Katara stood still, momentarily rooted to the spot as she tried to process what had just happened and what was currently going on around her. A hand closed around her wrist, jerking her forward, and snapping her out of her daze. "What are you doing? Let's get out of here!" Zuko yelled, pulling her forward as the ground beneath her became more unsteady. It felt like trying to walk through an earthquake. If Zuko hadn't been holding onto her so tightly she would have fallen several different times.
Iroh was half a step behind. He had his back towards her, he followed them gracefully down the hallway, unbothered by the shaking earth. With a calm precision, bursts of fire left his fists and there were brief cries of pain as he hit several of their unseen assailants.
As they exited the tunnel, Katara saw a crumpled figure on the ground. The tunnel opened up into a large underground cave, located at the far end creating irrigated pools that crossed throughout the cavern floor. Aang was on the ground attempting to push himself to an upright position. He was covered in dirt and looked stunned, but thankfully appeared unharmed otherwise.
"Aang!" Katara screamed, running towards him. Before she could make it more than a few feet a ball of blue fire exploded in front of her. She threw her hands in front of her to protect her face. Katara thought the flames might burn her, they probably would have if Zuko hadn't sprung into action, arms outstretched, redirecting the fire away from her.
There was a sharp laugh that echoed in the chamber. "Well, well Zu Zu it looks like you got out of your cell." She looked at Zuko's defensive stance in front of Katara, "Oh and now you're mixing with peasants. How very- you."
Azula was standing in the middle of the cave, flanked on either side by at least a dozen Dai Li agents. No one moved as Azula continued her monologue. The power was in her hands and she knew it. They were horribly outnumbered in an underground cavern, surrounded by elite earthbenders. "At least you'll be here to see my victory. In a matter of days, I've achieved what generations of Firelords have strove to do. The Earth King is mine. The Counselor of 5 is mine. The Dai Li, mine. Ba Sing Se, mine." she paused for a moment, a wicked glint in her eyes. "The Avatar, the bastard Prince mine."
As the last words left her mouth, Zuko let out a roar and erupted into motion. He sprang at Azula, losing bursts of fire from his fists. Azula smiled, knowing her words had got to Zuko. She made no move to avoid the flames, when they were just feet from her, a wall of earth sprung up shielding her from the fire.
"Zuko no!" Iroh yelled, running after him. Despite all the progress he and Zuko had made with his firebending, Iroh knew that Zuko was no match for Azula. Azula could use nothing but her words and wit to destroy Zuko. He knew his nephew was an intense person, when he loved he loved hard and when he hurt, he hurt with all his heart. Azula knew this and she used it against him, to invade his mind and win the fight without even having to throw a punch.
Katara jerked her head away from Zuko and ran over to Aang. Thankfully, the Dai Li and Azula seemed to be distracted at the moment, likely counting Aang down since he hadn't moved much.
As she reached him she fell to her knees and summoned water from the nearby pool. It immediately began to glow as she pulled Aang into her lap, he groaned and tried to blink open his eyes. "Shhh, don't move. It's okay to be okay."
Katara moved the water up and down his chest. The impact had stunned him and he had many cuts and bruises, but she could tell that nothing was broken. The color began to return to Aang's face and he tried to smile at her. "I'm sorry I ran away like that." She nodded, accepting his apology.
Suddenly Aang's eyes went wide and Katara found herself no longer sitting on the cavern floor. She was caught up in a gust of wind that sent her tumbling sideways and backwards. She screamed and braced herself for impact. It never came, within the blink of an eye, Aang had shot them both upward with a burst of air and spun them in the opposite direction. Not a moment too soon, as the stone hands of the Dai Li burst into pieces where they had been sitting before.
A handful of agents had broken off from the melee between the firebenders, leaping towards Katara and Aang. In a swift motion, Aang snapped his glider out and they headed towards the waterfall at the far end of the chamber. She knew what he was thinking, the water had to have come from somewhere. In a room of angry earth and fire benders, that was their ticket out.
"Aang stop!" Katara yelled, over the chaos going on below them. "We can't leave them." She said pointing to Iroh and Zuko, who were currently fighting back to back completely surrounded by Dai Li. For a moment she felt him hesitate, and she wondered if asking him to go back for Zuko, of all people, had been too much. Back at the North Pole, Aang was the one who insisted on saving Zuko's life, but a lot had happened between then and now.
Without a word, Aang began to alter the course of the glider. As they began their descent, there was a loud clap of something that sounded like thunder and the space above her felt inexplicably hot. Then she realized they were no longer gliding, they were falling.
Katara's nose began to burn and started to cough as smoke filled her lungs. Katara's face was hot; she could feel heat coming off the glider. "Hang on!" Aang yelled.
In a sequence of motion that Katara couldn't have tracked, Aang used a burst of air to push them further away from Azula. As they got closer to the ground, a wave of earth sprung up to meet them. They had landed a distance away from the main action but Azula and several Dai Li agents were already leaping after them. Aang took one look at Katara still laying on the ground and with a sad look in his eyes started airbending. Similar to earlier, when Aang had swept Katara off her feet in a gust of wind, Katara felt herself being flung up into the air and then she was hurtling towards the opposite end of the cave. She had hit the ground with a jarring impact, but other than some minor cuts she was okay. It took her a moment to regain her bearings but after she did she let out a scream of frustration. Aang had sent her flying through the air towards the waterfall, out of reach from Azula for now but too far away to help Aang. She moved towards the brawl but was stopped by a boom that came from the crystal wall closest to her.
"Katara!" She turned, and saw Toph and Sokka appear in a newly formed hole in the wall. "Duck!" Sokka had stepped forward and flung his boomerang at Zuko. She wasn't sure where he had come from, Katara thought he was fighting off Dai Li agents but when she looked, the original melee had dispersed and now Iroh and Aang were fighting off Azula and the Dai Li in the center of the chamber.
Zuko grabbed Katara's wrist and flung them both to the side out of the way, as Sokka's boomerang whipped past the space where Zuko's face had just been. "Sokka, stop! It's okay, he's with us!" Katara yelled. Sokka had a similar reaction to Aang, and ignored Katara swinging his club at Zuko. Zuko released Katara's wrist rolling away from Sokka but not retaliating. Once Zuko was away from Katara, Sokka slowed down. "Sokka, did you hear me?!" Katara yelled, smacking his shoulder. He didn't loosen his defensive stance or move his gaze off of Zuko, but he had at least stopped trying to take Zuko's head off with his club. "It is okay brother." Katara said putting extra emphasis on the 'okay." She stepped between them in case Sokka changed his mind. "He helped me escape the Dai Li and he's been helping us fight off his psychotic sister."
"Sokka, I'm on your side." Zuko had finally spoken, he raised his hands as an act of good faith. "I want to help you all get out of here. It's too late for Ba Sing Se, you all and the Avatar need to get out of here so you can fight another day."
Katara's breath caught in her chest. "What do you mean 'you all and the Avatar'? You and your uncle are coming with us. The city isn't safe for you anymore either."
"Katara! No! You can't bring him with us. I bet he's just a spy, he's going to follow us out of here just so he can report back to the Fire Nation and finally have the Avatar in his evil clutches."
"Oh don't be so dramatic!" Katara snapped. "If he wanted to capture Aang he would just help Azula now."
"HEY, I. AM. NOT. DRA-"
"Would you two lillylivers stop fighting. Sokka, we can trust Zuko. He was telling the truth just now, he wants to help us."
Sokka gave Toph a look of utter betrayal. "How do you know you special foot-lie-detector-skill things aren't, out of tune or something?"
Sokka yelped as he was flung several feet in the air, as he touched the earth the ground softened to a sand like texture to soften his impact, helping him to land on his feet. Toph let out a laugh, "Don't you worry about my skills." Suddenly the earth surrounding the four of them rose up like a wave. "Enough wasting time, let's go help Twinkle Toes." And the wave moved across the floor towards Aang and Iroh who had managed to take out a fair number of Dai Li agents, but were still noticeably outnumbered. Surprisingly, Azula hadn't engaged much in the fight other than to throw a few blue flames here and there. She was clearly letting the Dai Li do her work, tiring out her prey before she went in for the kill.
Toph's wave smacked into the Dai Li agents from behind, knocking many of them off of their feet. Azula of course, sprung into a backflip, landing lightly on her feet and out of the way. She smiled at them, "Awe, Zu Zu, being brave for your new girlfriend? You really should've left while you had the chance." She said, swinging her arms towards them, sending two wheels of blue flames spinning towards them. Before they got to them, Zuko redirected them away from their group and back at Azula. She made no move to avoid the flames, letting them slide past her and wink into oblivion behind her.
Toph sent balls of packed earth flying at Azula, despite Toph's uncanny precision, Azula neatly sidestepped the pieces of earth. Katara used the momentary distraction to summon water from one of the nearby pools and used it to blast Azula from the side. Azula tried to dodge this as well but wasn't quite quick enough, the water hitting her in the side, pushing her away from the group. Azula stayed on her feet and spun back around, "Stupid peasant." She spat, eyes narrowed on Katara.
Azula took a deep breath and began moving her arms in spiral, fluid motions not usually associated with firebending. Zuko's eyes widened, registering what his sister was about to do. "Everyone move! NOW!" Toph used a quick burst of earthbending to push them away from where they were standing, moments later a blue light flashed and the sound of thunder echoed through the catacombs. Azula had shot a bolt of lightning where Katara had been just seconds before.
Aang yelled and moved towards Katara, but was blocked by four Dai Li agents. "Avatar! You can't help yourself or your friends like this!" Iroh shouted over the fight. "You need to go into the Avatar State, it's the only way!"
Aang cringed, and for a split second Aang wasn't in the catacombs. He was at the Eastern Air Temple, trying to open his chakras. He has been doing so well. It had been the first time in a long time that Aang finally felt like he had some real guidance on this Avatar stuff. But the Guru's words echoed in his head now "if you leave now you won't be able to enter the Avatar State at all" and "you must learn to let her go."
An earth glove flew at Aang, striking him in the chest and knocking the wind from him. Aang tumbled backwards and unleashed a burst of air, sending his assailant crashing into the wall. Aang looked around, Iroh was right, he couldn't do this without the Avatar State, there were just too many. So Aang sunk into a lotus position, slanted sheets of crystal shot up, creating a protective tent around him while also effectively walling himself from the first people he had loved since Monk Gyatso, and began to meditate.
Moments later the catacombs melted around Aang and he was surrounded by darkness. Slowly a giant fluorescent outline of himself rose up in front of him. The indecision that had surrounded him before was gone, he knew what he needed to do. As he approached his glowing form, images flashed around him.
Katara, when she first found him in the iceberg, wondering if there was something more to the boy with funny tattoos.
Sitting around the campfire with Katara and the rest of the Gaang, listening to tales of the water tribe. How Gran Gran would make a special Ocean Kumquat dessert for the festival of lights every year. It was a tradition she had brought from the Northern Tribe.
Fighting side by side with Katara through countless enemies, knowing that even though he was alone- the last of his people and the only avatar, he still had family somewhere. As he got closer, he stumbled as a cry rang out through the mental chamber. Aang's consciousness processed that it was Katara and his friends yelling out.
Aang gritted his teeth and with every ounce of willpower he possessed he let them go. He knew it had worked, because the darkness went away and was replaced by a blinding white light.
The Dai Li sent rockets flying at the structure, Katara worried that it would crumble under the vicious assault. It held, the rocks bursting into dust as they hit the tent. Moments later the crystals began to glow a deep jade color and the top of the tent burst apart as Aang began to rise through the air, eyes alight with the spirit of hundreds of past Avatars. As Aang gained more height the air began to swirl around him like a tornado. The Dai Li agents raised their forearms over their faces to shield themselves from the swirling debris.
"Get behind me!" Toph yelled. The group had been somewhat spread out in the catacombs at this point, each taking on a different chunk of Dai Li agents. Luckily, Aang going into the Avatar State proved enough of a distraction for the group to reassemble behind Toph. They watched as the air around Aang began to swirl like the beginnings of the storm. Katara breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Zuko who was nursing his wrist which was bent in a weird direction.
"Hey what happened?" Katara asked, reaching for Zuko. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's nothing, we can take of it later. I'm just happy for the slight break." he said, nodding towards Aang.
Aang had sent a wave of earth towards the Dai Li, between the gusts of air and the wave of earth the Dai Li agents hit the walls of the catacombs with a sound thud, rendering most of them unconscious. Azula, however, had managed to side-step the action, watching with mild amusement as her foot soldiers took the brunt of the assault.
Despite the bending superforce in front of her, Azula smiled, shooting a stream of blue flames at Aang. Aang neatly diverted the flames, and sent a burst of water flying at Azula. Even in the Avatar State, Azula was still a force to be reckoned with. She flipped over the water, landing in an offensive stance. Aang raised his arm to unleash another bout of bending at her, when a boulder roughly the size of Appa dislodged itself from the walls and went spinning towards Aang.
The few agents that hadn't been knocked out were mounting a brute force attack against Aang. The Dai Li usually relied on precise forms of earth bending, relying on accuracy and strength to overcome their opponents. But facing off against the Avatar State didn't leave much room for precision.
Aang easily moved away from the boulder, turning his attention away from Azula for a moment. A moment was all she needed. Azula took a deep breath and began moving her arms in fluid motions. From across the cavern, Zuko could see what his sister was doing.
"LOOK OUT!" Zuko screamed across the cavern. Aang turned and recognized what Azula was doing, but there was no time. A bolt of blue lightning shot from her fingertips towards Aang. He put his hands out in a defensive position. Katara didn't know if Aang knew how to redirect lightning in the Avatar State. He didn't.
An inhuman sound left his lips and the whole room was cloaked in darkness. In the darkness, a figure was suspended in the air, glowing white as energy coursed through the being. Katara could've sworn for a moment that she saw- Suki? Except this person was much bigger, she must've been over 6 feet tall. For a moment the glowing stopped, then Aang/the Suki look alike began to fall. Katara couldn't follow with her eyes where the figure was, everything was happening too quickly around her.
"We have to help him!" she yelled, throwing herself forward.
Zuko caught her wrist. "Katara wait!"
She turned around to tell Zuko to let her go when there was an explosion in the catacombs, knocking her off her feet and into oblivion.