A/N: So. As though I wasn't getting sidetracked enough.

After having it on my list forever and having many recommendations, I finally got around to watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. Needless to say, I got a little more sucked in than I meant to, and this project came about as a result. (And yes, it is intentionally supposed to be a throwback to The Southern Raiders.)

This is set after the events of the three-part comic Smoke and Shadow. (Since North and South came out after I had already pretty much written the rough draft for this, the events there will be mainly disregarded. Note that there will be spoilers for all the comics, both in the story itself and in author's notes.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender, either the show or the comics.

Rated for violence.

Hope you enjoy, and see you at the end! :J

Chapter 1: The Solution

"Same as always, Zuzu. Even when you're strong, you're weak."

Zuko opened his eyes to find himself staring at the ornate ceiling above his bed.

For just a moment, a single image of his younger sister lingered in his mind. Stray strands of black hair fell in her face, and sleepless dark circles hung beneath her eyes. She stared back at him, her lips twisted with disgust and disappointment as a single tear trailed down her perfect face.

Zuko closed his eyes against the memory, then forced himself to sit up.

The sun had not yet risen, and Zuko knew it was far too early to be up. However, he knew he would not be getting back to sleep now—he hadn't had a proper night's rest for the last fortnight.

Zuko put his feet on the floor and slipped quietly from his chamber. As always, a Kyoshi guard was stationed there, and as he passed, she made as though to follow him. He gestured for her to stay where she was.

"I'm just going to check on something," he muttered in a low voice. "I'll be fine."

The girl hesitated. "With all due respect, Lord Zuko..."

"I'll be fine," he repeated firmly. "If you get in trouble with Suki later, you can tell her to blame me. Anyway, I'm not going far."

The girl didn't look entirely convinced, but as Zuko started down the hall, she didn't try to follow.

Against his will, the face flashed through his mind again. Only this time it was half cast in shadow, painted lips spread in a smile, eyes wide with a crazed, almost cruel delight.

"I know I will never be Fire Lord, because I'm not meant to be Fire Lord. My destiny, you see, is..."

Zuko felt a bead of sweat break out on his temple. He walked faster.

He turned a sharp corner, and his eyes fell on the room he was looking for, just a single door on a wide wall. There, another Kyoshi warrior stood posted.

"My destiny, you see..."

Nearly sprinting, in a moment he was at the dark doorway. Barely glancing at the guard, he slid back the partition and, taking a breath, peered inside.

For a moment, he couldn't see anything in the darkness. But as his eyes adjusted to the silver light of the moon outside, he began to make out shapes. First the outline of an enormous bed with four columns, not unlike this own. Then, on the bed, beneath the crimson blankets, three nestled figures. Two longer, larger, and a smaller one in between.

Zuko let out a sigh of relief and, closing the door as quietly as he could, let himself slump back against the wall beside it.

"Zuko? Is everything all right?"

Zuko opened his eyes to see that the Kyoshi guard beside the door was Suki.

She glanced around briefly, looking for possible hostiles. But of course, the night was perfectly still, and her eyes returned to peer at him with concern.

Zuko worked to steady his breathing and regain his composure. "Just...Just checking. I couldn't sleep, and I thought I would just..."

Suki's eyes flickered to the hall behind him, then back. "Where's the guard assigned to your room? Liu should have come with you."

Zuko shook his head. "I told her I wasn't going far."

Suki pursed her lips. Through the fearsome red and white face paint all Kyoshi warriors wore, Zuko had trouble telling if the expression was one of further concern, or exasperation.

"Lord Zuko," she began, in an unusually formal tone, "I hope it won't offend you if I were to point out that you have hired us to protect you from danger. For us not to be allowed to properly perform our duties..." She allowed the back-handed reprimand to hang.

Zuko sighed. "I know, Suki. I'm sorry."

Suki's expression softened. When she spoke again, she once more addressed him as a friend. "Are you all right, Zuko?" She eyed the sunken hollows of his cheeks, and the dark circles beneath his eyes. "What's wrong?"

She glanced at the door she had been guarding, where his mother, her husband, and Zuko's little half sister Kiyi slept. "Don't worry, Zuko," she said. "We'll keep them safe. We keep a guard here at all times during the night, just as you asked, and someone to discreetly keep an eye on them during the day. They'll be fine."

Zuko nodded. He took another deep breath to steady himself, but as he let it out again, it shook and caught. He knew he wasn't fooling her, and his head dropped. He looked away.

"I'm sorry, Suki," he muttered, eyes going back to the door again. "It's not that I don't trust you and the other warriors. It's just—every night I've been having these dreams. I dream that Azula has come back, and everything and everyone I love is in danger."

Suki put a hand on his shoulder. "We beat Azula this last time. Next time she shows up, we'll beat her again."

Zuko still didn't look up. "Did we beat her?" he asked quietly. "Did we really?"

"As far as I know," Suki answered, looking mystified. "She wanted to discredit you, and use the New Ozai Society to get her father back on the throne—or maybe she thought she would get it for herself. Either way, her plan didn't work. You helped get all the children back safe and sound, and she had to flee without anything to show for it."

Zuko didn't meet her eyes.

"In the last twenty-four hours, I've shown how ruthless you can be."

His skin felt chilled, and his hands shook ever so slightly.

"Deep down inside, you're still one of us... Eventually, you will become just like me."

Zuko's hands slowly closed into fists. He shook his head once, shaking off the incessant voice.

"It's my fault," he said suddenly. "It's my fault Azula got loose, and my fault that she was able to do what she did. Imagine what could have happened. If things had gone just wrong..."

"Zuko," Suki said, almost gently. "It won't do anyone any good for you to blame yourself. The important thing is you handled it as best you could."

Zuko turned away from her. "She's still my responsibility," he said quietly. "Wherever she is, or whatever she does."

Zuko started down the corridor, though not back in the direction of his room.

"Are you going back to bed?" Suki asked uncertainly.

Zuko shook his head. "No. I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I think I'll go down to the Agni Kai arena, and go through a few of my firebending forms."

"I'll come with you," Suki said immediately. "Just let me go get Liu to stand guard here."

It was more of a statement than a suggestion, and she didn't seem to be looking for his input, but Zuko said quickly, "No, I'll be fine. You stay here. I'd like to be alone."

Suki sighed.

Zuko made his way briskly down to the arena. As he went, he listened for any possible sound from the shadows—the light tamp of a shoe, the rustling of a cloak. Several times he stopped walking altogether and spun where he was, but of course the hall was deserted.

A shiver went down his spine as he put a hand to the arena door to push it inward. He knew he was being overly paranoid. He hadn't acted like this since his first year as Fire Lord, barely able to sleep for fear yet another assassin would come for him in the night. And yet—was it really possible to be overly paranoid when it came to Azula?

Azula had been missing for months now, after helping him find their mother and then escaping into the Forgetful Valley. However, Zuko's main concern in finding her then had been for her own safety. Back then, Azula had been half out of her mind, often breaking off into mad rants, barely sleeping, and throwing lightning bolts at nothing—unsettling as all that was, Azula had proven not all that difficult to subdue, and one member of Team Avatar alone was usually enough to handle her.

Not until Azula's most recent attack on the capital did Zuko find himself haunted by these dreams. Strangely, when he had first laid eyes on her again for the first time in months, his first emotion had been relief—he had worried what kind of state she might be in, lost out in the wilderness, her unstable mind plagued by visions and ceaseless paranoia. But he had seen immediately in her face that she was better. The madness in her eyes had diminished, and she seemed so much more like her old self. Healthier, stronger.

But a mentally sound, strong Azula was a danger, and after hearing what she had to say—what her new diabolical plans were—and after having the chance to come away from the encounter, relief had been replaced with anxiety. He wasn't afraid her plans would ever succeed, but he knew his sister well enough to know just how far she would be willing to go to try. She would do everything she could to push him into a corner, trap him, and in the process, everyone he cared about would suffer.

Zuko let his head rest against the door to the Agni Kai arena.

I brought this on myself, he thought. I should have listened to Aang, and Katara, and Sokka. No matter what deal I had to make with Azula to get her to show us the place my mother might be, I should have found a way to take better precautions.

Zuko slowly clenched his hand into a fist, and pounded it once on the door.

He heard a rustle behind him, soon followed by a quiet footstep.

Ice plunged into his stomach, and he spun around, heart pounding, flames erupting on his fists.

"Easy, Zuko. It's just me."

Suki was there. A hand had gone automatically to one of her golden fans at her waist, though she didn't draw it.

Zuko blinked. "Oh." He let out a breath and looked away.

"I told Liu to stand guard outside your mother's room," Suki added. "They'll be safe."

"I thought I said I wanted to be alone," Zuko muttered.

Suki sighed again and came closer. "Zuko, I understand you're nervous about Azula. We all are. But that's all the more reason to be more careful and vigilant on security."

Zuko hesitated. He reached up to rub the spot between his eyes. "I know," he admitted. "I just—I can't seem to think clearly."

Suki put a gloved hand on his arm. "Maybe you should go back and try to get some more sleep," she suggested.

Zuko shook his head vigorously and backed up a step. "No, I've had enough sleep for one night. I'm going to do some firebending forms. It helps me think."

"All right then," Suki relented, though she was watching him warily. "I'll be out here standing guard if you need anything."

"Thanks, Suki."

Zuko turned back for the door and, taking one last steadying breath, pushed on inside.

The enormous room was just as it had always been. Rows upon rows of seats rose up in tiers, surrounding the raised platform of the white floor below, where the official Agni Kai matches took place.

Mostly Zuko practiced his firebending forms in one of the training halls close to his room, but lately he had been coming here instead. It was the site of one of the most painful memories of his life—but it didn't hurt so much now as it once had. In fact, now that he was free from the burn of shame that had once always accompanied any thought of it, it felt more like a place of triumph.

Zuko took up his stance. He breathed deeply, trying to steady his agitated nerves.

Azula's voice drifted back to him again, full of anger and disdain.

"Same as always, Zuzu. Even when you're strong, you're weak."

He didn't conjure any flames, instead simply following the form, as they used to do in practice when they were children. He kept his eyes closed, moving in slow motion, shifting fluidly from one form to the next. He breathed deeply.

"Even when you're strong, you're weak."

Against his will, dark, flickering images from the nightmare rose again in his mind. His mother, with a different face, a different mind, pinned against a wall, with blue flames inches from her face. Three cloaked forms standing on a rooftop, his unconscious younger half-sister clutched in their grip. A lone figure, waiting for him in the depths of an ancient crypt, her painted lips spread in a wide, taunting smile...

He swallowed convulsively. He forced himself to suck in a deep breath again, but when he let it out, it shook and rattled through his teeth.

He knew he only had himself to blame for all this. When he had decided Azula would accompany them on their journey to find his mother, he had been the one to agree to let her travel unbound, with dignity—and of course, she had escaped.

From there, it had been pure madness, of the kind only Azula could create. When she had made her inevitable return, she had kidnapped many of the children of the city, including his ex-girlfriend Mai's younger brother Tom-Tom, and his own half-sister Kiyi, all the while dressed as the dreaded Kemurikage, spirits of legend who were said to carry off poor-behaving children in the night. Terror had descended on the city, driving it to near chaos—just as Azula had intended.

Even though it had all worked out, Zuko knew he had let down the people of the Fire Nation badly. When he had ordered the gates of the city to be sealed to prevent anyone from leaving, and commanded the soldiers to have all the homes entered and searched by force, he had been driven by fear, not reason, and he had broken the people's trust. So many desperate to escape with their children—and instead of reassuring them, giving them courage, he had shut them in, and treated them like criminals.

Not only that, but of course the measures had yielded no results. He had been helpless—had it been part of Azula's plan to hurt any of the children she had taken captive, it might have all too easily become a tragedy of unspeakable proportions.

Zuko had apologized, formally and publicly, for his conduct as their Fire Lord, and vowed to do better in the future. But as of now, he didn't feel he had done anything to make amends for his failure. Azula was still out there, like a shadow prowling through the night, and the people were not safe. Not his mother, not Kiyi, not Mai nor Mai's brother Tom-Tom, nor anyone else.

Zuko took another deep, steadying breath, as he slowly turned his arms, stretching them out before him, palms forward.

He had to do something. It was his responsibility as Fire Lord to fix it before anything worse happened. But how? What could he do? What should he do?

As he turned his arms back again, Zuko traced back through the tangle of decisions that had led them to this point. It had all begun with allowing Azula to travel with them, and so freely. Failing to put her back in the institution where she had been, where she could be monitored, kept from hurting herself or anyone else.

Zuko's intent had been to capture her and put her back there. No, he had actually been planning to put her back in her old room—under guard, of course—to allow her the comfort of some familiarity, and greater dignity as a member of the royal family.

But now he wondered if that would really be adequate. The mental institution had held her for a long time, but that was when she was half mad, unable to plot and scheme as she had before. And even then, she had managed to find an opportunity to outsmart him and nearly get away. He had also been told that there were other escapees from the institution, and Zuko suspected those escapees were Azula's new fellow Kemurikage, which Azula would have had to have broken out herself.

Now that Azula was back to full strength, both physically and mentally, he wasn't sure, even if they did manage to capture her, if they would be able to hold her. Unlike his father, she was still in full command of her bending. She was dangerous, in so, so many ways.

So far, Zuko had been leaving the search for Azula up to his soldiers. As much as it had pained him to order it, he had had wanted posters put up around the city, and elsewhere in the Fire Nation, and offered generous rewards to anyone who could provide information leading to her recapture. He did not like being forced to hunt down a member of his own family like a common criminal, but he didn't see he had much choice.

However, perhaps that had been the wrong course of action. He had been so relieved simply to have the children back safe and sound, and eager to resume his duties as Fire Lord and begin to earn back a little of that trust he had lost, he had left the capture of Azula to fairly passive means. But, maybe it was his responsibility as Fire Lord to go after her himself, take care of this threat personally. The soldiers hadn't been able to find so much as a clue to where she was, but he was Azula's target—in a sense, at least. She might reveal herself to him where she wouldn't to the common soldier. He could stop the threat of more calamities. Prevent any more fear.

A cold realization came upon him, creeping up his neck and seeping into the deepest recesses of his mind.

He might capture Azula, and he might bring her back to the institution. But she could break out again—was likely to. And if she did, the terror in the capital would repeat itself, again and again, as she tried to force upon him her mad vision for his future. He knew his sister—she was not afraid of cruelty, of acts too horrific to describe. It would only be a matter of time before she did something that he wouldn't be able to reverse. A tragedy too terrible to think.

It was his responsibility to stop that before it could happen. And there was only one possible way to put a permanent end to Azula's madness. Only one solution.

Zuko slowly closed his hands into fists. They shook slightly, but then he breathed again, and they were suddenly steady.

This is my responsibility, he thought. As Fire Lord, as brother to Kiyi, and son of his mother. There was only one solution to ensure Azula never threatened any of those he loved ever again.

Zuko slowly opened his eyes. He spun with a shout, and a blast of fire exploded from his fist. It blazed like a dragon over the arena, spitting flames over the white floor, leaving a trail of black ash in its wake. It struck the far side with a thundering explosion.

"Never again, Azula," he said quietly. "You won't play any more games with anyone, ever again."

He took one last steadying breath, then turned his back on the crackling flames, to begin making his preparations.

A/N: I know I'm not the only one who got an implied Zuki vibe from the comics. I really think those scenes are just supposed to develop Suki and Zuko's friendship, since they had hardly any interaction in the show, but they do it in such a way it's like they're deliberately trying to stir up fan speculation...

(For anyone who hasn't read the comics—Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors are there because in The Promise, Zuko found himself the target of assassins, and so Mai called them in to act as his bodyguards.)

I first came up with the concept for this story and wrote the initial rough draft about two years ago, back when I'd only just finished with the series. Looking back, I see the characters somewhat differently now, and I don't know if I would still write them quite this way. But one thing I enjoyed about the original series was seeing the complexity of the characters in how they would sometimes do things that might defy your expectations, but completely made sense given their situation or history, and I wanted to do something similar here. I hope for anyone who decides to stick with me, you'll be able to enjoy it anyway.

Anyway, thank you so much to anyone who's reading this. If there's anyone out there who's watched the original show but not read the comics, and finds any of the details here confusing, let me know in a signed review and I'd be happy to answer any questions. (On the story of finding Ursa from the comic The Search, there will be more revisiting of those events next chapter.)

I'm going to try to have the next chapter up within the next couple weeks, but until then, if you have a moment, let me know what you thought so far! C: (Of course I'm very much open to writing evaluations and critiques. I'm always curious what might come across as off or odd from someone else's fresher perspective.) Well, until next time~

Posted 7/9/18