Because Eira really doesn't have much to do on her own and I don't want to cut to what the others are doing due to it being almost exactly the same, I've combined the last two episodes into one chapter.

Also known as my last chapter in this book.
Because of how often I post these, can you please comment whether or not you want me to continue with this series? I'm getting a bit unsure.

Either way, please enjoy the chapter. Thank you to those who left comments and followed/favourited.

Chapter 17- Everything is Okay

Back up in the throne room were a hastily gathered collection of generals. Not all of the five were there but there were some other advisors as well. And Eira. She had never quite felt more out of place than right there as the smallest by far, the only female, and with her lighter hair. She stood out like a sore thumb.

The king was sat on his throne and stared at the line of people in front of him.

"I'm sure you're all aware that the Fire Nation has made its third attempt at getting into my city. And this time, they managed it. The princess of the Fire Nation and two others, disguised as trustworthy warriors, were allowed into this throne room." He gestured at the grandeur of the room. Gold embellishments all over.

He rested a hand on Bosco's head. "But we managed to stop them. We have them arrested and in cells in the palace. The next step will be crucial. We can't stand idle."

General How stood up straighter next to Eira.

"Your Majesty, I believe that we have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity. We could use the princess to negotiate some sort of surrender or removal of the Fire Nation from the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Lord will likely not want to see his daughter in harm," he said.

"We could use this to distract the Fire Nation just before we start our invasion plan," another general added. "They would be too busy focussing on the princess to have any preparation for the invasion."

"Or this would raise their defences. Or lead them to mount a rescue mission." The general furthest away from Eira noted. He wore quite rich clothing and his greying hair was long. "In an exchange, they could attack us, take the princess back, and bring down the Earth Kingdom entirely."

They debated loudly about all of the pros and cons of a negotiation and Eira felt dumbstruck. It still hadn't caught up with her what she had done.

Azula, who would find out about the invasion plan and cause it to fail, didn't. Because of Eira, she was arrested. It was unbelievable. But like with most things Eira did, she had no idea what to do next. Logically, it would be best to use her as a bargaining chip to keep the Fire Nation at bay while they plan the invasion. But that was a best case scenario. In reality, despite everything, the Fire Lord would prefer to give up Azula before losing any land or soldier in the war. True, Azula was his heir and as ruthless and power hungry as he would need but the Fire Lord clearly didn't care about his family. Not enough for this to work.

"Your Majesty, the Fire Lord is ruthless. I don't think he would stop his attacking just because we have his daughter," Eira said sadly. "But, I still think it would be best to inform the Fire Nation we have their princess. It would cause chaos in the public and the Fire Lord. People would see it as the Fire nation being weaker and it would leave them with no choice but to try and get her back."

The generals burst out in outcry. "But then they would attack us!"

"They're already trying," Eira reminded them. "And it could take troops away from the main island of the Fire Nation, leaving them more open for the invasion."

The king looked thoughtful as he considered everyone's opinions. Bosco raised his head to stare him from beside his throne.

"We will send a message to the Fire Nation, informing them of their princess' capture. We will wait for a response and decide what to do next based on what they do. If they attack, we prepare our defences. If they want negotiation, we send diplomats and prepare the invasion plan depending on those," he said. "In the meantime, I want increased guards in the prison. We need to keep them here while we prepare."

The generals and advisors bowed and Eira followed their example, if a bit slowly. She never knew when to do the whole 'bowing' and 'respectful gesture' thing.

"You are dismissed."

With that everyone left but this time when Eira went back to the house, she didn't go to sleep. She wished she had someone to talk to about this. When will Toph get back from creating metalbending? Or Katara and Sokka from seeing their dad? Aang would… Eira didn't know whether or not Aang would come back. She didn't know what was going to happen with him if he let go of all of his attachments. It just wouldn't be Aang.

The invasion plan would be decided on the next day. She would try and help out when possible but… Gah! Everything was so confusing and she was alone so she couldn't even talk with anyone!

o.O.o

"General Fong's base will serve as the launching point for the attack," General How instructed as with his earthbending he moved the pieces around the map. "In exactly two months, the army and navy will invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun."

"And what about the Northern Water Tribe?" Eira asked. "Are you sure we couldn't get any reinforcements from there?"

General How scratched his beard. "Two months should be enough to call in some help, but I heard that their navy was in some state of disrepair. The chief wasn't sure if he could send much help since we contacted him last, especially considering a large portion of his boats are being used to commute between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes so they can help revive the South."

"Ah, okay," Eira said, disappointed. Having more ships would help. Especially considering the Fire Nation had a far more advanced navy and army.

"All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan," he explained, sending the scroll the secretary had been writing across the table to Eira.

"I'll get this to the Earth King right away. Thank you, General How," Eira said respectfully. She didn't bow and for a second she was worried that she was supposed to, but hopefully everyone would understand how clearly foreign she was. With that, she left the war room.

Eira walked through the palace, the scroll held tight in her hand. Every time she thought about her situation it felt more surreal.

The king and some of his advisors were sending a letter to the Fire Nation because they had Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai in prison. Because of what Eira did. Eira was almost feeling giddy. It was just so insane. The last time she had felt like this was when she first got sent to the Southern Water Tribe. Except that was clearly a lot more disorienting and negative.

Eira walked over to the throne room with light steps, spending as little time as she could connecting with the ground. Noting it, she swore some sort of vengeance on the Dai Li. Long Feng being arrested wasn't enough. She needed to try and convince the king to disband it all together. It was just too corrupt, and evil, and powerful, and pointless!

Sighing, Eira shook her head. She knew that was an impossible dream. Avatar Kyoshi herself founded it and even after what happened the king felt like they were protecting him.

Eira knocked on the large door which they'd just put back up. Eira smiled. She could still see the cracks in the door frame where Toph blew it down.

The door opened slowly as the guards either side of it pulled both of the sides and Eira couldn't help but smile a bit. The size of the doors and how they were opening for her made her feel as if she was in a film or something.

You are in a TV show, she reminded herself.

Eira walked in and looked to the throne in front of her. The king wasn't there.

"Uh, where is the Earth King?" Eira asked.

"He's in the side room over there," the guard answered, pointing to a door on the right of the throne. "He's consulting his advisors. What is your business with the Earth King?"

Eira raised the scroll awkwardly.

"I've got the battle plans for the invasion. It needs the Earth King's seal," Eira explained. The guard nodded.

"Very well."

Taking that as approval, Eira walked hastily to the side door and knocked on it. It opened swiftly and Eira found herself facing a dark room with a centre table. The Earth King and about five other men surrounded it and were talking at a rapid pace.

"Um, excuse me?" she said, knocking on the side of the door. "I have the invasion plans from the Council of Five and they need the Earth King's seal."

"Of course," the Earth King said happily. Eira passed the scroll across the table and waited as her read through it. Luckily, it wasn't a long scroll or it would be awkward, especially with the staring of his advisers. Eira still wasn't getting used to the stares that almost everyone in the city gave her.

Eira stood in the doorway as the scroll passed through the advisers' hands and each one read it before it was passed back to the Earth King and he signed it.

"That should be fine," he said. "And with this letter," he added, holding up the scroll they'd been writing, "we have all we need. The Fire Nation will fall by the end of the eclipse and the war will be over."

They gave a cheer and Eira smiled. She was actually getting hopeful.

"So, what have you decided on?" Eira asked.

"I'm glad you asked," an adviser spoke up. He was quite elderly, with long grey hair in a half-bun style. He wore very extravagant gold and green robes and a suitably smug-ish look on his face. "We've agreed to send out a collection of identical letters addressed to the Fire Nation public. This should turn their people into enough of a panic to alert the Fire Lord into action. He will try and negotiate the princess' return as well as the other two and we'll use that to force the Fire Nation out of the Earth Kingdom. This will weaken the morale of the Fire Nation, just in time for the invasion plan."

"Sounds good," Eira said. Almost too good. There's no way it'll turn out that perfect. "Thank you."

Eira left the room, again not sure about the proper formalities, and as she left the room, she found herself staring at the other door near the throne.

Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai. She wondered how Azula would react to the news that her failure to invade Ba Sing Se would be sent back to the Fire Nation as well as using it as a way to weaken them. Knowing her reaction to failure and humiliation, it probably wouldn't turn out very well. And it worried her. Azula's mental health wasn't in a good state, especially by the end of the show, but she was only 14. A year younger than her. Eira hoped the information would never reach her, for everyone's sake.

o.O.o

The rest of the day was boring, to say the least. Eira didn't want to go out into Ba Sing Se, and she didn't want to stay in the empty house with nothing to do. At home, she had no problem with staying in her room, but then she had a laptop, or her phone, or a couple of good books. Here she had nothing and boredom wasn't kind to her mind after what she had been through. Her paranoia was through the roof.

This left her only with the option of going out. Hopefully, Ba Sing Se was a bit kinder at night.

The city, as lovely and rich as usual, was bustling with people. It was some sort of market day, where some merchants from the Middle Ring were allowed to go up to the Upper Ring to sell. A lot took the opportunity to try and impress the people enough they could get moved up.

Eira bought herself some more of the dye Katara found to dye her hair. If things didn't change she'd probably need to dye it again for when they went to the Fire Nation. This along with some food allowed her to visit quite a few shops. She felt ten times better buying things from the shops than the actual shops in the Upper Ring. She didn't feel like she was contributing to the problem as much.

She went back to the palace as well, to keep check on the progress and it was going smoothly.

The letter had been replicated and sent by bird s to the Fire Nation. It was the fastest way they could get a message across so it would only take a day for a response. Then they'd see how the Fire Nation would react.

Everything was working according to plan, which only meant one thing. Something had to go wrong.

Eira walked down to the cells where Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai were being held, just to check if they'd heard anything, but then she heard their voices.

"Your brother and uncle have been moved to the Upper Ring. The Earth King hasn't released any information to the public so it appears that they know nothing of your situation," a male voice informed calmly.

"So, Zuzu and my doddering uncle are in the Upper Ring. How good for them," Azula's voice responded. It sounded surprisingly shaky, especially when she stressed the word "good". It wasn't a nervous, or sentimental voice, it was angry. Eira had never heard her voice like that. It was like she was trying to keep her composure but allowing the anger to show anyway. That wasn't a good sign at all. "And what about the Avatar? Is he back yet?"

"No," the man responded. Eira guessed he was from the Dai Li. It was always the Dai Li. No one else would be able to get the information to prisoners. "Only the airbender is still in the city."

"Yes. Her," she said, clipping her words. Eira stepped back up the stairs, holding a hand to her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound, giving away her position. Azula terrified her. She was so unstably powerful and she knew it. Even when having a mental breakdown, she could produce lightning. Eira didn't even compare to her. Eira knew if they were in a one-on-one fight Azula would trample her and as she was the reason she was in this situation and her plan failed, Eira couldn't help but picture the charred person she'd be afterwards.

I need to tell the Earth King, Eira thought. He needs to get rid of the Dai Li immediately. Eira took another careful step back, but as her foot touched the stone step a sharp sound echoed through the room and the voices stopped.

I need to get out! Eira thought in a panic, turning and running. The feeling of dread was all too familiar. Eira sprinted up the stairs but her foot slipped as the stairs suddenly sloped, sending her flying back down to see Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai all out of their cells along with three Dai Li agents.

"This is my lucky day," Azula said, smiling evilly. "Let's get rid of a few loose ends, shall we?" Eira felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck before everything went black.

o.O.o

Eira woke up groggily with her neck aching with no idea where she was. It felt unfair. Again!?

Looking around, she was underground, in a cavern with glowing crystals jutting out of the walls and the floor. Everything was dark, but thankfully the crystals shone like in the labyrinth so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. The floors and walls of the cavern were all uneven and rough, and from the look of it, there was no way out.

Eira jumped up and cursed. Her eyes were wide in fear as she looked desperately for anything she could leave out of but there was nothing but rocks, crystals, and dark tunnels that she was never going to even try.

"No, no, no, no, no!" she shouted angrily. Not again! Not again! Why did she always end up like this!? Taking the place of anyone whenever they were captured!

It was stupid. Why was she so stupid! She couldn't leave anything or anyone alone, could she?!

Nothing could change either. Jet still died, and Azula still got into Ba Sing Se.

If Eira ever got out she would force the Earth King to disband the Dai Li with any force necessary.

Eira punched air at the rocky walls in frustration. Nothing happened. Eira punched and kicked and airbent at the wall with all of her strength but nothing did anything. Why did she even get airbending? What she would give to have been an earthbender. It was so much more useful when it came to anything.

They could build things, take them down, move fast on land, and throw rocks. Offensively, airbending only worked on humans and that wasn't something Eira liked the idea of, especially considering how she apparently attacked Katara, Toph, and Sokka.

It was just so- GAH!

Eira kicked at the rock again, making physical contact with her foot and she shouted in pain, clutching it.

Right, so she needed to calm down. But she was underground. Again. That wasn't making it easy.

Eira sat down grumpily on the cavern floor and rested her head of her fist, focusing on her breathing so it would slow down from its rapid pace.

Taking deep breaths, she centered herself and drifted off into meditation, like some of her training sessions with Aang.

While Aang was supposed to be the student, learning his waterbending and earthbending from Katara and Toph, he was also a very good teacher. He took teaching from many different angles, so if something didn't work he moved onto a different tactic. If it wasn't for Eira's stubborn refusal to take it too seriously she might even become a master by the end of her journey.

Her mind wandering off towards Aang she went back to worrying. She wanted to know what would happen if he did let go.

Eira closed her eyes, thinking, and she started to see purple lights shining around in her non-vision. It was glittery and very beautiful, like pictures of the universe you'd see, but it was burry and not in any sort of focus. She could almost see a path of white, like the Milky Way, and she felt almost extraordinarily light and dizzy. Maybe the air in the cavern was getting a little thin.

Let them go…

A dot of blue light shone on the path and Eira strained to focus on it. This felt very familiar.

"But, what about Katara?"

"Aang?"

"Eira?"

Everything went into focus, suddenly zooming in on the dot of blue light and Aang's face filled her vision with intense clarity, giving Eira a splitting headache.

"Gah," she gasped.

"Eira! Are you okay?"

"I'm-!"

The headache expanded like an explosion in her brain and Eira snapped open her eyes, breathing heavily and a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. It was like she was just wrapped in a lead straightjacket. The lightness had completely left.

"Was that-" Eira began, blinking rapidly. "Did I just spirit travel?"

It was ridiculous. Impossible, but… she was an airbender. Aang's lessons often focused on spirituality.

It opened up a lot of questions. Maybe it meant that she could-

"You've got company." It was a Dai Li agent. Light spilled into the cavern as a small tunnel on a slope had opened. A body tumbled down but Eira didn't register who it was.

She sped towards the agent and jumped up at the tunnel but it shut before she could make it. She collided hard with the jagged cavern. A large cluster of crystal spikes dug into her clothes and skin as she fell down and she shouted in pain before rolling down where the other body had landed.

"Dammit."

She looked down to her side and saw that it was Zuko. He was wearing Earth Kingdom clothes, his hair was longer, and he looked a lot thinner, but it was him. Just like how he was when Eira met him in the tea shop.

"This is just great," she muttered. Eira knelt by him and tried pulling him up by his arm but he lashed out with fire. Eira rolled away quickly from the flash of heat and stood up, dust coating her clothes.

"What was that for?" she shouted. "I was trying to help you up, idiot."

Zuko glared at her, but his expression died quickly.

"…I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Eira stared at him in silence, brushing off her clothes, before she covered her face with her hands in frustration.

"This is just great," she repeated. "How did you get caught?"

Zuko didn't say anything, he just looked at the ground.

"Was it Azula or the Dai Li?" Eira asked persistently. "Were you with your uncle, or not?" Then she remembered. "Oh no, you didn't even try and rescue Appa so you're probably still hunting Aang, and then you'll go back to the Fire Nation and won't be around to teach him."

"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked, getting to his feet.

"I need to know whether or not you'd choose to be with your uncle, or Azula. I need that to decide whether or not to trust you so we can get out," Eira explained.

He looked a little dumbstruck by the question, Eira didn't really blame him, but at least he didn't look angry.

"I still don't know what you mean," he said.

"Given the choice would you live a good life with your uncle, here, or go back to the Fire Nation with your sister leaving him to be captured?" Eira folded her arms. "I need to know that before anything happens."

"How do you know about my uncle? Or Azula?" he demanded.

"I know a lot of things, especially about people," Eira said cryptically. It was one of the moments where letting them know you knew more than them really worked out. "Now, can you answer the question?"

Zuko looked like he couldn't. Eira tried to analyse his expression. It was obvious he had changed from their first meeting, but she wasn't sure if it was enough.

"I-"he started, fumbling for his words. "I don't know."

Eira's expression softened slightly and she unfolded her arms. She sighed.

"Well, at least you didn't outright go with Azula," she said. "If you did, well, we'd have a problem." Eira looked around at the cavern. There was still no way out, not even where that Dai Li agent had come in from. "Can you tell me how you came down here? I'll tell you my story as well if you do."

"Azula tricked my uncle into the palace," he explained shortly. "My uncle got away but I chased after her."

"You're not as stupid as me, count yourself lucky," Eira reassured him quickly. "I wanted to see if Azula had found out about the demand the Earth King had sent to the Fire Nation so I went to see her cell but I accidently overheard her-"

"Cell?!"

Eira looked at Zuko in shock. Of course he wouldn't know. "Yeah… Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai tried to sneak into Ba Sing Se as Kyoshi Warriors and I told the Earth King. We were going to use them as a way to force the Fire Nation out of the Earth Kingdom. Azula is your sister, and a princess so we thought we could use her."

Zuko looked stunned.

"No wonder she was so angry," he eventually said. "But you… I saw you in the Middle Ring. You knew… You knew about me! How about a Fire Nation prince and princess for your ransom?!"

"Because it's you and your uncle running a tea shop for goodness sake! You were no threat. Your uncle certainly wasn't going to do anything. I could also say the same thing to you. A common assumption would be that where I was, Aang would be. You could've tried something, but you didn't," Eira said. "If you were the same as you were before the Northern Water Tribe siege, I probably would've handed you in. But you're not. I know what you've been through and I know how it can change you."

Zuko touched his face, thinking deeply.

"I can't change. I am marked," he said. "Marked with the destiny to chase the Avatar and this scar is proof. But, I want to be free to change. To choose my own destiny."

"You already are free to choose. No matter the situation, most people have a choice. Sometimes you're thrown into situations you don't want to be in, but you choose what to do with it. For example, I got thrown into the South Pole and I decided to help Aang on his journey," Eira said.

Zuko looked worried, hand still on his face.

Eira stared, thinking.

"You could get it healed," she commented. "Katara's a pretty good healer. She helped me after Azula got me last time."

"Scars don't heal."

Eira placed a hand on her forearm. Yeah, he was right. Katara couldn't get rid of the scars Zuko and Zhao gave her. Zuko's only option would be…

"She has some spirit water," Eira offered. "If you really want to get rid of it and turn over a new leaf, I'm sure we could help you. In fact…" Eira paused. "Aang will need to learn firebending, and for obvious reasons we can't find one easily. If you want, you could-"

Eira stopped as she heard the tunnelling noise and she held out her hands in an offensive pose in the direction of the sound. The cavern wall opened up and she was prepared to strike, but she dropped it as she saw who it was.

"Aang? Iroh? Katara?!" she said in shock. How could they be there so quickly? But there they were, the three of them standing in the opening of a tunnel. Iroh was wearing Upper Ring robes and looked maybe a bit slimmer but overall the same as the few times she'd seen him.

Iroh gave his nephew a big hug but Zuko glared at him. Katara and Aang looked suspicious of Zuko but ran over to hug Eira.

"Uncle, what are you doing here with the Avatar?"

"Saving you, that's what," Aang answered, annoyed at his lack of gratitude. Zuko took a step towards him but Iroh held out his arm to block him.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," he said softly.

"Hold on," Eira said quickly. "How did you get here so fast? It's only been about five minutes. Did that spirit communication thing work or was that just my imagination?"

Aang scratched his head. "I did see you, and it kind of linked me to what happened, but that was hours ago."

"It took a while for all of us to get back," Katara added.

Then the spirit thing must've taken longer than I first thought, Eira thought. It did sort of make sense that her perception of time to be messed up during the communication if it gave her a headache that big.

"Anyway, thanks for coming. I knew the king shouldn't have trusted the Dai Li. There was a reason Long Feng was using them in the first place," Eira said.

"Now you should go back and help your friends," Iroh instructed before turning back to Zuko. "We'll catch up with you."

Zuko looked confused as he faced his uncle.

"Why, Uncle?"

Iroh looked at him seriously. "You're not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good."

Zuko turned towards Eira and they made eye contact before the crystals at Iroh's feet erupted upwards, trapping him.

Zuko yelled and took on an offensive stance. Eira scanned the area and saw Azula with two Dai Li agents. Eira felt a spike of fear and Aang and Katara quickly dragged her off, avoiding Azula's attention and heading further into the catacombs.

Their sneaking turned into a sprint as they got closer and closer.

"We need to find Sokka and Toph," Katara said as they ran.

"Aang, watch out!" Eira said quickly as a flash of blue lit up in the corner of her eye.

He raised an earth wall quickly and it exploded into dust from the impact. Eira waved her hand and the dust flew over to Azula. It was her intention to make it harder for her to aim but the dust lit up a brilliant blue as the lightning passed through it.

Katara threw her water into the air before them and it vaporised, absorbing the lightning. Azula jumped out of the mist, two shots of blue fire streaming out of her hands. Katara and Aang waterbent at the fire and Eira airbent at Azula's legs, trying to make her lose balance. Azula leapt off the crystal before she did and moved to a rock pillar, trying to maintain the high ground.

Aang threw his hands sideways and the pillar slid in the same direction, crumbling as it did. Azula gasped and landed cleanly on her feet between the three of them. She raised her hands in preparation but a shot of orange fire interrupted her.

Zuko ran up in an offensive stance and Eira felt relieved. Four on one wasn't good odds even for Azula.

Zuko aimed carefully but then Azula smiled.

"Aang!" Eira sent a gale of air towards Zuko as he aimed the fire blast at Aang. It dissipated in the wind and Eira scowled.

Azula and Katara were caught up in an intense duel, water and ice against fire and lightning but Eira couldn't keep an eye on it.

She and Aang fought off Zuko's flurry of fire blasts with their airbending, jumping away to avoid them. How DARE he?! Attacking Aang even after everything she said! She was starting to sympathise with Katara's hatred of him in season 3.

Aang sent a large gust at him, knocking him down and Eira stood firmly, lowering her hands. The air pressure rose around him, keeping him down, before she kicked air at him. Zuko flew backwards.

He rolled but quickly got to his feet. He darted at Aang, who was standing near the rock pillar and sent more and more fire at him. He jumped over Eira's attacks and Aang jumped towards a cluster of crystals to avoid them.

Zuko roared, furious, and summoned a greater blast of fire towards Aang. Aang threw his hands up and the crystals rose up to protect him but they shattered with the force. Aang flew into another cluster and gasped with the impact.

"Zuko!" Eira shouted, trying to attack him but he was dodging everything, focused on Aang. He summoned large whips of fire and Aang was almost climbing the ceiling to avoid them.

Eira spread her arms out, making the air thin, and Zuko staggered, dizzy, but kicked fire at her.

Eira jumped out of the way, towards Katara, who has caught Azula's leg with her water tentacle trick but the water evaporated with one of Zuko's fire blasts.

Eira sent him a nasty look. "I thought you wanted to change."

"I have changed," Zuko answered, shooting another blast at her. Katara parried with a water whip to stop him from advancing.

Eira breathed heavily. Nothing she did ever did something good!

Katara and Eira went on the offensive, forcing Zuko to run to avoid their attacks. Katara after whips at him and her ducked right into Eira's airbending. He fell back but Azula jumped over him, sending a wave of blue fire towards them.

Eira grabbed Katara's arm and with her airbending, they both jumped up, avoiding it. Katara slashed at Azula and Zuko as Eira buffeted them with air.

Azula's hands sparked with energy as she summoned lightning. It shot out at Katara and she screamed, as it hit the water near her hands, electrocuting her.

"Katara!"

She didn't faint and it didn't look like she was hurt too bad but she was still dazed.

Azula rushed over to Eira and jabbed at her with fire. Eira ducked and dodged but Azula was too fast. She struck Eira with fire and it grazed her arm, burning through her clothes.

"Ah!" Eira jumped back, clutching her arm.

Azula smiled sinisterly and Eira felt her entire body go cold. There was an insane look in Azula's eyes and Eira knew too well that insanity didn't look too good on Azula.

Aang noticed them and surfed down towards them, riding a slide of earth. He prepared an attack but the earth beneath him disappeared quickly and Eira remembered about the Dai Li agents.

Aang was knocked down and he tumbled down onto the rocky floor. Katara turned to look, looking worried and tired. All of them had injuries, Eira and Katara's hair had been knocked out of their styles and were hanging down in front of their faces. Their clothes were burnt and torn at the ends.

It was hopeless, and of course more Dai Li agents had to flood in.

Eira sent Katara a scared look but she looked determined and Eira wasn't going to let her down. Katara summoned the water up around her in the octopus formation and Eira held out her hands offensively. They couldn't let things end there. Eira was going to try and make up for her mistakes.

Eira tried to mimic Katara's movements and tendrils of air spiralled downwards before being sent straight for Azula and Zuko.

The two siblings sprinted out of the way and Eira twisted the air to follow them but her attack dissipated as she had to avoid a blast of fire. Katara's octopus lashed out and it burst into a cloud of steam. She shot the tentacles towards the Dai Li agents.

Eira's senses were going on overdrive as she avoided the flying rocks and fire, trying her best to attack herself. She stole a glance towards Aang and she gasped as all she saw was a collection of crystals encasing him like a cocoon.

"Aang!" she shouted. "Don't!"

A sharp rock hit her in the gut and she fell to the floor, kicking at the Dai Li agent and sending them flying and agents the wall.

It was too late. The crystal cocoon grew, spikes jutting out of it, inside there was a flash of white light, and everything shattered. Aang rose out of the crystals, eyes glowing, and he radiated power.

Katara's eyes lit up with hope and just as Aang raised his arm, Eira froze.

Katara screamed, everything was going in slow motion. The blue lightning arched through the air and struck Aang. His body writhed with electricity and the light in his eyes died.

Aang fell down and Eira dived to catch him, jumping up to him with her airbending. Tears streamed down Katara's face and the water she was controlling exploded outwards in a massive wave.

She ran over to Eira, who was carrying the lifeless body of Aang. Eira's eyes were glassy and as wide as dinner plates. He was getting colder.

Eira held Aang close to her protectively and Katara stood next to her. They both faced Azula and Zuko. Azula was looking happy and Eira just wanted to disappear. Her heart was beating too fast and every muscle screamed at her to stop.

Zuko and Azula both entered firebending stances and Eira closed her eyes hard as the orange and blue streams were sent towards them.

But nothing happened.

Eira opened her eyes in shock and gasped as she saw Iroh standing in front of her, protecting her, Aang, and Katara.

"You've got to get out of here!" he ordered. "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

Eira didn't even think of refusing. She and Katara ran off as fast as they could while carrying Aang.

They approached the small waterfall and Katara swiftly pulled them all up with her water bending. The rode upwards like salmon and Eira was doing her best not to drop Aang.

They ran through the dark tunnel above, Katara still using her waterbending to help them up and they were finally outside.

Eira took quick breaths as her eyes adjusted to the light. She was shaking with adrenaline and if she didn't stop soon she was going to faint.

"W-Where can we… go?" she asked haltingly. It was nightmarish. People in Ba Sing Se were screaming and running all around them. The noise was almost too much.

"I-I…" Katara was still crying. She looked exhausted, mentally, physically, and emotionally. They both had no idea what to do next.

"Katara! Katara!" A loud voice cut through the rest of the noise and Katara looked up.

"Sokka!" she shouted back.

Appa dived towards them. Sokka was at the reigns, with Toph, Bocso and the Earth King on the saddle. They all looked worn, but nowhere near as bad as Eira felt.

Eira and Katara wearily climbed onto Appa. Eira hauled Aang onto the saddle and collapsed, unable to even sit up.

Appa set off immediately, not waiting a second.

No one said a word. Aang's body and their condition was all they needed.

Katara, who had stopped crying, pulled out her vial of spirit water and as the sun set, she healed Aang. The water glowed as she pressed it against his wound on Aang's back. His tattoos lit up with the spiritual energy. No one spoke as the glow eventually faded.

Aang gave a small gasp and he began breathing again.

Katara smiled a little, and held Aang close to her in a hug. Toph breathed deeply in relief.

Eira and Kuei looked back at Ba Sing Se. The walls that had protected it were completely crumbled, nothing but debris.

"The Earth Kingdom…has fallen," Kuei said, the last light of innocence and hope in his eyes dead.

And then Eira began to cry. What did she even do?

Get ready for the guilt complex :D

Now, I wonder what's going to happen with the Fire Nation?