Part II: Thirty-Seven

The kitchen courtyard of the Jasmine Dragon was empty, with long shadows draping the cobblestones, and little squares of warm yellow light stretching out from the kitchen windows. The air was still warm from the heat of the day, with a small breeze that stirred Rin's hair off of the back of her neck as she scanned the rooftops.

She wasn't expecting trouble. Since the Warriors had taken over Zuko's guard detail no one had ever tried to attack them here, but that didn't mean she could let her guard down. Misery and guilt clung to her with every step, tightening like a noose in her stomach.

She couldn't help reliving last night in Zuko's room at the inn. She couldn't believe what she'd done, what she'd wanted to do. Her heart ached as she walked through the courtyard, tilting her face to the sky. She could see a sliver of moonlight showing through the leaves of the peach tree. It seemed to mock her, as she felt tears sting her eyes.

She felt sick and twisted up, but that was nothing new. She'd been in agony for months now, trying to tell herself to get over Zuko, that he'd never look at her the way she wanted him to. She'd tried to hide it, tried to talk herself out of it, but her feelings wouldn't go away.

And last night...

Her eyes squeezed shut and she let out a sob, unable to stop herself this time. She wanted to explain to Zuko what had happened, that she hadn't meant to come onto him, that she'd just lost her head for a moment... But Zuko had been ignoring her. He looked embarrassed and angry, and that hurt most of all.

What would he say to Suki when they got back to the Fire Nation? She knew that he'd tell her, and why shouldn't he? Guilt twisted through her and she buried her face into her gloved hands, feeling tears scorching her cheeks.

Suki was her friend, her sister. She'd betrayed her, at least she'd tried to, in a moment of weakness. Suki would be angry with her, and she'd deserve that anger. What kind of friend was she, to come onto her friend's fiance? No matter how she felt about him, it wasn't right.

He loves her and not me, and I know that, Rin thought miserably. It was the same conversation she'd been having with herself for months now, even before Suki and Zuko had started dating or gotten engaged. She'd had feelings for Zuko long before that, but she hadn't done anything about it.

Because I knew he didn't feel the same way, she told herself, and she hated that she was right. I knew that he had feelings for Suki. We all did. I never stood a chance...

She knew all of that. Her rational mind had been telling her that for so long, but her heart...her betraying heart hadn't wanted to hear it. And last night she'd done the one thing she'd sworn never to do.

Rin took a breath and wiped at her eyes. There was no use crying, she told herself. She'd gotten herself into this situation, and she'd just have to deal with the consequences. She'd apologize to Zuko, and to Suki when she could.

"And maybe it's time for me to move on," she said softly, staring up at the crescent moon hanging high overhead. It was nothing she hadn't already been telling herself, but now she knew she couldn't put it off any longer. Sadness and heartache made her chest feel tight.

Love, she thought bitterly, is a real kick in the teeth.

Her burning eyes shifted from the moon to the rooftops of the buildings surrounding the courtyard, and with a start, she realized she'd seen a shadow moving across the tiles for the fleetest of moments.

Rin took a sharp breath and shrank back into the shadows beneath the peach tree, staring intently up at the rooftops. She saw another fleeting shadow, too large to be an animal or a bird.

"Zuko..." she breathed, fear slicing through her heart, just as ten black-clad figures dropped down into the courtyard, appearing so suddenly that she froze for half a moment.

The next moment, she was moving, her body reacting while her mind was still playing catch up. She saw the glint of swords and drew her own from the sheath at her hip, the metal singing as it sliced through the air.

The black-clad figures in the courtyard spread out in a semi-circle around her. They were wearing half-masks over their faces, and she could only see the gleam of their eyes. She couldn't tell if any of them were Benders or not.

She waited for them to attack, watching them all moving in the moonlight, slipping through the dappled shadows of the peach tree's overhanging branches.

"SISTERS! WE HAVE A SITUATION!" Rin called, backing up toward the kitchen door. She was outnumbered and she knew it. "SISTERS!"

"No one is coming to help you, little girl. Shout all you want, but they can't hear you."

Rin swallowed. She should run, make for the kitchen door. She never got the chance.

"Get her."

Shirong hefted Azula's unconscious body against his chest. Her head rolled back against his arm, her throat bared. She was still breathing, he could see the rise and fall of her chest.

"Thank the Spirits," he gasped, bowing his head over her. He'd been so afraid that the man in black had lied to him about the tea, that he'd just poisoned them all. He could see that they were all still alive, just unconscious.

The Fire Lord had collapsed forward, knocking his plate aside. The others had fallen to the floor or into the table. One of the Kyoshi Warriors had fallen to the floor, her fan slipping out of her fingers. General Iroh had fallen to the ground and was lying on his side.

"What...what did you... Rin...!"

Shirong's heart seized as his head jerked up. He could see one of the Kyoshi Warriors was still conscious, but she was fighting it, trying to get out of her chair. She couldn't seem to control her limbs though, and her blue eyes were unfocused.

"I'm so sorry," Shirong started, as the shop door opened behind him, the bells chiming loudly. He turned, Azula still cradled in his arms and watched in horror as ten black-clad men poured in through the door. Shirong recognized the leader instantly.

He was still wearing his half-mask, with two swords strapped this back. He surveyed the scene before him and then laughed.

"I...I..." Shirong stuttered, fear riding hard through him. "I did as you asked."

"Of course you did," the man said, cocking his head and looking around the room.

"Traitor..." the Kyoshi Warrior slurred and fell out of her seat. Her legs didn't seem to be working, but she was glaring between Shirong and the man in the black mask.

"Oh dear, it seems someone didn't drink her tea. Or not enough of it," the man said and then laughed as he crouched down before her. "Your tea was made with a little concoction I've been perfecting for years, darling girl. Shirshu poison and the extract of the Sleeping Lily plant. Even a sip will paralyze the limbs. One swallow and the victim slips into unconsciousness for hours. Leaving them totally at my mercy."

"Rin..." the Warrior said, trying to drag herself across the floor.

"Your friend isn't coming to help you. She's fighting my men in the courtyard. She won't survive the encounter, I'm afraid. None of you will."

"What?" Shirong said, stepping forward. "You said you wouldn't hurt anyone! You promised."

The man in the mask turned on Shirong as he stood, laughing softly. "And you believed me?"

Shirong backed up, holding Azula tighter. "You said you only wanted the Fire Lord! You said you'd leave Azula alone if I cooperated!"

"Take her," the man said, jerking his chin toward Azula. One of his men started forward, but Shirong backed up.

"No! I won't let you hurt her!"

Three of the ninjas converged on him. He tried to run, but his way was blocked. They cornered him, pushing him back into the wall until there was no place to go. Shirong looked down at Azula's pale face.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I didn't want to. I swear, I just wanted to protect you."

A fist smashed across Shirong's face, snapping his glasses in two. Stars burst across his vision and his head rebounded against the wall with a smack. He felt Azula being ripped away from him but held on tightly.

"NO!"

Another fist caught him in the face, and Azula was ripped away. He tried to fight back, swinging and kicking, but one of them caught him by the front of the shirt. A fist smashed into his face repeatedly, breaking his nose, and sending blood gushing. He clawed and kicked, but they threw him down onto the floor beside the Kyoshi Warrior who was still struggling to stay conscious.

He stared into her eyes for a long moment, trying to tell her that he was sorry, trying to make her understand that he hadn't wanted this. He hadn't wanted any of this. He'd just wanted to keep Azula safe.

A booted foot found his midsection and he crumpled around it, groaning as he felt one of his ribs break. Another kick knocked the wind out of him. His eyes rolled back and he nearly slipped unconscious. He forced his eyes open and stared blearily at the table.

He watched as one of the ninjas hoisted the Fire Lord over his shoulder and carried him out of the front door of the shop. Another one had Azula in his arms.

"Azula..." Shirong said, reaching for her, but the door closed, leaving him staring at the rest of the men. The man in black stared around the room and shook his head.

"I want to thank you, Shirong," the man said, putting a boot onto Shirong's shoulder and rolling him over onto his back. "Without you, getting past the Fire Lord's bodyguards would have cost me a lot of men and time I don't have."

"You...bastard..."

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of something honey-colored. Shirong struggled to get up but stopped when his ribs sent a fiery lance through his side. The Kyoshi Warrior clawed at the floor, trying to get to the door they'd taken the Fire Lord through.

Shirong watched through swimming eyes as the man in the mask threw the vial at the wall. It shattered, splattering the liquid in thick splotches on the wall and floor.

"Bastard?No. What I am is much simpler," the man said, dropping into a Firebending form. Flames bloomed to life between his gloved hands, burning there and lighting up his features. His golden eyes glowed with hatred as he looked around the room.

"No..." Shirong breathed.

"I'm the only loyal Smoke Demon left. And where there is smoke..." the man said softly, backing up toward the door. The other men left through the door, as Shirong struggled to get up. He didn't know what the man had thrown at the wall. He was afraid to know.

"Stop... Please..." Shirong said, but he knew that it was too late. There was no mercy in the man, and Shirong had known it all along. He'd been too afraid to face the truth, so desperate to keep Azula safe that he'd taken the man at his word that he wouldn't harm her. He had proven his ruthlessness when he'd murdered Huy.

Shirong had been a fool. He was going to die a fool too.

The man cocked his head and Shirong could sense the smile beneath his mask.

"Where there is smoke..." the man said, setting the curtains on fire. They went up with a whoosh, the flames licking at the ceiling. Smoke roiled. "There is fire."

Then he was gone, leaving the shop with a chime of the bell, as the fire caught on the walls, and the ceiling, charring the timbers and raining hot ash and bits of burning plaster onto the rest of the Warriors, General Iroh, and Governor Chuanwei.

Shirong struggled to his feet and grabbed the half-conscious Kyoshi Warrior by the front of her leather armor. He dragged her toward the door, every step agony, white-hot pain exploding in his broken ribs.

The fire spread across the room, growing closer and closer to the liquid the man had splashed onto the wall. Shirong didn't know what it was, but he knew if the fire reached the wall, everyone in the Jasmine Dragon was going to die.

And it was all his fault.

Rin ducked and sliced at the men as they all charged her. Her sword slid along edge after edge, fending off stabs to her middle, and one blow that would have taken off her head. She darted out with the other hand, fingers jabbing and twisting, blocking chi as fast as she could.

One ninja lost the control of his arms, his sword falling away from his numbed fingers. She took off his head and got sprayed in the face with a hot spurt of blood that nearly blinded her. She slipped away from the body, turning in a circle, attempting to get away from the sword she knew was aiming for her back.

The blade glanced across her boiled leather armor but did no more damage than that. She was already turning against, spinning and jumping over a man who tried to take her feet out from under her. She kicked him in the head and flipped, landing on her feet.

One of them growled and threw a thin throwing knife at her. She saw it at the last moment and deflected it. It went wild, but she didn't see where it went. She was already moving, spinning again, throwing out punches and kicks that connected as they all converged on her again.

She got one of them in the gut and turned, jabbing her katana back into his chest. She felt it go in, scraping bone and punching through him. He gave a cry and then his weight sagged on her sword.

She let go of it before he could take her down, barely avoiding a thrust at her side. The scraped her the armor across her back, and she gave a harsh cry, jabbing her elbow down into the crook of the ninja's outstretched arm.

He dropped his sword behind her, and she spun again, grabbing it before it could hit the ground. It was heavier than her katana, but she swung it easily, taking off someone's hand. They cried out and she grunted, flicking the blood off the blade, only to find herself surrounded on all sides again.

She barely avoided getting stabbed, but caught a boot in the middle of her back. She was thrust forward, into a pair of strong arms.

Before they could grab her, she grabbed them and shifted her weight, falling backward and flipping them over her head. She let go of the heavy sword and flipped back to her feet, only to feel a sharp pain go through her side.

Rin cried out and felt warm blood gush out of her side, drenching her hip and trickling down her leg. The sword that had stabbed her pulled back and went to get her again, but she pulled her fan and caught the blade, slapping it away.

"She's wounded," one of them said. "She won't last much longer."

Rin ignored the pain in her side. She ignored the sweat dripping down her painted face, and making her hair cling to her neck. Her heart slammed hard behind her ribs.

"I'll die before I let you touch Fire Lord Zuko," Rin breathed.

One of them laughed, and the sound ran shivers of fear up Rin's back. "You will."

They went for her again. She danced out of the way of their swords, getting her shoulder beneath one of them. She jabbed the v of her thumb and forefinger into his throat and then smashed her elbow into his nose. She felt it break with a gush as he choked on blood, gasping for air.

She felt another sword catch her armor. This time it penetrated and she felt the sharp jolt of pain as the tip of the blade dug into her arm. She cried out and turned, slicing the metal edge of the fan against the swordsman's face.

He screamed as the blade caught one of his eyes. She chi-blocked his shoulder and caught the sword he dropped.

She opened his throat with a slice and then thrust backward, taking off another arm at the elbow. She rolled out of the way of heavy-handed blow meant to cleave her skull in two, rolling back to her feet. She put weight on her left leg and felt the muscle give, the wound in her side gushing with blood now.

Rin bit down on a grunt of pain. Another ninja flipped at her and she went on the defense, dancing backward. He was good. She was better.

She closed the fan and jabbed it at the nerve cluster below his right arm. The blow hit and he grunted, nearly falling. She took his head off before he could recover.

His body fell at her feet and his head rolled across the cobblestones.

"That all you've got?" she gasped, spitting a mouthful of hot blood at the ground in front of her. She did a quick headcount. She'd killed four of them already. There were two on the ground, alive, but bleeding from the stumps of their arms. That meant there four left, but she saw with a start that there were only three facing her.

She felt the air move on the back of her sweaty neck and spun, lifting the bloody sword at the last moment, blocking the blade that had been swinging for her head. Sparks lit up the air and she glared into a pair of hate-filled green eyes for one bright moment.

The others came at her from behind. She pushed back on the ninja's blade, freeing one hand and spinning out of the way. She felt another slice on her right thigh and the hot gush of blood that followed.

She got in a kick and chi-blocked another one's leg, making them fall to their knees before her. She was about to take his head when a sword caught her shoulder, punching through the armor. Her hand went numb immediately, and her sword slipped from her fingers.

It landed with a clatter at her feet. One of them kicked it away and grabbed her by the throat. Rin bared her teeth as they rammed her backward into the blade. Blood welled up in her mouth and she cried out at the pain and shock of it.

"I was told that the Kyoshi Warriors were the greatest fighters in the world," the ninja who had stabbed her said in her ear. "How disappointing."

"I'm not dead yet," Rin grunted, and jabbed her fan back into his face. At the same time, she kicked out, catching the one who had shoved her into the blade in the crotch. He grunted and let go of her and Rin shoved herself backward, out of their grip.

The sword was still in her shoulder, blood running down her arm and pooling in her glove. She was breathing hard, and every step she put on her left leg made her knee wobble.

She still had her fan, and a dagger in her boot, if she could reach it. She flicked open the fan and glared at them.

"Come on," she said, and then fell forward as her leg gave out on her. She landed in a sprawl, shoving the sword a few inches backward. Blinded by pain, Rin clutched at the wound, looking up through her hair. She found herself staring at the Jasmine Dragon, and with a heart-rending thrust of fear, she saw flames and smoke billowing out of the tiled roof.

"Zuko!"

"They've captured the Fire Lord and the Princess. We have our orders," one of the ninjas said. "Split up. Meet back at Lord Kun's in two hours."

"What about the others?"

"Leave them. Neither of them will survive another hour with those wounds. They'll only slow us down," they said, and Rin glanced at the two men whose limbs she'd severed. Neither of them was moving, blood spreading in a thick, gleaming pool around them, reflecting the flames leaping from the tea shop.

"What about the girl?"

"Neither will she. Look at her. She's done for."

Rin watched through swimming eyes as the four remaining ninjas leaped over the courtyard wall, leaving her lying there in a pool of her own blood. Rin coughed, blood and saliva stringing from her mouth, rolling over and lifting herself up onto her hands and knees.

Her arm wobbled, her fingers numb. She wanted to pull the sword out, but she knew she'd bleed out if she did. She forced herself to her feet again. Her knees threatened to give out on her, but she refused to let them. Her eyes narrowed on the Jasmine Dragon, and she lurched toward it, slipping in the blood pooling on the cobblestones.

The back door of the shop was open, smoke billowing out of the windows. Coughing, sweat running into her eyes, Rin made her way across the kitchen, her heart in her throat, afraid of what she might find on the other side of the door.

When she pushed the door of the shop open, she was met with a wall of flames. She took a breath of smoky air and then jumped forward, landing with a lurch that nearly took her down again.

"Zuko!" she coughed, peering through the smoke, only to nearly trip over Chao-Ahn's limp body. Rin cried out, touching her friend's face, trying to find a pulse. She found one, steady and strong beneath her fingers, and sent a prayer of thanks to whatever higher power might be listening.

She grabbed Chao-Ahn by the front of her armor and started dragging her around the burning table. Bits of burning plaster were raining down in a sooty black storm, and she felt it on her skin, the fire trying to catch on her clothing. She didn't stop, dragging Chao-Ahn across the floor toward the front door.

"Here!" a voice said, and she looked up, barely recognizing the face before her. It was Shirong, Azula's boyfriend. His face was covered in soot, and blood, one eye swollen shut, and his nose bloodied and broken.

He caught hold of Chao-Ahn and together they dragged out the front door and into the street. The moment they got her across the street and laid her down beside Qing and Xiuying, who was stirring, half-conscious, Rin ran for the building again, Shirong hot on her heels.

She could see people pouring out of houses along the street, but she didn't have the time or the breath to call for help.

She entered the flaming tea shop again and dragged Kikki's tiny body out of her chair. A man met her at the door and took Kikki from her. She let him, turning back to the flames, coughing and falling to her knees before Governor Chuanwei. She tried to drag her off of the chair she'd slumped in, but she couldn't move her.

"I've got her," one of the men from the street said, hefting her up over his shoulder. Rin nodded, trying to get to her feet again. The smoke was thick in the room, and it was burning her eyes. She could barely see. Breathing was becoming difficult. Every breath she pulled in hurt, made even worse by the sword in her shoulder.

She felt along the floor and found another body. She knew by the size and shape of it that it was General Iroh. His sleeve was on fire, and she slapped at the flames, putting them out.

"HELP! I CAN'T MOVE HIM!" she shouted through the flames.

It was Shirong and two other men who found her in the smoke several heartbeats later. The two men grabbed Iroh's feet and beneath his arms and then swiftly carried him through the flames and out into the street.

"Is that everyone? Rin gasped, as Shirong grabbed her, putting his shoulder beneath hers. She tried to remember who she had seen in the street. She realized they were three short. "Zuko! What about Zuko? Azula?"

"They were taken! Come on, we have to go! The fire... He threw something at the wall, the flames... We have to go before the flames reach that wall!"

Rin coughed, feeling faint all of a sudden. She couldn't breathe. Everything was spinning. Shirong dragged her to the door, but she stopped, turning wildly in place.

"What is it?"

"Mei Lin!"

She shoved Shirong away and went for the table, crawling beneath it, one hand over her mouth and nose. She found Mei Lin, who had fallen beneath the table. She wasn't moving. Shirong had followed her, and together they dragged her through the flames and smoke toward the door.

"Take her!" Rin said, feeling her leg give out on her. Shirong hoisted Mei Lin in his arms and staggered out of the door. Rin took a step toward the door, but her leg gave out on her again. She went down, landing on the blade, forcing it backward again. The pain was blinding.

She gasped, struggling through the flames.

She was nearly at the door when the world around her exploded.