Finished a chapter!

I don't own Avatar.

"There are prisoners in the next cell." Toph says a few feet ahead of me. I'm still thinking over our conversation from earlier. Could I have a thing for Zuko?

"Get ready, Sokka, and stop angsting." she whispers while leaning against the wall. There must be guards up ahead.

"I'm not angsting!" I complain. She shakes her head in response and charges out. The sound of metal bars twisting reaches my ears.

"All clear!" she yells. I walk around to see a few Water Tribe Warriors continuing on. "They're going to take care of the other guards. You start from this end and I'll work from the other."

I bend over and take the key from the guard's restrained body. This is not the time for this line of thinking. I walk up to a cell and unlock it. Among the men in the cell I see my father.

"I told you we wouldn't be apart for long." I say with a smug look on my face (I think). We stare at eachother before he bridges the gap and hugs me. I return the hug after a moment.

"I didn't expect you so soon, or so loud." he says with a bit of a grin.

"Toph loves her theatrics." I say as I roll my eyes. "We should go release the rest of the army.

-

I walk outside with no particular destination in mind and find myself at the top of a hill overlooking the city. It's hard to ignore the city's beauty. Standing here you can see a Fire Nation worth saving. I hear Toph behind me.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I ask her, turning back to the city.

"I wouldn't say that personally." she respons. I'm about to question her when I realize that the appeal is lost on her.

"Oh, right." We stand in silence before she speaks again.

"We're about to head out to the battle. Look alive, sunshine." she says. I glare at her, and I'm quite certain she can feel my gaze.

"Let's head them off then.

-

We get into the city to find that the rest of the group had already weakened the Fire Nation forces quite a bit. It really only takes an hour to finish them off. A number of us gather in the throne room.

"Where do we go from here, Dad?" Katara asks as she walks in, bringing a tray of tea.

"I don't know. We have the Capital and we have a warship. The warship isn't much though." he answers as he sips his tea.

"I expected more, but they seem to be holding a perimeter around the city. Five miles out. They'll stay that way so long as they don't know we're here." Zuko states as she lies on the table.

"I've been studying the blueprints and I have reached a conclusion." I say slowly. Every head in the room pops up at my words, even Momo's. "They are weak on the side, where most of the working parts are. It wouldn't take much to take them down."

"Is that necessary at this point?" Aang asks. I think it over for a moment. The room is silent, unnaturally so.

"It might not be. We can get into Ba Sing Se and take down the Fire Lord, but that doesn't stop anyone else from directing them towards their own goals." I reply. "We can't just attack Ba Sing Se, we need more.

"Direct the forces at the colonies." Zuko says from where she is positioned. She continues when she sees the looks of confusion. "The forces routed there are the ones that would defend Ba Sing Se. Then we just fly in and secure the city."

"I should take input from the others." Dad says. We see the cue to leave before As we walk out Zuko tugs on my arm.

"Come with me, I want to show you my favorite place here." she says. I allow her to drag me out, not that I can complain about spending time with her.