As far as rating's go, PG-13, so far.
Zuko stared deep into the camp fire, his mind wandering over the events of the past several days.
He'd left home, joined the avatar, found his uncle, and could have sworn he was developing a crush on Toph.
However, tonight he was focused on one thing, the thing that had eluded him all this time. "Mother" he muttered, staring up at the sky. Suddenly, Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sound, bare foot steps.
Zuko turned around as the blind earth-bender walked towards him. "So, what's up?" he asked, starting to motion for her to sit next to him, until he remembered she was blind.
Toph flopped down on the other side of the fire, a grin on her face. "Someone's here." she said in a sing-song voice. Zuko instantly stood up and drew his swords, until Toph shook her head and pointed to a small group of rocks.
Zuko pointed one of the swords at the small pile. "Alright, whoever you are, come out!" he shouted, awakening everyone with a start. Within moments, the entire group had surrounded the small pile of rubble, all ready to blast the pile and whoever was behind it off the side of the temple.
The hooded figure slowly emerged from behind the pile. "Zuko?" the figure asked, in a voice he recognized all too well. Zuko stood with his swords at the ready, slowly walking towards the figure. Once he reached the figure, he removed the hood wih one simple slice, and dropped his swords.
"Mom?" he asked, his lip quivering, before he walked towards her, and practically fell into her embrace. "My baby, it's so good to see you" After a few minutes, Zuko emerged from the shadows, his mother standing in front of him. "Guys, this is, um, my mom, Ursa." he nervously said.
Once introductions were through, Sokka returned to his usual position, face-down on his bed, while Zuko, Ursa, Iroh, Katara, Aang, and Toph talked about times past.
"So, Zuko, how did you get that scar on your face dear?" Ursa asked. Zuko sighed deeply and stared back at the fire, before answering. "Dad." was all the more he could get out.
Ursa's gaze turned to Iroh next. "How could you let him do this?" she asked, in the typical scolding tone Zuko had heard on several ocassions in his life. Iroh hung his head and sighed, but before he could say anything, Toph interrupted him.
"Look lady, I've heard Iroh and Zuko both beat themselves up over past mistakes too many time already, and I think it's time we move on to a different subject, like what we're going to do about the fire lord." she said, bluntly.
Ursa stared at Toph, who scooted over to Zuko and locked her arm around his, then she just shook her head. "So, Zuko, are all your girlfriends this upfront and honest?"
The next morning...
Zuko sat up with a groan, Toph following suit. As he cracked his neck, he noticed his mother and everyone else sitting on top of Appa's saddle. "Oh hell." he groaned, before Toph punted him in the rear with a small earth piller. "Come on, Zuzu, we're going to get this over with."
Within an hour, they had landed on the shores of the Fire Nation capital, or, more precise, the front door. Any guards that tried to attack them were instantly stopped by the form of their Fire Lady, her mere presence granting them access to anywhere they wished.
As Katara and Iroh raced towards the newly re-built prisons, and Aang off to find Ozai, Toph, Zuko, and Sokka all followed Ursa, down winding hallways and past verious rooms, until she finally stopped, her eyes resting on one room. Sighing Ursa took a deep breath, and reached for the door, until Zuko stood in front of her. "Mom, this is Azula's room. Let me go in first." he said, cautiously opening the door, his swords drawn.
However, once he had entered the room, he stopped, and motioned for everyone else to follow. Ursa slowly entered the room, then, walked calmly over to the broken, bleeding, sobbing figure in the corner of the room. "Azula?" she asked, gently sitting on her daughter's bed.
Azula turned her head towards the group, and, judging from reaction, Toph was glad she was blind.
Azula's left eye was swollen shut, a dark mixture of purple and blue. Her legs were cut, fresh scratches on both the inner and outer thighs. Azula tried to cover up her chest, as she whimpered and cried, afraid to make a sound. Ursa gently put her arms around her daughter, sobs wracking her body. "Azula, my baby. Forgive me." she whispered.
Azula struggled to look up at the voice's figure, and her eye barely made out the image, but it was enough for her to practically fall into her arms, broken, bleeding, and crying. "Mother?" she whispered.
Ursa gently stroked her daughter's hair, trying to ignore the blood on her hands with each stroke. "Oh, Azula, I'm so sorry. I should have never left you." she said, calmly.
As Ursa tried to calm her daughter, and bring her back to some sense of reality, Zuko walked out just as Katara and Iroh returned, but with two added visitors.
Mai and Jet gave a nod to Zuko, who had his mouth hanging open at this point. "And just when in the hell were you going to tell me about this?" Zuko asked, noticing how close the two fighters were to eachother. Jet started to walk towards Zuko, his ribs bandaged, and a grin on his face, until Mai stepped between them. "That's enough, we've got bigger fish to fry"
Ursa motioned for Katara, who, with her hands trembling, tried to heal the injured Azula, once Ursa convinced her that Katara wasn't going to kill her.
Iroh caught a glimpse of his niece, and shook his head. "What kind of monster would do this to his own child?" he asked to himself. Ursa emerged from Azula's room, a firm glare in her eyes. "Where in the name of Agni is my husband?" she asked in a demanding tone.
Mai was the first to speak up. "He's probably either in his chambers, or fighting the Avatar. Either way, he'd better just hope I don't get my hands on him." she said, patting her wrists for emphasis.
Sokka had actually managed to catch his breath, and take in the fact that he'd just hugged Azula, when a familiar face greeted his eyes, even with the lead pipe in her hands. "Sokka!" Sokka raised his head at the sound of hearing his name, and practically ran from one side of the main hallway to the other. "Suki"
The two lovers met in the middle, embracing, kissing, and damn-near found themselves making love right in front of the gods and everybody. It was only when Jet cleared his throat, that they actually stopped. Suki extended her hand to Mai. "Thanks, I guess." Mai accepted it. "No problem, things arn't so boring now."
Meanwhile...
Ursa had found Ozai's bed chambers, and wasn't exactly in a knocking mood. With suprising strength, she kicked the two doors open, catching only the smallest glimps of a girl's nude back as the little bitch ran for the shadows, clothes in hand. Ursa's eyes narrowed at her half-naked husband. "Ozai! What in the hell did you do to my children!"
Ozai had a smug, confident grin on his face, as always. "So, you've finally returned. It's about time." he said with a smug grin. Ursa's piercing glare burned holes through Ozai.
"What happened to my daughter, and why does my son have a scar on his face?" she asked in a demanding tone.
Ozai's smirk never left his face. "You're son was taught a lesson in respect, and as far as your daughter is concerned" he paused, giving her long enough to let it sink in. "Well, let's just say that she learned not to lie to daddy." he said, laughing. "And now, you return, and with the Avatar, in some pitiful little attempt to stop me?"
Ursa's gaze remained firm, but calm. "Ozai, let me make one thing crystal clear, I may not have always been there for her, but Azula is still my littl girl, and I love her as much as Zuko. You've become a heartless, evil, pathetic coward, and I will not..."
Everyone could hear it from the other end of the building, even with the fighting going on outside, the sound of a slap, a hard one. Azula didn't know why, but something had forced her to move, to find her father and mother, and with her one good eye, and everyone beside her, she managed to hear it all, and the words she'd waited so long to hear from her mother, three simple little words.
As a tear trickled down Azula's good eye, she staggered into her parent's room, the entire group following her, even Katara had a concerned look on her face. As Azula stood in the doorway, Ozai's eyebrows actually raised in suprise, or shock, no one knew which.
"You traitorious little bitch." he spat, glareing at her, before his hands charged up with lightening, and Ozai shot forward, the stream going right for Azula, who was covered almost instantly by her mother, and then, the whole world stopped.
Azula opened her one good eye, to see a scene she'd only dreamed of, her brother, protecting her, throwing the lightening right back in Ozai's face, and for a split second, she felt like a little girl again, and a feeling of pride entered her heart.
Ozai stood up, but before he could charge up again, the group heard the sound of several blows landing, then, the fire loard dropped to the floor, alive, but immobile. Sokka smacked the downed firelord in the head with his boomeraang, then grinned when he didn't get up.
"Nice one Aang, you can come out now." he said with a smile. However, the Avatar appeared next to him, not in front of him. "What?"
"So, who plowed the fire-prick?" Jet asked, echoing everyone's thoughts. Azula calmly stood up, leaning on her mother for support. "Hey, Ty Lee, you can come out now, we switched sides!" she shouted. In a matter of seconds, the pink-auraed acrobat emerged from the shadows and began hugging her injured friend. "Azula, I was so worried about you." she said with a smile, tears in her eyes. Azula groaned. "Yeah, sure, let's just take care of him." she said, warily pointing to Ozai's form on the floor.
Aang walked over to the downed Ozai, then kicked him in the face hard enough to flip him over. "Ok, he's still alive." he said, before air-bending him 30 feet into the air, earth-bending a rock pillar into his chest, knocking him into a fire-pit, and then freezing him in a block of ice,
which he then broke with a swift, well-placed kick to the groin. Everyone turned their heads as the impact split Ozai right down the middle, killing him off for good. Well, everyone except Sokka saw it. He was too busy staring at Ty Lee kissing Azula.
Ursa just shook her head at the two girls, while Suki, Mai, and Katara all three smacked Sokka in the back of the head.
Ursa walked over to Ty Lee. "So, it was you that I saw when I entered this room." she said. Ty Lee just smiled at her. "How else was I supossed to hit all of his main chi points at once?" she asked, flipping beside Azula as the two headed for the door. "And, just where do you think you're going?" Ursa asked. Azula smiled weakly at her. "We're going to go tell the troops the war is over."
5 years later...
Ursa sat among the other female fighters, watching her little grand-children chase eachother, a sigh of relief escaping her lips.
"So, who's up for another Pai Sho game?" she asked. Everyone except Toph and Iroh had the usual look of defeat on their face. Who knew Zuko's mom was a better Pai Sho player than even Iroh?
Azula and Ty Lee snuggled together under an umbrella on the beach, watching their own child play with the children of the people who, almost six years ago, they would have called enemy.
Despite the rape, Azula choose to keep and nurture the child along with Ty Lee, all the while questioning each night if the little boy would turn out like his ex-grand-father.
As Azula kept one eye on Ty Lee, and another eye on the kids, she couldn't help but feel free, free from the pain of the past, free from the darkness that had dwelled for so long in her own heart, and free from ever having to worry about what others thought of her and Ty Lee.
As Ty Lee gently kissed her, she couldn't help but grin, as her free eye saw they're child, Lu Ten, walking towards his parents, a shell cupped in his fragile little hands.
The End!
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- Juria