What if on the Day of the Black Sun, as Azula was delaying the Team Avatar, one of her jumps proved to be unlucky. Now Avatar and friends have to guard a prisoner none of them ever wanted to take in the first place. And what does it have to do with Sokka's pounding head?

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Losing her firebending, even if just for a few minites, was unfortunate, but she was managing just fine, as she always did. In fact, she was doing much better than she predicted, considering how heavily she relied on her superior bending power before. It was a good thing she did not order Ty Lee and Mai to be here. There was nothing any of them could do better than her, and in such close quarters they would only get in the way.

She dived and dodged, again and again proving herself faster and more agile than the Avatar, supposed airbending master, simultaneously keeping the pesky earthbender in the corner of her eye. So far her Dai Li agents proved useful in containing and counteracting her enemies earthbending, which made the 'fight' almost too easy for her.

She had to give it to Long Feng, every one of his (now hers) agents had undergone rigorous training and even with their moderate bending power and intelligence once given a clear goal they worked effectively to reach it. Just like now, as one of them created a stone pillar under her feet to give her enough momentum to yet again evade the Avatar's pitiful attacks by jumping through the convenient hole in the wall.

Suddenly a body appeared in her way, the water peasant apparently, not a threat, but he was in her way, his body blocking the passage, and she had to do something. But she had no fire to slow herself in the air, and he met her head on and the last thing she remembered was a splitting pain in her head and then darkness.

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Sokka was climbing a wall. It was no big deal that he proved useless in the fight so far while his friends had their hands full with Azula who was holding her own despite having no bending either right now.

But Sokka was a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe and he was not going to stand around doing nothing. The least he could do was to find a good vantage point and maybe catch Azula unawares at the right moment. Right, like that was ever going to happen.

Just as he finally reached the hole in the wall and pulled himself up, there she was – Azula – heading straight to him. His first instinct was to dodge, but he was a warrior and she was the enemy, not just any girl. So he stilled himself and did the only sensible thing – braced himself against uneven edges of the hole and smiled grimly at growing alarm in the princess' amber eyes. And then his head exploded.

In what felt like hours he found himself lying on and being jolted by a very rough stone surface which made his pounding headache – like nothing he ever felt before – even worse. Opening his eyes by supreme amount of willpower, he rolled off the stone, got on all fours and retched.

Finally, his stomach had no more to give, so he looked up and squinted. There was Toph looking very concerned and Aang looking miserable. Moving his head to the right he also noticed Azula lying on a bed of stone. It explained the new pain in his back which went unnoticed until now, overshadowed by the badger-moles burrowing inside his head. It seemed Azula had it worse, as she showed no sign of waking up and had a trickle of blood running through her hair.

Well, at least his head was good for something, considering what a failure the Plan was shaping up to be. As he turned to his friends again, Aang averted his eyes and Sokka felt his insides drop. Toph on the other hand, went to him and pulled him up to sit on his own stone bed.

"Eclipse has ended, Sokka", she said patting him on the shoulder, not even bothering with nicknames. "We were too late and there was no way to find the Fire Lord in time."

"I'm sorry, Aang", said Sokka even though every word felt like a club hitting his brain. Aang looked sharply at him – when did the kid learn to do that – but then his gaze softened and he shook his head.

"It's not your fault, Sokka", he sighed. "Azula wouldn't have told us anything anyway, and now at least we have her as a hostage."

"Really?" asked Sokka, sounding skeptical. He was moving now, following his friends with slow, stumbling steps, but at least he fared better than Azula who was being dragged by Toph encased almost fully in stone leaving only her face out. "Do you really think we can hold Azula prisoner?"

"We have to try", shouted Aang, running in front on them. "It's our best chance!"

As they approached the thick metal doors to the bunker, Sokka motioned for Toph to stop knowing she would feel it. After his brief explanation using as few words as possible, Toph smiled and freeing Azula from the stone, bound her hands and feet in iron instead. She would cover her mouth too, but at the last moment Sokka noticed that the princess' nose was clogged with drying blood, so they had to risk it for now. It was not ideal for containing Azula, even hurt and unconscious, but at least it will allow them all to get onto Appa.

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Even after the airships appeared, Katara still had hope. After all, if Aang was able to defeat the Fire Lord, they all had a chance to retreat and come back later in full force. She wasn't as keen to fight as some of her father's men, but she knew she'd have to, if only to keep her family and friends safe. But she was frustrated to say the least, because it felt like they hadn't accomplished anything today.

Finally, she noticed Appa in the sky and pointed him out to the men around her. After the great bison landed heavily, Aang jumped off his back and bowed his head silently in response to her questioning gaze. She turned her head and noticed that Toph created a pillar and was helping swaying Sokka to step onto it.

"Sokka!" she shouted running up to him. "Are you hurt?". Father approached too, looking concerned, while Bato and other men were grumbling, disappointed in what could be seen as their collective failure.

Sokka covered his ears, moaning in pain and Toph shushed her angrily. Then the little earthbender had to support him as he bent over and started to dry heave.

"He got hit in the head, badly", explained Aang.

"By what?" asked one of the men she wasn't familiar with. He was obviously unimpressed by her brother.

"By this!" shouted Toph as she suddenly bent something out of Appa's saddle, revealing Azula, knocked out and bound in metal.

Katara gasped, but quickly turned to Sokka, bending some water around his head and focusing all her energy on getting him better.

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"When our only choice is to stay and fight! We have the Avatar and the princess, we can still win," said Sokka, sounding resolute, despite barely managing to keep upright. Hakoda was never more proud of his son, both of his children, who grew up so much without him noticing, without him being there.

"You are right, we could still win, another day," he answered. It was an easy decision when his children's lives were on the line. "You all have to escape on Appa together."

"What?" shouted Katara. "We can't leave you behind! We won't leave anyone behind."

"You are our only chance in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe. It's the only chance to keep hope alive," he said. It was true, even if not the main reason he wanted them to escape.

"The youngest of our group should go with you," said Bato. "The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle."

Hakoda could always count on his friend, even when he needed someone to lie to his children instead of him. His people seldom took prisoners and few of those survived for long. He had no reason to expect the enemy to have more mercy.

"Then what do we do with her? Why can't we use her to get us all out of here?" asked Toph, kicking the unconscious fire princess on the ground.

He gave it some thought and could see the same conclusion in Bato's and Sokka's eyes.

"We could, but not in the heat of the battle. You have to take her with you. We know that Fire Lord values his daughter more than his son, so she will make a useful hostage."

"If we can hold her, that is," said Sokka grimly.

"Well, can you?" asked Bato. "Think fast, we don't have much time! If not, we can just-" he stopped himself in time as Hakoda shook his head. He did not want to kill a prisoner in cold blood, not in front of his children.

"I can hold her forever, if she doesn't mind being a little uncomfortable," boasted Toph. But he noticed that her unseeing eyes turned to Aang, just as everyone's did.

"Between all of us, she won't give us any trouble," said the boy. Despite his words, he sounded bitter. "We have to take her or this whole battle would've been for nothing."

He left with Toph and their cargo to board the bison with the rest of the kids. Hakoda turned to his children.

"We've lost today, but we've never been this close. We tasted victory and that counts for something!" He embraced them both, hoping it would not be the last time.

As Appa disappeared in the clouds, they turned away from the beach to face whatever lay ahead.

TBC