The weak glow of the crystals lighting the serene cavern revealed it for the raging battlefield it truly was. But the battle was slowing, changing form now as more and more of her newly won-over Dai Li surrounded the Avatar and his companion. Finding a brief lull in the blaze of combat, Azula smiled. A princess admitted her mistakes, if only to herself. The gamble to bring over Zuko to her side had almost cost her everything, but now…
She caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye, taking up a proper stance alongside her. Filling her heart with pride on her own ability in bringing him back into the fiery fold. Welcome back home brother, however short a stay that maybe…
A flicker of movement, burnt orange being replaced by shining green, brought her attention forward. The Avatar had ensconced himself away, cowering beneath a shield of crystals. She frowned slightly; something about this didn't feel right. Slowly, she drifted away from Zuko, the feeling growing every second. Not one Dai Li looked at her as she slid past them, their attention devoted solely to the target. She had just edged past the outer most line of Earth benders when the crystals started glowing brighter.
She broke into a run. Deep in her gut she knew this was a time of destiny and choices, the reason she had asked Zuko to join her, and this knowledge lent force to her will, keeping her already aching limbs pumping. She climbed and leapt, somehow knowing that height was key. Then the light intensified, stabbing at her unprotected eyes. She stumbled, almost falling and failing right then, right there. She forced herself to look into the light, willing her tearing eyes to see what was happening.
She almost started laughing. The Avatar was rising into the air, every tattoo on his body glowing. She found herself staring at destiny's will in human form, at fortune's fancy bestowed upon a small boy. She knew what it was. The few remaining soldiers from the failed polar siege had described this, as had the handful of scrolls containing detailed knowledge of the Avatar her nation had. It was the divine medium descended upon the mortal world.
Glee rose in her, as she knew she had been right, she had known what fate itself would do next. Then the glorious elation was swept away. All emotion was swept away. She knew what she had to do to survive.
There was nothing for her, no feeling in her legs as she slid into the proper stance. There was no cavern; her eyes did not hurt as they looked into the glare of fate unflinchingly. There were no Dai Li or Waterbenders; even Zuko did not exist. She did not exist, her name was nothing, her past was nothing. Only her body and the faintest shred of her mind existed.
She brought one hand around, smearing the air with nothing. The other followed the first's lead, distorting the air with nothing. Her body was nothing but the bridge between two forces, her mind the guiding influence. She felt the forces tease and begin to take shape just at the edge of her grasp. And in that moment in time, she knew. She knew what it was like to be the Avatar, she knew what it felt like to be a vessel for incomprehensible powers beyond human understanding. She knew what it felt to be truly divine.
The two forces, strained apart by her will upon fate, became one. Nothing became everything. She became Azula. The forces joined together became lightning. It arced towards the Avatar, letting her strike down the divine. She felt the muscles in her face form her lips into something. It took her a second to realize that she was smiling, but when she did, it grew all the larger. One emotion flooded in before all the others. She barely recognized it, but as the Avatar plummeted smoking through the air, she knew what it was.
She had defied fate. She had reached parity with the divine. She had destroyed destiny.