Dichotomy

by The Rose's Charm

Suki's destinychanging battle with Azula, Sokka and loss, the meaning of protect, and Azula's highly structured world. It's about division, contrast, and branching off into the unknown. AU to S3, SokkaSuki, Sukka, Maiko, etc.

10. Emin's Sentiment, part two

This chapter was the most difficult thing to write. Ever. Many hours were spent mulling it over, re-writing, editing, adding in scenes, taking them out, discussing the content with close friends. Thank you, everyone, who reads it.

CHAPTER TEN: EMIN'S SENTIMENT, PART TWO



When he went to bed that night, he found Suki already there, and with great reluctance, he pulled off his parka and bedded down next to her. She kept her back to him, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be grateful or angry.

"I'm not mad at you," he whispered, dragging the furs up around him and wiggling around until he was comfortable. Suki didn't reply, so he said it again, a bit louder.

"And I'm not going to die," Suki replied.

"This is never going to work," Sokka said, quietly, "this is never, ever, going to work, we are going to get killed and we are too young to die like this, okay?"

"We?" she said, sitting up a bit so that she could crane her neck to look at him.

"Yeah," he said, firmly, rather irked that she would question it. "And don't you dare—"

"We are not going to die, then," Suki said, "but Azula is."

Her voice sounded funny. Sokka got the immediate, distinct impression that she was saying it just to console him, or something along those lines; Suki was agreeing but her heart didn't seem to be in it. The sunlight, still lingering overnight, let nothing in her expression hide.

Sokka didn't know how to reply to that other than to sit up, himself, reach over and grab her around the middle, and haul her closer to him. She hesitated at first, casting a glance at the sleeping forms around them, but then she moved with him, burying her face against his neck and bringing one leg up to wrap around his hip. She shivered.

They were sharing this room with a lot of others, so there was no getting more intimate than that, and Sokka was terrified of the notion that he would never hold Suki like this again.



The next day was a blur. It was a day of rushed preparations, arming and clothing those capable of fighting, forming tactical units and preparing for the invasion. The Fire nation sent note that they were ready to invade, that the Water tribe had two days to surrender, before they were eliminated with Sozin's Comet. That last forty-eight hours was a horrible grace period. The Water tribe sent its message back -- we have Suki, she'd like an Agni Kai with Princess Azula. Please respond.

"Only that long to take out thousands of ships, to find their leader, and kill her," Chief Arnook said, quietly, when the message came. "That's the only way we can win."

"Don't worry," Katara said, "we can do it. We've got the Avatar – we'll never fail as long as Aang is here."

Aang, who was holding Katara's hand tightly, said, "Yeah."

Arnook shook his head, slowly, and he said, "I'm sorry to say this, Avatar, but I must agree with something Hakoda told me the other day."

"What's that?" Aang asked.

There was a pause, and Hakoda looked at Arnook. Katara looked defensive almost immediately, and Hakoda put a hand on Aang's shoulder. Sokka looked away guiltily, and Suki folded her arms.

"Perhaps it really is the regular men that will be the resolution to this war, not the Avatar."

Katara just grabbed Aang by the forearm and dragged him off, before another word could be said.



Suki approached Sokka as he was laying out battle plans for the troops on the snow-beaches, six hours later. He'd been at it for five.

"Azula's rejected the offer," Suki said, hollowly.

Sokka looked at her sidelong and said, "Oh?" It was so hard to not feel relieved, especially when he knew his reaction should have been disappointed that their chance had come and gone. He looked at her, and shrugged.

"We'll kick her butt, anyway," Sokka said.

Suki nodded, but her heart didn't seem in that, either. "Yeah," she said, "hopefully. I know we can do it, it's just a matter of time… forty-two hours isn't very long for a siege as big as this one."

"Don't worry," Sokka said, lightheartedly, "we'll take her down, and our names will be in history books. Suki the Great, Sokka the Great, Sokka-Suki The Greatness Supreme. Kids will love it."

Suki simply smiled, at that, and then she said, "Mm."

Sokka got the distinct impression that she had so much more to tell him than that, but he didn't ask. He didn't want to know. His heart was racing, as it had with Yue, and he was thinking only of how she could have told him so much more, too, but she hadn't. She hadn't told him a word about Hahn, hadn't uttered a single thing, so that he would be protected. Sokka had asked, and asked, and asked, and she had always changed the subject.

"Suki," he said, looking up from his map. His fingers curled, his knuckles turned white under his gloves. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

There was a pregnant pause, and then she said, "Yes." She was looking at him, but her eyes were settled somewhere on his chest, rather than his eyes.

Sokka collected his thoughts, and then he said, "Are you going to tell me?"

Suki looked up, just slightly, but she still didn't make eye contact. She said, carefully, "I trust you, Sokka, but you're going to try to change my mind."

"Suki," Sokka huffed, frustrated, "What happened to 'we' and all that?"

Then her eyes met his, almost angrily, and she said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Sokka replied, and he knew she was goading him. Unintentionally, maybe, but it was a spike in his side all the same. "Just tell me what you're doing and I'll help you and things won't go wrong."

Suki opened her mouth to retort, but Sokka beat her. He added, curtly, "Or am I supposed to be the back-up plan, supposed to dig you out of trouble?"

Sokka regretted it the instant he said it, and there was a moment of silence where Suki held his gaze, wide-eyed. She seemed to pass through various expressions, angry one second, then hurt, then absolutely furious, and then she finally managed to say something.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but yes."

It was his turn to splutter over his words.

"How am I supposed to protect you," he said, finally. It was a demand, roughly spat at her. "How can I protect you if you're not even going to tell me what you're doing."

She sighed.

"Sokka," she said. She turned, just slightly, taking her eyes off him, and then she said, "I'm going to get taken prisoner. They'll bring me to Azula, and maybe I'll be able to bring her down when I get there. It's the only way to get to her, she wouldn't come onto the battlefield herself."

Sokka felt the bones in his fingers strain, he was clenching his hands so hard. He said, desperately, "No." With more gusto, he added, "No way."

"I need you to get me out of there after Azula's dead," Suki rationalized.

"They'll kill you," Sokka said, "you can't kill their leader and get off scott-free. No way. Suki, this is ridiculous. This is the stupidest plan ever."

"It's the only way," Suki argued.

"No," Sokka insisted. "No, it isn't. You don't even want to do this plan."

"I do," Suki said.

"No you don't."

"I do, Sokka."

"No you don't!"

"It's the only way."

"Nope!"

It was getting childish, and she pulled them out of it before he could. She said, "Please let me do this."

His heart was beating so fast. He said, "I can't. I love you."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, and Sokka was surprised at his own words, for an instant. Firmly, as if it would change her mind, he repeated, "I love you, Suki."

"I love you too," Suki replied, and Sokka's heart skipped a beat, but she crushed it quickly: "But that doesn't change the fact that I have to do this."

He let out a frustrated growl, and he said, loudly, "Alright. Alright. Here's the deal, then: we both get taken prisoner. We get ourselves out."

Suki opened her mouth, but at that time, Katara barreled into the room, and she said, breathily, "The invasion's begun."

"What?" Sokka protested. "We still have almost a whole day!"

Katara gave a helpless shrug.

"That lying bi--"

"Sokka," Suki chided, sharply, but she turned to face Katara. "Where are they coming from?"

"The front, they broke down the wall and we couldn't rebuild it in time. They're just moving forward," Katara said. She continued, more frustrated, "Leave it to Azula to attack while everyone's only getting prepared. She hasn't exactly attacked yet, other than ripping down the wall, but she's ready to. She's just waiting for us to mount the defense. We HAVE to mount the defense."

"Let's go," Sokka said.

"You can see it from the window upstairs," Katara said, "come on, Toph and Aang are waiting for us."



The five of them crowded the window, through Toph joined them only because she was caught between Suki and the icy windowsill. Aang let out a disappointed sigh and Katara bit her lip. Sokka let out a strained "Whoo-boy." Suki said nothing, but her hand drifted to Sokka's, and she gripped it like a vice.

There was Azula, at the helm of an invasion force, coming in from the plain regions before the city. She sat astride a great beast with shaggy black fur and huge curling horns, a ramparrot. The beast's wings were outstretched, framing its rider between them. The forces behind her, ranging from mounted riders to foot-soldiers to large tanks, were in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions.

And that was where Azula lifted a hand, and everything halted. They seemed to wait, and Sokka glanced at Aang with his eyebrows knitted.

"Think they have terms?"

"I wouldn't put it past Azula for this to be a trap," Katara said.

"I'm going to negotiate, then," Aang said, "Maybe I can reason with her, bring something to an agreement..."

"That's not going to work," Suki said, "you're saying that maybe we can compromise. Compromise... there's compromise when everyone believes they've gotten the best end of the bargain. They'll never compromise over the possession of the entire world, they won't share."

"I've got to try," Aang said, and Katara braced herself against him. Aang glanced at her, and put on a steeled sort of smile. He looked absolutely determined. He said, firmly, "I'm going to talk to her."

"I'm going with you," Katara said.

"Alright," Sokka said, "Be careful. I guess Suki and I are going to go get the troops ready here, get whoever we can mobilized to the defenses... they're trying to pinch us, this'll take some creative maneuvering, and once the comet comes, we're screwed..."

Suki was glaring at him.

"Don't say that," Aang said.

"We've got..." Sokka paused. After a second, he said, "We've got only hours to end this thing, Aang. Seriously, if they use the comet, they'll melt this place like nothing else."

"Then let's get mobilized," Suki said, dismissively, "We don't have time."

There was a pause, and Sokka looked at her funny. He said, "So are we doing this or not...?"

"Mobilizing the troops? Of course we are," Suki said, raising her eyebrows. She looked disappointed regardless. Katara and Aang gave them strange looks, confused, and Suki said, "Sokka and I had an idea but if Azula's already on the move, we don't have time to pull it off, unless we go right out there right now. So I suppose we're on the battlefield with everyone else."

"Suki," Katara said, "do you want to come with us to speak with Azula? Maybe that would be good."

"No," Suki said, "I promised Sokka I would help him with the troops, and we're short on generals anyway. You and Aang will know how to handle it."

Sokka frowned, and Suki said, looking at him, though not really speaking to him, "I can't face Azula like that."

"Alright," Katara said. Her eyes flicked back to the field, and the ocean beyond it. The forces were overwhelming, against them. Right then, Sokka got an idea, as he surveyed the boat-packed horizon.

Sokka glanced at Toph, and he said, "Hey, sport, you going to stay here and not freeze your toes off, or do you think you could give us a bit of that metalbending help? If we can get you somewhere solid and useful, could you do it? How about the ships?"

Toph caught on immediately, and with gusto.

"If you can get me on one of their ships, I'll be fine, I can feel the vibrations through the metal," Toph said. "But I'll need back up. I don't care who they are, as long as they can cover me and get me from ship to ship as they sink like rocks!"

"Sounds good," Sokka said, "I'll find you a unit... I don't know if boats would work best to get you from place to place, maybe... rip them apart by the hulls..."

"She can borrow Appa," Aang said, and then he grit his teeth. "I'm probably better on foot for today."

Sokka nodded, and Toph consented. Suki smiled, glanced at Toph, and asked, "You could probably take out more people than the four of us combined, if we play your card right."

Toph turned her head up towards Suki's voice and then she said, with a determined grin, "Oh, I'll take out more people than all of you here have in your entire lives."

There was a slight silence, where the lot of them looked at each other with a bit of sympathy. Maybe it was the last fight of their lives, already, at their young ages. Maybe they were going to die that day. But no one could say, no one could predict that future alone.



The wind on the field was violent, whipping through Katara's hair and sending it billowing up around her, escaping the captivity of her hood. Aang glanced back at her only once, and drew his arms up to change the direction of the wind around them. As they approached Azula, he kept up this defense, and only when they were a full twenty feet away did he drop that guard. They were completely exposed, and Azula nudged the sides of her ramparrot, and the great beast's clawed feet moved, bringing it so close that its huge curved beak was nearly against Aang's chest. He stepped back only slightly, and grabbed hold of its halter with his hands, bravely.

"Princess Azula," he said, firmly, although politely.

"Avatar," Azula smiled, and her eyes drifted to Katara. She added, "And the Water tribe girl."

"My name is Katara," she replied, but her eyes weren't on Azula. Azula glanced to her side, to where Zuko was waiting, on foot. He was determinedly looking into the distance, avoiding Katara's eyes. Aang eyed the Fire nation siblings with courage, and he knew who was in control out of the two siblings.

"I'm here to discuss terms of peace," Aang said, and his voice came out loud and clear. "I'm not going to settle for less. I command you to leave this place, or I will be forced to defend it with everything I have."

"Mm," Azula murmured, "unfortunately, I'm here to negotiate the Water tribe's surrender. Once that happens, there will be peace."

"No, there won't," Aang said, "there are four nations, not one."

"Don't be foolish," Azula replied, "we've been sitting with three for a hundred years now, and it's made no difference. We've had only two nations for almost two months now, and already great progress has been made. Placing the Water tribe under—"

"Shut up!" Katara snapped, "We're not here to compromise, because we're not going to settle for less than our complete safety!" She was taking the words right from Suki. "There won't be any compromise as long as you insist on carrying on this war."

Azula's ramparrot started up a bit, bucking its head and nearly catching Aang in the face, but he held onto the halter and pulled its head back down, more or less calming it. Azula didn't help this -- she drew back on the reins, violently, as if to punish it, and the beast bucked its head again and let out a squawk. Aang held on, pulling it down again, and Azula jerked the reins again.

"Stop doing that," Aang snapped, his patience wearing a bit. "You're hurting it!"

"It's fine," Azula replied, swiftly. Her golden eyes settled on Katara again, and she said, "Now, Miss Katara. If there will be no compromise, we've agreed that the Fire nation will lay siege to the Water tribe."

"Please," Aang said, as respectful as he could be without losing the order and sternness to his voice, "it doesn't have to be this way. With a bit of co-operation, we can make this world fair for everyone—"

"You won't convince me," Azula replied, "so stop wasting my time. The second order of business is negotiations over a certain possession of mine that you have."

Both Katara and Aang fell silent for a moment, and the gravity of standing before thousands of enemies was gripping them tightly. Appa, behind them, let out a concerned groan, and Aang steeled himself. Azula waited for them to say something, and then she said, "You stole her from my prison."

"Suki?" Katara snapped, "She's not your possession, she's a human being! Why would we hand her over to you?"

"Six months, for the girl," Azula replied, and the smirk on her lips made the deal all that more tempting. Six months to gather their forces, arm up, supply… it could mean a better chance at victory, just for the price of one life. "We'll leave for a minimum of six months if you hand over the girl."

"No," Aang said, loudly, "no way. I'm not putting a price on anyone's head. Suki is my friend, she's the reason I have Appa, I'm not giving her to you!"

"Yeah," Katara breathed, though there lingered a slightest bit of hesitation in her voice. She was resolute, adamant that no life be spent, but the free world gave her the tiniest, most microscopic bit of doubt. She said, "It's either none of us or all of us."

Azula looked genuinely angry for an instant, and then she said, smugly, "Very well. You have six hours, and then we strike." She glanced at Zuko, smartly, and she said, "Do you have anything to say to them, Fire Lord Zuko?"

Aang's stomach wrenched, right then, at the look on Zuko's face – it was not one of hard-boiled rage, nor was it even the slightest bit like Azula's. It seemed softer, upset, and more careful. His eyes were watering and they flicked to Aang's for the briefest of seconds before turning to Azula. "Just one thing," he said.

"You don't deserve to speak with Aang," Katara snarled, suddenly, and Aang had to glance back at her. "You horrible, horrible monster, you have no right to say anything to him!"

"No," Zuko protested, suddenly, and he seemed even angry for a moment. "Avatar, I'd like to speak with you in private."

Azula laughed, loftily, and she said, "What could you possibly have to say that you couldn't say in front of your people, Zuko?" But she didn't seem to argue when Zuko moved forward.

"No way," Katara said, defensively, stepping forward, in front of Aang.

"Alright," Aang said, moving around Katara. As he did, he took her by the sleeve and said, hushed, "We have to see what he has to say."

"Aang."

"Katara, please," Aang whispered back, and then he glanced at Zuko, who started forward awkwardly. Katara reluctantly took a few steps back, and Aang didn't budge a single bit when Zuko came within a foot of him. Nor did he move when Zuko lowered his mouth to Aang's ear, and placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. It wasn't a cruel or merciless gesture at all, but Aang could feel a single flicker of fear in his belly.

And then, hesitantly, Zuko said, "I'll do what I can for you… I'll try to bring her down." Before even waiting for a reply, Zuko backed off and returned to Azula's side, meeting Aang's eyes with a silent determination.

Aang was confused, and he said, aloud, "What?" With one eyebrow raised and the other dipped, and his mouth hanging open, he struggled with being stunned for an instant, and then he screwed his face into a look of determination.

He said nothing, though Katara put her hand on his shoulder.

Then he straightened up, and Azula said, sounding vexed, "Let's go, Zuko. We're wasting the time we've given them to prepare." The smirk reappeared at that line, and Zuko gave a resolute nod.

"Let's go, Aang," Katara said, "everyone's waiting for us."

"Yeah," Aang said, and he backed away towards Appa, refusing to turn his back on them. His eyes stayed locked on Zuko's even as he jumped up to Appa's head, and only when Zuko turned away and left through the aisle of the Fire nation ranks at Azula's heels did Aang turn his eyes to Katara.

"I don't believe it," Aang said, as they were out of earshot, rising into the air. "Zuko said he'd try to bring Azula down…"

"I don't believe it either," Katara argued, immediately, struggling to keep her surprise from making her shout it. "He's no good! He did the same thing to me back in the catacombs, made me think he was on our side, but—"

Aang was staring at her, suddenly, but when Katara trailed off, he didn't ask. He just twisted Appa's reins between his fingers and struggled to come to terms with it, and he said, "I don't know. But what does he have to gain? Why would he tell me that?"

Katara shook her head, and there was a heavy pause.

"Don't tell Suki about this. It's better if she doesn't know," Aang said, as they neared the city, passing over the ice wall. Katara looked at him, so awkwardly, and then she nodded.



"No coat?" Sokka said, concerned.

Suki undressed right in front of him. She was kicking off her skirt, dragging on a pair of fitted blue pants, all while he watched. In the light, bright white with the afternoon, her skin seemed to glow. There were almost no marks left on her, except the white scars that were so small and so rare he had to look closely to see them. When she lifted her head and began unfastening her shirt, Sokka's eyes flicked to her forehead, where the burn had healed, into a shock white that made her pale skin seem darker by comparison.

She said, seriously, "Princess Yue didn't exactly dress for battle. It's too bulky, restricts movement."

"No armor?" Sokka pressed, as he pulled on his tunic. His wolf tunic, the one he wore when he saved her. That weighed on his shoulders heavier than the furs and sinews themselves did. If he had to save her again, maybe it meant the thing was cursed.

He was terrified out of his wits but he was possessed by a pride and sense of strength that he'd never felt before. They were taking on the Fire nation in their own home. He was leading a large portion of it. He had never felt so responsible in his life. Being trusted with hundreds of thousands of lives was nothing like being trusted with the lives of his small village back home.

Suki continued to focus on dressing and undressing. She slipped off the robe she wore, and pull on one with tighter sleeves. She bunched the sleeves into a set of gauntlets before she bothered tying it shut, leaving the front dangling open over her chest. He could see from her throat down to the waistband of her pants, other than the narrow white strip of her breast-band, obscuring her cleavage.

"Heavy," she said, "weighs me down and doesn't protect me against lightning or fire. It's useless weight."

"You can swim in that stuff," Sokka said, hollowly, "and you say it's heavy."

When she moved to close her shirt, Sokka stopped her by putting his hands on her hips and kissing her full on the mouth, and she let him. She let him for a good moment, and then she pulled back and said, "There will be time for hundreds more of those, you know, don't be such a baby."

She said it in that good-old teasing voice, the one that told him she was trying to make him feel better by insulting him, on the eve of battle. Sokka didn't mind at all. He shot back, as he stepped back and pulled on his greaves, "Only hundreds? Cheap!"

"We'll have time to do whatever we want," Suki said.

"For entire days? None of this 'wow is my sister going to hear?' bull?" Sokka teased, and Suki looked over at him and smiled. She lashed her shirt shut, and she prodded him in the chest. He wondered if she could feel how damned hard his heart was pounding, how terrified yet psyched he was, in that instant where her fingers hit his chest.

Somehow, everything she was saying seemed forced, and he realized that he sounded the exact same way. He realized, belatedly, that they were just pretending everything was fine, as if it were nothing.

"You can be as noisy as you want, I don't think I'm the noisy type," Suki replied.

"Bet I can disprove that," Sokka said, "I'll make you noisy like... well, like noisy things are noisy."

Suki started to laugh, but the curtain on the door swung open and there was Hakoda, in the archway. He was already fully dressed for battle, his hair tied back and his weathered face drawn into a look that was far from amused. He was battle hardened, and unlike his son, his sense of humour wasn't showing through on such a bleak afternoon.

"Sokka," his father said, in a tone that Katara had inherited and had intoned on him thousands of times before. Suki flushed, furiously, and with her hands on her hips, she looked away. Sokka dared launch a smirk at Suki, which was rather unnecessary, considering the time. Sokka chalked it up to nervousness.

To his father, Sokka blurted out a defensive, "What? We'll be out in a minute, sorry -- is the navy -- er, the boats, are the boats ready?"

"Leaving as soon as I get back to the docks," Hakoda said, "Are you sure your friend will be able to break the hulls? This sounds risky."

"Don't worry about it," Sokka replied, "Toph knows what she's doing. I don't think anything could get between her and bringing down those ships."

"Sokka," Hakoda said. It wasn't intoned that time – it was more affectionate, and he clapped a hand to Sokka's shoulder with a smile. He said, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," Sokka said, almost breathless, and he paused, and then said, "Have you told Katara that?"

"I haven't seen her since she left with Aang to speak with Azula," Hakoda said, and there was an odd pause where he and Sokka just looked at each other. "I'll tell her if I see her before we leave. If something goes wrong, you'll let her know, won't you?"

"Yeah, Dad," Sokka replied, "of course."



"What did you tell him?" Azula asked, politely.

Zuko looked up at her, and she slid out of the saddle of her ramparrot, so close that the toes of her boots stepped over his. She let out a breath and it was foggy on the air. Zuko backed off, even as Azula cast the reins into a servant's hands, and she asked, "Well?"

"I just told him that I'd be the one to kill him," Zuko said, with a shrug. His eyes moved to the side, just a flicker, as he said it, and Azula's eyes narrowed.

"Did you?" she said. She examined his posture, his voice, and the way he held himself when he said it. She knew he was a liar, and a bad one at that, but she didn't mention it. "Why?"

"Well, I've been watching you do that mental torture thing, and I thought I'd give him something to anticipate," Zuko replied, awkwardly.

Azula just smirked, feeling perfectly secure and not the least bit frightened. She'd always known he would go against her. For that, she said, calmly, "Good work. I can't wait to see it on the battlefield."

"Yeah," Zuko said, still so awkward. Azula put a hand on his forearm, and smiled, cocking her head very slightly. It was an affectionate gesture.

"Zuko," she said, "I'm so glad that in the end, you've turned out so honourable."

He looked away, just as she expected, and then he met her eyes, with a lot of determination. He swallowed his breath, almost nervously, and then he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I've finally found my destiny."

"Good," she purred, knowing she'd found another weakness, another lie, another poor acting job. He couldn't pretend to save his own life, and they both knew it. Azula was full to the brim with confidence. She said, "Well, wait in your room. I'll get you when the time comes. You, soldier, escort him. Zuko, behave yourself."

Zuko glanced between the solider and Azula, feeling all the more bitter.

What Azula didn't see was the determined smirk that graced his handsome face the instant she stepped away to dress for battle.



"Toph," Suki called.

Toph inclined her head at the sound of Suki's voice, and she turned towards the source. Suki sounded far away, but Toph knew she was coming closer, because instants later, Suki had her hand on Toph's shoulder.

"What's up?" Toph asked, rolled her shoulder back so Suki would take her hand off. Suki did. Toph couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice and she didn't even try to.

"Before you left," Suki said, "I wanted to apologize--"

"For what?" Toph interrupted, sharply. "For rubbing everything in my face? Don't you have a battle to get to? 'Cause I know I have work to do and I don't really have time to talk."

Floozy, Toph thought, snidely.

"I'm sorry that I've made you unhappy," Suki replied, "I can't apologize for being with Sokka, but I know I've hurt you and I wanted to apologize for that, before we go to battle."

"As if you care," Toph said, dismissively.

Suki got defensive. She replied, "I'm not lying."

Toph snorted, and replied, "You lied before. When we were in the orchard... even if you were in a tree, I could tell. Vibrations, vibes, your voice. You slept with Sokka, and I don't really care anymore, but you still lied."

Suki didn't reply for a second, and Toph figured she was too stunned, and turned to go. She could hear Appa's steady breath, she could hear the two waterbenders accompanying her talking quietly, atop Appa. Before Toph turned even a bit, Suki grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her still, and Toph struggled to throw her off.

"Don't touch me!" Toph protested. Suki let go just as Toph lifted an arm to punch her off. She heard Suki let out a stifled breath.

"Toph, let me finish," she said, almost pleading, and Toph felt Suki grab her wrist. She didn't resist that, even as Suki brought it up and planted it against her chest, over her heart. Toph froze on the spot, and she could feel Suki's heartbeat through her clothing.

"Look," Suki said, "I'm sorry that I was hostile. I was just frustrated and let it get the better of me... but... I love Sokka and while at times he's annoying, or pigheaded, he makes me happy. I've come to depend on him, he protects me, and I protect him."

"Gee, sounds like you're just rubbing it in," Toph said, loftily, though she couldn't deny that Suki was telling the truth. She was being completely honest, Toph felt it with every steady beat, and that disappointed her. She'd known it before, but confirmation was a stab.

"But you mean a lot to him, too," Suki continued, "you really do. You probably know a lot more about him than I do, in some ways. You're important to him, too, and he'd be devastated if you begrudged him because of me."

Toph swallowed hard. She felt guilt settle in, there, and she said, moodily, "Let's talk about this after the war, okay?"

Suki was silent, and Toph could feel the tremor of fear in Suki's chest, she could feel how Suki shrank back the slightest bit. And then, apprehension and dread on her voice, as she said, "What if I die?"

Toph hauled her closer, suddenly, with two hands on the front of Suki's shirt, and it jostled her so much that their noses bumped and Toph didn't care, even as Suki reared her head back as a result. That close, Toph said, threatening, "Oh no you don't. You don't get to die and hurt Sokka again. I don't know WHAT happened to the other girl, but I know that I'm going to make you regret it if you die."

"I don't want to die, either," Suki replied, defensively, "but if I'm going up against Azula--"

"No," Toph snapped, "it doesn't matter who you're going up against, they're all the same to me. Just don't die! Don't get hurt, don't bleed, don't burn, you walk out of that battle flawless 'cause if not he's never going to get over it!"

Suki said, terrified, "This is Azula I'm fighting, Toph, it's not going to be a quick and painless smackdown. I'm ready to get hurt, believe me, I want to come out of it perfectly fine, but I know it's not going to be a reality. This is Azula, Toph, she broke me once and I know she can do it again, and I'm going to kill her but it might just kill me, too."

Toph had never felt more uncomfortable in her life, to have someone she disliked very, very strongly suddenly so weak in her hands. Toph couldn't tell if she was crying or not, but the voice alone suggested she could be. Suki sniffled, and let out a long breath.

"Take care of Sokka for me, if I go down," she said.

"I will," Toph said, "and not because you're asking me to."

"I know," Suki said, "I just wanted to apologize for how insensitive I've been. I've been so wrapped up in anger and bitterness and hurt that--"

"You got defensive," Toph said. She let go of Suki, and Suki lingered close for an instant, and then stepped back. Toph said, "It's okay, no harm done." She tried to be reasonable, rational, even though the jealousy was making her emotions get mangled up.

"Thank you," Suki said. Somewhere in the distance, Sokka's voice called out Suki's name, and Toph picked him out from the crowd with relative ease. It was his fault, really, for being so obnoxious. Suki turned, Toph could hear the motion in the way the snow crunch and Suki's voice went the other way, and then she said, "Let's be friends when this is all done, alright?"

"Alright," Toph said, and as Suki started to go towards Sokka, she said, "And I'm serious about the not getting killed thing!"

"You too," Suki replied.

Toph kept that in mind, too.



Ursa hadn't strength to stand, but she could sit, helplessly, in the snow, huddled against the side of the sled. Iroh stood on bandy legs, and he looked down at her and then down into the oasis -- he could just see the grass, the wooden arch, and the trellis full of plants.

"And now to find a way down," Iroh said, humourlessly. Ursa tilted her head, very slightly. She said nothing, and when he glanced at her, she shook her head, slowly, and she closed her eyes.

Iroh said, "Princess Ursa?"

Nothing.

Iroh knelt down, slowly, to her level. His hand drifted to her cheek, and he brushed down her scarf with his thumb, moving the fur trim of the hood away so he could see her face.

"Princess Ursa," he said, softly, and she opened her eyes again. He breathed a sigh of relief. The scars all down her face were shock white against the slapped-red of her skin.

"It's cold," she managed, numbly.

"It will be much warmer below," Iroh promised, "we simply have to find passage down."

Ursa shook her head, very slightly, and her eyes started dropping again. Iroh looked towards the cliff, and he examined it for a place, and then Ursa said, so hushed he had to lean in close to hear her, "I should have brought them with me."

Iroh looked at her, doubtfully, and he started to say something, but instead, he fell quiet. He shifted to take her hands in his, and her eyes slipped shut once more. She was completely still, and Iroh pulled off one glove and slipped his hand between her throat and the many layers of fur and fabric.

Along that delicate neck, he felt only the faintest of pulses. He said her name, and he leant his forehead against hers. The animals whined, and Iroh felt his heart beat faster in his chest.

If his throat wasn't already sore from breathing the frozen air, it would have been raw with grief anyway.

"Come on, Princess," he said, as he reached down and picked her up over one shoulder. "Just down this cliff and you will be warm again."



"Come," Azula commanded, and she walked by him, briskly. He followed, surprised, and when he was too slow, she slowed up to grab him by the sleeve and march him faster. Zuko went.

"We're going now?" Zuko said, and she steered him into the royal dressing room, just down the hall. There were the stands for her armor and his, and he watched as she put on her gauntlets, but left the shoulder pauldrons and rerebraces on the dummy.

"Put on your light gear and don't bother with anything that will impede with swimming."

Zuko didn't say anything. Azula looked at him, sharply, and he reached for his faulds. She slapped his hand away.

"Do you honestly think you can swim in that?" she admonished.

"Who said I was swimming?" Zuko snapped.

"I did," Azula said, "don't go disappointing me now, Zuzu, it isn't the time. You're leading us into the city via the same route you used to enter the city before, all those months ago -- the men are ready and now it's just you and I."

She was changing into a different pair of boots. Zuko just stared, angrily.

"I'm supposed to do what YOU want?" he demanded. "I'm Fire Lord -- I think that's a stupid plan and we'll continue to attack from the west."

"Yes," she said, "actually, you are supposed to do what I want. After all, you've never given a battle order in your life. In fact, we cannot 'continue' to attack from the west because we haven't begun attacking from the west."

"Azula," Zuko growled, "I'm not leading you in. I don't think it's intelligent for both leaders of our nation to go into the heat of battle. It's the stupidest plan ever."

Azula said nothing. She was pulling on a robe for warmth, over what little armour she was wearing, and he watched as she adjusted her hairpiece to be positioned perfectly. He was watching her without blinking, and she was watching him, through the mirror, once more.

"What do you have to fear? Death?" she teased. Zuko didn't reply, so she continued, "There's no reason to stay here and let everyone else have all the fun. Don't you want to claim some glory for yourself?"

Zuko waited, and then he reflected for a moment. He was sure she had ulterior motives, and for that instant, he reconsidered his resolve to kill her here.

"How many people are going with us?" he asked.

"Only about a dozen men," Azula said, "that should suffice. With the two of us, who else do we need? We're only going to remove the leaders, after all, and Chief Arnook is an aging man, not even a bender. His advisors are likely just as ancient."

Zuko replied, "Alright. I'll do it."

Azula smiled, and she said, "I'm so very glad you will." She adjusted her shirt, and turned to leave, but on a last note, she commented, "Mai and Ty Lee will be leading the invasion through the eastern wall, by the by. I couldn't leave my best friends out of the escapades, and they'll meet us at the war council room, where-ever it is."

Zuko nodded, slowly, and almost playfully, she said, "Join us at the deck when you're ready, Zuzu."

Much to his shock, before she left, she stunned him by taking him by the chin and pressing a familial kiss to his unscarred cheek. It was as if she were proud of him, and when she backed off her smirk was unlike any other he had ever seen on her face. He had seen thousands of those smirks, but something about this one broke through his otherwise-desensitized barrier. She looked bloodthirsty.

He didn't say anything to that, and she left the room, walking with that same sense of purpose as always. He was unsettled.

Yes, he decided. He'd kill her en route, and then the world would believe it had been an accident.

He sheathed his broadswords under his robes, out of sight but still within reach, and as his fingers slipped off the hilt, he wondered, vaguely, when he had started to learn from Azula's methods. He wondered when he had sunk to Azula's level and considered the death of another to be justifiable.

She was a monster, but, then again, killing her would make him no better.

But then, Zuko realized, it was for the benefit of the world.



The small boat rocked, and within its metal walls, Zuko held to the side and looked at the looming city walls ahead with great reluctance and fear. He was helping Azula get in through the passage, through the very same passage he himself had used before, and although he was determined to stop Azula before he got there, he had to wait for the time being. He was outnumbered seven to one, at the moment, as six of the soldiers had gone ahead to scout the seal-tunnels and find the route, before allowing the Fire Lord and his sister in.

Then, one surfaced by their boat, and Azula looked at him expectantly.

"We're through," the soldier said, and Azula smirked and started forward. Zuko followed begrudgingly, and the soldier said, "It's quite far, but it's doable. It's about one hundred metres. Can you swim that far, Princess?"

Azula actually hesitated, and then she said, firmly, "Of course I can. Go on."

The soldier ducked under the water and disappeared. Azula glanced at Zuko and he looked away, and she said, "You go first. I'll follow you."

Zuko took a breath and he jumped in, and he disappeared under the water, sinking down into the dark and grabbing onto the rope lead. A few more soldiers slipped in, and then Azula took a deep breath, and dove in after him. It was so shock-cold that it took a second to reactivate his brain, and when it did, Zuko kicked his legs and spread his arms and started off. They passed through the icy tunnels to the other side, and when Zuko surfaced on the other side, he looked down into the water, shivering, and realized Azula wasn't quite behind him. Worry struck him, suddenly, bobbing in the freezing water, and he wasn't sure why. With a blast of fire to warm himself, he ducked under the water to find her, rightly freaked out, but as he did she surfaced through the dark water, and she latched an arm around him, shaking.

He spluttered under her weight and grabbed onto the edge of the hole. Azula clung to him for a moment, shivering, and then a soldier offered his hand to her. Azula took it and allowed him to pull her out of the water, pushing herself up to the edge. Zuko coughed up water that had snuck in his mouth when Azula had grabbed him, and crawled out of the hole, and breathed some more fire to warm himself, and dry his clothes. Azula did the same, as did the other soldiers.

"Well, that certainly is a good way of waking people up," Azula said, "how kind of the Water tribe, to leave such a direct path available to us."

Zuko boiled more water out of his clothes with his heated hand, and his clothes steamed. He replied, "Just for you, Azula. It's not, you know, natural caverns for the seals, or anything. The Water tribe built them just for you!"

Azula scoffed and wrung out her hair. Her eye make-up was streaked, leaving smoky shadows around her eyes. It made her cold golden eyes stand out even sharper. She said, "Don't be stupid."

"It was a joke," Zuko said. He shifted his weight to the other foot as the rest of the soldiers prepared themselves for the rest of the journey.

"Where to next?" Azula asked, and Zuko looked at her.

He realized just how much power he had right then. They'd be lost without him. If he didn't tell them, they couldn't strike the Water tribe from the inside. This entire city was relying on him to turn her down, to disagree, and Azula's eyebrows lifted when he hesitated. What if he let them in and failed to kill Azula before they got all the way in?

Zuko swallowed the lump in his throat, and decided, very bravely, to lie. To buy time.

"That way," he said, pointing.

Azula looked in that direction, and she said, "Where does it lead?"

"Into the sewers," Zuko said. That's where they were supposed to be, anyway. The city, technically, was above them, so there was no point in continuing on this level. He didn't know how to lie about it any other way. Azula looked suspicious.

"Am I supposed to believe that we're staying on THIS level to go UP to a drain?"

Zuko didn't hesitate. "Yeah."

"Really?" she said, skeptically.

"Yes," he said, realizing this mistake. He glanced to the left, awkwardly, and then up. This, too, was a mistake. Azula closed in on him.

Azula grabbed his forearm with her nails, and she grabbed what remained of his disfigured ear between his fingers. He struggled for an instant, but it hurt terribly, so he just let out a strangled shout of pain and moved with her, trying to ease it.

"Let go!" he barked.

"Give me the correct directions," Azula demanded. She pinched harder, her palm pressed against his temple in the process, driving a dizzying pain into his scar. It ached. Zuko buckled his knees under the pain, exhausted and being pushed to his limit, and on his knees in front of her, his forehead almost against her abdomen, he whined under the pain. Nothing was more excruciating than that one weakness: although most of his nerves were fried, there was precious, tender flesh underneath that suffered the agony.

"Please!" he said, "Let go and I'll tell you!"

"Tell me first!" Azula chided.

She was getting positively ruthless, absolutely vicious. Zuko could do nothing to stop it, like it was a snowball rolling faster, and faster down a hill, unstoppable. He let out one last sharp breath and pained gasp, and he breathed, "UP, UP, go UP, over THERE! Let me go!" He gestured wildly in the right direction.

"That's better," Azula said. She released him, and he hovered there on his knees for a second, and he wiped at his good eye with the back of his hand, and then felt his scar. When he glanced at his hand, he saw blood, and his breath hitched.

"I'm bleeding," he said. "You cut me!"

"I don't care," Azula said, "Seal it shut or let it clot, we're busy, Zuko."

He looked at her, hurt and disturbed, and he kept his hand over his face. He stood up, shakily, still trembling from a combination of the cold and the pain, and he said, "I still hate you."

"Good," Azula replied, "It keeps you eager to achieve."

Zuko steeled himself, located the bleeding, and sealed it shut with a short flame off his finger. It stung horribly, but it stopped the blood from dripping into his bad eye. When he had blinked back the water in his eyes and recovered himself, he looked up to where the soldiers were melting through the ice and up. When they broke through, a flood of water poured down, and Azula stepped out of its way, looking up.

"You have to go through that," he said. Azula didn't even look at him or acknowledge that he'd said anything.

"Remember," she said, "all resistance is to be removed as swiftly and quietly as possible. We need to avoid alerting anyone of our presence."

"Good luck with that," Zuko said, getting frustrated, "you don't look the slightest bit Water tribe. It might have worked in the Earth kingdom, but no one's falling for that now."

"Oh, do shut up, Zuko," Azula dismissively, "or I'll even out that scar for you."

On they went.



"We're in," Zuko said, pointing down the long ice pipe. Azula peered down it, breathing heavily. Zuko wasn't really surprised, as odd as it was to see Azula strained by such a feat. The first time he had broken into the city, it had taken him thirty hours to get from the ship to the shrine, and despite having done it in three hours, this time, it was still a stressing feat. He himself felt taxed by the cold and the work, and Azula, having never done such a thing in her life, seemed exhausted.

He was happy to see her tired, for once. He noted it, worriedly, and decided it would help him. If Azula wasn't at the top of her game, he had more of a chance to overcome her quickly. Speed was his best bet, speed with sheer force, as Azula depended largely on precision and the element of surprise.

"Very well," Azula said, sending a great fog up on the air out of her mouth. Her bangs were stringy and half-frozen, and her pale skin was colourless with the cold, but her eyes still had life. "Let's go."

Two of the original dozen men were drowned in the second body of water they'd passed through, and three more seemed prepared to die, they were so frostbitten. Zuko pitied them, but he knew they were loyal to Azula. They'd defend her if he tried to take her out now. As soon as they died or at least dwindled to a manageable number, he'd have a better advantage.

The pipe led to an ice valve that was easily melted through, and they climbed out through it. It left them in the great hall, a high-arched room full of blue tapestries and a great stage. Last time Zuko had passed through here, there had been no one, as the entire palace had been called to battle, but this time it was different: various people were still there, and the instant the group of Fire nation soldiers and their two very peculiar leaders were apparent, there was an uproar.

Azula was a threat, but a group of unarmed non-benders had no hope of defending themselves. They went down, and Zuko didn't even have to lift an unwilling finger: Azula conquered them all with ease, and when the people had been reduced to smouldering bodies on the floor, she turned to Zuko and smirked.

"Child's play," she announced.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Zuko replied.

"No," Azula said, "what gave you that impression?"

"Creep," Zuko scoffed.

"Just like you," Azula taunted, but before Zuko could comment, she turned and cast her eyes around the room, and she remarked, "Such ugly architecture. Look at those carvings– they don't even look like real animals. They're all deformed!"

"Whatever," Zuko said, not going to admit he agreed. There were more serious matters at hand. He said, "Let's just keep going."

Azula said, casually, "Eager, aren't you?"

He wasn't, so he just growled at her and led the way out a door, but an ice window at the end of the hall gave him a view of the entire city front. On the other side was a disheartening sight, to him: hundreds of Fire nation soldiers were swarming the city streets and canals – he could see them moving amongst the buildings like tiny red ants, in swarms of a couple dozen, and he could see the flicker of fire lights like sparkles from a fireworks display. Fleeting, startling, beautiful but burning.

"Admiring them?" Azula smirked, and she didn't stop to look too closely. She kept going, and she asked, "Which way now?"

"There," Zuko said, and he gestured at another hall. "But—"

He couldn't quite finish on time. At that instant, a few tribesmen burst around the corner, apparently as some sort of ambush. It was a good one, too, as Azula, overconfident but exhausted, was forced to jump back to avoid a slash of a spear. As they lunged forward and their Fire nations soldiers surged into the fray, there was a rush of flames. One of the tribesmen fell, another kept lunging forward, and there was a scream as a Fire nation soldier was gutted.

Azula held her ground, and with a loud blast, drew lightning and charged it into the face of one of the tribesmen. He too, fell, face blackened. The last of the three kept on his feet, bringing down two more soldiers before falling to Azula's hand.

Azula scoffed.

"Child's play," she repeated herself.

Zuko glanced at the bodies of the Fire nation soldiers, one still bleeding out, and he said, "Azula, we're not doing so well. How do you expect us to get OUT of this?"

"Pfft," Azula scoffed, "by time we get to the heart of the palace our army will have caught up with us. I have no fears about getting out."



"Aang," Katara said. He was running, and she could barely keep up. Her breath came hard in big puffs of mist on the cold air, and she called his name when she could. He didn't wait up, and she didn't catch up until he had reached the door to the oasis.

"Go take care of everyone else," Aang ordered, "Help Sokka and Suki lead the—"

"They can handle it, I'm going to protect you," Katara said, breathily, following him in the doorway and shutting the door behind her. He rounded on her, almost in a panic.

"What?!" Aang exclaimed.

"Aang!" Katara replied, "You're trying to get into the Spirit World again, right? I'll take care of your body."

Aang opened his mouth to reply, maybe to refuse, maybe just for the sake of looking relieved, but he ended up just nodding furiously and scrambling across the bridge, settling down under the arch. His heart was beating so fast he was shaking, but he calmed himself as rapidly as he could. Katara made sure the door was shut tight. When she turned to face the dais, she spotted a figure climbing down the cliff-face, from the tundra above, into their oasis.

"Aang!"

With a yelp of surprise, Katara pointed up to the cliff-face above -- there was Zuko's uncle, red in the face, snow-flecked, and looking worn but otherwise alive. He was grappling his way down, with a parka-wrapped person over one shoulder. When he reached the bottom, he let go of his rope and pulled his passenger off his shoulder, setting them down in the grass. He brushed his gloved hands off, and caught his breath.

"Pardon my intrusion," he said, while Katara stared. He said, "I hope I may I be of assistance to you."

"You," she said, stunned.

Aang raised his hands, defensively, but he didn't seem like he wanted to attack. Iroh seemed to know this, but he casually lifted his hands anyway.

"It's okay, Aang," she said, quickly, "He's the reason we got out of Ba Sing Se safely… it's fine, just… focus."

"I know. Focusing," Aang replied. "Is she alright?"

He gestured at the woman, who looked half-frozen. Her hood had fallen back for an instant, and Iroh had knelt down next to her. Katara, getting her act together, rushed over, falling to her knees beside her.

"Can I heal anything?" she asked, and Iroh shook his head.

"She is just very ill, and the long trek through the snow did not help," he said. "Breath of Fire works best on oneself -- though it has certainly kept her alive. If you have anything to burn, I will get a fire going."

There was a pause, and Katara looked around. Aang did, too, and he said, "Just take some stuff off the bridge."

In any other situation, Katara would have balked at damaging a spiritual place, but she knew Aang would have, too, if it wasn't serious. So she got up and yanked a couple rickety old braces off the rail of the bridges. She returned them to Iroh, who loosened Ursa's outerwear and set the wood alight. After a few moments of silence, Aang meditating and Katara and Iroh waiting, the woman opened her eyes, just slightly. Iroh breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hate to change the subject, but..." Katara looked up at Iroh and asked, "What can we do to win?"



Somewhere along the way, after a few quick but choking battles, Azula and Zuko found themselves quite alone, and standing in the Chief's room. Chief Arnook wasn't present, thank the spirits, but Azula waited there with a smile, as if she expected him to come back any moment.

"We're going to die," Zuko said. He was almost shaking, but willpower alone kept him still. "We should have gone to the oasis. That's probably where the Avatar is, you know that?"

Azula said, simply, "the Avatar doesn't matter anymore."

"Why not?" Zuko replied.

"I never cared about the Avatar," Azula said, "he's just a child, after all. I only bothered with him in the first place because Father was so adamant about it."

Zuko felt the rage boil in his gut. He said, "Then why were you so angry when he turned out to be alive, huh?"

"Because I thought I'd managed to add his name to my list of triumphs," Azula said, "not because I thought he was a danger to me, or anything. But, you know, I think killing the Fire Lord was good enough."

He was struck silent, and he looked at her with utter malice. He reached under his coat to grasp the handles of his broadswords, but Azula had already taken hold of his hands. Her fingers were like ice against his, and her nails dug in, just the slightest bit. He met her eyes with his, with all the hatred in his body, and he couldn't say a word. Azula's eyes narrowed, and she smirked in a way that bared teeth, and he imagined she was ready to rip his throat out.

"I knew it," he uttered.

"Of course you did," Azula said, "and you never cried over him."

"I—"

"Never cried," Azula repeated. "You didn't care."

"I did," he roared at her, and he ripped his hands from her grip. She settled on folding her arms as he paced, angrily, and he snapped, "I cared. I worked so hard to—"

"As Mai said," Azula said, "did you care because you were expected to, or was it genuine? Deep down, you know he got what he deserved. Father simply had to die."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko cried, "What's wrong with you, Azula?! You never make sense, you never have a motive! You killed the Fire Lord so that someone you think is weaker would be Fire Lord! You rigged Uncle's execution and then let him off for no good reason!"

His pacing was becoming more frantic, he twisted and turned on the spot, he circled her like a shark and turned away as if disinterested, but then rounded on her again. She just stood still, like a statue, unbothered.

"You drag me here to the middle of the Water tribe to kill ME, when you could do it in the comfort of the ship and no one would dare question you! What are you doing?!"

He stopped, took a deep breath, and shouted, right in her face, "What are you DOING?!"

Her face was remarkably blank, and Zuko was shaking with anger. He grabbed her by the forearms and shook her, and she still remained blank, no malice, no trace of emotion at all, and even as her head bobbed up and down from the momentum of her body, she kept her eyes on him and her mouth in a straight line.

"Tell me!" he demanded, and there was nothing.

"Tell me!" he roared, and there was nothing.

"Azula!" he demanded, again, and there was nothing, nothing at all. He took a deep breath, and then said, "Tell me now or I'll kill you!"

Then, just slightly, the corner of her mouth twitched up, and she uttered, "No."

He shoved her backwards, over the edge of the bed, and pinned her there angrily. She let him, it seemed, though she lifted her hands to hold onto his forearms, too, and she lifted her chin with pride, though it exposed her throat more at the same time. He wanted to reach for his swords but he couldn't let her go.

It was awkward, with Azula pinned down only by his weight, all his upper body strength focused on holding her wrists down with one hand, and he poised the other over her face. He gathered no flames there, he only stared, felt her breathe under him and bend her torso against his legs. She didn't struggle, she merely let him hold her there.

She even had the gall to laugh when her eyes flicked to his raised hand, and she said, "What is this, Zuzu? Going to mark me like dad marked you?"

"Yes," Zuko replied, "yes. And then I'm going to take my throne and banish you. I'm never going to think about you again. I'm just going to forget you exist. I'm going to call off this fruitless war and do what I should have done years ago: fix things."

"Spare me the dramatics, Zuko," Azula replied, "You don't have the guts, let alone the skill. The instant you let me go, you're going to be sprawled on the floor, begging me to let you take that back."

"No," Zuko insisted. "No, I won't be. I would never beg for you."

Zuko's weight on her wrists was ridiculously strong, simply because he was male and biology had blessed him with more muscle mass and considerable height over others. Azula just pursed her lips and lifted her chin, so his face wasn't so annoying over hers.

"Frankly," Azula said, calmly, "I don't see what you're going to accomplish if you don't let me go. Going to hold me here forever, Zuko? You have to let me go some time."

Against the icy ceiling and the white furs, the snow-packed furniture and the pale imported wood, both Zuko and Azula stuck out like sore thumbs, with their dark hair and blood-red robes. Even Zuko's burn, the staunched leathery brown, was vivid against such cold colours. Azula let out a foggy breath, and Zuko's fingers clenched into her skin. He held her down against those rich furs so furiously. He felt her breath warm on his face.

"You are the most twisted thing in this world," Zuko snarled, "I can't believe you, Azula, you're barely more than a child... you're barely a teenager, let alone an adult, and yet you find it so easy to cause people suffering. You're sick. We NEVER should have come here!"

"On the contrary," Azula purred, "You never should have come here."

Zuko could barely react, he was too infuriated and set on holding her down. Azula brought her knees up, together, and she slammed them right into his crotch, prompting him to let out a strangled wail of pain and let go of her arms -- in fact, he crashed down on top of her, slumping, and Azula made a rapid show of rolling him off as he recovered and tried to keep a hold on her sleeve. She rolled. He fell.

With her knees on either side of the trunk of his waist and her hands gripping his wrists, digging little gouges through the fur, Azula said, "Father ought to have slain you when he had the chance, should have ignored Mother's tears and just sent you to your death. It would prevent a great deal of embarrassment and trouble for us, the loyal ones!"

"Loyal?" Zuko seethed, and he wrested her off. She could kill him at any moment, at such a distance, with so much firepower at her prodigious hands, but she seemed too intent on talking to him instead. Zuko seethed, more, "Loyal? What's loyalty to family if you're betraying the entire world?!"

"The Fire nation comes before the world," Azula replied, on the bottom once more -- Zuko twisted the grip of one hand off and he grabbed her by the front of her shirt, dragging her torso up and pinning her legs beneath his. She said, right before she smacked him in the temple with the flaming heel of her hand, "and for the Fire nation I'll guiltlessly end you."

Zuko wheeled off her, spinning across the room, and Azula was up in a flash. She glanced up, and with a rush of fire she had melted a hole through the ice roof. She leapt up, clear through it, and Zuko growled and pursued, using the bed as a lift to go right through. He had to scramble to get his footing properly.

"Running away, you coward?" Zuko roared, and Azula was taking off across the rooftops. She laughed, long and loud, and he took off after her.

"Bringing you to where everyone can see your downfall!" Azula shouted, and it was true enough -- Zuko stopped to steady himself on the rounded rooftops, so wary of falling, and down below he could see the thousands of Fire nation troops and Water tribe legions, and Azula shrieked down at them, "Witness your leader's weakness!" and suddenly many of them were looking up, when they weren't beating back their foes.

Zuko let out an angry growl, absolutely feral with rage, and he lashed forward. The fire that burst from his mouth was unexpected to him, but Azula was prepared. She moved forward to greet it, and she wiped it from the air with a sweep of her arm. He shot forward, the fury clear even with the way he breathed, his chest heaving violently.

Azula ducked under his outstretched arm, and she dropped down, dragging her foot across the ground and sweeping his legs out from under him. He barely managed to stay up, catching his weight on one wrist, and he twisted out of the fall at the last second. He rolled, and Azula rose up above him.

She brought one foot up high, almost level with her shoulders, and she brought it down like an axe. With precision, she smashed him in between the shoulder blades, and he let out a loud hiss of pain as his nose hit the ice.

"Done already?" Azula taunted. She waited, but Zuko felt the crackle of lightning on her fingers, barely feet away. He stayed down, breathing hard, and he lifted his hands to prop himself up.

When he lifted his head, he saw the look on her face, smug and confident, and he couldn't stay down, no matter how his limbs screamed at him. Zuko shoved himself up, and he shot to his feet in a rush of flames.

Azula stepped back, raising her hands in defense, and when he landed on his feet, he brought his hands up, too, ready.

"I don't care if you're a prodigy, or are a master," Zuko replied, "I've beaten masters before without being one, I can do it again."

"You can't," Azula said, with a smile, "you won't kill me until I tell you what really happened to our beloved parents!"

The battle below wasn't raging anymore, in fact, it was mostly spectators, both Water tribe and Fire nation standing side by side in awe, on the same battlefield. And, amongst them, Suki and Sokka looked up with wide eyes.



It had been ten minutes and Aang was still meditating. Iroh and Katara sat in silence, flanking him, watching him. Katara's gaze was fretful, and Iroh's was calm. The woman sat off to the side, by the fire, awake but not exactly alert. Aang swallowed his breath, muscles tensing, and then he opened his eyes.

"I don't know if I can do it," Aang replied.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, worried.

Aang shook his head, and failed to say anything. Iroh looked down at the water, and he said, in that relaxed, mellow voice, "When Azula struck you two months ago, were you killed?"

"Obviously not," Aang replied, frowning.

There was a pause.

"I should rephrase myself – was the Avatar killed?" Iroh asked.

"He can still bend water, and earth," Katara replied. Iroh looked mildly doubtful, and he looked to Aang.

There was a moment of calm reflection, and Aang closed his eyes again. Katara sat up on her knees, straighter, eyes widening, and when Aang didn't reply, she said, worried, "Aang?"

"I dreamt of them while I was knocked out," Aang said, "if the Avatar had died when Azula struck me, then I don't think I would have had all those dreams. I mean, Roku isn't present with me all the time, it's not like I've always felt his presence, but… I think I would know if I lost them."

"Mm," Iroh hummed, "for all our sake's, I hope the Avatar is still alive."

"But how could the Avatar die, if Aang didn't?" Katara replied. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She asked, "How is that even possible?"

Iroh shrugged and he replied, "It's a possibility. We hardly know anything about the Avatar state, those are secrets entrusted to the Avatars alone. No one knows how the Avatar cycle began – the earliest records of an Avatar date back thousands of years, to a Fire nation woman, and even then, we have records of there being Avatars before her. But over thousands of years, who can say how many countless secrets or facts about it have been lost? Very few ancient Avatars have left us personal, written records of their lives or their heritage. Even Avatar Roku failed to pen a memoir before his death."

"But why not?"

"Again, who can say? Perhaps there are hundreds, thousands of Avatars, each with, more or less, a hundred years of history to them. Who could possibly sit down and begin to learn about each and every one of them, much less begin to write it all down? The lessons of every Avatar would keep a million scribes busy for a million years."

"But the big things," Katara replied, "It can't be so hard to just tell people, let the history live on. Why keep everything such a big secret? It's not like they have anything to hide, they're here to keep our world safe."

"Ah, but the history does live on," Iroh replied. He gestured at Aang, and he said, "The continued existence of the Avatar ensures that it does. Every bit of knowledge he needs is there, within his mind. And when the next Avatar comes, all of that will be available to them, too."

Katara didn't reply for a minute, and then she said, "But what's so wrong with telling other people?"

"No offense to any of the Avatars," Iroh said, and he chuckled, "but I'm sure many of them are very boring old men and women, personally. Normal men and women have already recorded all of the important conquests, over the ages. But what the Avatar is, who they are, those will always be secrets."

The two watched Aang for a second.

"I just wish I could understand more," Katara said, "I felt so helpless, when he was knocked out, as if there was nothing I could do. No matter how many times I tried to heal him, he didn't wake up. And I always worried 'What if he never wakes up?' and 'Is it my fault?' and 'Will I be able to help if it happens again?' That still worries me."

"Do not let your limitations hurt you," Iroh replied, and he raised his eyebrows. He shook his head, just slightly, and he said, "Some things are beyond our ability to fix, yes, but there are always ways we can help one another. You protected him; you kept him from harm's way. To keep the Avatar in the Fire nation's territory, and still avoid them, is an admirable feat. It takes a great amount of courage, strength, and love, to endure such a thing."

Katara didn't seem capable of replying. She just flushed red in the face.

"How do you know so much?" Katara replied. She seemed to be humbled, just slightly, and she sat back a bit, leaning her weight on her hands. She said, "You seem to have an answer for everything. Toph, Aang, myself…"

"What can I say," Iroh replied, and he even laughed, just slightly, but it was very sad at the same time. "I've had decades to fill this old mind with thousands of thoughts. Someday you will be too."

Katara smiled, and her eyes flicked to Aang as he began to glow. She breathed a sigh of relief and she clasped her hands over her heart, and she said, "I hope he finds someone who can fix everything."

Iroh nodded, once, slowly, and his smile had faded once more.

"What did you come here for?" Katara asked, then.

Iroh shook his head slowly, and he said, "I came to find my nephew and my niece, and try to set them straight. Either way, that is the promise I made -- I don't believe I will be able to keep it, simply because we are on the wrong side of the war to be speaking with them."

Katara said, "I'm sorry, but... I don't think either of them can be set straight." It felt like there was a marble in her throat, and she couldn't budge it. Iroh was watching her quietly, and Katara said, "They're both horrible people."

The woman said, quietly, "Are they?"

Katara turned, almost surprised at the first sound of the woman's voice, and she found herself looking into weary, golden eyes. She asked, slowly, "Do you know them?"

The woman folded her hands, slowly, and she said, "I'm their mother."



"Azula's fighting Zuko," Suki said, as if in a dream. She paused, full out, and turned her attention up. Sokka had to rush past her with his club to give an oncoming soldier a bash in the head, just to keep him from taking Suki out when she was off her guard.

She snapped into it, and turned to strike down another with her fan and katana. She said, as she did so, "I'm going!"

"What? To them?" Sokka replied, incredulous, and off Suki went: she raced through the snow, against the current of Water tribesmen, and Sokka just took off after her. She was lither, and without a parka she was moving between the tribesmen like loose sand between spread fingers, and Sokka had to fight the current to get back to the palace.

"Suki!" he called, "Suki, Suki!"

She had broken through to the other side, and she was tearing through the empty stretch between the ranks and the palace walls. Sokka brought up endurance and strength and overall advantage from living in this element his entire life, and lifted his feet higher. When he broke the ranks, she was half-way to the palace. He kept going.

"Suki!" he called, "Stop! Suki!"

She didn't even look back, she just kept running, her eyes on Azula and Zuko the entire time, watching the rushes of fire and lightning. Zuko was suffering at a disadvantage, nothing could dislodge Azula from her upper-hand position.

Sokka's imagination was working overdrive: he could so clearly see Suki running ahead of him, but in his mind's eye, he could see her on those rooftops, between Azula and Zuko, taking fire and lightning. He could see her in the prison outside of Ba Sing Se, a limp mass on his back. He could see her sitting on the porch of the hide-away house, crying on his shoulder because of what Azula had done to her.

He couldn't let her get to Azula.

"Suki!" Sokka called.

Suki was within ten feet of the door when Sokka managed to grab her shoulder, and, seeing she wasn't about to stop, he overtook her and forced her to the snow. She yelped as he tackled her down, and he pinned her quite quickly.

"Suki, think about this!" he said, "I don't know if we want to get between that!"

Zuko screamed in rage, and Azula rushed him, scything her foot through the air with a streak of lightning. They were snarling at each other, snapping like wolves, locked in combat, though Sokka couldn't hear a word of what they were saying.

"I have to be the one to kill her," Suki said, "Let go of me, Sokka!" And she fought him. He climbed off of her, but he held onto her as he hauled her to her feet, and she fought him more. He said her name, almost desperate to hang onto her.

Zuko struck two blows at Azula, and Azula actually teetered, her arms windmilling to stay upright, and when she brought her arms up to block a rush of fire, she slid down the curve of the domed roof just slightly. Zuko charged forwards with a kick that almost sent him off the edge when Azula ducked out of the way. She skipped to the next roof.

"I have to be the one to kill her!" Suki repeated, and she swung at him to get him off. Sokka managed to slip his arms around her forearms and pin her arms to her sides, and he went into the snow again, pulling her down into his lap and trapping her there.

"I know!" Sokka said, "I know, but you getting killed is hardly the –– augh –– the WAY –– Suki, STOP fighting me!"

She shoved him off and she snapped, "If you're not going to fight by my side, go join Aang, or Katara! But I'm going, I know my destiny, and if it wasn't to die at Azula's hands then, it isn't now."

Sokka stared at her, for one terrified moment, and he did the same thing he had done weeks ago, to prepare: he took one last cowardly breath, and breached the wall, grabbing Suki and taking her with him as he went.



The castle was breached, and Katara knew it – she could hear the roar of battle outside their door, and she and Iroh moved in unison across the bridges to the door. Iroh slammed his heavy body against the door, trapping it shut.

"What do we do?" Katara said, adopting a battle stance anyway. People were ramming on the other side of the door, and then it stopped.

"They'll be coming in through the walls," Iroh said. "Ice melts, as I'm sure you've noticed. It is very important that we protect not just Aang and Princess Ursa, but Tui and La, as well. Your Highness; we will keep you safe."

Ursa was up on her feet in a seconds, although shakily.

"Yeah," Katara said, and she raced back to Aang. She grabbed his body under the armpits and dragged him to the wall, and gestured to Ursa to follow. Ursa sat down next to Aang, and rapidly, Katara built a funnel of ice around him, so that his cocoon appeared, more or less, to be a part of the wall. She was just making sure there was enough place for air at the top when Iroh gave her warning, and as she raced back, she iced over the pod with a layer of ice so thick she could run across it. Beneath it, the fish were calm still.

Seconds later, the wall to the right of the door went down: it glowed bright red for an instant and then vanished in a cloud of steam, and the firebenders poured in. Iroh moved from the door and raised his hands.

"Death by fire or ice," Katara said, with a determined look, and she plunged right into the battle.



Azula had moved to strike her brother with the same ferocity that she applied to so many others: the Avatar, random girls, old men, and her own father. Zuko could barely move to react, he was so caught off guard. Azula's hand reached, arcing through the air before his face, full of blue flames that twisted and curled, ready to scar.

Zuko was gripped by an immense fear, of that oncoming hand with a ball of white-hot flames, as it moved towards his face. The fear prevented him from moving, prevented him from sliding back, prevented him from doing anything but sitting under Azula's shadow and gritting his teeth to look away.

Azula reached. Zuko started to scream, and she plunged her hand forward. Zuko took what he believed would be his last breath, and then the incredible happened.

He was saved.

A flying knife that shot by her hand, prompting her to withdraw her movement and step back, stopped Azula's strike, prematurely. Azula wheeled around in its direction, and her eyes landed on none other than Mai, standing on the rooftops across the courtyard.

Mai's eyes were narrowed, and her mouth was drawn into a frown. Azula didn't reply for a moment, she merely stared in some sort of horrified anger.

"Mai," Zuko and Azula said in unison, though Azula alone barreled into a livid, "How dare you?"

"Don't touch him," Mai said, in what Zuko could only describe as fury to match even Azula's -- her shoulders squared and her head was held high, and there was none of that skulking gloominess about her. Mai was angry, Mai was proud.

Mai was defending him against Azula.

"Changed sides, have you?" Azula asked.

"No," Mai said, "and I shouldn't have to."

"You get in my way, you're against me," Azula replied.

Mai remained calm, but the way her eyebrows knitted, and the way her mouth twisted, they both spoke volumes about how she felt. Zuko barely clicked into the right state of mind to watch the two girls face each other down, and he immediately pulled himself up on his forearms. He started to move away, but Azula put her foot down on the flap of his coat, between his legs.

It was difficult remain honourable and avoid attacking her when she was distracted.

"You have three seconds to pick a side, Mai, or I will pick it for you," Azula said.

Mai didn't say anything, she merely acted: she lifted her wrists, and within moments, she had a winged knife between each finger, ready to launch. Azula smirked.

"I suppose it's chosen, then," Azula said.

The clash came violently, and sudden, and Zuko was released. Azula leapt from one rooftop to another, sliding forward on the ice to jet lightning at Mai, which she deftly dodged. Azula let out a yelp, seconds later, as Zuko was climbing to his feet, rushing to defend his girlfriend.

When Azula turned, he saw her leg was shallowly slashed across one thigh, where a knife had hurtled by. When she moved, the thick fabric of her pants bent out of the way, revealing shock red. He saw her clutch her leg for an instant, and then flick her fingers away, sending droplets of blood flying.

As far as Zuko knew, Azula had never suffered a physical wound quite like that, particularly from her allies. Zuko's eyes met Mai's for an instant, for the first time since she saved him. The corner of her mouth twisted, and then she called out to Azula, "I'm not going to hold back if you won't, but I don't want to fight you."

"Because you're scared?" Azula snarled.

Mai seemed impatient, but so disappointed by this. She said, with a tone that was almost hurt, "No, Azula. Because you're my friend, even if we're just puppets to you."

"Puppets," Azula sneered, "only because you were too naive to look up and recognize your master!"

Zuko moved in, shot fireballs at Azula, but he couldn't quite get her –– Azula danced out of his reach and slid right under another sailing knife, and then she surged right back at Zuko. He hadn't expected it, but he caught her foot before it hit him in the chest, and he pushed her back. Azula flung her weight forward again, immediately, and Zuko swung a fist back at her.

She ducked, slid down to one foot, and Zuko realized there were no more sailing knives. Azula's foot connected with his knee, scalding a hole in his pants, and while it wasn't enough to break the joint, it was enough to stun him backwards.

Zuko slipped on the icy roof, and fell to his stomach, where he slid. He grabbed ahold of the edge of a brick, but just barely –– his legs dangled off the precipice of the dome, twenty feet in the air. He struggled to pull himself up. Azula's foot came down on one of his fingers, and he gasped.

"Calm down, Mai," Azula said, and she pointed two fingers at Zuko, who was barely holding on. His foots, thin-soled, without real grip, scrabbled at the icy block siding desperately. He couldn't see Mai at all. But Azula continued, "I only brought him so that he could die in a military accident, after all. But if you'd like to join him, it could be arranged."

Mai didn't reply, but she was coming closer, Zuko could hear her boots crunching the snow on the rooftops. His fingers strained, his palms felt stretched, and the edge of the roof dug into his armpits, where he couldn't support all his own weight. He tried to lift his lower body up, but Azula's boot was hovering so close to his knuckles that he could feel the cold leather.

"Let him up," Mai said. It was a demand. She came into Zuko's line of view, he could see her keeping her eyes straight on Zuko and without hesitation, and he watched Azula's lips twitch into a smirk.

"Why should I?" she said. "You just attacked me, Mai, some friend you are."

Mai said nothing, but then again, she didn't need to. Azula closed the few feet between them, fist curled, and she delivered a rapid punch to Mai's stomach, right over her diaphragm. Mai slashed one hand up and across her, but that didn't matter. The air around them, crisp with the afternoon, flashed brighter with electric blue flames surging around Azula and Mai, and Mai crumpled.

Zuko saw red, he saw rage, he felt it to his very core. He melted a hole in the roof where his hands were, melted himself a grip of slick wet ice to hold onto, and he lurched over the edge of the roofing, onto his knees. He moved to get to his feet, rushing to kill that horrible, horrible witch.



It took hours for the Fire nation soldiers to break Katara and Iroh's steady pace. Where one lacked, the other compensated, and despite never having fought alongside a firebender, Katara quickly learned where she had to step in and where she had to leave Iroh to his work. Her water was very rapidly reduced to steam and mist, and the hot air purged it from the oasis almost as quickly as it was created. Katara drew ice from the walls, drew water from the snows far above, and, struggling to keep the oasis intact, extinguished rogue flames.

Iroh just laid the bodies down with a firm, fiery hand and a determined look. Sometimes soldiers shouted at him before they did so, but no one paid any heed to their slander.

But there came a point where it was all too much.

Just as Katara froze a soldier's head in a block of ice and sent him toppling over, she heard Aang's voice over the fray, and she turned to see him step out of his ice shield. Katara breathed a sigh of relief, just momentarily thrilled and distracted, but that was all it took for a soldier with a dao to rush her.

Katara saw it out of the corner of her eye, and Aang shouted her name, and he rushed forward, slashing a ribbon of ice in the soldier's direction. However, he had too many paces to go and he slipped on the ice, and even though he caught himself with a gust of air, the attack was misdirected, and it struck elsewhere. Katara opened her mouth, raised her arms to defend herself, but it seemed too late.

She screamed.



Suki's breath came in short stabs, and Sokka's did too –– they raced together, like children, to the inner courtyards. Last one there was a rotten egg. Suki kept ahead of him, light on her feet as always, capable of anything. She could swim in those robes and those boots, she most certainly could manage knee-deep snow.

Sokka was talking, as he ran, but it was a never-ending repetitive stream of "We're-gonna-win-we're-gonna-win-we're-gonna-win!" Suki just kept running, and Sokka's mantra changed to simply "gonna-win!" They raced, and raced.

To one side, there was a blast of fire. Fire nation soldiers had cut through the lines from the South wall, they were pouring past the remaining Water tribe defense-men in small trickles. One cut away from the pack, heading for the same place as Sokka and Suki were, racing and racing and racing. Suki didn't hesitate, she moved right into the man's path, she broke his fingers and twisted his arm so he fell to the snow, and she kept running.

Sokka heard the shoulder joint break.

"Where are they?" Sokka panted as they went under an arch, coming up into a wider courtyard. There his question was answered -- Zuko was dangling off the edge of the roof, and Suki skidded to a halt and looked around, frantically. No one could scale three stories of a flat ice wall.

"A way up, need a way up," she chanted to herself, "a way up, how to get up..."

And Sokka just turned, he pointed, he remembered stealing a brief kiss from Yue in a stairwell off this very courtyard. There it was, tucked behind a short wall of ice, stairs to the second floor, and then down a hall to the third, and then there was a balcony they could climb from...

"I know the way," he said, seizing Suki's arm and dragging her on path.

They ran, they ran like hell.



Zuko was beginning to learn the meaning of underdog. He was beginning to understand what Azula meant, when she had said he was the weakest, and always would be the weakest.

He was forced to his knees, like a dog before its master, with his hair gripped by her bloody hand, dripping red down his forehead. Mai had slashed along Azula's thumb, but it didn't seem to bother Azula, who had immediately sealed it with a drag of her finger along it. She burnt it shut.

Azula commanded, with a voice sultry and low, to purr, "Now beg, Zuko."

"No," he replied, gritting his teeth, and Azula brought her free hand along his chin to force him to look up, forcing him to take his eyes off of Mai, who was spread-eagled on the icy roof. That hand slid up to his forehead.

"I order you to," Azula said.



Toph struggled.

Appa rocked, and the two waterbenders behind her shouted. She heard the crash and boom of trebuchets launching, but then again, hadn't she heard that thousands of times in the past few hours? Her palms were raw and freezing against the cold metal exterior of the ship, and with another deep breath, she held her hands there and pulled outwards. She felt the metal split and fold under the slight pressure, and she heard the lurch of water as the hull split along the seams. Rivets popped all the way down, and she cracked her knuckles and shouted, "Next one!"

She had taken down forty in the past hours, and her fingers felt numb. It was difficult to feel at all, let alone sense the impurities in the metal, and this ship had hardly been cracked at all. She didn't know quite how long it took, but she knew it would probably take at least an evening for enough water to seep through a crack that small to sink the ship.

The first ship, well, it had been split like paper. But that was when she could feel her fingers.

Appa was rocking, and she was clinging to the side of Sokka's makeshift castle, and she felt a fireball whiz by them. Appa lurched upwards, Toph let out an involuntary shriek of surprise, and one of the waterbenders brought up a sheet of ice. She hardly knew what was going on, every moment in the air, but she could feel Appa's great muscles straining under her knees, and the crack of ice and the slosh of water. Fire was much quieter.

Then, there was a scream, and she turned towards the sound. The second waterbender shouted the first's name, and Toph figured one had been lost. Then, instants later, when the second let out a pained scream, Toph knew there was a problem.

"Archers!" the second croaked, and then, before Toph could understand what was going on, his body fell over hers, and she shrieked again.

"APPA, BACK TO THE CITY," she screamed, and Appa turned, almost on a coin. She held on for dear life, the waterbender over her shielding her for protection, and Appa let out pained growls as they flew up, and up, and out of range.



The passage to the roof was through a window and then up two feet, and across the room. A Fire nation soldier rushed them, and Suki took his feet out from under him, and finished him with a stab of her katana. Sokka grabbed the soldier's halberd and kept it, and broke out the thin ice on the window. Suki pushed by him and was out the window first, and she stood on the sill and reached out to the edge above.

"Give me a boost," she hissed. Sokka obliged, and she stepped up onto his offered knee and he pushed her off. She went up, and he scrambled to follow, using the halberd as a pick in the ice.

When Sokka pulled himself up, he saw Azula standing over Zuko, gripping him by the hair. Azula laughed, and her hand flared up in blue flames, twisting in a solid mass. Sokka didn't think twice. He pulled out his boomerang and hurled it at them.

Azula let go of Zuko and the flames dissipated. She had to roll to dodge it, and when she came up on her feet, Zuko was struggling to his own. Sokka leapt to catch his boomerang, and Suki ran to line herself up with Azula's feet. Sokka did the same with Zuko, but Zuko took cautious steps back, raising his hands in defense. Sokka's eyebrows lifted when Zuko turned to face Azula, too.

And then it was the four of them: Azula with her hands up, ready to strike, Suki, brilliant greens against all the ice blues and dark reds, Zuko with his wicked anger, and Sokka. Sokka was terrified but so steeled, Sokka was wary, Sokka had the halberd in his hands, and he steeled himself against the roof.

Azula's eyes drifted from Zuko, her concentration broken, and her eyes fell on Suki. Her eyes widened, and she let out a guttural snarl of, "You!"

"Me," Suki replied. "Ready for a rematch?"

"Rematch?" Azula snorted, "You're asking to be broken again, Miss Leader."

"I don't know about that," Suki shot back, "I'm ready for you this time, and I'm pretty sure I have an advantage."

"My," Azula said, "someone's gotten bold. It was only months ago that you were on your hands and knees begging for mercy!"

"I never did that!" Suki shouted, and Sokka was wary immediately, the second that Azula's smile widened at Suki's reaction. There was the slightest bit of indecision before he decided that Azula was lying to get a reaction. Before he could step between them, Suki continued, "I wouldn't beg you for anything!"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Azula said. Her voice was crisp and calm, and the flames in her hands flickered and swayed in the cold air. Her smirk twitched up, and she said, "Because I seem to recall at least a few moments were you lost all reason and panicked. Much like this fool, here."

Zuko steeled himself, immediately, and Sokka glanced between the siblings rapidly. He was terrified of taking his eyes off Azula, in case she attacked, but as the seconds passed, he felt his adrenaline overtaking the fear. The fear ebbed away, like the tide and the moon, while the sheer desire to fight kicked in.

"Not going to deny it, Zuzu?" Azula said.

"No," Zuko replied, and his eyes flickered down in shame, but then they locked on Azula again. He said, infuriated, "but we all have moments of weakness."

Suki hadn't taken her eyes off Azula for an instant, but she tilted her head just slightly in Zuko's direction. Sokka watched Azula follow this movement, and when she opened her mouth to goad them more, Sokka snarled, "We're not here to talk. We're here to bring down our enemy!"

Azula brought her hands back, as if prepared to launch the flames, and she said, "Well, then, let's begin with you."

Sokka was on the move in an instant, raising the halberd and flinging the point up in the air to launch it at Azula. Suki surged forward, too, and Zuko, sluggishly, took up the rear. Sokka was just about to drive the point of the halberd into Azula when she whipped the flames forward in a vicious white-blue arc, and Sokka had to clumsily stumble to the side to avoid it.

Zuko grabbed Suki by the forearm and redirected her to the side. The bolt struck ice, making it glow for an instant, before it exploded in a cloud of steam. Sokka struggled to keep his jaw from dropping surprise, but he felt no terror, even as he saw how close it came to roasting Suki.

But there was no time to consider any of that. Suki was back on track, having been released, and Zuko was bringing up a whip of flames from the opposite direction. Azula, scissored in the middle, opted to bend her way out, seizing the fire and twisting it around her with an elaborate twist of her arms, before punching it in Suki's direction. Like a dangerous game of monkey-in-the-middle, Zuko rushed to catch it and redirect it before Suki was struck.

Suki seemed infuriated by this show of protection, and the instant she was in the clear, she took her chance to get Azula: she lifted her katana, brandished it in a wide arc, and aimed to slash Azula across the chest. Azula only barely escaped, virtue of her superior agility. But her landing was poor, and she, too, had to scrabble for grip on the ice. Suki dared give a victorious smirk, and Azula let out an irritated scowl.

"Close call?" Suki taunted, as Azula breathed hard. "Or are you injured already? Ribs still getting to you?"

"Brat," Azula hissed, and she moved to the side as Sokka thrust the halberd forward. Suki crowded her from the other side, prompting Azula to take to the air to leap over the attack, but when she landed, her breath was near ragged.

It was obvious Azula was under the weather, and a glance at Zuko almost confirmed it. Sokka realized that the two must have gone to great lengths to avoid the defence, just to get within the walls of the city, let alone to be on the roof of its capital building. Azula was bleeding, leaving little coin-sized drips all over the ice, and the roar of battle all around them was deafening.

"We have to finish this fast," Zuko snapped at Sokka, as Suki stepped forward to take the lead of the offense. Azula was duelling her with great arcs of lightning, and Suki was fending it off with slashes of her katana, great swipes of her fan that distorted the blast and. The metal was glowing white-hot and steaming, and Sokka could see the heat waves rippling off of it. Azula struck again, with such ferocity that the lightning warped the blade of the katana.

"No kidding," he said, curtly, and Zuko snatched a fireball from Azula's hands before she could throw it. He warped it, redirected it out of the way, the blue flames turning red the second it went under his control.

And then, suddenly, Suki had Azula again, and Suki drove the sword forward. Azula barely escaped intact, though the heated blade seared her clothing near her hip, and she stumbled. Suki kept going, and Azula kept dodging, having great difficulty. The ice under their feet was melting with all the heat, and it was slick with water. Sokka desperately wanted to help, but Suki left him to room to join them, and Azula was too fast for him to pin down with the halberd without putting Suki at risk, too. Zuko kept at the fire, but Azula easily avoided him. She ignored him, even.

Sokka was counting the minutes, well-aware that the difference between two seconds and one minute could spell their victory or their loss. All it took was a two-second slip-up to turn the tables violently in Azula's favour.

And then Suki slipped on the ice, landing on her hip and elbow, and Azula moved in to deal a killing blow.



Sokka went through the movements without thinking. He knew them by heart, now: step, pivot, block to the right. Step, step, pause, block up. Step, pivot. Block. With that down pat, he could let his mind wander. He thought about how heavy and uncomfortable all these rigid layers of fabric were on his shoulders. He thought about how the make-up (or, as Suki reminded him constantly, warpaint) was sticky on him, and every drop of sweat was tainted milky white or pink, while the girls wore it like a second skin. They didn't break a sweat at all, and it wasn't for lack of effort.

The girl in front of him pivoted, at the same time as he did, and the collar of her kimono shifted against the nape of her neck. For an instant, he saw the bare flesh of any of these girls, pale and creamy. The slightest of smiles curled on his lips, imagining what the rest of it was like, and just as he was moving into the next sequence, Suki took him off his feet.

He was so unattached from his body's routine movements that Suki accurately predicted what he would do next, and as a result, she knew exactly how to take him down. Sokka found himself sitting on the floor, on his hands and knees, and Suki was looking down at him with obvious disapproval.

"If you're not going to take this seriously, get out," Suki ordered.

"I am," he protested.

"You aren't," Suki snapped.

Sokka started to argue, but he really wanted to learn, so he snapped back, "Fine, I wasn't. I'm not learning anything about teamwork, I'm just learning how to do routine, which I'm APPARENTLY not supposed to do in battle anyway!"

"You have to learn the moves before you can use them," Suki said, "and learning takes repetition. Pay attention to what you're doing. Consciously know what you are doing, even if you've done it a thousand times. Idiot."

Suki was a tyrant, and Sokka climbed to his feet angrily, and he poked her in the chest. She didn't move back or even try to block him, she just took it. He said, sharply, "Look here, Know-It-All. If you explained that to me in the first place, we wouldn't be having this argument."

Suki scoffed, rolled her eyes and paused. She didn't say anything, and he waited for her to reply. He folded his arms, shifted his weight to his other foot, and Suki got this incredible look on her face. It was inexplicable, but Sokka knew, immediately, that it didn't bode well for him.

"Alright," she said, slowly, "teach me to fight. Sokka-style."

He stared. A smirk spread on her face, red lips curved all wicked-like and sarcastic. She waited, and he trailed, "uh." What could he show her? What could he possibly show her?

"I'm waiting," she informed him.

"Well, it's a mindset, not a skill," he said, determined, "you give it all you have, you don't waste time thinking about the art of it or how to best protect yourself in the process. You just give it all you've got. If you get hit once or twice, who cares? You just hit 'em back that much harder."

"And if that 'once or twice' leaves you wounded or hindered?" Suki said, loftily.

"You fight to the death," Sokka said, confidently.

"Alright," Suki said, "someday you'll see that that sort of thought is best left as an idea, not reality. But until then, class dismissed. See you all in the morning."

Sokka scowled at her, irritated by how condescending she could be, and he turned to go. Suki said, "Where are you going?" and he turned back, confused. She was watching him with bright blue eyes, or maybe they just seemed blue in the light. She said, "You and I still have private dance lessons tonight, if you're still interested in the Kyoshi way."

"Right," Sokka replied, dismissively, though he stayed. "Safer but more time consuming."



Sokka wasn't thinking at all with any intelligent part of his brain when he did it. In fact, he likely wasn't thinking with even the stupid parts of his brain – his lunge was so gut-driven and impulsive that it seemed to anyone else that he hadn't considered at all the implications of it, reaching in with the halberd and putting it between Suki and Azula.

But he knew wood didn't conduct electricity and it was a bet better taken than passed, because, after all, Suki's life was on the line. He had to stop that lightning if it was the last thing he did.

The lightning was caught on the blade, and in the last instants of his memory, Sokka could recall the split instant of joy as the blade shone blue, marking his success. However, what he didn't recall, instants later, was how the wood handle rattled with the energy and burst, and the remainder of the electric charge jumped directly into his hand, down his arm, and coursed right down his body.

The last thing he saw was Azula's crazy face, with a triumphant shriek of laughter. When he fell, he fell against Suki.



Katara wasn't sure of what had happened, when she opened her eyes.

She was on the ground, and Aang was kneeling over her, and Iroh was slumped by her side. When she looked down at herself, she realized her clothes were very singed, and her head hurt, though when she brought her hand there, she felt no external wound. She looked up at Aang, expectantly, as she rushed to lean over Iroh and see if he was all right. Ursa sat over him, face inexplicably blank. She was holding Iroh's hands with her own.

When Katara got closer and focused her attention, she realized that he was dead.

"He saved us," Aang said, mournful, and she realized he was holding her hand. Katara felt the tears well in her eyes.

"How…?"

"I don't know," Aang sighed, angry and broken all at once. "I didn't see, I was busy trying to fend off some of the soldiers and he stepped between us, and…"

He trailed off there. Katara pursed her lips, hard, to keep from making a single noise, though the tears were streaming down her cheeks by then. Aang looked away. After a moment, Katara found her strength and resolve, within her, and she forced herself to look ahead.

"What's going on outside?" she asked. Her voice was an unsteady croak.

"I don't know, but the soldiers have stopped coming and we're not surrounded, so I think something big might have happened," Aang said, "They only stopped coming a few minutes ago, they ran off. I've been defending you since you were hit."

Katara reached over and closed Iroh's eyes, a chill going down her spine, and then she nodded and looked at Ursa. Ursa replied, quietly, "I'll take care of him." Katara reluctantly nodded, and then turned to Aang.

"We'd better go check it out," she said.

Aang nodded, his determination rising once again, and he took her hands to help her up. When he pulled her to her feet, her toes over his, her face came so close to his that she had to step back, out of respect, but not until Aang had pressed a brief, flighty kiss on her lips, one that lasted barely a second.

"Let's go," he said, as if it was nothing.

Katara opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't – Aang still had her hand and he moved to run, and she just followed, overwhelmed by the past year, one more death lingering over her head.

"Yeah," she breathed.



The Earth kingdom girl screamed and Azula slid on the ice towards her. Azula was laughing, laughing hysterically, and Zuko gave in. He gave in to desperation and he seized the hilt of one of his swords, from under his coat. He pulled it out, then pulled the other out, and before Azula could even finish gathering the static energy from the air, he was behind her.

Azula's eyes shot open, and she scarcely had the moment to breathe before Zuko plunged the weight forward, the blade slipping through her skin with a sickening slice. Azula's expression froze, her pupils dilating so much almost all the gold became black. She let out a whine of pain, and rightly so.

Zuko let out a long breath, and Azula shuddered in front of him, her jaw twitching to clench and then slacking again. Her entire body became rigid, and she braced herself, and he held her up with one hand, almost as shaky as she was.

"This," Zuko said, loudly, "is for everyone." His voice shook when he spoke.

"Well, Zu-zu," Azula said, calmly, though there was a distinct strain in her voice, like she was having trouble getting it out. Her lungs would be giving out on her soon, anyway, and Zuko just held her upright.

If he pulled the broadsword out, she'd bleed out faster. He was torn between ruthless cruelty and taking pity on her. Maybe he didn't want to hear her voice ever again, but in some way, maybe even Azula deserved a bit of humanity bestowed upon her.

This wasn't how he had wanted it to end, he had preferred to see her shamed under a defeat and calmed, placed in the background like a harmless doll, but that other part of him nagged him. Azula would never be shamed, never be calmed, and she would never play the part of a harmless doll.

So she simply had to die.

"I'm not sorry," Zuko said, his voice cracking in fear. He'd felt blood on his hands many times before, and it had disgusted him every time. This time, Azula's blood flowed so thick it was nearly black, along the ridge of the blade and onto the hilt, where it pooled in the crevices and hollows of his hand.

"You will be," Azula replied, and she let out a noise he'd never imagined from her lips, choked. A bubble of blood burst against her lips and it trickled from the corners of her mouth, with every strained breath.

"No," he said, and then her weight grew heavier on the end of his sword. It took a moment for him to accommodate it, and she hung there, but her legs remained braced.

When he felt pressure from the other end of the sword, he tensed and tried to keep it steady, but no. Azula, with her dying strength, had grabbed it and was pushing it out of her, with the smirk on her lips dying but not dead quite yet. Zuko instinctively drove forward and she let out a hiss of pain, and the gruesome tug-of-war did not continue.

"Oh," she said, "Long live… Fire Lady Azula…"

Her eyes rolled up into her head, and when Azula died, Zuko retracted the blade a bit and let her slump to the roof. Her body crumpled, and the blood pooled on the ice in large puddles, enough that Zuko had to step back to avoid stepping in it.

He looked at his hands, feeling disgusted and worried all at once. The wicked witch of the west was dead, and Zuko released the hilt, so the sword clanged to the ground. Her body twitched, and for an instant, he thought that maybe he had failed, but he soon realized he was wrong. He'd seen death before. The body had spasms. The mind died before the body.

Somehow, his good eye glazed over with tears. He wasn't even sure why, but his heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst in his chest. His mind started making up mantras, saying them over and over again, to assure him he had just done the right thing by slaying her.

This was to save them all, after all.

He let out a long breath, sheathed the blade, and turned to look at the masses below. Many continued to fight, but so many thousands were looking up in mixed expressions -- awe, horror, shock. Zuko could do nothing but stare down at them, terrified at her own power. Azula's body slid down the dome of the roof and right off, dropping off the edge. Zuko turned as it did, and he rushed to the edge, after her body. It had landed in the oasis with a crumpled splash, and he could see the tiny outlines of red people rushing to the water. The water was turning pink.

He turned again, and stared at the Earth kingdom girl and that Water tribe girl's brother. The girl was cradling the boy across her lap, and she was tear-streaked, too. Her eyes continually darted between the boy and where Azula's body had fallen off the edge, and then she held Zuko's gaze for a moment.

"You killed her," the girl said, in a melange of emotions: Zuko felt the sadness, the anger, the joy, the frustration, everything. Zuko could only stare at her, for a moment, and breathe the only thing he could possibly say:

"Yeah. I killed her."

There, Zuko fell to his knees, and he fell right out of consciousness, and his body pitched to the ground, and rolled off the roof, right after his sister.