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Chapter Thirty-Two

Before Sunrise

An old man and a young child crouched behind the barrels and boxes in their large ship's storage compartment. Above them they heard the activity on board, as they had for weeks now, and the old man felt a great sense of shame at his foolish plan. He had been naïve to think getting out of the Fire Nation would be easy. They had thought they were safe as soon as they were in open water, but the ship had encountered a blockade three weeks into their journey- Azula's navy was posted just outside Earth Kingdom waters, telling the captains to turn around with their passengers and return to home port. That day, the passengers aboard had hushed during their communal meal, and had heard the captain arguing about their route, the passengers' rights, but to no avail. He had been ordered, along with all other ships heading out of the Fire Nation, to submit under martial law.

As soon as the first soldiers boarded the ship, Iroh had spirited Lani away to the safest place he could find- the cargo hold. It was there he cut her hair above her ears and rubbed dirt and oil from the chestnuts they found in the storage units into their hair, coloring his auburn and hers a redder color. By all accounts, in the green clothing they'd found, they would just look like a poor old man and a young Earth Kingdom boy, stowaways. If anyone were looking for him, hopefully it would be enough to throw him or her off.

The last few weeks had been spent huddled in darkness, stealing food and stealing away from the light coming off the lanterns swung round by superstitious crew members. Some said they could feel a presence down there, but Iroh had been very careful to shield all proof that they were even there. The soldiers stayed above deck, and Iroh only ventured up to hear their news when he knew Lani would not be disturbed. He'd taught the little girl how to keep herself warm with her breath, echoing the same words he had used to teach Zuko years before, in what now felt like many lifetimes ago. Iroh told stories to lull Lani to sleep, and when she slept, he told stories to keep himself awake. About his childhood, the philosophies he'd encountered as a young man. About his family, his dearly departed son and wife, and how the loss of them helped him to cherish anyone he had left. Agni, he told stories about Zuko, such as when Zuko had finally broken down in his older years and admitted what he felt was the first time he'd truly bested the woman who he would come to love.

Zuko smacked a hand over his face, turning bright red, his scar flushing as he recalled the night at the North Pole. "She was being a brat, so I called her a peasant, which she is, and then after she froze me to the wall the sun rose and I blasted her… and she was already unconscious, but I just stood there like an idiot and was all, 'you rise with the moon, I rise with the sun'," he repeated, and Iroh chuckled, leaving the young prince to cringe. "I never thought you of all people would have a penchant for one liners," he teased, and Zuko buried his head in his arms, the tips of his ears pink. It was moments like those that he remembered most fondly now, in the brief periods of restful meditation between hiding and gathering information.

The trip upstairs that particular night had revealed their proximity to shore, and Iroh knew it was only a matter of hours before they docked.

"Uncle Iroh?" Lani poked him in the stomach and handed him a round, hard hunk of bread. He squeezed the crust and broke it into two, smiling at the little girl in regret, wishing he had thought of something different, a fool proof plan. Passing into the Earth Kingdom would have ensured their safety, and he would have fulfilled his promise to Katara. Thinking on her desperate face caused him a deep sense of grief, and the hopelessness of it all was as certain as it was frightening. He knew from his years as a general that a fight was a fight, and sometimes, no plans can be perfect, and people are lost. And even though he and the little girl would be thrown back into the battlefield, Iroh vowed that Lani would not be lost. He would die before anything happened to the girl.

"Thank you, I didn't realize I was hungry," he said. The girl smiled up at him sunnily, and he knew he had to tell her, prepare her. "Lani, I discovered that we are close to home again. The stewards say we're fortunate to be docking so early, because our fuel supply was stretched further than it was supposed to be. Our crew was very responsible, but other ships are not so lucky. As soon as we dock, our own ship is refueling and turning around to go get stranded ships and haul them in."

Lani nodded, her thin face serious and worried. "Should we go back to our cave?" she asked. Iroh shook his head. Lani frowned, and reached inside the hem of her shirt to grip Katara's necklace. Iroh had told the child only what was necessary, knowing it was far from enough, knowing that the absence of any new information was worrying the girl. My responsibility, Iroh thought fleetingly, and sighed.

"We cannot go anywhere we have gone before. We should flee Caldera as soon as we get there, but as far as where to find safety, I cannot know until we arrive." His time at sea had been cut off from any contact, and there was no way for news to find him below deck, in the cargo hold. All he knew was from what he'd heard, stolen bits of conversation.

Lani looked down at her bread and swallowed thickly. "Can we… I know it's dangerous, but can we find Mama first?" Iroh hesitated, not knowing how to answer without telling the child things she was not yet old enough to handle.

"Your mother told me to keep you safe. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid searching for Katara will put you in harm's way. We can't go home, Lani," Iroh said gently. Lani shook her head, sniffling hard.

"Never had one," she mumbled, pressing her lips together to stifle the tears. "I never… I mean, I was living there, and everything, but I just…" Her voice trailed off, and Iroh listened quietly. He could tell she was struggling with her words. "I keep getting taken away," she said finally, ages worth of pain compressed into one sentence.

Iroh understood. It was hard to feel secure and safe in a changing environment. Katara loved the girl fiercely, but Iroh knew from experience that a child could not live on love alone. There had to be control, safety, peace. "Lani," he said, "your mother was a warrior before she met you. She had a mission of sorts, and when you came in, you showed her that there was another path for her to take. She chose you, my little friend," he told her, and her eyes shone with quiet joy. "She chose you because she loved you, and because she didn't want to be alone and hurting anymore. But a warrior does not always get to choose when her battle ends, and Katara is still fighting her battles. She never wanted you to be a part of that. I tried to keep you from it, but…" He fought for clarity, feeling old and long-winded. Lani waited patiently, trusting him to tell her the truth, her expression so like Katara's that he wouldn't have guessed they were not related by blood. "You are so young, Lani. Katara was forced to grow up at a very young age, and she never wanted that for you. The only way she knows how to keep you is for you to be separate for a while."

"So," Lani replied, "it's not that she… doesn't want me? Or thinks I'm not g-good enough?" Iroh dropped his bread and wrapped his arms around the girl tightly, holding on in the darkness, muffling her sobs against his broad chest. He soothed her softly, rubbing her back in small circles.

"You are not only good enough, you are perfectly hers," he told her firmly. "Katara can only claim you when she is perfectly herself again, and until then, we must fight our battles separately. In peacetime, we will all be reunited," he counseled her. Lani nodded and fingered her pendant again.

Suddenly, the ship shuddered, and a groaning sound resounded through the chamber. The stowaways froze, looking into each others' eyes. "It is time," Iroh called over the noise, and, heart beating hard and fast, he stood up, guiding Lani along with his hand. They already knew what they were supposed to do, and they did it quickly and silently. Within the hour, they were mingling with the other passengers, staying close together as they meandered towards the side of the ship. Crew members were interspersed with soldiers around the edge of the boat, watching everyone carefully. Iroh noticed the captain with an armored guard, going over a list of names- passengers, no doubt. He shielded his face and pulled Lani towards the gangplank.

They moved down with the other passengers, the young child riding his shoulders, her head bobbing above everyone else's. Lani stayed quiet and Iroh stayed vigilant, looking around for a way out. He felt a tug on his hair. He looked up, and Lani was pointing between the people in front of him. As they moved, he saw why- the passengers were being processed by guards, and men carrying sketches of his face were pulling old men of his height and build to the side. "Iroh! Oh, Iroh!" Lani whispered passionately, clutching the top of his head. The moonlight glittered off the waves, reminding him of the water bender, like she was watching him and waiting to see what he would do. Iroh reached up and pulled her off his shoulders, bending down with her as he was jostled by the other passengers moving off the boat.

"Listen carefully. We will try to get through together, but if they catch me, you must go. They must not find you Lani, do you understand?" The girl was starting to cry, her small chest heaving. "Lani. Stop crying, it will all be okay. Find a woman with children and stay with her- tell her your father is outside the city, ask her to take you there. I will find you- here, take this." Iroh reached into his sleeve and withdrew a small Pai Sho tile, thrusting it into her hands, then grabbing her shoulders. "Show this to anyone you can trust. Use your instincts. Lani?" She met his eyes, and he wiped a tear off her cheek.

"Iroh," she whimpered, agonized, terrified. Self-loathing burned through his veins, and he grasped her hand, pulling her with the crowd. The people around him were nervous enough not to notice, but as he walked down the plank, Iroh could see the guards already looking at him. His heart thudded, and he let go of Lani's hand. He looked down one last time, expecting her tear-stained face, but she was staring down at the Pai Sho tablet, her jaw set. She looked up at him, her brown eyes shining through the darkness of night. "I'm scared," she told him, not a complaint, but a fact. He squeezed her shoulder, stepping off the slope and onto firm ground, the border of guards no more than a few hundred feet from them.

"Everyone has a battle, my child. Fear is only the knowledge of something great to come." As the words left his mouth, a soldier shouted to him, and he knew he was caught, that they must separate. He pushed her shoulder gently, and the child hunched her shoulders, lengthened her stride, and melted away into the crowd, as only a child used to being alone could. Iroh stepped forward, felt a hand roughly grasp his arm, and turned to face the suspicious countenance of the soldier.

"Come with me, sir," the man ordered, "I have to check your identity, a known criminal has-"

"That will be unnecessary," Iroh said calmly. "I am the man you are looking for. I am Iroh." The guard didn't react, he just nodded his head and gripped his arm tighter.

"Where's the girl?" the guard demanded. Iroh raised his eyebrows, shaking his head in confusion. The guard tapped his foot impatiently, then yelled to a guard next to him. "Hey- he's supposed to have a girl with him, right?" he asked, and the guard nodded.

"Yeah. We got different directions for the girl, but they're supposed to arrive together." Iroh closed his eyes momentarily, thanking the spirits that he'd managed to draw their attention away from the girl, and he knew that because they didn't have a description with them, she would be safe as a 'boy'.

"I assure you, I am Iroh, the Dragon of the West. My niece, I'm sure, is expecting me?" he asked. The men glanced at each other, and nodded.

"You have to come with me," the guard said. Iroh bowed his head, conceding defeat.

"I will do so peacefully," he lied, knowing at some point he'd be in a favorable position to strike, when he wasn't surrounded. Caldera rose up around him as he was escorted from the docks, the early morning moon bathing the streets in pearly luminescence, and the great General Iroh bided his time.

Katara's breathing was ragged as the men unchained her and brought her to her feet. She sagged, her limbs numb, trying to walk between them. Every nerve was alert, waiting, taking in everything she could. If this was the last air she smelled, she would have the scent memorized. She missed the taste of water- for being without it, she realized it did in fact have a taste. The feeling of the rocky floor, then smooth halls under her feet as she was taken up into the palace hall, was barely there due to her numbness, but she could still feel the cool stone under her toes. It was the least decorative, least pleasant hall she'd ever seen in the palace, and it led directly from the prison to the upper levels of the grounds. There were no words during her journey into the open air, but as soon as she felt the moonlight touch her skin, Katara sighed in relief. Her spirits were there to witness her passing, to protect her as she moved into their embrace.

As she stepped into the courtyard where Azula and Zuko had battled all those years ago, her legs failed her, and she fell. Katara hit the ground hard, and for a moment, wild panic smothered her pride and she cried out. The guards only picked her up and continued, but she knew their pace had slowed, and she resisted their hold, bracing herself. "Let me go!" she yelled.

"Don't be afraid, Katara." Her head snapped up, and Ursa stood before her, in the middle of the platform, her arms tied behind her to a stake but her face still blessedly serene. In the months since she'd last seen Zuko's mother, the woman had gotten thinner, and there were more lines of grey in her hair than black. She'd aged a year for every month that had passed, but she was still beautiful. "Everything's going to be alright," Ursa told her gently. Something about her presence calmed Katara, who nodded, and let herself be carted forward towards the second stake.

When the man holding her left arm dropped his grip, Katara knew she was free for only a moment and flung herself forward onto Ursa, wrapping her arms around her, burying her head in Ursa's shoulder. She was certain the guards would pull her away instantly, but as Ursa laid her cheek on top of Katara's head and shushed her in a motherly way, the guards stood back. A glimmer of hope shone in the moment, and Katara went for it. "I'm sorry," she cried, her fingers scrabbling at the knots around Ursa's wrists. She couldn't see what she was doing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to end this way!" she said, and just as her fingers dug under the rope, the guards pulled her back gently. She felt something loosen, felt Ursa twitch as she realized what had happened.

"It's alright," Ursa told her again as Katara allowed them to tie her arms behind her, to the pole next to the dowager queen. Katara looked on as the men securing her stepped back and dropped to one knee, their faces twisted into grimaces of regret.

"Beg your pardon, Lady Ursa," they murmured, and Katara froze, watching with wide eyes as Ursa smiled benevolently upon the men who were acting towards their deaths.

"You are forgiven, gentlemen. Go in peace, and with my blessing." At her words, one of the men in the back of the group stood and bolted out with a strangled howl, and the other men bore Ursa's forgiveness like a weight on their backs. Katara knew how they must hate themselves in that moment.

Then, the soldiers asked Katara for her forgiveness. She thought back to every fight, every day in the dungeons, every run through the city's alleys, chasing and being chased. It was never these men who needed to apologize, but as Katara whispered, "I forgive you," she felt something light blue and sorrowful dissolve in her mind, and her heart lifted. She said it again, louder that time, and the men stood hastily, turning to wait for Azula's arrival. Katara said it again, to herself, near silently. "I forgive you," she said, and felt that magical weightlessness.

She heard Ursa whisper from beside her, "Be ready," and she was. Katara felt ready for anything, because she was just so tired, and now, so light that she could float along with the breeze, dissolve herself into the earth and air around her and just be done. Anything that happened now, she would greet with a calm countenance and a clear conscience.

And so, breathing in that fresh air, tasting the bitter gleam of exploding stars and the dust of ending worlds, Katara waited for sunrise.

The palace was deserted. Lonely footsteps echoed down the hall, and stable hands balanced a tray. Jin moved the tray to his shoulder and knocked on Azula's door an hour before sunrise, hearing her muffled, "Enter," and gently pressing the door open. In the first few weeks of his time caring for her, she had almost always met him at the door, her paranoia not allowing her to rest for more than a few hours at a time. In the night, he'd been stationed a ways from her door, closer than anyone else, an installation that her mother had hoped would remind the teen that she was still cared for. And as much as he hated it, Jin did care about the young, insane woman, in a distant sort of way. As he entered the room and spotted her at the window, staring through the sheer curtains into the courtyard below, his heart squeezed uncomfortably.

"Lord Azula?" he said quietly, wanting to announce his presence. She had started to trust him after the night he found her raving through a bad dream, waking so terrified and delirious that he'd had to barricade her in her room just to keep her from setting fire to the whole palace. He still bore the scars, and she still had never apologized, nor spoken of it again. She was a moody, secretive child, still longing for someone to tell her, 'you're not allowed to do that' just to show they cared. He had tried, and she'd begun to unfurl around him. He had learned about the relationship between Ursa and her daughter, and he'd seen the true, hateful madness that had been trained into her, that had become her.

It was why he disagreed with Ursa on this last, most important matter. Ursa believed Azula could change. Jin knew differently, and now it was proven by the girl's willingness to kill her own mother.

"It's finished, you know," Azula said softly, without looking away from the window. "My reign is secured, and my city will undergo a purge to eliminate all contest to me. They will only have me." Jin bowed his head as he walked over to the fireplace and swung the full kettle over the flames, heating water for her morning tea. Then, he sat and shook the tea leaves out of their tin, readying everything as he watched Azula watch her mother.

"Are you happy?" he asked her, knowing she would kill anyone else but him for asking. He waited tensely for an answer, not knowing what he was looking for.

"No," Azula sighed, and stepped away from the curtains, running a hand through her messy hair, picking at the tangled strands. Jin said nothing for a solid minute as she struggled to unbraid the strands, but he stood to intervene when she let out a frustrated snarl.

"Here," he said as she yanked, almost tearing her own hair out, "let me." He pushed her arms away and she narrowed her eyes at him as he pulled her to her mirror and sat her down. "Where are your maids?" he asked. "You are to be out in the courtyard soon, and yet here I am, making your tea like a butler." In all truth, he had told the maids to stay away. He'd made sure Azula would be alone in her room, and he could tell Azula herself thought nothing of it.

"My maids, obviously, are gone. I don't know why I'm surprised… they couldn't be trusted," she said, and her mouth curved so familiarly over the words that he could only wonder how many times she'd told herself that. The kettle boiled, and she huffed an irritated breath at the shrieking noise. Jin dropped her hair and got to it immediately, sensing that she was very close to her breaking point. As he pulled the kettle out of the flames, using a cloth to protect his hand, he said over his shoulder, "it would be easier to untangle your hair if you oiled it."

"What do you know?" Azula muttered back, but she got up anyways and closed the door behind her as she walked into the separate room. In a moment, he heard water splashing in the basin.

Jin's body burst into action as adrenaline surged through him. His hands shook as he pulled the packet out of his sleeve, as he pushed open the small flap. The powder fell into the tea leaves in her cup, and as he poured the hot water over the mug, he avoided breathing in the steam, regretfully burning the paper packet at the same time in the coals. Ursa would never forgive him for this, but it was the only way. He felt the importance of his actions surge through him, and the shaking quelled. Only the pain of his impending betrayal remained, and the sound of running water in the other room.

When Azula returned, her hair dripping down the back of her robe and the bottle of oil in her hands, he set her cup in front of her as she sat before the mirror, grabbed her silver hair pick, and began to oil her hair, combing through the strands with his fingers after using the pick to separate it into sections. For a moment, he allowed the noise to soothe him, and the girl in the mirror relaxed, her face tired in a way that only the loneliest of people could recognize.

"You're rather good at doing a woman's hair, for a guard-not-butler," Azula said, the closest she'd gotten to a joke yet, and he forced a smile onto his face. She wasn't paying attention to him, however- she gazed towards the window. "You're good at caring for us, aren't you? I must admit, I was determined not to keep you here, but Mother said…" Azula blinked, and shook her head a bit, as if she was clearing away a fog. "She recommended you because you listen. She wanted me to talk to you, I suppose." His hands shook as he pulled another section over her shoulder and started to comb through it. "I've never had anyone help me because they wanted to. They were always forced to help me, and then it was never done right." She slammed her fist down on the table, and he fought the urge to wrap her into a hug. If she was still redeemable, she would have proved it by now. Just because she was young didn't mean she could be saved. He knew the opposite was true, knew he must do it. "You're doing this right though, so perhaps…" Azula trailed off again, her mind occupied, studying her wide-eyed reflection as Jin swept half her hair up on top of her head and left the other half down.

"Your mother does hers the same way," he said quietly, and his breath caught ever so slightly as Azula reached for her cup and blew into the liquid, steam billowing into her nose. Then, she drank, two long droughts, and set the cup back on the counter. "She told me she would have loved to do this someday for you," he remembered aloud, and to his surprise, Azula's eyes flickered to his in the mirror, sorrowful and wondrous.

"Yes, my mother…" Azula started, then stopped, her eyes bugging out as her face sank into an expression of pain. He wondered if the poison had already gone into effect, but then she spoke again, quite urgently, her fingers tensing against the wood. "What if… I didn't want this anymore? Jin. Is it possible… is it possible," she said, swallowing thickly, "to go back? What if I could take it all back?" Dread lanced through him at her words, at the redemption they spoke of- the chance he had just taken from her, in the form of poison.

"I don't want-" He stepped back as she suddenly rose from her seat and turned to him, her eyes shining, her voice childlike even as the sweat stood out on her brow. Horror crept up from the base of his spine to his throat as he realized the true weight of what he had done. She stumbled over her chair and fell, gasping, her features shocked. Jin was frozen, staring down as she looked up at him in need and confusion. "Jin, I feel-" she gasped, her chest fluttering, her whole body trembling. His eyes went to the cup on the table. She hadn't had enough to kill her right away. His body was rigid, the oil in one hand, the silver pick in the other, and he looked back down to the fallen princess.

He could tell from the hurt in her eyes that she understood, and the second she got it, Azula broke down, knowing her life was at an end. "No… help me!" she wailed, her voice broken, and she lunged forward towards the guard. He yelled in fright and thrust the pick forward as her hands clawed at his shoulders, as her body jolted with the intrusion. She clung to him, her wet hair at his chin, against his chest, and he looked down, over the crest of her back, to see the tip of the silver hair pick jutting through her, a dark stain spreading down the fabric of her robe.

Her body was still against his, but for her breath. It rose in quick sobs, shuddering. "I'm sorry," he whispered, tears prickling the backs of his eyes. He said, "Your mother…" not knowing how to admit that he'd been told to protect her, and had instead killed her. Before he could find the words, she whimpered- but then she breathed in, one long swoop of air, and as soon as he realized what was coming, her arms locked around his back- too late-

"No!" Azula howled, a blast of lightning erupted through them, around them, as his body tensed and tightened and snapped, as the air bit into him like needles, like whiteness, like death. She clung to him as she electrocuted him, screaming, her voice rising as his breath left him, pain, pain, pain-

He dropped to the floor, twitching, gargling. Azula swayed above him, gasping, horrified, still alive. The pick clattered to the floor, and he watched through hazy eyes as Azula pressed a hand to her side. I've failed, he thought, and on the heels of that, with horror, she thinks her mother wanted this.

"How… how could you? Jin…? Jin!" she sobbed, "I thought you understood! How could you do this to me?" she raged at him, falling to her knees at his side at the same time as the air siren began to wail, to signify the attack on the city. "Mother," she realized in the deepest horror she could imagine, in the only grief she'd ever felt. "Mother told you to," she moaned, just a scared seventeen year old with her heart broken. She pushed away from Jin's body, crawled down the hall, dragged herself upright.

Azula could see shapes, moving figures she couldn't directly look at, and felt a thick, cloying darkness creeping among her bones as the old man died, as the airships began their slow procession towards the Third Ring. Her head swam and she staggered on her way, the energy in her body razor sharp, the face of her mother calling at her from every corner. She was in the halls, and then on the stairs. You lied, Mother, she thought hazily. "I need t… know. She- l tel l me I k no l…" her voice cut off because she didn't sound like herself, couldn't hear herself. Was there a difference anymore?

Her head ached and the night swam in front of her, pinpricks of light, shadows clinging to the air in her lungs.

In the tunnels, an army of silent bodies froze as the siren cut through the air and through the foundations of the land, echoing around them. The man leading them tensed, and they looked to him anxiously, remembering the families they left sleeping peacefully in their beds. "They're attacking! Who are they attacking?" voices cried out, and even more voices rose to quiet them as Zuko pushed back through bodies, towards the entrance of the tunnels. The sirens rose and fell. Two minutes went by, and he felt Toph come to his side, her characteristic punch half-hearted. "What's going on?" she said, "I don't feel anything." Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"Then they're using the airships," he said, just as the first explosion rattled the ground, just as screams started to find their way through the tunnels from the town entrance. Zuko's rage spiked, his city under siege, his love and mother waiting for him at the end of this road. He couldn't be in two places at once. Realizing he'd have to go on alone to protect him people took less than a second, and he turned to the young woman at his side. "Toph, you have to lead them back out. They're attacking the city, you've got to-" The tide of motion following those words was immediate, and he braced himself against the crowd surging back the way they came, catching Toph's sleeve and shouting in her ear. "You've got to turn Sokka away, back towards Caldera- Azula will kill everyone."

Toph nodded, shouting back, "Fine, but after that we're coming back to help you!" as she started moving away. He knew she couldn't stop him, and she knew where she would be most useful. "Don't die!' she yelled over her shoulder as Zuko began to run in the opposite direction, and despite the situation, his lips still curved into a smile as he heard voice echoing one last time, "I mean, don't die again!"

Then, Zuko put his head down and ran.

Iroh walked alongside three soldiers, with two more behind him and his hands bound behind his back, tired of the questions. "I do not know the girl you are talking about," he answered simply, and the men sighed.

"We were told to find you, and that you'd be traveling with a little girl. If you're Iroh, where's the girl?" Iroh said nothing, shrugging his shoulders, and the men asked him nothing more. It was silent in the streets by the port, the sky beginning to lighten, but as he walked, he looked around, and behind him. All the soldiers who had been watching the ships dock were now miniature dots, heading over the southern mountainside. "Why are the men going into the hillside?" he asked, and got no answer. A few of the men exchanged furtive glances, and Iroh chuckled. "I only mean that it is an exhausting climb for so early in the day."

"Well any later, and they wouldn't have legs to climb with," a man behind him muttered humorously, and his fellows chuckled as the one on Iroh's right shouted, "Silence!" It was too late, because Iroh was already putting the pieces together, and he looked in horror towards the area Lani had disappeared to. "Well he was about to find out soon anyways," the first man defended himself. Iroh raised his eyebrows, and the man grinned at him. "Lucky you didn't have a girl with you, else she'd have met the same fate as all the other traitorous bastards living in this city."

"Where are you taking me?" Iroh demanded. "If I would meet that fate anyways, where are you taking me?" The man on his right sighed, pushing him forward so he would walk faster.

"Fire Lord Azula has charged you with treason, the punishment for which is execution. She wants us personally to make sure you get to the official execution spot before die, as you have an unfortunate habit of turning up places you're not supposed to." He walked up to the guard at the gates into the Second Ring, and as Iroh was shoved through the gates, the man said, "Give them the signal." The man nodded, his face impassive, and turned to a pulley system with a lamp on it. Iroh made an involuntary move forward, and all at once the soldiers grabbed him and dragged him back. He resisted, struggling, watching the signal go up.

The lantern was lit and risen, and Iroh stopped completely, pushing back against their insistence as the sirens began to wail, up and down, crying like an infant. Noise filled the air, the rushing of wind, faint cries from those who saw it coming. Gargantuan shadows crossed over the land, tied to the airships, and he could already see the cords trailing down to the ground where the soldiers would slide down to engage at ground level. "No!" he shouted. If he had known his departure was the signal, he would never have moved, and now, he struggled against both the realization and the bonds around his wrists.

"Stop!" the guards cried, lurching forward to subdue him. Iroh opened his mouth and breathed fire as yells of pain erupted around him, and of the fire blasts they shot back before he felled them, only two hit him and one of the two singed his ropes to ashes. Freed, his mouth still smoking, Iroh looked back towards the sea, then overhead at the airship. He had to stop them. Lani was still in the city.

With the path before him clear and nearly impossible, Iroh could only begin the journey, propelling himself up to grab the end of a cord snapping in the wind, and pulling himself up hand over hand.

As the first distant blasts of fire ripped through the town, faces flashed through Katara's mind. People she might never see again, citizens trapped under burning buildings. Ursa stood ashen and scared beside her, and the men guarding them shouted in shock and anger as smoke began to billow up over the buildings. From the palace on the hill, Katara could see everything- the black dots that were soldiers swirling down from the airships and into the fray, the collapsing structures. "Someone needs to stop them," Ursa gasped. "Azula wasn't supposed to be able…" Katara's confusion was evident, and Ursa said quickly, "Jin was supposed to secure her. I don't know how, but he failed."

"Can you get your hands free?" Katara said as loud as she dared, over the sounds of chaos flooding in.

"Not quite," Ursa said, "if I could just- oh!" She gasped, and Katara followed her line of sight to the right, to the entrance of the palace and the blood-soaked, shivering form there. Katara saw the tears coursing down Azula's cheeks, her absent eyes, her feverish skin, and next to Katara, Ursa erupted into movement, and started yelling. "Azula! Azula!" She was struggling, and Azula's eyes snapped over to where they stood. She took a step towards them, then another step, plodding along, grimacing, gasping for air. Katara could see the effects of poison, and she knew Ursa saw only her daughter, needing her- not the murderous gleam in her eye, not the way her hands bent into claws.

"Ursa, wait," Katara said, but the woman wouldn't listen to her and continued to fight for freedom, twisting, never looking away from Azula. Her daughter growled, and as the guards came forward towards her, a snarl rolled from between her teeth and she sent a booming blast of blue flames after them. They yelled as they were bowled over by searing heat, and scattered, backing up towards the walls, fleeing for the corners of the courtyard. Katara whipped her head back an forth, looking for any way out, shaking the pole with the force of her struggle. "Ursa, stop! She's dangerous, don't-" she gasped and cut off as Ursa broke free from her bonds and rushed towards her daughter. "Stop!" Katara cried. Azula punched out, Ursa dodged the flames, rolling away in surprise as Azula fell to her knees, retching, clutching her throat.

The dowager queen surged back up and fell around her daughter, hands resting on her quaking, bony shoulders for a moment as she rolled Azula onto her back, crying out in concern and sadness. "Azula, my darling, what happened to you?" she was saying, her words spilling over into each other until they were senseless crooning, but Katara could hear every one of Azula's ragged words.

"You tried to have him kill me… Mother- you- tried to kill me," she panted disjointedly, pushing her mother's hands off her. Ursa shook her head wordlessly, her mouth open in a silent cry, trying to cover the wound on her stomach, trying to be her mother even as she arched away from her.

"No, honey, no," she cried back. Then, she was blasted backwards by the force of Azula's kick, thrown into the ground as the girl flashed to her feet, swaying unsteadily. Katara felt the rope cut into her wrists as she moved crazily, needing to get to Ursa's side.

"You wanted to kill me! You've always wanted it, ever since Father found out, because you love Zuko best- I-" Azula stepped towards her mother as Katara fought to pull her arms free, as Ursa gazed up at her in love and longing. The girl retched, and when Ursa reached out for her, split the air with a crackle of flames so intense, Ursa had to cover her face.

"Stop! Stop!" Katara yelled, for the one thing she hadn't imagined was watching Ursa die, watching her give herself up for the love of her dear, deranged daughter. "Azula, you don't have to do this!"

Azula laughed, high and manic, pointing to her mother. "The secret will die tonight. You cared for it more than me, so tonight Mother, pay for it!" The air began to thicken, and Azula whirled her arms about, her eyes rolling back in her head, the blood dripping in a pool by her feet.

Ursa remained still, frozen, hurt. "Is that really what he told you?" she asked over the noise, over the sudden charge of electricity. "Azula, I have always loved you. I'm so sorry. I love you." Ursa bent her head and swept her hair over her shoulder, exposing her bare neck. Katara screamed as the ropes bit into her arms, as Azula pointed two fingers straight up into the air.

"No you don't! Tell me the truth," Azula sobbed, shaking. Ursa shook her head, and Azula tensed, bending forward, screaming in her face. "Say that you never loved me. Tell the truth!"

"Do it, Azula. It's okay, I love you. I love you, I love you," Ursa said, over and over, Azula holding lightning right above her, Katara bucking and fighting, determined to help.

"No," Azula demanded, "you don't. Tell me you don't." Ursa shook her head, and closed her eyes.

Azula snarled and brought her arms back up, and blinding light filled the air. Katara screamed. Ursa was still, and Azula brought her arm down-

"Azula, stop!" The new voice yelling shocked the girl, ruined her form, and the princess bent her wrist, sending the blast into the ground, the shock wave throwing her back and knocking Ursa into Katara. The waterbender tasted electricity, felt static clinging to her eyelids, but she kept looking for the voice- that rough, gravelly, commanding voice. Ursa stirred at her feet, and Azua rolled to her side, trying to get up, squinting into the dust.

The smoke began to clear, and Zuko stepped forward into the light of the rising sun.

Thanks for reading! I haven't been getting a lot of reviews (completely deserved, by the way, considering how long I left you guys hanging) so it would be really cool of each of you guys let me know if you like this, or if my writing isn't up to par. Thanks!