Chp 5

Sokka charged passed the gates with Haku and Toph behind him. The fire nation guards never saw the intruders as they switched shifts. So far, they had gone undetected as far as they knew. The three infiltrators prayed for their friends, who had taken a different passageway. An explicate exclamation from Toph foretold of the trouble that waited ahead to Sokka. A dozen Fire Nation guards barricaded their entrance to the city. The four fire benders, part of the guard, stepped forward and shot at the three with scorching blasts of fire. A smoke bomb landed on one of the men with a solid thunk from above. Teo flew past the non-benders back to Appa, who was hidden in a cloud, which had turned to an ashy color. Haku and Toph bended the other three fire bending guards into the ground up to their necks.

Sokka didn't waste anymore time in pulling out some explosives from his pack. He swiftly placed them in strategic places and lit the fuse as his three comrades took down the guards around him. He ran toward Toph and Haku as the two constructed a solid barrier. A loud boom resounded through the gates, which alerted anyone of their location. Sokka smirked at the successful loud entrance and ran with the other two past the gates towards the heart of the city. Haku and Toph literally swept everyone scuttling toward them to attack away with walls of rocks. Sokka was slightly worried about his comrades' limits as he vaguely realized that there were beads of sweat shimmering on their foreheads already.

Azula's eyes glittered dangerously in the dark as she evaluated the damage at the gateway. Mai stoically observed the princess. Azula finally stood up and swept off invisible dirt. "The Avatar did not come through here," Azula stated with a hint of disgust. Mai raised her eyebrow at the Princess's astute observation.

"No?"

"The Avatar must have taken a different path. The most obvious one Zuko would lead them to is the side entrance, I believe."

Mai's face faltered slightly as she turned toward the city. Azula was so sharp at these things. She sighed softly to herself. Zuko was near.

"You worry about your next confrontation, Mai," Azula said plainly.

"No, Azula, Prince Zuko wearies me with all of this," Mai answered.

Azula considered Mai's answer. She smiled at Mai suddenly. "Go get Ty Lee, Mai. Meet me at the palace's side entrance."

Mai nodded and left the princess to carry out her orders. Azula didn't spare Mai a second glance as she headed for the prison barracks. She allowed herself to laugh at the pure exhilaration from the small adrenaline rush.

Zuko didn't bother lighting up the path he walked. Aang and Katara silently grumbled to themselves in the dark about the slime from the pipes they traveled. Zuko paused at the near invisible ladder. Katara bumped into him and bounced off of him into Aang. Aang caught her and helped her regain her balance.

"There's a ladder here, that I want you two to climb. I'll help you find the first set of rungs. Move carefully and try not to slip. The bars are slick."

Katara and Aang consented to Zuko's guidance. He set Aang's hands on the first set of rungs, then Katara's hands. Katara followed Aang up. Zuko sighed at their slow paced climb and climbed up other side of the same rungs. He skillfully made his way past the two without stepping on any appendages and removed the sewer lid. Katara silently thanked the spirits for the dimmed light for protecting her from the source of the disgusting smell. Aang clambered up the last few rungs and reached down to help Katara up. The two shared a small smile and followed Zuko.

Sokka fought soldiers at the center of what seemed like a plaza. Teo was waiting at his own post in case they had to retreat after he ran out of arsenal. Toph fought at the far right and Haku fought to his far left. The two were holding off the soldiers on their own, and he no longer doubted their capabilities. Darkness encompassed the palace as night and soot blanketed the battle ground. Flickering flashes of fire were the only light source. More soldiers seemed to materialize as soon as one fell. His arms were starting to become slightly weary.

Toph twirled past the heat she felt coming dangerously close to her center. Her targets moved to the left, and she ended him quickly with a fatal earth spike. Unfortunately, her focus didn't catch an important detail. She felt a spear pierce her right forearm. Her useless eyes narrowed at the place she knew it was thrown and bended a small avalanche with her left hand. She felt result of the spearman's fall, and was slightly pleased that he survived. She sighed, and blocked oncoming blasts by throwing a barrage of rocks at the heat. Her right hand weakly bended a tourniquet from the ground for the injury further up the same arm.

Haku was holding his own in his fights. He had taken down all of the soldiers that crossed him without killing them. In his mind, they were people who were only serving their nation. Yet, he made sure that they wouldn't be able to fight for a few months. He would only kill when he thought it was necessary. He backed away from an oncoming fire ball into the waiting arms of an enemy.

"What is this place?" Aang asked as he studied the simple decorations on the walls of the lengthy hall.

"This is the side entrance to the palace," Zuko answered.

Katara was wary at what waited for them at the end. "Zuko, what if someone knows we'd be here?"

"I've already taken care of it."

Katara and Aang shared a look of confusion, but Zuko didn't elaborate.

"Zu-"

Katara stopped as a hand squeezed her own reassuringly. She looked at Aang, who smiled softly and shook his head. Katara nodded softly. She had to trust in her teammates.

"Oh, no," Aang said. His voice portrayed his dismay at the three figures at the end of the hall.

"Aang, run past them when I tell you, and we'll keep them busy," Zuko said, not deterring from his path.

Iroh and his men moved swiftly through the city. They took out any Di Lee that got in their way with efficiency. The small group wasn't bothered with these trained men, since they had spent their free time studying the Di Lee's legendary training. In addition, the team he was with was highly trained in their fields. He heaved a sigh after he pushed the agent to the ground and knocked him unconscious. His joints groaned from exertion and age, but he could still fight. He glanced at his partner who pierced another agent with his blade.

The two nodded and continued with two more men behind them as they cut through to the heart of the capitol. As they neared the edge, Iroh briefly wondered about what kind of trouble his nephew had been in for the past few days.

Aang took off past the three girls as quickly as he could. Ty Lee failed to grab him, and landed on her butt from the force of the wind aiding Aang's speed. Azula smirked at Ty Lee's pitiful attempt. "Let him go, Ty Lee. I've been curious as to what Father will do to him," she said coolly.

Five soldiers dressed in the royal guard came into view. They stopped a step or two behind Ty Lee and Mai.

"Speaking of fathers," Azula continued, not bothered by the soldiers' appearance, "I seem to recall that the peasant left her own father here in my very capable hands. It'll please you to kno-"

"Shut up about my dad, bitch," Katara said as calmly as she could, which ended up more fiercely than she intended.

Meanwhile, Zuko stared intensely at Mai. He wanted her to understand his choice of following the Avatar. His mind was in turmoil as he started to doubt his own resolution. Would he have to fight his beloved? He didn't want to hurt her. He had already done that when he left for the Avatar, and that was hard enough as it was. Had she read that pitiful letter he wrote? His eyes conveyed his underlying weakness. He wouldn't fight her, at least, not with the way things were with them now.

"Mai?" he almost whispered.

Her beautiful eyes hardened with resolve as she took in his silent plea.

Azula's cruel laughter rang throughout the hallway as she heard him. As usual, her sharp eyes caught everything. Her mind reeled with excitement. She sensed a good fight in the near future. A little push or shove in the right direction and everything would fall into place, just as she planned. Then, she could take care of the filthy peasant girl. "Mai, dear, do you have a quarrel with little Zuzu? Why don't I let you take care of that, hm?"

Mai gave a small decisive nod to Azula. Her eyes never met the princess's as she charged toward Zuko at full speed pulling out her dagger.

Azula turned back to Zuko as Mai nodded. "Well," her tone was light and condescending at the same time, "Zu-ack!"

Pain. Her sides were in pain. A knife was jammed into her kidney. A thin arm wrapped around Azula's middle and drove another knife into deeply into her chest. She felt hot liquid rush into her lungs. The arm removed itself, and another knife slashed her abdomen. Azula sucked in a useless gasp of air. Involuntary tears pooled in her eyes, but she did not let them shed. Mai let go of her victim and stepped in front of the dieing princess. Blood. It was crimson blood Azula was coughing up in vain attempt to dislodge the blood in her lungs. She now kneeled in her own blood. Her body slouched over, weakened. This was what the next Fire Lord came to, Azula thought bitterly. She looked up into her killer's face. Mai's face hovered over Azula's. Azula could faintly hear the scream of Ty Lee. Mai's eyes were empty.

For the first time in her life, Azula felt absolutely powerless. Weakness seeped into her muscles from lack of blood. There was so much blood. She felt like she would drown in her own blood. She was going to die, right? In her mind she thought of the little Mai who had done this. Little Mai who blushed when she saw Zuko. Little Mai who moved to Omashu to get out of the boring routine. Azula gave one last weak laugh, which came out as a gurgle. Mai, that little bitch.

Ty Lee screamed, and screamed her feelings out. Her friend was dieing because of another friend. Ty Lee was no stranger to death, but the sight she bore was too much. The blood that pooled-no she couldn't handle it. She barely noticed the group of soldiers that Azula brought ran forward to disable Mai. Ty Lee sank to her knees as shock overtook her. Ty Lee's vision blurred as she fainted. The last thing she saw was Azula bathed in blood.

Zuko leapt to his love's aid immediately. His fire scorched through the soldiers' uniforms as he went on the offense and started to push his enemies back. Mai threw her blades at her targets and effectively took them down. Zuko shot a fire ball at a soldier and watched as a blade intertwined with the fire as Mai simultaneously set off another blade. The group of soldiers that had stood against them was down in three minutes. Mai brushed past Zuko as she marched toward Katara, who was dumbstruck. Zuko couldn't help but glance at his sister's brutally murdered body.

"Come with me. I need you to heal someone who can help."

Aang ran easily to preserve his energy for the throne room he had seen from the last invasion. He blew open the huge set of doors with a gust of wind as he came upon them. He paused in the middle of the room and looked at the silhouette cast by the flames obscuring the Fire Lord from view. He placed his bow staff forth as a sign of hostility toward the tyrant. No guard stood in his way for they were unconscious due to the forceful blow that opened the doors.

"Avatar, I've been waiting for your return," came a cool voice.

"Spare the pleasantries, Fire Lord. I'll give you one last chance to send an armistice to your troops across the world. If you do not comply, I will take judgment upon you with the spirits," Aang said with authority.

The Fire Lord stepped down his throne. He took another step toward Aang, and sighed as he sized the boy up.

"And to think, my own flesh and blood had trouble taking you captive. You'll soon see that they inherited those bad genes from their mother," he said with disgust as he sank into a deep fighting stance.

Sokka pushed back another soldier. He blinked in confusion as many of the soldiers seemed to draw back slowly. He frowned suspiciously. Toph went stock still. Her face expressed unimaginable horror as she realized what was about to happen.

"Intruders! Surrender peacefully and submit yourselves to the law!" a general shouted as he stepped forward from the mass of soldiers.

Sokka warily looked at the general, who waved his hand at someone as if signaling for something. His eyes widened with shock as he looked at Suki in her Kyoshi warrior outfit. Her lively eyes now dull stared blankly entranced as she held her steel fan against Haku's neck. Her dress hung loosely on her showing signs of malnutrition, and her deathly pale cheeks glowed eerily in the moonlight. He was certainly unsure as to what to do about his current situation. His mind had skipped the fact that the Di Lee were with the Fire Nation. He had seen it with his own eyes that they had come with Azula. He had forgotten about their powerful hypnotism.

The general commanding their surrender was suddenly overtaken by a man from behind. Iroh knocked the man unconscious, and Piandao took out the soldiers along with another man. Suki face twisted with animalistic anger as Toph bended a blunted spike from the ground to her wrist to make her drop her fan. Haku leaped away from his captor quickly and sprinted back to Sokka and Toph.

"Hurry up, girl," Mai urged as she ran through the barracks. Katara let out a "hmp" at being addressed as 'girl', but ran faster and soon caught up to Mai at the end of the barracks. Mai wasted no time in thrusting the door open and entering. Katara soon followed the young woman into the dark place that reeked of sewage and something else. Zuko stayed outside to guard them.

Katara gasped at the half healed lacerations and burns that decorated the small girl on the ground. Katara could tell from the moonlight entering the room that the girl was very malnourished. A tear slid down her cheek as she kneeled next to the girl. Mai stepped forward and caught the girl's hand that was trying to punch Katara. With her brow furrowed in concentration, Katara started to heal the girl. She let water incase her fingers in cool liquid. The girl's skin started to close up as Katara let her chi flow through the water. She started with major burns and cuts, and was even able to move on to some minor cuts. A soft whimper escaped the diminutive girl, and Katara was surprised on how well she was healing. Mai watched Katara work with some interest in her eyes. Then, unable to hold back any longer, Mai asked, "How are you able to do the same thing she does?"

"Oh, well that means she's a waterbender like me. So, how did she get like this?" Katara managed to ask.

"Azula."

"Why?"

"Boredom."

Katara had to refocus after Mai's answer. She wanted to bring Azula back to life so she could have a chance to kill her again. The girl's back was a mess, but was fixed in two minutes. Katara thanked the full moon.

"How did she get her hands on the girl?"

"Di Lee needed a place to keep this prisoner, so they gave her to Azula."

Katara gave the small girl a bit of water to drink.

"Are you finished?"

Katara nodded after a while and almost protested as Mai pulled the girl up too quickly. Mai hoisted the limp body onto her back. Katara bit back her dissent and followed Mai out the door. Zuko didn't look twice at the girl and fell a step behind Mai. Katara gasped as she remembered Aang and started to jog ahead. "I have to find Aang!" she called out.

Aang deftly dodged the bolt of lightning. He landed in a crouch and pushed the stone flooring with all of his momentum. The floor trembled and then cracked, but the Fire Lord did not become off-balance. Aang went on the offense easily and quickly. He knew that firebending's weak point was defense. He threw multiple bits of stone at the man, and extinguished the fire that came his way with gusts of wind. He decided to stir up dust to conceal himself. Mimicking Toph's movement from the past, he brought dust up with his hands and leaped for the ceiling. During his jump, he slipped off his shoes and let them fall to where he had been standing.

He started to fall away from the Fire Lord, and he heard multiple blasts lash out at the spot he had been at. He softly landed close to the doors, but his position was only a secret for the time.

Sokka blocked Suki's attacks, and pushed her off of himself. He had tried reasoning with her, but nothing seemed to work. He had gone as far as going through all of his memories with her. Nothing he said brought forth the Suki he knew. The others around him were doing well in their fights, though. Suki carelessly lunged at him again, yet she seemed to still have retained her fighting abilities. He batted her arm away firmly, yet as to not hurt her. Toph saw out of the corner of her eye Suki's foot kicking Sokka's side and knocking him off balance. Toph acted quickly and threw a small boulder at the Kyoshi warrior's leg to buy Sokka time to recover. Sokka's eyes widened as he heard a sharp crack after the boulder impacted Suki's leg.

"Suki! Stop fighting! You're hurt," Sokka pleaded.

Suki's eyes took on a new glaze of pain and unawareness to her surroundings. She stumbled toward Sokka and tried to attack him again. He blocked her and grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her roughly. He called her name again when a pair of hands with an eerie blue light covered her eyes. He blinked and looked behind Suki's limp body to see a familiar enemy.

"Get away from her!" he shouted angrily. He then noticed the diminutive girl on the fire nation girl's back. Then, he realized the thin arms around Suki's eyes were the small girl's and not his enemy. He let himself calm down enough to block a punch to his kidney.

Mai slung an arm lazily over the Kyoshi warrior's shoulder, and she released a knife. Her steel knife plunged into Sokka's opponent's side and effectively killed him. She backed away from the collapsing earth nation girl's body as the healer finished with her.

"My name is Mai."

Sokka looked at her incredulously. How on earth did she kill a man and still look bored? He stuttered as he realized she had already introduced herself. "S-s-so-okka. My name is Sokka."

Mai graciously tipped her head forward and readjusted her passenger. The girl whimpered lightly when she was jostled. She picked up Suki in her arms and paused for a moment as if waiting for Sokka to finish taking care of another two soldiers. "I'll take her in and take care of her. I'll rejoin you shortly after these two are safely stowed away from the fighting."

Sokka looked slightly befuddled, and that was all Mai needed to take the two away without protest. "Hey!" he shouted, but it was too late, as the three females disappeared.

Aang grimaced as he felt Ozai shift in his stance. The man was incredibly agile and fierce, even with the dust obscuring his view. Aang couldn't take much more. He had been hit with a wide range of fire techniques, but had blocked most of them. He didn't have the fiery drive that the fire lord had. The only thing that kept him on his feet was the thought of death and failure. Aang knelt in the ground feeling hopeless. He couldn't leap at his full potential as his legs hurt terribly from the extensive burns from the fire lord.

A terrible thought entered his mind and he tried hard to dismiss it. Yet, the idea was so tempting. All he had to do was kill Ozai, right? He placed his hands on the ground to do so, when the fire lord collapsed. He frowned lightly, he knew that his own earth attacks hit Ozai's limbs and had greatly weakened him, but collapsing was too, well, melodramatic for him. Aang caught himself rolling his eyes as he thought of the author's sense, or rather, lack of humor. He cautiously stepped toward the fallen Lord, and examined his pulse. His body was tensed as he prepared to leap away, but he relaxed as he realized there was no pulse. He frowned. Was this defeating the fire lord?

To say Iroh was happy would be an understatement. His heart was bursting with joy as he saw his nephew take down a solider. His fears silenced, and he was at peace again. Zuko smirked at his uncle, and then the two exchanged a glance. Simultaneously, the two withdrew from the battle to the palace roofs.

Katara paused at blown down doors. She saw a figure hovering over a body. Her heart clenched and she made her way stealthily toward the person. She made out a blue arrow through the dust on the standing person's head. She took a deep breath of relief and hugged him from behind. Aang stumbled over the dead body as someone grabbed him tightly from behind. His head spun slightly as he tried to fight the person off.

"Aang!"

"Katara?"

Katara, seeing his overwhelmed expression, placed her hand lightly on his shoulder. He slumped into her arms. She knelt down to support him and let him cry.

Mai led the girl to her bed, where an unconscious Suki laid. The girl seemed to know what to do as she bended the water over the multiple wounds and slowly healed them. Mai let herself frown as she left the room.

Mai mentally ran through the plan again. Iroh and Zuko would have gone to the roof. All she had to do was get to the roof as well and announce the Fire Nation's loss and plan of action. She grinned at the thought of the new and dangerous position she had volunteered for. This was exciting.

Her mind whirled at the thought of the Avatar's battle. The consequences would be terrible if Fire Lord Ozai won. She winced lightly at her morbid thoughts and plunged down the corridor. Her mind refused to think about her friends as she sprinted up the stairs.

Zuko paced around the balcony for a second. According to Uncle, Mai should be here any second. His uncle leaned casually against the banister of the balcony. Zuko sighed as he pivoted around again. He saw his uncle smile out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, he was angry at his uncle. They meet again after being separated for so long. In addition, they were in the middle of a war! Did he think that was funny?

"I don't see what's so funny about this situation, Uncle," he viciously spat out.

"Don't be upset, Nephew. I was just thinking about young lo- Mai! Hello, dear, perhaps you could sit down and catch your breath."

A delicate eyebrow rose at his comment. Mai passed by Zuko without a glance and raised her voice to the mass of fighting below.

"Soldiers! Soldiers, stand down! Stand down!"

Sokka looked up at the noise to see the woman, Mai, speaking loudly. He spun around at a loud cry dangerously close from behind. A soldier clutched his foot in pain as he pulled out a small dagger. Sokka looked back at Mai who was still speaking as she readjusted her sleeve. He could make out some of her speech from where he stood.

"-was executed for her insolent betrayal. The Fire Lord has stepped down, and as of now, the Princess and Fire Lord have given me the authority over the Land until a decision can be made of the new king. As your temporary leader, I renounce the banishment of Prince Zuko. Until further notice, the Avatar will not be harmed in any way when in the Fire Nation. You all are now dismissed. Return your former positions."

Katara sat back from her work. Aang was brooding now and she didn't know how to approach the situation as it was. She stored the water back to its pouch and gently lifted Aang up by the arm.

"It's over Aang."

Edited, but probably subjected to change over time. After all, there is always room for improvement. Comment and let me see what you think. =)