After Ozai: Book Two (Kataang FanFic)

Chapter Four: Infiltrate

The moment the rest of their friends fell asleep, Aang and Suki gave their quiet goodbyes and went ahead with their plans. Silently, Aang pole-vaulted them into the air with the help of his masterful airbending. Throughout the flight, Suki laid on the top side of Aang's glider, allowing for Aang to simply balance her as if she was an extension of his delicately crafted glider. She had done this reluctantly though. He had just been through an intense battle just a month prior and was still showing signs of both physical and mental damage. Maybe we shouldn't be doing this. He's in no shape to go into another battle, especially with the threat of Azula possibly being at the Capital.

    "Are you sure you want to do this? We can turn back right now and they'll never know a thing." Aang listened to her voice, noticing a tinge of worry as she offered one last option towards him. However, retreating was never an option in the eyes of Aang. Not only had they been flying for a few hours now, but he was sure that Azula would be here. Whether or not Zuko was safe, he had no clue, but the fact that Azula had such a rocky relationship with Zuko told Aang that she was bound to make it personal. If Zuko truly wasn't safe, then it would be at the hands of Azula, not Long Feng. As he said previously, Long Feng was nothing more than a pawn in Azula's chess game.

    "Absolutely not. I'm confident that she'll be here. Not only does she want to prove a point to us and Zuko, but she also wants to prove herself. She wants to have the satisfaction of defeating us and restoring her father to the throne." The instant Ozai was brought up, Suki perked her ears. It had been quite a while since she had even thought of the man, especially with everything falling apart around them.

    "Do you think that he's with Azula right now? If so don't you think we should just all go as a team?" Aang glanced upward towards her as they flew across the endless ocean. The constant questioning coming out of Suki made Aang feel odd. Just a few hours ago she seemed fully on board with the idea of leaving their friends behind, but after all of the questioning, it was clear that Suki was having second thoughts.

    "If you want Suki, I can go back and drop you off. However, I'm fully committed to finding Zuko and figuring out how to retake the Fire Nation. Think about it, if Azula and Long Feng have their hands on the capital, they most likely have their hands on the Fire Nation military. Regardless of whether they think it's right or wrong, the Fire Nation soldiers will heed to their demands, as their lives, and their family's lives will be on the line. Azula is ruthless Suki, and she won't let anything or anyone get in the way of her goals. If there's one positive thing about Azula, it's that she's driven. She'll never give up, no matter the odds." Suki popped her neck, attempting to quell the overwhelming stress that pent up in her neck and shoulders. Sure, she had agreed to this and she had one hundred percent confidence in Aang and his abilities, but that was when he was at one hundred percent. Judging by the look of him, he was lucky if he passed over the sixty percent mark. Katara's healing had done virtually nothing in terms of outside damage. His body was still riddled with bruises, his ribs were still protruding outward and still most likely broken. The damage that he had endured at the hands of Zhao was no joke, he truly went through hell.

    "No, you and I made a commitment to this plan and we are going to see this through. Call it nerves, I guess." Aang looked up once more and watched for any indication that Suki was lying in order to hide her true motives, however, Suki's face was covered in confidence as they flew closer and closer to the coast of the Fire Nation. The capital would only take a few more hours once they reached the shore, depending on flight conditions and any other extra variables. As the horizon of the Fire Nation coast came into view, all of the previous worries began to imprint themselves back into Suki's head.

    "Aang, I know that our original plan was to go into the capital, but don't you think Zuko would leave the capital with how overran it is. I mean, with Long Feng in control, they'll probably search every nook and cranny for him." Suki was right, there was no possible way that Zuko would be able to hide with Azula feeding Long Feng all the information about potential hiding spots for the Fire Lord. And on top of that, if Azula didn't have information about Zuko's possible whereabouts, he was sure that Ozai would. However, the overwhelming urge to exact his revenge against the psychotic firebender continued to plague his mind. Truth be told, the stories that Sokka and Katara had told about their previous battles had played in his mind over and over again. Thanks to those two, he was able to at least detail past battles, but of course, he still had no idea what had happened both before and after each one. Despite this, Aang knew that Azula was no good, constantly scheming for the inevitable threat of becoming the ruler of the entire world. Her and Ozai, both of them were the root of all evil. They were the image inside his head whenever he thought of the downfall of the Air Nomads. That guilt, that pain, all of it was laced with the image of them. Despite the fact that they themselves didn't kill the Air Nomads, they were still the image of that mindset, carrying out the mission set off by Firelord Sozin.