Disclaimer- I do not own Avatar.
Previously, on Avatar…
"What do you want Azula?" Katara shouted with a stern tone.
Aang held onto his staff even tighter now. He knew there was something that was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
She narrowed her eyes. "Look, I don't have time for your questions, girl. But I do have a proposal."
-cut to Azula's response-
"Give me Iroh and I'll be off. I will completely avoid you."
-cut to Aang being fired at and the gang being caught-
Suddenly, a terrible electric noise coursed through the air, like a powerful crunch when it made contact.The Avatar lay unconscious upon the ground.
Eyes widening, those who could see saw a terrible sight.Toph turned her head toward the sound. "What the EFF was that?!" Realizing what just happened, mostly because of Katara's and Sokka's yells ("AANG!"), she almost slapped herself. She felt the vibrations on the ground...didn't she? Struck hard with realization, she ran to the spot in full speed only to be ferociously grabbed by the arms by an unknown figure.
"That lightning must of been a flare! A signal to the rest of the soldiers!" Iroh was in a fighting stance once again, arms up in front of his face.
-cut to Aang being cornered by Azula-
No. No. I have to fight. I can't, but I have to. What did Roku say?He vaguely remembered, but then he thought of the people he loved that were about to witness him being pelted by a fireball. He thought of them being hurt. He needed a way to do this. He needed a way to defeat her. If he didn't, she would win...the whole world would lose and his friends would pay the price for even knowing him.
Forcing himself to try and remember, he finally heard a sort of ringing of voices inside his head.
"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."
He finally understood what he had to do. He was being forced into the Avatar State. Aang closed his eyes in a tight frustration as Azula's fireball neared his face and he was bracing himself for impact. And it did make contact. KABOOM
-cut to Zuko-
Zuko was walking to the gate made of earth in Omashu. He made a slight smirk appear on his face. His plan was about to ensue. He had just heard the news that the Avatar was headed here from a couple of Dai Li agents who just came back with news.
"We're bound south. If we follow this small mountain range till this point, we'll make it to Omashu in at least one day. Then we could drop off Appa at the peak of the hillside near the city, leaving us time to prepare some disguises before we head off towards the entrance."
Sokka was still stabbing his finger at the map that was outstretched beneath the eyes of those who were gazing at it (with an exception of Toph). He turned his head to look at Iroh and Toph with an expectant expression on his face, as if waiting for a great applauding noise to greet him for coming up with such a brilliant plan. Sokka hesitated for a bit but never let his eyes roam off those of his two companions who were currently pondering a decision in their heads.
"Won't Azula just follow us through to Omashu? It seems pretty obvious that she's intent on capturing Iroh over here," Toph pointed to the elder man beside her for emphasis, "And I'm well aware that she wants to bring Aang into some sort of custody before the Firelord."
Sokka nodded. He was half expecting this, but as he was just opening his mouth to respond, Iroh beat him to it.
"No. Azula is not foolish enough to go ahead of herself. She will not do anything drastic until the time is right. After all, a defeat as such as the one we managed to pull on her, is not the type to ignore. My niece will gain more strength and try her hardest to make sure that we lose the battle the next time we come to stray in her path."
The Earth King turned his head toward the ensuing conversation as if agreeing. His bear, Bosco, made a noise that sounded more like a grumble. After all, it was late afternoon and they still hadn't even bothered to eat that tiniest scrap of food for lunch or since the fight between them and Azula earlier in the morning. By the looks of it, everyone was on the complete brink of starvation.
In the front of the slowly flying bison, on the furry head, Katara was making sure that Aang got his rest after their almost lost battle. Her hair splayed out before her face into the wind and she gave Aang a slight push as he attempted to yet again, sit up on his own. It seemed as if it were hopeless to put a stopper on the efforts the Avatar was heaving just to do something he'd normally do. Katara sighed another time. He wasn't going to give up. She had to admit that she admired his constant persistence, but nonetheless, wanted to make a commitment to let him at least lie on his back for five minutes. With a one last strain of breath, she gave up and Aang was finally allowed to sit up. He looked immensely determined.
"Aang, you can't do this to yourself. It's only been at least three weeks since Ba Sing Se and you've been fighting alongside us against Azula when we all know that you should still be resting!" Katara was now caressing a worried appearance on her face and her eyes seemed to slightly water, but rapidly began to dry.
"Katara, we don't have much time. I need to do this," his gaze lingered on her for a while, "…even if it involves taking risks. You have to understand. Please."
A gentle breeze swept their path in the sky and Appa gave a slight jolt.
"I-" Katara hesitated more with her than with replying to Aang. "I understand. I understand that you have a job to do as Avatar, but that doesn't mean you have to make it hard on yourself!"
Aang stared at her. "I'm not. I am doing what's best for the world."
"But what about what is best for you?" Katara said.
"It doesn't matter. There are things more important than my health. I feel fine and well enough to fight. That should be enough. Besides, I'm not fighting this battle alone." Katara smiled at him and he continued, "This war has been pursuing for a little more than a century already! Isn't that far too long? I need to do something to stop it and the only way is to stop the Firelord."
Katara could not help herself. She got up more from the fur of the flying bison and nudged her way closer to where Aang sat upright. As she got closer, however, her arms began to raise forward and gave out a soothing embrace around his chest. Aang felt excruciatingly content with himself and with life as he knew it at that very moment.
-
Gentle streaks of sunrise echoed throughout the horizon and orange rays touched each cloud on its edges. The morning had arrived with an unusual call of beauty. Every head was bowed with sleep on the back of the flying bison and incredibly annoying snores were heard coming from the mouth of Sokka.
As the day grew steadily older, the first to wake was Aang. He sat up with some effort, glancing at those who were still asleep behind him. His stormy eyes held a brief glance on the first person he could think of, Katara. He slowly brushed a hand against his head that was now full of hair, and watched as the wind ruffled the undone braid onto her face.
He heard a soft growling sound that had to come from Appa. Aang smiled and petted his friend on the swishing, unkempt fur directly on its head.
Slowly, but steadily, the rest of the gang awoke and the silhouette of Omashu shone on the horizon. They had arrived at long last.
Sokka extended his forefinger and pointed enthusiastically at the approaching shadow. "YES! WE MADE IT! WE'RE HERE! Finally, decent food!"
"Oh be quiet Snoozles," Toph stated with a sigh, "You've been dozing off longer than we have and all you can think about is food?"
"Maybe."
"You're hopeless. You know that?" She groaned and carefully turned her back on him.
Iroh quietly smiled at the shadow of Omashu. "We should begin flying over the ledges so we may have the element of surprise in case Fire Nation troops spot us. We need to be as safe and secure as possible at the moment."
Sokka and Aang nodded in agreement. Sokka took hold of Appa's reigns and he veered the bison to the left so that they may have the cover of the same mountains where The Cave of Two Lovers stood.
In almost no time at all, the whole group landed softly in a high up forest on the side of a mountain. Quietly, they all dismounted and made their way across to the city of Omashu. Just a few meters away from the end of the forest, The Earth King and Bosco made their way in the opposite direction. Kuei decided to travel in disguise with his bear and live a life of frugal living and in hiding until the war could possibly be over.
As the rest of the group made their way to Omashu, the silhouette of the city constantly grew larger before their eyes. It was an intimidating site. By the time they reached refuge, Aang was already prying the door to the sewer open and Katara stepped inside first, along with Toph, then Sokka, Iroh, and lastly Aang. Careful not to make any sound, all of them decided that bending away the water wasn't an option. Instead, they stepped carefully and silently through, making no sound but the soft splashes underneath their feet.
Finally, it was time to exit the hole. Aang slowly tugged on the metal door and swiveled the lever around. One by one, they stepped out, shaking the nasty water off their clothes as Katara helped by waterbending the unpleasant substance to the ground.
It was quiet. Not a single breath was heard, nor a swish of the wind. All was still, and silent. The group's footsteps gently echoed through the darkness and they all saw, or felt (just for Toph) that the city was still deserted ever since their last encounter.
They kept walking around, trying not to make sudden movements or noises, until a loud crash rang through the empty streets.
Toph swiftly turned her head. "Guys…"BANG"GUYS!"Another noise, then movement sparked their senses. Toph quickly got into a fighting stance, and everyone else followed suit when they saw what she had done. "I-I don't think we're alone anymore."
A shadow began to emerge from the distance behind a pillar and a couple of scattered barrels and a figure began to form. Aang shot out his staff in front of him as he watched it come out slowly.
It moved towards them until those who could see saw his face: the face of Zuko. His scar shone in the setting sun and his eyes glistened in their natural golden glow, but his face was staid.
It was then when Katara made her move, and struck. Her eyes were full of anger and hatred as she brought out a handful but powerful amount of water from her pouch.
Everyone else in the little group gasped as Zuko hit the side of another pillar; hard.
"What are you doing here?" Katara still controlled some part of the leftover water save for the small amount hovering before her. "You know we'd never trust you. Not after what you had done to us underneath Ba Sing Se!"
Surprisingly, the Dragon of the West had made no sound or move. He just stood there, staring at his nephew and he was clearly still disappointed in his actions.
The water bender's facial features grew all the more stern when he showed no signs of answering. "Well?"
His face now serious after the hit, he got up unhurriedly from his fallen position and turned to face her with a seemingly unfazed expression. He sighed, "I'm here to help."
Sokka took out his boomerang and pointed its edge towards the fire bender's torso. "That's a lie! You're just here to come and attack us again! What would possibly make us believe you after all that you have done?"
"I've changed!" Zuko was now becoming desperate. Why couldn't they believe him?
It was Katara's turn to come back into the conversation, "Don't give me that again. The last time you said that to me, it cost us and the whole world big time." She paused, glancing at Aang and then turned her gaze back towards the prince. "I'm sorry Zuko, but I just can't trust you."
"I-I could help with firebending."
As Sokka, Katara, and Aang began to turn their backs on him, Toph cried out, "No. Wait. He's telling the truth. I can tell."
Iroh still hadn't moved, but was surprised to hear what he just heard from the little blind earth bender standing near him. He widened his eyes and tried to nod for her to continue.
"He is sincere with what he said. He is in no way lying."
That was all Aang needed; he turned to Zuko and asked, "Is this true?"
His face brightened up ever so slightly and nodded his head 'yes'. The Avatar's features softened and he smiled. "Welcome to the group."
A ripple of amazement coursed through the group of friends. How could he accept so quickly? Was there another motive of his?
"Wha-? Aang? Do you know what you just did? You let in one of our enemies into the group! What are you trying to do? Get us killed?" Sokka had tried to reason with his best friend as well as he could, but nothing seemed to change Aang's drastic decision.
"Trust me," he simply replied, "I know what I am about to do."
He turned his head to his firebending master, "Master?" The old man just nodded as a reply."I am sure that you would need to…um…look for our little groups of friends?" Everyone else was clearly confused, but Aang and Iroh obviously knew what they were talking about.
"Yes, Avatar. I think it is time I should begin. I shall depart tomorrow at dawn."
What was going on? If Iroh was about to leave so soon, then Aang would need a new firebending teacher. Unless…"Wait a minute." Katara twisted her cap back on to her pouch after quickly bending her water back inside. "If what you are saying is what I think you are saying, then that means…"
Her brother decided to finish the sentence. "Zuko is your new firebending master!"
Zuko's eyes widened and Aang merely said that he was correct. "Did you have this planned out all along?" Sokka had to admit that he was curious.
He smirked, "Let's just say the Dragon of the West told me a few things over a little game of Pai Sho."
It really couldn't get any weirder than that, the Water Tribe warrior mused. If that was all he could get out of his friend, then that was all he could get out. They might as well continue looking for the resistance now. He smiled and went back to walking in the other direction and the others just shrugged along with it and trailed behind him, but Zuko still stood in the same spot, transfixed.
"Nephew?" Iroh beamed at him. "Are you coming or do you want me to make you a pot of tea?"
A new light lit up the banished prince's eyes. He was officially accepted. There was truly nothing that could make him happier at the moment, but to give his uncle a long awaited 'thank you'.
-
It had been at least an hour's long walk down the streets of Omashu. There was still not a single sign of life and there was not a flicker of a lantern inside a home or shop. Where could everyone be?
"I think we've been out here walking long enough," Toph said with an exasperated sigh. "No one's here. I'm getting fed up with all this traveling, and as far as I can feel…there really is no resistance at all. Really the only living thing we found here is Zuko over here." Funnily enough, she pointed her hand at a random cart full of rotting cabbages, just past Zuko's head. Katara sneered.
"Toph is right. There really is nothing here. We might as well...AH!" The warrior jumped when a flash of fire landed before his very feet and the rest of the gang readied themselves for some sort of ambush battle.
Standing ominously in front of them, were three Fire Nation soldiers with horrible skull-like masks covering their faces.
"TOPH! How could you not sense them?"
She leapt from her spot when she felt a flame being shot at her and brought up a small wall of earth. "I'm sorry okay? I guess I was getting a bit cranky from all the walking!"
Aang jumped in front of Katara when one fireball was fired to her and he blocked it with a blast of air. "You guys! Now really isn't the time to argue! We have to get out of here!"
With that, he knocked all three off their feet with more airbending and started to run right past them with everyone else at his heels. "HURRY! Let's get out of the city!"
More fire blasts hit the sides of houses and some just barely missed them as they continued to run as fast as they could. Zuko and Iroh were constantly blowing some attacks aside as Aang concentrated on getting them out. It was really a wonderful feat that none of them got tired, but adrenaline took over their bodies and none of them would be stupid enough to stop just for a little break.
All of them halted when they got near the entrance wall of Omashu and Aang and Toph promptly burst a hole through the side of the wall. Running out was easy enough, until they had to find a way to keep the soldiers in.
Aang nodded his head to Iroh and Zuko, all three discharged powerful gusts of fire to the troops and Toph closed up the wall.
The group was tired and they were sweating and gasping for air by the time it was all over.
Sokka rolled his eyes. "Well that was almost a complete waste of time."
"At least we found a new ally, Sokka." The Blind Bandit smirked in the general direction of Zuko, who was standing about to the right of her.
He frowned. "I despise you right now."
Aang laughed. "C'mon guys. If we can't find any help here, we might as well find your dad at Chameleon Bay or something. We need help for this, and wasting our time here won't do us any good. But the only question is what were those Fire Nation soldiers doing there without any backup?"
"I have reason to believe that the Fire Nation still occupy the city, even if we did drive out the citizens with a fake epidemic of 'penta-pox'." The water bender smiled a little at the idea, but Toph, Zuko, and Iroh all seemed confused. "Long story," she added as she chanced a hateful glance at Zuko and gave him an eye roll.
They walked forward and off of the bridge connecting the city of Omashu with the rest of the land. All of them traveled to the edge of a set of hills that were close by where all of them except Zuko knew that Appa was. But when they finally reached the spot where the giant beast supposedly laid, he wasn't there save for a couple of crushed sticks and some uneven sand.
"Something isn't right." They turned to Toph, who had a worried expression upon her face.
The ground rumbled beneath their feet and they turned frantically around to find the source, but none was found. Suddenly, the ground flipped them over and the group landed in a heap on the bottom of an underground facility.
There familiar faces surrounding Aang, Sokka, and Katara, and some unfamiliar faces and vibrations to Toph, Zuko, And Iroh.
One of the Earth Kingdom combatants, almost clearly the leader, stepped forward.
"Welcome to the resistance."
AN: And finally I update! It's been how many months? I seriously had absolutely NO TIME. With school, and all these happenings, but I have more time on my hands now and can update more regularly. I feel so bad now. But I promise you that this story will be done before May. It needs to end before the summer because the series will end soon. Oh gosh. I made myself depressed now.
And if you have any questions, please do tell. And just to clear things up, I do plan this all out before the even write a whole story. Trust me; I know what is going to happen next and at the end. But some parts were added in to make it make more sense with the actually story and season three.