The only thing Mai could register at first was the pain. It started in her head and spidered down her body, through her arms and wrists, down to the soles of her feet. She groaned and shifted, trying to make sense of the weight that was holding her down.
"Oh good, you're awake." The voice was far too calm, and it made the whole situation feel that much weirder. The fog in her mind began to clear, and she cracked an eye open, grateful (for the moment) that wherever she was was dimly lit and she didn't have to worry about being blinded.
"I'm awake," Mai echoed. "Unfortunately." Her eyes adjusted to the low light and she became aware that her inability to move was not just due to her dulled brain, but because her hands and feet were bound. She was sitting upright and could see her ankles, tightly wrapped in a truly excessive amount of rope. Her hands were painfully tied up behind her, and as she experimentally moved her shoulders she realized that she was actually tied to another person. This person was the one who had spoken, but Mai couldn't quite place her voice yet.
"Are you okay?" the mystery woman inquired. She was in a similar position to Mai, and they had been placed back to back with their hands wrapped together. Mai craned her neck behind her as far as she could and caught a flash of dark skin and long, curly hair.
"Katara?" she rasped, her throat full of sand.
"Yes, it's me. Are you okay?"
"I think so." Mai took stock of her body; other than a general, overall ache, she seemed fine. Definitely no broken bones. "What's going on?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say we've been kidnapped," Katara replied dryly.
Even though the other woman wouldn't be able to see it, Mai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no kidding." Her vision slowly cleared and she was able to scan their surroundings. They were in a large metal cube, the only light coming from a row of holes drilled near the ceiling. It was a shipping container, Mai realized, one of hundreds that were stored in the warehouse district. If someone were looking for them, they would be searching a long, long time.
"Do you remember anything?" Katara broke through Mai's reverie.
Mai frowned, racking her still-cloudy mind for her most recent memories. "Not really. I was in the kitchen, and Aang had left to meet with you. I think I heard the window breaking. But that's it."
Katara sighed. "My memory is about the same. We must have been drugged."
"Shit. Can you bend?"
She could feel Katara's fingers wiggling against her hands. "No, not tied up like this."
Mai fought back the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. It wouldn't do either of them any good. She tested the rope around her wrists, pulling and twisting her arms to see if she could stretch it out and escape. But the rope was too thick, wrapped too many times around her, and had no give.
They were well and truly fucked.
The scrape of a key against the rusty metal of the lock got both of their attention. Mai's instinct to panic only grew when the unmistakable form of the Yuyan archer stepped through the door. Aiya's face was expressionless as she appraised the captives, roughly shoving them around to check their bindings. She put one callused hand against Mai's forehead, tilting her head back and intently studying her eyes. Mai's breath caught when the hand moved to her neck, but Aiya simply pressed a finger to the hollow of her throat. Perplexed, Mai eventually realized that the archer was checking to see if she had recovered from the drugs used to incapacitate her.
Apparently satisfied with Mai's recovery, Aiya moved to do the same inspection of Katara. The waterbender was a lot more vocal than Mai had been, loudly demanding that Aiya either let them go or explain herself. When Aiya moved her hand to check Katara's pulse, Mai's body was yanked back as Katara lunged forward, her teeth snapping as she bit down on empty air. Aiya had jerked her hand out of the way at the last minute, then casually backhanded Katara across the face. Mai winced at the sound, and at the resulting thunk of Katara's head clanging against her own. She couldn't help but admire the Fire Lady's audacity, though she wished that it wasn't putting both of their lives in danger.
Luckily, it appeared that they were more valuable alive, for now. Aiya didn't retaliate further, only circled the pair once, a dismissive sneer on her face. Something about that look irritated Mai enough that she finally spoke up.
"It's not going to work." Aiya tilted her head, clearly not expecting further commentary. "Whatever you think taking us is going to do, it's not going to work. The Fire Lord cares about his nation, he's not going to surrender it to a bunch of lowly criminals."
Aiya leaned down, her tattooed face only inches from Mai's. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and so intense that Mai was sure they were burning holes in her skin.
"Good." Aiya's voice was lighter than Mai would have expected. "I look forward to killing you."
The resulting stillness after Aiya left was torturous. It took a while before Mai could breathe again, sure that the archer would change her mind and return with a vengeance.
"Are you okay?" Mai was startled that Katara would ask that question first, since she wasn't the one who had been hit.
"I'm fine. Been better." Apparently, even in the face of certain death, Mai still found the time to try to be funny. "What about you? That sounded like it hurt."
Katara huffed out a single, pained laugh. "I'm fine, that was nothing." Mai felt Katara twist behind her, as though she were trying to look over her shoulder. "You can't possibly believe that Zuko would leave us here to keep his crown."
"No, that was a bluff. He's absolutely going to do whatever they tell him to do to get you back." Mai was a little surprised that none of the bitterness that had lingered over her for the past five years was in her voice. Maybe she had finally had enough time to get over it, or maybe her brain was willing to let it go to fret over more pressing concerns. It was possible that her sleeping with Katara's ex the day before had a little something to do with it too.
"Well, we better find a way to get out of here before it comes to that," Katara said practically, straightening her back and attempting to move her arms again. "I don't suppose you have any knives with you?"
Mai was about to say no, but she froze. Since she had broken up with Zuko and ceased being a target, she had given up on carrying knives with her everywhere. After getting tangled up in this Phoenix Authority coup, she had resumed arming herself, not wanting to be caught unawares. She had also gotten back into an old habit, which even Zuko had thought was a little paranoid.
The knives she had tucked away in her clothes that morning were gone; she had obviously been searched before she had been tied up. She managed to get the edge of her sleeve between her thumb and forefinger, and inched it between her fingertips until they encountered a hard, flat object sewn into the hem. She grinned.
"Actually…"
The air began to swirl ominously around the room. Aang stared at the arrow piercing the note on the dining table, fervently wishing that it would disappear with each blink. Instead, with his wrath focused on it, the arrow snapped in half. The shards of glass from the broken window rattled against the floor. He fought back the rage and fear that clawed up his throat, burdened by the knowledge that Mai would not let herself be taken without a fight.
Alive, that was.
A hand clamped over his wrist and he jumped. The gusts reacted with him, increasing in speed enough that the dining room chairs slid across the floor. Zuko steadily met his gaze, his firm grip grounding and steadying him. The wind died down, the suite feeling suffocatingly quiet in its absence.
"Are you alright?" Zuko asked, quietly. Palace guards were cautiously stepping into the room, unsure if they would be welcome. Aang caught the eye of a young woman, just barely old enough to be working, peeking in from the doorway, her eyes wide at the power Aang had unconsciously unleashed. He smiled reassuringly at her and she returned it, hesitant. Zuko was still holding onto him, pale and with concern etched into the lines of his face.
"I'm fine," Aang lied, turning the smile on his friend. Zuko was not as easily fooled as the guard, and his frown deepened. "They'll be okay," he added, his instincts prompting him to try to assuage Zuko's fear, even though they both knew that they had no way of knowing that.
Aang finally made his way over to the hateful note, still secured to the table. He viciously ripped out the remains of the arrow, sure that it was intended to taunt him; there hadn't been an arrow in Zuko's room. He fidgeted with the rolled-up parchment, loathe to read it and confirm his worst fears. Zuko gently plucked it from his hand and unfurled it, his eyes flickering back and forth as he read.
"She's alive," he said, and Aang's shoulders sagged in relief. "They both are."
Zuko started to elaborate, but was distracted by a huddle of four guards circled around something on the floor. They straightened and separated at his approach, allowing the Fire Lord and the Avatar to see what they were looking at. It was a small wooden dart, its trailing edge decorated with a tuft of red feathers. Zuko stretched one hand out to pick it up, eliciting shouts of alarm from the guards. He froze, his fingers still twitching with his willful inclination to touch everything.
"I wouldn't, my lord," one guard spoke up, sounding apologetic. "It's likely poisoned." Aang nodded his head in understanding. Neither Katara nor Mai would be easily beaten in a fight, but if someone broke the window and drugged them before they had a chance to react...
Information began to trickle from various palace employees who were doggedly working to piece together what had happened. Aang and Zuko migrated to the royal chambers, evidence piling up on the living room table. There were the two notes, the arrow that had been left in Aang's room, and a scrap of black fabric that had gotten caught on one of the broken windows. Another dart had been found in Zuko and Katara's room, and a healer had confirmed that it was coated in a drug that would quickly incapacitate its victim. It appeared to have been a coordinated effort by a small team of attackers. The palace guards outside had been knocked out by the darts as well, and were now in the infirmary. Katara and Mai were taken simultaneously, by someone who had broken the window and dosed them in only a few seconds, before disappearing with their targets. Zuko's hands were clenched tightly in the fabric of his heavy robes, his knuckles white. Aang was unable to sit still, roaming throughout Zuko's quarters and out into the hallway, hoping against hope that someone had seen something that would help them find the missing women. It was a futile hope; somehow, they had just disappeared into thin air.
As he passed by the table, Aang picked up the notes that the kidnapper's had left and reread them, though by this point he could probably recite their contents from memory. The Phoenix Authority had taken the "traitors" (their words) and would only return them if Zuko abdicated the throne and he and Aang agreed to leave the Fire Nation forever. If they did so, the women would be returned unharmed, and the four of them would be allowed to leave Caldera City alive. He had set a time to meet Zuko and Aang down the main street in front of the palace to share their decision, and insisted that they show up alone. Daichi's pompous, formal attempt at civility made Aang's stomach curl; behind his polite words was the implicit threat that if Zuko and Aang did not agree to his terms, they would never see Katara and Mai again.
"We need a plan."
Zuko groaned, his head now in his hands. "We don't have time for a plan. Daichi wants us to decide—"
"By noon, I know," Aang finished. "We have an hour and a half to decide the entire fate of the Fire Nation."
"We've sent out hawks to the rest of the council, but they'll never be able to get here in time to come up with a strategy," Zuko said helplessly. "There's not enough time."
Aang collapsed in a chair next to Zuko, the energy suddenly drained from him. "I was there," he murmured, more to himself than to Zuko. "I was there, in the room, minutes before it happened." That morning, which seemed like it happened days instead of hours ago, replayed itself in his mind. Waking up with Mai cradled in his arms, being able to touch and kiss her the way he'd wanted to for weeks. Her doing everything in her power to keep him there, with her.
Him leaving anyway.
"Me too," Zuko replied hollowly, unaware of Aang's introspective guilt. "We were here, and I was impatient to get started, and Katara told me to go to work without her." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, flames wavering around his lips when he did so. "And Mai...Agni, she's already been through so much because of me."
Aang cleared his throat. "I think Mai is my fault," he confessed. Either because he didn't pick up on the implication or because he was too worried to care, Zuko didn't ask for Aang to explain himself. "They'll be okay," he changed the subject, clasping Zuko around his shoulder in a half-hug. "Daichi needs them alive to get to us, and they are not going to make it easy to keep them locked up. I mean, how many times has Katara broken out of prison?" Zuko's mouth unwillingly quirked into a smile, the way Aang knew it would. "I guarantee, they're working on an escape plan as we speak."
It had only taken a second to cut a hole in the fabric of Mai's sleeve with the small razor she had hidden in it. Nobody was ever allowed to call her paranoid again, she decided, about sewing the nearly-invisible blades into her clothing. She had gotten into the habit when she was living at the palace the first time with Zuko, aware that she was known for her knife throwing and keen to have at least a few secret tricks (literally) up her sleeve. The razor was right where she had placed it a month ago, obviously undetected by her kidnappers. She was now working to slice through the rope binding her and Katara's hands together. It was slow going, the blade was difficult to grip, and she was taking extra care to avoid all of their fingers. Katara had tried to strike up a conversation a few times, but Mai was not prone to idle chatter at the best of times, let alone when she was concentrating on something. The waterbender had lapsed into silence, but it was clear that she was getting fidgety.
"What's going on with you and Aang?"
Mai jolted at the question, almost dropping the razor. The answer she had always given before, nothing, sprang to her lips, but that certainly wasn't true anymore. Something about the situation, either the fear of being held hostage or the pounding in her head from the aftereffects of the drugs, made her answer honestly. "I don't know."
Katara stiffened. "You don't know? Did something happen?"
"Kind of."
"Something bad?"
"No."
"Something good?"
"I think so."
"Did you guys kiss?"
Silence.
"More than kiss?"
More silence.
"Did you…no." Katara twisted as far as she could to look at Mai, enough that Mai could see her incredulous grin. "Did you sleep together?"
"Stop moving, you're going to make me lose my spot and I'll have to start over."
"Mai."
"I'm concentrating."
"Mai!"
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
"Yes!" Katara crowed, followed by muttering that sounded suspiciously like "Toph owes me money."
"What was that?" Mai asked tersely.
"Nothing," Katara said quickly. "I'm happy for you guys though."
"You don't sound surprised."
"I'm not, you two weren't really subtle."
Mai's ears burned with the realization that the entire palace had probably been watching her moon over Aang for the past few months. "Oh."
Perhaps sensing Mai's embarrassment, Katara tried to reassure her. "I mean, it's not a bad thing! I think it's cute. Aang's been in love with you for ages—"
"What?" Mai's hand slipped and she nicked the tip of her finger with the razor. She winced as blood began to seep out of the scratch, adjusting her grip on the now-slippery metal blade.
The tense quiet from Katara only made Mai more nervous. "Did...he not tell you?"
"Tell me what? That he's in love with me?"
"Well, yeah. But he...and the two of you…" Mai could practically see Katara's furrowed brow, trying to work through the information she was suddenly being given. "Did you guys not talk?"
If Mai thought she was blushing before, she was on fire now. "Not really."
Katara tilted her head back, and it thumped painfully against the back of Mai's skull. "I'm confused."
Mai wondered which of her crimes she was being punished for, to be kidnapped and tied to her boyfriend's ex, having to explain to her how they hooked up. "We were sparring in the gym yesterday, and I pinned him down, and one thing kind of led to another. There wasn't a lot of talking."
"The gym?"
Mai bristled at her disapproving tone. "I don't really need your judgement right now."
"Okay, I'm not judging, I'm just processing. Which gym?"
"Does it matter?"
"I mean, it was in the palace, right? So it is technically my gym."
"You know—"
"And other people use those gyms, at the very least I'll need to have it sanitized—"
"Agni, we didn't—"
"The palace has literally dozens of private rooms, I just don't understand—"
"It wasn't a conscious decision, trust me—"
"Did you guys at least lock the door? He's always been terrible with that—"
"Stop it!" Mai shouted, loud enough that it echoed around the metal walls of their prison. Taking a deep breath, she continued through gritted teeth. "Maybe we don't talk for a while."
Katara descended into sulky silence, which Mai vastly preferred to her talking. She savagely resumed hacking at the rope, somewhat less concerned about cutting Katara than she had been before. She scolded herself for letting Katara's words affect her; the waterbender had never really liked her, and Mai had never blamed her for it. Mai was tolerated in their lives for Zuko's sake, and more recently for Aang's. It was her own fault for telling the truth about Aang, why that would be Katara's business was beyond her, unless Katara wanted them both—
"I'm sorry." The apology cut through Mai's inner turmoil, dragging her back into the present moment. Which was a shame, because the present moment was still pretty terrible. "You're right, I was being judgmental." Katara sighed. "Look, I know you hate me—"
"I don't hate you," Mai interrupted, startled.
"You don't?" Katara asked, equally startled.
"No, of course not. Why would I hate you?" Katara didn't respond, and Mai sighed in frustration. "What, Zuko? You think I'm still hung up on Zuko?"
"Yes. No. Maybe," Katara floundered. "I don't know, maybe not in love with him, but you've always been cold to me, even when I've tried to reach out and connect with you."
"I'm cold to everyone."
"You know what I mean."
Mai did know what she meant. "It's not you, it's never been you." She paused to collect her thoughts. "I have a lot of bad memories associated with that palace. And I needed time to recover and heal and not just be Zuko's ex-girlfriend, and he didn't give me that time."
"He just wanted to make sure that you guys still had a good relationship."
"I know, but still. I needed to be mad at him, and I couldn't do that when he was suffocating me with his guilt."
"I guess I understand," Katara hummed, dropping her head forward. "I suppose I did the same thing to Aang, right?"
Mai hummed in amusement. "Yeah."
"Shit."
"Honestly, I've always thought you hated me."
"What? No! I was maybe a little jealous."
"Jealous? Of me?"
"Um, yeah. Zuko adores you, he talks about you all the time. I spent a year thinking he was going to dump me to be with you again."
"He talked about his ex-girlfriend to his current girlfriend? What an idiot."
"I know!"
The two women laughed, the sound entirely at odds with the bleakness of their situation.
"Well, I don't hate you."
"I don't hate you either."
Mai hesitated, but she doubted they would ever have a moment of brutal honesty like this again. Besides, she reasoned, there was a very good chance they wouldn't survive the day; no reason to go out with things left unsaid. "If anything, I'm grateful to you. You make Zuko happy, and that's all I've ever wanted for him."
"Thank you." She could hear the smile in Katara's voice. "And I am glad about you and Aang. He's lucky to have you."
"Thanks." Mai's hands stilled. "I don't know what to do, though."
"Hmm?"
"With Aang. Once all this is over with, he's going to leave. I don't want to sit around waiting for him."
"Spirits, how are two of the smartest people I know so clueless?"
"Hey!"
"When he leaves, go with him. What's keeping you here in the city?"
Mai wanted to argue but she couldn't, because Katara was right and she was very, very stupid. She had nothing truly holding her in Caldera City. Zuko and the palace were fine without her, neither her family nor her job really needed her. She thought about flying on Appa and seeing the world shrink below her. She entertained a fantasy about the future, in the sky bison's saddle with Aang, far from the Fire Nation, watching the stars glide by above her. She saw another vision of herself growing old, alone, and bitter in Caldera City. She knew which one she wanted.
"Maybe I am also an idiot."
"That's okay, Aang has that effect on people. You should see when him and my brother get together."
There was just one more thing. "Did you mean what you said before?"
"About what?"
"Aang being...in love with me?"
"Nope, I'm not saying another word until you bust us out of here." Mai groaned at Katara's smug tone, having forgotten how truly insufferable she could be.
"Come on!"
"Chop chop! If Zuko gives anything up because we took too long to escape I'm going to be furious."
Mai grumbled under her breath, but she redoubled her efforts to cut through the bindings around their hands. With her newfound focus, the rope finally snapped. They gave matching sighs of relief, pulling their arms in front of them and massaging the rope burns that circled their wrists. It was a few minutes before Mai could really feel her hands enough to untie her feet, but she determinedly pulled herself up on legs still wobbly from the sedative. Katara was doing the same thing, though she was smart enough to brace herself against a wall. Mai used her newfound mobility to remove the other razors she had sewn into her clothes, tucking them into a pocket along with the bloody one she had used to free them. They weren't the best for throwing, but they would serve until she was able to help herself to some weapons from Daichi's goons.
"Ready?" Katara had moved to stand by the door, a dangerous glint in her eyes. One side of her face was beginning to swell up from Aiya's slap, and it made her look even more manic and terrifying. Something in her expression told Mai to step behind her, out of her way. Mai nodded, and Katara swirled her arms gracefully in front of her. The skin on Mai's face and hands pulled tight as all the moisture was sucked out of the air, drawn into a ball of water between Katara's hands. She flashed a feral grin at Mai. "Let's get out of here."
They still had no real plan, but they also didn't have a choice. The concept of abandoning Katara and Mai to their fate never even crossed their minds. And so, with little else to go on than finding out where the women were and trying to talk Daichi out of completing the coup, Aang and Zuko walked out the front gate of the palace. A battalion of guards followed and lined up at the gate, but Aang and Zuko would be meeting Daichi alone. Ideas had been tossed around about having some of the guards accompany them in secret, but Zuko had stood firm that they would go unaccompanied. He didn't want to risk them being found out and having Katara suffer for it. Aang had agreed wholeheartedly, assuring the palace staff that him and the Fire Lord were more than capable of handling it themselves. Nobody was encouraged by this, but they were used to Zuko's stubbornness and relented.
Daichi was already at the meeting site, hands clasped behind his back, at the head of a dozen stone-faced supporters. Aang scanned the members of the Phoenix Authority, but he didn't recognize any of them. Most importantly, the Yuyan archer wasn't present. Aang could only assume that she was guarding Mai and Katara.
"Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang," Daichi addressed them, slightly inclining his head and speaking in a way that their formal titles sounded like insults. They stopped a few yards from the insurgents, refusing to return the greeting. Aang had his glider clutched in one hand, and Zuko had his twin dao blades strapped to his back. Dachi glanced over them, but said nothing about the weapons.
"I see we are completely forfeiting common courtesy today," Daichi drawled when it was clear that neither man would speak. "Very well then. Let me start by saying that the Fire Lady and your little friend with the knives are being held somewhere in the city, guarded closely by my second-in-command. She will kill them in one hour, unless I personally tell her otherwise."
Aang inwardly cursed, infuriated that the slimy man before him would put Katara and Mai's lives at risk to save his own neck.
"I want to see them," Zuko ordered. "I refuse to negotiate until I know that my wife is alive and well."
A slow, lazy smile spread across Daichi's face. "That's not how this works," he chided, clicking his tongue. "I swear, on my honor, they are currently alive and well. After an hour, I can no longer make that promise."
Zuko growled in frustration, but there was little they could do.
"I expect you want proof," Daichi continued, sounding amused, and held out his hands in front of him. In one was Katara's crown, a small golden flame that complemented the one in Zuko's topknot. In the other…
Aang's breath caught, for in his other hand were the blue obsidian earrings he had made for Mai's birthday. The ones she had been wearing when he said goodbye to her that morning.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice tight with anger. Daichi raised an eyebrow.
"I want to return the Fire Nation to its rightful glory," he answered. "I want Zuko to legally relinquish his throne to me, and for all of you to leave the Fire Nation forever."
"What makes you think we'll give in to your demands?" Zuko was half-shouting, his eyes still glued to the crown in Daichi's hand.
"Think of it like a test." Daichi's smooth, condescending tone was beginning to grate on Aang's nerves. "If your loyalty is to the Fire Nation first, you'll arrest or kill me. If your loyalty is to that Water Tribe whore, then you don't deserve to wear that crown."
"That's ridiculous," Zuko snarled, his hands flaring briefly into flames. "How does loving my wife make me unfit to be Fire Lord?" Aang winced, sourly marveling at how Daichi was able to perfectly nail all of Zuko's insecurities.
Daichi's cool demeanor slipped for a moment as he sneered. "You are embarrassingly blinded by lust, to have allowed that interloper to become so involved in the inner workings of the Fire Nation." He shrugged carelessly. "Though truthfully, I don't care about her beyond using her to get your attention. I wouldn't have had to involve the Fire Lady, if you hadn't banned Agni Kais. I could have challenged you directly instead of going through all," Daichi waved one hand dismissively in the air. "this. It's nothing personal, you see. Your inefficacy has driven us to these extreme measures."
Aang was quickly tiring of these games, but something Daichi said struck a chord. "Why take Mai then?" he asked. "What does she have to do with any of this?"
Daichi shrugged. "I'll admit, that one was a bit personal." His oily grin made Aang's blood run cold. "The two of you have made yourselves something of an...inconvenience, the past few months. Besides, we thought the matched set would provide a little more leverage." He tilted his head, his gaze challenging. "Which one are you here for?"
"Can't you see this for what it is?" Aang ignored the question and addressed the dozen or so people who were silently waiting behind Daichi. "He doesn't care about the Fire Nation, he just wants all that power for himself. I guarantee, the only one who will benefit from Daichi being the Fire Lord is Daichi."
Aang hadn't been hoping for much from his desperate plea, but even so it was disheartening that not a single person in the line even exchanged a doubting glance. His half-baked plan to turn the members of the Phoenix Authority against each other had amounted to nothing.
"I expected so little, but that was pitiful," Daichi scoffed. "Every member of the Phoenix Authority has a place in the new Fire Nation to restore it to its former glory. What would you know of loyalty to a nation, Avatar?" The words hit Aang like a physical blow to the chest. "You think squandering your time gallivanting across the world interfering in every nation's business brings balance to the world? Pathetic."
Before Aang could speak, Zuko interrupted. "Aang has done more to bring honor and justice to the Fire Nation in ten years than you could do in one hundred!" he thundered. "Regardless of what happens here today, you will never be able to undo that. The people of the Fire Nation have learned from our past mistakes."
"I guess we'll see," Daichi sighed, as though he were growing bored. "Have you made a decision yet? Your lovely ladies are running out of time, it would be a shame if something happened to them due to your pointless posturing."
Aang and Zuko looked to each other with matching, panicked expressions. They were no closer to changing the course of the coup, and the kidnapped women were rapidly running out of time. Handing control of the Fire Nation over to this egomaniac was unacceptable, but so was leaving Katara and Mai in his hands.
An explosion caused everyone to duck, and flashes of red and blue lit up the rapidly darkening sky. Aang frantically cast about for the new threat, anxious about whatever superweapon Daichi had snuck in to use against them. But every member of the Phoenix Authority looked as surprised as Aang, and they were all looking in the same direction. Aang followed their line of sight to the edge of Caldera City. Over the rim of the dormant volcano, igniting and shrieking as they took flight every second, were...
"Fireworks," Aang murmured, captivated by the display. The fireworks were being set off in quick succession, casting a beautiful multi-colored show over the city. Daichi was pale as milk, his upper lip quivering. Several of his men took off, sprinting in the direction of the fireworks.
"It's them," Zuko sounded awed, clutching Aang's arm in an iron grip. "Katara and Mai, they escaped. It has to be them."
Daichi took a step back as both Aang and Zuko turned their undivided attention back on him. Zuko let go of Aang to pull the dao swords off his back, allowing fire to hiss and sizzle along the blades.
"I think," Aang said evenly, a piercingly cold wind beginning to whip along the cobblestone streets, swirling fallen leaves into mini tornados and whipping the edges of their clothing. "You just lost your leverage."
