"Who? What is that?" Zuko hissed.
"He's our…the leader of the Kemurikage."
"But he's our dad?"
The leader sniffed haughtily. "The man, your father served his purpose but he became more trouble than he was worth. So I…did away with him. Kept his body lying around just in case. I had my suspicions about you 'Quinn'. And like your father you've served your purpose—"
"I really shouldn't do this" Azula mumbled over the spirit. She grabbed Zuko's arm and pulled him down the hall. "Now I'm going to let go of your arm and you're going to start moving on your own. Got it." She cast a glace over her shoulder. "Because he's right behind us."
She let go of Zuko's hand, he seemed to be keeping pace well enough so she didn't slow down either.
"'You have no bending?' That's what you went with!? He used firebending on you moments before!" Zuko broke the silence.
"Not now Zu-Zu."
"You really were nervous weren't you?"
"Shut up."
"Just trying to ease the tension." Zuko shrugged.
"Ease it elsehow." Azula muttered.
"Wait, what about Tom-Tom?" Zuko asked.
"I'm thinking about that." Azula replied, she shoved him into the secret passageway she'd become so familiar with. "I'm also trying to figure out how he used firebending. Spirits don't bend, do they?"
"I can't see anything in here." Zuko declared. "Are you sure you're going the right way?"
"I know what I'm doing Zu-Zu. I've been in this passage more times than I can count. How do you think I got out of the castle when mother was angry with me?"
"I always thought you just walked right past her."
Azula snickered. "I should have." By now she could feel the outside air against her cheeks. "We're almost out."
"I can tell."
The pair trekked the rest of the way in silence. Azula growing evermore preoccupied with coming up with a way to defeat the spirits. Zuko still deciding whether or not he could trust Azula. The more he thought the more he decided that she was just working with him to save herself from a problem she created. The teary-eyed speech and the story about waking up afraid had to have been for show. She—in her right mind—would have never cried that way in front of him.
"You really went in over your head trying to get rid of me didn't you?" He spoke up when they came to the exit.
"My plan would have worked if I didn't feel bad for the stupid children." She grumbled more to herself than Zuko.
"Hey! I'm not stupid!" She felt a small foot collide with her shin.
"It's good to see you too, Kiyi."
The little girl stuck out her tongue.
"Oh thank Agni you're back. For a while I didn't think you were going to come back." Yuso shouted. "This kid is driving me nuts, she'd been beating me up for the past twenty minutes!" He ran at Azula with outstretched arms.
"Oh no, I don't think so." Azula put her hand out, intercepting the hug. "The only reason she beat you up is because you let her."
"So what's going on? Are you okay? Did things go well with your father? Where's Tom-Tom?"
"You ask way too many questions."
"Okay, okay. I've been really out of the loop on everything. Like every time something important happens no one tells Yuso. And here I am! I'm finally in the loop! I want to know what's happening."
"And you talk too much."
"You don't make anything easy for me." Yuso muttered.
Azula sighed. "I'm fine, Yuso." She wrapped her arms around herself. "He wasn't even my father, well he was at one point. I don't know when the leader killed him. And Zu-Zu is making a burden of himself like always."
"I'm still here."
"Why do you think I bought you up?"
Kiyi snickered.
"No really, are you okay? You're bleeding."
Azula touched her fingers to her neck. They came back tinted red. "It's nothing."
"So what's the plan?" Yuso asked.
"The plan is to go back in there and take down as many of the Kemurikage as we can. It's so simple even Zuko can do it. Try to take down the humans first, get them out of the way. There are more humans than spirits as far as I know. Luckily for us, the leader decided not to use the children as vessels yet." Azula explained. "And by all means if you can get to the leader and hold him hostage, do it. Kiyi, keep yourself hidden. And Yuso, don't mess this up."
"I won't princess." He smiled.
"You're just going to let her talk to you like that?" Zuko asked.
"Sure, she always did. I think that's how our friendship works."
"You think we're friends?" Azula asked quietly. "Never mind, let's just get in there and get this done with."
Fire burning bright on her palm, she threw the doors open. She let the fire burst from her palm into the ribs of the Kemurikage holding Aang. The boy would definitely be an asset. Zuko's ball of fire slammed into the man holding Mai. And Yuso just fired aimlessly.
By now, Azula realized, the shock factor was beginning to fade. The swarm of Kemurikage was coming to life. The room erupting into the same chaos as the first time; a flurry of limbs and elements.
Azula scanned the room. Listening for a certain voice. She found her target and tugged him towards her by his hood with one hand, clutching more fire with the other. She yanked his hood off with her free hand. Quing was a scrawny boy with a face dotted with freckles, brown eyed, and with a bush of messy light brown hair. Missing a tooth she noted, and much younger than she thought he was.
She bought the flame to his face.
About fourteen if she could take a guess.
She let go of his cloak.
A moment of weakness.
Or maybe it was strength.
She'd beaten him senseless before under the impression that he was seventeen. She wouldn't mar the face of a fourteen year old boy.
She shoved him to the floor and let him scramble away.
Azula turned her focus back to the mob. The water peasant didn't seem to be holding up well, apparently boomerangs don't combat Kemurikage well. But lightning combats everything well, Azula smirked and struck a few of the Kemurikage down.
"Uh, thanks." Sokka uttered.
Azula turned away to take down her next target.
The group was doing much better this time around. Many of the humans were down. Azula dropped to the floor—out of the reach of one of the spirits—and kicked a swirl of flame. Standing herself up right she bumped her head against another Kemurikage, instinctively she backhanded the man and tossed him to the floor.
From across the room came a bolt of lightning. Azula ducked out of its way only to get hit with a ball of fire shot from the same hand. It nailed her in the arm, knocking her to the floor. As her head hit the floor she noticed a little boy scampering towards the exit.
Ears ringing, vision blurring, she thanked Agni that at least the last thing she'd seen was Tom-Tom getting away.
Her final objective complete.
Azula managed a weak smile.
She felt arms lift her off the ground. Rough arms.
A voice rang out above the battle.
It was like the first brawl all over again.
"Give me the boy or the princess dies."
Azula knew it was over then and there. Of course they'd choose Tom-Tom over her…not that they had a choice anyways.
She felt so dizzy.
Her world fell away.