Chapter VIII
Aang stooped low to the ground, looking at the rocks. He scoured up and down the whole area, but found nothing. There were no more clues as to what happened to Sokka and Toph, they were just gone. The ground was too hard to retain footprints, and there was no more debris anywhere. Eventually he decided that they needed to expand their search pattern. There was something out there, they just had to find it.
"Keep close enough to call out. I know that Zuko and Jack said that they had him in a cave but I just want to be safe, okay?" Katara nodded her head. She had been getting progressively worse as time had gone by. The look of fear and terror in her eyes had spread to a slight trembling in her hands that she suppressed by shoving them in her pocket. Aang knew what was happening to her, but the only way that he could help her was to discover a clue to her brother's whereabouts, and thus far he had not been able to find anything.
The two split up, Aang heading down the mountain while Katara searched up at the peak and then over on the other side. Hopefully one of them would stumble across something, and soon.
The cool breeze which he had felt only an hour ago no longer was so reassuring or nostalgic. It carried with it a menacing feeling, like an evil voice whispering into his ear, telling him that his friends were in danger but refusing to tell him what had happened.
The sun was riding high in the sky, but it felt distant, even high on the mountain. Its warming rays did not reach him, just light, leaving him to fight off the chill and a growing sense of dread. Eventually a cloud blew in front of the sun, blocking off its light altogether and making the search that much harder. Aang began to lose it.
"Come on! I'm trying to find my friends! Can't you at least keep the light on since you can't be warm?" Aang stomped on the ground in anger, pain flaring through his big toe as he made contact with the rock. It felt like someone was sticking a red hot poker into his flesh, burning and searing it shut.
He jumped back with a yelp, looking down at the ground. There, where he had brought his foot down, sat another bunch of volcanic glass, covered in blood. He was lucky that he had only put his big toe on it.
Calling out to Katara, he went down on his knees, looking at the glass. Its shining black hue was tainted by crimson blood. He ran his finger alone it, but it was dry, painted onto the glass. There were also pieces of leather on the rock. A bit was from his own boots, but the rest must have been Sokka's, as it was a darker tone than his light brown boots.
Katara came running up to him, skidding down the mountainside with rocks clattering around her.
"What did you find?" She asked, her breath short from her dash over. Aang pointed at the volcanic glass, leaning back to examine his own toe as Katara stopped over the glass. He took his boot off, his foot shaking slightly with the pain. It was quite acute.
He grimaced as he looked at his wound. The glass had cut clean through his flesh to the bone, a speck of white shining in the sea of red. Blood dripped out, running down his foot and into his sock. Katara turned back to him.
"This must have happened before, or right after Toph's. I'm assuming it was Sokka because of the bits of leather." She said.
"I agree." Said Aang, holding his foot off the ground and squinting through the pain.
"Mind taking a look?" He asked, biting the side of his cheek. Katara gasped as she saw the blood trailing down his foot and onto the ground.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked, falling to her knees and flipping the cap off of her flask. The water whipped out, gathering around her fingers and humming as she focused her mind on healing.
"I guess you can say that I stumbled upon it." Said Aang with a grin. Katara shook her head.
"It's not good Aang, it's really deep." She said as she placed her hands around his big toe. The wound stun, the water shooting into his flesh and stitching the wound back together with what felt like little icicles, starting at the center and working its way out. Aang grimaced at first, but the pain slowly disappeared, replaced by a calming feeling. Eventually Katara brought her hands off, taking one last look at the wound.
"There, that's most of it." She said, flicking the water and clearing it of any impurities. Then she whipped it back into her flask, flipping the cap back on. Aang moved his toe around, feeling only a slight throb.
"Thanks Katara." He said, putting his boot back on and hopping to his feet. He walked around a little, testing his right foot. There was a little bit of pain, but nothing he could not manage. He turned back to Katara with a smile on his face.
"Where would I be without you?" He said. Katara was not paying attention to him, however, rather she was looking at the glass.
"If that's what it did when you merely stepped on it, imagine what it must have done to Sokka's feet shooting up out of the ground. If he's not already dead he's bleeding out and in a lot of pain." She said. A tear began to streak down her face. Aang came up to her, wiping away the tear.
"Don't worry, we'll find them." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Katara nodded, running a sleeve across her nose and sniffling.
"I know, I'm just afraid of what type of shape he'll be in." She said.
"Come on, let's see if we can't find anything else." Said Aang. The two continued to search the area, looking for any sign of their missing friends. Katara wound up finding another pool of blood, this one a bit bigger than the last. It was right next to a rock that had a slight dent in it, no doubt from someone who had the misfortune of crashing into it.
"I think I know what happened." Said Aang. "They were ambushed at the peak, where Toph's feet were taken out. She gave them some cover, and they fled down the mountain. Eventually Joshua caught up with them, and got Sokka while he was on the move, and he crashed into this rock." Said Aang. Katara nodded her head.
"Right, but what happened next?" She said. Aang stroked his chin.
"Indeed, what did happen next?" He said. Katara turned to him, raising an eyebrow.
"Indeed?" She asked, an amused look on her face.
"What?" Replied Aang. The two exchanged a quick smile, the mood lighting for a moment. Suddenly, Katara's eyes widened.
"Whoa, do you see that?" She said, pointing past him. He turned around, looking back over the city and towards the palace. Two massive columns of flame burst into the air, one white and the other blue. They disappeared a moment later, the white one returning, and then the blue one returning after the white one vanished again. The signals continued off and on for a while, taking turns going up and out. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder also began to appear, the tremors even reaching up on the mountain. Something big was happening. Katara turned to him.
"What in the world do you think that is?" She asked.
"It's the signal." Said Aang.
"The signal for what?" A pit developed in his stomach.
"They found Joshua." He said. Katara stared at him for a moment, then back over at the palace and the columns of fire. Something flashed across her eyes as a thought hit her. She turned around, running back up the mountain.
"Come on, we need to get back there!" She yelled. Aang snapped out of his stupor, turning and running after Katara.
"Wait, what? We're just abandoning Sokka and Toph?" He asked. Katara shook her head.
"No, we aren't abandoning them, we're just going to find out where they're at." She said. Aang caught up to her, grabbing her arm.
"Katara, even if they do capture Joshua, who's to say that you could get him to talk? Azula was tasked with torturing him for years, I don't think anything you can come up with will top that." He said. Katara paused for a moment, thinking.
"I have to at least try. We're never going to find them on our own." She said, climbing up on Appa. Aang did not follow.
"How about you go back and I'll stay here, okay? I'll keep searching. When you have the information come back." He said. Katara nodded her head.
"Just don't do anything you'll regret later. We'll find him, you just have to have faith." Katara sat still for a moment, taking in a deep breath, then she called out to Appa, taking off and sailing through the skies back towards the palace.
Aang sighed. This was not going to end well. He was afraid that even if they did catch Joshua he would just use Sokka and Toph's holding place as a bargaining chip to get out. He needed to find them before Joshua had a chance to do that.
He walked back over the area, trying to find something, anything. A blood trail, a footprint, even a rock that was out of place that would tell him where his friends were at. But after searching diligently he could not find anything. Aside from the volcanic glass and blood there was nothing out of place, and it was driving him crazy!
His heart began to crash in his chest as the anger mounted. There were few things that made him upset or angry, but not being able to help his friends when they were in need took the cake. He just could not help it, he felt as if he was failing them by not discovering the clue that led to them, and that feeling of failure was turning to rage inside of his chest. He could feel the energy mounting, threatening to send him into the avatar state. If he wasn't careful he would destroy the mountainside and any chance he had at finding his friends.
Eventually he took a seat on a rock, taking in deep breaths. He had to relax and keep a clear head to find his friends. If he was storming about he would more than likely miss the clue he was searching for. Or, if he was in the avatar state, he would destroy it. What he needed to do was to look at it from a different perspective.
He shot up to his feet, an idea striking him.
From a different perspective! An earthly perspective! He could use his Earthbending sight to check and see if something was out of place, something that he missed. He shook his head. How had he not thought of this earlier?
Quickly he kicked off his boot, stripping his socks off and planting his feet firmly on the stone. He almost jumped back as the freezing rock touched his bare skin, but he forced them down. If Toph could do it he could do it. He calmed himself and reached out to the earth around him, closing his eyes and focusing.
It was hard to see past the frigid cold, it blurred his vision and numbed his feet, but he could definitely see something that he could not see before. Walking over, Aang made sure to keep clear of the volcanic glass, his big toe still throbbing slightly from his last run in. He walked over towards the strange thing he was sensing. It was like a cone or sliver or something of the sort below the earth. It looked fuzzy to him, his feet already going numb, but it was there.
Walking over to a spot directly above it, Aang tossed a fireball at the ground, stepping on it after it had went out. The rock, blasted by the fire, was now warm, spreading its revitalizing energy to his feet and allowing them to see clearer. He could see what it was beneath him. A tunnel.
Hopping back, Aang stomped on the ground, bringing the mouth of the tunnel to the surface. He peered inside the opening, feeling as if he was looking into an abyss filled with night. There was nothing to see, just black rock and darkness spreading further and further back, an eternal night.
His earth sight told him that the cavern kept going on, further and further into the mountain, but he could not see anything. Even the sunlight merely illuminated the first few feet of the tunnel, dying out sooner than it should.
"Sokka! Toph!" He called out, the tunnel throwing his voice back at him as it echoed down into the ground. There was no response. For a moment Aang thought about going back to put his boots and socks on, but he thought better of it, thinking that he might need his Earthbending sight as he moved through the tunnel.
Stepping in, he felt a wave of dread overtake him, freezing him at the entrance. There was something unnatural about this tunnel. The walls were carven from stone, or at least, he thought they were carven. A spherical pattern ran down the entire tunnel, running down, down, almost as if it had been eaten through by a giant worm. Aang stopped and thought for a moment. Did he know of any giant worms in the fire-nation?
Steeling his resolve, he lit a flame in his hand, stepping into the tunnel. He moved on, fighting his way past his dread, but it kept mounting. His fire seemed only to reach out a foot or so, just enough to illuminate the path at his feet, but nothing beyond that. When he tried to throw a fireball down the tunnel he lost sight of it within the first few feet of its flight, being enveloped by the night that rested in the tunnel. Even when he turned back he could not see the mouth of the tunnel, the sunlight extinguished as it entered the abyss. The only way he knew it was there was through his Earthbending sight. Creepy.
Continuing on, he began to hear noises. Not anything tangible or real, but soft whispers, starting at the base of his skull and working their way up through his brain. They whispered incoherent words to him, dark images of bleeding corpses and fiery serpents flashing past his eyes. A few times he believed he heard something behind him, but when he turned there was nothing. Even his earth sight told him that he was alone, but somehow he just did not feel alone.
As he went on the voices became more intense, whispering to him, speaking to him, but not in words, merely eerie breaths. Soon they began to sound like the final breaths of the dying, long groans and moans that made his skin stand on end.
As he continued walking he started to hear another noise. After a while he realized that it was the sound of splashing liquid at his feet. Looking down, he was shocked to see the ground moving with a thick, red liquid. It splashed up to his ankles, a sickly warm smell coming up to his nostrils. Blood.
He wanted to hurl, the sight of it sickening him so. He leaned up against the wall of the tunnel to catch his breath only to find it to coated in blood, the thick liquid dripping down and onto his hands, running between his fingers. The entire tunnel started to fill with the sickly substance, the stuff rushing up and threatening to drown him.
He began to panic. The blood was rising higher and higher, pressing against him from all sides. His hands were shaking as the sticky substance washed over him. The sound of screams soon began to bounce around in his head, high pitches filled with pain.
Closing his eyes, he tried to steady himself, using his Earthbending to keep him planted. He took in deep breaths, trying to shut out the screams and fix his mind on escaping the rising blood. The voices inside his head ceased, dispersing from his mind. Along with them went sensation of the hot liquid, vanishing in an instant. Opening his eyes he looked around, noticing that there was nothing in the tunnel except him. He was perfectly dry, not a spot or stain on him. The tunnel was once again what it was before, a tunnel of stone.
Aang shook his head. There was something dreadfully wrong here. A spirit must be haunting these walls, some tormented being that projected its pain on others. He had to fight it, to keep calm and find his friends. All he had experienced was a hallucination, but that still did not mean that it could not be dangerous.
Keeping his eyes shut, Aang continued on with only his earth sight, killing the flame all together. If he could not see the hallucinations then they could not bother him. Hopefully.
For a while the tunnel was silent, the only sound was that of his own breathing and the patter of his feet. No images or noises disturbed him, and he was beginning to believe that he had bested the spirit. As he went further down, though, it grew hotter and hotter. Soon he even began to sweat, the tunnel reaching unnatural levels of warmth. It felt moist as well, as if there was a lot of water in the air, but when he tried to bend it out like Katara had shone him nothing came.
Trying to ignore the strange heat, he continued on, marching down the tunnel in search of his friends. Every now and again he would stop and call out their names, fearful of some dark creature calling back to him, but the only noise that he heard was that of his own echo. It seemed as if the spirit could not harm him if he did not have his eyes open.
Eventually he came to a fork in the road, with three paths expanding in front of him. They all continued in their downward descent, but they split off in different directions. One went straight, the other went to the left, and the other veered off to the right. They all held a dreadful feeling, evil seeping out almost like a substance.
Aang came to a stop, pondering upon which path to take. He began to feel panicked at the thought of being lost in this tunnel. He had no clue where these paths would lead, or if Sokka and Toph were even in them. For all he knew he might have just found some haunted tunnel within the mountain that had not been used for years. His friends could very well be in some other cave, or with Joshua, or dead, buried six feet under never to be seen again.
Aang shook himself. He could not think like that! He needed to keep his courage up. They were alive, they had to be, and he was going to find them. He had to focus on the paths though, one wrong path could cost Sokka and Toph time that they did not have.
But why did they have to be alive? He stopped to think about it. He had heard Jack's story from the prison. Guards with chests blown open and flies picking at their stilled hearts. Toph and Sokka could very well be like that, just two corpses with shattered ribs and exposed organs. Flies and other creatures could be crawling all over them, gorging themselves on their flesh. Aang shook himself.
"There weren't any flies in Jack's story!" He said aloud. Something was wrong, something was playing with his head again.
There were flies, though, weren't there? Surely dead corpses, dripping blood with severed heads would attract flies? That was not so unreasonable, was it?
"Stop it. Get out of my head!" He said, putting his hands over his ears, but he could not stop the thoughts, they just kept coming. Images of Toph and Sokka, their bodies broken and twisted, danced inside his head. He kept imagining their deaths, the many different horrific ways that they were slain, their bodies being picked at by carrion.
Falling to his knees, Aang shut his eyes even tighter, putting his hands to his head, trying to calm himself. He needed to do something, he needed to settle the spirit. He was the avatar, he needed to bridge the gap between the worlds and put this spirit to rest. He could do it.
Aang tried to place himself in a mediating stance, crossing his feet and relaxing his breathing, but he could not do it. He found that he was crying, sobbing loudly. Tears streamed down his face as image after image flashed before his mind, the sound of his friends crying out in pain now accompanying the colors. He tried to meditate, to enter the spirit world, but he was so flooded by emotion and grief that it was useless.
Just like this search. He was not going to find them. They were already dead. Just another two marks on a long list of names that he carried with him.
"No, they're still alive! Why else would you be tormenting me like this!?" Cried Aang, fighting the words out through his tears.
Sure, maybe they were alive. Maybe they were trapped in the tunnel, just like he was. Maybe whatever evil spirit that was tormenting him held them at the center of this abyss, torturing them and destroying their spirits. That was why he was hearing screams, they were real. It was his friends in pain, suffering and calling out for aid while he sat up here cowering in a withered heap like some trembling child. Pathetic.
Aang let his body fall to the ground, grabbing his knees and bringing them up to his chest. He sobbed loudly, wishing that the thoughts would stop. He wanted calm, he wanted peace! He had been through so much to bring peace to the world, he did not deserve this.
The thoughts, however, kept haunting him, growing and intensifying. Soon his other friends were being thrown in as well; Jack, Zuko, Suki, and finally, Katara. He watched them inside his head, dying over and over again, suffering in flames and spikes and darkness. Finally he could not take it anymore. He had to get out of his own head. He would take anything rather than this. He opened his eyes, hoping for relief, but what he found was worse than anything his imagination could have ever produced.
Zuko awoke to someone reaching inside his abdomen, a rather rude awakening. He cried out in agony as energy began to pour into his body. He felt as if someone was sticking needles of ice into his flesh and pulling it shut. A freezing sensation began to spread in his gut, numbing the rest of his organs. Eventually it reached up to his vocal chords, freezing the scream in his voice. It built up inside him, rushing through his veins. He felt as if he was about to explode, if he had to hold this scream inside of him any longer he would fry his brains.
Just when he thought that he could not last anymore, a calming sensation spread over his body, the scream ebbing out of his body. The freezing sensation turned to a slight chill that relaxed him. He eased up, realizing that he had been sitting up. Falling back down, he landed on something hard; wood. He breathed out a heavy sigh, but it was short lived as the pain returned, fiery and fierce.
"Hold him still. Just hold him still. I need more time to patch it up!" Hands began to push down on him as his spine arched, the pain coming back even worse than before. The freezing sensation returned and spread throughout his body. He screamed out in agony; it felt like someone was taking icicles and shoving them into his stomach.
"Hold him still! I can't do this when…Oww! I said hold him still, can't you do anything right?!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying!" Zuko tried to keep himself still. He knew that it was his friends voices that he heard and that they were just trying to help, but it was useless. The pain was too intense. He kept thrashing about, his arms and legs flailing out. He felt two strong arms grabbing one of his legs, and another set grabbing him with the feeling of iron. He kept crying out in pain.
"Put a gag in his mouth! Put a gag in his mouth!"
"Why isn't he healed yet? I thought you were good at this type of thing?"
"Something's not right! There's something else in him, something bad. It's trying to spread through him like a virus!"
"Well stop talking and get it out of him!"
"If you were to hold him down it would be easier!" Someone shoved something in his mouth, a piece of leather. He bit down on it hard, his screams becoming muffled as the pain ebbed and flowed.
The process continued on. The freezing sensation spreading and retracting. Every time the calming sensation came back it was replaced by a coursing fire that blinded him and redoubled the pain. His spine would flex to the point of breaking, his body struggling against those holding him, then he would freeze again, the fire being forced out and the calm spreading once more only for the process to be repeated. Eventually the fingers stopped stabbing into his flesh.
"Give me a knife!"
"What?! What do you need a knife for?"
"I need to cut him open!"
"We want you to heal him not kill him!"
"The wound is healed only physically, I need to get the spirit out!"
"What spirit? What are you talking about!?"
"Shut up! Just give her…ohh, never mind. Just use this!"
"If you touch him…"
"Azula, shut up! Let her do her job!" Zuko felt someone cutting down into his gut, the blade sinking in deep. He struggled against the pain, but he the hands kept him down, so he just focused on screaming into his gag. Fingers were jabbed inside his flesh, the freezing sensation redoubling and spreading through his entire body. The fire tried to fight back, burning into his stomach, but the cold finally quelled it. The fingers jumped out of his stomach, and there was a loud clap like thunder, then silence. The fingers came back, this time lighter, with the calming sensation coming back to stay. He began to breathe slower, his body relaxing as the muscle and skin healed. The hands eased off of him, letting him go.
"I think that did it."
"I say. That looked like an evil spirit leaving the room." Zuko coughed, turning on his side as his gut stopped flashing in fiery fits of agony. He felt a hand running along his face.
"Zuko? Zuko? Are you alright?" He looked up, a face developing in his blurry sight. Raven black hair sat tossed, a concerned look sitting on her face.
"Azula?" He said weakly. The face smiled.
"No, it's me, Mai." She said softly. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, the sensation only a fuzzy blur. Zuko blinked, his vision clearing up. Mai's face formed before him, a soft smile sitting on her lips, concern showing in her eyes.
"Are you alright?" She asked. Zuko tried to force himself to a sitting position, but his hand slipped in something sticky and warm. Mai caught him before he slammed back down on the table.
"Whoa, careful there." She said, helping him up. Zuko looked beneath him, noticing the wood and white bandages, all coated in blood. His blood. He shook his head.
"Wha…What happened?" He asked, his memory blurry.
"Joshua. You and he were fighting, he stabbed you." Zuko placed his hand on his stomach, noticing that his shirt was gone. A red mark sat on his stomach, and another one on his chest, but that was from Azula's lightning. Other than those marks, however, there was nothing. He looked up to see Katara staring at him, a red mark on her cheek.
"How are you feeling?" She asked. Sweat was pouring down her face, her hair a mess, tangled and tossed about. She looked exhausted.
"I feel fine. A bit weak." He said as he stood up, leaning against Mai. "But other than that, not too bad." Katara smiled.
"You don't feel anything strange? Anything out of place? Like something extra inside?" She asked. Zuko thought that it was a strange inquiry, but he took a moment to think through it. His body was weak and weary, with a slight throb in his stomach, but other than that he felt fine. Nothing was out of place.
"No, everything feels fine." He said. Jack came up to him, lifting one of his eyelids up and looking into his eye.
"He looks good." He said. Katara came over and gruffly pushed him to the side.
"What would you know about spirits? Let me look." She huffed, taking a moment to look into both of Zuko's eyes. She proceeded to check his hands and also his heart, pressing her ear to his chest.
"Everything feels and sounds good." She said, stepping back.
"Thank you Katara. I'm assuming that I owe you my life." Said Zuko. She smiled at him, a soft radiant smile, like that of a caring mother.
"Nothing I wouldn't do for a friend." She replied. The sound of someone clearing their throat grabbed his attention. He turned to look to his left, realizing that Azula was in the room.
"You know, Zuzu, if it weren't for me Joshua probably would have gutted you on the spot. I also saved your life." She said. Zuko dipped his head.
"Thanks Azula, I guess I owe you my life as well." Azula huffed.
"Not like I didn't have it before." She said, slowly moving about the room. Jack grabbed her by the arm and forced her down to a chair.
"Sit." He growled. Azula shook his grasp off.
"Easy there big boy, I'm not trying anything." She said. "Do you really think that I want to be on my own with that lunatic out and about? I'm good, but I know there's safety in numbers." She said, crossing her arms and legs. Zuko blinked, his mind still clearing.
"Wait, he's still out there?" He asked. Jack scratched the back of his head.
"Ya, about that." Zuko took a step on his own, standing by his own strength. Mai kept a half a step or so behind him.
"You mean to tell me that both of you had him, and he managed to get away?" He said, his anger slowly rising and clearing his head.
"It's not that simple Zuzu." Started Azula. Zuko brought his fist crashing down on the table, startling everyone.
"How could you let him get away!?" He demanded. Everyone seemed taken aback for a moment, save for Azula, who merely blew a wisp of hair away from her face.
"We had him, in the garden, but then there was this flash of light and a thick black cloud, and he was gone." She said. Zuko shook his head.
"You were distracted by a flash of light? Really? What are you, amateurs?!" Zuko felt the anger burning inside his chest like a fire; he knew he needed to calm down, but this brush with death had him somewhat irked. He could afford to let out a bit of steam on his friends, and sister.
"You know that it's not that simple Zuzu. Joshua knows this palace as well as we do. I doubt you knew about the old escape tunnels." She said. Zuko shook his head, turning his hot gaze on his sister.
"Azula, I am sick and tired of you calling me that! Knock it off!" He yelled. Azula shut her mouth.
"Besides." Said Zuko, continuing on. "I thought that you were better than him? Why didn't you take him out when you had the chance?" He said. Azula sat there, shrugging her shoulders with cold indifference.
"What can I say? I hit him straight on with a bolt of lightning and shot him through the wall and into the garden. That should have been enough, but he just got back up and kept fighting, acting as if nothing had happened." Zuko remembered the way that Joshua had shaken off his fire attack. It was strange.
"Still, I thought that you were better than all of us Azula? And not only do you manage to be taken captive, but you also can't finish him off when you get the chance." He said. Azula's brow furled.
"Don't blame this on me Zuko. I'm not the one who's supposed to be ruling right now. I was in prison, in the psycho ward, remember?" Zuko felt any semblance of calm slip from his grasp.
"Don't blame you?" He said, taking a step closer. "Don't blame you? Are you kidding me!?" Azula sat perfectly still, staring at him with her cold, golden eyes.
"You were the one who told father about their abilities. You were the one who tortured and tormented him for years. And you're the reason he's back in the first place! If it wasn't for you Suki would still be alive!" Azula stared at him without a flicker of emotion.
"Well, it is a shame that your little friend is dead." She said, her voice dripping with false sympathy. "I was rather found of her; we always had interesting sessions in our prison visits. I was actually hoping that she would come pay me a visit sometime and maybe reverse the roles." Zuko felt a vein throbbing in his forehead, pulsing as his anger spiraled out of control. He wanted to smack her, to knock some sympathy into her, but he knew that it would do nothing. He took a step back. What would mother do?
He turned around, taking in a deep breath and pinching his nose.
"Besides." Said Azula, still speaking. "I already tried killing him before. It's not my fault he didn't stay dead." Zuko turned back to Azula. So he hadn't been imaging it. The others also stared at her, confused looks on their faces.
"What do you mean? How can someone not stay dead?" Asked Katara. Azula laughed.
"You should know better than most, snow peasant, it was you that brought the avatar back from the dead, wasn't it?" A glower came over Katara's face. Zuko shook his head. Leave it to Azula to alienate herself immediately from the people who had been so dedicated in their search to rescue her.
"Azula, just tell them what happened." He said.
"As you wish, Fire-Lord Zuko." She said, with a mock bow. Jack whistled.
"Hey, Jemnile, if you really were speaking the truth back in your cell, now would be a good time to start showing it." Azula stared at him for a few moments, ambivalence sparking across her face. Zuko looked over at Jack, confused at the exchange, but Azula went ahead and spoke, leaving out her condescending attitude as much as she could, which, albeit, was not much.
"Back during the war father came to the decision that we would never break Joshua. He was too fierce, too bent on revenge for what had happened to him, he would never come to our side, so he ordered his execution. Zuko and I carried it out. It was about a week before your banishment, wasn't it brother dear?" She asked, a slight smile on her face. Zuko stared at her, trying to hide his disdain.
"Well, anyways." Said Azula, continuing on with her story. "We decided that we would be fair with him and give him a quick death, a hanging." A disgusted look came over Katara's face.
"You sicken me. First you turn on him then you execute him; no wonder you have no friends." Azula eyes sparked for a moment, but she brushed off the comment, moving on.
"When the day came we carried out the execution. It went just as it was supposed to, his neck snapped and he died instantly. Zuko, being the squeamish fellow he is, took off right afterwards. I, however, stayed, taking care of the body. I had a nice funeral arrangement made and everything, but something happened." Azula's eyes fogged over as she recalled the memory.
"I was sitting there looking at his body, paying one last farewell, when suddenly his neck began to pop. It snapped back into place and he drew in a breath. His eyes flew open, completely black, then they shut again. He was passed out, but alive. After I had him taken back to his cell I ordered the prison medical examiner to look at him. He said that he was in perfect health. Mind you this was the same examiner who only a few minutes ago had said that he was dead with a cleanly snapped neck." Katara snorted.
"That's preposterous. Do you really expect us to believe that he magically came back from the dead? I bet that you just kept him alive so you could torment him more." Zuko shook his head.
"No, I was there. He was really dead." He said. Katara still did not look convinced, but she did not say anything more.
"Well, why didn't he stay dead?" Asked Ty-Lee, standing off to the side. Zuko had not noticed her.
"Isn't that the big question right now?" Replied Azula. Everyone sat around, scratching their heads and thinking.
"Maybe he has healing abilities." Said Ty-Lee. Zuko thought about it for a moment. It was not too farfetched of an idea.
"Or maybe he got bored being dead and decided to start living again." Replied Katara. Ty-Lee frowned, angered by Katara's response.
"You have healing abilities, why is it so hard to believe that others can have them too?" Asked Ty-Lee. Katara snorted.
"I'm a waterbender, we're born with that sort of ability because water is calming and nourishing. I doubt that fire can say as much." Ty-Lee huffed.
"Well, I think it's still a possibility. It's not like you're some unique little gem. It's not such a big leap to assume someone else has healing abilities better than yours." Katara seemed caught off guard by Ty-Lee's retort, not expecting the flippant circus performer to come up with anything.
"Are you insulting me?" Said Katara.
"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Replied Ty-Lee, taking a step towards Katara. The two looked ready to exchange blows. Zuko almost rolled his eyes. This was exactly what they needed at the moment, a fight between themselves.
"Hey, both of you, back off!" Said Zuko, coming between them. "Joshua is already tearing us apart, we don't need to help him." The two looked away, still angry, but heeding his demands. Zuko turned back to Azula, an amused grin sitting on her bruised face.
"Did Joshua have any healing abilities?" He asked. Azula shook her head.
"As brilliant as an idea as it was Ty-Lee, I'm afraid that dear Joshua had a tendency to break things, not fix them. I've never witnessed any healing abilities." She said. Zuko nodded his head.
"Jack?" Jack shook his head.
"No, Josh didn't have any healing abilities. Believe me, there were plenty of occasions that he would have loved to have it, but he never used it if he did."
"Then what do you think it was?' Asked Zuko. Jack stroked his chin, tiny bits of stubble gritting against his fingers.
"Joshua always did have a fascination with the spirit world. As much as I asked him not to dabble in it he still did, and there was more than one occasion when he actually managed to get in contact with one. I would say that he's made a deal with an angered spirit. Someone that is willing to use him to get back at humanity for some odd reason or the other." Katara snorted.
"Please. What makes you think it was an evil spirit?" She said.
"The black eyes." Said Zuko.
"Him shaking off a lightning bolt and flying through a wall." Said Azula.
"And the evil spirit fragment that you just pulled out of Zuko." Added Jack. Katara crossed her arms.
"Well, there could be other reasons for that." She mumbled, annoyed that the others had backed Jack. Zuko shook his head.
"No, I think Jack's right. When he died he must have run into some demented spirit that he made a deal with. Knowing Joshua he would sell anything to get what he wants." Said Mai, chiming in on the conversation.
"And what is it that he wants?" Asked Katara. Zuko looked at his childhood companions, those that had grown up with Joshua.
"To kill us all." Said Mai.
"And to do it as slowly and as painfully as possible." Said Jack.
"He wants to break every single one of us. To strip us of everything that we care about and then grind it into the dust. He wants us to feel what I put him through, and he doesn't care what it takes." Said Azula, looking at her nails as she spoke.
"So then, we're all targets?" Said Katara. Zuko nodded his head.
"I'm afraid so. None of us are safe. You're associated with us, you've been with us, we care about you. You can bet that he's going to go after you, all of you, and kill you. He'll burn us all, and he'll laugh while he's doing it."
"Well at least he'll have a good time destroying everything we built." Said Jack. Azula smiled. Katara just shook her head disgusted.
"I can't believe you. You disgust me." She said, storming out of the room.
"Mai, can you stay with her?" Asked Zuko, he did not want anyone alone at the moment. Mai nodded her head, pressing her lips against his cheek for a moment before she left. Zuko placed a hand to the spot she touched, relishing the warm, soft feeling of her lips against his skin. Azula laughed.
"Look at you Zuzu. You've become so mushy lately. No wonder Joshua managed to beat you." She said. Zuko stared at her.
"You know, you could be a bit more appreciative considering the fact that we saved you from him." Azula shrugged her shoulders.
"I would have escaped by myself eventually." She said. Zuko bit his tongue, anger and pain flaring up inside of him. He was mad at her for being so unappreciative for what he had done and being indifferent towards his situation, but he was also hurt that she displayed no feelings of affection or gratitude towards him, her older brother, who had just hunted down and saved her from a crazy maniac. Not to mention he took a knife to the stomach and a fragment of an evil spirit in the process, all for her. Yet she still seemed to not care at all. He shook his head.
"Lock her up." He said, turning and walking away. Azula sat up in surprise.
"What?!" She exclaimed. Jack did not bother questioning Zuko, encasing her hands in diamond cuffs.
"You can't put me back in jail. He'll come back! He'll get to me!" Zuko stood still. Apparently this was not how she had calculated his reaction.
"You'll just escape by yourself, won't you?" He said over his shoulder. Azula struggled against Jack's grip on her shoulder.
"Come on Zuzu, you know I just like to give you a hard time. You don't want to do this." She said. Zuko turned on her, fire leaping from his eyes.
"I don't want to do this? I don't want to do this!? Azula, you leave me no choice! I do my best for you. I'm trying to be the loving and caring older brother but you give me nothing! Aang was more appreciative when I saved him from Zhao just to try and capture him again than you've ever been to me for anything!" He yelled. Azula seemed deflated by his outburst.
"That's not true. I've been appreciative before." She said, her voice low.
"Name one!" He yelled. She stood there, thinking for a moment.
"When you came back to us at Ba Sing Sey, I gave you the credit for killing the avatar, it got you a lot of acclamation at home."
"You did that because you knew he was still alive and wanted me to take the blame." Azula thought some more.
"When you went to see Uncle Iroh in prison, I told you not to go see him because someone might get the wrong idea and think you were plotting with him."
"You didn't want me to go because you made the decision to take me back in and if it seemed like I was conspiring with Uncle Iroh then it would demonstrate a breach in judgment on your part." Azula started to look desperate, racking her brains for something, anything that she had not used as a ploy to get at something or to protect herself.
"I shot Uncle Iroh with lightning instead of you."
"He was distracted at the moment."
"I let up on my pursuit of you for a while"
"You were hunting the avatar instead of me knowing that I would go after the avatar anyways."
"I attacked Joshua instead of letting him kill you."
"You were seeking personal vengeance."
"I let you play in our game!"
"No, you made me play in your game! And then you used the opportunity to embarrass me in front of the girl you knew I liked!" Azula threw up her hands, or at least, she tried, as they were encased in a block of diamond.
"Fine, you win! You've proven that I'm the worst sister in history, happy now?!"
"No I'm not happy now." Said Zuko. "I don't want to win. This isn't a competition to try and be the better sibling. We both screwed up big time. I just want to start having a real relationship with you. One where we aren't at each other's throats every five seconds. One where we don't plot behind each other's back and try to burn each other. I love you Azula, as hard as that is for me and as hard as it is for you to comprehend it's true. I just want you to love me back." He said.
Azula stood there, silent, listening to his words. When he was finished she thought for a moment, trying to figure out a proper response. He watched her closely, trying to discern what was going on behind those menacing golden eyes. He wanted her desperately to affirm his feelings, to tell him that she felt the same way, even in the slightest form. All he wanted was for her to love him and he her, was that so much to ask?
For a moment Azula seemed distracted, staring off behind him with a strange look in her eyes. They flashed momentarily, her lips forming something he did not catch.
"Azula?" He said. She snapped back to him, her eyes once more focused and controlled. Finally, after a long pause, she spoke.
"Zuko, we are not the normal pair of siblings, and we will never be that." She started. Zuko's heart leapt up into his throat. Was she going to tell him that they could at least be something? Anything, no matter how perverted or distorted? Azula kept speaking.
"Your emotions are meaningless to me, and I do not reciprocate your feelings. They are useless and a sign of weakness. Do to me what you will, but I will never love you. You are just like anyone else, just a pawn to be used and to be taken advantaged of if possible." She said, her voice flat. Zuko let out a breath he did not know he was holding. He felt like a knife was cutting through his heart with her every word. What she said hurt him worse than any blade that Joshua could slice him with, or any spirit that could seep into his veins. Her words were utterly devastating. Jack and Ty-Lee stood awkwardly to the side, obviously unsure as to what they should do.
"If that's how you feel." Said Zuko, controlling his emotions.
"That's just it, brother." She said, spitting the last word out with disdain. "I don't." Zuko nodded his head, an empty feeling spreading through his body.
"Very well." He said. The others stood there, staring at him, waiting for him to say something, anything. A plan, an idea, an order to follow, but he did nothing. Turning back around, he began to walk out of the room, leaving them all behind.
"Zuko, Zuko! What are you going to do with me?" Called Azula. Zuko paused in the doorway, his heart turning to stone.
"We're all just pawns, aren't we? I think it's about time that I used you." He said. "Chain her in the garden, hands, feet, and mouth, all bound and gagged. I don't want her able to move, and I don't want her able to speak. We're going to set out some bait for our prey."
He could hear the sound of her thrashing about as Jack moved her out. She called out at him, calling his name and cursing him, but he did not turn. He walked away, leaving the others behind in the room, making his way out into the hall and on to his throne room.
Shoving the massive doors to, he entered, looking about the dark room. He light the flame moat, staring into the inferno and imaging his body being consumed. Taking in a deep breath he looked around him, around at the banners and stone pillars. He looked about him at all the grandeur, all the opulence of his office, all the power it provided, and he felt completely hallow, utterly useless. And then, he began to sob.