Disclaimer: refer to Ch.1
Chapter 3: Battle at the Bridge
They turned to see Azula and her two friends just beyond a sturdy stone bridge. Even at their distance they could still make out the cruel smirk on her face. The five rushed to the end of the bridge, ready to try and fend the three girls off.
Azula looked at them then said with slight amusement in her voice, "I don't see Zuzu anywhere. Did you finally tire of him too Uncle, or did he commit some kind of honorable ritualistic suicide because he failed to defeat me AGAIN?"
From beside him, Katara could hear a slight growl from Iroh at the sarcasm as Azula said the word honorable. She knew that Zuko had always been obsessed with his honor. He had even tried to coerce her into helping him once just to capture Aang and get his honor back. She never quite understood how he could talk about such a thing as if it were a tangible object. She'd asked Iroh once why Zuko was the way he was, but he'd just said that it wasn't his place to say.
"Tell me niece, where are the archers? If they were here they'd have revealed themselves and formed a firing line by now." Iroh called out.
Mei whispered next to her, "He's right. They should've shown themselves by now."
The smirk was lost at these words. She knew they were right, and it infuriated Azula that one of the supposed best units in the army was acting so incompetently. She would have it out for them later, if they dared to show their faces. All of them were startled by the sound of the lizard mounts. They turned to look toward the animals to see them scampering into the woods, chased by a squawking bird…thing, and a man in black with a blue mask standing where they'd been.
The three recognized him at once as the Blue Spirit, the infamous thief who'd defied the late Admiral Zhao and had run a short spree of thefts in the Earth Kingdom. The man looked straight at them, the smiling mask taunting them. He then tossed the item in his hand on to the ground in front of Azula's feet. A simple glance down told them exactly what the item was, a bundle of bows. These were not just any bows, they were the bows made specifically for the YuuYan Archers.
Azula quirked an eyebrow and asked, "So, you killed them?"
He shook his head.
Mai commented, "Then you knocked the six of them out, and bound them. There's no other way you could have taken those bows from them. It's rather impressive."
"Take care of him Ty Lee!" Azula ordered.
Ty Lee ran forward toward the masked man. She had expected him to move some how, but he just stood there like a statue. Her leg lashed out at him when she came up beside him. She found her self stopped by a hand around her ankle. He then pushed outward sending her falling onto the ground. She got back up to see him rushing at her ready to strike out at her with a fist. Her instincts kicked in and she stepped aside, striking the nerve point in his arm. As predicted it fell limply to his side, but he dropped down and swept her feet. To counter she back flipped landing in a crouch, and lunged back at him. From his lowered position he was able to roll back using his legs to carry her over.
Ty Lee saw what was about to happen, and knew she'd have no way to actually stop it. She was going to miss the ledge of the chasm by mere inches. She could only hope that there was a lower ledge she'd be able to grab hold of. Her eyes were clenched shut when she suddenly felt a strong grip on her wrist, and the jolt of her sudden stop. Her eyes widened as far as they could as she looked up at the blue mask above her. Ty Lee just couldn't understand it. Why did he save her? She had attacked him, but here he was pulling her up to safety.
The Blue Spirit pulled her up, and led her over to a tree. As Ty Lee sat against it, he turned toward the other two. She had heard deep breaths after pulling her up, but they'd slowed as he took her over to the tree. She felt almost guilty about immobilizing the man's arm, but it would make it easier for the other two to capture him.
Azula yelled, "Ty Lee, what do you think you're doing? Get up and attack!"
"Sorry Azula, but I owe him now. I think I'll repay him by staying out of the rest of this fight." She replied with a half apologetic smile.
Azula scoffed, "Fine. Mai, if you would."
Without a reply, Mai brought her arm up shooting three darts at the man before them. He dove into a roll toward to the side, but had to stop short to avoid the small burst of flame that appeared next to him. His head shot up to see Azula with a cruel, amused smirk on her face. Doing so, he hadn't noticed the dart sent straight at him. It sunk into the disabled arm, and he fell to one knee, letting out a hiss of pain. He dodged a few more by jumping to the side, towards the chasm, and growled as he pulled the dart from his arm.
The others watched stunned as the masked man fought the three across the bridge from them. Toph could feel the determination of each of the person's moves, and could almost swear that she recognized the person. She just couldn't put her finger on the name. Sokka actually found himself rooting for this person he had only seen an image of him on wanted posters in a few towns. Then again, he'd root for anyone that fought against the Fire Nation, criminal or not. Well, that wasn't true there had been that Jet guy, who tried to kill a whole lot of people.
Iroh looked on at the figure, and recognized the person at once. His heart swelled knowing that he was all right, but feared that he was pushing himself too hard. Part of him wished to run to his aide, but he understood that he had to continue training Aang. That meant staying alive, but if it were possible he would be taking him with them. Aang, having already been saved by the man once, knew exactly whom he was, but still he was unsure whether to tell the others. At first it had been about keeping the others from worrying over his being captured. Now though, he was just plain confused over the man's motives.
Katara gazed at the man flinging himself around on the other side of the chasm. He was moving with grace and power. She had seen very few people fight like this, and she had to admit that she was kind of awed at his abilities. They'd fought these girls before and the fact that he'd attacked them alone showed his courage. She'd not been able to prevent the gasp that escaped her lips when the dart had hit the man's arm. She wanted to rush to his aide, but when she had taken a single step Iroh's arm stopped her. Please be okay, she pleaded in her mind.
As Mai approached him the Blue Spirit grunted as he concentrated on his disabled arm. With one last angry grunt he raised his arm up over his shoulder, grasping the sword on his back. Within an instant the sword had been swung in an intimidating manner and been split into its two halves. Mai shot another barrage at him, but he used the broadswords to deflect the projectiles. Following this he made a quick charge at her. She found herself backed against a tree as the blades came to either side of her neck, but never actually touched her. She could only blink as the blades were removed and the man turned to face the blast of blue flame that approached the two. He used his two swords to dissipate the blast as it hit. There was one thing perfectly certain about this man now, and it was that he was a firebender.
Before the smoke had time to clear a sharp, hard strike hit the small of his back, pushing him forward. Azula didn't allow him to catch his balance as she delivered a strong roundhouse to his stomach. As he staggered backwards toward the bridge, Azula threw another powerful fire blast at him. This sent him sprawling onto about the middle of the bridge. The others began to move to help, but he put out a hand to stop them as he began to rise.
Azula gave the man a sadistic smile as she announced, "I've figured out who you are, Mr. Blue Spirit. There's only one firebender in the world that would dare to try and foil my plans to capture the Avatar and my foolish, old uncle. Isn't that right, Zuzu?"
"WHAT?" Sokka shouted.
Katara was speechless. How could her brave rescuer possibly, in a hundred years ever be the ill-tempered Prince Zuko? There just had to be a mistake. She watched, eyes wide, as the man untied the knot holding his mask in place, and tossed it back toward the gang. With his back to them she couldn't see his face even as he lowered the hood that covered the back of his head. Her eyes caught one thing though, his left ear. He'd kept his hair the same length it'd been when his uncle had been injured, and there was no mistaking that burn-scarred stub of an ear. The Blue Spirit was Prince Zuko.
"You will not be taking the Avatar or Uncle, Azula." He said plainly.
Zuko looked back across the bridge at the three girls with a hard stare, but not a hateful one. Mai and Ty Lee had come up beside her, and were practically gaping at him. This was Zuko, Azula's older brother that they'd seen her pick on, and show up multiple times throughout their lives. They'd heard most of the stories about his failures from Azula over many years. They knew that he was supposed to be nothing but a failure, but he'd been able to hold his ground against them. This was not the same boy who'd begged for forgiveness three years ago that they'd heard about. Nor was it the boy who they had seen pass by so many times at the palace. This was a completely new person standing before them.
Azula smirked, "And tell me, just who is going to stop me? Certainly not you, you're tired from dealing with the YuuYan and fighting us the little you have. You don't have the strength to keep fighting."
Closing his eyes he said, almost pleasantly, "You're right, I don't have the strength to keep fighting like I have."
This was a shock for everyone on both ends of the bridge. This sounded nothing like him at all. He'd never admit to something like that. His pride and anger at her words would always keep him silent about something like that. That in itself was probably the first time Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph had ever heard him talk in that kind of tone.
"Wait! I want to know one thing, Zuko. Ty Lee's nerve strike should have paralyzed your arm for at least fifteen more minutes. How is it that you could move it so soon." Mai inquired. This was possibly the first time she had actually said anything directly to him.
Zuko replied, "I was too determined to make it move. That's also how I will stop you three. Uncle, I want you to do something for me!"
"Whatever you ask." Iroh said.
"Help the Avatar end this war correctly! Protect the Fire Nation!" Zuko continued, "And uncle…"
"Yes?" The old man asked, hoping what he thought was about to happen didn't.
Zuko looked back over his shoulder, giving him a grateful smile, and said, "Thank you"
He then dropped into a wide stance and reached his fists down almost to the ground. With a loud shout he quickly raised them up above him. This movement was followed by a rumbling sound from down in the chasm, and then they saw it. Lava rushed up from below, ten feet in either direction from the bridge. They were moving back, shielding their eyes from the fiery glow of the molten gusher. It sizzled and cracked, a red wall between them. It finally began to descend, and where there had once been the Bridge of Hotaru there was only open space. Aang caught the glimpse of something falling toward them. It landed in the dirt near the mask, and they saw it was an ornate dagger in its sheath.
Iroh fell to his knees before the two items left of his nephew, and gingerly picked them up. He gazed at the items unbelievingly. Is this how the bloodline of old ended? It was true that Azula still lived, but even if she survived the war and married their bloodline would eventually fade. Was this his curse for all that time he had fought in the war, for trifling with the spirits? Was he condemned to lose every son he'd ever known?
Toph and Katara came up to either side of him, both sensing the feelings of pain and loss emanating from the old man. Aang and Sokka were now in front of them, deflecting the darts and balls of flame that reached their side.
Iroh, regaining his senses, quickly said, "Miss Katara you must heal Appa so that we can make a hasty retreat."
Katara nodded, and ran to the flying bison's side while Toph aided the old man in standing. As soon as he was up, Toph raised a rock wall along the edge of the chasm, providing at least a temporary shield. Soon it was as if the arrow had never hit, and they climbed up into the large saddle. It took a few yards of running before he could become airborne as the spot still retained some pain. They decided to head northeast until they'd be out of sight before heading to the location on the map. Upon their rise into the air the shrill scream of a deeply angered Fire Nation princess reached for hundreds of yards.
Once they were safely away from the area a quiet sob was heard from the rear of the saddle. The four younger people turned to see Iroh, The Dragon of the West, slouched over crying with the mask and dagger held against him. Seeing this unusual display sunk in just what the elder man had lost. He'd told them of losing his son, Lu Ten, to the war years prior. Now though, now he had lost his nation and the last family member who had any love for him, who had been a second son to him. So one by one they gathered around him. Katara wrapped her arms around his shoulders, Sokka placed a comforting hand on his opposite shoulder, and Aang and Toph both sat beside him. They gazed off toward the setting sun on the western horizon.
'I rise with the sun,' Katara remembered his words and added, 'and set with it.'