Sorry everyone, I didn't realize that the line breaks I put in did not work. It should be fixed now.
The wind rustled Ozai's hair as he stood on the prow of the ship, watching the small island grow closer and closer. He knew without a doubt that his treacherous wife hid there. But she would not escape him today. Her penalty for treason was death, a fitting punishment for the humiliation she put him through.
His children the Firelord wanted alive. Ozai would need heirs, after all. However, they were not going to go unpunished for their disobedience. Azula's cowardice would need to be addressed, and the boy especially needed some further conditioning to prove himself a worthy heir. Why the Firelord requested Azula's life instead of the boy was beyond him- he was obviously the weak link in Sozin's line.
But Ozai was a loyal son, and he would follow his orders. A smile crept on his face as they drew closer to Shu Jing. Today he will regain his honor.
Azula's heart was clenched with overwhelming fear as she and Zuko scrambled to pack their things. He was here. He finally found them, and now he was going to finish what he started that night. Zuko's screams as he struggled under their father's fire were echoing in her mind as she fumbled with her pack.
Only a few minutes earlier she was calm- happy even. Their life at Piandao's had opened her eyes to how oppressive and stifling palace life was for her. And now it is over. As Azula shouldered her pack and followed Zuko out of their room, she felt as if she was watching herself outside of her own body. She could still feel her panic, but it was as if she was detached from it all. Everything was happening too quickly. One moment, she and Zuko were playing pai sho together, and the next, Mother and Piandao rushed into the room and everything became a blur.
Mother met them in the hall. Azula couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in the dim lighting, her hair pulled back and her expression grim. Mother did not look scared. She looked furious, and determined, and brave. In her hands were a set of fine daggers, a gift from Azula and Zuko for her birthday. Azula's fear lessened as she gazed at her.
Zuko clutched her hand tightly as they ran down the hall after Mother. She could hear shouting behind her, at the front of the estate. Piandao was down there. They had already said their goodbyes.
Piandao's eyes were dark and his sword was drawn. Fat stood beside him. "We will meet him at the gates." He said. "You must reach the docks while we fight." Mother embraced him quickly and whispered something in his ear. He nodded, and turned to Zuko and Azula.
"It has been an honor training you two." He bowed low. "Stick together and look after your mother." Zuko rushed forward to hug him, and Azula was right behind him. She screwed her eyes shut as Piandao squeezed her back, trying not to think of what would happen to him for harboring traitors to the crown. And then they were gone, disappearing down the hall.
Two swordsmen facing an entire squadron of imperial firebenders. Azula knew that it was a hopeless situation. Piandao was a legendary swordsman, but even he couldn't fight off Ozai. But even as she heard the familiar sound of steel ringing against steel, and the rush of fire, she turned and fled.
The Piandao estate had high walls, so their only option was to break down the front gate. And even there they met trouble. Ozai watched coolly as his soldiers were bottlenecked in the entrance, falling one by one to two lone swordsmen. They weren't even firebenders for Agni's sake. He noted that his cowardly wife and children did not show themselves, so he sent patrols to line the estate in case they tried to flee.
As more and more of his soldiers fell, even Ozai had to begrudgingly admit that these men were formidable opponents. To a regular soldier at least. But he was a descendant of Agni himself and would not be deterred by two nonbenders. Ozai sent a large blast of lightning directly at the gate, not caring who was caught by the splintering wood. As he stalked closer, he noted that one of the men had been downed, but the other still stood with his sword drawn. Their eyes met.
"Where are they?" Ozai asked, his hands lighting with flames.
"You will not touch them!" The man snarled. But even he had to know that he could not win this fight. His leg was caught in the blast, blood flowing freely down it. It would be easy to just strike him with lightning, but Ozai was feeling generous. He would allow this man a fight, if only to see the inevitable defeat in his eyes.
"Search for the traitors," he ordered his soldiers, and then he stepped forward and blasted a jet of fire towards the man. But he wasn't there. Ozai jumped back as a sword came from his right, nearly impaling him. Snarling, he struck out, but each time he did the man would dodge.
"You're a coward," Ozai snarled as he whirled around. This man would rather dance around him than fight. A true disgrace to Agni.
"A true warrior uses his weakness to his advantage," the man replied calmly. "A coward strikes without thought." Ozai wasn't quick enough to turn, and he felt the graze of the sword. He roared as it tore through his arm.
Zuko's heart hammered as they rushed to the back of the estate, trying desperately to ignore the large explosion behind them. His scar twinged as he thought of who was behind that explosion.
There were footsteps behind them. Men shouting, slamming doors and searching rooms.
They had barely reached the smaller gate in the back of the estate when a fireball blasted towards them. There were soldiers already there, the gate destroyed. Zuko and Azula stepped on either side of Mother, behind and in front of her, as they were surrounded. There were ten in all. Zuko didn't hesitate, and by screams behind him, Azula didn't either.
Rushing forward, Zuko blocked the streams of fire with his swords before lashing out with his own fire. Quick as lightning, he and Azula tore through them. Mother was there, too. Zuko caught a glance of her pulling one of her knives out of a soldier's neck before viciously slashing at another. There was no time to think of what they were doing. They would be killed if they did.
And then they were running again. Out of the gate and towards the docks.
The man lay bleeding below him, panting and clutching at his leg with his burned hands. His sword lay melted beside him. Ozai loomed over him, furious at the sting of his arm and the lack of fear in the man's eyes. This man gazed up at him, unflinching.
Ozai's hands lit.
"My lord!" Snarling, he turned towards the soldier who had rushed into the courtyard. "My lord, they are getting away! They fled the estate!"
The man smirked as Ozai cursed. He turned to leave, but not before barking orders for the man to be shackled. Ozai was not done with him just yet.
Soldiers littered the grounds as he passed, some of them calling out for help. He ignored them. If they were weak enough to fall to two children and a nonbender, then they deserved to die. There was a path as he exited the estate, and he followed it. Ozai did not normally run, but he knew they would, and he had to catch them.
They hadn't been running for long before lightning arched over their heads, hitting the path in front of them. Skidding to a stop, Azula turned and watched him approach. He was sweating, his hair blowing wildly around his face, and blood was flowing down one of his arms. But his face was the same. That cold fury behind his eyes that she remembered so well.
Mother stepped in front of them as he strode forward, her knives raised in front of her.
"Not a step closer, Ozai."
He laughed. "And what do you plan to do, wife? You cannot run anymore."
Mother drew herself up, and Azula held her breath as she and Zuko hid behind her.
"No, I will not run. But you will." And she lunged forward, her knives aimed for Ozai's throat. But she had to roll and dodge the ring of fire he lashed out with, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Zuko rush to block it. Her heart clenched at the sight of Zuko so close to Ozai's fire again, so she stuck close to him as they helped Mother.
Back and forth they fought- Mother slashing with her knives and Zuko and Azula blocking Ozai's retaliation. But eventually, Ozai seemed to get tired of their resistance. Roaring, he spun around and from his foot came a massive wave of fire. Zuko and Azula were knocked to the ground.
They scrambled to their feet, but the lightning was already racing towards them. She didn't even have time to blink. It arched towards them, bright blue and crackling and cold, filling her vision.
Someone steps in front of it.
The lightning outlines her figure for a brief moment, bright, brilliant blue, before her body tumbles to the ground and lays still.
Dead. Her mother was dead.
White noise fills her head, and Azula screams. She screams and screams; and her fire was uncontrollable, it was blistering and searing and cold and blue. She cannot see him. She cannot see anything.
Gone. She was gone.