Chapter 43
Only Azula

Azula smiled watching the large underside of Appa come into view.

"Who knew years of hunting the Avatar and my brother would so come in handy?" Azula mused. Her eyes cast around to the Dai Li members getting into position.

Azula took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, dropping the barrier she had put up between herself and Aang. She wasn't entirely certain he was capable of keeping a secret or acting very surprised.

'AZULA! Where have you been? What's going on? Is everything alright in the Fire Nation? Momo hasn't come back has he? Why have you been blocking me out? I've been worried sick.' Aang's thoughts flooded her mind in such a rush she felt dizzy for a moment.

'Slow down. You're giving me a headache.' She groused. 'I just needed some time to myself.' She felt his hurt immediately. 'No, no, no. I don' t mean it like that. I mean, I've been up to something.'

'Azula!'

'Nothing bad. Just wait. It will all fall into place soon enough.' Before he could respond she'd already put the barrier back up.

"Are you ready?" She asked the Dai Li.

"Yes, of course."

"Then what are you waiting for? Attack!"

- -

Aang was still puzzling over what Azula had just revealed when Appa gave a sudden groan and swerved to the side. Aang's eyes widened as he saw the boulder that had just narrowly missed his friend. 'What on…' Another boulder came flying at them and he grabbed Appa's reigns jerking them up and to the side.

'Don't fly higher.' Azula's voice re-entered his mind.

'AZULA WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?' Aang was trying not to panic but the boulders were coming faster now and they were increasing in number making them harder to dodge. Suddenly Katara was beside him, the flask she always kept on her side open and a water whip forming. Aang was proud to say he was friends with such a fierce waterbender unfortunately he was fairly certain that a large part of her tenacity at the moment had to do with releasing some of her pent up frustration with Zuko.

"What's going on?" Zuko's voice had dropped down on the other side of him.

"Don't ask me it's-" Aang was cut off by Azula's voice.

'Don't tell him!' Azula snapped.

'Well then tell me what you're doing?'

'I thought that was obvious.'

'No, definitely not!'

'Well if there's one thing I learned during my time served performing less than shall we say pleasant tasks, it's that nothing brings people together like pain and suffering.'

'Are you out of your mind?'

'No.'

'Then I'm going to need a clearer description of your plan.'

'I'm going with blast you out of the sky, watch you fall a couple of feet, lots of panicking as the "Ba Sing Se rebels" continue to attack since you're all kind of banged up, chase you into a cave, seal Zuko and Katara up until they talk or die.'

Aang was silent unsure how to respond. It was a good plan but slightly deranged. He wasn't exactly looking forward to falling out of the sky.

'Erm…Can we just pretend Appa gets hit?'

'Well how is everyone going to come crashing down? If Kaili's not knocked out he won't leave Katara's side. If they're not injured they might be able to fight my accomplices which really isn't a problem but I was actually trying not to hurt any more people than necessary.'

Aang raised an eye brow. Only Azula would come up with a plan that involved hurting people for the greater good.

'I'll take care of everything.' Aang responded.

"Appa, I need your help buddy." Aang grinned.

- -

Azula smirked as Appa reared up and rolled onto his back as if struck by one of the many boulders thrown in his direction. She almost smiled as she watched the unattached belongings of the group onboard crash to the ground. All four of the riders were clinging to whatever they could hold onto to keep from falling to the ground as well. Azula could hear Aang shouting Appa's name as the animal continued falling towards the ground pretending not to respond.

'Time to shake things up a little.' Azula smirked.

"Keep shooting." Azula snipped.

"Yes princess."

She watched Aang's hands shifting left and right tugging on the reigns to guide Appa's jerking movements from each hit that should have continued to batter to the poor creature.

'Don't move!' She ordered at the rush of panic that filled Aang's mind when Katara's scream suddenly filled the air. She was now falling through the air. Azula's eyes shifted to her brother though she didn't need to look to know he'd let go. He'd pulled himself up into a tuck and pushed off with his feet against Appa, aiming himself at Katara and grabbed her midair.

Azula cringed at the reprimand Aang shot her. Kaili had let go as well but she'd known he would do that too and had ordered the Dai Li to knock him out. She'd secretly relished the soft crunch she'd heard when the rock made contact with the falling boy but she was sure he was fine it wasn't a deadly hit and Aang would see to it that he landed gently somewhere.

She slipped back into the shadows to watch the rest.

- -

"ARH!" Zuko cried out in pain as his landed hard on his back. The back of his head bounced hard against the rocky earth and Katara's forehead collided with his chest but other than that she had managed a much softer landing in his arms. He was sure his chest would bruise from where she fell atop him but he would much rather it was him who took the hit. She definitely would have broken something from the fall if he hadn't caught her.

"Zuko!" Her voice was sharp in his ears as she tugged on his arm and pressed her ear to his chest. "You have to get up. Are you alright? Please say something."

"Ow." He cringed. Out of all the things he could have said he went with ow. He wanted to ask if she was alright. He wanted to ask if she still hated him. She had to know that he'd do anything for her.

"Zu-" Katara's words were cut off as she ducked her head low, a rock narrowly avoiding her skull. 'Oh no.' She definitely didn't have any water on her at the moment and there weren't many plants around her to gather water from to defend herself and Zuko. Her eyes darted around. 'Caves!' "Come on. We have to make a run for it."

He shook his head but she wasn't paying attention. She grabbed his arm and yanked him up. A dizzy spell hit him and he felt instantly sick. He started to fall over but she ducked under his arm and held him up. She paused just long enough to scan around for any sign of where Aang, Kaili, or Iroh had fallen. They were further away, Aang supporting an unconscious Kaili and Iroh defending them. 'They'll be fine.'

"Come on, Zuko. We just have to get to cover and then I'll see what I can do about healing you." She said. Dodging the boulders still coming after them Katara dragged Zuko along with her towards the cave. Glancing up and around the entrance she smiled. She knew this place. It was the Cave of Two Lovers. She could leave Zuko there for a moment and concentrate on gathering water from the air. Then she could go back and help Aang and the others and they could just follow the cave to Omashu. In a perfect world her brilliant plan would have worked but it was not a perfect world and in a moment the hold plan fell apart. She managed to get herself and Zuko inside but a misaimed boulder stuck a weak point and brought the whole front of the cave down with them trapped inside. As a reflex, Katara threw herself over Zuko to shield him from the falling rocks. On instinct, he turned up his palm and let a flame dance there lighting the area around them.

'Oh no, the others.' Katara thought, watching the last of the rocks fall into place sealing them in. She felt exasperated by the irritating feeling of déjà vu.

"Are you alright?" Zuko's voice cut into her thoughts. Her eyes traveled over to him and she watched as he wincingly leaned back against the cave wall for support.

"Fine. Is your back alright?"

"Better than my head." Zuko said, raising a hand to rub at the throbbing spot.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"For what?" He asked.

"Hurting you."

"Katara, I was going to get hurt anyway because we were all eventually going to fall. My only concern was making sure you were alright." Zuko explained.

She was silent. She chewed her bottom lip trying to make a decision. She had been angry with him but he had just thrown himself in danger for her, yet again. She looked down at her stomach; he'd probably just saved the baby too. A fall like that surely would have caused her to lose it. How could she really still be mad at him? Well, he'd hurt her and ignored her. He'd also potentially lied to her. She frowned, that couldn't be right, one didn't just going free falling through the air for a person they don't care about, maybe he had meant what he'd said about loving her.

"Take off your shirt." Katara instructed.

"What?" Zuko really wasn't interested in moving he was in enough pain as it was sitting still.

"I can collect water from the air. It'll take a minute to collect enough but I can make your back feel better and maybe do something about your head." She murmured.

He watched her continue chewing on her bottom lip and twisting her hands together. Did this mean he was forgiven? He really wasn't sure but anything to make his head feel better at the moment was in his best interest so at least she wasn't thinking murderous thoughts about him.

He shrugged out of his robe and reached for the hem of his shirt. He'd made it about halfway when his eyes widened in pain.

"Um…" He was about to suggest that the shirt removal was a bad idea when he felt her hands grasp the hem and she gently worked the shirt the rest of the way off of his body trying to cause as little pain as possible. Turning his back to her, he heard her suck in a breath at the bruises he was sure were already forming.

"Ow!" He snapped, when she removed the first rock fragment that had lodged itself in his skin.

"I'm sorry but I have to get these out." She stated.

He snapped his mouth shut and tried to remain silent. She was being nice to him. He could endure pain for that. The entire healing process was silent. He waited patiently as she collected water from the air and tried to hide the shudder than ran down his back as her small hands ran soothingly up and down his back. Her hands came up around his neck and he sighed, tipping his head back as her fingers worked their way up into his hair.

"Is that better then?" She asked. He wanted to nod but his headache was still present and he didn't want her to stop so he hummed his agreement instead. She couldn't help but smile at the sound and then flush at the memories that accompanied that sound.

She cleared her throat and moved her hands back to his back. She decided to start talking to keep her mind from wandering to places it had no business going.

"Do you think Kaili and the others are alright?" She asked. She frowned, feeling Zuko tense.

"I'm sure they're fine." Zuko muttered, gritting his teeth. For a moment, he'd let his mind wander to a happy place where everything was fine between himself and Katara but the mention of Kaili's name shattered the entire illusion. "We need to get out of here."

"Well, without an earth bender there's no way to get back to them. We'll have to follow the cave out to Omashu."

"How do you know they go to Omashu?"

"I've been here before. We're in the Cave of Two Lovers."

He half smiled at the name. He glanced at her to see if she caught the smile but she was looking up instead.

"You have to put out the flame for us to get out." She said.

"Why?" He frowned.

"The first time I came through here the people we were with said trust in love but it's just a simple trick of light. When you put out the fire some of the stones glow and they show you the way out." Katara shrugged.

He didn't really like the thought of Katara and Aang in the Cave of Two Lovers together but she had said they'd been in a group. Rather than comment since they were back on speaking terms, Zuko simply closed his hand and put out the flame.

A/N: Please review