The arrows find their marks and the sleeve of her robe is pinned against the tree. Burning through the ties, Azula slips off the heavy garment and barely avoids another volley headed her way. A few arrows pin the skirt of her silk dress down but it tears easily as she rolls away. Breaking into a run she seeks cover in the high pillars of the rock canyon.
The archers have a startling accuracy and for good reason. These aren't just any archers. The Yuyan are the elite branch of the Fire Lord's army and have been sent for the sole purpose of taking the Fire Princess down.
She's tired. Dealing with the multitude of bounty hunters sent the Avatar's way has taken its toll on her already strained body. Meals have been few and far between and even then she hasn't been able to keep any of it down. She's losing weight she can't afford to be losing right now. Her breaths come in pants as she feels her body try to keep up with the grueling speed of fleeing her pursuers. More arrows fly, just barely missing their mark. If anything, the Yuyan are toying with her. Their overconfidence in this area may serve her purpose though. Azula is, and always will be, an opportunist of the highest caliber.
The dark clouds crackle overhead and, no matter how fast the pace is set, she can't seem to elude the storm constantly hanging overhead. The edges of her awareness are tinged with exhaustion and for that brief moment, the voice of truth speaks to her, telling her that she can't keep this up and that something is going to give.
She ducks into a narrow passageway obscuring their view of her for the moment. It doesn't allow for much maneuvering but it does give her a chance to breathe. They close in quick though and the rock crunches under foot as they fall into position surrounding her. She has nowhere to run. There isn't much else for it and Azula thinks that perhaps her luck has finally run out.
As they close in on their target, the winds begin to howl and pick up speed. It's not until the rain begins to pour and the thunder booms that her attention is pulled heavenward. In the flash of lightning she can see a tall figure standing over her, robes billowing in the wind. She would know that profile anywhere.
The Yuyan archers are in position around the Princess and with their arrows ready, they take their aim. This is not a mission to capture the Princess. No, Ozai just wants her dealt with once and for all. The flash of light and rumble of sky would be distracting to lesser men but these are warriors worthy of their title. Their hands are steady and their eyes keen but somehow they miss the very real threat high above.
ooo
Azula is pinned down and part of Aang almost wants to leave her to it. This is, after all, a creation of her own devices. Still, he hasn't been able to shake the feelings he has for her and, no matter where her allegiance lies; he can't turn his back on her now. If Azula's fate is to be left up to anyone, then Aang will be the one to decide it.
The archers stand prepared to fire what is sure to be a killing blow but they are focused on their target who, at the moment, is focused on him. He sees the surprise on her face and with it a sense of relief.
It's the crashing of rock that announces the Avatar's presence and perhaps he is a bit harsh as archer after archer is quickly pulled underground, but these are the same archers that threaten his potential future. He is done sacrificing and making mistakes so he feels little remorse as he feels each heart stop beating under his feet. Decisive action indeed!
Azula slumps against the rock wall as the men disappear from sight but she stares at him with wary eyes. It's a time of reckoning for the both of them.
"I suppose I should say thank you." Even drop dead exhausted, she manages to sound haughty and imperious.
The smile on his face is reminiscent of Ozai and for once Azula begins to wonder about the similarities between the Avatar and the Fire Lord.
"You don't have to say a thing, Azula. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't speak at all." Her words are all lies anyway.
Azula stands up straighter at the hard edge in his words and the action draws his attention to the thin silk of her red dress rapidly turning dark as the rain comes down. The slight curve of her stomach stands out to him even from a distance.
"You're looking well, better than Ozai and Long Feng at any rate." She taunts with a smirk."Though, I imagine that has more to do with the Water Bender you've been fucking than anything else."
His eyes widen in surprise. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent with me. Just how long has that been going on?" She turns slightly, hands on her hips, narrowing her stance as she stares him down.
"It hasn't. There's nothing going on with Katara." This conversation isn't going anything like he imagined.
Azula laughs as she looks away and Ursa circles closer whispering "He's lying to you." She shakes her head, refusing to acknowledge the specter.
"I saw it with my own eyes. You truly are seeking to balance the four elements." She accuses sarcastically. "I wonder. Is she as frigid as the land she comes from?"
Ursa snickers from behind her and Aang can see the black shadow looming over her. Whatever this thing is needs to be dealt with but Azula must be dealt with first.
Exasperated, Aang shakes his head. "Saw what?"
"You. Kissing her. In Ba Sing Se."Azula bites out the words.
Understanding lights in his eyes at the mention of the kiss on his balcony in the Earth Kingdom palace. Katara had kissed him and Aang nearly gave in before he remembered himself.
"Azula, that was it; nothing else happened with her."
There is a flicker of hope in her eyes that is squashed just as quickly with a spark of scorn. "What a shame."At Aang's questioning look, she explains. "Seems I have one less reason to kill you now."
The anger she has felt building towards him had been capped off by the sight of another woman in his arms. It had only confirmed what both Ozai and Ursa had taunted her with. She meant nothing to him and all her work and sacrifice were in vain. Azula is in it for herself now and when she is through with the Avatar, then she will turn her attention back to the Fire Lord and take Ozai down.
Ursa leans in whispering in Azula's ear. "Do it! Do it now!"
Azula fairly trembles with fatigue and anger and she squeezes her eyes shut to try to regain some control. The rain begins to fall harder now and the thunder rumbles overhead.
"Who is speaking to you, Azula?"
She opens her eyes at this and turns her head following his line of sight. The Avatar's attention is focused on Ursa and Ursa's on his.
"Tell him." Ursa smirks as she circles around Azula but eyeing the Avatar with her coal black eyes.
Azula watches as Aang tracks the specter's path until she is standing between them. Aang stares hard at the barely transparent being trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Mother, Aang, Aang, Mother." Azula says sarcastically.
He only shakes his head but doesn't look away from Ursa. "No, this isn't right."
The thoughtful tone in his voice bites at something inside Azula and she snaps. "None of this is right. When has it ever been right?"
The affair, the lies, the deception; none of it made sense and she was a fool to go along with it.
It takes effort but he looks away from the specter to the princess again. "Azula, how long have this been with you?" His hand motions to the being who is now baring her teeth at him.
"Is the almighty Avatar going to save me?" She mocks. "It's a bit late for that. Where were you when the Fire Lord was exacting his punishment on me or Long Feng was having his way?"
Aang's eyes widen in shock. "What do you mean?"
Azula laughs, shaking her head as she looks away. The injuries from Ozai are nearly healed and the insults Long Feng committed are almost gone. Two more men that sought to control a woman no man can control.
"Tell him what he has cost you. "Ursa advises. "While he was bedding that whore, tell him what you suffered through for him."
"I wasn't with anyone else, Azula."
Blinking through the raindrops in her eyes, because that's what they are and nothing else, she looks back at him as he answers Ursa's accusations. He isn't looking at her though but rather at the ghost that draws closer to him.
"You can hear her?" Azula's anger and hurt is momentarily forgotten.
Ursa calmly stares him down. "Yes." He answers with a quiet curiosity as he returns the stare.
Of course, the Avatar would be able to see and hear her. He is the bridge to the spirit world after all.
"Azula," Ursa purrs as she leans towards Aang. "Do it now!"
Slate gray eyes lock with hers. "Don't listen to it, Azula."
And just like that Ursa is back at her side whispering "You were only a pawn."
Between the command in Aang's voice and the truth in Ursa's, Azula feels something well inside of her. "I'm through being used. Keep your whore. One day I will take the throne of the Fire Nation and rule the world. I wonder just what I should tell my son about his father?"
A cold look settles in his eyes. "That would depend on whom the father is, Azula. Zhao? Long Feng? Or someone else?"
He stares her down waiting. He is trying to do what he can to set her off and he is so close to getting just that. This has to end. It has to be over because too much is at stake to back down now.
The accusations sting and Azula can't breathe. All she feels is rage and anger and she knows if she draws a breath that she will lay waste to whatever is in her way. She holds her breath for a beat too long and the ragged sound of air rushes in her ears.
"Finish him." Ursa orders from her side.
It elicits the reaction Aang was seeking and he sees the sudden burn of hate in her eyes accompanied by the explosion of fire around them.
Ooo
The battle rages as fiercely in her eyes as it does on the soggy field they fight on. Large swaths of land have been laid to ruin and, despite the heavy rain, her blue flames find their target with an eerie precision. It is only by some sheer streak of Avatar luck that he has managed to avoid her so far. The dark sky is alight with electricity and only some of it comes from the clouds that swirl around them.
Her hair has come loose and whips around her face in the wailing winds and she knows that it is his doing. With a quick look upward she sees the clouds converging in a vortex right over them both. She sees his intent but Azula will not go down without a fight. Summoning a hidden reservoir of strength and energy the blue sparks at her fingertips. It flows so easily and she can see the light of it reflect in his eyes. Before the final spark has left her hand, storm gray flashes a dazzling white and everything changes.
The field before her explodes in a brilliant blue light, the force knocking her back. Azula hits the ground but her fall is cushioned by a gentle pillow of air. It only barely registers through the sheer agony coursing through her body. The rain continues to pour down splattering on her upturned face as if it were trying to rouse her. She can't move; moving hurts. So she lies there in the muck and the mud, letting it soak into the rich silk of her burnt clothing as she gasps for breath.
Only vaguely she becomes aware of him standing over her. The lightning streaks through the sky illuminating his profile one moment and, in the next, he is kneeling over her. Gentle hands touch her cheeks and her eyes flutter open trying to focus on his face. The comforting hum of swirling water fills the space between them and she feels the cooling touch on her skin washing away the marks of battle. When the hum fades and the pounding rain is the only sound to be heard over her shaky breaths, Aang tenderly touches her forehead and suddenly Azula is falling.
Oooooooooo
It's the rumble of thunder that jerks her out of a dreamless sleep inside the earth tent. She tries to get up but her arms and legs move lethargically.
"Shh, it's okay. It's just the storm." Aang says softly in her ear, warm arms coming around her waist and pulling her against him.
She leans into the soft silk of his shirt and breathes him in. It's been too long. Her breaths even out as her senses slowly begin to come back to her. When Azula shivers from the cold and instinctively burrows deeper into the warm Air Bender, something clicks into place.
Her head comes up with a jerk, nearly striking him in the chin.
"What did you do to me?" She gasps, even as she pulls at the bindings on her wrists.
Large tattooed hands cover her own. "You didn't leave me a choice." The words are quite, honest and only serve to enrage the princess.
The anger surges through her veins and she pushes against him. Her limbs lack strength and he easily rolls her onto her back, pinning her bound hands above her head.
Being tied up doesn't alarm her. Being pinned down doesn't concern her. The real panic sets in when she realizes she can't bend.
She can't bend.
"How?" The word is full of shock and anguish.
In the dark she can barely make out his shaking head. "It's complicated."
"Can you undo it?" Her breathing is shallow.
"I don't know." The words are hesitant and uncertain.
With a shriek of rage, Azula renews her struggle against the Avatar but without the fire in her veins she is weak and ineffective. He holds her in place effortlessly as she screams and cries until she tires herself out.
"How could you?" Her whispered words are heavy with accusation. It won't be for the first time.
There isn't a reply to this. How could there be? Instead, she feels the whisper of silk as he pushes her skirts up and then his too warm hand is parting her folds. Traitorous tears collect in the corners of her eyes, tangling in the long lashes. Even without her bending, Azula isn't one to be passive. If this is what he wants, if this is how it is going to be, then she won't just lie back and take it. She growls and with her still bound hands she grabs the front of his tunic pulling him down on top of her. The battle isn't over yet and with a shift of his knees, an arch of her hips, and a sudden thrust he tears into her forcing a cry from her lips.
This isn't sex. This isn't making love. This is ownership: brutal, bruising ownership.
She loops her bound hands over his head holding him close to her and wraps her legs around his waist. His fingers dig into her backside as he reaches deeper inside of her than he ever has before.
The Avatar is laying claim to her and she to him.
Azula arches her back and rolls her hips, trying to ease the ache. The penetration is painful. It's been too long and she wasn't ready for it. But she won't let that stop her. His hands slide under her shoulders, holding tight as he ruts into her with more force than ever before. There is so much power in his thrusts that Azula can do little more than hold on and scream through her orgasm. With a roar she feels him jerk inside of her coating her inner walls with a heat that feels magnified ten-fold.
As his heavy weight collapses onto her, mindful of her rounded stomach but still trapping her under him. Azula knows the damage is already done but thinks this is the start of what is yet to come.
ooo
Hakoda likes to think he knows his daughter but the years of being apart have replaced his little girl with the woman before him. The lines of worry are clear on her face even in the fading light of the fire.
"I'm sure he's okay." Hakoda says reassuringly.
Katara's blue eyes are distant and she nods automatically at her father's words. She doesn't believe them though. Aang's been gone for days, having left without a word. Sokka labeled it Avatar business before ducking off with Suki and Toph just shrugged before dashing off to explore the inner halls of the Western Air Temple. Briefly her eyes flit to Zuko on the opposite side of the courtyard, seated with Iroh as they discuss the finer points of Fire Flakes, tea, and the Fire Nation in general.
Only Katara worries for the missing Avatar.
"What if…"She nearly chokes on the words, "What if he doesn't come back?"
She can see in her father's eyes that the same thought has crossed his mind. Without Aang, the whole plan falls apart. Sure, Zuko may be able to wrest the throne away from Ozai, but not Ozai and Azula. He's good but not that good. On some level she still doesn't trust the Fire Prince to not turn on them anyway.
"Aang will return." Hakoda says with the sort of reassurance that only a father could have.
Katara shivers in the cold and wraps her arms around her knees as she watches the fading embers of the fire in front of them.
Ooooooooo
"It wasn't your mother." His deep voice breaks her out of the stupor she is in.
For days she has been on the go, embattled, and worn down. The fight with the Avatar and the loss of her bending has taken what was left so she lies still in the earth tent beside him. His arms flex around her waist as he shifts behind her. Ever since she awoke, he has not let go of her, not once. She thinks there is something comforting about it even if she can't do anything to change it anyway.
"What?" Her voice is tinged with exhaustion and she can't keep her eyes open.
"The spirit that was with you, that wasn't your mother. It was only something that had latched onto you, probably feeding off your emotions." He explains gently.
Azula breathes deep and sighs. It makes sense, at least on some level of her understanding of the spirit world. Emotions carry energy and some spirits feed off it to gain power.
"Is she gone?" She asks sleepily.
He lets out a sigh of his own. The breath gently moves the hair on the back of her neck. "Yes, she's gone." He almost sounds like he is sulking. "I think part of it was drawn to your bending and when I took that, it broke the connection."
Azula lies still in contemplation. "Is that why you took it?"
All she ever is has been wrapped up in her bending.
"I could have dealt with her without taking it." She feels the brief press of lips to the side of her throat.
"Why then?" She whispers as she fights back against the tears threatening to fall.
His answer is firm. "I won't let you be my enemy any longer."
"No, now I'm just your prisoner." She finds her strength again as she tries to pull away from him but it amounts to very little.
He effortlessly holds her down under him, until she gives up the struggle panting.
"You should have killed me." Her voice is laced with desperation. Facing a life without her bending is worse than death.
"No, Azula," he says with a kiss to her neck again. "This way you can't hurt anyone anymore."
She squeezes her eyes shut as she feels him settle atop of her again. Ever since he conquered her, he has pressed his rights more and more as if he could fuck her into submission. Even though she burns with hate, there is something comforting about his touch and she returns his kisses. He makes a pleased noise and presses against her harder. As he parts her thighs again, Azula thinks there is more than one way to win a war.
ooooo
It is late when the giant bison lands in the courtyard with a gentle thump. Katara is already throwing off her blankets and breaking into a run. He's back. She can see him standing from the saddle and leaping down onto the temple stones. In the dark she can make out a bundle in his arms as he kneels beside the large beast setting the burden down.
"Aang!" She calls as she gets closer and when he turns at the sound of her voice she throws her arms around him, hugging him. "I was so worried! Where were you?"
He gives a small laugh as he hugs her back. "I had something to take care of."
The shadows retreat with Hakoda's torch as he arrives. Katara steps back but doesn't let go of his robes as she looks at his face in the light of the fire.
"Chief Hakoda." Aang takes the Chief's offered hand and shakes it.
"Avatar Aang." Hakoda returns as he looks over the Air Bender, frowning at the state of his appearance.
Katara notices as well and she traces the burnt holes in his shirt. "What happened?" She demands as her practiced eyes take in the various tears and scorch marks on the Avatar's clothes.
"It's nothing." He assures her even as he avoids her eyes.
More light shines from Zuko's outstretched hand. "Doesn't look like it." He deadpans as golden eyes appraise the dried blood on Aang's shoulder. Iroh looks over his shoulder with curious eyes.
Aang glares at the Prince as Katara begins to ratchet up her motherly concern. "You're bleeding!"
"I'm fine." He says with more firmness. "I had a run in with Azula."
Katara's blue eyes widen with concern. "A run in? No one just has a run in with her."
A small growl from the stones draws their attention to the bundle behind them.
"What's that?" Katara's blue eyes flicker between the Avatar and the gently shifting black cloth.
With a sigh, Aang kneels down and pulls the fabric of the blanket back to reveal furious golden eyes.