An Earlier Intersection

DISCLAIMER: I've said it time and again, Avatar: the Last Airbender is no possession of mine. So this is merely my humble tribute to it.

NOTE: Welcome to the final chapter of this story! Thanks for sticking it out with me for the past few months. I hope you like the ending. All my other comments will come at the end of the chapter.

EXTRA NOTE: I wasn't able to check my account for a few months and I saw that this chapter had not been posted when I wanted it to be. I apologize. There must have been some glitch in the system. Sorry for the delay.

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There had never been a battle like this in all history.

Gathered together for the very first time were the greatest benders of a legendary generation. Their combined force could only be surpassed by the Avatar himself, and only when he was at his most powerful – in the Avatar state.

But since the Avatar was not present, the liberation of the largest secret colony of the Fire Nation was left in the hands of allies the airbender did not even know he had.

This is not to belittle their opponents. After all, any good battle requires worthy adversaries. And Princess Azula, even at her weakest, was always a force to reckon with. Not to mention, of course, the remaining hordes of Fire nation soldiers, Dai Li agents, and various other mercenaries who were in the service of the most ruthless woman in the Fire Nation.

In the first few moments of the battle, it seemed like the Order of the White Lotus had the upper hand. After all, they had had the advantage of the element of surprise.

However, Azula was never one to linger in incredulity. She would not allow herself to be outdone for long. She recovered from the initial shock quickly enough and though the duel with her brother left her physically spent; her mind was as agile as ever. And with the authority and ferocity of a fearsome leader, she organized her forces strategically in order to launch a counterattack.

But by then, the Order had been joined by two other benders who were growing legendary in their own right. Zuko and Katara eagerly joined the fray, more motivated by the other's presence than just a sense of justice and honor.

"Ah, love," Iroh thought with a sigh as he watched his nephew and the waterbender fight side by side, "that is the best motivation for anything. And it always inspires amazing successes."

The two younger benders were also glad to make some new friends among the members of the Order such as the sword master Piandao. And Zuko was introduced to the deserter Jeong Jeong. But what they enjoyed most was catching up with old friends.

"Master Pakku!" Katara cried out excitedly at the sight of her waterbending master, "it's so good to see you again!"

"I can assure you that the feeling is mutual," the revered waterbending master with a smile.

Master and student embraced warmly and Katara eagerly introduced Zuko to Pakku.

"I've heard many good things about you from your uncle," Pakku told the firebender with a grin, "but I have a feeling, I'm about to hear more good things about you from Katara."

Pakku gave his student a significant glance and Katara could not help but blush, which only confirmed the older man's suspicions. Zuko simply looked embarrassed.

Before anything further could be said, the familiar sound of frenzied laughter could be heard.

"Save the heartwarming reunions for later," the jovial king of Omashu declared, "we still have an army to defeat!"

And with that, King Bumi easily deflected a series of Dai Li attacks while sending a wave of earth to attack a troop of hapless firebenders.

So the battle raged on, with bender pitted against bender and all other fighters doing their best to win. Three elements clashed spectacularly, and several times, the vast city was on the verge of utter destruction. Fortunately, the members of the Order were as concerned about keeping the citizens safe as they were about defeating the city's captors. So in spite of the fierce fights, there was still some level of damage control.

The benders continued to fight against each other for several hours with fireballs and walls of earth and water whips being launched all over the place. Fortunately, for the Order, it had two of the greatest waterbenders in the world on its side whereas Azula had no waterbenders at her disposal (not having found any traitorous waterbenders to employ.) And so the battle continued.

But this time, the citizens of Ba Sing Se no longer stood by in fear or indifference. Inspired by the presence of strong and capable leaders who were fighting for their liberty, the people decided to participate more actively in the struggle. After all, they were fighting for their future.

So the people, benders or not, went up in arms and began to use all sorts of weapons to defend themselves against the treacherous Dai Li and the ruthless Fire Nation soldiers.

The enemy had to contend with this development and they had much difficulty doing so. They had been so accustomed to the people being fearful and subservient that this sudden resistance was extremely unexpected. Azula had always depended on sowing fear in people in order to control them. She never imagined that there could be anything that could overpower fear and she had always looked down on hope as the last refuge of the weak. Maybe it was because she had never experienced fear herself.

But little by little, she was beginning to get a taste of her own bitter medicine.

"I don't understand," the princess cried furiously as she watched the people of Ba Sing Se join in the fight and contribute to decimating her troops, "these people are weak and cowardly, how dare they fight against me?"

"You need to learn, Azula," Iroh told her calmly, "that even the meekest of people has his breaking point. And if you push them too far, they inevitably strike back."

"Even so," Azula argued, "they are fools to think that they are any match against me!"

In spite of everything, the Fire Nation princess still managed to defend herself against attacks from both the Order and the citizens of the Earth Kingdom fortress. What was more appalling to her was that not only did the former oppressed and submissive slaves start fighting back, they also dared attack her. Her fire blasts still kept them at bay but she was growing weaker by the minute, and even she had to acknowledge that.

"Stay away from me, you filth!" she screamed, growing more and more frantic as the enemies advanced.

"Give this up, Azula," Iroh told her, "you no longer have any advantage. Surrender and we will show you mercy."

"I don't need any mercy from you," she spat back bitterly; "You will regret the day you decided to go against me."

Iroh shook his head sadly. But he had expected such an answer. After all, every member of their whole family was obstinate to a fault.

"Give up now, Azula," Zuko told his sister, as he and Katara came up from behind, "you know you cannot win this."

"And since when do I take orders from you, Zuzu?" the princess retorted acidly.

Azula was now surrounded by her uncle, her brother, Katara, and several other powerful benders. She was in a defensive position but she struggled to maintain it as she kept turning around, her hands poised to strike but she was still unsure about the target. The desperation was showing on her face as well as her characteristic rage. To have her plans destroyed in such a manner was the greatest blow to her pride she had ever received in her life. She was not prepared for any of this.

For a moment she was painfully aware of the futility of any action. She knew that she was surrounded and from the corner of her eye, she could see that her remaining forces were being defeated pathetically by the members of the Order and the other allies. She was losing, and she could no longer deny it.

Even though she had never been aware that she had it in the first place, Azula felt her hope disappearing. But she refused to break down and did not want to be defeated in such a pathetic manner. And most of all, she hated the pity she saw in her uncle and brother's eyes. She knew that they were hesitating to strike her because of some remaining familial connection, maybe stronger in Zuko's case (in spite of the horrible way she had treated him).

"It's over, Azula," Katara said, "Your best chance is to give up now."

"And who told you I cared to hear your opinion, waterbender?" Azula replied nastily.

Katara frowned but did not take the bait.

"Just give up now," Iroh said sternly, "and no tricks!"

The firebending prodigy narrowed her eyes at them and parried a few amateur blows from her other opponents. The others didn't matter. Her only true adversaries were Iroh, Zuko, and Katara. And though they were undoubtedly formidable warriors, Azula also knew them all to be soft-hearted, merciful fools. In spite of the gravity and vulnerability of her circumstances, the princess smirked.

"In spite of everything, I still have the upper hand, after all," she thought triumphantly.

"It's too late for you, Azula," Zuko urged.

"Oh, I don't think so," his sister replied coolly.

Taking a deep breath, she took aim at Iroh and sent a fire blast in his direction. Zuko and Katara, as she expected, came quickly to his aid and the others fired shots and attacks at Azula simultaneously. But she was ready for them. There was a huge explosion where she stood and smoke and dust flew everywhere.

Everyone remained alert as they waited for the cloud to clear. Surely, such a powerful attack would have rendered Azula incapacitated. She might not even have survived it, though Iroh and Zuko did not want to dwell on that unpleasant possibility. But they all felt certain that she would at least be injured.

To a certain extent, they were right. But unfortunately, they would not be able to confirm their suspicions. For as they cloud of dust cleared and they got ready to capture Azula, to their utter surprise, the princess had vanished.

"Impossible!" cried some of the benders who were there.

"How could we have let her escape?" bemoaned another.

"Find her! She must be captured as soon as possible!" someone ordered, and the rest of the group got into a frenzied search for the princess.

Only three people remained calm throughout this episode. Iroh, Zuko, and Katara were well acquainted with Azula to know that if she wished to escape, she would succeed. They all agreed that attempts ought to be made to find her. But they were fairly certain that Azula had gotten away to safety. And somehow, this didn't bother them too much.

"I suppose we're partly to blame for letting her escape," Iroh admitted to his two young companions discreetly, "I don't want to sound too complacent, but we could have easily overpowered her if…"

"If we had not hesitated," Zuko completed his uncle's sentence for him, "I understand you perfectly, Uncle. In spite of all the awful things she's done to us, Azula is still my sister. And nothing can change the fact that we're still family."

"Even if that tends to be really inconvenient sometimes," Iroh admitted with a small laugh.

"If I didn't know you any better," Katara admitted, "I would have been angry and disappointed at your allowing her to go. But then again, I understand how strong the bonds of family are, even in one as strange as yours. So I trust in your judgment."

"I feel certain that Azula will be beaten at the end of this war," Zuko said gravely, "just as I am certain that only Aang will be able to defeat my father."

"And when the time comes," Katara asked him carefully, "do you think you will be up for it?"

Zuko pondered on this for a moment. Iroh and Katara looked at him in concern.

"I will be," the prince replied, "and I will do what I can to save her before she destroys herself."

"You may be the only person who can save her," Katara reassured him, placing her hand on his shoulder, "and I have faith in you."

"Though the benefits of mercy are never immediately felt," Iroh moralized, "they always count in the long term."

"Wise words as always, Uncle," Zuko said with a smile.

"Well, we'll need some nifty quotations to go down in the history books," Iroh said with a larger grin, "I think you can see that another great battle has reached its conclusion."

"Let's help out while we still can," Katara suggested, "I didn't come here to be a mere spectator."

"That's the spirit!" Iroh said cheerfully, "let's go then!"

So the three powerful benders rejoined their troops as they finished off the remnants of Azula's army. The work did not take long as the forces had already been depleted. And news of Azula's sudden disappearance severely disheartened the rest of her men. The thought that their fearless leader had escaped was enough to sink the morale of those who had been fiercely loyal to her. None of them had expected her to relent, and yet, this is what happened. So they surrendered quickly and soon the whole thing was over.

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"Citizens of the Earth Kingdom," Iroh declared, "today marks the end of Ba Sing Se as you have known it. No longer is this a secret colony of the Fire Nation, with its people controlled and suppressed by the treacherous agents of the Dai Li."

The old firebender was standing on a platform that was raised in the center of the city a couple of hours after the fighting. A large crowd had gathered around to hear his remarks, including members of the Order, the citizens of Ba Sing Se, and all others. He had been chosen as the representative of the Order to address the people and make their situation officially known to them. The old man considered this his greatest honor.

"I had a vision that I would conquer Ba Sing Se. I now understand that I was destined to reclaim it for its own people. But I have not been alone in this fight. More than just the support of my fellow members of the Order of the White Lotus, I have also had the help of some of the Avatar's friends. But most importantly, it has been an honor to fight by YOUR side.

Today, you have fought bravely and defended your honor. Today you have shown your captors that no man in the world has the right to rule over another, to bend the other to his will, and to manipulate the lives of innocent people. After years of persecution, you have had enough and you have resisted. You have proven to us all that there is no power on earth that can deny justice to all those who thirst for it.

Today, you have earned your freedom!"

And with this, Iroh raised his hand triumphantly to the crowd and a loud cheer of assent was heard. People began to shout for joy and celebrate a long-awaited victory. Smiles and tears of joy were on everyone's faces.

"Be proud of what you have achieved today, people of Ba Sing Se," Iroh continued, "for this victory has not been only for you but for the whole world. We are sending a message to the Fire Lord that people will no longer stand by and allow this pointless war to continue. Your struggle and your success is the beginning of his end.

And with the Avatar on the mend, it is only a matter of time until balance is restored and our world can live in peace once more!"

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The night sky grew festive as the citizens sent magnificent fireworks displays to celebrate their freedom. All around Ba Sing Se, there was excitement and merriment. Music filled the air and there were feasts and dancing everywhere.

But there was one person who did not eager to join the festivities. Then again, he was never very comfortable at parties. But though he was never one to smile or laugh when he was happy, he was quite content at how things were at the moment.

"Are you all right?" a voice asked in concern.

Zuko turned and smiled as he saw the waterbender approach him.

"I'm fine, thanks to you," he told her with a smile. She returned it.

"You aren't much of a party person, are you?" Katara told him.

"Not really," he replied, "not now, at least."

"You really should lighten up, you know," she teased him, "things are looking well for everyone now, better than they've looked for a hundred years, in fact."

"You're absolutely right," Zuko told her, taking her hand and squeezing it affectionately. Her smile widened and she blushed slightly. But they were no longer awkward with each other. THAT was all in the past.

"Your uncle sent word to Aang and the others letting them know all that happened here," Katara said.

"I'm sure they'll be glad to learn that everything turned out so well," Zuko replied.

"Sokka might be disappointed that all his gloomy predictions did not come true," Katara added slyly. Both of them broke into laughter.

And a few moments after that, they simply stood together and watched the fireworks.

"We've come such a long way," Zuko said pensively, "and there's still a lot left to do."

"I know," Katara said, "but I have faith in Aang and in everyone else. We'll see this thing through till the end, I'm sure of it."

"No matter what comes next, Katara," Zuko said, turning to her and taking her hands in his, "I'm not afraid. I know I'll be able to face anything now, no matter how difficult.

"You won't be alone," she replied, looking at him earnestly.

"And I've never been happier," Zuko said, with a smile.

One great journey in their lives was coming to an end. But another was just about to begin.

-FIN-

Thank you, dear readers, for all your support! I hope you liked the story.

It was a struggle to complete it during my hectic schedule but I was determined.

I must be clear though that there will be no sequel to this. I have no time and no ideas. You can all pretty much guess what happens next anyway.

And this may be my last multi-chapter Zutara story for a long time. I just need to conclude "His Greatest Challenge Yet" and I don't think I'll be writing Zutara anymore. Not anytime soon, anyway. I'm not saying "never". And if there's Zutara Week next year, I will definitely participate.

But with "Korra" coming out soon, I may have to move on from this fandom. Who knows? We may find a new ship to love in "Korra". But Zutara will always be my Avatar OTP.

But for now, my last Zutara story will be "His Greatest Challenge Yet." And I still have a bunch of other incomplete stories to finish soon.

But thank you so much for all your support! I appreciate all your feedback on my work, especially since I tried my best to give you a worthwhile story.

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