Dashing across the rooftops, Aang was a little excited by the mere challenge of the task ahead of him, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid; he was making his way towards some kind of war-machine that he had no understanding of, and was expected to 'deal' with it. He was the Avatar, but even knowing that didn't assure him that he'd be able to win, let alone protect the civilians who might come in harm's way due to the fighting.

As much as Azula assured him that the fight would be over quickly, and as much as he wished that would be the case, he couldn't believe it for one second. Even with the airship patrolling the skies above, he knew that it wouldn't just end the fight. The Fire Nation defenders still had a plan, despite the odds, and the chaos that had ensued; that was what was clear from them marching down the streets in formation, bringing along carts filled with what looked like metal barricades.

But despite all that, he was not sure what he ought to be more worried about; the smoke coming from the edge of the city, the sounds of explosions, the fighting in the streets below, or the danger his friends were in while they were still holed up in City Hall. He pushed that back of his mind, decided to focus on his destination, the war-machine. As he approached the walls of Shengchang, he made his way to the tallest roof alongside; there, he launched himself up with an air scooter, climbing the top of the wall. There he could see the outskirts of the city, which were covered by tall fires, burning from either the woods or whatever houses were there. He couldn't see the machine that he was looking for but he was certain it had to be somewhere away from the walls.

His gaze turned up momentarily, watching as the airship flew above him, fire streams and smoke bombs spewing down from the mechanical monstrosity. It was far larger and more intimidating than the wreck he'd seen at the North Pole, and now that he was under it in action, he finally understood why Azula had wanted to use it so badly. The machine itself was complicated and impressive just by the way it was built, using something akin to his own airbending to fly, but that wasn't why it was being used; it was a way to scare her enemies, and that made him concerned. Not because it was being used, but because Aang himself was comparable to such a machine; he was something the Fire Nation was afraid of, that the other nations appeared to rally around, like he was their leader, even if he was nothing of the sort.

He dispelled that thought from his mind, knowing he had to keep his attention back on the task at hand; he momentarily glanced down the breadth of the wall, and noticed that some Fire Nation soldiers were rushing down the wall towards him, armed with pikes.

"You there, stop right there!" they ordered him, perhaps not realising he could airbend, and he decided to humour himself for just a moment, climbing up onto the edge of the wall, and facing his back to the sheer drop.

They must have thought he was crazy, because they stopped running and frantically looked at each other, "Wait, kid, don't jump!" they pleaded, and he just grinned from ear to ear, amused they'd think he'd get hurt from the drop.

"But where's the fun in not jumping?" he asked them, before stepping backwards, letting himself fall for a second, before spinning his hands around, creating an air scooter below himself; when he landed on the street below, he let the momentum of the fall carry him forward, rushing down the street before turning away from the wall, making his way back towards the warehouse, where two things he needed were- his staff, and his sky-bison whistle, which would get Appa if the worst came to bare.

As he whizzed down the street, he took notice of some frantic civilians running down the alleyways that ran parallel, from where the fighting was going on. He knew that he had to avoid the main road where the battle was, but didn't want to be completely unseen. His goal wasn't a stealthy dash for the warehouse, but to assist the protestors, and if need be, he would let the guards and soldiers give chase; they'd never catch him, after all. When he came across a unit of soldiers, they were running after some injured protestors, who were armed with pikes they must have taken off of the guards. Aang quickly got between them, jumping off his air scooter, before he spun around, creating a blast of wind that pushed out in all directions, forcing the soldiers to halt.

"What the- is that airbending?!" one of them asked his comrades, clearly shocked by what he just saw.

"Sure is." Aang eagerly grinned at the soldiers, before he leapt right over them, creating a blast right by the ground, which threw them off his their feet.

"The Avatar's here!" one of them called out, stumbling back to his feet, before pointing at him, "Get him!" he called on his comrades, who ran after him just as he had expected them to.

He ran down the street, not even bothering to conjure up an air scooter, as it would have made it too easy, and might have led to his pursuers giving up the chase, and instead going back after the protestors. He winded down the erratic alleyway, before he reached a wider road, deciding to take the chase towards the outskirts, where the warehouse lay. When he found a building that was rounded by scaffolding, he decided to use it to his advantage. Leaping up onto the first rung, he grabbed one of the bamboo poles and gave the soldiers a wave.

"How's your climbing?" he asked, and they just responded by shooting a flurry of fireballs at him; he had his reflexes to thank for not getting his new hair set alight, and ran down the scaffolding, before he leaped up when he found an opportune gap.

"Damn it, catch the boy!" one of the soldiers ordered the others, making him out as the leader; Aang just chuckled, and leapt up higher, before sending a gust at the men when they tried to follow him up.

He spun around and reached forward, his hands aiming at the roof tiles that sat above him, knowing what Toph had been able to do with just a single roof's worth. It mightn't have won the fight, but it was a great distraction. He began to raise them off the roof, ripping them from the mortar that stuck them together, before letting them drop down, falling upon the luckily helmeted soldiers. They shouted and cried out with frustration as they were forced to move about, barely able to dodge the attack.

He then spun around, motioning his hands so he could draw some tiles out and around him, like he would ordinarily do with a stream of water. Being solid and so brittle, they were not going to work the same way, but he didn't have to think too much about it. He let tile after tile loose on his opponents, forcing them to drop from the scaffolding. One of them, however, had climbed up further down the building, and was now running right at him. He could have air blasted him off, but Aang knew that would hurt somebody who couldn't airbend, so he elected to slam the tiles into his forearms, bending them into shackles. That allowed him to throw the man down onto his chest, his arms forced to stick to the scaffolding.

"Ah... You stupid child." he muttered under his breath, clearly angry, but also exhausted from the chase; he twisted his hands, opening his palms to shoot out a fireball each, striking Aang in the chest.

He stumbled back, and reflexively created a gust of wind, throwing the man back and putting out the flames on his tunic; he looked down at it, sighing as he realised he might need to replace it, as the fire burnt the fabric black. He could see another fireball in the corner of his eye, and leapt up out of the way, reaching the roof proper, where he could move back and use the cover of the building itself.

He was probably enjoying the chase a little too much, and that might have been why the universe reminded him of his actual job; a loud boom, and following rumble caught his attention, the Avatar turning around to catch a glimpse of a cloud of dust and smoke that rose up from a building only two streets away. It was the machine, which he had been entrusted to help stop, and now, with its terrifying power in his mind once again, he decided to just leap over onto a nearby roof and hightail it for the warehouse. He would need his staff if he wanted to fly and make some real damage, even if he couldn't destroy it.

Aang didn't stop after that, leaping from roof to roof, and ignored the fighting below, as well as he could. He could still hear shouting and the sounds of firebending and earthbending, telling him that the locals had gotten into the fight as well. When he made sight of the warehouse itself, he leapt back down to street level, before running right for the warehouse. He found himself cornered, however, by some soldiers, who stood by the end of the street and got into fighting position. He noticed the blue armbands they were wearing, and realised they were on his side. He pulled off his headband, revealing his tattoo, which visibly relieved the soldiers.

"Thank the spirits... I thought they were actually recruiting kids to defend Shengchang."

Aang awkwardly smiled at them, and stepped past gesturing to the warehouse, "I've just got to get my things... I'm here to help you guys."

"What about her majesty? Is she safe?" one of them asked him.

"She's holding out in the City Hall. The airship's protecting her." he explained, gesturing to the flying behemoth that sat above the city centre.

"Oh, that's what she's using it for?" he asked rhetorically, clearly surprised, "What about that mechanised catapult?"

"I'm here to destroy it." he clarified, "But I'll need your help. Where are the earthbenders?"

"Down the street, trying to hold it off. It's torn up the street and destroyed a few buildings already. I don't think we can get past that thing."

"Around it." he suggested as he strode away, "There's more gates into the city."

"But aren't you going to destroy it?"

Aang turned around as he reached the door into the warehouse, pulling out his keys, "I didn't say quickly."

Suddenly, his attention was drawn down the street, noticing something flying towards them; it was dark, and he decided just as a precaution to blast the soldiers back into the alleyway for their own safety. When the dark object hit the ground, it exploded violently, throwing Aang back through the doorway and onto the warehouse floor; he groaned in pain, not having expected such an explosion. Whatever the catapult had tossed their way wasn't flaming, making its projectiles exceptionally hard to see at nighttime. When he got back up to his feet, he could see the soldiers making their way around the crater towards him, clearly less surprised than he had been.

"Are you alright, kid?" one of the soldiers asked, and he nodded.

"I'm fine." he reassured him, before glancing into the warehouse, recalling where he'd left his staff.

He dashed up the staircase, and made his way up to their quarters, where by the entrance, his staff sat waiting for him; he was glad nobody had moved it, as he didn't want to waste another moment in the warehouse. Before he could head back down the stairs, he saw one of the soldiers rush inside with a frantic look on his face.

"I think they saw you, because a bunch of soldiers are coming right towards us!" he shouted to Aang, soon followed by his comrades, who shut the door behind themselves.

"I'll get their attention. Take the back exit and get back to the rest of the army." he told them, knowing they'd be safer in numbers; the soldiers nodded, and rushed past the staircase to the hallway that would lead them out.

He felt like he should follow, but knew that if he was who the defenders wanted, he would be who they got. The doors were, not a moment later, blasted apart by what looked like six fire streams at once. When the flames dissipated, some firebenders strode in, taking form as they aimed their hands towards the Avatar.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked them, and one of the firebenders shot a blast at him, but it was clearly too high to even hit his head; his gaze darted up, realising his true target- a oil lamp.

Aang leapt from the higher floor down onto the warehouse floor, spotting the exploding oil lamp behind him, which probably would have burned his clothes far worse than that firebender had earlier, if not setting him alight. He would have sighed if it weren't for the men who awaited him, moving around Aang's position to try and get ready for an attack.

He readied his staff, glad to have it in his hands again, and glanced at their feet, realising that they might have just assumed he could only airbend. So Aang raised his staff up into the air, spinning it around, as if he was going to make an air blast, but instead hammered it into the floor below him, earthbending out a pillar that threw two of the firebenders right off their feet. Their screams of shock were a little funny, but he ignored them at once, turning to deliver a succession of air blasts to the remaining firebenders, who used their flames to blunt his attacks, though that only led to the fire spreading around the room, setting more things alight by the second.

"Dang... I can't ruin this place." he grumbled under his breath, before pulling his hands together, creating a spinning ball of air around himself, where he was able to funnel the air, and slowly grow the ball; the effect, as expected, was that the fire had less air to burn with, and the firebenders were unable to continue bending, and struggled to even breathe, with the fire consuming all the air instead.

The men stumbled back, and one of them tried to get to the door, probably thinking that getting out would relieve him; that was correct, but just what Aang expected, and he dispersed his bubble of clean air at once, the shockwave knocking the remaining firebenders over. The one who was aiming for the door found his path cut short when he ran straight into a sheer face of rock that Aang pulled from the ground below. As he fell down unconscious, Aang smirked, wondering what the others might have thought had they seen his little beatdown.

As the flames dissipated around him, he felt confident that he could leave without having the warehouse turned into a complete dump; when he got to the door, he saw that there were more soldiers ready, surrounding the door. He would have been more worried if it wasn't for his glider staff, which he spun around, as if he was going to use it against them.

"Now would be a wise time to surrender, young Avatar." one of them warned him, and Aang just pointed his staff towards him.

"This city is surrounded. You should probably leave or give up now." he warned him, giving his honest opinion; he didn't want to needlessly fight any more Fire Nation soldiers than he had to.

As he got ready to jump up into the air, the firebenders amongst the group shot a flurry of fire streams into the air above them, creating a brilliant light show that blocked his path of escape entirely. Aang realised that they must have figured he could fly, and weren't going to take any chances.

"Okay, if you're going to play it that way... then I'll do it too." he decided, using his staff to once again earthbend, creating a number of pillars which shot up from the road, smacking into the unsuspecting soldiers.

However, that trick was only going to work once, and he was forced on the defensive, spinning his staff around to block their fire blasts, which came from all directions at erratic intervals. He mixed up his defence with a few walls of earth, which he knew would come in handy if their attacks got any worse. Their pikemen rushed forward, going to climb over the walls, but Aang was quick enough to push the walls away, throwing the pikemen back with them. He dropped the defences down, letting them try and attack him again; he instead spun around, rotating his staff as he did, bending the air around him into a funnel, sending the flames up into the sky as they were aimed at him.

When their strength was expended, he returned back to his earthbending, launching up pillars of earth in quick succession, striking man after man back, even knocking a few of them out. Throughout this, he had to continue creating shields, which would crumble with ease after a few solid fire blasts; Aang's own energy was being wasted, while he knew he had to get to their war machine and find a way to disable it.

He decided to try another strategy, and created a hole in front of himself, before dropping down into it; he knew the sewer was nearby, and if he could use it as a route to get back towards the war machine, then it would have to do, even if flying would be far faster. He heard a few thumps above him, muffled by the earth that covered the space between him and the soldiers, but they were clearly intent on reaching him. Aang placed a hand to the left, in the direction of the sewer, and cracked the stone and dirt in the way, before he bent it all out of the way, creating a hole down all the way to the tunnel, filling it with the debris left over.

"Thank you, Sifu Toph." he mumbled to himself, knowing her training had just saved his skin.

Aang rushed forwards, making his way into the sewer, before he picked up some of the dirt and stone he moved, using it cover the hole he left, knowing that if they tried to followed through his hole, he couldn't make it too easy. He then dashed down the sewer, deciding he'd make his way to another manhole, and then fly for the machine, which he would have a better chance fighting with his glider at hand.

He could hear the soldiers moving above him, and that made him run faster, ducking down to avoid running into any arches he'd seen in his earlier visits to the sewers; when he found a manhole, he slammed his staff into the ground beneath himself, creating a blast of air that shot the metal covering up into the air, giving Aang a chance to jump out.

He glanced around, noticing the Fire Nation soldiers were quick on his tail, and the covering had yet to fall back down; he pursed his lips as he realised the opportunity that presented itself, and waited for the covering to fall back close to his head. He conjured an air blast with his glider staff, shooting the metal disk at the soldiers, who were whacked to the ground, or out of the way as it pummelled through their lines.

He felt a little sorry for them, but didn't bother to check if they were alright, knowing his own safety was more important; before he could run for the main street, he found himself cornered by another group of soldiers, who shot a flurry of fireballs at him. He spun his staff above his head, funnelling the flames into the air above himself, glancing up momentarily to realise he'd just replicated Azula's move from Kyoshi Island, which had impressed him greatly at the time.

"Huh, it's not even that hard." he mumbled to himself; he then raised his left leg, bending the earth beneath his foot, before shooting it out at the soldiers.

They were quick enough to lunge out of the way of his attack, before firebending at him once more, and Aang countered it with a whack of his staff, as if he cleaved the air itself apart, causing the flames to course up and around, away from himself. He was quickly realising his mistake, as he saw the buildings burning, and embers falling down from above him; more than that, he was surrounded by soldiers on all sides, and had only a few options. Even though it wouldn't be easy, he could take the sewers once more, or more crudely, dig his own tunnel with earthbending.

"What have you guys got next?" he asked them, hoping to distract them for a few seconds while he figured out a plan.

"Some charred rags to show the Princess." one of them warned him, the young Air Nomad cringing as he realised what he meant by that; they intended to burn him alive, until there was nothing left, like his fellow Air Nomads during the Comet.

"No, that's not happening." he refused to believe him, and grit his teeth, wondering if he would have to go into the Avatar State to save his skin; he would certainly prefer not to, but if it was the only choice, he would have to, "You can't see what you're doing." he told him, knowing now what he had to do.

"None of us are blind, boy." another soldier warned him, before Aang dropped his arms down, bending the ground as far as he could reach, and shattered every bit of rock and dirt into a fine powder, ripping it from the surface.

The result of this was a massive cloud of dust that covered the whole alleyway, and probably went on further as it spread out; the soldiers now couldn't see a thing, but unlike him, he had the teachings of the badgermoles on his side.

"Sorry, what did you say?" he mocked the soldiers, before he closed his own eyes, and began airbending at each soldier, sending gust after gust at each spot he could sense their feet, throwing them into the walls or onto the ground, weaving around with haste to avoid getting hit by their frantic firebending.

Even without his sight, he could feel the flames coursing around him, and knew to stay close to the ground to avoid getting his robes burnt again. The Air Nomad leapt up to dodge a fire stream, and then hugged the wall to dodge a flurry of of fireballs; with each attack, he had to return in kind, spinning his glider staff around to create air blasts, knocking a few soldiers back each time, and sometimes earthbending, creating pillars to strike soldiers, or sinking their feet into the ground to ensnare them, making them all the more easier targets.

When the dust cleared, most of the soldiers were still standing, but many had been injured or sent into a daze, and some were even lying on the ground, unable to continue fighting. That was the result he wanted, but it wasn't enough to end the fight then and there; they all moved into formation on either side of him, ready to strike him down with their firebending.

Something else caught his attention in the distance, sensing footsteps coming down the road, and he realised that somebody was coming to join the fight. When he felt the earth rumble beneath his feet, he realised what was about to occur, and kick-jumped off of the wall beside him to get out of the way when the whole alleyway was ripped up, sending men flying off their feet, smacked together or out of the way by pillars of earth that shot out of what had been solid ground. Then came the boulders, small but fast, tossed at the soldiers, who ran off frantically, realising that they were now outmatched. Aang turned around, and saw the instantly recognisable fatigues of Jianren and his fighters, having arrived to join the battle.

"I'm really happy to see you guys again." he admitted with a grin, and their leader stepped forward, saluting Aang.

"Avatar Aang, we didn't think you'd be out here in the thick of it." he acknowledged his odd position, "Where is the Princess and the others?"

"In the city centre, fighting the soldiers there." he clarified, before pointing behind me, "Could you help with that machine that keeps blowing stuff up? That's what I'm here to get rid of."

"Ah." the leader gasped, looking down the street with an uneasy glance, "Well, I guess that fits our job description. We could stick in a pit and cover it up."

"I hope it's that easy." the Avatar admitted, "I'll fly ahead, and tell you what I can about it."

"You haven't seen it yet?" one of the fighters asked him, "How come?"

"I didn't have my glider with me then." he explained, "We had to sneak into City Hall... I'd have been found if I had this thing." he conceded, before opening the glider, "See you there!" he farewelled the group, before launching himself up into the air.

Once he was above the roofs of the buildings, it wasn't too hard to airbend his glider forward, keeping his height steady as he flew in the direction of the flames and smoke. As Aang drew nearer, he made sight of some earthbenders, distinguished by their green and brown clothes, and he decided to land beside them, in the street across from the machine, which he could barely make out through the smoke.

When he arrived, he was almost whacked by a boulder one of the earthbenders tossed his way, maybe thinking Aang was some kind of projectile; he weaved out of the way of it, before landing down, the earthbenders relieved to see it was just him.

"Hi guys." he addressed them with a smile and wave, "Does anyone know how we can destroy that thing?"

"It's attacking us whenever we try to get close, or the firebenders guarding it shoot at us." one of the earthbenders explained, before one of them stepped forward, Aang recognising him as Chang, the owner of the tavern and underground fighting ring.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Avatar... I'm glad you are." he admitted, before pointing down the alleyway, "If you could fly around and catch their attention, we'll be able to get closer, and try and knock the machine over, at least. It's destroyed a lot of our neighbourhood already, and we're more than ready to get our pound of flesh." he assured the young Avatar, before glancing down the road, "Who's back there?"

"They're some earthbender friends of Azula." he explained, "They'll help you deal with this thing."

"Ah, it's about time we got some back-up." he smirked, and Aang narrowed his eyes, before raising a pillar out of the ground, shooting it down the alleyway.

"I can earthbend too. Don't forget that." he reminded him, before he stomped his right foot down, creating another pillar, this time shooting himself up into the air, before opening his glider, spinning around to make himself known as he rose up above the street, making sight of the machine.

It was a massive, hunking contraption, like a carriage, but far bigger, with a catapult fastened to the top, and a rack of boulders lined up on its back, ready to be launched. When Aang flew over to a that sat rooftop above, he landed, and immediately began firing roof tiles down upon the soldiers that surrounded the machine. However, they were quick to respond, and spun around, conjuring shields and shooting out volleys of fireballs, striking the rooftop around him, forcing him to spin his staff around. He dispersed any flames that might have otherwise hit him, but their attacks grew more rapid, while he was forced to remain on the defensive.

He grit his teeth, frustrated that he was being distracted from the task at hand, and decided to take a different tack; he leapt up from the roof, bending a hole in the street beneath him, and dropped right down into it. The firebenders could no longer attack him, and the hole was closed over before they could get around to send some fireballs into it. He then, in the footsteps of his sifu, laid waste to those soldiers, one by one, throwing them back into the walls, or into the machine they were supposed to defend, before latching their feet into the ground, keeping them in place. When he was confident they were all dealt with, he opened the hole back up, and leapt out.

"Guys, the firebenders are stuck. Now's our chance!" he shouted out to the earthbenders, beginning to bend the ground beneath the machine to try and get it stuck; if he could just bend the metal off of the frame, it'd be a lot easier to just get whoever was operating it to stop, but since he couldn't he had to just hope they'd surrender once they were trapped.

The machine had just lopped off another boulder, and he realised he could bend them away; so, he reached a hand out, bending one of the boulders off, tossing it down the street. He grinned as he realised he didn't even need to dig the machine into the ground, and was about to toss another when suddenly, a burst of steam and smoke came from the machine, covering his field of vision. He coughed as he inhaled the smoke and steam, and realised it wasn't just that; it must have been a smoke bomb of sorts, like the ones Sokka had made for their attack on City Hall.

He was about to jump back into his hole, but he was shot in the chest by a fireball, throwing him back down onto the cobbled street; Aang gasped out in pain, though he was glad that he hadn't got burned, simply singed by the fabric burning. He was still disoriented, and decided to try and move back, to avoid getting hit again, airbending a bubble around himself; that got rid of the smoke, but he still couldn't see much outside the bubble itself. He knew he was still in immediate danger, and blasted the air outwards, expanding the bubble until it pushed all the smoke away, revealing the soldiers, who were moving to surround him.

"Surrender!" one of them commanded him, and the young Air Nomad just took form once more, ready to earthbend his way out of the problem, just like Toph would have wanted him to.

"No." he flatly refused, before raising a wall in front of and behind himself, blocking a flurry of fireballs aimed at him from either side.

He then bent the wall in front of him ahead, ramming right into one of the soldiers, giving Aang another chance to bend the boulders out of the machine; he reached an arm up, aiming to grasp one of them and toss at the soldiers, for good measure. He wasn't expecting one of them too have climbed onto the machine, shooting a fireball right at his arm; he yelped out in pain as it struck him, making him spin and recoil as he tried to airbend at him, only conjuring a meagre gust that just delayed the inevitable.

Aang turned to face him, gritting his teeth as he readied himself to earthbend again, only to see one of the boulders launch up on its own volition, smacking the soldier right off of his feet, throwing him back off of the machine. He could see that two of the earthbenders had come around to assist him, and they began bending beneath the machine, ready to try and bury it, or at least, make sure it could no longer operate; the boulders were already tossed onto the street, so they at least didn't need to worry about it firing until the firebenders tried to reload it.

He followed suit, reaching his hands towards the ground, before bending the earth beneath it; it began to crumble, helped by the massive weight of the machine, but he couldn't bend quickly enough, as smoke and steam came from the machine once more. Aang coughed and sputtered, but grappled his staff, swinging it down towards the ground to part the smoke, which was blasted up into the air and dispersed, stopping him from inhaling it once again.

He grit his teeth as he tried to bend the ground apart, taking a lower stance; even though bending didn't require physical strength, it was taxing on the body no matter how strong one was. He had to conserve his energy if he wanted to keep fighting; he wasn't just going to falter now, with the machine without any boulders to launch and the firebenders in disarray.

"I really wish I could bend this thing open." he muttered under his breath, before he felt the machine shift, the hole finally growing large enough for it to begin dipping inside.

"Just a little longer!" he heard Jianren shout to his fighters, and he was right, as a few moments later, the machine fell right down into the pit, the force of it making the ground shake beneath them.

As the firebenders got back up, they realised what had just happened, and they clearly weren't in a good mood, immediately moving to attack them; Aang still had one of the walls up, and used it as a projectile, shoving it into one of the men, before he blasted him off his feet with a swing from his glider staff.

"We've got more incoming!" one of the earthbenders warned him, and he turned to see that there were a number of soldiers, both on foot and mounted on komodo rhinos, heading down the main road towards them.

Aang moved into form, and quickly began shooting pillars out of the road ahead of them, hoping to trip up the komodo rhinos as they charged forward; when that didn't work, he instead reached his arms forward, pulling the cobbles out of the road and using them to smack soldiers off their steeds, or off their feet. He didn't realise at first, but there were more soldiers than earthbenders, and though his allies were good at fighting, they couldn't stop them from reaching the machine. Aang leapt up on top of it, hoping he could stop them from reloading it with the boulders; he grabbed one that was on the ground, and used it to ram into one of the soldiers coming towards him, throwing him flat on his face. The others got the message, and formed lines, shooting out fire streams to try and push him and the earthbenders away.

"Wall up!" he heard Jianren order his men, and they did just that, creating walls of earth that blocked the street, through they quickly began to crumble under the constant bombardment of flames.

Aang grit his teeth, knowing more reinforcements for their side must be on the way, decided he had to keep the soldiers occupied. He ripped apart the wall in front of him, and began bending the road apart, using cobbles, dirt and roof tiles from the surrounding buildings to barrage the unsuspecting soldiers. They turned their flames towards him instead of the walls, and he just jumped up dodging their attacks as he opened his glider. Knowing that if he dropped back down, he'd be in a sore spot, he flew over the soldiers and landed behind them, before conjuring a quick succession of air blasts, throwing them back before they could try and hit him.

But that only lasted for a few moments, after which they began shooting volleys of fireballs at him; he could deflect or disperse most of them with his airbending, but when a fire whip caught his arm, and made him drop his staff, he realised he couldn't continue fighting alone. He cringed in pain, and created an air blast to hold them off for a moment while he raised earth around himself, realising he might lose control, and go into the Avatar State. He was in pain, and he was afraid, and from what he could remember, that was exactly the kind of feelings he had before the last time he unleashed his powers.

"No." he muttered under his breath, trying to earthbend at the soldiers behind his shielding, even if he couldn't see.

His seismic sense wasn't as effective when he was frantically trying to sense where every single soldier was; they moved around, quickly figuring out his strategy, and he elected to just raise as many cobbles as possible, all at once. They shot up from the road, smacking a number of the soldiers out unconscious, but most were unharmed, or at least, were able to continue moving around him, barraging his small shell of earth again and again with their firebending. The heat was quickly getting to him, and he realised that he had left his staff outside; it wouldn't be an easy escape, any way he tried.

Aang's hopes were raised when he realised he could sense the water beneath his feet, the rushing of its flow visible to his seismic sense; the sewer water was his last hope, and he slowly raised his hand, ripping a hole in the nearest manhole, breaking it open; the soldiers must have noticed, as they moved to approach; maybe they thought he was trying to sneak out, but they were sorely mistaken. A rush of water blasted out of the manhole, and though he couldn't see it, he could hear their shouts and cries as the water spun around him, the stream throwing them back and inundating their flames.

He burst from his shell, now able to see his scattered opponents, ready to attack; he pulled the water closer, and was ready to water whip every soldier that neared him, only to find his flames burst into steam by a flurry of fireballs. Without any way to see, he heard their shouting and thumping footsteps, mirroring his hastened heartbeat.

"I'm sorry." he mumbled, knowing what would come next as he took a deep breath, letting them take control; they were always in the back of his mind, but he usually couldn't understand their desires.

That very moment was quite different, as they all seemed to be shouting in unison- fight back; and when he bent the steam away, Aang drew back into his mind, knowing that he had little choice in the matter. The earth shattered beneath his feet, and the flames in their palms were drawn toward him, circling him just as the water had, and that was when he heard it, his own voice, distorted beyond belief.

"Leave this place, or pay the price." he commanded them in a booming, alien voice, as if a thousand others were layered over his own, "I will not say it again."

Without any say in the matter, Aang tried to close his eyes, but only found his vision receding to darkness as he was taken from his own body, in a way. Whatever followed, he had no say over, no matter the suffering that might occur. If he could have closed his eyes, he would have, and shed a tear for the sake of those who stood in the path of the Avatar.


The sound of birds chirping signified the start of a new day, and it might have usually roused Katara from her slumber; that morning, however, was different to most that preceded it. She had fallen asleep in a chair, beside her young friend, who had passed out in the middle of a street. The sight itself hadn't been that foreign, but she was forced to carry him back to City Hall with the help of her brother.

Aang was in a sorry state, and hadn't woken yet, his body clearly showing the signs of burns and bruises he must have received in the fighting. She looked at her own arms, noticing that she was mostly unscathed barring a few scratches, and her face getting battered by a fireball. She feared she had gotten concussed, and stayed up for a few more hours, helping out her brother, Renshu, and Azula, but after long enough, the fighting had finished, and she resigned herself to watch over Aang.

"I shouldn't complain about my head." she muttered to herself, placing a hand on Aang's shoulder, "You're the one who really put your neck on the line there." she acknowledged.

"Are you alright in there?" she heard Ty Lee's voice address her, and Katara turned her gaze towards the door, where she could see her shadow.

"I am." she confirmed, "Come in." she allowed her, though she didn't really need permission; the acrobat pulled the sliding door open, glancing over to Aang, which made her pout.

"He really took a beating out there." she admitted, "Maybe Sokka should have gone to help him."

"I know my brother's smart, but I don't know what good he would have done against that machine." she conceded, and Ty Lee stepped closer to the bed, sitting down on the end of it.

"So, how are things going out there?"

"Azula's keeping everyone organised. All the fires have been put out, and the streets are cleared, from what I can see." she explained, before cringing, "I really think she ought to sleep. It can't be good to stay up this long."

"You've slept?"

"Don't you remember? I nodded off in the basement of the City Hall, when I was guarding the Governor." she explained, before snickering, "Maybe I shouldn't have said that bit aloud."

"Ah, he wasn't going to try and escape again." she assured her, knowing that after the beating he'd received twice, he couldn't reasonably want to try and run again, "Where's my brother?"

"I passed him on the way here." she clarified, "I think he had just gotten up from sleeping."

"I don't think this building was designed to be slept in." she noted, finding that the best she got was a chair next to Aang's bed, before glancing around the room, "Luckily they have an infirmary."

"I'll make sure to go get some of our things from the warehouse. I think we can be excused to stay here." Ty Lee told her with a grin, "I'm just glad that battle's over. I can't imagine what the people here are thinking now."

"That we might be the savages that they're afraid of." Katara suggested, recalling the attitudes that Azula had of their people when she first arrived at the South Pole; she hadn't spoken very favourably of the Earth Kingdom either, telling her that the general populace wouldn't like to be faced with rule by outsiders.

"At least Azula didn't make them use the airship properly." she noted, "That would have... well, you can imagine." she left her to think of the devastation it could bring upon a city like Shengchang.

The Water Tribe girl pouted, and thought as to what might come of the war between Azula and Ozai, even if she felt that the Princess was more than justified to act against her crazed father, "This can't end well."

"If less people die, then we can't just do nothing." Ty Lee retorted, confident in her own stance, "I thought that just sitting things out was a good idea because it'd keep me safe, but what's the point of being safe if it costs so much blood. The Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes... we're all divided, but nobody's any less human."

"Of course." she agreed, before turning away, "Once I wouldn't have agreed with you... I'm ashamed to say it."

"I know." she acknowledged, "We were taught to fear your people too... except, I don't think we had a good reason to."

"I wish enough people had seen what I've seen." she whispered, "All of this wouldn't have happened if Azula didn't see the world for what it was. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't see a way out of this. I would have just thought fighting until the Fire Nation was gone was the only way." she acknowledged.

"Well, we're not here to kill anyone." Ty Lee assured her, "That's why all those soldiers are going to be imprisoned, not killed." she added, reminding her of the plan Azula had in mind; she could have forced them all to leave the city, or tried to kill the soldiers, but she chose to hound them up, and try to at the very least see if they could turn to her side.

"How many could betray their Fire Lord?" she asked, and Ty Lee almost laughed.

"Fire Lord? That title doesn't really mean much anymore. Until a few weeks ago, there were three of them."

"Don't let Azula hear you say that." she heard another voice, turning to see that her brother had arrived, probably drawn over by the conversation.

He didn't seem that battered after the fighting, though he had a few bandages wrapped around his abdomen; she recalled that he'd gotten hit after seeing her get knocked out, though she only learned of it after the fact. She did feel a little guilty, knowing that if she'd been paying more attention, she probably would have avoided that fireball, and Sokka wouldn't have gotten burnt either.

"Sorry about your side." she conceded, "Are you feeling alright?" she asked, hoping that he'd recovered; knowing her brother, he was going to be up about doing stuff in no time, though she'd prefer he would do so while not so obviously in pain.

"I've felt better. You did good last night, both of you." he assured them with a warm smile, striding into the room, "How's our little Air Nomad going? Not dead, I see." he joked, gesturing to Aang, whose face was twitching at that moment, perhaps dreaming while they were speaking over him.

"He hasn't gotten up yet, not even to relieve himself." she admitted, "At least the Avatar State did its job... that machine won't bother us any more."

"Yeah, but I also wanted to figure out how it worked." Sokka reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.

"Can't you ask Jianren, or one of his fighters? They must have gotten a good look." she suggested, knowing that being disappointed about the machine's destruction was inconsiderate of the struggle it had taken to destroy it.

"I wanted to, but they all went to sleep before I had a chance." he admitted with a pout, before pointing at Aang, "He really knows how to... well, get things done, when he wants to."

"I think that was his past lives, not Aang. Remember last time, he couldn't remember a thing that happened while he was in that state." Katara admitted, making Ty Lee raise a brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I remember him thrashing half an army. It was really cool, honestly." he admitted with a smirk, making Ty Lee's head perk up.

"Wow... I didn't realise he had that in him." she conceded, glancing back over to Katara, "What did you think?"

"He got the job done, but he clearly doesn't enjoy going into the Avatar State. It mustn't be the most comfortable experience."

"Getting possessed by the spirits of dead people." Sokka described, albeit crudely, what Aang had experienced, "It doesn't sound pleasant... I'm glad I don't have to worry about anything like that."

"Spirits are dangerous." the Water Tribe girl admitted, "I think there's a reason the Avatar is the only one who's meant to deal with them."

"Does it have something to do with the hundred voices and glowing eyes?" he rhetorically asked her, and Katara just looked back to Aang.

"I mean that all that power... it's not just bending four elements. It's something... stranger."

"I've heard of a lot of weird things, but the Avatar's got to be one of the wackier ones." Ty Lee gave her thoughts, "He's all his past lives... but also not."

"Well, at the very least, he can use that power. Probably the most dangerous reflexes of all time, but I'm not going to complain when he's on our side." her brother admitted, obviously wanting to focus on the good that came from such a shocking and mysterious power.

"Huh?" she heard Aang mumble, having awoken, probably due to their incessant commentary on his powers; he blinked a few times, before his lips pursed into a weak smile, "Hey... so, we won, right?"

"Yeah, we won." Sokka replied, stepping closer to the bed he was lying on, "You really did a number on that thing."

"Oh, good." he admitted, before turning his eyes away, seeming concerned, before he flipped back, putting on a smile, "So, what happened after I... well, you know."

"Azula's army closed in, and the rest of the defenders just surrendered." Sokka explained, "It wasn't too long after you got all glowy and exploded that war machine."

"Did many people get... hurt?" he asked nervously.

"Well... I mean, this is a war." Katara admitted honestly, not knowing how to address the subject; Aang was clearly concerned that he killed someone, or multiple people, and from what wreckage she saw the night prior, it was clear that whoever was inside was certainly slain, "I didn't see what happened there." she admitted, her words half a lie, as she saw the devastation, but that was after the enemy soldiers had well and truly surrendered and been marched out, and the wreckage cleared out of the way so that the rest of Azula's forces could enter the walls.

"Yeah, we weren't there." Ty Lee assured him, "The battle's over."

"And if you're going to ask about the rest of the fighting... well, we didn't lose too many people. The shock of the airship was enough to make a lot of them run and hide." Sokka explained, seeming quite proud of the construction which he partook in, "The threat of that machine will change this war, Aang, I'm sure of it."

"So, I won't have to do that again?" he asked, and that made the siblings smile at him.

"You're the Avatar, not a soldier." Katara stressed, "You're here to lead... and negotiate. Fighting should only have to be a last resort." she explained what she thought would be expected of him in future, "And you're twelve."

"A hundred and fourteen." he added, as if that really meant much in the eyes of anyone who saw past the 'Avatar' visage.

"I don't think anyone is going to think that matters." Sokka frankly told him, making the boy pout for a moment before he just chuckled.

"Well, I'd prefer to still be a kid."

"You are." Katara assured him, "That's why we're here to take care of you... I mean, as much as we can." she added, not feeling overly confident she had the ability to protect Aang, nor if he had the desire to be protected.

"I'm an Air Nomad. I'm pretty good at getting out of messy situations." he grinned back at her, before scrunching his lips up, "So, uh, are we going to do anything?"

"Breakfast?" Ty Lee asked with an eager grin, making Sokka salivate.

"I was just gonna ask if Kat-" he began, before realising that she mightn't have the energy or desire to make food, "Yeah, we'll get some breakfast. Uh, but otherwise... not immediately. The city needs to be prepared for when those reinforcements arrive, but that's the job of the soldiers."

"Oh, I completely forgot about that." Aang admitted, clearly nervous with the implication they'd soon be in another battle.

"Don't worry, we've got some solid plans for that, and if all else fails, the airship will scare the life out of those soldiers." the Water Tribesman assured him, before he strode over to the door, "Maybe we should let Aang get properly dressed, and then we'll go and check on Azula."

"What is she doing?" Katara asked, actually unsure what the girl was doing at that very moment; she knew that she was commanding her men to secure the whole of Shengchang, but that couldn't have taken too long.

"All the surrendered soldiers are being rounded up into the barracks nearby."

"All of them?" Katara asked, recalling there were over a thousand soldiers before they attacked, at least according to what the local supporters had told them.

"Yeah, all of them." he confirmed, "Well, are you going to come along?" he asked Aang, who pursed his lips into a smile.

"Uh, yeah. I will." he agreed, "I want to see how the city is, anyway. The people are the ones we should be worried about."

"It's not like anyone burned down a neighbourhood." Sokka assured him, "The Earth Kingdom district was... battered, to say the least, but they're already fixing things up as we speak."

"Oh... I guess with their bending that helps." he noted, and the Water Tribe warrior nodded.

"Yeah, even Toph's giving a hand. Said she 'hates standing around more than menial jobs'." he recalled, before chuckling, "I think she just doesn't want to admit she actually likes helping people out."

"Yeah she's a bit stubborn." Aang conceded, chuckling momentarily.

"Reminds me of somebody." Katara added, making Sokka scoff, striding out of the door.

The Avatar then turned to face the Water Tribe girl, offering her what looked like a reassuring smile, "I'll get ready now."

"Alright." she nodded, giving him a smile before she turned to follow her brother out the door; she'd leave him to get himself dressed.

Ty Lee came out after her and closed the door behind herself, glancing back towards the other girl with a narrowed glare, "Do you think he's okay?" she whispered, and without a good answer, Katara just shrugged.

"I can't imagine what it's like, but we're here for him. That's what counts." she gave her thoughts, before pacing on after her brother, who was heading back to the foyer.

She increased her pace, catching up before he got to the front door, placing a hand on her brother's shoulder, "Are you alright? I do mean it when I say I'm sorry about last night."

"Yeah, I know, Katara. You've got a problem with caring a little too much."

"Too much? I don't think you can." she retorted, knowing that her ability to show empathy and consideration for those she cared about wasn't a flaw in any regard.

"When you care too much, you can start acting irrationally." he argued, "You can be annoying when that happens."

"Oh, really?" she scoffed, before shaking her head, knowing that getting into an argument would just ruin her morning, "Well, whatever. I'll care about what I want to."

"That's good." he nodded, surprisingly approving of her decision.

"But you just said-" she began, but he raised a hand, cutting her off.

"No, you should care. But don't let that blind you to what matters." he advised her, and she crossed her arms.

"When did you get so wise?" she asked, genuinely curious as to how he came to think in a way that was so more mature than the Sokka she once knew, before his escapade across the Earth Kingdom with Azula.

"When I had to start dealing with the dilemma of betraying our people." he retorted, not seeming pleased in the slightest.

"You didn't." she assured him, and Ty Lee decided that was the opportune time to walk right up in their faces.

"Yeah, treachery is more like actually harming your people. I haven't seen or heard you doing anything like that... plus, the battleship thing was Azula's idea." she assured him, making both Katara and Sokka scoff, and begin laughing; she had almost forgotten about their arrival at the North Pole, with a ship they stole from a man who tried to imprison them.

"First wrong assumption there is that you think I consider them my people. They're Water Tribe, but... not like us." he argued, before shaking his head, "I'm not getting onto that one again. I think it makes me sound like I'm mad that they got out of the war basically scot free." he admitted, before Katara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, you kinda did make that point, didn't you?"

"I did... but I think it was a bit dumb of me to say. That's like being mad at Ty Lee for having a safe childhood as a noblewoman. She didn't choose that."

"You can say that again." the acrobat mumbled, sounding rather frustrated about that fact of her life.

"What, do you have an issue with being safe?"

"No, with being... uh, well, there's six girls who look and sound exactly like me. It's a little hard to feel like my own person with them around." she clarified, before shaking her head, and walking out the front door, "I love them, though." she added, as if to assure them she wasn't mad at her sisters.

"Huh, that would be weird." Sokka conceded, before shrugging his shoulders, "Well, are we going to get to the barracks or what?"

"That sounds like a walk." Katara mumbled, and Sokka pulled a smirk.

"Oh, that's why I solved that problem for us." he assured her, before gesturing around the corner; Katara stepped outside to see that Appa was sitting in front of the city hall with a few stacks of hay to eat.

"Hey big guy." she gave the sky bison a wave, "Good to see he's safe."

"Yeah, I heard from some of the soldiers that they came past him last night. Gave each other a fright, supposedly." Sokka clarified, before smiling, "But he's all good. Not a scratch on him. The forest must be a good place for him to get nice and fat."

"I mean, isn't he already?" Ty Lee asked, gesturing to the massive size of the creature.

"He isn't fat, that's just what sky-bison look like." Aang piped up, the group turning around to see him approaching them, now dressed back into his disguise; Katara realised that she'd forgotten to get his clothes from the warehouse, but she assumed he wouldn't mind wearing his Fire Nation outfit at least for the morning.

"Well, he is big. Not complaining when he has to scare off some soldiers." Sokka gave his thoughts.

"That hasn't happened yet." the Avatar noted, and the Water Tribesman just smirked.

"Exactly, but my boy's ready." he acknowledged, patting the sky-bison on his brow.

"Let's get moving. I wanna actually see how many prisoners there are." Ty Lee suggested, and the others looked her way with confusion; Katara was less confused and more just surprised she was interested in that- she admittedly wanted to check on Azula, and gauge her feelings, given she was their leader, for all intents and purposes.

"I was more thinking Azula is going to have some jobs for us." she gave her feelings.

"Exactly." Sokka agreed with her point, "For better or worse."

"What, are you tired of this already?"

"This isn't my first battle, and it won't be my last." he conceded, before he paced over to Appa, "Could somebody give me a lift?" he asked, and Ty Lee obliged, offering a hand to boost him up.

He leapt up onto the saddle, before turning around, offering a hand to help her up, and after her, Katara. Aang got up easily with his airbending, jumping onto Appa's neck, giving the sky-bison a pat, before he took charge of the reins.

"Alright buddy, yip-yip!" he called on the creature, who gave out a deep roar, before he leapt into the air, causing them to quickly fly up and around the City Hall.

It didn't take long for Katara to get a wide view of Shengchang, which she admittedly hadn't gotten when they first arrived, given that they had come into the city by foot. The city was far larger than any place she'd visited before. Even Gaochao wasn't comparable, despite its walls and bustling streets; the city covered an entire valley, with the creek that ran through it barely noticeable, barring a few small green spaces in the city centre. Ahead of them, she could see the edge of the city, which was filled with small farms and swathes of tilled fields.

Beyond them lay the barracks, which seemed a lot smaller than she'd imagine from that height; it was a square-shaped set of buildings, surrounded by a tall steel wall. Most noticeable were the line of soldiers being led inside, with an encampment already surrounding the exterior. She imagined that was where much of Azula's army had set themselves up. There were so many soldiers, more than could fit in such a small space.

Appa flew around the barracks twice, before slowing down as he approached an open space within the barracks, where she immediately made sight of their target; Azula stood, flanked by her guards, and by a number of Jianren's men, who were watching over the soldiers as they stood in lines, being checked by other soldiers.

When the sky-bison landed, the group got off as quickly as they could, and Sokka took the lead, giving what seemed like a mock salute to the Princess, "Your highness, we're reporting for duty."

"If it were anyone else, I'd be pleased to hear them say that." Azula responded, dropping her crossed arms as she looked behind her boyfriend, "I see Aang's recovered." she noted, "How are you feeling?"

"Uh... not weird. A little sore, but I think Katara healed me... right?" he turned to face the Water Tribe girl, who nodded; she had provided some care when Jianren took him back to the City Hall, but since then, he'd just been sleeping in the infirmary.

"I was there for that." the Princess clarified, before gesturing towards the soldiers, "To our luck, these men have chosen the easy route over the hard one."

"I mean it was hopeless to keep on fighting." Ty Lee piped up, "Aang showed them, didn't he?" she elbowed the Princess, who just narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"He did. You have my thanks, Aang. I understand that... well, I shouldn't claim I can understand what you have to go through."

"It is hard to explain." the Air Nomad mumbled, before he perked his head up, putting on a happy face, "Don't worry about me. What about the city? Is everyone safe?"

"The damage is being dealt with at once. Some of Jianren's men are leading the local earthbenders in fixing up any spot damage they can find, but it will take some weeks for some of the work to be done." she clarified, "The people are safe for now... but those reinforcements won't be long now. We must prepare the city at once. I have plans to evacuate the entire population into the walled city for the duration of any fighting."

"We could just bring the fight to them." Katara gave the first thought that came to mind, "That'd be safer for everyone here."

"These men may try to defect, and assist their comrades if we were to draw out of Shengchang." Azula told them what she thought might happen, "That would make our work all the more harder. I would not like the propaganda of me massacring these men with a firebombing." she bluntly addressed what she would have to do.

"That would not be necessary." Aang stressed, and the Princess turned her head away.

"Do you believe these soldiers would not enact reprisals against my men and the Earth Kingdom populace here for their actions?" she asked, and Sokka grasped her by the shoulder.

"Hey now, we don't need to worry about that, because we'll make sure it doesn't happen." he assured her, before glancing over, "Oh, hi Jianren. How are you?" he addressed the leader of the earthbending battalion, who just raised his chin.

"As well as I can be. Many of my fighters were hurt badly by that machine and those aiding it; thanks to the Avatar, I am alive. We are all alive." he acknowledged, turning to face Aang, who he gave a bow.

Katara was a little surprised by the deference he was showing; obviously, it had been in Azula's plans to get the people of the Earth Kingdom and their fighters to support Aang, so they could all work together, but it seemed more like they actually saw him as their leader, not the Princess. He was only twelve, but he had the heart and the strength to raise a nation back from the brink; the Water Tribe girl couldn't help but admire that, even if the implications brought concerns from the back of her mind.

"And we will remain so." Azula stressed, "Now, I have something to say." she stated her intentions, before turning to Jianren, "Could I have a podium?"

He glanced at the ground below them, clearly thinking about her request; he could just refuse it, but his smile told Katara he thought otherwise, "Oh, well, it would look rather intimidating. I like your thinking, Princess." he noted, before flicking his hand up, raising Sokka and Azula up into the air on a stone podium, well above all the soldiers, whose gazes turned to face her.

The two of them remained silent for a few moments, and it was unclear what they'd do; that was until Sokka stepped in front of the Princess and let out a shout, "This is your Fire Lord!" he declared, "She will bring damnation to all who dare to stand against her! Do you?!" he questioned them all, and though many seemed confused and uncertain, Azula's loyal soldiers quickly moved into form, their guarding becoming a very real danger to the lives of the prisoners.

It didn't take long for all of them to fall to their knees, presumably a sign of respect to the girl who claimed to be their Fire Lord; she pushed ahead of Sokka, and raised her hands up, though it was a little hard for Katara to actually see her face.

"Soldiers of the Fire Nation, you fought valiantly last night to protect this city, a city of the Fire Nation, from those who you see as traitors and enemies of our people. I am here to tell you, I will never betray the Fire Nation; I am not the ruler of the Fire Nation... I am its sole servant." she declared, which surprised the group below her; she was not like her to speak so lowly of herself.

"I would rather die than see my nation turned to blood and ash by the hands of those who claim to protect it. Whatever you have been promised by my father, it is but a lie. He is not as strong as you believe, and his intentions will not bode well for you, your families or the future of this very city. He seeks for you all to die in the field of battle, for his victory, which will only lead to more death. There is no prosperity, no peace, and no future where he treads." she declared her beliefs, which were surprisingly well received; the soldiers did not cower, or scowl, but looked up towards her in awe, "Our fight is not with you, it is with him, and his foolish plans to bring us another century of death and misery."

After a few moments of silence, Azula's own soldiers raised their fists into the air, and chanted, "Hail the Blue Dragon!"

The Princess seemed ready to chuckle at that, though she immediately straightened her form, eyeing down at the imprisoned soldiers, "If you swear yourself to my cause, you will have the freedom to serve, but if you do not, you will remain here. Once the war is over, you will live as free men, for your only crime was doing your duty in defence of this city."

The soldiers remained kneeling for her, and Jianren proceeded to lower the platform, before one of the officers nearby shouted at the soldiers, "Divide yourselves! Those that will remain to the left, and those that will serve to the right!"

Many of the soldiers seemed uncertain as they rose to their feet, but it didn't take long for most of them to make up their minds. Of those who were present, most went to the right, indicating that they were willing to swear themselves to Azula; a few hundred men remained on the left, and they were herded by Azula's men into the barracks.

"Well, that... that worked." Aang admitted, looking impressed with Azula's achievement.

The Princess turned to face the officer that gave out the command, "Colonel, have these men rearmed and fed, and send them east, I need to ensure the flanks are secure, and that our base of operations remains safe from any counterattack. They cannot stand here to defend, for treachery is more than likely, especially among the officer corps."

"Of course, your majesty." he bowed in respect, before snapping a finger, "You heard her men, let's get these turncoats prepared." he commanded his subordinates, who moved out to ensure the command was heeded; the Colonel turned back to the Princess, "What of the officers?"

"They should be seconded by our men, so find some suitable lieutenants. If they betray us, they die first. They will lead by example, as any leader should." she told him, making Katara cringe; perhaps the old Azula was still in there, waiting for her moments to give her ruthless, biting commands, that would make any man fall in line.

"It will be done. We will outpace any mutinous intentions, as you did against my former colleagues." the Colonel acknowledged her prior achievement, which Katara hadn't heard that much about.

She heard that Jianren and his men had played a trick against Azula's own subordinates, and that had outed some of them as potential defectors to her father's side. She felt that kind of subterfuge was necessary at times, even if she didn't want to employ it herself; their enemies were so much stronger than them, at least from what she could tell. The only thing going for them was that the Fire Nation was disorganised and the Earth Kingdom was full of rebels, ready to reclaim their country.

"Now that's done, how about breakfast?" Sokka suggested, and the Princess raised a brow.

"I haven't eaten since I woke up." she conceded, before gesturing to the mess hall that sat across the yard from them, "That's the easiest place."

"We could, uh, just make some food at the warehouse. All our stuff is still there, anyways." Sokka acknowledged, before glancing down at his clothes, "I do want to get out of these. Red just isn't my colour."

"Let's just go, the food can't be that bad." Aang suggested, and the group nodded in unison, agreeing that they'd rather just eat at once, and not go back to make themselves something; when they had the luxury of precooked meals, they weren't going to reject them.

Sokka took the lead, pacing over towards the entrance of the mess hall, before he pushed the doors open, "Ah, at least they didn't take the cooks away." he acknowledged with a grin, gesturing towards the buffet that sat on the opposite side of the hall.

Ty Lee licked her lips, "The food smells good... or maybe I'm just hungry." she gave her thoughts, before grasping Azula by the wrist, dragging her over towards the buffet, "Come on, let's actually get something."

"Hmph, I wonder if Toph's already eaten." Aang mumbled to himself, and Katara gave him a reassuring smile.

"Oh, she probably got something. You know how she is... if she's hungry, she'll get it." she told him, making the young Air Nomad furrow a brow.

"So she'll steal something." he concluded, and Katara cringed, not wanting to suggest that.

"The locals will probably give her something for her help with the cleanup." Sokka gave the right answer, as she saw it, and paced off after the other two so he could get his breakfast.

"I should have thought of that." Aang mumbled under his breath, before he gestured his head towards the buffet, "So, breakfast?"

"Yes." she agreed, not wanting to wait around to be told to eat; they walked up to the buffet, and grabbed some trays; when they got around to the food, the servers seemed rather unnerved to see Aang, who wasn't bothering to cover his tattoos.

"Could I get some rice and... whatever fish you've got."

One of the servers put what she wanted onto the tray, giving her some fresh rice and what looked like some pieces of grilled fish. She felt like what she had was sufficient, though she noticed some greens on Sokka's plate, though they looked a little odd, mushed down into a paste. She took some of that, just out of interest of how it might taste. When she got to the end of the buffet, she took some flatbread as well, which was still warm to the touch.

She walked off with her tray, following after her brother to sit down at a table. After sitting down beside him, she picked up the chopsticks she had on the tray, and began to eat her breakfast. Sokka was digging into his own food almost violently, to no one's surprise, and she began at a more leisurely pace. Aang arrived quickly enough with his own food, and sat down beside them.

"What else are we planning to do today?" he asked the table, and Azula just blinked a few times before picking up some food.

"Eat this and hope I don't pass out before I reach a bed." she mumbled under her breath.

"Somebody didn't get their beauty sleep, it seems." Ty Lee made fun of her friend, giving her an elbow nudge as she picked up some rice with her chopsticks.

"Beauty sleep? I need to sleep so I can actually deal with people... doing some moral grandstanding was the easiest part so far."

"Then what'd be hard?" Sokka questioned her, and the Princess just sighed.

"Persuading the people of Shengchang that I'm any better than the last Governor."

Katara was chewing on a bit of fish, and swallowed it before she thought of a response to that; given how involved she was in their war against Ozai, she couldn't claim to be anywhere near as lousy as the man she was effectively replacing.

"Well, you haven't tried to run away on multiple occasions." she suggested a counter to her idea, and Sokka let out a snicker.

"Actually, she's gotten pretty good at that." he conceded, making the Princess glare him down.

"Please don't get started on that." she pleaded, making both Ty Lee and Aang snicker, waiting for the spat to begin.

"You did promise not to do it again." Sokka noted, before shrugging, "Eh, it's been a good run so far."

Azula almost dropped her head into her platter, letting out a groan of frustration, "If you keep saying things like that, this'll turn into another Yu Dao."

"So, do I get to carry you around in a crop top again?" he asked her; the Princess just looked at him with an exhausted, barely angry side-eye, while Ty Lee spurted rice all over the table.

"Bahahaha!" she let out a bellow, before wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, returning to a more serious demeanour, "Wait, who was wearing the crop top?"

Katara saw her brother look with an aghast face, before he glanced down and smirked, dusting off his tunic.

"I don't know, maybe I could pull it off."


Despite all the fighting that had engulfed City Hall, the meeting chamber was luckily undamaged, which ensured that they had a clean place to conduct business; Sokka did not think himself an expert in politics, but he had been thrust into the thick of it by mere association with Azula. He much preferred brainstorming with the engineers about how to improve the airship designs he'd looked over so much, than to actually trying to deal with a diverse group's grievances. Back in his village, everything was done by consensus, but with so few people, and the war looming over all of them, it was much easier to deal with issues, if only for the urgency of most issues, like food, water, and protecting themselves from the Fire Nation.

Azula, Aang, and Sokka were all sitting together by the end of the table, with various local representatives sitting along the length of each side, the most obvious of those being Kibo, who represented the aggrieved, poorer colonists who felt mistreated by both Ozai and Zuko's policies. They were quite an odd bunch, with a few businessmen, some farmers, factory workers, and a man who looked to be a blacksmith, given his clothing. Most of those people, except the businessmen, were Earth Kingdom, not Fire Nation, which was obvious enough from their clothing.

At the end of the table sat an old Earth Kingdom woman, who reminded him a little of his Gran-Gran, at least in terms of her demeanour. The most interesting individual there was someone Sokka had heard about a number of times but had never met- Mister Takumi. He was a middle aged Fire Nation man, with spectacles, long black hair and a thin moustache; he seemed like the educated, well-spoken type, but he had a cold glare, despite his pleased demeanour.

They had just had some tea and flatbread, which was simply an appetiser, probably to get everyone in a calm mood so a shouting match could be avoided; given how much the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom mistrusted each other, even when living alongside each other, that was something they had to actively avoid.

Azula had organised the whole meeting herself, down to the smallest detail, so he wasn't sure on the exact agenda, but he had a grasp of it; the war in Shengchang was effectively over, barring the potential of Ozai attacking, and things had to be put into a new order, so that a common understanding could be reached. If that was not possible, at best the community would not support Azula unanimously, and at worst, they'd face an outright revolt, or even assassination attempts.

"So, now that everyone is here, I believe it is the right time to discuss the future of Shengchang."

"That is why we are here, after all." the old woman spoke up, "As you claim to be the Fire Lord, are you not entitled to do as you wish?"

"No." she refused, denying the possibility of 'ultimate power', as she might describe it, "I may have the authority to decide, but I will not without the consideration of the people here. If I am to rule, I must rule, not simply control." she clarified her intentions, which Sokka thought were already quite obvious by the fact the meeting was occurring to begin with.

"So then, your majesty, what is on the table here?" one of the Earth Kingdom workers asked her, "My colleagues sent me here under the impression you were here to bring a balance between our nations."

"If you mean to say that unfair policies towards the Earth Kingdom populace will be abolished, that is the correct assumption." she confirmed, "The people of the colonies are not all Fire Nation, and not all Earth Kingdom. Many have mixed parentage. People are mistreated, and irrationally so; firebenders and earthbenders may be different inherently due to their abilities, but non-benders are only distinguished by their heritage. Trying to divide people up is the whole reason our world has fallen into such a long, pointless conflict." she explained her thoughts on the matter.

"But are you trying to say there will be no Four Nations? That you will... what rule the world?" Mister Takumi asked her, clearly seeming confused by her way of speaking, "Because if I'm not mistaken, that is exactly what your father seeks to do."

"He wants to rule the world," Sokka spoke up, "but Fire Lord Ozai is not a man who seeks to merge the nations together, to make them one. He wants the Fire Nation to subordinate everything and everyone." he argued for the distinction, "Azula has not claimed that the nations will become one. This is just Shengchang we're talking about."

"That's good to hear." the old woman acknowledged, "I thought for a moment you were intending to bring the continent under your... enlightened rule." she spoke rather openly; Sokka turned to face his girlfriend, unsure how she might react.

"The colonies are the domain in question... a place that no longer is Earth Kingdom, but cannot truly be considered part of the Fire Nation." she explained, "Many of the people here, and many of the people who supported the seizure of this city, believed I was here to ensure the rights of colonists would be respected, and that is true."

"So what will it be then?" the worker asked once more, "How can you respect us all, without taking away from someone's rights, or their land, or their lives?"

"I will put it simply... as inhabitants of Shengchang, you belong to it. That being, this is where you derive your identity and lives from, not from the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom." she explained, "It is confusing, because this has never happened before. The nations have divided themselves for so long that it is almost unimaginable to think that there could be anything but them... my father has fallen prey to this very thinking himself, as have many in my country."

"What we're here to do... is make sure that everyone who lives here is respected, and can live in peace, together." Aang spoke up, "That is what Azula wants. A new balance... a balance where no one has to be treated differently because of where they came from, or what element they bend."

"That- that is admirable." the worker admitted with a smile, before his expression straightened, "I apologise for getting bogged down in the semantics of it all... it is just strange. You are our Fire Lord, and you're... actually treating us like people."

"If you spoke to me two years ago, I would have given a very different response to your presence and questions. I have changed, and so has the world."

"But what if we do identify with our nations?" the old woman asked her, "Whether you like it or not, this is the Earth Kingdom." she argued, and Azula raised a hand.

"I am well aware of that fact... which is why I want to assemble a permanent council for this city, and the other colonial cities. The previous Governor ruled on a whim, appointed by my father, or grandfather... I am unsure on the specifics."

Takumi cleared his throat, "It was your grandfather, your majesty." he clarified, and she gestured to him.

"Thank you... but that man should bear little relevance on what happens next here. This city cannot remain divided between the two nations, even if you might identify as such... for there to be peace, a consensus has to be formed, so I am here to ensure that happens."

"What then, once the Earth Kingdom has resurged?" one of the Earth Kingdom men asked her, "I spoke briefly with the man you have allied with, a certain Jianren. He speaks optimistically of our nation's chances to once again rule itself."

"It is forward to assume that they will be one." the other Fire Nation businessman spoke up; Sokka didn't know his name, but his doubts were justified, "The Earth Kingdom fought amongst themselves more than they did with the Fire Nation before Sozin's Comet passed a hundred years ago. What is to say that there will be an Earth Kingdom to even contend with her majesty's policies?"

"No." Aang spoke up, "The Earth Kingdom will return... even if it isn't the same as before. We decided on that a while ago." he declared, and the old woman let out a chuckle.

"And what gives you the authority?" she asked, "Or her, for that matter?"

"King Bumi of Omashu has expressed his interest in forming a unified front in the Earth Kingdom to achieve what has been suggested, a reunification." Azula clarified, "It is not my plan, I simply seek to ensure the process is as easy as possible."

"That's not... entirely accurate." Sokka conceded, feeling that she was leaving out a point.

She frowned momentarily, before sighing, "Sokka speaks truthfully." she added, speaking louder than he had, "I seek to redress the grievances of the people of the Earth Kingdom, but not just with my nation. There is an enemy you might not care for, but a great number of people certainly would."

"The Dai Li." the old woman spoke up, "The Avatar mentioned them when we spoke the other day."

"Yes, Lady Shu." Aang acknowledged her point, "We are seeking to put the power over the Earth Kingdom back into the hands of its people... not to let the Dai Li rule over you in the name of the Earth King."

"Yeah, that didn't work out for anyone." one of the Earth Kingdom men noted, "So then, what does that mean for Shengchang?"

"For now, this city remains under my protection, and in exchange, I expect taxes to be paid, and the cooperation of the civilian population in the case we are attacked by my father's forces." Azula gave her terms, "Once the war is over, and I am Fire Lord, I will allow the people of Shengchang to choose their fate; every man and woman should have a say, no matter their origins. You may remain part of the Fire Nation, under my protection, a condominium of both nations, return to the Earth Kingdom, or govern yourselves independently." she gave further information, which seemed to please all sides; the old woman, Shu, raised a hand, clearly seeing issue with what she'd said, though not enough to visibly anger her.

"So, why will you retain control of this city? If it came down to a vote today, person to person, I'm sure we'd come to the conclusion that Jianren ought to protect us from you, and these thieves." she gestured to the businessmen.

"I disagree." Kibo retorted, "Though I agree on the 'thieves' part... no offence Mister Takumi." she addressed the businessman, before turning her gaze to Shu, "Many colonists here have no where else to go. If you had your way, we would be expelled, and forced to find new homes, where we might be even less welcome." she stressed her own point of view.

"And that will not happen." Aang spoke up, "People may leave if they wish, but forcing Fire Nation people to leave just because of their heritage is unfair."

"It was unfair to conquer our lands and rob it of its wealth." one of the Earth Kingdom men, the blacksmith, argued, "Though I have personally benefited from the trade with the Fire Nation homeland, and the security they provide, it has not been fair. We must be able to rule ourselves."

"Self governance is the ultimate aim, I assure you." Azula spoke up, "But you can rule yourselves without dispossessing each other. Cooperation and toleration is not just possible, but necessary, even if Shengchang may one day return to the Earth Kingdom." she clarified, and Shu pointed a finger at the Princess.

"Ruling ourselves requires a ruler... so why not let us choose?" she asked, clearly suggesting Jianren, despite not being from Shengchang itself, as their potential ruler.

"For the duration of this civil war, I must retain control of all colonial settlements, to ensure there are no reprisals against my countrymen, no matter how justified you might think they would be." she clarified, before sighing, "I apologise for Jianren's absence, but he has been tasked with building defences for the city, as we have a matter of days before reinforcements arrive to expel my forces... and his too, I might add."

Sokka was interested in the suggestion Shu had made, so he had to interrupt the flow of conversation, "Sorry to ask, but are you saying that you'd actually prefer Jianren to be your... king, or something?" he asked Shu, who simply smiled, glancing over at the other Earth Kingdom representatives.

"He arrived to protect our neighbourhood from the soldiers and their machine, and has already spoken with the other community leaders, promising his protection from any undue mistreatment by our new rulers. He has made his case, even though he did not claim a desire for kingship."

"Hmph... he's better at his job than he says." Sokka mumbled to himself, before clearing his throat, realising he might have overstepped himself, "Sorry, Azula. Please, continue."

"The matter of self-governance proper will only be addressed when I have secured my rule. I cannot weaken my own position... not for your desires, or anyone else's." she warned Shu, making Sokka tense up, wondering how extreme a position she was taking; Azula wanted to become the Fire Lord, but it still wasn't clear what ends she'd go to achieve that aim.

He was mostly thinking of himself, not the people of the Earth Kingdom, but soon enough, his mind did wander there; the other nations were secondary to her aim of becoming Fire Lord, even if she had promised his father assistance for the Southern Water Tribe, all those months prior when they were about to leave home.

"Uh, yes. We have to make sure Shengchang is safe from Ozai before... well, you get to make those important decisions." Aang agreed with the Princess, and the Earth Kingdom representatives seemed a little annoyed by that fact, but none vocalised their offence.

"Well then... what issues do you have that can be addressed immediately?" Azula asked the table, and the representatives looked at each other uneasily.

Kibo spoke up first, given her confidence with the Princess already, "On behalf of the colonials, and I believe the natives as well, I request an immediate reduction in war taxes, which have been stifling businesses and workers alike. With less taxes, we should be able to rebuild our local economy, and allow us to help in your reconstruction efforts, your majesty." she gave her first request, which was quite reasonable.

"That will be done. I will instruct the public servants here to ensure that extraordinary taxes are lowered as much as is feasible, given the need to arm and feed my men." Azula accepted the request, before gesturing to the table, "There must be other requests you have."

"The defence of the city." Shu voiced her concern, "How will you ensure our safety?"

"All residents of Shengchang will be evacuated to the walled city." she clarified, "This evacuation will be announced in the hours before the enemy forces arrive, and I expect the battle to take a number of hours, potentially a whole day. You may inform your respective communities of this, as I do not seek to cause a panic. I would request all to bring a day's worth of food, and any bedding or other practical things you might require. The city will remain protected by my airship, but the outskirts will be a challenge to defend, especially from fast-moving komodo rhino cavalry."

"Our jobs." one of the workers gave his concern, "Most of us work in the factories, or the foundries. We need to export our goods from the city... unless you're expecting us to wait for you to move into the other colonies before we can trade with them."

"I have some immediate solutions to that issue. For one, I believe negotiating trading rights with free Earth Kingdom settlements such as Gaochao, or with the Northern Water Tribe would not be out of the question. Within weeks I believe we will have secured new trade routes, and once Ba Sing Se is liberated from the Dai Li, the city will serve as a new market for your goods... I understand they were already a vital market during the short time my father had control over the city." she acknowledged what would be the likely solutions to the problem.

"In the meantime, I assume we are stuck here, isolated from the rest of the world, correct?" Takumi asked her, and the Princess nodded.

"I apologise for that fact, but it would not have been much better if I had gone for another city instead of Shengchang. The fighting between my father and brother's supporters alone would have disrupted most, if not all, of the trade routes through this region. I simply stand to ensure that the city here remains safe and protected from the conflict otherwise."

"Safety doesn't help much if we are starving and can't sell the source of our livelihoods." the blacksmith conceded, before raising his chin, "Do you have a solution for food?"

"My soldiers will, at the soonest possible time, purchase food or tax it from the inhabitants of Yi Province and the northern frontier. Those lands are poor, but for the most part, people there have lived relatively undisturbed by the fighting thus far." she explained her intentions, "The people of Shengchang will not starve. However, we can only do so much in the immediate future, as we must prepare for the inevitable attack by my father's forces."

"I expect the natives will not quietly accept feeding us with their own crops." Kibo spoke her mind, and Shu just chuckled.

"Well, girl, you do realise that food would be going to us as well. I am sure they understand our basic needs." she gave her thoughts, before furrowing a brow, "Speaking of which, how will we aid them... once this fighting is over, Shengchang is the largest city in this region, and can do much to support the poor peasants who had supported the Earth Kingdom for so long."

"That is part of Jianren's reason for aiding us." Azula acknowledged, "Or, the whole reason, really... he seeks the freedom of the villages east of here, from our taxes, or any outside subordination. So yes, you are expected to work together."

"But why should they be allowed to aid the Earth Kingdom, when we are expected to sit on our hands?" one of the businessmen asked Azula, who just smirked.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong. You are certainly going to aid my liberation of the colonies, and the homeland after it. Within days, I expect reports back from the northern port city of Yingang. My fleet has been sent to impress them into my rule, and with their shipyards, and your steelworks, my efforts will be compounded. You may have seen the airship which attacked last night... I seek to build an armada of such crafts. They will defeat any army, as long as I have the resources to continue constructing them." she explained, before clearing her throat, "That is something that will be discussed in more detail with those whom it concerns."

"So, is that why you came here?" Shu asked, and the Princess nodded.

"Yes. Your industry is vital to my efforts, however..." she began, and Aang raised a finger; Azula let him speak, the young Avatar standing up.

"I know that many people here rightfully distrust the Fire Nation... Our plans for the Earth Kingdom will need your help. Without the people behind us, there is no way that any plans our rebel friends have will work. That's why we want your support."

"I thought it was clear you had it, Avatar." Shu retorted, which surprised Sokka; so it seemed Aang and Toph had already gone out of their way to try and get the locals on side for their efforts to rebuild the Earth Kingdom.

"Well... yes, but I want to make sure you know, that is our most important goal. I mean, together... Azula wants to be Fire Lord, but she cannot do it without the Earth Kingdom. Otherwise the war will just go on forever."

"Yes, but more importantly, I assure you all, I will not spend all my focus on a single aim. All the things I have laid out are of equal importance to me. Rulership is never a simple task, I understood that long ago. But as I expect to leave the city in the coming weeks, I do believe that a governing council will be required. Of course, I will appoint one of my officers to administer the military side of things, but everyone here was chosen by their communities to come here to speak with me. Soon enough, you will need to make the kinds of decisions I have."

"We will go back and speak with our communities. They will probably have criticisms, but you must be expecting that." Shu acknowledged, and Azula nodded, before glancing at the others, "Is that all that needed to be discussed?"

There were a few nods, and Azula gestured to the door, "Well then, I'm sure you all have things to do. I certainly have, and I will send men to retrieve you all once more if a new problem arises."

"Which it will." Sokka added, half in jest, but mostly serious, as he knew that problems were inevitable now that they were trying to govern a whole city.

His girlfriend shot him a side-eye before snapping her fingers, her guards opening the door of the chambers, "If you believe there is a lack of security or preparations for the coming battle, do not refrain from speaking with me or my subordinates." she added an offer, which surprised Sokka; he imagined she would just want to start handling things herself instead of getting the locals more involved with the coming battle, given some of them, especially on the Fire Nation side, might have been disapproving of her policies and rule to begin with.

He didn't want them trying to undermine her, but realised he was the one in the position to counter any stupid ideas, as he saw fit; that made Sokka smile as the room emptied out, remembering his own power, which had been gained through wit and tact rather than merely being Azula's confidant. It had surely helped, but that was not the reason Jianren or Renshu trusted him; he had gotten chances to prove himself, and he could only hope Azula was given the same so she could prove her father wrong.

Sokka rose to his feet once the guests had departed, barring Mister Takumi, who remained standing, awaiting his discussion with the Princess; she turned to face him, "Let me see you out. We can discuss things on the way." she explained, and he nodded.

"Of course, your majesty." he acknowledged her formally, before the group all followed Azula out of the meeting chamber, with Aang and Sokka walking behind the other two.

"So, the airship designs I have already given you, are your engineers capable of fabricating the parts I need?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Certainly. Though some of the more complex pieces, such as bombs, hatches and the body of the gondola might be a challenge, we are capable of manufacturing most of the parts."

"I do not need you to make all of them. The airships are to be assembled at Yingang once a supply route can be secured. The railways that already exist might be viable, but only once I secure the support of my brother's forces in the region. They will be more than capable of protecting the railways while we move supplies throughout the colonies." she explained, before narrowing her eyes, "But in the short term, yes, I expect you to build whole crafts. I will secure you the land you need for assembly, but the factories you operate I assume are sufficient for the goal."

"They are. I must ask, Sir Sokka." he addressed the Water Tribesman behind him.

"Uh, yes?" he tilted his head forward, assuming he had something to ask about the airships.

"The explosives are of your design... or at least, some of them are. I would seek your advice on how to best substitute materials I cannot acquire." he asked him, and Sokka furrowed a brow.

"What, like blasting jelly?"

"Yes. We do not produce such complex chemicals here." he clarified, "In the Southern Water Tribe, to make something like that, you must have a substitute."

"Oils and fats from animals are a good fuel, but they don't combust very quickly. We usually try to use some natural gases, the kind that comes from rotten carcasses. We'd tie them into bags, and push the gas into smaller ones." he explained, and Takumi looked at him, surprised by the answer.

"So, I merely need a butcher or two, and some time for the flesh to rot?" he asked, and Sokka nodded; with so much meat coming into the city to feed the populace, even if there wasn't much for each person, it would add up rather quickly.

"A butcher isn't even necessary. I'm sure you could buy the food waste from some of the larger buildings here, and you'd have what you need in no time." he gave a better answer as he saw it; the carrion left over from people's meals would be very useful, though he guessed raw meat might be more effective, as that was what the Water Tribe used for their stink bombs.

Aang seemed quite disgusted by the suggestion, but Sokka knew that kind of gritty way of work was the only way some people could get what they needed; without any fancy technologies or machines, his tribe could make dangerous weapons, if only someone put their mind to it.

"Thank you." Takumi acknowledged the Water Tribesman's advice, before glancing back over at the Princess, "Then it's settled then, I will produce the parts for these machines. They will be assembled, and you will have your victory." he explained what was to occur, "I expect compensation for myself and my workers who will undertake this task." he added, and the Princess offered a hand.

"As soon as I have the means, you will receive your pay. Once this war is over, I will ensure your efforts are known throughout our nation. This will change the tide of the war... even if might not seem like much now."

"I saw those soldiers yesterday, your majesty. If that fear can be replicated on more battlefields, then there is no doubt on your ability to win this war." he assured her, and Azula smirked, though her confidence faltered for a moment.

"I do not fear defeat on the battlefield, Takumi. I fear defeat in the hearts of my countrymen." she warned him, before he gave her a bow, and continued towards the front door of city hall; she turned back around to face Aang and Sokka, the former giving her a thumbs up.

"You did a good job there. I'm glad you're trying to make sure those two sides can actually work together." the young Air Nomad commended her, and Azula just snickered.

"It's going to be harder than just having them sit in a room together. Fixing all of this might take decades, but I will do it." she explained her thoughts, surprisingly open on the challenge that faced them, "This is why I need your help Aang. If you are supposed to keep balance, or peace, or whatever you like to call it, you have to keep these people from killing each other."

"It won't get that bad." Aang assured her, and Sokka cringed, on Azula's side with that specific point.

"Oh, I think it might." he warned him, "The Fire Nation has slaughtered... a lot of innocents. Countless innocents. We'll never know how many have died, because of the villages, towns, and cities they've wiped off the map. Your whole people. No one will forget that while we live." he stressed the seriousness of the challenge, "Forgiveness might never be possible, but peace and cooperation have to be. Otherwise, what is the point of all of this?" he asked, and Azula sighed.

"If we fail, we'll just create another Ozai or Azulon out of the Earth Kingdom. Maybe not today, tomorrow, or next year... but one day, someone will harness their anger, and put Sozin's Comet to shame." she argued, and Sokka gulped, fearing the kind of person she described; it was already bad enough that the war had happened, but he knew she was right- all that hatred could just go back the other way, like waves turning back out to sea.

"A great leader who might destroy the Fire Navy and all our weapons, send the colonists on a long walk through the Si Wong Desert, and tear down every factory to their last scraps of metal." she warned him, before she narrowed her eyes, seeming almost anxious, "Perhaps, perhaps they'd be like my uncle... or me. Someone who truly believes they're doing the right thing. He... or she... they could be right and just in their cause, and even then they will kill thousands. We cannot let them exist."

"They might already." Sokka added, before narrowing his eyes, "Jet does make the case for that."

"He's certainly angry enough to try it." Azula mumbled, before clearing her throat, "I apologise for touching on such a morbid topic, but you of all people Aang would understand the reason why we can't let that happen."

"I- I do." he admitted, pensively looking down at the floor, "Everyone... everyone I knew."

Sokka placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling like he had to comfort him somehow, "I know, buddy. But don't worry, you've got us now. Even if we're an odd bunch, we can- well, make sure nothing like that happens again."

"Y-yeah." Aang nodded, agreeing with the sentiment, "I will master the elements, and make sure the world knows the Avatar's place. I won't let something like this happen again." he argued, before narrowing his eyes, "The next Avatar needs somebody to watch over them."

"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked him, "You're talking about... what, who ever you reincarnate as?"

"Yes. I know I'm only twelve, but I can't let what happened with the Air Nomads happen again. Sozin destroyed the temples to get me, but the monks didn't even tell me about Sozin... but they had to know about the Fire Nation. They weren't stupid." he argued, "If there is somebody to take care of the Avatar, and guide them, like you guys have for me, then something like this can never happen again." he argued, before glancing at them, "I don't know how, or what, but, I'd like to make sure we're prepared."

"We have many years for that, Aang." Azula reminded him, "But you have my word. We will make sure that there is someone to look over the next Avatar." she gave her assurances, and surprisingly enough, Aang leapt forward and hugged her; Sokka half-expected her to convulse in disgust, but she just accepted it, allowing him to hug her.

She placed a hand on his scalp, trying to get him to move off, and eventually he did, "Sorry if I- uh, well, I just wanted to thank you."

"It's fine." she softly spoke back, "Are you going to find Katara and Toph?"

"Yeah, they said they were out helping clean up the streets." he clarified, before waving goodbye, dashing down the hallway, towards the entrance of City Hall.

"So..." Sokka mumbled, turning to face his girlfriend, "How serious were you about the Earth Kingdom Ozai thing?"

"I believe my fears are justified." she narrowed her eyes at him, "I mean, Chin the Conqueror was a thing... and right now would be a very good time for someone like him to abuse." she argued, and he cringed, just hoping she wasn't right.

"Y-yeah, I guess that's true." he conceded, before he scratched the back of his scalp, hoping they could change the conversation topic, "Uh, so, do you any more plans?"

"What, like another meeting? No, not for a while." she clarified, before furrowing a brow, "What, are you suggesting we go on an 'activity'?" she asked, recalling his word for a date; he just grinned at her, before shrugging.

"Well, I wasn't thinking that, but we should spend some time together. I mean, the last thing we did together was fight, and before that we were intimidating Huang." he remembered what they'd gotten up to, "So, maybe we could just... hang out." he suggested, and she chuckled.

"After yesterday's fight, I can't ask you to spar with me. Lucky you." she conceded, making him chuckle, silently pleased that was the case; after the beatings he'd received, he preferred to avoid fighting until the next actual battle arrived, "Just- urgh, whatever, follow me." she gave him what sounded like an order, grasping him by the wrist and dragging him along.

As they moved past the guards, she gave them a hand signal, and they nodded; he didn't understand the coded command, but he could guess well enough as they stepped into an empty office. It didn't take him long to realise that it had been the Governor's.

"So, now what?" he asked her, unsure if she was going to try and kiss him or fight him; it was frustratingly hard at times to figure out which.

To Sokka's surprise, it was neither; she just sat herself down on top of the Governor's desk, looking down at the ground. Her expression seemed uneasy, and he couldn't guess why.

"Azula?" he uttered her name, "Are you okay?"

"I feel like I'm a machine when I speak to those people." she explained, her voice surprisingly soft in tone, as if she wasn't trying to sound displeased, but simply sad, "You know that I'm not good at relaxing, and just being myself."

"Yeah, you do try and act... more serious than you are... also nicer." he gave his thoughts, not relenting to make a jab at her surprisingly polite way of dealing with everyone in the chamber.

"Ha, real funny, peasant." she sarcastically commended him, though he wasn't actually sure if that was sarcasm; Sokka was usually upfront when he was joking, but with Azula, there was always a sort of plausible deniability.

He stepped closer, knowing he ought to be more supportive than trying to banter with her, which was his usual solution to any mood she was in; it was different this time, so he decided to go for the 'nice' strategy.

Placing a hand on her shoulder, he just smiled, "Don't worry. You don't have to act like that all the time."

"Except I do. I'm the Fire Lord... even if it might not seem like it." she warned him, as if it were a bad thing.

"I thought you wanted to be the Fire Lord."

"I want the power and responsibility, but I realise that I'm not the most diplomatic person. It doesn't come naturally to me... I've had to practise working on you." she explained, and he chuckled.

"You've come a long way from trying to make me your servant... though now that I think about it, you did succeed there."

"At the cost of my original plans, values, and sense of self." she retorted quite seriously, before shrugging, "Not that I'm complaining. The old me was a pretentious arse."

"She sure-" he began, before he found himself punched in the gut; he coughed and sputtered, before smirking, "Yeah, I deserved that one."

"No, you didn't. I'm just a jerk." she bluntly corrected him, before he pulled himself back up, sitting down beside on her the desk.

He leaned his head in towards her own, before he grabbed the headpiece that she was wearing, pulling it out before showing it to her, "Did this belong to a jerk?" he asked her, and the Princess just huffed, seeming to find the question funny; it was intended as a bit of a joke, but he was trying to support her, not make her laugh about Roku.

"No, it belonged to a coward, and a mass-murderer before him." she clarified, before narrowing her eyes, "I realise those two descriptions might be applied to my uncle." she realised, and he shook his head.

"That's not what I meant. I meant that if your uncle was holding out on giving this to an heir of Roku... why'd he give it to you? Why not your brother when they were back in exile?" he asked, and Azula shrugged, her eyes looking blankly down at the headpiece.

"Zuko was going to be the Fire Lord. Look where that got him." she stated her thoughts, which suggested that trying to make herself the Fire Lord could get her killed; he doubted she really thought Ozai would beat them, but she had reason to hold such a fear.

"Ozai won't win, you know that, right?"

Her eyes turned up to meet his own, "He won't win, but that doesn't mean we'll be happy with the results."

"You can't predict the future... and plus, most of your predictions are really pessimistic. Doesn't that seem a little biased?"

"The real world is pessimistic." she retorted, before leaning towards his face, "Isn't that a little hypocritical coming from you?"

"I'm still trying to do the right thing. You're making it sound like you want to give up." he stressed, hoping that she wouldn't; he knew she'd sunk a lot into their efforts so far, so he couldn't fathom her doing so, no matter what she'd say.

"Give up... give up what?" she asked, seeming rhetorically, before she glared him down, "I'm not giving you up." she spoke a little louder, her usual tone returning as she moved to kiss him; he accepted that wholeheartedly, agreeing with the sentiment.

It wasn't all too forceful, but he could feel the heart in her lips; the warmth of her firebending was spilling out of her, even without any flames. The passion in her heart that she had for them; not for any grand plan, but for them. That's when he realised what she was trying to say.

"So, does this mean the igloo wife thing's still possible?" she asked her with a whisper, leaning away from their kiss.

"I might be a fool, but I'm not a coward." she retorted, grasping him by the collar, "I love you, Sokka... and I need you to make sure we do this."

"You're talking about the whole becoming Fire Lord thing, right?"

"I'm talking about fixing the world. The title is just that, a title. I want to make sure that if we go back to that little village I'm not dooming the world to another century of death and chaos." she reiterated her intentions, and he just smiled.

"See, that wasn't hard." he acknowledged her effort in opening up to him, and Azula just pushed him down onto the desk, his back smacking into the wood.

She looked at him with a smirk, and leaned down over his face, "I told you I wouldn't leave you. So... let's make sure we get to the end of this."

"I can't tell how specific you're being here." he admitted with a sheepish grin, his girlfriend's devious look saying more than her words had.

"That was intentional, Sokka."


To a seeing person, the street before Toph might have seemed rather unsuspecting, covered in gravel and potholes; she knew, however, that it was far more interesting than it appeared. Beneath the gravel lay an assortment of pits, held up by a thin veneer of rock and soil. With a single flick of her wrist, she could have the entire street surface cave in, but even then, a whole squad of soldiers could walk down and not notice a thing, unless they had exceptional hearing. Though she was used to noticing her surroundings with her earthbending, her ears were able to make out the odd noise of the hollow cavities beneath her feet.

Hours of work had been put into the traps, over two whole days; she had wished to have spent her time better, with a little more relaxation, but between training the Avatar and building the most extravagant pit traps known to man, she had her hands full. Toph knew that she had done all the work she could, and that within a day, another battle would be upon them. She preferred that Aang just use his abilities to their full extent, but she knew that forcing him to do that would be cruel, even if it would end the battle as quickly as possible. That was why they had the airship after all; it was a show of force that didn't endanger one of their own. The traps as well, were a quick and easy way to slow down and entrap their enemies.

She stood beside Jianren, who alongside her, was overseeing the construction of all the traps, and he seemed to be in a good mood about it; perhaps it was the satisfaction of all their hard labour coming to a final fruition.

"Good job. This street's done." he told his men, who'd done most of the work, though with her skill and speed, Toph couldn't be ignored, "How many are left?" he asked Toph, who had been mentally mapping out the city and the traps they had laid with the help of her seismic sense.

"Two major streets, and half a dozen small ones." she clarified, "Then that's every street into Shengchang."

"Well, you heard her ladies and gentlemen, we're nearly done!" he called out to the earthbenders, who let out a cheer.

As everyone moved along, Toph just stood there, wondering if all her effort would be worth it, or Azula's airship would just end the battle before it even reached the outskirts. Jianren made a whistle, getting her attention, "You coming, Toph?" he asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, we've gone this far." she muttered under breath, before following after him and the other earthbenders, taking the alleyway to the next street, which she could feel was already being torn up; their work was disrupting the movement of pedestrians, but they didn't seem too agitated, though maybe that was because the earthbending itself was intimidating them.

When she got to the next street, she began digging, standing by one of the earthbenders she'd been working with a fair bit; her name was Hua, and being one of the only female fighters in Jianren's group, it was natural that she'd pick her to converse with. At least compared to the others Hua had a sense of humour, and for Toph, that was vital personality trait.

"So, what are you gonna eat after this?" the woman asked her, "I want some fried dumplings."

"Hmph, sounds nice." she agreed to the proposition, "But then again, I have the chance to enjoy whatever Azula gets." she added, before furrowing a brow, "Though, she's been eating a lot of rations lately."

"Camaraderie." Hua commented as she began to dig a trench through the street; Toph followered after her, and tilted her head.

"You mean she's doing it to get people to like her?" she asked, and the fighter nodded.

"Precisely. Jianren doesn't like to differentiate between us, even if different people have different roles. We all eat the same food and sleep in the same places." she explained her own circumstances, "The Princess must think that doing the same will get her some support from the common soldier."

"Well, I like nice food." Toph gave her her own opinion.

"Careful Madam Beifong, your nobility is showing." she warned her in jest, and Toph just snickered at the jab; she was a noblewoman, and had lived much of her life in luxury, but that life was far behind her.

"Hey, if you had the chance to eat nice food, would you refuse?" she countered, and Hua didn't say no, which was a yes in her mind, "I'll take that as a yes."

"I mean, after the kinds of stuff I've had to eat out in the forest, I'm not saying no to a nice meal." she argued, before turning herself around, "Hey, Yami, you want to get dumplings after this?!" she called out to one of her comrades, who Toph could sense giving a thumbs up as he was earthbending his own traps; she had been forced to get used to sensing hand signals after all her time working with the other fighters back in Omashu.

As they continued digging their trenches, meandering around to form a labyrinthine shape out of what was a relatively wide street, they remained quiet, focusing on their bending, though Toph must have got Hua thinking, because she turned around, bending the trench with her feet instead, so she could eye-to-eye with the blind girl. That amused her, but she didn't comment, just raising a hand.

"You wanna ask me something?" she asked, and Hua sent her elbows back, deepening the trench, before she nodded.

"Yeah, how come you're here?" she asked, "And I don't mean in the trench, or with the Avatar, I mean, like what is a noble doing peasants work?" she clarified, amusing Toph, who hadn't thought she meant that when she heard the first part.

"Living my life for myself." she told her the honest truth, "Being a blind noble girl doesn't give me many opportunities back home." she warned her, though it was pretty obvious to anyone who gave a second to consider her prior circumstances.

"But it was... I don't know, easier?" she suggested, and Toph just shrugged.

"Easy as in no fighting or hard labour, yeah, but my mother and father weren't easy to deal with. Neither was the Fire Nation conquering my town and forcing me out of my job." she told her, making Hua hum with interest.

"Job? What job?"

"I fought as a fighter in earthbending tournaments." she told her, making Hua gasp, before letting out a laugh, "That wasn't a joke."

"Damn, that would not have been a fair fight in the slightest." she conceded, and Toph just smirked.

"Well, that's what made it so fun. Humiliating my opponents in the funniest ways possible." she told her, before continuing to dig her trench.

"So, what's next for you then?" Hua asked her, and that just made the younger girl hum as she thought, not certain of her path once she had trained Aang, and Azula got her throne.

"I... I don't know. Maybe I'll try and get some more earthbending tournaments going. I really like fighting." she admitted her feelings; she could have talked more about her family, or how she was probably expected to inherit the Beifong fortune, and what use she could make of that, but she didn't want to talk about that, or rub her wealth in the peasant woman's face.

"Yeah, fighting is fun at times, but I prefer that... well, the war ends. I very much enjoyed just working in my village, doing some building, fixing, that kind of stuff." she explained her thoughts, "And getting married eventually, if I found someone who'd tolerate me."

"Heh." Toph snickered, finding the other girl's self-deprecation amusing, "Well, good luck with that."

"Hey, you're a noblewoman. You could teach me some manners." Hua suggested, and Toph noticed somebody laughing behind them; she recognised the voice as coming from Yami, and he was clearly amused.

"Toph, you're going to have the greatest fight of your life there." he warned her, "Teaching that woman to each with utensils would be like asking a goat-dog not to hide its food."

"Wow, thanks for the words of encouragement." Hua sarcastically acknowledged Yami, before she tossed a small ball of dirt his way; the older man deflected it with ease, but let out a little cackle, clearly amused by her reaction.

"Hey, get back to work." Toph told him, not wanting them to waste any time when they were so close to finishing the job.

"Uh-huh, yeah, I will." he assured her, and with that, silence returned to the street as they dug their trenches and traps.

Toph leapt up once she finished her trench, deciding to make some smaller hole traps, digging each with a flick and raise of her arms; given her skill, it wasn't long before much of the street before them was filled with pits.

"Thanks for saving me the effort." Hua acknowledged her haste, jumping out of the trench she'd been digging, before she gestured down the street, "We better move on to the next one."

And they did. It didn't take long for them to walk along the narrow ledge they'd made by the edge of the street, and return to the crossroads, past which lay another street for them to work on. They had multiple gangs of earthbenders working on each street, but even then, it wasn't a quick job, given the expansive ground they had to cover.

"Cover it up!" she heard Jianren shout out, and Toph obliged, razing her hands to begin moulding a new surface over the street, covering their trenches and traps; the other earthbenders assisted, and with a few sweeps, creating slabs of earth, their street was cleaned up.

Yami and his son Mei had been working in the other direction, and with their work done, the whole street was clear, allowing them to walk on through the crossroads, past the next few streets to find the closest one that wasn't already being dug up. Though their numbers weren't great, Jianren's group almost entirely consisted of earthbenders, meaning they had more than enough manpower to dig up several streets at a time. They also had the assistance of local earthbenders, but they were primarily focusing on fixing up their neighbourhood and the other areas damaged by the fighting, so they'd had to do much of the work by themselves.

Though Toph wasn't a fan of the tedious manual labour, she could admit that the strain of it helped her hone her earthbending, preparing her for the next battle. It was like exercise for a non-bender; if she did it enough, her bending would become more efficient and less gruelling, especially when it involved carrying, restraining, or throwing large masses of earth. As crude as it was, that method was quite effective against large numbers of soldiers, who could only run to escape their waves of earth; if they were fighting other earthbenders, that would be another issue entirely, which was why she was unsure how well they'd fare against the Dai Li when it came down to it.

When she reached the next street, she quickly got to work, and began to dig a number of pit traps out of the street, while Hua moved ahead of her, beginning to dig more trenches that wound around in coils through the street.

"So, how long were you a tournament fighter?" Hua asked her, and Toph furrowed a brow; she had gone to Earth Rumble since she was eight, but only started fighting when she was eleven.

"Two years." she answered, "The Fire Nation shut it down when they took over Gaoling."

"Ah, that was one of the last places they took." Hua recalled, "I heard people saying they were going to try and get there to help them fight the Fire Nation."

"It didn't work out." she admitted, recalling that she had disguised herself and tried to help the Earth Kingdom forces that were left to defend the province; she had got respect from her skills, but they weren't organised or well-supplied enough for a long fight- it only took a few weeks of Fire Nation attacks before Gaoling surrendered to them.

"Did you fight them then?" she assumed correctly, and Toph just nodded, though she realised that Hua mightn't have been able to see her from down in her trench.

"The war was over." she admitted, "It wasn't a fair fight."

"No, it wouldn't have been." the fighter agreed, "Before the civil war started, most of us thought the Fire Nation had really won, though I heard some were still trying to fight."

"Yeah, well we were in Omashu." she assured her, "We had a plan to retake the city, but General Iroh decided to surrender the city to us without a fight... didn't work though. Some angry ash-makers decided to take matters into their own hands."

"Kick their butts?" Hua assumed, and Toph snapped a finger.

"Could I call myself a rebel if I didn't?" she rhetorically questioned her question, before she stopped walking, using her hands to carve a number of traps in quick succession, "This doesn't feel very rebelly."

"Yeah, you need some people to fight, and some place to free." she acknowledged, "We're doing the protecting, and the fight's coming to us. It's nice to be the defenders for once."

"It is better for us." Toph conceded, knowing that earthbending was naturally advantaged to a defensive strategy, and their traps were just a small part of that.

"I'm just surprised that the war is going in our favour." Hua gave her opinion, "If you'd told me two years ago that we'd be taking over a Fire Nation colony, I'd have called you crazy... and then told you to scram because you're a kid."

That made Toph smirk, impressed by the insult she just dished out; others did judge her based off of her appearance, though given she had made an effort to craft a gruff exterior and demeanour, that wasn't as much as an issue any more.

"I'm not a kid anymore... and the only reason we're winning is because the Fire Nation is basically kicking themselves in the nuts repeatedly." she gave her view on the war, which made Hua burst out laughing; even Yami and Mei began laughing behind them, obviously listening in to their conversation, "What, it's true. At the rate they're going, in a year there will be eighteen Fire Lords at once; half of them will be crazy and the other half puppets."

"That's a bold prediction." the fighter acknowledged, "Got any evidence to back that up?"

"It came to me in a dream." she joked, before continuing with her work, digging out a number of holes at once, before drawing the dirt out, throwing it down into the trench to create some spikes, which she hardened and compressed to actually make them dangerous, rather than funny shaped piles of dirt.

"Eighteen Fire Lords is a lot." Hua noted, "Maybe go for six. That sounds more realistic."

Toph shrugged her shoulders, "Realistic, yeah? Preferred, probably not. I just want Azula to get this over and done with."

"What, you think she's being tardy?"

"No, just cautious. If I was in her shoes, I would have taken that airship to the Fire Nation capital by now." she argued, before raising a fist, "And I would have humiliated the Fire Lord so bad he'd be cut from the history books. It'd just be embarrassing to mention his name."

"Now, if the Princess was saying stuff like that in her speeches, I'd be even more pumped to fight." Hua thought aloud, before she leapt out of her trench, "Is this another one done?"

"Feels like it." Toph agreed, before gesturing the other way, "Let's help the old man get his act together."

"I can still hear youǃ" Yami called her out, but she just ignored him; it was all fun for them to insult each other, and it was her favoured way to bond with others.

"But seriously, what do you think she should be doing?" she decided to press the woman, knowing that she wasn't all too stubborn and dull, like many fighters she knew were; she had a keen mind and a sharp tongue, somewhat like herself.

"The Princess?" she asked, turning to face her; Toph gave a nod, and the fighter turned her gaze back ahead towards Yami and Mei.

"Well, she should really try and get the Earth Kingdom going again. I mean, this is just one city. If she got everyone to work together, then, well, she won't have to worry about the eighteen Fire Lords you've been dreaming about. That council thing, you know much about it?"

"Not really. I just know she wants to have the city rule itself once she's done here."

"That makes sense. Governors are a little too much like kings, aren't they?" she suggested, and her tone made her sound like she thought Toph would agree.

"I don't really have an issue with kings... as a principle they might seem a little autocratic, but I think a good king is better than an impotent council of know it all businessmen and nobles." she gave her opinion, which probably wouldn't mesh well with Hua's; they came from different walks of life, so of course they would disagree.

"Hmph, well, I don't really disagree there." she conceded, "I just think if they have a council, it better actually have some proper, working people on it. Commoners have been eating the boot for too long, and Jianren has shown me that we can really do things without any snooty know-it-alls from Ba Sing Se telling us how to work."

"Yeah, I can agree with that." Toph noted her fair point; the Earth Kingdom was a big country, and she couldn't see a government from Ba Sing Se administering everything, at least for very long, "So, are you going to help us deal with the Ba Sing Se problem?" she asked, curious if Jianren and his fighters would join them when they travelled east; Toph was unsure on the timeline, but she was sure Azula wanted to accelerate her plans in the Earth Kingdom with her father now in power.

"Jianren decides where we go... but I have a feeling he might want to help. We are trying to help the people here, though." she conceded, "I don't know if anyone can govern that place fairly. Imagine the kind of council the Princess has been talking about. You'd need hundreds of representatives to make it fair in a city that big."

"Yeah, imagine the arguments though. They could solve problems with mock battles if they had that many people." Toph gave the first thought that came to mind, making Hua snicker.

"Wow, that would be kinda fun to watch." she conceded, before she walked over to Yami, "Need some help, old man?"

"Yeah, keep digging." he told her, and she did so, beginning a new trench; Toph followed after her, pulling out spikes like she had on the other side, hardening them and making them as sharp as she could; it wasn't metal, but it would do enough to annoy the Fire Nation soldiers, and bust up their tundra tanks if they decided to drive them into the city.

It didn't take them long to help Yami and Mei finish off the street, and with that done, they moved back to the crossroads, approaching Jianren, who was overseeing the trap laying on the street over; he turned to face them, arms crossed with a pleased look on his face, "I think that's it." he told them, "You're done for the day." he acknowledged their efforts, offering Toph a handshake, "You have my thanks, Toph. You didn't need to come help us."

"Well, I didn't have anything better to do. Other than train the Avatar... but that gets annoying after a while." she gave her thoughts, "So, we getting those dumplings or what?" she asked the other earthbenders, who nodded along, eager to get some lunch.

"Uh, could you just wait up for a moment." Jianren requested, and she stopped herself.

"Go ahead guys. I can catch up... and I can sense your heartbeats, so I won't get lost." she assured them; they went off by themselves, leaving Toph alone with their leader, whose heartbeat told her he was in a calm mood, but his stance suggested a more serious demeanour, "So, what is it?"

"We're experienced with the same things: fighting the Fire Nation." he commented on the obvious commonality between the two of them, "But you've come from a city. A place where our people actually get to live freely."

"I wouldn't call hiding under a mountain free... but I get your point." she assured him, "You're thinking about what comes next. What power you're gonna have, given how you've buddied up with the Princess, like me." she noted his situation, which was probably a vast improvement from what he'd been in before.

"Yes, that's the issue. I don't know how prepared I am to... well, lead. Or deal with these city-folks. They've got very different problems from the ones I'm used to, even if the Fire Nation being a bunch of pricks is the common denominator."

She knew his fighters had been living off the land, hiding in the woods and striking at opportune times against the Fire Nation, gathering angry refugees to their cause, who were persecuted for their political beliefs or the mere fact they were earthbenders. Toph had had it comparatively easy; an apartment in New Omashu, mostly training the slacker earthbenders up so they'd be ready for a fight. Then she would do some scouting, and with her senses, could easily dodge and detect Fire Nation forces, count them up and their armaments, and go on her merry way, unless Bumi was feeling in a particularly combative mood, then she'd have to destroy something.

"I wasn't prepped for leadership myself." she conceded, "But I know that fighting and governing aren't the same thing. So... you're worried about the council, I assume?"

"I'm not intending to stay in Shengchang. This isn't my home, but many Earth Kingdom people do call it theirs. As soon as the Princess vacates that base, we'll set up our new homes there, and start rebuilding our villages. Make sure that the people aren't just toiling away for everything to get taxed away." he acknowledged his intentions, before he stepped closer, "If the people here want my help... I'm- well, I don't want to get into another fight."

"Pissing off everyone is never a good plan." she conceded, "Even if I'm pretty good at it." she added with a grin, before raising a finger towards his face, "You need to just speak honestly to them. Tell them what you want, and make some deals. You don't need to- what, try and become the leader of this city, that's not your job. They can choose their own."

"Yeah, that's what I was imagining they'd do. But the council, how can we trust that'll work? It'll have a bunch of colonists and businessmen on it. They aren't our friends."

"No, they're not, but you can work with them. The Fire Nation are the ones who allowed Shengchang to become a big city, and they hold... well, all the Pai Sho pieces." she noted the reality of the situation, "I'd speak to Azula if I were you. Tell her what you want done... and if we're lucky, everyone won't try and kill each other after she leaves."

"So how can we stop that?" he asked her, and Toph just shrugged; back in New Omashu, there were no Fire Nation people, so she didn't need to worry about it, and they were planning to evacuate all the colonists from Old Omashu anyway, before Ozai's goons threw that plan into the wind.

"You have every reason not to trust them, so, I guess you just need to try and meet them halfway. They know the people here will revolt if they aren't treated right, now that the government is not in their hands. Azula isn't here to serve the colonial elite, she wants to make sure the city remains at peace, and that all her citizens don't end up expelled, or worse."

"So, what about the poorer colonists? They have more in common with the Earth Kingdom people here than any of their bosses." he suggested, and Toph raised a finger.

"Then go talk to Kibo. If you get her group, Cheng and his group, all of you in a room together, then don't even worry about Azula. Just deal with the issues together, and then bring something to the Princess. She'll have to accept their demands, because they're the people who got her the city, and the ones who wanted her here."

"Hmph... well, I guess it's worth a shot." Jianren conceded, before offering her a hand to shake, "Thank you. This was the advice I was looking for."

"Don't expect me to hand advice out like its aid for refugees. I'm just doing my job here... which is, well, fixing the Earth Kingdom, I guess." she stated what her intended goal was; that was what Bumi had set out to do, and what they'd been forming all their alliances for, even if Azula's goal of being Fire Lord was front and centre in her own mind.

"You have made a good start." he noted her efforts thus far, "Just make sure the Avatar knows what he's doing. Can't have him going out there besmirching the good name of earthbending."

"Yeah, we have the Dai Li for that already." she reminded him, making Jianren chuckle.

"Oh well, I guess the Princess will be doing the dignity of our bending art a favour." he noted Azula's intentions, before waving her goodbye, "Well, see you soon, Toph Beifong. On the battlefield, perhaps?" he suggested, and she just smirked.

"Oh, I won't miss the chance to knock some heads." she assured him, before pacing off in the direction the other fighters had gone; she wanted to get in on those dumplings, after all.

Toph didn't waste any time, making her way down the street, which circled the city's outskirts, before she felt the heartbeat of Hua in another direction; she realised it was a street market, though it wasn't as busy as she'd expected. There were barely any people out walking the streets, and even fewer stopping at the stalls, barring a few soldiers and some of the earthbenders who'd been working on the traps with her. She walked down the street with haste, not having to worry about any crowds, and beelined right for Hua's heartbeat; quickly enough she received a whistle, and sensed Hua waving to her, sitting beside Yami and Mei.

"Toph!" she addressed her, "You're already here."

"Yeah, Jianren didn't have any big speeches for me." she conceded, before striding up to the small restaurant they were standing in front of, "So, have you already ordered?"

"Yeah, we got some pig-chicken dumplings. Hopefully you don't mind that." she explained, raising a brow; she was fine with that, though the thought of a pig-chicken made her imagine a flying boar, the symbol of her family.

That thought amused her for a moment, but she straightened her expression, "Yeah, that's good." before she reached into her pocket, giving Hua a few copper pieces, "That should cover them."

"Oh... thanks, I guess. I wasn't going to ask you to pay. Now we're on the Princess' payroll, we don't really need to worry about money too much." the fighter clarified, and Yami leaned down on the table they were standing in front of.

"Yeah, that's right. We were stealing from the Fire Nation... and now we're just doing it way more efficiently. How about that?"

"Don't say that so loud, Dad." Mei warned his father, "You're gonna get somebody angry."

"Who? A colonist who's getting robbed by the same people? I doubt that." he argued, and Toph nodded, finding his point reasonable; only the Fire Nation merchants and military would have any care for their former acts of thievery, and even then, the military was on their side.

"Yeah, I don't imagine these people are too worried about who you've robbed... plus, we're in charge, whether anyone likes it or not." she argued, before raising a finger, "I think that came out wrong."

"Yeah, for one, I don't remember anyone lauding me as ruler of Shengchang." Yami noted, sarcastically feigning confusion.

That made the others laugh, though Toph just shook her head, "I meant that Azula's in charge, and Jianren has the power to do stuff here. So, you're pretty important." she gestured to them all, and they all seemed pretty amused.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Mei disagreed, "We're still following his orders... though, I won't disagree. He's gotten us a pretty sweet deal so far."

"Yeah, hence the stealing." Yami recalled, his son smacking him lightly across the cheek.

"I don't know if having this conversation in a restaurant was the right move." Hua gave her thoughts, and Toph gave her agreement with a nod, before she glanced over towards the counter, wondering how long their food would be.

"So, how long ago did you order?" she asked, and Yami cleared his throat.

"Oh, just a few minutes. I don't think they'll be that long. This place seems to be busy."

"There's like ten people here." Mei retorted, "This city feels almost abandoned."

"Everyone seems a bit on edge... don't blame them after all the warnings the Princess has sent out." Hua spoke up, and Yami just glanced behind them.

"Hey, when are you evacuating?" he asked one of the patrons, who she guessed was a young man, given what she could sense of his build; he lightly placed a hand on the counter, and turned around, his posture telling her that he didn't enjoy being questioned.

"When the soldiers say... like everyone else." he replied, seeming annoyed by the fact he'd been asked that, "Everything's going to shit. I don't need you loudmouths ruining my lunch." he warned them, and though Yami was obviously offended by that, his son seemed to agree with the patron's sentiment.

"Yeah, Dad. Listen to the guy... we should just speak a little quieter." he suggested, and the group nodded along, though Toph didn't, just pulling herself up onto the stool so she wouldn't have to keep standing.

Not long after that, their awkward silence was broken by a serving girl coming out with a tray of dumplings; she had to wind her way around the tall tables and customers, but didn't drop anything. She placed the tray down on the table, and gave them a curt bow.

"Enjoy your meal." she gave them a pleasantry before she paced back towards the kitchen; Toph didn't relent to dig her fingers in, grabbing one of the dumplings, dipping it in sauce, before eating it whole.

"Woah now, I thought she was meant to be teaching you manners." Yami addressed Hua, who seemed to ignore his words, going to grab two dumplings at once, before she ate them whole.

"I never said I had any table manners." Toph argued as she chewed down the dumpling, "Man these are good." she mumbled, pleased at the restaurant they had chosen; she was half expecting to show up at some run down place offering some boiled dumplings, but she was pleasantly surprised.

"They are- mmm, pretty good." Hua agreed as she chewed her dumplings.

Toph didn't take long to sate herself, eating six of them, before she felt like she had taken her fair share; there was a whole platter, but among the four of them, they ate them all quite fast. With the dumplings all gone, she let out a sigh, before getting off her stool.

"Well, that was nice, but I've got to get back to the warehouse." she conceded, and Yami just let out a cough, sounding surprised by that.

"You're still in there? Don't you have the Governor's house or something now?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"Nah... well, at least, I'm not going there. I like the warehouse. It's got a hammock, and I enjoy hammocks." she gave her reasoning, "Plus, the people there aren't going to serve me like I'm their boss."

"What, do you like doing chores?" Mei asked, clearly sceptical of such an idea.

"No, but I don't like people doing stuff for me." she argued, before she stepped out onto the street, "I'll see you guys later... because the fight's coming."

"What, can you feel it?"

"I can't sense an army coming just yet... but I think I will when they do." she clarified, knowing that her seismic sense, though dulled by the movement in the city, which was as distracting as she imagined dust or snow would be to a seeing person, wouldn't stop her from sensing a lot of people moving, even all the way outside the city, especially if they had tanks.

"Well, if nobody else does, give us a warning. I'd prefer not to be woken up tonight and told I have to go fight." Hua requested, and Toph just smirked.

"Sure will." she agreed to the proposition, before she departed, deciding she'd probably go have a lie down before she did anything else for the afternoon; at that rate, she imagined Aang would come knocking and ask for some more training, especially given they were expecting the army to attack at any moment.

She continued down the street, past the end of the market before she reached the next main street, before she walked up in the direction of the warehouse; she was still in one of the poorer residential districts, which only had a few shops, presumably just for the locals to use. Quickly enough, however, she reached the larger plots of the industrial district, where massive warehouses and chimneys towered up beside the street.

The streets were still quite empty, though she could sense workers inside the various factories, working away with their machines and tools. The vibrations were rather noticeable, almost comparable to a small earthquake, or as if the earth itself had a heartbeat beneath her feet. It seemed that the danger of an attack would not deter the workers from doing their jobs, though Toph guessed it was probably their bosses which demanded they continue producing things, even if they didn't have any easy way to export goods. She assumed Azula was dealing with that issue, but messenger hawks would take time, time where the city could find itself further isolated and its people impoverished. The war had never been fair, and Shengchang was just fortunate that it was only getting to realise that now.

When she finally reached the main road into the city, she turned up the street, noticing that there were still rather large patrols of soldiers; they were armed with pikes, or unarmed in the case of firebenders, but all of them seemed to be on edge. The city guard which she had noticed before the attack was nowhere to be found, though she guessed that was Azula's doing; she presumably wanted to vet them and their leaders and ensure they weren't going to side with the enemy when they inevitably arrived to retake the city for Ozai. Even if she hadn't been there, she wanted to avoid a situation like the one in Old Omashu, where the garrison turned on the Governor and Iroh at the most opportune time.

When she reached the warehouse, she could sense a few heartbeats inside, though she couldn't sense anyone on the upper floors, which were made of wood and metal, not brick; that hadn't changed since she was last there. When she knocked on the door, she had to wait for a few moments while somebody got up to unlock it; she couldn't recall the person's name, but their heartbeat spiked up as soon as they saw Toph.

"Ah, Toph." the man addressed her, "Katara's upstairs, if you were looking for her." he gave her some useful information.

"Uh, seen Aang around?" she asked, and the man shook his head.

"No, the Avatar hasn't been here since this morning." he clarified, before getting out of her way to allow her to enter.

Toph didn't waste her time talking to anyone downstairs, though she gave the courtesy of a few waves to everyone before she climbed the stairs, reaching the top where she could barely sense anything, due to the wooden floor.

"Hi Toph." Katara addressed her, and from the sound of her voice, she had to be over in the corner, sitting down.

"What have you been doing?"

"Fixing up my clothes. I wanted to make something a bit better suited to the weather here." she explained, making the earthbender snicker.

"Not cold enough for your taste?" she asked her, and the Water Tribe girl let out a chuckle; Toph stepped closer, before reaching out to find the hammock, once she did, she pulled herself onto it, clapping her feet together to get any dust and dirt off them, before she laid herself down.

"You really like that hammock." she observed, and the earthbender just shrugged.

"I like being able to lie down and not sense anything. I can't just turn my seismic sense off like you can... uh, close your eyes." she tried to think of a good comparison, and the Water Tribe girl hummed along, seeming to understand.

"Ah, that makes sense. Well, are you going to sleep?" she asked, and Toph shook her head.

"Nah, I'm just resting for a bit. That earthbending tired me out." she explained herself, "All the traps are laid now." she informed the other girl, who sounded like she just jumped up from her seated position.

"Wait, really? Does that mean the attack's going to come soon?" she asked, and Toph just hummed.

"Eh, I don't know. Azula said what, like four days, five days... after we won. So, tomorrow, maybe." she gave her best guess, and she heard creaking from Katara's footsteps.

"So, are you going to fight?" she asked her a question that Toph thought had a really obvious answer.

"Yes, I will. Did you think I'd miss the chance?"

"No... I just thought you were going to stick to the traps." she gave her thoughts.

The earthbender nodded, "Well, you're right. The traps are what I'm relying on. When they walk into them, I take my chance. The soldiers won't have a chance to fight back."

"So, it's going to be easy?" she stated what Toph couldn't guess to be an assumption or a question; she took it as the latter, and pointed in the direction she guessed Katara was.

"I don't know how well prepared those Fire Nation soldiers are going to be, or if anyone's told them what we did. The airship and all that." she explained her thoughts; she couldn't say much with certainty, given she wasn't going around spying on the enemy.

When they had all fought together near New Omashu, they had the advantage of Azula sneaking into the enemy camp to gather information before they even attacked; Shengchang was like that on a bigger scale. However, now all they had was a letter sent to another province, and some basic assumptions from Azula and her officers on what that would lead to.

No troop numbers, no idea what arms they'd have, or if there would be reinforcements from other provinces. She didn't like the uncertainty, but there wasn't much she could do about it, other than asking for them to take Appa and see for themselves. Toph wouldn't be of much use in that situation, but she was sure that Aang, with his glider and sky-bison could tell them everything they needed to know.

"I don't really know what will happen, but if you want to feel safer, ask Aang to go fly around and see if he can figure out how big that army is." she suggested, and the floor creaked even louder than before.

"That's a good idea, Toph." she commended her point, "I'm pretty sure Azula would have thought of something like that already. She had us scout out Shengchang, why wouldn't she do the same for this army?"

"Well, what if the scouts get captured." she suggested the worst case scenario, "Then they'd know we're here, how many troops, and all about the fancy new airship."

"Oh... that wouldn't help at all." she admitted, sounding down that they might be in even worse situation.

"Don't worry about it, Sugar Queen. We're safe for the moment, and I doubt they'll anticipate traps, an airship, and the Avatar all at once. Not to mention your waterbending. That's pretty useful too." she assured her; that seemed to get the Water Tribe girl in a better mood, and she could hear her footsteps moving away, and the sound of fabric dragging on the wall nearby.

"Yeah, you're right. We're not weak. This isn't an unfair fight." she acknowledged, "I'm just... well, so used to being on the losing side."

"Yeah, I guess the Southern Water Tribe has a good reason to be afraid of losing." she admitted; she didn't know everything, but what she could infer from Katara's stories was pretty terrible- her tribe had lost all their waterbenders, and they'd been teetering on the edge of destruction for years.

"Y-yeah, we do." she confirmed, "I just hope things are going to keep going our way. Azula knows what she's doing."

"Well, she's lost too. She knows the game well now." she conceded, before smirking; Toph knew that the Princess wanted to create a grand strategy, and she wanted to see it fulfilled, if only for the multitude of ways they could absolutely school her father.

"If we're lucky, she'll make Ozai lose even worse than she did in Yu Dao."


The afternoon sun hung low in the sky, and the clouds sat above Ty Lee's head, almost feeling close enough to touch; she wouldn't miss the chance to take a flight out on Appa while she had the chance, but it was not for the fun of it. Aang was up on the saddle, leading the sky-bison on a winding route through the air; they were high up, but not for the sake of hiding from any onlookers, like they might have if they were heading in enemy territory, but to make sure they could spot any enemy soldiers below. Though Azula had assured them the enemy army had to be on the way, their scouts hadn't found anything thus far on foot. Toph had the bright suggestion of sending Appa around to see if they could find anyone from the air, given he was far more agile than the airship, which they needed to keep by the city in case of a more stealthy assault on the city.

Katara, Aang, and Ty Lee all got on Appa and did just that; it had been a while, and she had decided to let the Water Tribe girl take a shot at spotting while she lay down for a bit. She knew she ought to be looking out, but she had missed flying. After a week without, she had begun to miss the wind whipping up on her face, and the light running through the clouds and shimmering all over them. It was a magical place, which most people never would have the chance to experience. The airship was the first kind of artificial way to achieve what Appa could just do naturally; given how complex it was to get that hunk of metal going, it made the sky-bisons smooth, graceful flying all the more impressive.

She was trying to, once more, make out shapes in the sky above her. When travelling it was the easiest thing to do. The clouds were quite sparse and blobby, making it harder to do that. So, she rolled back over and sat herself up, turning to face Katara, who sat idly by the edge, her eyes turned down towards the ground.

"Seen anything?" she asked the Water Tribe girl; she shrugged and turned back to face Ty Lee.

"No, not really. I've seen a few animals, but that's it." she conceded, before looking at Aang, "Have you?"

He shook his head, before gesturing to their left, "The road is over there. I haven't see anyone at all."

"It's a bit weird, don't you think?" the acrobat asked them, wondering if there was going to be an attack at all.

"Azula said they'd be coming... Where from, that's what we're trying to figure out." she explained, and Aang just sighed.

"Let's just circle back to Shengchang. We can do this again later." he decided, before whipping on the reins of Appa, "Come on, buddy, we need to get back."

The sky bison let out a low growl, and Ty Lee snickered; maybe because of all the sitting around over the past week, he wanted to continue flying. He heeded the command, however, and slowed down as they turned back towards Shengchang, which she could see on the distant horizon.

Given Appa's speed, it wouldn't take long for them to get back, and Ty Lee placed her palm on her jaw, letting herself just look down at the woods and fields that sat below them. She could see a few small villages along the way, but they'd already passed over them. Nothing suspicious was seen, just farmers in their fields, or animals eating the grass.

As they drew closer to the city, they flew over the hills, where the city's famed iron mines dotted the landscape, holes and cleared land dotting the otherwise thickly forested area. Ty Lee did spot something odd there, noticing some light coming from some of the mines, and more than she'd expect.

"Hey Aang, have we checked the mines?" she asked him, and he turned back to face her with a perplexed face.

"We flew over them first." he recalled, "Did you want to check again?"

She nodded, and he pulled on Appa's reins, slowing them once more as they dived down on a shallow angle, circling back around the mines. Now with a closer look, Ty Lee noticed some small tents dotted by some of the mine entrances.

"Hey... Did we ever check where those mines went?" she asked him, and Katara turned to face her.

"Wait, remember that story you had about the caves, back when you were fighting that General Gyoko?" she asked the acrobat, who certainly remembered; if her guess was right, the enemy hadn't even bothered taking the road.

Her immediate idea was that they went through the mines to avoid being spotted; if they were anything like the mines she'd learnt about at school, they would be big enough for komodo rhinos and tundra tanks to drive through.

"That might be it. Get closer." Ty Lee requested, and Aang pulled on the reins again, forcing Appa to dive even lower.

As they circled around the mines, and drew closer, she was able to make out the tents better. They were military issued, which she recognised from their expedition into the hills a few weeks prior. She then saw some soldiers, with spyglasses in their hands, hiding by the brush that surrounded a mine, on a hill overlooking Shengchang. Ty Lee realised they were setting themselves up there. Azula had told her where her soldiers would be taking up positions, and the mines were not one of them.

"There!" she pointed them out, "They're in the mines." she declared, "Get out of here!" she told Aang, who pulled up on the reins, forcing Appa to pull up and turn around at the right time; a few moments later, some fire streams were shot up into the air, where Appa would have been otherwise.

"That was close." Katara gasped, "We need to get back to Azula, right now." she said what Ty Lee guessed they were all thinking; Appa was already flying back in the direction of the city centre, and once they crossed over the walls, she made sight of the square.

That was where they had left Azula, and she immediately spotted her, training with Sokka and her guards, though they stopped as they saw the sky-bison slow down to land. Appa circled around the square a few times, before slowing to a halt by the entrance of city hall. Aang immediately jumped off, and paced over to Azula.

"We found some soldiers. They're in the mines in the hills." he gestured in the general direction, the Princess's intrigued expression shifting to a colder one.

"How many?" she asked, and Ty Lee climbed off of Appa, feeling that she could explain her thoughts and give her the answers she wanted.

"We couldn't tell, but I think they were using those mines how you planned to use the caves... back when we were fighting that army." she explained, and Sokka's face lit up, instantly understanding what she was saying.

"So instead of travelling to Shengchang overland, they're using the interconnected mines to traverse the distance, avoiding being spotted by scouts or by anyone who can fly... seeing that we're the only ones who can, they were probably thinking of that." he spoke as he thought, and the Princess raised her chin up, glancing towards the sky.

"Well, crap." Katara mumbled as she approached, having just gotten off the saddle, "Does that make your whole plan bunk?" she asked, clearly hoping that wasn't the case.

"We can't bomb the mines. They're the source of the city's incomes... we'd be burning our feet while trying to beat them." she explained, her words a Fire Nation expression that probably went over the others' heads, though the Water Tribe warrior understood the meaning.

"Yes. They must have known that... I'd even guess the Governor told them to do it." he argued, before glancing towards the Imperial Firebenders, "No matter, training is cancelled. We need to prepare the troops. The traps are laid, and once they get into the open, we can strike them. If they're smart enough to try and sneak their way into the city, they're in for one hell of a surprise."

"The earthbenders." Renshu reminded them of what he was referring to, clearly sounding pleased as he said it, "Your alliance with Jianren will continue to bring us wonders, your majesty." he acknowledged Azula's smart choices when it came to building her alliances; Ty Lee agreed, if only because aligning with the Earth Kingdom meant there was no reproach with Ozai.

It might have been possible, if Zuko hadn't been overthrown and killed, and the Earth Kingdom wasn't turning to chaos, but Azula had her path set out, and there was no way they'd let her crazy father have his way. That was what she wanted, if only for Mai's sake; she would make sure he paid the price for his actions. Azula probably wasn't thinking about the situation the same way, given all her father had taught her and the very fact he was her father, the last relative she had any care for.

That was a matter for another time, and she stepped over to Azula, placing a hand on her shoulder, "So, am I doing something stupid again?" she asked her, and the Princess just pursed her lips.

"Could you see any kind of encampment? A base where they could coordinate their troops."

"I did." she confirmed, and she gestured to Sokka.

"Sokka, take Ty Lee and half of the Imperial Firebenders. You will use the airship, which will circle the outskirts for targets; before that, you will fly to the location Ty Lee saw and use the rappelling chains to drop down. Find their leaders, capture them if possible... kill them otherwise. We will shatter their resolve, and I don't intend to just let the traps and the airship do all the work."

"It will be done, your majesty." Renshu, who wasn't even being directly addressed, accepted her implicit command.

"You will remain with me, Captain. We need to ensure that the civilians are all evacuated before the fighting begins. We may not have much time." she warned him, before turning to face the other Imperial Firebenders, "Shen, you will take the lead of the force with Sokka. Make sure they all come back in one piece." she commanded Shen, who stepped forward, saluting the Princess at once.

"You have my word, your majesty." he assured her, and Ty Lee strode over to Sokka, tugging him by the arm.

"No time to wait, lover-boy." she warned him, before glancing back at her friends, "Good luck... and please, don't do anything really crazy. I want to see everyone conscious at the end of this one."

Aang nodded, and gave her a thumbs up, "We will." he gave his word, and Azula just chuckled, smirking as Ty Lee, Sokka, and the Imperial Firebenders paced away, heading for the yard where the airship had been sitting since the battle.

The Water Tribesman was looking back as they walked away, seeming pensive, and almost afraid, but his expression hardened as they continued along, turning his gaze up the street, which still had pedestrians walking about. Shen clearly knew what to do, and raised his hands up, getting the attention of the civilians.

"Everyone evacuate the streets! Go to your homes or to designated evacuation sites within the walled city! We are under attack!" he warned them all, and that immediately got their attention; market stalls were quickly packed away and people began to run from the street, or up and down it, warning everyone they could.

It had the effect they desired, and made it easier to increase their own pace, making their way down the length of the street, towards the walls; they weren't that tall, and Ty Lee doubted they'd hold off a serious attacker for long, but they would protect the civilians from the fighting itself, and that was what counted. Taking Shengchang just to have it become a waste would have been more than pointless, it would have been actively harmful; Azula was no paragon, but she would not have the blood of innocents on her hands, that was certain enough.

Not long after she even saw Aang fly around with his glider, and though she couldn't hear what he was saying, she was sure he had the same warning; the people had to evacuate at once, and find shelter. There was no telling how extreme the battle could be, but given the time the enemy had to prepare, Ty Lee was not optimistic. The fact they had been able to hide in the mines alone told her that they were ready, perhaps more so than themselves. As they drew close to the yard, Shen hailed the guards standing duty, and they immediately opened the gates for them, allowing them to walk on inside.

The massive hunk of metal and fabric lying before them, its engines silent and the gondola unlit. The engineers and firebenders were still in their tents, awaiting orders, which they were about to receive; the lack of warning was obviously going to be the key advantage the enemy had on their side, now that it was clear they either had to attack, or lose said advantage. Ty Lee did not consider herself an adept in strategy, unlike Azula, or even Sokka, but she knew that the fight was not in their favour; unlike when fighting Gyoko, or when they first took Shengchang, the odds were not unfairly stacked in their own favour.

The airship wouldn't be ready to go at once, but it would be quicker than any soldiers would be on foot, going to attack the city from the mines, or the opposite way around. At the very least, it seemed that time might be on their side still; there was a delay with everything, given orders needed to be created, sent out, and followed.

Sokka made a whistle as he approached the tents, "Let's go, let's go! This is not a drill, we're going up, right now!" he called on the engineers and firebenders, who shuffled out of their tents, putting on uniforms and armour, grabbing the gear and tools they needed before rushing for the airship.

The Water Tribesman leaned towards her, his formerly serious expression evaporating, "I've always wanted to do that."

If that didn't remind her of Azula, and her obsession with approval and making grand gestures of power, she didn't know what would, "You and her are made for each other, really." she told him bluntly, and he just chuckled.

"Oh don't worry, I'm well aware." he assured her, before pacing towards the gondola, after the Imperial Firebenders.

They all walked right through one of the doors into the gondola's bridge, where they'd have a good viewpoint for watching any fighting below, but also spotting out the location Ty Lee had noticed while on Appa. She sat herself down on a seat behind the controls, where the pilot had already taken up his station, and Sokka sat beside her, his giddy grin reminding her that he'd never actually flown in the airship himself.

"So... how do you think this is going to go?" she decided to ask, not wanting to sit there in silence as the airship was prepped for take off; unlike Appa, the machinery wasn't able instantly start working, and get them into the air- if there'd been a longer forewarning on the attack, that wouldn't be an issue.

The airship was necessary to win the fight, and it was obvious Azula's strategy was predicated on it; without the numbers to actually beat their opponents in a land battle, she had to rely on the damage the airship would inflict with its bombs and the firebenders who would man attack posts, firing down streams of orange fury upon their presumably unsuspecting foes.

"Well..." Sokka broke the silence after he'd had some time to think on her question, "The traps are laid, so if the enemy comes into the city, they won't be able to advance. The problem is the barracks is where we're keeping all those captured soldiers, who didn't want to join us and head back to the base." he explained, raising a hand to his jaw, "Those soldiers could turn the tide against us... even if the airship can break the enemy's morale, it won't give us a victory. If everyone breaks rank and flees, then we won't have Shengchang, no matter how powerful this thing is."

"So, we need to break their morale first." she realised, before smirking, "That was what Azula was thinking."

"Yep. She knows it works, so we're doing it again." he confirmed, before tapping rhythmically on his thighs as he waited for them to finally get off the ground, "I can't remember how long it takes this thing to start working."

"We can't help that." the pilot reminded him, "We'll be up in a few minutes, sir." he assured Sokka, who just sighed, giving a resolute nod.

Ty Lee's gaze turned back to the window, looking out to the streets where she could see soldiers marching past, and civilians frantically running around; most of them would have known the attack was coming, but with the lack of warning, she could not blame them for their reactions. Her mind turned to the others, who would be probably heading to the outskirts to help defend the city, put out fires, and ensure the traps worked as intended.

"Do you think Azula will be alright? She's on the frontline this time." she asked Sokka, who just narrowed his eyes.

"She wants us to do this to make sure this fight ends as quickly as possible. We will stop them... so, don't worry."

"I can't help it." she admitted, looking down as she felt a little guilty for souring his mood; he didn't seem happy, but he was clearly not afraid, "Why aren't you scared?"

"Oh, I am." he corrected her, before tapping the side of his head, "I am not going to let fear control me. I control it."

"Now you're really sounding like her." she noted, slightly amused by how much the Princess had rubbed off on him.

"She has a point about fear... but I don't use it to drive me. I use my hope." he argued, before just snickering, "I know that sounds corny, but it's true. I want to see all of this fighting end... not because I love the Fire Nation or really don't like fighting, but because I know the future will be brighter than this." he gave his thoughts, which made Ty Lee smile.

"It isn't corny." she assured him, "You're right. I think like that as well." she admitted, before she too began tapping her hands on her thighs, awaiting their inevitable lift off.

"Engines are fired up!" she heard a voice echo out, and glanced up to realise they were using metal tubes to send messages throughout the airship.

The pilot pulled some levers, and pulled his end of the pipe down closer to his face, "Prepare for ascent. Five, four, three, two... now!" he commanded into the metal pipe, and the co-pilots pulled some other levers, which made some mechanical noises echo out beneath them; in the distance she could hear bursts of steam and the sound of fire roaring, and a moment later, the airship began to rise up from the ground.

"Oh yeah." Sokka grinned as he leaned over towards the window, looking out with awe as they began to rise up, first out of the yard, and then above the nearby buildings.

From there, Ty Lee could already see the city walls that ringed the core of Shengchang, and beyond them, the hills, their destination. As they rose higher up, she saw the Imperial Firebenders rising to their feet, and Shen stepped over to Sokka.

"We will get the rappelling chains ready, meet us at the back of the airship when we're over the target." he explained, and the Water Tribesman nodded, turning to face Ty Lee as the guards moved away.

"Get up next to the pilot. He needs to know exactly where we're going." he explained her role, and she nodded, getting up to stand next to the pilot; from his seat, there was a good vantage point, allowing her to see out at a 180 degree angle, as well as a smaller angle down towards the ground.

As they crossed over the walls, she raised her finger up, pointing towards the mines, "It was one of the mine entrances... you will see some tents surrounding it. That's the one you need to get over." she explained, and the pilot nodded, turning the wheel in front of him to change their heading, curving around the hills so he could get a better look instead of heading right for them.

As they drew around, she took note of each of the mine entrances she'd seen earlier, and was able to find the tents rather easily, and could make out individual soldiers, most of them still spotting, and clearly concerned about the airship which many of them were looking at directly.

"Rain fire on them." Sokka ordered the pilot, who turned to face him.

"Aren't you going down there?" he asked, clearly concerned he might compromise their plans.

"We have some of the best trained firebenders on the planet getting ready to rappel down there; if they can't put out the fires the bombs will make, then they should be fired... no pun intended." he explained, Ty Lee snickering at his joke; the pilot was less amused but accepted the command without another question, raising his hand up.

"Ready the firebombs. One each side... open hatches in five." he ordered his co-pilots, who pulled some more levers, and each held one as he turned the wheel once more, flying them directly over the encampment.

When they dropped the levers, Ty Lee heard the shunting noise as the hatches were opened, and leaned over the window to her left, watching as the bombs dropped beneath them; the explosions were powerful enough to shake the airship itself, despite being quite high up above the mines.

"Let's go." Sokka directed her, "We can't have Shen and the others waiting." he warned her, and she nodded, pacing after him as he moved through the doorway.

It led them into the engine room, where they walked across a metal gangway, above the numerous coal-fired engines, before they reached the other end of the gondola, where a door lay before them; they stepped through, and were greeted by the Imperial Firebenders, who were hooked up to the rappelling chains. Two of them approached Ty Lee and Sokka, giving them harnesses, which they fastened to their chests, before they were each attached to a chain.

"We're dropping as soon as we turn back over the encampment." Shen clarified their intentions, and turned to face Sokka, "What are our objectives, sir?" he asked him, the Water Tribesman seeming surprised.

"Uh... yes, we're going to find their commanding officers, capture them, or... well, you heard Azula. Deal with them. Otherwise, inflict maximum damage to their offensive capabilities... so, their artillery pieces, any tundra tanks. Whatever we can find, we disable it." he explained what the plan was, before he glanced over the ledge they were standing by, "Okay, we're coming back around."

Shen stepped over, standing by another metal tube, and spoke into it, "Slow down. We are rappelling in ten." he ordered the pilot, and with that, the airship began to slow as they approached the encampment.

Ty Lee glanced down off the ledge, feeling a little eerie with the massive height they'd have to fall down, "Oh... this is new."

"What, you don't like heights?" Sokka asked her, and she cringed.

"I have never tried anything like this before." she admitted the truth, "I mean, at the circus I'd have to jump and swing from heights, but... well, I wasn't jumping into a field of fire."

"It can't be that hard... just close your eyes." he suggested, and she scoffed.

"Drop!" Shen commanded, and with that, she just turned around, stepping right off the ledge; that came natural to her, and as she fell down, she felt the chain vibrating, tugging on the harness.

She spun herself around multiple times, pulling herself up by grasping the chain, and kept her feet aimed towards the ground. Around her, the flames grew higher as she fell lower, and she saw the devastation they'd already caused; the enemy soldiers, however, were clearly not done, as she could see a number of them cowering by the treeline, or by the mine entrance that lay ahead of her.

"Here we go." she mumbled to herself, unhooking the harness as soon as she neared the ground, landing on two feet before she began to dash for the mine.

Around her, the Imperial Firebenders dropped, and began sending out attacks, bolts of fire, streams, and arcs slashing through the air, setting trees and tents alight, and striking a number of them down. It didn't stop them for long, and the ones ahead of her were already moving into form, ready to set her alight.

"Fire!" she heard one of them command, and she dropped, skidding on the slope she was following, easily dodging the fire streams they let out before she slid between the men, getting up just before she would have fallen into the mine's deep, foreboding entrance.

She spun herself around, and began to jab at the soldiers in quick succession, chi-blocking their arms, but they figured out her strategy quickly enough, and stepped away, trying once more to bend at her. Ty Lee was fast, and was able to grab one by the arm, and turn him around, using him as a shield against the flames, before she kicked him forward, chi-blocking his back in the process.

The soldiers tried once again, but this time, she didn't try and hold back, leaping at one after the other, grabbing them, chi-blocking their backs, and using them as shields as she weaved out of the way of the flurry of flames aimed her way. Before she could get the last one, his helmet was struck by a flying object, and he fell down face-first into the dirt. She turned to see Sokka, grabbing the boomerang as it arched back towards him, and just cocked a smirk.

"Good job, Ty." he noted her efforts, "Do any of those guys look like officers?" he asked, and she glanced down, not seeing any distinguishing items on the soldiers that would mark them as such.

"No." she answered his question, before glancing ahead of them, noticing the lower portion of the camp, which was still burning, "Maybe we should check further down." she suggested, and he nodded, before whistling.

That got the attention of the Imperial Firebenders, who had finished dealing with the remaining soldiers, and followed after the pair as they made their way around the mine entrance towards the lower portion of the camp. She saw a tent that looked awfully familiar, and approached it, realising that it had to be the command tent; however, it was already burnt out, and when she looked inside, all she could see was a bunch of paper strewn about, some of it burnt. No one was in the tent, and she guessed they had already fled.

"Where could they have gone?" she asked, glancing back over to Sokka, "Do you think they went into the woods?"

"Our soldiers would catch them out there." he argued, before kneeling over, picking up a sheet of paper, "But I think I have an idea." he explained, before pointing to the piece of paper, which she realised was a map of the mines, commissioned by whoever operated them, given the company's name was plastered over them.

"They're going to try and get into the city through the mines." she realised, "Or run away." she suggested the other possibility."

"Either way, they went down there." he concluded, before they strode out of the ruins of the tent, Sokka taking the map with him.

Shen and the guards were still checking around, and seemed surprised to see them exiting the ruined tent as quickly as they had.

"What do you have?" one of the guards asked Sokka, who flicked out the map, unfurling it for a moment.

"A map of the mines. They've gone back down... either to get to Shengchang, or get out of here." he explained, before pointing in the direction of the mine entrance, "We need to get down there, right now. We can't let them start attacking the city... otherwise all of this would be for nothing." he argued, and Ty Lee turned around, having heard what was undeniably the sound of explosions; she raced up the slope, trying to get a clear view of Shengchang, and when she did, she was horrified.

The enemy was already using their artillery pieces to hurl flaming boulders into the city, where she could see the outskirts already pelted with them. She was unsure if many soldiers were out there at that very moment, but the traps certainly were; if they were blown open, the element of surprise would be lost on their behalf, making it easier, even if they were slowed down by the pits, for the enemy to get all the way to the city centre. The flames from the explosions were already starting to grow and eat up buildings, which was already concerning enough.

"We don't have long." Shen realised, "The airship might have a chance at taking down the artillery pieces, but we need to stop them entirely." he argued, and Sokka nodded.

"With me!" he called on the group, running towards the mine entrance; though hesitant, after her experience in those flooded caves, she knew she couldn't refuse, not when her skills might turn the tide of the battle.

Ty Lee dashed after the warrior, following him as he took a winding path into the mine, which fell into the earth at a sharp grade; the whole place was lit up by lanterns, but some had fallen, probably due to the impact of the explosives, and led to splashes of flaming oil covering the ground. They were easy enough to avoid, and the Imperial Firebenders put out the flames as they moved past, making their way down to the bottom of the winding path.

Now they stood well a way underground, surrounded by mining equipment, but more importantly, Ty Lee could see the tracks made by carts and tanks as they had moved through the wide tunnel, which ran at an almost level plan either way.

"We should split up." Sokka decided, "Me, Ty Lee, and two of you, we go towards the city, the rest of you go the other way. If we don't find anything after a minute, go back the other way." the Water Tribesman gave a quick plan, and everyone nodded, understanding their roles; two of the guards followed her and Sokka as they dashed down the path, making their way down the large tunnel, which was lit by lanterns which were hung up above their heads.

She could see footprints along the edges of the tunnel, and the sounds of shouts the way they were moving; she moved into form, knowing what might come next, and noticed some crates that partially blocked their path, and certainly would stop any vehicles from moving past. They slowed down, and began to crouch as they took cover behind the crates. Sokka moved first, leaning out to look through a gap.

He raised his hand, telling them that there were five men, which shouldn't have been that hard for them to take down; Ty Lee immediately leapt up, climbing over the crates before she landed down on the other side, leaping at one of the soldiers she spotted. She was able to kick his legs, tripping him over before she somersaulted, dodging the attacks of the remaining soldiers. She weaved around, missing all the fireballs that were aimed at her, before she grabbed the polearm of one of the soldiers, using it to trip another over, before she chi-blocked the non-bender. Sokka and the guards followed soon after, knocking the remaining soldiers unconscious.

Glancing ahead, she realised that they were approaching another entrance of the mine, which was far more shallow than the last one, and she could see some more tents, this time located within the mine itself. Some soldiers were standing guard, and had moved into form after seeing their sudden attack, but hadn't moved on them yet. That told her that they were there to guard someone, or a group of people, rather than fight them.

They shot out some fire streams as a warning, but Ty Lee easily ran out of the way of them, before she snapped a finger at Sokka, telling him to do his thing; he did, tossing his boomerang at one of the guards, knocking him unconscious, before the Imperial Firebenders shot fire bolts at the remaining guard, who was overwhelmed by the quick succession of attacks. With them out of the way, she knew she had her chance and rushed for the tents, going for the largest one, which she burst into without hesitation. She found herself surrounded by officers, some of which were already injured, covering themselves with bandages as she entered; they moved into form, only to find their tent set alight by the Imperial Firebenders, and they were followed by Sokka, who leapt into the tent after her.

"Good day." he addressed them with a cock of a grin, "Would you happen to be leading this attack? I've got to say, it's impressed me so far." he admitted, clearly honest in his tone, before one of the officers tried to slash him with a jian; the Water Tribesman just weaved out of the way, before disarming him with chi-blocking, tossing the sword over to Ty Lee, who used it to block another jian which was aimed at her.

She didn't know how to use a sword, but used it as a fine distraction while she chi-blocked the man who'd attacked her with her feet, paralysing his legs. He fell down and she kicked him in the jaw, knocking him out cold. The remaining officers were firebenders, and moved into form, putting out the flames that had begun to consume the tent, before aiming their fists at the chi-blockers.

"Stop right there, you fiends!" one of them demanded, "In the name of your Fire Lord, you should surrender yourselves. Your treason has gone on long enough; the Crown Princess must surrender herself and this city."

"Uh... I'm sure she likes the line of succession being approved and all... but we've got to say no." Sokka refused, before one of the Imperial Firebenders leapt through the canvas, setting that officer's face alight.

"Take it from me... the Fire Lord seeks your surrender as well." he warned him as the man screamed, trying to bend the flames away from his face.

Sokka kicked him over, allowing the flames to be put out by the dirt beneath him, before his gaze turned to the remaining officers, "So, what will it be?"

"You dare question our honour?" one of them asked, before moving into form, "Die!" he screamed out furiously, and Sokka and Ty Lee just weaved out of the way of his flurry of fireballs, which were shot in such a quick succession that she was actually impressed; she'd only seen such speed from the Imperial Firebenders themselves.

The officer's display of power was cut short when Sokka swept him off his feet with his club, before kicking him in the head, knocking him out cold. The remaining officers tried to run away, and Sokka just readied his boomerang, eyeing Ty Lee with a grin.

"Ready to take down another army?" he asked her, and she eyed the soldiers that had come to the aid of their superiors, ready to set them all alight.

"Well, I don't have much of a choice, do I?"