Chapter 17 Katara's Vengeance.

As usual, Connor was up well before sunrise, purely out of habit, before the fire benders of their merry gang of misfits rose with the sun. By the time the others had started their mornings, Azula was trying her hand at cooking a meal for herself, with Connor's help.

Mai had been roused by Zuko's absence from their shared bedroll, and once dressed, joined the majority of the party around the fire. Azula caught a glimpse of her in the corner of her eye, and the two locked into a narrow eyed stare, before Azula turned her attention back to the pan she was frying bacon on. Mai blew air through her nose forcefully, then sat a fair distance away. A few members of the team were slightly on edge knowing that she was free to roam the island, but everyone knew she was in no position to harm any of them.

Zuko, who'd spent the better part of the morning going over how he was going to inform Katara of Yon Rha and his whereabouts, waited outside of her tent.

When Katara finally came outside, hair a tangled mess from her sleep, she saw Zuko sitting there, and rolled her eyes. "If you're having trouble breathing, Connor's the one who said he'd see you."

"I'm fine…" Zuko said, as Katara began to brush out her hair with a whale bone comb. Azula from her seat on a rock chair she shared with Connor, elbowed him, and pointed to the two. Smellerbee, who was cutting her hair in a small mirror, glanced at what was going on in the reflection.

"Then what do you want?" Katara asked, passing Zuko as he stood up.

"I want you to know that I'm not a threat to you, or anyone in this group. I want to prove that I'm on your side, and that I know what I'm doing." Zuko said, holding his left hand to his chest. "I know who killed your mother, Katara."

Katara turned to face the former prince with a look of disbelief, and stopped combing her hair. "How? How could you know who killed my mom?"

"I had to piece everything together." Zuko shrugged. "Sokka told me what he remembered about the last attack on your village before I arrived. I recognized his description of the unit, and Azula knew who was in command of the raiding party at the time, and where he retired to."

"So what, are you going to tell me who, or where this guy is?" Katara asked, growing slightly irritated.

"I'll do you one better… I've been thinking about this almost all morning. I've got a plan…" Zuko said darkly, before looking at Azula and Connor, seeing them appear interested in their conversation. Katara turned her attention to the two, before Zuko continued. "And I know who'd be willing to help."

Katara approached Aang from behind as the young avatar was feeding Appa. Aang felt the air changing around him, and turned, finding Katara, Zuko, Azula, and Connor standing there, bags packed, and a look of determination set on half of their faces. "What's going on?" Aang asked.

"I need to borrow Appa for a day." Katara said.

"Is it your turn to go on a field trip with Zuko or something?" Aang asked, half joking.

"Yes." Katara said shortly.

Aang, expecting more of an answer, grew concerned. "What's going on?"

Katara glanced around as everyone in camp took notice of their conversation. "We're going after the man who killed my mother."

Cautious, Aang probed further. "And what exactly do you think this is going to accomplish?"

And with that Katara knew Aang wouldn't let them go. "I knew you wouldn't get it."

"No, Katara, I do get it. You're feeling unbelievable pain, and you're angry, more angry than you can even understand yourself." Aang said. "I've been there, when the sand benders took Appa, when I found out what happened to my people… To Monk Gyatso."

Zuko stepped between the two to speak. "You might understand how she feels, Aang, but that doesn't change the fact that what she chooses to do with that feeling is her choice."

"This is about justice." Katara said.

Aang looked between everyone present, and shook his head. "This sounds like revenge."

"And so what if it is?" Azula asked, crossing her arms. "I for one think that Katara is well within her rights to try and take the life of someone who's taken her loved ones, whether she's successful to that end is entirely dependent upon her will, and the will of the man she's facing. Many Agni Kai's have begun under such circumstances without witness, evidence, or confessions of wrongdoing."

"But that doesn't make it the right thing to do." Aang said, holding a hand out to Katara.

Katara grunted. "And what would the right thing to do be Aang? Win the war then have him tried for what? Killing civilians? He'd beat it on a technicality if the case against him was fair, and if it wasn't, he'd just sit in prison for the rest of his life."

"If that is what is seen as justice by a tribunal, then so be it." Aang said.

Connor chuckled, catching Aang's attention. "It's a slight bit naive for both of you to assume that any court sitting over a trial for crimes committed at war would be so lenient. Justice simply outsources the desire for revenge, and it removes what personal responsibility you might have in a man's condemnation, while satisfying the masses. In this case, should our man be so hated by the people judging him, and the people acting as his jury, it would make no difference if he was hung outside a courthouse, or a tavern." He said. "Way, I see it, this Yon Rha, he's a dead man if we win the war. Court or no court."

Aang hung his head. "Monk Gyatso once told me that revenge is like a two headed rat viper. While one head bites your enemies, you'll be poisoned by yourself."

Zuko blinked, before sighing. "That's cute, but this is the real world, Aang. Just because you don't feel comfortable with avenging the ones you've lost doesn't mean that the rest of us are unwilling."

"So all of you are on board with this?" Aang asked, looking at the four. "Zuko?"

The former prince nodded. "I owe it to Katara."

"Azula?" Aang asked. "Don't you care that this man you're helping to hunt is one of your own people?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "In case you haven't realized, "my people" have been destroying the other three nations for the past hundred years. If Commander Yon Rha has shed innocent blood in this war, knowingly, out of malice, and I were Fire Lord, he would have been imprisoned a long time ago, and at the least stripped of his rank."

"Connor?" Aang asked, as the red head put his hands on his belt buckle.

Connor shrugged. "I've seen a quick trial and an execution for lesser crimes, Avatar. Murdering an innocent civilian, and a woman at that, while waging a war of aggression… Like I said, court or no court if it's the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes who judge him."

"What other choice is there, Aang?" Katara asked. "When we win the war, if we can even win the war, then what? He goes into hiding and lives out the rest of his days unpunished?"

"There is always another choice. Forgiveness. That is the other choice." Aang said while closing his eyes, letting a beat pass, before opening them again to look at Katara. "If you really feel that you need to do this, then fine, you can take Appa… But if you do this, when you face this man, let your anger out if you must, but in the end, let it go." Aang stepped out of the way, and Katara nodded to Aang once, before climbing up onto Appa, followed by Azula.

Zuko spoke to Aang as he climbed up onto Appa. "We should be back before tomorrow night. It'd be a good idea to pack up and move again when we return."

"We can have the camp torn down by then." Aang said. "Any idea where it might be safe to hide?"

Now on Appa's saddle, Zuko looked down. "I know a place."

Connor prepared to board, but paused with one hand on Appa's leg. He turned to Aang, finding the monk looking disappointed, and sighed. "If it's any consolation, I'll ensure that Yon Rha will not suffer if Katara wishes him dead… After all, what's the point of having civil society if we can't show mercy, even if it's for the damned." And with that, he climbed aboard the bison saddle, and Appa took to the air.

As the wind whipped by, Connor, with Azula's assistance and some back rubs to help overcome his airsickness, plotted out the most direct route to Yon Rha's village. With Katara keeping Appa flying in a strength line south, the group had flown over Ember Island, Black Cliff Island, and the Fire Nation mainland in what would have been a record setting pace for the gang. The sun had begun to dip towards the horizon, and they'd crossed the Strait of Obsidian, reaching Yon Rha's Island, the village only an hour away at best.

Katara, having never moved from Appa's neck, earned the attention of Zuko. "You've been flying all day. You should take a break before we land… You'll need your strength."

"Don't worry about my strength. I'll have plenty to spare by the time we find this rat." Katara said, not bothering to even look over her shoulder, as the full moon rose in the distance.

"This your first time killing a man?" Connor asked from his seat on the saddle, facing forward to alleviate the air sickness he was experiencing.

"No…" Katara said, thinking back to all of the battles she'd been in and the likelihood that she'd ever lethally injured someone "Yes… Maybe."

"I think Connor means, is this the first time you've intended to kill someone?" Azula asked. "Accidents or injuries that lead to someone's death are not quite the same as striking a killing blow."

Katara sighed. "Yes, this is the first time. And I don't just want this, I need this. I need to see Yon Rha pay for taking my mother."

Azula looked between Zuko and the back of Katara's head. "I… I understand the feeling."

Katara looked over her shoulder at the two, clearly skeptical. Zuko filled the void in the conversation. "Our mother was banished from the home islands when we were young. She killed Fire Lord Azulon, our father's father… She did it to protect me."

"To protect us both." Azula added. Zuko turned to look at Azula, having always suspected she'd known the truth about what happened to their mother to some degree. Azula, though pouting now, shrugged as she glanced at her brother. "I did a lot of eavesdropping when I was younger… She was willing to take us, and flee to the Earth Kingdom… I always believed she was a traitor for that, and that was why father never wanted us to speak of her…" Azula hugged her legs to her chest, feeling a single tear begin to well up.

At that, Connor put his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her into a sympathetic hug. Katara turned her head back towards the horizon, and closed her eyes for only a moment, finding more hate for the Fire Nation in her heart, preparing for when she'd finally face the man who'd killed her mother.

Aang, about to turn in for the night, took notice of Mai, who'd spent most of the evening seated away from the center of camp on a rock, watching the distant waves to the north crash against the island's only sand beach. Despite her still being an enemy, if a contained one for the moment, Aang slowly approached the taciturn girl. She spared him a glance as he sat in the grass to her right.

"What do you want?" Mai asked.

"Nothing really. I was wondering, how are you feeling?" Aang asked.

Mai sighed. "I'm not feeling much of anything right now. Some slight irritation that Zuko decided to leave for the day, but beyond that, nothing." Mai glanced at Aang again. "Anything else that you want to pry into?"

Not expecting Mai to be so up front about it, Aang made a brief moment of eye contact, then the two looked out to the sea again. "I guess I kinda wanted to know why you were hunting us with Kozato?"

Mai nearly scoffed. "Years of pent up anger… Feeling betrayed." Mai once more glanced at Aang. "Make no mistake, this truce that we have is temporary. If Kozato finds you again, I'll be rejoining him."

"Why? I thought you and Zuko were… Together?" Aang asked as he rubbed his neck, having heard noise coming from the tent closest to his, the night prior.

"Because it's the most rational thing to do in this situation." Mai rolled her eyes. "You and your resistance can't win. The closest you might get is killing Lord Ozai, but even then, it would only escalate the conflict, and make the people of the Fire Nation hate you more. You can't wipe out the entire chain of command, or the entire line of succession. You can't realistically destroy the entire Fire Nation. Someone will always rise to power, and you will always be their enemy. In the end, the army will inevitably catch up to you, and imprison or execute everyone who resists… It was foolish of Azula and Zuko to join you for exactly that reason, and it would be foolish of me to do the same."

"Well that's just it…" Aang started. "I don't want to destroy the Fire Nation… And I don't want to kill anyone. I just want to stop all of the fighting, and bring back balance to the world."

Mai chuckled. "And I thought earth benders were the dimwits."

"What would you suggest then?" Aang asked, earning Mai's attention. "If killing the Fire Lord isn't the right path forward, and fighting is only going to lead to more conflict, what am I supposed to do?"

Mai looked up at the stars as they began to appear, and spoke from her own experience. "Hide in plane sight for however long you can, and don't make any waves. Let the war go on, and eventually fizzle out."

"You sound like a friend of mine." Aang said, recalling Bumi's practice of neutral jing. "Doing nothing."

Mai shrugged. "Nothing I've done has had any real effect on the world, or will matter in another hundred years… Why bother trying to make history if it's going to forget you anyways?"

"Because the people that care about you will remember…"Aang said. "And they're the ones who will be affected the most by the choices you make."

Mai stood up from the rock she was sitting on, and yawned before speaking. "Yeah, well, I've made my choices, and it seems like you're having trouble making yours. If you want some real advice on how to end the war, I'd talk with someone who actually has experience waging one first."

As Mai walked away, Aang looked up to the moon, hopeful that maybe Yue would give him some kind of answer.

As the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the sky, replaced by moonglow and starlight, Yon Rha stepped out of his house, (the fact his horrid mother lived with him did not change the fact it was still his house,) and began to make his way towards the outhouse in the backyard. It was slightly down the hill his home was built on, and so a stone path had been layed to make traversing it easier, but just beyond the outhouse was a far steeper drop.

On the last few steps, Yon Rha reached his hand towards the outhouse door, before seemingly tripping on the last step. Unable to recover, Yon Rha hit the dirt at the base of the stone path, which seemed to give way in a rock slide. Yon Rha tumbled down the steep dirt hill, before finally coming to fall face first in the grassy creek bed just beyond his property.

Pushing himself to his feet, now covered in dirt and mud, Yon Rha saw three black figures casting shadows as they rose from the tall grass on the other side of the creek, half of their faces covered by masks. "Who's there?" He asked, before a fourth figure, unseen by Yon Rha, stood up in the high grass just behind him.

Connor, having sunk half of his body into the mud, and done the brunt of the work to cause Yon Rha to fall down the hill, kicked the older man's knee out from behind him, and grabbed the man's top knot, before drawing his pistol, and putting the barrel to his head.

In no position to fight back, Yon Rha pleaded with the three people approaching him, but mostly the man who had a weapon drawn and a hand firmly on his hair. "Please, take whatever you want, I don't have much, just don't hurt me."

Connor lifted the man's head up, and spoke. "This him?"

"Is your name, Yon Rha?" Azula asked.

"What does it matter?" Yon Rha asked, effectively confirming Azula's speculation.

"It doesn't." Katara said, as she approached Yon Rha, looking him directly in the eyes. "I remember you…" She pulled down the mask she wore. "Do you know who I am?" Katara asked, stepping into the creek, now a few paces away from the man who killed her mother.

Yon Rha could make out her face, if only just by the light of the moon, and his blood seemed to run cold. "You… You're that little girl from the water tribe… The girl whose mother… Whose mother was the last water bender in the South Pole."

Katara clenched his fist, and the slowly rippling water of the creek bed seemed to still. "My mother lied to you. She wasn't the last water bender in the Southern Tribe. She was protecting them."

"What?!" Yon Rha asked in surprise before he felt his entire body seize up, being lifted off of his knees. After a second he was pulled towards the girl by some unseen force, his feet dragging through the water of the creek. She reached out, and grabbed him by the throat with her right hand.

"She was protecting me." Katara said, as she squeezed Yon Rha's neck.

Yon Rha felt his pulse still, as if death had come for him, reaching into his chest to squeeze his heart. Finding it hard to breathe, as he in turn became light headed, Yon Rha looked up with only his eyes, seeing Katara staring at him, with what could be described only as cold blooded hate.

To both Zuko and Azula, the revelation that Katara had the power to control another person's body was disturbing, if not worth fearful respect. Looking at the full moon above them, Azula figured this is what Katara had meant when she'd threatened them on their first day as part of the team, and she realized that with such a power unlocked, Katara was by far the most dangerous member of their group… Something Connor must have agreed with.

From behind Yon Rha, Connor cocked the right hammer of his pistol, and pointed it at Katara. "You cease that black magic, this instant." He said firmly, finger on the right trigger of his pistol.

"It's not magic, it's blood bending." Katara said, before releasing her hold on Yon Rha, and throwing him into the creek, which began to flow again. The old man's heart began to beat once more, and he caught his breath, though rolled on the ground in discomfort.

Zuko, unsure of what to do, looked at Azula, who glanced at him, and shrugged. "What? This is new to me too." She said.

"It's torture is what it is." Connor said, pistol still drawn. "I promised Aang if you were going to kill him, he would not suffer… And that…" Connor nodded towards Yon Rha, who was holding his chest. "That looks like suffering to me."

"He deserves it." Katara said, fingers splayed, as she held up her arm.. "And you…" Connor felt his finger creep away from the tigger of his gun against his will, before his arm was bent at his elbow, pulling the muzzle away from Katara. "You do not get to take this from me." Connor grabbed his wrist with his free hand, and tried pulling his arm out of the direction of travel it was taking, the muzzle slowly pointing towards Yon Rha. "You want his death to be quick?" Katara asked, as Connor's grip finally wavered, and his arm twisted towards Yon Rha, the twin barrels pointed at his head. "Then I'll make it quick."

Connor's finger was put back on the trigger against his will, and Yon Rha, fearing for his life, begged Katara to spare him. "No, please!"

The trigger was pulled, the hammer dropped… And yet nothing happened.

Katara blinked, having expected the gun to go off once the trigger was pulled. "What?" She asked, releasing Connor's arm. "But…" She trailed off, as Yon Rha sighed in relief.

Connor, more curious than anything, inspected his gun, and chuckled a little, finding that the cap and nipple of his gun's right side, (the one that fired the top barrel,) had mud on it from when he was submerged in the creek bed, though the left side was clean. "Now that's dumb luck if I ever seen it." He said, lowering the weapon.

"So, are you going to let me go?" Yon Rha asked, rolling to sit on his knees.

Katara, torn between giving up and resuming her blood bending to stop the man's heart, closed her eyes for a moment. Realizing now what it felt like to hold someone's life in her hands. "I hate you… But I'd hate myself more if I stooped down to your level…" Yon Rha began to snivel. "You're a sad, pathetic, old man with nothing inside, and no one will mourn on the day you die…" With that, Katara began to walk back into the tall grass to where they'd hidden Appa. "Enjoy the rest of your life."

Zuko walked off after her, and Azula followed close by, looking over her shoulder at Connor. "Come on, let's go. She did what she needed to."

Connor looked at Yon Rha, as he stepped into the creek to follow the rest of the team, before stopping as he passed Yon Rha. The older man looked up, still fearful. Connor feigned an attack, jolting his head and chest towards Yon Rha, who shrunk in on himself. "So much for being a terrifying woman killer…" Connor put his gun in its holster, before walking off. "Just remember how lucky you were, old man."

Once the team had gotten airborne, Zuko dropped Azula, Connor, and Katara off on Ember Island before dawn, allowing them to rest in the Fire Lord's since abandoned Summer mansion, while he returned to the team's island campground, picking up everyone else, and ferrying them back to the royal family's home.

The gang landed at sundown, and Aang was the first one to jump off of Appa, finding Katara sitting on the decaying pier on the house's private beach. She'd heard his footsteps, and closed her eyes once Aang spoke. "Katara, Zuko told me what you did." She prepared to be scolded. "And I'm proud of you. You did the right thing."

Katara opened her eyes, as she pushed herself to stand on the pier. "Except I didn't. I wanted to kill Yon Rha so badly that I bent Connor's blood. I took control over another living person that trusted me."

"But in the end, you spared Yon Rha's life. You forgave him." Aang said.

"Maybe I did… But I will always remember his name, and what he did, what he turned me into." Katara said as she turned to face Aang, bags under her eyes. "I am never going to blood bend again, and I swear, I will never let anyone suffer losing a loved one so long as I can save them… Friend or enemy, I will do no harm." She said, before walking towards the manor up the hill, passing Zuko, who was watching their conversation as he approached.

Katara paused, facing the scarred firebender, before surprising him with an embrace. "Thank you… If you hadn't done this… I don't know what kind of person I'd have become." and with that, Katara released the taller teen, before leaving the former prince and The Avatar standing there on the pier.

Zuko spoke to Aang though didn't face him. "You were right about what Katara needed. Taking someone's life wasn't the answer."

"It never will be." Aang said, still unsure of if that statement would hold true when the time came for him to face the Fire Lord.

After Mai had disembarked the flying bison, she looked around, realizing that she was standing on the same beach she'd witnessed everyone have an emotional breakdown on. Connor's rock seats were still left in the sand as markers. "Ember Island then." She thought to herself. Sighing, knowing that without money, a more adequate wardrobe than the ill-fitting prison rags Azula had "gifted" her, or any way of proving her identity, Mai was still stuck with the gang. Wandering up and into the Fire Lord's summer home, she found Azula resting on a cushion in the sitting room to the right of the entrance. Deciding that it was probably time to talk with the girl, Mai walked over to the cushion beside Azula, and sat down.

Azula opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Mai quickly smacked her in the cheek with the back of her left hand. Feeling the skin of her cheek burn just a little, Azula rubbed the now reddening spot, as she looked at Mai, who smirked. "I said I was going to smack you if you tried talking to me again, so I did. Anyways, go on."

"Fair enough." Azula said, letting her hand come to rest in her lap. "I realize that over the past handful of years I've been… Well, an abysmal friend would be putting it lightly… I was abusive to you and Ty Lee both. Mentally, emotionally, and oftentimes physically. I just thought I had every right to be that way to lesser people as princess, but I know that's wrong now, and that I'm not above anyone, let alone someone I call a friend. I want you to understand that "Princess Azula," is effectively dead, she died the day she left the Fire Nation, and that we don't have to be enemies anymore."

"You're saying we should just start over from the beginning? Like we never met in the Fire Royal Academy for Girls?" Mai asked. Azula nodded once, and Mai sighed. "Fine… If that's the case…" Mai smirked. "My name is Mai, daughter of New Ozai's governor. I like knives, and the color black."

Azula giggled a little at Mai's absurd reintroduction, though played along. "I'm Azula, Fire Nation traitor. I like fire bending… And mochi."

"Sounds boring…" Mai said, still smirking. "I like boring things."

Azula smiled to herself, before the two girls laughed. "I'm glad I could make your acquaintance, Mai."

"Me too…" Mai said, before her expression returned to the same bland frown she usually wore. "It's a shame it won't last."

"You won't be officially joining us, will you?" Azula asked, already knowing the answer.

Mai sighed. "I don't have a say in the matter anymore, Azula. You chose your path, and I chose mine. The Fire Nation is too powerful to fight forever, and you know what's coming."

"I know…" Azula said. "I know…"

AN: So the timeline might seem wonky here, but check it.

Azula and Connor aiding Katara and Zuko in their argument with Aang pressed him into giving up Appa during the day instead of night.

They didn't need to stop to find an outpost, then track down a ship, because Azula already knew where Yon Rha was going to be, so they cut at least two days off of travel.

The night they faced Yon Rha was the same night they would have canonically boarded the ship off of whale tail, ergo, it's a full moon and Katara (who is a blood bender,) goes just a little nuts.

She was fully intending to kill Yon Rha, and the only reason she didn't was because Connor's gun got mucked up, and she realized that she was being a psycho by bloodbending Connor when he didn't remotely deserve it. Katara, ironically, became what she accused Zuko of being. Dumb and a danger to the team.

That said, I haven't done one of these in a while...

...

Next time on Gunsmoke And Hellfire...

In 100 AG, a select few from a crack commando invasion unit escaped capture at the hands of the Fire Nation. These men have since fled deep into the Fire Colonies, Occupied Earth Kingdom, and Caldera underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help and if you can find them. Maybe you can hire...

The B-Team.