Chapter 14: Where One Door Closes, Another Door Opens
Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you all so much for reading this story. I've had a lot of fun writing it and I hope that I can bring it to a satisfying end for you all. Thank you all for your support and the reviews, and I hope you all have a great day!
Quick responses to reviews:
TheRaccoon13: Yeah, I wondered if some people would catch on to what was going to happen. You seemed to have at least known about Black Flag before, so I wondered if you especially would catch on to it as well.
Stegz: Lol, yeah I probably should have added that in there. I could absolutely see Sokka complaining about the dead body. And I agree with you on that. I don't trust people who have offers like that.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
All of the pirates in the area started panicking as they looked around at the situation before them, seeing the many soldiers that were ready to kill them as they tried to think of what to do. It was clear that if they fought, they would lose, but there didn't appear to be many other options.
Katara never thought she would think this, but she sort of had wished that she hadn't hunted down so many pirates. If they had more pirates around them now, maybe they would stand more of a chance against the armies surrounding them. Then again, every pirate she had put down had spared an innocent person's life as well, so she figured that the trade had been worthwhile. Even if it meant that she would die today.
Truth be told, had it not been for her relationship with Aang, she might have given up and just let it happen. But, knowing that she couldn't allow anything to happen to the young man who had stolen her heart, she tried desperately to think of something to get them out of this mess.
They were surrounded on all sides by soldiers, meaning that they would have to fight to get back out. If they could just make it back to their ship, then they could sail it away from there and allow Azula and her cronies to wipe out the rest of the pirates.
Looking back at the dock behind them, she was a bit surprised to see that this was where the army was at its weakest, meaning that if they could get past them, they could get to their ship and sail far away from this place.
Though the pardon had sounded good, she supposed that she should have known that it would be a trap. There had been absolutely no sign of Azula since they had last seen her on Kyoshi Island, something that Katara hadn't even thought twice about. She had assumed it was only a matter of time before the crazy Fire Nation princess found them again, she had just hoped that it would be sometime after they had gotten the pardon.
Still though, despite how clear it was that Azula was not a nice person, she couldn't quite believe that she was actually willing to kill her own brother and uncle. It was one thing to want to kill others for political reasons, but one's own family? That was another whole kind of evil.
If Azula was like this, she couldn't say that she was looking forward to facing her father, but she knew that this was the last thing they should be worrying about at the moment. What they needed to figure out right now was how to get out of there alive so they could then worry about the upcoming battle.
Before she or Aang could come up with a plan, the pirates around them seemed to accept that they were doomed, and decided that they were going to go down fighting as they pulled out their swords and charged at the enemy around them.
It wasn't long before the clashing of swords and the sounds of different kinds of bending rang throughout the area, making the pirate hunters struggle to defend themselves as they were caught in the middle of it, despite not having joined in the fight as their enemies had. As much as they didn't like it, the other pirates were the closest things to allies that they had at the moment, and they would need them until they could figure a way out of there.
"Katara! Watch out!"
Blinking in surprise as she heard Aang's familiar voice while knocking the sword out of an Earth Kingdom guard's hand, she looked at him and saw him pointing to something, turning just in time to see a Firebender shoot some flames at her.
Taking some water from the nearby pond, she threw the water in front of her and made it evaporate before throwing the rest of it at her attacker, knocking them off of their feet and freezing them to the ground. Had they been pirates, she wouldn't have hesitated to end them, but she understood that these soldiers were just following orders. And even if it might make things a little more difficult for her, she wasn't going to take their lives for it.
Luckily for her, the rest of her crew seemed to think as she did, as none of them would kill any of the military that were trying to kill them as well. It certainly made her feel better knowing that she wasn't the only one with a conscience. Though she knew hers wasn't as strong as Aang's was, Aang had been raised by former Air Nomads. She figured that she had an excuse as to why she was more ready to kill than he was.
Not that it really mattered, of course. Killing or not killing, there were still too many soldiers for them to take all of them on. They needed to get out of there. Fast.
"My crew! Follow me!" Katara yelled above the noises of war going on around her as she started pushing her way back to the docks, her friends and her crew right behind her as they slowly pushed their way back.
It was clear that the only way they were going to get out of this alive was by escaping, but they weren't entirely sure if they were going to be able to do it. They were certainly the best pirate crew in the world, but even the best fighters in the world can fall if they are outnumbered enough.
Regardless, Katara knew that she had to keep pushing. No matter what, she had to at least try to get everyone out of there. She would never forgive herself if she just gave up now. If they were going to die, they were going to die trying their very best to get out of there.
Besides, it certainly helped that the rest of the pirates around them were keeping the majority of them busy while they pushed their way back. Because of their pointless effort to go down fighting, most of the collective army was focused on them, meaning that Katara and her crew had a chance to get back to their ship.
After a little while of fighting and moving, Katara finally managed to reach the last line of defense before they made it back to the docks, making her smile as she saw that they might actually be able to do this. With this encouragement in her heart, she made sure that she had Aang at her side and quickly leaped at the line of soldiers, both of them dodging and striking in equal measure as they worked on them while the rest of the crew kept the other soldiers at bay.
Before long, the two lovers had finally managed to knock down the last soldier blocking them from the rest of the dock and shared a smile, seeing that they could really make it. Turning back to her crew, Katara was about to tell them to follow her when she saw something that she did not like.
Yon Rha, who had seen that they were clearing a way out to the deck, had decided to follow them and was currently running with his crew back to his ship, making Katara's smile drop as she saw that he was going to get away.
"Katara?" Aang asked in confusion as he saw that she was frozen in place with a look of anger and fear on her face. "What's wrong?"
Unintentionally ignoring him, she looked back to her crew and shouted as loud as she could over the noises of war around them. "Everyone! Back to the ship! Now!"
Never having heard her be like this before, the crew immediately abandoned their fight and ran after her as she ran with all of her strength back to the ship, making Aang still look confused until he finally noticed Yon Rha and his crew board their ship.
Understanding dawned on him as he saw why Katara had gotten like that so quickly, and knowing what was likely going through her mind at the moment, he used some airbending to get to the wheel as quickly as possible.
"Come on! Come on!" Katara yelled as she took the wheel and watched her crew quickly get onto the ship. "He's not getting away from me this time!"
Seeing that she was about to go, Aang didn't bother running up the gangplank and jumped up to the wheel instead, landing in his usual spot at her right as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Katara, I know that you don't want him to get away, but there's more important things to worry about right now-"
"There's nothing more important to me right now, Aang," Katara told him quietly, her eyes trained on the man she desperately wanted to kill as she did so. After a few moments of glaring, she finally seemed to see the hurt look on her fiance's face and realized what she had said as she sighed. "I didn't mean it like that, Aang. You're the most important thing in the world to me, but I have to do this."
"Why? What good is killing him going to do you, Katara?" Aang asked seriously, making Katara squeeze her eyes shut as she tried not to get angry with him. "You've been hunting him down for years, and all it's done is make you hate him more."
"Maybe if I end him, then maybe I'll stop hating him," Katara replied before calling for sails, which the crew quickly unfurled and the other airbenders got them moving with a strong gust of wind.
"Or maybe you'll regret it for the rest of your life!" Aang argued as he gently took her face in his hand and forced her to look at him. "It's not too late, Katara. You can turn back now."
Squeezing her eyes shut again, she regretfully responded. "I'm sorry, Aang. But I can't." Aang remained silent for a few moments, trying to think of something, anything to convince her to change the course that she was taking, but he could see in her eyes that he wasn't going to be able to convince her.
"Aye, Captain. As you wish," he finally said, his eyes having lost any joy that he had left as he let her face go and moved away, making her look sadly at him as she saw this. She didn't want to do this to him, but she couldn't help keep herself any longer. She had failed to find Yon Rha before, but he was here now, and she wasn't going to let him get away this time. Her parents would be avenged.
With this determination in her mind, she forced herself to focus on the task at hand, knowing that the sooner she avenged her parents, the sooner they could get out of there and never come back.
Azula smirked as she looked around at the carnage of pirates that lay before her. Clearly, her men had done well in doing their duty. Even if a decent amount of them had been taken down with the pirates during the fight. Not that she cared, of course.
Just as she was about to start collecting prizes to bring to her father, one of her soldiers came up to her, panting as he saluted her. "Princess! We searched the corpses, but none of them resemble the prince."
"Former prince, mind you," Azula corrected him as she thought about what he had said. She knew that it was too much to hope that he had been burned beyond recognition. "But how could he have escaped? They were surrounded on all sides."
"A group of pirates managed to fight their way through the back to the dock," the soldier informed her. "We just did a count and found that there are two ships missing."
"What?!" Azula snarled in outrage. "Guard! Give me your spyglass." Doing as he was told, he quickly dug it out of his pocket and handed it to her, watching as she put it to her eye and looked around. To her great disliking, she found that he was right, as one ship was already out of the harbor and the other was just about to leave. "They will not be allowed to survive!" Turning to the Earthbenders to her right, she then ordered. "Sink every ship in the harbor! We must be sure that no other pirate can retake their ship. And whichever man sinks either of those ships will be greatly rewarded by the Firelord."
Hearing this, the Earth Kingdom soldiers immediately set to work, sending dozens of volleys at the remaining ships in the harbor and sinking them into the deep. With that taken care of, they focused their efforts on the quickly escaping ships, sending volley after volley of Earth at them. Though their aim had been great, the pirate ships had managed to avoid getting badly damaged, making Azula growl in outrage as she walked quickly back to the docks and met her captain who was waiting for her.
"Captain! Get this ship moving! Every pirate in the world will die today! Even if I have to do it myself!" she ordered, watching the captain nod quickly before racing back to the ship to get it ready as she got herself on board. "You won't get away from me this time, brother."
Katara couldn't help but feel bad as she tried to keep her attention on the pirate ship ahead of them. She knew that Aang only wanted the best for her, but he just didn't understand. Well, he did understand, but it wasn't the same. He was raised not to kill anyone by his parents, but she had never been raised to such a standard of morality. And frankly, even if she had been, she didn't think that she would have been able to stick with it. She never wanted to hurt anyone, but when it came to the ones she loved, she would do everything in her power to avenge them if she could.
Still though, this certainly didn't make her feel much better as she noticed that Aang wasn't standing as close to her as he usually did. But, knowing that the sooner that this was over with, the sooner they could all forget about it and move on, she put this thought out of her mind and focused on her target, finding that she was looking forward to seeing the fear in his eyes as she ended his life.
"Captain! Big boulders incoming!" Toph shouted to her, making her gasp as she looked up into the sky and saw that she was right. Though she couldn't help but notice as she looked up that the other pirate ships had been sunken as well.
Deciding that it would do them no good for her to get distracted by this, she shook her head and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. "Everyone, brace!" she yelled as she tried to keep an eye out for what was coming at them.
Fortunately for her, they were already mostly out of range, but there were still a good few dozen that sailed right by them as they crashed into the water. With some careful navigating and the help of her Earthbenders deflecting whatever got close enough to do some damage, she managed to keep her ship intact. Well, with the exception that one had hit the top of her mast and had knocked her personal flag off of it.
The other ship didn't appear to be so lucky, as a few boulders lodged into its hull, making Katara smile as she saw that they had been severely damaged. Feeling her vengeance close at hand, she called out to her crew. "We're ramming that ship! It's time we end this!"
Making sure that the ship was heading right for their enemy, she yelled "Brace!" just before they crashed into the other ship, cracking the already heavily damaged hull and ensuring that their enemy wasn't going to go anywhere.
Feeling satisfied as she saw the fear in her enemy's eyes from her position, she turned the ship so that they were side by side and yelled. "Board the enemy ship! Leave no pirate alive!"
The crew cheered at this, quickly throwing their grappling hooks over to ensure that the enemy ship wouldn't drift away from theirs before launching themselves into the fight. Aang, despite not being happy about this, decided that he would try to reason with her one more time, but was not given the chance as she ran up to the railing and jumped off of it to the other ship, effortlessly cutting through pirates the enemy crew as she made her way to their captain.
Knowing that he couldn't let her do this without giving it one more try, he followed after her, using a quick burst of airbending to get him to the other ship where he too fought through the throngs of pirates as he tried his best to get to her in time. He knew that he likely wasn't going to be able to talk her out of it, but he had to try once more before he allowed her to finish what she had started.
As he fought his way through, he noticed Toph, Suki, and Sokka all fighting together by the Captain's quarters, being clearly surrounded by the pirates around them.
"Hey, do you guys need help?" Aang called over the noises, making Toph snort as she kicked a pirate in the gut and stuck her sword through his chest.
"We're fine, Twinkle Toes!" she yelled to him over the noise of battle around her as she pulled the sword out and allowed the body to fall to the deck. "Go help Sugar Queen!"
"Yeah, we got this!" Suki agreed as she kicked a pirate back to Sokka who stabbed him before moving onto the next one. "Go help Katara!"
Seeing that they truly were alright, he nodded and did his best to get through the sea of pirates. Yon Rha must have had more crew than they did, because he saw far more unfamiliar faces than familiar faces as he forced his way through, knocking out his enemies with ease as he pushed through.
After what felt like forever, he finally reached the top deck, finding that Katara was on her own fighting against five of Yon Rha's men who appeared to be protecting him. He could tell that they weren't nearly as skilled as she was, and after watching her take them all on, he was not so surprised to see her cut through them like butter until the only one left standing was her greatest enemy.
Seeing how easily his men had been defeated, Yon Rha couldn't help but look at her in a mixture of fear, awe, and anger as he pulled out his sword. "Who are you? Why won't you leave me alone?"
"Don't I seem familiar to you?" Katara snarled as she walked up to him and prepared to strike him, only to be met with his swords as she pressed forward.
"I've never met you before in my life, lass," Yon Rha told her easily, making Katara growl as she pushed forward with more strength, hoping to cut him as her enemy did everything in his power to prevent her from doing so.
Upon seeing this, Aang knew that his chance to stop her was quickly fleeting, and decided to waste no more time as he fought his way through the pirates who stood between him and the two pirate captains. Fortunately for him, Yon Rha was a better fighter than Katara had anticipated, managing to hold his own as the young waterbender relentlessly tried to gain the upperhand in their fight.
"You don't recognize me?" she couldn't help but let out another snarl as she pressed him back against the railing, making his eyes widen as he saw just how angry she was. "You should. My family always told me that I looked just like her."
"Lass, I've met many women over the years. You're going to have to be more specific," Yon Rha growled back, pressing forward and trying to cut her, but she deflected his attack and pressed him back into it. Just as she was about to attempt another strike at the man she hated, the sound of the man she loved calling out to her took her by surprise.
"Katara! Stop! You don't have to do this!" Aang yelled as he struggled to get through the crowd to her, dodging and deflecting incoming blows in equal measure as he tried his best to get close to her.
Turning around, she gave him a rare frown with her eyes narrowed, her anger and her need for vengeance making her not act like herself. "Stay out of this, Aang! We're almost done here!" Turning back, she blinked in surprise as she saw that Yon Rha had taken this distraction as an opportunity to get away from her, jumping up on the rail and taking a hold of the rope as he jumped off and swung around to the main deck where he landed with ease.
Growling again, she started walking quickly to the staircase, taking down any enemy pirates that stood in her way with ease as she marched toward the man she wanted dead. He had eluded her for years, but now she had him right where she wanted him, and she wasn't going to let him get away now.
"Katara, please!" Aang nearly begged as he followed after her, stopping a pirate who tried to do a sneak attack on him as he used the solid hilt of his sword to knock out the approaching enemy, not bothering to look back as he continued following the girl he loved. "You don't need to choose revenge! If you do, you're only going to regret it!"
Squeezing her eyes shut, she stopped in her tracks for a moment and took a deep breath, knowing that he was right, but also being unable to deny the severe anger she felt as the man who had taken her parents away was only ten feet away from her.
Feeling this anger flood her, she then turned around and smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry, Aang, but I have to do this." And with that, she turned back around and started rapidly cutting her way through her enemies, leaving a trail of bodies as she made her way to her enemy.
Despite knowing that he had already tried, he knew that he couldn't just give up, no matter how many times Katara told him that she had to do it. He knew that she would regret it for the rest of her life, and that was not what he wanted for her.
But, knowing that there wasn't much he could do about it at the moment, he decided to help his crewmates clear out what was left of the enemy crew so that he could focus without having so many distracting noises preventing him from being able to think properly. Once he had ensured that the battle was won, then he would try to convince her one last time.
While he did this, Katara went right back into her fight with her worst enemy, putting everything she had into it as she forced him back. "You could have just lived a normal life, but NO!" Katara shouted at him as she swung a few strikes at him, getting more angry with every failed attempt to kill him as she pressed forward. "You just had to be a pirate! You just had to be a killer! You just had to take my parents away from me!"
"Your parents?" Yon Rha asked in confusion as he blocked another strike from her, his eyes widening in surprise as it finally dawned on him who her parents were. In his career as a pirate, he had only hunted down a handful of Water Tribe ships, but there was only one that the ones in charge had appeared to be a middle aged couple. "Those were your-"
"Yes, they were!" she snarled as she attacked him again, her anger only fueling her strength as she put everything that she had into it. "And they're gone! Because of YOU!"
Finding that she had enough of this fight, she crossed her sword over his and knocked her knee into his face, making him stumble back as he clutched his eyes in pain and stumbled back into the mast. Knocking the sword out of his hand, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him to the ground, making him wince and attempt to crawl away from her, only to be stopped by a foot as he looked up to see her crew looking down at him with their weapons at the ready.
Katara, seeing that the battle was won and that it was time, marched her way over to the fallen man and tossed him away from her crew, putting a foot on his chest as her eyes seethed with pure hatred as she looked down at him.
"Was it worth it?" she asked rhetorically as she pressed her sword to his throat. "All the years of killing the innocent? All the lives you ruined? Separating all of these families, and for what? Your own personal gain? You sicken me."
"P-please," her enemy began to stutter, seeing that his life was completely at her will. "Have m-mercy."
"Like you had mercy on my parents?" Katara snarled, her sword only going closer to his throat as he shivered violently in fear. "I don't think so." Raising her sword to finish him off, she became surprised once again as she heard the voice of her beloved come from behind her.
"Katara, wait!" Aang called as he gently shoved his way through the crowd, finally reaching the front as he walked quickly up to her. "I know that you want to avenge your family, but this isn't what your parents would have wanted! This isn't you!"
"I told you to stay out of this, Aang," Katara told him shrewdly, clearly not being very happy that she had her enemy under her heel and was being prevented from ending him by the man she loved.
Deciding not to take this personally, Aang then said. "I can't, Katara, because I love you. If I let you go through with this, you would regret it for the rest of your life." He watched as Katara's frown grew as she looked down at the fearful man below her, making him wonder if he was finally starting to get some sense into her head. "Killing him isn't going to bring you any peace, and it's not going to bring your parents back."
"Even if this wasn't personal, Aang, I still have a mission to complete," Katara reminded him as she gestured around to the corpses around them. "He's the last regular pirate alive. It's my duty to finish what I started."
"Your mission was to erase the bad pirates from the world," he reminded her. "If you lock him up in a prison for the rest of his life, he won't be able to hurt anyone. The other pirates weren't as personal as this is to you. This isn't about your mission. This is about avenging your parents. Don't try to confuse me, Katara."
Sighing a little, Katara wrung her free hand in frustration before looking back up to him. "He took my parents away from me, Aang! I know that other pirates took your parents away from you, but this is different!"
"But it's not," Aang disagreed as he walked up to her and looked her in the eye. "My parents were killed by pirates. So were yours. The only difference is that my parents were pirates when they died and that your parents weren't." Katara looked down at the man she hated again, feeling torn between wanting to agree with Aang and wanting to finish the miserable excuse of a man who lay beneath her. "When my parents died, I wanted to kill the pirates who had taken them from me, too, but I knew that I couldn't do it. Because I knew that I would regret it. Maybe not at first, but after a little while, I knew that I would end up wishing that I never had done it. And look at me now. Even though I still miss my parents and still am mad at the ones who killed them, I'm glad that I chose to spare them, because I knew that it wasn't who I was." He paused and took her face in his hand, gently turning her to look at him as he looked into her eyes. "And I know it's not who you are, either."
Feeling many emotions well up in her at once, she looked between him and the man she hated most for a few moments before rage filled her again as she remembered how her parents had been taken from her. Yelling in anger, she attempted to finish what she started, but stopped as the point of her sword reached the base of Yon Rha's chest, the look of fear on his face making her finally snap out of her rage as she saw what she had almost done.
Holding the sword in place for a few moments, she finally pulled it back and sheathed it, looking down at her enemy with a mixture of anger, pity, and disgust. "I always thought that I could do it. That I could kill the man who killed my parents. To finally let their spirits rest in peace. I never understood why anyone would want to hurt anyone as kind as my parents, but now I know. There's just nothing inside of you. You're pathetic, and sad, and empty."
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Yon Rha attempted to put on a resourceful face, though Katara could tell that it was fear driving his admission of guilt. "Please, spare me!"
"As much as I hate you," she continued, wringing her hands angrily as she looked down at him before letting go. "I just can't do it."
Smiling ever so slightly, Yon Rha started becoming hopeful as she gave him one last glare before turning back to Aang, diving into his open arms as she squeezed him tightly. "I'm so sorry that I didn't listen to you," she murmured to him against his shoulder. "You were right. I couldn't do it. I don't know if it's because I was too weak to do it, or if it was because I was strong enough not to, but I just couldn't."
"You did the right thing, Katara," Aang murmured back to her. "Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing."
Pulling away from the hug, she glared down at the man she still hated for a few more moments before looking back up to Aang. "But I didn't forgive him, Aang. I'll never forgive him." Shaking her head at the pitiful man before her she turned back to the man she loved and put on a weak smile. "Come on. Let's get him tied up and take him to the nearest prison."
Smiling as he saw that she was now thinking as he was, he was about to agree with her when a familiar sound interrupted him, making the two lovers look at each other with wide eyes. "Is that-"
"I think so," Katara replied fearfully, making the rest of the crew and Yon Rha look between them in confusion.
"You think what? You think what?" Sokka couldn't help but ask a little fearfully, seeing the nervous look on their faces and becoming scared himself. Walking over to the other side of the ship, the two lovers looked down and were not so surprised to see a familiar bubbling of the water, unable to keep their eyes from widening as they saw the enormous creature rise from the waters and look down at them. "Oh, man! Not him again!"
The Kraken finally rose its full head above the water and, after a few moments of studying the people below him, screeched and reached a tentacle down at them. While the rest of the crew prepared themself for a fight and Aang and Katara stood side by side, they all became surprised as the tentacle completely ignored them and went straight for Yon Rha.
"No!" Katara's enemy bellowed as he was lifted up into the air, his captain's hat being knocked off by the wind as the Kraken brought him to its mouth. Unable to watch this, the crew and their Captain and Quartermaster all closed their eyes, hearing a sickening crunch! before they allowed themselves to open their eyes and looked up just in time to see the Kraken swallow Katara's greatest enemy.
Not sure of what to expect next, the pirate crew stayed in their defensive positions just in case it tried to attack them next, but they all became surprised as it seemed to nod ever so slightly to them before sinking back into the water, making them all stay frozen in surprise as they wondered if what had happened had really just happened.
"Wow. I guess it remembered us," Aang chuckled awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say after seeing what had just occurred.
"Yeah, I guess he did," Katara couldn't help but murmur, finding that she had been right not to kill him. Now that her enemy was gone, all she felt was pity for the man. Even if she still wished that he hadn't killed her parents. "I can't believe it. He's actually… gone."
Taking her in his arms, he leaned down and pressed a tender to kiss to her head. "I'm so proud of you, Katara. You could have killed him, but you didn't. I knew that you were better than that."
Smiling up at him, she gave him a kiss and looked into his eyes. "You're the better part of me, Aang. If you hadn't been here, I probably would have killed him, but it was what you said that reminded me of who I am." Giving him another kiss, she murmured against his lips. "Thank you."
Unable to keep his smile from growing, he kissed her back for a few moments when the ship shaking suddenly stopped them, making everyone turn around to see three Fire Navy ships coming quickly towards them with earthbenders and firebenders alike on them.
Sharing a nod of agreement, Katara turned to her crew and yelled. "Come on, everyone! Back to the ship!" The crew did as they were told and quickly made their way back to the ship, managing to get back just in time as another boulder lodged into the enemy ship's hull and finally sunk it, making it go below the waters as the pirates tried their best to outrun their approaching enemy.
Katara normally wouldn't try to run away, but they were still heavily outnumbered, and wouldn't stand a chance against three ships filled with both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation troops. They couldn't keep running away forever, she knew, but she had to try.
Unfortunately for them, there was nothing that they could use to get Azula off of their tail, and their pursuers were relentless in their pursuit to chase them down. There was nowhere else to go. No Island that they could hide on, no allies to call on, and nowhere else for them to run. They knew that Azula would chase them to the ends of the earth to complete her mission.
Sharing a grave look, the two lovers seemed to understand each other's thoughts and nodded their agreement, turning to look at their crew as they all looked to them with heavy despair in their eyes. "Well, guys. It seems we've reached the end of our journey," Katara began speaking, looking over them all as she recalled the fond memories over the years they had worked together. "I'm proud of all that we have accomplished together, and I'm sorry that it came to this. If you wish to abandon ship now, you have my leave to do so."
After a few moments of silence, it was Toph who spoke up first. "No way! We're not leaving now just because a bunch of sissies can't fight us on equal terms. We're with you to the end, Captain."
"Yeah," Sokka agreed with a smile as he stepped forward. "You've led us from the start, and we'll be here until the end. Right guys?"
The crew around them cheered loudly in agreement, making Katara smile as she saw how loyal her crew truly was to her. Sharing a smile with Aang, she looked back to them and nodded. "Aye, then. If we're going to go down, we're going to go down fighting! Are you with me?"
"Aye, Aye, Captain!" the crew collectively cheered, making her smile once more before she put on a determined look.
"Good. Everyone get ready! If we're going down, we're taking a few of them with us!" she shouted, making them shout back at her in agreement as they all got ready for their last battle as Katara turned the ship to face their enemy. Once she was satisfied with the angle they were at, she looked over to her love and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes as she spoke from the heart.
"I might have started this without you, but I'm glad that I get to finish it with you," she whispered to him, sadness clinging to her voice as she drew closer to him.
"Aye, I'm glad that I could be here, too," he agreed, putting his forehead against hers as he leaned down to her.
Biting her lip a little nervously, she then said. "Do you remember what you told me about your parents? How they both captained their ship together?" Aang nodded, his eyes never leaving hers as he did so. "Well, if this is going to be our last battle, I want you to be my co-captain. I love you, and I want to share this with you before its all over."
Smiling sadly at this, he sunk his lips into hers and closed his eyes, making her sigh in contentment as she kissed him back for a few moments before he pulled away. "It would be my honor, co-captain," he breathed, making her smile as a bit of a smirk adorned his face. "But if we're co-captains, I think that we should have a new Quartermaster, don't you?"
Being confused for a few moments, her eyes widened in understanding when she finally caught onto what he was thinking and, as a smirk adorned her face as well, she laughed and nodded. "Aye, we should have a Quartermaster." Turning her head, she then shouted. "Sokka!"
Hearing his name being called, Sokka came quickly running up the stairs and stopped in front of them, wondering what they wanted from him when Katara turned to look at him. "Aang and I have decided that we're going to be co-captains for this last battle, and we want you to be our new Quartermaster."
His eyes widening in surprise from hearing this, his face eventually took on a grin as a look of humor and gratefulness settled in his eyes as he looked at his co-captains. "Thanks, Sis," he finally replied before walking back down the stairs and going over to tell Suki the good news.
Laughing as she saw how happy that had made her brother, she turned back to Aang and gave him a smile as she once more wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you," she murmured to him.
"I love you, too," Aang told her as he gave her one last kiss, pulling her as close to him as possible before the two forced themselves to separate and got back to what they knew they had to do. Making their way to the rail overlooking the front of the ship, Aang spoke up first as the crew turned back to look at them.
"Before we do this, I just want to say what a pleasure it's been working with you all," he began as he looked at them all. "I didn't think I would find a crew that I would like as much as my old crew, but you all proved me wrong. Thank you for taking me in and giving me one of the greatest adventures of my life."
The crew cheered for him, making him smile as he then looked at Katara who waited for them to quiet down before she began her own speech as well. "You all have been with me since I started this journey, and for that, I thank you. Without your help, we couldn't have accomplished nearly as much as we have. And though we have lost many friends along the way, I am glad for everything that happened, as I have the best crew in the world." Cheering once more, the crew waited for her to finish as she smiled at them. "Now, let's finish our journey and take down as many as we can with us!"
Azula smiled wickedly as she saw her small fleet start to encompass the ship that had finally stopped running. She had known that this was going to happen eventually, but she had honestly expected them to take a little longer to draw it out. Not that she wasn't glad that they had decided to stop running, as it was saving her some time that would have been wasted.
"Captain, when I give the order, sink the ship," she commanded her captain who was at her side, knowing that he was the one in charge of the fleet her father had granted her.
"Of course, Princess," he bowed to her before walking over to the bell that signaled the other ships to attack. Azula, who waited to see if they were truly surrendering or if they were going to strike back, became surprised as she actually saw three different attacks get launched at them. A large wave was sent at one, but only ended up pushing it back a few feet. A handful of boulders was sent at another, but only managed to slightly damage the hull. The one she was on, however, had a large blast of fire coming towards it, which she and the other firebenders around her managed to break before it could hurt the ship.
"Now!" she ordered, watching as the captain nodded and started ringing the bell. Before long, all three ships sent a mixed attack of flaming boulders at the pirate ship, setting it ablaze as each boulder punctured into various parts of it. Smiling in satisfaction, she watched the ship quickly sink below the sea, only leaving a large plume of smoke from where a fiery boulder had hit the main mast.
Being satisfied with this, she waited until the ship had fully sunk beneath the water and smiled as she looked down at where the ship had once been. "Goodbye, brother," she said with glee as she turned around, knowing that her father would be quite happy that her brother and the Avatar had been taken care of as she looked to her captain. "Captain! Set our course for the Royal Palace! It's time to go home."
A few days later, Azula found herself back at home, enjoying her victory as she made her way to her father's throne room. Surely, because of her amazing accomplishments, her father would reward her with the title of Fire Lord for taking down her brother and the Avatar when he took over the world. And she had to say, she was rather looking forward to it.
Feeling energetic at this idea, she picked up her pace and quickly walked the remaining distance to the room where her father was waiting, kneeling before him as she smiled down at her.
"I am most proud of you, my daughter," Ozai told her as he stood up from his throne and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have served me well. When we take over the world, you will take my place as Fire Lord."
Smiling in triumph as she heard this, she bowed her head again and replied. "Thank you, Father. Would you like to hear how I defeated them both?"
"Absolutely," Ozai smiled maliciously as he retook his seat. "Tell me everything."
"Well, there's not really much to tell. After they fell for the trap, they attempted to get away, but I chased them down until they gave up," Azula began explaining, remembering the moment she had seen the ship sink with joy as she thought about it. "Once they did, they attempted one last feeble attempt to strike back at us, but my ships made short work of them and sunk them into the sea."
"Excellent. You have done well, Azula," Ozai told her, making her smile as she enjoyed his praise. "Did you take any prizes from them?"
A look of surprise overtook the young princess's face as she heard this, clearly not having expected him to ask this. "Um… No, I didn't, Father. I was so excited that we had finally sunk them, I hadn't even thought to," she admitted, making his eyebrow raise at her.
"Hmmm," he hummed in though and stroked his rather pointy beardt. "I suppose that it would be best for us to check to make sure. I'll send a Navy ship out to scout the area."
"Of course, Father. I'm sure that you'll find that there were no survivors," Azula promised, both of them becoming surprised as the large doors to the throne room burst open to reveal a soldier running in.
"Fire Lord!" the soldier exclaimed as they ran up to the throne and bowed, making Ozai raise a brow at him as he looked down at the man. "We have-" He was interrupted from finishing his sentence by a strong gust of air, blowing him into the back wall where a small stream of water came from the doors of the room and froze the guard in place.
Being astonished at this, the Fire Lord and the Princess looked over to the entryway and were surprised to find a large group of people standing there, most of them looking unfamiliar while the ones in the front Azula recognized.
"No," she gasped as she backed up a little. "It's impossible! I watched your ship sink into the water!"
Aang grinned as he and his friends stepped forward. "Yeah, but you didn't see us sink, did you?"
"How did you survive?!" Azula snarled as her hands caught on fire, making Katara, Suki, and Mai simultaneously smirk as they enjoyed the look of fear on her face, thinking back to before their ship had sunk into the sea.
*Flashback
"Now, let's finish our journey and take as many as we can down with us!" Katara yelled.
"Or," Sokka added as he walked to the front of the crowd. "We could pretend to attack them and let them sink the ship, making them think that they got us."
The crew around him started murmuring excitedly at this idea, clearly liking it better than the alternative as Toph then spoke up.
"Snoozles is right! Why should we let that crazy lady take us down? I say we give them one last shot and abandon ship before they take us down."
Liking the sound of this, and sharing a nod of agreement with Aang, she smiled and looked back to their crew. "Aye, then. Let's get started."
After the three main sections of the crew sent their different attacks at each of the ships, they all quickly made their way to the rowboats and managed to cram everyone in, lowering themselves into the water just in time as the enemy ships launched their final attack at theirs. And as they rowed away, Katara couldn't help but get a little sad as she watched it sink beneath the waves, knowing that so many memories had been made there. Fortunately for her, Aang held onto her as the crew started rowing away into the strong plume of smoke, feeling relieved that they had all survived as they rowed away to safety.
Smirking a little as she recalled how they had survived, she looked over to her friend until her eyes finally settled on her love, still being a bit surprised to see him in regular Air Nomad robes, but she found that she liked how he looked in them. Especially since the one he was wearing particularly showed off his strong right arm.
Though she would enjoy telling Azula what had happened, she knew someone who would enjoy it even more as she turned to her brother. "Sokka, would you like to give them the short version of it?"
Grinning at this, he nodded as his grin turned into a smug smirk. "Well, before you sank our ship, we decided that we weren't going to go down with our ship, and-"
"We totally duped you guys," Toph cut him off, making his eyes widen in anger as he indignantly cried out.
"Hey!" Laughing at this, Suki then picked up on it and continued.
"Once we were sure that you guys didn't know that we had escaped, we went back to the mainland and Iroh contacted some friends of his."
"The Order of the White Lotus," Zuko spoke up, smiling just a little as he and his uncle shared a look of amusement from seeing the fear on their crazy family's faces as they listened to their tale.
Mai, who rarely said anything, took everyone in the room by surprise as she then said. "Once Iroh got us some help, his friends talked to the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe leaders and got us a pardon so we could get back to normal."
"Then they trained Aang on what was left of his Avatar training, which thanks to us wasn't much," Katara added with a smile as she looked to the young Avatar who stood by her side.
"And they helped me make a plan to come here," he finished with a smile. "Oh, and they taught me how to use my Avatar Powers in a different way."
Sokka grinned as put up a hand to his mouth like he was about to tell them a secret. "He's really powerful now. Don't believe me? Just watch!"
"Enough!" Ozai snarled as he stood up. "I will tolerate this incessant storytelling no longer! Surrender now, or you will all die!"
Toph just laughed as she heard this, clearly finding this threat amusing as she looked up to him. "Hey, Crazies. In case you hadn't noticed, you're outnumbered by some of the most powerful benders in the world. And, you know, this guy," she grinned as she pointed with her thumb to Sokka, whose eye started immediately twitching as he heard this, making him once again shout.
"Hey!"
"Your time for ruling has come to an end, my brother," Iroh spoke up as he stepped forward. "If war breaks out in the world, many innocent lives will be lost."
"Weak lives, Iroh!" Ozai reminded him as he got up and called out. "Guards!" Watching as a line of guards came out from the sides of the room and stood in front of him. "End them all!"
Giving each other smiles as they looked amongst themselves, they all started running forward to take on what remained of the Fire Lord's defense.
"You all take care of Ozai and Azula," Iroh shouted over the sounds of war around them as they began their battle. "We'll handle the rest!"
Nodding his agreement, Zuko then said. "Mai and I'll take care of Azula."
"And Katara and I will get Ozai," Aang agreed with a smile as they nodded to each other and ran off to take on their designated targets.
"What do we do?" Sokka felt the need to ask as he stood there, clearly thinking that he was going to be helping with one of the Crazies, and being a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to be able to.
"We bash in some Fire Nation skulls, Snoozles!" Toph told him with a grin, making him grin back at her as he nodded and took Suki's hand in his while following Toph into the fray.
"It didn't have to be like this, Azula!" Zuko shouted as he kicked a strong blast of fire at her and ducked as Mai threw some shurikens at her. "I tried so hard to make sure that no one hurt you, but even now you still want me dead. When did it all get so messed up?"
Pretending to think about it, Azula then smirked and shrugged, replying. "I don't know brother. Maybe if you hadn't been so weak, maybe we would have gotten along better!" as she stepped up her attacks, sending her own barrage of flames at them.
Breaking the incoming flames, Zuko decided that he had enough of the fighting and took Azula by surprise, doing a new move that she hadn't thought that he knew and tripping her off of her feet with a simultaneous blast at her head and at her feet.
Once she was on the ground, Mai took advantage of this and used her shurikens to pin her to it, making Azula writhe around effortlessly as she tried to get out of it. It was no use, however, as she could not free herself from her makeshift restraints.
Meanwhile, Aang and Katara worked together to take on the Fire Lord, although they appeared to have more of a challenge with him. Not that he was more skilled than them, but he was far more wiley than his daughter, making it harder for them to pin him down.
But, after a little while of working together, they both finally managed to corner him and, while in the Avatar state, Aang encased him in Earth and walked over to him with Katara right behind him, placing his hands on his forehead and his shoulder as he took a deep breath.
After a light show like the world had never seen, Aang finally released Ozai from his constraints and allowed him to fall to the ground, making him groan as the Fire Lord realized how drained he felt.
"What… What did you do to me?"
"I took your bending away," he grinned down at his defeated enemy. "You won't hurt anyone or anything ever again."
Attempting to reach out and get him, the Fire Lord instead slumped back down to the ground, not noticing as his daughter continued to struggle to get out of her restraints with no luck. Seeing that both of their leaders had been taken down, the remaining Fire Nation soldiers immediately stopped fighting and surrendered, making them all smile as they saw that they had won the day.
"Good work, Avatar," Zuko congratulated him as he walked up to him with Mai at his side. "You did what we couldn't."
"I couldn't have done it without any of you," Aang replied simply, looking around at all of his friends with a smile, making them smile back at him before he turned to Katara. "Well, who's going to be the next Fire Lord?"
"Why, Zuko is, of course," Iroh chuckled as he walked up to the group, making Zuko's eyes widen as he looked at his uncle like he was crazy.
"What?!"
"You are ready for this, my nephew," Iroh told him.
Zuko did not quite appear to agree with him. "But I've made so many mistakes."
"Yes, you have," Iroh agreed as he put a hand on his shoulder. "You've struggled, you've suffered, but you always have taken your own path. The Fire Nation will need a new Fire Lord. An idealist with a pure heart, and one with unquestionable honor." Squeezing his shoulder, he then said. "And no one in the Fire Nation has more honor than you."
Although Zuko still looked quite hesitant, he finally decided that his uncle knew what he was doing and finally nodded. "I'll try my best, uncle."
With that taken care of, Aang couldn't help but ask. "Well, we stopped the Fire Lord from starting a war. Now what do we do?"
Katara smiled as she took his hand in hers and kissed him on the cheek. "Now… now we get our lives back on track. Now we put the past behind us and look to the future."
"Sugar Queen is right," Toph nodded in agreement.
"That's Captain Sugar Queen to you," Katara joked, making everyone but Mai laugh who couldn't hold back the beginnings of a smirk from hearing this. "So, what are you going to do now, Toph?"
"Now that we took down the Loser Lord, I'm going to start my own metalbending academy," Toph told her, making them all share a look of confusion as they wondered what she was talking about.
"Metalbending?" Sokka decided that he would be the one to voice their common misunderstanding.
"Oh, right," Toph laughed as she looked at him. "I forgot to tell you guys, but I invented a new kind of bending. I can bend metal now, and I'm going to teach others to do it."
Despite the fact that they were happy that she already knew what she was going to do, they all couldn't help but look dumbfoundedly at her. "You can bend metal?" Sokka squeaked out in surprise, making Toph grin as she punched him in the shoulder.
"You know it, Snoozles. What about you guys? I know what Grumpy and Knife Girl are going to do," Toph added, making Zuko and Mai simultaneously frown at her nicknames for them.
Sharing a look of thought, it was Aang who spoke up. "Well, I guess I'm just going to go around the world and help keep the peace."
"And I'm coming with you," Katara added with a smile, making him smile back at her as they looked into each other's eyes.
"Yeah! And I'm coming with you!" Sokka grinned as he wrapped his arms around the two lovers, making Katara's smile drop into a frown as she sarcastically muttered.
"Great."
While Aang couldn't help but laugh at this, Sokka didn't seem to notice and looked back to Suki. "What do you think, Suki? Do you want to come with us?"
"As much as I'd love to, Sokka, it's time that I go back home to Kyoshi Island," she told him with an apologetic smile before walking up and kissing his cheek. "But, you're welcome to stop by anytime and see me."
Although he wasn't happy that they would have to be separated, he decided that he would take what he could get and nodded. "Okay. I'll ask Aang to stop by every couple weeks or so," he joked, making her laugh as she gave him a kiss on the lips.
"Sounds like a plan."
"Gross," Toph fake-gagged, making the rest of the people laugh as they started walking out of the room, feeling a bit sad that they were all splitting up, but knowing that they wouldn't be able to stay together forever. But, they felt content knowing that they had truly had the adventure of a lifetime with each other, and were looking forward to what the future would bring.
A few months later…
"Can you believe it? We're finally going to see everyone again!" Aang exclaimed excitedly as held the reins of his newest furry friend, Appa. As it turned out, this was the only bison who had not paired up with a kid at the Air Temples. When Aang and Katara had gone to the Eastern Air Temple so Aang could learn more about his culture, they had seen fit to try to give him a sky bison to have, and the two had bonded immediately.
Katara couldn't help but laugh at her husband's excitement, moving from her position in the saddle to sit next to him as he wrapped an arm around her. "Aang, it's only been a few months since we've seen everyone."
"I know, but it's felt like longer," he chuckled, making Katara smile as she snuggled up to him. "So, how are you getting used to flying like this?"
"It wasn't easy at first," she admitted, a grin slowly spreading on her face as she looked up at him. "But it helps that you're here in case I fall."
"You're both gross!" Sokka called from behind them, making Katara roll her eyes as she decided to ignore him as he shivered and said. "Oogies!"
Instead, she watched as Aang just laughed at his brother-in-law, clearly finding amusing what she found to be quite annoying. "He's never going to stop doing that, is he?"
"Probably not," she agreed with a tired sigh, making him laugh again as she smiled. "Can you believe that we were pirates only a few months ago."
"Kind of. After the last few months, it almost seems like a dream," he admitted with a shrug.
"A good dream, I hope," Katara added, making him smile down at her as he gave her a kiss.
"A very good dream," he agreed, making her smile back at him as they both stared at each other. "But now it's time to look to the future." His smile grew as he pulled her closer to him. "And I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to it."
Smiling up at him, she captured his lips in hers for a few moments before pulling away. "I am as long as you're with me."
"Always."
Sharing one last kiss, the couple relaxed into each other and watched as the sun started to dip beneath the horizon, finding that they were excited for what the future might bring. They had been through a lot together, and now they were here, in each other's arms as they went to go meet their friends in Iroh's tea shop that he had set up in the Earth Kingdom. And though they were no longer pirates, they knew that deep down inside a part of them always would be. And they were glad for this, as it was said that there was nothing stronger in the world than A Pirate's Love.