Chapter 37

Azula breathed in the salt air at the harbour, the cold wind whipping off the ocean and picking at her dark red cloak. More than sixty members of the New Ozai Society stood around her for this supply pickup—the biggest number of insurgents Azula had ever seen in one place. It unnerved her slightly. Or it would, if she didn't have full confidence in her ability to derail this little insurrection once Zuko had learned his lesson.

Still. It was odd that all cell members had been called to the harbour for a supply pickup. What could the New Ozai Society possibly be delivering? At the head of the crowd stood Lord Tomono's wife, who had escaped a Kyoshi Warrior raid; beside her stood General Gui. Gui was dressed in traditional Fire Nation armour about five years out of date, obviously a tribute to Ozai and the glory days of the war. Lord Gui, who Azula had talked to three weeks before, stood next to his wife, looking cold.

A large iron ship loomed out of the mist, and with it came a bleak patter of rain. Azula's eyes widened as she realized it wasn't a transport ship, but a full Phoenix-class warship. At the height of the war, one of those could held a complement of 3,000 soldiers. Suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding, Azula watched the warship dock slowly. With a hiss of steam that joined the curling mists, the iron boarding plank slammed down onto the pier. Two Fire Nation soldiers stood at attention on either side of the ramp, and General Gui stepped forward eagerly.

No, thought Azula frantically. It can't be possible. The General can't have persuaded so many. But even as she denied it, rows and rows of soldiers marched off the ship like insects exiting a hive. They streamed out, thousands and thousands of them, forming tight rows along the harbour. All were full armored and ready for battle.

Azula fought her way to the front of the crowd and pulled on Lord Gui's sleeve. "What is going on?" she hissed. "Are we attacking tonight? Why weren't we informed?"

Gui smiled, excited. "I knew my wife would come through," he said proudly. "Now that her troops are here, the assault has already begun." He looked at the position of the moon. "By now, the Firelord could be dead," he said dreamily.

A dagger of ice seemed to pierce Azula as she realized how thoroughly she had miscalculated. This wasn't a small rebel group she could manipulate to teach Zuko a lesson. This was an armed military insurgency that was out of her control. All around her, torches lit, burning away the mists, and General Gui stepped out onto the gangplank.

"The night is ours!" she yelled passionately. "The days of shame and weakness are over. By morning, Prince Zuko will be obliterated from this earth!" The soldiers roared, beast-like.
"Long live the revolution!" screamed Gui, the rain streaking her face.

Azula shook herself free from her temporary shock. She had to go. She had to save Zuko, if he was still alive. She contemplated striking General Gui down with a well-placed bolt of lightning, but knew she would never escape afterwards. And, she found with surprise, she didn't want to die. How odd. So instead Azula slipped from the crowd, running as fast as she could towards the palace. Her feet pounded on the wet pavement.

Azula, come back! I can help you.

Azula, I love you!

If Zuko was overthrown on her watch, due to her carelessness, she deserved to die for her failure.

Suki paced the ramparts of the palace, staying under the overhang to escape from the rain. A mix of Kyoshi Warriors and Imperial Guards dotted the roof and grounds, as usual. It was funny, over the past year the difference between the two had started to disappear, the groups melding together into a single force. Several of her Warriors even had Fire Nation lovers now, something Suki supposed she shouldn't be surprised by. People adjusted. People changed. But she sometimes wondered how long the Kyoshi Warriors could stay at the palace before losing their culture and identity completely.

She shook her head. There was no need to decide now. The last three weeks since Aang had left had been some of the most peaceful since she had moved into the palace. Sokka was happier now, having finally found something he wanted to do, and they had even taken a week off and vacationed at the nearby Crescent Lake, staying at Zuko's family lakehouse. The atmosphere was so idyllic it was odd to remember that below the lake lurked Ozai, and rooms full of ice-cold bodies waiting to be identified.

The wind shifted, blowing the rain directly into Suki's face. She squinted. With her eyesight obscured, she realized she smelled the distinctive scent of fire.

"Char!" she yelled to a Guard a few meters to her right. "Do you smell that?"

"Fire, sir!" Char confirmed. He pointed out towards the harbour and the Great Gates of Azulon.

"Look!"

Turning back towards the distant shoreline, Suki saw thousands of specks of light, and the smoky outline of a ship. She remembered Sokka saying that right before a Fire Nation attack, they could smell the ash and taste the sooty snow.

"Sound the alarm!" yelled Suki, her eyes wide. Even as she said it, she heard a yell from down below, and saw a dark group of people broke through the palace gates. They disappeared into the palace, leaving Suki gazing down in horror at the bodies of a dozen Imperial Guards and Kyoshi Warriors. This was a full-fledged assault. And she hadn't seen it coming.

"Awaken General Mak!" Suki shouted to Char. He nodded, pulling down his visor to obscure his face. "Alert the rest of the Warriors! Ring the bells!" Kyoshi Warriors sprinted away, down the staircases to reach the rest of the palace. This couldn't be happening. Not now, when everything had finally settled.

Suki herself ran for the Firelord's personal wing, knowing that she couldn't beat the small group that had already broken through the gates. The warning bells echoed around her, too late.

Think, Suki. They would go to the Firelord's rooms first. They were probably already there. Tears of frustration welled in Suki's eyes as she realized she had already failed. But the rebels probably didn't know that Mai was sleeping apart from Zuko tonight, since she had planned to leave early in the morning to visit her mother in prison. Suki headed for Mai's chambers, a few doors down from Zuko's.

As she entered the hall, she slowed, edging carefully around the corner. Sure enough, a group of about fifteen people were already in the hall. Helplessly, Suki watched as they kicked down Zuko's door. In the torchlight, she saw a head of distinctive long, ragged black hair, and she was paralyzed in fear. It couldn't be… But then the entire gang disappeared into Zuko's room. She heard Zuko's yell as he was startled awake, and a tear escaped from her eye. There was nothing she could do alone. She had to find Mai and Sokka, she had to move. Suki heard Zuko yell again, this time in pain, and she wrenched herself away. If he was lost, he was lost. She could still save the others.

She burst into Mai's room, shaking the Firelady awake.

"New Ozai attacked! They have Zuko. We have to go!" she said. Mai's eyes snapped open and then quickly widened in fear.

"Kazuto," she stated as she jumped out of bed. It wasn't a question, but Suki answered anyway.

"I don't know," the Kyoshi Warrior said painfully. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

Mai nodded and buckled a belt of knives around her waist. "Let's go," she said, heading for the nursery.

"Wait!" said Suki. "They may still be in the hallway."

Mai shook her head. "Of course," she said flatly. She ran to the wall and turned a knob aggressively. A door popped open. "I'm getting Kazuto," Mai said. "You should organize the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. And find Sokka."

"Right," said Suki.

Mai put one foot into the secret passage and then turned back to Suki, her face impassive. "Is Zuko alive?" she asked, expressionless.

"I don't know," said Suki again helplessly. She was so useless. "But I think…I saw Ozai."

Mai's mask broke as her face twisted. "Time to die nobly, then." And she disappeared into the wall.

Trying not to think about whether Zuko was dead or alive, Suki poked her head out from Mai's room. The coast was clear, so she darted across the hall to where Sokka stayed.

"Sokka!" she whispered desperately, wishing she was a firebender so she could have some light. But as she approached Sokka's bed, she found it was empty, the sheets thrown aside hastily.

Suki sank to her knees. It was all too much. First Zuko, now Sokka.

But she was a Kyoshi Warrior with a job to do. Suki wiped away her tears and thought of anyone else who could help them. Akira? She ran the few feet to his room, shoved the door open.

Empty. They had gotten him, too.

All right then. Everyone was lost, except for Mai and maybe Kazuto. Suki clenched her jaw. She had to find General Mak and the rest of the Guards, and make sure the palace was barricaded for the large army that was surely approaching. If she couldn't save Zuko and Sokka, at least she could avenge them.

She'd tear every member of the New Ozai Society to pieces.