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Chapter 24

Challenge Issued

He was surrounded by an impenetrable darkness, floating in a weightlessness that seemed to go on for all of eternity. The strange thing was, he was not afraid or uneasy. There was a feeling of intense anticipation, but it was more out of eagerness than fear. Aang had no idea where he was, but he wanted to know more. Off in the distance, the faintest glimmer of light caught his peripheral and he was drawn towards it. Or rather it came to him. Where there was once nothing but a vast empty space there was now a bright light that encompassed everything. Shielding his eyes from the light as best as he could, Aang could just barely make out four large shadows coming nearer. The closer they came, the silhouettes began to take on more definitive shape. Trailing slowly behind these larger than life shapes however, was a looming figure that dwarfed them completely.

"We are waiting, Aang."

Aang's eyes slowly opened to the morning light that was shining through the eastern window. He yawned quietly and stretched as he sat up, the dream barely lingering before disappearing from his mind. He tried to remember what it had been about, but all he could remember was that it gave him a feeling a security. A sense that everything was as it should be.

Then again, he thought to himself, it could just be her.

Aang smiled fondly at the figure in bed next to him, her naked back laying exposed after he had sat up with the blanket. Memories of the night before flooded his mind as he felt the heat rush to his face. It had been nothing like what he had wanted to give her, all awkward and clumsy due to inexperience. Then again, she had seemed just as lost as he had so it was not as horrible as it could have been he supposed.

Aang drank in his wife's beauty as she lay there next to him. He placed his head down on her pillow and breathed in her scent as his hand traced the curve of her side and hip. His wife. By all of creation he loved that thought. When his hand reached the edge of the blanket he could not help but lift it a bit and sneak another peak at her exposed body.

"You know, Aang, if you want another show I don't mind giving you one."

"I might take you up on that," Aang replied as he nuzzled into her neck and kissed her. "Good morning, Toph."

"Good morning," she said as she rolled over and cuddled against him.

Toph pulled him as close as their two bodies could get and still she wanted more. She began to kiss along his neck and Aang sensed a repetition of the previous night coming on. Aang bent his head down to meet her lips in a deep kiss before he pulled her on top of him and she eagerly obliged. She pushed herself up slowly and let him gaze up at her as she felt his heartbeat.

"I guess this means I'm yours now," she smiled.

"And I'm yours," Aang answered as he sat up and held her. "Forever."

"We should probably get back to my place, huh?"

"It can wait, can't it?" Aang asked as his hands caressed her legs..

"As much as I'd like to stay here with you for the rest of the day," or the rest of my life, she thought happily, "I think we should get back to my dad before he has a heart attack."

"So you think he knows what we've been doing?"

"Twinkle Toes, you called your dad and told him to stay at my parent's place at the same time I was calling my mom to let her and dad know I wasn't gonna be coming home last night. I'm pretty sure they figured it out."

"I wonder if Gyatso figured out what else we did yesterday."

"Do you think he'd tell my parents if he did?"

"Nah," Aang replied with a shake of his head. "He knows that if I didn't tell him outright that I don't really want to share anything. He'd be respectful enough to keep it to himself until we say something about it."

Aang's hands traced a path from Toph' legs up to her back. He then began placing gentle kisses on Toph's neck before trailing them down the front of her body.

"We should really go, Aang," she whispered hoarsely while pulling him in closer.

"Yeah," was all he replied.

A few hours later Toph finally managed to drag herself away from her husband long enough to find her clothes. He pouted about not wanting to get out of bed, but did the same. It was not until she pointed out that they should probably shower before leaving that his enthusiasm returned. The water was already cascading over her before she knew what had happened. The only thing she remembered thinking was that was the first shower she had ever taken that the hot water had completely run out and she did not care.

"Okay, Twinkle Toes," she laughed as she escaped from the towel he had the two of them wrapped in. "We seriously have to go. What time is it anyway?"

"Almost noon," Aang told her. "There's not much time left, is there?"

The atmosphere immediately changed. Toph sighed and shook her head as the two of them got dressed. He was right. They kept thinking of the battle with Ozai as taking place the next day, but two o'clock in the morning barely counted as such and was much closer than either of them really wanted it to be.

"Everything's gonna be okay," she said. "We've got this. You've got this."

"Thanks, Toph," he replied. His mind was a jumbled mess all over again. He knew that he had to do something to stop what was about to happen, but he still did not have the answer he needed. "Toph, can you go ahead without me?"

"You want me to take on our parents alone? How unfair is that?"

"It's not that," Aang said. "I'm not ready yet. If I'm going to do what I have to do, then I need to make sure I'm totally ready."

Toph was silent for a long time before answering with just a small nod. She knew that he needed this. Their parents could wait until after. If there was an after.

No! she berated herself. Don't start thinking like that now!

"Do what you have to, Twinkle Toes," she told him. She walked out of the bathroom and he accompanied her to the door. "If I don't see you before tonight, I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

"I know, Toph," he smiled warmly.

"Yeah, but I needed to say it."

"I love you too."

Zuko stood atop The Jasmine Dragon under the early evening sun with a focus in his eyes intense enough to rival its heat. His hands and feet struck the air with ferocity as he attempted to make contact with his sister who moved about flawlessly. Her condescending smile that at one time would have enraged him now only became a focal point for his aim.

"You've improved a great deal, brother," she said, "but you still can't keep up."

"Maybe," Zuko retorted, "but you haven't landed a blow yet either."

Azula had to admit that he was right. Though she had taken advantage of many openings, Zuko had deftly blocked or dodged each one of her strikes in this practice bout. She would never praise him for it or openly admit that she was, in fact, trying to hit him though. If he really did plan on fighting Ozai, he had to be at his absolute best, which was the whole point in doing this with him for the past few days.

"You guys up here again?" Dwight asked from the stairwell. "Come back inside. Everyone's starting to show up."

Zuko and Azula both nodded to the cook before glaring at each other. The training had been beneficial, but had it been enough? There was no way to know until that night. Zuko followed his sister down the cramped stairwell and into the living room of the tea shop's second story. Uncle Iroh had been busying himself all day with the shop so as not to be involved leaving their house to be the center of operations. So far the only arrivals were Katara, Sokka, and Suki.

"First ones here!" Sokka cheered.

"Any idea whether or not Angel and her friends will be coming?" Suki asked.

"I doubt it," Azula replied. "They seem to have their own way of doing things. If we even see them before this confrontation it will probably be on location."

"You're probably right about that," Zuko agreed. "In the meantime, what do we have to go on?"

"We should wait for Toph and Aang," Katara said. "They're going to want to hear this too."

"What about us?" Ty Lee asked from the doorway, Mai standing silently by her side.

"What are you two doing here?" Zuko asked.

"They're here to help," Azula answered.

"This has nothing to do with either of you," Zuko scowled.

"It has enough," his sister hissed.

Azula kept to herself how Mai had approached her only a few days ago with the truth about working for the Fire Lord. Mai revealed the threats that were made to her and her family in regards to her father's past and secrets. She also told Azula about being present during the attack on the Fallen Angels headquarters.

"I may have some useful information about your target," Mai deadpanned. "Take it or leave it."

Zuko turned his gaze to Sokka. If there was anyone he trusted with intelligence judgment, it was Sokka. The man was odd beyond what should have been normal, but Zuko was all too aware of how "normal" his entire life was.

"What do you have?" Sokka asked.

"Okay, I'm here!" Toph could be heard shouting from the stairs. "What'd I miss?"

"We're just getting started," Katara told her. "Where's Aang?"

"He's not here yet?" Toph asked. "Guess he had more to work out than I thought."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked. "I thought he was going to be there."

"He will be, Hothead, so cool your jets," Toph growled. "When have you ever known Aang to let someone down?"

"We should continue with the planning," Azula said. "Until Aang arrives we'll just base our plans on him not being there. Always plan for the worst case scenario with what you have available."

"Back to what we were about to discuss," Sokka said, all eyes shifting back to Mai. "We already know about the old woman Hama, big sideburns Zhao, and that assassin with the freaky eye tattoo. What else do you have for us?"

"Wait," Katara interrupted. "What about the psycho freak that attacked us at your place?"

"Koh won't be a problem," Mai replied flatly. "Ozai was lucky to get his help on that job. Said he only did it for the fun of it. When that Kuruk guy showed up, Koh said it wasn't fun anymore and left. The only threats that you didn't mention are Long Feng and your friend Rou."

"Rou?" Toph repeated. "Rou as in 'quiet, polite, respectful, version of Qiang' Rou?"

"We're aware of who he is, Toph," Ty Lee said darkly. "And I'll take care of him myself."

Everyone stared at Ty Lee in disbelief. There was such anger in her voice that they would not have believed it was her that said it had they not been sitting in the same room with her at the time. Her eyes focused somewhere in the distance as though she was already envisioning the fight in her mind.

"I don't think any of us have ever seen that boy in a fight," Azula pointed out. "Mai, I want you to keep an eye on him as well."

"What about this Long Feng character?" Suki asked. "What should we expect from him?"

"He's more a brain than a fighter," Mai offered. "He's good with manipulation and strategy."

"Nothing that I can't handle easily," Azula said. "We've met before."

"That leaves us with Hama, Zhao, and the assassin again," Sokka said. "Any takers?"

"You said Hama is a master of Tai Chi," Suki spoke up. "Katara and I can take her."

"Me?" Katara asked.

"Of course," Suki replied. "You're experienced with Tai Chi. Also, I've seen you in your day to day. You have no idea how much you use it or how much of a warrior it's turning you into."

"I don't know about this," Katara muttered.

"Toph, you've got the best observation skills out of everyone here," Sokka said. "We don't know anything about the assassin and you're the only one that has a chance of catching anything that might give any of his skills away. What do you say? Wanna help me take him down?"

"With pleasure," Toph grinned. Try as she might, Toph could not help but feel the excitement and anticipation of the upcoming fight.

"I'll be fighting Ozai," Zuko concluded. "That still leaves Zhao unopposed."

"I can manage him along with Long Feng," Azula told him. "Hopefully he'll be a more rewarding challenge."

"All of this is a loosely constructed plan based off of us getting into an all out fight with Ozai's people without Aang there," Sokka said. "Hopefully it won't come down to that. Zuko, we're going to be counting on you to end things before they escalate too quickly."

"Time out!" Toph shouted. "One: Aang is going to be there. Two: Loose plan is right. When we do manage to royally kick their collective butts, how are we getting out? Just because Ozai goes down doesn't mean we aren't still gonna be surrounded by all the gangs from Serpent's Pass."

"We've already got something in mind for that," Suki said. "All we have to do is get out of the parking garage as quickly as we can. Angel said she and her people will take it from there."

"This is it," Zuko said. "We meet in Serpent's Pass in a few hours. Anything you need to take care of needs to be done now."

Aang's mind was still reeling and churning over the road that lay before him. After hours of meditation he could still only see two paths at the fork he now stood at. Kill or be killed. Running away was never an option, not when it meant one of his friends would have to take his place on this crossroad. The one person he really wanted to ask for guidance was also the one person he could not ask. There was no way he could approach Gyatso with this.

"What am I going to do?" he asked himself.

The sun had long since set and still he sat alone in an attempt to meditate on the problem. The cool night air blowing across his face was reminding him that he was out of time. If he did not go now, Zuko would make the challenge.

Sokka's motorcycle came to a halt just a few blocks away from the parking garage. Suki released her grip on his waist and placed her helmet on the seat. Zuko and the others stood waiting for them at the agreed upon meeting place, all of them silent. Sokka rose from his seat and grabbed Master Pian Dao's sword from the harness he had made to hold it on the bike.

"A sword?" Zuko asked.

"Call it my good luck charm," Sokka shrugged.

Zuko stood hooded in his dark coat with Katara by his side in what looked to Sokka like a martial arts gi. Toph was sitting with her back against a street light in the green and gold battle suit that her mother had made her, metal clasps on her wrists and in her hair along with her feet being traditionally bare. Beside her stood Ty Lee wrapped in a tight shirt with loose fitting pants that she bound with wraps around her ankles. Mai was close by in an over sized coat that Sokka shuddered to think what she had hiding in. His eyes took another scan of the group.

"Where're Aang and Azula?"

"I'm right here."

Azula stepped forward from the shadows. On her was a crimson shirt that darkened in color as it reached down her frame. It somehow looked odd to Sokka, but he could not tell why. Perhaps it was because they were all about to risk their lives for the sake of the city and possibly die in the middle of a slum parking garage.

"Let's get moving," Zuko ordered.

People were flooding into the garage in droves, leaving the sidewalks and streets littered with even more people working their way in. Zuko and the rest of the group were like drops of water in a river by the time they made it to the correct street. They were surrounded on all sides, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to them.

"Glad to see you made it," a familiar voice said. Zuko turned to see Angel walking beside him in that same black outfit from before. The one he was again having trouble not staring at. "Don't worry, you're safe. There are Angels all around you right now. We'll handle crowd control once you get inside. Andy's been waiting inside for the past two days."

"Two days?" Zuko asked.

"He's kind of hard not to notice," Angel reminded him. "It was the best way we could think of to get him into position. Good luck, Zuko."

Then she was gone. Not even two steps away from Zuko's side and he could no longer see her anywhere in the crowd. Knowing that there were allies in this massive crowd did little to calm Zuko's anxiousness, but every little bit was helping at this point.

Inside was not much better. People were screaming and cheering from many different levels of the complex at the two small groups of people standing in the center. One group was obviously Ozai and his people, meaning the other group had to be the gang leaders.

"And here we are again," Ozai's voice boomed, causing a hush to fall over the crowd. "Memories. Only a few short months ago did I make my glorious return and look at all that has been accomplished. And it all started right here." Ozai turned his head curiously and pointed. "Or was it there? Yes, that's the spot. The one you all called Jackal died right there. All because he would not accept my generous offer to serve me. Remember that as you bark your petty squabbles at each other tonight."

The murmurings of the crowd began again, much quieter this time. Zuko could feel his breath trying to escape his lungs, but he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. He needed to get hold of himself. It was now or never. While the entire crowd was still focused on Ozai. He took a step forward out of the crowd. He had to say something!

"Fire Lord Ozai!"

Silence struck the crowd once again. All eyes turned and Zuko's went with them. A crowd on the far side of the parking garage parted and out stepped a tall, lean figure. Aang stood calm and confident, clad in the gold an auburn monk robes that Zuko had only seen him wear once before. His eyes widened as he realized what Aang was about to do. Instantly, all of the fear and anxiety that Zuko had not allowed himself to admit was there began to abate.

"Told ya he'd be here," Zuko heard Toph's smug voice say.

"And what in the world is this supposed to be?" Ozai asked with a laugh.

"The end of unnecessary bloodshed and nightmares," Aang replied unwavering. "You have the power to stop what you're doing. I'm asking you to end this."

"End this?" Ozai asked. "Why would I end this? As you said: I have the power. The power to make all who oppose me bend to my will! True power!"

"This city will never bend to you," Aang said. "I challenge everything that you stand for. Everything that you are."

"You would be foolish enough to stand against me and this army alone?" Ozai laughed.

"No!" Zuko screamed as he took another step forward. He could feel the others emerging from the crowd with him as he stared his father down. "Not alone. We end this tonight, father."