Author Note: I am SO SORRY that this has been such a long wait! In all honesty, not only am I busy enough that I might break down at any second, but I've also been experiencing some major writer's block (this happens to me every single time ugh)

Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar Characters!

Chapter 10: Risky Plans

"The Avatar is healing," Azula said from her dark corner, twirling the sharp knife in her hand. "I have halted my attacks. This will not kill him," she spoke very confidently, rolling her eyes at the frustrated Long Feng. "I will not break my promise, Long Feng. A princess always honors her promises."

"How can you be so sure that stabbing him won't kill him?" He asked, feeling rather confused. Azula had promised that the Avatar would be his after she killed all of his friends, but now, it was sounding more like she wanted to kill him, too. "You have put him through so much in the last week, that I feel this could be his end."

She rolled her eyes again, pushing herself off of the wall she was leaning on. "How many times do I have to tell you this, Long Feng. I have spent the last two years researching the human body. That is how I learned to make that toxin – and how I learned how to stab but not fatally harm."

"And he won't lose too much blood?"

"No," she said shortly. "It will injure him enough that he will not use the Avatar State. I'm sure he will do all he can to save his precious girlfriend once I have her. But he won't have the energy."

"Why aren't you doing that from the start?"

A loud, shrill laugh escaped her lips. "Where is the fun in that? Besides, letting him believe all of this is to give my father's bending back is the perfect way to lead him on a false trail. He won't be able to fight this at all once he knows my plan."

"And you're sure his friends will be arriving soon?"

She scoffed. Long Feng was not the easiest person to do business with. He was constantly questioning her since she got him out of prison, and she was starting to wonder why she chose him to help.

"I have left perfectly placed bread crumbs for them. They are good trackers, and smart enough to figure out where we are. They should be arriving tomorrow, unless they made more stops than expected."

He wanted to question her more – what about when they got there? What about the powerful blind girl? But, he could sense Azula's annoyance with him rising, and that was one boundary he never wanted to over step. Instead, he simply nodded his head, bowed deeply to her, and exited the room, unable to shut his mind off.

As he did so, Azula sighed and went back to leaning on the wall. She had been planning this out for years – and now, it was almost time for her revenge. She smiled as she thought of what it would be like, once they were all dead. Probably back to the way it used to be – or maybe, even better? She would assume the throne, and no one would tell her what to do. It was going to be amazing.

She walked the halls, the familiar route that she had done nearly every day since capturing the Avatar, to pay him another visit. As she approached his cell, she looked in with surprise. Normally, he would be laying on the ground, usually unconscious, weak, and pathetic. But, now that she had restored his ability to move his limbs, he was sitting upright, and appeared to be meditating. She snickered, knowing that she would enjoy the last bit of torture she would be installing.

"Hello, Avatar," she shouted as she walked into his cell, forcing him from his meditation. "Feeling better, I see?"

"What do you want, Azula?"

"Always so quick to the point," Azula sighed, "I thought you were supposed to be kind and friendly."

"Well, I guess I don't have the energy for that."

"How are your limbs? Feeling better?"

"Why are you acting like you care about me?"

Once again, Azula found herself rolling her eyes. "I don't," she hissed. "Tomorrow, you are going to give me father his bending back. I need you to be strong enough to do so."

"I'm not giving your father his bending back. You might as well kill me, right now. I won't budge."

This statement shocked Azula more than she thought it would. She had broken him – he already wanted to give up, she thought. "No," she said flatly. "If you refuse, your death will be special. It will last days. Your life will slowly drain out of you, and you will be in considerable pain. Do you really want that? If you simply agree to my terms, your death will be quick and painless, and you won't know it happened."

Aang did not respond to this. Instead, he hung his head, his mind racing. The silence from him caused Azula to speak again. "I don't have time for this. I will come back tomorrow, and get your final decision."

He leaned his head against the wall as she left. While he felt much better, he was exhausted, and even the idea of standing up made him feel out of breath. He had yet to figure out what Azula was planning, but he had come up with a plan of his own. It was risky – very risky, but if he could somehow escape before his friends got there, he would be protecting all of them. He would have to use the Avatar State – that was clear. A part of him felt that Azula didn't know his full control over it. Maybe she was underestimating him? He was not the twelve year old boy she had shot down all those years ago. Azula was always a step ahead, however, so he had to believe she did know. But maybe, just maybe, he could time it perfectly, not allowing her to strike. As risky as it was, Aang believed this was the only way to protect his friends.

Tomorrow, when Azula comes to strike one last deal with him, he would give into it. And then, his plan would begin.

The final part of the trip to Omashu was brutal. Even though Katara had fallen asleep and given in to needing to rest, she was less than pleasant in the morning.

Her barking commands to get the group moving had pushed most of them to their breaking point, and Toph decided to put her in her place.

It did not go well.

Toph and Katara always pushed each other's buttons – that had always been their relationship. But after all was said and done, Toph knew she had gone too far. While Katara had no right shouting at everyone in the group and being downright mean sometimes, it was also understandable. After Katara and Sokka's fight the night prior, the group had come to realize that she was partially true. They all loved Aang and wanted him back, but no one felt the way Katara did. And when Katara acted up, it was usually best to leave her alone.

A few hours had passed. Toph and Katara's fight was heated, enough that Katara almost left on Appa, leaving the whole group behind. In fact, Toph had to earth bend most everyone on, because Appa was already taking off when they were about to load up.

Leaving Katara alone to steer Appa, the rest of the group quietly made a plan for what they would do once they reached Omashu.

"Shouldn't we go straight to King Bumi?" Zuko asked. "He would know the city best, and we might get his help."

"I don't know, Zuko," Sokka shrugged, "if we get him involved, word will get out about what happened to Aang. The last thing we need is a worldwide panic. I don't think Aang would be too happy either, considering he feels he has already failed the world twice in his lifetime."

"We are chancing it if we do it alone," Mai interjected. "We can only assume that Azula has hundreds of Dai Li and Fire Nation soldiers. We might be skilled, but we can't take them all."

Sokka grinned. "That's why we have Toph."

"Sokka's right," Toph agreed, "I can feel when they're coming. I think we can hold them off and find Aang."

Zuko and Mai looked at each other skeptically. It was risky to not get help. "I agree with both side," Suki threw in her opinion, "it's risky either way. We don't even know if this is where Aang is. We need to make our search quick, and detailed. If Aang isn't here, we don't want to waste too much time."

"Maybe," Ty Lee spoke up this time, "we should search around, and if we believe we found where he is, we alert King Bumi?"

"It's still risky," Sokka said, rubbing his chin.

"Hang on, have we stopped to think about the Order of the White Lotus?" Zuko said, his eyes widening. "King Bumi is a member, and they are masters of secrets. Maybe we should request a private meeting with him, and try and get the Order to help us."

"That would be a better idea if we weren't on a ticking clock," Toph replied, "they could be a lot of help, but it could take days for them to all be in the same city. We need to act now."

"Zuko has a point, though," said Mai, "we're acting like if we tell King Bumi, he's going to tell everyone that Aang is missing. But, he's been in a secret society for years. Maybe we need to trust that he won't tell everyone, and enlist his help to at least find him."

"You're both right," Sokka spoke up once again, "we need to request a private meeting with him when we arrive. We can ask him all of the places in and around the city for us to look for. But, that is all the help we should ask from him. The rest we will have to do alone."

There was a large break of silence following. It seemed everyone agreed this was their best plan. Sokka sighed and looked over to his sister once again. He was about to get up and talk to her, but Toph interrupted. "Hey Sokka, can I talk to you for a second," she asked.

"What's up, Toph?"

"What I said to Katara earlier," she whispered quietly, to make sure Katara didn't overhear her, "I crossed a line, didn't I."

Sokka was taken aback at Toph's words. He was used to Toph and Katara constantly bickering with each other, and it usually was never a real issue – until now. "Well, Toph, I think maybe a little," he replied. "Aang could very well already be…dead. And she loves him so much. They've pretty much spent every day together since they met. What this is doing to her, its tearing her apart. Sometimes it's best to leave her alone, even when she's being unreasonably mean."

"I've never been one to do that," she replied, "we fight all the time. But now, I actually feel bad. Aang is my friend, and I don't want to lose him, but I guess I didn't put myself into Katara's shoes. I should have before I yelled at her."

Sokka smiled sadly at her. "I'm sure she will get over it," he said. "After Aang is home safe and things get back to normal, I'm sure your friendship with her will be just fine. But, if you really think you were out of line, maybe you should go apologize to her."

"I think I will, but not now. I don't want to get thrown off Appa. I'll wait until she's had some time to calm down."

Sokka laughed. "I think that's a good idea."

Silence fell over the group for the rest of the journey to Omashu. It was awful – no one had anything to say. They all wanted to get to Omashu and find Aang, and that was all anyone could focus on. It was hard to have a regular conversation with such a dark cloud looming over them.

"There it is" Katara shouted from Appa's head.

"We made it," Sokka said quietly has he put a hand on Katara's shoulder.

She closed her eyes. "I'm coming for you, Aang. Just hang on."

Author Note: Soooo I know this chapter is very filler-y, but that's because the next chapter is going to be…. A lot. So prepare yourself.

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