Welcome everyone to Chapter 10 of A Walk Through Fire! This chapter was insane to write and was my favorite one to write. I remember when I started this, I said I wasn't going to write more then 2k words. Well this was almost 10k words. I hope you guys like this one. Please favorite, follow, and review. I hope y'all enjoy!
I DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER!
"Of course she lied."
Aang walked around the grounds of the Stronghold. "She didn't even care about me."
He was angrily walking towards the position that he needed to be in for the mission. He was still dealing with the overwhelming feelings of pain and betrayal from this morning and he still wasn't able to comprehend it all.
She really didn't care? he thought to himself. She didn't care at all. Why was I so stupid to think that she would care.
He walked to the portion of land he was going to be patrolling and sat down. He looked out into the desolate landscape surrounding the Stronghold. The ocean was crashing against the rocks, the sea breeze was in the air, and he could smell the salt from the ocean. Overall, it was a beautiful day. The birds were chirping and the breeze blowing through the Stronghold with bright white fluffy clouds in the air. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Too bad Aang couldn't enjoy any of it.
"How could I have been so stupid!" he shouted into the air. "I trusted her. I didn't even try to run away!" He balled up his fists and slammed them into the ground sending a cloud of dust and tremor to ripple through the ground. He sighed and sat back down on his ledge to continue surveying the area.
In the distance, Toph and Sokka were walking towards the Stronghold when Toph felt the disturbance in the earth with her feet. She stopped walking for a second and tried to locate the cause of the tremor with her Seismic Sense but couldn't.
"Toph, why did you stop walking? You getting tired?" Sokka asked in a mocking tone as he looked back towards the young Earthbender.
"No," she replied blankly, still trying to locate where the tremor had come from. "I just felt something. It was like a really, really small earthquake but much more precise."
Sokka looked at her with a confused expression painted onto his face. "Do you think it was an Earthbender?"
"No," she answered with an assuring tone. "It was probably just a tree falling or a rock slide nearby. Nothing we should be worried about."
She continued to follow Sokka and pushed the thought of another Earthbender being here to the back of her mind. She knew that it would be impossible for another Earthbender to be this close to the Stronghold and not be captured. It couldn't possibly be him, could it?
Zuko and Katara were walking down the path towards the cave that they had found when they surveyed the area yesterday. Both were having a conversation about what the other thought were going to be the next moves after they had rescued Suki when they saw a small dust cloud way off in the distance.
"What do you think caused that?" Katata asked as she leaned into Zuko's shoulder and pointed to the small cloud of dust that was rapidly disappearing into the sky.
"I don't know. Maybe a rock falling down or something?" Zuko answered while shrugging it off as though it were nothing.
"Yeah," Katara replied while looking at the spot again. "I'm sure it's nothing."
Azula and Ty Lee were running down the stairs trying to find Mai. Running through hallways and passageways, they were trying to find the assassin before it was too late.
"Didn't you say you went for a walk with her?" Azula asked Ty Lee as she opened the door of another room that Mai wasn't in.
"Yes, I did, but that was before I went and did beach acrobatics!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she continued to run down the hall in search of her friend. "I thought you paid attention when I talked, Zula?"
"Well, I'm sorry if I'm a little preoccupied at the moment," she snapped back at the acrobat. She sighed and looked at her friends apologetically.
"Look, I get it, you want to find-"
"Find who?"
Both girls turned around to find the rogue voice and stared at her. Both of their faces showed nothing but surprise until Ty Lee ran to her and hugged her.
"Mai!"
Mai was clearly confused but accepted the hug regardless and gave a small chuckle. "Did I miss something?" she asked looking at Azula who was smirking at Ty Lee who still had her arms wrapped around Mai's waist.
"Yes...you missed a lot," Azula responded in a sheepish tone which made Mai even more confused than she already was.
Ty Lee then let go and shot Azula a mean look but then turned back to Mai and nuzzled her face into her chest. "I'm just happy I still have you, Mai."
Wait what does she mean by still have… "Where's Aang?" Mai asked aloud, concerned.
"Well, you see, that's the problem," Azula began, looking at the floor while Ty Lee continued to hug Mai.
"Azula," the assassin said sternly as she looked at her friend with stone cold eyes. While she had no clue how bad the situation was, she knew that something had to have happened between Aang and Azula for her to be acting so meek all of a sudden.
The tension in the air was so thick one could see it hanging over everyone's head. Azula explained the situation to Mai and she didn't know what to think. Azula had acted like a child and pushed away one of the only people in the world who actually cared about her.
Mai looked at her friend and grabbed a knife from seemingly out of thin air and pointed it at Azula, all the while making sure not to disturb Ty Lee who was still clinging onto her waist like a baby.
"How dare you do that to him!" Mai hollered at Azula with enough anger to cause Ty Lee to let her go and for Azula to stiffen.
I really did it this time, Azula thought to herself as she glanced at the knife that was inches away from her throat.
"You knew we cared about him!" Mai continued, verbally assaulting the Princess. "You knew that he was insecure and that he didn't know what you thought of him." She moved closer to Azula, still not lowering her knife. "And what did you do? You focused on a mission that you still haven't told Aang the full scope of, and you decided that the best way to handle it was to be a bitch to him?!"
"I…"
"No!"
Mai's voice bounced off the stone walls of the hallway. The sheer volume of her yell caused some soldiers who were walking down the hallway to immediately turn around and head the other direction, not wanting to get involved.
Ty Lee saw them and mouthed a sorry before she turned her attention back to the verbal slamming that Mai was giving to Azula right now.
"You don't have the right to speak right now!" Mai spat as she went on. "Do you realize how badly you fucked this up?" Mai proposed the question but didn't give Azula a chance to answer it as she cut her off before words could come out of her mouth. "You, being the selfish bitch that you are, caused the most powerful person in the world to become mentally unstable which means that he could unleash all of his anger at once."
This caused both Ty Lee and Azula to stiffen. Their faces displayed only shock.
"Since you also didn't tell him about the fact that his friends were here to rescue the girl, if he sees them, his emotional state will pretty much crash causing him to go into an emotional breakdown. Which would in turn cause him to do unspeakable damage and kill us all!"
Silence fell on the hallway once Mai finished her verbal torment on Azula. No one spoke for quite some time. Mai pulled away from her friend and got her emotions back under control. She glared at Azula who still looked phased by the fact that Mai lashed out at her like that.
"Now, do you have anything to say for yourself, Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation?"
I really messed up, Azula accused herself. I really, really messed up. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep pretending that everything is fine. I hurt him. The only person I ever liked. I hurt him badly. I lied to him, scared him, treated him like garbage. I'm a monster. I really, truly am a monster. What if this happened to Mai or Ty Lee? They would leave me. I would cause them to leave. I caused him to run. I need to get him back...I need to get him back. Her mind was moving a thousand miles a second. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, but one thing was very clear to her: she needed to fix this and she needed to fix it immediately. The only person she had ever felt this immense feeling of regret and panic for was Aang. She needed him back and she knew it.
Mai and Ty Lee watched as Azula looked lost in her thoughts. They could visibly see Azula change in front of them. They could see the sharpness in her demeanor slip away.
"Zula?" Ty Lee softly spoke as she took the Princess' hand, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and come back to the real world.
"I messed up," she mumbled hoarsely, repeating her thoughts out loud."I really, really messed up. I thought of myself in a situation that it wasn't needed. I never was able to express my feelings especially for him and that destroyed him. I single-handedly took the rug from under him, gave him a new rug, and then took that one from under him as well. I'm a monster! I really am!"
Mai knew that she went too far. She just knew it, but she needed to get that anger out. Aang had become one of her closest friends in the two months he had been there. He had somehow wiggled his way into her cold heart and made her life different and enjoyable sometimes. That's why it hurt even more for him to be hurt to the extent that he was. Mai knew that it was Azula's fault and she also knew that it had to be Azula who was going to have to fix it.
But never in her dreams did she think that Azula of all people would become distraught over the Avatar. If someone had told her that she would be yelling at Azula for hurting the Avatar and that Azula would be breaking down over him, she would have told them that they needed to be checked into the Fire Nation hospital for the clinically insane.
Ty Lee immediately went and hugged Azula who was, at this point, on the verge of crying again. She instinctively wrapped her arms around the Princess and tried to calm her down like she had done not even twenty minutes earlier. She shushed her softly and rubbed her back. Mai sighed to herself and went to join Ty Lee, turning it into a group hug. While she was still very angry at Azula, she knew that she was hurting from all of this. She also knew that yelling at her was going to do nothing if not make the situation worse.
After a few minutes of just being in the embrace of her friends, Azula was able to calm herself down and steady her breathing. She let go of Ty Lee and Mai and straightened herself. She looked at her friends and gave them a weak smile.
"I…I know that you both are very mad at me," she stated, her face looking at both Ty Lee who still looked concerned for her and Mai who was glaring at her, "and that it will take a lot for me to even remotely make this up to you." She took in a deep breath and balled up her fist. "But, I will make this right. I will fix this. I will get my Avatar back. No..." She grinned at both of her friends and restated, "I will get OUR Avatar back!"
This sudden sense of conviction was enough to get Mai to soften her glare. She sighed and smirked at the Princess. "You better get him back or else I'll kill you and so will Ty Lee."
Ty Lee eagerly nodded her head which caused Azula to laugh.
"Don't worry, we'll get him back," Azula promised as she started walking towards the stairs leading towards her station for the operation. She knew this was where Aang most likely was. "I'll make sure of it."
Sokka and Toph were walking down the mountain towards the front of the Stronghold where they thought the caravan was going to be. Toph was using her Seismic Sense to check around for any activity that was happening.
Sokka was getting a bit nervous. His hands were starting to sweat and his heartbeat was slowly starting to increase. He was starting to wonder whether or not his plan was going to work.
"Dude, I can't see if your heart keeps clogging my ears!" Toph shouted at her friend which caused him to flinch.
"Well, I guess I'm a little nervous," Sokka said as he wiped his hands on his pants.
"Nervous about what?!" Toph exclaimed as she raised her eyebrow and looked at Sokka. "Didn't you make this plan? You shouldn't be doubting it now!"
"Well, I don't know," he sighed. " I just think that something is going to happen that is going to throw everything out the window."
"Well, what could possibly go wrong? It's not like Azula is here or something. Everything should be fine, Sokka. Stop worrying!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's probably just nerves about the mission. I just want to get this over with and get back together with Suki."
They both crouched behind a large rock that allowed them to stay hidden from the Stronghold but still see the road leading to and from it. This meant that they were able to see when the caravan was approaching.
I've got a really bad feeling about this, Toph thought to herself as they waited for the caravan to arrive. I can't place my finger on why...but I do. Is there something that we as a group overlooked? I can't feel anything different about our surroundings. Toph had a look of visible confusion on her face while they waited.
"Hey Toph?" Sokka asked, his voice showing bits of concern for his friend.
"Yeah, what's up?" She looked at Sokka and snapped out of her thoughts.
"You look concerned about something. What's wrong?"
"To be honest with you, I just have this feeling that something isn't right. Like something crazy is about to happen."
Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "Meh."
"Meh?"
"Yeah! Like you just said..." He began to talk in his best Toph impression. "'Everything should be fine, Sokka. Stop worrying!'"
"You know, I really fucking hate you," Toph groaned and then noticed something moving in the distance behind them. "It's here."
Sokka looked at Toph confused and raised an eyebrow. "What's here?"
"The fuck you mean, 'what's here'?" Toph asked while punching him in the arm.
"Ohh, you mean...SUKI?!" Sokka jumped up, tried to see the caravan, and spotted it rolling down the road towards the building.
"Get down, you baboon!" Toph hissed as she grabbed him and pulled him back down behind the rock. "We need to wait for it to stop in front of the entrance! Remember, YOUR plan!"
"Oh...right...the plan…" Sokka stroked his chin and sighed. "You're right, we need to wait and then we will get her back!"
"That's the spirit! Let's bash some heads."
They both waited behind the rock for around twenty minutes until the caravan was almost at the entrance. Once it was at this point, they both got up and started running down the hill towards the back of the wagon.
Two soldiers saw them running towards them and called out for them to stop. Toph stamped her foot on the ground and threw her fist up causing rock spheres to launch into the air. She then pushed the rock into the wagon causing one of the wheels to break.
Sokka grabbed his boomerang and launched it at the guard who laughed at him.
"I think you missed me, kid. Go back home and work on your fighting, you wimp!"
Sokka smirked at the soldier. "Are you sure I missed?"
"Wha-UMPH."
The boomerang came back and knocked the soldier off of his perch on the back of the metal wagon. The second soldier, who wasn't nearly as arrogant as the first, got into a Firebending stance and shot a spiral of flames towards Sokka and Toph.
"Toph, watch out, there's a bunch of fire coming right at you!" Sokka yelled as he was preparing to throw his boomerang at the second soldier.
"Alright, boy, I won't fall for that trick again!" the second soldier yelled as he hopped off of the metal wagon and started running towards Sokka.
"I wasn't thinking you were going to," Sokka sneered as he started running towards the soldier and threw his boomerang as hard as he could above the soldier in front of him. The soldier sent a fire kick towards his head but he was able to block it with his forearm. Sokka then sent his own kick towards the soldier who dodged and parried with a punch to the head. Sokka saw his move and ducked. He used a sweeping kick to knock the soldier off of his feet.
"Wow, you're stronger than you look for a runt," the soldier grunted as he stood up on his feet. He spat and wiped some blood off of his face. "But I think we need to end this!"
"My thought exactly," Sokka said and smirked as he saw his boomerang come rocketing back towards him. "Remember when you said you wouldn't fall for my trick again?"
The soldier looked at him confused, but before he could answer the question, he was hit in the back of the head with the boomerang, making him fall unconscious.
"I think he fell for the trick again. What do you say, Toph?" He looked at where he thought she was but he didn't see her.
"Looking for me, you idiot?" Toph yelled from her spot inside of the metal contraption.
Sokka's eyes went wide as he saw her in the compartment. "How...how the fuck did you get up there?!"
Toph smirked, turned around, and started walking further into the caravan. "Well, are you just gonna stare at my ass or are you gonna get yours in here and help me find YOUR girlfriend?"
Sokka muttered curses under his breath and jumped into the long metal carriage that housed all the prisoners.
"Let's go find her!"
Aang sighed to himself and got up from his perch. He jumped down and formed a cushion of air under him so that he wouldn't hurt his legs in the fall. He looked around and didn't see anyone.
"Well, I guess I'm still alone," he thought aloud to himself as he started walking towards the cave that he found. "Shouldn't Azula be here?"
He still wasn't okay with the fact that Azula had told him that he was nothing to her. In fact, he felt angry. He was angry at Azula for being such a bitch. He was angry at Ty Lee and Mai for faking their friendships with him. But, most importantly, he was mad at himself.
He knew that he should have run away. In fact, he regrets not running away, even though he didn't know where he would go or who he would go to. He sighed to himself as he walked around.
"I wonder what Katara is doing?" He continued to ponder out loud. He rarely got a chance to think about the others as he was constantly with either Azula, Mai, or Ty Lee. Now that he was alone, he could think about other things. "The last time I saw her, we were fighting Zuko and Azula. Wait, is she even alive?"
While he was with Azula, there was really no mention of Zuko. It was almost as though he didn't exist. Even Mai and Ty Lee didn't mention him. "He's probably in a ditch somewhere, or with his stupid Uncle!" he yelled as he kicked some rocks that were near. He balled up his fists and walked into the cave that he had found.
The cave itself was very deep and had a lot of different nooks and crannies. It was made out of obsidian and had streaks of granite and limestone in it. The further into the cave, the darker it was. He smiled and started walking. Using Seismic Sense, he walked deeper and deeper into the cave until it split off into two different sections. He decided to take the left path and continued walking. He wasn't really paying attention to how deep into the cave he was going. Eventually, he came to a dead end and decided to sit down.
"Well, I might as well wait here," Aang said to the cave. "Not like Azula needs me anyway. At this point, it's not like anyone needs me."
Zuko and Katara were standing in front of the cave that they had found yesterday. Their part of the plan wouldn't start until the signal from Toph was seen, or unless they heard yelling. Zuko looked at Katara and moved his outer-facing hand to make sure that the box with the ring was still in his pocket. He smiled as he felt the box in his pocket.
"Well, it looks like we have some time to kill before Sokka and Toph get here," Zuko noted to Katara. "Want to take a walk around this cave I found?" He looked at her and saw her smile and nod her head.
"Sure! That sounds like fun!" she exclaimed. Ahh, it's gonna be so romantic! her inner voice was screaming to itself. Wait, I can't think that. It's not like he even likes me...
Zuko held out his hand and created a small flame that illuminated the immediate area around them. He then started walking into the cave with Katara following him. They came to a part of the cave where there was a split in the path. They decided to take the right path.
As they continued their walk, they hadn't noticed that their hands had become intertwined. They just walked in silence, enjoying each other's company. Katara was looking at all the different gems that were hidden in the rocks and was in awe of them.
"I remember one time when we were traveling, we stopped in a cave," she reminisced, causing Zuko to look at her.
"Really? What happened in it?" he replied while taking a quick glance at her.
"Well, it was me, Aang, and Sokka," Katara recalled. "We were on our way to Omashu to go back to Aang's friend King Bumi, but we couldn't fly there for some reason-I don't remember-so we had to travel through this cave called The Cave of Two Lovers."
She continued to explain to Zuko what happened in the cave and started to blush a little as it was a very embarrassing story.
"Do you like Aang?" Zuko blurted. He couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth. Shit! he cursed to himself. Whelp, let's hope she doesn't because...that would be bad.
This totally caught Katara off guard and she stopped. Shoot, did I not show enough affection to him?"Of course I don't like Aang; he's like a brother to me," Katara stated as she turned to face Zuko. She looked him in the eyes. "Plus, I like someone else already!"
"Oh...well, that's cool, I guess," Zuko sputtered, internally letting out a happy scream as he reached for the box in his pocket. "Plus, I wouldn't want you to be with someone like him anyway."
This caught Katara's attention. While she knew that Zuko and Aang weren't on the best of terms, she didn't think that he would openly say something negative about him. Let's see how much I can get him to talk about his feelings! she thought to herself as she asked aloud, "Oh, and why is that?"
"Well, I just don't think that he's the right person for you. You need someone that is loyal and strong, not a total fucking idiot!" Zuko was getting heated as he was verbally bashing Aang. "He can't fight well on his own. He always needs you and Toph to bail him out. He can't think tactically and he can't even bend all four fucking elements yet! He is a weak child who always needs help in doing things. He is a terrible Avatar. I don't get everyone's fascination with him anyway. He abandoned the world for a hundred-four years! How are you going to put all your faith in someone who disappeared at your darkest hour? He single-handedly let an ENTIRE FUCKING CULTURE die! He's not the right person to be the Avatar and he certainly isn't the right person to be with you!"
Zuko took a second to catch his breath after his loud rant. Once he thought his voice was stable enough, he reached into his pocket and grabbed the small black box that contained the ring that he had gotten a few days ago. "Look, I honestly don't think you should be with Aang and I mean that. A couple days ago, Sokka and I went to a village to replace the food I had burned. I got you something because I didn't want you to feel left out since Sokka got something for Suki." He pulled out the box that the ring was in and opened it.
Katara didn't know what to say. On one hand, she wanted to slap Zuko for saying such awful things about Aang. On the other hand, he had a point. Aang was, if not a little bit, of all those things. She never liked him in the first place, but now, she was able to see who Zuko was. He was strong, smart, could hold his own in a fight, had moxy, and was hot. She glanced down at the ring that he was holding and swooned.
It shined brightly in the dark, casting a light blue hue around them. Its gemstone gleamed in the darkness of the cave. She took the ring out of the box and put it onto her middle finger on her right hand. She smiled as she examined it on her finger. "Oh Zuko, it's beautiful! Thank you so much!" She hugged the Firebender tightly.
"I bet Aang wouldn't have been able to do that," Zuko said smugly.
"Bet you won't say that to my face."
Sokka was looking through the caravan with Toph for any sign of life. While they knew that Suki was here, they didn't know where. To make matters worse, there were soldiers everywhere and they didn't realize how large the caravan was. From his best guess, the caravan itself was over six hundred feet long and the visibility in it was low since the windows were covered in a tarp.
"Toph, can you see anything?" Sokka asked his voice in a whisper as he moved through the metal carriage.
"I haven't been able to see for 16 years," Toph replied dryly. "What makes you think now is going to be any different?"
"Alright, you know what? Fuck you!" Sokka yelled, which alerted the guards in the carriages.
"Intruders!" they exclaimed as they ran towards Sokka, but only fell into a gaping hole in the floor.
Sokka looked at the giant hole that seemed to have appeared in the floor, then looked at Toph who moved her hands in a clapping motion which made the floor return to its original state. "You know, I forgot you could metal bend now."
"Aren't you glad that I didn't?" she quipped as she continued to move forward using her Seismic Sense to feel for where Suki was. "I think I found her but you're not going to like where she is."
Sokka looked at Toph and smiled menacingly. "How many heads do I have to bash?"
"A shit ton!" she said as she ripped open the door into the next compartment which was full of soldiers and prisoners in cells.
"Alright, you go find Suki," Sokka ordered. "I'll take care of them." He chucked his boomerang which knocked out three out of the seven guards. He then grabbed his bone dagger and started running towards the others.
"Alright," Toph said. She bent an exit through the side of the wall and climbed to the top of the caravan carriages. She then started walking towards the first compartment which was where she felt Suki was.
Inside of the carriages, Sokka was knocking out guards and soldiers left, right, and center. He was throwing his boomerang all while dodging fire and kicking people. One of the guards kicked Sokka in the leg, causing him to fall. Realizing that he was in a position where he could die, he crawled to the soldier and performed a sweeping kick, making the soldier also fall. Seeing his opportunity, he stomped on the guy's head making sure that he was unconscious. "Alright, four carriages down, three more to go. I hope Toph can find her."
Toph wasn't having as good of a time as she thought would be. There were plenty of soldiers on the inside of the carriages, but there were also people on the outside as well. She was currently metalbending the tops of the carriage to hit the soldiers off of them. Eventually, she was able to cross the top of the caravan carriages and was now on top of the second-to-last carriage.
"Alright Suki, let's do this!" she called, smiling as she ripped the door off of the carriage and stepping into it.
"W-what's going on?" a small meek voice spoke from somewhere inside of the carriage.
Toph stomped her foot onto the metal floor of the carriage and was able to sense that Suki was there along with another person.
"Well, if it isn't...eh, who are you?" A large figure stepped out into the light and was wearing Imperial Firenation clothing. He had medals along his right chest and had a scar running across his chin.
"I'm Toph Beifong, the greatest Earthbender alive!"
Something inside of Suki clicked when she heard that name. She felt like she knew that name. She remembered that name. Then it all clicked.
"Toph?" she asked from her cell. "Is that you?"
"Well, Toph, it looks like you even made a friend. You know, I never was able to break her. Maybe your death will." The man spoke in a deep voice which caused Toph to shudder.
"Well, I guess you need to put your money where your mouth is!" Toph bent down and acted like she was picking up the metal on the ground. She then straightened her back and lifted her arms into the air and moved them so that her forearms were covering her face. As if by command, the metal around her formed into a form-fitting suit of armor that covered her entire body.
"Impressive," the man said as he got into a fighting stance. "Looks like you're going to die in a metal coffin!"
He ran at her and shot a direct torrent of flames at her. She took the force of the hit and then ran and kicked him in the knee. He dodged the attack and sent a fire kick at her shoulder.
"You know I'm wearing a suite of metal right?" Toph said, though her voice was muffled by the metal covering her mouth.
She went in to punch the man in the arm, causing it to break upon impact. He screamed in pain but didn't go down.
"I, Commander Pine, will not go down to a little girl!" the man proclaimed as he ran towards Toph and slammed a flip kick which landed on her shoulder. His leg immediately shattered. The breaking of bone could be heard echoing around the area.
"AHHHHHH!"
"Oh, give it a rest!" Toph yelled as she walked towards the now-crippled commander. "I told you it was a suit of METAL!" She punched him in the face which caused another loud crunch to be heard throughout the room.
She then looked around and saw that Suki was still trembling in her cell. "Hey, Suki, you still there?"
Suki nodded her head as she faced towards the voice. She was blindfolded and very disoriented, but overall, she was okay. "Toph, I'm over here. Please help me!"
"Nah," Toph began dryly. "I did just walk on top of a fucking train, probably killed a very high-ranking commander in the Fire Nation military, AND formed a metal suit of armor just so that I could go back to Sokka empty-handed and leave you here."
She grabbed the bars keeping Suki inside and pulled them apart, allowing her to grab the Kyoshi Warrior and take her out of the cell. She then removed the blindfold that was covering her face.
"Thank you!" Suki cried as she threw herself back onto the metal armor that Toph was in.
"Hey, save the tears for your boyfriend who's waiting outside for you," Toph said. "But we have to hurry, we are on a tight schedule!" She turned to face the exit and started walking.
Suki quickly followed her and they made their way to the rear of the Caravan where they found Sokka waiting for them.
"Hey, Toph, were you able to-SUKI!" Sokka started running towards his girlfriend who was still trying to adjust to the bright lights but she heard him and smiled.
"SOKKA!" She started running towards him and they embraced each other in a tight hug and kissed with even more passion, their hands feeling each other's faces and traveling down. This kiss was unlike any other; it was filled with love and longing. They only broke apart when Toph cleared her throat.
"We should probably get going so that we can get to Katara and Zuko!" Toph replied, still in her suit of armor.
"Wait...did she say Zuko?" Suki repeated to Sokka, who nodded.
"Yeah, you've missed quite a lot in the past two months," Sokka explained as he started to walk towards the cave.
"Yeah, it's been quite event-"
BOOM!
Suddenly, a large gust of wind passed over the group as a dust cloud formed in the air around the area where Katara and Zuko were supposed to be. Sokka gasped and Suki held her hand to her mouth.
"What the fuck was that?!" Toph yelled as she felt the vibrations from whatever made it.
"Whatever it was, we need to check it out immediately!" Sokka exclaimed as he started running towards the cave.
Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai ran out of the Stronghold. They heard that the Caravan had been stopped and that the soldiers were running around the complex, but this was of no concern to any of them. All they were concerned about was Aang and if he was okay.
"Alright, Azula, what's the plan once we find him?" Mai asked as she looked around, trying to find evidence that Aang was in the area.
"We find him, and then explain everything," Azula explained. "Then, we see how he reacts!" She started running towards the cave that Aang had found yesterday with Ty Lee and Mai quick on her heels.
BOOM!
All three of the girls stopped moving as they felt a column of air pass over them and felt the Earth shake. This caused Azula to gasp and start running towards the cave even faster.
"What was that?!" Ty Lee shouted as she was trying to keep up with Azula.
"I think I was right," Mai said. "The Avatar has snapped!" She continued to run as fear was slowly starting to creep its way into her head.
Aang was irate.
He had just been sitting on his slab of rock waiting for something to happen when he heard voices talking. Deciding to go investigate, he moved closer to the wall. That's when he recognized the voices.
Is that…Katara and Zuko?! he thought. He needed to know if it was actually them or if he had actually gone crazy. He decided to Earthbend a walkway through the wall and was standing behind Zuko, who looked to be in the middle of a rant about Aang...about how awful and weak he was...about how useless and stupid he was...how he didn't deserve to be Katara's friend. All throughout the rant, Aang was standing there getting angrier and angrier. He had been angry when he found out his people were dead. He had been furious when Appa had been taken away from him, but this...Aang was enraged. He was barely holding himself together, but even that was slowly starting to wear down.
"I bet Aang wouldn't have been able to do that."
"Bet you won't say that to my face," Aang said, his voice filled with hatred and venom.
Zuko and Katara froze at the sound of his voice. It chilled them to the bone how cold he sounded at that moment.
Katara was the first one to realize who it was and ran towards him, pushing Zuko out of the way.
"Aang!" she shouted as she threw her arms around him, but was greeted with nothing but a glare and disgust from the Avatar.
"Get off of me, Katara!" He pushed Katara off of him and that's when he saw it. The ring on her finger. That's what broke him.
They left me. They didn't think about me for a second. All they were focused on was themselves. They didn't care that I was kidnapped. They didn't care that Azula had tortured me. They didn't care about me as a friend. They didn't care about me. They never cared about me. THEY NEVER CARED ABOUT ME AT ALL!
Suddenly, Aang's eyes switched from gray to white. The glow illuminated every inch of the cave, especially the petrified expresion on Katara's face.
Zuko snapped out of his daze when he saw the tattoos on the boy start to glow. This caused him to jump in front of Katara protectively.
"Get away from her!"
"Or else what? Aren't I just a weakling who can't do anything?" Aang spoke in a distorted voice that sounded more like a gargle more than an actual voice.
"Avatar, I've beaten you once. I can do it again!" Zuko yelled as he got into an attack pose.
"Alright, Zuko!" Air started to swirl around Aang and he raised his fists into an attack position. "Let's fight!"
Aang moved his arms in a circular motion around his head and quickly pushed his hands out in front of him, causing a torrent of air to push Katara and Zuko out of the cave and into broad daylight. Aang walked out of the cave and stomped the ground with his foot, a wall of rock beginning to form. He kicked the rock at Zuko who dodged it, but the rock hit a mountain which caused an earthquake, the rock falling to the ground causing a column of air to appear.
Zuko ran at Aang with all his speed. He was using his Firebending from his feet to try and move towards Aang, but he was stopped by a wall of water. Aang had used the water in the sky and condensed it into a giant water wall.
"You still think I'm weak?" Aang yelled at the Prince who was trying to get past the water. "You still think I can't bend the elements?!"
Zuko somehow got free from the water and was panting. How is he so strong?! he exclaimed to himself. I must beat him. I can't let him win!
He got up and sent a wall of intense fire towards the Avatar who used Airbending to push the fire back towards Zuko. "You know, I think I won't Firebend against you," Aang boomed. "You don't deserve it!" He stomped on the ground and brought two giant smooth slabs of rock into the air around Zuko. He then clapped his hands and caused the slabs to come together with Zuko in between them.
"Aarghh!" Zuko screamed as he could feel his bones cracking against the stone. The stones fell again, resulting in him crashing back down onto the ground. "I…Ugh!"
"What's wrong, Zuko?" Aang sneered. "I thought you said I was a weakling!"
He surrounded himself in a spiral of Air and Rock. He was hovering at least ten feet off the ground when he raised Zuko with Airbending. He slowly started to move towards him. Aang was moving his fingers, causing the water in the air to condense around him.
"You said I couldn't think tactically? I put you in a position where you can't bend. You can't move. No one is coming to save you. You are alone. No...I am here. I will end you...I will end your suffering."
Aang slowly started to close his fist, making the rock and the water to solidify around Zuko. It formed a ball of materials which was slowly crushing his limbs.
"Do you fear me yet? Prince Zuko. Son of Ozai; Grandson of Azulon; Great-Grandson of Sozin? Do...you...fear...me?!"
Katara was at a loss for words. She was witnessing Zuko get pummeled by Aang, and it was terrifying. She didn't know how to stop him. She didn't know how to calm him down.
Sokka, Suki, and Toph finally caught up to where the explosion was and were terrified at what was happening. They had never seen Zuko so broken before, especially Suki, who was still very confused on what happened in the past two months.
"What the fuck is happeneing?!" Toph yelled. Since neither of them were on the ground, she couldn't see what was going on. All she felt there was noise...and lots of it.
"I think it's Aang beating the shit out of Zuko! But why?" Sokka replied while he, too, was terrified at the sheer amount of power Aang was displaying.
"Wait," Suki said. "Aang? As in, sweet, cute, cuddly Aang?" She looked confused. She knew absolutely nothing about what had happened and it showed. "Will someone tell me what the fuck happened?!"
"Aang got captured by Azula and we didn't rescue him," Katara yelled, though it was still hard to hear over the cyclone of air that was Aang.
"Well, can't you stop him? Did you try reasoning with him? Or giving him a hug or something?!" Toph yelled, looking at Katara.
"I guess I can try something-"
"Don't bother!"
The Gang turned their attention to Mai, who ran in and was catching her breath. She, Azula, and Ty Lee had just sprinted to the scene and were panting heavily.
"Oh, hey, it's Azula," Sokka spoke calmly. Immediately after, it clicked into his head who he was looking at. "HOLY SHIT, IT'S AZULA!"
He and the rest of the group got into fighting stances as they faced off against the trio.
"Yes, it's me: the big, bad Azula!" Azula taunted. "Now, if you don't want to get all of us killed, I suggest you not attack me and focus more on the two people who are the most important, which just so happens to be the Avatar and my bone-headed brother!" She held up her hands in a show of defense.
"How do we know you didn't cause this just so that you could capture us?" Katara asked, suspiciously eyeing the Princess, who sighed.
"Look, while you may think I had absolutely everything to do with this-and you would technically be right-there are many layers to this problem and I want to help solve it! Now, I have a plan to get him out of this state and save my idiot brother."
"We can't trust you! You are just going to capture us!" Sokka accused her as he raised his boomerang.
"Ugh, fine. Ty Lee, chi block me!" Azula yelled, making the acrobat smile.
"Gladly!" Ty Lee smiled as she pressed her arms quickly into Azula's arms and legs, making her go limp.
"There," Azula said defeatedly. "Now I can't move or bend. Are you happy now?" She fell onto her knees.
"Just to make sure, I will stay with you while we go with your plan," Sokka said as he moved next to Azula.
"Fine," Azula said. "All you have to do is break his concentration from Zuko. If you can separate his focus, Zuko will fall and then the Earthbender and the Waterbender can get him free."
The group looked at Azula and nodded. They all ran off towards Aang, leaving Azula with Sokka.
"Is this your first plan going to shit?" Sokka asked casually as he looked down at Azula, who glared at him in return.
"Are you always this annoying?" She fired back.
Aang was growing impatient at how long it was taking to submit Zuko to the elements. While he could just take the air out of his lungs, he wanted it to be a much more painful death. Suddenly, he felt something fly in front of his vision. "Is that a knife?" he boomed as he looked down at the ground. He saw Mai holding many more knives along with Ty Lee, who was holding large rocks.
"Well, if it isn't Mai and Ty Lee. What, did Azula not even feel like coming?" Aang said as he lowered himself to the ground and looked at them both.
"No, actually," Mai said coldly. "Azula is currently chi blocked over there." She glared at him. "Aang, what are you doing? This isn't you."
"Really?" Aang said. "Are you only now putting up the front of caring about me? Give it a rest, Mai." His anger and pain was fueling him. He couldn't control his words or actions and it showed. It was as though a different person was talking.
While Aang was distracted, Katara and Toph were trying to pull Zuko out of the sphere of air he was in. Slowly, but surely, he was getting freed from his air prison and the ball around him was slowly becoming loose. Eventually, after enough force and effort, the ball fell out of the sky and landed on the ground.
Aang, realizing that Zuko wasn't in his control, sighed. He turned around and was about to earthbend but couldn't as Ty Lee chi blocked his arm, making him unable. Before she could do the same to his spine, rendering him unable to move, he turned around and lifted off into the air with one hand and both his legs.
Suki, Toph, and Katara were trying to loosen the ball of hardened mud from Zuko, who was currently unconscious. They had gotten most of it off when Aang started moving again.
"Aang, you need to snap out of it!" Ty Lee shouted at her friend who needed her.
"No!" Aang roared. "Why should it matter?! They didn't even try to help me when I got captured! They didn't care! They were my friends and my family and they didn't even try to help me!" He turned around and faced Mai and Ty Lee, who showed nothing but determination in their eyes.
Azula was watching all of this and was confused. Wait, she began to realize. I've seen this before. Where have I seen this before?
Sokka at this point had left to try and free Zuko. With the combined efforts of Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Katara, Zuko was freed from the ball of mud that had broken his body. Aang wasn't happy that he had escaped. Sokka grabbed the whistle from his pocket and blew on it.
Almost immediately, Appa landed and allowed them all to hop on. Appa took a look at Aang, roared, and flew away from the Stronghold, allowing the gang and Zuko to escape.
Aang turned back around to face both Mai and Ty Lee. Azula was starting to regain feeling in her body and was starting to move again.
"Why should it matter?! Aang, we are here for you!" Mai shouted at the Avatar who was now glaring at both of them.
"Yeah, Aang! We are your friends! We care!" Ty Lee hollered at her fallen friend. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at Aang who was slowly moving towards the ground.
Azula was able to move again and started to walk towards her friends. How?! she continued to question to herself. I've seen this! I've lived this before but when?! Was it in a past life?
"No! How do I know that Azula didn't tell you to do that, too?" Aang's voice, while still distorted, was starting to crack. He was on the verge of a breakdown and Mai and Ty Lee knew it.
"Aang," Ty Lee called as she moved closer to try and reach out to him, "you know that's not true."
"Is it?" Aang questioned. "Because from what she's shown me, it is! She never cared. She just thought of me as nothing." Aang was now on the ground while he was still radiating with power, sadness and pain starting to show themselves in his demeanor.
Azula couldn't take it anymore. All this was doing was reminding her of what she did and how she hurt him. She knew that it was wrong. Her heart couldn't take it. SHE couldn't take it. I can't let this keep happening. I need to show him. I need to show him that I care. I need to show him how much he really means to me.
Sometimes our greatest weaknesses can turn into our greatest strengths.
"I...I...I CARE!"
It was as if the entire world stopped. There was no noise; just silence...dead silence. Mai and Ty Lee turned around and looked at Azula, who was making her way towards Aang.
He was just standing there, motionless. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. And he certainly didn't know what to do.
"Aang," Azula started, "I care. I care so much about you. I'm sorry! I'm so fucking sorry. I'm sorry that you ever had to think that I didn't care about you. From the day I first walked into that cell, to the day I moved you to the room next to me, to our conversations at meals, to finding you at the river two nights ago. I was trying not to admit it. I was trying to hide and only focus on causing you pain. And I just do that anymore! I care. I care about you so much. I wasn't able to get you out of my head for weeks. In fact, I still can't get you out of my head. I fucked up, Aang. I really, really fucked up. I hurt you. I lied to you. I treated you like garbage when, to me, you are anything but that. From the way you make Ty Lee laugh at meals, to the way Mai jokes with you...you mean the world to them. I took that away from you and I'm sorry! I didn't show you compassion or kindness when all you did was show me kindness and considered my feelings! I kidnapped you and you didn't try to escape nor fight. I'm a monster, Aang! You didn't cause me any problems and all I did was torture you. What kind of person does that? Aang, there's no way that I can ever repay you or make it up to you, but please know that I care about you. I care so fucking much. Only Agni knows how much I care about you. Please come back to me! I need my Aang back. Ty Lee needs her Aang back. Mai needs her Aang back. We all need our Aang back!"
Azula was crying when she finished that speech. She was shaking, her makeup was running down her face, and she could barely breathe. All that was going through her mind was Aang. She looked into his glowing eyes and bit back a sob.
Ty Lee and Mai were also crying. They had never seen Azula say anything remotely close to that in their entire lives. Hell, they didn't know that she COULD say something like that. While, yes, they knew Azula had a grasp on the emotions associated with being a decent human being, they didn't know she could actually feel them. Regret was a very foreign emotion for Azula. They knew that. Everyone knew that. But what she just showed right now was regret and remorse. They both knew that she felt every single one of those words.
Aang stood there trying to comprehend what he had just heard. He had just heard Princess Azula say that she cared about him and that she was sorry. He wanted to believe it. He really just wanted to run up to her and cry but he couldn't. He didn't know if she was lying or not. He couldn't take another lie.
"How?" he whispered.
"How what, Aang?"
"How do I know you aren't lying? How do I know this isn't another one of your lies?"
He's right. He's totally right. I've lied to him so much that now he doesn't know the difference! Ugh I can't keep lying to him. I can't lie to him again! "I swear on my grave that I will never lie to you again. I will tell you, Ty Lee, and Mai everything. I will not hide anything from you, Aang. I need you. I need you with me. If that means no more secrets, then so be it." Azula spoke calmly but with determination in her voice. She looked at Aang who looked back at her.
Aang couldn't hold it in anymore. A single tear fell down his face with his eyes and arrows still glowing. He moved towards Azula and collapsed into her arms. She accepted his weight and let him hug her. He grabbed her tightly and sobbed into her chest. The glowing in his eyes and tattoos had faded, showing that he was back to normal and he cried. He let out all of his emotions into her. Azula, who was crying herself, looked at Ty Lee and Mai who were also still crying and smiled. She rubbed his back and comforted him as he let it all out. Mai and Ty Lee moved closer and formed a circle around the sobbing Avatar. They all hugged and comforted each other.
Eventually, Azula could feel that Aang had stopped crying and was actually asleep on her chest. She sighed to herself and let go of Mai and Ty Lee, signalling the end of their group hug.
"Well, girls, we got our Avatar back," Mai said softly as she looked at the sleeping teen who was resting on one of Azula's boobs.
"Yeah, we did get our Avatar back," Azula practically whispered while rubbing Aang's back. "We really did."
"Well, wasn't that just so touching?" a soldier spoke from behind some rock, well out of earshot of the group.
"Honestly, it was," the other soldier replied while smirking. "But what's even better is that we got what we needed in order to report back to base."
"Yeah," the first soldier agreed. "Fire Lord Ozai is going to love this. Wait until he hears the Avatar is alive and with Azula."
"More importantly, Sango, wait until he hears that Princess Azula…" he paused and smirked at his comrade. "...is a traitor."