DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor am I in any way affiliated with Michael Dante DiMartino or Bryan Konietzko. This story is purely fan-made.
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Aang allowed himself to be pulled up by Toph. As he tried to find his footing, he fretted over what would have happened if Yue hadn't saved them. Aang should've been able to airbend them to safety, but as he was falling it seemed like all feeling left his body. He had terrifying, but momentary, flashbacks of the previous week, when Azula had shot him down. Back then he had been confused and scared, not to mention in sudden excruciating pain. Just then when he was falling, however, all he could think about was how, when he hit the floor, it would all be over. He would be gone from the world, reborn into another poor body. Sure, the war may be lost and people he loved would die…but it would be over.
And in the moment of thinking that, Aang welcomed death.
And in the moment afterwards, Aang felt disgusted with himself. He would not leave everyone behind, not again. He was strong, dammit, and he would live through this. He would triumph against the Fire Lord and he would live a full and happy life, preferably with someone he loved.
But first he needed to get his friends out of Ba Sing Se. The first step on the road to victory would be difficult, but not impossible. This time their side had the upper hand, and would not lose.
Steadying himself with Toph's help, Aang looked around the people standing close to him. With a jolt to his heart, Aang saw Zuko standing protectively over an unconscious Katara, arguing with Sokka. Incensed, Aang stumbled over to where Zuko stood and glared at him.
"What are you doing here?" He spat, leaning on Toph for support.
"Cool it, Twinkletoes, he's with us." Toph said gently. Aang turned to her as best he could without falling over, his eyes narrowed in anger.
"He is not with us!" He hissed, his voice filled with such venom that Toph's blind eyes widened and she lowered her head.
"That isn't up to you!" Zuko said, stepping away from Katara and towards Aang. The anger in his voice was evident, and his body language was aggressive.
"Oh no?" Aang yelled, breaking away from Toph and taking a faltering step forward.
"Stop it." A weak voice murmured from below them. Each of the boys looked down to see a drained Katara trying to sit up, and each boy immediately got to his knees to try to assist.
However, this didn't go down very well. Sokka, Zuko and Aang were getting in each other's way and were to busy snarling at each other to notice that Katara had managed to sit up by herself. She glanced over at the bickering boys and rolled her eyes.
"Iroh, would you mind?" She asked, holding up a hand.
Iroh nodded, smiling, and held out his own hand to help Katara up. After regaining her footing, Katara quickly looked about the chamber for any sign of Azula, but she found none. Instead, a speck of light hovered before her eyes, shining and beautiful. Just as Katara was about to touch the light, it flew into her mouth. She coughed, startled, and cleared her throat.
Something isn't right…she thought suspiciously. Her arms felt like lead and she was so tired, but Katara felt the strength returning, at first slowly, then much faster. After about a minute, Katara felt as replenished and rested as she had before she had been captured. She took a breath as a sudden burst of power and energy ran through her body. She hadn't felt this way before, but enjoyed the feeling immensely. Katara felt connected to every drop of water in the cavern, and somehow knew that with a mere flick of her wrist she could cause a tsunami.
Meanwhile Sokka and Zuko were at each other's throats, and Aang was trying to get an angry word in edgeways. Rolling her eyes again, Katara shook her head.
"That's enough!" She commanded, her clear voice ringing out across the chamber.
Everyone stopped at that, and turned to face her. They seemed startled.
"What?" Katara asked, a little sharply. A couple of them looked away uncomfortably. Katara sighed, and turned away herself, aware of how harsh her voice must have sounded.
"Where did Azula go?" The Earth King asked suddenly. Katara jumped, having forgotten he was there.
"We don't know, uh-"
"Kuei." The Earth King told her gently. Katara nodded, surprised he even had a first name.
"Okay Kuei, we don't know where she went." Katara told him, glancing around the cavern once more.
"She's still here." Iroh said quietly. When everyone turned to him, he shrugged. "Do you think she'd let us win that easily?"
"He's right, you know." Azula's voice rang out. Immediately, everyone assumed their attacking stance and summoned their respective element or weapon. The Earth King fumbled a bit for a piece of earth, before giving up and withdrawing a dagger. However Azula didn't show herself.
"Where are you?" Zuko growled lowly, so that only Katara could hear him. She was glad she had moved nearer to Zuko; both so that he could protect her and she could protect him.
Looking around the people surrounding her, Katara felt a rush of confidence swell up inside of her.
Her family was back together. And, okay, there were some new and unexpected additions, but they were still family. And family stuck together.
We can beat this bitch…Katara thought, a thin smile resting upon her lips.
"Come on out Azula!" She shouted, her eyes scanning the length of the cavern, the smile still in place.
"Katara, what are you doing?" Zuko muttered out of the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah Sugar Queen," Toph told her, not being quite as soft as Zuko in her volume. "What's the deal?"
"Sugar Queen?" Azula's mocking laughter came echoing across the cavern. "Does she have stupid nicknames for everyone, or just you?"
"It's not just her…" Sokka and Aang groaned simultaneously, their eyes darting around somewhat nervously.
"Oh goody," Azula said sarcastically. "Do I get a nickname?"
"Well I was thinking something along the lines of 'Psychotic Bitch' but I'll need to consult Toph…I'm sure she can come up with something more poetic."
Several of the people surrounding Katara openly laughed at her insult, boosting her confidence even further. Zuko smirked and glanced at Katara in approval. Katara felt herself glowing, but this feeling vanished as a stream of bright blue fire shot at her, missing her feet by inches.
"Next time I shoot, I won't miss." Azula threatened coldly. Katara dragged her eyes away from the burning flame by her foot and turned, now fearful, around the chamber. Azula had just proved that she could kill them where they stood and they couldn't do a thing about it. Was she hiding in plain sight? Or cleverly concealed?
"Hand over the Avatar."
"No." Katara replied firmly, casting her eyes about wildly for a sign of attack. She subconsciously took a step closer to Zuko, her brow furrowed in ill-disguised fear.
Suddenly a sharp blade came flying down to Katara's left, causing her to shriek involuntarily and jump back. Regaining her composure (and trying her hardest not to feel embarrassed) Katara looked around once more.
"We've got you surrounded." Came Mai's voice, as boring and monotonous as ever. "You might as well give him to us."
"You might as well come down here and fight, cowards!" Toph yelled. "Not that you stand a chance anyway!"
Another arrow flew downwards, cutting through the air and purposefully missing Toph by mere inches.
"I can do this all day." Mai sighed. "But I have got other things to do, you know."
Go off and do them then! Katara thought bitterly, but now knew better than to say anything. Mai and Azula were toying with them, and she had no idea where Ty Lee was. Probably waiting in the wings somewhere…
"Mai's right." Azula said, sounding as though she was thinking something over. "I have a war to win. Hand over the Avatar or I may lose my patience."
"You won't win the war, and you won't get the Avatar!" Zuko shouted angrily, his eyes narrowed. From the corner of her eye, Katara saw Sokka and Aang exchange surprised glances.
"Let me guess, that's your job, right?" Azula asked maliciously. Again, when Katara glanced sideways she saw Sokka and Aang swap "now that's more like it" looks. Rolling her eyes at their lack of faith, Katara kept a firm grasp on the cool water hovering between her palms, itching to be used in an attack.
"I've changed." Zuko replied, throwing a quick smile at Katara. Azula didn't miss this.
"It was stupid to side with your Water Tribe whore, Zuzu." She called out, and Katara could hear the triumphant smirk in her voice. "Luckily you won't live to regret it."
Out of nowhere a bolt of lightning hurtled towards them, specifically aimed at Zuko. The following scene occurred as though in slow motion.
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Zuko knew what was coming, and he was more than prepared. He had figured out where Azula was awhile ago: perched in the crystals that stuck out of the walls near the roof of the cavern. Rather than attacking, he would let Azula come to him, revealing her hiding place so everyone else stood a chance of attacking her if Zuko failed.
Zuko was careful not to face or talk directly to where Azula was hidden, but with her final words he swiftly twisted himself in her direction. Raising his arms in anticipation, Zuko cleared his mind and aimed one arm at the oncoming lightning, and one at the ceiling, a few metres in front of where his companions were stood.
I can take it…Zuko thought through gritted teeth as he felt the lightning connect with his fingertips and travel through them, moving quickly through his body. Everything suddenly felt cold, and Zuko daren't breathe for fear it would disrupt the lightning's path. Travelling rapidly through his chest, his heart tingled uncomfortably, and for one terrifying moment Zuko thought the lightning had struck his heart. But no, the feeling quickly passed, leaving his whole body charged up for the final phase. The lightning weaved its way vertically up his arm, and gave one last sting as it erupted from Zuko's fingertips in an explosion of light and heat.
I can take it…Zuko thought again, triumphantly, …and now I can give it back!
Keeping his arm directed up was a strain; it felt like the lightning was dragging him down. Every muscle in his body ached, but he would not give up, especially not now. Not now that they were so close.
The tip of the lightning collided with the roof, shattering the solid rock and crystals and showering everyone in the chamber with debris. As more and more lightning crashed into the rock the noise became louder and louder, almost unbearably so. Just as Zuko planned, the cavern was collapsing.
The end of the lightning finally left his fingertips, following its predecessor and splintering the roof into shards of rock. Around him there was panic, chaos, but Zuko didn't register this. His head was spinning unpleasantly, and his knees wavered dangerously beneath him. Around him people he knew were shouting things, possibly to him, but nothing was registering except the overpowering urge to collapse. He lost the fight to stay upright, and fell painfully to his knees.
"Zuko." A voice murmured in his ear. "Zuko, come on, we have to go."
"Katara?" He murmured, unsure of what he was hearing.
"That was a very brave thing you did." Katara told him, grasping his arm and pulling as hard as she could to try to pull him up again. "But if you don't get up right now then it'll have been in vain."
Zuko resisted her pleas, and remained stubbornly on the ground. He needed to rest right now, couldn't she see that?
"Oh for Gods' sake…" Katara muttered, temporarily letting go of Zuko's arm as he closed his eyes.
Good, she's left me- Zuko started to think, before being rudely interrupted by a slap of water to the face. The water was cold and refreshing, and forced his eyes open. Everything swam into focus and his head immediately became clearer and more aware to the danger they were in.
"Better?" Katara asked, before taking hold of his arm again. This time when she pulled, Zuko didn't resist. He tried as hard as he could to stand up, and his perseverance paid off as he stayed on his feet, only wobbling slightly. Taking a deep breath, Zuko composed himself and felt much better.
Damn, he thought, glancing at Katara, what the hell was in that water?
Beyond Katara stood the rest of the group, all glancing anxiously either at him or the rapidly crumbling ceiling.
"Don't just stand there!" Zuko scoffed, starting to run. "Come on!"
The others were happy to oblige, and soon sprinted after him, occasionally throwing back glances to check no one was falling behind. Several times they had to hurl themselves out of the way of falling rocks, which were becoming larger and larger, but they immediately got back up and carried on running. Eventually Toph became tired of dodging the rocks and created three walls to their left, right and back, which moved as they ran. Crystal shards and rocks slammed hard onto the walls, but they never succeeded through despite the crashing sound each made upon impact.
"I don't remember the entrance being this far away." Katara mused, but no one heard her, too busy concentrating on running.
Iroh and Kuei fronted the group, followed by Sokka and Katara. Zuko ran just behind Katara, never allowing her to leave his sight. Aang stayed at the back with Toph, assisting with the stone walls that proved to be their shield.
"Just a little further!" Iroh yelled to Kuei, who nodded, gathering up his robes and proceeding to run even faster to keep up with Iroh.
"You are remarkable for someone your age!" Kuei shouted to Iroh, who laughed.
"You think it's easy training Prince Zuko?" He replied, wincing as a large boulder hurtled into the side wall, cracking it slightly. Nevertheless the wall quickly resumed it's smoothness, and Iroh knew they were all safe.
The exit to the cavern lay only a few feet ahead, and although beyond the archway lay uncomforting darkness, Iroh had never seen such a sweeter sight in all his life.
The second Iroh and Kuei plunged past the archway, they were swallowed in blackness. The sounds of more people rushing in soon stopped, and after that all was silent for a moment.
Then came the terrifying yet unmistakeable sounds of a cave-in, just beyond them. They weren't out of the woods yet.
"Toph?" Sokka's voice asked, higher-pitched than normal through panic.
"I'm on it!" Toph replied loudly. "Come on Twinkletoes, little help!"
The sounds of the collapsing rock was moving swiftly towards them, and Katara was about to yell out in panic when the ground beneath her began to twist, at first slowly then faster. When it was spinning at a certain pace, it lifted off the ground with a jerk, and they all fell sideways. Still in pitch black, Katara remained where she was for fear that if she moved then she would fall off the piece of rock that was supporting them all.
Just then light briefly illuminated their surroundings to reveal Zuko on his feet, sending short fire blasts into the air. Following his nephew's example, Iroh stood up, at first shakily, then sent blasts up in the intervals of Zuko's fire. Because of this there was, albeit dim, light almost constantly. The rock had decreased in its speed and Katara sat up and looked around. Faintly she could still hear the crumbling of rocks, but it seemed much farther away now…or maybe the noise was just being blocked by Toph's occasional instructions/insults to Aang and Kuei, who had offered his assistance. Truth be told, the Earth King wasn't helping at all, or at least not much, but he followed Aang and Toph's movements and seemed to think he was being useful.
He's of more use than I am right now, Katara thought grouchily. She couldn't do anything until she reached the surface, and even then without proper water supply her bending would be limited. So she just sat and watched her new suddenly larger family struggle and fight as they always had done, be it in something trivial or something like this, which depended on their lives.
"Twinkletoes, Clueless, can you hold this?" Toph shouted, "I need to bust open the roof."
"Clueless?" The Earth King muttered distastefully.
"She's under a lot of pressure, I'm sure she'll come up with a better nickname later." Katara soothed, trying to conceal a smile.
"Why?" Sokka shrugged. "That one fits alright."
"But it's not very nice." Katara argued.
"Sugar Queen, Snoozles, Twinkletoes, Scarface -"
"Point taken." Katara grumbled, secretly pleased. She had missed the short and pointless bickering with Sokka almost as much as she had missed him and Aang.
Just a few feet above them was the solid stone roof, that didn't look like it would budge without a fight. Toph had manoeuvred herself into the middle of the rock, and placed her hands up as far above her head as they would go.
"It might be a good idea to cover your heads!" Toph shouted to the group. "I'm not exactly sure if this is going to work!"
"What?!" Shrieked Sokka in a voice at least five times higher than his normal one.
"Cool it Snoozles, and don't doubt me!" Toph barked, lowering her hands and turning to snap at him. Then, quick as a whip, she twisted around and threw her hands up in the air, her face set and determined.
Katara clung onto Sokka and squeezed her eyes shut, prepared for the impact if Toph somehow failed. Sokka wrapped his arms around his little sister and hugged her protectively to him, looking up at Toph with respect and faith.
C'mon Toph…you can do this…He thought as the rock they were on suddenly gained speed and they moved even faster to the ceiling.
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Pushing upwards, Toph felt the full force of the rock as she tried to shatter it. Almost as stubborn as her, the solid stone refused to move without persuasion. When persuasion didn't work, Toph breathed deep and pushed upwards harder than she ever had before.
For the world's greatest Earthbender you're not doing a very good job! She scolded herself, feeling the stone still resisting slightly.
"Budge." She muttered through gritted teeth, and at last she felt the stone give way, tearing apart under her hands. Rock flew everywhere, and Toph's hands were cut in various places. But still, they were through.
Although through where, she didn't know. Dust had exploded along with the rocks, and for a few moments everyone's vision was obscured by a hazy layer of air. Even though Toph couldn't see the dust, every time she breathed it in she could feel it in her throat, and joined in her companions in coughing. As far as she could tell, everyone had been thrown to the floor after they had busted through the roof, but they were all breathing at least. The floor below them was polished and smooth, probably tile of some sort, Toph deduced.
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Aang, like everyone else, was flung from the rock as soon as the roof splintered apart and landed on a hard flooring. Dust had risen up, making it hard to breathe, let alone see. His ribs ached fiercely from landing uncomfortably, and he took several deep breaths to make his heartbeat regular again.
As soon as he felt able, he stood up and, using his staff which had miraculously managed to stay intact, blew all the dust away with Airbending.
The moment he had, and the dust vanished, Aang regretted his actions. Stood around him and his friends stood at least half an army's worth of Dai Li agents, already in their attacking stances. His eyes widened, and he immediately tried to think of anything that wouldn't get his friends killed on the spot.
"We're…with Azula." He said, grinning sheepishly.
That was the worst lie I've ever come up with, he mentally groaned just moments after.
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A/N:
The last cliff-hanger of this fanfic…it's a special moment :P Anyway, I'm quite proud of this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it :D The speck of light was Yue, giving Katara extra strength, more on that next chapter. Also, more on what happened to Azula and co.
Mum's forcing me off the computer, so I couldn't check through all of it. Please tell me if there are any mistakes.
I have a proposition for you. If people give me reviews then I'll update much faster, by Monday at the latest. I like reviews, they make me happy, lol. I have been ridiculously stressed this week (again) because of exams and coursework and knowing people are enjoying my fanfic would give me a boost…
(little emotional blackmail there XD)
Next chapter is probably going to be the penultimate chapter, which is why I cliffhanged this chapter. Have a good (however long it is until I next update) everyone!
- Momo