Toph tried hard not to think as she ran; the sounds and tremors of the battle fading behind them as they scrambled up towards the palace. She could feel the anger and frustration radiating out of Sokka, so strong it almost made her heart ache. Gritting her teeth, she mentally forced herself not to think of anything else but the upcoming battle ahead. With the Avatar. And with the Fire Lord.

So engrossed was she in her thoughts, she failed to notice Sokka coming to an abrupt halt in front of her and crashed into him head first.

"Ow!" she yelped, falling flat on her back. "Sokka! What's the big idea?!"

Sokka was squinting up at the sky, disbelief sketched all over his face.

"Is that… is that Aang?" he squeaked.

"No. It looks like the fire Lord's pet dragon."

Sokka was distracted enough by Toph's reply to actually look down at her in surprise only to remember she couldn't see.

"I guess I deserved that…" he mumbled as Aang glided down and landed in front of them.

"Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?"

Aang shook his head.

"He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned."

Sokka's mouth fell open.

"They knew!"

Aang hung his head, gripping his staff tightly in his hand.

"Where's Katara?" he suddenly asked.

"She was not there…" Toph replied before Sokka could open his mouth.

Aang's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"It's over…" he whispered. "The Fire Lord is probably long gone, far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No…" Sokka replied slowly. "My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker, somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during the siege but close enough to lead his nation."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it." Toph spoke up.

Sokka checked the timing device that the mechanist gave him.

"We have 10 minutes to find the Fire Lord".

Aang nodded.

"Let's do this."


Suki was ashamed to admit it but she could feel her hands shaking in fear as she peered out the corridor. All the prisoners were back in their cells and though she had promised herself she would not try to sneak out of her prison cell, she had no choice. The time had come for drastic measures and drastic measures called for drastic actions.

Darting out of the corner, she dashed down the corridor, running past one prison cell after another. Just when she was about to reach the end of the hall, a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Years of training in Kyoshi island kicked in instinctively; in a flash she took hold of the metal bars on the window flap of the prison to her left and using it as leverage, she swung herself up the metal door, leaping up and catching the edge of the cell and pulling herself up. She ducked down on top of the prison cell just in time as two guards walked into the hallway.

She watched quietly as the guards walked down the passage, her eyes following them as far as they could. It was when a minute or two had passed by and the footsteps had finally faded away that she jumped down, landing quietly on her feet.

Her heart thumping wildly in her chest, she ran down the corner.


Katara opened her eyes blearily. The heat was suffocating and her shoulders felt as if they were going to rip off her body any second. Her sweaty hair stuck on to her forehead as she looked up at the chains binding her wrists and for a moment, she almost thought of breaking them before she realized doing so would result in her dropping down at the lava pit straight below her feet.

Even through the pain, her fists clenched in anger making fresh blood drip down her arm. This has gone far enough, it's about time she finally took matters on her own hand; reason be damned.


Zuko stood before the iron doors, his heart thundering in his ears. There was no turning back. Now was the time, the time when he will finally be able to walk down the path of redemption.

Taking a deep breath, he calmly pushed the door open.


"Azula!" Sokka couldn't stop himself from screaming in shock.

"So… you are alive after all."

Aang's mouth fell open in disbelief.

Toph was flabbergasted. She was so sure it was the Fire lord behind the closed doors, why couldn't she sense it was Azula instead?

"I had a hunch that you survived." Azula drawled. "It doesn't matter, I've known about the invasion for months."

"I have no time for this", Aang spoke up, his staff pointing at her. "Where is the Fire Lord?"

"Hmm, you mean I am not good enough for you?" Azula smirked, her eyes gleaming. "You are hurting my feelings."

Wood… she was sitting on a wooden throne with a wooden pedestal. No wonder I couldn't sense her, Toph thought angrily.

"Stop wasting our time!" Sokka snarled. "Tell us where the Fire Lord is!"

Before Azula could do anything, Toph had stamped her foot on the ground and with a swift movement of her arms, encased Azula in a solid earth trap.

"And stick to the truth", Toph added, squeezing the earth tightly around Azula. "I will be able to tell if you are lying."

Azula smirked and immediately the earth trap began to crack and shatter. To their disbelief, the whole trap exploded and Azula calmly stepped forward, dusting off her uniform.

"When I left Ba Sing se…" Azula continued nonchalantly. "I brought home some souvenirs."

Aang took a step backward as two Dai Li agents dropped down the ceiling, landing on their feet in front of her.

Sokka gulped. Things were getting from bad to worse.


Hakoda looked up as the moon started to darken the sun. This was it… the moment of truth. In the next 10 minutes, the future of the whole world will be decided. Gripping his sword tightly, he followed Bato up the volcano with the rest of the invasion troops.


With a loud bang, the door to the chamber smashed open. Katara's head snapped up in shock, just in time to see Suki launch herself in the air to avoid the fire blast from the lone guard stationed there; the fire blast that didn't come. Before the guard could recover from the confusion as to why his fire bending was not working, she back flipped in the air, landing behind the guard and kicking him strongly on his head. The metal clang from his helmet sounded like a canon blast in the small chamber as the guard slumped down to the floor.

"Suki!" Katara gasped as the Kyoshi warrior dashed to where she was hanging by her wrists in the middle of the room.

"Katara! I will get you out of here, don't worry." Suki gasped, shocked to see the water bender covered in blood.

"Are you crazy?" Katara almost screamed. "How do you plan to fight the battalion of fire benders out there? This is impossible!"

Suki was not listening to her. The shock of seeing Katara like this was starting to wear off and her mind went on overdrive trying to figure out how to get her down safe.

"I don't know why but for some reason, none of the guards I came across could firebend." Suki said, dashing towards the lever where the guard had fallen down.

Katara's eyes went wide as the realization hit her.

"The eclipse…!" she whispered.

Suki pulled the lever down but nothing happened.

"It's the eclipse Suki!" Katara exclaimed, excitement and adrenaline rushing through her at once. She checked to see if she could still move her fingers and even though the pain was excruciating, she managed to bend her sweat over the iron chains.

"Help me break the chains." Katara called out. "I am going to freeze them but you will have to break them and also catch me when I fall"

Suki nodded.

"On the count of three then…"

Closing her eyes, Katara took a deep breath and blew it over the sweat, freezing it over the chains.

"One"

Suki gripped the spear from the unconscious guard, taking aim.

"Two"

Suki took off on a run, the spear on her right arm as she hurtled towards Katara.

"Three!"

With all the strength she could muster, Suki hurled the spear at the frozen chain. Just as the spear made contact and broke through the chain, she took a flying leap, jumping over the lava pit and grasping Katara's falling body with both her arms.

They landed safely on the other side, tumbling over the ground.

"Thanks…" Katara whispered weakly.

Suki got on her feet, her heart thumping wildly.

"We don't have time." She replied, "Let's go."

Katara nodded. She was finally on her feet and this time there was no chains to bind her.

She spread her arms out in a water bending stance and turning on the spot, thrust them forward.

For a spilt second, nothing happened.

And then Suki could hear the roar of the sea.

"Hold on to me." Katara replied grimly. "This is going to be a bumpy ride."

With a mighty crash, a huge wave of water ripped through the metal walls of the chamber, smashing the steel to smithereens. With a quick move of her arms, Katara froze a slab of water and making sure Suki was holding on to her tightly, she surged forward, riding the wave of water as it burst out of the room.

Suddenly, warning siren started blaring and red lights flashed throughout the hallway.

"Isn't the water supposed to be boiling?" Suki gasped, awestruck.

"I am not using the water of the volcano, " Katara replied, as she manipulated the enormous wave. "I am using the water of the ocean, outside the periphery of the volcano."

Suki nodded, peering out from behind Katara as a swarm of fire benders rushed in towards them.


"Get out!" Ozai yelled, furious. "Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"That's another thing," Zuko replied calmly. "I am not taking orders from you anymore."

Ozai's eyes almost bulged in rage. "You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!"

Before Ozai could take another step forward, Zuko quickly pulled his dual swords out and pointed them at the furious Fire Lord, stopping him on his tracks.

"Think again", Zuko said. "I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen."


"Surround the periphery!" Bato barked. "We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over. Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives!"

The invasion force swarmed forward; they could almost taste the victory up ahead.

Something was not right, Sokka could almost feel it in his bones. They were trying so hard to catch Azula but somehow she had not thrown a single offensive blow at them.

And then it hit him.

"Wait! Aang! Toph!" he shouted. "Stop attacking!"

Aang and Toph screeched to a stop.

"Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us!" Sokka exclaimed. "She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true." Azula replied sarcastically. "I am giving it my all!"

"You are trying to keep us here and waste our time!" Toph exclaimed.

"Um, right. I think your friend just said that genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."

"I will roll your whole head!" Toph shouted in anger.

"Ok, so what do we do?" Aang asked, "Just ignore her."

"We don't have a choice." Sokka replied. "We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow."


Katara and Suki rushed up the open courtyard, leaving behind dozens of fire nation guards frozen solid behind them. Even as they rushed to the yard, a dozen more guards with spears rushed forward to block their way. Katara didn't even slow down; she pushed her arms forward, calling up her element which came roaring from all over the island prison.

The guards just had a moment to cower in fear before the gushing water swept them off their feet and froze them solid.

Suki looked up towards the sky and she could see the dark disc of the moon slowly moving away from the face of the sun.

"We don't have much time…!" she yelled, blindly dashing behind Katara as the furious waterbender froze every single person running towards them.

"We don't need more time." Katara replied back just as she reached the edge of the island.

She raised her arms and the water followed her every move, raising up in a wall. Suki could hear a frightened squeak from one of the frozen fire benders behind them as the water split up in shreds and forming powerful jets, rushed towards one of the many coolers protruding out of the prison walls. The high pressure water jet sliced through the wall, taking apart a cooler.

Katara and Suki jumped on to a frozen ice slab, racing towards the now dislodged cooler floating in the steaming hot water. The Kyoshi warrior hung on for dear life, as they raced across the water, the ice almost melting in the heat of the boiling water. With a final powerful surge, Katara made the water take both the floating cooler and themselves over the rocky edge of the volcanic island.

And just then, the moon moved away completely from the face of the sun.


Zuko's eyes opened wide in shock as Fire Lord Ozai swung both his arms out, a powerful surge of electricity cracking up the atmosphere. From the tips of his fingers, Ozai bended two identical bolts of lightning and thrusting his arms forward, shot two powerful bolts of pure electric energy straight towards him.

Zuko reacted instinctively. He shot his right hand out, capturing the lightning with the tips of his fingers. There was no time for hesitation, no time for second thoughts. It was almost as if his body was reacting on it's own. So strong was the force of the bolt that it pushed Zuko back more than a foot behind but he held on, concentrating really had as he directed the incredible force of energy from his finger tips to his stomach and then redirected it, aiming straight for Ozai.

There was a huge blast which threw Ozai off his feet, slamming him hard against the wall. By the time Ozai managed to get on to his feet, Zuko was already gone.


"Oh. Sounds like the firebending's back on."

Suddenly Azula swung her foot out, creating a powerful arc of clear blue fire, making Sokka jump back in shock. Before he could even recover, she kicked her feet out, lashing at him with a powerful fire ball. His eyes opened wide in horror as he stood rooted to the spot.

"Sokka move!" Toph yelled, pushing him out of the way just in time as the fire ball whooshed past harmlessly.

"Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left." Azula said, as she blasted apart the earthen bonds that had her wrists tied together. "I am sure he will be more than happy to see you now."

Smirking, she took off down the tunnel, disappearing in a flash.


Hakoda just couldn't shake off the feeling of unease from the pit of his stomach anymore. The eclipse was over but nothing happened.

"What should we do Hakoda?" Bato asked, "Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"I don't know…" he replied uncertainly. The wound was now starting to hurt again. "But now that the eclipse is over, I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute."

Just then, five huge Fire Nation balloons rose up in the sky. The mechanist's mouth fell open in horror.

"My own invention! Oh this is terrible!"

And then the bombs started to rain down on them.


Suki was flat on her back, looking up at the clear blue sky. She couldn't believe they made it. They were finally out… out in the open sea, floating on a cooler…

Katara sat down heavily, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

"We did it…" she whispered, raising her shaking hands and staring at them. "We actually did it."

Suki giggled, her mind still trying to grasp the enormity of the situation.

"Yes, " she replied. "We did it."

Katara nodded numbly.


Zuko was running flat out. He didn't even bother to look back as he sprinted towards the prison towers; all he could think of was to get Uncle out. He rushed up the steps and his heart almost stopped when he saw the broken door lying halfway across the front yard and scorch marks everywhere. Did something happen to Uncle?

Rushing to the prison cell, he stopped in shock when he saw the steel bars melted and a huge hole in the cell. Looking around miserably, his eyes fell on the semi-conscious form of the warden, lying a few feet away from the broken cell.

He grabbed the warden by his collar, shaking him awake.

"Where is my Uncle?" he growled in anger and fear.

"He's gone" the warden managed to stammer. "He busted himself out… I.. I have never seen anything like it.. he was like a one man army!"


Aang didn't want to believe what was happening. The huge plume of smoke and dust coming from the harbor was proof enough that all their submarines were blown to smithereens. Angry tears spilled down his cheeks as he grabbed his staff tightly.

"Don't worry about us son," Hakoda called back as Sokka, Toph, Aang along with Haru, Teo and the Duke sat on top of Appa. "We will be ok."

"Bye, son." The mechanist looked at Teo sadly.

"Bye, Dad. I am really proud of you."

"I will miss you Pipsqueak."

"Take care, the Duke."

"We lost today but we have never been this close." Hakoda spoke up. "We tasted victory and that counts for something."

"Bye, Dad." Sokka replied sadly. "We won't be apart for long this time. I promise."

Gritting his teeth in anger, Aang slowly wiped off the tears.

"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong." He spoke up. "I am going to make this up to you."


Azula narrowed her eyes, watching as Appa roared across the sky, flying faster and faster away.

"Should we follow them Princess?" the captain asked.

"No," Azula replied. "They are too fast. It doesn't matter, they'll be back."


Zuko watched from the air balloon as the giant bison disappeared across the sky. It didn't matter; he knew where to find them.

Book 3: Fire

Chapter 12: The Western Air Temple