Hey guys, sorry for not updating in so long, it's been a pretty crazy last few weeks. Piles of homework, plus a bit of heartbreak and confusion and some family issues and a trip down the stairs at school... ya know... :P But I decided to suck it up and I scraped up as much motivation as I could, just for you guys, so that I could write this chapter :)
Hope you like it and thanks for those of you still tuned in here :) Read, review and enjoy.
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23. Beneath the Earth
Zuko, Sokka, Windu, Suki, Ty Lee and Mai all jumped back down into the underground and Windu led the way as best as he could to where he knew the Avatar to be. Unknown to them, Shang and Long Feng were expecting them, and had ordered the Dai Li agents to keep clear and let them through. They had something planned for them – a special... welcoming.
They had drugged Aang again, and he was slipping in and out of consciousness. He wasn't quite sure what exactly was going on, but he knew that there was something and it was big. There was only one thing he was certain of – someone had rescued Mai and Katara from their prison. Or at least he was pretty sure of it. He'd been conscious when one Dai Li agent had come to inform Long Feng about the incident, but he hadn't gotten the finer details, like who it was that had rescued them.
Aang let his eyelids droop shut and his body went limp for a few moments before he regained consciousness and opened them again with a start. His head was spinning, or was it the room? He felt dizzy and sick to his stomach and head.
Slowly, he tried breathing in and out but the choker around his neck made it hard. He wished he could airbend – he'd have gotten himself out of there in no time at all. If only, if only...
His chin touched his chest as he lost consciousness again.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Zuko asked impatiently as he walked virtually on Windu's heels.
"Yes, I'm sure! Would you stop asking?"
"Why's this taking so long?" Sokka whined. "Why hasn't anyone attacked us yet? Is this some sort of trap?" The Water Tribe warrior glared at his fellow tribe brother.
"Hey, if you don't trust me then head on back out of here and I'll save the Avatar myself!" he said, irritated.
"If this is a trap, I swear I'm gonna – "
"Sokka, give it a rest, please!" Suki shouted. He huffed, but shut his mouth.
They continued on in silence for a while until Windu stopped in his tracks and looked back over them with worry. "Alright guys, it's just around here," he said, indicating around a bend in the passage. "But I don't know what to expect. I would of thought that we would have been attacked by now... but something's telling me that the fact that we weren't was no accident on Long Feng's behalf."
Zuko stepped forward, a crease in his brow, "They're waiting for us..." he murmured. Sokka nodded in agreement.
"Well, what do we do?" Ty Lee asked in her innocent little voice. Her eyes were very wide with fear and she was wringing her wrists.
Everyone stayed quiet and for a few moments, they all just stared ahead of them. Then, one by one, the heads all turned to Zuko and Sokka. Sokka turned to Zuko and the Fire Lord looked over all of them and then his eyes rested on Sokka's again.
"Zuko, you're the Fire Lord. You are my sister's husband and my brother-in-law. I think... whatever happened back at the palace after the weddings can be put behind us, at least for now. I trust your judgement over anyone else's at the moment – even over my own." Sokka spoke solemnly and did not break the eye contact with Zuko. He meant every word he said. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I'm willing to go with whatever you want to do, however crazy, stupid and outrageous it may be."
The two boys kept their eyes locked on each other for a long moment. Then, Zuko let his eyes wander over the faces of the others standing before him. Each of them gave him a small nod or a quirky smile to assure him Sokka was right – they all trusted him and were willing to let him decide what to do.
"What do we do?" Ty Lee asked again, a little more confidently now that she was sure she wasn't the only one looking up to Zuko.
That rare and beautiful smile that Zuko only gives when he's really truly happy spread over his lips and, for a few seconds, his whole face showed great resemblance to that of an angel's.
Then he was serious again, "We're going in," he said. "We're going to get Aang out of there and then we're all going back to the Fire Nation. We came all this way – we've got Katara and Mai out, we nearly lost Toph and we're not leaving without Aang. No one is being left behind here."
Ty Lee, Sokka, Suki, and Windu all looked at him with smiles of admiration. Mai's emotionless face did not falter, but Zuko did notice the slight slump of her shoulders as she looked at him. He smiled back at them all. Then, all as one, they turned and continued down the passage.
As they moved around the bend, they saw up ahead a wide doorway in the side of the passage. Windu moved up ahead of everyone else again with Zuko and Sokka right behind him and they all peered through the door. They found themselves looking into a vast room, lit with a couple of large lanterns. The room glowed an eerie green – eerier than the passage or anywhere else they'd seen. Some of the green crystals were growing in clusters around the room and contributed to the strange green glow just as much as the lanterns did.
And at the far end of the room, his head hung low and his whole body cast in shadows, Aang was chained like some sort of feral animal by his neck, arms and legs, to both the ceiling and the ground.
The group dashed silently into the room and ran towards the Avatar, Ty Lee and Sokka calling out his name as they went.
The three spirit women waited for the outcome of their potentially fatal mistake from their places around the well. Their eyes were concerned and they could all feel worry and the tug of life as death prepared to rip it away from the world of the mortals.
"Mother... can you tell who will be joining us?" Azula whispered.
Ursa shook her head, "I do not know, sweetheart."
The Fire Princess spirit's eyes were wide with fear. "Please... Gods, spare Zuko. Don't take my brother..."
Ursa put a hand gently over one of Azula's as they all continued to watch.
Sokka reached Aang first and grabbed him by the shoulder firmly. "Aang?!"
The young monk's head shot up and his eyes went wide for a moment before his eyelids drooped again, "S-Sokka...?" the young boy rasped quietly.
"I'm here buddy... we're all here," Sokka assured him. "And we're gonna get you out."
The others were all standing just behind Sokka and Zuko came forward to inspect Aang's restraints.
"Thank you guys..." Aang whispered. The last airbender was overjoyed to finally be seeing his friends. He felt the fear of dying in there, alone, slowly leaving him and he felt himself flooding with relief. He just hoped that his friends wouldn't all end up trapped in there with him.
Aang tried to stay conscious but whatever drugs had been given to him were putting up a hard fight. The faces of his rescuers blurred and faded and became clear again, constantly slipping in and out of his vision as he battled with unconsciousness.
"This is insane," Zuko murmured to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear him. "Alright guys, help me figure this out. Any ideas? Windu, do you know where the keys to any of these locks are?" he asked, gently shaking some of the chains that were imprisoning Aang.
"I don't know..." Windu said, helplessly. "If there is a key, it will be with Long Feng, or Admiral Shang."
"Gods dammit!" Zuko cursed, stepping back from Aang before he lost control and ended up hurting him by mistake.
"Just hang in there buddy," Sokka said. "We'll get you out!"
"I'm afraid... that will be impossible." A chilling and familiar voice spoke from behind them all. They all turned quickly to see Long Feng, standing between them and their exit, a smirk across his cool face and his hands tucked neatly into his sleeves. "None of you are going anywhere."
"I beg to differ," Zuko challenged. "We are all leaving this place. So if you don't mind, release Aang and let us pass."
"Sorry," Long Feng shrugged. To the horror of the gang standing before him, the exit behind him closed up. They all tensed and held their breath, not quite sure what to do as the Dai Li members appeared alongside Long Feng and Admiral Shang came to stand by his side. "No can do."
Each of them took up a fighting stance, though they knew all too well that they were very well outnumbered and outmatched. And this time, they didn't have Toph to save them...
"Let us pass!" Sokka demanded. "You have no idea what you're doing, now let us go!"
Zuko's eyes were narrowed on Shang. "And you – if you run off like a coward like you did last time, I'm going to make sure you die anyway for what you did to my sister. I will hunt you down and make you pay."
The Fire Lord could see the discomfort in the Admiral's eyes and saw him shift his weight from one foot to the other. There was that slow bob of his Adam's apple as he swallowed a dry lump in his throat, but other than that, his expression and pose did not falter.
"I could give her back to you, you know," Long Feng said. Zuko's expression faltered and he looked at Long Feng. "I could bring them all back."
It took Zuko a moment to pull himself together – that was impossible. Nobody had the power to raise the dead. He couldn't let himself fall for Long Feng's tricks, as good as it all sounded...
"No," he said in an even voice. "You're lying. You can't do that. You couldn't if you tried."
Long Feng smirked again. Suddenly, Zuko started feeling very claustrophobic. He wanted to get out of there. He wanted them all to just get out of there and leave and never come back.
At the same, a soothing feeling of calm began to sweep over him. Unknown and unnoticed to any of the gang members, the Dai Li were using a hypnotizing trick on them, and there was nothing they could do.
"I can give them back to you, Zuko," Long Feng smirked. "Wouldn't you like to have your mother back? And Azula?"
That feeling of calm continued to consume him and he felt himself relaxing, feeling the lull of the hypnosis settling in on him. He felt himself starting to believe Long Feng's words and falling for his trick...
And in his mind's eyes, he could see himself standing there, his mother and his sister next to him, together and alive.
"My son..." he heard his mother whisper. "Stay strong, my son..."
Zuko blinked and felt himself try to move towards Long Feng, even though he didn't know why.
"Don't fall for it, Zuko!" someone – Suki, he was pretty sure – shouted out from behind him. He stopped in his tracks with a small start, not quite sure what had come over him. "Zuko, come back."
The man felt himself take a step back towards his friends, but his head was all cloudy and he felt confused. What was happening? What was he doing? What was he thinking?
"My son..." she whispered. "Hold on to what you know. Listen to your friends – do not fall for Long Feng's tricks. Never forget who you are."
A thousand memories flashed through Zuko's head in which he was with his mother or sister. All his childhood... the games they played... the way they'd cared for each other... the times they'd laughed and the times they'd cried... their trips to Ember Island during the summer... the whole family... together... happy... whole...
The last time he saw his mother alive... his banishment – all of his memories with his Uncle and hunting the Avatar. The Earth Kingdom village where he'd met the little boy, Lee... his time in Ba Sing Se... his time back in the Fire Nation before he ran away to join the Avatar... the time his sister had been with them as their prisoner... the way she'd died in his arms... the vision he'd had of his mother speaking to him ... his knife... the cut on his finger... his mother's voice...
"Zuko..."
"No," Zuko said, stepping back to stand alongside the others. "I don't believe you."
Long Feng sighed, but it was obvious it was fake, "Pity... you would have made such a good ally."
"More like slave..." Zuko muttered.
Long Feng smirked, "Touché."
Then, as if some sort of silent order had been given, the two Dai Li agents either side of Long Feng and Shang stepped forward and thrust their hands forward, sending a pillar of earth towards Zuko and the others. They all managed to dodge and the next thing anybody knew, the group had been scattered and Dai Li agents were attacking them all. One of them grabbed Sokka and Suki smacked him over the head as hard as she could, knocking him out cold. Ty Lee got as close to them as she could and attacked them with her chi bocks, but there were so many of them... Windu was surrounded and brought to his knees within moments and Mai was running out of throwing knives and ninja stars fast. Zuko was the only bender in their group, as they all realized with horror. It didn't look good at all...
Someone grabbed Suki from behind and she was thrown to the ground where she was pinned down. A Dai Li agent raised the earth over her arms and legs so that she could not stand up again.
"Suki!" Sokka shouted as he ran towards her. But he only ended up trapped in the ground next to her.
Zuko surrounded himself with fire and fought of as many of the Dai Li agents as he could. But there was so many of them. Somebody grabbed Ty Lee and she could not twist herself around enough to attack them with her chi blocks. She struggled to breathe with their hand clasped over her throat.
"Hey!" Mai shouted, throwing a knife at the Dai Li agent. Momentarily distracted as he dodged the attack, Ty Lee managed to get one of her arms free, and with that arm, she jabbed a couple of his pressure points and the man fell limp to the ground.
For a moment, the two girls smiled at each other and then, out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw Zuko in the midst of a fight with a Dai Li agent, and just behind him, another one was about to attack him. There was no time for her to think – she just did the only thing she could bring herself to do.
For the man she had loved since she was a little girl, for the man she loved to that day, despite the fact that he would never be hers, despite the fact that he was married, for the man who was married to one of her best friends...
"Zuko, look out!"
Mai rushed forward just in time to push him out of the way – just in time to save his life. She took his place between the two attacks as he stumbled to the ground. To one side, she felt the sharp edge of a rock pierce her like a knife, and to the other side, she felt a mass of rock being thrown against her body, breaking her. And before she could hit the floor, her eyes had closed and her world had gone black. Mai did not scream as she fell or as the last of her life slowly drained away from her as she lay on the ground.
"Mai!" Zuko shouted. He rushed forward and pushed some of the rocks off of her as he gathered her up in his arms. "Mai?!" He shook her gently, but she gave him no response. She was bleeding from where rocks had pierced her in the side and there was a little bit of blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth. "Mai!!!"
Everything around him began to dissolve. This couldn't be right – this couldn't be happening again. No, he couldn't lose somebody else he held so dear to him. He could not lose Mai too.
He felt somebody grab him from behind and pull him backwards, forcing him to release Mai's body. Somebody had Ty Lee and they were holding her arms behind her back. She fell to her knees, tears in her eyes as she watched the lifeless body of her friend.
So this is it... Zuko thought. It's over – we failed. The Fire Lord hung his head and felt something warm and wet streaming down his face. I failed. How could he not pull the blame upon himself? It had been his decision to go through with this. They'd all turned to him when a choice had to be made. And he'd made the wrong choice; a choice which had led to all of them being captured, and Mai being killed. It was all his fault.
"We have to do something!" Azula shouted as she leaned over the well. "Mother..." She turned to the older woman. "Please, we have to do something! We can't let this happen!"
From the well, a mist seemed to rise and form the figure of a woman who came to stand outside the well with the other three spirit women. It was Mai's spirit and she stood there, looking confused and afraid. When she saw Azula and Ursa, she shut her eyes again and breathed a sigh. She moved her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
The first thing that Azula noticed was that Mai was not completely there. Her spirit figure was very transparent – more so than it should have been. She looked to her mother in confusion.
"She is not dead just yet," Ursa explained. "Her spirit has not fully left her body yet."
"So she can still be saved, right?!" Azula urged.
Ursa bit her lip, "Darling..."
"Mum!"
"Yes, she could be saved, but chances of someone arriving to help her in time are slim."
Azula hung her head and pressed her lips together in a tight, thin line. Mai opened her eyes again and on seeing the tears on her friends face, stepped towards her with a hand outreached. Azula opened her eyes to her friend's touch and put a hand over Mai's when it touched her cheek.
"Oh Mai... thank you for saving my brother... if only you could have been saved too..."
Aang heard their distressed cries, their calls to each other. He opened his eyes and saw them all fighting. He saw Mai save Zuko, and saw her fall to the ground. His heart skipped a beat – one of his friends was dying and he was chained up and could do nothing. Zuko held her in his arms and tried to wake her, but she didn't stir. Dai Li agents were everywhere – they took them all and held them back. He watched his friends struggling and trying to get free. He saw some of them crying and he wished that Mai would move or at least show some sort of sign that she was still alive.
The Dai Li agents began to drag his friends away...
No, he thought to himself. I can't let this happen! I can't just let them be imprisoned or killed like me! They're here because they are trying to save me – I can't let them become imprisoned too! I can't let these people do this to my friends.
They were hurting them. One of the uniformed men pulled on Suki's hair and grabbed her roughly by the arm as he dragged her away. Aang heard her cry out in pain. Someone was dragging Sokka by his hair.
No, not my friends!
The glow in the room changed from an eerie green to an eerie blue and Admiral Shang felt a chill shoot up his spine. His eyes flashed over the room and rested on the Avatar for a moment. The monk's eyes and tattoos were aglow and there was a current of air stirring the dust on the ground.
Shit... he thought to himself.
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing when they noticed Aang, and much to the horror of Long Feng, Shang and the Dai Li agents, Aang bent the metal that restrained him so that it released him. The Avatar stood, encircled by a sphere of air, frowning at them all.
Struck with fear, Dai Li agents fled, leaving many openings and exits to the prison room. Those who remained stepped back, mouths agape. Admiral Shang slunk away unnoticed while he could, knowing and fearing what would come next.
Aang shook the ground and cracks appeared everywhere. Suddenly there was wind, and it blew everywhere with gale force. Everyone in the room had to cover their eyes to protect them from the dusts being whipped around.
Zuko looked up from his place on the floor and saw Mai still lying where she had fallen and realizing he was no longer being held, made his way towards her.
Aang's eyes narrowed on Long Feng, who stood in an earthbending stance before him, ready to fight. His eyes were wide, but showed no fear. But he was tense – too tense not to be panicking inside. And as Aang inhaled air, Long Feng squeezed his eyes shut, knowing that he was no match for the Avatar in the Avatar State. When Aang breathed out, he breathed fire. Long Feng desperately raised the earth in front of him, but the flames were so powerful and intense, it was just no use.
Rocks from the ceiling began to fall as the floor continued shaking. Sokka helped Suki up and Ty Lee managed to bring Windu back to consciousness. They all looked about until they found Zuko and Mai, and they all carefully headed over to huddle over Mai's body, being careful to avoid falling rocks and making sure they did not get caught and swept away in the updraft of the wind.
"We need to get out of here!" Sokka shouted over the noise.
Zuko looked up to the boy. His face was pale and expressionless. All he could do was nod.
When the fire erupting from Aang's mouth died away, nothing was left of Long Feng other than a pile of ashes. There were no more Dai Li agents left lingering in the room – they'd all fled. But Aang was still in the Avatar State and there were still rocks falling from the ceiling and the wind was still violent.
"We have to calm him down!" Suki cried. "If we don't calm him down soon, we're all gonna get blown into the walls or crushed to death by rocks!"
As if on cue, a large piece of earth landed just behind her, causing her to jump.
"How do we calm him down?!" Windu shouted.
"Sokka!" Ty Lee called. "You're pretty much family to him! Talk to him! He's known you longest – if anyone can calm him down, it'll be you!"
The Water Tribe man ogled at the acrobat for a moment before nodding. "Ok, I'll try!"
Suki stood up with him and together, they edged their way towards Aang. The others remained in a huddle over Mai's body.
"Is she still alive?" Ty Lee asked, her voice choking her.
Zuko frowned and put two fingers to her neck. On feeling the faintness of her pulse, he cringed.
"She is, but only just. I don't think she'll be with us much longer..." He did not attempt to shout it over the wind, but Ty Lee caught every word of it. Her heart fell and Windu put a hand on her back. She turned to face him and pressed her face against his chest as she started sobbing.
"If we can keep her warm, maybe she'll last a little longer," Windu suggested. "Maybe it'll be long enough to get us all out of here and get her to help. She's more likely to die from shock than from blood-loss from the looks of it."
He may have only been saying it for Ty Lee's sake, just to give her a bit of hope, as false as it may have been. But it brought himself and Zuko a little bit of comfort too and Zuko removed his outer robe and wrapped it around her gently, keeping her cradled in his arms.
Sokka got as close to Aang as he could.
"Sokka, stop," Suki shouted. "Any closer and he might hurt you!"
"He's one of my best friends, Suki! I gotta do this as best I can!" He looked his wife in the eye and gave her a quirky half smile, "Stay here." He turned and moved a little bit closer to Aang.
Suki hesitated a moment but managed to resist to urge to continue to follow him. If Sokka wanted her to stay where she was, it was probably for the best.
"Aang!" Sokka shouted over the wind. "Aang! Buddy listen to me! We're safe! You did it – you saved us!!! Now you gotta calm down!" He was in arms reach of the boy and he reached out and grasped his arm, as daring as it was. Aang turned to him with glowing eyes and a frowning face, but Sokka would not step back or let go of him. He was afraid, but he would be strong for his friend. "Aang, we still need your help! But you can only keep helping us if you calm down!"
After a moment, the wind began to calm down. It became more gentle – more like a breeze than a hurricane. The frown on Aang's face melted away and his features relaxed. His expression became vacant as he stared blankly back at Sokka. The Water Tribesman felt relief flood him, but Aang's eyes and tattoos did not stop glowing.
Aang stepped forward and Sokka let go of him and let him pass. He walked passed Suki too and they watched him go. Zuko, Ty Lee and Windu looked up as he walked towards them and he stopped in front of them and looked down at Mai's limp body.
His friends watched him intently as he lifted his hands out in front of him and made a gentle swaying motion with them. Water from the air began to gather around his hands and follow his hand movements and soon he was holding a large glowing ball, much resembling the healing water Katara often used. Aang bent down next to Mai and let the water spread out over her body.
Mai's spirit became more and more transparent to Azula and the others as Aang healed her body. She turned back into shapeless mist and disappeared back down the well, back into the human world.
Azula watched what happened below them with wide eyes filled with amazement. Slowly, a smile spread across her lips.
"Everything is going to be alright."
She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and she relaxed. Yue smiled too.
As the wounds on Mai's body from where the rocks had pierced her closed up, the others watched in relief. Thankful eyes stared up at Aang and teary smiles flashed his way.
"Oh Aang..." Ty Lee whispered gratefully.
When the healing was complete, the water evaporated back into the air and the glow of Aang's tattoos and eyes dulled away. The boy swayed on his feet as he left the Avatar State and he fell unconscious with a small groan of exhaustion. Sokka caught him before he could hit the floor and held on to his friend. Mai was still unconscious too, but as Zuko put his fingers against her neck again, he smiled.
"She's better than she was two minutes ago..." he whispered.
Ty Lee smiled tightly at him, "Thank goodness..."
They all exchanged smiles of relief and joy. They were safe.
Suki suddenly gasped, clutching a hand over her stomach.
"What's wrong?!" Sokka said, his voice rising a pitch.
"Oh..." She giggled at him. "Calm down Sokka. Just pregnancy pains..."
"Oh Spirits! All of this excitement cannot be good for our baby!"
Ty Lee and Windu started laughing. Zuko shook his head and Suki rolled her eyes.
"Oh Sokka..."
"Let's get out of here before something else happens..." he sighed.
Sokka carried Aang and Zuko carried Mai. Windu led the way back to their exit and they helped each other get back out. Appa was waiting for them, right where they had left him, Momo, Katara and Toph still in his saddle.
Ok guys! There you go – a nice long chapter from me! :D I am really sorry it took me so long to write all of this and get it posted! I also apologize for any typos of grammatical errors – most of this was done late at night.
Guys! There are only a couple more chapters to go for this story! I'm really excited to get them written and hopefully they won't take quit so long to write this time!
Anyway, I need three (3) or more reviews before I can update! So keep that in mind and make sure you review!!!!! Love you guys lots :D So leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter ;)
GO!