AGAINST THE ODDS
Where Azula wins (because she has her kickass sidekicks).
Prologue: The Opportunist
To Toph's surprise, The Plan starts without a hitch.
With two master firebenders to contend with, and a Fire Nation army to fight, the team are forced to divide and conquer. Sokka and Hakoda lead different waves of Resistance Forces, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe soldiers united against a common enemy. Hakoda's troops approach from the south by ship, while his son infiltrates from the west.
Initially, Aang, Katara, Toph and Zuko are together as they tunnel underground towards the very epicentre of the capital city. Right on time, the crowds that had gathered for the crowning of the Phoenix Lord disperse to defend their borders, unaware of the main force of the resistance underneath.
They pause as Toph listens.
"Nine – no, ten, darn Flex flipping about," she grumbles but then turns in Aang's direction. From the heat to her left, she guesses that Zuko has ignited a small flame for the others' benefit. She has been told darkness is disconcerting, but she can't miss what she's never had. "I'm pretty sure one of them is Azula." Her steady, strong heartbeat is unmistakeable, as sure as her brother's anxious staccato next to her.
"And my father?" he whispers, which is probably unnecessary when they are this far underground, but they know better than to tempt fate at this crucial moment.
Other than the distinct heartbeat of the Fire Nation princess, and the hands-to-feet-to-hands-again movement of the chi-blocker, there's someone sat upon a throne made of metal. There is only one other person that Azula would allow to sit upon a throne in her presence. Toph just nods in confirmation.
They have The Plan for this eventuality, and have discussed the potential counters in detail. Now that it comes to it, there is hesitation. Katara, slipping into the role her brother is not there to fill, bolsters the group as they gather their courage.
"Everyone know the plan? Great… Right. We can do this. On three. One."
Katara's fingers interlink with her own. The earthbender is not a tactile person – at least, not with emotions – but it is comforting all the same. Katara squeezes, and Toph returns the gesture.
"Two."
Twinkle Toes' heartbeat has accelerated. She imagines Sugar Queen is probably holding his hand as well.
"Three!"
Not unlike a volcano spewing magma, the Avatar and his friends emerge from underground. From the collective gasps on top of the podium, they have been successful in obtaining the element of surprise. Good.
Toph does not hesitate, and the chunks of stone that were displaced by their grand entrance are hurled. Two slow-moving firebenders are hit – although from the sounds the rocks make on contact, they are not dressed in armour, so most likely sages – but the remainder successfully dodge.
Toph does not let up, as the podium itself shakes and the enemies finally fight back. Intense plumes of heat are blown off-course by a strong gust of wind. There is a clang of metal of metal as Zuko's broadswords deflect deadly knives.
As much as she wants to track the movements of the whole battlefield, per The Plan, the armoured firebenders are her first priority.
With a stomp and a swipe of her bare foot, the earth swallows them up to their necks. She doesn't need to listen too hard to know that Zuko is still engaged with the knife-thrower, albeit trying to use his words rather than his bending, but a shriek of "No fair!" is heard from the acrobat as Katara succeeds in freezing Ty Lee solid before she can become a huge hindrance.
Time to shift attention to the main show, and the most critical part of The Plan.
It is Toph's role to shift the earth beneath their enemies' feet as Aang and Katara distract them with water whips and gusts of wind, leading them exactly where they want them to be in an elaborate dance. Before they knew it, they had been squared off against their respective battle partners. Toph is lucky enough to get the princess as hers.
She is frustratingly fast and light on her feet, and though she has nothing on Twinkle Toes, the intense flames make her a much more dangerous foe even with Toph's rock armour. Fortunately, as she has to move quickly to avoid projectiles, she is not able to ground herself long enough for her lightning attacks.
They continue like this for what feels like hours, though is probably only a matter of minutes. Toph is sweating, and Azula is panting, but still neither has managed to do any substantial damage to the other.
She hears Katara cry out; Toph realises there are no longer sounds of metal on metal. She thinks she hears Zuko shouting but she cannot afford to think on how her friends are faring as her opponent demands her full attention.
They have moved near a metal grate, and Toph risks a pause in her relentless attack to pull and lift the metal. Azula, ever the opportunist, begins to summon crackling energy. Toph waits to hear when Azula's pose suddenly shifts, then uses this opening to strike.
Though the rock armour is sufficient to stop the strike from hitting her heart, the force of the blast still knocks Toph off her feet. Momentarily and properly blind, Toph's improvised cage misses its target, and this is the moment Toph holds herself accountable for The Plan failing.
As Toph struggles to breathe, winded, a familiar presence kneels beside her. Katara places both hands on her chest. Even through her clothes, her hands feel wet and warm. Toph's nose tells her it is blood.
"I'm fine," Toph wheezes as she clutches her hand. "You need to help Aang."
Katara gives her another comforting squeeze – how long had it been since the countdown in the dark – and staggers away. Her sluggish movements confirm whom the blood belongs to, and she cannot help but wonder if she said the right thing. Even in her best condition, she doubts Katara can battle a firebender of Azula's calibre without a full moon.
Despite this, Toph is pleased to note that the firebender is slower, and Zuko joins Katara to put pressure on his sister. Aang is still engaged with Ozai, one-on-one, but Toph's senses start to fade.
When she next comes to, only two are standing. They are easy to identify from the light feet of the last airbender to the perfect posture of the princess. The Fire Lord is still conscious, on all fours and shrieking "What have you done to me?"
"I took away your bending; it's over." Aang announces with authority she has never heard from him before.
Taking away someone's bending? How did Twinkletoes manage that? Since when could he do that? Admittedly The Plan had been to encase the Fire Lord in stone, but The Backup (and most likely option) had been death. Privately, they all shared the fear that the Air Nomad would struggle with the latter, but Aang has managed to go with Option C and maintain his ideals.
"Daughter!" The Fire Lord gasps, "Help me!" There's the awful crackling sound again, and Toph struggles to sit up. She makes a fist and a thick dirt barrier comes between Aang and Azula.
It is a wasted effort – he is not her target. The Fire Lord's heart spasms then stops. For a moment, no one moves, until Aang speaks.
"How… why… He's your dad! You just killed him!"
Toph can hear the smirk in her voice when she replies. "A Fire Lord who can't bend? How preposterous. He was useless to the Fire Nation, and his reign had come to an end."
There's heat again, and Aang is once more batting flames away with a combination of all his bending capabilities. Toph's head is still spinning, and as much as she wants to fight it, she's losing consciousness again.
"And now," Azula drawls, sounding as if she is on the other end of a very long tunnel, "It's time to put an end to you."