#18: I Can't See the Stars (AU Sozin's Comet)
Prompted By: Zippy Saboteur

"We do this together," Aang had said, and he knew it was the right choice. They broke into two groups, two teams, and now Aang, Katara, Zuko and the two girls are waiting for the inevitable.

The comet streaks across the sky, blacking out the stars.

"We do this together," Ozai had said, and it made his daughter smile. It was her idea, after all. She deserved to be taken with him as he overtook the Earth Kingdom.

Azula squints at the comet, feeling the surge of power within her. It is like breathing in a thousand suns, but it feels wrong. Everything seems to be categorized in before Ty Lee betrayed her, and after Ty Lee betrayed her. Before Ty Lee betrayed her, her life was like this night, but there were stars, points of light and reason. When she betrayed her, it streaked across her sky like a comet, blinding Azula. She couldn't see the stars anymore after that. No logic, no reason. She couldn't see the stars, just like she cannot tonight.

Ty Lee holds Mai's hand anxiously. Zuko cracks his knuckles over and over again, glancing at his girlfriend upon occasion. They escaped the Boiling Rock with him. He turned back to save Mai after she saved him and the act of reciprocity leads Katara, Aang and Zuko to believe that they now have the upper hand.

Azula and Fire Lord Ozai find themselves face to face with the Avatar and his friends. And her friends. Traitors, both of them. Azula... Azula does not care what happens to them anymore.

The fight breaks out before anything makes sense. The Avatar moves for her father and he abandons her to take on four competent fighters on her own. The clash between her father and the Avatar will be remembered forever, but Azula is left to narrowly dodge the water and ice coming her way, the knives trying to split her skin and the flames she blocks around her body. Counterattacks of azure light up the night, illuminating the missing stars like a blue supernova giving out on itself. A cosmic explosion.

Aang collides with a rock; Fire Lord Ozai is propelled back by the sudden gust of airbending. It whips Azula's hair around in the wind as she narrowly dodges Zuko's flames. They are powerful, beyond powerful, which Azula never thought she would see from her brother.

The fire burns the cold night, three firebenders with more power than the combustion of the sun. Mai is down with a blast of blue flame. She stumbles and hits her neck. Zuko runs to her side, creating a wall of fire to shield himself that Azula penetrates at the last moment with a bolt of lightning.

Katara shifts the tides, literally, and covers Mai and Zuko in a bubble. Ty Lee cartwheels forward and Azula is frozen momentarily. She shoots lightning to the side, narrowly missing Katara and breaking the waterbender's concentration. Her arm is hit by a single punch and Azula gasps.

She takes two steps back.

"Take her bending!" Zuko shouts as he helps a stumbling Mai to her feet.

Hesitation. Azula gives one glance and Ty Lee swallows.

"She can't do it, Zuko." Mai reaches into her pocket for her knife.

Aang plunges down into the water and Katara screams. Fire Lord Ozai turns to the scene of ice shards flying at Azula, knives shearing the fabric on her armor, and Ty Lee hesitating with glassy eyes in the middle of it all.

Ozai takes down Katara with flames that her shield of water cannot stop. She only prevents herself from falling like Aang by securing her feet in place with rapidly melting ice.

Azula dodges Ty Lee, who came to life as Ozai became locked in combat with his son. Zuko runs out of breath; Azula is breathless as she dodges a barrage of punches and meets them with powerful fire from one arm, the other wrapped around herself.

"How many stars do you think there are?" Ty Lee asks, staring at the sky. Azula was never much for gazing at the sky and she is standing, bored, on the ship. She is on her way back from a miserable failure with the drill and is not in the mood to discuss the sky.

"Do I look like the kind of person who cares about that?" Azula replies airily, cocking an eyebrow. Ty Lee purses her lips and looks embarrassed.

Azula regrets it, but she simply shrugs. She won't show weakness.

Ozai moves towards the scene as Ty Lee is about to dig a thumb into Azula's shoulder. He tosses the acrobat onto the ground with ease as Aang rises from the depths, distracted momentarily by helping Katara, who was burned by the Fire Lord. Azula is amazed at the... teamwork. The way they care about each other. Nobody would do that for her.

"Don't touch my daughter," Ozai growls and Azula notices what is happening a little too late. Her father summons a fist of flame. Ty Lee flinches, sweat dripping down her nose.

And then Ozai falls, screaming. Hit by lightning. The Avatar and his friends are silenced, Aang glancing over his shoulder. The Avatar moves to finish the fight as a strange and vivid feeling of liberation surges through Azula's veins. Mai drops the blade she has drawn.

"Don't touch my girlfriend."