A/N: I don't know if you people remember what happened in chapter 20, but there were two other soldiers on Appa with Iroh. I just wanted to explain what happened to them.
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They flew on through the night and just as the stars began to twinkle amongst the clouds, hundreds of Fire Nation ships were revealed in the moonlight. "Dear god," Sokka breathed, clutching his forehead. "They took us seriously."
Long Feng looked as if he had just been struck with a particularly large shovel. His mouth fell open as he stared down at the navy. "We have no men coming from Omashu to attack. We never got correspondence back from the army that was supposed to meet us on the shore. We're alone out here." They had sent one of the two soldiers left from the army along the beach before rescuing Zuko and Aang. When the soldier never came back, they sent the remaining one. And of course, he went missing as well. That was when they left in realization that they were the only ones able to defeat the Fire Lord. But now, as they looked at all the metal ships before them, glinting in the light of Yue, they realized that they were doomed.
"Maybe I should have stuck with Azula," said Ty Lee nervously. The others ignored her and continued to stare.
"Aang," said Katara gently. "They'll see us. You need to-"
"No!" Aang shouted. "I'm not doing it!" He didn't want to go into the Avatar State again. He didn't think he could. He remembered back at the North Pole when he had destroyed all of those Fire Nation ships. When he had come to his senses, he had been mortified of what he had done. How many people drowned that day? How many had he killed? And how could he willingly go back into the Avatar State after what had happened at Ba Sing Se? No, he couldn't do it.
"Please. The Solar Eclipse hasn't happened yet. They can still very easily kill us."
"They won't see us!" Aang exclaimed. "It's too dark; we'll stay in the clouds."
"What about tomorrow?" Katara pressed, almost angrily. "When we come back? Those ships aren't going away."
"Assuming we actually make it back," Aang snapped.
"How can you say that?" Katara demanded. "You're the Avatar! You're supposed to be hope for the world! How do you expect the world to react when you say there isn't any?"
"Face it Katara," said Aang, "we're outnumbered. Sun or not, we won't be able to beat them."
"You're the Avatar," Katara pointed out angrily.
"I'm just a kid! Stop pressuring me! Do you think I want to lose? Do you think I want the world to perish under the Fire Nation? Stop making me out to be the bad guy," Aang shouted. The wind picked up, whipping Katara's braid behind her. Fire danced along Aang's fingers; it was easy to see that he was angry.
"I'm not making you out to be the bad guy. I just wish you would try har-"
"I try hard," Aang snarled. "I'm here aren't I? I'm headed to the Fire Nation when I don't think we have a chance. Don't you dare accuse me of not trying hard enough."
"Then why not go into the Avatar State?" Katara demanded. "That would save the world. That would help us win this war. Once the Fire Lord is dead, Zuko will replace him and-"
"Because I'll have to give you up!" Aang roared. His hands shook and he had to clutch his elbows to steady them.
"What?" Katara asked, shocked.
"In order to go into the Avatar State, I have to give you up," Aang said, closing his eyes.
"What do you mean? I'll be right here..."
"There are these chakras and one of them has to deal with earthly attachments and I have to let them all go to get into the Avatar State," Aang explained. "I can't do that. I tried. But I was also struck by lightning."
"I...Aang," said Katara gently. "Don't worry about me. The rest of the world is a lot more important than I am."
"Not to me," said Aang defiantly, before he had the sense to keep his mouth shut.
"Well, of course. We're family and we all feel the same way..."
"No, Katara," said Aang. "That's not what I meant..." Shut up, shut up, he told himself. Stop talking. You're going to make a fool of yourself.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked, befuddled.
Sokka looked up warningly. Even Toph and Zuko shifted uncomfortably. Aang was treading on dangerous territory and it would do well for him to shut the hell up.
"Are you really that blind?" Aang demanded in disbelief. Toph almost protested indignantly, but Zuko firmly clamped a hand over her mouth.
"What are you talking about?" Katara asked, utterly confused.
"You know what?" said Aang angrily. "Forget it. If you can't see it, then I shouldn't bother. There's no use. Just forget it."
"You can tell me anything," Katara pressed, touching his shoulder. He shrugged it off.
"Obviously not," Zuko muttered under his breath.
"What's going on?" Ty Lee whispered, her lips barely touching Sokka's ear. He shook his head and motioned for silence.
"Katara," said Aang slowly. "Katara, I think I...I don't know. I just-"
"LOOK OUT!" Zuko bellowed. Appa dipped into a cloud as a flaming ball of fire ripped through the sky over their heads. Toph almost fell off the back of the saddle. Sokka pulled her back up as she spat and cursed.
Another ball of fire hurled towards them. Then another and another. "How did they see us?" Sokka demanded as Appa dipped once more. His stomach flip-flopped as they went up and down and around. They did a loop-de-loop and Katara had to clamp a hand over her mouth as to not throw up.
"Left!" Sokka cried. "LEFT! NO, RIGHT! RIGHT! LEFT! DOWN YOU IDIOT!"
Zuko was swearing and cursing up a storm, damning practically everything to hell. Katara was much too preoccupied to tell him to watch his mouth as she scrambled up to grab something, anything, that would keep her from falling to the dark water below.
Iroh was yelling something over the wind and Toph was screaming something back. Ty Lee whimpered and clung onto Sokka. He was trying to scrape her off of him so that he could manage to hold onto the saddle, but she was quite strong. It didn't help when Toph also grabbed hold around his waist. Katara was holding Aang in one hand and Zuko's ankle in the other as they plummeted several hundred feet before swooping up again. The ships were a metal and moonlight blur beneath them.
"Wait, what is that?" Katara cried in Aang's ear, pointing out to a dark shape in the distance.
She could barely hear his response, but she did make out two words: Fire Nation. They were close.
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Appa slammed into the ground, exhausted. Foreboding volcanic mountains towered overhead, looking foreign in the moonlight. Sokka kneeled over and threw up as Zuko stumbled off sideways into a boulder. Iroh looked positively sick and was pale as bone.
"Haha," Aang laughed, "that was fun! I can't wait until we go back!"
Everyone stared at him. Zuko resisted the urge of punching him in the face by saying, "Shut up, Aang!"
Sokka straightened up, kicking some dirt over his bile and turning back to the group. He touched his ribs and winced. "Toph, I think you cracked them." His neck also ached and he assumed that was Ty Lee's fault.
"I try," said Toph casually after shaking off the shock of the ride. Ty Lee looked at her crossly.
Long Feng slid off of Appa. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we best be moving on before the ships get word to the Fire Nation that we're here." He brushed off his green robes and touched his oily hair as if to make sure everything was in place. After clearing his throat he strolled off between two high rocks.
"Uh, you have no idea where you're going, do you?" Zuko called after him.
"Nope," came Long Feng's terse reply.
"Oh, come on," said Zuko, sighing heavily. "Follow me." He led them east through the craggy rocks and out into a valley beneath the mountains. Up ahead, a large palace was visible by starlight. In fact, the sky was lightening to a grayish black. Morning was coming.
"Remember that passageway in the back that I showed you?" Iroh said to Katara. "We should use that route."
"No," Zuko interrupted. "They'll have it blocked off from the last time we used it. Besides, I'm sure Azula is on her way to tell them that we're here."
"Assuming Toph didn't completely flip her brain upside down," said Sokka, looking at the blind earthbender with pride.
Ty Lee scowled. "I thought that was mean."
Sokka looked at her. "If you thought that was mean, then why the hell are you with us in the first place?"
"Azula's my friend," said Ty Lee crossly.
"Well, some friend you are," Sokka muttered, turning his back on her. Her scowl deepened. She fell back to walk with Katara.
"I'm sorry how we've all been treating you," Katara said in a low voice. "You've really been a great help. Thank you."
"I only did it for Mai," Ty Lee admitted. "But she didn't seem very grateful."
"Well, if she truly loves Zuko, then I'm sure she is," said Katara with a small smile. "Though I can't see how anyone would ever like such a-"
Zuko stopped and turned around to look at her. "Such a what?" he challenge, crossing his arms.
"Such a, erm, charming young...man?" Katara finished lamely.
"That's right," Zuko nodded conceitedly. "Mai doesn't like me, she adores me."
"Now look what you've done," said Sokka dully, "you've turned him into a monster."
"Was that the first time?" Katara asked, trying to keep her face straight.
Zuko glared at her. "Uncle," he complained, "make them stop. They keep abusing me."
Sokka and Katara roared in laughter. "'Uncle, make them stop'," the siblings mocked in a whiny voice.
"Stop that!" Zuko snapped.
"Aw, what are you going to do, Zuzu?" Katara asked playfully. "Tell your uncle on us again?"
As if on cue, Iroh turned around and looked at them expectantly. "Someone call me?"
Zuko stomped to the front again, cursing everyone under his breath. Sokka mimicked him tramping away. Katara doubled over in a fit of silent giggles. "I can see you!" the ex-Fire Nation prince called over his shoulder.
"Must you constantly make fun of my nephew?" Iroh berated, giving the siblings a hard look.
"Uncle!"
"You aren't going to make us kiss and make up, are you?" Katara asked hesitantly.
"Well it would be a little awkward with a Sokka on my face," said Zuko darkly. He then gave Katara a glittery smile. "But you...Dear god, that would be torture."
"What are you implying?" Katara demanded heatedly.
"Remember when you fell unconscious with all of that smoke? And I had to breathe air into your lungs to save your life? Well, I had to try very hard not to puke. What had you been eating?" Zuko gave her a disgusted look.
"As I recall, it was not the air that awoke me to my senses but the taste of your breath. I might have just fallen unconscious all over again," Katara shot back.
"Oooh," said Aang, watching them banter back and forth.
Zuko gave him an irritated look. "Well, Katara, I know someone that likes the taste of your mouth..."
Aang reddened and looked very close to exploding.
"What?" Katara asked, caught off-guard.
"You see, you probably don't remember what happened while you were unconscious...when Aang thought you were dead." He gave the Avatar an evil grin.
"Please stop talking," said Aang, blushing even more.
"Wait, what? What's going on?" Katara demanded. "What are you talking about?"
"Zuko, I'd be careful before he goes all Avatar on you," Sokka warned.
"I find it odd that you never strike up the courage to tell her, Aang," said Zuko, not knowing what caused him to be such a jerk all of a sudden. After all, Aang hadn't been the one poking fun at him.
"Tell me what?" Katara asked, confused more than ever.
"Nothing," Aang growled, shooting Zuko a surly look. "He's just jealous because he's desperately in love with you."
"What?" Zuko asked in horror.
"I know," Katara sighed dramatically. "I think everyone is."
"I'm not," Sokka said indignantly.
A smile curled at Zuko's mouth. "Practically incestuous."
"I'm not!"
"This is ridiculous," Katara snapped, raising her eyes to the lightening sky. A hint of pink was smeared across the horizon. If they didn't hurry, they would be revealed to the Fire Nation with the morning sun. "Come on, we have to get in that palace."
Zuko watched the sky warily. "What will I do...when I can't fight?"
"As I recall, you seem to have expertise with the blade," said Katara, trying to calm him. "Unfortunately we don't have any spare weapons with us. Does anyone know what happened to that machete?"
"Jet had it with him when he-," said Sokka, instantly regretting his words. Katara blinked away unshed tears and looked away. Aang stared down at his feet.
"So we no longer have it," Toph finished, stroking Momo's head on her right shoulder. He made a deep purring sound that didn't fit the awkward silence at all. The group shuffled along in silence, reminding themselves that they were in the Fire Nation and what happened to Jet could easily happen to any of them.
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When Azula opened her eyes, everything was a reddish blur. It felt as if there was a light behind her eyes, so bright that she couldn't make out her surroundings. She could feel herself lying on something soft and there was a burning in her skull, a throbbing pulse that felt like someone was pushing her brains out through her ears. She lifted her clammy hands to her temples, desperate to stop the ache. That was when she heard the whispers. People were talking in low voices not but a few feet away. She tried to focus on the dark shapes in the room, but their faces were just a smudge of candlelight. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was scratchy and her voice came out like pebbles.
"Azula?" said a very familiar voice. A face bent down to hers, pale against all of the reddish hues. It was Mai. Shiny black strands of hair fell onto Azula's face, smelling strongly of the sea. "It's been hours," said Mai in a whisper. "The Avatar and his friends escaped. They might already be in the Fire Nation by now. We're close as it is."
Azula moved her lips to form "Ty Lee". No sound came out, but Mai seemed to understand.
"She's with them," said Mai, her face sullen. A scowl curved across her lips and Azula knew what she was thinking. Mai wasn't upset that Ty Lee had abandoned them. She was upset that she hadn't joined her. Azula knew this and it hurt worse than the fire in her head.
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A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll be writing a lot considering that I'm finally on my spring break (woohoo). So yeah, reviews please.