So far this is my favorite part of the fic to right! Just like the episode "Day of Black Sun" this WILL be a two-parter. So much tension is going on and battle scenes are my favorite to write! Hope everyone enjoys and Happy Beltaine! I couldn't participate this year -.- but oh well! Hope everyone else gets some tonight ;)...though if you're sitting here reading fanfiction I guess not...lol just kidding!
~th3rdhal3~

Our next destination was the Black Cliffs. It was an area Sokka and his father had carefully picked out for the rendezvous point for the invasion. The harbor down below was big enough to gather everyone who partook in the mission and it would it wasn't out in the open for many to see easily. We had arrived a few days early, but it was better than being late. The time had gone so fast; I couldn't believe that only a few months ago we had discovered about the eclipse in Wan Shi Tong's library. We had come along way and were ready for victory.

We arrived on top of the cliffs at night even though the area was inhabited. The only creatures present were the koala-sheep, which were rather cute. "Four days? The invasion's in four days?" Aang flipped out when he realized how soon it was. No one else seemed phased by it. I didn't understand why Aang was so nervous all of a sudden.

Sokka collapsed on his sleeping bag and was soon snoring. The warrior boy was usually the one to fall asleep the fastest. Katara observed her brother who was out cold on the mat a few feet away. "Sokka's go the right idea. We're here, we're ready, the best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." The water-bender laid on her sleeping bag. Even my cousin had her eyes closed on the grass across from us. Aang seemed very jittery and uneasy but he finally gave in and laid down as well. The sound of the roll of the sea down at the base of the cliff helped drown out Sokka and Appa's snoring. Surely this would be the best night of sleep we'd get. I waited a short while until Aang and Toph showed signs of being asleep before scooting closer to Katara. The girl rolled over so that her head rested in the crook of my neck. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! I woke to a constant thumping sound. My eyelids slowly parted and the sun's early light greeted me. Katara stirred next to me. She looked so disoriented and confused when she sat up. Her eyelids were only half open and there was this ridiculous looking blank expression on her face. It was cute and funny at the same time. A little ways away, Aang was striking a tree with such a force it was a wonder it hadn't fallen. What the heck was doing? "Ugh...I'll go talk to him." I volunteered since I was already awake then.

"You're th-best." Katara mumbled and dropped back down onto her mat. I slowly brought myself to stand and approached the avatar.

"Aang. What on earth are you doing?" I watched the shirtless boy repeatedly hit the tree over and over again, causing it to shake.

"Training." He responded, not stopping his activity. He was extremely into it.

"How long have you been up?" I asked.

"A couple of hours." He told me, not even turning around to so much as glance at me. The boy kept punching the bark in a constant rhythm. He then circled the tree and attacked it as if it were a training dummy. "I've got a lot of skills to refine if I'm gonna fight Ozai. My form is bad, I'm sloppy and I don't know any fire-bending!" I could see how he was anxious and worried.

"Isn't that why we're doing the invasion during the eclipse? The Firelord will be defenseless." Aang paused his impromptu training routine and listened. For a moment it seemed as though he were going to relax.

"There's still a lot I need to work on, Karuna. I'm gonna spend the whole day training." Then all of a sudden, the Air Nomad took off on his air-scooter. The kid was neurotic. That was an understatement.

"Sokka, you've gotta get up!" Aang tugged at the darker skinned boy's feet the next morning. "You gotta do your rock climbing exercises! In one of my dreams you were running from Fire Nation soldiers trying to climb this cliff, but you were too slow and they caught you!" Sokka did not look very happy to be woken up in such a way. The warrior boy told Aang it was only a dream and that he was a great climber. Somehow the avatar made him climb the cliff beside us to prove his claim.

Toph took a swig from her canteen and then Aang startled the crap out of her. "Don't drink that!" Instantly, the pale girl spat it all out; unfortunately, Katara was on the receiving end of the spew.

"Is it poisoned?" My cousin frantically asked. Katara sighed heavily and bended the backwash off of her body.

"In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion, and you had to use the bathroom." The air-bender explained. "We all died because of your tiny bladder!" Toph grunted and crossed her arms. Then, Aang focused on me. "You need to be a faster shooter. In my dream, you were reloading your bow but an opposing archer shot got you first! And Katara, you need to start wearing your hair up. In my dream, your hair got caught in a train and-"

"Spirits almighty!" Katara silenced him. We all thanked her internally. "I know you're only trying to help, but you seriously need to get a grip! You're unraveling right now and we need to fix this."

"These yoga stretches can really work wonders if you do them in extreme heat." Katara had brought Aang inside a steam volcano further back on the cliff. I tagged along because I was a little stressed myself. The goal was to loosen Aang up and get him to relax. It was indeed hot inside there so the three of us wore undergarments. Katara was right; I could feel the tension leave my muscles after a few minutes. I stood on the other side of the water-bender and followed her instructions with Aang. "Reach up." She had us clasp our hands together high up over our heads. "Reach for the sun."

"Katara, if we reach any higher we might just take flight." I remarked.

"Oh hush!" She hissed at me. I guess she wasn't in the mood for my sarcasm at the moment. "Feel your chi paths clearing." She then had us bend forward to touch our heads to the Earth.

"There's this warm feeling around me." Aang reluctantly described. You don't say. "This heat...like I'm in the Firelord's palace and he's shooting fireballs at me! And the whole world is being engulfed in flames!" He dramatized. This was not helping him in the least bit. Katara slouched and sighed loudly.

"Maybe your stress is the kind you need to talk out." She suggested. We sent the avatar to go consult Sokka who had this alter ego perfect for counseling. While Aang went to see 'Wang Fire', Katara and I resumed our yoga.

"So," I began all perky-like as I stretched my arms out in Warrior II pose. "Looks like your Kama-Sutra didn't work." The Water Tribe girl nearly fell over at my comment. Her cheeks grew a bright pink and she gaped at me.

"This is not-it's nothing like-why would you even compareit to that?" She questioned me. Because I can. I laughed dryly and transitioned into Downward Dog.

"It's practically the same thing! These routines all look like sex positions." I answered her. "Don't deny it, they do!" The darker skinned girl looked a bit flustered.

"Not all of them!" She argued.

"Most of them." I compromised, maintaining my Plank formation. I could stay like that for hours really because of the muscle in my arms and shoulders. Katara lay on her stomach with her palms on the ground, parallel to her chest.

"I like Cobra." She shared. "I pretend I'm a snake." She then started hissing and tried to slither, moving her body sideways across the ground how a snake would. There was no way I couldn't laugh. She looked absolutely crazy yet adorable.

"Babe, you're nuts." I chuckled. Katara responded by making a goofy face at me.

I stared up at the clouds a little while later. I watched them move and change shape in the wind. All was quite and peaceful; mainly because Aang was still in his therapy session with Sokka aka Wang Fire and Toph was off playing with the possum-moles in the ground. The grass was so soft atop the cliff that it felt like my head was resting on a pillow. The more I gazed up above, the more I wondered why the sky was the color blue. Before I went too deep into thought, long, chocolate colored hair touched the tip of my nose and forehead. It tickled. Instead of blue skies, I was soon staring into blue eyes and the smiling face of my girlfriend. She looked upside down from where I laid. "Hey you." I grinned broadly at her. She leaned down and kissed me. It felt different at first because the kiss wasn't right side up, but it was one of the best we had shared so far.

The water-bender sat down in the grass with me and I put my head in her lap. Katara ran her fingers through my hair, which felt wonderful. "The war's gonna be over soon." The girl was thinking ahead to the invasion in two days. "I can't believe it." I really was something to think about. A ware that had raged on for over 100 years was finally going to be put to a stop.

"Me neither." I agreed. "What are we gonna do then?" I joked. Our main goal this entire time was to defeat the Fire Nation. What would we do with the rest of our lives and time after that was accomplished? Katara giggled.

"I'm sure we'll find something to keep us occupied." The darker skinned girl seemed to be sure of this. "There's plenty of places we haven't seen and people to visit." Thought it felt as if we'd traveled everywhere there had to be some spots on the map we'd never been to before. I looked forward to life after the war. It wouldn't be so hectic and we'd have more time to enjoy life and take things slow. What new and exciting adventures would wait for us? Benign and peaceful ones, I hoped. Whatever lay ahead in my future, I knew it would be an interesting chapter in my memoirs. Then the water-bender asked me a question.

"Will you come with me to the Southern Water Tribe?" She stopped playing with my hair; a sign that she was taking a moment to be serious. I tilted my head to glance up at her.

"Huh?" She laughed at my confusion.

"When everything's resolved and done, will you come back to the Southern Water Tribe with me?" She repeated herself.

"But it's cold there!" I protested.

"Not, it's actually quite tropical this time of year. Lovely weather, really." The water-bender teased me. She smirked and then chuckled to herself. "Course it is, hon. It's the South Pole. I'd keep you warm though." I grinned up at her. For the next few moments, we sat in silence simply enjoying the day and the view from the top of the cliff. I began to imagine what it would be like to live in the Southern Water Tribe with Katara; snowball fights, penguin sledding. Sure, we weren't little kids anymore, but I wanted to regress to that innocence since most of us were forced to grow up faster than we should have. There would be plenty of time for that once the war was over and done. I would have to meet her family and fellow villagers then. Would she tell them about us? I guess it wouldn't be too bad, maybe a little awkward at first but I'd get over it. "Did you mean it when you said it?" The girl suddenly asked me.

"When I said what?" I didn't exactly follow.

"When you said you loved me." Instantly, I was taken back to nights ago in the woods after the fight with Hama. I remembered holding the water-bender while she wept. I had said it to her then, but now I wasn't sure if it was only in the moment or not. Katara took notice of my silence. "I'm not gonna be mad or hold a grudge if you didn't. I just wanted to know because I'm not sure if I meant it when I said it back." I didn't feel so guilty anymore after she admitted that. She and I were both confused on how much we felt for one another. We had known each other for months, but our relationship was only two weeks strong. And when it was first said we had only been dating for two days. How was that enough time to know if you loved someone or not? I sat up and faced Katara.

"You mean so much to me." I told her. "And I care about you a lot." I picked up the water-bender and pulled her into my lap.

"I care about you too." She twisted around to kiss me. "I'd do anything to make you happy." My heart beat hard against my chest and I was surprised Katara hadn't heard it.

"I'll always fight for you." I vowed. "Spirits, I'd kill for you." The darker skinned girl stared at me gravely in silence for a few short moments.

"I hope you never have to do that."

"Ah! Aha! That tickles!" I wriggled on the sleeping mat. Katara lay on top of me and was kissing the side of my neck. We could only display this kind of affection under the cover of darkness so the others wouldn't see. She giggled.

"Shh!" She whispered. She didn't want the others to wake up because we couldn't be quiet. Then she silenced me with a long kiss. My stomach did a bunch of flip flops at the sensation. I couldn't get enough of her. The water-bender was truly enticing. It was when our lips parted that I made an important decision.

"So, I have an answer for the question you asked me earlier. " The darker skinned girl sat up and was all ears now. I shifted into a cross-legged position before continuing. "Guess I'm gonna have to get used to freezin' my ass off everyday." I smirked. Katara's face lit up; I don't recall seeing her this happy or excited before. She threw her arms around my neck and tackled me. It was really hard to keep quiet now. My back was on the cool grass again and I held the ecstatic girl close to me, sharing the same emotion. She eventually sat up again, allowing me to breathe; she hadn't exactly knocked the wind out of me, but it was pretty close.

"Oh my spirits!" She squealed with glee. "This means I need to make you a parka and warmer clothes-oh! I'm going to have to teach you how to canoe and kayak, and-" The way she spoke, it sounded as if she was planning for a wedding or something.

"That's if everything goes well, Katara." I stopped the girl before she got ahead of herself. "We still have to get through the invasion." The water-bender's face fell at my grim tone.

"What's with the negativity all of a sudden?" She asked, wanting to know the cause of my change in tune.

"It's not negativity, it's reality. We need to embrace the fact that some of us won't come back after tomorrow." Katara's eyes were swimming with worry and sorrow. I began to feel nervous at this realization as well. "No matter what the outcome is, I can guarantee you there are going to be casualties. And I can't promise you that I or anyone else will still be standing once this is over-" My girlfriend was now in tears. I didn't mean to upset her, I just didn't want her to get her hopes up in case something unfortunate were to happen. I held out my arms to her and she grabbed onto me.

"No. I'm not gonna let you out of my sight." She buried her face into the side of my neck. "We're going to get through this. Everyone is going to get through this." I kissed her hair and held her tight. I hope you're right. Spirits, I hope she's right.

~I ran through the many rooms of the estate, looking over my shoulder to see if my cousin was still behind me. The smaller girl ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. I heard my aunt shouting to be careful from somewhere else in the mansion. I maneuvered around chairs, and couches and others who were present in the manor. My younger cousin was still chasing me and she hollered out, "Runa! Runa!" at me. I couldn't tell if she still found the game fun or was growing sad because I was still out of reach. Out from the side of the dining room table, jumped a boy slightly bigger than me. His brown hair was everywhere and needed to be cut. He had startled me, and I stopped fast.

"I got her, Tophie!" The boy squealed with glee, grabbing me and keeping me there. "Get her!" The two began to tickle me and I squirmed on the floor. I was laughing so hard I thought I would stop breathing. My little cousin sat on my stomach and had started to poke my facial features. Her baby blue eyes were wide in wonder. I looked up at the older boy who was still giggling.

"No fair, Rai-Rai. I get you back!" ~

I handed Sokka a cup of tea as he studied some maps the next morning. He and Katara had gone back to wearing their Water Tribe getup. Toph and I had also abandoned our Fire Nation clothes for our old ones. "Top of the morning, Momo!" Aang leaped out of nowhere and scooped up the lemur. The avatar was still wearing the school uniform, but he had ripped off the sleeves and stopped wearing the headband. The boy seemed to be in a much better mood than the past few days. It appeared as if the bed we had made for him out of koala-sheep wool had helped him rest at last. "I'm ready to fight the Firelord!" He punched the air a few times for effect. I slapped him on his shoulder, as to avoid hitting the injury on his back.

"Thata boy, Aang!"

Toph and I created stone piers down below at the harbor so that the Water Tribe navy ships could anchor there. Katara ran over to greet her father followed by Sokka. "Were you able to locate everyone we told you to find?" The warrior boy asked.

"I did." Hakoda responded. "But I'm a little worried, Sokka. Some of these men aren't exactly the warrior type." He made a face at his son. Behind him, were two guys clad in leaves and tree bark. What in Agni-don't even ask. Just don't. Soon after, Katara and Aang introduced Toph and me to their friend Haru. I had never seen a boy with such long hair before. Him and his father were earth-benders that Katara had helped inspire near the beginning of their journey. Toph had some visitors as well; The Hippo and The Boulder had decided to quit fighting for entertainment so they could fight for their kingdom instead. They were some pretty tough guys. The Fire Nation soldiers would be in for a surprise. A mild explosion occurred in one of the ships and we were then introduced to Teo and his inventor father. Teo gave Aang a new glider they had made for him. The avatar was overwhelmed with joy; his older one had burned up in a hotspot.

Then, I spotted three figures approaching us alongside Pipsqueak and The Duke. The girl in front had brown hair that was longer in the front and short in the back. Unmistakable green eyes stared at me. "Zaida!" I ran to her and embraced her. I thought I would never see this girl again, and here she was, ready to attack. Good old Zaida.

"Oh my spirits, I think you've grown another three inches!" Zaida laughed. "Either that or I'm shrinking!" The short girl joked. I was overjoyed to see the small Freedom Fighter. I had missed her company.

"Wow. Not gonna say hi to me?" A voice cut into the moment. I recognized it all too well. Oh gracious. I turned to my left to see Jin smirking next to Raiden. The bounty hunter grinned as well, and I was glad to see him in better shape than when I left them in Ba Sing Se.

"Hey guys!" I hugged them both. "We're so gonna kick some Fire Nation ass today!"

After a little while, everyone gathered in rows in front of a stone ledge in which Sokka would be addressing them. It was his plan and we felt that the warrior boy should be the one to explain the mission goal. It was an absolute train wreck. It was obvious that the boy was nervous, and because of that, his speech was rushed and choppy. His audience couldn't exactly follow and then Sokka decided to start over from the beginning. He literallymeant the beginning. It was pretty much everything that had happened in the past 8 months but thankfully, Hakoda took over so that his son wouldn't have to endure further humiliation.

Once the pep-rally ended, everyone readied themselves for the naval stage of the attack. Katara gathered plenty of water for bending later. Toph slipped on arm guards and placed an earth-bending helmet on her head. I kept the black boots from my Fire Nation uniform and put those on. I hooked my sword onto my sepia colored belt, strapped my quiver onto my back and held my longbow in my right. Even Appa was ready to go. The Sky Bison had on maroon and bronze battle armor. At the water's edge, Aang shaved off his hair with a knife and wore a rendition of his orange and yellow Nomad robes. He was ready for the world to know the avatar was alive!

As everyone began boarding the ships, Sokka handed me a wolf cowl. I put it on my head for a minute to see how it felt. The inside was warm and insulated and the tick hide would protect the wearer from most piercing attacks. I pulled it off an handed it back to him. "Thanks ponytail, but it doesn't feel right to wear this. I'm not part of your tribe."

"Not yet at least." The warrior boy chuckled. This caught me off guard. Sokka smirked at my dazed and confused expression. "Don't think I don't know." He grinned smugly. I watched him get on a ship, wondering how on earth he knew.

Hakoda had Katara and the swamp-benders create a fog cover for the ships as we approached the Great Gates of Azulon. "It's not going to be enough!" I warned the Water Tribe Chief. An alarm went off and a creaking sound emitted from the bronze dragons on either side of the water entrance into the homeland. Nets connecting to the enormous statue of Azulon were soon blazing with flames. It was then time to get into the subs.

"Sokka created this?" Raiden marveled at the inside of the submarine. It was a pretty brilliant invention; water-bending was used to make the sub sink and float.

"Yeah." I responded, observing the way the swamp-benders controlled the submarine. "It was all his idea. He wasn't the one who constructed it though. Obviously. It was the Mechanist."

"This plan is so intricate and thought out." Zaida praised the warrior boy, even though he, his father, Toph and Katara were in one of the other submarines. "I could have never organized it." I glanced out the window on the sides to see how Aang and Appa were doing underwater. The Air Nomad had bended on air bubble over his and the bison's head so they could sneak under the gate with us. The avatar saw me and started waving. He then made goofy faces at me. I laughed quietly. He's still such a kid!

We would resurface once before arriving at the beaches; this was because the submarines had a limited air supply. Until the break, I sat with my friends in the back of the sub while the Water Tribe warriors conversed in the front. The bounty hunter removed his signature white headband and replaced it with a new one I had never seen before. It was many shades of green and in the middle was a flying boar. I did a double take. "Where did you get that?" I asked him.

"Oh, this?" The spiky haired boy pointed to the elegant headband. "It's the only thing I have left from when I was a boy." He explained. "Before I knew about the war. Things were benign and perfect. My sister and I use to play outside together, when everything was still full of life and love. That was before the Fire Nation attacked my home when I was six." I instantly thought of my first memory; running. People screaming. Houses and buildings being burned to the ground. It was still terrifying to remember. I sympathized with the boy.

"That's the symbol of the Bei Fong family." I pointed out. Raiden nodded his head.

"I am a Bei Fong. This headband reminds me who I am and where I came from whenever I feel lost." He studied me for a moment in silence. "I'm the son of the late Han and Xia Bei Fong. I lost my sister in the attack years ago, but ever since I met you, you've inspired me to keep searching for her because I see her in you." The bounty hunter shared. "Call me crazy, but I do." My brain was working on overdrive. This epiphany that was formulating in my mind couldn't be true. I hardly even remembered Toph, let alone my birth parents from when I was that young. I must have seen someone else in my dream from the night before. There had to be a mistake or a misconception.

"Lao Bei Fong is my father's brother." Raiden looked up at me quickly and gave me a peculiar stare. Lao had only one brother. "Do you remember me at all...Rai-Rai?" I suddenly asked. I felt stupid calling the boy this, but something told me I should. Raiden's gray eyes widened in realization but he remained silent. "How old are you?" I asked a different question.

"18." He finally answered.

"I'm 15." I announced. There was a three year age difference. When my home had been destroyed I was three. When Raiden's home had been attacked, he was six. I could almost see the gears shifting in Raiden's mind. He raised a hand to the back of his neck. He turned so that a dark spot in the shape of a heart was visible. On cue, I pushed my hair to the side to show him my identical birthmark on the opposite side. The spiky haired teen gasped.

"Spirits...how? Where have you been this whole time?"

"I was taken in by another family that found me." I explained. Somewhat true. I left out the part about my step-father being a Fire Nation soldier. "Until two years ago, I didn't even know I was part of the Bei Fong family. Then once I found out, all the memories started coming back." Raiden was still in awe and slight denial.

"I can't believe- why didn't I make the connection before? I mean, your name! That should have been a dead giveaway. I haven't met anyone else with the same name." The boy berated himself. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I didn't put two and two together either. But I knew you were really important because I kept having dreams and visions about you. I didn't know what they meant at the time." I shared with him. The spirits wanted us to find one another because other than Toph, we were the only family each other had.

"Spirits, you're my sister...you're my little sister." Raiden stated, aghast. I was still absorbing the news. I had a brother. An actual blood sibling. It seemed too surreal to take in. Jin shrank down in stature next to the bounty hunter.

"Well...this is awkward."

I used up the first half of the break time because I had been in the midst of reminiscing with Raiden about our childhoods and also catching up with Zaida. I was the one who relayed the news of Jet's death to her and there was much sorrow and mourning. Before the Freedom Fighter had left for Ba Sing Se, he had put Zaida in charge of their headquarters because he trusted her the most to keep everyone else in line. We took a short amount of time to reflect on our deceased friend. Though his passing had occurred several months ago, it was still very hard for Raiden and I to keep our composure because we had witnessed the murder.

My friends went up to get some fresh air while I asked the warriors in the front of the sub how much longer until we reached the beaches. One of them told me it would take no longer than 15 minutes, or so he had been told. I was then encouraged by them to take advantage of my break because we would have to submerge again soon.

I climbed up through the hatch and onto the top of the submarine. As I pulled my left leg off of the ladder, my heart stopped beating. On the submarine over, Aang stood lip-locked with Katara. My Katara. Something in my gut festered and my skin felt like it was on fire. I thought then and there I would reveal to them I was a fire-bender. I wanted to hurt the Air Nomad-to return everything I was feeling in this moments and more. And what about Katara? How could she do this to me? In a flash, Aang took off on his glider towards the homeland, and Katara stared after him. Her eyes were wide and her jaw was slightly open. It looked as though she was recovering from the moment. She turned and saw me standing limply on the parallel sub, broken and scarred. I knew she was wondering how much I saw based on the content in her eyes. My throat was dry and I had nothing to say to her. Not now. I started back for the hatch because I didn't want to stay up there anymore. But the real reason was because I didn't want her to see me cry.

"Karuna, wait!" Katara jumped towards my sub, using the water in between to propel herself forward. She grabbed onto my arm. "Please." I turned around sharply to face her. The girl's large, ocean blue eyes stared into my soul. I had to force myself to stop the water slides from streaming out of my tear ducts.

"Why don't you just take him to the South Pole then?" I coldly bit back. Before I turned away from her, I could see her eyes begin to water up. The Water Tribe girl pulled me around again.

"No, no! Honey, that was nothing! It didn't mean anything to me! I don't think of him in that way, I didn't even know he-" Katara desperately pleaded with me. "I honestly had no idea. But I don't feel the same way about Aang. I'll tell him. Once this is all over I'll set things straight-I promise!" I began to relax my body a little and the tension in my shoulders started to slowly disappear. "I don't love him. I love you." My heart began to pump blood again. For a split second, I forgot why I was even angry.

The water-bender cupped the sides of my face in her hands and then the warmth of her lips engulfed mine. The kiss was filled with passion and fire-ironically. The feeling was complete bliss, similar to that of achieving nirvana. We could have been like this for only a few moments or a few minutes; time was an illusion. Once our lips parted, there was no way in Agni that I was gonna let her go. I wanted to hold her, to have her close to me forever. Suddenly, the hatch on her submarine creaked and Sokka popped his head up.

"Guys, what are you doing? It's time to submerge!" Upon his arrival, she and I both stepped back from one another to avoid any suspicion. The moment had been wonderful, but we couldn't forget that we were in the middle of warfare.

Katara, still blushing, snapped back to focus. "R-Right! We're on it!" The Water Tribe boy nodded and then disappeared back into his sub. Katara sighed heavily and looked up at me. "This is it." A discreet frown was upon her beautiful face. "Please be safe." She kissed me on my cheek quickly. Then the water-bender jumped from my sub to hers, and finally to Appa, using the sea as stepping stones. I scurried over to my sub's hatch and hoped in right before we went under again.

As we drew closer and closer to the beaches, Hakoda prepared the warriors for the land stage of the attack. All the earth-benders were instructed to get into tanks. I did not join them because I preferred to fight my opponents head on. Besides, Toph could lead her squadron fine on her own.

We received fire immediately, once the submarines reached land. The tanks were sent out quickly and my ground and I joined the Water Tribe warriors alongside the earth-benders. There were many explosions coming from up above on the walls. One hit very close to my friends and I. If Zaida hadn't been so nimble and fast, she would have been blown sky high. The Fire Nation had tanks of their own to face ours. The swamp-benders held their own against the machines pretty well. The vine-bender, Yu, did some serious damage to the Fire Nation tanks.

"Dad, look out!" Sokka hollered from atop the komodo-rhino he had just acquired. The Water Tribe chief was bravely fending off a fire-bender and three other soldiers. The man blocked the flames as best he could with his shield. I offered up my help and took care of the fire-bender with a swift kick to his temple. Raiden drew one of the soldiers away from Hakoda so that it was more of an even fight. Sokka's father fought the other two soldiers with ease. The man was real warrior.

The Fire Nation soldiers didn't pose a real threat to me, so I fought them off with my sword alongside Jin, who went to town with her nunchucks. I heard something zipping through the air, and I looked up just in time to see a projectile hurtling towards my comrade. I yanked Jin back by the back of her gi collar, moments before the ground she once stood upon exploded. It was a very close call.

"We've gotta take out those battlements!" Hakoda encouraged us. "They're going to destroy the tanks and everyone here down below!" The Water Tribe leader was right; the ramparts up above just kept on firing down at us. We'd never make it to the palace or even the mountain side unless we took them out. Soon after, Sokka, Hakoda and I flew with Katara on Appa. The warrior men clung to the side of the bison's armor but I stayed in the saddle. With quick and accurate precision I fired arrows from my long bow at the soldiers inside the ramparts. All that I targeted went down. Sokka held onto Appa's horn and as we flew closer to the battlements, the boy cut clean through the crossbow that were positioned on the rampart walls. We also lit small explosives and threw them into the other battlements that lined the tall walls. The constant bombing began to cease but there were still two battlements left to conquer.

We landed Appa on top of a grassy cliff ledge in between the last two bulwarks. "You two take out that battlement!" Hakoda ordered his children, pointing to the one behind them. "We've got this one." He jerked his head backward and then beckoned for me to follow him. "Watch each others' backs!" He called out to the siblings over his shoulder. The Water Tribe chief climbed on top of the battlement roof and I did the same. He inched closer and closer to the edge of the roofing. "You ready?" Hakoda asked me. It was rhetorical but I nodded anyway. The warrior swung himself in the battlement and I was at his heels. The Water Tribe leader was instantly sucked into a sword duel with one of the soldiers inside. I pulled a stone out from the structure and smashed the catapult that was stationed near the window. I caught a glimpse of another soldier moving towards us quickly. In his hand, he held two dark circles with lit fuses. Oh no! NO!

"Hakoda!" I called out, running to the warrior. I hurled myself at his middle and once my feet touched the ground, I pushed off and with the help of my bending we soared out the door just as the bomb went off and destroyed a corner of the battlement. I could feel the force from the blow behind me, but I was hardly injured.

"Dad?"

"Karuna?" Sokka and Katara dashed towards us. I slowly stood up off the ground and helped the Water Tribe chief to his feet. He seemed to be alright. The man brushed off some ash from his Water Tribe battle uniform. "Are you okay?" The siblings checked us for any injuries or harms.

"I'm fine, thanks to Karuna. If she hadn't pulled me out when she did, I probably wouldn't be here." Hakoda gave me a look of gratitude. I felt honored by his gratefulness and humbly bowed my head at him. I was just glad neither of us had gotten hurt in the tumult. "I owe you one." Hakoda smiled.

"We'll square up later, chief." I grinned. He didn't owe me anything. I took action because it was the right thing to do, not because I wanted a pat on the back. I knew that someone was going to get hurt if we stayed inside the battlement. But I didn't want to be disrespectful, so I didn't argue with the man. The four of us boarded Appa and rejoined the fight down below. It was time to push the invasion force forward.

Sokka and Hakoda had lead the invasion force further and the Fire Nation defense was falling back and growing weaker by the minute. Zaida and Jin stayed close to Haru and Tyro in the new formation of our troops and Raiden fought alongside Bato and the other Water Tribe warriors. Everything was going smoothly and the eclipse hadn't even occurred yet. We had yet to reach the volcano's side, but we would get there in no time if the attack continued with the same amount of strength and persistence it possessed then. Katara looked up into the sky for a brief moment. "Is that?...Is that Aang?" Baldy couldn't be back already! Ozai's not that much of a coward! But sure enough, there was something or someone flying toward us from the top of the volcano. Aang was returning very early. I had a feeling something was wrong.

"Twinkles is back already?" Toph asked in disbelief as she adjusted her helmet. Though the blind girl obviously couldn't see him approaching, she had been paying attention to Katara's observations. The avatar swooped down on his glider and landed before us.

"Aang, please tell me you're here because the Firelord turned out to be a big ass wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to beat him." Sokka pleaded. But his humor was irrelevant in this situation. I knew that wasn't the case. I had never seen Ozai's true power, but I had seen enough to know that the man would not be easy to take down. It would take an extremely long and exhausting fight. Aang shook his head grimly.

"He wasn't there. No one was. The whole palace city is abandoned!" The Air Nomad informed us, gazing upon our shocked and petrified faces.

"They knew." Sokka concluded darkly. His sharp mind had already pieced he puzzle together. "They knew we were coming!" The warrior boy threw his wolf cowl to the ground. "It's a disaster!" Things didn't look good. If we couldn't locate the Firelord, the whole invasion was pointless. But the invasion force was still carrying on strongly and effectively. The palace city residents couldn't have just vanished into thin air and neither could the Firelord. It was then, that I figured out where he had fled to.

"Don't give up yet, Sokka." I advised him. "We've covered so much ground already and we've still got time until the eclipse starts to find Ozai. We can still win this." The darker skinned boy sighed, closed his eyes and nodded his head. He then looked at me with determined, blue eyes.

"Alright. What did you have in mind?"

"Underground."