Chapter 22 - The Thunder Plateau

Ty Lee walked contemplatively along the open corridor towards the former Earth King's throne room. Earlier this week, Azula had given her the task of stopping a jail break when a report came in that an element of Kyoshi Warriors were attempting to escape from their prison.

The female warriors didn't have their normal steel fan weaponry, but they were still a formidable bunch of adversaries. Or at least they were to the standard rank and file Fire Nation guards. The story was different once Ty Lee and Mai had arrived on the scene.

A couple of well placed charka taps, a couple of precisely thrown kunai knives, and the uprising group of Kyoshi Warriors were nothing more than several limp bodies on the floor or pinned fighters to the wall.

And as fun as it had been stopping the group of female warriors, Ty Lee found that it was more exciting to sneak over to the prison each day to talk with the girls. She knew that Azula probably wouldn't approve, but the Fire Princess didn't seem to pay much attention to the agile acrobat lately unless Azula needed a job done. And Ty Lee was getting bored of being nothing but an errand girl.

Mai wasn't much better. It seemed like ever since the trio had arrived to Ba Sing Se, Mai was almost like a different person. Well, the taciturn girl was still quiet, but her silence was more than it usually was, if that could somehow be possible. Whenever Ty Lee tried to talk to or hang out with Mai, the weapon mistress would brush her off and ignore her mostly. Ty Lee wasn't sure what she had done to annoy Mai.

So here the acrobat was, sneaking away to talk to some other teenage girls about her age that seemed more fun than her two Fire Nation friends. Sure, the Kyoshi Warriors cursed her out and yelled at her during the first few meetings, but Ty Lee found herself intrigued by the group. They seemed like such a close knit group of friends, and Ty Lee found herself wanting to know more about them.

Eventually, the acrobat got the warriors to promise to talk to her a bit more after Ty Lee promised to find out more about what happened to their leader; some girl named Suki. It seemed that their leader had not been locked up with them.

Which brought Ty Lee back to the corridor leading towards the former Earth King's throne room. Certainly Azula knew what had happened to the Kyoshi Warrior leader. Ty Lee would just get the answer from her friend.

As the acrobat approached the royal chamber's grand doors, the entrance opened and a Fire Nation messenger ran out in a hurry. Luckily Ty Lee was quick on her feet, otherwise, she might have been bowled over. Still, messengers had been running in and out of the throne room for a good portion of the last week. Azula always seemed busy.

Walking into the throne room, Ty Lee was recognized by the Fire Princess. "Ah, there you are Ty Lee," noted Azula as she read over a scroll in her hands. "Good. Gather your things. You, me, and Mai are headed back to the Fire Nation this evening."

"So soon?" questioned the acrobat in surprise. "I thought we were going to stay in Ba Sing Se for a little longer. Or at least until more Fire Nation soldiers arrived."

"We're wasting time here," shrugged off Azula. "No one cares about Ba Sing Se anymore. The Earth King has been revealed as a weakling. The Council of Five Earth Kingdom Generals have been imprisoned by the Dai Li. And the common people are too scared, confused, or worthless to even consider uprising." Azula stood up. "No, the next site of conflict will be back in the Fire Nation."

Ty Lee looked back at the open entranceway to the throne room. "Was that the last dispatch you were going to send then?"

"Yes, my work here is all wrapped up," commented Azula. "I may not know where exactly that water savage that scarred my eye is hiding out, but I do know what he cares about. My soldiers will leave a little message for him in due time."


Katara rolled to the side to avoid a huge plume of fire that roared past where she had just been standing. As she tumbled, the waterbender swung her arm out wide, conjuring the seawater from the bay to condense into ice needles as she flung them at her attacker. The firebender punched out with a series of fire jabs to melt the needles harmlessly before the projectiles even came close.

Undeterred, the Water Tribe girl recovered to her feet, grabbing a deluge of seawater this time. Running towards her opponent, Katara twirled both her arms and body, spinning once, then twice as the water swirled overhead, picking up speed as it went. As the distance narrowed rapidly, the vertical deluge came crashing downward with a compressing force. The firebender opposite of Katara was unable to avoid the attack as he was smashed into the ground by the cascading downpour.

However, the firebender wasn't defeated yet. As Katara's attack ceased, the firebender recovered onto his back as he spun his legs outward in a whirlwind, gaining leverage to jump back to his feet. From there, the firebender charged, two long fire whips trailing from each of his arms.

Not waiting for the counterattack to come, Katara answered in kind as she pulled more seawater to form her own long elemental whips and intercepted the incoming series of fire lashes. As the fire and water whips continued to clash, steam rapidly began to build in the immediate area, raising the temperature and making it difficult to see as the beach became covered in a heavy fog.

The waterbender felt her water whips strike only air as she lashed out with them again into the hazy mists. Drawing her whips close in defense, she swirled them into two rings of water around herself, ready to pivot to wherever the next attack was coming from.

What she didn't expect was the sturdy rope that flew out from the cover of the steam and wrapped over her body, pinning her arms to her sides as the loop cinched shut around her. The water rings circling her defense collapsed to into the sand as she stopped bending them.

Katara felt a sharp tug as she was pulled off her feet and dragged in the direction of the rope. Breathing out with her icy breath, she froze the muddy sand into a trail of sheet ice leading back through the steam from where she was being pulled towards. A surprised shout from the mist let her know that she had managed to freeze the ground underneath her assailant.

What the waterbender hadn't counted on was the fact that she was still moving in the direction of the rope as she slid faster along the ice. A moment later, the Water Tribe girl collided with the firebender.

A mass of limbs and surprised shouts echoed from the fog as both benders tumbled across the ground in a heap. A couple of seconds passed as the mists dissipated, the lack of water and fire clashing no longer sustaining the haze. As the air cleared, it became visibly apparent that the Fire Prince was pinned to the ground as the Water Tribe girl sat on top of him, the waterbender's arms still pinned to her body by the lasso rope.

"I think that counts as my win," Katara smirked as she regained her composure.

"Not by a long shot. You can't move either. I have you all tied up," countered Zuko as he struggled to get back up to no avail. Not to mention that he was still drenched from that torrent of water that had slammed into him earlier in the practice fight.

"And I have you pinned," retorted Katara smugly. She pulled at the rope. "You really seem determined to make the lasso throwing skills you learned from Han useful in your fights."

"I learned a lot from Han," admitted Zuko. "It felt right to honor what he taught me by using it. And a well timed rope throw can really gain an advantage in a fight."

"You just need to watch out for ice," laughed Katara. She hadn't attempted to get off of the firebender yet. "But I'm still counting this as my win. I'll cut through this rope in a minute and you're still pinned." With a swish of her fingers, Katara began bending a small ice blade back and forth across the grain of the rope. The coil was already starting to fray.

"But you're not free yet," stated Zuko as he bucked his waist and threw Katara off-balance.

The waterbender cursed in surprise at the sudden motion and shifted her weight forward in an attempt to keep Zuko pinned to the ground. If he got back on his feet and she was still tied up, then it would definitely be his win.

The result of this struggle was Katara falling forward as Zuko caught her shoulder with his hand to prevent their foreheads from crashing together. Both teens ceased their efforts to win the fight as they came to the realization of just how close they were together. Namely, just how close together their faces were to one another.

In had been quite a while since their first official kiss, nearly three weeks ago, back in the barn loft of the Sierra Bonita Ranch. And since then, they hadn't really spent much time together, just the two of them. Every day since then had been packed with seemingly one string of events after another string of events. Fleeing from the ranch, traveling on the road, wandering in the Spirit World, arguing with a Spirit Guru, getting to Ba Sing Se, escaping Ba Sing Se, and convincing Water Tribe warriors to accept the Fire Prince.

They had been at Chameleon Bay for a week now in total. And they had been restricted to remain in the base camp for the entire time. Hakoda claimed it was because of Zuko being on a probationary watch; to ensure that the Fire Prince really had joined their side. But the firebender and waterbender knew better. It was definitely so that all the Water Tribe warriors in the camp could keep an eye on the Chieftain's Daughter and the big bad Fire Prince that had seemingly had her under some weird Fire Nation spell. Or that was how Sokka put it anyway.

And it wasn't like there was much to do other than train these last few days. Katara had been conducting healing sessions for Aang twice a day, after breakfast and dinner, but that was about it. Despite appearing in less pain, Aang didn't show any signs of waking up anytime soon.

Toph had been intensively training Jin over the basics of earthbending. Well, perhaps training wasn't the right word. If anyone saw Jin's condition after the aforementioned training, then they might call it torture. Katara certainly had after the first night. When Toph appeared in the mess tent dragging a barely conscious Jin and literally depositing the heavily bruised girl at the waterbender's feet with a simple, "Heal this," Katara quite nearly bit off the little earthbender's head. In fact, if Jin hadn't somehow managed to weakly grip Katara's tunic and mutter out that Toph's training was really teaching her a lot, then the Water Tribe girl might have had it out with Toph right then and there.

And when Toph wasn't training with Jin, she was with Sokka in the war tent, discussing with Hakoda and the senior Water Tribe warriors about the next plan of action against the Fire Nation. Zuko and Katara, as well as Jin by proxy, were obviously excluded from those conversations. Sokka had been quite vocal in stating that they couldn't reveal sensitive intelligence about the Fire Nation in the presence of the Fire Prince.

Katara had several things she wanted to say about that, but fortunately Jin and Zuko were able to calm their friend down. It was enough that their presence was being permitted in the Water Tribe camp and that Zuko wasn't being treated like a complete prisoner anymore.

The Water Tribe girl had to relent on that front. Especially after the sight of her Father working side-by-side next to Zuko as he instructed the Fire Prince how to properly pitch a Water Tribe tent. Hakoda claimed it was a way of an apology for the beatdown the Water Chieftain had served to the Fire Prince. But Katara suspected that may have been an excuse for Hakoda to have a one-on-one discussion with Zuko away from the prying ears of everyone else. The Water Tribe girl was even more suspicious when Zuko told her later that Hakoda didn't ask about anything in particular and that they just talked about everyday things while pitching the tent.

But all that was secondary to the fact that Katara was realizing just how close Zuko's face was her own right now. In fact, time seemed to slow down around them as the firebender's and waterbender's faces carefully, gradually, drew closer and closer. As their eyes closed and their lips neared, the ground exploded a short distance off to their side, sand and dirt erupting in every direction.

A moment later, the two of them heard a pained groan from a nearby crater as Jin waved her arm to show that she was still conscious and had managed to earthbend the ground just enough to cushion the impact of her landing.

"Good! You're learning how to land after taking a hit! Once you're as great as me though, you won't need to worry about that anymore!" boomed Toph as she rode in on a pillar of earth.

Zuko and Katara scrambled back to their feet as Zuko helped Katara untangle herself from his lasso. Both were smoothing out their crumbled clothes, forgetting that Toph couldn't see their outfits anyway. Not that she needed too. The little earthbender could feel their noisy heartbeats from a mile away. "If you two are done making out, then maybe you have some time to spar with us as well? Throwing Pebbles around is fun and all, but she needs to fight multiple types of opponents to get better."

"We weren't making out!" protested both Zuko and Katara loudly despite Toph's knowing grin. Embarrassing the Fire Prince and the Water Tribe girl had quickly become Toph's new favorite pastime this last week.

"You know that you're not nearly as convincing as your Sister when you try to lie, right?" scoffed Toph.

"Don't compare me to Azula," grumbled Zuko.

"Fine, Grouchy," dismissed Toph. Then, getting back on point, she stated, "So what about that spar? You and Ms. We're-Just-Friends against Pebbles and me. Pebbles could use the experience fighting against firebending styles, especially with where we're headed."

"But I'm a waterbender," retorted Katara.

Toph snorted. "And I'm an airbender." When both Zuko and Katara appeared confused, Toph elaborated, "I may not know exactly how a waterbender fights since I haven't had the chance to trade blows with one yet, but I do know how firebenders fight. And you, Sweetness, you may bend water, but your style definitely has that trademark firebender aggression to it. I'm guessing that's because you've been training with Sparky so much?"

"I guess?" parroted Katara, a little taken back at Toph's keen synopsis. A quick look at Zuko revealed that the Fire Prince hadn't considered just how much of his own style had been incorporated into the Water Tribe girl's bending. 'But this style works for me. I've made it my own,' Katara thought to herself. 'Still, I wonder just how different my self-taught style differs from the North Water Tribe waterbenders?'

Before Katara could voice her thoughts, Jin managed to climb out of the crater she had been recovering in. The Earth Kingdom girl approached the group and stated, "I'm going to land a hit on you soon, Toph." The ground shifted under her and Jin stumbled face first into the sand. "Sifu Toph," the Earth Kingdom girl corrected herself, spitting out sand from her mouth as Toph crossed her arms while nodding approvingly.

"Keep dreaming, Pebbles." At the determined look from her pupil that Toph felt rather than saw, the little earthbender added confidently, "Don't worry, I'm just one hundred percent completely out of your league. And I always will be. But hey, you're a way better student than Aang is anyway. You've made much more progress than he has in way less time."

Zuko looked at Toph in surprise. "Aang hasn't mastered earthbending yet?"

Toph gave a mocking note of laugher. "Mastered? Ha! That's a good one! Twinkletoes hasn't even figured out the basics. He keeps thinking like an airbender instead of like an earthbender no matter how I try to teach him. He never wants to stand his ground. Too wishy-washy. No backbone on that guy. Always has to try a different angle or just fly away."

Then, Toph gestured towards Katara. "Now, Ice Princess over there may have figured out how to make firebending styles work for waterbending, but Aang doesn't seem to have that kind of creativeness. Airbending isn't earthbending, and he doesn't seem to have the conviction for earth styles. He keeps on second guessing everything." Toph punched one of her hands into her other hand. "Oh, he may not be sturdy enough just yet, but he will be once I'm through with him."

The knowledge that Aang wasn't even remotely close to mastering earthbending was news to Zuko. Bad news. "What about his waterbending?" the Fire Prince inquired instead. "He's had plenty of time to master that, right?"

"Guess again. Your girlfriend would wipe the floor with Aang if the contest was restricted to only waterbending," Toph replied as she shook her head. "Sokka said that Aang had studied under some old guy in the Northern Water Tribes. And if Aang was as terrible as a student for that old dodger as he's been with me, then I can bet that waterbending master was just as frustrated as I am right now. Aang can control the water somewhat, but he almost never practices. It's always airbending with him."

"How am I supposed to teach him firebending if he is still trying to learn the other elements?" groaned Zuko in exasperation.

Toph shrugged. "You probably don't have to worry about it. Aang swore that he would never try to firebend again after he burned Appa awhile back. Or at least that's what Sokka told me."

"You have got to be kidding me..." muttered Zuko, vexed. The Fire Prince began to stomp off.

"Where are you going?" asked Katara, surprised at his sudden departure. The fact that she was already a better waterbender than Aang gave her both a sense of pride and a sense of dread. She had worked herself to the bone to learn and advance her control over her element. Zuko had definitely helped along the way, but she was the one who had put in the time and put in the effort to grow stronger. Had Aang not done that? He easily had more time then she had to practice and he was able to train under a master in the Northern Water Tribes. So why wasn't he a master waterbender yet?

In response to Katara's question, Zuko shouted over his shoulder, "To find Sokka!" The three girls shared a glance at each other before quickly giving chase.

The group found Sokka in his own tent, surrounded by a mess of scribbles and crudely drawn sketches on various scraps of paper. The Water Warrior was busy laboring over a fresh design, his tongue out in concentration as he drew.

"Sokka!" boomed Zuko as he marched loudly into the tent without warning. "When were you going to tell us how far behind Aang is with his bending training?!"

The Water Tribe boy's hand slipped, knocking over his ink bottle, at the rude interruption as the four benders piled into his tent, quickly filling the limited space. "Argh! And I think I really had something with that last design too!" Sokka lamented as he held up a now ruined piece of paper with ink running down it. "What do you want?" he grumbled at the firebender.

"Toph just told me that Aang has only mastered airbending." Zuko stepped closer to the table littered with an array of random papers. "It seems that he's barely passable as a waterbender. He's hopeless at earthbending." The Fire Prince slammed his fist on the table to make his final point. "And apparently, he swore off firebending completely!"

"Of course he swore off firebending. It's an evil element," replied Sokka flatly as he glared at Zuko dismissively.

"He needs all four elements, Sokka," lectured Katara. "Aang can't be balanced as the Avatar if he refuses one of them."

"Aang doesn't need firebending to be balanced," countered the Water Tribe boy. "Three out of four isn't that bad. That's seventy-five percent. You know just how happy most people would be with seventy-five percent of something? That was a passing grade in all of Gran-Gran's old schooling lessons!" Then, Sokka shrugged. "Besides, I've been training him with the club and boomerang. He's just as good as I am now!" the Water Warrior boasted smugly.

Zuko and Katara looked horrified. "Is it that bad?" asked Jin when she saw the expressions on her friends' faces.

"Worse," replied Zuko. "Sokka's not nearly half as good as he thinks he is."

Jumping to his feet, Sokka grabbed the firebender by the front neck cuff of the Fire Prince's tunic. "I've been putting up with you for the last couple of days. Did you need another beating to remind you that you're our prisoner?"

"Sokka, you're the only one that keeps calling Zuko a prisoner any more," confronted Katara. "Some of the other Water Tribe warriors have even started to talk to him every now and then."

"We're getting off track," stressed Zuko as he knocked Sokka's hand away. "Sokka, if Aang isn't ready to fight my Father and put an end to this war, then we need to know." The Fire Prince's eyes grew conflicted. "Airbending alone isn't going to stop my Father or my Sister."

The Water Tribe boy didn't look convinced. Crossing his arms defiantly, Sokka retorted, "We'll be fine. Aang will win, because we'll be there to help him."

Zuko punched the table in frustration a second time as papers flew everywhere and Sokka shouted an annoyed, "Hey!"

Ignoring the Water Tribe boy as the Fire Prince continued making his point, Zuko shouted, "Just look at the state Aang's in right now! How is he going to stop either my Father or my Sister with just one element?! He already faced Azula like that and he nearly died! Azula won't leave it at that! She'll destroy him next time if something doesn't change. Aang needs to get stronger." Zuko gestured towards everyone in the tent. "We all do."

"And I was working on that," growled Sokka with indifference. "You just interrupted me with your stupid outburst, barraging into my tent like that."

"How come the Avatar hasn't mastered water and earth yet?" asked Jin earnestly. "Training with Toph hasn't been easy, but I've learned a lot from her over just these last couple of days. And I'm just a simple ranch girl. My earthbending gift is so new. If I can do it, then surely the Avatar can too."

Neither Katara or Zuko had an answer for their friend. And Sokka didn't look like he was willing to answer. Or that was the case until Toph rolled her eyes at the Water Tribe boy's reluctance to talk. Speaking up, the little earthbender said, "Remember how I said that Aang's very flighty? That's why it's been so difficult to teach him anything. He never wants to focus. He's always distracted. All those airbenders probably always had their heads up in the clouds."

Before Katara or Zuko could say anything, Sokka interjected instead. "That's not it," he countered. Then, the Water Tribe boy paused. "Well, it's not just that," he admitted unenthusiastically. Sighing, he continued, "It's a lot of pressure. And Aang's not good with pressure. Whenever he gets nervous or anxious, he finds some animals to play with or something silly to distract himself with."

Katara recalled something that Aang had told her long ago. "Aang did say that he ran away from the Air Temples when he found out he was the Avatar. He told me that back at the Southern Air Temple." Then, the waterbender shook her head as she looked at her Brother accusingly. "I didn't think Aang would keep running though, after he found out what happened to his people and the world after he was stuck in that iceberg for all those years. How come you didn't keep him on task?"

"I tried!" protested Sokka loudly, both his arms raised over his head. "But you were always the better one with rules and structure and all that!"

"You mean I was the grown-up and the responsible one," corrected Katara as she crossed her arms. "So you're blaming Aang's inability to learn bending on me for not being there to motivate him, because you couldn't learn to be responsible?" Her voice was getting tense.

"Yes! No! I don't know!" stuttered out Sokka in exasperation. "Look, we were a mess after we lost you at the prison rig. Zuko chasing us down didn't help either. We just focused on what we were good at. When we got to the Northern Water Tribes, Pakku tried to teach Aang waterbending, but Aang kept running off whenever he couldn't figure out a move or technique." Sokka looked at his Sister with sad eyes. "I asked him what was wrong. He told me that he couldn't concentrate on waterbending because waterbending kept reminding him of how he failed you back at the prison rig."

"Oh Aang," muttered Katara softly. It was sweet of him to care about her that much. But that was a child's way of thinking, and Katara had seen much of the darkness in the world during her travels. 'I'm just one person,' Katara thought to herself. 'He may have meant well, but if Aang doesn't master waterbending, or earthbending and firebending for that matter, then everyone's at risk.'

"Well his refusal to train properly just made everything a lot harder," grumbled Zuko as he voiced out loud what Katara was thinking. "The Father Lord isn't going to just wait around for Aang to finally decide to master all the elements."

"You mean the Fire Lord?" corrected Toph helpfully.

Zuko looked at the little earthbender fiercely. "That's what I just said."

Katara and Jin looked at each other as they too had heard Zuko's unintentional subconscious misspeak. But neither of them decided to press the matter any further. Toph just shrugged in acceptance.

Pressing on, Zuko appeared contemplative. "I don't know exactly what the Fire Lord," he appeared to focus intently on sounding out the correct phrase this time, "is planning. However, when I faced Zhao at the North Pole, he taunted me briefly. Said that after he conquered the North, then the Fire Lord would grant him the honor of leading some large offensive later this summer. Something that was going to stomp out all resistance to the Fire Nation once and for all."

Both Katara and Jin looked equally surprised. "You never said anything about that!" blurted out the waterbender.

Zuko shook his head. "I thought Zhao was just trying to provoke me again at the time. He always enjoyed attempting to make himself appear more important than me. And like a fool, I usually allowed his taunts to rile me up and get inside my head. But if he was telling the truth about something big coming up later this summer, then we don't have a lot of time to waste." The Fire Prince looked at Katara. "Is Aang going to wake up anytime soon?"

Now it was the waterbender's turn to shake her head. "I don't know. He's gotten a lot better. I think I've healed a lot of the damage from the lightning. He'll have a scar on his back, but his body is mostly healed. I think he just needs more rest."

"And time is the one thing we really don't have much of," muttered the Fire Prince. "With Ba Sing Se defeated, there are very few strongholds left to conquer. I don't know what resistance my Father intends to stamp out or how he intends to do it. But, if there is some big Fire Nation offensive planned for later this summer, then our only chance to be victorious would probably be to strike before that happens. Otherwise, it might be too late."

Sokka started to sweat as he began to look incredibility apprehensive from across the work table. Even Toph appeared a little conflicted, like she wanted to say something. Jin was the first to notice their reactions to Zuko's deductions. "Are you alright?" asked the Earth Kingdom girl quizzically.

Katara had seen that look on her Brother's face before. It was the same look he had whenever he attempted to hide something from her. "Do you know something else, Sokka?"

"Me? Nope! Nothing!" answered Sokka in a rush as he grabbed several of the paper doodles he had been working on at random. "Uh, I forgot that I needed to get these ideas to the blacksmith. Got to go!" With that, the Water Tribe boy rushed out of the tent.

"I'll go check on him," volunteered Toph in a hurry.

"Toph," stopped Katara firmly. "What aren't you telling us?"

The little earthbender halted in the entrance to the tent. Gripping onto the tent flap with one hand, Toph kept her head facing out of the tent as she answered, "It's related to our plans to defeat the Fire Nation. I'm starting to trust you all, but I promised Sokka that I would keep this secret." With that, she left.

The obvious secrets that her Brother and the little earthbender were keeping from them were starting to vex Katara greatly. She needed to get Sokka to talk to her again.

Zuko picked up a arbitrary leftover scribble that Sokka had left scattered across the work table. "What is thing supposed to be anyhow?" he muttered to himself. Sokka didn't even need to try to hide his ideas, because clearly no one other than the Water Tribe boy himself could hope to interpret these drawings. Zuko wasn't even sure if he was looking at the sketch right-side up or upside down.

A little ways outside the tent, Toph caught up with Sokka only a short distance away. Before the Water Tribe boy could address her, the little earthbender raised four rock walls around both of them into a large earth tent. "Hey! It's dark in here!" whined Sokka.

With a flick of her hand, the top portion of the tent receded just a bit to allow the sunlight to shine through. "We should tell them about the Day of Black Sun and about Sozin's Comet," declared Toph matter-of-factly. "Zuko might be able to tell us more about how firebenders are affected by those events."

"And what if that's the exact kind of information he's after!" returned Sokka. "If Zuko learns that we know about the Day of Black Sun and Sozin's Comet, then we lose our advantage against the Fire Nation! And if he doesn't know about the Day of Black Sun or Sozin's Comet, then we would be handing our advantage over to the Fire Nation. We need to keep what we know from being what he knows, especially if he already knows, then he can't find out that we know, but if he doesn't know, then we don't want to let him know that we know, otherwise he'll know that we know and that we know that he knows, which will lead to him knowing that we know and then everyone will know!" finished Sokka in a breathless rant, his arms stretched out over his head. "You know?"

"No! I don't know!" protested Toph. "Do you even realize that you have a dizzying intellect?!"

"Just wait until I get going!" blustered Sokka loudly. He scratched his head furiously with both hands as he made a frustrated sound while grating his teeth. "This is so aggravating! With Zuko around, we have to sneak around our own camp just so that he doesn't overhear our battle plans and run away back to the Fire Nation, so that he can warn them and the Fire Nation can prepare." Sokka sighed. "We already lost the bulk of the Earth King's armies when we lost Ba Sing Se. And the Northern Water Tribes are still rebuilding their strength after that naval siege. I hope Aang wakes up soon, because he really is our last, best chance to win. And when he does wake up, we need to make sure that the strike force we're gathering will be enough to get him to the Fire Lord."

"You heard everyone in there! They already realized the same thing that I've been telling you ever since I started training Aang with earthbending!" countered Toph. "He's not ready. I'd be a better match-up against the Fire Lord right now instead of Twinkletoes. And with that wound on Aang's back, even you might have a better chance of beating the stupid Fire Lord."

"In that case, then, we just have to give Aang a better chance," reasoned Sokka slyly, undeterred by Toph's argument.

"And just how are we going to do that?" huffed Toph. "If the Fire Lord can bend lightning like Azula can, then that's twice the danger."

"With this!" Sokka revealed one of his sketches proudly as he held the paper out brazenly.

Toph scrutinized the drawing intensely for a couple moments, narrowing her eyes in contemplative deliberation. Then, she gave an thought-provoking, "Hmm... I see." The little earthbender nodded along in agreement to Sokka's reveal of his drawing. "That's a very good picture of me hitting you with a rock."

"That's not what I drew," muttered Sokka as he checked to make sure that he was displaying the correct design. He was promptly hit in the back of the head with a rock as he studied his own drawing. "Oh, right. You're blind." The Water Tribe boy rubbed the back of his head. "You could stop doing that, you know. It's not very helpful."

"You make it too easy!" laughed Toph. "Now, what's your fancy idea?"

Sokka looked over his design as he explained, "Aang and I met a young inventor named Teo and his Father, a Mechanist, back at the Northern Air Temple just before we reached the Northern Water Tribes. They were creating lots of amazing things, but the one I'm most interested in right now was something called a lightning rod."

"Lightning rod?" repeated Toph skeptically.

"Yeah. It's a long rod of conductive metal that can draw lightning towards it, instead towards something else," answered the Water Tribe boy.

"That sounds convenient," acknowledged Toph.

"Apparently some metals work better than others, but Teo and the Mechanist were using several of these lightning rods near their homes and structures to keep them safe from the frequent lightning storms on the side of the mountains around the Northern Air Temple," continued Sokka.

"And that worked? Didn't you just say the lightning rods attracted the lightning?" pushed Toph.

"Well, it was part of a whole system. There were these metal cables that carried the lightning to more metal rods buried in the ground and along the side of the mountain." Sokka rubbed his head in frustration. "Ah! I should have listened better when Teo explained it. It had something to do about how Teo and his Dad were able to ground the lightning and dissipate the effect into the mountain. I don't remember the exact process. That's why I haven't been able to test this."

"So a metalbender might be pretty useful in stopping lightning?" summarized Toph shrewdly.

"I guess?" asked Sokka, not sounding as confident as Toph already seemed to be. "I mean, I still need to test this theory out. And I need to figure out how to let us use this tactic in a fight," concluded Sokka as the earth walls came down around them.

"Gotcha, you go do that!" returned Toph as she jogged off.

"Wait, where are you going?" the Water Tribe boy called out to the little earthbender as she ran around a tent without answering him. "Gee, thanks for helping me come up with some half-baked idea that won't be nearly as good as your idea is, Sokka," mocked Sokka as he did a poor imitation of Toph's voice. "No problem, Toph. Always happy to help," replied Sokka in his own voice. Gathering up his paper sketches and designs, Sokka thought to himself, 'I swear, it's like Toph is only ever interested in certain parts of a conversation. She tunes out the rest.'

Back at the training field, Zuko, Katara, and Jin were sparring in a free-for-all bout. And from that practice, it was clear that Jin had been progressing by leaps and bounds from Toph's tutelage. Jin's movements were quicker and more certain. She called rock walls up in defense and easily pivoted those defenses into an attack once she weathered an attack.

"Can you believe it?" complained Jin as she practiced with her friends. "My first day of training with Toph and she spent the first hour doing nothing but rolling rocks down from a large hill at me! No instruction on how to get into a proper earthbending stance. No direction on how to block the boulders. Nothing! Toph just said I had to feel the earth and figure it out for myself. She always focuses on doing rather than explaining."

"But you stuck with it," pointed out Zuko. "And you've clearly gotten better."

"Yeah," reluctantly agreed Jin. "But that doesn't mean I have to like Toph's teaching methods! It's always do or die with her. After the first couple of rocks she rolled at me, I made the mistake of asking her if there was a better way to learn. I won't forget that devious smile of hers. Especially after she said there was a better way to learn and that she couldn't believe she didn't realize it before."

"What was the better way to learn?" prompted Katara.

Jin sighed. "Toph blindfolded me! Said I relied on my eyes too much to see!"

"No way!" exclaimed Katara. "Why would she do that?"

The Earth Kingdom girl shook her head. "Toph said that I would really have to feel the earth to stop the rocks that way."

Zuko thought about that for a moment before nodding in understanding. "I guess that makes sense. Toph seems to read the vibrations in the earth to know where everything is." He paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, Camila was doing the same thing, wasn't she?"

"What?" stumbled Jin as she blocked some water that Katara flung at her and countered with a couple of flying rocks.

"Camila was always walking around barefoot and she told me several times that she knew about everything that moved on her ranch. It adds up," deduced Zuko.

Jin toyed with the idea of removing her sandals after hearing that her Grandma had a technique similar to Toph. Then, a moment later, Jin stepped out of her footwear and felt the rough training ground with her bare feet. She attempted to reach out and feel with her feet as she closed her eyes. A minute or two later, the Earth Kingdom girl didn't think that she felt anything different. Just the cold, hard ground.

"Boo!" shouted a voice from directly behind her.

"Ah!" startled Jin as she fumbled forward, her eyes flying open in surprise.

Toph nodded approvingly at Jin's bare feet before slapping her student on the back. "Now you're starting to think like a proper earthbender. New rule, no more shoes whenever we practice earthbending."

Jin groaned in response at the thought of walking around without sandals or shoes.

Ignoring her trainee's despair, Toph instead effortlessly raised a flat platform underneath Zuko and flung the Fire Prince in the direction of the stables. "I'm borrowing your boyfriend for a bit, Princess!" the little earthbender called out as she too started to proceed in the direction of the stables while waving over her student. "Pebbles, you come too. You might learn a thing or two."

Katara started to jog over. "Wait, I'm coming too."

Toph stopped and looked back over her shoulder. "Actually, your Brother said he was going to go looking for you after I finished talking to him. He wanted to apologize for how he's been acting the last couple of days. You should probably go and find him. Don't worry, we're just going out a quick field trip. We'll be there and back in an hour, two tops."

Katara still looked uncertain. Zuko nodded confidently. "We'll be fine. Go see your Brother."

As the two earthbenders and the Fire Prince walked out of the stables, Katara watched as Toph instructed Zuko to secure a bundle of several metal beams to Biscuit's back. Then, Zuko hopped on top of the ostrich horse. Jin was about to get onto Bree when Toph pulled the older girl away from the ostrich horse and seemed gleeful about giving Jin another assignment. Jin's only response was another tired groan. Then, both of the earthbenders took off with a running motion as they bent the earth underneath them to move faster. Zuko followed along on Biscuit with what appeared to be a sympathetic look on his face for Jin's plight.

Katara continued to observe begrudgingly as the three of them disappeared on the horizon. Then, the waterbender turned and walked towards the center of camp.

The Water Tribe girl found her Brother back in his own tent a short while later. "Toph said that you had an apology for me," announced Katara as she walked into the tent.

Sokka looked up from his designs, confusion readily apparent on his face. "Apology? What are you talking about? I never said that."

Katara fumed as she imagined the howling face of Toph cackling in delight at leaving her behind. She couldn't believe that she fell for another one of the little girl's childish pranks.


"Sifu Toph, we've been traveling for over two hours now. Where exactly are we going?" complained Jin as she continued to run using her earthbending to shift the ground underneath herself like Toph had taught her to do the previous day.

"If we were going to go this far, then why didn't we take the Avatar's sky bison? We would have been wherever we're going much faster," added Zuko, trotting alongside the earthbenders on Biscuit.

Toph raised her hand, counting off with her fingers as she listed her points. "First of all, Appa refuses to leave Aang's side. Why do you think Sokka and I didn't fly him to Ba Sing Se? Second, neither of you knows how to fly Appa and I'm blind. So unless you want me to crash Appa into the ground, that idea's right out. Third, I've let Pebbles rest twice already on our little jog." Toph glared at her student. "Seriously, we need to work on your endurance." Then, she continued to answer Zuko. "And lastly, we're here. So quit your belly-aching."

Before the group loomed a tremendous mountain plateau, breaking the otherwise sparsely populated plains area. Above the large mesa raged a thunderstorm with periodic bursts of white or pale indigo colors streaking across dark, billowy storm clouds. Biscuit was growing uneasy at the sight of the wild tempest.

Jin was the first to ask, "Umm... Sifu Toph, where are we?"

"I give you... the Thunder Plateau!" proclaimed Toph cheerfully. "Sokka and Aang noticed this area several times when we flew around the Earth Kingdom. It's home to some weird storm that always seems to linger over this exact place."

"But why are we here?" asked Zuko, still puzzled.

"So I can get even more awesome," bragged Toph confidently. "Now be careful with those metal poles as we get up there." As she started to make her way up the rocky path leading to the top of the plateau, Toph paused and added as an afterthought. "Oh, and those things are supposed to attract lightning... so you try to not let Biscuit zapped."

"What?!" shouted Zuko as suddenly felt very uncomfortable next to the bundle of metal poles secured to Biscuit's saddle. "Then why did you make us carry these?"

"Because carrying those all the way here myself would have been a pain," replied Toph as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "I needed a pack mule and you weren't really doing anything else in the camp. Jin's here because I think I can teach her the same technique I'm about to develop."

"What are we learning, Sifu Toph?" probed Jin with genuine curiosity.

A smirk spread across Toph's face. "How to make Azula sorry for hurting my friend."

Zuko made sure to keep the metal poles as covered with the leather wrappings as he could. He watched the skies above, keeping a vigilant eye out for any errant lightning strikes. Once they reached the top of the mesa, he willingly dumped the stack of metal off of Biscuit and moved the ostrich horse away. Suddenly, he felt the hairs on his arm begin to stand on end as he heard the crash of lightning strike the pile of metal behind him.

"That was close!" hooted Toph as she started to metalbend a couple of the metal posts up into the air.

"Close? Close?! That was dangerous! Like, really dangerous! This whole idea is dangerous! You're being reckless! And you're dragging us into your impulsive scheme!" shouted back Zuko incredulously. The notion of being struck by lightning again was not something he wanted to experience again.

Toph ignored the animated firebender. "Hey Pebbles! You take this one!" She moved one of the metal posts directly in front of Jin.

"But you haven't taught me how to metalbend yet!" protested Jin.

"Nothing like learning in the moment!" retorted Toph. "Put your hands on the metal. Listen. Feel the earth within. It will be scattered. Bits and pieces. You need to look deeper. Deep as you can. Metal is ridiculously more stubborn than regular earth."

Jin did as she was told. She reached out with all her senses and attempted to feel the earth within the metal pole. Jin recalled the ancient badgermole in the Spirit World telling her something similar to what Toph was saying. Refined earth was still earth. She should be able to draw out its power.

However, Jin felt nothing as she held onto the metal column. "It's not working!" she dismayed after a couple of minutes. A flash of lightning surged in the distance as a particularly loud boom of thunder echoed all around them. Jin jumped in surprise with a loud shrill.

Toph was still moving the rest of the metal posts round across the plateau as she fused some of them together into longer poles and wedged them into the ground at varying lengths. "Sounds like the weather wants you to pick up the pace there Pebbles! Better figure it out! Storm's getting closer!"

Another boom of thunder resounded along the plateau and Jin nearly jumped half a mile into the air. "I think Zuko was right! This isn't a smart idea, Toph! We could get seriously hurt out here!"

"We're going to get seriously hurt if we don't figure out a way to deal with Azula's lightningbending," argued Toph. She started to position metal columns around the plateau as she stabbed the posts into the ground.

Knowing her teacher had a point, Jin attempted to refocus her attention on her own metal bar at her feet. The Earth Kingdom girl placed her hand on the iron and concentrated with all her strength. It felt like something was there, but Jin couldn't be sure that she wasn't just feeling something that she wanted to be there.

Getting frustrated at her lack of progress, Jin growled slightly in irritation. Standing up, she kicked the metal bar in annoyance. There was another flash of lightning in the distance.

Toph paused with her set-up as she turned her attention at her student. "Yeah, that's the spirit. Get mad! Get firm and find your center. Punch that metal. Show it who's boss! Really look within! That's how I figured it out."

Thinking this was still a waste of time, Jin knelt over the discarded metal post on the ground in front of her. With an open palm strike, she struck the steel rod over and over again. Nothing. She thought of Ba Sing Se and how she was too weak to help in the fight against the Dai Li. Another palm strike.

"Come on, move..." Jin muttered lowly as she strained herself to continue impacting the metal. She thought of how she ran away from her Grandmother's ranch because she was powerless to help. Another strike and something clicked. Jin drew in a sharp intake of breath as she felt something resonate within the metal from that last hit. It had been small. Fragmented. But it was there. She could feel it.

Another strike, harder this time. That feeling resonated once more. Louder now. More palm strikes. Each impact seemed to pulse outward as Jin felt the strength and size of the entire metal bar even though she just hitting the same spot. Jin concentrated harder as she focused. Something was there. Within the metal. Deep within. The familiar feeling of earth. The same feeling that Toph had beaten into her during their intense training all this last week. And with each cascading resonance, Jin felt that connection clearer and clearer. And if that connection was there, Jin could earthbend it.

With a cry of exertion, Jin flung the metal rod high into the sky as she pulled at the steel post with all her earthbending might. Another triumphant shout as Jin's bending brought the metal plummeting downward, and Toph felt the metal column sink deeply into the mountain plateau. Toph grinned with her own satisfied smirk as she muttered to herself, "I truly am the greatest earthbender of all time. First metalbender and the first teacher of metalbenders."

"Sifu Toph! Did you see that?!" exclaimed Jin as she stared in awe at the near completely buried metal in the ground.

"Nah, I missed it. You should do it again!" shouted back Toph nonchalantly.

Jin reached down and pulled at the metal with her earthbending. Although it was easier the second time, it still took a moment to feel the fragmented earth within. But she knew it was there and the Earth Kingdom girl was starting to sense those pieces clearer. The Earth Kingdom girl raised the metal chunk several times as she slammed it back into the plateau. "How about now?"

"Still can't see it! You sure that you're doing it correctly?" called back Toph coolly.

As Jin tempered her excitement at learning an amazing skill that she hadn't ever heard of until Toph showed her that it was possible, the Earth Kingdom girl slowly started to realize that the little earthbender was messing with her. "That joke's getting old," Jin grumbled as she finally caught on.

"I don't know! Still makes me laugh!" laughed Toph in amusement. Then, encouragingly, the little earthbender stated, "But seriously, that was amazing! You've joined an elite club of earthbenders, just you and me."

Before Jin could say thanks, a single bolt of lightning came crashing down on the tallest of the metal posts that Toph had positioned across the mesa. Both Toph and Jin flinched reflexively at how close that lightning had been. After a minute, Toph asked, "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah. It felt strange. Like the lightning was vibrating all over the place underground in the plateau after that post that got struck," answered Jin.

Toph nodded. "It was definitely centered around the post, even as it traveled outward. The nearby ground still felt like the lightning was trying to rush back up and out from the surface, but it didn't have anywhere to go. It got weaker as it spread out," elaborated Toph. "Alright, so don't stand too close to the metal rod. We figured that out. Now, let's see if that happens every time." With that, the two earthbenders continued their training.

Zuko stayed nearby as he observed Jin's training and Toph's experiments with the metal bars and the lightning. After he carried up their training materials up the mesa, he really didn't have much else to do. Neither of the earthbenders seemed to remember that he was there after they started to focus on their metalbending. "Toph really is just treating me like a pack mule," he sighed as he sat down next to a compact boulder.

There were some patches of small white flowers nearby; the only spots of color across the otherwise rocky terrain. Reaching over, Zuko picked one of the stems. It was a simple flower. Seven pointed white petals forming a star shape with a yellow center. There was a faintly pleasant, almost vanilla-like fragrance wafting from the plant.

'Flowers are pretty good gift, right?' the Fire Prince thought to himself. Not that he had ever given flowers to anyone, but he had overheard what the sailors on his old crew used to give as gifts to their lady friends while on shore leave. Not that Zuko trusted what a bunch of crusty old sailors thought were good gifts, but flowers had to be a safe bet. At least, probably? Right?

Feeling reasonably safe that Katara might like these, the firebender picked a couple more and tied them together with a small piece of twine he had in his pockets before carefully pressing the flowers into his inner tunic pocket.

Sitting back in his original position, Zuko continued to watch his friends as they trained. He was still nervous about the lightning overhead striking any one of them down here. All of them really were being irresponsible, being out on this open plateau like this. One wrong move could prove to be deadly. At least Toph appeared to be getting the training and knowledge that she wanted. And Jin's trepidation had disappeared, replaced by exhilaration after she bent metal for the first time.

Zuko thought that was an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. Toph may have invented metalbending, but Toph was clearly an unstoppable force of nature. Zuko could admit that even after the short time her knew the little earthbender. But the fact that Jin was able to learn metalbending meant that other earthbenders might be able to as well. Plus, now that Toph and Jin were truly learning how to counter lightning with a combination of earthbending and metalbending, then one of the Fire Nation's principal advantages in this the war could potentially be neutralized.

The Fire Prince was broken out of his hopeful contemplations as he noticed a large, dark shadow high above in the ashen-colored storm clouds overhead. Jumping to his feet, he noticed lightning being drawn to both the moving shadow up high as well as the metal rods that Toph had set up on the plateau. "There's something here!" Zuko shouted in warning just as the shadow burst through the cloud line and swooped down low across the mesa.

"Toph! Earth wall! Protect yourself!" shouted Zuko as he ordered Toph to react. To her credit, the little earthbender didn't argue or offer up a smart retort. Instead, she listened instantly and summoned several thick earthen walls up from the ground in an earth tent formation around herself moments before gigantic talons scraped against the rock barriers and the enormous bird flew back up with a thunderous swing of its wings.

"It's a bird! I've never seen one that massive before!" exclaimed Jin in shock.

"A bird?!" screamed Toph loudly as she receded her walls. "I can't see an enemy that doesn't walk on the ground!" She raised a large boulder in front of herself. "Pebbles! Give me a direction!"

"To your left!" shouted Jin as Toph pivoted about ninety degrees to her left and immediately launched the boulder skyward. The large bird saw the projectile coming and flapped its wings higher to deftly evade the simple attack. "It dodged!" lamented Jin.

Toph raised several more boulders. "Keep the directions coming you two! Pebbles! You better be throwing some rocks too! And Sparky, how about some fire power?!"

Zuko finally got a good look at the animal they were facing. An impossibly large, hulking bird with a wing span easily six times longer than Aang's sky bison was tall. Golden brown feathers with a pointed beak and intelligent amber eyes. Its talons were razor-sharp judging by the deep grooves they cut into Toph's rock walls, and exceedingly strong.

As the bird flew back and forth, effortlessly dodging the rocks that Toph and Jin were launching at it, Zuko noticed lightning charging up around the bird. It looked similar to how Azula appeared when she was charging her lightning attack. "Get your metal columns ready! It's going to use lightning!" the Fire Prince shouted in warning.

Toph wasted no time repositioning several of the metal posts around herself and Jin as the large bird unleashed a bolt of lightning at the two earthbenders. As the lightning screamed towards the girls, it diverted and was drawn into one of the metal posts as it struck the column instead and burrowed deep into the ground. "Hey! It really does work!" cheered Toph.

Zuko didn't like how much surprise was in Toph's tone when she gave that shout out. However, he noticed the bird doing something new as it hovered high above in the air. Instead of charging its own lightning this time, the bird drew in lightning from the storm as a bolts struck the bird's wingtips. But the bird didn't seem to be harmed.

Zuko watched, captivated by the sight, as he observed the bird draw the strength of the storm's lightning within itself. He watched as the bird circulated the lightning current from one of its wingtips down through its core and back out again from the opposite wingtip. The bird redirected the lightning bolt towards the two earthbenders.

Fortunately, the lightning was drawn towards the metal rods a second time, but the force of the redirected attack was clearly greater. The deflected lightning exploded the metal post it struck as the lightning impacted. Satisfied with the damage it was causing, the bird drew in a fresh bolt of lightning from the storm.

"This is getting bad!" shouted Jin as multiple metal rods scattered around them began to explode, one by one as the bird resumed a barrage of redirected lightning. Their defenses rapidly dwindling, Jin noticed Zuko rush in front of both of the earthbenders. "What are you doing?!" she shouted.

"Probably something stupid," the Fire Prince answered swiftly as the bird released yet another bolt of lightning at their small group. Zuko centered himself and breathed in. Watching the bird redirect the lightning reminded him of when he watched his Uncle grab Azula's hand and did something similar. He recalled his Uncle pulling the lightning through himself and firing it off harmlessly away from everyone on the ship. The memory of his Uncle and observing this creature now were the only two examples Zuko had, but if he could learn this skill as well, then he might be useful in the fights to come.

There were no metal rods to intercept the inbound lightning this time. Instead, Zuko mimicked what he had seen. He accepted the full force of the impact starting from his outstretched pointed index and middle fingers to simulate the bird's wing tips. Pulling his extended arm back inwards towards himself as he slid back, his teeth caught and clenched as the lightning surged all within his body. The external energies of the lightning were raging against his own internal energies. The lightning wanted to flow. It wanted to be free.

Zuko allowed the storm to circulate within him from his arm to his shoulder down to his stomach then back up his other shoulder and to his opposite hand. Fighting to take a step forward, he surged his other hand out with another pointed two fingers and released the redirected lightning back towards the bird.

The large bird certainly had not been expecting to see its own attack returning to it and was not at all ready to block, dodge, or accept the re-redirected lightning as energy struck the fowl and crackled all around it. With an ear-piercing squawk, the bird came crashing down onto the plateau with a deafening boom as dust and dirt were kicked up in every direction from the impact.

Zuko was panting heavily from exertion as he recovered slowly, kneeling with one leg on the ground. He could still feel the phantom pain of electricity running through his body long after the charge had been repelled. He looked at his right hand in surprise. 'Did I really just do that?' he struggled to comprehend.

"Zuko!" Jin's shout wasn't just one of concern. It had been one of terror. The firebender's head snapped up as he came face-to-face with the creature that had just attacked them. The bird's amber eyes seemed to bore directly into the Fire Prince as the bird almost seemed to evaluate the firebender quizzically. Then, the bird drew its head back, standing tall above the Fire Prince. Its beak looked ready to come crashing down any moment now.

Before Zuko could react, the bird lowered its head close to the ground as it drew its mighty wings back. Zuko blinked at the unexpected sight. 'Is... is it bowing?' Standing, the Fire Prince did the only thing he could think of and returned a regal bow of his own.

The whole situation was surreal. Especially when the bird rose from its bow only to lower one wing and kneel down on its talons as if demanding that Zuko climb onto its back. Mesmerized by the sight, Zuko started walking closer as Jin interrupted, "No! What are you doing?! Get away from that bird! It tried to hurt us!"

The Fire Prince only paused for a moment before taking another step closer. The bird was starting to grow impatient.

"What if it decides to drop you or shock you with lightning?" pressed the Earth Kingdom girl.

Zuko brushed his hand against the bird's silky feathers as he pulled himself up onto the creature's back. He held on tightly to bird's neck feathers as he squeezed his legs to find a secure purchase. Looking back at his friend, Zuko stated, "I don't think it's going to do that. This creature... it's intelligent. It knows about honor."

"You got all that from a bow?" Jin argued skeptically.

The bird gave a triumphant screech as it threw its wings out wide and powerfully flapped them once to ascend swiftly as it rapidly rose dozens feet into the air. Then, the large bird took off, disappearing into the storm clouds as Jin watched with apprehensiveness.

Several minutes later, the storm broke, the lightning and thunder fading away, as the sun pierced through blue skies. Toph groaned loudly. Neither Zuko or the bird had returned. "He just wanted to get out of carrying all these charred metal pieces back, didn't he?"


Katara seethed silently as she watched the road inland from the Water Tribe encampment from up in the lone watchtower. It had been over three hours now. And Zuko, Jin, and Toph were nowhere in sight on the approach to camp. The waterbender only continued to fume. Toph was in for a serious lecture once the little earthbender returned.

The young earthbender was simply just irresponsible and a wild child with a devil-may-care attitude. At first, Katara had thought Toph was a level headed thinker, because the girl had been willing to listen to Zuko's background and seemed to accept him for who he was. But in actuality, the little earthbender was always just doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. Consequences be damned.

When Katara had asked her Brother what he had been talking to Toph about previously and Sokka mentioned lightning and metal poles in the ground, it did not take the waterbender long to piece together the fact that the little earthbender had absolutely taken her friends to somewhere dangerous to do something dangerous. Toph was strong. There was no doubt about that. Katara could admit that. Maybe that's why the little earthbender had accepted Zuko so easily, because she probably just figured that she could just crush anyone in a fight anyway if it came to that. But all three of them were also only human. They had all seen what lightning could do to a person. What it had done to Aang. And here Toph was leading her two unsuspecting friends right into a storm.

'Oh yes,' grumbled Katara to herself inwardly. 'That little brat is going to get a serious scolding when she returns.'

Sokka could almost see the dark thoughts hovering just above his Sister's head. He had arrived about ten minutes ago for his shift in the watchtower and was surprised to see Katara up there along with a nervous Water Tribe warrior. Sokka relieved the skittish man from his post, who descended down the ladder quickly with a grateful word of thanks.

Now, Sokka understood why the man fled so fast. He knew Katara could be very scary when she was angry, but this was a whole new level of intimidation. Sokka was just glad that Toph had done something reckless to shift his Sister's ire away from him for a while.

The Water Tribe boy sighed as he kept watch with his spyglass on the sea leading into Chameleon Bay. He was happy his Sister was back. He truly was. She was safe and sound and his family was together once again. They were whole. And that feeling of joyful happiness had lasted about a minute.

Ever since their initial reunion, Brother and Sister had been arguing back and forth about their viewpoints on the war, who their friends were, and who their enemies were. It shouldn't have been like this. Back in the South Pole, things were simple. Sokka liked simple. It was just so... simple. Water Tribe was good and Fire Nation was bad. Simple.

But his Sister didn't think like that anymore. Katara had changed. She saw the world differently from him now. Sokka wasn't an idiot. He knew that there were good people and bad people in every tribe, nation, or kingdom. He had seen people he thought were his allies betray his trust and he had experienced the warmth and laughter from that the old firebender Aang demanded they help after the man took a lightning strike to protect Aang. Sokka could understand his Sister's new outlook. There was just one thing he couldn't get over. "Why him?"

He hadn't meant to say that aloud. Sokka had just muttered the question under his breath, but by the sound of how Katara shifted behind him, he knew that she had heard him. So, he pressed the issue. "Why do you trust Zuko so much? You were there when he charged into our village, when he threatened Gran-Gran to get to Aang. Why do you care about him?"

Katara slowly turned around to face her Brother as she leaned back on the small wooden wall of the watchtower platform. "After Zuko saved me from becoming a slave, I was in a bad place. I was barely holding it together. He was too, for that matter. Both of us were broken. And we built each other back up."

"A couple of kind words was all it took?" dismissed Sokka.

Katara narrowed her eyes at her Brother. "You've never been in captivity before have you?"

"I think you remember that I got tied up at Kyoshi Island by Suki and her Kyoshi warriors," returned Sokka.

The waterbender rolled her eyes. "That was for an hour or two and they fed you. I was in that cell in the prison rig for weeks on end. Little food, little water, constant beatings and torture, the burns, the interrogations... Sokka, I think I mentioned Omashu to the guards at some point. I couldn't hold out," detailed Katara sadly.

The Water Tribe boy's face just grew darker and darker as his Sister described her imprisonment. "I'm going to tear the Fire Nation apart."

"Sokka, please. Just listen," calmed Katara. "Zuko did more than just get me away from all that. We found common ground. Maybe not at first, but eventually those walls we put up to defend ourselves didn't really seem to matter anymore. We traveled together. We got to know one another. Our fears, our angers, our disappointments, and our successes. He was there for me when I needed someone," the waterbender finished softly.

"I should have been there for you when you needed me," frowned Sokka.

Katara shook her head. "I put us in that situation. It was my misguided idea to try and liberate that prison rig. I'm glad that you got away. I'm glad that you didn't have to experience the things I had to endure. I'm glad that you don't have to carry that pain."

"I'm carrying pain," disputed her Brother. "The pain of knowing that I failed to protect my Sister when she needed me to save her. That I wasn't strong enough to protect her."

"Neither of us was strong enough then, but we survived," assured Katara as she reached out to hug her Brother. "And now we're together again. So, we'll keep fighting, keep protecting, keep getting stronger, together."

"I like the sound of that," Sokka answered as he hugged her back.

As they ended the embrace, Katara added, "I won't ask you to accept Zuko. I realize that have your own feelings on that matter. But please, put your faith in me that I trust and accept Zuko."

Sokka turned his head back out towards the bay. He was glad that he and his Sister had taken a small step towards mending their bond, but he wasn't ready to answer her last plea.

Especially not after he noticed something on the horizon. Raising his spyglass, the Water Warrior cursed. "I knew Zuko couldn't be trusted! There's a Fire Nation ship coming our way. He must have sent them a message when he left the camp!"

"Sokka! If the Fire Nation found us, then it wasn't because of Zuko!" retorted Katara in the Fire Prince's defense. Even after that impromptu heart-to-heart, they were still divided on this issue.

However, Sokka was already ringing the warning bell loudly as he shouted, "Fire Nation in the bay! Fire Nation in the bay!" Then, he grabbed the ladder and began to scurry down as fast as he could. The Water Tribe boy was a little annoyed at the sight of the ice slide that materialized downward from the top of the tower as his Sister slid down on her feet. "Show-off," he grumbled as he reached the bottom and chased after her to rallying point in the center of camp.

"Sokka! Report!" demanded Hakoda as more and more Water Tribe warriors assembled.

Snapping to attention, Sokka answered concisely, "Single ship. Standard Fire Nation frigate. Just now entering the bay."

"Bato! Take five men! You are responsible for the Avatar. Protect his tent," directed the Water Chieftain.

"Alright, Hakoda," acknowledged Bato.

As the second-in-command moved to follow his orders, the Water Chieftain grabbed his friend by the arm. "Protect the tent. If they make it to the Avatar's location..."

"They won't," declared Bato confidently. With that, Bato pointed to several of Water Tribesmen. "Come on Nuk! And you Piq! You three, on me! Come on you jokers, time to earn your keep!"

As Bato and his squad ran off to secure the Avatar, the Water Chieftain addressed the gathered force of Water Tribe warriors. "The rest of you! To the boats!" ordered Hakoda as he placed his wolf helm on his head.

As the Water Tribe warriors filed into their swift canoes and small boats, Hakoda was slightly surprised to see Katara jump into the front of his canoe. He had suspected that she might try to sneak her way into the fight, but here she was overtly daring anyone to protest her joining. At the fierce look on his Daughter's face, Hakoda was not about to be the first. He ordered his men to launch the boats.

The Fire Nation ship fired upon them with catapults the moment they were within range. The bay waters exploded as fiery catapult shots rained down all around them. Katara summoned gigantic waves of water lashes to knock aside the closer stones before they could threaten the canoes and the men furiously paddling in them.

As Water Tribe forces neared within the minimum distance of the catapult range on the ship and the projectiles ceased, Katara switched to surging the Chieftain's canoe even faster with her waterbending as the boat cut through the water with ease and the men inside had to grab ahold of the boat's edges to prevent themselves from losing their balance.

As the canoe neared the side of the Fire Nation ship and the Water Tribe warriors readied their grappling hooks, Katara propelled herself skyward within a plume of water. Landing on the deck, she swept out with a long tentacle of water horizontally and pulled several firebenders and soldiers overboard into the sea. They crashed into the water with a muted scream as the water warriors below greeted the resurfacing enemy with spear and club.

As the soldiers remaining on the deck realized the new threat, Katara raised both of her arms high as she pulled the discarded water soaking the deck upwards and changed it into a fine mist that obscured the vision of her enemies. A couple of brave Fire Nation spearmen surged forward to where they had last seen the waterbender, but were met by solid ice walls as they neared.

"Break the ice!" shouted a Fire Nation commander on the deck of the ship. The sounds of ice walls collapsing as soldiers bashed into them with swords and maces echoes across the deck. The fog was already starting to lighten up as well.

However, as the final ice barrier shattered and the last of the mists receded, the Fire Nation sailors were greeted by the sight of not just a lone waterbender, but rather a horde of Water Tribesmen that surged forward at the stunned enemy, cutting down all soldiers they came across. Sokka and Hakoda were among the first to strike. More Fire Nation soldiers rushed up from below decks and a pitched battle was joined.

The Fire Nation outnumbered the Water Tribe two to one; however, the Water Tribe fought together as a pack. As one warrior would engage with a soldier, another would circle around and impale, slice, or beat the preoccupied soldier down. This unison was allowing them to overwhelm their disorganized adversary on the deck.

The Fire Nation had not been expecting their prey to charge their ship and had been preparing to just rain down catapults shots on them from afar before storming the beachhead. Reserve Fire Nation fighters were down below decks and not ready for combat. As the Water Tribe stormed those very lower decks, the number advantage of the Fire Nation meant less and less due to the tight corridors restricting Fire Nation ability to reconstitute their manpower above deck.


From high above in the skies, Zuko counted the number of times he almost died within the last ten minutes alone. And it was a number that he was exceedingly not comfortable with. He definitely had to reevaluate his sanity levels, because climbing bareback onto the giant lightning bird without a saddle or something secure to hold onto was ranking somewhere between absurd and suicidal right now as he held on for dear life.

From the moment the bird broke through the clouds, it had tried to shake him off with a combination of spins and flips; aerobatics of the highest level. And all he had to grip onto were the bird's neck feathers with his hands and in-between the bird's body with his legs. He had truly thought that the bird had bowed to him earlier as a sign of respect for returning the lightning.

'No,' Zuko steeled in his mind as he rationalized what he thought was going on. 'The bird did bow. But maybe I was a fool to think that the bird was accepting me right then and there. Maybe that bow was simply the initiation of another challenge.' From his time back on the Sierra Bonita Ranch, Zuko recalled Han telling the Fire Prince all about how the man used to tame wild ostrich horses in his youth. It was a test of endurance, who broke first.

'Except if I fall from here, there's no getting back up,' the firebender realized as he couldn't even see the ground anymore through the cloud deck. 'So what else is new? The world always loves to throw the most difficult challenges my way.' If this bird thought it could endure more than Zuko could, then it was about to be proven terribly wrong.

As the bird dove into a near vertical dive straight down, Zuko held fast. Changing the direction of its wings, the creature swooped back up at nearly the same speed now in an almost vertical ascent. Zuko could feel his vision blacking out from the increased gravitational forces acting on his body as he felt his blood being drawn downward within his own body. 'I... won't... lose...' he growled inwardly to himself through grit teeth as he pressed tighter against the bird. Despite himself, he could feel the edge of his fading consciousness nearly take him moments before the bird leveled out and he could breath normally again.

They hovered there for a moment, almost as if the bird itself was surprised to still have a passenger on its back. Then, the clouds around them began to darken. Zuko heard the steady hum of electricity through the fog and feel his skin start to stand on end. "This again? Fine, I'll prove that the first time wasn't a fluke," the firebender declared firmly. The bird squawked loudly in challenge.

Lightning raced through the sky and struck the bird who accepted the electricity as it coursed through the fowl. Zuko felt the lightning connect to him from the animal as they were both supercharged. Taking control of the current, the firebender redirected the blast back into the storm clouds with a determined shout.

A second lightning bolt surged and the processed repeated. Then a third. Zuko was tiring as sweat beaded down his forehead. "Is that all? Come on! You've always thrown everything you could at me! Well I can take it! And now, I can give it back!" The Fire Prince wasn't sure who he was yelling at right now. The bird, himself, the world; it was all a blur. Only proving himself in this challenge of wills mattered anymore.

Another wave of lightning came, bigger than all the previous three combined. Zuko's eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed in determination. He would win this challenge here, or it would break him trying.

The lightning surged, multicolored crimson, cyan, silver, and gold, as they pierced the lightning bird and Zuko equally. The firebender could feel the heat and power of nature ripping through them both as he struggled perilously to keep the lightning moving, circulating, flowing. He could almost hear his Uncle lecturing him again from a distant memory. "Don't fight the various energies. They are four parts of a whole. Find the balance and merge them. They are one."

Crying out in pain and anguish, Zuko clapped his hands together as he completed the circuit within his own body and the lightning swirled together forming a rapidly spinning ring within in him. Throwing his arms back out wide, the firebender released the power in every which direction. A deep raspy chuckle of victory sang out from his lungs as he sat there panting heavily with his arms remaining outstretched. Then, the Fire Prince's eyes rolled backwards as he fell into unconsciousness and slid from his mount, tumbling downward through the clouds.

The bird screeched in alarm as it plunged into a dive and pulled itself level with Zuko, matching his speed and angle. The bird nudged its body against the falling firebender as it squawked again, the impact being enough to cause the Fire Prince to stir. The rushing wind from the freefall returned his senses even faster. Reaching out, Zuko grasped the bird's feathers again and twisted himself back into a seated position as the bird leveled the two of them out and slowed to a calm glide.

There were no more tests or challenges after that. They flew together in peace for a while as Zuko recovered. "Have I proved my worth to you?" asked the Fire Prince.

In response, the bird swooped and dove before twisting upwards several times in an spectacular display of aerobatics. However, this time, the purpose hadn't been to buck its rider. The movements were exhilarating but not dangerous. "Okay, okay, I think I get it. I bet the Avatar's sky bison can't do that!" Zuko smirked. "I think you're quite impressive too!" The bird gave a squawk of approval as it continued a controllable flight pattern.

Already the Thunder Plateau was a distant speck on the horizon as the bird sped along at a fast pace. It was almost like they were cutting through the air. Soon they broke over the sea as the rocky terrain was replaced with foamy water.

Not too far off, the Fire Prince spied the familiar sight of the Chameleon Bay's crescent outline. What was unfamiliar was the Fire Nation ship in the entrance of the bay. And the two additional Fire Nation ships beyond the horizon that were closing in fast to reinforce the first Fire Nation ship.

"Alright! I don't know what to call you! But please! If we're allies now, then help me help my friends!" shouted Zuko over the winds. The bird seemed to hear him or at least understood his plight as they turned towards the ongoing battle.


It was over in less time than Hakoda expected as he withdrew his spear from the now limp and cold body of the ship's captain. He raised a cheer among his exhausted but jubilant warriors. The Water Tribesmen had taken a few causalities, but the Fire Nation sailors had been completely routed. Then, Hakoda spied his Daughter leaning over the guardrail looking a little sick.

"You did well out there," Hakoda congratulated as he approached his Daughter. "I never wanted this for you, but I know that you wouldn't have listened if I tried to keep you back at the camp. I am sorry that you had to be part of this war."

Katara fought back the bile in her throat. "I'm fine." As she finished composing herself, she added, "I've seen how chaotic an actual battle can be. The lives it claims."

That gave the Water Chieftain pause. He frowned at the knowledge that he had failed to protect both his own Son and Daughter from the horrors of war. He didn't get more time to process that however, as one of the Water Tribesmen shouted out a warning, "Two more ships incoming! Starboard stern!"

Hakoda cursed as he and his warriors rushed to the guardrails of the ship to observe the enemy reinforcements. "They lured us out. They sacrificed one of their own ships to draw us onto the water! I can't believe they did that!"

Katara recalled what Zuko had told her about how he received his scar for speaking out against that exact same Fire Nation tactic. "I can," the waterbender muttered as she prepared to fight again.

"No," ordered Hakoda as he noticed her heading back to the canoes. Then, to all his men, "We're retreating! Back to the boats! Back to the bay!"

"The men are exhausted!" protested Sokka. "We'll never row fast enough to get back to shore before those catapults are in range. We should stand and fight. Use the catapults on this ship!"

"The firing mechanisms have all been sabotaged!" shouted another Water Tribesman as he inspected one of the catapults. "The enemy must have done it as we were taking the ship!"

"They planned this all out," realized Hakoda. Then, he turned to his men. "This isn't a debate! Everyone! You heard my order!"

"Sir! In the sky!" shouted Chinook as he pointed to something diving from the clouds.

Sokka's spyglass was in his hands instantly as he zoomed his vision to get a better look. "There's no way!" the Water Tribe boy exclaimed in disbelief. "Is that... Zuko?!"

At the mention of the Fire Prince, Katara grabbed the spyglass out of her Brother's hands, ignoring his cries of indignation. "Sokka's right! It is Zuko! He's riding some kind of large bird! He has to be here to help!"

"More like he's here to finish the job!" argued Sokka just as the clouds grew dark and heavy over the Fire Nation ships and lightning and thunder crackled overhead. "Where did that storm come from?"

"Look!" exclaimed Katara. The entirety of the Water Tribe watched in fascination as Zuko divebombed the closer of the two Fire Nation ships as the bird he was riding unleashed an array of lightning across the ship deck. As Zuko flew away, secondary explosions erupted throughout the ship as heavy, billowy black smoke rose from multiple locations and the ship began to list to port.

Not done, the large bird somersaulted gracefully in the sky and repeated its descent onto the other vessel as lightning ripped across the metal plating and more explosions flared. Alarm sirens rang out from both ships as they turned and slowly limped away.

"Why isn't he finishing them off?!" cried out Sokka. "He's letting them get away!"

"He disabled those ships," commented Hakoda. "He did enough. They're not going to be able to bother us for a while."

"They wouldn't bother us at all if he sank them," grumbled Sokka, still irked.

Hakoda put a compassionate hand on his Son's shoulder. "Sokka, would you be able to attack and kill your own people so easily if your roles were reversed?"

Sokka's eyes widened in understanding. He didn't say anything further. Maybe he had been getting too worked up.