Hello! Yes, I know that I'm early, but last night I went to see Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and wow…I was just watching it going 'damn, I hope that Avatar live-action is as cool as this' because I was getting SUCH Avatar-vibes from it the entire time, down the main family basically mirroring the Royal Family, at just about the ages of my characters in this universe. And because I had an awful first week of work and nothing is as close to pure serotonin as getting comments on stories, well, here we are.

And thank you to my wonderful reviewers: L, Bel29, and TheGirlWithTheCurls!

L: I will agree...Azula really has been suspicious...hmmm

"Treating us like chicken cows?" Nadhari spat on the ground. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Because we know what happens to chicken cows," Suki said darkly, speaking out a rhetorical truth no one wanted to hear. Yue whimpered, clutching Katara's arm so hard that she was sure there would be half-moon imprints where her nails had taken hold.

The closer they were to the center of the palace, the more bodies they stumbled over, falling over as they attacked a never-ending march of people. Guards, help, politicians, daughters, and sons...the carnage of the bodies mixed with the heat made a noxious scent that had Katara gagging at each corner. Yue had refused to look at the ground at all, bravely holding her face forward and eyes high, tears trekking down her cheeks.

For those that were still mostly people, Suki would close their eyes with her fingertips and whisper some ritualistic prayer of the afterlife.

In Katara's culture, this felt like she was trespassing through Adlivun, the underground place of the deceased. It was a holding cell, where one was frozen in time until they could be purified, and she always imagined it to be like a frozen storage room, where bodies piled high, unseeing and unmoving. Though her grandmother had always described it as a necessary step in moving forward to eternal bliss, the concept had greatly distressed Katara as a child, and she was no more soothed to make this connection.

She felt like she too should not be alive here, as though their souls were moments away from being discovered and soon, they too, would just be motionless bodies against the wall, waiting for the afterlife.

"Ozai's cleaning house," Suki hissed, trying not to cry as she closed the eyes of Shi, their fashion consultant, who was stabbed over a fainting couch, her blood dripping onto the floor.

"I'm still not sure-" Nadhari started, but a great bang ceased her arguments. The wall to the side of them was blown up with the pyrotechnics the Equalists had been utilizing all day, and Lu Ten fell through the side of the wall. Suki instantly grabbed Yue closer to her, narrowing her eyes.

"Ladies, oh, thank Agni you're still alive," he said, and Katara was sure it was all death on his end too. "Are you all okay?"

"Lu Ten, what about you?" Yue squeaked, "Your hand!" It was mangled, perhaps three fingers remaining on the stump.

"I'll survive it." Lu Ten frowned. "But it hurts," he did admit. Katara stepped forward to try to heal him, but there was no time. From the wall came another flood of Equalists, and Lu Ten shoved them forward, out of the sitting room, farther into the center of the complex.

They crashed over the grand doors, Katara cursing as her leg hit the hardwood of the door and she went down forcefully onto the ground. The doors behind them closed and locked with an audible click and Katara rolled on her back, groaning up to the ceiling.

"Katara, get up!" Suki grabbed her arms. "Look…"

Katara shuffled to her feet to realize that they were in the receiving room of the Royal Throne Room, where people waited to be brought in. Now though, you might mistake it for a Grievance Day with how many people milled about, though it was all people who were panting and nursing wounds. All those that could fight. Katara guessed if you couldn't, you were already dead.

She realized with a jolt that she hadn't even realized where they were, what with the Palace so foggy, dusty, and utterly destroyed.

"Katara! Suki! Nadhari! Yue!" Zuko shoved through the hundreds of people. "You're all alive!" he said, hugging all of them. He was looking worse for wear, his whole face sooty and his shirt hanging by a few threads. Lu Ten clasped Zuko's shoulder, sighing in relief. Zuko's face paled at his cousin's hand, but there wasn't a moment free to talk to each other.

"Is everyone else alive?" Yue questioned immediately, "Why...why are we here? I don't understand, Prince Zuko!"

"It's not good. They pushed us into here...all of us."

"I know," Katara winced. "They wanted us all here, for some reason."

"The rest?" Nadhari asked for Yue again.

"As far as I can tell, alive. I haven't seen Besu yet, but the rest of the contestants are here. I can't say much of anyone else, though," he added, looking down.

"Well, let's see!" Suki growled, and she began to stalk toward one set of heavy gilded doors, but before she could, a thousand men dropped from the ceiling, blocking the entire circle in an impenetrable barricade of their bodies and a rock wall that formed. If anyone else was shoved through the door into the room, they'd part, but would merge back together again to keep everyone in.

Suki still tried to press through but was swiftly kicked onto her back. Zuko caught her before she fell.

"I know that fighting style," she said, eyes wide, "It's Dai Lee!"

In the time Suki had tried to figure out how to get through and been beaten, Ratana had wandered over, holding her ear. At the very least, her eardrum had been popped and at the very worst, she was down one ear entirely. It was hard to tell with the blood that currently coated her head.

"Ty Lee has her own fighting school? Since when?" she asked loudly, unable to gauge her own voice.

"No, no, the Dai Lee," Nadhari corrected. "They're a highly-skilled military group from Ba Sing Se. I...I thought they were loyal to the Earth King?"

"Who's loyal to Ozai," Zuko said darkly. "This is low. No wonder we lost so quickly. I wonder what he promised them," he said. Sure, it stretched on for hours, but in terms of big life-changing battles, this hardly felt like more than a second before they were pushed to here. All the energy they'd spent was worthless, and if Katara knew this was their endgame, she'd just have waited for...well, for whatever was coming after this.

"If we all survived, we're all fighters." Nadhari looked around the group. "So we could try to take them."

"You're from Ba Sing Se. You know that's impossible," Suki coughed, rubbing her stomach where they'd battered at her. "And there are hundreds of Equalists behind those doors!"

"So we just give up?" Nadhari shook her head. "We accept defeat and let ourselves die?"

"No, there has to be another way!" Katara agreed.

Zuko was looking around. Katara caught his gaze.

"The throne room...my father's probably in there…" he mumbled. "He's the one controlling it. We need to get in there. It also has an escape hatch out of the Palace, and people can run."

"I'll find the others," Yue said, glad to be of any help. Before anyone could stop her, she had weaved into the crowd. She brought the rest of the contestants back, along with Sokka, who Katara was grateful to see alive.

"Sokka! You idiot!"

"Hey, what now? How am I the idiot here?" Sokka asked, but hugged her back just as tightly. He seemed to have no more injuries than he started with, thank the lucky stars. Arrluck and Hahn were right on his tail.

"He saved my life. Whoever would think a boomerang could do so much damage!" Arrluck's smile was wide.

"It always comes back," Sokka said with a wink, making Katara groan at his horrible, horrible humor. It wasn't even a joke, it was just a statement, but from Sokka's tone, it was clear he thought he was making some clever pun.

"What's the plan?" Lu Ten asked, noticing everyone gathering. He ushered them to the middle of the room, so it would be harder for their captors to see them gathering.

"We need to get into the Throne Room. There might be Equalists on the other side, but the only way in is through here unless they crawled up the exit chute, so I doubt it. Or not as many, I guess," Zuko said under his breath, quietly so that the Dai Lee didn't hear.

"We all storm the Dai Lee there," Mai agreed, "And anyone who slips through or can make it, go."

"Everyone good on the plan?" Suki whispered, reaching for Katara's fingers. Katara grabbed Ratana on her other side and all the girls joined fingers, along with the boys they'd found too.

"It's that or die. I'd rather go down fighting than be slaughtered like ducks in a barrel," Nadhari agreed with a sense of resolution.

"Okay, on three…"

Katara inhaled on Besu's counting.

"One."

She looked at Sokka, and he looked back, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. She pressed her cheek to the back of his hand, exhaling hard.

"Two."

She turned to Suki and Yue, wanting to express how much she loved their friendship, and how they'd made a scary place seem welcoming.

"Three."

And finally, she looked at Zuko. There was neither the time nor ability to speak what she wanted to say, but from the way he took the time to look at her last as well, she knew in her heart that they were solid and maybe, just maybe, he already knew.

"Go!"

Besu's pitched cry sent everyone forward. As soon as the girls and the Water Tribe started attacking one specific area, it seemed everyone left got the message. Soon, it wasn't just their small group, but everyone. The Dai Lee was pulling people back from behind, from the sides, from the ceiling, but they were starting to make a dent. They were taking down the Dai Lee and pulling them into the fray where there were a hundred beaten but furious fighters from the palace.

Sokka punched one of the agents in the face. Katara managed to use some of the man's spit and blood as he spat out a tooth to break the lock on the door. It creaked open, just a bit, the light from the fire torches spilling onto the fighting bodies.

It was enough.

Katara catapulted over a Dai Lee agent, scrambling over his back to reach the opening. Zuko blazed a path for himself and the pair fell ungracefully onto the floor. Katara grabbed his arm and pulled him in. Before someone managed to fill the gap they'd created, Mai slid under the feet of the Dai Lee, the third and final person able to gain access to the Throne Room.

The doors behind them slammed with an echoing, haunting sound.

As expected, Ozai was there. He was pacing. He turned, staring down the group, and for a second, no one moved.

XXX

Zuko stared his father down.

"Father, please, end this." He spoke first to the empty room. His voice echoed and tattered off, as though metaphorical of how small he had once felt, how helpless his cries had been his entire life. Not anymore. Though his voice phrased it as a question, it was spoken as a demand.

Ozai paused, frowning.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

Zuko wanted to pull his hair out and scream. "Don't do that! Just stop it! Stop this!" Zuko threw his hands back towards the closed doors where he could still hear the hint of brawls on the other side.

"Zuko, if I knew how to stop this, don't you think I would?" Ozai questioned, stalking up to Zuko. "I'm a victim here too, put here for Agni knows what."

Zuko laughed darkly. Always trying to wriggle out of the blame. Likely story. Convenient, even.

"Are you joking? How do you stand here in your safety while the people you promised to protect are burning!" Zuko pushed on his father's chest, hard. He felt his hands quake with an anger that had been building, seething and festering beneath the surface for years.

"I-" Ozai began, but Zuko cut him off.

"The Palace is destroyed and nearly everyone is dead. Haven't you done enough?" He thundered. His question hung in the air. It was only now Zuko realized, strangely, there were no Equalists or Dai Lee agents in here. Just Ozai.

Ozai regained his balance, inhaling hard. A breath of hot air exited his nose.

"Zuko, you are speaking gibberish and I have no clue what you refer to. The palace is under attack and none of us are safe, but the damn exit chute is blocked," he growled, "We must figure out a way to save the palace or else-"

"Ha, yeah, acting as though you care for the audience here. They already know, Dad."

Ozai shook his head. "Know what?" For just a second, Zuko thought he saw it. True fear. But no...his father was just a good actor, and even so, it was impossible to confirm, as a moment later, Ozai was just looking at him with annoyance.

Zuko spat, rolling his eyes. He wiped his face and it came back black and chalky. His whole body ached; not just from the strain of fighting, but from the exhaustion of always chasing his father's approval, always hoping things would turn out good...and then being so disappointed when Ozai let him down, time after time.

He didn't want to love his father. He didn't, but yet, it felt like Ozai was reaching into his chest and grasping, squeezing, and popping his heart every time he wasn't the father you heard about in fairytales. Maybe children were pre-designed to love parents, and maybe this was the cruelest fate had ever been to him.

Because Zuko hated him. He hated his father and he loved him, and this made him hate himself too.

But this wasn't just about Zuko anymore. It was about the world burning behind him.

"This ends here." Zuko straightened his back, looking back at Mai and Katara who were in battle-ready position, "I do this for me. I am tired of running. It's time I face you, my disappointment of a father."

"Zuko-" Katara hissed, shaking her head. He knew she was thinking that Ozai would throw some awful trick his way. Likely so, but this was his family. His father.

In a sense, his responsibility.

And honestly? Wasn't this his fault, in a way? Shouldn't he have...done something long ago?

"I don't like this," Mai said, never dropping her pose, staring right at Zuko. "Do you know what you're doing?"

Zuko shrugged, but honestly, all he was doing was trying to keep things together at this point.

"Fire Lord Ozai. I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" he said, and Katara inhaled sharply. He was so young last time, so unprepared for what an Agni Kai actually meant. He had assumed it would be glory and honor, and that people would write songs about him. He would never forget the taste in the back of his throat as his mother placed a bandage over his eye in his room that night and he sobbed, the new Heir Apparent, all alone in this world.

He was older now, better. He wouldn't let his father get the upper hand on him this time.

Ozai crossed his arms. "No, Zuko-"

"You aren't going to run from this!" Zuko threw a line of fire toward his father. "Fight, fight, you coward!" he demanded.

"Is this truly the time?" Ozai asked, circling Zuko in the throne room. His robes had caught a bit of fire and he threw them off, staring down Zuko.

"This is the only time!" Zuko insisted, "Or else this will never end. We'll live our whole lives waiting for another attack, another tragedy. No, no." Zuko's fists shook and he could feel the fire rising in him. "Now."

"Insolent children will learn their place, then. I suppose you need another quick reminder," Ozai snarled, his own need to control erasing the logic of the timing. "You never did learn, did you?"

Something equally mixed in regret and triumph pooled in Zuko's stomach. He pushed it down, throwing out his hands.

"Maybe you're just a shitty teacher."

His dad threw a fireball at him, something burning so hot that when it landed behind them on a wooden receiving table, the table burned up immediately. Katara let out a squeak, but Mai motioned for her to join her, as out of the way as they possibly could be.

Zuko hadn't forgotten that his father was a good Firebender, one of the best actually, but there was something up his sleeve that his father didn't have: love. The love Zuko had for the contestants, his mother, his Uncle and cousin, the people outside. Ozai fought for his own power, but Zuko fought for everyone, so that this nightmare may end.

But most importantly? Zuko fought for himself. He fought for the terrified thirteen-year-old that refused to harm his cousin, who had the courage then to take down his father, who had been desperately seeking approval ever since to never get it.

He fought so his father could never hurt anyone again. So he couldn't hurt Zuko, or his mother, or Katara, or the Fire Nation. And as Ozai looked over at Katara, a wicked idea gleaning in his eyes, Zuko found a fury and darkness he didn't know he had inside of him.

Hurt him, fine. Hurt Katara or Mai or anyone else he cared about? No, no...unacceptable.

"Your fight is with me!" Zuko's fists pummeled out lick of fire after fire. It was not tiring, it was invigorating. And for the first time, Zuko saw his steps falter as he pushed his father back, one burst of sparks at his feet at a time until he was backed up to the golden doors with the rest of the survivors on the other side.

"Zuko, you have proven your point!" Ozai growled, too close range to do much. Or perhaps he saw the look in Zuko's eyes. For once, maybe he was seeing his son as a worthy opponent. "Stop this, so we can figure out how to fight the real enemy; the Equalists! We can do it together, I know it. You are going to be a glorious Fire Lord, just as I led and shaped you to be."

He'd always wanted to hear it. But now, something snapped inside of him. It was the anger, the agony, the hurt from years back he'd tucked away. It was the horror that this man could lay a finger on him and harm him so terribly and then act with the audacity as though he'd done his son a favor. It was the years Zuko spent chasing any hint that his father loved him, only to see him praise Azula time and time again and leave Zuko feeling like shit. It was his father's treatment toward Katara and the Water Tribe. It was Aang's voice in his mind, telling him that leaders make hard choices, and remembering the emptiness when they woke up in reality and realized Shoji wasn't there with them, or Roku confirming that if he could do it all again...Ozai would never have existed.

It was the screaming on the other side of the door; the sound of people losing a battle, dying inches away from him.

His father would never stop. As long as Ozai was here to command the Equalists, to grasp power in his fingers and squeeze until he had every last drop, this was not going to end.

But Zuko had to end it today before there was no one left to save, no one left to govern.

He grabbed Ozai's shirt, pressing him against the door, and of all things...his father laughed.

"Oh, come now," he said, "We both know you don't have that sort of violence in you, we learned that seven years ago."

"Burn in hell," Zuko spat, heating his fingers so quickly that Ozai had only a moment to realize his folly and try to claw away, but it was too hot.

The heat burned through his skin, to his heart, and for the briefest second, Zuko could feel it fluttering, his fingers just on it. His only thought was that he hoped it hurt like nothing he'd ever felt. Zuko didn't stop until Ozai was slumped against the door, unmoving.

There was silence. Silence in his mind, though there was still a cacophony on the other side.

"On my Agni!" Mai said, her voice laced with shock, the most emotion she'd ever mustered.

"He's dead?" Katara took a tentative step forward. Zuko stumbled a few feet away, wanting to cry with relief. It was over now. It was going to be better. He would rebuild, marry Katara (hopefully), and put all of this behind him. He could stop fighting. He'd done it. He'd finally stood up for himself, and he'd saved his nation.

"He is," Mai checked, wincing at the warmth in his body that was still pulsing, hot as lava. "Zuko, spirits-" She was looking at him with...was that pity? Didn't she see that he had to? That he had no other choice left?

"It needed to end," Zuko said numbly, shoving the doors open. There was extra power behind him, so much so that the doors broke off their hinges and crashed, startling everyone.

"Equalists! Your leader is dead!" Zuko threw a finger back to his father's lifeless body. "Run now before you suffer his same fate too!"

There was not a soul moving. Lu Ten was looking at Zuko with unimaginable sorrow and worry, but Zuko ignored him. Pride swelled in his chest; he'd fixed this. He had saved the Fire Nation!

But none of the Equalists moved. No one ran, no one backtracked.

There was a slow clapping behind him. It was menacing, with every slap of flesh meeting flesh, a pit of despair grew in Zuko's stomach, though he wasn't sure why yet.

He turned and saw Azula sitting upon his father's throne, legs crossed, wearing a golden dress of woven finery. Her hair was combed until it gleamed, falling like a waterfall down her back, her bangs in front of her forehead, perfectly straight across, as even as the blade of a knife. Her dress had a train that cascaded down the steps onto the floor, and it shone like liquid fire.

And he realized...he hadn't seen her fighting for a long time. She hadn't been in the receiving room, she hadn't been trapped, and she hadn't helped break the door down. Had he thought she was among the dead? No, not realistically, but...

"Bravo, oh, bravo, Zuzu," Azula said, lounging like she owned her seat. "Three cheers for Mr. Intelligent," she mocked. Then, she tapped her chin. "Wait, did I say 'intelligent'? I meant 'the fool'."

"Azula?" Mai whispered, eyebrows knit and mouth hanging open.

"Nevermind her!" Zuko growled, turning around to the Equalists that were standing at attention. "Are we going to have to fight you off too? Leave, Ozai is dead! Your leader-"

"...Is right here. You still, even now, thought that dear old dad had the brains to pull that off? You give him far too much credit." Azula flipped her hair, cascading down her back, untamed.

"You're the leader of the Equalists?" Katara choked, eyes frantic and as big as the moon.

"Ah, I knew you were clever, Katara." Azula smiled warmly at her. "And you, Zuko, just admitted to the entire Nation you committed patricide. If I recall correctly...that makes you a traitor of the utmost danger. It's also punishable by death."

Cold despair shocked Zuko's system. He shook his head, inhaling too quickly, too fast. He couldn't breathe.

"Why?" Mai demanded, "Why!"

"It's obvious I'm the true heir, I don't know why my father never realized it either. I'm the better fighter. I'm the one with guts in the family, I'm the one who makes choices, and I'm the one who was unnoticed in the shadows, as though I was a stupid little girl who didn't know better! If my father was here, he'd notice me now!" Azula's pitch rose with each point, until she was yelling, her eyes wide. She took in Katara's expression and sat back down, restoring her voice to a cold and even tone. "When it was clear he was still rooting for Zuko - and spirits know why... it was clear that a bit more of a direct approach was needed."

"So you burn your entire Palace down to be the Fire Lady? You're insane!" Katara spat at her.

"Careful with our language. Words hurt, Princess," Azula tutted. "And no, I'm not the Fire Lady. You know, sometimes things need to be burnt down to be rebuilt again, better and stronger." She gave a wicked grin, placing a crown on her head. "I'm the Phoenix Queen."

"The...what?" Zuko tried to gasp out, but his heart was still beating too hard. He felt the blood in his ears, like a death knell. He couldn't get enough air in. Spirits, was it always so hot in here?

"Guards, grab my brother. He's a traitor and needs to be dealt with." Quickly and without pause, the Dai Lee moved forward, along with some of the Palace guards. How far down did this go? How many people were on his sister's side, planning his downfall? Was it the people that brought him his meals? The men that helped him get his military kit buckled? The maids that cleaned his room?

Zuko fought against them, bucking like a wild stallion. He elbowed one in the nose and kicked another at the shins, escaping their grasp and stumbling to the middle of the room. Instantly, Katara was at his side, fighting too. Katara tipped over the sconces that burned oil and created a huge octopus around the two of them, working at once to lash out with eight different limbs, pushing the enemies away. As soon as she'd doused those that tried to grab the pair, Zuko set them ablaze, pressing closer and closer to Katara, fighting back to back.

"Mai! Get Azula!" he yelled. Mai snapped her head up, deer-in-headlights, looking at Azula. There was a terrible second where Zuko was not sure if she could go against her former best friend, but Mai ran at Azula with all her knives out.

He had faith in Mai, but apparently not enough. Within minutes, Azula was kicking her down the stairs, face twisted in utter fury at Mai.

"Grab her," Azula said to a guard, who hoisted Mai up and kept her steady.

"We're backed into a corner, Zuko," Katara hissed, but he could tell she was seconds away from crying.

"Seems like a common location for us."

Despite it all, his heart surged when he heard her laughter. That was enough for him.

His back was to Azula as he fought the invaders that seemed never-ending from the reception room, but he saw a flash out of the corner of his eye. He shouldn't have turned his back on Azula. He should have kept her firmly in his sights.

He only had seconds to spin Katara around before the lightning hit him instead.

He took the worst of it, falling to the ground and screaming. It racketed through Katara too, bolts that caused her to drop to her knees, and then her stomach in a jerking motion, and for the oil octopus to splash down around her.

That was it, the end of it. Zuko's fingers reached for Katara's as he felt the guards bind both of them. She sent him a worried look but didn't want to look away from him.

"It will…" He almost said it would be okay, but he couldn't even lie to himself about that. Too soon, he was yanked away from Katara's hands and he fought, squirming as hard as he could.

"To the dungeons, until we can do this publicly," Azula said with a lazy wave of her finger, as though she was picking out the color of her evening dress and not sentencing her brother to his doom.

Zuko screamed for Katara, knowing what was coming for her too until his voice gave out.

XXX

Katara felt weak as Zuko was taken from her. She could hardly move, the lightning still jerking through her limbs and causing spasms as she lay face-down in the oil.

"Now comes the time for you all to pledge your loyalty!" Azula yelled, motioning for the Equalists and Dai Lee to shove everyone who survived forward. "Take the knee and swear fealty to me or join the fate of our former, disgraced Prince Zuko," she said menacingly, walking among the lines of people. She began at Mai.

"I will forgive your lapse of judgment, but you see now? Zuko does not care for you. He took lightning for Katara, willing to die for her," Azula said, "So pick up your sorrow and come with me. We can find you a better husband."

Mai looked at Katara, and for a second, as her eyes flashed, Katara expected the worst. Then, she gave a rickety laugh, something that sent Azula's lips fluttering into a frown.

"What? Stop laughing! Stop it!" Azula demanded, slapping Mai. "Answer me!"

"I love Zuko more than I fear you, even if he loves Katara more. That will never change," Mai said bravely, shaking her head. "You never understood that, did you? And you never will."

"The dungeons then," Azula said, trying to act as though she was unruffled, but failing.

Next, she walked to the crowd. Katara managed to drag herself into a seated position, but couldn't do more lest she wanted a kick from her captors.

"Pledge your allegiance! Kneel before me!"

Katara turned her body, watching as most of the guards, the Equalists, and the Dai Lee kneeled. She spotted Tahoe upfront and her heart broke as he bowed in reply.

"My reverent queen," he welcomed in a tone that told Katara he had never been anything but rooting for her. Azula gave a smile, nodding to Tahoe.

"Workers?" she asked next. Katara understood as most kneeled; they were facing death, and it was easy to throw away your morals. She saw many of the handmaids sobbing as they did so, their legs shakily bringing them down.

A few politicians knelt, but about half were carted away as they stared Azula down.

"You will burn this world into the ground. You have no idea what you're doing," one of the politicians said. Katara saw the anger shake through Azula and she grabbed him, pushing lightning right into his heart. He dropped instantly.

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Azula muttered to his lifeless body. It was a warning. A public display. She just...left him there. A few politicians dropped to swear loyalty to her, the threat of death more real than just merely carting them to somewhere unseen.

For those that tried to switch allegiance after seeing a fellow politician killed, Azula rounded them up, separate from the regular holdouts and rebellion.

"If there's one thing I hate the most, it's wishy-washy yellow-bellied cowards," she said with a snarl, and then quieter, so the guard closest to her was the only one to hear. "Gather those that tried to swear fealty after spitting in my reign and execute them once you leave."

Katara tried to motion to a few to run, but they hadn't heard. They thought they were safe from death now.

They were marched outside of the throne room. The guards didn't wait until they were even outside of the palace; everyone could hear the screams, and Azula just listened, a pleased expression on her face. Yue's face was drained of all color, and of those left standing, she looked two seconds from fainting. Sokka was comforting her, and his whispers caught Azula's attention.

The few that were left were the contestants and her family.

"Do I even need to ask you?" Azula asked, up close to Sokka. He took a step away from Yue, looked outside as though that horrifying display had changed the answer Katara knew he was about to say, before he grinned.

"Nah, die, bitch," Sokka responded, throwing his hands. "With regards from the Southern Water Tri-" His words were cut off as a Dai Lee grasped him, covering his mouth and dragging him away.

Arrluck put out his wrists too, silent as he narrowed his eyes at Azula.

She turned to Hahn. "Hahn, baby, don't you want to kneel to your Queen? I'm sure I can properly reward you," she flirted, swiping a nail under his chin and doing what Katara assumed was an attempted giggle.

"You're crazy! You're batshit crazy! You're the type of crazy they write stories about, no way, I wouldn't touch you with a twenty-foot pole! Yuck!" Hahn sputtered, shivering.

"Oh, you break my heart," Azula sighed.

He paused, shocked. "Really?"

"No," Azula shoved him back into the arms of an Equalist, "Away with him too."

Then, she turned to the remaining contestants.

"Honestly, do I have to ask you all individually?" She sighed, as though sending people to their deaths was such an exhausting task for her.

The girls looked at each other, and Cillia nodded. A sort of understanding that Katara wasn't positive about, but had a good guess.

"No, you don't. None of us will ever bow to you," Ratana said, holding out her hands for the rest of the girls to join. "Throw us away, kill us, do what you have to, but you'll never get our loyalty. You will never know what true honor means, Princess."

"That's the Phoenix Queen to you, you little rat," Azula said, though Katara could see how her face changed to more and more furious as none of the constants fell to her. Ratana, to Yue, to Suki, to Besu, to Cillia, to…

Nadhari took a step forward. She knelt down in one single, fluid movement, touching her nose to the floor.

"Accept my fealty to yours forever, my magnificent Queen," she said. Azula looked like she'd just found the last dessert when she thought there was none left.

"Nadhari, you are the only smart one of this group, please stand," she crooned, helping Nadhari to her feet. "You will be rewarded fabulously for this. I will make you rich, and you will get your pick of men. Besides Zuko, of course, sorry."

"Thank you, thank you," Nadhari stumbled over her gratitude, "I pledge myself to you!"

"How dare you!" Cillia yelled at Nadhari as the group was shoved back. "You spit in Zuko's name doing this! You're a disgrace! How dare you, how dare you!" Her sobs and the shock of her betrayal lingered in the air.

At this point, only Katara and Lu Ten remained. Lu Ten was looking at Azula with pity.

"Get him out of my sight. I can't stand that look from him. I'm the Queen now, what right does he have to look at me like that?" Azula muttered to herself, sounding half-mad as Lu Ten allowed himself to be led away too. Lu Ten sent Katara one last look, and she hoped it would be reassuring.

It wasn't. Lu Ten was looking at her as though he was sure this was the last time he'd lay eyes on her.

"If you choose the right side," Azula said, realizing she still had a crowd, those that had bowed were still on the ground, terrified to stand without permission, "You will be given honor and rewards. I know the Palace needs a bit of renovation currently, but the Dai Lee will help you find suitable rooms. Go, and sleep well knowing you have picked the right side of a new era, one no one will forget!" There was a pause. "Go, now." It was a steely cold command.

No one lingered. The hall cleared out within seconds.

Katara felt her fingers move on the floor. They weren't obeying her commands fully and it seemed like her heart was beating irregularly.

"Where is my mother?" Azula demanded of a guard that entered.

"Phoenix Queen...she's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean by gone?" She wasn't yelling, but her tone was so much more terrifying when she was deadly calm. "Where is the guardsman that was supposed to...escort her?"

"The safe room was deserted. I don't think she ever made it there. Guardsman Yaw is dead. He was found near the Royal Bedchambers with a ruby hairpin in his neck."

Azula kicked the wall and the torches burst in an angry blue flame. "Who would have thought mummy dear would be quite so problematic?" she growled to herself. "How very disappointing. What kind of mother doesn't want to see the glory of her own daughter?"

She turned to the guard, who didn't realize it wasn't rhetorical. "Answer!"

"Uhm, well, perhaps-"

Apparently, Azula was searching for one answer, and this was not it.

There was a gurgling noise, and Katara watched the guard smack on the ground next to her, the sound bouncing around the now empty chambers. Katara's heart thudded fast and she inhaled sharply, face to face with the dead guard.

"Ugh, he had one job," Azula said, wiping her hands and cleaning them on the dead guard's clothes. "And absolutely useless to me. I'll just say he died in the attacks...no one would question anyway," she said with a shrug.

"Guardsman…" She snapped at another guard.

"Karv, your elegance."

"Guardsman Karv, what kind of mother does that?" she asked a second time.

"A terrible, terrible mother. She doesn't deserve a daughter as brilliant as you."

"Quite right," Azula said, and Karv sighed in relief at getting her question correct. "You know, she always looked at me like I was a monster," she pouted.

"That's terrible, your queen," Karv choked out, "What an awful thing to express to your own child."

"Well, she was right. Still hurt though." Azula said, adjusting her crown carefully on her head. The blood from the guard Azula had killed washed against Katara's skin, and though she'd seen much blood today, this made her want to puke. Katara gulped and it did not go unnoticed by Azula. She turned, smiling like she had a secret. "You're likely wondering why you're still here, Katara, hmm?"

"Killing me personally, Azula?" Katara asked, left even more alone with Azula sans two Dai Lee agents. All this time, Katara's mind had been working. She was trying to figure out how to fix this, how to survive and get out of this. There had to be one last-ditch solution, something that would come to her at the last moment, and she'd bust out and save everyone, or...or…

Or, she had to admit that they were beaten and she had not a counter of days above her head, but mere hours.

They had lost and there was no escaping this.

"No, Katara, I'm offering you my hand. Sit at my right hand, be my advisor. You are the only worthy one of such a high position, we both know it," Azula insisted. "We all know you've never been like the rest of those girls."

Once so early on, Katara would have agreed. She would have laughed and known she wasn't interested in makeup or dress-up or swooning over boys. She was made of heartier stuff, she was from the tundra. Now, the words felt bitter in her mind.

"That's where you're wrong, and that's why they all denied you." Katara gave a watery smile, the smile of someone who knew she was not going down alone. "I am exactly like all those other girls and I'm happy to be so."

"Ah, Katara, the game is up. I know what you are. No need to play coy or pretend," Azula said, helping Katara up. Her legs wobbled. She blinked in confusion at Azula. Azula was even calling over a healer, with the intent to make sure Katara was more or less still okay.

"Pardon?"

"You're a goddess, a spirit, obviously. You've been sent here to prove it's my destiny to rule. Why else would a spirit in the flesh appear that matches me at every turn? It was annoying at first, of course, but once I realized during the tournament what you were...my mind opened. It became clear. I knew my plan was just. At first, I thought perhaps it was Kuzon- ugg, he had to be the Avatar, but I know it's you. We have a glorious purpose to uphold, don't you see?"

Katara stared at Azula trying to keep her jaw shut. Holy flying pigs, Azula was certifiably insane!

"You have it all wrong," Katara tried to explain, whining because of course the one person that had to figure it out (albeit entirely wrong, but still) was the person she hated most, now that Ozai was dead.

"So you don't deny it?" Azula looked like a kid on her birthday, but her smile was just a tad off like she was practicing in a mirror but wasn't doing it naturally. "Oh, Katara, with you up there with me...we could bring this world to its knees. They'd never overlook a woman again, never call us stupid or say 'at least you have a pretty face'", she spat mockingly. "Your tribe wouldn't be the but of every joke...imagine!"

"But you're killing Zuko," Katara breathed out, even saying those words out loud made her want to curl up and cry forever, and never get up again.

"Hmm." Azula rolled her eyes, snorting. "We're still hung up on him? Geez…"

"He's...I...Azula, he's a spirit too," Katara said, hoping perhaps she could save his life as well.

"I know you care about him for some unfathomable reason, but Katara, I thought you knew better than to make up stories with me," Azula said. Katara brought in a deep breath. Once Azula had convinced herself of something, there was no getting out of it. She would believe until the day she died that Katara was here to help her rule and never listen to a word of reason otherwise.

"You have to know I'd never agree," Katara ground out, still finding the strength to raise her chin. Azula paused, as though she genuinely had not expected such a hiccup in her plans.

"Fine," she snapped like a petulant child who had their toy taken away. "To the dungeons with you too! We'll see if a few days in there change your mind."

"It won't," Katara snarled, hoping Azula understood.

"As much as it would pain me, because I have seen the vision with you helping me and it is sublime, Princess," Azula breathed, exalted, "I will let nothing get in my way. Not even the fickle, traitorous mind of a god."

XXX

It was dark.

It was cold.

She was hungry.

She was damp.

The dungeons were endless, stretched-out time with no way to tell how long she'd been in here. There were no windows.

While there was moisture, Katara was far too weak to waterbend at all, and as it was, she was chained and her hands were covered. Even more so, the guards stayed far away from her, imagining she might bend their bodies to release her.

And she would if she didn't fear she was mere days from death.

It lingered in the back of her mind like a scavenger crow, circling every time she closed her eyes. She could feel the pressure, the fear, the knowledge that that lightning bolt had messed her up good and well, and she'd never gotten a good chance to recover; no warm beds, no nutritious food, nothing but the harshness of the dungeons and the way the cold chill seeped down to her very bone.

"This is better," she said out loud, slightly delirious.

Yes, she told herself, dying here was better than dying by Azula's hand, which seemed inevitable at this point. Each moment, her heart thudded and she wondered if this was it, the moment she would be collected and killed in front of all Azula's new acolytes, and they would cheer.

When she felt her mind running at a semi-normal pace, Katara replayed everything in her mind. Everything from the moment she stole upon that boat to the Fire Nation. Would things have ever been different? What would have happened had she never arrived? Was there a path, somewhere down the line, where this could have been avoided? Would all of this have been stopped had she accepted Zuko's proposal sooner?

Somewhere, she knew it wouldn't have. She'd been under the impression that Ozai was the stone in the river, but it was Azula. She'd been plotting to overthrow Zuko from before Katara even arrived. She would have still done it. She would have still overthrown Zuko and Katara even if they had been the Fire Lord and Lady, and perhaps things would have been worse. It was better because good fighters, the contestants, were still around.

Oh, it was a rotten time to have to double-check every interaction to wonder if this fate could have been avoided?

"It's hard to say, but it's doubtful...but you already know that."

Katara snapped her eyes open to see the Painted Lady sitting in front of her, mirroring her position, though her hands weren't bound by anything other than air. It was so strange to look across the way and see Katara's own face, but in different hair and clothing, staring back at her.

"So now you appear," Katara snapped sluggishly. "I nearly killed myself in the North, but you choose a fantastic time to offer your advice."

"It is difficult to move between the realms, Katara." The Painted Lady frowned, speaking in her voice, but with an air of knowledge and age that Katara's tone did not yet have. "You must know why I'm able to be here now."

"Because I'm dying," Katara exhaled, shivering as she spoke. The Painted Lady nodded gravely.

"This body is not long for this world."

Katara resisted the urge to cry, to scream, and instead swallowed it all back. "How long?"

"Hard to say." The Painted Lady looked anguished. "I have never been so involved with a future life as I am yours and it is like I am dying all over again too."

Katara tilted her head. "Zuko?" she questioned.

"You know the answer."

Katara focused, and then gave a small grin. "Still alive," she said, and the Painted Lady nodded in confirmation.

There was a pause. Then, the Painted Lady spoke.

"Katara, I know what troubles your mind. I have watched, I have seen. You are worried about your life, your choices, are not yours. That they're mine, some path that you have been thrust down without any forewarning. That loving Zuko is some simulated expression echoing mine."

"Seems stupid to debate this now," Katara harrumphed.

"Why shouldn't we? Do you have much else to do?"

Katara narrowed her eyes. Her past self was a bit cheeky.

"Fine," Katara slouched her shoulders, "Yeah, it bothered me." More than she would admit, but of course, The Painted Lady knew.

"If I may?" The Painted Lady reached forward. Katara tilted her head down for her to touch. When the Painted Lady's fingers touched her skin, it felt both cold and warm at the same time.

The memories that were dug up, from some long-forgotten place, were a series of iterations of her and the Blue Spirit. Fighting, yelling, terrible things occurring. Slamming doors, grasping arms and yanking, pushing, and worse.

"What does that mean?" Katara frowned.

"To have a soulmate is not a guarantee you are always meant to find each other," the Painted Lady struggled to explain, "It is more...when all else fails, something to always return to. But there were lives in which the Blue Spirit was a cruel, unspeakable man that I would have hated myself for loving, and likewise, there were times I was mean and unsuitable for him." The moon reflected off her eyes despite Katara being unable to see the sky at all. "It was not every life we ended up together, nor should we have. I would have been furious if I had been with some of those past lives because the universe told me so when clearly we weren't the right one for each other at that time. If you search, you'll know you've loved many others besides the Blue Spirit, and you've always had the freedom for that. You, having your feelings for Zuko now, are not the interference of spirits guiding you, other than placing you two in the same spot. Everything you have done with him, all the memories you've created and the way you've felt, that is uniquely Katara and Zuko and no one else."

The Painty Lady reached out to touch Katara's face, and she didn't realize it until Katara was reaching out too, but they were still mirroring each other. "You may always be wearing my face, but you are free to determine your own destiny...with Zuko, or without."

Katara felt something release inside of her, perhaps anger, or perhaps relief. "I wish I knew that sooner," she said, feeling a rush of emotion so powerful it nearly stopped her, as she let every emotion she held toward Zuko crash over her and drown her in happiness. And then, bitter sadness.

"I wish you did too," the Painty Lady agreed, eyebrows knit, "Because this would have been such a wonderful, beautiful iteration of my life."

"So it's settled?" Katara asked, "You can see it panned out, my death and all?"

"It's fuzzy, but it's growing sharper each moment. I am so sorry."

Katara couldn't help a few tears escape down her cheeks now. "Will I remember? In my next life, our next life? Any of this?" she asked, finding it impossible to imagine that this would all just be gone, poofed out of existence, the passion she felt for Zuko or the friends she'd made or the love for her tribe. The Painted Lady gave a sad smile.

"I will remember you, but reincarnation is a tricky thing. And even so...you will never be you again, just as I will never be me."

The Painted Lady was fading, but Katara did not take this as a positive. She could feel the strength draining from her body, oozing away with each passing second.

"Goodbye, Katara, may your journey onward be peaceful."

The Painty Lady faded, taking the light of the spirits too, leaving Katara in her dark, icy cell.

Katara had fought every moment in her life leading up to now, so it seemed foolish she would accept death with a welcoming invitation. So she bit the inside of her cheeks until they bled to stay awake and poked her toes on the rough ground and fought, and fought, and fought until the fight had drained away, and she slipped into that distant black nothing.

Ahhh! One last chapter left!

I want to know what you all think! I know a few of you saw it coming, a lot more of you guessed that Tahoe was a bit shady…hope it didn't disappoint!

Next, and final, chapter will be out on September 17th. At that point I will give you guys more information on the last book of the series.

If you live in the US, have a great long weekend!