Chapter 24: Sozin's Comet

Jin stood with the Order of the White Lotus about a half mile from the Outer Wall. It looked as though the sky was burning, consumed by fire. The same fire that would destroy the city. The same fire that was burning in her veins.

She had never seen Mushi look so fierce. The ring of fire around them grew with every breath he took. Jin was so awed by the sheer power he held that couldn't even feel afraid. Mushi was on her side, but there were hundreds of others who would turn this strength against her – a thin girl with no bending and second hand swords.

But she drew power from the comet too. The muscles in her arms and legs were tensed for battle and adrenaline pulsed through her veins so strongly that it was almost painful. This was the moment when they would retake her city. What was different between this moment and a month ago when Smellerbee had pushed for revolution? She couldn't say. It was just a feeling.

She tightened her grip on her tiger hooks and took a stronger stance. Next to her, Piandao tensed as well.

Mushi brought his hands forward and the fire surrounding them was pulled in front of him. For a moment it condensed and gathered energy. It formed a seed of fire, which then erupted and flew forward, blowing a hole through the Outer Wall, sending debris and flame in every direction. For the first time she recognized Mushi as General Iroh, Dragon of the West. She understood why he sometimes held his jaw tight, and why there was pain in his eyes.

Before she could process this further, they were flying forward. The ground beneath her feet was rushing across the wasteland towards the broken wall, towards the battle.

The first shots were fired at them from the top of the wall as they passed. Jin felt no fear and did not even blink as Iroh deflected them easily.

She hit the ground running as they passed the Inner Wall and she was bucked off the platform. She rushed at the soldiers running towards her, jumping and slashing and sliding along the ice floor formed by Pakku before it was melted by a fire blast that was so close that she immediately began to sweat. Another blast and she ducked into an alleyway, quickly scaling a rain gutter and darting back across several roofs to land behind a group of four fire benders. They fell before they had time to turn around. She spun and dodged a blast from a tank and kept dodging them as she ran down the street. Another group of soldiers, ten this time, and again she disarmed some and wounded others. Clang clang clang squish clang splurt. She caught up with Piandao in the square and back to back they took on the next group of fire benders. The benders were gorged on power, and it was making them slow. Twist slash jump kick spin slash clang clang stab duck kick jump slash.

The battle raged on and on as they fought their way through the city block by block. It felt never ending, never pausing. She was running and running and running on adrenaline, on the fire burning in her arms and legs. It was almost mechanical as she threw herself time and time again into danger without any thought, and it was wild like an instinctual animal, ferial, dangerous.

The Middle Wall was well defended. Iroh landed about three feet in front of her and joined her attack on the gate. He hopped, landed hard, and created a wall of fire. Jin did not stop running as she passed him and the wall moved with her, barely ahead, shielding her from sight. It pushed past the counter fire from the first line of benders and threw them back off their feet. Still surrounded by flame, she leapt over their falling bodies and came down in the midst of the second line. Slash slash twist cut duck slash stab jump. She ducked to the side, out of the way, shielded by the wall as Iroh's next burst of fire roared through the gate, taking down several more benders.

They were past the tanks now, and hitting those troops sent from the Upper Ring and the palace as reinforcements. Her breathing was heavy and the heat was so intense that her clothes stuck to her body in a disgusting way. She ripped off her tunic mid attack as the hem caught fire. Her knee embedded in a fire bender's face, cracking his skull-like mask. Clang clang slash clang slash slash slash slash shit. She took a step back before lunging her sword into a soldier's stomach. Her arm was sliced open, but she couldn't feel it.

Several streets further and she was again with Piandao in another square, this time they were surrounded by fire benders and a handful of Dai Li. Rock hands flew towards her only to be knocked out of the air, the ground moved beneath her feet only to cause her to leap through the smoke, dodge a fire ball, and cut down two Dai Li. Slash slash, dodge a rock spike, clang slash spin, dodge a fire blast, clang. They were outnumbered. Oh spirits, they were outnumbered. Dodge a fire blast, dodge a fire blast, slash stab kick, dodge a rock, clang clang.

Then they had help. Someone was fighting next to her and fire benders were falling. A blood curdling war cry cut through the roar of the inferno and the rumble of the ground. She was locked in battle with a fire bender who she just couldn't hit. Dodge dodge block thrust twist dodge spin flip stab block. He managed to knock her off her feet and stood over her, his fist full of fire, ready to end her life, ready to incinerate her face just like that man in the Agni Kai, just like Lee. Suddenly he twitched. His fire went out. As he fell forward she saw five arrows in his back, and Longshot standing over her in his place. She shot him a grin and jumped to her feet to engage another Dai Li.

Three blocks further on, she was forced into an alley again when the street was completely engulfed in a violent jet of flame. The cobblestones against her back were hot to the touch and the space was made even more unbearable by the sudden lack of oxygen and the imposing red sky above. She was starting to feel the stitch in her side and the pain in her arm. The wound was bleeding freely and it was dirty from her sweat and the dust from broken sidewalks and buildings and the ash and smoke that was billowing through the streets. She almost wished that she hadn't discarded her tunic, so she could wrap the wound. Ugg. She had to keep moving. If she stopped again she might not be able to start once more.

The fire in the street eased up and she darted another block before the blaze picked up again and she was forced into yet another alley. Pressed against a wall, slightly light headed, and feeling the heat across her face, she was pulled from her thoughts by someone laughing next to her. She looked up to see Genki.

He grinned at her and yelled to be heard over the din of the flames, "Looks like this street is out of order."

She laughed "Yeah. You hurt?"

He looked at the gash across his chest. "Yeah, but I'm not pansy enough to quit and miss the party." She grinned at him, then put her foot in his cupped hands and was thrown onto the roof.

From her new vantage point she saw Bumi, flanked by several resistance members, send a wall of earth at the fire benders blocking the street. She ran along the rooftops making it to the Upper Wall before seeing another enemy. She dashed towards the group of soldiers protecting the Upper Gate. Slash slash cut spin huff huff stab slash jump huff huff. The guards quickly fell back behind the wall, trying to force her through a bottle neck. Instead, a boulder crashed through the wall beside the gate and Jin leapt though it to come at them while they were blinded by dust and flying rubble. Bumi launched himself through the hole following right on her heels.

The forces in the upper ring had all been pulled back to guard the palace and it was a straight shot along a wide boulevard. Run. Run. Run. Huff huff run. She was getting tired and she shook herself to not give in to the pain and the heat and the exhaustion. Run. Run. Run.

Bumi rolled past her, riding a wave of cobble stones towards the palace. He pushed the hill he was riding through the final wall, solidified the forming cloud of dust into projectiles, and threw them at the Dai Li who were speeding down the palace steps.

Jin raced up the stairs twirling around the Dai Li, kicking and punching. She threw herself to the ground as a stone fist flew at her head. She spun around on the stairs, kicking out at two Dai Li and sending them stumbling downwards. She jumped to her feet and ran another ten steps before cutting a spike in half and leaping over it. Huff clang huff. The steps beneath her disappeared to form a steep incline, and she fell, sliding. She lodged her tiger hook into the rough slope, creating a shower of sparks and slowing her fall. Then the ground undulated again, this time throwing her forward, shooting her towards the nearest Dai Li. She didn't quite dodge the spike he shot at her before slitting his throat. She stumbled upon landing and her side exploded in pain where the make-shift rock dagger was still planted in her exposed flesh.

Spirits. Spirits. She was almost hit by another projectile from the Dai Li, but blocked it awkwardly. Keep moving.

Sprint jump slash jump slash slice slash. Why were there so many stairs? Slash slash kick block clang punch dash. The Earth King definitely didn't need this many stairs.

She reached the entrance to the palace just as Iroh set the Fire Nation banner alight. The ash rained down on her, stinging her arms.

The Dai Li were dropping down on her from above. They were hiding in the rafters. They were clinging to the ornate columns. Dodging their attacks was getting more and more difficult, and she was bumping into new rock formations that rose on her left, on her right, on her left again. She was losing focus. She had lost her root.

Control, Jin, control. Just breathe and focus.

She fell into combat with two Dai Li and managed to incapacitate both before three more were upon her. Clang clang clang dodge slash clang spin kick clang clang. Next was another two. Then there were four. Then she was through the hall and running down a slightly smaller corridor looking for somewhere Quin Wei might be.

She passed a pair of servants cowering in an alcove and threw herself to a stop. She took up the most menacing pose she could, which wasn't too hard considering, and shouted "Where's Quin Wei?" One shrieked and clutched her companion more tightly. The other pointed a shaky finger down the hall. "On… on your left."

Jin didn't bother to thank them and took off again. She could hear the sounds of battle growing closer, following her into the palace. She could feel herself favoring her left side, running with a slight limp. Keep moving.

Down the hall and on her left she found an ornate door, which she kicked open with a resounding bang.

Quin Wei looked terrified. He tried to hide behind his wife without success. Jin took three steps and crossed her tiger hooks over the governor's throat. His eyes bulged and he jumped, thus nicking his Adam's apple. Jin glared at him, expecting him to have something to say. Instead he opened and closed his mouth several times like a lost fish.

His wife was the one who spoke. "Please." Her eyes were pleading. Her face had an inexperienced look to it. It was as if she had never frowned before, as if her forehead had never before creased that way. It was like the first fold across a sheet of paper: sharp and stiff and undeniable.

For some inexplicable reason, Jin felt self conscious in front of this woman. Strands of hair had come loose from her once tight braid. The free locks were either plastered to her face and neck with sweat, or frizzled with the smell of burning hair. Her once crisp and white chest wrappings were now black with soot and dirt. Her pants were blackened and there was a rip in her knee and a burn on her thigh. Her leg just beneath the scorch mark stung in the cool, still air of the palace, telling her that she was injured. Blood was flowing from her side and arm and a hundred other scrapes and cuts. She was splattered with blood that was not her own.

She was a stinking, exhausted mess, and she was standing within arm's reach of this perfect woman. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect finger nails. Only that one crease in her forehead marred her appearance. Only this one experience had caused her alarm.

"Please have mercy." Her eyes were filled with a depth of emotion that made Jin hesitate. They might not be so different after all.

Behind her several people ran into the room, coming to a stop just inside the door. Jin could tell from the new fear in the governor's eyes that they were with the resistance.

She took several more breaths, attempting to bring some control to her flagging endurance. With an echoing SHING, she withdrew her tiger hooks.

"Take them into custody. Put them in a cell."

"Yes, ma'am."

Her glare did not falter as several men stepped forward to take the governor and his wife away.

The sounds of battle were drawing closer and Jin hurried from the room and sprinted down the passageway. Spirits, she was tired, but she needed to keep moving. Just a little more. Just a little longer.

The passageway opened into a wide hall, where a full out battle was taking place between the remaining Dai Li, the resistance, Piandao, and Bumi. She threw herself into the battle, slashing several Dai Li before Piandao yelled at her. "Keep going! Third door on your right! We can handle this."

Jin didn't know what exactly was in the third door on her right, but she immediately headed that direction, dodging a falling column, a stone fist, a mis-aimed sword, and the sudden rock formations that exploded out of the floor.

She was running down a smaller, darker passageway and the sounds of the battle were fading quickly. She slid to a stop in front of the third door on the right, gasped for breath, winced at the pain in her side, and kicked in the door of Long Feng's study.

He did not look up from the scroll he was writing. For a moment she stood in the doorway and the only sounds were the crackle of the green fire behind him, the soft shuffling of his brush, and Jin's heavy breathing. It was overly calm, unnaturally quiet and still. It was unnerving and her tension and anger were growing.

He carefully set down his brush and glanced up at her with an air of indifference. "You look tired, Jin. Have a seat."

"No."

"Very well. I can understand if you prefer to stand during our discussion."

"Discussion?" The question came out winded and she cursed herself for showing signs of fatigue in front of Long Feng.

"Yes. Our discussion of the great danger you have thrust upon this city."

Jin snorted.

"You don't believe me? You don't believe me while this stunt of yours is burning the city to the ground? While people on both sides are killed or injured? And what of your previous acts? How many men died under your command in the name of resistance?"

"You're no better. You'd have us submit to Fire Nation tyranny."

"I would have us survive. I am a cultural minister. I preserve Ba Sing Se's great cultural heritage that has lasted through three hundred years of regime changes. The only difference between the Fire Nation and Kuei is a flag. Other than that life did not change and no lives needed to end in violence."

"You're a coward, and a traitor."

"So you've come to kill me?" he asked mockingly.

"Yes."

"I don't believe you're –"

Jin hurled the bladed handle of her tiger hook. On instinct he blocked it with a pillar of stone that rose out of the floor and burst through his desk in an explosion of wood shards and splinters. The blade embedded in the column with a resounding twang. Unseen behind the rock barrier and moving only a touch slower than her flying tiger hook, Jin darted around the stone and buried her sword in Long Feng's stomach.

Time seemed to stand still. The dust of stone and wood shards hung thick in the air. His eyes bulged and a small trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth. She had never felt such rage – a cold and focused wrath as she glared into his surprised eyes, slowly clouding over with pain.

Breathing deeply she spat out, "That's for my mother."

With a sickening squelch, she twisted her blade. He choked and convulsively grabbed the blade in his belly.

"That's from Smellerbee."

She ripped the blade out, slicing his hands. He fell forward onto his knees and vomited a shower of blood.

"That was from Suri," She snarled. "And this is from Lee."

She kicked him hard in the face. His nose broke with a crunch and a splurt. He collapsed onto his back and lay prone on the floor.

She pressed her foot against his chest. His hands fluttered in some last attempt to protect himself, then fell weakly. His eyes were unseeing. His breath came in gurgling rasps.

Her muscles began to seize up and her breathing was becoming more and more strained. Her anger was subsiding now. It was replaced by the desire to weep uncontrollably but didn't know why -or more likely she didn't want to acknowledge why. In just a moment it would all be over. In just a moment she could rest. In a moment her people would be at peace.

She laid her blade against the side of his neck.

This was what she had to do.

"And this … is from me."