The Final Battle of the Hundred Year War
6
Toph knew important battles were being waged within those walls. She wished she were there to fight along her allies too, but Toph had taken on the painful labor of keeping control of everything outside the Palace, ensuring the Gladiator Army would not be overwhelmed or overcome by any reinforcements sent by the Fire Nation.
Her chest heaved as she panted, constantly exercising her seismic sense to ensure she could keep track of everything happening across the city's landscape: she had sensed the fight inside the Palace, that singular duel, but caught in her own scuffles, she hadn't been able to rush in, whether to interrupt or to partake in it. She could only hope Sokka would knock sense into Azula. By now, around an hour after she had last sensed them at all, she deeply hoped he had succeeded.
But she had been stuck dealing with wild attacks coming from the strange troops that weren't quite soldiers, rushing in from the streets, as though having been commanded to lay in wait and ambush her and her troops. So far, she had undone around five different groups that had sought to attack her that way, while hearing the blaring tsungi horns from the Fire Nation's side, echoing across the landscape.
"You sure that means they're supposed to surrender?!" Toph shouted. Jet, beside her, shrugged.
"It's my best bet! The soldiers in the usual uniform gave up a while ago, I don't know what the hell is up with these guys!" he said, dashing in with his swords to strike down yet another of those stragglers, a man with a markedly Fire Nation outfit, but lacking any of the distinct shapes and traits that ever distinguished the enemy army's official uniform.
He struck the foe first, disarming him before an arrow struck the enemy's eye: moments later, Smellerbee had leapt on him, stabbing his chest repeatedly until he stopped moving.
The Freedom Fighters had been capable of many things in their youth, but the carnage and violence they had glorified back then no longer held the pristine appeal it once had. As much as they'd stop at nothing to defeat their foes now, no true triumph rang in their hearts over the numerous deaths they had dealt across that battlefield… for none could until they knew for certain that the battle had ended.
A groan in the sky caused Toph to jerk her head towards the sound: Appa's large shadow approached them, by Kino's command.
"Was that the last one over here?" he asked. "I just helped Shanyuan with a bunch over to the west…"
"Where the fuck are all these leeches coming from?" Toph snarled. "Who the hell are they?"
"I don't know… but the Fire Nation's given the order to surrender."
Jet perked up upon hearing that. His hand darted out, clasping Longshot's shoulder.
"Then… that tsungi horn call? That's what I thought it meant, but…"
Toph snarled: if the Fire Nation had given that command, the men attacking them had been given a different one.
"Who gave that order? Do you know, Kino?" she asked. Kino swallowed hard.
"It… it was her, I think."
Toph gritted her teeth: tears surged in her eyes before she could help it, but she shook her head violently afterwards.
"Then these bastards… were told to attack her, attack us, if she gave that command," she determined. "They wouldn't have done it otherwise. They… they could've helped them fight us off. They were scattered all over the city, lying in wait…! But they were ready to pounce on us only after the Fire Nation weakened us first. They're not really… not really on their side. Whatever we're fighting is…!"
"A rogue group. A third army?" Jet scowled.
"We'll get them anyhow," Smellerbee spat on the ground, scowling heavily. "I barely care if the Fire Nation's given up… but if those pieces of shit won't stop, we'll make them stop."
"What happened to them?" Toph asked Kino. "Azula, Sokka… I felt they were fighting but I couldn't get there on time to…"
"They fought. He… he defeated her," Kino said. Toph froze, lips parting. "But then he gave up, instead of cutting her down, so…"
"What?" Smellerbee scowled. "That guy makes no sense…!"
"He… he gave up?" Toph repeated: a small smile spread over her face. "He… saved her?"
"That's what it looked like, but I had to keep track of the fights out here with you guys, so…" Kino sighed, gritting his teeth. "That's what I heard when I checked in again. By then, they were gone and… I don't know what's going on anymore. They might have gone in to… to face the Fire Lord?"
"Surely," Toph gritted her teeth. "If they did then… then maybe I should be there. I don't know if they'll need me, but…"
"We'll come with you," Jet said. Smellerbee snarled.
"Might just get one stab in before he's done for," she hissed. Longshot placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.
Kino nodded, offering them a quick lift on Appa's back: they had wound up quite far away from the Palace, fighting in distant streets towards which the enemy forces had lured them. Appa swept his tail, jumping into the sky and providing Kino with a perfect view of the dark Palace… from which a group of people were flowing out. He frowned at the sight of it, from afar.
"Something's going on. T-that can't be good," he concluded.
"What? What?!" Toph jumped on her seat, turning towards him. "What are you talking about?"
"There's a bunch of people escaping the Palace," Jet said, scrutinizing the Palace gardens as best as he was able in the dark. "I don't know what that's about, but… it looks like it's Fire Nation soldiers and Gladiator Army people. Everyone's just… running."
Toph shuddered, tension and bile rising in her gut. Whatever had caused people to flee in such a manner couldn't possibly be good, that much went without saying…
"Yip-yip! Hurry, Appa!" Kino spurred him on: the bison flew faster, diving towards the Palace's gardens in a rush as they were gradually vacated.
The creature let out a familiar groan when he landed: instants after they touched the ground, Kino raised his gaze to find, to his utmost relief, familiar faces among the people exiting the building.
"Zuko! Aang! You guys…!"
His voice died out when he realized why neither the Exiled Prince nor the Avatar were facing forward as they walked.
They were carrying someone between them.
A corpse.
Kino's jaw dropped, as did that of his every ally save Toph, at the sight of the once pristine, immaculate Fire Lord, drenched in blood from his chest downwards. His pale face spoke for itself.
Two of Azula's guards helped carry him, too: it seemed too great an honor for a man responsible for so much cruelty… and yet Zuko's presence among those holding him, holding his dead body, gave even Jet pause. It was no secret that Zuko had meant to be the one who killed his own father… had it been his doing? Had he finished him off? Or had something unfathomable happened, instead, to result in this outcome?
Kino shuddered as his voice went ignored. The profound horror that marked his friends didn't allow them to acknowledge him – Aang even ignored Appa, shivering as he was, eyes glazed with fear and emotion alike…
"Kino…!"
The non-bender jolted himself back to his senses upon hearing Katara's voice: he glanced towards the Palace entrance anew, spotting the rattled waterbender, eyes wide, face paler than he had seen it in ages: a glimpse of her bloodstained hands sent an unsettling shiver down Kino's spine.
"Katara!" he exclaimed, jumping off Appa's neck and rushing towards her. "Are you okay? I-is someone hurt? Or…?"
"S-someone will be. All of us will be. If… if what they said is true, w-we have to go, Kino. Now," Katara said. He frowned.
"What's going on? What…?"
Heavy footsteps behind them, deep in the Palace still, silenced Kino quickly: more guards were marching out, flanking the last of Kino's closest friends… whose arms were wrapped around a distraught, overwhelmed Princess Azula.
Toph jumped off Appa just in time to sense their approach. She gasped, turning towards them, rushing in their direction when Sokka crossed the building's threshold anew, eyes frantically glancing about himself.
"Sokka! Azula!"
Her voice could have triggered yet another emotional explosion for the Princess, while it spawned relief in Sokka's heart, instead: Toph rushed towards them, hands reaching out to clasp either of their shoulders.
"You guys…!" she shuddered: Azula gritted her teeth, wishing she had the time to talk with Toph properly… wishing her heart were in a place where she could do such a thing at all.
But there was one thing she needed to do first. Whatever might happen to this Palace now, over her father's untimely, careless final command to his relentless assassin, the life she had been trying to protect for all this time would not be sacrificed now.
"Help us," Azula said, startling Toph when she gripped her shoulder right back. "Where's Space Sword? Help us find…. Toph, just… u-use your seismic sense, tell us where…!"
Toph blinked blankly at that request: those were certainly not the first words she had expected to hear from her friend as a reunion… but clearly, Sokka hadn't gotten his dream reunion either. Something terrible was at stake here, and Toph wasn't about to act like a spoiled child over it.
"It's…" she said, frowning before stomping heavily to sense her surroundings.
No doubt, Sokka had dropped it at some point in their fight. Otherwise, Azula would not be asking, but in the midst of so many vibrations, Toph feared that she might struggle to…
The shape of two blades, so close together, took form in her mind's eye, and with a quick bending move, Toph shifted the earth fast to drag them towards their owners.
Sokka gasped: still gripping Azula, he leaned forward to catch his blade with expertise, sheathing it over his shoulder before picking up Wolf's Bane as well.
"Don't know if we'll be needing this one too, but…" Sokka said, sliding it, unsheathed, into his sash. Azula shuddered. "Let's go."
"What's going on? Where are you going?" Toph asked. "Can I…?"
"You can come too, I guess, but…! Maybe stay here and tell people to get out instead!" Sokka said, tightening his hold around Azula's waist as he led the way through the gardens, not towards the torn gates, but to the South Wing, instead. "This place is about to go down, Toph. Get to safety and make sure everyone's out…!"
"Call… call your earthbenders!" Azula said, startling Sokka and Toph with the sudden power and urgency in her voice. She glanced towards Toph, her heart thumping hard. "Work with them to seal all the tunnels underground… tell them to block all possible paths that lead to the Palace, Toph!"
"Princess…" Rui Shi, behind her, caused Azula to whip her head back. "Are they…? The civilians. They're all evacuated, underground…"
"They are," Azula said, shuddering. Sokka snarled.
"Then… get them out," Sokka told Rui Shi. Azula gritted her teeth.
"Do that," she said. "Tell Renkai. Say it's my command. Make him… make him spread it across all Fire Nation forces. Take all civilians to the furthermost escapes, the ones as far from the Palace as can be. We don't know how far… how bad it can spread. So…"
"Understood. We will see to it," Rui Shi said, nodding firmly. "I'll have the Enforcers help too."
"Go. Go now, Rui Shi," Azula said, struggling to contain the tears anew: the people she had fought to save for all this time were, of course, in danger yet again. Even now, even in death, even after he had finally made the right choice in the end, her father's misguided orders continued to wreak havoc across her life, to sabotage her best efforts to save her loved ones, her people…
She wanted to begrudge him for it. For so many things besides this, too. Her hands were still stained with his blood. Her heart still seemed to bleed out as much as his had. There was no true rational explanation for what she had just experienced… for the pain that continued to ravage her across every instant of knowing her father was gone.
But Sokka's firm arm around her body grounded her. She raised her gaze towards him, and he met her eyes with determination and certainty.
"Let's go. He's waiting."
She nodded: Toph breathed out as she stepped back, sensing as Sokka herded Azula knowingly in a set direction of the Palace… the dragon's refuge.
"What the fuck is going on, Rui Shi?" she asked, turning to him in confusion. "I'll do what they asked, but…!"
"The Fire Lord's assassin is about to… to destroy the Palace, who knows if the whole city at this rate," Rui Shi said. Toph's frown deepened. "There's volatile bombs underground. If they react to his fire the way they usually do? It'll be… it'll be some manner of explosion that consumes and destroys everything, as far as I understand. So…"
"Fuck," Toph gritted her teeth, shaking her head. "Fucking… Captain Monument?!"
Her voice carried over in the distance: the earthbender in question, surrounded by others of the same skill, was quick to shout in response as Toph rushed towards him. Jet, Longshot and Smellerbee remained on the bison's back, and Kino returned to his position on his neck after his conversation with Katara ended: the waterbender rushed off to help heal the wounded, to give out more warnings for people to flee…
"We've got to get out of here. Fuck…!" Kino gritted his teeth, harnessing Appa's reins. "Yip-yip!"
"What the hell is everyone even talking about?!" Smellerbee snapped.
"Beats me, but… it sounds like a nightmare," Jet said, shaking. "The Fire Lord's dead. It should be over. It should be over…"
"He didn't want it to be," was Kino's bitter response, as he guided Appa towards the Palace gates. "You guys… get to safety and help people get out, too! I'll take Appa and try to help everyone who doesn't know what's going on!"
The others nodded in acceptance of his plan: chaos reigned anew in the Fire Nation Capital, one where Fire Nation, Gladiator Army and White Lotus no longer seemed to hold different meanings: everyone, at once, was subjected to the same dread, the same fear of ultimately losing a battle, regardless of its rightful outcome.
Azula struggled to walk across the Palace's terrains, even if she made her best effort to progress towards the refuge quickly. Sokka's footsteps were stronger, faster, and she gritted her teeth as she tried to keep pace.
"I can't… g-go first. I'll catch up…" she said. Sokka scoffed.
"Not a chance."
"Sokka…"
Her attempt not to burden him wound up failing entirely when he stopped on his tracks, leaning down and scooping her up across his arms.
His strong frame, his unwavering determination… all of it struck Azula's heart deeply as she leaned into him, as she pressed her face to his armor. The urge to cry damn near overwhelmed her anew… as he took off. He ran as fast as he possibly could, with her draped across his arms, without protesting or trying to argue against this course of action at all. She lacked the strength to make any misguided shows of pride.
"How bad is it?" he asked. "How many locks? Chains?"
"Shackles… on all his paws and tail," she said. "Cut the lock on the front door… then all the shackles. T-that should be enough. He… he should break free with that."
"Okay," he said: he pulled her close, pressing a brisk kiss upon her brow, and Azula leaned closer to him for it.
He had to set her down for his task once they finally reached the refuge, where for once, no guards paced: he was as delicate as he could be, placing Azula carefully on the floor before unsheathing Space Sword anew: a lightning-fast slash, and the metal door behind which Xin Long hid was cut down.
He was rewarded by a groan that almost broke his heart as well: Xin Long's golden eyes blazed with despair as he struggled with the chains that held him to the wretched refuge. Sokka rushed in, as did Azula, right behind him.
"I'm sorry…! I'm sorry!" Azula blurted out, as Sokka made his way to Xin Long's front legs: the shackle system upon them would snap open easily enough once the lock was undone. "Xin, I…! Y-you'll be free now. You'll… I'm so sorry…!"
Xin Long groaned: he didn't need her apologies now. They could speak later. For now, everything was as urgent as could be, and they had to get out of the Palace at once. He knew what the threat was, he had witnessed everything through Azula's mind so far… his hatred towards the sickening fire only surged further over the panic of being consumed by it.
"It won't get to you. We won't let it," Azula promised him: she stopped by Sokka, and he raised his blade.
Hacking the first lock off didn't take long: together, they shoved the split sides of the shackles off, and Xin Long shook his paw violently afterwards, as though to regain proper use of his limb upon its long-overdue freedom. Azula trailed a hand over his damaged scales before they moved to the next lock, on his other front paw.
Azula's hands shivered with each shackle Sokka undid systematically. Her heart pounded painfully, wishing she could've done this so much sooner… wishing she hadn't needed to wait so long for this moment to finally arrive. But the second, then the third, then the fourth shackle came off… and Xin Long roared with eagerness as only one lock remained, on the shackle of his tail.
Sokka swung his sword: he cut it cleanly, and Azula shoved the shackle open as fast as her unsteady hands allowed it.
With that, Xin Long was finally free.
The dragon swung his tail in the air, from side to side: he drew in a deep breath, and he gradually rose to his greatest height. A burst of blue flames, potent and passionate, spilled from his jaws as he roared in triumph… in relief, celebration, and defiance:
Never again would anyone chain him. He would never be a prisoner anew.
Azula's heart ached at the sight of her dragon's reaction: his rage, his pain, his determination only reminded her of her failings, even if she had finally helped set him free. He should have been through none of that agony, none of that anguish…
Sokka's arms wrapped around her body just as wind rose around them: Xin Long trotted towards the doorway Sokka had torn open, and even after bumping into the threshold of the refuge, desperate as he was, Xin Long rushed out and into the sky.
His blue flames poured out of his jaws anew: a threat to any who dared attempt any such crime anew, a sign of hope and strength to those who rejoiced in his freedom. It was the one blooming light in the midst of the darkest night the Fire Nation had ever witnessed… and so, all eyes were drawn to the creature that had finally been set free.
"The dragon…" Kino gasped, halfway through ferrying another group of confused soldiers and warriors out of the Palace's territory. "Xin Long!"
Aang, having finally carried Ozai's body beyond the first rows of houses in the city, watched in awe and gratitude as yet another vanquished hope, another of the Fire Nation's very worst crimes, was undone. He hadn't laid eyes upon a dragon since before the Hundred Year War… and now, it seemed fitting that the sight of one would show the world that the conflict was finally at its conclusion.
"They did it…" Zuko said, breathing heavily. "But…"
Aang nodded, glancing down at the Palace anew: nothing had happened yet, but something was bound to. He didn't quite know what this deadly, corrupt fire would look like, but he had no doubts it would be terrifying.
"W-what do we do now? Aang…" Katara, desperate, stepped towards him: he clasped her hands in his, pressing his brow to hers.
"We… we wait for your brother. He'll know what to do."
The roars of freedom seemed to herald a new dawn already… but they were no certainty of one, and Xin Long knew so, too. Azula knelt by the last of the shackles to come off, chest heaving as Sokka approached her, showing no sign of exhaustion, no hint of weakness.
"Azula…" he called her, cupping her face. "We have to go. We have to get out of here, now."
She nodded, unable to speak. Unable to articulate any proper thoughts.
"How many bombs do you think there were down there?" Sokka asked, cradling her in his arms anew. Azula gripped him as best she could, letting him hoist her up as he marched out of the refuge. "How wide do you expect their reach to go? Would… would it just be the Palace? Or…?"
"I don't know," she answered, truthfully. "I… I think it could be more than that. It… might be. H-he wasn't thinking about… about leaving anyone alive. He thought… he thought we'd all die. It was his last bid to… to make sure he wouldn't fail the Fire Lords' cause, but…"
"I get it," Sokka said, gritting his teeth: they stepped out of the refuge by then, and he glared around himself warily, confirming the area was still empty, still not consumed by corrupt fire. "And he didn't tell you what he had in mind beforehand because…"
"He assumed we'd… we'd both be dead."
Sokka snarled: the wretched Fire Lord and his cruel choices continued to haunt them in far too many ways. Ozai's selfishness carried a heavy cost with it… one he had paid for when he had finally forsaken it. Curse the bastard for dying when he finally had made a right choice, for once in his life…
"Do you think airbending could keep it in check?" Sokka asked. "Earth… when we fought him underground, he couldn't escape until the earthbenders we brought with us tore the ground open again, remember? So maybe… maybe earthbending could keep him at bay. Water? Could water douse his fire? I know it's not normal fire, but it's still fire…!"
"Sokka…"
"And of course… how about fire? Actual fire, consuming the bombs before his does? Then he'd be stuck with nothing. If… i-if we could burn the gas first, or counter his burning, then…!"
His words, spoken in a desperate bid to save everyone, to put a stop to the catastrophe waiting to happen, somehow blasted clarity into Azula's mind.
There was one way.
There was one thing that could stop corruption of that magnitude.
She had already proven it a year ago, and nearly paid for it with her life.
"There's a way."
Sokka frowned, glancing down at her: her trembling voice suddenly stabilized. Her tearful eyes grew determined, certain, clear…
She raised them to his, and Sokka's heart jolted and pained him all at once. Time hadn't passed in vain, for there were countless things about them that had changed since they had last been together… but Azula's expression now brought back the feeling of stability, of certainty, that no challenge could ever be too grand provided they faced it together.
"What do you have in mind?" he asked, with a thread of a voice. Azula swallowed hard.
"I… I don't know if I… n-no. I have to. I-I need to do it. Doesn't matter if it's hard, I…"
"Azula? You're not about to go after him, or…?" Sokka asked, his hope suddenly souring. Azula, however, shook her head.
"The one thing that can contest corruption of that nature is… my fire. Xin Long's. Together… w-we could put a stop to it. We could… we could burn down his flames before they spill too far. But…"
"You're not in your best shape," Sokka snarled, rushing faster towards the gates. "Azula, are you sure? We could just run and…!"
"Our daughter is underground."
Sokka's eyes widened. His grip upon her body tightened, and his fearful gaze locked on hers. Those words alone sufficed, she knew. He wouldn't stand for anything less.
"She…"
"She will be evacuated back to the surface. But I won't… w-won't take any risks. I won't… w-won't lose anyone else. No more. No more," Azula snarled: determination rushed inside her, filling her with a strength she had seemingly lost when her father had died in her arms.
"Fuck… fuck!" Sokka growled: the gates were almost fully empty by now. The last of the soldiers and guards to vacate the building were on their way out… some of them carrying the man who, in the end, might be just as responsible for this outcome as Ozai himself was.
Out of sheer impulse, he could have cut him down now. Curse Shaofeng and curse every fool who had ever granted him enough power to commit the heinous acts he had thus far.
They crossed the Palace gates shortly after that last group did: Sokka's eyes scanned the crowd past the walls quickly, frantically, until he finally located the person he was looking for:
"Katara!"
His sister had only just rejoined the other waterbenders: busy as they had been in the harbor, they had arrived only now at the Capital itself. Pakku stood with her, and his eyes widened as Sokka approached with Azula across his arms still.
"Sokka, w-we saw the dragon…!"
"Yeah, he's free, and we need his help. And yours!" Sokka said, setting Azula down carefully by his sister. "Heal her. Do everything you can… fix her every wound. She needs to be… n-needs to be at her best now. She… she might be able to stop this."
"To stop… a corrupt fire explosion?" asked Pakku, scowling. "General, I don't understand what that corrupt fire even means…"
"If Azula can't stop it, you will understand soon," Sokka said, firmly.
Katara breathed out heavily as she borrowed water from the benders with her: Azula's lips parted as the glowing water slipped through her wounds, easing their pain, mending them as effectively, as quickly, as they possibly could. Katara's hands moved, but whether her healing was fast enough or not, nobody would know… not unless the Princess could stop the Fire Nation's seat of power from crumbling entirely.
The Enforcers and surviving Domestic Forces had taken to task at once: the confused evacuated citizens, having spent far too long underground, ambled awkwardly, panicked, towards the exits. It became clear, even without hearing a full explanation, that they weren't safe this time. That the typical plans the Fire Nation resorted to in order to keep all civilian population out of danger had been jeopardized… even if they hardly understood why, or how.
Several of the last civilians to leave even caught sight of the metal doors being reinforced with new walls of earth, bent that way from the surface. Some earthbenders even dared break their way underground to do so, careless about the panic they stirred among the commoners while bolstering the defenses of the underground tunnels. Toph led them through each one, constantly using her seismic sense to tell which ones led directly into the Palace… hoping as best she could that their power would successfully seal the underground away from the impending explosion.
But deep in that empty building, in that dark basement, lay a promise of destruction unlike any their world had ever seen.
Seethus stood among the bombs: twenty different, large canisters of explosive, expansive material waited to become his tomb, and he trembled as he faced the impending death he had been contesting for as long as his power had awoken. When his failure as a young man to unlock a deeper kind of power, a lost firebending art, had resulted in something unnatural blooming and growing inside him. Perhaps he had simply never been fated for that art at all… or perhaps this was the reason why it had been lost, to begin with. In harnessing fire's power by separating its components, he had broken something deep within himself, lost his identity, lost his very life force to a power that constantly sought to consume him.
His only defense was to provide it nothing to consume. To offer a muted, inhumane quarry that his own corruption did not care to destroy. His body was but a vessel for a sickness he could not cure. His greed, his ambitions, his eagerness to reach for more… all of them had initially powered the dark, deadly flames in his control.
It didn't matter that he was no longer that man. That he would never reach for powers beyond his ability again. It didn't matter at all… for he had done it once, and once was enough for gods or spirits to condemn him. He had broken the balance within himself, on a far greater level than that of the Fire Lord… he had broken the balance between his own life and his death.
Now, when the man who had been his reason to live had drawn his final breath, Seethus had a mission to fulfill.
It was the last Ozai had given him, and the last he would carry to the letter.
"In your name… I offer my life and death, Lord Ozai."
Seethus spread his arms: the corruption poured out of him, tearing undone the robes upon his body, exposing his blemished, darkened, necrotic skin. His mouth opened, and his smoke poured out of it: the corrupt fire, incapable of true light, incapable of true warmth, spread out of him nonetheless, finally taking hold of what was left of his individuality, the final hint of humanity he sacrificed to honor the man to whom he had sworn eternal loyalty.
Twisted as the dark flames were, they eroded the bombs' containers gradually. The gas poured out, once it did…
The very final blaze of Seethus's dying inner flame reached the volatile gas, and once it did, the rest of the canisters burst undone at once.
The assassin left nothing behind when his fire finally consumed him.
Toph was the first to sense it had started. Her seismic sense picked up on it immediately: where there had been solid ground moments ago, perfectly physical, stable earth… suddenly, the depths of the Palace had become intangible. And with it, the building's foundations started to crumble.
"Shit… shit, SOKKA!"
Her voice carried across the city, but it didn't reach him: a sound akin to thunder did, however, and he whipped his head around quickly towards the Palace, the source of the noise that startled two armies.
"It's happening," the Gladiator said. Pakku, disbelieving and confused, frowned as he glared at the Palace's silhouette.
Another man stepped up to stand beside him: Jeong Jeong had heard the rumor of what was happening, and his whole body shuddered as his greatest fears over his power, over the destructive potential of firebending, materialized in a terrifying way.
The central tower of the Fire Nation Palace tilted sideways, ever so slightly… heralding much worse destruction.
"Stop now," Azula told Katara: her wounds weren't fully healed yet… but this would have to suffice.
The woman met her gaze with utter disbelief: Azula offered her nothing but remorse as she turned around, to face the Palace anew.
"Azula…!" Sokka reached for her shoulder. The Princess breathed deeply.
"I know what I have to do. I know… I know it's dangerous. But I can't stand back now, Sokka," Azula said, meeting his eyes next: her own blazed with regrets she could not voice, with words that were left unsaid, with so much she had needed to share, to explain to the man she loved…
But as Xin Long landed again, before her, she knew that any chance to speak thoroughly with Sokka would have to be created with her own hands, provided she contested Seethus's fire… if she undid his corruption and saved both the Fire Nation and the Gladiator Army.
It didn't matter that Xin Long wore no saddle, no bridle: Azula stepped up, her hand falling upon his back firmly, and she pushed herself up to climb him…
Sokka's hands gripped her waist, hoisting her yet again, helping her with his own strength, setting her on her usual place by her dragon's front legs. Xin Long was tired, weak, far from his best shape, much like Azula… but determination to see this finished blazed in his golden glare, nonetheless.
"I could… could go with you," Sokka said. Azula breathed deeply, gazing down at him from her position on Xin Long's back. "As we used to. Azula…"
Her hand cupped his cheek: even now, he wouldn't stop trying to save her, to spare her from the worst things she knew she'd have to do. Even now, he couldn't seem to stop fighting for her sake… and her heart, still bleeding grief so profusely, pounded with affection almost strong enough to overpower every other feeling.
"You can guide them," she said. Sokka's eyes widened. "Everything you told me, every tactic you thought of… earthbenders, waterbenders, firebenders, even the Avatar? Tell them what to do, Sokka. You're not… not just the man who rides behind me: you're their leader. The worthiest leader this world ever saw. So… stand here and lead them. No one else can do it but you."
He gritted his teeth: he didn't want to let go. She knew that. It couldn't have been more obvious. He wanted to fly with her, to launch himself into deadly flames with her, to die with her if that was their only fate… she, again, denied it to him, but this time, because only this way would they save as many people as they were fighting to protect. This time, he understood.
So as painful as it was, Sokka nodded: Azula offered him a heartbroken smile, and it might have been the most beautiful sight he had witnessed in what felt like years…
She leaned close, as she always did. Her wounds did not stand in the way. Neither did the countless people looking to them for leadership and salvation.
She gripped his neck, and she pressed her lips willfully to his.
Sokka didn't hesitate to respond: his own hands rose to cup her face, holding her in place, prolonging that chance to convey just how deep his faith in her ran… how strong his trust in her had always been. Their hearts raced in unison, and if their reencounter alone hadn't renewed the connection between them, this kiss certainly did.
They had done this countless times. She had kissed him before he set out to battle, and he had kissed her whenever she had to say goodbye. Any and all separation between them had always caused them misery, more so when they saw the other off to danger… but right now, as anguished as Sokka was, as desperate as Azula might be, that stolen moment fueled the fires in their hearts…
And Azula's inner flame burned undoubtedly gold.
She pulled back begrudgingly: the life she seemed to reclaim off his lips, the power, the certainty, the strength she had long lost, were hers anew. The wound of having lost her father would not heal, not yet… but it drifted to the back of her heart, waiting to be addressed at another time.
For now, she had to save their world.
Sokka's hand held hers for one last moment before Xin Long flexed his paws, shooting up into the sky.
The Blue Wolf watched his partner fly into the distance, trembling. Bereft of her, once again, his heart hardly seemed to function… but she wasn't gone. She wouldn't be.
She had asked him to lead. It was the one thing he'd been doing for a year now… the one thing he could get right, and the one thing he could do to support her now.
"Gladiator Army! White Lotus! Fire Nation!"
His voice rose, earning the attention of all factions at once, even those who had never meant to follow him. The display between him and Princess Azula had certainly caught enough people by surprise, as good as mesmerizing them by how unbelievable the sight had been… but now, their questions, their curiosity, their confusion would be stomped out completely by the commanding presence of a man who would stop at nothing to help and save the woman he loved.
The Gladiator's chest heaved: the Palace's lower floors were vanishing under the corrupt flames. The noise of cracking rocks continued to trample over any other sound, falling to shambles, destined to become even less than debris as the corruption spread further and further…
"This is the last battle!" Sokka roared. "Failure here… means none of us will live to see dawn anew! I don't care who you owe your allegiance to: grant it to me now, and we will see this calamity undone!"
A light rumor of support rose from the gladiators, in particular. Sokka nodded in their direction, glancing at Aang now.
"Fly. Get up there, and use your airbending to keep the flames contained," Sokka said. Aang shuddered. "I don't know that your Avatar powers could control corrupt fire the way you can with other firebending, but right now…!"
"I'll keep it in check. I'll do everything I can," Aang nodded, stepping forward and spreading his staff open into its glider shape.
Katara didn't hesitate to follow her brother's earlier example: she clasped Aang's nape, pulling him down to press a kiss upon his lips. A wish of luck… a shared hope that passed between them, one that Aang accepted gladly, his hand on Katara's waist.
"I'll be back soon," he whispered. Katara nodded.
"Go."
He took flight, as did Appa and Kino, briefly afterwards: there were two airbenders left, for the bison wouldn't hesitate from aiding his partner in this dangerous endeavor. Kino, now alone on the creature's neck, stood ready to guide it in following Aang's example.
"Waterbenders!" Sokka shouted, turning towards them now. "Gather as much water as you can! We don't know if this first fire can be defeated with water… but if we're successful, the second flames won't burn out of control if you do this!"
His words were confusing now, but they would add up soon enough. Pakku nodded, stepping forward with Katara as they took positions by the Palace's walls.
"Earthbenders! Bolster the Palace walls! Raise as much earth as you can and force the fire to consume it! Keep it limited! Keep it constrained! Don't allow it to spill out of the Palace, whether above the surface or below it!" Sokka shouted. Toph, sweating, cracked her knuckles and nodded.
"On it!" she roared. "Everyone… get to work!"
It was the same work they had done underground, only this time, they'd see it much more clearly: the pristine walls of the Palace had already sustained damage during the earlier battles, and now it would serve as a rather weak defense against the danger that hurtled towards them.
"Firebenders!" Sokka roared: Zuko, Rui Shi and his fellow guards were the first to step up, but it wasn't long before the Fire Nation's soldiers responded to his command. "Pour your fire into the Palace too! Grant her your flames! Every last effort will help! Give it everything you've got!"
Zuko scowled as he stepped up: he had failed to fulfill his intended duty today, unable to cut down his father, first… unable to save him, later.
He would not fail now. Not when so many lives were at stake, including that of his sister, whom they had only finally been able to save.
The rest of the firebenders followed him forward, standing among the waterbenders: the whole group was wide enough to spread all around the Palace, not merely standing by its gates. Firebenders of all allegiances, whether determined or terrified, took their places among those who had been their enemies… those they had been taught to destroy.
They took their orders from the leader they had been meant to kill on that day, for he fought to save their nation, too.
In the sky, Azula felt the breeze as she hadn't in years. Her teeth chattered, as every overwhelming emotion she had undergone across the past hour appeared intent on ravaging her now. Her hands gripped Xin Long's hair gently, unwilling to pull, unwilling to ever hurt him again…
He didn't quite care if she did: his vengeful need to destroy the Palace certainly lined up too well with what needed to be done right now. In his eyes, in his heart, that place was as corrupt as the flames that now rose from it… that caused the structure of the building to cede, as smoke started to pour out of its depths. He didn't feel any affection for the place, not the way Azula did. He couldn't care less to see it burn… but he would not allow its destruction to spread further.
It was fortunate that the unnatural fire Seethus wielded did not expand as easily as a normal explosion would. Otherwise, they would have been lost by now, Azula realized…
She breathed. She breathed. She calmed herself as best she could… even though flashes of her father's dying face couldn't seem to stop crossing her mind. She snarled, wishing she could have stopped the worst from happening. Wishing she wouldn't have failed to notice the threat… that her father wouldn't have leapt to save her when he had finally opened his eyes to the truths he had denied, for so long…
But she only had a chance to do that at all because Sokka had granted her that much. Because he had come to her, crossing the whole world, cutting down any threats, any foes, every single hurdle along the way, in order to save her.
The thought soothed her pain. He had fought with every ounce of his extraordinary strength, earning the leadership she had long known him capable of, to the extent where now she could hear him shouting commands down below. Everyone followed him… for he had proven to be more than worth following. The man she had chosen… the man who had claimed her heart, to whom she had granted it most gladly.
He was the beacon of salvation this world had never known before. The best symbol of balance… the greatest strength she had ever known in her life. With him by her side, there had been nothing she could not conquer… and the same was true now.
Everyone she loved was in danger. Everything she had ever known was being consumed by those black flames.
But he was here, with her.
He would never let go again.
He loved her, still. He always would.
Her heart's next beat pulsated familiar power across her limbs.
She drew in a deep breath, and her golden eyes blazed as she spread her arms, gathering the power she needed in order to unleash a firebending feat unlike any she had produced before.
The potent blast of golden fire poured from her hands as a waterfall might, spilling a burst of light as powerful as the dawn: all those eyes, accustomed to the night's darkness, had to narrow as the blinding power of that flame, charged with emotion, rushed and hurtled down to the ground, where the smoke was rising, attempting to claim every ounce of matter left across the Palace…
Xin Long drew in his own breath, and he released a burst of fire of his own.
Blue and gold collided, as they ever did, into the glorious burst of true fire, where blazes of colors beyond belief sparked before the disbelieving eyes of many. The birth of light had startled them, but not enough that they would fail to follow orders.
"Earthbenders! More walls to the west!" Sokka shouted: the smoke rose more potently that way. "Waterbenders: steady! Firebenders: start firing, NOW!"
Zuko breathed deeply before packing his power and unleashing it: varying degrees of power poured into the Palace grounds, and an entirely unreasonable, childish thought caused tears to rise in his eyes. Destroying his childhood home with his own hands… why would it hurt, when so many painful things had happened there? Why would he resent having to do this at all? Why would it hurt, when it was the only way out?
He screamed: the pain that flooded him powered his fire further, bolstering it, strengthening it beyond all his expectations… and turning it into yet another powerful front that the dead, corrupt fire would be assaulted mercilessly by.
Aang flew at haste, his wind current matching that which Appa stirred up, too: the fire Azula unleashed was powered further by their wind, channeling it powerfully into the flames below, where it seemed to cut into the core of that corruption. Light burst and fought the blackness, in a display of firebending that amazed and dazed countless people whose lives hinged on the power exerted by the Princess. She hovered in the air, on her dragon's back, screaming as she refused to loosen her grip on her flames: any hesitation now could be disastrous. She couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop. The fire had to keep going until the enemy's flames had been consumed completely…
In the distance, the spectacle was all the more unbelievable: terrified civilians watched from the crater's edge as a blackened cloud, rising threateningly from the very core of the crumbling Palace, was challenged by the unmistakable fire and might of their Princess.
"W-what…? What is happening?! What is that?!" Rei exclaimed, gripping Ty Lee's arm desperately. "M-my mom…!"
Song stepped forward, chest tightening with horror and concern: the golden flames came from the air… so did the blue.
Azula and Xin Long. It was her doing.
She was fighting still… against something dark, something rotting, something not unlike the toxic corruption that had almost stolen her life once before.
"Rei… Anorak, stay here," she said, glancing at them, eyes wide. Rei shivered. "I'm going there. I… I don't know what's going on, but if that's what I think it is…!"
"I'll go with you," Mai said. Ruon Jian gripped her hand.
"Then I'll go too. Yuudai…"
"Mom? Dad…!"
"Stay with us, dear. Stay here," Ty Lee said, reeling the boy closer as she hugged Rei too: the girl's anxiety only seemed to surge all the more, as confusion took the wheel when the Palace, a place for which she held no end of conflicted feelings, seemed to be at the verge of utter annihilation.
Azula cried out in desperation: she wasn't strong enough to sustain this forever, but she couldn't stop. She wouldn't. Not now. Not yet. If the corruption wasn't fully gone, everything they'd done so far would be for nothing. She couldn't stop, not until all smoke, all blackness, was replaced by the fire she and Xin Long unleashed and wielded as one….
They counted on her. Everyone below needed her to succeed. It wasn't only those who were fighting… it was those who weren't. Every single person she had fought to protect… just as every life she had destroyed, everything she had thrown to waste, would never be amended unless she gave her everything now. If she had lived on this long… it had to be in order to save them all with every ounce of her strength.
For her friends. For her family. For her people.
For her daughters.
For the man she loved.
Her shriek somehow provided her with further power: the gold flames bloomed even more powerfully, blazing in that inferno as they contested the corruption's claims, as they countered it, as they mixed with the blue to create the most powerful fire of all: life fought death on that day, in the culmination of a war where the latter had constantly overcome the former…
But on this day, no matter how many sacrifices had been made to reach this point, that would finally change.
On this day, the fire of life would prevail, no matter the cost.
Sokka's orders didn't cease: all benders followed his lead as tremors shook the earth. The Palace came undone, as every pristine, luxurious room burned to nothingness, as every painting and portrait was consumed in dark or bright flames alike. Good and bad memories burned away too, just as they had in the Grand Royal Dome, the first place in the Capital to burn in such a way. Where he had seen to destroying it, putting an end to the Superior Gladiator League, today it was Azula who burned her home to cinders, pouring her every ounce of energy and power into overcoming one kind of destruction, cold and cruel, with a new kind…
Jeong Jeong watched, as good as hypnotized: his fire had briefly joined the rest, but now he stood in place, jaw open as a reality he had never faced about fire seemed to present itself before him. Destruction… yes, that was fire's nature. But the warmth of those flames, the purity in them, spoke of another truth he had ignored thus far.
Renewal.
The phoenix would rise from his ashes every morning, bringing light back to the world.
The Princess had done the same now… burning down the Fire Nation to cinders, with the very fire that would allow it to be born anew.
It was the worst of moments to realize something so important, something so crucial… but Jeong Jeong could only gape in disbelief as a feat of bending unlike any he had witnessed took shape before him. Even the Avatar, eyes and tattoos gleaming with light as he harnessed as much airpower as possible, had never achieved anything similar to what Princess Azula was doing.
With a fire of gold. A fire… of love.
Her fingers trembled.
Her hands shook.
She kept them stretched, even so.
Even when her vision began to blur, when her lungs grew thick with the smoke she had inhaled, Azula didn't stop holding her position.
Xin Long's own flames lost power: he was weak well before he set out on this mission, his limbs heavy, his strength dwindled. Countering that corruption took a greater toll than expected, for its smoke had kept rising even as they fought it… high enough to reach them. High enough for them to breathe it in. His fire couldn't hold up forever…
And neither could Azula's.
The Princess and her dragon didn't know the black flames and the smoke had been quelled for good by the time their own fire faded.
Sokka's commands had decreased as the armies succeeded gradually at their task: his eyes had constantly been set on Azula, though, and he was quick to notice something was wrong when the fire's output dwindled.
"Azula…?" he whispered, stepping forward. "AZULA!"
If she heard his voice, she gave no sign of having done so.
Both the Princess and her dragon wavered in the sky, their dark silhouettes contrasting with the rising fire, for it continued to be spurred on by the airbenders around it… Sokka's chest heaved, as alarm rose in his heart over what was happening to Azula. He couldn't quite unravel it, but every nerve ending in his body screamed at him to act, now…
"What is it?!" Toph shouted. "Is she…?!"
"I don't know!" Sokka exclaimed. "I don't know if she's…!"
She bent forward. Xin Long contorted in the sky.
There was no saddle to keep her in place. The exertion had overcome her… and even before it happened, Sokka knew it:
She would fall into the fire.
"TOPH, THROW ME AT HER! NOW!"
Azula couldn't think anymore. Her body was overwhelmed, already had been well before her father had died… but now, the feeling was far more physical than before.
She couldn't breathe.
Her every attempt caused her to spasm: something blocked her throat. Something rotten, something she had already contended with once before…
The corruption had been contested, torn down, but not in its totality. Sufficient smoke had risen before she and Xin Long had destroyed it…
They had breathed it in, unknowingly.
Even if the dark, corrupt flames would fail at their task, they might yet claim two casualties that day.
For even if her throat cleared out, even if Xin Long contested the surging weakness within his body, the truth was that they were falling.
Azula slipped off his back, and her figure dropped from the sky, into the flames of the home she had burned in order to save their world.
In the end, perhaps she truly did have to burn in the flames of the old world before there was room for the new. Her worst sins would not be undone… but much like her father, she had made the right choice at the very end. She had given her all to save her people, to save her lover's army… and she had no regrets over any of it.
She fell.
Fire awaited her below, as she lost control of her limbs. She surrendered herself to the fate that she had no more power to contest: all the fire she could unleash had already been invested into the inferno beneath her.
The heat rose towards her. The flames would soon lick away at her skin and clothes. They would melt her armor, her hairpiece… she would be gone, just as she had hoped to be, before. Now, when she no longer knew if she wanted to forsake her future, the world had forced her to abandon it… but she did it while knowing she had made the right decision. Knowing she had saved them. Rei, Song, Mai, Ty Lee… Toph, Zuko, Renkai, Anorak, Rui Shi…
Hotaru.
Sokka.
She abandoned herself to her fate, eyes closed as her mind faded.
She didn't notice it when something collided, hard and strong, against her side.
When his arm wrapped around her body.
When he wielded her white blade, cutting down the flames that would have reached them, otherwise.
He gripped her so hard, so tight, refusing to let her die in the flames of her own creation.
Kino spurred Appa on: they were close, maybe not enough, but if he hurried…
A gust of airbending saw Sokka and Azula rising in the sky just in time, just enough to land on Appa's saddle with a heavy bump.
Another gust enveloped Xin Long, yanking him away from the flames, just as well.
Eyes alight with the Avatars' power, Aang roared as he saved lives anew, as he refused to let them go to waste, much less after the sacrifices they had made: now that the fire burned with abandon, now that the dark flames had been stifled, he could hover above them, controlling every element with his power. Now, he could ensure that the fire would not spill… that it would not burn, but that it would shed light, instead. That it would not condemn, but bring salvation, instead.
Kino's chest heaved as he glanced back at the saddle: Sokka's arms were wound tight around Azula's body, cocooning her against himself. He had shielded her from the impact against Appa's saddle.
"Sokka…!" Kino cried out.
The Gladiator winced over the pain… but he cared little for it.
Azula was in his arms.
He had caught her before she fell beyond any help.
Relief flooded him, as he turned her in his arms, to face her…
An unwelcome memory struck him then. His moribund, helpless Princess, in the Fire Nation shores, weakened by corruption…
She had won here. The corruption hadn't reached her, or had it? But if it hadn't… her face would not be as pale as it was.
She would still be breathing.
"S-she… she's not breathing. Kino, she's not breathing!"
The urgency of his voice broke away any celebratory instincts the Fire Nation deserter might have felt. His eyes widened, and his instinctive reaction was to turn towards his most powerful friend instead:
"AANG! HELP!"
The Avatar's efforts had already yielded: it took him no time to cut his airbending, turning his attention immediately towards his animal companion.
He flew as fast as he could towards him on his glider, skillfully landing on the saddle as Sokka held Azula up, his anxiety surging as he touched her face with uncertainty. Aang knelt beside him, frowning.
"What happened? What is…?"
"She's not breathing. S-she's not… I don't know why, I… can you…? Aang, your bending…!"
The Avatar swallowed hard: he hadn't truly attempted to use airbending for the sake of clearing someone's throat before, but he knew he needed to take action at once.
He breathed deeply, raising his hands and twirling them in the air as Appa dove towards the ground, led by Kino: his eyes raked the forces by the walls desperately, seeking the best healer in their troops at once.
"Katara!" he called for her: the waterbender, busy stifling the fire alongside the other waterbenders, keeping it from breaking past the walls, glanced at him in confusion as Appa landed right before them.
Aang's hands moved more abruptly, and the corruption clogging Azula's throat yielded, if only slightly.
The breath she drew was choked, desperate: it wasn't enough. Sokka snarled, holding her tightly, scooping her in his arms before jumping off the saddle, right in front of Katara.
"What…?!" Katara trembled, hands outstretched.
"Can you do something?! S-she can't breathe! Katara…!"
"Set her down! I… I'll try, but…!"
Her nerves didn't help. Having failed to save the Fire Lord earlier certainly didn't, either. The potential, celebratory feelings that might have spread across the two armies upon seeing the Palace, symbol of the Fire Lord's power burned to the ground without costing any further lives, faded quickly in the wake of this new upset.
At first, people crowded around them when Katara started to work, helped by Sokka, who removed the golden armor expertly to give his sister a clearer shot at using her healing water: Kino, with Appa's help, ensured to clear enough room for Katara to pool her water by Azula's throat… and its light highlighted the shadow nestled within her. Her brow drew together, and she shuddered as she attempted, again, to unclog it. Aang, too, joined her on the ground as Sokka held Azula up: together, the two sought to clear her throat, but every success was immediately cut down when the corruption inevitably sealed its way back over her throat… as though it were spreading, rather than receding. Sokka shuddered, tears pooling in his eyes as he uttered words he barely even could tell he was speaking.
"Please, no, please… not like this, Azula, please…"
The building that burned behind her offered enough light for three newcomers, who had pushed past every guard and soldier without so much as an apology: even though they had to elbow people out of the way, and quite a fair few of them appeared daunting and capable of no end of violence, Song, Mai and Ruon Jian nonetheless pushed their way towards the burning Palace… stopping at the main avenue just in time to see the struggle by the gates.
Song's heart threatened to stop: Sokka. It was Sokka, again, and he was holding…
A dying Azula.
She heard her cough. She heard her choke.
She snarled, and she pushed past everyone who stood in her way, disregarding any words spoken against her for her boldness.
"What happened?!"
Her voice startled Sokka: it was so familiar, even though her tone most certainly wasn't. He raised his tearful gaze to find a woman whose features were those he had expected… whose hair and disposition, however, did not match those of the woman he had been expecting.
"She… s-she's breathed in corruption. I think. That's what it looks like…!" Sokka said: others around didn't quite understand where this woman had come from, let alone why the Gladiator was willing to let her intervene…
But he didn't protest at all when Song knelt beside him, taking Azula carefully so her head would be turned, her mouth by Sokka's waistcloth.
"You're… a waterbending healer? Katara?" Song asked, looking at the woman sitting with her. Katara's eyes widened and she nodded. "Then keep her chi flowing. Leave the breathing to the rest of us, just don't let it stop!"
"R-right," Katara nodded: her water glowed anew as Song tipped Azula's mouth to open.
"I'm an airbender," Aang announced, startling Song. "The Avatar. I… I was trying to help open up her throat, but…"
"That's not enough," Song said, eyeing him intently. "You… you can help. Push air inside, not outside."
"What…?"
"We can unclog it, but if it's closing in… just do as I say!"
Her fierce demand startled Aang, but he obeyed quickly: instead of attempting to reel out the air, he pushed it in…
The corruption went further inwards, but his actions allowed Azula to breathe properly for the first time, nonetheless.
Sokka yelped when Azula passed air for once. Song nodded.
"Again! And when I tell you… use the air inside to push it out. As best you can. One more. One more…! Now!"
The forced exhalation this time, powered by further bending, caused Azula to cough violently: a blackened substance escaped her throat, landing on Sokka's waistcloth.
Sokka shuddered as Song shook her head, holding Azula's head carefully.
"Again. Keep the chi flowing. Make her breathe. Again."
Sokka held Azula as best he could, panic surging as another burst of corruption, a blackened mass, spilled on his clothes. The second batch was almost as big as the first. Only by the third did it decrease in size. Even so, it took seven attempts for Azula's throat to clear as much as possible… for her body to draw breath without needing the airbender to do it for her.
But once her chest rose and fell of its own accord, no matter if she remained unconscious, Sokka sobbed in relief: he hoisted her closer to himself, fear still gripping his very core as he wept against her shoulder. Katara, trembling too, watched the sight before her in disbelief: her brother, the epitome of strength and resilience, had crumbled. It had been a dark night, heavy and difficult to bear with…
But even though his lover appeared to have been saved, unconscious as she remained, Sokka's fear of losing her hadn't quite faded just yet. He had only just found her again. The war was finally over. There was so much left to do still… but he couldn't do it without her. He wouldn't. It was unthinkable… and by the intervention of his allies, he might not need to think of it at all.
He raised his tearful eyes towards the woman who had led the last of Azula's urgent healing: she met his gaze with tearful eyes of her own. He had never shown himself so broken, so emotionally destroyed before her… even though she knew, as she always had, that nobody in this world could bring out stronger emotions from Sokka than Azula.
"T-thank you…" he said, his voice scarcely leaving his throat. "Song…"
"Thank you," Song said, sniffing, a hand reaching out to cup his face. "I don't… d-don't know how you did it. Don't know what happened. B-but if she's still here to be saved… it's because you saved her first. As… as I always knew you would."
"I… I can't lose her. I can't…" Sokka said, closing his eyes. Song, despite everything, smiled at him.
"No… and you won't. We… we've all seen to that," she said.
She leaned closer, wrapping her arms around the shoulders of the friend she had desperately missed. Sokka pressed his face to her shoulder, finding comfort in the woman who often had picked at his brain, helping him unravel what to do about his chaotic relationship with Azula… she had always had an answer, whether right or wrong. She had always been insightful, capable of spelling out truths he hadn't wanted to face yet, or to speak out loud…
Her skill and expertise had saved Azula. If the Princess drew breath now, it was because of her.
Song rubbed his armored back, though she grew keenly aware of the stares around herself. She'd have answers to give eventually, she guessed… to whom, she didn't know, but she hardly cared. First, Azula needed to be taken to safety.
"Mai…" Song called, turning around and pulling away from Sokka, who was startled upon hearing that name at all. "Your place… it's not far. C-can we take her to…?"
"Of course you can. No question," Mai answered: she shivered, with Ruon Jian by her side.
Sokka raised his head, meeting her unusually compassionate, pained gaze. His arms hadn't yet let go of Azula… and Mai sighed in relief for it.
"I… told her so," she said, offering Sokka a small, but heartfelt smile. "Thank you."
He didn't truly know why anyone was thanking him. It was the other way around, if she would let him take Azula to her place then he owed her, of course he did…
But he nodded in her direction, nonetheless, as he tightened his grip around Azula.
"There's… so many wounded," Katara said, gazing about herself with uncertainty before looking at Song. "I… d-do you think she needs more? I could check on her later…"
"She should be… out of danger, for now. But… someone needs to stay with her anyway," Song said, swallowing hard and pushing herself up. "And you two need to be ready to help if… if there's any remnants of that thing left, and she still needs to get it cleared up. Alright?"
"Definitely," Aang nodded, rising to his feet as well. "Y-you… thank you. I… who are you?"
"I'm… Song," she said, breathing heavily, uttering her name openly, no longer hiding behind her alter ego.
The Avatar's eyes widened, as did Katara's: they'd heard of her. They stood taller than her, but they stared at her in amazement, and Song swallowed hard. Her professional side had come to the fore when Azula had been in danger, but she certainly could guess that having given commands quite so openly and forcefully to the Avatar was probably out of place for someone of her standing…
She didn't have the time, the chance, to apologize for it, though.
Someone, among the group that had been busy keeping the fire from spilling past the Palace grounds, had stood by until then, but he stepped forward now.
Her lips parted, as her eyes widened.
It didn't matter if his hair was longer, more disheveled, or that his chin and cheeks sported an unusual, new stubble she had never seen across his features before.
That heartfelt gaze, those amber eyes she had loved to be cherished by…
She shivered, hands rising to her mouth as tears started spilling down her face without control. The man who met her eyes seemed to be on the verge of crying, just as well.
"Song," his voice spoke her name, and whatever restraint she had left broke entirely over that sound, that deep voice, the one she had longed to hear in more than just her dreams, more than just her memories…
She sobbed as she ran towards him: he met her halfway, arms wrapping tightly around her. She didn't care if she clashed with his armor, for the metal, the pain, meant he was real. His warmth, his shaking body, his emotional voice…
She pressed her face to his neck, inhaling his scent: past the smoke and sweat, ultimately, it was still Rui Shi. The man who had saved her life, who had sent her to safety, reclaimed her in his arms now, and Song surrendered to his grip as a certainty rose in her heart:
Safety.
He was back… the man she loved had finally returned home.
Even the most violent, resentful members of either army couldn't help but temper their urges, first in the face of the catastrophe that still lit up the city, where the grand halls at the center of the Fire Nation's Capital had been consumed by flames… then, in the face of shocking, rediscovered bonds between two sides of a war.
For along with the newly reunited lovers, the two main leaders of the Fire Nation and the Gladiator Army remained locked around each other, after having fought side by side for a common cause rather than fighting one another, at last.
"It… it isn't violence that ended the war," Jeong Jeong whispered, shivering even though the warmth radiated by that inferno certainly didn't allow it to be cold that night.
"Nor was it the Avatar," Pakku pointed out. Jeong Jeong swallowed hard. "It seems… all our beliefs and expectations have been defied times beyond counting, Master Jeong Jeong."
Jeong Jeong nodded, breathing heavily: no one could be quite so bold, quite so stupid, as to interfere or intervene wrongfully in any of the reclaimed bonds upon that battlefield now. The sight of Imperial Guards, dressed in full uniform, standing side by side with members of the Gladiator Army, watching mournfully as their Princess's life was saved, spoke for itself. Where Enforcers had been ready to die for their nation, now they stood with the wounded, ensuring to offer whatever help they could, regardless of which side they belonged to.
A low gurgle and groan behind everyone caused even Sokka to raise his gaze: weakened, Xin Long had managed to fly to the side thanks to Aang's bending, crashing against the ground rather than falling into the fire itself. He approached Sokka slowly, cut off by the occasional cough, and his whiskers swirled as he pressed his nose to Azula's cheek…
"Xin… y-you… you need help, too," Sokka said, swallowing hard. "Aang…"
"On it," the Avatar said, raising a hand to placate the overwhelmed dragon. "Don't worry. I'll help you. You'll be okay, buddy."
The Avatar soothed the dragon before wielding his airbending anew to clear his system: his larger throat certainly helped, as the corruption in his body receded so much faster than Azula's. Xin Long shuddered, nonetheless, feeling over the intensity of that day's exertions… over his cumulative efforts to survive across the last year.
Little by little, all those with any knowledge of healing began their work: some Fire Nation soldiers even set out to find the physicians among the civilians who had been evacuated. Earthbenders, such as Toph herself, dared plunge underground to check whether or not everyone had escaped safely… whether the worst of the explosion had truly been consumed by Azula and her dragon's flames.
For the first time, there were no sides at war. For the first time, they glimpsed the beginnings of that new world Sokka had promised to bring… and as heartbreaking as the circumstances might be, the future truly did not appear as bleak as it had in all their worst expectations.
Zuko watched, heart clenched, as his sister remained unconscious. Tears had escaped his eyes too, without his awareness. He had never imagined he would feel any pain upon losing his father, only relief… but the manner in which it had happened had caught him unawares.
Losing his sister, too, would have been too much. He had fought for his wife, for his children… but the possibility of losing Azula hadn't truly struck him until today. He had trusted Sokka would save her, that Azula would never be weak or helpless, for she seldom had been, for as long as he had known her. Now, as Sokka finally calmed down, still holding her, Zuko could only wish to turn back time… to be the one to take the risks in her place. To be strong enough to do it… for she didn't deserve to nestle, helpless, in her true husband's arms this way. His heart ached for her… just as it ached with the certainty that, if nothing else, his survival after so many ordeals had ensured that Suki would never be in Sokka's place. That she would not have to mourn him, that she would not need to cry for him…
For the war was over.
He would be able to come home to her.
A hand upon his arm startled him: he turned towards it, trembling still.
Mai's eyes gleamed with compassion and emotion he hadn't known she might feel for him still.
His breath caught at the sight of her and Ruon Jian. As they stepped closer to him… as together, they wrapped their arms around him, offering him comfort and reassurances wordlessly. Zuko gritted his teeth, hugging them firmly as he felt himself waver: nothing had turned out as he had expected it to… and Mai's presence reminded him that that didn't have to be a bad thing, provided his sister survived. That was the one thing he needed to believe in… the one thing he needed to be sure of.
All Fire Nation soldiers and commoners who passed by the unceremonious location on the street, where their Fire Lord's remains had been placed as the battle was finished, cried out in shock and grief. Just so, the man responsible for his death had been chained and held down, in the Gladiator Army's custody.
The man he had offered a weapon to now held it in his hand, glaring at it begrudgingly.
Everything Chan had believed in, every last thing he had thought the understood, had been challenged and undone on that day. He hadn't witnessed the confrontation in the depths of the Palace… but he didn't need to in order to know who was responsible for the Fire Lord's demise.
The long hairpin in his hand was an incriminating weapon he had been meant to finish off Azula with, should he have decided she was untrustworthy. Should she have done anything treasonous… such as consorting with the enemy. Such as forsaking the war effort. Such as turning her back on the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation.
As far as Chan could tell, she had done no such thing at all.
He gripped the hairpin tighter still. He knew what true loyalty meant… for that Gladiator had showed it to him, by refusing to kill the woman he loved even when he had a clear shot at victory by doing so. By holding her now, saving her life by all means possible… by keeping her in his arms as his chest heaved with his easing sobs.
It wasn't quite so hard to understand why she had loved that man anymore. Everything the Fire Nation had claimed to cherish, everything they had ever pretended they valued, was embodied in a far truer, stronger form in him. No man born to this nation could hope to compare to that… no fool could ever hope to compete with a man like him.
If anyone in this world could have saved that stubborn, relentless, reckless and brave Princess from herself, it was the Gladiator.
Sokka's heart still ached. It might continue to do so forever. But even so, he once again strengthened his grip around Azula and he rose to his feet.
He had to get her to safety. She would be fine… but he had to get her out of here, now.
The ashes of a hundred years of war, windswept, crossed his path and went ignored as he began his march. The Princess who had saved him nestled in his arms one more time: it had been his turn to save her. Her head rested against his shoulder, and as weak as his heart felt now, his arms remained strong. His knees would not buckle. He would not lose his determination, not even now… for to this moment, he continued to fight for her.
Everyone stepped out of the way as he progressed through the Capital's streets. He carried her away from the blazing fire behind him, the flames that marked the end of an era of cruelty and conquest… the fires that heralded the beginning of a new Fire Nation.