Author Note: Heerrreeee we goooooo

That's all I'm gonna say.

Disclaimer: Still don't own them.

Chapter 9: Blowout

"There's the tip of the Earth Kingdom, I can see it," Suki said, pointing out the shoreline in the distance. Although it wasn't actually longer than the last time, the trip felt painfully long. Conversation was sparse – not a peep had come out of Katara all day, she had been constantly looking out at the ocean, no doubt counting down the seconds until they arrived on land. Because of the awful reason they were on this adventure, no one else truly felt the need to have conversation. They were all far too stressed and nervous.

There were moments of Sokka making plans, which Katara would listen to, but not say anything. And they seemed to have a good idea where to start the search for Aang. They would plan to speak with members of the small villages outlining the ocean, in hopes that someone saw some out of the ordinary Fire Nation activity. Then, the search would truly start. Sokka looked over his shoulder to his sister, hoping, and praying that this was still a rescue, not a recovery.

Sokka had not even spoken about his fear of what they would face once they did find Aang. It was easy to assume that hundreds of Dai Li agents and Fire Nation soldiers would be guarding wherever she was keeping him. While the group was strong and experienced with fighting, he didn't know if they would be powerful enough to take them all down.

The day had gotten away from them. The sun was nearly setting behind the horizon already, and night would fall shortly. They would have to land quickly if they were to get any help from villagers. More than likely, they would be turning in soon.

"We need to move quickly," Zuko said as they began their descend towards the earth. "It's almost night fall. I'm willing to bet we won't be able to find many villagers until morning."

"We have to find someone," Katara said coldly from behind them, causing them all to whip their heads and stare.

"What? Did you all think I forgot how to talk? No, I didn't. But, we have wasted too much time on this back and forth. We need to find out where Aang is."

No one responded with words. The fire in her eyes and darkness in her voice signaled one thing – she was as determined as she has ever been. Appa grunted in a signal that he was landing, and the group hopped off quickly in search of someone.

To their delight, they found a few merchants still out and about, making their final sales for the night. Sokka walked straight up to the first man he saw, gave an Earth Kingdom greeting, before speaking. "Hello! My name is Sokka, and these are my friends. I have a few quick questions if you have a moment."

The older man smiled warmly and bowed back. "Hello! Welcome to Senlin Village. I know who you are, Sokka, and Katara. You two and the Avatar saved this village about five years ago!"

"We did? I mean, we saved a lot of villages, I can't really remember," Sokka replied, scratching the back of his neck.

The man laughed. "That is fine, young man, you and the Avatar must be very busy saving the world. But, don't you remember Hei Bai?"

"That crazy spirit that kidnapped me and took me to the spirit world? Of course I do! The spirit world has no bathrooms! And this town is way bigger! I can't believe it stretches all the way to the ocean!"

"You do remember," the man laughed as he said this, amused by Sokka's realization. "Welcome back. I am honored that you have returned," he looked back towards the group, "is the Avatar with you? Isn't that his bison?"

Sokka's sighed as his head dropped. "I'm afraid we are looking for him right now, and I was hoping you might be able to help me with some information."

"Oh no. If the Avatar is in danger, that is not good. What kind of information do you need? I can help to the best I can."

Sokka felt some nerves. Would it be good to explain that he had been kidnapped? How fast would that spread and cause a panic? "Well, we were just wondering if you saw some, weird Fire Nation activity around here in the last few days?"

He placed a hand on his chin, clearly thinking hard. "Nothing here specifically, but I did see two Fire Nation ships headed towards Omashu, I think. The ships did remind me of the old Fire Nation ships. You know, the ones meant for war? I thought it was slightly odd, but they just sailed right past us. I completely forgot about it until now. Is something wrong?"

Sokka shook his head. "No, nothing to be worried about. Someone just has a grudge so we are playing every option. But you're sure it was headed for Omashu?"

"Oh yes," he replied, "I see a lot of ships go by. Most of them are on two routes: Omashu, or Ba Sing Se. This one was sailing far too south to be headed for Ba Sing Se. The only other major towns south of Omashu are Kyoshi Island, Gaoling, and Chin Village. If you're looking for those ships, I would try Omashu first."

A small smile spread across Sokka's face. He bowed to the man one more time. "Thank you so much. We will be on our way now."

"If you would like to stay here for the night, I would be more than happy to give you all rooms to stay in."

Katara walked forward. "Thank you for the offer," she said sweetly, which caused Sokka to jump. "But we need to get a move on towards Omashu."

"Are you sure? The sun will be setting soon. Surely you will want to rest for the night and start your travel to Omashu tomorrow."

"No, we are leaving now. Again, thank you. You have been kind and gracious. But we need to start our travels now."

He shrugged. "I understand. I hope you are successful in your quest." He bowed, and then began to walk away. Sokka turned on his heel to stare down Katara, but she was already jumping back on to Appa. "Come on Sokka, we don't have time to just sit and relax every night. Every minute gone by is a minute that Azula could be.. well, you know."

Sokka didn't say a word, he just make his way quietly back to Appa, where everyone sat. "So, Omashu it is?" Zuko asked. Sokka and Katara nodded. "Are you sure this is a great lead," Zuko asked, nerves in his voice. "My sister could have taken him somewhere remote. She could have taken him to the middle of the Si Wong Desert, for all we know."

"It's not much," Katara replied, speaking more then she had in hours, "but it's a lead. We have to believe Aang is at least somewhere south of here. Omashu has tons of hidden tunnels and caves, it could be easy for Azula to hide him there."

"Appa, yip yip," Ty Lee called, realizing the conversation had concluded. Katara spoke very matter-of-fact, and everyone knew to not mess with her right now. If she believed Omashu was the best place to start, they would go there.

A few hours had gone by, and they were still hours away from Omashu. The night was dragging on, and Appa was flying lower, due to fatigue. Mai and Ty Lee had both fallen asleep, while the rest of the group remained alert. Sokka sat in the saddle, watching his sister intently as she stared out over the land, her back turned to their friends. He mulled over his thoughts in his head. He believed what he had said to Zuko the day before. If they lost Aang, Katara wouldn't recover. They were more than just in love – it seemed to be more than that. Aang was truly his sister's soulmate, and the two had ben inseparable since the day they met. What would Katara do if they found Aang, but they were too late? Would she lash out and blood bend?

Appa let out a loud groan, and fell lower to the ground. He was clearly exhausted, and needed rest. He could usually go further and longer than he was at the moment, but there were many more people riding on his back.

"We need to land for the night and rest," Sokka stated, looking towards Zuko who was steering. "Appa needs to sleep. We can get to Omashu first thing tomorrow morning."

"We can't stop," came a whisper from Katara. "Every moment we spend not searching is another moment we could lose him."

"I know, Katara," Sokka replied. He understood her feelings, but also had to be the one to think rationally. Appa would not make it to Omashu without rest. "But Appa is carrying too many people. We have to stop and let him rest."

"We should have taken a war balloon! We are wasting so much time on camping. We need to find him!"

Katara's voice had risen loud enough to wake up the whole group. They all stared with baited breath.

"Katara, I understand your thoughts, but unfortunately we didn't think that far ahead. We have to go with what we have, and that means giving Appa rest! Would you rather push him to his breaking point and we crash? Or worse?"

"We need to find Aang!"

"And I know that! I want to find him just as bad as you do-"

"Oh, like HELL you do!" Katara's face was bright red, and tears were uncontrollably streaming down her face. Sokka had, unknowingly, pushed her to her too far.

"Katara-"

"Just shut up! No one wants Aang back as bad as I do, okay? Nobody! Don't you dare act like you do!"

"Okay, so I might not know what you're going through," Sokka said, trying to bring her anger down. "But he's my best friend. But this isn't an argument we should be having, Katara! Appa has to rest, we have to rest. That's just the truth!"

"Azula is going to kill him, Sokka! Aang is going to DIE-"

"I know!" Sokka's face grew red hot to match his sister's. He understood her emotions, but he was starting to get frustrated. He took a deep breath to try and calm himself. Raising his voice and yelling at her would not make the situation better. Instead, Sokka grabbed her hand, and pulled her into a tight hug. He felt Katara hiccup against his chest while warm tears dropped onto his shoulder.

"Katara, I don't know how hard this is for you. But we love him too, and we don't want to lose him either. But we still have to let Appa rest, and that's just a fact." He spoke calmly and quietly, letting his sister let out some whimpers and sobs as he spoke.

He held her for a few moments, not letting go. Someone needed to be her rock, and he had to do it. They sat in silence, Katara's cries echoing against the trees. Appa landed roughly, already fast asleep. The rest of the group quietly got off and began to set up camp, letting the siblings be for the time being.

Minutes passed before Katara had controlled her breathing enough to speak. "I know you're right," she whispered, her throat burning. "I can't do this, Sokka. He's supposed to be my husband in a few weeks. I can't… I can't lose him, not now. I just can't!"

"I know, Katara. I know. Shhhh."

Sokka held tightly to his sister, her tears still wetting his clothes. "We're gonna find him. We have to."

No more words were spoken. Sokka simply held on to his sister as long as she needed it. After some time, the tears had stop, as well as the sniffling. Sokka adjusted his view, slightly moving to look at her face. She had fallen asleep. He lightly kissed her head, before adjusting so he would just sleep, too. He knew his sister needed support and love, and while he wasn't normally one to hug her, Aang wasn't around to do it – so he needed to be the one. He continued to hug her, closing his eyes, before letting sleep over take him as well.

"Wake up, Avatar," Azula said as the doors to Aang's cell creaked open.

Aang sighed as he forced his eyes open. He stared at her feet, feeling all his strength was slowly fading. The torture had been much less over the last day or so – or at least, what he thought was a day – but his injuries were severe enough, he felt it was too little too late. He lifted his head to look up at her, to find her holding a vial.

"What is that?" He croaked out.

"Oh this," she smiled, holding it up for him to see. "This is the antidote to that toxin I gave you. I'm going to give it to you, little by little, so when the time comes, you will actually have the strength to give my father his bending back."

"How much longer?" He asked, finding it harder to speak every day.

She laughed. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know. Soon enough." She knelt down towards Aang's legs, and she inserted the syringe. Or at least, Aang assumed that was what she did. A few moments went by before she stood up.

"You will start to gain some feeling back shortly. But don't get any ideas," she sparked some lightning between her fingers. "I won't hesitate if you try anything crazy."

She stood up and swiftly walked out of the cell, leaving Aang alone, once again. He struggled to try and come up with Azula's plan. Something still felt off about it – even though she seemed to be prepping him to energy bend. He knew he still couldn't use the Avatar State to save him. Azula was quick, and like she said, and has done before, she would not hesitate. He was in no shape to use it anyway – it took a lot of energy, and he would be more vulnerable than usual due to his current state. Aang would not chance ending the Avatar Cycle for good, simply to try and save himself.

He knew his friends were looking for him, but he almost hoped they wouldn't find him. There were far too many Dai Li agents down there, and even though they were all powerful, they would be outnumbered. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they rescued him but lost someone on their team in the process.

He felt his eyes close once again. Darkness threatened to over take him. He thought quietly about how often this had happened over the last few days. Would he just not wake up at some point? He knew he had some nasty head injuries, and that if left untreated, he wouldn't have much time.

He forced his eyes open, lifting his head and attempting to roll over so he was no longer lying on the ground. It took some work, and he almost couldn't do it, but he eventually was successful. Ignoring the pounding headache, the ringing in his ears and the burning pain throughout his body, he kicked his brain into gear. He had to figure out what Azula was truly planning. If he could somehow get inside her head, then he might find a way out of here. He had to find her weak spot, and attack from there.

He had no idea how, but he had to do it. If not for himself, but for the world. For Katara.

Author Note: Alright guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We are getting close to the big event, so buckle your seat belts!

Also, side note! I know I said I was going to try to be posting once a week – and well, I'm starting school on Tuesday, and I'm taking on a much bigger load this semester, so I'm just gonna have to get them out when I get them out. Sorry guys, but I promise I will still try to get chapters out in a timely fashion! Please review!