Howdy yall! Welcome back AWTF! I have but thing to say...ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! Nah but seriously, this was a BEEFY chapter! I hope yall enjoy it. Please don't forget to review! I always respond to all the most recent reviews every week! Also, THANK YOU FOR OVER 200 FAVORITES! I honestly didn't think we would ever actually get this far! Thank you all so much for favoriting this story! Well that's all for this week! See yall next update! Don't forget to Follow Favorite and Review!
"Well, well, well...if it isn't the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation...the man who stood up to Fire Lord Ozai himself: Prince Zuko!"
Zuko was strapped to a metal chair in the middle of a metal room filled to the absolute brim with metal torture devices that got increasingly more and more painful the more one gazed at them.
"Commander Dai," the young Firebender spat with as much venom as he could muster.
"It seems that time has not been very kind to you, has it?" the large man commented with a smirk on his face as he walked around the chair that Zuko was sitting in. "No...in fact, it has been the exact opposite of kind to you. I mean, getting your ass handed to you by the Avatar?" He scoffed. "That's just downright sad, and, may I even say...pathetic."
Zuko, by this point, was downright murderous. While somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Dai was only trying to get him riled up, and by Agni, it was working.
"How would you even know that?! There weren't any soldiers in the area where it happened!" Zuko fired back at the man.
Dai chuckled heavily to himself. "Let me stop you while you're ahead. First of all, how would you even know who was around? From what I heard, you were too focused on trying to - though I use this term very loosely - 'beat' the Avatar. Secondly, we did in fact have men there analyzing Azula's every move and they just happened to see your pathetic excuse of a fight. Might I add that they laughed at you while the fight was going on! They even scribbled in the report how badly you were beaten," he continued to circle the man as he belittled and mocked him, which only made Zuko angrier.
"Oh yeah?! And what would YOU have done if you were in that situation?" Zuko shot back at the man, who laughed even harder back at him.
"Who, me?!" The Commander pointed to himself with his pointer finger. "I would have used my brain and actually done damage to the Avatar. I mean, you had him during an emotional meltdown. He was sloppy and you could have taken advantage of that!" he added in a condescending tone, boiling Zuko's blood evermore. "Not that you would have thought to do that. We are talking about the same little boy who stood up to his own father in the middle of a War Council meeting. The same child who did not even TRY to fight back in an Agni Kai! The same child who-"
"ALRIGHT, WE FUCKING GET IT!" Zuko screamed at the top of his lungs, causing spit to go flying out of his mouth.
Bingo, Commander Dai thought to himself while he studied the man sitting in front of him. He could see on his face that this anger was much deeper than what was being shown. Now all he needed to do was draw upon that anger and mold it into something that would benefit him.
"Do we?" Dai finally asked after a few beats of silence. "I don't think you get it, Zuko; you're a failure on all accounts. You were in charge of attempting to capture the Avatar for seven years! And yet, Azula was not even told to find him and she STILL does it effortlessly." Dai pauses to let this sink in before he continued digging deeper and deeper into the bender. "She actually went above and beyond by not only capturing the Avatar, but also the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors...all while orchestrating a plan to capture the largest cities on the planet! And what have you done?" he pried the man, who was sulking in front of him.
Zuko was moments away from retorting but was silenced by Dai, who held his hand up. "Oh, don't worry...I'll answer that for you." He smirked to himself before continuing. "You've joined the very people you were supposed to hunt down and bring back to the Fire Nation. You have gotten your ass handed to you by the Avatar. You were knocked out of commission by the Avatar and was dead weight for the 'team' that had yet to actually accept you. You were knocked out of the Bison by the Waterbender who you 'have a crush on'. The only useful thing you've actually done is rescue everyone from Boiling Rock! And THAT only happened because the Avatar stayed behind so that the Bison could get off the floating rock! Face it, Zuko: you've been useless in every way, shape, and form for both the Fire Nation and the Avatar!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Zuko howled at the Commander.
"NO, YOU WILL NOT!" Commander Dai screamed back with glee in his voice. This sudden shift brought Zuko to glare at him with such intensity that the Commander could see a cold fire burning in his golden eyes. "You know why you won't kill me?" he politely asked the young man, a smug grin growing on his face. "Because you can't! You do not have the raw potential like Azula does, nor the fire power like Ozai, nor the savvy that Iroh had! YOU. HAVE. NOTHING!" Dai stopped for a second to catch his breath and was about to continue his rant, but was interrupted by Zuko.
"Why did you say 'had' when you mentioned Iroh?" Zuko asked with a raised eyebrow, mildly caught off-guard.
"Of course you wouldn't know," Dai mumbled to himself. "I guess I have to be the one to tell you," Dai smiled internally. He knew that Zuko didn't know about Iroh due to the fact that he was with the Avatar's friends.
"Tell me what?! Where is my uncle?!" Zuko frantically asked the man, who was openly mocking him.
"Oh, Zuko, how you got so attached to that fat old man, I'll never know," Dai mumbled to himself as his smirk once again grew into a sinister grin.
"I don't care about your opinion on my relationship with him, just tell me WHERE HE IS!"
"Oh, for Agni's sake, HE'S DEAD!" Commander Dai yelled. He witnessed Zuko's reaction and could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he internalized the information that was just given to him.
"...He's...what?" Zuko questioned in a small and quiet disbelieved voice.
"Iroh IS DEAD!" Dai shouted in the boy's face with a twisted smile.
"No! That simply can't be true! I don't understand! He was the strongest bender of his generation, only behind Ozai and..."
Commander Dai could not keep the sinister grin off of his face as he pulled out a letter from his pocket. As he unfolded the old wrinkled piece and paper, he began reading it out loud:
Dear Fire Lord Ozai,
By the time you receive this report, it will have been approximately three days since the Battle of Ba Sing Se. It will have also been about three days since Ba Sing Se has been brought under Fire Nation control. I am delighted to inform you that both the Avatar and the traitor that was my Uncle Iroh have been killed by my hand. Let me first start with the death of your brother. As you informed me to do, I captured him and tortured him for any information he could have. Like I expected, he did not have any useful information, nor did he really struggle when I was torturing him. I used multiple different techniques on him including, but not limited to, starvation, nail pulling, electrocution by lighting, and my personal favorite, chopping off limbs. After the removal of several nails, two of his fingers on his left hand and his entire right hand, and burning off all the hair on his head, I was finally satisfied that he had no information to give me. I asked if there was anything else he wanted to say. He said some nonsense about tea and Zuko. It was after those words I chopped off his head and burned the remains. I sent a part of his hand to confirm the kill.
I have a detailed report of how the Avatar died in a different report since you requested two separate ones. While I am here, I will begin to reeducate the children in the hopes that our forces have an easier time entering into the city.
I await my further orders.
Princess Azula of the Fire Nation
Commander Dai concluded reading the letter and placed it back inside of his pocket. Zuko had been deathly silent the entire time he was reading the letter. Dai knew that Zuko was beyond furious and was going to capitalize on it. He could read the boy like an open book. This was too easy, he thought to himself as he waited for the Prince to respond.
"I'm gonna kill her," Zuko whispered to no one in particular. "I'm gonna rip her throat off! I'm gonna MURDER HER!" he escalated as he lashed against his restraints in a fit of rage. "SHE KILLED MY UNCLE! SHE CHOPPED OFF HIS HEAD AND BURNED THE REMAINS! I'M GONNA KILL THEM! I'M GONNA KILL THEM ALL!"
"Do you remember the last time you tried to kill someone?" Dai reminded the boy, who was still an inferno of rage. "You got your ass handed to you by the Avatar." He pulled up a chair in front of Zuko and sat bearing a vanilla folder in his hand. "What you need is a plan," he finally said as he pulled out a sheet of paper for Zuko to read.
Zuko eyed the paper in the Commander's hand and began to skim it quickly. After a few seconds of reading, the bender's face lit up in shock, but was quickly replaced with a look of intrigue.
"Tell me more about this...plan," Zuko queried with an eerie smirk on his face that almost matched Dai's with how sinister it was.
"Gladly," the Commander replied as he leaned in closer to the young bender.
It was a quiet day in the rainforests that made up the northern part of the Main Island of the Fire Nation. There were lush trees and beautiful animals that were singing and going about their daily lives.
"So what is it that we are actually doing in the Fire Nation?" Katara asked as they strolled down a path covered in shrubs and vines.
"Well," Mai said as she cut through vines and overgrown shrubbery. "Azula tasked us with trying to get as much information about the Fire Nation as possible. She knows that something called the 'Phoenix Plan' is going to be commencing soon."
"What's the Phoenix Plan?" Katara asked as she stepped over a rock that nearly tripped her.
"That's what we're wanting to find out," Ty Lee replied. She then spent the next half hour explaining all the information that they received when they raided the third-in-command's office all those weeks ago.
"Did Azula share with you the information that she got when she read the Phoenix Plan?" Katara asked after Ty Lee's explanation.
"No," Mai responded simply. "She said that it was only mentioned in the file." At this, they stepped into a clearing containing running water and a large cave. "Alright, we're going into the cave."
"Why are we going into a cave?" Katara questioned.
"Katara, where are we going right now?" Ty Lee watched as Katara shrugged her shoulders. She facepalmed while Mai rubbed her temples in frustration. "We are taking a secret tunnel into the city so that we get there undetected."
"But how do you know that that specific tunnel is going to get you to where we need to go?" Katara asked again to the two Fire Nation natives.
"Azula made us memorize all the passageways in and out of the city. This passage is a very old one that no one should be using," Mai explained as they walked deeper and deeper into the cave. "It was made during the reign of Fire Lord Sozin and was used as an evacuation tunnel in the case of an invasion."
Katara nodded and kept true to following the two girls. At first, she had been suspicious of the two since she had no clue where she was going, but after Mai's explanation, she thought that they could be trusted.
Hours went by as the trio traversed the windy passageways in the ancient underground tunnel. Most of the journey was kept in a strange and forced silence. It was only occasionally interrupted by Mai, who shouted for them to watch out because of a hole in the ground. The cave itself was dimly lit by her lighter and had found a torch lying around that they could see in the first place.
"So..." Katara began, attempting to start a conversation with her two teammates. "How long have you both been friends with Azula?"
Ty Lee stopped for a second as she remembered Aang asking her a similar question when they had been walking to a market to pick up food for Azula. This did not go unnoticed by Mai, who raised an eyebrow. She gave her girlfriend a thumbs up and they continued to travel.
"Oh, we've been friends since we were at least five," Ty Lee recalled with a small smile on her face. "You know, it's funny...Aang asked the same thing, like, six months ago."
"Wow, yeah...that's funny," Katara awkwardly replied with a forced laugh.
"We all went to the Fire Nation Academy together, though she went to the military side and we went to the civilian side," Mai added with a small smile. "We still used to hang out with her after school."
"So she wasn't always a monster?" the Waterbender asked with a raised eyebrow.
Mai abruptly stopped and turned to face Katara. She looked her dead in the eye and glared at her so intensely that if looks could kill, Katara would be six feet underground. "Azula is not a monster. She never has been a monster, and she never will be a monster. Has she done some terrible things in her life? Sure; we all have. I've done my fair share of seduction, murder, and general war crimes, and so has Ty Lee. Azula is a kind and caring individual when you get to know her. Stop calling her something she isn't. If I hear you say that about Azula one more time, you'll end up like your boyfriend." She received a quick nod from Katara. "Good," Mai concluded with a dry smile as she turned around and went back to walking further and further into the dark tunnel.
"I'm sorry."
Ty Lee turned her head around and raised an eyebrow at the Waterbender, who had her head down in shame. "Why are you sorry?" she asked her.
"I shouldn't have said all those things about Azula. I don't know her. I...I don't really even know myself. I've found out in the last couple days," Katara confessed to the group, though the last part was said more to herself. "I...I thought that I was someone people could rely on. I thought that I was a strong woman who stood for something. I thought...I was better than this." She sniffled as they all continued down the path.
Mai and Ty Lee glanced at each other but decided to see where Katara was going to go with her speech. They both had heard reports about what the Waterbender used to be like. Both knew of the fiery personality that she possessed.
"Where did I go wrong?" Katara mumbled to herself as she slowly trudged along.
A few long beats of silence passed before Mai finally replied with a simple answer. "Zuko. Zuko is what happened to you."
"What do you mean, 'Zuko'?" Katara asked defensively.
"See, you're doing it right now!" Ty Lee shouted at Katara, who returned her comment with confusion.
"Doing what?!"
"Defending him," Mai said with a frown on her face. "Why do you choose to defend Zuko, but won't defend Aang?"
"Well, I-"
"Exactly. Once you figure out the answer to that question, then you'll figure out the answer to A LOT more questions that you have," the assassin spoke firmly and with a bit of force to the Waterbender, who glared back at her.
"What the fuck does that even mean?" Katara shouted into the cave. "I get it: Zuko has made some bad jokes here and there. We've all made some bad jokes here and there."
"If by 'bad joke' you mean the countless jabs at not only Azula's weight, but her intelligence, abilities as a bender, and her abilities as a leader..." Mai angrily fired back. Katara remained undeterred. "Not to mention the countless jabs against Suki's weight, even though he KNOWS that she's pregnant! Plus, we can't forget literally everything he's said about Aang."
"That still doesn't answer your question. I defend both of them!" Katara whined to the two girls, who facepalmed.
"SO THEN WHY DO YOU LET ZUKO CONSTANTLY DEGRADE AZULA, AANG, AND EVERYONE ELSE THAT YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH?!"
"I...well...they were just jokes?"
It was very clear to both Mai and Ty Lee that nothing was going to get done if they continued to argue with Katara, so they continued on deeper and deeper into the passage. At times, it would become so narrow that the girls had to contort their bodies in order to get through. Eventually, the trio reached a large and rusty metal door with a latch on it.
"Is this the exit?" Katara asked hopefully. She had never walked so much for so long and was quite tired.
"Yes. This is the entrance to the passageway," Mai responded in her usual emotionless voice.
"Wait...THAT wasn't the tunnel?" Katara yelled at the two, who shook their heads.
"Nah, that was just a cave. The REAL tunnel starts just beyond this door. It's a good 10-15 miles long, so we're gonna see how far we can get before we get tired," Mai spoke as she started prying open the rusted steel door. She twisted it as hard as she could and, after some effort, the door pushed open.
"Are you sure we can't take a break?" Katara said between pants as she followed behind the two non-benders.
"For Agni's sake, did you guys do ANY kind of physical or conditional training while you've been on this journey? I mean, seriously, you have no endurance whatsoever!" Ty Lee complained to the Waterbender, who growled at her in return.
"Yes, I'm quite aware of that fact," Katara said through gritted teeth.
Ugh, what the fuck are you two arguing about now?!" Mai shouted to the two girls, who immediately went quiet.
"Listen, I'm extremely fucking tired and we've literally been walking all fucking day!" Katara screamed as she stomped on the cool rock below her. She had finally had enough and was taking a stand against the two Fire Nation citizens. Over the course of the lengthy day, the two girls had done nothing but walk and ridicule the bender and she was tired of it. "Listen, I know that you don't like me very much, but please, can we take a break?"
Mai sighed to herself and gestured to the wall. Katara's eyes widened and she sat down. She let out a very audible groan as she tried to get as comfortable as possible against the rocky surface.
"Is that better now?" Mai asked with a sarcastic tone.
"Yes, it is what I wanted."
"Good. We'll camp here for the time being since we don't know the time of day." Mai dropped her backpack to take out some of the supplies that she had taken with her from the Air Temple. She had gotten half of the rations and maps just like Azula had told her to do. She had some of the maps of the Fire Nation and of the outer rim of the Earth Kingdom.
Ty Lee flopped onto the ground and also let out a long and stress-relieving moan. While not as fatigued as Katara, she was a little worn from all of the walking that they had done all day. However, she knew that they had to keep going in order to reach the Capital in a somewhat timely manner.
"What do you think the Phoenix Plan is?" Ty Lee finally asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Who knows?" Mai commented as she leaned against a rock with her eyes closed. "It has to be something bad if Ozai never said anything about it to Azula, who supposedly knew everything about all the Fire Nation's plans."
"I personally think that it's a plan to eliminate the Earth Kingdom," Katara thought out loud from the opposite side of the cave.
"No, that wouldn't make sense," Ty Lee inputted. "The Fire Nation already has Ba Sing Se under its control. The Air Nomads are dead. That only leaves the Northern Water Tribe as the last place on Earth that they would need to conquer." She watched as the expressions of shock and horror spread across Katara's face.
"What do you mean they could try to take over the Northern Water Tribe?!" Katara screamed at the Acrobat, who shrugged her shoulders.
"Think about it," Mai said from the front of the line. "The Air Nomads are already dead. Ba Sing Se, the largest city in the Earth Kingdom, is already under their control. Also, they've basically wiped out the Southern Water Tribe. This move would make the most sense."
Katara was still having a rough time dealing with this concept. "Wait, they already tried to take that over, didn't they?" Katara asked, desperate to figure out a way to save her people.
"Yes, that's true. Commander Zhao tried to invade, but Aang was there to stop it. Right now, however, Aang isn't there to stop an invasion. We also don't know where he is right now. For all intensive purposes, Aang isn't there to stop a possible invasion," Mai argued as they continued further down the pathway.
"Well, what are we going to do?" Katara asked while ringing her hands nervously.
"We try to get as much information about any possible invasion so that we are prepared for anything," Ty Lee asserted.
Katara looked at the acrobat in front of her and sighed. She knew that they were in for an uphill battle, but she did not think she would have to defend her people again from the Fire Nation.
"I hope we get Aang back," Katara said mostly to herself.
"Yeah," Ty Lee said, looking at her with a shallow smile.
"I hope so too."
"They've spotted us."
Azula glanced up as she walked out onto the deck of the airship. She knew that they were going to be flying close to the Earth Kingdom, but she did not expect for them to be spotted so soon. It's too early in the morning for this shit, she thought to herself as she made her way up the metal stairs to where the wheel of the ship was.
"I thought I told you to stay high enough in the clouds so that we wouldn't be seen, Sokka?!" she shouted at the teen, who merely shrugged his shoulders with a frown on his face.
"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," Sokka mumbled to himself under his breath. "I did stay above the clouds."
"Oh, yeah? Well then how do you know they spotted you?!" Azula pried with a raised eyebrow.
"They...sent multiple fireballs towards us," Sokka sheepishly replied to the Princess, only making her grow more irritated.
"Fan-fucking-tastic," Azula mumbled to herself as she headed down the stairs and back into the hull of the ship.
"How was your trip to visit our resident baby-daddy?" Toph asked the Princess, who scowled at her. Azula looked at the table and saw that Suki was eating a very hearty breakfast and sat down next to her.
"How do you stand him all the time?" Azula asked the warrior, who simply laughed in reply.
"So I'm guessing those clanks were fireballs?" Toph called from the kitchen.
Azula nodded. "Yup. I give him one direction and he can't follow it," she ranted as she rubbed her head with her hands.
"Cut him some slack," Suki replied after she swallowed the bite of eggs she was currently consuming. "He's been up there since the middle of the night when you went to sleep, which, I'm guessing from not only your crabby attitude, but also the bags under your eyes, that you failed to do." She poked the Firebender in the middle, which earned her a glare from the already-hissy Princess.
"I don't have time for such luxuries," Azula stated with a prominence.
"Would Aang want you to lose sleep over trying to find and talk to him?" Toph asked as she handed Azula her breakfast, consisting of two eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee.
"I'll answer that for you - no. He would instead want you to take care of yourself," Suki answered with a smirk on her face.
"Alright, alright! I get it!" Azula cried, which instantly made the two girls stop their antics and look at her. "I just want him back, okay?! I want talk to him so fucking badly it hurts. Everytime I do actually get a chance to talk to him, it's always so brief." She paced with her hands in her hair.
"Zula, you talked to him?!" Suki exclaimed.
"Yeah, though it wasn't for very long. We talked about how good of a mom I would be and how I knew where he was," Azula explained to the girls, who all nodded their heads in understanding. "He sounded so shocked when he found out we were going to rescue him. His face literally lit up. Man, when Katara gets back..." Azula balled up her fist and slammed it into her open palm.
"Yes, Azula, I think everyone knows how much you truly hate Katara," Toph chidded with a chuckle as she leaned back in her metal chair.
"I honestly don't blame you at this point," Suki mumbled to herself as she rubbed her stomach absentmindedly.
"Was she always like this?" Azula asked the duo as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Actually, no." Suki then went on to explain how Katara used to be a fierce and strong-willed woman. She told the story of Katatra arguing with Waterbending masters when she had been in the Northern Water Tribe.
"So how the fuck did she turn into a spineless bitch?" the Firebending Princess asked as she placed her coffee cup down.
"She met your idiotic brother," Toph stated matter-of-factly. "Once Zuko entered the picture, she totally fell head over heels for the prick. Actually, I thought she liked Aang. So when he came into the picture, it was almost like she switched to the 'next new thing.'"
"Yeah, didn't she-" Suki stopped mid-sentence and immediately placed both hands on her stomach. Azula was instantly at Suki's side while Toph worked to see if anything was physically wrong with her seismic sense.
"Suki, are you okay?" a worried Azula asked frantically as she was racking her brain for anything that could have gone wrong with the pregnancy.
"I...I don't know," Suki said with amazement in her voice. "It felt so weird and subtle...I almost missed it." She now had a giant smile on her face, much to the chagrin of Azula who was still very confused.
"Suki, you're not making much sense," said Azula with a voice full of worry.
"Wow, for a supposed prodigy and super genius, you sure are slow," Toph joked, which made the aforementioned prodigy glare at her.
"She moved," Suki whispered to herself which made Azula even more confused.
"She moved? Who moved?" Azula asked in a panic.
"Who do you think moved, Sparky?!" Toph said while holding her sides due to laughter.
"Moved...moved...HOLY SHIT, THE BABY MOVED?!" Azula shouted, causing Toph to fall out of her chair in laughter and Suki to snicker.
"Yes, Zula, she moved," the mother-to-be confirmed with a bright smile. She had been feeling strange movements from her stomach for a couple days now. Originally, she had thought it as gas, but now she knew that it was actually her baby moving around.
"C-Can I feel it?" Azula stammered timidly.
Toph laughed even harder at the sudden change in Azula and continued to roll on the floor and howl.
"Stop laughing, Toph. It's not funny," Suki said while trying to stifle her own laughter for the sake of her friend. She looked at the heavily blushing Princess and smiled at her. "I don't know if you would be able to feel anything yet, but you can try." She placed Azula's hand on her stomach and put her own on top of it.
Azula stayed as still as possible for a few minutes, waiting for the baby to make any sign that they were actually inside of Suki's womb. After a couple moments of no movements, Azula moved her hand and frowned.
"Maybe he just doesn't like me," Azula mumbled to herself as she sat back down in her seat.
"Oh, don't be like that, Zu," Suki said with a kind smile, her eyes full of understanding. She shrugged. "Maybe it's too early for her to be really moving around."
"Yeah, that could be it," Azula concurred with a slight smile on her face.
The trio continued to discuss topics that ranged from where they would live after the war to their favorite childhood memories. All was well until Sokka came down to the table with a map in his hand.
"Sokka, what's wrong?" Suki asked as she noticed the serious look.
"We are about thirty minutes away from the outer wall of the city if my calculations are correct." He unrolled a map of Ba Sing Se and placed it on the table. "Azula, this is your operation and you know the city the best. What's the plan?"
"Well..." Azula took her final sip of coffee and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Ba Sing Se has gone through multiple renovations since you guys were last here, so this map is VERY inaccurate due to all the work done," she explained as she brought out a pen from her pocket.
"So...we're going in blind?" Suki asked as she, too, became more serious.
"Hey, doing things blind isn't that bad," Toph interjected with a bright smile on her face. "I mean, just look at me - I've been doing things blind my entire life."
Azula and Suki simply sweatdropped at their friends' joke as Sokka attempted to veer the conversation back on track. "Anyway...Azula, what should we do?"
"Alright." Azula stood up and analyzed at the front of the map. She then started to draw a path from the outer wall to the center of the city, underlining and circling multiple landmarks on the map. She even crafted alternate routes. "I want to remind all of you that tomorrow is the Day of the Black Sun."
"Remind me of what that is again?" Suki asked as she stared at the route they were going to be traversing.
"It's the one day where Firebenders lose all their powers due to a total solar eclipse," Azula explained to the group. "Starting at midnight to about noon, all Firebending will get weaker and weaker. At noon, they cannot Firebend at all. Then, at around 12:30 in the afternoon, they will be able to Firebend again. Most benders just don't bother bending the entire day since the potency and lethality of the art is lost for practically the entire day."
"Wow," Sokka said in awe, waiting for all of the new information to soak into his mind. "Ozai moving Aang to Ba Sing Se was a brilliant move. Not only does he not have to worry about the Day of the Black Sun because he's surrounded by Earthbenders, but if it hadn't been for that Zaine guy, we would have been going to the Fire Nation..." Sokka trailed off as he thought about the other half of the group that was in the Fire Nation right now.
"Let's just say that out of the two missions going on right now, this is the more fruitful one," said Azula with a wide smile. "So, this is the plan: we're going to land about an hour jog outside of the city. Since Toph is with us, we're going to go underground once we get to the outer wall. There are now going to be more tunnels underneath the entire city. The tunnels that were underneath the Palace are still there, but I had them remade, so they are laid out differently. Once we are inside of the place, we find Aang and get the fuck out, either by the way we came in or by creating a new exit on the fly."
"Why would we have to create a new exit?" Sokka queried as he looked over the map with the plan laid out.
"Knowing my father, he probably has every Dai Lee agent in the entire city on high alert," Azula predicted, "especially now that he, by this point, knows where we are and the fact that we are coming. Why do you think he moved Aang here in the first place? You said it yourself. Earthbenders can still bend on the Day of the Black Sun. I also know that this plan, no matter how fool proof it is, will probably end up failing. We are - most likely - going to be improvising on the spot."
"Wait...but you can't bend tomorrow, either. Why are you going if you're going to be powerless?" Toph asked her best friend.
Azula smirked at this. "You think that all I know how to do is Firebend?" she asked the group confidently with a raised eyebrow. Seeing all of them nod their heads, she laughed. "Oh, this is too funny. I know many skills: seduction, assination, business management, several forms of hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, and knife throwing. I never was a good medic or Chi-blocker - but don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Alright, now you and I need to have a proper spar," Suki said as she pulled out her fans.
"Not right now. We'll spar when we get Aang back," Azula assured her friend with a smile. And when you're not six months pregnant with my godson, she added to herself.
The group reviewed Azula's plan for a couple more hours. They made multiple enhancements to it simply to ensure that it was as foolproof and sound as possible. Once they all thought that it was as good as possible, Azula went up top to land the ship while the others prepared all their gear for the mission tomorrow.
Once Azula landed the ship, they decided to do some light training around the ship until it was well past dinner time. Once dinner was eaten, they all said their goodnights and decided to head to bed, all with the exception of Azula, who decided to look up at the stars.
"Don't worry, Aang," she called sweetly to the nighttime sky.
"I'm almost there."
"AAAAARGHHH!"
"Stop fighting it, Avatar!" Ozai boomed as he sent another round of lightning towards Aang, who was currently chained up in the exact same cell he had been in when Azula first captured him. "Resisting is futile!"
"I...will...NEVER...serve you!" he panted out with strained and bated breath.
"Hmm...we'll see about that!" said the Fire Lord, a sadistic smile growing on his face.
"My Lord."
Ozai looked out the cell door window to see a Dai Lee agent kneeling on the ground with his head down. "What is it? Don't you see I'm busy?" Ozai asked the man.
The agent immediately stiffened. "I was sent to inform you that Princess Azula's flying ship has landed about ten miles outside of the outermost wall of the city," he recited with a trembling voice.
The dictator smiled evermore. "Hm..." he hummed to himself as he mulled over this new information. "Looks like I'll have to double my efforts." He glanced over at the panting Avatar. "Bring me Commander Rumi!" he commanded the agent, who sprinted out of the room to fulfill his master's orders. A couple of minutes passed by when Rumi finally walked into the room.
"You needed me, my Lord?" Commander Rumi asked the dictator, who smirked at him.
"Yes. I want you to bend as much lightning at the Avatar as possible," Ozai demanded to the man. "We only have hours to remap him and make him into a loyal soldier." He turned his head to Aang, who had just gotten his breathing back under control. "Your time is numbered, Avatar!" He grinned as he thrusted yet another round of lightning straight for Aang, who was struggling to cope with the pain.
Azula...please...I don't think I can last much longer, he thought to himself as he shed tears of pain and suffering.
"Who is your master, Avatar?" Ozai asked the boy, who struggled to form a sentence. "Not good enough!" He interrupted with a sickly grin as he thrusted more lightning onto him.
Zula...please...hurry.