Zuko wants to grow up already (myowndestiny) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-07-25 19:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, azula, zuko |
Just you and me brother, the showdown that was always meant to be!
Who: Azula, Zuko, Dream!Katara
What: The long awaited duel to the death between the siblings!
When: Sometime
Where: Fire Nation Capitol
Status: Complete
Rating: PG-13 for FIRE. And absolute crazy.
Azula had lost it. Zuko was certain of this. Ty Lee and Mai's betrayal at Boiling Rock had been the first cut string, and then their father leaving her behind had been the last. Her hair was uneven and there was a crazed look in her eyes.
She didn't care. Nothing mattered. She'd banished most of the royal court, one half of the ancient twins who'd trained her in firebending, the staff and servants until all that remained were herself and the few necessary to crown her Fire Lord. She had isolated herself, because that was the only way to banish the pain.
But there was her brother, her rival. She hated him, loved him, despised him. Today, with the comet burning in the sky and her powers enhanced to the point of armageddon, they would settle things, once and for all.
She seized upon it. A duel for the crown. Brother against sister on the one day in a hundred years where firebenders had no equal, "Just you and me brother, the showdown that was always meant to be! AGNI KAI!"
Azula was stronger and faster. She was fueled by rage and hate. Zuko was fueled by his new understanding from ...from something. Whatever it was it was missing from this memory, but no matter.
He knew he could beat her, because she was unhinged. Wild. No longer cool and collected, her greatest strength was dulled.
The two rose and turned, and thus began the greatest Agni Kai ever known.
Walls of flame shot through the air, azure and orange, setting nearby buildings alight. The air was scorching, stifling. Twenty feet high and crossing the distance in mere seconds, only to be countered by a matching stream, and explosions where they met.
Zuko was on the defensive almost immediately, but that's where he wanted to be. Conserving his strength while Azula burned through herself at an exponential rate. It was terrifying, the power she threw at him, but he could ignore that terror. He had to. The comet in the sky lent him strength, just as it lent her.
Somewhere to the east, over the Earth Nation, he knew Aang was facing his father. He prayed the Avatar had the conviction to finish Ozai off, for the good of the world. He couldn't even imagine the power Ozai currently possessed.
Not that he could let himself be distracted right now. One wrong move and his sister would turn him to ash. Zuko had a startling realization. He was going to have to kill her. Some of the flames shot hundreds of feet into the air. They risked destroying not only the royal mansion but the entire city itself.
Azula was alone, now more than ever. Everyone had fled. Her heart was filled with agonizing loneliness. Mai she'd almost expected but Ty Lee had been such a surprise. She should have killed them on the spot. But she couldn't, when it came down to it. The heat of the moment had passed and Ty Lee had saved Mai's life.
Shooting fire out of her feet like jets, she spun around Zuko as he desperately tried to keep up and deflect her increasingly erratic attacks. He managed to get a good shot on, sending her sprawling.
And then Zuko taunted her.
Letting the rage and hurt funnel through her, she reacted to Zuko's taunt about lightning. He wanted lightning? She'd show him lightning!
Zuko had been preparing for this, training for this. He could redirect it through his body and right back at Azula. She wouldn't be able to stop it.
There. Standing heedless, the water bender. At the last possible second Azula shifted her stance, sending a jolt of electricity right for the unprepared Katara.
Zuko jumped in the way, lightning coursing through him as he tried to direct it into the sky. He lay on the ground, wounded but alive.
Katara ran to be at his side but Azula struck lightning at her feet. Madness consumed the fire princess, certain her brother was dead. She turned the full force of her fury onto the hated enemy of the Fire Nation.
Lightning and fire, against ice and water. No more red flame lit up the night save for the burning buildings. Azula laughed. Fighting Katara was like a game to her, and she fought like a cat playing with a mouse. What did it matter, anymore? What did anything matter any more? Mai and Ty Lee and mother were gone and Zuko with them. Her father the Phoenix King would return but Azula would be alone.
She would snuff out Katara and she would be alone. With a wordless cry she gave chase to Katara, jets of fire following the water-bender as she skidded on ice away from the crazed princess.
They fought, face to face, and Katara froze them in place, Azula's finger mere inches from her nose. She was forced to watch in disbelief as the girl chained her to a grate. She was forced to watch as Katara healed her brother.
Azula snapped, screaming, crying and raging. Streams of azure flame shot from her mouth and nose as she wailed, until she broke down into tears, eventually curling up. Whatever happened after that, she doesn't remember.
The next memory that comes to her is a repeat of the visitation.
For Zuko, Katara seems to mean a lot to him. Perhaps more so than anyone with the exception of Mai. There's some tension there, that he can't place yet, but he cares for her. The pity and sadness he felt, at watching Azula reduced to this state, are almost overwhelming.
Zuko woke soon after that. His powers feel suddenly stronger and his fire hotter. Not like in the dream. But it's a beginning. He thinks about calling Azula. He doesn't.
When Azula awoke, tears were on her face and she clutched at her hair. What had Mai and Ty Lee done to drive her to such a state? It would have been easy to fall into madness just then, and for several long moments she wailed and gnashed her teeth. The moment passed, and she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Then she got out her phone and called Ty Lee, and then Mai. She left voicemails. She wanted to crawl into the shower, but with the bullet wound that was no easy feet. She settled into bed.