Katara jumped from Dagny's saddle and hit the ground in a sprint, heading towards Toph. She had seen the deadly lightning Azula was conjuring, and all she could think about was the last time she had faced off against Zuko's sister.

The Kage Noshi, Dai Li agents, and palace guards surrounded them, but in the thick of the fray, Iroh was holding his own. She spotted Pakku and the other members of the Order battling more of the attackers and felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had seen Azula turn and run into the palace. Zuko was starting to go after her.

But Katara needed him more than they needed to stop Azula. Toph was hurt.

"Zuko!" Katara called after him.

He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. He noticed Toph on the ground cradling her scorched feet, and he felt his blood run cold. His sister had done that. She had almost killed Toph. Azula needed to be stopped, but first, Katara and Toph needed him.

After one last furious look at his sister's retreating form, he turned and ran back towards them, using his fire to deflect blows from a few enemies who had given up on trying to attack the Dragon of the West and the other members of the Order.

Katara dropped to her knees beside Toph and took in the state of her feet. She pressed her hand to her mouth to hold in her horrified scream.

"Long time, no see, Sugar Queen," Toph gritted out. Tears leaked down her eyes and cut through the dust on her cheeks. "Do you mind healing my feet? This hurts bad." She hissed as a fresh wave of pain rocked through her. "We can catch up later."

Katara wasted no time as she uncapped her waterskin and encased her hands in water. She pressed each hand to the bottom of Toph's feet and poured her energy into healing, her brow furrowing in concentration. She needed to get through this quickly. There were far too many enemies and not enough friendly faces.

"Your feet are burned badly, Toph," Katara managed to say. She swallowed hard. "I...I don't know if I can fix this."

"You mean...I won't be able to see?" Katara could hear the panic in Toph's voice and her heart pulled painfully in her chest.

"I—" Katara sucked in a sharp breath. She didn't know how well Toph could see without her feet, but she didn't want her to know Katara was lying. "I don't know."

Toph pressed her mouth into a thin line. Fresh tears streamed down her dirty cheeks, making her look young and small, and Katara felt tears of her own burning in her eyes.

We were too late, she thought abysmally. If we'd gotten here sooner, maybe we could have stopped this.

"I'm going to try my best," Katara told her fiercely.

She didn't know for sure what was going on, but she quickly absorbed what she did notice: Appa was there, which meant Aang was back too. Iroh and the Order of the White Lotus were fighting what seemed to be a hundred men on their own. Azula had attacked Toph, and burned her. When Azula had seen the phoenix, she had fled. But why? It wasn't like Azula to run from any fight. And where was Ursa? Where were Sokka and Suki? Katara intended to find out as soon as Toph was healed.

Zuko guarded them fiercely, standing in front of them and keeping a lookout for any enemies. The assailants were rather preoccupied with the members of the Order, but he fended off those who dared to come close.

His eyes cut across the scene, taking all of it in. He recognized one of his potential brides, Kemeko. She was fighting alongside Master Piandao. He watched her for a moment and was impressed by her expertise with a sword. He was glad to see Iroh was fine, but he didn't know about his mother and Kiyi. And if Iroh and Toph were here, where was Aang?

A black-masked assassin brandishing two broadswords appeared in front of him, and Zuko lashed out with fire, forcing his opponent back a step. Zuko stepped after him, determined to keep him away from Katara and Toph.

"You're supposed to be dead," the Kage Noshi snarled, and Zuko recognized the voice from the desert. It was the leader.

Zuko gave a satisfied smirk at the Kage Noshi's frustration. "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."

He drew his swords and lunged for the assassin. They clashed hard enough that sparks flew against the blades of their swords.

Zuko felt his inner fire surge with his emotions. He'd managed to keep himself together for the last few days as he and Katara crossed the ocean to the Fire Nation on Dagny, but now that he was back at the palace, his palace, where his sister had staged a coup and tried to take his throne, he was furious.

He noticed the men in the uniforms of the palace guards fighting against his uncle and the Order. Many were familiar faces, not simply enemies that Azula had roped into her plots and had used them to take over the palace. No, he knew these people, and that angered him more. These were people he had trusted with his life—with his mother and sister's life—and instead, they had been loyal to Azula for spirits-knew how long.

Zuko let out a frustrated growl as he attacked the assassin leader with violent fury, flames pouring past his lips as he released some of the rage burning inside of him. The assassin wasn't prepared for the intensity of Zuko's attacks, or the fire that scorched his mask. He faltered backward and Zuko pressed forward, ready for the kill.

But the assassin leader recovered quickly, and was ready for him. Zuko drove back against him, pursuing him with his swords. The Kage Noshi leader withdrew and ducked away, feinting and parrying Zuko's blows.

He was a great swordsman; Zuko would give him that. Perhaps even better than he was. But Zuko wasn't limited to just his swords. He had his bending too.

"This time, I'll make sure you're dead," the assassin said.

"It's over," Zuko retorted hotly.

His swords became encased in flames. He was done playing nice. He had come back for his throne, and nothing was going to stop him from taking it.

He swiped out with one flaming sword. The assassin was a beat too slow, and Zuko scored his arm from wrist to elbow. Blood dripped onto the stone ground between them. The assassin grunted against the pain and redoubled his efforts with his injured hand.

Zuko brought his blazing weapon up and caught the assassin's sword against the flat of his blade. Zuko jabbed out with his free sword and the assassin faltered backwards, but Zuko followed through with a jet of fire that trailed the sword's edge and seared the assassin's ribs.

Zuko disengaged his other sword and pressed forward, keeping up his steady attacks. The assassin continued to move backwards, parrying Zuko's blows. Zuko was blocked every time, but he never relented as he continued to push the assassin backwards.

The jet of water came from nowhere. Suddenly, the assassin was swept away on a powerful wave, and Zuko wheeled around to face the newcomer. He looked up into Master Pakku's ice-blue eyes.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at him. "What—"

"Go!" the Grandmaster urged, pointing back towards the direction Zuko had come from. "My granddaughter needs you!"

Zuko looked back at where he had left Katara and Toph by Dagny. The phoenix had taken over guarding them, and was currently breathing fire at any enemies who dared to come too close. It reminded him strongly of the Conduit's dragon back in the desert, and he thought it would be nice to have her at their side again.

He had resented that the Conduit had been the one to save them out in the desert, but he had to admit, she was powerful. It wouldn't hurt to have her here now.

As he sprinted back towards them, he could see Katara still kneeling by Toph, healing her feet. Zuko swallowed hard. He could smell the odor of burnt flesh on the air, a scent he was all too familiar with, and he had been thinking too much about lately.

Azula had done that to her, and the guilt pooled heavily in Zuko's gut. Why...why did his family, his own flesh and blood, have to cause so much pain to the people he cared about? And why hadn't he done more to find Azula in the first place?

Zuko continued to cut across the courtyard. Dagny remained standing over them vigilantly, and the attackers had given up trying to get past the phoenix. Katara looked up as he approached them, and he didn't like the grim look on her face. He could tell it was slow work healing the damage done to Toph's feet.

"Toph said that Aang lured the Conduit up to the top of that mountain." She jerked her chin behind him, and Zuko looked back at the dormant volcano that rose up above the palace. "And she said that something is wrong with the Conduit."

"I don't know what I was feeling. I've never felt anything like it," Toph rasped out. "She just felt...off, somehow. And she just went along with what Azula wanted, no questions asked."

Zuko and Katara exchanged a knowing look.

"Azula found the way to control her," Zuko said quietly. He swallowed hard and resheathed his swords. "I've got to go after them. I know how Aang can break her hold."

"I know." Katara looked up at him, her gaze intense. "Go find Aang. Make sure that he and the Conduit don't destroy each other." She glanced back at Toph. "I…"

"You need to go after Azula," Toph gritted out. She pulled her feet away from Katara and gingerly touched the raw flesh. "By the time you finish getting me healed up, the fight will be over. I'm done here; there's no way around it. But you aren't."

"I don't know if I should take her on by myself," Katara admitted quietly.

"You don't have a choice," Toph said. "I'm out of this fight. It's up to you and Sparky now. Go play your parts in this prophecy."

"Let's get Toph up on Dagny," Zuko suggested, his expression grim. "That way she's out of danger."

"Dagny? Is that the giant thing breathing fire behind us?" Toph put her palm on the ground. "Spirits, what is that?"

"It's a phoenix." Katara drew her water back into the skin on her waist. "She'll take good care of you."

Zuko scooped Toph up into his arms. Dagny paused her fury to watch him with her intelligent amber eyes, before she folded herself down so he could load Toph into her saddle.

"Do I even want to know what the two of you have been up to while you've been gone?" Toph asked Zuko as she settled into the saddle.

"I'll tell you all about it over a bottle of fire spirits when this is over," Zuko promised her.

Toph grinned. "You've got a deal, Sparky. But before you go, tell me, how do you drive this thing?"

"I think Dagny will take it from here, Toph," Katara said. She looked over at Zuko. "Take Appa up to the crater. You've got to get to Aang before it's too late."

Zuko grabbed her hand. "If you don't think you can face Azula, then don't." He grimaced. "I don't think she was expecting to see me alive."

"I don't think so, either." Katara chewed her bottom lip. "But if I don't go after her, she might get away."

"Go find my mother and your brother instead," Zuko said. "And the Kyoshi Warriors. We're badly outnumbered here, Katara. We need all the help we can get."

"What about Azula?" Katara asked.

Zuko shook his head. "Don't worry about her for now. We'll find her. Right now, you just need to get the others. They'll likely be down in the dungeon below the palace. The one I told you about."

Katara nodded. "Okay. I'll find them."

"I might not be able to see, but I'll do what I can," Toph told them. She patted the phoenix's feathery neck. "Me and the firebird will take care of whatever guys Iroh hasn't destroyed. Isn't that right, Dagny?"

The phoenix gave a roaring squawk in reply, shaking her large head, and Toph grinned.

"Sounds like a plan, Toph. Good luck and be careful," Zuko told her.

Toph threw a mock salute. "Will do, Sparky." With that, Toph and the Phoenix dove back into the raging battle, and for a moment, it was just Zuko and Katara.

Before he departed, Zuko wrapped an arm around Katara's waist and drew her in close, pressing a fervent kiss to Katara's lips. When he pulled back, he cupped her cheek in his free hand.

"Go find them. I'll be back as soon as I know Aang is alright." He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "And then we'll take my sister on, together."

Katara smiled tightly up at him. "Together."

They held each other's gaze for just a moment longer. Then Zuko was off.

He jogged over to the sky bison. Appa had been using his tail to sweep enemies off of their feet, roaring ferociously and snapping at any who got too close. Most of them opted to avoid the bison.

Zuko climbed on top of Appa's broad head. Katara watched him take flight, her heart pulling painfully. She only hoped the Pond's knowledge proved to be good. It looked like most of what the Pond had shown him was already coming true. Azula and the Conduit were here, weren't they? So whatever the Pond had shown him that could break Azula's hold over the Conduit must be true, too.

Toph appeared beside her, still in Dagny's saddle. "Hey, Sugar Queen."

Katara spun around to see if something was wrong. "What's wrong, Toph?"

"So...you and Sparky, huh?" She waggled her eyebrows as a grin split her face.

"Maybe we should talk about this later," Katara muttered as a blush rose in her cheeks. She was grateful Toph couldn't see it. "I've got to go find my brother."

Toph nodded. "Yeah, okay. But don't think we aren't talking about this later." Then she grew serious. "But hey. Be careful. Princess Azula is…"

"Yeah," Katara said grimly. "I know."

It didn't take long for the Conduit to reach the top of the crater.

Aang was ready for her when she flew over the edge and landed on the far side from him. Black flames curled around her arms, and the hilt of her katana gleamed at her waist. Her violet eyes were flat and deadly.

"We don't have to do this," Aang called out to her. "I found a way to stop the prophecy. I know how we can both walk away from this!"

But the Conduit only offered him a zombie-like stare as she slammed her foot down onto the ground. A wave of rock went crashing toward Aang, and he brought his arms up, raising a wide wall of earth that halted her attack in its tracks.

Aang dropped it, mouth opened to plead with her, but she wasn't finished yet. The Conduit lashed out with her arm, and black flame jetted across the distance between them. Aang deflected the blow with his staff.

He was reluctant to attack her. He didn't want to fight her, not only because he knew it wouldn't end well for either of them, but also because he knew how to avoid it in the first place. He just needed the Conduit to listen.

"Hey, listen to me!" Aang called out as he avoided another volley of rocks. "I know the prophecy said we had to fight each other, but I've been to the Spirit World! I've found another way!"

He launched himself skyward on a current of air as the Conduit chucked a boulder at him. He landed lightly on his feet and threw himself to the side to avoid a gout of black flame. He felt it singe the hair on his arm, and he ducked to avoid another rock.

"I met the Sieshin Lord. He told me how to stop the prophecy!" Aang looked at the Conduit. She stared back at him with malicious rage in her eyes, but he wouldn't give up. "We have to perform Spiritual Fusion—"

He flew sideways to avoid a column of rock she shot towards him. She advanced, punching rock after rock at him. Aang deflected her attacks by using his glider as a staff, coupled with his airbending, to knock the rocks away.

"—it's not even that hard! We just have to combine our spiritual energies and become one! Then the prophecy is over, and we don't have to destroy each other!"

Aang swerved to avoid a blast of flames and but missed the chunk of rock she manipulated, and he took a boulder to the chest. He flew backwards and hit the ground hard. He winced as stars burst in his vision and the air was knocked from his lungs.

He knew he had to recover quickly, so with a deep breath he somersaulted to his feet and swung his glider out in an arc. The wind caught the Conduit and she was bowled over. She slid across the crater on her back.

"Why won't you listen to me!" Aang shouted at her. "I'm trying to save us!"

Aang felt a sudden pressure in the air then, cold and heavy. Something had changed within the Conduit. She was growing more powerful.

The Conduit jumped lithely to her feet. When she looked at Aang, a chill ran through him and he suddenly understood what the unnerving shift in the air had been. It had been her. Her eyes were black and deadly.

A Conduit State? Aang wasn't sure what hers was called, but it seemed fitting. And he knew what was coming next...

As if on cue, a wind picked up around her, stirring up volcanic ash into a maelstrom as she approached him. He could feel the power dripping from her. It sizzled in the air between them, raising the fine hairs on his arms as a cold sweat broke out across his forehead.

Aang had confronted Koh the Face Stealer. He had defeated a comet-fueled Fire Lord Ozai at the age of twelve. He had come face to face with the Sieshin Lord and challenged him to a duel without bending. Yet despite it all, Aang had never faced anything quite like this. He had never known a fear like the kind he felt pulsing in his veins at this very moment.

Briefly, he wondered if this was how others felt when he went into the Avatar State.

"Stop!" Aang shouted at her.

But the Conduit kept coming.

Aang thought quickly. He brought up a wall of rock to shield him from the flying debris. Then he closed his eyes and called upon the past Avatars.

I need your help, Aang told them. I can't hurt her. But I need to stop her.

Avatar Yangchen rose up from the depths of his spirit. Let me in, Aang.

You can't hurt her.

Trust me, Aang. I know what I am doing...

He took a deep breath. Okay.

Then the world faded to black.

Sokka rattled the gate of his cell uselessly. The iron was old, but it was solid. It wasn't going to budge. He slammed his hand against the bar and let out a shout of frustration. Then he leaned his forehead against the cool metal and squeezed his eyes shut, dejected.

He wished Toph were here. Metal bars were nothing to her.

"There's nothing we can do, Sokka. We're stuck here." He looked up at Suki. She was in the next cell over with a handful of Kyoshi Warriors. Her brow was furrowed and her mouth was set in an unhappy scowl. "We just have to wait...and hope Aang stops Azula."

"I hate feeling so helpless," he muttered.

Sokka scrubbed his hand down his face. The stubble on his chin prickled against his palm. How long had they been down here? At least a week, maybe longer. The Equinox was drawing near. That had to be why Aang was here. Maybe the prophecy was unfolding.

But if that was the case, then where were Katara and Zuko? He couldn't help but feel they should have been back by now. Maybe they had come back. They wouldn't have been expecting Azula. It was possible that Azula had taken them by surprise, and captured them, or maybe worse.

Sokka couldn't bear to think about that now. He needed to keep his wits about him. But it was hard when he didn't know what was going on outside of their prison.

Azula had made sure that they couldn't escape. The dungeon was underground, so there were no windows that they could try to escape through. They had each been thoroughly searched and stripped of all weapons and anything else that could be used to aid in their escape. Even the girls' hairpins. And the bars were too narrow for any of them to squeeze through. They had tried everything they could.

It was hopelessly impossible.

Suddenly, the door to the dungeon burst open and Azula stalked in. Somehow, she looked worse than she did just a few hours before.

Her eyes were bloodshot and frantic and her skin was pale and glistened with sweat. Her wide eyes combed over the occupants of the cells before they landed on the one on the end, where Ursa and Kiyi were.

Azula strode down the walkway between the cells toward Ursa and Kiyi.

"No!" Sokka lunged for the princess.

His hand latched onto her arm and Azula turned toward him, teeth bared in a snarl. Sokka tightened his grip on her and yanked. Azula flew toward the iron bars and slammed against them. He had half-hoped he could knock her out, but he had no such luck. Sokka grappled for her other arm but Azula strained against him.

"Get your filthy peasant hands off of me," she hissed into his face.

"Leave them alone!" Sokka shouted back at her.

"Sokka!" Suki screamed.

He saw Azula bring her free hand up. He saw the lightning building on the tips of her fingers. His eyes went wide, and he let Azula go with a hard shove. The princess stumbled back across the floor. She fell against the other wall of cells and slumped to the ground. The lightning died from her fingertips, and her head snapped up. She glared daggers at Sokka.

"I ought to end your miserable life," she snarled at him. Azula picked herself up off the ground. She curled her lip at him. "But I have bigger problems to deal with than insolent water tribe scum."

Sokka bristled at her words, but he was still shaking. Whether it was with adrenaline or fear, he wasn't sure.

He'd seen Zuko's scar. He knew what had happened during the Agni Kai. He knew he had just come close to death by daring to interfere with whatever Azula was planning. But as he watched the princess stalk toward Ursa and Kiyi, he couldn't help but wonder if he could have done more to stop her.

Ursa watched Azula approach the cell. Her hand was a mess of pain, and even though she had wrapped it with a torn piece of fabric from her robes, she still cradled it to her chest.

Yet despite the injury Azula had given her, Ursa still looked at her eldest daughter with a measure of sympathy and regret. The words Azula had hurled at her earlier had stuck. Most of what Azula had said was true.

The regent Fire Lord—though perhaps she wasn't even that anymore—dragged herself to her feet. She positioned herself between Azula and Kiyi. She had failed Azula. She wouldn't allow herself to fail Kiyi, too.

Azula stopped outside of the cell.

It pained Ursa to see her like this. Azula was so young, but she had been through so much. And part of that was Ursa's fault. Azula had been right: she had left her children at the mercy of their father. But Ursa hadn't had a choice. If she had tried to take them with her, Ozai would have killed them all. Ursa had thought that leaving them with him, alive, was better than death.

She wondered if she was wrong. And she had spent the better part of the last few hours thinking about how she should have tried harder. How she should have sent someone to rescue them from their father for her. Surely, she could have orchestrated something to save her children. Maybe someone in the palace would have still been loyal to her and could have taken the children to a designated location under the guise of taking them out to play, where Ursa could have collected them.

But Ursa knew how things had been then. She hadn't been able to trust anyone. And even if she could have, she couldn't risk putting others in danger for something that would have gotten them all killed, had they been caught. So in the end, she chose to do nothing.

She had thought about similar things over and over again since she had come back. But there was nothing she could do about it now.

Azula plunged her hand into the pocket of her tunic. When she withdrew it, a key ring hung from her fingertip. Azula smiled cruelly.

"I'm going to open this door," she said. "And then I'm taking the little brat with me. If you try to stop me, I will do far more than burn your hand."

Ursa swallowed hard as fear settled coldly in her gut. She could see it in Azula's eyes that she meant every word. Ursa looked back at her youngest daughter. Kiyi was watching her mother and half-sister, her eyes wide with fear.

"Mummy?" A fat tear rolled down her cheek. "Don't make me go with her. I'm afraid."

Azula smiled acidly at her. "It's not me you should be afraid of, you know. Our dearest brother is back from the dead."

Ursa snapped her head toward Azula. "What are you talking about?"

Azula leaned against the cell and inspected her cuticles. "I hired the Kage Noshi to kill him and the waterbending whore—"

"Hey!" Sokka cut her off with a sharp growl. "Watch your mouth! That's my sister you're talking about!"

Azula spun towards him, eyes enraged, and let out a blest of fire straight into his cage. Sokka dropped to the ground to avoid being burned.

"Sokka!" Suki reached through the bars towards him, hoping he had moved quick enough so he wasn't harmed.

"When I want your opinion, you filthy peasant, I will give it to you!"

No longer interested in him, Azula then turned back to her mother and huffed out an exasperated breath as though Sokka's intervention were a mere inconvenience, like she hadn't just tried to kill him.

Sokka pulled himself back to his feet and exchanged an uneasy look with Suki, nodding once. He had avoided Azula's fire and aside from the harsh pounding of his heart in his throat, he was no worse for wear.

"Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…. You're familiar with the Kage Noshi, aren't you, Mother?" She turned her cold smile on Ursa. "Well, their leader reported to me that dear old Zuzu was killed by their own hand. Why do you think I'm here for the crown, after all? I wouldn't dare stage a coup if he was still alive to take it from me. That would be annoying and exhausting."

Ursa swallowed hard. She had seen Azula before all of this, when she and Zuko had come to find her. She had seen then that there was something broken inside of her. But now, Ursa knew that whatever it was had now shattered completely. There was no coming back from this for Azula.

"So imagine my surprise...when he shows up here tonight." Azula twirled the keys on the end of her finger. "He's going to try to kill me. And I can't let that happen." Her eyes locked on Kiyi. "So I need a bargaining chip. That's where you come in, you little brat. As long as you're with me, Zuzu won't dare hurt me."

"I can't let you take her." Ursa shook her head. "I won't."

Azula's face twisted into a scowl as she held her hand out, palm up. Blue flame danced there and cast shadows across her face that made her look more unstable than she already did. "If you don't, I'll kill you."

"Ursa!" Sokka pressed himself against the bars of his cell again. "Azula, you leave them alone! If you hurt them—"

"Shut up, you peasant!" Azula turned toward him. She threw a fireball at him this time, and Sokka ducked to avoid the blast. "This is a family matter, so butt out already!" She turned back to the cell and stuck the key in the lock. "There's no more time for talking. Hand the girl over, and no one gets hurt, Mother."

"I can't let you take her." Ursa pulled Kiyi to her. Her voice was thick with emotion. "I failed you, Azula. I failed Zuko. I—"

"I don't have time for you to wallow in self-pity," Azula cut her off with a hiss. She opened the cell door and held one flame-filled hand up. "The girl. Now."

Ursa's bottom lip trembled. Her heart raced in her chest and sweat dripped down her back. "No."

Azula stormed into the cell and faced her mother, who stood inches from her. Now twenty years old, Azula was as tall as her mother and could look her straight in the eyes. Azula's eyes glistened with anger, hatred, and sadness all at once.

When she spoke, her voice was tinged with venomous hatred. "And where was this courage when Zuko and I needed you, Mother? You say you don't love her more than me, but here you stand, ready to die for her. You never would have done that for me!" Her voice grew louder with each word until it was nearly an incoherent shriek. "You're nothing but a liar!"

She launched the fire at Ursa. She had been caught up in Azula's monologue and wasn't prepared for the attack. She ducked down with a scream as the fire roared over her head and cracked the stone wall behind her. Kiyi screamed.

When she opened her eyes, Azula held Kiyi, with one arm wrapped around the girl's neck.

Azula's eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't. Move."

Ursa watched helplessly as Azula dragged Kiyi from the cell. She slammed the door and locked it behind her. Ursa threw herself at the door as Azula dragged Kiyi away, out of the dungeon.

"Kiyi!" Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Mummy!" All Ursa could see was her youngest daughter's tear-streaked face. She looked up at Azula. "Don't you hurt her, Azula! For Agni's sake, she's your sister!"

Azula only smiled as they disappeared through the door.

Zuko guided Appa up to the top of the dormant volcano. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and all he could think about was what the Pond had shown him. In the vision, he had seen Aang and the Conduit laid out in the rubble, dead and broken.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

"Come on, buddy, can't you go a little faster?" Zuko coaxed the sky bison. "We've got to get to Aang!"

Appa grunted in response and put on a fresh burst of speed. Zuko could see the trail that the Conduit had blazed up the mountain side. Overhead, the stars twinkled in the night sky and he could feel the crisp bite of fall in the air. The prophecy was unfolding.

Just then, Zuko heard the rumble of shifting earth. His heart dropped into his stomach as he once again thought of what the Pond had shown him. He could picture the Avatar and the Conduit all powered up, ready to destroy each other.

"No, no, no! We can't be too late, Appa! Come on!"

The sky bison pressed onward.

He tried not to think about Katara back at the palace. His sister was there, and Zuko knew how dangerous Azula was. The last time she and Katara had fought, Azula had almost won. Granted, she had been supercharged by Sozin's Comet, but Zuko still didn't like the thought of Katara facing Azula alone. He hoped she was able to free Sokka and the others. He hoped they were alright.

Zuko was grateful that his uncle and the other Grandmasters were there. He was still angry with Iroh, but he could deal with that later. For right now, he was just glad Iroh was there to fight with them.

At last Zuko crested the top of the mountain. He looked down into the crater and saw Aang. His tattoos glowed white, and he was attacking the Conduit with ferocious airbending moves Zuko had never seen. The Conduit was powered up as well. Black fog swirled around her and she deflected Aang's attacks while launching her own. They circled each other in their deadly dance, neither gaining the upper hand.

Zuko swallowed hard against the cold fear rising in his throat. If they were still fighting, then he wasn't too late. They could still stop this. They could still alter the prophecy.

Neither Aang nor the Conduit noticed as Zuko landed Appa on the far side of the crater. The sulfuric smell of volcanic ash permeated the air, and Zuko coughed against the dust that the combatants were kicking up. He jumped out of Appa's saddle and ran toward Aang.

"Aang!" Zuko called out. The Avatar didn't seem to hear him. "Aang, you have to listen to me!"

The Avatar slammed his foot on the ground and brought up a sheet of rock. He spun around and kicked it. It flew across the crater toward the Conduit. She raised up her own wall of rock, and Aang's attack shattered against it. In the blink of an eye, she dropped her rock wall and launched a line of black flames at him, and Aang swept it away with a swing of his glider.

"Aang!" Zuko didn't dare come any closer. He couldn't get caught in the crossfire. "Aang, she's under Azula's control. Toph thinks she did something to her chi, and I know how to fix it!"

Aang whipped up a small typhoon. Dust and debris rose in the air, clogging Zuko's throat and burning his eyes. The windstorm shot toward the Conduit. She sliced through it with her katana, but she staggered backwards against the wind.

Zuko realized he had to close the distance between himself and Aang. He was in the Avatar State. Zuko knew that once he was there, he wasn't just Aang anymore. He was all of his past lives. Zuko had to get through them to get to Aang.

He grabbed Aang's arm, and the Avatar looked at him with his glowing eyes. Zuko hoped Aang, or whoever was listening, heard him.

"Avatar, you have to break Azula's control. That's the only way to stop her," Zuko told him. He had to shout to be heard over the warring powers. "There is power in a name. Use hers to unblock her chi. Bring her back!"

Aang lifted his free arm up as the Conduit sent a wave of fire toward them. A shield of rock rose up and the black flames dissipated against it. Zuko let go of him, and Aang punched out, sending the rock toward the Conduit. She countered it with a sphere of air that obliterated it, showering her with dust and rocks.

"Tell me, Fire Lord." A thousand voices boomed from the young man. The power in the voices rocked through Zuko.

"Her name is Ryoko." Zuko searched the glowing eyes for his friend. He only hoped Aang could hear him. "Unblock her chi, Aang."

The Avatar nodded once before he turned back to his counterpart. He launched himself through the air on a gust of wind that knocked Zuko backwards. Zuko watched as Aang landed in front of the Conduit. He marveled at the strength and power of the Avatar. He knew Aang was powerful in the Avatar State. But it was always awe-striking to see it.

His wind and the Conduit's black flames swirled together in a maelstrom that obscured them from Zuko's vision. He strained to see through the storm.

Aang raised his arms up and wrapped her in a sphere of air that lifted her off her feet. The Conduit lashed out with a black flame-encased fist, but Aang's wind extinguished her fire. His powers intensified, and the sound of his past lives' voices rose through the air.

"The Avatar and the Conduit have circled each other for ten thousand years," the thousand voices boomed from Aang's mouth. "They are of equal strength, and equal power. But just as everything has a beginning, it must come to an end, too."

The white light of Aang's power brightened. It lit up the night until it pushed away the darkness. Zuko shielded his eyes, but he couldn't quite bring himself to tear his eyes away either.

The Conduit's struggle against Aang lessened. Her eyes still glowed black, and her power surged around them, but she wasn't attacking anymore.

The Avatar spoke. "Ryoko, I free you from the bonds of your imprisonment. No mortal can control the power that lives within you. As your equal, I set you free."

Aang rose through the air until he was level with the Conduit. He entered the sphere of air and hung suspended with his counterpart. Beams of white light poured from his mouth and eyes towards her. The Conduit seized, her limbs tensing up.

A brilliant light flashed. The world fell away, and for a moment, Zuko saw their celestial forms, the source of their spiritual power. Their skin was translucent as their eyes and Aang's tattoos glowed with an ethereal light.

The Avatar and the Conduit hung suspended over the universe, celestial and all-powerful. He saw their chi paths light up. Zuko watched as Aang placed the palm of his hand to the Conduit's forehead. His other hand pressed against her stomach.

The light intensified until it pierced Zuko's eyes and he was forced to look away. A ringing began in his ears, rising in volume until he dropped to his knees and clapped his hands to his head, wanting to drown out the sound, shouting in an effort to relieve his ears from the ringing. The power in the air sizzled across his skin, so hot it almost seemed to burn. The light brightened, the ringing grew louder, and his skin buzzed until it felt like it would burst.

And then darkness washed over him, and everything ceased.

The Conduit opened her eyes and found herself standing on a narrow ledge above a multi-colored sky. Stars glittered against the colors, and she could sense the arcane power here.

She had never been here before, but somehow, the Conduit knew where she was.

This was the focal point of her power, of her chakras. All of her spiritual energy came from here, from this strange plane of existence.

But the most surprising thing wasn't that she was here. It was that the Avatar stood before her on that narrow ledge.

He looked younger than she thought he would, which she supposed was foolish. He was the same age as she was—one hundred and eighteen. Though they both looked good for their old age. He looked like an Air Nomad too, with his arrow tattoos and shaved head. She had met a few airbenders before, a long time ago, before the Fire Nation attacked.

He was watching her.

"Avatar Aang," the Conduit spoke. Her voice echoed with her powers. "We finally meet."

"We've actually met already, out there." He gestured away from them, to some distant place that wasn't here. "But you weren't yourself."

The Conduit looked away from him as her memories came back to her. The assassins in the desert. The journey to the Fire Nation. The princess. She glanced back up at him.

"No, I suppose I wasn't." The Conduit cocked her head. "How did we get here?"

Aang peered around. "I...don't really know. We were brought here. I think I might have done it."

"You know what this place is, don't you?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah. I came here once before, the first time I tried to unlock my chakras. It's a...sort of focal point of our power, isn't it?"

"This is where our power comes from," the Conduit said. "It's a very old place. Our creators come from here. All of the old spirits do. But we're the only ones who can access it anymore." She met his gaze. "I think you brought me here to save me."

"I don't know how I did it," Aang admitted quietly. "Zuko told me that there is power in a name. But I was in the Avatar State, so I wasn't really me. But I used your name, and then we ended up here."

The Conduit nodded. "Azula found a way to manipulate chi. It's connected to our power, how we're able to bend. But it's more than that. It...it's connected to who we are. And she had some help from a Kage Noshi assassin who's trained in mind control." She met Aang's gaze. "I never wanted to fight you."

"I never wanted to fight you either." He offered her a small smile. "But I think I broke her control over you. So maybe when we get back, you won't try to attack me anymore."

"I won't." She sighed. "I never wanted to be a part of this, Aang. I've fought it all my life, but all this time, everything that I've done...it's all led me here anyway."

"But you didn't want this. You didn't want to hurt me any more than I wanted to hurt you." Aang stepped closer to her, balanced precariously on the edge. He held his hand out to her. "And you still don't have to. I know how we can stop the prophecy."

The Conduit glanced down at his hand, and then she looked back up at him. "I've done terrible things, Aang. Things that have nothing to do with this prophecy. I know about you, and your sense of justice. You are light, and I am dark. It is your nature to be good, just as it is my nature to be bad. It's who we are."

"I don't think it's that clean-cut," Aang said. He let his hand drop to his side. "And I think that there is good in everyone. If there wasn't, you would've come to destroy me without Azula's interference."

She stared levelly at him. "Perhaps that was more for my innate sense of self-preservation."

"I believe in you." Aang offered her his hand again. "You can make the right choice, Ryoko. We don't have to be just what everyone expects us to be."

The Conduit considered what he was offering. Amnesty. An end to this prophecy that didn't end in their obliteration. A fresh start, where she didn't have to hide in the shadows. And now that he had broken Azula's hold over her, he was offering her freedom, too.

"Maybe you're right, Aang." A small smile curved her lips. "I hope so."

She put her hand in his.