Aang felt awful.
He had been gone for just a few days and look what had happened? Even worse was that he had no idea what was happening with Zuko and Iroh.
His imagination could only run wild. When he closed his eyes he could only see Azulas mad face in front of him and what horrible things she might do to her brother and uncle!
Then Aang tried to reason with himself it couldn't be that bad. They were family! And then he remembered exactly what Zukos father had done to his face!
And that only brought on more pictures of Azula burning Zuko alive with her blue fire. Zuko screaming, asking why Aang had left and Azula laughing.
And it didn't help that Aang hadn't managed to full fill his training with the Guru… the last step. Letting go.
He couldn't do it… He just couldn't.
He knew it was wrong. To place the importance of the world itself below the importance of just one person.
But the thought of Katara burned. The thought of her being lost like all the air nomads before her. So he would never see her again. It hurt to much.
And now Zuko too! His friend! Zuko who had fought so hard to become a better person, to be with them! And teach them! Help them.
Aang grabbed his head.
He was not the only one in distress though. Toph was hissing.
"If I just hadn't gotten myself get kidnapped." Toph hissed. "How stupid was I allowed to be?! Yu and Xen Fu are idiots!"
"Toph. Stop." Katara asked.
"If I had just been there!" Toph exclaimed. "I could have stopped it! Zuko came looking for me! I'M THE WORLDS GREATEST IDIOT!" she roared and slammed a fist into the wall blowing the entire wall out.
"Stop it!" Katara grabbed Tophs's shoulder. "Look at me."
Toph's empty eyes turned to Katara.
"It's not your fault." Katara said. "You can tell when I am lying. And I am telling you. It's not your fault. Am I lying to you?" she asked.
Toph swallowed then lowered her head. "No." she whispered.
"It's not any of our faults. None of us knew this would happen. The only one at fault. Is Azula." Katara said.
"And Long Feng." Zhau-Li added. They all turned to him. "In the fire nation nothing is considered worse than a traitor. If I have ever seen a true traitor it must be Long Feng. He sold out his king and nation. To Princess Azula. Without Long Fengs aid, she could not have taken Ba Sing Se."
"Right." Katara said. "Azula and Long Feng is to blame. None of us."
Sokka closed his eyes. "Suki…" he whispered and they silenced.
Another one they didn't know where was.
"Sokka I…" Aang tried.
Sokka shook his head. "No. We should concentrate on Zuko and Iroh." he agreed. "The punishment for their crimes is death. Suki… Is most likely just going to be a war prisoner. It's what makes sense. Suki can wait. Zuko and Iroh cannot."
"I'm sure she'll understand." Katara said.
"I hope so." Sokka whispered. "I'm really sorry… Suki." he whispered. Then he looked up his eyes sharp. "Our first step should be obvious. We need to find out where Zuko and Iroh is being held!" he stated as he stood up. "We must assume they have not been transported outside of Ba Sing Se yet as vehicles has only gone in but not out! Transporting two fire benders as powerful as Iroh and Zuko would not be that easy. It would require very specific safety measures."
Zhau-Li nodded. "Fire benders will have their hands tied behind their backs to prevent fire bending and feet chained together so they can't make kicks. I'll imagine with General Iroh and Prince Zuko even that wouldn't be deemed enough as they can both breath fire. That is not something normal for a fire bender." he listed. "I do though think it would be safe to assume they would be leaving the same time as Princess Azula leaves. She would want to hand them over to the fire lord personally and assure the entire transport goes right."
Sokka nodded. "That's good. It gives us some time. Azula would need to establish a rule of order before leaving. Somehow I doubt she will leave Long Feng in charge, though I am guessing that is what he is counting on."
They all nodded seriously.
"This is going to be tricky guys." Sokka said. "We need to locate Zuko and Iroh without alerting anybody that we are here. Everybody needs to keep a low profile. This is super important!"
Aang swallowed as he pulled down in his earth Kingdom hat as to make sure that his tattoo wasn't visible.
"So I suppose… Sneak in… again." Zhau-Li commented.
"Exactly!" Sokka grinned. "You know what I love about fire nation uniforms? They even have face plates to cover your entire face!"
Katara sighed deeply. "What's not so good about them is that both Aang and Toph are wear to small for them." she pointed out.
"What? We have to stay behind?" Aang asked.
"No way!" Toph shouted.
"Sorry guys." Sokka said. "How-ever when we find Zuko and Iroh. We are going to need your help busting them out for sure." he grinned.
Still though both twelve year olds look less than pleased.