…Through Blind Eyes…
…Chapter IV…
"Turns of Endearment Pt 2"
"That worthless earthbending peasant!" skulked Zuko for the past minutes about Aang's escape among the ruins of his enemy's former campsite. There was always something in the way – always. "I had the Avatar right where I wanted him!"
Iroh exhaled a rather large sigh, already uninterested in his nephew's rants. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen Zuko like this before; the Avatar had slipped through their fingers numerous times. Yet, they trolled on. The more the prince seethed on about their adversity; the harder to simulate such fabrications subjecting intention on listening. His eyes began slipping into micro-sleep, that is, until the word 'earthbending peasant' clicked into place with 'blind girl from earlier'.
"Be careful, Prince Zuko, for she may not be what she seems," suggested Iroh wisely – contemplating about his last encounter with the girl.
"Uncle! What else does she seem like but an interfering peasant?"
"Hmm…" Iroh, evident that something was troubling him, kept his thoughts furtively to himself.
"What are you thinking, Uncle? What more can be to the girl?"
"I am thinking…" said Iroh, pausing in between, conjuring a solemn and humorless expression. For just a second, an ominous feature had occupied his entire face, then, "Noodles!" Dismissing the momentary somber look, the man replaced it with a wide joking smile.
"I don't need any noodles right now. I need the Avatar. We'd better start off after him while he's still recovering from my attacks." Abandoning his sulking attitude, Zuko lifted himself back to his feet.
"Hm? What was that?" Iroh was evidently engaged in appeasing his appetite with noodles.
"I said we'd better get moving while –"
Iroh, rarely as he ever did, set aside his bowl of noodles. "I know what you said. I heard a rustling nearby."
Just as the words left Iroh's mouth, a dagger flew toward Zuko only narrowly missing him at his left ear, perching itself onto a tree behind the prince.
"I can't let you do that Zu-zu." A figure emerged out from shadows and behind her were two others – an austere-faced girl and another with a wide grin upon her face. Snapping her fingers, Azula summoned a small blue flame at her fingertips palpably waging battle.
…………………………………………………………..
There was a peculiar sense of tranquility that night within Toph, she hadn't any trouble falling asleep and even then, she couldn't recall any experience with nightmares. Strangely enough, she slumbered quickly and comfortably. It was one of the rare times when insomnia hadn't crept up behind her. A rather eccentric thing, insomnia was, it gave the person quite a time to ponder and ruminate upon. Where better to cogitate than to be delimited in the confines of darkness when the world is in slumber? Yet, the only thing on her mind before sleep was Aang, nothing and nobody other than Aang. And as she slept serenely within her tent, the Panda Lily laid right next to the girl. Serenely, that is, before trepidation consumed her. The inevitable vibrations she had dreaded since day one of their travels had finally came upon her – the tank-train had come…and no doubt in it was Azula.
Panic overwhelmed Toph. Disturbed by the vibrations in her sleep of the tank-train, Toph earthbended the entrance away to check for herself as if some wishful thinking declared it not to be true. Unto her own "eyes", she saw steam billowing from a distance. Azula was coming…for the Avatar – for her.
"Aang! Sokka! Katara!" Toph alerted the camp in a frenzied manner, shouting in desperation that the moment had come. "We have to go! Now!"
"Five more minutes," mumbled Sokka, still fast asleep.
Katara, however, awoke up promptly. "Toph? What is it?"
"Azula! She's coming. We have to go." Toph delivered a swift kick at Sokka who, on the receiving end, woke up in a disturbed startle. "Now!"
"She can't find us here, Toph. Don't worry. Appa isn't shedding like last time. Plus, Aang still needs to recover from his last battle with Zuko." Pointing at the Avatar, Toph, herself, realized the condition Aang was in – but if they traveled, that would be a lesser evil.
They don't understand…what I've done…
"No! We have to go now!"
"Aang needs rest, Toph! He can't go anywhere!"
"He can still fly on Appa, can't he?"
"Toph, you don't understand how serious his wounds are, I healed some of the external damage but there's only so much I'm enabled to cure. That battle with Zuko took out a lot of him."
"Better than being captured by Azula."
"She can't find us! There's no way!"
"Better safe than sorry."
"Look! Just because you don't care about Aang's well-being doesn't mean that the rest of us don't."
"What! You're saying I don't care? Who was the one that predicted the incoming ambushes before they came? Me!" Sokka, who was sleeping in the midst of the spoken fight, received another swift kick on the head. "And get up, you!"
…………………………………………………………..
"The Avatar's mine, Azula!" Zuko readied his stance waiting for his sister's next assault. Narrowing his eyes in hatred for his sister, he breathed in deeply, resolving all aggression and readying his lightning attacks.
Ty Lee and Mai, following their comrade's example, arranged their postures and positions, evidently assisting Azula in the fight. That is, until Iroh came between Zuko and the two girls, smiling a toothy grin
"What? Just because I'm an old man doesn't mean I can't fight. Although, I am a bit worried that fighting will give me a stomachache as I've just had noodles." Ty Lee giggled to his statement until Mai smacked some sense into her head harshly, reminding her of the duty they had come to execute.
Azula started sidestepping in a circle, spying opportunities for an assault, and Zuko performed likewise, mirroring her steps. The two circled one another until Azula shook her head, chuckling.
"Zu-zu, you're so foolish. Father's embarrassed of you – even if you did capture the Avatar, you would still be banished – you are a failure in his eyes. In fact, the whole family believes you're a disgrace to the Fire Nation."
"That's not true. You always lie. Azula always lies," replied Zuko mechanically. Gritting his teeth assertively and clenching in his fist, the prince delivered several flamed strikes with his fists at Azula. Although, to no avail, his sister simply side-flipped and cart-wheeled out of the way effortlessly. In midair, she shot a range lightning. Zuko, rolling toward the left, evaded her attack.
Precise at her target, Azula subsequently generated sparks of lightning on her left fingertips which promptly shot out to Zuko. Countering with his own personal voltage, the resulting was an explosion. Azula sprinted through the smoke at her brother, making swift electrified melee strikes at his head.
"What is she doing? Azula never rushes into close-ranged combat like that when she has range against me." Zuko contemplated at what his sister was planning, although half-distracted from the incoming fists.
Weaving and dodging the attacks, Zuko acquired no opportunity to reverse to offense as the wave of relentless attacks proceeded against his favor.
Finally, an opportunity opened and Zuko initiated a speedy fire-bended blow unto Azula's right arm who was sent flying backwards feet away her original position. The fire prince smirked; today was the day where he finally would outmatch his sister. After years of determined efforts in arduous training, it all built up to this – he who was born with nothing would vanquish and kill his fire-bending prodigy of a sister.
Who was the disgrace to the Fire Nation now…?
Instantly rebounding to her feet, Azula dished out an upsurge of barrages of electrical melee than previously before, enraged at the damage Zuko had done.
Actually, the damage that Zuko had done was trivial, a mere scratch perhaps. It was Azula's self-esteem that had taken more beating – after all her talk, she was the first to receive the blow.
Still eluding and sidestepping every attack, the prince ensued another possible exposure of weakness. It, backfired, however, as each assault that he evaded, unconsciously triggered a backing movement. And with each back-step, Zuko came closer to a boulder, which he had finally collided into. Azula, smiling a devilish grin at his misfortune, laid electrified strikes after strikes aiming for Zuko's head.
The two arms, however, were caught at the wrist, restricting movement from a gaping Azula. Her plan was countered. Turning his disadvantage to his advantage, the prince blew a breath the intensity of white fire into Azula's face, scalding her for enough time so that Zuko could manage to sprint past his adversary.
"Come on, I'm just an old man." Iroh sighed, effortlessly evading four daggers thrown at him. Decades of experience had taught the man much, one of which was eluding sharply aimed, high-speed arrows.
"Ah so that girl is mainly a ranged fighter," thought Iroh, assessing his situation.
Ty Lee rushed into melee, swiftly delivering her chi-strikes at the arm. Iroh, even hastier, caught the wrist whilst using his other hand to negate a kick from Mai.
"And this one is a close combat warrior. They are quite a formidable team together."
Swinging his momentum around, Iroh's arm whirled a 180 carrying the girl with it. Ty Lee, staggering back up to her feet, assaulted another chi-point, but Iroh purposely late caught the wrist right after he saw where the girl was targeting.
"I see. She is trying to use my own pressure points against me. If her attack, had they made impact, my right arm would be useless and limp. She is quite a dangerous foe."
A brilliant smile came upon the old man's face as he let go of the wrist. A bulb had brightened in his mind, formulating a plan. As expected of Ty Lee, the acrobat dished out relentless flurry of pressure-point strikes as Iroh continued to smoothly dodge them, observing the attacks that were carried out.
"To defeat my opponent, I must first know my opponent. Very good."
Iroh suddenly sprinted toward the ranged fighter who was chucking waves and waves of daggers toward the man.
"If she is specialized in ranged-fighting, she must not be as competent in close-combat. And the other, specialized in pressure-point close combat will not be able to attack and thusly must follow me."
All, though, was hastily deflected by a whirlwind of fire-bending. Ty Lee hurriedly trailed behind the man.
"As a ranged dagger-throwing fighter, this girl will be useless with limp arms," reflected Iroh as his firebending shields annulled Mai's thrown weapons.
Iroh caught the acrobat's wrist, who had finally caught up, as she motioned another strike. Subsequently, the man thrusted the girl's fingertips onto Mai's pressure points, disabling her arms.
Ty Lee, gaping in astonishment, allowed Iroh to promptly deliver a firebending blow straight into Mai's stomach, knocking her unconscious as she flew backwards.
Still gripping his opponent's right wrist, Iroh impacted the fingertips toward Ty Lee's own left arm pressure point then the right arm's. The old man smiled as he saw a bewildered reaction to the two limp arms. Finalizing the job with a fire-bended blow to the stomach once more, Iroh covered his own stomach with his hands.
"Ooh…my own stomach does not feel very well. I knew I should not have fought directly after eating noodles."
A dash of electricity whipped past Zuko's head, narrowly missing him. Subsequently, consecutive bolts followed its example and likewise, the prince eluded them. The entire match was a showdown of lightning; who could elude the other's assault as barrages from both Azula and Zuko hurtled toward the other. That is, until both of them fired their shots congruently in unison. Then, the match would entirely reverse into a fight of stamina and strength; who could out-power or outlast the other as a stalemate of fire transpired.
Beads of sweat slowly seeped down Zuko's face. The prince already knew he could last so much longer. Yet, as always, Zuko pushed himself forward with an unwavering resolution to overcome his sister; he wouldn't give up without a fight. He had always relied solely upon purpose and willpower to subdue his adversary; these circumstances were of no exception – he would win.
There was much that was taking place within Azula's mind; she acknowledged that against Zuko in such a situation detailing stamina and strength, there was perhaps little ways to victory. Raw skill alone would not be enough to defeat her brother in this state of affairs. Yet, as always, Azula performed what she did best – manipulation. There was no point in forestalling Zuko's victory with her physical qualities, but instead to beset her opposition with psychological warfare – she would win.
"It's amazing to think why Mother would save a worthless, pathetic life like yours," snarled Azula, whose clear intention was kept in mind. A smirk developed unto her face, taunting her brother in a spiteful fashion.
Zuko, appalled at the part of 'saving life' demanded clarification. His eyes widened to the comment. "What? Mom ran away. That's it."
"Why, you never wondered? And I thought you and her were so close."
Speechless and a bit fatigued from the standoff of lightning, Zuko only contemplated in silent words.
Azula always lies. Azula always lies. Azula always lies.
Zuko shut his eyes as if shielding himself from Azula; he knew that whatever the reason was for Ursa's sudden leaving, it was apt to be for the worse. Yet, he couldn't help but to listen in Azula's poisoned words.
"Let me tell you why, Zu-zu. Mother…Ursa, I guess, left because she was a witness, a witness of Azulon's death; she fled because she knew that her fate would be the same as Grandfather's as soon as Father caught up with her."
"That makes no sense; she didn't flee to protect me. She fled to protect herself," spat out Zuko, quickly as he could. Somehow, finding a hole in Azula's words seemed like victory itself, but the prince knew that that wouldn't be the end of the story; Azula always had something more to hurt you, telling lies to cause emotional damage or even the truth if she thought it would hurt more.
"Peace of mind is the key. Peace of mind is the key." Zuko repeated Iroh's words.
"No, she didn't flee just to protect herself. She ran off because she realized that if she had stayed for a certain death, you would attempt to defend her. Had you done that…Zu-zu, you would have died too, but since she fled, Father had no excuse to kill you like he wants to. Why do you think Father's always been harsher to you than me? Well, besides the fact that I am a fire-bending prodigy."
--Flashback—
"Dad's going to kill you. Really, he is."
"Ha-ha, Azula. Nice try."
"This… isn't… true. You're lying!" A burst of lightning energy came forth from the prince's fingertips. Maintaining the upsurge of power, Azula's smirk grew even wider; plan obviously succeeding.
"Why would I lie to you? What's the point in lying to you? What I speak is only the truth." Her eyes flashed with malicious intent. "Go ahead, I know you want to ask the question… 'Did mother survive?' You want to know, and I have the answer."
Prince Zuko shook his head, somehow, he didn't want to know…at least not from Azula who twisted everything for her advantage. But there was no helping, he was in an impasse, struggling to overpower his opponent. Simply stopping the flow of electricity throughout his fingertips would allow Azula's assault to pass. Zuko had no choice but to listen; that was when the prince knew what he was in for.
"The element of lightning requires discipline and a peace of mind – Azula seeks to rile me, breaking my hold of lightning and causing me to lose the battle. Focus."
Things just got a lot more complicated.
"I'll tell you, Zu-zu," continued Azula by herself, seeing her strategy come into full effect by the looks of Zuko's features. "Ursa was murdered, stabbed to the death when she let her guard down. A gruesome fate, really, but I suppose that's what one gets when one crosses paths with Father."
Seeing that Zuko was speechless due to astonishment, Azula relentlessly persisted on her psychological assault determined in wrecking her brother's control.
"You know, Zu-zu, I hear from the guards who witnessed Mom's mangled and deformed corpse afterwards that the first move the assailant performed was plucking out Mother's eyes with a dagger to blind her. With no sight, the murderer then proceeded into sadistically torturing her by stabbing in her non-vital areas, not allowing Death to come swiftly for her," spoke Azula as she, herself, witnessed the grimaces from Zuko's face as the images were clearly depicted into his mind.
"And when Mother screamed in agony and in cries of help, the aggressor sliced into her tongue with the sharp steel of the blade, slowly edging into it until her yells were stifled – and it didn't stop there. The razor-sharp blade continued it's movement toward the end of the tongue until the whole thing was carved off, leaving a stump plus pools of blood in Mother's mouth."
In a sadistic style, Azula contorted her face, evidently smiling at the repulsion that Zuko had to endure – but his sister refused to cease.
"But even you might know that simply slicing off one's tongue isn't enough to stop them from making noises. The guards who were there that fateful day told me that there were vivid punctures in the neck where the dagger had cut through; they hypothesized that the murderer shoved the dagger deep down into Mother's throat when she wouldn't stay quiet. Perhaps if she was a fire-bender she would have been able to defend herself."
Gruesome pictures enveloped the prince's mind – his mother whose eyes were plucked out by a dirk, whose tongue were sliced through and removed, and whose throat received a dagger that was shoved in with all force mustered.
"Wait… 'who were there that fateful day'? 'witnessed Mom's corpse?'"
"You said that the guards were there and they witnessed what was occurring. Why didn't they stop the murderer?"
Unfaltering in her malevolent intent, Azula chuckled in her brother's attention to detail.
"Zu-zu hasn't gotten the message yet – I see, I will have to break it to him then and with that…"
"Well? You haven't answered my question. Why didn't they stop the murderer? They were there as you said – did they simply watch as my mom was killed and tormented?"
The princess's chuckle turned into a full-blown laughter of pure malevolence.
"Well? Answer me!"
"The guards couldn't help Mother, I killed them before they could help. Then, I proceeded into killing Mom. I was the one who slowly penetrated the dagger into the pupils and plucking them out. I was the one who chopped off her tongue, placing it beside her eyes . I was the one who punctured into the back of her throat. And after that, I hacked her hands through at the wrists and her feet at the ankles. Oh, you should have seen her – spilled pools of blood beside mutilated slices of body parts as her handless arms flailed replacing her screams had your dagger not been in her throat."
"You…killed…Mom?"
"And with your own dagger also, the one Iroh gifted to you," laughed Azula. "The blood that spilled upon your dagger as they pierced through the pupils of your mother is probably the most you have of her now."
--Flashback—
"Where's mom?"
"No one knows. Oh, and last night, Grandpa passed away."
"Not funny, Azula. You're sick. And I want my knife back, now."
"Who's going to make me? Mom?"
"I'll kill you myself!"
Then and there, Azula's victory was achieved – Zuko's formerly consistent flow of lightning detonated in his face with utmost energy as his aggression took over. The prince flew backwards due to an aggressed explosion which power was so intense, it knocked Azula feet backwards also. But the damage it had done to Zuko's was inequitable; the prince laid there – charred and unmoving. His energy had been expended though a seething hate for his sister consumed him. Zuko could do nothing about it, though, his body had its limits and those limits had been passed.
Casually walking up to her unconscious brother, Azula prepared a final strike without a moment's hesitation. She had no sibling-love between them; a spark of electricity was barely conjured when Iroh shouted from a distance among two other knocked-out girls.
"Don't you dare, Azula…"
"Hm?"
"Don't you dare kill my son."
"He's not your son, Uncle; he's your nephew. Your real son died tragically in battle or do you not remember?"
"Whatever you do to Zuko, I will return ten-fold back to you! I'm warning you Azula – let him go, now!."
Plainly ignoring his threats, Azula continued.
"Uncle, don't you think it's convenient that your son died in battle while my father wanted to become Fire-Lord?"
"Enough, Azula! Let him go!"
"No…I don't believe I will."
With that, Azula's sparks of electricity crackled with life as she shoved her left index and middle fingertips to Zuko's heart – the most dangerous area where electricity can hit. The prince's body jumped as if startled then remained its original state – motionless.
"You've done it now, Azula!" A blast of fire-bending hurtled toward Azula which she easily ducked under.
"Have you no shame, Azula? That you would hurt a banished prince who has been searching to regain his honor for three and a half years with such information is beyond sadistic! These things are meant to be tenderly told when he is comfortable and relaxed – not in the midst of fighting!"
"I don't do…comfortable, Uncle."
Barrages of fire-bending persisted toward Azula with a progressive pace from Iroh who hadn't even broken a sweat.
"I know of your plans, Azula, do not think that I don't – that you would make such a deal with Toph promising her that…you are evil that needs to be rid of from this world!"
"And you are an old man long past his expiration date from this world," spat out Azula as she eluded yet another fireball but even she grew wearied, especially from the previous battle and it was only expected that her elusion would fail her at some point. The girl was struck on the side by Iroh's fireball.
Iroh walked up to Zuko's sister, lying on the ground in an anemic fashion.
"Kill me, Uncle, kill me if you have the guts," she breathed, too exhausted to say anything more.
"Prince Zuko would never forgive me if I killed you myself – that revenge is his and his alone."
"Zu-zu is dead! Nobody can survive such electrical surges into the heart."
Angering Iroh, the man had to force himself not to fire-bend flames into Azula's face.
"Prince Zuko has more will and determination than you will ever have. Go, Azula…just go…"
For the Fire-Nation princess, she had no choice but to run; she had already exhausted her energy in one battle with Zuko, she could not afford to spend much more lest her wish was death.
How ironic that a sadistic girl like Azula values her own life as if she is afraid of the prospect of Death when she torments other both psychologically and physically – truly ironic.
…………………………………………………………..
Thirty minutes earlier, Katara and Toph had settled the argument, surprisingly yet to the liking of Sokka who received extra snooze time. Toph ultimately agreed into holding off all travels in best interest for Aang whose injury needed time and rest.
Under the moonlight, the girl sat silently, imagining the billows of smoke rise upwards from where Azula's tank-train's vibrations emanated from. Toph couldn't help but wonder what the fire-nation princess was doing; the train wasn't in motion coming for them, it simply held its ground.
Maybe she forgot about me…
No, no, that couldn't be it…
Then, what…
Whatever it was, Toph wasn't going to complain about it; she valued whatever time she had left because deep down inside…
It's only a matter of time until she would come and everything would be lost…
"But there were advantages right…right?" Toph tried to persuade herself to the matter.
Right.
Thanks for all the reviews with suggestions, I tried to implement all of them in this chapter or the next. And let me tell you – I had to watch Avatar episodes quite a lot to get the characters right (I hope) and the theory correct (I hope.)
Unfortunately, as you might have noticed, there was no Taang fluff here but what I did offer you was some insight into the "Who killed Azulon" with a theory.
You might have also noticed that I never revealed who killed Azulon actually, I only exposed that Ursa came across Azulon's murder and promptly, Azula killed her which still opens a lot of possibilities (but in my mind, I already know who killed Azulon and why Ursa came across his death – in the fic of course)
Props and acknowledgements to anybody who can guess who killed Azulon in this fic and why. The why part's actually pretty complicated; I have the whole thing figured out though, every single thing entwined with each other from "Zuko Alone".
Furthermore, if you really delved into the story (this and the past 3 chapters), you'll probably already know what the plot is and what's going to happen in the climax.
Props to anybody who can figure it out.
Digifreak1028 : Thanks for the compliment in your review. If you would look into my profile, I have posted the schedule for future updates there – they're pretty accurate as I work to meet the deadline.
The Blind Bandit : If it's fluff you're looking for then I hope you will be satisfied in the next upcoming chapters – thanks for the review, appreciated.
Denisen : Yay, another Taang shipper out there. salute
Xnecro : Ah, but as you might have read in this chapter, Katara doesn't know…yet – it'll be interesting and probably challenging to see how everything adds up for Katara and what her reaction will be. Any suggestions from your insightful reviews are welcome and probably used, lol.
DancingPickle101 : Oh, I'm sorry to not have made it clear: Toph is going to be used to capture the Avatar, not Zuko. Of course, if you read this chapter Zuko hasn't been captured.
Tzy : I'm glad to hear another shipper's comments! Yay for Taang. I entirely agree, there are not a lot of stories in the archive – most are one-shots too.
Likesay85 : I'm happy to hear that you think the characters are in-character as that is one of my primary focuses.
Demsa : If you don't already know, you can check my profile for future update dates. Of course, those are pretty accurate, although sometimes I deliver earlier if I feel that the chapter is at its best and refined.
Tophness : Strange, exactly what I was thinking. Of course, that is how I made it seem.
Bodandly : Thanks for the consistent reviews. I always like to know how I'm writing each chapter so as to improve future chapters to your liking.
Aheyl : Thanks! I love consistent reviews; they inspire motivation in me to continue writing at a faster pace.
Zako Lord of Randomness : Hmmm…Katara does seem motherly at the end of the last episode I watched; I would make Zutara but if only I could find an opening for it.
ReckAndCardi : I absolutely agree! Taang very cute.
MetalDragonFX : By your review, I assume you're a Zutara fan then? Forgive me if I'm wrong, lol. I am seriously considering putting Zutara in there if it propels the plot – like I said though, I can't find an opening for it!
letters of the alphabet123 : I love your penname! It's always nice to see your reviews; I entirely agree with you. Taang also gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when writing fluff.
BloomableBee : I hope you're also looking for plot with the fluff or you might not like this chapter (. Anyhow, Taang fluff more to come!