The flare rocketed into the sky, exactly as Zuko remembered. The trio on deck watched the distress signal brighten, arch in the sky, and reflect off the ice below it.
"Wow, that's pretty." Ty Lee observed, patting her face with small mittens. Azula didn't seem to share her sentiment as she brushed past her brother and friend, grasping for the telescope she kept tied to her waist.
"Finally." Azula mumbled as she extended the telescope, searching the ice for the Avatar. A moment passed as Zuko waited for her to make the connection between the jumping duo, and the village not far away. The telescope snapped shut with a click and Azula walked away in a tense silence. Zuko blinked, briefly wondering if perhaps his sister had missed them.
Sputtering at her lack of a reaction, he called at her back, "Did you see where-"
"Head a course for the village ahead. They are sheltering the Avatar," Azula's voice steeled, and took on a raspy tone, "Prepare for a fight."
What? There were no warriors in that village the first time he'd arrived, and he knew from the telescope she could see the size of the village - nothing more than a few haphazard tents and one massive igloo. Ty Lee took the telescope and looked in the direction of the South Pole's village.
Almost as if confirming Zuko's inner monologue she remarked, "It's tiny." She shut the telescope, and frowned.
"I know, there are barely enough tents to house more than a small group of people." He spoke with such certainty that Ty Lee's pondering look changed to confusion, and she glanced at Zuko with suspicious grey eyes.
"You haven't even seen the village." Zuko scowled at his slip up.
"I'm going to dress into my armor. Wait in the ship until we return, Ty Lee." She gazed at him with scrutinizing grey eyes, but seemed to play along.
"You sure? I've been practicing my chi block-"
"Yes, Ty Lee, I'm sure." He said quickly, hoping his tone left no room for argument.
She shrugged and kicked up into a handstand, walking on her hands next to Zuko. "This really gets my blood flowing, I feel warmer already!" She exclaimed, not commenting on Zuko's abrupt subject change, which he was certain she noticed.
Zuko exhaled and marched below deck, almost shaking in anticipation.
It's been a long time, Avatar.
"Do you think we will find the Avatar, Uncle?" Zuko asked innocently, wondering what his Uncle thought of this whole mess.
His Uncle shrugged and smile cryptically, "The spirits have a plan, Zuko." Zuko's good eye narrowed in confusion before he walked below deck. Agni hadn't spoken to him in over a year, but Zuko felt his connection to the spirit world weaken. He hoped Agni would help him someway with guidance now.
The ship rocked as it crashed into the ice, operating more on Azula's orders than Zuko's this time, creating a cacophony of crunching and destruction fitting for a metal fire nation vessel. Zuko's helmet vibrated softly on his head, and he looked to Azula, who stood confidently without a helmet, and her hair bound into a simple topknot.
"Let's go." Azula sneered from next to Zuko. The bow of the ship hissed and creaked as the gate lowered onto the ice below, and the duo descended back into the cold with six fire benders clad in armor behind them. The water tribe boy should attack right about now. As if right on time, the tribesman started off his assault with a yell and brazenly ran up the bow of the ship, machete in hand. His eyes widened at Azula, who casually stepped forward and simply round-house kicked him off the ship. He fell comically into a pile of snow below.
"What a savage assault." Azula growled, as she stomped her way down the ship. This time will be better. No yanking grandmothers, no threatening with swipes of fire, just waiting for the Avatar to slide down the hill on that penguin.
Azula's boots mashed the snow as she sneered at their surroundings. Zuko walked next to his sister, and examined the crowd of villagers, mostly women and children. His gaze settled on the water bender - Katara - who gazed at the group with intense fear.
"My sister and I are looking for an air bender who we have seen around your village." His raspy voice echoed around the open, nearly silent village. A yell alerted him to another 'surprise attack', and he ducked under the machete swing of the boy - Sokka. He'd almost forgotten about the boy's second assault. He shot a halfhearted blast of fire at him again, which he rolled away from and threw the boomerang at Zuko. I'm not falling for that again, though.
"Show no fear!" one of the boy's yelled to Sokka, as he tossed him a whale tooth spear. Zuko had to admire the boy's determination, seeing himself in the water tribesman on the second round. He charged with the spear, and Zuko swung upward, breaking the staff's sharp end off completely. Then, he grabbed the spear from his hand and poked his head several times, until he fell. Here it comes. Zuko turned around and caught the boomerang just before it smashed into the back of his helmet, allowing himself to grin slightly.
Sokka blanched as Zuko turned around and tossed the boomerang aside, having completely disarmed the would-be warrior.
"Well done, brother." Azula smirked as she turned around, eyes widening at the boy who plowed into the back of her brother's legs, sending him head over heels.
"Almost perfect." She added, as her fists ignited.
Zuko fumed silently, as he remembered the Avatar - Aang - had done the exact same thing before. I tunneled to much onto the boomerang. He thought, annoyed that even the second time around he'd missed something. The boomerang hurt more anyway, and had left him with a small welt from the impact of his helmet. He shook off the humiliating error and turned around, watching as the soldiers surrounded Aang. Suddenly the boy whipped his staff upward, and blew snow unto all the soldiers. Only, Azula had the presence of mind to create a wall of fire that evaporated the snow.
"So, you - some boy - are the Avatar? I expected more." She said with mock disappointment, "At least this will be easy."
The avatar's brow furrowed, and he looked her up and down.
"You aren't much older than I am." He shot back.
Her eyebrow twitched slightly, and Zuko sucked in a breath. Something in her posture alerted him that his small comment had annoyed her more than she let on. Without a warning she fired a heated blast at the Avatar's chest; it was a blast far stronger than he'd been able to create when he'd attempted to capture the Avatar. Aang hardly blocked the shot and flew backward, panting in fear. Zuko doubted Aang would be able to hold off even against one more of his sisters heavy blows.
Azula smirked, and fell out of her stance, allowing Zuko to relax slightly. His sister had this under control. He trusted her not to make a mess of things.
"I'm sure you don't want to fight me here," She gestured at the village around her, "My flames are quite hot, and the shelters here don't look fireproof." She ignited a fire in her hand and pointed it at the gathering of tents in the corner of the village, smirking as she did so. Zuko's heart rate increased once more and he hoped she wouldn't cause the same panic and fear that he did among them. Leave them in peace Azula. He prayed silently, hoping the spirit of the Avatar would listen. The villagers all made panicked shouts, and Aang appeared hesitant, before lowering his staff.
"Don't hurt them. I'll come without a fight." Azula smiled gleefully, and she gestured at the soldiers, who were just recovering.
"Take him." She walked up to Zuko, and marched up the bridge.
"You would set fire to the entire village just to catch him?" Zuko asked calmly. She laughed with an eerie raspy edge that her burns had left.
"No, he was simply outclassed. We needed him back into the fire nation in one piece and I'm not sure we could have done that by fighting him." Azula reasoned. She patted Zuko's shoulder.
"Get, Ty Lee and have her and Uncle Iroh meet us on the deck."
"This staff is very old. It will make an excellent trophy." Azula mumbled as she examined the staff. Zuko spared a sideways glance at his Uncle, who'd made himself scarce after the beam of light had appeared, and noticed his disapproving stare. Zuko quickly looked away, gritting his teeth. Was I this blind before? He questioned himself And yet, he stuck by my side all that time. His mind drifted to Ba Sing Se as his sister gave orders to the rest of the crew. He would prevent that from happening this time. Azula smacked his shoulder as he snapped to attention. He noticed the Avatar being led below deck by Ty Lee and two crew members, still in their armor.
"Why is Ty Lee-"
"Extra protection." Zuko's stomach twisted, knowing his chi-blocking friend would be quite the match for Aang. Then again the Avatar had escaped from worse.
Against his better judgement, he responded, "Right."
"We can finally relax, Zuko. Our time at sea is over." They stood and watched the waves change and crash against the glaciers.
They had been standing on the deck of the ship, watching the water when a small object had appeared in the distance. Slowly, it appeared larger and larger until Azula took notice and grabbed her telescope.
"What is that?" Azula growled, staring out the telescope at the massive, six-legged, furry creature that flew toward their ship. Zuko nervously wondered why the Avatar hadn't made his escape yet, knowing the timeline of events in the back of his mind.
Zuko stood at Azula's side watching the flying bison - he knew that creature well enough, Azula on the other hand...
"A flying bison." Zuko offered dryly. Azula scoffed, and closed the telescope.
"I saw two of the villagers on that thing's back in the saddle. Perhaps they've come to rescue their Avatar." Azula mused lightheartedly, but Zuko heard the quiet anticipation in his sister's voice. A small part of Zuko wanted to walk back into the ship and break that child out himself to speed their defeat along quickly. However, he breathed in the harsh air of the south pole and righted himself. The spirits have a plan.
The bison circled above the ship as a scared fire-fox would dance around an unknown creature, hovering and lowering close enough to catch a peek, but not fully committing. Zuko spared a glance at the bridge of the ship, before turning his attention back to the bison. He could see the impatience in the bison's flight pattern as it circled the ship closer and closer on each pass.
Finally, the bison lowered itself onto the ship with a loud thud against the metal.
The water siblings lowered themselves from the creatures back, and warily eyed Azula and Zuko. None of the party on deck said a word. After only a moment of sizing each other up, Azula began clapping her hands at a slow, mocking cadence, "Wonderful entrance, I've never seen such a-"
"Shut it, fire-erm girl! Where's Aang!" The boy lowered his machete at them.
The only sign of displeasure Azula showed at being interrupted was the smoking of her fists. The hair on the back of Zuko's neck began to stand, as he hurriedly gazed at the bridge. Please free yourself.
"As I was saying before your rude interruption, congratulations on landing aboard our ship. What is your plan now? Fight your way through more than twenty trained fire benders? Wait- before you could even do that you would have to beat my brother and I, which even if you could, those fire benders would surely outnumber two foolish, clearly untrained savages." Sokka bristled at this sister's goading, while Katara turned her wary gaze to Zuko. Zuko's breath hitched momentarily, and he switched to watching the confrontation between his younger sister and Katara's older brother.
Sokka stepped forward in an outburst, "You- you're just a girl, not a warrior! I am not afraid of you." You fool. Zuko held some doubt as Sokka's arms trembled, but that could be from anger, not fear, which somehow was worse. Sokka should very much fear his sister.
Azula's dark stare served as a warning, "Is that so?"
Sokka snarled, "Yeah it is, you fire nation scum just think you are so much better than the rest of the world."
Zuko glanced at his sister, who was behaving eerily similar to his sister of the other timeline, as she grinned maliciously, her scar making her grin appear far more sinister than without.
"No. Just you." It was the final nail in the coffin, as the boy strode toward her quickly, brandishing his weapon and swinging wildly at his sister.
"Sokka!" Katara shouted, as she moved to help her brother, Zuko stepped between them and raised his arms in a fire bending stance.
"You don't want to try that." He said roughly. She uncorked her water skin, but Zuko knew this Katara was not the fearsome girl who could stand toe to toe with him beneath Ba Sing Se. No, this Katara was one who could barely control her bending, and froze her brother on the deck of his ship. With speed he acquired from his spars with Azula, he stepped forward and swiped the water skin from her side and closed it, ignoring her undignified squawk at his move.
He bristled as she reached for it. "Just wait." He snapped impatiently, turning his attention to Azula and Sokka, expecting her to have disarmed him already, but to his surprise they still dueled. He quickly understood why.
Azula sidestepped all of his blows with ease, and deflected the blows that came to close with her metal wrist guards, batting the machete on the flat side to simply knock it aside.
"Azula." Zuko blurted, as his sister decided to end the duel by sweeping Sokka's legs and aiming her fist at his, igniting it in her blue fire. Damn it.
A loud screech of metal alerted both parties on the deck, as the door to the deck finally opened. All heads turned on a swivel to the sound of the metal screeching. A pink parka stepped out, and Zuko closed his eyes in resignation as she lead and a limp-armed, terrified Aang through the doorway. No, this can't be.
"What did you do to me?" He asked desperately as his one leg struggled to hold himself upright. Ty Lee glanced at him sheepishly, and looked at Azula.
"Azula, he kept trying to escape so I-" Her eyes widened, as the whole scene hit her all at once, and she looked at each figure on the deck, gaping at the bison that watched impassively.
"Oh, I must have missed something." She observed with a small amount of shock.
Aang saw his bison, the water twins and his voice took a strained, desperate note, "Sokka, Katara, Appa, run!"
Azula rolled her eyes.
"Ty Lee, take him back- " A surprised grunt resounded in Zuko's ears, and he saw his sister fall face first onto the deck of the ship, as Sokka took advantage of her distraction, tripping Azula and sprinting at Zuko. He still appeared unsure after losing such a one sided duel with Azula, but Zuko sensed Sokka knew this was their last chance to at least escape. Zuko simply stepped aside, and gestured to Katara, doing what he could to salvage the situation.
"Go." He whispered fiercely, as he shoved the water skin into the Katara's hands. Confusion racked Katara's face as she nodded and ran with her brother to the bison, taking off into the sky.
A feral scream to his right alerted him that Azula had recovered from her momentary lapse, and Zuko quickly turned to his sister, watching as she pulled her fist back. She ignited it, ready to send a massive blast at the water tribe siblings and the bison.
"No!" He barely realized what he had done until he snapped his sister's hand down, snuffing out the extreme heat. Her eyes met his, and the maddening rage in her eyes unnerved Zuko. Her feral gaze briefly switched on the bison that disappeared over the cliff of a glacier, before switching the rage back onto Zuko.
"You let them escape!" She snarled, pushing Zuko back with some fire.
Zuko pushed the flames away, trying to calm his sister from whatever spell she was under, "Azula! Azula, that wasn't necessary, and you know that! We have the Avatar!" He pointed at the boy, who stared at the siblings apprehensively along with Ty Lee, who also watched them fight with no small amount of anxiety. Azula blinked once, twice, then three times, as she calmed herself from her unhinged state to look at the Avatar.
"We won, Azula. We didn't need to capture them. It would have just been more work on our hands." He reasoned quickly. She nodded dumbly. Zuko, sensing his sister had calmed slightly, approached her side and grasped her shoulder.
"They were our age, Azula. Almost just like us." She exhaled and the tension left her body.
"I know. I forgot you don't like unwanted casualties. However, that peasant," She snarled the last word, "attacked me from behind, after I had beaten him. It will not happen again." She vowed and Zuko nodded, unsure of what to say. Azula stayed still for a moment, enjoying the bitter victory while Zuko simply felt numb, unsure of what to do next as the gravity of what just occurred punched him in the gut.
The ship was intact, the Avatar did not escape, his two water tribe cohorts were now scared off, and his sister had erupted into a rage he had never seen before. Wonderful. I might as well break him free now to make this easier. He was hoping everything would have gone the exact opposite as it had before to keep the timeline the same. For once, he wanted failure, and the spirits could not give it to him. This change makes my knowledge useless. Now, I don't know what to expect. Stupid Avatar, spirit. Stupid universe.
"Earth to Zuko!" He snapped back to reality, focusing on his sister, Ty Lee, and the Avatar. His thoughts would have to wait for some meditation. He needed time alone.
"Yes?" He asked slowly. Azula rolled her eyes.
"Pay attention dum-dum," She chided affectionately, "I'm bringing the Avatar below deck to inform him of how the remainder of this voyage is going to spent for him. I want you and Ty Lee to set us on course for the nearest fire nation base to refuel. We are going home." Zuko shivered at the word, but knew in his heart these plans could not come to fruition. He needed to ensure the Avatar escaped somehow.
"I will," His voice wavered, and he cursed inwardly. His sister's brow furrowed, but she nodded, turned and grasped Avatar, half-carrying him.
A thought occurred to Zuko, "Should we write to father?"
"No." His sister smirked, "I want to see the look on Ozai's face when we return with the Avatar, completing something no one in this family, could for one hundred years. I want him to realize that his quest for the impossible was completed and that he cannot keep us away from our destiny." She finished with certainty.
Zuko nodded as his sister led the Avatar down to the brig. Ty Lee stomped up to him with a great look of exasperation.
"I was watching him downstairs for only an hour. What happened up here?"
"I'm not sure." Zuko mumbled offhandedly. I need to speak with Uncle, after I meditate.
AN: A beta reader would make life so much easier, and make the writing better.