Azula stared at her empty palms. No fire. No spark. Her breathing quickened, as cold, clawing despair wrapped itself around her throat, hollow and numb. This couldn't be. Her bending couldn't be gone! She had only lost Sen's essence, not her own. So why couldn't she do anything? Why couldn't she bend? She stifled her breath, steadied it, gave a deep inhale, tried to feel her chi flow. Still, there was nothing. Whatever connection she'd once had with fire was gone. Frustration sparked, surging her breathing once again, rapid and frantic, as she repeatedly thrust her hands back and forth.
"Bend!" she pleaded, swallowing the mounting panic choking her throat. "Bend!"
Nothing.
No, no, no, no! This couldn't be happening! Not to her!
Amused laughter yanked her attention away from her futile attempts at firebending. Yula watched with a smug grin, arms crossed over her chest. "This is too much. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look right now? The great Azula, prodigy of the Fire Nation, lost her bending? I guess this will be easier than I thought."
"Don't... don't laugh," Azula shot back, in desperate attempt at remaining defiant. Her voice quivered, belying the fear and embarrassment burning into her face, flushing her cheeks bright red. "Don't you laugh at me!"
"Why not?" Yula questioned. "It's funny."
"It is not funny!"
The furthest thing from funny, in fact. A person's bending was more than some special power. A person's bending was a part of them, a key piece to their lifestyle and who they were as an individual. Doubly so, for Azula. She was a prodigy. She always had been. Her skill, her power, her firebending—that was her entire identity. Having her chi temporarily blocked was one thing, but losing her bending permanently? That was unimaginable. Crushing, demoralizing, as though losing a piece of her own soul. Deep, searing pain burned in the pit of her stomach, quivering her lips with lingering sickness. That pain was real. It was strong.
It hurt.
"I guess we'll have to disagree. It doesn't really matter anyway." Yula raised two fingers from either hand and twisted herself into a crisp stance, the same one Azula had taught her so many months ago. Electricity sparked around her hands, crackling and screeching at new levels of power. "It's time you lay down and die."
Azula's eyes widened, as she stared at the lightning coiling around Yula's fingers. What else could she do? She had no bending. Even if she did, she couldn't redirect lightning. Chains bound her hands and feet. No way to run. No, she could only watch. Watch, and wait, as Yula thrust her fingers and fired a sizzling bolt through the air. The blue glow filled Azula's vision. Her heart pulsed, and she saw only her death.
Death that never came.
A figure lunged in front of her and caught the lightning bolt against his own fingers, silhouetted by the electric glow. He turned himself, guided the lightning through his body, and raised his other hand straight into the air, where the bolt redirected out the gaping hole in the temple ceiling. When the lightning faded, the figure became clear.
"Zuko...?" Azula's brow lifted in puzzlement. Zuzu... her brother. He was here?
"Me too," said another voice. Anraq limped into view, kneeling at Azula's side. "We're both here."
She stared at them, unblinking. Annie, too? They'd actually come for her?
"Oh, wonderful." Yula sighed, giving them both a scornful glare. "At least now I can get rid of all three of you and save myself some time."
"No, Yula, you can't win," Zuko insisted. "Please, we don't have to do this. We don't have to fight."
"Well, you're not really leaving me much of a choice, now are you?" she said. "You're the ones standing against me."
"Yula, please." Anraq raised his hands into a peculiar pose, palms pointed forward with his fingers curled. A stance meant specifically for bloodbending. "This isn't you. Whatever you think this is, we're not your enemies. We don't have to be. You're a good person. You're kind, and sweet, and... You're a friend. You're our friend. Don't make me do this."
Yula's gaze softened, shifting with brief conflict. Far too brief. Her eyes narrowed, retaining their defiance "You don't know me nearly as well as you think."
She snapped a fist in their direction. A massive inferno erupted forth, far powerful than any one firebender could have hoped to defend against, and would have incinerated all three standing there had the flames not flickered into harmless embers as soon as they appeared. Yula's arm twitched backward, no longer under her own control. Her entire body followed, bending down to her knees.
"N-no..." Yula uttered, struggling desperately against the invisible hold. "You can't... do this!"
Anraq eased a deep breath, tightening his fingers to strengthen his bloodbending grip. "You didn't leave me a choice, Yula. I'm sorry."
A loud bang erupted through the temple, as the main doors slammed open. Captain Han rushed inside, trailed by a dozen more guards. "Back away from the Empress!" The captain shot a ball of fire at them, quickly joined by the other guards to fill the air with scorching meteors.
Zuko put himself between the two groups, expertly bending away the fire. "We have company!"
"I can see that!" Anraq turned and reached behind himself with one arm. Five of the attacking guards instantly locked up, bodies twisting and bending. "That's a lot more than I can bloodbend at once!"
Zuko countered with several blasts of fire and fell back on the defensive. He stepped forward, whirling his arms to disperse the incoming bombardment. "Anraq, take Azula outside. Find Druk, and get out of here!"
"What?" Anraq tightened his fingers. Both Yula and the guards crumpled closer to the ground, screaming. "What about you?"
"I'm going to hold them off to give you time to escape!" Zuko performed a quick flurry, forcing the attackers back with a wall of flames. The guards had him outnumbered, but he had them out skilled.
"Are you insane? You can't fight them all!"
"This isn't a negotiation!" Zuko glared over his shoulder, meeting Anraq's gaze with stern urgency. "Get her out of here!"
Anraq paused, heaving out a defeated sigh. "Alright, fine. Just be careful."
With a quick flick of his wrists, Anraq launched Yula and the other guards under his control through the air. Once they were clear, he turned to Azula and breathed out through his nose. The air chilled with his breath, frosting across the chains until they were brittle enough to break.
As soon as the chains shattered, he ushered Azula to follow him. "Come on, let's go."
Azula couldn't bring her legs to move. She stared at Anraq, a flutter lifting into her chest. Her gaze shifted towards her brother, still battling against the Imperial Guard tooth and nail. Both of them, risking so much. Both of them risking everything. All to save her. Why? What reason could they possibly have to go this far? Surely, she couldn't mean that much to them.
"Azula, what are you waiting for?" Zuko called, bending away a violent explosion of flames. The smoke and fire swirled around him, as he dispersed it into flickering embers. "Get out of here!"
"Zuzu..." she uttered, with her eyes locked wide onto him. "Why?"
The old man redirected another fire blast, and turned a quick glance towards her. His smile only intensified her confusion. "Because you're my sister, and I love you."
"Azula, let's go!" Anraq said, pulling at her arm. "We have to get out of here!"
Azula's legs finally moved. She watched her brother as long as she could, until his form disappeared in a wave of fire around the corner of the crumbling hole in the temple wall. As they emerged outside, Druk uttered a deep bellow and shook out of his daze, still stunned by the earlier explosion. The dragon didn't even notice the two passengers climbing atop his back until Anraq gave his scales a firm slap.
"Let's go, Druk, get us out of here!"
The dragon groaned, lumbering towards the mountain ledge. With a thunderous roar, he leaped into open air. Wind caught the leathery membrane of his wings. Within seconds, they soared skyward, leaving the island far behind.
Azula twisted a look over her shoulder. A small silhouette carved against the horizon, growing smaller by the second. A mountain peak. The island. Nausea churned her gut. She doubled over, lifting a hand to her chest. Zuzu was still back there. He was risking everything to save her, and they'd left him. Left him to be taken captive. Or worse.
Why did she care? She had never cared about Zuzu before. Not really. He was her brother, true, and in that sense she had some familial attachment to him, but she had never actually cared. She had never liked him. Or trusted him. Or thought of him as anything more than a pathetic failure.
She had been horrible to him, and yet still he had been there for her. In spite of everything she had done, every cruel way she had treated him, still he was doing everything in his power to help her. He still loved her. No... no, that didn't make sense. Zuko had never loved her, and she had never loved him, siblings or not.
So why was he doing this for her? Why?
"Hey, are you alright?" Anraq leaned closer from behind, holding his hands to her shoulders. The touch was tender, comforting.
Her thoughts swam, frantic and confused. Not only Zuko. Annie had come for her, too. She had been so sure placing her trust in someone like she had done with him would be a mistake. So sure he could never truly care about her. That he didn't like her. Perhaps those doubts had been unfounded. Here he was, when she needed him most. Her trust hadn't been a mistake at all. It had been... a blessing. Was that the right word? For all the betrayal and failure in her own life, somehow, someway, there were still people who cared about her?
"No, I'm not alright," she muttered, taking a firmer hold onto Druk's scaly neck. "Zuzu is back there. We left him."
"I know," Annie replied, with a soft sigh. "He gave us a chance to get away."
"We're going back."
"Uh, come again?"
Azula frowned, tugging at Druk's neck in attempt to turn around. "I said, we're going back. Yula will kill him if we leave him there."
"Wait, hold on, we just got away," Anraq insisted. "Zuko stayed behind so you could escape. I didn't want to leave him behind anymore than you did, but we can't just go back now."
"Yes we can." She gave another pull on the dragon's neck, and smacked her hand against his scales. "Come on you mangy dragon, go get Zuko!" Druk lurched backwards in midair and gave a mighty roar. With an abrupt change in direction, they soared straight back towards the island.
Anraq held on for dear life, almost slipping out of his seat. "Azula, what are you doing?"
Azula swallowed the knot in her throat, focusing a glare on the fast approaching island. "Saving my brother."
Five, seven, ten... Zuko lost count of how many guards had engaged him now. Every time he defended against a fire blast, two more ignited in its place. His opponents surrounded him, forcing him to constantly pivot in circles to defend himself. Fire exploded at his feet, lifting him into the air. He flipped in midair and regained his balance, landing in time to spin a sphere of flame around himself. Several successive blasts bombarded his shield. Explosive force ripped outward, once again tossing him airborne. No righting himself this time. He hit the ground with a thud, sliding into the pool of spirit water with a rippling splash.
"Lord Zuko, please," said Captain Han. "Surrender. We don't want to hurt you."
Zuko glanced towards the hole in the temple wall. Anraq and Azula were gone now, which meant he didn't need to keep fighting. Even so, while Captain Han and his men might be willing to show mercy, he wasn't so sure about Yula. That woman had changed so much over the past year. Too much of Azula's negative qualities had rubbed off on her, leaving only power hungry madness behind.
Flipping back to his feet, Zuko took another defensive stance. He scanned the line of guards, watching them stand firm in preparation to attack if need be. If he cleared a path for himself, he could flee into the jungle. He might not be as young as he used to, but he could still firebend his way down the mountainside and give himself a head start. Maybe—
"Enough!"
A colossal wave of fire erupted across the floor. Zuko snapped out of his thoughts and threw up his own burning wall to protect himself. No use. The opposing flames tore through his defense and exploded, launching him clean off his feet. He spun out of the water pool into one of the temple statues. Dull pain cracked through his old body, as he collapsed to the stone floor. He heaved a deep groan and crawled to his hands and knees, each twitch of his muscles flaring sharp agony through his lower back.
Yula marched towards him, flames billowing in her wake. "I wanted to show you mercy, Lord Zuko. If you had stayed in prison like you were supposed to, I wouldn't have to do this now!" Lightning sparked at her fingertips. "You just had to be a nuisance, didn't you?"
Zuko forced himself upright, raising his hands to redirect the incoming lightning. Another jolt of pain lanced his body, and he collapsed.
Yula smirked, and thrust her fingers at him. "Goodbye, Lord—aaggh!"
Her arm jerked upward, firing a sizzling bolt of lightning into the ceiling. The blast tore another hole through the temple, with a spray of charred rubble. Yula fought against the hold, desperate to regain control of her own limbs. A futile effort. Her body hovered in midair and lurched backwards, tossed about as though a child's doll. She landed with a splash at the center of the water pool.
Druk burst through the open side of the temple. Anraq leaped from his backside and raised his hands, instantly locking as many of the opposing guards as he could in his bloodbending grip. He twisted them, and sent them scattering. With a quick whirl of his arms, he guided the water out of his flask to shield against a countering barrage of fire.
"Hurry up!" he called. "Let's go!"
Druk assisted with his own blast of fire, but several opposing firebenders worked together to disperse the attack. Anraq maintained a wall of water between them and the guards, while Azula slid off the dragon's back and raced towards her brother.
"Let's go, you dummy," she muttered, throwing one of Zuko's arms around her shoulder so she could lift him to his feet.
"Azula..." he uttered, pausing with a wince of pain. "I told you to escape. Why did you come back?"
"Like I'd let you sacrifice yourself for me," she scoffed, as she dragged him towards Druk. His stride faltered several times, but she managed to assist him atop the dragon's back. "How pathetically noble can you get?"
When the two were safely atop the dragon, Anraq hardened his water into a wall of ice and hurried to join them. "Alright, come on, let's move!"
Druk sprang through the hole in the side of the temple, wings spread wide as he leaped over the mountain ledge. A blue flash lit up the night. Lightning ripped through the air and seared against the dragon's flank, kindling a deep roar of pain. Druk fluttered weakly in the sky, rapidly losing altitude. Halfway down the mountain, he managed to right himself with a renewed surge of his wings and continue flying. Another lightning bolt ignited the air overhead.
Azula turned a glare towards the temple. Yula stood at the edge of the mountzin, her fingers billowing with lingering traces of smoke. Their eyes met, and locked together for as long as they remained within sight of each other. Only when the temple finally became a small dot in the distance did Azula look away again.
"Okay." Anraq huffed a deep breath, sinking against the dragon's back. "That is officially the craziest thing I've ever done."
Azula scoffed. "Please, I live on crazy."
"Yeah, well, maybe it's good to be a little crazy sometimes." Anraq looked down at Zuko, who lay against Druk's neck with his eyes closed. "We managed to save him."
"Yes... yes, we did." Azula paused, holding a hand to her brother's forehead. "Will he be alright?"
Zuko stirred at her touch. "I'm fine, relax. I just need some rest. Druk, too."
The dragon's flight slowed, no longer anywhere close to his top speed. Smoke billowed from a charred patch of scales in his side, where the lightning had struck. Each time Druk flapped his wings, a deep bellow of pain growled out his throat.
"Hmph, you really got old," Azula sighed. Her tone wasn't as mocking as perhaps she had meant it to be. Endearment slipped into her words—caring she might not even be aware she had.
Anraq gazed over the side of the dragon, down at the open sea below. "Well, not sure where you expect us to go. I'm not seeing any land."
"I think we're actually close to Ember Island," Zuko said, pushing himself upright. He squinted towards the horizon, before lying down again with a tired groan. "We could rest there a while."
Azula stiffened at the suggestion. "Ember Island? The last time I was there..."
"I know," Zuko replied, with a distant sigh. "That was a memorable night, wasn't it?"
Perhaps memorable was an understatement. That had been the night where he finally admitted to himself how conflicted he was, sparking his desire to join the Avatar. Of course, he, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee had also sabotaged that jerk Chan's party. That had been fun.
"So, is our old beach house still there?" Azula asked.
He nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes. I live there now."
"You live there?" Azula blinked in surprise. "I knew you didn't live at the capital, but I didn't think you'd retired to Ember Island. Doesn't that get annoying after a while, living at a beach resort?"
Zuko breathed in deep, and closed his eyes again. He really did need to rest. "Maybe a little, but the wife likes it there."
"Whoa, hold up." Anraq sat straighter, raising his eyebrows. "You mean we're going to meet Mrs. Zuko?"
"Yes, there's plenty of space at the house for us to stay while we recover," Zuko said. "We should be safe from Yula, too. For a little while, at least."
Azula flinched. "I don't mean sour the mood, but is that really such a good idea?"
"Oh, it'll be fine," he assured, with a growing smirk. "Try not to worry. I'm sure Mai will love to see you again."
