Honor, Love, and Dragons (Zuko x OC)

The Chase

Azula Again

~~~

It had been a few days since they left Lee's village. They had heard rumors of Azula being in the area. Zuko figured she was tracking the avatar and decided that they needed to follow. His instinct seemed to be right because they noticed bison fur as they followed Azula's tracks. Her tank made deep indentations in the earth, so it was very easy to stay on her trail. Ivana held onto Zuko's shirt as they rode on.

It was hours later before they found the tank. A few soldiers were milling around, but there was no sign of Azula. They stayed out of sight, circling the area. They found a trail of fur and continued to follow it.

Another hour later they stopped at a ghost town. They spotted Azula and the Avatar on the main road. Ivana heard Azula speak as they got closer, "Do you really want to fight me?" Azula asked the Avatar.

Zuko lept off the ostrich horse, leaving Ivana to tie it up. "Yes, I really do," he said. Aang cried out in surprise at his presence. Ivana returned to his side, glaring at Azula.

"I was wondering when you'd show up, Zuzu," Azula teased.

Aang suppressed a chuckle, "Zuzu?"

"Back off, Azula! He's mine!" he demanded, standing his ground.

"I'm not going anywhere," Azula said, taking a fighting stance. Ivana did the same. She had no intention of fighting the Avatar (she wasn't crazy) but she did intend to defend Zuko from his crazy sister. Azula laughed at her stance. "You're so cute, Ivana. Like you could really beat me?"

Ivana growled, "That may be, but I'll protect Zuko until my last breath." Azula only laughed at her again, pretending to wipe tears from her eyes before calming herself.

"Don't make me laugh, Ivie. We're here to fight," Azula said determined, taking a stance.

They looked from one enemy to the other. Ivana wondered who would make the first move. She didn't wonder long. Azula shot a blast of her blue fire at Zuko. Ivana stood in front of Zuko, making a fire shield, only to be pushed back by the power of Azula's blast. Zuko caught her, but they both went falling onto the porch of one of the buildings. Ivana looked up to see the Avatar trying to fly away with his glider.

Azula stopped him with a stream of fire. He deflected it with his glider before landing safely on the ground. Azula climbed to a roof as Ivana helped Zuko up. Zuko ran back to the fight as Aang landed between him and Azula. Zuko firebended at the Avatar, but he dodged. Azula did the same, only to have him dodge her attack too. They continued exchanging attacks, none of them landing a blow on the other. Aang made another attempt at escape. Ivana tried to distract Azula with a few fire blasts, only to be dodged and ignored. She growled as the battle went on.

Zuko made an attempt to attack Azula, sending a streak of fire at Azula. They exchanged blows, neither of them making a hit. Azula turned her attention back on Aang. She firebended at him, causing him to flee to the top of a nearby building. Azula followed, entering the building, almost falling before catching herself. Ivana caught a glimpse of the inside and there were no floors. The avatar was balancing on a ball of air in the middle of the building. He waved at Azula. I like this kid.

Zuko however was too focused on his target and fell straight down to the first floor with a yell. Ivana sighed, running to his aide. Aang and Azula continued their fight.

Ivana found Zuko unconscious in a pile of rubble. She lifted his legs to help him recover. He opened his eyes a minute later. They looked up to see Iroh, holding out his hands to them. "Get up!" Iroh commanded. They stood, Zuko blinked trying to get the world back in focus.

They ran back to the fight. Iroh intercepted Azula, hitting her with his belly, knocking her off her feet. Ivana snorted, standing beside Iroh and Zuko, while the Avatar's team surrounded Azula. Ivana looked toward a young girl. Someone new. Interesting.

"Well, look at this. Enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done," Azula said, raising her hands in surrender. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor." Ivana had a hard time believing it. Especially when she'd never known any member of the royal family to surrender willingly. She kept her eyes on her.

Before she could react, Azula smirked, sending a fireblast toward Iroh. Zuko yelled out, watching his uncle fall. They all bended at Azula simultaneously (Sokka threw his boomerang). The mix of all four elements and an extra fire blast created an explosion. When the dust cleared, Azula was gone.

Zuko ran to his uncle, kneeling next to him. He yelled at team Avatar, "Get away from us!" Ivana kneeled on the other side of Iroh, moving his robe to the side. Ivana gasped at the damage.

"Zuko, I can help," Katara said, trying to approach.

"Zuko, let them help. Just for a minute. Waterbenders can heal, can't they?" Ivana asked, knowing the answer was yes. Katara nodded at her, while Zuko looked away. Ivana gestured for her to come closer. "Please help him," she pleaded.

Katara took out some water and placed it over Iroh's wound. Ivana felt sick looking at it. It brought back memories of her own burn. The water began to glow as some of the blistering healed. "It would take multiple healing sessions for this to heal completely," Katara stated.

Ivana looked at Zuko. "No. Get away from us," he growled.

"Zuko-"

"Leave!" he shouted, firebending at them. Katara and the rest of the team ran away. "Help me get him somewhere safe."