Disclaimer: I still don't own Avatar.
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I never should have let him go, Azula thought bitterly. I should have killed him when I had the chance. Oh why did he have to tell me he loved me? Azula thought of her brother with distaste. She didn't know what she would do with Zuko when she found him. Killing him seemed unlikely after everything that had happened.
They were about a day into the fallen Earth Kingdom and Azula was growing weary. They rode on her faithful lizard-like steed with the prisoner sitting in front of her, bound in chains. They hadn't spoken since the ship had been docked; though the prisoner would occasionally raise a finger to point her in the right direction.
"What's your name, filth?" Azula asked to break the stony silence.
"Jet," he calmly replied, turning his head slightly to view her out of the corner of his eye. "I see you have your brother's charm," he then told her cockily. Azula cuffed his head with the flat of her hand. "No, seriously," he insisted. "Zuko always greeted me with the same cordiality."
Azula ignored him and asked, "Well, Jet, where are you from?"
Jet gestured to the woods around him. "This is my home."
"Do you have family?" she threw in casually, wanting to make note of it later.
"No," he replied quietly. "They were killed by Fire Nation."
"I see," said Azula, pretending like she didn't care one way or another. She secretly wondered if she had been involved in the slaughter of the peasant's family.
"I notice you're as cruel as everyone says," he told her, gritting his teeth.
She flushed in anger, surprising Jet. "You think so?" she asked him.
"You did tell the guards to cut off my head," he told her with a shrug, receiving a small smile. "And...you've aided the Fire Lord in causing the death of thousands. If that isn't cruel-," he shrugged once more, "I don't know what cruel is."
She was silent for a few moments, staring down in her lap. Jet sat up straighter, satisfied with his work. He was pleased that he could find a soft spot on a firebender, and a ruthless one at that.
"How much longer is this going to take?" she finally demanded as they stumbled across a peaceful, sunlit stream.
"Not much longer. Their camp is just through the trees," Jet whispered. Azula threw him a startled look.
"Tell me something, Jet. You're a friend of theirs, am I right?" Azula asked.
"Erm, somewhat," he said uneasily.
"Excellent," she whispered. Azula tightened her grip on Jet and placed two fingers to his skull, urging her lizard forward with a sharp jab to the ribs. Jet would make the perfect hostage.
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Zuko had seen her before anyone else had. She emerged from the cover of the trees, her face lit up with a wicked smile. Iroh and Aang lowered their hands from where they had been practicing a few basic firebending moves that dealt mainly in concentration and patience. Katara and Sokka dropped all of the sleeping bags they had been rolling up; they had been in the process of packing up camp for they were all getting antsy of staying in the same place for too long. Toph and the Earth King choked on the tea Iroh had freshly brewed as Azula rode out into the clearing.
Zuko jumped to his feet. "Azula!" he exclaimed, mostly in surprise. As realization dawned on him, fiery daggers burst from his fists and he gave her a vicious snarl. "What are you doing here?"
She arched her eyebrows. "Why, Zuzu, you're stupider than I thought! I am here to capture the Avatar, of course. I am to finish the job you ultimately failed."
Zuko lunged forward, ready to burn the infuriating smile off her face.
"If you want your friend to die, by all means step closer," Azula warned, jabbing her sharp fingernails into Jet's throat.
"I never said he was friend," Zuko said hotly. "Kill him, I don't care."
"Did you hear that, peasant?" Azula whispered into Jet's ear. She felt him shudder. "You were right to turn him in." Azula clearly savored the looks on everyone's faces.
"You ratted us out?" Katara demanded furiously. "I was right about you all along; thought I am surprised that you would sink so low as to help the Fire Nation."
Jet bowed his head, ashamed.
"Now hand over the Avatar before we have any more drama. I cannot let it get out that the Fire Nation will be extremely vulnerable on the Solar Eclipse. It seems that it is to take place in two weeks, am I right? Yes...I can tell by the looks on your faces." Azula grinned as she watched the gang turn to the Earth King. The man had grown terribly pale as he remembered what he had done. He had given away the Avatar's plan to the Kyoshi warrior imposters. He buried his face into his hands. Azula then turned to survey the Water Tribe siblings and the Avatar. "Honestly, I want to avoid a brawl. So if you would be so kind...?"
Sokka protectively stepped in front of Aang. "I don't think so."
"Come now," Azula persisted. "Let's talk; I don't want to fight."
Zuko eyed her suspiciously. "This isn't like you, Azula. You always want to fight."
"So do you," she told him with a pleasant smile.
He lowered his hands and shoved them into his pockets. He knew that if he even tried to fight, Azula would beat him just like she always did. She had grown much too powerful and Zuko would forevermore stand in her shadow. "Okay," he muttered. "I'll talk." He thought for a moment before he asked, "How is Mai?"
Azula hesitated. Did he truly care? "She's...fine," she finally told him. "Her back is healing with daily visits from her herbalist...But Zuzu, this isn't what I meant when I said we should talk."
"Don't call me that!"
"There must be something I can do to convince you all to hand him over," Azula went on, nudging her captive. "Possibly a prisoner exchange? I understand you are having second thoughts about dear Jet and his treachery; but I know you aren't going to leave him to die."
While Azula kept her gaze fixed on Zuko, Katara took action in bending hot water out of Iroh's tea. She used it to quickly lash at Azula's perfect face. The princess roared in rage as she was knocked face-first into the mud. Jet took the time to slide off the lizard's back and roll sideways into the bushes.
"You little bitch," Azula sneered, throwing Katara a filthy look. The Fire Nation princess pushed herself up off the ground and bushed the earth from her scarlet garb. She tucked a stray lock of hair back into place and raised her dainty hands to carve lightning from the open air. She smiled in satisfaction as it crackled and sizzled, blue flames licking her knuckles. She swung her arm out gracefully, her eyes dead set on the water peasant.
Zuko only had a second to think. He lunged forward and grabbed Azula's fingers. In, down, up, and out. His insides tingled with an alarming amount of energy as the lightning surged through his body. There was a deafening crack. Zuko crumpled to the ground as the tree above him burst into flames. He gasped; his heart racing. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Katara scrambled out of the way. He sighed in relief. He had done it. He had redirected lightning. And it had nearly killed him.
Azula had first thought he had died. She breathed again when she saw her brother rise to his feet. "I see you've learned a new trick," she taunted. "I must say that I'm impressed." She shot more lightning at him, knowing he could easily dodge it.
Toph and Aang were trying to snap Jet's shackles with sharp rocks as Iroh protected the defenseless Earth King who was cowering in the corner. Sokka was entangled in the sea of sleeping bags as he searched for his weapons. "Where are they?" he cried frantically, shoving aside Aang's dirty blankets. "Ow!" He lifted his finger to see that it was neatly sliced. Blood bubbled up through the crack. In other words, he had found his boomerang.
"Hey Snoozles!" Toph called from where she stood next to Jet after they had removed his cuffs. "Are you going to sleep, or are you going to fight?"
Sokka growled as he jumped to his feet, slinging out his boomerang. It whizzed pass Zuko's ear and the young firebender stumbled back in surprise. The boomerang barely nicked Azula's cheekbone; but it was enough. A thin red line trickled down to her chin. She wiped it away in fury.
"Hey, Sokka! Throw me your machete! I haven't anything to fight with," Jet called, leaning his head back to avoid a burst of flame. Sokka grunted and did as he was told; there was no time to argue.
"Aang! Help me!" Katara cried as she bended more water from Iroh's tea, forming icicles. She sent some of the daggers flying over to Aang. He swiftly caught them, careful to avoid the sharp edges. Together, they stood on each side of Azula. Zuko and Sokka faced her in the middle and Toph and Jet closed her in from behind. They all held up their weapons threateningly. Azula's eyes flashed back and forth as she looked for a way out. This couldn't be happening. The princess of the Fire Nation was cornered.
She wouldn't go down quietly. She roared as she lashed out against them all, lightning flaring out all around her. The clearing lit up like a candle, blue flames crackling high into the air. Zuko bellowed equally as loud as he charged forward and twisted his foot up. His shoe slammed into Azula's face. Her head snapped back and she was falling, falling, falling.
Everyone stared in amazement as she landed on the ground, blood gathering in the dirt. They were all certain her nose had broken. Zuko shrank back after he realized what he had done. His sister's eyes were closed. He glanced down at his shoe to find that it was stained with blood.
Someone clamped their hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jet, of all people. "Good work," the peasant congratulated him. Zuko brushed his hand away, not wanting to get his clothes even more dirty than they already were.
"Did I kill her?" Zuko asked uncertainly. He didn't think a blow to the head was enough to do it, but the crack her neck had made concerned him.
"No," said Toph, feeling Azula's heart beat by placing her hand on the ground. "She's only knocked out."
"That was amazing," Katara admitted to Zuko.
"It didn't feel amazing," he mumbled.
"Hey, what about me?" Sokka asked Katara, sticking his bottom lip out. He waved his boomerang in the air. "Look what I did to her. Not just anyone could do that."
"Oh, you're right Sokka!" Katara exclaimed mockingly. "How could I possibly miss that? Yes, great job! That teensy little cut was even more amazing than Zuko kicking her in the face."
"Shut up, Katara," said Sokka angrily.
Zuko continued to stare down at his sister. He had defeated her. He had defeated her. Zuko suddenly felt weak. He wanted to kneel over and throw up. He felt the pressure build up behind his eyes and his nose tingled uncomfortably. Don't you dare cry, he told himself. She's not dead, don't you cry.
"Are you okay?" a kind voice whispered in his ear.
"I'm fine, Uncle," Zuko snapped, forcing his voice not to crack.
"I saw you redirect lightning," Iroh told him, not bothering to hide how proud he was.
"Yes, I almost died," Zuko said flatly.
"But you didn't," Iroh reminded him. "You remembered what I taught you."
Zuko also remembered other things; like how he had stood up on that mountain and screamed his heart out for the lightning to strike him. He had screamed and screamed until he couldn't even hear his own voice. Then he had cried...bawling his eyes out like a baby. Suddenly, he wished he was back on the mountain...just so none of the others could see his tears.
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A/N: More Zuko angst and some hardcore blood and gore! (Well, not really). I hope you all enjoyed. Please review! Suggestions? Comments? I'll take them all.