Disclaimer: Don't own Avatar. Also, the idea for some of this chapter comes from Anime-StarWars-fan-zach. Don't own that either.
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"'Watch the prisoner,' Zuko says! 'Stay here,' Iroh says! 'Don't fall asleep,' Toph says! Well you know what? I've been doing all these things for two hours now! And they still haven't come back!" Sokka had been grumbling for a little over an hour, mostly directing his rants at poor, defenseless Momo.
"Will you shut up already?" Azula moaned. "It's the middle of the night and I need my sleep."
"Hey, Princess," said Sokka sharply, "I need my beauty sleep too, but seeing as I'm not going to get any...I might as well keep you awake as well." The Water Tribe boy smirked at Azula gave him a dirty look.
"You bastard," she spat, though only half-heartedly.
"Bitch."
"Whatever." Azula seemed much too tired to care. She rolled over and went to sleep.
Sokka frowned as he listened to Azula's breathing become slow and even. He could see the small incision he had made on her cheek, for it was glowing in the firelight. Sokka sighed as he wearily sat down; all of his ravings had exhausted him.
As the seconds ticked by, Sokka found his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. No, he told himself. You have to stay awake. Remember what she did to Suki. No matter what he did to try to keep himself awake, he kept slipping further and further into his private reverie. Soon, he was snoring and drooling against Appa's flanks. And being that he was asleep, he didn't see Azula's golden eyes flash open or notice her struggle to her feet. And he certainly didn't notice her make her way slowly into the woods, for when he finally did wake up half an hour later, she was long gone.
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Zuko waited and waited and waited. He kept waiting for that stupid tracker he had used once to find the Avatar to fall asleep alongside Ty Lee. The other guard was snoring loudly, his head leaning heavily on Zuko's shoulder. The banished prince was constantly shoving him away, but the guard always seemed to fall right back against him.
"I think I'm going to turn in for the night," said June with a yawn. She glanced at Zuko. "You're not tired yet, are you?"
"No," he replied huskily. "I don't think I'll get to sleep tonight...Not after getting attacked by that platypus-bear. There may be more of them."
June nodded before settling down on the grass and falling to sleep against her enormous, ugly steed. Now, everyone was asleep except Zuko. Though he figured that Katara and Jet were merely faking it.
Zuko stood up, gently allowing the other guard's head to gently fall against the ground. He didn't wake up. Zuko glanced over to Katara. Her head was resting against Jet's and they were both facing away from each other. Zuko glanced up into the treetops. Aang still crouched there, never moving. Zuko nodded to him and the Avatar gracefully slid down. Their objection was to rescue Jet and Katara without letting anyone wake up.
Toph boldly stomped out into the clearing, looking livid. "I'm so tired I could fall over," she complained in an urgent whisper. "Why couldn't I just crack 'em all on the head and have it over with?"
"Shut up," Zuko hissed, pointing at all of the sleeping bodies as he slid his helmet from his head.
"Hmph," Toph replied as she crossed her arms.
Aang picked his way through all of the sleeping forms to where Katara and Jet snoozed. Zuko realized that they hadn't been feigning sleep and that they must have been really tired. "Katara," Aang whispered, gently nudging her awake. For Jet, however, Aang merely kicked him in the ribs. Jet jumped up, wide awake.
"Mmm?" Katara groaned, rolling over.
Aang smiled. "Katara, you have to be quiet. Come on, get up." She silently sat up. The Avatar motioned Zuko over to cut off the captives' bonds. He did so with a small knife he conveniently swiped off of the guard he attacked in the woods. The unfortunate guard had been knocked out cold.
Katara massaged her sore wrists. In fact, she was hurting all over from the harsh treatment the ropes left her. "Should we tie them up?" she muttered, gesturing to Ty Lee and June. Before Zuko or Aang had the chance to answer, the bushes to their right shuttered and a figure stumbled out.
Azula stared at them, her golden eyes wide in alarm.
Zuko couldn't help himself. "Azula!" he cried in surprise. That, of course, woke everyone up.
Ty Lee raised her head, blinking sleepily. When she finally had her bearings, her eyes drifted over the odd situation. "Azula?"
June was on her feet. "Azula."
The guard even shook himself from sleep. When he saw her, he fell on his knees. "Princess Azula."
"Get up, you oaf," Azula snapped.
"How did you escape?" Zuko demanded. "It was that retarded Water Tribe peasant, wasn't it?"
"What can I say?" said Azula innocently. "He's just a heavy sleeper."
"Who let you out of your chains?"
"Well, Zuzu, I let myself out. It took me a good long while...But luckily the lock had already been smashed from that blind idiot when you all got your hands on Jet." She gave her brother an angelic smile. "Oh, and by the way," she added, "Uncle and that foolish Earth King are having a jolly old time swinging in a net. Did you know?"
Zuko slapped himself in the face. "Oh Uncle," he groaned.
"Now let me see," said Azula, glancing around. "It seems that it is four to five, though two of you seem to be unarmed." June slid onto her Shirshu and kicked its furry sides. Ty Lee cart-wheeled up a nearby tree; she was ready. "Avatar," Azula continued, "it appears that the solar eclipse is about a week and a half away. Once I kill you all, who will be the one to tell the resistance about your little plan? We are going to win this war, and there's nothing you can do to stop us."
"We shall see," Zuko replied darkly, raising his hands.
"Well, I won't," Toph snorted, kicking up a large boulder.
"Oh yes, I forgot," Azula cooed in mock-sympathy. "Poor, little, defenseless blind girl."
"I'm not defenseless!" And as if to show it, Toph sent her boulder rocketing towards Azula's head. The princess tilted her head back just in time as the rock swept over her. Azula furiously sent three spurts of flame over to the earthbender.
"Katara!" Aang cried. "You and Jet get out of here!" Jet and Katara happily obliged as they dug their heels into the earth and sped into the cover of trees. The monk, meanwhile, frantically dodged the Shirshu's flying tongue and the sharp jabs of Ty Lee's quick hands. Zuko and Azula were in a fiery dance, each counteracting the other's move. Toph kicked up several boulders at a time as the Fire Nation guard charged at her with a flaming sword.
Zuko shot a beam of fire at his sister, barely singing her eyebrows.
"You'll have to do better than that," Azula taunted.
"Eraggh!" he roared as he kicked up a blaze into her face. Lightning forked from her fingers as Zuko fell to the ground to avoid them. She kicked him in the ribs.
"Get up," she snarled. Zuko's memory flashed back to his father during the Agni Kai; it was replaying all over again. Zuko coughed as he struggled to his feet.
"For the final blow," Azula whispered triumphantly, lowering her fingers to Zuko's face. She was turning into him, the Fire Lord. She was going to kill Zuko like his father almost did. But before she had the chance, a long shout ripped through night as a blue blur body-slammed the Princess of the Fire Nation. Azula was instantly flattened.
"Sokka?" Zuko asked in disbelief as the Water Tribe boy triumphantly sat on Azula's face.
Sokka bowed dramatically. "Thank you, thank you! All in a day's work! Really, you are too kind!" His victory didn't last long. Ty Lee flipped over and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Sokka grinned. "Well, I must say...I didn't expect this."
"Didn't expect what?" Ty Lee asked, cocking her head in confusion as Azula struggled to her feet.
"Never mind," Sokka muttered when he realize he couldn't move. Zuko kicked Ty Lee off of him. She cart-wheeled safely away.
"I can't believe you sat on my face," Azula murmured to Sokka, shaking her head. "I must admit, I have never been more terrified in my life. They say you eat a lot, no?"
Sokka swung out his fist to collide with her jaw. She swaggered back into Zuko in surprise. He clutched her by the elbows and kneed her in the back. She crumbled to the ground, breathing heavily. Her face was rapidly bruising and blood dribbled down her lip.
"Nice," Sokka commented, clearly impressed.
"And to you," Zuko nodded with a smile. "That whole sit-on-her-face move was amazing."
Sokka sighed theatrically. "What can I say? I'm a combatant genius-ARG!" Ty Lee had returned, throwing him onto the ground. He fell, face-first, into the dirt. "Ow," he moaned, lifting his head to reveal several bloody scrapes.
"I finally understood what you said," said Ty Lee with a ditzy air. "You know, after I pinned you to the ground...And I didn't like it much."
Sokka snorted. "Well excuse me."
Zuko didn't want to risk letting go of Azula to help Sokka, so he called Toph over. She hit Ty Lee in the head with a small pebble. The cart-wheeling maniac screamed and ducked for cover. Sokka took the advantage to kick Ty Lee up over his head. She slammed into the ground behind him. Toph turned the dirt into sand pudding and Ty Lee sank up to her neck in it as the earth hardened around her. Toph quickly did the same for the charging Fire Nation guard.
Aang jumped around June on the back of the Shirshu, enjoying himself with cracking her on top of the head with his staff. She was emitting a long stream of foul imprecations as she twisted around to try and snag his ankle. He easily avoided her, jabbing her in the chest with his glider. She sputtered and gasped as she tried to catch her breath. With one last blow to the head, she fell unconscious to the ground. The Shirshu was bucking and running into trees in attempt to scrape Aang off of his back, making the Avatar leaped gingerly up onto a branch to avoid any injuries. When he slid down to land beside Toph, he realized that there was no one left to fight.
"Good job guys," said Aang, clapping Sokka on the shoulder.
"And girls," Toph added. "Don't leave Zuko and me out."
"Hey!" Zuko protested just as Aang said, "And girls."
Aang turned to face the head that protruded from the ground that belonged to the wriggling Ty Lee. "As long as you're just standing there, I'll have you know that we have a plan to defeat your armies. You have a week and a half to prepare. I suggest you go back to the Fire Nation and tell the Fire Lord that we still have his daughter and won't give her back until we are given Ba Sing Se. If he doesn't acquiesce, my army is going to pulverize his on the Day of Black Sun. Now, if you want to be able to tell him that, you will have to find away out of the ground by yourself. My friends and I are going now."
"What army?" Sokka hissed in Toph's ear. She shrugged and followed Aang as they left the clearing. Zuko, however, remained in the early dawn light with the struggling Azula to say one last thing to Ty Lee. "If you see Mai, tell her...Tell her hello for me and...Tell her I'm sorry."
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"What was with the big stunt you pulled back there?" Sokka shot at Aang. "Really, great job! Now they're going to think we've got this big army out to kill them all and they're just going to strengthen their own. We're going to get out butts kicked!"
"But Sokka," said Aang slowly, giving him a small smile, "we do have a big army."
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A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! At this moment, I've got about 76 and boy am I proud! Keep 'em coming and thanks again. I hope I did the fighting scene justice and, well, if I didn't I guess I'll hear about it then.