Chapter 29: Melting Point

"What the-what-hey! Stop that! What's wrong with you?" Prince Zuko yelled, his voice piercing even through the torrents of rain that pelted down on him from above.

But it was of no use. His Rhino, a seemingly dependable steed, was now backing away from the ruined archway, grunting and groaning its fright as it pawed the ground nervously.

"Argh! Fine stay here! See if I care" Zuko huffed as he leapt off the great beast which promptly started backing away from the ruins with many a gruff snort and frightened whinny.

"Guess I'll have to do this the hard way" the prince muttered to himself as he looked up to the winding muddy path that wound its way up the mountain side. On it he could see the clear markings of a rhinos footsteps trailing upwards before they veered to the left.

He followed the trail, his golden eyes peeled for the marks even as they were swamped out and washed away by the torrential rain that poured over his head.

But he did not falter once in his path even as he slipped and slid over the stones.

Jade had to be somewhere here, he just knew it. Though where in all this mess of rain and ruin she could possibly be was beyond his reckoning.

He did of course wonder whether Kira had already passed this point by…or worse…

No don't think that. Remember what uncle said, never assume anything until you know the facts.

But how can you tell the facts now?

The sly voice of his sister hissed in his head.

All this rain will have washed away most of the evidence and Kira's obviously a better trained bender than you thought-

But Jade's not quite the ordinary bender herself

The fierce voice of the prince's mind flared up determinately.

She's smart and she'll have run from him at the first chance she got…

But how could he be sure?

Yet, even as the thought crossed his mind, something caught his eye.

There was a large gaping hole in the ground just a couple of meters away from where he stood. Not quite a muddy half-filled water ditch but rather the imprint of where a small stone statue must have been sitting solidly in the ground before it was moved to be smashed against a far wall of rock.

Zuko quickly crouched low to the ground examining the crater and found to his astonishment, next to a large rhino footprint, the deep imprint of a petitie slender hand imbedded oddly into the solid rock.

"Jade…" he murmured, his heart hammering hard in his chest as he traced his fingers over the imprint, only to sneeze loudly.

"Crap" he cursed softly looking down at his form. Though his armour provided some protection from the damp, it wasn't designed to completely shield him from stormy weather.

He paused, as his eyes suddenly caught sight of the north west side of the mountain. There just a few levels up of the terraced land, were several buildings built upon the great steps like the staircase of a giant.

The dull flame in his chest burned hotly with hope as he caught sight of a flicker of orange and red twinkling out of one of the windows in the distance.

If this handprint were here…did that mean Jade really had escaped? And if she had escaped would she have sought shelter and safety from the rain?

It was worth a shot.

"I'm coming just hold on" he murmured as with a cautious step he meandered his way down the rocky slope, completely unaware of the shadow that was following just higher along the path behind him.

"Here…I know it's not really tea but its something at least to ward off the chills"

"Thank you" Jade mumbled as she accepted a cup of warm water from Katara, doing her best to ignore the suspicious narrowed eyes from Sokka who sat on the other side of the fire across from her.

"And speaking of chills, what on earth were you doing here? I thought you were with Zuko" he quirked a brow as she glanced his way, much to his sister's and Aang's annoyance.

But Jade couldn't care less for his tone, she was still too focused on shivering and shaking in the aftermath of all that had just happened.

The ship…Ji's attack…Kira…being found by Aang after she collapsed from exhaustion…

"Y-you're right. I-I was with Zuko …but I-I didn't leave him by choice. It's not even his fault…I-I was kidnapped by one of my crew" she admitted softly ignoring the shocked gasps from her saviours "The guy who captured me…Kira…I escaped from him. I-I didn't know where I was so I just ran for it and…well…the rest you know" she mumbled her eyes dropping to her lap where a white and black ring tailed lemur was peering up at her with wide innocent eyes.

She gave Momo a small smile as she scratched his ear and he purred happily at the affection.

Sokka however wasn't so easily placated.

"But we don't know. I mean why would someone on your side want to kidnap you when you're both Fire Nation?"

There was a small pause in which Jade sighed and looked down, shame suddenly falling heavily on her shoulders as they sagged.

"Because I'm not all Fire Nation" she mumbled so softly that even Momo and Appa had to strain their more sensitive animal ears to listen.

Aang's eyes widened as sudden realisation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"That's right…Your Earth-Bending"

"Oh yeah…almost forgot about that" Katara nodded, but Sokka's glare only darkened.

"But still if Zuko allows you to travel with him then that means you're still on his side, with the fire nation. NOT against it"

"NO-I-I-mean yes-but-ugh." Jade groaned shaking out her head like an ostrich horse "It's not actually that simple. It's like…like…"

She looked up at the younger teens and her expression softened as she caught sight of the naïve almost innocent confusion etched over each and every one of their faces.

For the first time ever in her life she felt old. Indeed, she found her own mental voice sounding just like father's inside her head as she met Aang's gaze.

Just a boy…

And not just him. All three of them still looked so young, so innocent, their hearts barely touched by the war and their eyes still seeing the world through black and white lenses

She took a sip of her water and sighed again.

"Not everyone in the Fire Nation likes this war y'know" she began, her voice heavy and slightly thick "Not all the troops want to fight either. My father was one of those few who was just brave enough to act on his feelings."

"Your father is Fire Nation?" Aang breathed and Jade nodded grimly.

"Yes…and my mother was from the Earth Kingdom. They met during the siege of the Shan Mountains nearly twenty years ago. My father was the son of the general who led the siege…and my mother was one of those who fought against them…The Lucky Jade."

"NO WAY!" Sokka's eyes were wider than dinner plates just like his sister's. "Your mom was the Lucky Jade? The Lucky Jade"

"Who's Lucky Jade?" Aang blinked in confusion.

"Who's the lucky Jade?" Katara bubbled up excitedly. "Only the greatest female rebels against the Fire Nation. A really powerful Earth-Bender. Dad told us about her when we were kids. Her story is like, a legend."

"Why what happened?" Aang frowned and Jade flinched as Sokka's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"What happened? What happened?!" he cried out with an almost girl like squeal "She like totally decimated five companies of the Fire Nation Army single headedly and-"

"three companies" Jade snorted irritably "It was only three companies. And even then Mom always said that she was only distracting them so that the Earth-Benders on her side could sneak under the earth to ambush the other two from beneath."

"Oh wow! You actually know what happened? Like she actually told you" Katara clapped a hand over her mouth and Jade rolled her eyes.

"Only about a few hundred times, every night before going to bed" she added with a small mutter, though Aang noticed her green eyes were now filled with sadness. A sadness he knew only too well.

"What happened to her?" he asked quietly and Jade stiffened in surprise.

But then she saw the sympathy in the young boy's grey eyes and her hardened gaze melted slightly, even though she still avoided his gaze.

"My uncle Zhao happened"

And with those two words all the admiration and excitement from Sokka and Katara died in on instant.

"Zhao? What's he got to do with anything?" Sokka frowned but Katara's eyes widened as something dawned on her. Aang watched her for a moment only to gasp as he cottoned onto her train of thought. His big innocent grey eyes became strangely misty.

"It's him isn't he. He's the one that wants you…because you…" the young Avatar couldn't finish the sentence, but Jade nodded all the same.

"That's part of it I suspect. I mean, it wouldn't seem unbelievable that I help you especially since I am the daughter of an old enemy. The fact that I exist alone is enough reason for him to want me gone. Half-Breeds like me…we're not supposed to exist in the Fire Nation's future…not that the Earth Kingdom would accept us either." she added bitterly.

"So…if you are really such an outcast" Katara started slowly, cautiously as if she were walking on hot coals "Then why stay with Zuko? Isn't he like the Prince of the whole Fire Nation?"

There was a silence as Jade mulled over the young waterbender's question. It was pretty straightforward but for some reason, she could not just bring any words to answer. None of them seemed very good at all to use to describe her situation and yet...

She felt the tremor under her fingers. It was small and would have been barely perceptible to any ordinary person, but still wired on her fear as she was, Jade felt it as if it were the aftershocks of an earthquake.

Sokka opened his mouth (most likely to give his own commentary about the prince), but was silenced at once as Jade raised a hand silently in his direction, her other hand now tapping the rock she sat upon.

And there, just beyond the few walls and rooms that lay somewhere to their left, she felt the footsteps of two pairs of feet walking in their direction. One of them was large and yet moved so stealthily that she could barely feel their steps over the rock as they stalked after the other walker whose footsteps felt very familiar to her indeed.

But why would they both be here…unless…

"Oh no" she breathed and before even Sokka, Katara and Aang could even gasp in shock, she had all but leapt from her spot and dashed back into the darkness.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Where are you going? It's dangerous out there!"

The voices piercing through the darkness almost made Zuko leap out of his skin. They had just appeared so suddenly and so loud…and so familiar too…

But none of them was as familiar, nor as welcome to his ears as the voice that called his name.

"Zuko!"

There was the grinding of something on rock and the young Prince quickly whipped his head around, just as someone stumbled out of a nearby archway.

"Jade?" he breathed, and though he had suffered no blow, he felt as if all the wind had been knocked clean out of him as he stared at the figure.

A girl, with long damp brown hair that framed her pale skin, tired green eyes. Her servant's robes were all wet and soaked through and muddy. In fact, the hem of it so frayed and torn that it was a miracle it was even holding the stitching together over her bare and painfully scratched feet.

However, if Jade even noticed the pain in her limbs she did not have much time to comment as all of a sudden he grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Zuko?"

She looked up and saw the amber-gold eyes gaze worriedly at her as they swept searchingly over her face.

"I'm fine" she murmured softly but Zuko's eyes only narrowed as his gaze ran across the fresh scar on her cheek and down to the harsh angry dark bruises around her tiny wrists as he held them up before his face.

"That bastard-"

"Zuko-" Jade began but at that moment three pairs of footsteps suddenly thudded into the silence as three more people dashed into the room.

"Hey-"

"Jade wait-"

"You shouldn't run off like that what if-"

But Katara's voice fell away into silence as her, Aang and Sokka and Zuko locked gazes.

"You… What are you doing here? Was this your plan all along?" the prince growled and Jade, Sokka and Katara could not stop the slight shiver of fear as a ferocious snarl swept over his face.

But Aang just stood his ground bravely taking a step forwards, putting both his hands up in a peaceful gesture.

"No its not"

"You're lying-"

"No we're not!" Katara snapped her hand flying to a water pouch on her hip, but Aang shot her a warning look and she backed down, though her hand hovered over the pouch's cap.

"Katara's right, we were just taking shelter from the storm. We didn't know you'd be here too"

"Yeah and if we did we'd certainly not stopped off here that's for sure. And also Zuko, if we wanted to hurt Jade we would've done so already" Sokka added but this only seemed to further Zuko's anger.

"Watch your mouth, you filthy peasant! Or else I'll-"

"Zuko stop!" Zuko stared in astonishment as a pair of petite hands tugged hard on both his smoking hands.

"Jade what are you-" he growled but Jade cut across him, green eyes blazing.

"Zuko seriously stop! They're telling the truth. They just found me here when I was running. They haven't hurt me," she paused and narrowed her eyes towards the darkest shadows.

"Isn't that right…Kira"

Four pairs of heads turned to look where the young kitchen maid was looking, all of their eyes widening in shock as a large figure stalked into the dim light of the chamber, clapping his hands slowly…mockingly…

"Impressive miss Jade. Very impressive indeed" Kira smirked his brown eyes glinting eerily in the darkness as he stalked towards the group of youngsters, who all shuddered under his gaze as he chuckled darkly.

"You know, I've met many Earth Bender's in my life and only less than a handful of them have been as perceptive as you. Such a rare gem and yet you barely have tapped into your true potential. A real Diamond in the rough as they say. It's such a pity my employer wants you dead as soon as possible. I'd have loved to have watched you train your skills before killing you."

The assassin sighed theatrically, though he kept his sharp gaze upon Jade's paling face as he hissed:

"But a job's a job. Tell you what kiddo, since I like you so much I promise to make your death as painless and quick as possible. You deserve that much-"

"-If you want to kill her you'll have to go through me first" Zuko snarled stepping in front of Jade so that she was half hidden behind his back.

He wasn't the only one who'd moved. Aang, Katara and Sokka had also taken up fighting stances and flanked the prince, much to Jade's astonishment and Kira's great amusement.

"Oh what's this? Enemy of my enemy is it? No matter, it's in my contract that I should dispose of any interference that I should meet" he chortled but Aang's grip on his staff tightened.

"You won't be killing anyone here tonight."

"Oh such big words from such a small kid" Kira snorted, his smirk widening as Katara growled angrily, the sound fiercely reminding Jade of an aggressive mother platypus bear.

"Aang's right. You're outnumbered and outmatched. Leave now before we bend you back to whatever pit you came from, monster!"

There was a chilling silence in which nothing seemed to breathe as Kira stood stock still staring at the water tribe girl.

Jade gulped as the brown eyes flashed venomously gold.

She knew that look. For it was the same murderous look she had seen the assassin give Ji…just before he'd struck him down.

Crap…oh crap…

The hair's on the back of Jade's neck stood on end as Kira's masked mouth let out a soft whispering leer.

"You really should keep an eye on that sharp tongue girl. One day…it might get you CUT!"

"KATARA!" Aang yelled as suddenly out of nowhere it seemed, a small jagged rock flew from Kira's hand and sliced at the young waterbender.

Katara managed to dodge the attack but still gasped in shock as the rock instead sliced clean through the side of her water pouch, spilling its contents everywhere on the stone floor, before it was quickly sucked through the cracks in the floor.

"No!" Katara yelled but Kira just laughed, the horrible sound echoing eerily over the chamber walls.

"One down three to go-no make that two" Kira's eyes snapped sideways as his hand flew up.

The action was so swift they barely saw his hand catch the boomerang that had about to hit it. Even faster was the throw he had sent back to Sokka who quickly crumpled into an unconscious heap on the floor his boomerang clattering to the ground.

Yet no one came to his aid. How could they? They were all too busy fighting the skilled and dangerous man before them.

Once the young water tribe warrior had hit the deck, Kira had bent a large rock straight at Aang and Zuko, who both leapt aside to avoid it…only to realise too late to their horror that in his haste, Zuko had pushed Jade away from him.

Kira's eyes tracked her hungrily as she stumbled back up to her feet, rooting her stance as she raised a few rocks with her earthbending, releasing them at the same moment both Aang and Zuko both shot gusts of air and fire each.

For the first time since the fight began, Kira had to duck and weave. But even with his quick reflexes, he still felt the brush of earth, fire and air all slicing past his body in smooth clean strikes.

"Fine you want a fight-"

Another large piece of rock went flying towards the prince and the Avatar who both dodged again, and both attacked. This time Zuko sent forth several balls of hot fire in quick succession, forcing Kira to dodge side to side whilst Aang summoned a ball of swirling air and spun around on it like a top.

With a loud whoosh he sped forwards, staff geared to send a gust of wind at his opponents face.

But Kira saw him and in a smooth swooping motion, grabbed the boy's staff and use his momentum to cleanly throw the young avatar away towards a nearby pillar which he hit hard.

Aang was quick to recover but ducked when Jade cracked her foot hard on the ground and summoned up a wall of rock to shelter him from an oncoming barrage of sharp stones hurtling his way.

"Jade look out!" a voice called just as Kira let loose a feral snarl as he launched himself towards her hands outstretched, eyes blazing with bloodlust.

Then there was a loud grunt and a heavy thud, as Zuko bowled into the assassin with all his weight, only to get roughly pushed back through the wall behind Jade from the sheer source of the impact.

With a cry of pain, the prince fell backwards, cringing as large torrents of rain pelted down on his face and right into his eyes. Kira smirked, shaking his now wet hair out of his eyes and delighting in his power as he pinned the younger man painfully beneath him by the throat.

"Where's your uncle to save you now your highness"

Zuko struggled as the hands over his throat tightened like vices, blocking all air to his lungs. He rasped, hands grasping upwards trying to claw frantically at his enemy's face.

But it was no use, and soon black dots were beginning to cloud his vision.

Wham!

Kira cried out in pain as the small rock bounced painfully off his skull and wheeled about wildly, eyes narrowing dangerously as he beheld his new challenger, who had raised her hands up to hover a rock just in front of her chest.

"Well, well, well" the assassin smirked as Jade geared up for another strike. "Look who's finally gotten some spirit. Are you really that scared of losing your boyfriend?"

"Leave him alone" Jade snarled, and Zuko was impressed to see her green eyes blazing as her inner fire burned hotly within.

Zuko gasped fresh air flooding his lungs as he too caught sight of Jade, just in time to see her deliver a solid punch that sent the rock in her hold hurtle straight at Kira who only just managed to dodge at the last moment.

Kira saw it too, but far from frightening him or impressing him, he just laughed in her face.

"Such spirit from such a small thing…how cute"

"I'll show you just how cute I am!" Jade growled and once again she let loose another rock at him.

But it was quickly diverted by Kira's own Earthbending.

"I think you forget" he sneered "that I too am in my element here"

"I didn't forget" Jade snapped "I just don't care. You want to fight me. Then you fight me. But don't you dare harm my friends"

"Or what?" Kira's sneer turned into a scowl of its own "You'll throw your tiny rocks at me?"

And even as he said this he caught a rock she'd sent his way in both his hands and dodged the small flaming fist Zuko aimed for his face.

"How pathetic" he hissed, reaching down and punching the young prince in the face the impact shattering his nose.

"Zuko!" Jade cried out as Zuko groaned, his head spinning so badly that his vision before him was completely blurred as his attacker rose to his feet.

"I, Kira, the Golem of the East am subjected to having a little girl throw rocks at my head whilst her little prince in shining armour sends me little sparks. Me! The world's best assassin? Why…you don't even know what I'm capable of do you?"

And as Jade watched, she saw to her absolute shock, the rock in the assassin's hands begin to smoke slightly…its core glowing red hot... Then all of a sudden, its shape began to liquefy.

"No…it can't be" she breathed as Kira circled his hands around the glowing hot mass of molten rock he hovered between his hands a cruel smile playing on his eyes.

"You really want this to stay between the two of us. Fine. It can stay between us. But remember I gave you the chance at a quick death and you blew it. When I catch you this time I will melt you down slowly, painfully back into the mud from whence you came."

Jade gulped, her tense body shaking slightly as the lava ball began to split apart into, not two, but seven smaller hot molten balls of rock.

With a cry she barely managed to avoid the molten projectiles as they seared through the air towards her, pulling up her hands to make a wall of rock to absorb the impact of the last and largest one as it sped for her face.

The rock before her sizzled as a hole in it crumbled away faster than one of Dango's gooiest cakes, granting her a view of her attacker through a nice large hole as he raised both his arms and began solidly twisting them in swerving patterns.

As he did so the wall of rock before Jade began at once to crumple and melt down, glowing red hot as it contorted and twisted into something tall, hooded, veined with yellow and with fangs for teeth.

Jade backed away fearfully as the great lava python suddenly lurched forwards. Hot molten mass dripped onto the stones as it slithered over them, the rain creating a halo of hot steam as it fell and was instantly sizzled.

It truly was a sight to behold.

Jade dodged its lunges using the rock, beneath her to propel herself away as with each lurch the monster of the earth pushed her further back, and back, and back…until…

"Ah!" Jade cried out as her foot suddenly hit mid-air.

Quick as lighting she drew it back forward, her eyes whipping behind her only to see to her horror that there was in fact no more earth at all.

Instead there was only a tall drop to the flat terrace below.

A bark of derisive laughter pierced through the air and she turned round just as Kira stepped into view, his lava snake slithering between them, it's shape melting away to form a great semi-circle around where Jade stood.

He's going to melt me off the cliff…

Her face paled at the thought, but was interrupted as Kira sneered at her, eyes glinting with triumph.

"Well done. I must say no Earth-Bender, or any kind of bender has evaded my clutches for this long. But it seems, finally, that you have nowhere else to go do you Jade?"

Jade didn't answer but desperately tapped her toes. Through them she could vaguely see the barrier of lava melting through the levels below, no doubt to literally cut her off from the rest of the earth.

He can bend lava…he can bend bloody lava? How the hell do it top that?

But even as the thought crossed her mind she froze, a memory flashing over her mind.

"Jade NO!"

"STAY BACK!"

"of course…" she breathed eyes widening as she dug her feet harder into the ground.

I can't make lava...but maybe i can-

"A pity you couldn't keep your pretty mouth shut" Kira continued smugly, unaware of his prey's sudden bout of concentration. "Or else you could've saved that prince of yours. Now I'll have to kill him too. He knows far too much"

"Too much about what?" Jade pressed, though her mind was elsewhere as she tried to reach through her chi, to the molten mass of crumbling rock before her. it would be sloppy she knew, but at least it would be better than nothing

But as she had just about felt the magma's warm essence, Kira's next words hit her like a sharp knife.

"About what I did to your dear mother of course"

"What is with these rhinos?"

"I don't know but I think we should leave them behind"

There were many murmurs of agreement from the rest of the soldiers as they all dismounted from their steeds. Of all of them Ruishi Shi was the fastest, his eyes scanning the sides of the mountain with worry.

"Father" he turned as his son put a hand on his shoulder.

The younger boy looked just as pale as the stones before them.

"I know son." He murmured but Shen shook his head.

"No father look" he pointed up to the terraces above.

Ruishi squinted and gasped.

There standing on the edge of a cliff were two figures, one small with a dot of brown at the head and the other tall and intimidating.

"Do you think that's prince-" one of the other guards gulped but Shen shook his head.

"No…no ponytail and it's too tall but the other one is definitely"

"Jade" Ruishi growled. And before anyone could stop him he rushed forwards into the ruins.

"Father! Father wait!"

"What did you say?" Jade breathed meeting Kira's eye as he grinned a feral sneer.

"Oh didn't Zhao tell you?" the assassin blinked oh-so-innocently "He sent an assassin after your mother to kill her."

"Yeah but the assassin failed. She died in an accident before he could do anything" Jade frowned, doing her best to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut as Kira chuckled, loudly, scathingly.

"Oh-oh-oh my dear girl you are so sweet and innocent…it's sickening" he added his voice suddenly low and snarling as he stalked forwards a step. "My dear…who do you think organised that little accident?"

Jade stared at Kira, all thoughts of bending, all worries about Zuko forgotten, all her heart and mind set upon one horrible thought.

"You…you were in my dream…. You were the one there on top of the hill…you-you-you-"

"Killed her" Kira provided his smile widening into a sickening leer "why yes…yes I did. It took me nearly twenty hard long years but I did…Your mother was a very smart woman, she knew how to hide and how to bide her time. I have to admit-" he added with another small chuckle.

"-she was the most difficult quarries I've had to pursue. Indeed a few years into the chase I almost gave up. So you can imagine how excited I was when none other but your dear Uncle Zhao contacted me and told me where she was and that, she had given birth to not one but two half-breed spawn and that one of them was an Earth-bender. It took me years to reach your village, but in the end I was able to follow your little family's camping trip up into the hills. And low-behold what do I see when I arrive? The Lucky Jade herself…teaching her cute little daughter how to punch a rock in a game of catch. I can remember almost laughing to myself and thinking 'ha! This is so easy'. After all those years of searching, the damn woman herself had given me the perfect kill. Just a few tweaks to the earth's structure below your feet and BAM! There she was…your mother, one of the great Earth Bending masters, now just another pathetic corpse buried six feet under the ground, with nothing more to her name than-AHHH!"

The scream that rent the air was one of pure agony and terror as without warning, lava splashed from its barrier and crashed over Kira's leg.

The smell of burning flesh, blood and bone filled Jade's nose as she pulled her shaking arms back, forcing the lava in their control to pull back from her enemy's limb.

Kira screeched as he fell back, clutching at the burnt stump of his leg looking up at Jade. His eyes that had once been so smug and sneering now were pinpricks of absolute shock.

"What-the-how?" he stammered but Jade cut him off.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare call my mother pathetic."

Jade couldn't even get the words out of her mouth her teeth were that gritted.

The fire in her gut blazed, her veins and arteries igniting and pulsing as her chi burned hotly through them charging her body.

This was it! This was the bastard who had killed her mother! And he was at her mercy.

Her fists shook as she held them up before her tears streaming down her face from glaring eyes that saw only through a red veil. She raised her arms, the lava raising once more her foot tapping hard on the earth.

Kira shut his eyes tight, counting down the seconds left to him before the burning mass of liquid could dissolve his bones.

…

But all he felt was the cold droplets of rain hitting his skin.

He opened his eyes.

There standing before him was Jade, her arms outstretched, lava hovering just beyond her finger tips waiting for her to move…only she wouldn't move.

"What are you waiting for?" Kira growled his shock now replaced by humiliated fury "KILL ME! That's what you want. Take your revenge! Complete what your mother could not"

But Jade just stared at Kira, her watery eyes oddly misty…sad…thoughtful…pitying…

After a long pause, she opened her mouth, shut it hastily…then lowered her arms. With a clumsy swish of her arms, she instead directed her energy at the stream of lava before her which slowed down to a sluggish pace as parts of it solidified and merged together.

"That's it?! You won't strike?!" Kira roared as the young girl quietly made to step towards the line of Lava giving his body a wide birth "You're nothing but a coward. Just like your mother"

Jade paused mid step, and when she turned her eyes were a fierce green fire, though her voice remained as calm and as cool as ice.

"I'd rather be a good person like her then be a monster like you" She clipped, forcing her eyes back to the lava.

She wasn't sure she could completely cool it down yet, let alone turn it back into rock. But at least she was sure that she could at least jump across it safely now.

She bent her legs down.

Then…several things happened at once.

Ignoring all the searing pain in his stump of a leg, Kira had used his earth-bending to fling himself at Jade, both blood soaked arms outstretched to grab her. At the same moment something huge and hairy hurtled headlong into him sending him flying just as someone crashed into Jade, forcing her to hit the deck. Someone in yellow and orange with a blue arrow on his head.

"Keep down!" Aang yelled keeping Jade crouched low as his flying Bison Appa flew up into the air, taking Kira with him by the scruff of his shirt in his teeth.

"GET YOUR TEETH OFF ME YOU BIG BEAST!" the assassin yelled but Appa only groaned loudly with a loud huff.

Jade watched, unable to tear her eyes away as Kira looked down and caught her gaze.

The burning hatred in both brown orbs pierced her straight to her soul even as she watched him reach into his belt and pull out something shiny.

"LOOK OUT!" she yelled but too late.

There was the ripping of material and a scream of horror as Kira, Great Golem of the East, fell from the skies…and down into ruin.

"Father wait-"

"no Shen we're almost there-"

"FATHER!"

Jade stared out at the drop of the tall terraced mountainside.

Kira had fallen only just ten minutes ago but it already felt like hours had passed.

She could not believe it. She'd just watched a man fall to his death…willingly.

Who would do such a thing?

"Jade?" A timid voice jolted her suddenly out of her trance.

She sucked in a deep breath and turned to look at the young Avatar next to her. Behind him she could see the great sky bison Appa land, an equally shaken up Sokka and Katara sitting in his saddle.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Aang frowned in concern.

"I think so" Jade mumbled.

Aang paused, then before he could stop himself blurted out "You could come with us. Zhao won't be able to reach you at the north pole"

Jade's eyes softened as she drunk in the young avatar's boyish features which looked so much like how Shen's would become when he was worried.

Shen…father…

"I-I-I'm sorry Aang" she whispered shaking her head. "B-but I can't…I need to go home and Zuko…Oh crap Zuko" she breathed, her heart racing.

In the wake of Kira's death she had completely forgotten about him. Completely forgotten about the prince that had allowed himself to almost get pummelled and strangled to death…all to save her.

And if by some miracle he was alive…

"…you should go"

"What?" Aang began but Jade cut across him eyes wide.

"You have to go! All three of you! Now! If Zuko really is alright, then he might try to capture you no matter how injured he is."

"But what about you-" Aang cried but Jade shook her head.

"I'll be fine. Besides…Kira's dead now. He can't hurt me anymore…"

Aang looked like he was about to argue, but after one look back at his friends he sighed.

"You really want to go back to Zuko?." the young Avatar murmured looking back at Jade who nodded.

"So what if I do?" Jade snapped her cheeks burning in spite of herself "Zuko he's…he's not a bad person…he's just desperate. He just wants to go home, he's-" but she stopped short as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You care about him a lot…don't you?" Aang asked quietly.

"I…I…" she gulped and her heart raced as her mind flew back to the sight of the young prince lying unconscious on the ground as a dark shadow loomed over him.

She looked down to her feet and nodded, pursing her lips for fear she would explode into the sobs threatening to engulf her.

"It's okay. I understand." Aang patted her shoulder softly before letting go and taking a step back.

When he spoke, his voice was soft and warm.

"Zuko's very lucky to have someone like you with him."

And before Jade could even say another word, the young Avatar leapt up into the air and flew away on his glider, his bison and friends following swiftly behind.

"Shen hurry we're almost there"

"I'm coming father-whoa!"

"Careful"

"Sorry father but-wait what's that?"

"What's what?"

"up there see?"

…

…

"Father?"

"Quick Shen! Move now! We have little time to lose"

"Zuko"

When Zuko opened his eyes, his vision swam horribly.

How…what happened?

"Zuko" the voice called again.

He blinked, only to wince as water dropped into his eyes from the heavens.

Rain…but how?

He turned his head to the side and frowned as he caught sight of rocks surrounding him.

Where…where am I? What is this place?

He tried to crane his head up but as soon as he'd even twitched he became aware of something warm streaming from his nose.

Blood…

He mused as he tasted warm iron on his tongue.

Blood from…from…

His eyes widened.

Now he remembered. Now it all came flooding back.

The fist to his face, the choking hands, the large shadow.

Kira…

He growled, the hot fire of fury granting him the energy he needed to sit up, only to crash his forehead into something hard.

"OW!"

Zuko cringed clutching at his forehead as it throbbed. However the pounding in his ears wasn't loud enough to mask the worried cry.

"Oh crap! Zuko are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you-shit did I hit your nose-"

Zuko stared, his heart thundering through his chest as his amber eyes fixed solidly on the green orbs in front of them.

"Zuko! Zuko! Zu-"

Jade paused as she felt a large warm hand cup her ear, a thumb running over the scar on her cheek tenderly as the Prince stared at her face, amber eyes oddly misty as his mouth opened.

"y-you're alright…" he whispered, his voice hoarse and raspy as it scratched painfully from his bruised throat. But Zuko ignored the pain, indeed he ignored all his injuries as he swooped in and held her close, arms tightening about her body.

Her hands shook as she timidly looped her arms around his back, tears streaming from her eyes even as she shut them tight.

"You…you came for me?" she sniffed into his neck and he nodded into hers.

"I told you I'd never let them take you" Zuko sighed as he breathed into her hair, drinking in the smell of the rain and blood mingling with her usual spicy-tea like scent. "Never"

Jade sat there, shock overpowering everything, even her fear. Of all the people to do this, the Prince was the last person she'd ever expect to…to…

Zuko shut his eyes, his grip tightening on her as he felt her heave on her sobs into his shoulder, relief the only thing he could think about.

It didn't matter that he was bruised and beaten like a piece of meat, it didn't matter that the Avatar had escaped him, or that he felt dizzy from the concussion on the back of his head.

It didn't matter that some of his soldiers from his ship had now rushed over to finally find them, his uncle and Ruishi-Shi amongst them, watching as he held her close and kissed her hair.

No.

All that mattered was that he had found her… and he'd found her alive.

Just like he promised himself he would.

TADAA! and here it is!

thank you for being so patient i know it's been a long time since the previous cliffy, so i decided to be nice and give you the whole ending of this story arc in one whole go. So yeah, Jade's finally met her match in Lava-bending...but she still doesn't have much control over it. Will she ever get control...that is something you'll have to find out later ;)

Hope you enjoyed and Keep Reading and Reviewing for more

:)