Chapter Seven


Everything was chaos and flame.

Iroh skidded a halt in the snowy lane, a half a step behind Master Pakku, who cursed under his breath. Iroh surveyed the scene, with his mouth half-open.

Sokka's house was on fire, flames guttering from the small round windows and licking up toward the starry black sky. There were people standing before it, shouting in fear, but no one had moved to try and put out the flames yet, and it was clear why.

No one wanted to come any closer to the wild creature standing in a circle of melted snow before the house. There was a body at her feet, which was on fire, moving feebly, and choking with pain. Lightning sparked off of her, licking at the snow, the air, her hair.

There was no sense in Azula's wild eyes, which seemed lit with a rage as hot as the flames pouring out of the house behind her. Her hands shook as she stared down at the burning man at her feet.

Iroh breathed out, feeling the same panic in her gaze infect him for a moment. Then he shut down the expression and caught Pakku's eye. His old friend seemed to understand, and he went for the house, Bending a huge snowbank into a deluge of water, which he sent toward the flames.

Iroh started forward, but Hakoda was there, grasping his arm.

"She's mad!" Hakoda yelled over the sound of the blaze. "The lightning—"

"She will not harm me," Iroh said with more certainty than he felt, even as he spotted the figure lying in a pool of snow behind Azula for the first time. "Sokka is hurt. Get to him, let me handle my niece!"

Hakoda cried out upon seeing his son and let go of Iroh's arm.

"Princess Azula..." Iroh started, walking carefully over the slippery snow. He could see Pakku working out of the corner of his eye, Bending more snow to put out the flames. Other men came to help him, passing buckets of water in the traditional way, as there were still so few Waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe. "Look at me, Azula..."

Azula's head came up, though lightning arced from her fingertips and into the snow. The man at her feet was no longer moving. Iroh ignored him, keeping Azula's gaze. He noticed blood and ash on her lips, dripping starkly red against her pale skin. Her chest heaved, her teeth coated in blood.

"Please..." he started, holding out his hands placatingly. "You are frightening these people... Please, calm yourself, my niece. The danger has passed and your enemy has fallen."

He edged closer, noting Hakoda circling her, attempting to get to Sokka's side. Azula noticed the movement, and swung on the Chief.

Iroh knew what was going to happen and launched himself forward, rolling across the snow and coming up between Hakoda and Azula just as she unleashed a powerful blast of electric blue lightning.

He fell automatically into the form, catching the lightning on his outstretched fingers, channeling it through him and then tossing it harmlessly at the vast chasm of the sky, all while another figure moved up silently behind Azula faster than she could react. A sword flashed, and she slumped to the ground, revealing Bato behind her.

Electricity sparked on her hands and then died out as she lay there in the snow.

Bato, who had been the one to alert them all that something had happened at Sokka's, bent over Azula, hesitated, and checked her pulse.

"Is she okay?" Iroh slumped in place, feeling all of his years, and every extra pound he'd managed to pack on over the years all of a sudden. He had gotten soft at his tea shop. Much too soft.

"Yes," Bato said grimly, glancing up at his Chief, but Hakoda had rushed to Sokka's side.

"Sokka? Sokka..." his father said urgently, touching Sokka's ashen face. "Malina!"

Malina came rushing over, now that the danger had passed, and fell to her knees before her step-son. She examined him, even as Sokka's eyes fluttered open and he coughed out a ragged mouthful of stringy blood.

"Sokka!" Hakoda exclaimed. "Son, are you alright?"

"Azula..." Sokka said in a thready voice that wheezed. "Where is she? Rian— Rian grabbed her and..."

"She's..." Hakoda started, glancing up. Then his face firmed into hard lines. "She's fine."

"I need her..."

"You need healing," Hakoda said roughly and glanced at Malina, who was examining the dagger stuck in Sokka's back. "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough, but he'll live. We need to get him inside," Malina said.

"I'll get a stretcher," Bato said, and rushed off, calling to a few other men, who followed him. Pakku and the others were still putting out the fire, and those that were not helping were watching the scene with looks of horror on their faces.

Most of those looks were cast at Azula. Iroh limped toward her and pulled her head into his lap. She was feverishly warm and static electricity clung to her skin as he touched her pale face.

"Oh, my niece...what have you done?" he murmured, glancing at the body everyone had been avoiding looking at so far, and it wasn't hard to see why. It was a gruesome sight.

The man had been alive when they'd first arrived, but he was plainly dead now. His skin was charred, split and forked by lightning, chased by fire. His lips were blackened and peeled back from his teeth, which were bared in a bloody, obscene grin. His hair was charred and crumbling in the stark white snow and his clothing had burned in patches, revealing mottled skin that had been charred from within. His fingers showed stark white bone where the flesh had been seared away.

Iroh had seen something like this before, long ago, during the War. He had hoped to never see it again. He stroked Azula's face and bowed low over her, the smell of burned flesh in his nostrils, both in memory and reality.

Hakoda took charge of the scene, ordering people to get more buckets, though the fire was almost out. Sokka's house was a smoldering ruin. There would be no saving it. Bato returned with a stretcher, and they bore Sokka away, with Malina attending him closely.

The Chief came over to him then, and crouched down before the body. He examined the man closely, rolling his head to the side. There, just visible through the burnt skin, was the tattoo of a black flame on his neck.

"A Smoke Demon," Iroh said heavily. "They are all marked so. They were attacked. She defended him. She defended them both. If she hadn't... She may well have saved Sokka's life."

Hakoda looked up, his blue eyes grave. "I realize that, General Iroh, but you saw her. She was out of control. She might have killed someone innocent. She did try to kill me and I cannot overlook that. She is a danger to my people. That is very clear to me."

"She was provoked," Iroh said.

"Perhaps, but I've felt she was a time bomb from the moment Sokka brought her here, and my suspicions have only been proven tonight," Hakoda sighed. He closed his eyes and rubbed at the deep furrow between his thick brows. "Were she anyone else, and had she not acted in self-defense, I would banish her from the Tribe, just to keep my people safe."

"But you will not?"

"No, she will not be banished, but I am wary of having her here, among my people She could have killed more than this Smoke Demon tonight."

"Sokka—"

"Sokka is not Chief of this tribe, and thinks only with his heart," Hakoda said, as Bato came walking back The fire was out, but smoke threaded toward the sky in thick, pungent flumes. "If he disagrees with my judgment, then that is a matter between us."

"I will take her, if she wishes to leave," Iroh said sadly. "But not before Sokka is well enough to see her."

Hakoda licked his lips and nodded. "Very well. Bato?"

"Sokka has been taken to your home. They were pulling out the dagger when I left. Another healer's hands would helpful, if Pakku is finished here."

"I can be spared now. The fire is out," Pakku said, and excused himself with a bow. Iroh watched him go, as Bato bent over the body in the snow, examining it carefully. He had a shrewd expression on his face.

"You know, it strikes me that he might not be the only one of these Demons to have followed them from the Fire Nation. We should gather a hunting party, Chief Hakoda. There may be more lurking about."

"You're right. Call our warriors. We will meet in the square within the half hour. Send someone to take this body away, as well. I need to look after my son first," Hakoda said, as Bato nodded and took off. Hakoda then looked long and hard at Azula, his expression unreadable for the moment. He seemed to come suddenly to some decision and, leaning forward, he scooped her into his arms and hefted her against his chest as he stood.

Her head lolled back and she moaned weakly, but didn't wake. A confused expression crossed Hakoda's face and he said wonderingly, "She looks so innocent."

"She is, in many ways," Iroh said sadly. "Hers has been a hard road, Chief Hakoda. Do not judge her too harshly, for things beyond her control."

"It's her lack of control that I fear," Hakoda frowned and together they walked back toward Hakoda's home. Every step felt infinitely heavy to Iroh, and heartache followed behind them, the faintest scent of fire and ruin draping over them like shadows.


Azula climbed out of nightmares, screaming as she dug her fingers into her own flesh just to stop the flashes of lurid, painful memories from flooding over her like boiling water. Gasping, she rolled over and threw up in hot gushes, her whole body cramping up around her aching middle.

Someone murmured soothingly to her, stroking her hair back. Sweat drenched her skin. She felt raw, inside and out, like someone had grated her flesh along barbed wire. She drank something cool and soothing, and then passed back into her nightmares.

She woke again some time later, judging by the weak sunlight slanting in through the windows, but she still felt feverish, and everything came at her confusing flashes. Iroh was there, speaking to her in a low voice, soothing her, tipping broth down her throat. A woman she faintly recognized as Sokka's stepmother helped her to bathroom. Then she was gone again, too racked by fever to push out the questions she knew she should be asking.

She was afraid of the answers. Afraid of what had happened after Rian had kissed her. Her hazy, lightning-seared memories told her everything. She had killed again, and she had laughed while he'd burned...

And Sokka...

She sobbed into her pillow, too afraid to follow that thought. There had been blood. So much blood. She passed back into nightmares, and everything became confused. She was in Rinchaka Falls, and the trader's wagons were on fire, blown apart. The children were screaming. And the men from the Green Heart were laughing, holding her down, filling her mouth with dirt as she tried, and failed, to call for Sokka, though she reached for him, desperately, valiantly...

Someone tipped something fiery and warm into her mouth, that tasted faintly medicinal. The same soothing voice as before calmed her screams until she fell into a dreamless, empty void. There she drifted for some time, alone and exposed.

When she finally woke again, she was alone and it was night. She was in an unfamiliar room, with a fire burning low in a blackened stone hearth. She licked lips dry and cracked and swallowed, then coughed as her throat seemed to stick closed. She coughed and rolled over, her head spinning.

A ceramic mug of water sat at her beside, and she grasped it, gulping it down greedily, her hands shaking as she did. When she put it down, the door opened a crack, and a knock sounded on the wood. "Princess Azula? Are you awake?"

"Come in, Uncle," she croaked, clutching her head. There was a throbbing pain on the back of her head, and her fingers encountered a knot there when they groped through her tangled hair. "How long—?"

"Four days," Iroh said, his mouth a grim line beneath his wiry, iron-gray beard. He looked careworn, and tired. "You have been ill, but your fever passed some hours ago. Much has happened in that time..."

She passed a hand over her face, screwing up her eyes as she felt tears threaten them. "Sokka?"

Iroh sat down beside her and took her hand. His smile was tight, but kind. "He is recovering. The dagger in his back nearly punctured his left lung, but his thick fur coat prevented it from going too deeply. The wound was grievous, however, and he'll be recovering for a while. He's been asking after you. Demanding to see you, actually."

She breathed out in relief, though tears spilled over her eyes. She wiped at them, but they wouldn't stop coming. He was alive! Sokka was alive!

"And... And Rian? The man who attacked us?"

Iroh hesitated and then reached out, taking her hand gently. "Dead. Chief Hakoda's men found his airship, marked with the Smoke Demon's black flame, some distance from the village. We have found no evidence that he was working with anyone else. And what is more—" he started, but she cut him off.

"I killed him."

Iroh opened his mouth and then looked down at their hands. "Yes, you did."

"I don't regret it," she said, though her voice was shaking. Tears fell hotly down her cheeks.

Her uncle looked up at her and there was sorrow and understanding there. He gathered her into his arms and pulled her against his shoulder. She struggled for a moment and then pushed her face into his shoulder, sobbing, though she wasn't sure why.

Rian had tried to kill Sokka, several times. He had looked at her the way those men in the Green Heart had. He had touched her. He would have hurt her. She'd had no choice, and yet...

Iroh spoke in the same soothing voice as he had when she'd been wracked with the fever, stroking her hair. It was the strangest feeling, an almost fatherly gesture, and it broke down every barrier in her mind. She cried on his shoulder until she had nothing left.

Iroh made her lay down again, but she didn't want to sleep. She clutched his hand, afraid he would leave her. She didn't want to be alone.

"What else has happened, Uncle?"

"Some good news, I'm glad to report. This morning we received a messenger hawk from Fire Lord Zuko. He didn't know where we had gone after we left the Fire Nation, but it seems he guessed our destination correctly. The Smoke Demons have been routed and arrested. Their leader has been captured, and their plot uncovered."

Iroh made a strange face, and glanced at her with turbulent eyes.

"Who was it?"

"Lady Shura. And her sons, it seems."

Azula's eyes widened and she sat up, even though it made her head spin. "WHAT?"

"I had much the same reaction," Iroh mused, though there was no humor in his gaze. "It seems this whole business was my fault. I knew Shura was power-hungry, but I always reckoned her to be a bit of a silly old cow, with nothing more dangerous up her sleeves than vicious gossip. It seems she's been using her late husband's considerable wealth to gather dissidents to her banner. She intended to win the throne somehow. She had many different schemes to make this happen, but her ultimate plot, in the end, was to have Zuko abdicate, disown you, and name me heir. And she was going to hold Zuko hostage until I married her."

"She wanted to marry you?"

"Yes, and make her sons my heirs. That, Zuko thinks, was truly her deepest wish. Her sons were more important to her than her position. They were all of them killed in the fighting. It's a long and bloody tale, which can be told another night. You need your rest, Princess Azula..."

"Did he say anything about Ty Lee?"

Iroh brightened at that. "He did! She is in recovery. Your young friend will be fine."

A worry she hadn't realized had been gnawing at her since they'd left the Fire Nation loosened. Ty Lee had made it. She breathed out, one hand over her heart in relief. She might have wondered at that that, but she was too exhausted to look past her relief.

One day, she knew, she would have to make things right with Ty Lee.

"And the Avatar—?"

"Our letter arrived too late to do Zuko any good, although Aang is no doubt on his way to the Fire Nation to do what he can. We have not heard news from him just yet."

"I'm sure you want to go to Zuko, too."

A shadow passed over Iroh's face. "He has asked me to stay away for now. Just until they are sure all of the Smoke Demons have been caught."

"They won't catch them all."

"No, I fear not," Iroh said grimly. "But the main threat has passed. Shura will pay for her crimes."

Azula thought a moment. "That's why the Smoke Demons ordered us to kill that man, Kato Sanyi, at Lady Shura's birthday party. Shura wanted to see him die. It was personal. I thought her party was just convenient. And Sokka saved her son's life at the party!. No wonder he knew who I was! If only we'd guessed... We were so close!"

"You couldn't have known, Azula. You did the best with what you were given. We all have. There has been much grief over this whole affair, and death. Too many deaths," Iroh said and bowed his head. He hesitated again and then glanced at her. "There is... There is something else I wish to discuss with you."

"What?"

"Chief Hakoda... Well, he is concerned. You are staying in his home, and he... He was concerned for the safety of his family."

Azula sat up straighter. Her middle felt very cold all of a sudden. "Because I lost control."

Iroh's gaze flitted to hers and then away. "Yes."

"He's right."

"No, he isn't."

"Yes, he is, Uncle. I lost control. I don't remember much beyond Rian grabbing me, but... But I was out of control. It's happened before, when I was scared and threatened. Did I hurt anyone?"

"No one but this Rian person," Iroh said and then grimaced. "You... You nearly threw lightning at Sokka's father. I believe you saw him as a threat to Sokka, but I redirected the blast, and no harm was done to either of us. Hakoda's friend Bato knocked you out while you were distracted."

She felt the lump at the back of her head again and breathed out. "I could have killed Sokka's father."

"You did not."

"But I could have. I tried to."

"You were not yourself."

"If I'm not me, then who I am, Uncle? A murderer? Crazy? Untrustworthy? I don't know. I never know. I couldn't stop myself. I don't even remember it! I'm dangerous," she said, her voice breaking as she hung her head. "I need help, Uncle...and I can't drag Sokka down with me."

Her voice was small and sad, but there it was. She had already known it, hadn't she? It was the reason she had tried to put space between herself and Sokka, to make it easier when she left him. No matter how much she wanted to stay. No matter how much she loved him.

Leaving him was the only choice she had. But did she have the strength to do it?

Iroh squeezed her hand tightly. "You are not thinking clearly, niece."

She closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek as she nodded. "Yes, I am. Hakoda's right. I need to leave. As soon as possible." She looked up at him and her gaze was steady. For the first time in a long time, she could see her path laid out for her, and she chose it with both eyes open. "Would you take me to Ba Sing Se?"

Iroh's deeply lined face was solemn, and there was heartbreak in his eyes. "If that is what you wish, niece. And...Sokka?"

She felt pain lance through her heart, even as she stood on wobbly legs. Her head swam, but she ignored it, turning away from her uncle.

"I've made my choice, Uncle. Just... Just be ready to go at first light."

Iroh looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded and bowed out of the room, leaving her standing there, shaking, her heart shattered, but her mind made up.