Chapter 7

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Chapter 7 As we entered our apartment, I felt dizzy and light-headed. Something was wrong with me. "You did the right thing, letting the Avatar's bison go free," Uncle said. "I don't feel well." The room is spinning. Everything's getting blurry… going dark… just darkness… "Zuko!" I barely heard Uncle shout as the floor came rushing up toward me and I passed out. As I slowly woke up, it felt like I was moving through a thick fog. My head was pounding and my eyes felt like they were on fire. Every part of my body hurts. "You're burning up," Uncle said. I was stretched out on a sleeping roll on the floor under heavy blankets. "You have an intense fever." Uncle leaned over me, wiping my face with a wet cloth. "This will cool you down." "So thirsty." I've never felt more parched, like my throat was shriveling up.

"I'll get you some clean water to drink. Stay under the blankets and sweat this out." I drank a ladleful of cool water, then grabbed the whole bucket and gulped it down. I felt as if I could drink an entire lake. I put my head down and drifted back into a deep sleep. And as I slept, I had a strange, disturbing dream. I am Fire Lord Zuko. All is as it should be. I sit upon my throne, flames dancing all around me, as my army awaits my orders. A blue dragon slithers alongside me on my right, while a red dragon raises its scaly head to my left. "It's getting late," hissed the blue dragon. "Are you planning to retire soon, my Lord?" "I'm not tired." "Relax, Fire Lord Zuko," the blue dragon cooed. "Just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while." That sounds good. It makes sense. Perhaps I should get some rest. Being Fire Lord is a tiring responsibility. "No, Fire Lord Zuko!" cried the red dragon. "Do not listen to the blue dragon. You should get out of here. Right now." Hmm… which dragon is right? What should I do?

Stay or go? "Go! Before it's too late!" shouted the red dragon. My palace is crumbling all around me. My soldiers are vanishing before my eyes. Now the blue dragon moves toward me, emerging from the darkness. "Sleep," the blue dragon said. "Just like Mother!" The blue dragon's mouth is open wide and… no, it can't be… Mother is trapped inside the blue dragon. "Zuko!" Mother cried. "Help me!" Now I'm being swallowed up by my own throne. It's all wrong. It's all falling apart. Going bad! Nooo! It took me a few minutes to absorb my surroundings. Where am I? Oh, I was still in bed, in the apartment in Ba Sing Se. I realized that I was still sick. And I was not the Fire Lord after all. I had had a nightmare. Uncle was preparing tea for me. "You should know this is not a natural sickness," he said, lifting a steaming cup to my lips. "But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea." "What's happening?" "Your critical decision—what you did beneath that lake—was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war within your own

mind and body," Uncle explained. "What does that mean?" "You are going through a metamorphosis, my nephew. It will not be a pleasant experience. But when you come out of it, you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be." A conflict? Between the part of me that knew it was right to set the bison free, and the way I've always pictured myself, as a ruthless soldier of the Fire Nation? I do feel a battle raging within my mind and body. But which part of me will win? I fell back to sleep. When I finally woke up, I slipped from my bed and walked past Uncle. He was asleep, and I didn't want to wake him. He had been up for days taking care of me. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. I paused for a moment, finding something unfamiliar. The skin where my scar is feels soft and smooth again, like before the scar was there. I looked into the mirror. My scar was gone! How could that be? And what's that on my head? A tattoo! The Avatar's arrow tattoo! What have I become? Noooo… I bolted upright in bed. A dream. That whole thing

was just a dream. I was not in the bathroom. I was in bed. I ran my hand over my face. My scar was still there. What could that dream mean? Am I moving toward the part of me that helped the Avatar? Is the Fire Nation losing the battle within me? I wish I knew what it all meant.