The heavy ship creaked as it slowly made its way through the black waves below. There was no wind, only the shimmering of the full moon on the surface of the water. In the dark of the night, Mai's black eyes snapped open.
Another boring night, she mused as she swung her long legs over the side of her bed. She was an incredibly light sleeper, but also: sleeping was just so dull. Better to take a quick walk to stretch her legs.
Automatically, she slit a stiletto in the holsters around her wrists and grabbed an overcoat to shield herself from the cold on deck. Mai hated the cold but even so, she enjoyed gazing into the darkness. The world looked so much more cheerful when covered in black.
On deck she saw the silhouette of a man. His shoulders were broad, his black hair loose and long. Gazing at the moon, he had a faraway look in his golden eyes. Apparently, her boyfriend was also awake.
Her boyfriend, she repeated in her mind and felt the corners of her mouth tug upwards. Had it only been three weeks since the Fall of Ba Sing Se? Zuko had chosen to side with them and together, he and Azula had brought his Uncle and the City to it's knees.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked him.
Zuko shrugged carelessly. "I have a lot on my mind," he answered, "It's been so long, over five years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed."
She yawned, casually placing her long fingers in front of her mouth. He had been saying that on their entire journey back: complaining about how he changed. She didn't understand his problem: he was here, right? He was on his way home.
"I just asked if you were cold," she said in bored tone, rolling her eyes, "I didn't ask for your whole life story."
Zuko turned away from her, one hand clasping the railing and the other hand slit into his pocket. Mai half expected him to grab something out of his pocket, but his hand stayed inside.
She shrugged, but placed her thin hands over his, cupping his cheeks. The eyes that met hers were golden, but distant.
"Stop worrying." She simply said. She guided his face to hers, kissing him.
Zuko responded to the kiss, just as she pulled away. She felt herself smile again, just like the first time they had kissed.
Azula had – very obviously – set the two of them up on a date the day before they were about to leave for the Fire Nation. Zuko had been withdrawn and sullen and Mai hadn't been too eager as well, but Ty Lee and Azula had lured them to a 'private' dinner. All and all, it had worked out just fine.
Childhood crushes amount to something, she thought as she pushed the shaggy strands of hair out of his face.
"Stop worrying." she repeated as she let go of him and made her way back to her chamber. After all, worrying was so boring.
With his thumb and indexfinger, Sokka stroked his chin. Hunched over a stack of maps and papers, he tried to memorise the routes in front of him.
"What about this?"
He looked at the slender finger placed on the edge of the map of the Fire Nation. "This island is hidden, and I assume it can provide enough place for all the forces."
"It might, depending on the amount of warriors who'd join us," Sokka answered pensively, "From how many have we conformation?"
Elyrie's face was partly covered by the Fire Nation helmet, so she pushed it up to get a better look at the messages. "From the two dozen messages, I'd estimate we have at least ten groups who have agreed to join us." Elyrie said, slipping a stack of paper in his direction.
Sokka saw her wince slightly when she moved her left shoulder with the motion, but said nothing. The way she pressed her lips together was enough for him to avoid bringing up the subject again. It had been almost three weeks of fruitless efforts.
He let his gaze glide over the papers and saw her in the corner of his eye do the same.
"This might actually,..- " he began. A loud banging on the door made them both look up.
"He's awake!" the silhouette of Pipsqueak appeared in the doorway, holding his helmet up.
"He's awake!" Elyrie said, as she rose from her chair and started running after the incredibly large former Freedom Fighter.
Sokka followed them onto the deck, where they found Aang locked in a tight embrace with Katara and Momo sitting on his shoulder. Around them, their entire group had assembled. Pipsqueak, the Duke, Bato and his father were still in their Fire Nation uniforms and Toph had thrown the red cape with Fire Nation insignia over her green outfit. Appa stood from a distance, contently growling to see Aang back on his feet again.
"Aang!" Sokka exclaimed, "Good to see you back with the living, buddy!"
"Sokka?" Aang frowned, his voice sounding weak and confused. His grey eyes went up and down Sokka's Fire Nation attire. When he turned to look, he saw Elyrie standing next to Sokka, in a similar armour.
"Glad to see you're okay!" she chimed in, along with all the other happy well-wishers.
Aang's eyes drifted from Elyrie, to Sokka, to Katara and the group of people standing around him; everyone was dressed in the bloodred colours of the Fire Nation.
"Someone catch him! He's gonna,-" Toph yelled, before they all heard the loud thunk of Aang's body that collided with the metal floor of the ship. Only Katara had been quick enough the catch him. Partly.
"Too late." Sokka deduced.
Thanks to Katara's healing powers – and Pipsqueaks excellent cooking – Aang sat upright with a bowl of noodles only twenty minutes later.
"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship?" Aang asked after he had drained his first bowl of noodles and Pipsqueak handed him a second. "Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one who's completely out of it?"
"You need to take it easy, okay?" Katara said gently, "You got hurt pretty bad." Aang looked at her with an pensive glare before she added with a smile: "I like your hair."
"I have hair?!" Aang asked, his hands going up his usually bald head. Now, his blue arrow was partly covered up by short, black curls.
They all laughed.
"While we're on the subject of hair.." Sokka removed his helmet, showing that his hair had grown too. His wolftail was no longer shaved on both sides, but his chocolate brown hair now covered all of his scalp.
"And me too," Elyrie added stiffly, removing her helmet as well and shaking out her curls.
Elyrie's hair had been cropped shorter than before, so it only came a little below her chin. But that wasn't the greatest difference: her normally auburn locks were now ravenblack.
"Your hair is black?" Aang said a little surprised.
"Less recognisable this way." Elyrie shrugged in response. Her long fingers tapped on the metal helmet. The frantic motion made Aang a bit unnerved.
"We all are trying to blend in more,"Sokka nodded, "It was her own idea to dye her hair black with charcoal."
"Hey, I can't spot the difference." Toph joked. They all laughed again, before Aang narrowed his brows again.
"But what happened?" he finally asked, his grey eyes going from Elyrie to Sokka to Toph and back to Katara. Toph stared with her milky green eyes fixed on nothing in particular. Elyrie's lips had formed a thin line and her fingers dug a little in the helmet she was holding.
Katara shared a look with her brother, before Sokka answered him: "After what happened at Ba Sing Se, we had to get you to safety. We flew back to Chameleon Bay where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men." Sokka motioned to his father and Bato, who nodded in response.
"The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone." Sokka added, before stroking his chin, "Well, not completely alone: he took Bosco with him."
"Soon, the bay was overrun by Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise." Sokka shrugged, "Since then we've been traveling west. We crossed through the Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."
"So what now?" Aang asked, after he had processed most of the information.
"We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies, but with Elyrie on our side we are changing the invasion plan." Sokka smiled at him.
Elyrie nodded to the airbender. "The plan for the invasion was a good one, but the Fire Lord is prepared for eclipses. The darkest day in Fire Nation History taught them a tough lesson, so since then solar calendars were invented to predict the next eclipses."
Sokka didn't miss the fact that she referred to the Fire Nation as 'them', not 'us' whenever discussing matters of war.
Aang slumped his shoulders. "So the whole plan is useless?"
"Not necessarily," Elyrie answered. "They might expect an invasion, but a smaller more agile group can still be a surprise. After all, a solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vunerable."
"Which is even more convenient for us!" Sokka chimed in as he showed Aang the paper, "We are planning to assemble a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke." He motioned to the largest Freedom Fighter with the smallest Freedom Fighter on his shoulder.
"Good to see you again, Aang." Pipsqueak said in his low voice, chewing his food. The Duke only nodded, his mouth stuffed with noodles.
"And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage. We have a secret..." Sokka whispered in a conspiratorially voice as he bowed to Aang, "You."
"Me?" Aang frowned.
"Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead!" Sokka exclaimed, triumphally punching his fists in the air "Isn't that great?
The garden of the Fire Nation Palace was an oasis of peace and beauty amidst the splendid residence of the Royal Family. Even if the sun was searing and the Capital was scorching hot, the garden was cool and refreshing. There was nice spot, just by the pond, in the shade of an old tree where you could cool down.
And if Azula could calculate her brothers next move – which wasn't that hard – he would be brooding right there.
"You seem so downcast," Azula said to her brother, casually inspecting his hunched form in front of the turtle duck pond, "Has Mai gotten to you already?"
Zuko didn't answer and he tore another piece of bread from the loaf and threw it in the pond.
"Though actually, Mai has been in a strangely good mood lately." Azula added, feigning ignorance as she tapped her finger against her pointed chin.
"I haven't seen Dad yet," Zuko said, "I haven't seen him in five years, since I was banished."
"So what?" Azula studied her nails.
"So," Zuko said, his jaw slightly twitching, "I didn't capture the Avatar."
"Who cares?" Azula shrugged, "The Avatar's dead."
Zuko's eyes immediately avoided hers.
"Unless," she continued, inspecting his face, "you think he somehow miraculously survived?"
Zuko's eyes shot back to look into hers, the silence heavy between the siblings. "No." Zuko answered after a short pause as he glared at his sister, "There's no way he could have survived."
"Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Azula said, her eyes never leaving his. You've always been a terrible liar Zuzu, but you really should try harder, she thought as she walked away.
Aang had paced the deck of the ship at least seven times – an impressive feat, Sokka had to admit, if you remembered that his back had been damaged for at least 40 percent.
"No, no, no," Aang kept repeating over and over again, "This is bad, this is very bad."
"Aang, please, listen to our explanation." Katara had tried to calm him, but Aang didn't seem to hear her. She eventually grabbed his wrist gently and urged him to sit down again.
"The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news?" Aang shouted after he sat, "That's terrible!"
"No, it's great!" Sokka answered jovially, "It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore!"
"And that's what makes the invasion plan work," Elyrie added, "They will not be expecting you on the Day of Black Sun."
Aang shook his head again, almost digging his fingers into his head. "No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!"
The blaring of a foghorn cut through the air and all of them looked up. In front of them, another Fire Nation ship approached and sounded the horn again to signal them to stop the ship.
"I'll handle this." Aang said determined as he opened his glider, "The Avatar is back."
"Don't you dare start a fight now," Elyrie cut as she rose and pushed his glider down, even though Aang winced from the motion, "It is common for other ships to check on each other in case of irregularities. If you start trouble now, they'll know we are not Fire Nation."
Aang glared at her for a moment, but Elyrie didn't bother to look at him.
"Everyone stay calm," she said as she motioned for Hakoda and Bato to put their helmets on, "I'll handle this."
Pipsqueak and the Duke immediately rolled out a large cloth to cover Appa. The skybison had lowered himself into a loading platform on the deck, so his large form didn't attract attention. With the cloth covering him, it looked like some cargo had been stored there. Momo duck under the cloth to hide as well.
Sokka pulled Aang to the stairs that lead downstairs in the middle of the deck. Crouching down, he squeezed in with Katara and Toph.
"I hate not being able to do anything." The airbender grumbled under his breath.
"Hopefully, you won't need to." Toph hissed back.
Peeking over the edge, Sokka saw the other ship lowering the ramp to come aboard. Elyrie had placed her helmet on again and stood straight, Bato and his father at either side of her.
With a loud clang, the metal collided and three men walked the ramp. The man in front was a stern looking officer, with black hair and impressive sideburns.
Elyrie bowed and Bato and Hakoda followed her example. Sokka knew what they did: the traditional Fire Nation bow, which she had taught everyone on the ship. This bow was done in placing a hand in a straight fashion with the other being fisted placed underneath it vertically. Elyrie had practically drilled them: respect meant everything in the Fire Nation.
"Commander, why are you off course?" The Fire Nation officer asked Elyrie. "All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation!"
"We are aware of the occupation, sir." Elyrie answered coolly, "But this ship has specific orders to deliver cargo to the homeland."
Sokka heard her answer in an even voice. Clever, he thought to himself. Again, he thanked the universe for having one of the good Fire Nation people on their team.
"Hmm?" the officer stroked his chin, "Well, nice of the admiral to let us know he was sending one of the ships back our way."
"I'm sure the admiral meant no disrespect, sir." Elyrie bowed her head apologetically.
"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?" the officer said as he pulled on his sideburns. By now, he was sounding more annoyed than suspicious.
"The order was given only a fortnight ago, sir." Elyrie looked up with a suspiciously sweet smile on her lips, "As I was told, it was on personal request of Princess Azula."
Even from afar, Sokka could see the officer whiten just a little around his nose when he heard the name of the Fire Nation Princess. Ahh, you've met her personally, he thought slightly amused.
"I shall personally see to it that our communication shall henceforth be correctly handled, sir." Elyrie answered, "Can we be of any other service?"
"No, no, carry on." The officer turned around quickly and motioned for his men to follow him back to their ship. Elyrie, Hakoda and Bato all bowed again until the men had turned around.
After a few tense minutes, the ship passed by and they were free to continue their journey without any further delay.
"Impressive!" Sokka complimented after Elyrie took off her helmet.
"Yeah, right on!" Toph punched her shoulder, "Good job, Princess."
"Thanks," Elyrie grimaced as he rubbed her hand over the spot Toph had hit, "It was quite easy really: almost half of the Fire Nation Navy has met Azula and the other half knows about her cruel streaks. They are all too afraid to even question it."
"I felt so useless." Aang murmured as Katara supported him back on deck.
"But we've been alright, haven't we?" Elyrie answered with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah, Princess knows what she's doing here," Toph added with a grin, "Although I would have liked to kick some Fire Nation butts." To strengthen her words, she placed her small foot on deck and turned, making the metal creak and form after her motion
Sokka saw Elyrie raise her eyebrows – either at the damage to the ship or at the nickname Toph had bestowed on her. Get used to it, he grinned, it means you're part of Team Avatar now.
After a few more hours, the ship docked into a small harbour. They needed to restock after the journey, so it was best to stay overnight. Plus, Sokka had been complaining to whole journey about a proper dinner so they had to get into town as well.
"Remember," Elyrie had said after she had tossled her black curls, "We cannot stand out." So after everyone had their Fire Nation attire ready – which actually meant: red capes – they headed down to Aang's chamber.
Aang was lying on his bed and had his hands tucked under his head, but sat up as soon as he saw them enter his room.
"Hey Aang," Toph greeted the airbender, "We're going into town to find some dinner."
Placing a hand on his grumbling midriff, Aang nodded. "I am pretty hungry, so maybe dinner's a good idea."
"Here," Sokka pulled the red bandana from his belt, "Tie this around your head; it'll cover your arrow." He handed it to Aang, but he saw him back away immediatly.
"I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly," Aang yelled, his eyes flickering angrily as he rolled onto his side on the bed, his back turned to his friends.
Sokka looked over his shoulder in confusion. Katara's blue eyes softened in compassion, but Elyrie's eyes seemed to harden. In her cheek, Sokka thought that he saw the tiniest twitch of anger.
"Come on, Aang. Be practical." Sokka said, his own voice laced with annoyance.
"Aang," Katara's soft voice cut in as she walked to the Avatar, "Is there anything we can do for you? Anything you need?"
"I need to redeem myself." Aang said downcast, "I need my honour back."
"What you need is to stop acting like a spoiled child." Elyrie suddenly snapped, her voice echoing of the metal walls of the chamber.
Sokka looked over with wide eyes. Her jaw was clenched as she turned her back and slammed the metal door behind her shut as she walked out.
"We'll leave you alone." Katara said to Aang, ushering her brother and Toph out of the room. Aang didn't answer, but kept staring at the wall.
The three of them walked out of the room without saying another word.
"We can't let her snap at Aang like that, not in his condition." Katara finally said, her fingers enlacing as they walked down the corridor onto the deck.
"Even so, she does have a point." Sokka said, "Aang needs to accept that he can't fight right now, and won't win any wars in this condition."
"But he has been through so much," Katara insisted, "We should support him as he -,"
"We can't support him by babying him," Toph said, pushing her way in between the siblings, "He doesn't want pity and he is too angry to even listen to you now."
"I do not baby-," Katara began, before Toph interrupted her. "Believe me," the small Earthbender said, "I have been smothered and pitied all my life by everyone around me. It doesn't work"
"Let's just hope that time to reflect is enough for Aang to process today," Sokka intervened before more people in the group went at each others throats, "As for Elyrie, let's just hope she does the same."
"Why'd you do it?" Zuko slammed the door open.
Azula was just so relaxed in her enormous bed that she didn't even bother to open her eyes. "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific." She answered, her voice slow.
"Why did you tell Father I was the one who killed the Avatar?" Zuko elaborated as he stepped into her room.
"Can't this wait until morning?" Azula said.
"It. Can't." Zuko hissed through gritted teeth.
Azula sighed as she sat up straight in her bed. "Fine." She yawned as she swung her black hair over her shoulder, "You seemed so worried about how Father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar. I figured if I gave you the credit, you'd have nothing to worry about."
"But why?" Zuko asked.
"Call it a generous gesture." Azula got up and casually walked to her brother, "I wanted to thank you for your help and I was happy to share the glory."
"You're lying." Zuko stated, his voice trembling slighty.
"If you say so..." She shrugged as she walked past him and stretched.
"You have another motive for doing this, I just haven't figured out what it is." Zuko growled.
It must be painful to be that slow, Azula thought as she turned around to look at her older brother.
"Please Zuko, what ulterior motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you get all the glory for defeating the Avatar?" she said as she approached Zuko and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Unless," she whispered in a low voice, "somehow, the Avatar was actually alive. All that glory would suddenly turn to shame and foolishness."
Like a predator toying with her prey, she watched the expression on her brothers face change. It was ever so slighty, but his face had always been an open book to her. She saw realisation, shock and then horror.
"But you said it yourself, that was impossible." She whispered as she walked back to her bed. When she laid down, she saw Zuko's silhouette leaving from the corner of her eye. Her lips curled into a malicious grin.
"Sleep well, Zuzu."
"He's gone!" Sokka burst into Elyrie's chamber, pulling her with him without waiting for a response. On deck, Appa was already saddled and ready to leave. Toph and Katara were already seated.
"He couldn't have gotten far!" Sokka yelled as they ran over to them, "Not in this weather."
"Find him!" Hakoda said to his son, "We'll meet again before the Day of Black Sun."
"Thanks Dad," Katara's blue eyes were filled with tears as she waved at her father. Elyrie only nodded and pressed her lips together. Sokka extended his hand to her and helped her onto Appa's saddle.
"Yip yip!" Sokka said and Appa took off into the sky. The rain fell down on them, but none of them seemed to be bothered by it. Katara was searching the waves and Toph held on to the saddle for dear life. Sokka shielded his eyes from the pouring rain as he tried to make out their direction.
Elyrie's already pale face was drained of all colour. "Katara, I -," she began as she extended her hand, but Katara shook her head. "You aren't to blame for this," she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, "But we have to find him." She squeezed Elyrie's hand.
"What is the nearest island from here?" Sokka asked over his shoulder to Elyrie. Her fingers were tightly clasped together as her blue eyes searched the map for their position.
"Here," Elyrie pointed at the small island in the middle of the ocean, "Crescent Moon Island."
Sokka didn't miss the slight falter of her voice. "What's the matter?" he asked when she came to sit next to him to show him the map.
"You've visited the Island before, when Zhao tried to-.." she trailed off and looked back at the map.
"Ah yes, wonderful memories." He replied sarcastically, but Elyrie didn't respond. He looked over and saw that her face had hardened. It almost looked as if she had turned to marble. She was frantically rubbing her left ringfinger as her eyes searched the black waves below them.
"You are not to blame for any of this, you know that right? We wouldn't have gotten this far into the Fire Nation if it hadn't been for you." He said in a reassuring voice, "Aang was gonna do something rash either way, it's his way of trying to gain back control."
Elyrie still said nothing, but Sokka saw the tears rimming her eyes now. Her face didn't change it's expression and only the tears dropped down her cheeks.
Oh Gods, I made it worse, he cursed inwardly. "Have I said something wrong? I'm-," he began awkwardly.
"No. Thank you." Elyrie answered as her gaze met his. And then, he saw a hint of a genuine smile curl her lips for the first time in weeks as she turned around to Katara and Toph, "Thank you all."
Book 3! My favourite :)
I wanted to start this Book with the perspective of the other characters, just so Elyrie and Zuko are more out of touch with themselves after the ending of Book 2.
New chapter coming up soon!
Lots of love 3