AN: So glad everyone's been enjoying the story thus far; you guys really make this the easiest thing in the world to do. Thank you so much for reading and for all your incredible feedback, and as always, very much hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15: The Last Lie

Sasuke was about as uncertain as anyone could be about what was happening presently, but based on the reactions of everyone around him, these three beings before him were nothing to be remotely trifled with. He was still in enough pain that he couldn't quite make it past one knee, but the fact that everyone's attention had turned towards the other end of the room allowed him to be granted a moment's reprieve where he didn't have to fear being set on. So was his thinking, but those same three beings that had captured the attention of everyone else had their attention directed towards him, rather than the dozens of people closer to them, many of whom had fallen to their knees or bowed, voice raised in almost a reverent sounding panic.

It was impossible not to immediately lock eyes on the bizarre creature that now towered twenty or so feet in the air, a great centipede shaped monster with a mask attached to its front. It reminded him of the stage masks that he had seen used by performers on the beaches of the many islands he had traveled, but there were no eyes that he could see behind its white oval, just black and looming pits. This was what had been pretending to be him then, some deeply malevolent and mystic looking force, who had posed as him in an attempt to cast Sasuke aside as the imposter; now, thanks to Ursa's actions, it had revealed its true form, and Sasuke didn't quite know what to make of it. The monster referred to as Koh and Aang seemed to have some sort of past, and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what exactly would have brought them both together, though he had a sinking feeling of dread that he already knew. Given the two women standing before its disgusting and monstrous form, and despite his only being able to guess who he was looking at, inwardly he felt fairly positive that he knew precisely where the three of them originated from.

While Koh's horrible presence certainly might have seemed the most drawing to the eyes, Sasuke felt his gaze pulled away from its enormous insectlike body to meet the gazes of the two women who had appeared and clearly were the cause of the present outbursts that were resounding about the room. They were both looking unblinkingly at him, their gazes exceptionally oppressive in a way that Sasuke couldn't quite find himself able to describe.

Aang was looking like he was halfway to falling over, while also seeming to be trying to force himself to walk towards the two women. Sasuke saw out of the corner of his eyes Mai slowly slip to her knees, though it seemed to be much more in a response to some sudden debilitation rather than respect or worship, and even from there, he could tell how pale she had grown. Katara was a step behind Aang, a hand reaching for his back, but her eyes remained on the two women as well, fear present in her eyes, an emotion that didn't seem to remotely match the persona he would have expected from the commanding and striking woman she had grown into. Though for the dominating aura she held, she was nothing compared to the two women standing before Koh.

Sasuke had been able to recognize Suki as being the woman in charge of her identically dressed warriors and had confirmed it based on the stalwart and unshakable attitude she had adopted towards the previous situations. Now, however, she and all of her warriors had fallen to their knees, Suki in particular with her head facing the ground as though she couldn't fathom the idea of looking at the new presences in the room. Sokka had moved halfway between his fellow Water Nation soldiers and her, but had stopped halfway through, a hopeless expression mixing with his shock, as though he couldn't fathom his ability to do anything to affect what was playing out before him.

Jin and Ty Lee had gripped the arms of one another as fear passed over their stunned expressions, their faces no longer directed towards Sasuke in anger. Zuko too looked like he had been wanting to make his way towards Aang, and he might have succeeded had Iroh's hand not fallen on his arm; the old man looked just as pale as Mai.

Azula, whose expression Sasuke had known had been so firmly locked on him and Koh's disguise for the entire previous altercation, had placed herself in front of her daughter facing the three newcomers, a hand seeming to involuntarily reach out to her side to ensure the girl was behind her. Sasuke distantly thought how strange it was to imagine the Azula he remembered as being caring of anyone, let alone a good mother, but the princess honestly seemed to be one of the most composed individuals present, her eyes fierce and her expression steeled.

There came the soft and raw sound of a blade working against rope and, despite the incredible sense of trepidation Sasuke felt in looking away from the two women, he turned slightly to see that Ursa had cut Toph free of the bonds that had held her to the wooden stake and had caught her as she had slumped to the ground. Ursa seemed to be another who was mostly able to remain composed in the face of these new presences, and Sasuke found it striking how similar her fierce expression matched Azula's. Despite that deadly look in her eyes, however, she held Toph with a gentle air that Sasuke could only have called maternal. Toph made a whimpering sound and he wondered what she thought was happening, being so unable to see the chaos that had been unfolding. As she did though, her whimper became a voice, a single name that she called out barely audible even for him to hear.

"Sasuke…"

One of her hands came shakily up and Sasuke saw that her palm and fingers had been scraped bloody against the wood and rope from the strain that the torture had done to her. Feeling a recurring sting of anger, he reached out and took her hand without hesitation; somehow, just her touch was a well of comfort that sprouted up within him, and he let out a slow sight through his nose at the feeling. Toph seemed to find his touch equally relieving in turn and she closed her eyes and pressed her head to Ursa's chest as she squeezed his hand tightly.

"Your weakness is your humanity. I so very doubted you had any."

The voice was that of the woman dressed like Suki and her company, and Sasuke looked back to meet her immensely powerful gaze, trying not to feel wholly daunted by the aura of power she wielded. He gathered his voice, putting the little energy he had remaining into keeping any weakness from his tone.

"Hell of an assumption considering I don't think we remotely know one another," he retorted, pleasantly surprised by how clear and resolute his voice sounded as it echoed throughout the hall. The other woman who shared quite the resemblance to Aang turned the corner of her mouth up at his response, a smile that honestly seemed more fascinated than anything. Her compatriot offered no such expression however, her face remaining a locked mask of pressure-inducing command.

"You would be surprised, Sasuke Uchiha," she said, and he narrowed his eyes.

"My name is Kyoshi," she continued, and it was impossible to miss the sweeping sense of awe and respect that rolled across the room as she spoke her name, though she seemed just as content to still ignore the attention she was being offered, her attention remaining locked solely on him. "This beside me is Yangchen."

Sasuke decided to take a wild stab at just who these people might have once been, understanding what it would mean if his guess was confirmed.

"Let me guess… you two were Avatars?"

Very slightly, Kyoshi inclined her head.

"We were."

With that, Sasuke knew for certain where they had come from, and it caused his insides to twist even more than they already were. He had been so overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness that evening, a feeling that he personally had very little experience with in his life. But if that was the truth, that they had been Avatars of the past, then it told him a great many more things than just confirming their origins.

"I thought you were going to be coming through from the Fire Nation," he said as calmly as he could. Betraying any signs of nerves would put him at an even greater disadvantage than he already was at.

"Did Roku tell you that?" Kyoshi asked and Sasuke felt a small chill run up his spine.

She knows we've spoken.

He decided to try and play dumb anyway, even though he knew it was nothing more than a stall at that point.

"Who?"

Kyoshi turned to Yangchen who regarded her for a moment before lowering her gaze down and nodding. Having received some form of confirmation, Kyoshi reached out to her right with a hand, fingers spread as though making to grasp something; in the space around her extended digits, a blue light began to distort the air and grow, and Sasuke thought for a wild moment that she was about to bring a Rasengan to bear against him. A few more seconds passed, and the light grew thicker until Kyoshi reached her hand into the light, up to her elbow. Ripping her arm free of the distortion then, Sasuke saw with a start that she had seemed to have grabbed hold of an entire person. In a single instance, she threw the being onto the ground before her at the same moment the blue light blinked out of sight. As it died away, Sasuke saw that he was looked at a very familiar looking old man, who was struggling to pick himself up from the floor. He looked almost sick, as though being pulled through whatever he had been had taken a great deal out of him. Weakly, he made it to his hands and knees with a groan and looked up.

As he met Sasuke's eyes, Roku's widened in turn.

"What did you—"

That was as far as the old Avatar made it before Kyoshi put a foot on his back and forced him completely to the ground.

"Roku is so often useless, it was actually a great surprise to us that he wound up being so helpful in our mission," Kyoshi remarked plainly, pushing her foot down on Roku further, eliciting a groan from him. "Based on your actions and the way you're conducting yourself now, it would seem he did indeed manage to relay the truth to you of what our aims are. As well as how best to hinder our advances."

Sasuke saw that Yangchen's almost casual smile had disappeared, and she was giving Kyoshi a sideways look, her eyes often flicking down to Roku. It seemed that the other Avatar, while clearly allied with Kyoshi, wasn't exactly fond of her overall way of handling things. Turning his eyes back to Roku, Sasuke did his best to try and manage his thoughts, grasping for what questions he could ask to try and gain a better handle on the situation.

"He warned me you were coming, if that's what you mean," he settled on. "Told me what I needed to do to prevent you from coming."

He found himself finding a real appreciation for the old man then; Sasuke remembered the complete disdain he had felt for Roku when the Avatar had thrust Sasuke so suddenly back into the thick of things, but now he could see all he had done to allow Sasuke to make it back. Though, Sasuke wondered, had it really been in time enough to stop anything?

Kyoshi made a low noise, and it took Sasuke a minute to register that she had just given a short chuckle at his words.

"He certainly overstayed his welcome in how much he said, but at least he was able to manage actually accomplishing what we sent him to you to do."

The appreciation and mild satisfaction at the hindrance he might have been faded from Sasuke's insides, replaced by a very tangible dread. He wasn't able to keep the very obvious lack of understanding from his voice then as he said rather loudly in response, "What are you talking about?"

From the floor, Roku adopted a deeply pained expression that Sasuke knew had nothing to do with the pain of his sudden transport between worlds, or the force that Kyoshi was applying with her foot. As she looked up from the old man she currently had underfoot, she gave him a wry smirk.

"Please, Sasuke. Don't tell me in all your years of mistrust, and paranoia, and failure, you haven't somehow managed to grow that naïve."

There was a sick feeling in his stomach that Sasuke knew very well wasn't an ailment brought on by the punishment his body had just been dealt.

A lie.

"We sent Roku to you; he did not make his astral appearance to you by some desperate show of goodwill, though no doubt he would have tried were he able. He made a pathetic half-hearted attempt to reach Aang, even though he knew that nothing could be done by telling the Avatar anything of what he knew. Or at least, what he thought he did."

Sasuke swallowed as he saw Yue stiffen in front of him.

"Why would you send him to talk to me?" he managed to ask, his throat dry. Kyoshi raised an eyebrow at him, as though disappointed he hadn't yet caught on.

"We needed you back, and we needed to know where you were. So, we had Roku instruct the girl to lead you back to the Elemental Nations; her abilities upon being resurrected allowed her to make quite the effective guide, no? I'm imagining she led you from those islands back here as true as the crow flies."

Yangchen spoke softly then, her voice almost sounding apologetic in how much gentler it was than Kyoshi's. Judging by the look on her face, she might very well have been sorry for what was happening.

"Yue also made a very effective beacon for us to follow, to track your movements and know for sure when you were back among the Nations."

She smiled sadly.

"How do you think we were as ready as we were?"

With that, Sasuke's heart fell into his stomach and he felt his shoulders slump against his will. He looked to Roku who was no longer meeting his eyes, looking deeply distraught. Sasuke found himself wanted to look at just about anyone just then other than the young woman standing just next to him. Despite that, he couldn't resist slowly turning his gaze at Yue, who he saw had paled, her lips a tight line and her hands quivering as they held her ethereal greatsword. Her mouth formed silent words that he couldn't hear, mutters and quiet dialogue that his mind couldn't make sense of.

"Yue…" he said, feeling his voice wisp from his mouth as though bidden by a power greater than him. Just as slowly as he had, she turned to look back at him, and he saw tears in her eyes. There came a flash of memories then of the months that had proceeded this very evening, talking quietly around campfires, riding on horseback through the day, practicing with blades around their camp, the laughs they so rarely shared but had made Sasuke feel as human as he had in years. All of the hardships and challenges they had been forced to face to make it here, and to hear what he was hearing now, Sasuke could only think to ask her a single question as he met her blue, glistening eyes.

"Did you know?" was all he could muster.

For a long moment, she only stared back at him, her breast starting to heave deeply, slowly, and shakily, and he thought for certain then that she was going to confirm what he had just heard.

"Sasuke…" she whispered back to him with as much conviction as he had ever heard of her. "I swear to you, on everything that I am, I thought I had been sent to your side to guide and protect you."

Her denial should have been all he needed to hear, words that only he had heard save for possibly Ursa and Toph. She hadn't yelled this response for the whole room to hear, it had been clearly directed only for his ears. And yet, Sasuke couldn't quite bring himself to feel any sort of relief at her rejection of the possibility that she had been even remotely involved in this cross. The lies and trickery were should have been completely expected by now, and yet he had walked into one after potentially another. He said nothing in response to her, and he could see that his silence was eating quickly away at her composure, to the point that a tear spilled down her cheek and her face pulled in desperation.

"Sasuke, please!" she cried, but he wasn't given time to even consider if he wanted to give her a reply as Kyoshi spoke again, her powerful and commanding voice drowning out Yue's plea.

"We wanted you and the other in the same place; from there, we could launch our mobilization from our world into the physical, though you wound up helping use quite nicely when you used your powers during your crossing of the ocean. The damage you dealt to the world boundary was enough to allow myself, Yangchen and Koh to slip through and begin probing, and preparing. And as you can see with Roku, while we are still not remotely close to the ability to fully integrate our forces through the boundary, we can forcibly move spirits between, despite the apparent harm it seems to cause them."

She looked down at Roku, a look of mild disgust passing over her face as she took her foot away from him, leaving his clearly weakened body to lie near motionless on the floor.

"Considering his job has long since been completed, he made quite the good test."

Sasuke could say nothing in response to this, only reflect on her words as he knelt there, feeling his mind being reduced to shambles at what he was learning. His actions against the serpent had brought about an advancement of the spirit world's plans to invade, and Koh had planted himself among the living as a replica of Sasuke, for who knew what other twisted purposes. They had known where he was the entire time, following his movements and planning accordingly with the ease that Yue's presence had provided them, and now, it looked like he had played completely into their hand and brought himself directly where they had wanted him.

"This isn't the ideal outcome for anyone, Sasuke, but it's what you've forced upon us," Yangchen said, her face looking almost commiserative in stark contrast to the taller Kyoshi's steeled eyes and resolute features. "The ripples, the shockwaves throughout this world that you've caused, this world that isn't yours, we've felt them since the moment you were thrust into it, but things are well passed a point of no return."

Koh made that low thrumming, hissing sound and Sasuke knew that the monster was laughing at his expense, even as Yangchen kept speaking, her voice growing almost cold, even as her eyes still shone with compassion.

"I'm asking you to please let this happen, for the good of everyone in this world. If you care about them, you need to understand why you have to be removed; we know you've made efforts to leave, but the connection you now hold to our world ensures that even if you were returned to where you came, your… septicity here would never be able to be truly cleansed."

It wasn't any great mystery what she was asking and Sasuke could only stare into her beseeching gaze, trying to feel some bit of feeling returning to his body. Distantly, he was aware of Yue looked desperately between him the two female Avatars who were watching him very carefully, he was aware of the shaking in Toph's hand as she held his tightly. He wanted to look at Ursa; for whatever reason, he found himself rather wishing he could just be left alone with her for a few minutes, she had such a way with words as to making him feel better about himself. Maybe she would know how to handle this.

He noted too how the atmosphere and layout of the room had shifted since the arrival of Koh, Yangchen and Kyoshi. The people within the hall had split, like a parted sea; to Sasuke's left, Gokan, Ungo and their troops were a mix of those who had moved back to what they must have assumed was a safe distance and those who were on their knees, heads bowed as though in reverence. Sokka, in what Sasuke noticed to be a military uniform, looked badly like he wanted to run from his side of the room to where Suki, his sister, and everyone else was. Over on that side, on Sasuke's right, Suki's forces were a mix of the same, though most all of them had at least placed themselves on one knee, looking towards the woman they had spent their lives idolizing and mimicking. Suki herself still looked vastly stunned and entirely unsure of what to do about what was happening.

At Katara's touch, Aang had moved a respectable distance away, though he was still the closest to his three predecessors and Koh's monstrous form. The shock on his face still seemed to be what was dominating his actions, but Sasuke saw that, even as she had her hands holding tightly onto Aang's forearm, Katara was looking at him with the strangest look of despair and… he honestly couldn't figure what that other emotion was. Zuko had apparently noticed Mai and had moved to her side, Iroh just behind him, and the Fire Lord had an arm around her shoulder, but his attention was situated on Sasuke as well. No, it was situated over Sasuke's shoulder; was he looking with all that emotion at Ursa for whatever reason, tears streaming down his face?

Ty Lee and Jin were still shoulder to shoulder, but they had moved towards the back of the group as though working towards the front of the room where Sasuke, Toph, Yue and Ursa were. He saw the pair flicking their eyes over frantically towards them and wondered if they meant to run to Toph's side, they had looked the most out of sorts when he had arrived, no doubt due to the horrors they were seeing conducted against her. Then, there was Azula and the girl who must have been her child, being a spitting image of her as she girl was. She had locked her eyes on Kyoshi with a very intense look, barely seeming to even acknowledge the girl who was gripping worriedly at her hand. The governor, council, Gilbert and his men, alongside Ursa's were all spaced out on the right as well, looking more or less like they were all trying to listen very closely to what was being said, while also acting like they were trying to turn invisible as to not be noticed.

As Sasuke paid mind to where everyone in the room was, they all seemed to fade from his peripheral vision. Not just in clarity, but in sight overall. Everything seemed to fade away, even the eyes of Kyoshi, Roku, Yangchen and Koh. Sasuke found himself sitting on his own at the top step of the elevated marble floor, nothing but the relative dark of the room around him.

But he wasn't alone, he realized, not quite.

He saw the bodies around him, men he had just slashed, dismembered or otherwise entirely stripped of life. They stretched out around him, and as he looked, he saw their number spread past him into the dark void that maintained all he could see; there was the old man he had killed on his run through the night, there was Ursa's crewmember he had ended, the robbers he had cut down while he and Yue had been traveling through the islands. He saw the sprawled bodies of every person of this world that he had taken on his own accord, stretching to imperceivable hundreds, perhaps more, a mound of dead humanity that he sat upon, lives taken from a world that wasn't his.

No… even if this was my world… how many of these people truly deserved to die?

Sasuke brought a hand up in front of his face and he saw the dark scarlet smear that had coated his palm. He knew his face too was surely that same mask of red, his two eyes staring out as shining pits.

Even if I wanted to resist… to fight back… I wouldn't be able to handle them without using chakra. And if even using just that little to sway that serpent was enough to allow them to pass over, I would only be making things worse. If I die… maybe this is as bad as it gets.

He didn't feel guilt. He didn't feel some responsibility. He only felt the strangest moral tugging at his insides that he couldn't quite shake. This all had culminated in a moment where, yet again, he had failed. None of this would ever have happened if he didn't exist.

In a moment so inexplicable, he blinked in confusion, Sasuke thought back to his own world. He had spent so long trying to rid himself of thoughts of it that recalling it now felt like the most awful kind of growing pains, so deeply rooted he knew that they always would be. He saw a face so focused, so intense, so familiar and he heard the words spoken.

"When I see you take on everything by yourself… it just hurts."

Sasuke closed his eyes.

I did it for so long… but I don't know I can do it any longer, Naruto.

When he opened his eyes, he was right where he remembered being. Sitting in that room, staring down Kyoshi and Yangchen, an audience of quite the variety watching every moment of this play out. He looked between the two past Avatars, and swallowed, a tired numbness making his words come out all too easily.

"I let this happen… and it's over."

Kyoshi's eyes were slits of steel as she replied.

"If you are out of the picture, the balancing of the world can be achieved. But there is no future in which you live that this world thrives as it should."

Sasuke's arms seemed unresponsive, as though his tired and beaten body had just reached a point where it wanted to give up on its own. He felt truly at a loss as he turned his eyes down and considered what he was hearing.

"Sasuke… don't you dare…"

Toph's voice came from behind him, quiet, frightened and creeping with growing anger. There was nothing he could say to hope to calm her, and he closed his eyes again, giving himself as long a moment as he dared to think over what paths lay before him.

The sound of footsteps, firm and echoing about the large room brought him from his reverie and he looked up to see Azula walking swiftly his way. Judging by the fire in her eyes and the cold fury on her face, some part of Sasuke half-expected her to full on attack him as she drew nearer, but as she drew up beside Yue just in front of him, she made no move to strike him. Sasuke watched as she gave Yue the briefest appraising look, nose slightly scrunching as though the other young woman was something she had just found on the bottom of her shoe, before turning her back to him and facing Kyoshi, Yangchen and Koh. Blue fire burst to life in either of her upturned palms and Sasuke didn't need to see her face to imagine her expression as her voice hissed out, somehow far more threatening than Koh's alien whispering.

"You so much as touch him, and I'll prove why you crusty old relics should have stayed dead."

Sasuke looked up at her in silent regard, wishing he possessed the will to ask her to move aside. She stood alone between him and the Avatars, her shoulders squared and her stance firm. Kyoshi looked at her with a similar look of dislike, though there was no intense anger present on her face, just a mild amount of distaste.

"Ah yes, the mother. Make no mistake, should you deem it appropriate to interfere, I don't hold any reservations in suggesting that one quite as unpredictable and dangerous as you would not be missed by this world. Perhaps it would be better off for it…"

"Kyoshi," Yangchen snapped, finally seeming to possess a will to take control of the situation, at least partially. The taller Avatar looked at her with mild annoyance, and Yangchen clarified her interruption.

"We're here for him and the girl, no one else."

As she said this, Sasuke felt a tug at his recent memory, and he recalled something Kyoshi had said similarly. There had been some mention of someone else being removed from the picture alongside him and as yet another layer of tension seemed to settle on the room, Sasuke felt rather stupid in asking his question as it seemed that he was perhaps a touch out of the loop on who else it was that would be killed along with him. They couldn't have been talking about Toph, could they?

"What girl?" he asked sharply, his voice slightly hoarse.

No one answered him, but he saw as Azula's head seemed to jerk just ever so slightly to her right, though she didn't move from where she stood. Sasuke followed where her vision would have tracked to and saw the girl he had assumed to be her daughter now being pushed just slightly out of sight behind Ty Lee, who was had her arm out in front of the girl as though to shield her. The child gripped Ty Lee's arm with an intense worry and Sasuke watched Azula's legs tremble almost imperceivably.

This all but confirmed to Sasuke that this was indeed her daughter, and he felt some clarity and heat from what was happening finally spill upwards from his gut. Grunting, he pushed himself to his feet for the first time since these newcomers had arrived; Yue turned quickly to see him struggling to move upright and reached out to support him, but she must have seen the look in his eyes and slowly retracted her hand, lips tightening as she did. Azula turned back at the sound of him moving and nearly lunged for his arm to put around her shoulder; Sasuke had a split second to consider her as he remembered the wild obsession that she had treated him with when they were younger.

Have you truly not moved on from that?

Part of him felt it didn't even matter. If he was about to die anyway, having to deal with Azula's perhaps unhealed sickness would be of no consequence. He didn't allow her to take his arm, but he did reach out and steady himself by putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to ignore a distant, but intense twinge of warmth in his stomach as he made contact with her. She briefly adopted a look of nearly joyous relief before her attention turned back forward, her expression locking once more into that of focused determination.

"I understand your misgivings with me, and I understand why they would lead you to seek my end. But if I'm to give myself up…"

Though he hadn't directly confirmed that this was his intention, there came a rush of reactions around him. Azula turned to look back at him, her beautiful eyes glinting with disbelief as she drew her hand up to clutch at his while it grasped her shoulder. Toph cried out weakly behind him as Yue snapped her head sharply to stare at the side of his head; he heard Ursa inhale audibly behind him, though she said nothing.

Ahead of him, Aang had locked his gaze on Sasuke and looked like he had taken a step towards him as Katara next to him looked most perplexed by his words. Suki had moved several steps away from her warriors as well, and Jin and Ty Lee were looking with blistering intensity at him. Sasuke didn't know how to feel about how just the idea of him allowing the travelers from the spirit world to carry out their wish had affected so many of the people in the room, but he did his best to ignore it.

"… I don't want anyone else punished or killed," he continued. He remembered what Roku had said about the spirits intending to force a better world order upon their arrival, and the possible violence and conflict that could come of such an endeavor, but if he could at least bargain the safety of the people he cared about, he knew he had to try.

Something unbelievably obvious occurred to him then, a point that he hadn't so much as begun to consider, but one that he couldn't believe he had overlooked.

"And what could you possibly want killing a child?"

For the first time since he had lain eyes on her, Sasuke watched as Kyoshi's expression flickered briefly to being one of reserved confusion. She exchanged glances with Yangchen, who looked equally confused though she was doing less to hide it, before turning back to Sasuke and inclining her head ever so slightly.

"You truly aren't aware of why the daughter of the princess must die alongside you?"

Being asked a question for which the answer was blatantly clear caused a small stab of aggravation to pass through Sasuke, but as he saw the look of very raw and unhidden pain contort Yangchen's face, he found he could do nothing but stare at her as she looked between him, Kyoshi, Azula and to the girl hiding behind Ty Lee. As her gaze settled on him again and she seemed unable to give him a reply, she shook her head and briefly looked over at Kyoshi with something like anger. The taller Avatar looked entirely ignorant of the look she was receiving from her companion and instead replied to Sasuke's questioning look. There might have been something like sympathy hidden very much in the back of her tone, though he supposed he could have been imagining it.

"You must not have looked too closely at her when you arrived, assuming you are as unaware as you appear to be."

It wasn't phrased as an insult and Sasuke turned to look back at the girl, starting to get impatient that no one would just tell him what it was that made this girl so special. He looked at her closely, looking her up and down, seeing nothing more than a very similar image to her mother, not seeing anything that might label her as special, or something that might give away why it was that she—

Sasuke found himself noticing several things all at once.

He noticed Azula's grip on his hand growing tight enough to deny circulation to his digits. He noticed the looks of sadness and betrayal worn by everyone that he had known before, eyes filled with an injured ache that was as obvious as any words they could have spoken to him. He noticed Koh laughing again, a much more ravenous sound now as though this were the funniest thing he had witnessed yet that evening. Each of these realizations all paled in comparison to the final thing that Sasuke noticed, however.

He looked into the eyes of the girl. He saw the pattern, that of black and red, the single tear of blood streaming down her cheek that he had presumed to be running makeup.

Sasuke saw this and any will he had slowly mustered to stand and face this coming storm was sapped away. He was only numb, a ringing in his ears that he couldn't quite shake away. Chills seemed to be running up his spine over and over, bombarding him with a feeling of illness that he supposed was anxiety expressing itself to him physically. He understood the looks he was receiving; he understood a great many things then even as his body completely ceased to respond to his command.

There was so much within him screaming at him to deny it, to believe that this was another trick, or some misunderstanding, or something that was making this simply appear as real, not actually truth before him.

He didn't want this. He would never have been ready for something like this, the ultimate responsibility; nothing he had ever thought about would have made him think that this would have been something he would have done. The feeling of helplessness was only intensified by this and he wobbled on his feet. There wasn't anything he hated quite like showing weakness, but his body wasn't giving his preferences a choice in the matter. He chose instead to focus on his thoughts, to try and build some form of resistance there, force himself to think otherwise despite what he saw.

But Sasuke couldn't bring himself to doubt, to deny. It would have made his already overloaded mind so much more at ease, but he couldn't do it.

He could only look at the girl he knew to be of his blood and wonder if she knew as little about him as he did about her.

Clutching onto Auntie Ty's arm as though her life depended on it, Soza looked at the man she had just seen save Toph's life, the man who had ripped so many others to pieces, the man who had then been willing to take just about anything thrown his way to protect Toph. She had felt so terribly weak and frightened as the evening's proceedings had unfolded in spectacular and horrible fashion, numbing her sense of shock over and over as she was only distantly able to acknowledge the tremendous weakness she was showing.

But she couldn't help it.

She had never felt rage and panic like she had when she had screamed loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the room, just a moment before the man had leapt past her and gone to work with his sword and his hands. There had been an incredible sensation that she couldn't describe in her eyes, a strange throbbing that should have hurt, but only seemed to flood her body with more energy than she was already burning through in her fright and desperation. But she had resolved to stay close to her mother, feeling no more courage to do anything other than observe as the man killed Gilbert's men, and as the second identical man had attacked him and then as he was shot and revealed to be a monster unlike anything Soza could have imagined. She had done nothing more than watch as two more people walked up next to the monster, people she recognized from the images carved and etched and drawn and painted into such a variety of sculptures and paintings and scroll arts. People she knew to be dead and of as great an importance as Aang was, they had been, perhaps even more than he had been in their eventful and full lives. Mostly, she could do nothing but stare and wait, knowing that her helpless feeling wasn't something she was going to be able to fight.

When her mother had left her side and walked to his, however, Soza had felt such a rush of confusion, the likes of which nothing to that point could have competed with. She had never seen her mother look so intense, sound so angry, her eyes so alive with fire as they were.

And despite the shock that had her mind abuzz with a helpless, she had heard the words that were being exchanged, few as they were. Something told her that these were exchanges that would be written down, recorded and looked back upon hundreds of years from then; during her time studying, Auntie Mai had been by on more than once occasion and helped pique Soza's interest in history, something that had stuck with her and gave her the sense now that was happening before her would be remembered long after everyone present was long gone.

So, Soza heard, and she listened to what she heard. It was because of this that she was able to infer meaning from Kyoshi's words and why she moved her gaze up to meet Sasuke's as he was guided to look at her. She looked into his black eyes as that same meaning found clarity in her mind, and she nearly gasped aloud as her head spun for a moment.

Is… could he be…?

For some reason, her mind didn't want to even try and accept this as a reality, but Soza knew what she saw and what was being suggested.

Could he really be…?

For as long as she could remember, her mother had done nothing but shut down the idea that her biological father was of any importance to her life, of any impact to her and that Soza needed to be content with the people in her life that she had. And Soza had been satisfied living that way; she knew she wasn't like other children, she was much more important, existing in too high of a regard to worry about such petty things like a second parent. Curiosity had fluttered about in her mind plenty, but her acceptance of being without a father had existed as a perfectly fine and sensible thing to her. And it wasn't like anything had been confirmed just now, even by what she was hearing.

But who else would work mother up like this? The way she cried before, the way his name had been such a… such a trigger for her, even as it was for everyone else. And the way she's defending him now… she always taught me that self-protection was one of the most valuable things she could teach me, and yet she's standing before two Avatars to defend this man? Who else would do this to her?

Her mind was piecing things together at a rate faster than her will was able to accept, but as she pondered the possibility, she found she couldn't look away from him.

Sasuke… are you who I think you are?

And as that question pierced her mind, so did another, one that brought a sudden and unexpected burning in her eyes as tears swelled up, the stupid and senseless tears of a dumb child that Soza so hated, but that she couldn't have resisted if she wanted to.

And… if you are… why did you leave me?

It took the greatest effort he had needed that night for Sasuke to look away from the girl and direct his attention back to the immediate threat he faced as Yangchen quietly asserted that what was now so obvious to him.

"You didn't know…"

Sasuke had nothing to say to that as he swallowed morosely through his very dry throat, his eyes looking forwards almost blankly.

"It matters not," Azula snapped. "You will not be laying a hand on either of them."

As he heard her speak, Sasuke looked at her; he suddenly found himself wanting to put as much distance between himself and Azula as he possibly could, and he could hardly stand the idea of touching her a moment longer. He took his hand from her shoulder and she looked to him with wide eyes as his touch left her.

"What are you—" she started but stopped talking just as Yue had when she saw the look on his face.

Sasuke had spent a better part of the time he had wandered for years amongst the archipelagos reflected on the lives he had led in both his world and the one he didn't belong in. He had cursed himself a fool and thought to all the enemies he had made in the course of his senseless quests for vengeance and answers. He knew deep down that his actions were nothing that could be forgiven by those he had wronged, nor were they actions that he had even been able to forgive himself; he knew he deserved the wrath of whatever the universe wished to throw at him, just as he despised the universe for what it had done to him. Eventually, all his thoughts would take him back to the only innocent memories he had, those of being a child, seeing his mother, father and brother all alive and happy and together. This would fade to thoughts of the atrocities he had committed since then and Sasuke would fall to wallow in his hatred for so much, including himself. He knew he deserved ill.

But this… this… betrayal. Never in his life had he felt such hurt and anger over a betrayal; not even towards Itachi, for Sasuke had found his true reasons for his actions and known them to be but noble, the hate he had chosen to shoulder.

He knew as he looked into Azula's beautiful, despicable eyes exactly what her reasons had been.

"If you now understand that point, then you understand why her life is forfeit as well," Kyoshi said plainly and coldly, as though Azula had said nothing at all. "You both must be eliminated for this world to—"

"No, stop, STOP THIS!" Aang suddenly cried out, running forward to stand in front of Sasuke as well, facing the other Avatars. His expression was aghast now, like a dam had broke and washed away all the effort he had been putting forth to maintain a composed expression.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" he shouted. "I've spent every day of my life reflecting on the lives of my past selves, those who came before me with the spirit of the Avatar and the actions they took to fulfill their duties. You were all so different from one another, but the one thing that always remained the same between you was your love and caring for the people of this world! Peaceful options were always at the forefront, even you!"

He pointed aggressively at Kyoshi then.

"Everyone's written you off as this war hungry Avatar, but that's not all you were! You always pursued the diplomatic option before being forced into conflict!"

For a moment, present and past Avatar looked at one another, the former with desperation and panic on his face, the latter with cold purpose dominating hers.

"Are you planning on making a point, Avatar Aang?" Kyoshi finally asked coolly and Aang's shoulders slumped, and he slowly shook his head at her.

"Murdering a child…? That's the conclusion you've come to…?"

His words held all the supposed judgement that his tone implied, and there came another long pause as Kyoshi simply stared at him; Sasuke wondered what was going on in her head, if she was pitying Aang, if she was trying to think of an answer to appease him, or, most likely to Sasuke's mind, trying not to let her impatience get the better of her. He didn't believe for a moment that any heartfelt plea from Aang was going to be enough to so much as nudge Kyoshi's resolve.

"I was born of this world with a purpose," she finally said, her voice somehow even more dominating and cold than it had been before. "I was tasked with protecting this world, both during the time I was alive as Avatar as well as a denizen of the spirit world. And every action I've taken, no matter how seemingly cruel, has been for the betterment of this world."

Her words were as clear as they could be, and Sasuke watched as whatever fight he had been able to muster up seemed to be pulled from him. He looked to Yangchen, his eyes sorrowfully accusatory, as he asked her quietly, "This is really what you want?"

The compassion and regret that had seemed to be dancing on the other Avatar's face morphed then into one that looked actually rather offended.

"Want? Aang, you think I… you think any of us want this?"

Her sudden aggression seemed to pull Aang back up.

"Then do something about it!" he yelled. "You're going to let the legacy of the Avatar become one of heartless monsters who would murder children for some half-assed notion that it might be what it needs to inspire peace?!"

He waved around wildly, as though gesticulating towards somewhere far beyond the reaches of the vast hall they all stood in.

"I've been traveling the Nations for years now, and I've seen the kind of well more signs to worry than just someone—"

There was a moment as Aang seemed to catch himself, and Sasuke watched as he flicked his eyes towards Azula's daughter with a pang of fear and pain flashing within them, and then to Sasuke with what might have been a touch of hurt.

"—than just two people who may not be the same as us! I've seen villages of people attacking and killing one another because of their differing heritages! I've seen rallying groups of insurgents looking to terrorize benders and nonbenders alike! There is real conflict in our world even now after the end of the war! But this isn't war spearheaded by one familial group of madmen looking for world domination, these are just people being ruled by their fear and hate and intolerance! That's the real war, and while I've been seeing this awful state of things, you've all been tucked away in the spirit world trying to figure out how to assassinate a man who doesn't even want to be here, and a damn child!"

Yangchen seemed to have been at least rendered silent by Aang's rebuke, but Kyoshi only continued to watch him with those same cold and pitiless eyes.

"Are you done?" she asked, as a spouse might ask their significant other if they were dressed and ready to go out. It seemed she was nearing her patience's end.

Aang looked at her unflinchingly then, looking like he had come to some sort of realization.

"Almost," he said quietly.

With just that word, he slowly paced backwards until he was standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with Azula. Katara let out a sound that was both angry shout and pained cry as she reached for him, but he paid her no mind.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kyoshi asked, her voice biting with a dangerous edge as her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, Yangchen beside her gritting her teeth.

"Isn't this interesting," Koh hissed, sounding as excited as his otherworldly tone might allow.

"I won't let you do this. Not while I'm alive," Aang said and for a moment, Sasuke saw his eyes flicker with a pure glowing light. He didn't understand what it meant, but it clearly was not lost on the majority of the rest of the room; just about every person moved a step back and there came cries from Katara, Sokka and Zuko.

"Aang, please don't do this!"

"Don't do it, Aang!"

"It's not worth it!"

Whatever Aang was threatening, it even seemed to have an effect on Kyoshi.

"You wouldn't dare," she said, and Aang inclined his head just as she had to him before.

"Guess you'll have to find out."

Aang and Kyoshi stared down one another and there came a very intense bout of silence before there came another sound of hurried footsteps. Suki was moving quickly away from her warriors, and Sasuke needed a brief moment to blink as he remembered that the several dozen of them were all dressed in the exact same garb as the woman before him who was seemingly hellbent on killing him. Suki rounded in front of Kyoshi, standing a respectful distance away, but still much closer than anyone else in the room dared, save for the female Avatar's fellow otherworldly companions.

"Avatar Kyoshi, if I may request to speak," Suki said, bowing her head low and as Kyoshi regarded her, he saw perhaps for the first time something like satisfaction cross the woman's face.

"One of my Kyoshi Warriors; as I've crossed the astral plane, it does my heart well to see the way of the warrior still thriving amongst my island's residents."

She glanced briefly over at the rest of Suki's compatriots, and the usually stalwart women fell into bows and kneels of various degrees. Looking back before her, Kyoshi replied.

"Speak, child."

From where he stood, Sasuke couldn't make out Suki's expression, but it took her a moment before she raised her head and addressed her patron. Her voice was low and respectful, but Sasuke could tell she was trying to keep it from wavering.

"I know that I am nothing before someone like you. I've spent my life studying your ways and virtues, idolizing what you did for our island and the women of it, and the unbelievable weight and power you carried as Avatar for over two centuries. How you've come to stand before us tonight, I do not know, and I will not question this."

She gave pause before releasing her next thought in a burst of an exhale, as though just saying it had been quite the difficult task for her.

"But I am asking, no, I'm imploring you to reconsider."

To Sasuke's surprise and to the apparent surprise of her fellow warriors as well, Suki fell to her knees before Kyoshi, her voice echoing with the same pleading tone that Aang had produced minutes before, though it still remained low and calm.

"I'm certain that what you have seen and witnessed might paint a bleak picture, perhaps more than someone like me can realize, considering your connections to both this realm and the spiritual one. But I'll beg your forgiveness in saying: you've come to the wrong conclusion."

Her voice became dipped with emotion then, that slight tremble that gave away such feelings.

"Sasuke saved my life more than once. He saved the lives of my friends and husband more than once, and he saved this world from dominion under the tyrant Ozai, no matter what way you look at it. You might see him as dangerous, or violent, or a sociopath, but I…"

There was a catch as it sounded like she had choked on her words.

"Sasuke is my friend. No matter what he's done, he's my friend, and more than that, he's a good person deep down, regardless of what you've witnessed today or any other."

Sasuke became very conscious of the blood that had soaked his face, his hands, his clothes, and his hair, and he tried to convince himself that he was remotely worthy of Suki's words, even as he felt a tightening in his throat at her words.

"I'm begging you to see the possibility of this, that there's more to this man than the potential danger you see in him. He can provide just as much good for this world as anything else, and if we are only willing to try and pursue peace in this world together, there's no need for more of this violence. Enough blood has been shed."

Kyoshi said nothing in reply to this, which prompted Suki to utter a last request.

"Please. Spare him and the girl."

Again, Kyoshi didn't immediately offer a response to this heartfelt plea, and Sasuke saw Yangchen give her a sideways look, as though silently hopeful that, somehow, Suki's words might have made some sort of difference.

"You bear the same weakness that he does, my child," Kyoshi finally did say, prompting Suki to raise her head. The Avatar was looking down at her with a still very imperceivable expression that Sasuke was sure had to be quite demoralizing for Suki after what she had just said and done.

"But listed among the tenets of the Kyoshi Warrior is a sworn responsibility to strive for peace in all forms, regardless of the cost that must be paid, and regardless of what must be sacrificed."

"We can have peace, if we just—!" Suki started but was cut off by the Avatar above her.

"Nothing can be said between him and I. It is the existence of his blood that taints the world, and no matter the promise or the truth of the heart, this is the only path forward."

Suki lowered her head, her voice quiet and defeated now.

"I see."

Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet, where she stood before Kyoshi, her head still bowed. Sasuke expected her to walk back to her fellow warriors, but as she stood there, he watched as she turned her head back and looked at him, eyes glowing angrily. After a moment, she jammed them shut and spoke again, her voice just a quiet.

"Forgive me."

With that, she walked towards Sasuke where she came to rest by Aang's side, her back to Kyoshi. She took a slow, deep breath and gave Sasuke another venomous glare.

"Damn you," she whispered before turning to stand shoulder to shoulder with Aang, joining him and Azula to face down the other Avatars. Kyoshi looked mildly surprised, perhaps the most emotion she had shown thus far, though her tone remained even as she remarked.

"My own blood even stands against me, all over the foolish pact of friendship."

"This is more than friendship," Suki said firmly, though her eyes seemed to suggest that she could barely comprehend what she was doing. "This is about what's right."

It was rather a bemusing sight for Sasuke, but without a word, Katara set her face and marched over then as well, pushing herself between Azula and Aang, followed by Sokka who came side by side with Suki and gripped her hand, casting yet another strangely panicked glance at Yue. Then, more surprising even still, Azula's daughter darted out from behind Ty Lee's back and sprinted up to stand before all of them directly in front of her mother. She stomped her feet and brought her fists up as though she was about to challenge Kyoshi to a fight, before blue fire snapped to life around her wrists. It might have been almost a cute sentiment were the situation not so deadly serious, and Jin and Ty Lee rushed up then, Jin running to Toph's side, who was trying to get to her feet with the help of Ursa and Ty to take the child's shoulder and push her behind the slowly forming wall of adults.

"This isn't something right," Aang said as his friends formed up around him. "You can't dictate who lives and dies on your own. They aren't your lives to take."

Yangchen flicked her eyes over to Kyoshi who looked thoroughly unimpressed and gave her head a small shake, prompting Yangchen to look back forward and Sasuke saw that any warmth had left her eyes. To their right, Zuko still had his hand on Mai's shoulder, but after a moment, Mai shrugged off his touch, a bitter look on her face before she walked briskly forward as well, the sick look that had knocked her to her knees having been banished. She joined the group, and moved to stand beside Azula, though Sasuke was fairly certain he saw her shoulder the princess as she turned to face the Avatars. Zuko shared a look with his uncle and Sasuke watched the older man offer him a small, poignant and terribly sad smile before nodding, and the Fire Lord became the last to walk over and stand between Ty Lee and Katara, looking perhaps the most intense of anyone there.

It was a strange sight to Sasuke, to see them all standing between him and the force of unknown power wanting to kill him for the sake of the very world he was trapped in. They surely were feeling mixed feelings towards seeing him again, and yet they had all moved forward on their own volition to stand between him and this new entity wanting to remove him from their world.

Even the child.

I didn't expect this, he thought. I wanted to protect them… but they're protecting me.

It was all he needed to see to know what he had to do, and he closed his eyes.

"Wait," he said, and opened them, stepping forward to put a hand on Aang's shoulder. His pain and fatigue and exhaustion didn't seem capable of doing anything to stop the single spike of will he was feeling. Aang looked back at him and Sasuke could see so much in his eyes, his fear, his worry, his courage, his determination.

"It's alright," Sasuke said quietly, and looked around at all of them. There was a good deal he wanted to say, even though the emotions he regularly was so used to oppressing were bubbling in his gut, not allowing themselves to be formed into words. There were things he wanted to say to each and every one of them, from Aang, to Azula, to Toph, to Ursa, every single person who had been a part of his journey through this world. He caught Yue's eye a moment, and saw her blue eyes shining as though he had already made his intentions clear. Sasuke didn't know what to believe to her end, but it didn't matter anymore; he had been fed plenty of lies, one more couldn't be that bad. But it truly didn't matter anymore.

Sasuke looked past them all to Kyoshi and he took several steps forward to distance himself from his friends.

Friends.

"If I give myself up, will you stay any violence towards them? Including the girl?"

He somehow couldn't bring himself to call her what he deep down knew that she was, and there came an outburst of sound behind him, cries from Toph and Aang and Yue being the most vocal, but he didn't dare react to them. He kept his eyes locked on Kyoshi as she regarded him, both her and Yangchen looking emotionlessly at him, as Koh's body gave a strange shudder. Roku looked up from the floor, the first movement he had made since Kyoshi had lifted her foot from him, face strained and weak, but eyes curiously frantic.

When Kyoshi spoke, Sasuke tried to pick out some feeling in her voice, but she remained as unreadable as a statue in her emotional motivation.

"You're asking me to spare half of the contamination? As if one of you would keep this world from being infected while the other remains?"

It had surprised Sasuke enough that he had been willing to offer what he had just proposed, but there was no surprise in Kyoshi's words; he should have known that offer to have been as pointless an attempt as throwing a stone at her to deter her from her purpose.

"Will you submit, Sasuke?" she asked him coldly before she drew her hands into her robes and withdrew two short steel instruments that she flicked, causing them to spring open into what Sasuke realized were sharpened fans, and a mixture of energies crackled around her arms; he saw flickers of blue and orange and brown there, and knew that regardless of however her reincarnation to this world had come about, she was still beholden to a great deal of power.

"Or will you allow your friends to die for you?"

Standing between them and her, Sasuke felt the most terrible sense of uselessness run through his veins.

I don't know what to do.

He wanted to protect them. But even if Kyoshi had agreed, there would have been no guarantee that after he was gone, that her word would be kept. Would she keep trying to bring her spiritual forces through to commence with her forced submission of the world? There certainly would be violence were she to continue pursuing that end, and Sasuke couldn't prevent that if he gave himself up. But how could he stop her even if he refused to submit? If his chakra use only exacerbated the rift between the two worlds, what could be done to stand against her? He somehow imagined that just armed with a sword, he wouldn't get far trying to manage her; she was surely far and above Gilbert's men by an enormous scale.

"Sasuke… get behind us."

It was Zuko's voice that he heard speak up to his back, and the softly uttered command gave him pause.

Do I… do I let them do this? Do I let them risk their lives to protect me?

There was no doubt that their combined abilities would prove a better match than any chakraless advance Sasuke might have made.

I won't let them fight without me… but I don't want this to happen at all. I… I can't let them be hurt.

He thought of Toph's tortured back and bile rose in the back of his throat.

Not anymore.

It was maddening, trying to think rationally while trying to ignore these bothersome and distracting feelings that were thrashing at his insides.

I don't have time for emotion… just think, THINK, think how you can protect them, think what you can do to keep this from—

A voice spoke up from before him, weak and urgent.

"Sasuke."

He blinked and looked forward to see Roku looking at him, a pained and pathetic form, but eyes still flashing with a frantic energy that Sasuke couldn't quite decipher. Kyoshi turned her gaze to look down at him, her eyes flashing briefly with a dangerous glow, but Roku kept his eyes locked fiercely on Sasuke's.

"I'm sorry for lying," he said, and Sasuke stared at him flatly.

Little late for that, old man.

Roku's eyes sharpened even further for a flash, and he added, "For lying about everything."

Sasuke had spent a good majority of his life learning to read people's tones, and after having just spent several terribly long minutes trying to read Kyoshi's masked tone of cold purpose, Roku's barely subtle verbiage was anything but inconspicuous. And as he homed in on those four last words, Sasuke came to a halting realization as to what Roku was trying to hint at.

No.

It couldn't have been. But the old man couldn't have been suggesting anything else. And Sasuke knew that, especially when confronted with such an impossible set of choices, he could do nothing more than comply with his gut instinct.

For the first time in what was nearing months, he reached within him and very gently, very pryingly, opened up his chakra flow, just the barest bit.

It was as though he had taken a swing of cold water after not having drunk an ounce of fluid in days. He felt it through his body, twisting and weaving like his chakra flow had a mind of its own, desperate for freedom of movement through its vessel. Still, he kept it as restricted as he could and, in a motion that more or less would have looked like he was clutching his side briefly in pain, he snapped off a set of hand seals that he didn't even think Kyoshi had noticed. He added a wince to sell the moment as his jutsu activated and his mind's eye was suddenly lifted from his body and swept away.

As though he had become an astral projection, Sasuke's mind showed him drifting upward from his body, looking down at it and everyone else in the room, the silent onlookers gazing upon the horribly tense and damningly important confrontation before his vision passed through the ceiling and flew out to look around the building's exterior.

His insides were brought to a chill as he saw the scene before him.

All around the building, legions of creatures of varying shapes and sizes stood at attention, circling the structure with blue auras surrounding their bodies. Some hovered in midair, some stood on two legs, some four, some eight, some even more than that, appendages that ended in spikes, tentacles, claws, any manner imaginable poised and ready. Some had heads like humans, some like animals such as wolves, birds or insects, some with heads that didn't represent anything that Sasuke could equate them to. Nearest to the hall's entrance, bodies littered the ground, and Sasuke recognized the officials and nobles that had fled the building at his appearance, their bodies marred with vicious lacerations and truncated limbs and it didn't take too much of a look at the blood on the creatures' limbs to figure that they had cut down the fleeing people as they had run from Sasuke's presence. And despite their vast number, there was a deeply eerie silence that they held as they stood in formation.

They're waiting for orders.

Roku's words came crashing down with meaning on Sasuke's mind as he banished his jutsu with the flick of a finger and he was returned to the present.

"For lying about everything."

His chakra hadn't been connected to a damn thing. Just another lie, meant to slow him down and hinder him, perhaps resulting in his injury or death in getting to the Nations and warn Zuko about the invasion at the Fire Nation that, clearly too, had been another lie.

The invasion was never meant to happen in the Fire Nation. It was meant to be brought to Sasuke, to crush him in one fell swing. He had been the catalyst of this moment, and now that he was here, their attack could commence. Now that he was standing just feet from the child he had unknowingly brought into the world, he was perfectly in place to be the beginning of the end. He had allowed himself to be strung along like a puppet yet again and been meant to believe he was helpless to do a thing about it.

He looked at Roku and he saw the understanding in those old eyes, and that old familiar burning began to stretch within his gut again.

Sasuke looked to Kyoshi, Yangchen and Koh, and his hate began to spread like a wildfire within him.

But before even seconds had passed from his realization, there was a flash of movement on his right and he flicked his eyes to see what it was that had so suddenly moved after such a stretch of tense slight motions.

Moving passed him was Toph, the open clothes on her back fluttering in the wake of her swift movement. Her body still was soaked with sweat, and even her brief run echoed of her exhuastion, even as a furious cry left her lips. Sasuke could hear Jin shouting something behind him, but his mind was blank to it as Toph, face alight in a snarl, leapt in front of him and slammed her palms on the ground.

"No, stop!" Sasuke managed to bark out, but he was too late to react as a jagged edge of the marble floor jutted up and rocketed directly towards Kyoshi's head, aiming to take it clean off her shoulders. The female Avatar didn't make a move to dodge the sudden attack, simply looked on passively as the earthbending rushed at her and for a moment, Sasuke was sure the attack would strike home.

At the last moment before the ridged strut of marble would have reached her, Kyoshi whipped a hand across her body in a motion that even Sasuke had trouble tracking; her steel fan struck the marble and shattered in an explosion of white chunks and powder, so thoroughly she had smashed it, and the energy that had rippled around her arm lashed out past the remnants of the floor and in a flash of blue color, the whip of power swiped across Toph's chest.

Toph didn't so much as stagger as the attack hit her even as Sasuke reached for her, his hand seeming to move in slow motion, not nearly as fast as he needed it to. Her unseeing eyes widened slightly as her mouth fell slightly agape, even as no sound escaped it.

Then, she crumpled to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, motionless.

Sasuke felt the world falling into a muted and blurry mess as he dropped down beside her. Toph's eyes had closed and there was a gash across her chest that seemed to pulse with a faint orange as though a burn had just passed clean through her skin, bone and muscle, leaving a scorched indentation upon her body. There were yells from behind him, perhaps Jin and Ty Lee and Aang and Sokka or whoever else, honestly, it didn't matter much to Sasuke. The feeling of pain that he had been feeling was nothing but a faint buzz and as he cupped a hand to Toph's cheek, her skin felt distant and cold. Only one thing permeated this fugue state he found himself in, slipping past the buzzing of his ears with perfect clarity.

"Stupid girl," Kyoshi said. "To be willing to die for a monster."

The world came rushing back in a slam of feeling and sound and smell. Sasuke felt the aching and pulsing of his wounded body, he heard the screams of his friends behind him, and smelled the burnt flesh of Toph's body. Most importantly, he felt within him again.

Gone were the confused feelings that had been dominating his thoughts, thoughts of friendship, and gratitude, and even more than that, emotions that he hadn't been able to really even identify so focused as he was on ignoring them. But these had all been swallowed up by that old recognizable reliant feeling that he had fallen back on so often.

"Kyoshi…" he said quietly, letting the absolutely dominating hate swell and ferment in his gut. He reached into his body and let the chakra flow out through his body freely, something he hadn't done in so long. It was an overwhelming feeling as it went to work mending his body, this enormous rush of power that sapped the pain from his wounds and healed him with a furious speed. Sasuke barely allowed it to even do that before directing it, pressing it towards his eyes. He looked at Kyoshi and as he saw the realization cross her face followed by resolve, he knew that she was aware of what he was happening.

Good. I want you to see this coming. Maybe then it will hurt more.

He realized only then as he pulled his hand from Toph's face the incredible sense of pain building under his fury and hate that had absolutely nothing to do with the state of his body.

"I'll fucking crush you!" he screamed, and the blood practically spurted from his eyes as Amaterasu exploded to life around him, erupting in a storm of black fire that whirled about, perfectly at his command. Kyoshi adopted a readied combat stance, her expression never once changing from that of raw purpose and Sasuke felt his rage build all the more.

I'm going to wipe that look off your face; I'm going to make you hurt.

Knowing there was no going back, not there ever really had been from the moment Roku had appeared to him those months ago, Sasuke lunged at Kyoshi and she lunged back, power and energy spitting and bursting around their bodies.

And, with no words left to say between them, they went at it.