The airship was still a few hours away from the Caldera when the alarm was sounded.
Azula, who had been reading a firebending scroll in her quarters, burst into the corridor with a mix of annoyance and worry. Fire Soldiers ran past, getting into battle stations as the order to beat to quarters was issued.
There wasn't supposed to be a drill on this voyage, was there? Azula thought not, because if one had been arranged it would have been she who arranged it, but she couldn't see what other explanation there was.
The question of whether it was a drill was swiftly answered by a loud mechanical crunch that did not sound healthy, and a jolt that passed through the airship's superstructure that didn't feel healthy either.
Something's afoot.
Azula ran for the bridge, and found it in a state of commotion.
The captain saw her and visibly recoiled as she demanded a status update.
"Princess! We've come under attack! They are trying to destroy the starboard engines!"
Azula narrowed her eyes in response. "Who is they?"
Toph sat in her cell, in misery.
All she had gone through in the last few months had been for nothing. It was going to end like this, with her as a prisoner. The Fire Nation was going to win.
She was normally very, very confident, but even she was struggling to find a way out of this one. She could hardly move, let alone bend. Worst of all, her feet had been suspended off the floor, denying her the use of her seismic sense.
And Sokka was gone. That was almost the hardest part.
Just then, the entire airship lurched tremendously.
Toph allowed herself to hope for a second that it might be some kind of rescue attempt, but then dismissed it. It's probably turbulence, she told herself. This was followed shortly afterwards by the sound of footsteps in the corridor.
The footsteps stopped outside her cell.
Oh no, she thought. What do they want now? She heard fiddling around with the lock, but it sounded different somehow. It sounded a lot rougher, and it was taking longer than usual too.
Toph decided that the guard was an idiot who didn't know how to use keys properly.
Eventually, after a good minute of that sound, the door swung open, and the guard entered.
"What do you want?" Toph spat, with all the bile she could muster. She may not have been feeling all that hopeful right now, but she was damned if she was going to let them know it.
The voice that replied, though, was the last one she had been expecting.
"Great to see you too, Toph. We're here to get you out."
"Sokka?!" She was so surprised and happy that she forgot to use his nickname.
"The one and only," he replied, kneeling down beside her and beginning to saw through her ropes with the sharp edge of his boomerang.
"But- you fell off a cliff! How?"
"Not now. The others are causing a distraction, but we probably haven't got long before they figure out it's got something to do with you and come to check. I need you to metalbend the shackles off everyone else."
As he sawed the ropes off that had restrained her arms, Toph cracked her knuckles, revelling in the newfound freedom. "Got it."
She then surprised Sokka by hugging him. "I'm just glad you are alive- but don't tell anyone else I did that."
Sokka laughed and put one arm around her in return. "Your secret is safe with me."
Azula could not believe what she was seeing.
She was used to the sight of a Sky-bison, of course- months of chasing the Avatar had seen to that, but looking at the passengers on that sky-bison was like seeing ghosts.
Azula growled to herself in frustration.
"How many times do I have to kill the same Earth Peasant?"
Mai saw Azula winding up to take a shot at them with lightning, and shouted for Suki to take evasive manoeuvres. Suki snapped the reins and Appa responded, diving underneath the airship and coming up on its port side.
The soldiers on that side shouted, and prepared to aim at them, but Mai was quicker. Giving sufficient lead to the target, she launched a volley of knives that pinned two of them to the side of the walkway. Suki then weaved Appa in between the fireballs of the others.
"We have their attention, now what?"
"I have an idea. Take Appa in close!"
"You cannot be serious."
Nevertheless, Appa came in right beside the walkway, and Mai leapt off onto the airship.
"Wait!" Suki jumped off after her.
Appa rolled away, to a position where he was out of range of the fireblasts coming from the ship. He then hovered there, waiting.
Suki pulled out one of her war-fans, reasoning that the space was too confined to use her sword, and extended her retractable shield, just as the first firebenders charged towards them.
Suki and Mai moved together seemingly effortlessly. Every time a fire blast or a jab with a spear came towards them, Suki would block it, and then she would get out of the way to allow Mai to engage in ranged combat using her throwing knives. As they worked their way up the walkway, they saw Azula watching them. The Princess just stared at them, not making any effort to attack them- possibly because she feared accidental friendly fire if she did.
Then, Azula's expression changed to one of shock, and she rushed off, into the interior of the ship.
"I think Azula just worked out why we're here!"
"If so, she's slow today."
Azula burst into the brig to find Sokka standing in front of one of the doors, dressed as a guard and fiddling with a lock. He froze, and turned to face her.
"Er, hi. It's not what it looks like?"
"Water Tribe filth!" She spat at him. "You're going to ruin everything!"
The only reaction Sokka gave was to burst out laughing.
"What?" Azula was confused. "Why are you laughing?"
Sokka's laugh abruptly died. "Because you're too late. I already have ruined everything."
Azula barely had time to digest that statement before she was blasted into a wall by a powerful gust of wind. She was followed by streams of water, that swiftly froze and trapped her there. It wouldn't hold her for long, but with any luck they would be long gone by the time she escaped.
Aang, Katara, Zuko, Ty Lee and Toph all emerged from their hiding spots.
"We should probably get out of here."
"Wait!" Zuko called. "Sokka... is Mai with you?"
Sokka nodded. "Yes, she should be beating up firebenders upstairs with Suki as we speak."
Zuko visibly sagged with relief.
"Good. Azula told me..."
He was stopped by Sokka. "What is it you keep saying? Azula always lies? Now come on. We have a Sky-bison to catch!"
The fight on the walkway was still going slowly. Mai had run out of ammunition twice already, and Suki had needed to knock some firebenders out with a shield to the face so Mai could retrieve her knives.
As Suki knocked a Firebender over the head with her fan, she heard a shout.
"Suki!"
She turned to see Sokka making his way towards them, the rest of Team Avatar in tow. "We have what we came for! Let's get out of here!"
Toph stamped her feet, causing the entire walkway to shake violently except for the parts that Team Avatar were standing on. This knocked the firebenders over, and they stayed down for fear of falling.
Mai and Suki made their way over to the others, and Mai was immediately engulfed in an enormous hug by Zuko.
"I'm really glad to see you." He said happily. "They told me you were dead..."
Mai hesitated for a second, but then returned the hug. "And they were wrong."
They were interrupted by enormous footsteps making their way towards them. They turned to see a very angry Combustion Man making his way towards them. Instead of firing at them though, he made to punch Ty Lee, who danced out of the way. Clearly, he didn't think he could use his combustion beam without hitting himself in the process. He then switched to attack Toph, who managed to catch his metal arm and hold it in place with her metal bending for a second before pushing him backwards.
Meanwhile, Aang pulled out a whistle, one of the few things the Fire Nation had not taken from him, and blew it. On cue, Appa flew in closer, ready to evacuate them.
Aang jumped on first, and the rest of the team followed him, apart from Ty Lee who were still fighting the combustion man. As Ty Lee vaulted over the guardrail and onto Appa, and the Sky-Bison began to pull away, Azula ran back onto the walkway with a wild look in her eyes.
"Stop them!" She screamed.
At that, the Combustion man took a wide stance and breathed in, and Aang realized what he was about to do.
He pulled up, sharply.
Appa veered skyward, and Combustion Man's head tracked him. When he fired, the shot barely missed Appa- and hit one of the engines instead.
A colossal explosion rocked the airship, with both combustion man and Azula doing very well not to fall, followed by a second explosion, and then a third. The airship began to list alarmingly, and lose altitude.
Their job done, Team Avatar flew away.
Only now did Katara hug Sokka fiercely, a hug he returned.
"Well that was intense," Toph remarked. "I think I need a holiday."
"I think we all do," replied Suki. "Does anyone know any good places? Preferably out of the way..."
"I think I know a place," suggested Zuko, still holding Mai's hand. "But I warn you, you're going to think me an idiot for suggesting it..."
