I can't get links to work on this site, but if you search for fireflaked on AO3 you'll find me! The full 9 chapters are up on AO3, and I have about 40 chapters planned for this story :)

"We are the sons and daughters of fire, the superior element! Until today only one thing stood our path to victory, the Avatar. I am here to tell you that he is now my prisoner!"

Azula rolled her eyes as she crept into the sewer drain with Zuko. Zhao was an imcompetent idiot. His so-called impenetrable fortress was just infiltrated by two teenagers. And the Firelord made him an admiral? It wasn't even hard, they just slipped onto a cart and rode it inside.

Wrinkling her nose at the smell, she followed Zuko deeper into the stronghold, bypassing the many walls that were supposed to keep them out. Despite it's fame, Pohuai was hastily built to aid the siege of Ba Sing Se. A well-built fortress would not allow for large accessible drains to traverse the entire stronghold.

While getting in was child's play, Azula knew that getting out would not be easy. They brought rope with them, so as long as they are not seen they could theoretically climb back out. Even Azula had to admit that this plan was not as well thought out as she would like, but they were in a time crunch. Zhao would not keep the avatar there forever, and this was their best chance to break him out.

This mission was obviously very serious and important, but she couldn't help but enjoy herself as they skirted around guards and soldiers. It reminded her of sneaking through the palace with Lu Ten.

She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts as Zuko stopped in front of her, peering around the corner before raising one finger. One guard. Not even bothering to pull out her knives, Azula rolled around the corner and had the guard disarmed and unconscious before he realized she was there. Zuko picked up the helmet that rolled off of him. Even with his mask on she could tell what he was thinking.

Approaching the avatar's cell, Zuko tossed the helmet down the hall, and there they waited. One soldier rounded the corner, arms raised and ready for them. After a brief scuffle, they had him hanging from the ceiling. They strung up the next two guards as well. One more to go.

Charging forward, Azula threw her knife and knocked the horn from the soldier's hand. Zuko blocked the fire that he retaliated with, and within seconds he was down. Yanking her knife out of the horn, she straightened up just as Zuko pushed open the avatar's cell.

He was chained in the center of the room, and screamed as Zuko approached him, twirling his dao unnecessarily. Zuzu can be so dramatic.

"The Blue Spirit! Are you here to rescue me? Why are there two of you?" The avatar babbled, staring at them in amazement.

Zuko sheathed his swords. "We need to go," he said, pushing the avatar towards the door. Azula led the way.

"My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!" The avatar shouted, lunging towards the frogs in the hallway and trying to shove them in his shirt. Azula turned to Zuko, who seemed as nonplussed as she was.

"We don't have time for this," she snapped. "Let's go." The avatar continued to stuff half-thawed frogs into his shirt.

Azula shrugged at Zuko before she turned and walked down the hallway.

"Wait, my friends need to suck on those frogs!" The avatar wailed as Zuko scruffed him by the collar and carried him.

"We can get frogs for your friends later," Zuko hissed. "And be quiet!"

They met no guards as they retreated from the tower, and slipped into the sewers again with nobody spotting them. The avatar kept pace with them, and Azula was thankful that he was quiet on his feet. He even stopped yammering about frogs while they crept under the second and third wall. But the sewer eventually ends, and all they had is some rope and a slim hope of climbing out.

Azula drew her bow and took aim carefully. There was a spot on the wall where there were only a few guards, but most importantly it faces the forest, where they can hide if they were spotted. Her aim was true, just as Fat had taught her, and soon she was climbing the rope with her brother and the avatar behind her.

They almost made it.

Somewhere behind them she heard a horn blowing. Cursing, she glanced behind her just in time to see arrows whistling towards them. Most of them missed, but one severed the rope and suddenly they were falling. The avatar cushioned their landing with airbending. Zuko pulled her up.

"Stay close to me!" The avatar shouted, and he sprinted towards the gate. Azula and Zuko followed, dodging arrows as they went. They didn't get far before they were surrounded. Azula had no choice but to lash out with fire- her knives were for close quarters fighting and not ideal when defending against spears. Zuko danced around her, knocking back the spears and guarding her back.

The avatar returned, sweeping the soldiers away from them. "This way!" He shouted, turning towards the gate, but it had already closed. They were trapped. Azula and Zuko back towards the gate as more soldiers approach.

"You should go," Zuko said to the avatar. "Fly over the wall."

"That's ridiculous," Azula snapped. "Avatar, fly us out of here."

"I don't have my glider!" The avatar replied, repelling arrows with his bending.

The soldiers formed a ring around them, cutting off any escape. Their backs to the door, Zuko and Azula stood side by side with their weapons drawn. They weren't going down without a fight. The avatar somehow grabbed a spear and broke the point off. He now brandished it at the soldiers as they closed in.

As one, the soldiers launched a stream of fire. Moving in sync, Zuko and Azula stepped in front of the avatar and blocked the flames.

"Hold your fire!" The flames stopped. "The Avatar must be captured alive!"

Zhao. Azula bristled at the sight of him. He was made an admiral on Ozai's recommendation, Azula read the letter herself when they burned down a communication tower. This was her first time seeing him in person, but she's heard enough about him to know he's a power-hungry, corrupt, yes-man. A man just like her father.

He wanted the avatar alive?

Quicker than lightning, Azula pulled the Avatar in front of her, her knives digging into his throat. Zhao froze, his expression thunderous, as she held his gaze through her mask.

"What are you doing?" Zuko hissed from behind her, but he didn't move from his position guarding her back.

"Shut up," she hissed back. Nobody moved. The avatar was completely still in her grip, but she could feel his breathing quicken as Zhao stared them down. She did not relax her stance, not for a moment, because any hesitance on her part could result in Zhao calling her bluff.

"Open the gate," Zhao said at last through gritted teeth.

"Admiral, what are you doing?"

"Let them out, now!"

The gate slowly opened behind them. Azula backed the avatar out of the stronghold, never removing her eyes from Zhao, nor her knives from his throat. They weren't in the clear yet.

"Keep going," Zuko murmured from behind her. "Once we get to the crossroad we can cut through the forest."

The gates slowly closed.

Zhao watched as the avatar and his rescuers retreated down the road.

"Do you have a clear shot?" He asked, as the Yuyan archer beside him drew their bow. "Knock out the thief holding the Avatar. Then shoot the other. I'll deliver them to the Firelord along with the Avatar."

The archer set the arrow loose.

The avatar raised his hands, and a dust cloud rose around them as Zuko knelt beside Azula. Arrows flitted by, sometimes landing only feet away, but he didn't care. All he had eyes for were his sister, lying still in dirt. Her head was tilted back from the impact of the arrow. The mask was cracked down the middle.

His hands trembled as he pulled her mask off. "Azula," he whispered, shaking her by the shoulder. She's not dead, not dead. "Azula," he said louder. She doesn't move.

"You're the Blue Spirit?" The avatar asked, crouching beside him. Zuko ignored him and checked Azula for injuries. But he found nothing. She was lucky- the mask saved her. Mother saved her. She was the reason they took up the mask, afterall. He knew it would be dangerous, but they wanted to fight the corruption that killed her. And now Azula was hurt. Will they end up like Mother, cold and lifeless on the ground?

"Mr. Blue Spirit," the avatar began again, lightly touching his shoulder. "We need to go."

Zuko finally looked up. The avatar's face was close, his eyes wide and young. The airbender, last of his people, was their best chance for peace. They rescued him to spite Zhao and Ozai; but looking at him now, Zuko can't help but see him as the child he was.

There was shouting in the distance. Startled out of his thoughts, Zuko pulled Azula over his shoulder, and staggered after the avatar into the forest.