Barely seven chapters ago Azula and Izanami were busy conquering the Earth Kingdom and now they're off to face the invasion together. This chapter is a bit iffy with me since it's basically just the entire battle told in Izanami's POV without any real substance so I don't know how I feel about it. It's obvious that this chapter takes place during the Day of Black Sun Part One and Two and I hope that you guys enjoy it.


In the Thick of Things


On the first day of the eighth month of the superior military monkey year, the Day of Black Sun arrived. When day finally broke, Izanami found herself situated at the Fire Nation Grand Plaza along with all of the other top military elites. Knowing that she was about to take part in one of the greatest battles in recent history was enough to send a wave of nerves through Izanami. This was without a doubt the most nerve-racking moment of Izanami's life so far and to make it worse, Azula wasn't even going to be there to get her through it.

While Izanami would be at the forefront of the action, Azula was waiting at the secret underground bunker in case the Avatar and his friends managed to figure out that was where the Fire Lord was. They had all but assumed that once their enemies had figured out that there was nobody in the Capital City that they would then try finding where he was actually hiding. Everyone else had been shipped off to wait at one of the nearby islands while the main important figures hid in the bunker. Even though the Fire Nation was being invaded, Fire Lord Ozai still needed to be in a place where he could lead them.

Although Izanami wouldn't be taking part in any of the major fighting, she was still going to play an important role in the invasion. She would be acting as the reinforcements so in case anyone needed anything, Izanami was there to give whatever it was to them. At the same time, Izanami was expected to step in and defend her country if it was required of her. For her own sake, Izanami was hoping that she wouldn't have to use force against anyone who wasn't asking for it. But if it came down to it, Izanami was willing to do what she needed to in order to protect herself. Since her father would be taking part in the invasion, Izanami was just hoping that she'd be able to pull through without attracting any unwanted attention to herself.

Out of nowhere, a loud bell sound suddenly went off which meant to alert them of any intruders presence. If Izanami was being completely honest, she was actually surprised that they had shown up since the whole time she had been apprehensive that they would see their plan through to the end. Sure enough, five objects emerged from the water and their attacks came out for battle while being ambushed with explosives. At first, Izanami was amazed at how they had managed to get themselves into the Royal Plaza before she wondered what on earth they had travelled in, since they didn't look like any vehicles Izanami had seen before.

"Everyone, get into positions!" a voice boomed over all of the chaos.

That was enough to snap Izanami out of her brief daze and back into action, since it was time for her to play her part and do what was expected. There was a lot writing on how Izanami performed today and she didn't want to give her parents anymore reasons to be angry with her. After the way she acted at dinner the other night, her parents had been giving her the stink eye and Izanami was just hoping that she could do something to get them off her back.

It seemed as though their opposition had come in swinging with full force, since they seemed to have these earthbending tanks that Izanami had also never seen before. To think she thought that the Fire Nation was the most innovative country with their battle strategies. What came even more surprising was when a large figure of vines suddenly emerged from the water, using it's arms to grab hold of their tanks and slamming them against each other. That certainly wasn't something that you saw in every battle.

Luckily for Izanami, she wasn't anywhere near that chaos when it happened as she made her way down to the ground before joining the rest of the soldiers with her reinforcements. When Izanami's nerves started creeping back in, she chose to push them away and focus on the job at hand, remember Azula's words of wisdom before they parted ways. This would probably be the first and only time that Izanami would actually take Azula's advice, but given the situation that she was in, she could certainly use it.

On her right, Izanami could see a small figure in blue disarm one of their soldiers on the rhinos before taking charge. Upon recognising it as the Water Tribe boy whom was friends with the Avatar, Izanami looked around to see if she could spot the Avatar anywhere nearby. When she didn't find him, Izanami figured that they had either sent him off to face Ozai on his own or that he really had died and that they were just making the most of the opportunity that the eclipse presented to them.

When Izanami noticed that the Water Tribe boy and another warrior had taken out their soldiers, Izanami quickly rushed over to their aid as she did what was expected of her and got them back on their feet. Once she was dismissed, Izanami noticed the waterbender and her brother boarding their bison before taking off into the air. At first, Izanami didn't know what it was that they were doing until a loud explosion came from one of their battlements and then another.

"They're taking out the battlements!" Izanami yelled to anyone that could hear her.

Either because nobody heard what she was saying or they didn't care enough, Izanami's words were ignored. Knowing that their battlements were imperative for the Fire Nations success, Izanami knew that she'd have to think of something to give them the upper hand. Although Izanami wasn't exactly thrilled about taking part in the war, she didn't want to risk the consequences that would come for her from the other side, even if she did feel like she deserved them.

Noticing that the invasion force was slowly making their way towards the end of the plaza, Izanami knew that she had to do something. Thinking quickly, Izanami ran towards the plaza entrance on the ground and unleashed a powerful blast of firebending to create a wall of fire to defend her people. Even though Izanami didn't necessarily agree with what her people believed in or how they acted, they were still her people and she was obligated to defend them.

That seemed to be enough to draw their enemies back for a fair bit, until their earthbenders started launching earth over the fire to bring it down. At one point, Izanami noticed that the bison landed back on the ground before glancing around to see that almost all of their battlements had been taken out. A few moments ticked by before the earthbending tanks rearranged themselves and the Water Tribe boy jumped back onto the bison.

"Charge!" he yelled.

The invasion force did just that as they headed towards the tower that blocked them from heading to the Capital City. Much to Izanami's frustration, her firebending trick seemed to do nothing as the earthbenders quickly used their earthbending to make a path while the waterbenders used their bending to put it out. Though, Izanami couldn't help but notice how their waterbenders were hardly wearing any clothes. Either that was some weird battle strategy or that was how they actually dressed. Izanami was leaning more towards the latter.

With their opponents heading towards them in full force, Izanami was beginning to worry that despite them obviously outnumbering them, they were going to be able to undermine them. Fearing for her safety, Izanami started launching some of her own attacks at the approaching vessels to stop them, but not to hurt anybody. All of Izanami's actions came from her desire to protect herself and there was never any pain intended to be inflicted on others.

Their assault continued on the tower until they managed to break through the force, giving them access to the Capital City. As much as Izanami knew that Azula was prepared to face them if she needed to and that Ozai was safely hidden in the volcano, she still worried about the invasion and what it would mean for her. If the other side won, it would be the end of everything as Izanami knew it. If they won, it would just be business as usual before preparing for the final assault with Sozin's Comet.

For a few moments, everything seemed to blur itself out for Izanami as she acted purely on instinct and what she thought was right for her in that moment. The invasion force seemed to be gaining more ground on them as their troops went past the tower and started heading towards the volcano. Before the invasion Izanami had complete confidence that they'd be able to handle whatever they had to throw at them but now, Izanami wasn't so sure. She could see the worry on even the strongest generals faces as they had clearly underestimated their opponents.

An object flying in the sky caught Izanami's attention, and it wasn't long before she realised that it wasn't just any object; it was the Avatar. He seemed to be very much alive and well. If Izanami was being completely honest, the first feeling she felt was relief. Relief that he wasn't dead and that Azula hadn't killed him. That relief soon turned to fear when Izanami realised how much of a threat that he now posed to their livelihoods. If Izanami had to guess why he was here, she would think because he's realised that Fire Lord Ozai is nowhere in sight when in reality, he's right underneath him.

After his initial arrival, the Avatar seemed to lay dormant for a few moments before emerging into the sky on his bison. When Izanami realised that he was heading towards the volcano, she knew that they had to be looking for Ozai was potentially hiding. Even though Izanami had full faith that Azula could take care of herself, she was still worried about how Azula would cope without having her bending since it was something that she relied so heavily on in combat.

Worrying about Azula made Izanami stop worrying about herself, as that saw her loose focus on the battle at hand which made her fail to realise that she was quickly surrounded. Everything happened so quickly after that as Izanami desperately tried to protect herself. This wasn't how she wanted things to turn out – she didn't want herself getting involved in the heat of the battle yet here she was. The only way for Izanami to protect herself was to fight back, so even though she didn't want to that was exactly what she did.

Unfortunately for Izanami, that only seemed to work against her as they realised the threat she posed and sought to get her out of the equation. Despite managing to withstand her opponents for a few minutes, the reality of the situation soon became too overwhelming for Izanami and she found herself stunned by the pressure which was enough for them to get her right where they wanted her and take her out. With one swift blow to the head by an unforeseen attack, Izanami was down and out, and although she wouldn't admit it, she was glad to out of action, even if her fate went unknown to her.

~*•°•*~

When Izanami found herself regaining consciousness, she was relieved to find herself not in the clutches of the enemy but in some sort of medical ward. There was a moment of panic when Izanami feared what had happened to her, but when she realised that she was safely in the hands of the Fire Nation she knew that it had been alright. Looking around, Izanami could see that there were a few injured soldiers lying around her but none of them looked that bad compared to what she thought the possibilities could've been.

Deciding to find out what was going on, Izanami turned her head around only to feel a splitting sensation of pain as she remembered that was where she had been hit. Immediately Izanami went to feel the damage that had been done, only to feel a bandage wrapped around her head. Nobody else in the room seemed to notice her presence, but that was until the curtains were pulled apart and Azula waltzed in.

Dozens of thoughts quickly entered Izanami's mind. What had happened? Had they won? Had everything turned out the way they expected it to? As Azula slowly approached her, Izanami noticed how frustrated her friend looked, so she had to assume that not everything turned out the way that Azula wanted it.

"Az, what happened?" Izanami asked weakly.

"You'll be happy to know that it was a success for the Fire Nation. If there had been anymore time on the eclipse, they could've had us but I played my part brilliantly in distracting the Avatar when he came in search of father," Azula explained.

"That's good, I guess," Izanami murmured as she lied back down on her bed.

"Not everyone played their part brilliantly though," Azula muttered.

"I'm sorry, Az. Everything just got the better of me," Izanami apologised, thinking that Azula was referring to her.

"I'm not referring to you, Izana. I'm referring to Zuzu," Azula snapped.

"What did he do?" Izanami wondered, since Azula had been sure to make it so that Zuko didn't have any important part to play today in case he messed it up.

"As of today, Zuzu is a no-good Agni forsaken traitor," Azula hissed.

Izanami's eyes widened, realising what that meant for Azula, "What happened?"

"During the eclipse, he went to see father and told him everything. By everything I mean that it was me who had shot down the Avatar in Ba Sing Se and that he was going to leave the Fire Nation to teach him firebending," Azula replied.

"Didn't think he had it in him," Izanami commented.

Azula scoffed, "Hardly. He went to see father during the eclipse when he was powerless instead of having the courage to do it without the eclipse. To his credit, he did stay until the sun came up before doing something I'd never heard of."

"What?" Izanami questioned eagerly.

"He redirected fathers lightning right back at him. No doubt something he learned from uncle," Azula answered. "Oh, and get this. Uncle has also escaped from prison too."

"How?" Izanami's eyes almost bulged out of her head. "There was no way he could've done that during the eclipse without his firebending."

"Apparently he did. According to the guards who let it happen, he was like a 'one man army' and just destroyed his cell," Azula replied.

"What does your father think about Zuko leaving?" Izanami asked cautiously.

"That's the worst part. Fathers furious at Zuzu for turning traitor, but he's even more furious at me for lying to him. This is exactly why I needed to keep him close in case something like this happened. I thought that Mai would be enough to keep him here, but obviously I was wrong," Azula ranted.

"Do you think that Mai knows about this?" Izanami queried.

Azula shook her head, "He had the nerve to stand up to father like that but he couldn't even face Mai since he left her with a lousy letter explaining his betrayal."

"I'm sure she's not happy about that," Izanami quipped.

"Of course, she's not. Mai is furious. She doesn't understand why he did it, but she did say that he had been distant with her when it came to talking about things like the war. Other than that he showed no signs of disinterest in the Fire Nation," Azula said.

"I guess this puts you in a difficult spot now," Izanami put a hand on Azula's shoulder.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter," Azula shook it off. "I'll just have to work hard to make up for my mistake and gain fathers praise. It's not something that I haven't done before. As for Zuzu, he might be long gone now but I'm confident we'll come across him again and when we do, I'll be sure to make him pay for betraying us. For betraying me."

"Well, my performance today was pretty dismal. I doubt that my father is going to be happy with me which is only going to extend to my mother," Izanami changed the subject.

"On the contrary. According to what I've heard, you were a quick thinker and stuck to your role while acting fast under pressure. While your performance was not extemporary, it was certainly commendable with it being your first major battle," Azula reassured her.

"Great," Izanami muttered, suddenly feeling even more depressed about her performance.

If that was how Azula felt, then some of that sentiment would undoubtedly be shared with her parents and it would only result in them putting even more pressure on Izanami to do things that she didn't want to. With the invasion now over and done with, Izanami would again have to deal with the distractions of her own life. Given everything that Izanami already had going against her, how long was it going to be before she finally got to do something that she wanted on her own terms?


So yeah, I'm not entirely sold on this chapter but if you guys can think of something good to say about it let me know in the reviews, lol. I could really use some extra something with this story so if anybody has some useful feedback it would be appreciated. In the meantime, check out my other works and give me some feedback there as well.