Chapter 31 - The Comet Cometh
The Royal Caldera City was a challenging place to hide in and remain unseen. With its natural borders limiting expansion, space within the city was at a premium. This meant that any abandoned and derelict buildings were immediately torn down for something new to spring up in their place, limiting options when it came to choosing a hideout. Fortunately for the group of four rebels, it was still the height of summer and many nobles of the capital had taken their entire households and moved to their summer estates, either on Ember Island or similar resorts.
Arriving in the dark of the night to make sure that Appa wasn't spotted during their approach, the group had then spent most of the night to find a shelter for their loyal sky bison, knowing perfectly well that there was no chance of hiding Appa inside the city. While this would not allow them to make a quick getaway in case of being discovered, it was a risk they had to take, and in the end, Toph had solved the problem by earthbending a vast grotto high up in the mountains, comfortable enough for the sky bison, and open enough so that it did not trigger Appa's fear of narrow caves. The issue of feeding Appa regularly also provided an interesting challenge, but Zuko volunteered to take care of it all by himself, knowing that it would allow him to leave their hideout every night, providing him with the opportunity to swap messages with Azula and Ty Lee.
They had spent that first night by sleeping in Appa's new cave, and only on the morning of the next day, Suki had headed into the city on a fact finding mission, with the utmost priority placed on finding them a temporary base inside the city. Suki had been able to scope out several places, and the following night, the four of them proceeded to choose their new temporary place of stay. It had been tempting to choose some of the more grandiose estates closer to the royal palace that would had allowed them to spend the next few weeks in dazzling luxury. However, as Zuko rightly pointed out, they would also be in greater danger of being discovered, as it was very likely that some of the household staff had remained at the capital and continued the daily maintenance of the estate, and this very likely included guards as well.
In the end, they chose a small but comfortable villa close to the outskirts of the Royal Caldera City. The location served them well, since it gave them a better chance at escaping the city in case of trouble, not to mention that the amount of guards was negligible compared to the swarms that seemed to surround the districts closer to the palace. The locked gate of the villa proved an easy obstacle, as Toph's earthbending pillar quickly took them over the tall fence, and the icy shards of Katara's waterbending made short work of the lock on the doors. Having studied some of the letters left in the villa's kitchen, Zuko came to the conclusion that its owner, a successful merchant, was currently on a business trip to the Earth Kingdom to explore possibilities regarding increased import of cabbages, and had taken his family with him on the trip, leaving the estate unoccupied.
Having settled into the merchant's villa, their days soon fell into a familiar pattern. Zuko, Katara and Toph barely left the estate, only doing so during the night and when it was absolutely necessary, otherwise relying completely on Suki's relative anonymity. Suki was the crucial lifeline for the group. Not only did she use her charm and wit to learn more about the Fire Nation's plans, she also did all the shopping for the group while keeping her ear to the ground and learning plenty of useful information every day. Something that Suki had discovered on the very first day, was that not only had Azula's wanted poster been removed from all the message boards, the same fate had met Zuko and Katara's posters, the Fire Lord clearly believing them to have perished under the ruins of Beifong estate in Gaoling. This was excellent news, as it meant that Fire Lord Ozai was even more likely to lower his guard, believing all opposition to his plans having been eradicated.
The long awaited breakthrough finally came after they had been already staying in the capital for a week and a half. Suki returned to the estate late in the afternoon, and instead of carefully arranging her purchased supplies in the kitchen, she simply dumped them in the foyer and ran into the living room, startling its occupants in their everyday laziness of Zuko reading a boring book, Katara trying to stare holes in the ceiling and Toph playing with her meteorite bracelet. "You won't believe this, guys!" Suki exclaimed, looking a little spooked. "I know where the Fire Lord is going to strike!"
"From the look of your face, I suspect that the answer won't be 'Earth Kingdom rebels'," Zuko remarked thoughtfully.
"Not at all!" Suki exclaimed, shaking her head. "He's planning to take everyone North!"
"North?" Katara immediately rose up on the sofa, her lackadaisical stupor gone in an instant. "As in, Northern Water Tribe?" Suki nodded breathlessly. "But why?" Katara wondered. "The Fire Nation has always been content with leaving our sister tribe alone. They're so isolationist, I didn't think your father would view them as a threat," Katara looked at Zuko.
"I'm as surprised as you are," Zuko shrugged. "Maybe my father hasn't quite forgotten Zhao's failure and wants to finish the job properly. Maybe it's about revenge."
"I thought the Fire Nation only cared about the North because that's where Aang was heading," Katara remarked. "Very strange..."
"Well, we picked up some volunteers from the North for our failed invasion, right?" Toph pointed out. "Maybe the Fire Lord learned about that. Maybe this is meant to punish them."
"I don't know... it still feels weird," Zuko scratched his head. "Surely my father would think that the remaining earthbenders pose the greater risk."
"Maybe he's trying to kill two birds with one comet?" Suki mused. "First hit the North, then swing around and finish off the Earth Kingdom on the way back?"
"He must be thinking that!" Katara exclaimed. "Suki, you're a genius!"
"Yes, I think you're probably right," Zuko nodded in agreement. "Still, I don't think the comet will stick around long enough for him to accomplish all that. Then again... I'm not sure anyone really knows for how long we, the firebenders, will benefit from its presence."
"Anyway, now that we know the Fire Lord's plan, we need to come up with a response," Suki said. "Can we hit the Fire Lord before he departs?"
"You've seen his preparations up close, Suki," Katara said. "You're our eyes and ears on this."
"I, uh..." Suki began, clearly looking uncomfortable. "Listen... I really want us to stop him before he can depart for the North and unleash the comet's powers on those poor people. But at the same time... the harbor is swarming with ships, I didn't think it could even fit this many. All those airships in the sky sometimes completely block out the sun. There are hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers coming through the capital every day. I haven't figured out a way to get close to the Fire Lord with all of them in our way."
"That doesn't sound good," Katara frowned deeply.
"I vote for waiting until the Fire Lord returns," Toph raised her arm. "He'll be toasting his victory, completely unaware of us waiting to strike. It's the smart thing to do, you know that as well as I do."
"Maybe so, Toph, but... what he has in store for the North will be nothing short of a genocide. Like when Sozin wiped out the Air Nation," Suki shuddered. "Would you be able to live with yourself if you didn't try to stop him when you could?"
"Yeah, I could. Talking to the girl who buried her own parents under a pile of rubble, remember?" Toph replied with chilling coldness. "Listen, I don't like it either, Suki. But if we try and fail, like we most likely will, then a lot more people will die in the end, all because we weren't smart and ruthless enough."
"I don't want to be ruthless," Suki sighed.
"Nobody really wants that, Suki, but you have to agree that Toph has a point," Katara argued. "Zuko... do you think that there might be a way to ambush the Fire Lord during his departure?"
"I don't see how," Zuko shrugged helplessly. "All the way from the palace to where he boards his flagship, he's going to be surrounded by cheering crowds including hundreds of firebenders. There's just no way. I'm sorry, Suki."
"What about when he's on his flagship?" Suki asked, unwilling to give up so easily. "Could we somehow face him there?"
"It would be too risky to get to him," Zuko shook his head. "Appa would just get blasted out of the sky by either the flagship itself or the dozen other airships protecting it."
"Bah," Suki's face fell. "What if we took Appa and followed the airships at a safe distance as they head North? Maybe an opportunity would arise?"
"Perhaps, but... I think it's more likely that someone would spot us, Suki. And then my father would realize that we're not dead and he'd step up the security even more," Zuko shook his head. Following Ozai like that was definitely not in his interests at all. It would make it impossible for Azula and Ty Lee to remain a part of their plans. No, they somehow needed to face Ozai in the capital.
"Yeah, that's no good, either," Toph shook her head. "Face it, Suki. There's clearly one way that's better than the others."
"I guess you're right," Suki sighed, looking like she absolutely loathed herself for agreeing. "Zuko, how would you plan to attack the Fire Lord when he returns? Is that going to be any safer?"
"I think so," Zuko nodded. "Remember, the palace is going to be relatively empty, most of the firebenders would have gone with my father. After the Fire Lord's triumphant return, he will definitely want to take a victory lap around the capital, and I know quite a few promising spots where we could set up our ambush. Also, Toph will be very helpful by blocking off any approaching reinforcements with her earthbending."
"Shit," Suki cursed, a little uncharacteristically. "That does sound a lot better. Shit, I hate it!"
"You're not the only one who dislikes the idea of letting people die, Suki," Katara sighed, approaching Suki and embracing her. "But it's better to ensure that we can stop even more people from being killed in the future. If we do something too risky and fail... well, then it truly is over for everyone. The Fire Nation will rule the world unopposed."
"Yes, yes, I know," Suki uttered hastily, not looking much happier from Katara's words. "I'm just... depressed. Even if we're going to take out the Fire Lord, I'm not going to feel very heroic about it."
"It's not about becoming some sort of a hero," Toph shrugged. "It's about doing what needs to be done, as unpleasant as that might be."
"You know just how to bring a girl down with your pearls of wisdom, Toph," Suki sighed. "I really need a distraction. I think I'll go start cooking."
"I'll help you, Suki," Katara rose from the sofa. She looked up at Zuko and smiled warmly. "Join us, Zuko?"
"Of course," he nodded, immediately setting to follow. Getting any attention from Katara had been a real struggle following that ill-advised night on Ember Island. It felt that their relationship... or whatever it was that they had, had been put on indefinite hold, and Zuko was no longer sure of what Katara wanted. All he knew was that he still wanted to have something with her.
"Just let me know when the grub is ready," Toph told them, refusing to budge. "I'm starving already."
"Of course, Toph," Zuko smiled as he followed Katara and Suki into the kitchen.
Azula shifted, trying to settle in more comfortably as she lay on her chest against the hard wooden floorboards, puling the bundle of rags serving as their bedclothes under her. She squinted hard, peering out of the dirty window of the small dusty attic they were hiding in, trying to observe the narrow street below. These were hardly pleasant conditions in which to live, especially to someone as used to comfort as she was, but Azula didn't have any choice but to accept the reality of the situation.
And the reality was that she and Ty Lee were hiding out in the attic of a small two story building owned by an elderly lady who was almost blind and deaf, confined to the bottom floor of her house. Kind neighbors did all the shopping and performed other services at a cost for the old woman, and that made it quite safe for her and Ty Lee to stake out in the attic. They could have probably made the entire second floor their own and live in slightly more comfortable conditions, but they couldn't be certain that someone, perhaps the relatives of the elderly woman, wouldn't show up at some point and discover them.
When Azula spotted a barely perceptible shadow crossing the street below, she found herself smiling, knowing what to expect a few moments later. Indeed, soon enough, the hatch to her left opened and a breathless Ty Lee quietly swung herself inside, closing the hatch afterwards. "I've got it!" Ty Lee cheered quietly, waving a little scrap of paper at Azula.
"You've read it already, of course," Azula commented, reaching out to grab her brother's message.
"No," Ty Lee protested. Then she broke into a goofy grin. "Well, yes, I did. I won't spoil, though."
"Thanks," Azula rolled her eyes at the other girl, shaking her head as she began to quickly peruse Zuko's note. "What the... Northern Water Tribe? What's father up to now?"
"I thought he had written off the North as a target after we lost that fleet," Ty Lee nodded, also confused about the message's contents.
"Yes, it just wasn't important, so I wonder what has changed," Azula shrugged. "Well... I'll assume that Zuko isn't wrong about this, as weird as it all sounds. Maybe father is just so bent on revenge over that embarrassment that the Avatar inflicted on useless old Zhao."
"Could be, I guess," Ty Lee shrugged. "I'm more surprised about something else, Azula."
"What's that, Ty Lee?" Azula asked, curious.
"Well... I'm surprised that Zuko and his friends would be willing to wait until your father comes back from the North to attack him," Ty Lee explained. "He would have killed everyone in the North. I didn't think Zuko and those girls would be alright with that. They seemed like they wanted to save everyone."
"Yes, well... I think that losing the Avatar has changed the rules of the game completely," Azula replied, feeling a little uncomfortable. After all, she was the one who had killed Avatar Aang. And she knew that she might yet die for it. "No more saving everyone without the Avatar. Now they have to be clever, ruthless, and they have to pick their battles. Just like us, Ty Lee. This makes the most strategic sense."
"I know, I know..." Ty Lee sighed.
"Yes, you also want to save everyone, I know you have a heart that big," Azula smiled at the other girl. "But we need to think about ourselves first and foremost. We're in a lot of trouble, Ty Lee, as I'm sure you have noticed."
"It's going to be fine, Azula, as long as we stick together," Ty Lee smiled back at her.
"Normally, I would say that your optimism is stomach churning, but... maybe we need a little bit of that right now," Azula chuckled. Ty Lee didn't reply, obviously still struggling with the thought that the Northern Water Tribe was about to become subject to an imminent genocide. It seemed like Ty Lee was in desperate need of some cheering up, something that Azula still wasn't sure how to do.
After a little pause during which Azula had considered her options, she finally rose from the floor and scooted closer to Ty Lee, sitting right next to the other girl. "Remember how you cheered me up when I was sitting at the mirror, feeling all ugly and useless?" she asked quietly.
"Yep," Ty Lee smiled, blushing slightly. "I think I kissed you."
"You did," Azula smiled back. "Do you think... it would cheer you up if... I did that to you?"
Ty Lee's eyes widened noticeably as heat hit her cheeks. "Oh yes... I just wasn't sure if that was something you wanted," she uttered quickly. "I didn't want to push you..."
"I think I'm starting to become more and more certain that it's something I might want," Azula spoke quietly. "I'm still not completely sure. But I was thinking that we could find out together?" she asked, leaning closer to Ty Lee, the other girl's lips parting as she eagerly accepted the kiss. This time, when their lips met, they both did so with equal passion and intensity.