A thousand apologies. The real world reared its ugly head in and took me away from my beloved fan fiction. Not to worry, though, I really don't intend to abandon this story. Just needed to give myself time to pick up steam again.

So here we are! I can't make any promises on how regular these updates will be, since I'm feeling my way through this story again, but I WILL update.

Thank you for your patience and feedback!

Disclaimer: ATLA belongs to Bryke & Mulan belongs to Disney.

Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

I try not to think about my kiss with Zuko, but his increasing friendliness toward Kuruk makes that difficult.

We only spend another half day at the camp before he decides to keep us moving forward. Something in our meditation session seems to have put Zuko at ease around me, so much so that he's re-organized our assignments. Before, during the first leg of the trip, Toph and I simply brought up the rear with some of the other recruits. Now, he's assigned us to a squad with Mai, Ty Lee, and Sokka, at the front of the group, protecting the remaining supplies.

That attack did way more damage than we originally thought. Aside from taking out a decent number of fighters, the attack also damaged a vast amount of our supplies. If it wasn't for our decreased numbers, there would be no way to ration what was left for the rest of the journey. Zuko seems determined not to stop near any towns, too, afraid of another ambush. Restocking isn't an option. Morale isn't looking good - at all.

With the dip in morale, I know it's only a matter of time before Sokka tries to cheer everyone up.

"So, Prince Zuko…" And there it is. "Any plans for when the war is over?"

It seems Zuko knows Sokka as well as I do - to an extent - and the question doesn't seem to surprise him at all. He turns to my brother, eyebrow raised. "Not particularly, no. You?"

"I'm thinking I should settle down." No one misses the way his eyes dart toward Suki near one of the other carts. He puffs out his chest in a mock-exaggerated gesture. "After all, no woman can resist a war hero."

I can't help the snort that escapes me. "I can already see them swooning at your feet."

"Oh Sokka! Please! Tell me more war stories!" Toph pretends to swoon, her hands going to her forehead and chest. She can't keep up the straight face, though, and doubles over with laughter.

Zuko actually cracks a smile at mine and Toph's reactions. With just that, the tension in the group seems to dissipate some, and there's a distinctly more relaxed air about the company.

Affronted, Sokka can't help but retort. "Laugh it up. Something tells me you don't have a boyfriend waiting back home for you."

Zuko winces, the smile widening a bit more before he shoots Toph an expectant look.

Toph makes a look of disgust. "Joke's on you. I have no interested in 'settling down' or whatever."

"Really?"

"Really." A sudden smirk spreads across Toph's face. "What about you, Kuruk? Left any broken hearts back home?"

"No. I don't date." I keep my answer as unremarkable as possible, doing my best not to think about my kiss with Zuko, but the quirk at the corner of Toph's mouth tells me she doesn't buy it. She knows something's up. Thankfully, she doesn't call me out on it.

The conversation switches to what everyone misses from home, and Sokka starts going on about women's Fire Nation clothes (much to Ty Lee's and Mai's annoyance). I keep to myself for most of the rest of the conversation, letting the three of them form something of a wall between me and Zuko. Toph's the only one that notices.

"Any particular reason why you're acting weird?" She keeps her voice to a whisper, and no one notices.

"A lot on my mind. Can we not talk about this now?" My eyes dart to Zuko, who continues to simply listen to the conversations going on around him from his seat on his ostrich horse.

"You're not getting out of it that easy." She crosses her arms. "Does it have to do with Prince Charming? I've noticed your heartrate spike around him." Her eyes widen. "Does he know?"

"No. Drop it, Toph."

"No he doesn't know or no it doesn't have to do with him?"

"He doesn't know."

"So it does have to do with him." Before Toph can get another word out, or I can respond, Master Pakku's voice rings out.

"Is that smoke?" It's already dark out, but he's right, the skyline is filled with smoke. The fire doesn't seem to be very far away.

Sokka immediately reaches for his maps. "We're not that far from the city. Maybe another hour."

"That's definitely coming from Ba Sing Se – from the outer ring." Zuko immediately turns to address the entire company. "Mai, Ty Lee, Kuruk, Toph – come ahead with me. Pakku, Sokka – lead the rest of the troops."

Mai and Ty Lee take one of the other ostrich horses, and Toph and I follow suit. On the animals and going at full speed, we should be at the city wall in less than thirty minutes. As we speed away, I can hear Pakku and Sokka taking command, ordering the others to pick up the pace. I urge the ostrich horse to go faster, until we've caught up to Zuko. I try to focus on the path ahead of us, but can't help stealing passing glances at the prince. General Iroh is in Ba Sing Se – who knows how the fight might be going that the outer ring was set on fire? I want to reassure him that the general is fine, but catch myself before saying or doing anything stupid. It's not the time, or the place. Pushing thoughts of Zuko away, I urge the ostrich horse to go faster. The Avatar is in Ba Sing Se, as well as possible clues of what happened to my dad.

When we reach the outer wall, the ostrich horses hesitate at the sight and feel of the fire burning through a gaping hole in the crumbling structure. Screams and yelling roar to life through the fire, the cries of the lower ring's citizens pleading for help. Toph and I immediately climb off the ostrich horse, turning our attention to the blaze as it struggles to break through the wall. In swift, measured movements, Toph brings more portions of the wall down, allowing people to escape. At some point, we must have cut ahead of Zuko and the others. When they finally reach us, Zuko focuses his attention on containing the fire, eyes closed and taking deep, controlled breaths. After a few moments, the fires nearest to us have gone out.

"Ty Lee, Toph, scout the area for survivors and get them to safety. Mai – find my uncle or Azula. Find out what's happening. Kuruk, help me put out the fires."

Without another word, we do as he says, splitting up in different directions. I can feel the water running in the pipes beneath the ground, and I use every inch of my strength to cause the nearest one to burst, creating a spring feet within the walls and maneuvering the water to every flame I could see. I stay near the edge of the wall, while Zuko goes farther into the city. By the time I've finished putting out the fires in the immediate area, Sokka and the others arrive, the rest of the waterbenders following my lead in putting out fires.

"Where's Prince Zuko?"

"He went in to put out more fires. Told us to get the survivors to safety." Ty Lee answers before I can, standing and turning her attention away from a small kid who'd been crying. "That was about an hour ago, I think. Mai is looking for the princess or General Iroh." A flash of blue lightning distracts all of us, turning our attention father into the city. Admiration lingers in Ty Lee's voice as she continues, "There's Princess Azula."

Another flash, this time followed by an explosion. Can she really bend lightning?

"That lightning probably isn't helping the fires." If I had to guess, I'd say the fires probably started with a misplaced bolt. "I'm going back in. There are still fires deeper in the city."

Pakku orders the rest of the waterbenders to follow my lead again.

Before Sokka can protest – the look on his face makes it clear he wants to – I grab the nearest ostrich horse and rush into the winding streets of the lower ring. It's deadly quiet under the roar of distant fires, but I push back against the silence. Silence means no one is nearby; we've managed to evacuate the few who were trapped against the edge of the outer wall.

Above, the sky is still shrouded in black smoke. Seeing through the smoke becomes difficult, even more so when I douse nearby fires. I pause, but the break is brief before another loud explosion startles the ostrich horse. It's another moment before I manage to calm the animal and get it to steer in the direction of the chaos. I urge the animal forward, through another set of explosions and two more flashes of lightning. When we stop, it's near the wall to the middle ring. The fires didn't make it past the wall – yet. I expected to see enemy soldiers trying to break their way into the middle ring, but there's no great battle being waged. Instead, there are only a handful of fighters. I recognize the one closest to me as Zuko. His opponent is a burly-looking airbender in gray robes. Some yards away, a woman about my age shoots lightning out of her fingertips and towards another woman with strange tattoos on her forehead. The tattooed woman doesn't dodge the strike, but stares it down, shooting a beam of energy from the tattoo that meets the bolt in an earsplitting explosion.

This time, the ostrich horse is too frightened to control, and it tosses me off its back. I land with a painful thud and watch as the animal runs away in the direction we came. Scrambling to my feet, I scan the area for anything I might be able to do to help the fire nation royals.

I sense the waterwhip coming my way before I see it, and manage to dodge so that it strikes a nearby barrel. When I turn to face my attacker, I meet a pair of dark gray eyes set in the gaunt face of a woman. Instead of arms, two water tentacles hang at her side. With a smirk, she shoots one of the tentacles out toward me again. Again, I dodge, but this doesn't deter her. She freezes the tip of her tentacle into a hooked blade and pulls. This time, it's too quick to dodge, so I brace myself and meet the ice with my palm, melting it and pulling it to my command and away from her.

We're evenly matched, and I don't think this fight will end anytime soon. Blow for blow, we catch each other's attacks and redirect them. At this point, it'll be down to whoever gets tired first.

She clearly knows this too, as she looks at me with dark, calculating eyes. Every once in a while, she glances at her companions, at the other two fights going on around us. Maybe I can use these glimpses to my advantage, but she feels the water coming for her as easily as I do, and deflects my next attack. Before I can recover and attack again, she's moved away from me and to the airbender and Zuko. The fire nation prince doesn't notice the new attacker, but his opponent does.

"Prince Zuko!" My voice makes him look back, but it was a mistake to call his name. Distracted, he doesn't see the attack from the airbender, though he sees the armless waterbender get ready to strike. I'm too far away for a waterwhip to defend against the airbender and before I know what I'm doing, I take a stance I haven't tried since my days with Hama.

Hands outstretched before me, I catch the airbender off guard as his back arches in pain, his body contorting as he falls to his knees. It seems the airbender is the leader of the group, because the two women – the firebender with the tattoos and the armless waterbender – falter at the sight of him crumpled to the ground. Almost immediately, the tattooed woman abandons her fight with the princess and runs to the airbender, just as I've clenched my fists and cut off his air supply, snapping him into unconsciousness. Filled with fury, her eyes search for the person responsible, falling on me. A bolt of energy shoots from her head, and I know I won't be able to dodge.

A wall of earth comes up some feet in front of me, stopping the shot and shaking the area. The force of the attack knocks me back, and my concentration on the airbender breaks as I collide with the side of a building. Toph is a few yards away, joining the fight and keeping the firebender's attention.

Zuko is still squaring off against the waterbender, but Azula quickly draws her attention away, shooting another lightning bolt. I'm sure it'll meet its mark until a stone wall rises from the earth, protecting her like Toph protected me. They were more prepared for the blast, and aren't knocked back like I was.

A fourth person – presumably an earthbender – comes out of the ground near the unconscious airbender and the firebender. He moves differently from the other earthbenders I've seen, his style more fluid. Around the four of them, the ground starts to give way to molten rock – lava.

Who the hell are these people?

Now that they've been corralled together, Azula sends another bolt of lightning their way, breaking the earthbender's concentration on the lava.

"Retreat!" It's the firebender with the tattoos. She appears to be second in command of the group, and the other two follow her orders. A moment later, they're completely encased in earth.

"Toph!"

Without waiting for further orders from Zuko, the blind earthbender hurries to peel away the rock wall they built, but they're long gone. All that's left of them is the mote of lava around where they were standing. She builds a bridge over the lava and quickly runs to examine the ground. "I can't feel them."

"Spread out! Find them!" It's the princess giving orders now, her troops having appeared toward the end of the fight. They scatter. Toph and I look to Zuko for instruction, but he shakes his head. It's clear by the look in his eyes that he's sure they won't find anything.

"They've probably left the city by now. Ba Sing Se is riddled with underground tunnels and they were far too organized not to have an escape plan." He groans, holding his side. "Our efforts are better spent attending to the survivors."

"You do that, Zuzu." The princess sneers at her brother, annoyance in her eyes. If it weren't for the look on her face, I might have actually laughed at the nickname. Toph can't see Azula's face, so her snicker is loud and clear.

Zuko seems to be trying very hard not to lose his temper – it's the most irritated I've seen him yet. "Have you seen uncle?"

"No – the old man sent word that they needed reinforcements but by the time I got here all hell had already broken loose." She shrugs. "I'm sure he's fine. Probably in the upper ring enjoying some tea with the king while the rest of us did the real work."

Again, Zuko looks like he's restraining himself. I've never seen animosity like this between siblings. Looks like I'm the only one made uncomfortable by it, though. Mai and Ty Lee show up in the middle of their conversation, both wearing expressions of relief (or what I think is relief on Mai's face) at the sight of the princess.

"I wonder if this was their attempt at a coup – trying to break through the walls."

"I doubt it. The entire city is crawling with Dai Li, not to mention that getting through the inner walls is close to impossible." Azula waves off Zuko's suggestion. "No doubt they want us to believe that, though."

"We should alert the king – put extra guards on him."

"Already ahead of you, Zuzu." One of her men guides a large lizard – I think they're called mongoose lizards – toward the princess. She mounts it effortlessly before turning and weaving her way through the buildings. "Catch up after you've taken care of your injuries!"

"Go with her." Prince Zuko orders Mai and Ty Lee to follow the princess. "I'll be up shortly."

"Yes sir." They speak in unison before bowing and making their way in the same direction as the princess.

"Kuruk." I jump at the sound of my name. For a second I thought he forgot I was there.

"Sir?" I approach him carefully, it's clear he's worn out and it's not only due to the fight. The princess has quite the effect on him.

"How are the others?"

"We were able to evacuate all the survivors we found. From the looks of it, there weren't that many who were unable to escape the initial fires. Overall, I think we're alright. No serious injuries, either."

"Good." He turns toward Toph and me, but the movement strains him more than it should have. "Let's…let's get them to the middle ring…need to…need…"

Prince Zuko collapses face first, and both Toph and I struggle to catch him. It's not until we turn his body over that we see the nasty gash in his side. There's very little blood, but the wound is deep. "He probably got this fighting the airbender. We shouldn't move him. Go tell Sokka to start moving to the middle ring."

Toph hurries back toward the outer wall, leaving me while I heal Zuko. The area falls into complete silence again, but I don't let myself relax. Some moments later, Sokka returns with Toph, everyone following behind them.

Pakku's the first to speak.

"What happened?" He looks from me to the unconscious prince.

"Princess Azula has gone ahead to the upper ring to report to the king. All we can do is move everyone to the middle ring until Prince Zuko wakes up or we receive more orders."

I've managed to close Zuko's wound, and his breathing has returned to normal. He should be waking up soon, so a couple of earthbenders create a makeshift stretcher to carry him on our way to the middle ring. Sokka and Pakku take the lead. I hover close to Zuko, examining him for any other injuries and looking for signs that he'll wake up. I shouldn't be as worried as I am, shouldn't care as much as I do, but I can't help it. Rather than linger on it, I push thoughts of the prince out of my mind and move on to some of the survivors, healing what wounds I can.

By the time we cross the wall into the middle ring, some Dai Li agents are waiting for us. They handle moving the rest of the lower ring residents and direct us to keep going farther into the city, toward the upper ring. There isn't even a lingering hint that there might have been a fight once we cross the wall into the middle ring. It looks like none of the chaos made it this far into the city, and a wave of relief washes through me. Maybe we weren't too late.

Night has fallen and the entire trek to the upper ring is quiet, solemn. Once we're in the upper ring, another set of Dai Li agents relay orders from the king. We're to recover in the barracks along the upper ring's wall, where our injured will receive further treatment. Pakku orders us to stay put in the barracks, and the Dai Li agents lead him toward the palace, where he'll be debriefed on the situation and then report back.

I don't like the idea of sitting around and waiting. Finding myself pacing back and forth in front of my bed. We're in a large room lined with nothing but military-grade beds. Toph takes up residence in the bed beside mine.

"Do you mind? You're driving me nuts."

"I don't like this. Why are we being told to stay put when we should be patrolling the city? Both Azula and Zuko don't think that was the planned coup, but a distraction. We shouldn't be sitting around."

"Not much we can do, though, until we receive further orders. Besides, prince charming is out cold and Pakku told us to wait."

"You never struck me as a stickler for the rules." I stop pacing, crossing my arms and looking at Toph.

The blind earthbender sits up in her cot, raising an eyebrow. "Did you have something in mind?"

Ba Sing Se and Azula, as promised. Hope it was worth the wait!

Thanks for reading! Til next time!