Ursa pet Momo absentmindedly while the lemur slept on her lap. She couldn't stop worrying about her children. Were they ok? Had Azula managed to find Zuko and save him? Were they on their way back to the house? So many questions with no answers to them. She glanced at the door. There was a voice screaming in her head to go and protect her children, to help find Zuko. But….what could she even do? It's not like she was a bender. Not to mention that she had no idea where Azula, Aang, and Iroh had gone, and even if she did, how would she be able to help them?
If anything, I'd just slow them down. They would have to worry about my safety.
Which was the last thing that Ursa wanted. Azula told her to sit here and wait for them to come back, and that's what she would do. No matter how odd it felt to listen to her daughter who was currently in the body of a six year old girl. If this had been a normal situation it would be the other way around. But Ursa's life had been anything but normal over the last few years.
"Ursa?"
Suki's voice startled her. She turned to the Kyoshi warrior, who was looking at her with concern, "Are you okay?"
Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot also turned towards Ursa when they heard Suki's question.
"I'm….not okay. I'm worried about my children. I want to go after them and make sure that they're alright, but I know that I won't be able to do anything to help, and that frustrates me. I didn't even remember that I had children these last few years thanks to Long Feng and the Dai Li, and I can't even be a mother to them now when it matters the most!"
Suki looked at the others, unsure of what to say. In the end, she decided to move closer to the older woman and hug her, hoping that would be enough.
"They'll be fine."
Both Ursa and Suki turned towards Jet, who was looking at them.
"Look, don't get me wrong. I could care less about either one of them, especially the prince. But….I fought him before. He's a fighter. He won't go down that easily. And I get the feeling that the same is true for the princess. Besides, do you really think that Sokka is going to let anything happen to Azula? You didn't see him when they were trying to save her. Nothing was going to stop him until she was safe. He'll definitely make sure that nothing will happen to her. So don't worry."
Jet was right, she supposed. Both of her children were fighters. They would be fine.
She just had to believe that.
"Damnit, let us out of here!" Sokka shouted, banging on the door that led out of their cell.
He should have known that they would be met with a trap. There was just no way that things would go that easily for them. It never did. Long Feng wouldn't have let them leave with the Earth King, someone who Long Feng would rather see either imprisoned or dead. Nobody would be able to challenge his rule if that were the case. Still, Sokka couldn't help but feel like something was off. As if this wasn't the full extent of Long Feng's plan. The man had told them that he had a surprise for Aang and Azula. Was this the surprise? He had a feeling that it was, but he still couldn't shake the thought of it not being the full picture. But why? Why did he feel that way?
Sokka shook his head. He'd have to worry about that later. Right now, they had to figure out a way to get out of this cell.
"Anyone got any ideas on how to get us out of here? Like say, Toph making a key?" He said, glancing at the girl in question.
"I can't make us a key, but I can do something even better than that."
Ty Lee gasped, "Oh right! You can use that!"
"Use 'that'? What is she talking about?" Sokka asked.
"To make an extremely long story short, when Ty Lee and I went to go see my mom, I discovered how to bend metal. And in case you didn't notice, this entire cell is metal. You know what that means?"
"You can get us out of here!" King Kuei exclaimed.
"Yep. And I don't sense any of the Dai Li around, so now's the perfect time to do it."
The Dai Li wasn't around? Shouldn't some of them have stayed behind to guard them? Sokka added that to his mental list of things that were odd about this situation.
Toph motioned for them to step back, which they did. Two punches to the cell door later and they were free.
"What do you want to do now, lover boy?" Toph asked him.
One part of him wanted to go to where Katara was. He was obviously worried about her, especially if she was in the same area as Zuko. Then there was Azula. He definitely didn't want her anywhere near her brother. Even if he was captured, that didn't mean that he wouldn't try and use the opportunity to try and capture her, and Aang as well. The other part of him was saying that they should try and find where the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors were being held. There was also the possibility that Mai was a prisoner somewhere as well. If Aang, Azula, and Iroh had gotten to where Katara was being held by now, then she would be fine. He just hoped that Iroh would stop Zuko if the boy tried anything stupid. Besides, it wasn't as if Katara, Aang, and Azula couldn't hold their own against Zuko in a fight if it came down to it.
"As much as I want to go and make sure that Katara is alright, I think we should go and find Mai and the other Kyoshi warriors. They need us more right now. Katara will be fine with Aang and Azula there."
"Still don't trust Iroh?" Ty Lee asked.
"Hell no!"
Toph laughed, "Unless the old man saves the tiny princess from danger, Sokka is never going to like that guy."
"Even then, I still probably wouldn't trust him. Anyway, Toph, can you sense where Mai and the Kyoshi warriors are?"
Toph nodded and stomped her foot on the ground. After a minute has gone by, she pointed in the opposite direction, "I'm sensing one person down that way. It could be either Mai or a Kyoshi warrior."
Sokka nodded, "Then I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's go!"
"Where are Sokka and the others?" Katara asked as she, Aang, and Azula made their way out of the catacombs.
"They went to warn the Earth King about what's going on. Me, Aang, and my uncle decided to come down here to find you and dum dum." Azula explained, and then she asked Katara a question of her own, "Do you know what happened to Mai? Was she captured too?"
"She was, but I have no idea where she's at. They separated us."
"Then we have to find her! Maybe she's somewhere further down here, or-" Aang didn't get to finish as a fireball shot out in front of them.
"Sorry, but you aren't going anywhere with Mai. She's staying with me." Zuko said.
The three of them turned around to stare at the boy. Azula was glaring at her brother, but inwardly she couldn't help but feel a little bit smug. She had been right after all. Zuko was plotting something. She just hadn't been expecting to hear that he was working alongside Long Feng. Perhaps her brother wasn't that much of a dum dum after all.
"Going by what you just said about Mai, I'm assuming this means that you and Long Feng are working together?"
Zuko glared at her, "Yes. Not too long after uncle and I arrived here in the city, Long Feng had one of his Dai Li agents capture me. He told me that he didn't want me, you, or uncle here in the city, since there was the possibility of people finding out that we're firebenders. Which would cause chaos in the city. He also said that he wanted the avatar and his friends to leave Ba Sing Se as well, because he didn't want the Earth King to find out about the war. I'm trying to capture the both of you. And since all of my efforts to capture you so far have failed, I decided to work with him. In a way, we both share the same goal."
"Wow Zuzu, I'm impressed. You aren't as dumb as you look."
Zuko took a deep breath. He would not let Azula get to him with her taunting. Not right now. Not when he was so close to achieving his goal. By the end of this day, he would finally be able to go home and regain his honor.
"I was right! I knew that I shouldn't have trusted you!" Katara shouted, glaring at Zuko.
He turned to her but said nothing. A small part of him felt bad for tricking her, especially when she had offered to heal his scar.
"You had the Dai Li capture me, Mai, and the council of five so that way you could use us as bait! And then you had them throw you down here so that way nobody would suspect you until it was too late! I should have never trusted you, and I'm not making that mistake again!" Katara said, getting into a battle stance.
"Well lucky for you, you won't have to worry about trusting him ever again. Because you won't be leaving here alive."
They looked behind Zuko to see Long Feng walking up behind him. Azula had to resist the urge to rush up to the man and blast him full of lightning. She'd leave him for Aang and Katara to fight. Azula had her sights set on one person. Her brother.
"Where is my uncle?" She asked.
"Don't worry about him, he's safe. I wouldn't let anything bad happen to him."
"Except for getting him locked up, apparently."
"Don't act like you care about him! That was your original mission, wasn't it? To capture me and uncle? I'm just finishing what you started. And besides, he left me no choice. He could have joined me but he decided not to. I want to go back home, and I will do anything to achieve that."
Azula sighed. There was no getting through to her brother when he was like this.
"Anything, huh? Does that include fighting me in an agni kai?"
Aang and Katara looked at her, confused by her words. What was she talking about? What was an agni kai?
Zuko stared at his her. Fighting his sister in an agni kai? The answer was obvious.
"Yes! I challenge you!"
Azula smirked, "Wonderful", she then turned to Katara and Aang, "I'll handle my idiot brother. You two handle Long Feng."
The two of them nodded, and turned their attention to Long Feng, immediately going on the offensive. They fought the man once before, so they knew what to expect from him.
Zuko and Azula walked some distance away from each other before turning around to face their opponent. Brother and sister stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. And eventually, one of them did. Azula.
Zuko followed suit and launched an attack of his own.
Orange fire clashed against blue fire.
It took them a while, but they finally managed to find the cell that Toph had been talking about. One look inside of it confirmed who the prisoner was.
"Mai! Thank goodness you're alright!" Ty Lee said with relief.
"Stand back. I'll bust this door down and get you out of here." Toph said.
"I'm not leaving."
That caused Toph to stop what she was doing, and Ty Lee, Sokka, and King Kuei to look at each other in confusion. Mai didn't want to leave? Why?
"What do you mean you aren't leaving?" Sokka asked.
"I'm going back to the Fire Nation with Zuko."
"Mai, what are you talking about? Zuko's been captured by Long Feng, that's why we're here! To save you, Zuko, and Katara!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
Sokka tuned them out, Mai's words playing on repeat in his mind.
I'm going back to the Fire Nation with Zuko.
I'm going back to the Fire Nation with Zuko.
Why in the world would she say that? Zuko was still their enemy as far as he was concerned. So why did Mai want to go with him all of a sudden? Unless….
Long Feng's words from a few days ago entered Sokka's mind.
I have something special planned for these two.
Suddenly, everything seemed to click for Sokka. Zuko had been the surprise that Long Feng was talking about. This whole thing really was a trap. Not just them getting blindsided by Long Feng and thrown into a jail cell.
"No…. dammit!" Sokka shouted, banging his fist against the door, startling the others.
"What on earth has gotten into you?" King Kuei asked. Sokka ignored him and turned to Mai.
"This whole thing was a plan by Zuko and Long Feng, wasn't it?" He asked the girl. Mai nodded. Ty Lee gasped.
"But…why? Why would Zuko do this?" She whispered.
Mai sighed, "Because he wants to go home more than anything else, and regain his honor. Not too long after I was captured, Zuko showed up and told me everything. How he was working together with Long Feng in an attempt to capture Azula and Aang. Then he asked me to come home with him, and I agreed."
"But why? Why would you agree to go back home with him when you know what he's doing to Azula-"
"It's because of Azula that I'm doing this." Mai said, cutting Sokka off.
"What are you talking about?"
Mai turned her attention to Toph, "Toph, do you remember when Azula pulled me aside to talk before she left with Aang and the others, and when Katara asked me what she wanted to talk to me about, and I said that it was about Sokka?"
Toph nodded, "Yeah, and I said that I knew that you were lying."
"And you were right. She wanted to talk to me about Zuko. Told me that in the case scenario that if something happened and if Zuko was involved, that I should go back home with him, and get him to realize that all of this is wrong."
"And do you really think that would work?" Sokka asked, skeptical for obvious reasons.
"It's worth a try. And who knows, if I tell him about what happened to Ursa along with everything else, that might get him to start questioning everything that he's done."
Ty Lee nodded. She supposed that made sense, although she still didn't want her friend to go, "Are you sure that you'll be okay?"
"Yeah. Don't worry about me. Right now, focus on finding Azula, Aang, and Katara."
"She's right. We have to go." Sokka said, staring at them.
"Wait. All of us can't go. We still have no idea where the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors are, and we have to get the Earth King out of here. We should split up." Toph suggested.
Sokka supposed that she had a point, "Alright, then what do you suggest? Who goes where?" He asked, already knowing where he would go.
"Ty Lee and I will go to where the tiny princess and the others are at, meanwhile you get the Earth King to somewhere safe, preferably our house."
Correction. Toph didn't have a point. Her plan sucked. Why couldn't he go with them?
"Why can't I go with you and Ty Lee can go with King Kuei?"
"No offense Sokka, but there's not a whole lot that you can do against a bunch of Dai Li agents, Long Feng, and Zuko. Ty Lee and I will have a better chance against them."
Sokka gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. So that's what this was about. His inability to bend would make him a liability. He wanted to argue against Toph, to say that he could be of use in the upcoming fight, that he wanted to get to Azula and make sure that nothing happened to her, but he knew that she wouldn't budge on this. And now really wasn't the time to have a back and forth argument.
He sighed, "Fine. Just…. make sure that you all come back alive."
Toph smirked, "Don't worry, we'll make sure that nothing happens to your tiny girlfriend."
"Wait!"
They all turned their attention back to Mai.
"Take care of Azula for me. Make sure that she doesn't run off constantly, that she doesn't only eat mochi, that she gets plenty of sleep, and...just take care of her."
Sokka smiled at her and nodded, giving her a thumbs up, "We will. I won't let anything happen to her ever again, I promise."
Unbeknownst to Sokka, that was a promise that he wouldn't be able to keep.
So far, Aang and Katara were holding their own against Long Feng pretty well. They had managed to counter the man's every move, which they could tell was pissing him off. The man launched two boulders at them, which Aang successfully managed to block by quickly making a wall of earth. Katara then followed up with an attack of her own, using a giant wave of water to slam Long Feng to the ground.
The two of them stood there, waiting for the man to get back up. They had a feeling that he wasn't down for the count just yet. Their suspicions were proven right as the man slowly got up. Which was pretty much what they were expecting. Long Feng was many things, but weak wasn't one of them.
What they weren't expecting was the Dai Li to come from seemingly nowhere and surround Long Feng, ready to strike at the two of them. They both looked at each other. This fight just got a whole lot harder. Aang looked at Katara, and then at the Dai Li and Long Feng. He had two choices: either go into the avatar state, or continue to fight without it. The thought of using the avatar state wasn't a comforting one, however, since he didn't have the chance to fully master it at the Eastern Air Temple. The vision of Katara being imprisoned entered his mind right as he was about to do it. What if he went into a rage again like he did at the North Pole? At General Fong's base? At the Southern Air Temple? The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Katara and Azula. He didn't even want to harm Zuko, despite the fact that the boy was their enemy. At the end of the day, he was still Azula's older brother and Ursa's son. Aang couldn't do that to them. That left him with only one option left: fight without using the avatar state, and create an opening so that the three of them could escape.
At the other end of the cave, Zuko and Azula were still engaged in their agni kai. Azula was keeping up with him, but she was starting to slow down. And she knew that Zuko realized that. Or he would eventually if he hadn't already. She glanced over towards Aang and Katara to see how their fight against Long Feng was going, only to be greeted with the sight of the Dai Li. Not good.
"Instead of worrying about the avatar, you should be worrying about me!" Zuko shouted, launching another fire blast at Azula, which she barely managed to block. She looked up to see her brother running towards her, fire daggers in his hands. A repeat of their fight on her ship. Except this time, she was much shorter than him, which would make it harder for her to block his attacks. On the plus side, she could use her height against him. She could only imagine how hard it would be for Zuko to actually manage to land a hit on her with those. When he swung at her, she was able to move out of the way with ease, much to her brother's frustration. She kept on doing that until she was able to find an opening and swept his feet out from under him, shooting fire out of her foot, causing Zuko to fall back a few feet away from her. He quickly got back up and moved to attack her again. Azula did the same, but this time he was able to over power her.
Dammit, she couldn't go on like this! Sooner or later, one of them would lose, and unfortunately for her, it wouldn't be Zuko. She glanced over at Aang and Katara again. Katara used her waterbending to form what looked to be an octopus around herself (which looked really cool) and Aang had used his earthbending to create a shield made of crystals around his body (which also looked really cool). Azula could tell that they were also getting tired, however. Fighting Long Feng was one thing, but the entirety of the Dai Li? That was another thing altogether. An impossible fight for two people to handle on their own. For a moment, Azula wondered if Aang would go into the avatar state. He never did mention whether or not he had fully mastered it before they left the Eastern Air Temple. Going by the fact that he hadn't done so yet, it was safe to say that he more than likely didn't. Either that, or he didn't want to risk causing a cave in with the amount of power that he would have. While she had never seen Aang in the avatar state before, Azula heard the stories about what happened in the North Pole. She read the reports. The avatar state was truly something to be feared. Using that power while underground may do more harm than good.
What could they do, then? What could she do to change the tide of the fight? Azula looked at her brother, who was making his way towards her again. She then looked over at Long Feng. One or the other had to go down. And while she was absolutely livid at her idiot brother, she didn't want to kill Zuko. Besides, she was pretty sure that their mother wouldn't like that either. The woman would probably really think that Azula was a monster if that were to happen. That left her with Long Feng. Someone who she had plenty of pent up anger and rage towards. If she attacked him then maybe, just maybe, it would give her, Aang, and Katara enough time to escape. She thought about how Long Feng had her kidnapped and held her in captivity for days. She thought about what her friends went through because of that, doing everything that they could to rescue her. She thought about what Sokka went through, beating himself up for not being there when she was captured, blaming himself for it. Something that, for all she knew, he still probably did, despite their talk. Lastly, she thought about her mother. How she was kept in captivity for five years, brainwashed and turned into a Joo Dee, unable to remember that she had two children and a husband. That she had a former life. All of these thoughts made the rage that Azula was feeling grow bigger and bigger until it exploded. What she did next surprised not just her, but everyone.
She shot a bolt of lightning straight at Long Feng. Only this time, two things were different. One, thanks to her anger, it was much more powerful than it normally was. Two, she didn't use the form that she normally did whenever she generated lightning.
Instead, she did it exactly how her father did when he first showed her how to generate lightning: she had used both of her hands to generate two bolts of lightning, which then combined together the moment she attacked Long Feng. It happened so fast that the man was unable to defend himself against it. Her lightning hit him directly in his chest, causing him to cry out in pain and get sent flying into a wall behind him. He then fell to the ground, not moving. Azula followed him soon afterwards, no longer able to remain conscious.
Nobody moved. The Dai Li looked as if they were unsure of what to do, now that their leader was down. Aang and Katara stared at each other in shock. Did Azula just kill Long Feng?
Zuko was having similar thoughts. He wasn't expecting anyone to die in this fight, least of all Long Feng. And he hadn't expected his sister to be the one to deliver the killing blow either. He looked back to where Azula was lying on the ground. No matter. This didn't mess up his plans at all. If anything, she just made his job a heck of a lot easier. He made his way over to his sister, intent on picking her up…
Only to be stopped by a couple of jabs to his body in rapid succession, causing him to fall to the ground right in front of Azula, unable to move. He looked up and glared at the girl who was currently picking up his sister. Ty Lee glared right back at him. Toph ran over to the two of them.
"How's the tiny princess?"
"I… think she's fine for the most part. Aside from the fact that she's unconscious."
"Good, now we don't have to worry about Sokka losing his mind. Come on, let's get Katara and Aang and leave!"
Ty Lee nodded, and the both of them began to make their way over to their friends, only to be beaten to the punch by Iroh. He quickly began attacking the Dai Li, causing them to go on the defensive.
"Get out of here! I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"
They were reluctant to leave Iroh alone, but they knew that they had no choice. Aang and Toph quickly created an entrance in the wall for them to escape through, and they ran.
When he made sure that they were gone, Iroh ceased his attacks and allowed himself to be captured. He gave a quick glance towards Zuko before he looked away. Again.
A short time later, Zuko found himself alone in the throne room. He wasn't sure what to think. Was his plan ultimately a failure? He wasn't so sure about that. True, he still didn't have the avatar or his sister, but Azula gave him something possibly even greater than her and the avatar as his prisoners.
Ba Sing Se.
After all, she had killed Long Feng (after the fight was over, the Dai Li checked the man for a pulse. There was none.) and the Earth King was nowhere to be found, more than likely having fled the city with the avatar and Azula. Which meant that Ba Sing Se currently had no King. The Fire Nation had been trying and failing to take over the city for years. Ironically enough, Azula killing Long Feng only ensured that the city would come under Fire Nation control, especially with no King to lead them. So Zuko's plan was sort of successful, if just for that. Not to mention that he had successfully gotten a hold of the invasion plan. Surely his father would be proud of him for that, and would accept him. Right? After all, he did successfully pull off a once in a lifetime achievement. A coup. He managed to take Ba Sing Se, even if that hadn't been in his original plans. He also had some war prisoners: the Kyoshi Warriors. Key allies of the avatar. Surely they would have some useful information for the Fire Nation to use to it's advantage in the war.
It was better than nothing. Anything was better than nothing.
Anything was better than failure.
Back at the house, Aang and the others quickly filled in Sokka, Suki, Ursa, Jet, Longshot, Smellerbee, and King Kuei about what had transpired beneath the city. Ursa looked shocked at what they said, not wanting to believe that her son was capable of doing something like that. Jet was angry. He knew that the prince couldn't be trusted. They should have just left him there. Suki looked like she was getting ready to rush out of the house and try to save her fellow warriors.
"What - what should we do now?" King Kuei asked, not sure what else to say.
"We need to leave. It's not safe for us here. The Fire Nation will most likely be coming here within the next few days thanks to Zuko. As frustrating as it is, we can't be here when that happens. We can't risk getting captured. Not when we still have the invasion plan to consider." Sokka said, holding Azula in his arms, who was still unconscious.
Nobody said anything. Sokka was right. They couldn't stay in the city for much longer.
"You guys go. We'll stay here."
The others all looked at Jet as if he lost his mind, "What? Why are you staying here?" Aang asked.
"Someone needs to stay and defend this city from the Fire Nation when they come here. You guys can't do it because Prince Zuko is still after you and Azula. If he knows that you guys are still in the city, he'll more than likely come after you again. So you need to get away from here as quickly as possible before that happens. Besides, we still haven't found the rest of the Joo Dee. We aren't giving up on them." Smellerbee responded, looking at Jet, who nodded with approval at her words.
Sokka was about to say something to them when he heard the door open. He turned around to see that Suki had opened it.
"Suki, what are you -?"
"I have to find my girls! I'm not leaving here without them!"
Oh
Sokka understood where she was coming from. He remembered how he felt just hours ago, not knowing what had happened to Katara. He remembered how he felt during the days when Azula was in captivity under Lake Laogai. In both of those situations, he wouldn't leave either one of them behind.
But right now, they were running out of time. He had no clue where exactly in the palace the other Kyoshi Warriors were being held at. He hadn't been able to find them when he and King Kuei were making their escape. Suki didn't stand a chance against Zuko and the Dai Li on her own, and they didn't have time to do a rescue mission. For all they knew, Zuko could have had them transported to a prison in the Fire Nation by now. It was too risky. He moved to where Ursa was and set Azula down in her arms, something that the woman seemed to be very grateful for, and made his way over to Suki.
"Suki, we can't! There's no time! And like I told you before, I didn't see any of them! We checked all of the cells that we could find and they weren't in a single one of them."
"Well, then maybe they're in another part of the palace! I'm their leader, I'm not going to abandon them!"
"And what good of a leader will you be to them if you end up getting captured or worse?! What then?!"
Suki looked at him, not sure of what to say. She hadn't really thought about that.
Sokka sighed, "Look, let's just think about this logically, okay? Say that they are somewhere in the palace. How are we going to get to them? Zuko and the Dai Li are in complete control now. We aren't exactly in the best shape to fight them. Worst case scenario, we all end up getting captured."
"I didn't say that you all had to come with me. I said that I'll go by myself."
"Do you really think that you'll be able to fight the Dai Li and Zuko by yourself and win?"
She glared at him. Of course she didn't think that, but she had to try, right?
Sokka continued, "There's also the possibility that Zuko is preparing to send them to a prison somewhere in the Fire Nation, as prisoners of war. And if that's the case, then all the more reason for you to come with us, since that's where we'll be heading next: the Fire Nation."
As much as she hated to admit it, Suki knew that Sokka had a point. Not saying anything else, she nodded and closed the door. Sokka sighed with relief.
A short time later, they were on Appa, flying through the sky. Kuei looked at his city as it slowly began to fade away. He was a failure of a king, unable to protect his people and Ba Sing Se. The last line of defense against the Fire Nation.
"The Earth Kingdom…. has fallen."
