Ty Lee sighed as the last Society member was locked away in the imperial prison. "Phew! Glad that's done."
"Me too," Jaya replied. "Come on, let's head back and relieve our sisters for the night."
Ty Lee nodded, and they moved quickly down the dark corridors. This place is so dreary! she thought as they moved past ominous shadows painting the stone walls. She cringed as they passed by Ozai's cell, but paused as she sensed a strange, murky presence she'd never felt before from within the room.
"Hey, um," she started. "Do you know if they've moved Ozai recently?"
Jaya shrugged. "Not sure. Why?"
Ty Lee walked towards the door to his cell and slowly lifted the cover. Raising herself to her toes, she peeked into the dark room. Ozai sat against the back wall of his cell, arms around his knees, head sunk against his chest.
Ty Lee felt Jaya peek into the cell over her shoulder. "Looks like he's still here. They shouldn't have any reason to move him," she said hastily. "Come on, we should go. We're late as it is."
Ty Lee continued to stare into the darkness. "No, wait. Something's not right. His aura is way off," she whispered.
Jaya stood back and frowned. "I still don't understand this 'aura' thing, but if it makes you feel better, we can go in and check on him. But make it quick," she said, pulling out the long rope of keys they'd used to lock up the others. She fumbled with them for a moment before sticking one into the lock and pushing the door open.
Light from the corridor spilled into the room. Ozai flinched, but kept his head bowed low, dark strands of hair falling into his face. Heart throbbing, Ty Lee approached the cell.
"O-Ozai," she said as roughly as she could, but stopped and continued quietly. "Are you…unwell?"
He buried deeper into himself, but didn't respond.
This isn't right… He always sat cross-legged, posture erect, never cowered over in such an open display of defeat.
"Maybe he's finally giving into the humiliation he's brought upon himself," Jaya chided. Ty Lee flinched at her levity; her former Fire Lord still sent chills up her spine, though not nearly as bad as Azula did.
Crouching down, Ty Lee cocked her head to try and catch his gaze. He turned away.
Suddenly, two guards tumbled into the room. "What's going on in here?" a woman asked.
"Sorry," Jaya said quickly, "She just wanted to check—"
"This isn't right," Ty Lee interrupted, unusually stern. She stood up and looked back at the guards—a tall woman and a very wide, muscular man. "Open this cell."
"What? Look, kid, we get you're the Fire Lord's special guard, but you can't just—"
"Open it now! Something is really wrong. I can sense it," she said, voice shaking. "When's the last time someone took a close look at him?"
The guards looked at her, dumbfounded. The man shrugged. "Fine, whatever," he said, looking at his companion. "Look, let's just do it so these two will get out of our hair. I'd like to finish our final rounds so I can get home at a decent hour." The woman sighed, walking back to secure the exit while he unlocked the metal grating holding the prisoner. Sliding it open, he moved cautiously towards Ozai. As he reached for him, Ozai suddenly thrust his hand forward, a bright flame of fire shooting towards the man's face.
"Aaagh!" he cried, barely deflecting the flames before they all rushed forward.
"HOW IS HE BENDING?!" the woman shrieked.
"I DON'T KNOW!" the man bellowed, trying to pin Ozai's arms down. Ty Lee swooped in quickly and delivered several jabs to the prisoner's back. He collapsed to the hard stone floor.
The female guard lit a handful of fire, then reached out with trembling fingers to brush the long strands of hair out of the former Fire Lord's face.
A wave a nausea swept over Ty Lee. "Th-that's…not Ozai."
"This isn't right..."
Katara opened her eyes. She'd dozed off on the floor as she sat next to Aang's body, leaning back against the bedframe and keeping one hand on his knee. "What, Sokka?" she mumbled. She glanced over at Noren, asleep in the chair beside Ursa with Kiyi against his chest.
Sokka followed her gaze and lowered his voice. "Zuko said they'd meet us back here hours ago…and I'm sure he would've come straight to see his mom."
"Oh…well, maybe they got caught up with something. Suki's with him, so I'm sure they're fine," she said sleepily.
Sokka looked a little uneasy. "Yeah…"
At that moment, the door behind them creaked open. Ty Lee poked her head around. She looked upset.
"Ty Lee? What's going on?" Sokka asked, standing.
She bit her lip, motioning for them to come over. Katara planted a quick kiss on Aang's cheek before the siblings stood and made their way into the hall.
Ty Lee shut the door quietly before turning to face them. Giant tears suddenly streamed down her face.
"Ty Lee! What's wrong?!" Katara said, moving beside her. Sokka looked freaked out.
"They're g-gone!" she said, sobbing uncontrollably. "And the rest are…d-dead! And in the p-prison we found—"
"Wait, slow down Ty Lee, who's gone?" Katara asked.
"Who's dead?!" Sokka exclaimed.
Ty Lee looked up at them, her breaths shaky as she tried to calm down. Katara wrapped an arm around her shoulders. It felt strange, since the most interaction she'd had with the girl was trying to avoid her chi-blocking during the war, but those tears were enough to ignite Katara's momma polar bear dog instinct without a second thought.
"The entire troop…assigned to bring Zuko back…" Ty Lee continued. "Th-they're all dead!" she cried out, before covering her face with her hands. "Azula…she killed them all…Some were my…friends…"
Katara felt her gut clench as she looked up at Sokka. His face was white as a sheet. He grabbed Ty Lee's shoulders. "What about Suki? Where is she?!"
"Gone. Her and Zuko are…gone."
Sokka stared at her, eyes quivering in fear. Before Katara could speak, a broad man approached them quickly from the shadows.
"Master Katara. Sokka," he said, bowing quickly. He had a short, dark beard and hair pulled back into a low bun. "I'm General Mak. Have you been informed on the current situation?"
"W-we know that Zuko and Suki are missing—" Katara began, her voice much weaker than usual.
"That's not the only bad news," he replied darkly. "Ozai…he's escaped the capital prison. And I'm certain it's tied to the attack on the Fire Lord."
The string of horrible news left Katara speechless. Sokka stared at the man, mouth hanging open.
General Mak's expression wavered, a flash of guilt sweeping across his face. "I'm sorry," he continued, looking at the ground, clenching his fists. "I understand the great sacrifice you all made to remove Ozai from power. I promise you—we'll do everything we can to find him."
Katara looked over at her brother. He stared back at her, eyebrows furrowed deeply, before looking back at the general. "It's all right, General," he said. "We'll help you out however we can."
General Mak nodded before going on. "With the Fire Lord missing, it is crucial that we keep control over the capital. In fact, I think we should keep this information confidential as we search for him. There are already several riots in the city due to the lockdown and I don't want to cause further panic."
"I agree," Sokka said. Katara could see his mind working as he folded his arms across his chest. "Aang is…away, temporarily, but until he returns, Katara and I can take his sky bison to search the surrounding areas while you manage things here."
"Yes, that would be extremely helpful," the general replied. "Thank you, again." He bowed quickly and took off down the hall. Sokka stared after him, before turning to face her.
"This…this is bad," he said, his eyes quivering.
Katara looked back towards Ursa's room. Aang, she thought. Please hurry...
Zuko listened as Suki's breathing slowed to the gentle rhythm of sleep. His arms were still folded, nails digging into his skin through his sleeves, heart pounding wildly.
What was I doing? he thought for the hundredth time. What…am I feeling?
He looked over at Suki's sleeping form, her outline just barely visible in the dark room. Her bright, watery eyes flashed in his mind; the feeling of her soft, strong fingers beneath his; the tingling that shot up his arm when he brushed her face—
Zuko grabbed at the roots of his hair and tucked his head between his knees. What am I doing? Didn't I just tell Mai how much I missed her YESTERDAY?! Though in truth, that felt like ages ago after everything that had happened, after realizing Mai had been lying to him. How could Mai keep that from me? He recollected painfully. If we had known Ukano was leading the New Ozai Society, we could have stopped Kiyi from being kidnapped, ALL those kids from being kidnapped. Whatever her reasons, what Mai did was…selfish, and wrong, he admitted to himself. It felt like his insides were in knots. And if Kiyi hadn't been kidnapped, he continued, mind racing, maybe my mom wouldn't have—
Turning his thoughts to his mother only made him feel worse. He trusted Katara, but what if this was something not even she could fix? Could he really lose his mother after everything he went through to get her back? He bit his lip to stop its trembling, squeezing his arms across his middle to try and push the horrible aching back inside.
"Zuko, you don't have to do this alone."
Suki's words from the afternoon resonated in his mind. He peeked back over his shoulder at the cot, half expecting her to be sitting up and speaking to him. He recalled how she stayed with him while he cradled his mother in his arms; how she steered Appa so he could stay with Kiyi; how she patiently listened when he'd been worrying over Tom-Tom; how she hadn't blamed him for keeping secrets during the Yu Dao conflict, even when everyone else assumed the worst. Now, instead of boyish elation, he felt a deep fondness he'd never realized was there. It was as if knowing she had ended things with Sokka opened a floodgate of affection, one his honor had previously been damming up.
Suki's just a really kind person, he thought, berating himself. She's just being a supportive friend. She could never feel anything for you. He frowned deeply. Anyway, this is stupid, you're just tired, and he really was. He leaned back against the cabinet, resting his eyes but trying to keep his ears alert for possible visitors.
He woke what felt like minutes later. The lantern had died out. Although they were in a windowless room, he could sense with his firebending that the sunrise was minutes away. Groaning, he realized he'd slept through the night by accident. He sat up, cracking his sore neck before lighting a small fire in his palm and turning towards Suki. She was still fast asleep, her mouth slightly ajar, arm dangling from the edge of the cot as her fingers curled against the ground. Cute, Zuko thought warmly, before mentally smacking himself.
Deciding to let her sleep for a couple more minutes, he forced himself to get up in search of a washroom. After wandering the upper level, he ventured down into the base floor and found one just off staircase.
He was scrubbing his hands in a washbasin when a horribly familiar voice rang out from the shadows.
"Hello, Fire Lord."
His heart rammed into his throat as he looked up into the mirror. Narrow, muddy gold eyes stared back at him from the doorway. The hair on the back of Zuko's head was tingling, the veins in his neck pulsing madly. Please let this be a bad dream, he thought desperately. He gripped the edges of the sink, not turning around.
"Can't even face me? You really are a despicable boy," the voice snarled.
Zuko turned around slowly, trembling with rage. A crooked smile flickered from the shadows. "How are you here?" Zuko demanded, his voice raspy and weak.
Ozai's grin widened, but he didn't speak.
Fuming, Zuko bent a thick stream of fire but was suddenly cut off by a bolt of lightning. It flew past his head and destroyed the sink behind him, the mirror shattering to the ground.
A single Kemurikage emerged from the doorway, standing in front of his father.
"Azula! Is that you?!" Zuko demanded.
Ozai laughed maliciously, walking forward to rest a hand on the silent figure. "Azula? No, your sister may prove to be more worthless even than you, Zuko. This here is…shall we say, one of my pets. I'm quite a good trainer, you know."
Zuko felt his stomach lurch, his throat burning. He snarled, raising his fists to fire, but Ozai called out loudly, "If you attack, your pretty little friend is dead."
"W-what are you talking about? There's no one else here," Zuko lied. He kept his face deadpan, despite how his body was quaking. His thoughts screamed at him. I can't believe you left her sleeping up there, injured, all alone! She'll be caught completely off guard! He felt beads of sweat dripping down his temple as he sent another stream of blazing orange flames towards Ozai.
Ozai laughed cruelly as the Kemurikage beat back the flames. "Fine," he said offhandedly as two more masked figures emerged from the darkness. He turned towards the shortest of them. "She's upstairs. Kill her."
Fear boiled up inside Zuko and he cut off the flames. "NO! Wait! Please," he begged, abandoning his bluff. He would've just fought them all in that moment, but he couldn't risk one assailant reaching Suki while he battled the rest. Can I trust my father to keep his word? He bit down hard on the inside of his lip, tasting blood as he thought. By handing myself over, I'd be betraying the safety of the Fire Nation… He looked at the three hooded figures clustered around Ozai. They can all bend lightning. Even if we injured them last night, I can't redirect multiple strikes at once, he admitted bitterly. He deliberated frantically for several more seconds before lowering his arms, his head bowed in bitter submission. "Just tell me what you want, Father."
"Ahhh, what I want." Ozai motioned to one of his cronies and she stepped forward. "A few hours ago I just wanted you dead, son. But seeing you in person, I've had a change of heart."
The masked woman approached Zuko and thrust her hand at his neck. He flinched as something sharp pricked his skin.
"What I want is to see you from the other side of those prison bars before I kill you."
Zuko felt his breath grow shallow as he tried to keep the room in focus.
"Now," Ozai said, his voice far away. "Go kill her."