Chapter 2:
*A few weeks after the Day of the Black Sun*
A jet of fire narrow skimmed past Aang's head. He ducked, twirling gracefully and countered with a fireball of his own. Zuko swiftly demolished Aang's flame, and then rapidly sent a stream of fire roaring back.
Katara and Sokka observed, engrossed in the display of skill before their eyes. It had been about two weeks since Zuko joined the Gaang. Day after day, the former Fire Nation prince had been drilling firebending skills into the young avatar. Aang showed remarkable improvement, and was now skilled enough to have a proper sparring session with Zuko himself.
After exchanging a few more vicious but non-fatal blows, Zuko called off the lesson. "That's it for today, Aang."
The bald boy flopped onto the ground, tired but satisfied. Momo swept down from the ceiling of the ancient temple and made himself comfortable on Aang's face.
"You're making quite an improvement, Aang," Zuko acknowledged.
"Alright boys, it's time for lunch!" Katara called. She began to distribute plates full of roasted squirrel-rabbits that had been unlucky enough to be hanging around when the Gaang was hunting.
Sokka, Aang, and Toph immediately began to shamelessly shove food down their throats. Katara and Zuko ate with more dignity.
When their meal was done, Aang announced, "I'm going to go for a little ride with my glider." Seeing Katara's concerned gaze, he quickly added, "Don't worry! It'll just be for a little bit. I'm going to see if I can't catch a few more squirrel-rabbits for our dinner. With that, the young monk took off into the air, soaring gracefully until he disappeared around the rocky mountainside.
Katara watched him go with a wistful look on her face, but then turn back and attended to cleaning up camp. Zuko went to practice his bending, while Sokka sprawled onto the rocky ground and slept, drooling every once in a while.
Toph was casually lounging against a stone pillar when she began to sense strange vibrations, not with her feet, but with her super-sensitive hearing. Normally, there were the familiar sensations of Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Zuko milling about doing their business. Also, the softer feeling of Momo, and the heavy rumbling of Appa's breathing while he slept on the ground.
However, Toph sensed that something large was approaching, something unwelcome. Even though this particular object was not touching the earth, Toph could still hear that it was coming, and it was coming fast.
"Guys?" she leapt up into the air. "There's something huge approaching us, and I have a feeling we should be worried."
Katara and Zuko stopped what they were doing and listened. Sure enough, in the distance, there was the distinct sound of heavy machinery. It was getting louder as the seconds ticked by.
Katara dropped what she was holding and rushed over to Sokka, vigorously shaking him.
"Huh, what?" the water tribe boy mumbled. He was practically yanked up to his feet by his sister.
"There's danger coming at us," she briefly informed him. Sokka took a few moments to register what he heard. Then he sprung upright and snatched up his trusty boomerang. "Where are they?" he demanded. "Bring it on!"
"We're not sure what it is yet…" Katara began.
"No," Zuko interrupted. "I know exactly what that is. That's the sound of a Fire Nation airship. And even from this distance you can see the red emblem on its side," the prince noted grimly.
The four of them lined up next to each other, with Katara, Toph, and Zuko getting ready to bend their element, and Sokka wielding his weapons.
"It's the Fire Nation," Katara hissed. "I'll bet they're looking for Aang."
"Or me," Zuko interjected.
Katara cast him a wary look. "I wonder how they knew to find us here..."
Zuko stared back. "I did NOT lead them here. I swear!"
"I never accused you," Katara said unconvincingly.
They both turned back to gaze upon the enormous gray and red airship that was careening around the mountainside. The giant mode of transportation was now a mere three hundred feet away, and was rapidly approaching.
Fire Nation soldiers could be seen standing at the railings, clad in scarlet armor. And there, standing at the helm, was none other than Princess Azula, dressed in her jet black armor with her signature stern topknot hairstyle.
Her characteristic smirk danced upon her lips as she stared down like a predator.
"What are you doing here, Azula?" Zuko shouted.
"Isn't it obvious, Zuzu?" she purred. "I'm about to celebrate being an only child!" With that, she nimbly jumped over the railings and landed right in front of four members of the Gaang.
Immediately (and unsurprisingly), all of hell broke loose. Azula did the limbo and avoided getting decapitated by Sokka boomerang. Toph shifted the ground beneath the princess's feet, causing her to flail and then roughly land on the ground on her palms. Azula glared up at Toph and released a beam of fire, which Toph deflected with a sturdy wall of stone.
The Fire Nation soldiers began to rapidly disembark. There were twenty of them, all firebenders, and all acting under the orders of the princess. They completely surrounded Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko with the blink of an eye.
"Leave Zuzu to me," Azula commanded. She lunged for her brother, releasing powerful streaks of her bright blue flames. Zuko matched each of those attacks with fluid kicks that let loose a rapid volley of fireballs.
"How did you find us?" Zuko demanded, shooting out a stream of orange fire. It snaked toward his sister, but she dispersed it with her own flames.
"I have my ways," Azula said arrogantly. "I've always managed to track down the avatar, so what makes you think I can't find you as well? You traitor!" she planted herself into a firebending form, and lightning began to emit all around her being.
Zuko did not have time to ready himself to redirect the lightning, but Katara had brought a massive flood of water from the fountain near them and nullified Azula's lightning. She used the water to freeze Azula's feet to the ground. Zuko took advantage of that moment and blasted his sister with a brutal attack.
Azula managed to summon up a wall of fire, but being in such a bad posture, she still took some of the heat from Zuko's attack. The princess quickly melted the ice that was pinning her down and assaulted her brother with swift but nasty fireballs.
Zuko summoned a deluge of flames and wiped away Azula's attack.
How has he gotten so strong? Azula marveled, with slight annoyance. It doesn't matter. She pushed the thoughts down. I am still much more powerful...he will never surpass me! I think it's time to kick things up a notch.
Meanwhile, Toph, Katara, and Sokka were kept busy by the soldiers. Toph was busy knocking them off of the cliff altogether, while Katara used a more humane way of immobilizing them; freezing the soldiers in blocks of ice. Sokka was recklessly swinging his boomerang around, managing to knock out some of the men.
"Katara, you better be careful," Toph remarked. "They're melting their way out of your ice blocks. Why don't you just let me roll them off the cliff side and get it over with?"
"No," Katara said firmly. She used her waterbending to add on a few more layers of ice, before transporting the frozen soldiers back onto the airship.
Zuko and Azula were furiously engaged in an intense battle. Azula's lightning flashed her and there, while Zuko zipped about, avoiding her attacks and returning them back at full force.
He redirected a stream of her lightning, aiming it straight for her face. Azula growled in anger and she narrowly avoided the attack. But deep down, a new concern began to grow. All her life, she never had to worry too much about anyone attacking her with lightning. But Zuko's new style of redirecting it really was a nuisance. However, Azula reminded herself that such a method was cheating. Zuko was unable to conjure up the lightning himself, and therefore he had to use her power in order to do it. This way of thinking helped to reassure Azula of her standing as the second-most powerful firebender.
With renewed confidence, Azula began to advance, powerfully countering Zuko's attacks and delivering ones that were ten times the intensity. Zuko gradually stepped back, retreating.
As Azula unleashed attack after attack upon her brother, she began to mentally prepare for what was going to happen next. I'm going to kill Zuko. For some reason, those words sounded a bit alien to her ears. Azula hesitated slightly, increasing the time between her vigorous attacks.
Sure, I hate my weak brother, but...Azula had never thought of truly murdering him in cold blood before. For reasons she could not understand, the thought left a bad taste in her mouth.
No! Another voice screamed in her mind. You will follow your father's orders. You know that this boy is weak, and deserves to be rid of as soon as possible!
But he isn't weak, Azula thought, pressing her lips together tightly. At least, not as weak as he used to be. Then Azula shook her head furiously, almost slapping herself for being so stupid. Since when had the powerful princess struggled to make decisions before? It had all been too easy, until her father ordered her to kill her brother. It was true that she had killed countless of people before, but those were unknown faces, and lives she did not have a connection to whatsoever.
Zuko stumbled over a ledge on the ground and landed flat on his back. Azula saw this opportunity immediately and pounced on him. She generated a terrifying amount of lightning, and concentrated it on two of her fingers. Then, slowly, she directed the crackling electricity toward her brother's face.
Toph, Katara, and Sokka were now gaping in terror and hopelessness as they watched Azula. She was seconds away from obliterating Zuko.
This is my brother, the thought shot through Azula's head, regardless of whether she wanted it to or not. This is the person who actually protected her when they were small children, the one who she looked up to (for a very small amount of time), and...the one who first taught her bending.
Azula's lightning halted just before it penetrated Zuko's skull. In less than a second, the sky stopped sparkling with electricity, and Azula stood up.
"I'm not actually here for you," she lied convincingly. "I'm here for the avatar. And as he does not seem to be present at the moment, I shall gather up my forces, and then destroy him for sure." She turned around just to give all of them a sneer before leaping back onto the airship.
Her soldiers followed her immediately, and within minutes, the gigantic balloon had veered off and was disappearing over the mountains.
Zuko was still lying on the ground, stunned, until he saw Katara's hand reaching for him. He grabbed it and hoisted himself up.
Nobody seemed to know what to say.
"I still think those soldiers should have been pushed off the cliff," Toph chimed.
Katara ignored her. "What I'm wondering is...how did Azula find out our location...and why did she come all the way over here just to leave all of us unharmed?"
"What I'm wondering is," Zuko stared off into the distance, still stunned. "...why Azula spared my life."
Ok so this chapter was really tough for me to write, for some reason. I HOPE I didn't make Azula too OOC, but if I did, just let me know and I'll try to fix it. Anyways, please tell me what you thought of this chapter, and review!