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"Are you ready?" asked Sokka.
"Yes." Elsie patted her hair. It was dry.
"I'm still not sure this is a good idea. What if this stuff never comes off?" Sokka sniffed the empty bucket. "I mean, this stuff isn't even rubbing off your skin anymore."
Elsie shrugged. "Then I'll just fit in really well later." She looked down at her pale hands. It was strange to see them like that, like the life was sucked out of her. She thought she looked like a corpse even though she knew it was just dye. It really didn't seem like a good thing that the feeling of being death warmed over felt like a premonition.
"Besides," she said softly. "This is definitely more important than how I look. This is about my friends."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Sokka patted her now-black hair and rolled his eyes. "You don't mean that. You're just saying it cause you think that Moelij guy's cute."
Zuko rolled over in his bed. He had been thinking about the kind of man he was and who was trying to model himself after. He wanted to be strong and wise, a powerful bender and a good leader. He wanted honor and respect, to do what was right for everyone. He wanted people who saw him to realize his greatness.
He thought about who that was like and realized it wasn't his father – it was his uncle.
Zuko flipped over again and stared at the opposite wall. He wanted to be someone Katara liked, too. She hated his father, feared him. She liked Iroh a lot.
He squeezed his eyes closed. It's always difficult to draw the lines.
When Aang turned around that morning or evening (he couldn't tell – no sunlight in the dungeons, don't ya know?) he found that he wasn't looking at the regular little boy who brought him his food.
"Oh, hey." Aang didn't feel like moving. Seemed like too much of an effort. He was feeling a little down, you see. Hadn't been able to bust out and save the world like he should and it was a little disappointing. He'd been hoping by now he would have figured a way out.
Not yet.
"Sokka bet me how what you would say first when you saw me. He was guessing it would either be about Momo or Appa. I thought you'd might say something about the hair."
Aang whirled around, staring. The boy in front of him was patting his mop of black, ear length hair.
"Does it look really bad?" he asked worriedly.
"Elsie?" Aang's mouth hung open. "Is that you?" the boy nodded. "But… you're not wearing a shirt."
Elsie blushed and crossed her arms, the tray of food already sitting on the floor.
"Could we not talk about that?" she wondered. "The guards made me take it off. They don't know I'm not a boy."
And actually, she did look like a boy. So skinny and so young that she hadn't developed any telling hips or breasts. With her shorn hair and thin body, there was absolutely no difference between her and any other twelve-year old boy. She had even dyed her hair black and somehow pigmented her skin paler to look more like a member of the Fire Nation. The only thing that gave her away was her cerulean eyes, shining out through the darkness.
"Your eyes…" Aang trailed off.
Elsie shrugged, one arm still across her chest. Aang blushed, his gaze resolutely on her face. "They don't care. They wouldn't have noticed if Takiko hadn't brought me down and introduced me."
Aang was about to speak when Elsie pulled a set of keys from the inside of her pants. She stepped forward and undid the lock to Aang's cell.
"Where'd you get those?" Aang breathed as he stepped out. Elsie undid his shackles as she answered.
"Takiko distracted the guards with a kissy-face while I took them from one the guards' belt. Moelij spent five hours training me for it on a dummy with bells attached to it. Every time I didn't take the keys without disturbing the dummy, a bell went off."
"Wait a minute – who's Takiko? And Moelij? Where's Sokka? Is Katara okay? Has Zuko hurt her? What's going on!" Aang threw his hands up in the air in frustration. Elsie took a step back.
"Takiko and Moelij are people helping us out. Sokka's waiting outside the guards' room upstairs, Katara's somewhere in the palace, Takiko is going to help us find her. Takiko says she's okay, and…" Elsie took a deep breath. "I guess… I guess we're going to save the world now."
Aang stared at her.
"Oh. Right," he said, straightening. "I knew that – of course I knew that! We're going to save the world. What else would we be doing? – I'm the Avatar!"
Elsie giggled nervously. "Right. So, uh… let's go!"
Katara paced nervously in her room. She wasn't moving from this spot, no matter what. Sokka and Elsie and Aang were coming for her. They were going to break out and maybe save the world while they were at it.
So everything was okay. No need to panic. They're coming.
They're coming.
WHAM!
Elsie ran to the corner of the guards' room where she had been forced to leave her clothes earlier before going to tend to the Avatar. Aang swung his staff around his head and back down again while surveying the damage he'd caused – four Fire Nation palace guards unconscious on the other side of the room.
Takiko stepped forward and bowed, her hands tucked into her sleeves. "Greetings, young Avatar," she said. "It is an honor to serve you."
"Where's Katara?" Aang asked worriedly. "Can you take me to her?"
"What? No "Hey Sokka, how's it going?" No "Yo! Sokka." Not even a "Hey thanks for saving my butt!"!" Sokka waved his arms as his face turned red.
Aang walked past him and waved, following Takiko. "Hey Sokka, how's it going?"
Sokka straightened and dusted the shoulder of his tunic. "Oh hey, Aang. Eh, it's going okay."
Elsie followed Aang, pushing her right arm back through its hole in her shirt.
Sokka shrugged and trailed off after them.
Katara whipped around as the door opened suddenly.
"Katara!"
"Sokka!"
Katara ran across the room and threw her arms around her brother's neck.
"Aang!"
"Katara!"
Katara hugged Aang, and then Elsie as well. Elsie blushed and stepped away when Katara let her go.
"Elsie!" Katara's eyes were wide. "Your hair…"
"Okay, Katara. Let's focus." Sokka redirected her attention. "We've got to get you out of here."
"Not without Zuko," Katara insisted.
"What!" Sokka's eyes bugged out. "But he's the one who kidnapped you! He used you to get to Aang! He's the reason Elsie ran around without a shirt on!"
Elsie blushed and whacked the back of Sokka's head.
"We can't leave him," Katara pleaded.
"Why not?" Sokka demanded. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "The most important thing is to get you and Aang and Elsie out of here and then Aang can come back and defeat the Fire Lord, later."
Katara looked up at him, her eyes shimmering. "I can't just disappear."
Sokka stared at her for what seemed an eternity. Finally, his shoulders drooped and his arms dropped to his side. "You are dating him, aren't you?"
Katara turned away, too ashamed to look her brother in the eye.
Sokka sighed. "Fine," he said. "But all this means is that I get to hate Zuko for the rest of my life, no matter how much of a good guy he becomes."
Katara hugged him. "Thanks, Sokka."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," he grumbled. "Now get off of me and let's go do the world-savin' thing."
"I don't think you're going anywhere."
Everyone turned around. Standing in the doorway was Azula.
And about thirty guards.
Aang tightened his grip on his staff, Sokka pulled out his boomerang and Katara drew water out from the basin sitting on a low table behind her.
"Oh look at that," Azula smirked. The guards behind her tensed but she stayed in a calm stance, her arms crossed lightly. "The little Avatar and his little friends are going to fight me. It also seems we have a renegade housemaid. How pitiful. I'll tell father to fire the entire staff just to make sure there aren't any others." Azula's smile broadened. "I mean "fire" in the most literal sense, of course. Attack!"
Guards leapt forward, fiery kicks and punches erupting. Aang whirled his staff, blowing it all away while Sokka threw his boomerang and Katara lashed out with her water whip.
Takiko and Elsie darted to the other side of the room.
"Why aren't you fighting?" Takiko asked the little girl. "You're a firebender."
Elsie looked up at her, panicked. "But somebody might get hurt."
Takiko rolled her eyes. "That's kind of the point, isn't it?" and with that, she pushed Elsie back out into the fray.
Elsie didn't make a huge impact (she wasn't really even a beginning firebender) but Katara gave her an encouraging smile and Sokka stuck his thumb up as he caught his boomerang.
Actually, despite the obvious skill of the palace guard, it was only a short while later that they were all rendered unable to fight.
Azula stood in the doorway still as the four fighters gasped, their breath coming in rasping heaves. She smiled at them.
"Oh my," she dithered. "It seems as though you were able to defeat my guards. Whatever shall I do?" her eyes narrowed. "Oh, I know." She slid into a fighting position, her two clawed fingers held up in front of her. "I'll just have to defeat you myself."
As quick as lightening, she struck with lightening.
Everybody jumped out of the way. Aang leapt into the air, spinning his staff below him to keep him aloft moments longer.
"What is that?" Katara cried.
"Oh, my lightening?" Azula simpered. "It just happens to be the most advanced form of firebending there is. Even my father, the Fire Lord, is unable to control lightening."
"You're not going to win." Aang slammed his staff down.
"And a twelve-year-old's going to stop me?"
"I've beat Zuko before. I can beat you."
Azula smirked again. "Zuko's got nothing on me, and besides. Isn't the whole reason you're fighting me now because you couldn't beat Zuko the last time?"
She struck again, punching forward with those two fingers.
Aang ducked to the side and batted a blast of air at her, which she dodged. They continued going around the room in a haphazard circle, fire and air blasting one another.
A splash of water struck Azula in the back of the head and she tripped forward.
"Why you little…" Azula rounded on Katara who stood ready, her water hovering in front of her. Azula sneered at her. "You're nothing but some stupid plaything of my brother's. Even my father realized you for what you are."
"I'm a warrior," Katara told her calmly. "And your father's SICK!" She lashed out on the last word, lending fury to her strike.
Azula brought up a wall of fire but Aang struck another gust of air to her side and she had to switch her footing quickly to block that as well. She started to move into an offensive position but was forced back to defensive once more as both Sokka and Katara attacked at the same time, Sokka with his club and Katara with her water.
Azula growled as Elsie shot a feeble fireball at her, followed rapidly by Sokka and Katara's attacks. She started to punch back when all the air in the room started gusting.
Katara stepped back and turned to her right as her braid starting flailing out behind her. Her robes where whipping around her body as a strong wind began moving in a circle.
Aang stood at the end of the room, his arms up, his caplet billowing and his eyes glowing. Everybody had stopped and was staring as the Avatar began floating. The circle of air rushing around started tightening, becoming more and more of a tornado and less of a breeze.
"Aang!" Katara shouted, her voice lost in the wind. "Sokka! He's in his Avatar state!"
"I can see that!" Sokka shouted back. "Come on, guys! We need to get cover!"
Katara, Sokka, Elsie and Takiko hid behind the large bed on the far side of the room. "Grab onto something or someone!" Sokka yelled. "He doesn't know what he's doing!"
As they all grabbed bedposts and waists, Azula stood in the center of the room, staring up at the miffed Avatar.
Slowly, the Avatar raised his arms, his hands held stiffly straight. He brought them together as if he was praying and the closer they got to each other, the tighter and faster the winds became. The four behind the beds tucked their heads in.
The Avatar's hands met and with a single, swift movement, brought them upwards.
Azula, who had been standing in the center of the tornado, was slammed upwards into the ceiling. When she dropped back down, she didn't move.
Slowly, slower than anything Katara felt she had ever experienced in her life, the Avatar moved back down to the ground. As soon as he landed, he collapsed, the blue of his tattoos and eyes disappearing.
"Aang!" Katara rushed forward to check on her best friend. He groaned as she reached him, but his eyes fluttered open.
"Azula…" he asked, his voice raspy.
"She's alive," Sokka announced from across the room. He stood from the Fire princess's inert body. "Unconscious, but alive."
"I'll take care of her," Takiko announced, producing rope from the Spirits know where. As she tied the princess up, Katara turned her attention back to her friend.
"Aang, are you all right?" She watched him worriedly as he held his hand to his forehead.
"Yeah," he coughed. "Just a little tired."
"Here," Elsie offered, handing him a cup of tea from the breakfast Katara had been unable to eat.
Aang sipped and coughed. He hacked into his fist for a few minutes while Katara rubbed his back.
"Will he be able to fight the Fire Lord like that?" Takiko asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Katara began. "He does seem a bit worn out…"
"Lady Katara!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden noise.
A tall girl with a tight bun on her head rushed into the room and kneeled beside Katara. Sokka stood with his club raised, but Katara waved him off.
"Oh, Lady Katara! I had heard the Avatar escaped and assumed he would come for you, but I had no idea the damage to your room! Are you all right? Is he gone? What happened to this boy? Who are all you people?"
"Lady Shomlen," Katara took a deep breath and tried not to snap at the young woman. "This is the Avatar. He just beat up Azula."
Lady Shomlen glanced over at the bound figure in the center of the room as if seeing it for the first time.
"Oh thank Agni," she said. "I never liked that pretentious girl." She turned back to Katara and looked her in the eye, the most serious look about her Katara had ever seen. "Are you going to fight the Fire Lord? Are you planning on changing the reign?" She reached a hand out and placed it on Katara's shoulder. "Because I will follow you, Lady Katara. You are a kind girl and a strong person. You don't hold prejudices and you genuinely care for others. There's a lot wrong with this country and I think you're just the person to fix it."
"What? You think I'm going to take over the country?" Katara was taken aback. "I'm not the Avatar, why aren't you saying this to Aang."
"Because you're the person I know. And you'll marry Prince Zuko, correct?"
"What!" Katara jumped up and Aang wobbled a bit. "I don't think so! I like Zuko but I'm not about to marry him!"
"Katara…"
"I'm only fourteen for goodness' sake! I can't get married!"
"Katara…"
"And I still want to see the world. And my dad! I don't want to be stuck in the palace for the rest of my life!"
"Katara!"
Katara turned around. "What?" she demanded.
Aang, Sokka, Elsie and Takiko stood in the doorway.
"Come on, Katara." Sokka jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Aang's feeling better now; we're going to go fight the Fire Lord. You coming or you wanna talk about Zuko some more?"
"Oh," Katara blushed. "No, that's okay. I'll come with you guys."
And she and Lady Shomlen trotted out the room after them.
Oh my gosh, isn't this exciting? Aren't you excited? What will happen next? Where are they going? Will Aang beat the Fire Lord? How much you wanna bet there's a twist to it? See if you can guess what the twist is!
Review!
PS- I've been watching episodes of Sailor Moon on Youtube (somehow I remember it being better when I was in fifth grade) but Sailor Mars really makes me think of Zuko. Like, a whole lot. Both are abrasive and play with fire. And wear the color red. (In the first seasons, at least.)
PSS- Review you peons!
PSSS- Does anybody know what a peon is?