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The Final Battle pt. 1
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The shore of the Fire Nation came into view a week and a half later as Aang said. The sun was setting already and everyone was afraid to land, but they really had no choice because Appa and Kia both were worn out. Aang decided the best place to camp would be the cliffs at the very edge. They were uninhabited as far as anyone could tell, so it was somewhat safe.
"You know, I'm not a big fan of cliffs lately," Zuko said as they jumped down off the bison.
"Why's that?" Katara asked, helping him unload the supplies on Kia.
Azula glanced at him, but he just shrugged and threw her bag at her a little harder than the others. "I'm not really sure. It's just that everytime I go near one now, I feel like someone's going to push me off."
"No one here would do that."
"But we don't know this area, we may not be the only ones here."
"There's no one else here," Toph told them. She grabbed her bag off the ground then earthbended herself a tent near the animals. "There's not even a house anywhere near here that I can feel."
"We're arriving at the capitol tomorrow," Aang sighed, picking at the grass in front of him.
Katara paused with the last bag in her hands and looked at him beside Appa. "We'll all be fine, Aang. We're more than capable benders and warriors." She tossed the bag to Mai and walked over to Aang, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"I know that, but how am I supposed to defeat him when I don't have any control over the Avatar State?"
"Why don't you meditate on that tonight. Maybe something will come to you."
He gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Katara."
She returned his smile with a little more enthusiasm, then went to sit near the edge of the cliff to watch the sun set on the water. Zuko sat beside her and said, "I thought you'd learned not to get so close to cliffs' edges."
"I'm a master waterbender," she replied quietly, still staring out over the water. "It's what saved me last time and what would save me should something happen this time."
"Quick thinking is what saved you last time."
"And waterbending."
"That too, but quick thinking could always save your life. It's saved mine numerous times."
She finally peeled her eyes away from the colorful sunset and looked up at him. He sat on her left side so she was looking at the unscarred side of his face. She lightly brushed his growing hair out of his face and he closed his eyes to her cool touch. "I wish there was something I could do to take all that pain away, Zuko."
"I've told you before I don't want pity, Katara. What's done is done, it's all in the past. You can't heal old wounds." He unconciously touched his scar and it didn't go unnoticed.
She gasped as she realized something. "Maybe I can."
"What are you talking about? No one can heal old wounds, not even you waterbending healers."
She reached inside her robe and pulled out the amulet she'd almost forgotten about. "Do you remember that place in the North Pole where we fought? The oasis?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"That was a spirit oasis, home of Tui and La, the ocean and moon spirits. The water in this amulet is from that oasis. When my waterbending master gave it to me, he said it contained unique properties. Maybe.." He turned his face to look at her and she saw a glimmer of hope. She reached up and touched his scar. "Do you trust me?"
His eyes never left hers. "With my life."
Aang watched from a distance as Katara uncapped the amulet and the little water flowed out and into her hand. His eyes widened as he realized what she was about to attempt and he hoped, for Zuko's sake, that it worked. Katara's hand began glowing blue when it touched his face. Zuko tensed up at the feel of the cool water seeping into his skin, but it was a cooling sensation that made him relax. He trusted Katara. She knew what she was doing, but he tried not to get his hopes up in case it didn't work.
When the feeling went away, he heard a gasp. He wasn't sure if it was a good one or a bad one. "Open your eyes now."
"Did it work?" he asked, eyes still closed. When he felt her hand on his, he opened them. He could see more out of his left eye now. He slowly lifted a hand to that side of his face and felt the smooth skin there.
"We're going to have to go back for more of that stuff," Aang laughed as he approached them. "I wonder what else it can do."
"But.. how..?"
Katara's smile grew wider. "I told you this water was special. Won't the Firelord be surprised when he figures out who you are?"
"Do I look that different?"
"You had a scar and a ponytail last time he saw you, I'm pretty sure," Aang reminded him. "Now there's no scar and your hair is shorter and down."
"Hey, what's going-" Sokka stopped dead in his tracks as he did a double-take at Zuko. "How the- what- who did this?" he stuttered.
Katara and Aang giggled at him. "I did," Katara said, holding up the empty amulet.
Toph poked her head out of her tent and looked towards the small group near the edge. "You guys are going to fall if you don't get away from there. What's going on anyway?"
"His scar is gone!" Sokka yelled, finally finding his voice.
"What?! Aw man, there goes my nickname!" she pouted.
Katara and Zuko listened to Toph and stood up to move away from the edge. As they came into their little camp area, the other 4 girls and Alec looked up and froze. Ursa immediately grinned at the old face of her son. Azula stood up and took a couple steps closer to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Mai's face turned red and she looked away. Ty Lee giggled at her.
"What happened?" Azula asked, her perceptive golden eyes scanning every inch of the left side of his face. "I-it's gone.."
"Such is the power of possibly the most powerful waterbender in the world," Zuko smirked.
"I guess Lord Ozai is in for a shock, huh?" Ty Lee stood up and joined Azula. "Now if you had your ponytail, you'd look exactly like you did when we played together in the palace!"
Zuko rolled his eyes. "We didn't play, you three played and always picked on me and sometimes Mai too."
"Either way, it looks good."
"Um, thanks."
"Excuse me," Sokka said, pushing through Zuko and Katara to get to Ty Lee. He put a protective arm around her and looked down at her.
"This is fun, but I'm going to sleep," Toph called from her little tent. "Can you people try not to move around too much? I can feel everything and it's hard to get to sleep with all that."
Katara sighed. "We should all get some sleep. We have a really big, important day tomorrow."
Everyone else mumbled their agreement, then fell asleep promptly after a good-sized dinner. Everyone, that is, except for Aang. He went back near the edge to meditate. After a couple minutes, a light flashed on the inside of his eyelids and he found himself in a familiar swamp. If anyone had been awake, they would've seen his arrow tattoos glowing.
He stood up and looked around, but not even the meditating monkey was anywhere to be seen. "Hello?" he called, but all he got for a response was his own echo. He trekked through the mucky water looking for anyone he could find, but still no one answered his now desperate calls.
When he came upon a familiar tree, he was hesitant to enter, but he had to find out what was going on in the spirit world. Even if it meant facing the creepy, face-stealing spirit, Koh. He took a deep breath and wiped his face of his emotions.
"Koh? Are you here?"
"Avatar, so good to see you again," drawled the spirit as he dropped from the ceiling and curled around Aang. "What brings you here this time?"
"Where is everyone?" he asked dully, keeping his worry and curiosity in check.
Koh's face transformed into that of the curly-tailed blue nose monkey. "The other spirits that inhabit this place? There was an imbalance they had to take care of. Something about an inability to master the Avatar State in time. Have you not taken care of that yet?"
"I don't have anyone to teach me," Aang replied. "That's why I came here."
"You were supposed to meet someone at the Eastern Air Temple years ago, so I'm told, but he died waiting for you. A good friend of your old mentor, he was. I suppose now you'll have to rely on the guidance of the past Avatars.. if you can find them, that is."
"What do I have to do to find them?"
"Follow your instincts," he said, switching his face to one that Aang thought looked a lot like the Blue Spirit.
Aang blinked at him. "That's it? You have no idea where they're at?"
"That's all I can say."
"Then thanks anyway."
Aang turned to walk away and stopped as Koh called to him, "One day, Avatar. One day.."
"After tomorrow, Koh, you won't be seeing me anymore. My face will never be a part of your collection. Ever."
"We'll see."
With that, Aang left and started walking through the water and low hanging branches of the spirit world trees in a random direction. He wasn't very familiar with the layout of this world seeing as he'd only been there once, but he felt something tugging at him, leading him in his current direction.
"Avatar Roku!" he called as he walked. "Hei Bai? Is anyone here? Avatar Roku, I need your help!"
A couple minutes of walking lead him into a small clearing with a couple spots of dry land. On one, he saw 3 people sitting in a close-knit circle talking quietly amongst themselves, one of them he recognized as Avatar Kyoshi. He sloshed up to them and they jumped when he talked.
"Can you help me?" he asked them. They jumped around and looked at him. "I need help. Koh told me that the past Avatars would help me master the Avatar State."
"Oh goodness, you're who we've been waiting for," one of them said. She was beautiful and looked so much like Ursa that Aang automatically knew who she was. "I guess we were so busy discussing how to bring you here that we didn't sense your arrival."
"You're a past airbender Avatar," Aang gasped. "Avatar Michiko, right?"
"Indeed," she smiled, ushering him into their group.
"How are you supposed to help me get into the Avatar State?"
"It's all about opening your chakras," she said plainly.
"What are those?"
Avatar Michiko sighed, but before she could continue another one dressed in blue spoke up. "It seems we have a lot of work to do. Avatar Miki at your service."
Katara woke up to a faint glow of light. She sat up and looked around and was happy to find Aang meditating near the edge of the cliff, in the spirit world it seemed. She smiled knowing the spirits would take care of him and teach him how to control the Avatar State. After all, that's what he went for, right? She laid back down and fell asleep, hoping for her friend's safety.
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"There is it, guys! Look!"
"I've never seen anything like it before!"
"It's pretty in a weird way."
"It's a solar eclipse. I don't like it," Azula scoffed.
"Of course you don't," Katara said to her. "You rely solely on your firebending as your defense and it leaves you completely powerless. You probably should've worked with some kind of weapon like Zuko."
Azula scowled and sat back in the saddle, watching the land rush beneath them. They were passing over a town she recognized from her trips to settle diplomatic disputes with a couple of the high counsilers of her father's court. "Hey, we're almost there. We're passing over Ho Gai right now."
The people in the streets who were watching the eclipse stopped watching it long enough to point at the two bison flying over them. People were yelling things at them, but they were too far up to hear. Zuko assumed they were too obscene for little Alec's ears anyway.
"Well, they know we're coming now," Toph grumbled to Aang.
"It's okay, we'll be at the Fire Palace before they have a chance to send word to the Firelord," Aang reassured her.
"Are you okay, Twinkle Toes? You sound different today."
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. I learned last night what I have to do to master the Avatar State and I don't like the last step, that's all."
"What is it?"
He sighed and looked at her. "I'm not allowed to have any earthly attachments. I have to let go of everything I feel an attachment to."
She seemed to ponder his words for a minute, then lowered her head. "Do what you have to do to save the world, Aang."
"But Toph-"
"No, Aang. I'll be fine. Without the Avatar State, we won't be able to defeat the Firelord, and if we don't defeat him then we all die. Save the world, Aang. It's your duty. It's your destiny."
He sighed, knowing there was no way around the stubborn earthbender. He held her hand and she gave a meek smile as a tear rolled down her cheek. "What if I let you go and we win? Would I be able to get you back afterwards or would it be too late?"
"I'm not sure. We'll just have to see how this all turns out."
Aang nodded and turned back to steer Appa. He caught a glint of gold way up ahead of them and turned to the other bison to see Katara waving at him frantically. Toph sat up, trying to hear what she was saying. Sokka and Mai just looked at her like she was nuts.
"She says the palace is just up ahead," Toph translated. "And she said to look down."
Aang, Sokka, Mai, and Ty Lee looked over the side of the saddle only to jump back into it to avoid a hot sticker. There were hundreds of soldiers down there launching them up at the two bison in the sky. Kia was starting to panic because she'd never seen that kind of action, but she followed Appa's lead and just dodged them as best as she could.
"I thought they couldn't firebend during an eclipse!" Sokka yelled.
"Yeah, because firebending is the only way to start a fire," Toph said sarcastically. Sokka glared at her, not caring that she couldn't see it. "Kia's hit!" she yelled as she gripped Appa's saddle harder to avoid falling off as he lurched to the side.
"We'll have to land!" Aang yelled back, hoping the others could hear him. He started his descent and Kia followed them gratefully.
"What are we doing? They'll kill us!" Sokka screamed at Aang.
"Appa, as soon as everyone gets off, take Kia to the woods, okay buddy?" Aang asked Appa. He groaned in response and Aang patted his head.
"Ursa and Alec, you two stay on Kia. We don't want to risk you two getting hurt," Katara told them as they were about to land. "We can't afford any casualties on the way through, especially since neither of you can bend or weild a weapon."
They nodded and braced themselves for the landing. Right before they landed, Ty Lee jumped off and started taking care of business. There were men falling left and right, temporarily immobilized by her sharp jabs. Sokka unsheathed his favorite new weapons and fell off the saddle trying to follow his girlfriend. Immediately he was attacked, but his swords did their jobs well and he sliced his way forward.
"Sokka!"
Sokka turned around in time to see a big, fierce looking man coming up behind him, but before he could do anything he disappeared to be replaced by his sister's small form. She smiled at him and twirled the water in her hands before running forward, tossing men aside with a giant water whip. Everyone followed behind her, taking men down when they came too close. Katara made sure Azula was right behind her because she was unarmed and everyone else surrounded her.
Aang brought up the rear, knocking away the guys that tried to attack them from behind since there was no way around Katara's water whip in the front. He would toss a boulder at them or water whip them away like Katara or just use his airbending. He looked up at the blacked-out sun, trying to determine how much time they had before it showed it's face again, and he guessed about a couple hours. He'd been through one once before when he was about 8 while he was visiting the Northern Air Temple with Monk Gyatso, but that was over 100 years ago and he couldn't recall exactly how long it had lasted then.
A spear came flying over the leading whip and was heading straight for Azula, but Zuko pulled her back and cut it into a few different pieces before it hit the ground. She gave him a confused look, but he pushed her forward and told her to keep moving. She looked ahead and could see the golden fire that tops the highest point of the palace just peaking over the hill in front of them. Her stomach lurched in joy.
"Katara, there it is! Let's go!" she yelled.
Katara's eyes flickered up to the sight in front of her and started running, splitting her whip into two seperate ones and moving the men out of the way faster. One of them was actually smart and ducked it, but fell to the ground as soon as Sokka saw him. He wiped his blade clean and continued to follow his sister through the mess of soldiers.
"This is too easy," Toph said to Aang as she paused to make the earth around them quake a little, which actually helped Katara out because it made the soldiers stop. "This is way too easy! It's like they're not even trying!"
"Maybe they're not experienced enough. Maybe they're all just out here with weapons to intimidate us or something because I think more than half these people are firebenders," he replied, knocking a couple more guys back that tried to run up from behind.
"Still, something's not right."
Aang ran to catch up to the group, who's speed was increasing steadily. He looked up and saw part of the Fire Palace. His stomach lurched in anxiety. It was almost time and he was suddenly very, very thankful for the loyalty of his friends, old and new. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for him now. Katara was taking out about 20 people at a time on each side of them to make a straight path to the palace. Sokka and Toph took out anyone who dodged the highly effective whip. Mai and Ty Lee were running behind Azula and Katara, Mai throwing the occasional shuriken at someone Sokka or Toph missed.
As the entirety of the Fire Palace came into view, the entire group's speed seemed to slow as if they really didn't want to get there. The soldiers only doubled in number and Katara was tiring but the eclipse was still out so she and Aang joined forces, putting their water together to encircle the group. Katara edged it with sharp ice and kept it moving so no one could get through.
"We should split up and keep moving!" Toph yelled, growing more nervous at how close the soldiers were getting now that Katara had stopping whipping them away.
"She's right, Katara," Sokka agreed. "You're tiring too fast doing all the work yourself. We'll split up and all head to the palace and attack from all sides."
She sighed and nodded. "Everyone brace yourselves. Azula, stay with me. We're going for the front gates." The princess didn't argue.
As soon as the water sheild fell, it split into two so that both waterbenders could make their own way. Everyone let out battle cries and ran in all directions, fighting the soldiers mercilessly. Ty Lee was having no problem at all with them. She was too quick and flexible for them to catch and they all fell to her hands, making a path of immobile soldiers in her wake. She made her way around the palace and jumped high enough to catch the edge of the surrounding wall, then pulled herself up and over and disappeared.
Sokka and Mai worked together to get to the palace wall. They had a significantly tougher time cutting through the massive army, but they managed well enough. After a few minutes of chopping through, Sokka sheathed his swords and got out his club and just started knocking people in their heads with it. It reverberated through their helmets and left their ears ringing.. well, it would when they came to. Mai was constantly throwing darts and stars and the occasional shuriken, but the downside was that she had to retrieve some to keep it up. She and Sokka were doing a lot of damage on their way to the other side of the palace. They had a bit of trouble getting through the wall, but surprisingly found a hole at the bottom just barely big enough for them to squeeze through.
Zuko and Aang worked together to make their own path to the wall. They were going around to the back since Katara had called the front gate. Aang would send a blast of air out to clear a path in the sea of faceless soldiers, then they'd run through it and Zuko would take down anyone who tried to get close to them. Aang left that part to him because he really didn't want to hurt anyone other than the one he'd come for. Zuko was panting by the time they got near the wall, but didn't stop. He kept swinging his swords and hoped that they'd wise up and leave them alone, but they didn't. One of them got a decent hit in when a smaller sword hit his leg, but he paid no mind to it and kept moving forward. When they reached the wall, Aang earthbended it open and they ran through, making sure to close it back so no one could follow.
Toph was kicking butt all on her own. A master earthbender like her could easily take on those fools because half of them didn't know what they were doing. She noticed they all had poor stances, all wrong for hand-to-hand combat, so they went down easily. A simple quake took a lot of them, but those with somewhat stronger stances tried to charge her. She punched both of her fists down and sunk into the ground, then came back up and rode a wave of earth to the part of the wall she felt Ty Lee go to. If they were going to split up, she figured it should be even. They would sneak in from 4 different sides of the palace. Surely they all knew to go to the throne room. As she rode her little wave, she thought she heard the distinct sound of arrows coming at her. She didn't stop, but pulled up enough earth to surround and protect her until she finally reached the wall. She ended up busting down a large portion of it just for fun, knowing that the soldiers wouldn't dare enter in fear of the Firelord.
Katara and Azula were having no problem at all getting through. Most of them seemed to recognize the princess and didn't dare fight, letting themselves be pushed back by Katara. The ones who didn't recognize her tried to fight and only ended up wounded or unconcious by a powerful blow from the waterbender. She felt the pull of nearby water and looked around for its source to find an entire ocean at her disposal just over a small hill. She looked over at her shoulder to Azula and tilted her head in that direction, then headed that way. Azula followed reluctantly, but she seemed to know what she was doing so she went along.
She concentrated hard as she ran closer and pulled, but the water didn't come. She ran closer still and kept trying to call the water until finally it peeked over the hill. With a smile, she turned back to Azula, still calling the water to her.
"Hold on to me," she told her. Azula looked ready to argue, but Katara beat her. "I know what I'm doing, just hold on! Hurry!"
Azula sighed and took Katara's outstretched hand, then her feet were trapped in ice and they went soaring through the air on a wave. She stifled a laugh as all the men that were chasing them turned and started running from them. It seemed as if Katara had brought up half the ocean with her because it was such a big wave. Even the guards standing at the front gates ran as Katara crashed through it. She brought the wave down but they were still surfing on the ice, leading the rest of the water along. Katara brought a hand forward and a stream of water followed, freezing to the palace doors and busting at her command. The water continued to follow them through the halls as Azula directed her to the throne room.
"Turn here!"
"Which way?"
"Right!"
"Is that it right there?"
"No, make another left!"
"Left?"
"Right!"
"Right?"
"No, left! That way!"
"Is that it?"
"Yes!"
The ice around their feet melted and Azula nearly fell over. Katara gathered all the water up and swirled it around her, careful to avoid the other 2 people that were there.
"Nice entrance, Katara."
She laughed, "Thanks, Aang. I had a little inspiration when I found the ocean."
"There you guys are!" They turned to see Toph, Sokka, Ty Lee, and Mai running up to them. "We had to take care of some people who found us," Toph explained. "Are we late?"
"You're just in time." Zuko unsheathed his swords and turned back to the doors to the throne room. "Let's do this."
Toph decided to be overdramatic and instead of letting them just open the doors, she stomped and punched out with both fists, busting the doors down with part of the wall around them. When they dust cleared, they entered. Aang looked around and as soon as his eyes set sight on a window, a beam of sunlight shone through it.
"Oh no," he whispered. He followed the beam with his eyes and they landed on a most intimidating figure.
"I've been expecting you, Avatar."
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Freaking right! I'll have the next chapter up in a couple days so I won't leave you guys hanging too long, but I need reviews! Yay! I would've had this up yesterday, but it was my wedding anniversary so I wasn't home all day. :D You know the routine, R&R!
Jenn
Miki - the moon
Michiko - beauty/wisdom