Chapter 10

Sokka and Toph were anxiously watching Iroh as he read through the scrolls they had found. Iroh finished reading one of them, put it down, and stroked his beard for a few seconds.

"I don't think we should try and rescue the prisoners," he finally said.

Sokka's jaw immediately dropped. "What?! Why not?"

"This is a trap. They want to use the prisoners as bait."

"Gotta admit, that does make sense," Toph said.

"Even if it is a trap, we still have to try!" Sokka said. "My dad's in there, and all the others. They can help us defeat the Fire Nation."

"I understand how you must feel, but it would be foolish to knowingly walk into a trap."

"If we know it's a trap, that gives us the advantage. Please, Iroh?" Sokka added.

Iroh sighed and thought for a long time. He finally said, "It wouldn't be wise to try this right now. We have to focus on defending the city above all else. When Aang returns, if all went well with the guru, he'll have his Avatar State restored. We'll then be able to mount a proper offensive on the Ba Sing Se ruins and free these prisoners."

"But we don't even know exactly when Aang's getting back, or if he'll even have the Avatar State! This could be our one chance to save my dad!"

Iroh put his hand on Sokka's shoulder and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry, Sokka. I've made my decision."

Sokka stormed out of Iroh's tent and Toph ran after him.

"I can't believe he won't even try to save them," Sokka said.

"Well… he probably is right, y'know."

"I know, I know. But it's my dad. I have to try to save him."

"When do they arrive?" Toph asked.

"The scroll said they'll arrive at a Fire Nation port, north of the Serpent's Pass, in a couple of days. Think there's any chance Iroh will change his mind by then?"

"Nope," Toph said. She then gave Sokka a sinister smile and whispered, "But we don't need him to. We can take Appa and free 'em ourselves."

. . .

Aang walked on a bridge of energy, high above the world, and the infinite starry night of the cosmos was all he could see before him. Aang noticed that unlike the night sky of earth, these stars didn't twinkle; they were impossibly static and steady. He reached the end of the bridge and above him he saw the representation of his Avatar Spirit, manifested as a colossal version of himself. It was dormant, just hovering there and emitting no light, little more than a silhouette against the stars.

Aang stared at it for a long time. It seemed to slightly bob up and down as it hovered, almost as if it was breathing. Yes, it was still alive, but it was asleep, and Aang needed it to wake up. He became frustrated and angry as he observed it; as he observed himself. He knew his decision to abandon this cosmic energy last time was one of the decisions that took him down this path of failure.

"Just wake up!" He finally yelled at it. "Wake up!"

There was no response or movement; no acknowledgment of any kind.

"Please… the world needs you to wake up!"

Aang clenched his fists angrily. He continued yelling, "It's just some guilt! Why does some guilt matter so much?" He dropped to the ground and angrily pounded at the energy bridge. Light flashed from the energy bridge where his fists impacted, and soon the entire bridge faded out of existence. Aang felt the sensation of falling back to the world. He had gotten too emotional and his astral projection failed.

His eyes opened and he was back In the inner sanctum of the Eastern Air Temple, sitting in a meditation stance in front of a giant statue of Avatar Yangchen. Lining the walls all around him were the statues of the past avatars, all seemingly watching him as he struggled to find a way to release his guilt, unblock his chakra, and reclaim the Avatar State.

Aang dropped backward in defeat and sighed loudly. He stared up at the bright blue sky, which was visible through the open ceiling of the sanctum. A white cloud slowly moved across and his eyes followed it.

He heard a voice call out from the entrance. "Any luck?" It was Katara.

"No," Aang said, still lying on the ground. "It's been three days, and I've tried everything I can think of: mediation, visiting spirit world, and just now some Avatar cosmic energy stuff. Nothing."

"No spirits in the spirit world helped you?"

"I tried asking a bunch of them this morning, but they didn't understand the problem. I think spirits don't handle regret like we do."

Katara's face came into view as she walked up to him. It was upside down as she looked down at him lying on the ground.

"I brought you a present," she said and smiled.

"Is it something that'll help me enter the Avatar State?" Aang asked.

"Probably not, but maybe?" She shrugged. Aang looked confused, now intrigued. He stood up and noticed Katara was standing with her hands behind her back, hiding whatever it was.

"What is it?" Aang asked and tried to look behind her, but she quickly turned to keep him from peeking.

"Guess."

"Uhh…" Aang thought about it but had no idea. "Is it a shaving razor?" He asked, simultaneously rubbing his head.

Katara laughed. Aang had forgotten to bring a razor to shave his head with, and after the last several days he now had some short fuzz returning to his head.

"Nope, I actually like your hair."

"Is it… another pet lemur?"

"Nope, but you're getting closer. Er, kinda."

Aang thought some more and said, "I give up."

Katara revealed what she was hiding behind her back: an airbender staff. "I found this while exploring the temple, and I figured you need a new one."

Aang smiled with delight as he took hold of it. He looked it over and saw that it was a particularly beautiful staff, with ornate decorations carved into the wood. He expanded its glider wings and saw special white symbols sewed into the orange fabric. The smile on his face disappeared and he tried to hand it back to her. "I can't accept this. This kind of staff belongs to the head monk of the Council of Elders."

"Aang, you're a hundred and thirteen years old; you're as 'elder' as they come. You're also the only airbender in the world. I'm pretty sure that makes you the new head monk."

"I hadn't thought of that," Aang responded and smiled. He expanded the glider wings again, and leaped into the air, soaring up through the opened ceiling, giving the glider a test flight. He flew around the temple peak a few times and came back to Katara.

"It doesn't have a snack compartment like the one the machinist made me, but I love it! Thank you, Katara." He gave her a tight hug.

"Are you going to keep meditating?" she asked. "Maybe having the staff will help?"

"I think I'm all mediated-out," Aang said. The two of them walked out of the sanctum and walked through the empty halls of the temple. Of all the four air temples, this one had taken the most damage during the Fire Nation's attack. Piles of rubble were scattered around, walls were collapsed, and an overgrowth of the local flora permeated the entire temple. Still, Katara felt like this was her favorite air temple thus far. It just felt so ancient and spiritual, and she loved the beautiful murals that were still visible on some of the walls.

"I spent the morning with the guru," Katara said as they walked together. "He taught me all about the chakras and talked me through opening mine, too."

"Does that mean you can enter the Avatar State now?" Aang's joke was half-hearted.

"Very funny."

"In all seriousness, what does happen if you unlock all your chakras?"

"I'm not sure, but he made it seem like it might help my waterbending."

"Did it?"

"Well, to be honest, I couldn't unblock all of mine either," she said. "I got all of them except one."

"Which one?"

Katara hesitated and suddenly seemed embarrassed. "Um… my air chakra."

Air chakra? Which one was that one again? Aang thought. Wait, isn't that the one deals with love and is blocked by grief?

Katara continued talking to make herself feel less embarrassed. She forced a laugh and said, "We should have brought Sokka and Toph with us! Imagine what chakras they have blocked."

"Hah, yeah. I'm sure those two have a bunch that are blocked."

"And remember Zuko? Now that's someone who probably had a lot of blocked chakras."

"I bet he did," Aang said pensively. He felt he had gotten to know Zuko and his motivations a little better through Iroh, and now knew much of Zuko's life had been unfortunately tragic.

"Did you know Zuko tried to enter the spirit world once?" Aang said.

"Really? That's surprising. He didn't exactly seem like the type."

"Iroh's been in the spirit world a few times. He had gone in there to try and find his son after he died. He told me that after that incident at the Fire Nation temple—you know, during the winter solstice—Zuko asked him to teach him how to enter the spirit world."

"Why would Zuko want to do that?"

"He thought maybe he could use it to find me, with me being the Avatar and all. He was never able to enter it, though, and eventually gave up."

"Doesn't surprise me."

They walked a while longer and eventually reached the room they had been living in for the last couple of days. "When do you think we should return to Xin Se?" Katara asked.

"Well… I'm not having much luck, and I kinda got all the advice I could get from the guru. So, I guess there's not much reason to stay here."

"How about tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds good."

. . .

Sokka and Toph were hiding with Appa behind some boulders, just north of the Serpent's Pass but South of the Fire Nation port. It was within view, and Sokka had been watching the bay for some time now with a spyglass. Toph was just about to complain about being bored, when suddenly Sokka exclaimed, "I see it!"

"The prisoner ship?"

"I see an Empire-class battleship. That has to be it! It's kinda strange, though, there's a fleet of cruisers escorting it. Seems like pretty heavy security for just some prisoners." Sokka said. He had learned about the different kinds of Fire Nation navy ships from Iroh and liked showing off his knowledge whenever possible.

"That's because it's definitely a trap, remember?"

"Yeah, but like I said: we know it's a trap, so that gives us the advantage."

"So, what exactly is the plan, again? I mean, I know I'm good, but I'm not sure even I can take on that many firebenders."

"We're good! It's not just you, I'll be fighting too!"

Toph was about to make fun of Sokka's lack of bending but decided it wasn't worth it. "Right. Sorry. Let me rephrase that: I know we're good, but I'm not sure even we can take on that many firebenders."

"It won't be just the two of us. At least, not for long. Here's my plan. As soon as we see the prisoners, we swoop in on Appa and drop where they are. First thing's first, you earthbend a wall around us. That'll block off any firebenders and give us some time to free the prisoners. Between you, me, and the freed prisoners, we'll have no problem taking out the guards. These prisoners are an elite fighting force, after all! They nearly took over the Fire Nation capital."

"Well I wouldn't put it like that, but I agree, they should be able to handle a few guards."

Sokka continued to watch the prison ship as it reached the port and docked. A platoon of firebenders emerged, and then the prison ship's hull opened. From inside emerged a tank train, like the one that had been used by Azula and her team to chase them down several months back. This one seemed like a larger, more heavily-armored variant and was pulling even more train cars.

"The prisoners are being transported in one of those all-terrain tank vehicles."

"They're made of metal, right?"

"Yeah."

Toph cracked her knuckles and smirked. "Sweet."

"Alright, let's do this!"

Sokka and Toph jumped up on Appa and flew towards the dock and began chasing the tank train, hovering right above it while dodging fire blasts from the nearby soldiers. The tank train kept moving, but Appa was able to effortlessly keep up. They got low to the ground and Toph jumped off, stomping the ground and raising a large stone wall in front of the train, forcing it to come to a halt. She stomped the ground a few more times, and rock walls emerged all around, surrounding the area around the tank train in what looked like the rim of a giant crater. A few Fire Nation soldiers were trapped inside the stone walls, but Sokka and Toph were able to dispatch them easily.

"Great job, Toph!" Sokka said excitedly. "Now just do your thing and rip open these doors!"

Toph walked over to the first of the train cars, spat in her palm, rubbed her hands together, and grabbed the metal door. It crumbled under her hands, and she began to peel it apart. A blue light suddenly flashed from inside just as the door was forced open, and blue fire blasted out. Sokka was just barely able to grab Toph and pull her out of the way.

It was Azula. She stepped out and looked at them with a wicked smile. Her eyes were particularly chilling; she seemed different than before. Her typical calm demeanor was gone, and now she just seemed… unhinged.

She looked at the two of them and her smile disappeared. "Just you two? Where's your little bald friend?" She looked angry now.

"Azula!" Sokka exclaimed. "So it was a trap. The prisoners aren't here."

"Oh, the prisoners are here, but it's still a trap. Just not for you. Where is the Avatar?"

"Don't you worry about Aang, you have plenty to deal with us," Toph yelled as she launched a boulder into the air and sent it flying at Azula. The boulder smashed into the train car, but Azula dodged it easily.

Azula sighed with annoyance. "Look, I'm not interested in some water savage or his blind, dirt girlfriend. You realize I'm the Firelord now, right? Hunting down peasants like you two is beneath me and the only reason I'm here is that my father demanded it. So just tell me where baldy is and I won't kill you."

Neither Sokka nor Toph responded to her. Sokka then said to Toph, "Be careful, if she's here, it means that moody girl and the chi blocker aren't far. We're in for a fight."

Sokka's statement struck a nerve with Azula, who lunged at them while blasting large streams of fire. "Oh you're in for a fight alright, but not from those two traitors!"

Toph lifted slabs of rock from the ground that blocked several of the fire blasts. Sokka charged at Azula with his sword drawn, but she effortlessly dodged his swings and blasted fire at him. He was able to dodge it but lost his balance and Azula kicked him hard. He fell back and hit his head, nearly losing consciousness.

Toph took advantage of the distraction Sokka provided, and turned the ground under Azula into sand, causing her to suddenly sink to her waist. While Azula struggled to free herself, Toph dropped to the ground and rolled in a singular, smooth motion, surrounding herself with a suit of earth and rock. She ran at Azula, each heavy footstep causing the ground to quake. Just before Toph reached Azula, Azula blasted out of the sand with jets of blue fire shooting out from her feet, sending her flying upwards. Toph then launched her rock-suit into the sky as a shower of individual rocks. Several managed to hit Azula, causing her to grunt in pain and plummet to the ground.

Azula tumbled on the ground but reciprocated with many consecutive fire blasts, swinging wildly and angrily. Toph ran towards the tank train and ripped out a sheet of metal, using it to encase herself in a suit of metal. Azula blasted Toph with fire but her metal armor was impenetrable. If Azula had more time she could eventually heat the metal enough where Toph would have to abandon it, but she would be defeated far before then. Toph grabbed Azula with a strong metal arm and Azula struggled to be freed.

"Face it, Firelord," Toph said, mockingly, "You're outmatched!"

Azula's eyes opened wide with madness and she laughed hysterically. "No, you're outmatched!"

Azula slipped out of Toph's metal grip and electrical arcs suddenly formed as she zapped Toph's metal suit with lightning. Toph dropped to the ground and screamed in pain as she got electrocuted.

As strong and powerful as Toph was, she was still a young girl and her high-pitched scream was painful for Sokka to hear, and it instantly jolted him into action. He threw his boomerang at Azula and it hit her hard on the head, disrupting her lightning. Toph barely managed to come out of her metal suit before collapsing.

Fire Nation soldiers had at this point managed to scale the walls surrounding their battlefield and took Sokka prisoner. One of them helped Azula up but she angrily pulled herself away from him.

"Do not touch me, peasant!" she shouted at the soldier who tried to help her. She then ordered the soldiers that were binding Sokka and Toph to arrest him, too.

Azula placed her hand on her head where the boomerang hit and recoiled in pain. She could feel blood oozing down her forehead and angrily wiped it away. "Clear these rocks!" she yelled, pointing to the rock wall blocking the tank train. "I want these prisoners taken to the prison camp immediately!"

She stormed back into the tank train and sealed herself in.

. . .

Ozai sat in his new throne room, at the top of the spire that had been constructed where the former Earth Kingdom Palace stood. The entire palace room was adorned with polished black obsidian stone and accented with the turquoise glowing crystals taken from the Crystal Catacombs below the palace. His throne itself was a massive depiction of a phoenix with its wings outspread. A perpetual flame kept burning from the wings of the phoenix, much like the flames at the Firelord's palace.

To reach the top of the spire where the Phoenix King presided, there was a large winding staircase at the center of the tower. Down the middle of it was a stone elevator powered by slave earthbenders; a temporary solution. In time, they would be replaced with a proper mechanical elevator, courtesy of Fire Nation engineering.

Azula reached the top of the spire and entered Ozai's throne room. She approached, noticeably upset and bruised from her fight earlier that day.

"Father, I've arrived. And I am not pleased. As the Firelord, transporting prisoners is well beneath me."

Ozai stared at her for a long time before responding. As she waited for a response, Azula's anger slowly shifted into fear. She began to contemplate whether or not she should apologize for speaking so harshly, but Ozai finally spoke.

"You are correct," he finally said in a disturbingly calm voice. "You are the Firelord."

Azula felt momentary relief.

He continued. "So, tell me, Firelord, what makes you think you can address another head of state—your emperor, in fact—so callously?"

"Father, I'm… sorry."

"Stop." Ozai stood up and approached. "Do not address me as 'father.' This is an official meeting, and you will address me by my proper title and with proper protocol."

"Yes… Phoenix King." Azula said and bowed down on her knee. She briefly looked up but had a hard time maintaining eye contact.

"I am displeased with your performance as Firelord. I've read the reports, and you have handled things poorly since I departed from the mainland. You allowed your Dai Li pets to murder too many of our palace guards after Sozin's Comet, and were nearly assassinated yourself by them."

"That wasn't my fault!" Azula quickly interrupted. "When they found out about Ba Sing Se's destruction, they turned on me. Those rats were more loyal to the Earth Kingdom than we thought."

"Silence! I taught you better than to make excuses for your failures! You are the Firelord, act like it!"

Azula immediately looked ashamed and apologized.

"And even before their betrayal, you couldn't even keep your own friends in line. Defeated by two non-benders. Pathetic."

After Ozai had killed Zuko, Mai became furious with Azula for not standing up to her father. This erupted into a fierce confrontation between the two, and Ty Lee sided with Mai, chi blocking Azula, leaving her incapacitated before the two were apprehended by Palace Guards. Azula hadn't been the same since it happened, and then her Dai Li agents' betrayal pushed her even further to the point of insanity. And although she couldn't make herself accept it, deep down she knew that she had also been rattled by the fact that Ozai killed Zuko. If he could kill his son—as much of a failure as he was—he could kill her, too.

Azula now felt torn between wanting to stay silent and accept her father's criticisms, or scream at him that these things were his fault. Her fear of him won, and she stayed silent.

Ozai shook his head as he looked at her. "You had such promise, but you've been a disappointment. This weakness and incompetence stem from your mother. I suppose I should be grateful you didn't inherit as much of it as Zuko did."

Azula felt a familiar, but completely forbidden sensation: the urge to cry. She had long taught herself that tears were weakness, and she would never in a million years dare to show such weakness in front of her father.

"Phoenix King, I will do better." she said with forced calmness, "I brought the prisoners you requested. I understand you have renewed interest in capturing the Avatar."

"I don't want to capture the Avatar. I have a new plan, and it requires killing the Avatar, and I want your help to do it. The prisoners you brought are bait."

"Two of the Avatar's closest friends tried to free the prisoners just after my arrival. The Avatar wasn't with them, but I defeated them easily and they are now being held with the others. They'll make the bait even sweeter. What do you want to do?"

"Tell me, Firelord, you have experience with the Avatar. What kind of trap would you suggest we lay with this bait?"

Azula felt comforted to hear Ozai address her in such a respectful way while seeking her advice. Maybe it was just manipulation on his part, or maybe it was some genuine fatherly encouragement. Either way, this kind of validation from him meant a great deal to her.

"The Avatar is a weak, sentimental child," she answered. "He would do anything to keep people from getting hurt, especially his friends. Here is my suggestion: send a messenger to him. Tell him that he has a week to surrender himself. Every day that passes after that week, you will kill one of his friends. He won't be able to refuse and he'll turn himself in."

Ozai stroked his long, thin beard momentarily as he considered her suggestion. A creepy little smile appeared on his face and he said, "That is an excellent idea, Firelord. I will send a messenger at once."

He took a step forward and put his hands on her shoulders. It was a rare display of affection that caught her off guard. She looked up at him and said, "You and I will kill the avatar. Together."