Kagome sighed as she glanced around her room one last time, she would not miss this place. Not one bit. She had already packed her meager belongings and they were resting in the pack on her back, which was hidden by her long black cloak.
Tonight was the night; Ozai was in a war meeting, meaning all his generals were there, as well as half of the armed forces. This was her one and only shot to get out of here without causing a ruckus. Then again she had her own handful of loyal friends, they would help her as much as they could.
She pulled the hood of her black cloak over her head and silently slipped out of her door. She glanced around and nodded at the young guard. He bowed to her and grabbed her arm pulling her behind him.
"We must move quickly Lady Kagome…we don't have much time." She nodded, her footfalls were nearly inaudible behind his.
Just because she was the fire priestess did not mean she was untrained, oh no. If anything she was second in fire bending to only a few. Sadly when it came to physical fighting she was lacking, no one would dare try and train with the fire priestess for fear of hurting her.
She mentally scoffed, leave it to men to be sexist.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she was shoved into a corner and pressed into the wall. She held her breath as the guards above them walked over head. They were making good time, in less than ten minutes they were in the servants halls.
The plan was to get her to the kitchen where she would be given some supplies before being snuck out of the back door, so to say, and into the surrounding forest, well what was left of it. Fire benders did not really get along with anything green unless it was money.
Once the coast was clear they started on their way again, if things were not so serious she would have been laughing. Here she was, her, Kagome, playing ninja. It was quite fun and she had to say that the new recruits sucked. Now, back in her husband days of being in charge they would have been caught long ago.
Ozai was cocky and because he was cocky he let his troops slack off, which would play a main part in his downfall. She grinned almost evilly at the thought of it, to finally see him taken down. His power and status ripped away from him by a mere child. It sent shivers down her spine and at the same time it pissed her off.
How dare the world place its fate it the small hands of a child? She, having been a mother at one point in her life, was appalled. Children should never be forced to be warriors, their biggest worry should have been if they were going to get caught doing something stupid. Not winning a war, saving the world. She vowed that if she ever crossed paths with the poor boy, with Aang, she was going to kick Roku's ass. He knew all of this was going to happen but he being the ass that he was did not care. Plus she was still sore at him for destroying her temple.
"Gaah!" She blinked and swiveled out of the way of the oncoming blast of fire. Her blue eyes shone as it rushed past her, mere inches away from her face.
She swirled on her heel and faced the attacker. She glared, of course it would be her.
Azula smirked as she stood tall, her two lackeys standing behind her, no doubt making her feel superior.
"My, my what do we have here? Father's favorite whore is out of her cage…whatever shall I do?" Her voice was filled with disdain and mocking. The girl hated her, purely hated her, then again there wasn't much the young girl did not hate.
Most of it wasn't her fault. Her mother had been ripped away from her at such a young age. She was ostracized for being a concubine's daughter, yes, she was an illegitimate child, in fact the only reason Ozai laid any claim to her was because she was a prodigy.
That was another reason the girl was so jaded, she was rushed to be the best, no, she had to be the best or she would be tossed to the side. Which was why she hated her half brother so much, he didn't have to go through half of the shit she did, simply because he was Ozai's only full-blooded child and a boy.
Even so it did not excuse the young girls rude and horrid behavior.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" Kagome merely stared at her, she would not play this child's game.
Azula smirked as guards came running, oh her father would love her for this, he had to. She single handedly stopped his favorite whore from getting away. Yeah, said whore was the fire priestess but she did not care. This woman was the reason her mother was dead. Her mother had loved her father yet he only used her as a replacement for the whore before her. It killed her mother, literally, she was so depressed that she killed herself. And it was all this whore's fault.
"Guards take her back to her room!" Her voice was sharp with authority.
The guards glanced at each other, they did not want to lay hands on the Fire priestess, she alone was the most influential and important person in the kingdom besides the fire lord…but Lady Azula was the princess….
Kagome smirked as the guards glanced around, she knew their dilemma, they didn't want to harm her. Her temple was destroyed and her person hidden form them, but she still held the same amount of power.
She knew that after tonight the fire nation would be split in half. There would be those that supported her and those that supported Ozai. Most would support Ozai, mostly out of fear, but she knew she would have her own decent sized amount of supporters.
"Grab her now or I will have your heads!" Auzla was furious! How dare they ignore her order!
The guards gave Kagome a worried and guilty glance but moved to do what Azula said, for they all knew she meant what she said.
Kagome merely smiled at them, making them pause in their steps. She used it to her advantage and barreled past them, flames bursting from her hands to momentarily blind them as she ran for it.
So much for sneaking out the back door. Looks like she would have to burst the front door down. She grinned as she ran, flames shooting after her, how silly it was to her. They were using the very flames that protected her, slowed her aging, and loved her, against her. How ironic…and useless.
She swirled on her feet and practically danced away from the guards that were running towards her and glanced around…well shit. She was cornered, guards were coming in from both sides of the small hallway. She glanced over the railing and looked down…it was a fifty foot drop…oh well.
She grinned as she fluidly hopped over the railing, ignoring the gasps and screams as her hood fell back to reveal her face. Even with the wind rushing through her ears she could hear their cries.
"Its Lady Kagome!"
"The fire priestess!"
"She's going to die!"
"What's going on? Why are they firing at Lady Kagome?"
She grinned as the ground neared, the adrenaline rushing in her veins as she spread her arms out, her palms facing the ground and pushed. Flames erupted from them and connected with the ground below her, slowing her rapid decent until slowly her feet touched the ground.
Her feet had barely touched the ground before she was off, dodging and weaving between the guards. She cursed under her breath as she came upon the story high gates, yes gates, as in more than one and sighed. Here she was hoping she wouldn't have to reveal to many of her skills during her grand escape.
She speed up her pace and jumped, using a nearby guards head as a sprig board to gain even more air. Even so she was nowhere near clearing the gate and she could hear the dismayed cries of some of the soldiers.
She grinned as the air around her heated and she seemed to hover in the air for a second, long enough to kick off form the gates wall and propel herself on top of the first gate. She heard the shocked cries and startled gasps.
She turned around to face those that were still in the court yard and smiled. She moved her to her neck and yanked off a chain and held it up.
"I have no doubt that after this I will be labeled a traitor and many foul things will be said about me, rumors will be spread as to why I left. I leave it up to you to decide if these rumors are true. I will say this… I leave here not as a traitor, a runaway, or a deserter, but as a woman hell bent on stopping the madness that surrounds us." She paused for a second to let her words sink in before continuing.
"I do not wish to become your enemy but I have no doubt many of you will see me as such and it sadness me. But, my resolve is unwavering, and my heart strong. I will bring peace back to this land…of that I swear. Even if it means I have to turn my back on you, my own children of fire." With that she let the necklace fall from her hands, her eyes locked with Ozai's as he looked down at her, along with the generals, from the windows of the war room.
Without one last glance she bounded over the gates, much like an airbender would have, and was gone.
Ozai felt pure unadulterated anger take hold of him. How dare she? HOW DARE SHE? She had not only publically announced her betrayal but did so on his front door step. She would pay.
His generals backed away from him as the air around him became hot, unbearably so, the fancy draperies around him began to smoke before bursting into flames.
He took a deep breath and let out a blast of fire, his scream of rage echoed for miles.
SHE WOULD PAY!
Kagome smirked as she heard his outraged cry and hurriedly made her way through the forest towards the river. Once there she was met with a small trading boat. She quickly boarded it and nodded at the small crew as they set sail.
She sighed sadly as they moved quickly down the river, she had broken all ties with her nation as much as it pained her but it was for the greater good. Sacrifices had to be made, she knew that all too well, even so heart heart cried out, if only for a second, as they left the fire nation, the only home she had even known.
She took a deep breath and shoved that feeling down. She had no time for regrets; because of what had just happened all her careful planning had been tossed out the window. Now, now she had to find not only her husband and nephew, but Aang as well. She knew finding them would be easy, she being so closely connected with fire would be able to seek them out easily. Finding Aang would be a bit more difficult but she knew it could be done. She, like him, was connected very closely with the spirits.
The hard part would be getting the two groups to get along. It had to happen, their two groups had to become one or they had no chance of defeating Ozai. As much as she hated to admit it, Ozai was powerful, his rage only fuelled him more, and the sprits knew he had rage to spare.
"Lady Kagome...are you well? You are unharmed?" She blinked herself out of her thoughts and turned to face the captain with a small smile.
"I am fine…how far can you take me?" The captain looked down.
"Not as far as we had originally planned, we can get you to the boarder…after that…well…" He trailed off feeling horrid, he had promised to take her as far as the Earth Kingdoms border…but he couldn't. He was scared, very much so and he had not only his crew to worry about but their families as well.
Kagome as if sensing his worries nodded, patting his arm.
"It is fine. I am very grateful for your assistance. You didn't have to." The captain shook his head.
"No, we did. A lot of us are weary and angered at the actions of our nation…but we're also sacred…but, we will try our hardest to help you. To help your cause. You might not know it but a majority of us 'peasants' long for this war to end. We have lost so many sons and daughters…" He clenched his fist in anger, he had lost two of his sons in this war.
Kagome smiled sadly as she placed her hand on his clenched one, she knew all too well the pain of losing a son to a useless war.
"I know, I know all too well." Her voice was soft yet it moved something in the captain. He unclenched his fist and placed his other hand on top of hers.
"Thank you." Kagome blinked in surprise. Why was he thanking her?
"For what?" The captain smiled.
"For giving us hope. For lighting a spark of rebellion that will grow into a brightly burning torch in the darkness. You have and always will be our light Lady Kagome." She smiled and patted his hand with her other one.
"Thank you for your kind words." The captain nodded and let go of her hands.
"You should rest for now. Once we reach land you will have to continue on foot." She nodded and let him show her to the cabin of the ship. Once there she descended the steps and sat on the small bed.
She was too nervous to rest, no…she was tired of resting, of bidding her time. Finally she had stepped into the front lines of the rebellion, her husband was going to be furious with her but she did not care.
She let out a small laugh, she was happy, she was actually happy! She no longer had to play the docile doll, no. She would pick up arms and remind them all why she was chosen by the flames.
Her eyes blazed with a new light, with determination, anticipation, and exhilaration. She would show them all the errors of their ways. She was not just some figure head, she held power and she would use all of it to help bring Ozai down. To show everyone that even a God could bleed. She would carve a path straight through the fire nation herself right up to Ozai's chambers, if needed, for Aang to follow.
Omake
Denial, it's not just a river in Egypt…
Iroh glared at his nephew as he checked out Kagome. He felt his ire raise even more as Zuko's mouth dropped open a bit and felt the need to reprimand hi by elbowing him in the side.
Zuko cried out and pain and glanced at his uncle in question.
"What was that for?" Iroh merely smiled.
"Stop checking out your aunt...it is not proper." Zuko was about to yell at his uncle when what he said finally registered in his head. That sexy twenty five year old young woman was his aunt?
"WHAT? Uncle I know you're weird but this?" Iroh laughed as Kagome skipped over to them and wrapped her arms around him.
"I've missed you my dear husband but wow I must say...you put on some weight." She patted his stomach lightly making him laugh.
"Well what can I say? I missed you so I ate away my sadness. You on the other hand look the same as always..." She smiled at him and turned in his arms to smile at a stunned Zuko.
"Oh, my you've grown up quite handsomely! You must break hearts where ever you go!" She smiled at Zuko as he stared at them gapping. After a few minutes of no reply she leaned over to whisper in Iroh's ear.
"Dear, what did you do to him? He seems a bit off." Iroh laughed.
"Ah, my lovely he is merely awed by your beauty!" She laughed and hugged him again before letting go of him to pull Zuko into her arms.
"You my dear boy are sooo cute! To think I used to bathe you when you were but a child. Ah, such fond memories…" Zuko snapped out of his stupor and pushed her away a bright red blush on his face.
"Leave me alone!" He stalked over to sit on a crate as his uncle and his...aunt, he shivered at that thought, happily chatted and acted like newly weds...why was it his family that was so messed up? Maybe he was adopted? Yes, he nodded, he liked that idea. He was adopted therefore he was not related to this family full of circus freaks, yup. That was his story and he was going to stick to it.