What! A timely update! Shocking I know. Hopefully this makes up for a bit of my (very) tardy last few chapters. Anyways, I'm feeling pretty motivated to get this story across the finish line so hopefully the updates keep coming like this one.

Thanks as always to those of you that read and reviewed last time.

Enjoy!

A Rescue and a Plan

"Aang," Sokka called, waving vaguely at the air in front of him, "as much as I have learned to love your spiritual mumbo-jumbo, would it kill you to ask for directions next time?"

"We're close," Aang snapped. "I can feel it."

"Oooohhh, hear that Snoozles? Twinkletoes feels something now."

Sokka rolled his eyes, glancing down at the blind earthbender next to him. He couldn't keep the smile from his face—it had been a long time since he'd heard Toph's trademark sarcasm. It was good to see her opening up once again.

Unfortunately the avatar's feelings were rarely wrong so Sokka pried himself from the back of Appa's saddle and peered over the edge, looking out at the forest below. The trees seemed to blend together into a green carpet, only broken by the occasional brown clearing or sparkling stream. Craning his neck, he looked forward,

"Aang! What's that up ahead? Is that some sort of building?"

Aang nodded. Ahead of them the trees stopped abruptly, leaving a dirty, burnt halo around the outer wall of a huge fortress—a monolith of metal that stood in stark contrast to the foliage they had just flown over. It was a picture Aang knew only too well.

"That's where we're going," Aang hazarded. "Mai and Zuko have to be there."

"I smell smoke." It was Toph this time, sitting forward, clearly ready to move. "It could be firebenders."

When they cleared the first of the three walls, Aang knew Toph was right. Zuko, Mai, and a few others were standing at the base of the fortress surrounded by a group soldiers. As Appa flew closer, Aang let out a gasp…the Yu Yan archers! If they were here then Colonel Kwo was bound to be as well! Maybe this was the "power" he had mentioned in their earlier encounter.

They had almost reached the inner courtyard when Aang knew what he had to do.

"Sokka!" he called. "Take the reins!"

But before Sokka could even respond, Aang leapt, staff held high, into the waiting crowd below.

Sokka scrambled for the reins, quickly bringing Appa around. The air suddenly filled with arrows.

"I hate it when he does that." He mumbled, swiftly setting the sky-bison down on top of the wall. "Come on Toph," he said, eyeing the archers that were suddenly racing toward them, "we've got some fire nation butt to kick."

Toph answered with a grin, her hand slipping lightly into Sokka's as they leapt. For a moment, he was in complete control, guiding her to the earth, but once she was there…well, then she was in her element.

From the moment her bare feet touched the top of the stone wall, she was unstoppable. Boulders flew. Left. Right. Center. The archers never had a chance.

"Awww, Toph. But I wanted to get one," Sokka whined, stepping over a fallen body.

Toph punched him in the arm. "Better luck next time, Snoozles. Now, let's get down there and help Aang. It feels like he has his hands full."

Aang's leap couldn't have been timed more perfectly. Just as Xui Li had moved to attack Zuko, the avatar had landed in their midst, a wave of earthbending suddenly upending most of the men.

"Aang!" Zuko called, limping down the steps to stand beside him, "I don't know why you're here, but thanks."

The avatar flashed him a quick smile, "thank the Spirits. They were the ones who told me to come."

"The Spirits! Ha!"

Aang whirled. He would recognize that voice anywhere. "Azula."

"Yes, avatar." She sauntered forward, favoring her ankle slightly, "surprised?"

Zuko rolled his eyes before stepping between them. "We can talk about this later, but for now, she's with me. Ok?"

Aang's eyebrows pinched together, glancing back at Azula twice before nodding. He turned to glance at the ground before him only to find Xui Li picking himself up, spitting in disgust.

"Thank you for joining us, Avatar Aang. You've saved me the trouble of finding you after I dispose of the Fire Lord and his worthless wife."

"I only came for my friends. Let us go. I don't want to hurt you." Nevertheless, his staff was pointed unwaveringly at the man.

"What you want doesn't matter," Xui Li said, allowing Colonel Kwo and Yeh-Lu to join him. "And you're not going anywhere. Surrender and I promise you a relatively painless death."

But before Aang even had a chance to respond, Colonel Kwo drew his ivory bow from his back and knocked an arrow, letting fly straight for the avatar.

Aang's staff twitched and a quick blast of air diverted the arrow. It stuck with a loud bang, quivering in the side of the fortress above him. For a moment, no one moved. Then, as one, the soldiers began to charge, a wave of angry cries building slowly until Aang lost himself in the tide of battle.

Years of fighting had taught the avatar the many rhythms of war, and this battle was no exception. He had an answer for each sword, a rock for every arrow, but for every man that fell, another seemed to take his place.

He heard Zuko's cries and turned to find him when he felt the heat from one of Yeh-Lu's explosives scorch his back. Instinctively, he sent a gust of air behind him as he turned, driving the Rough Rhino's second attack harmlessly away.

In the briefest of moments, the battle seemed to slow and the two combatants sized each other up. Yeh-Lu, his armor scorched and dented, was clearly the lesser of the two, but unlike Aang, he had no reservations. He was here to kill the avatar, whatever it took.

Three more explosives were in his hand in an instant, two rolling toward Aang's feet while another lobbed in from above. Some quick earthbending disposed of the two ankle-biters, while a plume of flame prematurely exploded the one coming at his head. The detonation shook the battlefield, blinding everyone nearby.

Extending his senses, Aang shifted to the right, a whip of water dashing a rather feeble attempt at a surprise attack. A kick to the sternum silenced another soldier before Aang felt Yeh-Lu again. This time he went on the offensive, pillars of stone shooting out at the man's knees, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Aang heard a grunt and a discarded faceplate suddenly went whizzing by his head. When the smoke cleared, he stoically met the hollow eyes and tortured flesh that had lain beneath the mask. Yeh-Lu was breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face. In his hand, he held a lit device. Aang eyed it warily.

"Don't do it." He said. "It won't work."

The man's eyes gleamed in hatred and his arm moved to throw again.

Aang's hand shot out, his foot twisting into the ground. A slab of earth suddenly shot up in front of the man, catching the device mid-arc. In the seconds he had, Aang saw Yeh-Lu's eyes widen in surprise as the bomb wobbled back towards him. He managed one step before it exploded.

When the dust finally cleared, Aang looked down. Yeh-Lu was dead.

The leap down from the top of the wall to the battle below wasn't as far as it looked…at least when you had Toph's earthbending. They had both jumped and just when Sokka was sure they were going to splat rather unceremoniously on the packed dirt below, the ground seemed to grab at them, swallowing them up for a moment before setting them almost lightly back on the surface.

"Toph…that was…amazing!" Sokka exclaimed once he had gotten hold of himself.

"Yeah, yeah," Toph waved him off, a slight blush suddenly coloring her face. "Less talking, more fighting."

With that she was off again, leaving Sokka standing there in shock, almost wondering if their conversation had even actually happened.

He scrambled after her, his sword glinting in the light. In typical Toph-fashion, they were charging towards the thickest bunch of enemies without even hesitating. With his longer legs, he finally caught up with her, but not before she had dispatched of a trio of soldiers and was in the process of dismantling a group of particularly feisty sandbenders. One seemed to forget that Toph was blind, and conjured a blanket of sand to cover both Sokka and her.

The cover was good for Toph but bad for Sokka. Whenever he felt like someone was near, he wanted to strike out, but he held back for fear of accidentally hitting Toph instead. His hesitancy almost cost him his life as a blade suddenly appeared out of the cloud of sand aimed straight at his midsection. Almost miraculously, a stone seemed to rise up off the ground at the last second and bat it away. Then Toph was next to him.

"Are you actually going to fight?" She shouted, "or just stand there all day? Because as much as I enjoy kicking their butts, it's getting old having to protect yours too."

"Well, maybe if I could see!" Sokka snapped back.

Toph paused for a moment, "fine!" She huffed, and with a quick motion, the obscuring sand disappeared, leaving Sokka with a clear view of the battlefield. For the moment, everyone seemed to be giving them a wide berth.

Whack!

"Owww! Toph…what was that for?" Sokka whined, rubbing his arm once again.

"I'm blind, doofus," she snorted. "And not everyone needs their eyes to see, you know."

"Well, I do," Sokka sniffed.

Toph threw her hands up in exasperation, "you're impossible! Now, let's go find some more bad guys."

And with that, she waded back into the fight, Sokka not far behind.

As Aang turned from Yeh-Lu, he hoped his part in the battle would be over soon. As many of his previous lives had told him, he was a gentle spirit, not at home on the battlefield. But when he turned he found himself face to face with another grotesquely familiar sight.

Colonel Kwo's marred face was twisted into a smile as he regarded his fallen ally with obvious disdain.

"Good riddance," he spat before turning to Aang. "I suppose I should thank you for getting rid of him…but then again, when has the avatar ever done anything for me?"

His eyes seemed to darken when they met Aang's. The sweat from his brow muddied his war paint, running bloody streaks down his face. It dripped into his mouth, bathing his teeth in red. Calmly, he drew his bow and fired.

By the time the arrow had reached him, Aang was already moving, a burst of air-enabled speed closing the distance between him and the Yu Yan leader rapidly. Kwo was able to fire once more before he dove to the side, drawing his curved blades in one motion.

This time, Aang didn't charge, opting to bring a boulder in from behind the Colonel's head, hoping to catch him by surprise. Kwo, however, anticipated the maneuver and quickly dispatched of the rock.

Charging, the larger man closed the distance between them, swinging his swords with enough strength to cleave the avatar in two. His swing came up empty and he turned, only to be struck by the full force of one of Aang's water whips.

Spinning around, he resisted the urge to rub the large welt on his side. Instead, a feral roar escaped his lips. Fire shot from his hands, engulfing both him and Aang.

Aang shot quickly upward, working the air currents to drive most of the flames away. He landed unharmed, tossing his charred tunic aside and setting himself for Kwo's next attack.

The enraged Colonel seemed to glow for a moment, his eyes sparking before flinging a massive blast of flame at the avatar. Aang rolled to the side and the fire burned past his shoulder, incinerating two men who had apparently been trying to sneak up on him while he was fighting Kwo.

Now Aang went on the offensive, his own firebending matching the intensity of his opponent. The ebb and flow of battle began to take over, both of them trading kicks and bruises as they strove to gain the upper hand. Finally, with a clever twist of his wrist, Aang shot a pillar of rock into the Colonel's lower back, bending him over. He followed this up with blast of air to his chin and a kick to his sternum.

When the dust finally settled, Colonel Kwo lay unmoving, but alive, on the ground before him. Aang paused for a moment to catch his breath, and then, with a slight grimace of disgust, went back to the battle.

"Did you enjoy your young friend's death?" Xui Li smirked, dodging Zuko's fire blast. "He was particularly easy to control. Weak minded, always wanting to please…almost like he truly believed you were going to rescue him."

"I'm. Going. To. Kill. You." Zuko ground out, punctuating each word with an attack.

The Fire Lord's response only seemed to please his opponent, as he rolled under a wave of fire. He came up inside Zuko's guard and kicked him solidly in the chest.

Zuko groaned. He was hardly in fighting shape after the battle in the audience chamber. He tried to get up, but his injured leg gave way, and he was forced to scramble backwards on his hands and knees to escape the advancing Xui Li.

"What are you?" The question was more out of desperation than anything else, a ploy to throw his opponent off balance.

Xui Li, however, just smiled, twirling his swords. "Me? I'm just like you, Fire Lord—a player in a larger game. But you see, I control people much more effectively than you do. That shadow…the shade that was slowly seeping the life from Lee's very pours…that was my doing. And after we are victorious, I will become even more powerful thanks to Him. But until then," he smiled down at Zuko, "I think I'll have to make do with killing you."

As the tattooed man moved in for another attack, Zuko sent another desperate wave of fire at him. Xui Li just laughed.

"Is that the best you can do? Are you all the Fire Nation has to offer?"

He began to move in for the kill, dodging and deflecting Zuko's attacks with a focused intent. He was almost upon him when Mai's shuriken found his shoulder.

Xui Li hissed, spinning with the blow and coming up with swords raised. They struck the air and another knife was deflected.

Mai came in low now, her knives biting at his feet and injured arm. She forced him to keep moving away from Zuko, not letting him gain the ground he had won earlier. The messenger ducked again, dropping one of his swords to grab a shield off a fallen warrior and setting it between them.

Now it was his turn to advance, his shield covering most of his torso and neck, leaving Mai to pick at his exposed feet and shins. Mai began to retreat, her barrage of knives not lessened by the movement. She picked away at the edges, whizzing a shuriken past Xui Li's ear before reaching down with one hand and levering Zuko to her shoulder.

"Come on," she grunted. "Get moving."

Zuko staggered to his feet, wincing as pain shot down his leg. Nevertheless, he set his arms at ready and bent a stream of fire at their opponent's face. The man merely brushed it aside with his shield, his pace suddenly quickening as he moved in to striking range once again. He sprang toward the duo, his sword flashing in the air.

Mai's desperate shove was the only thing that saved her husband as Xui Li's sword dug a deep furrow in the ground where he had been standing. Xui Li brought his shield up, catching two more of Mai's knives on its rim before turning to finish Zuko. He stepped forward to strike and suddenly was blown back by a wall of blue flame.

He stood slowly, spitting dirt from his mouth. He eyed Azula warily as she approached, his eyes darting between the three of them.

Suddenly a soldier came up from behind, clearly panicked.

"Sir!" he exclaimed. "The Colonel is down and Xeh-Lu is dead. What should we do?"

The news clearly surprised Xui Li, and his body seemed to tense, waiting for the strike that never came. After a moment, he found his voice.

"Uhh…regroup with the remaining men. We'll still be able to overwhelm them with our numbers."

He raised his shield, deflecting another knife from Mai all the while edging away from the two women.

"Sir, the avatar is destroying our forces! We don't last much longer! We have to surrender!" The soldier's voice was urgent now and he kept wiping his palms on his pant legs. He barely seemed to recognize that he was still in the middle of a battle. "I'm go—"

The man's voice abruptly stopped and he clawed at his throat, gasping for breath. His disbelieving hands fingered the knife that suddenly appeared there. His eyes travelled briefly to Xui Li, then to the gaunt, white hand that was wiping a trail of blood off on his shirt. Xui Li said nothing, grabbing the man and shoving him in the direction of Azula and Mai before he turned and sped off amongst the rapidly dwindling crowd of soldiers.

Mai caught the man before he hit the earth, a look of apology on her brow. When he finally did die, her hand skimmed his face, closing his eyes one final time. Azula, however, had not stopped but instead was racing after Xui Li, her blue fire blazing a path between the fighting men.

Despite his fighting prowess, Xui Li appeared very adept at retreating. Mai watched as he eluded Azula, shoving his own men into her path before scaling the wall with almost inhuman skill and disappearing into the outlying forest.

A few minutes later Azula came back, breathing hard.

"That good-for-nothing, conniving, piece o—"

"Azula." Mai cut in, stopping her mid-rant. "We'll get him. We know where he's going, remember? Now, let's see if Zuko is alright."

Azula scowled, but nodded, and together they went to help the Fire Lord to his feet.

Once Xui Li had fled, the fight seemed to drain from the remaining men and women, and almost unilaterally, they surrendered. In groups they threw down their weapons and fell to their knees. Slowly, Zuko became the tallest figure on the battlefield.

Aang, he noticed, was slowly picking his way over, pausing now and then to earthbend the discarded weapons into a pile on the opposite side of the clearing. Sokka was arguing about what seemed to be a thin cut on Toph's arm and the younger girl was clearly having none of it. Zuko couldn't help but smile when Toph's trademark punch landed on that much abused spot on her friend's arm. Sokka rubbed the mark slowly, a smile on his face. It seemed the two of them were getting along better than ever…though, if he wasn't mistaken, there might've been something more on Sokka's mind than simply the same friendship the two had always had.

Mai had come to stand beside him as Azula prowled over, her demeanor that of a moose-lion examining its prey. It also looked like a good bit of the remaining Jade Warriors had survived the battle, their numbers adding to the avatar's suddenly growing ranks.

For a moment, everything was peaceful.

"Aang," Zuko reached out and gripped the avatar's hand. "You've always had great timing."

Aang's boyish grin showed before he pulled the Fire Lord into a hug, "I'm just glad I got here when I did. It looked like you were in a bit of trouble."

"Yeah, it always seems to find you, doesn't it Sparky?" Toph's smirk was plastered wide across her face, her arms loosely crossed over her chest.

"It does, doesn't it?" Zuko agreed before turning back to Aang. "So, how did you guys know we were here? We've kept our travels pretty quiet."

"Oh, you know. Just your typical Spirit World mumbo-jumbo," Sokka cut in, rolling his eyes. "And don't give Aang too much credit; he didn't actually know where you were. It was more like 'fly in that general direction' than a trip to a destination."

Even Mai's mouth quirked into a smile at that remark.

"So, what now?" Sokka said, asking the obvious question.

"I say we go after that guy!" Toph exclaimed, her fist smacking into an open palm. "I've been looking for a good fight for ages. Snoozles here isn't much of a match for me anymore."

"Hey!"

"I mean, it might be a fair fight if I didn't use my bending and had one arm tied behind my back." Toph continued, "but even then I'd probably win."

Zuko raised an eyebrow meaningfully at Aang as the two "friends" dissolved into another squabble. Aang just rolled his eyes, glancing over at the pair once more before turning to the Fire Lord, his face suddenly downcast.

"I'm sorry for running, Zuko…after Katara was taken…I—I didn't know what to do. I panicked."

"Aang." The avatar looked up and met the Fire Lord's eyes. "It's ok. Though, I hope you know I would've done everything in my power to help you."

Aang nodded.

"Now," Zuko said, "tell me what happened. Start from the beginning."

Slowly, and with a little coaxing from his friend, Aang began to tell Zuko of their journey, starting with the first letter and Kyoshi Island and ending with his trip to the Spirit World and their flight to the fortress. Every so often Zuko would stop him, asking a question or wanting a clarification, but mostly he just listened. When Aang was done speaking, he paused.

"Mai, do you have that scroll?"

His wife nodded and pulled Lee's slightly tattered parchment from inside her tunic and handed it him.

"This," Zuko said, handing the scroll to Aang, "was given to me by Lee…the boy you saw killed on the steps. He claims it's a message between Xui Li and a man named Shong Ti."

Aang's eyes widened. "And you think this is the same person that has been sending me the letters?"

Zuko shrugged, "it might be, but I don't think we have much choice. The Twisting Serpent in Ba Sing Se the best lead we've got."

Aang nodded, looking over at a now quiet Sokka and Toph. They had been listening intently ever since he had finished his story.

"I think it's a good idea," Sokka said. "It's not like we have another plan…unless of course the Spirits told you something else?"

The avatar shook his head.

"Typical."

"And you'll be coming with us?" Aang added hopefully.

Zuko looked back at Mai and Azula before answering, "I think so. The soldiers should be able to guard the prisoners until help arrives. Besides," he added ruefully, "it'll be good to get off our feet for a bit. For once, Appa doesn't look so bad."

The sky-bison's indignant snort carried well across the clearing. Aang chuckled.

"Well, let's get moving then. It'll be good to see Iroh. Maybe he's brewed a new tea for us to try."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Only if we're lucky," she drawled.

With a burst of air, the avatar leapt astride Appa, impatient to be flying again. With a sigh, Zuko followed, climbing aboard the hairy beast, turning only to help a strangely quiet Azula.

Dusk came quickly to once they were in the air but before he dropped off to sleep, Zuko couldn't help but feel a nagging bit of worry. They were missing something. He was sure of it. The only question was what.

So what did you think? A lot of action, a little Tokka...not too bad eh? Anyways, thanks for reading. Please review!