I Don't Own Avatar or Miraculous.
Chapter Seventeen. The Chase. Part Two.
Marinette was lost. What the heck had happened while she slept? Did no one even try to sleep? Marinette was 99 percent sure that Katara and Aang had not meant what they just said. People said crazy stuff when they were tired. Marinette knew that more than anyone. She was certain she rambled to Katara a few times about Adrien while unconscious. Hopefully that didn't come back to haunt her. Marinette was secretly glad she had taken a nap, because she was also sure she would have found herself rambling on about the homesickness she'd experienced upon realizing that it would be nearly a year until she saw her parents and friends again.
"What did I just do!?" Aang and Katara cried at the same time. Aang sat down in despair.
"I can't believe I yelled at my earthbending teacher! Now she's gone." Aang mused.
"I know, we're just trying to get used to each other, and I was so mean to her." Katara agreed.
"Yep. You two were pretty much jerks."
"Thanks Sokka."
"No problem." Katara turned to Aang.
"We need to find Toph and apologize."
"Okay, but what are we going to do about the dangerous group of ladies chasing after us?" Sokka asked.
"Okay, what exactly happened while I was asleep?" Marinette asked.
"Well, the girls from Omashu are apparently the ones following us." Marinette visibly paled. Last time, the braids girl had completely forced her to detransform. Tikki said something about chi blocking temporary severing the connection between the Miraculous and Marinette. It only made her detransform and paralyze her for a few hours, but it seriously scared her and Tikki. If Hawkmoth had a villain who could do something like that… she would have been doomed.
"Yeah, I didn't like those girls." she agreed. Aang glanced around, until noticing Appa's fur and smiling.
"I have a plan. Rin, you are with me on diversion. Sokka, Katara… you get Appa out of here, but first… he needs a bath." The team gave him puzzled looks. Marinette, being the Lady of completely random but impossibly workable plans, decided not to question it. Marinette learned what it was like to wash a giant, flying bison. It was pretty fun. It would have been better if everyone else was more awake. Soon, Appa was as good as new.
"Toph was right. Appa's fur was leading a trail right to us. But now that he's clean, no more trail." Aang explained.
"Are you sure he's okay to fly?" Katara asked with uncertainty.
"He'll be fine as long as we leave his saddle and all of our stuff here. I will use Appa's fur to make a fake trial to lead the train thing off course. Rin will follow behind me, because once they catch up, it would probably be wise to have someone who's actually had sleep to help me get away. Once we are certain we've confused them enough, we will meet up here and leave the area and move south, away from our previous destination. Once that's done, we can all get some sleep before doubling back in search for Toph. By that point, we will have most likely lost them."
"Excellent plan, Avatar Aang." Marinette said with a nod, "I'll follow you with my yo-yo. In Ladybug form, I'm pretty fast and should be able to keep up with you." They team broke, each going in their assigned directions. Marinette transformed and followed after the tired Avatar, while Sokka and Katara took Appa and Momo the other direction. The pair found themselves in an abandoned and broken down village. There, Marinette told Aang he would hide until the girls got there so that she had the element of surprise in case things went south. Then, with that all said and done, Aang sat cross legged in the middle of the ghost town, waiting for the ones that had been chasing them to reach his location patiently.
Not long after, the princess Azula girl caught up with them. Alone.
"Alright. You've caught up with me. Now who are you and what do you want?" Aang said half-heartedly.
"You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance? Here's a hint," Azula covered on of her eyes with her hand and began talking in a really deep voice, "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor." Aang looked unamused. Marinette wondered what that hint was supposed to mean.
"It's okay, you can laugh, it's funny." Azula said in a cheery tone.
"So what now?" Aang asked.
"Now, it's over. You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you." Azula purred. Aang stood up, despite his exhaustion.
"I'm not running." Aang said sternly. Azula smile cruelly.
"Do you really want to fight me?" She taunted.
"Yes, I really do." A new voice said. It was deeper and scratchy. A boy her age emerged from an alleyway. Suddenly Azula's analogy of who she was related to made a little more sense. He had dark brown hair and golden eyes, but more noticeably: a large burn scar across one half of his face.
"Zuko!" Aang said in surprise.
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu." Azula said sweetly to her older brother. A chill ran down Marinette's spine. This girl gave her the creeps. They way she spoke to her brother was playful, but held an underlying threat in her tone. Her brother, Zuko, didn't flinch at her remark, but Aang giggled.
"Zuzu?" The Avatar laughed, still obviously half awake. Zuko got into a stance, one hand posed to fight Aang, the other to fight his sister. Marinette unhooked her yo-yo. Things were definitely about to go south.
"Back off, Azula! He's mine." Zuko threatened.
"I'm not going anywhere." Azula replied, falling into her own stance. The three stood there, waiting to see who'd flinch first. Zuko looked uncertain of whether to help Aang or not. In all honesty, Marinette couldn't tell which side he was actually on. He wore earth kingdom clothes, but was obviously related to the firebending princess. He seemed to really dislike his sister, but for some reason wanted to capture Aang just as much, if not more than Azula did. It seemed like he was in the middle of a huge sibling rivalry contest, and Aang was the grand prize.
Azula finished first, launching blue fire at her brother who instantly blocked it. That's when Marinette made her choice. As of that moment, Zuko was on their side. As long as Azula posed a threat to him capturing Aang, he would likely try and aide Aang's escape and then try and capture the boy later when his sister wasn't in the way. Azula went to send another blast at Zuko, but before it could hit him, Marinette was in front of the scarred firebender with her yo-yo spinning. Zuko backed up in surprise, obviously confused by her arrival. Azula smirked.
"I was hoping to run into you. Ladybug, right? What nation exactly are you? You were the Fire Nation colors, but fought for Omashu and their earthbending King." Marinette smiled.
"I'm from France." She said simply, before charging the firebender with her yo-yo spinning. Azula backed up in surprise. Aang took the moment to try and get out of the way, since he was far too tired for a fight anyways. Zuko noticed and looked between Aang and Marinette again, before resolving to follow her lead and summoning fiery blasts.
"Two against one." Azula said, "Hardly fair."
"You're right. The Avatar should help. Better safe than sorry." Zuko growled. So apparently this girl was a good fighter. Good to know.
"Nah, I've always preferred fighting in a duo anyways." Marinette expressed. Azula dodged a blast from Zuko while Marinette swung around and attacked from behind. She easily knocked Marinette's yo-yo out of the way. Azula took her opening and slide between the two teens and went at Aang with hands blazing. The air nomad yelped and dodged one of her blasts before opening his glider and took off into the square of the abandoned town with Azula on his tail. Zuko and Marinette shared a look before chasing after Azula. Aang began to airbend at Azula, desperately trying to get out of the way.
Meanwhile, Marinette weighed the pros and cons of using the Lucky Charm. On one hand, it could help restrain Azula, but on the other, Marinette knew for certain Zuko was only helping her because he didn't want Azula to ruin his chances at getting ahold of Aang. Zuko was not on her side. She would only have five minutes to restrain him as well before she was absolutely useless if she chose to use the Lucky Charm. Not to mention the fact that Marinette wasn't about to leave Zuko or Azula near each other. They obviously had a sibling revivalry that went as far as trying to actually kill each other. In the end, she silently decided she would have to do without her Lucky Charm this time.
Zuko lunged at his sister and the pair egan to spar. The battle was a picture of flaming red and icy blue as they threw deadly blasts at each other. Marinette circled around and threw her yo-yo. It wrapped around Azula's wrist mid punch. The firebender girl looked back at Marinette in annoyance, throwing fire to cut the tie… only to find the string couldn't be cut. Marinette pulled back, forcing Azula to lose her balance. Zuko took the opening to swipe at Azula's feet, making her stumble back even further. Azula grunted before twisting around to grab the string of Marinette's yo-yo. She pulled on the string, forcing Marinette to stumble forwards.
"What is this made out of anyways. Any normal rope would've burned away or melted by my fire." Azula said with a raised eyebrow.
"It's magic and unbreakable. Not even your fire can wear it out." Marinette replied. Zuko scowled, obviously not believing Marinette's magic calim. Azula took advantage of Marinette's poor stance and undid the yo-yo from around her wrist quickly before pulling Marinette closer and attacking her with a flaming punch. Marinette dogded. She was thankful the suit was fireproof, but her hair and face certainly wasn't. She was glad her Ladybug form brought the pigtails back. The girls sparred, Zuko inputted a punch anytime he could, but the two were fast. Azula with her prodigy training and Marinette with her Ladybug luck and magically given fighting skills. It became a matter of how would faulture first. After two years of fighting Akumas, Marinette did not plan on losing to a crazy flamethrowing person.
Suddenly a wave of water splashed into Marinette's opponent, catching everyone off guard. There stood Katara and Sokka. Zuko's eyes widened in panic, but he kept his focus mostly on his sister. This had not been a part of Avatar Aang's plan at all.
"Katara!" Aang said in surprise. Azula forgot Marinette and ran after Katara, seeing as the girl could bend something that could be annoying to someone bending fire. Zuko went to stop her, but Azula sent a large blast at him knocking him into a nearby building and knocking the firebender out. Sokka growled and pulled out his club, determined to keep his sister safe. He swung at Azula and she stopped pursuing Katara and went to focus her attention of Sokka, but Katara stopped her with her water bending. Aang joined in by standing next to Katara by providing cover. Marinette was certain those three would handle her just fine and went to check on Zuko. To her surprise, an older looking, stout man stood over the dazed prince with his hand out.
"Uncle…" Zuko muttered. Okay. Where were all of these people coming from? She guessed that Zuko had been probably tracking Team Avatar or Azula and Azula had been tracking them. Katara and Sokka had probably decided to come help Aan and Marinette contrary to Aang's plan… but who was this guy?
"Get up." The older man ordered Zuko. Zuko hesitated before taking his hand. Great… the old man was on Zuko's side. More trouble for Marinette to handle after they drove off or restrained Azula. There was a low rumble behind Marinette, and Marinette realized Toph had come back… probably heard the fighting and decided to double back and help. Zuko, the old man, Toph, Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Marinette formed a semi-circle around the now cornered Azula.
"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors all working together. I'm done." She raised her hands in the air, "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. Princess surrenders with honor." Marinette wasn't convinced. She went for her yo-yo slowly. Then she noticed the uncle of Zuko seemed distracted upon seeing Toph standing with them. He glanced between them and the blind girl, losing his focus on Azula. Azula immediately noticed. In an instant, she unleashed a wave of blue fire at her uncle, causing him to fall back unconscious. Zuko yelled in fear. Immediately, all of the benders and Sokka attacked Azula. Marinette, however, spun around and ran to the older man, forgetting her that she wasn't going to use her Lucky Charm, she threw her yo-yo in the air and yelled, 'Lucky Charm!' In a flash of light, she was supplied with a first aid kit. She knelt next to him, opening the ladybug themed box. She realized Zuko was hovering over her, his fists were clenched in rage.
"Move." He growled.
"I'm trying to help, prince moody. Now give me a second!" Marinette growled. He grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her to the side, kneeling next to her.
"Uncle Iroh…" He said in despair. The old man groaned, but did not wake up. Team Avatar approached the three cautiously.
"Get away!" Zuko warned, looking back at them with wild golden eyes as he snatched the bandages Marinette provided into his hands.
"Zuko! I can help!" Katara offered.
"Leave!" He yelled, unleashing fire at her friends. Marinette knew she wasn't welcomed and backed up, letting him take the first aid kit. It would drain Tikki a little to let it remain after she transformed back, but Marinette decided it was worth the extra energy. She wasn't about to let anyone in need, not even a Fire Nation man, go without her help. Team Avatar followed her lead and backed away before getting on Appa and flying back to their camp.
At camp, Katara and Sokka explained that Azula's friends had managed to track them down despite Aang and Marinette's diversion. So, once they defeated Azula's friends, they decided to go and pick up Aang just in case, hence them being there. Toph apparently had felt bad for leaving the team behind and had come back to help them face the crazy girl's who been facing them. The Team made up for the silly arguments and insults they'd thrown out while exhausted before promptly passing out.
Marinette smiled upon seeing Team Avatar going to sleep. They sure needed it. She decided a little nap herself wouldn't do any harm. She laid out her sleeping bag and began to drift off again. She wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, but as her eyes closed, she could have sworn she saw a purple butterfly land beside her.
(Also... Azula is 14 years old... just so everyone is aware.) Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm actually really excited now that Zuko and Iroh have (sorta) met Marinette. Remember to review and critique.