Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.

Bodyguard of Azula

Chapter 18: Gather and Fall

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Bijū/spirit talking"

"Bijū/spirit thinking"

(Location: Earth Kingdom)

Appa flew towards Ba Sing Se, Aang and Sokka sat on his head while Akela and the Sand Siblings sat on his back. Gaara had woken up a little earlier from a deep, peaceful sleep. "So, what kind of trouble is Katara in?" Sokka asked Aang. They had been pushing it ever since they had picked up the Tribesman and they were probably going to reach Ba Sing Se with a new record.

"I don't know," the Air Nomad answered. "In my vision, I just knew she needed help." It might've been sketchy, but it was all he needed to come back.

"It would be nice if your Avatar powers could be a little more specific from time to time," the Tribesman complained slightly.

"Vague answers will get you into trouble," Gaara agreed. Shinobi tried to avoid situations that came from vague answers. But Aang was barreling straight ahead.

Sokka noticed a dust trail moving fast to the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se. "What is that?" he asked, pointing at it. Getting closer, they saw that it was Toph earth-surfing. "Need a ride?" he called out, making her lose concentration and fall off, making the others wince.

"That's going to hurt," Kankurō stated. Akela nodded in agreement.

(Location: Ba Sing Se)

The Dai Li stood in front of Azula. They stood in a hall with statues looming over them. It would've been intimidating, if the statue weren't covered in drapes.

"The Earth King and the Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li," she told them. "They imprisoned your leader, Long Feng. Soon they will turn on you and eliminate you. Seizing power today is a matter of life and death." She walked down the stairs. "This coup must be swift and decisive. The Earth King and each of the five generals must be taken out simultaneously. Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government." Spotting a nervous agent, she walked up to him while still talking to them all. "If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, any weakness at all, I will snuff it out. That is all." The Dai Li marched away at that silent order.

Ty Lee poured a cup of tea. Both she and Mai were still posing as Kyoshi Warriors. "Nice speech, Azula," she said to the princess as she walked back up to them. "It was pretty and poetic, but also scary in a good way."

"Yeah," Mai agreed. "I thought you were going to make that one guy pee his pants." That would've been something to see.

"There are still a few loose ends. The Avatar, and my brother and uncle," Azula said, holding the cup of tea. But with any luck, those loose ends would be tied up quickly.

Iroh and Zuko stepped out of a carriage and started to walk to the Palace. "There are many times that I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace," Iroh said. "But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

"It sure is, Uncle," Zuko agreed.

(Location: Earth Kingdom)

They came in view of the Outer Wall. "So how did it go with the guru?" Toph asked Aang as she held on to Sokka. "Did you master the Avatar State?"

"Uh…?" Aang could only remember Pathik's last warning.

"If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"

"Aang, are you okay?" Sokka asked, getting his attention.

"I'm great. It went great with the guru. I completely mastered the Avatar State," he hurriedly assured them before chuckling nervously.

"That baka," Gaara muttered to himself, although his brother and sister had heard him. "He's lying."

"Are you sure?" Temari asked him quietly.

"Look at his body language. I've seen our Academy students lie better to their teachers. He never mastered the Avatar State." That was the entire point of journeying to the Eastern Air Temple in the first place.

"Should we tell the others?" Kankurō asked his brother.

He shook his head. "No, we don't need any more problems. We'll keep silent for now."

(Location: Ba Sing Se)

Zuko and Iroh were led to a room. They poured the tea, sat down and waited. "…What's taking so long?" Zuko wondered aloud after a minute of silence.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" Iroh suggested.

"Somehow, I don't think so," he replied, half-sarcastic. He then noticed that Dai Li agents were entering the room. "Something's not right," he whispered as the agents encircled them.

"It's tea time!" Azula announced as she walked into the room.

"Azula!" her brother said in surprise as he quickly stood up.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" she asked the two of them. "They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that is so Firebender. I just love it." She had them trapped with nowhere to go and they knew it.

Iroh stood up from where he knelt, seemingly calm and relaxed. "Did I ever tell you how I got the name 'the Dragon of the West'?" he asked his niece, a cup of tea in hand.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle," she replied, sounding like she was bored with them already.

"It's more of a demonstration, really." He began to drink his tea. Zuko had a small smile on his face, realizing what was about to happen. Iroh pulled him behind himself and breathed fire at the Dai Li agents. While they were distracted, Zuko punched a hole in the wall that led into the hallway using Firebending. He ran through the hallway with Iroh behind him. Two agents went through the hole after them, firing off pieces of their rock gloves via Earthbending. They smashed into the wall as Zuko and Iroh turned the corner.

The wall leading to the outside burst open due to lightning generated by Iroh, who then proceeded to jump out of the hole on the second floor and landed on a bush statue. "Come on!" he called to Zuko. "You'll be fine!"

Zuko was indeed about to jump when someone pulled him back in. "Uncle, run!" he shouted out before disappearing from Iroh's view. He tried to break free from his captor's grip.

"Would you stop moving around so much, please?" his captor asked him. He stopped moving, he knew that voice.

"I guess I should've expected to see you around. Anywhere my sister is, you're there or nearby. Right, Naruto?" He turned his head slightly to look at the blonde.

"I am her bodyguard," Naruto answered.

"That you are," Azula said as she joined, flanked by Dai Li agents. "What's the matter, Zuzu? You're not going to challenge your sister to an Agni Kai?" she asked her brother with a mocking tone of voice.

"Why should I even bother? You'll just refuse. Besides, you have the advantage in numbers."

"I guess you did learn something at Akawan." She walked away as the Dai Li agents took care of him.

Aang had Appa land at the Royal Palace. They went straight to the Earth King to ask him about Katara. "Katara's fine," he reassured them. "You have nothing worry about."

"But…in my vision, I felt so sure she was in trouble," Aang told him.

"Well, she met with the Council of Generals with Team Asuma and Shù Yè to plan the invasion and since then, she and Shù Yè have been off with your friends, the Kyoshi Warriors while Team Asuma went to go look for the Fire Nation Paragon again," the Earth King said in reply.

"That's a relief," Sokka said. "See, Aang? There was nothing to worry about."

"Okay, maybe you're right," Aang conceded. Whatever the case might be, he couldn't go back to the Eastern Air Temple again, not with Pathik there.

"Believe me, if there was any danger at all, Bosco's animal instincts would sense it," the Earth King told them. Bosco just raised his sleepy head; making Akela actually snort in disbelief (the others briefly wondered how he could pull that off).

Katara kept walking back and forth in the catacombs. "You know, you're going to wear out feet like that, Princess," Shù Yè told her from where she sat against a cluster of crystals.

"How can you be so calm?" Katara demanded of her. They were imprisoned and she was acting like it was nothing.

"What? You think this is the first time I've been in a situation like this?" she asked back. "You just have to relax and be patient. I mean, it's not like it could get any worse."

Just then, the entrance to the catacombs opened up. "You've got company," A Dai Li agent announced as he threw a person down the ramp and closed the entrance.

"Zuko!" exclaimed Katara with a surprised look as she looked at the person who had joined them. Her surprise soon turned to anger.

Shù Yè just groaned. "I just had to say it."

Appa landed in front of the house, allowing his passengers to get off. Toph walked up to the door and opened it. They walked through, only to find their movements frozen. "What is the meaning of this, Shikamaru?" Gaara called out to the house.

They could suddenly move again. "Sorry about that, Gaara," Shikamaru said as he and the rest of Team Asuma walked into the room. "We had to be sure."

"Sure about what?" Temari asked him. She could see that the Konoha shinobi were tense.

"Momo!" cried Aang as the lemur ran towards and up him.

"What happened?" Gaara asked the other shinobi in the room.

"Katara and Shù Yè have been captured," Asuma stated. Everyone, except for his team, looked at him in surprise and shock.

"Katara is in trouble. I knew it!" Aang declared. He had been right to leave the Eastern Air Temple!

"Oh no," groaned Sokka. Akela sniffed the air and began to growl at the door, his hackles rising. "What's the matter?" the Tribesman asked the wolf.

"There's someone at the door," Toph announced. They heard knocking from the other side. "Actually, I know who it is. It's an old friend of mine." She opened the door to reveal Iroh standing in their doorway. "Glad to see you're okay."

"I need your help," Iroh replied. His presence surprised both Sokka and Aang. Both Team Asuma and the Sand Siblings were on guard. Toph just raised a hand in greeting.

"You guys know each other?!" Aang demanded, pointing at them while Momo flew away. He couldn't believe that one of his own friends was on passable terms with Zuko's uncle!

"Put your finger down, Aang," Asuma told him with a pointed look. "It's rude to point." The Avatar stared at him for a moment but lowered his finger when he couldn't hold the gaze.

"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down," Toph told them as Iroh scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Then he gave me tea and some very good advice."

"May I come in?" Iroh asked, taking his hand from his head. Toph nodded and he walked into the house. "Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se," he said without preamble.

"She must have Katara!" Aang said in realization.

"And Shù Yè as well," Gaara said.

"She has captured my nephew as well," Iroh told them.

"Then we'll work together to fight Azula and Naruto, as well as save Katara, Shù Yè, and Zuko," the Air Nomad declared. If he had to ally himself with Koh to save Katara, he would do it in a heartbeat.

The Dragon of the West was surprised by what he heard. "Naruto is here in the city?" He shook his head. "I should not be surprised." Wherever Azula was, Naruto was as well. Which begged the question: how long had his niece been in the city?

"Is this really a good idea?" Shikamaru asked them all. It didn't seem like the best of plans to go on.

"Do you have any other ideas, little boy?" Temari asked in return.

"I know how you must feel about my nephew," Iroh told them. "But believe me when I tell you there is good inside him."

"Yeah well, let us know when the 'good' is on the outside as well," Sokka said. Akela rolled his eyes at what the Tribesman said.

"Katara and Shù Yè are in trouble," Aang told his friend. "All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance." Sokka stayed silent for a few seconds, and then gave a nod of agreement.

"I brought someone along who might be able to help us," Iroh told them, walking back to the door. He opened the door and walked back onto the porch with the others behind him. On the porch was a gagged Dai Li agent, relieved of his rock gloves and shoes. His feet and hands were also tied. Toph quickly held him in place by Earthbending two columns to jut out of the ground and hold him. Iroh walked up to him and pulled the gag down, as the ungagged Dai Li agent gasped for his breathe.

"Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup!" he told them in a hurried voice. "They're going to overthrow the Earth King!"

"Where are they keeping my sister and Shù Yè?" Sokka demanded, pointing his machete at the agent. Akela simply bared his teeth.

"In the Crystal Catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace." Everyone turned around and headed to Appa. Gaara stopped, turned back around and knocked the agent unconscious with his sand before catching up.

"The movements of all the generals and the Earth King have been plotted out step-by-step," A Dai Li agent told Long Feng as he stood outside the prison cell.

"Good," Long Feng replied as he mediated. "And the Fire Nation princess is cooperating?"

"Oh yes. More than cooperating," the agent answered. "She's really taken charge. She's terrifying and inspirational at the same time. It's hard to explain." He walked off.

Long Feng opened his eyes. "This might turn out to be a problem," he thought. "I'll have to make an example of the princess to reinforce the loyalty of the Dai Li." It would not do to have the loyalty of his men to be questioned by a foreigner.

"Why did they throw you in here?" Katara demanded of Zuko as she paced back and forth. Zuko said nothing; he just kept his back to her. "Oh, wait, let me guess. It's a trap. So, when Aang shows up to help us, you can finally have him in your little Fire Nation clutches!"

"Oh, for the sake of the Spirit World, give it a rest, Princess," Shù Yè told her. It was getting annoying, the way the Waterbender was ranting on at the third prisoner.

Zuko turned his head to look at her once and then looked away. "You're a terrible person! You know that?" Katara asked him, still ranting. "Always hunting us! Hunting the Avatar! Trying to capture this side of the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood!"

"You don't know what you're about!" Zuko finally replied.

"I don't? How dare you! You have no idea what this war has put me through, me personally!" She turned away and sat down, her hand touching the necklace at her neck. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." Tears flowed down her face.

"Yes, yes, everything is all just about you, isn't it, Princess?" Shù Yè asked with sarcasm in her voice. "And here I thought it was all about the arrowhead. You know, one of these days that mouth of yours will get you into a lot of trouble."

"Shut up, Shù Yè. Just shut up," the Waterbender ordered the girl.

"…I'm sorry," Zuko apologized to Katara, turning to face her. "That's something we have in common." She looked at him with surprise, wiping the tears away.

"Well, what do you know?" Toph said as she knelt and placed a hand on the earth. "There is an ancient city down there. But it's deep." She bent the earth to open up, creating a tunnel.

"We should split up," Sokka said. "Aang, you go with Iroh and look for Katara, Shù Yè and the angry jerk, no offense," He told Iroh.

"None taken," he replied.

"And I'll go with Toph to warn the Earth King of Azula's coup." Momo landed on his shoulder, showing who he wanted to go with.

"We'll go with Aang and Iroh," Asuma said, gesturing to his team.

"Then we will go with Sokka and Toph," Gaara replied.

They went their separate ways. Aang, Iroh, and Team Asuma went into the tunnel. While Aang extended the tunnel, Iroh used his Firebending to light the way. "So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice, and great tea!" Aang said to Iroh as they walked down the tunnel.

"The key to both is proper aging," he replied. "What's on your mind?"

Aang extended the tunnel again. "Well, I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar State and control this great power. But to do it, I had to let go of someone I love. And I just couldn't." When he didn't hear anything from Team Asuma, he stopped and looked at them. "You guys aren't surprised?"

"Gaara already told us," Shikamaru told him. "Apparently, you're a bad liar."

"Perfection and power are overrated," Iroh told them. He knew that all too well from his experience. "I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love."

Aang extended the tunnel for a third time. "What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula and Naruto?" he asked. "Without the Avatar State, what if I'm not powerful enough?" He hadn't really thought about it until now. And now, it was all he could think of.

"I don't know the answer. Sometimes, life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel. But if you just keep moving." Aang extended the tunnel again, making the end break away and extinguishing Iroh's fire. "You will come to a better place." They found themselves looking at Old Ba Sing Se, the cavern illuminated by glowing crystals.

They climbed the staircase up to the Royal Palace. "There's General How," Sokka announced as they reached the top of the staircase. Realizing that something was wrong, he grabbed Toph and hid behind a nearby column. Momo, Akela, and the Sand Siblings followed them.

General How was indeed walking towards them, but what he didn't realize was that Dai Li agents were on the columns. Two of them sprang into action by throwing metal cuffs at his hands and forcing him to his knees. "What's going on here!?" demanded the general.

"You're under house arrest," A third agent told him.

"The coup is happening right now!" Sokka whispered to the others. "We've gotta warn the Earth King!" He grabbed Toph by the arm and ran off, the others right behind him. As they made their way to the Earth King, the other generals on the Council of Five were being captured by the Dai Li.

But they were unaware of this as they entered the throne room. "Thank goodness we're in time," Sokka said as he ran up to the throne, seeing that the ruler of Ba Sing Se was still sitting on it. Sitting next to him was Bosco and standing below the dais were Ty Lee and Mai, still dressed as Kyoshi Warriors.

"In time for what?" asked the Earth King.

"Yeah, what are you in time for, cutie?" Ty Lee asked as she cartwheeled towards Sokka.

He kept a blank face. "The next time you kidnap someone, try to remember who's at the door," he told her.

"Huh?"

"Just drop the act already. We know who you are. They told us." He swung a punch at her, making her backflip onto the top of the Badgermole statue.

"What is going on?" the Earth King demanded, looking at everyone in confusion.

"They're not the real Kyoshi Warriors!" Toph told him, making him gasp in surprise.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Mai said before throwing a couple of knives at her. She blocked them by bending a rock barrier out of the floor. She then bent it at Mai, who jumped over it but got caught by a stone column that Toph bent out of the floor as well.

Ty Lee appeared in front of Sokka with a laugh, making him move away. He didn't try to fight her because he knew that if he made one mistake, she would take it. Every time she tried to jab him; he would dodge it. "Ooooh, it's like we're dancing together!" Ty Lee told him.

"Well, this is the only dance you're getting out of me," he told her. He had been hit by her once. He didn't want it to happen againh

"This fight is over," Azula declared. She stood behind the Earth King and was literally holding him at flame-point.

Sokka looked back at the Sand Siblings, only to see that they were being held by Dai Li agents. Knowing that there was nothing they could do, both he and Toph held their hands up in surrender. Ty Lee took advantage of that by leaping in between them and knocking them out via chi blocking. Momo tried to fly away but a Dai Li agent sent him crashing to the ground by encasing him in one of his rock gloves.

"Kami take it! We should've helped them!" Kankurō swore as he tried to struggle against the cuffs holding him.

"They restrained us the moment the fight started," Temari reminded him. They didn't even have a chance to open their weapons, much less fight.

"Get them all out of my sight," Azula ordered, extinguishing the flame on her two fingers, and shoving the Earth King down the steps. Ty Lee and Mai dragged Toph's unconscious body while a Dai Li agent dragged Sokka away. The agents also escorted the Earth King and the Sand Siblings away as well. Akela and Bosco had no choice but to follow them, Bosco grunting with worry and Akela with a furious look in his eyes.

Azula watched them go with a satisfied look, sitting on the Earth King's throne. The look turned into a scowl when she saw Long Feng approaching the throne with several Dai Li agents behind him. "Now comes the part where I double cross you," he announced. "Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation princess." The Dai Li did not move an inch, making Long Feng turn around to face them. "I said arrest her!" They still did not move. "What is wrong with you!?"

Azula just sat there, her scowl turning into a smug grin. "Dai Li, restrain Long Feng!" Naruto's voice rang out in the room. Two of the agents immediately cuffed Long Feng with metal restraints.

"What is the meaning of this!?" he demanded. "You will release me! I am your leader!"

"No, you're not. You're just a temp," Naruto said, walking out behind a column. "I lead the Dai Li now, as is my right."

"What are you talking about?"

He smirked before turning around and walking towards the throne. "Tell me, Long Feng, do you know how the Dai Li were created?"

Long Feng managed to regain his composure. "Of course, I do. During the reign of the 46th Earth King, there was a peasant uprising. The Earth King summoned Avatar Kyoshi to quell the uprising. She refused and proposed a compromise instead. The Earth King would listen to the peasants' grievances and in return, she would protect the king's interest and the cultural heritage. She created an elite group of Earthbenders that now known as the Dai Li." And now, he led the Dai Li.

The blonde listened as he spoke, before finally shaking his head. "Points for trying, but you forgot the other half of the story."

"What do you mean?" He had read the history books. He knew what had happened.

Naruto's smirk grew wider. "See? If you were the actual leader of the Dai Li, you would know the rest of the story," he told the former advisor of the Earth King.

"I am the leader of the Dai Li!" Long Feng almost shouted at him. "These men have proven themselves to be traitors to the state. The rest of the Dai Li will free me soon enough. They are loyal to me." Once that happened, it would be time to go through the Dai Li ranks and see who was loyal to him.

"Wrong. The truth is that any Dai Li agent who was loyal to you is now dead. I had them killed." The blonde said to hi

"What?" Long Feng's composure slipped as he had a look of shock on his face. That couldn't be true, could it?

"It is true that Kyoshi created the Dai Li, but she never told the Paragons at that time what had happened with the Earth King," Naruto began. "When they had found out, they were furious. All four of the Paragons went to Ba Sing Se and straight to Kyoshi. They told her that she had no right to create a group that had the potential to wield power over the city and the Earth King. She told them that it was none of their business and that the Avatar answers to no one. They responded by telling her that the Avatar did answered to someone, she answered to them. As punishment, they stripped her of command over the Dai Li and sent her back to her home island in exile. She had stayed there, in exile, for forty years. The Paragons took control of the Dai Li after that."

"What is your point?" He wasn't seeing one himself. That little story the blonde had just spun still didn't explain why the Dai Li refused to listen to his words.

The smirk on the blonde's face had become foxlike. "A Dai Li agent's loyalty to the Paragons first and to the Earth Kingdom second," he explained to the former advisor. "I believe you saw a demonstration of that when Sokka showed them his Paragon Medallion, correct?"

"How do you know of that?" Very few people knew of that incident and he had tried to keep it that way.

"I gave him the book that held the laws concerning the Dai Li. He has as much right to command the Dai Li as I do, but we do not hold full command. I take it that you've taken the time to read the reports about the war? If so, you'll probably realize who I am." The smirk disappeared from his face, leaving him with a serious expression on his face.

Long Feng's eyes went wide as he finally realized who it was standing before him. "You're the Paragon of the Fire Nation."

"Correct, and now I have to take out the trash. Dai Li!" he barked. The agents turn their attention to him. "This man is guilty of crimes against Ba Sing Se. His punishment is execution."

The former advisor chuckled. "You can't just kill me. I run this city, it's under my control. You kill me and everything will collapse." He turned to look at Azula. "I will make you another deal. Keep me alive and I will run this city for the Fire Nation in the place of the Earth King." It would keep him in power and the city would still be his.

Azula said nothing in reply. "And wrong again," Naruto told him.

"How am I wrong?" he asked, confident and patronizing. He knew that she would take the offer, she would have to.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." The blonde looked around, like he was making sure they were alone (which they weren't). "You haven't been in control of Ba Sing Se since about…hmmm…last autumn." His face lost the slightly comical expression he had as he spoke and became serious again. "The method of execution is stoning. Dai Li, you will carry out the execution immediately." T

he Dai Li took Long Feng away. Long Feng didn't resist, he was just escorted away with a look on his face that he had lost in the very game he thought he was the master of. Both Azula and Naruto watched as he left. "And that takes care of it," Naruto said.

"Indeed," Azula agreed. She looked at her bodyguard. "You know, I was quite capable of taking care of him," she told him, slightly annoyed at what had happened.

"You were going to give him the 'divine right to rule' speech, weren't you?" he asked her, giving her a pointed look.

"…Yes," she admitted. She had given that speech to Naruto a year ago. His response was to take her to rural villages in the Fire Nation and had her meet with the village leaders. After having many talks with many different leaders, she realized the right to rule wasn't divine but choice. "I just wanted to throw him off, that's all."

"That's what I'm for," he told her. He then noticed that a Dai Li agent had returned. "I take it that my orders were followed?"

"Yes sir," the agent answered him. "We have taken them to a room in the palace."

"Good, keep a close eye on them. I don't want them to get into trouble." The agent bowed and left. He turned to Azula. "And now, I have to go." With that, he disappeared with a POOF!

"I'm sorry I yelled at you before," Katara apologized to Zuko. The two of them were now standing while Shù Yè was still sitting down.

"It doesn't matter," he told her.

"It's just that for so long now, whenever I would imagine the face of the enemy, it was your face." To her, his face was the face of all the Fire Nation.

"My face?" repeated Zuko as he touched his scar. "I see." People always saw the scar first and him second.

"No, no, that's-that's not what I meant," she tried to assure him.

"It's okay. I used to think this scar marked me," he told her. "The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."

"Maybe you could be free of it," She offered him.

"What?" He turned to look at her.

"I have healing abilities."

"It's a scar. It can't be healed." Everyone knew that.

She walked forward, taking out the vial that Pakku had given her. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but…" She touched Zuko's scar. However, they were interrupted when a side of the Catacombs burst open to reveal Aang, Iroh and Team Asuma. "Aang!" cried Katara in joy. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug. He hugged back and glared at Zuko. Zuko got a hug from Iroh and glared back.

"Oh, thank the Spirits you guys got here," Shù Yè told Team Asuma as she stood up from where she sat. "It was getting too melodramatic in here. It was five minutes away from being a bad romance story."

"Well, you're certainly taking this in stride," Asuma noted.

"As I told Katara, this is not the first time I've been in this kind of situation."

"I knew you would come," Katara told Aang as she gave him another hug.

"Uncle, I don't understand," Zuko told Iroh (who broken the hug). "What are you doing with the Avatar?"

"Saving you, that's what," Aang retorted.

Zuko took a step in his direction but was stopped by Iroh. "Zuko, it's time we talked," he stated. He looked over at the others. "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you." Aang raced back into the tunnel with Team Asuma and Shù Yè behind him. Katara followed, but not before giving Zuko one last look.

"Why, Uncle?" Zuko asked. He had trying to capture the Avatar since he had been scarred. And he had been right there, but his uncle let him go.

"You're not the man you used to be, Zuko," Iroh told him. "You are stronger, wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Out of nowhere, crystals sprang out of the ground and encased Iroh. "I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle," Azula said as she and two Dai Li agents appeared. "But Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" she asked her brother.

"Release him immediately!" Zuko demanded.

"It's not too late for you, Zuko," she told him, ignoring his order. "You can still redeem yourself."

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you," Iroh warned him.

"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle?" Azula asked before turning her attention. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

"Zuko, I'm begging you," Iroh said to his nephew. "Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want."

"You are free to choose," Azula told her brother. She signaled the Dai Li to leave. They left via the way they came in while she went into the tunnel that Aang created. Zuko stared at the tunnel in silence, thinking about what she had just said. And she was right, he was free to choose.

Aang and his group ran back into the area of Old Ba Sing Se. "We've gotta find Sokka, Toph, and the others," Katara told them.

"Talk about stating the obvious," Shù Yè replied with a roll of her eyes. It was at that point a bolt of lightning landed in the middle of the group. It sent Team Asuma flying into one of the buildings carved into the rock. Another bolt of lightning hit the building, causing it to collapse and was blocked off by rubble.

A third bolt of lightning flew at them, but this time, Aang was ready. He bent up a wall of rock with Earthbending to block it. It did block the bolt but was destroyed in the process. However, it did show them who threw the lightning bolt. It was Azula.

Katara ran up to the water and bent a large portion of it out of the river to block another lightning bolt. She then tried to effectively drown Azula by turning the water into a tidal wave. In response, Azula bent a huge flame shield to block the water, causing it to turn into mist.

"I got her!" Shù Yè said, charging into the mist. Both Katara and Aang heard flesh hitting flesh, grunting and finally, someone hitting something hard.

"Shù Yè?" Aang called out. "Are you okay?"

They got their answer when Azula appeared out of the mist, jumping off a crystal. While in midair, she shot two bursts of blue fire at Aang and Katara. They worked together to bend a water current out of the river to act as a shield. The mist cleared, showing Shù Yè sitting against a crystal, unconscious.

Azula landed on a rock pillar, which Aang took advantage of. He dropped the water and bent the pillar to break apart. Azula realized this and jumped off, landing between Aang and Katara. It was a standoff with nobody willing to make a move. Azula knew that if she made a move on one, the other would attack her. And Aang and Katara knew that if one attacked her, she would attack the other.

The standoff was interrupted when a fireball struck the ground in between them. They turned to see Zuko at the tunnel entrance. He had taken the more restrictive parts of his clothing off, allowing greater mobility. He held a Firebending stance and walked towards the standoff. He eyed his sister and then turned his gaze to Aang, who then realized what that meant.

Zuko shot a fireball at Aang, who bent the air around into a shield and jumped away. Azula just smirked and turned her attention back to Katara. In the midst of all this, Shù Yè was still unconscious.

Sokka looked out the cell's barred window. "See any Dai Li agents nearby?" Toph asked him.

"Nope, all clear," he told her. He backed away from the door so that Toph could stand in front of it. Using her new founded gift of Metalbending, she crumpled the door and punched it clear off its hinges. "Let's go!" Sokka declared.

"I'm not leaving without Bosco!" the Earth King told them as he was yanked out of the cell by Sokka.

"What about Gaara, Kankurō, and Temari?" Toph asked as they ran. The Suna shinobi had been put somewhere else and they didn't know where.

"We'll have to come back for them later," the Tribesman told her.

Zuko fired off multiple fireballs at Aang. The Air Nomad bent the air to form a shield, blocking the fireballs and bent a human-shaped gust of air at Zuko, sending him crashing to the ground. Aang leapt at him with another gust of air ready. He rolled out of the way and bent another fireball at his feet, making jump high onto a rock pillar. He hopped back onto his feet and shot off multiple fireballs at Aang again, making him leap from pillar to pillar.

When he finally stopped on a cluster of crystals, Zuko bent a bigger fireball at him. He tried to Earthbend the crystals beneath him to rise into a shield, but the fireball smashed through. Zuko then bent the fire in his hands into whips and swung them at Aang. The Avatar leapt out of the cluster of crystals and hopped around the upper levels, avoiding the fire whips.

Meanwhile, Azula charged at Katara. She retaliated by sending a wave of water at her. She dodged, but it was close enough that she could see her face in the water's reflection and the water cut off some of her hair.

Zuko was still trying to hit Aang with his fire whips. Aang kept jumping along the ceiling until he landed on a stalactite. Using Earthbending, he broke off the tip and sent it slamming into the ground with him along with it. The impact caused a crater and sent Zuko crashing into a large cluster of crystal.

After knocking Azula off her feet, Katara bent the water beneath to form water whips around her hands and arms. Azula sent a burst of blue fire at her, but she swung one of the whips at Azula, blocking the fire and trapping her arm in water. She tried to do the same thing again with her foot, but Katara trapped that in water too.

Seeing that his sister was in trouble, Zuko got up, charged at the two girls, and used his foot to bend a thin wave of fire at the water whips, cutting them in half and freeing his sister. Azula looked at her brother and gave a small nod of appreciation before turning to look at the crater that Aang made and of which he just crawled out of.

She went at him while Zuko and Katara dueled with their respective whips. "I thought you had changed!" the Waterbender yelled at him. Did the conversation they had mean nothing at all? Was it all a lie?

"I have changed," he replied calmly.

While they dueled, Azula and Aang were staring down the other. Azula bent fire backwards to propel herself at him. His response was to bend nearby crystal to shatter and to reform as armor on him. He then used Earthbending to slide forward at Azula. They charged at each other, until Azula stopped and bent the fire she used as propulsion at Aang in full force. He tried to go through it, but it caused the crystal armor to shatter and sent him flying into another of the buildings carved into the rock.

"Come on, it's easy," Ty Lee told Bosco, who sat nearby. "You just walk on your front paws instead your rear ones, like this." She did a handstand and started to walk forward. She was caught off-guard when the earth rose and trapped her hands. Surprised, she lost her balance and placed her feet in front of her. The floor also encased them, making her completely stuck. Bosco clapped when he saw this, and Akela just got up from where he sat.

"That is a nice trick," Toph said. She and Sokka readied themselves for a fight.

"Just take the animals," Mai said, raising a hand in surrender. She was in no mood for a fight.

"Bosco!" cried the Earth King, hugging the bear, who grunted in happiness.

Akela walked over to Sokka and sat down on his haunches. "Where are Gaara and his siblings?" Sokka demanded of the last fake Kyoshi Warrior.

Mai shrugged. "Don't know. You could go look for them, but I think you should be more concerned about your friends in Old Ba Sing Se."

He looked at her in surprise when he heard those words. "We have to go," he finally said. "We have to go help Aang and the others."

"What about Gaara?" Toph asked.

"Once everyone else is safe, we'll come and find them. Let's move!" They ran out of the throne room to look for Appa.

Both Zuko and Azula worked in tandem to fight against Katara, who was not faring well. After Zuko's fireball knocked away most of her water, Azula's fireball sent her flying into a cluster of crystal. It knocked her out and shaken her braid loose.

The cave began to rumble and Aang leapt out of the building he crashed into, slammed into the ground, and began to earth-surf towards them. He reached the river when a Dai Li agent appeared out of nowhere and broke Aang's earth-surf, sending him flying. He tried to get up but stopped when he looked up and saw Dai Li agents were both backing up Zuko and Azula and surrounding Katara. Katara herself regained consciousness and saw that she was surrounded. She bent water from the river to surround her and used the octopus form, using the eight tentacles to ward off the agents.

Aang stood up to fight but saw that both he and Katara were outnumbered. "There's too many," he muttered to himself.

That was when everyone heard a muffled shout of "Tsūga (Passing Fang)!" and the collapsed building that Team Asuma was trapped in burst open, sending dust everywhere and obscuring everyone's vision.

"I hope we aren't late to the party!" a familiar voice to Katara and Aang asked. The dust cleared to reveal Kiba sitting on Akamaru. Behind him were Team Kurenai, Team Guy, and Team Asuma, all were ready to fight.

"Sorry for taking so long," Chōji apologized to Aang and Katara. "It was kinda hard to track down eight different chakra signatures over an entire continent while trapped underground."

"Also add in the fact that Shikamaru wasn't really helping," Ino added, throwing a glare at her teammate.

"It was a drag," he replied.

"Focus, people!" barked out Asuma, who held his Chakra Blades ready. "We've got a big fight on our hands!"

"Indeed!" Guy shouted as he got into his fighting pose. "Let us show them the power of our YOUTH!"

"Not exactly how I would say it, but Guy's right," Kurenai said. "Attack the Dai Li!"

The teams of Konoha shinobi charged directly into the fray. Guy and Lee used the Gōken on the Dai Li while Neji and Hinata used their Byakugan and the Jūken. Kiba and Akamaru tore through the agents using the Gatsūga while Shino helped by using his kikaichū to distract them. Ino and Kurenai held back, Ino to provide medical support and Kurenai to cast Genjutsu. Tenten protected them from harm by fighting off Dai Li agents. Shikamaru used his Kagemane to hold agents still while Asuma used his Chakra Blades to take them.

Occasionally, one of them would get close to Zuko or Azula but would always get stopped by an agent. Katara defended herself by using the octopus form to swat away Dai Li agents. The Dai Li were handling themselves well enough against the shinobi, attacking in coordination with other agents and always making sure that Azula and Zuko were not attacked.

Aang just watched as the fight went on. "I have to help somehow," he thought. He just couldn't stand there. Looking at Katara, Pathik's words came back to him.

"The only way is to let her go."

"Guys, Katara, I'm sorry," he whispered.

He turned his back and made a crystal tent with Earthbending to protect himself. He sat down and began to mediate again. Once again, he saw himself on a bridge of light over the world, the image of the Avatar State hovering above him. It descended and again, he was encased in the orb. His tattoos glowed and in the real world, they began to glow as well, causing the crystal tent to light up, getting everyone's attention. His eyes opened and they glowed as well.

The crystal shattered and, in a beam of light, he rose up into the air. Katara looked at him with hope in her eyes as she watched him gain control of the Avatar State. The shinobi watched on with varying degrees of awe or surprise.

Shikamaru then noticed that Azula was missing. Looking around quickly and calmly, he found her standing behind Aang, moving her hands around, trying to generate lightning. Reacting quickly, he extended his shadow towards her and caught her just as the lightning was ready. Raising his hand, she was forced to mimic it, sending the lightning up towards the ceiling.

"It's too troublesome for you to do that," he said.

"Nice going, Shikamaru!" Kiba cheered as the others realized what he had done.

Aang had almost complete control of the Avatar State when he felt something like a cold hand grabbing hold of him, yanking him out of the orb and away from the Avatar State. In the real world, the glow from his tattoos and his eyes disappeared as well as the beam of light. He bent a cushion of air to soften his landing. "W-what happened?" he asked, surprised.

"What's going on?" Katara asked aloud. "How could he be cut off from the Avatar State?" Sokka or Naruto weren't there to do such a thing to him. How could that have happened?

"You know, you should really pay more attention to Sokka's paranoia," Shù Yè's voice rang out. Everyone looked over at her as she stood up. "It'd probably save you a lot of trouble."

"What did you do, Shù Yè?" Ino asked, stunned to see her moving.

"Isn't obvious?" she asked back. "I cut Aang off from the Avatar State. I do have that ability."

"But you're not a Paragon!" Katara protested. "Not unless…" She trailed as she realized what that meant.

"Not unless you're the Paragon of the Air Nomads!" Aang finished. "How could you betray your own kin? Did the Fire Nation pay you that much money to betray us!? How much did they pay you to betray me? HOW MUCH!?" he yelled at Shù Yè, fury lacing his voice.

She stopped walking and looked at him, standing by the river. She began to laugh. "Wow, you really are an idiot," she said, still laughing.

"Just who are you!?"

She looked down at the water. The laughter was gone, but she was confident. "I thought it was so obvious," she said. "My name should've at least alerted you, but you even failed to recognize that."

"What do you mean, 'your name'?" Asuma asked.

She looked up from the water and over to the resident Waterbender. "Katara, would you please tell the shinobi what my name means?"

"It means tree leaves." Katara answered, confused at where this was going. What did a name have to do with anything?

"Correct. Now the shinobi wear a leaf as their insignia. They serve a greater purpose then themselves, like leaves to a tree. To them, that tree would probably be called…?" She trailed off, letting them try to figure it out.

"Konoha," Shikamaru answered, his eyes widening in both shock and realization. "Shù Yè does not exist. She's not real. She never was real." How could he be so stupid? It was there, right in front of his face and he didn't figure it out.

Shù Yè walked across the water, her hands forming a handseal. "Kai (Release)." A huge cloud of smoke appeared, along with the sound of POOF! The person who walked out of the smoke and onto the other side of the river was not Shù Yè.

It was Naruto.

To say Katara and Aang were shocked would've been an understatement. "You mean…?" Katara asked the blonde, speechless.

"That I was with you the entire time you've been in Ba Sing Se?" he finished as he stood next to Zuko. "Yes, I was. And now, you've lost. The city of Ba Sing Se is now officially under the control of the Fire Nation."

"It won't be successful if we stop you here!" Aang stated, anger flashing in his eyes. He would not let that happen!

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" the blonde asked him, still confident. "You can't go into the Avatar State, remember?"

"He still has us!" Lee shouted, looking he was a step away from attacking his former teammate. "Your unyouthful actions will end today, Naruto!"

"Really, are you sure?"

"There's no way you can take us all, Naruto!" Kiba pitched in. "Not even with your clones and all these guys to help you."

"Actually, yes there is." He clapped his hands into a different handseal and activated his chakra. All the shinobi fell to the ground, screaming in pain as their bodies stopped obeying their commands. Shikamaru's shadow detached itself from Azula, allowing her to move again.

"What did you do!?" Asuma demanded, struggling to say something through the pain. But it was all he could do. The pain kept him immobilized.

"You all have a Paralyzing Seal on your bodies. I placed them there when I touched you."

Team Asuma realized that, as Shù Yè, he touched them many times. Team Kurenai and Team Guy realized that when they fought him, he must've placed the seal on them when he made contact with their skin. They tried to stand up, but their bodies wouldn't listen to them. Eventually, they passed out from the pain.

Naruto looked at his former teammates and friends with no emotion on his face. "Take them away," he ordered a group of Dai Li agents. They quickly took hold of the shinobi and dragged them away. A burst of light appeared from behind him. Turning around quickly, he saw that Aang was trying to take control of the Avatar State again, this time with anger. He floated in the air, his eyes and tattoos glowing once more.

But before Naruto could cut him off, a bolt of lightning flew out of nowhere and struck him in the back. In Aang's vision, the orb disappeared, the Avatar State fell and the bridge disappeared, sending falling down to the planet, while also falling down to the ground in real life.

Katara watched in shock, tears falling down her face. Reacting quickly, she bent the water around her into a wave and rode it over to where Aang was falling. It caught the Dai Li agents, Zuko, and Azula off guard as they got swept away (Naruto jumped up onto the ceiling and stayed there). She caught Aang and let the wave crash onto the ground. The water flowed away as she held his body.

Looking up, she saw that both Zuko and Azula coming towards her, only to be stopped by a blast of fire. Iroh leapt down from the wall of the cave and landed in front of Katara. "You've got to get out of here!" he told Katara. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!" He began to fight against the Dai Li, he used fire and they used earth.

Katara walked/carried Aang's unconscious body over to the waterfall. Bending water from said waterfall, she bent it to send both her and Aang up the waterfall and out of Old Ba Sing Se, fleeing from the battle.

Iroh took a quick look back to see that they had gotten away. That was all Naruto need to drop down from the ceiling and land behind the Dragon of the West. He drew his jian and placed it against Iroh's neck. "Don't make me do this, Iroh. Just stand down," he ordered.

Iroh complied, allowing two Dai Li agents to encase him in crystal. Naruto removed his jian from Iroh's throat and sheathed it. Iroh looked over at his nephew, who returned the look. He turned away and closed his eyes.

As Sokka, Toph, the Earth King, Momo, Akela and Bosco watched, Katara placed Aang on Appa's head and took out the vial holding the water from the Spirit Oasis. Bending the water out of the vial, she lifted Aang up so that she could get to his back, which now held an ugly red scar. She bent the water into the scar, which glowed brilliantly for a second and then disappeared. Thinking that she had failed, Katara gave a small cry of grief and hugged Aang's body.

However, his tattoo glowed briefly, and he gasped lightly. Katara heard the gasp and looked at his face. His eyes were open. He saw Katara and gave a tired smile. Katara gave him a hug, happy she hadn't lost him.

"We've done it, Zuko, Naruto," Azula said as she sat on the throne of the Earth King. Naruto and Zuko stood on opposite sides of her. "It's taken a hundred years, but the Fire Nation has conquered Ba Sing Se."

"I betrayed Uncle," Zuko confessed sadly. The look that Iroh had given him had said it all. He had made his choice, and this was the consequence of his choice. He knew that, but it still hurt.

"No, he betrayed you," She replied before standing up from the throne. "Zuko, when you return home, Father will welcome you as a war hero." She was sure that was what the Fire Lord would do.

"But I don't have the Avatar," he protested. "What if Father doesn't restore my honor?"

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "He doesn't need to, Zuko. Today, you restored your own honor."

"I'd say he restored his honor at Akawan," Naruto said, scowling. It was obvious that he was annoyed about something.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Azula asked, turning to face him.

"Who in the name of Kami fired that bolt of lightning?" he demanded. "Both of you were standing in front of the Avatar and the lightning struck him in the back. So, who threw it?"

"I did," a voice came from the doorway, making them all look that way. A woman about eighteen years old walked up to the throne with a sway in her hips. She had high cheekbones and long, dark, wavy hair. Her eyes were the kind of grey one would see in a storm.

But while she was beautiful, the three people still on the dais knew that she was anything but. "What are you doing here?" Azula asked the woman, her tone both guarded and yet, filled with venom.

She smirked as she stopped in front of the dais. "Now, is that anyway to greet your older sister, little Azula?" she asked back.

"You mean half-sister," she snarled. Already, the memories of her childhood were coming back to haunt her.

"But I am your sister nonetheless."

Azula was about to retort when Zuko spoke. "You never answered her question, Yāo Jing. What are you doing here?" he asked his half-sibling. He may have been Ursa's firstborn, but he was not Ozai's. That honor belonged to her, his bastard sister.

Yāo Jing looked at her half-siblings. "Father sent me to go looking for Azula. He was wondering what was taking her so long," she told them.

"You were there for the entire fight, weren't you?" Naruto asked her with a cold tone.

"I saw a chance and I took it," she replied with a casual shrug. She turned her gaze back to her half-siblings. "I'll stay here until you leave for the Fire Nation. It's been a while since I spent time with my little brother and sister anyway." She walked out of the throne rooms

"With good reason," Azula growled. Neither she nor Zuko have wanted to be near her again, not after what she tormented them with when they were children.

Naruto watched as the eldest and illegitimate child of Ozai walked away. "This does not bode well," he thought. "Though she has never admitted it, Yāo Jing was never fond of Zuko and Azula. We're going to have to be careful." One wrong move and they would be dead.

"The Earth Kingdom…has fallen," the Earth King stated.

The others didn't say anything, they didn't have to. What the Earth King said was true. They flew beyond the Outer Wall, the idea of being betrayed still haunting them.

End

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews you've sent me.

Shù Yè is Naruto! For all of those who guessed it, congratulations. Hopefully, I threw a lot of you off with the things I wrote. Don't worry; I'll explain all that in the next chapter. I also got a few reviewers thinking that Shù Yè was the Air Nomad Paragon, so I put that in for a bit of fun.

Now for the idiots out there, putting Long Feng to death by stoning does not mean the Dai Li agents will make him overdose on drugs. It means that stones will be thrown at him until his body is broken and he dies because of it. I thought it would be a nice irony to use on an Earthbender. Plus it's a fitting way for Long Feng to die, insufferable asshole.

Now, Yāo Jing is an OC, I promise. If I'm going to have Azula turn good, I still need someone for Zuko to fight at Sozin's Comet. What better way than to make it family? Plus I'm planning for her to have problems as well.

For those of you who thought the Konoha shinobi would be there for the invasion of the Fire Nation, oh well. What happens to the Sand Siblings will be revealed in the next chapter.

Yes, I added a little more depth to the creation of the Dai Li by bringing in the Paragons. Even the Avatar has to answer to someone and that's the Paragons. To answer your next question, the Paragons answer to Sifu. I plan to come back to what they did to Kyoshi. I'm planning to make some of Aang's past lives a little darker. Also, I had Kyoshi in exile for forty years because she lived for two hundred and thirty years, so it seemed like a good chunk of time.

The next chapter will be an original. It will deal with the aftermath of the conquering of Ba Sing Se and the return of a character you won't see coming.

I'll see you all next chapter! Happy New Year!