The White Assassin

Ch. 18 - Luck of the Draw

The battle commenced. The sounds of swords clashing and screams filled the air. Katara, Haron and Pete were holding their own. There were a lot of soldiers that they were facing but they never showed an ounce of fright. They continued to fight with strength and determination. If anyone were to be scared it should have been the soldiers. Not only were they being beaten by three teens, but they were fighting in front of their leaders; their lord and his son. They weren't too impressive if you ask me but who am I to judge? If you look over at the other side of the playing field, Aang and I weren't doing that bad. Although it was a bit unfair since Ozai was doing none of the fighting. Instead he was just shouting at his son to fight for him and be strong. I felt anger towards the lord, who bosses around their own son like that? No one! That's not how a father should act. His father should be fighting alongside his son and no commanding him like a general officer.

This continued for about five minutes. Zuko had finally run out of energy and practically collapsed from exhaustion. Ozai finally walked towards us but not without exchanging the words, "pathetic" and "weak" towards his son. Beaten and too tired to retort, Zuko laid there not moving and barely breathing. I felt bad for him in a way. I never had a good relationship with my parents either, but he is on a whole different level than I. Aang was pretty beaten as well. He could barely stand and his injuries were growing. I healed him once with my air bending but it didn't do much help. He continued to get beaten by Ozai and I had to step in to help him. I didn't want to get involved with his fight. He had said from the beginning that he would restore peace for the countries. Not 'we', 'he'. He wanted to do it by himself, and I could understand that. However he knew that I wouldn't let him face two professional fire benders without another air bender's help. He had no choice but to accept, I didn't give him an option.

"Just give up, Avatar." Ozai said to Aang as they stood parallel from one another. "There's no harm in giving up." Aang grunts and starts to attack Ozai again. He surprises him with attacks but Ozai is quick to fight back and overwhelm Aang with his abilities. Before I could step in, Ozai punched Aang with a firey fist and Aang flew back into the temple wall.

"Aang!" I shouted. I started to run towards him but a fire wall stopped me. I looked behind me to see Zuko on his feet and hand on the floor, right where the fire wall had been created. I growled at him and he stood up with a smile.

"I'm your opponent, come and get me." He said to me in an antagonizing tone. I grunted and ran towards him with fists covered in air. I start to punch him and he dodges. He started to fight back but I'm quick on my feet. Unlike me, he's been fighting this whole time and has worn down from his previous injuries. He's become tired and has lost the will to fight. We clashed together but slid backwards, so that we were facing each other.

"Stop this Zuko!" I screamed at him. He looked up at me with squinted eyes, I could see the tiredness in his eyes. "We don't have to fight. You can come with us, and be our friend!"

"Me?" He said. "Friends? With you?" He chuckled evilly and I cowered back in fear. "Last time someone said that, they betrayed me. I never heard from them again, maybe that was just because they were banished from the fire kingdom." I stepped back as he started to step closer to me. I felt heat on my back and when I turned around I saw that I was right in front of the fire wall. "Friends make you weak. If you have friends, you're considered pathetic and emotional. I don't need them, and neither will you once I'm done with you." He raised his fist to punch me but before the impact came, I moved so he fell into the fire wall. Being a fire bender, he took the heat like it was nothing. But his clothes caught on fire and his skin began to burn.

"Hale!" I heard from my left and I turn to see Katara, Pete and Haron together in one piece and a bunch of fire nation soldiers stacked on top of each other behind them. I smiled at them and they caught sight of Zuko.

"Katara! Put out his clothes!" I shouted at her. She gave me a shocked expression.

"Why would I do that? Do you know what he's done to us? To you?" She screamed back.

"Deep down he's not that bad!" I shouted back. She stopped and widened her eyes at my response. "He just wants to impress his father! He just wants to be a worthy son! Can you blame him? Now help me before he burns to a crisp!" I ran towards Zuko and grabbed him out of the fire wall. I hear footsteps and see Katara bending water behind me. I smiled at her and she slowly poured the water on his burns to cool them. He winced from the pain for a minute and than became unconscious.

"He'll be alright." Pete said. I looked up at him and he looked down at me. I smiled and nodded. We heard an 'oof' behind us and we all turned to see Aang being beaten by Ozai.

"Alright little Avatar, take your last breath." Ozai raised his foot above Aang's head and was about to stomp down.

"Aang! No!" Katara shouted. Something snapped. I saw Aang, lying there, motionless, not breathing, not having the strength to stop Ozai. Something in me snapped, I wasn't able to control myself. I felt the wind pick up behind me and I felt myself getting angrier and angrier. "Hale..?" I heard Katara behind me. I didn't, no I couldn't speak. I was focused on Aang and made the decision that I would personally beat the pulp out of Ozai. I used my air bending abilities to push Ozai into the temple walls before he crushed Aang. I ran at the injured Ozai and struck him with punches and kicks and continued to do so until I heard screams and shouts telling me to stop. I didn't listen. I continued to hammer him with attacks, no one stopped me and I had no intentions on stopping until I knew he was dead.

"Hale! Stop!" Haron yelled. He grabbed me from behind and dragged me away from Ozai, who's body was stuck in the wall. I screamed at Haron, telling him to let me go but his strength never weakened. I looked at Ozai and saw him fall out of the wall and plop onto the floor. He wasn't moving, he wasn't breathing, he was just lying there with his face down on the ground. I gasped at the sight, I didn't mean to.. I just got so angry, I couldn't control myself.

"I-I.. I didn't.." I started to break down and Haron was still holding me. I turned and hugged my best friend with all of my might and began to cry. I didn't care who was looking, I cried and cried. I had no intentions of stopping until a soft grunt was heard behind me.

"Hale..?" I turned to see Aang, pushing himself up with his badly cut arms and trying to get up.

"Aang.." I whispered. I forced myself out of Harons arms and ran towards Aang. I embraced him in a tight hug and he winced from the force. I immediately let go and looked at him with tears in my eyes. "Sorry.. I thought I lost you." He smiled at me and his eyes closed softly. He was still breathing, probably exhausted from fighting. I saw Haron coming towards us and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're brave." He said to me and I smiled. Haron picked Aang up and brought him to the others for healing. I stayed where I was for a couple more minutes and stood up. I looked at my parents, they were still tied up near the throne. Only there was something different about them, they weren't angry. They weren't upset with me, they had smiles of relief on their faces. I ran to them and untied the ropes. Once they were gone, my father and mother engulfed in one of the warmest hugs I had ever experienced. It was the hotter than a fire but not as harsh. I looked up to them and they looked down at me.

"My daughter." My mother said to me. I looked in her eyes and tears were pricking in the corners. "I am so happy to see that you are well." She grabbed my face with her hands and pressed her lips onto my forehead. I smiled the biggest smile and she giggled. "I haven't seen you smile like that since you were little!" We both laughed and I looked to my father.

"Come here, squirt." He said to me. I gave him a big hug and he returned it. Almost like he was never injured, he had a ton of strength in the embrace and I was no match for the bone crushing hug. We pulled apart and he looked down at me. "I'm glad you did what you did." I widened my eyes and looked down from sadness. He was happy I ran away? Didn't he miss me? He chuckled and I looked back up at him. "I may have been upset with your actions in the beginning but now I see clearly that it was the right thing." He moved his hand to my cheek and gave me a sweet smile. "If you had not have done that, you would have never been able to save your mother and I. To save that young boy with the arrows on his head. You would have never become the strong person that you are. You would have never become the rightful heir to the throne. You truly are my daughter, and I am proud of you." He had tears in his eyes as did I. I had never heard my father talk such words towards me. He had always been a caring soul but he never verbally said it.

"Stop with the kind words, it's hurting my ego." My mother said to my father.

"Eh? If your ego is so important why don't you marry it?" My father replied.

"That sounds cocky, doesn't it? Marry my own ego?" She asked.

"It's big enough." He muttered. She gave a light hit to my father's shoulder and he pretended that it hurt. We all giggled at each other's silliness.

"Mother, father if you don't mind. I think I should go and see if my friends are alright." I said. They nodded to me and I walked out of the main room to the outside. Katara and Toph were patching up Aang. Haron and Pete were wrapping their own wounds and dabbing some cloths in water. "You're all okay.." I said. They looked at me and smiles grew on their faces. I smiled back and walked towards my friends. I looked over everyone's wounds and treated them all with my air bending. They were all fine, and I was happy. I guess the luck of the draw can really help a person out.