Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Author's note: I'm assuming that Aang has pretty well mastered both waterbending and earthbending in this story.

Motivating

Aang returned to the campsite one more time and allowed Appa and Momo to eat as he quickly packed up. Realizing that it was nearly midday and he hadn't eaten anything since the previous evening, Aang also munched on some fruit and nuts. Then he flew Appa to the clearing where he had found Katara.

The area wasn't hard to identify, thanks to all the scorched trees and the drying pool of Katara's blood. Aang's stomach turned when he saw how much it was, and he quickly averted his eyes. The sight steeled his resolve, though, and his lips thinned in determination.

Azula had apparently made no effort to hide her escape route. Doubtless, she had been in too much of a hurry. Aang's mouth twisted into a grim smile. She had good reason to fear the Avatar's pursuit. He followed her trail a short distance to make certain of the general direction she'd taken, then took to the skies once more. Azula had a few hours' lead, but he had the advantage of flight.

Even so, it took him until the next morning to catch up with her. He spotted her on the side of a mountain, trying to hide between rocky outcroppings and sparse trees. Aang instructed Appa to land some distance away from Azula while he leapt off and used his glider to settle gently to the ground, just out of sight. Collapsing it into a staff once more, he advanced on her position.

It wasn't really Aang's style to sneak up on or ambush someone, but he decided that he would at least throw her off-balance – literally – before he showed himself. Accordingly, when he was approaching Azula's position, he used earthbending to raise up the earth underneath her, tossing her out of cover. She recovered quickly, though, regaining her feet and sending out lightning bolts, blindly at first. Then, she spotted him and took actual aim.

"So the Avatar is alone at last," she taunted as he dodged. "I admit I'm impressed. I thought you'd still be busy mourning your little girlfriend."

Aang tried not to listen to her, knowing that words were part of her combat strategy. To Azula, Aang's capacity for affection was a weakness to be exploited. He did smile a little to himself, however, when he realized that his opponent didn't know that Katara had survived. He sent blasts of air at the fire princess, keeping her moving.

"She wasn't as easy to dispatch as her idiot brother," Azula confessed, leaping with deadly grace and shooting flames from her fingertips. Aang's inner smile disappeared as he realized what she was saying. Giving a wild battle cry, he soared up on a gust of wind and landed on her, knocking her down. He brought his staff up under her chin.

"You killed Sokka?" he whispered angrily. Azula's twisted smile was his only response. Then she wrapped one leg around his body and flipped him. Suddenly, she was over him, creating a ball of fire in one hand while she held him down with the other.

"He was weak, just like my brother. And so are you."

Without warning, a jet of flame came from Aang's right and blasted Azula off of him. Aang leapt up quickly, shooting a gust of air to knock Azula farther back and adding a localized dust storm for good measure. Having bought a little time, he looked over to see a familiar, scarred face emerging from a clump of trees.

"Zuko? You're helping me?"

Prince Zuko kept his eyes on the dust cloud, listening to his sister's coughs as she struggled to find her way out.

"I can't let Azula win," he said simply, taking up a ready stance. Aang considered this.

"So the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" the Avatar asked. Zuko's eyes flickered briefly toward him.

"For now," he conceded.

Aang shrugged. It wasn't the first time Zuko had helped him out of trouble, but Aang never expected he would do so against his own family. There was no time for further discussion, anyway, because Azula came out of the cloud, shooting lightning to cover her exit. Zuko and Aang dodged her, responding with attacks of their own. She had a difficult time avoiding two sets of attacks, and they were able to hit more often than either might have alone.

Aang stomped the ground and opened a crack in the ground, starting at his feet and widening to reach her. She moved, but not quite fast enough – one of her feet got caught. Zuko sent flames at her; she threw her own wall of flame to stop them. Aang brought the earth up around Azula, encasing her in rock up to her chest. She had raised her hands above her head, so they were still free, but her movements were severely limited.

Both of the boys jumped forward to press their advantage. Zuko grasped Azula's wrists and pulled her hands together behind her back.

"She's mine," Zuko informed the Avatar. "We have some old scores to settle."

"Wait a minute," Aang argued. "She killed my friend and tried to kill the girl I love."

Azula abruptly stopped struggling.

"She lives?" she snarled.

"Yes, she's alive," Aang replied, allowing himself a smirk. He took the opportunity of her distraction to fashion rock bonds, gradually growing them out of the rock that encased her and wrapping them around as Zuko carefully let go. While Aang worked, he decided to goad her a little. "Maybe I should actually thank you. If you hadn't horribly injured Katara, we might never have admitted that we love each other."

Azula let out a primal scream of rage and frustration. She twisted her shoulders, trying to break free, only to find that her hands were now being held by something stronger than her brother. Aang then looked at the Fire Prince, who met his gaze.

"She'll be appropriately punished," he assured Aang. "I'm taking her in dishonor to the Fire Lord. Trust me, there's nothing worse."

"You can't go back without the Avatar!" Azula spat.

"You got in my way," Zuko replied easily, as though rehearsing. "I could have had him if it weren't for you." His sister just stared at him in disbelief.

"He'll never believe that!"

"That's where you're wrong. Father will always believe whoever proves they're stronger. At the moment, you're the one who's bound."

"Just one thing," Aang interrupted the sibling spat. He didn't really want to capture Azula, anyway; what would he do with her? Despite everything, he couldn't bring himself to kill her. All he wanted was to make sure she wouldn't come after them again. He walked over to her and rapped her sharply on the forehead with the end of his staff, snapping her head back and leaving a red welt. "That was for Sokka."

The Avatar then released Azula from the rock, except for a block around her feet. He reasoned that it would be very difficult for her to perform any firebending without being able to move her limbs.

"She's all yours," he offered Zuko, who promptly picked up his sister and slung her across his shoulders, ignoring her curses and threats.

"Until next time, Avatar."

Aang watched after him, hoping the prince had a better mode of transportation available somewhere. That rock was going to get very heavy in short order. Shrugging, he whirled his staff back into a glider and launched into the air to meet up with Appa again.

Author's Note: Yeah, I added a little twist there. I know some people might say Zuko's out of character, but again, this is some time in the future, so I figure he'll have decided his sister's a bigger threat than Aang. Just one more chapter to wrap it up, and I hope it's up to .Lady.Meister's expectations.