Zuko didn't remember the last time felt like he was going to drown very fondly; it was when he had been thrown off his ship by a catapult strike, which had been, as he later found out, fired by Zhao. Now, instead of the cowardly 'Admiral' trying to murder him, it was none other than his father; he had water all around him, which had burst into the airship when it collided with the water, and he was shrouded with darkness, instead of the fire that he had expected. Worse than just water, he felt a weight on top of him, which only took a moment to realise was a bit of Kyoshi Warrior armour, although it wasn't currently being worn by anyone. He threw it off of his chest, before pushing up toward the water's surface, his eyes, throat, and head beginning to hurt from what he assumed was a lack of air; his maddened thrusts toward the air pocket he only hoped was above him consisted of the most terrifying two seconds of his life so far, barring his Agni Kai with his father. The moment he reached the surface of the water, he gasped out for air, feeling as if he hadn't taken breath for a lifetime; he realised that was the feeling of panic, that he was about to die, setting in, once again.
"Ah! Fuck!" he screamed out, almost in relief, despite his fearful voice.
He looked around the room that he was in, which was quickly filling with water, the airship having tilted to one side; he could tell from the light coming from underneath him that the hallway was below him, and he knew he'd have to go that way to escape. When they had fallen he had be running through the hallway with Toph and Sokka, neither of which he could see, although he made out the distant echoes of shouting through the walls; that assured him that there were others still alive. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm himself before diving back under the water's surface; he immediately spotted the doorway, despite the darkness under the water, swimming through it toward the now shattered windows. As much as he wanted to swim out to the surface to relative safety, he knew he couldn't leave the now sinking gondola without knowing if the others were safe.
Swimming along the hallway, he could vaguely make out the sounds of voices under the water, looking into the rooms within the airship to try and see if anyone was inside; the first room he set his eyes upon, he immediately made out the sight of feet waggling in the water, and from the drab yellow and green fabric, he could it was Toph. He realised that an earthbending girl who was raised as a noblewoman in the Earth Kingdom certainly wouldn't be a very good swimmer, assuming she could do it all.
He swam up into the room, surfacing to see her struggling, and the undeniably terrified shouts she was making, "Sokka?! Is that you?" she called out, her hands flailing, trying to touch at his face; he grasped her hands, pulling her closer to make sure she could keep her head above the water.
"It's Zuko. I'm here to help." he assured her, Toph's unease not lessening as she struggle to remain above the water's surface, which was growing closer and closer to the roof.
"Urgh! Sparky! Get me out of here, please!" she pleaded, before her head turned around, "Wh-where's Sokka? Is he alright?"
"I haven't seen him. I guess he can swim better than you... no offence." he admitted to her, to which she simply shook her head, trying to swim as best she could.
"N-none taken. C-can... do you know the way out?" she asked him, the Prince nodding.
"I'll guide you out, just hold on, and take a deep breath." he directed her, Toph making a deep breath before nodding, the two of them sliding under the water's surface.
He began to kick forward, pulling her along toward the doorway; she could paddle alright, but her panicking made her rather skittish and slow in the water. With each kick of his feet, they got closer to the window, out of which he could see the weak light of the comet coming down from the surface. He held Toph as tightly as he could, knowing that he couldn't let go; his kicks became more erratic as he realised he was running out of air, but once he made sight of water's surface, he began to kick harshly, grasping the girl beside him by the waist to push her higher, above him, ensuring that she could get to the surface before he did. He heard the muffled sound of his friend gasping for air, making him smile with relief as he finally breached the water's surface.
"Toph! Zuko!" he heard Sokka's voice shout out to them, and his eyes darted around to see him swimming nearby what remained of the frame of the airship, "You're okay!" he beamed brightly at them, waving at to ensure he got their attention.
They both paddled toward him, Toph's hand still tightly grasped onto his own; his kicks were easier above water, after regaining control of his precious breath. He imagined his uncle's voice reminding him of the importance of his breathing, but he knew that he wouldn't need a reminder after his gruelling experience. As they approached the Water Tribe boy, he took a moment to realise that he couldn't see anyone else above the water's surface, even Amari, who refuted herself as a great swimmer. His eyes darted about, thinking what he could even to try and find them; he didn't want to risk going back under water into the sinking airship, which was getting deeper under the water and thus more inaccessible by the moment.
When they finally reached Sokka, who was holding onto the remains of the balloon frame, "Where is everybody?" Toph asked the Water Tribesman, "I can't see a thing." she added, the boy's eyes looking around, just as Zuko's had a few moments earlier.
"I don't know. We were together when we hit the water, but everyone else... I have no idea where they are." he admitted, Zuko looking around, unsure what had happened to his sister, let alone anyone else.
He grasped onto the wreckage, leading Toph's hands to grasp it to, to hwich she sighed with relief, "Ah! Something that isn't water or covered in it." she exclaimed, rubbing her face against the metal wreckage, bending a bit of it off, "Maybe I can bend us a boat out of this stuff?"
"That's a pretty good idea!" Sokka exclaimed, "You do that, we'll make sure you don't slip under the water." he assured her, grasping her by the shoulder.
Zuko didn't miss the blush on her face, but didn't comment, holding her up as she tore off the metal fragment, laying it out over the water seeing that it was just a sheet of metal it didn't do much good other than to sink into the water. The Prince grasped it, holding it up while she molded it into a more boat-like shape. He was about to express his relief that it was actually coming together, but he suddenly heard a roar; it was unmistakably coming from Appa, and surely enough, a moment later they saw him rising out of the water from the rear of the airship.
He saw the unmistakable faces of his friends on board, including his girlfriend, which made the heavy feeling on his heart lighten- she was safe, and if she was safe, he was safe; he beamed brightly as the sky-bison flew over toward them, groaning out to the trio as they clinged to the wreckage of the airship. His feelings of utter relief became shattered when his eyes scanned over the airship once more; his sister was at the front of the airship, and she wasn't in the water with them.
"W-wait... where's Azula?" he asked Sokka, who he assumed might have spotted her if she was around.
"Uh..." the Water Tribe boy's eyes widened, raising a finger to point behind them; turning his eyes around toward the island, he made out his sister's unmistakable frame, standing turned away from them.
"Oh, no. She's going to do it." he mumbled, under his breath, before his eyes turned to Appa, and his friends who sat upon his saddle; Hakoda leaned over, offering them a hand, his expression clearly relieved to see that his son was alright.
"Grab a hold of my hand." he told them, the Prince instinctively grasping Toph beside him, lifting her higher in the water and offering her hand up; a moment later, however, they found themselves levitating into the air, Zuko realising that Katara had grabbed them with her waterbending.
As they were dropped into the saddle, the Prince sighed with relief, glancing to Suki, who looked at him with an amused grin, "It's good to see you." she greeted him, the Prince turning his eyes back toward the island in the distance.
"I'm glad we're all safe... but we need to stop the airship fleet."
"What about Azula?" Sokka questioned him, the Prince sighing as he realised that his own desire to help his sister conflicted with the situation they found themselves in.
"We need to make sure we take down down the airships first."
"Isn't the Fire Lord protecting them?" Katara questioned him, "No offence, but I don't think any of us could face him."
"No, you're right. So we'll have to wait, and hopefully Azula keeps him occupied enough that he doesn't get onto his airship." he explained, before clenching his fist, Amari's eyes widening with realisation.
"Then we go get on one of the airships, and use it to take the rest of them down!" she exclaimed, the Prince nodding.
"Wow, you come up with plans quicker than me." Sokka mumbled with surprise, making Zuko shrug his shoulders.
"I just want us to win. We can still beat them, we just need to make sure my father stays on that island."
Standing over the precipice of the crater, Azula could finally see him; her father was standing there, wearing his overly regal and bombastic attire. After all that she had just experienced, there was only one thing on her mind, that being to ensure that he died a slow and painful death. She thought for a moment she felt how Iroh must have felt when he knew that Zhao was responsible for Zuko's shipwreck; her uncle was the furthest thing from her mind, but she knew that he was the only other person who could have a comparable grief when it came to Zuko. She had seen the airship fall into the water, and quickly approached the island, taking a few moments to regain control of her breath and focus her mind, lest she rush in mindlessly to attack her father.
Soon enough, the soldiers that were filing into the airships took note of her, and they all looked at her with shock; her father's eyes turned to her soon enough, although he was too far away to discern his specific emotional response to her arrival. For all he knew, she ought to have gone down with the airship, just like the others, who she didn't know the fates of. She couldn't save them, however; she was a firebender, not a waterbender, and her bending was best used to destroy rather than to help. She imagined her brother either being burnt alive or drowning, and either thought disturbed and invigorated her enough to force her to continue moving toward her father, who was surrounded by his personal guard.
By the time she had gotten close enough to discern his expression, which was clearly one of haughty disdain, unsurprising for her to see on his face, seeing that he believed himself to be the most powerful bender alive. She was still hinging on Aang's return, but she knew that someone had to distract the Fire Lord before he could lead his airships toward the Earth Kingdom. She had to distract him at the very least; killing him, as much as she desired it, would be the greatest challenge she had ever faced.
"Have you finally come back to beg for mercy?" he mockingly called out to her, his guards stepping closer as they took firebending forms.
"Mercy?" she asked him, beginning to laugh at him as his attempt to intimidate her; her father was an idiot, even if it was simply mockery, "I don't need your mercy. You already took everything from me."
"You did that to yourself." he declared with a smug, devilish grin, before one of his guards turned to face him.
"Your majesty, should we kill her?" he asked the Fire Lord, who shook his head.
"This fight is mine alone. I will deal with my unruly daughter myself." he declared, the Princess taking a firebending stance.
She chuckled, realising what had finally brought them back together, "You destroyed my only weakness father." she retorted, having had enough of morals, principles or anything of the likes; her father needed to be destroyed, and if she were to die trying, she accepted that for what it would be, "Zuko has given me more strength than you could ever instil into me."
"Then come on... do it." he prodded her with a smirk, the Princess shaking her head, not taking the bait.
"No." she refused, before thrusting her arms out to her sides, sending massive streams of blue fire toward the two closest airships, "I'd rather stop... my own plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom." she grinned at him, making her father snarl with fury.
"You insolent child!" he screamed at her, sending a massive stream of flames toward her; she was prepared for this, of course, turning her hands toward the ground, thrusting her up into the air above him, before she sent her own comet-powered stream his way.
The Fire Lord's face changed from one of anger to an almost stoic expression; she could tell that if he was not angry, then he was afraid, and that was to her advantage. Once she landed on the ground, she recommenced her burning of the airships, before one of the engines exploded, making the whole craft burst into flames. Instead of attacking her with another stream, her father instead charged toward her, sending flames out of one hand while he charged a fire blast in the other. She felt the flames gathering below her feet, and a moment before he could come to strike her, she flew up into the air; her father, being the master firebender he was, came after her, taking flight just the same. She flew up above the still stationary airship, aiming her fists to deliver powerful fire blasts at the frames of the craft, damaging a few before her attention was forced back to her father, who struck her with a powerful kick of flames, throwing her off angle. Once she reoriented herself, she powered away from him using her fists, her streams hitting him in the process.
"You can't fly away!" he screamed at her through the mass of flames she had created between them.
The Fire Lord, however, seemed to be unscathed as he pushed higher into the air, sending another fire blast her way; she sent a kick with her right leg, her own fire blast cutting her father's in half. When he saw that she was unscathed from his attack, he fury grew even stronger, breathing out flames as he pushed himself faster after her; Azula moved back toward the ground, dodging her father as he flew past her, before she sent a fire ball right into the back of his head, disorienting him for a moment. Taking advantage of his weakness, she turned her attention back to the airship, slashing at one with massive fire-whips as she lowered herself back toward the ground, now on the opposite side of the island from where she had first confronted Ozai. She turned herself around, looking at her father as he stared back down at her from the rim of the crater; his fancy armour and outfit was damaged, and he tore it from his body, ready to fight her with a crazed look on his face.
"Do you want to die?!" he screamed at her, the Princess smirking at his shattered sense of confidence; his anger was disguising his fear, and she knew that she would only have to push him so far, and he would make a fatal mistake.
"Death is something I no longer fear, father." she declared, her confidence making him further infuriated.
"You will!" his voice boomed as he sent another fire stream her way, the Princess jumping up out of the way; as she was standing right in front of an airship, her father made the mistake of accidentally setting one alight.
His stream followed her movements, forcing her to boost herself higher into the air with her firebending; looking back down at him momentarily, she grinned evilly as she kicked through his stream, before sending a stream down with her foot. The flames struck the ground at an impressive speed, but her father was more than agile enough to dodge her attack; he then sent himself up into the air after her, firing a volley of massive fire blasts at her, each one stronger than the last. She was able to dodge, using the advantage of gravity to free-fall down toward the airships, which he continued to strike unintentionally, much to her approval; even if she couldn't defeat him head on, she could more than certainly make him destroy his own weapons of mass destruction. Using her bending to glide up above the airships once more, her father continued to chase after her, sending fire blast after fire blast her way; she could feel his flames encroaching on her body, but knew there was little she could do but continue flying forward, knowing that if she stopped her father would hit her. Flying down between two of the airships, she used them as cover, spinning around to send another fire stream at the Fire Lord, whose infuriated expression only further improved her own mood; his anger was getting the better of him, and his inability to hit her was only making his strikes more wild and uncontrolled. That both made them harder to block and easier to dodge, knowing that as long as she kept moving, she would be relatively safe from his attacks.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" she mocked her father as she boost herself back up out of cover, throwing two slicing waves of fire his way.
He broke through her attack with ease, before he sent another fire stream at her; Azula was more than ready to dodge it, pushing herself higher into the air as she readied herself to send an articulate fire blast right at his head, hoping that she might incapacitate him. Ozai anticipated this idea, however, sending a kick up in her direction as he flipped himself around, both dodging her attack and sending one at her, striking her square in the chest and flinging her back. Her tunic was set alight, but she used her bending to dampen the flames that singed her skin and made her grit her teeth from the intense pain; it was nothing compared to what her father had down to Zuko's face during that Agni Kai, but it hurt intensely. She struggled to keep herself in the air as she thrust herself away from her father, raising her arms to block another attack from her father.
Her father looked at her with a ruthless glare as he fired another stream at her, the Princess letting herself fall underneath his attack, before she landed on the ground; as her father dropped down, nearly striking her, she rolled out of the way. Now as she returned to her feet, he was barely a few strides away her, and the next fire blast he sent her way forced her to skid backward; she sent a fire whip at him in return, but it was rather ineffective against Fire Lord Ozai, of all people. That attack was followed by a kick from her father, which she ducked underneath before sending a small bolt of flames to strike the back of his leg; being at such a close range, it was easy to hit him, and he screamed in pain, although unlike when she had been injured, he turned that anger back at her, throwing his energy into a fire stream. She put her arms out, cutting the stream in two, but she quickly realised that her father intended to strike her with his bare hands. She decided to dodge his attack by sending herself back up into the air, taking note that the airships, at least those that were still functioning, had begun to rise up into the air. Although the Fire Lord continued bend his powerful fire stream up toward her, she flew high enough that his attack was ineffective against the rockets of blue fire bursting from her heels. Her father didn't come after her again, instead spinning his fingers around; upon seeing those very motions, she dispersed the last of his fire stream, allowing her to have a direct line of sight on him. She took a deep breath as time seemed like it was slowing down, but she knew that was impossible; her eyes focused down at her father, as he moved through the form swiftly. The lightning bolt he sent at her came up within a moment, and unlike the last time she had caught his attack, she didn't falter in her form; there was no pain, only an exhilarating moment of euphoria, the greatest high she had ever felt. So much power within her body in a single moment, that she felt as if she was the Avatar herself.
Feeling the energy course through her gut, she began to scream at the top of her lungs, she began to scream out at him at the top of her lungs, making sure he could hear her ecstatic tone, "Now! Now you will die!"
Redirecting the lightning out of her right hand, she fired it right at him, but was sorely disappointed to see that she had missed, Ozai having sidestepped her lightning bolt; feeling aggrieved that her attack had failed, she used her hands as jets to approach him at rapidly increasing speed; as she fell down toward him, she moved her hands in the same motion he had, charging her own lightning.
"Die!" she screamed at him, thrusting her arm out to shoot him full of lightning.
In her moment of action, she made a grave mistake, however, realising that she had fired too late, her father grasping her arm as she came in to strike him; that didn't stop her digging her heels into his chest, kicking him down to the ground. Although her lightning had failed to hit him, the sound of what she could only assume was a number of her father's ribs snapping assured her that she had seriously injured him. Climbing back to her feet, she looked upon him with a smirk, before she noticed something in the corner of her eye; it was Appa, and there was people on his saddle. Her eyes widened with realisation, knowing that she had made the wrong assumption about their fates; she wanted to feel ecstatic upon realising that her brother was alive, but she was distracted by her father, who groaned, obviously still conscious.
"Why won't you just die?!" she questioned him with a shout, charging a lightning bolt in her hands again; Ozai was quick enough to send a kick of flames at her, making her bolt fire off angle, going up into the sky above them, nearly striking one of the airships that had begun to fly up into the air.
"You will pay for that... you will burn!" he screamed at her with all his fury, sending another fire blast her way, which she was barely able to disperse; she shot herself back into the air with her feet, sending rockets from her feet, but was forced to dodge another attack.
Her father then sent another stream at her, the Princess flying higher into the sky, moving away from his attack as quickly as it came; she smirked confidently, knowing that she could get away from her father before her friends could deal with him. Before she could make a counter-attack however, she found her body filled with a familiar extreme burning pain,; her father had sent another lightning bolt at her, through his own attack, this time entering her body through her foot, making her scream out in pain as she felt the same sharp and intense sensation again. For a moment, all of her mistakes flashed before her eyes; how she had treated Zuko as a child, how horrible and manipulative a friend she had been to Mai and Ty Lee, and worst of all, how she had followed her father's ideals so blindly. Not knowing if she was going to die in the next moment, she simply accepted her actions, and everything that had led up to that moment of euphoria and tremendous pain. She was able to throw the bolt out of her body quickly enough, but the pain became so intense that she passed out; the blackness that followed was not reassuring, as the last thought she had was one of utter dread.
Katara's eyes widened as she led Appa's reins, seeing a body fall down from the sky, knowing it couldn't be anyone other than Azula. She had been flying the sky-bison toward one of the airships, which they had flown above to avoid being shot at by the firebenders on board, but her attention turned to diving downward. The look of utter shock and dread on the Fire Nation Prince's face indicated to her well enough; she had been struck by lightning again, it seemed. She couldn't see the Fire Lord at that very moment, the airships currently flying over the island obscuring his position, but she flew down before they reached the shoreline, instinctively fearing whatever power he could already muster, given that Sozin's Comet was already above the horizon.
"Zula!" she heard Zuko scream out beside her, "We need to get her!"
"Working on it!" the Water Tribe girl assured him, "Hold on!" she directed the passengers, who dropped lower on the saddle as Appa's speed picked up measurably.
Diving underneath the airships, she made sight of the splash the Princess's fall had made; she stood up as they approached the water, her eyes momentarily darting to her left, where she could see the Fire Lord standing tall, staring them down with hateful eyes. As soon as they got close enough to the water, she jumped down into it, using her waterbending to push the water away, just as she had when the airship was sinking. The ocean was her domain, and her bending was excellent for the goal she sought to achieve; manipulating the water as she landed in it, she was able to sense Azula's body, pulling it up out of the water. She guessed for a moment that the sense she had felt under the water was akin to how Toph saw through the earth, but that thought was pushed out of her mind as she pulled the Princess's body closer, touching her wrist to feel for a heartbeat. Luckily, she could feel one, and she quickly used her waterbending to draw the salt water out of her lungs, throwing it out, and allowing Azula to breathe, the Princess coughing as she regained consciousness with the help of her healing hands. Rising up with the assistance of her bending, she landed back on the saddle, where Zuko was tensely standing, facing his father who stood in the distance, preparing an attack to strike the stationary sky-bison.
"Yip, yip!" Sokka screamed out, throwing the Prince off of his feet as the sky-bison quickly rose up into the air, speeding away from OZai, whose fire stream missed Appa, but only barely.
Katara's attention returned to Azula, who lay in her arms, groaning as she cringed with pain, "F-fuck... again..." she mumbled, reminding the group that she had indeed experienced the same attack from her father once before; without a second thought she drew out some water into her hands, placing them over her chest, the Princess's eyes widening as the pain began to lessen.
"Th-thanks, Katara." she mumbled her name, which she approved of, seeing that she wasn't being referred to as 'water peasant', her favourite nickname for the Water Tribe girl.
"Don't mention it. You survived another lightning bolt." she stated the obvious, which still came as a surprise to Katara, who was further surprised by the fact she immediately pulled herself up from her splayed form, her eyes darting around the saddle.
"Oh, so everyone's okay. That's good to hear. I thought you were all dead." she admitted, making her brother chuckle as he shook his head.
"Nope. It'll take more than falling out of the sky to kill us." he declared confidently, before his eyes turned back down toward their father, who had begun to fly with the assistance of firebending, "I don't know if any of us can face him."
"Aang will come back, I'm sure of it." Katara stressed, the Prince's eyes narrowing at her.
"But are you sure he'll be able to win. Will he do it?"
"We'll be able to help finish him off, brother." Azula assured him, rising him, to which the Water Tribe girl placed a hand on her chest.
"No, Azula. You need to save your strength. We need to take down these airships, and I'm sure you can help with that."
"I think I know how we can do that." Sokka cleared his throat, their father turning to face him with a smirk.
"A yes, a plan. What did you have in mind, son?"
"Well, I was thinking there's a lot of airships, but we only need one to take the rest down. We can use it ram the others."
"Oh... I thought we were going to use bombs." Amari mumbled, making her superior chide her.
"Now's not the time to think about blowing things up. That'll be the fastest way to take out the fleet?" Suki questioned, the Water Tribe boy nodding.
"Yep, now let's go steal us an airship!" he raised a fist, the sky-bison flying at speed toward the closest airship, which was luckily, not the goal of the Fire Lord, who continued to fly forward, approaching the front-most airship.
As the sky-bison approached the top of one of the airships, Toph gestured down to it, "This is all made of metal right?"
"Uh... yeah, just like our old one." Suki answered her question, the little earthbending girl cracking her fingers.
"Oh, it's my time to shine." she declared, before jumping down onto the top of the airship, immediately stabbing her hands into the metal frame, using her bending to create an opening by peeling a metal sheet off.
"Follow me!" she told the group, the Kyoshi Warriors jumping off first as Appa settled down ontop of the airship for a moment, before Hakoda and Sokka followed, Katara turning to face the two Fire Nation royals.
"You two should stay up here, your firebending will be a lot more useful when you're on the outside." she suggested, the two of them looking a each other; although she was still in pain, Azula took the effort to smirk, pointing at the Water Tribe girl with a face of confidence.
"Let's destroy these damned airships once and for all." she declared, the Pricne momentarily looking down toward Suki; their eyes locked for a moment and Katara grimaced, realising what he must have been feeling.
She guessed that it was akin to the feeling she had felt when her father left her and Sokka at the South Pole, or when Aang had suddenly disappeared; it was a kind of dread, a fear that was left unspoken in some cases, that one mightn't see their loved ones again.
"Yip, yip!" she called on their mighty sky-bison, who groaned, before he flew up into the air, following Katara's directions as she led him down to the side of the airships, which Zuko and Azula fired streams of fire at simultaneously; the pure intensity of the attacks amazed her and she realised for a moment what Aang would be facing if he really was about go fight the Fire Lord.
"Please... stay safe." she mumbled under her breath, knowing that even if he couldn't hear her, the Avatar would hopefully know that she was hoping for the best.
She didn't want to fulfil the stereotype set out by the horrible play rendition of their adventure, but she would admit that hope was the only thing she had at that point; Hope that her friend would be strong enough, in body and in soul to finally bring an end to the reign of Fire Lord Ozai.
Standing before the Fire Lord's airship fleet, Aang watched as his flying lemur glided away, knowing that he had to face Ozai alone; everything he had learnt from the past Avatars had told him the unmistakable truth. He had to be decisive against his enemy, and the Lion Turtle had provided a method to do so without killing his opponent; the idea of bending the Fire Lord's very chi was an amazing and terrifying concept at the same time. He had been offered a path to fulfil his destiny, but he knew that he would risk everything in trying to do so; he thought to Katara, to all of his friends, to everyone he had failed in disappearing a hundred years prior.
Watching the Fire Lord begin to burn the land below him, he gritted his teeth, understanding what he had to do; Aang closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he made a number of quick kicks, bending parts of the pillar below him, before sending them back toward the Fire Lord's flagship. Jumping to the next pillar, he watched the rocks fly past the airship; he seemed to have caught Ozai's attention. One of his rocks hit an engine on the side of the balloon, making the airship loser power, beginning to descend; he didn't need to be an mechanical genius like Sokka to figure out that if he hit the engines enough, the airship would just fall out of the sky, like a very tired Appa would. The Fire Lord stopped his attack, before eyeing the Avatar with hateful eyes, who sent a stream out of his fist, aiming to strike the engine again; when he hit it, the airship began to drop down.
The Fire Lord shed the armour he was wearing off of his body, which seemed to already be damaged before he had arrived on his airship; the Avatar didn't know how that had had happened, but he had a guess that a certain Fire Nation Princess or her brother was the cause of that damage. He just hoped both of them were alright, knowing that it was wrong for them to have to take up his own responsibility to face down Ozai. The Fire Lord flew toward him, all while his airship began to fall down to the ground, all while he used his firebending like rockets, moving to land on a stone pillar across from him. The look of confidence, of almost fatalistic self-assertion, was more than noticeable to Aang, who was forced to listen to him make his declaration of 'victory'.
"After generations of Fire Lords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence."
Aang tensed up, knowing that the fight he was about to have inevitable, as much as he didn't want to face the Fire Lord, especially under the influence of Sozin's Comet, "Please listen to me." he tried to ask of Ozai, "We don't have to fight. You have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing." he told him, the Fire Lord looking right back at him with a confident, evil grin.
"You are right. I do have the power. I have all the power in the world!" he declared with a shout, shooting flames out from his hands and mouth; as scary looking as his show of power was, Aang knew that he wouldn't back down- Azula was right, the Fire Lord had to be stopped.
For a few moments, he and Ozai stared each other down, knowing what would ahve to come next; a massive fight, the hardest Aang had ever fought, and if he were completely honest he wasn't ready for it. As much training as he received from his masters and guidance from his past lives he received, he didn't think he'd ever be able to face the man before him without a sense of fear. He was everything bad about Azula, turned up to a degree he didn't think was possible, with a face that looked like an unblemished form of Zuko's, which was more than unnerving to look at. Jumping up into the air, the Fire Lord raised up a finst, before slammed it downward, making a massive wave of flames, which Aang jumped over; once he landed down on the stone pillar below him, he grasped it with his earthbending, before grabbing the piece of stone, raising it into the air. He stared down Ozai as he threw the massive fragment at him, which frustratingly enough, he dodged, with his impressive use of firebending to fly. He had seen Zuko and Azula use it similarly at the Western Air Temple, but the pure speed he could achieve with it was scary. The Fire Lord propelled himself right at him, using the jets of fire at his feet to send a stream his way, which Aang returned in kind; the massive explosion that result made the Avatar squint, realising how much power Sozin's Comet had given them both.
The memory of what he had seen at the Southern Air Temple, instead of making him dread his own fate, made him realise his own strength. If Monk Gyatso could defeat a dozen Fire Nation soldiers under the influence of the comet a hundred years prior, then he, the Avatar, should surely be able to face off the Fire Lord. He refocused his attention on jumping out of the way as Ozai sent another massive fire stream his way, before bending a portion of pillar down to strike the Fire Lord; he was fast enough to dodge, and took chase after Aang as he continued to throw fire blasts his way. He returned the same attacks to the Fire Lord in kind, although he could tell, despite his own overwhelming strength as a bender, Ozai was absolutely unrelentless in his firebending; he sent another stone pillar at him, hoping to knock him down, at the very least slow him down or at the best restrain him. The Fire Lord shattered the pillar to pieces, jumping onto one of the fragments before he began to bend a lightning bolt, the form of which he recognised from the Dancing Dragon, of all things; he airbent a gust to throw himself up into the air, missing the bolt as it was fired his way.
As the Fire Lord seethed with fury, seeing his attack fail, he sent up a stream of flames at the Avatar; he sent his own fire stream toward the Fire Lord, making a massive explosion between the two of them. As a wall of flames appeared before him, Aang realised that he could use the Fire Lord's blindness to his advantage, bending the pillar behind him, ripping it to shreds into a number of stone projectiles, which he aimed for the last place he had seen the Fire Lord. Firing the stone shards through the wall of flames, he tensed up for a moment, readying a stance as he awaited the inevitable response from Ozai. Once the flames began to whither away, he could finally see the Fire Lord, who was standing with the stone shards surrounding him, his hands covered in flames.
"You will pay for that, you runt!" he screamed at the Avatar, "My ancestor destroyed your people! I'll finally finish what he started!" before he shot up into the air with the power of his firebending; Aang jumped right out of his way, missing another powerful stream fired his way as he used his airbending to slice through the attack, throwing his opponent back momentarily.
The young Avatar knew he would lose the fight if Ozai cornered him, and he knew that the comet was the Fire Lord's primary advantage; without it, he had a reasonable chance to defeat him without resorting to the Avatar State. Flying up into the air, he sent a fire stream toward the Fire Lord, hoping to distract him while he analysed his surrounding environment; he made out a waterfall, which he grasped with his bending, taking it in hand and thrusting it in the shape of a water whip toward him, who he hoped to ensnare. He threw the water toward Ozai in two streams around what remained his his flames; the Fire Lord simultaneously sent a volley of fireballs toward him, which he was able to block with a shield of earth. He heard the Fire Lord grunting at he was struck by the massive water whips he had conjured. Aang jumped up to throw the pillar underneath him at his opponent, who had quickly regained his senses, sending out a stream of fire to hit the Avatar; he dodged the attack, while sending the stone right at Ozai.
"You cannot avoid your fate!" he screamed at him, jumping above the stone fragment before aimed his feet at the Avatar, his firebending rockets streaming right toward him; he raised his hands to deflect the attack, feeling the searing heat grow stronger as he approached him, even as Aang was able to funnel the attack around him.
Tensing his arms as he tried to maintain his breathing, the Avatar closed his eyes; he focused on the thought of what he wanted to achieve, and the chakras Guru Pathik had taught him about. He was unsure if he was ready to let go of all his attachments and accept the ultimate power he had been offered; his conversation with Iroh about the topic came to mind, as far as that was to his current situation physically, even though the emotions he felt were all too similar. He opened his eyes, thrusting his arms forward, knowing what he needed to do; as he began to break through Ozai's flames, he declared to himself the truth. He needed to fight, and fight with all his strength.