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.

49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: So Far…

Sasuke rested his back against the wall, doing everything in his power to keep his breathing steady and his emotions in check. He had known that this moment was going to be difficult from the moment that Hagoromo had asked him where he would like specifically to return to.

"Just as with Konoha, I will take you anywhere within this world that you wish… if you have a place in mind, or a person you'd like to be at the side of, you need only name it."

Sasuke had already felt such a rush at the mere thought of being able to return to everyone then that he had briefly blanked on an answer. He had still been reeling from his goodbye with Naruto that had consisted of a few tears, fewer words, and a long hug atop the mountain overlooking the village. At that point, Sasuke had signaled to the spectral figure of the old man that he was ready, and he got a last look at Naruto's tearstained and smiling face before he was pulled into the darkness once more, the same void that he had before found himself arisen in.

When he had been able to finally move Naruto's face from his mind's eye long enough to recognize what it was that was being asked of him, he supposed that only two real options made sense for him just then.

Ursa… or Soza…

There was every chance that when he was dropped back into their world that they might be with one another regardless; Hagoromo had informed him that about a week had passed since he had taken down Madara, and Sasuke truly hadn't a clue where any of them might be just then. But he had still narrowed it down to just the two of them.

I want to see Ursa… so badly… but if I had to place a bet on which of the two of them is worse off right now, I'd bet it would be my daughter.

He had told the Sage of the Six Paths then to take him to his daughter.

Moments later, Sasuke had found himself stepping from the black void into a dark room that was nearly as cloaked in pure shadow. As his eyes had already had time to adjust to such dark, he had looked around to see that he was in what clearly seemed to be a rather ornate and spacious bedroom, likely for royalty or someone of equal status. His eyes had moved around to see the shadow that was a bed, a dresser, a vanity, before one of the shadows tucked away to his right had given a choking sob.

Sasuke didn't need to see her clearly to know that it was his daughter who was sitting against the wall near the corner of the room, crying and clawing at her scalp miserably.

He was ashamed to find that he spent several seconds unable to move. It shouldn't have taken him more than the blink of an eye to be at his daughter's side, but the very sight of her stunned him into paralysis.

Soza.

He had known what was coming. He had experienced it already with Naruto; proof that he was still alive and still able to interact with these worlds and the people within them. He had known that he was coming to see his daughter as he had stepped through the portal out of Hagoromo's void one last time, and he had thought he was prepared for that.

He was not.

It was only when Soza released a particularly pained wail towards the floor that Sasuke suddenly found himself behind her. His entire being felt numb, his body, his mind, his very soul as he knelt down silently behind her. Watching her dig her nails into herself was enough for his arms to come up almost unconsciously and he slowly brought his hands to close around her wrists.

The moment that he felt her warmth, he felt the tears slide down his cheeks.

"Breathe…" he had then said to her. "Just breathe…"

He couldn't believe that his voice was any semblance of stable, nor that he had even been able to speak at all. Sasuke had wanted to start shaking with tears himself had he not had the mere wherewithal to remember that if Soza needed anything just then, it was for some kind of stability.

She had looked up with him, eyes wide and almost glazed as though she were in a state of utter disbelief. Even in the semidarkness, Sasuke could tell how red they were, how wet her cheeks were, how utterly devastated she seemed to be. Or had been, prior to laying eyes on him and being thrust into pure shock. He wished there could have been a better way to go about this, a way to gently ease her into this sudden change to her reality, but Sasuke found he could only remain where he was, staying on his knees and letting her deal with this mentally as best she was able. He was fearful that any movements he made, any words he spoke would only drive her further into shock.

Seconds ticked by with the brutality of hours as he waited just across from Soza, able to reach out and touch her, praying he would be allowed that grace soon. His dark eyes peered into hers, hoping his calm expression might somehow reach her as her tear-soaked and agonized face looked up at it.

She spoke then, just a single word, spoken so quietly that he barely was able to discern it.

"Please…"

Sasuke blinked at her, hearing himself reply in an equally quiet voice.

"Please?" he inquired of her, finding himself desperate to know just what it was that she meant by that. And with that one question, he could see her eyes glistening with fresh tears in the dark.

"Please be real," she whispered, her voice cracked and worn. Sasuke had to force himself not to lunge at her then and hold her; instead, he felt a weak smile crawl onto his face as he mustered a reply.

"Real as can be, kid."

He watched Soza's body give a single, almost eerie shudder before she matched the movement he had been imagining just moments ago. She launched herself upwards and forward, throwing herself into him, her arms wrapping around him with a fierce, tight hug. His daughter held him tightly and Sasuke looked down to see her bury her face in his chest and, even muffled as it was, the screaming sob she released lashed his eardrums and imposed the freshest agony yet on his soul. Sasuke jammed his eyes shut and leaned back against the wall, wrapping his arms around Soza and holding her just as tight to him as she was holding him back. He bent his head down and pressed his lips against the crown of her head which only seemed to make her cry louder. She wept and wailed into his chest, and Sasuke rocked her gently, hoping more than anything that her cries were those of relief, of her shedding her misery and finding some happiness in being reunited with him.

He certainly couldn't even have hoped to equate the joy that was drowning his consciousness.

There came a memory then, or a pair of them more or less. He remembered when Ursa had lain him on her lap, gently holding him, stroking his hair and how she had sang to him, that soft and almost melancholy tune. Sasuke never would be able to forget the utter calm that had impressed itself upon him in that moment, and he slowly took breaths in and out at the mere thought of that instant. He remembered too a song that the musically inclined member of Ursa's crew had sung during their crossing following the confrontation with the serpent. Its tune had been the same sort of melancholy, but just as calming in a sense and Sasuke remembered how he had genuinely felt soothed by the sound of it.

Rather on instinct more than anything, he started to hum the tune then gently as he gently drew one of his hands up and down Soza's back. He really didn't know the first thing about how best to handle this sort of situation and knew that he was more or less flying by the seat of his pants but doing what felt natural seemed all that he was able to do just then.

To start, he wasn't sure Soza could even hear him over the sounds of her own wailing, but after a couple minutes, she became noticeably quieter in her agony. The wails petered off into the sounds of muffled crying, and after a time longer, that too faded and her body merely heaved with the occasional quiet sob. The sound of Sasuke's hum filled the room and he found that giving himself something to do in that way was even helping his own self in becoming calm. Because he found too that, after a time, that he was trying to put a great deal more into the song than might ever have been implied in its writing.

He tried to apologize through the melody, offer the comfort of over a decade that he hadn't been able to provide. He placed the emotion into it that came from his feelings towards his daughter, how much he loved her, how much he never wanted to let her go again. It felt clumsy, but it also couldn't have felt more right.

Eventually, Soza's shakes became quivers and the sounds of her crying faded away into deep breathing as she steadied herself. Her grip was the only thing that didn't sway in its intensity, her arms wrapping around him with a fierce hold. After a minute or so more, Sasuke let the tune fade away and let silence carry him and his daughter, the emotion they held for one another being enough to fill the room.

"Where did you go?" Soza finally asked, her voice meek and strained. Though Sasuke would have been happy to explain the reality of what he had experienced, he somehow imagined that pressing that all on Soza's surely fragile mind just then would have been an overstep.

"I had to go away for a bit," he decided to say. "I didn't want to but beating Madara that way didn't give me a choice."

He didn't imagine this would be a satisfactory answer but telling his daughter that he didn't want to leave her was an incredibly relieving feeling on its own. She didn't reply to this, simply remained where she was resting against him, sniffing loudly a couple more times. When she did speak again, her voice was shaking.

"I thought I was never going to see you again."

Sasuke could tell by the quavering nature of her words that she was a hair's breadth from bursting back into tears and he held her closer, kissing the top of her head again.

"Hey, hey, why'd you go thinking a thing like that?" he asked, his voice quiet but he put an effort into making it sound almost playful.

"You told me…" Soza said through occasional sniffs and shakes. "You told me not to live… in hate. You told me… to take care of mother. Of grandmother. Of Toph. You said… you were sorry you had to… hurt me."

The dry sobs were apparent through her words and Sasuke thought back to what he had said to her before he left and grimaced. There was no way to deflect this into trying to convince Soza that he had always intended to come back safely, not after the words he had exchanged with her the moment before he had launched himself at Madara. It took him a second to realize that there was no better option then other than just being honest.

"I know," he said, cradling her against him. "I remember. The truth is, I expected that I would die."

She shuddered against him and whimpered, prompting Sasuke to raise a hand to stroke down the back of her head, fingers running through her hair gently.

"I didn't know any way around it. But…"

Something occurred to him to say then and he felt the corners of his mouth pull up slightly.

"But I never should have thought that."

"Why?" she whispered and Sasuke kissed her again.

"Because I shouldn't have expected that anything like that would have been able to stop me from getting back to you," he whispered back and Soza gave a single short sob and clung to him all the tighter.

"Soza, I love you so much. And just by that feeling alone, I should have known that the universe would twist and bend however it needed to make sure that I was able to get back to you. Nothing could have prevented it and I was stupid to think otherwise."

"How could you… possibly have known that?" Soza moaned against him.

Slowly, Sasuke put his hand down to rest underneath her chin and turned her head up to meet his eyes.

"I'm here now, aren't I?"

For a moment, she stared up at him with wide, tear-studded eyes before her lips quivered violently again and she pressed her face to his chest, and Sasuke felt the fresh tears soaking warmly through.

"It's okay now," he said softly, continuing to stroke her and hold her close. "I'm not letting you go again. I promise, Soza."

He bowed his head and rested his cheek against the crown of her head.

"I promise. I'll always come to you. No matter what happens to me, I'll always come back to you."

It grew quiet between them once again and Sasuke found himself reveling in the comfort the moment was bringing him. So much relief seemed to have been dumped upon him all at once, a feeling that he never would have dreamt that he would be able to experience. Holding his daughter, feeling her warmth and knowing that he was providing her with comfort was such a cathartic feeling. Had she only asked it of him, he would have stayed there with her for as long as she wanted, holding her from dawn till dusk and beyond.

"You promise?" she said then, her voice tiny and frail. Sasuke closed his eyes and felt a pair of tears leak from his own eyes as he smiled.

"I promise."

Slowly, her shaking ceased once more and it became just her resting against him, though Sasuke realized just how much of this too was him resting against her. She might not have known, but the amount of support she was giving him in turn was something that Sasuke could never have equated.

"I didn't know you could sing like that," she finally said after a while, her voice thick still from crying, but sounding much more stable. This drew a short chuckle from Sasuke.

"Neither did I," he admitted. "Something I remembered your grandma doing for me, and I thought it—"

Soza's body suddenly seemed to completely freeze. It wasn't so much that she stiffened and rather that she felt as though she had entirely stopped moving, no movement of her arms or head, not even breathing. Without a moment's hesitation, Sasuke knew that something was wrong.

"Hey," he said softly but still urgently, giving her a small squeeze. "What's the matter?"

With an almost startling snap, Soza turned her head up and looked at him with wide eyes. The ghost of her pain was still there, but it had been heavily overcome by something that looked far more urgent. For a split second, Sasuke wondered what could possibly be going on in her head just then to inspire such a look.

Then, she told him, and Sasuke felt the feeling too.

"Grandma!" she cried out. "They're going to kill her!"

---

To Mai, the gently brightening glow of the sky that heralded a beautiful warm morning among her home in the Fire Nation was nothing short of mocking. One of her favorite things to do during the days of her adolescence when Zuko had been off on his search for Aang had been to climb to the highest spire in the noble residences, well before even her parents had started to stir. She would perch near the balcony and wait for the sun to pinken the sky until its rays splashed over the entirety of the capital; it had been such a relaxing and cathartic thing for her to do and something she had kept very much to herself. In those days, the thought of Azula knowing that this was a common practice for her was torture enough, yet another reason for the princess to mock her in front of Ty Lee.

Now, she wished more than anything that it could be as simple as that, where her biggest concern was not making a fool out of herself in front of Azula. She was standing shoulder to shoulder with the princess now and it was entirely possible that Azula wasn't even of sound enough mind to know she was there.

They stood in the courtyard outside of the council hall, within the large, gated area that fenced the building off from the rest of the city. Ty Lee stood on Azula's right while Mai stood on her left; around them were Zuko, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Yue, Jin, and Toph. Every single one of them had showed up for this and it was clear by their faces that not a single one of them was anything less than their own personal brand of agonized.

Suki and Yue looked far more angry than anything, the both of them with their eyes cast downwards, furious and with furrowed brows and, while it was more evident in Yue's eyes than Suki's, both were very clearly deep in the throes of anxiety. Suki had Sokka's hand in a vice grip at her side, though he didn't seem to notice the fact that his digits seemed to be turning white. Good a man as he was, Sokka seemed fully focused on the reason they were there, looking thoroughly miserable and emotionally exhausted.

On his right, Toph had her head turned down, looking perhaps the most passive of them all, though Mai imagined that was because she was still in a very fragile state of mind herself. She had been shocked when Toph and Jin had both arrived from Ba Sing Se, but Jin had told her privately that, though Toph had been almost completely recluse over the past week, she had practically demanded to fly west to the Fire Nation when she had received word that Ursa was to be executed. She stood next to Jin now, who seemed unwilling to take her eyes off her, though Toph did possess an almost eerily blank expression. Mai wondered what was going in her head, if she was there out of respect for Ursa and had somehow fought through the pain she had no doubt been dealing with or…

Stop that.

Mai couldn't have stopped her mind from conjuring the dark thought of Toph wanting to be there to experience the death of the woman whom she might have believed had stolen Sasuke from her.

Stop! That's not who Toph is… she'd never do something like that.

It was stupid to even imagine such a thing. If anything, Toph had come there out of respect for the woman who had played such a role in helping end the war, who had helped tame the beast that was Sasuke. After all, without Ursa, who knew what might have ultimately come about in the end… who knew just what Sasuke's actions might have been without her at his side?

Aang was looking even more miserable than Sokka was, his shoulders hunched, his face tightened in pain. Katara was at his side, her hand gripping his wrist, but rather like Azula, it was difficult to tell if Aang was even aware of any of the people around him, Katara included. She herself looked as though she were trying with extreme difficulty to muster something to say, but could find nothing to comfort Aang. She was forced to remain at his side, looking equally pained, if not for perhaps a different reason than he was.

The one person that Mai found the most difficulty looking at was the person who's side she knew she should have been standing at.

Zuko usually possessed a great aura of power and control about him, but this was something that had been absent over the past several weeks as he had dealt with the return of Sasuke and all that had brought, including his mother once more being placed into his life. And now, as the minutes ticked down to that last fact being expunged in relevance, he looked more than ever like a child who needed his mother beside him. How agonizingly ironic, Mai thought, that the moment he looked so badly like he needed a parent to hold his hand was the one that would take that one parent from him. Mai would have hoped that Iroh would have been able to be there for him, but Zuko's uncle had traveled east from Ba Sing Se for a purpose he hadn't seemed to have shared with any of them, and it had been impossible to reach him in time.

In the days since they had returned to the capital following the end of the war, Mai had gone through the exact same argument in her head a hundred times a day, the contents of which had never seemed to differ. It had plagued her to a near maddening degree, bit she never had been able to achieve any sort of meaningful resolution to them.

Just go talk to him. Ursa is in prison, with who knows what will happen to her, and he's terrified that's all out of his control… and to boot, he's trying to maintain an image of a ruler who didn't just run off with a person who the world is still trying to understand when his nation was terrified of an invasion by spirits. How is any of this fair to him? He needs someone by his side, even if that someone is just me… it's not like we don't need to talk anyway.

But no matter how many times these words had flushed their way through Mai's head, she had never been able to muster the courage to act on them. And the next thing she knew, she was walking down the hall and found herself looking at an emotionally drained Ty Lee leaning against Azula's door looking like she was about to burst into tears. As Mai had approached her, Ty Lee had suddenly looked over as though she was only able to take notice of Mai when she was very close to her and she practically fallen into Mai's arms. Shakily, she had told her about how Ursa had been sentenced to death and Azula and Soza both seemed inconsolable in their own ways, completely shut down and void of hope. Mai had hugged Ty Lee in the hallway, a stunned look on her face as she stroked her friend's back, unable to believe what she had heard. There had been no doubt in her mind that the High Council of the Fire Nation were using Ursa as publicity stunt, but none of this had ever made her think that things could possibly go this far…

And now, less than two days after that disturbing and shocking revelation, Mai was standing in the courtyard on an early morning, looking at the pain on Zuko's face as he waited for his mother to be brought forward to be killed.

Despite all the hate that Mai had possessed for herself in the previous days, nothing matched the self-loathing she felt then as she looked at the distance between herself and him.

The only person who wasn't present was Soza, something that Mai only felt more relief about every time she thought towards it. At the time that she had Ty Lee had come to get Azula, there was a part of her that believed that not being there in Ursa's last moments would be something that Soza would hurt for much more in the long run. But such a thought felt stupid now as she realized yet again with a vast and endless pit opening in her stomach that they were all there to watch Ursa be burned alive.

Her hands were wet with a cold sweat as she clenched them at her side and looked skyward, trying to maintain a deep pattern of breathing.

Fuck… I don't think I can do this…

It would have tasted a bitter lie to act as though Ursa's involvement with Sasuke hadn't been something that she had quietly resented the older woman for, but through the small conversations they had shared, Mai had come to appreciate Ursa more than anything. Seeing the good she had done for Sasuke had been incredible on its own, but seeing the spark it had reignited within Zuko had filled Mai with nothing but warmth. What she had done for Soza as well had been nothing short of beautiful to see and, after some serious work done by Sasuke, Azula had opened up in a way that Mai would never have believed she might have lived to see.

Opened up, who am I kidding… it was so much more than that.

She looked over at Azula, who looked nothing short of dead on her feet between her and Ty Lee.

After what's about to happen… I don't even want to imagine what this is going to do to her.

Mai's eyes flicked bitterly towards the center of the courtyard where the pyre had been assembled. Tediously arranged wood and tinder composed a small arching hill around a wooden stake that jutted about ten feet above the pile. Behind it, the council building stood, a broad terrace on the second floor overlooking the courtyard where the majority of the high council stood at present, ready to overlook the results of their condemnation of the woman that Mai knew for a fact they hardly knew. They were the only other spectators within the courtyard save for the soldiers that stood guard at the entrance to the building and the guards that were stationed in front of the gate that led into the courtyard. The only person there that Mai didn't see was Shaeryn, the old man in who sat at the head of the council. He had been present when they had showed up an hour or so earlier, quietly matter of fact as he told Mai and the others how the execution would proceed.

Mai grit her teeth now as she glared up at the spot in the center of the balcony where he should have been standing. It hadn't seem like he particularly held anything against Ursa, or that he was taking pleasure in carrying this out, but it also hadn't seemed at all like he minded ordering Ursa's execution either.

If that miserable old wretch thinks he can order this and not show…

She was forced from her mental seething as a sound became apparent to her, carrying loud and high over the rooftops of the city, echoing over her ears in a faint, but steadily growing wave.

Knowing immediately what it was, Mai jammed her eyes shut and bowed her head, feeling genuinely and truly helpless.

One of the most traditional customs that was possessed by the Fire Nation had directly to do with how a person was led to execution. Regardless of their social class, or the nature of the crime they committed, they would be quietly moved to the docks of the Fire Nation, far from the place where they would be executed and well before the time they would have their life taken. From there, they would be led through the streets of the Fire Nation's capital, allowing the citizens of the city to get a good look at them as they were led to where justice would be carried out. There were no strict rules other than that the condemned could not be killed by someone standing by, hence the entourage of guards that escorted them. Those watching could jeer, throw things, even strike at the prisoner if they were close enough.

One particularly innocence-slaying memory that Mai possessed was that of Azula as a child running up to her one lunchtime at her estate and telling her excitedly that the homeless man who had killed an entire family in an attempt to rob their store was being executed that day. Mai remembered feeling cold at the mention of them then; the family in particular had been friends of her parents and she knew that both her father and mother were in attendance but had instructed her to stay at their house. She had bristled and told Azula this, but the princess had rolled her eyes and told Mai to come along with her; Ty Lee hadn't been in the capital that week and she had clearly wanted someone to experience this with. Mai had rolled her eyes in turn and followed Azula, not thinking much to the thought of an execution. Azula had led her into a tall building with a look over the city streets that was unmatched, guards posted at the front door on her hasty and rude command to keep anyone else out.

"We'll have the best look at him! Just you wait, you'll get a good look at what happens to those street urchins who think they can act with impunity…"

They had reached the third floor and peered out over the roof edge. Mai could still remember the roaring of the throngs in the street, feeling that chill run up her spine at the pure fury that seemed to rise up towards them.

That cold feeling had been nothing compared to the horror that she remembered when she saw the man being led through the streets.

His face had taken enough blows that his eyes didn't seem able to open and he was being led under the arms by the soldiers escorting him. His clothes had been torn and bloodied, his body clenched up as he anticipated further blows from the screaming crowd that deafened the world around him. Mai had never seen a more horrible sight at her age and she had left Azula on the rooftop then, sprinting the whole way home where she had raced into her room, closed and locked the door, and paced around her bed for what felt like hours, trying to rid herself of the image of the pitiful looking man. She didn't care what he had done, seeing someone in such a way had utterly horrified her and the screams of the crowds had stuck with her for days after that.

Mai thought to his face once more as she stood in the courtyard now, listening to the distant cries of the crowd as she felt Azula stiffen badly beside her.

Not so amusing now, is it, 'Zula?

The bitter thought was completely unwarranted just then, but it was all Mai could do to keep herself in a reasonable state of mind. She knew fully well that the Azula she was still furious with was long gone. The Azula standing beside her now was just as terrified as Zuko was, perhaps even more so; who knew just how much horror was hidden behind that dead-eyed stare?

The roar grew closer outside of the gate into the courtyard and Mai wet her lips for what felt like the hundredth time in the last minute. Suddenly, it all seemed so much worse to her just then, chills running up her spine and down her arms with considerable frequency.

This can't happen… this isn't right, Ursa didn't… she didn't do anything worth this. And even if anything like this warranted… she's done so much to protect her nation, to protect this world… don't they realize that without her, the spirits, Madara might have won?

Mai knew in her heart though that such a thing didn't matter. What was happening in the streets of her home wasn't anything like she could explain or understand; just as she had seen when she was a child, she knew mob mentality wasn't something that could be rationalized. She knew full well too how the people had loved the hard ruler that Azulon had been, and if there was something that was allowing them some way to vent their frustration and hurt over losing him to assassination, there wasn't a thing that they could be told about the good Ursa had done that could change that.

The cacophonous sound thundered ever closer and Mai felt herself shift uncomfortably, just as she noted Ty Lee, Yue, and Aang all doing the same.

Please, just… just don't let them have hurt her… not like they did back… back then.

The idea of Ursa being brought to them in an unrecognizable state would be too much for her, let alone what it would do to her own children to see their mother beaten in such a way. There came a particularly roaring arc in the sound of the crowd and Mai felt a hand suddenly seize hers. Looking down, she saw that Azula had reached out sharply with both her hands, gripping hers and Ty Lee's with a violent necessity. Mai looked across to Ty Lee and saw the raw sadness and helplessness in her eyes as she gripped Azula's hand back.

There's nothing… not a single, fucking thing that we can do.

What had been the point, Mai found herself thinking with a nauseating fury. What did it matter that they had beaten Madara if people could still just be taken cruelly and without true justification. Ursa had brought life back into her children, had been nothing but good for her granddaughter…

And…

Mai felt tears suddenly spill from her eyes and she gave a small gasp that she didn't think could be heard over the roar of the crowd.

She's with child.

Rather involuntarily, she felt the hand that wasn't locked tightly in Azula's grip move towards her sleeve, reaching for the blades that were hidden within. She didn't know who, but she knew she had to fight whomever she needed to in order to keep this from happening. It had to be stopped, someone had to stop it, and however she could, Mai knew she had to try… she did, didn't she?

She looked over to Azula and Zuko, and just then, their eyes were one and the same; Mai saw pure terror reflected in both pairs, both of them looking like they wanted to turn and run, run anywhere that wasn't there. They were going to have to stand there and watch their pregnant mother be burned at the stake for a sin which without, Zuko likely wouldn't be alive. Mai wanted to shout at Aang just then, demanding he use something allowed him as Avatar to do anything about this, but as she looked to Aang's face and saw that horrible anxious fear on his face, she could only turn her head skyward, feeling the anguish wash over her again and again, never ending in its assault.

Wasn't it enough for Sasuke to be taken from us?

The noises of the crowd reached the outside of the gate and Mai felt her eyes turn almost mechanically towards the large door as the guards moved back to allow it to open. She wanted to turn away, to close her eyes and prevent herself from seeing any of what was about to take place, but she couldn't so much as blink as she waited for Ursa to be brought through and into the courtyard. The door creaked open and Mai could see the throngs of people beyond, the horrible sounds coming from them, and the first of the soldiers leading their prisoner, and she had to remind herself to breathe. They entered in a tight formation, leading the single figure in their middle as the door closed behind them, hurled objects hitting the structure as well as their armor, a loud thud as the crowd was locked out from further permeating the courtyard. Having fulfilled their duty in escorting their prisoner to the courtyard, the soldiers broke formation, some moving to join the ones at the gate, some moving towards the stake, and the person who had been in their midst became visible to Mai and all of them.

Ursa stood tall, dressed in a simple light grey gown. It was a brief, strangely powerful relief for Mai that her face didn't look as unrecognizable as the murderer she had seen as a child, but there was no denying the number that had been dealt to it. There was a cut that had been opened underneath her left eye and one on her lower lip as well, with bruising around her right eye, indicating where she might have taken a blow. There were tears in the gown, with stains dotting its fabric, suggesting that she had been pelted with any number of things, but most upsetting was a single long red slash that had been opened along her back, stretching from her shoulder blade down to her rear. It seemed as though someone in the crowd had somehow managed to strike her with a whip or at least something similar. Blood soaked around where the wound had been opened in its line, but Ursa stood firm as though she had experienced no such physical abuse, nor was she about to have her life taken. Nothing but strength radiated from her and in the simple gown and with her long brown hair flowing behind her, Mai felt that she looked as powerful as she ever had.

She didn't look over to any of them as she stood in the courtyard, soldiers milling about quietly around her, but Mai felt that she had a very good reason for not doing so.

If I were in her shoes… I could never look at either of my children either.

It was entirely possible that if she saw Azula or Zuko now, Ursa's poise would shatter and the gravity of what was about to happen might be enough to break her. She remained obediently where she had stopped walking, the injuries she had sustained being led through the streets seeming to not have shaken her whatsoever. Though, after what she had been through in her life, it was no surprise that her heart would have been steeled in the face of death.

Mai heard a quivering inhale from Zuko and looked over in time to see him take a shaking step back; Jin cast him a frightened look and turned back to look at the strangely focused and passive looking Toph before moving from her side to step to Zuko's side. She reached out gingerly and put a hand on his shoulder and almost immediately he spun to face her, bowing his head and burying it in her shoulder, his body giving a heaving shake. Jin's pained expression was hidden behind a mask of steel as she held Zuko against her; Mai found she could only look at the sight for a few moments longer before she had to tear her gaze away, feeling the disgust she felt towards herself causing bile to rise in her throat.

I should be there for him.

But there was no strength in her veins that Mai could find to do anything more with than feel this certainty pass through her mind. In truth, she didn't know if she was able to do much more then than hold Azula's hand and try to keep herself from staggering where she stood. She hated every single thing about what was happening and the powerlessness she felt to change any of it only served to intensify that hate.

From the balcony, one of the elderly women on the council gestured to the captain of the guard in the courtyard who stood at attention and looked up to her expectantly.

"Councilman Shaeryn will be joining us shortly, but in the meantime, please proceed, captain."

As the soldier nodded in understanding, Mai felt a surge of panic run through her insides that was sufficient enough to almost bend her double and vomit.

No.

Somehow, despite all the fear and anger she was feeling, she realized that there was some part of her that had been in complete denial that this was actually about to happen. She could think to how similar this had felt to when they had gone to Toph's execution, but then, she had felt certain that Toph would be killed that night. It was the same deep-rooted despair that she had felt then, but Mai hadn't believed, despite everything that she had been told and despite everything what she was seeing. Somehow, there had been a small, powerful part of her mental state that had been completely sure that Ursa wasn't actually about to die before her eyes.

But she stared with wide eyes as two soldiers moved to either side of Ursa and led her to the pyre. They brought her up the pile of tinder and wood and pulled her arms above her head where her wrists were bound. Her expression never faltered as the soldiers finished their job of securing her and stepped down, leaving her alone against the stake. Ursa's breathing came in deep, measured pulls through her nose, and Mai felt her own breathing as nothing short of shallow and faint.

But then, as she looked onward, trying desperately to force herself to even just blink, Azula released a quiet but perfectly audible whimper beside her. And only then, Ursa's gaze turned upwards, and she closed her eyes as tears leaked from their corners.

Mai realized then that she was shaking her head rather automatically back and forth.

Stop this… I have to stop this… someone has to stop this.

There came another order from the councilwoman above on the balcony and a ball of bright orange fire appeared in the captain of the guard's hand. Mai felt the entire group tense around her as the man moved towards the small pile of tinder and wood, his intent clear. Even as the tears streamed down the sides of her face, Ursa's expression still never wavered as the fire was brought ever nearer. The captain of the guard reached the base of the pile and lowered his hand; immediately, fire burst out, spilling over the tinder and wood as it crawled towards Ursa.

Almost as one, Zuko and Azula both cried out just as they had when Kyoshi had been about to murder their mother, and Mai jammed her own eyes shut turning her head down as she squeezed Azula's hand back fiercely, trying to block out the sound of snapping flames.

There would be no Sasuke to save Ursa this time.

"Stop!"

A voice suddenly rang out and Mai felt her head jerk upwards as her eyes snapped open. Just as she did, Toph's foot came down hard on the ground and a wave of dirt rushed upwards and rushed over the fire, smothering it just as it reached for Ursa's feet. She turned her head down towards where the fire had nearly been ready to set her alight, looking rather stunned herself. Mai looked at Toph in bewilderment.

How was she so ready for that?

Feeling the shock that she felt resonating around her through the others, Mai followed the man's gaze and looked up towards the balcony, feeling a touch of differing confusion at how Toph seemed the only one of them not only at ease with what had happened, but rather looked as though she had been… expecting it?

No, that can't be right.

A pale, rather harried looking Shaeryn was standing there now, having taken his place at the head of the other council members gathered there. There was a rolled wrap of parchment clutched tightly in his hand as he looked down towards Ursa with an intense gaze.

"Councilman Shaeryn… what is the meaning of this?" asked the councilwoman who had initially ordered Ursa's execution to proceed. Her eyes, along with those of the council, all soldiers present in the courtyard, and those of Mai and the group, were locked on the old man. Even Ursa had turned her head just slightly to show that she wasn't so locked within her own mind that she wasn't unaware of the rather unusual proceedings that had just interfered with her execution.

Shaeryn cleared his throat once, looked around at all the eyes on him, then cleared it again.

"This… this execution… new information has come to light suggesting that this execution is… not the most prudent course of action at the moment."

His words hardly being as illuminating as Mai, or anyone present for that matter, would have wanted caused her to feel the words rush from her throat as she called up in a snarl towards him.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

She heard just how bitter and aggressive her voice sounded which she knew was a dangerous play to make when speaking to people of this status; her position as a person of noble blood would only get her so far. And while a few council members shot her disparaging glances, Shaeryn didn't seem to take any sort of note of her tone, only her words. Fumbling with it slightly, he brought the scroll-wrapped piece of paper up in front of him, unfurling it as he did.

"As of just recently… evidence regarding Fire Lord Azulon's death has come about through only recently uncovered writing penned by Fire Lord Ozai."

He looked at the parchment and Mai stared up towards the back of it as though she could read it herself through sheer willpower. Everyone waited with bated breath for a moment as Shaeryn fell quiet before clearing his throat yet again.

"I will read said relevant piece now, as it will be released to the public shortly… Fire Lord Ozai's words read, and I quote… "Per good fortune that I had not thought I could possibly encounter, I find myself poised to claim the throne of Fire Lord. By my own misstep, I had been prepared to sacrifice the life of my son as was demanded by my father for my impudence, but it would appear my wife, my beautiful bride who has until now only seemed able to hinder the progress of raising my children, fell to her knees in pleading, trying to spare Zuko's life through whatever mean's necessary. Though I might have easily dismissed her begging, I realized then how I might just as easily change this in my favor. The loss of my son would have been a minor setback, but only then did I realize how perfectly the stars had aligned in my favor. In exchange for her willingly accepting banishment, I provided my wife the means to poison and kill my father. Her wish was realized and Zuko was spared. And my wish too was found to be just as fulfilled then; my children were left to my own raising and my father was removed as an obstacle in my ascent to the throne of Fire Lord. Had I known how truly simple such a task would be, I would have defied my father long before now."

Shaeryn's narration faded away as he looked at the parchment he had just read off as though unable to believe the words he had just verbally shared. The courtyard had fallen completely silence, broken only by the roaring of the crowd beyond the walls around the building, no doubt wondering where the smoke was that would signal Ursa's demise.

Mai felt her throat so constricted that it was genuinely difficult to breathe. She risked a glance over towards Zuko and Azula; both of them had wide-eyed stares fixed on the balcony, but that expression was matched by everyone standing there. From Aang to Katara, every single one of them was looking completely dumbstruck, mouths agape and eyes wide.

Councilman Shaeryn seemed equally baffled by what had just happened, but the paleness on his face and the way he almost seemed to be trying to keep his eyes turned downwards was something that Mai found rather curious, though her shock still had her entirely overwhelmed to the point that she barely noticed such a thing. Ursa's eyes had glazed over and her expression was blank, though if Mai had to guess, the sudden suggestion that she might actually live past the hour was currently assaulting her consciousness violently.

It was then that Mai's eyes found Toph, and she realized that she was the one person whose expression didn't match the rest.

Toph had her gaze down towards the ground as it often was, her black hair shrouding her face slightly so that the rising sun peaking over the horizon was only able to reach slivers of it. But despite that, Mai could see enough of her expression to see that Toph was…

Smiling?

Smiling?

"Then… what does this mean?" the councilwoman beside Shaeryn asked and he cleared his throat for the umpteenth time, looking almost embarrassed then.

"For the time being, this revelation found of the former Fire Lord is enough to confirm that what his wife told us in captivity was true, that—"

"I'm no longer his wife."

Ursa's words rang out clear and straight then. She didn't look towards the balcony, but the direction of her verbiage was clear enough. Shaeryn looked down towards her carefully for a moment before swallowing and continuing.

"Ah, yes… of course. In any case, what she told us is substantiated by this; she was an accessory to a crime committed by her husband. While she may still face some semblance of a charge for her actions, execution is far from a deserved punishment."

He turned his head towards Zuko and Mai could see in the councilman's face that he knew the absurdity of what he asked next.

"Assuming, of course, the Fire Lord permits the execution to be called off."

Ty Lee let out an almost hysterical bark of a laugh and Mai shook her head again, an action brought on once more by pure disbelief. How twisted was it that the Fire Lord couldn't deny an execution on his own… but as it was, she knew fully well how completely ridiculous such an inquiry of him was.

Without a single more word of urging, Zuko pulled away from Jin who released him with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. He crossed the distance between where he had been standing towards the stake; fire appeared in his hand and he slashed it at the chain holding his mother to the wooden post and her arms were freed. She barely had time to lower them before Zuko leapt up the short height of her would-be bonfire and wrapped Ursa in his arms. The complete bafflement that had possessed Ursa's expression faded away then and her eyes closed gently as she smiled and hugged her son back.

Mai looked down as her hand was suddenly freed from the grip that Azula had clutched it with and saw that Ty Lee was now empty-handed as well. The princess had broken free from both of them and had broken into a sprint towards her family, her deadened expression shattering. The muscles in her cheeks pulled back as she burst into tears, looking like her legs wouldn't even be able to carry her all the way to her family, but sure enough, she reached Zuko and Ursa and threw her arms around their necks. Zuko caught his sister and held her, but he seemed to be struggling himself to keep his emotions from knocking him to his knees.

But despite her battered state and the no doubt overpowering emotions she was no doubt feeling, Ursa put her arms around her children and pulled them close to her as both Zuko and Azula practically collapsed against her. She kissed the tops of their head as they both openly cried into her shoulders, her crying quietly herself, but there was a small smile that echoed only of pure relief etched on her face. Though she had no way of telling for certain, Mai was sure that she wanted to bring one of her hands down to touch her belly.

The next several minutes passed in a rather chaotic haze. Aang rushed up to the council to confirm that Ursa was free to go; it seemed that the majority of the council had been majorly upset by Shaeryn's extremely sudden intrusive reading of evidence, as it seemed none of them had been aware of his findings. Mai herself found it most odd that he had come across something like that and that he hadn't shared it with his fellow council members. Though when she and Zuko had been together she had never cared much for when he spoke of his work, she had picked up enough to know that the council banded tightly together on important decisions, doing their best to come together on all facets of their lawmaking. It had been initially why Zuko had chosen them as he had felt they would be able to keep from fighting amongst themselves, but it had also meant that they often cut him out of their private meetings and decision making, such as they had with this particular execution. But here, Shaeryn, the top ranking member no less, had come up with this information on his own and quite suddenly to boot; it was no surprise that they were upset about it.

Suki had quickly suggested they all head back to the palace quickly before the crowds outside became aware of the sudden change in circumstances. Ty Lee had asserted that there would likely be some level of protests brought to the palace as well as the council building before Ozai's words were made public and the crowds had no way to understand why the execution of the woman they believed responsible for Azulon's death was no longer happening. Rather quickly, the group had left through the gate's back entrance, Ursa, Azula, and Zuko in their middle. Though no one specifically pointed it out, Mai's eyes watched every alley and roof carefully as they swiftly made their way back to the royal palace where they would likely have some very overdue privacy, especially for Ursa and her children. Though it wasn't likely, there was no part of Mai's mind that believed that there was no chance that some fanatic citizen might catch a glimpse of Ursa being led away and try something. Based on Yue, Suki, and Sokka's sharp-eyed gazes being cast around, they were of the same mind.

Nonetheless, they reached the gate to the palace after a heated pace; the soldiers outside looked to one another in mild confusion, turning nervously between themselves and the approaching group, a member of whom had been sentenced to death earlier that morning.

"Your highness…?" one of them dared to ask Zuko as he pushed his way to the head of the group as they approached. "Isn't she…"

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Zuko roared. The soldiers stiffened sharply and leapt aside to allow him and the group to pass. In all the time she had seen Zuko as Fire Lord, he had treated his soldiers and guards with a level of respect and compassion that likely hadn't been seen in generations of previous Fire Lords. But in that instant where he likely didn't care about a single thing other than getting his mother somewhere safe, anyone that got in his way might as well have been his most hated enemy. Mai imagined that if the soldiers hadn't moved, they very well might have been blown aside by some particularly anger-fueled firebending.

They pushed into the palace where several palace servants immediately approached at Zuko's shouted command as Katara moved to his side, speaking quickly into his ear. He nodded and turned to the servants.

"Gather a basin of our purest water," he instructed. "Clear the side room by the dining room for Katara and my mother."

"Zuko, honey," Ursa said quietly. "I'm really not all that—"

Though she had no doubt been about to try and play off exactly how injured she was, the look that her son gave her then was enough to discourage her from trying to refuse Katara's expert medical attention. Azula was still clinging to her side with the aura of a child, her fingers gripping the sleeve of Ursa's gown; Mai looked at her and squared her shoulders, figuring that she ought to try and pry her away to allow Ursa to be tended to by Katara. But before she could move forward, Ty Lee stepped past her and slowly put her arms around Azula.

"Hey…" she said quietly. "Your mom needs to be looked at, okay?"

Azula sniffed once, but didn't move. Ty Lee didn't try and pull her away but instead slowly rubbed her shoulders before speaking softly to her again.

"It's gonna be okay, 'Zula… just let her get fixed up, and you'll be able to be right back by her side. I'll stay right here with you, okay? Until then?"

As she remained standing there so stiffly, Ty Lee slowly brought her hand down to take Azula's hands. Ursa was watching her daughter, but didn't say a word, simply watching as Ty Lee slowly tried to ease Azula free of the stupor she was in. For a moment, Mai wasn't sure it would work, but very slowly, Azula's hand unclenched from Ursa's gown. Her fingers immediately moved to interlock with Ty Lee's, squeezing them tightly. Her eyes remained locked on the ground with her face stiffened once more, though her red eyes betrayed the tears that had been freely flowing minutes prior. Seeming ecstatic with her success but not wanting to betray that emotion, Ty Lee simply bit her lower lip and pulled Azula closely to her and Mai found she couldn't quite believe the sight.

So many years of the abuse she had to go through… how much fear she surely felt… and yet now, look at them.

Though it was a very, very wishful thought, Mai knew, she found herself wondering if the two of them might actually be able to be happy together.

Ursa gave Ty Lee a grateful smile and then moved away with Katara to follow a pair of servants into a side room in order to patch up the older woman. Though she hadn't been grievously injured, Mai imagined the long cut on her back was something that Ursa was no doubt pretending did not hurt as badly as it did, and then there were the cuts and swelling on her face that would need to be addressed, and who knew how much damage had been dealt that they hadn't been able to see.

As Ursa and Katara disappeared from sight, Sokka released a loud, almost explosive sigh and moved over to one of the large, luxurious chairs that were seated around the entrance hall of the palace. Collapsing into it and slumping down, he put a hand up and rubbed over his eyes.

"Oh man… the hits just keep coming."

Mai knew exactly what he meant, and she found that seeing him drop into that chair and seemingly release all the tension from his muscles was something that she very much thought looked rather appealing herself. Suki walked over and sat on the arm of the chair, reaching out and massaging the back of her husband's neck, looking deeply tired herself.

"Aang… did Shaeryn indicate whether or not he thought Ursa was still going to be charged with anything serious?" Yue asked, looking nervously at Azula as she did. It was clear that she was uncertain about bringing up such a topic just then, but it didn't seem either that she could wait to ask judging by how tense she still looked.

"It doesn't matter," Zuko said in a clipped voice. "Regardless of whether or not the other council members try and roll back on easing on mother, after cancelling an execution and making my dad's records public, they won't be able to order anything against her other than house arrest. Which, after she spent her whole young adult life living in Ozai's shadow here in the palace, that won't be anything too difficult for her."

He looked over at his sister.

"She'll be fine. They can't do anything to her now."

There was almost a threat to his tone as though he were daring them to try. But Mai also knew that no one knew the laws of his nation better than Zuko, and if he truly believed that Ursa was no longer in any real danger from the law, then she was indeed safe.

Yue looked like there was more she wanted to ask, but she glanced towards Azula again and pursed her lips, instead deciding to join Sokka in sitting down in one of the chairs. Aang was close behind her, looking like was genuinely in danger of passing out, and Jin followed after him. Ty Lee slowly guided a rather comatose looking Azula over as well and as the group started to slowly drop down on the excessively comfortable chairs to try and relieve some of the overwhelming tension that had been battering them, Mai's eyes found Toph again.

Still, she was the only one there who didn't look like she was trying to shake off the trauma of the morning's event.

Toph was no longer smiling, but instead of looking as exhausted and worn out as the rest, she was still standing rather stiffly, her hands balled into fists at her side. Her eyebrows were furrowed ever so slightly and her breathing coming in strangely shallow. She honestly looked as though she were waiting for someone to come up behind her and slap her in the back of the head.

What in the world is going on with her?

She opened her mouth to ask, finally deciding that now was a time appropriate where she could, but from the chairs Azula spoke up then. Her voice was strained and dry, sounding as though it hadn't been used in years.

"Soza… need to go get her…"

With a start, Mai remembered that Soza was the only one of them who didn't know what had happened; she looked upwards to where the royal bedrooms were on the floors above. It hurt her very badly then to think that she was up there, likely crying her eyes out over what she likely believed to have happened.

"Yeah," Ty Lee said abruptly, getting to her feet. "Yeah, we should, she needs to know…"

She trailed off as Toph raised a hand and gave it a small, dismissive wave.

"Don't bother," she murmured, and Mai heard her voice shake very badly. "She's on her way…"

Mai blinked and nearly asked how Toph knew that before forcing herself to remember how Toph's abilities would have let her know fully well that Soza was heading towards them. Azula twitched where she sat, her eyes flicking upwards towards the staircase as though expecting her daughter to appear there the moment she did. And after several long seconds, the distant sounds of footsteps could be heard, echoing in a manner that indicated that someone was indeed descending the staircase. Mai felt a distant rush of preemptive relief at the thought of being able to tell Soza that Ursa had not in fact been executed.

It was after a long moment of listening to the steps that Mai felt her brow furrow. They sounded steadier, more firm and strong then those of a child who was no doubt in frail straits after that morning.

Probably just a servant, that can't be Soza. She'd be stumbling or staggering at the very least, if she thinks that her grandmother was burned at the stake, then—

The owner of the footsteps came into view and Mai felt her knees buckle. She stepped backwards with no feeling making its way to her feet and she collided with one of the columns in the entrance hall. A gasp ripped its way down her throat, and she clapped a hand over her mouth as Ty Lee released a short scream and leapt to her feet alongside Aang who nearly fell over as he did. Sokka furrowed his brow and leaned forward, looking completely bemused.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," he said in a low voice.

Soza was indeed there, making her way down the stairs, but she was in the arms of someone else.

This isn't real… this isn't real.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Sasuke slowly came to a halt and set his daughter down beside him. She held his hand and smiled widely up at him before looking forward as her father returned the smile. From there, his gaze very hesitantly drew upwards.

It was only then that Mai realized that she hadn't completely fallen into denial after seeing Sasuke walk down the stairs with Soza in his arms. She should have been. He was dead, he was gone.

We watched him die.

They had all been present for the moment when he had been wiped from their lives by his own hand. It should have been so easy to deny a reality where he was suddenly standing a dozen yards from her now with his daughter at his side. This was some fever dream that Mai had surely fallen into, a result of the stress that had been hammering her from the moment that the conflict had even ended. Perhaps that was what this all had been, just her mind playing a vicious trick on her; maybe Ursa hadn't survived after all, and this was just her psyche's way of trying to allow her to cope.

But when his dark eyes passed over her own, Mai knew none of that was true.

"Sasuke…"

She breathed his name, hearing her own pulse hammering behind her ears. There were things she needed to say, questions she needed to ask, but none of them came anywhere near to being actually realized sentences, her mind wasn't ready for something like that. To the best of her knowledge, not a single one of them was ready for so much as a word, judging by the silence that surrounded her. She didn't need to look at any of them to know the expressions that surrounded her; Mai knew that seeing any one of them would be more akin to looking in a mirror than anything.

Sasuke didn't look like he trusted himself to take a single step forward past where he was. Soza kept looking up at him, giving him encouraging smiles and giving little tugs on his hand, but it seemed he clearly understood the gravity of simply showing himself to them. His expression remained passive though his eyes glowed deeply with an unspoken apology. Mai thought she heard both Jin and Yue whimper quietly just then.

There was an explosion of movement just then to her right and Mai looked over to see that Azula had broken into a sprint towards both Sasuke and Soza, moving so quickly that within the time it took to blink, she was standing eye to eye with the father of her child. She slowly panted as she stood before him, her wide eyes never leaving his dark orbs as though so much as a wink would banish the spell that was allowing this moment, this miracle, this complete anomaly to take place. As her chest heaved in deep pulls of air, Soza looked at her mother with mild concern and then back to her father almost expectantly. But it was only quiet between her parents for a time before Azula's voice wafted from her throat, strained and weak to the point that it was a shock she was able to form the words at all.

"Is it… really you…?" she whispered. Sasuke looked back at her for a time, his eyes looking almost saddened by the sight of Azula before him.

"Yeah," he said. "It's me."

If Mai had thought that sight of him had nearly broken her, hearing his voice caused a dry sob to shudder her torso. Azula looked back at him, her expression looking like it was in danger of breaking into tears, fury, laughter, or any combination of the above. The look in her eyes was one that brought back Mai to a dark place then however, as she was forcibly reminded of the night at the Northern Water Tribe when Azula's obsession and manic desire for Sasuke had reached a critical point and she had nearly killed Ty Lee in a maddened frenzy. Those same chaotically emotions were sparking there now in Azula's eyes and Mai suddenly wondered if the princess had broken down all over again and she was about to pounce on Sasuke then and there, forcing her tongue down his throat and holding onto him for dear life. After what she had been through, it wouldn't have surprised Mai in the slightest if the growth she had seen in Azula over recent days had been completely nullified. How strong was the princess really to avoid falling back into those emotional pitfalls she had developed as a child? It wasn't as though any of them might have been able to stop Azula just now either; though Mai would have counted Suki and Ty Lee as among those who were quickest to be ready to move into action to break up such a thing, but so paralyzed they all were now, not a one of them seemed to be in a state where they might have been ready to stop Azula.

The princess remained in front of Sasuke for a time longer and Mai waited on pins and needles for her to kiss Sasuke, tackle Sasuke, slap Sasuke, scream at him, speak sweetly to him, any of the awful possibilities that might come about as a result of her potentially ravaged mental state.

But Azula wound up doing none of these things.

After a time, she slowly tilted her head forwards, gently inclining it until her forehead came to rest on Sasuke's shoulder. That was where she remained, her hands at her sides, her shoulders slumped. She simply rested her head against Sasuke and after a time, Mai became aware of the softly uttered words that were slowly making their way out of Azula's mouth.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

The apologies seemed to expulse themselves from her with an almost determined regularity as though Azula felt she had no choice but to offer them. Sasuke didn't seem to know how best to react to this sudden show of tender and vulnerable emotion from Azula, but he managed to bring the hand up that wasn't holding Soza's to wrap around Azula and give her a ginger, yet delicate one-armed hug.

Mai remained where she was stunned and in a numbed state of disbelief before she heard steps to her left. Somehow finding the strength to look that direction, she saw Katara approaching from the hallway that she had previously been led down, a small container of water in her hands. She didn't seem aware of the state of her friends as she approached, looking distractedly down at the water as she did.

"Zuko, when you get the chance, I think you need to have a look at the purification containers that lead from your outdoor reservoir, I was able to mix it out from the—"

As quickly as her voice cut off, the sound of pottery shattering echoed through the entrance hall. The small container had dropped from Katara's hands, bursting into pieces at her feet and spilling water all over the floor. Her hands came up to clasp over her mouth as she her eyes had found the sight of Sasuke hand in hand with Soza and with an arm around Azula. His dark eyes flicked to Katara's widened orbs as she stared at him now with a look of pure shock that matched the others in the room.

"What's the matter?"

As Mai looked past Katara, she saw Ursa coming down the hall as well, her face looking properly fixed up, but with concern etched into her features as she looked at the mess now at Katara's feet. In a matter of paces, she would set her sight on the exact same thing that had caused Katara to be so stunned. And though her mind was still buzzing senselessly for the most part, Mai found herself wondering if Ursa perhaps shouldn't be eased into something like this.

She's still dealing with the fact that she just was spared being executed, who knows what that's doing to her… and if she sees him… if she sees him now…

Suddenly, it seemed very urgent to Mai that she get to Ursa and stop her before she saw Sasuke. Her legs felt like slop however even as she tried to urge them forward, but as she tried to force herself into movement, Yue moved in her peripheral vision and quickly made it to Ursa, her silver hair flowing behind her.

"Ursa…" she said, stopping the older woman a few paces before Sasuke would be visible to her. Ursa looked past her curiously and with concern written on her face. "There's… you should know something…"

"Yue, what's going on?" Ursa asked, looking down to her with a furrowed brow. As she met Ursa's eyes, Yue seemed to almost shrivel and Mai couldn't blame her.

How do you tell her something like that?

As Yue remained unable to speak, the furrow on Ursa's brow deepened as it seemed more and more clear to her that something was deeply amiss. Her eyes moved up to the others; Mai, Zuko, Sokka, Jin, and Suki were all looking her way, their eyes all wide with a mixture of shock and fear, while the others didn't seem able to look away from Sasuke, Azula, and Soza, and this only seemed to further amplify Ursa's concern. She made to push past Yue then, but Yue grabbed her arm with a sudden burst of aggression.

"Wait!" she gasped and Ursa looked back at her, her dark hair whipping around.

"What's the matter?" she asked loudly, the tension clearly grappling her tighter and Yue was only able to look at her with wide eyes, mouth slightly agape. She looked past Ursa towards the rest of them and her eyes found Mai's who found herself realizing that no matter how long she sat there thinking on it, there would never be a combination of words that would be enough to prepare Ursa for what was about to happen. Tightening her lips, she looked at Yue understandingly and gave her head a small nod. Yue swallowed and her eyes flicked back to Ursa for a moment before returning to Mai; pursing her lips, her hand slowly released Ursa's arm who looked at her only a moment longer before turning sharply around and walking swiftly into the entrance hall.

She didn't even manage a word.

Her eyes locked on her daughter, her granddaughter.

And the man between them.

Almost immediately, her lower lip began to quiver, and Mai could very faintly hear her breathing coming in almost frenzied shallow bursts. Her eyes widened and grew misty as she looked at him.

Sasuke's eyes were on Ursa the moment she walked into the room. Though Mai couldn't quite tell, he must have stiffened for, a moment later, Azula slowly pulled back and looked to him with a question in her eyes. Then, she followed his gaze and saw her mother standing a dozen meters away, a robe of Fire Nation maroon pulled over the simple gown she had been led to the stake in. To the princess's credit, she seemed to grasp the significance of what was happening fairly quickly; shaking off her shock and emotion, she looked down to her daughter and gave her a meaningful look. Soza seemed to understand perfectly well what her mother was translating to her through her eyes, and she slowly withdrew her hand from Sasuke's and stepped away from his side silently, and Azula mirrored the movement as the both of them looked expectantly towards Ursa. In a matter of seconds, Sasuke was standing alone near the foot of the staircase, his eyes unblinking and locked on the woman directly ahead of him.

Ursa took the first step forward as though she had been hypnotized. Her movement seemed almost like that of a ghost, unnaturally smooth and so evenly paced. Another step followed, then another and another as she moved past the group, past Katara and the shattered pottery and water at her feet, along the carpet that led to the grand staircase, past her daughter and granddaughter who stood aside respectfully to allow her to pass.

To Ursa and Sasuke's eyes, they might have been the only two people alive on the planet.

She stopped just before him, her expression almost blank as she looked down towards Sasuke. He looked back up to her, his own expression looking hesitant, almost distantly frightened. They stood before each other for near a minute before he softly uttered a pair of words.

"Hey, Ursa."

Her hand came up with such a swiftness that Mai was certain that Ursa was about to hit him which she wouldn't remotely have blamed the older woman for. But instead, Ursa's hand found itself hovering just a couple centimeters from his cheek. Her eyes seemed to look almost in fear at her own hand as though she was about to do something that she wasn't even sure she was able to. Her arm shook briefly a moment before steadying and Ursa closed her eyes a moment before moving her hand the rest of the way to gently cup the side of Sasuke's face.

The moment she did, she released a shuddering exhale that was equal parts a moan and sob. Her other hand came up to cup his other cheek and she opened her eyes to let tears streak down her cheeks as she looked into his dark orbs.

"Sasuke," she uttered in a voice that was louder, yet somehow weaker than a whisper. "Please… please tell me…"

She looked away from him, jamming her eyes shut as her body shook with another sob. Looking both completely in control and still rather at a total loss, Sasuke slowly brought a hand of his own up to hold Ursa's as it pressed against his face.

"Tell you what?" he asked quietly. It took Ursa several shuddering breaths before she could look up and meet his eyes again.

"Tell me…"

She wavered just a moment longer.

"Please tell me… it's really you…"

Sasuke looked frozen for just a moment until, to Mai's surprise, he smiled. Tilting his head, he leaned up and kissed Ursa's cheek.

"It's me," he said softly and, without warning, Ursa burst into loud, agonized sobs as she threw her arms around Sasuke. She pulled him forward so that his head was resting under her chin before she buried her face in his black hair, her tears leaking into it as she clung to him, wailing as she did. Sasuke's arms came up to hold her back then, his hands gently rubbing up and down her back.

Mai watched as Ursa, the woman who had seemed so unshakable and hardened, who had faced down Azula's wrath fearlessly, who had squared off against Avatar Kyoshi, who had been willing to die for the people she cared about, broke down completely as she clung to Sasuke. Mai never had imagined she would see Ursa so broken, she thought, as she watched the older woman completely collapsing as she held Sasuke close to her.

Then again… I never thought I'd see Azula like that either.

As she felt the column still behind her, Mai allowed herself to slump down against it, sliding down to the floor as she dropped her head into her hands. As she closed her eyes and tried to keep herself from feeling as though the entire world had gone mad around her. Somehow, the sound of Ursa sobbing loudly was one of the only things that she could feel was genuinely keeping her grounded.

He's alive.

The mere thought raised the hairs on her arms.

He's still here. He didn't die. He's still here.

It wasn't until she felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Ty Lee looking down with concern at her that she realized that she had been sobbing quietly herself. As she looked up into her friend's face, she found she would quite have liked to shake off the tears and wave her friend off; she hated ever seeming like she was the one in need of support, especially when she could tell that Ty Lee was struggling badly with this as well. But with a miserable sniff, she reached out a hand and Ty Lee sat down beside her on the floor and the two hugged one another tightly. There was a deep relief that Mai felt as she rested her head against her friend's shoulder; the mere sensation of having someone to lean on was much more powerful than she would have guessed it to be, and it allowed her sobs to soften into shaking tears that she blinked aside as they came.

It was then that her blurred vision cleared enough for her to lay her eyes on Toph who was still standing where she was, off to the side and only half-facing towards Sasuke and Ursa.

Though they hadn't before, tears had now found Toph's eyes.

---

Toph knew that it wasn't her place to feel the way that she now did. All of what had happened that morning had worked out for the best, far better than they ever should have.

She had felt the gentle burning on her back as they had stood waiting in the courtyard outside the council building, the softest sensation that she very nearly had missed. She had tensed very suddenly when she had identified it and had been surprised that none of the others had noted her reaction, though she supposed that the collective headspace of everyone wasn't allowing them to note such subtle movements, not when they had been waiting for Ursa to be executed. But as they had all stood around her, awaiting what they thought to be inevitable, Toph's mind had been assaulted with a single overpowering thought.

That's Sasuke's mark… he's alive.

It was enough to paralyze her where she had stood, the pure shock that she could feel his mark at all ripping through her consciousness like a blast of Azula's lightning.

How… how…

She had forced a neutral expression as they had all stood in the courtyard while her mind went wild trying to wonder how this was even possible, but as she had stood there as stiff and still as a statue, she had immediately found her senses on full alert. Because while everyone around her was waiting on one inevitable, Toph knew that something was indeed inevitable, just not what anyone else there was expecting other than her.

He'll never let them touch her.

Not until her dying day would she ever forget how it had felt when he had burst into the town hall in Ba Sing Se, slicing down Gilbert's men as he fought to protect her, and she hadn't even been the woman he was with then. This was Ursa, the person that Sasuke had fallen head over heels for and who was currently pregnant with his child. If he really was still alive as Toph knew that he must be, he would make the world bleed before he saw Ursa executed.

So when Councilman Shaeryn had ordered the execution to be halted, Toph had been ready. She had put out the fire as quickly as she was able, and immediately had been reaching into her senses, trying to sense where Sasuke might be. She heard the documents penned by Ozai's read aloud distantly, but it wasn't until they had taken Ursa and left the courtyard that Toph had finally been convinced that Sasuke might not have been there.

That document… couldn't be coincidence. That was Sasuke… I don't know how, but it was him. This was him.

Her mind had continued to race until they had reached the palace and gone inside. On instinct, she had reached into the structure to feel the weight of Soza somewhere above her as she had done countless times in her life.

But when she had felt only the slowly approaching steps of a familiar person, she had known for certain then. The steps of a person she could never have mistaken for someone else, but accompanied by the weight of someone much smaller, an eleven-year-old girl say.

And then, there he had been. Just like that.

Not dead. Alive. Alive and with us.

The relief and happiness had flooded Toph with a miraculous and almost suffocating aura as she had felt everyone around her react similarly, gasps, bodies stiffening, and otherwise. She had started to turn towards him as she had felt Azula run to him and begin apologizing rapidly and quietly; Toph had remembered how she had so aggressively tried to drill through Azula's thick skull the importance of an apology to a person you had wronged in regard to Ty Lee, and found herself wondering if that had rubbed off on her enough that she had realized just what she had done to Sasuke. Toph had felt and listened to that moment as it happened, somehow waiting for something she hadn't even truly considered.

Then, Katara. Then, Ursa.

And Toph had known then what she had been hoping for.

She couldn't help but feel disgusted with herself as she listened to Ursa's sobs and wails resound off the walls of the palace. But Toph couldn't have stopped herself from feeling how she did then, as she felt the two of them pressed against one another, as she felt Ursa's intense and emotional grip on Sasuke as well as his tender caresses against her back and neck.

Toph knew then that she had been hoping that she would be able to be the one to run into his arms. That she might be the one that he would hold like that, that she would be able to cry while she held onto him too.

And as she knew for certain that she could sense a jerk from Ursa's belly, she knew how much she wished she could just trade places with the older woman. She hated herself for the jealousy, but she couldn't help it. For weeks, she had suppressed her emotions towards Sasuke being with another woman, and for the past several days, she had shut herself in a room up above Jin's teashop, trying to convince herself that this was finally it. Sasuke was gone and she needed to come to terms with that.

But he's not gone. He's alive. He came back.

How he had performed such a feat didn't matter. Because just then, he was in the arms of another woman, and Toph didn't need to see his face or hear his voice to know how happy he was to be holding Ursa back. For all it mattered to Toph right now, he may still as well have been dead. He was standing just before her, and yet he couldn't have been more far away.

It's not fair.

A childish, foolish thought, but Toph couldn't help but think it over and over again. Ursa hadn't waited over a decade with the certain belief that she would see Sasuke again. Ursa hadn't felt her life changed so much when she met Sasuke as a child. Ursa didn't know the strength and stability that Sasuke's presence had brought to that child who had done such a job of hiding her fear of war and death behind a cocky and abrasive attitude.

Ursa had no idea how many nights this stupid blind girl had drifted off to sleep imagining herself lying with Sasuke, their child between them.

Toph knew she could never hate Ursa for who she was, but she knew that not a day in her life was ever going to pass where she didn't resent the older woman for what she had taken from her. Knowingly or otherwise, it didn't matter.

I needed him… and I have him back. But… to have him the way that you do… I'd give anything.

She thought about turning away as the tears burned down her cheeks, but decided against it. If anyone saw her, they would surely think she was shedding them over the moment itself, at having Sasuke returned to their lives and to know that Ursa wouldn't raise the child growing within her without a father.

No one would have any idea just how badly Toph was hurting just then, and why.

---

AN: Last chapter next week :)