AN: I hope I can be forgiven for writing one of these every chapter, but I'd feel really remiss if I didn't tell all of you guys how much hearing your thoughts means to me. I haven't been this motivated to write in a long time, and aside from my love of these two universes, I really owe it all to you guys. This story probably not be happening without all of you awesome people.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: Midnight

As Aang took to the sky in a search that he almost hoped would turn up no results, his mind raced. He wanted very badly to talk to Sasuke, but there was a part of him that was still so entirely fearful of the young man that he felt Katara's warning was likely how he should approach the situation.

I can see that he's lost, though… just like… I used to be.

The thoughts were churning and overpowering, so as he lifted up towards the roof of clouds, it could perhaps be understandable why he failed to notice the six black shapes dropping out of the sky behind him, descending towards the temple.

The sky had grown dark by the time Sasuke had stopped running. The plains truly might have gone on forever and he found himself knee high in the waving blades of green, the gentle wind rustling them as he looked to the stars twinkling above him. The moon was out in force that evening, large and seeming as bright as the sun, illuminating him in his wide and vast surroundings. Something about how alone he felt was enough to calm his rampant nerves and with that, it gave him a chance to actually reflect on the emotions and thoughts, something that would have been impossible in the previous minutes.

The first thing that finally crashed down around him, forcing him to confront it, was Itachi. His brother's face and words continued to assail him as he jammed his eyes shut and dropped to his knees in the grass. No matter what Ozai had done, what he had brought about, it had been Sasuke and Sasuke alone who had taken the life of his own brother. It was something so significantly painful that for what could have been minutes, it blocked out all else. The agony came in waves, again and again, crashing over his heart until he didn't think he could bear it any longer.

Think… think about something else… anything else.

How had this come to return to his jumbled memory? Azula, that's right. She had known, somehow, impossibly, she had known. How could that have been? That she would know more about his past than he did? Sasuke wasn't sure, but when he had calmed down, he intended to find out. Whether or not he would be allowed, let alone welcome, back into the group's folds was besides the point. Azula knew something and she was going to have to spill it; all the damage he had dealt her would be absolutely trivial compared to what would become of her if she denied him these answers.

Another several blurred minutes passed before Sasuke realized he was still thinking about her.

She had proven to him more than he had expected, actually by quite a massive margin. Her ability to had landed a hit on him aside, her utter resilience in the face of his beating was genuinely shocking. The willpower that had forced her on, to keep from conceding was something that he found grudgingly familiar.

We might be more alike than I care to admit.

Sasuke groaned as these thoughts once again led back to Itachi. Just being able to remember his brother's name had been enough to usher in a collection of memories that came back in bits and pieces. He remembered Itachi poking him on the forehead in a sign of affection, he remembered how happy he had been with his older brother when they were young, he remembered… there was something else. His brother had undergone a terrible series of tribulations in order to protect their people and still Ozai and his cohorts and done away with them all anyway. And that culmination had been to bring brother against brother and Sasuke to emerge with Itachi's blood on his hands.

His fists tightened to numbness; there was still a great deal he didn't recall, but he knew enough now. Part of him didn't even want to remember anymore, this was more than sufficient in providing him with a path forward. Ozai would pay, and his Earth Nation conspirators would pay.

There was another noise that roused him from his thoughts that was displaced from the wind pulling gently at the grass, a gentle whoosh and the sound of something light landing behind him. From his knees, he looked back to see Aang standing several yards behind him with something like a glider in his hands. Sasuke looked away again, out into the deep indigo of the night.

"I suppose you're here to tell me I'm not welcome to return."

Aang didn't wait to reply. "No, actually. Sokka thought it was smart that we at least know where you are for the purposes of planning ahead. Katara would kill me if she knew I was talking to you, she specifically ordered me to not go anywhere near you."

Sasuke snorted softly, "Yeah, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a proper talking-to from her."

Walking up beside him and surprising Sasuke by sitting down beside him, relatively close, Aang said, "She's not so bad once you get to know her, she's just super protective."

Realizing he didn't mind Aang's presence alongside him, Sasuke let silence fall between them for a little while before asking, "How's Azula?"

He tried to sound as uncaring as he could, but it was impossible to not see Aang's curious expression directed towards him as he replied.

"She's okay. Katara patched her up good, she just needs rest now."

"And now you've come all this way to talk to me."

Propping his elbows on his knees from where he sat cross-legged, Aang put his chin heavily in his hands. "It would be impossible to try and convince anyone to try bringing you back for a chat right now. Everyone has… some pretty clear emotions towards you, I gotta say."

Sasuke shrugged. "I can't blame them. Though I have the feeling it could have been a lot worse than that."

Aang winced, "Don't repeat that to anyone."

He paused for a while before adding, "Everyone's just scared, I think. Of you and what you can do."

Sasuke looked to the boy.

"And you're not?"

Tilting his head from side to side, Aang seemed to consider this before shaking his head. "I guess not in the sense that everyone else does. You're scary, sure, but I assume that something happened while you were fighting Azula that really set you off. I could see it in your eyes. I don't think you really want to hurt any of us, you've just got a very clear endgame in mind, and you don't want anyone getting in your way. Katara and everyone probably sees that as dangerous, and I suppose that makes sense to me."

Growling, Sasuke looked up towards the moon as he snapped.

"She's being stupid. All that nonsense about a 'prophecy' and returning balance 'the right way' like there's no other options. For people who want to see Ozai go down, you people sure are uptight about how to actually go about it."

Silence came again before Aang said quietly. "You were right about me."

Sasuke looked over, and Aang elaborated, his eyes downcast and with a forlorn look on his face.

"I don't want to fight Ozai. I really would rather leave it to someone else. He has to be defeated, to be… killed. But everything I know, every personal belief I have would be violated if I killed him, but everyone talks about it like its just something that has to happen."

The resentment was very clear in his voice, and he looked all the way like a person who was worried about talking badly of his elders, but also desperately needed to.

"No one cares what I think. No one cares what I believe to be right. I'm just expected to do it."

Sasuke looked back ahead as he considered what Aang had said. "You're a kid. All of you are, but you seem more so than anyone, even Toph. Your innocence is impossible to not notice."

He turned his head up to the stars again, his voice turning bitter as Aang's plight echoed distantly of his own. "You're expected to follow through with what others believe to be the natural order of things because of what you are. People see you as both a person and a tool, something to achieve an goal, in this case, ending this war. You will be judged no matter what you choose and no matter what you feel. It's your duty to yourself to listen to your own heart and obey what it tells you, regardless of how that affects others."

Aang didn't reply for a moment, but when he did, it was almost enough to make Sasuke crack a small smile.

"You know, you can be pretty deep when you want to be."

Sasuke's amusement at Aang's remark quickly faded, however as the reality of his own situation returned to the forefront of his mind. He stood and straightened, trying to rationalize his own thoughts and feelings.

"I'm going to take down Ozai because he wiped out my people. I was forced into fighting and killing my own brother as the result of something I don't understand and don't remember. I have to take my questions directly to him and if Katara and whoever else are opposed to it, I'm afraid that's just going be something they have to deal with."

Aang's words were quiet again, but firm.

"If it comes to blows, I will protect them. Even if I feel I can sort of understand you, Sasuke, they're still my family."

For a moment, Sasuke felt an inward grimace at how Aang was so willing to stand by people who were being so brutally expectant of him before he shook his head. "I don't want it to come to that, and I will do all I can to avoid that scenario. But this is what needs to happen, for me. I can't expect them to understand and while I can't blame them, they need to stay out of my way."

Anger was searing at his insides now, a fervent reminder of not only what they thought of him, but how he had been treated.

"I know I'm a monster to you all. I understand why Katara is always in my face, always looking at me like I'm a bomb about to go off, and I'm okay with that. I'm not asking to be accepted, I'm just asking for you to let me go my own way, even if that conflicts with something you're all so stuck on believing."

He waited for Aang to tell him why he was wrong and why Ozai's defeat had to be at his hands. But the boy said nothing of the sort, simply remarked, "I don't think you're a monster."

Sasuke turned to stare at him. Aang was looking off a ways towards nothing in particular, but a sad smile was etched on his face.

"When I see you, I see Azula, actually. You're lonely, but you don't want to let anyone get close. You don't want to let anyone in because you're scared of loss. You're scared of being human and what that might mean. But I think you should listen to your own advice and follow your heart, because it sounds more like you're just feeding into these preconceived ideas of purpose like I am. What with 'having' to kill Ozai and everything."

Aang hopped to his feet and looked over at Sasuke, still looking sad, but the sympathy Sasuke also saw was far more than he had since received from any of the others.

"If you have to leave, then so be it. But if it means anything, I do understand what you're trying to do."

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of night air before his staff became a glider once more. "I spend every day wishing I could just take my own path like you say, and not be strung along as though nothing I believe or feel matters."

Just before he took off into the sky and became one with the dark of the night, he looked back at last time.

"I'm glad I got to meet you, Sasuke."

And wish another soft whoosh, he was gone just as quickly as he had come. Sasuke didn't move from where he was standing as Aang's words replayed in his head over and over again. The most crucial player in their entire group, the one who should have been more suspicious and cautious than any of the others had just sat next to him and discussed some fairly big topics. Beneath his pain, Sasuke felt impressed; Aang might have been a kid but there was a part of him that was a damn sight more mature than most adults.

He looked ahead to the darkened plains before him and wondered how far it was until he would hit perhaps a village of some kind where he could acquire some means of transportation. Yes, Aang's group still had that airship, but returning to them now was starting to seem less and less plausible, not to mention an unwise decision. Confronting Azula could wait, dealing with any hostilities regarding his approach to Ozai could wait. For now, he would let it rest… but would that even help anything? In a moment of clarity that brought something like relief to him, Sasuke looked into the sky, trying in vain to spot the strange boy.

Thanks, Aang.

When he finally started walking, he let his heart lead the way.

Sokka made a high-pitched noise that he really hoped none of his companions heard as a jet of fire he hadn't seen narrowly missed his head and scorched the rocky wall behind him. He rolled behind some waist high cover and came out of it to be immediately met with one of the Fire Nation soldiers who had come out of nowhere just minutes ago. The soldier, while seeming just as surprised to see him as Sokka was, whipped a geyser of fire up just between them, but Sokka, thinking quickly, drew back his sword and thrust it forward. He came away with singed hands, but the geyser dissipated as his blade punched through the soldier's chest and he dropped to his knees without a sound. Sokka withdrew his blade and moved towards the rest of the raging battle, continuously reminding himself that he, yet again, was one of the only few nonbenders present.

The attack had hit them when they were likely at their most blind; with the looming issue of Sasuke still very present, no one had been stationed or watching the skies and mere minutes after Aang had left to locate Sasuke, no fewer than a half dozen compact airships had dropped down to the temple's level and Fire Nation soldiers had spilled out and onto the temple grounds. It had become nothing short of madness after that, people running and shouting and fighting, and Sokka desperately trying to make himself useful while also not becoming a pile of ashes.

As he reached the main floor of the temple, he saw what must have been the center of the battle. The Fire Nation soldiers were of a different breed then he was used to seeing, thinner armor that let them move faster and they attacked with sharper, quicker attacks than what Sokka was used to seeing. The only exception to their number was a man who looked straight out of a nightmare as he waded amongst his soldiers, swinging around a massive warhammer.

Toph was keeping this man, who must have been the leader, busy as she threw up stone walls to block him, trip him and crash against him and was impeding his progress, but still, the man pushed forward. He seemed to be a nonbender, and it was all the better for them that he was. Sokka had to stare at the man's pure size as he loomed even taller than someone like Sparky Sparky Boom-Man, covered in ornamental armor. He shouldn't have been able to take all the punishment Toph was dishing out towards him, but he seemed unstoppable as he pressed forward.

Any time a soldier would get anywhere near Toph to try and stop her assault on their general, Ty Lee would rush to meet them, beating them back with a succession of tight hits and they would drop to the ground, immobilized. Sokka found himself thinking gratefully towards the fact that she was on their side; he would never forget the humiliation on the riverbank of her toying with him. It was still jarring to see her and Toph side by side.

Suki was fighting alongside the both of them, moving quickly around to keep the pressure off Ty Lee and Toph, and Sokka felt both a rush of affection and envy as she darted effortlessly about her attackers. Why did she have to be such a better fighter than him?

The person nearest to him on his side that he could see was Mai and he raced to her side. She was handling herself fairly well, several soldiers lying around her with knives jutting from their bodies, but she was still being forced back. As Sokka neared them, he heard one of the soldiers say, "We should take her alive, she's from one of the noble houses. Could get some good favor if we—argh!"

This was as far as he got before Sokka slashed him across the back and he crashed to his knees. As his two companions turned to face the new threat, Mai dashed forward and sliced the throat of the first one open and whipping the knife towards the last one. He was quick, and caught her arm, forcing it backwards. She growled in pain and then to Sokka's surprise, lowered herself ad full-body tackled the man to the ground. As they both struggled, Sokka raced up and ended the man's movements with a blow to the head. Mai shoved the body off of her and took his hand. As he pulled her up, she massaged her shoulder with a grimace.

"Damn, that hurts. Think he might have pulled something."

Knowing a little something about physical wounds, Sokka took her shoulder in his hand and squeezed gently and Mai yelped. He nodded, "Dislocated, maybe. You should sit this one out. My dad and Chit Sang took the kids deep into the temple, try and—"

With her uninjured limb, she shoved him away. "Piss off, joker. I can still fight, and I'm not leaving this to you of all people."

He swelled, "What exactly do you mean by—"

Mai rolled her eyes and waved a hand. "Kidding."

They looked back to the main plateau where the battle raged on. In the center of it, a distance away from Toph and Ty Lee's struggle with the general, Zuko and Katara were taking on the brunt of the of the soldiers' numbers and were fighting like mad dogs. Fortunately, the fountainhead was near enough that Katara was able to draw on it with relative ease, though with the numbers they were facing, even she might reach a point where she was overwhelmed. Though with Zuko at her side conjuring raging fire all around that seemed infinitely more powerful than the attacks thrown his way by the Fire Nation soldiers. The look on his face was one that dredged up unpleasant memories in Sokka's mind, recollections of a very furious prince trying to reclaim his honor.

He was jolted back into the moment as Mai swatted him in the stomach.

"Let's go."

Without a moment more to spare, she was back into the fray, weaving into the soldiers, cutting at any exposed parts she could see, adding yet another element of chaos to the already maddening fray. Shaking his head in mild disbelief, Sokka too rushed forward, waving his sword around madly and trying to pull as much attention as he could from his sister and their companions.

"On your right, Sokka!"

He just had time to turn to see Haru rushing his way, flinging a mass of stones towards two of the men Sokka was about to engage. They were knocked aside by the attack and Haru planted himself at Sokka's side, looking at him with a big smile.

"I'm here to help!"

With a fair bit on his tongue that he wanted to say, Sokka instead was forced to whip his sword above Haru's head to force back a soldier walking their way with fire spewing from his fists. Haru stomped and a piece of rock rose from the ground and slammed into the soldier's chest, knocking him away. Seeing a brief lull, Sokka grabbed Haru by the shoulder and looked at him angrily.

"Who let you come up here?!"

"No one. I… snuck past Hakoda and Chit Sang when they weren't looking."

Sokka groaned in aggravation. "You shouldn't be here! This is our fight, you need to leave!"

Haru's expression of enthusiasm quickly twisted into one of annoyance. "I'm just as old as any of you! And I can fight!"

Sokka wasn't able to come up with a reply as they were rushed on both sides by soldiers and forced to deal with them as they came.

Damn it, Haru.

There was not going to be any time to sit him down and explain how this worked, he was just going to have to keep an eye on him. Part of him wished for days past when they had met Haru originally, how he had been shy and fearful of his own abilities. Anything to keep him from this fight.

We need to protect them, not put them in the thick of it. He can bend, but can he really fight? Could he take a life if the situation demanded it?

There was a mental gap that Haru would have to cross if he truly wanted to make a difference and lend true aid to the situation.

But Sokka soon found that he was no longer able to keep track of Haru and still defend himself adequately. After all, he remained a nonbender as earth, fire and water rushed around him in a deadly symphony of the elements. Not for the first time, he cursed his own uselessness even as he ran his sword through a Fire Nation soldier taking aim at his sister.

Just once, I'd like to not feel entirely pointless.

And though he barely had time to reflect on it, he thought wistfully in the back of his head as he watched the Fire Nation attack force swarm around them.

Aang… please hurry back.

Aang's heart was in his throat the moment he neared the ravine on his glider, and saw the airships hovering just above the temple's precipice. All thoughts of Sasuke raced from his mind as he went into a near nosedive, trying to rationalize what he was about to see.

If any of them are hurt… oh, please let everyone be okay.

He wasn't sure he would be able to bear it if him leaving for just under a half hour had resulted in someone within his group being harmed. Dropping underneath the main ridge of the cliffside, the scene opened up to him.

There were Katara, Zuko, Mai, Toph, Suki, Ty Lee, Sokka and Haru, all engaged in furious combat with a seemingly unending horde of Fire Nation soldiers. While almost all of them seemed to be holding their own, the sheer magnitude of the force coming at them was more than a little worrying. As Aang watched, one man, likely the leader of the whole bunch at something like eight feet tall and clad in armor, drew back his warhammer and slammed it into the ground near Toph who was doing all she could to slow his approach. She was flung backwards and hit the ground in a roll before coming out of it on her feet and immediately resuming her attack. The general seemed to simply shrug off the boulders that came his way rather like they were mild annoyances; attacks that Aang had regularly seen Toph blow aside enemies with hardly seemed to faze him. Ty Lee rushed up to cover Toph, unleashing a flurry of blows towards chinks in the giant man's armor, but with a roar, he threw her aside as well.

Having seen enough, Aang flew in above the carnage, releasing himself from his glider upside down and whipped up a great current of air. A quick look around told him what he needed to know and he let the current rush from him, traveling through all corners of the battle.

As Aang saw it, Zuko, Toph, Katara would have a great deal of trouble trying to precisely land bending attacks on Fire Nation soldiers and not hit one another when they were so entirely surrounded on all sides. Seeking to correct that, Aang pulled hard on his grip of the air and every Fire Nation soldier save for the monstrous one in the back was tossed into the air. Aang touched down and, praying that his friends weren't too caught up in seeing him to heed his words, shouted at them.

"Now!"

At once, he, Zuko, Toph and Katara pulled together a great storm of elements into the air above them, air and water flinging the soldiers about, smashing them into one another and the fire and earth that Zuko and Toph wove into the spread of chaos. After only a couple seconds, when Aang's initial current ended, not a single soldier moved after they fell back to the floor. All of the sudden, the only one who remained was the massive armored man.

Haru, who had been the only bender indeed too caught up to react to Aang's sudden entrance, turned to him with a huge grin.

"Aang, that was great! How did you—?"

He didn't get further than this as Katara pulled some of her remaining water to strike Haru in the back, flinging him towards the rest of the group and out of the reach of the massive remaining man whom Haru had turned his back to in order to congratulate Aang. Just as Haru was swept forward, the giant soldier's warhammer impacted where he had been standing, blowing open the floor into a crater. As Haru came to rest and looked behind him, he seemed to realize how close to death he had just been and his eyes widened, his breathing coming in shallowly. Her hair flowing around her face as it shone with anger, Katara glared at him.

"Get behind us."

Without a word, he did so, almost as sheepishly as a reprimanded dog might. The group closed up in a tight line, and Aang took stock of his companions. Other than some superficial burns to their clothes, they all looked to be all right and Aang briefly marveled that alongside himself, Katara, Toph and Sokka, were Ty Lee, Mai and Zuko. It was very surreal, but at the intense looks on their faces, he put aside this stunning curiosity and turned back forward.

The man before them pulled back his warhammer and dropped it mightily on his shoulder. Aang's stomach twisted as he imagined what it might have done if Katara hadn't quickly saved Haru.

"Who are you?!" he called out to the giant, hoping his voice sounded more confident than he felt; even just looking at this man was enough to bring a chill creeping down his spine.

With a hearty laugh that seemed to make the very ground rumble, the man looked at Aang and behind the ceremonial armored mask, Aang could see his eyes twinkle almost lightheartedly. Mai spoke up to his left, her voice low and controlled.

"This is General Ako. Fought on the front lines against Earth Nation battalions as one of the few nonbenders the Fire Lord employed."

Sokka shifted his weight nervously. "I can see why not being able to bend isn't exactly a big deal with this guy."

General Ako blew a long breath out his nose and looked over them one by one. When he spoke his voice was that of an earthquake, rumbling and overpowering and as deep as any sound could be. "I see one of you knows who I am. Another weak-minded traitor, based on your noble Fire Nation attire?"

He pointed at Mai with his hammer, the head of which Aang realized was the size of one of Appa's feet.

I hope he's staying safe, Aang thought hopefully, knowing that Appa and Momo had orders to fly and disperse if they were attacked, but still worried they might have been spotted and pursued as well.

Zuko stepped up protectively beside Mai. "Don't you dare address her like that!"

Hardly missing a beat, Ako turned to look at him. "Ah, yes and the prodigal son of unending failure. You do your nation ill, boy, it strikes you as fortunate that I have come here with no particular orders regarding you."

Finally hitting the crux of the situation, Aang spoke up before any more unpleasantries could be exchanged.

"Then why are you here?"

Stomping her foot angrily, Toph sent a small tremor rolling out over the entire plateau as she snapped, "No matter how many goons you Fire Nation send at us, you're never taking Aang!"

The rise in his cheeks told Aang that behind his mask, Ako was smiling.

"I apologize for the misunderstanding, little lady, but I am not here for the Avatar and I rather had hoped to avoid this level of conflict. It is my understanding, Ozai has suspended his orders on enforcing a search for the Avatar; I believe he no longer sees you as a real issue."

Surprised that such a thing would worm its way into his conscience, Aang realized that hearing that almost hurt him just before frustration began to spill out over it.

Doesn't think I'm a threat, does he?

Ako continued, "He has more pressing enemies to deal with and regardless of them, or you, I'm here on another matter entirely."

He raised his warhammer again and pointed it up, just behind them.

"I'm here for her."

Careful not to take his eyes off the general for longer than just a moment, Aang cautiously looked behind him and felt his heart stop as he saw who Ako had been referring to. Standing up the stairs behind them about a dozen yards, was Azula.

She looked every bit the striking figure she usually was; Katara's care had left her nearly entirely unblemished and it would have been impossible to guess that she had only recently been on the violent end of a severe beating. Her expression was unreadable, but she remained standing stalwart atop the stairs, looking to General Ako without a glance towards the others, her hair being gently tossed behind her by the evening breeze.

Ty Lee spoke first, "Azula, what are you doing here?!"

The princess maintained her incredibly apathetic expression, as though this was all simply of too little note to warrant any emotion.

"I heard quite the commotion while I was trying to rest and now I see the cause. It's been a while, general."

Ako bowed. "Your highness."

As he looked up, he planted the end of his hammer in the ground, "I am relieved to see you safe and unharmed. Upon your capture by these terrorists and traitors, your father was heavily distraught. He sent me and this attack group to find you and retrieve you safely. Following potential airship trails, we finally happened upon this place."

He gestured with an enormous hand.

"Come. Your father will be relieved to know you are safe."

For a long while, Azula simply regarded the general and Aang waited for her to march down the stairs and push past them. To be taken back to her father and killed no doubt, and part of him wished Sasuke hadn't beaten her so soundly, or even at all. What had the defeat done to her? He realized as he looked on that there was no viable tell of her emotion, and he was sure her mind had to be racing with thoughts on the Agni Kai. Had her loss been enough to defeat her mentally? Was she now willing to entirely accept her own death having suffered this failure? Would it be enough to—

"I apologize, general, but you've been misled in taking my father at his word."

Aang's mental train broke and he stared up at Azula, eyes wide and barely able to believe what he was hearing. Azula's face was still formed in a perpetual half-scowl but she crossed her arms now, not moving forward in the slightest.

"My father and I have had a bit of a falling out. A frank exchange of disagreements has led us to no longer be willing to cooperate, and he wishes me dead. If I return with you to the capital, he will kill me himself behind closed doors."

She left this as her final word on the situation and Aang looked back to the general, waiting for a reaction. Ako was motionless, an eight foot statue clad in armor for the longest time before he sighed.

"I see. You've gone the way of your brother have you?"

Azula sniffed. "Please. I will deal with this betrayal my own way, properly. Don't lump me in with that sniveling coward."

Zuko didn't seem to take offense at this, though Mai did bristle at the insult. Azula didn't even regard her brother as she kept her gaze locked on the general.

"I'm afraid you'll have to return empty handed, General Ako, I will not be coming back to the capital."

Fire erupted around her arms and she pointed at him, the threat clear in the glow of her eyes.

"And I suggest you leave, now."

The finality of her tone echoed over the whole plateau with a heavy resonance. Ako paused for a great deal longer before nodding, his great armored head slowly raising and lowering as he took this in.

"I see," he repeated.

He reached into his armor and pulled out what looked like two thin, clay jars.

"I will be honest, your highness. I had my doubts on the trip here, that you were indeed a prison of the resistance. How could you, the strongest of all firebenders save for the Fire Lord himself, be captured by such a band of untrained, undisciplined children?"

Propping the handle of his hammer against his shoulder, he took one of the jars in each hand.

"This confirms my suspicion. It pains me terribly to hear this; your father must be suffering greatly at this betrayal."

He raised his hands above his head, each of them tightly clutching their respective clay containers.

"But my orders are clear and my loyalty is absolute."

Bringing his arms down with sudden speed, the jars flew from his hands and smashed on the ground near Aang's feet. There was an eruption of something that appeared to be a fine mist of some kind, a mist that rushed all around them as though thrilled to be freed, swirling about the upper layer of the temple. Aang found himself surprised that so much had been compressed and contained in such little containers and he held his breath, expecting it to be a poison or drug of some kind.

"Fear not, it will not harm you."

Aang looked and saw that the mist was also swirling around Ako and the general was making no attempt to not breathe in the fumes as he spoke. Cautiously, Aang looked around and saw varying levels of concern; everyone had a hand over their mouth and nose and was looking back at him almost expectantly as though to follow his lead. Slowly, he took his hand away from his mouth and the others followed suit. There was no smell in the air as the mist started to fade away as it dissipated, and if Aang had closed his eyes he would have never guessed the air had been polluted with some mystery substance.

For a long moment, the only thing passing amongst them was quiet as Aang waited on pins and needles for something to happen and was further put on edge as nothing did; General Ako remained where he stood, unmoving and looming. But as Aang opened his mouth to inquire as to the nature of the mist, Azula growled behind him.

"Bastard."

As Aang turned to face her, he saw her scowl had deepened. Ako laughed again, another rumbling sound that tore across the floor. "Dear princess, I daresay you may be the only one here to have caught on to what this was! Care to share?"

Swallowing slowly, Azula continued to glare at him as she addressed the others. "He just blocked our abilities to bend."

Her words sent a chilling numbness through Aang's body and he immediately thrust out with his palm, attempting to hurl a sphere of air, the simplest trick in the world for him. But nothing came, not even the smallest puff of air. Frantically, he tried again and saw the other benders in his number attempt the same, but no earth was raised, no water swept up, no fire burning to life. General Ako put his now free hands to his hammer and hoisted it.

"An experimental toxin developed by Ozai's top engineers. As we remain outnumbered in the war itself, our bending has become our strongest weapon, so the creation of such a weapon was thought highly impractical. And on top of that, the time and resources necessary to craft even just those two capsules I just shattered is immense. But in certain instances, it has very niche use. Such as infiltrating an earthbending encampment with a small squad."

He took a step forward and the very temple floor seemed to quake.

"Or removing any dangerous potential from a group of uppity children."

And as he took another powerful stride forward and Aang dug as deep as he ever had in an attempt to force his bending back to life, he found it was helpless. General Ako towered imposingly above them and he realize the general was right; without their bending, there was nothing they could do. They truly were children, hopeless to stop this giant's advance.

"Sokka, this is going to have to come down to you."

Mai's quieted voice broke him from his forlorn mindset and he looked to her. Her eyes were intense and calculating as she spoke in a tone not quite loud enough for Ako to hear as he trudged slowly closer. All gazes turned to her and Katara cocked her head. "What are you talking about?"

Seeming to ignore her, Mai looked at Sokka unblinkingly.

"If you can get him to swing that hammer, I think I can get a knife in his arm. From there, Suki and Ty Lee can acrobatics their way up to his head once I take away his ability so swing that hammer."

Both the young women in question nodded unflinchingly and all eyes turned to a very shocked looking Sokka who, after a moment, drew himself up with a classically pretentious sniff. "I can see my expertise truly will be the most necessary part of all this."

"Sokka!" Katara snapped, hitting him on the arm. His joking look faded and he drew up his sword I'm a readied stance.

"I got it."

Everyone turned then to look General Ako down. Having not heard them, he shook his head as he drew within twenty feet. "Whatever plan you've just tried to concoct, I'd trash it. The only way any of you walk away alive is if your step aside and hand over Princess Azula."

Taking a step forward, Sokka pointed with his sword, "Yeah, I'll take the second option if you don't mind!"

General Ako inclined his massive armored head. "That being?"

Drawing himself up, Sokka assumed a readied stance about to break into a charge. "Taking this sword and jamming it up your—"

Whatever his juvenile threat had been was cut short by a harrowing cry from behind them. Aang nearly hit the ground as Haru came barreling past him, screaming at the top of his lungs with a terrified expression on his face and a Fire Nation spear he had collected from a body raised.

"Haru, no!" Katara screamed but he had no regard for her words, and continued to sprint at Ako. The general seemed to hardly regard him before pulling his arm back. Aang's heart leapt into his throat as he watched how quickly the general was able to swing his hammer. Before Haru was even within striking distance with the spear which would likely have bounced harmlessly off the giant man's armor, he was flung across the room by the hammer's strike. Aang listened to Katara, Ty Lee and Suki all cry out as his body smashed into the wall and dropped a dozen feet to the floor to lie motionless. He found he could only stare at Haru's broken form.

We can't win this.

"You'll pay for that, Ako!"

Sokka's furious shout was annunciated by him breaking into a run of his own, but he made it only a couple paces before another voice behind him shouted out.

"STOP!"

For the second time in recent memory, Aang found himself shoved aside as Azula came storming past him. She reached Sokka and shoved him roughly aside and looked up to the general. Her expression was painfully rigid.

"If I leave with you, you'll leave them alone?"

Her voice was quiet as though she were embarrassed to even be saying such a thing. Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee all raised voices of protest, but ignoring them, Ako stared down at her, before lifting his hammer to hold over his shoulder.

"You have my word."

There was a pause as he looked over and past her as though considering something. With sudden swiftness, the same hammer that had just all but shattered Haru came up and above the monster's head.

"Just as soon as I teach this arrogant brat a lesson in respect."

It became clear to Aang that where Sokka had been pushed was well within range of Ako's hammer and he felt his breathing catch in his throat. Shouting out the same warning that was echoed all around him, but knowing it wouldn't make an ounce of difference, he stared pathetically as the hammer drew back to turn his friend into a bloody mess. Sokka hadn't even reacted; he stood still, starting stupidly ahead, his sword pointed uselessly at the ground as the massive end of the hammer came back and swung down.

It only passed just above Ako's head before stopping as abruptly as a fly being swatted.

Aang stared, wondering if he had suffered some kind of mental health attack. To him, it looked like the general had frozen in time, hammer half-swung down towards Sokka, looking off above him. All of his bending knowledge was completely useless, and he wondered if this was some kind of insane chance he had been granted to make a difference, but as Toph whispered quietly beside him, he realized this was only something that Ako had been struck by.

"What happened?"

Katara shook her head, her beautifully fierce eyes still locked on the general. "I don't know… but don't let your guard down. This could be some kind of—"

She was cut off as the general's hammer fell from his hands to fall over his back and hit the ground with a heavy boom. Moments later, Ako dropped to his knees with a crash of his armor and weight striking the floor. His hands moved to his head and he began to heave with deep, shaking breaths. His voice slid out of his mask with a deep, sinister hissing; he sounded very suddenly agonized.

"Please, Fire Lord… I have done nothing wrong! Do not punish them because of this!"

He sounded almost half-asleep and half-drunk as he pleaded with a nonexistent third party. Aang could only stare as he watched the previously insurmountable threat completely dissolve before them. Suki, Mai and Ty Lee all looked ready to spring towards him, but the suspicion that this could still be a trick of some kind kept them still. Azula stood motionless before the general with Sokka just to her left, also unmoving and staring blankly.

Finally, Zuko spoke up for all of them. "Why did that… why did that just happen?"

"Because I deemed it to."

The voice was unmistakable and Aang didn't even need to turn, but he did anyway.

Sasuke stood at the stop of the stairs leading down into the open room, just where Azula had been moments before. He had recovered his clothes from where they had been left above, his sword reattached at the back of his waist and loose upper garments blowing in the breeze. He looked as intimidating as he ever had and Aang realized that his dark eyes had rolled over with a scarlet glow, a fierce pattern glaring out towards at the general.

No one said a word as he stepped slowly down the stairs to approach the general, and Aang really saw how terrifying his eyes were close up. He pushed through the line of them and Aang was able to see that Mai looked like she wanted to lash out at him with a knife then and there and Ty Lee was looking uncharacteristically murderous. Of them all though, Katara looked the most frightening as Aang saw her cold expression regard Sasuke as he passed with something that could only pass for animosity. It was a look Aang had never wanted to see on her face and he felt that Suki's distantly concerned expression was probably a close match to his own.

Sokka had turned as well, though his expression was more defeated than anything and Aang could tell he was mentally berating himself for putting himself at such obvious risk, Sasuke's return be damned. The only person who had revealed absolutely no reaction was Azula who still had her back turned to them all, but she seemed somehow even more motionless than before.

Sasuke paced towards the general, not looking at single one of them before stopping shoulder to shoulder with Azula. Aang held his breath, not sure at all what to do or what to think; he was nearly expecting Azula to reach out to and grab him by the throat, but she remained still. Not acknowledging her himself, Sasuke drew his sword and jabbed it into the general's armor.

"Collect yourself, old man. There's no Fire Lord here."

At his voice, Ako's breathing erupted as though he had just been woken from a nightmare. He remained on his knees, but looked around in something like a panic. It was hard to tell his expression with the mask on, but it was clear he had been very disturbed by what he had seen. After a moment, he looked up to Sasuke and snarled out angrily.

"You. I was warned about you."

He struggled a moment, but seemed to find he couldn't stand. "The Fire Lord warned to be on the lookout for a boy with extraordinary and unique talent, claimed you were the most dangerous threat to the whole of the nation."

Aang felt another distant pang of almost unnoticeable envy before catching himself. How could he be jealous of Sasuke of all people?

Sasuke leaned down.

"He's right. He should be looking over his shoulder every time he feels alone. I'll be going on the hunt soon, and he's going to need to play it very safe."

He straightened and reached out a hand. Blue electricity crackled around his palm and the general was thrown backwards with a great thunderclap. As he tried to pick himself up, his armor sparking and burning, Sasuke paced further towards him.

"But as it happens, I'm not coming for him yet. For now, I will have you deliver a message for me."

He sheathed his sword and paced a distance away from the general, looking out towards what were likely a handful of mostly unmanned airships, their previous occupants and wards strewn about pathetically as he stepped over them.

"Fly back to your master. Tell the Fire Lord his daughter is no longer his to do what he pleases with."

Ako pushed himself up with surprising swiftness and rushed for his hammer. Almost nonchalantly, Sasuke blasted the weapon off the plateau and into space with another spear of lightning that forked contemptuously from his hand. Ako stared after it and then, not one to give up, rushed Sasuke barehanded. In a single image, it looked rather ridiculous. Ako was ten times Sasuke's size and clad in full armor; it shouldn't have even been a contest, and in a way, it wasn't. Just not in the direction one might have expected. Aang watched as Sasuke seemed to slip beneath the general's grip like water and use the man's back as a jumping board. As Ako reached deftly behind him with an angry shout to try and pluck Sasuke from him, the black-haired boy leapt to the ceiling, fingers outstretched. As though it had been tailor made for his purposes and carved out just for him, he tore free a piece of the ceiling the size of Appa and dropped it with a thunderous smash down over the general's head.

The sheer force of the blow sent a gust rushing out and Aang put his arm up to keep the dust from his eyes. As he regained focus, he saw that Azula and Sokka had both been able to get free from the danger zone. Ako was not so fortunate, lying among pieces of the shattered stone ceiling, dazed and barely moving. Sasuke touched down then next to him as lightly as a feather and the general growled out weakly.

"…How? The mist… should have debilitated you… just like… the others."

Seeming to suddenly reach a point of anger, Sasuke grabbed one of the ceremonial horns on the general's helmet and wrenched it up, forcing Ako to meet his eyes as he snapped angrily. "I'm not like the others! Ozai is right to fear me and he will come to do more than that. When you see him, tell him he is not safe while I walk this earth. He will never have a day of peace until the final moment when I plant my sword in his chest!"

He stared furiously into the general's eyes as though waiting for some affirmative. After a moment, the general did speak. Though it was hardly the response anyone could have imagined.

"Now!"

Sensing something, Aang spun to look up towards the temple's pillars. Off near where Sasuke had pulled some of the roof free, two archers were grappled to the tops of the pillars, bows drawn and poised. Aang heard himself shout the warning, but Sasuke wasn't ready. He was intently focused on the general and had only slightly begun to look around at Ako's shouted command. He would never be able to get out of the way in time.

Or, at least he might not have, if Azula hadn't stepped between him and the readied archers.

Aang took a useless step forward as he waited for the bows to release and for arrows to shoot down towards Azula and Sasuke, but neither archer released his weapon's payload. From where he lay half-buried, Ako looked back and forth between his two remaining soldiers and Sasuke and Azula frantically several times before shouting.

"What are you two doing?! Shoot them!"

Rather than heed his repeated command, the two archers slid nimbly down the pillars and slung their bows over their shoulders. The taller of the two spoke, face entirely hidden behind his mask. "We cannot risk harming the Fire Lord's daughter. Our orders were clear, and we have failed. We cannot win this, general."

Shifting aside a fair bit of the rubble, Ako continued pushing his way out from the partially collapsed ceiling. "She's a traitor! Orders be damned!"

The archer shook his head. "I'm sorry, general. It would do us well now to leave while we can."

Sasuke nodded. "It would."

Finally breaking free from his confinements, the general exploded to his feet, looking every bit ready to forge his way onward. His previously calm demeanor had been lost amongst his rage.

"Then you both are traitors as well! I'll deal with you both after—"

Azula's voice, though far lower in volume, cut through the bellowing of Ako with all the ease of a raindrop soaking into dirt.

"Consider your next move carefully, Ako. If you damage the 'prize' of your master, he might reflect on your performance… unfavorably."

Aang could tell she was deriving great pleasure from sinking her teeth into the veiled threat and the inner struggle that the general seemed to go through then was almost palpable. When he took what must have been a few seconds too long, Sasuke tilted his head to the left and right, popping his neck.

"Let me make this easier for you, general. You can leave… "

Fire, as pitch black as the night itself, perforated to life in a half-circled cage around the massive armored man, crackling with a heat that Aang could feel even from his distance a dozen meters away. The two Fire Nation archers drew back in mirroring movements of Sokka and Azula, but Sasuke stayed just there, staring intensely through the ethereal bars of his unorthodox prison.

"…or I will burn you into nothing. It matters not that you are a nonbender, this is fire that cannot be dispelled but by means of my own knowing. And if I choose not to dispel them, they will burn hotter; your armor will being to melt and fuse with your flesh until it all burns away, leaving a charred body in its wake. A simply sweep of my hand then will cast your remains into ashes, blown into the forgotten winds of yesterday."

His argument seemed convincing enough to Aang and it seemed as though Ako agreed.

"Fine," he growled, "I will depart."

Sasuke looked at him for several long seconds before he turned his gaze towards the half dozen airships floating just beyond the temple grounds. The black fire withdrew from surrounding the general to streak into all but one of them, bursting them and sending them tumbling from the sky into the ravine, the screams of the few soldiers aboard mingling for a moment before fading away. Ako stared at the open air where his ships had only recently floated and Sasuke turned away from him; Aang could see what looked like tears of blood flowing down his cheeks.

"I assume one ship will do fine."

Not another word was uttered by Ako or the two assassins and quietly, they moved to the ladder let down by their ship on the general's word and moments later, the ship was gone in the night wind. Silence fell on the open space with dozens of bodies lying about and fires still burning. He blew out a gust of wind to clear some of the smoke that was large enough for him to realize the toxin must have been wearing off. As the smoke swept away, it gave him a good look at the violence that rested around him and he grimaced. The carnage made Aang's stomach turn but his queasiness swiftly left him in favor of anxiousness as Katara pointed sharply at Sasuke.

She had moved over to Haru to work some brief healing on him and her reaction told Aang that his wounds had been nothing she couldn't handle, though he remained unconscious on the ground. As Sokka lifted him carefully, her words resounded harshly around the room.

"You. A word, please."

And without any sort of follow up to this demand, she stormed up the stairs her hair billowing around her shoulders. Aang tried to catch her eyes, but she looked resolutely past them all before rounding a corner at the top her ascension and disappearing from sight. Aang looked back at the rest of them and realized that all attention was on Sasuke.

Suki and Sokka's expressions were the most neutral; the both of them looked more sad than anything. Toph looked like she was trying very hard not to break down and start yelling, an expression mirrored somewhat on Zuko's face, though he was looking towards his sister just as much as Sasuke. Mai and Ty Lee looked ready to spring towards him and do everything in their power to utterly wreak havoc on him, but Azula was the most worrying to Aang. Only a couple meters apart from Sasuke, she was looking off into the black of the night, her expression unknowable to Aang, but he could see her fists clenched tightly at her side, shaking violently.

Sasuke didn't seem to acknowledge a single one of them until he looked to Aang, who spoke softly.

"I'd do as she says. She can get pretty scary when people don't listen to her."

He looked up to see Sasuke looked at him. They looked at each other in silence for a moment before Sasuke wiped an arm across his face, wiping the bloody tracks away. Without a reply, he returned back from where he had come down, heading for the stairs. Mai stood between him and progressing, and for a second, Aang was sure she wasn't going to move as Sasuke stopped in front of her and their eyes met, both looking fierce. Then, she bit her lower lip and stood aside for him and he pushed past without a word.

Aang watched him take the same turn, realizing that despite all of the power Sasuke clearly wielded, he was much more scared for him then he was for Katara.

Sasuke wasn't surprised.

He had known from their first encounter that Katara's feelings toward him were nothing short of disdainful at best. A one on one now was something that gave him the slightest feeling of dread as at a surface level, there was something very distantly frightening about Katara's persona; nevertheless, he followed after her into a room a good distance away from the carnage they had left behind.

Her back was to him as he stepped inside and Sasuke stopped a respectable distance away, waiting for her to initiate whatever it is she wanted to talk about. It took her a long several seconds to reach that point.

"You came back."

It was said as though it were an accusation and Sasuke had no genuine sort of reply other than confirming her words, "I did."

She turned to face him, brow furrowed and expression angry. Sasuke reflected obscurely that she was really quite beautiful.

"May I ask why? It probably came as no surprise that we were all quite happy to be rid of you."

He must have waited just a second too long to reply, as a moment of dawning comprehension flitted across her face. "You talked to Aang, didn't you."

Seeing no reason to lie, he nodded. "He found me a distance away from the cliffside and we spoke briefly."

Katara looked back the way they had come, growling angrily. "That idiot, I told him not to—"

Sasuke found himself interrupting her loudly. "I think he's more than capable to making decisions for himself, something none of you seem too interested in allowing."

His inflammatory remark did not go unnoticed, and her expression darkened even more than it already was.

"You are in no position to judge him or any of us. We're doing what has to be done for the good of all four nations and your constant interference is more damaging than you know."

"Because I'm allowing him to think for himself?"

She approached him then as she had before, coming very close to being face to face, her expression glowering fiercely.

"Because you're nothing short of a bad influence! He's a kid, and you're… whatever you are!"

Sasuke crossed his arms. He was just about fed up with her condescending attitude towards not just him, but towards one of the only two people in the group who seemed willing to give him the time of day.

"Maybe he is a kid, but you can't be more than a few years older than him yourself. You act like you have this all-powerful reasoning that supersedes anyone else, but as far as I can tell, you're just being excessively controlling."

She looked like she was about to shout at him, before she inhaled deeply and collected herself. Still, when she spoke, her voice was laced with fury.

"We have been all across the four nations, and have nearly come undone more than once. We've seen terrible things and have had our fair share of arguments and fights. My 'controlling' as you put it has kept us together, Sokka's leadership too. This is the way that it's worked and it's the way it will continue to work."

Sasuke regarded her flatly. "Proven track records don't infer the best methods."

Her voice became a hiss. "They do here!"

"So, you're trying to get rid of me because I'm throwing a wrench in this whole system?"

She jabbed him in the chest with a finger. "You don't even see what you're doing, do you?! In all our run-ins, I've never seen Ty Lee and Mai look more hateful of someone then when I see them looking at you! No one has ever put Toph so out of sorts before, its like she's crushing on you and terrified of you at the same time! And Azula… "

She swallowed audibly.

"Never in all the time I've known her have I ever seen someone affect her to the point of turning her practically into a different person. You make her furious, but she barely talks when you're around. She seems to hate you, but she challenged you to a round of combat instead of trying to stab you in the back. Then, after you completely and utterly dismantle her in your match, she goes and protects you just moments ago! I don't know what you're doing to her, or anybody else for that matter, but it's… it's just not something we have time to deal with."

Katara turned away from him, clearly trying to rationalize something in her own head and he watched her pace almost frantically about the room.

"Is that truly the reason you hate me?" he asked shortly. "Because I'm something you didn't plan for?"

She came to a halt in her walking with her back to him. Her voice was surprisingly gentle.

"I… I don't hate you."

Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Sasuke leaned against the wall. "You'll forgive me if I have trouble believing that."

When she looked back to him though, he could see there was more behind her eyes then loathing, and in a moment, he felt almost sympathetic towards her plight. She looked weary, worn-down, utterly exhausted by her journeys and the burdens she had acquired during it.

"Sasuke…"she muttered, almost tenderly. "Why did you have to come along?"

He found himself regretting instigating her. She was no older than him and he had seen fit to berate her over something he still didn't understand.

You people have had your own hardships and I have had mine. Maybe we can't get along, but I suppose I can still leave in peace.

Before he could bring up his hopeful departure, she asked him, her bitterness returning. "Why did you come back after the Agni Kai?"

He thought back to the conversation he had experienced with Aang and had to keep from smiling. "Something Aang told me. Told me to listen to my heart, and it told me to come back."

She looked at him dubiously and Sasuke could tell she might not believe that, and he couldn't blame her. Instead of pressing it though, she crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"I suppose I should thank you for showing up when you did. If I needed proof that what you do is beyond bending, I suppose I have it."

Sasuke shook his head. "No one owes me anything. I came back because I wanted to apologize myself."

Katara stared at him. "For what?"

He spoke before he changed his mind.

"I'm still going after Ozai. He destroyed my people, I heard him in a memory. I'm going to find him, I'm going to make him tell me why, and then I'm going to kill him."

He waited expectantly for her to explode at him over this, but was surprised as she did nothing more than close her eyes for a long moment.

"You're sure about this, are you?"

Looking at her and waiting for her to meet his eyes, he replied, "Certainty is not something I find myself graced with these days, so believe me when I say I am sure."

She did nothing more than give a long sigh and he raised a hand in her direction.

"And before you even think about trying to talk me out of—"

Katara snapped her head to look at him in something almost like disgust. "I'm not going to talk you out of it."

She turned away and gave him her bombshell.

"But I am coming with you."