IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter has been revised to include a previously deleted scene. It was originaly cut for lenght, but the story just didn't have the impact I wanted without it. So I trimmed it down a bit and put it back in. Sorry for any confusion.
The governor of New Ozai scowled at the two Kyoshi warriors standing before him.
"I grow weary of your vague answers," he said impatiently. "I do not wish to use force, but if you do not give me the information I want, then you'll leave me no other choice."
Suki and Katara glanced at each other fretfully. They'd been at this interrogation for hours now, dancing around questions and hoping the man would eventually give up and send them back to their cell before the others got there. Katara had frozen a hasty message to the wall, but she was certain that it had long since melted. As they contemplated just telling the truth and praying he believed them, a frightful commotion broke out in the city below, stealing everyone's attention.
"What is all that racket?" the governor growled as he rose to his feet and strode past his captives to the balcony. As his eyes settled on the confusion below, he spun around and addressed a nearby guard.
"Sound the alarm! The city is under attack!" he commanded.
Both girls gasped in horror. Completely forgetting that they were prisoners in enemy territory, they rushed to the balcony to stand by the governor. In the streets below was pure chaos. Citizens ran screaming for cover as hordes of earth benders poured out of over a dozen large crevices in the main square.
"Oh no," breathed Katara. "What are they doing here?"
The governor turned on her with a furious glare.
"You're spies!" he accused, "Sent here to distract us so the Earth Kingdom could launch an attack!"
"No! That's not true," she insisted desperately. "This isn't supposed to be happening! We…" she faltered, staring in dismay at the battle below as her voice dropped to a hopeless whisper, "we were trying to prevent this!"
The governor stepped back in surprise at the candor in her pained response, unsure what to think. He was about to insist on an explanation, but as he opened his mouth, another voice interrupted.
"Katara!" cried a water tribe boy, running into the room.
"Sokka!" she called back, meeting him halfway to wrap him in a hug.
New Ozai's governor looked on the scene in flabbergasted indignation, furious that an intruder had gotten into his home.
"Gu-Guards!" he stuttered.
"Don't bother," deadpanned Sokka with a dismissive wave as he moved toward the balcony, "They're already busy."
"I thought they were going to let us find another way," said Katara desolately.
"I guess How changed his mind," grumbled Sokka, glaring into the bedlam below.
"It's not How," interjected Suki grimly, then pointing into the fray added, "look."
Sokka peered into the dark streets lit by only fire blasts and flickering streetlamps. There in the center of the invasion, barking orders as he marched about was a figure Sokka knew all too well.
"Fong," the tribesman spat. "That stupid warmonger!" he shrieked, throwing his fists angrily in the air. "He'll destroy the whole city and everyone in it before he's satisfied!"
"Would someone please tell me what is going on here?!" the governor demanded with all the authority he could muster.
Suddenly remembering that the Fire Nation official was standing right there listening to their conversation, Sokka turned and attempted to enlighten him.
"Well let's see, a battle crazy earth bender was set on razing the place and slaughtering all the citizens living here," he expounded animatedly, "so we snuck in trying to find some other way to take back the city that didn't involve killing everyone. Nothing was supposed to happen until we got back, but unfortunately, General Bloodlust down there decided to ignore the plan. Does that answer your question?"
The governor stared in disbelief at the boy's disgruntled rant, and then narrowed his eyes distrustfully.
"Lies," he hissed. "All lies!" Just as he was about to call for his guards again, he was once again interrupted by yet another newcomer.
"The boy speaks the truth, Yaozu."
Spinning around at the sound of the familiar voice, the governor gasped as a rotund old man and a small girl stepped from the shadows.
"General Iroh?" he breathed in surprise. His face went through a series of emotions; first shock, then confusion, before settling at last on disdain.
"And why should I trust the words of a traitor and some water tribe brat?"
"Because they're trying to stop a massacre," declared Aang as he walked into the room, flanked by Bumi and Zuko.
Yaozu gawked at the air bender tattoos, his mouth opening in closing like a beached fish. When half a dozen Fire Nation soldiers came bursting in from the opposite hallway, the governor finally recovered enough to point at Aang and shout.
"The Avatar! Seize him!"
Before the soldiers could take a single step forward, Zuko darted from one side of Aang to the other, coming between the Avatar and the approaching guards. A torrent of flames erupted from his fist, cutting a wide arc at their feet and flaring up in a fiery wall for a moment, halting their advance.
"Don't," warned the prince menacingly, maintaining his stance while Toph fell into position alongside him.
The guards looked apprehensively from the governor to the youths before them, feeling eerily cowed by the blind girl's emotionless eyes and the prince's cold fury. Meanwhile, Governor Yaozu gulped a bit as he realized he had long since lost all control over the situation. Turning to the Avatar, he eyed him uncertainly.
"Then you intend to end this butchery?"
"I can't," Aang replied quietly, "but you can."
"Are you suggesting I surrender?" asked Yaozu angrily, and then in a worried undertone, he whispered as his hand rose to his neck, "Ozai will have my head."
"If you want to save innocent lives, then the only thing you can do is surrender," Bumi insisted solemnly.
"Please," Aang added earnestly, "this has to stop."
Yaozu looked around the room, noticing that at some point his wife had come in and was now standing there, horror-stricken, as she clutched their son to her chest. The sounds of battle below had intensified, intermingled with the cries of terrified women and children. He turned to the soldiers still being held at bay by Zuko and Toph, and took a deep breath.
"Send out the order to surrender," he commanded soberly.
"But, Sir-" one of them tried to object.
"Do it!" Yaozu roared.
With hasty nods of compliance, the men hurried away, and the governor bowed low before Aang.
"Name your terms, Avatar," he intoned, "we surrender."
Hours later, the streets of Omashu were quiet, and the full moon cast an ethereal glow over the mountain fortress. How had arrived just as the Fire Nation laid down their arms, and he was furious at Fong's act of insubordination. The mutinous general was now in chains and How glared at the man through the window of the prison cell door.
"You'll stay here until arrangements can be made to transfer you to Ba Sing Se to face your court martial," he said sternly.
"You should be thanking me!" Fong growled madly, "I took back this city!"
"You disobeyed a direct order!" snapped How, "And endangered the lives of the Avatar and his companions."
"He has incredible power," Fong insisted, almost manically, "He could have ended the war months ago! He could have taken this city by himself! He won't listen to reason; he's just an idealistic child."
"Yes, a child, Fong," How retorted furiously, "and the only hope for peace this world has. You've put him in danger not once, but twice now. And I can assure you, the Earth King will not be pleased when he hears of your recklessness."
Without another word, How walked away, leaving the other man to his crazed ranting.
"The Fire Nation will never submit!" Fong screamed, "They have to be destroyed!" Chains rattled as a hollow pounding reverberated down the metal hallway. "Let me out of here!"
General How only shook his head, marveling sadly at how war could change a person so terribly.
Katara wandered out of the governor's residence to find Appa snoring contentedly in the courtyard with Zuko sitting on top of the bison's back, gazing thoughtfully at the giant metal statue of the Fire Lord.
She climbed up Appa's tail and sat down, trying to think of something to say. As the silence stretched out, Katara fidgeted with Appa's fur. There was something she wanted to say, but now that she had the opportunity, she didn't quite know where to begin. So she settled on small talk, hoping she could coax Zuko into a conversation that would lead her to what she really wanted to discuss.
"Do you think the governor will take Bumi up on his offer to stay in Omashu?" she asked casually.
"He'd be a fool not to," Zuko replied.
"What do you mean?"
The prince seemed to consider his answer carefully, his eyes never leaving the cold metal visage glaring down at them.
"My father doesn't tolerate failure," he at last said quietly, "and he is not forgiving."
Suddenly feeling foolish at having asked such a question, and realizing this probably was not going to get her anywhere, Katara decided simply to say what was really on her mind, and hope she didn't make a mess of it.
"Zuko…" she began hesitantly, not daring to look at him as she spoke, "I…I want to apologize for the way I've been acting lately. I haven't really been giving you much of a chance and…I'm sorry."
"After everything I've done, you have nothing to apologize for," he answered solemnly.
"Maybe," she admitted, fiddling timorously with Appa's fur, "but even so, it doesn't excuse my behavior. Sokka and I have sort of been Aang's self-appointed guardians ever since we found him and…well…I guess I forget sometimes that we aren't the only ones who want to protect him." She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment before continuing timidly, "You're not the person I expected you to be."
"I'm not the person I expected me to be," he replied sincerely.
Uncertain what to make of that statement and figuring it was best not to ask, Katara instead followed the prince's unwavering gaze up to the statue of Fire Lord Ozai. The metal gleamed harshly in the moonlight, and shrouded the eyes in bottomless shadows. A shiver coursed down her spine at the sight.
"I suppose I don't have to imagine and wonder about the face of the enemy anymore," she said, failing at her attempt to sound nonchalant. She looked away from that cold unfeeling glare as she added, "But I'm glad that face is no longer yours."
Zuko continued to stare up into his father's likeness as he drew in a long breath and then let it out slowly before responding with unguarded honesty.
"So am I."
And high above, the sightless eyes of Ozai glared down on the world, unmoved and untouched except by the moonlight.
Half a world away, the real Fire Lord sat on his throne, firelight flickering over his finely sculpted features. He glared down at the two withered and ancient women kneeling before him.
"You have summoned the Shuāng Yán…," rasped one.
"And we have come," added the other, her voice identical to her sister's.
"What counsel do you seek?" they asked in unison.
"My daughter has failed to bring her brother to me," he announced with composed displeasure, "and he has now allied himself with the Avatar."
"Then he has chosen to accept his destiny…" warned the first woman.
"…Your sway over him is lost," added the other wryly.
"The disgraced shall cast down the second son…," recited the first sister.
"…And Sozin's legacy will be undone," the second finished.
"If Prince Zuko returns to the Fire Nation…," continued the first.
"…He will fulfill this prophecy," they intoned together.
Ozai glowered pensively as he considered the crones' prediction, his dark eyes glittering malevolently in the firelight. But as he came to his conclusion on how to proceed, his voice was devoid of all emotion.
"Not if he is dead."
Author's Note: Well, this 'episode' didn't turn out at all the way I had expected it to. I had originally envisioned a huge climatic battle to retake the city, but as I got into the story, I found that I just wasn't up to the task. And unfortunately, the next 'episode' will be even less action packed I'm afraid. So for those who where hoping for an exciting fight scene, I offer my deepest apologies. I'll try to do better on Chapter 8 (since seven is already pretty much dedicated to humor and romance).