Chapter 51
Ending a War

Azula attempted to make as little noise as possible as she turned in a slow circle. Wrapped in the darkness, that General Kawamura felt the need to pull her ever further into, she was listening for any sigh of his movement. The soft crackle of grass being stepped on evoked a lightening quick reaction from her. A burst of flames shot from her fists to her immediate right.

A smirk appeared on her face at Kawamura's outraged cry at being burned. He retaliated with a boulder flying at her. Dodging was her first option, but he'd twisted the ground beneath her, trapping her foot in the soil. She was hit hard and the impact sent her flying backwards.

Azula bit her lip so hard she drew blood. It hurt like hell but she would rather mutilate her lower lip than give Kawamura the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain. Her injured back had hit the wall hard and her skull felt like it was on fire. The pounding in her head was deafening at this point. And she was certain her ribs had taken some damage from the hits. She spat blood from her mouth and despite her hope that it had come from her lip, she was fairly certain that wasn't the case.

She gasped, as an iron like grip came around her throat.

"It would seem you are the one who is to die here princess." Kawamura snarled in her ear.

She raised her body temperature but that only made him squeeze her throat tighter hoping to crush her windpipe before she became too hot to hold.

"Give up and die!" He ordered.

"Forget it." She wheezed, grabbing his arm and shocking him.

She couldn't hold back the cry of pain as she sent volts of electricity coursing through her own body since he was holding her.

Kawamura cried out in pain. He dropped her and fell to his knees, his body slightly trembling. Azula slid down the wall. She felt exhausted slumped there and a sense of dread was creeping upon her. With her injuries, there was chance she couldn't defeat him. Her body was tired and she was fighting off unconsciousness. Her head felt as though it was splitting in two and her throat burned.

- -

"COME TO ORDER!" Bumi bellowed. His voice echoed throughout the fighting town. "Drop your weapons. Drop the boulders. DROP EVERYTHING! Until a new king is elected, you will take your orders from me and I say STAND DOWN OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

A sudden stillness swept through the area. No one wanted to suffer a crazy king's consequences. He'd taken his city back from the Fire Nation by himself on the day of black sun. Only a fool would challenge him.

"Now we are going to come to a civilized understanding. Return to your homes and await your orders!" Bumi ordered. "Sokka send for your sister. The rest of you get inside and find the others."

There was much grumbling and mild resistance to being ordered away but Bumi's threat and the larger force of Omashu soldiers settled the issue.

"Come on, quickly." Toph shouted running towards the palace. Suki followed Sokka with the Kyoshi to ensure that Katara got into the city safely. Haru ran behind Toph, pushing Teo's wheelchair.

- -

Aang coughed as smoke filled and burned his lungs. He could kind of see Zuko through his squinted eyes. The older boy was dragging Hiromu out of the burning room and into the hallway. He tied him up with his sash and then returned to the smoke filled room.

"Zuko! We have to hurry. She's hurt really bad." Aang shouted into the smoky room. He held his sleeve up, shielding his eyes and mouth.

"They fell out of the window." Zuko called to Aang. "Come on."

Aang nodded, feeling light headed already. Zuko turned around and grabbed the younger boy's arm. He hauled him forward towards the window and pushed him forward.

"Sweet clean air." Aang gasped.

"Where are they?" Zuko demanded. There were several burning trees, boulders strew across the lawn and skid marks from sliding feet and falling bodies.

Aang reached out for Azula with his mind. Concentrating he followed the feeling that drew him towards the back wall of the garden. The damage made a fine trail in the same direction.

- -

Kawamura staggered to his feet, smirking at the crumpled form of the battered princess.

"I've had enough of you ruining my plans." He said, drawing a dagger from his belt.

Azula pushed herself to sit up properly. Getting to her feet wasn't going to happen fast enough.

'This is not how it ends.' She told herself.

Kawamura lunged at her. She pushed herself forward and grabbed his wrist.

"Ha, do you really think you're stronger than me girl?" Kawamura laughed. "Enough of this."

Summoning all her strength, she pushed upward keeping the dagger above her head. Forcing herself to her feet, she twisted under his arm and threw all her weight forward, slamming her elbow into his gut.

Exhaustion hit her and she fell backward with him. Breathing harshly, she scrabbled to put distance between them. He caught her ankle and yanked her back down.

"Just die already." He shouted, holding the dagger high.

- -

"NO!" Aang shouted as he saw a glint of silver in General Kawamura's hand. He felt his heart stop as it plunged downward to where Azula lay. Her cry of pain was proof enough that she was at her limit. She couldn't fight any more and Kawamura may have just killed her.

"Leave her alone!" He shouted running towards Kawamura. Instinct made him jump on the other man, tackling him to the ground.

A rage like he'd never known before filled him. An unknown hatred consumed him driving him to summon up his strength and punch General Kawamura as hard as he possibly could.

The general threw him off easily. He'd barely made it to his feet when Zuko got to him. The general's eyes widened seeing the flaming fist headed towards his face. He screamed in pain as the fire made contact with his skin.

His falling body was caught by Zuko and thrown against the wall. He hit it hard and fell to his knee. Zuko had him in a head lock.

"If she's dead, there's nothing that Avatar can say that will spare you." Zuko growled in the general's ear.

Aang had scrambled over to Azula during the general's beating. He felt relief wash through him seeing that his shout had startled the general. Rather than stabbing Azula between the shoulder blades as he'd intended, he'd plunged the dagger into her left shoulder. Aang ripped his sleep off and pulled out the dagger. He pressed the cloth to her injury to stop the bleeding.

"Azula? Azula! Hey can you hear me?" He shouted as he turned her over and continued to hold the cloth to her injured shoulder.

"Of course I can hear you. Stop shouting, my head is killing me." She grumbled.

A half whimper of pain escaped her as she was suddenly crushed by Aang's hug.

"You're alright!" He cried.

"She won't be if you keep squeezing her like that." Zuko pointed out.

"Sorry, sorry!" Aang said in a rush, refocusing on stopping her bleeding.

"I'd say it's fine since that's nice people decorum but I'm in so much pain that a part of me hates you a little bit right now." She said with a glare.

Aang chuckled. Releasing another relieved sigh, he pressed his forehead to hers and willed his heart to slow down now that everything was okay.

Zuko raised a confused eyebrow at the scene before him. Azula was wrapped in Aang's arms, resting peacefully. The avatar was leaning his forehead against hers and she didn't seem inclined to punch him or tell him to get the hell away from her.

'Stranger things have happened.' He decided, dropping Kawamura's unconscious form.

"We should to get her to Katara." Zuko suggested. "Tie up Kawamura."

Aang nodded and released his hold on Azula as Zuko stooped to pick her up.

"I can walk on my own." She grumbled.

"You look like you should be lying down." Zuko murmured, cradling his sister against his chest.

"But I don't like being treated like a child. It looks weak and I'm not weak." She pouted.

"You're not weak, you're hurt. Everyone gets hurt from time to time." Zuko consoled her.

"Just put me down before anyone else has to see me humiliated." Azula persisted.

"As soon as I hear footsteps, I'll drop you. How does that sound?" Zuko joked. He laughed at the outraged look on her face.

Aang smiled watching the two. Things had been really crummy for a while but at this moment he got the feeling that things would be alright from now on. It was a strange new world that had come from all of this but it looked as though it would be a happy one.

A/N: Alas, we are at the end. One chapter left. There may be a sequel I've been given some ideas for one. I'll probably be focusing on Crossing the Line first though. Let me know what you think, if you have ideas because you know I love hearing from you. It's been a pleasure!

^.^
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