Zuko knows something's gone wrong the second he sees Ty Lee's flare go up. The group had planned their locations in such a way so that the Kyoshi warriors could arrive at either place in under two minutes. So when Zuko sees Ty Lee's flare go up in a spot ten minutes away, he wonders whether Azula hasn't gotten the best of them again.
He arrives at the burned down flower shop eight minutes later, Kyoshi warriors in tow. Ty Lee must have gone looking for Suki, he realizes. This should be good news- it must mean that Azula attacked while the two were together, and Azula shouldn't be able to take on both of them at once. But there's something unsettling about this picture.
Then he realizes it. The strange thing is that there's no sign of a fight anywhere. In fact, all the bystanders acting like nothing's happened is a sign that there wasn't a fight here. Their confusion is only remedied by one helpful commoner who sees his companions and tells them, "Are you looking for the other two Kyoshi warriors? They went into that alley over there." That makes Zuko's heart sink.
Azula likes to lure her enemies into bad locations- he felt that first hand when he and Iroh walked straight into a nest of Dai Li. Suki and Ty Lee should know better to go into unfamiliar territory, away from the eyes of anyone who can raise an alert. Zuko enters the alley, and just like with Ty Lee minutes earlier, they only need to follow the scent of burned metal to find Ty Lee crouched over Suki's body.
"She's still breathing," Ty Lee informs them when they come into sight. Zuko lets go of a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Suki was only in this whole mess because of him- no tradition stated that the purpose of the Kyoshi warriors was to guard the Fire Lord. If Suki had been killed while serving him, the one who had commanded the burning of Kyoshi Island, he didn't know how he would get past it.
"Get her to the palace and fetch a healer," is his command.
…
Ty Lee's debriefing is a lot less helpful than he had hoped. Apparently she had only arrived at the scene after Suki had already been defeated. Any new intel on Azula will have to wait until after Suki wakes up.
Ty Lee's angry- angrier than he's ever seen her. Unlike Mai, Ty Lee wears her emotions on her sleeve- it's clear to everyone just how infuriated Ty Lee is that Azula went after Suki to get to her. Mai has promised to take down Azula personally, but she may have some stiff competition in the acrobat. (If Azula continues to be as cruel in her attacks as she has been, there will be quite a few people wanting to make the final strike.)
The fact that Azula attacked Suki instead of him and Ty Lee throws a wrench in their calculations. The motive for the attack is burned right into Suki's chestplate, which means that Mai is not the primary target, but rather the first. Mai turned on her first, Ty Lee turned on her second. If Azula's going in order, then the next people on the list should be him and Katara. And Azula's not going at her targets directly, but rather targeting the loved ones of her targets...
Zuko gives a glance towards Aang. If there's a loved one of Katara around, it's the Avatar. He feels like Azula shouldn't be able to take on Aang, which means his present worry should be on which of his loved ones will be attacked. His thoughts fly to Kiyi- was she it? He's not sure, which is when he realizes that Kiyi is not the loved one of his that Azula has planned. Azula had left a message for both Mai and Ty Lee singling them out- there's no doubt that she will leave a similar message for Zuko. Ursa would be the perfect choice, Zuko realizes.
Zuko speaks his musings to the group, and they agree that Ursa should be put under heavy guard immediately. Zuko refuses to let Ursa leave the palace, although Mai points out that Azula could easily enter the palace undetected through the secret passageways. It's a risk they'll have to take.
Aang leaves to watch over Ursa. With the two together, Azula will be forced to go where they have the advantage. Although Zuko is hesitant to make it a guarantee that his mother will end up in the line of fire, he can't argue with the logic.
Azula's surprise factor is dwindling, Zuko thinks. It's all of them against her, and time is their friend, Azula's enemy.
But when Katara and Sokka turn the corner, acting like Zuko expected them to be there, Zuko is reminded again that they cannot fathom what Azula's planning for them.
…
Katara embraces him in a warm hug, and Zuko is almost too stunned to return the hug. "Katara! What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean?" Katara asks. "I got your note." From her satchel, she produces a piece of parchment, complete with the Fire Lord's stamp. 'Come as soon as you can,' the note reads. 'Azula is loose in the city.'
Zuko takes a deep breath, and sits down. He can't allow himself to panic. "Katara, it's a really long story, but I didn't send that." Zuko tells Katara all about recent events- the curfew, Azula attacking Mai's mother and aunt, and the attack on Suki. "She's been taking revenge on everyone who helped take her down," Zuko explains. "The fact that she lured you here is only a bad thing."
Katara shakes her head. "No, it's a good thing. If you remember, I was the one who finally took her down in the first place. And I'm going to help you take her down again. Azula's bitten off more than she can chew by getting me here."
"Yeah, yeah, let's get to the important thing," Sokka butts in. "Where's Suki?"
...
Katara gently lowers the glowing bubble of water over Suki's head. The effect is immediate, as Suki stirs and slowly opens her eyes. "Azula!" she shouts, quickly shooting to an upright position.
Her friends restrain her. "Don't worry, you're safe," says Zuko soothingly. "What happened?"
Suki thinks back. "I was asking around about Azula the the flower shop. I was about to give up when a man came up to me saying there was a clue in the alleyway. But I think he was in the New Ozai Society- he led me straight into an ambush and called her the Fire Lord. Azula attacked me and beat me."
"Zuko, there's something you need to know," she continues. "Right before I fell unconscious, I heard Azula arguing with someone, but I couldn't see who. Azula wanted to kill me, but that person wasn't letting her. Azula's not calling the shots. Somebody has her on a leash."
"That corroborates with what my mother told me," Mai adds. "Apparently, there was 'somebody' who wanted to make sure my mother and aunt didn't die in that fire."
"We need to reevaluate," Zuko says. "We've been working under the assumption that Azula is the mastermind."
"Well, who would it be if not Azula?" Aang questions.
"Well, who might be leading the New Ozai Society?" Sokka answers. "It's obvious in hindsight. These personal attacks are to achieve a larger end- she knew that, by revealing herself to you, you would start a massive manhunt..."
"...using every available soldier..." continued Mai.
"...including the guards at the prison!" finished Zuko. "We were waiting for Azula to attack the palace! But all this was a diversion! She's going to free Ozai!"
...
"There's just one thing to consider," sysa Sokka as the group made its way to the prison. "if Suki was part of the distraction to get us away from the prison, then Ozai would still be in prison when Suki was attacked. So who was Azula listening to in that alleyway?"
Nobody has an answer. For better or worse, Ozai was the only person Azula ever took orders from. They're still thinking about this question when they reach the gates of the prison. There's only a token guard there tonight, due to the manhunt for Azula. The guards that are there salute the Fire Lord, asking what brings him there this time at night.
"I'm here to see my father," is the reply, to which the guard responds that it had been pretty quiet. (Of course, it had been quiet in Ba Sing Se up until the Five Generals got captured.)
"We'll escort you to your father," says the warden. Zuko mutters under his breath that Ozai shouldn't count as his father, but only Mai hears. Entering the prison, Zuko takes the path he had taken many times before finding his mother. There's a feeling of dread forming in the pit of his stomach, the same feeling he had when they made their way through those twisting alleyways earlier that night. If Ozai is missing from his cell, then his worst fears will have come true.
Zuko should have been more specific about his orders. When he had every available man drafted into the manhunt, he should have made sure the prison was excluded from his order. The prison had the highest number of trained and armed men in one place ready to go- whoever had executed his order probably had men pulled from the prison first thing.
But they really went overboard, Zuko thinks. He's passed by cell after cell, hallway after hallway, and there's no guards here. To his left, the warden looks uncomfortable, and Zuko confronts him about it. "I told my second in command to join the manhunt and take some guards with him," he explains, "but I certainly didn't authorize him taking this many. We should have passed at least three guards by now."
That's why Sokka, on a hunch, checks a supply closet that they just passed. When two unconscious guards topple out, Zuko feels like he's going to be sick. If the faces on his friends are any indication, they feel the same. There's a mad dash to Ozai's cell, and as Zuko turns the corner, he sees that the door's been left open. Oh spirits, his father's escaped, and he's left an unconscious guard behind him in his cell.
No, that's not right. That's not the body of a firebender who trains regularly, but the body of a nonbender without access to varied cuisine. Zuko creeps up slowly to the motionless body, grabs it by the shoulder, and turns it over. It's his father, and Zuko recoils in shock. The last time he'd seen Ozai, his face had been unmarked.
Now the left side of his face has been melted off.
So many thoughts run through Zuko's head. This attack isn't like the attacks on Mai's family or on Suki- nobody particularly cares about his deposed father. The scar makes it seem like this was targeted towards him, but Azula knows that there's no love lost between him and his father.
There's also the thought that they've read Azula wrong yet again. Ozai clearly isn't the leader here, so who is?
Ozai begins to stir, and Zuko hopes he'll be more forthcoming with answers than he was when he first came down here to ask about his mother.
A/N:
So much for New Ozai Society.