Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA
Thanks to Guest, konggodamera, Zutarafan1992, Guest, JourneyRocks13, The Congressman for reviewing:)
To the guest who pointed out the permission issue last chapter, thank you so much! I never intended it to be taken that way and I fixed it the moment I saw your review. Again thank you for pointing it out.
Everything is muted; the colors all bleed together in a dull beige. The sun shines down, heating the already dried ground. Even the birds don't sing- unless they all escaped from the awful heat, unless they abandoned the town as well. Everything is dead or dying. No hope lives in a place like this.
The Avatar himself appears dead. His eyelids droop in the hopes of sleep; deep black bags create sunken rings under his eyes. His mouth sags into a frown, and his hands desperately clutch the shaft of his staff. The bison's fur is strewn around his feet, waving in the wind. Though it looks like he'll fall asleep any second now, the Avatar's eyes never leave her face; they're still alert.
Azula studies her opponent, pursing her red lips.
"It's over, Avatar. You're trapped, and there's no help coming for you. Surrender peacefully, and I won't hurt the other two traveling with you." Azula's voice penetrates the silence of the abandoned town.
The color in the Avatar's knuckles seeps out, as he wrapped his whitening knuckles tighter around the wood of his staff as he begins to stand. "I'm not going anywhere with you. I will beat you, and I have confidence that Toph and Sokka will beat your friends."
Her fingers curl around a lock of hair. "If that's the last peaceful thought you want to hang onto, I won't stop you. But I'm afraid it's not going to end with happily ever after."
The boy stands tall as he asks an honest question, "Why are you chasing us?"
Azula smirks. "I'm picking up from my brother's failure." The Avatar's gray eyes suddenly widen in recognition. "What, you hadn't guessed? I'm Zuzu's sister." She mockingly covers her left eye.
"Zuzu?" Despite the situation he's in, Azula watches as the boy tries to bite back a chuckle while shielding his mouth with his hand.
"Ah yes, my darling brother. You know, I've recently seen him around these parts; a week or two ago maybe. I can't be sure. He seemed to be traveling with a new companion, at least that's what I've heard." Azula shrugs. "A waterbender perhaps." Her eyes cut to the Avatar when she hears a startled gasp; the color of her eyes blazes in a frightful glee.
"K-Katara!?"
While her opponent is distracted, she assumes her firebending stance, punching a gust of blue fire in his direction.
They hear the roar of flames first. They see the way the bright blue light of fire sends miniature flares into the sky, only to be pushed back by a blast of air. And the sparks fly all the way to where Zuko and Katara sit on the ostrich horse. A tendril of air catches under Katara's hair, lifting it off her shoulders and flapping in the wind. Zuko blinks as sparks dance in front of his face.
They are close. The sounds of the battle illuminating the world around them. Zuko can't pick out the two fighters from the crumbling buildings of the abandoned mining town. He just catches the elements. Air and fire, clashing against each other in the endless struggle. Avatar against Fire Princess. Good against evil.
He can feel Katara's body tightening in anticipation, her legs gripping against the beast, waiting to leap off and join the fight. He knows hope fills up the gaps inside of her; he knows after months or a month or maybe just many weeks- how long have they been traveling together? It has felt like an eternity -she will finally find her friends, her family. Where she originally belongs.
As Zuko's body flows with the jerking movements of the ostrich horse, he realizes that the two of them will be united with family in different ways. Zuko imagines Katara, with a giant smile, folding herself into the arms of her brother and Aang. A loving embrace. He imagines dodging blue fire as his sister smirks, blowing smoke off her fingers.
"Go faster, Zuko," Katara mutters behind him, "We need to move faster."
With her command, he urges the animal to sprint with all its remaining energy. It kicks up dust onto their clothes and skin as it gallops to the town line. Voices finally distinguish themselves among the blasts of the elemental battle.
Zuko spots her first as Katara gasps when she watches Aang vault from the top of a building, landing in front of Azula. Zuko spots his sister first and focuses only on her. Her perfect form, her powerful blue flames, her lazy smirk, and he knows she is just toying with her food.
With eyes only on Azula, Zuko hops down from the ostrich horse, calmly walking towards his sister. "Stop, Azula! You don't want him, you want me."
Her body stiffens slightly, hiding any shock, and she turns, for once taking her eyes off of her opponent, though he's too shocked by these events to do anything anyways. The lazy smirk flips to an angry frown. Her darkening eyes scan his form, as his arm extending in front of him, his feet sliding into position.
Distantly, he hears the soft thump of Katara's feet landing on the dusty ground.
"Looking good, Zuzu. Traitor suites you."
He grits his teeth at her words. With a roar, he jumps, kicking a bolt of fire in her direction, for once paying no attention to Aang. He ducks her blue fire, his furry focused on his punches and movements. A flick of his wrist sends a wave of fire at Azula's feet. She stumbles at his unexpected move, her teeth grinding together. Zuko's feet move to a song as he continuously steps away from her fire blasts. He hears a snap, and a weight on his body vanishes, but his frantic mind quickly forgets about it. As he folds his body into a roll, ducking from the fire aimed for his face.
From the corner of his eye, he watches Katara pull water from her makeshift water skin, determination filling her blue eyes. Zuko distracts Azula, running directly at her with flaming fire daggers, while Katara wraps water around her waist, pulling Azula off her balance. With the leverage the water gives her, Katara throws his sister into the nearest building. Dust billows out from the hole, but no shadow moves within, and Katara quickly runs to Zuko.
"Are you okay?" she asks, her hand gently brushing over a steaming tear in his sleeve. Blood coats the ragged material and his skin begins to crack and blister. The pads of her fingers are covered in the silky liquid.
Zuko unexpectedly chuckles. "I didn't even realize she'd hit me." His fingers weave into hers, "Don't heal me. Save your water."
Hesitantly, she nods, and for the first time since engaging Azula, her blue eyes are able to properly look at Aang. But a wall of blue fire suddenly separates the two friends from a reunion as the princess leaps out of the building, everything catching fire around her. The splash of heat and flames forces Katara to stumble back into Zuko; he grabs onto her shoulders, stabilizing her.
"That was fun," his sister remarks coldly, a sickly bruise blooming on her pale skin. "But now it's time to end this."
Ignoring Aang, who currently battles his ever encroaching cage of fire, Zuko's sister continuously pounds Katara, cutting her off from him. Distracted as he runs to aid Katara, Zuko allows himself to get kicked in the stomach, Azula's boot cracking his ribs as she sends him flying. And he crumples to the ground, dazed, with blood pooling from his mouth.
Katara doesn't even have time to scream Zuko's name as the harsh flames almost touch her face as she hastily jumps backwards. Fire catches to her makeshift water skin, and she throws it to the ground, far away from her as the fire continues to eat the material. It's empty anyways. The smoke from the many fires dotting the area clouds the air and Katara can barely see Zuko.
Azula cackles, "What is a waterbender going to do with no water?"
Katara sends a wolf's gaze in the princess's direction. "There's water in all living things." She lifts her hands, extracting the remaining water from all of the unscorched plants. Two long water whips cover her arms, as she battles Azula's fire balls.
She tries to hook a whip around her opponent's foot, but Azula's not stupid. Having already anticipated that move, Azula covers her hand in fire, cutting through the water with a hiss of steam. And soon Azula relentlessly makes sure Katara's water evaporates, and the waterbender struggles to hold up her defense. Something, lying untouched on the ground, catches her eyes.
"What are you going to do now, little waterbending peasant?"
Flicking her wrists, she freezes the sweat adorning Azula's skin for a distraction. And her hands, scraping against the rocks and dirt, blindly search the ground as she kneels. The weight is familiar as she tightly grips both leather hilts. She raises them just in time, the metal clanging together, as Azula sends a blast of scorching blue fire directly at Katara. The heat licks Katara's face- it's like fire is literally erupting on her skin -but still, the blades repel most of the damage. And Katara's mind no longer lingers on the pain.
Zuko's Dao blades had been discarded on the ground during the fight, the strap having snapped. The light gleams off the steel as Katara begins to swing the blades, batting away fire blast after fire blast. Azula's dark eyes narrow, as if studying the metal work of the blades, but this unusual action doesn't phase Katara in the moment.
"Duck, Katara," Aang yells from somewhere on her left. And she rolls to the side as a sharp gust of wind pushes Azula off her feet.
The princess stumbles to get up as her body begins to sink into the earth and Toph and Sokka emerge from the shadows. A smirk blooms on the young earthbender's face, and Katara has to smile.
"Are we too late to the party?" Sokka smirks, his boomeraang shimmering. The smile turns into a wide grin spreading across Katara's face.
Zuko, having regained consciousness, stumbles to Katara's side, his hand gripped tightly onto her shoulder for balance, his breathing heavy. "Is that...?" he begins as the two of them watch a third figure emerge from behind Sokka.
"Uncle!" Zuko exclaims, love emanating from him as he watches the older man respond with a grin.
Before any more greetings can be exchanged, Azula begins to rise, a furious scowl painted on her features. But working as a team for the first time, everyone effortlessly backs the princess up into a corner of a ruined stone wall.
The princess raises her hands in defeat, and Katara narrows her eyes. "Well, isn't this sweet; everyone's working together. I bet it won't be for long." Her sharp eyes subtly drift in Zuko's direction. "But I know when I'm beaten. You got me. I surrender with honor."
Tension never drains from Katara's body as she keeps her eyes focused on Azula, her arms out in a bending stance. The princess smirks, takes a step forward, and fires two perfect flaming blue spears. One towards Katara, who is quickly knocked to ground by Zuko and the blast harmlessly dissipates against another stone wall. But the other pierces his uncle, and Katara watches as Zuko swivels his head, horror etched in his features as his good eye widens. The whole scene happens in slow motion as Iroh falls to the ground with a pained cry and Zuko screams.
In a span of a few seconds, all four elements- water, earth, fire, air -are bended at the princess. It creates a miniature explosion, a swirl of fire and water and rocks and air. And when the dust clears and the tears stain Zuko's dirty skin, glistening in the unrelenting sun, Azula has vanished, leaving behind irreversible damage.
Surprise! Look who had inspiration to write this chapter in a timely fashion:D
So the actual reunion will be next chapter; I just really wanted to focus on the battle here. I don't know why, but I just love the idea of Katara fighting with Zuko's swords.
In my version, Sokka and Toph went off to fight Mai and Ty Lee. Iroh also helped them out, as Toph, though she didn't leave the group, stumbled upon him as they were fleeing. So he joined Toph and Sokka, when Aang and them split.
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