Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. :)
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Chapter 19: Azula's Prelude
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The attack was staged three days following the gathering.
Zuko wasn't nearly as prepared as he thought he was. He had plenty of people on duty, but they were all completely exhausted. His paranoia had kept them on their guard for every second of those three days.
Aang had patrolled the skies now and again, switching positions with Appa and two young men who rode him. Katara had tweaked her schedule to overlap with both groups of waterbenders (there had originally been one group, but it was split in half). Sokka basically oversaw everything and helped Zuko plan battle strategies and be even more prepared than the Fire Lord would have been otherwise. Toph did not have a substitute for her post (she stayed on the grounds constantly), and if she did not have such a blatant disregard for authority, she would have been completely exhausted. As it was, however, she was the most rested, for she had slept and ate whenever she pleased. This had been completely against Zuko's will, but of course, since when did she care what the Fire Lord wanted her to do?
Toph was the first one to notice that a large force was coming. Well, Appa was, actually, but his two riders did not heed his warning grunts and instead continued their particularly riveting game of "Would You Rather...?"
Toph felt the threateningly heavy vibrations and took off toward the palace. She made estimations in her head as she did so. A few hundred of them. Five? Six? And how far are they? Um... about... ugh, they're near the river... Katara's on duty. She'll hold them off long enough for the troops to get there...
Toph felt her foot hit stone and suddenly she fell into the doorway. A maid had opened it and awaited her speedy arrival.
"Are you okay, Miss?" the woman asked. She was small and young. Toph didn't think she was native to the Fire Nation.
"Just dandy," Toph snapped, panting. "Zuko's in his study, right?"
"Yes, Miss. Is something wrong?"
"Is something wrong?" Toph mocked. She took off and yelled over her shoulder, "Why heck yes, something's wrong! I don't go running around for no reason. We're under attack!"
The maid scurried off to warn whosoever crossed her path, and Toph continued her dash to the Fire Lord. Toward the middle of her journey she tripped, and it occurred to her that she could use a few earthbending techniques to get herself there without wasting her energy. She quickly earthbended herself there (leaving a very conspicuous trail of rubble and torn stone following her the whole way).
She burst through the door. Zuko and Sokka glanced toward the disturbance, curious glances looking her up and down, determining her state. Zuko's eyes disdainfully followed the trail she'd left behind her. "What is it? What's going on?"
"They're coming," she said simply.
Zuko sprang up, full understanding engulfing him immediately. "Now?"
"No, tomorrow afternoon. Of course now!" Toph snapped. "Go! Get a move on, already! They're at the river, so it won't be long before they get here."
Zuko hurried past her, stepping over her trail of rubble. Sokka moved to follow him, but as he passed her, some sort of impulse commanded her to grab his arm, to prolong his wait to battle. She had no choice but to obey. What am I doing? What am I supposed to say?
He turned to her. "What is it? Something wrong?"
Toph had no idea what to say, but the words came to her naturally and before she could comprehend a syllable of it, she began to speak. "I... do you really think you should go out there? In your condition and all?"
Sokka smiled at her uncharacteristic concern. "I'm fine, Toph. You know me."
She didn't want him leaving. He had left the first time, during the actual war - he had gone to fight, and she had not seen him until after the battle, when he was terribly wounded; he'd probably been the worst off in the bunch (no bending sure put a damper in a fight when bending prowess could be key). He was already is bad shape now; was she so sure he'd make it out alive this time?
"Something could happen," she managed to say. She didn't like the way she sounded. It was... weak, pleading. Everything she told herself she couldn't be. "You could... Sokka, you could die."
"I could have died last time, too," he pointed out, hoping that the earthbender in front of him wouldn't make him pay for such an unnecessary remark.
"You weren't in this state then. And you were almost killed! How the heck could you forget?"
"Ugh... I didn't forget, of course I didn't forget. Toph, what am I supposed to do? Just stand here while the rest of the palace is defending Zuko and defeating Azula? You know I want to be a part of that." He felt the understanding he wanted her to feel seep from his voice and wondered if it would have its desired effect.
She did know. She knew that he was never happier than when he was caught up in the heat of battle. She knew the same of herself as well; how would she feel if she were deprived of the opportunity to fight? It would kill her. She didn't want to do that to Sokka.
"Fine. Go out there and get yourself killed, Snoozles," she murmured, releasing her grasp and punching him in the arm in her less-than-gentle way. He winced. "Just be careful, okay?" Sokka searched for the humor in her voice, the joke in her words, but they were serious.
"No, I think I'll go out there and intentionally get myself burned to a crisp."
"Do it and see if I come running to save your sorry self," she responded, the usual humor returning to her voice and inflating her words.
Sokka grinned. Then, without warning, he swooped down and kissed her, just lightly on the lips. She felt her face heat up furiously as he drew back and grinned. "See ya after the battle. And I mean that."
He ran after Zuko just in time for the two young soldiers who had been riding Appa, along with an observer, to meet him. "Sorry, guys," Toph snapped irritably. "Someone was actually doing her job. You're all a little too late." She walked back down the hall, intentionally nudging each of them as she passed in a less-than-friendly way, though many times throughout her trek to the grounds her fingertips found their way to her lips, wondering where on Earth Sokka got the authority to do something like that and why hadn't he done it sooner.
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They were still at the river. Katara was doing a fabulous job of holding them off, but a few dozen were breaking through her barrier, and the numbers seemed to be multiplying. They would swarm the palace. Toph suddenly wondered where Zuko was. She didn't feel him out on the grounds - of course, their goal was to kill him and put Azula on the throne, so it would make plenty of sense for him to stay somewhere in the palace with plenty of guards keeping him out of harm's way.
They were through now, making their way to the palace. Toph already smelled smoke. The soldiers around the castle were standing firm, waiting, ready to defend their honor and their Fire Lord until their very last breath.
Toph found it all very unsettling.
This wasn't like the war. The tables had turned. During the final battle in the war, they had laid siege to the palace, and now they were defending it. Ozai had been the man to overthrow, and now it was Zuko. The war had been going on for decades upon decades, but this rebellion had been only four years running (at the most), as far as her knowledge went; the war had been built up, but this, this wasn't a final stand. This was a quick end to a spurt of rebelliousness. Also, many of the soldiers in Zuko's army were young and inexperienced because so many lives had been lost in the war and they had not been old enough to fight then, and Azula's army was made up of people who remembered the war all too well and did not favor the outcome.
She suddenly, and for the first time, questioned whether or not they would actually win this fight. It wasn't the most pleasant conundrum, but it was there, an ever-looming and omnipresent question that pressed against her consciousness. Can we really win?
She hoped so, and she would find out soon enough.
They had officially broken through Katara's defensive barrier. It was only a matter of time.
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