Hello again, faithful readers! My newest chapter has come, and I am extending a plea for anyone who dares be my beta/editor/whatever for future chapters. I feel my work might be slipping somewhat, and with the story reaching a crucial point, I want it to be as polished as possible, and for that I think I need someone reviewing my work before it goes live. Just say something in a review or PM, and I'll gladly get in touch with you.
Really not much else to say, except enjoy--oh, and this is the first of a little three-part 'saga' centered around the Day of Black Sun. You know the disclaimer, so go ahead and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter XXIII: Day of Black Sun--Setting the Pieces
Standing at the back of the bay, Aang scanned the grey morning waters for any sign of the approaching fleet. Seeing nothing but a solid layer of mist seeping in from the sea, he slumped down onto a rock to wait. Soon becoming aware of another approaching, he smiled as Katara walked over to sit on another of the low rocks. After a brief glance of acknowledgment, both turned to watch the mist creeping over the waves. Time slid by without much notice, until Katara finally broke the spell.
"So, I guess this is it, huh?"
"What?" Aang looked over at the Waterbender, noticing how, although proudly returning to her Water Tribe dress, she had yet to replace her hair loops this morning, leaving the dark brown waves to hang loosely across her shoulders and back. She really was beautiful, with her tanned skin constrasting perfectly with the blues of the cloth, but she was a fighter too, and after traveling across the world with her, he just wanted her to know--
"Aang, hello? Are you even listening?" Snapping back to reality, he thought briefly about lying, but knowing Katara she would call him on it anyway.
"Maybe." He felt a blush rising in his cheeks as he wondered if Katara had guessed he was staring. Again.
"I said, this is the Day of Black Sun, the event we've been working towards for most of Spring and on into Summer, and now it's here, and this could finally be the end." She smiled at Aang, "This could be the end of the war, Aang. If we defeat the Fire Nation here, we could end all this fighting, All the soldiers could go home to their families--"
"And Aang could work up the nerve to tell you he loves you." Both jumped at the sudden arrival of the Blind Bandit, a name she had taken to using once again in her frequent con games and pranks against Fire Nation citizenry. Katara recovered first, although she was distinctly red in the face as she rounded on the diminuitive girl.
"Toph! Wh-what are you talking about, is this another of your pranks?"
"Yeah, Toph! You're--you're just making stuff up to, uh, to mess with us, aren't you?"
Toph sighed in exasperation, before pointing to Katara, "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Sweetness, and you," She jabbed a finger into Aang's chest, "You're lying. I remember what you said back when I buried Sokka. You said you liked Katara, as in 'liked' her, remember?"
"I remember, and I didn't say anything! I just agreed with you!" Suddenly realizing what he had just said, Aang went as red as his Fire Nation headband, now being worn by the lemur chittering from his perch on Appa.
"Aaand my work here is done! See ya 'round, Twinkle-Toes!" With a cheshire grin, Toph stomped off towards their camp, leaving Katara and Aang to uncomfortably attempt to look at anything but each other, both failing spectacularly and resulting in twin blushes that would have sent the blind girl into gales of laughter had she seen.
"I--uh, I kind of--well, I mean--"
"Aang, I--I have to tell you...Toph, well she might, in this crazy, wierd roundabout way be kinda, umm, right?"
"What? I got lost at wierd."
Katara sighed and looked down to the sand, "Aang, I--spirits, why is this so hard? I've been all over the world with you, I've watched you grow as the Avatar and as a person, and--and somewhere along the way, I've realized that you're something really special, and--and I think I may be in love with you. No," She looked back up, icy blue meeting stormy grey, "I know I'm in love with you, and I know this is crazy and--and really forward but I just--"
"Katara, it's okay. I understand. I feel the same way. Now let's go eat breakfast, Ashani makes wonderful jook!" Rising from the rock, he leaned down and lightly kissed Katara's forehead before air-bending himself back to the campsite, leaving the dazed Waterbender still sitting on the rock. As she blinked slowly in the gathering light, Sokka could be heard yelling loudly across the bay.
"I'm telling you, my boomerang is gone! Just plain gone! I had it back in that port city, I remember because I was teasing Momo by playing 'fetch' with it, but I haven't seen it since then!" Sighing, Katara rose to return to camp to help look for the missing boomerang as Aang and Ashani both tried to calm the distraught warrior, and the mist continued to creep slowly inward.
"It was the doctor! He took it, I bet he was working for those Firebenders back in--"
"Sokka, what use would an old Fire Nation doctor have with a Water Tribe boomerang, assuming he ever saw it." Katara rejoined the campsite, frowning at her brother as he pawed through his bag once more. Finally hanging his head, Sokka just stared out to sea morosely, until his whole face lit up with sheer excitement.
"It's the fleet!" He proclaimed, pointing out into the misted waves. Aang and Katara exchanged a glance, before Katara moved up behind her brother, "Um, Sokka, that's just--"
Her next words were cut off, however, when faint outlines began emerging through the fading clouds, resolving into the shapes of Water Tribe schooners, with a very familiar Waterbending Master standing prominently on the deck of the lead ship.
"It's Pakku! And look, Dad's over on the other ship! Aang, come on, we need to get the ships organized so they can dock!" Glad to have her brother thinking of something besides the lost boomerang, Katara happily followed his lead as the kids began guiding the fleet entering the bay.
The invasion of the Fire Nation was about to begin.
"Alright girls, rise and shine! We have a big day today, and one of you is going to be leaving these accomodations very shortly." Azula's sharp voice roughly pulled Ty Lee from her dreamland escape, and she struggled to shake the sleep from her system as she heard Azula's footsteps stop in front of Suki's cell. The girl had slowly begun entering conversations between the girls, often offering some tale of the Avatar's adventures that Sokka had related to her, always ending the story with an emphatic statement about how Sokka was going to come here and bring the Avatar with him, and they were all going to leave and the war would be over. All three had quickly gotten over Ty Lee's announcement that she had been among the girls who had taken them prisoner--aided by Lihui's amused statement that if she was here as well, she couldn't be all bad--and Ty Lee was coming to need the conversations between "visits".
"So, does that mean you're killing one of us for fun, witch?" Suki's voice spat.
"No, it means that today is the date of the oft-mentioned Eclipse, when the Avatar and his friends will be foolishly attempting to storm the Fire Nation fortress and attack the Fire Lord."
"See, I told you Sokka would come." The smug tone in her voice was unmistakeable.
"Yes, about that. Unfortunately, your Water Tribe mate has run into some...trouble. I'm afraid he won't be coming. Ever."
"W-what?"
"You heard me. He's gone, dead, and this little invasion is going to end the way it should have back in Ba Sing Se."
"You're lying, why am I even listening to you?"
"Because I happen to have this."
"Wha--how did you--" Ty Lee wished she could see what was going on, but all she could do was listen helplessly as Suki's squeak passed between the cells.
"How did I get it? I've told you, girl, the idiot is dead and the Avatar will soon be joining him."
"I--I don't believe you! That's not his, you--you just stole a boomerang out of a museum! That's not Sokka's"
"Really? Well, why don't you make sure? I suppose I could allow you that much at least." There was a scraping sound, like metal on metal, and Ty Lee thought that whatever Azula had was being pushed through the bars.
"It's--this is--this is the chip, where he said he hit Zuko's helmet--this, no--this is impossible! He's not d-dead, do you hear me! I don't care what you s-say, Sokka's c-coming!"
"Oh, really? Are you sure? Because I think the only way your dear, stupid Sokka is going to come anywhere near this tower is as a ghost. Now, although it's very entertaining watching you shatter like cheap porcelain, I have other business here." Azula stood in front of Ty Lee's cell, her face a mask of delighted cruelty as two guards entered the cell and Ty Lee felt the pressure ease from her wrists. Coming down on her feet, her legs gave way and she immediately collapsed against one of the guards, who took the opportunity to bind her hands again behind her back.
"You know where to take her, and just remember--no marks. We need her presentable for tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to leave before I start smelling like this cess-pit." Following behind the Princess, the guards roughly dragged Ty Lee through the door, leaving it to slam with a ringing finality, as the sound of weak sobbing echoed through the corridor.
"Alright, everyone knows the plan, are there any questions?" Hakkoda's clear voice rang out over the assembled fighters in the bay, mostly members of either Pakku's star students or his own Water Tribe warriors mixed in with whatever allies he had been requested to pick up on the way here. Finding no complaints, he rolled up his maps and stepped down from the earthen podium, courtesy of Toph. As the men dispersed to talk amongst themselves, he approached his two children, who seemed to be in the middle of a heated disagreement about--well, with them it could be anything. Hakkoda sighed as he cleared his throat, startling them both and causing Katara to drop the bowl of food she had been probably preparing to throw at her brother.
"Oh, uh, hi Dad. Umm, I'll just go check on Appa!"
"Don't you mean Aang?" Sokka shot back, leaving Katara to throw up her hands in exasperation and storm off.
"Did I miss something just now?" Hakkoda nervously glanced between Katara's retreating back and Sokka's tired form, marvelling at how much both had changed in the intervening time they had been left at the South Pole.
"Nothing, Aang and Katara are just--Toph told me, practically begged me to ask. I'm sorry, Dad, I didn't mean to argue with Katara, especially considering what we're about to do."
Hakkoda leaned over, putting his hand on Sokka's shoulder, "Sokka, you and Katara are brother and sister, there's going to be...disagreements. Knowing your sister's temper, I'm surprised you aren't more cut up than you are--" Hakkoda's eyes narrowed as he scanned Sokka's upper arm--he had meant it figuratively, but standing out against the dark skin was a pale scar that looked all-too-familiar.
"Sokka, that's a sword wound on your shoulder, isn't it?"
Sokka's head snapped up, hand immediately going to the thin line before falling limply to his side. "Yeah, there was a Fire Nation soldier, I--I thought I could take him in a fight, but I was wrong. Katara saved me, if she hadn't healed me--" He trailed off, leaving the obvious conclusion hanging in the air.
"Sokka, it's okay, and no, you wouldn't have. Not from a wound like this." Looking into his son's eyes, Hakkoda suddenly realized what he wasn't being told, as Sokka shrugged off his shirt to reveal the thick, solid line across his chest.
"I was out for two days, Dad. That's what Katara told me, anyway. I--I know now what it is I have to lose, and it--I just wanted you to know that I finally understand what it is to really be a warrior. You can't be afraid--you have to look at the people you love and know that you could give everything for them, know that you would give everything to make sure they can keep going."
Hakkoda just continued staring into Sokka's eyes, seeing his youthful fire giving way to something ancient, something he dearly wished his son had never had to face. Gathering up the warrior in a crushing hug, he stared out at the water, painfully blue now that the unnatural mist had been dispelled.
"I'm proud of you, son. I just wish I could have spared you from this, and I hope you can forgive me for doing what I thought I had to."
Ashani watched the two embrace before hurriedly turning away, continuing her search for Aang. Finally finding him resting on top of Appa, she called up to him before throwing an apple into the saddle.
"Ow! Sokka, what was that--oh." Jumping down from Appa, Aang grinned at Ashani as he took a huge bite from the apple.
She sighed, deciding to get it out of the way quickly, "Avatar Aang, I have decided to join you in this battle." The thump of the apple hitting the ground was almost comical, but Aang's face had fallen into a mask of uncertainty.
"I--I don't know if that's a good idea. I mean, I know that you're an adult and everything, but what about Ling? What would he say if you got hurt, or-or--"
"I know the risks, Aang. And I know that I would rather die fighting for the future of my people than sit in safety as these other brave souls risked their own lives. I know what my husband would say, and he'd be right--I know that my abilities aren't suitable for battle yet--but I see no other way."
Aang closed his eyes for a moment, but when he returned her gaze, his face was serious, "I won't stop you, and although I would like for you to remain behind some kind of shield, I know that I can only trust you to know what's best for you."
"Thank you, Avatar Aang. I will keep your words in mind."
As Ashani walked away, Aang slumped against a rock with a pained expression. He hadn't wanted this, allowing a novice Airbender into a battle against the Fire Nation elite and maybe being responsible for her death! He sighed, only to jump as someone's hand came to rest on his shoulder.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." Katara's voice cut through his thoughts, and he gave the girl an honest smile as he turned to face her.
"So, this really is it, isn't it? I heard your dad talking, he said we've got an hour before we launch the ships for the capital."
"I know, and before we leave, I--" A deep blush colored her cheeks as she resolutely looked at Aang, "I thought we might, you know, talk?"
"I think I'd like that a lot."
So, Aang has finally told Katara, even though it took Toph to initiate the whole thing, but nevermind! So, what's going on with Ty Lee, what are the Wolves going to be doing during the eclipse, and what will happen now that Ashani is fighting? Stay tuned for my version of "The Invasion" and "The Eclipse" in the next chapter!