Katara stared at Aang in blatant shock, the medallion in her hand. Had he just…no way.
"Aang…I."
He looked at her nervously.
"I don't know." She said looking down. She could almost feel the drop in his mood from him.
"We just got together…and there is a battle starting, and I don't know." There was silence from him. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, knowing that he wouldn't take this well.
"I need time to think about this Aang." She said looking up to him. He was looking away from her. It was killing her inside. She wanted to marry him, but, she wasn't sure if she was ready for it, it seemed like such a big step, and everything in their lives weren't calm yet.
"The ships are here! Prepare for battle!" Hakoda yelled from his perch on the top of the tower. Aang leapt in the air, opened his glider and flew off without another word. Katara hoped she hadn't made a big mistake.
Aang flew into the cold air taking deep breaths. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He wanted to curl up into a ball and never be seen again. Why couldn't she answer? It was a yes or no answer, not metal bending. He took a deep breath and shoved it down. I needed to focus, find the flag ship, and take it down, it would be the heaviest guarded of the ships, and could end this battle before it got too bad. The dozens of ships below him was daunting, but he was high enough to avoid their notice. In the back of them all was something Aang had never seen. It was huge, like five of the ships put together, armed to the hilt. This was bad, very bad. He looped into the air getting height, this was going to get worse before it got better.
Katara joined Pakku over the wall. Her mind was still on Aang, he was nowhere to be found, but that didn't matter. The ships shooting balls of fire at them were the main concern. Some were exploding in midair though, due to Zuko and Iroh interrupting them. It was good to have fire benders on your side sometimes. She ran across the water as did her old master, she made the first move, cart wheeling forward, causing a blade of water to lift, shooting it forward at tremendous speed. It cleaved the ship in two, but the water bender had moved on, joining Pakku, who was running around a ship. She joined him, causing a maelstrom and then freezing it in place. This was just the beginning, and there were ships slipping past them, just too many for the two of them alone. The waiting troops could fight, and it looked like they would have too.
Iroh and Zuko had their hands full punishing the fireballs that were being launched there way, and Toph was looking anxious. "Where's the closest ship?" She asked. "About ten feet in front of us and about…"Zuko didn't finish his sentence as Toph leaped out of the balloon. Iroh blocked another fireball with a firebomb. Toph was insane, but it definitely made watching her a sight to see. If only he could see what she was going to do to ship, it would be entertaining. "Uncle, take out that trebuchet, I"ll defend you." Iroh drew lightning and launched it, causing the artillery to explode as Zuko redirected a fireball into another ship. This was worse then he had imagined. Something wasn't right, this was no rebellion, this was a plan.
Toph landed on the metal deck of the ship coating herself in metal quickly as fire met her entirety, she gave a strong kick to the largest object, hurling it backward. Several yells broke through making her smile beneath the armor.
"Direct hit." She said, thrusting her arm upward to create a metal shield before propelling it in a spiral which she turned to an orb, bowling over more enemies. She dashed forward slamming her fists down causing a tremor to open across the deck, the crew falling to the open deck below. Toph launched herself across, having a good idea of a use to make of this ship she had just commandeered. Hopefully Iroh would be back to pick her up, because this would be a bumpy ride.
Suki and Sokka were flying at a dramatic pace on Appa, the whistle on a rope around his neck. She leaped off onto a ship, stomping someone to the ground while he threw his boomerang, making an enemy drop his weapon. He caught it and rolled onto the ships surface, sword drawn. He fought his way through three men, hearing a scared yell of a man behind him, he turned to see Suki roundhouse kicking someone into the water. "Wow I love you." He said with a grin, running to the main deck, planning to take this ship by the helm then return to Appa. This was just like old time it seemed. First in the air, now in water. Some things never seemed to change.
Hakoda was at the tip of the wall, weapons drawn as the first ships reached the shore. They were greeted with fireballs, easily deflected with their shields. Soldiers poured from the ships in tens and twenties, and the water tribesman met their blades, fighting through them. It was no easy task, striking down man after man. It seemed as soon as one ship would empty another would dock.
"For our homeland!" Hakoda yelled, raging back into the throws of warfare, wanting only to see his children safe again.
Aang flew towards the flag ship, dodging fireballs as he went. He needed to shut it down. Quickly, the battle was already in full swing. When he got close enough to the ship Aang swung his foot, folding his glider and sliced it. His foot causing a stream of air to destroy a trebuchet, the blade of wind destroying another. At least fifty men filed on to meet him as he landed. Aang took a fighting stance before he heard laughter from the back. "How cliché, the avatar has returned to defend something, but it doesn't need to be defended." From the back ten people walked forward carrying water skins. "You…you are water benders…why are you attacking us?" He asked shocked, not dropping his stance. "This isn't about the South Pole you fool, this is about the Fire Nation. We want to capture the Fire Lord!" The leader said staring at Aang menacingly.
Sometimes it was nice to be blind Toph thought to herself, shooting shrapnel from the deck to launch it towards enemies. The cries that came told her she'd hit her mark. Not a pretty sight she was sure. Reaching the engine room of the first ship, using the vibrations of her footstep to find the wheel. She turned it hard, following the sound of attack. She would drive this ship into the others, just hopefully they would get her off this thing before her mission was complete. She grinned running out of the main deck, kicking an unconscious enemy into the air using metal bending, she did this again to a conscious one who yelled out.
"If this doesn't get their attention I don't know what will." She said to herself laughing as she sent another two into the air.
Iroh spotted the second body to fly through the air. "Nephew, I believe Toph is signaling us." Sure enough, a third body came flying through the air and an unarmored Toph was the reason for it. They lowered quickly, Iroh dispatching more balls of fire. She got in quickly, watching the ship slam into the others.
"Well done." Iroh said with an impressed voice.
"Well, ya know." She said grinning.
"Uncle, we need to head back, too many are ahead of us." He nodded, Iroh taking the other side as Zuko changed directions. Iroh took the offensive, raining fire down onto the ships that had slipped by. This was not good, the rebellion was bigger then they had thought. It seemed like this was much more then a simple rebellion, but what could it be?
Suki turned the gears up to max as Sokka got slammed through the door. "Suki, hurry up, there's too many of them." He said as his sword met another before he dropped it on the back of his head, the man crumpling to the ground. She turned the wheel as hard as she could.
"Okay, let's go." She said, throwing her folded fan as a projectile, catching a soldier in the temple making him drop. Sokka was blowing the bison's whistle as Suki caught up to him, grabbing her fan. "I'm sure Toph is done by now, we need to meet my dad back at the shore." He told Suki. She kissed him swiftly as they headed towards the buffalo.
Aang stared at all the troops around him. "Why? You have been fighting a war, and you want to start another?" He said crying out. The leader stepped forward. He had a small tuft of hair on his chin. "We aren't starting a war." He said looking around. "We are going to capture the Fire Nation and make sure it never happens again!" He said angrily, the boat shifting beneath them.
"This upsets the balance. I will have to stop you. Please, just call off the attack now and leave, we can forget all about this."
The man wasn't hearing it, he shook his head at Aang. "Sorry Avatar, we are going through with our plan, and unlike Ozai, there are more of us and we aren't so cocky." He said, the entire group casting out water at the Avatar.