Author's note: okay, not much chenlian/zuko in this one, too bad. Anyhow, at the beginning of chapter one, I put a sort of short summary/hint/reflection for book 01 and another at chapter 25 for book 02.

Fight 37: Into the City

The titanic tunneling machine, 10 stories high, moved slowly but surely, similarly to an earthworm, expanding, its large segments pushing forward under steam power, stabilizing by planting spikes into the ground, then contracting again to gain forward movement. Vents at the edge of each segment regularly exuded steam. A tower topped by a command center levered upward from the drill's back. Azula was sitting on a throne, flanked by Mai and Ty Lee.

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth kingdom will finally fall, and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of your father. Nothing can stop us." War Minister Ching addressed Azula. Ty Lee, who was looking from the pericospe, wondered about the 'muscle-y guys down there'. She was of course refering to the Earth Kingdom benders gathered into a series of large trenches before the wall, ready to defend their city. The old man walked up and sharply rapped the periscope, startling Ty Lee. "Please, the drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack."

"Oh, I'm sure it is War Minister Ching. But just to be on the safe side..." The princess replied condescendingly before adding in a commanding tone: "Mai, and Ty lee, take the earthbenders out!"

"Finally, something to do." Mai stopped twiddling her knife and stood up.

Katara, Sokka and Toph were escorting Tahn and his family out of a rocky pass toward the base of the great wall. They stopped when they saw Aang and Momo swooping down and landing. The waterbender asked what he was doing here . He had been about to look for Appa but something BIG had stopped him... They advanced to the base of the rampart, Aang and Toph made a rock platform they rapidly lifted along the vertical surface. And the boy showed them what was so big that Appa had to wait. Once at the top of the wall, they all looked over the parapet at the approaching drill.

"We made it to Ba Sing Se, and we're still not safe. No one is." Ying despaired, huddling together with her family. A guard approached them asked what they were doing here . Civilians weren't allowed on the wall.

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever's in charge." The airbender demanded with determination. Tahn and his family were escorted away while the Avatar and his friends were taken to General Sung who was sitting at his desk. Smiling, he politely welcomed them to the outer wall... and smugly assured them that their help was NOT needed. He had the situation under control. Many had tried to break through the wall, but none had succeeded. On the outer side, there was nothing but barren wastes, while a patchwork of fertile fields grew on the inner side. Boulders were neatly stacked close to the parapet facing the wasteland. The general gazed contentedly at the field, the four teens behind him.

"What about the Dragon of the West ? HE got in." Toph pointed out, crossing her arms.

"Well... uh... technically yes." Sung admitted, startled, though he quickly recovered his confidence. "But he was quickly expunged. Nevertheless, that is why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It's the impenetrable city. They don't call it Na Sing Se." He laughed with his belly and became serious again. "That means penetrable city." He explained. Beifong thanked him for the tour but they still had the drill problem. However, to stop it, the general had sent an elite platoon of earthbenders called the Terra Team. Sokka liked the name, very catchy...

The earthbenders divided into teams that each took down a tank, rode an earth wave through the opening created, and tried to wedge several large pillars of stone against the side of the Drill that shattered them effortlessly. They shielded themselved from Mai's throwing knives as she and Ty Lee rappelled down the side of the huge machine toward them. Ty lee landed, and nimbly avoiding their attacks, she leapt in amongst them and targeted their pressure-points One by one the Terra Team dropped at her feet.

"We're doomed!" The General Sung screamed and flailed his arms in a panic after having watched from his telescope his elite soldiers being routed. Sokka slapped him and told him to get a hold of himself. The old man rubbed his cheek and apologised. Toph suggested that maybe he'd like the Avatar's help now . He meekly approached Aang. "Yes, please." He requested in a timid voice. The monk and his allies observed the drill. Now, how to stop that thing? They turned to Sokka since he was the idea guy. He complained that it was a lot of pressure to be the only one to come up with plans... but he didn't mind being the complaining guy...

The ferry had docked safely and Zuko, Iroh, and Chenlian had proceeded inside to the ticket gate. A sour, heavy set female Earth nation official, with a large hairy mole above her eyebrow, looked over their papers dubiously.

"So, Mr. Lee, Miss Meiling, and Mr... umm Muhshi is it ?"

"It's pronounced Moo-shee." Iroh gently corrected her.

"You telling me how to do my job?!" The customs officer questioned angrily, sounding as unpleasant as she looked.

"Uh, no no no. But may I just say that you're like a flower in bloom, your beauty is intoxicating." He leant against the counter and flattered her so sweetly and charmingly.

"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome." Obviously charmed, she winked and made a cat-claw gesture. "Raorrr. Welcome to Ba Sing Se." She stamped their papers and pushed them forward. Iroh took them and turned back, grinning.

"I'm gonna forget I saw that." Zuko snatched his passport from him with a disgusted expression.

"Now, now, you know the story, the sun over the north wind. That method is really useful." Chenlian grinned too as she took her paper and led him away by the arm. "Still, he's really skilled, I must learn from him."

"No you won't!" Zuko exclaimed as they exited. This would be bad for him in a lot of ways! They were watched by Jet who wanted to make Lee a Freedom Fighter. He was just trying to find his way in the world, like them. He kept quiet about it, but if they recruited Lee, then Chenlian would be sure to stick around too. Smellerbee remarked they didn't know anything about him. The leader argued that surely he didn't get that scar from a waterbender. And Chenlian might be a firebender, but they couldn't deny the eye she had for people. But the female fighter thought they were going straight now . Jet shrugged. They were, and the new Freedom Fighters could use a guy like Lee. He asked Longshot his thoughts on the idea and the bowman cast him a meaningful look. Jet respected his opinion.

The members of the Terra Team had been rescued and were now lying on futons in the enclosed infirmary atop the outer wall. General Sung, Aang , Sokka, Toph and Momo were watching as Katara spread the blue energies of her healing technique over the arm of one of the fallen warriors. They didn't look injured, so what was wrong with them? After examining a soldier, the waterbender remarked that their chi was blocked and asked who had done this to them. Through his moans, the warrior explained that two girls had ambushed them, one of them had hit him with a bunch of quick jabs, and suddenly he couldn't earthbend, and he could barely move... and then she had cart wheeled away. Katara recognized Ty Lee's handiwork. She didn't look dangerous but she knew the human body and its weak points. It was like she took you down from the inside. That gave her brother an idea. They were going to take down the Drill like Ty Lee did with these big earthbenders, by hitting its pressure points! They'd take it down from the inside.

Some time later, Toph, Aang, Momo, Katara and Sokka were crouched down in one of the Terra Team's abandoned trenches. The earthbender was going to whip up some cover and told her friends to make sure to stay close to her as they weren't going to be able to see. She jumped out and sent a strong blast of dust and broken stone rocketing along the ground toward the drill. At her command, the team plunged into the swirling dust cloud.

"Hey, look at that dust cloud." Ty Lee, who was again looking through the periscope, said. "It's so... poofy. Poof!" She looked back to the others with a spaced-out expression. The War Minister asked the Princess not to worry. Surely, it was nothing. Azula eyed him doubtfully. Toph and the others emerged from the dust in the shadow of the front of the drill. She bended open a pit in the ground, they jumped in, and the surface swirled shut above them. Sokka complained it was so dark down here he couldn't see a thing.

"Oh no, what a nightmare." The earthbender feigned horror. The warrior of the Water Tribe apologized for his inconsiderate comment. They emerged under the metal monster's belly and Sokka spotted an opening with a narrow pipe extending across it. Aang leapt up to catch it and hung upside down from it by his legs. He caught Katara and then Sokka by the hands, and boosted them up into the Drill, but Toph didn't follow. Sokka urged her but she categorically refused to go into that thing where she couldn't bend. She was going to try and slow it down from out here. The boys wished her luck and disappeared. She bended an outcropping of stone to stop the titan but her efforts pretty much amounted to nothing as both she and the brace were pushed back.

Inside the Drill's corridors, Sokka led the others through a red-lit area of pipes and valves that he studied. In order to find its weak points, he needed a plan, some schematics showing that machine's insides after all. When Aang was wondering where to find that, Sokka chopped a valve with his machete and steam filled the room, to his friend's horror. That was on purpose though: a machine this big evidently needed engineers to run it, and when something broke, they came to fix it, and those engineers certainly had the plans. Indeed, moments later, a large Fire Nation engineer in a filter mask came over holding a large wrench and a rolled up document. Katara greeted him from behind and froze him with the vapor. His brother snatched the scroll and ran away with a 'thanks!'.

They climbed up stairs, and unrolled the plans across a large pipe. Sokka examined a cross-diagram of the drill. Looked like it was made up of two main structures, the inner mechanism where they were now, and the outer shell. The two parts were connected by braces. If they cut through them, the entire thing would collapse. The two benders nodded in agreement and they all raced away.

At the debarkation point for Ba Sing Se, which resembled a large stone train station, Zuko, Chenlian and Iroh were seated with arms crossed at a waiting area. Jet casually sat down next to Zuko and asked him about their plans once they were inside the city just as a tea peddler called out 'Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!'. The old tea lover waved his arm and requested jasmine tea. The merchant came and poured liquid into Mushi's bowl. The former general delightedly took a sip. His eyes widened in disgust and he spat it out, calling the drink the coldest tea in Ba Sing Se. What a disgrace! Chenlian patted his back comfortingly when Jet asked her and Zuko to come over for a second. The teens sighed and reluctantly followed him. The tiger hook swords users offered them join the Freedom Fighters as people like them had a much better chance of making it in the city if they stuck together.

"Thanks, but I don't think you want me in your gang." Lee politely declined.

"Come on, we made a great team looting that Captain's food. Think of all the good we could do for these refugees."

"I said no." Zuko returned to his uncle.

"Jet, what happened on the ship was a one-time alliance. There's no longer any need for that. Besides, we're in Ba Sing Se now. How long do you intend to keep fighting? Why don't you try to lay down your weapons, find a proper job, live honestly, maybe get a girlfriend and learn more, first-hand, about the peace you wanted to protect? At least, that's what I'll do." Her smile was so gentle and peaceful, one you wouldn't have expected from her back then. Even her resolve and steadfastness, despite being as strong as before, had grown more quiet and serene.

"Have it your way." The young man replied, surprised. There was really no changing her mind. On the contrary, there was a danger of him being placated and changing his mind. He was really disappointed but it didn't look like it could be helped. And the one who had softened her to this extent... he watched her join Lee who had been waiting for her halfway and who lost no time wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her to him. But then he noticed that the old man was now enjoying his tea... and that steam was rising for the cup?! Since Chenlian had been at his side all along there was only one possible explanation! Jet suddenly bristled and his eyes opened wide in shock and realization and filled with the familiar hate and aversion. Reaching Iroh, the teens glanced back toward Jet. He had recovered and subdued his animosity to smoldering ashes. He observed them with cold suspicion for a moment before walking off. Chenlian sighed. That guy really hadn't healed or changed after all. She should prepare herself mentally. Zuko abruptly turned and dashed the cup of tea from his uncle's hand.

"What are you doing firebending your tea ?! For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move." He whispered through gritted teeth.

"I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but... that's so sad." The elderly sniffled, gazing forlornly at the overturned cup and puddle of liquid on the ground.

Inside the Drill, Sokka led the others out a doorway and onto a massive steel beam. Those braces and beams were square shaped and about two metres large... and a lot thicker in person than they did in the plans.

"We're going to have to work pretty hard to cut through that." The planner said. His sister crossed her arms. What was this 'we' stuff? She and Aang were going to have to do all the work. "Look, I'm the plan guy, and you two are the 'cut stuff up with waterbending' guys." He made rapid chop-chop gestures before striking a heroic pose. "Together, we're Team Avatar!" That was it. The benders exchanged mortified looks. Aang went to the other side of the vertical beam and he and Katara sent water back and forth between them, slowly cutting the steel diagonally. But given the amount of concentration required to cut such strong and thick metal, they were forced to take a break midway. They were bent over and gasping with exhaustion so the plan guy thought it wise to encourage them... "C'mon team, don't quit now, we're..." However, his tone had been so patronizing that Katara exploded with frustration and glared at him menacingly, ready to strike. "I mean, you're almost there." He pointed timidly and reassuringly. The two resumed slicing while Sokka watched with eager anticipation. Finally the beam was cut completely in two, and the upper section ground down the angled cut a few inches before screeching to a halt. The waterbender complained that at this rate, it was going to be impossible to cause enough damage before the drill reached the wall. Then an ominous shudder and low moan passed down the length of the machine that made the warrior rejoice. "Do you hear that ? We took it down. We better get out of here fast!" They darted away but stopped when they heard a voice from the tubes.

War Minister Ching congratulated the crew. The Drill had made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. They could start the countdown to victory! The crew cheered, but Azula remained focused and dubious. As the drill penetrated the wall, the rubble caught in the 'groove' was saturated with moisture as it was conveyed backwards inside the machine where it turned to slurry inside the pipes.

With all his strength, Sokka was (utterly pointlessly) pushing against the severed girder. The two others were resting on the horizontal beam. The situation was really bad though. Busting all those braces would be taking too long! But Aang had a sudden flash of inspiration... and demonstrated using Sokka as a dummy. Toph had taught him not to give 100% of his energy into any one strike. You've gotta be quick and accurate, hit a series of points, and break your opponent's stance, and when he was reeling back, you delivered the final blow. In this case, they just needed to weaken the braces, instead of cut all the way through, then Aang would go to the top of this thing, and deliver the final blow, and it would all come crashing down. Everyone inside that wall, the whole world... minus the Fire Nation... was counting on them.

While Toph was still struggling to slow the advance of the titan of metal, Aang and Katara cut through about half to two thirds of five other support beams. The earthbenders atop the wall dropped large boulders on the machine but they ricocheted harmlessly on its hull and fell to the side. In the command center of the drill, the war minister received alarming reports from two speaking tubes. An engineer had been ambushed and his schematics had been stolen! And a brace on the starboard side had been cut clean through! It was sabotage! The War Minister, frozen in terror, glanced at Azula from the corners of his eyes. The three ladies left. Aang and Katara continued their sabotage and Sokka continued his encouragements.

"Good work Team Avatar. Now Aang just needs to-" The ponytailed guy looked up. "DUCK!" He ducked too just in time to avoid a blast of blue flame. Azula, Mai and Ty Lee ran out onto another girder well above Team Avatar. Aang narrowly avoiding a second blast.

"Wow Azula, you were right, it is the Avatar!" Ty Lee exclaimed before smiling seductively. "...And friends." Well, she did find Sokka cute.

"Hey." The water tribe boy smiled dreamily and waved. After all, Ty Lee was quite pretty herself. Katara angrily marched past and yanked him away. Mai and Azula ran back into the structure like the siblings had done. The acrobat dropped to the bottom ledge of the girder and swung out towards the Avatar, who hurled her backwards with a gust of wind. Aang and his friends fled down corridors. They separated at a T intersection. He knew what he needed to do. Katara threw her waterskin at him. The monk caught and ran with Momo while his comrades raced the opposite way. Azula told her allies to pursue the others. The Avatar was hers. They obeyed.

The siblings reached a dead end, with a large hatch marked by a sign reading 'slurry pipeline'. Katara asked what it meant. Her brother managed to open the hatch and peered inside. It was rock and water mixed together, it meant their way out. They jumped in, evading Mai's knives. They were swept away by the current. Mai looked down as the disgusting flow with a revolted expression. Her friend urged her in. Azula had told them to follow them but the knife thrower refused, shuddering. Azula could shoot all the lightning she wanted at her, she wasn't going in that sludge. Ty Lee shrugged, not scared of dirtying herself, and hopped down into the pipeline, sending up a great spash that narrowly missed Mai. With a final expression of disgust Mai slammed the hatch close.

A large pool of slurry was forming at the rear. Screaming, Sokka and Katara rode the cascade out the rear spout of the Drill, sliding to a halt in the sludge. The boy tried to wipe the revolting stuff off of his tongue, and pounded his fists into the slime in frustration. Ty Lee also emerged from the pipe exhaust, with a look of wicked anticipation on her face. But right before she reached the ground, Katara bended back the rush of slurry, pinning Ty Lee at the terminus of the pipe.

"Why don't you try blocking my chi now circus freak!" The waterbender challenged fiercely. Her brother told her to keep that up, so the pressure would build up in the drill and when Aang would deliver the final blow, it would be ready to pop.

Aang raced through the Drill's engineering section with airbending speed. He and Momo soon reached the surface and darted across the hull to the front of the Drill, which had already penetrated deep into the wall. The child found a good spot but then had to avoid the falling boulders. He yelled at General Sung to tell the soldiers to stop shooting rocks but the latter must not have heard since he gave the exact opposite order. And rocks kept dropping. There was no choice. He scythed a deep cross-shaped mark on the surface of the drill with the water Katara had given him.

"Good technique, little sister! Keep it up! Don't forget to breathe!" Sokka lectured, causing his sister to lose her temper and call him a chattering Hog-Monkey, sick and tired of him telling her what to do all day. "Just bend the slurry woman!" He yelled angrily. He couldn't have been more wrong in the choosing of his tone and phrasing though. She bended up a rush of slurry with her free hand, launching him up to plunge him back down in the muck. Toph emerged from beneath the Drill and offered some help . Katara asked her to help plug up this drain. Together, they drove the slurry even further up the drain, causing the pipe system to buckle and swell under the pressure.

At the front of the Drill, fountains of sludge started to jet where the machine met the wall. Nearby Aang was still rapidly cutting away at the outer hull in an X pattern, despite his exhausted state... and thinking about how nice it would be to bend metal... Perched on his back, Momo turned and give out a warning cry, allowing Aang to turn and deflect a blast of blue fire. The lemur narrowly avoided the flame. The Avatar yelled at the animal to get out of here and Momo flew off.

Aang and Azula faced each other, about a dozen yards apart. She launched a ball of fire at the airbender who ducked and simultaneously sent an arc of wind towards her. Leaping over it, the princess tried to attack but a rapid series of water-whips kept slapping away her attack gestures. Jumping into the air, the girl delivered a pair of flying firebending kicks that completely vaporized the water and hurled the Avatar backwards. She attempted to bring the fight to close combat but both benders met with a rain of boulders that forced them to dodge. Aang caught one with bending and threw at Azula who fell into a split to avoid it, rose, and fired another blast. Aang earthbended pieces of debris into a protective wall, then punched chunks of it toward Azula. The firebender kicked them away she launched a sweeping counter blast which barely missed the boy's head. He punched an even larger chunk at her. Vaulting into the air, Azula executed an incredible forward spinning double-kick fire blast, obliterating his defensive wall and hurtling him backwards to slam against the outer wall.

She prepared another attack, but stopped when she saw the Avatar drop to his knees and collapse, unconscious. She swayed when the drill advanced... and burst through the other side of the outer wall. The Fire Nation had penetrated into Ba Sing Se. The princess walked to Aang, pulled him from under the wall and pressed him upright against the wall by his collar. He groggily woke up and his gray eyes widened in horror and alarm when he saw her ready to deliver the final blow. He gathered stone from the wall around his right hand into a mitt and blocked Azula's fire punch with it and shoved her far away, her steel shod boots sparked against the Drill's hull. The firebender charged again, both hands ablaze.

The battle was suddenly interrupted by a blast of slurry that erupted at the point where the Drill met the wall, throwing Aang off his feet before surging out to crash against the onrushing Fire princess. Aang flailed about trying to regain his footing, and just managed to make it to his knees before Azula, arms windmilling, skated helplessly through the sludge to send them both into the wall. Knocked momentarily senseless, they each slid through the slurry away from the wall and down opposite sides of the machine. Recovering, Azula was able to stop her descent using her hands and steel-toed boots about midway down the side of the metal worm. Aang's rock mitt broke apart as he tried to break his fall. He was rescued by Momo who caught the back of his collar and pulled him upright so allowing him to use his running technique to regain the top of the Drill. He thanked the lemur and returned to the X cut. He moved a boulder that came crashing right on the incision and cut it into a spike. Then he sprinted towards the wall from a distance, climbed onto his air scooter that he rode up the face of the wall. The ball of air dissipated and the airbender ran up a little. Around midway, he turned and dashed explosively.

Meanwhile, Azula who had crawled back up to the top of the Drill spotted Aang streaking down face of the wall. With a shout, the child leapt free of the wall and plunged downward. The girl's attack failed to intercept him and passed just over Aang's head as he drove down the wedge with incredible force. The shockwave hurled the screaming princess through the air as it travelled the length of the Drill. Inside, the weakened beams completely gave way as torrents of slurry erupted in chains, both within and outside, beginning at the front segment and all the way to the rear. Toph raised the three of them up on a rock pillar so they didn't get washed away when a great rush gushed from the exhaust. Ty Lee was slammed and pinned against the pillar by the current. One by one the segments of the Drill slumped, and the machine completely stopped, smudged in slurry. The sun was setting.

Aang grinned grinned ear to ear as he wiped the mud from his face. Momo landed on his shoulder and licked his forehead. The Fire Nation War Minister was horrified. The explosion of mud had even reached the top of the wall and General Sung, who had been looking over the parapet, had also been generously splashed. The sludge dripped from his pathetic face. Ty Lee sat up from in the slurry pool, spat up some mud and wiped her face. Azula slid down the back of the Drill, and dropped down next to her, splashing her with a fresh layer of mud. A steaming hatch opened in the rear of the drill, revealing a somber Mai.

"We lost." She concluded (complained), her arms crossed.

"Last call for Ba Sing Se!" The conductor of the ornate stone train called at the station. Flanked by his freedom figthers, Jet was angrily striding towards it. Smellerbee was telling him to relax. He had just seen an old guy with some hot tea, big deal.

"He heated it himself! Those guys are firebenders." He snapped, hatred once more twisting his features.

"So what? Chenlian is a firebender too. Didn't you acknowledge her? She could have been the one to heat the tea."

"She couldn't have. She was with me the whole time."

"Even so, they could be here for the same reason as us, a new life. Or do you believe they were just lying and they're actually plotting something? Do you think Chenlian would forgive it, or that she would actually betray the Avatar and take part in something like that? She's the one who caught your swords barehanded just to stop your fight..."

"I know! But didn't you see her? She's head over heels with Lee! She's completely lost her edge! He has her wrapped around his finger! Wouldn't it be easy to manipulate her when she's like this?" They watched the three firebenders board a car and entered another.

Zuko, Chenlian and Iroh sat down. The prince's arm was still tightly holding the girl's shoulders. They were next to a couple. The man was holding his wife the same way, and she was holding a newborn.

"What a handsome baby." The elder grinned like a doting grandparent and tickled her blanket with his finger. She thanked him.

"A girl? A boy?" Chenlian inquired curiously, leaning over Iroh to better see the little one. The mother answered it was a girl. "Eh... what's her name?"

"We decided to name her Hope." She replied with a smile. Meiling froze for a second before smiling tenderly.

"You've found a good name." The female firebender understood everyting that name encompassed. As refugees arriving in this impregnable city, they couldn't help but hope for a better life, a safe life. People had also found renewed hope thanks to the Avatar, that he was going to bring this century of war to an end and bring peace... and the hope that she would lead a life according to her name. Hope was what allowed people to dream of tomorrow and keep advancing. It was because Chenlian had never given up that she was still alive, that she had met wonderful friends, and that she was with Zuko now.

"Would you like to hold her?" The woman offered kindly. The mahogany-haired girl stammered awkwardly. She had already held babies in her arms but for some reason she had never been too comfortable with them. "All the more reason to practice, right?" The young mother looked at the scarred boy with a knowing smile.

"Right, you should get used to it while you can." The former general agreed. The two teenagers were even more embarrassed. The parent handed the child to Iroh who put it in Chenlian's arms. She gazed at the sleeping one. Because it was so small and fragile, she was afraid to hurt it, and in the same time wanted to protect it. A tiny life, so warm, so precious... just beginning... full of promises... If Chenlian fought, it was also because she wanted children like her to have a good future. She wanted to give her peace. She hadn't lied to Jet. Certainly, here, she could learn about peace, about what she had always yearned for. And her companions couldn't help but think 'what a fitting image'. Zuko's sourness melted into fondness. At the rear of the train, two earthbenders started pushing and it came out of the station in the wall and in the open, above the fields.

Toph, Aang, Momo, Sokka and Katara were watching the sun set over the barrens from atop the outer wall.

"I just want to say, good effort out there today Team Avatar." The warrior commented enthusiatically.

"Enough with the Team Avatar stuff. No matter how many times you say it, it's not gonna catch on." His sister replied, slightly annoyed.

"How about... the 'Boomerang Squad!', see it's good cause it's got 'Aang' in it. Boomer-Aang." Sokka whipped out his boomerang and placed a hand on his friend's bald head. The airbender noted he kinda liked that one.

"Let's talk about this on our way into the city." Katara started walking away with the others. Surely, they could make him forget about trying to find a team name.

"The 'Aang Gang'?"

"Sokka."

"The 'Fearsome Foursome'?"

"You're crazy." Toph said.

"Why? We're fearsome!" And Sokka, who had been left alone, raced after his friends.