Chapter Text
The sky glowing deep red behind them, Katara and Zuko stood back and watched Azula writhe and scream in her restraints. The fire sages tentatively approached, and Zuko turned as they addressed him. "We saw what happened. As Azula broke the rules of the Agni Kai by directing an attack towards a bystander, the win goes to you. However, we cannot proclaim you fire lord, not while Lord Ozai still reigns."
Katara narrowed her eyes. "Have you heard news that we haven't? No? Then you have no way of knowing that monster has been victorious."
Zuko put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll wait for news before anything is made official." He spared another glance at his sister, her breathing ragged, her mind clearly fraying. "One of you please offer food and drink to Azula, and make her as comfortable as possible, but she is to remain restrained." The sages nodded and hurried off, murmuring quietly amongst themselves.
Katara led Zuko to a nearby bench where they could continue to keep an eye on Azula. The sky darkened further—Sozin’s Comet nearly gone. She insisted Zuko sit and rest, though she herself couldn’t be still. She kept pacing the stone courtyard, glancing at the sky as if willing an airship to appear.
She wanted nothing more than to jump on Appa and fly off to search for the others. But she couldn’t risk leaving Azula unwatched, not with fire nation guards still uncertain of their loyalties. To distract herself, she knelt beside Zuko, continuing to heal what she could and carefully wrapping his wounds with bandages brought by a palace servant.
As he rested, she spent her time in agitated pacing, or sitting and hugging her knees while sending silent prayers to the spirits.
Please let Aang be okay. Please let Sokka be okay. Please let Toph and Suki be okay. Let them all come back to me.
She stared up at the deep blue sky to the east, her frayed nerves and frantic prayers keeping her going.
Aang, exhausted from his defeat of Ozai, was happy to see that it was only his friends disembarking the airship rather than a wave of fire nation soldiers. After filling his friends in, he peered behind them and asked, "Where's Katara? Is she on the ship?"
"Nah," Sokka said with a grunt as he tried to hop into a more comfortable position for his leg. "She's with Zuko," he said with a wave in the general direction of the fire nation.
Aang visibly relaxed. "Oh good. I'm glad the two of them stayed back at the house where it was safe."
Sokka and Suki exchanged a glance, trying to figure the best way to tell him. Top, never one for subtlety, didn’t hesitate. "Twinkletoes, you vanished. We tried to find you, then figured we had to divide and conquer. Sugar Queen seemed sure you'd show back up here, and us three came to stop the airships. A bunch of old guys are taking back Ba Sing Se. Zuko and Katara went back to the Fire Nation capital to face his sister."
"What?!" Aang exclaimed. "We have to get to her, to them!"
Ozai began to laugh. "What's the hurry, Avatar? Your friends have already lost. Azula has been besting her brother for years, and she has beaten your little girlfriend before too. With the power of Sozin's Comet behind her, no doubt she made quick work of them."
Aang clenched his jaw before breathing out sharply to ground himself. "Get on the ship, Ozai," Aang directed.
"No. I don't take orders from children," Ozai growled back, pushing himself up to his knees.
"And we don't take lip from losers," Toph retorted, shoving him back down to all fours. She then bent two earth slabs, one encompassing the hand and lower leg of his left side, the other his right. "Let me help you there, Failure Lord," she said, using her bending to slide the earth slabs, effectively forcing Ozai to crawl aboard the airship.
The other three followed them, Suki supporting Sokka on his bad side while glancing back at the clearly nervous Avatar. Momo swooped down and landed on Aang's shoulder, earning a small smile from the airbender. Aboard the airship, it was decided that they'd take shifts to get the craft to the Fire Nation - one to fly, one to watch Ozai and keep the pilot company. Sokka and Toph took first shift, and by the time Aang and Suki took over, Ozai had a strip of metal bent around his head over his mouth. "He added no value to the conversation," was all the explanation Toph gave. Aang spent his time staring out the window as the sky lightened and they neared the fire nation.
Dawn was approaching back at Caldera City. Zuko’s eyes tracked the waterbender’s edgy movement back and forth. “If you keep pacing, you’ll wear a groove in the stone,” he cracked dryly.
“I just—where are they?” she huffed, stomping a foot in nervous frustration. Before she could return to her agitated path she noticed Appa, who had been laying nearby, lift his head up to the sky and grumble. "What is it, Appa?" Katara asked, following his gaze to the clouds and squinting to get a better look. Was that a...
"Airship approaching, Prince Zuko," one of the sages alerted them. Katara dropped into a ready stance as Zuko, wincing, scrambled to his feet to do the same. They waited on high alert as the air ship drew closer.
Eventually, they heard a familiar voice calling out from the cockpit. "Heyyy, Boomeraang Crew, coming in!" And what followed was possibly one of the least graceful landings, as the front of the ship nudged through the gates and the bottom scraped along the stone path.
"Sokka!!" Katara cried, and started running that way.
"Hey sis!" replied the warrior, as he exited the airship.. carried piggyback by Suki. Katara slowed up and gave a puzzled look, but threw her arms around the both of them anyway. "We brought you guys a gift," he added with a laugh and cocked his head back towards the doorway of the airship.
With an unceremonious thump, a bound-and-scowling Ozai was shoved out onto the courtyard, with Toph dusting her hands off behind. "Yeah, no returns. He's all yours," she said to the others gathered around. Zuko stared in disbelief. His father.. beaten, but not dead? He hadn't even considered that possible. Honestly, he still wasn't sure.
Katara felt her heart drop. "He's alive?" If Ozai lived, then that might mean...
"I found a way," said a tired but determined voice from the door to the airship.
Katara's head snapped up at the sound of his voice. "Aang!!" she cried out, as she ran to her best friend and flung her arms around him. "You're okay. You're here." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the tears from flowing even as her face couldn't stop smiling. She stepped back, but kept a hand on Aang's arm. "Where did you..? How did you..?" she tried asking, before finally just settling on, "I knew you could do it."
Aang grinned back at her. "Sorry I disappeared. But I found a way to defeat him without killing him. He's alive, but he's not a bender anymore."
"Is this true, Lord Ozai?" came the voice of one of the fire sages. "You've lost the ability to bend fire?"
Toph released Ozai's hands from their bonds and said, "Let's go, Loser Lord. Show 'em a little poof of flame so you can keep being a jerk with a throne." Zuko watched in disbelief as his father stared daggers at the blind earthbender.. but didn't make even a single puff of smoke, no matter how much she provoked it. "The most powerful firebender on earth can't beat a little girl? Oh, that's right. No more power. Abuse it and lose it, I guess."
"Toph, that's enough," Aang said gently. "It's not something I took pleasure in doing. My hope is to never have to use this knowledge again. But yes, it's true. Ozai is a non-bender now, so that he can never again use his element to threaten, to coerce, to rule due to fear."
The sages murmured amongst themselves for a bit. Finally, the head sage stepped forward. "The lord of the Fire Nation must be a bender. In light of Ozai's lack of bending, and Prince Zuko's victory over Princess Azula, we recognize him as the next Fire Lord."
"Congrats, hotman!" Aang said with a smirk. Zuko just sighed and shook his head, but figured hearing someone address him as "Fire Lord Zuko" was going to be even weirder than "hotman", so he didn't mention it.
Arrangements were made quickly. Ozai and Azula were taken to separate cells in the palace prison. Toph and Aang went along to assist, ensuring both prisoners were secured.
Soon, the group was together again—standing in the courtyard under a morning sky as they felt, for the first time in years, a layer of fear and tension dissipate.