Chapter 52

When Azula had asked the Water tribe man to allow her to help, as earnest as she'd been she was surprised by his answer. He had ordered one of the guards outside of her room to follow them at first to bend the tunnel opening and then to run to find Zuko and the others to tell them where to look. Despite his better judgment, he was apparently trusting her not to kill him and escape. The fact that she probably could have escaped her stone prison if she'd wanted to bad enough must not have gone as unnoticed as she'd initially thought.

Now, leading him down the tunnel she believed the Dai Lee were most likely to use, Azula knew she had to use this opportunity to prove herself. If she made one wrong move they'd believe it was on purpose because she was working with the rogue earthbenders. She hoped she'd have better control of her bending then she'd had in recent weeks.

Approaching what she knew to be a side chamber, Azula held up her hands for Sokka to stop. She was more thankful than ever for taking time to memorize the tunnel map she'd been given by Long Feng the last time she was here. There were voices coming from the doorway they crouched behind. They seemed to be arguing about what to do with the baby who was quite distressed by the sound of it.

Sokka tapped her shoulder, holding up four, then five fingers as he frowned. He appeared to be listening intently, counting the number of agents there might be. Damn, at her best she could have taken them by herself. As it was, she doubted this would have a good outcome. Suddenly Sokka was extremely close to her, his mouth by her ear. Azula stiffened at the overwhelming physical contact, his chest pressed against her back and his hand gripping her shoulder. She held back a shudder as his breath ghosted across her cheek as he spoke.

"I doubt we can take all of them alone. The others know where to look for us, we just need to make sure they don't get out of the city before they get here."

Swallowing thickly, Azula nodded.

"We should wait, let them make the first move. I doubt they will harm Kya. They need her alive."

Behind her, Sokka tensed.

"I worry about what they'll do to stop her crying. They better not hurt her…"

Conversation over for the time being, Sokka moved away from her and to crouch back against the wall. Letting out the breath she'd been holding, Azula settled in for a wait, glancing nervously at her partner. She had never been that close to a male she wasn't related to or was trying to kill and she was unsettled by how it had felt. For a Water Tribe peasant, he was surprisingly warm.

Kya's cries continued, upsetting Azula more than she had expected. As the minutes ticked by, the cries and arguments continuing, her anxiety rose. How much longer would it take for Zuko and Katara to get there? When would the Dai Lee make their move? Surely they wouldn't wait around much longer.

Her questions were answered when one agent spoke over the baby.

"We can't wait any longer. Every minute we sit here we risk discovery. It's only a matter of time before that blind girl feels us out, they have probably been captured. We must leave while we still can."

"But Wei Lin, if they're captured, won't Ozai punish…"

The rest was mumbled and unintelligible from where they sat but the gist was clear. Sokka drew his boomerang and Azula tensed for the fight. Kya hadn't stopped screaming yet but the sound of shuffling feet told them the Dai Lee agents were on the move. Azula took a deep breath and locked her gaze on the opening in the cavern wall, igniting a small blue flame in her hand.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zuko and Sokka had been gone for what felt like ages. More than an hour had passed since her husband and brother had stormed out and she was growing increasingly frantic. She had been able to heal Sitka, her friend had woken terrified and devastated. Clinging to her husband and sobbing into her sons hair, Sitka told them what had happened.

Six men Katara determined to be Dai Lee based on Sitka's description had burst through the front door. She had tried valiantly to hold them off, both screaming babies behind her, but it had been six on one. They never told her what they wanted, only attacking relentlessly until they'd succeeded in knocking her unconscious. All told it had taken only scant minutes but Sitka thought she had injured one of them.

Pacing the floor of the small apartment, Katara's panic was threatening to consume her. She had no idea where Zuko and Sokka had gone and all she wanted was to find her baby. Toph could find the nearest underground tunnel and they could start searching. Neither of them had any idea how extensive the Dai Lee'secreat maze was or how long it might take to search but waiting here was doing her in.

"He's back. Sokka's not with him though."

Katara spun towards the door at Toph's words and flew into her husband's arms almost before he'd crossed the threshold. More tears fell from her eyes as she told him what Sitka had recalled.

"It was the Dai Lee. Zuko, where were you?" She pulled back and smacked his chest in frustration. "We have to check the tunnels and…"

Zuko grabbed her hand in his and spoke in as reassuring a voice as he could manage.

"I went to speak to my sister. I thought she might have had something to do with it. She said she didn't, but I know it was the Dai Lee, Katara. Azula said it's likely a few agents survived the White Lotus's purge and hid in the tunnels. They are probably working for my father now."

General Iroh came through the doorway just then, his face a mask of fury.

"My brother has stolen my grandaughter. Do not worry Katara, we will find her."

Katara looked around the older man and then back to Zuko.

"Where is my brother? Didn't he go with you Zuko?"

He frowned and looked over his shoulder and out the door. "I thought he was behind me. The streets are still crowded… I'm sure he'll be along." Zuko shrugged and turned to Toph. "Can you find the nearest tunnels Toph? We need to start searching right away. If they're working for my father we don't have much time. There should be tunnels that lead out of the city."

Toph nodded and made her way out and into the street. Standing to the side so as not to be trampled, she closed her eyes and focused. Katara watched, impatient to begin searching, Zuko taking her hand in his. They said nothing, neither having the words to fill the tense moments. It took several minutes and a walk around the apartment building but a loud rumble signaled that Toph had found a tunnel. Before they could make it around to the far side of the building, shouting and more rumbles told them the tunnel hadn't been empty.

Katara didn't hesitate to leap down into the now open passage to join her friend. Two Dai Lee agents fought to hold their own against the blind bandit. A third lay a few meters up the tunnel, unconscious or worse. Judging from the large dark stain beneath him, he was dead. Feeling her anger overwhelm her, Katara tried to reach for the blood of the man nearest her but was thrown back by a barrage of stone. Zuko had leapt down as well and stone shattered against powerful bursts of flame. Now outnumbered, the two Dai Lee agents tried to flee but were too slow for Toph. When they stumbled over suddenly uneven ground, Katara pulled them back to kneel awkwardly before her. Both men wore matching looks horror at the feeling of complete loss of control of their own bodies. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she should feel guilty for bloodbending so much recently but the feeling passed almost instantly. These men had taken her baby and Katara was not so forgiving as other people she had known.

Baring her teeth in a furious snarl, Katara demanded answers.

"Where is my daughter? Kya, where did you take her?"

Neither man made any move to talk, their fear at her power over them not out weighing their loyalty to their master. Incensed at their silence, Katara pulled harder, restricting blood flow and inflicting pain. She might be horrified by her actions later but for now she wanted them to feel everything she did to them.

They groaned in pain but still did not speak. Zuko didn't seem to be moving where he stood beside her, but she noticed smoke begin to rise up from where the two Dai Lee men knelt. He had ignited the cloth of their pants, the thin material smoldering slowly up their legs, burning the flesh beneath as it went. It was taking immense concentration and she could see the effect it was having on the men before her. Sweat poured down their brows and their faces contorted in pain.

"T.. they.. AHH! They won't l...l..leave w..without us."

The other man somehow roused enough at his partners stammered words to remember who they were.

"Don't tell them..Hhha... Hhngh.. Mmmm… Don't.. We are D..Dai Lee, we d… d.. don't break."

Iroh, now beside her as well, moved to tower over them.

"I know my brother, Fire Lord Ozai is the one pulling your strings. We know it is to him you plan to take her. If the others are still in the city, where are they hiding? It is in your best interest to tell us what you know. My brother will not be on his throne much longer, if you help us you may outlive him."

Katara felt herself growing close to the limit of her control. Thoughts of what Ozai would do to her precious baby if he got his hands on her made her feel more desperate and dangerous with each passing second.

The man that had spoken first looked to the other from the corner of his eye, indecision plain on his face. Whatever he saw there only firmed his resolve however and he kept his silence. The flames on their clothing jumped and they screamed as their flesh burned. Katara dropped her arms and turned from them, shoulder to shoulder with Zuko as he watched the men who had stolen their daughter die. Toph bent herself and Iroh out of the tunnel but Katara and Zuko stayed. Eyes burning from the smoke and the stench, Katara gripped her husband's hand.

When he turned from the wretched sight, Zuko's face was wet but his jaw was set. She knew they would both have to deal with the fallout of what they had just done, but first they had to find their daughter. He cupped her cheek and a look of understanding passed between them before he pressed his forehead to hers. A tear slid free as she gripped the front of his now filthy tunic.

They had to find Kya, they had to save their daughter from Ozai no matter what it cost them.

A shout broke them from their reverie and they looked up to see a palace guard leaning over the edge of the tunnel entrance. Katara thought he looked familiar but didn't know where from.

"Prince Zuko, Master Katara's brother sent me. He took your sister and went into the tunnels. He sent me to tell you they know where to go. Your sister said she knew the general layout of the tunnels and which was likely to be used by the kidnappers. Come…"

The guard bent the ground beneath their feet up and out until they stood beside him. Katara was confused and furious. What was her brother thinking? How did he know she wasn't leading him into a trap?

"What do you mean Sokka took Azula? You were supposed to be keeping her in her cell!" Zuko had advanced on the man, his control well and truly destroyed. "She might be behind the abduction to start with! What kind of incompatant fools let their prisoner walk out of their cell?"

"Nephew." Iroh lay a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Did you hear what he said? Your sister believes she knows where to find Kya. Perhaps she wanted to help? It might be difficult to believe, but if Sokka trusted her enough to give her the chance, perhaps we should as well."

Katara and Zuko turned to the older man, matching looks of incredulity the general would have found amusing under different circumstances. He turned to the guard.

"Where is this tunnel? Can you take us to it?"

The guard nodded rapidly and turned and headed towards a main road that led to the last inner wall. They followed, worry and anger for Sokka compounding their existing fears. Katara prayed, as they leaped down into another tunnel the guard had opened for them, that her brother knew what he was doing.