I mixed up some documents! Please go back and read Chapter 29 again before reading this one. It will make much more sense!

Chapter 30

Izara was staring at the sunrise. She had spent most of the night glaring at her ceiling, wondering if she tried hard enough, it would fall on her and crush her, saving her from facing Zuko today. They were supposed to be training, but she had made a mess of things the other day. She had been such an idiot. He had been so kind to her throughout the time they had known each other, and eventually, their relationship had become closer than just Fire Lord and a Palace Guard. The line between friends began to blur with an occasional flirt or staring longer than necessary. She didn't expect anything to come of it and sabotaged herself in the process. Maybe it was because she had such low self-esteem that she didn't think he was interested in her or was just being playful.

So, despite her feelings for him, she panicked and ran away when he finally made a move. It had brought into focus the stark contrast between them: the Fire Lord and a Palace Guard. She wasn't nobility, wealthy, politically involved or anything else important. Indeed, their worlds and positions were too different, too far apart, for them to actually be together in a way that mattered. The primary factor that kept circling in her mind was that she was not worthy of him. Her past was too soaked in blood, anguish and death. She couldn't make amends within her lifespan for everything that she'd done. She did not deserve to be happy after all the pain she had inflicted, even if she'd left that part of her life behind.

Reinforcing this point, the memory of his expression as she pulled away from him after their kiss. As earth-shatteringly incredible as it felt, she essentially rejected him by running away. There was clearly confusion in his eyes, quickly replaced by hurt. She hadn't explained why she was pushing him away, nor did she want to. It would just make the reality that she didn't deserve him impossible to ignore. For now, she could suffer alone.

Her head thumped from dehydration, lack of sleep, and muted groaning she had done in her room for the last three hours before she came out to watch the sunrise. The dark blue sky of the night mixed with the bright oranges of dawn, and she could barely appreciate its beauty, not for lack of trying. She felt so hopeless and horrible that she couldn't muster up any enjoyment at seeing a new day.

It took her a moment to realise what they were, but she heard alarm bells from the city's direction. For a moment, she thought it might have been her mind playing tricks on her.

They were under attack.

The alarm was the sound of an initial wave, and she leapt up from her spot on the roof, jumped straight down to the ground, and shared a worried look with the two guards at the back palace door. With a breath to steel herself, she headed towards the barracks, rousing all the guards, and told them to prepare for battle. Orders fell from her mouth before she realised she was giving them; just out of sheer instinct, everyone followed them without delay or hesitation.

Kazan came to stand on her right, appearing from nowhere, and she looked up at him with dread in her eyes. Though he shared her concern, it was for slightly different reasons, and she knew she had to choose. Someone had to escort the Fire Lord to the underground bunker below the Palace, and though she wanted to do it herself, she also knew that she was better used up on the surface. Her skill in battle and direction were necessary. She wouldn't let anyone get past her unless she was dead.

Finally, she made eye contact with Kazan again and spoke in a desperate whisper.

"Get him below." He gave her a nod in response and took another three men with him to escort their Fire Lord underground.

The Fire Lord abruptly whirled from around the corner, calling for the guards to prepare the defences. She was stuck to her spot as she watched him barking orders to everyone. His eyes met hers and saw them soften in worry. She marched over to him without hesitation.

"Go. Now." She pointed downwards, and she knew he would understand.

"Izara…" His brow furrowed tightly together.

"I said go." Her voice was low and dared him to challenge her.

Eyes darting towards Kazan, she tilted her chin to silently order him to take the Fire Lord underground. He nodded once and politely gestured for the Fire Lord to follow him, contrasting to the chaos of the situation. Zuko barely bobbed his head in reply and turned away from her, heading back down the hallway.

Izara tried as hard as possible to settle the feeling in her gut that something terrible would happen. Though she knew this wasn't a good situation in itself, she couldn't shake the sense that it was only the beginning. The calm before the storm, as it were.

Just in time, the second alarm bell rang. They were calling for reinforcements.

"Fuck!" she slammed the side of her clenched fist into the wall, denting it in the process.

The guards were ready, but she had yet another decision: Fight on the front lines, or stay and keep guard here? If she fought on the front, she might be able to stop them from getting to the Palace. Still, if they couldn't stop them from breaking through, she would need to be here in the Palace to ensure they didn't get underground and reach Zuko.

She turned to the fastest person in her line of sight and made her choice. Lia was on her left, and Izara gave her orders.

"Sound the alarm for immediate palace defence, and full lockdown is now in effect. I will go to the front and ensure that they are stopped. Someone must tell the Fire Lord about the situation. Go. Now." Her voice was solid and firm, but inside, she felt like a child, crying and lost in a large crowd.

Another breath, and she was ready. Her eyes burned with desire for battle, and that's all she allowed herself to feel. Worry and fear would only make her hesitate. She had no room for second thoughts right now. Her body temperature rose, and she prepared to summon flames at any moment. She turned and ran as fast as she could towards the city gates.

Before she could reach them, the third bell sounded. The third bell meant for the Fire Lord to go underground or to escape. Still, luckily, she had already told him to do so, and he would have received the message from Lia and would be safe in the bunker below. Hopefully, she was fast enough, and he would be safe. It would kill her if she couldn't save him. He had brought her back to life after years of existing as an empty shell, believing in and encouraging her. She would do everything in her power to prove that he had made the right choice in inviting her to work in the Palace.

As she reached the front, one of the Commanders recognised her and updated her on the situation. They had broken through the first two lines of defence, and he expected the next two to fall, which is why he had sounded the third alarm bell. She informed him that she had sent the Fire Lord below ground after the first alarm bell as a precaution and had already summoned everyone to defend the Palace. He nodded, approving of her decision and headed down to assist in the fight.

The harbour that had been so densely protected during the Hundred Year War had been opened up for trade, but that now allowed it to be breached. It looked like merchant ships had either been hijacked or stolen by the Supremacists for the purpose of breaking through the light defences that still remained, and they were pouring out of the ships in numbers. Reports had stated that they had two camps left; one had the bulk of their troops, and the other had their higher-ups. By looking at how many there were, that had already gone down and those left fighting, their more significant force had attacked. It definitely looked like those she had spotted while scouting their mine hideout.

Her golden eyes scanned the battlefield with a sense of dread, threatening to freeze her to the spot. With a low growl, she pushed it down, summoned fire to her fingertips, and felt the energy flow through her body as she watched the third line fall. Luckily, few Fire Nation Supremacists were left, and she knew they would win the day despite the injuries and casualties on their side.

The fourth line began struggling, and she shook her head in anger.

"I'm going down there. If they get past me, they will have killed me. If they take you down as well, I will come back from the fucking afterlife and drag you back there myself." She growled to the guards protecting the gate that led to the city, and they responded with a 'Yes, Ma'am' and saluted her as she dashed past them.

As soon as she descended the slope, she took a breath and prepared to summon lightning. It would at least startle some of the Supremacists, and then she would head straight for them and begin her counterattack. She could see three of their leaders a ways back behind the fray and decided to cut a line through the middle and go for them. Cut off the head of the snake, so to speak. She felt the energy separate and collide back together again in her body and sent it towards the ground just in between three men, doing her best to avoid her side's troops.

It caused them to jump back just enough that she could charge towards them and take them by surprise. As Izara fought, she thought she could hear a familiar voice in the distance but ignored it, telling herself that she was just hearing things. The noises of a battlefield were a cacophony in her ears, so it wasn't surprising that she thought she heard the voice in the wind. One of the enemies thought he had her with an arc of fire coming from his foot, but she deflected it easily. She was so used to Zuko's level of firebending that these guys weren't even a challenge for her; it was merely the numbers that were the problem. She could readily handle them individually, but they wouldn't take turns attacking her.

Once she'd deflected his attack, she returned with a fireball aimed straight at his head. He fell to the ground with a scream that silenced just as fast. She spun to avoid another streak of fire, ran in towards the attacker and hit the back of his neck as she went past, and he hit the ground with a heavy thud. The third man had already run away from her, but she pulled a throwing knife from her thigh, landing in the crook of his neck. He landed with a skid about 10 metres in front of his superiors.

The other enemies were almost taken care of, and she knew this was her chance to take on the leaders. With angry purpose in her step, she headed towards them and hoped they felt horror and fear in preparation for what she was ready to do to them. The familiar voice sounded again, and she could swear someone was calling her name in the distance.

Izara made the mistake of looking over her shoulder to see where the voice was coming from and saw Zuko heading towards her with his arm outstretched. Her eyes widened, and she saw his expression change from concerned to terror. Sharp pain in her shoulder gave her the answer to why he looked like that. When she turned back, she saw that her own throwing knife was embedded in her right shoulder. Vaguely, she registered that Zuko was now screaming her name, and Izara stumbled forward as she struggled to stay upright.

One of the Supremacist leaders had closed the distance between them, put his arm around her neck, and turned her around to face Zuko and the other soldiers. Zuko's hands were shooting fire, scorching the ground as he ran towards her, desperate to save her.

"Stop right there!" The man yelled, his voice so close to her ear that it temporarily deafened her.

Zuko didn't show any signs of stopping, so the man grabbed the knife and wrenched it out of her shoulder. Her scream of agony finally stopped him, and the Supremacist leader held the blood-soaked blade to her throat, already making a small cut in the skin. Izara could see Zuko was furious, but she noticed the change in his stance. She recognised it immediately and knew he would use lightning to kill the man.

"If you move, I'll kill her." The man yelled out again, and Izara to keep her bearings, but the amount of blood she had already lost made her lightheaded and dizzy.

"That's right, Fire Lord." The man spat after Zuko clenched his fists at his side and stood still. "She will be coming with us. If you try to chase us, it will mean her death."

His hands relaxed, and she could see him centring himself on preparing to use lightning, and she knew that was a bad idea. If she was going with them, she would be able to discover more of their plans, even assassinate their leader and stop them altogether. At the least, she could get information on where their camp was and escape, then send the army to them when she returned to the Capital. It had been a long time since she'd done something like this, but her adrenalin and experience would get her through. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and she raised her hand in a gesture for Zuko to stop.

"No. Don't."

It took a lot of strength, but she managed to speak loud enough for him to hear. His golden eyes were full of fear, and he shook his head in declination and mouthed 'No' to her.

Izara shook her head in reply, telling him not to follow through. She trusted him to not hit her with the lightning, but she couldn't let him try. The fact that they wanted to take her gave her a perfect chance to get information and hopefully sabotage a few of their plans. She tried her best to show him through the look in her eyes and expression that it was okay to let her get taken, but he hadn't changed his stance. With a huff, she gave him a wink and a smirk to tell him to trust her.

When his brow furrowed, she knew that he had gotten the message. His head dropped in what she assumed was a mix of shame, fear, and worry, and it took him a lifetime to look back up. He stared straight into her eyes and gave her a single nod, telling her he trusted her, though she could see that it was tearing him apart to let her go. If he hadn't kissed her the other day, the look on his face at this moment was all she needed to realise how much he cared for her.

The man dragged her backwards until he reached his comrades. Izara saw Zuko place a tightly clenched fist over his heart in apology. She couldn't see the look on his face anymore but guessed that he was beating himself up. A cloth hood came over her head, and she could only just see the light coming through. Izara heard Zuko's anguished scream before someone hit the back of her neck, and everything went black…