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.

29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Black Flame

---

Gilbert peered through his pocket monocular at the streets below. Even with the enhanced sight it gave him, he still had difficulty seeing them from that far off, but it was still clear to him what he was looking at. The group walking quickly towards the palace, the young girl in front running ahead and then dashing back to the group no doubt to try and encourage them to move faster.

This timing should work just right.

Taking the monocular from his eye, Gilbert pocketed it and walked back inside the palace, his bodyguards meeting him at the entrance of the terrace, flanking him as he moved deeper inside the building. It would have taken him some time to try and think of a building anywhere in the Four Nations that he wouldn't have been able to just march around as though he owned it, but he still kept his pace quick and checked his corners to see if anyone was there, seeing where he was going.

Down several flights of stairs he went until he had reached one of the palace cellars. He yanked the large wooden door open with an impressive creak and was greeted with a wet, musty smell as he entered after ordering his two companions to hold position outside the cellar door in case anyone should come along and see something they weren't supposed to. When the door swung back shut behind him, he should have been plunged into total darkness, but the glow of the beings who stepped towards him completely negated the need for Gilbert to light the lamps that hung about the large, damp space.

"Everything is in order," he said. "I trust your forces are prepared?"

Before him stood two large and imposing beings; one was more lean with leathery wings sprouting from its shoulders and the other was half man, half horse, and both of them had faces that weren't quite human. Per his request, they had slipped through the walls of the palace to this secluded place in order to speak with him about the present nature of their mission which Gilbert was rather hoping he could turn to his advantage even more so.

The horse spirit shifted on its four legs and regarded its companion before looking down at Gilbert with a mixture of distrust and disregard, speaking in a low, quaking tone.

"Your plan is hardly a solid one; have you confirmed that Sasuke is here in the capital?"

Gilbert tried to keep from growing irritated with the pair.

"He and Princess Azula are near arriving or at this point have already arrived back at the palace."

The bat spirit looked up as though he was able to see through the ceiling and foundation above him to see right through to Sasuke which, for all Gilbert knew, it could have very well have been doing. When it spoke, it sounded almost like the voice of a woman mixed the growling of a wolf.

"The other spirits under our collective command are positioned just outside the city and it would behoove us not to summon them and put your plan into action. Kyoshi's orders were to follow you and determine whether or not your belief that Sasuke could be in the north was warranted; you have led us true to him, and I would be happy with that victory. There is no more that needs to be done on your part, let us handle things from here on."

Unable to help himself, Gilbert gesticulated furiously above him.

"How can you pass up a chance like this?! Kyoshi's end goal is Sasuke's life, is it not?! Would she not be more than pleased with this outcome, this improvisation that only puts her plan further in motion?!"

He drew in a deep breath and calmed himself. Neither of the spirits seemed remotely fazed by his outburst and he knew that it would take nothing less than reason to sway them.

"I understand your hesitation. But let me ask you a question: were either of you present in Ba Sing Se when Sasuke returned?"

Both nodded impassively and Gilbert returned the gesture.

"Then you both understand the threat that Sasuke poses. I've read the stories about Avatar Kyoshi, and know that there isn't any force in our world that could ever hope to stand against her. And with the spirit powers now available to her, she should be nothing short of unstoppable."

His eyes flicked up and he wondered just how near Sasuke was to them now.

"But Sasuke is not of this world and it is clear that his very existence is as much a threat as anything can be. I've presented you with the best opportunity to disarm him and render him helpless before your master, and I implore you to see the reason behind it."

Both spirits continued to regard him silently, the blue glow about their bodies flickering ominously amongst the darkness around them. With every second that passed, Gilbert was sure that they were leading on to shut him down before the bat spirit released a low question, voice hissing out like water on a hot pan.

"State your plan a last time if you would."

Gilbert did his best to keep from smiling as he did.

He hadn't been lying to Aang when he said that he had come to the Northern Water Tribe in an attempt to locate Sasuke, but he had avoided mentioning the scheme that he had concocted after being welcomed to the palace by Tangith's senior staff. The chief had been regrettably busy and Gilbert knew that Tangith didn't likely care for him all that much, but it hardly mattered; once he had learned of Sasuke's group being present, it had simply been a matter of securing the information that Sasuke was away with Princess Azula and just the morning after he had arrived, he had been made aware that the pair were on their way back to the capital. The plan had come to him then, and he knew that it was as good a bet as any to secure an advantage over the most powerful being their world had ever known.

A man can be as great as a god… until that man is forced to be a father.

---

It was hard for Katara not to feel even a touch lighthearted at seeing Soza run ahead of them by about a dozen yards and then come running right back to urge them onwards. It was a side of the girl she had never seen before, but she supposed that having her parents coming back after their sudden departure would likely be enough to raise her spirits to the point where she was being as excitedly childish as could be. It was a bitter reminder that she was still in fact just an eleven year old girl, but the cruel maturity that she had displayed in the past several years of her childhood made her seem a great deal older than she was. Aang had quickly taken to the air on his glider just as they had exited the complex to get to the palace ahead of them and see where Sasuke and Azula were, and Katara was trying to ignore the eagerness he had exhibited as well.

The group made their way through the streets as night began to slip over the city. Katara couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the yellow lamplights that began to light the streets as the night life in the capital began to spring loose, and people looking to shop, dine or otherwise enjoy themselves walked past them. She had spent several years training among several other highly-skilled waterbenders after the end of the war and before she had started to spend more time with Aang as he went about his duties as Avatar, and she had grown quite attached to the city. But she still realized that she was fighting down feelings of jealousy for the passing citizens as she realized just how different their situation was from a single one of them. It didn't seem that any were aware of what had happened in Ba Sing Se and she wondered if Chief Tangith was doing his best to keep that information from getting out, even if he regarded it as nothing more than a rumor.

If he thought something like that though, he wouldn't have bothered helping us the way he has… I'm sure he and Sasuke did more than just talk about the weather when they went off together.

It bothered Katara that Sasuke hadn't confided with either her or Aang upon regrouping with them and had simply walked back to the complex in silence. He must have had a good deal on his mind, and it must have had him quite wound up, considering what had happened with Ty Lee that very night.

"I don't care if you three don't trust him, but I'm putting my faith in him."

Turning her gaze to glare at Ursa's back, Katara watched the older woman silently as she talked Sokka as they walked. Katara often wished she had the ability to talk to people as easily as her brother could, but she couldn't wrap her head around how he was able to be so pleasant with Ursa after how she had handled both Sasuke and Azula. Katara didn't care how she felt towards either of them, her willingness to just let them go off on their own was both irresponsible, and also very much unlike the woman that she had come to know. Of all she could figure of Ursa, it seemed like she was the type to be at the head of anything she could, and regardless of her resentment for the woman, Katara knew that she possessed a level head that was an exceptionally rare talent considering the situations they had been put through. So how had she been able to speak with Sasuke after what Azula had done and been content sitting back, not knowing a damn thing, and let them go?

"You're super fucking tense."

Katara looked over at Toph who was walking on her left. She would have thought that after over a decade of knowing the girl, she would have learned to remember that very little could be hidden from Toph, but when her mind was as occupied as it was, it was still something that skipped her mind.

"Just… thinking," she replied, sure to keep her voice down enough that no one else could hear her. They were walking in a group but were just spaced out enough that she felt confident having a quiet conversation without the fear of being overheard.

"I'm just not sure who you're more worried about, Sasuke or Azula," Toph said casually and Katara looked to her again to see the blind girl was turning her head about casually as though she weren't broaching on a very sensitive and significant topic. For a time, Katara wasn't even sure she wanted to respond, but found that regardless of the circumstances, being frank and open with Toph still was a very easy thing for her to do. She was the closest thing that she would ever have to a sister, and that bond hadn't weakened in recent years when they had seen one another much less.

"I'm worried about Azula of course, but I'm more worried about Sasuke, Ursa and Ty Lee," she said in a low voice. "I don't… I worry that the three of them are too caught up in their feelings to be able to tell what a danger Azula is."

Toph made an amused noise.

"Oh, they know. But they're going to exhaust everything they can before they even think about doing something as drastic as I know you, Suki and Mai tried, Sasuke especially. He isn't the type to give up on someone, even if they seem that far gone."

Though she was immediately perturbed by Toph's revealed knowledge that the quiet attempt to sneak into the palace and deal with Azula themselves, Katara decided not to address it. If that had been something that Toph had wanted to talk about, she would have brought it up well before now, and likely would have stopped them from trying to go if she had felt particularly about it. Still, Katara wondered if Toph really knew that they had been going towards the palace with the intention to kill Azula several mornings previous.

"Why? Why wouldn't he?" she decided to say instead. "When Sasuke was with us before, everything about his demeanor suggested that he would rather just leave us to deal with all of the chaos we had before us and pursue his own path. Now, he's going to all this trouble for Azula, a person who's wronged him in just about every way imaginable. Why?"

Toph was smiling sadly as she replied.

"He's not the same, Katara. I know you'd probably like to think he hasn't changed, but he's different then he was. He cares about every one of us and he'll fight for every one of us."

Deep down, Katara knew that was true. And how could Toph think any differently when Sasuke had burst into the city hall for her execution and ripped apart everyone who had come near her?

"But Azula? She's a lunatic" she said in a hushed voice. "We've all known for years, but she's hidden it from everyone to the point where we've just had to accept her façade. And now that Sasuke's back, she's stopped trying to keep in under wraps, maybe because she can't help it. This whole situation just seems to be breaking her down into a more and more dangerous person; if Sasuke sees that, why is he trying so hard to make things right with a lost cause?"

They continued to trudge over the light layer of snow that covered the street, the sounds of people walking and bustling past mixing with the sounds of their crunching steps.

"Maybe because Sasuke doesn't see her as a lost cause," Toph finally said. "Maybe he's seen something like this before and believes that there's still a chance."

"Something like this?" Katara quietly scoffed. "Even for Sasuke, I have trouble imagining a situation where he came across someone this far gone and was able to change them instead of just outright…"

She trailed off and shook her head. It was a mystery to her why the idea of talking about killing Azula was something that seemed so taboo to her to the point that she didn't even want to put it to words.

"I don't know," Toph said with a shrug. "I'm just guessing. But I think we just have to follow his lead. All I can do is make sure that Ty is safe and I'm never going to let my guard down there."

Her casual tone touched a slight more dark then, and Katara could hear the anger and guilt she was keeping to herself the best she could. Katara supposed they likely all were feeling some of that, this repressed guilt over not being able to see what was happening between Ty Lee and Azula enough to have allowed her to be injured and almost killed.

"So… you trust him?" Katara asked, thinking back to Ursa's words. Toph kept her face pointed down towards the snow at her feet and for a moment, she looked quite sad.

"I have to," she replied in a voice that was barely audible over the sounds of the city streets. Katara thought on this and found herself wishing she could do the same. But with everything that had happened in the past week, there wasn't much of a sense that she was capable of trust.

"Toph?" she asked, feeling a sudden urge to ask a rather personal question. Her friend turned her head slightly towards her.

"Yeah?"

For a moment, Katara felt the urge swallowed by a stronger piece of her telling her that it was no concern of her and she had no right to be worming into Toph's business like that. But her curiosity outweighed the more compassionate part of her and she swallowed before asking.

"Do you think… if Sasuke—"

A booming rumble seemed to thunder then from the very sky and Katara grit her teeth as the ground quaked beneath them. Toph cried out and went down to one knee, palm pressing against the snow covered street and Katara knew this was her attempt to follow the movements back to their source. Ahead of them, the group came to a halt as well as the earth beneath them rumbled for a few moments; all around them, pedestrians and civilians shouted in fear and panic, clutching walls of buildings or streetlights for support.

It only lasted a few seconds, but as the shaking ended and an eerie silence seemed to fall over the streets, Katara knew in her gut that had been no ordinary earthquake, not with the abruptness it had happened. She turned to Toph as the group moved back to stand around her; Soza pushed past Sokka and Mai to put a hand on Toph's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked tensely and Katara could see the worry in her eyes as Toph winced and slowly stood before pointing ahead of them at the palace.

"It came from there."

Silently, everyone turned to look at the large structure about a half mile away as civilians began to talk and call out with anxious tones, the early signs of potential pandemonium should panic prevail. But Katara knew that no one in their group was paying any mind to the city's inhabitants just then.

Ursa broke into a run first, followed closely by Soza and Toph, and before Katara knew it, she had joined everyone else in running towards the palace, her already overworked mind flowing with possibilities as to what might have happened to cause a quake of that strength. A very specific person came into her mind and she shook her head as her breath burst in and out of her burning lungs as she sprinted.

What did you do…

---

Aang yelled as the palace around him seemed to suddenly shake with a violent and sudden force. Immediately, his instincts screamed at him to get outside as quickly as he could in order to take advantage of his mastery of airbending, where he could flee from the structure were it about to collapse, but the shaking only lasted long enough to accompany a loud booming roar that hammered his ears before both the cacophonous sound and the gut-wrenching quaking beneath his feet faded. He had landed only a minute or so ago and had started to quickly look inside for Sasuke and Azula before a palace guard told him they were due to come back at a gate on the east side. Two more hallways down and the shaking had happened.

Heart pounding, Aang steadied himself, the floor still feeling like it was moving beneath him, even as it wasn't. He thought back to the caves he had been through in his lifetime and remembered the same awful sensation, the thought that should the ceiling above him collapse, his affinity to the air would mean nothing. It felt the same way to be within a building that shook like it was going to come down at any moment and he leaned against the wall, trying to calm himself with deep breathing.

But there's something… else…

He became aware of another less than pleasant feeling coursing through him, one that brought a hot sweat to his forehead and made him almost feel like he was going to be sick. This too he had felt before, and it took him only a moment to identify it.

No… no!

"Sasuke!" he shouted, more by instinct than anything as he was still alone in the hallway before he broke into a run, heading towards the palace's east wing. He made it a few dozen meters more before he heard shouting coming from his left and he turned at the fork in the palace's hallways.

Gilbert stood a distance away and Aang could tell immediately that the usual cool, collected and arrogant nature he usually conducted himself with was absent. He was nose to nose with a palace guard and was yelling as though there were no other way to get his point across.

"…if you don't listen! He has to be told, I need to know where he is! If she's been taken, then that means they know where he is as well, and we're all in grave danger!"

Aang felt his feet carrying him almost on their own towards the conversation as the guard tried to tell Gilbert where the saferooms were before excusing himself and heading off in the other direction. Gilbert stood there panting angrily as Aang approached, not even seeming to notice him until Aang spoke up.

"What's going on?!"

Turning, the young lord saw Aang, but his eyes didn't seem to warm at all; if anything, he seemed more annoyed.

"What do you think? The spirits didn't want to wait to see if I would bring back the truth that Sasuke was here; they must have just followed me and decided to attack when they got the inkling he was here."

The sensation that Aang had felt was confirmed in that moment and he felt his blood run cold, even as another facet of what he had heard Gilbert saying urged him to ask another question.

"You said 'she's' been taken; who's she?"

Gilbert continued to look at him irritably before gesticulating out the window.

"Sasuke's kid, the girl! What does it matter, if Sasuke doesn't know, then there's not a chance she—"

He trailed off as Aang rushed to the window and peered out with wide eyes. Out over the orange city lights in the dimming sky, he could see a telltale blue glow growing smaller by the moment as it moved further and further from the palace.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Gilbert was saying, words that seemed almost muffled in Aang's ears. "They swooped in and made off with her before anyone could do a thing and headed south through the skies. But like I said, without Sasuke, there's no chance to catch them, and we need to worry about ourselves right now. If there are other spirits here, we—"

Again, Aang didn't hear the end of his words as he tore past Gilbert without a single word, running as fast as he was able east.

His heart had resumed a furious and heavy pounding as he started to call out Sasuke's name frantically. His first thought had been to take to the air and head after them himself, but he knew that Sasuke would by far be the most able to reach them the quickest. Every second that passed however was another second that they could be flitting Soza to a point where they couldn't be followed through the air. If they lost sight of them…

Damn it!

He had somehow expected it to have been Azula that had been the one who was taken, but for it to have been Soza made Aang's panic all the more real.

How could they have already made it to the palace? They were still a ways away when I flew ahead… I guess she was excited and ran ahead… damn it, damn it all!

Though he wanted badly to find the others and make sure they were okay, Aang knew that would have to wait until after he found Sasuke. And as he tore through the hallways, he couldn't help but feel guilt in the back of his head for not keeping a better eye on Soza, or at least making sure that someone else was. Just like that, she had been found and taken.

Sasuke… I'm sorry.

---

Everything had been going well enough.

Sasuke had started to feel the touches of weariness returning to him in the latter part of the trip but had still managed to stay awake long enough for them to reach the palace. By that point, he was both tired and hungry, but with their return now having finished, he knew it wouldn't be long before he could get Azula back to the group and someone else could keep an eye on her while he dropped onto a bed, preferably in Ursa's arms, and drifted off for a good long while, after he had shoved some food down his gullet. His chakra had done its work in restoring the basest sense of nourishment to his body to the point where he wasn't going to suffer any ill effects as a result of malnutrition of exhaustion, but he knew that he was ready to eat enough for several people and get to sleep.

Azula had remained silent for the entire trip without so much as a glance his way. She had moved from the carriage without waiting for him and had started back into the palace, leaving Sasuke to wearily after her. He had been doing his best to keep himself occupied with thinking about her, but had found himself too exhausted to try and rationalize what changes, if any, had come over her. For all he knew, this cold shouldering was just a play to try and get him to lower his guard, or to make him think that she wasn't interested which might allow her some time to strategize a new way to convince Sasuke to run away with her. He hadn't forgotten about her reaction after coming out of the genjutsu, but rather like waking from a particularly vivid dream or nightmare, that might have just still been her mind coming back to reality and Azula holding him and crying might have been a result of just that on its own.

The problem was that Sasuke wasn't sure how best to proceed from that point with her as it was. He stupidly hadn't thought further ahead then his plan to make her confront her own demons, and now that they were heading back, he didn't know how best to determine whether or not she was actually still a threat, perhaps an even worse one than he when he had taken her away. The only immediate solution that came into his mind was that of putting Azula and Ty Lee or Azula and Ursa in the same room and seeing what happened, but even with how quickly he knew he could interfere should any sign of danger appear, he still hated the idea of putting anyone in a situation like that, especially not the woman that Azula had so badly hurt, nor the woman he was head over heels for.

As he had followed her into the palace, Sasuke had sighed and scratched the back of his head.

For now, I'll just have to trust that everyone will be able to take my place in watching her, just for tonight. I need a full bout of sleep before I try and make any more big decisions.

The two had made it only into an open room in the palace with a hallway on either end of it when Sasuke had frozen as an explosive roar had sounded followed by the floor beneath him trembling as though the palace itself was about to collapse. Immediately coming to full alert, Sasuke rushed for Azula and pulled her against the wall, holding an arm over her in the case of falling debris while he prepared a jutsu that would allow him to handle being struck by any amount of the palace that might collapse as a result of the sudden trauma that was being inflicted to it by the quaking.

Both the rumbling and the shaking of the palace lasted only a few long seconds before it gave away to an almost louder quiet. Sasuke looked around to see if there were any signs of danger that the room they were in was at risk.

"Sasuke…"

He looked forward and saw Azula looking forward, her cheeks flushed and looking almost ill as she refused to meet his eyes. Sasuke realized then just how intimately close he was to her and he pulled back a couple steps.

"Sorry," he muttered before turning and looking back through the room.

What the hell was that?

Sasuke had felt natural earthquakes before and he knew for certain that was not what had just occurred. The instantaneousness of it both starting and stopping made it no doubt in his mind that it had been an unnatural occurrence.

And as he stood there, and he heard another sound, a strange, inhuman shouting, he got a pretty good idea as to what might have been the cause.

From down the hall in the direction they had been heading, a number of spirits came pouring around the corner, all bellowing as they charged towards him. All bizarre hybrids of human and animal, or just plain otherworldly creatures, Sasuke regarded them flatly as they bore down on him and Azula.

They found us.

He turned his head slightly towards her without taking his eyes off the approaching force.

"Azula, can you handle these clowns? I'm going to use a jutsu to find the others and make sure they're safe."

She walked up beside him and he saw some of that old violent fire in her eyes.

"Gladly," she growled and pulled back her arms before releasing them with a powerful sharp thrust, directing them towards the advancing spirits, her face alight with intensity.

Nothing happened.

Sasuke stared as Azula looked down in confusion at her hands before she drew back and released the same motion again, punctuating the thrust with an angry yell.

And still, nothing happened.

"I… I don't…" she stammered weakly as she looked back to her fingertips, but by that point, they were already well out of time. Sasuke put an arm out in front of her and pushed her behind him out of harm's way before snapping into a set of hand seals and pulling in a large and heavy breath.

Blowing outwards, a large burst of fire exploded from his lips and splashed the spirits that had rushed into the room. As the fire plumed outwards and an intense heat filled the room, Sasuke cast another jutsu that coated his body in an invisible layer of chakra. From there, he drew Kusanagi and rushed into the flames before they had even remotely begun to dissipate.

Between the waves of fire, he could see the spirits flailing about, some all but completely torched, others with their shield of spirit energy having caught a good deal of the fire and allowing them to avoid sustaining too much damage. Sasuke moved for them first and whirled about in a sharp, vicious frenzy as he cut down every single one of them that had dared to try and charge him.

The whole affair lasted only a matter of seconds before Sasuke leapt free from the flames back to near where Azula was standing and he dissipated the flames. Their bodies blackened and carved, the spirits' reincarnated bodies already disintegrating as a result of his handiwork. The room around them was equally scorched and Sasuke hoped that Tangith wouldn't be too put off by the damage to his palace. But pressed onto more important things, he rounded on Azula, his brow furrowing.

"What's the matter?"

There was real fear in her eyes as he watched her flicking off small motions over and over, clearly trying to generate some level of firebending.

"I don't know!" she snarled, snapping her fingertips desperately. "I… I can't…my bending…"

Sasuke didn't have the time to try and wrap his head around why Azula might have lost access to her bending before there came a whispering shrieking sound and he spun to see several wraithlike figures swooping down the hall towards him, purple and black, fingers stretching meters long like long, thin blades reaching for him.

"Get back," he snapped. "I can't have you—"

Moving even faster than the spirits rushing towards them, Aang appeared, a flash coming down the hall, seeming to be carried aloft by a gust of wind. He hit the ground in a roll and came up, snapping two sharp kicks in the direction of the purple wraiths which resulted in two tremendous air currents smashing into the group of spirits and sending them crashing out the windows on the opposite ends of the room. Sasuke looked after them and made a noise of mild amusement as he turned towards Aang.

"Not bad. You want to tell me why—"

Using a gust of wind to carry him in front of Sasuke in a split second, Aang stopped only a moment to bend over, gasping for breath before he looked up, eyes wide and frightened as he spoke.

Throughout his life, Sasuke found that many people he knew had lived under a façade, or at least given the impression of such. He had been able to tell with his sensei, that Kakashi had been shouldering a tremendous pain that he hid behind a relaxed and overall kind attitude. He had seen Aang's façade when they had first met, the guise that he needed to take more burden than he was capable of. Azula had facades of her own, one after another that seemed to pile into this dark persona that she had created for herself.

And he would never forget the façade of a certain ninja he had been teamed with who shouted and raged and charged headfirst into every challenge to keep his own hurt hidden, especially from himself.

At that point, as Aang's words echoed in his head, Sasuke realized that he had a façade of his own, a very short-lived one, but one that was blinding in its control over him. He had worked his way through several fronts in his life, the walls that he had put up to keep others out, and even from looking inwards himself, but in the ten years he had spent on his own, he had thought that he had been able to banish them all. And still this one… this one now couldn't have been more clear to him.

"They have her. Soza's gone."

Sasuke had put himself under a delusion of his own making, one that blindly had trusted that his daughter would be safe. He left her in the care of others while leaving with Azula, and he had somehow never considered the possibility that she could be taken, hurt, or worse. How could she have been? She was his daughter.

He followed Aang's finger towards the windows that had just been shattered and looked out into the night sky to see a flicker of blue light moving away towards the darkening horizon and a hand closed around his heart. What felt like liquid fear seemed to splash down over his head in an icy cascade, draining into every pore of his body and practically being enough to paralyze him.

I… failed her.

Spinning, he glared at Aang, his Sharingan springing to life as he grit his teeth. As Aang took a step back in fear, Sasuke focused his energies to work their way over every bit of the young man in front of him; after Koh had disguised as Sasuke himself, he couldn't take any chances with something like this. But the Aang before him was every bit the person he knew, pure and terrified. And Sasuke trusted Aang as much as any person in the world.

He took a deep breath and steadied himself. There was still time to remedy this and he wasn't about to let anything stop him from acting on that.

But before he could…

"NO!" Azula screamed and dashed towards the window. She might very well have thrown herself out of it had Sasuke not wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back; he was surprised by the strength it took to catch her, but he supposed the adrenaline of a mother might very well have been the cause on its own.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieked, slamming her hands into him furiously. "I HAVE TO SAVE HER, I HAVE TO—"

"You can't do anything in the state you're in," Sasuke said loudly as he took her by the shoulders. She continued to struggle and thrash against him and he winced before drawing a hand back and slapping her across the face. Her eyes wide as her head snapped to the right, Sasuke took advantage of the brief surprise his strike seemed to have on her and he gave her a rough shake.

"Listen to me!" he barked forcefully and took her by the chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You know there's nothing you can do about this, especially not without your bending!"

He didn't know still what might have caused her to have lost her abilities like that, but his only theory of another toxin attack or some form of spirit power taking away the bending from an area had gone by the wayside when he had seen Aang perform airbending just moments before.

"But I can't just—!" Azula started to cry out but Sasuke kept her in check.

"Yes. You can," he snapped. "I'll get our daughter. You have to stay here and be ready for when we come back, because she's going to need you. Do you understand?"

She stared at him through wide and frightened eyes and he gave her another shake.

"Do you understand?!"

Sasuke knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the fear she was looking at him with had nothing to do with him. And somehow, that was enough to put even the slightest touch of warmth on his frozen heart just then as he struggled to keep his own fear from coming through.

She cares about Soza. She can't lose her.

For a moment, he wondered if she was going to deny his words and continue to try and lunge for the window; Sasuke drew up the energy necessary to put her under genjutsu, but just before he was ready to cast it, Azula bowed her head. He saw her swallow down the quivering of her lower jaw as her hair fell around her face, having been blown from its getup by the rushing of wind that had just passed throughout the room.

"Please… bring Soza back to me."

Sasuke gave her a firm nod.

"I will."

He looked up at Aang, putting that same firmness in his eyes.

"Take Azula and find the others. Get somewhere safe until I come back. Don't worry about trying to get to me."

In a movement that he wasn't sure how to immediately interpret, Aang almost seemed to reach forward for Sasuke before the Avatar straightened, squared his jaw and nodded back to his words. Strangely, Sasuke almost thought Aang's cheeks looked more flushed in that moment than he had prior. Turning back to the window, Sasuke prepared to leap through it before he paused and looked back.

Azula still had her head down and it struck Sasuke that he didn't know if he had ever seen her look this helpless before. It was difficult to feel pity for a person such as her, but Sasuke could tell that his heart was trying.

Quickly closing the distance between them, he reached for the cleavage of her garb and pressed his fingers underneath the clothing. Azula inhaled sharply at his touch, but didn't resist; Sasuke focused the chakra in his hand to rebound against the mark that still clung to her skin at the top of her breast and he felt himself establish the connection that he needed. Stupidly, he realized that the seal he had put on her had only worked one way, but now, he would be able to find her the same way she was able to sense him near, now that he had reinforced the marking.

"I'll come back," he repeated. "And Soza will be with me."

She looked at him with the same miserable eyes, but he could see the hope flickering there as well as she gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.

A moment later, Sasuke was falling from the height of the palace, having leapt from the window. He felt the wind poking and nipping at his face like frigid needles as he let his adrenaline blast through his body at the sensation of giving way to gravity. At a hundred feet or so from the ground, he twisted his chakra and brought it to life in spectacular fashion and a moment later, he was soaring on the wings of his Susanoo, blazing towards the blue light in the sky.

The bright violet light around him as he tore through the twilight, Sasuke realized that the spirits were moving away from him quite quickly, but not at a rate he wasn't going to be able to outmatch. His Susanoo had him out past the limits of the capital in a matter of seconds and he grit his teeth. If they had so much as harmed a hair on Soza's head, he didn't know he would be able to keep from blazing all the way back to Ba Sing Se to pulverize each and every spirit there.

---

Aang raced deeper and deeper into the palace, throwing looks over his shoulder at Azula every few seconds to make sure that she wasn't falling behind or was doubling back to go against Sasuke's word. He had seen Sasuke do something with the marking on her chest which he wasn't sure the significance behind, but he knew that even if Azula had been just fine letting Sasuke go on his own, he still would have been unable to keep his eyes off Azula. After the fact that she had been gone almost a whole week with Sasuke, Aang didn't want to let her out of his sight. There was no telling what had transpired between them and if there was any chance Azula could be more unpredictable and out of control then she had been before she left…

Though he felt stupid for doing so, Aang couldn't help feeling slightly upset that Sasuke had left him alone with the princess.

Fortunately, Azula didn't seem to even be noticing him and if not for the fact that she was sticking close to his back, Aang wouldn't have known she acknowledged him at all. He supposed this was for the best for with the fact that the spirits had apparently found them, the sooner he could regroup with everyone else and wait for Sasuke to return with Soza, the better.

Aang, you idiot.

He couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to keep quiet that day after he had ran into Gilbert. For some reason, he had thought that he would wait for Sasuke to come back and see what he thought of the situation. The idea of taking it to Katara or anyone else just seemed nothing short of detrimental to him; with how tense things had gotten at the complex with days passing since Sasuke and Azula had been gone, throwing that particular wrench out there seemed dangerous at best. Even Ursa and Sokka who seemed to be able to keep the coolest heads had been acting a touch enough on edge that Aang would have felt nervous approaching them with the Gilbert situation.

Nervous be damned. If I had just said something… if everyone's guard had been up more than now, maybe Soza would still be—

"Aang! Thank goodness!"

He turned to see Jin standing at the other end of the hallway junction he had just passed through. Had even a couple seconds more passed before she had come along, it was likely they would have completely missed one another. She ran up to them and Aang watched as she slowed to a halt perhaps a little further away than she might have had it just been him, but the way she eyed Azula nervously told him she was just as put off about having the princess back as he was.

"Everyone's downstairs, we found a cellar where Zuko figured we could take cover until we found everyone, but I decided to try and find you; of everyone, I'd be the most likely to get mistaken for just another civilian or palace servant."

As she was dressed in the traditional Water Nation tribal clothing that they had all been granted while living in the complex, Aang couldn't argue with that. Had he never met her before, he would have easily mistaken her for a local. Still, it was brave of her to risk it regardless, even if the spirits might have been less likely to recognize her as Zuko or Toph.

She gestured and Aang followed after looking back to ensure that Azula was also with them. As they ran down the hall and reached a set of stairs, Aang spoke up.

"Sasuke went after Soza… what happened? How did she get caught?"

As they reached the palace's lower level and moved down a sloping passageway, Jin looked back with a furrowed brow, her pace slowing slightly.

"Soza, she… what? What are you talking about?"

They approached the cellar doors as confusion of his own spread through Aang's body. Jin reached for the handle and started to pull just as his mind came to a chilling and shocking conclusion.

Wait… wait!

"Jin, DON'T!" he managed to yell but the moment that the door creaked open, a wisping blue tentacle reached out and looped around Jin's waist. Aang grabbed her forearm just in the nick of time for him to be yanked inside the cellar alongside her and they crashed painfully to the floor. As the tentacle retreated, Aang scrambled to his feet, heart hammering a furious pulse against his ears.

His entire group was standing near the center of the room, all of them looking forward intensely, knees bent as though in preparation to attack. Some of their eyes flicked to him and Jin, but he looked towards where they were all facing and his heart dropped to his feet.

Gilbert, flanked by his two swordswomen and four spirits, held Soza close to his chest with a blade against her throat. He had a vicious, victorious smirk on his face as he regarded the room and his eyes moved over to Aang.

"Ah, Avatar. Glad you could join us. I assume Sasuke was sent on his way, then?"

Though he had just stood up, Aang's legs felt weak beneath him and he wanted to drop back to the ground.

No.

He couldn't have been fooled like this. It couldn't have happened this way. How could he possibly have been so stupid?

Soza looked almost more annoyed than anything that she was in such a position, her eyes down and locked on the cellar floor as though in humiliation. Everyone else, Katara, Suki, Sokka, Mai, Ty Lee, Zuko, Yue, Toph and Ursa were all looking forward with clenched fists, all looking desperate to lunge forward and rip Gilbert's hands away from Soza, but of course, that wasn't something that could be risked. Aang immediately started to send ideas surging through his head, going through every possible way that he could use airbending to take control of the situation, but it simply wasn't something that he could predict far enough ahead for. Even if he could deal with Gilbert somehow, his two bodyguards and the spirits would provide an entirely new problem. And he couldn't condone any action that put Soza in more danger than she was already in.

"Soza…?"

At Azula's almost whispered voice, Aang looked back. The princess had stepped into the room, her eyes wide and locked on her daughter. At hearing her mother's voice, Soza looked up and towards Azula. When their eyes met, the girl looked back down with clear shame on her face.

"I'm sorry, mother."

It was a testament to her upbringing that Soza's first response had been to apologize in shame for being captured and held hostage. Azula's eyes widened further and she slowly shook her head, walking further towards her daughter as though possessed.

"Ah, ah, ah, princess, that's far enough."

Gilbert's voice brought Aang's attention back to him as Azula stopped walking in response to his words.

"What are you doing?" she asked him in a sinister voice, one that caused Aang to feel a touch of worry that she was the same person she had been when she had left. Her posture, her furious eyes, her hissed tone, all indicated as such. Gilbert didn't seem at all perturbed by her as he raised an eyebrow in Azula's direction.

"Rather funny, I would say. When last we spoke, you were the one in control. And now…"

He traced his blade along the curve of Soza's throat, enough to elicit a soft, horrible sound, but not enough to draw blood.

"…I'd say you're on the other end, wouldn't you?"

Aang wasn't sure what he was referring to, but Azula, despite her hostile stance, looked like she had been rendered completely useless. Gilbert smirked at her.

"You look better helpless, princess."

Azula continued to say nothing, but she quietly lowered her head as she stood shoulder to shoulder with Jin, who looked horrified and stunned. Any other time, Aang supposed she would have been disgusted to be that close to a commoner, but the situation was anything but conventional.

Katara and Ursa stood at the front of the group, seeming almost like shepherds over them all the way they were sure to keep the others to their backs, their eyes locked on Gilbert intensely. Sokka and Suki were side by side, weapons in their hands, but looking terribly pained that they couldn't bring them to bear, as fire crackled in the palm of Zuko's hand. The Fire Lord looked steeled and focused, but Aang could see the slight quiver in his hands. Yue's enormous sword was still slung over her shoulder, one hand wrapped around its handle, but she too didn't dare make a move. Ty Lee and Mai looked nothing short of completely furious and frightened, their eyes wide and their fists clenched; had he not been there that night, Aang would never have known that Ty Lee had been so badly injured. The way she was holding herself then did nothing but evoke the protective nature of someone who cared about Soza near to as much as her own mother, and her anger seemed almost palpable.

Perhaps the most furious looking of all of them was Toph. Her teeth gritted and her stance tight, Aang knew that she was a twitch away from exploding into her earthbending, something he badly hoped she wasn't going to be tempted into doing. No matter how skilled any of them were at bending, only someone like Sasuke might have been fast enough to get to Gilbert safely before he could hurt Soza. Gilbert's grip on her was about as close as could be without his blade actually cutting open her throat, and any move made to try and free her had a high chance of ending in disaster.

Aang felt toxic fury start to swell on his insides as he regarded the young lord.

"You bastard," he hissed. "How could you do this?"

Raising an eyebrow at him, Gilbert's smirk widened.

"Quite easily, actually. You're terribly gullible, Avatar, maybe the next time you tell a father his child is gone, confirm ahead of time that it's actually true."

Aang could feel the eyes of his friends move over to him and he felt shame of his own building as he took in the situation.

He tricked me into telling Sasuke that Soza had been taken. And now that they actually have her, he's not here.

Gilbert turned towards the spirits around him, addressing the largest of the four, a centaur-like towering presence.

"Is that confirmation enough for you?"

The spirit looked down at Gilbert, vibrantly glowing blue eyes gazing at him with an unreadable expression. It exchanged looks with the other spirit at its side and nodded before the spirits all began to move towards the door, save for one. As Aang looked to it, a shimmering woman who looked almost like she was made of pieces of tree, he saw that there was a glow around her hand as well as at Gilbert's feet. He knew what she was doing then without even having to ask.

She's protecting him from earthbending. Gilbert could take the knife to Soza very quickly, but just in case Toph tried to knock him off balance…

"We will gather our forces at the back gate," the centaur spirit said in a rumbling tone, not unlike the voice of Dovan. "We will confirm that there is no danger between us and there, and then return for you."

Gilbert smirked with a triumphant look on his face.

"I look forward to it," he said almost sneeringly, and in that moment, Aang could sense the animosity between him and the spirits before they moved to the door and exited, slamming it shut behind them.

As the booming echo faded away, it became eerily quiet within the cellar as Aang looked helplessly at Soza, still tucked tightly away in Gilbert's clutches. He felt a pull on his forearm and he saw Jin ushering him gently towards the rest of the group, her other arm hesitantly on Azula's shoulder. Aang felt his shame almost prevent him from joining his friends; it didn't feel right to stand by their side after what he had just done. Gilbert seemed to take note of his silent misery and offered him a falsey smile.

"Chin up, Avatar, you're not the first to be swayed by my words. I have quite an aptitude for using them to great effect, you know."

Aang looked down at his feet, unwilling to meet Gilbert's eyes and he saw Katara in his peripheral look over at him.

"Aang… what happened?"

Before he could get out a single word, Gilbert loudly spoke over whatever he had been willing himself to say.

"Our friend the Avatar has too much of a compassionate streak for his own good. I needed only to suggest that I might have some semblance of an honest plan to him, and that convinced him that my words were of truth, when I brought it to him only minutes ago that this one…"

He gripped Soza a touch tighter and the girl's lips curled in disgust.

"…had been taken. It was a bit of a shot in the dark I suppose, assuming that the information would make it to Sasuke, but now that it has, we are nearly halfway to victory."

The situation had gotten so terribly dire, so fast. Aang couldn't believe that not a half hour ago, he had heard the news that Sasuke was back, and his heart had swelled with hope. Now, the spirits were at their throats and they had been played, not by them, but by a fellow man.

The young lord looked at the incensed eyes of the silent group before him and he shook his head with a chuckle, looking entirely unconcerned.

"You all really needn't look so full of ire. It is only the lives of this child and Sasuke that Kyoshi has called for. No harm will come of you if you simply stop this stupid quest to help a man who is nothing short of an alien threat. Cast any thought of him far from your mind, and let the spirits restore order."

"Restoring order from the point of a blade is no order at all, but tyranny," Zuko growled. "I watched my father offer the same assurances you do to all those who opposed him. The Four Nations will forever be under the forceful hand of Kyoshi and her kind if we submit now."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Gilbert asked, sounding genuinely curious. "The strongest claim I hear put forth by people is that they desire freedom, but deep down, they want control. The forceful hand you speak of will guide just as much as it holds, and through that, we will have peace."

"And you remain right at the top of the pecking order," Sokka snapped. It was rare that he adopted as harsh a tone as he did, but it was clear that Gilbert holding a child hostage was enough to properly infuriate him. "You're a disgrace to the Four Nations, for even daring to count yourself as one of us. You're no more human than that spirit who stands beside you."

Gilbert flicked his eyes to the glowing treelike woman who hovered beside him, who could have been catatonic for all she was moving. He regarded her a moment before sighing.

"If you're trying to play me to opt for a change of allegiances, you'll have to do better than reminding me that I have much to gain for siding with Kyoshi."

It was then that Toph took a small step forward.

"Gilbert…" she said in a tone that was remarkably soft, and as Aang looked at her, he saw that the furious expression she had been wearing had been replaced by one that was clearly trying to be much more amenable. "Please… let the girl go."

He sighed and gave his eyes a roll.

"And you'll definitely have to do better than trying to appeal to my better nature."

The pleading nature of Toph's fear was clear in her tone.

"I don't know what I can offer you, what I can say that will make you change your mind, though I would give you anything I could… but I'm begging you not to allow a child to be murdered because of your greed."

For a moment, Gilbert's eyes almost seemed to glow with an anger of his own, but it quickly disappeared behind his relaxed and arrogant expression.

"You offer me anything?"

Toph turned her head up towards him, eyes wide and he shook his head with a sneer.

"Would you strip naked and pleasure me right here and now? Would you bring your earthbending powers alive against your friends? Would you kill them, were that to be what I deemed the price to be?"

Swallowing, Toph said nothing in response to this, even as her hands clenched into shaking fists and Gilbert shook his head again.

"Don't be so quick to surrender your freedom to me. Unlike the spirits, I might have a slightly steeper price in mind should that be something I was able to obtain."

His left hand went from Soza's shoulder to gently wrap around her chest, and Aang felt himself, as well as everyone around him, tense up even further; he heard Mai and Toph both suck in tight breaths as Zuko almost seemed to twitch forward as though about to break into a run. Gilbert noticed their joint reaction and he chuckled.

"So fearful you are, for the life of this little hellspawn? She's no more human then that Sasuke, and the world will be well off to be ride of her."

His hand slowly moved to a far more questionable direction and Aang felt his stomach lurch as Soza's body tensed almost instinctively.

"Besides, Kyoshi is only going to kill her, good and quick, once she uses the brat as bait to get Sasuke to come to her."

His fingers started to curl and Aang could see that Soza was doing everything in her power to keep from crying out. He risked a glance over at Azula and saw that she was completely frozen, her eyes locked wide on the scene before her, not even seeming to breathe. Gilbert didn't even seem to notice what he was doing to her, as all of his pleasure seemed to be coming in from watching the anger of everyone before him grow even further.

"Were it up to me, things might get a touch more—"

Ursa broke free of the group, drawing one of her two swords as she rushed towards Gilbert. As she made it about halfway to him, his two bodyguards moved forward, their swords moving in precise movements, one knocking Ursa's sword from her hand, the other coming to rest near her throat as she stopped moving forward. Aang felt his heart in his throat as the two women held Ursa still and Gilbert stared at her, his expression nearly unreadable, but Aang could see the malice there.

"Teach her a lesson," he said and without hesitation, his bodyguards knocked Ursa's legs out from under her and began delivering kicks all over her body. The room became full of the sound of dull thuds as boots met Ursa's body as she cried out occasionally in pain. Aang felt his palms sweating as his fingers were almost numb from how tight he was clenching them.

What can I do… what can I do?

The feeling of helplessness was almost unbearable, but there was something he had noticed about Ursa's attempted attack on Gilbert that caught his attention, and he forced himself to focus on that to keep from going mad.

He had seen the older woman in battle before, and knew that she had the capability to be much faster. She also hadn't so much as even seemed to notice Gilbert's bodyguards, which Aang knew she must have had to.

She wasn't trying to actually get to him; she knew that if she got too close, it would risk Soza's life. She just wanted his attention on her instead of on Soza.

He looked at Gilbert who was looking sadistically on as Ursa was beaten near his feet and Aang couldn't keep from closing his eyes.

She was willing to take whatever punishment would be dealt to her as long as it protected Soza from Gilbert's touch, even if only for a brief while.

Aang had already grown to develop a strong sense of respect for Ursa and it had bothered him to see clearly just how much she was hurting as Sasuke had been away, that unshakable strength she had shown to him seeming to waver over the course of those long days. But even now, as things had suddenly become so dire, she hadn't stopped from doing whatever she could to protect the people she cared about, and her granddaughter was no exception.

She's done everything in her power to protect us, to keep us safe, Aang thought. In a way, she's like a mother to everyone here.

Finally, Gilbert raised a hand, his brow furrowing as he seemed to notice something.

"That will do," he called out, and his swordswomen retreated, leaving Ursa crumpled on the floor, gasping quietly in pain.

"Bring me that," Gilbert instructed, gesturing with the hand that wasn't holding a blade to Soza's throat towards the floor. Aang followed his gaze and saw that, while he hadn't noticed at the time, Ursa's pistol had been knocked free from her while she had been getting beaten. The shorter of the two women retrieved it and brought it to Gilbert.

Aang had noticed the weapon himself and a few days prior, during the spell of Azula and Sasuke's absence, he had asked her about it. Nothing that he had seen before matched its description and Ursa had seemed almost happy for the distraction away from thinking about her daughter and lover.

"It operates essentially as a small cannon might," she had said. "To the west, technology amongst the islands has moved in a curious direction; the ships are still wooden and masted, unlike amongst the Four Nations, where vessels are ironclad and run by fire. And yet during the part of my life I spent sailing among the archipelagos and the like, I encountered this particular craft. Upon being loaded properly, and the trigger being pulled, the cock will hit the frizzen, and the gunpowder will ignite, sending a single shot from the barrel. It takes time to reload, but the speed at which it fires can't be matched. Any one opponent can be shot dead before they can so much as reach for their own weapon."

Gilbert moved this same pistol in his grip, looking over it in curiosity.

"I've seen many weaponsmiths toy with designs similar to this, but nothing quite so… complete looking. Unless I've missed my guess, I assume that if I do this…"

He pulled back the cock and pushed the frizzen into place, and Aang felt his blood run cold as he pointed it near Ursa's barely moving form.

"It will fire?"

His eyes moved up to the group, then towards the cellar door, and then back to them. The smile that alighted on his face then was full of the same malice that he had peered down at Ursa with while she had been on the receiving end of a flurry of violent kicks.

"I suppose I will be leaving soon… perhaps I'll leave you with a parting gift. Just to remind you that if you had only shown a touch more common sense… your situation would be in a far better place than this."

He glowered at each and every one of them, clearly relishing the moment he was currently given access to. His eyes moved along as though he were playing a game in his head to decide something.

Finally, his eyes came to rest on Ty Lee and he cocked his head.

"I suppose you'll do. I can't imagine you of everyone here will be too sorely missed."

As he raised the pistol, Aang's mind finally forced him into realizing what was happening. Somehow, his shock over the moment as a whole had kept him from understanding what Gilbert had been thinking about doing, but as the barrel came to point at Ty Lee's chest, he felt spikes of fear stab into every nerve of his body. There wasn't a single person there that Aang wanted to lose, and he felt himself spinning to face her, trying to draw up his airbending quickly enough to push her out of harm's way. Ty Lee's eyes were wide and locked on Gilbert, who smirked as he tightened his finger and pulled the trigger.

Aang heard the snap-click of the trigger and cock acting in near unison as the pistol spat fire and thundered loudly before he could so much as bring his arm around with a gust of his airbending. For just a moment, everything seemed suspended in time as he heard his own voice cry out in desperate denial alongside Jin and Toph as the pistol roared with its final and singular shout.

Ty Lee winced and took a step back, looking like she had done so on instinct. Her arms pulled up just slightly as though her body was tensing involuntarily. As her body swayed for a moment, she let out a brief exhale as her eyes moved from Gilbert to just ahead of her and Aang followed her eyes.

Standing in front of her, Azula's knees seemed to shake slightly. Her back hunched just a touch as her mouth hung slightly open. Eyes glazed and looking towards the ground, one of her hands moved up towards her chest, shaking violently, and Aang could see a dark spot on her chest starting to spread over her clothing. She brought her head up slowly to look at Soza; her daughter's eyes were wide, her face pale as she looked in stunned horror at her mother. As they looked at one another, Azula's mouth seemed to try and form a word of some kind before she crumpled to the floor of the cellar like a puppet with its strings cut.

Ty Lee screamed and dropped to her knees, her cry mixing with Ursa's, who had gotten to her hands and knees, and was staring in horror at the place her daughter had fallen. Zuko rushed forward, nearly knocking Sokka to the ground as he did, falling to his knees as well beside Ty Lee as he looked down in horror at his sister's body, his hands held above her helplessly. For a moment, he looked at Azula before his eyes moved up to Gilbert, and his mouth formed a snarl, his expression nothing but rage.

"Gilbert!" he roared and launched to his feet. Gilbert pressed his blade against Soza's throat dangerously, but Zuko was grabbed around the waist by Katara who dug her heels in the ground to hold him back.

"Zuko, he'll kill her!" she hissed and the Fire Lord struggled a moment before his eyes dropped back to Azula and the fight seemed to drain from him just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Azula…" he groaned and fell back the ground beside Ty Lee who was holding Azula's body desperately, tears streaming down her face. Ursa, who seemed just able to move in her state, crawled beside him and leaned against his shoulder, prompting him to the same to her, both mother and son united in agony. As Aang listened and watched, he heard Ursa's voice as a shaking whisper, a shuddering that matched her whole body, though it didn't seem to be at all a physical reaction to the pain that had been inflicted upon her.

"My child, my daughter… Azula, I'm sorry, please… please don't do this, I had so much… so much more to tell you… I'm sorry…"

Zuko wrapped an arm around his mother's shoulder, less in a show of comfort and more so like she was his lifeline as he stared down in shock at Azula's body. Ursa hardly seemed to notice as she continued to quietly babble in horror, tears dropping onto her daughter as she bent over her in terror and hurt.

Katara joined the pair and put her hands over the spot on Azula's chest and jammed her eyes shut in concentration and Aang practically felt the dampness of the room disappear as she drew on every bit she could for her bending.

Aang hadn't seen Azula move and he couldn't believe she had been able to get in front of Ty Lee before Gilbert had been able to fire, but she had. In his head, he simply couldn't rationalize it. The fact that Azula had done something like this, for someone else, was beyond what he ever would have expected of her. Almost not even trusting himself to, he looked weakly to the girl still held tightly to Gilbert's chest.

Soza didn't seem to even be cognizant of the moment in any way, shape or form. Her mouth was slightly agape, her eyes large, but not quite widened in the same horror that held Ursa, Zuko and Ty Lee at bay. It was almost as though she couldn't quite wrap her head around what had happened, or that her mind simply wasn't letting her acknowledge it. With a stab, Aang remembered just how woefully unprepared for trauma like this she was; her whole life had been spent relishing in the power one could gain and ignoring the hurt it could inflict on others. And in over a week, Soza had been forced to challenge that perception again and again, and now, her mother was lying on the ground before her, quite possible dying. It wasn't until the world around him seemed to blur slightly that Aang blinked quickly several times to realize that he was crying.

There came a shout of anger that was enough to startle him with how sudden of a sound it was, and he looked quickly to see Toph taking a pair of furious steps towards Gilbert. The reserve she had forced on herself was long forgotten, replaced by the same furious rage Aang had seen on her face before she had attempted to plea with the young lord. Gilbert seemed to come out of a reverie of his own and he looked quickly to Toph before redoubling his grip on Soza, his blade coming dangerously near to cutting her throat, though she seemed not to even notice the cold steel against her skin. Her eyes remained blank and staring as the man holding her hostage sneered at Toph.

"Ah, ah, careful now. Wouldn't want to do something you'd regret now."

Aang watched as Toph grit her teeth, clearly doing everything in her power to keep from snapping with anger and attacking Gilbert regardless of the consequences.

"I should have killed you," she whispered, her voice shaking with pure fury and Gilbert narrowed his eyes at her, all while continuing to smile viciously.

"You should have tried a little harder. I know you had a reputation as a distinguished earthbender, but the fact that you failed that night speaks to how easily you let your emotions control you, and cause you to make mistakes. Just think about it, you were this close to—AGH!"

He roared out in pain as Soza pulled her head back quite suddenly and bit down on his hand. Blood spurted from between her teeth as well as from her neck as Gilbert's arm recoiled on instinct and drew the blade against the side of her neck in a glancing blow. Soza hit the ground and rolled away from him, coming to a distance halfway between Gilbert and the group. Aang reacted instinctively and drew his arms about to unleash his airbending to pull her nearer to them, but as she slowly righted herself, her back to them as she faced down a now furious looking Gilbert, Soza said perhaps the one thing that could have caused Aang to freeze up.

"She didn't try to kill you."

Gilbert pulled his injured hand to his chest as he glared down at her menacingly. From his angle, Aang could see blood sheeting down the side of Soza's neck, but the injury didn't look deep. As she always did, she spoke with a voice that was much more mature than her age, but there was an edge to it now, one that, despite all the attitudes he had heard her take over the years, this one was new to Aang.

It was the same hate he had heard before from Sasuke.

"I tried to kill you. After you said those things about me and mother. I wanted to see you dead. I tried to use my firebending, but Toph blocked it, and you interpreted that as her trying to kill you herself. You tried to put her to death for something she never did, because she was willing to die for me."

An almost palpable weight was settling on the room's atmosphere, a darkness that seemed to make it harder to so much as breathe. Aang saw his friends at his side, ready to move forward, but they too seemed to be held captive by Soza's words.

Toph… was innocent?

The malice of the girl's voice was almost too reserved to be noticed, but Aang had spent too much time interpreting people's tones to be able to ignore it. Gilbert glared down at her furiously, all of his cocky arrogance gone.

"You little…"

Soza's voice sliced his aside with ease.

"But I tried to kill you."

Soza turned her head up, and while Aang couldn't see her face, he saw a wet drop hit the ground near her feet, too dark to be water.

"And I'm not failing this time."

Aang would look back on that moment and wonder if there was anything he could have done to force himself into action, to keep Soza from doing what she did next. But he couldn't think of any mental kick he could have given himself that would have allowed him to do so, and at the end of the day, after all Gilbert had done, he wasn't sure he would have been able to anyway.

There was a small dark flicker on Gilbert's chest that snapped for a moment on its own; the young lord looked down at it in confusion, his bodyguards following his eyes, before the flicker exploded.

Before Aang's eyes, Gilbert was engulfed in black flames, a man transformed into a pyre of darkness as the heat of the fire caused Aang's eyes to immediately water. The explosion that had started the flames as a whole erupted with enough force to make him stumble back as a small shockwave burst through the room, knocking back everyone, himself, his friends who had moved up with him, Gilbert's bodyguards and even the spirit who had been keeping him safe from earthbending, and her glowing red eyes opened as she came out of the trancelike state she had been in while protecting him.

The only two who didn't move were Soza and Gilbert, the former staring resolutely at the man before her as his body snapped and crackled and roared as it was immolated. Gilbert himself was indistinguishable behind the fire and Aang would never have been able to guess the identity of the man caught in the black inferno before him had he not seen the prelude himself.

The black fire burned far hotter than any fire Aang had ever seen from Zuko, Azula, or any firebender. He could barely make out Gilbert's face amid the fire, a blackened and scorched skull almost by that point, hollow pits where his eyes had been, his mouth as wide as the human mouth could extend as he screamed, the sound mingling with the roaring crackle of the fire.

For several long moments, he stood there, his body stretched and writhing before something seemed to explode in his head, perhaps his brain superheated to some extreme point, and the top of his skull burst before his body dropped to the ground, still heated with the fire. The black flames retreated somewhat as Gilbert's body hit the ground to become just a single point again, that same flicker that had appeared just before the man had been burned alive.

Gilbert's bodyguards stared in stunned horror at their master's charred body, the upper half of it being more sizzling skeleton then man. Their gazes lifted and they met one another's eyes, and it was clear that a silent agreement was reached between them. Seeming to be unwilling to let their master's death assuage them, they pulled back their swords and glared at Soza, before lunging for the girl.

Sokka and Suki were just as quick however and both women seemed to have been far too occupied on Soza to notice them coming; Sokka knocked the taller woman's blade up with his sword before spinning and stabbing her through the chest, while Suki raced past the shorter woman's guard and delivered a sharp blow to her gut before grabbing her own sword, twisting it while it was still in her hand, and plunging it into her throat. Both swordswomen, having been distracted too badly by their desire for revenge for their master, crumpled beside Gilbert's twisted form without a word.

The room drew very quiet then, the only sound being the hum of Katara's bending and the snapping of the small remains of Soza's fire. No one seemed willing to speak, or even move. Aang looked at Soza's back and closed his eyes.

No one should have to kill at such a young age… for all the emotionlessness that she was taught, nothing could have prepared her for that.

He couldn't find it within him to feel badly that Gilbert had been killed, but he would have rather anyone else in that room have been the one to do it. And for her to do it the way she had…

If she loses Azula now, I don't even want to think about what—

The ceiling towards the back of the cellar suddenly thundered, splintered and cracked, caving in just meters behind where Gilbert had been standing. Eight spirits flooded into the cellar, the blue lights of their auras spreading throughout the room and casting long shadows on Aang and the rest. Among them was the centaur spirit who cantered a few short steps forward and looked down at Gilbert's body before looking back up, expression as stoic and unflinching as ever.

"The mortal failed. Take the girl and kill the rest, save for the Avatar."

As though they had been waiting their whole existences to be given such an order, the spirits behind him started to rush forward to comply; Aang had regained control of himself by this point and he adopted a defensive bending stance as he moved in front of Katara, Azula, Zuko, Ursa and Ty Lee. Around him, the others followed suit; Suki, Sokka, Mai, Jin and Yue readied their fists and weapons, while Toph and Zuko flanked Aang on either side, ready in their bending stances. Aang prepared again to use his airbending to whisk Soza back to safety but as he barely started to move his arms, Soza clenched her fists and her body tensed. Her head snapped towards the approaching onslaught and she looked quite helpless in comparison to her background, a girl turning towards such a rush of otherworldly creatures.

Then, she screamed, "LEAVE US ALONE!" and her eyes tracked from Gilbert's body to the spirits.

The flicker of black fire followed where her gaze went and it centered on the spirit closest to Soza. When it was just a few meters from her, the flicker exploded again, and if the burst of black flames that had engulfed Gilbert had been impressive in scale and power, this inferno left such a display in the dust.

The fire was just that, an inferno, a flood of obsidian fire that washed over the spirits with a relentless force, their blue auras disappearing under its wake and fury. The roar of it all was almost deafening and the heat that filled the room almost had Aang gasping for air. He snapped his bending to life and threw up a current of air before the group, protection against any errant fire and the worst of the heat, but Soza, standing just ahead of them, seemed completely unaffected by her own attack. Aang realized he could hear her, screaming at the spirits, cursing them for daring to try and hurt her. He found himself glad that he couldn't see her face, because he didn't know if he would be able to handle seeing the madness that he feared was written on her features.

In the back, the centaur spirit's eyes widened before he too was swallowed by the torrent of flame; his ethereal cries along with those of his companions mingled with Soza's bellowing as all was muffled by the crackling of the black fire and Aang completely lost sight of even the slightest tinge of blue. He knew this was the same fire that Soza's father had used several times before, the same fire he had tried to bring to bear against Kyoshi, but it was clear that her ability to regenerate her spiritual shield was far above the likes of these spirits for as Soza's attack finally dwindled away to a more controlled blaze, he could see nothing of the same spirits that had been about to charge them.

Instead, charred husks littered the floor of the cellar, already starting to disintegrate and wisp away as the fire burned impossibly hot all around them. Seconds ticked by as Soza remained with her back to them and Aang felt a deep sense of discomfort just watching her stand there alone as the fire continued to burn ahead of them. He didn't think he ever would have been able to say anything, but Mai seemed to find the gumption to do so, her voice a relievingly clear sound as she called out over the quieter roar of the fire. There was a clear sense of an almost maternal tone in her voice, and Aang knew that years of being there for Soza in her life had left her as almost a secondary parent of sorts, and the commanding and stern, yet distantly comforting sound of her voice made him think that she would make quite the good mother.

"Soza, that's enough."

The girl's body twitched as though she had just remembered that there were others there. Her body pulled and released as she gave what was likely a very difficult inhale and exhale to manage, and she started to turn towards them before stopping. She resumed staring at the fire before her and Mai shifted her balance, looking perturbed.

"Soza, come on. Stop the fire."

Her body seeming to twitch again, though much more violently, Soza's voice was a frightened rasp.

"I… I can't!"

As her voice cried out back to them in something resembling growing panic, Aang felt his heart thump with anxiety of his own as the black fires burning the cellar before them jumped and twisted, as though they were caught up in their own freedom of being able to burn. Soza look a stumbling step backwards and as Aang watched, he saw that as her head briefly tipped up, so too did the fire seem to jump ever higher.

"I can't stop!" she shouted, sounding genuinely deep in the throes of fright at that point. "I can't stop!"

The fire whipped about and bucked more violently; while she had been attacking the spirits, Soza had been striking them with a very controlled, yet wild, blaze, Aang realized. For now, as she was no longer in combat, the fire was performing all manner of manic whips and curls, spreading dangerously as it did. Soza's stiffened form was now practically shaking with panic and Aang could tell that she was trying to pull down whatever power she had unleashed, and not only was she failing to do so, but she was making it actively worse. As she turned her head slightly from left to right, the black fire followed where she looked and it dawned on him that if she turned their way…

As though his fears had been willed into existence, Soza let out a panicked cry and started to turn their way.

"Help me!" she screamed. "I can't stop it!"

Aang winced and drew his hands back; he only saw one solution to the problem, and though he hated the idea of hurting Soza, he didn't know what else he could do. The technique he drew up would cause the oxygen to be removed from a spherical space around her head, and hopefully would be enough to make her pass out. Anything to keep her from fully facing them and from there—

There was a flash of movement on Aang's right and it stunned him just enough to keep from casting his bending. In the time that he froze, Soza also stopped turning towards the group, her black fire now billowing and bursting halfway in a curve between where they stood and where she had torched Gilbert.

Sasuke was knelt just behind her his arm reaching around her chest and his hand cupping her chin gently, holding her still. The speed at which he had moved made it seem as though he had just appeared there in less time then it took a person to blink. Aang's heart throbbed as he looked at the sight of Sasuke holding his daughter steady and he felt horrible guilt hammer at him for what he had done, how he had unintentionally allowed for this all to happen. He felt his lower lip quivering and he wanted to break down into an apology then and there, but he didn't dare approach the situation before him and everyone around him seemed to follow suit. They watched silently as the father held his child, his expression calm, but with a melancholy in his eyes.

"Soza," he said, his voice both stern and calming over the roar of the fire. "I'm here."

For a moment, the fire seemed to shift in its movements.

"Remember what I told you," he said. Though she hadn't made to keep moving, Aang could still see Soza trembling as the flames didn't remotely dwindle in the slightest.

"I can't! Father, please, make it stop! Make it stop!"

Sasuke held her steady still, his hand continuing to gently cup her chin as he put his other hand on her shoulder.

"Listen to my voice. The fire is your servant. You summoned it to your aid, but it is a maniacal beast. It senses any chance to cut loose, and it's trying to do that now. You can't show it weakness."

"It's… it's too powerful!"

Closing his eyes and resting his head gently against his daughter's back, Sasuke took a slow, calming breath, and Aang suddenly realized just how much this was causing anxiety in him as well; for all his calm demeanor showed, it was clear that seeing Soza like this was having a terrible effect on him, and Aang knew why.

All his life, he's been able to apply his power, his force to any problem. Now, he can't do a thing about his own daughter's suffering except offer his comfort and words.

"The power comes from you," Sasuke said. "The fire has no power, except what you've given it. You…"

His voice faltered briefly.

"… you have nothing to fear from your own creation. Reach out and grab it."

The fire continued to rage, black and menacing, and Soza didn't say anything in response to her father's words, but seemed to be shaking worse than ever as she put what was surely an intensive amount of strain into trying to heed his words.

"I… I'm trying…" she groaned and her knees wobbled.

Without a word, Toph suddenly broke free from the group and walked up to Soza's other side and knelt alongside Sasuke. He looked to her with a glare, but she didn't seem to pay him any mind as she reached out and took Soza's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Come on, Soza, listen to your dad. You're as tough as anyone I've ever met, and I know you're not going to let something like this get the best of you."

Sasuke's eyes softened at her words, and he looked back to his daughter then as well.

"You have nothing to fear," he repeated. "You have nothing to fear."

He and Toph held Soza gently as the girl's body suddenly quaked harder than ever and she let out a ragged scream that seemed to explode from her throat with a desperate, miserable force. The black fire swelled and rose, climbing higher and higher towards the ceiling, seeming to almost laugh as it crackled amid its own darkness.

Then, it retreated into itself, shrinking with an extreme speed, and winked out of existence.

Soza gave a last, great shudder and her legs gave way, leaving Sasuke and Toph to move and keep her from falling. As Aang watched, he saw both their foreheads touch briefly as they moved to catch her and both their expressions went blank for the briefest moment before they pulled back quickly from one another.

In their arms, Soza let out a rattling moan and leapt up with the strength seemingly born of desperation, throwing her arms around Sasuke's neck.

"That was horrible!" she cried and buried her face in his shoulder, her voice coming out muffled and miserable. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm—"

With a gasp, she pulled back and shoved away from her father and she turned towards the group. Aang could see tracks of blood running down her cheeks and she barely seemed able to move as she stumbled and fell staggering towards them.

"MOTHER!"

She collapsed beside Ursa and looked down at Azula's motionless form and Aang reluctantly followed her horrified gaze. As he did, Katara pulled back from the princess's chest and released a quiet, relieved sigh; Sasuke and Toph walked up behind Soza, Toph putting her arms around the girl and holding her tight before Soza spun and cried into her chest. Sasuke slowly stalked around them and stood near Katara, and Aang could see the emotion thundering behind his eyes as he looked down at Azula, though his tone remained as flat and controlled as it always seemed to be.

"How is she?"

Katara tiredly flicked her hand and tossed something up to him as everyone else looked on in nervous, anticipation. Zuko, Ty Lee and Ursa all looked like they were going to be sick, Suki was looking quietly like she was hoping for a different outcome then Katara had been working for, Mai had her eyes narrowed severely, Yue and Jin had locked hands and were squeezing tightly as though it was the only comfort they could find. Sokka had his arms crossed, but his eyes kept flicking back as though expecting to see more spirits tearing through the hole in the ceiling to continue the work of their compatriots. Feeling anxieties of his own rip at his insides that had just as much to do with everything else as Azula, Aang watched as Sasuke caught the object Katara had thrown to Sasuke.

"She passed out from shock, but overall, it was a lucky place for it to hit," she said quietly as Sasuke rolled the spherical shot from the pistol in his fingers. "I was able to remove it quickly and seal the wound as best I could, but she's fine now, just unconscious. No lasting damage or anything like—"

That was as far as she got before Zuko had thrown his arms around her and began thanking her profusely, his words coming out in a relieved and weak babble. Ursa bowed her head and closed her eyes, tears dropping onto her lap as Ty Lee put a hand on her mouth to stifle a sob. Mai seemed to remember to breathe, but strangely enough, she looked to Suki, who looked like she was trying to hide a scowl. Soza fell away from Toph and lay against her mother's chest, hugging her body tightly and pulling in deep, shaking breaths as Toph moved forward slightly to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, her own expression somewhat unreadable.

Sasuke eyed the pistol shot in his hand, seeming to contemplate something for a long moment and Aang couldn't keep it held in any longer.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry!" he cried out, moving quickly to stand in front of him. "This happened because of me, because I didn't…"

He swallowed and let out everything before he lost the courage to do so.

"I came to the palace yesterday and saw Gilbert here; he told me that Kyoshi had allowed him to come here to confirm whether or not you were here, that he had planned to come on his own to try and find you, but he said… he said all this stuff about not wanting to give you and Soza up, and how he wanted to talk to you, to see if he could get you to Kyoshi and handle her without ever having to go to war, and I… I was so stupid, Sasuke, I actually thought that he might have meant it!"

Aang could feel the shocked, angry and judgmental looks from Katara, Suki, Mai and Zuko on him, but he didn't care. He needed Sasuke to know everything, to know that it was Aang's fault that this was all happening now.

"I should have told everyone, but I didn't! I wanted to believe there was something to hope on, and I thought I'd tell you when you came back, but… but he fooled me! Just earlier, when I told you that Soza had been taken, I heard it from Gilbert! I didn't even think to confirm it with anyone, I just assumed it was true, I was so caught up when I heard and felt the explosion, when I saw the spirits, and everything else, I just… I'm so sorry, Sasuke, I fell for his tricks and it almost got—"

He stopped as Sasuke reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. Aang realized he had been staring at the ground, feeling unable to even meet Sasuke's eyes as he had babblingly confessed what he had done. And as he looked at those eyes now, he saw anger, but the anger was not withheld for him.

"It's alright, Aang," he said softly.

Those words should have been enough to completely empty the relief from his shoulders, but instead, Aang somehow only felt more miserable.

No, no, NO, it's not alright! Soza could have died because of me, Azula could have died because of me, Ursa could have died because of me! I fell for Gilbert's lie, and it could have ruined us!

"It… it isn't!" he stammered out and Sasuke gave his head a small shake.

"Don't start down that path," he said, even more quietly. "You will find no peace in it. I will not hold it against you for trying to find hope in something."

And Aang heard the guilt then in Sasuke's voice as he knew what the implication of those words had been.

"Something that isn't me."

Aang struggled to say something back, his throat coming up nothing short of dry, but as he opened his mouth, Katara spoke up next to him.

"What… exactly happened, Sasuke?"

It wasn't lost on Aang that she had deliberately asked Sasuke instead of him, but he couldn't muster any resentment to that end.

I wouldn't want to ask me either.

"Azula and I got back right about when the explosion hit," Sasuke said calmly. "We moved into the palace and were attacked by spirits before Aang showed up and said that Soza had been taken by spirits, which I now can see was an attempted trick by the spirits. They sent several of their number south through the sky, and I went after them immediately."

"How'd you get back to us?" Mai asked quietly and Sasuke clenched and unclenched his fingers.

"The spirits decided they were going to try and fight me rather than keep luring me away; it would seem there was some dissent between them and Gilbert's plan, but by the time we were out over open ocean, they turned to engage. Being that close, I was able to tell quickly that Soza wasn't with them and I turned around after wiping them out, and tracked you all down through Azula's seal."

He looked down where the mark on Azula's chest was half visible behind her clothes.

"I would have liked to have gotten here a little sooner, but I'm just glad everyone's safe."

Though he did sound genuinely relieved, it was clear that much was still eating at him, and it made sense as to why.

"We should get above, make sure there are no more spirits," Ursa said as she started to push herself to her feet. "If we can speak to the chief, we—"

As she reached a standing position, she half-winced and half-groaned, wobbling as she tried to keep upright. Sasuke's eyes fell on her and they widened slightly then, and Aang could see his fear for Ursa immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked swiftly, moving to her side and putting an arm around her. "What happened to you?"

Ursa smiled through the pain and shrugged slightly.

"Just bought some time was all."

"Are you—" Sasuke started to ask, but as he put a hand near Ursa's ribs, she seemed to spasm slightly in an involuntary movement, her face scrunching in hurt. Turning his head swiftly, Sasuke looked to Katara urgently.

"Katara, we need you to—"

Ursa cut him off, her voice stern even as she couldn't quite hide the pain.

"I'm fine, Sasuke, I'll be fine. Just bruises."

He didn't look remotely convinced, but they met one another's eyes and held the gaze for a long moment. It wasn't difficult to tell that they wanted to embrace and perhaps kiss right there, but both fortunately had the wherewithal to know that such a show was not something that needed to be flaunted just then. Finally, Sasuke nodded.

"You're right. We need to move, let Tangith know our situation. I don't know if there's any other spirits…"

Aang jumped as Yue cracked her knuckles, a surprisingly aggressive look on her face.

"Then we'll deal with them too," she said firmly, her intense eyes meeting Sasuke's. He looked at her a moment before nodding, a small smile on his face, a look she seemed to return.

Zuko moved to his mother's side, seeming to be doing his best to ignore Sasuke and put her arm around his shoulder, leading her towards the door. She allowed him to do so, but her fingers slipped through Sasuke's briefly as she passed him by. Ty Lee reached down and took Azula underneath the knees and back to lift her into a cradled position. Again, Aang was struck by how well she seemed able to play off her injury that he knew still had to be plaguing her, but he also noticed Suki, Toph and Jin all seem to aggressively perk up as she lifted the princess and they all moved quietly to her side. They looked almost like angry guard dogs, but Ty Lee either didn't notice them, or didn't care to acknowledge them as Soza jogged up to walk next to her, clearly wanting to be as close to her mother as she could be. Yue and Sokka followed behind them, and Aang's shoulder was brushed lightly as Katara pushed past him, not so much as looking at him. He watched her walk by and sighed.

I'm going to get a real earful later.

Mai was near the end of the group, but she surprised Aang by putting a hand on his shoulder as she passed; he had expected everyone to be angry with him, and this show of affection would have been something rather uncommon for her even as it was.

But she was fooled by Koh, just as I was fooled by Gilbert. Different tricks, same side.

As he thought about it, he noticed that Mai did look rather deeply uncomfortable and he wondered if seeing another example of deception from the spirits' side was bothering her more so than maybe he would have expected.

She was fooled by Koh pretending to be Sasuke… was there something more to that? Something we don't know about?

He had assumed that Mai had spoken with Koh in disguise and that had been the end of it, but if that was still something that was bothering her, then maybe…

Aang shook his head; there would be time to ponder such things later. He turned instead to look for the last person other than himself moving through the cellar doors.

Sasuke was standing over Gilbert's still charred remains, looking down coldly at the sight. Slowly, Aang approached from behind, doing his best to ignore the corpse and the smell. He realized as he stopped shoulder to shoulder with Sasuke that he really didn't know what else he could say, but fortunately, Sasuke spoke before he could think up something.

"She might never recover from this," he said softly, and Aang didn't need clarification to know what he was talking about.

"Yes, she will," he replied firmly, the words coming to him almost on their own. "She has you, she has Toph, she has…"

He hit a brief wall on the last words of that sentence.

"… her mother. She's going to be able to get better, she's not alone."

Sasuke said nothing, but after a moment, he toed Gilbert's smoking and steaming body.

"Curious…" he muttered and turned to leave. Aang looked between to him, then briefly to the corpse, and then back to Gilbert before being unable to keep from asking.

"What?"

Sasuke paused in the doorway, looking off thoughtfully towards the ceiling.

"You said that Gilbert was given permission to come here by Kyoshi? That he was planning on coming as was?"

Aang nodded.

"Yeah."

The corner of Sasuke's mouth turned up in a humorless smile.

"Curious then, that Gilbert would know to look here for us, all on his own."

His eyes drifting downward as he considered this, Aang felt his stomach turn over yet again. It was a horribly good point.

Gilbert knew to come here... how?

---

Sitting on a comfortable sofa, Sasuke found he didn't quite care that his company were all watching him, though clearly trying to pretend they weren't. They were spread out around the room, some sitting, some standing, some leaning against the walls, or chair arms, but all were fixing him with silent stares as he worked. He didn't care what they thought of him in that moment though, he couldn't have been bothered to make it less messy of a scene.

For as he shoveled food down his throat, he felt it had to be one of the most blissful physical feelings he had ever experienced.

After the group had exited the cellar, they had been able to find Tangith almost immediately as the chief had sent his soldiers all throughout the palace trying to find them. When they encountered a patrol, they were escorted directly to the throne room where a very agitated and on-edge Tangith had been waiting for them, his advisors and royal guard all present and looking just as wound up.

"It would seem we have even less time than we thought," he had said grimly. "Are you all alright?"

Sasuke had relayed to him what had happened on their end of things, to which Tangith's restrained emotion seemed to even further push to a breaking point. He had informed them that the explosion had occurred in the palace's east wing and had been a clear diversionary tactic as all the soldiers within the palace had gone to investigate while the spirits, working in tandem with Gilbert, had moved to intercept the group and capture Soza, as Sasuke explained. The chief had turned away cursing when he was told of Gilbert's deceit.

"That bastard…" he had growled. "That two-faced bastard… he told me he was looking to check in on someone very close to him here in the north; I've always disliked him, but I never would have guessed…"

He had trailed off and Sasuke had noticed the same guilt that Aang seemed to be struggling with, the sort of anger that came from not being able to have seen something coming.

"From what I know of Gilbert, his existence is purely an opportunistic one," Sasuke had said. "He wanted nothing more than to advance his own agenda, and he saw a chance to do that with Kyoshi. He played with fire and…"

Sasuke winced, hoping that Soza standing a distance behind him hadn't heard his word choice.

"… he won't be a problem anymore. What we need to focus on is making sure this city is safe, since we don't know just how long the North has before the spirits really move in."

Tangith had agreed, and shut down the accusing questions that Lorna and his other advisors had started issuing towards Sasuke.

"That's enough," he had snapped before turning back to the group. "Downstairs is a large luxury sitting room, and bedrooms if anyone needs rest. I'll be down shortly with the information you requested."

It wasn't lost on Sasuke that he had avoided using the name 'Koloss' around his people, and though he had rather thought that his friends might need some rest, he knew they'd be able to decide that for themselves once they were below. He had quickly led the group towards the stairs where he met a pair of royal servants outside the entrance to a large sitting room with comfortable furniture and a warm blaze crackling in the fireplace. When he had seen that the servants had brought multiple trays of food, Sasuke had about forgotten about everything else for a moment and grabbed one all to himself.

He sat now on one end of a two-person sofa, Ursa sitting on his left. She had joined him without a word when the group had entered the room, giving Zuko quiet assurance that she was alright before gently moving from his side. Though he had been ready to start eating immediately, Sasuke had set the tray down as she had sat down beside him; the wince on her face couldn't have been hid as she gingerly lowered herself onto the cushion and Sasuke had scooted closer to her as the others had filed into the room, occupying the other sofas and armchairs around the fireplace.

"Hey… I can help you with the pain, if you won't let Katara look at you," he had said quietly and she had given him a look.

"I'm fine, Sasuke."

He had shifted where he sat, not satisfied.

"Please, just so you can be a little more comfortable…"

Ursa had taken his hand then, squeezing it softly.

"Honey, I'm fine, I promise."

Sasuke had watched her eyes flick up and move around the room before she seemed to just become fed up with something, and she leaned forward to press her lips briefly to his.

"I missed you," she murmured and Sasuke had felt his heart throb; he had wanted to put his arms around her, but he didn't want to start heaping affection on her in front of everyone, no matter how much he had desired to do so. That, and given the battered state of her, he was certain that such an action might very well have been painful for her. She had smiled at him as she had pulled back and nudged her chin in the direction of his food.

"Go on, you look hungry."

He hadn't need any more urging than that and had gotten to work filling his stomach.

Everyone else had gotten comfortable in the furniture circled around the fireplace, but no one had seemed like they wanted to start a conversation. This might have been due to the fact they might have been slightly bemused by Sasuke's almost ravenous eating, or it very well might have been to do with the fact that Azula, now fully conscious, was sitting in a chair of her own, a perpetual and nerve-inducing presence.

As they had been walking down the hallway towards the sitting room, Azula had just about sprung awake in Ty Lee's arms. The group had stopped dead as Ty Lee herself had come to a shaky halt as the princess had pulled her head up slightly as she clearly tried to wrap her head around where she was. It seemed to dawn on her that she was in fact suspended several feet above the ground and she gave a short cry of surprise, instinctively throwing her arms around Ty Lee's neck as she looked down before turning her eyes up to meet those of the young woman carrying her.

Mai, Jin, Toph and Suki had all moved in tensely, putting themselves within arm's length of the two women, clearly ready to intervene the moment they saw the mere inkling of reason to do so, but there was no movement from Azula. She and Ty Lee were near nose to nose as Azula kept her arms around her friend's neck as they stared at one another with wide eyes. Sasuke kept his eyes carefully on them as well, but for a moment, it looked more like they were about to kiss more than anything.

After a long moment, it seemed Azula had realized that there were more eyes on her than just Ty Lee's and her blank look of surprise faded away to the usual haughty expression that Sasuke had seen so many times before.

"Put me down this instant!" she snapped, and pushed away as Ty Lee complied. Wobbling slightly, Azula straightened herself and brushed an errant strand of hair from her face as she looked around at everyone there, as though offended an explanation hadn't already been offered to her.

"What happened?" she demanded. "How did I come to be—"

She didn't make it further then that before her daughter ran up and leapt into her arms. Azula blinked in surprise before she slowly brought her arms up to wrap them around Soza, and Sasuke could see that this was a position she didn't find herself in often. He felt a twinge of uneasiness as he saw just how uncomfortable she looked being put in such a position.

The group had gotten moving again after that, Soza dropping down from her mother's arms at a small tug from Toph; Azula had looked between the young blind woman and her daughter, and Sasuke saw a flash in her eyes that was most strange. He saw anger, immediately replaced with what looked almost like a deep sadness.

"Give your mother some room, Soza," Toph had said quietly. "You look like you need some rest yourself."

It was true; Soza looked about as dead on her feet as anyone could, and despite her immediate denial of this, by the time they had reached the hall lined with guestrooms that led to the sitting room, she had been about nodding off against Toph. As they had neared the larger room, Toph had excused herself to put Soza to bed in one of the nearby beds, and no one had objected; Azula barely looked over at this as her daughter was pulled gently away.

The princess sat now nearer to the fire, her eyes not on anyone in particular, seeming to be transfixed staring at the flickering flames ahead of her. Sasuke looked to her occasionally, and wondered what was going on in her head just then. He hadn't been there for the moment it had happened, but Aang had told him enough in quiet confidence as they had left the cellar.

Azula took that shot for Ty Lee… I almost can't believe it.

She had seemed so cold and overall still so toxic, but the fact she had done something like that…

I need to talk to her at some point… but I don't even know if she'd open up to me at this point. Not after what I did.

Time would tell if Azula was still the same person he had taken to the cabin further north, or if something really had changed inside her. Would the Azula he had known have done something so selfless for another, especially the girl who she had tortured and mutilated so recently?

"Sasuke, when was the last time you ate?"

He blinked and looked towards Sokka who was sitting beside Aang, both watching him with an almost comical bemusement. Sasuke looked towards the ceiling briefly as he considered it before shrugging.

"Almost five days."

He saw the entire group save for Azula seem to tense up and look his way in shock, but he didn't look back to any of them. No one said anything further, and Sasuke knew they were all fighting the urge to ask him the question that was burning in all of their minds.

What happened between you two out there?

And he was only making things more ambiguous by announcing that he basically hadn't eaten a thing since he had left with Azula. Now wasn't the time to talk about it though, and frankly, Sasuke didn't know if he had any right to. Regardless of what she had done, he didn't think it was his place to tell everyone that he had dug at and ripped into Azula's psyche to the point of almost breaking it.

I did what I had to. I did what I had to. And I did all I could.

Sasuke wasn't sure how to even begin to rationalize it, or try and justify it, but he saw the way that Suki was still looking at Azula even now that they were back, and it was the same hateful expression he had seen the night she Azula had almost killed Ty Lee.

I think I have to keep an eye on Suki more than I do Azula, he thought grimly.

He supposed if he could have spoken to anyone about it, it would have been Ursa; Sasuke knew that he wanted nothing more than to tend to her wounds and just talk to her, tell her everything that he could, get it all off his chest. But that would have to wait, and in truth, Sasuke was worried what she would think of what he had done. Would she hold it against him, attacking her daughter's mind the way he had?

As he finished eating, he placed the now empty tray off to the side and scooted as imperceptibly as he could towards her so that their thighs were close enough together that he could reach out and grip her hand, and keep the movement hidden in the shadows between their bodies. She laced her fingers around his the moment he tried to touch her and it was difficult for him not to let out a tired and relieved sigh. It was incredible to him how just her touch after a period of five days was so soothing to him, though he was still distantly annoyed she wouldn't let him ease her pain.

The door to the sitting room opened and Sasuke looked to see Toph entering and he saw her expression look both tired and relieved. He imagined that unless Soza had immediately fallen asleep, Toph would have needed to do a bit of comforting of her own to put the girl at ease, especially considering her mother was far too zoned out to likely have even considered doing such a thing, and Sasuke was rather glad it was Toph who had done it and not him. He wanted quite badly to sit down with Soza and talk about what had happened with her Amaterasu, but he knew that everyone there needed a good long rest, and he was no exception himself. He owed it to Soza to be fully aware and attentive when he spoke with her about what had happened; he had sensed the anxiety and misery in her the moment he had touched her and tried to help her bring the black fire back down.

She killed a man.

He felt his lip curl angrily as he realized just how little he knew about his daughter.

What did that do to her? Has she ever come close to killing someone before? Has she ever been in remotely as intense a situation? What has Azula taught her, and how did that prepare her for what happened tonight?

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke inclined his head, glaring hatefully at the fire. In the end, even though she hadn't been taken, he had failed his daughter. She had been put in a position where her instinct had made her kill, and he hadn't been there to protect her from that.

Soza… never again…

"Well, she's going to be sleeping until next month," Toph said with a sigh, closing the door behind her. "Has the chief been down yet?"

"Not yet," Sokka replied. "We're expecting him any second though if you want to—"

A smooth, icy voice cut him off.

"Toph."

Sasuke looked to his right and saw that Azula had stood up almost as though she had been standing the entire time. Her eyes were focused and flashing, her back straight and stance imposing; she looked every bit the commanding and dominant personality that Sasuke knew she had been for her adult life. Everyone else seemed to almost shrink back instinctively from her, even Suki and Jin who had been eyeing her intensely seemed to pull back slightly.

Standing in front of the now closed door, Toph looked a touch uneasy as she cocked her head.

"Yeah?"

With an elegance that spoke to her royalty, Azula strode around the backs of the furniture that everyone was sitting in facing the fire, walking to stand near the barer center of the room. A dozen meters from Toph, Azula locked eyes on the earthbender, looking as though she was about ready to fight her. Sasuke realized that he was halfway on his feet as he looked at her and he genuinely wondered if Azula was about to try and attack Toph. His hand slipped free from Ursa's as he slid around the sofa and took an involuntary step towards Azula, and he saw Mai, Ty Lee, and Jin make similar movements out of the corner of his eye.

"Azula…" Ursa said quietly and Sasuke narrowed his eyes looking at the princess before she turned to look at him.

Azula's expression still was ripe with intensity, but in her eyes, Sasuke felt something pass between them.

That's… finality.

He could tell that Azula had made some decision. She had come to some conclusion in her mind and she wasn't going to back down, Sasuke could see the commitment in her eyes. Her lips moved at him voicelessly, but he could tell perfectly what her words would have been.

"Don't stop this."

Turning back to Toph, the finality faded from Azula's eyes, turning back to cold intensity. For a moment, it fell silent throughout the room save for the snapping and hissing of the fire as Azula and Toph faced one another and Sasuke waited for what was now inevitable to happen.

"I used you," Azula said.

Toph blinked a few times and furrowed her brow as the princess's words resounded around the room. Though she clearly wasn't trying to show it, Azula had her good and unsettled.

"What?" she asked blankly and Azula squared her shoulders, her eyes still intensely focused on Toph.

"I used you," she repeated. "From the moment Soza was born, I was using you."

As he realized what Azula was doing, Sasuke felt his breathing slow even as his heart rate gently started to pick up. The entire room seemed to somehow grow quieter even as Azula continued to speak.

"When I knew that I was pregnant, I believed that my child would share similarities with Sasuke, and I knew of the power eyes of his blood would possess. And I knew how to trigger those eyes; when I drugged Sasuke, I asked him plenty of questions before I took him to bed. I knew what it would cost for Soza to awaken her own eyes."

Sasuke watched as Toph's body seemed to slowly stiffen as though what she was hearing was genuinely starting to frighten her.

"Azula, stop…" she stammered quietly, but the princess didn't relent.

"I wanted someone I wouldn't personally care to lose, but someone I could allow my daughter to grow close to, close enough that when Soza was old enough—"

"Azula, please!" Toph cried.

"—they could be used as fuel for her ascendance."

"Stop it, stop it!"

Azula glowered at Toph.

"I intended to ensure you were killed to awaken my daughter's power."

Falling back against the door, Toph's face was both horrified and terrified.

"No, that's not true!" she yelled, but Azula's voice continued to stab at the air mercilessly.

"It was by my design that you were tortured before your execution, I wanted Soza to be as likely as she could to be awakened by seeing you hurt and then by losing you."

It was Mai who shouted out then, her voice furious and desperate.

"Azula, shut your fucking mouth!"

The princess did not.

"I made sure she watched every bit of your torment and when her eyes awakened—"

Toph grabbed at the side of her head as though she could force the words from her mind by doing so, her teeth gritted and her knees shaking.

"—I was ready to dispose of you."

Azula was indomitable as she spoke, her voice unshaking as she stood before Toph like a new executioner, killing her with words.

"I would never have allowed Soza to grow close to you as she had if it had not been my intent to have you killed to awaken her power. You were nothing but a tool, one that was destined to break."

Toph bent over, her entire body shaking as Azula delivered her last words.

"By my intent, Soza has used you to become more powerful than she ever would have been otherwise."

Though it was the barest movement, Sasuke saw Azula's lower lip tremble for just a moment.

"I used you to hurt her, to break her. For a decade, I used you."

Her words were repeated a final time and Sasuke closed his eyes briefly as he heard them.

"I used you."

Toph's head snapped up, her expression a brutal snarl, tears pouring from her unseeing eyes. Azula's words made sense to Sasuke then as Toph's feet kicked off hard from where she stood, releasing a scream of pure rage as she sprinted dead for the princess.

---

Yangchen stood in the throne room that Kyoshi had taken, leaning just against the throne that the other Avatar was seated in. Kyoshi was leaning forward, looking perhaps as close to eager as her stoicism could allow for while Koh, tucked away in the shadows behind the throne, hissed and chittered in pleasure. The room was full of the most powerful and high-ranking spirits that Kyoshi had place in her army and all of them were conducting themselves with a much more open eagerness than the Avatar was showing. Yangchen was fairly certain she was the only being present in the room that was at odds with what was about to happen.

On the floor before the throne, kneeling respectfully, the protector spirit that had been one of the number to accompany Gilbert bowed low. Her treelike appearance swayed slightly in the glow of torchlight as Kyoshi got to her feet and moved to stand just before her. She peered down at the spirit a moment before speaking, her voice soft but as dangerous as the sharpest blade.

"Say that again."

Though she knew perfectly well what was to be said before it was, Yangchen still closed her eyes, quietly hoping that she had perhaps misheard the spirit the first time.

She hadn't. The spirit's words seemed to almost whip the larger, more powerful spirits behind her into an excited frenzy as Kyoshi stood before her, motionless and stalwart even in the face of such news.

"We found them. Gilbert is dead. Sasuke and his daughter are in the Northern Water Tribe capital."