Chapter 25: Dawn attack
Bato sighed heavily when he saw a Fire Nation vessel heading their way in the dawn light. Just how many of these damned things were there? He hurried to Hakoda's tent, where the Chief had just stepped out, appearing fully awake.
"Fire Nation vessel approaching, Hakoda." Bato said as a good morning. "And it's a big one."
Hakoda groaned and rubbed his face irritably.
"Alright, prepare the ships."
Kill two birds with one stone. Azula thought this was a particularly adept phrase for this situation. She and her companions could travel to New Ozai by ship, while at the same time taking care of the Water Tribe rabble - and her brother, who seemed to be annoyingly resistant to death.
"You look happy, Azula!" Ty Lee said, balancing on the railings of the ship.
"My brother is going to be dead soon. And once he is out of my way, perhaps things will go more smoothly." Azula replied mildly.
A conflicted look flashed over Mai's face, but was soon gone before either of her friends noticed.
Zuko watched with interest as the Water Tribe warriors organised themselves to take on this new threat. Katara stood beside him while Sokka ate a chunk of meat at her side. Hakoda walked up to the teenagers, nodding to his son.
"Sokka, I want you to stay and keep an eye on the firebender while I'm gone. You're not to leave his side."
"I won't let you down, Dad!" Sokka said, saluting with the meat still in his hand.
Katara face palmed while Zuko smirked. Hakoda hugged his children tightly before sending a warning look to the firebender.
"I trust you'll behave." He said in a hard voice.
Zuko looked away in irritation, not used to this sort of parental warning, and nodded.
Hakoda left, leaving a handful of warriors behind to watch the camp (and the banished prince in their midst).
"Right." Katara said, turning to Zuko in a business-like manner. "We need to get you out of here."
Sokka started choking on his breakfast, forcing Katara to thump him on the back to dislodge the stuck morsel.
"What?" Sokka managed, breathing hard.
"Sokka, I told him I'd help him leave before you got here."
"I promised Dad I wouldn't let him out of my sight." Sokka said angrily.
"If you help me escape, you won't be for a while." Zuko pointed out, earning a glare from the younger teenager.
"Don't encourage her!" He cried out in exasperation.
"Look, you can either help me leave, or have to put up with me hanging around here. Near your sister." Zuko added for incentive.
Sokka seemed to shrink as he gave Zuko an irritated look.
"Why does the universe hate me?" He moaned.
Katara gave Zuko an impressed smirk before smacking her brother's back.
"Come on, Ideas Guy. Can you think of a good plan?"
Sokka seemed to realise there was no way out of this one, and straightened, holding his chin thoughtfully.
"We could use this raid, but that would look suspicious." He said, pacing."We could wait until tonight..."
Zuko opened his mouth to retort, and without looking, Katara reached over and slapped the back of his head. The firebender shrank away, looking stunned and a little hurt at what she'd done. Katara sent him a glance that clearly said 'Shut up while Sokka's babbling.'.
Azula was bored and annoyed when the Water Tribe ships finally made their way into sight. She smiled and started the first part of her plan - let her brother know she was here.
Sokka opened his mouth to continue, but they all jumped at the sound of an explosion. They turned in time to see lightning pull away from one of the Water Tribe ships, which was on fire.
"Azula." Zuko hissed.
"Dad!" Sokka and Katara cried in unison.
Katara spun around and leapt onto Appa, her brother at her heels.
"Come on! We might need your help!" She cried, holding out her hand to the firebender.
Before he could even make a decision, there was a loud rumbling sound, causing the ground to shake hard. Zuko turned to see six Dai Li standing at the top of the nearby cliffs, and sending a landslide down towards them.
"Yip yip!" Sokka yelled, and Appa immediately jumped into the air.
Handing the reins to his sister, he climbed down onto one of Appa's paws. Keeping an eye on the on-coming rockslide, he reached down.
"Come on!" He yelled to Zuko, who jumped and grabbed the offered hand.
Katara immediately pulled the reins, making Appa ascend and the two young men just miss being squashed. Sokka shoved Zuko ahead of him and into the saddle.
"You owe me one." Sokka said, then returned to his sister, who kissed his cheek.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem. Now let's go help Dad."
Azula smiled as she watched the mighty bison head towards them, roaring defiance. He seemed completely unaware he was carrying extra passengers. The prodigy raised her hand and fired another bolt at the nearest ship, taking out it's mast.
Katara raised her arms, summoning the water from the ocean to put out the flames on the ships.
"Can you get them out of there?" Sokka cried.
"Yeah. I'll give them some cover."
She raised her arms again, but this time a cloud of mist rose from the ocean, blanketing the Fire Nation ships. She then prepared to draw the Water Tribe ships away when she heard Zuko cry out in surprise. The siblings turned and saw to their horror that they had new passengers.
"Where did they come from?"
Moments before the Dai Li attack...
"I can't believe we have to get onto that thing." Mai groaned, looking at Appa from their hiding place.
"I bet he's really soft." Ty Lee exclaimed happily.
Mai rolled her eyes to the heavens and sighed heavily. They waited until the Dai Li started their attack, then rushed forward, leaping up to cling to the back of the saddle, hoping that the bison would be so startled by the falling rocks he wouldn't notice the extra weight. He didn't.
"Stay here, I'll help him." Katara shouted, leaping onto Appa's saddle.
She gathered a stream of water and whipped Ty Lee away from the firebender before she could cut off his chi. Zuko then rushed forward and grabbed Mai's wrist as she tried to throw a handful of blades in his direction. Her other hand came whirling around, nearly catching his face with a large dagger, but he managed to duck. Zuko twisted Mai's arm around behind her back, pressing her own daggers against her back. She sighed heavily.
"Whatever."
Meanwhile, Ty Lee was as usual being a menace. Her fingers were deceptively fast, shooting past Katara's defenses easily. It was only sheer luck that Katara still retained her bending, but it wouldn't last. She needed to trap the acrobat quickly.
When Ty Lee next shot her hand forward, Katara pulled the water in front of her like a shield. As the Fire Nation girl's hand hit the water, it froze, trapping her hand. Ty Lee's eyes widened in surprise, and she jumped back, instinctively hitting the ice with her free hand. Which became encased in the same block of ice.
"Would you mind?" Zuko asked, gesturing to the bored noble he restrained.
Katara moved over and froze Mai's hands behind her. They then pushed the two friends to the back of the saddle, where Katara froze Ty Lee's feet as a precaution.
"What do we do with them now?" Katara wondered, looking over the pair.
"Don't hurt them. Just put them where the Dai Li can find them." Zuko said quietly. "They're victims of Azula like the rest of us."
"What are you talking about!" Ty Lee exclaimed angrily. Seeing anger in the perpetually bubbly girl was surprising. "She's our friend!"
Mai remained silent.
"You two still alive?" Sokka called as made Appa descend towards the Water Tribe ships.
"Yeah, we're fine." Katara responded vaguely. "But you need to detour to the cliffs for a moment. We need to dump some garbage."
Azula was furious. Beyond furious. She couldn't see anything in this thick mist. She didn't know whether Ty Lee and Mai had been successful. And worst of all, this would allow the Water Tribe fleet time to escape.
A guard, having pulled the short straw, nervously approached the vibrating teenager.
"Orders, princess?" He asked, making sure no fear showed in his voice.
"Get us out of this fog. Now."
"Yes, princess." He bowed, then ran full pelt in the opposite direction.
Azula narrowed her eyes and tapped the railings angrily with her sharp nails.
Katara used her bending to pull the two destroyed ships back to shore, the others following behind. The moment Appa landed on the beach, she raced to help with the injured. Sokka and Zuko stood beside the bison, feeling a bit useless.
"If you want to leave, now would be a good time." Sokka said, not looking at the firebender. "Everyone knows you helped us get rid of Azula's friends. If you go now, Dad might not even get that angry."
Zuko moved his gaze to where Katara was healing a man with bad burns to his arms.
"I should say goodbye first." He said slowly.
"Make it quick." Sokka snapped, then walked away, hoping to help somehow.
Zuko straightened his shoulders and walked over to the waterbender, who barely noticed his presence.
"Katara..." He began hesitantly.
"Zuko, I can't talk right now." She said impatiently.
"I know. I just wanted to say thank you." Zuko said quickly.
Katara looked up at him in surprise and confusion.
"What?"
"Thank you. For being a friend when I needed one." He then gave her a rare but genuine smile, small though it was.
It clicked. Katara realised he was saying goodbye. She was surprised to find she didn't want him to leave.
"Thank you for proving I can trust you." She replied, smiling in return.
He nodded then turned and walked away, disappearing amongst the tents. Katara concentrated back on her work, ignoring the tiny part of her that would miss him.
Azula looked quite ready to breathe fire when her friends were brought to her ship, their arms (and in Ty Lee's case, legs) still frozen.
"I'm sorry, Azula." Ty Lee said, looking away.
"You failed me. Again." Azula snarled. She looked at the nearest guard. "Get them free."
Azula stalked away, glaring furiously at the waters beneath the ship. The Water Tribe force would move on quickly now - she'd lost her chance to get them. She turned to her companions, and not for the first time she considered their use.
"If you want something done right..." She said quietly to herself, watching the sun rise above the horizon.
Perhaps it was time to make her mission a solo journey.
Zuko easily avoided the rushing Water Tribe warriors, and the few remaining Dai Li as he nimbly ascended the cliff face still covered in rubble from the rock slide. At the top, he hesitated and looked back. After catching a last glance of the waterbender, he ran steadily through the forest, feeling a strange warmth in his chest - for the first time in his life, he had a friend.
Author's note: so next chapter done a lot sooner than i thought it would be. im almost over my cold, and thanks to everyone for their well-wishes! stuffs finally moving in this, hooray! dont expect the next one this quickly...i have a lot of birthdays coming up to buy gifts for (why is everyone but me born around xmas!) and im having a bit of trouble starting but it shouldnt be too long coming (hopefully). hope your all well and thanks so much for the R&Rs.