Chapter V

Everyone sat in Ty-Lee's room, staring at each other. Katara had forced her way into the room and made her demand. Now Mai sat to the side, her back turned to them as she mulled it over. It turns out that she had come back because she thought that she could not trust Ty-Lee along with the others; of course she had been right.

Ty-Lee stood next to her, looking at her toes and trying to avoid looking over at Sokka, having realized what he had been playing at. Katara still stood with her arms crossed, staring at Mai's back. Sokka and Aang stood next to each other, exchanging a quick, uncomfortable glance. Finally, Mai turned around.

"No." She said simply, pointing out of her room, indicating that they should leave. Aang and Sokka shrugged their shoulders and started out, but Katara held firm.

"That's not good enough anymore. We aren't just going to settle for no, are we?" She said. Sokka and Aang froze, realizing that they were being drawn in on the conversation. Sokka sighed, turning back around.

"You know sis, they probably have this under control, no big deal. I think that I'm just going to go back to my book." He said, turning and trying to make his way out of the door. Katara turned on him.

"What do you mean no big deal? That nut knocked Aang unconscious!" She yelled. Sokka stopped, sighing.

"It's not that hard." Said Sokka. Katara scowled at him.

"Alright, alright." Said Sokka, putting his hands up. "I just think that if these two don't want to tell us what's up then it's none of our business. It's their dirty past, let them keep it." He said. Katara shook her head.

"But this isn't the past, this is now! It happened only an hour ago! We need to know about him! And." She said, whirling back on Mai. "We're not leaving until we get some answers!" Aang came back and stood by Katara, doing his best to look assertive.

"Good luck getting answers from me." Said Mai, yawning.

"You are so selfish, you know that!? Why in the world can't you think of us for a moment? I bet that if Azula hadn't went nuts you would still be at her side helping her out." Said Katara. Mai glared at her.

"Look her sweet-cakes. I changed sides regardless of Azula. I did the right thing on my own, regardless of what Azula thought or was acting like." She said. Katara threw up her hands in mockery.

"Ohh, pardon me. Ms. Virtuous here says she's a saint just because she helped her boyfriend out. Big whoop." She finished. Mai started to become angry.

"Listen here snow-peasant. Just because I'm not incompetent enough to stand directly in front of a bolt of lightning doesn't make me evil." She said. Sokka turned, coming to his sister's defense.

"Hey. Just because we're not a bunch of pompous nobles doesn't mean we don't know what we're talking about. Look who won the war?" He said. The conversation erupted from there. Yelling and screaming was done by both sides. Aang hopped in after Mai made a somewhat rude insinuation about Katara's dating life. Tempers began to flare, and soon it seemed as if blows were going to be exchanged, but Ty-Lee had had enough. The noise around her was too chaotic, and seeing her friends break apart over an old nightmare just did not seem fitting, so she did the one thing she knew would quiet everyone down, she screamed.

"We grew up with them!" She cried at the tops of her lungs. The conversation halted in an instant, all eyes turning to her. Mai covered her face with a gloved hand, groaning. She knew that the gig was up. Sokka came up to Ty-Lee, stunned.

"What did you say?" He asked. Ty-Lee shifted on her feet, nervous with everyone staring at her.

"We grew up with them, both of them; Jack and Joshua." She said softly. Aang and Katara looked at each other.

"You grew up with them, what does that mean exactly?" Asked Katara. Ty-Lee opened her mouth, then shut it, not feeling so confident about her plan anymore. Mai shook her head, determining that it was time to spill it all, with or without his permission.

"We were all childhood friends. We grew up together, played together, stuff like that." She said. Sokka, Aang, and Katara now turned to her.

"Wait, if you were friends, then what in the world happened? Who is Jack? And why in the world did Joshua attack Aang?" Asked Katara. Mai pinched her nose.

"Why don't you all just sit down, I'll tell you the story from the beginning, maybe then you'll understand this all better." She said. The others looked at each other for a moment, then sat down, Aang missing a seat all together and landing on the floor. He got up and sat next to Katara. Mai shook her head.

"It all started when we were eight years old, right before Zuko's mom committed treason to protect him. We were playing in the garden, if you could call it that, when we heard something on the other side of the wall. Azula said that we should go check it out, and since what she said went, we all went over to the wall. We climbed up on one of the trees close to the wall and hopped on, looking over to see what was making the noise. It turned out that it was two boys, playing some game with firebending. I don't even remember how it worked, but they were just sitting there, out in the back street, playing away. Azula was particular taken with one of them, Jack, and so immediately decided that we should hop down and introduce ourselves. Once again there wasn't much to say on it, as whatever Azula wanted to do we all did, so we jumped down and went over to them. To make a long story short it turned out that they were street rats. They lived with Joshua's older sister, Amy, who worked in a tea shop to support them. Jack wasn't related to them, but he had no parents, and since Joshua did not either they had bonded quickly, becoming best friends. Azula ended up butting in on their game and demanding that they let her play. Joshua laughed, thinking that a girl couldn't do it, but Jack wanted to let her try. They let her play, and when she showed them what she could do they were impressed and invited her to play with them in their slum area. Apparently they frequently got kicked out of the royal streets by the guards, so it would just be easier if they all went back to where they lived. Of course she wanted to, but there was no way that her mother would let her. So, instead, she ended up talking her parents into bringing the boys to the palace. How that had went over I had no clue, but I just knew that after that every time I came over they were there, doing something or the other, usually firebending games. She liked to play with them more because they could actually firebend, unlike Zuko." Mai sighed, shaking her head at the memories.

"If you guys all grew up together, what happened?" Asked Aang. Mai looked out the window at the raging storm, then back at the others. She actually seemed sad.

"Diamondbending happened." She said simply. "I don't know how, or when, but all I do know is that when she found out about it she went straight to her father, just like any good girl would. You see, Diamondbenders used to be a more common thing in the past but…" Aang held up his hand, interrupting her.

"We already know about this. I was there when the last ones were executed, or so I thought, until I met Jack." He said. Mai did not seem surprised. Shrugging her shoulders she continued on with her story.

"Well, unfortunately, Ozai knew about them as well. He knew of their potential and what they could do. Having a diamondbender in your army, it was the ultimate weapon. It was almost like having the avatar on your side, only this one wasn't constrained by moral obligations." Sokka shook his head.

"What did they do when they found out, they didn't join him did they?" Mai shook her head.

"No. When Azula told them, they were afraid, and they ran and hid. They were fire-nation, but they didn't believe in the war effort. Amy had taught them that what the fire-nation was doing was wrong. So when Azula told them what her father had in mind they ran away. Joshua hid Jack, taking him away with him to who knows where. We were thirteen at the time."

"So what did Azula do?" Asked Katara. Mai glared at her.

"Azula didn't do anything!" She snapped. "That's something that I don't think either of them understands, or you guys. It was all Ozai's idea." Said Mai, bitterness in her voice. Katara softened, seeing how much it hurt Mai to talk about this.

"Sorry, I just assumed. So, what did Ozai do?" She asked. Mai ran a gloved hand past her nose.

"They took Amy and scheduled a public execution for her." She said, throwing her hands up. "They put fliers up everywhere. It said that they had captured an earth-kingdom spy, though she readily showed them that she could firebend." Added Mia with a snort.

"It said that unless her accomplices came out of hiding she would be executed, and her body put on display. I don't know what was running through their heads as the day approached, all I know was that nothing happened. The day came, and the drums started beating, when suddenly they appeared out of nowhere. They jumped off of the roof, coming right inside the courtyard. They tried their best, they really did; Joshua even got close, but there were just too many of them, and they were too young." Aang raised an eyebrow.

"They're not you Aang, it's not like they had the avatar state when they made a mistake." Said Mai, noticing his look. She shook her head, the dreadful memory rushing through her head.

"They were captured, and in the end, after it was all said and done, they killed Amy anyways, just to try and break them. They killed her, and Azula was standing right next to her. After that they threw the boys in two separate prisons. One here in the fire-nation, the other in fire-nation controlled earth-kingdom territory. Ozai tasked Zuko and Azula with breaking them and turning them to our side, but soon after that the thing with Zuko happened, and he was banished, leaving Azula alone to do the job. At first she was harsh on both of them; she felt as if they had betrayed her by running away. In the end though she could never break them. No matter what she did to them they would not break, and so she ended up relenting, leaving them be. After all of it, all she did was make them hate her more." Finished Mai, staring off. Sokka shook his head.

"I can't believe it. All this time, he was fire-nation? Not only was he fire-nation, but he grew up with you guys!?" He yelled, standing up.

"Why in the world didn't Zuko say anything to us?" Asked Katara. Mai shrugged her shoulders, recapturing her usual apathetic nature.

"He probably didn't want to talk about it. He did shoot Jack in the back at Ba Sin Sey. Besides, did you ever ask him about it?" The three looked at each other, shaking their heads.

"Still, why didn't either of you tell us?" Asked Aang. "We're all on the same side now." He said.

"He told us not to tell you." Replied Mai. "He said that he was going to tell you when he was ready. He just didn't know how you would take it." She said. Sokka shook his head.

"He was right to fear our reactions." He said, anger burning in his chest.

"Wait." Said Katara. "I thought he had amnesia?" She said. Mai lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, he seems perfectly fine to me, aside from a nervous twitch, but hey, three years of torture can do that to you." She said.

"He lied to us." Said Sokka, bitterness seeping into his voice. Aang shook his head.

"Alright, so, Jack isn't who he said he was, or at least he's more than what he led us to believe, but that's kinda beside the point at the moment. We need to focus on this Joshua guy; if I were to guess I'd say that he was out to get all of you guys who had a hand in it, though Azula must be at the top of his list." Said Aang. Mai nodded her head.

"That about sums it up. He mostly blames Azula, as he always blamed her for everything, but I'm pretty sure that he'll come after all of us. It's only a matter of time." She said, resigned.

"He's not stable. I don't think he's ever been, but at least back then he had his sister to keep him in check, but now." Mai shook her head. "He's a mad man, pure and simple. This guy is going to burn the world to the ground in order to get at us, and I don't know if we can stop him." She continued. Katara snorted.

"Please, just because you can't handle this guy doesn't mean that we'll have a problem with him as well. What's one more firebender?" She said, looking at Aang and Sokka who readily nodded their agreement. Ty-Lee stepped in.

"You don't get it, do you? Where do you think Jack learned it from? It just didn't pop into his head one day." She said. Sokka looked at her.

"What are you saying?"

"Jack isn't the real diamondbender." Said Mai. "Joshua is. He learned from his sister's books that were passed on to her from her parents and their grandparents before that. Jack just happened to be one as well, but Joshua is the real deal. And since he broke out of prison he probably has become even more powerful than ever. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he found himself a bending master for each element. None of us are safe while he's out of prison." She said. A thought suddenly occurred to Sokka.

"Where's Suki?"

His mind was groggy, slow, as if he was slogging through a bog. He tried pulling himself out, but he could not even remember why he wanted to be awake. It was so relaxing sitting there, letting his mind be overcome by the strange visions that danced before him; why should he get up? It was too hard to wake up, he might as well just sit here and let his body rest, that way he had more energy when he went after Joshua.

His eyes fluttered open at the thought. Joshua.

Standing up, he looked about the room, his mind reeling from whatever Joshua had injected him with. He stumbled and fell against the wall, a pungent odor meeting him. Opening his eyes again he looked at the wall, noticing the black scorch marks. For a moment they seemed to be dripping black ooze, but after he accidently hit his head against the marks his mind cleared up, and the black ooze disappeared.

Jack stood up, using the wall to steady himself. He had to focus, somebody's life was at stake, he just could not remember whose. Was it Azula's? Or was it his own? Aang's? He rammed his head against the wall once more just for good measure. Pain flared up, clearing his head.

No, it was not Azula, it was Suki. The sound of his feet hitting her fan-blades below him only reconfirmed that fact. Joshua had done something to her, but what? And where was she?

Jack blinked, trying to focus his mind. Had Joshua told him and now he had just forgot? No, that was not it. Joshua had told him that he would wake up with the information that he wanted.

Quickly he looked around him, trying to find some clue or note that would tell him where to go. The whole cell was scorched and black. Apparently Azula had not gone easily. Mounds of earth were everywhere, along with some ice shards. In such a close space she must have given him a run for his money. Joshua was good but he relied on wide open spaces in order to move about at a lightning speed. Here, inside a tight, confined cell, there was not a lot of places that he could move to, aside from outside the cell.

Jack shook his head. He had to focus! What in the world was he looking for? Did Joshua even leave him a note, or was he lying to him? That did not sound like Joshua, but three years in prison can really change how you act.

As time went on and Jack still could not find anything he became aggravated. Yelling he punched the wall, feeling as if he had been played by his old friend. The wall gave way as he hit it, billowing out as his fist made contact. That's when he noticed the little piece of paper in his hand. Rolling his eyes he opened his hand, looking at the note. A little note was scrawled across it.

Good Ol Jacky boy

Won't you come with me to that

Nice Ol cherry tree

Jack shook his head. Joshua had always been bad at haikus, but this was plain stupid. Why could he not just say that Suki was at the cherry tree? Or even just that she was in the royal garden? What was the point of writing a pathetic haiku? Realizing that Suki was probably in danger he shook himself out of the thought. He did not have time to ponder his friend's poor haiku writing abilities, someone's life was at stake.

Turning, Jack made his way out of the cell, running at a dead sprint. He passed through the halls, the other prisoners louder than normal. They hooted and hollered as he passed by. Shrill screeches deafened him as they cried out, some of them actually writhing in pain. It seemed as if the whole prison had decided to go from just plain nuts to pure psycho with Joshua's arrival. He wondered why it was that no guards were trying to calm them down, but when he reached the first gate he found out why. They were all dead.

He bent down on a knee, checking for a pulse that he knew he was not going to find. The body was shredded, blood splattered everywhere. The guard's intestines seemed to be on the outside of his stomach, the rib cage bowed outwards, puncturing through the chest. Jack tried to not throw up, but it was a difficult task. It seemed as if the body had exploded from the inside out. He shook his head. How in the world had Joshua done this?

Moving on he slipped on the mixture of blood and intestinal fluid that lay on the stone. He caught himself before hitting the ground, taking his time to properly make his way through the slick liquid before taking off at a run.

As he passed by the other gates it was all the same story. They were either blown up from the inside out, or else they were shredded by what could have only been diamond blades. Body parts lay all over, blood and other bodily fluids coating the path. Once he slipped, falling into a pool of blood that had formed on the ground. He splashed in it, luckily keeping his face from coming into contact with it by bracing himself with his hands, which only meant that his hands and pants were now covered in blood.

He passed by more and more dead bodies, signs of resistance apparent, but it must have been futile. No one had made it. It was a waste of time to check for pulses, as some of the guards did not even have heads attached to their necks. Jack shook his head, a ghastly odor rising from the bodies as he continued on.

By the time he reached the main entry he was ready to puke. However, when he saw what lay before him, he just got it over with and threw up right then and there. Over fifteen bodies, or what was left of them, littered the ground. Blood was splattered everywhere, scorch marks lining the walls. Heads lay splayed about, some attached to their bodies, others severed, while some had just been pulverized. Tears leapt into his eyes as he realized that it was his old friend that had done all of this. Whatever Azula had done to him had worked. Joshua had never been capable of doing such a thing. Sure he had a temper, but he had generally kept it under control, and he had always looked out for Jack.

But now, now he was a mad man. He had slaughtered everyone that had gotten in his way just to get at Azula. Terror seized hold of him as he began to imagine what Joshua would do to Azula now that he had her. There was no telling whether or not they would be able to identify the body by the time they got to her, if they ever found her.

Shaking himself, Jack forced himself to walk across the main hall, keeping his eyes focused on the exit. Slowly, one foot at a time, he crossed the massacre, his boots splashing in what could only be the blood of the victims. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he reached the door. Shoving it to he went out to find the elements raging, and a four man patrol. The guards were coming up to the prison, no doubt wondering why it was that they had missed a scheduled check in. When they saw Jack they seemed relieved. He knew a couple of them, they were good men, very helpful. One of them, Tanjin, came up to him, hesitating when he saw the blood on Jack's hands.

"Sir?" He said slowly, his hand falling to his sword. Jack shook his head, his throat tied in a knot. Tanjin looked behind him, trying to see into the prison.

"What happened?" He asked. Jack took in a deep settling breath, knowing that he had to keep it together.

"Contact fire-lord Zuko. Tell him that he must come back at once, black priority." Tanjin looked at Jack, shocked.

"Black priority?" He said, confused. Jack continued on.

"Tell him simply that Joshua is back." Jack looked over his shoulder at the mess behind him.

"Someone has to retrieve those bodies." He said. "They deserve a proper funeral." Tanjin came up beside him, his body shaking as he looked inside. The guard went off to the side, puking his guts out. The other guards came up, two more going off to throw up. The last one, an old war veteran, merely shook his head after looking in.

"What the devil happened?" He asked, looking at Jack. Jack shook his head.

"I wish I knew." He said, looking back once more.

"I need to get back to the palace as soon as possible; it's a matter of life and death." He said. The older man nodded his head.

"Take one of the komodo-rhinos, we'll have to stay to start an investigation anyways." He said. Jack looked back at him.

"You don't want to question me?" He asked. The old vet shook his head, wispy white hair fluttering on his head.

"Believe me kid, I can tell when someone's done something, and you sure as hell didn't. Get out of here, I doubt that you want to watch as we drag these bodies out." He said. Jack shook his head, thanking the old guard and making his way down to the komodo-rhinos, hoping that he was not too late.

Sokka wondered about the halls, Aang right beside him. After his declaration they had split up, girls and boys. They had no clue whether or not Suki was actually in danger, or if Joshua was even around and about, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Sokka and Aang had already checked Suki's room and the kitchen. They had not seen a sign of her. Even the servants seemed not to know where she was. None of them had seen her since early this morning.

"You know, she might have gone to the market." Said Aang. Sokka shook his head.

"In weather like this?" He said. Aang dropped his eyes, hurt at having his idea shot down. Sokka came to a stop, sighing.

"If we don't find her soon then we'll head off to the market, alright?" He said, turning back around and moving down the hall. Aang followed him closely, poking his head in a few rooms as he passed them. Sokka called out her name, hoping to hear an irritated response, but instead just meeting silence. Picking the pace up the two began to jog down the halls, stopping in every doorway and looking in. Nothing. Everywhere they looked there was no sign of Suki.

Panic began to well up in Sokka's chest as he thought of losing yet another person he loved. He tried to shake himself, to tell himself he was just being paranoid, but he just could not shake off the feeling that once again he had failed. Aang seemed to pick up on the premonition. He looked at Sokka, then back around, his heart beginning to race.

"Do you think this Joshua guy is as dangerous as Mai and Ty-Lee made him out to be?" Asked Aang. Sokka came to a stop, catching his breath.

"Tell me this Aang, in all the times that those two girls chased us during the war, did you ever see them actually afraid?" He said. Aang shook his head.

"Ya, me neither. But Joshua, the real diamondbender, this guy makes them start shaking. It just isn't a good sign." Finished Sokka, realizing that he too was a bit afraid. He remembered some of the things that Jack had shown him, and they were impressive. But someone who had an actually mastery of the art. He shook his head. That was someone to be fearful of.

Sokka turned back down the hall, looking around.

"We aren't going to cover enough ground at this rate, we need to split up." He said. Aang shook his head.

"You heard what Mai said, we need to stick together." Sokka looked down the hall, then back at Aang. It seemed safe enough.

"Alright, tell you what we do. You go down that hall there, and I'll go down that way, then we'll meet up around the corner. Technically we're not splitting up because we'll still be in yelling distance and we'll meet up again." Said Sokka. Aang did not seem convinced.

"But what if you get taken out all quiet like." Said Aang. Sokka opened his mouth to speak, then paused.

"What do you mean me?" He said indignantly. Aang shrugged his shoulders.

"Just saying. I'm the avatar, so I can protect myself pretty well, but you, you're the boomerang guy. Not much you can do about a diamondbender." Said Aang, a slight grin on his face. Sokka shook his head.

"Geesh, this coming from the kid that was knocked out by this loon only an hour ago." He said, starting off down his hall. He pushed Aang down the other.

"We don't even know if this guy is even in the palace. More than likely he's out and about somewhere else." Called Sokka, yelling over his shoulder. Aang looked once more at Sokka, then ran down his hall, checking the doors as fast as he could. Sokka did likewise, coming up empty and meeting Aang around the corner, just like he had said.

"See." Said Sokka. "No problem." Aang smiled. They looked down the next set of halls.

"Same plan?" Asked Aang. Sokka nodded his head, and they took off once more. This time, when Sokka neared the end of the hall, he noticed something. The door to the garden seemed to be open slightly, though the wind should have blown it open all the way. Coming over to it he noticed that the ground was bent slightly out of shape, keeping the door from opening any wider. He looked out the window, trying to see out, but the bushes obscured most of his vision.

Grumbling, Sokka kicked at the door, trying to bust it down. It took him a few tries, luckily no one was watching him. He picked his way through the splinters, forcing his way through. Coming outside he was battered by a howling wind, leaves swept up by it, smacking him in the face. Spluttering, he smacked the leaves away from his mouth, starting at a jog down the path.

"Suki! Suki! Dang it woman, where are you!?" He called out, but his voice did not get far. The wind swept it away, bringing with it instead the peals of thunder. Sokka stopped, looking up at the sky. Bolts of lightning streaked from cloud to cloud. It made him a bit jumpy. Reminded him too much of Azula.

Shaking himself, Sokka kept moving down the path, looking from side to side and calling out Suki's name. He found nothing. There seemed to be nothing out in the garden, which meant he splintered the door for nothing. Looking around once more he called out her name, but the only response was a creaking noise from behind him.

Freezing, Sokka turned around, slowly. He looked in the direction of the noise, noticing the cherry tree that blocked his vision of the other side. Taking a tentative step forward the creak met him again. A shadow played at the ground next to the tree, moving in and out, in and out.

Sokka took in a deep breath, his body shaking. His blood had turned to ice and his will had vanished, but still he was compelled forward by some morbid feeling. He did not want to look around the tree, but he had to, there was no avoiding it. Every step closer brought another wave of terror that threatened to swallow him whole. He had never heard that noise before, nor had he any clue what the shadow was; the only thing he did know was that he had to look, though he did not want to.

He came up directly behind the tree, putting his hand against the smooth bark to steady himself. The noise had grown louder, but it was currently blurred out by a peal of thunder. His heart was thumping in his chest, and his palms were sweating, but he had to go on, he had to know what was on the other side of the tree. Taking in a deep breath, he moved to go around the tree, but his feet lay firmly planted in the ground, refusing to move. He looked down at them, a disappointing scowl on his face.

"Come on guys." He said, trying to muster up some bravado. "Let's just take a look real quick, it'll be all right." He said, reassuring himself. Taking a moment he decided to take out his boomerang, more of a comfort thing than actual protection, as the wind was liable to play havoc with it if he threw it. The sound of it clattering against the tree made him look at his shaking hands. He breathed out slowly.

"All right, time to do this." He muttered, stepping around the tree. His boomerang fell to the ground, its landing softened by the grass. He reached out a shaky hand, trying to process what was happening. Slowly he moved forward, shaking his head.

"No, no, no, no." He mumbled, retrieving his hand and putting it over his mouth. Tears burst into his eyes and fell down his cheeks as he tried to maintain control. He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. His whole body began to shake as he fell to his knees, sobs racking his entire body. He leaned forward, putting his face in his hands, crying into them. Shaking he looked back up, forcing himself to his feet. Anger overtook him as he reached out, both his hands trembling.

"No, no, no!" He cried, touching the body. It swung at his touch, the rope creaking as it moved the body back and forth. Suki's pale form hung from the tree, the rope digging into her neck and cutting the skin. Her pale blue lips sat below vacant eyes, void and lifeless. Sokka screamed at the top of his lungs, thunder and lightning striking above him.

"Noooooooooooooo!" He cried, falling to his knees once more. His hands trailed down Suki's dress, coming to rest on her feet, cold and bare. He sat there, sobbing violently, his purpose in life once again void and hallow. How long he sat there, who's to say, he did not notice the passing of time. A gnawing emptiness tugged at his soul. He was empty, used up, exhausted. His soul cried out but with no voice, he had not the words to express his sorrow, so instead he wailed out into the coming storm, wishing that death would find him soon and grant him solace.

Eventually he was found. Aang had noticed the broken door and had called out for help, the girls happening to be nearby. They had all made their way into the garden, calling out Sokka's name, but he did not hear them, so engulfed by his sorrow. They found him though, sitting at Suki's feet, tears rushing down his face. Katara saw Suki, then took Aang in her grasp, forcing his head into her chest.

"Don't look Aang, don't look. You don't want to remember her like this, not like this." She said, tears falling down her cheeks. Aang sobbed in her chest, knowing full well that Suki was gone. Ty-Lee turned away, sobbing into her arms. The only one that appeared to be unmoved was Mai. She came up to the body, a blank look on her face. Taking out a knife she reached up for the rope, but Sokka noticed

"No." He said, his voice hoarse and gruff. Mai moved out of the way as he stood up, wiping his tears away. He pulled out his own knife, reaching up with one hand to cut the rope while he held onto Suki with his other hand. In a second the rope snapped, her body falling into his arms. He dropped the knife to catch her. He lifted her up, his lips quivering as he stared into her face cold, blank face. He lifted up a shaky hand, closing her eyes. Slowly he made his way off, making back towards the palace, silent, save for the tears that fell down his face. The others followed him, trailing silently, only Mai stayed behind, looking around at the ground. She bent over and picked up Sokka's knife, sighing. The snap of a branch behind her made her spin around, knives poised at the ready. It was just Jack, his hands on his knees. He was sweaty, and out of breath.

"Suki…is she?" He started. Mai shook her head. Jack stood up running a hand through his hair. He let loose a strand of profanity, cursing at the skies and thrashing about. When he came back he fell to his knees, out of breath, and haggard. Mai looked at him, knowing that something else had happened.

"Where's Azula?" She asked. Jack looked up at her, tears brimming in his eyes. Slowly he shook his head. Mai drew in a breath, then walked away, her knives gripped tightly in her hands. Jack sat outside, the rain beginning to fall down on him. He had failed.