A/N - Once again, this chapter follows very closely with the last episode of season 2. This chapter may have to be followed along with that episode to be completely understood.
The group split up into two teams when they got close to The Royal Palace. Toph and Sokka went to warn King Kuei about the coup while Aang, Iroh and Kai tunneled underground in search of Zuko and Katara.
Kai took on the responsibility of breaking up thick, hard stones that surrounded the catacombs while Aang airbended them out of their path. The tunnel she created reminded her heavily of the caverns in The Great Divide. She half expected a canyon crawler to come scurrying toward them at any moment, begging for a snack, a scratch between the nostrils and to be serenaded to sleep.
The two males fell far behind her, she could sparsely hear Aang asking Iroh for advice and it gave her hope. Aang was open to forgiveness, he believed everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth, she prayed.
Her hand touched the stone again and she knew this was the final wall. She could feel the vast openness behind it. Kai turned toward her two caving partners and waited for them to catch up.
"What are you waiting for?" Aang asked when they made their way closer to her.
She had one last confession to offer the avatar. One that she was still coming to terms with herself.
"There's something else, Aang. Something that I don't think Katara and Sokka will take very well."
Aang cocked an eyebrow, "What could be worse than them finding out you slept with the Fire Lord's son?" He asked, then turned to Iroh, "No offense."
"None taken."
It was worse, alright. Finding out the truth about her mother had shaken Kai to her very core. When Long Feng told her, she instantly questioned everything she'd ever known about herself. As well as what else her father had hidden from her. It made her feel like a different person entirely, and surely her friends would feel the same.
"My mother is from the Fire Nation." She said. Kai noticed the slight flinch in Aang's fingers the moment it escaped her throat, and the nod of Iroh's head, "That wasn't a secret or anything. Long Feng just told me yesterday, when I took him down to the jail cell. But I thought it was important that you know."
She gave him a moment to process the information, but it was Iroh that ultimately spoke first, "It makes sense, really."
She looked at him with confusion and he continued, "I know the saying is 'opposites attract', but that isn't true. You and Zuko come from very different walks of life, yet still ended up on the same path. I never really pictured my nephew falling for an earth bender, but now that I know you're half Fire Nation, it makes sense."
Kai smiled at him and directed her attention back toward Aang, who was having trouble verbalizing his thoughts. She could see them swirling around behind those big blue eyes of his, he just wasn't sure how to express what he wanted to say.
"Thank you for telling me, Kai." He said, first and foremost, "But you're right. It's probably best that we don't tell Katara and Sokka until all of this is over."
Her heart sank like a stone falling into the ocean. The deep, gluttonous ocean. But he was right, now wasn't the time to concern the siblings with irrelevant matters such as her bloodline.
She turned to the final slab of earth that blocked them from their other halves and gave it one solid jab. It fell to pieces around her, leaving the three of them coughing on debris. But when the dust settled, spirits, was this place amazing. A cavern triple the size of their apartment sat before them. Crystals of all shapes and sizes hung from the ceilings and formed craters at their feet. In the middle of the room stood Zuko and Katara standing face to face.
Katara pulled her hand from Zuko's scar just in time to see Aang and the others. Zuko's eyes shot open and relief flooded his body. The two groups rushed toward each other, Zuko passing by his uncle and pulling Kai into a heartfelt embrace.
"What are you doing here?? I thought you'd be halfway to the Southern Earth Kingdom by now." He asked with her dust covered hair muffling his words.
"We came to save you, dummy." She said. Zuko could verbally hear the smile on her face, even though it was hidden by his chest. He thought in that moment that the only good thing this war had produced was right here in front of him. But that thought was short lived when he heard Katara's voice shout, "Aang!"
He glared over Kai's shoulder to see the avatar giving him the same look. And the two conflicting sides of him were at war once again. Zuko pulled away from Kai, seemingly scolding her, "Why did you bring the avatar here?!"
Before Kai had the chance to respond, Aang did it for her. He spoke with just as much hostility as Zuko had given him, "She already told you, I came to rescue you!"
Zuko lunged at the avatar, who was still gripping Katara by the waist, but Kai blocked his path with her body. She realized now that, though Zuko was sweet to her, he was still like two sides of a coin. He was still hot and cold, night and day. He was still the Fire Lord's son when the embers in his blood ran hot enough.
Iroh placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder, "Zuko, it's time we talked." He locked eyes with Kai and then gazed over his shoulder at Katara and Aang, "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you."
Kai glanced up at Zuko, asking for permission to follow his uncle's orders like she had in their dining room this morning. And again, he nodded her off.
*****
The three benders raced through the only tunnel leading out of the Crystal Catacombs. The geodes on either side of them almost mimicked a mirror maze in a merchant town fun house.
"We've got to find Toph and Sokka!" yelled Katara.
Suddenly, Kai could feel someone trailing behind them. Their footsteps were far too light to be Zuko or Iroh's, but whoever it was was gaining speed quickly. She felt them stop on a dime, giving her the opportunity to click her heel and get a reading of their body map.
Shots of lightning blue reverberations pulsed back toward her body and what she saw was literally blue lightning. Kai bended a wall of solid rock between them and knew in an instant who it was.
The sheer force of the lightning knocked her back a few steps. It'd destroyed her wall, leaving a crumbling mess at her feet. Azula stood across the cavern from them, her fingers smoldering like a smoking gun. She sent another blast their way and Katara quickly summoned a wave of cave water to intercept it, leaving them all lost in a thick cloud of steam.
When the room cleared out, Azula was hanging from the crystal wall. She'd learned that trick from the Dai Li. Two more bolts of lightning shot from her fingers and then she lost her footing when Kai took advantage of the organic matter she'd seeked refuge in. The wall came tumbling down but Azula was swift. She somersaulted away from the crumbling wall and landed between Aang, Katara and Kai. Sharp fingers pointed in either direction, ready to both attack and defend herself.
A wall of flames erupted amidst the standoff and all of their eyes darted toward the corridor from which they'd come. Zuko stood there, his hands balled into fists at his sides as he looked back and forth between Kai and his sister.
Kai felt as if she was in a dream. Or maybe it was a nightmare. Her legs felt lighter and it was as if she knew how this battle was going to end before it ever even began.
Zuko shot a blast of fire toward Aang the same moment that Azula fired off another lightning bolt at Katara. Katara blocked the shot again, but just barely. Kai had to choose now between helping Katara survive and wrangling in Zuko once again.
Kai chose Katara without a second thought about it. Even when every ounce of her being was screaming at her to drag Zuko kicking and screaming back to his senses, she couldn't be the only thing making him choose good over evil. Kai sent a wave of earth hurdling Azula's way, knocking her off of her feet and across the room.
Azula scrambled up again and back into a fighting stance, if only briefly. Katara caught her wrist with a water whip, which was soon broken free by an even larger lasso of flames. Kai followed the flame back to it's master and her eyes fell on Zuko, who was paying her little attention. She realized then that still, even when they were fighting for different sides, the universe was playing it's part. Zuko wasn't choosing evil over good, he was choosing his biological ties. Zuko had chosen his sister. He'd chosen the Fire Nation. He'd chosen his throne. Just like how even though Kai had refused to kill for her father, she still chose to spare his life.
Azula smiled at her brother, a subtle thank you that she'd never offered him before. They switched opponents and Azula took off after Aang, who was crawling out from under a honeycomb of crystals. Aang was growing tired, Kai could tell.
Zuko sent another lasso of fire toward Katara, one that was easily avoidable. It was Katara's voice that snapped Kai out of her tunnel vision like thoughts.
"I thought you'd changed!" Katara yelled as she dodged the flames.
"I have changed!" He bellowed back, both arms now engulfed in heat.
Kai shook her head slowly as she drew her blades from over her shoulder. The slicing of metal that usually made her heart race with excitement now made her wince at the battle she was about to engage in. She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, anticipating the next few moves that Zuko was about to make. And when she felt the slight stumble in his step, courtesy of Katara's water bending, she took off.
Kai darted toward her former sparring partner and sent one of her blades barreling straight for him. He dodged it by a hair and in doing so, his slight stumble turned into a full blown fall. Zuko caught himself on the heels of his hands and sprung back to his feet.
She knew that he wouldn't use his fire bending on her. It was unspoken but the only thing that she was still sure about. Her blade came back to her all on its own, thanks to the stone handles, and she returned both of them to their homes. Zuko avoided her first leg sweep but felt the wind forced out of his lungs as her fist met his ribs. Her real life punches weren't as forgiving as the ones she'd thrown him in the comfort of his living room.
"What are you doing?!" Kai asked through gritted teeth.
He caught her by the wrist and she could feel his palm heating up against her skin. There was no questioning it. It wasn't cooling off. Her flesh was steadily beginning to cook beneath his grasp.
"I have a destiny, Kai." Zuko responded. His voice pleaded for her to please understand, "Surrender now and you can come with me.. Please."
It was the final blow that she needed and the most painful one that he dealt. An elbow to his forearm freed her singed wrist, allowing her to take hold of his own and twist it behind his back. They went hand for hand, step for step in an aggressive dance for the upper hand. Katara turned her attention toward Aang, who was steadily losing to Azula.
When Kai finally got a free moment to observe her surroundings, she didn't see Aang at all. Azula and Katara were tied in a battle against fire and water and at the far end of the cavern was a brand new addition. A teepee of crystals. It glowed blue and it's top separated, out of it levitated the avatar. Kai had never witnessed him in the avatar state, but she knew that this was it. All of their eyes focused on him, his arrow and tattoos beaming bright blue rays of light.
And then he was shot out of the sky. His rays of hope extinguished in an instant and Aang's body went limp. Kai scarcely heard Katara scream, but her voice sounded far off.
Kai didn't feel her body move, but she knew that Azula being engulfed in a straight jacket of rock was her doing. Katara caught Aang's lifeless vessel as it fell from the sky.
"Get him out of here!" Kai yelled, "I'll catch up! You have to go, NOW!"
Katara's watery eyes met hers only briefly, and she was scared of what they reflected. She obeyed Kai, dragging Aang to the waterfall in the center of the back of the room and lifted them with a water spout out of a tiny hole in the ceiling to the darkened sky above.
Rage. Pure, unfiltered rage seeped out of Kai's soul and filled her to the brim. So much rage that she felt it spilling over, pouring out of her orifices and into the real world. She pulled out her blades and still didn't feel that excitement that she had before this day. Only fury remained. She swung them at Zuko and he jumped back, narrowly avoiding being disemboweled. But she swung again. And again. And she was fast, much too fast for Zuko to attack. All he could do was play the defense, which he'd never been very good at.
Kai finally knocked him to his feet, and he would've attempted a hasty retreat, had it not been for the swords that were now pressed firmly against his throat. Zuko lay flat on his back, staring up at a sight that he never thought he'd have to see.
She stepped one leg over his defenseless body and kneeled, bringing her blades down harder on this throat. One move was all it would take for her to behead him. Zuko now saw what it was that had terrified Katara so deeply that she wouldn't dare disobey this girl. Her pale jade eyes flickered. A home grown flame threatened him from behind her irises. Zuko was afraid to even breath with the swords pressed so firmly against his skin.
"I could end your life. Right here. Right now." She spat, "I could've three years ago or at any point in the past few months, but I spared you. And now you've betrayed me. You used me."
He wanted to shake his head so badly, but that would mean sawing at his own neck. He wanted to tell her no, no, that he hadn't used her. That everything he'd told her had been the truth. But this was what he was meant to do. This was who he was meant to be.
"I'm sorry." Was all he could choke out. And she could feel that it was true.
Zuko saw a single, small tear slip from the corner of her eye. It steamed against her ice cold skin as it rolled down her cheek and hung off of her chin. She shook her head in disappointment. This was the end. He knew that this was when it would all fade to black, like it should've all those years ago. He shut his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch her when she ended his life.
But then he felt the pressure release from his throat. And he heard her resheath her blades to their home on her back. Kai stood up and stepped off of him as he opened his eyes, that flame inside of her still remained.
"Go fulfill your destiny, Zuko." She whispered, holding her hand out to help him off of the ground. He stared at the nimble fingers that he'd grasped before orgasming, reluctantly taking them in his own.
Kai crushed his hand in her grasp, pulling him to his feet and to her chest. The flame in her eyes doubled in size as she spoke, "I'll make sure to fulfill mine, as well. And if you so much as think about trying to stand in my way —" Her grip tightened, "— trust me when I say that I will not hesitate to snuff. you. out."
The promise of death dripped off of her lips as she let him go. She backed away from him slowly, toward the waterfall that Katara and Aang had left out of. The moon that shined through the skylight shimmered off of her body for a moment, she stood there for long enough to see Iroh enter through the corridor. The old man instantly knew that this fight was over, he knew which side his nephew had chosen. Iroh cupped his hands like he had at the Pai Sho table and bowed toward the girl, she offered him the same respect before the ground below her shifted up. She was gone.
Kai emerged from the cave in just enough time to somersault off of her elevator of rock and catch a ride on Appa's back. The air that hung around her friends was dense and quiet, no one wanted to speak of what had just happened. She saw Katara with Aang draped over her shoulder like a newborn baby at the base of Appa's neck, the necklace containing water from the spirit oasis lay beside her, now empty.
"The Earth Kingdom.. Has fallen."
King Kuei's words sent a flush of anxiety through the earth bender. She stood to her feet and watched the kingdom grow smaller as they flew away from it. She paced back and forth, guilt and shame eating away from her until her legs started to itch. Restless leg syndrome. Kai never got it when she was struggling to sleep, or when she was going through growth spurts as a child. She got it whenever she felt the need to run as far away as possible from where she stood in that very moment. But in that very moment, they were soaring over water as far as the eye could see.
"This is all YOUR fault!" Katara's voice stung her like the tail end of a wasp. But it didn't matter, Kai was already telling herself the same thing in her own head.
"If you hadn't been so STUPID! If you hadn't fallen like a lovesick little girl for his, his --" Katara secured Aang's unconscious body in Appa's fur and marched across the beast's back. Her hands balled into fists at her sides as she shouted, "-- his mind games, this would have never happened!"
Dark, rumbling clouds began rolling into Kai's mind. It was made of the same black, sticky rage that had filled her when she pressed her swords against Zuko's throat. Like all the anger that'd flowed out of her heart had been evaporated by the flame in her eyes and now it was ready to rain back down on her and play the game all over again. She couldn't escape the negativity that consumed her.
"Why aren't you saying anything?!" Katara shouted again. And when she was still met with no response, her hand gripped the girl's shoulder and forced her to turn around to answer for herself, "Say something!!"
Kai's expression was stoic. She felt devoid of everything but a sense of overwhelming self hatred. Her jaw was stiff and the flame that'd scared Katara into submission had long been hosed down by the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Now she just looked empty, like a shell of the once playful girl that she was before today. Katara's arm went limp when she saw the look on her face.
"He had you fooled, too." Was all she said before Katara began to regret her outburst. Though she didn't get the chance to redeem herself.
Kai turned away from her and kneeled before Toph, who was hanging onto the sleeve on Sokka's shirt. She brushed the hair out of her friend's hair even though it would never help her see her. Kai just wanted to see her beautiful blue eyes one last time.
"I will try my best to find you again." She said to the only person that'd ever understood her completely.
Toph scrambled away from Sokka in an attempt to latch onto her. She couldn't see where Kai was though in the mess that was Appa's fur. It broke Kai's heart, watching her friend feel around for her like a blind puppy searching for its mother's warmth.
"No, n-no! You can't leave us again, we're finally all back together and -- you just can't.." Toph stumbled over her words, the rough night winds making half of them unintelligible. She finally caught a snag on the tail of Kai's shirt, just as she was allowing herself to slip off the side of the bison face first.
"No!" Toph shouted. Sokka caught her by the arm and pulled her back to safety, thankful that she couldn't see what might've just been a suicide. Toph fell to her knees and allowed Sokka to blanket her with his arms.
He patted her back and shushed her cries, whispering to her, "Shhh, it's okay. She'll be back, Toph. She always comes back for you."
A/N - Shit's about to get dark starting next chapter. Thank you all for reading along so far!!