Day of Black Sun, Part Two:
Behind one of the tanks, Sokka, Bato, Jet, and an earth bender was reading over a map they had spread over the ground. Toph and Lin were shooting rocks as a fire ball hit the tank and there was an explosion. Katara and Aqua were helping Hakoda over.
"Dad!" Sokka exclaimed. "You're on your feet again!" Sokka, Toph, and Ember ran over as Katara gentle let her dad sit down.
"Thanks to your sister." Hakoda said. "I'm in no condition to fight but maybe there is some way I could help."
"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet." Sokka said.
"Let's hope our luck holds out." Hakoda said.
"I'm sure everything will go okay." Jade said confident.
"Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?" Hakoda asked, Katara was staring up in the sky.
"Yes…is that…is that Aang?" Katara asked and everyone turned as Aang landed next to them.
"Something isn't right," Jet said.
"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." Sokka begged.
"He wasn't home." Aang confessed.
"He wasn't…home," Aqua said, trying to process that.
"No one was," Aang said. "The entire palace city is abandoned."
"They…they knew," Sokka said shocked.
"Someone must have found out, someone that wasn't supposed to," Lin said.
"It's okay." Aang said. "The fire lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island, where he'll be safe during the eclipse."
"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."
"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it." Toph said.
"The mechanist gave me this timing device," Sokka said, pulling a device that had a dial on it out of his pocket. "It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the eclipse. Ten minutes to find the fire lord."
"Yeah, no pressure," Jade said sarcastic.
"We can still do this." Aang said confident. "We can still win this day."
"Wait," Katara said. "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."
"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission." Hakoda said. "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."
"What do you think?" Sokka asked Aang. "You're the one who has to face the fire lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."
"We all are," Aqua said confident.
Aang looked out towards the battlefield, "I've got to try."
A few minutes later, Appa, Sapphire, and Ruby were flying to the top of the volcano and they landed on the side. Aang, Sokka, Toph, Aqua, and Lin jumped off. Katara had stayed to help her dad while Ember and Jade stayed to fight.
"Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asked.
Toph knelt down and put her hand on the ground. "Yep, there are natural tunnels criss crossing through the inside of the volcano."
"Natural, great," Lin sighed.
"Anything else?" Sokka asked. "Is there a structure somewhere?"
Toph buried her fingers into the earth. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."
"Sounds like a secret bunker to me." Sokka said.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Aqua asked and Lin earth bended a large hole in the side of the volcano. Leaving their animal friends behind, they climbed into the hole.
"This way, that one's a dead end." Toph said before they could go down the wrong tunnel."
"What would we do without you?" Sokka asked.
"Perish and burn in hot magma." Toph suggested as they crawled through a small tunnel. Sokka tried to get the furthest he could from the magma spilling in on the walls.
"Yeah, pretty much." Sokka said as they crawled out of the hole into a large cave like structure.
"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads to the bunker." Toph explained.
"We'll have to be fast but careful." Sokka said. He tried to run across, but there were volcano craters spread all around and when he tried to run across, one exploded, sending him running back.
"Sokka, don't do that. You'll get yourself killed!" Aqua cried.
"How was that careful?" Aang asked.
"I was wrong." Sokka said. "We need to be fast, careful, and lucky." The group of five ran across the floor, carefully dodging the lave shooting. They stopped as they neared a small cliff, nothing but a river of lava below.
"We're dead," Lin said.
"There's no floor! It's just a river of lava!" Sokka cried.
Aang made his glider wings come out, "Climb aboard and hold on tight," Sokka, Toph, Aqua, and Lin held on tight as Aang flew them threw the lava, screaming as lava explosions happened under them that they narrowly dodge before they finally landed on the other side and they ran where there was a metal wall on the door.
"That's some door!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Well, let's break it down." Lin said.
"Not a problem." Toph said. She took a step up to it and hit her elbows into the door causing large dents in the metal. She stepped back, kissed her fingers, and stabbed hard into the center of the door, kicking a hole through the middle. She widened the hole and stepped through, the others following.
"I am so glad we added you to the group." Sokka commented.
In the invasion, The Boulder and The Hippo were earthbending an avalanche, destroying a few of the tanks. The moon started to cross over the sun.
"The eclipse," Ember said, pulling her knifes from her sleeves.
"Retreat!" a fire nation soldier shouted. "Everyone move to secondary defensive position! Retreat!" he cried as they ran.
"The eclipse is only eight minutes away." Bato said. "We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it stats and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!"
"We can wait here if you want." Katara told Hakoda.
"No, I want to press forward with the others." Hakoda said.
In the volcano, Aang, Sokka, Aqua, Toph, and Lin were running down a tunnel. But they quickly noticed a man, War Minister Qin and they turned to him, ready to fight. He held up his hands to surrender.
"The fire lord's chamber is that way down the hall to the left and up the stairs. You can't miss it." The war minister said quickly.
Everyone stepped closer as if they were going to attack him. Then Aang gave him a cheery smile, said "Thanks," and they ran off.
"Well that was easier than expected." Lin said.
"He probably never fought for anything, of course it was easy." Aqua said.
"Only thirty seconds until the total eclipse." Sokka said, looking at his pocket watch. They finally came to a giant door with a fire nation insignia on it.
"It's pathetic how easy it was to find it," Aqua sighed as Aang blew the door off. They ran inside where a throne was sitting. "So, you are alive after all." Azula said, sitting on the throne. "However, I only see two guardians." They looked at her shocked. "I had a hunch that you survived. It doesn't matter, I've known about the invasion for months."
Elsewhere, Zuko was within the tunnels and marching through a smaller door, the broadswords on his back. "I'm ready to face you," Zuko said, throwing a door opened. Guards stood on either side of the door Fire Lord Ozai was sitting on a throne with a cup of steaming tea in his hand.
"Zuko, what are you doing here?" the fire lord asked as Zuko stomped forward.
Outside, the water tribe warriors were marching up the volcano, a tank drove up it. "The eclipse is starting. Put on your eclipse glasses." The mechanist said, putting on a visor. The others did the same, including Hakoda, Katara, Jade, Ember, and Jet.
Inside, "Why are you here?" Fire Lord Ozai repeated.
"I'm here to tell the truth." Zuko said.
"Telling the truth during the middle of the eclipse, this should be interesting." Ozai said, waving his guards out.
"First of all," Zuko started. "In Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me."
"Why would she lie to me about that?" Ozai asked.
"Because the avatar is not dead, he survived." Zuko said.
"What?" Ozai exclaimed surprised.
"In fact, he and the guardians," he choked slightly on that word. "Are probably leading this invasion, they could be on us right now."
Ozai stood angry, "Get out!" he shouted. "Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"
"That's another thing," Zuko said, standing strong. "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."
Ozai narrowed his eyes, "You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!" Ozai started for his son, but Zuko pulled out his swords."
"Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen!" Zuko snapped. This was the last thing he had expected his son to do, grow a backbone. He wasn't happy about it, but he sat back down on his throne.
Elsewhere, the gang was glaring up at Azula. "Where is he? Where is the Fire Lord?" Aang demanded.
"Hmm, you mean I' not good enough for you?" Azula asked. "You're hurting my feelings."
"We don't have time for this," Aqua glared.
Sokka pulled out his sword, "Stop wasting our time and give us the information. You're powerless right now so you're in no position to refuse."
"And stick to the truth, I'll be able to tell if you're lying." Toph said.
"Are you sure, I'm a pretty good liar." Azula said. She looked at them while her face became expressionless. "I am a four hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."
There was a pause in the air, "Okay, you're good, I admit it." Toph said while Lin trapped Azula in earth. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway." Azula smirked and everyone's jaw dropped as the stone shattered into tiny pieces. Azula smirked at their expressions, dusting dirt off her shoulder.
"When I left Ba Sing Se, I brought home some souvenirs." Azula explained while two Dai Li Agents dropped to the floor in front of her. Aang blew a gust of wind but the agents bended a stone wall in front of them so the attack wouldn't hit them.
Outside the fire nation palace, Bato, Ember, Jet, and the warriors stood. "Surround the periphery!" Bato shouted. "We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over. Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives." He said.
Meanwhile, a group of fire benders were lining themselves up while Haru, Tyro, Jade and a group of earth benders stood. "Stop!" Tyro shouted. "Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you."
"We'll never surrender!" A fire bender shouted. He tried to fire bend, but nothing happened. Jade smirked. "Er…we surrender."
Elsewhere, Hakoda and Katara were looking down on the capital. "There it is the fire nation royal palace. We've come so far." Hakoda said.
"It's not over yet," Katara said.
In the bucker, "For so long," Zuko started. "All I wanted was 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, my father, who challenged me; a thirteen year old boy to an agni kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child!"
"It was to teach you respect." Ozai answered.
"It was cruel! And it was wrong!" Zuko shouted.
"Then you have learned nothing." Ozai said.
"No, I've learn everything!" Zuko snapped back angrily. "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 greatest 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."
"Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?" Fire Lord Ozai laughed.
"Yes, he has." Zuko smiled but Ozai frowned.
Elsewhere, Aang, Sokka, Lin, Toph, and Aqua were running through a hallway as a wall exploded. A column of stone rose from the ground Aang was on but he jumped off it. The ground moved beneath Aqua and she almost fell but Sokka grabbed her hand and pulled her along.
The Dai Li Agents chasing them threw two stone pieces of earth but Aang kicked one back while Lin kicked the other. Toph bended two pillars beneath the two agents and slammed them against the wall. Toph tried to attack Azula and the stone pushed her into the air. Azula flipped off the stone and landed on her feet near the throne. Aang ran at her but hearing something, he turned around, having to dodge the Dai Li's multiple attacks but Aqua used her waterbending to freeze one of the men to the wall.
Aang spun his staff over his head and let out a gust of wind. Azula did a cartwheel out of the way, always getting lucky and escaping, while Aang's attack completely destroyed the throne. Aang tried attacking her again but Azula once again managed to dodge before she ran off, Aang, Aqua, Sokka, Toph, and Lin followed. Azula dodged attack after attack.
"I can't pin her down! She's too quick!" Aang shouted as they chased after her. Azula raced through a pair of doors, the Dai Li agents, now unfrozen, blocked them with large stone but Aang and Lin still broke in following.
An agent tried to attack Toph, but she destroyed the stone gloves he had used and used a metal beam to trap him.
"Wait!" So!kka shouted as he raced after his friends. "Stop attacking!" Everyone, even Azula, stopped and turned to the water tribe warrior. "Don't you see what's she's doing? She's playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"
Lin slapped her head, "How did we not notice this?"
"Not true, I'm giving it my all." Azula said but everyone could sense the sarcasm she had within the words.
"You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph shouted.
"Um, right, I think your friend just said that genius." Azula said, rolling her eyes. "And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."
"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph shouted.
"She's baiting you again." Sokka said quickly.
"Okay, so what do we do?" Aang asked. "Just ignore her."
"We'll have to try," Aqua shrugged.
"We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow." Sokka said and they started to walk away.
"It's a trap." Azula said but they kept moving. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Ignore," Sokka shrugged.
"So, Sokka's your name, right?" Azula asked. "My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time." Sokka stopped and turned to the princess. "She was convinced that you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came and she gave up on you." Sokka's eyes narrowed in hate and anger and ran at her.
"Sokka, no!" Aqua wailed as Azula, unnoticed, dropped a blade from her sleeve into her hand. Toph's eyes widened as she felt this and earth bended quickly, pinning Azula's wrist to the wall, making her drop the blade.
Sokka grabbed Azula by her shoulder and slammed her against the wall. "Where is Suki?" he demanded, eyes full of hatred.
Elsewhere, "After I leave today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness." Zuko declared. "He is the one who has been a real father to me."
"That's just beautiful," Ozai said sarcastic. "Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."
"But I've come to an even more important decision. I'm going to join the avatar and guardians, and I'm going to help them defeat you."
"Really," Ozai smirked. "Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless and you've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?"
"Because I know my own destiny, taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." Zuko replaced his swords on his back. "Goodbye," Zuko turned and started walking away.
"Coward," Ozai spat, standing up. "You think you're brave enough to face me? But you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?" Zuko froze.
"What happened that night?" Zuko demanded, turning to face his father.
"My father," Fire Lord Ozai started to explain, "Fire Lord Azulon, has 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."
Elsewhere, "Where's Suki? Answer me!" Sokka shouted.
"Sokka, she won't talk." Aang said.
"She's just trying to waste our time limit." Lin said.
Sokka turned back to Azula, "Where are you keeping her?" he demanded but Azula just smirked to herself.
Elsewhere, "Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished.
"So…she's alive?" Zuko asked, it was hard to believe.
"Perhaps," Ozai said. "Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper." Ozai smirked as the sun shone passed the eclipse. Ozai stepped to his son and threw two bolts of electricity at the teenager. Zuko caught them in his fingertips, to the surprise of Ozai, and slid back under the force. His hair stood up from the electricity throwing through his body, and redirected the lightning at Ozai, knocking him into the wall. Ozai stood with a snarl on his lips as Zuko escaped.
Elsewhere, "Oh, sounds like the fire bendings back on," Azula smirked, she kicked her leg and a blue fire erupted from her foot. Sokka jumped back and Lin and Aqua pulled him out of the way while Azula freed her arm from the wall. Amy jumped out of the way as Azula tried to kick him. Everyone tensed, ready for another attack.
Azula straightened up and said, "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," Azula explained and ran off.
"I fell for it!" Sokka exclaimed.
"It's ok, Sokka." Aqua said quietly.
"No, it's not! I used up all our time!" Sokka shouted.
"Azula was ready for us, she had every move planned out." Toph said.
"And now it's too late," Sokka said.
"We should get out of here though," Lin said.
"Maybe not," Aang said. "The eclipse is over but I can face the fire lord anyway."
"No, I don't think that's a good idea," Sokka said firmly.
"But I'm ready!" Aang cried. "I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me!"
"But everyone will also understand why we have to leave," Lin said.
"The fire lord knew we were coming this time." Toph said. "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."
Aang sighed, "I guess you guys are right."
"You'll have another chance. I know you will," Sokka said.
Outside, Katara was leaning Hakoda against a tank. "What should we do, Hakoda?" Bato asked. "Shouldn't something have happened by now?"
"Maybe something went wrong." Jade suggested.
"Now that the eclipse is over, I expect we're going to see some fire benders any minute," Hakoda sighed. Everyone turned as they heard something and their jaw's opened in shock. Fire benders…were operating their flying machines.
"They're back!" Katara exclaimed. Appa, Sapphire, and Ruby landed next to them, carrying Aang, Sokka, Toph, Aqua, and Lin.
"Guys, what happened?" Jade asked.
"It was all a trap," Sokka explained. "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."
"They've got air power, but so do I." Aang said, opening his glider. "I'm going to do what I can do to slow them down." He flew into the air. Katara followed on Appa.
"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" Sokka exclaimed.
In the air, a fire bender threw two fireballs at Aang who dodged the attack. Aang used his staff to pierce a hole into the air balloon and the balloon started to deflate. Katara used water bending to cut a hole through the second balloon. A few stray fire balls hit Appa but the armor around him protected him from a majority of it.
"We can't keep them all back! They're too many of them!" Katara cried.
"Let's join the others!" Aang shouted back, barely dodging another fireball.
Meanwhile, Zuko was running into the prison cells, only to stop shocked when he noticed a giant hole in the cage. Zuko grabbed the nearby warden lying on the ground and slammed him against the wall. "Where is my uncle?" Zuko demanded.
"He's gone," the warden said, still in shock. "He busted himself out. I…I've never seen anything like it. He was like a one man army." Zuko dropped him on the floor and ran out.
Elsewhere, Sokka was running towards the beach after being joined by the guardians and Jet, the others of the invasion following, he stopped as his friends landed beside him.
"Try and find cover!" Sokka shouted. "I think we're about to see some bombs." Toph and Lin created large walls of stone to cover them as the bombs hit and exploded. Everyone was knocked off balanced by it but the bombs stopped and the flyers started going away.
"What are they doing?" Ember asked.
"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara demanded.
"This is bad," Jade gulped as she realized what they were doing.
"They're heading for the beach." Aang explained. "They're going to destroy the submarines!"
"How are we all going to escape?" Sokka exclaimed.
"We're not," Hakoda said.
"Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the avatar and guardians, we could still win!" Sokka cried.
"Yes, with the avatar and guardians, we could still win another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa, Sapphire, and Ruby together." Hakoda said.
"You can't be serious!" Aqua cried.
"We can't leave anyone behind." Katara said.
"You're our only chance in a long one," Hakoda said. "You and Sokka have to go with your friends somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive."
"The youngest of our group should go with you," Bato said. "The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners but we'll all survive this battle."
"I've got some experience with the fire nation prisons. It's not going to be easy but we'll get by," Tyro said.
"They're at the beach already!" Sokka cried. The swamp benders tried to throw off the bombs but it was too much and the submarines were destroyed. The children of the invasion were unhappy, but they all climbed onto Appa, saying their goodbye's to the adults.
"Jet, what are you doing, come on?" Ember said as she stood next to Ruby.
"Ember, I have to stay here, there's no more room. I can't fit on Appa and Sapphire or Ruby won't be able to fly fast enough," Jet said, pushing Ember's hair behind her ear.
"What? No! Don't be joking! You're coming with!" Ember cried. She stopped as Jet put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her into one final kiss.
When they pulled away, Jet whispered, "I love you," Ember's eyes widened and she gasped surprised, her heart thumping in her chest. But Jet used this distraction to throw Ember onto Ruby next to Lin.
"JET!" Ember cried out. Lin kept a firm arm around her sister's waist so she wouldn't jump off as they took to the skies.
In the skies, "I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while, the western air temple." Aang said. Nobody realized that a hot air balloon was following, a hot air balloon that held a determined Zuko.
