Katara could feel her heartbeats batting through her chest as she took the center of the stage, not having recovered from that unexpected rush of an ending that Aang had decided to pull with On Ji. Her mind was racing as she stood there, watching Aang scurry off behind the curtain but giving her one last reassuring smile before the Presidential candidate finally took the stage for her speech.
People were still applauding as she had walked to the center, the trail of her water-tribe gown feeling so much heavier than she anticipated. After she had finally made it, she watched all the members of the cast show up behind her on stage in their full-fledged costumes, standing behind her for the curtain call with so much love and support. Before she'd begun to speak, she clapped for Haru way up in the lighting nest... and he gave her a 'thumbs up.'
"My– my fellow classmates and friends of Praying Mantis High... I wanted to thank you all for attending the Drama Club's production of The Tale of Omashu."
She had no idea where Aang and the other airbenders had run off to... but she had a feeling this was meant to be. Katara knew she needed to stand her ground alone, and tell the school what she personally felt about her Student Council mission for Praying Mantis High.
Slowly, she made a bold and very determined grin to the audience as they quieted down, and her heartbeats returned to normal upon seeing familiar faces. She saw the school counselor Iroh, sitting loyally next to the Praying Mantis principal himself, Avatar Roku. She located the very supportive-but-critical faces of her Gran-Gran and Pakku sitting lovingly side by side... and her eyes almost watered at the sight of her smiling father... who had gone out of his way at work in order to make it to his daughter's speech.
"Um..." her voice stumbled slightly, forgetting the next thing she was supposed to say. All these listening ears were almost becoming too much for her. "As you may have noticed, our production of Omashu was slightly altered, because we wanted to incorporate the importance of... of diversity and appreciation of cultural... um, differences."
She took a small breath, wondering how much easier it could've been to have the airbenders here and give her that motivation to speak more strongly. But Toph was the one who tugged on her robe sleeve slightly from behind, as if saying 'get with the program already!' without moving her mouth. Katara frowned, bit her lip and looked back out at the audience who was already starting to mumble amongst themselves.
"Everyone! Please understand... I know this is going to sound very cruel and demeaning about the Fire Nation, but I honestly don't mean it that way. The Fire Nation has indirectly dominated Praying Mantis High since the day I came to this school, and I think it's time for change."
Those words definitely brought some attention, especially to Avatar Roku himself, who moved himself more upright in his seat for Katara's full attention.
Zuko barely felt his own legs running painstakingly towards his sister, losing the passage of time as each second seemed to last longer and longer... with every strand of white light that extended from Azula's glowing presence.
The strands were no longer being aimed at him... but rather, it seemed that Azula had surrendered control of them, and Zuko saw his sister curled up like a child within that very glow.
It caught him off-guard, and Zuko almost didn't see the giant tentacle of light pass dangerously close to his face -- the scarred side of this face.
And while he ran among this catastrophic danger... the memories caught up with him.
He remembered that evening when he'd confronted her about stealing... confronting her about taking their father's old calligraphy pen from his closet, knowing that it was the only heirloom he'd given to the boy before his disappearance.
And that day had not been a good one for Azula... as it had been her last day of summer before another year at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls... and once again, Ty Lee and Mai had not written a single letter to her. Zuko knew how delicate the subject matter was to her, at the vulnerable age of eleven, but the boy had had enough of her sister's stealing... of her breaking the rules only for the sake of being recognized.
Zuko had screamed at her, demanding that she give back his calligraphy pen while she sat alone near the royal fireplace. She had been there, hugging her knees and brooding, refusing to look at her older brother in the face while a certain pen was clipped across her topknotted hair.
She had told him to go fuck himself... and Zuko's thirteen-year-old mouth quivered in rage.
He remembered saying things to her as she sat unmovably... terrible, twisted things... claiming it was no wonder she didn't have any friends - being the overbearing little liar and thief that she was - that the only reason she was sent away to school was because Mom was tired of dealing with her bullshit. And he remembered - sometimes Zuko wished he could've stopped time completely, for doing so – his voice saying "If you're so obsessed over Dad leaving... why don't you go off and FIND him? It's not like anybody'll care if you're gone."
And that was when Azula -- without a moment's warning -- had launched the fire-blast to her brother's face.
Nothing had ever been the same between them.
His breath shook at those memories, now seeing his sister aglow with such a deadly force. And now with every attempt Zuko did to bring himself closer to her form, it seemed to cast a brighter sense on her... as if Azula had peacefully set herself on fire... but without a sign of burns following. And the boy jumped out of the tentacle-like reaches of Azula's light as it seemed to feed off of the very space the Shaolin arena withheld for it.
The boy had never been more afraid of light... of the very essence of his Fire-bending self.
Zuko eyes began to tear, finally concluding to summon his own golden fire and fight against sister's unmatchable life-force. He had never seen this light before... and still could not fathom that his own father and great-grandfather had used it on themselves. These pieces of information were all new to him, and they traveled along the young prince's mind while he cried out to Azula... hoping that she could still hear him.
"We all know that our founding Principal, Avatar Roku, meant no disrespect when he created Praying Mantis High on the basis of bringing all of our various cultures together."
Katara continued to speak her mind, gradually remembering the things she had written on paper in bits and pieces... but letting it flow smoothly and honestly to the people who listened. Avatar Roku seemed to be the most intent, with the vice principal Zhao sitting next to him with the most annoyed gaze.
"His intentions were good; he wanted to let people from different backgrounds interact with each other in the same place without any prejudice," Katara felt her teeth click in a pause. "It's the reason my Dad took me and my brother into Praying Mantis in the first place; he thought it would be a great opportunity for us to meet kids outside of our Southern Water Tribe."
Sokka raised a brow at the mentioning of himself, remembering that first day he'd walked into a classroom full of Earth Kingdom citizens and lovely little girls in full Kyoshi make-up. He made a lingering grin to Suki as they stood on-stage, realizing that if it hadn't been for this school... they never would've met. Slow he wrapped an arm behind Suki's back, blushing.
"I'm really certain that I speak for many of us in the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and small-but-still-significant Air Temples... that we in this school have been culturally-harassed by the Fire Nation for a very long time. Although the school itself offers many activities that favor each Nation - benders and non-benders alike - it doesn't excuse the lack of respect many of us have had to go through. We've been bullied about our heritage, been told to accept one nation's rules and favor their own customs... and because of that, many kids have absentmindedly hidden their strengths and cultural pride at school in order to survive humiliation."
Some voices in the audience began to turn heads towards Avatar Roku (who still looked unblinkingly at Katara), a few people murmuring things and staring blankly at the cast-members who stood on the stage.
"I know it's hard to accept," Katara finally felt at ease in the spotlight, looking out to her classmates and teachers, "and I don't mean to offend anyone in the Fire Nation. As a matter of fact, I've had the chance to get to know the Fire Nation this year more than ever... and not only did I learn to appreciate their culture, but I also found my best friend."
She felt her eyes begin to glimmer once again, hoping that Zuko was somewhere safe, coping with his sister in the best way he could. Her instincts said that that was where Aang and the others had run off to... knowing fully well that the Fire Nation prince needed support, and that it was the airbenders' duty to go to those in danger.
"And I want to speak for the Airbending community most of all, since they couldn't be here," Katara then brought up and searched for Zhao's face in the crowd. "The Airbenders are the smallest community this school has, but regardless... I've never met a prouder group of young people willing to make a difference in their school.
"Aang and On Ji – they played Oma and Shu - they were the ones who wanted to show just how special their culture is this year... and they were the first ones to get bullied. They could've stepped down, but instead they kept our school safe from further bullying while Avatar Roku was gone. Aang taught the airbenders how to be more proud of their abilities. I can tell you right now - because I'm sure Aang would want me to do so - he is the Avatar-in-Training. He's one of the bravest kids I've ever met, and after what I've seen him do... I know he's going to change the world."
It was then that Avatar Roku made his first sudden movement. A smile showed up on his face.
"I know this might be a little intimidating to hear, but I don't want anyone to be upset or offended after tonight." Katara stepped forward a little, flexing her fingers to conclude her speech. "The reason I'm running for Student Class President is to get rid of all these prejudices, and hope that we can rebuild Praying Mantis with its initial mission: to bring Unity through Diversity."
Some people turned heads the moment Bumi snorted a spontaneous "WooHoo!" from the very back of the audience. A few cast members snickered, and Toph just burst out laughing, which strangely enough made Katara smile and feel better about her final statement.
"I'm not asking for your votes tonight... I just want you all to have an open mind and hear what everyone standing up here with me has to say about their experience at Praying Mantis School."
And as Katara stepped back to join the row of cast members behind her, another small applause was initiated from the audience, with Chief Hakoda whistling supportively. And at the very right of the row, Jet coolly held a set of hooked swords over his back and walked to the front stage to tell his story.
"ZUKO!!!"
On Ji's voice echoed, not expecting to see the dark prince's form practically crawling away for dear life as she air-skated into the grand Shaolin arena.
Aang and Loung had flown in on his air glider over On Ji's head, and as a sudden strand of Azula's life-force made its way to the flying duo... Loung immediately air-blocked that intensive power with his hands, and pushed himself off the glider with the impact.
Loung landed safely on his toes (something Aang had told him to master before anything else) and Suganya, Brei An, and Xai ran swiftly past the entrance to huddle near him. They were all taken aback by the unusual sense of light coming through that place, almost hypnotized by the power that came in tentacles by one central orb.
It wasn't until Brei An gasped and pointed frighteningly to that orb that they all realized... Azula was inside there.
"Guys!" On Ji's voice tried to sound over the noisy beams of light that flew wildly all over the place. "Zuko's hurt. He's... he can't get up."
The little girl couldn't look down at Zuko directly... she was too busy air-shielding the nearby light that was incoming, and her brown eyes were almost welling up at the helplessness. Aang heard On Ji's plea as he landed with his air-glider gracefully, and just as quickly twirling it to block Azula's powerful light beams from hitting him.
It was much more powerful than he anticipated, almost taking him off-balance as he ran over to On Ji and Zuko among the darkness. Suganya led the others to the same spot, and for a few seconds, the airbenders huddled and air-shielded Zuko complete out of danger.
"What's wrong with him?" On Ji asked in concern as Suganya went down to feel the young man's pulse.
"He's breathing..." Suganya detected, trying to study the prince's groans "but he must've over-used his fire-bending at some point. Those fire-blasts are way too powerful for just one person to take on alone... what was he thinking?"
"They're not fire-blasts," Aang said as he turned over to watch the blinding light-strands touch the ceiling of the arena... as if fishing for a way out. "It's something stronger, and I don't think he'd expected her to be that powerful."
"How're we gonna get this kid out of here?" Xai began to send a stronger air-shield, fiercely against Azula's light as it approached the group. "These things are going all over the place!"
Aang stared at Azula, trying to look at that calm face that was sitting in suspended animation within the very core of the sporadic light. They had to wait it out, he thought. Surely she couldn't hold out that power for much longer.
"Xai... you're the strongest," Aang began to say loudly, stepping out and taking the buff airbender's place as the shielder. "Put Zuko over your shoulder and start walking towards the entrance. Use one hand to airshield; the rest of us will hold the light off until Azula stops."
Xai looked at the small leader questionably, but without saying a word, he picked up Zuko and placed his weight on one shoulder. As he started to take small steps away from the group, the others joined Aang in blocking the powerful light with all of their airbending strength. Brei An absentmindedly attempted to Speak to Azula as the girl's form continued to sit at a distance within her own light sphere... her hair disheveled, her eyes closed in such peace. The light did not seem to be getting any weaker by Suganya's stand point, and Loung was losing grip fast as another tentacle of Azula's life-force made it straight to his way. On Ji was breathing deeply to keep up, and Aang could already see signs of sweat in her bangs.
"This is crazy!" Xai shouted at Aang as he made his way out still, holding Zuko with one arm. "She's not gonna stop this thing until she's... she's gone. We've gotta fight her back."
"How?" Suganya pleaded in frustration back to Xai, conjuring the best air-shield she could manage from Azula's incoming light. More of the tentacles were heading their way, causing a grand brilliance of deadly light in one side of the arena. It was incredible how much sound the impact gave against the natural airbending shield.
On Ji turned her head over to see Zuko, as if wondering if his weak self would make it to Yugoda's clinic by the time this was over. This unfair Agni Kai had taken a lot out of this brave man... who'd once helped her deal with Hide's threatening antics way back in the woods. She wondered if any of the airbenders would make it out safely, hoping that these light blasts would not last very much longer.
But then something occurred to Aang; the fact that this supernaturally strong light was coming from an unfamiliar source in Azula.... a matter that was not completely from this world.
And Aang knew right then, that he was the only one who could get to her.
"Airbenders!" His silver eyes rose, and Suganya winced. "I need you all to spread out and circle around her. Hold out your hands and shield her life-force as much as you can. Remember to breathe... stay calm... and CONCENTRATE!"
"What're you doing?" Loung asked, frightened by the change of plan.
"I'm gonna try and get to her," Aang said calmly, but Brei An's eyes widened in response. "This light is her life-force; I can feel it. If I don't stop her from releasing it now, she might die. Maybe I can do it if I reach the Avatar State."
Suganya hesitated, thinning her eyes. "Aang, but--"
"Suganya, you're in charge now," the boy stated boldly as they all kept their air-shields intact. "Make sure everyone's keeping a steady grip on the air while I'm gone."
On Ji was about to say something else, but Aang started twirling his air-glider another direction to get out of their way.
"Be careful," the Kyoshi airbender managed, while she and the others began moving accordingly. Their feet swiftly sprinted towards different sides of the arena as their airbending arms worked diligently to encapsulate Azula's light.
The princess's life force extended throughout the dark space like white, graceful tentacles... and Aang saw the girl more clearly curled up in a fetal position within the very core of that sphere... completely losing herself to the power she had summoned. He now knew that every second was precious.
While Loung and Suganya tackled the great tentacles in front of them and moved quickly towards the right side of the darkness, On Ji kept herself stead on one corner... but almost jumped out of concentration as she felt Aang grip a hand on her shoulder.
She saw the spectacular, deadly life force of Azula's light reflect in his grey eyes.
"On Ji, I need you to lift me up right over that sphere before it gets any wilder."
The little girl's eyebrows rose. "But Aang, that's... I've NEVER lifted someone for that long--"
"Don't hesitate!" He kept his gripping voice to her, the corner of his eye watching the airbenders finally circle themselves around Azula and air-shielding her Passage of Agni into a remarkable sphere."Just trust me, okay?"
On Ji's eyes glimmered foolishly, her hair bangs moving from the intense wind being manipulated by her peers. She still didn't understand, right then, why this boy had insisted on helping this cruel young princess... but she wasn't about to question Aang. Not when every second in that dark Shaolin arena brought something closer to life or death.
Slowly, On Ji nodded, and Aang broke off into a brisk run to get himself ready for the lift.
Loung was gritting his teeth with endurance, his dreadlocks floundering... his skin feeling the intense heat of Azula's light as it fought the air-shield of all these airbenders combined. It was like watching a grand electrical sphere take life within the form of a young, helpless girl at its core... as if she were imprisoned there. He caught sight of Aang running towards the sphere, watching On Ji summon a grand series of wind-threads that took hold of his ankles.
Suganya caught sight of that too, lost for words.
On Ji kept her arms straight with open palms, her full concentration on Aang's feather-light body as it suspended in the air. In spite of all the noise and commotion that seemed to consume everyone's thoughts, Aang's face looked so calm and straightforward... and his arrow tattoos began to glow. His eyes then followed.
The airbenders barely recognized him, now.
Keep fighting her, guys... Aang's voice came to them in their thoughts... You're doing great. I'm almost there.
On Ji brought a stronger gust of wind towards the young boy while his Avatar State enveloped his whole self, almost making him heavier. She kept herself at balance while her airbending lifted Aang higher and higher with the small tornado around his feet. And the glowing boy was only focusing at the giant sphere of wild light ahead of him... as if he were being lured towards it blindly like a cricket-moth.
As if without any awareness of the danger.
But even through his overwhelming Avatar State, the boy felt safe under his fellow airbenders' locking power of that sphere. He still felt On Ji's strong air-lifts underneath his feet, enduring so much restraint to get him to the very top... where the Avatar needed to be.
Yes... he felt safe. He trusted them.
It was at the very moment he flew over the top of Azula's very powerful core, that Aang knew he had to concentrate as the Avatar Spirit more than he ever could. He felt the voice of Monk Gyatso telling him to not lose himself in this journey between the Human world and the Spirit World... that one false movement inside the Spirit on a human being would leave the Avatar stranded and lost, if he were not careful.
He heard Gyatso telling him to focus.. .to follow the voice or the image of whatever he needed to find... and to see his destination as the small speck of light at a never-ending tunnel of darkness. This was what he needed to do, in order to level with a troubled girl's mind and rescue her from the unthinkable, to prevent her Spirit from being destroyed.
And within his celestial sphere, hovering over Azula's powerful life force like a moth-fly, Aang remembered what he said to On Ji... immediately understanding the depth of responsibility ahead of him as the Avatar. He was supposed to take care of each living creature as if they were precious gifts, and not judging them by their past mistakes.
It was all a blessing and a curse... but in the end, he would not have wanted it any other way.
In a moment's breath, his glowing eyes taking in the overwhelming power of the girl's spirit, Aang dove into that core where Azula's body floated... and he felt himself falling into a pool of darkness and air.
A world he was already too familiar with.
He felt his limbs running up a stairwell in such a blur, as if his spiritual instincts were making the decision to run for him.
This wasn't a dream; it couldn't be. His senses were so clear - much more clear than he'd could ever remember in the real world. Was this really the Spirit World?
He kept running up that endless circular stairway, feeling the powerful energy from elsewhere seem to drain him of his own by invisible strings. Thin little vacuums of strings. All he could hear were the distant echoes of people... people he knew... speaking off as if to nothingness, as if to the very darkness itself.
"What's wrong with that child?"
"My dear... should I ever have the opportunity to become Fire Lord, I promise... you will play an outstanding role in my court."
"...Why don't you go off and FIND him? It's not like anybody'll care if you're gone."
"How could you do that to me? Those posters!... I... You... were a princess. I trusted you!"
"I'd gladly take you down myself, Azula, but since that will get me expelled..."
"AZULA, DON'T BURN THEM, PLEASE!"
"... I don't think anyone will care about what happens to you."
Aang kept hearing these people speak out into the nothingness that stood outside the stairwell, and he followed the steps, trying to look ahead to see if there was any sign of where his Avatar Spirit was telling him to go. This was an alternate reality... beyond what he could imagine the Spirit World to be.
Or perhaps, he thought, this wasn't the Spirit World at all.
Perhaps... this was only the Spirit of one person.
And suddenly, the boy eye's rose as he realized what he was looking for. The voices he heard along the glass-less windows as he ran became much more clear... as if they had been memories in full audio storage of someone's mind.
Her mind.
The voices became more understandable, louder in the very essence of his Avatar being as they crossed his mind. Aang felt himself drawing closer and closer to the person Azula had made herself become... understanding what had led her to cause such an action. Finally understanding why she wanted to take her own life.
With a few more stairs, breathlessly taking them one-by-one as if in a weightless dream... Aang finally made it to the top of the circular stairwell... to the landing of what looked like an ancient tower... with window carvings that looked remarkably like the ones he'd studied about the Fire Nation royal palace. And in the distance, looking out into an open window like a child but hunched over like an old woman... stood Azula.
At least, that's what Aang assumed her to be... watching her turn around swiftly at the presence of company, with so much hatred still lingering in her baggy, yet iconic golden-copper eyes. She wore her elegant Fire Nation robes, in the manner of Ms. Ursa did whenever she taught class and made them look less overbearing of weight. But Azula's face, as aged as it looked, did not seem at all elderly or weakened to fit the part. She just looked... sad. Betrayed. As if she had lived her entire life alone, looking out the window to find some sort of reason to her miserable passage. Her completely-gray hair held itself in the royal topknot, with a few reluctant strands hanging loosely at the sides of her face... longer than the usual bangs she had when Aang first saw her.
Aang did not need to second guess why Azula had appeared this way.
Indeed... this was the Azula she was leaving behind... the one who was supposed to live a long, meaningful life before passing onto the Spirit World.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, her worn voice sounding as gritty as sandpaper.
"Azula, you're making a mistake." Aang felt his natural voice coming back even in the Spiritual presence, slowly attempting to approach this alternate form of Azula. "Please... come back."
"Come back to WHAT?" the old woman challenged, the bitterness in her velvety voice too familiar for Aang to face without tears forming in his eyes. "To be humiliated? RIDICULED? Nobody will take me seriously anymore. Nobody wants me to come back."
"That's not true, Azula," Aang walked a bit closer, but the woman flinched defensively. "You just need to give people a chance... trust me. If you forgive yourself, they can forgive you, too. It doesn't have to end like this."
"You don't understand... I can't face them, anymore," she closed her eyes with rage. "I don't deserve forgiveness. I hate the person I've become."
"I almost did, too." Aang reasoned with pure honesty, reaching out a hand to see if she'd budge. "But let me tell you something: on my first day at Praying Mantis school, I saw a girl fire-bend with so much passion in her eyes. She looked like she had the entire world on her side just by doing something that she loved... and with that amount of determination... she could do anything she wanted with her life. I had a feeling she'd turn into something great."
Her brilliant-yet-aged copper eyes rose critically, almost in disbelief.
"Azula," Aang spoke serenely, his voice almost echoing around them. "You can't force people to think the same way you do, pretending like their lives and their ideas are not important. You're not going to gain anyone's trust by saying you're better than them. Nobody makes friends that way... and you don't have to pretend like you're strong enough alone."
This older Azula stared down at the young boy, her lower jaw quivering, and her eyes refusing to blink while tears began to well in her eyes.
"You stupid child... why do you want to help me?"
"Because no one deserves to be alone. Not even you."
And before he could even stop himself, or think about those copper eyes that stared so cunningly back at him... Aang threw his arms over Azula's shoulders and embraced her like a blanket. He couldn't even feel his own skin anymore... like his Avatar Spirit was ultimately enveloping around Azula's broken spirit with all the warmth it could muster.
She heard herself crying within that warmth, the tears streaming down her face and lingering at the edge of her jaw. Azula couldn't even recognize the arms that held her so tightly, and for a single moment she swore it must have been the voice of her father, telling her that "everything was going to be okay" in the softest echoes of her mind.
But as she finally let the overwhelming tears slide to open her eyes, and the blurry image came as a young boy with a blue mark... catching her to the ground as they fell back into the dark Shaolin arena and the brilliant light had fading completely. The airbenders gasped all around the space, running towards the fallen pair as Aang slowly regained himself and held a small fist up to fire-bend some light.
Azula was still shaking into regular consciousness, weeping, her jaw still shaking by the overwhelming amount of energy that had left her system. Before anyone else knew, a few more people had made it into the darkened arena... perhaps realizing just what had happened to the missing airbenders right after the OmaShu play had finished.
Katara had led a few people into the darkened arena, looking around to find the faces of her airbending friends and Zuko. When she noticed Xai carrying an injured Zuko at the entrance, she immediately took her water pouch to give him nourishment as Yugoda made it to help herself. Sokka and Suki ran over to the commotion, mesmerized as Aang held a weakened Azula tightly in the dim light of the Shaolin arena... like a man cradling a child to sleep.
Toph had run in to see what the fuss was about, and the vibrations she felt on the ground were intriguingly slow as she felt the Fire Nation princess in the arena. She didn't know whether to feel sorry for her, or relieved that she had barely gotten out of a fight alive.
The airbenders gathered around Azula, while many other faces came into the circle to help with the fallen princess. Aang recognized the face of Avatar Roku immediately among the dim light, with a face that said clearly, 'we're overdue for a long talk after this." Katara appeared in the circle, taking in her maternal instincts and embracing Aang at the shoulders in such relief... kissing him on the forehead.
"What happened?" She asked.
"I'll explain later," the boy said calmly, carefully holding on to Azula as she still kept her weakened self curled up, hugging Aang's frame.
More familiar faces showed up in the circle, and Azula embraced them all as her eyes slowly opened in sadness. She saw Aang right above her line of vision, holding the only resourceful light... and then, she saw the uncanny face of her mother... her ridiculous Uncle Iroh walking slowly near her side... followed by the faces of people she once despised so much she couldn't remember why.
And the soft sobs kept coming, hearing herself say "I'm sorry" in whimpers to everyone and yet no one at the same time. Aang brought Azula's limping, weakened body fully to the ground of the Shaolin arena, not taking his concern over her as he felt his Avatar State finally left him.
"Look; her hands!" Ty Lee's voice squeaked sadly from the back, and Katara noticed the damaged, burning color of the girl's skin. On Ji watched as the cheerleader came closer to Azula without the slightest hesitation, examining the wounds and wondering the depth of damage a supernatural power like the Passage of Agni had made on her.
Katara brought out some water from her pouch instinctively, exchanging a glance with Ms. Ursa right before she decided to give her healing abilities a try... since Nurse Yugoda was still helping Zuko near the entrance. But the vibrant glow of the healing water maintained itself under the girl's hand, as if nothing had occured.
As if Azula's hands weren't even wounded at all.
Katara winced, stopping the healing process as her hands came to her side.
"What is it?" Sokka asked, running to his sister in concern and support. Aang looked up immediately, and then to Azula's wrinkled hands.
It suddenly made sense to him.
"They're not burned." Katara exclaimed. "They're.... old...."
The Passage of Agni had taken life from Azula... from the hands that held the dagger towards the sky and surrendered her body to nothingness. What stayed behind were wrinkled hands of the old woman Aang had met along the journey of her Spirit... the woman Azula was supposed to become before death crossed her path.
Aang eyes teared up, realizing that he'd managed to save most of this young, beautiful and graceful girl.
A girl who, perhaps, just needed someone to look up to for an awfully long time.
"She's gonna be fine," Aang then said happily.
Hopefully.
A/N - Happy belated Mother's Day! I hope you liked this chapter... it took a lot out of me. ^^ Just to clarify, Azula is still Azula... except for her hands; they are now old and decrepit (which means she can't fire-bend that strongly anymore). I figured this was necessary for Azula to change, and try to make friends just by being herself. o_0 Hehehe. Anyway, I have just one chapter before the epilogue comes up... which involves the Year-End dance, of course! Thanks for being so patient with this. I can't believe it's almost over! --MM
