Agni Kai [2] Zuko

15

TEARS HAD BEGAN TO BE A NORMAL THING to the group of kids with the emotional burden of saving the world. Tears of frustration, pain, helplessness. They all had lost something, things they were slowly getting over.

When the group met together again, Sokka and Suki were too overjoyed to see Aang again to notice at first, but that was when Toph spoke up,

"Wait a second... there's a heartbeat missing. No, there's two." And that's when everyone had noticed Katara was the only one who had dismounted Appa.

"Um," Katara's voice cracked, "Zuko is getting Uzume down from Appa." Toph felt as Katara's heart began to race as if the brown girl was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Did she get injured?" Aang asked his love, worried.

"No." Toph interrupted Katara before she could speak, "No!" She shouted at the group and pointed towards Katara, "Tell us she's okay!"

When no one spoke, that's when Aang, Sokka and Suki began to realize.

However, it really set in when Zuko got down from Appa with a body in his arms, covered by a blanket.

-

   Mai's body was tired. She was used to her mind feeling tired but now all of her ached. Ty Lee laid on a cot by her bed, worn out from the day both of them had.

    The two girls had managed to find their way back home safely, although the journey wasn't easy. Mai had to convince her uncle to let the two girls escape and the rest of the way home they spent hidden, fearful of any fire nation guards seeing them.

   The girls were almost to Mai's residence in fire territory when they had been spotted. The entire village was frantic, news of the Avatar and his friends returning has spread. More specifically, Zuko and Uzume had been seen at the palace with the waterbending girl.

   She was exasperated to think the fire nation guards priorities were so skewed that when they had spotted her and Ty Lee, the tried to reprimand her. The guards had been distracted by plumes of blue and orange fire bursting from behind palace walls, and that's when Ty Lee had chosen to strike.

   The girls had watched the fire dance from the palace worriedly before they ran the rest of the way home.

   The next morning, Mai was exhausted and not expecting a knock on the door. Ty Lee grumbled as she tossed and turned in her cot. Mai tiptoed to the door, careful to not wake Ty Lee.

   Ty Lee was woken by the sound of Mai's wails, crying out to a girl who didn't exist anymore.

-

Surrounded by a group of guards, Zuko walked down the halls of the royal prison. He avoided looking at any high risk prisoners as he made his way to a cell at the end of the corridor, even more protected than the other cells. Guards exchanged short nods before they opened the doors that lead him to the cell of the person he dreaded to see.

Azusa sat in a dark corner, glowering at the floor. The black haired girl looked up at her brother through her bangs, a sight that sent a chill down his spine.

He was suddenly painfully aware of all the cracks in the walls and the dust that filled the air, making it impossible for him to breathe. That, or it was his panic setting in.

It was hard to believe the girl in the corner was younger than him. She looked older, distressed. With the straight jacket holding her arms and metal covering her feet and mouth to prevent any use of her bending, she didn't look like a girl who could love anyone.

But that was their problem; she did love someone. And she killed her.

Zuko awkwardly cleared his throat before gesturing for the guards to remove her mouth covering. Azula had surprisingly let them as she continued to stare at Zuko.