disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, the Zutaraness would have already begun...
Chapter Twenty
"There it is…the Western Air Temple."
"Uggh. Azula, why can't we ever go anywhere decent?"
Azula barely spared a glance for her friend. "Because our prey never seems to appreciate the greater things in life, Mai. After all, they are merely peasants."
"Not Zuko and your Uncle," Ty Lee said cheerily.
"They're banished. That makes them worse than peasants."
Ty Lee cocked her head to the side. "Why?"
"Because they were once Fire Nation and they failed. And now they're trying to throw it all away."
"But you they were never going to be accepted again, Princess Azula," Mai said. "So they're not really throwing it away."
Azula smirked. "But they don't know that. It just goes to show you that bad blood is always weeded out."
"You must admit, though, that Zuko has been through a lot. He has a right to be…confused."
The Fire Princess looked sharply at Mai. "You don't still have feelings for him, do you, Mai?"
Knowing she had gotten herself into a bit of trouble, Mai frowned. "Of course not," she stated in a bored tone. Giving a weakness to Azula was close to putting a knife against your own throat. She would use it to her advantage every time.
Azula watched her for a moment before turning her gaze back onto the temple. "We will camp here for the night. Tomorrow we will attack." She turned to her friends. "You two will take care of the Avatar's little friends, but don't touch him. He's mine."
"What about Zuko and Iroh?" Ty Lee asked.
"My brother and Uncle are no longer of any importance. There's nothing they can do now. We have to be quick about it, too. I cannot leave the Dai Li by themselves for too long."
"Then why don't we finish this tonight?" Mai asked, checking her daggers.
"Though the moon isn't full, that Water Tribe plebian seems to be quite adept at her backwater art. We don't want to come across more problems than necessary."
Ty Lee sighed. "I'll scout ahead for a little while and locate the possible entrances."
Azula nodded her assent and then settled down for the night. Though it was early morning, there were still a few more hours until dawn. A warrior knew how to utilize every possible advantage.
Ty Lee bounded off, hurrying over the rough terrain as fast as she could. She had to warn Sokka and the others; she couldn't just leave them open for attack. Though she had betrayed them, she cared for the Avatar and his group. Especially Sokka. She didn't want to see them hurt.
Katara returned the to the others in the early hours of the morning, feeling better than she had all that day. Her waterbending session had gone great, but…Suddenly, she frowned. A few moments before, she had found herself on one of the stone benches, the waterbender nowhere in sight. Still, it was best not to dwell on it. Everything was okay. Or, at least, it would be.
"Where were you?"
Katara turned to find her brother coming out of his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I was just practicing my bending, Sokka." She smiled. "You should go back to sleep."
She began to go into her own room when his voice stopped her. "Katara?"
"Yeah, Sokka?"
"Sorry for being to…bossy. I'm just worried…"
"It's all right, Sokka. Come on, we all need some rest."
"Sokka?"
The two whipped around only to see Ty Lee appear from the shadows.
"Ty Lee? What are you doing here?" Sokka asked in confusion. And then it hit him. "If you're here, it means…"
The acrobat nodded sadly. "Azula's here, yes. But she's not going to attack until morning. You have to wake everyone up and tell them to move. Tonight. Azula won't wait long after the sun has risen."
Katara shared a horrified look with her brother and the two immediately sprang into action, never noticing that Ty Lee melted back into the shadows.
"Sokka, you wake Aang and the others; I'll go and get Toph and Appa. We have to go."
"Katara…" Sokka began to protest, but she was already gone. He sighed and opened the door to Aang's room. He really didn't want to wake the firebenders up, but he didn't see that he had a choice.
"Aang, come on. We have to go now."
"Huh?" Aang sat up in his cot, looking at Sokka with blurry eyes. "What?"
"Azula's on her way. We have to go."
Aang didn't need any further prompting. He jumped up and gathered his stuff up, not that there was too much. He followed Sokka out of the room.
"Aang, I have to get my stuff. Could you wake up the others?"
The airbender nodded. "Sure, Sokka." He dumped his stuff on the ground and opened Iroh's door just as Katara returned with Toph. Momo was trailing her.
"Katara, go wake Zuko!" He darted into Iroh's room and came out a moment later, dragging the poor ex-general behind him.
She nodded and ran to the firebender's room. As she opened the door and let the light Iroh conjured into the room, Katara couldn't help but stare. Zuko was lying on his cot, the covers thrown to the floor. He wore black bottoms but no shirt, showing his upper body. And he was ripped.
A noise from behind shook her out of her stupor and Katara hurried to his side. "Zuko," she whispered, shaking him. "We have to go."
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"Zuko…"
He woke up, a frown marring his face. "What is it?" he growled, moving to roll over.
"Azula's almost here. We have to get going."
That woke him up. A shot of fear ran through him and he leapt from the cot, nearly knocking Katara over. "What? We have to go!"
"I know," Katara said, before running from the room.
Zuko took up his sword and the small bag filled with his possessions. He was just walking out of his room when he stopped. Something flickered in the back of his mind. Suddenly, he ran over to the others.
"We're not leaving."
"What?" Sokka stepped forward. "Are you crazy? Azula and her minions are coming after us. And I don't know about you, but we can't take the chance of fighting them."
"Don't worry," Zuko said softly. "There's a room in the temple that she'll never be able to get into. And if we make it look as if we've left in a hurry, she won't search too long."
Aang, who knew the general layout of the temple, knew what Zuko was getting at. He turned to the others. "He's right, guys. I'll help you get into the chamber, but then I'll lead Azula away from here. Hopefully, I can double back."
"Aang, we can't let you do that," Katara said. "You could get caught."
Sokka, hearing what everyone was saying, began thinking furiously. There was only one choice, really. He was the only one in the group who couldn't bend, who couldn't be of any value to Azula. They couldn't afford to lose Aang, and Aang couldn't afford to lose his teachers. It was simple.
"I'll go."
Everyone abruptly fell silent. Katara shook her head. "Sokka, no."
"Think about it, Katara. It's the only way."
Katara looked in horror at Toph. "How can you even say that?" she cried.
Sokka looked at his sister. "I'm the only one who can't bend, Katara. It makes perfect sense. You know it does."
"But…"
"It is the best route, Miss Katara," Iroh put in softly.
"Aang?"
The Avatar shook his head sadly. "They're right, Katara."
Knowing she couldn't change their minds, Katara looked away, tears gathering in her eyes. "Fine," she whispered.
Zuko led them all to the chamber, still amazed that it was actually there. After they were all settled, Sokka readied to leave. He would be taking Appa, and it would be hard for him, but everyone was confident he could do it. Though he seemed to be a part of the group only for comic relief, he did often have brilliant plans.
Sokka sent Katara one last look. "I'll be back soon, Katara."
She raised her head and glared at him through her tears. "You better be, because when you get back, I'm going to kill you for doing something so stupid."
He smiled and then left. He would lead Azula away from his friends. Even if he got caught trying. And if he was caught, well…he could tell the pompous Fire Princess that Aang and the others were already off to the Fire Nation.
Ahh, another chapter done. Kinda sad, and not much happened, but critical to the plot, I believe... Oooh…what will happen now? It's a mystery, even to me…Please review!