Daughter of Hate

by Blutus Mindpretzel

The war is over. Azula's motives remain unknowable as her child stands to shake the foundation of everything built since the fall of Fire Lord Ozai. For Toph, Mai, Aang, Katara and the rest, the world is an even more dangerous place than it was when they were children. And despite being long since gone, Sasuke's impact continues to shudder their world, perhaps more than they know.

20. Chapter 20

AN: So, in quick addition to the height question, I'll just do a quick run down of where we're at. I know that I've probably messed with canon adult heights just a little, but that's just for my personal preferences of this story, so bear with me: other than the aforementioned Sasuke, Ursa and Azula, Toph is 5'9" as are Jin and Suki. Katara and Aang are both 5'11", Ty Lee is 6' and Mai is 6' and a half inch, and then Sokka and Zuko are both 6'2". And then Soza is 5'1". Oh, and Kyoshi is 6'5" and Yangchen is 5'11". Think that covers the main cast! And again, I know that these are probably inaccurate all across the board to any standard canon, but this is just how they've all been pictured out in my head for this story.

Slowly making our way back to regular lengths, but still pretty long. Someone accused me a while back of not knowing where I plan on taking this story and while that's not true in the slightest, I will readily admit that I'm a horrible judge of estimating scene lengths XD.

Anyways, hope ya'll enjoy this week's chapter! Seriously fucking love each and every one of you guys so much, read all your reviews pretty much every day in between writing sessions and you wouldn't believe the smiles they put on my face. I've such a lucky loser to be able to indulge in this hobby the way that I've been able to, good gosh.

---

Chapter 20: Blinded

They were halfway back to the hangar when Sasuke had his collar grabbed and he was shoved against the wall by Ursa who was directly against him in a moment.

"This'll have to be the last one I think for a bit," she whispered against his lips before kissing him. Sasuke tried to keep down that stupid fluttering feeling in his heart that he felt every time their lips met, but the pleasure of the moment was too much for him to really pay that much mind. As she broke away from him, she reached up to briefly and gently stroke his cheek.

"Thank you," she said with a smile and resumed walking, leaving Sasuke to jog a quick couple steps in order to fall back in line with her.

"For what?" he inquired and she gave a sniff of laughter and shook her head.

"You damn well know what," she replied quietly. "I… I really needed that."

Sasuke pondered this a moment before saying anything back; he had been more than happy to let Ursa use him for whatever relief necessary, but even as much as being held by her and listening to her sing had been something out of a dream, he couldn't help but feel that there was more to the action and gesture than she had let on.

"Ursa…" he started, careful with his tone and word choice; he remembered the anger she had showed before and didn't want to accidentally instigate such a reaction again. "What we did just now, was that…? Why something so specific and—"

"Another time," she said curtly and while her voice was still warm with him, Sasuke could hear the slight chill there. Not only did she not want to talk about it just then, but clearly Sasuke's intuition had been right in telling him that this might be something of a touchy subject for her. Worrying he might have overstepped, he reached out to his side and gently took her hand, giving it a small squeeze.

"Sorry," he murmured and while she didn't reply, her squeeze back was something he took as a good sign as they turned down the last hall that led to the shell's docking bay.

The first thing that caught his attention was the amount of activity in a single spot, right near the front end of the shell. The majority of everyone he had walked past had conglomerated around a single point, and as he saw who was standing at that point, he knew why.

Toph was currently being hugged by whoever was nearest her as Aang, Jin, Ty Lee, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Suki all stood around her, smiling more widely than he had seen since he had seen them again for the first time back in Ba Sing Se. Jin was practically bawling in relief, occasionally laughing through her tears as Ty Lee kept her arm around Jin's shoulder keeping her steady on her feet, even as she cried herself. Seeing Jin as such a complete wreck caused Sasuke's heart to surge with an ache; everything she had seen over the past twenty-four hours, her friend almost being executed before being perhaps fatally injured, and the murder and chaos along with it. Then, being whisked away on an airship to sit alone with Toph while no doubt drowning in fear and anxiety, and for her to have tried to give him advice and help him? Sasuke found himself briefly amazed by how much endurance Jin had, and as she leaned against Ty Lee and held Toph's hand, it was clear that endurance was nearly out.

Katara was also smiling, a strangely relieving sight; Sasuke genuinely might have forgotten she was even capable of such an expression. The intensity and anger that had been present on her face all night had been enough to cause flashbacks to course through Sasuke's mind of all the times she had confronted him when they were teenagers, the hate she had borne for him that had ruled so many of her actions. He remembered how they had started to patch things and become more than just antagonistic towards one another, and then how he had left before he and Katara had truly had a chance to reconcile.

I don't know if I even once considered that when I left.

Sokka was smiling widely too, an expression that seemed to best suited to him in any sense of regularity. Suki has by his side and they had arms around one another's waists as she grinned as well, looking almost like adoring parents looking out over the rest of those gathered. Aang had tears in his eyes too as he didn't seem able to take his hand from Toph's shoulder while Zuko had his hand on Aang's as though acting as a reassurance that everything was alright. The most heartwarming thing that Sasuke saw though was Soza; the girl stood directly in front of Toph and had her face buried just underneath Toph's breasts, her arms wrapped around her waist like a lifeline. Based on how everyone kept sending affectionate glances her way, it was clear she had been embracing Toph for longer than a few seconds. Toph herself looked happy to get such a reception after waking from what could have been an endless coma, if a little tired and overwhelmed by all the sudden commotion.

Yue and Mai both stood to the side, looking on the scene with gentle smiles of their own, but keeping a respectful distance, a start contrast to Azula. The princess seemed tucked in shadow near the back of their escape vessel, seeming as though she were double checking the ship's thrusters and back components but Sasuke saw how her eyes kept flicking up maliciously to the happy scene before her. Sasuke noticed how her gaze seemed to aim lower and he could tell that she was looking at Soza as much as anyone else and Sasuke supposed that was something of news to him.

I didn't know Soza and Toph were so close.

As he and Ursa entered the room, attention turned to them and the relieved words faded away. Sasuke supposed the moment might have grown awkward them, but the amount of relief he felt himself to see Toph on her feet was far more immeasurable than any sense of discomfort could have been. He could feel the smile on his face as he addressed her.

"Glad you made it."

Strangely enough, Toph's mouth seemed to twitch slightly before she smiled back.

"Take more than that to take me out of the fight," she replied and Sasuke felt his brow furrow slightly. Toph's movements were so subtle, he might have missed them if not for his significantly enhanced eyesight, but she seemed to be twitching more than just the once he had seen, and overall, he realized she was facing him about as directly as she could be. Zuko, who didn't seem to notice what Sasuke did and being well caught up in seeing Toph awake and well, stepped forward, a smile on his face and Sasuke couldn't help but find it somewhat relieving on its own to see Zuko smiling, especially after everything he had been forced to confront that night.

Guess he hasn't talked to Mai yet.

"Toph, this is my mom," he said by way of introduction. "She and her crew helped us get out of Ba Sing Se, and she's coming along to help us figure out this whole mess."

Ursa's voice was warm as she addressed Toph.

"I'm very glad to see you awake and well," she said and Toph, still in a rather imperceptible motion, seemed to stiffen at hearing Ursa's voice, but her face remained directed towards Sasuke.

"Thanks," she said, in a strange tone. The silence that fell after that was something that even Sasuke was able to recognize as awkward and he felt his own eyes flick to Aang, the person he had never known to be able to keep anything under wraps. As might have been expected, Aang's eyes were slightly wide and his mouth was drawn in a very nervous line, and Sasuke felt his heart sink as he looked back to Toph.

Sasuke hadn't been given a chance to speak with her since his return due to her being unconscious for most of it, but he hadn't thought even once about how she would be feeling for him to be back.

Hell, she's probably just angry at me like everyone else.

Sasuke didn't even have any inkling on whether she even was happy to see him again. In his moment of desperation to protect her, he had felt that connection that he remembered feeling towards her so long ago, but if she had muscled past that after seeing him initially, it was just as possible that she hated his guts for coming back and making a complete mess of things once more. There was a part of him that rather badly wanted to know if she had spent even any time thinking about him since he had left, even after their parting had been such a thing of hurt for her. But she had been a child then, wildly wrapped up in a crush and having been recently been bombarded with enough violent trauma that no one, especially not a child, should have experienced.

No, she surely put me in the back of her memory years ago, Sasuke thought. He tried not to think about the fact that his insides seemed to sink somewhat as he considered this, while he also tried to ignore the fact that his own thoughts had drifted to her during all his years alone. And now that she wasn't tied to a stake being tortured, he had a moment to realize the same thing he had recognized upon seeing Azula, Katara, Mai, Ty Lee, Jin and Suki after over a decade, and that was that she was exceptionally stunning to his eyes.

She still had a tough expression to her face naturally, but the beauty she now wore was unmistakable; her hair was long and black, flowing down her back and over her shoulders as the toned shape of her body was impossible to miss, as while she wasn't particularly muscly, the leanness of her arms and legs stood out in the modest dressing gown she wore. But even though it covered up most of her body save for her calves and forearms, Sasuke had to pull his eyes from her chest where two small points stood out to him, mounted on larger, smooth curves, as clear a sign of her womanhood as anything.

Sasuke had to blink to remind himself that while Toph couldn't track his eyes, plenty of other people there might if he wasn't careful and he had to keep from kicking himself.

What's the fucking matter with me.

Just as it had been when they were younger, she was still shorter than him, but the margin wasn't nearly as wide now. He imagined that if she was standing right in front of him, he would be able to put a kiss right on her forehead without bending his back in the slightest.

What? Why the hell did I just think that?

Cursing his thoughts, he cleared his throat. Assuming that Toph wasn't particularly thrilled to see him again, then he could put off talking to her at least for the time being, even though deep down, he really wanted to.

She probably hasn't thought about me in years. She wouldn't want to talk to me right now anyway.

Fortunately for him, Sokka seemed to sense that some words were in order to keep this situation from growing any more awkward than it already had.

"Well, now that everyone's here, I suppose we should get ready to go; dawn will break within probably the next hour and if we are being tailed like Roku thought, we'll be way easier to see leaving the airship with even a little bit of light in the sky."

Words of affirmation were said in a brief cluster of noise and the group broke apart, getting to work making final preparations. Even as he felt a tug in his gut as Ursa left his side to go and speak with Zuko and Sokka who seemed to have taken charge of preparations, Sasuke felt a strange weight lifted from his shoulders as Toph looked away and reached down to smile and try and pry away a Soza who was trying to hide tears. He watched as Toph went to her knee and smiled at his daughter, telling her something that he couldn't hear over the noise now moving through the small hangar. As he watched her wipe a tear from the girl's face, he couldn't help but be reminded of his own actions that evening and was overcome by a strange thought.

She looks like a better mother right now than I wonder if Azula ever has been.

There came a nudge at his elbow and he blinked back to reality to see Mai standing beside him, a smile on his face. The warmth and genuineness of the smile was enough to bring one to his own face as she pushed a cup into his hands.

"Here, drink," she told him softly and gave him an almost playful bump with her shoulder as he stared at her. "You can't tell me that you're not dehydrated after tonight."

As Sasuke turned to look down at the water, he realized just how terribly parched he was; throwing down the cup's entire contents in one go, he found the wild hope pass through his mind that Ursa hadn't noticed how chapped his lips must have been.

"Easy," Mai said, patting him on the back as he pulled away from the glass, taking in a deep breath after the six or so gulps he had needed to take down the water; his head rushed with blood from the sudden hydration and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut a moment to steady himself.

"Thanks," he said as she pulled the now empty glass from his hands.

"No problem," she replied, still smiling at him and after a moment longer of looking at him, she looked down and cleared her throat before moving away somewhat quickly. As he watched her go, Sasuke felt his shoulders sag.

Oh no.

Even though he had just taken some time with her to alleviate her stress by telling her that she was in fact not pregnant with the child of some spirit monster, he hadn't had so much as a moment to think about the possibility that some tension might still exist between him and Mai. He remembered a couple flirtatious moments they had shared, and how easy he had found himself getting along with her way back when, after of course she had decided that he wasn't perhaps quite as much a threat as she originally thought. In truth, of everyone he had traveled with other than Aang, he had enjoyed being around Mai the most; Toph's company had been enjoyable certainly, but he had never been able to ignore the tension that existed between them because of her wild thoughts towards him. Suki had always felt like she was always silently judging him, Sokka had been nice and amenable enough, but not so open as for Sasuke to think that he was ever truly comfortable with him, Ty Lee always seemed to be driving grudging eyes into the back of his head, Zuko practically spewed a feeling of reserved discomfort around him, and Katara and Azula were very much different beasts entirely, quite literally at times. And he had only known Jin on the tail end of his journey, so that left Aang and Mai as the two people that he found himself the most comfortable around.

And even in his perpetual thickheadedness, he had picked up on some of Mai's hints that she might have held a particular kind of interest in him.

But she can't still feel that way, can she?

Sasuke shook his head; yet another thing that there would be time to think about later. He refocused his attention on the craft before him, wondering if there was anything that he could do to make ready, but as he did, his eyes fell over Aang, and he felt a warmth that echoed with familiarity resound through his body. He remembered how easy it had been to talk to Aang, how much he had felt they shared, and how hard it had actually been to say goodbye to the boy. And of everyone, he seemed to have been the one to have changed the least to Sasuke's eye.

The Avatar had grown a fair bit though he still looked to be a few inches shorter than Sasuke was and beyond that growth in height, he seemed exactly the same as Sasuke remembered. Same boyish face, alive with some semblance of innocence and purity, and with an energy that made it seem almost like he was still a child. Seeing him again almost seemed to awaken some strange feeling of nostalgia in Sasuke's gut, and he found himself walking forward to at least say hello.

As he did, Aang looked up and past him, wincing as he did.

"Oh, Yue?" he called out, his tone apologetic. "I'm sorry, I ran into Toph when I went to go get yours and Sokka's swords…"

Yue met his words with an understanding smile. "No problem, Aang, I'll run and grab them now."

Turning and sending her silvery hair whipping over her shoulder, Yue turned out of the hangar and disappeared down the hall. Sasuke watched her disappear and felt an urging in his gut that he knew he had to act on.

He snapped a quick hand seal off and directed his fingers towards the far side of the shell. A loud metal crash emanated from there and everyone looked that direction in surprise; Sasuke knew that the noise had been just that, but as Ursa, Zuko and Suki moved to investigate and everyone else looked on in confusion, he slipped out into the hallway as well, not seen by anyone as he made his quiet departure.

---

Wincing as the loud bang echoed away in her ears, Toph turned to face the direction the noise had come from, waiting to hear what it was that had caused such a cacophonous sound to happen. Soza still clung to her side, gripping her hand and Toph had found herself hoping and not hoping that Azula was seeing every second of it. Part of her was feeling a strange sense of vindictiveness, but the more rational side of her was questioning why.

Azula hasn't done anything to me since we were kids… she's let me spend time with her daughter, and she's probably feeling some real drastic emotions right now seeing Sasuke again. I shouldn't be feeling angry with her just because the last time we spoke, she forced me to keep things from Soza.

In a way, she really felt herself pitying Azula and wondered if she had ever thought her mind would let her do that. The princess hadn't wronged her personally in the longest time and seemed to have put things in the past long ago, so why couldn't Toph? Still, there was something immensely satisfying about Soza being in the same room as both Toph and her mother, and choosing to cling to the former.

But satisfaction shouldn't have been at all on Tophs' mind, especially when thinking about Soza. The girl was surely in the most terrible of places right now, experiencing everything she had in Ba Sing Se, finding out the truth about her father and then worrying over Toph on top of everything else. Soza clinging to her now was a very significant sign of her trauma and exhaustion; not once in the past several years had Toph known Soza to show much affection to anyone over anything. She never hugged, or was physically close with anyone, so Soza holding onto her now in what seemed like a grip for dear life caused Toph's heart to ache as she held the girl tight to her side.

Despite the pain she felt for Soza, however, the surge of hurt in Toph's heart for the girl was immediately washed over by the raging sea of emotion that was pummeling her insides.

He's chosen someone else.

It had been strange that Aang had been so cagey about not wanting to tell her Sasuke's whereabouts, considering they were on an airship and she wouldn't much trouble finding him anyway, but when she had finally picked up on him through her senses, she had figured out why.

Even when she had realized he wasn't alone, she had still walked all the way to the cabin she had felt him in and stopped dead outside the door, desperately trying to keep herself from crumpling the metal frame like a piece of paper and forcing her way inside. Instead, she had stood there, her entire body feeling like it was made of the very metal she had become accustomed to bending, listening. She felt Sasuke, and felt him awfully close to that Ursa woman, so much so that their combined bodies almost felt like one presence. But she listened and she listened carefully.

And even from behind that great metal door, she had heard singing.

It was that singing that had caused her throat to tighten, for her to turn on her heel and march to the docking bay as quickly as she could without running. Toph knew that Ursa had been singing to him.

He didn't think I could sing to him?

She kept trying to tell herself that she was being stupid; he had been gone for so long, he had probably been with this Ursa for years now, maybe they even…

Have kids.

It had been even more of a bit to the chest when Zuko had introduced Ursa as his mother, and Toph started to wonder if anyone knew just what it was that she and Sasuke were up to, if anyone there was aware just the kind of relationship they had.

But her mind kept returning to that same simple fact, that one thing that was completely apparent to her.

He moved on and I didn't.

She stood there in the docking bay, feeling the edges of her mouth still turned up in that smile she had forced on when all of her friends had rushed to her, thrilled she was awake. She should have wanted to break down and cry, she should have wanted to pound the walls and scream, but for as much as those feelings made sense to her, Toph only felt empty.

---

Yue found her sword tucked against the wall in one of the control rooms just below the bridge. Sokka's weapon also rested against is, and she couldn't help but crack a small smile at the difference in size between them and the way that Sokka had been so utterly flabbergasted that she was capable of wielding hers. She walked through the small room, only about a twenty feet in width and length, and took both handles, preparing to hoist them both and return them with her to the docking bay. Briefly, she wondered if she wanted to quickly poke her head in on the bridge; it only felt right to say goodbye to Siado, after all, he had been nothing but kind to her when other members of the crew like Delrin had held her in such disdain.

No. If I do that… I'm accepting that they all might be about to—

"Yue."

She cried out and spun around, swords falling from her hands and clanging against the pipes lining the wall. Sasuke seemed startled himself that he had scared her so badly and he backed away, holding up his hands.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you," he said and Yue sucked in deep breaths, glaring at him as she did.

"Well, you did anyway," she snapped. He said nothing to this and as they stared at one another, Yue realized she couldn't stand it and she spun away again, moving her hands back towards the swords.

"We need to talk," he said firmly behind her and Yue felt her body tense up again.

What?

She hadn't even bothered to question why it was that he had come up behind her, perhaps some part of her had played this off in her mind as an accident, a chance encounter and that he would be on his way just as quickly as he had found her. But could he really want to actually speak with her? Why would he?

Slowly, Yue turned her head back to him, trying to keep herself from growing too hopeful. She had a flicker in her mind of a recent memory and saw Ursa and Sasuke holding one another passionately, lips working hard against each other, and she somehow found herself wanting to make some snide comment. But as she looked at Sasuke and truly saw him, any vindictive thoughts vanished from her mind.

He could have been confronting her with any number of emotions present on his face and in his body language; anger, resentment, frustration she tried to find, but none were present. All she saw was an incredibly tired young man who's slumped shoulders and exhausted eyes told a story all on their own. And with that, Yue couldn't hold back.

"Sasuke, I'm so, so, so sorry," she blurted out, feeling the words springing from her throat as though they had been waiting desperately to be said. "I never should have said what I did, if I could go back—"

"The past is the past, Yue," Sasuke said tiredly. "I appreciate your apology, but you can't take back what happened. Anymore than I can take back…"

He trailed off and then shook his head.

"I suppose I am still upset at the butterfly effect you caused, but I'm not here to talk about what you said to Ursa. I'm here to ask you where it was coming from."

Even though the opportunity to talk with Sasuke on their own was finally before her, Yue found her jaw locking up. When she didn't say anything back to him, he sighed and took a step through the door, leaning against the wall by the frame.

"We traveled together for over a month, and in all that time, you've never acted like you have tonight. That venom I saw from you when you were talking to Ursa, I… I honestly would never have guessed that you were capable of something like that. What was that?"

"I…" Yue said, her lower lip quivering.

Tell the truth. You've done nothing but tell the truth to him, don't you dare stop now.

"I saw you and Ursa in the hall," she got out, the words exploding from her mouth like a sharp exhale. Sasuke seemed to wait for more, but she had nothing to offer. She watched him just as carefully as he was watching her before he nodded slowly.

"I see," he said after a pause. "You saw us together."

She nodded quickly and he slowly pulled in breath that was released in a slow consternated sound.

"That's what this is all about? You outed us in front of everyone because you're, what, jealous?"

Only Sasuke would be so obnoxiously blunt. Yue hadn't even considered the idea that he would have hit her with this bombshell, this accusation, this feeling that she felt her heart screaming at. And for the first time that she could remember since knowing him, she lied.

"I don't know," she stammered.

"Bullshit," Sasuke said simply and Yue clenched her teeth and turned her head down and away from him.

"Do you have any idea what it felt like?!" she cried out, jamming her eyes shut; her insides felt like they were putting on a full-blown circus as her emotions rippled through her veins, all the way to the tips of her fingers and toes. "When I woke up, I realized two things: I was in the real world again, and that I was with the person that Roku called the person who would be the catalyst of every ounce of chaos that was preparing to be unleashed. He warned me against seeing you as human, but how could I not?! You were…"

She let out a frustrated sound as tears spilled from underneath her clenched eyelids.

"… you were so broken! I know you were hiding, I know that you didn't want anyone else to know, but surely you felt how hard I was trying! I tried to pry, to just open you up enough to know who you were, but even though you loosened up to me during our travels, you never gave me anything beyond what I already knew from Roku! Day after day, I tried to crack open the mystery that was this Sasuke person I was traveling with, and through all that, you didn't reciprocate a damn thing I said!"

Yue let herself pause, taking in breaths of air as evenly as she could, trying to take her voice back down to something of a more calm level. She couldn't bear to open her eyes and see him looking at her with the disregard she knew was lurking in his gaze; no doubt he thought her to be the most pitiable and pathetic girl on the planet just then, and she didn't need to know just how much disdain he was burning into her with his eyes alone. But she needed to keep talking, to tell him the truth of what he had done to her.

"Maybe that would have been fine," she said. "Maybe I could have lived with just knowing that you didn't have anything you wanted to give to anyone, but then… then Ursa comes along and… and what?!"

Her eyes sprang open as she glared at him, her voice leaping in volume again.

"What is so special about her?! You let her take you to bed, you let her talk to you, you opened up to her, I see how you look at her; what makes her so much better than—"

She swallowed and gave a great rattling exhale.

"… than me?"

Her eyes found his and she saw him looking at her with the pity she had been expecting, but there was something else there as well. Was that… sadness? He didn't say anything for several long seconds before he pushed softly away from the wall and walked over to her. When he stopped in front of her, Yue found she couldn't look away from his dark eyes.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he gently put his hands on her shoulders. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I wish…"

He trailed off, sighed and to her utter disbelief, he hugged her.

"No, that's not on you to tell me. I should be able to tell that something I'm doing or not doing is bothering you. I'm sorry, Yue."

It took her a few moments as she wondered if even during all their travels, he had laid even a finger on her before she vigorously hugged him back.

"I'm sorry too. I've been selfish and haven't put anything in perspective. I was only thinking about myself and how I was feeling, I never once thought what you might really be feeling. I mean, you found out you were a dad tonight, and I'm supposed to be angry at you for kissing Ursa?"

She said it as almost a joke at the absurd comparison, but Sasuke's body tensed around her arms and she pulled away from him just enough to look him in the eye, even as she kept her hands on his arms.

"What's wrong?"

As she had sensed, Sasuke looked almost guilty and she shook her head quickly.

"I'm not trying to suggest anything," she said hurriedly, terrified that now that they were talking again, she had said something that had closed him off from her all over. "Or make you feel bad, I just am saying that I don't have any right—"

"No, you do though," he muttered and released her, turning and stepping away. Yue almost moaned sadly as he left her grip though she respected him enough not to latch onto him. He stopped a few paces from her, facing away as he pulled several fingers through his spiky hair.

"I owe you an explanation. You're right, looking back on it, you tried so hard to talk to me, to figure out what I was going through, but I never gave you the time of day. An apology isn't good enough."

She took a step forward, reaching a hand out.

"No, Sasuke, you don't have to—"

"I need you to understand something," he said, speaking over her as he looked back to face her. "Something that isn't your fault, but something I've done to myself. Some of these women we're traveling with… when we were younger, I had a few… complicated relationships with them, shall we just say."

Yue remembered the story he had told about Azula and felt her skin crawl.

"I can imagine," she said shakily and he nodded.

"I left before anything became too serious, or so I thought," and his eyes flashed darkly, no doubt filling with thoughts of the rape he had been victim of. "And so after years of not hardly even daring to speak to anyone, I didn't know how to feel when another woman was placed into my life, my age, and who should have had a whole host of reasons to be frightened of me."

Slowly, he smiled and Yue felt her heart soar at the sight.

"But you weren't. You were more fearless of me than almost anyone I've met in my life. Initially, I thought maybe you were just a touch stupid…"

"Thanks," she remarked flatly and his smile widened slightly.

"…but I found out quickly that you were anything but. It was courage you were showing me, the way you would snap at me when I did something you disapproved of, the way you argued with me when I said something we should do, the way that you would put your hands on your hips and stare me down when I glared at you for whatever reason…"

Yue nearly interrupted him to say that she had just been reacting how she would have to anyone, but as she realized that for the first time, Sasuke was really opening up to her, she bit her tongue nearly hard enough to draw blood.

"… so, I guess in a way I was almost scared of you. Because it didn't take long before I really started to like you, and because of my past, I didn't want to show that side of myself again, even a little. You were the perfect opposite I needed to be traveling with, and I'm sorry I never told you that."

His words came out somewhat clumsily, like he was having difficulty articulating his feelings, but Yue felt like she wanted to burst into tears at how, even though he was clearly uncomfortable, he was explaining himself anyway.

"Ursa came along and… well, I'm not trying to say anything to insult you, but she's not at all like any woman I've met, because she's older than most of them. And through that, there was a maturity she presented that I found it very easy to… be vulnerable with."

He raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Again, I'm not trying to suggest you're not mature or anything like that."

I'm not mature. I'm a stupid, jealous girl who went after you and Ursa because of my envy.

Sasuke lowered his face and massaged his temples with his thumb and fingers of his right hand wearily.

"I don't know, Yue, I don't know what our relationship is. I definitely feel something for Ursa, and I'm sorry I can't lie to you and say otherwise. But I'm a dumb guy, I don't really get feelings too well, especially not my own. With that all being said though, me opening up to Ursa had nothing to do with any inferiority or anything on your part, it just… sort of happened."

Nodding slowly, Yue took this in. It would have been a lie to say that his confession entirely removed the pain of imagining him and Ursa together, but still, she would never have expected this from him and it would have an even bigger lie to say that her heart wasn't throbbing more painfully than ever before.

With a startling, large and somewhat gradually groan, the airship began to turn hard port and Yue felt her unsteady feet give from beneath her and she stumbled forward as Sasuke too stumbled back. The turn lasted only a moment or two, but by the time it was over, Yue found herself looking up with flushed cheeks as she rested against Sasuke's chest with his back to the wall. She felt his chest beneath her hands, and felt the thudding of his heart, even as he looked back down at her without a word. Feeling her own heart beating a vicious drum against her breast, she released a shaky breath as she looked up at him and almost unconsciously, her hand started to track up his chest. By the time she reached the side of his neck, she felt a tension stronger than anything she might have imagined and she couldn't believe that she gone this far and that he was letting her. Her hand reached the side of his face and she stroked a thumb along his cheek, trying to keep from feeling faint.

And as she realized that their lips were only inches apart, he spoke quietly.

"Yue… I can't promise you anything. You understand that, right?"

She froze, the space between them so close now. She felt blinded by her need, her desire to have answers.

"I haven't had time to decipher my own feelings," he muttered. "And I'm telling you right now that even if this was how it ought to be, you deserve much better than someone like—"

Moving forward swiftly, Yue silenced him.

I know, Sasuke, I just… I had to know what this feels like.

---

Sasuke felt Yue's body go almost weightless against his as he tasted her lips. He didn't do anything beyond kiss her back, but he didn't push her away either.

What am I doing?

It had been clear to him that she was struggling badly with her feelings for him and that she might not have even been sure if she wanted him this way, the way she had hesitated. But he supposed after all he had put her through, the least he could do was hopefully help her figure her way through her internal processes that were surely doing such a number to her mind. It was possible she would pull away from him and realize that she didn't want him after all, but still, at least then she would know for certain.

Sasuke needed a few moments to realize that he was enjoying the moment a good deal.

Yue had been one of the most pure and genuine people he had ever met, and even as he closed his eyes just to allow himself to feel her against him, he felt a pang of sadness; no matter what happened afterwards, there would be no going back from this.

After several eternal seconds, she gently pulled away from him and they both opened their eyes. Sasuke took a moment to revel just how mesmerizing her blue orbs were before he heard himself whisper a question.

"Well?"

She didn't need clarification for what he was talking about, he could see the gears rapidly in her head. There was surely so much she was thinking about and he didn't dare press her faster for an answer; she was likely considering that he might have other girls he was more interested than her, considering what Ursa and his relationship was, and most importantly, considering what it was that she felt for him. Had that kiss been the key she was looking for, to identify how she felt about him?

"I…" she started weakly. "I think I—"

The ship suddenly wrenched beneath them and they both grabbed hold of one another to keep steady as they were both jolted back into reality.

"What the hell was that?" Yue hissed, whipping her head around. Sasuke wasn't sure; that had not remotely been anything like the feeling they had been struck with when the ship had turned on its own accord earlier. Something had definitely hit them.

"I'm going to the bridge," Sasuke said. "Head back down to the docking bay and make sure everyone is ready to leave: seems we might have burned a little too much time."

She met him with a wide-eyed stare as she nodded and Sasuke rushed for the door. Just a moment before he was around the corner, she called out his name urgently behind him.

"Sasuke!"

He looked back at her expectantly and saw her looking almost scared, though not because of the ship's sudden movement.

"I just…" she stammered. "You didn't ask me at all about the spirits using me to follow you."

Sasuke stared at her a moment before smiling.

"I don't need to."

Her eyes widened a fraction further before they swam with grateful tears.

"Thank you…" she murmured and with a gentle nod, Sasuke dashed into the hall and towards the bridge.

He banged open the door and found Siado shouting orders at a few of the crew aboard the bridge while one of them rattled off descriptors in a panic. Siado looked around as Sasuke walked up to him, a grudging smile on his face.

"Well, looks like your time has come, boy," he growled. "Rhuban here just informed me that there appear to be a great many glowing manta-ray shaped creatures heading our way, and it would appear they have some semblance of ranged arsenal."

The word 'glowing' compounded with the fact that they weren't remotely human in shape by the sound of it led Sasuke to the same understanding that the crew seemed to have already reached.

"Spirits," he snarled before turning on his heel. "We're launching now. I'll cover you for the time being, but keep a western heading!"

Siado looked at him in confusion.

"But aren't you leaving with-?"

"They'll hate me for it, but if we want to keep eyes on this ship and not the shell as well as make the assumption that I'm not heading in a different direction, this is the best course of action," Sasuke replied. He had been doing a good deal of thinking in just the past several seconds, and had come up with this as a plan. "I'll catch up with everyone else once we either lose the initial pursuers or I take them all out."

Nodding as he took in this plan, Siado gave a wave with his hook hand.

"Get going then, kid," he said gruffly. "We'll maintain our course."

Sasuke returned the nod, but just before he made it off the bridge, Siado called out behind him.

"Sasuke!"

Turning back, Sasuke saw the crewmember smiling at him.

"Take care of our captain, you son of a bitch."

Sasuke paused a moment before giving a firm nod

"I will. I promise."

Racing down the stairs and back into the hall, he moved quickly back towards the docking bay, trying to think of how he was going to explain this away to everyone else.

They'll think I'm leaving them. At least someone is going to think that I'm running off to do this on my own, and why wouldn't they? They have every reason to believe I'd pull a stunt like that.

He could already see angry faces rounding on him, Azula's eyes flashing as she snapped to look his way, the smile that Mai had been wearing since he had talked to her wiping cleanly away, Aang's devastated look as his shoulders slumped. Sasuke cursed as he pulled just a hair on his chakra flow to increase his speed.

It doesn't matter if they understand, or believe me. They will when I come back to them.

---

Ursa was only a hallway and a flight of stairs from the bridge when a near miss with Sasuke nearly knocked her clean off her feet as he came tearing in the opposite direction and moving much faster than any human should have been able to. They both released a short shout of surprise as they slid to a halt just past one another and turned.

"The spirits are on our tail," Sasuke said before Ursa could even ask him if he had found the cause of the sudden rocking of the ship. "The crew is going to turn us more west while you all make a break for it."

As she processed this, Ursa's mind locked onto a very distinct word he had chosen to use.

"You?" she asked, and he blinked at her, leading to her to clarify. "You said 'you' instead of 'us'."

Clearly, he might have expected this to be a stinging remark and winced causing Ursa to immediately feel put off.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?" she asked in a low, warning tone and he seemed to almost immediately get defensive.

"Don't get all like that with me," he snapped, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" she queried and Sasuke waved his hand ambiguously.

"Like that," he growled. "Like you're being a mom with me or something."

"Clearly, someone has to be," she said, crossing her arms. "I feel like that's had to be my role as much as that of…"

Through she knew they must be alone in the hall, she didn't want to take any chances just then with tension the way that it was throughout the ship.

"… that of your lover."

He furrowed his brow at her.

"That sounds kind of weird."

Strangely enough, it didn't seem that way in the slightest to Ursa but she blew off his comment.

"Stop stalling. You're up to something."

There came a pause as he collected his breath and she waited to see if he was going to lie to her on top of everything else.

"Look, if they're on top of us, then chances are they might see the shell leaving the airship. And chances are, they're looking for me. I go out there and engage them for a period long enough for you all to make it safely away, and then after I've destroyed them all, I'll join you."

Ursa felt like she should have expected some rash action from Sasuke, but still she needed a moment to collect herself.

"What is the matter with you?" she hissed. "After what happened the last time you left my side, you expect me to just let you off to fight those spirits?"

"This won't be like before," he promised. "Then, I was caught up in a lot of emotion when I ran off on my own—"

"And you're not now?!" Ursa practically shouted and Sasuke put his arms on her upper arms, holding her firmly.

"Not like that. I'm not leaving you, I promise. Besides, I get to ride off the leash this time."

She saw a savage flicker in his eyes.

"They won't know what hit them."

There was a confidence and almost a sense of bravado from him that Ursa hadn't been expecting to see and hear. But it was clear that he had made up his mind, and was focused on this plan with every inch of his being. And as much as she hated to admit it, she knew that this was probably a decent call; leaving now without any semblance of distraction would be just as worthwhile as if they just stayed aboard the Whisper.

"How will we meet up when we're safely far away?" she finally managed to get out, a question of meaning finally reaching her. "How will be able to communicate that to you?"

"Easy," Sasuke replied and his fingers intertwined and pressed against one another in a series of patterns too quick for Ursa's eyes to completely follow. As she watched, a glowing sphere appeared in his hands, swelling to the size of a melon, as she looked down into it, she was confused to see what looked like Sasuke's perspective looking into the orb, and then again, and then again, in an endless cycle that went as far as her eye could see. Before she could react further, Sasuke pressed it into her hands and she was surprised to find that it was rather warm, almost like holding those igneous rocks outside her home village that would grow hot under the summer sun.

"This is a replicant of my perspective," Sasuke explained. "You look into it, and you'll see what I see. Talk into it and I'll hear you in my mind, and when I speak, you'll hear it through this."

Ursa realized that she could hear an echo of Sasuke's voice lain just a fraction of a hair behind him speaking before her. She looked up from the orb and looked into his eyes, desperately trying to think of a better alternative that didn't involve him leaving her side.

"If we get too far away, will this—?" she started to ask, but he shook his head before she could even finish the question.

"No, they only way this will disappear is if I banish it or if I…"

He trailed off and looked down sheepishly and Ursa felt a surge of panic sweep involuntarily through her.

"That doesn't help, Sasuke," she said, surprised her voice was as level after his implication.

"Don't worry," he said, in a voice that Ursa hoped wasn't just him trying to sound casual. "Nothing's going to happen to me. You guys head down towards the islands beneath us, and I'll fight off the spirits up here by the airship and we'll be able to talk the whole time."

In a last attempt to turn this situation better to her liking, Ursa waited a few seconds to try and think of something, even as she knew that every moment that passed was severely precious. Then, she ship rocked again in a sickening motion and she let a violent curse fly from her lips, one that caused Sasuke to blink at her in surprise.

"Fine," she snapped. "Go."

He looked both pleased that she had accepted his plan, and upset, likely at how she was just then. His body twitched as if to turn and leave before he swallowed reluctantly as he too looked up and down the hall before speaking in a lower voice.

"I know you said earlier was the last one for a bit, but… I don't suppose for luck I could get a—"

Ursa had to resist punching the stupid bastard in the gut as she reached forward with the hand that wasn't holding the orb, grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into a deeply passionate kiss. They pulled apart and she looked at him, trying to hold onto her anger for him since it was all that was keeping her from dumping more passion his way.

"More where that came from when you get back," she finally said haltingly, not able to keep the question out of her voice, an unspoken request that he please, please return to her safely. A confident smile flashed over his face and he nodded.

"Don't worry about me. I'll touch base when you get to the hangar, I don't want you bearing the brunt of this, because I'm sure people are going to be good and pissed about this."

Seeming unable to help himself, he almost sheepishly leaned in to peck her cheek a last time before turning down the intersection of the hallway and dashing out of sight. Trying to keep the surging swell in her gut down that felt dangerously like severe anxiety, Ursa watched the direction he had gone a moment before tucking the glowing orb to her chest as though it were a child and ran for the bay. Strangely, she felt as though as lips had almost tasted different, but she immediately attributed this to the fear she was trying hard to fight down.

He'll be fine.

By the time she got there, everyone else was already all but in the shell, standing just in front of the hatchway and looking quite on edge as she dashed back into their midst. Somehow hoping she would be able to play it off that easily, she said,

"Alright, let's go."

Azula's voice was a whip against her consciousness as she heard both the accusatory tone and worry in her daughter's voice.

"Where's Sasuke?"

Ursa could feel the stinging glares of Azula, Mai, Soza, Katara and somehow, the blind girl as well even as everyone else looked on with concern edging into their faces. Before she could muster up some explanation, Sasuke's voice spoke out, causing everyone to jump and looked wildly around.

"I'm right here."

Aang was the first to bring his frantic gaze to rest on the sphere in Ursa's hand and squint down at it in utter confusion.

"Sasuke?!"

Everyone else followed his gaze and stared at it in utter disbelief, and as Ursa looked at it too, she could see an image of the dark night sky as Sasuke's gaze looked back and forth; he seemed to be standing on the catwalk on the outside of the airship as she saw on of his hands on the rails while he looked behind the ship into the darkness.

"Yep, that's me."

Yue bent her head down, and spoke through gritted teeth, her eyes dancing with fright.

"Sasuke, why are you a ball?"

In just about as many words as he had given to her, Ursa listened as Sasuke quickly rattled off his plan, much to the frustrated exasperation of many there and she watched Azula spin away, her mouth forming into a furious and silent snarl, Mai putting a hand over her eyes as she grit her teeth, Katara swell up like she was about to explode in anger, Soza adopt a look of reserved fear as she reached for Toph's hand and seized it, and the blind girl herself tightened her lips furiously, her jaw muscles working intensely. Sokka and Suki exchanged nervous looks while Jin put a hand over her mouth as she looked around in worry at all the other panicked reactions as Ty Lee grimaced, her eyes strangely terrified, while Zuko looked to his mother, trying to see if there was something she knew that Sasuke hadn't mentioned. She only shook her head helplessly as Aang leaned forward, his face looking more sad than anything.

"Sasuke, we could have figured something else out," he practically moaned and the sphere gave a disbelieving snort.

"Yeah, right," Sasuke said. "And by the time we had gotten around to that, this ship could have made a round trip back to Ba Sing Se. Look, I know you're all probably pissed, but look, just get in the damn ship and wait for my signal; you can collectively bitch me out when we're out of this mess."

Ursa felt even a twinge of anger then that he didn't seem to be taking their concern seriously, but no one seemed able to come up with a point that warranted not preparing to depart. Without another word, everyone filed into the shell and buckled in the small, fish shaped metal vessel. As Ursa fastened her own safety harness, she saw Azula, one of the last two people not to have boarded, standing just at the entrance, looking back towards the hall. Sensing what her daughter must have been thinking, Ty Lee, the other person not yet on board, stepped over to the princess.

"Azula… you can't be thinking about trying to help, this plan makes the most sense as it is right—"

Whipping her head around to glare venomously at Ty Lee, Ursa watched as something rather strange happened. As her daughter's gaze fell on her, Ty Lee's body seemed to tense up with a shiver and her face pulled like it was bracing itself. Ursa felt her stomach drop as she recognized the motions, ones that she had remembered doing just the same early on in her relationship with Ozai.

No… that can't be.

But as she remembered what it was that Azula had already done, the idea of this didn't seem farfetched in the slightest, even as Ursa's insides rolled with disgust and shock.

"Ty, 'Zula! Let's go!" Zuko's voice lashed out with an authoritative tone that Ursa had yet to hear from her son, but his words seemed to snap the two women out of their staring at one another and they both looked around as though surprised to find they weren't alone before Azula shouldered past Ty Lee to board, her friend following just behind her.

With everyone aboard, Suki closed the hatchway and secured it and nodded to Sokka who was at the controls. Silence fell within the shell's dark interior then, as eyes turned to look at Sasuke's perspective. And as she watched just as on edge as anyone else, Ursa found a question on her tongue that she couldn't believe she had overlooked.

"Sasuke… how do you plan on actually fighting the—?"

Then, the airship around them began to groan with the effort it took to turn its shape and as she watched, her breath leaving her lungs, Sasuke put a foot on the railing of the catwalk and jumped into space.

---

Feeling the wind whip by him, Sasuke closed his eyes a moment and let the feeling of weightlessness consume him before he pulled his body into a straight form and twisted. Another second, and his jutsu flared to life, a building pressure underneath his feet that turned his fall into an ascent and he had passed by the Whisper just in time to see a jet of blue light whiz towards it and collide with its stern, blowing off several pieces of metal that fell into space beneath them. Sasuke's eyes locked onto the night sky high above and as he focused with his Sharingan, he saw several ray-like shapes and spectral images flashing about in the clouds above.

"Now!" he roared against the screaming of the wind and he reached deep within himself. And for a moment, he didn't act on it. All he could see in his mind's eye were the worried and angry expressions of the people he was trying so hard to protect, to Yue, who he now felt more confused about than ever, to Azula, who he couldn't believe he had been willing to let out of his sight, to Mai, who was just barely recovering from her trauma inflicted by Koh, to his daughter, no doubt wondering what her newly found father was doing on his own, and to Toph, the thought of whom was causing Sasuke to feel worse every second that passed for whatever reason.

And then of course…

He thought to Ursa's words, the fear he had seen in her eyes and knew that he had felt the same way. It was so strange how even being this far away from her now felt so terrible; as Sasuke thought to it, he realized that were it up to him, he would be falling asleep in her arms, tucked far away from the world.

Don't think about that. Think about how easily Kyoshi had been ready to tear apart anyone who would protect you.

Think about if she had turned on Ursa and—

There came a horrible spike of panic in his gut as this possibility nearly forced him into a very dark place. His fists tightening, he released the grip within and purple energy burst to life around him, seeming to drown the very sky around him.

Seconds later, the blades of his Susanoo were gouging the pursuing spirits to glimmering blue shreds. He let his purple lightning splinter the night sky, and let his feelings erupt into a torrent of chakra-fueled fury that turned him into an enormous whirlwind of efficient violence.

Subconsciously, he realized the fuel of all this was not rage, or hate, or frustration, but very deep, very unsettling fear.

---

Katara watched Sasuke's perspective, trying to ignore the secondhand adrenaline she was feeling in her gut. The shell had detached from the airship and was rocketing at an angle towards the north, but while Suki was keeping a close eye out the back view hatch of the smaller vessel to see if they were being tailed, every other set of eyes was focused on the orb, transfixed on Sasuke's actions.

Still, despite how much he's changed, some things are just the same as they were.

Sasuke was still a master of carnage as he was still more than capable of proving. Katara had spent the last several hours musing over how it was that he could still disembowel over a dozen men in defense of Toph, and yet still seem to be a completely different person than the boy who had left them so long ago. She was trying to figure if this was due in part to Ursa's involvement with him, the revelation of him having a daughter, or years of maturity perhaps, but it was very clear that he was both the same and vastly different then she remembered him.

And damn him to hell, why can't I get him out of my head?

Years later and Katara had convinced herself he was a memory and had laid the thoughts of him deep away within her, so much so that she was sure they had been left to disappear with the other memories she had locked away, everything had come rushing back like a dream long since forgotten. She thought of her mother's body, she thought of the first man she had killed, she thought of the ceaseless hate that had led her to try and take the life of the man who had killed her mother.

And when I tried to kill him.

This all had just had com flooding back to her when he had ran past her, even before he had started to murder Gilbert's men. She should have hated him for coming back, for igniting all these memories that were buried beneath thoughts of him and yet…

I can't get him out of my head.

Gritting her teeth, she refocused her energy into paying attention to what was at hand, knowing that she would have time to deal with this the way that she wanted.

Because make no mistake, if this is still the way I feel… if I still have this in my head after a decade… him and I will have a reckoning.

Katara hadn't any idea what that entailed, but there was nothing that she could do to convince herself that it wasn't necessary. All those sensations that felt so ancient were back and while Katara didn't feel the same murderous intent for him that she had once fostered, this might have been worse.

Still, she looked down at the orb glowing in Ursa's hand along with everyone else as they huddled around it like some sort of bewitching campfire. Sasuke's perspective seemed to be completely swallowed up in a purple haze and Katara watched as enormous limbs that resonated with that same purple whipped about as Sasuke's vision tore about through the dark clouds fast enough to almost make her sick. She barely had time to identify the shape of the spiritual creatures, all seeming to be twisted variations of sea creatures she had seen in her life, of bizarre sizes and proportions, sprouting various fangs and limbs, but the sight of them never lasted long enough before Sasuke's spectral giant armor ripped them to pieces.

When Sasuke spoke, it was almost something of a shock all over again to hear his voice rippling from the orb.

"How goes it?"

His voice was low and tight, and he sounded rather out of breath; it was incredibly surreal to hear him talking to them in the state he was in and considering what he was doing, but Suki and Sokka remained remarkably in control. Suki nodded to her husband who checked the readings on the main console and called out as he did.

"We're dropping in altitude pretty fast but the initial thrust of the vessel really had some kick to it. By the looks of things we'll be able to deploy the chutes on the back end and touch down on the far side of this island chain we're passing over now."

"That should be about three minutes from now considering how fast we're moving," Suki chimed in. "Do you want us to tell you when—"

Her question was cut off as Aang suddenly pitched forward, releasing a drawn out scream that Katara could only attribute to one of pain and she leapt to her feet on instinct, her heart pounding as her thoughts moved from Sasuke to Aang. Zuko was the second to him as she crossed the few feet between them and knelt by his side, hand on Aang's shoulder while she put her hand on the other.

"Aang, what's the matter?!" she cried out, but he said nothing in response to her, only remained bent over like a withered old man, gasping and howling in between great pained gulps of air.

"What's happening?" Sasuke's voice rang out, and despite the calm there, Katara could hear the fear in his voice, something else she didn't remember growing accustomed to from him in the time he had spent with them before.

"Aang's having some sort of attack," Mai said, her voice also calm, though there was a quiver in it as she stood at ready just beside Katara, looking pained that there was nothing she could do. "I don't know if it's because—"

Throwing his head back with another cry, she was cut off as everyone within the shell saw what was causing the Avatar such discomfort. His eyes were flashing and flickering, a sight that Katara knew was something only seen when he entered his Avatar State.

But it's never like this.

She found herself only able to cry his name again as she gripped his shoulder tightly and he shuddered in her grip. He didn't seem able to form any coherent words, or at least that was her thought, until he groaned loudly and shouted out, his words coming out strained and broken, the last words she might have expected to hear.

"Sasuke, look out!"

---

Listening in on Aang's screaming had nearly been enough for Sasuke to break off his engagement with the swarm of spirits then and there, but when he heard the warning shouted amongst the pained cries, he hadn't known how to react. Something he wasn't remotely willing to blow off, even feeling as in control of the situation as he was. The spirits, despite them still having this same blue energy that took more force to tear past, were falling with ease by his Susanoo and jutsu, and Sasuke had long since fallen into something of a rhythm taking them down methodically, following somewhere in the trail of the Whisper as Siado and the crew continued to move it west.

But as Aang's voice shouted out to him, he tightened his Susanoo's form and triggered a heavy burst of energy around him, disintegrating every spirit within a hundred meters of him before rocketing up and away to break the cloud line and try and see what it was that Aang might have been trying to warn him about.

As he made it above the carpet of clouds, he had to blink away the almost shocking brightness of the moon. It glistened above him amongst the twinkling stars and for a moment, as he hovered within his Susanoo, he was struck by the utter beauty of it all. The spirits beneath him slowly making their way to catch up to the extreme and sudden ascent he had made, there was a brief period in which he was able to look out over the black curve of the earth, and see the ceiling of stars twinkling above him that almost were enough to slightly relax him. He didn't of course, and immediately reached out with his Sharingan all around him to try and sense any potential incoming threat. For a little while, he could find nothing, and he was nearly about to dive back down and reengage the mob of spiritual creatures, until he caught a glimpse out of something out of the corner of his eye. Slowly turning his Susanoo, he could make out a flicker of light ahead of him, distant, but approaching very quickly.

As he waited and watched, he realized that the light moving his way was a humanoid shape, eyes glowing bright white as she tore her way relentlessly towards him.

When he realized he was looking at Kyoshi, Sasuke couldn't help but break into a deeply vengeful smile.

The past Avatar was surrounded by an aura that flickered of a mixture of blue and white light, and she seemed not to have a single reservation about the form he was currently wearing as she streaked through the sky towards him.

Oh, hell yeah. Come on.

He suddenly found himself gripped with absolute excitement over what was about to happen and he had to keep himself from rushing to meet her charge.

I want her to come to me. I want her to think for as long as possible that she's going to be able to reach me and end this on her own terms before I blow her out of the sky.

Sasuke couldn't even quite imagine how good this was going to feel; he hadn't even needed to go out of his way to find her, she was coming directly to him. She was about a mile away now, and the spirits beneath him had made it past the cloud line now as well, though they kept beneath him, giving a wide berth as Kyoshi closed the distance rapidly. Sasuke supposed that her glowing white eyes might mean something, but just as he had needed a concentrated effort to get through her energy barrier, and with the chakra reserves that he currently possessed, she didn't have a hope in breaking through his Susanoo.

"Come on!" he bellowed, unable to help himself, feeling his voice cast from the Susanoo, amplified and distorted to what was surely a frightening effect. His nerves were suddenly aflame, he was going to be able to put Kyoshi down for what she had done, for what she would have done and what she had tried to do.

She reached a distance of about a hundred meters and Sasuke tensed up, his fists tightening, ready to pulverize every bit of this woman for what she—

At only about forty meters from his Susanoo, Kyoshi suddenly arced in her approach, spiraling up into the night sky with such speed that, for a moment, she only looked to be another star flickering high above. Then, she dove his way and Sasuke roared, drawing back his Susanoo's blades. Kyoshi extended her hands, and the white energy flowing about her body cascaded outwards into a blinding fountain emptying above him.

The world went completely white before it turned black, Sasuke himself fading out with it.

---

Aang released a gasp as his eyes returned to their normal state and lurched back as though he had just been doused with a bucket of ice water as the sphere in Ursa's hand glowing with a brightness that illuminated the entire shell before flickering out to reveal that Ursa was now holding nothing.

For a moment, everyone stared blankly at where it had been in dead silence before Ursa looked at the floor beneath her hand, her eyes flashing madly as though expecting to have dropped it rather than the more likely case.

"What did you do?!" Azula screeched and leapt to her feet as though to tackle her mother then and there, only stopped as Mai and Ty Lee grabbed one of her arms respectively.

"I didn't… he said he wouldn't…" Ursa muttered as her eyes scanned the same parts of the metal floor over and over; Katara didn't think that she had yet to see the older woman so completely put on edge. Staring down a fake Sasuke, she had kept her focus and concentration, knowing immediately that he wasn't the real one. When the time had called for them to move and act quickly, she had been swift in taking charge, even if that was more to Katara's inner feeling of spite. Even when her daughter had been screaming murder at her, when Yue had put her and Sasuke center stage with that bombshell, she had kept her composure and remained perfectly calm.

To look at her now, looking like was about to hyperventilate, eyes wide and fearful as Sasuke's orb remained gone, was rather a surprise, and Katara tried to keep the corner of her mouth turning up in a disdainful smirk.

Even she has a breaking point.

This was no time to be dealing with such feelings however, and as their vessel shot lower through the sky and the only sounds became soft crying from Soza that became muffled into Toph's shoulder and Azula's vicious and frenzied snarling at her mother who almost seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown herself, Katara tried to rationalize it in her head that Sasuke hadn't just been taken from them again.

And as she looked around, it was clear that everyone else was trying to deal with that same thought themselves and she sat down next to Aang and put an arm around his shoulder as a tear slid down his cheek and stained his lap.

Though still, her eyes kept drifting to Ursa, as she tried to keep the spite from them.

---

Mai didn't know how her state of mind was handling any of this.

She had found out in a single night that she might be pregnant with the child of a demon, been relieved from that burden by the young man she was trying terribly hard not to think about, only to lose him just as quickly as he had walked back into her life.

He can't be dead. He can't be.

The words were a mantra that kept her on her feet as she stood at the edge of the clearing they had made temporary camp in; when the shell had touched down on the beach one of the Fire Nation's many islands, it had been stripped and scuttled as quickly as possible to remove any signs of evidence, Toph compressing its metal and Aang and Katara smothering it under the waves. It had only been good for the single use of fuel that it carried and it would do nothing for them now other than act as a conspicuous marker for anyone following them. From there, they had silently trekked into the woodland to slightly higher ground, where a clearing comprised of a rocky outcropping and small field waited for them, surrounded by thick ferns and foliage. No one had dared to suggest lighting a fire given their current situation and the potentiality of being found, and the moon that had poked out from behind the clouds a few minutes later had given them plenty enough light to see by.

Sokka, Zuko and Suki had taken up organizing and dividing the few rations that they had been able to take with them aboard the shell, the only two people who seemed able to do anything rational just then. Mai had wanted to go over and help, but somehow, she felt glued to the tree she was leaning on as though leaving it would cause her to break down.

Azula had perched herself on the rocky outcropping as high as she could climb and was staring at the night sky furiously and expectantly. Upon landing, she had made a rush for Ursa and had needed to be practically tackled by Zuko and Ty Lee, as she had been nearly foaming at the mouth, so certain she was that Sasuke's loss of communication with them had been her mother's doing. Mai knew better as did they all, and she assumed that even Azula understood the potential and more likely reality of what had happened. Ty Lee stood beneath the rocks, arms crossed as she watched Azula relentlessly, no doubt ready to resort to chi blocking if the princess exploded again and tried to resort to violence.

Sitting on a fallen log, Soza sat cradled in Toph's arms, her face hidden by her dark hair. She might have still been crying, but it was impossible to tell from where Mai stood. Distantly, she was stunned at how much tenderness and vulnerability she had seen from the girl that night, even if she had experienced what she had. With how much Azula had molded her daughter to be just like her, it was clear that concrete hadn't set enough in her mentality to make her as unfeeling and heartless as her mother, even if that was the persona that she had laid out for herself so often. Toph's expression was even more strange, being completely deadpan and emotionless. She would have been the last person Mai would have expected to not shed a tear over the loss of Sasuke.

Gritting her teeth, Mai dug her fingernails into her forearms.

Stop. You don't know that.

Yue looked completely destroyed and had sat on the ground beside the log, resting her back and head against it as she looked blankly skyward before starting to cry silently, tears on her cheeks shining in the glow of the moon. The other person openly crying was Aang who had been muttering since they reached the clearing that this somehow had been in part due to him, the way that his Avatar State had been bizarrely fluctuating aboard the shell. Katara was sitting beside him and rocking him, whispering reassurances in his ear that he was not at fault, and while he had stopped his pitiable muttering, the tears hadn't. Jin sat beside Toph on the log, and stared at the grass at her feet, looking just about as devastated as Yue did.

Ursa stood the furthest from anyone, her back to the group at the edge of the clearing, her long dark hair gently rippling behind her in the soft breeze that drifted over the island. Zuko kept sending nervous glances her way as though he would look up one moment and she would be gone. Mai hadn't seen her face since they had headed into the island, but it wasn't hard for her to imagine how she might have looked just then.

No one believed he was gone, but no one could dismiss the possibility either.

Mai wanted to storm into the center of the camp and start shouting at everyone there, snapping at them that they were being stupid, that Sasuke was just fine; it would have taken much more than that to finish him. But she knew her desperate attempts to receive reciprocated assurance would be futile. They had all seen Kyoshi fully in her Avatar State, they had all heard Sasuke's words on the only ways the sphere could be vanished.

It would take a hell of a lot to kill someone that powerful, but the indications were there.

He had just told me I was free of Koh… I would take that back in a heartbeat if it hadn't meant losing him too. I would bear a hundred of that bastard monster's children if it just meant that—

"So, what's the plan?"

Katara had stood from where she had sat by Aang and had moved to the center of the group, her voice loud and firm as it carried out to everyone there. Though she hadn't addressed anyone specifically, Mai could see the waterbender looking at Ursa's back, her expression looking almost challenging; feeling queasily angry, Mai pursed her lips.

She wouldn't… not now.

"Captain?" Katara called out. "What's the call here?"

Eyes widening as she realized that Katara really was trying to instigate Ursa in a moment like that, Mai pushed away from the tree and started to walk towards the center of camp as well, knowing that something might need to be broken up. Suki, Sokka, Zuko had all started to gravitate that way as well, and Jin, Yue and Ty lee looked over from where they were, worry on their faces. Soza, Toph and Azula seemed to be the only ones not paying mind, or at least pretending not to, as Aang got to his feet, pain still written on his face.

"I'm no one's captain," Ursa's voice came drifting softly over the camp. The bitterness there was unmistakable. "And I'm in no mood to make calls."

"Oh, so Sasuke disappears and you just shut down?" Katara asked, and there was almost even an excited edge to her voice. "That gung-ho leadership just shrivels up?"

Ursa looked back then, and even though she didn't look her way, Mai still had to resist stepping back at the black anger burning in her eyes. Though she said nothing, Ursa didn't look away from Katara, who didn't seem cowed in the slightest.

"We're all hurting, but you're going to drop the act and cower behind the fact that you're sad?"

That was nearly enough to make Mai shout out at Katara for her complete insensitivity, and by Zuko's face, he was about to do the same, but it was Aang then who shouted, rare anger surfacing in his tone and expression.

"Katara, what is the matter with you?!" he barked and he marched up to grab her shoulder and turn her around. Knocking aside his arm and spinning to face him, Katara shouted back right in his face.

"Don't you dare butt in, Aang!"

They both glared at one another furiously, something Mai didn't think she had ever seen before. But as she looked, she saw the wetness in Katara's eyes and realized what was happening.

She's running. She's running so fast right now to try and get away from grief.

"No, Avatar, that's all right."

Ursa's voice, quiet and gentle, but ripe with a genuine malice was more intimidating than either of their shouting by far. As Mai looked back, she saw that the older woman was slowly walking towards Katara, every step a nearly palpable threat.

"This conceited girl wants to pick a fight at a time like this, I'm more than happy to accede to her. It would do me quite well to shut her mouth myself."

The control Ursa had demonstrated back on the bridge and in Ba Sing Se was gone, and as she drew nearer, Mai could see tears glistening in her furious eyes just as they were in Katara's.

"I'm kind of wanting you to try," Katara sneered and started to walk towards Ursa, and Mai, along with everyone else, started to move forward to break up what was likely about to be something quite nasty.

Blue fire erupted between the two women and Azula leapt down from her rock where she had been perched, her determined expression melting into one of excitable rage. As Katara and Ursa whirled to face her, she gestured towards them both as she stalked forwards, fire still flickering from her fingers.

"You both think I'm going to allow this? That I don't see what's happening? You're trying to fight over him like you have any right to, when you know that he's rightfully mine by claim."

Suddenly filled with such a feeling of hatred for the princess, Mai found her voice coming to her, snapping out savagely.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Azula, you pretentious, blind cunt."

Every set of eyes shot to her then, and she matched the princess's gaze as Azula's eyes widened in stunned indignation.

"What did you just say…?" she practically whispered and Mai found herself feeling fearless, despite the bending difference between them and she started to march forward, feeling such a sorrowful joy at finally having a place to direct all this negative energy within her.

"You heard me," she snarled. "I am so sick of your bullshit! You really can't see the wrong you've done and you really think that Sasuke just belongs to you?! Because you raped him?!"

She pointed at Soza who had looked away from Toph's chest, and was looking both scared and shocked, but Mai found she didn't care as the girl gripped Toph tighter.

"You've ruined your child's life because of vanity, you've spat in the faces of every person who tried to love you, and you expect us to just let your disgusting, vile and psychotic ass slide because you're, what, royalty?!"

Shaking her head violently, she crossed her arms as she came within a dozen feet of Azula.

"Fuck that. I'm done letting you just walk over whoever you want because it suits you. You tried to kill so many people who care about you and I've had enough. I followed you around on all your sick trips to kill just so you could vent and come back to the palace and hide behind that pretty face and fake civility, but no more. You want to kill anyone, I'm first."

Feeling her heart hammering against her chest, she realized she had never quite stood up to Azula like that, not even when she had tied her and locked her in the Ba Sing Se cell on the last day of the war. But the release she felt from saying what she had made her wish she had done it years ago and she stared unblinkingly at Azula's shocked and furious expression and waited to see what she would do.

For a moment, Azula seemed to just be able to stare at her, no doubt stunned that she had just been spoken to that way. Then, she straightened her back, drew in a shaky breath, and her expression melted into the one Mai had seen the most of over the years, a fake smile and venomous eyes.

"Anything for you, Mai."

Azula's knee bent sharply and Mai felt her own body tense as adrenaline pumped through veins and her hands flew for her knives. Ty Lee screamed something and rushed forward, but Mai knew she would never reach Azula fast enough.

Perhaps the only thing that could have stopped them then did as a loud snap sounded from the foliage off to the group's left. Eyes that had been staring in shock and horror between Mai and Azula snapped quickly over in that direction and after a moment, it was proven that there was very certainly someone approaching as the sound of footsteps stepping over branches and plantlife became very apparent. Knife having been drawn, Mai kept her gaze towards the direction of the sounds, but kept Azula very much in her periphery as she knew the princess was doing the same with her. Everyone remained quiet and tensed up as the sound drew ever closer and right when it reached the edge of the clearing and stopped, Zuko cast a glowing sphere of fire above the spot where the sound was last heard.

"Show yourself!" he shouted out, in a commanding voice that Mai wasn't accustomed to hearing. "We know you're there! Show yourself or your life is forfeit!"

There came a pause that seemed a touch too long and Mai heard Zuko pull in breath to shout again before someone pressed through the thick foliage to step under the light of Zuko's fire.

The first thing she noticed was that the person seemed to have a strange mishappen look to them and it was only after several seconds that she realized this was because they were carrying a load over their shoulder.

It was then that she recognized the load was a body, one with familiar dark clothes and spiky black hair.

She gasped along with several others and she heard several voices utter the same name, a relief to her mind that she wasn't imagining this.

"Sasuke!"

The man that was carrying Sasuke's body over his shoulder was clad in dark leggings and long sleeve shirt, with white wrappings around his thigh and ankles, tight tactical sandals clinging to his feet much like the ones that Sasuke wore. A murky green flak jacket that reminded Mai of the ones that Fire Nation shock troops donned in post war operations covered his torso and there was a red band around his left arm. He wore a mask up over his chin, mouth and nose and a headband with a silver emblem slid over his left eye, leaving only the right visible and a shock of white hair spiked from his head. The one eye that Mai could see seemed to glint with an almost tired, yet relaxed attitude and when he spoke, his voice was just as passive and almost carefree.

"Yo," he said, raising the hand that wasn't holding Sasuke over his shoulder and giving a single wave with his pointer and middle finger. "You guys drop something?"