Author's note: Rejoice everyone! As foretold, this month's issue is a DOUBLE ISSUE! Happy (?) end of Book 2!
Fight 43: Ensnaring palace – Inner Enemy
Appa was heading towards Ba Sing Se, Sokka and Aang on his head. The warrior of the Water Tribe wanted to know what kind of trouble his sister was in but the worried airbender didn't know. From his vision he just knew that Katara needed help. His friend complained. It would be nice if those Avatar powers could be just a little more specific from time to time. They heard a rumbling noise from below. It was Toph surfing on a wave of earth. They flew down to her level. Sokka asked if she needed a ride. Startled, the girl screamed and the mound she was skating on fell apart, sending her tumbling to the ground. The guys watched painfully.
In a dark and monumental underground hallway, many Dai Li agents were lined up in rows before a platform where Azula was standing, flanked by Mai and Ty Lee. The Fire Nation princess addressed the men.
"The Earth King and The Council of Five do not trust the Dai Li. They imprisoned your leader, Long Feng. Soon they will turn on all of you, and eliminate you. Seizing power today is a matter of life and death." She began as the Dai Li lowered their heads in anxiety. "The coup must be swift and decisive. The Earth King, and each of the five generals, must be taken out simultaneously. Long Feng has placed you in my command while we overthrow the government." Azula stepped down from the pedestal and paced before the earthbenders, sometimes stopping before one to look him in the eyes. "If I sense any disloyalty, any hesitation, any weakness at all, I will snuff it out. That is all." Azula walked away and climbed back up the steps. The men left. Ty Lee poured her a cup of tea and complimented her on her pretty and poetic speech, though also scary in a good way. Mai agreed, amused. "There are still a few loose ends. The Avatar, Chenlian, and my brother and uncle."
Zuko, Chenlian and Iroh climbed down a carriage just outside the royal palace. Iroh was holding an ornate box containing his tea set. They made their way towards the entrance.
"Many times, I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror... instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing." The former general of the Fire Nation pondered.
"It sure is Uncle." The young man agreed cheerfully.
"To come in peace rather than war... how wonderful." Chenlian concurred.
On Appa, after telling her story, Toph wanted to know if things had gone well with the Guru and if Aang had mastered the Avatar State . The airbender groaned nervously as he recalled Pathik's words... "If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the avatar state at all!" Sokka asked if he was ok. The monk smiled sheepishly and replied he was great and had completely mastered the Avatar State. He laughed, trying to sound confident.
The three tea makers were sitting patiently at a table inside a decorated house on the palace grounds. Before them was a small throne set on a raised platform. Iroh poured a cup of tea as they waited for the sovereign to arrive. Zuko wondered what was taking so long. His optimist uncle wondered if the Earth King had overslept. But then several Dai Li agents walked into the room from the right and formed a circle around the tea servers. Something was not right. And then, Azula entered too.
"It's tea time." The Fire Nation princess mocked. Zuko and Chenlian bolted on their feet on either side of the old man, screaming her name. "Have you met the Dai Li ? They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that is so firebender, I just love it!"
"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname the 'Dragon of the West'?" Iroh inquired, taking his cup and standing up too. Azula examined her nails and boredly expressed her lack of interest in some lengthy anecdote. "It's more of a demonstration really." He took a sip. Zuko and Chenlian smirked and suddenly ducked just as the ex general breathed a powerful torrent of fire at the Dai Li, like a dragon. The earthbenders lowered their heads and lifted their gloved hands to shield themselves. The teens burst through the wall with a fire blast and ran down the hall, quickly followed by Iroh. Two agents came through the hole and fired their stone fingers like bullets that barely missed the firebenders and embedded themselves in the wall.
A bolt of lightning broke through the wall to the outside from the upper floor and a moment later, Iroh jumped out and fell on top of a bear-shaped hedge bush, destroying it. He grunted in pain and the red-haired girl joined him. They looked up at his nephew, calling him, but he turned them down.
"No. I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula!" The crown prince of the Fire Nation turned around and walked back towards the Dai Li and Azula. Iroh slapped his head in frustration. Chenlian told the old man to make his escape while she would stay with Zuko. He agreed and ran away and she returned to the upper floor with her firebending.
"You're so dramatic. What, are you going to do, challenge me to an Agni Kai ?" Azula asked her brother... sounding like she couldn't care less about him.
"Yes! I challenge you!" He shot back, angry and determined.
"No thanks." She smiled mockingly. Zuko sent a big ball of flame at his sister who only watched calmly as two Dai Li stepped in front of her and raised a large tile from the floor, blocking the fire blast. They flung their stone gloves at the boy's feet but they were destroyed by Chenlian's flaming arch and another forced them on the defensive. She made a wall of fire, keeping the enemies at bay, and once more pleaded Zuko to retreat. They were outnumbered, and those guys were not such pushovers! And he refused again... just as a wall of stone separated her wall of fire before splitting and sliding to the extremities, extinguishing her flames. Another wall appeared behind them and another, and another. They were trapped.
No choice but to charge forward, keep moving... so the enemy would not have time to pin them. However, despite her warnings, Zuko lacked focus in the fight because his attention was all on his sister. And Chenlian regularly had to cover for him. But although the two firebenders dealt some significant damage, more enemies kept coming and the situation couldn't go on like this. When Zuko's impatience and frustration reached their peak, so did his carelessness, and his foot was stuck to the ground by a glove, then it was his hand as he stumbled and placed a hand on the floor. Chenlian felt the strain all the more, especially since she had stopped fighting for so long and lost her reflexes. She yelled her lover's name and defended against several opponents, dodging, taking hits, retaliating, often with leg techniques. And Zuko watched her back, watched her fight alone against so many people to protect him... even though she could definitely escape on her own. She was staying with him. But before he could break his bonds, the agents had bound him more. Still, she was fighting, waiting for a chance, for him... while he could only watch and struggle vainly. However, she was growing tired. And while she was blocking an attack, she suddenly found herself buried knee high in the floor, like she had sunk in a bog. And before she could break free, the Dai Lis buried her up to her waist.
Appa landed before the palace and soon, Aang, Sokka, and Toph were in the throne room speaking to the Earth King. As usual, Bosco was resting next to him. The monarch assured them that Katara was fine and they had nothing to worry about. The airbender protested. In his vision, he had felt so sure that she was in trouble. The sovereign told them she had met with the Council of Generals to plan the invasion and since then she had been off with their friends, the Kyoshi Warriors. Sokka was indeed reassured that her sister was with Suki. They were probably back at the apartment right now, talking about make up or something. Aang hesistatingly agreed. The Earth King insisted. If there was any danger at all, Bosco's animal instinct would sense it. But suddenly, the bear raised his head, blinking and grunting inquisitively.
Katara was pacing around a cave lit by glowing green crystals. She heard a rumbling noise and looked up towards the steep tunnel leading outside. The stone blocking the entrance slid away and an agent pushed Zuko and Chenlian inside. They tumbled to the bottom and the Dai Li sealed the path.
"Zuko! Chenlian!" The waterbender exclaimed, astonished.
"Katara!" Chenlian was just as surprised. The two girls embraced, happy to see each other again. They slightly pulled away and the mahogany-haired girl fussed over her friend until she had ascertained she was alright. Then she smiled and assured Katara she was fine too but didn't manage to fool her as Katara knew her habit of smiling and hiding, or rather denying her pain and wounds. With her waterbending, the young Water Tribe woman detected more bruises and gashes, some not pretty. And Chenlian had no choice but to obediently let herself be healed. But then, the love, joy, relief and aggravation Katara felt for her precious friend turned to outrage and loathing when she looked at Zuko who was staring at them.
Aang and his friends returned to their house. The wall destroyed by Toph was in the middle of reconstruction. However, only Momo was there to greet them and jump on the avatar's shoulder. There was no one else, no Katara, no Suki, no one. Katara was in trouble after all! Suddenly, Toph told them an old friend of hers was at the door. He knocked and they opened the door, revealing Iroh. She was glad to see he was okay.
"I need your help." Iroh said gravely. Aang, Sokka and Momo recoiled and screamed in fright at the sight of their old enemy, unlike Toph who smiled and gave Iroh a friendly wave of the hand. The boys gawked... Aang even pointed a finger at the old firebender, shocked that he and Toph knew each other.
"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down." The little earthbender explained. "Then he gave me tea and very good advice. Chenlian was with you at that time. Where is she now?"
"About that... may I come in ?" He inquired. Toph let him in and he told them that Princess Azula was here in Ba Sing Se. The Avatar deduced she must have Katara, and the old man informed them she had captured his nephew as well... and probably Chenlian who wouldn't leave Zuko alone.
"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara, Chenlian and Zuko." Aang declared.
"Woah there. You lost me at 'Zuko'." Sokka walked to his friend and pointed at his chest.
"I know how you must feel about my nephew. But believe me when I tell you there is good inside him." The elderly smiled and placed his hands on Sokka's shoulders in a pleading way. However, 'good inside' wasn't enough for the Water Tribe warrior who wanted him to come back when he was good on the outside too. And he pushed the old man away. Aang begged his comrade too. Katara was in trouble, and Chenlian, and all of Ba Sing Se was in trouble. Working together was their best chance. Sokka nodded grudgingly, making the airbender smile. "I brought someone along who might be able to help us." Iroh said, and they went outside to a bound and gagged Dai Li agent sitting on the porch (although he had actually let himself be captured by order of Linshen Wang so he could inform the Avatar and bring him to that cave, the place where everything would be decided). Toph lifted him up and immobilised him between two stone slabs. Iroh pulled down the gag.
"Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup. They're going to overthrow the Earth King." The frightened man said in a breath. Sokka angrily asked him where they were keeping his sister and menaced him with his machete. "In the crystal catacombs of old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace." He answered. And they all quickly departed for the palace, leaving him here like this.
Long Feng was meditating in his cell while conversing with a Dai Li agent outside who informed him that the movements of all the generals and the Earth King had been plotted out step by step, which pleased the former Grand Secretary. He also told him that the Fire Nation Princess, more than cooperating, had really taken charge. She was terrifying and inspirational all at the same time. It was hard to explain. And the Dai Li left a very suspicious and troubled Long Feng who was feeling his men's allegiance slipping away and shifting onto that princess.
"Why did they throw you in here ?! How come you don't have a scratch when Chenlian's injured like this?! Oh wait. Let me guess. It's a trap. You used some dirty little tactic to weaken her so when Aang shows up to rescue us, you can finally have both him and Chenlian in your little Fire Nation clutches. You're a terrible person, you know that? Always following us, hunting the Avatar, hurting my friend, trying to capture the world's last hope for peace! But what do you care? You're the Fire Lord's son. Spreading war and violence and hatred is in your blood." Katara harshly accused Zuko.
"Katara, you're saying too much. That's-" The female firebender began to protest before the blue-eyed girl cut her off.
"Don't defend him, Chenlian. I know you want to save him and believe in him but look at the truth! You're always the only one injured, even now! How many times has he hurt you and rejected you? Can you say for sure that he won't do it again? Ever since I left the South Pole, you were the first close female friend I met! You've become just like a sister! I don't want you to go through that pain again!" She begged earnestly, her sapphire eyes boring straight in her golden ones, her hands tightly gripping her friend's arms. Chenlian froze for a second as her words piqued her, stirring up the memories of the time when she had warned Katara about Jet... "Katara, you can be blinded by hate, but also by love. And I sincerely hope that you'll be careful and that it isn't what's happening to you. I really, really, really like you, so I don't want to you to be sad."... as well as Senya... no, as Linshen's words... "If he's offered a choice between his father's love and your love, if he had a chance to defeat the Avatar... what do you think he will choose? What about you then?"
"I-it'll be fine. He promised he wouldn't leave me, and he promised he wouldn't make me go through that again. Besides-" The female firebender smiled reassuringly.
"But he's Azula's brother! The Fire Lord's son! Of course he must be lying and using you!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko suddenly interfered. He loved Chenlian, he didn't want her to doubt that or think that he could be using her.
"I don't? !" The waterbender exclaimed, furious. "How dare you! After your father killed Chenlian's parents, after how you guys treated her...! And you have no idea what this war has put me through! Me personally!" She turned her back to them and crouched down, sobbing. "The Fire Nation took my mother away from me." She placed a hand on her necklace as tears rolled down her cheek. Chenlian sighed and put a comforting hand on her back. Katara tightly hugged her and cried on her shoulder. Zuko looked sadly at them.
"I'm sorry. That's something we have in common." He gently and sincerely apologized, surprising the Water Tribe girl who stared back at him.
"Katara, Zuko also had a difficult childhood. His father treated him...well, poorly, and tried to have him killed, and his mother who loved him is now gone. And Zuko, the Southern Water Tribe was once a powerful nation, just like its sister tribe. You saw how it had dwindled due the Fire Nation's incessant raids. Of course she lost family. Everyone lost family, everyone is suffering. That's why... it would be nice if we all stopped fighting... don't you think? So nobody would have to lose anyone or anything anymore..." Chenlian smiled at them hopefully.
The Avatar and his party arrived at the palace on Appa and climbed down. Toph felt the ground. There was an ancient city down there, but it was deep. Sokka decided to split up. Aang was to go with Iroh to look for Katara, Chenlian, and the "angry jerk"... (Iroh took no offence)...
while he'd go with Toph to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup. Momo jumped on Sokka's shoulder and the groups went their separate ways. Some time later, Aang was tunneling down using his earthbending and Iroh was lighting the way with a flame cupped in his hand. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence until Aang decided to break the ice.
"So, Toph thinks you give pretty good advice. And great tea."
"The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind ?" The old man inquired. Aang told him about the Guru, and how, in order to control the great power of the Avatar state, he had to let go of someone he loved... and couldn't do it. "Perfection and power are overrated. I think you were very wise to choose happiness and love." Iroh gave his opinion. He felt sure of it just by looking at his nephew and Chenlian together, even though both had once sought power and perfection so much.
"What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula ? Without the Avatar State, what if I am not powerful enough ?" The monk argued.
"I don't know the answer. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end, but if you just keep moving..." The teamaker began as the child gave another push, earthbending the rocks further away... into a titanic rectangular cave. A green light was shining through. Iroh smiled and put out the flame. The two entered the catacombs. The light was emitted by large green crystals. "You will come to a better place." There were stalagmites and stalactites. In the back of the area was a waterfall pouring into a channel forming two rectangles around several thick, jagged columns. It was really beautiful.
Sokka, Toph and Momo were climbing the steep steps towards the palace entrance. They spotted General How... and the Dai Lis clinging to the pillars, lying in wait as General How walked closer. Sokka grabbed Toph and they hid behind one of the columns. As the general drew closer, the agents shackled him and told him he was under house arrest. The coup was already happening! They had to warn the Earth King! As one by one, the members of the Council of Five were captured, Sokka and Toph ran to the throne room where the king was sitting, Bosco at his side. And there were Mai and Ty Lee in their disguises, so Sokka didn't identify them immediately and only expressed his relief to have arrived in time.
"In time for what?" The Earth King questioned.
"Yeah, what are you in time for..." Ty Lee somersaulted and landed right in front of Sokka, putting her face close to his. "...cutie ?"
"Uh, I'm kinda involved with Suki." He turned her down, sweat pouring down his face.
"Who ?" She tilted her head. Toph earthbended a rock underneath the fake Kyoshi Warrior, hurling her into the air; though she simply flipped backward and landed on top of the badger mole statue in the back of the room.
"They're not the real Kyoshi Warriors!" Toph shouted. The Earth King gasped in shock.
"Sorry to disappoint you." Mai smiled sarcastically and threw three double bladed daggers at the blind girl who shielded herself with a slab of rock that she sent flying at her opponent. The knife-thrower jumped over it but then the earthbender made a stone to pop up under her, right at the time and place of her landing. Toph grinned. Sokka was leisurely watching the fight when Ty Lee sneaked up next to him, giggling with a big happy grin. The startled boy recoiled. Although slower than her usual speed she aimed for his pressure points but he managed to avoid the strikes by ducking, leaning, shifting... and often ending up in an awkward position. The acrobat gleefully noted it was like they were dancing together. However...
"This fight... is over." Azula asserted. She had returned and was holding the Earth King hostage, a hand on his shoulder, a dagger of blue flame close to his head. Sokka and Toph raised their hands in surrender and were disabled by Ty Lee. Momo tried to escape but was captured by a Dai Li agent. The Princess roughly shoved the Earth King away. "Get them all out of my sight." As Toph, Sokka, Momo, the Earth King, and Bosco were all taken away, Azula smiled evilly and focused on Long Feng who had just entered the room, followed by a troop of Dai Li, all lined in rows and standing before the teenage girl.
"Now comes the part where I double-cross you. Dai Li, arrest the Fire Nation Princess." Long Feng commanded. As there was no response, he turned to them, frowning, and pointed at Azula. "I said, arrest her." He repeated, but still nothing, and he was losing patience. "What is wrong with you ?"
"It's because they haven't made up their minds. They're waiting to see how this is going to end." The Fire Nation Princess explained. Long Feng asked what she was talking about. "I can see your whole history in your eyes. You were born with nothing. So you had to struggle and connive and claw your way to power. But true power... the divine right to rule... is something you're born with. The fact is, they don't know which one of us is going to be sitting on that throne and which one is going to be bowing down. But I know. And you know." She said with calm confidence. Sweat starting pouring down the frightened face of the ex minister. Azula sat on the throne and crossed her legs. "Well?" She waited for his response. Long Feng tried to speak up, but he only sweated more, fear was etched deeper still in his features, and he was left speechless. There was nothing he could say or do. The girl fixed him intently with her hard and cold gaze... until he finally closed his eyes, stepped forward and bowed before Azula, admitting his defeat. She had beaten him at his own game. "Don't flatter yourself. You were never even a player."
Katara apologized to Zuko for having yelled at him... but for so long, whenever she would imagine the face of the enemy, it was his face.
"My face. I see..." The banished prince turned away and placed a hand to his scar.
"No, no, that's not what I meant." The waterbender began regretfully.
"It's ok. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark." He took Chenlian's hand that he squeezed as he gazed at her amourously. She was the one who had made him realize. The mahogany-haired girl smiled radiantly and hugged him. He held her even tighter. And Katara could not help but smile good-naturedly. Maybe she had been wrong about Zuko after all, given how Chenlian was head over heels with him... surely, he was a good person deep down. And it was obvious that he too was very in love with Chenlian. Maybe, she should try trusting him too...
"Maybe you could be free of that mark. I have healing abilities." Katara offered, sparking a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the two firebenders. The boy remarked a scar couldn't be healed. She reached under her shirt and held up the vial given to her by Master Pakku. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I have be saving it for something important. I don't know if it would work, but..." She trailed off. Chenlian thanked her with all her heart... to be willing to go that far... to use up something so precious for the sake of one she regarded as an enemy just a few minutes ago... Katara couldn't know how much it meant to her... Zuko stared at them for a moment before closing his eyes and silently accepting the offer. Katara placed her hand on his scar and examined it, but before she did anything else, Aang burst into the tunnel with Iroh. "Aang!" She cried elatedly and ran to the Avatar. They embraced in a warm hug. And a second later, Iroh hugged both Zuko and Chenlian. However, while still in their companion's arms, Zuko and Aang glared at each other. After a time, the hugs broke and Katara placed her hands on Aang's shoulders. She knew he would come.
"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?!" The exiled prince pointed a finger at the object of his long hunt.
"Saving you, that's what." The last airbender replied. But to be saved (again) by the one he had chased and tried to capture all this time... just so he could return home... so he could be accepted once more as a proud member of his family... to be saved by the Avatar... was so humiliating, mortifying... that Zuko snarled and tried to lunge at him, only to be stopped by Iroh and Chenlian.
"Zuko, it's time we talked." The old man declared.
"That's right, you don't need to do that anymore." Chenlian cupped his cheeks and made him look straight into her love-filled amber eyes. "You're no longer the person you were. Because I believe that, because I believe in you, I will help Aang and Katara, I will help them escape, and I will return to you... because the one I love is you, I will return to you. So don't worry, everything will be fine." She smiled reassuringly and kissed his lips before letting go and turning to Iroh who told her to go help her other friends. They would catch up with her. They hugged and the female firebender joined Aang and Katara. The monk clasped his hands and bowed respectfully to the former general before running back through the hole in the cave with Katara. Chenlian slowly followed after them after one last reassuring glance at a sullen Zuko.
"Why, Uncle?"
"You are not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good!" The elderly asserted. The conflicted young man shut his eyes, absorbing his uncle's words, and recalling Chenlian's... "you don't need to do that anymore. You're no longer the person you were. Because I believe that, because I believe in you, I will help Aang and Katara, I will help them escape, and I will return to you... because the one I love is you, I will return to you." But before he could process them, the two were startled by a violent quake. A trail of crystals shot out of the ground until they reached Iroh, trapping him. The teen prepared himself for an attack. Azula and two Dai Li agents slid down from the tunnel Zuko had entered through. Azula advanced towards her brother.
"Leaving Chenlian aside, I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko... you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you ?" The princess prodded him. He demanded that she released his uncle immediately. "It's not too late for you Zuko. You can still redeem yourself."
"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you." Iroh intervened.
"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle? I need you Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history. And the only way we win, is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have your father's love. You will have everything you want." Azula baited him.
"Zuko, I am begging you, look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want." The trapped old man pleaded. Was it Chenlian's love? Was it his father's love? Zuko looked back at his uncle, clearly unsure of whom to listen to. He tightly shut his eyes and lowered his head. He knew he had to decide on one of the two paths before him... and he was torn. Why couldn't these paths be one and the same?!
"You are free to choose." The daughter of the Fire Lord waved a hand signaling the Dai Li agents to leave. They obeyed. She departed through the tunnel Aang, Katara, and Chenlian had gone through, leaving her brother in turmoil.
Aang and the girls were running through the main part of the catacombs where the waterfall was. They had to find Sokka and Toph. Suddenly, a stream of blue fire rocketed towards them from behind. Aang quickly turned around and earthbended a wall of stone to protect them, though the force of the fire was enough to shatter the stone and knock him back. Chenlian spun and kicked arches of fire at different levels. Her rival jumped over the the first one aimed at her feet, blocked the second with her own kick before tearing through the third and last. Meantime, Katara had ran along the channel and bended the water into a large wave that she brought crashing down on Azula who evaporated it with wall of fire. The resulting steam hid the princess from view. The airbender and his friends looked left and right, preparing for a sneak attack. A moment later, the daughter of the Fire Lord jumped out of the steam from one of the larger crystals high above and attacked with three blue fire balls extinguished by an arch of water the two bended over their heads while Chenlian took control of the one headed towards her and sent it right back. Azula fired another at it and landed on a piece of rock jutting out from one of the large columns. The fireballs negated each other. The Avatar sent a shockwave through the column, destroying it. The princess gasped as she dropped down between Aang and Katara, pointing her fingers at both of them. She looked back and forth between the two of them nervously, waiting for their next move, though her eyes most often fell on Chenlian standing a distance in front her.
Suddenly, a blast of red fire landed between Aang and Azula. They shielded themselves and turned towards the new comer, Zuko, who had removed his outer garments and was now wearing a simple brown shirt and brown pants as it was easier to move around. He drew closer, poised in his firebending stance, and looked at his sister who harshly and warily eyed him. Then he turned to Chenlian observing him with a hopeful expression... that turned to disbelief and fear when she saw the pain in his eyes before he closed them and looked up determinedly at Aang and punched forward, shooting a fire ball at him. Aang reacted just in time and protected himself by airbending a spiral of wind around his body and jumping back to gain distance as the flames dispersed. Azula smirked and threw a jet of fire at the waterbender with an underhand toss. Katara quenched the fire. Unable to process, acknowledge, and accept what was happening, Chenlian could only watch, paralysed, as Zuko furiously, desperately sent fireballs at the Avatar with a series of punches. She hadn't even noticed, but tears had started streaming down her eyes. This couldn't be true... this couldn't be happening... this was just a nightmare... a dream... it was just a bad dream!
Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King (and Momo) were confined in a metal cell. Sokka looked out and saw no Dai Li. The coast was clear. The earthbender cracked her knuckles, crunched the metal door in her fists, and shoved it away. The four made their escape, although the toppled Earth King had no intention to leave without Bosco.
Zuko assaulted Aang with a rapid barrage of fire balls but the Avatar shielded himself with a whirlwind. With his momentum built up by running around, he suddenly stopped and stuck his chest out, sending forth a gust of air in the shape of his body. His opponent gasped as the gust hit him, blowing him back several feet and knocking him to the ground. The monk leaped and attempted to strike the Fire Nation prince with a blast of wind, but Zuko rolled out of the way and countered with a blast of fire to Aang's legs. The Avatar jumped high into the air and landed on a column.
Katara cried Chenlian's name warningly, allowing her to raise her arms barely in time to protect herself from Azula's fire. However, she was still hurled back against a pillar. She just stayed there, like this. She couldn't move. It was like all strength had left her limbs. But then, she looked up. Everyone was fighting. Katara and Azula were fighting. And Zuko was fighting Aang. Why? How did things come to this? Zuko... had chosen Azula and his father? He hadn't chosen her after all? Even though she loved him so much, even though she believed in him and would have risked her life to protect him and their happiness, even though he knew what his father had done to her family and what she and the world had gone through because of him...? She thought... he had seen and accepted the truth... She thought... he loved her and had accepted her... What should she do?
"If he's offered a choice between his father's love and your love, if he had a chance to defeat the Avatar... what do you think he will choose? What about you then?"
"What you truly want... more than Zuko... is world peace... isn't it?"
"I would never do anything that would cause harm to Aang, Katara and Sokka, no matter how taken with someone I can be. I'd risk my life to defend them. And I promise that if Lee or Mushi ever try to act against the people here or the Avatar and his friends, I will stop them with everything I have."
"The war must end. But Ozai won't stop. That's why I'm helping the Avatar. He's my precious friend, and he will bring peace and prosperity to everyone, including the Fire Nation. That's why I've been fighting all this time."
What she had been fighting for all this time... the ones she must protect at all costs were the Avatar, Aang and his companions... for the sake of this world, for the future... and for her to be able to continue existing as herself. That was her choice, her path, her duty, her destiny. That was... who she was. Her views and Ozai's views were fundamentally incompatible. Submitting to him meant denying all her beliefs which constituted her identity... the complete disappearance of her self... a fate worse to her than prison, torture, or death. Chenlian closed her eyes, and when she opened them again after a moment, they had recovered their determination and implacability and she had stopped crying. What she had to do... was to stop those fights and let Aang and Katara get away no matter what!