It didn't take long for Tai Lung to catch up with the retreating army. His battle with the Avatar had ended too quickly for Ty Lee and the others to gain much distance. Once reaching them, he descended directly in front of them, blocking their path.
Everyone froze in place for a moment, until Ty Lee broke into a run and leapt into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Tai! You're okay!"
Tai Lung smiled faintly. "Now you're insulting me. Did you really think the under trained Avatar could defeat me?"
Ty Lee blinked at him, then shook her head quickly. "Of course not! It's just… the Avatar was so scary back there."
Tai continued to smile as he said. "Actually, he was much stronger at the North Pole, thanks to the Ocean Spirit."
Azula had heard enough. She cut straight to the point and asked the important questions. "What is the state of the Avatar? Did you kill him?"
"I only paralyzed him," Tai Lung answered casually.
Azula's brow furrowed, but before she could object, the war minister, panting from the retreat, spoke up. "Captain Lung, how could you leave the enemy of the Fire Nation like that?"
Tai Lung turned his gaze on him. "If you don't like how I do things, feel free to go back there yourself. Capture him. Kill him. I won't stop you or interfere in your business"
The minister's fists clenched in frustration. "You are our nation's most powerful bender. It is your duty to aid the Fire Nation!"
Tai Lung's eyes narrowed, his tone sharpened. "I ensure that our people are not slaughtered because of the incompetence of the fools at the helm."
The minister froze, paling as Tai Lung continued. "You stand here breathing only because I came to your aid. Instead of annoying me, you should begin to think of a way to appease your dear Fire Lord. He won't care for excuses about failure, regardless of circumstance."
The minister said nothing, his face drained of color.
Azula broke the tense silence. "While I'm sure no one will dare pursue us, I think we should retreat and regroup. The rest can wait."
She didn't like the way Tai Lung spoke when mentioning her father or the way he carried himself, but she couldn't deny the truth. They weren't dead or being hunted down only because he had been there.
——————
Under Azula's command, the defeated soldiers withdrew to the rocky hills opposite Ba Sing Se. There they made camp to rest and observe Ba Sing Se. From their vantage point, spyglasses revealed the tireless effort of the Earth Kingdom defenders: rows of earthbenders working hard to rebuild the broken wall even in darkness, stone after stone rising under the glow of torchlight.
Azula's gaze lingered on them. Part of her felt a strange pang of pity. They should have been inside that city now, savoring victory, if not for the Avatar's sudden entry into the Avatar State. Her thoughts soured as she recalled Tai Lung's refusal to fight for conquest. The Earth Kingdom had the Avatar, the mighty master of the four elements. And the Fire Nation had their own monster, one who could easily tear down Ba Sing Se by himself, and yet he chose to abstain.
Her golden eyes shifted to where he sat, cross-legged by the fire. Tai Lung was silent, his eyes closed in meditation, while Ty Lee and Mai spoke quietly nearby. With an irritated sigh, Azula strode toward them and called out, "Tai Lung, for someone obsessed with training, it's strange you've been meditating so much lately. First in the drill, and now here."
Without opening his eyes, Tai Lung answered, his voice steady. "Meditation is also a form of training. And recently, I've been pondering something I cannot find an answer to."
That caught their attention. Ty Lee leaned forward with interest. "What is it?"
Tai Lung opened his eyes. "The Avatar. He reincarnates endlessly and can master all four elements. The rest of us are limited to one from birth. Some" his gaze moved to Ty Lee "cannot bend at all. But why is that?"
The three girls were taken aback. Tai Lung pressed on. "How does the Avatar do it? He's human, like us, but something sets him apart. The first Avatar must have done something no one else has. And when he enters that so-called Avatar State, his chi grows exponentially, surging as though he becomes someone else entirely."
His focus settled on Ty Lee. "I've been pondering this since the North Pole. If I can discover what the first reincarnation achieved, I might be able to replicate it. At the very least, perhaps I could bend a second element. Or unlock bending for those who have none, like you Ty Lee."
Silence followed. The three of them stared at him as though he had grown another head. At last, Ty Lee's face lit up. "That would be amazing! You'd be like… a second Avatar!"
Azula's thoughts, however, took a darker turn. [What would the world become if the Fire Nation could create Avatars at will?]
Mai's monotone broke the quiet. "I don't think you should be thinking like that. No offense, but you're already terrifying, some don't think you are a human. The idea of you in some kind of Avatar State? I'd rather not imagine it."
Tai Lung chuckled lightly. "It's been months, and I'm no closer to the answer. Still, I suspect it has something to do with the spirits, like the Moon and Ocean spirits. Perhaps beings like them shape the world as we know it."
What he did not share aloud was the rest of his thoughts. He wondered if there was a way into the Spirit World, and how it might differ from the Spirit Realm he had known in his past life. Was there a connection between the two? The question burned quietly within him, he wanted answers.
——————
The next morning, Azula gave the order to the soldiers for a full retreat. But within her sharp mind there lingered an image that refused to fade, the Avatar, in his fury, unleashed his true power of legends. It was the first time she had seen the true might of the Avatar State, and now she fully understood why the Fire Nation considered the Avatar their greatest enemy. When he entered that state, he was no longer just a bender, he became a force of nature, unstoppable, untouchable. And for now, there was no one who could stop him… no one except Tai Lung.
In Azula's eyes, the only viable path forward was to strike quickly, to eliminate the Avatar while he was in his normal state. But there lay the problem, none of them understood exactly how the Avatar State worked. What triggered it? How long could he sustain it? And with the boy hidden away inside Ba Sing Se, there would be no chance to corner him in a vulnerable moment.
That same thought led her to another bitter truth: as long as the Avatar remained inside the city, they could not hope to invade it. The risk was too great, another outbreak of the Avatar State would mean disaster, a swift and costly defeat.
And yet, ironically, the Earth Kingdom faced the same dilemma. Azula knew they would never dare to attack her camp. Not with Tai Lung sitting among her ranks. They understood as well as she did that any move against them might provoke him, not only their soldiers will be at risk but it could cause Tai Lung to turn his fury on Ba Sing Se, the city could fall if he leads the attack.
For the first time, Azula saw the war in a different light. Both sides had their pride and power, both brimming with soldiers and resources, yet both were paralyzed. The war was not dictated by armies or strategy but by the existence of two individuals. An Avatar on one side. A monster in human skin on the other. Everything else had become irrelevant.
Even as their forces marched away, the thought gnawed at her. How could they truly defeat the Avatar? How could they win this war? No matter how many scenarios she conjured in her mind, no matter how many clever strategies she tried to weave, the conclusion was always the same.
The moment the Avatar entered the Avatar State… it was their loss. She remembered some reports mentioning how the resistance declined after the return of the Avatar. Part of her thought it was ridiculous if the so-called resistance stopped in hope the Avatar will defeat the Fire Nation. Now, it all made sense to her.
Azula's gaze shifted to Tai Lung, Ty Lee, and Mai. The trio were conversing amongst themselves, though Ty Lee was doing most of the talking. Azula's mind drifted back to the days when they had all trained together at Tai Lung's home. She had stopped going there to train under her father instead. A choice that, in retrospect, had been a mistake.
Had she continued to try mimicking Tai Lung, perhaps she could have defeated the Avatar as he had, or at least possessed the strength to put up a real fight instead of suffering a disgraceful retreat.