Zutara mini series

Chapter Five

The day when the world as it was known was about to cease to exist if they lost their battle came in bright red dawn and a hot atmosphere. All of them were full of restless energy and stress as the day of possible distraction arrived. They had to follow the plan to the point of perfection. Katara was quite hopeful yet a dark feeling was creeping in making her worry. They rode on Appa, and as Zuko was driving Appa she tried to calm herself. The wind on her hair and the salt on her lips was a comfortable and familiar feeling, Zuko was humming under his breath and the sound washed over her as the clouds passed around them until they reached the familiar shores of the Fire Nation. Never before had a beach made her anxiety sky-rocket. Below them, children were running through the streets as they played and they ran around while laughing, completely unaware of the things that were about to take place and the way their lives were going to change.

Just as they approached the palace, the breath was knocked out of her lungs. Its size was twice as big as her whole Tribe, just the pavilion could have been her house and they landed smoothly before Azula and some old people that must have been some selected advisors of the Fire Lord. But what caught her eye was the strange expression on Azula’s face. It was deranged and borderline crazy. Her hair in the front of her face was cut diagonally. Her face had a strange light in it and her smile seemed forced and strange. Suddenly the perfect daughter and princess and her impeccable armour was full of cracks as her flaws showed. Zuko proudly landed in front of her trying to get a rise out of her, hoping for an Agni Kai. Something to protect Katara and if he lost to give her the opportunity to have a fair fighting chance.

As the comet passed over their world and painted the sky a deep red colour, endless power flowed through the fire benders veins. When the first blows were made a huge wall of flaming bricks of blue and orange. Katara watched as Azula delivered one blow after the other on the offensive while Zuko calmly redirected her Fire and made his own flames by using stances from all the elements, making his hits more powerful but also weak enough to not hurt his sister too much. He may not get along with her but he still loved her. Katara could notice Toph's wide stance in the way he positioned his legs, Aang's light and controlled movements in his arms, and her own flexibility as he let the power control his movements. By that point Azula had gotten more angry than before, expecting this to be an easy fight as she had bested him time and time again.

So she made the one move that would make his brother lose. She drew lightning in her fingers as she separated the positive and the negative energy from around her and she formed them into the most powerful form of electricity. And just as her brother was getting ready to redirect it as he got into the right stance, she pointed towards Katara, the clueless Waterbender who stood on the sidelines and someone important to her brother's life. But Zuko was quick to catch on to her intentions and he rushed to get in between the most important women in his life at the moment, trying to protect Katara and being ready to sacrifice himself in the process if he could save her if he could keep her safe.

Katara was stuck on her spot as Zuko got hit by thousand volts of electricity for her, to protect her. He fell to the floor and he curled into a ball as he spasmed around, his body reacting to the lightning that struck his chest. Just as Katara unfrozen from her position she ran towards her fallen friend, collecting water at her palm ready to heal him. She was a short breath away from him before a light blue fire landed in front of her and continued to miss her little by little and she tried to take cover behind some pillars. Only to exit from her spit to try and help Zuko, bending water to any possible way to get to him faster and to protect her from Azula as well as slow her down but to no avail. That was when she noticed the ducts underneath her feet and a pair of chains opposite to her and a plan formed in her mind. It was crazy but it was also her only chance to defeat her.

She used herself as bait, trying to draw Azula to her and a few seconds later fire emerged around her as Azula got closer. Katara waited for the right moment to strike as she tirelessly deflected Azula,  before seizing the right opportunity to imprison one of her hands and quickly drawing water from the ducts to freeze them in place. Azula's eyes moved rapidly as she tried to figure out what had happened and Katar turned the ice around her into water to allow her the freedom of movement. She swam lower to pass the chain through the metal and then captured Azula’s other hand and tied it into a tight knot at the base of the metal. When she deemed her work worthy of her opponent she let the ice melt and the water drop as she spun on her heels, rushing to Zuko's side hoping it wasn't too late.

His eyes were flattering and she got hold of his hair which consisted of silk soft black strands. She got to work immediately, hoping that this time she would heal a lightning wound properly. And soon enough Zuko stirred from his unconscious state.

“Thank you, Katara.” He rasped with a smile as he struggled to get into a sitting position.

“I think I should be the one thanking you.”
She said with a smile helping him get up.

Deranged screams filled the open space as Azula turned into a mess. Tears were falling freely from her eyes as she sobbed and screamed. Zuko's heart broke at the sight of his sister's state and at that moment he vowed that he would do anything in his power to make things right with her.