~~Aang and Zuko walked for hours before finally arriving at the large pyramid-like temple. The structure was unlike anything either of them had ever seen. It was clearly ancient, and there was an enormous stone staircase built right into it. It also seemed that there was a long, red, velvet carpet that covered them. Zuko bent down and felt the carpet.
"This kind of velvet is made exclusively in the Fire Nation. Azula must have put this here. This must be the place."
"Yes," Aang replied.
"This is definitely it. It's hard to explain it, but I can't shake the feeling that I've been here before."
Neither of them spoke another word as they ascended up the stairs, and when they reached the top, they saw Azula sitting in a throne with her legs crossed and her fingers intertwined.
"I've been waiting for you two." she said, smiling at them.
"I'm not going to play your games Azula, where's Katara?" Aang shouted, stepping towards her.
"Oh she's perfectly fine, for now. If you want her to stay that way though, you're going to have to play one more game for me."
Aang was about to rush her, but Zuko held him back.
"If you attack her, she might hurt Katara. Let's just play her game for a little while and see where it gets us."
Aang finally agreed and stepped back.
"Good job Avatar. Now, I don't know if you've noticed this, but your new friend has taken quite a liking for the water tribe girl."
Zuko and Aang were both shocked, but for completely different reasons.
"You what?" Aang yelled.
"It's not what you think Aang! I mean, I like Katara, but not like that!" Zuko was trying to explain himself, but Azula stepped between the two and stopped the fighting.
"You can save that for later boys. I'm getting to that part soon. You see, the peasant will survive, but one of you two will not. I want you to fight to the death for her affection."
Zuko immediately fought against the idea.
"No way are we going to-"
"Deal." Aang interrupted.
Azula flashed her trademark grin and stepped back. Zuko was speechless, and Aang simply stood face to face with him, readying himself into a fighting pose. Azula snapped her fingers and the flat surface they were standing on starting rising off of the temple until it was floating several dozen feet above it. Aang stood at one end of the platform, Zuko at the other. Azula stood off to the side, ready to watch the fight unfold.
"And just so you two can see what you're fighting for..." Azula clapped her hands and another platform rose, this one holding Katara, bound to the small block by vines. She was unconscious.
"Alright Aang, we can figure a way out of this if we both work together." Zuko whispered.
He was suddenly caught off guard by a punch to the stomach. He stumbled back and struggled to stay on the platform as he teetered on the edge. Aang swept his leg under Zuko's, but the prince jumped out of harm's way, landing behind Aang.
"There's only one way to save Katara, and that's by beating you!" Aang cried as he rushed towards Zuko again.
~~Kailyn had just finished tending to Toph's wounds when she heard another knock at the door. She sighed and walked the short distance to the door and opened it, revealing a girl she had never seen before, holding a boy that looked vaguely familiar.
"Hi there, I know you don't know me miss, but my name is Suki. I'm friends with Sokka. He said you were good at healing people so I dropped by with my other friend here."
She nodded towards the boy she had in her arms. His clothes were tattered and dirty, and he had light scrapes and bruises on his body, but otherwise he looked fine. A makeshift turban had also been tied around the top of his head. Kailyn raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to come in. The door on the other side of the room suddenly opened and Sokka emerged.
"Suki what are you doing here? You're supposed to be waiting with-" That's when he noticed Aang cradled in her arms. "Why did you bring him here! The village is crawling with guards! You could have been caught and killed!"
"We were already ambushed once." Suki said, interrupting his rant.
Sokka suddenly had a serious look on his face. "When?"
"Not too long ago. We barely escaped them. Appa got burnt pretty bad. He's resting up with Momo at a stream nearby."
Kailyn held her arms out to Suki, who looked to Sokka. He nodded, and she handed Aang over to the doctor, who held him gently in her arms before bringing him into the other room. Once she left, Sokka noticed Toph, lying on the table. He walked over to her lifeless body and held her hand. It was cold. Her chest and stomach were covered in bandages, and they were already beginning to show bloodstains. Suki wrapped her arms around Sokka's waist and put her head on his shoulder. Kailyn came out of the other room, startling them and making Suki jump back.
"Ah don't worry kids, I was young once too."
The two blushed as Kailyn waked over to Toph's cot and felt her forehead.
"Oh dear." she said under her breath.
"Oh dear? That's a terrible thing to say! What's wrong with her? Is she okay?" Sokka voice got higher with every word.
"I'm sorry you two, but I don't think your friend's going to make it."
Suki gasped and put her hands over her mouth. Sokka clenched his fist and closed his eyes. Both were starting to tear up.
"No...she can't go like this..." Sokka muttered. "She can't just...die..."
Kailyn put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Her physical body may be empty, but her spirit is still alive and well. She's in a better place now Sokka."
~~ "Hello?" a small voice called out. "Is anyone out there? Can anybody tell me what's going on or where I am?"
"Hello little one." a female voice responded.
The little girl spun around and readied her earthbending stance.
"I'm not going to hurt you Toph. I'm here to help."
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I am the spirit of Avatar Kioshi. I am here to help you get your bearings here in the Spirit World."
Toph dropped her stance and her arms fell limp at her sides.
"I'm in...the Spirit World? But how?"
"Well Toph, to put it bluntly, you died."
"Well that figures." Toph fell over and sprawled onto the ground.
"You seem to be taking this rather well." the former avatar said.
"I figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. I was just kind of hoping it would be later."
"Well don't worry Toph, it is not yet your time."
Toph bolted up onto her feet with an ecstatic look on her face.
"You mean you can bring me back to life?"
"Not yet."
Toph's face fell again and she once again collapsed to the ground.
"Great. Thanks for getting my hopes up."
"I cannot bring you back until you first complete what you were sent to the Spirit World to do."
Toph said and got up again.
"Alright, what do you want me to o?"
"That's the spirit." Kioshi said with a smile.
~~Zuko was doing his best to avoid Aang's blows, but every so often, a punch or a kick would make contact, and he would be sent stumbling back. Azula yawned and stretched her arms behind her head.
"This is much more boring than I thought it would be. Start fighting back Zuzu, I'm losing interest."
Aang had been wondering this for a while now, why wasn't Zuko fighting back? While Zuko was distracted from his sister's words, Aang threw another punch that landed square in the prince's jaw. Zuko stumbled back again and he toppled over the edge, barely managing to snag the ledge with his right hand. Aang looked down at him from the platform with a look that was a mix of anger and determination. Azula stood next to him.
"Come on Avatar, finish him off! He's your mortal enemy! He's tried to kill you! Now he's trying to steal your girl from you! Do it! Kill him!"
Aang lifted his foot, prepared to make the final blow, when suddenly, he swung his foot back, striking Azula and sending her flying of the opposite end of the platform. She dragged her nails into the stone, slowing her fall and managing to grab the ledge, much like her brother had. Aang then offered his hand to Zuko, who took it, and was helped back onto the platform.
"Why did you save me Aang? I thought you hated me."
"I don't hate you Zuko. I used to...but not anymore. Besides, the monks taught me that every life is sacred, even the tiniest spiderfly caught in its own web."
As they smiled to each other, Azula was starting to pull herself up.
"How touching, you two made nice. Too bad that wasn't a part of the deal!"
"I'll take care of her Aang, you save Katara!"
Aang nodded and took off, jumping to Katara's platform. Meanwhile, Zuko had grabbed his sister's arm and was trying to force her off the edge.
"Oh no, you're not going to do me in again big brother!" she screeched.
Azula then dug her nails into Zuko's ankle, ripping through his pant leg and into his skin. He shouted in pain and released her, making her plummet from the platform. With her hand still tightly wrapped around his foot, Zuko went with her. He didn't even have time to grab the platform as he toppled off the edge.
~~ Aang was pulling on Katara's binds as hard as he could, but nothing he did seemed to work. He heard Zuko's screams of pain and turned to see him and his sister falling towards the ground. He knew there was nothing he could do, and if he tried to save them, he would be killed as well.
"Come on Zuko, think of something!" Aang muttered.
Zuko was plummeting faster and faster towards the ground, and he thought he was going to die. That's when Roku appeared to him once more.
"Zuko, I can give you some of my power for a short amount of time. You must use it wisely."
Zuko nodded, and he and Roku's eyes glowed simultaneously white. White hot jets of fire shot from Zuko's fists and he used them to rocket back up to the platform. Azula was in complete shock. So much shock in fact, that she didn't even see the ground coming until she hit it, making a large crater. Zuko's eyes returned to normal just as he turned to look at Aang.
"How did you do that?" Aang asked, flabbergasted.
"I-I don't know." Zuko replied. "I guess it was kind of like your Avatar state. I just channeled the power of an ancestor."
Zuko noticed Aang still struggling with Katara's binds and leaped the gap to help him. They finally succeeded in releasing her and Aang supported her as they jumped back to the other platform. Once they were on, the platform slowly returned to the temple it had been taken from.
"So do you have any idea where to go now?" Aang asked.
"I don't know. You're the Avatar. You're the one who should know his way around the Spirit World." Zuko replied.
Katara was starting to stir, and Aang helped her lean against a tree as she woke up.
"Ugh...what happened? The last thing I remember, Azula had me captured." she groaned.
"Yeah...Zuko and I took care of her for you." Aang said with a smile.
"I'm glad you guys set aside your differences to save me. I really appreciate it. I'm really proud of you Aang."
Katara kissed his cheek and Aang blushed, scratching his head.
"It was nothing Katara I just had to-" Aang stopped when he saw Katara kiss Zuko on the cheek as well. His face fell and he slumped his shoulders. "Never mind."
Suddenly, they heard an ear-piercing shriek that made them cover their ears. Azula climbed out of the crater and stepped towards them.
"You thought you could kill someone who's already dead? You'll have to try harder than that."
Azula summoned her knife and tossed it towards them, it splitting into three identical knives. The three of them dodged the knives and stood up.
"What's with the knives! I thought your girlfriend was the knife throwing one Zuko!" Katara cried.
"She's not really my-" Zuko started, but his sister cut him off.
"Let's just say that Mai taught me a few things before I died." Azula growled as she caught the knives on the return.
~~Toph followed Kioshi through the forest until she reached the side of an ancient looking temple. Not far from the steps she saw her friends fighting Azula.
"Is this what I have to do?" Toph asked. "Help them fight Azula?"
Kioshi said nothing, but nodded. Toph cracked her knuckles in response.
"Piece of cake." she said with a smirk. "I can take her down from here."
Toph got into a stance and stomped her foot, with the intention of making a pit for the princess to fall into, but nothing happened.
"I forgot to mention Toph, you can't bend in the Spirit World."
"Of course you can't." Toph groaned.
"But I can." Kioshi finished.
"And how does that help me?" Toph asked.
"We're going to take out Azula together Toph."
Toph and Kioshi's eyes glowed white, and Kioshi's spirit disappeared. When Toph spoke, she spoke as two people simultaneously.
"Let's do this."
~~Author's Note: Thanks for reading this far into my weird story people. If you haven't read this far and are for some reason starting with this chapter, than thanks for taking a look! I'm getting ready to wind down this story line, and I think this will be the last part, so no part III. So yeah, probably no more than half a dozen chapters left! Reviews and comments appreciated as always!