The Dragon's Pit/At death's doors
1
Nothing could have prepared Sokka for a discovery as miraculous as that of the haven the Dragon's Pit had become: faces he had assumed he'd never see again lurked at every corner, and an energy he had never acknowledged before, but that he recognized easily, thrummed in the place as he walked into the tunnels, unable to hold back his smile. Even though he had hardly processed what he'd been through, what had landed him here, his excitement to be in the island at all, to be walking side by side with Renzhi once more, kept darker thoughts at bay for now.
"We kept hearing about the crazy things you've been up to, kid!" Renzhi laughed, clapping his shoulder. "You've got a good set of balls… and a strong foot to kick the Fire Lord's in as you did, eh?"
"Uh… guess I do," Sokka smiled awkwardly. Renzhi cackled at his bashful reaction.
"Don't worry much if anyone gives you a hard time over what you've done lately," he said. "They wish they were you, kid."
"That's not as great as they might think, but thanks for the warning," Sokka said. "It's been a whirlwind for me, winding up at the head of an army, of all things…"
"You've always had it in you to shoot for the stars, feels like," Renzhi smirked. "No one's too surprised you've come this far… just jealous, like I said."
"Are you?" Sokka asked, teasingly. Renzhi laughed.
"Hell, no! I'm relieved!" he said. "The kid who never lost against me now tears the Fire Lord to pieces? Proves it wasn't my fault that I couldn't beat you! You're good enough to defeat the Fire Nation after a hundred years of war, no wonder I couldn't stop you!"
"Well… I do hope to defeat it. But… does everyone here agree with that notion?" Sokka asked, eyeing the dark tunnel warily: while most eyes gazed at him with admiration, a few seemed apprehensive.
"Bet not everyone, but most of them do anyway," Renzhi said, clapping his back. "No worries, kid. We'll sort that out if need be, but you'll be safe here."
"Me and my allies?" Sokka said, glancing over his shoulder at the Water Tribe men following them.
They appeared deeply unsettled by the Dragon's Pit so far – a natural reaction, for most the tunnels appeared to have clusters of trash and dust that gave away how little care the gladiators took with their health and general cleanliness. Most walls bore stains of what was most likely blood, but who knew if they were other kinds of excretions aside from that – the smells all across the area certainly insinuated that there might just be. Most gladiators eyed them with intimidating intent, which didn't reassure any of the newcomers: they followed Sokka as though he might be their sole ticket to getting out of here alive.
It surprised Sokka to enter the larger chamber of the internal network of tunnels to find no fights taking place within the Arena this time. But the sight of it…
A sudden rush hit his bloodstream, making him lightheaded. His hands trembled…
With excitement.
The day truly had come when the sight of a fighting ring would make the blood drum in his ears, and his lips curl into a ferocious smile.
The day truly had come when the mere chance of measuring his strength against that of others would no longer be a symbol of misery and pain… but a sign of something greater. Of the kinship he had long experienced with the Amateur League men he had to slay in battle, to whom he could only provide dignity by dealing them a death they were worthy of. But after freeing himself of the lethality of Hui Yi, he had found himself in a whole other world in the Superior League, and that kinship, if different, had still existed there…
Now, it seemed to have blown up, out of proportion, to the point where he could finally inhabit his role without uncertainties: his heart sang with a bloodlust he no longer fought against as he had tried to in the past. He had stopped being at odds with the monster within him: he had repurposed him, merged it into his very essence… and perhaps that made it feel like he had returned to something greater than himself upon setting foot inside a place as crude, as uncouth, as unrefined as the Dragon's Pit.
He stood at the top of the stairs that led down to the ring still, with Renzhi: the gladiators standing around in the ring, and the ones sitting by the stands, as if waiting for something to happen, turned quickly towards him. Several jaws dropped. Every conversation died. Sokka's eyes raked them all, knowing the numerous strangers within view might have been retired gladiators, or people who had never even fought as gladiators to begin with…
"Blue Wolf… Blue Wolf!"
A voice suddenly broke the unusual, tense silence within the Dragon's Pit: it was soon accompanied by a wave of cheers, a burst of excited cries, applause, hoots and even war cries. Eventually, a few people took to howling as if they were wolves… and all that Sokka could do was laugh, a hand on his forehead as he received a welcome that couldn't have been more distant from the one they offered him upon his very first visit to this Arena, so many years ago.
"There you go! Everyone thinks the world of you, kid!" Renzhi laughed, clapping Sokka's shoulder. He couldn't contain his smile, no matter how much disbelief he felt over the circumstances before him.
"This is unreal. The first time I set foot here nobody even cared…" Sokka laughed.
"Well, now. Last time, you were… a gladiator. Now, boy? Yer the Gladiator."
Sokka turned upon hearing those words: Gang Hong smirked at him before taking his hand and raising it in the air, startling Sokka.
The crowd went wilder still, causing Gang Hong to chuckle as he released his grip on Sokka. The Gladiator in question ran his hand over his hair, daring wave slightly, awkward and unsure of himself… but so relieved by this unexpected bastion of support that he couldn't quite shake off the thrums of energy coursing all across his body.
"We're ready to send that message, boy," Gang Hong said. "Let's get to it before we forget! We're in for a wild day, you'll see…!"
"Really?" Sokka said, blinking blankly. "I mean, wilder than it has been so far?"
"Yup!" Gang Hong grinned. "Come, come! Come to my office!"
Sokka shrugged, tailing the tall man – and his men followed them still. Renzhi stayed behind to placate the numerous riled up gladiators who appeared to want something out of Sokka's presence… something the Blue Wolf suspected he understood already. He breathed deeply as he followed Gang Hong, entering another cavernous area that hardly looked any tidier than the outside – it smelled less unpleasant than the worst of the tunnels, no matter if it stank of sweat anyway.
"Alright, write yer letter here, and we'll mail it after!" Gang Hong cleared his desk, careless about all the things he knocked down, before offering fresh parchment and an inkbrush to Sokka. He nodded.
"Thank you," he said, stepping forward and leaning over to begin composing his message.
To the Gladiator Army.
Mobilize the troops to the Black Cliffs. The waterbenders saved most of our crew when we shipwrecked. We've found refuge in the Dragon's Pit: all the missing gladiators are here. They've been here all along. I don't know how many will join our cause, but I'll try to recruit some, if they're willing. If they have any available ships here, too, we might just be able to sail into the Fire Nation's waters with new, unexpected reinforcements.
I acknowledge this situation came from a severe blunder and error of judgment on my part. I intend to be more careful in the future. That being said, our plans remain on course. Our forces cannot falter now. Not when we're at the final stretch of our war against the Fire Lord.
Make haste. I will attempt to prepare the plans for our invasion as soon as possible.
General Sokka
The Blue Wolf
He didn't know why he had signed with his gladiatorial name, but it felt right at that moment. He breathed out and nodded, letting the letter dry out as he pondered his own words: he didn't have much time to think deeper over what had happened at sea, over that wall of fire that had rejected him as fiercely as it had. Nothing, however, registered as clearly in his mind in that field of flames as that blue flash.
Nobody else could do that. Nobody but…
He stepped on his own foot, digging his boot's heel hard enough to make himself stop thinking. No. Not right now. He could ponder it later. He could beat himself up for it later. He had an alliance to secure first.
"Done," he announced to Gang Hong, unnecessarily, for the man could tell he was finished.
He led Sokka to another room now, this time one far more spacious and with a bit more natural light drifting through a window: around four or five messenger hawks nested within that hole.
"They better send it back, eh?" Gang Hong said, startling Sokka as the man picked out one hawk. "These birds fly off and forget to come back! The little shits…"
"Heh. Guess they're not too trained," Sokka said. Gang Hong scoffed, tucking the message into the canister.
"Maybe they're not trained at all. Better hope the message gets there alright!" Gang Hong beamed, before casting out the bird out the window. "Ah, wait! Where's it going, now, boy?"
"Hey…! To the Slate!" Sokka exclaimed, grimacing as the bird flopped in the air awkwardly. "Go to… the Slate! Is it trained enough to actually understand what I'm…?"
Gang Hong shrugged, and the bird took off anyway. Sokka grimaced, hoping deeply that someone would show up eventually, even if the bird lost its way and carried his message to the wrong island, perhaps…
"Now the real fun begins!" Gang Hong grinned. Sokka raised an eyebrow.
"I figured you'd want me to fight, but…" he said. "Well, I want to have a few things taken care of first. My allies, they need food, a place to rest. What happened was…"
"Yeah, San told us," Gang Hong said. "Big crazy naval battle you were caught in. Though, it was you against three Fire Nation ships? I'd have betted on you! Haha!"
"You would've lost all your money if you had, but sure," Sokka smiled awkwardly.
"Some big wall of fire screwed ya' over, did it?" Gang Hong asked. Sokka nodded.
"I overstepped myself. Overestimated myself, maybe, or underestimated them… whatever the case may be, I messed up. So… yeah. I need to do better next time," Sokka said, mournfully. "It's not that I regret winding up here, it's good that I did, provided you guys will help us, but…"
"Well, some wanna go right away, but some might need… convincing," Gang Hong smirked. Sokka crooked an eyebrow.
"Okay?" he said, blinking blankly. "And I'm supposed to convince them by beating them up?"
"You know it!"
"Things make just as much sense here as they ever have, huh?" Sokka smiled.
"Sure! Life would make more sense if we came to blows and sorted things out that way more often, boy!" Gang Hong beamed.
"Uh, yeah. That's some philosophy, I'll give you that," Sokka smirked.
"Come, come! 'Sides, it ain't just about yer troops and whether we wanna bolster them, boy…" Gang Hong said, clapping his back. "More like… yer the Gladiator now, ain't ya'?"
"That's how people took to calling me, but… I suppose you guys aren't very fond of that, are you?" Sokka smiled awkwardly. Gang Hong snickered.
"Y'know how it is around here. Everyone wants to prove they've got what it takes!" Gang Hong said. "And yer either the big bad wolf they want to skin, or the great leader they'd grovel for… so fight and show 'em which one yer gonna be!"
Sokka swallowed hard as he followed Gang Hong outside again: how many people would he have to fight? The rite of passage, if he should think of it as such, came as no surprise. But he hardly felt like fighting anyone right now, he should be resting, he should be…
That burst of blue fire amid the orange.
Sokka gritted his teeth.
Maybe a fight was exactly what he needed right now, come to think of it.
"Yer gonna have a whole crowd to win over, boy!" Gang Hong announced to him, leading him towards the sand pit.
Cheers followed him again as he progressed, and a few other gladiators he recognized from events from long ago waved at him – though not the Ruthless Hero, who instead, grimaced and shrank away from Sokka's gaze when it passed near him. Sokka nodded in response to their greetings, marching forth to where Gang Hong would lead him…
Not expecting, of course, for Gang Hong himself to step into the ring. Even if he had seen him do it before.
"You're… joining in?" Sokka asked, with an awkward smile.
"Afraid I'd beat ya if I do?" Gang Hong teased him. Sokka scowled. "See now, Blue Wolf… yer standing before the man who, uh, was the leader of the Black Cliffs' gladiators so far. Me!"
"Right," Sokka said.
"This place belongs to me, now, don't it? That means… I'm kind of the boss," Gang Hong said. "And that means… if you wanna call yerself the Gladiator and take that title, mighty fine, but you gotta beat me to prove it!"
"Because you're… what, the unofficial king of gladiators?" Sokka asked, with a slight smirk. "Huh. I guess I get it now."
"Do you, now?" Gang Hong smirked. "Then…"
He turned towards the crowd, urging them to call in all the gladiators, every able-bodied fighter in the island – which Sokka guessed was basically everyone. Sokka gritted his teeth, guessing his showdown with the somewhat-king of gladiators would not be smooth sailing all along… things might just devolve into another all-out brawl regardless of who won, but hopefully, Sokka might defeat the man before it came to that.
"Are we supposed to join you too?" Panuk asked Sokka, startling him. Sokka turned quickly towards them, shaking his head.
"No, you… this is probably a gladiator thing only," he said. "Don't worry, just… find a safe spot. If you can. Otherwise, hide in a tunnel until it's over. Would be safer for you guys that way."
"This is unnerving," said one of the sailors, eyeing the place with distaste. "How do people stand to live underground? I'd have left a long time ago. It's so filthy, so dark…"
"I guess they get used to it after a while. Even if it's stuck underground and bereft of sunlight, this place still offers greater freedom than most of the Fire Nation does," Sokka said. The sailor grimaced. "I know this is weird, but… I might be able to reach an understanding with these people. And if we can recruit some of them, well… our forces will be even more dauting for Ozai than they already are."
"That's possible, but…" Panuk said, uneasy… until his eyes were claimed by something else. "What? W-what…?"
Sokka frowned. He turned, unsure of what had caused Panuk to lose track of his own thoughts…
A dark-skinned woman, with blue eyes, stood behind Sokka, with an apprehensive expression across her features.
Sokka froze, recognizing her just as quickly as with the other gladiators he had met… most of all, those he had fought once before. This girl was no different.
What came as a surprise, although it shouldn't have been, was the reaction by his Water Tribe companions:
"Sedna?!" Panuk exclaimed: multiple gasps shook the group, and the woman grimaced, cheeks flushing slightly.
"I… hi. Yes. It's me and I…" she said, uneasy as she glanced at Sokka. "Hello to you too. I… I guess you might not want to see me at all, but…"
"The Mist," Sokka said. The woman nodded slowly. "You… you wound up here too?"
"My sponsor thought he could continue activities in Whaletail Island carelessly because he was independent from the League… the consequences reached him before long," Sedna said. Sokka scowled. "He's alive, just… imprisoned for disloyalty against the Fire Lord. A-anyway… I, uh, wanted to talk to you as soon as I heard you were here, but I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me, but if there's going to be a big fight, then I wanted to say I'm on your side and… uh… I just didn't expect them."
She pointed at the northerners, a grimace still across her face. Sokka smiled awkwardly as Panuk stepped forward, poking her shoulder with a finger.
"Y-you're not a mirage. It's really you! I… I thought you'd have gone off to live at the bottom of the ocean or so!" Panuk exclaimed. "The way you left…!"
"I know, I know. It was a little chaotic," Sedna acknowledged. "I made my life and fortune here, though. I know Master Pakku thought I could never amount to anything as a fighter, but… well, good thing he's not with you or else he would've already tried to strangle me for leaving the tribe over his bullshit, I guess."
"Uh, he's not here now, but… he did come south with us," Panuk said. Sedna tensed up.
"He won't give you any grief," Sokka said, reassuringly. Sedna glanced at him in uncertainty. "If he's part of the Gladiator Army, it means I outrank him. My sister's part of it too, he's had no choice but to accept her as a fighter… so he'll have to accept you as well, if you meant to join for good."
"I did!" Sedna said, with a slow grin. "I… I want to fight. I've always wanted to. This is the right that was denied to me years and years ago back home… and if I get to fight against the Fire Lord, alongside your army? I… I'll finally prove just how worthy of training I always was."
"I'd say you already have," Sokka smiled a little. "You might have expected me to still be upset, but… I have far more things that weigh on me as of late than your gladiator persona ever did. If that reassures you at all."
"Guess it might," Sedna smiled too.
"Hey, hey! Already recruited one, did ya?" Gang Hong exclaimed, and Sokka winced.
"Uh, well, she'll be free to join me even if you beat me, right?" Sokka asked, with an awkward smile.
"Pfft. She's free to do whatever she wants, but she can fight alongside you now too, just as the ones who will fight alongside me!" Gang Hong said. Sokka's eyes widened.
"Then… you don't mean to make this an honor duel? One against one?"
"Why would I? It's everyone against everyone! That's how the Dragon's Pit works, boy! You knew that already!"
Sokka's jaw dropped. He did know that… he simply hadn't expected that odd rule – if it could be called one – to apply to his situation.
"Wait, but then I have to…" he said, stepping back: he needed to recruit people to his side. How much time would Gang Hong give him to do that? "Okay. Okay. I guess… you'll have to give me a moment to figure out who wants to join me."
"Pfft! You've got it easy, boy!" Gang Hong laughed, waving a hand dismissively in his direction. Sokka raised his eyebrows. "I'm the one who's got an uphill battle here! Who's with me?!"
He called that out to the crowd, only for a handful of people to hoot and cheer. Even less than that jumped into the Arena with Gang Hong, somber scowls upon their faces – Sokka frowned: political opinions weren't unanimous in the Dragon's Pit, it appeared. The men standing behind Gang Hong were, most likely, Fire Nation loyalists.
"And… who's with me?" Sokka asked, turning towards the crowd with an uncertain smile.
A thunderous roar rose within the stands around the Dragon's Pit: willing and able fighters raced down into the ring, and Sokka couldn't help but laugh as they rallied around him. Some of his supporters, however, weren't strangers or former rivals in the League for Sokka…
"Sokka! Sokka! It's really you! You came back!"
It took him a moment to place the voice: he turned towards it just in time for a teenager to jump into his arms, hugging him tightly. Sokka gasped, eyes rising towards the people the teen had arrived with…
"You look way better when you're not dressed as a Fire Nation soldier!"
Shinya's wild grin brought a relieved smile to Sokka's face: the leader of the gladiators he had broken out of the Amateur League in the town of Fazhan.
The one hugging him was Yunru: he was easier to recognize after he raised his head, smiling brightly too. He had grown taller, and he had changed his outgrown hair into a ponytail, much tidier than before.
"You guys were still here… all of you?" Sokka asked.
"Yup!" Yunru said, as Shinya stepped closer, clapping Sokka's shoulder.
"We thought about going back, when we heard you were retaking the Earth Kingdom!" Shinya said. "But we figured it was better to wait until you were finished with the whole thing. And now… we could even help you do that! I don't know about the others, but I like that idea!"
"Oh, please. Of course we all like that idea," Yukio, the most aggressive member of their group, stepped up next: he had built a lot more muscle over the past years, and there was a brightness in his eyes that had been absent when Sokka had met him. "Been looking forward to this. To doing my part in taking down the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord!"
"Welcome back!" Geming, tall and fully healed, smiled and waved at Sokka. "We'll be proud to fight by your side!"
"Look at that! Even the topsiders joined ya'! What chance do I have?!" Gang Hong laughed: the former gladiators from Fazhan smiled awkwardly at his assessment. Only Yukio would regularly fight in the ring, while the others often remained on the Black Cliffs' surface instead of underground.
"And it's not just them!"
The same voice that called Sokka's attention earlier echoed in the ring: the group from Fazhan stepped aside almost reverently as the chaotic San, still flanked by the Light Bearer and the Dark Rook, smirked at Sokka.
"For a guy as forgettable as you, you sure are hellbent on making sure you can't be forgotten anymore," she said. Sokka smiled.
"Heh. So you know who I am this time around," he said. San nodded.
"Seems to me that everyone does," she said. The Light Bearer smiled, stepping forward.
"If you're going to fight the Fire Lord… we'll be honored to stand at your side," he said. "And if you need our support now, against Gang Hong… you have it. Entirely."
"Seconded," the Dark Rook smiled, bowing his head towards him. "It's an honor to fight alongside the strongest non-bender in the Superior League…"
"Strongest, period, apparently," San groaned, shaking her head. "Killed even Combustion Man… you know, you've got to explain how you did that! You do! Tell you what: I'll join your team if you promise you'll tell us how that went down later, okay?"
"Uh… it's not a glamorous story by any means. It's a damn miracle I lived past that at all," Sokka said, with a dry grin. San scoffed.
"Makes it a better story then," she said. "Promise?"
"Fine, fine. Just make sure not to tunnel-vision on Gang Hong and get beaten up by him like the first time I came here, okay?" he said. San grimaced.
"I'll… try," she said, slightly flustered.
"Looks like you've got a team already… and I'd be glad to join it too, though I'll have to fetch some water first," the Mist said. Sokka nodded.
"Go. You're welcome to join us too," he said. She smiled proudly and nodded.
"I'll make up for how I wronged you this time. I promise," she said, before sprinting off to get her water supplies.
The spot she vacated near Sokka was soon taken up by other gladiators who sought to join his side: he agreed and accepted plenty of them, just as others chose to join Gang Hong, perhaps simply for the thrill of fighting someone of Sokka's renown, perhaps out of ideological beliefs, perhaps out of pity towards the owner of the Dragon's Pit, for he'd be an unquestionable underdog otherwise. Sokka kept assessing his foes just as he did his allies, and he had been studying one of Gang Hong's burlier recruits when another voice, raspy and aggressive, called for him.
"Hey! Blue Wolf!"
He turned… to find himself facing someone he hadn't crossed paths with in far more years than he cared to count anymore.
Her cheeks bore the same red square stripes as before. Her bushy hair fell over her large eyes still. And she seemed to be as mad at him today as she had been back when he had refused to fight her, halfway through an official combat, just because she was a girl.
The Red-Striped Hornet.
"You…" Sokka gasped. The Red-Striped Hornet scoffed at him.
"I don't like you! I want to make that clear!" she shouted. Sokka grimaced and nodded. "But… if you're really going to tear the Fire Lord a new one, I've got to join you. And I hate that it's you! But…!"
"Look… it won't mean a thing right now, not after all these years, but I am sorry," Sokka said. The Red-Striped Hornet scoffed at him. "I am! I got my ass handed to me multiple times by girls even when I was fighting at my best, and if something's going to cure any stupid thoughts about that topic, it sure would be that. So… I'm sorry. Having you on my team will be great."
"It better be," the Red-Striped Hornet scowled. "Because even if you somehow managed to get me to meet Sneers, because he said it was thanks to you, that doesn't change that…"
"Wait… right! Hell, I forgot but… you were part of Jet's old gang!" Sokka exclaimed.
The Red-Striped Hornet's disposition changed immediately. Her eyes widened even more than before, and she froze in the middle of her tirade.
"Sneers told you… about Jet?" she asked.
"Uh… no. Jet told me about Jet," Sokka said, with an earnest smile: the girl before him gasped.
"You're… not joking? You'd better not be joking because if you are…!"
"He's on his way here! Or will be, anyway, once my letter reaches the rest of my army!" Sokka said, with a placating tone, hands stretched out in her direction: the Red-Striped Hornet gasped, gripping her messy hair as she failed to process the shock of so many good news, for once. "He's been working with me on this crazy journey since… well, since we took Omashu, actually, so pretty much the beginning of the whole campaign. And there's another guy with him, Longshot, he was also…"
"He's with… Jet? He's still with Jet?!" the girl exclaimed: tears blinked in her eyes now. "You're NOT shitting me, are you?!"
"I said I wasn't," Sokka smiled sadly. "Would I even know their names otherwise? I haven't seen Sneers in forever, I would've forgotten about them if I hadn't talked to those two recently…"
The Red-Striped Hornet squealed, bursting with excitement. Sokka sighed, slightly relieved to have soothed her before matters took a potentially dangerous turn – he wasn't about to underestimate the girl after having slighted her quite so badly on their very first encounter.
"Jet… and Longshot. Longshot…!" The Red-Striped Hornet smiled, before shooting a glare at Sokka. "I… still don't like you. Well. Maybe I like you a little more. But… I'm fighting on your side. For now anyway. S-say… they're coming here? You're sure?"
"I've called for them. They will be here soon," Sokka reassured her. The Red-Striped Hornet smiled warmly.
"Good… good. W-well… I'll get ready. S-say… you suck, but thank you," she grinned brightly before stepping towards the other members of Sokka's team. He only smiled awkwardly at her final statement, shaking his head as he accepted that her resentment would not dwindle anytime soon.
"Patching things up with your detractors, I see," Renzhi said, smirking as he stepped up to Sokka too. Sokka smiled.
"At least with her. Other people might not be down for that. Not that I care to patch things up with the likes of that one anyhow," Sokka said, pointing at the Ruthless Hero: the firebender, predictably, had taken a stand with Gang Hong and he kept eyeing Sokka both resentfully and fearfully.
"Eh, he's a small fry, you've got nothing to worry about," Renzhi smirked.
"I've never worried about him, frankly," Sokka smiled a little. "How about you, though? Going for another round against me, or…?"
"Pfft. You'd like the satisfaction of beating me again? Haven't had enough of it yet?" Renzhi asked. Sokka grimaced and shook his head, rejecting the notion outright. "Good. 'Cuz I'm joining you."
"Wait… me?!" Sokka's eyes widened. "Uh… I don't know how strong Gang Hong may be. But if you're on my side…"
"Feels unfair, does it?" Renzhi asked, with a cackle. "Who cares! He gets to tear apart the enemy team sometimes, and sometimes he's the one who gets dumped on! That's how it works here in the Dragon's Pit!"
"Sounds like you've made yourself at home here," Sokka remarked. Renzhi shrugged.
"Eh, you could say that. Haven't really had a home for, well… most my life," Renzhi admitted. "Aonu tried to change that… but it never really did for me. Guess it was different for you."
Sokka gritted his teeth. Again, the last thing he wanted to do was think about Azula, and for different reasons from the ones that had held him off from doing it across the past year.
"What happened to him? Did he take it well when you chose to come here?" Sokka asked. Renzhi shrugged.
"Beats me," he said. "Might be he didn't, and he just reacted after I was gone. But he knew I wouldn't stay and let his brother use me as means to torment him… and I had no purpose there no more. Figured I'd help Aonu more by walking away than by sticking around for nothing. But then I hear he's… joined the Fire Lord's gang, somehow. So, I suppose he's doing just fine without me."
He said the words with no shortage of resentment. Sokka frowned upon hearing them, too.
"How?" he asked. "I thought… isn't he an illegitimate child? An earthbender?"
"Still made his way up the ranks and got acknowledged like he wanted to be," Renzhi shrugged. "He's the Fire Lord's War Minister now, no less."
Sokka flinched: Aonu, the War Minister in Qin's place?
It was his fault, in a sense, that Aonu would have wound up taking that kind of role. But… why him? How come would Ozai have a man of Earth Kingdom heritage working with him? Was it a political move, a way to prove himself open and willing to work with foreigners? Or was there more to it than that?
Azula came to mind again. He ground his teeth and dismissed the thought, unwilling to examine it any more than the others she had elicited in his head after the shipwreck.
"Well… I'm sorry," Sokka said, gritting his teeth. "I'm afraid I'm partly responsible for that. I… captured War Minister Qin. Guess Aonu wouldn't be in cahoots with the Fire Lord if I hadn't done that."
"Oh, pfft. Don't you go apologizing for being better at war than the Fire Lord, kid!" Renzhi said, bumping him lightly with his shoulder. Sokka smiled awkwardly. "Aonu's made his choice, and I'm making mine by standing with you. If he's gonna pick the Fire Lord? I get to pick… the Gladiator."
Sokka's chest burned: the title felt even more wrong when uttered by someone who had far outranked him once, second only to Combustion Man himself… but Renzhi was as genuine as could be upon saying it. He was on his side. He would follow Sokka's lead.
"Oi, now, a scary alliance there, ain't it?" Gang Hong laughed at the sight of Renzhi and Sokka, side by side. "Number two and three are on yer side, Blue Wolf! Don't seem too fair…"
"Doesn't sound like fairness has ever been on the menu in this place," Sokka shrugged. Gang Hong laughed.
"Already learned the way of things, did ya?" Gang Hong said. "Fine, then, fine! Got all your team rallied up and ready?"
Sokka glanced behind himself: a lot of people he hadn't even been able to talk to so far stood on his side. His allies from Fazhan, as good as every gladiator he had spoken to… everyone stood with him, even the Mist, fully ready with her filled waterskins.
It wasn't the Gladiator Army he was used to… instead, it was one that actually suited that name far more than the one he had been fighting alongside with, so far. He smiled at that thought, letting fire course through his very veins as the need for battle took hold… as he let himself succumb to the dark urges that had once terrified him.
Now, he let himself truly feel everything he had been containing so far. The frustration, the agony, the rage, the betrayal… all of it rushed through his body, painfully reminding him of what he had just experienced, and who was responsible for the suffering he and the men under his command had experienced.
Years had gone by since he had jumped into a Gladiator Arena by inspiring himself in dark emotions elicited by Azula… by the woman he loved. Once, he had despised her. Now, his heart yearned for her just as he longed to scream and shout for what she had done. The contradiction carried on tormenting him… and he meant to unleash all of it now, as he joined battle with the reckless gladiators who opposed and supported him.
"I think we're ready to start," Sokka said. Gang Hong smirked.
"May the real king of gladiators win!" he exclaimed. Sokka scoffed.
"Being a gladiator is better than being a king," the Blue Wolf declared: a hoot of admiration arose around him, prompting Gang Hong to laugh as Sokka brandished his weapons. Gang Hong, instead, merely raised his fists.
"If ya' say so, boy! May the best gladiator win!"
Rage and righteousness burned as one and the same: black sword in hand, eyes blazing with intent, Sokka raised his weapons, and he led the way towards his foes. A roar met him ahead… just as a louder one echoed behind him, accompanying as he swung his blade with critical precision… cutting off half of Gang Hong's mustache and beard.
A gasp burst in the Arena as the grand leader of the rogue gladiator faction stumbled back. The sword hadn't cut through him deeply, but a trail of blood certainly spilled from where the sharp edge had reached him.
That, of course, was of no offense compared to the loss of his facial hair.
"Hey, now! That's just rude!" one of Gang Hong's allies exclaimed… only to scream a second later when the Blue Wolf's club swung in his direction next, almost striking him under the chin.
It wasn't only Sokka before long: fire blasts from the Priestess of Flames caught the hair and clothes of her opponents, just as the Light Bearer blinded others with quick flashes of his flames. The Dark Rook struck one with his staff first, then with his shield. The Mist spread her water in gas form, scattering it around the opponents before turning it into the frigid mist that was the source of her gladiatorial persona. The raging Red-Striped Hornet jumped, winding up climbing an enemy's body, thighs tight around his head before pummeling him into submission.
Little by little, all gladiators on Sokka's side joined the battle, rushing as a tide against Gang Hong's group. There were enough of them to fully corner Gang Hong's team, who, undeniably, fought valiantly too – the fierceness in some of them suggested that they wouldn't mind a fight to the death right then and there. But as blows were exchanged, as weapons clashed and elements collided, the chaos in the Dragon's Pit finally suited Sokka perfectly.
No one was fighting as he was: he truly appeared to be a storm, seemingly restraining his most deadly tendencies only by the breadth of a hair. He broke the nose of one particularly insidious foe who appeared to wish to deal damage against him by any means necessary, even after both his nostrils were bleeding. He cut and dented the armor of the non-benders fighting against him… and yet again, he sliced the Ruthless Hero's knuckles clean, rendering them useless for him. When an earthbender attacked, his footing shifted in such a way that he never seemed to predict where Sokka was going. When a firebender tried to burn him, his body always found ways to slip out of danger, and his boomerang would find its mark by spinning through the fire and knocking out the opponent without fail.
Nobody reached him. No one who tried could lay a single finger on him. The one time a hand gripped his calf, it was that of a fighter he had already beaten moments ago: he shook his hold off, and he returned to business immediately once more.
"Join forces!" roared one of his foes. "Get him! They're nothing without him!"
It was most certainly a lie – the rest of the team with Sokka would continue to fight if he fell, he had no doubts about that. Their vicious foes, however, appeared utterly convinced that Sokka could be stopped through sheer violence: blocks of earth flew in his direction, fire burning around them, powering them to go faster, further, aimed at the ready Gladiator…
The flame-coated fist that destroyed the small meteor belonged to the Millennium Dragon.
The group attempting to attack Sokka winced, stepping back as soon as Renzhi took active part in the battle. He smirked, nudging Sokka lightly with his elbow.
"Can you believe those guys? Thinking we'd just crumble if they got you. Like we'd let them get you to begin with," he said. Sokka smirked back.
"Thanks," he said: when he clenched his weapons, the foes standing across him and Renzhi seemed moments away from passing out over panic alone.
Some outright managed to run out of the Arena, as though they were being hunted by a demon: perhaps that was what Sokka looked like, blue eyes blazing with rage as he delivered blow after blow, sometimes with his blade, sometimes with its hilt, sometimes with his boomerang, sometimes with his club. He was a whirlwind, steel hacking across anything that dared stand in his way.
Members of his group slowed to watch. They stood aside, letting him finish fights for them. They worked with him, as Renzhi had, whenever Gang Hong's team sought to overwhelm him.
An hour later, only the man himself, lip still bleeding, stood his ground among his supporters. Most the others had collapsed, several with important wounds. The Blue Wolf's supporters weren't unharmed, either, though most of them were in better shape than their rivals…
Not a single attack had reached Sokka.
He had certainly sweated, and his chest heaved as he stared down Gang Hong, sword in hand. Exhaustion, however, was nothing compared with what his foes had faced at his hands.
"Well. Want to make it a fair fight?" Sokka asked Gang Hong. The man laughed.
"That's mighty nice of ya', asking that question… why?" he said.
"Because I'd be disappointed otherwise," Sokka said, plainly. Gang Hong cackled again.
"You and me alone, then?" he asked.
"Hand-to-hand, only."
Gang Hong laughed again: the Blue Wolf, no doubt, had to be truly confident to take on a man as tall and thick as Gang Hong in a direct fight. The larger gladiator cracked his knuckles as everyone else stepped back, giving them room to fight each other. No one asked Sokka if he was sure of this: no one had to. Gladiators didn't need to second-guess each other.
Sokka sheathed his weapons: a moment later, Gang Hong launched himself forward as a cannonball might. He was fast… but Sokka was faster.
The Blue Wolf jumped, his thighs primed to let him soar over the man who threw a fist right where Sokka's head had been, moments ago. The Blue Wolf, launching himself with a foot that landed on his foe's back, pivoted in the air to land once more on the Arena, on all fours.
It wound up being a clever choice, for that enabled him to roll on the ground when Gang Hong threw himself towards him, slamming a large, heavy arm on the spot Sokka had been on moments ago. His spotless appearance would certainly stop being quite so pristine soon if any of Gang Hong's limbs connected any blows against him. Sokka kept dashing into range only to drift back out quickly, as good as measuring Gang Hong's abilities and potential by taunting him. The Arena's leader humored him, unashamed of his strength, unrestrained in his displays of power: he roared proudly, throwing out a kick: this time, Sokka raised his arm and blocked the enemy's foot with his forearm guard. The impact was as heavy as he anticipated, but he didn't take severe damage, nonetheless.
Gang Hong didn't have time to draw his leg back before Sokka clasped it, pulling him abruptly towards himself.
His forehead crashed painfully against the taller man's nose, and he screamed as he sprayed everything near him with blood.
A collective gasp rocked the Arena… then, a few claps and stray cries of support. Sokka wobbled slightly, the impact far more violent than what he was used to…
But he smiled.
His body thrummed, a fire blazing across it as he gave in to the wild impulses, the inexplicable, unexpected enjoyment he had discovered in the clashes between gladiators.
Somehow, standing in this ring, in the sand, watched by hundreds of people ready to tear him apart if he gave them the chance, made his heart beat faster, the blood rushing to his head. This voracious impulse, this blinding need for victory…
It was his greatest asset and strength.
It was what would allow him to claim triumph, regardless of his mistakes, against the Fire Lord.
Not even Azula would stop him.
Gang Hong shoved himself back upright, shaking his head, spraying blood everywhere… and yet, ready to keep fighting.
Sokka dashed fast towards him, eyes blazing with need, with instinct, with the certainty of a man who had finally come into his own… a man ready to redefine the meaning of his role upon his world.
He was the Gladiator.
One jump into the air, one powerful punch.
Gang Hong threw one of his own, and it reached Sokka in his armored chest.
Sokka's impacted the man's jaw, and he crumbled in the sand, rolling back heavily before slumping, unconscious, before an astounded, suddenly silent Arena.
Sokka landed heavily, knees slightly bent, chest heaving: a power he had as good as ignored, denied, rejected for a long time was singing in his very soul. A smile spread across his face: the time to concern himself with caring for his wounded foes would come later.
He threw a fist into the air, and the entire Arena burst with loud roars of support for him.
He wasn't the man he had been, the last time he had stood in an Arena that offered him a standing ovation. This time, his hand did not rise to reach for the woman whose own had granted him a thousand opportunities he would have never obtained, otherwise. This time, he was fighting alone… for himself, by himself.
And he had succeeded.
His fierce fury had found an outlet, and it would continue to do so: his latest failures, the many low blows he had been dealt, could not stop him from achieving his ultimate goal. His victory now proved it… as did the voices of the crowd, comprised by his equals, his brothers, his sisters… all those who were bound together by the very condition they chanted as a war cry now:
"GLADIATOR! GLADIATOR! GLADIATOR! GLADIATOR!"
Gang Hong was being nursed to health: the man laughed off his defeat, claiming the Blue Wolf's crowning ceremony would come soon after everyone was patched up after that terribly one-sided clash. The Gladiator himself, of course, was intact.
The ones who had fled had watched the fight from the tunnels on higher levels of the caverns, which allowed them to peek into the fighting ring: for once, the wretches who had escaped Fazhan's Arena had chosen to join the fray, fighting or just cheering on the Gladiator as he became as good as a beast on a battlefield, an unstoppable force crashing against every obstacle in his way, tearing them to shreds without fail. The escapees watched in shock and anguish… before making their way to the very same cavern from where the Gladiator had sent a message earlier. The quick message they scribbled would suffice to alert their superiors of what was happening.
The messenger hawk took flight, its direction opposite to that of the hawk that had flown earlier: it soared past the Great Gates of Azulon, shooting fast and urgently across the inner waters of the Fire Nation, past the bay, into the Capital, towards its largest building.
General Shaofeng's head snapped upwards as soon as he heard the bird landing on his window.
Blue Wolf in the Black Cliffs. Usurped Gang Hong. Gladiators joined him. Rest of his army arrives soon. Jumping ship now, rejoining the rest in the bay.
"This came from… your men?" Ozai asked, holding the message after reading it. Shaofeng nodded.
"Infiltrates I've kept in the Dragon's Pit since the wretched place became the den it has been," Shaofeng explained. Both Azula and Aonu frowned upon hearing those words.
"The Dragon's Pit?" Aonu repeated. "What is…? What's going on with the Dragon's Pit?"
"I nearly forgot you were a sponsor yourself…" Ozai said, sighing and setting down the message. "I'm afraid I was correct after all, Azula. You cannot stomp a roach as resilient as that one out of existence."
She flinched upon hearing those words. Her body trembled at the certainty, the irritability, with which Ozai had made that statement.
She didn't care to mind how her reaction would come off when she reached for the message, reading it herself. Shaofeng shot her a harsh glare that she ignored willfully…
A gasp left her lips.
He was alive.
Sokka was…
Of course. The Black Cliffs were within reach of the Great Gates of Azulon. Of course, he could make it there safely, and…
And she had damn near killed him, anyhow.
The relief she felt to confirm his survival could not hope to undo the guilt that caused her to set down the message anew, her jaw set, teeth clenched as though something twisted inside her stomach was only cramping up further.
"And now… we need to account for more foes than before," Ozai said, as Aonu took the message himself. He gasped in astonishment. "Ask your allies what kinds of forces the Gladiator might recruit there, if you would, Shaofeng. I understand, yes, that they're gladiators… but that's a broad enough term. We could be speaking of seasoned warriors just as we could be referring to inexperienced fools who trip on their own feet upon marching to battle."
"As far as I understand, the Dragon's Pit is quite stacked with dangerous gladiators at the moment," Shaofeng said. Aonu eyed him warily. "I can ask for specific names, should they mean anything to… either of them, I suppose. I doubt you'd know many gladiatorial fighters yourself, my Lord…"
"As far as gladiators are concerned, I would most likely only recognize two by name, and one of them perished when the other burned down the Grand Royal Dome," Ozai hissed, scowling.
"This isn't good," Aonu said, a hand over his mouth. "Even if the best gladiators weren't there, that's a bastion of fighters and reinforcements that should have never been within the enemy's reach. Why… why are they even there? The League was decommissioned long ago, how were they allowed to…?"
"It obeys the same principle of why crime dens exist," Ozai admitted, lowering his gaze. "Highly qualified, powerful fighters, many of whom had reasons to begrudge the Fire Nation, represent as much of a threat to our society as general crime does. The intent was… to keep them contained someplace. To channel their inherent violence and chaos into something that could be kept contained. The island itself has very little contact with the outside world… it seemed a reasonable choice, once. Now, when as good as every surviving gladiator from the past eleven years could have gathered there… did you not know of this, Shaofeng?"
"I had notions of them flocking towards the island, but it began happening well before the war escalated. I didn't think… that it would ever connect," Shaofeng stated. "This is no long-term plan by the Gladiator: he's simply taking advantage of something that… fell smoothly into his lap."
"Curse his luck, if you're correct," Ozai sighed, shaking his head.
He raised his gaze towards his daughter. Azula appeared speechless now, standing where she did, unable and unwilling, it seemed, to meet anyone's eyes. Ozai breathed in.
"The source said… we might have a few days before the enemy gathers at the Black Cliffs," Ozai spoke. The tone of his voice alerted Azula that his words concerned her, directly. She forced herself to focus. "While I would rather spend every waking moment planning for what to do, especially if we have an even more worrisome hazard lurking in the horizon, we've established that you're in no shape for such conversations right now, Azula."
"I…" Azula said, swallowing hard.
She should have lied and pretended otherwise. Then, she would lead them astray. She could cause the Fire Nation to lose the war through terrible advice, given at a moment when her mind was clouded with guilt, grief, sorrow, madness…
She couldn't condemn her people that way. She couldn't fail her father, not even now.
"I'm sorry," Azula said, gritting her teeth. "I know this isn't… it isn't the time to falter. But I'm not sure that I can think clearly right now. Any advice I might hope to give is… is bound to be questionable."
"Is that so?" Shaofeng said: his voice gave away that he found her advice questionable in all circumstances, instead.
"I understand."
Shaofeng frowned and scoffed at Ozai. The Fire Lord met his daughter's troubled eyes… and he nodded in her direction.
"It has been a trying journey for you. You just won a naval fight only for this to be the outcome, after attaining the only victory the Fire Nation has found ever since the war reignited as it did. I'll expect you back here tomorrow."
"What?!" Shaofeng exclaimed. "You can't afford to…!"
"I will not hear otherwise," Ozai hissed. Shaofeng froze. "Time might give her clarity. Perhaps she will know how, exactly, to counter his forces if she has that chance. I, too, shall think on how to best counter the Gladiator's troops, just as you should, General. We will be ready when the time comes: Azula will have until tomorrow at noon to collect herself. She will return here by then."
He met her gaze with confidence that she could not share… even so, her eyes gleamed with gratitude that she hadn't offered her father in a long time.
He didn't understand, still, that her heart was not in fighting this war. That her core motivations to fight alongside him were to protect those he kept as hostages, which, as far as she could tell, was the entire Fire Nation. If she were free to choose sides… she would have chosen Sokka's. She knew it was the right side. She might just have helped him restrain the most destructive members of his troops, holding them back from massacring the Fire Nation soldiers or civilians if they hoped to do so…
But what point was there in imagining possibilities and outcomes that were completely beyond her reach? What purpose would it serve to dream of a world where they had never been torn apart… when in this world, where they had been, she had endangered him as much as she had? When she had come as close to killing him as Combustion Man had, with an explosion that had gone out of hand, just as well?
He had rushed towards her ship. He had recognized it, curses, of course he had…
He had called her name.
And she had answered his voice with fire.
The kind-hearted, tender, openly affectionate man she had treasured so deeply was no fool. He wasn't reckless or wishful enough to deceive himself through emotion alone, not when he faced something as harrowing as nearly dying by the hand of the woman who had sworn, not so long ago, to protect and fight for him for the rest of her days. He knew it had been her… and the consequences would reach her in a few days. Once his army joined him in the Black Cliffs.
She trembled, nodding at Ozai. He nodded back at her.
"I… thank you. Tomorrow. By noon," she confirmed. Ozai nodded.
"Rest. Recover from your journey," he said. "You're dismissed."
The words were meant for her alone, though it looked like Aonu would have gladly taken off too. Even so, he stayed, begrudgingly eyeing Shaofeng with distrust. Azula turned on her heels, unable to so much as meet her friend's gaze as she stepped across the office's threshold.
She didn't falter there. No, the guards were nearby, they'd see her. She marched onwards, ambling awkwardly, failing to so much as resonate to ensure that the wretched assassin wasn't following her. Xin Long's hopeless voice echoed in her mind, and she couldn't so much as respond…
She needed to be alone.
The basement would do.
She slipped across the hidden passageway, her gait awkward as she marched into the depths of the dark corridors, not bothering to light a single torch, nor her way across the obscured place where only a few windows shed some light. She reached her destination: a basement where she had crumbled once before, in front of the man she had damn near killed today.
Her fingers slid through her hair, gripping it violently, and she screamed.
She didn't know if her voice would reach the rest of the Palace from these depths. She hoped it wouldn't. She didn't want anyone to know where she was, anyone to question her choices… she just wanted to scream.
And so she did, until her throat felt frayed, until her fingers ached as much as her scalp as she collapsed on the filthy floor. By then, the tears in her wide-open eyes spilled out carelessly on the marble.
Her fate had been sealed from the moment her choices had caused so much pain and destruction in the Water Tribe. She had inspired Sokka to rise against the Fire Nation in the first place, to destroy every foothold her people might hold in the rest of the world. The destruction wrought and caused in her name, instigated by her, could not be undone.
She only made matters worse for herself every time. Could she still blame her father for all her misdeeds at this point? Couldn't she have made a different choice today? Couldn't she have allowed him to seize her ship, and reunited with him properly? What the blazes was she so afraid of at the time that she hadn't wanted to…?
Yu Dao. Her choices in Yu Dao. The people of his army that she had personally killed then. How could she answer for that? How would she ever answer for…?
For her every wrongful choice, if made for the right reasons, with motivations she knew weren't misplaced. Yu Dao, the Northern Water Tribe, the Northern Air Temple… Zhao. How could she ever look him in the eye again and stand as equals with Sokka? How could she compare herself to a liberator, when she had done nothing but self-sabotage while facilitating the Fire Nation's conquest?
She wanted to protect the Fire Nation, but there was no such thing as a Fire Nation without a Fire Lord. Loyalty to her people, wishes to serve them, to protect them… they were easily twisted and corrupted into loyalty to Ozai himself. Even if her heart yearned for Sokka… she was trapped. She had been trapped from the moment she foolishly let herself believe that she could come back to the Fire Nation to save anyone. How could she ever hope to do that, when she couldn't so much as save herself, to begin with?
She had lied to herself. She had done it so successfully that she had actually believed it. Sokka had seen through those lies from the first moment. He had called her out on them, told her it would be no use attempting to fight back against a man like Ozai by returning home to him… and he had been right. Of course he had been right. She hadn't listened. She should have listened the first time. It evoked deep pain in her heart to think of so much she wouldn't have experienced, so many people who wouldn't be part of her life, particularly Rei, if only she had listened… but that might have kept her from betraying Sokka in every damn way she had done it so far.
How could she ever explain any of this? How could she ever feel worthy of being in his presence at all? How could she possibly stand next to him without being overcome by shame? Had anyone hurt her the way she had hurt Sokka, she would have refused to forgive them…
If he had made the same choices she had, after years of a partnership as fulfilling as theirs, she would have never forgiven him. She wouldn't have. She couldn't have, she… she could have felt compelled to, solely to live up to their promises, surely. But forgiveness…? She couldn't have. She wouldn't have. She hadn't had it in her to forgive him for far lesser slights in the past, so surely…
That was a lie. She would have come around in time. Surely, she would have stopped hating him eventually…
Perhaps she never would have come to hate him, to begin with.
She would forgive him. She would forgive him for anything.
If he stepped forward and cut her life short, right then and there, she might just thank him for it, even.
She couldn't stop the tears from spilling. What she had done could not be taken back. She only drew breath still because the sobs forced her to. The wails leaving her lips carried no logical words, no coherence, for she had lost even the ability to properly chain her thoughts, one after the other. She lost herself to anxiety, to panic, to anguish… to her failings and her most unforgivable choices, all of which had landed her in the last place she wanted to be in.
She might just have stayed there forever, foregoing her duties, her basic needs, all rational thought… but someone saw to it that she wouldn't be able to do so.
"You took them with you."
He only spoke when her desperate wailing fell silent. Azula snarled, fists still tight over her undone hairdo. Her hairpiece had fallen off at some point. She hadn't even noticed it until now.
"You… followed me," Azula concluded. "Why?"
"Why did you do it?" Seethus asked.
"I asked first," was her childish response. Seethus stiffened. "Don't want to tell me? Then… I owe you no answers either. Get out of here. I… I won't humor you right now."
"Have you betrayed the Fire Nation?" Seethus said. Azula snorted. "Did you bear a child from…?"
"I wish… I wish I fucking had," Azula snapped, turning her tearful glare at the shadowed, cloaked creature behind her. "I wish I had the courage… the strength of heart to turn my back on all of this. I wish… that I could betray the Fire Nation indeed. But you see, you bastard… I don't even know how. I don't know how, even when the consequences could've been…!"
She sobbed again, covering her mouth with a hand before shaking her head violently. She forced herself to her feet.
"That… does not truly answer my question," Seethus said: his posture gave away that he was wary of her.
"Would you betray my father… if you ever had any reason to do it?" Azula asked.
"Never," Seethus said.
"Would you… die for him? Should he ask you to?"
"Without a doubt."
"Then… maybe we're more alike than we should be," Azula said, with a sardonic, dishonest smile. Seethus's shoulders squared further. "Isn't that fucked up? We ought to be… complete opposites, you and me. Wasn't I supposed to be the firebender who could… as good as weave the fire of life? And you… you just destroy everything in your path, but see? I'm becoming… just like you. Maybe the next time I bend, my fire will be… that corrupt, fucked up mess yours is too. And by then, maybe… maybe by then I'll finally be able to find peace with myself. With being… the monster without a soul that everyone must already think I am. Maybe… maybe by then it won't hurt to be this loyal to my father. Because… I won't have anything left to lose. Anything."
Seethus didn't speak as Azula shivered in place. She shook her head after a moment, dabbing at the tears again.
"If you wanted to hear my… my rambling incoherencies, that's as good as you'll get. If you're not leaving… then I guess I will."
"You'd have the Fire Lord to lose."
Azula frowned. Seethus stared at her intently.
"It… it would not be any easier. The fear would never go away," he said. "If just one thing keeps you alive… if just one thing keeps you going, what would you do, once you lose it?"
"I… I'd let myself die," Azula answered, truthfully. The thought had crossed her mind far too many times as it was. Perhaps she should have felt shame to speak it aloud… but she didn't know if there was any shame left in her heart anymore. "If every last reason why I'm alive were gone, I… I wouldn't wish to live anymore, outright."
"I fight to protect the sole man who has granted me a purpose," Seethus said. "I have failed in his service when it mattered the most. I have not done right by him in regards in which I should have. I spend my life making amends for such wrongdoings."
"Loyalty?" Azula said, spewing the word as if it disgusted her. "Does it matter to you… that he would merely be mildly inconvenienced, if you died? That your life… is just a tool in his hands?"
"It doesn't matter. My life was less than that before he found me. If he wishes me to be his tool, then I will give myself into his service as he sees fit."
Azula let out a soft huff. She shook her head, lowering her gaze: his words resounded deeply inside her right now… now, when her life seemed to be worth less than nothing. Now, when she couldn't find her way forward, out of the darkness where she scarcely could see the silhouette of Seethus's cloak…
"If… he killed you himself?" Azula asked.
"It would be an honor to die by Fire Lord Ozai's hand."
Despite the disquiet in her heart, those were the words she had waited to hear, without knowing it.
Azula smiled.
"How twisted… to find clarity and comfort in your words," she said. "I'm sure you didn't intend that."
"I didn't. I merely wanted to know the truth of your child's heritage."
"Why?"
"Because it's proof of your betrayals. Because a child of Water Tribe blood would be… a questionable heir for Fire Lord Ozai."
"I'm afraid that won't matter much, in the long run," Azula said. Seethus frowned. "Because… my father won't live to see a day past the upcoming battle."
Seethus fell silent. Azula breathed deeply… with a clarity, a certainty, that should have been unnerving rather than tranquilizing. But it wasn't.
"Neither will you," she said. Seethus tensed up. "For, without him, you'd rather be dead."
"I will save the Fire Lord…"
"You won't," Azula said. "Because there's just as much saving him as there's saving you from your corruption… or me."
"You don't intend to…" Seethus said. Azula smiled.
"Kill myself? No. I… I think it's rather clear by now that it won't be my own doing. It won't have to be," she said. Seethus tensed up. "Once we're all gone… perhaps the legacy of my family will be stomped out for good. Perhaps my brother will seize the Fire Nation… perhaps someone else will, and our dynasty will be dismissed. By then… my daughter will be a common nobody. Maybe, by then… you'd realize just how little it mattered, in the end, whose blood coursed in her veins once mine, and my father's, have spilled all across this city's streets."
She never imagined she'd distress Seethus, but she could tell her words were achieving that effect, nonetheless. An accident, in a sense, but… she couldn't care less. It didn't matter if she disturbed him. He didn't matter. Much as she didn't.
"Loyalty… might just mean the same thing to you and I, in the end," Azula whispered. "Maybe I… have been in the service of something greater than I could recognize for a long time. And maybe dying for that cause… is far too dignified, even, for the likes of me. But if it means this torment will end… if it means I won't have to live with myself for a day longer than necessary? I'll… I'll do it."
"You're not supposed to…" Seethus started, his voice tense. "I may be in the Fire Lord's service, but you are… part of those I'm meant to protect."
"Oh, really?" Azula smiled, unable to withhold a burst of laughter. "I'm afraid you've failed at your task even before it began, Seethus. That's too bad."
"The Fire Lord…" Seethus said. "If he knew you're indulging such thoughts, he…"
"He'd do what, now?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows. "Send a distress call to… t-to Sokka? Tell him to withhold his forces because the bitch who nearly killed him is suicidal? I can only wonder how that would shape up. Maybe… maybe he'd really come to me then. Maybe he'd finish the job for me. It's no less than I'd deserve."
Seethus trembled. Azula's cutting, dark tone gave away her absolute sincerity upon speaking as harshly as she just had.
"You're the last person in this entire world with any right to try and save my life, Seethus," Azula hissed. "Even if it's from myself. You've chained yourself, your entire existence, to my father. You have to be aware of what's coming. If you wish to save him… then standing here, asking me about who my child's father is, is a waste of time. The greater threat to my father is not… a five-month-old baby. But if this is what your efforts to save my father's rule amount to, why… I'm afraid he'll be even more lost than we all are, already. Make better choices… or the fate I'm sure is coming for all of us will arrive far sooner than you know."
Seethus clenched up. Azula huffed, lowering her head.
"But now… you've gone and cut me off. I shouldn't begrudge you for it… you've offered me alarming clarity in enough regards where you surely shouldn't have. Still… I don't want to talk to you. I never did."
"I didn't expect you to," Seethus said. "But I did not expect… this."
"Easier to be the one with the dark thoughts than to hear them from someone else, I'm sure," Azula said, stepping closer to him. Seethus flinched, even though he didn't fully walk away…
He winced when her hand fell upon his shoulder.
Not even Ozai had touched him. Not even over his cloak.
"D-don't…!" Seethus exclaimed. Azula hummed: he raised a hand, clasping the spot she had touched moments ago as she dropped her own arm, carelessly.
"I doubt this will be the last time our paths will cross. But one of the last, nonetheless," she whispered. "Whatever your reasons to reject touch, to flee from sunlight, to cover yourself up as you have… whatever the source of your corruption may be, perhaps you'd do best to seek whatever humanity you have left, if you still do. I'm afraid… it'll be your last chance to do so, soon."
"No one could kill me but… but your fire," Seethus said.
"I can only wonder if that's true. I'm sure that corruption is killing you already. It always has been… or am I wrong to think so?"
Seethus winced again: her spot-on remark shook him deeply. Azula sighed, stepping forward again, closer to the man before her, and gripping his hood, shoving it back forcefully.
The face before her didn't faze her. She had expected worse, somehow. Or perhaps, she simply was beyond being surprised by anything life could have shown her anymore.
His skin was blackened in many spots, with darkened veins visible over his cheeks, forehead, and his bald head. His dry lips were as dark as the blackened circles around his eyes. It seemed he was but a skeleton, moments away from crumbling in such a way that his remaining skin and organs might simply fade away in a gust of wind, and he could be nothing but bones soon. He appeared older than he might be… older than any living being that might yet walk their world.
Azula met his dark eyes, her chest painfully pounding inside her ribcage: she suspected that he had survived his own corruption by weaponizing it… by letting it take the place of his chi. He was powered by death, instead of life. Any second would be the last, should his control and restraint over his own condition loosen up. Did he sleep? Surely not. Did he eat? What for? He was but the remains of a man who had once been alive. Who had he been then? Perhaps he didn't remember the answer to that question. For how long had he lived, too? Had he been consumed by corruption, and his body hadn't changed since then? Or was his body decaying alongside the natural decomposition of the corruption that constantly sought to kill him…?
So much of what she had thought were conjectures… she didn't dare ask the truth. She didn't want it. It didn't matter who Seethus had been once, or how he had become who he was… because that knowledge would serve no purpose anymore. She had a handful of days left to live, perhaps even less than that, as far as the scouts could tell… she'd do best to live them indeed by ensuring not to leave a greater mess in her wake than what she had already subjected the world to.
"I have to go," Azula said. Seethus frowned.
"You don't… find this unbecoming? Disturbing?" he said.
"Maybe I would have… had I seen you like this when we first met. Maybe even the second time," Azula said. "Now… I'm quite possibly the only other person alive who has felt the same corruption that kills and empowers you running through my body. If you're meant to be a mirror of what might have happened to me… I'm afraid you're not showing me anything I can't stand to see. My fate feels twisted enough as it is."
Seethus gritted his teeth. He raised his hands, pulling the hood over his features anew.
"You're more terrifying than your father," Seethus concluded. Azula smiled.
"Farewell, Seethus."
A dark certainty pulsated within her heart now. One Seethus, unknowingly, unintentionally, had put there: she had discarded her life even more openly than he had. In doing so, in knowing herself fated to face consequences for her worst mistakes, Azula had somehow set herself free from her burdens… and new clarity emerged in her mind.
Her life didn't matter. Her choices had condemned her already. But those she had protected deserved to survive, undoubtedly so. Those she treasured needed to be kept safe at all costs. They were innocent of her wrongdoings. They were waiting for her. She couldn't fail them.
Renkai stood guard by her room with another member of the Third Squad. He appeared to wish to speak to her as soon as he saw her. Azula didn't doubt that her appearance would be utterly chaotic at the moment, but she paid it no mind: she jerked her head towards her room, and Renkai nodded before following her inside.
"Stay out here," he told the other guard, who nodded slightly.
Renkai closed the door behind himself: Azula rolled the new, plain carpet aside and opened the trapdoor at once. She jumped into it, and Renkai followed, closing it carefully and lighting a small flame before turning towards the Princess.
"Should I go for them now?" he asked. Azula nodded.
"We have half a day. That's as long as we get to bring them to safety," Azula said. "I'd best stay here in case trouble arises. Hurry along and find them."
"What has the Fire Lord told you?" Renkai asked. "You seem…"
"Calmer? It's not because of him. But… Sokka survived," she admitted. Renkai's eyes widened. "He shipwrecked near the Black Cliffs. The gladiators still living there have… have seemingly pledged to his cause. Unsurprisingly.
"What…? What should we do?" Renkai asked, frowning.
"For now? Find Hotaru, Rei, Song and Anorak. Bring them here… and then we'll take them to safety, once they collect everything important," Azula said. Renkai gritted his teeth and nodded. "Anything else, I'll convey later."
"Very well. I… I'll go, then," he said: he wished to say more, perhaps something reassuring, something kind… but there was a strange, charged darkness in the Princess's demeanor that he couldn't quite approach. It daunted him into silence. It forced him to lower his head and march away, down the tunnels, rushing quickly to find Azula's protégés before all windows of time to save them closed up.
Xin Long groaned in Azula's mind: he didn't approve of her choices. She breathed deeply, sinking in the darkness of the tunnels, comforted by it. Hoping to find nothing but that, instead of a confusing and dangerous spirit world.
"I know I've failed you," she whispered. "With any luck… Sokka will be ready to set you free. He's not so fickle as to blame you for my wrongful choices."
That didn't matter to Xin Long: he hadn't endured captivity for this long just for her to die at Sokka's hands. He hadn't faced everything he had just for a future without her.
And yet Azula's mind was made up.
"A swift death is already… already kinder than anything I deserve," she said. "And just as that wretch's loyalty to my father would manifest by dying under the Fire Lord's flames… that will also be the last thing I can do for the man I should have never betrayed, Xin Long."
Was she truly ready to inflict that kind of pain upon Sokka?
"I… I have already inflicted so much of it that this might just be a relief for him, instead."
She couldn't possibly believe that. There was no way she believed that…
And yet she did.
It was a twisted, cruel comfort… but it was one, all the same.
Just as once, long ago, a gladiator had longed for death at the hands of a stronger opponent, knowing his hands stained with blood, believing himself unworthy of surviving where others died by his weapons… just so, a Princess felt the same way, knowing herself unworthy of the life she had longed to live by her beloved gladiator's side.
"He might never forgive me… he should never forgive me," she whispered: if their roles were reversed, she would forgive him for sure. But she hoped he'd be stronger. She hoped he would be wiser. That he would see clearly where she could only be guided by her fickle, foolish, aching heart…
It still hurt now. There was fear in it, still… but she locked it down, closing it away, shutting it so she could focus, instead, on the reality that loomed ahead. On the darkness that would soon take her. On the battle she had left to fight, the last battle the Fire Nation would face before its utter destruction by the hands of the Order of the White Lotus… by the revenge of the Gladiator Army.