Appa touched down beside Sokka and Mai, and Aang jumped down to speak to them, soon followed by the others.
"That face does not make me think I'm going to enjoy what you're about to say," Sokka told him.
"We went to the Palace, but Ozai wasn't there- Azula was."
"So they knew we were coming?"
"Not exactly- apparently that's just what the Fire Nation does on the day of an eclipse. They increase the defences around the capital and move the Firelord and his family to a secure location."
"Ah, yes, I think we've already fought through some of those increased defences," Sokka replied. "So why was Azula there?"
"She said she wanted to give us an appropriate welcome," Zuko said.
"So it's not looking good. The Fire Nation has increased their defences anyway, and they know we're coming now, and Ozai isn't even there."
Sokka considered for a second. "We need to discuss this with a Council of War."
Soon, one of those had been assembled. All Seven members of Team Avatar were there, including Suki who had been off leading the Kyoshi Warriors. Earth King Kuei and a couple of his generals represented the Earth Kingdom while Hakoda represented the Southern Water Tribe. They were joined by the man leading the contingent of Northern water troops.
After the situation had been explained to them, the northerner leaned back in his chair.
"Well that's it then. There's no point trying to take the Caldera any more."
"Isn't there?" one of the earth generals shot back. "You haven't had your capital razed by the Fire Nation. We have a chance to avenge Ba Sing Se, at the very least, and you want to throw away a partial success because we don't have a chance at a total victory?"
"It's too much of a risk!" He shot back. "What if it's a trap? Trust me, the Northern Water Tribe has our own grievances against the Fire Nation, but while we have begun taking a more active part in the war since the Siege- yes, they tried to take the North Pole too- our manpower is limited. If this turns into a catastrophe and we lose these men, we lose the ability to do much more than defend our capital."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that this is all-or-nothing. The fate of the war may rest on the outcome of this day, and we should not be so cavalier about it."
He did have a point.
Hakoda interjected. "Let's not forget why we are here. We are here to help the Avatar and my son end the war, and we cannot do that by running away."
"We also can't do it by getting ourselves senselessly killed."
"What do you think, Aang?" Kuei asked him.
"We are, as Hakoda said, here for you, so it seems fitting that we should do as you wish. Evacuate or push on?"
Aang thought hard for a few seconds, knowing full well that his decision could decide the fates of several thousand people in this army- and the entire world beyond it. But they had come this far, and had not met any opposition they had not defeated.
Yet, a voice in his head added. Aang pushed it aside. He had made his decision, and he was not going to avoid or evade this time.
"We push on," he said firmly. "We take the capital."
The northerner had a look of disappointment in his face, but nodded all the same. Most of the others seemed a bit more enthusiastic.
As the army marched onwards, and the walls of the caldera began to loom in the distance, Aang circled overhead on Appa, keeping a lookout for any other enemy armies they would have to deal with.
Zuko walked alongside Mai, at first in silence, just content to be in her company, but then he found a question.
"Does it feel right?"
"Does what feel right?"
"To be leading an enemy army in a hostile invasion of your own country. Does it feel right?"
"I thought we went over this when we first defected."
"That was with just helping the Avatar though, not full-blown invasion. This is the very definition of treason."
"You're not having second thoughts, are you Zuko?"
"Me? No. It's far too late for that now, and besides the Firelord- father- lost any right to my loyalty a long time ago."
"And there you have my answer. It has not changed."
Mai turned to look at him.
"If we do win this, Zuko, if we bring peace, what are you going to do then?"
Zuko thought. "I actually don't know. I know with Ozai gone that would make me next in line to the throne, but I'm not sure I want it. I gave up on any chance of being the Firelord the day I was banished."
Mai looked at him. "Impressive," she remarked. "I asked you a positive question and you still found a way to brood."
"It's what I do best," Zuko joked. "What about you, then?"
"I want to see Tom-Tom again," Mai said wistfully. "I wonder how he's getting on."
"I'm sure he's doing fine."
"I hope so."
"How long is it until the eclipse begins?"
"I don't know. It can't be long now. Can you still firebend?"
Zuko held his hand out and concentrated, and a flame burst to life in his palm. He watched it dance for a couple of seconds before snuffing it out.
"Not quite yet, then."
As the day wore on, and the sun began to dim, the army marched onwards, and soon it was standing in the shadow of the caldera.
Team Avatar stood together at the foot of the enormous crater wall, and looked up. Far above them, they saw movement as Fire Nation soldiers scurried about on the top.
"The eclipse is just minutes away," Zuko said. "I can feel it."
"Then the time has come," Toph replied.
"Let's bring down this wall!"
Instructions were distributed to every Earthbender in the army through dust- writing, before Aang and Toph stepped forward. With their movements being copied by the others, they both planted their feet and reached up towards the wall. Then, concentrating, they pulled their arms downwards.
The earth began to rumble and shake, as pieces of rock crumbled off the face of the cliff and fell down to the ground below. Enormous clouds of dust were kicked up, but the cliff began to move and shrink back into the earth.
The whole process took somewhere in the vicinity of two minutes, and by the end of it, a large section of cliff face had been replaced by a ramp that ran straight through and into the city beyond. It was a feat of earthbending far beyond what any single bender would have been capable of, but that was achievable with so many of them working together.
"It worked!" Sokka shouted excitedly.
"Of course it worked, I was involved!" Toph replied.
"Now we attack."
The order to advance was duly given to all troops, and they all began moving up the ramp, trying to move as quickly as they could while still maintaining formation.
Ahead of them, they saw Firebenders hastily rushing to fill the breach, with a first line armed with the long polearms that non-benders generally used. These men got into formation, and then levelled their weapons at the onrushing army, preparing for the collision.
It was apparent to all involved that this was a great reversal of the roles normally assumed by the fire nation and everyone else in the war. Normally, the Fire Nation were the invaders, but these men were fighting to defend their homes and families. Now, they prepared to launch a volley of flame at point blank range at the attacking army. The order was given, the firebenders punched at the air in the direction of the enemy... and nothing happened.
The eclipse had arrived.
A ripple of panic spread through the fire nation formation, as many of them realized that their main- if not only- weapon was suddenly useless at about the worst possible moment.
"We only have a few minutes!" Aang shouted to whoever would hear him. "Let's make them count!"
The army surged forward. The first line of their enemies panicked under the momentum of the charge, many of them turning and throwing down their weapons. The now powerless firebenders, who were now armed with knives at the most which were entirely unsuited to this kind of combat, were forced to follow them.
Shouts of "we have them!" and "Come on!" Accompanied the army as it swept up over the ridge and down into the Caldera.
There, though, they found a ring of barricades that surrounded the breach. The citizens of the Caldera were rallying to defend their city, and had donated their furniture to the cause. Any materials the defenders could get their hands on formed an improvised wall about as tall as a man, that stretched around the hole the earthbenders had made. Aang was astonished. He knew that he was on the opposite side to these people and yet the fact that they had built this in only minutes was incredibly impressive to him.
Still, it was an obstacle, and it needed to be overcome- quickly.
As civilians continued to rush up to the barricade to pile on additional chairs, tables, and other furniture, the first wave of Allied infantry crashed against it from the other direction. A line of fire nation infantry stood on top of it, furiously stabbing down into the mass of men with their polearms. Their officers could be heard urging them on, to defend their families and their city, while the officers on the other side were urging their men on to avenge what the Fire Nation had done to their homes and families. There was not really enough water there for the waterbenders to be used effectively, and while the earth benders could do quite a bit of damage there was always someone on hand to rush in and repair it before any breach could be created and exploited.
By the third minute of the frantic melee, Aang began to get worried.
"What's taking so long?" he asked Sokka.
"I don't know. We really need this done before they get their firebending back," he replied anxiously.
But still, against all the odds, the barricade held. Behind it, a row of archers took position, having apparently rushed there with great haste, and began loosing arrows into the mass of men before them. Aang recognised their uniforms, they had captured him once, and Zuko had rescued him.
And all the while, the precious minutes of the eclipse dragged on.
"We haven't got time for this!" Aang heard Sokka mutter under his breath.
There were still troops on the ramp, waiting to enter the city, but they could not. Those ones were beginning to get impatient, pushing the men in front of them.
Amid all the chaos and shouting and screaming and violence, Aang observed a familiar figure saunter up to the barricade, seemingly entirely unfazed by the whole thing. Azula, despite being temporarily de powered, locked eyes with Aang, her face full of seemingly unshakeable confidence, and smiled. Aang did not like the look of that. He also realised that it was beginning to get lighter again; the eclipse had almost run its course and they had still not broken through the barricade.
Realizing this, they saw Suki attempt to rally the Kyoshi warriors and anyone near her and lead a last ditch charge against the barricade. The ferocity of the charge succeeded in scaling the barricade, as Suki swept aside the polearm of the fire soldier above her, knocked him backwards and managed to climb on top of the barricade, encouraging the others to follow her. Just for a second, it seemed as if Avatar Kyoshi had come again, and was fighting alongside her successor to end the war.
Then, an arrow smashed into her headdress. Suki teetered, and then fell backwards into the thronging mass of troops beneath her.
"No!" Sokka had seen this too, and he forgot any thought of staying back to command the army has he flung himself into the thick of it to reach Suki. Meanwhile, the rest of the Kyoshi warriors had already surrounded her and were attempting to remove her to a place of relative safety.
Aang looked at Azula again. She smirked, revelling in the misfortune of the one who had caused her so many problems in the Earth Kingdom.
Then she slowly, deliberately, held up her hand, and a flame flared to life in it.
Aang scarcely had time to realize what this meant before a further motion of Azula's arms sent a bolt of lightning straight at him. He was very fortunate to be able to dodge, and the lightning bolt crashed harmlessly into the rock behind him. The thunderclap, however, alerted everyone present that the eclipse was over, and that the firebenders were back to full strength.
Immediately, jets of flame shot from the barricade down into the ranks of men beneath it, as panic swept through the ranks. Aang could see the campaign he and Sokka had set up to end the war in one fell swoop crumbling before his eyes.
"Aang," said Zuko, tapping him on his shoulder. "I know what's in front of us is bad, but you're really not going to like what's behind us."
Aang turned around, and Zuko was right. Behind their troops, a second army of firebenders was now making their presence felt behind them, cutting off any line of retreat. At this, the troops at the rear of the army surged forward to get away from them, just as the rest of the army was retreating to get away from the blasts of fire at their front.
In an instant, a crush developed. Many of the troops were unable to move their arms because it was so dense.
"Aang!"
Aang could barely comprehend that someone was shouting his name because he was so caught up in the scene in front of him.
"Aang!" A hand grabbed his shoulder. He whirled around to find Hakoda there.
"Where's your sky-bison?"
Appa?" Aang's head was not in the right place for this conversation. "He's nearby, but he's not big enough for an evacuation like this-"
As he was reaching for his bison whistle, Hakoda interrupted him. "I didn't mean it like that. I meant you should get out of here. Take my children and the rest of your usual companions with you."
"And what will you do?"
Hakoda looked out at the battle. The fire nation army outside the caldera was closing in, completing the encirclement of the army.
"Never mind that. It's up to you to continue the fight now."
Aang looked around. He saw panic all around him, as men struggled for a way out that was not there. He saw blasts of fire pouring into the mass of troops.
He saw Sokka, leaning over Suki's inert body, the rest of the Kyoshi warriors crowded around her too. Aang could sense her heartbeat, which was good, but that was the only speck of good news in a sea of terrible.
And he saw Azula, watching the whole spectacle with a look of smug satisfaction on her face.
Aang blew his whistle, and soon Appa was beside him.
Mai and Zuko, who were the ones closest to him, were the first to get on. Toph followed. Katara had been hunched over a wounded southern water tribesman, healing him with her water, but had been dragged away by Hakoda. That only left Sokka and Suki.
"Sokka! Come on!" Aang shouted at him once he had worked his way over.
Sokka appeared not to hear him.
"Seriously Sokka, we're leaving!"
"I'm staying."
"What?"
Sokka looked up at him. "This whole thing was my idea, and now look at what it has become. I led these people into this, so it's only right that I should share their fate, whatever it may be."
Aang sighed. "Sokka, we need you."
"Do you? You have all these fantastic abilities to throw the elements with your minds, all of you, and all I have is a boomerang. I thought I also had some good plans, but clearly not."
Aang instead addressed one of the Kyoshi warriors. "Put Suki on Appa. Katara can heal her."
The warrior nodded, and they began lifting her away.
Sokka, you're being ridiculous, at least come with us and be ridiculous somewhere you're not in danger!"
Eventually, after much arguing, Sokka relented, and said his goodbyes to Hakoda.
"I'm so proud of you, son." Hakoda whispered to him as they hugged. "Don't you ever forget that."
The Earth King came over to them, his guards trying their best to keep people away from them.
"So, Avatar," he said sadly. "I fear this is it."
Aang only nodded, not knowing what to say.
"This is not the end of your fight. The fate of our nations rests on you more than ever. However, I've run away once. I'm not going to do so again."
Aang nodded sadly.
As Appa took off and soared into the sky, Aang turned around one last time to look at what remained of the army of the Triple Alliance of Nations, the last best hope to stop the Fire Nation.
The Day of Black Sun was over. The Avatar had lost.