A/N: Readers! Thank you once again for reading and reviewing. I love hearing everyone's comments as well as everyone's advice. I've taken suggestions to heart. The romance will definitely stay on solely Amber and Kale ;). Here's part 2 of the battle. I hope you all enjoy! =D

The moon was visible beside the blazing sun. It was almost time for the eclipse. We were through the first barrier and the stone centipede tanks surrounded us to block out fire blasts from the enemy that was still being persistent. Sitting cross legged, I drink water from a canteen trying to rehydrate for the battle that we were still in. Sokka, Hakoda, and another warrior were busy looking at maps trying to figure out our next move. We still had to get up the volcano to reach the palace. We still had a ways to go.

Toph approached me suddenly, and I handed her my canteen. She shot me a thanks and sipped it thirstily. "This has been a long day," I said.

"It's almost over," Toph said, handing the canteen back to me. "You did great breaking through that gate by the way."

I thanked her, my hands fiddling with my bracelets again. "You're doing great too. Your parents would be proud if they knew what you were doing right now."

Toph sighed. "Yeah… They probably have no clue what I'm doing right now."

"Amber!" Looking over, I saw Haru walk over to me. He had a few burns but other than that he looked okay. He smiled when he saw I was okay too. "You were amazing out there! You blew through that gate like it was nothing!"

Standing, I said, "I just want to get this stupid war over with."

He stopped in front of me. "How did you learn to fire bend like that?"

Immediately I felt sweat bead down my forehead. I wasn't ready to tell anyone that I was the spirit of fire. Immediately I tried to come up with a lie. "Um… Just a lot of practice."

Haru looked suspicious. "I've seen fire bending in the past… Your fire is different."

Quickly I tried to come up with something else, but Toph saved me. "Not really… I've seen tons of fire benders like her."

Haru looked at her bewildered. "But your blind," Haru said. He obviously wasn't used to her sarcasm.

Toph smirked. "Glad you noticed." She stepped forward then, snapping, "Got a problem with it?"

Haru held his hands up in surrender. "No! No! Sorry."

Toph laughed. "Just messing with you." She turned and walked over to Sokka who was still looking down at the map.

Sighing, I said, "Sorry about her. She likes to mess with people. She does it to us all the time."

Haru watched her go, and I saw he smiled a bit. "She seems really strong."

"She has to be… It's the only way people will treat her as an equal." He looked at me with question, so I explained, "Toph's parents were very protective of her. They kept her a secret from the world to 'keep her safe'. She hated being treated like a weak blind girl. That's why she came with us… We treated her like an equal."

He frowned. "Wow… She's been through a lot." I looked at Haru with surprise. His eyes were still on Toph. Something told me he didn't have his eyes set on me anymore. Thank goodness!

Tyro suddenly called Haru back, and Haru wished me luck leaving to return to his father. Walking back over to Sokka, I saw he was still analyzing the map.

Bato stood and turned to me. "You fight well, Amber."

I shrugged. "Just trying to do my part in this war."

He placed a hand on my shoulder. "I was wrong about you… You truly are a member of our tribe."

I blushed and said a soft thanks.

"Dad! You're on your feet again!"

Looking over, I saw Sokka stood and was rushing over to dad who had arrived in the stone barricade. My sister was still helping him walk, but he looked like he was doing much better than when we left him. Running over too, I saw him smile at both Sokka and I. Katara helped him sit down, and he shot her a look of gratitude.

"Thanks to your sister. I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help."

Sokka beamed at dad, reassuring him, "Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet."

He nodded. "Let's hope our luck holds out." He looked at Katara then, and I noticed that her eyes were staring off in the distance. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

Katara stepped forward. "Yeah... Is that... is that Aang and Kale?"

Sokka looked shocked. "What?"

My eyes widened and looked to where she was looking. Coming toward us was Aang, and on the back of his glider was Kale holding on for dear life. When Aang landed, Kale quickly let go and rushed over to me. Aang and him both looked really dismayed.

Sokka stood and anxiously asked, "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?"

Kale sighed, hanging his head. "I led Aang through the palace, but no one was there. They somehow knew!"

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

I was baffled. "How could they have known?"

Kale crossed his arms. "They must've suspected there would be an eclipse today and ran."

Aang hung his head defeated. "It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

Sokka crossed his arms. "No. 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 a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."

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

My eyes widened as they spoke this. A memory struck me.

"Where are we going Uncle Iroh?" I asked, holding his hand as my five year old self skipped beside him. We were walking outside the palace walls, heading up the street toward the volcano in the distance.

My uncle looked down at me with a smile. "Your mom wanted me to show you where we go in case an invasion occurs. She wants you to be safe if it ever happens."

I was confused. "Why would an invasion happen?"

Uncle sighed looking forward once more. "We have many enemies, Amber. No need to fear though. The Fire Nation is a strong fortress, so the chance of an invasion is very slim."

"Do we have enemies because grand-pa's mean to a lot of people?"

Uncle nodded. "Yes… That's exactly why."

"Will you be Fire Lord one day?"

Uncle smiled down at me. "Yes… And I plan to stop this war as soon as I'm put on the throne."

"You're nice Uncle Iroh!"

He squeezed my hand. "Thank you for thinking so my dear." He then pointed forward. "We're almost there. The place I'm taking you to is underneath the volcano."

My eyes widened and I clutched my head as it pulsed in pain. "Amber?" Kale caught me as I stumbled a bit, but I smiled letting him know I was okay.

"I know where it is… The memory just came to me," I said.

Katara looked at me amazed. Sokka jumped forward grabbing both of my shoulders and saying eagerly, "Where Amber? Tell me!"

Kale pushed him off a bit. "Whoa… Don't shake her to death." Kale then looked at me with question. "Where is it?"

I pointed toward the volcano. "Beneath the volcano. There's a massive structure underneath. My Uncle took me on a tour when I was five."

Toph beamed. "Nice one Princess! So glad to have you in the group!"

Kale muttered, "Would've been nice if someone had told me about it."

Sokka pulled out a strange device then, with a dial on it. "The Mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about 10 minutes until the full eclipse. 10 minutes to find the Fire Lord."

"We can do it," I said. "We've gotten this far."

"Amber's right! We can still do this. We can still win today," Aang said, confident.

Katara held up her hand. "Wait! If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely."

My dad spoke up now. "Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it."

Sokka looked at Aang, all seriousness. "What do you think? You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

We all looked at Aang waiting for his answer. He held his staff with confidence. "I've got to try."

Sokka nodded, and then he looked at all of us. Toph, Kale, Aang, Sokka, Katara, and myself looked at one another with determination. Sokka quickly said, "Alright… We only have a few minutes to find the secret bunker. Who's coming?"

In the end all of us except for Katara decided to go. Katara was staying with dad, making sure he made it up the volcano in one piece. Quickly we climbed onto Appa, and Sokka set the bison in flight. We took off toward the volcano, all of us glancing at the sun above where the moon was getting closer and closer.

"Amber… Do you remember exactly where the bunker is located?" Sokka asked.

Shaking my head, I said, "No… That part's really fuzzy. Sorry." I hung my head a bit disappointed in myself.

Kale placed a hand on my shoulder saying, "You're fine… You told us enough. We know it's at the volcano so that's something."

Toph nodded. "Yeah. You've helped plenty Princess. Leave the rest to me."

Appa flew to the side of the volcano then, and he landed on a flat spot where we could stand. All five of us slid off Appa and Toph set to work. As Toph tried to see below the earth we waited patiently for her to say something. All of us except Aang who was very anxious.

Aang quickly asked, "Do you feel anything down there?"

Toph nodded. "Yep. There are natural tunnels crisscrossing through the Inside of the volcano."

Sokka jumped in. "Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?"

Toph suddenly knelt down and grabbed the ground with her hands, concentrating on the world below. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."

Sokka grinned, "Sounds like a secret bunker to me."

Great… We had to go underground again. I hated going underground more than anything. There was thick air, and it was cold and dark most of the time. "Here goes nothing," I said softly.

Kale nodded. "We've got this. We're ready."

Aang looked at all of us with serious eyes. "You guys don't have to come. I can go the rest of the way on my own."

I shook my head. "No… We stick together. Family always sticks together."

Kale stepped forward, throwing an arm around Aang's shoulder. "Amber's right. We got your back Aang."

He shot us all looks of relief. He was hoping we didn't let him go alone.

Sokka spoke up then. "Come on guys… Time's wasting. We have five minutes."

Toph pointed over to the side of the volcano. "There's a tunnel right there. It will lead us straight to the bunker below." She thrust her hand forward then and the earth shot back into the volcano creating an entrance to the tunnel. We started to head inside, and Aang told Momo and Appa before we left to wait where they were and stay safe.

As we got farther and farther in the volcano it got darker and darker. Eventually I lit a flame in my hand to light our path. We must've walked for a good whole minute until we reached the actual tunnel. When we got to the larger tunnel, we saw it was lit by magma.

Stopping my flame, I said, "Tip… Don't touch the magma."

Aang said sarcastically, "Gee… Thanks for the warning Amber."

Kale laughed. "Yeah. Great tip!"

We reached a split in the tunnel then, and Toph concentrated once more. "This way," she said, pointing to the left. "The other way's a dead end!" We took off in the direction she pointed.

Sokka exclaimed, "What would we do without you?!"

Toph turned her head with a smile. "Perish and burn in hot magma."

The tunnel started to narrow then, and we ended up having to get on our knees and crawl. Magma flowed beside us, but luckily it was far enough not to burn anyone.

Quickly, I asked as sweat beaded down my forehead, "How much more time do you think we have till the eclipse?"

Sokka said from in front of me, "Probably three minutes. We better hurry."

We eventually reached the end of the tunnel and made it to a large open spaced cavern. The cavern had spouts on the floor that seemed to shoot out hot steam randomly.

Toph pointed forward. "The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker."

Sokka was rash and ran forward toward one of the vents that was about to spew some very hot steam. I knew it was about to burst because I felt the heat in the spout begin to increase. "Sokka! Stop!" He stopped a few inches away from the spout, just far enough not to be burned to bits. The hot steam spouted and shot up in front of him, and he fell back from the steam with a gasp. Kale ran forward and helped my brother up pulling him back.

Aang looked worried. "How do we get by? We don't know which ones are going to shoot out burning stuff next!"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "I just sensed that Sokka was about to be blown to smithereens." The group looked at me with surprise. "I can sense the heat below. I know which ones are going to erupt."

Toph stepped aside and waved her hand forward with a smirk. "Lead the way my Princess."

I glared at her, and I wished she could see it. Ignoring her smart aleck tone, I said, "Keep close to me."

We raced across the large cavern then, and I managed to direct the gang around the spouts that were about to burst. When we reached the edge of the cavern, everyone looked relieved and thankful for my help. Sokka pulled his time dial out to see how much time was left before the eclipse. "Two minutes! Let's move!"

We rushed along, but immediately I grabbed Kale and Aang before they fell off the ledge in front of us. We'd reached another cavern like area, and this one was covered with lava flowing by.

Sokka looked worried, staring down at the flowing lava. "What do we do now?"

Aang sighed. "I can't fly us all across the cavern. We have to turn and go another way."

Sokka rubbed his face as his hope started to sway. "This day just isn't our day."

Toph said, "I would try and bend a bridge, but the only earth around us is cooled magma."

Kale pondered over all of this. "There has to be something we can use."

While the group pondered I set to work. Shutting my eyes, I felt warmth flow through my body as my spiritual self began to give me strength. Taking in a deep breath, I concentrated on the mass of heat around us. Immediately I drew the heat from the air, my hand tingling as I caused the flowing hot magma to cool. As I took more heat from the river around us, I heard Roku say, "Following in my footsteps and battling a volcano… I'm very proud."

I smiled, glad to hear Roku. My power increased even more as I cooled more of the lava flowing by. I heard voices in the background, but I honestly wasn't sure who was talking. Instead I concentrated on the heat that was quickly starting to fade. The sound of rushing lava around me began to fade as well, and I heard cracking as the hot liquid became solid. When I no longer felt heat, I stopped and opened my eyes. Looking out at what I had done, I saw with relief that the magma was cool and had hardened.

"Amber… You just cooled a whole river of lava!" Aang exclaimed.

The glow around me faded, and as the glow faded I felt my strength fade. Dropping to the ground, I gasped for air trying to collect myself. My heart pounded hard and my vision blurred.

"Amber!" Sokka cried.

Quickly, I breathed out, "Go… I just… need to… catch… my breath…"

"We'll wait," Aang said.

Trying to sit up, I found the strength. "No… Go before the magma starts to come again. I'll catch up."

Sokka, Aang, and Toph looked unsure, but Kale told them he'd stay with me. They nodded and took off, all three jumping off the ledge and landing on the magma I had just cooled. While they were gone, I tried to catch my breath.

"The only thing that sucks about being the spirit of fire in a human body… It really takes a toll out of you," I said, trying to find my balance.

Kale helped me up, and I felt him brush strands of hair out of my eyes. "We're almost done. We just have a little ways more to go."

"After this, I have a feeling we're all going to sleep good tonight," I joked.

Kale nodded, smiling at my humor.

Heat started to radiate near us again, and I gasped. "Come on… We have to go." Taking Kale's hand, we both managed to jump off the edge of the small ledge and land a few feet down on the cooled magma. The lava was starting to flow again, but Kale and I managed to make it across the cooled river in enough time. We reached the other side and Kale hoisted me up on the ledge. Quickly I turned and grabbed his hand helping him up on the ledge also. When we were both safely across, we watched as the cooled magma began to break up and hot lava started to form again. "Come on," Kale said. "We need to catch up to the others."

We ran through the tunnel then, rushing steeply down. Finally we ran to where a metal door once stood. Toph must've used metal bending to break the door open. Going through we stepped into a metal hall, and we found the hall was lit by torches. Kale and I ran the way we hoped Aang and the others had gone. Rushing through the dimly lit hall we turned a corner and I bumped into someone hard.

The man fell back on the ground, and I stumbled back into Kale. Kale caught me. The man on the ground shot his eyes up at me with terror. He was wearing a fine fire nation robe and he held his hands in front of his face terrified. "Please! I already told your friends. The Fire Lord's chamber is that way down the hall to the left and up the stairs. You can't miss it."

Kale laughed, and we looked at him in surprise. "War minister Qin… Glad to see your true colors," Kale said.

The man on the ground looked at Kale with amazement. "You… You're that tea server boy! Wha- what are you doing fighting with the enemy you traitor?!"

Grabbing the man by his robe collar, I hissed, "He's helping your princess end this war once and for all."

The man's eyes almost bugged out of his sockets. "You… Princess Amber… You're dead…"

Kale grabbed me and pulled back to keep me from frying the dude. "Come on Amber. Let's go."

We left the man on the ground completely stunned as we raced the way he told us to go. Running down the hall, we turned to the left and rushed up some stairs. When we got into the new hall, we saw in front of us a large door that was already wide open. Voices could be heard on the other side.

"I had a hunch that you survived. It doesn't matter, I've known about the invasion for months," Azula's voice said, echoing through the hall. My eyes widened. What was my sister doing here? Was Zuko here too?

Sokka's voice spoke now as we got closer to the door. "What? How could you possibly have known about the eclipse?"

My sister answered, "I was disguised as a Kyoshi warrior. I heard some rumors going around back at Ba Sing Sei."

A growl came from my brother.

Entering the room, I found a large massive throne room. Seated on the throne in the room was Azula, a smirk on her face as she stared at Sokka, Toph, and Aang who stood across from her with fury. Sokka had his sword drawn, and Toph and Aang were in stances ready to fight.

Aang stepped forward. "Where is he? Where is the Fire Lord?"

Azula faked being insulted. "Hm, you mean I'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings."

Sokka snapped brandishing his sword toward Azula, "Stop wasting our time and give us the information. You're powerless right now so you're in no position to refuse."

Toph added, "And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar." Azula stood then and said with an expressionless face, "I am a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

Toph looked shocked. "Okay you're good, I admit it." She then pointed a finger at Azula. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway."

My sister cackled. "Right… And what if I-"

"Azula!" I snapped, cutting her off. "Where is the Fire Lord?"

The sound of my voice startled everyone, but I didn't look at their faces. I kept my eyes pointed straight at my sister. Her eyes widened, her skin paled, and her jaw dropped. She looked like she was seeing a ghost. She immediately fell back on her throne, her eyes looking me over with terror.

"You… I shot you! I watched you die! You died!" Azula had tears form in her eyes.

Stepping past Sokka, Aang, and Toph, I knew they were anxious for me not to approach. I ignored them though and stepped closer to my sister. The eclipse had already started, so I wasn't concerned about my sister firing at me.

"You're really that surprised… I already came back from the dead once before. Why does this surprise you?"

Azula looked so weak. She looked so heartbroken. She held so much pain on her face. She always acted like a monster, but right now she looked like a fourteen year old who held the death of her sister on her shoulders. "I killed you," she whispered. "You died."

"You didn't kill me Azula… I never died."

Walking up to her, I heard Aang ask softly, "Shouldn't we stop her?"

Kale spoke up. "No… Let Amber do this."

Stopping only a foot from Azula's throne, I looked down at her with all seriousness. She looked at me with complete and utter loss. "I don't blame you for what happened back in Ba Sing Sei, Azula. I don't blame you for anything that happened in the past."

Aang muttered, "I do." Then he grunted as Kale elbowed him in the side to shut him up.

"How can you not blame me?" Azula snapped, standing now with crazed eyes. "I killed you!"

"You didn't kill me," I said again. "You may have injured me, but you didn't kill me. You don't have to keep putting all this weight on your shoulders."

She had tears streaming down her cheeks now. "How can you treat me so kindly? How can you just let me killing you slide?! I killed you! I shot lightning at you!"

"Because I forgive you," I explained.

The room fell silent for a moment. Azula looked at me with surprise. Her eyes stared into my own with so much loss, uncertainty, fear, and weakness. She was taken so off guard, something that rarely ever happened to her. She was speechless and unsure what to say. That was probably the first time in Azula's whole life she'd heard the word forgive said to her.

"Look Azula… I know why you're doing what you're doing. You're afraid of being alone. You're afraid the Fire Lord will banish or kill you just as he tried to do to Zuko and myself. He has you wrapped tightly around his little finger, and it's because you're afraid of him. He knows your weakness, and he's using it against you. You want to be loved by someone… You want to feel like you're wanted…"

Azula dropped her gaze as she continued to listen to what I was saying.

"I love you, Azula… I'm your sister, and your mine. We're family, and the Fire Lord can never destroy that. You don't have to follow him around like he's the last of your family. You have me, Zuko, and Uncle. We're a family that the Fire Lord will never be able to break apart."

The room fell silent once again as I let Azula take in everything I had said. She fell on her knees, sobs suddenly escaping her as she actually heard what I was telling her. Kneeling in front of her, I said, "Listen to me… We don't have much time… Where is the Fire Lord?"

Azula shook her head wildly, her nose dripping as more tears escaped her. Taking her shaking hand in my own, I said, "Please, Azula… Help me."

She shook her head again, and I heard her say, "I can't… I can't betray him. I won't betray him."

Sighing, I stood and turned to the others. They were looking at me speechless with complete disbelief. "How much time do we have?"

Sokka quickly jumped out of his state of shock. "Um… Eight minutes till the eclipse ends. We need to find out something if we want to beat-"

A cry escaped me suddenly as earth shot up underneath me and flung me up in the air. Falling back to the ground hard, I landed on the dirt hitting my head. My vision went a bit fuzzy, but I could hear Azula say, "No! I won't betray father! He does love me! You're wrong!"

"Oh crap! It's Dai Li agents!" Sokka's panic was very blurry. "What are they doing here?"

Azula tried to gather herself and push back her sobs. With a tight voice she said, "They came with me from Ba Sing Sei."

Someone grabbed me suddenly. "Amber! Come on! Focus!" My head was splitting, but I managed to focus enough to see Aang shaking my shoulder to try and get me to come to. When he saw I was more focused, he helped me to my feet. Looking over, I saw Azula gritting her teeth to stop her tears. Two Dai Li agents were flanked on both sides of her ready to fight.

A fight broke out then. Aang used his staff and shot a hard gust of wind toward my sister and the two Dai Li agents. The agents thrust their hands up and a large stone wall emerged blocking the gust of wind. Everyone ran toward Azula and the agents then, and I watched as Toph bent the earth away so they could get through. The Dai Li agents shot earth up beneath Toph, Sokka, Kale, and Aang's feet, but they were all able to avoid it.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Azula run past the fight and to a door. Racing after her, I slid in the hall she went in and saw her form running as fast as she could from me. "Azula! Stop!" She turned down another hall, and I turned too trying to catch up to her. "Azula!"

Shooting my hand forward, I shot up a wall of fire in front of her so the hall in front of her was blocked. She came to a skid gasping when she saw the bright colorful flames in front of her. She couldn't fire bend through the flames so she had no choice but to turn around with wide eyes.

"How can you fire bend?!" She asked, completely confused to why I could bend and she could not.

Catching my breath, I said to her, "Because… I'm not connected to the sun like you all are. My fire comes from myself."

Azula stared at me with shock, then fury. "So you really are a freak then!"

She stepped forward, and I held my hands up in surrender. "I don't want to fight you Azula. Can't we just talk?"

She growled. "You can't win me over with your sister love crap!" She rushed forward and took a swing at me with her hand. Using my warrior skills, I grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back. She gasped as I forced her hand behind her. While I was holding tightly to her wrist, I kicked her off her feet and she landed on the ground face first.

"Stop Azula… I don't want to hurt you," I said, letting go of her hand. My sister scrambled to her feet and backed away from me with great agony. She didn't back too far since there was still a wall of fire behind her.

She was hurting so much on the inside. She was struggling with her own inner demons. Her heart was probably telling her to listen to me, but her mind was probably telling her to kill me. Stepping forward, I said, "You don't have to keep going down this path… Help us fight against the Fire Lord."

Azula scowled. "Why? To end this war? I like this war! I like the idea of the Fire Nation winning! I'm not a traitor like you and Zuko!" She glared daggers at me. "You can't change my mind by calling me your sister! I hate you!" Her voice broke when she spoke the last three words. She didn't hate me. The Fire Lord just made her think she hated me.

"You can hate me all you want Azula," I said. "But I'm not giving up on you. You deserve better than just the Fire Lord."

Azula clutched her hair, her eyes shut tightly as she felt her thoughts run wildly. "I'm a monster… Why would you care for me? I've only ever been seen as a monster in this family!"

"I've met a monster before," I began, thinking back to Hei Bai. "He may have looked and acted like a monster on the outside, but on the inside he was as scared and angry as you are now. With a little help, he was able to find peace."

Azula turned away from me, and she snapped, "I don't need your help!"

"But I need your help," I said. "I want to fix this Azula, and I can't do it unless you let me." Azula stood, and I saw her shoulders slump as she began to accept what I was saying.

The ground shook beneath us suddenly, and I gasped when Azula was shoved to the wall abruptly and held against it by a rocky stalagmite. She growled and struggled trying to escape her stone restraints. Everything we had just discussed no longer mattered anymore. She was furious again. "Let me go!"

"Princess. Are you alright?" Toph asked. Looking back the way I had come earlier, I saw her and the others had caught up to us. The Dai Li agents must've been beaten.

Nodding, I killed the wall of fire still blazing behind me. "Yeah… I was just talking."

Azula tried to compose herself. "You all are going to get it when I'm through with you!"

Aang pointed his staff at her chin, and snapped, "Is that a threat?"

Sokka grabbed Aang's shoulder. "Stop. Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us."

My sister scowled, not very happy Sokka had discovered her plans.

Toph pointed an accusing finger at her. "You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!"

Stepping forward, I went to interject but Sokka grabbed my arm pulling me back.

"Sokka!" I complained, trying to yank from his hand.

Aang lowered his staff and looked at Sokka with question. None of them rushed to help me get out of my brother's grasp. Aang asked, "Okay, so what do we do? Just ignore her?"

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

He forced me to come with him, and I looked back at my sister heartbroken that I couldn't get through to her. There had to be a way to get Azula to see how much I cared about her. Kale walked beside me, and I saw him looking at me with sorry eyes. I hung my head knowing I wouldn't be able to stop us from walking away.

"It's a trap!" My sister suddenly shouted after us, trying to stall us some more. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Sokka scowled. "Ignore!"

My sister quickly tried another method, and this time it worked. "So, Sokka's your name right. My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time." Sokka jerked to a stop, and he turned forcing me to turn too. I winced under his grip. "She was convinced that you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came and she gave up on you."

Sokka let me go and stormed up to my sister who was trying hard to hide the emotions she wanted to let out. While he marched up to my sister, I rubbed my arm where it pulsed a bit in pain. This was not going the way I thought it would.

Sokka got right to my sister's face and punched the earth right beside her. Pieces of dirt fell from where his knuckles broke the earth. His eyes watered and he gritted his teeth as he spat at Azula, "Where is Suki?!"

I went to go intervene but Kale grabbed me to stop me. Great… Go from being restrained by one person to the other.

My sister didn't answer at first, so Sokka asked again, "Where's Suki?! Answer me!"

Aang stepped forward, intervening for me. He grabbed Sokka's shoulder pulling him away a bit. "Sokka, she won't talk."

My brother yanked from Aang and clutched his hand into a tight fist. He was against hitting girls, but I could tell he really wanted to take a swing at Azula. "Where are you keeping her?!"

The sound of an explosion suddenly echoed through the hall we were in. We all jumped by the noise, and I gasped when I realized what was going on. The eclipse was over. Azula had managed to distract us. We failed.

"Looks like the fire bending's back on," my sister said, almost relieved.

She breathed in and I yanked from Kale running forward. Shoving Sokka out of the way, we both landed on the ground as hot blue fire shot over our heads from Azula's mouth. Azula then used her fire to cause the stalagmite around her to break and burst into pieces. We all shielded our heads as rock flew at us.

Azula took off down the hall then, but she stopped looking back at us. Sokka and I were to our feet again, and I stared at my sister with disbelief. She frowned when she met my eyes, and looked away. Staring at the others, she tried to hide her emotions behind a cold mask. "Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to see you now." She turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at me. She looked sorry. "Thanks for the talk sis." She then took off and disappeared down the hall.

"I fell for it! I used up all our time," Sokka cried, clutching his hair in guilt.

Toph tried to cheer him up. "It's not your fault, Sokka. Azula was ready for us. She had every move planned out."

Kale sighed. "It's too late. Let's just get out of here."

Aang shook his head. "Maybe it's not too late. The eclipse is over but I can face the Fire Lord anyway."

Sokka shook his head. "No. I don't think that's a good idea."

"But I'm ready! I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me."

Toph spoke up. "The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't. It just wasn't our day. What we need to do now is go help our friends."

"I'm sorry… I thought I could get through to her," I said softly, my heart pained from my failure to win my sister back.

Sokka placed a hand on my shoulder trying to comfort me. "You and Aang both will have another chance. I know you will. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here."

Kale sighed. "Guess we should head back the way we came."

We did just that. Rushing back down the hall, we ran back through the destroyed throne room, back down the other halls, and back up the tunnel. When we reached the river of lava, I quickly cooled the lava once more stopping the hot liquid and turning it to hard rock. When I finished, I stumbled a bit but caught myself.

"Hurry," Sokka said.

We all raced across the cooled magma, Aang flying ahead. When we got to the ledge on the other side, Aang reached his hand down and helped us all up onto the ledge. When we were all safely across, we ran once more through the tunnels. Racing through the room with the vents of hot steam, I led the way once more getting everyone safely across. We reached the last tunnel afterward and managed to get back out of the volcano.

Getting back outside, we all winced at the bright sunlight blinding us. Adjusting, I saw from the distance the fire benders were attacking the troops again. The troops were at the palace, and they looked like they were starting to panic.

Quickly we climbed on Appa, and Aang set him to fly away from the volcano down toward where dad and Katara were. We landed in the city square, and I tried hard not to think that I was at the very place where so much suffering had occurred.

All of us slid off Appa, and Katara and dad came to greet us. Sokka hung his head as he prepared to tell the bad news. "It was all a trap. Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move. We just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."

Looking up, I suddenly saw with terror five giant war balloons flying up ahead. Behind those war balloons were five even larger air ships. They were heading toward us, and I knew our fight wasn't over. Pointing at the giant flying machines, I asked, "Should we do something about them?"

Aang nodded. "Yeah. I'm going up there. They've got air power, but so do I!" He opened his glider proving his point. "I'm going to do what I can to slow them down." Aang took off in the air then, and I saw Katara rush over to Appa.

Running after her, I said, "I'm coming too."

She nodded and we both climbed onto Appa. Katara set him flying once again. While she did this I heard Sokka shout, "Everyone, let's get back to the subs!"

We flew quickly toward the sky, both of us prepared to save our friends and family by slowing down the war balloons. Aang flew beside us a second after our take off, saying, "You two take out the ones on the right. I'll go left." We nodded and watched as Aang flew toward the airships to the left of us.

Katara quickly strategized. "I'll fly in between both of the airships. You take out one and I'll get the other."

I nodded. "First we have to take out the balloons first."

Katara looked at the smaller machines flying in front of the war ships. "We've got it."

Katara stood on one side, water drawn and ready, while I stood on the other side, my fire blazing in my hand. We were shot at by benders in the war balloons, but the flames missed us terribly. With a hard burst of fire, I shot a blast at the balloon and the whole thing burst into flames. The balloon went down, and looking back at Katara I saw she'd managed to knock her balloon out of the sky too.

Looking straight forward again, we saw more clearly how big the five air ships were. They stretched a good forty feet, and they were a good thirty feet tall. They were also made completely out of metal.

Aang rejoined us suddenly, and we saw why. The ships were starting to fire mass amounts of fire balls at us. Appa jerked to the side, up, and down trying to avoid the hot blasts of fire. Katara and I tried to block as many as we could, but there were too many fire benders on the ship.

We couldn't get close enough to the ships for Aang and Katara to take them down, but maybe I could do something. While Aang and Katara continued to dodge and block fire balls, I felt my spiritual self take over once more. Power filled inside me as I stared at the large air ship to my right. With a hard blast of fire, I shot at one air ship and to my surprise the ship exploded and caught fire as soon as my flame hit it. The explosion caused us to have to fly down so pieces of the ship didn't hit us. The fire benders stopped firing at us when they saw what I'd done to the air ship. As the air ship went down, Katara said, "That was great Amber!"

The fire started up again though, and we gasped as Appa began to dodge the flames again. Katara shouted to Aang then, "Amber took out one, but she won't be able to fight them all. We can't keep them all back. There are too many of them!"

Aang nodded. "Let's join the others."

We flew away from the air ships then, and I watched as the one I had managed to shoot down fell to the earth. It hit the ground and exploded creating a large burst of flames.

We found the others already out of the city and making their way down the volcano. The troops were trying hard to keep their spirits up, but I could tell everyone was scared. Landing where dad, Kale, Toph, and Sokka were, we slid off of Appa to join them.

"There were too many," Katara said. "Amber took out one airship, but they were firing at us too much to take another."

My dad smiled encouragingly at us. "You all did your best. Let's focus on getting back to the subs."

Shadows suddenly came over us, and we all looked up in terror. The air ships were now hovering above. Sokka quickly shouted to all the other troops, "Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs."

All of the troops were lucky to have at least one earth bender near them. Every troop found themselves under a slab of earth to block the bombs that were about to fall. Appa managed to fit under out own piece of cover that Toph had made us. The bombs came at us quickly, and we all cringed at the shaking earth above us. We were losing, and I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that something terrible was going to happen to us.

The airships passed us then, and we watched them fly away from us with shock. I felt dread fill inside me as I understood why they were no longer focused on us.

Katara asked, "Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?"

Hanging my head, I said, "Because we're not the ones their after. They're going to destroy the submarines so we can't escape."

Aang saw what I was seeing. "Amber's right. They're headed toward the beach!"

Sokka looked horrified. "How are we all going to escape?"

My father took charge then. "We're not."

Sokka nodded. "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win!"

My father placed a reassuring hand on my brother's shoulder. "Yes, with the Avatar we could still win on another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together."

My eyes widened. Katara quickly cried to dad, "What? We can't leave you behind. We won't leave anyone behind."

My dad tried to calm her. "You're our only chance in a long run. You, Amber, and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive."

Turning, I cried, "No! We're not going to leave you!"

My dad placed his hand on my shoulder saying, "I'll be fine Amber."

Other warriors had arrived to us by now. There was Bato, Tyro, Haru, Teo and his dad, and Pipsqueak and the Duke. Kuro and Coal had also arrived, and I saw they were too dismayed by the events that occurred.

Bato stepped forward and said to my sister, "The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners but we'll all survive this battle."

Tyro added in, "I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to be easy but we'll get by."

My heart ached at the thought of my father being a prisoner to the Fire Lord. My heart ached at the thought of all these people being prisoner to the Fire Lord. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and Kale came to my side pulling me to him.

Sokka gasped. "They're already at the beach!"

We looked over across the land toward the water in the distance. The air ships were already at the water, and we watched with complete and utter loss as they bombed the submarines in the distance. Our last hope for escape was completely destroyed.

This war would never end it seemed.

My father shouted to everyone, "We may have lost this battle, but this isn't the end." The warriors on other parts of the volcano were listening to him. "The avatar is still with us. As long as he lives we have hope that one day this war will end!" The crowd all cheered then, and everyone felt a little better by my father's encouragement.

Bato turned to us saying, "You all need to go before the air ships come back. You don't have much time."

We all said our goodbyes then, first Sokka giving dad a hug and then Katara. I was last. Rushing into my father's arms, I felt tears pour from my eyes as I held my dad close to me. He hugged me close to him as well, as if this would be the last time we'd see each other. "You've made me so proud," he said. He kissed me on the forehead and pulled away. Both of us were greatly pained to be separated again.

"I love you dad," I said.

He brushed my hair out of my face. "I love you too sunshine."

Turning, I went to join the others who were helping to get Teo onto Appa. As Toph lifted the kid with some earth, his father helped place him onto Appa's saddle. They shared a hug, not wanting to be separated but knowing they had to be. Haru hugged his father too, and I saw they were hurting terribly at the thought of Tyro going back to prison. The Duke looked heartbroken as Pipsqueak helped him on Appa. Kale was wishing his brother goodbye too, and I saw Kuro smirk and say, "I'll see you real soon bro. Stay out of trouble."

Aang walked over to me, and I felt him nudge my arm. "You okay?" he asked.

Hanging my head a bit, I said, "Yeah… I just wish we could do something. It's not fair that we escape and they all suffer."

Aang sighed. "We'll make this right. We'll stop this war."

"Come on guys," Katara suddenly said. She walked over to us with sad eyes. "We have to go."

Katara and I climbed up on Appa. Sokka and Kale were already on the saddle, and they both reached down helping us up. When everyone was on Appa, and Aang sat at the front with Momo on his shoulder, he stood and looked at all the troops around us.

Clutching his staff in his hand he said to everyone, "Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you."

Sitting in the saddle, I hung my head as Appa took flight. Today had not gone how any of us had planned it to go. As we flew through the sky, I looked around to see all the kids around me were greatly saddened by everything that had occurred. Toph sat back against the saddle, her clouded eyes filling with tears. Katara leaned against Sokka and he comforted her hanging his head in defeat also.

Kale sighed, and I felt him pull me to him and press his face into my hair.

Aang said over the wind around us, "I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while. The Western Air Temple."

As everyone fell silent, feeling nothing but defeat from today's events, I looked out toward the sky asking Roku, "Do you think they'll be okay?"

He didn't answer, and I could tell he was upset about today too. We'd all failed. We couldn't find the Fire Lord, I couldn't get through to my sister, and now our friends and family would all be imprisoned by the Fire Nation.

Would we ever win?

Third Person POV

Zuko thrust his hand forward shooting more fire into the furnace on the hot air balloon he was in. He scowled as he recalled the conversation he'd had with his father. He couldn't believe what he'd heard. Everything Amber had said was true. Everything he was told from his dad in the past had been a lie.

Zuko had stormed into the Fire Lord's secret chamber about thirty minutes ago, his swords drawn ready to talk to his father and get the truth. The Fire Lord had been seated on a pedestal cross legged, and when he saw his son enter he scowled. The eclipse had already started so he couldn't attack his son. "Why are you here?"

Zuko held his ground and pointed his sword at his father. "I'm here to tell the truth."

His father grinned. "Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting." He called his guards away who were on alert when they saw the prince who was brandishing swords. They left the room in obedience.

Zuko spoke again, "First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me."

His father looked surprised. "Why would she lie to me about that?"

"Because the Avatar is not dead. He survived."

The Fire Lord looked alarmed. "What?"

Zuko smirked. "In fact, he probably is leading this invasion. He could be on us right now."

He stood and pointed a finger at Zuko with rage. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you."

Zuko stood his ground and pointed his sword at the Fire Lord. "That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore!"

He stepped toward Zuko looking ready to kill. "You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!"

Zuko held his swords farther out as if telling his father to come any closer. "Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen."

The Fire Lord went to argue again, but realized he had no choice but to sit down and shut up. Zuko lowered his swords a bit and prepared to get the information he wanted out of his father.

"I learned a lot during the three years I was banished. I learned who to trust and who not to trust. I learned about loyalty, family, and love. I learned about myself and what I truly wanted. For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn." He gritted his teeth as he continued. "My father, who challenged me; a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"

His father spat, "It was to teach you respect."

"It was cruel! And it was wrong!"

"Then you have learned nothing!"

Zuko shook his head. "No, I've learnt everything! And I had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

His father looked amused. "Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"

Zuko shook his head. "No… Amber has."

The Fire Lord glared daggers at Zuko. "How dare you mention that name in here? I've mourned enough over your sister."

Zuko scowled. "Oh. Have you? Tell me something… When you found out my sister was actually alive, what were the feelings going through you. Were they relief and elation knowing your little girl was alive, or were they fear and uncertainty? I know what they were… You were afraid that Amber would come back here. You were afraid that she would tell the whole nation you tried to have her killed when she was a child. Admit it! Admit that you tried to have my sister killed!"

"Yes," The Fire Lord hissed. "If you want the truth, then yes. I did try to have your sister killed. I ordered that stupid man Zhao to snatch her from the palace and dump her in the South Pole's waters. That oaf was too weak to fulfill his duties, and so that freak of a child escaped. I wish every day I had been the one to just end that creature's life. To burn her with my own hands!"

Zuko couldn't believe it. Amber had told the truth. His father was the one who ordered her kidnapping and death. His father was the one that took Amber from him. "You monster! She was just a six year old girl!"

"She was half spirit! A freak! I would not allow her to overthrow me in the future!"

Zuko stopped breathing. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew! Ursa told me everything! The baby was dying, and she had to save the runt, so to do so she turned the creep into a half spirit child! I know everything!" The Fire Lord stood with malice toward his son. "And you know what. I'm ecstatic that your sister is truly dead! If only your mom was dead too! I could've knock two birds off with one stone!"

"Mom… What happened that night?!" Zuko asked, his grip on his swords tightening.

His father snarled. "My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son. And I was going to do it. Your mother had found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared. Your Mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."

Zuko was in shock. His mom was alive. His mom was actually alive. "She's alive."

"Sadly," his father hissed. "No fear though son. Your punishment will be the same fate as Amber's."

His father jumped forward then and shot lightening at Zuko. Zuko dropped his swords and managed to stick his fingers out just in time. Lightening coursed through him and went out his other hand shooting back at his father. While his dad was blown back, Zuko grabbed his swords and took off.

After Zuko escaped his father he had run to the Fire Nation prison hold to go free his uncle. His uncle had already escaped though, and so Zuko left and ran back outside to find a way to escape. He managed to find the war chamber in the palace where the hot air balloons were and steal one. Now he was following behind the giant flying air bison in the sky.

Sighing, Zuko plopped down on the floor of the hot air balloon basket. Hanging his head, he said softly, "I'm sorry Amber… I'm sorry for not believing you. I'm going to make things right though. I will avenge your death by taking down our father once and for all."

He stared out across the sky at the beast flying ahead of him. He hoped Amber's friends would listen to what he had to say. He hoped they'd accept him. He wanted a second chance.

A/N: So that was the chapter! Let me know what you guys thought. Next chapter is Amber and Zuko's reunion. ;)