Disclaimer: I own nothing.
It was pure coincidence that Katara and Mikko ran into Haru. It seems that she was used to getting new boyfriends because after a few minutes, she and Haru had decided to enjoy the carnival alone. The three promised to meet each other back at the inn if possible. Katara warned them that Fire Nation soldiers might try to capture them so she and the Gaang might have to leave in a hurry. After months of being chased by the Fire Nation, the Katara knew that they might be chased by Fire Nation soldiers at the most inconvenient of times.
When Katara ran into Zuko, it turned out Katara still held a grudge against him and he couldn't blame her. As soon as she saw him she began hitting him furiously with two water whips. The people around them didn't find this unusual. Many assumed that the two had been going out and had quite a messy breakup. Zuko didn't fight back however and it made Katara even more angry.
"Why don't you fight back?" Katara whispered angrily, "And what are you doing here now? Trying to capture Aang again?"
"It's because I deserve it," replied Zuko quietly, "I betrayed my uncle and though I set him free, I still haven't forgiven myself. I see no point in capturing the Avatar because there is no point anymore."
"How do I know you're not lying?" asked Katara angrily.
"Because I'm right here to vouch for him," came a voice behind her and Katara turned to face Iroh, "Zuko has set me free and I believe the bruises you just gave him is enough payment for whatever grudge you have against him."
Katara sighed angrily and bended the water back in her canteen.
"Oh and Zuko," said Iroh a bit comically, "This is your first lesson in woman. Never get one to hold a grudge against you. There's an old saying, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'"
"I think I already found that out," grunted Zuko with his usual temper.
"I think we need to go somewhere else," said Iroh to Katara and Zuko, "We've attracted too much attention and something terrible has happened."
The two said nothing as they followed Iroh to, you guessed it, a tent that was serving as a place for old men to play Pai Sho with one another. The tent was empty for it was still early in the evening and the old men were still enjoying themselves with their families, usually grandchildren.
"What happened Uncle?" asked Zuko.
"I have overheard a couple soldiers talking and it seems that I was wrong in thinking Azula would never be able to find us here," replied Iroh, "Azula has followed us here and now she is laying an ambush for the Avatar, his companions, Zuko, and myself. It is possible that she may be ambushing them now. And there's more, Yajuu is with her."
"Figures," muttered Zuko.
"Okay, who is Yajuu anyway?" asked Katara exasperatedly, "Aang, Toph, and I have met him and it seems he's part of some other order of airbenders that survived the war. How is that possible?"
"There isn't much time, but I'll explain it later," promised Iroh, "It is lucky that I have capture one soldier so we should be able to find out where the ambushes are."
After saying this, Iroh led Zuko and Katara behind the tent where a soldier was detained much like Iroh did previously in Ba Sing Se.
"Now," said Iroh gently to the soldier, "We want to know where the ambushes for the Avatar and others are at. If you don't tell us we will have to force you to tell us. I believe the Avatar's bison would be hungry by now, if you catch my drift."
Now, it was obvious that Iroh was implying that Appa would be willing to eat a human being, which is obviously not true for Appa was a herbivore, but the soldier did not know that and when Iroh removed the gag from his mouth, the soldier was ready to tell them everything he knew.
"Princess Azula is ambushing the Water Tribe boy and the traitor, Ty Lee, near the west side of the festival," blurted out the soldier, "Her boy companion is near the edge of the tents where all the firebenders are celebrating. Princess Azula's girl companion is a few tents to the left of this one waiting for Prince Zuko and the Water Tribe girl. She is then planning to wait until General Iroh tries to rescues his nephew to capture him. Please don't feed me to the Avatar's bison! I never wanted to be in this war anyway! I just want to be an actor!"
"Thank you for the information," said Iroh calmly, "You shall be left here for the time being, but you should be freed in an hour or so, depending on when someone decides to retire and play Pai Sho for the remainder of the night."
Iroh then turned to Zuko and Katara, "Do any of you two know where the west side of the festival is?"
"I do," replied Katara, "Why do you ask that?"
"Because you both are needed to face Azula while I help out the Avatar and Toph," replied Iroh, "It will take two benders to defeat Azula and I know the most about Yajuu's bending style.
"Yes Uncle," accepted Zuko.
Katara was a bit surprised in Zuko's compliance to Iroh's plan with a simple, "Yes Uncle." He seemed to have changed greatly by his recent travels. Katara shrugged it off as she and Zuko worked to avoid the tent Mai was using. She could think about this when they were safely away from Azula
Mai smirked as she noticed them both head towards where Ty Lee and Azula was, she hoped Ty Lee and the Water Tribe boy got away.
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Yajuu felt sweat on his brow as he fought that earthbending girl and the Avatar. Most of the soldiers had long been knocked out and the rest had spread out to keep people away to prevent any of the populace helping the Avatar. It was fortunate for Yajuu that Toph couldn't sense him as long as he was in the air.
"I have to admit that you're good Avatar," said Yajuu as he threw knives at him while using airbending to make them go faster, "But you hold back. Try to kill me. That's the only way to beat me."
Aang made a shield of air to block the knives, "You may not value life, but I do, like the real airbenders before me."
Yajuu then formed the air about him into air knifes which he sent at the Avatar. Aang felt one air knife slice his cheek as he dodged it. Aang then told Toph that Yajuu was right above her, who then sent a boulder up at him. Yajuu's eyes widened as he was hit but used his airbending to land safely.
'I got to end this,' thought Yajuu as he, using his airbending to stay just above the ground, charged at Toph with air forming around his fist, rotating so fast that one hit could make a hole through anything on impact. Yajuu smirked as his fist was just a few inches away from Toph when he felt his hand forced down into the ground and the earth itself surround his legs and make himself sink like quicksand. Yajuu looked up and saw Iroh.
"It's nice to see you Iroh," greeted Toph, "You sure took long enough to get here."
"How'd you know Iroh would get here?" asked Aang, once again on the ground.
"Just a feeling," replied Toph smiling, "How'd you get away from Ba Sing Se."
"Zuko had a change of heart and freed me," answered Iroh smiling, "He is a good person you know."
"And he has more mood swings than Sokka when he drunk cactus juice," commented Toph.
Aang glanced at Yajuu, who was seething with rage but couldn't do anything for he was sunk into the ground so that even his mouth was covered, though his nose was above ground. Aang only needed to look in his eyes to see the anger in them. Aang briefly remembered how Monk Gyatso told how anger was a negative emotion that should be let go. Indeed, Aang hardly ever saw the monks angry. It was only in the outside world did Aang see it.
"Hey Twinkle-Toes," said Toph interrupting Aang's train of thought like she had don quite often before, "Shouldn't you be calling Appa now? We need to go pick up Sugar Queen, Angry Boy, Ty Lee and Sokka."
"Oh, right," said Aang as he took his bison whistle out of his pocket and then turning to Iroh, "What are you and Zuko going to do after we get away from here."
"I should think that's obvious. Zuko and I will teach you firebending," replied Iroh as if he was stating the time of the day.
Aang smiled and blew the whistle. Perhaps he and Zuko could be friends after all.
A/N. Wow this chapter was long. Sorry for the long wait. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter. Stay tuned for the next chapter! God bless, and of course, read and review!