Burn My Dread FES

By Iain R. Lewis

Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games. Some scenes inspired by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki.

"Itsu kara yumemiru koto wasureta furi wo shitetandarou..."

(How long have I been pretending that I've forgotten how to dream?)

- Found Me

Yumi Kawamura

Chapter 24: She's Not a Girl Who Misses Much

The shattered husk of Ba Sing Se seemed to stretch as far as she could see. She stared up into a lifeless sky. No cloud dimmed the sweltering heat of a relentless red eyed sun that painted the rest of the sky a hazy, bloody color. The streets were covered in ash and soot, and the only signs of life were the burnt out remains of old cars. They seemed to have been abandoned, forgotten at the traffic lights.

And Azula was alone in this world with Xiao. The young girl carried herself with an almost exaggerated excitement. She clearly counted the days until this moment, spending every waking moment anticipating how she would spend this time with Azula. The girl positively worshipped the ground Azula walked on.

Even with that company, Azula's thoughts seemed preoccupied on the others. Their vanishing act was not amusing, and if was almost hurtful; not that she'd admit that.

"You should forget about them. They are not coming to rescue you, Azula. We've got to get out of here by ourselves."

It had been disturbing at first, but now she viewed it as a normal occurence: Xiao seemed to be able to interpret just what she was thinking. The girl seemed keen to please and seemed interested in Azula to the point of unhealthy obsession, so Azula assumed it was mrely a side-effect of watching her for so long. Either that, or Xiao's talk about a special connection that bound them was not quite as far-fetched as it first sounded.

"They still should have said they were going on without me."

Xiao asked, with a little trepidation, "Do you miss them?" She looked scandalized by the idea. She'd made it quite clear that Azula didn't need friends because Azula was capable and smart and cool enough to handle things on her own. The compliments aside, the whole point left Azula confused.

"I only meant that it's unlike them. It hardly matters to me one way or another. After all, I have the Avatar Spirit inside me now," Azula said, "The rest of them are merely redundancies."

"That's good!" Xiao answered. She took Azula's hand again, she'd let go once they reached the long street since she said they wouldn't get lost there, and pointed at the large pile-up that left the road blocked off. "Silly, isn't it? People are so dumb, don't you agree?"

"Isn't all of this merely a construction of the maze?" Azula asked.

"That's probably true. It wasn't like this until you all came into the maze. It used to be just black. You remember, don't you? How we first met?" There was a long silence, and Xiao had the decency to look ashamed. "Oh, that's right. You don't remember much, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"You answered really fast," Xiao said. "Are you sure you don't remember?"

"The state of my memory is unrelated to anything. It's probably a result of my time spent as a vegetable in that abhorrent hospital. I've never liked them. They're disease festering wastes of space."

"Yeah! Hospitals suck!" XIao agreed eagerly. She did that whenever Azula offered a sentiment that she could get behind like that. Sometimes, Azula wondered if it was something she truly agreed with, or she'd simply taken up since Azula mentioned it. The girl's constant 'Since it's you' responses had come fast and furious when they first met, but they'd died down to a trickle.

There was only so many times someone could make exceptions for her, it seemed. Xiao recollected her thoughts, and continued, "Anyway, what I meant to ask was, do you remember how I told you that the end was coming?"

"What's your point?" Azula asked, ire raised. The girl was speaking in riddles. "What is this about an end? And you never explained how you became trapped here."

"It'll become clear soon," Xiao said, her mysterious smile growing wider. There was always something unsettling about the way the girl smiled. She'd seen that smile before, especially on the faces of predators right before they devoured their prey. "But I thought I'd remind you. The End I'm speaking of is known by The Unification by some. It signifies not only an end, but a beginning."

"I've heard about the Unification," Azula answered, curtly, "I also heard that it was stopped by Aang."

"The Avatar didn't stop the Unification from happening, but he did postpone it. And now, the time he's won for everyone has almost run out. I thought you would be excited. I guess you don't remember, but you were really excited about the Unification. You said it would make a new frontier that only Benders could explore."

"I don't remember that at all," Azula said, "But Aang - he gave up everything to stop it. You mean to tell me his victory only won us a few short months?"

"That's right!" Xiao said. "Why do you sound so angry?"

Azula took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. She didn't know why she was so angry. It was the idea that Aang was lying a vegetable on some hospital bed that just brought the bile up her throat. The fool had clearly not seen everything through, and now he would just lie there while all of his work was undone.

"Do you miss Aang?"

The question hit her straight between the eyes, and she grabbed her hand back from the young girl with such force that Xiao fell to the ground. The unmitigated gall of the girl to ask such a frivolous question. "What makes you think I miss that thorn in my side?"

"I don't know," Xiao said, suspiciously. "It was like you were getting sad just thinking about him. So you don't miss him?"

"Perish the thought," Azula said dryly. She didn't want to spend any longer dwelling on the last Avatar. It made her forehead ache.

"Did you love him?"

Azula narrowed her eyes and focused her attention square on the little girl. She seemed to be utterly too precocious for her own liking, poking and prodding at things that Azula would much rather be left alone. Her feelings on the matter were irrelevent. "No."

"I think you did."

"I think you're mistaken."

"Since it's you," Xiao said, "I'll believe you. But you shouldn't let things like that fester, or so I'm told. It can become very ugly. After all, who knows what'll happen to all those repressed feelings inside this maze!"

"I am not repressing anything."

"Besides, we have to hurry if we want to get out of here! Come along, hurry, we don't have time! The first gate's this way!" She took Azula's hand again and tugged her along after. They had turned off the main street into an smaller avenue filled with office buildings, only now those buildings were empty. They were burnt out like a bomb had gone off inside, leaving behind a field of shattered glass on the streets below. A desk was dangling dangerously over the edge of the window, alongside frazzled remains of some wires.

"What a cheerful place," Azula murmured sarcastically.

Xiao smiled cheekily. "It is a bit red, don't you think?"

"Never let it be said you have no gift for understatement," Azula retorted. She didn't look remotely amused with the attempt at humor. "Where are we even headed?"

"The Ba Sing Se Shopping Center," XIao answered. "That's where the gate is. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, since I'm with you!"

"What exactly is this gate?" Azula asked. "I don't believe I've encountered any barricades like that inside the rest of the maze. Why here?"

"You don't know?" Xiao asked. She seemed positively impish. Before Azula could push the point, she jumped to a new topic. "Anyway. Aren't I much better company than any of those so-called friends of yours?"

"I suppose"

"See? This will go along wonderfully," Xiao said, conversationally. It didn't seem quite so cut and dry to Azula, however. There was something about this whole situation that nagged at her, though what precisely it was, she wasn't quite ready to say.

"So, why are there gates here?"

"Oh, that's easy. To keep things in." She said it like it should have been clear. It was, perhaps, but it didn't answer what precisely that was. "Anyway, it's keeping me in here, isn't it? Don't you want me to be free?"

"Regardless, I need to know exactly what I'm going to be dealing with, Xiao. If you know anything, it may mean the difference between life and death if you inform me."

"Will it?" She tapped her finger against her chin. Once again, she resembled some sort of feline. Azula could see exactly what the girl was doing. After all, she'd done it herself many times, and was quite capable of picking up when others tried to do the same to her.

"Stop playing coy," Azula said. "You know something, but what I don't understand is why you're keeping it secret from me."

Xiao had the decency to look apologetic. "Please understand," she cried plaintively, "I'm only worried you'll get upset."

"I'm quite upset already," Azula retorted. "I doubt you can make it any worse."

"There's just the matter of the guardians," she said. Azula heard something snap inside her head. Somehow, Xiao had managed to make it much, much worse. The little girl shrunk back at Azula's intimidating aura.

"The five gates are guarded by a powerful spirit," Xiao said hurriedly, probably spurred by the sudden shift in Azula's posture from one of idle irritation to full-out aggression. "The first one's going to be no trouble for you, though!"

"And the rest?"

"I bet they'll fall just as easily."

"We haven't even faced a single one."

"That's true, but I'm sure."

"Since it's me, right?"

"Yes, since it's you!"

Azula sighed. Her posture relaxed, and Xiao exhaled a breath of relief. The little girl quickly began to tug on Azula's arm, urging her forward, "So come on, let's go fight him and win!" she said, and Azula allowed herself to be led. Whatever measure of concern Xiao's talk of guardians had given Azula, she knew she could handle it. All the same, she wondered where the others had gone, and why they'd chosen to leave her behind.

They came to a point where the grey stone walls stopped. It was dark and the braziers had long since vanished from the statues' hands, the only light they could see was a faint glimmering in the distance, and a vague awareness that the passage grew tighter as they walked.

Yue took to the lead. Her radiance provided only a small field of vision, and when it caught the shadow of one of the defaced statues, it caused Sokka to let loose a yelp. Toph was beginning to get irritable, and Zuko doubly so, fighting back exhaustion for the sake of continuing forward. Azula was missing, and that was the only thing any of them needed to keep focused.

"This place gives me the creeps," Katara said. "Who would build something like this in the first place?"

"Not any human I've met," Sokka said, "Hey, Yue, do you think some spirit's behind this somehow."

"Why would a spirit build a maze in your dormitory basement?" Yue wondered, aloud. Sokka wasn't sure what stung more: that she shot down his idea or she seemed blissfully unaware that she did. "Anyway, I doubt anyone decided to build it at all."

"You think it's like those other mazes we went through?" Katara asked. Yue nodded. "That makes sense. So does that mean what I think it means?"

"I'm not sure of that," Yue answered, smiling, "But if it is Azula's - then doesn't that answer a lot of questions."

"Look, let's not jump to conclusions," Sokka said.

"Are we getting jealous?"

"No! Nothing of the sort!" he protested, loudly. He was probably blushing, though if Toph knew, she wasn't saying. "Besides, that doesn't answer the question of who or what that thing pretending to be Aang is, for one thing."

Katara fell quiet, and didn't respond. Sokka left it at that, and the group carried on wordlessly. The boy who was made of shadows, the one who looked like Aang, she couldn't help but feel hopeful that he was the real thing. It was only natural, wasn't it? But in the end, he turned out to be nothing but a false hope.

She was disappointed, but mostly worried. They hadn't found time to exchange this new information with Azula, and she wasn't sure how the girl would react. Katara got to say goodbye, even through the confusion. She'd gotten to say what she should have figured out sooner, but at least it was said.

Azula never had that chance, and she would never have that chance.

"Where are we even going?"

"I think we're going towards that shiny thingie in the distance," Sokka said, "Unless you've got a better idea."

"It looks like a hole," Yue said, when they got a little closer. "Do you think we should climb down there?"

"I don't see any other choice," Zuko grunted, "We've come this far. We either jump down or turn around."

"She's definitely this way," Yue said, "I'm sure I followed the right path." She bit her lip, nervously. "Didn't I? I thought for certain."

"I'm not trying to say you're wrong," Zuko said with a heavy sigh. "I just meant, we don't have any other choices than that. So, anyone against jumping down a shiny hole?"

"Not really," Sokka said, "We've done dumber things than that. Well, I've done dumber things than that at any rate." The hole had been broken through from the other side, and small bits of debris from the wall cluttered around the breach. It was about shoulder height, and it seemed to lead downwards into some sort of catacomb. "Whoa."

"What is it?" Toph asked, impatiently, "Are we going or what?"

"No, it's just - this place is weird." He shrugged. No reason not to hop right in, though. As far as he could see, no hideous bugs were waiting to sink their venomous fangs into them. So he dropped down, and landed on an uneven surface. He looked at what he'd landed on. It seemed to be glass. He drew upright immediately, checking his hands for any cuts. Relief set in immediately. His hands seemed perfectly fine. "It's safe, come on down!" he called, and started to look around. The walls, the floor, the curved ceiling, everything seemed to be made out of shattered glass. They seemed to be giving off a faint glow, and when he approached the surface, he could see into it.

He could see a sepia toned world, where people stood frozen in their hurried pace across the winding canals of the Northern Water Tribe city. The indignant grunt Toph made while landing caused him to look back. It seemed the others had made it down. "Hey, check these out," he called over, and the others approached.

"What are you doing?" Zuko wondered, clearly uninterested by the magical mirror glass. Sokka ignored him, moving over to a large, jagged fragment that took up a good portion of the opposite wall.

"These things show pictures. Here, look at this one." He peered at it curiously as the fogged up glass. "Zuko, seriously, check this out. It's Ba Sing Se. I think it's from that fire."

"What fire?"

"You know," Sokka said, "The one you sort of caused. You made a big deal about it, it was all over the news, I think most people got out okay, though. I mean, we just revisited it," Sokka said, "Remember, guys?"

"How could we forget," Katara moaned, "Smog monsters make for the most memorable vacations."

"Ha ha, very funny," he said, "But look. You can see the skyscrapers in the background, and there's the smoke coming off, and I think you can see a tram there."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zuko said. The others turned and looked at him. He seemed puzzled. "What do you mean, I caused a fire?"

"Zuko, before I joined the club, you quit because of that fire and - some other things," Katara said. "Azula never mentioned you except in passing. It was a few months before I came to the school, but it was big news all over the city."

"I don't remember that at all," Zuko said. He looked at the image etched beneath the glass. "Maybe I'm just more exhausted than I thought." Yue looked nervous, squeaking out something before looking embarassed and clamping a hand over her mouth. "Yue?"

"What's the matter, Snowflake?" Toph asked, "You're breathing a mile a minute."

"I'm just thinking," she said, hesitantly, "Just thinking that it sounds an awful lot like Azula." The others looked at each other, and then back at Zuko. "Zuko, try and remember what happened. It was just before the end of your second year, wasn't it?"

"I think so," Katara said. "Is it coming up black?"

Zuko paused, and then nodded slowly. "Just like Azula said - I thought that was because she was in that coma -"

"So did I," Sokka said. "Katara, do you remember what happened the night Mom died?"

"What? I - I don't know why that's important?"

"Just yes or no," Sokka said. "And Toph, how about when you started at school, do you remember that?"

Toph looked rather perplexed, and so did Katara, but their perplexion turned pale and they both slowly shook their heads. "Coming up black, huh?" Zuko said. "Then I think I know what these things are."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I don't know how it's possible, but it makes sense."

"Then Azula -"

"Yeah, probably her memories are here, too," Sokka said. The two boys exchanged a glance and nodded in concordance. Whatever agreement they'd reached, it only raised Toph's ire. The girl stomped her foot angrily, and shouted.

"What's the big idea?"

"What?"

"Going off talking in half sentences like you know something we don't. Come on, just say it. Where are we?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I think I sort of get what you're getting at," Katara said, "But still, I think maybe we should just get it out plainly and work from there? This puzzle solving is very, very confusing."

"Oh, but few things satisfy like a puzzle solved," Sokka moaned. Zuko rolled his eyes and walked over to another one of the fragments, and stared at the image underneath. "Well, let's see how to put this -"

"These are those shattered memories we went through in everyone's maze," Zuko said, "They're being used to build a passage somewhere."

"Well that's only part of it. No one's memories are that vivid. What I think is those doors to the past went to a collective memory of the period of time we went to. That's why we didn't just see something like in Yomi, but were surrounded in it. It's not just our memories, but everyone's, creating a replica of that point in time."

"What does that even mean?" Toph groaned. "He's talking crazy."

"The collective unconscious," Sokka said, "It's a theory that we're all connected on some unconscious level or something like that. It's complicated, but the basic point is that whatever this labyrinth really is, it's somehow connected to more than just us."

"And all these memories are making the place even bigger, right?" Toph asked. "That's all you had to say, Snoozles."

"But it's so cool!" Sokka protested. "So, Yue, what do you think?"

"I think it's certainly an explanation!" Yue said, cheerfully, "But all the same, we should focus on finding Azula before that strong presence I sense finds her. It's very close, so we should be very careful."

"I say we take it head on!" Toph seemed more than eager to get moving. "Come on, stop gawking and let's go!"

"Right." Sokka fell into step alongside Toph, and the rest followed a few feet behind. "Hey, Yue, do you have any idea who or what you're sensing? Do you think it's - y'know - him?"

"I can't say for certain, but it's certainly a possibility. He seems to be at the center of the mysteries of this maze, doesn't he?"

"The fake Aang?" Katara was hesitant to even bring him up. "But it could just be another one of those masked monsters, right?" Yue nodded, and Katara relaxed. "How do we tell Azula, when we find her, I mean?"

"Why do you care?" Toph asked. "Since when are you two best buds again?"

"We're not! But," Katara sighed. It was hard enough understanding why she felt this way about it in the first place, but she'd never put it to words before. Explaining it was going to be a monumental task. "I just don't want her to lose hope."

"He really wanted her to just show up out of the blue, didn't he? That day, I mean," Sokka said, slowing to a stop. Toph hung her head down a little. The topic wasn't one they approached often. Speaking about it felt raw, but they continued, regardless of that pain.

"He was always dumb like that."

"Funny," Sokka said, "Reminiscing in a passage of forgotten memories."

"He would have had a blast here," Katara said, "All of us together again, I mean, he would have been really happy, right?"

"Hey," Zuko said, "Don't talk about it like he's dead." He sighed, shook his head, and grinned. "If Azula can pull of a miraculous return, Aang can, too. If we lose hope, then it's all over before it began."

"But it's hard," Sokka moaned.

"If you let grief cloud your judgment, it is," Zuko muttered, "Right now, we've got more important things to worry about. When we get Azula back, we'll tell her all we've figured out. She's stronger than she was before, she can take it."

"Doesn't make it any less cruel," Katara protested. Zuko shrugged.

"Sometimes life is cruel."

"Most of the time," Katara answered, hanging her head. Zuko grunted, but didn't argue the point. The rest of the walk was quiet. They were all too lost in their heads to hold a conversation. Yue, especially, seemed troubled. The presence was growing closer and as they got closer, the more dreadful it seemed to her.

And then there it was, only feet in front of her. And it was waiting. Its eyes, the terrible chill of the blue glow staring straight into her. She'd been sensed, just as she had sensed him. Enshrouded in shadows, the figure seemed to be Aang but for the terrible expression he wore. The others were too stunned to react, they just stared right back.

"You," Yue stuttered, "Who are you?"

The boy in shadows didn't answer. Instead he raised his hand, extended it in front of him, and the blue light of his eyes became blinding. There was a sensation of force, not like a blow but more of a push, and she found herself losing her footing and landing unceremoniously on her back. She could hear the others groan and grunt, and when her eyes finally adjusted, she could see they were strewn about the floor just like her.

"What did he just do?" Zuko asked, trying to climb to his feet. He winced as the boy's extended hand turned to him and he felt a shadow fall on him. He tried to speak, but for some reason, he couldn't. He couldn't even breathe.

"Zuko!" Katara called out. She whipped out a tendril of water, lashing it against the boy's hand. The boy pulled his hand back from the strike, and Zuko fell to the ground in a heap. Its eyes focused on her. "Why is it attacking us now?"

"Either it doesn't want us following him anymore, or we've already served our purpose," Zuko said, rubbing his neck, "One of the two."

"Either way, I don't want to find out!" Sokka said, jumping to his feet and charging at the boy. His meteor sword connected with the boy's hand and the limb fell to the ground limply before dissolving. The boy just stared at him with empty eyes.

It creeped Sokka out more than anything. He brought his sword around for another strike, lunging clean through the boy's stomach. He could see the sword impale the creature cleanly, but the boy continued to stare, unaffected.

Already, it seemed to have replaced the hand it lost. and it put that hand to Sokka's blade. He couldn't remove the blade. He'd either have to remove it, which he was reluctant to do after what he went through to get it back the first time, or find some way to make him let go. "You suck," he muttered.

The boy's eyes flashed. And the blue glow turned a menacing red. Sokka's face fell as a low rumble vibrated through his blade and from under his feet. "What did you just do?"

He heard Yue scream and turned around. The fragments under her feet gave way, He saw Katara reach out to grab her, but she stopped, her hand jerking back suddenly as she was sent hurling into the opposite wall. The surface shuddered under the force.

"Katara!" Sokka shouted, as the rest of the floor began to crumble and give way. He looked at the widening chasm between himself and the others. He released his grip on the blade, only to find the boy's hand clasp it down tight. "Let go!"

Zuko rushed at the boy, red flames bursting from his finger tips as he ran, only to find himself pushed back like he'd hit a wall. The ground underneath him shuddered and gave way, and he grabbed hold desperately. Toph reached to pull him up only to be knocked back by another quake. The boy watched them struggle without a trace of amusement on his face.

His eyes wide as Zuko's fingers slipped and he disappeared into the nothingness beneath. "Zuko!" Toph called. Upon receiving no answer, she tried again, her voice confused, a little frightened, "Come on, Zuko, where are you?"

Katara could still be seen struggling against some force that pushed her against the wall. The boy watched her with a blank expression. She squirmed underneath it, coughing as it pressed down on her stomach. "Let go of her!" Sokka demanded. The boy turned and looked at him, his blank expression seemed curious at his outburst. He struggled against the boy's vice grip. "And while you're at it, let go of me!"

The boy cocked his head to the side and then turned his head. Katara screamed at the wall shattered and she felt herself fall. Her scream sounded so far away before it vanished. Toph shouted after her, but when she got no response, her helplessness turned to rage. "You - you'll pay for that!" she shouted, charging at the boy. She was ready to sock him right between the eyes when she felt the floor start to give way. "Whoa1'

"Toph, be careful," Sokka said between grunts. "He's too strong!"

"Snoozles, I -" Did he detect a trace of fear in her voice? That made him more nervous than anything. Then again, after what happened, he could certainly sympathize with a little fear. "I don't know what to do."

"Run!" he said.

"You can't be serious!"

The floor underfoot was crumbling fast. She could feel it disintegrating with every step she took. Another backwards step and she could sense it happening on the other end, too. The entire passage was falling to pieces. "There's nowhere to run."

"Well great," Sokka said. "Nice knowing you, Toph."

"That's really filling me with confidence," Toph said, with a bit of a tremble on the edge of her voice. "I'm not ready to die. I haven't punched you enough times!"

"I'm not ready to die either," Sokka said weakly. The boy stared at Toph, the red of his eye seemed hot as the sun. She couldn't tell he was staring at her, but all the same, she felt her stomach churn. "Watch out!"

Toph brought her arms up in front of her face at his warning. Fragments of memories spilled on top of her as the ceiling rained down. The floor rumbled as it fell to pieces, picking up pace. Toph found nowhere to move, the entire passage seemed to close in around her. "Toph!" Sokka called. She let out a high pitch shriek as the last of the memories disintegrated under her feet.

"You -" Sokka stared at the boy with anger in his eyes. The boy seemed to take delight in this. He released his grip and Sokka pulled the sword out. The wound healed almost instanteously, and the boy stood there, just staring at him, with the tiniest of smiles detectable beneath the churning shadows.

Sokka stared at his blade for a moment, and then back at him. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted. The boy didn't step aside as Sokka sliced him clear in half. The form seemed to shift, the shadows melting back together in a sickening, fluid motion, and Sokka, momentum at all, could not stop himself as the floor gave way beneath him. The boy watched him fall, the smile fading from his face.

The red glaze of his eyes faded and he brought up a hand. The fragments of memories emerged from the depths of the abyss, the passageway reasserting itself. Satisfied with the reconstruction, he walked towards the large fragment of memory before him. Placing a hand, he saw the ashen streets of Ba Sing Se. His fingers seemed to pass through the surface with ease, and soon, the rest of him followed.

She wouldn't consider herself typical. Azula Houou would never deign lower herself to that level. No, she rarely indulged in shopping sprees, and whenever she did go shopping, she limited herself to the bare essentials. Still, she remembered the Ba Sing Se Shopping Center as something a little more grand, and not the hollowed out shell that remained. Half the roof had collapsed in the devastation that had swallowed the city, and the rest of it had been blown clear off.

That left the main court exposed to the harsh red sun, and it became quickly apparent that no plant life existed in this city, not any longer. It all reeked of death and suffering. Azula remained unfazed. "This is where the first gate is?" she asked her companion. The little girl happily nodded. "I don't see any gate."

"Well, you will!" she said. "The only way to the Tram Station is through here. And that's the only way left to safely get further into the city. So, we've got to go through." She seemed surprisingly well informed, Azula said. Suspiciously so, in fact.

"How do you know that if you've never been beyond this gate?" she asked.

"I know this city really well," Xiao answered, "And you get a pretty good view from the dormitory roof. It's not that surprising, Azula! Why? Do you not trust me?"

"No."

"You're mean!" she pouted. Azula shook her head in disapproval, but the girl didn't seem to notice. Instead, she climbed over a pile of rubble and slide down it, waving her arms in an exaggerated show of keeping her balance. "Come on! It's this way!"

"Are you sure that way is safe?":Azula asked.

"Not at all." Azula's humorless look grew more and more tired. The girl laughed. "Well, I don't know for sure, however, if there's one thing I do know, it's that this is the only way in. There's no other. The roads are either completely caved in or all that's left is sewage."

"How delightful."

Xiao giggled in her carefree way, and turned around. "Hurry up, slowpoke. If we don't hurry, we won't ever get out of here. Not until you're old and white!"

The first gate was only a few hundred feet away, and despite Xiao's insistence that it would take a million years, Azula knew it would only be a matter of minutes. She still felt uneasy about the whole situation. Something about it seemed far too convenient, and more than that, all too different than before.

"Why are these gates here again?"

"To keep something in, duh," Xiao said, "Why else would you put gates up."

"To keep something out," Azula said, "Among several other reasons I can think of off the top of my head. You seem awfully evasive about all this, Xiao. You've been keeping secrets, haven't you? And that is something by which I cannot abide."

"Since it's you, I find that funny," Xiao answered without missing a beat.

"Pardon?"

"You're the one who keeps all the secrets - all of them! Besides, don't you always lie?" she asked with an innocent bluntness that took her off guard. Azula frowned, but couldn't think of a retort. The girl just laughed. "It's all right by me, I don't mind. It's just that some things are better if you find out for yourself, aren't they? Oh, you don't even remember, do you. Lethe really did a number on your head!"

She laughed mockingly. Azula could feel her temper bubbling over, but XIao just dismissed it with a wave. "I'm kidding!" she said. "Lethe does that to everyone. Everyone has something they want to forget, right? A paper they didn't do, or something they said, or someone they lost - it's only human."

"If it's all the same, can we focus on the more present threat? What is this guardian?" she asked. Xiao tapped her lips as she pondered, humming to herself thoughtfully. After a moment of her theatrics, she looked as if a light had gone off inside her head.

"It's a Scion. They're not really spirits, but they're close. You'll know it when you see it," she said. "It's really strong, but I'm sure you can beat it. Just be careful, this one is really crafty. It nearly caught me when I wasn't looking once!"

"Wonderful." Azula's mind went to her own thoughts. She sorted out what she knew and what she didn't, and regardless of the danger that she was certain to walk into, she picked up her pace, leaving Xiao behind. She could hear the girl calling out her name, but she didn't stop. Azula could hear Xiao pick up into a run and the sound of her ragged breathing made it clear she had quickly caught up. "Do try and keep up."

"No fair! You've got longer legs than I do."

"No excuses. The only people who make excuses are those who fail. I do not fail, do you?"

"No."

"Then do not make excuses." The mall had gotten considerably closer while they spoke. She could see the broken store windows and the strewn remains of mannequins. They were the closest thing to another human being in the wasteland. The sight of women's torsos in tattered cothing was at the best unseemly, but with the blood red sun shining down on them, it took on a ghastly light.

"This place sucks," Xiao commented. "This is really all that's left. The whole other wing collapsed!"

"This is a disaster."

"Is it?" Xiao asked, blithely. She walked over the collapsed archway and stepped carefully over the tiles, making sure not to touch a crack. Her task was made all the more difficult by how few tiles were left. Whether they'd been blown clear by whatever had destroyed the center, or over time simply eroded and decayed, she couldn't be certain. The rest of the mall wasn't in much better a state.

The splintered benches had been turned into makeshift barricades, and the potted plants had literally been burnt to cinders. Even the water fountains had been affected. They sat stagnant and pungent. "I think I'm glad Katara doesn't have to see this."

"She's such a drama queen, isn't she?" Azula looked over at Xiao.

"How do you know?"

"I told you, I'm always with you, even if you forget about me," she said. "I've seen her. Oh she's so terrible at it, too. She just wants all your sympathy and then some. It's so pathetic.'

Azula bit her tongue. While a part of her agreed with the girl, she could definitely understand Katara's situation. After all that they'd been through in this maze, she could not simply overlook the circumstances. Though she said nothing,, Xiao turned to look at her, her expression critical. "What?"

"Nothing. Anyway, we're about at the gate! Do you know this store?"

"Aunt Wu's. I'm well aware of the fee my credit card racked up here, though for the life of me, I cannot remember if I ever even set foot in this place," she said, bitterly. Katara's frequent sojourns to the fortune teller had become a rather large business expense somewhere down the line. It amazed her how such an independent girl could be so, well, girly.

"Well, the gate's in here!" she said. "The only problem is, so is the guardian." She looked a bit apprehensive.

"And?"

She hesitated for a second, before adding with an apologetic tone, "It may be locked anyway?"

"The gates are locked? Where then is the key?"

"Just because there's a lock doesn't mean there's a key," Xiao said. Azula didn't look impressed. "I'm serious! I don't know!"

"You mean to say I am about to walk into a trap with no guarantee that it will even be worth my time?"

"I'm afraid so!"

She crossed her arms. "This is beginning to sound like something Sokka would come up with. I'm not sure if I am comfortable with this."

"But you must! We've come this far, and there's no way this guardian can defeat you. All you need to do is stop it and I'm sure what ever's holding the door closed will open for us. I'm so certain of it, I haven't been anymore certain of anything in my life!"

She frowned. There was no other way forward. To stop moving would be pointless. She crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, there isn't any other way. Unless you have been withholding that from me as well."

"I'm sorry! But no, this is the only way, honest!"

Azula let out a low grunt, making her displeasure apparent. "Let's see what sort of guardian this is, anyway." The door, or what remained of it, swung easily off its hinges, and landed in a pile with the rest of the far right wall. She could see into the neighboring store, which has once held musical instruments by the remains of the strings and wooden pipes that sprawled atop the shelves. Azula shook her head. She had to put the destruction out of her mind and proceed forward.

In comparison to the rest of the store, Aunt Wu's remained very much intact. Mirrors lined the walls, alongside other antiques of questionable value. They still were the same marked up pieces of junk that Azula could see, in an instant, for the poor replicas they were. She peeked over the counter into the back room, and saw what looked to be a back entrance. "There," Xiao said, pointing, "That's the first gate."

It seemed to be shrouded in shadow. It reminded her of Aang's dorm room. The door was covered by that same inpenetrable darkness. "It certainly seems sealed," Azula said, "But I don't see any guardian."

"It's around here somewhere," Xiao said in a sing-song voice. She tugged Azula so that her mouth was level to Azula's ear before whispering, "Be careful not to get caught. It likes to play a nasty game of tag."

"What do you mean?" Azula asked. She looked around the store. Nothing but mirrors reflecting mirrors. It was almost obscene how many mirrors Aunt Wu had stocked. For a woman who values the power of mysticism, she put far too much time into maintaining the garish, ornate mirrors. Didn't she know what they said about a mirror capturing a part of one's soul?

She looked at herself in one of the mirrors. Not, of course, that she worried about her soul being trapped in the reflections like some sort of primitive tribeswoman in the days before the grand Fire Nation, but there was always something unnerving about a reflection caught in a reflection. It always seemed like someone was standing right behind her.

She caught a glimpse of movement from behind her and whipped around. Wherever that guardian was hiding, it was certainly good at it. She secretly hoped the thing was a figment of XIao's overactive imagination, but she hardly considered herself that lucky. "What does this Scion look like?"

"It wears a mask," Xiao described vaguely.

"Fantastic. What sort of mask."

Azula peered around the corner, back into the music shop next door, and outside the door. Whatever had moved must have only been a trick of the light. She was getting far too wrapped up in her apprehension.

"Well, it's a big white mask."

"That isn't very helpful."

"It's got a number on it, too."

"Yes, that does seem to be a recurring theme," Azula said. She walked over to the mirror again. Not that she was vain, but presenting oneself as perfect required a lot of care and attention, and she had just not found the time until now.

"And it has a big moon on it."

"A crescent moon, then," Azula said, slowly. Xiao squeaked in affirmation, and Azula slowly turned around. "Around its left eye?"

"Yes, precisely!" Xiao said. Azula stared spellbound at the emptiness behind her. "How did you know?"

"I thought I saw it behind me. It was thin, and far too tall," she said, "I saw it in the doorway, back there, peeking out at me."

"I don't see anything," Xiao said. "But I think you know what I mean by it being crafty."

"I saw it in the reflection," Azula said, slowly, turning around to face the mirror again. She let out a yelp in shock. "Is there- is there something behind me?" she asked, trepidatiously. Xiao looked at Azula curiously, then shook her head.

Long spindly fingers were wrapping around her neck. She could feel the cold touch of the shadow in the mirror, but when she glanced behind her, there was nothing there. Azula backed away, before, without concern for her safety, she smashed the mirror. The feeling subsided, much to her relief.

"What's the matter?"

"It was trying to choke me," she answered breathlessly. She hesitated a moment before peering at the the fragments at her feet. She kicked them around with her toe. There didn't seem to be anything particularly special about the mirror, and despite the fact that she felt its hands around her neck, she couldn't see the creature anywhere.

Something peculiar was going on. "Well, it isn't going to just sit around waiting for you to beat it. It's a guardian, duh, it guards things."

Ignoring Xiao's answer, she looked around the room. Somehow, it appeared in the mirrors but not to her naked eye. She needed to process that information quickly, and peering in paranoia at her every reflection was not helping, not when she caught a glimpse of the gaunt man moving between the reflections. It didn't make any sense.

"Mirrors don't create images, they only reflect things that are there," she said, "Logically this thing doesn't exist."

"Well, I don't know about that," Xiao said, "But maybe it lives inside the mirror!"

"That's preposterous!" Azula retorted. "There's nothing inside a mirror. It's a flat surface, not some sort of reversed facsimile of the world\."

"How do you know that?"

"It's simple scientific fact," she said. Science was quite neat and exact. She quite favored that explanation over imaginary hogwash like a world inside the mirrors.

"If you say so, but your explanation doesn't make sense when you have a scary mirror monster trying to kill you." Azula snorted in response, but her eyes were trained on the image of the thin man. This time, it stood between her and another mirror. Its long fingers seemed to be twirling a jagged piece of a broken mirror with deadly intent. It walked to Azula's side. She could see her reflection and the reflection of her reflection in the mirror.

The tall man, however, cast no reflection on the mirror. Azula's eyes narrowed. "It is inside the mirror."

"Told you!"

"Any suggestions on how to catch it, then?"

"I don't know!"

Azula figured as such. It didn't seem to be restricted to just one mirror, but how it got around was another problem entirely. It either bounced between reflections, or there really was a world inside the mirror that it was traveling in.

The latter explanation left little chance of her affecting it unless she could enter a mirror. This was unlikely at best. However, if it bounced between reflections, it must move like a ray of moonlight, far faster than any eye could see.

That, however, wasn't insurmountable. She had an idea. She just needed to ensure it would work. She looked around the old antique store, and began to list the things she'd need. Then, mindful of her reflection catching in the mirrors hung around the store, she leapt into action.

"Are you a spirit?"

A quiet voice, full of wonder, pulled Yue from the abyss. Her eyes took a moment to adjust. The world around her felt so real. The breeze caressed her cheek lightly as she came to realize she was under the shade of a tropical tree along the beachside. The summer swelter seemed unbearable, but still, she could see the tourists coming and going from the beach brimming with excitement.

And there was a girl staring at her, curiously studying her every feature with a calculating eye. "Pardon me?" Yue answered. The dizziness she felt was all too apparent in her voice.

"I just thought you looked like a spirit. My uncle tells me they're beautiful, but I don't believe him. He's an old fuddy duddy," the girl said. After a moment, she added, in an altogether too demanding tone, "Do not tell my mother I said that, however."

"Of course not," Yue said. "But, what if I told you I was a spirit?"

"I wouldn't believe you," the girl said, proudly, "I know when adults are humoring kids."

"I'm hardly an adult," Yue protested. Her cheeks flushed red, embarassed by the suggestion. "I'm only sixteen years old."

"You're lying," the girl retorted. "I can tell." Yue looked surprised. "No one seventeen years old would have a full head of white hair, after all." Fully satisfied with her logical inference, the girl nodded to herself. Yue giggled. She was quite cute, with her sharp golden eyes and impressive vocabulary she seemed like a precocious grade schooler. "What's so funny?" the girl snapped.

"I have white hair beause I'm touched by the Moon, not because I'm old," Yue answered, leveling and patiently. The girl seemed incredulous at best, but she did not immediately dismiss the claim. "I'm the Moon Spirit after all."

"A seventeen year old moon spirit? I find that unlikely. After all," the girl said, the evidence seeming all too apparent to her, "The moon's been in the sky for as long as mankind has been around. Are you implying that the moon has been without a spirit for millennia?"

"I didn't say I was the first moon spirit," Yue answered, not deterred by the flurry of evidence the girl heaped upon her. She found it all in good fun. It wasn't often that a debate about atheism popped up between a five year old girl and the Moon Spirit.

"Then what happened to the last one."

"I don't think that's an appropriate area of discussion for you, young lady," Yue said, smiling, "It's far too harrowing and it will give you nightmares."

"I'm not some silly little girl, so don't try that. Don't you know who you're speaking to?" She seemed absolutely appalled by Yue's manners, but the Moon Spirit did not seem to at all mind hers.

"Oh, we haven't been introduced have we. Where are my manners, indeed. I am Yue, the Spirit of the Moon. And you are?"

The girl harrumphed, before kicking up a bit of sand and saying, "Azula Houou, Daughter of Ozai Houou. He's a very important man."

Yue stared at the young girl. Mentall rearranging her face, mentally aging all the freatures until she was certain the girl was not lying. It was amazing she didn't catch it sooner. "Azula. My, aren't you a cute little girl?"

"Don't act like you can treat me like a little kid because I'm small. I'm smarter than you are," she said, sticking her tongue out. "Besides, I still don't believe you're the Moon Spirit. If you're the Moon Spirit, you must have some sort of mystical Spirit Power."

Yue smiled, "I can see the future."

"I don't believe you."

"But it's true. I know, for example, that you have an older brother." She smiled, "He will grow up to be a great President for your family's compay. You'll make the most wonderful friends in High School and you'll have so many grand adventures together. I could go on for hours about them, but I don't think we have the time." Yue shifted to her knees, feeling a little more comfortable under the heat despite the weight of her dress.

"You're making stuff up. I know that for a fact I'm going to be President someday. Daddy said so."

"You don't believe Zuko would make a fine president?"

"I think Zuzu would be as much a fuddy duddy as Uncle. Daddy says I'm so much smarter than Zuzu ever was and ever will be. It just makes sense. I can't wait until I'm the president of the Phoeinx Group. I'm going to be the greatest there ever was."

"It's nice to have dreams, isn't it?" Yue said, smiling. "I'm certain you would make an excellent president. I know for a fact that you have great leadership skills. But it takes more than just being able to tell people what to do to be a real leader."

"I'm good with people. I can tell when they're lying." Yue just smiled at this. Azula did have a knack for telling truth from lie, but it was clear she was still developing that skill. She was precocious, but she was still only five or six. "I know you don't believe me."

"Well, I'm not lying," she said, "I've seen your future."

"Whatever." The girl frowned. "You're a weird old lady." Yue winced at being called old. Apparetly she didn't believe she was seventeen, either. It was certainly a change from the ever perceptive Azula, age sixteen.

"Azula, honey, we're going back to the beach house!"

"Hurry up!"

Two voices, the first patient and pleasant, the other boyish and hurried. The first was a lady Yue didn't recognize, but she figured out who she was almost immediately, because tailing along beside her was a seven year old Zuko, his face without its garish scar. "Oh no, you haven't been having more of your cross-examinations have you?" he asked, absolutely motified.

"Hardly!" Azula protested. It sounded immensely ridiculous coming from the small girl.

"I'm so sorry if she's been a bother," the woman said. "She's just, well, a people person." Yue smiled back at the apologetic woman.

"She's been no trouble whatsoever!"

"I'm so glad. She's a very smart girl, but -"

"Mom, don't talk about me like I can't hear," Azula moaned, childishly. The poor girl looked mortified by her mother's behavior, turning away to ignore the proceedings. "Besides, this lady claims she's a spirit. She's a big old liar."

"She could be a spirit. Spirits are real!":

"Spirits are about as real as bending, which is to say they're fakey fake fake," Azula snidely chided. The two began a shouting match to decide who was right. Ursa, her face a thin mask of patience, just sighed.

"They're good kids, but you know how summer vacation can get, Miss -"

"Yue," she said, "Just Yue will do."

"My, you're certainly humble for a spirit," Ursa laughed. Yue returned the gesture in kind. "Thank you for being so patient with Azula. She's really a nice girl," something in the way she spoke made Yue question if the woman truly believed that, but she didn't press the point.

"She's a very smart girl. I can tell she'll go far."

"I hope so. Her father is pushing her very hard. Sometimes, though, I just wish she would play more than study."

"Mom, Azula's pushing me!"

"I'm so terribly sorry," Ursa said, apologetically bowing her head before turning. "Azula Houou, what did I say about shoving?"

"Not to do it," Azula intoned in a sing-song deadpan. "But he pushed me first!"

"Be careful what you wish for?" Yue suggested. She rose to her feet, feeling the heat of the sand under the soles of her thin slippers. "Oh, Azula, I really must be going, but I had a delightful time speaking with you. It was very nice to meet you and your brother."

"You're going? That's no fun," Azula said. Her mother chastised her quietly. "Good bye, Miss Yue," she said in rehearsed monotone. "It was very nice meeting you."

"Bye, Miss," Zuko said to be polite. Azula took this chance to dig her elbow under his ribs. "Ow! Azula, stop it!"

"Be good, Azula," Yue said, "And don't worry, we'll meet again much sooner than you think."

She draped an old rug over the large hanging mirror and proceeded to flip as many as she could upside down; Azula had been darting around the room confusing Xiao with her almost erratic actions. Her eyes darted between mirrors, and she moved around in a roundabout fashion. Still, Xiao seemed more than content to let her entertain herself.

Azula however was more intently focused on tracking the movement of the spirit in the mirror. Its long gaunt fingers kept twirling the jagged piece of shattered glass, promising to use it as it moved slowly, but ever so deliberately forward.

It kept getting closer, and for that reason, Azula avoided casting a reflection as much as she could. After all, if it was inside the mirror, then the only thing it could touch was her reflection. It gave her a little bit of relief that the more she did, the less it could follow her. Still, her eyes caught reflective surfaces everywhere. She was glad most of the metal had rusted over, or else she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

The big glass display in front of the store was a major concern. She had no way of covering it up completely, ad she could see her reflection in there, ghostly and transparent, and to her right, the staggering Scion. "What are you doing, Azula, it's weird!"

Azula edged away, trying to keep her reflection out of the glass. "It's just - Ah!" She yelped in pain and drew her hand up to her face. She was bleeding.

"Did you cut yourself on some glass?" Xiao asked. "There's a lot of it around, so be careful, okay?" Azula looked at the cut across her palm. There was no way cut glass could do that without someone guiding it.

Her hand must have been reflected off of the glass! The monster had cut her reflection and her real hand bled. She really began to doubt scientific fact, on this one. Still, her idea should work. She just needed to work quicker. She wouldn't allow him to get away with that. "I just need to make it jump to the right surface."

"How are you going to do that?" Xiao asked.

"I covered as many mirrors as I could," Azula said. She kept herself well out of sight of the glass. "I may not be able to catch him, but I can trap him so he can't escape my attack."

"And that's why you took that rusty sword?"

"Right," Azula said. She'd placed it down against the countertop for the time being, but the sword was the easiest way to produce a trigger for her trap. All she needed to do was put it between the surface the Scion traveled to and from, and its path would no doubt take it straight into harm's way.

She only had one more mirror to cover. She glanced back at the glass. The spirit's image was gone. It could only be one place. She had to make it quick. She rolled across the floor to the mirror hanging on the opposite wall and began to drape a blanket over it. She glanced at it quickly, seeing her reflection, but nothing else. She glanced at the glass display.

Similarly empty.

She hesitated. "Xiao, it's gone."

"It's gone?" XIao sounded surprised, but delighted. "That's good news, right? That means it's gone for good, right? No more mirrors for it to live in so it stopped existing, right?"

"No," Azula said, "The door isn't open, for one thing."

"That's weird," Xiao said, peering up at Azula intently. "I'm sure you can do it." Azula met her in the eye and was about to answer when she stopped, mouth agape, and she pushed Xiao aside with a pained shout. "Ow!" XIao rubbed her head. "That hurt, Azula. Why did you do that?"

"Don't look at me," Azula said.

"But -"

"I said don't!"

"I don't understand," Xiao said. "I don't know what I did wrong!"

Azula's voice was strained. "I made a miscalculation, XIao. I'm sorry if I sound unfair, but if you look at me now." Azula pried her hand from her shoulder. The gash was deep and severe. She was lucky it hadn't hit anything serious, though.

"If I look at you, what?" Xiao's voice trembled.

Azula gripped the water bottle awkwardly, trying her best not to spill it despite the stiffness of her arm. She needed her good hand free to work the water around the cut. Azula grunted at the sting of the cleansing waters.

She'd only barely caught it. If she hadn't noticed the reflection in Xiao's eye, the cut would have probably been fatal. She couldn't risk that again.

"If you look at me - I'll die."

To be continued...