Chapter Four: Lightning

"Ahhh", Sokka sighed, leaning over a basket of bread, "The sweet smell of food."

"Sokka", Katara scolded pulling him away from the vendor, "We don't have time to waste like this. I want to actually cover some distance before we turn in for the night, and we haven't even left the inner wall!"

"Maybe you don't need to eat", Sokka said crossing his arms, "But I need some food".

"Two loaves, please", he told the vendor. Katara rolled her eyes in irritation.

"I got you one", Sokka tempted, giving her a cheesy grin. Katara tried to continue looking mad, but couldn't.

"Oh, all right", Katara sighed, "Thanks for the bread., but we still have to hurry if we are going to catch the earth tram." They pushed their way through streets while Sokka shoved his loaf into his mouth, chewing noisily. Suddenly, Sokka's footsteps stopped. Katara turned around to see why her brother wasn't following anymore. She saw him staring off into the distance, the bread he was eating falling out of his mouth.

"What is it now?" Katara demanded.

"There" Sokka pointed, spitting his food out in the process. Katara turned and looked at where his finger pointed. From the crowded streets she could just barely see the Earth Palace looming over the city, silhouetted with the moon behind it. She looked closer and saw bright lights coming from one of the upper rooms. The light flickered on and off like a dying candle, except in an unnatural way. Instead of the warm yellow of candle light, it was a strange, cold blue.

"What is that?" Katara asked mystified. She looked over at Sokka's face, which had now turned serious and hard.

"Azula!" he whispered under his breath. Suddenly both of them were in motion.

"Go warn Aang and Zuko!" Sokka shouted, taking out his boomerang, "I need to go to the Palace and alert the guards"

"But!" Katara stuttered

"We don't have time!" Sokka yelled. Katara didn't waste another second before taking off running.

"Move!" she shouted as she blasted aside obstacles with her waterbendering. As people saw her, they began ducking out of the way of her destructive path. She ducked into alleys and took every shortcut she could think of. She only hoped she would be in time.

A few minutes later the Jasmine Dragon was in sight. She burst through the doorway and doubled over, gasping for breath.

"What is it?" Aang stood up from where he was sitting.

"It's Azula", Katara gasped, still trying to recover her breath from running, "In the Palace".

"Are you certain?" Zuko demanded.

"Yes" Katara answered, "We saw her lightning"

"What do you think she is after?" Aang asked out loud as he turned to Zuko, "Why do you think she is here?"

Zuko closed his eyes and thought for a moment. "Mother", he said opening them.

Aang flung open his glider and took off into the air at the same time Zuko starting running.

"Your Highness!" his bodyguards protested.

"Don't slow me down", Zuko snarled.

Recovering her strength, Katara followed Zuko into the darkness.

...

Aang watched the two of them tear through the maze of streets below. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction, so he was having trouble flying much faster than his friends below.

Come on, he thought clenching his teeth.

...

Meanwhile, below Zuko and Katara raced across the ground. They had left Zuko's bodyguards behind after only a few minutes of running. Zuko grunted as he pulled himself over a wall. If wasn't the easiest path, but it was the quickest. Katara followed, creating a stairway out of ice. She was just about to catch up with him, when he stopped suddenly and she had to try her best not to bump into him. She looked ahead and saw why. Azula was standing in the middle of the alley in front of them.

"It's about time I caught up with you, Zuzu", Azula taunted. Katara quickly drew water for a nearby rain barrel and let it hover in a ball in front of her, ready for attack. Zuko and her stood almost back to back, ready for anything Azula might try to pull.

"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked coolly.

"Come on, Zuzu,", Azula goaded as she rolled her eyes, "You didn't think I would go too long without paying a visit to my own brother?" She looked more composed than the last time they had met.

"Don't call me your brother", Zuko threatened dropping into a fighting stance and igniting a ball of fire in each hand, "I no longer consider you part of my family".

"Now, Zuko", Azula smiled, "Don't be so quick to get into a fight. You know how our last match ended".

"I remember perfectly how that went", Katara said stepping forward, "What are you going to do now that you can't catch one of us off our guard?" Azula ignored the question.

"You know", Azula sighed, "You could waste your time trying to capture me if you want…….or you could get back to the Palace and see if you're in time to save her".

"YOU MONSTER!" Zuko shouted. He shot a blast of flames at her, but she was too quick. She dodged at the last second and used her firebending to divert the flames closest to her.

"The choice is yours", she laughed darkly. Before she could try to run or return the attack, Aang swooped down and landed behind her, blocking off her escape. He held his staff like a weapon and pointed it at her.

"It's over, Azula", he shouted, "You're out numbered".

Instead of making any move to surrender, Azula aimed her hands down at the ground by her feet and let loose a flash of lightning. The force of the impact sent Azula ten feet into the air before anyone could stop her. She landed on the roof of a building and started running. Katara quickly bent her water into ice shards and sent them hurling after her. A few found their mark, but most of them went wide. Katara started to go after her, but hesitated.

"Where's Zuko?" she shouted. He wasn't in the alley anymore, which surprised Katara.

"He went back to the Palace", Aang shouted back, "Now it's up to us to stop Azula. Come on!" With that, Aang leapt up into the air and followed Azula onto the roof-tops.

...

Meanwhile, Zuko rushed madly towards the Palace. All he could think about was his mother.

"No, she couldn't have", he groaned to himself, "She couldn't have hurt her own mother".

The guards at the entrance of the Palace were alarmed by his appearance.

"My Lord, Sokka told us", one of them said as he stepped forward, "The Palace has been shut down. I can assure you that no one has gotten in or out since then."

"Move", Zuko yelled as he pushed past them, "I don't have time to explain! Azula is loose in the city. Sound the alarm". They didn't hesitate to fulfill his order. He heard the alarms bells begin to ring as he sprinted across the courtyard. He went through several doorways, breaking down the locked ones in the process, until he reached his mother's room. He burst in, out of breath.

"Mother!" he exclaimed.

"Zuko, what's wrong?" she asked. Unlike what Zuko had expected, he found his mother completely unharmed.

"You're alright." he breathed.

"Of course. I-" she started to say.

"She hasn't been here?" he interrupted.

"Who, Zuko", Ursa asked with worry thick in her voice, "What has happened". Zuko paused for a moment, confused. It didn't make any sense, unless Azula had been bluffing. He thought back careful over what she had said to him. Or you could get back to the Palace and see if you're in time to save her….. Zuko suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"Mai" he choked.

Zuko dashed out of the room and tore through the Palace. Upon reaching Mai's room he saw her two guards lying unconscious outside her door. He stepped over them without thinking and entered the room.

It was a mess. Furniture lay broken across the room and scorch marks scarred the walls. The only light came from the half-moon above and the blue flames still burning in certain places on the floor. Using his firebending, Zuko exhaled slowly and caused the flames to die down into ashes. Zuko started to walk deeper into the room, but stopped suddenly, afraid of what he might find. He pushed down the fear and walked forward.

"Mai?" he whispered. He suddenly caught sight of a pale hand sticking out from underneath the torn curtain and holding a knife.

"Mai!" he yelled

...

At the same moment, Aang and Katara were hot on Azula's trail. The firebender leaped from rooftop to rooftop like an agile deer, using her fire bending where it was necessary. Aang didn't have trouble keeping up, but Katara did. After struggling to climb several walls, she finally passed a water fountain with enough water in it to serve her purpose. She pulled the water out of its container with one movement of her arm and began using it to assist her with the obstacles she encountered. When she reached a wall, she bent the stream into a ramp of ice, and when she had to cross a gap, she made a bridge.

Ahead of her, Aang was beginning to close the distance between them. Azula looked over her shoulder and saw him getting closer. Laughing wildly, she twisted in mid stride and fired a lightning bolt at him. Aang pulled a slab of rock out of the ground just in time for it to block her attack and shatter into a million pieces. He jumped over the cloud of earth fragments and sent a flash of fire at her. She cried out in surprise and was knocked to the ground, but rolled and was up and running again before Aang even landed.

"You can't run forever!" Aang shouted, "Stop and I won't attack you."

"No!" Azula shrieked. She was about to keep running, but suddenly her feet were encased in a layer of ice.

"Not so fast, Azula", said Katara who had finally caught up with them.

"Why you peasant!" Azula spat, melting the ice, "I'll teach you once and for all!" She was poised for the attack, about to strike, when Sokka came out of nowhere and struck Azula's glowing hand with his boomerang. Her aim was thrown off and her fire blasted harmlessly through a plaza shop.

"You!" Azula howled. She kicked Sokka in the gut. Fire from her foot scorched through his shirt as he flew backwards and hit a wall.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted. She quick doused the blue flames.

Aang struck Azula off balance with a blast of air from his staff.

"Stop now or I will hurt you." Aang threatened, his gray eyes burning with justice.

"Hahaha", Azula laughed wildly, "You can't hurt me. I'm untouchable". With that, a giant hole opened up in the middle of the ground and swallowed the fire bender, resealing itself afterwards. Aang's mouth opened in shock. He slid across the pavement, ending on his side with his hand over the place where Azula had vanished. He closed his eyes and listened to the vibrations the way Toph had taught him to. In his head, he saw Azula moving through an underground tunnel. He also sensed someone was earthbending. His surprise lessened when he realized that there was someone else with Azula. The Dai Li! Of course there would still be members of the outlawed organization loyal to her, Aang realized. Aang was about to pinpoint their position and break his way into the tunnel, when suddenly the ground began to shake and his mental image of Azula and the Dai Li began to blur. In a few seconds, the entire ground was vibrating and he could no longer see them.

He opened his eyes just before he began to feel sick and sighed.

"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked with a worried look on her face, "Are you going after them?" Aang realized that the vibrations were obviously too deep underground for Katara to feel them.

"I can't see them anymore", Aang said, his face wrinkling with concentration, "They must have some sort of device disrupting their normal vibrations. Once down there, I wouldn't have a chance of finding anything".

"How's Sokka?" Aang asked suddenly

"He's fine", Katara assured, "Just a skin burn. What now?"

"They have to surface sometime", Aang answered with determination. Tapping the end of his glider on the ground so it opened, Aang took off into the sky, where dawn was just approaching.

...

Zuko ran through the city with one of his twin blades in each hand. The guards back at the Palace had assured him Azula would be caught and brought to him within the hour, but Zuko was in no mood for waiting. He was going after her himself. Rage burned through him. Part of him was still unwilling to believe it. One thing was for sure, Azula would pay.

"Yahhh", Zuko yelled as he kicked through a wall of barrels blocking his path. The people who where still on the streets despite the hour ran for cover. It was likely that very few of them recognized the Fire Lord. A certain rage burned in his golden eyes that made him look like a very different man from the calm leader most of the people had seen when Zuko had first come to Ba Sing Se. He climbed onto a rooftop and scanned the rows of houses and streets that went as far as the eye could see. The sun had just crept over the horizon, lighting up Zuko's view. There! , Zuko could see. A few rows from where he was, Zuko saw the floor open up in an alleyway, and from it Azula and a Dai Li agent emerged. His eyes narrowed. He ran towards them, keeping his presence concealed. Azula and the Dai Li agent moved to the base of the inner wall, and Zuko lost sight off them.

"No", Zuko willed, pushing his legs to go faster. Suddenly he caught sight of them again. They were in a rising war balloon. There were ten others in the balloon besides her and the agent. Probably more Dai Li. The sun's first rays reflected off its surface, making it glow in places. Zuko could see Azula using her blue fire to heat the air inside.

"No!" he shouted loud enough for her to hear.

She turned and shot lightning at him. He ran across the rooftops and jumped. For one split second it looked like he would be able to reach the rope dangling from the balloon, but at the last second he fell short and plummeted to the pavement below. He rolled as he landed, avoiding the worst of injury but still having the wind knocked out of him.

"Ahhh", he groaned.

"Nice try, Zuzu", Azula shouted down, "But you'll have to do better than that if you want to stop me". Zuko stumbled to his feet and began to scramble up the stairs of the inner wall. As he climbed, Zuko sent wave after wave of yellow fire at the balloon, but each time it was met by a wall of blue flame and the balloon remained untouched. Zuko cried out in frustration.

"How could you, Azula?" Zuko shouted wildly, "I would have put this past even you". Azula just laughed at him. The balloon was now level with the top of the inner wall. Zuko watched helplessly as it passes over the wall entirely and began to soar away from the city. By the time Zuko reached the top, the war balloon was already a hundred feet away.

"Azula, you coward!" Zuko roared, "Come back and face me". At that, he began rapidly shooting fireballs at the balloon. Like before, they had no effect. Nothing was working. In another few second they would be out of his reach entirely. Zuko doubled over, tormented by the thought.

"Awe", Azula taunted, "I would have thought you would have had a little more fight in you by now". Suddenly, Zuko face jerked up and their eyes met from across the distance. It was like his eyes had turned into two burning orbs of fire,

"I swear, Azula", Zuko said in a strangely calm voice, "If it is the last thing I do, I will hunt you down and find you. And when I do, I will finish you once and for all."

"No!" Azula shrieked, "You won't!" She fired a lightning bolt at him, but it did not injure him. He channeled it through his stomach and out his other hand, into the sky.

Zuko could no longer see. All he could do was feel. Feel his body get slightly warmer as the lightning passed through it. Feel the raw energy in the air around him. Feel the burning of his own pain and outrage. He breathed in deeply. Suddenly he felt his fingers begin to channel the energy in the air. He gathered more energy, letting it ball up inside him. It felt like he was Firebending, but somehow different. The energy grew stronger and stronger, till he could no longer hold it. He needed to release it before it killed him. Without thinking about what he was doing, Zuko pointed his fingers at the escaping balloon and exhaled. It was like a dam had burst. Suddenly, long streaks of purple lightning streamed from his finger tips and dart eagerly towards Azula. Zuko crumbled on to all fours.

The violet streak was only ten feet away from the war balloon when Azula realized what was happening. She tried using her own lightning as a shield, but it was no match for Zuko's. Azula raised her arms up to block her face just as the blue lightning and the purple lightning met. The explosion was deafening. Azula shrieked.

When the smoke cleared, Zuko was still on his hands and knees. He looked and saw from across the distance that Azula was doubled over and clutching her face. She was so far away that he almost couldn't hear her screams. He looked down at his hands.

He didn't turn his head as he heard Aang, Katara, and Sokka running towards him.

"Zuko! What happened!" Sokka asked, "We saw the explosion."

"Are you alright?" Katara asked with her hand on her water flask.

"She's gone", Zuko seethed, "SHE'S GONE!" He put his face in his hands and was silent.

"It's alright", Aang tried to comfort him, "We'll find her. She won't get far".

Zuko looked at Aang for the first time.

"Not her", he spat. His voice softened a little, "Mai…."

To answer your question, yes. Mai is dead. I am really sorry if this upset anyone, but I am convinced that this was the only way. Otherwise Zutara would never happen. Wow, saying that makes it sound like I only killed her so Zuko would be single, but in truth it's much more complicated than that. Azula is alive. I just wanted to clarify if anyone was confused.
I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far. It really helps keep me motivated. Please review for this chapter. I really want to know how people respond to Mai's death.