A/N: Still don't own Avatar...
Chapter 7
(Iroh's Point of View)
"They need you now more than ever. You have always done what is right and what is just, but now it is time to return and stop this great evil once again."
(Aang's Point of View)
Not even a whole two weeks of freedom and Azula has taken it for granted and now Ozai is running free as well. I would love to think that this was all coincidental but I can't. Zuko allowed them to meet before she was sent away and now they are both on the run. As the Avatar is is my duty to preserve peace amongst all four nations and I will even if it means actually taking lives this time. I'd rather it not come to that but these two have caused a great deal of damage all over the world and I can not have them running around terrorizing people. Not again.
"What are you going to do?" Katara asked as she came up to me.
"I don't know." I answered her honestly. "I don't know if I should hunt down Ozai or Azula first."
"They both have a lot to run from, half of the fire nation is tracking down Ozai and Zuko sent the Kyoshi Warriors after Azula..."
"So I should go after Azula..."
"No...maybe you should just let them do their job. If Zuko wants your help you know he'll ask." She said reasonably, snaking her arms around me.
Placing my hands on hers I smiled, maybe she was right, after all, half of the fire nation was after them. Maybe they didn't need me at all for this job.
"Hey guys! Look who came back to his master!" Sokka came out of no where smiling brightly with a messenger hawk on his shoulder. "It's Hawky!"
"What's he got there, Sokka?" Katara took a message out of Hawky's back canister.
"Let me see it..." I went over to them and took the message and read it out loud. "Aang...Azula is missing, and my Father has escaped from the Boiling Rock..."
"Who does he want you to track down?" Sokka looked over the message.
"Let him finish, genius." Katara rolled her eyes at him.
"...Please meet my uncle in Ba Sing Se and help him search for my sister...Zuko..."
"Ba Sing Se? Why do we have to meet there first?" Katara took the message and read it again.
"We don't." I said bluntly. "I do."
"Aang, you can't make this trip alone...we're a team..."
"It could be dangerous." I argued. "I don't want anyone getting hurt."
"Uh...Aang..." Sokka gave me a funny look. "Hello, we're Team Avatar, remember?! There's nothing we can't handle together!"
"That's right, we're a team, besides, with all of us there Azula should be no threat to us at all. Even Zuko can take her down" Katar joked.
After a moment of contemplation I looked to my two eager water tribe friends. Smiling brightly at them I nodded and agreed that we should all stick together like old times.
"ALL RIGHT!! TEAM AVATAR IS BACK BABY!!" Sokka jumped and did a little dance. "I'll go get Toph!"
"And I'll go get Appa." Katara said as Sokka danced out.
After Sokka was out of the room Katara moved closer to me and we embraced, she leaned down and kissed me. We stayed in that moment for a while and after we pulled away we both smiled at one another.
"I love you." I said to her sincerely.
"I love you too." She let her embrace linger on me. "Come on, we better get going."
After getting some things together we all gathered around Appa and took off for Ba Sing Se. Ever since the War ended I had taken time to try and rebuild and preserve the history of the Air Nomads and the people that once lived there. I had been staying at my native Southern Air Temple which is now the new headquarters for what Sokka has affectionately named "Team Avatar". It is close to the Southern Water Tribe so Sokka and Katara can visit their home as often as they want to. From there it would only take a few days to get to the Earth Kingdom Capital. Hopefully, we won't be a few days too late to help in the search and hopefully my assumptions are not correct about the link between Azula and Ozai's escapes.
(Ty Lee's Point of View)
Over a week has gone by and I have not found Azula. Every day I felt myself becoming so weak inside, I cried endlessly at the thought of her being gone or hurt. Again I'll spend another night lost in the Earth Kingdom trying to find her. The sun beat down on me day in and out, the heat got worse every day.
"I don't know what to do..." I cried out loud to myself.
"Maybe join the girls with me and help find her?" Came a very familiar voice.
I looked up seeing Suki standing above me. Immediately I stood up and jumped into a tight embrace with her. I couldn't help but let it all out and cry hysterically. Suki was always a little confused by my over active emotional side, but I'm sure by now she's learned to adjust. She patted my back and held me a bit away from her to breathe.
"Don't worry, we'll find her." She assured me then added with a laugh, "And when we do she's all yours."
That brought a smile to my face, knowing that my team was helping now took a lot of stress off the entire situation. Suki explained that Zuko had asked them to help me find her after he received my letter asking for help. I thought he would be angry that I lost Azula so quickly but he wasn't. He won't admit it but I do know him pretty well and had a feeling he wouldn't be too upset with me. Afterall we've been friends since we were little. The girls and I continued the search for Azula, we split up into three different groups, one heading towards Ba Sing Se, anther heading for the eastern shoreline and the other group heading southeast. Apparently there was a group of Fire Nation Soldiers on the westrn shoreline but Suki did not say if they were searching for Azula or not. I traveled with the group heading southeast.
"You really care about her don't you?" Suki broke the silence after a while.
"I do." I said softly with a nod and then looked to her. "I love her."
"Even after all of the horrible things she has done?" Suki still couldn't figure it out.
Yes, Azula had done a lot of horrible things in the past and she was known far and wide for her clever schemes and ground breaking acts of evil and destruction. Especially for her age she was greater than any conquerer or war lord that ever lived. All of it she did with this air of grace and beauty that even her most powerful and experienced enemies envied her.
"Well..." I sighed. "She may be a psycho...but...she's my psycho."
Suki just stared at me for a while eyes wide and head tilting slowly to the side and said, "In some twisted way Ty Lee...that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard."
"Thanks!" I smiled brightly at her, this whole thing would be much easier with my girls behind me all the way.
Yet...even though they stood behind me I still felt alone. My aura went from this pink and wonderful thing to a dark, blue, shaded nothingness. If Azula were to see me like this she would call me pathetic without a second thought. The thought of her saying it, her voice, lips, piercing gold eyes...everything about her made me weak at the knees and I found myself hitting the ground hard in tears once again.
"Ty Lee!" Suki caught me in the dirt and held me close. "It's ok...we'll find her...we'll find her..." She kept trying to reassure me...
We'll Find Her...
Later that night after a long day of useless searching we stopped at a small town just a little bit on the inside of a great forest. Some of the girls had extended family there while Suki and I stayed at a small but quaint inn. I couldn't sleep, Suki insisted that I try to rest. The group split up, one searching by day and the other by night. Azula was crafty, I knew her, if she did not want to be found no one could find her. So while I waited for Suki to sleep I thought about my psycho, my Azula. How much I missed her outer rage and angst, her wit and self control, everything about her...I wish she knew how much she meant to me and I wish I knew what I was going to do the next time I would see her. I don't know if I would be angry and strangle her or be overjoyed and hug her to death.
Once I felt it was safe I crept out of bed and went outside for a walk to get some air. Some times I have those moments where I just don't think things through, I stepped into the bar and sat at the far end. Even in my sadness I had to smile at this awkward looking boy tremble at the sight of a beautiful but obviously older woman. It was almost cute watching her talk to him and for him to repeatedly shut her down. I think inside he really wanted to do something with her but there had to be something about her that held him back. Poor boy, I almost felt bad for him. When she left the bar she had a hold of his shirt collar and dragged him out. I shook my head and laughed a little as my drink was finally served.
(Azula's Point of View)
I could see them from afar but they could not see me, the Kyoshi warriors hunting like a pack of wolves. Their prey was me, I'm not stupid, despite what I have done to hurt Ty Lee I need to do what I must to reclaim the throne and take back the fire nation for my father. That is what he wants me to do and I will. After that is done I will return to her and convince her to come home with me to our nation and live with me in peace. I love her. She knows that.
"Azula!!" I could hear her crying from even the distance I stood from her.
She was the only one. The only one that could make my questionably beating heart bleed only a little. I hated seeing her hurt, even if I was the one who would cause her pain. I won't lie, sometimes I would enjoy it. Most of the time though it bothered me because I could never understand her weakness towards me, she never let men bother her, or enemies two or three times her size, she would handle it with grace and even though she was sensitive to EVERYTHING she was still one of the strongest women I had ever met in my life. Even I have to admit being away from her chatty bubbly 'aura' was lonely...and needless to say very quiet.
After a short while of watching them I wandered away thinking of where I would stay for the night. I could not return to the Fire Nation yet, no, I had to give it time and rebuild my strength. For now I would need to find a place to stay and also a place to blend in.
"How convenient..." I said to myself out loud as I saw a young couple walk down a dirt road below the hill I stood on, I could feel a smirk grace my face as it used to in my days of glory.
Realizing my fire bending was still weak, I took a whole new approach to capturing my unsuspecting prey. She was a slightly heavier set short, he was young, thin but muscular, about my height, so it was doable. I threw dirt on my face and risked my physical health and threw myself down the hill forcing my body to become limp.
"OH GEEZE!" The young man cried out as my body fell in front of them.
"What happened to her?" The woman's voice was closer to me than his.
"We should take her back to the village...get her a doctor..."
"She looks like she's been out in this heat for a while..."
I used the weather to my advantage, I was taught well, a good tactician always uses the elements of their surroundings before the weapons in their headquarters. In a bind I always know what to do. Father always said I was born lucky I believe I was born tactful. As Fire lord I would have been ideal, the nation would have done well under my direction. One day. I'll have my chance again.
"Here...watch out...I've got her...You better get to the village nearby and let the doctor know right away..." He said lifting me from the ground.
"Ok!" She ran off.
I could hear her run away from us, she headed east, so I wanted to head west. Once she was out of ear shot he continued moving with me in his arms. After a moment or two I slowly opened my eyes to find him staring down at me.
"Hey there, I'm taking you to my village...you'll be ok..."
"Who...are...you?" I said weakly wrapping my arms around his neck to give myself balance.
"Just a farm boy." He grinned at me widely.
"Oh..."
"So where are you from?"
"Far away..." I said, preparing for my next move as I flattened my hands against his neck.
"How far?" He seemed to want to converse so badly.
"Far..." I breathed in. "...far..." Pressing my hands hard against his neck they heated up and burned him fiercely causing him to scream out horribly like a small girl.
He immediately dropped me but like a cat I landed on my feet and hands, swinging my left leg to his I knocked him over completely and jumped up on my own two feet quickly. Stealth is a virtue. Looking up at me I could see absolute terror and confusion clashing on his face.
"What were you really that surprised?" I said subtly to him with my usual smile, I lowered myself to his ear and said softly to him. "Just because the war is over doesn't mean everyone agrees with it."
With that I kicked him hard against his skull and let him fall unconscious. Tilting my head I thought about my next move, I already knew what it would be but for once in my life I had to second guess myself. Rolling my eyes I dragged him into the forest, stripped him of most of his outer layer clothes and replaced them with my own.
"Huh...you look good as a banished Fire Nation princess." I said to his knocked out form as I adjusted myself in his baggy clothes. "Well...thanks!"
Walking away I tried to force my mannerisms into that of a typical young Earth Kingdom boy. In truth I felt like I looked like that little girl that followed the Avatar around.
"Ugh..." I slumped my shoulders and just tried to imitate her with what little I knew. Continuing my journey west away from my victim I passed the place where I previously saw the Kyoshi warriors. Dressed this way I was confident enough that I could slip by them with no problem. Baggy green and brown clothes covered my curved and slender form, while a straw hat provided shade for my face. It took me until just before dusk to find a secluded town covered a bit by the forest beside it. It seemed out of the way enough that I could stay for a while undetected by anyone who might be looking for me.
Before heading to the inn I searched the boys pockets for any kind of money, and apparently my so called 'farm boy' was a little more than he seemed. He was loaded to the teeth, and he carried it with him? What a fool...
Surveying the area I tried to find the inn and the other facilities I may need in the coming weeks. My eye then caught on to a lovely sight, a young woman with long brown hair, fair skin and a form that would make any man drool and any woman envious. She wandered into the bar and like a hypnotized pawn I followed in with her, watching closely as she sat down and ordered a drink I sat only a few seats away from her, casually glancing at her. I ordered a drink and waited patiently, and I wasn't sure for what exactly yet. She reminded me so much of Ty Lee and I'll admit all I wanted to do was go up to her, kiss her then have her stay at the inn with me for a night of barbaric and blood lusting sex. Vulgar? Of course, but ask me if I care...
Before I could even make a move she glanced back at me and I felt my face become red and my whole body lightly shivered nervously as she drew closer.
"Hello there." She said softly in my ear.
"Evenin'..." I said in a low makeshift manly voice.
"You look a bit young to be drinking...how old are you?" She tried to remove my straw hat but I quickly brushed her hand away.
"Age is just a number not an identity."
"I see." She sipped at her drink and cleared her throat.
"Yep..." I nodded trying not to lose my composure.
"Want to get out of here?" She said seductively in my ear.
Without thinking about it I looked up at her, eyes trying not to grow wide from the shock or her forward behavior. She might have looked like Ty Lee but she had an attitude that matched mine and then some. Some how...I could hardly resist her. In that instance I had no time to think as she took a hold of my shirt collar and dragged me out of the bar.