Zutara Agni Kai

“I now pronounce you-” The head sage started to crown Azula, only to be stopped mid-sentence.

“What is it?! What’s going on?” Azula snarled, furious of their insubordination and oblivious to anything around her as she remained on her knees. The sage took a step backwards only to increase the fury of the Princess ten-fold. “I’m the Fire Lord! Now crown me!” she fumed as the steam escaped from her lips.

The sages, who were the only ones present, ignored her demands. Instead their eyes remained glue towards the sky, as if waiting for a savior. She heard the faint sound of movement in the air rushing past her ears. It wasn’t until Appa moaned did she suspect her worst fear. A fool decided to stop the biggest moment of her life. No, not a fool. He was worse than a fool; a disgrace to everyone around.

“You’re not becoming Fire Lord today or any other day.” A voice boomed over her. Her eyes searched for him just as Appa landed, forever ruining her perfect day. “I am.” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“You’re hilarious!” She laughed seeing him jump down; ready to defend what he thought was rightfully his. She ignored him and let the sages continue with their work. She was going to be crowned today, no matter what.

“And you’re going down!” Katara added, backing Zuko up.

How dare she?! A peasant daring to go against the Princess herself? At this point Azula grew sick of them both, none more than Katara. She’d show them all. The sage started to place the crown on her head to be stopped with one hand gesture. It didn’t matter if she happened to be slipping as the moments passed; she would end them both showing her true superiority.

“Fine. Let’s settle this, Agni Kai style.” She smirked. Even her smile seemed different than normal. And whereas Zuko would have normally hesitated, he agreed without uncertainty.

“You’re on.” He narrowed his eyes towards his sister, watching her walk down the steps. Her perfection disappeared, her steps, unbalanced. Yet she hadn’t even noticed a difference.

“Zuko!” Katara whispered. “You’re playing into her hands. She wants to divide us up. What about what Uncle said?”

“She’s off. I can’t explain it, but I can tell she’s not herself.” He turned to face Katara. “Besides, this way no one else gets hurt.”

“I still don’t like it.” She murmured, turning her head to the side so he couldn’t see the anxiety on her face. “But I trust you.” She turned back to face him with a smile on her face. No matter what, she wouldn’t show her fear of the predetermined mentality that he wouldn’t come back. He would make it. He was Zuko. He could do anything.

They watched as Azula continued down the steps, stumbling as she went. The perfection she used to have slipped by the second. Her state of mind decaying from lack of accomplishment she once had. Did she even notice it? Or was she ignorant of it? Had she become too far gone to even notice she had nothing to show for? No one left to care for her?

Katara tried to control her nerves. Still she was found pacing behind Zuko in hopes everything turned out okay. She knew how Azula fought and how she acted. The last time Katara battled against her, things didn’t go so well for Katara. And last time she checked Zuko wasn’t much better than Katara. Or he hadn’t been since the previous time they fought.

Azula’s face showed her true demented state. Her eyes wavered from normalcy. Even her unyielding posture, which she strived for, lost itself along the way. She faced her brother across the courtyard with no one there to watch them except Katara. The sages had fled when Zuko and Azula declared an Agni Kai against one another. Perhaps it was all well; they didn’t even want to be there anyway.

Azula began the fight blasting fire at Zuko. The inferno began consuming around him and the Palace. He sent combustion in the way of an arrow towards her, hoping to disperse some of the flames. She kicked her legs in the air in his direction, sending fire with each kick. He moved his hands like he had in Ba Sing Se against Katara. Would Katara smile seeing the whips?

The Princess grew tired of this little game. Once more she flipped in the air, sending blue fire from her body towards him. As she landed her arms sent a wave of flames towards him, starting from her right, devastating everything in its path. He dodged the first blast just in time, returning the wall of blue fire with a wall of calming red fire. The two exploded together in a rare sight. Instead of surging through, the fires collided; the wall building up from the spot where they collided several miles into the night sky. If someone looked close enough purple flames were sworn to be seen where the blue and red flames collided.

Neither one stopped their flames although they grew tired of holding the fire for so long. Zuko chuckled to himself. He saw Azula starting to grow weak. She couldn’t keep up with him, nor could she win against him as she had over the years. One thing would work for him: lightning. He knew she wanted to use it, as it became her drive over the years. And he could deflect it and stop her right then.

“What? No lightning today?” He smirked. “Afraid I’ll redirect it?”

‘Don’t get too foolish Zuko! Please be careful!’ Katara prayed to herself.

“You want lightning? I’ll show you lightning!” Even her laugh seemed different than normal.

Zuko breathed, spreading his arms in preparation for the lightning. He repeated Iroh’s words in his mind. Azula showed off her skills first by creating two small half-circle lightning strikes around her. Even those weren’t straight as they should have been. She noticed Zuko’s calm disposition and something else. Katara came with Zuko; she stood behind him. She must have meant something to Zuko. If Azula destroyed Katara, she could destroy Zuko by his heart. Her eyes locked onto her new target, letting the lightning escape her fingertips.

Zuko expected the lightning to be headed in his direction. However, as he glanced up at his sister, he noticed it was clearly off target. Had she become that demented, she couldn’t even see her own brother? His eyes followed the lightning and his world came to a crashing halt. She didn’t want him to die, she wanted Katara to!

Katara vaguely remembered seeing blue lightning rushing towards her. Never in her life had she hated blue until now. Her mind told her to move, yet her legs didn’t respond. She froze, unsure of what to do. Her life flashed before her and somehow, nothing seemed important as it had. Meeting Aang, the pirates capturing her, learning waterbending, fighting Zuko several times, understanding him, wishing he came with them, wanting to heal him, threatening him, and finally forgiving Zuko. Had she forgiven him too late?

He didn’t hesitate in acting. No longer did his life or future matter. Not even the search for his mother, but the life of the one person he felt he couldn’t reach in time, the one person he grew to admire. This one person healed him more than any spirit water ever could. Nothing mattered more to him than protecting Katara with his own life.

She swore she heard a noise. She swore she saw Zuko in the corner of her eye racing towards her. Her legs screamed at her to move, her heart screaming at her to tell him to stop, and her head told her to fight; yet her body did nothing. It was as though Hama came back and froze her blood; powerless to watch the scene unfold before her eyes and do nothing to save herself or Zuko.

A tear fell from her eye. Why couldn’t she move? Why couldn’t she scream how she felt for Zuko? She saw the flash of red stopping the blue. But the way his body collapsed on the ground, twitching, she knew he couldn’t have deflected the lightning as he should have. Why did he have to be so stupid? Why did he have to save her?

The lightning pierced his heart, cutting it apart like a double-edged sword. He wasn’t fast enough to deflect it but fast enough to save her. The lightning escaped his fingertips into the sky, the explosion so bright it could be seen over the entire Fire Nation.

Katara felt her heart break seeing him there. His body twitched for a moment before resting. The lightning still singed his body, still jolted through his body, yet he remained still. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. In that small moment, everything stopped. She started to run towards him, her heart about to rip out of her chest. Each time she made an effort, the sinister laughter followed by a blast stopped her. Did Azula really want her brother to die? Katara knew the only way to help Zuko was to fight Azula herself. The only question: would Zuko last that long?

She pulled the water from the local basin towards her before hurling it at Azula. Azula laughed as she continued to jump around the rooftops, blazing her fire in the courtyard. Katara realized just how trapped she was. Fire burned around her, encasing her in the walls of the courtyard.

Katara sent a ten-foot wave crashing down upon the rooftop Azula soot while she hid behind a pillar. As her eyes crept over the side, she noticed Azula no longer stood there. Instead, the Princess came after the water peasant from the other side, the inferno right behind her. Katara’s eyes widened seeing the destruction heading towards her and did the only thing she could think of: she ran.

“What’s the matter peasant? Can’t keep up with the royals?” Azula chuckled. She enjoyed this game of chase with Katara, as does any predator with its prey.

Katara froze the water around her, sliding across it as she had the water at Ember Island. Azula followed her, burning the ice along the way, sending blaze after blaze in the waterbender’s direction. Dread crept inside of Katara until it consumed her; fear for her life, for her friends, but most of all, for Zuko. Part of her told herself she cared because he had to become Firelord. However, she knew in her heart that wasn’t the case.

She fled around the courtyard, trying to speed herself up or at least put enough distance between her and the Princess. As she ran, she stumbled across an underground river and chains against a pillar. Azula rushed down towards Katara, fire building up behind her.

“There’s no where for you to go now!” Azula snarled as she walked towards the water peasant. “You’ll die here along with Zuko!”

Right as Azula drew the stance for lightning, Katara swiftly moved her arms upwards, freezing the both of them in ice. She had seen Zuko breathe steam before and decided to try it for herself. If she could freeze water and he copied some of her moves, certainly she could heat the water as well. As the ice around the waterbender melted away, she floated towards Azula, chains in hand. Azula’s eyes widened in fear and shock seeing this peasant she had defeated so many times, this peasant who months before couldn’t even bend tie her down against the metal covering the river. By the time she finished, the ice melted away, leaving Azula trapped; forever captured by her own drive to be better.

Katara rushed to Zuko, her heart pounding. “Zuko!” She called as she flipped him over, wincing upon seeing grave damage to his body. Flesh burned away, his stomach gaping open, and blood escaped from his body. If he managed to survive, he would forever have the scar to prove he saved her. How he had survived this long was beyond her.

“Please… Zuko… don’t die.” She murmured; her eyes closed as the tears fell.

She pulled the water from the air to his chest, watching it glow in her hand as it made contact with the burned flesh. Each passing moment he didn’t breathe made her worry that much more. She felt as though he died there in her arms, as though he already left her. Tears cascaded down her cheeks onto his damaged torso. Her heart seemed to explode out of her chest and break into a million tiny pieces in front of her.

“Zuko… please… don’t leave me. I… I need you here with me.” She cried out, falling onto him, her head buried in his chest. “Please Zuko.” I love you. No matter how hard she tried, she felt she couldn’t save him. He still remained lifeless before her. “Zuko… I couldn’t…” She shook her head, trying to blot out any thoughts of his death. “… save you.” She sniffed.

“I think… you did a great job.” A meek voice called out for her.

“Zuko!” She screamed, unsure if her eyes deceived her or not. A new wave of tears escaped, this time of joy.

“I guess I should be thanking you.” He smiled, his hand running through her chocolate locks.

“No Zuko.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t be here without you.” She rested her hand against his as he placed it on her cheek. “I owe you everything, including my heart.” She smiled.

“Katara…” He felt words seemed unimportant then. Without knowing, he gave his heart to her, never thinking it would be returned. What a surprise when she returned it with just as much care! He tasted her sweet lips he longed for. She blinked a moment before realizing it wasn’t a dream. She returned his kiss, thankful for one more day with him. “I never thought you’d come to care for me… the way I have you.” His head rested against hers.

“NOO!!” Screams from Azula interrupted this brief moment, echoing throughout the Palace. She tried to block everything out, yet nothing worked. She was forced to watch her brother have another thing she couldn’t have while she had no one. Once again she watched her brother win love while she suffered alone, with no one there to trust. Who would trust someone who let the entire Fire Nation and the Firelord down? She failed everyone after her father finally gave her the honor she craved for so long. She ultimately failed when her life was full of perfection.

“What will become of her?” Katara asked as they stood. Her eyes adverted away from the Princess.

“I’ll have someone help her.” He closed his eyes. “She’s my sister. She deserves the best.” He turned towards Katara, still holding her close to his body.

She attempted a smile for his sake, trying to be a comfort for him. It wasn’t right for Zuko to see Azula suffer like that. No one should see their sibling endure a mental breakdown. “She’ll be okay Zuko.” Katara whispered as she placed her arm around him.

“I know.” His eyes still remained fixed onto his sister, almost feeling if he removed them she would forever be lost from him. “Come on. I could use some more of your healing, if you don’t mind.”