Summary: Part 1 of the Masks series - The search for Kiyi reveals surprising secrets about the Kemurikage, but Suki has one of her own that could change everything. A Zuki love story with lots of adventure, drama, and mystery.

Please note: This story starts off right where Smoke & Shadow Part 2 ended (when the Kemurikage kidnap Kiyi), and references several of the other Avatar comics. I wrote this before S&S Part 3 came out, so it differs dramatically from that comic.

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender and all characters and other Avatar world details are © Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko, Viacom. No money is made by writing and publishing this fanfiction.

Enjoy!

"Azula."

At first, the word didn't register. All she could hear was Zuko's ragged breathing beside her and the pounding of her own heart as sparks of lightning crawled into the night sky.

Lowering her arms from her face, Suki stared at the attacker as realization rushed over her.

Azula?

The kidnapper threw more lightning at them, aimed straight at Zuko's chest. His arms flew out, fingertips catching the bolt. His body glowed bright, robes flapping madly and sparks shooting from his skin.

As he redirected it back, the lightning struck earth inches from the masked face.

He won't kill her…Suki realized, unsurprised. She rushed forward, attempting to jab Azula with her fans while Ty Lee tried to get in range to chi block. Even Aang bent a tight current of air towards the woman, but the former princess rolled out of each path of attack and started racing down a nearby alleyway.

How did she recover so quickly? Was her fall just a ruse? Suki thought, frustrated. At least one thing was clear—Kiyi's captors had moved in the opposite direction, and Azula was giving them time to get away.

"Zuko!" she gasped. "Kiyi!"

He took his eyes of Azula's retreating form and stared at her, right eye wide in realization before narrowing. "Let's go. Aang, can you fly ahead of us and try to spot them?" he asked.

"On it! Just have to grab my glider," Aang agreed. With a gust of air he shot himself back up to the rooftop and ran off without another word.

Suki led the rest of them running in the direction she'd seen the kidnappers heading. Only a few blocks in, they heard light footfalls several buildings back. Turning around, Suki saw one of the Kemurikage sprinting quickly across the rooftops towards them.

"Looks like she won't leave us alone after all," Zuko snarled. They all ducked as the woman sent more lightning scattering into the street.

Slowing her pace, Suki pursued her lips as she thought. "I—I think she's here for you, Zuko," she called back at him. "It might work best if you stayed to distract her. Ty Lee can help you and I'll go on ahead to catch up with Aang."

"What? No!" he said, shaking his head. "You were right before, I need to get to Kiyi first."

Suki fell back alongside him. "Azula is only going to slow us all down. If we split up, then some of us can reach Kiyi faster."

Zuko looked like he was about to boil over in frustration, though Suki could discern the fear in his eyes.

"Aang and I will find her, Zuko," she said firmly. "But it's your call."

They came to a stop. He turned and looked at her intensely for several moments before dropping his gaze and nodding, resigned. He then turned back to glare at Azula's approaching form, teeth barred. Ty Lee readied herself in a strong warrior's stance, belying the fear etched into her face.

Suki wasted no time—she ran around the nearest corner and down a few more blocks before climbing up a ladder to a local store roof. With a quick scan of the sky and the rooftops, she didn't see an airborne Avatar or any Kemurikage, and so began a desperate sprint forward in the same direction she'd seen them heading earlier. Keeping to the rooftops forced her to take a less direct route, but she wanted to be sure Aang could spot her quickly.

Just as she was starting to feel the kidnappers were long gone, he appeared.

"Suki! I think I've found them!" he exclaimed. "They're heading towards—wait a second, where's Zuko?"

"Azula…came back," Suki panted. "Zuko and Ty Lee are…keeping her company."

Aang looked anxious, but then brightened. "Well, in that case, hop on! With just two of us, we'll get there faster on my glider!"

Without argument, Suki stepped onto the glider's footrest and grasped onto the front supports tightly with both hands.

"Oh umm, I guess, uh," Aang started awkwardly, "I have to hold you up…is it okay if I—"

Oh spirits, Aang, thought Suki. "Yes, yes, it's fine, let's go!" Suko exclaimed, feeling uncharacteristically impatient.

Aang held onto her waist and took off. "Just don't tell Katara, okay? She gets sorta weird about…I mean she's a little sensitive sometimes…"

Suki tuned out Aang's rambling as she scanned the rooftops for signs of Kiyi's captors. Aang was flying them outside of the capital towards the hills that curved upwards, forming the edge of the caldera's tall, jagged peaks.

"How did they—are you sure they made it this far, Aang?" she asked.

"I saw two hooded figures running in this direction—there are hidden metal bunkers in the cliff side that Azula was hiding in on the Day of Black Sun. If she's involved that might be where they're heading!"

I hope you're right, Suki thought anxiously. Maybe we should've stayed with Zuko and Ty Lee to make sure Azula gets captured. At least that way they could try to get some information out of her.

She chewed on her lip. Too late to turn back now.

It was no use; Azula knew all her tactics. Ty Lee just couldn't get a direct hit to incapacitate her. And something was so off about her aura that it was downright distracting.

Zuko wasn't faring much better; though he remained unscathed, he hadn't managed to land another hit with his sister zig-zagging in the street and dashing down alleyways. And oddly, she wasn't even trying to hurt them—though the moment they attempted to lose her, Azula would return to the offensive. Zuko's face was an angry, deep red as the sweat began dripping off his chin.

"Why, Azula? Kiyi's our sister!"

She responded with a bolt of lightning, forcing them to jump back behind the buildings encasing the side street.

"We have our mother back!" he shouted, "We have the chance to be a family again. Why—why are you doing this?!"

The hooded figure jumped a fence and disappeared into the market center.

Zuko bolted from their hiding spot, yelling as he raced towards the fence in pursuit.

Ty Lee ran over to him and grabbed his arm with both hands. "Zuko, wait!" she whispered loudly. Then, more quietly, "Look, we can't gain an advantage over her like this. Let's hurry back to the palace before she comes back. We could get some backup, and…and maybe Aang and Suki have found Kiyi by now!" she offered, trying to smile against the terror burning in her gut.

Zuko's face softened just a little, though he trembled in her grip. "Fine. Let's go."

"I don't know how the Fire Nation folks get in…there must be a secret passageway somewhere," Aang mused as they flew over the edge of the caldera. Suki's palms were dead white from gripping the glider so hard. "But I remember that this is the area where Toph tunneled us in during the invasion," he continued. At that, he landed them along a flat ledge on the mountainside. He held his hands face forwards, one atop the other, and thrust them down towards the earth, carving a dark, narrow tunnel.

"I hit something! I think we've found it!" he declared happily. Aang lit a fire in his palm as they made their way into the darkness. "There's a series of natural tunnels in the mountainside leading to the bunker. Once we reach that, I'll get to practice my metalbending!" he exclaimed.

"Did you take some lessons from Toph?" Suki asked.

"Oh yeah…after the incident at the Earthen Fire Refinery. Did Sokka tell you about that?"

"Oh, um, didn't he…" she started, before biting her lip. "No…he didn't."

He gave her a rushed and confusing explanation as they jogged down the tunnel. "I felt so horrible!" he was saying. "Katara…everyone was trapped in the mine, and I couldn't do a thing without Toph's students coming to help," he huffed. "So, long story short, she gave me a few lessons before we left. Though I could've gone without being called a 'twinkle toed lily liver' the entire time…"

After navigating a cavern of lava pockets and flying over a river of magma, they reached the bunker wall. Aang formed a unique stance, his fingers bent as he slowly pulled the metal wall apart like heavy curtains. He grunted loudly. "Toph…made this…look easy…" he grumbled to himself.

Finally, he'd made a gap just large enough to squeeze through.

"Yes, we're in! Let's go," Suki said, and they made their way inside. After running down the corridor for several minutes, she noticed that the dusty floors showed fresh footprints—at least five, possibly as many as ten people had run through here recently.

"Aang…I think there are—" but she stopped, gasping as she felt a dart strike her breastplate. Fortunately, her armor was thick enough to prevent it from piercing her skin. "Someone's here! Watch out for—" She stopped again as Aang's fire flickered behind her, and turned to watch him fall hard on his knees, a dart sticking out of his bare shoulder. He stared back at her, his eyes growing foggy, pupils constricting to tiny dots.

She heard the whisp of another dart, and fell flat to the earth, grunting as she rolled towards the wall of the cave.

It was pitch black. Suki heard several shouts and footfalls approaching them. Knees bent, she inched silently but quickly towards them, her hand brushing the rough wall as a reference.

"Wait," a gruff voice commanded and the footfalls quieted. "That poison takes a bit to fully work. Let's make sure they're out cold before we move in."

They think I was hit, she realized, grinning. She positioned herself further into the hallway than the source of the voice, and waited.

After one silent minute in darkness, someone held out a handful of fire. It took them a few seconds of staring at Aang's crumpled form to realize they were missing a victim—just enough time to chi-block three of the eight-man team before they turned around. Thank you Ty Lee! Suki thought as she pulled out her fans to face the remaining ambushers.

Yet these men were not dressed like Kemurikage, she realized—but like the New Ozai Society members who had attacked Zuko and his family last month. What? Are they connected to this? Or did we follow the wrong— her thoughts were cut short as two men in front sent blasts of fire at her head. She quickly ducked, jabbing each man in turn hard in the knees then reaching behind for a second jab to their backs.

As they keeled over, nursing their wounds, the last three sent repeating blasts at her as she ran towards and up the slanted tunnel walls. Reaching a ledge about halfway up the sides, she readjusted and kicked off hard, propelling herself towards her attackers. Skillfully fanning the flames to the sides, she twisted mid-air and kicked the man before her hard in the face. She rolled off him and just managed to roll out of the way of two more blasts which left the floor scarred black.

Looking up, she saw just one of the two remaining fighters. She switched over to her katana and was about to strike again when a voice behind her cried out—

"Stop! I have the Avatar!" She turned to see the missing hooded figure holding up a limp Aang by his elbow, a blade of fire at his throat. "Don't move, or he's dead."

Suki heard the other attacker approach her from behind, and she turned to keep them both in her line of sight, backing towards the wall of the tunnel with her sword held high.

"I mean it!" he said, the flame in his hand pulsing stronger.

Defeated, she dropped the sword and held her fisted hands palm up in surrender, her face burning in irritation beneath the white war paint. I'm sorry, Zuko, she lamented, grimacing as a dart struck her neck.