When I came to, I found myself standing in the same position as before. Katara and Zuko both stood infringement of me with worried expressions, forgetting their fight earlier.
"Maddy! Are you alright? Say something!" Katara shouted in my face.
"Why the hell are you yelling?" I looked at her quizzically. A heavy sigh escaped both hers and Zuko's mouths as they realized I was alright. A smile lit my face as I remembered by little adventure to the spirit world. "And... My name isn't Maddy." My smile widened as I said it.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, reaching out to touch my side, but then retracting his arm in shame.
"I'm not-" before I could even form the next word, a large crash came from behind me. Zuko pushed me behind him in defense, and got ready to fight who or whatever it was that was coming.
"Aang!" I suddenly heard Katara shout in delight. I turned suddenly to see the little bald monk being embraced warmly by the water bender. Zuko left my side and gave a similar hug to his Uncle, all the while glaring at Aang. The monk and Katara let go of one another and he stayed staring warily at Zuko.
"Aang, I knew you would come." Katara praised.
"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar!!" Zuko asked his uncle, clearly upset.
"Saving you, that's what." Aang looked like a dog ready to fight, as did Zuko. They lunged at one another but Iroh barely held Zuko back.
"Wait!" All eyes turned to me. "Please don't fight. Let's just get out of here while we can.
Aang had finally seen me.
"M-Maddy?" He stuttered, falling back a step.
"Actually, I think it's Milu now." I smiled at him hopefully.
"But you... You can't- that can't be your name. That's the name of..."
"Ya. It's me. I think. That's what Roku told me anyway."
"You talked to Roku?" His eyes widened in shock.
"Ya. Just now." I grinned. "Apparently all this time I should have been with you! We were supposed to take on the world together once Katara and Sokka found you. And-"
"Well isn't that sweet," A voice came from behind us. I groaned in annoyance as I turned to face her.
"Not you again. Don't you have someone else to annoy?" I raised my hands ready to fight.
"Why bother? Here I have the Avatar, the banished prince, a traitor, and whatever you are. I couldn't miss out on that." Her eyes remained vigilant and her minions appeared around us
"Oh you could. You really, really could and should before you get your ass handed to you." I went into a proper bending stance, one of many I had very recently acquired. She did the same. "You guys go, I'll hold her off." I looked at the four faces behind me.
"I'm not leaving you. Not now and not ever again." Aang copied my stance and Katara pulled some water from the pool to her side. Iroh stood beside me ready to fight while Zuko just stood there looking conflicted.
"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko...you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" Azula asked, seemingly genuine. But I knew better and I hoped Zuko did too.
"You are not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good!" Iroh spoke equally as persuasive as Azuka, but with more integrity and honesty that his niece had had her whole life.
"It's not too late for you Zuko. You can still redeem yourself." Azula prompted.
"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you." Iroh urged.
"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle? I need you Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day. This glorious day in Fire Nation history. And the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have your father's love. You will have everything you want."
"Zuko, I am begging you, look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want!"
"Zuko, please." I begged him, pleading him with my stare.
"You are free to choose." Azula shrugged. Zuko stood there indecisively, the beautiful scarred side of his face to me. I knew that if I lost him now, I would never have him again.
A stream of blue fire suddenly rocketed itself at my brother, which he didn't expect but still managed to ward it off with a wall of stone. Despite the earth force field, Aang was still knocked to the ground with great force. Katara attacked the vicious fire princess with a forceful channel of water, propelling it at our enemy, but Azula moved away quickly and escaped harm. Katara spun the water around her and repeated the move horizontally, but Azula let out a burst of fire that evaporated the water on contact.
"My turn." I thought as I narrowed my eyes. I lunged at Azula and flung her at one of the far pillars with surprising velocity, all while never laying a hand on her. She hit the ground face down and lay there for a moment until finally standing up with a confident and sneaky grin on her face. Katara and Aang then moved a massive amount of water together in the form of a wave, crashing it upon Azula. But she let out a burst on fireballs and disappeared into the steam around her.
I heard a grunt of pain behind me and I turned to see a Dai Lee agent had come after me but had instead been struck down by Iroh. Iroh fended off a number of the agents, allowing our battle with Azula to go uninterrupted and hopefully to the side of good. A blast of blue fire passed right by my face, singing off a lock of my hair. I moved swiftly and bent a powerful force of wind at her, which she deflected and sent a number of fireballs at me.
"So much for true love." She jeered at me.
"What do you mean?" She ran at me and kicked a stream of fire to my chest, which I raised a wall of earth against; but much the same as Aang had before, it threw me back and I hit my head on a pillar. Slowly, I raised my throbbing skull and blurry eyes to scan the room for her once more, but instead I saw what she was talking about before.
Zuko was before me a distance and was fighting a foe I could not see. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and saw the bald head of Aang and the blue of Katara trying to ward him off as best they could. How could he do that? How could he betray me... Again? -especially after he lied to me? What had I ever done to him to deserve this?
I felt someone grab the back of my shirt and pull me to my feet. "So you're an Air Bender now too huh?" Azula held my arms behind me in a way that was both inescapable and painful. I cried out in anguish as she tightened her grasp. "It must be my lucky day. To kill the Avatar and to finish off the Air Nomads would be a great triumph for the Fire Nation, we could finally win this war. All I need to do is..." and her hands started to heat up. I screamed in agony as I felt my flesh burn. Zuko dropped his hands momentarily and looked at my situation in horror. Before anyone could react however, I brought my head back hard and successfully connected it to the bitch's face.
I turned to finish the job but she was already gone, running towards my brother. I tried to follow but before I could take a single step a dozen Dai Lee agents surrounded me. I fought them off as best I could with the two and a half elements I could control confidently- fire not being one of them- as I caught glimpses of Katara and Aang fighting Azula and Zuko. Iroh was kept busy with his own batch of Dai Lee agents.
As I fought, I saw Katara raise an octopus-like body of water to defend herself as Aang cocooned himself inside a shell of the green crystals abundant in these catacombs.
I felt the glove of a Dai Lee agent grab at the back of my shirt, pulling me towards him. When I was close I brought my elbow up and broke his nose. He fell to the ground and I straddled his torso, punching him in the face quickly to knock him out. Two of his friends thought it was a good idea to try and surround me, but I barely managed to do the correct moves to trap their feet in a clay like snare before sinking them neck deep into the earth, trapping their hands from bending.
Suddenly, a brilliant light erupts from Aangs crystal tomb, shattering the jewels that protected him. Like some sort of spirit, Aang rises into the air with his eyes and tattoos glowing brilliantly, his face set in determination. Around him, all the commotion stopped to stare in awe at the sight that was my brother entering the Avatar State. He levitated in place for a moment as if deciding what to do next when the unthinkable happened. A stream of blue lightning struck from behind him, the pain of the blow clear on his face, and he started to fall.
"No!!" A scream rang out, and I found it came from my own mouth. In rage, I kicked a single wave of earth in a circular motion around me to wipe out the agents without care of keeping them alive before racing with the powers of the air around me and the earth beneath me and the fire within me propelling me towards him.
His limp body barely landed in my arms before I fell to the ground with the extra weight. Tears streamed down my face and sobs rang from my throat.
"No, Aang. Please. Please be okay." I begged to an unresponding body. Katara appeared by my side and looped an arm around my waist as I found myself being lifted into the air by a powerful pillar of water.
"You've got to get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!" I heard Iroh call out, causing me to tear my eyes from Aang's closed eyelids. As I looked down, I made a long and sufferable eye connection with Zuko. He looked hurt, but he couldn't even comprehend the word. He had betrayed me, not the other way around and soon he would know just how much it hurt me. He had caused Aang's... sleep. Aang was only asleep. He had to be, it was the only explanation. He was-is the Avatar. He'll be fine. Zuko however, will not be fine. This wouldn't have happened if he hadn't betrayed me. When I get my revenge on his sister, I'm coming for him next.
One thing is certain though...
I hate Prince Zuko.
A/N: This is the final chapter of this book. I am so sorry but it had to end this was in order for the next book to go as I want it to. I'm sorry that I suck at writing fight scenes, I hope you forgive my terrible excuse of one and continue to read my next book when I publish it.
Thank you
~Caramel Rage