Out of the two parts of the Day of Black Sun, this is the one that I was looking forward to writing the most because it's got a lot more action in it. Not only that, it's got the moment that I'm sure you've all been waiting for as well as a few surprises along the way ;).


Come to Light


Under Sokka's leadership, the invasion continued. Katara had taken Akane had Hakoda somewhere else she could look over them. Akane had tried insisting that Hakoda needed her more, but Katara was also insisting that Akane needed attention too. She really didn't want to be fussed over like this, but Katara was certainly someone who was hard to say no to.

Based on what they could hear from outside of the structure that they were inside of, things seemed to be going okay. Sokka hadn't come bursting in with any bad news so Akane took that as a good sign. They really could use some good fortune today, so Akane was hoping that this was the sign of a good outcome for them. Akane would hate to think what would happen if the invasion turned out to be a bust. As far as she was aware, Team Avatar didn't have any backup plan after that.

"I think I'm ready to try getting back on my feet again," Hakoda said once Katara finished checking over him.

Katara gave her father a concerned look, "You really shouldn't be doing anything again, dad. You're still hurt."

"I know that I can't fight, but I still want to do something instead of just lying around and doing nothing," Hakoda insisted.

"Your dads right," Akane agreed. "It's not like we're completely handicapped. You never know when they might need us out there, especially you."

"Alright, fine," Katara reluctantly conceded. "But I'm going to help you get around. No walking on your own, dad."

That was enough for Hakoda so with some help from Akane, they got him up and moving. When they walked outside, Akane could see several fireballs being launched in the air. One landed right near where Sokka and a few troops were huddled together behind a stationery Earth Kingdom tank, studying a map. Akane couldn't help but noticed how Sokka cringed at the sound of the explosion before his face brightened upon seeing his father.

"Dad!" Sokka exclaimed as he rose to approach them along with Toph. "You're on your feet again."

Hakoda sat down, somewhat weakly, "Thanks to your sister. I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe there's some way I can help."

"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," Sokka said as Katara moved away.

"Let's hope our luck holds out," Hakoda commented before noticing his daughter moving away. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. Is that…" Katara trailed off. "is that Aang?"

"What?" Sokka exclaimed.

To Akane's dismay, Katara's observation proved to be correct. She watched as Aang rode in on his glider, dodging several fireballs along the way before he landed in front of the group. If Aang was here instead of facing the Fire Lord, it couldn't be good.

"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 pleaded.

"He wasn't home," Aang replied as he and Katara knelt with Sokka. "No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned."

It was then that an epiphany came over Sokka, "They knew."

Aang rubbed his fingers along the ground idly as he spoke with dismay, "It's over. 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 and be safe during the siege but still be close enough to lead his nation," Sokka said thoughtfully.

"Your instincts would be correct," Akane spoke up. "I know for a fact that there are a set of secret tunnels hidden under the volcano that were built during Fire Lord Sozin's reign in case the city was ever invaded. I guess you could say Sozin got a little paranoid in his old age. I'm willing to bet that Fire Lord Ozai is hiding out somewhere in those tunnels."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it," Toph proclaimed as she pointed to herself.

"The mechanist gave me this timing device," Sokka said as he pulled out some kind of mechanism. "It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."

Aang looked at his friends with determination, "We can still do this. We can still win the day."

"Wait!" Katara's urgent cry caught their attention. "If they knew we were coming it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. 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," Hakoda said.

"What do you think?" Sokka turned to Aang as he spoke. "You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

Aang rose and turned his back to the group as he glanced up at the volcano with determination, "I've gotta try."

"And we'll be there with you," Akane grinned.

Katara glanced at her with concern, "Are you sure that you should do that, Akane? You're not in the best condition to fight and the chances are that you're going to have to fight."

"I said that I want to help in any way that I can. I might not know my way around the volcano, but I don't want to be useless. I'm better off doing whatever I can to help," Akane argued.

"If you're sure," Katara said worriedly.

Akane nodded, "I'm sure."

"Then lets get on Appa and head to that volcano. We've got no time to waste!" Sokka exclaimed as he grabbed Akane and Toph's hands before running off to Appa as Aang was already ahead of them.

No sooner than when they climbed onto the bison's saddle, Appa was up in the air and heading towards the volcano. Akane had seen that volcano countless times before, since it had been her home for the better part of twelve years. This was the closest that she had been to it in three years, and it was a strange feeling to Akane. It was even stranger when they landed on the ground and Akane felt real, genuine Fire Nation soil.

"Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asked as they jumped off Appa.

Toph placed her hand on the ground to feel vibrations, "Firecracker was right. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano."

"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" Sokka questioned.

Toph took her hands and dug her fingers into the surface, "There is something big, dense and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."

"Sounds like a secret bunker to me," Sokka remarked as he rose his arms up.

Using earthbending, Toph made a hole in the volcano which blew up a cloud of dust as they jumped in. Aang followed them in after he told Appa and Momo to be safe. If anyone was going to need to be safe, it would be them. They entered a dark cavern, with Toph leaning over and surveying the area with her seismic sense.

"This way! That one's a dead end!" Toph yelled as she lead the way.

"What would we do without you?" Sokka asked as he followed her.

"Perish in burning hot magma," Toph replied as they walked past magma channels.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sokka said as he observed the magma channels.

They were lead to a chamber where magma was erupting from several sprouts in the ground. Akane knew that one wrong move would result in them perishing and burning in hot magma just like Toph said they would.

"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker," Toph stated.

"We'll have to be fast, but careful," Sokka as he took a step forward just as a geyser of magma erupted, nearly striking him if it hadn't been for Aang using his airbending to cool and solidify the gush.

"How is that careful?" Aang snapped.

"I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky," Sokka corrected himself.

"We're going to need more than luck," Akane muttered as they leapt their way through the chamber, narrowly avoiding magma sprouts. They arrived at a rock ledge, only to find themselves completely surrounded by molten lava.

"There's no floor. It's just a river of lava," Sokka observed.

"I don't think swimming across that is going to be an option," Akane muttered.

"Climb aboard and hold on tight," Aang ordered as he spun his staff open. Sokka and Toph reluctantly climbed on, while Akane remained behind.

"You guys go ahead. I'll get across on my own way," Akane replied.

Sokka and Toph's screams of fear filled the air as Aang flew them across the river of lava. Behind them, Akane was using her fire jets to propel herself through the air. She had been apprehensive about doing so, given her physical condition and since she wasn't sure how she would be able to cope being surrounded with so much lava. The lava actually seemed to give her firebending a bit of a boost, so Akane was relieved that she didn't need to use that much of her energy before she landed swiftly behind Aang and the others.

They continued running through tunnels at rapid speed as Akane's nerves continued to grow. She knew that the eclipse was coming closer, and she didn't know exactly what she would have to face once they found Ozai. Their path lead them to a large metal, dome-like structure with a huge door that blocked their path.

"That's some door!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Not a problem," Toph smirked as she sauntered over to the door and banged the metal with her fist.

That was actually the first time that Akane had seen Toph metalbending. Although she knew what the younger girl was capable, Toph never ceased to surprise Akane with her capabilities. Toph jammed her elbows into the door which created cracks inside the metal before she stepped back several feet, kissed her fingertips and split the door wide open. Upon stepping inside the interior, she pointed in to her right before heading off.

"I am so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka exclaimed as he entered the bunker while making elaborate hand gestures.

At any other time, Akane would've made some remark about him not including her in his statement but now wasn't the time for that. They needed to keep moving because time was running out and it wouldn't be long before the eclipse started. But the more time that went by, the more nervous that Akane became. It wasn't just the looming eclipse that was making her nervous, it was not knowing what would become of her by the end of this day.

For the most part, Akane was doing alright as she ran after the others. There were a few times when she could feel the pressure, but Akane forced herself to keep going. But Akane came to a stop as she suddenly felt that overwhelming feeling in her body again.

"Are you alright?" Sokka couldn't help but ask.

Akane groaned, "I'm fine. Just keep going, I'll trail behind you guys."

They continued running down the tunnels until Akane spotted someone I the distance. Whoever it was clearly didn't prove to be that much of a threat as he quickly gave the others directions to where the Fire Lord was supposedly hiding. The others seemed all too happy to take his word for it, but Akane wasn't so sure.

"Should we really be taking directions from some guy that we don't even know?" Akane asked.

"We don't have much time anyways," Sokka said as he took out his timing device. "There's only thirty seconds until the total eclipse."

Seconds later, they approached a large set of door as Aang looked ahead with determination. Akane wasn't sure if this was the best thing for them to do, but with the eclipse only seconds away they really had no choice but to go ahead and bust those doors down. One thing for sure was that whatever was on the other side of that door wouldn't be good.

"I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord," Aang declared.

With one swift motion, he blasted the door down with airbending which caused smoke to feel the air. When the smoke cleared, they all looked in horror at who was waiting there for them. Yes, it was someone dangerous but it certainly wasn't who they were looking for or hoping to find. If anything, it was the last person that Akane was hoping to find. Or second to last if you counted someone else.

"So, you are alive after all," Azula said with a cruel smile. "I had a hunch that you survived. But it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months."

"Of course you did," Akane spat.

Azula glared at her, "And I must say, I'm far more disappointed to see that you're still alive. I hoped that my lie about your demise was speaking it into existence. But unfortunately, you're right here. But I have to say, you're not looking too good, Akane."

"You're not going to look good either once we're through with you!" Akane snarled.

Azula smirked, "We'll see about that."

Like always when it came to Azula, there was something about her at this point in time that seriously bugged Akane. She didn't know if it was because of seeing her again or if it was because of the way that she was acting. Either way, Akane wasn't looking forward to whatever was going to happen next.

~*•°•*~

Outside a small metal door with a torch surrounding either side of it, Zuko stood nervously as he prepared himself for what he was about to do. He felt as though everything in his life so far had been leading up to this moment, and Zuko wasn't sure how he was going to face it but he knew that it was something that he had to do.

"I'm ready to face you," Zuko whispered to himself.

Taking a deep breath, Zuko opened the door which gave him a full view of his father sitting on the far side of the room as he drank his tea. Ozai was surrounded by several Royal Procession guards and set his teacup down upon seeing the prince.

"Prince Zuko? What are you doing here?" Ozai asked.

"I'm here to tell the truth," Zuko replied.

"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting," Ozai commented before signalling for the guards to leave, closing the doors behind them.

"First of all, I didn't kill Akane like Azula said I did. She was captured in the Crystal Catacombs before she escaped on the trip home," Zuko admitted.

"That's certainly not what your sister told me," Ozai said.

"Well, Azula lied. The chances are that Akane isn't even dead right now no matter what she might've said to you and me. And in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me," Zuko revealed.

"Why would she lie to me about that?" Ozai questioned disbelievingly.

"Because the Avatar's not dead. He survived," Zuko answered.

"What?" Ozai roared, the shock and horror clearly evident on his face.

"In fact, he's probably leading this invasion with Akane. He could be on his way here right now," Zuko continued speaking as if his father hadn't spoken.

"Get out!" Ozai snarled as he rose from his seat and pointed towards the door. "Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore," Zuko declared.

"You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!" Ozai sneered angrily.

Zuko pulled out his swords, "Think again. I am going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen."

A thick silence filled the air as Ozai sat down, dismayed at the turn of events. Zuko knew that this was the moment for him to speak his mind to his father. Something that in the past, Zuko wouldn't have dared to do. But things were different now, and so was Zuko.

"For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honour that I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you," Zuko voiced his recent revelations as he pointed a broadsword at his father. "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 can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"

"It was to teach you respect!" Ozai snarled scornfully as he was becoming more angry by the second.

"It was cruel! And it was wrong," Zuko argued.

"Then you've learned nothing!" Ozai snapped angrily.

"No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own!" Zuko yelled before he spoke more calmly. "Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilisation in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness 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."

Ozai laughed cruelly, "Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"

"Yes," Zuko smiled proudly. "He has."

His father certainly didn't take too kindly to Zuko's last statement if the deepening scowl on his face was any indication. Zuko actually felt proud knowing that he'd gotten that reaction from his father, but he knew that he was treading in dangerous territory so Zuko had to be careful about what he said next.

~*•°•*~

"Where is he? Where's the Fire Lord?" Aang demanded as they stood before Azula who remained relaxed on her throne.

"You mean I'm not good enough for you?" Azula remarked as she rose from the throne before acting hurt. "You're hurting my feelings."

Akane scoffed, "You don't even have feelings!"

"Stop wasting our time and give us the information," Sokka threatened as he pointed his sword at her. "You're powerless right now, so you're in no position to refuse."

"And stick to the truth," Toph added as she clenched her fist. "I'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar," Azula commented as she took a few steps forward. "I am a four-hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

"Okay, you're good, I admit it!" Toph snapped after a short pause before she trapped Azula with her earthbending. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway!"

Without warning, the earth trap crumbled and broke, leaving the foursome gobsmacked as Azula brushed off the dust. Once Akane got over her brief shock, she looked up to see two figures clinging to the ceiling and Akane instantly recognised them as Dai Li agents.

"When I left Ba Sing Se I brought home some souvenirs: Dai Li agents!" Azula smirked at them.

Two Dai Li agents descended into the room. Aang sent an air swipe at them with his glider, however, the agents quickly conjured up an earth wall that blocked the attack. Aang burst through the stone wall that had been created and they ran towards the Fire Nation princess. A stone column erupted from the surface, which Aang managed to dodge while Toph bended two stone slabs which sent the agents towards the two sidewalls of the room.

The agents landed on the sidewall and sent two earth pillars straight at Toph, who conjured two earth walls to block their attacks. She proceeded to send a stream of earth at Azula, who nimbly back-flipped onto the stone after being pushed back by the stream, smirking as she landed. Aang raced towards her, an agent following close behind him while the other agent rocketed along a wall. The agent on the wall landed before him and built up an earth wall which Aang managed to break through before sending an air blast at Azula, who managed to slip away as the blast destroyed her throne. Aang attempted to knock her down by sending an air swipe, but Azula avoided his attack, acutely leaping and flipping between two metal beams. She landed on the ground before running away.

"Needing other people to fight your battles for you now, Azula? How pathetic!" Akane snarled.

Azula cackled, "Like you're much better! You always needed Zuzu to back you up only now you're on your own and Zuzu isn't here to save you! He's even far better off without you! Did you hear that he and Mai had gotten together?"

"Like I'd care!" Akane yelled, her words defying her feelings.

The former enemies then squared off, with Azula trying to lay a few punches on Akane while the others fought off the Dai Li agents. Akane was at a distinct disadvantage given her physical condition, but she wasn't going to back down without a fight. She remained defensive and stood her ground, proving herself to at least be a worthy opponent. Every time Azula laid a punch on her, Akane was there to deflect it. But there were a few times when Azula would get the best of her and leave her a bit bruised. It certainly didn't help when Akane felt that ringing sound in her head and things started to get fuzzy, causing her movements to be ragged and out of place.

Using Akane's weakness to her advantage, Azula managed to get away from her and slid down a stone pillar created by a Dai li agent and flipped onto one of the stone walls that Toph had conjured to protect herself before jumping onto another one and landing on the ground again. She began running towards a stone wall as a Dai Li agent slid down a stone column to the floor where he launched Azula into the air by bending an earth pillar below her feet. Just as Sokka was climbing his way through the hole in the stone wall, Azula leapt over him and was followed by a Dai Li agent, Aang and Toph in that order.

"A little help over here!" Akane called out, since she really didn't think that she'd be able to climb through that hole on her own. She didn't have to as Toph earthbended a hole through the wall so that she could get through.

"I can't pin her down! She's too quick!" Aang yelled.

Azula raced through a door, entering a tunnel with a Dai Li agent following her from behind, earthbending a stone wall to block the entranceway. The Dai Li continued running after the princess as Aang burst through the wall and chased after them. The Dai Li agent was suddenly pushed over by a stone column that jutted out from the side of the tunnel's wall. A hole had appeared as Toph emerged from it while the agent landed into a crevice of a nearby metal beam and prepared to attack Toph, only for the blind earthbender to destroy his rock gloves and metalbend the grooves of the beam together, trapping him. She and Aang continued to chase Azula with Sokka following them and Akane trailing behind them.

"Wait! Guys! Stop attacking!" Sokka called out to them. "Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true. I'm giving it my all," Azula remarked.

"You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!" Toph reiterated Sokka's thoughts.

"Um, right, I think your friend just said that, genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes," Azula commented sarcastically as she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph snapped angrily. Behind them, Akane was struggling to keep herself standing as she panted heavily against the wall.

"You should also see that your pathetic excuse of a friend is just barely keeping up with you," Azula added.

"She's just baiting us again," Sokka dismissed the princess's words, failing to see that what she said was actually the case.

"Okay, so what do we do, just ignore her?" Aang asked.

"We don't have a choice," Sokka replied. "We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow."

As they turned to leave, they quickly realised that Azula hadn't been baiting them with lies about Akane when they saw her hunched against the wall, clutching to her side as she writhed on the ground.

"Akane!" Aang exclaimed as they rushed to her side. "What's going on?"

"I-it's coming," Akane stammered, wincing in pain as she grabbed onto her neck.

"What's coming?" Sokka asked before noticing strange markings appearing on her arms. "What are those?"

Akane groaned, "My d-destiny."

"Aw, how sweet," Azula drawled sarcastically. "They're willing to give up any of their precious time just for you."

"Ignore!" Sokka snapped as he waved his hand up in a gesture.

"Y-you n-need to go," Akane murmured weakly. "F-find the F-Fire L-Lord. L-leave me."

"No we won't!" Aang argued.

"So, Sokka's your name, right?" Azula said craftily. "My favourite prisoner used to mention you all the time. She was convinced you were going to come rescue her. Of course you never came, and she gave up on you."

Sokka cast Azula a suspicious glance and shed a few tears as Azula spoke before charging at the princess in blind rage. Despite her position, her cruel smirk didn't go unnoticed by Akane as she revealed a hidden dagger. Toph seemed to sense the weapon and pinned Azula's hand to the tunnel wall by sending a rock aimed at her wrist. Sokka grabbed her by the shoulder, coming face-to-face with her.

"Where. Is. Suki?!" Sokka demanded. The princess remained silent.

Away from them, Aang didn't know whether to focus on Azula and Sokka or worry more about Akane who seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. The markings on her arms became clearer and Aang had no idea what they were supposed to mean. She had mentioned something about her destiny, but Aang still didn't understand. This was unlike anything that he had seen before.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka continued asking, only to get no response from Azula who smirked evilly at him.

Aang grabbed Sokka's shoulder in an attempt to get his attention, "Sokka, she won't talk."

Sokka ignored him, "Where are you keeping her?"

On the ground beside them, Akane continued writhing as more markings continued to appear on her. She had anticipated something like this happening today, but it hadn't happened at all how she expected it to. Everything around her started to fade to grey and the voices that should've been clear became distorted and hazy. The only thing that made sense to Akane was her own ragged breathing that was becoming more erratic by the second.

Images started to appear in Akane's mind, and at first they hardly made sense to her at all. She then felt like she was falling and Akane had no idea what was going on. As the images flashed around her, they started to become clearer to her and the writing was quite literally on the walls. Amongst the vagueness of it all, everything made sense to Akane and she knew what was being communicated to her however it was.

This was it. This was her destiny.

~*•°•*~

Unbeknownst to Zuko, while he was confronting his father Akane was left dealing with his sister. But right now, all Zuko was focused on was saying his peace with his father. He knew that his father certainly wouldn't take his words peacefully, but Zuko didn't care. He'd been holding back for far too long now.

"After I leave here today, I'm gonna free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm gonna beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who's been a real father to me. Then I'm going to find Akane and do whatever it takes to make her forgive me after what I've done to her," Zuko proclaimed.

Ozai laughed, "Oh, that's just beautiful. And maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure. Maybe you and that brat could even live in your perfect little world together."

"But I've come to an even more important decision," Zuko closed his eyes and momentarily paused before announcing his decision. "I'm going to join the Avatar, and I'm going to help him defeat you."

"Really? Since you're a full-blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless. You've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?" Ozai said smugly.

"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny," Zuko replied before putting his swords away. "Goodbye."

"Coward!" Ozai called out as Zuko walked away. "You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during the 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?"

That seemed to grab Zuko's attention as he abruptly stopped and turned to face his father. Ozai smirked, knowing that he had his treacherous son right where he wanted him.

"What happened that night?" Zuko demanded.

"My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son, and I was going to do it. Your mother 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. Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished," Ozai recounted the night of Ursa's disappearance.

"So she's alive?" Zuko asked as he grew teary-eyed.

"Perhaps," Ozai said calmly before his voice started to raise with rage. "Now I realise that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."

Almost as if he could feel that the eclipse had ended, Ozai suddenly felt a surge of energy before in split seconds, he generated lightning and fired the bolt at Zuko. Reacting immediately, Zuko slid back several feet from the impact of the bolt, yet he managed to redirect it, sending it back to right in front of his father. The resulting explosion caused the Fire Lord to slam into the back wall, which was when Zuko took off running as fast as he could.

It had felt exhilarating feeling that much power surging through him, even if the power hadn't come from him. Zuko could hardly believe that he had successfully managed to redirect lightning on his first attempt, and he had to be relieved that it had worked out that way. Now Zuko was going to find his uncle, and hopefully after begging for his forgiveness they could find Akane too and be together just like they used to be.

~*•°•*~

The impact of the explosion caused by Zuko's lightning redirection was heard right from where Team Avatar was. Azula took that as her cue to leave, knowing that she'd played her part brilliantly.

"Oh, sounds like the firebending's back on," Azula commented.

With a swift kick, she kicked her leg in a wide arc, sending a fire blast that nearly struck Sokka, who took several steps back as he narrowly avoided Azula's attacks. The princess back-flipped onto the tunnel wall and used firebending to break free from Toph's earth cuffs. She then flipped forward, extending her leg forward and nearly striking Aang, who managed to dodge the incoming danger.

Her attention then turned to Akane, and a sinister smirk appeared on Azula's face as she struck a blast towards the girl who was now open for any attack. The attack reached Akane's shoulder, and it unfortunately didn't elicit any response from the girl since she was already unconscious on the ground. But her fire had been enough to leave a mark and that was all Azula wanted to achieve.

Azula smirked, "Dad's all the way at the end of the hall then down a secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you now."

"I feel for it!" Sokka cried as Azula ran away, leaving the others dismayed. "I used up all our time."

"It's not your fault, Sokka. Azula was ready for us. She had every move planned out," Toph reasoned.

"And now it's too late," Sokka said sorrowfully.

"Maybe it's not too late," Aang argued. "The eclipse is over. But I can face the Fire Lord anyway."

"No. I don't think that's a good idea," Sokka replied.

"But I'm ready! I cam here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me," Aang insisted.

"The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. 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 and help our friends," Toph reasoned.

"I guess you guys are right," Aang conceded, the disappointment evident in his voice.

Sokka placed a reassuring hand on Aang's shoulder, "You'll have another chance. I know you will."

Toph turned to Akane, "What are we supposed to do about her?"

"We have to help her," Aang said. "Her shoulder's burnt thanks to Azula and she's just unconscious. Katara can help her."

"Then let's get going," Sokka stated.

Together, they picked up Akane and helped get her out of the tunnels. The entire time, she remained unconscious while muttering inaudible words. Every so often, her body would shake and every time she shook, more markings appeared on her. The clearer that they became, Aang could've sworn that he'd seen those markings before, but he couldn't be sure about where he had seen them.

It didn't take long for them to get out of the volcano and find Appa so that they could find the others. When they did find the others, they were horrified to see that they weren't the only ones that were airborne. Dozen's of airships and war balloons were in the sky as they approached the troops down below. Katara noticed their arrival and Aang looked down at her with a saddened look on his face.

"It was all a trap!" Sokka exclaimed as he jumped off Appa. "Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move! We've 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."

"Akane!" Katara gasped as she saw Aang and Toph carry the unconscious girl down Appa's tail. "What happened?"

"She just started spazzing out on us and it doesn't help that Azula purposefully burned her shoulder, but she doesn't seem to be in any pain," Toph replied.

"We have to try slowing down the war balloons and the airships," Sokka suggested.

"They've got air power, but so do I!" Aang declared as he opened his glider. "I'm gonna do what I can to slow them down."

Katara watched as Aang flew into the air and as much as she knew that she could help him, she didn't know if she could leave Akane. Whatever the girl was going through, it was something that she was going to need help with.

Hakoda seemed to notice her hesitation as he gave Katara a reassuring smile, "You go and help Aang, Katara. We'll take her with us."

Katara nodded as she jumped onto the bison, "Appa, you and I can help too."

"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" Sokka shouted before he started running.

While Aang and Katara were busy in the sky, the others were busy trying to get back to the submarines. Bato and Haru's father, Tyro, were carrying Akane and although she wasn't firmly connected to the ground, Toph could still feel that something was going on inside of her. Toph couldn't explain why, but she had a feeling that whatever was going on there was what was making Akane like this.

"Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs!" Sokka ordered.

Just as he said that, Aang, Katara and Appa returned as bombs started falling from the sky. Toph bended a ceiling of earth over the group of people that she was with and rebuilt it when a bomb landed very near the earth ceiling. To everyone's surprise, the airships continued heading ahead once they passed them.

"Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?" Katara wondered.

"They're heading for the beach…" Aang trailed off thoughtfully before he became alarmed. "They're gonna destroy the submarines!"

"How are we all going to escape?" Sokka asked hopelessly.

"We're not," Hakoda replied as he was helped by Bato.

"Then our only choice is to stand and fight," Sokka said determinedly as he punched his fist. "We have the Avatar, we could still win."

"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win. On another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together," Hakoda ordered.

"What?" Katara exclaimed in surprise before she grabbed hold of her father. "We can't leave you behind! We won't leave anyone behind!"

"You're our only chance in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe," Hakoda reasoned, prompting Katara to look back at Aang and Sokka with sorrow. "It's the only way to keep hope alive."

"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender," Bato suggested. "We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle."

Tyro approached the two warriors, "I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to get easy, but we'll get by."

Sokka turned around in alarm as he noticed where the airships were, "They're at the beach already!"

The entire invasion force watched in horror as their only way of escaping was quite literally destroyed by bombs. Despite the best efforts of the swampbenders, the submarines were swiftly destroyed, leaving them with no escape route. Everyone looked on in disappointment as Sokka closed his eyes resentfully. This was certainly not how he had hoped or thought today would go.

"We should get ready to go," Katara said softly.

It was quickly decided as to who would go with Team Avatar, with the newcomers being Haru, Teo and the Duke. A sombre mood overwhelmed the group as they said their goodbyes and prepared for their departure.

"We lost today, but we've never been this close," Hakoda placed his hands on his children's shoulders while he knelt down to face his two children as he spoke with pride in an attempt to lift the sombre mood. "We tasted victory, and that counts for something."

"We'll miss you, dad," Katara murmured as she and Sokka hugged their father.

"Bye, dad. We won't be apart for too long this time. I promise," Sokka said.

Once Katara and Sokka pulled away from their fathers hug, they gave him one last look before climbing back on Appa. Upon seeing Aang upset, Katara's first instinct was to go comfort him rather than help Akane which seemed to be Sokka's instinct.

"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm gonna make this up to you," Aang promised.

After giving everyone one last look, the team turned to leave on Appa as the bison moaned sadly while he took off. The others looked on sadly at those they left behind before focusing on each other.

"Katara, can't you do something for her?" Sokka asked urgently.

"I can heal her shoulder, but I'm not sure what I can do about the rest. I don't even know what's going on with her," Katara replied as she looked over Akane.

"When did she get those weird markings?" Haru inquired.

"It was down when we were facing off against Azula. She just suddenly dropped down and started shaking before she dropped off. Then the markings started to appear," Sokka explained.

"I knew I shouldn't have let her go," Katara muttered.

"What's done is done," Toph spoke up. "What we need to do now is focus on finding someplace to hide."

"And it looks like we're going to need it," Teo added as he glanced back at the airship behind them.

"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while," Aang called back to them. "The Western Air Temple."

Since nobody could think of a better place to hide, that was where they'd be going. The whole time, Katara was checking over Akane while desperately trying to figure out just what was going on with her. It wasn't anything that Katara could explain, or anything that she had ever seen before. All Katara could do was try her best to get her to come back to them.

Unknown to them, they were being followed by a lone war balloon with Zuko standing in it as he stared ahead with determination. It was hard to deny the irony that came with following the Avatar once again, only this time Zuko had no intentions of capturing them. Zuko had been too late in finding his uncle, but he was hoping that he wouldn't be too late when it came to finding Akane. He had no idea what was going to happen when he did eventually catch up to the Avatar, but Zuko was willing to do whatever it took if it meant fulfilling his destiny.


I'm gonna be honest, this chapter was a bit of a let down for me since I had anticipated writing a lot more action but at the same time I feel like it was enough even if I'm still a little iffy about it. In case you missed it entirely, what was said to happen on Akane's sixteenth birthday has just happened which means, surprise, her birthday was on the day of the eclipse. I tried building up to it as best as I could with the way I emphasised Akane's nerves about the battle, since she clearly had a lot more to be nervous about. I always wanted to fit Akane's birthday into the story somehow since she was only a few months younger than Zuko, and when I came up with her backstory it fit perfectly.

Speaking of backstory, I know I already said that I want to continue with the comics, but I'm also considering doing a story about Akane and Zuko's childhood together. Of course, the significant events that I already touched on in this story would be skipped but it's something that I'd really want to do. If I did do it, would you guys prefer it to be written after I've finished this part or after I've finished the sequel, cause I don't know where I'd fit it. This chapter was also important to the story for both Akane and Zuko, because for Zuko it steered him on the right path and Akane now understands what she's supposed to be doing. Of course, that will be revealed in time because it would spoil a few things that I have planned ;). Until then, let me know what you guys think and how excited are you for the Zukane reunion? Cause I certainly am.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Silverstarlets: One thing that I've always wondered about was what was in the rest of the contents of Zuko's letter to Mai since we only got one sentence of it in the Boiling Rock. Of course, the actual letter is probably a lot different than the letter in my story given the circumstances. Zukane will finally be reunited after ten chapters and it's going to be worth the wait ;).

Victoria White: Despite the awkwardness, Sokka still cares about her and that was shown with how he looked out for her when she needed it. They're going to have their much needed conversation too, but that's for another chapter. I'm certainly getting more immersed with the Harry Potter fandom, since I've even got a fic dedicated to Hogwarts Mystery.

Mogor: Mai and Zuko's next reunion is certainly going to be interesting, far more interesting than what it was in the show. But the reunion that will triumph it will of course be the Zukane reunion happening next chapter. In my opinion, Mai isn't boring all the time like when she blew up at Zuko at Ember Island and their confrontation in the Boiling Rock. Akane will certainly be getting out of the madness, but not in the way that she went into it.

Powerpuff: What do you mean that you liked how Akane was getting strange looks from everyone because she was Fire Nation? It had to happen, because it was made pretty clear that she was the only Fire Nation citizen surrounded by people who thought of her as the enemy.