Chapter 11

"An Agni Kai?" Ty Lee asked, very surprised with the news Azula just dropped on her.

"Well, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I agreed to his 'offer.' I was hoping I could just talk him into giving me the Avatar. But an Agni Kai will do the trick," Azula said with a half smile. "Besides, that hog monkey Zhao deserves to be put in his place."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, I know you're good and everything, but after your last Agni Kai…" Ty Lee stopped talking upon seeing the glare Azula was now directing at her.

"This is nothing like last time."

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Ty Lee said quietly, knowing that Azula didn't like to talk about it. The scar on her face was enough of a reminder.

"It's okay." Azula's expression softened somewhat. "It's been a long night. I should get some sleep before I face Zhao."

"When is your fight?"

"At noon." Azula hesitated for a moment. "Will you be there?"

"Of course," the acrobat smiled at her. "Sleep well, Azula."


Aang was in an uneasy sleep when he felt two pairs of hands roughly grab onto his shoulders and arms, pulling him from his cell. He opened his mouth to protest, but found that he was gagged. He tried moving his arms and legs, but to his chagrin, they were now bound together. Nervously, he wondered what was going on. Maybe Zhao had changed his mind about keeping him alive.

He was dragged through the ship's brig until finally they reached the prow of the ship, which had opened into a gangplank. Aang blinked a few times, adjusting to the brightness of the sun, which was almost at its peak. He realized that he wasn't at Merchant's Pier any longer. It looked like a small outpost catering to the Fire Nation military.

The guards continued to move him along until they reached a simple four-walled structure with watch fires on four towers at each corner. They brought him through the structure's gate where he could see Commander Zhao and Princess Azula standing in the center, watching his arrival. They were both barefoot and wearing loose brown pants. Zhao was shirtless, while Azula wore a sleeveless brown top to cover her upper body. A ceremonial cloth was draped around each of their shoulders.

Aang then realized what was about to happen, more or less. He remembered from his time visiting his friend Kuzon in the Fire Nation how firebenders dealt with disagreements—with an Agni Kai. What he didn't understand was why he was there.

Azula had insisted on the "prize" being present during the Agni Kai so that when she won, the prisoner exchange could happen quickly. The commander went along with it, looking forward to simply dangling the Avatar in front of her before taking what he wanted from the girl.

The gates slammed shut, and Aang was then brought to the left side of the arena where two other guards—both serving under Azula—joined Zhao's guards in watching over the Avatar. Across the way, on the right side of the arena sat two of Zhao's men and Ty Lee.

"Satisfied, Princess?" Zhao sneered.

Azula nodded, matching his sneer with one of her own. "Let's get this over with."

The two combatants then turned their backs to one another and walked to opposite ends of the platform before kneeling. After a few moments, Azula took a deep breath and stood, allowing her shoulder wrap to fall to the ground. Seconds later, Zhao did the same.

Then, atop the gate, a gong sounded. Azula and Zhao turned to face each other and assumed firebending stances, waiting to see who would fire the first shot. The commander broke first and stepped forward, sending a fireball at the princess. Azula stepped to her right, and the attack passed by harmlessly. She quickly fired off her own attack, which Zhao easily blocked.

They continued exchanging fireballs, but neither of them could land a hit. This was more than okay with Azula, who was merely using this time to observe Zhao's style of fighting. He was powerful, she realized, but undisciplined and too arrogant for his own good.

Frustrated that Azula was evading or blocking all his attacks; Zhao put more ferocity into them and sent forth two streams of fire from his palms. Azula quickly threw up a wall of flame to absorb the fire he sent at her. Before the flames had completely dissipated, the commander crouched forward and shot another fireball at Azula's feet, trying to break her root.

The princess barely saw it in time, but managed to jump up and avoid it. As she came down, she brought her right leg into a side kick, sending an arc of fire toward the commander. Zhao ducked down and the flames passed over him harmlessly.

The commander then brought himself back into his stance and shot off a rapid volley of fireballs, alternating between his fists. Azula smiled a bit, easily blocking each one. On the final volley, Zhao put all his power into the attack, using both hands. It was stronger than Azula had anticipated, and the force of the blast pushed her back as she fell to the ground.

Sensing his opportunity, Zhao took a flying jump toward the princess. As he landed, he fired another fireball at her. Azula rolled out of the way, and as she got up, swept the commander's feet out from under him. The princess sprung back up to her feet as Zhao pushed himself up unsteadily. He was seething now.

Smirking, Azula then advanced on the man—using her feet to create small, but powerful blue waves of flame that rushed toward the commander's legs. Caught off balance, Zhao began to wobble as he attempted to move out of harm's way. Determined to finish the fight, Azula let loose a stream of fire from her fingertips, laying Zhao out on his back.

The princess rushed up to him then. Standing over Zhao, she pointed her index and middle fingers at his face, prepared to deal the final blow. He looked up at her, the anger of defeat written all over his face. As much as Azula detested the man before her, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him. Her mind flashed back to when she was in the same position. There was no mercy for her.

Technically, she had won the Agni Kai. She had achieved what she had set out to do: she had defended her honor by putting Zhao in his place and now she had the Avatar, enabling her to completely restore her honor in the eyes of the Fire Nation.

Fixing the commander with a hard glare, she let her hand fall to the side. The commander then looked at her with disgust.

"I knew you couldn't do it. What a waste of talent."

Azula scowled at him, but decided not to waste her breath on the man. Turning her back to him, she began to walk toward her prize.

Furious at his defeat, Zhao jumped to his feet, and with a howl of anger, unleashed a fire whip at the princess's back.

Azula saw surprise in the Avatar's eyes as she heard Ty Lee shout, "Azula, look out!"

Quickly turning back around to face the commander, she sidestepped the whip—the flames missing her body by scant inches. In an instant, she launched a firebomb at Zhao, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him back into the dirt with a pained grunt.

Within seconds, Azula was upon the man, her anger now completely consuming her. Zhao looked up and saw the princess's amber eyes filled with a wild fury. Before he could raise his arms in defense, Azula blasted the left side of his face with a fireball. The commander howled in pain as the princess continued to seethe, staring down at him.

Ty Lee cringed at the sound as Zhao's men ran to help their leader to his feet. She brought her gaze to Azula and saw that her aura was churning with black and red. She knew Azula had a temper, but she had never seen the princess lose control of it quite like this before. She calmly got up and walked over to her friend's side, wanting to be close by in case the commander decided to try anything else.

The skin of his left cheek down to his ear was badly burned and would undoubtedly leave a scar that almost matched Azula's—although it wouldn't be as large. His chest also appeared to be charred from the hit he took from Azula's firebomb. The two combatants continued to glare at each other—a million thoughts running through Azula's head, but she was too angry to even speak at the moment. For his part, Zhao was in too much pain to want to move his jaw, but he tried anyway.

"This isn't over," he gritted out before turning his back and walking away with his men.

Azula stared after him until he was out of sight. Hesitantly, Ty Lee placed a hand on the princess's arm. The firebender brought her gaze to the acrobat then—her amber pools a mixture of anger, pain, regret, and shame.

"Azula, it's okay," Ty Lee said quietly, wrapping her arms around the princess in a hug. Azula didn't return it, but let her head rest on the acrobat's shoulder for a moment. "You did what you had to do."

Aang didn't know what to make of everything he had just seen. At first, he found the Agni Kai to have been incredibly exciting to watch. He was surprised when Azula showed Zhao mercy, and totally shocked when he had attacked her from behind after his defeat. Worst of all, he thought, was the sight and sound of Zhao getting burned, and he couldn't help but feel disturbed by it. The monks had always taught him that violence wasn't the answer. However, the sight of the acrobat comforting the princess proved to Aang that, on some level, Azula had been bothered by her own actions. At least, that's the only thing he could think of.

A blast of heat and screaming behind him pulled Aang's attention from the scene in front of him. He heard the dull thud of bodies hitting the ground as the hands that held onto him gripped tighter, pulling him back against the arena wall. He could see the fallen bodies of Azula's guards then.

Azula had heard her men's screams and she and Ty Lee immediately fell into defensive positions. They watched as a dozen of Zhao's soldiers entered the arena. Fresh anger washed over the princess. Zhao was completely disregarding the terms of their Agni Kai, and she realized that he had no intention of letting her leave with the Avatar. In fact, he had no intention of letting her leave at all.