Toph immediately set about securing her daughter. She took Lin to the underground chambers, tapping her toes along the floor anxiously. She nodded to herself, and asked her daughter to direct her to the nearest wall tapestry. Once found, she lifted the heavy material and created a tunnel deep into the earth behind it. She grabbed a candle and a box of matches, and told her daughter to hide inside. She would block off the entrance thinly, though it would be well within her badgermole's ability to break the wall down if necessary.
"Lin, I need you to stay in here for a little while." She pulled her bag open, "Here," she said, handing her her favourite book. "give it a read through twice, and if I'm still not back, then come on out and look for someone we know." She kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back as soon as possible." Lin nodded, solemnly.
Toph's feet like they were made of lead as she went to leave. It went against every bone in her body to leave her daughter alone like that, but she was not the target. Zuko was, and he might need her help.
Soon enough she felt the right heartbeat pulsing through the earth, and made her way toward Zuko, who was out in the open stone quadrangle. When she arrived, she noticed that he exhaled a small breath of relief at her presence. She approached him and stood by his side.
"And now we wait." She said, squeezing his hand.
"And now we wait." He agreed, gratefully.
Sokka and Aang were moving at an incredible speed. He could barely see around him but the blur of colour and light. Appa seemed to have accepted the strange urgency, and rapidly kicked out his feet despite the futility of the gesture within the gentle pocket of air. After what felt like hours, Sokka felt the temperature begin to drop, the tips of his fingers became numb, and there was a bite in the air that was unmistakably Arctic. He pulled on his coat and the noticed that the blur had become a melting pot of blue. A thousand shades colliding in bursts of cerulean, indigo, cobalt, navy and teal. Within another hour, their speed had dramatically decreased. Sokka began to be able to make out shapes; iceburgs, wolf seals, and soon enough igloos and warm light ebbing from their windows. He could make out the evening details of the place he once called home. The thus far consistent glow of Aang's eyes faltered and dimmed as they came to an abrupt stop outside a large dwelling. The house was bigger than anything they lived in as children, in fact, all of the homes were significantly bigger, and there were far more than he could ever remember seeing in his youth.
Aang leapt off of Appa's back and toward the front door in a burst of air. Sokka followed close behind, and entered the room mere seconds after he did. He had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, and was surprised when they were greeted by Katara reading a book to Kya and Bumi. She looked up, shocked at their sudden appearance, and was doubly taken aback by Sokka's presence with him.
Aang took five long strides over to her and took her in his arms, the kids sandwiched between them.
"Um. Honey? It's good to see you too, but what are you doing back so soon?"
Aang pulled back from the hug, taking her face in his hands and running his thumb over her lip. "There's supposed to be an assassination attempt here tonight. I was so worried I wouldn't-" he broke off with a choke.
"Oh!" She looked startled for a moment, before composing herself and becoming the voice of action. "Well there's no time to lose, then. Get the kids on Appa, I'll fetch the baby." She stood up, briefly touching his arm before making her way in a quick paced walk to the nursery. On her way, however, she stopped at the wall where a plaque held something unexpected. "And Sokka. Take this." She said as she tossed his boomeraang from it's retirement place. Sokka caught it automatically and smiled to himself. Quickly, though, he ushered the kids out with Aang, taking one each and lifting them onto the sky bison.
Out of the dark cold night, Sokka spotted the glint of something in his peripheral vision, and turned to dodge a throwing knife. With no warning, there were at least eight people coming out of the night and heading straight for Aang.
Bumi screamed and Sokka slapped Appa's rump, yelling "Yip yip!" Without having to be told twice, their airborne friend took off with the frightened children into the night.
The fire came quick and angrily. The men he faced were clearly elite masters, it made sense from Mai's description that these were people from privileged backgrounds, with plenty of opportunity to excel their skills in combat. The men were agile and dangerous. Sokka found himself only barely missing their strikes, though most of their efforts were focused on Aang.
Thankfully, they were not accustomed to such cold conditions, and soon some of their attacks became more clumsy and faltering. The benders, however, had a better time of it. Their fire kept them hot and angry, and Aang kept them at bay with powerful strikes of air and walls of ice. Sokka could tell that he was exhausted from over using his Avatar state for the entire journey, and was struggling in the onslaught.
Sokka noticed a non bender pull something from his jacket. His eyes had adapted to the dim light, and he made out the object that was shaped as a cube with a twisting valve on one side. He had a flashback to one of his tedious council meetings, and remembered a discussion on how to efficiently clear large areas of rock for housing development. There had been an invention that would detonate and clear the area with a large explosion to crumble the rock. This came to him in a split second as he watched the man twist the valve and throw it toward Aang.
The man must have been suicidal, because the explosion would have ended the lives of everybody in the nearby vicinity. However, Sokka took his boomeraang and threw it for the first time in years.
It was as if there had been no time at all, and his trusty companion hit its mark, curving its trajectory into the frosty air and causing it to explode viciously in the sky.
The other attackers looked taken aback by the detonation, and Aang took the opportunity to systematically attack the individuals distracted. As Sokka's boomeraang came back, he began his own onslaught; he knocked two men to the ground, and he suspected that one would not rise again, given the way he fell in a collapse of furs.
A man at least a foot taller than Sokka came thundering toward him. He was not a bender, he could tell that by the way he held himself, as well as the blue hue of his skin in the cold. He brought out a great-sword from it's sheath and slashed toward him wildly. Sokka leaned back out of it's reach, dancing out of the way the moment it swung back. Frustrated, the man brought it back and with a grunt, jabbed it toward his neck. Sokka surprised the attacked by ducking and moving in and under his arm. While one hand swept his wrist off balance, his elbow took a hard jab at the man's kidney, causing him to drop the weapon in a choke. Sokka caught it, surprised by how heavy it was, and twisted it in the air, meaning to slash his chest but striking the flesh of his stomach instead due to the weight. The man went down, and Sokka caught sight of his weapon on the floor, grabbing it and firing it at the next target he saw.
Seconds later, while his boomeraang was mid flight, another man took out one of the dreadful cubes. Sokka went for him, but there was no way he could reach him before he could turn the valve. At the very least, he thought, he might block the explosion as best he could with his body. The man spotted him coming, and smiling manically, his hand touched the valve.
And stopped.
In fact, all of their attackers stopped in their tracks. Sokka could hear a faintly familiar eerie crackling sound, but only realised the truth when he turned to the front door. Katara stood there, dead eyed and quietly furious. Tenzin was strapped to her back in a wrap. She stood with her hands parallel to the floor, holding steady. With one flick of her wrists, the men simultaneously cried out in pain as their wrists all bent at unnatural angles. Sokka took the opportunity to knock unconscious the ones still standing.
By this time, the warriors of the tribe had finally arrived, having been alerted by the first explosion. After taking in the scene and exchanging words with Aang, the men were bound and gagged, and the Avatar instructed them to take the culprits to a detainment room while a few stood by to guard the house.
In the quiet moment that followed their departure, Aang slowly turned to his wife, a look of belayed shock blanketing his expression. "Katara. Did you just... bloodbend?" He said in a hushed tone.
She looked up at the full moon, and back at him silently in the moment before her legs gave way beneath her and she fell to her knees.
They carried her inside, taking the baby from her while she was laid down. Appa was called back with the children, and Sokka went to lie Tenzin back in his crib. As he entered the room, however, he saw the body of a man lying on the floor, his neck bent far too backwards. There was a knife in his clasped hand, and Sokka understood in that moment what had led his sister to such brutality. The fool had threatened to murder the newborn baby of a master waterbender.
He knew, however, that Aang wouldn't want to know that his wife had such a thing on her conscience. After he had settled Tenzin down, he quickly disposed of the body out the back door, silently gesturing to one of the remaining soldier's to take him with the others. When he returned to the lounge and his sister, she looked at him with a tinge of panic. Sokka made steady, meaningful eye contact and nodded almost imperceptibly. She closed her eyes, looking immensely grateful.
"Katara. You know that blood bending is illegal." Aang said cautiously.
"Aang." She said warily, "I would break every law there was if it kept this family alive. Even if it meant breaking my own heart."
He quietly took her into his arms and Sokka attempted to explain to Kya and Bumi what had just happened. The warriors had scouted out the men's boat and found two more of them on board. They had been dispatched, but they requested that Aang and his family leave for the time being, to protect the tribe from further attack. They agreed, though they took an hour to pack sufficient supplies for the children and themselves. Once on Appa, the exhausted family fell into a huddle under a host of blankets. Sokka, however, kept a vigilant eye throughout the night, not sleeping a wink.
The attempt on Zuko's life would have been comical if it wasn't so malicious. Toph had heard them coming far before they had located the two of them themselves. The group of men, eight strong, emerged from all sides of the quadrangle, weapons drawn. They were by no means prepared for Toph to be there, but the real rib tickler came from the moment when the group of them heard the low thunderous rumble sourcing agonisingly close. Their eyes drew upwards, and they caught sight of a perching dragon, who let out a smoulder of smoke and fire as his eyes locked on them all respectively.
A few of them yelped, one even screamed, but before they could flee, Toph locked their feet in place, bringing their hands to the floor in a similar fashion. They cowered, either in resignation or trepidation. Toph wrinkled her nose as she smelt the urine pooling around one of the younger men.
"Eugh. Did you really just wet yourself, Kei Lo?" Mai sighed in disgust as she walked into the scene, flanked by the royal guard and half of the city police, who immediately set about putting the men in chains and dragging them away.
"That's the guy you went on a date with?" Zuko asked, in thinly veiled glee.
"I see you've been keeping tabs on me." She raised an eyebrow, but there was a flicker of affection behind the well composed mask.
"Why don't we go to the balcony to talk." Zuko said, seeing Druk curling up there and eyeing the guards loitering in the quadrangle.
"I'll meet you up there." Toph said, leaving for the under chambers in a rush.
Mai and Zuko looked at one another, suddenly self concious. Zuko nodded to her, and she took his arm as he led her away from the prying eyes.
As they made their way up a large stone staircase, she released his arm, no longer having to play happy couples in front of the civilians. This was the first time they had been alone together since their break up. She was warring inside of herself, her mind and heart arguing fiercely.
They reached the large heavy doorway and were suddenly face to face with the towering maroon dragon.
Mai strode toward the beast and looked him in the eye as he dipped his neck to her level. Druk was one of the reasons that her relationship with the Firelord had ended, and Zuko expected her to be irritated at his presence. Instead, she put her hand to the side of his jaw, maintaining a calm eye contact with him.
"I can tell why you went to such pains to keep him a secret, Zuko. He really is magnificent."
"He is." Zuko agreed. "Regardless, I should not have kept him from you." He finished solemnly.
She turned back to him, with a shake of her head. "No. You were right to do so. I have never been one for secrets, and I mightn't have thought to keep it from my parents. I was under the impression that they were grateful for their royal pardon. Who could have known how wrong I was?" She glanced at Druk, "I could have ruined everything."
Zuko closed the gap between them in four long strides and took her into his arms. She was stiff at first, but soon relented. "I'm still annoyed that you kept the prison visitations from me, though." She said stubbornly, muffled into his chest.
Toph and her daughter found the two of them like that. Zuko stroking Mai's hair and murmuring something to her quietly. With a small cough and a smile threatening on Toph's lips, they moved apart awkwardly. Lin giggled at the two of them, then smiled pointedly at her mother, who gave her a small wink.