ATLA Book 4: Ashes

Dreams and Lingering Doubts

He was in the palace courtyard again, at night. There was a certain feeling about the scene in front of him, something that seemed familiar... He recognized it just before he heard someone laugh behind him. The sound, however, wasn't pleasant. Rather, it hinted of something sinister and twisted. Azula.

His instincts were correct. He turned around to see Azula, her clothing and demeanor the same as it was when they had fought their Agni Kai. Her gaze was filled with both anger and hate. It also hinted of madness.

"So you really think you can be the Fire Lord, brother?" she gracefully made her way closer to him, her eyes never leaving her prey. "It's pathetic, really. You're a disgrace, a disappointment. All you've ever done is fail, over and over again." As she moved into a firebending stance, she sneered at him. "You can never be the true Fire Lord. You're too weak!"

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong-that she didn't know what she was talking about, but he couldn't get the words to form. Azula threw her hands up, and in a flash, blue fire was hurtling towards him. He quickly blocked her attack, and then threw himself into their fight. He once again felt the tremendous strength and additional power of the comet as they furiously traded blows with each other.

"It's time to end this, Zuzu!" Azula shrieked as she dodged another of his attacks. He watched as she twirled her arms and summoned the lightning from her fingertips.

Dread started to form in the pit of his stomach as he recognized what was about to happen. There, standing in the courtyard behind him, just like that night, was Katara. Her eyes widened in terror as she watched Azula point the lightning directly at her.

He screamed at Azula to stop, but all she did was smile at him. It was a smile of pure evil.

Panicked, he tried to run and put himself in the path of the lightning, but something invisible was slowing and weighing him down. He wasn't going to make it...

To his horror, he watched as the lightning slammed into Katara, striking where her heart was and surrounding her in an eerie blue light. Her eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she fell lifelessly to the ground. Full of shock and grief, he ran over next to her and moved to pick her up. But as soon as he touched her, she disappeared. For a few moments he felt confusion, but it was quickly replaced by anger as he stood to face the source of all his pain and anger.

"You'll pay for that, Azula," he told her in a voice as cold as ice. As he thought about all the things that his sister has done to him, all the times she has tricked him and tried to kill him, his anger grew. He welcomed the rage, and he gave himself fully to it as he began to move and summoned a fiery inferno. Twin columns of red fire roared to life and raced towards Azula, who tried to create a hasty shield. The red plumes of fire quickly overwhelmed her defenses, and she was thrown back as the full force of the fire hit her.

He slowly walked over to where his sister laid. As he approached, she slowly turned her head towards him. A sinister smile formed on her lips. "We're not so different, you know."

"You're a monster, Azula, and I'm nothing like you."

Her smile grew bigger. "That's where you're wrong, brother. The same anger and lust for power that's in me runs through your veins as well. The throne will change you and corrupt you, just like it did with father, and grandfather, and great-grandfather."

"No! You're wrong." Zuko squeezed his eyes closed, trying to shut out her words. She had always tried to fill his mind with doubt and fears.

Her voice now seems farther away. "You have now tasted true power, and that power will slowly consume you... Fire Lord Zuko."