Author's Note:Hello all! I decided to make the invasion two parts so its only two chapters until we get to see what poor Zuko has been up to and then the inevitable reunion! I hope you are all as excited as I am. I am hoping to get part two up tonight/tomorrow but its a lot of action and I have a lot of work to put into it before I feel comfortable posting it for you all.
~Chapter 7 Start~
"This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force." Sokka said as he read one of his many maps.
Before us lay a grassland filled with sheep. Several large cliffs and rocky outcrops covered the small island in clusters along the landscape. Where the island curved inward there was a well protected inlet with an old rickety wooden dock. Sokka really did find the perfect place to meet up with the rest of the invasion fleet. Guess all those long nights agonizing over different maps really did come in handy. I stepped forward looking down the hill we stood on to find a nice flat area we could easily set up camp. We headed down the hill and began to unpack our belongings from Appa's back. Katara began making lunch while I started a fire. Sokka however, had different ideas and laid out his sleeping roll and sat down.
"How did you pick this place?" Toph asked as she finished her own surveying and began to set up her own sleeping area.
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited, and the harbor surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place." Sokka explained as he stretched out his limbs.
"Nice choice Sokka. And we're here four days ahead of schedule." Katara smiled as she began chopping up some vegetables.
"Wait, four days? The invasion's in four days?" Aang exclaimed as his face twisted in anxiety.
"Whatever, that's, like, four days from now. Let's just calm down and..." Sokka yawned as he laid down and went to sleep.
"Well, rest is important, Aang. We should try to get some while we can." I smiled as I rolled out my sleeping bag and began tending to the fire.
"Sokka's got the right idea, Aang. We're here, we're ready. The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest." Katara agreed.
"I guess..." Aang said unsure.
~Break~
I was awoken by sounds of someone hitting a tree. Cracking my eyes open I found Aang hitting a tree, practicing his strikes. Blinking the sleep away I stood up and walked towards him. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his forehead was creased in both concentration and worry. His hands looked raw and bruised causing me to wonder how long he had been at this.
"Aang?" I asked as I approached him.
"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" He asked without stopping his strikes.
"No, it's fine but...uh...how long have you been at this?" I asked.
"All night." He replied.
"All night? Did you even sleep?" I gasped.
"I got a little, but there's still so much to do." Aang grunted through his strikes.
"Aang...you need to rest." I said as I reached out in an attempt to get him to stop.
"Hey, how long have you been up?" Katara asked as she came to stand beside me.
"He's been up all night." I answered for her.
"What?" She gasped.
"I've got a lot more skills to refine if I'm going to fight Ozai." Aang exclaimed as he moved around the tree.
"You know, there is such a thing as over training." Katar soothed as she too reached out for Aang.
Aang hit the tree one last time before falling to his back, branches from the tree falling onto him. I winced in sympathy as I moved the branches away and helped him sit up. He looked almost dazed, but clearly wide awake. I was beginning to worry, but he had to tire himself out eventually.
"Aang, you need to rest. What's got you so worried?" I asked as I gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"You don't get it, do you?' Aang asked, shaking my hands off and standing up. "My form is bad, I'm sloppy, and I still don't know any firebending. Not even the basics!"
Katara took his hand and held it between her own with a nervous smile.
"Aang, we talked about this..." I sighed as I stood to follow Aang.
"That's okay, Aang, the eclipse will block all firebending anyway. You don't need to know any, and if you do Mira knows how for you. Plus, it's a stupid element." Sokka said lazily.
"Hey!" I pouted as I watched Sokka and Toph walk up to us.
Guess we were starting to make enough noise to wake everyone up. Even Appa and Momo were watching us from where they lay.
"Okay, well, I still have to work on everything else. I better spend the whole day training." Aang quickly bowed before summoning an air ball and spinning off.
"Mira, do you think you could talk to him?" Katara asked.
"Yeah, I can try. Once he calms down enough that I can talk to him anyways." I sighed, sitting down to start making breakfast.
~Break~
It was late into the night when Aang returned. I never did get a chance to talk to him which felt counter productive. I heard him wander into camp with a large yawn and lay down. Well, at least he had tired himself out finally. Hopefully now he would crash and crash hard getting some much needed rest.
"Goodnight, Katara. Goodnight, Sokka. Goodnight, Toph. Goodnight, Mira. Goodnight Appa, goodnight Momo. Goodnight, Appa and Mom—"
"Go to sleep, already." Toph yelled.
I was barely asleep for a few hours when I heard Aang awaken with a gasp. He stood up and wandered off to begin training again. I sat up, deciding now would be a good time to talk, and followed Katara towards where Aang was. Aang seemed to be moving around in a daze, clearly unrested from whatever sleep he had managed to get.
"Aang, it's the middle of the night. You need to go back to sleep." Katara sighed.
"Katara is right, you won't be of any use if you're too tired to fight." I said as I walked over to him.
"But I forgot my pants and my math test." Aang responded, continuing to circle the sheep.
"Math test?" I asked as I tried to pull his shoulder and steer him back towards our camp.
"Aang, sleep. Please, for me." Katara pleaded as she grabbed his other shoulder.
Aang relented and let Katara lead him back to camp. I sighed as I looked around wondering what I could do to help. It was obvious Aang was having nightmares and they were beginning to take their toll. What were we going to do if Aang couldn't get any proper rest. We were on a tight schedule and time was running out.
~Break~
"Sokka get up! I need to know what day it is!" Aang shouted, startling everyone awake.
"What? Who's talking?" Sokka shouted as he jumped to his feet and smashed his head into a rock. "Ow..."
"Jesus Christ!" I screamed as I sat up.
"Relax, it's still two days before the invasion." Toph groaned as she flopped back down.
"Sokka, you've got to go drill your rock-climbing exercises!" Aang demanded as he tugged on Sokka's foot.
"What?" Sokka mumbled as he attempted to wake up.
"In one of my dreams, you were running away from Fire Nation soldiers, trying to climb this cliff, but you were too slow and they got you!" Aang exclaimed.
"But that was just a dream, I'm a great climber." Sokka defended.
"Then climb that cliff, climb it fast!" Aang demanded, pointing towards a tall cliff.
Sokka pointed at it and Aang nodded. With a sigh, Sokka headed towards the cliff to prove he could, indeed, climb it.
"Stupid Avatar, stupid cliff, stupid dream. I can climb fast." Sokka complained as he climbed.
"Don't drink that!" Aang shouted at Toph, causing her to spit water out on Katara.
Sokka slipped from the cliff behind Aang as I sighed.
"Why? Is it poisoned?" Toph asked.
"In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion, and you had to stop to use the bathroom. We died because of your tiny bladder." Aang said as he turned to Katara. "And you need to wear your hair up. In my dream, your hair got caught in a train and—"
"Aang, I know you're just trying to help. But you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling." Katara cut Aang off.
"You're right, I'm losing my mind." Aang agreed as Sokka once more fell down the cliff.
"Aang, do you want to talk about what's bothering you" I asked as I turned away from watching Sokka fail to climb that cliff.
"It's like, every time I think about how stressed I am, I just end up more stressed. I'm like a big growing snowball of nerves." Aang said, beginning to pace.
"Of course you are. That's cause you gotta fight the Fire Lord, the baddest man on the planet. And you better win, or we're all done for." Sokka said nonchalantly.
"Not helping, Sokka!" I yelled, bending a rock at his head.
"Ouch!" Sokka yelped, rubbing the mark it left. "What? It's true, that's the deal, he knows it."
Aang was now a bundle of nerves, shaking like a leaf where he stood.
"You know what, I've got just the thing," Katara said, grabbing Aang's shaking shoulders. "Get ready to be de-stressified."
Katara took Aang to a natural hot spring to do some yoga, leaving Sokka, Toph, and I a moment to rest without Aang's worry. Within minutes, Aang and Katara returned, Aang looking even worse for wear. I let out a breath realizing that Aang's insomnia was worse than I had thought. He was, after all, only a twelve year old boy, thirteen now. How I kept forgetting I'd never know.
"It didn't help, it just reminded him of the Fire Lord. Sokka, mind talking to him?" Katara asked as she steered Aang towards her brother.
"Sure thing!" Sokka said, grabbing his fake beard from his pack.
Sokka dragged Aang off towards the water leaving the rest of us staring after them.
"He still has the beard?" I asked, incredulously.
Within a few minutes Sokka and Aang returned. Sokka was stroking his beard and nodding while Aang's eyes darted around. I sighed once more and scratched the back of my neck trying to think of something we could do that wouldn't rile Aang up even more than he was.
"I'm guessing that didn't work." I said with a raised brow.
"No, it did not." Sokka confirmed with a pout.
"Alright, my turn next! Come on, twinkle-toes, it's time for a good old-fashioned back-pounding!" Toph cheered as she grabbed Aang's hand and dragged him off.
"I do not have high hopes for this one." I sighed as I laid my head in my hand.
Aang came running back pretty quickly, and I wasn't the least bit surprised. Neither were Sokka and Katara.
~Break~
"Thanks for everything, guys." Aang said.
"So, do you feel less stressed? Ready for a good night's sleep?" Katara asked.
"Uh...I kind of think I sort of might slightly feel a little better. Maybe." Aang answered, his eyes never leaving the ground.
"Then our work here is done." Sokka cheered as he laid down in his bed.
Everyone else followed suit, heading to bed. I wasn't so sure Aang was alright, he was still a child, a child who grew up shielded from the war until he met Katara and Sokka. He wasn't old enough like me to know how to cope and compartmentalized. He was a kid, alone in an unknown world that depended on him to fix everything.
"Hey, Aang?" I asked, scooting over to him.
"Yeah?" He asked without raising his head.
"You know it's ok to be scared, right? If you're having nightmares try to lucid dream. It's where you try to think of a specific thing you love or like and see if you can make it appear to remind yourself it's only a dream. It can help." I offered my advice hoping it could help.
"Thanks, Mira. I'll try..." he said, not sounding entirely convinced as he laid down to sleep.
~Break~
"AHHHHHHH!" Aang screamed, waking us all up with a rushed start.
"What happened, Aang?" Katara gasped, rushing over to him.
"It's the nightmares. They just keep getting worse and worse." Aang admitted as he held his hung head between his hands.
Aang was curled in on himself, his elbows seated on his knees, his head hung between them. I had never seen Aang so small and fragile before. He was shaking like a newborn fawn, pale as the snow and eyes as dark as death.
"Looks like it's time for another therapy session." Sokka said, putting his beard back on.
"No, just no." I glared as I grabbed the beard from Sokka's hands.
"That won't help. Nothing helps. There's only one thing I can do. I'm gonna stay awake straight through to the invasion." Aang twitched as he finally raised his head.
"I don't think that's a better option, or even plausible." I sighed, knowing eventually Aang would fall back into his nightmares.
Whether he wanted to or not.
~Break~
Katara and I were doing some morning stretches on a cliff overlooking the water. After Aang's initial outburst, we had tried to get him to rest to no avail. So now, we were leaving him alone hoping he would eventually pass out somewhere nearby. Katara had tried her best to calm Aang down and talk him through whatever panic he was having, but nothing seemed to work. So we decided to stick nearby Aang and do what we needed to do to be ready for the invasion.
"Invasion..all aboard for the invasion." Aang muttered, walking past us.
"You don't look so good," Katara stated as she stood from her stretch. "You sure you can't just lie down for a little nap?"
Aang stared at her for a moment, mouth opening and closing, before he turned away and just stood there. It appeared as if he was looking at something, or someone, but he was frozen stock still, not even blinking.
"Aang?" Katara asked.
"Did he...fall asleep?" I asked as I waved my hand in front of his face.
Aang then seemed to dip an invisible person, moving to kiss them. I blinked, turning to look at Katara who was even more confused than I was. He began to mumble something, completely lost in whatever he was dreaming/thinking.
"Aang? I was just saying you should take a nap." Katara tried again.
Aang snapped out of his daydream and looked back at us. He blinked a few times as if awakening from a dream before he turned red and looked at his feet.
"Oh, I guess I kind of drifted off into a daydream." Aang admitted sheepishly.
"What was your dream about?" Katara asked.
"Uh...living underwater." Aang replied.
"Smooth." I coughed.
"Sounds neat." Katara smiled as she turned away.
"Dude, you really need to sleep" I sighed with a shake of my head.
~Break~
It was now the third day and Aang was jumping in and out of bushes, practicing his stealth. That was what he claimed to be doing anyways, but to me it appeared as if he was lost in another lucid dream. He was mumbling to himself, attacking random trees or telling off large rocks that were too close.
"Put 'em up, Fire Lord!" Aang shouted at a tree with his noodle drawing on it.
He went to attack, but missed, hitting Sokka who was working on Appa's armor. Sokka let out an indignant squak before turning to glare at Aang. Aang didn't even seem to see Sokka as he continued to attack 'Ozai'.
"Hey, I'm trying to build Appa some armor here so he doesn't have to go into the invasion naked!" Sokka complained as he sat up. "He's your bison."
"Ozai's defence is impeccable. I'll have to try a different approach." Aang muttered to himself, completely ignoring Sokka.
"I, uh, don't think Aang is home." I said, pointing towards my head.
Aang jumped up and sent out several wind blasts, missing the target completely. He landed with the grace of a newborn fawn, stumbling as he attempted to hit his noodle drawing with his fists.
"You think you're untouchable, don't you, Mr. Fire Lord?" Aang exclaimed before turning to Momo. "Momo, did you hear something?...uh..."
Aang was now covering his eyes and shaking his head as he stared at Momo. I tilted my head trying to figure out what Aang was seeing now. Mom continued to shitter happily, pleased to have someone's attention.
"That's more like it..." He sighed, "I'm so tired that for a second there I imagined you were talking to me. Oh, Momo, let me explain. Brmrm ba bip brmrm mrm."
Aang was now chattering to Momo and laughed after a beat of silence. I looked at Momo wondering if Aang was actually having some sort of hallucination that he was talking to Momo.
"Aang?" Katara asked, "We're all starting to get a little worried about you..."
"You've been awake too long. " Sokka added.
"And you're acting downright weird." Toph nodded.
"Aang, I think you're beginning to hallucinate, you need to rest." I pleaded.
"Unh...look, I appreciate what you guys are saying, but the stress and the nightmares...they were just too much. Staying awake is the best way for me to deal with it." Aang said before turning to look at Momo.
Aang was now looking between Momo and the empty space beside me. I turned to see if something was there, like a rock or tree, but there was nothing.
"Guys, come on..." Aang seemed to plead before running and grabbing onto Sokka. "Sokka, what should we do?"
"About what?" Sokka asked.
"About that!" Aang said, rushing away from Sokka. "Come on, guys, we're all on the same side!"
Aang was now looking around wildly, watching something we couldn't see. Appa let out a low rumble from where he was napping as Momo continued to chitter on.
"I just need to jump in a cold waterfall! Ahh!" Aang shrieked as he ran off.
"Well...that was weird." I gaped, turning to look at the rest of the group.
"What should we do now?" Sokka asked.
"Well...I think I have a plan, Sokka, can you shave the sheep?" I asked with a small grin.
"Sure, why?''
"We're making Aang a bed." I smirked.
~Break~
Shearing the sheep wasn't the hard part, catching them was. After a few failed attempts of watching Sokka attempt to net two, and my third failed lasso attempt, Toph had bended a rocky fence around several sheep allowing us to corner them. I wiped the sweat from my brow as I turned back to Katara who was busy collecting all the wool.
"This would go so much quicker if we had proper sheers not scissors." I groaned as I attempted to cut a thick piece of wool off.
"The only scissors we had were the ones I used to repair our clothes." Katara defended.
"I'm just sick of the heat here, it keeps sticking to me." Toph complained.
"Aang better appreciate this and finally sleep, this sheep keeps biting me." Sokka whined as he held up his arm.
"Don't be such a big baby, it's just a sheep." Katara said as she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, if it's just a sheep you shear the little jerks!" Sokka shouted as he stood up.
"Fine, and you can sew the wool together for Aang's bed then." Katara grinned knowing full well Sokka didn't know how to sew.
Sokka knelt back down grumbling about how his sister was an evil woman. I let out a snort as Toph let out a snarky laugh.
~Break~
We watched as Aang wandered into the campsite after nightfall. He slowly walked towards the wool bed we had all made him with a confused look. He climbed onto it, poking and prodding like a cat getting comfortable. As he was rubbing his face on it, he began to speak.
"Oh, look, another hallucination. An imaginary bed made out of clouds." He sighed out as his eyes finally slipped shut.
"Hey! It's real. We spent hours working on it." Toph corrected.
"We made it for you. A good night's sleep will probably take the crazy away, we hope." Sokka shrugged.
"Look, you guys keep telling me I need to sleep, but I can't. The invasion's tomorrow!" Aang shouted.
"Aang..." Katara tried to say.
"No, Katara, there's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need sleep. What I need is practice. Quick, hit me!" Aang wobbled.
"Aang, that's precisely why you need to sleep. You aren't ok. Your mind needs rest, as does your body." I pleaded.
"I'm not going to hit you." Katara said.
"You want me to do it?" Toph offered.
"Listen to me, you've been training for this since the day we met. I've seen your progress. You're smart, brave, and strong enough." Katara said, hugging Aang close.
"You really think so?" Aang asked.
"We all do. You can do this, you're ready." Sokka answered.
"You're the man, twinkle-toes." Toph praised.
"And together, we can do anything." I smiled.
"Thanks, guys." Aang yawned.
Katara led him into the bed and helped him lay down.
"You know what? I think I'm ready." Aang smiled as he closed his eyes.
It wasn't long until he curled up in the bed we had made him, falling into a deep and peaceful sleep. I turned to smile at Katara and we too got ready for our final night's rest before the invasion began.
~Break~
Despite how calm I had felt up until this moment, I had been distracted by Aang's anxieties. Now that everyone had fallen asleep I couldn't stop the feelings of despair and sadness that racked through me. Truthfully, all my bravado had been because up until this point, I had Zuko or Iroh there to pick me back up. Now, I had to face who I was, face my own destiny, and face the fact that I was the one people relied upon now. Zuko wasn't here, he had made his choice and it wasn't me. I used to be a nobody, a veritable unremarkable human being. The nicest thing I had ever done was argue with bigots online.
Now, I was fighting a real war with real losses and all I could think about was how broken my heart felt. The fear I would run into Zuko and find myself unable to do what must be done. I wasn't sure I was even ready for this. To fight until the bitter end to save an entire world. If I existed in the future that meant Aang had to win, right? But what about Sadar and his men? Would they be there? Would I be ready? What was it Spider-Man always said? You never know until you make the leap. Moving to stand at the outlook of the cliff I looked out upon the calm ocean and wondered, could I really take a leap of faith?
The last leap of faith I took was joining Zuko all those months ago, and look where that got me. I had to trust in my destiny and abilities; trust that my new friends wouldn't betray me. It was a bitter feeling I was still getting over. Once upon a time I had been so trusting, now it felt so foolish and naive. I had trust issues plain and simple, but I refused to let what happened change that part of me. I refuse to be scared, I refuse to let him make me as bitter and fearful as him, and I refuse to let him ruin me.
Regardless of the tender lies he had told me.
~Break~
Invasion day was upon us. Sokka, Katara, and Toph had changed back into their original clothes. Aang and I remained in our Fire Nation clothing, no longer having access to any of our old clothes. Well, mostly didn't, Aang had the tattered remains of his shirt and pants, which Katara had managed to repair. It made me sad to think about how the only remains of my past life were washed away at the bottom of the ocean somewhere. Sokka had his maps laid out before him, deep in thought. Katara handed him something to drink, placing a calming hand on his shoulder which he returned by placing his own hand on hers.
"Top of the morning, Momo!" Aang greeted as he skipped towards us having slept in later than the rest of us.
"Sounds like you slept well." Katara smiled.
"Like a baby moose lion. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord." Aang cheered.
"So, what's your strategy for taking him down?" Toph asked, "Gonna get your glow on and hit him with a little avatar state action?"
"I can't," Aang sighed, "When Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe."
"You know what I just heard? Blah-blah spiritual jumbo-jumbo blah-blah, something about space." Toph sighed.
"Is Mira still capable?" Sokka asked.
"We don't know. I've never entered it before and since Aang was hit with Azula's lightning...I took a lot of spiritual damage as well, it's possible it's locked for both of us." I admitted as I averted my eyes, feeling embarrassed that I had no idea if I was affected or not.
"Oh, no. Sokka, do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" Katara asked, looking out at the fog coated ocean.
"No...That is the invasion!" Sokka gasped.
~Break~
We met them down at the shore, bending the earth to create temporary docks and stabilize the rotting dock there. The ships came in, parking easily along the stone docks. Hakoda was the first to disembark. He gathered Sokka and Katara into his arms, hugging them close. I smiled, avoiding my bitter jealousy that I would neve be held by my father again. Instead I filled it with memories of Iroh and how after today, I had the chance of seeing him again. Perhaps then I too would be wound into his arms and held tight.
"You made it, Dad!" Katara cried as she nestled her face into her father's chest.
"Were you able to locate everyone I told you to find?" Sokka asked.
"I did, but I'm a little worried, Sokka. Some of these men aren't exactly warrior types." Hakoda confirmed as a few strange men got off the boat.
They wore loincloths and simple clothing with wooden armor. I inspected them with a raised brow and then shrugged. This world was different from the one I had come from, nothing could really surprise me anymore.
"Whooeee! This place ain't nothing like the swamp. What you reckon that is, Tho? Some sort of Fire Nation exploding trap what eats ya?" One of them asked.
"It's just a rock, Due." Tho sighed.
"Well, I'll be." Due admitted.
"Is it just me, or are those fellows loose in the leaf hat?" Hakoda asked.
"I just wished they would wear pants." Bato sighed.
"Pants are an illusion and so is death." A third one said as he scratched his belly.
~Break~
Everyone was getting reacquainted. I didn't recognize anyone and felt a little out of place, so I sat with Appa and Momo and watched the reunion. It was fun to see everyone reunited, I had never seen everyone so happy and excited before. Even Toph was filled with a buzzing energy I had never seen in her before.
"Hi, Katara." An Earth Kingdom young man said as he walked towards them,
"Haru, it's so good to see you." Katara cried, running over to give him a hug.
"Toph, this is Haru. When we met him, his town was controlled by the Fire Nation, so he had to hide his earthbending." Aang introduced.
"Katara inspired me and my father to take back our village." Haru said as he shook Toph's hand.
"You helped us find our courage, Katara. Now we're here to help you." Haru's father praised, placing a steady hand on his son's shoulder.
"And where is this other Avatar we keep hearing about?" Haru asked as he began to look around.
"Oh! That's Mira. Mira, come over and meet Haru!" Aang shouted for me.
With a small blush I walked over to them and gave a small bow. I wasn't really sure how to feel, being introduced as the Avatar. It had always been this abstract title I held since coming to this time. But now it held meaning and I wasn't sure how to face people who looked at me with such hope and faith.
"It's lovely to meet you two." I said despite my anxieties.
"It's lovely to meet you as well, Avatar." Haru's father smiled.
My heart jumped and I felt pride swell in my chest. That was the first time anyone had ever really addressed me as the Avatar. Well, without it being followed with 'you sure?' and 'how?'.
"No way, is that..." Toph said, turning away from us.
"Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit." Hippo said as he crushed Toph in a hug.
"You guys here for a rematch?" Toph growled as she took a step back.
"Negatory. The Boulder and the Hippo no longer fight for others' entertainment. Now we fight for our kingdom!" The Boulder explained.
"Sweet." Toph smiled as her body relaxed.
An explosion went off in one of Hakoda's ships. He and Sokka rushed over as smoke began pluming from the deck. A coughing young boy came rolling onto the docks in a wheelchair. Several more people followed after him, waving at Sokka as they waved at the smokey air. I smiled realizing even now the innovation to help those with disabilities was amazing. The young boy wore green robes with a brown sash and bandana. He had dark chestnut hair and a wide happy smile. I could see his skin was sun kissed showing he spent a lot of his time outdoors. An older man with wild eyebrows followed the boy out, waving away the smoke and coughing.
"Was that a new invention?" Sokka asked as he stopped before the boy.
"Yes, but unfortunately...the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce proved to be a failure." The eccentric man said with singed eyebrows and no hair on the top of his head.
"You're making peanut sauce bombs?" Sokka blanched.
"They're destructible." Pipsqueak said.
"And delicious!" The Duke smiled.
They both licked the peanut sauce off their face as I let out quiet laughter. Momo flew over to join them causing both of them to laugh as well. Momo was busy licking whatever sweet sauce he could, chittering happily as he went. I let out a louder laugh now, finding it hard not to find the scene ridiculous.
"Were you able to complete the plans?" Sokka asked, getting down to business.
"Yes, I was. And I think the Fire Nation will be quite surprised." The man confirmed.
"Aang, Mira, my dad and I made these for you." The boy in the wheelchair said as he handed two gliders to Aang.
"Wait, one's for me?" I gasped, rushing over to take a look.
Aang passed mine to me with a big smile. I held it in my hands feeling the smooth and polished wood between my fingers. I traced several designs finding a few seams where the glider came out of. I felt my heart swell and clutched my glider tightly to my chest.
"Of course, you're the only other airbender here who can use one." Aang laughed as he released the rest of the glider from his staff.
"Wait a minute...how did you do that?" I asked, completely lost.
"You gotta press a little button here." Aang explained, guiding my hands and pressing down.
My glider released the same blue fabric and I laughed again. Moving it around I felt the weight of it, light in my hands.
"Ok, you've taught me airbending, but you haven't taught me how to glide." I chuckled as I took a step back.
"It's basically just airbending. It's easy, here I can show you before we leave if you'd like?" Aang offered.
"That would be greatly appreciated." I nodded.
"A new glider. This is amazing." Aang thanked the boy and his father.
"And as a special feature I added a snack compartment." The old man explained, burning towards a small compartment on my glider and rotating one of the hand holds.
"Oh, well, I'm sure that'll come in handy." Aang explained, not looking like he believed his own words.
"Thank you so much." I laughed as I tugged Aang's sleeve.
"Ready to glide?" He smirked.
"You know it." I said, returning his smirk with one of my own.
~Break~
Scratch that, I was so not ready to glide. It's fine, Mira, trust yourself, Mira. Why did I listen to Aang? He gave me a small pep talk, explained how to bend the air, and then he convinced me, somehow, to jump off the cliff leading to the small inlet and just winging it, pun intended.
"If I die, I'm coming back and haunting your ass!" I screeched as I barely caught myself from plummeting towards certain death.
"You're doing fine! Keep bending the air towards your glider and if you want to go up, send an updraft, if you want to go down or turn, steer with your body!" Aang laughed as he curled me.
"Oh dear god, people were meant to stay on the ground, how did you convince me to do this." I whined, my knuckles turning white from how hard I was holding on.
"Stop thinking about plummeting to your death and start looking at what is around you! Around us! We have birds, fresh air, and look at how beautiful the ocean is." Aang soothed.
I took a deep steadying breath and did as he said. Looking up instead of down I gasped. The sight was breathtaking. I steered to follow Aang as he pulled ahead of me and felt a small bubble appear in my gut. The more I went to keep up with Aang, the bigger it got, until I was laughing gleefully.
"See? Not so bad is it?" Aang asked.
"It's breathtaking." I breathed as we did a lap around the island.
~Break~
After one lap we had to stop. We didn't have much more time to go over the basics, and while I wasn't confident enough to use a lot of airbending in a fight, I knew enough to use the glider. I felt silly being so afraid, non-benders used gliders all the time in my time. It couldn't really fly like it could with airbending, but no one just straight plummeted to their deaths without something going wrong. I could do this.
Aang and I sat down to join the rest of our little army. Sokka was sitting next to his dad to our left. He was clutching his plans in his arms as the rest of our crew sat before us, having lunch.
"Don't worry. You'll do great." Hakoda soothed as Sokka took a deep breath.
He got up and walked towards the stage Toph had bent and took out one of his scrolls.
"Good morning, everyone...Oaf!" He started off confident, but soon fell on his face as he had just started talking.
He gathered up his plans into his arms giving us all an awkward smile.
"Umm...So, as you know, today we're invading the Fire Nation. I mean, I know you know that. Otherwise, why else would you be here? Ha ha...anyway," Sokka rambled, dropping another scroll. He grabbed it, and hung them up on a makeshift rock board. "The Fire Lord's palace is here. No uh, wait, it's here."
Sokka began to flip through his scrolls at hyper speed, pointing now to the largest Island in the Fire Nation.
"And there's an eclipse today. And Aang and Mira are going to fight the Fire Lord. And the Firebenders won't have any fire to use, so that's good for us. And...uhm...I'm sorry. Let me start at the beginning," Sokka rambled, "Katara and I discovered Aang frozen in an iceberg. Now I didn't like Aang at first, but I grew to love him over time. Then we went to the Southern Air Temple where Aang used to live. And then we met Suki, a Kyoshi warrior."
"Wow...when he says beginning, he means the beginning beginning." Katara said.
"Then Katara got Haru arrested and now he's grown a moustache which if you look in the front row you can see it." Sokka continued to ramble as his father got up and walked towards him.
"Thank you, Sokka. It's okay, why don't you take a break?" Hakoda said, placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder.
"Anxiety's a bitch." I smiled as Sokka sat beside us with a frown.
"Let me clarify a few points for everyone. Today is the day of Black Sun and I want to thank you all for your self-sacrifice and your courage. There are two steps to the invasion: a naval stage and then a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we have to get past our first major obstacle here," Hakoda explained, pointing towards the first inlet into the Fire Nation. He then changed the scroll to a closeup of the inlets. "The Great Gates of Azulon. Next, we hit the land and we hit hard. We must fight past their battlements and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the royal palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin."
"Excuse me. The Boulder is confused. Isn't the point to invade during the eclipse? When the firebenders are powerless?" The Boulder asked.
"The eclipse lasts eight minutes, not enough time for the whole invasion. And the royal palace is heavily guarded by firebenders. So that's where we'll need the eclipse advantage the most. When this is finished, the Avatars will have defeated the Fire Lord. We will have control of the Fire Nation capital, and this war will be over." Hakoda finished, raising his fist to the sky.
Everyone joined him, and began to cheer, shout, and get pumped up. I looked over to see Sokka looking dejected and felt a sliver of pity for him. Anxiety had relieved me of many moments that should have been mine as well.
~Break~
Everyone began to finish getting ready. Donning their armor, checking their weapons, and filling water pouches. Even Appa had changed into his fresh new armor. I clutched my staff nervously, and checked to make sure my swords were secure. I walked towards Aang who was shaving his head and squatted down.
"You missed a spot behind your ear." I smiled.
"Oh, here...did I get it?" Aang asked.
"No, you missed it. May I?" I asked.
Aang handed the razor over and I bent his ear down shaving the stray hairs away. I handed it back and he continued to shave the front.
"Thanks." Aang said, finishing up before standing.
He had changed out of his Fire Nation outfit, and was now wearing the repaired remains of his old outfit. It was not slung over one shoulder, and hung below his waist. He still wore his Fire Nation boots, but otherwise Katara had managed to fix it up beautifully.
"Baa..." A small sheep belted as he rubbed his head under Aang's hand.
"Ready?" I asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be, you?" He asked.
"About the same. Now, let's go save the world." I smirked, attempting to hide my growing anxiety.
~Break~
"Where's Sokka?" I asked as Aang and I reached the boats.
"He's up there, getting ready still." Katara answered, looking worried.
"Do you think he's upset about what happened? You know, when his dad had to explain his plan?" I asked, biting my lip.
"I was worried about that..." Katara trailed off.
"I'll go check on him, you guys should help everyone get ready." Aang declared, pulling out his glider and taking off.
"Think he'll be ok?" I asked.
"Sokka always bounces back. Come on, let's get our stuff on board." Katara smiled, grabbing some of our packs and hauling them up the ramp.
"He does, doesn't he. Alright, let's get on board." I said, returning her smile.
~Break~
"There they are, the Great Gates of Azulon." Bato declared.
Before us the ocean stretched out with several large pillars seated before us in a line. There was no gate that I could see, but I knew the innovations the Fire Nation had meant that we were hardly safe.
"I don't see any gates." Katara said, covering her eyes with her hand and peering out into the ocean.
"Katara, you and the swampbenders whip up a fog cover." Hakoda said.
"We'll sneak by them statues like we sneaked by that Fire Navy blockade." One of the swampbenders declared.
Katara and two of the swampbenders took the rear of the ship and began to bend up a fog. They leapt up gracefully together, before landing in a crouch and raising their hands upwards. Fog spewed forth, billowing around our boats and moving with us as we hit the natural fog and mist near the gates.
"Keep it up, we're almost through." Hakoda shouted.
Alarms began to ring and fire spewed out of a dragon statues' nostrils. The grinding of gears hit my ears as a large net raised before us and lit up with fire. Finally the gate part of the name made sense.
"Holy shit." I gasped.
"Everyone below deck!" Bato directed as I could hear the motors of Fire Nation skidoos.
"Let's hope your invasion plan works." Hakoda smiled, placing a hand on sokka's shoulder.
We shut the door behind us and moved towards small submarines. We were ushered in and we waited to hear the ship being boarded before we made a move. We shot out of the hull of the ships and began to move past the net underneath the water. Aang was riding Appa while bending the water around Appa's head.
I glanced through the windows in awe, Katara standing beside me as we bent the submarines through the water. My hands moved with the ease of muscle memory causing me to realize just how far I had come with my waterbending since first meeting Katara.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, son." Hakoda praised.
"Yeah. Congratulations, Sokka. You managed to invent a worse way of travel than flying." Toph gagged, covering her mouth as she almost wretched.
"Helmet?" The duke offered.
Toph took it vomiting instantly. I grimaced, looking away so I could ignore the feeling of my own stomach flip flopping.
"Well, I just came up with the idea. The Mechanist did all the work." Sokka waved off.
"Don't sell yourself short, my boy. It was your idea to use waterbending to make the sub sink and float. Brilliant! Though your original designs were a bit difficult to decipher. Unfortunately, there is one problem I couldn't fix. The subs have a limited air supply. Before we land on the beaches, we'll need to resurface." The Mechanist explained.
~Break~
We took a break soon after he had mentioned the air supply. The Duke was washing out his helmet as the rest of us stretched our legs. Aang glided over to us, leaving Appa chilling in the water. He let out a low growing yawn causing one of his ears to twitch.
"So, this is it, huh?" Aang said first.
"Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know the Avatar's alive?" Sokka asked.
"I'm ready." Aang said,holding Sokka's gaze.
"And are you ready to let them know another Avatar exists?" Sokka asked, turning to me.
"Born ready." I smirked.
Aang and Sokka grasped forearms, before we all pulled into a group hug. Momo chirped as he joined in, nuzzling our heads. I felt the warmth of my friends surrounding me and allowed it to seep into the missing pieces left by all the combined losses I never got to grieve properly. I wasn't alone, together we could do this.
"I hope you kick some serious Fire Lord butt, Twinkle-toes." Toph said.
"Everyone, listen up. The next time we resurface, it'll be on the beaches. So stay alert and fight smart. Now break time's over. Back in the subs." Hakoda declared.
We all headed back into the sub, leaving Aang with Katara. I gave him a knowing look as I slipped below deck, the sound of everyone's voices drowning my thoughts out.
"Think you can handle not barfing in The Duke's helmet, this time?" I smirked as Toph punched my shoulder.
"Shut up Twinkle-toes." She huffed.
"What, I don't even get my own nickname?"
"That is your nickname, just cause you have multiple lives doesn't mean your get multiple nicknames from me!" Toph retorted as she sat down.
"Rude. True, but rude." I pouted.
We waited for Katara to mount Appa for the attack until Sokka finally got impatient and ripped open the hatch.
"Katara, what are you doing? It's time to submerge!" He shouted.
"What? Right, I'm on it." I heard her say from above.
~Chapter 7 End~