CHAPTER RATING: M (Language, Violence, Sexually Suggestive Situations)
A/N: Let me say this here, and now.
IT'S ALL MENTAL!
NOTHING IS PHYSICALLY HAPPENING!
There, all the guilt and hate is gone! (Well, people probably still hate me for chapter 6, but they probably never made it this far.)
...I regret nothing. (Well, that's not entirely true.)
I'd also like to thank you for watching the video I put up! Thank you! Especially to the 4 people who let me know that they watched it.
Chapter 29: Inner Conflicts
Azula waited, feeling the seconds pass with an air of anticipation. But her nerves were eased when Han came back, stumbling about with a single cup of tea in his hand. The young messenger fell to his knees, and placed the cup of tea before her.
"I have it here, Princess. I've brewed it into a tea, just as you instructed."
She reached out to him, and took the cup into her hand.
"Thank you, Han. You've been good to me. Now go. Leave, and never look back." She ordered in the harshest tone she could manage.
"But, Princess!-"
"I said GO!" She shouted at him, and he relented.
He stood, looked over his shoulder at her, and took off through the prison doors.
Azula looked towards the shaft of moonlight, her hand wrapped around the cup of tea that felt just as hot as the fire that she could manifest in her palm. She closed her eyes, leaned back against the cold stone wall, and downed the tea in an instant.
The world began to fade. The warmth began to spread throughout her body. She felt lightheaded, and then lost all focus of her surroundings
...
Azula stood in the middle of a room. The room that served as Aang's second cell on her prized zeppelin. Her shadow danced in the dim candlelight as she stood motionless before feeling two hands on her shoulders.
"What can I do to make you happy, my Princess?" Aang's voice whispered into her ear. "I'll do Anything." His tone of voice shot chills down her spine that sent a wave of heat through her muscles. She didn't answer right away, but she couldn't hold herself back from letting out a small moan when he kissed her neck, moving down while gently caressing her soft skin with his lips. His hands slid down her arms, and held onto her hips.
Azula turned to kiss him, losing her breath as he met her lips in a deep, wet embrace. His tongue parted her lips. Her voice rumbled with quakes that shook her to her very core.
His hands continued to touch her, moving up her bare skin, her nerves were shocked with pleasure. The strength in her arms failed, they fell limp to her sides as he moved up, and his hands pressed against her voluptuous bust
Then, it came to a halt.
Azula opened her eyes, her vision still blurred and distorted. When the world refocused, she could feel her arms and ankles restrained at her sides.
Panic set in. She felt two fingers rest at her temples, and then heard her father's voice.
"I am your father, and you will do as I command."
She heard the lightning crack from his fingertips, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
...
"Can you do it?" Aang asked as they neared the impenetrable wall of Ba Sing Se.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" Toph leaned in close to the stone structure and lightly knocked on it. "I'm the Earthbender who trained the Avatar, you know!" Everyone chuckled at the response. "No, but, here's a good spot." Toph grinned and pulled her arms down. A small section of the great wall receded into the ground, and Team Avatar's special rescue unit walked into the city.
The lower ring was almost barren. Braziers were left unlit and there was almost no idle chatter to be heard.
"The Firelord must be making one hell of a spectacle if even the poorest citizens are on the upper ring." Sokka noted. "But remember, there's one more thing we need to do if we want to blend in."
"What's that?" Suki asked.
"Disguises." He pointed to a clothesline that hung in a small alley.
Only a few minutes later, Team Avatar was dressed in the same clothing as any citizen in the city. Their old clothes sat in lumps in the dirt.
"If I remember right, the lift is over here." Sokka guided them. "I remember looking around the bottom rings when Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee got here."They stopped at a moment of silence.
"Where are Mai and Ty Lee?" Aang asked.
"You know what? I don't know. We'll find them later."
They ascended to the upper ring, and stood among a mass of people dressed in earthen colors. They pushed their way through to the front while hearing whispers of anger, sadness, and even approval which only made the frustration in Aang grow.
After several minutes of weaving their way through the crowd, they stopped at the front of the spectacle. A unit of soldiers served as a barrier between the masses of Ba Sing Se and the stage where the execution was taking place.
They tossed their hoods over their heads, just as the execution was beginning. Aang wanted to jump out of the crowd, and destroy everything in his way when he saw Azula being dragged out, dressed only in the rags reserved for a prisoner.
Two guards carried her towards the executioner's block. Her knees and toes scraping along the grinding stone, cutting into her shallow, stinging wounds that scarred the Royal Courtyard with small rivers of dry blood.
Her arms were bound behind her back, her ankles tied together with a tight leather strap. They unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground. One man stepped next to her, he wore a mask, and carried a massive axe.
"People of Ba Sing Se!" Ozai's voice boomed across the mob of citizens. "I am a just ruler. I am a man who values honor, tradition, and loyalty!"
There are murmurs in the crowd. Aang, Katara, and the rest of Team Avatar see in the corner of their eyes that people are weaving in and out of the crowd just as they had. The fires reflect off of their weapons that are tucked away. Aang remembers a few of them, they were guards on Azula's zeppelin.
"Do you see them?" Aang uses the air to deliver his whispers to only his companions. One by one, they place their hands on his shoulder or let a hand graze against his back. He smiles, the guard in front of him doesn't even take notice. "Get ready."
He can see the fear in Azula's eyes. Ozai continues speaking, but the Avatar begins to whisper again
...
"But today!" Azula hears Ozai continue to spew his propaganda. "Today, I show all of you the consequences of your actions! Today, I will show you just how far-"
"We're here, Azula." She hears Aang's voice. He's ecstatic to see her eyes light up with hope, despite how weary her body looks. "Don't worry. Just give us a little time. We'll save you." He nods his head. Her eyes focus, he's right in front of her, his tattoos are gone, but she sure of it. Because standing around him, are the two Water-Tribe peasants. The Kiyoshi Warrior, and the Bratty, Foul-mouthed, Blind Earthbender.
"This is a message to all of you!" Ozai raises his hand. "I pay loyalty with loyalty, and treachery with treachery!" His hand balled up onto a fist, and he brought it down.
"Katara, now!" Aang whispers.
Katara opens her hands, and the executioner's arms are stuck above his head, holding the axe. Her fingers are twitching from the intensity of holding him back, but with a swift motion, she closes her fist, and the man collapses.
The crowd gasps in amazement and awe. The guards holding the line turn to see the commotion, and Aang has noticed that the guards he recognized from Azula's zeppelin have all disappeared.
"Who DARES to interrupt this execution?!" Ozai steps up from his throne. Toph pushes her foot on the ground, creating a wall that forces the guards in front of them back. Aang slams his own foot into the ground, creating a wave of earth that shoots towards Azula, and launches her right into his arms.
"You came to save me." She softly whispers into his ear, and nestles her head into his shoulder. He simply nods to answer.
"What is this?!" Ozai laughs. "Some random earthbender has decided to save my daughter?! What use is she to you?!" Guards are now swarming around the Firelord.
He doesn't know I'm the Avatar...
"What you're doing here is wrong!" Aang answers, helps Azula down, and looks towards Suki.
"Take care of her." Suki and Sokka hear Aang's whispered command, and help the exhausted Fire Nation Princess to her feet. They quickly undo her bonds, and let them drop to the ground.
"And you think you are worthy of stopping me?" Ozai mocks Aang as the crowd begins to quiet down.
"I have news for you, Firelord Ozai." Aang looks around and nods. "I'm not the only one who thinks what you're doing is wrong!"
"For our Commander!" Azula hears the familiar voice of a simple, but loyal messenger break through the silence. A faint smile comes across her lips.
He's a loyal man, indeed.
Team Avatar looks around as the crowd begins to disperse at the panic. Azula's own company of soldiers have snuck through the crowd like tigers stalking their prey, and have all struck at the same time.
More guards begin to pour through the palace into the courtyard, and the air has filled with the thick scent of iron as blood begins to stain the ground.
"Sokka, Suki, Toph. You guys head back down to somewhere safe. Katara and I can handle the Firelord."
"Gotcha." Suki replied.
"Be careful you two." Sokka added as he picked up a weary Azula on his back.
"Wait a minute! Why am I going with them?"
"Toph, if you want to go bust some heads, there's a whole sea of red down there."
"Oh. Well then..." Toph cracked her knuckles. "Let's get this show on the road!"
Katara and Aang ran up towards the palace, Sokka, Suki, and Toph ran back towards the middle ring.
...
A multitude of guards stood between them and one of the multiple lifts.
"Hey, Mrs. Fancy Face-paint." Toph said.
"That's my nickname? That's lame." Suki replied.
"How about a competition?"
"Interesting, what did you have in mind?"
"The one to beat the most guards, wins."
"You realize that we Kiyoshi Warriors are trained to kill?"
"Kill as many as you want. Just make sure you kill more than me." Toph grinned. "Ready...GO!"
"Sokka, you'll take care of Azula, won't you?" Suki asked.
"Don't worry, I've got her." Sokka assured. "We'll take cover in one of those houses."
Suki and Toph then took off in separate directions.
Suki faced off with a guard clad in light armor, he presented her with a long halberd as she charged. He lunged forward in an attempt to stab her. Suki sidestepped the attack, wrapped the handle under her arm, and spun around. His loose grip released the weapon. Suki then swept the polearm under him, taking him off his feet. She swung the halberd again, and implanted the blade into his chest. He wheezed for air before dying under his own weapon.
In another move, she leapt over him, dislodged the weapon from his lifeless body, and threw the massive halberd as if it were a javelin, impaling another man as he ran towards her. The impact shot him up into the air, before he crashed into the ground.
Toph could sense a firebender before her, and felt the flames headed her way. She established a solid grounding, and brought her hands up to form a wall that stopped the fire from advancing. Then she pushed the wall forward, and could feel the panic in his heart. As her defense came closer, she turned it into dust, blinding him in the process. Slamming her foot into the ground, she summoned more rocks, and sent them his way, they struck him, and sent him flying back. His body became motionless as she felt his head roll back, and heard the disturbing sound of his neck snapping.
Another stepped into his place, but Toph easily waved her hand, feeling the metal in his armor, and sent the man into the air, where he came down with a force that made sure he'd never wake up.
But then from behind them, they heard a sound that was unfamiliar.
click...BOOM!
They turned, but immediately felt the impact of an explosive force. They were launched, and skipped across the ground like stones thrown across a lake.
"Ugh...What the hell was that?" Toph asked as blood ran down her forehead.
"I don't..." Suki flinched as she felt a pain run through her arm. She opened her eyes from the brief, sharp pain, and saw a giant man with what seemed to be a third eye tattooed on his forehead. "Who the hell...?"
She saw him take another deep breath, and scrambled towards Toph.
click, click...BOOM
The explosion rocked the ground behind her, she could feel the jagged rocks cut into her back as they tore through her clothes. But the force from the blow propelled her towards Toph, who she takes behind what she hoped was safety.
"Toph, are you alright?" She asked while flinching in pain.
"Me? What about you?" Toph replied.
"I'm fine, I just..." Suki looked down at the gash in her leg, and the fragments of earth that struck into it. "My knee. I can't stand up."
"Okay, take it easy, I've got this." Toph grinned and stepped out from the small wall. "Hey!" Toph shouted, "how much you wanna bet that having no eyes is better than having three?!"
The large man took a deep breath.
click...click...click...
Toph forced up a thick wall of earth in front of her.
BOOM!
The defense shattered into dust, and Toph charged forward.
"How many seconds until your next attack, Sparky?!" She mocked, and lifted up earth from behind his heel, causing him to stumble.
Toph shot forth two rocks, striking him in the stomach, and drawing him back more.
He took another deep breath.
click...click...click...click...
"Toph!" Suki shouted, and removed a golden fan from her back pocket. "It's metal!" She tossed it, and it headed towards the tall man like a dart.
Toph could feel the fan flying in the air, she closed her hands, and watched it wrap around his head.
click...Boom!
The smoke cleared, and the man's decapitated body laid on the ground.
"Damn, that was close." Toph wiped at the wound at her hairline. She looked back towards Suki, and ran towards the wounded Kiyoshi warrior.
"Great team, huh?"
"Yeah, we're not bad together."
"Now we need to keep going-" Suki tried to pull herself up, but her leg was stricken with agony.
"No, what we need to do now, is go find Sokka. Hopefully he's safe, and then we can be safe, too." Toph pulled Suki's arm over her shoulders. "Come on."
...
Sokka looked out the window at the courtyard that burned before them. His worries didn't end as Suki and Toph left his vision, and he desperately hope that no soldier would think about searching the house he hid in.
In the second story bedroom, Azula began shuffling in her state of unconsciousness. She sat up, and tried to refocus on her location.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Sokka placed his hands on her shoulders. "Take it easy. You're still hurting." Azula looked down to see bandages wrapped around her knees and legs.
"Where's the Avatar? Is he fighting Ozai?"
Sokka nodded. "It's him and Katara, they're going to take care of him. For now, you just need to-"
The front door to the house burst open.
"Sokka!" Toph shouted through the first floor. "We need help!"
"Stay here, I'll be back." He took off down the stairs. Azula looked around the room towards the closet. The pain of the open wounds still nagged at her. In frustration, she tore off the bandages and looked at the still bleeding scars on her legs.
She took a deep breath, drew a strong flame in her hand, and felt her flesh sizzle with the contact.
"What are you doing?!" He hurried to her, and placed Suki down on the bed.
"I'm cauterizing it." Azula answers back. "It's not bleeding anymore." She looks over to Suki's wound. "I can help."
The looks on their faces express apprehension, but Suki nods.
Azula channeled fire into her palm again.
"Pull the rocks out." Toph begins to remove the jagged earth. "Are you ready?" She asks Suki, who just nods.
Toph removes the fragments from her legs, and Suki flinches as Azula's palm reaches her skin.
The bleeding stopped, but the pain remains.
"Thank you." Suki utters under her breath.
"There." Azula pulls her hand away. "Now, I need you three to stay here. I need to go help the Avatar and Katara."
"Hey, Aang told us to keep you safe!" Sokka countered.
"I know, but you must also know that none of you is fit to fight Ozai." Her hand hovers over the burn on her stomach as she makes the remark.
"What about you?" Toph asks. "How else did you end up on the chopping block? You couldn't beat him!"
"Yes, but the thing is...If I go, the last I can do is provide a distraction."
A moment of silence passed.
"Fair enough, but first." Toph looked out the window, she raised her hands, and brought a suit of armor through the window. "Put it on, I'll fit it for you." Azula slipped the armor over her linen rags, and felt it form like a glove around her body as Toph bent it.
"Okay. Stay safe." She said before making her way out the door, and running up to the palace.
As she was running across the courtyard, there were two shadows in the air, headed directly to the throne room.
...
Aang and Katara, oddly met little resistance beside a few guards as Azula's Company keep the rest busy. They reentered the halls of the palace, and took pause at what they saw.
"Zuko?"
He didn't answer. His eyes were dormant, and he stood still. He almost seemed inhuman.
"What did you do to him?!" Aang aaked.
"He's serving his father now. Like a loyal son. If you defeat me, I'll tell you everything." The Firelord stepped down, and moved to another part of the room. "One on one." He grinned.
"Can you manage to take on Zuko?" Aang whispered.
"Yeah. I've got this." Katara answered, and ran towards the Fire Nation Prince, while the Avatar charged towards the Firelord.
...
Zuko shot a fireball towards her, Katara moved like fluid, ducking under the attack, she felt the heat against her back, but no fire touched her. In her right hand, she gathered water from the air, and whipped her arm up, sent the ball of water towards his fist while freezing it.
He fell back, but melted the ice with a new flame in his hand.
"Zuko, wake up!" She shouted towards him. He shook his head, and returned to his feet, but doesn't reply. He charges again, and throws a fist towards her.
Katara sidesteps him, took hold of his arm, and swept his feet out from under him. She turned him over, but he landed on his feet, and delivers an attack directly to her side. She winced in pain, before feeling another strike that sent her to the ground.
He charged as she turns over, and gathered fire in his feet, he launched himself into the air, but she turned over as he lands, scarring the floor in black ash.
Katara jumped back up to her feet, and readied herself again. She waited as Zuko charges. He threw another punch, but again, she catches him and sweeps him off his feet. She holds his blood in her hand, strikes his chest, immobilizes his body, and then places her hand over his forehead, forcing him to unconsciousness.
...
Aang charged towards the Firelord, dodging a fireball as he slid down around Ozai and delivered a kick that sent him stumbling forward.
"Interesting. No one I've fought in the last twenty years has been fast enough to get behind me." Ozai laughed. "This will be fun."
Aang ran towards Ozai again, he took to the air, and turned, delivering two kicks to Ozai's face, the Firelord stumbled again.
"You really think you stand a chance without earthbending?" Ozai spat blood, apparently not aware that Aang was using airbending this whole time. "Fair enough, I won't use any firebending." Ozai cracks his neck. "Once more."
Aang grits his teeth, and charges again. He threw a punch, but as Ozai had done with Azula, the attack was caught. Aang's hand began to burn, he threw another punch, and as before, he was caught.
He tried his best to pull away, but Ozai turned him around, pain shot through him as Ozai planted a electricity-infused palm at the base of Aang's spine.
…
Katara heard a scream of pain in his voice that she could never imagine was possible. She turned to see Aang on the ground. Ozai planted a flaming foot into the Avatar's chest, searing flesh before he lifted it, and kicked Aang, sending him crashing back against the stone floor.
Katara rushed to his side and turned him over. The scar that Azula had caused long ago that she had healed at the Western Air Temple was replaced with a deep burn that oozed blood from a crater engraved in black, burned flesh.
She quickly gathered water into her hand, and began her best efforts to heal him. The water began to glow, and the burn began to fade, but blood began streaming down Aang's mouth.
And even more unnerving, he wasn't giving any indication of pain or consciousness.
Again, the familiar feeling from the catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se lingered into her heart.
The same tears that she felt came again.
Her arms shot up, and Ozai froze. Katara closed her palms, and could feel his throat closing.
The Firelord laughed. "A bloodbender? I haven't seen one of those in such a long time."
Then, Katara felt it.
"It's pointless. You cannot defeat me."
She fell to her knees. Her blood began to burn in her veins. The flames spread through her body like a wildfire. His footsteps were like a gong that echoed an endless cry across the palace walls.
"Although you're very skilled as a bender, you aren't even fit to serve as one of my concubines." His hand wrapped around her collar, and brought her up above him. "Go on. Pray to the Moon. Let's see if She will save you."
Katara closed her eyes, the stains from her tears only growing darker.
Then, a breeze passed by. A breeze that resembled a hurricane. The Firelord's grip failed, and he was sent careening back until he landed as a puff of dust against the Earthen Throne.
Katara turned around to see Tia and Lin, their gliders still open.
"Quickly. We must leave. Now." Tia looked towards Aang, her own fear building within with his motionless state, but a small hint of how still remained, as he began to stir again.
"I'll stay back, you two go, you'll be faster in the air." Katara nodded.
"But..."
"We'll distract him." Azula's voice came from behind them. "You two, take Aang and get out of here!"
They nodded.
"...Airbenders?" Ozai returned to his feet. "Could it be possible?" He walked through the rubble and dust of the shattered throne. "Could Sozin have failed?" He laughed just as Tia and Lin began to take position with their gliders. "How could I not see it before? That boy is the Avatar, isn't he?" Two fireballs shot towards them, and set the gliders ablaze. "I don't think so. Before I finish you all off, let me let you in on a secret." He turned to his daughter.
"Azula, I am your father, and you will do as I command."
A shock ran up her spine. Katara watched as Azula's eyes became just as dormant as Zuko's.
"Now, do as I say, and incinerate this scum!"
Katara could see a struggle happening within mere seconds. Azula's muscles were twitching, as if she wanted to obey, but at the same time, resisted.
...As if Azula was struggling within herself to control her own will.
...
In a dark abyss, there were two images bearing a similar resemblance.
Two images of Azula, standing across from each other. One of them was blue, the other, red.
"Resist! Don't give in! Don't let him control you anymore!" The scarlet one yelled.
"I-I can't! It's too strong!" The sapphire one replied.
"The Avatar is injured! He's dying right now! You have to fight back!"
"It's hopeless." She began to flicker, almost disappearing. "I couldn't save Aang."
"If you can't, then I will!" She took hold of her sapphire image. "Weakness, we can't have it. We have to be strong for him. I can be strong for him!" The fiery glow began to spread, until it engulfed both of them.
...
A flicker of life shined Azula's eyes. They seemed luminous, as if a fire was lit inside her.
"I will be strong for him." She spoke in a proud tone, looked towards Katara, and winked. "Guess who's back?"
"W-Who...You're..." Katara stuttered.
"That's right." Azula grinned with that familiar sinister smile.
"Well isn't this just RICH!" Ozai cackled. "So, which part of my schizophrenic, sociopathic daughter are you?!"
"I'm the one who you trained. The one that's just as ruthless as you." She yawned. "Now, father. I'm seriously growing tired of this conversation, why don't we finish what we started earlier?"
She looked at Katara and cocked her head towards Ozai. Katara nodded to Azula. Azula nodded to Katara.
In a flash, Azula turned and shot two steaks of lightning towards Ozai, Katara summoned icicles that rained upon him like a storm. Azula stomped her feet as she ran, every footfall sending electricity across the floor. Katara summoned more water from the air, and created a river headed directly for the Firelord.
Together, their assault shot towards him a blanket of water, supercharged with electricity that would kill any living being who stepped into it.
But Ozai just grinned with renewed confidence. He threw his hands to the ground, and with streams of fire carried him into the dark corners of the palace roof.
...
"That's all?! That's all you can muster?! Even together?!" Aang heard Ozai's voice as he began to stir. He looked up, and saw two streams of fire, he followed the streams down to the ground. "I'll burn your bodies beyond all recognition!"
Those words entered his ears, and he felt a flash. Katara stood to the left, Azula stood to the right. His eyes widened. His heart stopped.
No.
His vision was coming true.
He pulled away from the two that were holding him up, and fell to his knees. His tattoos began to glow, his eyes became shimmering orbs of light, and in an instant that shook the palace with a shockwave of air, and took off towards the Firelord.
Azula and Katara watched in awe as the Avatar launched himself. They noticed a stream of blood following his path, marking a crimson trail with his ascent.
Aang struck the Firelord's abdomen with his knee, struck his chin with an uppercut, and turned in a somersault to strike Ozai's chest, sending him hurling to the ground.
He crashed, but just as soon as he did, the glow of the Avatar State faded, and Aang careened to the ground after the Firelord.
Tia and Lin rapidly summoned a cushion of air that stopped the impact, but Aang was once again, unconscious, and coughing blood. Katara and Azula rushed to his side with the two airbenders.
Ozai returned to his feet, his posture now crooked. But his laughter still as menacing.
"It's wonderful, isn't it...?" His voice trailed with the burden of exhaustion. "Fire Nation armor is the best in the world." They looked at him, and saw that there wasn't even a dent in the armor he wore. "And I am terribly sorry to disappoint you all. But I can't die today." He spat blood, threw his arms up, and disappeared behind a wall of flames.
Azula lunged forth but was stopped by a tug on her armor.
"Don't go after him, we need to take care of Aang for now. Come on." Azula begrudgingly turned towards Katara, and dropped by the Avatar's side.
"What do we need to do first?" Azula asked.
Katara held her arms over his chest, the water she held began to glow, and the burn across his chest began to fade.
But the blood still freely flowed from his mouth.
"It's not stopping. I don't know what else I can do."
"Let me try." Azula gathered light flames in her hands, she ran them over his body, and the bleeding slowly relented.
"What did you do?"
"I burned him." She replied in her usual uncaring tone. Katara raised an eyebrow, about to protest, but was stopped by the sounds of footsteps.
The sound of weapons being drawn was heard.
Azula swiftly returned to her feet to see Tia and Lin ready to hold back a force of guerrilla fighters that she recognized.
"Stop!" She called to the airbenders. "Those are my men! They've helped us achieve this..." She looked over at Aang's motionless body, and took a deep breath. "...Victory."
The two backed down, and her loyal messenger stepped in front of the guerrilla force.
"Commander!" He bowed, and the sound of a hundred men falling to one knee roared through the palace.
"You have new orders!" Azula waved her arm over them. "Break off into squads, head out into the city! Root out anyone who is associated with the Firelord, if you can, bring them to me! Gather anyone else who's an earthbender! Tell them to rebuild the city!"
Some of the men stepped out into the main courtyard, disappearing into the middle ring.
"The rest of you, help us find a place to take care of my brother and the Avatar!"
Once again, they saluted, and scattered.
Azula turned to the two airbenders who stared back at her in confusion.
"You two, find the Avatar's friends, I saw them in the crowd."
...
"About what Ozai said..." Katara asked.
"Scared of the answer? I can almost sense the fear in you."
They sat across from each other, both next to Aang, who was in stable condition, but was simultaneously in a coma.
"Your fears are correct." Azula smirked. "I'm the one who abducted him. I'm the one who tortured him. But most importantly of all, in the one that he loves."
Katara flinched at the words, but could see something else. Whenever Azula spoke, for just a second, she expressed pain.
After all that they'd been through, it wouldn't be too outlandish for Katara to want Azula dead. Would it?
It's a shameful thought, I know. Mom would be so disappointed in me. But...
But there was one thing, one thing that she could use to push Azula further. The Fire Nation Princess was hurt. This was the last thing Katara could use as vengeance at this point. It was to make the unbeatable, ruthless, uncaring Azula do one thing.
Make her ask for help.
"You're the one he loves, huh?" Katara folder her arms and offered a look of skepticism.
"Well," Azula decided to enter herself in this game with Katara. It could be fun. "Maybe I'm not strictly the one he's in love with, but I am the only who fulfilled his fantasies." Azula tried her best to hold an air of victory.
"Really?" Katara figured it was time to be blunt. "You were going to convince him to love you by holding the power of sex over him? Hoping that he'd fall for his captor?"
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Barely." Katara stood up, and began to advance towards Azula. "I mean sure, it might have worked, even if Aang is the Avatar, he's still human." She began to gather water in her hand. "But I wonder if it would've worked without your brainwashing techniques."
She closed her other palm, and Azula's posture stiffened. Katara raised her hands, and on command, Azula's arms shot up into the air. With an impact, Katara slammed her palm into Azula's stomach, the water shined, and Azula could feel the stringing burns melting away.
Katara slowly backed away, "Does that feel better?"
"Thanks." Azula answered in a flat tone and stood up. "This isn't over." Katara smiled.
A Thanks was good enough.
"Going so soon?" Katara laughed as Azula turned towards the door.
"I need to talk to my brother. He needs my help more than ever now."
Azula left the room, leaving Katara sitting next to the Avatar.
For a long while, Katara sat next to him, watching in silence as he took in slow breaths.
"Please, Aang. Wake up. We need you more than ever right now." Her eyes began to blur.
Two knocks came at the door.
"Hey, Katara. How are you doing?" Sokka's tone was calmer than his usual demeanor.
"Fine. Don't worry about me." She wiped away her tears and recovered. "We should be worried about Aang."
"Hey, remember when he was injured at the Western Air Temple? You brought him back, and you'll do the same here. I know it."
"No, Sokka. There's nothing I can do now."
"Hey, but..." He searched his thoughts for what he could say to comfort her. "The last time, he had a vision! Maybe he's just having one now!"
Katara offered a hopeless glare at her brother, who frowned, and snuck out of the room.
But little did Sokka know, just how right he was.
...
His eyes opened, and he stood in a familiar realm of white clouds and silver skies. He smiled, and bowed.
Descending from a bright light was the woman with golden hair, and a luminous white dress.
She waved her hand, and he rose to his feet.
"Why am I here?" He asked.
"Among my many memories, Avatar Aang, is the question you posed to me the first time we met." Her heavenly voice relaxed him. "And now, I give you a choice."
She turned him around, and he stared into two worlds, split between a single line.
"I can grant your request, and show you a brief hint of how your story will end." The left side morphed into a violet horizon. "Or I can bring you back into the physical world, as if nothing had happened." The right side morphed, and he saw Katara sitting by his side, holding onto his hand, tears falling from her eyes.
"If I choose the first option, will I still wake up?"
"You'll wake up, but the injuries you have sustained will still tear at your body."
"You told me that everything would be fine in the end. That everything would work out."
She nodded, bringing to him some small semblance of comfort.
"Now, Avatar. Make your choice."
PUBLISHED ON: 01/17/2015
A/N:
What do you think Aang would choose?
1/27/2015 Edit: Hey everyone who's just finished reading this chapter. Unfortunately most of you who have already read this will probably not see this, but this is a very important announcement. If, by some miracle, you stumble upon reading this chapter again, great!
Chapter 30 is on it's way. The outline is done, but nothing else i finished.
I'm going to need to take a break for a while. Not to just relax, in fact I won't be relaxing. I need to get my feet off the ground with something original. I don't know when I'll be back. The last time I said this, I returned within a few weeks. But now I'm not sure.
For the foreseeable future, I'll be writing my own original work so that I can try to sell it. But that's not all.
I'm planning a new story for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Maybe I'll plug it when I publish Chapter 30.
I'm also going to pick up my Fullmetal Alchemist story again. I said in the original author's note that the story would "come to an end one day" and here it's been rotting in the "In Progress" section for months.
Next time on A Change of Heart:
Chapter 30: Torn
Thanks for reading!