Howdy y'all and welcome to the FINAL of... PART 2! I started writing this part 6 months ago, and now, 25 chapters later, here we are. So without further delay, here is Chapter 35. Don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review! I really hope y'all enjoy this chapter because it took a long time to write! See y'all either next week or the week after for the start to part 3!
I don't own ATLA
"Well, it's time for us to figure out how the hell we are getting out of this rock," Suki said as she ate her food in the mess hall.
They had been there for two days and it was apparently the day that Appa was supposed to magically sweep down and save them from the prison. Suki looked up at her boyfriend who wasn't eating anything and sighed.
"If you're not going to eat your food, can I have it?" she asked as she eyed up his plate of food.
Sokka sighed and pushed it towards her. "Here," he replied while looking at his girlfriend. "You can have it."
Toph looked at the scene with mild suspicion. She tapped her foot on the ground so that she could sense Suki and the baby.
"Toph, what's going on?" Sokka asked the Earthbender as he heard her foot tap.
"What?" Toph asked innocently as she tried to keep her emotions under control. "Oh, uh, nothing. Just someone giving one of the guards head in one of the spare rooms. It caught me off guard," she added, praying that he would buy the lame excuse.
"Oh," Sokka said as a slight blush grew on his cheeks. "Are they any good?" he quietly asked.
Suki immediately slapped him on the back of the head. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she yelped while glaring at her boyfriend.
"What?!" Sokka exclaimed as he rubbed the growing lump that was appearing on his head. "I was just asking."
"Well, jeez, I don't know...THINK ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" Toph yelled.
"I mean, Toph has super-vision, so I was just wondering if she could tell if it was good head!" Sokka said as he attempted to defend himself for the onslaught of hits for his girlfriend.
"For your information, no, I don't know how good the head is!" Toph snapped back as she sent a pillar of earth straight up his butt. "Why the fuck would I know that?!"
Sokka yelped as he failed to protect himself. "I mean…"
"JUST SHUT UP!" both girls yelled at him, which caught the attention of some of the people around them.
"Oi!" a man with dark skin called out to them as he threw one of his spoons down. "What's all this yelling?!"
"Yeah, we're just trying to enjoy our food before we go to labor factories!" a woman yelled from across the room.
Sokka looked around at the room and sighed. What did I just get myself into? he asked himself. "Well, my friend here was just telling me that someone was giving someone head in one of the storerooms," he explained, which made the crowd burst into laughter.
"And what," the same woman said as she stood up. "Did you want some?" she said as she walked over to the teen.
The lady in front of Sokka was around 5'6". She had long brown hair and one green eye. She had an eye patch on the left side of her face and a scar that seemed to stretch under it. She had ruby-red lips and a very full figure to boot.
"Who are you?" Sokka asked with mild interest.
"Kenzi Ward," the now-identified woman replied with a smirk on her face. "Now, the question is, who are YOU?"
"Well, I'm Sokka," Sokka said as he pointed to himself. "The girl next to me is Suki, and the midget across the table is Toph." He pointed to both girls as they were introduced.
"Well, Sokka, it seems like you've got quite the crew around you," Kenzi said as she looked at both the girls. "What's up with shorty, though? Her eyes workin'?"
"No. I'm blind," Toph said with a straight face.
"Well then, how did you know Ellie was givin' head to one of the soldiers?" the one-eyed brute asked with mild suspicion.
"I'm an Earthbender; the best one in the world, actually. I can see with my feet. That's how I know," Toph explained bluntly.
"Well, that's interesting," Kenzi said as she stroked her chin. "You might be useful."
Sokka raised his eyebrow and leaned forward with great interest. "What do you happen to be talking about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, Pipsqueak?" Kenzi said to Sokka with a smirk on her face.
"Who are you calling Pipsqueak, melon-chest?" he fired back.
Suddenly, the atmosphere of the mess hall went cold. Everyone that was around the two arguing figures suddenly backed up a safe distance from the two.
"What did you call me?" Kenzi asked threateningly.
"M-melon chest," Sokka mumbled out as he tried very hard not to pee his pants.
"You know, I hate when people point on the size of my boobs. Hell, they're bigger than both your companions' tits," Kenzi said with a smirk on her face. She then walked up to Sokka and glared at him while grabbing his arm.
"What do you think you're doing to my boyfriend?!" Suki said as she started to storm over to Kenzi and Sokka. She was suddenly stopped by someone who was wearing an orange coat with fur on the inside.
"Tyler, let her go!" Kenzi called to Tyler as she tightened her grip on Sokka's arm. She then led him towards a round table in the corner of the room and sat him down.
"What are you going to do to him?" Suki cried as she rubbed the wrist where she was grabbed.
"We're going to play a little game," Kenzi said to Sokka with a smirk. "If I win, you never speak to me again."
"And if I win?" Sokka asked the girl in front of him.
"I'll suck that pencil dick of yours," she replied with a sly smile on her face. Her expression suddenly changed when she saw that Sokka was shaking his head.
"No," he answered as he looked at the women in front of him. "If I win, I want in on this plan of yours." He smirked at her.
Kenzi looked at him and then at Tyler, who merely shrugged his shoulders. She then closed her eyes, seemingly deep in thought. After a few minutes, she smirked once again. "Alright, kid...you got yourself a deal."
"Okay, now what's the game that we're playing?" Sokka asked as he looked down at the table and saw a deck of cards. He raised his eyebrow as he saw Tyler walk over to them.
"We are going to be playing Blackjack," Kenzi said. She explained the rules of the game and Sokka nodded his head.
"Alright, the bets have been placed. Are both players ready?" Tyler asked as he shuffled the deck of cards expertly.
"Yes," Sokka said as he looked at the cards with a calm look on his face.
"Yes, Tyler," Kenzi replied. "Now let's get this party started!"
"Alright," Tyler said as he placed cards face down in front of both Kenzi and Sokka. He then placed a card face up in front of both of them. After giving them a second to look at their cards, he looked at Sokka. "Hit or stay?" he asked.
"I'll hit," Sokka said as he looked at his cards. He had ten right now and the card that he just got was a face card, meaning he just got meaning he now has twenty. "Now I think I'll stay."
Tyler then looked at Kenzi and asked the same question. "I'll take a hit," she said with the smirk returning on her face. She started with an eight and just received a three. "Hit," she repeated. She now had thirteen. "Hit," she called with a little bit of force.
"Jeez, you don't need to be a bitch about it," Tyler said with a sigh. He handed her another card and she frowned again. She now had seventeen.
"Hit."
Tyler handed her a card and she smiled. Nineteen. I don't think he got either twenty or twenty-one, she thought to herself.
"Alright, are both players satisfied with their numbers?" Tyler asked the players at the table. Both nodded their heads at him and he smiled. "Reveal your totals."
"Nineteen."
"Twenty."
The entire room was dead silent. Suki and Toph looked at Sokka in disbelief. He had actually won the game and was now able to know what this plan was. Both girls smiled at their friend and walked over to congratulate him.
"Wow. I didn't think you would actually be able to do it," Kenzi said with a small amount of disbelief in her voice.
"Well what can I say...I'm pretty amazing!" Sokka smirked as he leaned forward and looked at Kenzi dead in the eyes. "Now, tell me this plan you have."
Kenzi sighed to herself as she looked at Tyler. Both had a silent conversation with their eyes and, after a few moments, Kenzi leaned in as well.
"We're planning a mass breakout!" she whispered into his ear. Sokka's eyes immediately widened as she told him the information.
Apparently they had been planning this for weeks and were going to be pulling it off today. They were receiving infromation from some of the guards by performing sex on some of them. Ellie, a girl who was having sex with them, had seduced three guards who were spilling their guts for weeks to her. All of them knew the guard's positions, the timings of guard changes, when new inmates were coming, codes, tactics, and even the best time to escape. They even knew where the emergency rafts were for the soldiers.
To say that Sokka was impressed was an understatement. There was already an escape plan that he did not even have to come up with. He smiled at the girl in front of him.
"That works perfectly for us, then," Sokka said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Kenzi asked with mild interest.
"My friends and I are actually planning on escaping as well." He then went on to explain how Appa was going to be picking them up after they raided the warden office.
"Wait...does that mean you're with the Avatar?" she asked curiously, which made everyone's eyes widen.
"You bet!" Suki replied with a warm smile on her face. "Although, we got split up, like, four or five months ago." She then went on to explain the situation to Kenzi and Tyler.
"Wow, thats crazy," Tyler said while processing the story that he had just heard. "So, do you guys know where he is?"
"No. all we know is that he's probably still with Azula."
"Wait, if he's with Azula, then he might be here!"
Sokka, Suki, and Toph looked up and saw a girl running towards the table.
"Oh, Ellie, how was...information gathering?" Kenzi questioned with a smirk on her face.
"You know, I really hate you," Ellie said with a deadpan look.
"Well, lucky for you, this is your last day of doing it," the one-eyed leader said with a smirk.
"Um, who is she?" Sokka asked with a raised eyebrow.
Next to Kenzi was a girl around 5'5" with long brown hair that went to her mid-back. She had chubby cheeks and a very full figure. She had light brown eyes and was wearing leggings and a gray t-shirt which was a contrast to Kenzi's blue jacket and leather trousers.
"Oh, this is Ellie, my lieutenant and best friend!" Kenzi said as she placed her arm around Ellie's shoulder.
"Like I was saying, Princess Azula is actually here," Ellie continued as she looked around at the crowd. "She's with three other people: One is a boy named Lee - he's the Princess' personal servant. The other two are Ty Lee and Mai."
Suki balled up her fists in anger and growled at the mention of Mai and Ty Lee. She knew that she would one day have to face them, but she didn't think that it would be so soon.
Toph, on the other hand, stomped her foot and was surprised to find that someone else was doing the same thing as her. Aang? she thought to herself as she went to find the source of the vibrations. She found that they were coming from what looked like a bedroom on the other side of the prison. So you ARE here? She smiled when she realized how close they truly were to their friend.
"So, what do we do now?" Sokka asked as he looked at Kenzi and Ellie.
"Well, when do you think your ride is getting here?" Kenzi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I told them about mid-day, so we should be out in the yard by then," Sokka explained to Kenzi.
She nodded her head in understanding. "Alright, then here's the new plan: when your ride comes, you're gonna distract them guards so that we can escape to the boats. Once you see a flare from the water, that's when you can leave." She gained a nod of acceptance from the gang.
"Works for us," Suki said confidently. "Ellie, do you know where they possibly could have taken our weapons?"
She nodded. "Yeah, they should be in a storeroom on the second floor of the prison. There should be two guards scanning the place, so be careful," Ellie said with a smile on her face.
"Well, I wish you three the best of luck," Sokka said as he got up from the table.
"Wait, where are you going now?" Tyler asked the group.
"We're going to get our weapons so that when the time comes, we can be ready to go," Sokka replied as he walked over to Suki and Toph, who both nodded in agreement.
"Just come back when you're done so that we can hash out the remainder of the plan," Kenzi yelled to them as they walked away.
Once the trio walked through a door, Kenzi looked at Ellie and smiled. "Today just got a whole lot more interesting."
Zuko groaned as he woke up the next morning. He rolled over in his sleeping bag and saw that it was light outside. He lazily sat up, started to change his clothes, and, after appearing to be at a presentable state, walked out of his tent.
He looked over and saw that Katara was still sleeping in her tent and sighed. "Well, at least I can catch some fish for breakfast this morning," he decided aloud to himself. He walked over to Appa and grabbed the fishing line. Once he found a cliff face, he sat and began to fish.
I wonder how today is going to go? he thought as he waited. He knew that today was the day that they were going to pick up Sokka, Toph, and Suki from the Boiling Rock and, honestly, he did not know how he felt about it. On one hand, he knew that he was going to be helping his friends. On the other, this was going to be the first time he was actually going to be fighting about Fire Nation troops.
Previously, he had been injured, or just wasn't in the line of fire. Now, however, there was a very high chance that he was going to be fighting people. He wondered how Katara was going to take all the future fighting they'd be doing that day.
It took another twenty minutes for him to be dragged out of his thoughts by the pull of his fishing line. He started yanking and reeling in the fish. After a few minutes of struggling, he had caught a nice, large fish. After repeating the process several times, he had a bushel of decently-sized fish he could cook for breakfast.
He walked back to the campsite and saw that Katara was now up and moving. However, she walked right past him and didn't even spare a glance at him. Jeez, what's got her feeling sore today? he asked himself as he walked over to the fire pit to cook the fish.
Once the fish was cooked, Zuko placed two down on a plate and waited for Katara to make an appearance at the camp. He sighed as he thought about his relationship with the waterbender. Honestly, he did not dislike her. Sure, she could be bossy or rude at times, but she wasn't THAT bad. He just had to get past her attitude.
Katara, on the other hand, was walking back to the campsite after taking a pleasant bath in a hot spring she found on the island. She was recollecting all the things that had happened to herself and Zuko over the course of the past four months and she sighed. She could see flashes of the Zuko that she thought she liked, but recently, he had been changing into a totally different person. She had honestly thought that he was going to at least be nice to her, but it seemed that she was wrong.
When she finally got back to camp, she found that Zuko had set up breakfast for her. She smiled and sat down next to him. "Good morning," she greeted as she sat down on a log.
"Morning," Zuko greeted in return as he began to gnaw on the fish he had cooked for them. "How do you feel?"
"What do you mean?" Katara queried as she took a bite of the fish.
"I mean, you went unconscious when you fell off of Appa and I wanted to know if you were okay," Zuko recalled between bites of fish.
"Oh." Katara sat and thought about what he just said. So he does care about me!
"So...are you okay?" Zuko pried again after a few beats of silence.
"What?" Katara looked at him and saw the concern on his face.
"You, uh, blanked out for a bit there. I wanted to make sure that you were still here," Zuko said, chuckling slightly at his joke. He stopped when he noticed she was not laughing with him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Zuko," she replied as she finished her fish and stood up. "Thanks for checking on me." She smiled as she began to walk towards her tent to pack up her things and load them onto Appa.
"Are you excited to see Sokka and his merry band of misfits?" Zuko asked as he packed up his own stuff.
"Actually, I am excited to see them," Katara responded as she continued to roll up her clothing and sleeping bag. "I just hope we get there in time to rescue them."
"Yeah, I hope that we get there, too," Zuko concurred as he placed his belongings onto Appa. "Though, I can't help but have a bad feeling about it."
"What do you mean?" Katara asked as she walked over to him.
"Well, I got this same feeling back at the Stronghold all those months ago, and...I can't help but feel that something very important is going to happen," he explained as he looked around the area to make sure that they had all their things.
"I'm sure it'll be okay," Katara reassured him as she hopped on top of Appa and plopped onto the saddle.
"Yeah," Zuko said as he commanded Appa to take off and head towards Boiling Rock. "I hope so."
Aang was meditating when he heard a rap on the door. He tried to ignore it and return back to his meditating, but he simply couldn't. It was as if someone was about to pummel down the poor wooden frame of the door.
"Ugh...alright! I'm coming!" He jumped up, threw on his cloak, and shuffled over to the door. He opened it and saw that it was Ty Lee and Mai. "Hey guys, long time no see. It's not like you guys weren't here, like, seven hours ago," he said sarcastically as he stepped aside and let the girls into the room.
"Sorry, Aang, but it's happening today," Ty Lee responded with a serious expression on her face.
"What do you mean it's happening today?!" Aang shouted at the top of his lungs. "I thought we had a couple more days to fine tune the plan! Not just 'Oh, by the way, escape from a maximum security prison on a whim'!" He immediately started pacing the bedroom.
"Aang, I'm sure everything will work out just fine," Mai said as she walked over to the boy who was on the verge of a breakdown. "Where's Azula?"
"Yeah, is she in the bathroom or something?" Ty Lee asked as she looked around the room for the Princess.
"No, she went to meet the Warden this morning after breakfast," Aang explained. He noticed his friends' eyes widen. "Now do you see why I'm panicking?!"
"Aang, we have to have faith in her," Mai said as she started to fix tea in an attempt to soothe his nerves. "Getting worked up isn't going to help you, me, Ty, or Zula. You need to be calm and rational."
"Rational? You want me to be rational while my girlfriend, the love of my life, is in enemy territory. Hell, she could just be killed on the spot!" Aang raged as he continued to pace quickly around the room.
"Well, we know they aren't going to kill her," Ty Lee stated bluntly.
"Alright Ty, enlighten me: how do we know they aren't going to kill her?" Aang sarcastically asked the acrobat.
"They want her alive so that she can become a baby factory," she explained to him. "That's how we know she's not going to be killed."
"Aang, she's going to be fine." Mai quieted the Avatar, who had stopped pacing and was rooted in place.
"Toph?" he barely whispered.
"Who?" Mai and Ty Lee both asked as they looked at the monk, still standing rigid as a statue.
"Toph, Sokka and Suki are here," he said slowly.
Mai's eyes widened. "You mean the other part of your team is here?!" Mai exclaimed, which made Aang cringe.
"Yeah...I don't know how they got here, or why they are here," Aang explained slowly, processing information as he went. "All I know is that I felt Toph's specific vibrations from all the way up here. She is the best at the technique, after all."
"Well, what do we do?" Ty Lee asked Aang.
He simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "I...I have no clue at this point," Aang replied as he took his cup of tea from Mai.
"Maybe we should just wait for Azula to come back," Ty Lee suggested to the group. "I'm sure if they want to capture her, they probably already know that we are here."
"Yeah, that would be the most logical thing," Aang responded. "But I can't help feeling that something bad is to happen to her. But I can't have that cause she's just too important to me, you know?"
"Yes, Aang, we know how important she is to you," Ty Lee said.
"I know she'll be okay," Aang reassured himself. "She's my world. I would do anything for her." He tapped his foot and found that someone was walking towards the door. He strode over to the door, looked out of it, and found that Azula was walking towards them.
"Hey, are you okay? You-"
Aang suddenly grabbed Azula by the waist and kissed her with all of the passion he could muster. He pulled her into the room and pressed her against the wall, continuing to lustfully devour her. Azula moved her hands along Aang's back as Aang sunk his hands lower to grip her bottom. They were longing to continue when they were reminded that they were not the only ones in the room.
"See, Aang? I told you that she was still alive," Mai said with a smirk on her face. She looked over at Ty Lee and found that she was trying to stifle a perverted giggle while wiping the blood that was dripping from her nose.
"What does she mean, Aang?" Azula asked Aang, who was slightly flushed thinking about how he had been freaking out for the past few minutes.
"Oh?" Mai began with a smirk evident on her face. "Well, your boyfriend was on the verge of a breakdown because he didn't know if you were going to return to him or not."
"Really?" Azula asked as she looked at the blushing form of her boyfriend. Aang looked down at the floor and sighed to himself before looking up and meeting Azula's eyes. Gold met gray as they exchanged a conversation worth a thousand words.
"Aang," said Azula, keeping her eyes fixed on his, "I made a promise to you that I was not going to leave you. I made that promise with my entire heart and soul in mind. I am not going to leave you. I am not going to abandon you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Princess," he answered as he hugged her. "I also made that promise to you. I will alway be there for you. I will never leave your side." He pecked her on the lips, which made both Mai and Ty Lee smile.
"Mai, do you think we'll ever find someone like that?" Ty Lee asked the stoic assassin.
"Probably someday," Mai replied with a small smile on her face. "Maybe someda-"
BOOM!
It was early in the morning when they all met. They had been pulled from their positions on the island so that they could meet. It was the first time in Boiling Rock's 85-year history that something of this scale was being planned. They were going to capture the Crown Princess Azula, heir apparent to the throne of the Fire Nation.
"Alright, men," Warden Jordan said as he looked at all of his best soldiers. He smiled to himself as he realized that Azula wouldn't stand a chance against all of them together. "Today, we are making history. Today, we are capturing Princess Azula. She was once said to have been the strongest Firebender of her generation. She was going to be the greatest Fire Lord - the one to lead us to greatness - but she fell. She fell from greatness. She is a traitor who is currently housing the Avatar. Yes, men...he is in this very building."
All of the soldiers were furious that their commander and leader would fall so far. She was their hope; now, she was their enemy.
"Kill her!"
"We should skin her alive!"
"No, men," Jordan said calmly. "We must stay vigilant. That is why the Fire Lord has sent the best of the best! He has sent the elite. He has sent the Snufferes!" Jordan said, a sick smile now plastered onto his face.
Suddenly, a group of soldiers in strange red masks walked onto the stage. They were led by a man in a red cloak with a spiral red mask. They all walked towards the normal soldiers and stomped their feet.
"My fellow soldiers, this is Captain Zaine, the leader of the Third Division of the Snufferes!" Jordan proclaimed, which made all of the soldiers go silent.
Captain Zaine was a legend in the Fire Nation Military. He had assassinated more people than anyone, with the exception of Azula herself. He had been fighting since he was five and killing at six. He was 6'6", 250 pounds of muscle and had a massive scar on his left cheek. He walked out, looked at everyone gathered, and smirked wickedly.
"My fellow soldiers," he said with dignity, "we are at a crossroad in history. We are at a moment where the past could come back to haunt us. We are standing in front of what could be the end of the Fire Nation. Do you want that to happen? Do you want for our great nation to fall to a traitor? A traitor who is sleeping with the Avatar, of all people? Having Airbender babies? Will you stand by her? Or will you join me? Will you join me in making the torch of flames that we carry bright enough to light up the world? Will you join me to cut out the cancer that is Princess Azula?" He awaited a response and grinned when he received cheers and shouts of agreement.
"We will follow you, Captain!"
"We will kill that slut and murder her where she stands!"
"In the name of the Fire Lord!"
"Now wait, gentlemen," said Captain Zaine, "We can't kill either of them. The Fire Lord wants to do that himself!" A sickening smirk crept onto his face. "We must capture the whore. Then, we can do what we want with her!"
"YEAH!"
"Long live the Phoenix King!" Zaine proclaimed, punching his fist into the air.
"LONG LIVE THE PHOENIX KING!"
"Snufferes, you know what to do!" Zaine yelled, which caused the elite group of killers to run out of the room in different directions. They were running towards where they placed bombs. The bombs were meant to draw Azula out. They would then capture Azula and the Avatar.
One by one, the bombs were lit and the Snufferes waited for them to go off. Once they did, they knew what their objective was:
Capture and restrain Princess Azula and the Avatar.
Sokka, Toph, and Suki were sneaking around the Stronghold through the metal halls of the prison. They were trying to locate the store room where they were going to be able to find their weapons. Sokka and Suki were walking hand in hand when they spotted their first soldier.
"Why do you think they are calling this meeting?" the one on the right asked as they walked.
"I don't know, but this has never happened before," the second one replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, they're pulling ALL of the guards and soldiers to have it. Usually, they have some of them stay put, but not this time."
"Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah, isn't it crazy?"
"What do you think is going on?"
The soldiers continued to casually stroll down the corridor, not noticing that they were being followed.
"Well, rumor has it that Princess Azula is here."
"Really?" The right soldier asked with surprise in his voice.
"Yeah. Apparently, she's here with the Avatar."
This made everyone in the hallway stop for a moment. They all held their mouths open and just stared at the soldier in shock.
"WHAT?!" everyone yelled at the same time.
This made the two soldiers turn around and find the gang with wide eyes. "Hey! What are you doing here?" one of them snapped.
"Who, us?" Sokka asked as casually as possible. "Oh, we're just trying to find our weapons. Do you happen to know where they are?" To his surprise, they actually answered him.
"Oh yeah, they're just down this hallway. Should be like the third door on the left, I think," one of them answered with a smile.
"Thanks!" Sokka said as he ran towards one of the soldiers. "Sorry, but now we have to kill you." In an instant, he punched the dazed soldier in the face and snapped his neck before grabbing the second one and blocking a punch aimed for his neck. He caught the arm and then flipped the remaining soldier onto his back. While the soldier was on the ground, Sokka twisted his neck and killed him as well.
"Alright, so we know where the soldiers are and the weapons. What should we do?" Suki asked as she leaned the bodies against the wall.
"Oh, so are we just going to pretend like we didn't hear that AANG IS ACTUALLY HERE?!" Toph yelled at the top of her lungs, which made Suki and Sokka wince.
"Yes, we should try to find him," Sokka suggested.
"Wait, but what about Appa?" Suki realized as they continued on their journey to find their weapons. "We don't know when Zuko and Katara are going to get here."
"Then let's split up," Sokka decided. "I'll go to the courtyard and wait for Appa to get here as well as hold off the soldiers with Kenzi and Ellie while you two go find Aang. If he's with anyone else, bring them, too."
"Alright, that works for me," Suki concurred as they opened the door that held their weapons.
"I can do that," said Toph as she leaned against the wall and smirked.
"Man, I can't wait to have the team reunited again!" Suki squealed as she grabbed her metal fans and wrist guard. She watched as Sokka strapped on his black sword and grabbed a few ninja stars and throwing knives.
"Alright are we ready?" Sokka asked as he looked at both of his friends and smirked.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Toph said with a slight smile.
"Yeah!" Suki shouted.
"Alright!" Sokka said as they started walking back to the courtyard. "Let's do-"
BOOM!
Zuko was not having fun. He was currently attempting to calm down a nagging Katara, who was complaining that they were going in the complete wrong direction when, in actuality, they were really heading in the right direction. He realized that no matter how much sleep he got, dealing with Katara was just that much more draining.
"No, Katara," he repeated for the umpteenth time as he cupped his head into his hands. "We are definitely going in the correct direction!"
"Zuko, you idiot, no we aren't!"
"AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN KNOW?!" Zuko yelled at his crush. He was at the wit's end with her and he was going to show it. "How the fuck do you know where we even are right now? See, you don't know where we are. I do know where we are. We are four hours from the island. So tell me Katara...where...the...FUCK...ARE WE?!"
"Alright, you don't need to yell at me! Jeez, man, you're such a dick," Katara mumbled as she turned around in the saddle.
"I'm the 'dick', she says. Yeah, okay," Zuko grumbled as they continued to fly in the air. He sighed to himself, looked over his shoulder, and groaned. After two hours of silence he looked to Katara again and saw her pouting. I'm gonna regret this, he thought to himself, before asking aloud, "Why are you pouting?"
Katara responded with silence.
"Katara, why are you pouting?" Zuko asked once again, but to no avail. He was beginning to get annoyed again. "Alright, if you don't want me to help you, fine. But don't complain about me not trying to help you when I tried not once, but twice, to help you."
"Oh, so now you care?!" Katara snapped back at him.
It took everything in his power to not throw her off of Appa in that moment. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"
"You know exactly what it means!" Katara yelled at him again.
"No, actually, I don't know what that is supposed to mean! Please explain to me what the fuck you mean when you said that sentence."
"No, because it only proves my point."
"HOW THE FUCK IS IT PROVING YOUR POINT IF I DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOUR GODDAMN POINT IS, YOU OVER-EXAGGERATING BITCH!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME, YOU INSENSITIVE HOT-HEADED HORMONAL MORON?!"
"You heard me! You're a bitch who only knows how to complain when she doesn't get her way. You complain to anyone who will listen to you. You complain to Momo about the weather, you complain about the temperature to Appa, and you complain about every other fucking thing to me! So please, Katara, enlighten me. How am I being an insensitive ass right now?!"
Katara glared at Zuko with fiery rage burning in her eyes. "You know, maybe if you were more supportive to me I wouldn't be complaining all the time, you dunce!"
Appa was currently listening to the constant nagging and yelling of his passengers and groaned to himself. I wonder if a fall from this height would be enough to kill me? he thought to himself as he continued to attempt to ignore his two passengers fighting back and forth.
After another couple hours, both Zuko and Katara grow tired of arguing with each other. They both stopped talking and Zuko continued to fly Appa in silence, much to the bison's pleasure. Zuko sat on Appa's head and looked out to see the island in the distance. He smiled and urged Appa to move slightly faster.
Just be thankful I haven't thrown you two off my back yet, the bison thought to himself as he complied and headed faster towards the island.
Once Appa touched down on the ground at Boiling Rock, chaos could be seen all around them. Zuko looked around and finally picked out Sokka, who was kicking a soldier in the stomach.
"Sokka!" Zuko called from Appa, which made the Water Tribesman look over and wave.
"Hey, you guys made it!" Sokka yelled as he ran towards Zuko and Katara.
"Sokka, where are Toph and Suki?" Katara asked as she jumped from the saddle to help fight.
"Well..."
"What in the fresh hell was that?" Azula exclaimed.
"Damn...it's already starting," Mai whispered, which drew the attention of Azula.
"Um, what do you mean it's starting?" Azula asked as she walked over to Mai and glared at her. She hated not knowing what was going on and now was a time where she desperately needed to know what was happening.
"Well, there is a plan to kidnap you along with the rest of us. I was under the impression that you were aware of this plot," the assassin said with a straight face at the now-enraged Princess.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Azula complained as she glanced at Aang for answers.
"We found out about it this morning and I wanted to work out a plan before we told you," Aang explained as he lowered his head down. "I'm sorry."
"Aang," Azula whispered as she cupped his face in her hands. "It's okay. Just make sure you tell me these things."
"I will," Aang said with a smile.
"While this is very touching, we really need to get out of here," Ty Lee remarked as she started gathering up all of Aang and Azula's stuff.
"Well, from the looks of things, there are soldiers swarming the hallways and there are people trying to get here. I also know that my friends Sokka, Suki, and Toph are here as well," Aang explained as he sat down and grabbed the metal cube with all their information on it.
"Didn't we fight them at one point?" Ty Lee asked as she finished her packing and sat down on a chair.
"We fought Suki six months ago before we took over Ba Sing Se," Azula explained as she sat down at a chair. "Sokka and this Toph person are wild cards. I don't remember fighting them, but we could have in the past."
"Sokka is a non-bender and Toph is the best Earthbender in the world," Aang recalled to his friends. "She's a better bender than me."
"So Aang, what's the plan, since you know them so well?" Mai asked as she sipped a cup of tea that she made.
"Well, I would think that since they both are here, Sokka is here as well," Aang pointed out. "I would assume that they have a plan to get out of here. We should split up and try to find them. Mai and I will try to find Toph while Azula and Ty Lee try to find Suki. We will then meet up at the courtyard and locate Sokka. Does that work?" Once he received nods of acceptance from everyone in the group, he got up and clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's do this!"
Aang slipped on his slippers, pulled down his orange hood, grabbed the metal cube of information, and planted a kiss on Azula's lips once again. "Stay safe, and stay strong. I'll see you soon." He smiled, grabbed Mai, and left the room.
Aang and Mai commenced sprinting down the hallway and looked around. It was eerily quiet.
"Well, where are they?" Mai asked, frowning as she readied one of her knives.
"Twenty coming this way from both directions," Aang announced as he readied himself for the fight ahead.
"Twenty?" Mai said as she sighed. "Luckily, I'm still in shape," she added with a smirk that made Aang glare at her.
"I'll have you know that Azula is in tip-top physical condition even though she's a bit doughy around the middle!" the Avatar defended.
Mai laughed silently. "Yeah, yeah, I know. It's still funny, though," she said as they crept down the hallway.
Suddenly, a torrent of orange flames came flying towards them. Seeing the flames, Aang bended a column of air around them, dissipating the fire. "And so it begins," he declared with a smirk.
"Mai, you are under arrest for treason against the Fire Lord and Fire Nation," one of the soldiers ordered in a stoic voice. "Stand down and you will die a quick death!"
"Aww, what about me?" Aang grilled at them as he bended the two soldiers into a wall.
"Oh, don't worry Avatar. We have not forgotten about you!" Suddenly, a collection of knives were thrown right at the Avatar's face. Quickly reacting, he bent over and avoided them, making them crash into the wall behind.
"Oh?" Aang said as he sprinted towards the assailant and bended the hallway so that sharp metal projectiles were hovering in the air. "What makes you think I didn't forget about you?" He made a pushing motion with his hands and the projectiles lodged themselves into the soldier's body, causing him to scream in pain.
Mai smirked when she heard the screams of a soldier. She looked around herself and found that there were two soldiers trying to sneak up on her. She frowned and threw her knives without even looking.
"Sneaking up on me is futile when I can smell the alcohol on you," she uttered in a monotone voice as she ran and slashed the two men's throats.
"What if we wanted you to find us?"
Instantaneously, darts were launched all around Mai, her eyes slightly widening at the sight. She ducked and weaved around all of them and smiled. Still got it. She then saw a circle of soldiers closing in on her and readied her sword.
"Let's boogie," she said as she charged one of the soldiers and engaged in a sword clash. While she was clashing, she kicked another soldier in the chest, moving her sword and slashing, causing a thin line of blood to splatter from his neck. She then flung her sword at another unsuspecting soldier and ran at a third who was about to launch a fireball. She ducked under the ball of heat and slid to where she was in front of the soldier. She landed a sweeping kick, knocking him down.
"You're pretty good for a traitor," one of them stated as she smirked. She grabbed her sword and started hacking off the limbs of the soldiers. Arms, legs, fingers, and even some heads were flying everywhere. It took another five minutes until she was able to take a moment to catch her breath.
"Looks like you did pretty well."
Mai looked up and saw a perfectly clean Aang smile at her. She then took note of the pools of blood behind him and grinned. He had been able to seamlessly blend Metalbending and Airbending to create attacks that were both effective and deadly.
"Yeah, I like getting my hands dirty," she remarked as she wiped the blood off onto one of the walls. After a couple beats, they continued to run down the hallway. "Did we get them all?" she asked as she, too, noted that she was able to recover all of her throwing knives.
"In this general area, yes," Aang replied, stomping his foot onto the ground. "But we still have a long way to go until we get to Toph."
"Well, look who we have here."
Mai and Aang turned around and saw seven Snufferes standing with their masks in place. Aang and Mai looked at each other and smirked.
"So, you must be the Snufferes that we've read so much about," Aang quipped as he positioned himself into a Firebending stance.
"And you must be the traitors that we've been tasked with either kidnapping or killing today," one of the Snufferes replied as all seven fell into various stances.
"Well, this will definitely be interesting," Mai said under her breath, receiving a grin from Aang in response.
Meanwhile, Ty Lee and Azula were having a quite pleasant conversation as they sprinted throughout the halls of the prison.
"So, Zula, how many do you want?" Ty asked as they ran.
"How many of what do I want, Ty Lee?" Azula questioned as they rounded a corner.
"Kids, of course!"
Azula suddenly stopped and stared at her best friend of a second. "We are in the middle of running for our lives and you ask THAT?!" she yelled as she resumed running with her friend.
"I mean, I was only curious!" the acrobat yelled back.
"If we have our way, you won't be having any kids at your own will, you whore!"
Azula smirked and launched five perfect fireballs at the soldier, turning him into a pile of ash. "You were saying?" she asked with a smirk. She turned back to Ty Lee. "Oh, and to answer your question, maybe like, four or five?"
"Really?" Ty Lee asked as they raced down the hallway. "That's a lot of kids."
"I thought you wanted to be an aunt!" Azula said with mild hurt in her voice.
"No, I do-"
Abruptly, there was a whistling sound in the air, causing both girls to drop to the ground. When they looked up, they saw ten soldiers marching down the hallway in formation. Ty Lee smirked as she lowered her top slightly to reveal more of her boobs. She then got up and started swaying her hips in a seductive fashion.
"Hey, boys!" she cooed with a smile on her face. "Like what you see?"
All of the soldiers stopped and stared at the F-cupped wonder in front of them. They all immediately started yelling and howling like a bunch of rabbit animals, which made Ty Lee smile even more. "I hope you like things a little hot."
Azula then launched numerous walls of fire at the soldiers and beamed as they got hit. Some of the soldiers were able to dodge, but only got killed when Ty Lee got up close and personal.
The two girls looked around at the burning corpses that littered the hallway and smirked. "Men," they both said with a sigh as they continued to run down the hallway.
"That was an interesting tactic you used, Ty," Azula remarked with a smirk on her face as she lightly smacked her friend on the ass. "Too bad I'm already taken. I would've hit."
"Oh, don't worry," Ty Lee said with a sultry tone and a taunty smirk. "If you and Aang are down for a threesome, you know where to find me." Both girls immediately started laughing and continued to run down the hallway.
"Well, I must say that those were some interesting tactics that you used," more voices called to them. "Unfortunately for you both, these are the last tactics you are going to be using."
Both girls turned around to see four Snufferes standing before them and they frowned. "So you're the Snufferes that we read oh so much about?"
"You would be correct. Now let-ACK-"
Swiftly, one of the Snufferes that was talking had a fan lodged in his throat, causing him to gurgle on his words. Both Ty Lee and Azula looked behind the soldier and saw a figure holding two metal fans and had on dark green clothing.
"Ugh, they talk too much," Suki said as she grabbed one of the fans and threw it at another one of the Snufferes. Getting the idea, Azula and Ty Lee also began to attack them. After a few minutes of fighting, all four Snufferes were dead and all that remained were twitching limbs.
"Well, it looks like that's all taken care...of...you!" Suki yelled as she saw Azula and Ty Lee. "What are you two doing here?!" She readied her fans for an attack.
"Wait!" Azula shouted as she tried to defuse the situation. "You're Suki, right?"
"Why do you care, oh almighty Princess?!"
"Are you here with someone named Toph and Sokka?" Azula asked the Kyoshi warrior.
"Yeah...why?"
"Oh, thank Agni, we found you!" Ty Lee said as she smiled and jumped in the air.
"What do you mean, 'found me'?!" Suki yelled as she backed away from her cautiously.
"Aang told us that he felt you, Toph, and Sokka on the island. He told us to follow you and to have you take us to Sokka." Azula then explained the situation to Suki, who's eyes grew as she was listening.
"Alright, I'll do it. But we have to hurry," Suki relented in a tone that left no arguing to be had.
"Okay! Please lead the way," Azula said as she gestured down the hallway. They returned to their full-out sprint towards the main courtyard where a large amount of fighting was taking place. I hope Mai and Aang are okay, Azula thought as she ran.
Mai and Aang were definitely surrounded. They had three Snufferes at their front and four to their backs. Aang took the ones to their front and Mai took the ones behind.
Aang thought he heard some rumbling and tapped his foot, only to see a large amount of metal come crashing down. He looked over and instantly started jumping for joy.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Twinkletoes!" Toph spoke with a smirk on her face as she majestically appeared from the wall.
"Good to see you, Toph! Think you could help us a bit?" Aang asked his friend, who scoffed at them.
Suddenly, Aang and Mai found themselves dodging fireballs from the Snufferes. Aang sent a wall of air towards the Snufferes and launched them down the hallway. He then made a pulling motion and encased them in metal, much to Toph's surprise.
"Glad to know you haven't slacked off," the Earthbender observed with a grin on her face.
Mai was growling as she dodged and weaved around multiple different attacks from the Snufferes. She threw one of her knives, landing it clean in the slit of one of their masks, instantly killing one of them. "Think y'all could maybe help me instead of, you know, catching up?!" Mai yelled back to Aang and Toph, which got the two benders to run over to her.
Toph lifted up the flooring and launched it at the Snufferes, who tried to dodge the metal that was being launched at them. However, they could not avoid the wall of fire that they were launched into after they dodged the metal.
"Alright, we have to hurry back to Sokka," Toph suggested. "Apparently Zuko and Katara are arriving with Appa soon."
"Right," both Mai and Aang said as they started sprinting down the pathway that Toph had entered through.
Azula found herself sprinting down a metal hallway with Suki in front of her and Ty Lee behind her. She turned her head back and saw three Snufferes following them. "Man, these Snufferes never quit!" she exclaimed as Suki opened a door for them.
"C'mon! This will lead to the courtyard!" Suki called to Azula as she held the door open.
They ran onto what seemed to be the courtyard. Azula looked around to see if she could find either Mai or Aang and spotted both of them next to who she thought were Sokka, Toph, and Katata. She was definitely able to recognize Zuko among them. The group quickly sprinted towards Appa and hugged each other in a tight embrace.
"You made it!" Aang spoke as he sprinted towards Azula and kissed her, much to everyone's surprise.
"HA! Alright guys, pay up!" Sokka said to Suki and Toph. They both sighed and pulled out some coins from their pockets.
"I told you I would always come back to you, Aang," Azula said as she kissed him again.
All of a sudden, a large amount of fireballs came barreling right towards the group, but they sailed over them.
"Look!" Aang cried while pointing to a large ground of Snufferes that were slowly surrounding them. He stopped and looked at Azula and sighed. "Azula, you need to go!"
Azula's eyes grew visibly confused. "Go?! Go where? I'm not leaving you!" she said to her significant other. She started dragging Aang with her as they got closer and closer to Aang's sky bison.
"So this is Appa?" Mai asked as she reached out to pet the bison, much to his pleasure.
"He's so cute when you aren't chasing him!" Ty Lee exclaimed.
Mai, Ty Lee, Suki, Toph, Katara, Zuko, and Sokka all jumped into the saddle one by one, leaving Aang and Azula still on the ground.
"Come on, Aang! Get in!" Azula pleaded as she grabbed Aang's arm.
"No, Sparks!" Aang called back. "You're way too important to the world! You need to go!" He attempted to plant his feet onto the metal ground using metalbending, rooting himself by wrapping metal around his feet.
"What the fuck are you talking about?! You're getting on Appa with me!" she yelled as they came closer and closer to the sky bison.
"No!" Aang shouted as he ripped her from his hand and stopped moving. "Someone needs to distract them long enough for you all to get away. Someone has to stay behind."
Azula suddenly stopped and stared at her boyfriend in disbelief, tears forming in her eyes. "THAT'S BULLSHIT!" she yelled as she tried to grab his arm again. "We can make it. We need to find another way."
Suddenly, three torrents of fire were launched at the group. Aang saw this and launched a wall of air to try and lessen the amount of fire that was coming towards them. Utilizing his air, he bent Azula onto Appa and looked at her and the group of friends that he cared about so much.
"Take care of her!" he called to the group as he turned around and prepared to get into his fighting stance.
"Aang, will we ever see you again?" Ty Lee asked, all while trying to choke back a sob.
He looked over his shoulder and smiled warmly. "I'll always be with you, Ty. Mai, take care of her, okay?"
"N-no, A-Aangy, what are you doing?!" asked a trembling Azula. "NO! GET ON THE SADDLE, AANG!" she wailed as she struggled to get free from Mai and Ty Lee's embrace.
"Zula, you must go!" shouted Aang. "I'm the Avatar. It's my duty to protect the world. By sacrificing myself, I'll at least know that you and everyone else can help it. Please. I know you don't want to let me go, but you must. I love you with my whole heart Azula. Defeat your father. Then, help the next Avatar." He smiled at her and wiped a tear from his eye. "You said that sometimes our greatest strengths can come from our greatest weaknesses. Well, Azula, you were, and always will be my greatest weakness. I can wholeheartedly say that you are also my greatest strength. I love you. And I always will." Taking his last look at her in the saddle, he started floating in the air and charged towards the onslaught of attackers.
"Alright, if we're going to leave, we're going to have to do it now!" called Sokka as he sat down on Appa's head and yanked the reins.
Azula looked helplessly at Sokka, tears streaming down her face. "NO! We can't leave him! I-I-"
"APPA, YIP YIP!" Aang yelled from the ground. He smiled as Appa started to take off.
Azula flailed her arms and sobbed. "NO! Aang p-please...PLEASE COME BACK!" she bawled as Ty Lee held tightly onto the distraught Azula. She felt the feeling of Appa lifting off of the ground and could feel them floating higher and higher into the sky. She finally got free of her friend's arms and looked over the side of the saddle to see Aang's limp form being hauled away into the bowels of the building.
"Come back...because…" Azula said feebly as she watched Boiling Rock move farther and farther away. She lowered her head solemnly.
"Because I love you."