one of you is an Earthbender, I doubt we'll be getting it open.”
“Could blow it open,” Sam suggested.
“There's no way we'll be able to throw a grenade up there,” Daniel said. “It'll drop back down to us before it reaches the exit. You know the laws of physics better than anyone, Sam.”
“But they could be different here,” Sam noted. “That's part of the definition of an alternate universe.”
Daniel sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Toss a grenade up there, but don't remove the pin.”
Sam nodded and removed a grenade from her vest, standing and throwing it as hard as she could up the tunnel in the ceiling. It almost reached the sealed opening before succumbing to gravity and falling back to the ground. It rolled over to Zuko, who picked it up and examined it.
“What is it?”
“An explosive device,” Sam said, simply.
Zuko nodded slowly, then handed the grenade back to Sam, who tucked it back into her pocket. “My Uncle knows I was captured,” he said, quietly. “If the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se, Uncle may have sought his help.”
“He has a name, you know,” Katara snapped. “And Aang left the city. He had to train with a guru. Toph could make her way down here, but she's with her mother right now.”
“Is there a chance Aang knows you're here?” Sam asked.
“He thought I was-well... actually, yeah, he probably does know. Weird stuff happens around him.”
“So he probably would've found a way back to the city, right?” Daniel said.
“He wouldn't sit by if I was in trouble,” Katara replied, soberly.
* * *
Jack awoke to find his hands tightly bound behind his back with thick, itchy rope. Teal'c sat against his back, conscious but not moving. “Teal'c?”
“We appear to have been captured, O'Neill,” Teal'c responded.
Jack blinked. They were on a beach, leaning against a high cliff. It was night, and the sky was perfectly clear. “Wait a sec, wasn't the Stargate in a temple in the mountains? How the hell did we get onto a beach?”
“I do not know,” Teal'c said, quietly.
Quite abruptly, a metal, bladed boomerang embedded itself in the rock just above Jack's head.
“Quiet, you two!” Said a young man with dark skin, dressed in a blue tunic and trousers. His head was mostly shaved, save for a band of dark hair at the top, pulled back into a tight ponytail.
“Uh….” Jack began, awkwardly. “Think you could untie us?”
The young man scurried up to them and retrieved the boomerang. “You kidding? We don’t know you! For all we know, you could be Fire Nation spies. Probably are, since those weapons you were carrying were downright WEIRD.”
Teal’c and Jack exchanged looks. “Look… We’re just…” Jack paused. “Teal’c, where’re Daniel and Sam?”
“They are not present, O’Neill. It seems we were separated.”
Jack sighed, exasperated. “Okay, look, uh…”
“Sokka,” The young man said, dryly.
“…Sokka. We’re explorers, okay? We came here to establish peaceful contact.”
“Then why the projectile weapons?” Sokka asked, pointing at the pile of their equipment off to the right.
“…Self-defense.”
“…Right,” Sokka said. “That’s a pretty thin story.”
“It’s not a story, it’s the truth,” Jack snapped. “We’ve lost our friends, Daniel Jackson and Sam Carter. We need to find them before we go home.”
“They’re not here,” Sokka replied immediately. “You two were the only ones who showed up. And I’m not about to let you go. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Firebenders to get rid of.” He started to walk off, but stopped as a large, six-legged, horned bison landed next to him. Sitting at the bison’s neck was a young boy, no older than twelve, dressed in orange and yellow. A blue arrowhead tattoo adorned his head, and he carried a wooden staff in one hand.
“…I’m not gonna like this, am I?” Sokka stated, quietly.
“Katara’s in trouble,” the boy said, quietly.
Sokka glanced back to a man who appeared to be his father, judging by the similarity of their facial features, who made a gesture as though telling him to go ahead and leave. Sokka climbed on top of the bison. “Let’s go,” he said, quietly.
“Hold on! Wait!” Jack shouted. “We can help!”
“That I doubt,” Sokka said, scathingly. “Aang, let’s go.”
“Wait,” Aang said. “How can you help?”
“Depends, what kind of trouble is your friend in?” Jack asked.
“I saw her chained up and screaming,” Aang replied, quietly. “There were two other people with her as well… I caught a name, I think one of them was called… Daniel?”
“We know him! And we’ve busted people out of prison before. Untie us, we can help!” Jack said, almost frantically.
“Aang-” Sokka began.
“Untie them,” Aang said, quietly.
Sokka sighed, slid off the bison, and untied the ropes binding their wrists. “No sudden moves,” he warned, before climbing back on top of the bison. Teal’c and Jack retrieved their gear and joined them.
“Appa, yip yip!” Aang said. With a sudden lurch, the bison leapt into the air, and they were soaring off north.
“Holy crap!” Jack yelled, clinging tightly to Appa.
“Never flown before?” Aang called back to them.
“Not on a giant bison, no!” Jack yelled back. “Where’re we going?”
“Ba Sing Se. That’s where Katara was last.”
“Hey, what’s that big cloud of dust?” Sokka called, pointing downwards, where there was indeed a large cloud of dust making its way towards a long wall. Appa banked towards it at Aang’s direction. Jack’s eyes went wide as he saw a young girl, no older than Aang was, dressed in green and white and seemingly skating on two large mounds of earth.
“Toph!” Aang called. “Get on!” Appa flew beside her, and Sokka held out his arm for Toph to grasp. She climbed on Appa’s back with them, the mounds of earth crumbling back to the ground. They then flew off over the wall.
“…This place is officially weird,” Jack said, after a moment.
The flight lasted for another few minutes before they landed in the courtyard of a large, oriental-style palace. Toph, Aang, and Sokka slid off of Appa's back and hurried into the palace. After a moment, Jack and Teal'c followed. When they caught up with the three teenagers, they were talking to a young man with a pair of small spectacles perched on his nose.
“-'s fine,” he was saying. “She met with the Council of Five to plan the invasion, and ever since then she's been with your friends, the Kyoshi Warriors.”
“See?” Sokka said. “They're probably hanging out at the apartment right now, discussing... makeup, or something.”
Aang still looked uneasy. “O-okay. Thanks anyway.”
Minutes later, they were inside said apartment, which turned out to be a one-room house. The apartment was, of course, completely empty.
“...There's no-one else here,” Toph stated quietly.
“I knew it,” Aang said. “She is in trouble.”
“...Wait,” Toph said, suddenly. “There's someone at the door.”
Sure enough, a knock sounded just after she said this. Jack raised an eyebrow.
“Actually, I know who it is. He's an old friend.”
Jack's eyebrows rose further as she slid the door open to reveal a rotund man with long grey hair, dressed in green and yellow. “I need your help,” he said, soberly.
Sokka and Aang leapt back in shock.
“You guys know each other?!” Sokka exclaimed, after a moment of tense silence.
“I ran into him in the woods,” Toph explained. “Then he gave me tea and some really good advice.”
The man smiled a little. “May I come in?”
Toph nodded and beckoned him inside, then slid the door shut behind him. The man wasted no time in explaining himself.
“Princess Azula is in Ba Sing Se,” he said, succinctly.
“She must have Katara,” Aang deduced immediately.
“She has my nephew as well,” The man said.
“So not the stereotypical damsel-in-distress princess,” Jack commented. The man glanced at him, arching an eyebrow.
“My niece is cruel, decisive, and domineering,” he said after a moment. “Her father has taught her well.”
“Her father being your brother,” Jack said.
The man nodded. “Ozai is much the same.”
Aang glanced between the two. “Oh, right you guys haven't met.... this is Iroh. He's-”
“The Fire Lord's older brother,” Iroh finished.
“We're explorers,” Jack replied, for the umpteenth time that day. “I'm Jack, this is Teal'c.”
Iroh smiled sadly. “I wish we were meeting under more pleasant circumstances.”
“Iroh,” Aang said, “I had a vision about Katara, but I also saw two other people with her. Is it possible Azula captured them, too?”
“I didn’t see anyone else when she took Zuko,” Iroh said, “But it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”
Aang nodded. “Okay then, it’s settled. We’ll work together to find and rescue Katara and Zuko. And maybe we’ll find Jack and Teal’c’s friends along the way.”
“Whoa, hold on!” Sokka objected, scurrying up to Aang. “You lost me at ‘Zuko’. Why are we even considering working with him?!”
“Because we’re stronger together than we are apart,” Aang said, almost sternly. Sokka frowned deeply.
“Alright. A temporary truce! Only until we find Katara and Zuko.”
Iroh smirked a little. “Good. I brought someone who might be able to help us.” He led them back outside the apartment, where a man in black and dark green was bound and gagged. Toph reacted instantly, stomping her foot on the ground and jerking her hands upward. Two slabs of rock pinned the man in place. Iroh then removed the gag.
“Azula and Long Feng are planning a coup,” the man said instantly, a frantic note to his voice. “She’s going to depose the king and the Council of Five.”
“My sister?! Where are they holding Katara?!” Sokka demanded, brandishing his boomerang at him.
“In the crystal catacombs below the city,” the man answered. “Please don’t hurt me!”
Jack stepped forward. “Do you know if another man and woman were with her?” He asked. “Their names are Daniel and Sam.”
“N-No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there… Who knows who else that crazy woman trapped down there…”
Jack and Teal'c exchanged looks. Toph stomped her foot and jerked her hands again, and the man was encased in a third slab of rock. She then knelt and placed a hand on the ground.
“Well whaddya know,” she said. “There is an underground city down there. It's deep. You'll need an Earthbender to get down there.”
Sokka nodded. “Okay. Iroh, Jack, Teal'c, and Aang will go down and look for Katara and the Angry Jerk. Uh, no offense.”
“None taken,” Iroh responded lightly.
“...And me and Toph will go warn the Earth King about Azula's coup,” Sokka finished.
The group nodded, and they set off in their different directions.
* * *
The next several hours (or so it seemed to Jack) found them traipsing through a long tunnel that Aang had been digging, seemingly through simple hand motions. The motions, circular in nature, mimicked pushing something, and every time he did it, a large amount of earth pushed itself backwards. Jack didn’t comment on it, not wanting to distract the boy. Teal’c, as usual, maintained his vigilant silence.
Iroh, walking beside Aang, had a flickering orange flame cupped in his hand. In the dim settings, it only provided a certain amount of light, but with the addition of Jack and Teal’c’s flashlights, it was enough.
After several long moments of silence, Aang finally spoke. “So… Toph thinks you give good advice,” he said, apprehensively. Then he added, brightly, “and great tea.”
Iroh chuckled. “The key to both is proper aging. What’s on your mind?”
Jack listened quietly while Aang and Iroh talked. He hoped he could gain some idea of what was going on, because he was hopelessly lost.
“Power and perfection are overrated,” Iroh told Aang, who smiled a little. “I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.”
“I just… I’m worried about this whole thing with Azula, and Zuko and Katara. I’m not sure if I’ll be strong enough without the Avatar State to stop Azula. But… I just can’t let Katara go. Not like that.”
“I don’t know the answer,” Iroh said, sounding remorseful. “Sometimes… life is like this long tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving…”
As he said this, Aang made one final pushing motion with his hands, and the earth suddenly flew outwards, leaving an opening into a cavernous cave, lit dimly by glowing green crystals. A small canal of water flowed through the chamber. Iroh smiled a little.
“…You will come to a better place,” he finished.
“Great, we’re here,” Jack said. “Any idea where we can find them?” He switched off his flashlight, and Teal’c followed suit; though the lighting was dim, it was still enough to see by. The flame in Iroh’s hand flickered out as well.
“Might as well start somewhere,” Aang said. “Come on.” He ran out into the chamber and jumped the canal. Iroh, Jack and Teal’c followed at a slightly slower pace.
“O’Neill,” Teal’c said, “what if DanielJackson and Major Carter are not here?”
Jack didn’t want to think about it. “Back to square one, I guess…”
* * *
Neither Daniel nor Sam knew how much time had passed since they had woken up in the cavern with Katara and Zuko, and they were only just beginning to wonder about this. The four sat in silence, each leaning against a different wall of the cavern. Zuko looked as though he was about to fall asleep, though he also seemed to be willing himself to stay awake. Katara appeared anxious, twisting at a lock of brown hair that looped back to the long braid running down her back.
Daniel let his head fall back against the wall with a soft THUMP. His eyes and head ached, most likely because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. He was tired as well, and nearly dozed of before abruptly being brought back to full consciousness by a minor earthquake. All four sat up.
“What was that?” Sam asked.
Moments later, the wall behind her exploded, tossing her halfway across the room. She landed on her side, groaning and indignant.
A young boy stood in the resulting hole, dressed in orange and yellow, bald, and with arrowhead tattoos on his head and hands.
Wait a sec, Daniel thought, realization dawning on him. That’s the boy from my dream, the one who was struck by lightning!
“Aang!” Katara yelled, sounding incredibly relieved. She ran up and hugged him fiercely. Aang returned the hug, but glared over Katara’s shoulder at Zuko. A rotund man with long, gray hair ran past Aang and embraced Zuko.
“Uncle,” Zuko said, sounding halfway surprised and halfway relieved. “What are you doing with the Avatar?!”
“Saving you, that’s what!” Aang responded for Zuko’s Uncle, anger clearly present in his tone.”
Zuko started to lunge for him, but his uncle held him back. “Zuko,” he said, “stop.” He turned to Sam and offered an arm. “You must be Colonel O’Neill’s friends. He’s right behind us.”
“Oh thank God,” Daniel said, rising to his feet. At that moment, Jack and Teal’c stepped through the hole, Jack waving airborne dust aside.
“Whew,” he said. “Oh, good, you’re here,” he amended upon seeing Daniel and Sam. “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place is weird…”
Zuko’s uncle motioned for the group to get going. “Go on, Aang, help your other friends. We’ll be along shortly.”
“Uncle-!” Zuko protested.
His uncle silenced him. “You too,” he told Daniel and Sam. “Go with your friends.”
Sam gladly obliged, heading over to where Jack and Teal’c stood. Daniel hesitated.
“Daniel, come on,” Jack urged. “Let’s go.”
“…You guys go ahead, I’ll stay for a bit,” Daniel said, watching as Zuko and his uncle talked quietly. Jack arched an eyebrow, but knew by now that protesting was probably futile. He, Teal’c, and Sam left and entered the main chamber.
Daniel, meanwhile, slowly moved towards Zuko and his Uncle.
“It is time for you to make the right choice,” Iroh was saying. “It’s time to choose good.”
“He’s got a point,” Daniel agreed quietly. Both turned to face him, Iroh arching an eyebrow. Before anything else could be said, however, another explosion sounded, this time from the opposite wall. Two men, their eyes hidden by Korean-style straw hats, and dressed in black and green, slid down a shallow slope, thrusting their hands forward and imprisoning Daniel and Iroh in several of the Jade crystals surrounding the wall.
Behind them, a young woman strolled in, she too dressed in green and black. She bore a strange resemblance to Zuko, though her hair was much longer than his and was tied up in an angular topknot.’
“How interesting,” she said, looking up at Daniel. “You had a visitor, Zuzu.”
Daniel mentally snorted. “Zuzu”?!
“I wonder how he got in here? I don’t recall arresting him.”
“To be honest, I have no clue how I got here either,” Daniel admitted, struggling against the tightly binding crystals.
The woman scoffed. “That I doubt… Well, I expected something like this from Uncle… But you, Zuko?! Prince Zuko… You are many things, but you are not a traitor. Are you?”
“Release them at once!” Zuko demanded.
“I don’t think so,” she responded. “Zuko, you have an opportunity here… to return home with your honour. If you join me, I can get Father to forgive you. You can have your lost honour back.”
“Don’t listen to her, Zuko!” Iroh protested, struggling as well. “She’s trying to trick you!”
“Stay out of this, Uncle,” The woman snapped. “It’s his choice… Me, or the Avatar. Father… or the Avatar.” She moved to leave, gesturing her two bodyguards to follow her. “I’ll leave you be. It’s your choice. Choose as you desire.” She did indeed leave, with the two men in tow. Daniel grimaced and tried to squeeze his hand through the crystals binding his wrist, figuring that they were too tough to break through brute strength.
“Zuko,” he said, still struggling to free a hand, “I know we barely know each other, but… believe me when I say that this war isn’t going to solve anything. Perpetuating it… only causes more pain.”
“He’s right, Nephew,” Iroh said. “The war has gone on long enough. Azula only wants to cause more pain.”
“I know,” Zuko responded, solemnly. “The Avatar’s friend… Katara… when we were stuck here, she… ranted about how she’d always thought of me as the enemy… Said that… that causing pain and destruction was in my blood… and… it actually hurt. I’ve seen some of the pain Father has caused, and… it needs to stop.”
A smile ghosted across Daniel’s face before turning into a grimace of pain as he finally managed to wriggle his right hand out of one of the crystal rings. He seized his pistol, aimed carefully so he wouldn’t hit his own wrist, and fired, shattering the other ring binding his left hand. He then freed himself from the rest of his bindings.
“So you’re siding with Aang,” Daniel stated quietly.
“In spirit.”
Both Daniel and Iroh looked somewhat surprised. Zuko seemed determined.
“I have a plan.”
* * *
Outside in the main cavern, a fight between Aang and Katara and the young woman who had jumped Daniel, Azula, had broken out. As Daniel hurried out of their former prison, he saw Azula flinging lightning at Aang, who dodged easily on a ball constructed of air. Katara, her hair unraveling from its braid, lifted some of the water from the canal and flung it at Azula like a whip. Azula barely dodged, the water sheering off some of her hair.
Jack, Teal’c, and Sam knelt on a high ridge, trying to cover for Aang, but didn’t seem to be able to get any blows in edgewise. All three were moving much too fast for them to aim accurately. Daniel activated his Zat and hurried over to them, ducking behind a crystal formation as some of Azula’s lightning flew over his head.
“Where’s Iroh and the kid?”
“Zuko? He’s coming. I hope.”
Sure enough, moments later, Zuko dashed into the room from the opening Aang had created when he had rescued them. He was wearing only trousers, boots, and a sleeveless top. He leapt, fire exploding from his hands and feet and striking just near Azula. He landed near the three, in a ready stance, his eyes darting between his sister and Aang.
Then he turned around and attacked Aang.