Worlds collide
3
Darkness fell. The curtain of fire, crafted by the bombs, was left behind, just as the one by the Great Gates of Azulon was hoisted, a network of chains flaming violently, threatening all foes away from its premises.
The remaining voyage would be brief. It would end in a matter of minutes. They would be back in the Fire Nation's Capital by that night.
The Princess had gone missing aboard her ship.
Renkai had watched her enter the tower, vacant, anguished, undoubtedly affected by what her choices and commands had resulted in. But when he checked the cabin, he didn't find her there. He checked in every large cabin besides hers, too: there was no one in them.
He had spent the better part of an hour scouring the ship, panicking, even marching into Anorak's cellblock to confirm she hadn't wound up there – and of course she hadn't. Fear seeped through Anorak's heart, preventing the unrealized tranquility he should have found after his Princess had succeeded at keeping them safe.
But he had heard that voice in the distance, too.
It had been but an echo… a soft one, almost indistinguishable in the midst of the flaming chaos.
It would come as no surprise if the Princess was falling apart because of that. Just so, he certainly hoped she hadn't done anything quite as reckless, as foolish, as jumping overboard in grief, killing herself upon believing that she might have killed her lover, too.
He marched down into the last place he had left to check: sailors and workers kept the machine room going, the engine running, and they certainly worked too hard to notice that someone who didn't belong in their workspace had wandered into it.
Thus, Renkai released a relieved sigh when he finally caught a glimpse of gold, in the stairwell that led down to the engine room.
"Princess…" he called her. She didn't respond. "Princess. We're almost at the Capital. Princess…"
He knew she was anguished. He knew she was in no fit state to deal with reality… but he couldn't quite shield her from it right now. He gritted his teeth, stepping down the stairs to reach her…
He had never seen her so pale before. She trembled. Her eyes were wide, and she jerked away from his hand when he gripped her arm, turning her towards him.
"Princess…" he called her again, before removing his helmet. She seemed to want to say something, but she failed to find the words. "Princess, we're… we're almost at the bay. Whatever you had in mind to do, we…"
"I…" Azula managed to say, somehow. Her eyes shifted away from Renkai, as reality continued to lose its appeal entirely.
"Princess. The Fire Lord will be expecting you."
The words finally resulted in a reaction: a snarl, a scowl… a determined anger that fueled her wrath far more powerfully than Renkai anticipated.
"Will he, now? Well, he… h-he can just…" she started, tears blooming in her eyes.
No, of course he couldn't just wait forever. Of course she had be ready to see him. Of course…
She let out a slight shriek: her hands dug into her hair violently, fingernails potentially drawing blood in her own scalp. Renkai gritted his teeth, unsure of whether to stop her or not.
"Princess, I'm sorry. I know that… that what happened wasn't what you anticipated," Renkai said, but Azula let out a soft laugh.
"N-no, no, I… I did anticipate it. Always. I knew… I knew it. Of course I knew it would turn out like that and I still… I still bloody did it, didn't I?" she said, sniffing and shaking her head. "I… I killed him, didn't I?"
"We… we don't know that," Renkai said, frowning. Azula laughed, shaking her head.
"How would he…? I mean, yes, sure, he's always escaped death in weird ways, but this time? Right now? T-that's not… it's not very likely, Renkai, now, is it?"
"I'm afraid a man like him would… would likely be too smart not to find a way out of that one," Renkai said. Azula shuddered.
"I don't know if you're right. I… I hope you are. Because… if you're not?" Azula said, sniffing. "I-if you're not, I might as well just…"
"No. Not now. Please… Hotaru needs you," Renkai said. Azula snarled.
"No, she… she doesn't. She has better family than me. Has… has a good sister. A good aunt. Me, I… I'm everything I've always tried to prove not to be, okay? So… so she's better off without me. Everyone's…"
Her vacant expression returned then. Renkai gritted his teeth, an unsettling tug in the pit of his stomach urging him to get help, but what kind of help? What could he possibly do for her? He had helped the Princess in a chaotic situation once before, she had believed her father had killed Sokka just as well… she had lost her grip on reality, outright.
This time, she blamed herself directly for his apparent demise.
"He… will get me killed, won't he?" Azula said, suddenly. Renkai frowned.
"You mean… the Fire Lord?" he asked. Azula nodded. "I… I don't know. I hope not, but…"
"We can't win. This war is… over. No matter what we do," Azula said, bleakly. "We're… pawns. Pointless pawns that will be destroyed in due time… as we should be. As we deserve to be. As…"
"Princess, you have much to fight for still. I know this is a source of grief and strife for you, but…" Renkai said, earnestly: she met his eyes.
Not for the first time, it dawned on Renkai that the Princess truly might be ready to die.
"You… you've never loved someone, have you?" she asked. Renkai winced.
"Well… no. Not that way, no," he said.
"Good. Better."
Renkai's eyes widened. Azula looked down at her hands, pristine, clean as they might be… in her eyes, they appeared to be drenched in blood, instead.
"I fired against him. I've… become everything I never wanted to be," Azula mused. "I killed him. Or I almost did. Whatever the case… I can't be forgiven. I shouldn't be forgiven…"
"Princess, that's not up to you to decide," Renkai said, curtly. "Maybe he'll feel differently about it than you do now…"
"He wouldn't be so foolish," Azula said, her voice muted.
"If he survived, he'll still fight," Renkai said. Azula nodded. "He won't give up this easily. One way or another, the war is bound to end, yes… but you can't stand aside and let this boil over without fighting back. Otherwise, they'll be in danger. The very people you've tried to protect all along…"
"I… I failed them. If he's gone… then there's no point. I wanted to bring them to him and now…" Azula said, snarling. "Now he…"
"He might not be gone. Not yet," Renkai insisted, taking Azula's face into his hands carefully. "But the consequences of hesitating now will be dangerous. You need to come back to your usual self, if just so you can crumble again once you're alone. I don't know what your destiny may be beyond this point… but falling apart in this stairwell can't be it. Princess…"
"Why? Why're you…?" Azula said, gritting her teeth. "You shouldn't be here. You should go away…"
"I won't. Not when you're like this," Renkai said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up. Azula snarled, but she didn't protest. "Please… just a little longer. Try just for a little longer. If you're so sure you won't live past this… then live until that last moment comes. Please…"
His words struck her in an uncomfortable place: she didn't want to face any of what she'd done, not really. She didn't want to deal with the consequences of her mistake, not on one side of the war, not on the other. She only wanted…
To join him.
If she had truly done something so heinous, so unforgivable to him, the only thing she could hope for was that she'd be inflicted his same fate.
But Hotaru… Rei, Song. Xin Long…
She snarled, the echoes of guilt striking her mercilessly. Tears spilled down her face as she knew, just as always… that she couldn't go until they were safe. That her life's entire purpose, that every dark choice she had ever made, was meant to protect them. But her daughter… she might have lost her father today. Much like Rei had lost hers, months earlier, also because of Azula's choices. Who would take her in now? Could Song and Rei protect her forever, in her absence? Would Anorak be willing to help at all, still, after what she'd done…?
"A-Anorak…" she managed to say. Renkai frowned. "When it's time to disembark, have Chan… walk away for a bit. You'll go… get Anorak a guard's uniform to dress in. He'll change into that. Chan… he'll panic. We'll use that to deceive everyone into believing Anorak ran away."
"R-right. Very well," Renkai said. Azula gritted her teeth.
"In that uniform, have Anorak guard… guard the girls," Azula said. "Tell him to stand by my cabin. By the time there's not much else happening, you'll come back… to the tower. Get them, get Anorak, take them through the underground tunnels all the way to the Palace. To my room. We'll… we'll get everything they need from there. All their belongings, everything that mattered, and then they'll go elsewhere… understood?"
"I understand," Renkai nodded. Azula swallowed hard. "Princess… I will support you however you ask me to. That's my purpose. But, please… promise you'll keep yourself centered for now. That… that you won't fall apart. The Fire Lord won't forgive you for any hesitation, any weaknesses…"
"I don't want his forgiveness. I've long known I won't earn it… but I never wanted it to begin with," Azula said, with a dry, fake smile. "The bastard… must have been waiting for that, huh? Maybe if I'd just said I was sorry… he wouldn't have done any of what he did. Wouldn't have made me into… into what I've become. I won't apologize… for the monster he has made of me."
Her words seemed to hurt her deeply. She closed her eyes, unable to restrain two more tears, before opening them again and staring at Renkai with deceptive clarity:
"Fulfill my orders. See to their safety."
"Yes… Princess," Renkai frowned, nodding.
Her feet carried her out of the distant location she had taken brief refuge at. The world seemed to wobble, to lose focus, to change shape and then return to its form… because she couldn't fathom what she had done. Because she had seen that ship caught in the flames.
Because she had heard her name in his voice once more.
If he had shouted for her sooner, she might have made a different call. She might have, all be damned, and she would have condemned her allies to the consequences of her decisions. But now… now she had to cling to this measly, desperate hope that Sokka somehow survived. That her actions didn't yield the worst of all consequences. That he might have made it somehow…
She had never imagined the day might come when she would be the one to endanger Sokka's life to such a dark extent. That she would have fought as much as she had to save him… only to be the one to deliver the final blow, instead. It was too cruel… it was too unfair.
She shuddered as she stepped out on deck, and the world continued to feel unreal as she did. She couldn't face her father like this… he would tear her to shreds for her weaknesses. He would likely rejoice, of course, to know that she might just have killed his worst enemy… the thought brought her to snarl furiously. If just to prove her father wrong, as well as to take a deserved revenge against her for every awful thing she had done to him… Sokka had to live. He had to be alive. He had to…
Appa groaned upon glimpsing a cluster of ships, ununiform in their designs, stationed near a volcanic island: their rendezvous point finally stood before them.
"Let's hope Toph's there already," Aang said, handling Appa's reins carefully to ensure that he would land someplace safe, avoiding the areas where molten lava still spilled down the island's surface.
His expectations were correct, although he wouldn't confirm it yet: delighted to be on solid ground again rather than riding any irksome wooden vessels, Toph had decided to pay a rather important place a visit.
"It could use some cleaning," Jet pointed out, eyeing the soot and dirt on the metal floors with a crooked eyebrow.
"Nobody's been here for over a year. I was the last one to fight here, too," Toph said, eyes closed, feeling a grand, deep connection with a blissful past upon standing in the location of her most profitable victories. "Three thousand points every time you won in the Slate… not that I got three thousand every time, mind you, I always tore apart the fighting cage because it was made of metal, so…"
"Is this where you learned you could metalbend?" Jet asked, as Toph led him deeper into the building, across darkened halls that only Jet's torch allowed him to detail – Toph, evidently, saw everything as clearly as ever with her bending.
"Yup. Sokka and Azula helped me prepare for a big fight against some nasty firebending bigshot…" Toph said, her voice ringing with melancholy. "But in the end, I realized I was feeling earth where I shouldn't have. It was inside the cage itself, so… it was a wild ride, heh. Beat up every firebending asshole who tried to fight me in here ever since."
"You only challenged firebenders here?" Jet asked. Toph smirked and nodded.
"Hurt their pride that badly to lose when it should've been their perfect territory to fight in. But… that's what made the Slate special. You never knew what you were going to get."
"I suppose," Jet smiled awkwardly: they had emerged by the stands now, and he could see a half-built platform dangling from a system of chains, suspended above what appeared to be retractile metal doors… "Is that the place where they kept that… lava pit or whatever?"
"Yeah, it's down there. The gates would open, and you'd be fighting inside the worst oven in the world," Toph said, with a dry grin. "That was the one part of fighting in here that wasn't as fun as everything else. But I took to beating up my rivals fast enough that they didn't have enough time to open the gates, so…"
"I'm not surprised to hear that," Jet smiled. "Your time as a gladiator actually sounds… kind of fun. But I guess there's things about it that you'd rather not go back to…"
"Well, I'd almost like to be stupid enough to still think there's anything worthwhile in Iroh, at times," Toph confessed. "My life was easier when I didn't want to accept that he was an unforgivable bastard, I guess. But every time I remember just why he is one, I… I get over wanting that pretty quickly."
"You'll never forgive him, huh?" Jet said. Toph scowled. "Seems fitting. It's kind of unnerving for the guy who carried out so much warfare against the Earth Kingdom to be on our side. Not that I'd kick him out if he'll actually be useful… but I wouldn't welcome him with open arms, exactly, if I were everyone else."
"Heh," Toph smiled. "Every time I think you'll react like a normal person, you know, like by saying that grudges will hurt me far more than whoever I resent, or anything preachy and stupid like that… you say something I don't expect instead and actually gain some of my respect. Nice work there, Jet."
"I do try," he smiled warmly at her: his hand rose, hoping to find hers… but Toph jumped well before they could touch at all. "Something wrong?"
"I… I think I heard Appa," she said. Jet snorted.
"I didn't hear anything… but your ears are definitely better than mine," he admitted.
"Could be Sokka. Maybe he's back?" Toph said, hope pouring out of her voice as she made her way back out of the Slate's long abandoned building, with Jet on her tail.
The way out of the Slate's metallic structure took around three minutes to fully traverse: by the time they emerged in the surface of the volcanic island, Appa had landed safely, welcomed by the members of the fleet who had disembarked so far.
"Told you," Toph smiled wildly before rushing in, careless about who she had to push out of her way before she could greet her friends.
He was back: surely things hadn't turned out perfectly, but they couldn't have been that bad. With Sokka around again, a lot of her own pressure would lift and she'd be free to turn to him for his leadership and decisions. While she had wound up embracing the role of being an army leader in Gaoling, she certainly didn't feel anywhere near as comfortable doing the same thing with White Lotus forces.
"Been a while!" she called out when she was finally close to Appa: the voice that answered her, however, wasn't the one she had expected.
"Toph!" Katara exclaimed: she was still on Appa's saddle, along with everyone else…
But Sokka's voice was noticeably absent. Toph frowned.
"Where is he?" she asked, point-blank: Aang leapt off the bison's back, offering her a weak smile she wouldn't be able to see.
"He's with the Northern Water Tribe's fleet right now," Aang answered, reassuringly. "He'll join us soon. Good to see you again, though…"
"Heh, bet you won't say the same thing when I ask if you practiced your earthbending at all lately," Toph scoffed. Aang tensed up. "Knew it. You sloppy student, you…!"
"I didn't have a lot of time to do it! We've been in the pole for a long time, and then flying over the ocean…?" Aang exclaimed, cheeks flushed. Toph scoffed in his direction.
"Excuses and excuses… you're shameless, Twinkle Toes!" she said, shaking her head. "Still… good to know you guys made it back from the North in one piece. Or at least, I figure you did?"
"Guess you didn't hear that I nearly got killed? You might just get a kick out of that one…"
Zuko's words caught Toph off guard. She frowned, turning towards him as he dismounted Appa, too, flinching when his feet hit the ground.
"Zuko, be careful!" Katara scolded him. He nodded, supporting his weight on Appa. Toph shuddered: his heartbeat felt weaker than usual. It was Zuko, and yet…
"What happened to you?" she asked.
"I… was reckless. Tried to take an uphill fight and paid the consequences for it," Zuko said. "But they saved my life, so…"
"You can fight like this?" Toph asked, stepping closer to him and placing a hand on his chest. Zuko blinked blankly at the gesture. "Your heart's… not feeling great, Zuko."
"Well, I'm not all healed yet. But I have to fight anyway," Zuko said, determined. Toph grimaced, pulling her hand back.
"I mean… up to you, in the end. But you'd better know what you're getting into," she said. "You shouldn't try to push yourself too hard or whatever they did to heal you might not hold. Just so you know…"
"Yeah… yeah. I'll be careful," Zuko said, before smirking slightly. "Didn't know you cared, though."
"Oh, yeah? Well… that makes two of us, because I didn't know I did either," Toph stated, proudly. Zuko laughed, shaking his head and messing Toph's hair in retaliation for her claim. "Hey!"
"Good to see you're as honest as ever," he said, as Kino jumped off Appa behind him.
"You should've gotten off down Appa's tail…" Kino remarked. Zuko nodded. "Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm… fine, I guess. But maybe I'll do that next time," Zuko said: his eyes shifted towards someone else… someone who was traversing the complicated landscape, eyes full of unexpected hope upon meeting him.
He sighed and stepped forward, past his friends and allies, to bow towards an eager Jeong Jeong. The older firebender bowed too, releasing a breath of relief after he rose again.
"I feared your injuries might render you helpless for the battle to come. It won't be an easy one," Jeong Jeong pointed out. Zuko nodded.
"I'm aware. Hopefully, I'll be able to play my part as intended," he said: a dark, heavy awareness sank inside his stomach as he said the words. The only part he had offered to play was that of his father's killer… he hoped he'd be strong enough, not just physically but mentally, to pull it off at all.
"I've sent word to Ba Sing Se about your condition. I shall let your mother and uncle know you are in better shape by now," Jeong Jeong said. Zuko nodded.
"Please do. I know they'll worry anyway, but… better if they know I'm not in the worst shape I could be in."
"Certainly," Jeong Jeong said. "Welcome back, Prince Zuko. Though… where is General Sokka?"
Zuko breathed deeply, casting a glance over his shoulder: no sign of the Water Tribe fleet just yet.
"He should be arriving soon. And by then, I hope you know that you'll have no choice but to explain… well, how things turned out the way they did in Yu Dao," Zuko said, turning towards Jeong Jeong again. The man lowered his gaze in shame. "How? Why?"
"If you haven't heard yet… your sister played no small part in the catastrophic defeat we were dealt in Yu Dao," Jeong Jeong said. Zuko snarled.
"We did figure that was what you were implying in your letter, but…"
"I apologize for my vagueness, but I didn't know how the General would react to what he could've perceived as wrongful accusations," Jeong Jeong said. Zuko scowled. "Whatever her reasons, it doesn't change what she did, and that she is acting as an enemy to our forces. For the time being… as difficult as it may be for you, and for General Sokka, you'd do best to accept that the Princess will continue to fight for the Fire Lord's side. Should she change tunes, we may take advantage of her prowess for our cause… but we need to be prepared to face her, in case she does not."
"Doesn't make sense, but… I guess that's how deep our father's control is," Zuko snarled. "She wouldn't be fighting for him if that weren't the case."
"If you're certain…"
"You don't think so?" Zuko scowled.
"Loyalty is a complicated matter," Jeong Jeong said. "Most of all when it involves loyalty to one's parent or nation. For those like you and me, privileging our beliefs, our certainty of right and wrong, quickly overcomes and outdoes everything else… but for those like your sister, I fear there may be a part of her that cannot turn her back on her father, regardless of the number of indignities he has inflicted on her. Even if she had a chance to turn against him, she might choose to stand at his side."
"Hence… the control he wields over her," Zuko said, frowning. "It's not just whatever he's manipulating her through… it's the fact that him being her father still means something to her when it shouldn't. I hope… I hope we can help her see that soon."
"Hopefully… perhaps he, of all people, is the one who can do it," Jeong Jeong said. "But I suppose we shall see to that once he arrives."
"Yeah… I hope it doesn't take too long for that to happen," Zuko said, glancing over his shoulder towards the sea.
It would be hours before any ships showed up in the landscape: by then, their group would have rested, caught up on information provided by the rest of the fleet, and learned that most people hadn't even disembarked from their vessels, for the island wasn't large enough to host them all. Over half their available troops had been mobilized for the final push against the Fire Nation, but that, regrettably, wasn't as much as they could have brought with them: they simply lacked the sufficient ships to bring more forces to the Fire Nation. It meant that the reconquered lands of the Earth Kingdom would be better defended… but it meant their resources to attack the Fire Nation might not suffice, if the Fire Lord had prepared stronger defenses than anticipated.
The sky was starting to darken when the Water Tribe fleet finally appeared in the horizon: Aang counted them eagerly as each dark dot grew more recognizable…
Fourteen ships.
Surely there was one hiding somewhere behind the others and he hadn't counted them properly. That had to be the case.
He counted again: fourteen ships.
They were closer still now, close enough to line up, and Aang shook his staff open, turning it into a glider, to count them better from above…
Fourteen ships.
Desperation gripped him when he realized the missing ship was none other than the one Sokka had been leading.
He dove fast towards the deck of the first ship, anxiety gripping him violently: the sailors greeted him mutedly, but the waterbender who led this ship, Pakku, appeared apprehensive in his presence.
"What happened? Where's Sokka?" Aang asked.
"He… oh, goodness," Pakku said, shaking his head. "We glimpsed Fire Nation ships, hours ago, in the horizon. He ordered us all to move to the rendezvous point… but he wanted to hunt down those ships himself."
"What?! He… he went after enemy ships alone?!" Aang gasped. Pakku grimaced.
"I don't know what the outcome was, but…"
"There was a big explosion," a sailor said: Aang's eyes widened. "We were already far, but… it looked like a cloud of fire. Maybe a bit like… like what you did in the Water Tribe?"
"A cloud of…?" Aang's chest tightened.
Sokka was in danger.
The Fire Nation's volatile gas weapons had been turned against him… and Aang hadn't been there to save him.
"No… no!" he gasped.
"You should go find him," Pakku said, startling Aang with his surprisingly agreeable suggestion. "Take your friends again. We'll go when we're ready, but… go find out what happened, Avatar. I don't know enough about what the General faced… I do know, however, that we can't afford to lose him. So…"
"I'll go. I'll go now!" Aang exclaimed, raising his glider again and flying back to the island.
Katara appeared relieved by the arrival of the fleet… not so much, however, when Aang dove towards her, a heavy frown, deep fear apparent in his face.
"Sokka picked a fight with a Fire Nation ship!" Aang exclaimed: Katara's smile faded from her face immediately. "That's why there's fourteen ships rather than fifteen. We have to…!"
"What?!" Katara gasped. "Aang…!"
"We don't know for sure what happened, but we're taking Appa again and we're going to check on him, now," Aang said: his words only reassured Katara slightly… for she felt dizzy, suddenly. She covered her mouth with a hand as the last words she had expected to hear struck her violently.
Sokka was in danger.
Sokka had picked a fight with a Fire Nation ship? Why would he be so foolish as to do that alone? What had he…?
They wouldn't know until they found him. There had to be a reason for it… and Sokka had to be alive. He was her damn brother, the most stubborn man there ever was. He couldn't have died out there…
"Let's go. Let's go, now!" Katara nodded: Aang wrapped his arm around her waist, but he couldn't take off before someone else stepped up towards them.
"Hey… hey!" Toph's voice was dark and stern, shocking them both. "I don't love prying… but I just heard what you said. What the hell's that supposed to mean, Twinkle Toes?"
"I wish I knew," Aang admitted: by then, Kino and Zuko had approached them too.
"Something's wrong?" Kino asked, frowning.
"Sokka might be in danger," Aang said: everyone who hadn't heard his earlier explanations to Katara froze on the spot. "We're going to find out where he is, what happened to him, and if… if we can save him, of course."
"He might have saved himself already… but we shouldn't just hope for that," Toph snarled. "You said he picked a fight with a Fire Nation ship…"
"That's what they told me," Aang said. Zuko scoffed.
"Idiot. Why would he…?" he said, shaking his head. "No, never mind. Just go find him and… and once you succeed, give him a piece of my mind."
"You won't come too?" Aang asked. Zuko shook his head.
"No, I'll stay here. I'll help organize the troops," he said.
"You're not really in the best shape to do anything complicated…" Kino pointed out, biting his lip before nodding. "So, I guess I'll stick around and help you do it."
"You will?" Zuko asked, perplex. Kino nodded. "Heh. Thank you, then."
"You two will get there faster if it's just the two of you, right?" Toph grimaced. Aang and Katara glanced at each other. "Besides… I hate flying. Ugh. If shit goes downhill, fly back to get me so I straighten things out as fast as possible, okay?"
"Help organize the ships, then. We'll come back or send word once we know for sure that it's safe for our forces to move out," Aang said. Toph nodded.
"Go, then. Hurry the hell up, Twinkle Toes," she said: her brow furrowed, her whole body tense…
Sokka was in danger: she should go help him, maybe, but how much use would she be from midair? Around water, too… she had to trust Aang and Katara would be enough. That they could save Sokka when she couldn't… from whatever danger loomed ahead for him, too. Maybe he would have sorted past this threat all on his own… he was surprising and unpredictable that way. But if he hadn't… she truly didn't want to think of that possibility.
After a couple more minutes of preparations, including gathering some food and water for the journey, the Avatar and the waterbender set out on Appa's back, flying at haste in the direction of the Fire Nation mainland: they would hover far above the islands, in the hopes of finding signs of whatever conflict Sokka had gotten involved in from there.
Katara gritted her teeth, fists tight over the saddle's railing. A dreadful feeling gripped her chest, clawing through it, tightening over her heart. She had been through this once before… and Sokka had prevailed, years after she had taken for granted that he had been killed. He might just do it again. He had to do it again. He couldn't leave their forces to fend for themselves, he was their leader, he…! Curses, but of all things, chasing a Fire Nation ship without thinking? That… that didn't sound like Sokka. Why would he ever do something like that?
One answer came to mind. One that Katara didn't want to ponder… but that might just be the explanation she had been looking for.
No, no, no. Sokka couldn't have gotten entangled in a pointless naval battle over Azula somehow. He couldn't have done something stupid and reckless and unsustainable…
He couldn't have died out there when they weren't around to help him.
Sokka had to be alive. He had to be alive. He had to…
The Barge docked in the bay when the moon rode high in the sky. It would be midnight in only a few hours, but the activity stirred by the ship's arrival wouldn't suggest it was that late. Lanterns were lit all across the port as sailors worked hard to unload the ship's cargo and deliver the remaining bombs safely.
Chan rushed to the deck, pride surging in his chest as he made sure to stand by the head of the group of soldiers who would escort Princess Azula back inside the Capital. There were a few Imperial Guards missing, those who had perished in Yu Dao, and it stood to reason that he would take their place, a reward for his great deeds and achievements across this stretch of the war…
After ten minutes of wait, the Princess arrived, her eyes unfocused, her face dark with shadows he didn't understand. Chan stepped forward with a proud grin on his face: she eyed him as though she didn't even know him.
"Princess? A sailor told me you wanted me at the head of the procession…" said Chan, blinking blankly. Azula scowled.
"I didn't ask for you. You have a much more important job than just… ferrying me around town," she hissed, her voice deep and lined with resentment Chan was taken aback by. "Get back to the brig. Stay there until everything's ready to transport him to the Prison Tower."
"U-uh… right. Sure. Okay?" Chan crooked an eyebrow: she was sending the waterbender she seemed so fond of to the Prison Tower? That seemed an odd choice…
But not one he'd dare question. He'd found her closeness with Anorak slightly unnerving and off-putting so far. Perhaps she had simply deceived the guy into expecting nicer treatment than any he'd get… he shrugged, turning on his heels and returning to the place he had come from.
"Fine, then. I'll wait, I'll wait," he said, marching back to the brig to fulfill his boring, yet rather important mission of keeping surveillance over the sole prisoner transported aboard this ship.
His nonchalance, his carelessness upon returning to his station accompanied him as he stood guard anew, stopping by the door for a moment before some guilt finally came to the fore. Perhaps he should take pity on the guy, to some degree… it might not be so rude to tell him just what he would be facing soon, right?
"Uh, Anorak?" he said, shoving the door open and glancing inside the brig. "I know you trusted the Princess a whole lot and she seemed to trust you, but, uh… Anorak?"
He wasn't in the cell Chan had been guarding so far.
Chan froze: maybe he got it wrong. Maybe he had come downstairs from another set of stairs, and he was looking at the brig backwards!
But then he looked at the other end of the cellblock and it was as empty as the first side he had glanced at.
Anorak was gone.
"Oh, shit. Oh, shit, she's going to kill me. Oh… fuck!" he exclaimed, hands going to his hair as he paled quickly.
He had to tell her, own up to his mistakes… curses, how had Anorak joined forces with that sailor? That made no sense! He was constantly watched, there was no way he'd have escaped as easily as that… no one could have engineered things to make Chan leave just in time for Anorak to escape, and…!
The Princess was going to kill him for losing her pet prisoner, wasn't she?
"Oh, no… oh, no, don't burn my house again…" Chan whimpered: would she feel less inclined to doing something so destructive if he made up for his mistakes? If he promised he'd find Anorak at all costs? Maybe she would… but her dark mood earlier didn't really suggest as much.
She hadn't been okay, and everyone had noticed as much, after that curtain of fire had spread across the sea before them. He had never quite imagined he'd see her collapse that way, but he had known better than trying to interfere in any way: the unapproachable Princess walked away, vanishing for hours, and he had simply returned to his station, assuming that was all she'd expect from him. Anorak had still been inside the brig then… but he wasn't now. Not anymore… oh, curses, how had he gotten away at all?
Making up his mind over what to do filled Chan with anxiety as he reached the ship's main deck again, expecting a rather violent, flashy showdown with the Princess over his foolishness…
But there were only sailors left on deck.
"What…? Wait… what?!"
He glanced towards the port, to the long avenue that connected the bay area with the crater that hosted the Fire Nation Capital: he could see something moving, far in the distance… something that might just be the Royal Procession.
"Fuck…!" Chan cringed, seizing the railing near him and pressing his brow to it. He really had done it now…
Above, within the Princess's cabin, Anorak glared with disdain at the helmet he had been told to wear. Renkai had given him a set of Imperial Guard robes, and as useful as it might be, the attire disgusted him profoundly.
"You didn't see her at all?" Rei asked him. Anorak shook his head briskly.
"No. Renkai didn't look very positive when he fetched me at the brig, but…" Anorak said. "I'm hoping she's okay. She had better be. We're all counting on her, aren't we?"
"We are," Song frowned. "Problem is, well… we don't really know what happened in that battle. None of us does."
Anorak grimaced: whoever they had fought had been defeated, was all he dared guess. How and why, he didn't know… but he truly hoped it hadn't been Sokka.
His gaze fell upon Hotaru, nestling in her crib, holding her rattle, but making no noise with it. Her large eyes shifted between them all, as though waiting for something to happen, even if she didn't know what she was expecting. The child embodied her parents' hopes, the ultimate union between two sides of a war that should finally be conciliated into peace, through the symbol their very daughter could represent…
One way or another, the baby might just be the key to saving the world, tiny and helpless as she still was. Anorak had to keep her alive, and to hope that both her parents would stay alive, too, for however long it took them to reunite and finally settle a war that had lasted far too long… a war that should have never happened at all.
The palanquin shifted and jolted. Every bump along the road reminded Azula of what she was returning to… of the future she would continue to commit to, regardless of the cost to her person. There was very little she could do anymore but carry forward, heart heavy with fears, with grievances, with pain she would never mitigate.
She would see her father again soon. The thought seldom was tranquilizing in the past, for her father was a daunting man, always had been… this time, she agonized over the very thought of facing him anew. He was bound to congratulate her, even, for her great achievement of defeating the Gladiator at long last. Confessing what she'd done, what she was responsible for, would pain her so much more profoundly than it already did… but she'd have to do it. She had already cast her lot with her father… she had let him corner her, force her to remain his hostage, his tool, his weapon. She couldn't walk away anymore.
The palanquin tilted upwards… then, downwards. Eventually, it moved in a straight line. No one had been there to receive her and rejoice in her arrival, just as she had hoped. She didn't have the right disposition for fireworks and grandiose speeches now.
Instead, she tried to focus on her breathing. Counting each breath, one by one, as good as trying to phase out of her own life if just for a moment, if just to remember what it felt like to exist without perpetual pain tormenting her heart, even her body at this point. The aching wound of her shoulder seemed to be acting up again, even if it might just be a psychological matter… though it might be the damage of her own spirit, craving a conclusion that the Bloodlust Spear had nearly granted her. If only it had happened then… could she have prevented the madness she had unleashed now? If only she had died then…
Hotaru wouldn't exist. Rei would still be in her father's control.
Sokka might have gone to war nonetheless, and his outcome might have been no different than it was, in the end.
She sighed, trying to control the rampaging emotions that wanted to tear her apart. Emotions that continued to embitter her, to remind her of the unpleasant, dark truth: she was responsible for the most sickening crime of all. If so many people didn't depend on her at all, she might have just offed herself already in retaliation for her sins, and yet…
The palanquin stopped and was lowered to the ground.
The curtains were pulled back, and with that, Azula returned to the Fire Nation's Royal Palace.
She swallowed hard as she climbed off the palanquin, glaring at the open doors of the inhospitable place she had called home for all her life. It felt utterly empty now, no matter if that wasn't the case. She didn't want to be here… but she couldn't walk away anymore.
She marched inside, followed by Renkai and the rest of her guards. She could have made her way to her room first, but she didn't. She could have resonated to find out where the wretched assassin was… she didn't do that, either. Locating him might just represent a whole other wild temptation, for she might just ask him to be the one to finish her off, if she found him at all…
The door to her father's study. Azula clenched up as she was announced by the guards at the door, then she was ushered inside.
Aonu rose from his seat, looking at her in relief. Ozai frowned at the sight of her, no doubt quick to pinpoint that her pale countenance, her dark demeanor, were signs that his daughter's mental state was far from being optimal at the moment.
"You've returned," Ozai stated the obvious, apparently unsure of how else to begin their meeting. Azula nodded.
"I've only just arrived," she said. Her voice sounded broken, even to her ears, as she spoke to her father.
"We heard there was a scuffle in the Great Gates," Aonu said, bowing his head towards her. "Did you get through them before…?"
"I was involved in it," Azula said, confirming the two men's worst suspicions. "A Water Tribe ship attempted to give us chase into the inner waters."
"Then… they're already here," Aonu snarled.
"Just as I predicted," Ozai frowned. "Just as you expected, all the way back in that first war meeting you joined, Azula."
"Is… is that why you gave me that command to return?" Azula asked.
"What you anticipated of his next moves returned to mind, yes," Ozai sighed. "Your safe arrival would imply you prevailed against this threat?"
"I did… at the cost of some of the bombs you meant for us to transport back to the Fire Nation," Azula said. "We didn't spend all of them, but…"
"They're meant to serve us as defensive measures. Your return to us suggests they did," Ozai concluded. "Sit, if you please…"
Azula didn't move. Ozai frowned.
"I… I'm sorry. I don't know… I just would rather stand, for now," Azula said. Even she struggled to understand her own decision. Ozai blinked blankly.
"Princess Azula…"
"I think… he might have been aboard that ship."
Ozai's brow drew together: she couldn't muffle the sadness in her voice, the grief in her tone…
"The ship that hounded yours?" Ozai asked. "What…? What happened to it? Did he get away after you used the bombs, or…?"
"I don't know. I…" she cut herself off before admitting she could only hope so. "I commanded for the bombs to be launched. A curtain of fire spread between us and them… but I don't know if they stopped before reaching it. I don't know if he…"
"Died?" Ozai said, uttering the word with skepticism that brought Azula to glare at him. "That's… unlikely."
"Unlikely?" Azula repeated. Ozai breathed deeply.
"It's hardly the first time he's been in a field of uncontrollable flames and survived," Ozai said. "Killing a nest of roaches must be easier than killing him, as far as I can tell. Whole armies failed at the quest, as well as a trained killer, the Air Force, Zhao… how many have tried and failed? It would be utterly unlikely for him to perish when you weren't even attempting to kill him."
If that was an attempt at comforting her, it was a rather strange one, Azula thought. She eyed her father with uncertainty, and Ozai cleared his throat.
"I was the one who rescued him from the field of flames you spoke of, the first time, at least," Azula said. "Not the one wielding them against him."
"Do you believe he knew you were there?" Ozai asked.
"I… thought I heard his voice. Calling my name after I gave the command," Azula said, begrudgingly. Ozai hummed.
"Either your mind played tricks on you… or he truly was lured by the hopes of tracking you down and presumably using you against me," Ozai said. Azula's fists tightened. "Either way… if he was in a Water Tribe ship, I doubt he had no means to escape that wall of flames. Even if they couldn't maneuver the ship properly, his allies must have saved him from the worst of it."
"I saw no sky bison. The ship was alone," Azula said. Ozai narrowed his eyes.
"Perhaps he simply swam away, then," he said. Azula gritted her teeth. "He did not come this far only to die while none of his army was there to uphold him as the great hero he no doubt fashions himself as. No matter how desperate he may have been to reach you, this would not end so easily… and even if you're right, and he somehow did perish in those flames, the war is not over solely because he's gone. We have a massive enemy force at our doorstep, and we must endeavor to defeat it, or our nation shall be destroyed."
"I… understand," Azula said, frowning.
"I've mulled it over much, perhaps too much," Ozai said, scowling. "But I expect he will have told his allies of the secret tunnel that leads to the Throne Room."
"Iroh probably told them well before he did," Azula pointed out. Ozai nodded.
"Be that as it may, it's entirely possible that we will face an assault on at least two fronts."
"Our forces cannot effectively be committed to either of those causes, we don't have that many active soldiers left to hold both fronts effectively," Aonu pointed out.
"That's… true, to a fault. I have resources that can turn the tides of war in our favor," Ozai said. Azula frowned.
"Your mysterious allies?" she asked. "How many?"
"Well over a thousand men."
"A thousand?" Azula repeated, frowning. "How…?"
"It's something I shall explain if we prevail in this battle. It may even be necessary for me to do so, but for now, I'd do best to keep it to myself or risk losing their support when we cannot afford to," Ozai said. Azula's eyes narrowed.
"Are they…?"
She didn't dare say it: Shaofeng's forces. The man's private army. What he had been building up for years… potentially to take the nation out of Ozai's grasp. Why had he allowed it? Why was he complicit in such treason against his own rule? Was it because he had known that, one day, he might just need them as urgently as he did now? Azula frowned.
"Mercenaries?" she finished her sentence. Ozai cleared his throat.
"You might as well see it that way, yes," he said. Her fists tightened.
"And they can be relied upon?"
"With any luck, and proper distribution of their forces among the Fire Nation's army, we will maintain numerical superiority and daunt them from any treacherous choices…" Ozai said: Azula's eyes widened.
"You don't trust them…"
"I don't trust anyone."
Her heart clenched: she knew that… but letting those forces partake in the defense of the city sounded like trust, regardless. He shouldn't throw his lot in with such a crowd… and yet her father couldn't hope to do anything else if he wanted to be victorious. The Fire Nation's remaining troops, including the Domestic Forces and even the Enforcers, would not suffice to stop the onslaught of danger that Sokka and his troops had brought with them…
Those troops would surely represent great peril for everyone, even if Sokka wasn't there to lead them.
The thought chilled her, and she found it utterly ridiculous to cling to Ozai's certainty that Sokka couldn't be gone solely because it was too easy. Solely because he couldn't possibly have left himself to die in such a matter, with no dignity to speak of…
"Nonetheless, we'd do best to discuss the organization of those troops and our defenses later. You must be tired," Ozai told her. Azula gritted her teeth: if she was, her heart was too distraught for her body to register any exhaustion. "War Minister Aonu and I shall begin crafting strategies. You may chime in later. Go rest, Azula."
"I'm not sure that I…" Azula said, but Ozai shook his head.
"You did well in Yu Dao," he said, startling her. "Better than any other of my highly ranked officials have, thus far. No one else secured a victory, let alone dealt so many blows against the enemy forces. One could argue that Zhao certainly caused them much strife… but he lost, regardless. They're still charging towards us with Water Tribe ships and surely waterbenders in their command… and he may have died, unlikely as that sounds, while you survived and prevailed."
She shouldn't have resented the survival her father praised, but she did.
"I would like to know the details of the battle at sea, as well as in Yu Dao, but I will leave you to your rest now, so you may explain further later. Well done," Ozai said. Azula gritted her teeth.
"Thank you. I… I'm glad I was of service."
Was she? Never before had it felt quite so sickening to fulfill her father's orders. Never before had she been so eager to sacrifice herself in reparations for every terrible thing she had done. What her father read as glory, her heart only interpreted as misery and pain.
"Well, then…"
The doors to the study blasted open unceremoniously.
Only one person would do that. One person who had no concern as to what Ozai was doing, or who he was with.
General Shaofeng strode into the room, disregarding Azula and Aonu entirely… a letter in his hands.
"General…" Ozai frowned, no doubt restraining himself from enforcing his authority fiercely once he realized Shaofeng had brought a message.
"A missive. From one of my sources," he said, sternly. "I'm afraid the situation we're facing is about to grow more dire than we knew possible."
Azula's heart pounded as Shaofeng handed the scroll over to her father: what now? Ozai surely thought the same thing as he unfolded the letter, as he read the uncouth, poor handwriting, to unravel the missive's contents…
He coughed salt water violently, as good as retching it, after they washed ashore.
The waterbenders were exhausted: they had worked far too hard to save everyone they could reach. The fact that they had caught him before he sank any deeper into the sea was nothing short of a miracle.
Sokka knelt on all-fours, though, on the dark sands, trembling as the lingering daylight bore against his back. As the reality of what had happened failed to sink in… as the desperation over what he had seen in that array of flames, that single hue of blue, that golden armor on that ship, threatened to break his mind completely.
But he had to focus. He had to keep his mind centered. He had cost his troops a ship, and who knew how many crewmembers, with his utter stupidity. His recklessness had a dire cost, and he turned around to glance across the black shore: he counted five, ten, sixteen, twenty-four…
"Is everyone…?" Sokka said: one of the waterbenders languished near him, coughing a little as well.
"I don't know. I don't know…" he said, covering his face with his hands.
There were more saved people than dead ones. It was a small relief, even if a painful one still.
"What the hell happened?" asked one of the warriors, pushing himself up awkwardly, still affected by the salt water he had swallowed, by the prolonged submerging underwater they'd undergone. "That ship… was that the same thing from the airships?"
"Looks like it," Sokka said, turning towards him. "I… I misjudged the situation. I shouldn't have… I'm sorry. I could've gotten us all killed just… out of greed and stupidity."
"Guess you didn't get us all. That's a good thing," the man said, bitterly. "That how you lead your troops, General?"
"It… it isn't," Sokka admitted: she had blinded his judgment. Perhaps she always did. "I failed you all. I…"
"We lost the ship," said Panuk, rising too and running a hand over his hair. "And now… now we're stranded in some cursed island of the Fire Nation? What are we going to do?"
"Find out if there's anyone here," Sokka said, closing his eyes. "If there's anyone at all, we'll see if they have messenger hawks. If they do, we'll tell the rest of our forces what… what I did. And where to find us. They'll come for us after that."
"Good thing it was only us," Panuk said, eyeing Sokka begrudgingly. "I know you thought we could score a big victory there, but… that was not worth it. Couldn't have been worth it."
"Might have been… if they hadn't been loaded with those damn bombs," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I didn't think of it. It's my fault for being reckless anyway. Thank you for… for making up for my bad judgment as best you could. I'm sorry."
"You'd better be," the first waterbender said again, shaking his head. He raised his glare to the distance… where the Great Gates could be seen quite far away, the chains gleaming under the power of the fire that traced over them. "We'd better tear that shitty barrier apart sooner than later. Maybe we could focus on doing that until the others arrive."
"Won't be easy, we're not exactly in the best condition to try," Panuk said. "I suggest we focus on recovering first, scouting this island, confirming what our actual circumstances are…"
Sokka frowned as he glared into the distance: the Great Gates were visible. They were. That wasn't a common happenstance… not on this side of the barrier. The only location from which he thought that was possible was…
He looked down again: black sand. He raised his gaze towards the cove they were in:
Black cliffs hugged the shore they had washed into moments ago.
He winced as he shot upwards, eyes wide, turning towards a large opening in the cliffs behind them:
The waterbenders had never been this far south, so they couldn't recognize the location… but Sokka knew exactly where he was.
"This is…" he gasped, stepping back: the rest of the shipwrecked crew glanced at him in confusion. "I know where we are. I know what this place is. I…"
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Panuk said.
"Depends on who's asking!"
Sokka froze on the spot: the voice drifted from above them, up at the cliffs. A female voice he had heard before, even if not very often… but the woman it belonged to was memorable regardless.
He raised his gaze, jaw dropping upon recognizing not just the woman in question… but the two men that flanked her.
"You always seem to make the weirdest entrances when you pay us a visit, don't you, Blue Wolf?!"
She raised her voice simply due to distance, but it sounded menacing to the Water Tribe men. The warriors reached for their weapons, the waterbenders were ready to scoop up some of the sea water to defend themselves…
Sokka raised a hand, shocking them at his command for them to stop on their tracks.
"Lower your weapons," he said. The Water Tribe members behind him stared at him in confusion.
"Aren't they threatening you? General…!"
"I don't think so," Sokka said:
To his own shock and disbelief, he was smiling.
That grin only threatened to widen further when footsteps resounded from the cavern itself: a booming laugh echoed within, as what sounded like dozens of people approached the shipwrecked crew… Sokka stood in front of everyone, closer to that opening than the rest, as good as protectively positioning himself before his allies.
Or, perhaps, eager to meet the people who had just emerged from the shadows within the cliffs' cavern.
"Seen ya' in better shape before, boy! But welcome back anyhow!"
"It's you… it's… how?" Sokka gasped, as his eyes finally locked onto those of the familiar, bushy-bearded, tall man, who continued to laugh proudly, hands on his hips. "I thought the League…!"
The League had ended… but that didn't mean everyone would obey Ozai's commands as easily as that.
The group that had taken residence in this place had been particularly adamant about doing whatever they pleased, for as long as they cared to.
A bark of disbelief left his lips as more figures emerged from the shadows: some were merely curious onlookers he had never met before… but he recognized a few, just as he had recognized those in the heights of the cliffs:
The Priestess of the Flames. The Light Bearer. The Dark Rook. The Eastern Wayfarer. Blazing Strike. Twist of Shadow. The Lady of Laogai. The Red-Striped Hornet.
He covered his mouth with a hand as the lurkers behind Gang Hong, leader of the renegade gladiators who had taken residence in the Black Cliffs, smiled proudly at the shocked Blue Wolf…
He had found them.
The missing gladiators hadn't been hunted down or chased into the darkest pits of the world. They hadn't been victims to some heinous, cruel scheme to be executed under Ozai's orders. The gladiators who had vanished without a trace from Omashu, from Ba Sing Se… from everywhere across the world, he figured, had come here. Somehow, they had been escorted safely to a place that was, ultimately, as unsafe as could be… but where they would be free to live their lives as they cared to, without answering to anyone, without being trampled over others who believed themselves superior to them.
"What is going on? General…" Panuk said: no doubt Sokka wasn't racking up points with the Northern Water Tribe people who had sailed with him thus far, but he turned towards them with a smile.
"This is… the Dragon's Pit," Sokka said. "A place so messy and chaotic that even a real dragon said… that his pit wasn't as weird as this one."
He chuckled at the memory, shaking his head before smiling confidently at his allies.
"This is a haven for gladiators. It has been for years. I… I didn't even think of it, but this is… this is where countless people like me have been hiding ever since the League ended, since Ozai lost his damn mind. So…"
"The… the Dragon's Pit?" Panuk repeated. "That doesn't sound very hospitable…"
"Well, there's not an actual dragon in there, is there?" the other waterbender asked. "If not, then…"
"We do have one, we do!"
Even Sokka was caught by surprise by that claim. He turned towards Gang Hong, confused, as the man spread a command to the other gladiators with him.
His clever joke made sense to Sokka a short moment later.
Rushed footsteps of a man running, as fast as could be, echoed through the cavern, all the way to the shore. The others stepped aside, letting him through…
Sokka's breath caught in his throat when the newest arrival finally stopped on his tracks, right past Gang Hong. Even with his face hidden behind a mask, the tall, tan, burly man covered in scars would be unmistakable.
"It's you. It's really… HA!" the tall gladiator laughed, clapping and stepping forward, beaming at an astonished, but profoundly grateful Sokka. "I knew you'd turn up one day! I knew I'd see you again, kid! Though you sure don't look like much of a kid anymore…!"
"Did I ever? Really?" Sokka smiled warmly. His friend laughed and shook his head.
"Yeah, you didn't, but it felt right to call you that! Not sure it does anymore," he smiled proudly, stepping forward and dropping a strong, heavy hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Mighty good to see you again, Blue Wolf."
"Good to know… good to know there's finally a real dragon in the Dragon's Pit, Renzhi," Sokka smiled. "I… I had no idea you'd be here! I didn't know…!"
"Eh, you were too busy to figure it out, I bet, turning the Fire Lord's world upside down as you were!" Renzhi smiled. "But it was about time you dropped by! You'll tell us everything in a bit, kid, we'll get you food, clothes, whatever you need! You and your friends there too, of course!"
"Thank you. I… we'll need to send a message, above all else," Sokka said. Renzhi grinned proudly.
"We can arrange that, too," he said. Sokka smirked.
"Thank you. This place might just get busier after, but…"
"You've got a lot of explaining, and a lot of big plans in your hands, I bet," Renzhi grinned. "Can't wait to hear all about it, kid!"
"Who… is that? Is this a friend of yours, General?" Panuk asked, nervous: Renzhi was well over a head taller than him.
"He's… a brother-in-arms," Sokka smiled: Renzhi laughed, offering him a hand, and Sokka responded with the gesture of respect from his people, clasping Renzhi's forearm instead. "This is the Millennium Dragon."
"Oh? Oh! Like… the dragon from the pit?" asked the other waterbender. Renzhi laughed.
"Something like that!" he exclaimed: the gladiators with Gang Hong either protested his claim or laughed it off – Gang Hong, of course, was in the second category.
Sokka smiled, shaking his head at the promised brawl that would likely begin among the gladiators now. Renzhi turned around, ready and eager to take on any challengers, and Sokka let out a deep, relieving breath.
"This place is… well, it should be safe for us to be here for now," Sokka said. The Water Tribe men nodded, while still apprehensive. "I know it looks bad, I know it looks weird… but these are good people. These are gladiators who have always rebelled against the Fire Lord's system. We'll be able to contact everyone from here… and we'll be at a vantage point from which to strike away at those gates now that we're as close to them as we are."
"Well… good. But… are you sure these are allies?" Panuk asked. "Or will they just be helpful for now until you tell them what you're up to?"
"Pretty sure they already know," Sokka smiled at the cavern. "But if you're asking if I intend to recruit the willing fighters to our cause… well, why not?"
"Do you trust them?" asked the other waterbender. Sokka smirked.
"I trust that they'll go for any big fight we can provide for them… and I trust that they'll have my back. These aren't just… just normal rebels, you know? They're gladiators. They're… they're gladiators."
The word should not have brought relief to his heart, but it did, nonetheless. He smiled proudly, the pain in his heart not fully receding, not truly fading away…
But new life had poured into him over this discovery. Over the proud, strong grins Renzhi offered him: the Dragon's Pit provided Sokka with a golden opportunity to bolster his forces further, should any of the gladiators available wish to join them and go to war. Bloodthirsty and prone to violence as they were, Sokka suspected they would do just that: the Gladiator Army would soon live up to its name more faithfully than ever before.