To the soldier, the civilian,
The martyr, the victim
This is war.
It's the moment of truth, and the moment to lie,
The moment to live and the moment to die,
It's the moment to fight, the moment to fight
To fight, to fight to fight
-30 Seconds to Mars, 'This is War'
"Are you insane?" He roared, sending wave after wave of fire spiraling from his hands.
"No!" She yelled back, a manic grin spreading across her face behind her mask as she poised on the tip of the Middle Ring mansion, her head turned toward the side. "Trust me!"
"Katara, get back!" She could practically feel his glare through the dark eye slits, watching her as the Dai Li approached them, stone gloves bristling, ready for any excuse to strike. He backed towards her, aware that if his footing slipped just one inch to either side, he would crumple against the hard-packed streets of Ba Sing Se into a pile of bone and guts.
But then she was grabbing him by the hand and he swore as she dragged him over the edge with her, doing his best to curl his form around hers as they plummeted straight down, down, down. Maybe his body would keep her from being annihilated, even if it was her fault he was about to die. From the corner of his eye he saw a white blur hurtling towards them from the sky, and then arms were grabbing him and Katara and swooping them to safety, landing roughly and rolling in the massive, hard saddle and he had never been so glad to see the massive, hairy bison. Zuko grunted as his face was mashed against his mask and he tore it off.
"What was that?" he cried, directing his fear-generated wrath towards the struggling black-clad figure beside him, her own pearlescent mask tangled in her long hair. "You're fucking insane!"
"No I'm not!" She yelled back, her voice muffled, still fussing with the snarls of her hair. "I saw them coming."
"You saw them coming." Zuko's voice was incredulous. "You're lucky they saw you!"
"He's right, Katara." Sokka said, his voice disapproving. "We barely saw you in time." He was seated beside Toph, Suki, Denali, Bae, and Kamol in Appa's enormous saddle, flying safely across the wall of Ba Sing Se. Toph had told them how she had found Appa years ago, taking refuge in a large cave outside the city. She had nursed the wounded animal back to health and coaxed him out of the cave after she had escaped her parents' tight leash. Appa had been depressed and withdrawn after the death of Aang, but from Toph's constant attentions and his gradual introduction to the rest of her forces, he had become the old Appa again, though he was still wary of strangers.
Katara and Sokka had been overjoyed to be reunited with him when they reached the rebel camp in the North and had spent nearly an hour petting, hugging, and talking to him. Zuko had stood off to the side, leaning cross-armed against the wall of Appa's stable-cave, watching. He had been warned that Appa might not take to him, since he was both a stranger and a fire bender. But the great beast had shuffled his way over to sniff him from toe to nose and deem him satisfactory with a slobbery lick up his front. Katara, Sokka, and Toph had cracked up at his horrified face, dripping with bison saliva.
"Shut up, Sokka." Katara snapped, her nerves frayed from a long day of running from the Dai Li and fire benders. "It worked, didn't it? We're alive aren't we?" She stomped off to sit behind Appa's head alone as they flew west into the setting sun, towards the rebel's new headquarters.
Zuko spat out a lick of fire and reclined against the saddle's edge, groaning. He hurt everywhere. The Dai Li were relentless; they had chased them across the Middle Tier as the fighting on the streets spread, Zuko's soldiers following him and Katara as they raced across rooftops, dropping fire bombs in strategic windows, eliminating several caches of weapons, maps, and noble's treasure. He had picked up several maps but had lost them as the Dai Li had snuck up on them. He ran his hands over his arms and chest, his face darkening at the handful of nicks and scrapes he had picked up and the one lone gash across his chest that joined a serious of gashes from battles fought just days before. Maybe if Katara was in a better mood later she'd heal him…
"Girls." Sokka muttered, shaking his head. "How'd it go today?" He looked at Zuko, frowning. "We lost you after you guys took off and left us in the Middle Ring."
"Sorry." Zuko murmured, rubbing the back of his head, checking for blood. His hand came back clean, but it still hurt. "We saw an opening."
"You could have waited for us."
"No time."
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Fine. Talk to me when you're in a better mood." He looked to the horizon, noting the setting sun. "Fighting should die down soon."
The men around him nodded, while Suki and Toph shrugged. "Maybe." Toph said. "The fire benders might back down a little, but the earth benders could go all night."
"They should." Zuko rumbled, sitting up. "Fire benders are weaker at night, especially this close to the eclipse. We could finish taking the Lower Ring."
"Drop me off there." Toph called to Appa, who acknowledged her with a snort. She turned back to Zuko. "I'll meet up with Min Ki and the rest of my men. We can handle it. You look awful."
Zuko glared at her, knowing she couldn't actually see him.
"Why haven't Ozai or Azula fought yet?" Suki mused, looking down at the smoking rubble of the Lower Ring. "I thought we'd have seen them by now."
"They won't risk it." Zuko said, turning his face towards the sunset. "They're too important. They'd rather let their forces die in the streets and wait until the threat is on their door." He shrugged. "If they were captured or killed, the Fire Nation would be mine by all of our laws and customs. Or Uncle's." He gave a sardonic half-smile. "They can't stand that thought."
Appa dipped through the sky to drop Toph with her troops. Kamol , Bae, and Denali went with her to regroup with their own soldiers in the area, leaving only Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and Katara on Appa's back. Katara stayed sullenly on Appa's head, her feet resting on his poofy brow. Zuko glanced over at her and then at Sokka. The water tribe warrior jerked his head in her direction and gestured.
Suki rolled her eyes. "Just go over there. She's probably just tired and embarassed."
Zuko nodded and stood, walking unsteadily over the shifting saddle to where she reclined. As he sank into the dusky fur beside her, she turned her head, crossing her arms.
"Sorry." He rasped, looking ahead between Appa's horns at the world flying beneath them.
Her head snapped back around. "What?"
"I'm…sorry." He offered, propping his feet up beside hers.
"Why?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "Because you're mad."
She glared at him. "Not at you."
Zuko bit his tongue against an angry retort. He took a breath, held it, and let it go. "You seem mad at me."
"I just…" Katara sighed irritably. "I just hate being wrong. And I was. You were right. It was a dumb, lucky move."
"It worked." Zuko had an impulse to put his arm around her but hesitated. She still looked mad. "We're okay."
"Yeah." She sighed, allowing her thigh to nudge his. "I'm tired."
"Yeah." He embraced her shoulders, drawing her head down to rest on his shoulder.
"I mean…" She rubbed the bridge of her nose against his shoulder. "I'm tired of this war. We've been fighting for months and the eclipse hasn't come. When does it end?"
"We're getting there." Zuko murmured, leaning his chin on her head. "We're in the Middle Ring." He hadn't woken with the sun for weeks. The eclipse was coming closer and closer.
"It's not enough." Katara sighed, her eyes closing as the sun sank below the horizon.
"I know." He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, looking up at the star dusted sky.
***Line break***Line break***Line break***
Katara and Suki were both asleep by the time Appa landed at the rebel camp, his low groan rumbling across the ground. Sokka shook a cranky Suki awake to slide down Appa's tail, while Zuko lifted Katara in his arms and slid down with her on his lap. Sokka waved a weary goodnight as Suki smiled and turned away with him.
The camp was set up similar to Tree Town, with tents forming concentrically with campfires and stewpots in the middle. Scouts whistled to each other in the treetops, their bows and arrows held tightly in their hands. Firebugs flickered in happy sparks in the darkness, darting from bush to bush. The camp was almost ten miles from the Wall, nestled in a thick part of forest that bordered on a swamp. The locals had been very welcoming, offering up dishes of giant bugs and deep fried gator. Katara had been surprised to find the swamp benders untouched by Ozai's purge of the water tribes, but they had shrugged it off. No one knew they were there, their leader Tok had said. No fire bender could imagine living in a muddy hole, so why would they bother looking?
Zuko carried Katara to the tent they shared with Kaya and Chi Lin. It was slightly larger, but still felt cramped to Zuko. Chi Lin slept on the far end while Kaya lay nestled in the middle of their sleeping furs, protected against the night's sharp chill. At their entrance, Chi Lin started up, his fists already curled around lethally sharp daggers. Zuko motioned him back to sleep and he collapsed back down, his knives disappearing under his pillow and side. Zuko wondered how he kept from impaling himself.
Kaya woke as he laid Katara beside her, blinking blearily at Zuko. "I can't see."
"What can you do about that?" Zuko asked quietly.
Kaya thought for a moment before flicking her finger up, lighting a small fire at the tip. It illuminated the tent enough for Zuko to remove Katara's boots and stash their masks somewhere safe. He tucked the furs tightly around her and slid in on the other side of Kaya, settling between her and Chi Lin. Kaya burrowed closer to her mother, pressing her small frame against her. Katara muttered in her sleep and rolled over, leaving Kaya with her back. Zuko squinted to see Kaya's small disappointed face and motioned for her to come closer. Kaya wriggled over so her back faced his chest and he laid his arm gently over her.
"She just sleeps that way." Zuko murmured, hugging her close for a moment. "It's not you."
"I know." Kaya sighed, her small voice resigned. "I'm just not sure sometimes."
"She loves you."
"I know." Kaya said. "Do you?" Her voice was shy, almost hesitant.
"Yeah." Zuko said, without hesitating.
"Good." Kaya smiled.
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The morning dawned foggy and wet, the sunlight fighting to break through the thick mist. Zuko rose just after sunrise, stretching his sore limbs beside the sparking embers of last night's campfire. He didn't want to return to the battle. He didn't want to wake Katara, tell her to put on her mask, and lead her back to her possible gravesite. He didn't want to leave Kaya without a mother, without the protection he himself could give her. He didn't want to convene with Sokka and discuss the best way to cut down more fire benders, his own people who were just on the wrong side. He didn't want to imagine what could be his own last moments in the context of blood, sweat, and steel. But he could already hear the sounds of battle, smell the smoke in the air. Toph's forces and Sokka's People who had stayed at the wall overnight were already fighting, dying, and winning.
He absentmindedly thrust his hand out to light the fire and his fist…sputtered. He frowned; he was tired. And sore. He tried again, and a short stream of flame shot out but fell short of the fire pit. His head snapped up and he was running, shouting. Some of the early risers looked at him bewilderedly as he did, surprised at seeing him dart about.
"Katara!" He yelled, startling Chi Lin out of sleep and into a fighting crouch, his feet tangling in the furs at his feet. "Katara!"
"What?" She asked, sitting upright slowly, her voice grumpy. Kaya woke at her side, her eyes finding Zuko's.
"The eclipse." She gasped, her mother peering down at her with one eye.
"Yeah." Zuko said, trembling with nerves and adrenaline. "We have to go."
Katara nodded and rose quickly, pulling on her tall boots and wrapping her hair into a tight knot. She snatched her mask from where it lay, kissed Kaya on the head, and went hurtling after Zuko as he started shouting orders across the camp. Soldiers and villagers peered out from their tents and, once they understood what he was yelling, scrambled to find their weapons and black clothing.
"Where's Iroh?" Katara yelled to Zuko over the commotion, gulping a quick mouthful of water.
"Still not here with his 'old friends.'" Zuko called back, strapping his dao swords to his back, his mask perched like a leaf on top of his head. "Where's Sokka?"
"I'll go find him." Katara dashed back towards Sokka's tent as the rest of the camp began strapping eel hounds and ostrich horses into saddles and carts, preparing for combat.
Zuko stood still in the storm of mayhem around him, taking a deep breath as the sounds of the camp fell away. His eyes were turned towards the sky, as he knew all the other fire benders' would be. The moon hung low in the sky still; they had time.
Katara found Sokka with Denali and the rest of Sokka's People by his tent. The water benders were as keyed up as the fire benders, but with excitement and anticipation instead of nerves and apprehension. They could feel the pull of the moon coming, like a storm waiting to break. Sokka was shouting orders as they formed up, making sure everyone was armed with extra water as well as a weapon.
"Katara." Sokka said, granting her a half smile as he gestured for Denali to start for the Wall. "Are you coming with us?"
Katara shook her head. "I'm going with Zuko. We're leaving now."
Sokka nodded gravely and snatched her into a hug. "See you at the top." His voice was choked.
"You better be there." Her voice was equally emotional as she let go, watching her brother leap onto the back of a waiting eel hound beside Suki and Kamol. "We'll find Dad today." She called after him.
"Yeah, we will." He gave her one last nod and Suki waved as they kicked the eel hound forward and disappeared through the trees in a fluttering herd, the eel hounds making little noise as they raced across the dry forest floor.
***Line break***Line break***Line break***
"My Lord…"
Ozai whirled around from his stance at the window, his phoenix mantle a golden blur at his shoulders. "What do you want?"
The captain trembled beneath his firey gaze, dreading what he had to report. Before now, before the eclipse, they had managed to keep the identity of the 'General Who Commanded the World', as his own soldiers called him in anxious fear, a secret from Ozai. The Phoenix King had been growing more and more unstable as his empire crumbled beneath him, hardly leaving his chambers. First the Western colonies, then New Ozai in the South had fallen, and now his own jewel City of Azulan had been under siege for the past two months. Even Fire Lord Azula had retreated to her father's palace when New Ozai had begun to crumble, leaving the devastated city to the Earth Kingdom rebels. Ozai had not been pleased, and had sent his daughter scouring the streets at night to keep the Earth Kingdom peasants in check. But without their King's leadership, without his presence there with his soldiers on the battlefield, morale and loyalty had been dropping. The captain knew how many of his own soldiers had defected to the one they were calling 'The True Fire Lord,' but it wasn't something he wanted to bring up. Ever. They had scarpered away in the night, taking their friends and weapons with them. Now Zuko, the 'General of the World', commanded all three nations against the Phoenix King and his vicious daughter. Brother fought brother on the bloody dirt, pitted against each other for the sake of honor and what each side considered to be right.
"My Lord…they've opened the Wall. It's…" The soldier licked his lips as Ozai stalked towards him. "It's Zuko, my Lord."
"Zuko?" The Phoenix King hissed. "My son, Zuko?"
"Yes, my Lord." The captain urgently wanted to back up a pace as Ozai loomed over him.
"My traitor son has returned." Ozai mused, glaring down at the trembling man. "Is my brother with him?"
"No reports of Lord Iroh, my Lord." The captain shrieked as Ozai let loose a firey pinwheel.
"He is no Lord." He bellowed, retracting the fire as suddenly as he had released it. "He is a traitor as well."
"Y-Yes, my Lord." The captain fell to his knees before his King, eyes fixed on the plush carpet beneath him. "Forgive me, my Lord."
Ozai strode past him toward the open double doors of his chamber. He paced in front of it, his dark golden eyes restless. "Where is my daughter?"
"Here, Father." Azula appeared to lounge against the doorframe, her two usual shadows behind her. Mai and Ty Lee gazed at Ozai, Ty Lee's eyes widening slightly at his ominous face while Mai remained impassive. As usual.
"Where have you been skulking?" Ozai demanded. "Did you know your brother has returned?"
"I've heard rumors." Azula examined her nails, perfectly polished to a sharp point. "But nothing I can't handle." She flicked an imaginary speck of dust and lifted her eyes to her father's face. "I also hear he has the Avatar's water bender at his side."
Ozai's eyes snapped to the captain, still cowering on the floor. "How can you know?"
Azula shrugged, her pointed shoulder guards lifting and falling. "Rumors. I'm a people person at heart, Father."
"People person or no, my son or no, these rebels will be brought to heel." He pointed a long finger at Azula. "You will go meet your brother. Lead him to the training grounds before the palace where I can observe his defeat."
"The eclipse is coming, Father, today." Azula clipped, still looking at her nails. "Shouldn't you retreat somewhere safe like you did seven years ago?"
"I will not run from a pup." Ozai snarled. "And you will watch your tongue. I am the Phoenix King, your Father."
"I am aware." Azula drawled, pushing off from the doorframe. "What of the water bender?"
"She will come to me."
Azula resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Really, her father's obsession was embarrassing. The old man really was unhinged. "Very well, Father." She sighed. She motioned to the two girls standing behind her and they left, leaving Ozai and his fury behind.
Ozai turned to the captain. The man was still kneeling on the ground, sweat dripping from his nose. He felt like he had heard too much today, too much the Phoenix King had wanted to keep secret. He listened as Ozai's footsteps padded closer and squeezed his eyes shut, sure he was about to receive a scorching end.
"Assemble my Guard." Ozai hissed down at him. "Station them around the palace. I want to know the instant the traitor sets foot in my Ring."
"Yes, my Lord." The soldier crawled backwards on his hands and knees until he was safely out of the Fire Lord's chamber. He rose and sprinted down the long corridor, thankful his life hadn't ended in a single firey blast. Perhaps he should have listened to his troops who said Zuko was different, that he wasn't the type to murder the messenger. Maybe it wasn't too late…
Behind him, Ozai strode to the window, looking out on the Upper Ring, still largely unharmed by the rebels. He could see the dust in the distance, smell the smoke as the Lower Ring burned. Zuko…the traitor Prince. And the water bender. He'd roast her alive in front of his son if he could get his hands on her. That she should be with him…the ultimate disrespect. The scum had killed Zhao. Ripped his throat out, he had heard. The man had been a good tool, Ozai's precise executioner. And now he was left with idiots who let his son tear down his Wall and steal his water bender.
The Phoenix King donned his winged helm and drew his chair close to the window, waiting.
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"Bring it down!" The yell was taken up by the crowd of black-clothed soldiers as the wall between the Lower and Middle Rings fell with a resounding crash, dust flaring towards the sky. Toph glanced sightless to her left as Min Ki ran along the collapsing wall, skillfully skating across the falling rubble. He landed gracefully at her side, chest barely heaving.
"That was cute." She snapped. "What were you thinking? Are you stupid?"
"Sometimes." He panted, grinning down at her. "Zuko and Katara have gone ahead of us. What's your count?"
Toph grumbled in her throat. "I swear he's cheating."
Min Ki chuckled. "That far ahead is he?"
"There's no way Snoozles has taken down two hundred fire benders!" Toph yelled, stamping her foot. The rest of the wall collapsed at her command, leaving just the two of them on twin columns as the combined Earth and Water benders charged through, pulling bystanders into their flood. "He has to be cheating."
Min Ki nodded indulgently. "Of course. Hop on."
Toph stepped over to gingerly lever herself on to Min Ki's back, grasping around his neck as he leapt skillfully from conjured rock pillar to pillar until they reached the ground, landing at a run with the rest of the Earth Kingdom forces. Toph could run on her own, but the possibility of getting trampled was a real danger. She was fast with her non-sight, but the crowd was faster.
"Head for the Upper Ring!" She yelled in his ear. "We have to meet up with them!"
Min Ki nodded and sped up, darting around the slower moving army. Fire benders clashed with the oncoming benders on all sides, but their weakened fire bending left them vulnerable to the earth benders who simply encased them in stone and moved on, leaving them to be collected later.
Ahead of them loomed the last wall of Ba Sing Se, guarded heavily by the Dai Li and the strongest fire benders, save the Phoenix King's personal guard. Toph could sense Katara and Zuko already on top of the wall, fighting back to back against the oncoming agents. Zuko had abandoned his fire bending in favor of his dao swords, using them as extensions of his own person to chop down any before him. The wall was narrow, fitting only three abreast. Sokka's people were on the wall as well, using their enhanced water bending to quickly and efficiently immobilize the darting Dai Li, freezing their limbs to the wall.
Toph yet out an involuntary yelp as the sizzle of lightening cracked above her head. She felt Min Ki stumble for the first time in her memory.
"What happened?" She yelled in his ear.
"The Fire Princess." He panted, still dodging around the others in his dash to the wall. "She's above them on the wall."
Toph grabbed tighter on to him, hoping to be able to sense through him to the ground. It was dim, but between his pounding heartbeats she could feel Azula on the rooftop of a building inside the wall, firing bolt after bolt at the water benders. Two new figures landed on the wall and immediately began taking down their water and earth benders. Toph could barely feel them: she wanted to be on land now.
"Hold on!" She hollered in Min Ki's ear, and sprang over his back to land in front, almost tripping him. As she landed, she felt Sokka come up against one of the figures: the girl with the knives who had been with Azula when they had used a machine to ruthlessly track Toph and her friends down seven years ago. The two clashed, weapons sending sparks against each other. Toph growled and thrust her fists up, raising a jutting platform that sent her and Min Ki hurtling towards the wall. He braced himself by grabbing on to her shoulders until they landed between the girl and Sokka. Min Ki sent the girl flying with a shove, knocking her off the wall to the battle below. She fell with a shriek, but managed to sink her deadly knives into the wall, slowing her descent.
Toph stomped again, setting stairs into the column she had created, giving their forces a quicker way up onto the wall. Below her, she felt a rumble as her earth benders began to dig out the wall from underneath, creating a stable tunnel into the Upper Ring.
"That was mine!" Sokka exclaimed behind her, fuming as he looked over the wall at the slowly climbing girl. "You can't count her!"
"No way, Snoozles!" Toph yelled, sinking a Dai Li agent into the wall so only his bewildered head remained above ground. "You didn't do shit!"
Sokka grunted as a large fire bender pummeled him in the stomach. Toph flicked her wrist, sending the large man over the wall. "That one was mine too! Stop stealing my points!"
***Line break***Line break***Line break***
Zuko bared his teeth as he ducked another blast from his sister, dodging her lightening. How she managed to still conjure lightening this close to an eclipse was beyond him; she really was a prodigy. His own fire bending had been reduced to limp fire balls that sputtered out three feet from him. Katara sent a hail of ice daggers towards her, but the Princess nimbly skipped aside, the daggers falling harmlessly where she had stood half a second before.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Zuzu." She called mockingly, fluttering her nails at Katara. "Your allies are so pathetic."
Katara snarled and darted forward, meaning to leap the distance between the wall and the roof where Azula stood, but Zuko snatched her wrist, holding her back.
"Something's wrong." He muttered to her, looking over at Azula. She looked bored. "She's not advancing."
"So?" Katara panted, her brow contorted. "She doesn't have to, she can shoot us from there."
"But she always does." Zuko replied, flicking his eyes to the sky. The moon lay parallel with the sun, on the brink of eclipse. "You need to go."
"Right now?" Katara asked, sending a flow of razor-edged ice disks towards Azula. The princess ducked and spun, avoiding all except the last which sliced through the point of her left shoulder guard. She landed on her feet with a snarl, running her fingers over the dulled edge. "She'll notice."
"I'll keep her busy." Zuko grabbed the back of Katara's head and kissed her roughly on the mouth for half an instant before Azula's lightening split them apart. "At her next blow, leap down. She'll think you fell."
Katara nodded. Her heart beat anxiously in her chest, clamoring for her to not follow through with their plan, to never return to his chamber, no matter what her advantage. Azula struck, raising a large cloud of dust as her lightening obliterated a large chunk of the wall beneath their feet. With a last look at Zuko, she dropped, catching herself on a slide of snow as she reached the ground.
She ran towards the palace of the Phoenix King, pushing down her hysterical screaming fears with the logic: She was the only bloodbender. He wouldn't be able to fire bend, he'd be defenseless. She'd be able to slip past the guards as a single attacker better than an army could. She was the only one who could surprise him. He didn't know she was coming.
Katara raced along the streets of Ba Sing Se, hidden in the shadows by her black clothing as the tip of the moon passed over the sun on her mission to apprehend the Phoenix King. Kaya's sire. The source of her worst recurring screaming nightmares. Her lover's father. Conqueror of the world and destroyer of her people. She was determined. She was terrified.
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"Where is she going?" Kaya squealed, looking down. She and Chi Lin were perched on the edge of Appa's saddle, safely above the carnage below. "She's not safe!"
They had deposited Katara and Zuko with Toph early that morning before taking off to hover above the city. There was a consensus, a general feeling, among those who knew the truth that the Avatar should be there for the fall of the Phoenix King. Whether or not her identity would be revealed was undecided, but her presence gave them hope and a sense that she was safe above all of them. Katara had also voiced that she felt better knowing Kaya was somewhere she couldn't squirm out of to join the fighting.
"She is doing her part." Chi Lin answered, his murky eyes taking in the battle below, noting the weak points and seeing the victories. He knew where Katara was going and, like Sokka and Toph, hadn't been thrilled to hear her crucial role in the attack.
"She left him alone!" Kaya cried, pointing down at Zuko on the wall.
"He is not alone." Chi Lin said, though the Fire Prince certainly looked alone against his sister at the moment. As they watched, Azula baited him, attacking and retreating until he was forced to chase after her. She led him away from her forces towards the palace. "That is not good."
"What?" Kaya asked, tugging on his sleeve. "Why isn't that good?"
He looked down at her in frustration. How to explain battle tactics to a child, even if that child was the Avatar? He turned his eyes back to Zuko, seeing Kozan and Denali tear off after him, taking several of their best men with them. "It is okay now. He has help." He didn't mention the two shadows that leapt after them, the two girls that arrived with Azula.
"But my mother doesn't." Kaya said, her small voice hard. Chi Lin looked down at her suspiciously as she closed her eyes, her small hands forming fists in her lap.
"Kaya." Chi Lin nudged her. Her eyes flashed open, a startling glowing blue. He leaned back, frowning.
"Stay here." Her voice was all and one, hers but not hers. She lifted her arms as if she were about to fly.
He grabbed her by the shoulder. "Do not do this. Please."
"The fate of the world depends on what we do today." The voices that were one said, the terrible glowing eyes in the child's face looking down on him icily. "Stay here."
Chi Lin could only watch as the child he was sworn to protect, the child he cared for as if she were his own, leapt from the bison's saddle, spiraling towards the earth in a headlong drop. At the last second a great wind caught her and spiraled her towards the Palace. He looked down from above, gripping the rim of the saddle with white knuckles as the wind became a focused ball of air beneath her, whirling her out of his sight, lost among the winding alleys and buildings of Ba Sing Se.
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A.N.: Sorry this took so long! Family + car trouble + work being busy = no time to write! Also, have several new ideas in my head, mostly thanks to Kat-Tastrophe. Also had an idea for a Game of Thrones/Avatar crossoverish thing. Thoughts? As always, reviews make me wriggle with joy. Please let me know what you think! 3
To Arashi Uzukaze: Nope They are loyal to Azula, just tryin' to be all spy-y.
To G0d3ss0fD1sc0rd: Me too! xD Thank you! And yeah that was my thought with her being a Firebender, also b/c of Ozai being her father.
To Kat-Tastrophe: Damn the report sir! Lol Thank you! I'm working on that plotline for ya just been ADD.
To Lithriel23: Le sigh. Never a quiet moment for those two. Thank you!
To Guest: Thank you! Your review made me smile
To storyoftheunknownfangirl: Thank you! I do that all the time with fanfictions…totally worth it though!
To Guest (Jessica): Thank you so, so much! I admire 'The Black Games' so much, I feel so honored to be compared to them. I don't really have any SN except my deviantart account, but it doesn't really have much to do with my writing :/ but it's .com if you'd like to check it out And thank you again!