A/N: This two-shot is a collaboration between Drygon and myself. We loved the "Elemental" prompt given at the Avatar100 LJ comm and decided it really lent itself to the comet and the fire siblings. So we decided to write stories from each of their POV's. I have permission to post her companion to my fic here. She wrote Zuko's POV and I did Azula's. Enjoy!
(My first real attempt at action... be kind please.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar - the Last Airbender and this is just for fun not profit.
Her
The sun rose high and bright the day the comet was to arrive as if in welcome of its coming celestial visitor, illuminating the elegant chambers that formerly belonged to the Earth King. Azula faced the dawn with a wicked glee. Her body thrummed with anticipation. Today was the day, the day that would bring an end to this ridiculous war and finally break the back of their enemies.
Today is the day the Avatar will die.
When they received word that the Avatar had survived her attack and was heading for the shores of the Fire Nation, she was angry to say the least. The infirmary had never seen so many burn injuries before. She quickly got over her rage however, when Ty Lee of all people brought it to her attention that once Sozin's comet came the irritating young Airbender was sure to meet his doom.
A smile crawled across her face at the thought of the Avatar's inevitable demise. She only wished she could be there to see it.
She became increasingly edgy as the day wore on and was finally driven to her chambers to try and calm her nerves. Stripping off outer robes suddenly too constricting to endure, she lay back on her bed, legs sliding agitatedly against sheets of the deepest green. Her roving eyes were drawn to the large windows across the room and she felt an instant and nearly overpowering urge to see the sky. She sat up only to lie back down when the room swam before her gaze.
With both hands she shakily pushed back her hair, released from its bun by her restless tossing, and took a deep breath.
Her flesh was tingling, tiny sparks of electricity crackling along her nerve endings in a way that was both painful yet oddly pleasurable. Every hair was standing on end, an army of goose bumps rising to dance across her skin, skin that abruptly felt too tight to bear. She was vibrating with tension, like a spring that had been wound too tight. She felt ready to burst from the intensity.
And the heat, the heat was unbearable, burning her from the inside out. Her nails ripped into the fine silk of her bedding as she arched and moaned, yet another tidal wave of fire flooding her body.
Oh Gods… what is happening to me?
Eventually, she could no longer tolerate staying still. The sun had gone down and she had the overwhelming desire to see the heavens. To watch Agni's blessing ignite the sky. She was nearly running by the time she reached the closest open area. Mai and Ty Lee were shocked to see her so frenetic as she pushed past them in her haste to reach the outdoors.
The ancient arena was empty, it had not seen true combat in many a year but over the grander course of time the battles had been countless, the great stone edifice keeping an ever silent vigil over them all. However, the event it would bear testament to that night would out shine any that had come before it. Ghosts of majestic warriors from the past lingered in the deepening shadows, enticing the young woman to join them as she ran to the center of the stadium and stared upwards into the dark blue expanse.
She was filled to overflowing with energy. Her heart pounded, her breathing unsteady. She felt fevered, her body throbbing with rhythmic pulses of incandescent heat. She frantically searched the sky until she spotted the ball of fire curving across the horizon. As it grew ever larger, seeming to dwarf the waning moon, she could feel the inferno within her clamoring for escape.
The night air surrounding her began to shimmer, a directionless breeze suddenly lifting her hair to swirl around her head and causing what remained of her clothing to flutter about her body. She raised hands sheathed in blue fire and saw the flames stealing up her arms, but felt no pain, only relief and an elation that she had never experienced before.
Her head jerked to the left as she saw in the distance twin flames racing along the wooden rails of the steps leading into the stadium. She was oblivious to the screams of fear that arose from the few spectators who had followed her when the inferno leapt the gap between the railing and the barriers that rimmed the stands traveling with a rush the extent of the fence, leaving her surrounded by a ring of fire.
It was then that she saw him.
He stood across the vastness of the amphitheatre, a dark figure with hands enveloped by the same blaze as her own. A curtain of fire silhouetted him, and with a shiver she felt the familiar fear and exhilaration that only arose in the presence of the one who controlled the greatest nation in the world with the wave of a hand..A shadow filled with unspeakable power…
She knew who he was. Her rational brain told her his name, his relationship to her. But deep within, a dark relic from primordial times stirred and told her who he really was.
Her adversary, her foe in a conflict as old as the comet above them.
For once her feelings for him had nothing to do with hatred, with contempt for his very existence. In fact, they were quite the opposite. Every sense was awash with ecstasy at the sight of him. Finally, she could expend this energy and assuage the agonizing compulsion to fight that had her body screaming.
This would be a battle for dominance, one in which the combatants had no identity. Under the influence of the comet everything had been stripped away from them, leaving only the bare elements they encompassed. They were no longer Zuko and Azula, prince and princess, brother and sister. They were simply man and woman. Children of fire.
Slowly, deliberately, she approached him, lightning forming a jagged corona around her. She was hypnotized by his answering advance, blind to the meager audience that lingered in the stands. They watched, terrified but transfixed, standing in awe of the might displayed both in the sky above and the earth below.
Many shook with fear at the spectacle before them. If this was the true might of the Fire Nation, who could hope to match it?
Once he was close enough that she could see the heat blazing behind his eyes, a war cry was dragged from the depths of her soul erupted from her lips and simultaneously they charged.
The pair came together in a titanic clash of energy. Red-orange and blue-white flames colliding in a conflagration that for a brief moment turned the night into day. At that point, even the most courageous of the curious onlookers hurriedly departed, thankful to still have their lives in the face of such power.
The explosive collision sent them both flying back. They began trading blows; time seeming to stand still, neither gaining the upper hand, both simply reveling in the euphoria singing in their blood. She was taken aback at how his skill seemed to have grown.
When did he become so powerful?
Recoiling from a particularly strong attack, she skidded to a stop. Standing, she drew her arm back while extending her fore and middle fingers before gracefully sending an arching torrent of silver frosted cobalt fire towards him.
He dodged the blow with more grace than she had ever seen from him in any combat prior to this. She had little time or ability to dwell on it though as, crouching low, he immediately drew his fists back and gathered his power into a massive sphere. With a primal roar, he released it in her direction. Stepping into the blast, she formed an arrow with her outstretched arms and hands, just managing to cleave it in two before her.
To her amazement she found herself laughing, the sheer joy of battle thrumming along her veins. She would not be defeated!
The second she could see past the billowing smoke she raced toward him, arms outstretched behind her, blue flames trailing like streamers from her fingertips. Once she was within striking range, she swiftly drew her arms forward and flung the twin torrents at their target. To her delight she saw that he was only able to evade one blow. She stood in place, gearing up for another attack when to her shock a horizontal slice of fire nearly took her head from her shoulders.
She staggered away, eyes filled with the kaleidoscope color of the flames carving the space above her. With no time to waste, she swiftly brought her focus back to him. He was crouched before her, fingers clawing the earth, as he made to rise. A smirk curved her mouth as she was impressed once again with the newfound prowess of her opponent and she immediately resumed her advance. Coming close, so close, only to be brought up short when his lips parted and a stream of pure fire spewed forth. Skidding back she retreated, watching him carefully.
She darted to the side and using her power as an engine and hurtled toward him, determined to wipe that arrogant grin off his face. Instead of fear she saw only a ready anticipation in his expression. Smoke curled around his features and she saw in his eyes that he was waiting for her, crouched once more in expectation.
Then he took her breath away.
In one move, he leapt to his feet and raised his arms, screaming and splitting open the very ground between them, sending viscous gouts of fire flaring up to the heavens under his command. She was stunned. Halted in place by the display of power before her.
Never to be outdone, she tipped her head back, lifted her arms, and called on the aid of the sky above. Blue-white electricity gathered above her splayed fingers. The ball of light and energy growing larger with every breath. She could feel the power flowing into her, filling her until she could hardly contain it. Nothing in her experience had ever felt so good. So wonderful. So magnificent. One thought echoed through her skull.
This… this must be what it is like to be the Avatar.
The moment that the connection between her fingers and the ball of lightning was made she hurled the blast at him, her ragged scream drowned out by the monstrous cacophony that issued from the thunderbolt.
She stood triumphant, panting with joy, as she watched the colossal attack streak towards him.
She had won.
Her victory was short lived, however. Using a technique unknown to her, he reached out an arm to the strike and absorbed it. Her mouth dropped open as she watched his body shudder and twist, his head thrown back in apparent agony. It seemed that she was watching him forever yet it was only seconds before she saw the horrific image of her own blast returning to her.
Desperately she tried to avoid the blow but it was too fast, too large. She flipped backwards in an instinctual evasion maneuver and was somewhat successful; still she could not keep from crying out as her body was tossed into the air by the partial impact.
She was floating in darkness. In silence. Then the sensation of moisture hitting her cheeks pulled her back from the edge of… somewhere and she slowly opened her eyes.
She blurrily saw him standing above her and for a second the absurd thought that he was crying floated across her consciousness. Tendrils of steam rose from his skin and she realized ones from her own body were joining them. Then she tilted her eyes up to the sky and saw that it was not tears she had felt but rain.
The heavens were dark once again. The comet had passed.
She felt weak, ill, head swimming, flesh stinging, her body racked with painful tremors. Awareness that he had defeated her was bitter on her tongue. Her gaze drifted back to his face and their eyes met.
Brother and sister once more.
Fin