Give Unto Me

Last time:

"Very well, tell me this information and we will see if it makes up for all your past mistakes." Ceres fought back a smirk, this was all too easy. The girl was close to her. Even the dead Fire Lady knew it would be strange for anyone to be up with the Fire Lord until they were the current Fire Lady. So the dead woman could only stand at the base of the stairs, out of the way and close to Ceres.

"Ceres . . . . is here." Zuko raised his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Standing up to her full height, she dropped the disguise. That's when all hell broke loose.

Zuko reacted fast, sending a fiery punch towards Ceres. The demon moved to the side and dodged the blast of fire. The soldiers that had been in the throne room raced forward, throwing flames at her. But with skill, Ceres flipped and twisted about, dodging the fire. Several of the soldiers ran forward, weapons held high. However, Ceres dropped down and spun around, kicking the feet out from under the soldiers.

"Ceres is here!" A soldier shouted, causing more shouts to be head.

"Get more soldiers to come!"

"Remember, it's weak against fire!" More soldiers ran into the room as news of her arrive was spread through the palace quickly.

"Pathetic mortals!" Ceres laughed as she bent backwards and dodged a spear. She grabbed hold of the spear and kicked the soldier back, into the war with a sickening crack from his ribs. She twirled the spear and stuck it into the ground to give her leverage as she flipped over soldiers and kicked them in the back, sending them flying forward. The demon ducked under another fire ball from Zuko and ran towards Katara. Zuko slammed his foot onto the ground in a old stance, causing the demon to stop in surprise in her run. That pause was enough for 'Katara' to run and get behind a pillar. Ceres stared at Zuko in shock. It couldn't be.

'That stance!' While she had been fighting his soldiers, he had begun to grab hold of the flames that surrounded the throne. The prince slowly twisted his foot in front of him sideways. Zuko held his hands out to the side and took a deep breath. He moved his hands back slightly and breathed out, pushing his hands out. A large wave of flame sprung forth, towering over Ceres. Leila forced Katara's body to flatten itself against the pillar and she silently prayed that Zuko wouldn't lose control of the flames. The soldiers that had been fighting backed up in surprise at the display of power Zuko was giving. The ancient body thief let out an ear piercing scream as the flames wrapped around her. Ceres fell to the floor and withered in pain.

"Get out of here!" Zuko yelled as Ceres began to stand up once more.

". . . my body . . . !" She gasped as she tentatively touched her torched and blistered skin. She hissed in pain and looked down, a pool of blood forming below her. It served as a mirror. Ceres felt her eyes widen as she looked in horror at her face. "My beautiful body!" She turned as she saw Katara's body, controlled by Leila, staring to the doors as more soldiers came in. They had come to protect their prince and stop Ceres. The ones that had backed away as Zuko displayed his power were coming towards her, slowly, still scared of her.

"Get it while it's weak!" A soldier yelled, only to choke as Ceres grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. She threw him to the side with ease. He clothes were burnt into her skin, the metal chain the held her crystal dagger embedded in her burned skin. There were still small flames at the tips of her charred robe.

"MY BODY!" Ceres roared, livid, as she glared at everything that moved. "HOW DARE YOU!" More soldiers had come in and all of the Fire Nation soldiers were advancing on her. She grabbed another soldier and them him to the side. Glaring through blistered skin, Ceres waved its hand and the soldiers were thrown back against the wall. She dashed forward and grabbed Katara. Zuko ran forward but a wave from Ceres's hand sent him flying back into the throne.

"KATARA!" Zuko grabbed his side as pain rocketed through his body. "Take me instead!" He pleaded but to no avail.

"I was going to kill you quickly," Ceres laughed at Zuko while Katara struggled in her grasp. "But now you've made me mad!" He watched the shadowy form emerge from Ceres and the woman fall to the floor as the shadow entered Katara.

"KATARA!" Zuko yelled as Katara's eyes widened. Shaky hands reached up and clashed around her throat, as if she was choking. Katara began to whimper in pain before her body slackened. It looked as if she was being held up by a few strings, like a puppet. Her head hung while Zuko winced as he stood up while Aang, Sokka, and Iroh ran into the room. Slowly the girl's body began to move. Her shoulders shook slightly. Everyone watched in horror as her voice filled the air in laughter. ". . . no." She looked up at Zuko and smirked as she knelt down to the body in front of her and yanked off the crystal dagger. Standing up, she fastened the crystal dagger around her neck.

"Yes." She hissed with delight. "Yes, this beautiful new body is all mine!" She hugged herself as she spoke. Her eyes narrowed and she rolled to the side, avoiding a rock being flung at her from behind. The Avatar stood tall as he stared down the demon.

"Give us back Katara." His tone was demanding.

"Why? Why would I give up such a beautiful body?"

"Because it's Katara's!" Aang watched as Katara, now Ceres, dropped into a fighting stance.

"Her body belongs to me. Her soul is going to wither away into nothing." She smirked. "And there isn't anything you can do about it, Avatar." Aang stomped his foot and raised a rock from the ground. He shoved his hands forward and the rock flew towards Ceres. She flipped over it and landed, only to dodge a wave of fire from Aang. Iroh was at Zuko's side and Sokka stood back with the soldiers, watching at Ceres fought Aang. There was nothing they could do. Ceres slammed her fist into the ground, creating a large crack that went towards Aang. The young avatar jumped to the side only to be punched in the stomach by Ceres. The demonic Katara dropped down and kicked his feet out from under him. Aang felt the wind get knocked out of him as he landed with a thud on the ground. He barely had time to roll to the side and avoid Ceres's heel from crashing down on his head. There was a large dent in the rock from the force she put into the stomp. Aang was up on his feet and sending waves of fire towards Ceres. Ceres growled as she rolled to the side, dodging the flames.

"We need to get some water in here!" Sokka told the guards who nodded and ran to get water so that the Avatar would have all the elements at his disposal. Ceres smirked and raced towards Aang who flipped up, over Ceres and kicked her in the back like she had done to the soldier earlier. Aang caught the jugs of water being carried into the room out of the corner of his eye. Shifting his weight through the stances, he created a wave and soaked the demon with it. He quickly froze the water. Ceres grunted in anger before shattering the ice with her immense strength.

"Do you really think you can defeat me. Every time you hurt me, you hurt Katara." She had to stall for time. It was foolish of her to try and fight the Avatar so soon after she just took the body. It was having trouble keeping up with her speed and using her strength. The more time she had, the more likely it was that she could win.

"I know. But Katara will understand when she gets her body back." Aang did not look away, though he wanted to. Ceres grinned.

"Then you should know that I'm not going to let go of her body. It's mine."

"No it's not!" Aang argued.

"You'll have to kill me, Avatar. That's the only way to get rid of me. For hundreds of years I've been switching bodies. The last body I was in belonged to some noblewoman. I didn't know it at the time, but it was the Avatar's girlfriend! Imagine my surprise. He was so in love he couldn't bring himself to even scar me." Aang narrowed his eyes. Why was she telling him this? "Don't you see, stealing bodies and eating their souls, it's what I do. And I don't plan on stopping." She smirked as she glanced back at Zuko. "You know, that move you did to my old body, that was impressive. Not many can get it right and control the flames long enough. Not even your father could damage my former body." She laughed as she dodged a fiery blast from Aang. That was too close. She couldn't take her eyes off Aang again.

"Killing isn't something to be proud of." Ceres smirked cruelly at the young monk.

"Oh? Well, it wasn't something that I would bother with really, but Zhao wanted power and he did give me passage on his ship. I owed him one." She disappeared in a blur and reappeared up in the air in front of Aang and aimed a kick for his head. Aang flipped back and narrowly avoided the bone shattering kick. Ceres mentally frowned. She was still too slow. "He'd still be here, if he hadn't tried to stab me in the back, literally." She smirked again. "But with this new, younger body, I won't have to be so careful with it." She laughed as she and Aang circled, not wanting to turn their backs to each other and trying to find some weak point. "You wouldn't believe how I have to be careful with the bodies. After all, there's only so much any body can take."

"Then take mine!" Zuko pleaded but she smirked and kept her eyes on the Avatar. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, even for a second. That's all it would take for him to come in a destroy her.

"You've been scarred! Why would I want a scarred body when I have a beautiful body like Katara's?" She would have said more but Zuko's voice stopped her cold in her tracks.

"Then I'll make you take mine." She spun around, surprised at how close he had gotten so quickly. It was then that she realized her mistake as his hands wrapped around her throat and squeezed. She coughed. She was still weak, weak enough that this human could sneak up on her and choke her. He was too close to do anything. Ceres tried to claw at his hands but they only tightened in their grip. "I'm strong than Katara! I'm the monster! Take the body that would best suit you! Take the hideous body that reflects you!" She coughed and gasped as his grip left bruises on her neck. "Take the body with the hideous face!" Ceres felt her vision begin to fade and gave into his demands. A shadow began to emerge from Katara's body. It rose up in the air and was about to enter Zuko's when he was pushed aside with Katara still in his grip. A scream pierced through the room as Ceres looked down at her old body once more. The burns were too much. The pain was new all over again. Ceres looked up just in time to see a huge flame coming towards her. She opened her mouth to scream again but the fire silenced her. The heat was so painful. Zuko shielded Katara with his own body from the heat. The charred corpse of Ceres fell to the ground with its mouth open in a silent scream. Once the corpse hit the ground, a wave of water doused the fires and cooled the room. Aang fell back, onto his butt as he panted from the great use of his power. Zuko sat up, holding Katara in his lap and ripped off the crystal dagger throwing it to the side as he listened to the soft sound of Katara breathing. The crystal dagger clatter to the side and under the raised foot of Brenda. The female admiral stomped down and crushed the crystal. Aang watched as the broken crystal faded away. Brenda looked at the others with a smirk on her face.

"Well, it looks like I missed all the fun."

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Well, I hope you like this chapter. I hope I didn't rush the fight scene, but I already knew what I wanted to happen and it didn't take up a lot when I wrote it down.