Chapter Text
Chapter one- The Avatar State
The plan was clear.
All they had to do was get into the palace where the Fire Nation soldiers would be distracted by their other forces.
Azula rushed down the empty hallways that she knew like the back of her hand, gripping her glider until she got to the large doors at the end.
Flipping over, she blasted them open and then burst into the throne room.
As they’d thought, the Fire Lord was alone.
Ozai gripped the arms of his throne and threw himself roughly to his feet, fear clear in his eyes.
That was the moment that she knew this was a dream.
The next thing that tipped her off was that, with no provocation, her eyes began glowing bright white.
Wind, fire and water whipped around her and Ozai threw his hands up to shield his face.
Azula no longer really felt like she was part of the scene, she couldn’t smell the burning grates of the Fire Lord’s throne room or feel the glider in her hand.
Instead, she felt like she was hovering over the scene where her immobile form was.
The next thing that told her this wasn’t real was that the scene shifted beneath her.
In quick succession, she saw her body shoot out of the water of the South Pole and land onto the deck of her brother’s ship.
The vessel melted into the Southern Air Temple and Korra and Jimu’s anger pulsed through her again, though she made no conscious decision to blast air around her as her body below berated Aang.
The southern temple became the northern one next, and she, again, had no choice but to shout Aang’s ire at the Mechanist who had wrought destruction upon it.
The temple dissolved into water out of which an amphibian water monster rose, holding its arms up to the fleet that sprawled out behind Azula who was staring at the empty vessel of her body at the centre of the creature.
A wave rose up and Azula suddenly felt like she was falling to the growing wave.
She had nothing in her arsenal to stop it.
The moment she hit the surface, everything went black.
Azula shot up in her bed, taking deep breaths as she looked around the barely lit crew quarters.
It only took her a couple seconds to get used to them now that she once again had the ability to decide how she wanted to move her body before she twisted her legs over the bed so that she could sneak out of the room.
Once she got to the deck, she hugged her stomach when she was hit with cold air before she approached the railing, the only sound around her being the soft snores of Appa.
Seeing how calm the ocean was underneath the vessel was exactly what she needed after that dream.
If she personally had the ability to create a wave of such magnitude without the assistance of the literal Ocean Spirit she wouldn’t be nearly as affected by the memories.
Not being able to control her own actions, though, caused tight knots to form in her stomach.
What if it happened when she was facing her father?
She may have unimaginable power whenever her eyes glowed, but if she couldn’t control the situation then things could easily go wrong.
What perhaps worried her the most was that there didn’t seem to be anything that she could do to stop it whenever the power washed over her.
Deciding that it would at least be worth asking Aang if he knew anything about it, she opened her mouth to call her past life.
His name didn’t actually come from her though as a hand rested onto her waist and she turned around so that it was placed onto her back instead.
In spite of her worries, she smiled when her eyes met a set of blue ones, sparkling with concern.
She may have yet to put a word to the relationship with the owner of the eyes, but it was definitely more than friends.
The shift between them was by far the best thing that happened in the North Pole.
Enjoying the proximity, she leaned against the railing and smiled up at Katara.
“Did you have another nightmare?” Katara asked softly.
Azula’s instinct was to say that she was fine, that she just wanted some fresh air since she couldn’t sleep.
This was Katara, though, so she squashed that instinct and replied with the truth, “I dreamed that I was in the Avatar State but I was outside my body watching. I had no control, I just…it may sound silly but I just found the feeling…uncomfortable…”
Katara raised her palm to place it upon Azula’s cheek and she said, “it doesn’t sound silly, Azula, we can talk about it if you want?”
Azula shook her head, feeling completely in control as she said, “I can think of a better use of our time.”
Katara’s worry melted into a grin when the Avatar put her hand onto her waist and their lips joined.
As they moved together in yet another perfect kiss, it was kind of hard to argue that this wasn’t better, even if she knew that the other teen was just deflecting her feelings.
The next morning, Azula actually felt surprisingly well rested even with all of the nightmares as she, Sokka and Katara stood lined up in front of Pakku.
The master was smiling, but only at Katara, who he held out a small phial to, “Katara, I want you to have this. This amulet contains water form the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don’t lose it.”
Katara accepted it and hugged Pakku as she replied, “thank you, Master Pakku.”
The water bender peeled away from him to go over to the bison prepared behind them.
Pakku turned his attention to the Avatar who was next in line and thrust a pile of parchment at her, “Azula, these scrolls will help you master water bending. But remember, they’re no substitute for a real master, which you definitely need.”
Azula kept her mouth in a thin line as she turned, armed with the scrolls, but her mouth turned up when she looked up to her new ‘master’ already sat atop Appa and she went to join her.
Pakku stepped to the final person in the line and seemed surprised to find that there was actually someone there, but still placed his hand onto his shoulder.
“Sokka…take care, son.”
Sokka’s hopeful smile fell and he turned to also climb into the bison’s saddle so that he was sat opposite his sister, with Azula at the reins.
Once they were all situated, Pakku pointed out to his side and announced, “fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There you will be safe to begin your earth bending training with King Bumi.”
“Yip yip,” Azula said, Aang appearing at her side to get one last look at the water benders.
As Team Avatar flew away, Katara called over, “say hi to Gran-Gran for me!”
S
Zuko pulled his hat down and made his way slowly towards the massage table onto which he’d refused to lie on in any circumstances.
He dropped down against a pillar, staring down at his knee rather than taking in the beauty of the blossoms all around him.
His uncle, though, didn’t react to his negative energy as the massage therapist continued to rub his shoulders.
“This is what I’ve been missing. Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks with no food or water, and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver could make one so tense?”
The massage therapist paused and frowned down at the man who didn’t notice since he finally looked up to his nephew who hadn’t had any kind of angry outburst at his words.
The reason hit him after only a moment and he said, “I see. It’s the anniversary, isn’t it?”
Zuko barely raised his head and replied lowly, “three years ago today, I was banished. I lost it all, I want it back. I want the Avatar, I want my honour, my throne. I want my father not to think I’m worthless.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t,” Iroh replied, sitting up now that his nephew’s regretful eyes were finally meeting his own, “why would he banish you if he didn’t care?”
Zuko stood, Zhao’s and Azula’s words mixed together in his mind as he walked away.
If that was all his uncle could come up with then it had to be better to be alone with his thoughts.
Iroh turned to the massager, wearing a grimace and said, “uh, that came out wrong, didn’t it?”
They just stared at each other, she was still hung up on the ‘sea vultures’ thing.
S
Prince Lu Ten was exhausted and anxious.
After an arduous journey back from some back water Earth Kingdom prison, he had yearned to return to the home that he’d dreamed of after years of torture.
When it became clear that he would not betray his nation, his captors seemed to decide that the best option was to keep the prince for any leverage that could benefit them.
When he got back to the palace, he discovered why that opportunity never came up.
His father was not the Fire Lord and he was no longer the crown prince of the Fire Nation.
His grandfather was dead.
His aunt and cousin had both been banished.
To top it all off, his father had chosen to follow Zuko into banishment.
Thankfully, Fire Lord Ozai had still welcomed him back and provided him the medical care he required.
After months of recovery, each day of which he discovered that the great General Iroh had neither returned nor responded to his many letters, Lu Ten had finally been released from the infirmary.
Figuring that a slow walk around the grounds could possibly lift his spirits, he tugged at the collar of his tunic to try and cover the scar that peeked out as he strolled slowly, looking from side to side.
He really tried to take comfort in the black and red decorations.
Even if his family had essentially been blown up, it was still comforting to be back amongst the traditions of his nation.
Reaching the end of the hallway, he closed his eyes, his mouth picking up when he felt a breeze against his face.
In his youth, the garden had always been his favourite, even more so when his cousins came along.
It was kind of crazy to him that Zuko and Ursa hadn’t sat together beside the turtle duck pond in over three years.
This mental image came to an end as a crashing sound hit his ears and he opened his eyes.
Lu Ten slowly took in the last few steps into the garden and confirmed that the source was who he was expecting.
She may be a lot taller than before he left, but he was not at all surprised that his twelve-year-old cousin was already lightning bending.
“You’ll scare the turtle ducks, Zu,” he called as he crossed the garden.
Azula turned as she left her stance, very much confused to have someone interrupt her private practice.
When she saw who it was, though, the girl did smile at her cousin as she replied, “if they have a problem, I would like to see them try to stop me.”
Lu Ten laughed, glancing briefly at the unaffected animals who must have gotten used to it.
“Even challenging turtle ducks, you’ll make an excellent Fire Lord,” he said, sadness obvious behind his joking words.
The girl continued to smile at him, perhaps more genuinely now?
Before he left, he supposed it was very unlikely that Azula would have been the next in line so he could understand how the chain of catastrophic events could appeal to her desires.
Instead of labouring the topic of succession, Lu Ten asked, “Where are Mai and Ty Lee? I’m sure they would love to watch you scare tiny creatures.”
Azula’s smile fell briefly before she schooled her face and replied, “Mai’s father was assigned as the governor to some Earth Kingdom town and Ty Lee joined the circus.”
She looked down as she said this and Lu Ten felt a sympathetic pang run through him.
Even if the circumstances were different, he could understand being lonely.
The girl didn’t even have her brother or mother anymore.
This was why he stepped closer to her and said, “I can’t believe how much things have changed.”
“That’s what happens when you ‘die’ for five years, Lu,” Azula replied.
"That’s a good point,” the prince sighed, looking around the garden, wishing that he could go back to the simpler time that this place represented. He did force himself to remember that was impossible and asked, instead, “do you know if my father’s response has arrived yet?”
Azula shrugged and he visibly deflated.
With each passing day, it was getting more difficult to justify the lack of communication.
He had been sure that Iroh would have jumped at the chance to see his son again but that was apparently no longer the case.
On her part, Azula decided to rub his disappointment in as she replied, “uncle loves shirking his responsibilities. I’m sure he would much rather stay in banishment.”
Spite rushed through the prince in a way that would have been impossible for him before he joined the fight at Ba Sing Se.
Why was it fair that a fourteen-year-old boy should have been deemed ready for such a task?
Even if he had revelled in the chance to prove himself at the time, he now whole-heartedly wished that he had opted to stay in the safety of the palace with his precious cousins.
This was why, when he opened his mouth, he said, “you know, while I wait, I can show you how to do that form perfectly.”
Azula stood bolt upright, offended by his insinuation as she said, indignantly, “it was perfect!”
Lu Ten shook his head and pointed at her forehead, “not quite, one hair out of place.”
Azula’s eyes trained in on the offending hair hanging down her forehead and Lu Ten openly smirked as she scraped it away.
“Sorry to disturb you, Prince Lu Ten…”
Lu Ten blew out a breath through his nose as the nervous voice pulled him out of the two year old memory.
With his hands falling from the railing, he turned away from the gentle breeze he had been enjoying to find a captain staring back at him.
The man may be significantly older than him, but there was still visible shaking in his hands.
Lu Ten grinned at this and asked, “is there a problem, captain?”
“Yes sir, I’m afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship into port before night fall,” the older man said.
Lu Ten made a show of drawing his eyebrows together, before he replied, “that’s strange. I didn’t realise that the Fire Nation could be stopped by some errant waves. It really makes the progress of the navy all the more impressive, doesn’t it?”
The captain swallowed and started, “Sir…”
Lu Ten cut him off and his placed his hands behind his back, “the thing is captain, Uncle Ozai gave me a deadline, so why don’t we at least try to dock before I tell the Fire Lord that he has to wait even longer to recover the traitors because my captain is afraid of water?”
The captain inclined his head.
The shaking in his hands became more pronounced in response to the thinly veiled threat.
“I’ll pull us in,” he said before he rushed off to do so.
Lu Ten grinned at his back and returned to his position at the railing.
After five years, he was excited to see his father.
Iroh had a lot to answer for.
S
Sokka lay across Appa’s head.
In the saddle, the Avatar was flouting his ‘arms length from my sister’ decree as the pair were huddled together, probably just holding hands.
They were just silently enjoying being close to each other and, on his part, Sokka figured he could allow the new couple to be cute a while longer before he started complaining.
From his position laying on his side, he was the first to notice their destination and he shot up with a tired smile on his face.
Weeks in the North Pole had really taken away his stamina for long flights.
“There it is!” he announced, throwing his hand out to the base sprawling out below them.
Katara and Azula finally drew their eyes away from each other to also behold the area.
When they landed, the pair temporarily parted, the team all stretching while they walked along down two lines of waiting soldiers.
However, when they reached the smiling man at the end, Katara seemingly couldn’t help but place her arm through Azula’s, the princess not even turning her head at the very familiar action.
Instead, she was appreciating the base.
As much as she’d accepted that her nation was wrong, she could still appreciate the organised military atmosphere she’d spent her life in.
General Fong spread his hands as the three teens approached and shouted, “Welcome, Avatar Azula! I am General Fong and welcome to all of you great heroes! Appa, Momo, brave Sokka and mighty Katara!”
Besides Azula, Katara placed her fingers to her chin and said, thoughtfully, “mighty Katara? I like that.”
Azula glanced at her, finally not trying to convince herself that she wasn’t allowed to find the water bender adorable.
It was truly cute to see her enjoying just how powerful she really was after only weeks of training.
While she stared at Katara’s face, the earth benders launched fireworks into the sky, causing Sokka to mirror his sister’s position as he nodded and said, “not bad, not bad.”
General Fong allowed them some time to enjoy the welcome that they really did deserve, but finally led them inside to the room he had set up specifically for his planned discussion with the three teens he had been raptly waiting for after the reports he’d received from the north.
He watched contemplatively while they drank from the tea he’d provided.
Once he’d come up with his plan, he figured that Princess Azula would need some time to come to accept the genius of it.
While she was mid-sip, though, he found that he couldn’t hold back his thoughts and he said, while stroking his beard:
“Avatar Azula, we were all amazed at the stories of how you single-handedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can’t imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It’s an awesome responsibility.”
Azula swallowed the tea and slowly nodded.
Before her birthday, she would have agreed she deserved all the power she had, that it was this that would make her the best Fire Lord in history.
Now, she was frankly grateful that version of herself was so ignorant of the true extent of her power.
Instead of giving him fuel for this line of conversation she just took another drink from her cup.
Fong interlaced his fingers, figuring she was just being modest and he added, with perhaps too much confidence, “Avatar, you’re ready to face the Fire Lord.”
Azula involuntarily responded by spitting the tea back into the cup, coughing for a few seconds while Katara rubbed her back.
The princess finally recovered and replied, sharply, “no I’m not!”
“Azula still needs to master all four elements,” Katara injected as well, deciding that the general was unlikely to care about the whole family drama that complicated the matter.
After all, only she and her brother knew how uncharacteristically afraid the Avatar had been in the Temple of the Fire Sages.
It wasn’t like some brief water bending instruction had the ability to erase that abject terror that Katara was convinced she still experienced in her dreams.
“Why?” Fong laughed, “with the kind of power she possesses power enough to destroy hundreds of battle ships in a matter of minutes she could defeat the Fire Lord now!”
Katara stopped herself from scowling at the man.
Obviously the general wasn’t appreciating that his suggestion would mean the same thing if he’d said ‘her father’ instead of ‘the Fire Lord’.
It was Sokka who was the one to verbalise the obvious objection, “but sir, the thing is, Azula can only do those things when she’s in the Avatar State. It’s where she…”
It was Fong’s turn to make a sharp reply as he rose to his feet and said, “I’m well aware. Her eyes glow and she’s able to summon unbelievable power,” and then looking directly at Azula, he continued, “without you, we’d be slaughtered before we even reach their shores. But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation.”
Azula gripped the cup between her fingers, feeling that the ceramic was close to shattering under the pressure.
She barely wanted to admit this even to Katara, but it seemed the only way to get the general to accept that his plan was foolish, so she said, “I have no control in the Avatar State. It would be impossible to plan any kind of strategy and I don’t even know how to trigger it reliably.”
Fong slapped the table and replied, puffing himself up, “so it’s decided then. I’ll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State and then you’ll face your destiny!”
When Katara saw the crack spider out across Azula’s cup, she stood up herself and retorted, passionately, “no, nothing’s decided. We already have a plan. Azula’s pursuing her destiny her way.”
Fong’s eyes remained on Azula in spite of being addressed by the ‘mighty’ Katara.
Frankly, he was having a hard time seeing the world’s last hope as a fourteen year old girl who as afraid of her monster of a father.
He’d seen too much to sympathise with one soldier.
“Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on. May I show you something?” he asked, gesturing towards the window behind him.
Azula placed the cracked cup down and she slowly followed the general, Katara touching her arm as she passed her.
At the window, Azula wasn’t at all surprised by what she saw, even if it was the first time she had seen this side of the hundred year war.
Out in the courtyard, soldiers ran the gambit from limping to being carried in on stretchers by men who were themselves covered in bandages.
There was not a single smile in the place.
Although Azula completely understood what she was looking at, Fong still proceeded to explain, “that’s the infirmary, and those soldiers are the lucky ones. They came back. Everyday the Fire Nation takes lives. People are dying, Azula, because of your father! You could end his tyranny now, do you really need to think about that?”
Of course, he chose that moment to admit that he knew of her parentage.
Azula’s gaze zeroed in on a man struggling on crutches to help another disfigured soldier.
Everyone in that courtyard had their destinies changed by the last three generations of Fire Lords just as the whole last cycle of Avatars had.
Just like her, none of them had a choice.
How could she justify their suffering just because the Avatar was afraid of her daddy?
With her eyes locked onto the infirmary, she ran her tongue over her lips and said, quietly, “I’ll fight the Fire Lord.”
Fong drew himself up and smiled at Katara not noticing that the girl was not anywhere near as excited as he was.
Her brother, on the other hand, smiled back.
He forgot his own reservations at the thought that the war could end so soon.
S
Unusually, Azula was not looking forward to being in the same room as Katara.
The water bender and her brother had been sent to set up their sleeping quarters while Azula stayed to make plans with General Fong.
If Katara’s scowl was anything to go by as she left, she was not about to walk into resounding approval, not that she was getting anything of the kind from the monk at her side.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Aang asked.
Azula blew out a breath as the quarters came into view and she replied, “he had a point. If I can take out a fleet then I can face one man.”
“That man is the Fire Lord who has armies…plus he’s…”
“I know he’s my father, Aang!” Azula snapped but the Air Nomad still held her gaze.
“Azula,” Aang sighed, “if you’re not ready mentally to face him then you’ll lose.”
“If that’s what you’re waiting for, I’ll never be ready, especially not before the comet. But if I can figure out the Avatar State…”
“You’ll what? You can’t control it!” Aang argued.
Azula puffed ou her cheeks, finally pushing through to their sleeping quarters, opting not to respond since her ghostly companion had a good point.
She wasn’t at all surprised to find Katara pacing back and forth in front of the plain bunk beds on which Sokka was already lay down.
As soon as she saw the Avatar, Katara was upon her, Sokka sitting up in the background.
Katara grabbed her forearm and said, “this isn’t the right way, Azula.”
Sensing she was in for a similar conversation to the one she had chosen to ignore (Aang was still stood expectantly at the door) she went over to sit beside Sokka.
“General Fong is right, Katara, I can’t waste time anymore, my father needs to be stopped,” she said, resting her head against her hand, not at all sure about her assertion.
“You need to calm down, Katara,” Sokka offered, throwing his arms up, “remember when she took out the Fire Navy? She was incredible!”
“There’s a right way to do this. Practice, study and discipline,” Katara shot back desperately, searching for signs of agreement on the other girl’s resigned face.
“Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord,” Sokka replied casually.
Katara’s desperation turned to exasperation and Azula said, defensively, “it’s not a terrible idea. If I can just…”
“Of course it is!” Katara shouted.
“Katara,” Azula sighed standing as if to take her hand, but the water bender had already stepped back.
She had completely lost her ability to remain calm as her mind conjured all of the ways that this could go wrong.
All of the things that could happen to Azula.
“Fine, throw away all the work we’ve done and just glow it up!” Katara exploded before she stomped away.
“Katara,” Azula called but the other girl was already gone so she sat back down heavily onto her own bed and said to Sokka, “I’m being realistic. Do you think I should go after her?”
Sokka lay back down and replied, “nah, she won’t listen when she’s that angry. Just give her some time. She’ll come around when she sees how well your training goes tomorrow.”
Azula deflated down to the mattress and stared at the top of the bed.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted Katara to agree with her on this.
s
As it turned out, the training was hardly effective enough to give Katara comfort.
She looked on unimpressed as Fong gave her tea that purported to grant ‘ten-fold energy’.
After drinking, there was no glowing in sight, but the Avatar did pace back and forth, quickly firing off details of the defences in the Fire Nation capital while a scribe hastily scribbled away.
“She can talk her father to death,” Sokka muttered, his eyes getting tired of following the pacing girl.
Once she crashed down from this high, Azula sat cross-legged, yawning as she waited for Sokka to explain his bright idea under Fong’s critical eyes.
“Maybe I can shock you into the Avatar State,” the warrior said.
Azula yawned widely and shrugged as she replied, “why not?”
Sokka turned away from her and rustled around in preparation.
Even though she couldn’t see him, Katara and Aang watched with the same deep frown until Sokka turned around, revealing that his head had been replaced by a lemur.
Momo screeched loudly for added effect but Azula only jumped in mild surprise, suddenly feeling more awake, but no more powerful.
Aang, on the other hand, let out a loud scream that Azula ignored.
She didn’t want to turn around to see Katara’s disapproval of what she was doing. Thus far, she had to agree that this was stupid, she dreaded to think how hilarious her father would find these exercises.
As Sokka lost his balance under the clinging lemur, she kept her attention on the disappointed general who had gone from stroking his beard to gripping it, and she asked, “do you have anymore suggestions, general?”
He did have one more for the day and, in the interest of co-operation, Azula agreed, even though she could already tell it wouldn’t work.
It wasn’t as if she or Aang had the knowledge to say that this was periodically going to be a failure.
This was why she didn’t say anything when she found herself in a dimly lit room, wearing the mismatched outfit consisting of a Water Tribe cloak, a Earth Kingdom hat dotted with leaves atop her armour that she’d reluctantly put on for this experiment.
They’d agreed she’d just hold her glider for the lost Air Nation.
In front of her a man stood before a pedestal that was really just an empty bowl on a plinth and, with his hands raised to the sky he said, preachily, “you are wearing a ceremonial piece of clothing from each of the bending nations. Now I will join the four elements into one! Water,” he poured from a brass jug into the bowl, “earth,” he threw dirt in with the water and then grabbed a lit torch to join the other two elements, and said, “fire…air!” for the final one he grabbed a wooden contraption to blow a gust into the bowl which he then picked up and swirled around, “four elements together as one!”
The man flipped the bowl with a final flourish, coating Azula in its contents.
With a tired sigh, she wiped her face and deadpanned, “you just threw mud at me.”
The man nodded encouragingly and said, “do you feel anything?”
“No because the key to unlocking the Avatar State obviously isn’t mud!” Azula exploded, flicking some to the ground before she threw off the hat to join it.
It was perhaps the furthest she had ever felt from being a princess which was eating away at her willingness to try anything as she’d promised.
The man turned to Fong, expecting him to admonish the Avatar on his behalf, but the general didn’t even notice that he’d taken offence.
Instead, his eyes remained on the angry, mud covered teen and muttered, “we have to find a way.”
S
Zuko very quickly decided that he missed his ship.
He may have been banished but at least it always gave him a physical place to return to.
Now, he only had some run-down, abandoned home overlooking the shore that he refused to accompany his uncle to.
There was also the problem that he had no idea what he should be doing now.
He didn’t exactly have the resources to continue pursuing the Avatar, but he couldn’t just sit around with no goal.
His uncle, by comparison, was content to do nothing as evidenced as the man practically bounded into the room, emptying his bag onto the table (which was some of the only furniture in the depressingly sparse ‘home’).
The disgraced prince couldn’t even bring himself to scowl at the former general who was holding up his spoils from the beach.
He was grinning from ear to ear as he said, “look at these magnificent shells! I’ll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come.”
Zuko stood, already sick of this conversation, and he pointed out, “we don’t need anymore useless things! You forget, we have to carry everything ourselves now!”
Before Iroh could come up with an argument as to why the conch shell was worth the extra burden, he dropped it to the table when a light knock came through the cracked door which opened a moment later.
Zuko instinctively looked down at the ground to hide his scar as the man, clothed in red, entered.
The messenger was not at all surprised to find the two royals and to both of their surprised, he bowed his head and spoke with the respect they were sure they’d lost in the North Pole.
“Apologises for the interruption, I was asked to deliver this to you, your highness. It’s from the Fire Lord.”
He thrust the folded parchment towards the prince who took it, disregarding Iroh’s attempt to stop him and the messenger excused himself, unnoticed.
It may have been years, but he still recognised his father’s neat, meticulous hand in each character and he read over the words twice before he finally breathed.
“What does it say, nephew?” Iroh asked, sceptically.
Surely Zuko wouldn’t be smiling at his brother’s words?
“It says that he regrets my banishment, he wants us home uncle! He sent a crew to return us to the Fire Nation tomorrow evening!” Zuko rushed out, reading over the words in disbelief.
“Really?” Iroh asked in a different kind of disbelief.
Nothing could temper the sudden uplift in Zuko’s mood though.
S
-Hours later-
With relish, Zuko placed his few belongings into a bag, ready to follow the directions set out in the letter.
“We’re going home! After three long year, it’s unbelievable!”
From the window, Iroh said, “it is unbelievable. I have never known my brother to regret anything.”
Zuko’s relish morphed into irritation and he replied, defensively, “you read the letter. Father’s realised how important family is to him. He cares about me!”
“Then why did he send a messenger?” Iroh argued, but Zuko remained unconvinced so it seemed a bad idea to bring up the fact that Ozai appeared to ‘care’ about Azula before they left, so he continued, “I care about you! And if Ozai wants you back, well…I think it may not be for the reasons you imagine.”
Zuko turned his back to his uncle.
He doens’t love us Zuko popped into his head and he scrunched up his eyes while gripping the bag.
He had no evidence before now she was wrong, but the words on the parchment were his anchor to the home he had missed so much.
This was why he replied, “you don’t know how my father feels about me. You don’t know anything!”
“Zuko,” Iroh sighed, “I only meant that in our family, things are not always what they seem.”
Zuko scrunched up his scarred face and whipped around, “I think you are exactly what you seem! A lazy, mistrustful, shallow old man who’s always been jealous of his brother!” exploded from his mouth.
He then stormed away before he could face what he said.
Iroh watched him go, not at all offended.
He didn’t have the mental capacity with the foreboding hanging over him.
S
It took an hour or so for Azula to clean herself off, change back into her Earth Kingdom garb and then scrub the dirt that had made it into the crevices of her armour before she packed it back away for its next rare appearance.
General Fong had gone off, chattering about how he would have more ideas in the morning and Azula decided to just leave the man to it. Her plan had just been to go to sleep and face whatever it was he conjured up in the morning, surely it couldn’t be worse than throwing mud at her?
When it actually came to heading back to the sleeping quarters though, she felt herself drawn instead to the balcony that overlooked the majority of the base.
From this vantage point, she could see the soldiers that did not have the luxury of sleep, always planning and training for the next move against the enemy. Against the enemy who apparently prided themselves on their honour and yet waged war against the weak and defenceless. An enemy that could have been stopped a long time ago if the Avatar hadn’t kept failing just like she was.
With a heavy sigh, she leaned down onto the balcony, just watching the activity below.
“Have you ever been in the Avatar State, Aang?” she asked absently.
“Only once,” Aang admitted, coming to lean against the balcony to her side, “when I froze Appa. I came out of it when I didn’t grab onto him though.”
Azula inclined her head as she pushed herself up so that she was also leaning with her back to the base and she replied, “did you feel like there was nothing you could do to change what was happening?”
“That’s exactly how I felt,” Aang said softly, “I was terrified, I felt so hopeless…”
Azula hummed in understanding and stared down at her feet and asked, “if you could have saved your people, would you have voluntarily gone into the Avatar State and felt like that again?”
Aang dropped his folded arms, his mouth pulled down. All this time, he had thought that he was staunchly on Katara’s side on this matter, that it was too dangerous and that it simply wasn’t how the Avatar was supposed to win this war.
Azula made a very good point, however.
“Of course I would,” he replied, “but Azula…I wouldn’t have had time to properly master the elements…”
“And you really think that I do?” she retorted.
Aang took in a deep breath, it was another good point, but he still said, confidently, “I really think you do. Look at what you’ve accomplished in only a few months…”
Azula was about to echo General Fong’s argument about how many people would get hurt while she did that, but she was interrupted by another voice joining the conversation.
The voice was tinged with worry and concern as it asked, “can we talk about something?”
Azula unhitched herself from the railing as Katara approached the balcony while Aang disappeared. He figured that since they were now definitely more than friends, it was probably the best thing to do whenever they tried to have a serious conversation between the two of them.
“Of course,” Azula replied, trying for a weak smile that was made even weaker by her exhaustion.
Katara naturally stepped even closer than she would have before the North Pole, while Azula sat back against the balcony and waited patiently for her to find her words.
“Do you remember how angry you got at the Southern Air Temple when Aang told you the truth?” Katara asked after a moment when Azula’s hand came to rest on her waist. The Avatar nodded slowly and Katara continued, “you was so angry and upset that you wasn’t even you anymore…I’m not saying that the Avatar State doesn’t have incredible and helpful powerful…but you have to understand…for the people who love you, watching you being so angry and out of control is really scary.”
Azula took in a long breath through her nose, both to give herself a moment to think about how she wanted to respond and to just appreciate how the other girl somehow always smelled like sea salt. She admittedly also needed a moment to process everytime Katara verbalised the extent to which she cared about her.
After a moment of contemplation, the Avatar replied, “I understand why you would feel like that, but I still have to do this.”
Katara took a step back out of Azula’s grip and said, visibly upset, “well I don’t understand.”
Azula ran her hand over her tired face and said, “no you don’t. Your father is a good man, Katara. He was forced into this war by my father! I’ve been given all of this power and I have to use it to fix what they’ve done. If this works, then you can go home, don’t you want that?”
Katara swallowed and took the other teen’s hand as she replied, desperately, “it wouldn’t feel like home if something happened to you.”
“Defeating my father is the only way to end the war, I have to try,” Azula replied.
Katara deflated, seeing that there was no arguing with the Avatar on this and she instead just squeezed her hand, “I can’t watch you do this to yourself. I’m not coming tomorrow,” she said sadly.
Azula nodded in resigned understanding as Katara’s hands left her own and she instead leaned forward to place a light peck to her lips.
“Good night,” the water bender said as she turned to walk away.
“Good night,” Azula echoed, watching her go until she disappeared from view before she returned her gaze to the base below.
During the sombre moment, neither of them noticed one of General Fong’s men who had halted behind a nearby wall when he heard their discussion. After seeing the kiss, he turned on his heels to return to the man in charge.
He needed him to know that he’d come up with the perfect solution to their present problem.
S
Azula couldn’t move.
The ship around her rocked violently, but all she could focus on was Katara gripping the railing tightly as a scarred teen approached with flame in each hand.
Azula knew exactly what she would have done to stop this.
She could have just thrown air at Zuko to blow him out of Katara’s path without causing too much physical damage to her misguided brother.
In this situation, she couldn’t move any of her muscles to put that plan into place, until the rocking swerved the vessel roughly to one-side as a form shot up atop a funnel of water, arms out and no emotion on its face.
As the scene unfolded, the Azula on the deck managed to look up in time to see her mirror image but for the glowing eyes land behind her brother.
The funnel twisted around from behind as Avatar State Azula who threw her arm down so that it shot straight towards Zuko, throwing him from the boat and to the water below.
Hearing the strangled scream of the boy was bad enough, but then the glowing, uncaring eyes turned to the next person on the deck.
“Azula!” Katara shouted, still gripping the rail as the ship rocked more and more violently, “we’re safe now you can stop!”
The teen gripped by the Avatar State was completely deaf to the cries of reason and Azula tried everything she could think of to break this inexplicable immobilisation and the only thing that was even mildly successful were the words that burst out of her mouth, “don’t hurt her!” she shouted.
It was too late, Katara had already been thrown hard from the ship.
Azula shot up and breathed deeply with her hands dug hard into the mattress and her head flew to the side so that she could make sure that Katara was in fact still asleep and safe.
The water bender had opted for the bed furthest away from her, which had admittedly stung a little at the time, but right now, Azula had a clear view of the rise and fall of her chest.
Sokka’s loud snores drowned out her deep breaths and she used the opportunity to whisper, “Aang?”
It took only a moment for the monk to appear, cross-legged at the end of the bunk bed and he just tilted his head and waited for her to say whatever it was that she had called him for.
Azula allowed herself a few more moments to consider just how she would feel if she came out of the Avatar State to discover Katara had been hurt by her hand. How would she live with herself if her…
Azula’s thought trailed off when she realised that she didn’t have a word to put to their relationship and instead decided to focus on the main point here.
“I think you may have been right...about the Avatar State…” she admitted.
“What about it?” he asked, patiently.
Azula ran her tongue over her dry lips and allowed her eyes to drift over to Katara’s sleeping form again.
If she couldn’t even control the Avatar State enough to protect the person she cared about the most in the world, then how could she used it to effectively end a century-old war?
As much as she’d come to accept that she should abhor the majority of what her father taught her, she figured that not using weapons you didn’t understand was fairly good advice.
This was why she said, in spite of how selfish she felt, “I shouldn’t try to bring on the Avatar State intentionally. It isn’t worth the risk.”
Aang smiled, clearly relieved as he nodded, but he paused as something occurred to him and he asked, “you don’t think that the general will be mad, do you?”
Azula yawned and lay back down, comforted by the approval from her past life, not at all concerned by his worry as she replied, “what can he say? He’s hardly a threat to the Avatar.”
Aang leaned back against the post of the bed, his mouth still pulled down in a frown but Azula was apparently reassured enough to close her eyes.
S
Zuko felt bad for his words, he really did, but he couldn’t allow it to deter him.
As much as his uncle had loved and supported him since that day, the goal had always been clear no matter how much everything had changed.
With the letter tightly stuffed into his tunic, he pulled his bag over his shoulder and stepped out of the house, taking in a final breath of the dewy ocean air.
His last breath as the Fire Nation’s banished prince.
As he prepared to take a step towards the ship idling on the shoreline below, though, his triumphant walk was interrupted by a frantic shout:
“Wait! Don’t leave without me!”
Zuko released the strap of his bag and felt all of the tension leech from his body.
He didn’t have enough family to just abandon them so he was more than relieved to hear that voice.
This was why he openly smiled at the owner of it and said, “uncle! You’ve changed your mind!”
Iroh came to a stop and laid his hand on Zuko’s shoulder as he replied, “family sticks together, right?”
Zuko’s mind flashed back to another man who’d once had his hand in the same position as they looked over the grounds of the palace.
He couldn’t even remember what Ozai had told him at the time, but the image had been one that had fuelled his determination since his banishment.
The memory flash ended almost as soon as it started and he said to the man who was actually there, “We’re finally going home!”
Iroh hid his worry behind a tight smile before they embarked on the journey down to the waiting ship.
S
Sokka accepted Azula’s decision with no argument.
Ultimately, he accepted that it would be up to the Avatar how she wanted to achieve her destiny.
He may crave the end of the war, but that couldn’t be put ahead of the comfort of his friend.
This was why he’d agreed to accompany the Avatar to talk to the general since Katara had already left before either of them had woken up.
In the discussion area they been greeted in, Fong locked his fingers together, his face as stormy as they’d expected, stood behind his desk that was sprawled with plans.
“The fact is, general, it is foolish to trigger something we don’t understand and expect it to win us the war,” Azula said.
“But what about…” Fong started, beginning to point out the window to the infirmary.
Prepared for the argument, Azula interjected, “the Avatar State will probably put them in more danger.”
“Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?” Fong asked.
“Well, since she can only get into the Avatar State when she’s in genuine danger, it’s probably for the best,” Sokka offered, expecting this to put an end to the matter, but the general smiled.
“You make an excellent point,” he said.
Sokka and Azula were in the process of exchanging a look to see if the other also found the tone strange, but their eyes didn’t get to meet before the desk crashed into the Avatar.
“Azula!” Sokka shouted to be held back by a pair of guards as her body crashed through the wall roughly and out into the training ground.
At the last second, she broke her fall with a blast of air to land in a nimble crouch.
“He’s lost his mind!” Aang said as the benders all around turned to see what was going on.
“What are you doing?” Azula shouted up at the man standing at the hole her body had created in the wall.
“I believe we’re about to get results,” he called back and then shouted, “men! Attack the Avatar!”
Azula swivelled to count the earth benders surrounding her, some of them mounted on ostrich horses.
Fong stepped out of the building, landing with a crash which sent a wave of rock at Azula, who jumped up to avoid it only to be swatted by a massive coin of rock sent by the soldiers so she rolled across the uneven ground.
Thankfully, she rolled far enough so that the falling projectile missed her by a few inches.
Aang was standing over her when she looked up to get her bearings of the shaking area.
“They know you’re not their enemy, right?” he squeaked.
Azula pushing herself up to air bende herself over another coin and muttered, “apparently not…”
She could already see a way to quickly take the men out one by one, but it involved a lot of blue flame and these people had been hurt enough by fire.
It wasn’t their fault they were bound to follow their crazed general’s orders.
She made her decision as two more coins flew at her from opposite directions and she flipped over so that she landed in the cut out just as they joined and she rolled out as they flattened.
She looked around for more incoming and shouted, “I won’t fight you, general! This is pointless!”
Her protests falling on deaf ears, the coins continued flying at her, four of them colliding just after she launched into the air, another sailing over as she got closer to the floor.
It smashed into the four stationary coins, where Azula had narrowly rolled out the way only a second before.
As she rose to her feet and swiped down to send a thin strip of blue flame that cut another coin in half, the fire disappearing before it could come close to any of the soldiers.
Inside, meanwhile, amid all the crashing and rumbling, Sokka sharply rose his feet at the same time hitting his captors in a very undesirable spot simultaneously.
They both howled in pain, releasing the warrior who ran towards the fray.
“You need to get away from these things,” Aang shouted as Azula landed a top another coin, only to use it to somersault over another pair honing in on her.
She landed with a huff in time to see the men preparing more and she had to agree with the nomad’s assessment.
Yet another coin spun towards her and she leapt through the hole using the momentum to create an air scooter.
Since she was going with pacifism here, air seemed the most logical element, especially since it allowed her to avoid the coins with great precision.
She zipped through the field, avoidnig several soldiers and over the walls of rock they conjured to try and halt her, with two of the mounted men pursuing her.
The ostrich horses were no match for an air bender’s speed though and she shot up the wall of the base, the air ball slowly diminishing the higher she got as two men earth bent themselves up in pursuit on small platforms.
When the scooter disappeared, Azula switched to running up the wall, determined to get to the top for some advantage.
Her air bending provided the necessary momentum until the two men threw spears.
Their proximity made fire too dangerous a defence so she instead flipped from the wall to dodge them, the earth benders changing direction to continue their chase as she fell to the ground, twisting out of the way of yet more spears so she hit rock hard.
By the time she realised she had landed in the centre of a coin, it was already moving, landing in front of Fong, the angle making it difficult to get out while it was in motion.
“You can’t run forever,” the general sneered.
“You can’t fight forever!” Azula shot back obstinately.
Fong leapt forward to crush the coin, but Azula had finally gained enough balance to blast herself out of it to avoid the attack.
Dust bloomed out as Azula landed a little way ahead of the crushed coin, her eyes remaining frustratingly ember.
S
Zuko was grinning too much, so he clearly had not noticed just how strange the scene really was.
Lining the walkway on either side up to the ship were Royal Procession guards, standing to attention as they walked.
On the deck, a high ranking officer stood bolt upright and unmoving.
The figure had a different air about him, but Iroh couldn’t quite place what was strange about it.
He supposed that if his brother was really being honest about wanting Zuko back then it wasn’t unreasonable to send out some soldiers with a Royal Procession.
It wasn’t like he had any other heirs left at this point and it was definitely out of the realms of possibility that the Fire Lord would come himself to complete this task.
This rationalisation didn’t make him feel any better but he still bowed respectfully to the officer in front of them when Zuko did.
The figure also bowed, rather stiffly and Iroh frowned when he didn’t immediately remove his helmet to introduce himself.
Zuko didn’t notice this detail either though, he just kept walking up the plank and toward the vessel.
As he did, the figure raised his hand towards he soldiers behind the pair and the captain among them launched into giving orders to his men:
“Raise the anchors! We’re taking the prisoners home!”
Iroh and Zuko halted, both staring at the officer witheringly and, if it were possible, an even more withering aura was seeping through the mask of the helmet.
“I’m sorry your h…”
The officer sharply held up his hand and the captain clamped his mouth shut to swallow the end of that sentence.
Zuko clutched at the letter in his tunic and he muttered, devastated, “my father lied to me.”
Iroh pushed him forward out of the path of two balls of flame, while the officer released his hands and turned to walk away from the commotion.
Leaving his men to apprehend the prisoners.
S
When she was sure Azula and Sokka had vacated, Katara returned to their sleeping quarters and sprawled herself on her bed, looking through Azula’s scrolls for any forms that she didn’t already know.
The distraction was barely working as it was, but with the rumbling from outside now beginning shake the bed, Katara threw the scroll down in defeat.
“I wonder what crazy thing they’re trying now,” she said to Momo, who remained curled up and snoozing on her pillow. A particularly hard rumble had her throwing all of the scrolls aside as she stood, “maybe we should make sure Azula’s okay.”
By the time she made it down the stairs to the training area, her brother had just stepped down the opposite ones, drawing his boomerang as he searched for the most appropriate target.
“What’s going on?” Katara demanded.
“The general’s gone crazy! He’s trying to force Azula into the Avatar State!!” Sokka replied, just as frantic as his sister who ran off to the earth benders without asking any follow-up questions.
Sokka ran after her, spotting a soldier brandishing his spear at the Avatar who was in the process of dodging more earth attacks.
The soldier pulled his mount to a stop when his spear snapped in front of his eyes. He stared at the broken and useless bit of wood in bewilderment, until a boomerang made a second pass, throwing him from the ostrich horse.
Sokka caught his weapon and held his hands up to the indifferent creature, “good…bird…horse thingy…” he said as he mounted it.
Once securely on the saddle, he urged it in the direction of the other soldiers leaving Katara behind.
Azula slid under some flying earth and then jumped through another coin, her landing position giving her a view of the newcomer.
Her eyes widened and Fong also turned to look at the source of the shock.
Remembering what one of his men had reported the night before, he smiled.
Surely the throes of young love would be enough to trigger what he wanted?
Several coins all rolled around the water bender who had forgotten her pouch, so all she could do was hold up her hand to shield her eyes against the dust.
The coins then all rotated, creating three lines around her which formed a triangle, leaving her nowhere to run.
Fong called over his shoulder, “maybe you can avoid me, but she can’t!”
Katara’s hand searched in vain for her pouch of water until Fong raised his own hand.
She screamed as she sank knee-deep into the twisting ground, “I can’t move!” she shouted as she struggled.
Azula ran towards the scream, barely even registering that no one was attacking her anymore.
If they hurt Katara for some idiotic plan then her feeble grip on pacifism was sure to break.
“Don’t hurt her!” Azula commanded, kicking out two blasts of blue flame as she jumped through the air but earth sprung up to swallow them as Katara yelped, since the earth had swallowed her to her waist.
“Katara!” Sokka shouted, “no!”
He urged the ostrich horse at Fong, but the general swept at the animals feet, slinging Sokka from it also that he slammed into a coin, dangling out if it helplessly.
Anger crackled through Azula’s veins and she raised her hands to perform the form that had made her anxious since the solstice.
She pushed her arms up and down as quickly as the form would allow, no thoughts to how perfect it was as she thrust her two fingers out hastily.
The lightning strike wasn’t the strongest she could produce but it still exploded that rock that popped up to block it, Sokka looking on slack-jawed.
He hadn’t even thought about asking if she could lightning bend.
When the dust settled, Azula still felt the crackle as she shouted, “stop this now Fong!”
“You could save her if you were in the Avatar State!” Fong called back.
Azula closed her eyes, attempting to muster the abject rage from the air temples or the innate desire to survive from the other occurrences, but neither worked.
She was certainly angry at General Fong.
That this man would dare hurt Katara made her beyond angry, but she still wasn’t entering the Avatar State.
“I can’t!” she finally shouted, “just stop, this won’t work!”
Katara sank further down until her chest was buried and she said, frantically, “Azula, I’m sinking!”
“Fong, you have to stop,” Azula shouted, getting closer to the man with no idea what she could do to stop the earth bending without risking Katara.
“I don’t see glowing!” Fong taunted back.
Azula clenched her fists, with no time to create more lightning without telegraphing what she was doing, she sent a barrage of air and flame at the general, but she was hopelessly outnumbered.
For each attack, earth was strategically risen up by the soldiers, so they were absorbed before they could reach Fong.
Seeing that she was not listening, he called for the Avatar to hear, “I guess I do need to do this.”
Azula stopped attacking as he closed his fist and she rushed towards one of the walls of earth and launched herself over Fong.
Katara cried out, trying to reach for Azula who was falling down to her so that she could clearly see the fear swimming in her blue eyes as the ground closed in around her.
Azula landed a second too late, her hand pressed into the ground that Katara had disappeared into, where she was currently suffocating.
She no longer had to try to feel that abject rage, it flowed through her entire system.
Her fingers pushed into the dirt and she gave into the feeling so that her eyes lit up.
She twisted her head around to the instigator of all of this who smiled triumphantly, “it worked! It worked!”
The Avatar stood and stalked a couple steps towards him, so the triumph morphed into fear and the general held up his hands while air began to violently whip around the base, knocking down the coins.
Azula swiped her arm down, creating a funnel of air, tinged with blue flame, which spiralled towards the general who landed hard on his back.
Fong lifted his head in time to see the funnel close in around the Avatar, becoming a vortex which lifted her up into the air, towering over those who would harm Katara.
S
Zuko leapt onto the deck of the ship, blasting two soldiers into the water so that he could pursue the officer.
He needed an explanation and the stranger could give it to him if only he could restrain him.
Surely the procession had been misinformed of their orders? If he could just show them the letter then they would see?
Even he knew that thought was naive wistful thinking, so he approached the masked officer and entered a fighting stance.
The helmet tilted to the side, the officer’s eyes moving up and down the sixteen-year-old critically.
On the gangway, Iroh threw two more guards into the water and called, “Zuko! Let’s go!”
The young prince paid him no heed, he had a singular focus that even he couldn’t really justify.
The officer was responsible for dashing his dreams and he had to pay.
Zuko lit two daggers of fire and charged at the officer, not bothering to ask who he was because it didn’t matter.
The officer stood with his arms behind his back as the traitor flew at him, easily stepping out of the way of each blow without even releasing his hands.
He twisted under a swipe to his helmet and used it to throw out a kick which sent Zuko back a foot or two.
Zuko grunted through a flash of pain, but recovered quickly enough to throw a string of orange at the man.
Calmly, the officer redirected the assault and it flew towards Zuko, forcing him onto his back further down the deck.
With spots in his eyes, Zuko propped himself up on his elbows in time to see the officer starting a form that thoroughly confused him.
Lightning crackled around the figure and, if he didn’t know better, he could almost imagine his sister in the same position, preparing to channel the deadly substance at him.
Before the bolt could leave the officer’s fingers, Zuko’s view of his unavoidable death was blocked by his uncle’s back having dispatched every other guard moments prior.
Iroh grabbed the officer’s hand, trying to look into the eyes which were hidden behind the helmet.
The lightning flowed through his own arm, into his stomach and then out through his other arm so that it crashed into a far off cliff.
The former general then used his leverage to kick the officer from the ship, accompanied by a splash into the water.
When he resurfaced, Lu Ten wrenched the helmet off and watched his father run off with his precious Zuko.
S
Fong watched helplessly as the Avatar continued to rise into the air, the vortex already causing damage to the base.
“Avatar Azula! Can you hear me? Your friend is safe?” Fong pleaded, stomping the ground so that Katara popped up, taking heaving breaths, “it was just a trick to trigger the Avatar State and it worked!”
Fong smiled manically while Katara looked up to the fruits of his labour.
Her stomach clenched when she saw the anger on the Avatar’s face.
How could he possibly think this was the right thing?
The vortex bent down so that Azula smashed into the ground sending a wall of dust zooming in all directions, but the dust kept going, smashing into buildings and infrastructure rendering them ruined in its wake.
At the centre of the destruction, Azula was still under the Avatar State as her spirit was torn from her raging body that was incapable of recognising that Katara was perfectly safe.
Her spirit form, though, let out a breath as she was given a bird’s eye view of the base, allowing her to see that Katara was again above ground.
Her view was obscured by a trail of scales flying in front of her and, after a blink, she was sat on the dragon’s back behind a taller man.
Roku turned to look at her and said, “it’s time you learned.”
The dragon flew up into the clouds, the scene morphing below when they broke back through.
“The Avatar State is a defence mechanism, designed to empower you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars.”
Below, Avatar Kyoshi stood, her eyes glowed white as she entered a fighter’s stance, causing two massive statues to rise int the air.
“The glow is a combination of all of your past lives, focusing their energy through your body.”
Kyoshi melted, the ground beneath her huge feet becoming a raft floating on which Avatar Kuruk’s eyes flashed white before he summoned a tsunami-like wave that carried the raft high.
At its peak, the ocean became grass.
Avatar Yangchen stood in a forest, the nomad’s eyes sparked and she waved her arms, creating powerful winds which bloomed out across the trees, violently twisting their trunks.
“In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful.”
Avatar Szeto summoned lava spouts from four falcones, obscuring Azula’s vision until they passed through more clouds, landing in a kind of white void.
“But you are also at your most vulnerable,” Roku finished.
Fang disappeared so that the pair were stood opposite each other in the void.
“What does that mean?” Azula asked, kind of dizzied that she’d naturally known the names of anyone but Kyoshi from the demonstration.
“If you die in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and any chance, however slim, for another Avatar, will die with you.”
As Roku explained, Azula saw figures spread out beside her.
Jimu. Korra. Aang.. Roku. Kyoshi. Kuruk. Yangchen. Szeto.
They were just the start.
There was thousands of years of legacy and tradition that had likely been destroyed by Fire Nation royalty.
When he finished, they each turned to dust, leaving only Azula and Roku and she had no idea what to say in response to it.
The chances were already small that she could be reincarnated, but she had to agree that the Avatar State was not worth relinquishing any chance that still existed.
Her understanding meant that Fang reappeared, scooping her up.
As the dragon broke through the void, Azula again saw her physical body still surrounded by another vortex ready to cause more destruction.
Fang flew through the raging vortex, returning her to her body.
The moment Azula regained control, she involuntarily fell to her knees.
As the air died down, Katara crossed the space, catching the princess in a hug as she looked around the ruins of the base that had been so unnecessary.
“I’m sorry, Katara, you were right. This isn’t the right way to do this.”
“Ha! Are you joking? That was almost perfect!” Fong said, jogging over to the pair, and he stroked his beard as he continued, “we just have to find out a way to control you when you’re like that.”
“He’s out of his mind,” Aang grumbled, having reappeared when Azula was freed of the Avatar State.
“ We won’t be doing anything,” Azula replied as Katara supported her to her feet.
Fong didn’t listen and continued to ponder, “I guess we’ll figure it out on the way to the Fire Nation.”
Katara and Azula squinted at the general, neither sure what sequence of words would actually convince this man.
Sokka took that necessity out of the equation as he appeared atop the ostrich horse again, using the height to smash his club against the general’s head.
The man crumpled to the ground comically and Sokka called out, “anybody got a problem with that?”
All of the soldiers who had recovered from the onslaught of dust shook their heads instantly.
Katara placed her hand onto Azula’s waist, helping her walk towards Sokka, but one of the soldiers interjected, “do you still want an escort to Omashu?”
Katara looked away from the exhausted Avatar giving the unconscious general an annoyed look as she replied, “I think we’re all set.”
The soldiers unanimously accepted this as the group prepared to leave on their much more reliable bison.
S
Flanked by two Royal Procession guards, Lu Ten stepped up to the balcony that overlooked the village, Iroh’s massage therapist cowered among the gathered civilians.
He thrust out a parchment baring an artist’s rendition of his father and eldest cousin as he announced, “anyone found to harbour these traitors will face consequences from the Fire Lord himself.”
As the villagers murmured, he leaned down to the balcony and said, to himself, “you can’t hide from me forever, father.”
A mile or so away, Zuko and Iroh both let out heavy breaths as they finally stopped running and fell down to their knees before they both stared down to their waving reflections in the water running steadily.
“I think we’re safe here,” the former general said gruffly.
Zuko’s breath even out and he asked, hoarsely, “have you ever met a regular soldier who can bend lightning?”
Iroh ran his tongue over his dry lips.
His nephew had voiced his primary worry from what they’d just witnessed.
The fact was that he could count the number of lightning benders he’d actually met during his life on one hand and none of them would logically be available to pretend to be some soldier.
The alternative was much less implausible.
“It’s not unheard of,” Iroh replied, unconvincingly, which Zuko seemed to accept.
He instead turned his attention to their most clear priority and he pulled out a knife from his belt.
The banished prince stared at the water as he swiped the blade through the base of his top knot before he passed the weapon to the older man.
He didn’t watch the grey top knot hit the water as he was too busy pulling out the letter.
The words blurred together as he stared at his father’s handwriting and asit also hit the water, Zuko watched the his last hope flow out from the paper that ran along the floating buns.