The princess stood at the platform, glaring down at Mai heavily. The guards had her restrained after her treasonous actions of letting Zuko and the others escape. "Leave us alone." They bowed and left. "I never expected this from you."
Ty Lee stood at the sidelines, watching as her two friends faced-off. She knows what Azula is capable of once she is angered, but to have Mai at the receiving end of it gripped her with fear. "The thing I don't understand is why? Why would you do it?" Azula continued. "You know the consequences."
After seconds of silence, Mai spoke up. "I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated."
A sickening feeling rose from within Azula. Everyone, everyone betrayed her. Mai did, Zuko did, her own mother did... For her, there is absolutely no one she could trust.
To rub salt to her wounds, Mai added. "I love Zuko more than I fear you."
"NO! You miscalculated! You should have feared me more!" Her usual composure was broken as she shouted. "I have no use for traitors like you, Mai." She focused her chi to her fingertips, ready to send lightning to end her childhood friend.
All of a sudden, she felt sharp jabs at her shoulder and spine. Then she fell forward to the ground helplessly with a gasp. Ty Lee had realized what Azula was trying to do and stopped her in time. Once she was sure Azula was incapacitated, she ran to Mai. "Come on! Let's get out of here!"
Azula stared up at them with hate and anger. "Even you, Ty Lee? After everything I have done? You betray me as well?!"
Before they could both leave, the guards had surrounded them. Even if Mai was the Warden's niece, the authority of the princess came first. Two guards helped Azula on her feet. "You both fools!"
"What shall we do with them, princess?"
Her friends, if she could still call them that, had betrayed her. "And Mai? Talking about love? Well, she chose wrong!" Her words to Chiyo, long forgotten, suddenly came back to her.
"Remember Chiyo, it's better to be feared than loved."
Indeed. Being feared is to hold power, and power is something the weak will never have or understand.
"Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again, and let them ROT!"
"Why isn't she waking up?" Zuko asked worriedly and looked to Katara for answers.
"Are you seriously doubting my healing abilities?" She snapped at him as she continued to work on Chiyo's injuries. She had healed most of her cuts and bruises; even the deep gash at her waist was nothing more but a thin long scar that would fade over time. "Besides, it's only been a few hours. And Lily's body got weak from dehydration."
"Why does everyone keep calling her Lily?! Her name is Chiyo!"
Katara ignored him and focused on her work. Once she was done, she got up and left to help Suki prepare for dinner. Zuko took his place next to Chiyo and made sure she was tucked in comfortably. "I can't wait till you wake up..." He smiled as he whispered softly. "I'm sure you have a lot of stories to tell me, and I have a lot to tell you as well."
She shifted in her sleep, turning on her side towards him.
"I can't wait to see your smile again, Chiyo."
Everyone had gathered around the fire as they ate dinner. The return of Hakoda and Suki, along with the addition of Chit Sang, guaranteed a loud company filled with stories and laughter.
"Soooo..." Sokka plopped down next to Zuko who was quietly eating his dinner. "That girl, Lily—"
"For the last time, her name is Chiyo!"
"Chill! Sheesh, so anyway... that girl the girl? Your girl?"
Zuko nodded. "I don't know how she got to Boiling Rock, but I'm glad that she was there, alive. But wait, Suki said something about you guys meeting her in Ba Sing Se."
Sokka gulped down the food he had been chewing. "Yeah, we actually met her and her friend at Full Moon Bay. They both don't have passports for the ferry so we took them through the Serpent's Pass—"
"The Serpent's Pass?!"
"Another story, another time. So anyway, we pretty much got to Ba Sing Se unscathed and we went our separate ways."
"Did she tell you why they were heading to Ba Sing Se?"
"She told me she had to go to the university there." It was Toph who answered, sitting down next to Sokka, with Momo on her shoulder. "Something about records of organizations or something. She got into this sort of accident and lost her memories and—"
Zuko choked, upon hearing Toph's explanation. "Wait a second, she lost her memories?!"
Chiyo opened her eyes and scanned the unfamiliar room she was in; stone walls covered in moss, carved with statues of monks and priests, tall windows that let the cool breeze in, and the only source of light was of the morning sun, peeking in far in the distance.
She definitely wasn't in Boiling Rock anymore.
She thought back to the events that led her here. All she could remember was the cell doors opening, and being thrown into the ground.
"Those eyes..."
The young woman pulled the sheets off her and stood up, expecting the pain of her injuries but felt none. She lifted her shirt to see that her wound was healed shut and already fading. "What happened to me?"
The sound of footsteps brought her attention to the door and she readied herself, looking around for any weapon she can use. She pulled the tray from her bedside and gripped it with both hands, ready to send it flying to her captors.
Zuko walked through the lit hallways of the temple, carrying a bowl of soup and water for Chiyo. The others volunteered to watch over her for the time being but he refused. He wanted to be there beside her when she wakes up.
He silently thanked Agni for his fast reflexes as he ducked to avoid a flying tray aimed at his head upon entering the room. "Wait! Stop! Chiyo!"
She stilled when she heard him say her name. Her eyes went to the food he was holding and her stomach grumbled loudly on cue. She frowned when he laughed out loud while setting down the food at the table. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing..." He approached her slowly. "How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm fine... thank you." Zuko had stepped into the sunlight and now that she had a better look at him, everything clicked. The pale man with the scar. "Lee?"
He stopped in his tracks. "What?"
"You're Lee, right?" Chiyo relaxed, giving him a small smile as she recognized him as someone from Ba Sing Se. "You're Mushi's nephew? From the Pao's teashop in Ba Sing Se? Jin's boyfriend?"
He swore he could hear his heart break, and the pain showed in his face. "You... you don't recognize me?"
"I do! I just told you your name!"
He dared step closer and take one of her hands, placing it on his cheek. "I'm not Lee... My name is—"
A loud explosion rocked the very foundation of the temple. Zuko's first instinct was to protect Chiyo, pulling her towards him as he looked around for the source of the disturbance.
The Duke entered the room, breathless. "F-Fire Nation... war balloons... they found us."
Zuko turned to Chiyo and gripped her hand tight. "Stay close to me, alright?" She could only nod in reply as they ran out of the room to join the others.
Sensing they were outnumbered and overpowered by the enemy, Toph and Haru earthbended a tunnel through the temple and the mountainside. "Come on! We can get out through here!"
Everyone followed them, but Zuko remained, looking up at his nation's war balloons. Chiyo tugged his arm urgently. "Lee, we have to go!"
He turned to Aang. "Don't let her out of your sight, keep her safe. I think this is a family visit."
Before either Aang or Chiyo could react, Zuko took off, running towards the fleet and sending shot after shot of fire fists.
A small platform emerged from one of the war balloons, revealing Azula gripping the railings with a wicked smile on her face. Zuko couldn't pin it exactly, but something was different with his sister. Only two words came to mind.
Unhinged and dangerous.
"What are you doing here?"
"You mean it's not obvious, yet? I am about to celebrate becoming an only child!" She began her series of attacks, aiming to end her nuisance of a brother, once and for all.
Zuko countered her blow for blow, destroying the platform she was standing, sending her down.
As the siblings fought, everyone else struggled to get the bison into the tunnel. "I can't get him to go in there! Appa hates tunnels!"
"Aang, there's no way we can fly out of here." Katara pulled the ropes tied to Appa, trying to control the latter.
He knew that Appa was a stubborn as he was. "We have to find a way."
Sokka thought that it would be to risky to have everyone on Appa and he formulated a plan quickly. "We need to split up." He ran towards his father and the others who were already in the tunnel. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship—"
"NO!" His sister countered firmly. "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again!"
Though in pain, Hakoda put a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder. "It'll be okay, it's not forever." He gave them both a hug before he led everyone else into the tunnel.
Aang turned to Chiyo. "I think it's best if you joined them, Li-Chiyo. You'll be much safer there."
"No!" She shook her head. "I'll stay with you guys. I have to make sure Lee is okay!"
"Lee? Who's Lee?" Sokka had joined them.
She pointed to Zuko who was still in combat with his sister. Sokka sighed and helped everyone up on Appa. "Boy, do you two have a lot of catching up to do!"
Toph cleared out another path for Appa to take off. Aang took the reins up front. Together, they formed an earthen shield from the rubble and Appa flew through the war balloons.
Zuko and Azula were now within range of each other and with a powerful punch from both, they sent each other flying off the balloon.
They were both in free fall for a couple of seconds. Appa swerved swiftly, Sokka caught Zuko's hand and pulled him down on the saddle. They all watched as Azula continued to descend.
"Isn't anyone gonna save her?!"
Everyone looked at Chiyo like she had gone insane. "She's the enemy, Lily, I mean, Chiyo... Whatever! Besides, she's not gonna make it!"
As if to counter Sokka's words, Azula boosted herself mid air with the use of firebending. The momentum had her clinging to the mountainside securely. She used her golden royal head piece to strike the cliff and slow down her descent, leaving her dark hair in disarray, framing her crazed eyes.
"Of course she did." Zuko sighed as he sat back into the saddle.
"Are you okay?"
He saw the worried expression on her face and he smiled reassuringly up at her. "I am now."