A/N – This will be kind of a long Author's note, but I wanted to address why they keep sparing Zhao, since it is the biggest question I think a lot of my readers have. Here's an explanation I gave to one reviewer, so I just decided to put it up for all of you to see:
Aang and Katara didn't lose so much as just hold him off until they could get out of there (At Kyoshi Island). The reason at that they didn't kill him weren't explicitly stated, but there are a few reasons for it. If they had killed Zhao there, the Fire Nation would know something was up, and would commit more resources to hunting down the Avatar, especially if he didn't hold back and use all four elements in his fight, I don't think Azula is what the group needs right now, haha. Secondly, Aang still has his strict 'no-killing' policy from the cartoon series, so everyone abides by that, hence why Katara had to remind Sokka not to kill anyone on Zuko's ship, and a few other examples later on.
Would it have been helpful to kill Zhao and defeat his men there? Yes, they could have done it, and it would have been very helpful in the short term, but in the long term, it probably wouldn't assist them in the slightest, and probably would hinder them more than help them. Right now, Zhao is a pest, and at this point a necessary evil to keep alive so the rest of the Fire Nation thinks that he'll handle the Avatar.
Chapter six
Zhao sat still, drinking the wine that was provided for him and his men, though he had his reserves about drinking too much, that soon crumbled away as the night wore on. Soon, he was having a great time, drinking with the men in there. However, it came to a screeching halt when the door opened and a young man came over to Zhao, and took him aside.
They found a corner in the cafeteria building, staying out of hearing range of everyone else. Zhao looked down at the man, annoyed, "What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to unwind here?"
"I thought you should know, Zuko and Iroh came by about an hour ago, I was curious to see if they were here or not."
"Iroh?" Zhao asked, even though his somewhat hazy mind he could comprehend that much, "What are they doing here?"
"They came with two Water Tribe kids; they said that the two traveled with the Avatar."
"Huh?" Zhao mumbled trying to remember them, "The Waterbending girl, and the one who uses the sword?"
"They said that she couldn't Waterbend," The soldier replied off-handedly, "So they haven't come yet? Huh, they said they wanted to surprise you."
Zhao knew something was wrong; he reached out and gripped the soldier's shoulder hard, "I know she is a Waterbender, if it's the same girl I am thinking of." His mind worked in overdrive to try figure out why Zuko and Iroh would do that, "Raise the alarm." He finally decided, "I will go look for them myself."
"Raise the alarm, sir?" The soldier asked, clearly confused.
"Are you refusing to do a direct order?" Zhao turned back on him threateningly.
"N- No!" He turned around and rushed out of the building. Zhao still was confused, and he cursed himself for drinking even a little bit. Thankfully the buzz was quite small, and his motor skills wouldn't be too noticeably impaired, if at all.
"Men, get out there and look for general Iroh!" He yelled, startling the entire room quiet, "Something is wrong. Get going now!" he shouted again, and the men did as they were asked.
The leader of the camp came up to Zhao, "What is the meaning of this Zhao? Do you think you can run this camp better than I?"
"Get out there Hong, or I will not hesitate to kill you where you stand."
There was a long tension between them before, Hong did as he was asked, and went outside to raise the alarm. Zhao didn't wait much longer before he got there too.
Katara and Suki were silently taking out each person they had come across with ease. Every other torch they would snuff out so they could hide in the darkness, leaving a few lit so the wall wouldn't be suspiciously dark. They had decided to stick together even if they could cover more ground apart, because it meant they had each other's back. Katara walked up to a sentry with his back to her, and he was looking really bored as he looked out across the horizon. With the torch light it only showed a small distance, but he had to do it anyway.
He sighed, and as soon as he did that he felt the whole world go black, and he collapsed to the ground, he tried to call out, but the darkness took over too soon.
Katara looked down, satisfied at her work; Suki just walked over to her and looked at the body.
"Having fun?"
Katara laughed lightly, "Not really. We've taken out over a dozen all ready, and we still have to take out even more."
Suki shrugged, "We have all night, just make sure none of them see us."
Katara nodded and the two continued on their way, but before they could get further, they saw in the distance someone holding a torch running towards them. The flame reflected off the armor they were wearing, and for the first time they were thankful that Sokka forced them to wear it. The darkness covered their features, making them look quite convincing from a distance.
"We're raising alarm!" The man called, seeing them in the distance, "Go pass the message further on!"
Katara deepened her voice as far as it could go and called back, "Right away!"
The man nodded and ran back the way he came, leaving Katara to give a worried look to Suki, "How did they find out about us?"
"I don't know." Suki said, "But we need to get out of here now and get back to Sokka."
There was no argument from Katara there, and the two began to run back the way they came in a mad dash. Upon looking down into the concentration camp, they could see a lot of men carrying torches going through the tents looking inside each one, and they were lighting everything up. Their liberation of the camp was at stake, and worst of all, so was their chance of escaping if it came down to the worst case scenario.
Fortunately, the wall was ironically the darkest area in the whole place, and they were able to make it back without any problems.
Though, without any problems relative to them getting there, Sokka unfortunately was nearly tearing his hair out from all the other problems they now faced. He saw them get there, and his featured relaxed only slightly, "Did they see you?"
"No. We were just doing as you asked and some guy came over and told us to go along the wall to warn the others."
Sokka nodded along, "Maybe Zuko or Iroh did something." He thought aloud, "But they're usually very quiet, considering Zuko is the one who taught all of us stealth…" He mused over his thoughts a little longer before shaking his head, "It doesn't matter anymore, we have big problems now."
"Yeah, what do we do?" Katara asked, prepared to do whatever Sokka said to.
"We wait here for Toph and Aang; they should be here any minute now." He said, and as soon as he said that the earth below their feet rumbled a little bit before a small hole appeared next to Sokka's feet, and out climbed Aang, Toph, and the two Kyoshi Warriors, "Or immediately." Sokka amended.
"Hey Sokka, whatever happened to waiting for a signal?" Toph asked.
"Things have changed." Sokka sighed, "Zhao is here along with a lot of his men. I know that it would be difficult with just the forces already here, but with him here reinforcing it, it makes things a lot more complicated."
"They also know something is wrong." Katara added, "So they're on high alert now."
"We're not sure why; maybe they found Zuko or Iroh." Sokka said.
"Doubtful." Another person said, climbing out of the hole.
"Zuko?" Aang said in mild surprise.
The Kyoshi Warriors quickly surrounded the Firebender, remembering about hearing of a boy named Zuko from General Zhao. Zuko looked around at them, unafraid, but shaken a little bit. Suki waved their stances down, "Don't worry, he's a good guy."
The Warriors slowly lowered their weapons, but their sharp looks never left their faces as they wandered a little ways from Zuko, as if he would lash out at any second.
"Why were you with Aang and Toph?" Sokka asked.
"Uncle told me to go to them, saying he could handle the job we were given. I think the plan has changed though, hasn't it?"
"Yeah," Sokka nodded, "Zhao changed a lot of things, and somehow the alarm has been raised."
"So I heard. I assure you, it wasn't uncle or me. We made sure to avoid anyone within the camp."
"Why are you here anyway?" Aang asked, "I thought you were going to keep Appa company."
"Appa told me to help you guys in his place. So that's why I am here."
Everyone was unsure how to respond to that, so it was largely ignored."Ok, pushing Zuko's apparent insanity aside, we have to make a new plan to rescue everyone here. If it comes right down to it, I think we should just go all out."
To the Kyoshi Warriors, that meant that they would be fighting the Fire Nation head to head, but to the others, it meant giving away their one advantage.
"Are you sure Sokka?" Katara asked.
"No, not really. So far everything I have planned has gone wrong, so really, I might just wing it at this point." He mumbled, "Ok, people, any suggestions?"
"Escape with our lives while we still can?" Zuko said.
"Try to beat every Fire Nation soldier here?" Toph suggested.
"No…" Sokka said, rejecting those, "It has to be something they won't expect…" He said pacing around the group, his hand on his chin as he mumbled constantly to himself. He then blinked a few times, and glanced at Toph, and a grin began to cross his face, "I've got it! Something they won't expect!"
"Come again?" Toph asked.
"Hear me out." He said waving his hands for everyone to gather around him, "They know that Katara and I are here right? So they must be figuring that Aang is coming to get them." They nodded, "So, they wouldn't expect someone else to be traveling with Aang, like Toph for instance, and since she is one of the best Earthbenders we know, we can make this work!"
"The plan Sokka," Katara said, getting him back on track
"Oh, right," He said shaking his head, "Toph is an Earthbender," He reiterated to the group, "What we need to make the people here think is that we're really a huge force of Earthbenders! They will know it's not Aang, because right now he 'can't' Earthbend, so the next logical step from that is for them to think he went to get help from Omashu and they are attempting to liberate the camp!"
"How?" Zuko asked, "I am sure you're aware that Toph is only one person."
"I am getting to that." Sokka said, "Normally, I would throw this plan away, but we have the Kyoshi Warriors with us, and that will make it work. Your outfits are green, the same as the Earth Kingdom Soldiers! They are different shades of green, but in this darkness, it would be extremely difficult for them to even tell, and even then, they won't have time to question it if they did notice when you're lobbing giant rocks at them." He continued before they had another word to say, "Toph, this is going to require you to be at your best."
At this point, everyone could begin to see where this was going.
"You want me and my warriors to pose as Earth Kingdom soldiers?" Suki asked.
"Earthbenders too," Sokka said, "Toph will feel when you stomp your foot," He did just that, "And then she'll feel your body move as you shoot the rock across the distance to hit them!"
"Sokka, you're not a bender, so I doubt you'd understand, but the amount of concentration needed, and the amount of precise timing for that to work is almost impossible. I know Toph is a skilled Earthbender, but to do that? I am sorry, but-" Katara was cut off by Toph.
"Shut it Sugar Queen. I am the one who knows my own abilities, and I can do it."
"But you can't be serious. It's thirteen of them. You will need to feel each individual one stomping, and then feel when they punch forward. I don't think you could do it alone."
"I will help her." Aang said, "I think we could pull it off."
"Aang, please-"
"I'm sorry Katara, but it's the best we've got. I think bluffing is the only way we can win."
Katara looked him straight in the eyes, and after a few seconds she sighed crossing her arms, "Fine, but only because it's the only way." She then added as an afterthought, "I never thought I'd be happy for a new moon…"
"I suppose you want me to find my uncle and get out of here?" Zuko asked.
"Actually, no." Sokka said, "It would be way too suspicious if you were gone when this was all happening, especially since a guard saw you come and go. I'm sure by now he has told others that you were here. I want you and your uncle to go find Zhao, and help him try to fend off the attack."
"What?"
"You're right." Sokka sighed, shaking his head, before he hit Zuko on the head as hard as he could, nearly knocking him out cold, "There, that should do it."
Zuko's world was spinning, but he was pissed, "Wha- What was-, uh…" He would have collapsed, but Toph used some quick Earthbending to keep him upright.
"You need a reason for not coming to see Zhao so soon." He said, "You were knocked out by a prisoner and just woke up." He smiled, "It's also payback for you beating me at the South Pole."
Zuko groaned, feeling the vertigo going away, and he reached up, feeling the now visible bump on the top of his head, "A little warning next time, please."
Sokka shrugged, "So everyone knows what they have to do?" When there were no objections to the plan, he smiled, "All right, Toph, Aang, take the Kyoshi Warriors to the perimeter around the camp. Katara and I will stay in here and help the prisoners escape. Zuko, go find your uncle and get to Zhao, and be sure to fill your uncle in on the plan when you do find him." He let out a sigh, "Good luck everyone."
With that, they all separated to do their specific task.
Zuko, still a little disoriented from the blow, stumbled through the shadows as he searched for his uncle. His mind was jumbled, but he knew that the next time he saw Sokka he was going to punch him in the face. He smiled at that, and slowly his thoughts began to make sense to him again. He was hurt; the wound was clearly visible on his buzzed head, so why was he travelling in the shadows? He quickly remedied that and began to not attempt to hide.
He looked all over for his uncle, and then his heart stopped when he heard his name being called by the one man he didn't wish to see.
"Zuko, what a nice surprise to see you here."
"Likewise." Zuko simply said, turning towards Zhao.
"You can drop the act, but I want to know." He closed the distance between the two of them within seconds, grabbing Zuko's neck, "Why did you let the Waterbender into the camp?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh really now, you had no idea that the girl that traveled with the Avatar was a Waterbender?" Zhao scoffed at that, "Doubtful. Unless if you really are an idiot."
"Zhao! Let him go. Can't you see he's disoriented enough as it is? He was clearly knocked unconscious and just woke up recently." Iroh said, walking towards them.
"Why weren't you with your dear nephew then, General?" He let go of Zuko who stumbled a bit, but managed to regain his senses and went over to his uncle.
"That doesn't matter!" Zuko said pushing the issue aside, "They're attempting to free the prisoners here! We have to stop them!"
Zhao glared at him, "This place will not fall because of two lousy children." He laughed, "It figures that you'd have trouble with them however."
"General Zhao!" A soldier came up to him, "we're being attacked from the North!"
"By whom?" Zhao asked, temporarily ignoring both Iroh and Zuko.
"Earth Kingdom soldiers, we don't know how they found out about this place, but they're here."
Zhao bit back a curse, "Get everyone to the wall. We will defend this place from whatever they can throw at us!"
"Yes sir." The soldier didn't even look back as he ran to warn the others.
"You two, I know you did something." He turned to Zuko and Iroh, "And you're going to explain to me why you would betray the Fire Nation."
"I would never betray my Nation!" Zuko shouted, glaring daggers at the older man.
"Let us argue another time, there are much more pressing matters right now." Iroh said, getting in between the two of them, "I assure you Zhao, Zuko and I have only the best intentions of the Fire Nation at heart, you needn't worry about us betraying you."
Zhao glared down at the old man, and spat, "Whatever. Get on the walls now, if you support your country that is."
Zuko growled, but obeyed the order anyway, following Zhao to the wall. Iroh glanced curiously at Zuko, and as soon as they were far behind Zhao, but still following, he turned to his nephew, "What is going on?"
"Sokka changed the plan at the last minute. The force attacking is just a dozen women. It's Toph and Aang who will be Earthbending. The darkness will cover them, so that shouldn't be a problem, even if fire gets close to them. Toph and Aang should be able to handle it. We're to go with Zhao, and just try to prove that we're still loyal to the Fire Nation. Sokka and Katara are still in the camp, getting the prisoners out." He explained in hushed whispered, going as quickly through the plan as he could.
"I see." Iroh nodded, "So you're bluffing?"
"Yes."
"Smart idea," Iroh said smiling, "Your friend is quite intelligent."
"That's why we always go to him for ideas." Zuko said, "Don't tell him that, he has a tendency to get a big ego if you compliment him for it too much, and that gets pretty annoying."
"Get up here now!" Zhao shouted to them, they're all ready-" A large boulder smashed into the wall, nearly breaking through it, "We cannot let the wall fall! Do not let them through!" He shouted, forgetting about Zuko and Iroh for the moment.
Zuko breathed in and out a few times, I hope they can emulate a real army, or else we're really screwed. With that grim thought in his mind, he walked up the stairs to the top of the crammed wall, looking down at the wooded area in front of them.
"Fire!" Zhao shouted, the Firebenders all began to shoot indiscriminately. Fortunately for the Kyoshi Warriors, they were spared the barrage of fire when a large stone pillars erupted from the ground in front of the woods, blocking all the fire. Then the stone began to fire rocks like bullets, most of the rocks that it shot out harmlessly hit the wall, but the ones that did hit the soldiers did their job well.
Zhao felt one hit him on the shoulder, and immediately a wave of pain went through him. He didn't let out any sign that he was in pain, but he knew it would bruise, and he thanked Agni that he was wearing his armor to prevent it from possibly cutting right through him. Unfortunately, some of his men were knocked unconscious, and a few others were looking pretty bad, with gaping wounds exposed.
"Don't allow them time to do that!" Zhao shouted, clearly annoyed at the direction the battle was taking, "How many are there?"
"Unclear." One of his men asked, ducking down under a rock that nearly blew his head off, "They're hiding in the woods, and when we try to see who they are from the flames they prevent it from getting close to them!"
"Can you give me an estimate?" Zhao snarled.
"A few dozen maybe," He said, sending a blast of fire towards the Earthbenders.
Down on the ground in the woods, Aang and Toph were having the most intense work out their twelve year old bodies have ever experience. Every time they felt one of the Kyoshi Warriors stomp into the ground, they had to split their concentration from what they were doing, and consciously raise a small amount of earth in front of the girl. Then when she struck out, they had to launch it. Dividing that up by thirteen, plus doing a bunch on their own to simulate a larger attack force was without a doubt, the hardest thing they have done in this lifetime.
Even Toph was having trouble with it, lagging behind a few seconds whenever a girl stomped, and was having trouble concentrating on so many people. Somehow though, she was pulling through. Aang on the other hand, was not doing nearly as well. Unlike Toph, he couldn't feel vibrations as well as her, and rather depended on his sight more to tell him when the warriors needed to a new rock to launch.
Needless to say, for both of them it was difficult.
Mercifully, when the Firebenders began to shoot down at them, Toph stepped forth and created a large rock wall to stop all incoming fire, and that gave them a small time to rest. Toph went up though, and began to pound the wall, sending smaller rocks from it like speeding bullets. Aang winced as he could have sworn he could hear it hitting several people, and it didn't make a pleasant sound.
"Try not to kill anyone Toph." He whispered to her.
"I'm trying, but controlling this many projectiles goes beyond my own ability to detect where they'll land. I'm sorry if I hurt anyone too badly."
Aang sighed, "It's all right, just do what you have to do."
When the wall was completed used up, the battle began to become most intense, instead of all of them launching their fire in one area, the Firebenders attempted to get the flames behind the warriors, but thankfully Aang and Toph's masterful control of their element allowed them to keep each of them safe. The fire would occasionally land dangerously close to one of them, but it served two benefits in the long run. The fire showed a brief glimpse of green, making them think it was really the Earth Kingdom forces, and it showed that there were quite a few of them in the woods.
Another boulder hit the wall, and it began to come down, the wooden supports unable to hold the overflowing amount of Firebenders gathered atop it. Seeing this, the Kyoshi Warriors pressed their advantage, not giving them a second to recover as they got away from the collapsing section of the wall. Several people were still atop of it when it completely fell, making a gruesome crashing noise with a combination of flesh and wood.
At this point, the Firebenders were beginning to panic, their one advantage against the Earthbenders literally crumbling before them as another boulder hit the wall.
"We have to get out of here!" General Hong shouted, "Men, run!"
"No!" Zhao turned to the other general, "You will not allow us to lose this day!"
"We've already lost a dozen men from just a few minutes of fighting," Hong spat, "We don't have the numbers to contend with them!"
"Coward!" Zhao shouted.
Toph down on the ground heard that amongst the chaos, and despite Aang's words for her to not intentionally kill anyway, she made an exception here. She kicked the ground; a large rock flew up into her grasp. Holding it, she waited to hear his voice once again.
"You think the Fire Lord will act kindly towards this defeat?" Zhao looked at Hong threateningly, "I will end you myself if it comes to that!"
Toph, hearing him again, threw the rock with all her Earthbending prowess, hoping for a direct hit on the man's head, ending the terror known as Zhao.
Hong glared at Zhao, "You think you're doing the right thing by killing us all tonight?"
"It's better than losing favor." Zhao returned insistently, "Which is all you'll accomplish by-"
At this point Zhao had leaned forward to get face to face with the other general to threaten him, but due to that, the rock that would have been an instant kill grazed the back of his head, leaving a bloody trail as a reminder of how close he was to dying.
Shocked, Zhao felt the back of his head, and when he saw his hand covered with blood, he blinked a few times, too dazed by the near death experience to think straight.
"We need to get out of here!" Hong said again, "The next one could kill you! They WILL kill us once they see these living conditions!" He was practically begging, "Please Zhao! We need to escape while we still can."
"R- Right." Zhao said, for the first time since he could remember sounding unsure of himself.
"Good." Hong sighed, "We'll leave a few men behind to hold off the advance, claim that they are doing it for the glory of the Fire Nation or something." Hong decided, "Come Zhao, we need to get out of here."
"Listen up men; we need to get out of here! I am going to have to ask a few of you to stay behind and hold them off while we escape! Will anyone volunteer?" He called, looking at all the people.
"My uncle and I will." Zuko called, amazed that an opportunity to slip away from Zhao had presented itself so easily to them.
After that, a few other men stayed behind to cover the retreat. Once they were far enough away, Zuko let out a small sigh, and felt like he could fall over from relief. He turned to his uncle and allowed himself to smile. They had gotten lucky, if Zhao wasn't so dazed, he probably would have questioned their motives.
Actually, Zuko began to think, If the rock had actually killed him, we would have been really lucky. He thought of it for a few seconds before pushing the morbid thought aside, and he turned to the remaining dozen or so men who stayed behind. They looked terrified, and if the moment weren't so intense, Zuko would have laughed.
"We can do it guys, for the glory of the Fire Nation!" One of the soldiers said. There was a small chorus of cheers from the others, and their confidence rose quite a bit.
Zuko rolled his eyes at their bravado, and decided to end this quickly. He went over, and as quickly as he could, he began to knock them out. Even though he didn't know Ty Lee's fighting style, he had a rough idea of where the pressure points were, and even better, he knew if he hit them in the head hard enough, it wouldn't really matter.
And like that, it was just Zuko and his uncle on top of the wall.
"Oh no, the Earth Kingdom has come. Oh joy." Zuko said turning to his uncle, "What should we do?"
Iroh glanced at his nephew, "I suggest we talk to them and issue our terms of surrender."
"If we must," Zuko sighed dramatically.
The two walked down the damaged stairs, and crossed through the hole in the wall of the encampment.
"Don't worry, you completely fooled them." Zuko said, "They're gone."
Aang was the first to walk out of the woods, followed by Toph, Suki, and then the rest of the warriors. The Kyoshi Warriors looked as they did before, though now their make-up was completely gone, and they clothes were a little ragged. Aang and Toph looked like they went through hell and came back in one piece. Both were sweating profusely, and Aang looked like he was going to go out at any second.
"I tried to hit Zhao," Toph said reluctantly, "Did I get him?"
"You barely missed, but it did make him dazed, and he didn't seem to notice that uncle and I stayed back to 'cover' their retreat." Zuko explained.
Toph sighed, "I was so sure I got him."
"Anyway," Aang said, getting off the topic, "Are they all gone?"
"Like I said earlier, they retreated. I am assuming they're going to the Fire Nation port a little ways away, but it's nothing we should worry about right now."
Suki let out a sigh, "I am so glad we managed to pull that off."
The mere mentioning of the feat they just pulled off seemed to completely exhaust both Aang and Toph, who both fell down to the ground. Toph was just cooling off, but Aang was completely knocked out.
"You guys look after them," Suki said to her warriors, "Zuko, Iroh, and I will go look for Sokka and Katara."
Further in the camp, Sokka and Katara were busy trying to convince the people that they could escape. Unfortunately for both of them, the people who had suffered these living conditions had lost almost all hope. Some had been there for over a year, but the newer ones, the ones who had been there a little more than a month or less were much more receptive to Sokka and Katara's plea for them to get out of there.
"Please," Katara tried again, "You can get out now, the Fire Nation is busy fighting!"
"They'll be back." Was the typical response that had been repeated over and over that night.
Katara forced herself to calm down before she began to pull her hair out. She knew that they had suffered from a lot of things, and the last thing she wanted to do was explode on them.
"Come on people! You can do this! We can travel back to Omashu and get you guys cleaned up, and you can even have a decent meal!" Sokka paused, "Wait, the Fire Nation had food for themselves here right?" He asked turning to Katara.
"I wouldn't know." She shrugged, "But I guess so."
"Right! These people need to eat a real meal – we'll give them the Fire Nation's stock!"
Katara nodded along to it, it might not work, but at this point she was getting a little desperate. The two left the center of the camp and went towards where they saw most of the Fire Nation soldiers gathering near the main gate to the place. They entered one of the buildings, and found a bunch of half eaten food within the building they had gone into, the cafeteria.
"They were eating like the Earth King while people out there were starving." Sokka mumbled, picking up a half eaten chicken, "I can't believe they can live with themselves like that." Looking around to make sure Katara wasn't looking; he took a quick bite out of it, savoring the taste, that's what I get for not eating for three days straight.
"Is there some cart we can use to bring it to them? Or do you think they will be willing to come here themselves?" Katara said, plowing through the building, looking at everything.
"I don't know I think we'll have to bring it to most of them, but some of the ones who haven't been here quite so long should probably be willing to come here on their own." Sokka said, biting into the chicken again.
"Sokka!" Katara shouted, seeing him eating it, "They need it more than us, don't eat that!"
"Sorry, I am just really hungry!" He said, putting it down.
Katara sighed, "You should have eaten." It was spoken softly, but the hidden meaning behind the words hit Sokka like Appa landing on top of him. His appetite at that moment suddenly dropped, and the guilt from the previous week began to flood through him.
"Katara… I'm sorry." He said, unsure of what else to say, "My behavior during the past week has been inexcusable."
"Yeah," Katara agreed light heartedly, "It was."
"Look, we'll talk about this later, but I just want you to know that I would never hurt you." Sokka said looking away.
She crossed the gap between them and hugged her brother, "I wouldn't hurt you either."
Sokka embraced her as well, feeling the guilt and uncertainty from the past few days begin to wash away. Unfortunately, washing away guilt meant that his senses weren't at their highest, and he didn't notice someone coming to the building until the door slammed open and in came a man rushing to grab something.
"Where is it, where is it." He mumbled to himself looking all over the place, and then he noticed the two children in front of him. Both of them were wearing the Water Tribe clothes, and he knew instantly that they were the enemy, he quickly raised his fist to send a fireball towards them, but suddenly felt the coldness of water wrapping around his arm.
Katara twisted his arm back with her Waterbending, allowing Sokka to move in and take him out easily. Not letting their guard down, Katara brought her water back and the two stood over the man.
"Who do you think he was?" Katara asked.
"Well, judging from his armor, I would say he was a pretty high ranking officer here."
"We're lucky we were able to surprise him then."
Sokka laughed at that, "Are you kidding me? He was screwed either way!" He then turned serious again, "But why was he here? Aren't the Kyoshi Warriors supposed to be providing a distraction?"
They both snuck up to the window of the building and glanced out, and to their surprise they saw a large group of Firebenders fleeing the camp, and to their surprise, among them was Zhao, who now had a bandage wrapped around his head. It seemed that none of them realized the man on the ground next to them was missing.
"The bluff paid off!" Sokka said in an excited whisper, "They're leaving; I can't believe we actually pulled this off!"
"We faced down the Earth King's royal guards when we were just kids Sokka," Katara reminded him, but she too was smiling, "It's not beyond our power."
"Yeah, but that time we didn't have as many complications." Sokka said, crossing his arms defiantly, looking away.
"Right, so, what do we do now?"
"Well, we can finally relax for one thing." Sokka said, his shoulders slumping a little bit, "Let's brings some food back and give everyone here the good news."
Katara nodded, grabbing a few handful of fruits off the tables surrounding her, and hold onto them. Sokka brought some fruit as well, even though he really wanted to bring some of the meat out, it was just a lot more practical to bring out the fruit instead.
Once they were fully loaded, they went out to the prisoners-turned-refugees, and handed out the food, while Sokka began to explain the situation to everyone. At first they were met with disbelief and the same amount of disinterest as before, but when Suki, Zuko, and Iroh came to them and told them the situation, the people began to entertain the idea of hope.
Though they didn't have much food on them, Sokka and Katara handed out the fruit they had brought, and gave it to several of the people who looked worse off than the others. With that out of the way, the group of five huddled together.
"We need to get them to Omashu." Katara stated.
"Yeah, we'll feed them here with what the Fire Nation has then we can lead them to the city. It's a few days walk, but with Appa we can give a ride for the most sick and the elderly." Sokka explained.
"Ok, but what are we going to do with all the Fire Nation soldiers left behind?" Zuko asked.
"Allow me to deal with that." Iroh said, "I will stay behind and lead these men back to the port, but I will be sure to burn this place to the ground before I do so. You have my word."
"Good." Sokka nodded, "Well, first mission of Team Avatar is a success!" Sokka cheered, "Go Team Avatar!"
Iroh looked a little perplexed by the name, but the others groaned in annoyance, "Sokka, I doubt it will catch on." Suki said.
"I will make it catch on." Sokka said, "And the whole world will soon know of our power! We will stop the Fire Nation this time, and nothing's going to stop us!"
No one disagreed with that, having saved the camp from quite a large force they were all on a high note at the moment. At that moment, it felt as if they could take on the entire Fire Nation right there. Saving these people was their first steps towards saving the world once more, and hopefully, they wouldn't fail this time.
Chapter six - End