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Reborn in Fire is the fifty third chapter of Avatar: Guardian.

Synopsis[]

Azula receives visitors in her mental hospital, some meaning well, and some others meaning harm.

Plot[]

Azula awoke to hear her attendants crowding around her door. Maybe Zuzu finally gave the order to get rid of me... she thought as she glared towards the door. The door slowly opened, and a guard roughly told her "You've got a visitor."

Azula looks up, to see not Zuko nor an executioner, but her mother. "What? You? But... you were banished... You're supposed to be dead!" Azula snaps. The torches in the room, all far away from her, begin burning a bright blue and Azula begins struggling against her chains.

"Azula, I've come to help you. Many horrible things have happened since I was banished... I'm sorry to say that I couldn't be there to help with them."

"You left me!" Azula snarls.

"I'm sorry Azula... I never wanted to leave..." Ursa begins, only to be interrupted again.

"But you did!" Azula snarled, causing the torches to augment massively.

"I had no other way to get back; you know I would have come if I could have. Your uncle just found me, and I'm here to stay." Ursa slowly begins approaching her, and Azula shows no objections.

Azula's dark scowl begins to vanish. "Iroh brought you back to me?"

"Yes, you're only here because it's the best thing for you at the moment. We want you to be able to leave as soon as possible. We all miss you. I tried to get back here, but I never could."

Azula finally has a smile, happy to finally have love in her life. "You actually cared? You would risk death to see me? Why?"

"Because I love you. I only want the best for you my dear. I just want you to know that I thought of you every day I was banished." Ursa embraces Azula firmly, and a small tear trickles down her cheek.

"Really? You did? I don't understand... I thought you hated me!" Azula screams, letting her fears out.

"I never hated you. I saw that Zuko was being mistreated by your father, so I knew he needed a little extra protection. I never meant to hurt you." Ursa replies, hugging Azula tighter.

"Well, we won't have to worry about father anymore. The Avatar killed him, I know it," Azula mutters.

"No, he used a newfound power to take his Firebending from him. Your father is still alive, though he was captured by a rebellious organization bent of restoring him to control of the world. Now, we need to get you out of here, I've heard rumors that they are after one of us, and I won't let them take you."

Ursa reaches inside her robe and takes out a key, opening the locks of the chains that kept Azula in bondage for the past year. Mother and daughter turn to leave the room, only to see an orange light from the other side coupled with the sounds of screaming guards. The door opens, and an old man steps into the room.

"Hello princesses," the man sneers while entering into a fake bow.

"What do you want?" The princesses ask back, in unintentional unison.

"I have a mission from a higher authority. And, luckily, it involves one of you..." The man sends a large fire blast at the two, dispersed by Azula, who counters with an equally powerful jet of blue fire. The man escapes out of the room, giving Ursa and Azula time to escape.

They begin running down the halls, but are stopped by a group of Phoenix Warriors who attempt to attack them. Azula mows through them with a massive firestorm, covering the hall in a glowing blue light. They manage to escape to the courtyard of the building and are sprinting for the exit. A single man blocks their path, different the one from before. The man was sitting on the ground, eying the entrance to the main hospital complex.

"So, you've escaped. I knew you would try to leave... so I blocked your exit. Now, to get to my mission." He sends a charged fire blast at the two, which Azula blocked by creating a blue fire wall.

"Mom, get to safety," Azula orders, turning towards her mother while sending the wall towards the man.

"I'm not leaving another of my children to a fate like this... I'll go with him, you help your brother," Ursa adamantly replies.

"No. I'm not letting the only person in the world who has actually told me that they loved me leave. I'd sooner die than let that happen. After he's gone, then we can leave, it's only a matter of time!" Azula replies, her eyes tearing. Ursa finally retreats, but still watches from a safe place.

"What's your name?" Azula screams to the man, who is still standing in one place.

"Zhian. I know your father, and he sent me on a mission to eliminate someone who he wasn't missing."

Azula had another tear come to her eye, but wiped it off her face. She knew that there was no time for crying now. "I challenge you to an Agni Kai!" The man remains silent for a long time, staring down Azula. "So, what's your answer?" The man replies with a large fire ball sent at Azula.

Azula disperses the fire ball and creates a volley of smaller fire blasts aimed at Zhian's legs. He jets into the air and sends a blazing arc towards Azula, who separates the fire and sends another blast at Zhian while he is in mid air.

Zuko dodges

Zhian jumps to avoid Azula's attack.

Zhian quickly jets back to the ground, sending an arc of flames at her legs, causing her to jet into the sky as well. She propels herself around to behind him, sending massive fire jets the entire way. The jets are blocked by Zhian's fire.

Azula halts her attack, tired from the lengthy exertion. The young man is proving much more difficult than she had anticipated. After catching her breath, she releases a massive charged fire storm at Zhian. He hadn't been expecting her to be able to create such powerful attacks. He sends a jet of fire into Azula's fire storm, but the orange fire vanishes within the blue storm.

Zhian quickly jets out of the way and launches a fire blast at Azula's side. She creates a ball of fire around her, and propels herself towards Zhian. Zhian stands his ground and parts the swirling fire around Azula, catching her by the throat and pinning her down.

Azula is tired

Azula is tired after her attack

"There, there princess, there's no need to exert yourself like that..." Zhian says in a taunting tone.

Azula's eyes light up, and she sends a jet of fire from her mouth that Zhian is barely able to avoid. He kicks at her, blasting her torso with a powerful fire ball. Azula gets up slowly, one hand clutching her wound. "You think that you can win? I have something that I'm fighting for! You're not going to take that from me!" Azula inhales deeply and sends three fire blasts at Zhian, who jets out of the way.

Azula's arms swing back and forth, creating static charges. She points her fingers at a point nearby to Zhian, sending a burst of lightning at him. The blast crashes into the ground at his feet, knocking him to the ground. Azula sends a fire blast at him from a distance, but the blast fails to make contact. She rushes at him while he's down but he spins, creating an arc of fire that keeps Azula at bay.

Azula stops again, breathing heavily from the prolonged battle. She creates a spinning disk of fire and sends it towards Zhian. Zhian tries to disperse the blast, but it is too fast. He barely has time to avoid it, but Azula was prepared. She quickly generates lightning and sends the result at Zhian. Zhian propels himself up into the air and sends lightning at Azula. Azula jets into the air as well, and the two hover and stare each other down.

Zhian strikes first, sending an incredible torrent of fire at Azula. She counters with her own, and the two blasts meet in a huge cloud of fire. The two start sinking to the ground, as being in the air is creating a distraction to their attacks. Zhian touches down first, and propels himself forward while continuing the blast. Azula never touches the ground, as she is knocked off her footing by Zhian's propulsion. Her fire blast vanishes, and she is consumed by the massive fire.

Zhian looks around, realizes that the battle is over, and proceeds to look for Ursa. "Where are you, Princess?" Zhian mutters in a dark tone. He walks around the perimeter of the courtyard, looking for her. "Come on out!" Ursa is cut off by another man, the older one from before, who is seemingly more refined.

"Where are you going Princess?" the old man mutters. Ursa manages to push her way past Jiang and sees her ship. She finds the ship in ruins; attacked by another, larger ship. Jiang arrives behind her, "Expecting to be able to escape?"

"What do you want?" Ursa screams, her face glazed with her tears.

"I only want what is rightfully mine. She was in the way, now she isn't," Jiang replies in a dark tone.

"You monster!" Ursa yells, with more tears falling as she tries to hit Jiang. Jiang easily dodges, and with a swift blow to the back of her neck, knocked her out. "She's more useful to us alive than dead..." he thought to himself. He calls more Phoenix Warriors, who carry her onto the ship. He walks back into the courtyard and sees Zhian standing alone.

"Excellent job Colonel. You have done well," Jiang tells his young ally.

"Admiral, it was my pleasure," Zhian tells his commander, and the two walk back to the fleet without even a second thought to the smoldering body of a princess behind them.

Production notes[]

Writing[]

The Bos had a spark of the moment idea: Jiang Rha dueling Azula (The Bos is unsure of it having anything to do with Clash of Worlds or not). Later, The Bos changed this from Jiang dueling Azula to Zhian dueling her. The Bos hadn't come up with the idea of Zhian at this point, and he had another idea for later in the series, and felt the need to express Zhian's Firebending prowess. Nonetheless, he began the chapter, writing the height of Ursa's emotional reunion with Azula first, then the battle, and connecting the events later one. The chapter was written on two separate occasions, but The Bos is pleased with the result. The Bos also believes he was influenced by the Duel between Zuko and Azula in the canon series, mostly in the nature of the attacks as well as by the Black and White Agni Kai, also involving the scale of the attacks.

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For the collective works of the author, go here.

v - e - dAvatar: Guardian Chapters
Book One: Water
Tensions - From the Ashes - The Dai Li Arise - Sokka's Training - The Sons of Azulon Pt. 1 - Memories of Ozai - The Sons of Azulon Pt. 2 - Wisdom of Iroh - The New Adventure - Ever-Changing Plans - Announcing a War - Liberation - What We Have Become - Being Assaulted - Flood Damage - The Follow-Up - Retaliation - The Last Stronghold - The Fall - Aang Goes Home - Ambush of the South Pt. One - The Ambush - Ambush of the South Pt. Two - Counterstrike
Book Two: Earth
The Hunt Begins - Like Old Times - New Discoveries - The King and the Peasant - Town of Fear - Infiltration - The Bunker - The Mayor's Tale - Turbulence - Omashu Attacked Part 1 - Omashu Attacked Part 2 - Ursa's Story - Roads and Pathways - The Airbending Master - Evading an Agent - Return to Gaoling - The Mansion - A Master and A Traitor - The Dai Li Part 1 - The King's Return - The Dai Li Part 2 - Kyoshi's Revenge
Book Three: Fire
The Burning Threat - Bitter Reunion Part 1 - Bitter Reunion Part 2 - The Camp - Wildfire - Penalties - Orders - Ruins - Denial - Timeless Security Part 1 - Preservation - Timeless Security Part 2 - Future Peace - Burning Ashes - Reborn in Fire - The Revolution - The New Direction - Clash of the Warriors Part 1 - Clash of the Warriors Part 2 - The Capitol Part 1 - Absolute Rebellion - The Capitol Part 2 - The Final Journey - The Capitol Part 3 - Blazing Passion - The Capitol Part 4 - The True Heart
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