AN: Quickly to clarify to those who've reached out and inquired about the matter: in four chapters, this story will end, but a second story, picking up where this one left off, will commence shortly thereafter. More on that later, but just wanted to clarify how that was being handled.

Chapter 27: The Battle of Ba Sing Se – Part 2

Mai was deeply thankful that both Zuko and Ty Lee were on top of things for as she watched Sasuke go soaring off after Obito, nothing was further from her mind right about then than Azula. Instead, she had been trying to rationalize the sudden urge she had felt to scream after him to try and keep him from charging into battle. Why had such a feeling instilled itself in her veins, she thought as she clenched her fists and teeth. She knew there was a part of her that had the answer, but not for the first time, she fought it down, not wanting to hear what it had to say.

In the meantime, Azula had just about gotten to the point where she would have taken to the skies to shoot after Sasuke, but just as blue tongues of fire crackled from beneath her feet, Zuko and Ty Lee nearly met in midair as they tackled her to the ground just as she lifted off. The screaming was what knocked Mai from her reverie and she shook her head, blinking, as she looked down at the pair of them clinging tightly to her. Just as she had when Mai and Suki had gone after her atop the wall, her thrashing and shrieking became eerily familiar.

"Let go of me, let go of me, damn you both! This is it, don't you see?! This is the only person who has a chance on this planet of harming him, and I can help him win! He could be hurt, I have to help him!"

Her cries were full of a manic desperation and Mai could tell that Azula truly believed that Sasuke may not be able to succeed without her help. She walked up alongside the three of them as the others crowded around the struggling Azula as well, faces set and ready to spring to action if it was necessary.

"Help him, you mean like how you helped him just now?" Mai asked coldly. She knew that it was foolish to say something to exacerbate what was already a wash of intense fury and fear in Azula, but her anger outweighed her common sense in that moment as she looked disgustedly down at her. "He had everything under control, and now it's because of you that he's in this situation. You knocked Obito out of Sasuke's trance and now he's fighting for his life."

As she spoke her next words, there came a very distressing pang in her gut as she knew the truth of them.

"And there's nothing you or any of us can do to help him."

She fully expected Azula to start foaming at the mouth and redouble her screaming, but she only looked up at Mai with wide eyes and went somewhat limp in Zuko and Ty Lee's grips. The both of them looked surprised as their strained faces of having to hold her down faded, but while they looked curiously at Azula, they didn't so much as come close to releasing her.

Azula's face became full of helplessness and she drooped her head, panting towards the ground at the effort she had been putting forth to try and escape, but made no further attempts to do so.

"I know," she said, so quietly it was almost missed by Mai who blinked in shock at this admission. "But I have to be by his side, it's the only way I can… I can…"

She trailed off and didn't finish her thought, but Mai thought she had a pretty good idea of what she had been about to say. And on top of that, she had caught herself feeling pity for Azula again, something that she had to remind herself that the princess had very recently tried to use to sway her judgement. Not willing to fall for any potential trickery again, she simply crossed her arms and looked away, saying nothing else.

Of course, Zuko, the optimistic and compassionate thing he had become, was the first to quietly address his sister.

"Azula… this thing you have for him… I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't have a crush on him, but whatever this is, it isn't healthy, not at all."

This on the other hand seemed to fire her right back up and she snapped her face to an inch away from his, eyes blazing and mouth peeled in a snarl; Zuko recoiled as she hissed at him.

"It isn't a 'crush' that I have on him, you imbecile, I love him, don't you understand!"

It was such a thing to hear her even say those words and Mai felt a lump swell in her throat that she knew was caused by more than one thing. She caught glimpses of Katara and Toph both looking to fight down winces, with Toph looking down at her feet as she anxiously dug her toes into the ground while Katara swallowed and took slow, long breaths.

But as Zuko stared at his sister, pain and a clear lack of understanding on how to approach this situation written on his face, a quiet, pure voice spoke up behind them all.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if that's what love is."

Mai turned in unison with everyone else to see Jin standing a couple meters behind them, looking very hurt and tired herself, but there was a sad smile on her face.

"I'm not saying I know all there is to know about love," she said, clearly not perturbed by the fact that she had taken the attention of all present. "But hurling yourself at him every chance you get… without even thinking about what he's feeling, I don't know if that's love."

Azula slowly made to get to her feet and Ty Lee and Zuko let her, but both watched her with wide and careful eyes, hands slightly raised as if to tackle her again at a moment's notice; Suki and Sokka both gently rotated over to provide backup, should that prove to be necessary, but fortunately, for the time being, Azula was content to leer furiously towards the girl she had nearly killed that morning.

"I would kill for him," Azula growled in a voice that shook with emotion. "I would be tortured for him, I would die for him, I would do anything for him. And you tell me that isn't love?"

"Do you care how he feels?" Jin asked and Azula simply froze on the spot, her face a reflection of the turmoil she was surely feeling. The two stared at one another for a long moment before Aang stepped forward, clearing his throat as he did; Mai noticed that he flicked his eyes at Katara with something almost like suspicion as he spoke, his words a calming lull nonetheless.

"I think Azula is right. Even if those two are… well, beyond anything we've seen or likely will ever see again, this isn't just Sasuke's fight. He's here because of us and he's risking his life because of us. I can't sit here and just watch while our futures get decided."

Suki sighed. "I hear what you're saying, Aang, but what can any of us do to help? Bending or not, you've seen how fast they move. How quick and vicious they are, they were at each other's throats faster than I could blink."

Sokka added next to her, "And that power they've got. Sasuke took down the majority of an army all by himself and Obito literally just took down a wall the size of a mountain. We'd be like insects if we tried to interfere in that fight; technically Zuko here did more damage to Sasuke than Ozai's whole army, and all he managed was a punch to the face."

Zuko swallowed as he surely recalled the previous night, but Sokka's words merely resulted in Aang looking on with even more earnest.

"That's just my point! They're human! They can be hurt, we've seen it! Azula managed to get a little when they fought at the temple, Zuko punched him like you said, something Toph's done herself a fair bit, and Suki, you poked him with a marshmallow stick a couple nights ago, and he jumped like a foot!"

Crossing her arms and looking embarrassed to be reminded of such a memory, Suki muttered, "He was asking for it."

Aang smiled briefly as he briefly thought upon what had been a much happier moment than the one they were currently experiencing. "They can be hurt and they can be killed! There has to be something we can do!"

"And how do you propose we got about that?" Zuko asked bitterly. "You're assuming that Obito won't be able to just flick a glance at us and make our heads explode or something."

For whatever reason, Aang fired up immediately. "You just don't want to help him because you think that he and Mai are crushing on each other!"

Mai had been halfway through swallowing and nearly choked on her own saliva as Aang's words rang out; she did her best to keep herself from reddening in the cheeks and she was aware of several of their company looking her way and then back to Zuko; she felt her lips curling in anger.

Why'd you have to go and do that, Aang? she thought angrily.

But before she could so much as manage some sort of rebuttal or attempt to keep the situation from growing more out of control than it already had, a deep, chilling voice sounded from somewhere behind her.

"Your heart is strong, Avatar, but I'm afraid that it would most likely be wise to heed your friends. There is nothing you could that Obito wouldn't be able to avoid, and putting yourself in harm's way would be completely counter to what Sasuke is trying to accomplish."

She turned and saw the same man that had intervened aboard the Azulon striding towards them through the surrounding layer of dust and ash. Clad in black and looking entirely unfazed by the proceedings around him, Sasuke's brother slowly approached them, wrapped in the striking black cloak decorated with red clouds that Mai remembered. He was imposing as anyone could be and she had to resist the urge to step back as he neared them; Toph on the other hand seemed to have no feelings of intimidation whatsoever as she stomped forward.

"Itachi!" she shouted out and the man in question raised his eyebrows a raise.

"You remember my name," he remarked and Mai found herself frowning as she heard his voice; sure enough, this was the same man that had appeared and been confirmed before as Sasuke's brother, but there was no such remembrance in her head of his voice being that low, or that powerful.

"Yeah, I remember your name!" Toph barked, still utterly unfazed as she stopped a foot in front of him, fists on her hips as she blew hair angrily out of her face. Seeing her staring down Itachi was something that Mai realized looked quite comical, considering their size differences and general appearance. Nonetheless, it was clear that Toph had finally found somewhere to relieve her anger and frustration surely with the whole situation before them and was happy to do so.

"What are you doing here?!" she shouted. "Sasuke is out there risking his life and you're here doing nothing?!"

Itachi stared down at her while she breathed deeply and angrily, saying nothing for a long while. When he did speak, he turned his gaze upwards and stared in the direction that Sasuke and Obito had disappeared in, as though looking to see them both out amongst the city in the distance.

"Sasuke has chosen his path, just as Obito has. For me to interfere now would be… ill in a sense that you wouldn't be able to understand."

Toph swelled furiously, but didn't look like she had any idea how to respond; Mai heard herself talking before she knew it, her words coming from a place that she hadn't known existed.

"You helped him on the ship, why aren't you helping him now?"

To see Itachi now was such an odd feeling for her. She thought back to the stories that Sasuke had told them on Appa's back, knowing full well now what had transpired with this particular individual and how his story was forever intertwined with Sasuke's, and was likely the reason that Sasuke was so entirely broken as a person now. What he had seen and what it had done to him surely had developed him into the stunted and quiet person that he was now, cold and difficult to see into.

But from everything Sasuke had reiterated to them, Itachi had been, at his core, the most selfless person that anyone could be, silently taking the judgement and hate of so many, including his own brother as he lived with the blood of his entire clan and family on his hands. Sasuke had never come out and said it directly, but Mai knew from just the story itself that Itachi hadn't done everything just for his village as Sasuke suggested, he had done it a great deal in part for his little brother. The thought then was enough to send a pang through Mai's heart as she looked expectantly at Sasuke's brother.

Itachi looked into her eyes long enough for a chill to run up her spine; Sasuke shared his eyes, black and frigid, but when he spoke, his voice was distant and perhaps a little pained.

"Our clan is a cursed one," was what he finally said. "Our members have always strived for power above all else, forsaking everything in their path for the purpose of achieving strength. Through our eyes, we became more than we were, and it is because of this that I can do nothing now."

"You didn't seem so particular about some clan related crap when you showed up aboard the flagship," Suki snapped and Mai tensed, seeing Ty Lee and Aang do the same; while they had heard Itachi's story before, they really knew very little about him beyond that. Was he the type to simply snap Suki's neck because of her show of attitude? Or Toph for her accusatory shouting?

Mai guessed that she found it perhaps a little relieving when he laughed gently, a soft sound but one that seemed to thunder in her ears nonetheless.

"When I left the vessel in pursuit of Obito, I came to find knowledge that, though not entirely revealing, told me more than I knew previously about why we've been forced into your world."

At this, Mai's breath caught in her throat. Beside her, everyone seemed to grow quite still and silent, Toph included who took a soft step back; if there was the chance that they were about to be granted information on why it was that they had been granted the chance to meet Sasuke at all, it was information that everyone was desperate to hear. Mai had never expected that she might find out why it was that people like Sasuke now roamed their world but with Itachi alluding to answers now, she fell as expectantly silent as she could, waiting for more.

But unfortunately for them, further elaboration was not to be, at least not in the sense that they had hoped.

"I came to understand that I had a place to interfere and a place to stand by," Itachi said. "Sasuke is undergoing what might perhaps be his most pivotal moment yet in his journey and I cannot, for the moment, intervene on the behalf of either him nor Obito: what is happening now must remain out of my control."

"How is this any more important than what he's already experienced?" Katara asked, a cool edge to her voice. Mai could tell that she wanted to snap at him as Suki had, but was just enough in control of herself to avoid such an outburst. "It sounds like his whole life has been a cluster of tragedies and hardships and you're just going to let him face another?"

Just before he answered, Mai found herself looking very closely at Itachi's mouth as, for a moment, she thought she had seen the faintest flicker of a smile on his face.

"It's not a matter of the hardships themselves, but why he's facing them," came his explanation. "He was forced to grow up quickly when the choices I made resulted in the near entire extermination of our clan. Every fight he underwent since was to reach me and kill me in revenge, and when this was achieved, he came to know the truth. And from there, he fought to avenge that memory of me, and the truth that he now knew to be. But now, he's fighting for something much different, something that might be a first for him, and against what might be his strongest opponent yet."

Mai looked into his unnatural eyes that sat in the cracked face before her; she remembered Sasuke talking about how some ancient technique was the reason that Itachi was there at all, able to speak and move as he had when he was alive. She wondered what being in such a state must feel like.

"And what's so different about this?" she asked quietly, but knew the answer even before Itachi said it, his dark eyes boring into hers.

"He's fighting for you."

Even though she knew that he was referring to them as a whole, the moment that the deep and dark voice before her spoke those four words, Mai couldn't help but imagine that he was speaking them to her exclusively and at that thought, her knees almost buckled.

Beside her, Ty Lee stepped forward, clearly about done with having to guess at what Itachi was suggesting.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

Ahead of them, Itachi slowly walked forward until he passed through their group as they slowly parted to allow him to pass by. He looked out towards the city that was shrouded by that same cloud of dust, the buildings nothing short of silhouettes in the distance, lit by the orange of the sky. As he clasped his hands behind his back, Mai saw a flash of blue in the distance, bright enough to reach them.

"Since the day his Sharingan awoke, Sasuke has fought in hate and retribution. His anger has led him on that path and he never once looked back to consider that perhaps his answer was not the one he truly sought. He believed in his cause, even when the narrative so shifted to reveal that what he had fought for previously had been for naught; his focus and hate only shifted, and he was content to allow that to rule him."

Ty Lee shook her head, the exasperated and frustrated look on her face deepening.

"So?!"

Despite the constant questioning that he was being barraged with, Itachi showed no signs of growing impatient or even seemed put off by the clear accusatory implications that were being made. He stared towards where Sasuke and Obito were surely deep in the midst of trying to pulverize the other into submission.

"You all have given him something that he's never bothered to try and find on his own or even consider he had."

There was a strange undercurrent that entered his voice then, and Mai didn't know what to call it other than vaguely disdainful, something she wouldn't have expected of someone like him.

"He has people to fight for, it's not about an idea or an emotion or about something that's already happened. It's about protecting you, all of you. I'm not even sure how aware he is that he's doing it, but everything he's done today has not been in his own self interest as I might have assumed he would have done."

"I think you're putting more stock into his compassion than you ought to," came Zuko, his arms crossed and his expression bitter. "If anything, he's doing this to make his own way forward smoother. We're just a byproduct."

Even as he said it, Mai knew that Zuko didn't believe it, though she could tell he wanted to. His words didn't even seem to be worth replying to for Itachi who turned and looked to the group again.

"Which of you is the one who's smitten him?"

Red blossomed on Toph's face and Katara promptly looked towards the ground; Mai was able to keep herself from reacting beyond a quick nervous swallow and she looked down towards Azula to see her looking a combination of proud and manic. It was as though she just assumed that it couldn't possibly be anyone but her, even as Mai looked past her to see Jin rubbing her arm and looking somewhat miserable. In truth, Mai didn't know if Sasuke had feelings for any of them, at least feelings that were deep enough for him to accept the possibility of being with them, but it hadn't gone unnoticed the few times she had seen them in the same room how Sasuke had looked at Jin. Mai wasn't as oblivious as her usual silence might suggest, but she wasn't sure that Sasuke was as oblivious in turn as he may have appeared to be. Rather like her, if he was aware of what was happening around him, he wasn't letting on.

God, I wish I knew, she thought and clenched her teeth behind her tightly closed lips. Despite her own refusal to even consider the possibility that it could be her name that might be traveling around in Sasuke's head, knowing for certain would put so much for her at ease.

She stopped as she realized how absurd it was for her to even be considering such a thing at a time like this. The world was literally falling apart around her and she was wondering who Sasuke liked. As she gave a quick and quiet laugh, she felt Itachi's eyes move to her.

"You then?"

Mai wasn't unaware of the eyes that moved her way, quick looks from Ty Lee, Zuko and Katara, angry looks from Toph and Azula and even a sad glance from Jin. But she kept her eyes on Itachi, ignoring the chills that they were giving her.

"Sorry, no, I… no, I don't know. It could be none of us, how are you so sure that he's into any of us?"

She remembered how Itachi had spent a good deal of time with them disguised as Sokka and tried to think to what he might have seen during that time that would hint to him that his brother was lovestruck. Itachi watched her for a long moment before turning back to the battle and infuriatingly not giving her an answer. He pulled something from the depths of his robes and retrieved something, looking down at it just as a great orange flash bloomed in the distance. Mai tried not to imagine Sasuke caught in storm of fire, the thought itself causing her to bite her tongue in an attempt to keep her imagination from playing cruel tricks on her like that.

"When Sasuke leaves this battle, he will be a different person. More so because of why he's choosing to fight and less so because of who he's fighting. He will have to decide for himself if what he's doing is because of his own interests or the interests of others; make no mistake, his true test will come after Obito falls at his hand."

Aang did a double take at that, his brow furrowing as Mai also caught on to what it was that Obito had just suggested.

"Wait," the Avatar asked with a frown. "You say that like he's going to beat him no matter what."

Itachi didn't look back as he replied, "He will. As I say, his desire to protect you all will lead him to victory; he will not lose to Obito when his motivation cannot be denied, no matter what it is that Obito throws at him."

"This test, then?" Katara asked, sounding deeply anxious. "What is it that he'll have to do after the fight is over?"

To this, Itachi had nothing to say and Mai had no choice but to stare at him and wonder if he was keeping it to himself because he didn't want to acknowledge it himself, or because he didn't want them to know.

The end of the fight came so abruptly that it was rather anticlimactic, considering how the pace of it had done nothing but steadily grow as they blasted their way through the city.

Sasuke could tell that Obito was getting desperate, less because he was tired and more likely because of the nagging part of him that kept telling him that Ozai's ships were growing closer by the second. Sasuke knew if worse came to worse and he had no choice but to engage the airships before Obito was dealt with, he would have to contest with a whole new set of factors that he barely even had time to consider. Perhaps Obito would use his change of focus to return to his companions and force a new hostage sort of situation or maybe he would slip into Kamui and wait for Sasuke to be at his most distracted before reaching through to pull him in and essentially end the fight. For their entire fight, Sasuke had been forced to stay on his toes more so than he would have liked, purely because he knew that would be exactly what Obito would do if he were able to get too close.

Their actual back and forth had gone more positively than Sasuke would have expected. Having used whatever technique he had to bring down the wall, Obito seemed more than a little hesitant to use any jutsu that would be some kind of substantial drain, and Sasuke had been doing his best to take advantage of that. His opponent's entire strategy seemed to revolve around doing his best to get close to Sasuke after a Chidori or Fire Release technique had been let loose, but every time, Sasuke had been ready for him and had caught Obito dead in his tracks either with his jutsu or his fists.

But deep down, Sasuke knew that time was of the essence. He knew it and Obito knew it; if left to their own devices, he knew the both of them could have gone at it for hours and hours, but neither of them had that kind of time to burn. Both of them were looking to end their contest, and quickly.

As Obito flitted behind him in another attempt to close the distance between them, Sasuke a blast of Chidori ahead of him enough to create a blinding flash that lasted just long enough to surprise Obito to the point where Sasuke was able to whirl in midair and smash his opponent with a ferocious kick that sent him skidding down a street and pulverizing the wall he crashed into. Sasuke watched the dust cloud, waiting for Obito to reappear as his mind once again began to drift.

He saw Azula's face in all of her proud radiance as she had tried to deliver what she had surely thought would be enough to kill Obito and surely boost her approval in Sasuke's eyes.

Stupid. Didn't you think that if I had been able to, I would have just finished him right there?

But no, with Azula, there never seemed to be a good deal of thinking, at least not the kind that led to decisions ruled by common sense. Sasuke clenched his fist as he pictured her delighted expression at the idea that she was about to be able to once again have a chance to prove herself in his eyes; truly, he just needed this war to be over, then he would be able to figure out exactly what it was that he needed to do with her.

She sees my face, she so much as touches me, she even just hears my damn name and she just completely shuts down and starts—

And there it was. It was so completely obvious a trick that Sasuke was in disbelief that he hadn't thought to try it yet. He'd only be able to use it once, but if it worked, then it wouldn't matter that it was a one-time play. The fight would be over if he pulled this off.

Slowly, a vindictive grin slid onto Sasuke's face.

No way I manage this.

As he might have expected, Obito didn't come at him again from the rubble of the building he had just been flung into but instead had apparently slipped around the block and was aiming to come in from a high angle; Sasuke sensed him some distance above him and tapped into his Sharingan. He would have to time it just right as if he wasn't able to take full advantage of the brief moment for which he had Obito distracted, then his opponent would no doubt slip away into Kamui to evade his assault and thus would completely ruin the brief advantage Sasuke was hoping he was about to impose. Obito shot down from above him like a meteor on a final path towards the ground and Sasuke kept himself still before turning to face his enemy. But instead of meeting Obito's eyes, he looked past him, allowing a feigned startled look to pass over his face. Hoping that he had at least come close to properly timing it, he opened his mouth and shouted a single word, a name that flew from his lips.

"Rin!"

And just as he had hoped, Obito faltered in midair, his fierce expression dissolving at Sasuke's reaction and he began to try and twist to try and look in the direction that Sasuke had faked surprise in.

Got you.

The huge glowing skeletal hand of Susanoo reached out and snatched Obito from the air, thrusting him towards the ground. Just before he impacted there, Sasuke raced forward, sliding beneath them both and throwing up a Chidori laced strike that he flushed a significant drain of Chakra into, feeling satisfaction as the lightning connected with Obito's spine, sending surges of electricity pounding through his body. In the moment he was stunned as the blue crackling flashed around him and the Susanoo's hand slammed him to the ground, Sasuke threw a twister of Amaterasu flames to life to come crashing down into Obito's staggered defenses, driving him into a torrent of pain and heat. Within the swirling black and purple, he saw another swirl around Obito's head as he began to siphon the Amaterasu through Kamui to evade more damage and Sasuke felt his gut surge.

That was all he needed to see.

Ramping up his Amaterasu output to as high as he dared, Sasuke watched the fountain of black fire crash around Obito, flowing into his alternate dimension, not giving him a chance to slip away into the dimension himself, simply forcing him to continually redirect the Amaterasu. Moments passed and Sasuke felt his chakra draining, but knew Obito's was doing the same.

Just a little longer…

Finally, when he saw a wince of pain begin to cross over Obito's face, Sasuke cancelled his Amaterasu flow and the black fire ceased churning into the Kamui. Giving a gasp, Obito looked to Sasuke and the pair of them had the briefest moment to regard one another before Sasuke let his final attack fall. For Obito had been too focused on ceasing the brunt of the Amaterasu to notice what had been forming above him.

The two massive blades of Susanoo came crashing down onto him a moment later, the great arms wielding them falling with relentless force.

The resulting impact was enough to blow apart the surrounding area in a massive crater; carts, buildings, the street itself were all torn up by the ensuing blast. Had Sasuke not launched himself into the air and thrown the Susanoo rib cage around himself for protection, the debris launched in every direction might very well have blown his body to pieces.

As the booming crack of his strike faded away, he wasted no time in waiting for the dust to settle. With a wind release technique, he scattered the dust cloud that had settled and leapt forward, ready with Chidori, Amaterasu and Susanoo to finish off whatever Obito had left for him, his lips peeling back into a snarl as he prepared to bring what he had left to bear.

Or, at least he would have, had he not found Obito's body lying in the center of the pit he had blown into the city street, not moving.

Sasuke reached out with his Sharingan and realized that this was indeed Obito, unconscious and real lying at his feet. Part of him was deeply suspicious that this could be a trick, or perhaps he had somehow been locked in a genjtusu, but a quick flush of Chidori being used on himself confirmed that this wasn't happening all in his head. He winced as the shock wore of his body, but never took his eyes from Obito's body. It was truly odd to see what had been his most monumental threat now nothing more than another life to be burned away lying at his feet. He drew up his Amaterasu and looked down towards Obito's chest, ready to stifle any chance he would have of threatening Sasuke, or anyone he cared about, ever again.

He stood there for over a minute, unable to go through with his conceived action.

Closing his eyes, Sasuke grit his teeth angrily. This should not have been some kind of difficult decision after everything they had been through.

He was ready to hurt Jin, even kill her, and he would do the same to Toph, Azula or anybody else he could use to get at me. If he walks away from this, there's no knowing if I could stop him again.

But still, the black fire wouldn't burn and he could do nothing more than look down, feeling more helpless than he ever had.

Because Sasuke knew what this was. Had their positions been reversed, who's to say he wouldn't have been just as efficiently ruthless? He had been granted the grace of being able to travel with a group of people who had been able to reveal much to him about themselves, their world and even Sasuke himself. Obito had been drawn down a different road, one that told him the only way he could return home was to crush all those who opposed Ozai, Sasuke included.

But it wasn't really getting home Obito was after, was it?

Rin. That's what he's after. Why he's doing this.

The absolute desire to return to the one person who he felt gave his life meaning was what fueled him on, a person that he didn't even know was still alive. Considering that was rather tragic in and of itself, but Sasuke tried to picture how he would have reacted in a similar situation. Would he have acted differently and tried to reach some sort of compromise and do what he could to spare the lives of the world's inhabitants, so in danger they were from the presence of people like him?

Sasuke smiled coldly. No, he wouldn't have. He would have blown through that wall the same way, obliterating anyone who stood between him and his goal, men, women and children alike. They were in his way, and he had no desire to waste time trying to empathize and act accordingly to their wellbeing as well.

But Sasuke had met the Avatar and his companions before arriving in Ba Sing Se. He had listened to Sokka's stupid puns, clashed with Katara, had long talks with Aang, and grown closer to many of them, something that he knew was a weakness that could be exploited.

It already had been.

Even still though, as he looked down at Obito, knowing what he was capable of, it was all Sasuke could do to reach down, hoist the unconscious body of his enemy over his shoulder and dash back towards the wall, leaving a city half torn asunder behind him.

"Prince Zuko!"

At the voice of Iroh coming through the dusty haze that had settled over the city, Toph was relieved to finally have something else to focus on other than Sasuke's brother's cryptic words or thinking about Sasuke himself. Imagining what was happening in the distance was torturous to an awful point and she had been doing her best to keep herself from shaking again. So when she felt the footsteps of Iroh and two others drawing closer, she gladly turned her attention to them, unable to imagine that they could be bearing any news that was more stressful to her mind than thinking about Sasuke.

"Over here, uncle!" Zuko called back and the three sets of steps drew nearer. Toph thought she recognized the heavy, stern steps of General Gokan, but the third set she wasn't sure of. They felt like those of a very slender person, likely a woman.

Iroh sounded like he was slightly out of breath as he neared them enough to speak. Zuko moved forward and hugged him, but Iroh spared very little time on further pleasantries than responding to the embrace.

"Where's Sasuke?" he practically demanded.

"Fighting Obito," Katara replied, her voice tight and almost clipped. Toph could tell by the shifting of weight between her two feet that Katara was potentially just as stressed about the whole situation. "He was able to trap him, but thanks to the princess here, Sasuke had to fight him head on and the fight took them deep into the city, or as much as we can tell as that was the last we've seen of them."

Falling into silence for a good long while, Iroh finally asked, "Are you all alright?"

"We're fine," Azula snapped; Toph realized how odd it was that she hadn't fired up immediately when Katara had made her passive aggressive jab just a moment ago, a testament to how preoccupied she had been, though now, she seemed all too eager to pick a fight. "Though I'd be much better off going into the city and helping Sasuke rather than sitting here like a bunch of useless commoners."

"You heard what Itachi said," Mai growled, though she sounded none too happy about their current predicament either. "We stay here and don't get in the way."

Azula gave a half-manic laugh. "Please, Mai, I know what you're thinking. You want to be at his side as well as I. You're really going to let this weirdo tell you what to do just because he—"

She cut off quickly and Toph could feel her moving her feet around rapidly as though spinning back and forth.

"Where'd he go?" Azula demanded angrily and as Toph felt everyone else begin to look around, she realized that she hadn't so much as noticed the weight of Itachi's feet leave their company.

Had I ever sensed his touch at all? Toph thought in confusion. She remembered what Sasuke had said about his brother being dead, only revived by some strange sort of spell; could his half-life had been why she had completely missed his presence beyond his voice.

"Who are we talking about?" Iroh asked and Aang answered.

"Sasuke's brother was here! He was with us just a moment ago, where did he go?!"

Iroh's tone darkened significantly as he asked, "Wait. Sasuke's brother?"

"He was just here telling us not to interfere with Sasuke and Obito's fight," Sokka said, sounding nervous. Toph knew that he got that way whenever Itachi was mentioned and it was surely something that had been amplified with him being around; he had after all knocked out Sokka and posed as him for a several day period. "And now somehow, he just disappeared."

"There's more than two of them?" came an unfamiliar voice, that of a woman, high and focused. Toph tried to remember if she had ever heard a voice quite like that but when Zuko spoke, the name he put forth was not one that Toph was at all familiar with.

"Wait… Admiral Ixa?"

"It's General Ixa actually now, Prince Zuko," the woman said, though her tone sounded almost vaguely playful as she corrected him. "It's good to see you alive and well."

Azula's voice came through deeply suspicious and angry as she said quietly, "What are you doing here?"

Gokan spoke up then, his low cadence practically making the earth shake beneath Toph's feet.

"She's been our spy in the Fire Nation for a little over a year now. Been able to pass us some very useful information, she's how we knew the invasion was coming from the west and how we knew relatively how many forces we'd be seeing."

His practically praising tone fell away into one more worried then, however; it was strange hearing Gokan sound that way, almost defeated.

"Though now, I don't know all what can be done by way of information and resources. We may very well be on our last legs."

This foreboding sentence caused Toph to start biting the inside of her mouth anxiously. She was almost angry when Suki's voice sounded behind her; Toph wasn't sure she wanted to know what was eating at the general.

"What's happened?"

Ixa spoke quickly and deliberately, sounding just as worried as Iroh had just moments before.

"I was dismissed from the Fire Lord's chambers when his two chief scribes entered for a conference with him. I hung back and listened in on what they had to say, and I believe this is more of a damning thing than even these superhumans we've seen in action today."

Zuko stepped up in front of her, seeming just able to keep himself from yelling.

"What's happened?"

Before she explained, Ixa gave a long sigh.

"They spoke of a ritual, something that Ozai tried that he believed hadn't worked. But supposedly based on their analysis of Sozin's Comet's pathing, it may very well have worked after all."

Toph remembered the talking of some kind of ritual amongst their group, remembering how it had required Azula as a sacrifice.

"But Azula's alive, how is that possible?" Ty Lee asked somewhat frantically.

"I don't know," Ixa said. "But that's besides the point I think now. According to the chief scribes, Sozin's Comet has deviated from its path past our skies and has fallen into an orbit around our planet. Rather like the moon it will remain encircling us for well into the foreseeable future."

This was well enough to stun everyone into silence. No one spoke for a moment until Sokka leaned against what must have been some piece of debris and slid down it to sit on the ground, his weight feeling almost as defeated as his voice sounded.

"So, firebenders rule the world forever then. Outstanding."

"That can't be… that can't be…" Aang's voice was almost such that he had fallen into a whisper; his voice hurt Toph to even hear, as his almost always upbeat and positive personality had become overrun by a pure aura of defeat. It was one thing to hear Katara or Sokka dip into angry or beaten tones, but finally hearing Aang's constant optimism finally come crashing down was enough to break her heart.

No one seemed to have anything to say period beyond that, and Toph could only imagine the blankly stunned faces of everyone as they pondered what exactly this would mean for the world. She wondered how Azula, Zuko and Iroh felt about this, this Ixa too if she was a bender; would they be silently pleased that this was something that would elevate them above all other benders? That if the war was won, they would take over in Ozai's stead and lead the Fire Nation to dominance in a new sense.

She shook her head. Iroh and Zuko would never take that path, this was just her imagination running away with her. Azula though… she wouldn't have been surprised if the princess wasn't fighting back a smile.

It was Mai who spoke first after this long lull of silence, her voice one again that typical dulled tone that Toph had known her for, a change compared to what had been a lighter, almost perky inflection that had taken over whenever…

Whenever Sasuke was around.

"So, what now? We give up?"

It was difficult to tell if she was suggesting this seriously or if she was throwing it as a jab at anyone who was considering the day lost; with Mai, it was often hard to tell what implications she was throwing into her words.

But the response she got was not what Toph imagined anyone expected, especially not her.

"Don't tell me everyone's quitting, after all the garbage I just went through."

Just as with Itachi, Toph didn't even notice the change in the weight around her, so caught up as she was in her own emotions. But as soon as Sasuke's low, mellow voice slipped into her ears, Toph's breath caught in her throat and she whirled at the familiar presence walking up behind them.

She started to hear the voices of Sokka, Aang and Azula all start to speak up to welcome him back before there was a sharp reaction in the movements of everyone around her. Toph noticed at the same time that there was a significant weight to Sasuke, as though he had doubled in size since she had last seen him. But when there came the sound of something being dumped softly on the ground, she was able to put two and two together relatively quickly.

It was when Ty Lee spoke that Toph's suspicion was confirmed.

"Is he… dead?"

Sasuke gave a loud sigh. "No, not quite. He gave me quite a run, but wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

Despite his arrogant words, Toph was able to piece together more than what they suggested; there was a great tiredness in his voice, and perhaps some pain as well and she wondered if he had been injured and was hiding it. Katara seemed to have thought something similar as she asked in what was almost a demand.

"Are you hurt?"

Sasuke replied maybe a little too quickly to assume that he was telling the whole truth.

"No. Just a little drained is all, been a long day."

Iroh gently walked over, his pace a gentle and almost sad shuffle, a sharp contrast to the still rigid and alert weights of everyone else. When he reached near enough to Sasuke and what must have been the unconscious body of Obito, he sighed.

"I wish there was something I could have said to him, something I could have done to keep him from going down this path. I just never would have thought… in our days of travel, I never saw any sign that he was capable of such wanton destruction."

"Yeah?" Sasuke asked, flat and a little sarcastic. "What exactly about his character struck you as a virtuous and noble person?"

Toph could practically see the frown on Iroh's face as he replied, sounding reproachful of Sasuke's attitude and judgement. "The man I traveled with was not this sort of cruel. One of the first things I saw him do was defend a woman and her child from being robbed by a group of Earth Nation soldiers. We shared many a pleasant conversation day after day, was always conscious of my wellbeing, and when he and myself encountered the general here, then captain, he did what he could to protect me rather than escape himself."

The person to respond to this wasn't Sasuke however, but Azula, her tone a venomous sneer; by the feel of things, she had been released and was standing on her own in recent minutes, and Toph wondered if that had been all too wise a decision.

"People lie, uncle, I'm sorry that no one told you that. He saw a chance to have someone to guide him and cook him some free meals and he took advantage of it."

"I suppose you'd know all about being a completely compulsive liar, 'Zula," snapped Ty Lee, her voice a surprising addition in both its airing and its tone.

Azula, no doubt rounding on Ty Lee, lowered her voice to a threatening softness. "You really want to do this now, Ty Lee? I have no doubt that you of all people may have some grievances to air, but I'll remind you that it's been quite a while since—"

"Enough," Sasuke said, sounding more tired now than anything. Seemingly ever willful to his command, Azula dutifully fell into silence and took a step nearer to him. Toph wanted to lunge forward and stand between them both, but kept herself in check. That would be more needless drama that they didn't need just then.

Thankfully, General Ixa spoke up, changing the subject as she did. "You're… the one, aren't you? The one who fought down the Fire Lord's entire army? With that giant snake? And that lightning?"

Iroh allowed himself to make the introduction. "Ixa, this is Sasuke. Sasuke, this is…"

"The spy, yeah," Sasuke finished for him. "I figured."

"How much did you hear?" asked Gokan.

"Nothing, really," Sasuke said. "I just got in earshot of Mai suggesting that we throw in the towel, so I imagine that something bad must have happened."

"I wasn't… that was a joke," Mai said almost frantically and Sasuke made a gentle noise of amusement.

"I know, I'm just teasing," he said and despite herself, Toph felt her ears grow hot as she felt the smallest tremble from Mai.

"Itachi was here," Suki said and Toph felt Sasuke practically leap where he stood as his voice leapt a level.

"Where did he go?! What did he say?!" he nearly shouted, and Toph felt him spinning about where he stood, no doubt trying to locate his brother as though he might be hiding behind some debris somewhere.

"We're not sure," she replied, keeping her voice very level, most likely to try and keep Sasuke calm. "He was being kind of weird though, just kind of said some stuff about not being able to interfere in your fight because of this and that, something about testing your bloodline or will, or whatever."

"What?" Sasuke said in reply, sounding nothing short of bemused at what his brother had shown up with.

Suki made a noise that sounded like she was shrugging. "Not sure what his deal was. Don't know what it was that made him not want to help you, but I'm… I'm sure he had his reasons. When he gets back, you can—"

"Forget it," Sasuke snapped. "Clearly I'm not worth the time. Let's just keep focused on what's in front of us, Itachi wants to play hide and seek, that's up to him."

Listening to his words, Toph was surprised to hear Sasuke suddenly sound so unhinged. He wasn't yelling, or even really raising his voice, but there was a tremble in his words; Itachi's aloofness clearly was something that hurt him. No one decided they wanted to try and insert themselves in between Sasuke and his clearly angry feelings towards his brother and with that, he seemed content to move on.

"So, what's the actual deal?" he asked, turning attention back to the situation at hand. "I just took out what I thought would be the biggest threat I'd have to deal with today, but looking at all your faces, there's another problem at hand, is there?"

Toph waited in silence as she pictured in her mind's eye everyone present looking at each other anxiously, no doubt not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. Sokka finally seemed like he was the one least nervous about breaking the news and said in an almost carefree tone, no doubt to try and alleviate some of the tension present,

"Ozai worked some black magic and based on what we've learned, Sozin's Comet is not just making a pass of our world, it's going to be hanging around for a good while, orbiting us like the sun and making it so firebenders are easily the most powerful force on this planet for a lot longer than one day."

Following this up was Aang who, once again, spoke with a quiet and defeated voice that Toph hated hearing out of him, even more so when paired with the words he almost bitterly threw out.

"You may have won the battle, Sasuke, but we may have lost the war."

Silence fell again and the only movement Toph felt was from Sasuke who turned slowly and took a couple steps away from the group. Somehow, she could tell that he was looking up towards the sky where he could surely see the burn of Sozin's Comet, whether it be fully visible, blazing angrily down at them all, or obscured by the clouds. One way or another, it was there though, as it soared overhead, passively dealing what may very well have been the final blow to the resistance against the Fire Nation.

Toph allowed herself to consider what very well might happen next. Ozai would be able to lay waste to as much of Ba Sing Se as he was able, he would even be able to pull back and reorganize his forces if he wanted, now that there was no time limit on how long he could take advantage of the comet. Eventually, the city would be burnt out and he would impose his rule within once again, and from there, he could move onto Omashu and Toph's native country. The Earth Nation would fall and then the Water, and Fire would rule over all.

She allowed herself then to think of what might become of their group when the Fire Nation took over. Maybe they could still run and perhaps try and figure a way around what Toph rather imagined might be a completely insurmountable problem. If captured, she imagined Aang would either be locked away in a deep, dark pit for the rest of his life, if not killed outright. Ozai would take no chances with him, nor likely would he with his own family. Azula might avoid the death sentence, but Zuko and Iroh would no doubt be strung up as traitors and scapegoats; Katara, Suki, Sokka, Mai, Ty Lee and Toph herself would probably be interrogated for information before likely being killed under the same grounds, traitors to the wellbeing of the world or some crap in that vein.

In essence, there could be very little hope going forward, and Toph found that she didn't even feel like crying, too tired and defeated she felt. What could be done, even with Sasuke's extraordinary power, to stave off an entire people whose abilities had just been given a devastatingly and permanent increase? He couldn't hold them all off forever and eventually he too would be—

"A long while, huh?"

Sasuke's voice broke through her mental despair with all the clarity of glacial mountain water.

"We can't ask you to go in on this for us, Sasuke," came Mai's voice, low and pained. "I can tell that you're deflecting how worn out you are, and if you go in on the airships now, Ozai is going to see it coming."

Azula exploded before Sasuke could so much as offer any sort of reply.

"Don't underestimate him! Are you really daring to question his power after what he's accomplished today?!"

"Shut up, Azula," Mai said, sounding more tired than angry. "He doesn't want to hear you trying to flatter him right now."

Immediately, Azula started to sputter indignantly, but she was drowned out as discussions broke out quickly amongst the group; Iroh and Ixa began trying to air ideas on how they might be able to turn the day around, despite the fact that Ozai had essentially won no matter what was done about his present forces. Katara, Aang, Jin, and Zuko tried to interject themselves into the conversation, but even with the three of them adding their own thoughts, Toph heard nothing but desperate gambits and hopeless endeavors. Sokka approached Gokan and asked how feasible it was to force the city's remaining military manpower to work on evacuation. Azula fell silent and paced away a little, and Toph was sure that she was thinking of how best to spin the situation to her advantage, more than it already was. Though it struck her as mildly satisfying that Suki was very subtly tailing just behind her.

Mai and Ty Lee did nothing more than quietly approach one another a distance away and Toph heard some quietly exchanged words that were followed by a stifled sob from Ty Lee before Mai pulled her into a hug. And as she sensed them embracing one another, being perhaps the only two people there truly acknowledging the desperation of the situation, Toph couldn't take it anymore.

Swallowing down bile, she turned and walked quickly away to put herself a dozen yards away behind a wall of rubble, leaning against it as she tried to control her breathing.

This is it.

Just thinking those three words was almost cathartic; just understanding the true gravity of the information that spy had just delivered seemed to grant some clarity in Toph's mind, even as the reality of it pushed her deeper into despair.

There was no way that Azula wouldn't fall back into league with her father and take proper action against everyone who she felt had wronged her. She would have Sasuke spared, and take Toph, Jin, Mai and whoever else she believed had wronged her by coming between them, putting them in a hole somewhere and torture them for as long as it pleased her. And as for Ozai, he would storm over the entire world with the aid of Sozin's Comet; he could take all the time he wanted since on bender on earth, not even Aang, would be ablet to stand up to him.

Her heart started to pound with an awful wrenching feeling. She jammed her eyes shut and hugged herself, trying to keep herself somewhat calm. Nothing seemed to quite be working as she felt her lower lip trembling; after what they now knew, what could she possibly do to keep herself from falling into complete—

"Hey. You okay?"

In her misery, Toph hadn't even felt Sasuke approach, though she imagined part of it might have been due to his uncanny ability to move around with complete stealth. She jumped at his voice and sudden feeling on the ground just next to her.

"No, I… well, it's just… I don't…"

She felt herself starting to fall apart immediately.

No, not in front of him, he's seen you like this too damn often. Are you as weak as Azula says you are? Are you really about to show him that?

Sniffing and wiping an arm across her face, Toph shook her head.

"Just wasn't ready for this to be it is all, I guess."

At this, Sasuke said nothing and Toph did her best to keep herself from starting to cry; she didn't want this to be the last day she spent with him. A crazy thought flashed through her head in which all she wanted to do was ask Sasuke to take her away from the city, away from any of the Nations, even to his own world. Away from this ugly war, away from all this hate and death.

"Hey, Toph?"

Sasuke's inquiry caused her to perk her head up, unable to keep a single tear from sliding down her cheek.

"Yeah?"

Before he replied, Sasuke reached out and put a hand against the side of her face; she was surprised at how tender his touch was and at the warmth of his hand, she felt her legs tremble.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She could practically feel him smiling.

"Eveyrthing's going to be fine," he said and she choked back a sob.

"How can you… how can you say that? Mai's right, isn't she? You're spent! You took on Ozai's entire army and just had to throw down against Obito… you're hurt, I know it. We can't… you can't do anything without putting yourself in harm's way! Whether it's Ozai, or his airships, or the rest of his army, it's not something you can—"

"I'm not going to fight any of them."

Toph reached out and squeezed his wrist.

"What then? Are you…"

Are you going to take me away from here?

Sasuke made a sound that could have been a quiet chuckle.

"I'm afraid I probably shouldn't tell you. Might piss you off."

He brushed his thumb along her cheek and Toph felt herself shiver as he said quietly, "I need you to promise me something though, Toph."

She had to force herself to push her voice higher than a whisper.

"Anything."

Sasuke waited a beat too long and she knew what he was about to say was not something he particularly wanted to.

"I don't… honestly know what's about to happen, but I just need you to promise me stay safe. No matter how this goes, I need to know you're going to take care of yourself."

A fresh dread, a truly awful fear unlike anything that had previously been plaguing her began to drip inside Toph's gut. What Sasuke was suggesting wasn't lost on her and she immediately began to slowly shake her head.

"No. Stop."

It was all she could to deny him, since she truly had no idea what it was he was talking about.

He pulled his hand away and she gave a quiet moan, pulling at his arm.

"Wait, don't go, what are you—"

This was as far as she got before she was silenced by the touch of his lips against her forehead.

"I'm sorry," was all he said before he turned and left her standing there, utterly paralyzed by his action.

Sasuke walked quickly away from Toph, shaking away the intimacy of the moment and clearing his throat as he did. He was genuinely surprised at what he had just done and said, but he knew that Toph had a way of getting past his usual mental block of compassion and openness. Kissing her on the forehead had been as much a way to keep her at bay as it had been a show of affection.

Right?

He grit his teeth and smiled. That really was some crazy power she had over him.

His mind went to Itachi then and his smile pulled down at its corners immediately.

What are you doing, brother?

Suki had said that he had indicated that he wasn't interfering because this was some kind of test, or something similar and Sasuke couldn't imagine a worse time for him to be testing his brother. But Itachi or not, he had already made up his mind on how to proceed. He just hoped it would be enough to make his brother proud.

As he came around the giant chunk of wall Toph had put herself behind, he saw everyone standing before him, all in different stages of emotional vulnerability. There was Ixa, Gokan and Iroh, all clearly doing a better job at hiding their gloom than anyone else, but looking close enough, Sasuke could see the three battle-hardened adults doing their best to keep their cool before the cluster of younger, more naïve and frightened people before them.

Suki and Katara looked the most in control of themselves, still looking fiercely determined, even despite the odds before them. Sokka looked distant as though he were starting to picture a world where the Fire Nation actually came out on top, looking similar to Zuko who just seemed to look more miserable on top of that. Sasuke wondered what he was thinking about his father right about then. Aang was still talking with Iroh, but his face was all but resigned; Sasuke imagined that when acceptance finally came, he would probably give himself up to the Fire Lord anyway, in some vain attempt to spare the lives of others. It would be an utterly wasted gesture, but Sasuke wasn't going to give him a chance to try it.

Jin was a distance away from anyone else, arms wrapped around herself and looking severely alone and still hurt. It pained Sasuke to imagine not saying anything else to her before he went into action, but he supposed she would perhaps understand him a little better after this anyway, regardless of if they ever got a chance to speak again. Mai and Ty Lee had arms around each other still, both their cheeks wet as they embraced silently.

They've given up, Sasuke thought, but couldn't honestly hold it against them, not after what they now knew.

Azula was looking towards the clouded sky, behind which there was a blur of sick yellow light. Sasuke knew what it was, and he knew Azula did too as he looked at her hungry face. She seemed completely oblivious to him or anyone else, lost in some fantasy no doubt.

What are you thinking about, Azula? What are you wishing for behind those eyes?

Had he had the time and the energy, he might have considered probing to see, but time was of the essence with the Ozai's ships moving in, and Sasuke knew that he was going to need every ounce of his remaining energy to try and pull this last desperate maneuver off. Mai had been right, he was deeply tired out and every part of his body ached. He had exerted so much energy already, but the day still required more of him.

He found it odd how content he was with giving it.

Am I really about to do this?

As he approached, Iroh saw him first and spoke gently as he approached.

"I think I ought to take this chance to thank you, Sasuke."

He looked at Obito's motionless form sadly, but looked back to Sasuke with a small smile.

"No mater how this day ends, you gave so much of yourself for this cause. I know you didn't need to; you could have gone about this a whole different way, but you chose to handle it like this to protect these people."

Sasuke felt his face flush slightly as the eyes of everyone moved to him. He didn't meet any of their gazes other than Iroh's. Any one of their faces, might have been enough for him to change his mind; Toph's nearly had been on her own.

"You sound like you've conceded," he instead remarked and Iroh shook his head.

"I don't know I'll ever be able to do that… but this may not be something we can win, Sasuke. You've given us our best odds, but even with all you've done, we still face an army permanently enhanced by the power of a celestial body."

He gave a gentle shrug.

"I'll fight till the end, but realistically… I don't know what can be done."

Sasuke could feel the anguish all around him, emanating through all his companions, people he might have been able to call his friends.

"It's okay, Iroh. I do."

He cracked his knuckles and looked down at the ground as he spoke.

"Be ready to meet the army. They won't be ready for this, and you can catch them off guard. It should happen within a minute."

He felt the mood shift and risked a glance to his side. There was Katara, eyes alive and suspicious, Mai, looking suitably perplexed, and Jin, eyes widening as she considered his meaning. He looked last at Azula and smiled as he saw the smirk wipe itself from her face.

"What are you going to do?" she snapped, and Sasuke took some satisfaction in replying.

"What I should have done to start."

Not able to stand another moment being surrounded by them all and the emotions he felt from being there with them, he kicked off from the ground as hard as he could, his chakra propelling him upwards as fast as a shot fired from the barrel of a cannon. He tried not to think about the fact that he had heard Toph's voice, crying out desperately to him just as he launched himself into the sky, shaken from her emotions and desperate not to see him leave.

As he passed the height of where the wall had reached to, the glowing radiance of his Susanoo whirled to life around him, as he soared up higher. It really was stupid, he thought, that he hadn't thought to do something like this to start.

He angled himself then, not towards the line of airships surging closer to the city, not towards the army that had regrouped and marched onward, not even towards where he could use his Sharingan to piece out where Ozai was. He turned himself and bore down relentlessly towards the clouds above, towards that glow that Azula had been so fixated on.

I don't know if it's possible to get mad at a lifeless thing, but here I am… I'm pretty sick of you.

And Sasuke locked his sights on Sozin's Comet, preparing to give all of himself and to turn the tide.