Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or anything associated with it except my fanfiction.
Aang, Sokka, and Suki were all gathered together on Appa, waiting for the same person they'd always had to wait for since this fiasco started.
Sokka was tearing his hair out, and Suki and Aang were close to doing the same. After they went out to the docks and saw a Fire Nation ship intermingling with the Watertribe boats, they immediately knew that Azula was there, and the preparations to leave had quickened considerably.
But even then, Katara still had not come. It was almost daybreak, and their window of escaping was shrinking further and further with the fall of the moon and the rise of the treacherous sun.
They were going to head to the North Pole to see if they would be able to make it in time. Azula's plans were almost halfway realized - a scary, sobering thought that plagued Team Avatar.
Or rather, it plagued most of them. They were starting to hold aloof from Katara, and the justification was reinforced when she didn't come back.
"You know, I'm kind of starting to wonder if Katara turned insane and is working for Azula now," Suki said.
Sokka and Aang nearly screamed Suki off the snoring flying bison. "WHAT? No way! Katara loathes Azula! Especially because that crazy lady always calls my sister 'peasant!'" Sokka screamed.
"And there's a bender's chance in the Spirit World that Katara'd forgive Azula for killing me. Like, Zuko was conflicted and didn't kill me himself, but Azula shot me down without hesitation, and tried to kill Katara multiple times. No way would Katara work for Azula in her right mind!"
They fell silent for a while. Finally Sokka said, "I hate to say it, but if Katara doesn't get here before the moon falls we gotta leave without her."
Aang opened his mouth to object, but fortunately he didn't need to, as Katara came barreling towards them.
With a "Yip! Yip! Appa!" the team took off minus Katara, but she simply leapt and took Aang's outstreched hand, and climbed onto the bison's back.
"Sorry I'm late guys," Katara said.
"It's alright, sis, although you were cutting it close," Sokka lied through his teeth.
Katara opened her mouth to say something, then saw the Fire Nation ship down below. "I guess you're right Sokka," she said quietly.
Sokka puffed out his chest. "You know I always am!" he said proudly.
Aang couldn't resist prodding Sokka. "You mean like with your instincts?" Sokka's face went red as the others laughed.
They were halfway to the North Pole when a small fuzzy object hit Aang in the face.
They were in the middle of the sea, and the others were laughing and joking while Aang scanned the expanse of blue for any tell-tale landmark. As it was the sea, Aang assumed it was some sort of seabird that was caught unawares by the fluffy monster heading its way.
"Heya! Watch where you're going, Mr. Bir-" he stopped when he saw a familiar face. His face lit up. "Momo! You came!" And then his face dropped when he saw the piece of parchment hastily tied onto Momo's leg. He untied it, and Momo started chittering, likely complaining about the heavy weight made him suffer so on his journey to the group.
However, for a heavy piece of paper, it contained very few lines. Too many enemy ships. North Pole is down. Everyone important evacuating to Fire Nation. No soldiers spared. Azula too big a threat now. Chief Arnook.
Aang tied the letter back to Momo's leg, much to the lemur's chagrin, and let Momo make his way to the others. After a moment cheerful moment of reunion, everything became deathly silent except for Momo gorging on lychee nuts.
"Aang... what are we going to do now?" Sokka whispered. He and his sister did not have time to mourn, a horrible consequence of Azula's actions. Instead, a grim determination replaced keening sorrow, and the Watertribe siblings were out to get justice for their father. Unfortunately, justice was becoming harder and harder to attain with each passing minute, nevermind the passing weeks and days.
They had heard through trickling news at Azula's domination and authority. The things that were said were sometimes unspeakably horrible. The worst part was that Katara sometimes smiled during those parts. When asked, she always put it on looking at Aang or on her slipping mind from the chaos. The others knew better.
Slowly but surely Sokka had come up with a plan, only involving Suki, Aang, and himself for the moment. Sokka had said that worst case scenario, they were on their own, so that was all the plan accomodated for. Things would change, of course, once more people joined them.
But they were few and far between.
Aang sighed. "We're headed for Kyoshi Island again. I'm not so sure about this, but we need all the help we can get. Most of the Kyoshi Warriors probably wouldn't be able to join us because of you-know-what - " everyone glanced at the kingless girl. "- but Ty Lee is Fire Nation. She'd be able to join us, and her help would be invaluable."
"Uh, hate to break it to you Aang, but Ty Lee was kind of on Azula's side for a while. I don't know what to expect from her."
"Is it because you're suspicious of her or you just don't want to face an old crush, Sokka?" Suki jokingly ribbed.
"A bit of both," Sokka admitted sheepishly.
"Besides, didn't Ty Lee betray Azula when she least expected it? What's to say she won't do the same with us?" piped Katara.
Suki, Sokka, and Aang shared a look. They knew that if Katara vetoed it, it was probably a good idea. Fortunately, they found an easy way around this. "Alright. Majority vote," said Sokka. "All in favor of Ty Lee?" three hands shot up. "Sorry, Katara. You're outvoted."
Katara pursed her lips and turned her back on them. It panged Aang's heart to do such a thing to her, but frankly, her actions gave them no choice.
"Alright guys, to Kyoshi Island we go." he tugged the reigns, urging Appa to go faster. "Once we get Ty Lee, we head for the last-resort rendezvous point - no offense to you, Bumi old friend, out there."