Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

207. Chapter 207: Gladiator & Sponsor Race 7

The Murderous Serpent remembered, quite vividly, the excitement he had shared with his sponsor upon entering the League many years ago. While they had known that rising in the ranking would be an uphill battle, they had been hopeful for the first few days, even after their first losses against similarly low-ranked gladiators. Word of a new generation of superb gladiators had started to spread after the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf had achieved grand feats of their own – the result of the Blue Wolf's first fight as an upstart and underdog had certainly shaken the foundations of the League, and the Blind Bandit's still-enduring victory streak had been what everyone ever spoke of back in the day, for she was utterly merciless in the many knockouts she delivered to her opponents.

They had been proud, then, to have joined the ranking in the same haul that had brought those two. They had believed one day, hopefully, the world of the Gladiator Business would speak the Murderous Serpent's name with the same fear and reverence as they spoke of the Blind Bandit and the Blue Wolf…

But instead, they had been the first team to take off in the Race, meaning, they had arrived last in the previous stage and, worst of all, however fast as they could run, they had quickly been passed by many of their rivals, and the sounds of doom loomed closer and closer with each nervous step they took:

"HA! I got that one! That's five for me so far!"

"Oh, wow! Congratulations, you're finally catching up, Sokka!"

"Come on, you can't be that far ahead!"

"Not too far, true, but seven is still better than five…"

"Seven, is it? Well, then, we're getting even, RIGHT NOW!"

What could have been completely innocuous, irrelevant banter between two other fighters was anything but: The Murderous Serpent and his sponsor knew they had targets on their backs, and the Blue Wolf was set on taking them down for whatever weird competition he had started with his own sponsor.

"Run!" the Murderous Serpent hissed at his sponsor, finding, in his panicked eyes, perfect mirrors of his own.

They pushed themselves further, frantically, weighed down by the exhaustion of the previous days: in so many ways, they weren't quite cut out for the complications and difficulties of the Gladiator League. Even when they had improved enough to remain steady in the ranking, they had never risen past its lowest levels: truly dangerous rivals would tear them down with ease, and it was better for them to accept that than to continue struggling against a fate they could never overcome…

A whistling sound revealed something was cutting through the air, in their direction. The Murderous Serpent turned his head only a few degrees, catching the silhouette of the Fire Nation Princess and her Water Tribe warrior out of the corner of his eyes before a sharp pain burst at the base of his spine… and just with that, his whole body became unresponsive.

His sponsor stopped running, horrified upon realizing his partner had collapsed… a flurry of blue fire caught him in the stomach, sending him flying, singed, until he toppled over the sand, cringing at the pain.

"Heeeey!" Sokka pouted, rushing to land one finishing blow against the Murderous Serpent: Azula wasted no time dismissing the gladiator and making her way towards the sponsor "He was mine!"

"Should've been faster!" Azula laughed, drawing back her elbow to power a punch without firebending this time: it struck the Murderous Serpent's sponsor square on the forehead, and his eyes rolled back into his skull as he fell unconscious "And that makes it eight"

"Ack! You're impossible!" Sokka growled, pressing the Murderous Serpent's temples until he blacked out as well.

The Princess couldn't have appeared more pleased with herself, offering him a simple shrug in response to his outrage. The gladiator shook his head as he rose to his full height, brow furrowed with a childish frown accompanied by his typical pout.

"You know, I'm not going to hold back with the next team we find" he said "I'll take both members down so fast you won't even have time to process it"

"Implying you have been holding back so far?" Azula asked, amused "Honestly, how could you have expected to challenge me and win without going all out from the very…?"

Her pause was unexpected, but her eyes had drifted beyond where Sokka stood: without offering any explanation, the Princess stretched the index and middle fingers of both her hands, moving her arms in the careful, flowing motions that Sokka immediately recognized as the necessary procedure to generate lightning.

"Y-you…" he said, an eyebrow twitching "You'll need me to get out of the way, don't you?"

"Yup!"

Sokka huffed, shaking his head briefly as he watched Azula's slow and steady movements: static charged all around her, small streaks of lightning sparked around her arms, spreading all across her body. He breathed deeply, the rumor of distant voices and footsteps behind him were loud enough to be heard even over the crackling of lightning…

"Alright, then. One… two, and three!" he said, gritting his teeth and jumping to the side.

The charged attack Azula released came as a surprise to the four teams coming after them: most of the contestants had already been defeated by Azula and Sokka earlier, but upon regaining their senses, or the feel of their limbs, they had tried to give chase to the two deadly partners, regardless of what a dangerous course of action that might be. A coalition of sorts seemed to have been formed quickly, all of it to take down the pair that seemed utterly unstoppable…

But they had no warning that they would be struck by a fierce lightning bolt: Sokka had stood in the way, blocking Azula from view perfectly until she was ready to release her attack.

The blast didn't hit any specific fighters, though some of the charge certainly spread towards the ones clad in metallic armor or wielding metal weapons. The bulk of the attack, though, struck the ground right in front of them, resulting in an explosion of sand so chaotic it tossed all eight people up into the air, only to fall flat on their faces or backs moments later, once again bested by the Princess and her gladiator.

It was impressive, and Sokka would say so readily if only the circumstances were any different. Instead, he pouted at the sight of the squirming runners, up until he noticed Azula was very deliberately counting them with an extended finger.

"Hey! Hey now, we'd taken out most of those earlier!" Sokka squeaked, and Azula snickered "You can't count them twice! Besides, some of them are still moving!"

"Ah, should I make sure they stop moving, then?" she asked, amused "Come on: being a spoilsport, or a sore loser, is quite unbefitting of you… worse yet if you're both things at the same time. I mean, sixteen to six is certainly a bad record, but there's no need to take it to heart, seeing as we're on the same team…"

"It's not sixteen to six! Look! Some are already getting up and…! Okay, you know what? This isn't just about our silly competition, we're supposed to be running here!" he said, grimacing as the victims of Azula's lightning attack stirred and twitched.

Azula rolled her eyes but smiled, letting Sokka drag her away by her wrist. Even so, she dared glance over her shoulder to count the opponents who hadn't stirred at all.

"Alright, alright, to be perfectly fair to you, it's twelve to six. Not as bad, but not good news for you either way" she said, smirking as she kept up with his pace. Sokka snorted but smiled at her regardless.

"You know, deep down I knew there was no way I'd beat you at this, but it doesn't make it any less fun anyhow" he said.

His hand slid gently down her palm until their fingers interlocked, and Azula's smirk lost its edge for it. Instead she squeezed his hand gently, keeping up with him while knowing that, as soon as they caught sight of any other enemies, she'd have no choice but to let go.

So far, fighting their rivals rather than avoiding them had proven quite rewarding: they had done quick work of the team right ahead of them, and so far they hadn't been held off by any of their foes. They had only ever stopped running to defeat the opponents ahead of them, and then to fight them again if they rose up once more. There was still much progress to be made, a long trek across the desert and forest ahead of them, countless other teams to defeat, and they had no intention of slowing down anytime soon. It was barely an hour since this stage had started, and as much as they weren't in the best of shapes after the last two days and the restless previous night, the thrill of combat, paired with their personal competition, had done away with the heaviness they'd carried on their very bones.

"Okay, I see new victims!" Sokka exclaimed, releasing Azula's hand just to reach for his boomerang again.

Azula narrowed her eyes: the two people ahead were barely two blots far ahead in the desert, but they were the sixth team they had crossed paths with so far.

"Alright, six to twelve, I can close that gap here…" Sokka mumbled, bringing Azula to laugh as they picked up the pace, hoping to spring up on their new enemies before they knew what was coming for them.

But as they came closer, their foes also were easier to detail… and by the time they were in full view, Azula's eagerness for triumph dwindled. A stocky gladiator and his female, slender sponsor: Sneers and Kori.

"Sokka…" Azula said, doubt seeping through her despite herself. Sokka raised his eyebrows "T-those are Kori and Sneers, should we just…?"

"What, having second thoughts now?" Sokka asked, amused "Why, Princess, that's fine by me! I'll just take them down myself!"

"Hey! That's not what I…! They're our friends!"

"If you continue to think that way when Iroh and Toph show up, I think we'll be screwed" Sokka said, with a dry grin.

His words gave Azula pause: they were friends indeed, but right now they were their rivals, Sokka was right about that. If she was going to hold back every time they ran into someone they knew, they'd likely falter in the race altogether. Cruel as it could be, she wasn't above making harsh decisions when it was necessary, so she collected herself and pressed on, shooting a determined frown at Sokka.

"Let's do this" she said. He smiled approvingly, and their contest resumed, with both trying to outpace the other while reaching their next rivals.

This stage hadn't been Kori and Sneers finest so far, but they had successfully passed some teams who hadn't been as fast as them, or who had fallen prey to other scuffles with their opponents ahead. Sneers was still withdrawn and silent after his nightmare, but he was far more active now, constantly warning Kori of any impending dangers, always ready to fend off rivals who might attack them.

His days as scout of the Freedom Fighters had trained him to sense danger, to improve his hearing so he could pick up even the subtlest of sounds… and it was him who sensed the impending approach of who he soon identified as the Princess and her gladiator, after glancing quickly over his shoulder.

"Kori!" he shouted. His sponsor was alarmed immediately by the urgency of his voice "Sokka and the Princess!"

"W-wait, you don't think they're going to…!"

"He's got his weapons, so I sure think so!" Sneers said, gritting his teeth "Besides, are we really just going to let them get ahead of us? Even if they didn't want to fight us…!"

"We're honor-bound to fight them" Kori finished, brow furrowing. Sneers' dark thoughts receded upon seeing his partner so determined to fight her hero alongside him: that brought him to smile for the first time that day.

Another quick glance over his shoulder told him their rivals were closer still: it felt like being chased by a tsunami, unrelenting in its pursuit, quickly catching up to them even if they ran at the best of their ability. But they could still go a little further, just a little more…

Sneers raised his hands towards the axes on his belt and glanced at Kori before shouting:

"NOW!"

She didn't hesitate, quickly turning around and kicking a flurry of sand towards their opponents: Sokka was forced to stop and brace his face against the sand, but the Princess had been ready for the attack. Propelled by her fire, she leapt high enough to evade the sand altogether before launching a barrage of fire blasts at the other team from midair.

Kori reached for Sneers and shielded them both with a partial sphere of sand: the fire blasts struck it, tearing at it, but she strengthened it all over again upon each impact. Yet her focus on their defenses meant Sokka would be free to join the fray once more: he tossed his boomerang at full speed with expert hand, and it struck Kori's shoulder.

The shield collapsed when the young woman screamed and reached with her other hand towards her new injury. Sneers roared in outrage, glaring at a fast-approaching Sokka: the stocky gladiator dashed around Kori quickly, drawing out his axes to defend his sponsor against the Blue Wolf…

"Don't you dare touch her!" he shouted, lashing out with timed attacks that Sokka evaded by stepping back and away from his opponent.

"Sure thing, I honestly was trying to fight you instead!" Sokka said, grinning mischievously as Sneers roared, attempting to slash down on Sokka with both axes at once.

Instinctively, Sokka parried the attack with Space Sword… only realizing what a troublesome situation that would be for his opponent when Sneers didn't pull away.

"Hey! Uh, Sneers, back off and stop pressing forward!" Sokka flinched: if he backed down, lowered his sword, then Sneers would cut into him… but if he tried to reject his opponent by swinging the weapon in an arch, he would most certainly slash off the axes' blades, and he had the feeling Sneers wouldn't be all that pleased about that.

"Oh, because you'd do that if I asked, right?!"

"I'm only saying it for your own…!"

Sneers had continued to push… and the expected outcome had indeed come to pass. The black blade, after too much pressure, slid cleanly through the axes' hafts. Sneers lost his balance, his face falling towards Space Sword's deadly edge…

Sokka kicked him in the chest fast enough to counter the momentum of his fall, and Sneers rolled back on the sand with his useless axe handles still in his hands. His small eyes widened at the sight of the axe blades lying on the sand, and Sokka shot him a skeptical stare.

"You knew my sword was that deadly, pal! I warned you for a reason!" he said, shaking his head as Sneers huffed and drew another pair of axes.

"Let's see who's deadlier, then!" he exclaimed, rushing in for a new assault.

As much as Azula respected Kori and Sneers, she didn't expect they'd need to waste much time dealing with either of them. When Kori rose to her feet again, covered in sand but eager to fight, even if with one injured arm, Azula decided both their opponents needed to be dismissed quickly.

She feinted tossing a new attack towards Kori, crafting a wheel of fire that she flung in her direction, only to reorient it towards Sneers in a trajectory reminiscent of Sokka's boomerang's own: Sneers was flung off while Kori misguidedly protected herself, expecting the blast to reach her.

"Sneers!" she shouted, watching her gladiator flop over Sokka's tall frame.

"Ack! You even got him now?!" Sokka exclaimed, though the sound of Sneers' complaints revealed the opposing gladiator wasn't actually finished yet.

"Stay away from him!" Kori exploded, wielding her earthbending powerfully as she attempted to launch Sokka away from her partner.

The technique would have worked on Sokka years ago, but he was skilled enough at sensing the warnings of the sand and earth underneath his feet after so many years fighting earthbenders: a pillar of earth shot out where he had been standing before he leapt out of the way, and then another, and yet another one until Azula orchestrated a strong enough attack to break Kori's bending spree. By then, though, Kori had rushed to her gladiator's side, allowing the Princess and her gladiator to stand together too.

"Alright… they're both still conscious, so neither one counts yet" Sokka said, prompting Azula to snort in disbelief.

"Still on with that? Here I thought you'd already accepted my obvious victory…"

"Never!" Sokka declared "Though… we should get going again. They're down anyhow, right? So how about we just keep moving forward and… uh. Oh no"

Azula's brow furrowed as she stared in the direction they'd set out from: four of the runners she had taken down earlier with her lightning were catching up to them, eager for revenge. What had caught Sokka's attention had been Kori, though, who seemed to be amassing sand into an attack comprised by an array of earthen spikes.

"Azula, my boomerang's out of reach and if I make a move, I think she's going to…" Sokka said, but he fell silent when Azula shook her head, allowing herself a quick glance at Kori to assess the danger she posed.

"Stay close to me. I'll keep them at bay, you'll strike immediately afterwards" Azula muttered quickly. Sokka nodded in quick agreement.

War cries reached them from both fronts: the four fighters, still sporting scorched clothes and singed hair, ran towards them with weapons and elements at the ready, but Kori's spikes were by far a greater threat: as soon as they saw her attack, the group of four followed suit with her example, tossing fire, earth and daggers towards the Princess and her gladiator…

Sokka shrank in his frame, knowing Azula would need space for whatever countermeasure she had in mind: her eyes seemed to blaze as she raised both her hands, stretching them out towards where each threat loomed.

Her attacks were simultaneous, but to varying effects: the weakened group of four couldn't hold their own against a wall of condensed gold fire that rushed towards them, running over all their projectiles until it finally reached them. Meanwhile, Kori's spikes hadn't quite shattered against the burst of gold flames Azula had sent towards her, but they had certainly lost their trajectory after bounding against the now receding gold fire.

The Princess's chest heaved: as much as she was far from her limit, using that much condensed fire took a toll on most anyone except the Millennium Dragon. And while it had appeared to be enough to defeat one threat, Kori was still standing and eager to fight.

Sokka took the opportunity to jump towards his boomerang: once more, with his extraordinary expertise, he tossed the weapon at full speed towards the group of four. The spinning weapon bounded expertly against the head of the first, only to strike the second one's neck afterwards. The boomerang lost its way back to Sokka's hand after so many bounces, but before the two remaining opponents could reason with what had happened, the Blue Wolf had snuck up to them and slammed their already confused heads together. They dropped flat on the sand, and this time it didn't look like they'd wake again for at least ten minutes.

Kori had meant to engineer new attacks with her spikes, and she certainly sent them in the Princess's direction once more… only to find the Princess had one final ace under her sleeve: Azula drew back a hand, conjuring what appeared to be a really small flame of gold fire in her palm, and she unleashed it towards the spikes before they could come any closer.

An explosion sent the earthbender rolling back, quite far from where her weakened gladiator lay now. Azula breathed heavily again, the effort of the charged attack equivalent to that of condensed fire: small, explosive, charged attacks were her father's area of expertise, not her own, especially when using gold fire defensively, which was notoriously more complicated to control in combat situations.

"Okay… I think our job's done here" Sokka said, smiling reassuringly at Azula and patting her back "I'm at ten by now, though, just so you know"

"Heh. Then I'm at… fourteen, or thirteen. No idea if you'll say Sneers doesn't count…" Azula said, and Sokka shook his head.

"He can count, it's fine. Let's go, though. We're better off away from these guys by the time they wake up again"

"Right. Let's go. And once we reach the edge of the forest we can take a quick break, right?"

"I'd hope so. I mean, this has been fun, but if we keep going through our opponents this way, we'll definitely risk burning ourselves out" Sokka smiled "Shall we?"

Azula smiled back, encouraged by his enthusiasm and generosity. As sore a loser as she had accused him of being, his willingness to give her a victory she didn't know if she should claim in their personal contest spoke lengths of his true admiration of her skills. They took off again, doing their best to ignore the heat of the sun and the exertion that clung to them after too many days on the road and too many fights in a row.

Five minutes after they had taken off, new arrivals walked into the scene to find the group of four still knocked out cold, while Kori Morishita and Sneers had sat up, tending to each other's wounds. Aonu took in the many defeated opponents the Princess and the Blue Wolf had left in their wake, his lips parted as he detailed the scene before him.

"They're really cutting our work out for us, eh?" said Renzhi, smirking "I don't really wanna be a lazy idiot, but it sure's nice not to fight that much because they're dealing with everyone ahead…"

"Well, we did have to handle those two back there. That guy with a shield and his sponsor" Aonu said, raising his eyebrows "I think they were friends of theirs, too. The ones who took off right before us"

"Hmm, I wouldn't know" said Renzhi, with a casual shrug "They're not going to bother us anymore though. We saw to that"

"The question now is, though, whether those two are worth defying yet or not" said Aonu, frowning "If they're still strong enough to fight multiple opponents and win, then…"

"We can always take a light detour, hide away somewhere, let Light Boy and his brother catch up with the Princess and her Wolf first" said Renzhi, shrugging "That way we kill two birds with one stone, eh?"

"R-right…"

"What? C'mon, I know you're happy she offered you a job, but are you really going to hold back on her now, Aonu? After all this time?" said Renzhi, both surprised and amused "Who knew you'd ever get soft with the Princess…"

"That's not it!" Aonu huffed, though his cheeks reddened regardless of his denial.

"Ah, there we are, you finally sound more like yourself…"

"Stop messing with me! Fine, we'll… wait out and see. But we have to keep moving" he said, shaking his head "So quit saying stupid things and let's go"

"Whatever you say, Aonu…" said Renzhi, smirking and chuckling as the two of them dashed onwards… but heading further north rather than to the northwest, unlike the fading footprints on the sand.

Each team to pass by the chaotic mess left in Azula and Sokka's wake would be astounded by it: Ty Lee and Haru offered to help Kori and Sneers, but the earthbender urged them to keep going and avenge them instead. The Light Bearer and the Dark Rook were also daunted by the short work the Princess and the Blue Wolf would do of their opponents, but it seemed Koshing was utterly unconcerned by it: if anything, he pressed them on, keeping them on Ty Lee and Haru's heels while wondering where on earth Aonu and Renzhi could be by now, the main opponents he wished to overcome…

Toph and Iroh had been forced to fight some of the stragglers who had been back on their feet by the time they had taken off. While not all of them had been defeated by Azula and Sokka, more than enough of them had been: they seemed to have saved up their strength and energies over the past two stages, betting on triumphing at the second half of the race, just as they had with the first stage. Iroh was determined to ensure that wouldn't happen, however.

"We may need to resort to the same trick from yesterday, Toph!" he said. The young earthbender nodded.

"Want me to do it already, or…?"

"Save your strength for when we reach the forest" Iroh said, brow furrowed as he gazed ahead, beyond where the many unconscious or wounded gladiators and sponsors lay splayed upon the sand "By then, they should be exhausted. That will be the right moment to strike"

"Gotcha" said Toph, smiling "Don't worry, Iroh. They're showing off right now, but they've got nothing on us and we all know it!"

Iroh smiled back: he truly hoped his partner wouldn't sense the unease that dwelled within his chest. He would gladly believe her words… but it wasn't easy to trust that his niece would fall apart even after three days of running and one day of constant fighting. Azula had overcome many odds before, and she seemed to excel at outdoing anyone's expectations. If only she had chosen to go through the forest and the swamp, just as she had constantly picked all such detours before, then Iroh and Toph certainly would have had this stage of the race in the bag…

But there was a reason why he had done his best to prevent that. If the Princess ever entered that swamp, and fortune, for some misguided reason, continued to shine upon her… then she might find that which she had never been meant to find: certain doom would be unleashed upon the world, upon Iroh's friends, upon the future of mankind, if that happened. The Gladiator and Sponsor Race was a whim, a silly secondary matter, something of no true relevance. Losing against her at it would be a bitter mouthful to swallow, of course, but he wouldn't hesitate to choose that over the alternative: the survival of the Order of the White Lotus was no triviality.

Thus, Iroh and Toph carried on running, following the trail of unconscious or wounded teams, knowing that, when the time came, they were bound to cross paths with their fiercest opponents yet: neither Iroh nor Toph had any plans to allow Sokka and Azula an easy victory in the Race's third stage.

---

After many hours of continuous running and fighting, of taking out the same rivals several times, in case they caught up with them whenever they had to stop to fight new ones, Sokka and Azula finally found themselves with a surprisingly clear view ahead after climbing a tall dune: the forest at the northwestern edge of the desert wasn't far away, and according to their map, they'd have to cross it now to reach the finish line.

"I don't see anyone else ahead" Sokka said, scrutinizing the horizon with difficulty "You don't think the last team we took out had been in first place so far…?"

"Uh, yeah. Quite possibly" Azula said, biting her lip and smiling as she glanced up at a hot-air balloon that had followed them for a short time now "Those guys probably are following us because we took out the stage's leaders so, at least for the moment, it's bound to be us now"

"Shit" said Sokka, with a happy grin "I don't think we'd ever been first in the Race at all. I mean, we did win the first stage but mostly because we sped up on that last stretch… we hadn't done it halfway through"

"It's just as much a cause for pride as it is for caution" Azula said, glancing over her shoulder "We defeated a lot of teams who we know are weaker than us… the problem is that the ones who might actually prove a challenge were behind us, and they might catch up with us now"

"And they probably took advantage of how helpful we were by knocking out everyone ahead of them" Sokka sighed, shaking his head.

"I suppose we could try and make a run for the finish line, since it does look like the way is clear, but…" Azula said, biting her lip "I'm a little hungry. We did say we'd take a break, right?"

"Probably" said Sokka, smiling "We should find someplace safe, or safe-ish, to have a quick lunch in the forest. If we stay properly hidden no one should interfere and we can digest our meal without a hitch!"

"Sounds like the right idea" Azula nodded "Alright, then. Let's get out of this scorching desert already: my sunburns will be a thing of nightmares, at this rate…"

"Well, as unpleasant as it must be, you still look cute with your face all red with exhaustion and sun-burning" Sokka said, grinning teasingly at Azula, at which she huffed skeptically.

"You'll say I look cute regardless of what I do or what I look like" she said, and Sokka chuckled.

"Because it's true!" he said.

Azula rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stifle a smile all the same. She reached for his hand and yanked him down the dune they had been standing on, their sights set on the upcoming forest.

Had either of them been earthbenders, they would have made the trek down the sand with ease: the steep climb down to the more even ground proved tricky, and they both helped each other stand upright and hold their balance under the unstable, often crumbling sand. Sokka had far more experience traversing sand than Azula did; even so, it was surprisingly difficult for him to hold his footing as the grains beneath his feet scurried quickly towards the bottom of the dune.

"If only the circumstances were different, this might even be fun" Sokka admitted, with an awkward grin: he clutched at Azula's arm as they navigated the sands together "But I keep thinking an earthbender's just going to show up as soon as we're at the bottom and…"

"Don't say it" Azula said, panic rising in her gut upon Sokka's words "If we get buried alive I… I have no idea how we're getting out, so don't even…"

A mild tremor behind them interrupted Azula: she gave Sokka a meaningful glare, that he replied to with his own nervous smile. Without even wasting a moment to properly chastise him, Azula clasped his hand harder and yanked him with her as she took off on a quick sprint: the sand behind them kept moving, stirring, no longer crumbling downwards but gathering upwards, or shifting sideways. The work of an earthbender, no doubt, and at this rate they'd be caught in a nightmarish sand trap…

"Aha! There you are, Azula! Finally!"

The shrill, loud voice brought relief to the Princess, if just momentarily: upon daring glance over her shoulder, she found Haru was indeed bending the sand dune to ease his passage with Ty Lee. His wife and sponsor was hoisted on his back, clinging to his shoulders as she took advantage of his ease with sand to help them reach the two leaders of the race.

"Ah, it's just Haru and Ty Lee…" Sokka said, smiling as he slowed down.

"Right, just as it was only Kori and Sneers earlier" Azula said, skeptically, yanking him forward regardless "We can't just assume they'll mean us no harm, so keep moving! He has an advantage in this environment, remember?"

"Yeah, alright, that's true…" Sokka said, biting his lip as he followed Azula.

"Hey! Where do you guys think you're going?!" Ty Lee exclaimed upon seeing her friends running faster: Haru flinched at the loudness of her shout right next to his ear, and she gasped "Oh, sorry dear!"

"It's fine, don't worry about it…" he said, smiling awkwardly as he continued to bend their way towards their friends.

"Azula!" Ty Lee shouted again, now propping herself above Haru's head in hopes he wouldn't be deafened by her voice "Quit being so competitive for ten seconds, will you?! We're not going to attack you, okay?! You can stop-…! Shit, Haru!"

A flash of light, paired with the change of tone in Ty Lee's shouts prompted both Azula and Sokka to turn around quickly: they were well out of the sand wave's path by now, but the sand had slipped out of Haru's control because now both him and Ty Lee were toppling down in a tangle of bodies: the sand, stirred so recently, was smooth enough a landing site, but loose as it was, Haru sank into it to the waist while Ty Lee struggled to sit up before the sand could cover her face.

Smoke rose from both their clothes though: they had been attacked by a firebender who had snuck up behind them. And now that firebender stood at the top of the crumbled sand wave, with his brother by his side… and their sponsor, carried on the Dark Rook's back.

"Ty Lee!" Azula shouted at last, but her friend raised a hand towards her in a calming gesture.

"I-… ack!" Ty Lee coughed violently, spitting out sand and making faces at the unpleasant aftertaste it left in her mouth "Ew! That was… oh, Haru! Haru, I'll help you, I…! Oh, crap, darling, please wake up…"

"He's out of it?" Sokka asked, eyes wide. They hadn't seen what kind of attack the Light Bearer had launched on Haru and Ty Lee, but it was quite likely that the fire blast had knocked Haru off balance: perhaps he had blacked out if he had taken a bad fall afterwards…

The Light Bearer seemed concerned about Haru's state at first: he stood still at the top of the half-torn dune, unmoving, until Koshing visibly shouted and gestured at him to return to task. With that, both twins rushed down the sand: the targets their sponsor had set for them clearly hadn't been Ty Lee and Haru.

"Brace yourself" Azula said, as Sokka immediately unsheathed Wolf's Bane "I don't think we've watched him fight before, but if he's the third best firebender…"

"He can't be child's play, no" Sokka said, breathing deeply "That being said, I've held my own against Renzhi before, so…"

He couldn't quite finish his thought before the Light Bearer launched his first attack: Azula and Sokka instinctively jumped out of the way by moving in opposite directions, but they watched the trajectory of the fire with wide, confused eyes: it wasn't quite the traditional fire of most firebenders. It was too bright, even if it was the trademark orange color most fire was like. But the extent of how it glowed…

The brightness bled into their vision once they turned away from the fading fire: it was difficult to discern the Light Bearer's shape against the colorful stains that clung to their eyesight now. It was an unusual tactic, yet it was undoubtedly effective at quickly disabling his opponents.

"Azula!" Sokka called for her, uncertain of how to proceed now. That the Light Bearer would be so skilled at messing with their eyesight was an unwanted reminder that they relied on vision as the most primary of their senses. It was surprisingly easy to momentarily envy Toph for having discovered a way to live her life without needing it at all.

"I'll handle him!" Azula said, raising her hands into a defensive stance.

Upon readying herself to fend off the Bearer's upcoming attack, she realized the man's body wasn't quite angled towards her… even through her blurry, hijacked eyesight she could tell as much. So, to Sokka's surprise, she leapt towards him… and that enabled her to shoot a fire blast that blocked the one that the Light Bearer had leveled towards Sokka.

"Sei, get it over with already!" Koshing roared, just as the Dark Rook unceremoniously dropped him from his back "OUCH! How dare you drop me that way, Kei?!"

"My brother needs help!" was all the Dark Rook said as he rushed to attack the Princess and her gladiator alongside his twin.

He brandished his spear, readying himself to attack as soon as his brother needed him to… but unlike Sei, Kei wasn't quite so suited for ranged fighting. He was forced to cut the distance between himself and the enemies far more than the Light Bearer did in order to attack…

Without warning, Sokka tossed one of his bombs in the space between Sei and Kei: he wrapped an arm around his sponsor's waist and launched himself to the ground with her.

"Sokka…!" Azula started, but to her surprise, her partner placed a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Don't talk, don't breathe…" he muttered in her ear: again, he had improved on the cocktail of stench that comprised his bombs, and it was so potent now that the Dark Rook was coughing violently while stumbling out of the cloud of smoke with his brother's help.

Strangely, the Light Bearer wasn't quite so affected by the gas: however thrown off he might appear, it seemed smoke barely bothered him. That realization brought Azula to frown: excessively bright fire, resistance to smoke… was he, perchance, a potential lightbender, just like her father's assassin? It didn't seem he was quite as skilled a lightbender as Seethus was, for his attack still had felt like fire… but if he was halfway between both disciplines, it meant his fire might lack some of the bite usual firebending possessed.

It was a theory she had no choice but to test out immediately: still lying on the ground as she was, with Sokka's hand covering her mouth and nose, she saw Sei gearing up for another attack. The smoke truly couldn't have bothered him much, else he would have struggled to bend fire… but there was another ridiculously bright flame in his hand, which he launched in Azula's direction once more.

The Princess focused on Sokka's closeness, on the hand over her mouth: it was far from romantic, she'd be the first to say so if the situation were any different, but it would have to do for now. Infused by the proud love Sokka ever produced inside her, Azula packed a powerful blast of gold fire that undid the Light Bearer's bright fire with a swift punch.

Watching his fire fall apart seemed to floor the Light Bearer: he stared at Azula with disbelief, but she didn't quite have an easy time noticing it, her eyesight once again stained by the brightness of the Bearer's flames. However shocked he was, though, he would attack again sooner or later, and Azula knew they would do better to stand up and fight instead of lying in the sand as they were.

She jerked Sokka up, pushing them both to stand up abruptly. The movements seemed to alert the Light Bearer that the fight was far from over, and his brother, more composed now, raised his three-pronged spear and snarled in their direction.

"Okay… okay. I think this is pretty serious now" Sokka admitted, swallowing hard as he lowered the hand he had still kept over Azula's mouth. She was far more grateful for his previous gesture as soon as he took it away: the stench of his bomb was so powerful she wasn't sure how he wasn't toppling over in disgust over it.

She had no chance to comment on his talent for stench bombs, however: Sokka had extended his left hand towards her, and with it he offered Wolf's Bane to the Princess. The Dark Rook's jaw dropped, and the Light Bearer scowled towards them, fear bright in his countenance.

"You can't just…!" the Dark Rook exclaimed "You're the non-bender, you're supposed to be the one with the weapons, not your firebending sponsor…!"

"Gee, I don't think there were any rules against that, were there?" Sokka asked, smiling brightly.

"If so, the organizers certainly neglected to say as much" Azula smirked, reaching to take the weapon from him "Should I be barred from wielding a sword just because you think it's unfair, when you're a team of three members, I wonder…?"

The Dark Rook fell silent at her assessment, knowing he would be fighting a losing battle of hypocrisy if he disapproved of the Princess's wielding of the sword. The Light Bearer's eyes were calculating as he assessed the opponents carefully, as though wondering if this was a bluff. Without more than a gesture, he communicated his thoughts to his brother, who nodded quickly despite he seemed nervous and uncertain still.

The Dark Rook rushed forward in an arc, keeping a safe distance from Azula despite clearly targeting her: the Light Bearer began a barrage of attacks on Sokka, who resorted to evading each of them while cutting the distance between himself and his opponent. Azula took to launching blasts of scorching blue fire through her sword at the Dark Rook, and when he finally jabbed in her direction with the spear, she blocked the attack with alarming ease. So she did know how to use a sword, then…

The Light Bearer found a rhythm when attacking the Blue Wolf, or so he had thought: he kept driving him away from the Princess, preventing them from pulling any other sketchy tricks like sharing weapons… but the reassurance he felt upon doing as much receded quickly when, by taking advantage of the brightness of the Light Bearer's flames, Sokka unsheathed his boomerang and tossed it right through the fire.

It struck the Light Bearer square on the forehead, knocking him down and offering the Blue Wolf with the perfect chance to jump over him and return to Azula's side. Even though the Light Bearer was on his feet before long, launching further attacks in his direction, nothing he did could spare his brother from the Princess and the Blue Wolf's joint attacks.

The Dark Rook was an expert with his weapons, yet he had no idea how to attack the Princess without leaving himself open for a firebending attack or a slash of her blade. Yet whenever he got any closer to reaching her, she would wield shields of condensed fire, sometimes blue, sometimes gold, and none of his attacks would ever deliver genuine damage. She was invulnerable in defense, merciless in offense, and it dawned on him that, regardless of Koshing's insistence that Sei would be acknowledged as the best firebending gladiator of all one day, his brother would probably have to train for a lifetime to reach the level of skill and strength of the Princess before him.

So focused as he was on Azula, and so certain that his brother wouldn't fall easily against an enemy like the Blue Wolf, the Dark Rook didn't quite expect the other enemy to come anywhere near him again… and when he finally heard the footsteps behind him, it was all too late.

The Blue Wolf's actions had taunted the Light Bearer into attacking him recklessly: Sei hadn't quite noticed he was launching his fire in his brother's direction until Sokka evaded his last blast and it hit Kei square on the back. Kei had been blocking Azula's latest attack, but his brother's accidental friendly fire had instead sent him straight into danger: the white sword was barely inches away from his neck when he fell on his knees before the Princess, his face heated by the flames he had fallen into. His back, burned by his brother, and the front, burned in consequence by the enemy.

"Heh, smart move" Azula told Sokka, smiling approvingly at him as he came to stand by her side.

"Kei!" shouted the Light Bearer, as his brother struggled to stand up.

"I guess it's not quite true that twins are always of the same mind" Azula said: she conjured fire with her feet and chased the Light Bearer away with it, though the Dark Rook took advantage of her distraction to push himself up and return to his brother's side clumsily.

However concerned the Light Bearer had been at first, the Dark Rook merely shook his head reassuringly and urged him to focus: the Light Bearer conjured another potent attack he launched at Azula this time, and she blocked it with her sword. When the Dark Rook tossed his acid sludge bomb at them, the Princess and her gladiator jumped back together, knowing better than to allow their enemies to divide and conquer, as was their obvious strategy.

The enemy had been on the offensive so far: Azula and Sokka wouldn't allow that to last much longer. Without further hesitation, they switched opponents and jumped forth to attack with swords in tow, and Azula held nothing back as she fought powerfully against the Light Bearer. Sokka found the Dark Rook had crafted weapons of stronger materials now, surely to fend off the edge of his sword: whenever he cut into the shield he used, the black blade would be stuck in some gooey substance within the shield itself. Sokka grimaced and groaned, yanking the weapon loose with disgust and choosing to toss his boomerang at the opponent instead.

The Dark Rook noticed the Princess was overwhelming his brother, though: he attacked Azula as soon as Sokka drove his sword into the sand to clean off the substance. Two against one had never been worrisome odds for Azula, but she didn't have to hold her own against the twins for long: Sokka jumped to his feet and rammed into the Light Bearer with a powerful tackle that sent the firebender – or lightbender – rolling on the sand.

Without as much as a moment's hesitation, a shared glance told Azula and Sokka what to do next: she tossed Wolf's Bane at him, and he passed Space Sword to her just in time for them to take advantage of each sword's properties to fend off the closest enemy.

Neither the Dark Rook nor the Light Bearer expected the switch. The Dark Rook attacked with his spear instead of defending with his shield… and thus Azula slashed across the weapon quickly, tearing it to shreds with no remorse and a glowing grin across her face. Meanwhile, Sokka sliced through another blinding fire attack and once again tossed his boomerang at the enemy, who could barely block it by receiving the blow on his forearm instead of his face.

"Hell, Sokka, you never told me how it feels to slice off an opponent's weapon with Space Sword!" Azula laughed, marveling at the sword in her hand. It wasn't the first time she had wielded it, but it certainly was the first time she had used it in combat. Sokka snorted, shaking his head at her enthusiasm.

"I never thought I'd have to. Good to know you're enjoying yourself…!" he said, though he had little chances to be distracted by conversation: the Light Bearer attacked again, with his uninjured arm this time.

The Dark Rook unleashed his nunchakus, and Azula's eyes narrowed at the sight of this new challenge. There had to be a swift, effective way to take down those spinning weapons, she was certain of that…

The battle waging at the front of the race was quite the daunting sight for any newcomers reaching the last dune before the forest: even the hot-air balloon above was hovering at a safe distance from the fire blasts, but attentively watching every move by the two teams of fierce fighters.

By the top of the half-crumbled dune stood one more team that had gotten their start behind Azula and Sokka: they had avoided a lot of rivals so far, allowing the Light Bearer's team to get ahead in hopes they might be caught in a fierce fight against the Princess, just as it was happening now. But as Aonu witnessed the battle at a safe distance, a strange feeling nestled inside his chest…

"Plan worked out just like I figured…" Renzhi said, breathing out slowly "What'd you want to do, though? Looks to me like… you don't want to go around the fight and to the finish line, for some reason"

"I… I'm not sure" Aonu admitted, frowning "I guess we could do that, but… I'd rather take down those guys first"

"And who are those guys, exactly?" asked Renzhi "All four of them, or…?"

Aonu's silence spoke for itself. His cheeks flushed again when he heard Renzhi laugh, and he scowled as the man patted his back.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you became way too fond of her, haha!"

"That's not the point, she's…! She's willing to give me a chance, okay?! So… maybe I can do one thing to help her. Just once. It's not such a bad thing, is it?"

"Who said it was bad at all?" Renzhi laughed, now clasping his sponsor's shoulder "I'm proud of you, Aonu"

"I-… who do you think you are, my dad, saying that kind of thing?!" Aonu nearly squeaked, prompting his partner to laugh at leisure again "Come on! If we're doing this, we'd best do it now!"

Without wasting more time feeling foolish over Renzhi's constant laughter, Aonu breathed deeply before boosting them down the dune with his bending. They passed another pair of sponsor and gladiator, the ones who had outdone them on the previous stage: the earthbender's head lay on the non-bender's lap, a groggy smile on his face as she stroked his cheek gently. But their objective was much larger than those two, and they intended to reach it right now…

The last thing the Dark Rook, the Light Bearer, the Blue Wolf and the Princess could have expected in the middle of their fierce fight was a blast of powerful sand, striking at the twins and knocking them off balance. Some of that sand also struck Koshing square in the face before he could protect himself, and he was quick to scream and cry and complain at the unpleasant sensation of sand against his delicate skin.

Azula was still holding Space Sword when their opponents were swatted away through earthbending. She raised her eyes to find Aonu standing not so far away, and she was on edge immediately: did he want to fight them himself? She wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, and she certainly intended to give him a fight for the ages if that was the case, regardless of their amicable talk of the previous day…

"Go!"

The word was even more shocking than his sudden appearance.

"Wait, what?!" Sokka said, as Renzhi grinned and waved in his direction: he rushed towards the twins, launching a merciless attack of condensed fire, so powerful it revealed he had scarcely spent any of his extraordinary stamina this time around.

"Go! We'll take care of these two!" Aonu shouted again, raising his hands to fend off the Light Bearer's attacks through earthbending.

Azula was just as stunned as Sokka, though neither of them were displeased over the developments. They dared glance at each other in genuine astonishment for a moment before smiling towards Aonu and Renzhi: whatever had brought Aonu to offer them a chance to reach the finish line first, they'd thank him for it later.

They spotted Ty Lee after a quick scour of the area: she waved at them at a distance and gestured at them with a thumbs-up to reassure them that Haru was alright. Without wasting any further time, the Princess and her gladiator turned on their heels and ran as quickly as they could to the forest, even if their exhaustion started to get to them, as could only be expected: it was already a few hours after noon, and they hadn't taken a single break in the race so far.

After spending one week lost within a forest, neither Sokka nor Azula expected to find a haven in tall trees and thick vegetation again. Yet as they ran towards a trickling brook to sate their thirst and refresh their bodies, 'haven' certainly felt like the right word to describe the feeling this forest had elicited within them.

"Oh, if we weren't in the middle of this race I'd jump into the river and clean up properly…" Azula sighed, shaking her head. Sokka bit his lip at her claim.

"I'd certainly welcome that sight after such a long day" he said, as the Princess splashed water over her weary, heated face repeatedly.

"And I'd humor you with what you actually want if only either of us could afford that right now" Azula said, with a dry grin. Sokka chuckled as he cleaned up too, following her example before drinking the cool water by cupping it with his hands "We're not in the worst possible shape, but we should save our energy to finish the stage safely. Granted, it seems Aonu and Renzhi are on our side, for some reason, but…"

"But we haven't run into Toph and Iroh yet" Sokka finished, and Azula grimaced before nodding slowly. The gladiator opened the pack he had been carrying all along, offering her a rice ball, neatly enveloped in thin paper "And we'd better replenish some of our strength in case we do"

"Definitely" Azula agreed, taking the rice ball gratefully as Sokka fished in his pack for his own.

They ate together in near silence, both so tired and famished they could hardly focus on anything other than their meal. Even so, they sat close together, occasionally reaching to caress the other's hand, and once Azula was done eating, she rested her head momentarily on Sokka's shoulder, eyes closed even if the rest of her senses remained alert.

"Told them it wasn't enough food" Sokka grumbled before releasing a deep sigh "Alright, then… now that we've finished our supplies, should we get going? Might be better to wait around and digest our meal, but I'm not so sure we can afford that…"

"It'll be less strenuous to walk instead of running, we'll still make progress that way" Azula said, with a shrug.

She pulled away from Sokka almost unwillingly, merely to seek out the map inside their pack. Upon unfolding it, she traced a finger over the remaining distance between themselves and the finish line for the third stage.

"Well, we're in the forest. These hills in the map are south to where we are now, which is good…" Azula said, breathing out slowly "Since we absolutely can't afford running into Toph and Iroh while on some steep and barren mountain. Granted, we might still have beaten them if we'd chosen that route, but it's better if we come across them on level ground anyhow, if we come across them at all"

"The finish line is past these mountains, though" Sokka said, pointing at the map as well "We just have to go around them, further through the forest until we reach that large river…"

"Safe to say, the worst should be behind us by now" Azula said, smiling at him "So… shall we?"

Sokka grinned back and took the map from her hands, folding it and putting it away. Azula stretched her arms forward, trying to chase away the weariness: three days of constant running had been a lot more than either of them were used to. It was extreme exercise, rewarding regardless of the soft pain of exhaustion that hindered their bodies.

They helped each other up, and Sokka snuck in a quick kiss before they began walking again: the cover of the trees didn't quite protect them from all possible onlookers, but it certainly seemed safer than to be affectionate in the desert, within view of the staff members on their hot-air balloons and any potential rivals giving them chase. Azula responded with another kiss of her own, and by the time they parted anew, the two of them were smiling warmly at each other.

"So… I think I counted around thirty-six" Azula said once they had resumed their journey, hand in hand with Sokka "What's your final number?"

"T-thirty-seven" Sokka lied between his teeth, prompting Azula to laugh loudly enough to startle some birds perched in the treetops above them "Okay, okay, I didn't get as many as you! My perfect Princess is ever victorious, as we knew she would be since the moment our silly competition began!"

"You don't have to be so bitter about it" she said, bumping her hip against his after she stopped laughing.

"Ah, I'm not really bitter, I knew this would happen from the start" Sokka admitted, smiling once more "But I figured we'd be even more unstoppable than we already are if we challenged each other, not just the rest of the runners, so…"

"And you were right to think so" Azula said "Honestly, I know we shouldn't be arrogant, but I do feel like we're on a different league from everyone else here, teamwork-wise"

"Heh, that is pretty arrogant of you, Azula" Sokka chuckled "But… I guess I'll just go ahead and be arrogant with you! We truly are that amazing, especially when trading swords as we did earlier"

"Oh, that was a really good idea" Azula smiled "We ought to do it more often. Granted, I'm not used to wielding Space Sword, but if anything, now I'm impressed by how much control you have over it in battle. I know that if you apply enough force you can probably cut through anything with it, regardless of how resistant the object might be, but you somehow have never gone too far with it in fights… it's impressive"

"Yeah, I have great control and all, but believe it or not, I don't hold back that much – heck, I barely ever hold back at all – when I'm sparring with you" Sokka smiled "I think being forged by Xin Long's fire made Wolf's Bane sturdier than most other metals out there"

"Huh… good to know" Azula said, smirking "It's nice to confirm I'll always have a way to keep your wicked weapon at bay if I need it"

"As if that would ever be necessary, why would I ever want to attack you with Space Sword for real?" Sokka laughed, shaking his head "We were talking about what a great team we make, weren't we? And suddenly you're trying to figure out tactics to defeat me?"

"Oh, I have to cover all my bases, as should you… it's not like you haven't turned on me halfway through battle before, remember?" Azula smirked, biting her lip as Sokka pouted.

"I think you're just trying to figure out how to defeat me in a fair sword duel because, to this day, you never have…"

"You keep saying that, and yet I've defeated you more than enough times as it is"

"As if! You've never…!"

A rumbling noise, accompanied by a tremor, halted their silly argument. They were on their guard immediately upon sensing it: the sound had begun soft, but it was growing louder just as the vibrations of the earth grew more violent…

"An earthbender…?" Sokka said, glancing around himself to locate the enemy as his hold on Azula's hand became more urgent.

The Princess's eyes had moved to the ground: at first she was merely vigilant of any possible fissures right beneath her feet. But soon enough she realized the source of the strengthening vibrations wasn't above ground…

"Sokka, they're underneath us!" she shouted, pulling at his hand and sprinting down the forest as quickly as she could.

Sokka followed clumsily at first, his head turned as he assessed Azula's realization with dread. They both knew of someone prone to digging underground tunnels – hell, they had even counted on her skill to craft them back when they had needed her to do so during their second visit to Ba Sing Se…

"Azula…!" Sokka said, turning towards her again.

"The vibrations are following us!" Azula shouted "They're chasing us!"

"Can't say that surprises me much! Azula, I think this is…!"

Just in time to interrupt his assessment, the tremor finally reached a peak when an enormous hole appeared on the ground, right in front of them: they barely had a chance to brace themselves against the earthen explosion by jumping out of the way. Sokka threw his body protectively over Azula's, ensuring she wouldn't be injured by the rocks and patches of earth that the explosion had tossed in their direction. Most of it crashed into his armor, but some of them had reached his legs and Azula's own, pelting them with minor scratches.

As battered as they were, they knew they needed to jump back on their feet: Sokka hoisted himself and offered his hand to Azula. Once the two of them were fully upright, they glared at the sizable crater before them. Bushes had been engulfed by it, and one tree had even fallen, fortunately not in their direction.

"Guess who…" Sokka muttered, scowling as two shapes clambered out of the chaotic crater.

They were covered in dirt, unsurprisingly, but they were no less recognizable for it: Iroh coughed on his way out, whereas Toph seemed perfectly pleased with herself and the filth coating her: she turned towards them, hands raised in a menacing kata.

"Ah, our paths finally converge!" Iroh said, smiling proudly in their direction "It was about time they did, huh?"

"Who would have thought you'd be so eager to have your ass handed to you, Uncle?" Azula asked, her sarcastic grin lined with tension and uncertainty.

As much as she had looked down on Iroh, she knew he wasn't all that mediocre a bender, even if she was certain she was stronger than him. Still, she had never fought against him directly until now, and with Toph on his side, she wasn't quite so certain her previous arrogance would survive past this encounter.

Still, she wasn't alone: Sokka was frowning, back to the serious façade he had shown her at the starting line in the very first stage of the race. His eyes were sharp, the blue in them brighter than ever, and if the situation had been any less severe, Azula would have gladly been entranced by her handsome husband as she ever was… but for now, she knew to focus on the enemy instead.

For Iroh and Toph had been their biggest rivals from the very beginning of their run in the Gladiator League. Never had Azula expected to stand beside Sokka, helping him fight physically in the face of this challenge, but she relished in the opportunity to do so: it was time to see how far they'd come, how much they had grown since Sokka's last showdown against the Blind Bandit, and to ascertain whether or not the Blue Wolf might have a better chance at triumph in their next direct, promised battle against the earthbender.

"Well, Spicy, Dog, you guys know I like you plenty and all, but this isn't going to fly anymore" Toph declared "You keep on boasting about being the best team of all time and whatever nonsense, well, I sure as hell don't think so!"

"And you think you're going to prove otherwise now?" Azula asked, smiling more sincerely at Toph.

"Fat chance of that, Toph!" Sokka declared, unsheathing both Space Sword and Wolf's Bane in a quick flurry "I think I speak for us both when I say we're done with letting you two win against us"

"Letting us win?" Toph repeated, the corner of her mouth tugging into a lopsided, skeptical smirk "Guess you got real cocky ever since we last crossed blows, huh?"

"It means it's time for us to remind them of our strength, if anything" Iroh said, and Toph snickered in response.

"Damn right it is, Iroh!"

Toph's arms were vertiginous in their quick movements, her fists drawn to summon earth to her will: she drove a large spike between both Azula and Sokka, resorting to the same tactics the Dark Rook and the Light Bearer had relied on earlier. But this time around, Azula and Sokka were ready.

Sokka knew Toph represented countless dangers for him now, especially with her newly developed metalbending skills. If she ever touched his sword or armor, there was no telling if she would be able to bend them out of shape somehow… so he had to keep his distance, attacking from afar while allowing Azula to fight Iroh freely.

Distracting Toph away from assisting Iroh promised to be no easy feat, but the Blind Bandit appeared so determined to take him down Sokka figured she was singling him out as the weaker link in his team with Azula. She would have planned to take out Azula as a team with Iroh, once Sokka was well out of the way – chances were they kept Wolf's Bane's firebending abilities in mind, and they feared Sokka might have an advantage over Iroh because of it.

But Sokka's agility kept him well outside of Toph's reach, even when she tried to anticipate to his movements: he jumped on bushes, climbed trees, anything to ensure Toph would have a hard time tracking him down and following him with her barrages of earthbending. She couldn't get any closer to her slippery rival, regardless of her best efforts to do so.

Meanwhile, Azula and Iroh's raging battle threatened to result in a dangerous forest fire every time they deflected the other's attacks: their moves were calculated, careful, a similarity that didn't sit well with Azula in the least. There was ever a purpose to everything Iroh did, just as there was with every attack Azula unleashed upon him. He was powerful in his defenses, and his firebending style struck Azula as odd now that she faced it in battle: it wasn't traditional firebending, even if to an untrained eye it would appear to be. There were moments where the flow between his movements felt too smooth for firebending, and where the set of his feet seemed too sturdy and strong for it, too. It occurred to Azula that he might be incorporating other bending arts into his own, despite being solely a firebender… that possibility hadn't quite come to her mind before, and however useful it might be, she wasn't about to test the strengths and weaknesses of mixing bending art styles when fighting someone who she knew would hold back at nothing to defeat her.

Iroh's relentless attacks were, however, not quite as powerful as Azula's could be. Experience had a rough contest against youth, and his strength was no longer as stable as it once was. The Princess took advantage of his potential weakness: when Iroh conjured a firebending fire blast that he cast as a wave towards Azula, she chased it away with one quick fireball before unleashing a second one right through the opening carved by her first attack.

The blue flames caught Iroh on the shoulder, and he shouted: only then did Toph stop fighting so fiercely against Sokka, turning quickly to assess the damage to her partner.

"Iroh!"

"No, I'm fine, Toph, don't…!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Toph hurled a large rock at Sokka before tossing another one at Azula. The Princess had stopped attacking once her uncle had fallen, knowing the earthbender was likely to retaliate against her: upon seeing the boulder, Azula boosted herself upwards with a firebending jump, avoiding the attack before shooting another one through her feet at Toph, still in midair.

The earthbender couldn't see the flames, even if she could expect Azula's counterattack, but it was Iroh who warded his partner by shooting an awkward fireball that crashed against Azula's and dissipated it.

The Princess landed again just in time for Sokka to return to her side: they allowed themselves a quick complicit grin before lashing out again to attack, swapping opponents before either Toph or Iroh could collect themselves for another assault.

The young earthbender's power was certainly something to behold: she cracked the ground open, causing large tree roots to stick out from the ground and knocking down several branches that hindered the progress of her opponents. Azula wasn't fazed, though: she launched another array of firebending attacks, all so potent that Toph's defensive rock barriers couldn't stand against them. Iroh managed to stand upright again just in time to conjure a quick condensed fire shield to ward off against Sokka's boomerang: the gladiator caught it again, slipping through the firebending attacks easily by slashing through them with Wolf's Bane.

"Toph!" Iroh shouted. The earthbender wasted little time returning to her partner, and she tensed her arms and fists more than before upon crafting a powerful, thick earthen cylinder around herself and Iroh.

The defensive mechanism would allow them to regroup and rethink their strategy, but it also allowed Azula and Sokka to gesture at each other to return to the race: if those two would sooner cower away inside a quick hideout, they might as well take the chance to reach the finish line.

They hadn't taken three steps together before they found themselves caught in a tight cylinder of their own. Azula crashed into the earthen barrier, snarling as she punched at it without fire, unwilling to use flames in case they might hurt Sokka.

"That little brat" Sokka growled "Stay still, Azula!"

The Princess obeyed, standing with her back to Sokka as she was: his sword's black blade suddenly appeared right between her left flank and her arm, startling her as he swung it horizontally across the cylinder: before long, the construction came down on itself, aided by Sokka's quick, constant slashing of the firm earthen wall.

Toph and Iroh were out of their own protective cylinder by now too, and ready to launch a joint attack at Azula and Sokka. Toph had raised a large boulder, and Iroh added his fire to it by roaring as Toph tossed it in their direction: Iroh's fire breath had ever been one of his signature techniques, and his firebending was at its strongest when he resorted to it.

Azula's response was a potent, charged fire attack of her own, one that blew up the boulder and ended the menace quickly. In the wake of her attack, Sokka slipped through the lingering smoke and dust to attack Toph and Iroh directly: the earthbender retaliated by shifting the earth under Sokka's feet, but unlike how it had been in the past, Sokka succeeded at maintaining his balance while stepping away from the grounds under Toph's influence.

The Blind Bandit attacked Azula as well, hoping to prevent her from launching a joint attack with Sokka of any sort. But just so, Sokka tossed his boomerang at Toph: it spun so fast she couldn't react on time to prevent the blow it delivered to her shoulder.

Iroh's fist nearly crashed into Sokka's jaw in response for Toph's injury: Sokka had to lean backwards to avoid the blow, and by doing so, he noticed Azula was charging an attack again… a lightning one, at that.

Sokka didn't have to think twice about what the Princess's plan was bound to be, readying himself for one of Azula's most dangerous and sophisticated techniques. Iroh had been vindictive, ready to avenge his mildly injured gladiator who certainly could have avenged herself, but upon noticing Azula was building up a lightning attack he appeared tense, focused, ready. Ready for what? Sokka found Iroh's stance odd, impossible to understand. Had he been in the man's shoes, he would have tried to knock Azula out of focus before she could launch the lightning bolt, yet it seemed Iroh would sooner deal with the attack directly, for some reason…

Sokka huffed, turning towards Azula too as he avoided a barrage of rocks Toph was leveling at him. And yet Toph hadn't attacked Azula either: were they being considerate? Was it to make sure Azula wouldn't die because of a misfired attack? While he could imagine that to be true for Toph, he wasn't sure of it in Iroh's case, especially after his latest clashes with his niece…

But that was irrelevant now: Azula finally released her lightning bolt, and Toph and Iroh braced themselves for it…

Only for the powerful bolt to be shot in Sokka's direction.

Their jaws dropped at the same time over what appeared to be the worst possible mistake the Princess had ever made, for, judging by Azula's motions, Toph could tell she had launched her attack in the wrong direction. They had been on guard, ready to fight back… but now they were so befuddled they couldn't be so alert anymore.

And that was exactly what their opponents were betting on, for Sokka raised Space Sword in the lightning bolt's direction and, with no shortage of effort, directed it towards Toph.

A split second was all it took for Iroh to jump between his gladiator and the attack, and it was Sokka and Azula's turn to be shocked now when the old man raised his left arm, two fingers outstretched… and instead of being stunned, shocked or dead, Iroh only seemed infused with electric power that he redirected across his body, aiming his right arm at his niece.

Lightning redirection. It wasn't the time to think of it, but Azula was positive she had never heard of that technique before.

Had she tried to jump out of the way it would have been too late: no fire shields would have saved her from the sheer power of that blast. And that was exactly why Sokka jumped forward, stretching out Space Sword right in front of Azula, failing to capture the lightning perfectly this time but succeeding at derailing it and deflecting it into the sky.

Sokka fell right in front of the Princess, Space Sword slipping out of his shaky grasp: the last lightning deflection had definitely been more powerful than what he had been used to. He barely registered Azula's voice calling for him before the whooshing sound of fire roared again, likely conjured by Iroh, and the earth trembled under his weary body, the sign that Toph was bending something just as well… but he wouldn't have enough time to stand up. Not right away.

He couldn't defend them now, but Azula wouldn't remain unresponsive once again: she jumped over Sokka's body, raising her fist as she allowed herself to marvel and wonder at his courage, his reckless defense of her against the lightning blast that could have killed her, even… he hardly cared about his own safety, so long as he could protect her. It was something infuriating, generally… and yet right now Azula couldn't help but cherish having as selfless a partner as Sokka could be.

Those thoughts fueled her strength enough to produce a powerful wall of condensed golden fire right in front of her and Sokka: both attacks faltered against the barrier, and Azula dared glance back from the wall she was bending to ensure her gladiator and lover was still conscious.

"Sokka!" she called him, and to her relief, he was pushing himself up to all fours, shaking his head promptly.

"I'm okay, I… shit, Azula!" Sokka exclaimed, reaching for his sword and jumping to his feet upon taking in the scene before him.

The Princess allowed the wall to fade off, her face pale, her chest heaving. She couldn't quite remember sustaining such a large barrier of condensed fire for as long as she had just now… but she had succeeded at keeping them safe until Sokka was back on his feet, checking on her urgently. That was what mattered.

Once the fire was gone, Iroh appeared speechless at the other side, stunned where he stood, while Toph only gritted her teeth in frustration. Without a doubt, Iroh hadn't thought the gold fire had any uses in combat, just as Azula hadn't expected it to, when she had first developed it. He certainly had never expected it to be so sturdy when condensed, either.

Toph didn't wait for Iroh's daze to finish before springing back into action: she raised several rocks behind them, using them, along with large chunks of earth, to attack her friends. Sokka clenched his jaw, tossing Wolf's Bane to Azula only to draw out his club this time, the ideal weapon with which to swipe away earthbending attacks.

After breathing deeply to regain some of her strength, the Princess rushed forward, eager to attack Toph, but the young earthbender raised a small ledge in front of Azula's feet, prompting her to trip when she failed to slow down on time: Azula stayed on her feet after stumbling by jumping once again, boosted by her fire, spinning in midair and shooting an attack with her feet that the young earthbender barred with a shield conjured by a swipe of her hand.

Upon fighting two strong opponents simultaneously, one front of Toph's defense would often go unattended while she attacked in the other one: Sokka was now free from her small pelting attacks, and Azula relied on Wolf's Bane to block away Iroh's new offensive while casting her own fire against Toph.

The Blue Wolf lashed out with his club towards Toph, hoping to knock her off her feet: the earthbender jumped back and summoned her element to throw off Sokka's balance instead of losing her own. The gladiator stumbled and fell right in front of his sponsor, who caught him by the forearms upon letting go of her sword.

"Sokka…!" Azula gasped again, and he shook his head.

"This has dragged on way too fucking long!" Toph shouted: her expletive, and her voice tone, all gave away more than exasperation. However good she might be at concealing her feelings behind bravado often, some of her emotions would be plain across her face even if she couldn't quite realize that was the case.

The young earthbender wasn't simply frustrated: she was genuinely afraid of losing against them.

"Sokka, raise your fist!" Azula hissed into his ear urgently. He offered her a confused stare only for her clasp his armored shoulder with a hand before jerking her head in Toph's direction "At her!"

It took him a moment to guess what Azula might be up to this time, and after the near-catastrophic outcome of the lightning redirection earlier, he wasn't sure about trying out their other secret technique on their worst rivals… but he trusted Azula. And, in all fairness, that was one of the few fighting skills they had developed that escaped Toph's knowledge.

The young earthbender was conjuring another large batch of earth that she intended to toss at them, perhaps to bury them under it…

She had expected fire, and she thought she would be ready for it. She just didn't expect it to pour out of Sokka's closed fist instead of Azula's.

Iroh's jaw dropped, and even though he reached a hand towards Toph, it was far too late for him to help her. He couldn't have done anything, not when she was so close to the attack, perhaps having planned to use her metalbending skills to warp Sokka or even Azula's armor once she had landed her earthbending attack. But now that a blast of blue fire had caught her in the chest, shattering her barely constructed earthen attack, there was nothing the earthbender could do but falter against the momentum that launched her back into rows of scorched trees behind her.

Azula rose quickly, glancing over Sokka's head to make sure Toph wasn't severely wounded: smoke rose from her charred clothes, but she groaned and clenched her fists, proving she was still conscious, still alive.

"Toph!" Iroh roared, rushing to his gladiator's side, extinguishing the fire over her clothes even before reaching her.

It had been too much, perhaps, a move of desperation… and yet Toph was all too resilient to falter against that. She rose to her feet again, conjuring many rocks and condensing them into a tight, heavy, powerful rock…

"Well, crap. Guess we made her mad" Sokka said through gritted teeth.

He jumped on his feet, clasping his weapons once more just as Toph launched the tightened rock at them. Azula breathed in, allowing the air inside her lungs to fuel her next charged attack: the gold fire exploded against the rock, weakening it but not enough to knock it off course. Sokka dashed ahead of the Princess and slammed the rock powerfully with his club, shattering it with a loud, cracking noise.

Even when the Princess and the Blue Wolf hadn't always held their own flawlessly against their opponents, it dawned on Iroh at that very moment that there was no way he and Toph would win this particular squabble. He could use his fire breath, and that firebending sword would do away with it. Toph could conjure her best earthbending attacks and nothing would get past their invulnerable, dual defenses. She could seek to bend the metal in their weapons and armor, yet they were never within range for Toph to put her newest techniques into action. It was impossible, and just so, utterly frustrating and outrageous: his niece had become far more powerful than she had any right to be.

For the first time in many years, negative emotions fueled Iroh's fire as he lashed out again, shooting an array of calculated yet passionate fire towards the enemy: Azula countered some attacks with the sword, others by seizing control of the flames herself and dissipating them in midair. Toph, exhausted and angry, clad herself in a quick, poorly-built earthen armor that did little to soothe the pain of the burns on her chest: she lashed out at Sokka, but again, he dodged and evaded her, so cunning and agile she couldn't lay a single finger on him no matter how she might try.

They were outmatched. The more desperate, the more reckless they grew, the more obvious their reality became: they couldn't win. There was no defeating a team synched to that extent, so hellbent on protecting each other they would stop at nothing, even bending through each other's chi-paths if need be. They had been fighting side by side for too long, in far too many ways. They had trained together for years, developed skills they surely hadn't even known if they could ever put to good use… and now they were taking advantage of all of them.

Sokka was seemingly defenseless against fire at the moment, and Iroh lunged towards him for it: after dodging one of Iroh's attacks, the gladiator shouted something unintelligible and raised his black sword towards his partner. Within seconds, Azula had leapt away from Toph and the two switched swords just in time for Sokka to defend against Iroh's next attacks, the worst of which Azula deviated by wrestling some of the wild flames out of her uncle's control.

"Argh, you two are just…! Such a pain!" Toph roared.

Her exasperation certainly could spell doom for anyone who stood against her: the grounds underneath their feet began cracking, shifting, turning into pillars she would shoot upwards in a desperate attempt to remove at least one of them from the equation. Azula and Sokka shared a quick glance before they split up, running in separate, circular directions, away from the earthbender. Toph clenched her teeth as she continued to pursue them with her bending, helped by Iroh's attacks: he unleashed a wall of fire that cut off the last of the circle Sokka and Azula had been running in.

But instead of fighting against the fire, the pair turned around and lunged for Toph. She had very little time to raise an earthbending shield around her when she had been focused on the pillars she had stopped bending upon recognizing the quick attack coming her way. Azula and Sokka cracked through her weak defense with their weapons, shattering both the shields and the lingering earth armor that was already collapsing around Toph's body.

For the first time in her life, the Blind Bandit felt completely vulnerable. She had no chances to react beyond dropping flatly on the ground, hoping Iroh would be able to pry those two off her… but when Iroh cast an oversized fireball in Azula's direction, the Princess caught it with her own bending skills: the flames turned blue in her control, adding a cerulean hue to her determined eyes mere moments before she returned the attack, infusing it with power of her own.

Iroh wanted to return the favor, to wrestle the fireball out of Azula's control, but the Princess's bending was not so easily undone: a quick condensed fire shield was all he could do, and even so, he was burned, blasted off into the burning forest by a fireball that finally started to dissipate when it had delivered more damage than he could sustain anymore.

"Iroh…!" Toph called him, reaching a hand in the man's direction…

The hand fell limply on the ground, courtesy of Sokka's quick chi-blocking of her shoulders. She had wanted to move, tried to move… and nothing. Suddenly, she was helpless. For the first time in her life, the most powerful earthbender in the world had no choice, no possibility ahead of herself, other than defeat.

"Well… you guys definitely were our toughest opponents yet" Sokka told her, kneeling beside her "But as I doubt that's going to make you feel any better…"

"Sokka, don't…!" Toph said, and her sightless eyes were wide, her face contorted in plea.

Against his better judgment, Sokka held back Wolf's Bane. He had been determined to knock her unconscious, but the desperation in her countenance took him off guard. He swallowed and raised his head towards Azula, looking for confirmation: the Princess seemed hesitant too, but she shook her head after a moment.

"We have a race to finish" she whispered, jerking her head towards the pathway they had been following.

Sokka breathed out through his mouth and nodded, sheathing his weapons before patting Toph's forehead gently. Her chest heaved, sweat rolling down her brow; whether it was over exhaustion or anxiety, it was impossible to tell.

"You let me off the hook the first time we fought. Guess this is how I return the favor" he said, with a small smile "The chi-blocking will wear off soon, so I guess we'll see you in a bit!"

He rose to his feet again, and Toph remained splayed on the ground, sensing his movements even if she couldn't see him properly through her bending when her chi had been disrupted. Still, her senses worked… and she felt him walking away, joining Azula's footsteps as they ventured into the forest together.

They left her behind.

She had lost.

Iroh struggled to reach her again, his half-knot completely undone, most his clothes charred just as hers were. She could hear his voice, but she processed none of his words: she had lost. She had jumped into a fight, certain her convictions would prove true, only to find herself engulfed in a storm of fire and blades she could never overcome, not even with Iroh's support… and in the end Sokka had spared her, much as she had spared him on their first fight, but for entirely different reasons. The mercy she had shown him had been proud, spiteful, a true display of arrogance, whereas he had held back, letting her retain some of her dignity even if she wasn't sure she deserved to hold onto it. And now the tables were turned: she was the gladiator lying in the dirt, with a sponsor desperate to help her up, while Sokka ran off with his Princess, the two of them perfectly matched in every way, running at full speed towards a victory years in the making: their partnership had proven itself superior to any that tried to rival it.

It was useless to fight reality, just as it had been pointless for her parents to test countless remedies for Toph's birth blindness. She could try to train, to improve, and yet that was no guarantee she'd ever outdo them: without her awareness, while she wasn't paying attention, Sokka had become a formidable opponent, one she might not be able to defeat ever again.

The forest didn't spread for much further: their fight with Iroh and Toph had wasted some of their time, but Sokka and Azula remained invigorated, if just by the adrenaline that still rushed within them as they allowed their latest feat to sink in. Once the trees started to thin out, Azula allowed herself a sudden, unexpected laugh.

"Can't believe it yet?" Sokka asked, smiling too as she nearly lost balance, clasping his forearm as she tried to brace herself.

"Definitely not! Did we really just…?" she asked, glancing back to the forest "Did we seriously defeat those two? Did we…?"

"Pretty sure we did, but if we stick around, they might try their luck in round two and I'd rather we reschedule that for tomorrow" Sokka joked, tugging her hand gently and urging her to continue running with him.

Defeating the Blind Bandit had been one of their main goals in the League all along: much like their weddings, it wasn't quite the ideal way to do it, for surely this wouldn't count as part of Iroh's challenge, but that they had overcome Toph and Iroh once could only mean they might do it again in the future, in the Grand Royal Dome instead…

Lost in thought as she was, dreaming of glory she clearly wasn't going to obtain just yet, Azula didn't glimpse the finish line's stakes, and the camping site beyond it at the edge of the forest, until Sokka tugged at her hand and pointed it out, laughing in amazement.

"We made it! We're here, Azula…!" he exclaimed, and she smiled at first, but her eyes focused on the horizon before long…

"Wait a minute…" Azula said, her grin receding, as did Sokka's.

The staff members were surrounding someone past the finish line, smiles on their faces. Someone at the center of the group was quite tall, enough to tower over everyone else, and he wasn't wearing a staff uniform…

"I… I don't think we've won" Azula said, biting her lip with some amusement. Sokka blinked blankly, puzzled by the sight before them just as much as Azula was.

The staff members only caught sight of them when they were a few steps away from crossing the finish line. They rejoiced upon their arrival, and the chairman congratulated them for arriving in second place in this stage…

Azula turned her gaze towards the tall man they had seen before, and she found his partner standing beside him: Aonu's eyes were so wide they could have popped out of their sockets, and he even trembled as a staff member continued to talk to him, perhaps trying to reassure him that he had, indeed, won this stage. That for once in his life he had taken first place at something, just as he had always wanted to, just when he had finally been ready and willing to relinquish those ambitions and give the Princess a chance at victory instead.

"They must have chosen another path through the forest, huh?" Sokka said, with a smile.

"Or through the mountains. Aonu is an earthbender, so maybe he preferred that route" Azula shrugged.

She sighed and grinned too, guessing their efforts to achieve absolute victory hadn't quite paid off exactly as they had hoped they might. But that Aonu and Renzhi would be the ones to take the first place didn't sit ill with Azula despite everything, especially after they had gotten the Light Bearer and the Dark Rook off their backs earlier.

Aonu's eyes finally seemed to focus again, as he stared about himself in disbelieving amazement. It wasn't long before he found Azula with his gaze, and the smile on her face brought one to his own: it wasn't until she nodded respectfully in his direction that he finally seemed to process his victory.

A cry of euphoric bliss left his lips, and he startled every staff member around him: even Renzhi seemed puzzled, his mouth falling open as he assessed his partner's mental state.

"Aonu? You okay, pal…?"

"Renzhi! W-we…! We won! We did it, Renzhi! We did it!"

A man who had seldom experienced any happiness could easily be brought to tears upon being infused by it, or so Renzhi surmised as Aonu's laughter gained a watery quality. He could only chuckle at the sight of his overwhelmed sponsor, and he raised a hand to pat him in the back and wrap him in a one-armed celebratory embrace.

The Light Bearer, the Dark Rook and their sponsor arrived a few minutes after Azula and Sokka had: Koshing looked livid, his face and hair covered in sand as he roared at the race's staff members to fix him a bath somehow. Iroh and Toph were the fourth to arrive, despite they weren't in the best shape: everyone in the campsite was shocked upon seeing them so wounded and battered, far worse than they had been at the end of the first stage, and they were quick to tend to their injuries. The young earthbender's limbs were waking painfully now, and with them, the awareness of the burn and cut she bore on her chest and shoulder respectively, as well as the realization of how tired she truly was.

It seemed the third stage had been far too challenging for most, especially after many of the teams had been out of combat by Azula and Sokka's doing: it was late and dark by the time the last groups arrived, a few of them carried in by hot-air balloon instead, and by then the Princess, her gladiator and their friends had gathered around one of the many bonfires at the edge of this new campsite.

"Oh, but they were so heroic, swinging in to take down the Light Bearer like they did!" Ty Lee exclaimed, retelling the extraordinary battle she had witnessed while she was still stuck in the desert with a barely-conscious Haru "The Millennium Dragon was…! Wait, you do have a name, right?"

"Aye, aye, I'm Renzhi, pretty lady!" he said, beaming at her. She grinned right back at him before returning to her story.

"That's right, then, Renzhi was amazing! He never gets tired, I've never seen anyone so strong, and then Aonu's bending was incredible!"

"I think the best part was when I not-so-accidentally struck Koshing square in the face with a ton of sand" Aonu declared, with a proud smirk, prompting most the people sitting around the fire to laugh with abandon.

Despite they had been defeated thoroughly by Azula and Sokka earlier, Kori and Sneers held no grudge against them, sitting by the fire alongside the Princess and her gladiator. The Sentinel Knight had almost been one of their casualties too, but he had been clever enough to get himself and his sponsor out of their way instead of fighting a battle he knew he wouldn't win, and they had no choice but to fight Aonu and Renzhi instead. They had been defeated, but not so badly that they couldn't finish the race on their own merits. Right now they were sitting with the group too, everyone laughing, eating and drinking together, as though none of them had been rivals in the Race merely a few hours ago.

"And to think Renzhi has finally beaten me…" Sokka sighed dramatically, and the tall firebender laughed carelessly "Guess it is true what they say, eh? Third time's the charm?"

"Yeah, I don't think this counts" Aonu said, smiling and shaking his head "We didn't fight you guys directly. And for good reason"

"Tell me about it" said Kori, shaking her head despite she grinned too.

"Heh, see, even if we got second place, everyone knows the truth, right, Azula?" Sokka said, proudly "We're the best team around here, results not-withstanding!"

"Guess we'll see about that tomorrow, Blue Wolf!" said Renzhi, smirking defiantly.

"You sure will!" Sokka announced, wrapping an arm around Azula's shoulders and startling her by the gesture "We're off to win the next stage, come what may!"

"And here I thought you were the one who insisted on taking the race easy…" Azula said, smirking in disbelief at him "I guess you've reconsidered that stance?"

"W-well… a little bit" Sokka admitted, prompting everyone else to laugh "Come on, though! I talked with those staff members, they say we're tied in the standings with Toph and Iroh, and these two are right behind us too! So, you know, if we take first place in the next stage that means…!"

"Absolute victory" Azula finished, closing her eyes as she smiled dreamily "Ah, sounds like a plan…"

"Oh, that's not fair! I'm sure others still stand a chance!" Ty Lee said, turning to her husband "Haru, we can beat them in the next stage, right? We totally can!"

"Oh, I'm so tired, Ty Lee…"

"But Haru…!"

The laughter of their group seemed to echo through the mostly silent evening: the other bonfires weren't as upbeat, and the staff members were busy, whether tending to wounds or preparing meals for the next day. A quiet, sometimes even somber area in the western Earth Kingdom, was alight with laughter and fun because of that one group, that single cheerful bonfire that lit up the night with upstanding enthusiasm for whatever challenges they'd face in the next, final stage of the Gladiator and Sponsor Race.

Distracted as they were, so comfortable and safe, none of them could tell they were being watched. A pair of eyes, concealed by the darkness within the woods, studied the group intently, too far away to understand their words, but close enough to hear the laughter, to witness the genuine happiness across most faces. Across the face of the young woman with the familiar, golden hairpiece, most of all.

Sitting in the shadows for the better part of an hour, resting her weary feet, all she could focus on was watching them. So entranced she was, she hardly heard the sound of boots upon the soil until they were behind her, as they snapped twigs with their steps.

She didn't know who had followed her. She had an inkling it was him, for it always was… but maybe it was someone else this time. Maybe she would be captured by someone who would mean her harm. Maybe it would be those strange tribespeople: she didn't care either way. She had been a prisoner long enough as it was, changing captors hardly would make a difference at this point…

"You weren't quite so easy to find this time around"

It was him. Same captors as always, then.

"You still tracked me down" she answered, her voice soulful and deep. She heard him crouch down to her level, but she didn't care to tear her eyes away from the scene to acknowledge him.

"Why are you here?" he asked "Why would you travel so far, and away from the Swamp instead of towards it? You'd never done that before"

"My dream… told me to" was her answer.

"You know those dreams are induced by the Swamp. You know they're not real"

"You're right. They aren't. But my dream said I would find her here"

That, at last, silenced him. And that enabled her to focus again, to study the group, to try to unravel who that elegant, proud woman in the golden armor might be…

Her companion's silence wasn't merely out of respect for her needs or her ventures. No, he had risen to his feet again, lips parting as he finally dared pay attention to the scene before him:

Sokka.

That was Sokka, and he looked twice as muscular and strong as he had on the last training day they had shared in Shu Jing. His armor was different from the one he had been given to wear for his first fights, and it seemed he carried one more sword on his back – he had taken up dual jian swords, then? A development not all that surprising, coming from him…

But the truly staggering change was the expression on his face. Even at a distance, he was clearly happy. He could even seem to be at peace, to a fault… and he had an arm draped around the gold-armor-clad shoulders of a Princess whose expression wasn't much different from her gladiator's.

Oh, Piandao had heard rumors, countless rumors, so many contradictory ones that he had decided they were likely inflated rubbish. But deep down he had hoped the complicated, conflict-prone partnership between Azula and Sokka would find a proper rhythm in time, until they could be a full-fledged team. Until Sokka could open Azula's eyes to the reality of the world, teach her nothing was quite as simple and blunt as her father had taught her.

Yet Jeong Jeong insisted Sokka had been corrupted by her. Iroh reported that Azula's actions were all self-serving, even when they benefited others. Everyone believed his hopes on the gladiator had been misplaced…

And yet they weren't. He could see it now, with his own eyes, as Sokka turned his head, smiling upon listening to something Azula was whispering only for him to hear: they laughed together afterwards, with the warmth only friends might… or more than friends. Oh, Piandao had always known two young people with such passionate spirits could easily be drawn to each other romantically, but both were too smart, too strategic, to commit a blunder they wouldn't be able to take back… or were they?

"It makes no sense"

If that feminine voice hadn't interrupted his thoughts, he would have lingered there for hours on end, hoping to see more, to properly discern how the relationship between the Princess and her gladiator had grown and changed after he had left them to their own devices. If only he'd had a choice, if only he could have stayed a little longer, kept a closer watch on them, even at a distance…

But the reason he had left was hugging her knees to her chest, right beside him. And just one look at her pale, sunken face, topped by matted, unkempt hair, was enough to remind him that the love life of his former student was hardly more important than this. Than her.

"What doesn't make sense?" he asked, kneeling beside her once again.

"She had… she had blood-soaked hands. She was angry, and sad, but she laughed. And she had killed… killed them. Her brother. Her father. I thought maybe she had come for me, too…"

"Truly? A swamp dream showed you that?" Piandao asked, worried.

"When I woke, I knew it wasn't real. No matter how bad her misbehavior, she never would have… her father? Never, no, never…"

"And how could such a dream ever bring you here?" Piandao said, his confusion increasing with every new element of the retelling of the dream.

"When I was coming to my senses… the only thought in my mind was to travel north. I obeyed it"

"Did you tell Jeong Jeong about this?"

"That I needed to travel north for my dream? Yes"

"Did he ask you to return after you had found what you sought?"

"He never does"

Piandao breathed deeply, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. All through the conversation, she hadn't torn her eyes away from the scene before them. Emotion had broken through as she explained the dream, but she was back to her dazed entrancement. That was her usual state whenever the Swamp got to her.

"Is this place as spiritual as the Swamp is?" she asked, and Piandao shook his head.

"This forest is too far away for the Swamp's effects to reach it" he said.

"Then that means… that what I'm seeing is real?" she asked "This time… not like in the Swamp. Not like Zuko, or Ozai… this is real?"

"Yes. This is real"

"It can't be"

"Ursa…"

"That's not my daughter"

Piandao's heart clenched upon hearing those words. He raised his head again, but found no harshness in Ursa's face, only melancholy.

"She is… she is a child" she continued, her body shivering "She is still in school…"

"We've talked about this, Ursa, you're mistaking the visions with reality…"

"She was a child in my dream too, Zuko is always a child, she couldn't be older than he is…"

"Zuko is no longer a child either, Ursa. Zuko is…"

"No. They are… they are my children. They are young, and I should… I should go to them. I should be with them" she said, and once again, her emotions seemed to crack through the surface: tears ever spilled from her eyes, most of all in days when she was more in touch with a reality she refused to face "I should have been with them all along. I wasn't a good mother to her, I was so bad the Swamp wouldn't let me dream of her, not once in all these years, not until last night, but surely now it has forgiven me? Else… I wouldn't have dreamt what I did. I wouldn't have seen her. But this… that can't be her. That can't be…"

"What if she had found another life, over the course of the last years?" Piandao asked. She only shook her head powerfully, as though refusing to face that time had indeed passed… "What if she had found new purposes… what if she had grown to become someone that would make you proud?"

"She is a child, she is a child, she is my child, my daughter, and I… I couldn't even see her, I can't see her still, because that can't be her, that can't be, that can't be…"

Piandao sighed. Sometimes it would be so easy to speak with Ursa, to see the depth, the cleverness of a woman who had once stood side by side with the prince who had become the most powerful man in the world… and sometimes she would shut down, closing in around herself just to ease her own pain. Just to chase away the fears, the knowledge that the world had moved on without her, that perhaps the people she needed most desperately no longer needed her.

Whether she suffered of an ailment of any sort, Piandao didn't know. But what troubled her was reasonable enough, even rationally understandable: she suffered, just as anyone in her place would suffer. It only bothered him that he couldn't do more to ease her pain, however hard as he had tried across the past years.

Ursa had stopped repeating reassuring words, falling silent before raising her head again: the bonfire group seemed to be breaking up now, as everyone said their farewells and good nights. All the young women in the group seemed to flock towards the one in the golden armor, most of them saying goodbye politely, though one of them, clad in pink, offered her a tight hug before running off with a young man in green clothes.

And all the while, that tall foreigner stood beside her. Now that they were alone, they seemed to smile at each other again, a stolen moment with no witnesses… none but those who remained hidden in the shadows. Who was he? Without knowing anything about them, about that woman she had rejected but still felt drawn to, Ursa couldn't help but think they looked just right together, much as a young noblewoman had once been the perfect match for an arrogant Prince…

"Ursa…" Piandao said, breathing deeply and reaching to take her chin into his hand. She was unwilling to meet his eyes at first, but she relented after a moment "Let's go back. You've seen enough"

"I… I guess so" she whispered "I'm tired"

"Then I'll carry you" he said, with a small smile.

She always had allowed him to hoist her on his back, on their way back to the fortress, with his hands firm under her knees as he held her in a piggy-back ride. Her arms would lock around his neck, and her head would rest on his shoulder. There were few moments of closeness between them, none of which meant anything to her, while they meant so much more to him than he could ever tell her. Her heart still yearned for a past that was long beyond her reach, that she would never be able to reclaim, not even if the world were steered right once again in the coming years. She wasn't his to want, and she never would be. His affection for her ran deep, and that was how it would stay: hidden, far from the surface, tormenting his soul alone while no one else could see it. It wasn't his place to ask for more.

He ventured one final glance towards the bonfire to find it was empty now: Sokka and Azula had taken off together, and surely they were in their respective tents by now. He knew better than to bring up his beliefs about the young man to Jeong Jeong once again… but he had known Azula ever since she was a child. She had been feisty, authoritarian, as intelligent as her mother and as stubborn as her father. When he had met her again as a young woman, so many years later, she had appeared sharper, as though polished into a deadly weapon, no longer as naïve as she had once been. Now, though, it would have been impossible to associate the beautiful young woman with every preconceived notion he had of her. She had seemed free, blissfully so, just as much as her partner and gladiator was… And that was a good thing, Piandao decided, smiling despite himself. If the Princess and Sokka could change the world for the better, just as he had always hoped they might, his conscience would be clear.

"Ready?" he asked, and Ursa nodded, arms tight around his neck as she tucked her face away in his shoulder.

She would likely sleep, then, perhaps hoping to dream of Azula again once they were within the Swamp's area of influence. For one so confused by reality, it was often perplexing how she relied on the Swamp's disturbing dreams to appease her mind. Dreaming of her young daughter committing heinous crimes had afflicted her, and yet it hadn't fazed her enough: she would stop at nothing for another glimpse of that young child once again. She had tried to find Azula's image in the Swamp for years and failed… until last night.

Perhaps it had only worked because the real Azula had been near the Swamp too, Piandao reasoned. Perhaps, in some strange way, their dreams had linked, offering them their worst fears as well as what they longed for most. Perhaps their minds had connected across distance, if just for a brief night…

It was only a shame their dreams about each other would be dark and unsettling, or at least, Ursa's had been. What she had seen about her daughter had been terrible, terrifying… and yet such was Ursa's despair for connecting with her daughter that she had clung to that image, keeping Azula's young face in her mind's eye, still crying, still angry, still laughing at the cruelty of her own actions…

Piandao glanced over his shoulder when he sensed his companion's grip around his neck had weakened: she had fallen asleep, as ever. He took a deep breath but shook his head as he continued to trek forward. Whatever dream she might have now, he would prefer to debate its contents with her in the safety of the fortress.

Piandao distanced himself from his apprentice, and Ursa from her daughter, with every step he took. But as much as common sense suggested otherwise, Piandao was convinced, somehow, that this wouldn't be the last time he would see either the Princess or her faithful gladiator.