Chapter 44.4- And so the Dragons Danced

XXXXXX- KATARA

“How the hell did they escape?” Zuko was practically spitting fire as he paced through his office. The prison guard who had come to report the absence of the old men they’d captured during the escape looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in front of the obviously irritated and unstable fire bender. She was never the biggest fan of Zuko’s but she could recognise and empathize with the fact that he had only gotten this bad once he realised that his Grandfather’s mission had failed and he was probably not coming back. Zuko even refused to recognise the possibility that he was dead- claiming for all to hear that none would dare kill a Prince of the Blood, but he clearly had no idea what kind of monster this General Natsu was.

“They were released, Fire Lord” The man said, still practically shaking in his boots as Zuko’s bright golden eyes snapped to him. Katara could feel the temperature in the room rising. Good. He was well and truly pissed now.

“Who would dare release them?” He screamed and the door to the office swung open.

“Uh, I did” Aang said and it was all Katara could do to avoid facepalming. Zuko wanted to take a swing at him, but he knew better. He had learned better. Aang’s training with his past lives had made him all but untouchable when he fought. He could go into the Avatar State at will now, accessing power that was nothing short of godlike.

“Why in the name of Agni would you do that Aang?” It was clearly Zuko was trying to control his rage, squeezing his hands shut tightly. So tightly that she was worried he’d break something before she caught herself at the thought. She wasn’t worried about Zuko- it wasn’t possible.

“I spoke to them. One of them is General Natsu’s grandfather, you know? He promised that he’d get his grandson to surrender” He said, and now Katara did facepalm. So did Zuko. So did Bato, who was sitting at the other end of the office, watching the proceedings with a keen eye.

“Let me get this straight- he promised that his Grandson would surrender and so you let him go?” Bato asked, while the rest of them were almost struck silent.

“He swore it” Aang said.

“They were trying to get rid of Ozai, same as us, so they clearly have had enough of the war as well. Natsu is the last one in the fight, and you guys were saying that we’d lose thousands of people trying to take Ba Sing Se from him. This was a way to end things peacefully” Aang pressed. Zuko stared at him for a long minute before he turned to the wall, roaring flames in every direction.