A/N: Okay, you guys probably checked your alerts and you're like: what the heck is this? You probably don't even remember the story since I haven't updated in like a month. About that. I am so ridiculously sorry. I'd type it a million times but my fingers might fall off. My computer was running like crap and I have a ton of family visiting. It doesn't help that I had an extreme case of writer's block. But trust me; once I got my idea, I wanted to throw my computer out the freaking window. I was going insane! Lack…of…fanfiction! LOF!
I'll shut up now. Anyway, I bet you'll remember my story if you read the next paragraph. It'll come back. I know it.
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The firebender in question whipped around. It couldn't be… But it was. It was the waterbender and Zuko. The girl had fierce determination written all over her face. She stood in a bending stance, water swirling around her hands.
Aang stared at his friend, blinking once. Twice. Was she really there or was he imagining things? Maybe he hit his head too hard during the fight. Azula's eyes widened as the waterbender lashed out, creating a rope of her element. She pulled not only the princess into it, but Ty Lee and Mai as well. They were all sent flying into the bushes with an ear-splitting scream from the acrobat. 'No.' Aang decided. 'She's there alright.'
"Katara? You're here?" the blind girl asked, sitting up. She rubbed her head and stood.
"Katara!" Sokka said, smiling from his position on the ground. "You came just in time!" His sister smiled right back as Zuko tapped the girl on the shoulder, pointing to the bushes. The girls were pulling themselves together and untangling themselves from the troublesome brush. Sokka's eyes widened. "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Helping to save your paralyzed ass." the fugitive prince responded. He didn't bother looking down. Drawing his broadswords, he fell into a flawless fighting stance. Across the clearing, Azula and her friends did the same. The princess glared daggers at her opponents. Her eyes were narrowed to mere slits. Katara was ready. Water still swirled at her hands and her eyes were like an invitation saying "Go ahead and attack me. I dare you."
This was a dare the princess couldn't refuse. In the blink of an eye, she shot out two bursts of blue flame. Zuko deflected his while Katara ducked. Azula smiled to herself. The girl was playing right into her hands. In that split second Katara had looked down, the injured firebender breathed a thick cloud of dark smoke from her nostrils. The smoke was pushed toward her opponents by the wind, giving the princess and her friends means of cover. While the waterbender coughed up smoke, Zuko tried to bend it away. He knew what his sister was planning.
Without warning, Katara yelped, crashing into Zuko. She leapt up, back to her sweetheart. Azula had moved into the smoke as a cover so she could stay on the offensive. All Katara and Zuko had to do was wait until the smoke cleared…
But their opponents weren't giving them that chance. Diving through the cloud, Ty Lee set up a Chi-block move to the waterbender. Said bender ducked, yelling. Zuko turned at the last second but couldn't stop the oncoming girl. They both toppled to the ground, swords clattering. Katara moved to help. She never got the chance. A sharp blow to the side sent her sprawling to the ground. Azula stood over her, hand on her hip. Her smirk seemed to be boasting a victory.
The waterbender stopped coughing. She could actually breathe down here. And she could see better too. Suddenly, she smirked right back and kicked out in front of her. With wide eyes, Azula fell forward, nearly falling on her enemy. Katara rolled out of the way just in time, taking small satisfaction in hearing the firebender let out a grunt of pain. She'd fallen on her arm.
Zuko pushed the acrobat off him. She flew out of the dark cloud of smoke and into the rest of the clearing. He leapt up, following. "Zuko, duck!" The firebender ducked as a strong gust of wind flew over his head, throwing Ty Lee and Mai backward. He turned to see the Avatar standing with his trusty staff still extended. Aang smiled. "Thanks for the rescue." Zuko nodded and took after Ty Lee.
Katara crawled to find her way out of the smoke. When she did, a throwing knife flew in front of her, embedding itself in the ground. Thwack. She looked up to see Mai standing a few feet away, glaring daggers. And the waterbender had thought they were Azula's specialty. Leaping up, she snapped her wrist. A thin water whip stung the ninja in the face, causing her to stumble.
When the smoke cleared, Aang was attacked by the Fire Nation princess. She attempted a sweep kick and almost lost her balance. The sling around her arm was getting loose. She got right up, rapidly shooting balls of fire toward the young boy. The Avatar jumped high in the air, staff spinning above him. It came down hard on the earth, sending out a wave of air. Azula stepped to the side to avoid it. She couldn't, however, evade the ripple of earth that sent her flying. Aang smiled. He only knew a few earthbending tricks and every one that he had used in this fight had worked. Talk about a self-esteem booster!
The Fire Nation ex-prince dodged a Chi attack from Ty Lee, but just barely. He wasn't the best at dodging. The best person for this job would actually be the Avatar. Airbenders were supposed to be the fastest of all benders. Zuko struck with his swords, but Ty Lee spun away. He just caught her forearm. She winced, clutching her arm and backing away. The firebender couldn't tell how long the cut was, but it wasn't that deep. He struck again with slight hesitation and the acrobat jumped above the attack, flip-kicking him. She held up her arm for him to see. It was only a small scratch. She smiled. Her reaction had only been used to make him hesitate.
Mai dodged a small water spiral from the waterbending peasant. The weapons specialist vaguely noticed their little fray was edging toward the left side of the clearing. She fought to hide a small smirk. There was a stream in that direction meaning the girl would be in her element. The bender knew her small pouch of water would not and could not last forever. Mai cut off her opponent's path, pushing her back toward the center of the clearing. Dodging a knife, Katara stumbled backward, falling.
A gust of wind flew by thanks to Aang, knocking Ty Lee and Mai off their feet. Aang twirled his staff, flying over for an aerial attack on the two girls. Dust from the dry earth flew all around the three. Zuko charged his sister, who had barely gotten up. Katara stood and ran to help Aang.
Sokka hated sitting there doing nothing. He'd seen way too many close calls for Aang and his sister today and there was nothing he could do about it. If only he hadn't let that girl get him! He tried to move, but his extremities were still numb. With a grunt, he let his eyes follow the fight.
Toph crawled across the clearing to where she thought Sokka should be. She found nothing. "Sokka! Where are you?" she called.
"Over here." he replied. His voice was very close. At least she hadn't been off by a mile. She made her way over to him. "When I can move again…" he mumbled.
"And when I can bend again…"
"All hell breaks loose." they said together, eyes narrowed in determination.
Katara dodged a dart from Mai, freezing Ty Lee's feet to the ground. Aang summoned what little water he could from the ground, making a shield of it. He through the shield at the ninja and Katara froze her feet too. Mai broke free in no time, kicking them both away. Her weapons were rendered useless in such close proximity. She freed her friend of her icy hold and was knocked back by a ball of ice. Katara stood triumphant, morphing the ice ball into a stream of water. Suddenly, she was sent to the ground from an attack from behind. It was Azula. Zuko lay in the center of the clearing, rubbing his head as he stood. The Fire Nation princess stood over the waterbender with a smirk. She shot Aang to the side where Ty Lee and Mai kept him busy.
"Do you have any idea how degrading it is to be bested by a waterbending peasant?" Azula asked. Katara glared. "But I'll rid the world of stupid peasants like you. Then my nation will be glad. There will be less people to resist us." The venom in her voice sent cold chills up the waterbender's spine. And she froze, unable to move or speak or even breathe. The princess raised a fist encased in blue flame to fire, but she never got the chance.
It was Momo to the rescue again. He landed on the firebender's face, pulling at it and her hair. Azula screamed bloody murder and through the animal away as if it was poison. She actually looked scared. Katara bit her lip in a smile. "What's the matter, 'Zula? Never seen a lemur?" With that, the waterbender sweep kicked the princess. She ran before the angry blue flames engulfed her.
She looked up to see Mai holding off Zuko. She kicked him and he fell hard. She pulled out another knife when suddenly Chi barreled into the clearing, squawking like mad. He rammed Mai so she was sent flying into Azula. The ostrich-horse sniffed indignantly, stomping his feet. Katara was sure if Chi could talk he'd say something pretty obscene to Mai right now.
"I told you he likes you, Zuko!" Katara called, going to help Aang. The firebender smiled, joining her. When they reached the fray, the Avatar was working on getting himself out of a tree. The ex-prince rolled his eyes, keeping Ty Lee busy while the waterbender freed her friend.
"Ow! Katara!" the airbender complained. The girl was pulling him in a way he shouldn't have been pulled. She stopped, hands on her hips. "Pull me straight out."
"I'm not that tall!"
Ty Lee evaded yet another attack from Zuko's broadswords. The firebender decided enough was enough. He was supposed to be a firebender! Leaping forward, he brought his swords to the ground, pulling a wave of red-orange flames in its wake. The acrobat flew back. She was up in no time, knocking Zuko over with her feet. She stood in a ready stance while her opponent merely stood with his arms crossed, legs straight. He smirked as if he knew some huge secret. He stepped to the side.
A rock erupted from the ground and Ty Lee went flying. She screamed even louder than Azula had when Momo attacked. Toph stood next to Sokka, a broad smile on her face. Zuko couldn't help but think the little girl looked somewhat maniacal with her bangs in her face. She stomped the ground, making a rock rise up.
"TWINKLE TOES!" she yelled, throwing the rock. Aang (who had been freed from the tree) turned and used his earthbending to ram Mai and Azula into the forest. Ty Lee was flipping back over, ready to attack the Avatar. "ROCK-LIKE!" the blind girl yelled. The multi-bender dug his heel into the ground, bringing up a wall of earth. He stomped the ground and sent out a ripple of earth that pulled the wall along with it.
Katara was working on healing Appa. There was no way they could beat these three, even with Toph bending again. Their only hope was to get out of there. The pained flying bison woke as his injuries lessened. He grunted in agony. The waterbender went as fast as she could, being careful to heal the bison to the best of her ability. But the inevitable happened. She ran out of water.
Peering around one of Appa's feet, she looked out into the clearing. There was only one word for it: chaos. If this was a small battle, what would the final one look like at summer's end? Scorch marks littered the ground (along with Sokka). Sokka's shirt was pinned to a thick tree trunk while all four elements ran rampant. Aang was flicking out water whips left and right, accompanied by gusts of wind. Zuko was on fire with his broadswords. Toph…well, Toph was going a bit crazy.
Their enemies couldn't stay on their feet. Between the three of her friends, they had it under control. She let out a grunt of frustration.
Toph raised a wall of earth, sending them hurling out as fast as she could. Mai was knocked unconscious in seconds.
"This girl is crazy!" Azula yelled to no one in particular. She dodged another chunk of rock as Ty Lee got knocked back. This was not looking good.
"Katara!" Aang said as he got close. He had seen his friend healing Appa and he had guessed correctly in thinking she needed more water. "Come on, I have an idea. Appa, I need you to fly as well as you can."
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A/N: Phew. This is a really long fight scene! It'll end in the next chapter, I swear. Once I get going, you can't stop me.
Please review!
Oh, and sorry for the slow update again.