It seems so effortless. One arm rises and with a streak of blue, Azula rips the Avatar right out of the sky.
Here, underneath the great city of Ba Sing Se, the crystal catacombs are silent as they watch him plummet to the ground, that is, with the exception of one woman screaming.
Zuko's golden eyes are wide. Katara gapes wordlessly. Toph frowns uncertain of what she is missing.
Only Azula has a voice.
She screams in fury as she stands over his now prone form. Golden eyes daring them to come closer.
Aang isn't breathing but Azula can't be concerned with that right now. The Dai Li make a move towards her as if they think she will let them anywhere near him. A wall of blue flames surrounds them in a circle.
Azula makes her point: The Avatar is hers.
"Azula!" Zuko yells over the sapphire inferno. He stares helplessly as his sister stands her ground. He's uncertain just what she hopes to accomplish since she was the one that just dealt the fatal strike; the strike that finally ended the war.
The blood of their father didn't do it.
The destruction of the Northern Water Tribe didn't do it.
The fall of the Avatar did.
Azula seethes and with each ragged breath the flames grow in intensity, forcing them back.
"What is she doing?" Sokka shouts as he shields his face from the heat.
Iroh shakes his head and stares in wide-eyed wonder.
With a stomp of her dainty foot, the wall of flames flares higher blocking their view. The winds swirl in the cavern and heat lightening strikes from the ground to the glowing ceiling, dislodging the green crystals there.
"Zuko!" Iroh calls getting his nephew's attention. "You must help her!"
The prince stares incredulously. Azula is more likely to kill him than let him help her but as he looks at the blue wall of fire he knows that only an elite Fire Bender has a chance of surviving. They have to stop her before she brings the city down on them.
Katara's blue eyes are filled with tears but also understanding. With a quick press of lips to hers, Zuko is moving towards the blaze.
Breathing deep he focuses his chi, feeling the wall. It is solid and hot. Hotter than anything he has felt before and Azula is not keen on letting anyone, even her own brother, through. Experimentally, he pushes at the wall and it spits back at him, causing him to step back from the flame that licks at him.
He hasn't survived Ozai's rule and the Avatar's tyranny just to die in an emotional maelstrom created by his own sister. Zuko reaches deep inside of himself and taps into that inner fire all Fire Benders have; the same fire that fueled Ozai's downfall, Aang's corruption and, now, Azula's rage. He pushes and the wall of fire swallows him up.
Zuko stumbles on the other side but finds his footing quickly. Inside the whirlpool of flames it is cool and calm, like the eye of the storm.
She is kneeling over the Avatar's body.
"Azula." Calling softly as he approaches, he keeps his eyes open for a sign of attack.
"He's not dead." Her voice is low and threatening.
Zuko stops to look at the unmoving figure. The glow is gone from his eyes and tattoos. The red tunic is smoking from the lightening strike. The chest isn't moving.
Kneeling beside her, he gently reaches out to touch her arm. "Drop the flames, Azula, before you kill us all."
She makes a strangled sound in her throat. "I can't."
Zuko looks up as the pinnacle of flames stretches above them. "Of course you can. You're a prodigy."
Azula chokes back a laugh. "Hardly. After a year of not being able to bend, now, I can't even control it."
"Drop the flames and Katara can try to heal him."
He sees the spark of interest in his words. "The Dai Li will try to take him from me." She visibly bristles at the idea and the wall of flames shimmers around them but rebounds stronger than before.
"No, I won't let them." As he says it Zuko realizes he means it. The allies they have assembled are under Zuko's command.
Casting a sideways look at him, she considers this. "I will kill any of them that touch him. He is mine."
Zuko blinks at the possessive tone in her voice. He thought that after a year of absolute hell at the hands of the Avatar that Azula would want to put as much distance between Aang and herself as she could. Or just kill him.
There is more to this than what he sees so he agrees. He has no other choice but to trust Azula. Zuko just hopes she has not finally gone off the rails and is taking him with her.
The roaring sound suddenly stops and silence rings in the catacombs as the maelstrom of flame and fire drops. Zuko stands.
"Stay back." He warns the Dai Li who stand hesitantly at the edge.
Azula glares from her kneeling position as if daring them to test her. They assent and step back farther, uncertain what is at work here.
Turning around Zuko meets Katara's blue eyes as he waves her over.
She follows, trusting Zuko to not lead her wrong, but falters at the sight of her once friend lying seemingly dead on the ground.
"Please." Zuko asks, compassion in his eyes. He needs this as much as Azula does.
Dropping to her knees, Katara opens the vial she has saved for a year and breathes.
The blue flame sputters to life but dies out just as quick.
"Why can't I get this!" Aang bites out in frustration.
Toph snickers while Azula and Zuko share matching frowns.
"Maybe you need a break?" Sokka offers.
"Says the man that just rolled out of bed." Katara teases, as she hangs clothes on the line.
Zuko shares a look with Azula. "Blue is hard to get. I've only ever seen Azula do it."
The woman in question cocks her head. "It's all I've ever done."
"Thanks." Aang huffs. "I think I can do without any more confidence boosts."
"How about some Earth Bending?" Toph volunteers. "We could go smash some of those rocks out back. That always makes you feel better."
Azula narrows her eyes at the glint in Aang's eye. "We've already lost him, Zuko." She mutters.
"Let him go. I'm about sifued out today." Zuko answers as he walks away.
Aang looks at her hopefully. "I promise to work extra hard tomorrow."
"Come on, Princess. You get him the rest of the time. Let me have some fun." Toph calls with a smirk.
With a wave, Azula relents. "I expect extra effort, Avatar."
He smiles and says optimistically. "Tomorrow?"
She smiles back. "Tonight."
Aang beams at her before giving her a quick kiss on the lips and dashing after Toph.
"Do you really have to do that with me right here? You know how I feel about Oogies." Sokka whines.
Katara laughs. "You just miss Suki."
The Kyoshi warrior has gone to meet up with the other warriors to try to bring the different parts of their plan together to face the Fire Lord.
Azula walks away from the soon bickering siblings and finds Zuko sitting on a rock overlooking the ocean. When she sits beside him, he asks, "Do you think he can do it?"
She kicks her foot out, dislodging a rock and watching it roll down the side. "Of course he can."
Zuko turns to her. "What makes you so certain?"
Leaning back on her hands, Azula considers the horizon of the sky. "Because if he doesn't then we all die."
He is silent as he contemplates this. "If Aang doesn't end the war, then one of us will have to." Zuko says quietly as if just saying it can make it true.
She has already thought of this. "Ozai will be stopped." Azula answers with certainty. "Even if Aang were to fail, then either you or I can finish father off. It's not like we have any love for him."
Zuko nods quietly. For Azula it is so simple to remove emotion out of the equation. "What happens though if we do still have love for him?" He can't imagine striking down someone he does actually care about even if that person has made his life a living hell.
Azula turns to him with sad eyes. "If we let emotions get in the way and don't deliver the final strike, then we will lose. Love is all well and good but it will only hinder our cause, Zuko."
"Do you still love him?" Zuko asks hesitantly like he doesn't want the answer.
She tilts her head side to side as if weighing it. "Yes and no. He is my father, after all, but, then again, he's yours too."
Zuko laughs at the barb.
"If it comes down to it Zuko, if Aang fails, then I will end the war. I will kill the Fire Lord." Azula says with a grim determination.
This same promise will haunt her over a year later as blue lightening races through her body in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se and she sees her love go down in flames.
Author's Notes: I'm sure you can now see where this fits in with the previous chapter.