A big thank you to my beta reader, who helped me fix some pretty major issues with this chapter

More Than Blood Can Stand


Chapter 36: The Day of Black Sun


"Princess," the soldier said after bowing. "Our scouts have spotted a group of Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom peasants making camp about a mile from us."

Mai's head snapped up from where she'd been doodling on the ground with a knife. Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom peasants? Working together?

"No doubt they plan to attack us when the eclipse hits." Azula rolled her eyes. "As if we won't be at our full power again after it's over. What can they do to us in eight minutes?"

"Kill us," Ling supplied helpfully, while executing a particularly difficult firebending kick.

Ty Lee and Azula laughed as though it had been a joke, but Mai suspected that Ling hadn't intended it that way. The edges of his mouth tightened slightly, then he shrugged and continued going through his forms.

"What a nuisance." Azula examined her nails for a few moments, then looked up at Mai. "You and Ty Lee go into the camp to stall them, so they miss the window for the eclipse. Then we can wipe them out after it's over."

Ty Lee stared at her, flabbergasted. "You expect the two of us to hold off an army?"

"I don't doubt you could," Azula said, smirking, "but that's not necessary. If there are Fire Nation soldiers there, someone will probably recognize Mai. Ask to talk to their leader, and use your substantial diplomatic skills to keep them talking for the duration of the eclipse."

"But they'll know she's with you," Ty Lee protested, "and not Zuko. They'll take her prisoner."

"Not if you keep talking," she said. "And I know you're capable of that."

"And when they realize it's just a delay tactic?"

Azula smiled. "That's when you get to prove that you and Mai can single-handedly hold off a group of traitors and peasants."

A flash of something like hurt passed over Ty Lee's face. She seemed to deflate a bit, then looked at Mai.

"You haven't said much. What do you think?"

Mai hadn't said much because the things she was thinking were not fit for present company. Thoughts about how lucky it was that Azula had thought of this plan, how it was the perfect opportunity for her to pass along the critical information about the comet that Azula had let slip the previous night, and of how to get out of Ty Lee's sight once she was at the camp, so she could speak freely.

But instead, she said mildly, "It could work. Maybe they don't know I betrayed Zuko. Maybe they'll be so excited to see their Fire Lady that they forget Azula is even here."

"Exactly," Azula said briskly. "So get moving before the army breaks camp."


Ty Lee was not her usual bubbly self. Mai was not usually as in touch with other people's emotions, but it would be hard to miss her friend's bad mood. And she was her friend, despite the fact that they were on different sides of the war.

She wished she knew what to say to make her feel better, or - even better - to get her to change sides. But what made Mai an excellent spy - keeping secrets, hiding her feelings, thinking in terms of cold logic and tactics instead of emotions - made her terrible at this sort of thing. So she stayed silent until they reached the camp.

It would have been hard to miss. There seemed to be very little attempt at stealth. The camp was disorganized and very loud. People ran here and there, not visibly obeying orders or running important errands. It looked more like they were goofing off.

And they expected to take down Azula like this?

There were, at least, Fire Nation soldiers guarding the entrance to the camp. They lifted their spears as they approached.

"Who is in charge here?" Mai asked.

One of the soldiers lowered his spear and gaped. "Lady Mai? What are you doing here?"

The others looked at each other in amazement. Whether they recognized her, or just her name, she wasn't sure.

"I have urgent news that I need to communicate to your superior."

"We are about to start our operations," he said hesitantly. "If you can wait—"

"This information cannot wait. Whatever you had planned is not as important as this."

"But General Saito commanded—"

"General Saito does not know what I do," she snapped.

So Hinata's father was behind all of this. She should have guessed. Omashu was the last holdout in the Earth Kingdom against Ozai. Only he would have a force strong enough to attempt to defeat Azula.

The guard hesitated for a few more moments before motioning to the other guards to let them pass. "Come on," he said. "But you'd better hurry."

He led them through the camp, past clusters of soldiers outfitted in uniforms from various corners of the Earth Kingdom. They weren't mingling much with each other, but they certainly stayed closer to each other than to the Fire Nation soldiers.

At one point, she saw a little girl that was running around with a group of ladies in full face paint and hideous green armor. The girl looked so familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen her.

The girl glanced in her direction as she walked past, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Then the girl's eyes widened and she tugged on the sleeve of the head face paint lady. She whispered something in her ear, darting glances at Mai the whole time.

What it was they were saying, she could only guess. But she had seen the girl before, and she could only assume the girl recognized her, too.

In Mai's line of work, it was imperative to remember where she'd seen faces. One careless word around the wrong person, and she was caught. And usually, she was pretty good at it. She recognized all manner of faces in that camp and could place exactly where she'd seen them.

Many of them, of course, came from Omashu, both the Earth Kingdom residents her father had governed and General Saito's men. She also recognized a few soldiers from the Fire Days Festival she had attended with Zuko, the one where he had stood up to the soldiers and told them that Ozai wasn't the true Fire Lord.

But whoever the girl was, Mai hadn't thought she was worth storing in her memory the place and circumstances around it. That made her nervous.

The face paint lady finished her conversation with the girl and stalked over to them and then pointed at Mai.

"You're coming with me," she said.

"Actually," Mai replied, aiming for her most bored voice, "We're going to see General Saito. I don't know who you are, but I can't imagine you outrank him."

"I'm a Kyoshi Warrior, not a Fire Nation soldier. I work with him, not for him. But as it happens," She cocked her head, and smirked, "that's where I was going to take you."

"I'm glad we're clear on that."

She and Ty Lee started forward again, but the face paint girl held up her hand.

"No, not both of you. Just you," she said, indicating Mai. Then she addressed the guard. "Keep this one locked up until we're finished with her friend."

That was a bit of luck. She had wondered how she would be able to speak to the general without Ty Lee around. Now they were handing it to her on a silver platter. Mai was usually suspicious when things worked out too well. But these people were theoretically on her side of this war. She ought to try trusting them more.

But they were detaining Ty Lee, and Mai found that didn't sit well with her.

"I'll come quietly so long as you don't mistreat her."

"I give you my word she won't be harmed."

Mai nodded and followed the face paint lady. Two of the soldiers from Omashu flanked her, and the little girl tagged along. They went all the way to the other side of camp, much too far away to be seen by Ty Lee.

Mai had a feeling that was deliberate.

"My name is Suki," the face paint lady said as they walked. "I am the head of the Kyoshi Warriors. And I'm told by Linghua and Mosu—" she indicated the girl and one of the Fire Nation soldiers from Omashu "—that you are Fire Lord Zuko's wife, Mai."

"That's not exactly a secret," she said in answer.

Suki folded her hands across her chest. "Is it also a secret why you're traveling with Princess Azula instead of Fire Lord Zuko?"

Instead of answering the question, she turned to the little girl - Linghua, Suki had called her. "How do you know me? You look familiar, but I can't remember where we met."

This was partly a stalling technique, because she wasn't sure yet how much to trust Suki and wasn't sure how much she could safely tell her. But she was also genuinely curious.

The girl flashed a brilliant grin. "You and Zuko bought rice from my family one night! In your masks."

It took her a moment to place the memory. Out of all the crazy things that had happened to her this last year, their masked midnight excursion to find food was among the least memorable. But somewhere in the recesses of her mind, she did have a vague memory of there being a girl there.

"That doesn't explain anything. I was wearing a mask. How do you recognize me?"

"You were wearing the same clothes and the same hairstyle," the girl said reasonably. "Plus, Zuko told me all about you after he saved me."

"Oh, did he?" she said faintly.

"Mmhm," she nodded. "He told me about how pretty you are, and about your wedding, and how you don't talk much, and how he got really angry at you and told you to stop traveling with him, and—" She glanced nervously at Suki. "Oops. I'm not supposed to talk about that."

Suki scowled at the girl, then turned to Mai. "Well now that that's out of the way, I suppose there's no sense playing dumb anymore. How about you explain yourself instead."

Again, Mai addressed herself to Linghua instead of to Suki. "Do you know where Zuko is now?"

"Yes. But I'm not telling anyone about that," she said fiercely.

Mai quickly repressed a smile. Despite herself, she kind of liked this little girl. "Good. Me, either," she said, and turned back to Suki. "How do I know you won't repeat any of what I say to Azula or anyone working for her?"

"You have my word as a Kyoshi Warrior."

Mai, who only had a vague idea of what Kyoshi Warriors were, still recognized that a promise of that sort was valuable and trustworthy.

"And the soldiers and the girl?"

"You can talk just to me and General Saito," Suki assured her.

Mai would rather have spoken only to the general, but Suki seemed like the kind of person who was so used to being in charge that she didn't accept not having her way. Mai sighed audibly. Whatever. So long as the information she had was put to good use, it didn't really matter.

They entered a large, ornate tent in the center of the camp. General Saito was standing over a table in the middle, moving pieces around on a map. He glanced up as they walked in, and his face brightened.

"Lady Mai! What a surprise. How did you find your way here?"

"That is a long story. Suffice it to say that I was sent here by Azula, under the pretense that I prevent you from attacking her during the eclipse."

His eyebrows shot up. "You are traveling with the princess now? What about Fire Lord Zuko and Hinata?"

She froze. She had not planned on bringing up Hinata yet - she hadn't even known the general would be here when she set out. How did one tell a parent that their child was dead? But it would be cruel to say nothing, that she knew.

"Hinata is dead," she said bluntly, though not unkindly. "He died in service to the Fire Lord. Zuko and I made sure he received a proper burial."

General Saito's jaw clenched and unclenched several times. She saw his lip tremble slightly, before he turned away from her. "I am glad he fulfilled his duty," he said at last. He turned back around, seemingly in better control of himself, and returned to the matter at hand.

"Tell me again, Lady Mai: why are you traveling with Princess Azula."

"After Hinata's death, Zuko was… distraught. He set off on his own, which left him unprotected and vulnerable. Azula still believes I am loyal to her, and so in an attempt to prevent her from locating Zuko, I pretended to join forces with her again. I've been leading her off track as best I could for weeks now, all the while listening for news of where Zuko is and what he's doing."

He nodded gruffly. "And learning about Ozai and Azula's plans along the way?"

"Yes, and their plans are worse than I could have imagined. They are planning an all-out assault on the Northern Water Tribe before Sozin's Comet."

Suki frowned. "What's Sozin's Comet?"

"It comes every hundred years and gives firebenders greatly enhanced abilities," Saito said gravely.

"Right, and Ozai believes that if he can wipe out the Northern Water Tribe before the comet, it puts him in the perfect position to use the comet to destroy Zuko."

"But why attack the Water Tribe?" he frowned. "Wouldn't he do better to shore up his support in the Fire Nation? Zuko could easily use the power behind the comet to capture the capitol and retake his holdings in the Earth Kingdom."

"He thinks finally ending the war will make him more popular in the Fire Nation than Zuko, and that people will forget about the order of succession and rally behind him as Fire Lord." She lowered her voice to its most serious. "Also, it will be summer at the North Pole; the sun will never set. And there's a new moon the week before the comet arrives."

"They'll be slaughtered," Saito murmured.

She nodded. "He can then establish a base from there, and on the day of the comet he'll have an easily defensible position and the navy, along with the kind of impressive military victory that the people of the Fire Nation will respect. It will give him a claim to the throne that will be hard to overcome."

There was a horrified silence in the tent. Finally Suki spoke up.

"Who knows about this?"

She shrugged. "Azula told me, Ty Lee, and Ling last night. I assume Ozai's inner circle knows as well, top generals and the like. Aside from that, there's no telling."

"And you expect us to solve everything for you? Shouldn't you be in a better position to stop them from Azula's side?"

From the tone of her voice, Mai could tell that Suki was not pleased with her life choices. Well, so what? She had absolutely no reason to care if Suki liked her.

"This is beyond my power to fix. I was going to pass the information along to my sources who might be able to do something more substantial than I could alone. Hopefully they would at least pass it on to Zuko and the Avatar."

Suki looked out across the camp, her eyes calculating. "I can make sure the right people on our side know. And at least we have Azula and her forces under our control."

The naivete was astounding. "You don't have them anywhere near under control. Even if you manage to capture them during the eclipse, they'll have escaped by nightfall."

She put her hands on her hips and scowled. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

General Saito shook his head sadly. "Lady Mai is right. We have to cut our losses and let them escape. Take our forces to the North Pole as soon as we can and support the effort there. They'll need it on the day the comet arrives."

"Kyoshi Warriors don't let the enemy escape!"

Mai rolled her eyes. "You really want to sacrifice your troops - many of whom appear to be simple Earth Kingdom citizens - over a minor, inconsequential battle for the sake of tradition?"

Suki glared at her, but at last nodded. "Fine. Only under one condition: you come with us and not them. We need your knowledge of the plans."

"They'll change the plans if they think I've changed sides."

A slow smile curled onto her heavily painted face. "Oh, I have a plan for that."


Mai looked at herself in the mirror and sneered.

The caked on makeup made her feel like her face was smothering, and the heavy armor was clunky and awkward and ugly. The Fire Nation soldiers' uniforms weren't exactly high fashion, either, but at least they were decorated with skulls and spikes.

At least her blades were still accessible so she could fight in a pinch, but the whole effect made her somewhat sick.

She was also practically unrecognizable. Suki's idea to dress her up as a Kyoshi Warrior and then tell Ty Lee they'd killed her for not spilling secrets was a solid plan.

The weak point in the plan was not that Ty Lee might recognize her. As long as she stayed in the tent and didn't have to show herself, she was safe. Even if she did step outside, her own mother might not have recognized her in this ridiculous garb. No, the weak point was what Azula might do to Ty Lee when she arrived back at camp.

The eclipse would begin at any minute, and according to the plan, that was when Suki was supposed to tell Ty Lee about her "death", in the hopes that it would prompt an immediate and poorly planned escape.

A keening wail broke the quiet of the camp. Ty Lee.

Mai felt a stab of pain for her friend. Ty Lee, it seemed, was devastated at her supposed death. She hoped that when the war was over, Ty Lee would forgive her for this. She really was the best of friends.

She sighed and returned to staring at her heavily painted face. She would be parading around as a Kyoshi Warrior for who knew how much longer. Probably at least until the comet arrived.

What might Zuko think if he saw her like this? Would he recognize her? No, she decided, he wouldn't. Even if he did, he would still be so mad at her that he wouldn't have any opinion of the grotesque alteration to her appearance.

With that depressing thought, she flopped down on Suki's bedroll. Maybe he would forgive her, some day, but would it ever return to the way it once was? She had known keeping the secret about Fire Lord Iroh was a betrayal of the highest order. It wasn't reasonable to moan about consequences she had known would come. So why did it still hurt so much?

She was startled from her thoughts by the sound of screaming in the camp. Not Ty Lee's wailing, but this time from the people in the camp.

Ty Lee must have escaped. And by the sound of it, Azula had been right: she could take them all on by herself.

One of the other Kyoshi Warriors ran into the tent and grabbed her by the wrist (Mai nearly skewered her before she realized the girl meant no harm).

"Come on! She's on her way here! You can't be spotted!"

She let the other girl lead her out of the tent and further into the camp. A cry of "Retreat! Retreat!" came from just beyond them, and the two of them fell in running with the rest of the makeshift army.

Were they really all running away from just Ty Lee? Mai almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it.

"I would have thought the Kyoshi Warriors wouldn't retreat," she couldn't help saying.

"We're not retreating," her companion said with distaste. "We're advancing in a different direction. The ships are through there—" she pointed through the trees "— and the more it looks like a disorganized retreat, the more they won't think to wonder where we're really headed."


He had known they were coming.

It didn't take a master strategist to expect an attack during the one day of the year when firebenders were powerless. And Ozai was a master strategist, if he did say so himself.

He knew from his intelligence reports that their forces would be small. General Saito was still holed up in Omashu, General Mak was under the control of the Dai Li in Ba Sing Se, and the Northern Water Tribe, from all accounts, didn't have the right kind of ships to transport troops to the Fire Nation.

That meant the extent of the attack would be the Avatar, Zuko, and a relatively small number of their followers. And they only had to hold them off for eight minutes. He was not worried, not in the least.

Which was why he was sitting in his throne room, calmly keeping tabs on the sun through his firebending, waiting for them.

Sure, he could have hidden in the bunker, and if they'd had intelligence of armies moving, he might have. But what was the point? The Avatar was peace-loving, , and Zuko was a coward who would be hindered by the eclipse, too.

Not that he was foolish enough to dismiss the threat outright. The throne room was full of the best nonbending soldiers Ozai had at his disposal, and he expected it would be a fight.

But he wasn't running away from it.

He breathed in rhythm with the fires surrounding his throne. The eclipse was nearly upon them. He could feel his power draining away, leaving an odd weakness to his chi. Was this how nonbenders felt all the time? How pathetic.

He closed his eyes and breathed again as the totality hit.

The throne room doors flew open, a strong draft of air flying through the room, and he opened his eyes.

The Avatar was standing in the doorway, flanked by three children and - the great traitor - Piandao.

"Prince Ozai," the Avatar said in a commanding voice, "surrender the throne!"

The strategy of the day was to delay for as long as possible, so he began by settling himself back in his throne, almost slouching.

"Avatar, what a surprise." He smirked and waved his hand to indicate the great number of soldiers. "My guards and I welcome you to the Fire Nation."

The Avatar did not seem to know how to respond to that. He gripped his staff and pointed the end of it towards him. "Surrender the throne," he said again, but with slightly less authority.

"Surrender it to whom?" he asked. "To you? There hasn't been an Avatar for a hundred years, boy. What little authority you once had is long gone."

The Avatar took a step forward. "As the Avatar, I have the authority to remove rulers who are a threat to the balance of the world."

"Who, then, will lead the Fire Nation?"

"To the rightful Fire Lord," said the small girl to the Avatar's left, raising her fist in an unusually aggressive earthbending stance. "To Zuko!"

Ozai laughed heartily, enjoying this far more than he'd anticipated. "Zuko? He has no right to this throne. He's a traitor to the nation, an upstart, with a claim to the throne that hangs on adoption rather than birth. And what's more, he apparently doesn't believe in fighting for the throne himself." The Avatar and his friends looked at each other, chagrined. "If he can't be bothered to show up to claim the throne, then I'm afraid I refuse to surrender it."


Zuko watched this exchange while hidden in the rafters of the throne room, on top of one of the pillars within easy distance of the throne. The archers were also on top of pillars, stationed at the four corners of the room, and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

His father's lies didn't surprise him, but he would be lying if he said they didn't hurt. He didn't like Aang and his friends hearing these things about him, and he liked it even less that his self-appointed guards had to hear it. And all those soldiers beneath them… what did they think about it? Did they believe he was a traitor? If enough people in the Fire Nation believed he was what his father said, how could he ever be Fire Lord?

For a moment he felt the weight of what he was trying to do like a vise over him. Why hadn't Uncle left him to do this alone? He had been trained to lead a nation, not to thwart a coup. And while he was competent in a fight, he was no match strategically to his father - nor, for that matter, were the Avatar and his friends. Though they'd had enough sense to enlist Master Piandao.

He glanced at his old swordmaster, and was startled to see him staring right back. He was certain no one else in Aang's group, nor Father's, knew where he was.

How had he known…? It left him with a disconcerted feeling.

Piandao bowed his head slightly, a movement that would have been missed or mistaken for some other gesture by the others in the room, but which Zuko knew was meant for him. And somehow that one, miniscule bow brought every lesson his teacher had taught him back into focus.

He had prepared for this. He'd been taught by the best.

They would only get this one shot at his father, and the seconds were ticking away. He could let his father keep spouting hate and lies, or he could do something about it.

He caught Julong's eye and nodded. He, in turn, signaled the other three archers. The next moment, his father found himself pinned to the throne by four arrows.

Zuko let loose the rope he'd tied to the pillar and slid down it, landing in front of him.

"Zuko!" Father hissed.

In response, he pulled out his broadswords and pointed one at him. "It's over. Surrender now, before you face even greater humiliation."

If his father had been able to firebend, he could have escaped, but right now he was helpless - and he knew it. He strained impotently at his bindings, looking mad enough to spit fire.

With his father thus restrained, Zuko turned to address the crowd.

"Soldiers! This doesn't have to be a bloodbath. You know that Ozai is not the rightful Fire Lord. You do not have to follow his orders. I am asking you, as the rightful heir to the throne, to choose what is best for the Fire Nation. There is no reason to suffer through a civil war. There is no need for you to die today."

He could see the hesitation in their faces. They knew what he said was true. He almost had them, he could sense it.

"Nonsense," his father said from behind, with more confidence than a man with four Yuyan archers aiming at him should have had. "The eclipse will be over in a few more minutes, and then it will be clear to all who is best for the Fire Nation. You will be destroyed."

The change was visible. The soldiers gripped their swords tighter and leaned forward eagerly. Zuko's heart sunk. It wouldn't work. He would have to fight his own soldiers, and with the eclipse every closer to ending.

"You will stand down now," he said to the soldiers, "or you will be treated as enemy combatants and destroyed."

"What are you waiting for?" Ozai said, and he could hear the smile in his voice. "Attack them!"

There was the tiniest moment of silence - or perhaps he only imagined it - before the throne room was awash in the cacophony of battle. Soldiers shouting war cries, the clash of metal upon metal, the rumble of hundreds of feet pounding across the floor.

Zuko was quickly surrounded by a group of soldiers, but before they could close in on him, several dropped to the ground, arrows sticking out of their backs. The others - good Fire Nation soldiers that they were - took this as encouragement rather than a deterrent. They charged him as one.

He would have been in big trouble if the archers hadn't continued to fire. As it was, he immediately had to block a sword thrust aimed at his heart while simultaneously dodging one poised to remove his head.

Perhaps he should have been afraid for his life, but like the soldiers attacking him, he had been trained to advance in the face of overwhelming odds; firebending heavily favored positive jing for attacking.

One of the soldiers hit by an arrow fell directly into him, and he pushed out with his chi - blunted by the eclipse, but thankfully still present - to slam the poor soul into the path of another sword.

But still they came, faster than either he or the Yuyan could stop them. He desperately swung his blades in opposing arcs in an attempt to hold off an entire group of soldiers at the same time, when suddenly their swords… vanished?

Before they could do more than stare at their hands blankly, the swords wrapped around their bodies and held them fast. Then each soldier in turn flew up in the air, like singing groundhogs popping out of their dens, before crashing back into the ground.

Standing behind them, visible now that the soldiers were rolling on the floor, was Toph. He'd never been so happy to see her before in his life.

"Figured I'd better save your royal backside before we had a succession crisis on our hands," she said, hands on her hips.

Past her, he could see that Piandao, Katara, Sokka, and Aang were wiping the floor with their own opponents. He turned back to the throne, and smirked at his father.

"Have you seen enough? My friends and I were only warming up…"

"You think this was a victory?" Father laughed. "No, Zuko. This was merely a test. The real fight hasn't even begun."

"You think you're so tough," Toph sneered. "But look what happened to your crack troops!"

He waved his hand at her as if swatting away a dog fly. "Those? They were hardly crack troops. Why would I waste my best soldiers on a lark?" He smiled malevolently, and Zuko watched in horror as his father's clothing started to burn, right at the points where the arrows were attached.

The eclipse was over.

Before he could react, Father gathered a web of lightning around him, and then shot it out in all directions.

They had no choice but to dive out of the way. When they looked back at the dais, the throne was nothing more than a smoldering crater.

And Father was gone.

There was a thud as Lee and Ha Joon landed beside them, and then Julong and Ryu a few seconds later. Toph raised her fists, but Zuko put his hand over them. "No, they're on our side."

"He escaped," Lee said unnecessarily.

"Should we pursue?" Ryu added.

"No." Zuko shook his head. "Wherever he's going, it's part of a plan. If we followed him, we'd only be playing into his hand."

"Zuko!" Aang jogged over and gave him an uncomfortable hug. "We were really worried about you!"

"I'm fine," he said, managing a tight smile at the rest of the group. "It's good to see you again."

The rest of the group made their way across the room, too.

Master Piandao bowed to him. "Your highness. It is a pleasure to see you safe and healthy." He smiled proudly, and nodded to Zuko's swords. "Excellent form today."

Zuko gave a short bow in return. "I was taught well."

"Who are your friends?" Katara asked.

"Julong, Lee, Ha Joon, and Ryu," he said, pointing to each of them. "They've been traveling with me ever since…" He broke off with sudden realization. "Wait, where's Mai?"

"You mean you didn't know?" Aang said, looking at the others hesitantly.

"Know what?" An icy feeling of dread washed over him. None of them seemed to want to say anything, so he asked again, a note of panic in his voice. "What happened to Mai? Why isn't she here?"

"She's with Azula," Toph said at last, spitting it out like the words were distasteful to her.

With Azula. That was almost worse than hearing that she was dead.

Zuko looked around the room, hoping in vain that they were joking or mistaken, and that she would step out from behind a pillar. But instead, all he saw was the destruction they had wrought on the throne room and the hundreds of bodies, some alive and some… less so, covering the floor.

Technically they had won this round. But it sure didn't feel that way.