Wild At Heart (Zuko)

Chapter Four

Kali leans in the doorway of the bathhouse, her fingers holding to the strap of her little bag as she watches Zuko and Iroh together at the bottom of the steps, talking together, clearly having made up. But they are leaving now. Going back to wherever they came from. To their family. She has absolutely no idea what she is supposed to do next. Her eyes suddenly turn vacant and she just stares ahead at nothing. A vision. When she blinks out of it, her eyes are instantly searching for Iroh, but he and Zuko are gone. She lets out a breath and then hurries down the steps. Something bad is about to happen.

........

A group of Fire Nation soldiers form two ranks along the path leading to Azula's ship. Zuko and Iroh walk toward them. Azula is standing at the top of the stairs leading onto her ship, a soldier on each side, looking rather pleased for herself. Zuko looks content, while Iroh eyes them suspiciously, he's not sure about this. Azula raises her arms in greeting and then bows to them.

"Brother! Uncle!" Iroh and Zuko both bow in greeting too but Iroh sneaks a peek through his eye to watch the soldiers beside him. "Welcome. I'm so glad you decided to come" The two files of soldiers close in behind Zuko and Iroh.

"Are we ready to depart, Your Highness?" The captain asks her.

"Set our course for home, Captain" Azula answers pleasantly.

"Home" Zuko whispers, wistfully. Zuko and Iroh begin to climb the stairs onto the ship, the captain leading the way. A vine creeps along the stairs, following them, and Iroh frowns a little as it races forward, preparing for something. He glances behind him and back along the deck. Tucked behind a stall, in a cloak and hidden, is Kali. The captain turns to the rest of his men.

"You heard the princess! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho..." He stops abruptly, realizing his mistake. Zuko and Iroh stop, looking surprised, Azula suddenly appears to be enraged. "Your Highness... I..." Zuko eyes widen with realisation. Suddenly, the vine wraps around the ankles of a number of guards and then hauls them upwards towards the sky before whipping them out over the dock and into the water. Another guard approaches from Iroh's left but Iroh then elbows him off the incline. He punches another that approaches from his right and the vine grabs another, spinning him around and tossing him away. Zuko grabs one guard, throwing him off the ramp and into the water. He stalks up the incline, furious.

"You lied to me!" He accuses Azula who appears confident in the face of his anger and rather smug.

"Like I've never done that before" She turns and walks away, and two guards launch fire at Zuko but a floral shield erupts between them taking the hits. Zuko appears momentarily surprised before he turns and charges forward onto the ship after his sister.

.........

Kali shifts slightly where she is hiding, her eyes scanning over the men as she tries to direct the vines with as little hand movements as possible, to not draw attention to herself. It's something she's always known to do. The bare minimum for the maximum effect.

..........

Zuko leaps on board the deck of the ship, knocking two guards on either side out of the way with flames shooting from his arm and leg. Zuko takes up a fighting stance at the left while Azula remains motionless, her back to her brother. She glances to her left and grins evilly, apparently expecting this. Zuko brings his arms down, fire daggers manifesting in his firsts.

...............

Iroh is still fighting off the guards on the ramp with the help of the vines. Tangling and throwing those that get too close to him whilst he uses fire-bending to take out others. Two other soldiers approach from each side, and Iroh turns to fight them when from either side of the ramp two pillars of water erupt and crash down on the soldiers, dragging them off into the depths as the water retreats. Another guard launches a fireball at Iroh's face, but he avoids it, grabbing the soldier's arm and putting a hand on his neck. Holding the guard, he turns toward the ship.

"Zuko! Let's go!" He tosses the guard towards the vine who snatches the guard up and then throws him into the water. Another approaches, throwing fire at Iroh, but Iroh steps to the side and pushes him away with a palm to the face.

............

Zuko swings his fire daggers ferociously at Azula, repeatedly, but she simply avoids them with graceful and easy steps. She grabs his arm and spins him around. Zuko is breathing hard. She's clearly a very talented fighter and bender. 

"You know Father blames Uncle for the loss at the North Pole" Azula informs him. "And he considers you a miserable failure for not finding the Avatar. Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?"Zuko brings out his fire daggers again and leaps at Azula, throwing a flaming kick at her head. She leaps back, nimbly dodging his blows. She swipes at his face with her fingernails. Zuko staggers back, revealing three cuts on his forehead. He charges forward and screams, swiping his daggers at Azula. She blocks his blows effortlessly and the fight continues up the stairs toward the cabin of the ship. She kicks Zuko, knocking him down the stairs a bit. He recovers quickly and charges back toward Azula, she blocks his fist and grabs his arm, bringing it down harmlessly. She glares at him, and Zuko's eyes widen. She tosses a blue flame at his head, sending him tumbling down the incline. He lands with a thud and pulls himself up, looking back at the incline. Zuko's vision is blurry and shaky as he tries to locate Azula. She is standing at the top of the incline and begins to swing her arms in arcs around, lightning arcing around her. She aims her fingers at Zuko and a lightning bolt shoots toward him. Iroh suddenly appears and grabs Azula's fingers in his hand. He channels the electricity through his body and shoots it from his other hand, letting it explode harmlessly into the cliffside. He turns back just in time to watch as a vine wraps around her ankle and tips her up, yanking her into the air and then flips her away from the ship. Sending her flying overboard. She splashes into the water. Iroh and Zuko don't waste any more time, they run.

...........

As Iroh reaches the end of the docks, heading away from Azula's ship, he glances over to where Kali is hidden, then changes direction, heading towards her instead. Zuko frowns but follows after him. Iroh grabs Kali's arm when he reaches her, pulls her into an alley behind them.

"If she'd realised what you are" Iroh scolds her, out of breath from the fight and the run.

"And just what is she, Uncle?" Zuko asks his uncle.

"A nature-bender" Iroh informs Zuko who frowns at him. "Do you remember nothing of the stories I told you as a child?" Iroh scolds his nephew before sighing. "Powerful and dangerous benders...." Iroh informs him. "And just like the air-benders, it was believed that they were all wiped out by Sozin at the beginning of the war" Iroh gives Kali a look. "Our new friend disproves that" She hangs her head, touching her arms as she shrinks back. Iroh softens. "And we should be thanking her" He realises himself, scolding himself for scolding her.

"Did you know she was a nature-bender all along?" Zuko asks his uncle who gives him a look, a sly smile on his lips. Zuko realises that there was more to Iroh's purchase of the slave girl than just to free her. He knew all along exactly what she was.