Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

241. Chapter 241: The Ultimate Gladiator 12

A/N:

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

THIS WAS A DOUBLE UPDATE!

PLEASE ENSURE YOU HAVE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER (240) BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THIS CHAPTER!

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The feeling of rocking and swaying in the currents of any form of water never failed to put Toph on edge. It was far more bearable, she realized, on larger vessels, like Azula's Barge: this wooden boat Iroh had dragged her onto was even smaller than the one she had stowed away on when she had first escaped from the Earth Kingdom in hopes to start a life in the Gladiator League.

The scent of the sea unnerved her. The instability distressed her. And the absolute uncertainty, the ignorance in which Iroh had kept her, had pushed her well past a breaking point at last.

Her wounds were healing slowly, painfully, but that pain didn't stop her from climbing out of the only cabin of the small vessel. The ship's captain, if he even merited such a title, was busy pulling ropes, all be it to navigate in the right direction. Toph supposed eyesight was needed to tell whether the direction of a ship was right or not, for she couldn't sense any difference between the ways the sea breeze brushed against their skin whether the sails were aimed in one direction or another. Still, even if she couldn't unravel by herself what their destination might be, she could demand for answers, for they were well overdue on their third morning at sea.

She climbed to the stern, Iroh's apparent favored location on the vessel. He would do better to head below deck, as far as Toph could tell, to escape the harsh sunlight – summer was merely a month away, unless she'd lost track of time that badly – but he had remained on deck more often than not. He was avoiding her, Toph knew, while insisting she had to stay put and heal her wounds. She stopped before him, already knowing he'd repeat those words even before he started speaking:

"You should go back inside, your leg isn't fully mended yet…"

"I can walk this far. It's better for my leg if I put it to some use anyway" Toph almost hissed. Iroh remained silent, and Toph couldn't help but wonder if he had flinched under her harsh words "And I'm done playing guessing games, okay? Just tell me what the hell we're doing and where we're going, will you? It was weird enough when it started, it's worse yet after three damn days of sailing to hell knows where…"

"We're on our way to… to safety" Iroh said, quietly. Toph's brow furrowed upon hearing an unequivocal hint of guilt in his soft voice.

"So, you're saying we're running away from something?" she asked "What is it? And why? If you were in any trouble I could've helped…"

"You couldn't have done anything" Iroh whispered, mournfully. Toph scoffed.

"I know I was wounded, but I would've still defended you if you needed my help. We didn't have to make a run for it across the world, as far as I can tell. What was it? Come on, Iroh, just tell me already. You can't just drag me onto a ship and take me someplace unknown without a single explanation, damn it. Did you get any news about Zuko? Is that it? Is he in trouble?"

"N-no. It's… it's not about Zuko" Iroh admitted at last. Toph frowned.

"Really? Then you really are in danger over something?" Toph asked, puzzled "Iroh, just tell me. I can't help you fight if I have no idea what's going on"

"I know that, but… you shouldn't be looking to fight anyways. Not when you're wounded" Iroh sighed, shaking his head "Please, Toph, just go back to the cabin. I'll explain everything once we arrive at…"

"Hell, no!" Toph growled, her frown heavier yet. Even in a wooden ship, she could sense Iroh recoiling under her sudden burst of fury "If you and I are a team, damn it, you'll tell me what's going on! I'm not some child you need to protect from the truth, am I? You didn't even ask me if I wanted to come with you to wherever you're taking me! You're not telling me where we're going, or why we're going anywhere, and you expect me to be fine with it? Just tell me the truth already, damn it! Or I'll beat it out of your ship captain, how's that?"

"Toph…" Iroh growled, finally regaining some of his character, namely when it came to unnecessary violence.

"Tell me. Now" Toph said, harshly, bluntly. Her sightless eyes glowed fiercely… a fierceness Iroh knew would be a thousand times harsher once he answered her indeed.

But she would find out eventually, wouldn't she? Even if he tried to hide this from her for a couple of weeks, the truth would be known eventually. She would find out what he'd done… and there was no guarantee things would be any better if she discovered it later rather than now. If anything… they were on a wooden boat, floating in the ocean, too far away from anything Toph could use as weapons. Perhaps she'd still react violently towards him, Iroh couldn't know for sure… but he would be a lot worse off if she found out when they were on solid ground. Perhaps he could defuse her wrath over the course of the weeks it'd take them to reach their destination on this slow boat…

"Toph, I…" Iroh said, and she seemed to brace herself for nothing but excuses again, her fists tightening as she glowered without seeing Iroh "I made a terrible mistake"

"You…?" she frowned with confusion now, and her fists loosened up again "What's that supposed to mean? The mistake was running away, or…?"

"The mistake is what resulted in this flight" Iroh admitted, closing his eyes "I… I'm sorry"

Toph couldn't understand what he meant yet… but even underneath the powerful sun, she felt a strange coldness spreading under her skin. She swallowed hard, uncertain whether to step closer and ask Iroh quietly, or to pull away and not ask any more questions about what he'd done. She'd had the feeling his silence was a matter of guilt… of shame. But perhaps it was also a matter of knowing that whatever he was hiding wouldn't sit well with her, once she knew what it was.

Yet she had to know. Whatever his reasons to keep her in the dark, she deserved the truth, and Toph had more than enough courage to demand for it, regardless of how disturbing Iroh's behavior was so far.

"What, exactly, are you so sorry for?" Toph said, finally "What's this mistake you made, Iroh?"

Iroh swallowed hard before taking a deep breath of ocean breeze.

"For a long time, I… I thought I understood our world. I thought I could see through people, even when they didn't want me too. More often than not, my guesses, my understanding of matters, have been accurate. But sometimes… sometimes I can be misguided. Sometimes I can be tricked, whether I realize it or not. Usually, I… I believe I'm doing the right thing, I see very little reason to suspect otherwise, but the mistake I made, Toph… it's because I blinded myself into believing that I'd done the right thing, only to realize, not long afterwards, that perhaps… that perhaps I was mistaken"

"That sounds… weird. Eerie" Toph said, frowning "And I still can't see what it has to do with any of what we're talking about. I mean… we all think we do the right thing, don't we? And then, if we mess up, we own up to it. So, what's the problem? You can't own up to it?"

"It's… not as easy as I'd wish it were" Iroh admitted, closing his eyes and rubbing the eyelids with his fingertips "For… for I certainly went too far. What I did… it warrants no forgiveness, I know it doesn't. And you… you won't forgive me either, once I tell you what it was"

"I… I won't?" Toph asked, puzzled "You're sure of that?"

"Completely" Iroh sighed, shaking his head "I… I should've listened to you. I should've known better than to trust in prophecies, in nonsense of the sort… if I hadn't clung to it all so tightly, perhaps I… perhaps I would've been able to see the truth far more clearly, far earlier. And then… we wouldn't be where we are now"

"Uh, good to know you think you should've listened to me, but prophecies?" Toph said, frowning "What's that about? You'd never said anything about some prophecy to me…"

"Because I hadn't needed to" Iroh whispered "But that… is what has guided me, for all these years. The promise that… that I'd be able to help set right the world's course. That I had a destiny… and that this destiny was about finding the right heir, and guiding them, so that they could become the next Fire Lord. But instead, I…"

"Y-you… what?" Toph said, frowning: her gut was swirling with unsettling nervousness "You said this isn't about Zuko, s-so it's about… Azula? D-did you… did you do something to her? Or did she do something to you?"

"When you fell asleep in the waiting room, I… decided to confront them" he said. Toph's lips parted "They were taking too long, I thought… they had to leave, for the crowds would only let you get to safety once they were gone. But they… they wouldn't. I went to their waiting room, hoping to… to tell them to take off already, so you could be tended to, and…"

"And they were on their way out already? That's all there was to it… right?" Toph interrupted him quickly, her chest tightening as a much darker possibility came to mind. One she refused to put into words, no matter what… but reality, of course, would be much different

"No" Iroh finally said, lowering his gaze "They were very much preoccupied with… something else"

The tone of his voice, the evasiveness of his words… all of it sent a clear enough message that Toph didn't want to acknowledge, even if it was obvious enough what it was. Her fists tightened as she shook her head, unwilling to accept an unsettling, unwanted, devastating truth…

"N-no, no, no…" Toph said: her denial surprised the old man, who eyed her with uncertainty "You didn't… y-you didn't find anything weird. You didn't. There's no way…"

"Toph…" he said, studying her pointedly, his small eyes narrowing further.

"You didn't!" Toph exclaimed, her voice strained as she raised it higher than she intended to: his lack of answer this time froze her in place… and her unwillingness to accept the truth was defeated, outright, no matter if she didn't want it to be overcome at all "Shit, Iroh…! Damn it, what did you do to them? Did you pick a fight with them or something?!"

"Toph…" Iroh said, scowling with gradual understanding "You knew. You… for all this time, for all these years, you knew what was happening between them. You knew, and you never… you never told me?"

"I…! It wasn't my secret to tell!" Toph exclaimed, her voice hitching as scowled again "It wasn't my business, never was…!"

"But Toph…!" Iroh gasped, staring at her in disbelief.

"So, what, you just found out and ran off with me? Is that it somehow? Did Azula freak you out so badly that you went into hiding for a bunch of hours, then picked me up at the Dome and we left the city just like that?" Toph asked, anxiously "Well, if that's it, I… I can fix this, okay? You can fix it! Just… keep your mouth shut, don't tell anyone important about this and everything will be back to normal! Hell, they'll finally learn to trust you again, I can make them, they'll finally understand you're not going to…"

A mistake. A terrible mistake, he'd said. Toph frowned as the words returned to her: Iroh's previous silence gained a new meaning as she let herself think of one rather devastating reason why he'd acted as he had.

"Iroh…" she almost whispered, frozen cold as slow realization dawned upon her "W-what… what did you do? Once you knew, what did you do?!"

"I…! I did what I thought I had to" Iroh said, looking at her in despair "And now I know it was a terrible mistake, but Toph…!"

"Terrible mistake?!" Toph repeated, her fists tightened "You… you fucked them over? That's what you're trying to tell me?! You told her fucking dad?!"

Iroh's silence, again, was as good as a confession. Toph actually took a step back, her chest heaving as she shook her head. Of all reasons why he could've dragged them out of the city without warning, this one hadn't even come to her mind. No, because she had mistakenly believed Iroh wasn't capable of something like this… and now he had proved her wrong.

"You couldn't have been so fucking stupid. You couldn't have…!"

"I was angry! I wasn't thinking properly, it's true!" Iroh shouted "As far as I could see, Azula has long proven she's not a good person, and not a good leader for the future of the Fire Nation! Someone who uses slaves as nothing but a political tool, who was strategically making every move to garner support so she could take Zuko's birthright…! She was proud to tell me all this in Crescent Island, to confess she has been doing everything for her own benefit! And she was rejoicing to that extent in your injuries, your loss…! I know you care for her, Toph, but as wrong as I was in behaving as I did, it doesn't change that her actions speak much louder about her worth as your friend, as a leader…!"

"Bullshit! That's all bullshit!" Toph shouted, shaking her head as she paced over the ship, her fists trembling "All the crap she told you, it was garbage she said just so you'd get off her case and never find out about her and Sokka! And I thought she was crazy for it, I thought you two could get along and you could actually become part of keeping their damn secret, but she was right not to trust you! The minute you found out…!"

"Toph, you were injured…!"

"So fucking what?!" Toph shouted "Fucking hell, Iroh, so what?! I nearly killed Sokka the first time I fought him, and they still became my friends! It was a gladiator fight, for fuck's sake, of course I got hurt! That's part of it! And they could've thrown a real party with the whole Arena if they wanted to, it didn't matter one bit to me if they did, and I'm the one who was hurt! Shit, Iroh…! You had no damn reason to do it! You're just using me as an excuse, but she was right about you, all along, she was right! You were just looking for any way to ruin her life! And now…! Hell, you… hell, you really… you told the Fire Lord. You told the Fire Lord, about…"

Toph's tirade eased as the reality of the matter sank in: Iroh grimaced, Toph's words slamming into him as fiercely as her earthbending would. He eyed her warily, knowing nothing he said now would change her mind about him, about his motives… anything he might say would sound as an excuse.

"You… you just grabbed me, dragged me away as soon as you could" Toph said, hands on her head: her fingers dug into her hair and she tugged, hard "You fucking ruined her life, and the first damn thing you did was run away and drag me with you?!"

"Ozai… he's unhinged. I know I shouldn't have done what I did, Toph, I understand that now, better than you'd expect, but…"

"Fuck you. What does it matter if you understand it or not?!" Toph growled "Turn this shitty boat around this instant if you actually understand anything, and get us back to the Fire Nation! If we go, we can still help them somehow, damn it, we can try…!"

"It will be a death sentence to return now" Iroh said, shaking his head "Ozai will be furious, must be furious, and it's all my fault: there's no telling what he'll do to me, or to you, by extension. We can't go back"

"Hell, so… so you're saying you're not even going to own up to this? To the shit you pulled?!" Toph exclaimed "You're not even going to try to help…?!"

"As if Azula would accept any help if it comes from me" Iroh said, lowering his head "I… I wouldn't, if I were in her place"

"Well, you're fucking right, she wouldn't, but she'd accept mine!" Toph exclaimed "She knows I kept my damn mouth shut, unlike you! Ever since Ba Sing Se, I…!"

"Wait, what?! From that point…?" Iroh asked. Toph scoffed.

"I knew what they were doing. I knew they were interested in each other, but nothing had happened yet" Toph growled "Then, by the time it did, I swore to them I'd keep quiet and you'd never know. If… if they think I somehow told you, then…"

"If they ever find out it was me who gave them away, I doubt they'd suspect you… you were a loyal friend to them all along" Iroh said, lowering his gaze "They shouldn't blame you. It's all me, I know it… and believe it or not, I do regret it. Even if Azula had been, indeed, who I believed she was… what I've done warrants no forgiveness and I would ask for none of it anyway. But whatever you may think of me now, Toph, you'll be in Ozai's murderous path if you dare return. I'm sorry, I am, I know I should've thought this through, and I was… I was impulsive and an unbelievable fool for this. I let my emotions run away with me, I…"

"No, it wasn't just your damn emotions" Toph hissed "It was your fucked-up idea of justice, wasn't it? You got cheated off your throne, so Zuko couldn't get cheated off of his. And you just wanted to think Azula was a monster, didn't you? That she was just like her father, that she couldn't change, that somehow everything wrong that ever happened in the Fire Nation was her fault…! But fuck, it wasn't! You knew from the start that Zuko left because of me! It was my fault! I'm the one who told him the things I did, and if I hadn't done that, he'd still be in the Fire Nation! You… you should've fucking taken it all out on me! If that meant you'd have punished me by letting me die in the Slate, so fucking be it, damn you, but not…! Not them, shit, not them! They… they deserve better. They… hell, he's going to kill Sokka. The Fire Lord's going to…! And you're just sitting here, saying you're sorry but…! But you're not, are you? You don't give a shit…"

"Toph, I do care! I did realize the magnitude of my actions, but it was…! It was too late to take anything back" Iroh said, almost pleadingly "Curses, if you'd just told me about what you knew, I wouldn't have…!"

"You already goddamn proved why you couldn't know, damn you" Toph said, shaking from head to toe "You could've shut your damn mouth… you could've kept this to yourself, talked to me about it… I could've told you everything. And then… they'd be fine, and you'd be wrapping your damn head around the idea that maybe they're not monsters! But… but you didn't. The minute you heard or saw them doing whatever they were doing, the first damn fucking thing you did was tell her dad?! Do you still think you have any right to pin this damn shit on me when you outright proved why you couldn't be trusted with the truth?!"

"I… I didn't understand everything. I still don't, I know I don't, but I could've understood better if…!" Iroh said. Toph, however, spat on the ship's wooden floorboards, immediately cutting off his words.

"You had your fucking chance" Toph growled "You could've listened, for a damn second, to what your nephew told you, and understood it wasn't Azula's fault. You could've listened to me, too, and stopped hounding her the way you did, always suspecting her, always trying to trip her up and fuck her over! But you didn't! You chose to keep that shit up, for no damn reason, and even now when you can tell you messed up, you're trying to blame anyone but yourself!"

"I blame myself enough!" Iroh exclaimed "All I'm saying is…! Yes, what I did was wrong, but it's still possible Azula wasn't the person you thought she was! She may have been your friend, Toph, but she isn't a good person by nature…!"

"Right, because she went out of her way to help me in the Slate when you ditched me because she's a horrible person and wanted to piss you off, that's how it is?!" Toph asked, scowling "She made those laws that were helping thousands of people because she's a bad person?! Hell, those laws…! Even if she had bad intentions, they were good! And now…! Now with her fucking father losing his shit, how does anyone know he's not going to abolish them, just to punish her?! And then…! Then you'll be a much worse person, right? Because you destroyed what she built! If she built something to help others for the wrong reasons, and you tore it all down for the right ones, who's the worse person, huh?!"

Iroh gritted his teeth, falling silent as Toph breathed heavily, waiting for his answer. It didn't arrive.

"She was my friend" Toph said, her voice frayed, her throat and eyes burning with tears that surged, tinging her fury with unbearable sadness "So was he, damn it, and… and now he's going to die. He's going to die, and you won't turn this fucking ship around so I can go help them. How… how can you act like you know who's a good person and who isn't after you did something like this? How… how can you trust your damn judgment anymore, when that's the whole reason this happened? And how can you expect me to trust you too, after everything…?! Shit, I should just…!"

"Don't even think about jumping ship" Iroh said, raising a hand in her direction: Toph huffed, a near-hysterical scream, as she tugged her hair again, inching away from him "You can't swim, Toph. I… I understand how angry you are at me, but you're in danger because of all this, I didn't drag you with me just because I assumed you'd want to come…!"

"No, you're just making fucking choices without giving a damn about anyone's opinion" Toph hissed "You dragged me onto this damn wooden boat, and you'll keep me in the water for hell knows how long, because you think I won't be able to do anything to you here?! Even now… even now you're a fucking coward. You're… y-you're everything she ever said you were. She was right about you, from the start…"

"No, Toph, she wasn't right about me, I…!" Iroh gasped, grimacing "I may have misjudged her, but she misjudged me just as well! Toph, please, this is much bigger than her, than me, than anything you expect! The prophecy says…!"

"Fuck off!" Toph shouted, her voice fierce and deeper than Iroh thought he'd heard it before "You can stuff your fucking ass with that prophecy for all I care!"

"Toph, one of the Royal Family would be the bringer of balance, and it couldn't be Azula…!"

"How the hell do you know that?!" Toph shouted "Who the hell told you prophecies get to decide how anything works?! And even if that's how it was, how do you know it wouldn't be her?!"

"Avatar Roku said it was a man, he only referred to the heir as male, and that could only make sense if it's Zuko" Iroh said, gritting his teeth "The one with Roku and Sozin's bloodlines, that's why it's him. He could bring back balance, Toph, and that's why it has to be him, that's why…!"

"She fucking married a Water Tribe guy" Toph said. Iroh's words froze on the spot "She… she left with him, for that week, and they had their own damn marriage ceremony, away from the whole world. She started fixing things for slaves, too. She had… she had friends everywhere. She even met Zuko and helped him, he only sent you that stupid ass letter because she asked him to…!"

"What…?" Iroh gasped, his eyes wide.

"She was fucking bringing back balance already!" Toph shouted, tears finally streaming down her face "If that's what mattered to you, then you shouldn't have been so damn short of sense and you would've known it! If even I could see it, so could you! But you didn't want to, that's all there was to it. You…! You were just doing whatever suited your damn ego best, not whatever was right with the world! And you keep trying to make yourself believe she was a horrible person when…! When she was a thousand times the person you are, fucking hell! If… if it'd been Sokka in my place back then? If she'd been about to discard him? You wouldn't have given a flying fuck! You would've considered it a triumph! But she helped me! And you still… you still plan on telling me it's her who was the problem?!"

Iroh fell silent, unable to speak against Toph's latest revelations. Against her latest truths, difficult as some were to believe. He couldn't be sure everything was true, no, but… but he had to consider the possibility that it could be.

"I can't believe… I can't believe I ever vouched for you, that I ever thought you were just as good as they were" Toph said, shaking her head and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand "I used to think… I used to think you were amazing. I was happy to think of you as an uncle of my own, but… I didn't know you. That's how it is, I never knew you, not for real…"

"We were… dishonest. In many ways" Iroh said. Toph scoffed.

"That I kept my word to my friends isn't the same as what you did with your own fucking dishonesty" she said "They… they were there for me. Every single damn time. Even when I nearly killed them, they still forgave me, when I couldn't forgive myself. They… they really are the best friends I've ever had. And you've fucking killed them"

"Azula won't… w-won't die because of this" Iroh said "And… she is resourceful. She might… she might find a way out"

"Right. Sure, because that's how this works" Toph said, shaking her head "Instead of doing something yourself, instead of trying to set things right and fight back against your damn brother…"

"I intend to do that… one way or another, whether Azula is alright or not" Iroh said, breathing deeply. Toph scoffed.

"Not like it matters to you if she is or isn't anyway" she said "Not like it ever did. All that matters is your stupid-ass prophecy, right? Well, you already know where you can shove it, damn you. She deserved a better uncle than you… I deserved a better sponsor than you. And Sokka? He… he deserved a better death than this. Or are you going to pretend he won't die anyway? That the Fire Lord's not going to kill him? Because you know he will. That guy… he's one of the best people I know. One of the best warriors I know. If I ever… if I ever get to be half as strong, as resourceful, as talented as he is, I'll be fucking lucky!"

"Toph…" Iroh said, watching as tears ran down Toph's face.

"He was my rival. He was my friend" she said "And you won't… you won't even let me help him. You won't let me help her, either. You dragged me into this stupid wooden prison… you spent three damn days not telling me the truth. You knew… you knew I wasn't going to take it well. You knew I was going to be pissed at you for what you'd done, and instead of trying to fix it, you just decided to save your hide and drag me out of danger because… whatever the reason, really, I don't even…"

"Because I care about you, Toph, you're…"

"Don't. Fuck off with that shit. I don't want you to care about me… not you" Toph said, gritting her teeth as she stepped away from him "Not after what you did to them. I… I can't, Iroh. I can't forgive you. They won't even get to tell you those damn words themselves, and they deserve to. And that… that's just why I never will. Fuck this. Fuck you, and our stupid-ass team… I don't want to be your partner. Never again. You lied, you tricked me, all for your damn benefit. I'm not putting up with it anymore. The minute we reach land… you're on your own"

"That's…" Iroh said, but Toph stormed off by then, rushing down the stairs, back to the cabin he had wanted her to stay in, in the first place "Toph!"

There was no chance her intentions would be realized… Iroh knew as much. Toph could say what she wished, she could make vows, decide to abandon him for good… but she was stuck with him, from this point onwards, until this conflict was resolved.

No, apologies wouldn't fix what he'd wrought, Iroh knew that too. Saying he was sorry… it would help no one, and Toph would likely only despise him further for it. Yes, he had known the consequences for Azula's misdeeds would be severe, he wouldn't play dumb about that… but he had certainly miscalculated in many ways. Azula was, indeed, a master manipulator… but it seemed she had manipulated him into thinking the very worst of her. Why couldn't she have used that damn skill of hers to sway him into believing her to be the kind, pure-hearted leader the Fire Nation needed? If she had only tried to convince him of that…

Though… would he have even tried to see her that way? Would he have ever given her a chance, when that was what Toph had begged him to do for years? He had refused on every opportunity. He had, indeed, antagonized her… for he had always taken for granted that she was her father's loyal soldier. Her affair… it had looked like nothing but a slip-up to Iroh, something done in the spur of the moment, an impulsive occasion in which she had rewarded her loyal slave with the only thing he had ever wanted. It had never crossed his mind that it could be love instead, not since she had shot down that possibility when he had brought it up in Crescent Island… but of course, why would she ever tell him the truth back then, when all she would have expected was for Iroh to do exactly what he'd done this time?

Whatever motives he'd had… whatever impulsive reasoning had guided him, he could finally acknowledge it had been utterly wrong. He covered his face with his hands, acutely aware of lacking the wisdom so many people believed he had in spades. He had thought he had done the right thing… that he had chosen the right heir, until that night had changed everything. But was it in his hands to choose? Was it up to him to choose? What Roku had predicted about his role in ending the war…

"You will determine the fate of the next Fire Lord"

Had he done that with his mistakes, too? Had he determined the fate of the next Fire Lord by letting Zuko be chased away, by destroying Azula's chance at amending what her father had been breaking for the past two decades, what their forefathers had been destroying for over a hundred years of war?

Had he fulfilled his destiny by dooming the Fire Nation, altogether?

No, he couldn't let that happen. He had messed up, that much was true… and as much as Toph wanted them to go back, there would be no salvaging Azula's destroyed honor at this stage, let alone would there be any chances to save Sokka's life. But if there was yet a way for the Fire Nation's leadership to be toppled, Iroh wouldn't rest until he made it happen. No, it was no way to amend his mistakes… Azula, without a doubt, would never forgive him. But whatever price he'd have to pay for what he'd done… he'd pay it indeed. Toph was right: there was no point in making excuses or running away anymore. He might never be able to take back what he'd done… but if he stopped stalling, working in the shadows, and finally stepped forward to fully fight back against his brother, there might be some redemption he could yet aspire to, even now.

"Everything alright, sir…?"

The captain and sole sailor of their small vessel eyed Iroh warily, as though unsure about approaching the ship's stern, even now. Iroh sighed, shaking his head as an earnest answer.

"I… I fear nothing will be alright, not for a long time" he said "But… keep us on course. The sooner we arrive, the better"

"Still got another week left of this journey" said the sailor, grimacing apologetically "It'll still be a while…"

"I know. Just keep going" Iroh said. The man nodded in his direction.

"As you wish, Grand Lotus"

He wasn't sure he deserved that title, perhaps he never had. Iroh sighed: he'd attempt to bring up his own demotion to the rest of the leadership of the Order, once they reached their destination.

Below deck, Toph no longer intended to take another step out of the cabin she had barricaded herself in. Shivering violently, she had climbed the cot she'd been resting on earlier, clawing her hair with her hands once more: while she had been convalescing pathetically in this damn cabin, while she had been making utterly misguided guesses over whatever had prompted Iroh's behavior… Azula and Sokka had been, for all she knew, fighting for their lives against the Fire Lord himself. While she was relaxed, careless, floating miles away from all land, they were suffering hardships she barely dared imagine. If Azula had been examined to inspect whether or not she retained her purity… would they have known right away that the man responsible was Sokka? Would they have executed him at haste? Was her friend even alive anymore…? And if he wasn't… would Azula be able to keep going, somehow, when it seemed she was poised to lose everything?

After a nightmare of a month, during which Toph had been inflicted more injuries than she had ever experienced, nothing had hurt her as badly as the conversation she'd just held with the man she had once trusted with her life. How she had dreaded the possibility of facing an enemy she wasn't strong enough to defeat, an enemy who could overcome her and render her powerless… after all that fear, all that uncertainty about being good enough, about being strong enough to face any adversity, it turned out the worst battle she'd face wouldn't be against Combustion Man, or against the Blue Wolf, but against her own powerlessness. When those she loved had needed her most desperately, when she could have done something, anything, to help them… she hadn't been able to. She hadn't even known what hardships they had been enduring on their own… and now it was too late. She couldn't do anything to help tilt the odds of a battle far more important than any gladiator fight in Sokka and Azula's favor. She had been denied the chance to fight altogether… she couldn't save the people who mattered the most to her.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she hugged herself, strenuous pain surging in her gut, rendering her useless, helpless, in a wooden prison, on the vastness of the ocean. She had known, oh, she had known, that one day she would fail. That one day, she wouldn't be strong enough. That one day, she would be too late.

That day had arrived, just as she had anticipated. Shuddering, sobbing in a cabin, in the middle of the sea, the devastated earthbender, cut off from her power, from her friends, from every certainty underneath her strong feet, stemmed in her fury, in her sadness, in the longing desperation to find her friends again… to apologize for not being able to stop Iroh, to fight for them, to protect them from Fire Lord Ozai if she could. She would gladly trade that damn pristine gladiatorial record, all battles she had fought across the past years, for a chance to help them once more… but reality proved to be utterly unforgiving: out of all the battles she had waged, won and lost, the only one she had failed to fight in was the one where her friends had needed her most direly.

---

It wasn't dawn yet when the footsteps awoke Sokka from another fretful attempt to sleep. He shuddered into consciousness, sitting against the wall as he was – even the commodity of any form of bedding had been deemed a kindness someone of his station didn't deserve. His eyes took time to adjust to the dark room and to recognize the new arrivals, the leader of which stood at his cell's door.

He knew those red and gold robes. He knew why they were here. Even then, he didn't move an inch until the man behind the helmet spoke:

"It's time" he said, simply.

Sokka gritted his teeth, closing his eyes tightly. Wildly, he had allowed himself to wonder if by any chance, Rui Shi or Fei Li might be underneath that helmet… that they might have managed to infiltrate the squad that had come to collect him. But no… instead, it was the same voice of the guard who had helped him, bringing him that tray with food and treatments to ease his many wounds. A tray that had been taken from his cell after he'd used its contents by a disgruntled, furious guard who stormed downstairs, demanding for an explanation. In their eyes, he was the lowest of criminals, the most outrageous one, too, and so much as keeping him alive was a chore they would be glad to be rid of… Sokka breathed deeply, wondering if the man standing by the door agreed with those notions. Notions that, no doubt, had seen their origins in the Fire Lord's judgment of this whole situation.

"Please, don't make this any harder on yourself than it has to be" the guard said, after Sokka betrayed no intent to move. Words that guard had spoken, too, back when Sokka had been beaten by his fellow guards, in his own home.

Sokka glanced at him, almost reproachfully, before dropping his gaze and sighing heavily. Every inch of his body hurt… but all that pain was superficial compared to the one that dwelled within his heart. One mistake… one mistake was all it had taken for things to come to this. One person giving them away… and now he was forced to face his death before he was ready to let go of life. Before he could make sure the woman he loved would be safe, that she would be able to keep going even if he was gone.

They had sworn to each other it wouldn't come to this… they had vowed to succeed where Oma and Shu had failed. But surely Oma and Shu had made similar vows… and just like Sokka's own end seemed inevitable, impending, so had been Shu's.

The least he could do was face it head-on, proving himself a gladiator worthy of serving the most extraordinary leader that the Fire Nation, rather, their whole world, had ever seen.

He rose to his feet slowly, glancing at the guard with stern eyes. The man gave the order to open the door, and one of the Domestic Forces guards stepped forward, carrying a large set of keys with him: the keys for Sokka's ankle shackle, of course. Sokka breathed out as the Imperial Guard entered the cell, followed by two others.

"Don't even think about doing anything you shouldn't, understood?" said one of the other guards. Sokka's eyes only narrowed further, waiting for the metallic weight on his ankle to finally disappear.

The shackle clinked off his leg: by then, the guard who had helped him before had restrained his wrists with another set of handcuffs. Sokka complied silently, knowing he'd get no better treatment than this. Compared to the violence with which they'd dragged him to prison three days ago, this group of guards was proving surprisingly mild instead.

The full squad assigned to him flanked him as he stepped out of the prison cell. He was guided to the stairs, and he felt the keen glares of all the Domestic Forces guards who had been asked to keep watch over him through the previous day and night. Sokka ignored them as best he could, following the Imperial Guards down the tower. The cold stone underneath his bare feet wasn't comfortable, neither was the stale air in the building… but even then, Sokka was grateful for each of those sensations. He was still breathing, and there was still solid ground for him to walk on. The pain over his skin, and underneath it, was just as much proof that he was still alive… and just as much of a reminder that, sooner than later, all these sensations would vanish for good. He knew he shouldn't think of that, of course he did… but his empty stomach twisted all the same, whether he formulated such thoughts in his mind or not.

He counted the floors, for no reason but to keep track of his reality. The lower they went, the more guards he'd see… and all of them looked at him as though he were a wild beast they had to be wary of. Wasn't he even human in their eyes anymore? Perhaps not…

He swallowed hard as they dragged him outside: the sun had yet to rise, though the skies were lighter than before. The air was much cleaner here, and Sokka breathed it in fully, letting it rinse his lungs before he was dragged into another carriage for prisoners: the metal cabin this time, however, was covered with a thick fabric, intended to prevent any onlookers from identifying him. It was a necessary measure now, as back when he had first been captured it had been the middle of the night and he would have been unrecognizable under those circumstances… parading him across town this time would definitely garner him more attention than the Imperial Guards would want. Even with this fabric concealing him from sight, it'd be difficult to divert attention from the carriage, Sokka suspected.

Still, he was urged to climb on the carriage alone, and within a few more moments, the wheels started to roll. On and on they'd turn, until they finally reached their destination within the Capital's premises…

At the very center of the city, in a darkened room, a Princess laid in bed, her eyes open even if dawn had yet to arrive. The familiar tingle of warmth the sun brought with itself was unwelcome, unwanted, today: the sun should never rise again, if that was what it'd take for the man she loved to live on. But nature, she knew, wasn't so fickle. Even if the thickest clouds tried to cover the skies, the sun would still rise behind them… and her father would still act on his latest decisions, as he ever had intended to.

Unwanted proof of her certainties arrived mere moments later, when the door to her room swung open: some other guard had arrived to convey a message to Shaofeng and his legion of goons, of course. And what message could it possibly be, if not…?

"Get up, and get ready. The execution will take place in an hour"

Her stomach sank painfully, a draining sense of panic overwhelming her heart as she refused to process those words. An hour? That was all they had left?

She twitched in the mattress, almost imperceptibly. Almost.

"You already know you have but a choice to make, Princess: either you do this the easy way, or the hard way" Shaofeng continued, scowling at her from the side of her bed "If you'd rather be dragged to the Grand Royal Dome in this shape, so be it"

Retaining even a shred of her dignity was but a failed venture, Azula knew… but letting Shaofeng touch her, or drag her anywhere, was a concept she refused to accept. She released a deep, angry breath, before she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Shaofeng inched away from her: the way he regarded her revealed he was wary… perhaps even scared. Did he expect her to strike at him? If only she had the strength for it, she gladly would have.

Her feet hit the floor just as her servants were ushered inside, at haste. That they'd expect her to eat today was utterly laughable: she didn't even cast a glance at her dining room, instead focusing only on her clothes' selection. The servants could clean and tidy up all they pleased… it made no matter. There was no future she could see, no tomorrow worth striving towards… not when the immediate future was a waking nightmare.

She changed in her bathroom, again. The servants insisted on helping her this time, and one of them gasped at the swelling skin of her shoulder's wounds once it was exposed to their eyes. Azula disregarded the reaction, cladding herself in her shirt immediately, unconcerned with how disturbed they might be over her physical state. They didn't react adversely to anything else, but they were very careful when placing her black armor upon her body. Azula had been tempted to reject the armor again… but after her latest row with her father, she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Instead, she allowed them to prepare her as best they could. To compose her hair into the perfect half-knot, to crown it, this time, with her hairpiece. Upon looking at herself in the mirror, her pale, miserable complexion spoke lengths of her mental state. Long ago, she had found herself staring at that same reflection with uncertainty, knowing she looked like the perfect princess when she longed for nothing but to tear apart that image of herself, to prove she wasn't her father's ideal heir… that she hadn't been, for a long time. In the end, she hadn't torn the image at all, but it had fallen to pieces by its own weight. Right now, she could barely recognize the woman who stared back at her in that mirror.

"Princess… will you eat some breakfast?" asked Zhilan, pleadingly "It's still warm, I hope, so…"

Azula closed her eyes and shook her head. The maid fell silent immediately, though her question, and its answer, had been enough for Shaofeng to step forward.

"If you won't eat, there's no more time to waste" the General announced. Azula didn't hesitate to shoot him a deathly glare that he pointedly ignored "Get going. Your palanquin awaits you"

Palanquin… Azula nearly scoffed at the notion. Didn't her father want this whole matter to be kept quiet, yet he'd have her crossing the city to the Grand Royal Dome on her palanquin, right after he had closed down the Gladiator Business? Her chest burned with fury at every single one of his irrational decisions… at the awareness that he'd never acknowledge them as such, too.

But what choice did she have other than to abide by his demands? He had already made it abundantly clear, as had Shaofeng, that any refusal would be met with nothing but violence. Either she complied, or she'd be forced to do so against her will, as was the traditional way in which her father always handled his business.

She only fastened her boots silently in response to Shaofeng's words and made for the door. The guards gathered around her, but when one reached for her, Shaofeng pulled him back.

"You are staying in the Palace" he hissed: furious as she'd been so far, Azula hadn't even noticed the guard Shaofeng spoke to right now was none other than Fei Li.

"I…!" he gasped, as Shaofeng pushed him back into the nearest wall.

"Disobey, and you'll face dire consequences" Shaofeng hissed "Your demotion is already guaranteed, as things stand, Captain Fei Li. You don't wish to make matters worse yet for yourself, or do you?"

Fei Li froze in place, lowering his head. Azula's stomach twisted and turned at his silent surrender: whatever he'd wanted to convey to her, he'd failed to do so. That he'd be so unwilling to see her off with the rest of the guards… it seemed as though he were desperate. As though he couldn't trust that any of the plans he'd been counting on so far would pay off at all. Was that the case? Was all hope truly lost?

She hadn't been counting on the opposite, not really. Not after her father had sent so many guards to watch over her every move, not after he had made his intentions to marry her off to Zhao known, not after he had announced Sokka's fate would be decided on this very day. Yet after Fei Li's failed attempt to reach her, it felt as though Azula were walking to her own execution as well as Sokka's.

Across the city, the wheels of a carriage finally halted: the flap of the fabric covering the cabin was pulled to the side, the metallic cage opened, and the cuffed man within was pulled out of the vehicle briskly, to find himself in a familiar location…

"We were expressly ordered to bring you here" the helpful guard told him, clasping the chain of Sokka's handcuffs "It's not every day a man is given a chance to fight back on the day of his execution… so you'd best not waste it"

Sokka swallowed hard, nodding despite he knew this display of kindness was minuscule, considering the reality of his situation. Even so, it was good to know that Zhao had come through with his promise: Sokka followed the guard through the fence, and the small front yard, that led to the house he'd occupied for the past four years.

"Distribute yourselves across the house's terrains, now" the guard ordered his comrades.

"I won't run away" Sokka said, glancing at the man warily. Underneath his helmet, he remained impassive.

"I should hope so" he said "But if I take any chances with you, I'll pay for it. I'll watch over you as you collect your weapons, and if you do anything you shouldn't…"

"I won't" Sokka said, bluntly, raising his eyes to the ajar door. The guard was the one who pushed it open with one brisk movement.

The place looked abandoned in Sokka's eyes, despite it had only been empty for a few days. A ghostly light filtered through the windows as the sun was beginning to rise, but it brought no warmth, no life, to the place he'd gladly called a home for as long as he had. The crimson couch lingered where it was, so familiar, and yet so distant, as though it, along with all the contents of the house, had been replaced by a doppelganger that lacked its true essence.

Blood trailed across the stairs, and Sokka flinched many times as he climbed the steps slowly, his body shooting jolts of pain through his every joint and muscle over his movements. He had stumbled and fallen down across this very flight, when he had last been here… the memory of every blow, every abuse, still burned vividly in his mind as he reached the top of the stairs. Song's room was closed, and he briefly allowed himself to think that she might still be there, sleeping peacefully before setting out to work on breakfast. That this nightmare would come to an end in some other way than with his death… that his friends, his loved ones, would be safe and sound. That he'd have a second chance to do things the right way, that time would flow backwards and allow him to fight back, to defeat all the guards, or perhaps to slow down with Azula in the waiting room, and instead that they might stop Iroh before he rushed to tell the Fire Lord of any suspicions he'd have, whether accurate or not, about their relationship.

But time didn't circle back when he reached his room: a pool of dry blood had solidified over the floorboards, staining them permanently, he suspected. The bed was a mess, with burnt sheets that had been caught in the crossfire. The guards themselves must have put out the flames in the middle of the fight, otherwise the whole place would have burned down altogether.

"Get going, then. We don't have all day" said the guard. Sokka raised an eyebrow, though, and then his shackled hands "Oh…"

"I'll get done much faster if you do something about this" he said. The guard nodded, though he didn't refrain from warning him yet again:

"Don't do anything stupid" he said, bluntly. Sokka nodded, as the handcuffs loosened, leaving him at liberty to prepare properly.

He didn't think twice of it, pulling off his prison shirt and tossing it aside before shrugging off the trousers as well. The guard said nothing, likely unconcerned with his carelessness regarding his displaying of his body so openly, and Sokka wouldn't have cared if the man had protested for it in any way, either.

He collected one of his blue shirts, as well as the matching, darker trousers he ever wore with them. The fabric was soft upon his skin, just as that of his waistcloth. He tied all of it together with his white sash, taking more care than usual to ensure it was bound properly. Then he stepped towards his armoire, opening it to reveal his large, blue-black armor awaited him there. The very armor he'd built with Azula's help in the early days of their partnership, that had seen him through countless ordeals… the only right attire to wear when he'd be facing death in no time, as far as he could tell.

His arms trembled as he picked up the armor: he needed food, and far more rest, as well as a long recovery period, if he hoped to be in the best condition for a fight… but why even think of such impossible things? Why even let himself dream of restoring the strength he knew he'd have no time, no chance to reclaim? All he could do was set the armor upon his shoulders, fastening it expertly, and letting its weight comfort him, even if his aching body resented him for wearing it. He would fight no better without it, however. He was in no shape for the challenge that loomed ahead: he refused to lie to himself pretending otherwise. Heavy or light armor, it would make no difference for a gladiator as battered as he was… let alone when he'd face a man who would blow him to smithereens regardless of whatever equipment he brought with him.

He tightened his bandages over his forearms, then he slipped the forearm guards into place: Azula had often taken to fastening these for him, a painful thought to have… and yet a comforting memory to bask in, as he closed his eyes and let himself think of her again. She was the only source of strength he still had left, the only reason he kept going, the only reason to fight rather than accept his death meekly… but every hint of strength was accompanied by misery, just as well. For he knew her future was dark and dangerous… for he knew Ozai would be as cruel as he dared be to his daughter, both now and on every day that followed Sokka's execution.

So many conflicting feelings raged inside his tormented soul, but Sokka didn't slow down even then. He slid his feet inside the last pair of boots Azula had bought for him, fastening them quickly, before rising to tie up his hair properly. The hair she had told him she liked longer… if only he could feel her fingers brushing through it again, if only he could gaze into those golden eyes one more time, or kiss those lips once more… It didn't matter how many times he'd done it, how he had genuinely cherished her presence, her company, for as long as he had. All the years of unparalleled bliss they'd enjoyed suddenly seemed so few, so short, in the face of these adversities.

He collected his weapons slowly, knowing the guard was watching him more intently now than before. First, his sword and boomerang. Then he collected his knife and club, too. Then his bombs – he was running low on the smoke bombs, only three left of his last haul. Naturally, these were far more weapons than they were allowed to wield in fights… but this wasn't a legal fight. He didn't care to abide by any rules, not when his very life was on the line…

Which was what brought his eyes to focus on two boxes he had kept near his weapons. He opened them both, uncertain of what to do: the dispersers, he suspected, would be of little use against an enemy who probably would tear the gas apart with a single explosion and be utterly unaffected by it, but he'd do best to bring them along anyways. And the special bombs… curses, he hadn't managed to make them more manageable, or find any other ways to use their gas. Using them this way, without having even tested any of them personally, was likely a death sentence…

But he was already sentenced to death, wasn't he?

His eyes widened as a possible outcome for the fight suddenly solidified in his mind. He opened the box, the six red spheres as good as begging him to take them… and he did.

"Done yet?" asked the guard, once he closed the box anew. Sokka had intended to nod… but one glance across the room told him that no, he wasn't ready just yet.

This was the room where they had first consummated their love. It was the place that had become a safe harbor, a haven for their relationship. For a long time, it had seemed as though nothing wrong could ever happen as long as they were there… even after utterly ridiculous incidents such as the one with Hina, where he had been outraged by her invasion, he had still come to see the room as the safest place to be. It was a bitter goodbye… but one he made while letting himself think back, as much as he could, of all the days and afternoons of lovemaking with Azula. Of the many conversations they'd had, of the way she smiled knowingly under his mischievous, insistent gaze, her eyes gleaming as her naked body eased up after all the bliss they'd basked in, clad in nothing other than…

He gasped and startled the guard when he suddenly rushed to his bedside table. The guard was wary, almost taking up a stance upon noticing Sokka's unexpectedly frantic behavior… but the gladiator merely pulled the table's cabinet open gently, fingers trembling as they wrapped around the velvet fabric of the choker he had crafted for Azula. The one she had worn proudly throughout their long, blissful vacation in Shu Jing… the one she often wore when they were alone and safe from all prying eyes. The one he had clung to in dark moments, just as she had clung to his own, bone necklace…

Oh, it was wrong, he knew. It was hers, of course… but he couldn't leave it there. He had to hope his body wouldn't be completely burned to ashes… and, if it was, that at least the blue stone would survive the inferno, so that Azula might keep it for good, once this dreadful day was over.

He swallowed hard, fastening the necklace over his right hand, concealing the stone right underneath his handguard. It wasn't uncomfortable, and it would allow him to fight as best he could… and the armor, he hoped, would protect the stone from the barrage of flames Combustion Man was likely to cast at him. It would remain draped over his right hand, tight upon his palm… upon the scar that had been the fulfillment of the promise the necklace had stood for.

"Okay…" Sokka said, swallowing hard as he stepped back towards the guard. He hoped the man wouldn't take note of how choked up he was, or of the tears blinking in the corners of his eyes as he raised his hands towards him submissively "Guess I'm… I'm done now"

The guard nodded, setting the shackles in place once again: Sokka breathed deeply as the guard urged him to get going. Once he crossed the room's threshold, he did his best to set aside his reservations, his uncertainties, his countless fears: he was off to another fight, a fight to the death, for the first time in a long time. It was either him or his enemy, and considering everything that was at stake, he'd do his damnedest to survive… or, at worst, that he wouldn't be the only one to die. He owed as much to all the scars he sported across his body, to all the men he had ever crossed blows with, to all those he'd killed while he survived. His survival hadn't been meaningless: he had helped Azula in many ways, bringing about change in a world that needed it most direly. He had proven he would do right by the lives he had taken, by the lives that had deserved the chance he had been given in their stead… and as wounded as he was, as weak as he felt, as direly as he missed the chance of holding the woman he loved more than anything, he suddenly found a calm sensation spreading across his body, as he stepped down the stairs once more.

The guards followed him warily as they led him to the carriage once again, ready to strike, now that he was fully armed – two of them even rode on the carriage's cage with him, holding their hands up in a position of preparation in case Sokka had any nefarious plans in mind to escape or attack them before he reached the Royal Dome. Naturally, he didn't: Sokka sank in his seat, eyes closed, right fist tight around the fabric of the necklace… around his marriage scar.

And once again, the wheels spun, taking Sokka to yet another familiar location of a city that was waking to another bizarre day. The news of the end of the Gladiator League had spread fast, and rumors about why it had been closed down abounded everywhere. Yet those rumors would begin to come much closer to the truth after that morning, for an unannounced, unexpected, unusually early Royal Procession was seen crossing the city at dawn.

Mutterings arose immediately, as passersby wondered where they might be going: those whose curiosities overcame them would trail at a distance, following that procession all the way to their destination… and once they reached it, the utmost confusion only increased further. The Fire Lord didn't care for the mundanity of the Gladiator League, never had… so why had his palanquin been lowered at the steps of the Grand Royal Dome, when he had abolished the League merely a few days ago?

There was no sensible explanation for any of it, not for the onlookers at a distance, or for the early risers in the houses nearby. The largest palanquin was lowered to the ground, and Ozai stepped out of the vehicle, glaring at the building with murderous intent as he stormed up towards it, followed by a smaller contingent of guards – half of the first squad was escorting Azula's palanquin, which had arrived mere moments after his own.

Without bothering to glance back and ascertain his daughter was abiding by his demands, Ozai approached the doors of the building, waiting for his guards to push them open. Naturally, they were locked: one of the guards took to kicking it open in a most uncivilized manner, but Ozai took no issue with his procedure as he stepped into the empty vestibule, followed by his men.

Once the curtains of her own palanquin had been pulled, Azula glanced at the Royal Dome with weary eyes. She had been escorted by guards she couldn't trust, carried by palanquin bearers who trembled every step of the way, no doubt aware of the situation and terrified of any potential consequences they might face over the Fire Lord's wrath. Nobody wished to cross Ozai, nobody but Azula herself… and in her case, it would be a losing battle regardless of anything she said or did. Her father refused to listen to her, or to listen to reason altogether… and as Shaofeng stopped beside her, menacingly, she knew she would be subjected to yet another form of humiliation, this time in public, if she didn't acquiesce with her father's demands.

Unwillingly, she still slipped a leg out of the palanquin, and then forced herself to stand outside it. To walk to the steps, to climb them one by one, keenly aware of countless stares upon her, whether of the palanquin bearers, the guards that followed her, or the onlookers on the street. They had to be utterly confused by everything, by her father's decisions and by the strange treatment she was receiving on that day, flanked and watched by guards who seemed not to protect her, but to threaten her instead. Perhaps word was already spreading of what had happened, whether her father willed it or not… perhaps some of those people would be judging her, deeming her unworthy of following her father on the throne for reasons that made no sense whatsoever to her, never had and never would. But whatever judgment others made of her wouldn't matter, Azula knew as much: she knew the love she had shared with Sokka was true, and it was worth every sacrifice she might have to make, even now. If the whole nation would regard her as a lowly whore… so be it, if that meant she'd have a chance to stand by their love for a moment longer.

The General urged her to hurry once she reached the vestibule: they'd escort her upstairs, by her father's direct, express command. He had already made his way to the Royal Balcony – Azula guessed he'd gladly have someone kick it open, just as he had with the front door. She didn't even want to imagine how confused and outraged the League's board would be over her father's behavior…

But none of that mattered all that much, not when she glared accusingly at the stairs, longing for nothing as much as she longed to take the ones that led to the stand-by rooms instead. Was he already there? Maybe he wasn't. Knowing she'd be forced to break their tradition, even when it should have been obvious all along that she wouldn't be able to walk him down to the stand-by room personally, nearly reduced her to tears right then and there. She glanced about herself, deliberately stalling… but purposefully taking in the opulence, the elegance of the empty vestibule that had been overflowing with love and support for Sokka and her merely a few days ago, when their careless mistake had given Iroh all the ammunition he had needed to destroy everything Azula had ever held dear.

She had taken many things for granted over the years: even this building, as familiar as it had become, now appeared to be saying farewell too, for Azula knew it would be the last time she'd step inside it. Whatever the outcome of that day might be, the League was over. As soon as he had a chance, Ozai would likely raze everything to the ground and build something else atop it – knowing him, it would be a factory or a military facility of some sort. Even if he somehow changed his mind – and Azula knew how unlikely that was, too –, she had no idea why she'd ever return here… when, if she survived past that day, she'd likely have no further reason to come back anyway. When, in all likelihood, her father would keep her under house arrest for as long as he could get away with it, perhaps the rest of her life, however long that might be.

It was the last chance she'd have to take it in… to cherish every opportunity this place had offered them, to reminisce upon the countless battles they'd waged in this building's premises. There had been bad times too, of course… but right now, all she could remember were the highlights. Every time she had felt invincible while on that balcony, and not because she sat well above a crowd, but because the man who represented her was extraordinary, capable of overcoming every adversity with that proud, beautiful smile on his face. Every time she had laughed with him, or at him, every stolen kiss they had shared privately, every exchange that had further strengthened their bond…

Her father would ridicule her immediately, had he know how sensitive she was being over what, to him, was but an expensive building and nothing else. The League had meant nothing to him, thus why he had tossed it aside so easily, all be it in hopes to punish his daughter. But for Azula, giving up a major part of her life for the last four years proved a challenge she wasn't sure how to overcome.

Even then, she'd give it up in a heartbeat as long as it meant she could save Sokka. She didn't need any of her ambitions, any of the glory she had ever hoped to attain, so long as he had a chance to live on. A chance that, she knew, he wouldn't be granted.

"Move" Shaofeng's unwelcome growl caused her to tighten her fists, scarcely resisting the urge to attack him "Stall, if you wish: the outcome will be no different"

"If that's how it is, you can very well keep your mouth shut and quit giving me orders" Azula retorted: but where Shaofeng expected further rebellion, Azula stepped towards the stairs all the same.

She didn't wish to go, not like this, not without even having seen Sokka once… but again, the likelihood of being attacked, restrained, forced by her father's men to take her damn seat at the sponsors' balcony was an unappealing notion altogether. She had to go, she knew so… even if every step meant she'd come closer and closer yet to damning Sokka's life, and her very soul, permanently.

A familiar tingle in her mind nudged her: in any other circumstances, Azula might have appreciated Xin Long's reassurance that he was with her, but right now, when she was flanked by a group of guards who appeared ready to strike her down at any given moment, when her father was likely salivating at the prospect of watching Combustion Man's carnage turned against none other than Azula's gladiator, when she wanted nothing but to run into Sokka's arms so he could shield her from reality… right now, the dragon's companionship wasn't enough to chase away the terrifying future that loomed ahead, that shook her to her core.

She dared glance one more time at the open gates once she reached the top of the stairs, finding, at first, that several lurkers were trying to look inside the Dome, but guards kept warning them away from the building's entrance. Yet just as she was about to move to the next flight of stairs, a new contingent of Imperial Guards appeared at the building's threshold.

Azula froze in place, her eyes widening, her lips parting: she didn't see him right away, but once the third guard had crossed the threshold, a splash of dark blue amidst the many red uniforms caused her to gasp, tears surging in her eyes.

"Keep moving!" Shaofeng growled: he wasn't about to allow her to reach for her gladiator, of course not…

But Azula disregarded his words, and even shrugged off his hand when he attempted to clasp her shoulder. She snarled, the tears burning in her eyes as she allowed her gaze to fall upon the battered but still dignified warrior she loved with every beat of her heart.

The ruckus up at the second level of the building startled the guards down at the vestibule. Sokka's head whipped up quickly, a sudden spurt of hope taking seed in his turbulent heart…

Gold and blue met, across that long distance, across that building that always had intended to keep them separated, with her at its heights, and him at its lowest levels. But no tradition, no social pressure, no Fire Lord's orders, had kept them apart in the past… and that impulse to rebel surged powerfully inside them both as soon as they recognized each other, no matter how far away they might still be.

"You wretched…!" Shaofeng roared, clasping Azula's right shoulder anew… Sokka's eyes glowed with fury at the sight.

Just as Shaofeng intended to keep the Princess away from him, the slew of guards assigned to the gladiator attempted to hold him down now, too: try as though any of them might, though, the overwhelming fury of two lovers torn apart could not be decimated quite so easily.

"Azula!" Sokka called for her, urgency ringing in his voice as he spoke her name with impassioned strength…

She could barely hear him over the ruckus caused by the soldiers, by the noise of Shaofeng's hands upon her armor: it didn't matter, though. None of it mattered as much as he did, and that awareness pushed her to raise her voice, far more powerfully than she had expected she'd be able to, resounding across the whole building as she spoke words she'd already spoken long ago:

"You're coming back to me! You hear me?!"

An empty promise to ask for. A pointless wish that would surely go unfulfilled, and everyone knew it. Yet she dared speak it aloud, disregarding the hands that reeled her back, that tried to drag her to the next floor against her will…

But they couldn't succeed before the flames of determination burned fiercely in Sokka's blazing, blue eyes.

Words she had spoken long ago, when he was set to face a deadly battle he might not survive, in a world of lava and metal that could have cut short their time together. Words he had returned to her, not even two months ago, when she had forced him to take command of a military group while she faced a deadly threat without him. Azula spoke them anew now… and even if she had little to no conviction in them, furious drive surged inside Sokka's heart, even as the Imperial Guards around him attempted to drag him away quickly, to silence him, to warn him there'd be hell to pay if they kept this up…

But he had never been one to obey orders, let alone when he deplored them.

"I fight for you!" Sokka shouted back, and Azula's heart tightened within her chest as Shaofeng stiffened beside her, aghast that his men couldn't seem to silence the fearsome man "I fight for you, my Princess, and you know I always will!"

Shaofeng snapped his tongue before finally losing his temper completely: he seized Azula's left arm now, tugging her violently enough that she cried out in pain, but even then, she continued to angle herself towards him… towards the doors, for one more moment, before Shaofeng dragged her upstairs with him, all finished with giving her any opportunities to retain her dignity.

"Take your fucking hands off her!" Sokka roared, still ignoring the men around him, no matter if they had even taken to violence by now: one of them slapped him, but Sokka didn't stop because of it "SHAOFENG!"

"You…! Stop this already!" the friendlier guard said sharply: Azula was gone from sight now, but that only strengthened the impulsive recklessness of the furious gladiator… even though the guard before him had stopped his fellow officers from striking Sokka any further "Enough! Get ahold of yourself, damn it, or else…!"

"I… I…!" Sokka managed to wheeze out, his eyes out of orbit with fury: he should wrestle out of these damn shackles, he should run upstairs now, and use Space Sword to run through Shaofeng on this very moment…

"Come on!" the guard hissed, grabbing Sokka by the shoulder and pulling him towards the stairs that led down into the building's basement instead "You've made enough of a scene as it is…! Didn't I warn you this would only be worse for her if you rebel?!"

"You can't… you can't expect me to shut up when…" Sokka said, tears of helpless rage burning in his eyes "That bastard…!"

"Keep your thoughts to yourself, damn it" the guard growled.

"Don't speak of our commanding officer so carelessly, you scum!" shouted another one behind Sokka. The gladiator snarled in the man's direction, despite knowing he wouldn't be remotely as menacing as he wished he could be.

It was exactly what he'd always wanted to avoid… exactly why he couldn't die now, for if he did, who would protect Azula from monsters like Shaofeng? Who would help her face the future and whatever it might throw at her? Who would stand by her, offering her all the strength she might need when she was at her weakest? After waking up with the awareness that the blade of death dangled mere inches away from his neck, a single glimpse of Azula, of the nightmare of a future she'd face if he died today, had only just sent his soul into the darkest of places and filled him with a new, contradictory and complicated resolve: he couldn't die. He shouldn't die. But if he did… then he ought to take not only Combustion Man with him, but Shaofeng, all these guards, all the goons who'd gladly do the Fire Lord's orders unthinking… and of course, if there was one death he'd certainly not hesitate to deliver any longer, it was Ozai's own.

But as the dark corridors leading to the stand-by room greeted him, he knew the chances for him to act on those wild, sudden urges wouldn't be likely to pay off. The guards who had treated him as a dangerous beast so far seemed to have run out of patience with him, and they damn near tossed him inside the stand-by room once they reached it.

The golden grid was in place, the sunlight gleamed sharply over the sand… but there was silence. Unusual, unnatural silence, where the stands were usually packed to the brim. Sokka gritted his teeth, retaining his balance with difficulty once the guards let go of him.

"Don't do anything else, you hear me?" the helpful guard warned him "Enough acting out. Once that grid is out of the way, you're heading out there as you're meant to. And that's all you'll do"

Sokka huffed but didn't answer verbally. The urge to scream again, to shout for his lover, would almost overcome him… but perhaps this wasn't the right time to do it, no. Once the standby room was sealed behind him, once he entered the sand… by then, he'd speak his mind, once no irksome guards could longer restrain him or hurt him.

Three floors above, Shaofeng was no less violent than his guards when he dragged Azula to the sponsors' balcony: it was fortunate that the black armor was mostly resilient to the bulk of the pressure Shaofeng applied to it… but he still could cause the metal to brush painfully against Azula's wound, crippling her to his will by doing so.

"You pathetic fool!" Shaofeng hissed, using a firebending punch to break the balcony's door open. Azula's nostrils flared as the door nearly flew off its hinges "Was this what you wanted?!"

He pushed her forcefully inside the balcony, and Azula nearly fell over as she stumbled, finding her bearings by grabbing hold of one of the available chairs within the familiar location. She snarled, her aching shoulder sending her warnings she refused to heed, just as she refused to heed her jailor's demands.

"Are you merely trying to prove this is exactly the punishment you deserve?!" he growled "Your childish rebellions end here, Princess Azula, whether you like it or not!"

"As if… as if that's how rebellions worked" Azula retorted, glaring at him sharply. Shaofeng scowled prominently under his helmet as the Princess's sharp, deadly glare fell upon him "For a man who's served in the Fire Lord's closest circle for years, you… you're quite daft, aren't you?"

The General lingered in silence at her unexpected insult. A slow, dangerous smirk appeared across her face as she eyed him with challenge in her eyes.

"Then again… I suppose my father couldn't have felt comfortable with anyone smarter than him among his closest advisors" she whispered "And… well, I think we all know someone I tricked successfully for as long as I did can't quite be brilliant, can he? Let alone are his mongrels…"

"You… you hold your tongue this moment, or…" Shaofeng said. Azula glowered.

"Or else what, General?" she snapped back "You'll do worse than grab my injured shoulder? Go ahead and try! Go ahead, if you have the balls!"

The man's patience, she knew, was wearing thin. It had been for the last twenty-four hours, of course. Her small rebellions, her obvious resentment of him, her unwillingness to stand down to his demands… and now, of course, her blatant insults, all of those things seemed to overcome any shred of rationality in Shaofeng as he stepped closer to her.

His first step was slow, menacing. She stepped back, past the seats, eyeing Shaofeng warily… and he started moving faster: he believed he'd called her bluff. He believed she'd be too weak to fight back once he reached her…

Thus, he reached for her rashly, quickly, violently, once she stood merely a step away from the balcony's banister… only for Azula to shrink in her frame, stretching out a leg to kick at Shaofeng's foot.

She had been far quicker than he'd expected her to be, making him lose his balance: his large frame, which towered over hers, nearly fell upon the Princess right then and there.

But Azula rose fast: her right shoulder rammed into the General's armor. A painless blow, in essence… but that wasn't what the Princess was going for.

She exerted far more strength than she knew she still had in her, far faster than anyone could have expected her to: with her right shoulder serving as a fulcrum, as the support point upon which Shaofeng, unbalanced, had landed on, Azula put all her strength into deflecting the man's momentum, pushing him as powerfully as she could with both hands…

And she flung him off the balcony.

It happened so fast, so suddenly, Shaofeng had no time to recognize he was in actual danger: his own boldness, his careless underestimating of the Princess, had given her the ideal opportunity to use his strength, his weight, his power, against him. She hadn't even used her firebending at all: it was nothing but hand-to-hand combat skills that she shouldn't have been exercising so carelessly when she was as badly wounded as she was…

But try as though he might, Shaofeng couldn't reach for the banister anymore, or for the ornaments upon it, to steady himself and return to solid ground. By the time his hand shot out towards the closest source of stability, it found nothing but air… and then he was falling.

He was falling, straight into the sand pit.

A last-minute attempt to slow his descent with firebending did nothing for the General: he wouldn't take a deadly blow against the sand, of course not…

But the sound of his heavy body hitting the ground startled everyone who hadn't been a direct witness to what was happening in the sponsors' balcony. Azula's chest heaved as she stared at Shaofeng from above, as good as unable to give credit to her own eyes… to her own defensive skills, either. The man had fallen hard enough that his helmet had fallen off his head, and he languished on the sand for a moment, breathing heavily as he tried to regain the air he'd lost over the impact against the solid ground.

On the balcony above Azula, a soldier had just been briefing Ozai: all preparations were complete, they were mere moments away from beginning the fight… and then the noise in the sand pit startled the furious, confused Fire Lord.

A glance down his own banister found him gaping in disbelief at the small, petrified form of the General of his Guards. He knew it was him, he had the more embellished guard uniform, and even at this distance his face was perfectly identifiable… but what on earth had seen him landing there? By his position, spread legs and arms, his face towards the ceiling, it certainly didn't appear as though he'd wound up in the ring by his own volition…

"W-what did she…?" Ozai gasped, frowning. Shaofeng had been guarding Azula… he had demanded for it, personally, partially to get rid of the irksome man's meddling and presence if just for a short time, but also to punish his daughter in yet another manner…

Clearly, the punishment hadn't gone as well as he'd intended. He shivered, disbelieving of what he was seeing, before turning towards the guard who'd been briefing him moments ago.

"You… keep watch over Azula! You and your whole lot!" he roared "And don't lower your guard, damn you, not even for an instant!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The guards knew their duty, of course they did: but the group of guards who had watched Azula with Shaofeng seemed utterly terrified of approaching her now. It didn't help matters much, naturally, that she'd turn her deadly, golden glare towards them as they stood by the door:

"Any other takers?" she asked, darkly. She betrayed in no manner that she had little confidence she'd be able to pull off her latest, unexpected deed a second time. As it was, she hardly knew how she'd done it in the first place… and as neither did the soldiers, they didn't dare antagonize her any further.

Yet before any of them could attempt to remind her that she was to comply with the Fire Lord's orders and demands, a new arrival caused the group of guards to shift and step back until a new set of footsteps crossed into the balcony.

Where Azula had suddenly found courage after her successful self-defense resource against Shaofeng, that bravery seemed to flee her very body when her eyes fell upon Admiral Zhao. He entered the room solemnly, despite his brow seemed furrowed: was he looking for Shaofeng? Was he puzzled to see Azula stemming in fierce, untamed determination for no apparent reason?

Whatever he was mystified about, though, it made no matter to the Princess: her heart sank, and her blood seemed to freeze over in her suddenly cold body. If Zhao was already here…

The sound of a body hitting the sand startled the people within the stand-by room as well: Sokka's eyes widened, a sudden rush of fear overtaking his senses immediately… only for that fear to dissipate once he confirmed it wasn't his Princess who had fallen in the sand. No, instead it was…

"T-the General?!" exclaimed one of the guards, as two others approached the golden grid in panic.

"What just…?" said the friendlier guard next to Sokka, staring at the unmoving man with confusion.

After moments of languishing, perfectly still, on the sand, the General suddenly shook his head, forcing himself to sit up: his body would likely pain him after taking such a fall, even if he'd fallen on sand, and his armor had surely protected him from taking any serious wounds. Yet, despite knowing the man hadn't likely suffered permanent damage, Sokka had it in him to smile wildly, a soft chuckle tumbling from his lips despite he knew the squad around him wouldn't take kindly to his amusement.

"Y-you…! How dare you laugh?!" exclaimed one of the guards, only for Sokka to laugh harder still.

"She… she's amazing" he laughed again and again, shaking his head.

His words startled the guards: if Sokka hadn't said so, they might not have processed the fact that the Princess had, most likely, shoved the General off the balcony somehow. Sokka himself didn't know how she'd done it… but he had no doubts it was her doing, not even needing to glance out through the golden grid to confirm as much. Even when she was at her weakest, she had humiliated that General so thoroughly the man could barely make out his bearings, pushing himself up to his feet while glancing about himself in panicked confusion: he collected his helmet and proceeded to scan the ring, seeking a way out, even though both stand-by rooms were closed at the time…

An unforeseen, loud, chaotic explosion at the stand-by room opposite to Sokka's stole everyone's attention once again.

Azula whipped around quickly, in a panic, as Zhao stepped forward, scowling at the familiar explosion that had wrecked part of the building's integrity, namely the stands underneath which stood the stand-by room affected by the blast. Upstairs, Ozai, busy scowling at Shaofeng, and resenting his daughter, was also startled by the sudden detonation… and Sokka's amusement, as well, receded quickly before the guards around him could start to berate him for his behavior.

From the festering flames, from the rising smoke, a tall, humongous figure emerged. His every step echoed across the silent ring, his muscular build visible through the smoke, almost grotesque in how extreme it was. His shaved head contrasted with his trimmed, but full beard. The smooth, sophisticated and gleaming metal of his prosthetics contrasted with the utter carelessness of his combat attire, simple as it was, as though wearing armor were a practice utterly beneath him. Yet as every element that comprised the deadly firebender came together, the most striking one would always be that eye-shaped tattoo, vertical upon his forehead, just as threatening as his smaller, dark eyes could be.

He hadn't cared to wait for the grid to be raised. He had no business containing his strength to preserve this building's integrity anymore. What he did have, though, was a job to finish: and that job was none other than the absolute destruction of the man he had long set his sights on, the man who had dared humiliate him once before, much as his sponsor had humiliated the General who stood awkwardly in the Arena, glaring at Combustion Man like a terrified dog might, unsure of whether to assert his authority and importance or to scurry away in fear.

Sokka's chest heaved against his armor as he gazed at the man through the golden grid. He should be afraid… far more afraid than he was, no doubt. But after everything he'd seen, everything he'd been through, he didn't dare back down now. Just as Azula had faced her father, owned her truths and stood resolute in the defense of their love, Sokka had no intentions of backing down in fear today.

If this was the end, so be it.

"Take off my cuffs" he said, calmly, to the guard beside him. The man scoffed.

"I'll take them off once the gate's open… not a moment sooner" he determined, nervously. Sokka snorted.

"So you'd rather risk letting him blow up this stand-by room too, would you? That's clever" Sokka said, shaking his head as he raised his joined hands to his shoulder. The guard gasped.

"What are you…?!"

He couldn't finish articulating the sentence before Sokka swung his black blade down.

Three cuts, systematic and loud against the metal, and then a kick, ensured the damn gate would be sliced into bits quickly. The severed metal fell with a soft thud, dropping on the sand carelessly as Sokka breathed out and stared at Combustion Man: if his latest stunt had been nothing but an intimidation attempt, he would do best to know he wasn't the only one who could tear a stand-by room to pieces. The firebender scowled at a distance, but he remained in place, silently waiting, watching, as the Blue Wolf turned towards the guard accompanying him again… who seemed utterly astonished by Sokka's boldness.

"Uncuff me. I have a fight to finish" Sokka said, his voice ringing with far more authority than any Fire Nation soldier would ever intend to acknowledge…

Yet the guard raised the keys indeed, trembling and watching Sokka warily as the restraints loosened up. Sokka breathed out, glancing at Combustion Man again after his hands were free.

"Thanks for everything. Take cover now… for your own good" he said, bluntly.

He wasted not a single moment more. With his black blade in hand, his blue eyes blazing with unyielding determination, his brow furrowed in an unforgiving scowl, lips twisted in a menacing snarl, the gladiator strode across the guards without acknowledging any others. Instead, he acknowledged his destiny: he acknowledged the warrior he was about to face off against, whether he would die by the combustion bender's hand or kill him with his own.

He had once told Azula, long ago, that for better or for worse, he had always believed his life only began upon meeting her. He had begged her, merely two nights ago, not to regret their choices, not to regret the love they had been so determined to protect… the love for which he'd immolate himself now, if need be. Devoting that life, down to its very last moments, to fighting for her, seemed the best way to leave this world, as far as the ferocious gladiator was concerned.

Combustion Man stood in the ring, waiting for him, challenging him wordlessly, acknowledging him in ways he never had acknowledged any other gladiators before Sokka. He wanted to fight him… he wanted to kill him, Sokka could tell easily enough. But the fire that burned in the combustion bender's soul was, he found, no stronger than the one that burned in his own. Whether they were matched in physical prowess, creativity or strategizing, it made no matter: Sokka had determination and drive in spades, far more of them than Combustion Man did.

That determination and drive carried the Blue Wolf through the threshold of the final battle of the Gladiator League, his head held high.