[RL-- Zuko, Azula, Katara; Beginning of the End]

[aquasports]

There was something liberating about knowing you were flying toward a hopeful end to a war that had consumed most of your life.

Katara didn't fear Azula. She had never feared her, not with how much pride she had as a Waterbender and a rebel. Azula might have been strong, but she wasn't all-powerful. She had her weaknesses, she was fallible, and

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[peoplesprincess]

The palace guards had seen them coming.

Everyone assumed it was the Avatar, of course. After all, everyone in the Fire Nation had seen the Wanted posters; they knew what his bison looked like. Azula, who had been in a meeting at the time, was alerted to the trouble when one of the sentinels entered with a knock, then discreetly took her aside and told her that the Avatar was on his way.

It didn't take long for her to gather a few soldiers-- they would just be her first wave of attack, of course; she was going to blow them out of the water-- and march out to the courtyard with them, to await his arrival.

[honorregained]

As Katara had noticed, Zuko was focused and determined, face grim. As much as he second guessed his feelings on his family, he'd always known somewhere that it'd come down to this, and he was ready. His uncle believed in him. His mom believed in him. It was time to fulfill his destiny.

His eyes locked on his sister as she walked into the courtyard, Appa landing shortly thereafter. It was the first time he'd seen her in two years, but she didn't look that much different.

He felt very different.

Zuko jumped down off of the bison, one hand trailing down his fur, a reminder that he wasn't alone anymore. "Let's do this," he said to Katara in a low voice.

[aquasports]

It came as no surprise to Katara that Azula brought guards with her to meet them. She felt her stomach drop-- but only for a moment, before the sensation was replaced with that familiar determination she felt before each and every battle.

She felt like she had faced worse, after all. And she wasn't afraid.

Mimicking Zuko's actions, she slid off of Appa's back as well. "I'm right here with you," she responded, her voice equally as low as she stared down Azula and her guards, "And I believe in you."

[peoplesprincess]

... Well, that was unexpected.

Upon seeing Zuko, the guards immediately relaxed their stances. He was an enemy, of course, but hardly as formidable of one as the Avatar, and if what they remembered from when he lived at the palace was still true... well. He wasn't exactly the best of fighters, and it clearly wouldn't be that difficult to take care of. Really, he was almost delivering himself to them.

Azula, however, felt differently. She was (she thought) confident enough that her abilities surpassed his, and that she could take him even with his little waterbender at his side-- but that didn't mean her stomach didn't curdle at the thought of seeing him again here, at her palace. Fighting him in the relatively neutral territory of the Earth Kingdom was one thing, but this... he had no right.

"Leave us alone," she snapped at the guards, not taking her eyes off her brother for a second. When they hesitated, she raised her voice further: "You are dismissed."