The Officer and the Princess: The Flames Of War

Chapter 50

"I know." Daichi said as he kneeled beside her and gently rubbed her back. "He was a good man." Shào looked at Daichi and wrapped her arms around him as she silently sobbed into his shoulder. Seeing Shào in such a state pained Azula greatly, from the first day that they had met Shào wasn't the type of person to wear her feeling on her sleeve, she kept how she truly felt to herself as if she was afraid she would be portrayed as weak. But watching her friend get killed right in front of her had broken the walls she had put around herself, Azula could only imagine how many years of pain and heartache was pouring out in that moment.

"I-I'm sorry." Azula said to them, trying to fight back tears herself. "I'm so so sorry. I wasn't thinking...this is all my fault."

Daichi looked at her as he held Shào, the woman's muffled sobs almost to much for her to bear. "This is not your fault Azula." Daichi told her. "Genji knew what he was doing when he called himself out, he went up there on his own. You didn't force him."still that didn't make Azula feel any better.

"If I had stepped forward he would still be alive." Azula said, her own emotions threatening to come out, she hadn't known Naito for long, but she never would of survived down here without him, their talks, their games of Pai Sho, his company, all of it had made this hell bearable.

Shào lifted her head from Daichi's shoulder and looked at Azula with the textbook definition of sadness on her face. Her green eyes locked on Azula's. "If you had stepped forward...it wouldn't of changed anything...Kurn would have killed you too, wether he says he needs you or not...it doesn't really matter, he would have seen you as a threat and kill you...like he killed Naito."

Azula looked back at the Pai Sho board. "It doesn't matter now...his death is on my hands, I came here to try and help and all I did was make things worse..." she stood up now, taking long deep breaths to calm herself. "I'm going to get Sung." She said as she looked at the two of them. "We are going to leave this place, tell Zuko exactly where Kurn is, and then we are going to come back here...and avenge Genji."

"I'm in." Daichi said without missing a beat, she knew he would. "Kurn needs to be stopped once and for all, we've done all we can here."

Sháo ran her sleeve over her eyes to wipe away her tears. Sniffling as she broke her embrace with Daichi. "How are we going to get out?" She asked. "We're a mile underground, and Kurn Isn't just going to let us walk out of here."

"We wait for night fall." Azula told them. "This place is practically dead at night outside of a few guards." Azula explained. "After we get Sung we get to the vehicle bay and take a War Balloon and we get out of her as quickly as we can." It was just then that Azula had a thought hit her, when she had first arrived it had taken four Earthbenders to lower even a single War Balloon, Jing had lifted herself and Azula to the surface many times, but she didn't know if Jing was powerful enough of an Earthbender to be able to do it on her own. "Do you think you can handle that?" Azula asked Jing.

"I can do it." Shào said. "I'm twice the Earthbender any of my so called "countrymen" here are."

Azula nodded as she put her hand out. "Either all of us get out...or none of us do. No one gets left behind." She said. Daichi put his hand on top of hers immediately and gave a firm nod. Shào followed suit. "For Genji."

"For Genji." The two said in unison.

*

Her plan was flawed and she knew it, but as Sung was fond of saying, options were limited, and when they were limited you had to work with what you had. As night fell above ground they set out, Daichi went to get Private Ryo and would then head to the vehicle bay to make sure the way was secured for them. Jing and Azula however made their way to the detention block. That area of the "Nest" Azula hadn't been to. In the Eight Months she had been here she had never had a need to go down there, she also noted that she had never seen a prisoner brought here until today.