What If? (Zutara)

Chapter 11: Revelations (Part 1)

Sokka sat on deck, narrating the gang's tale till present. He told of their meeting with his father and the rest of the Water Tribe men, told of the Earth Kingdom's downfall, and how king Kuei had decided to roam the country with his bear. He told of how they had hijacked a Fire nation ship and used it as disguise rather than fight off every single one that had swarmed the bay.

Hakoda proceeded to inform Aang of the invasion plan they had come up with. Well, the plan Sokka had come up with, as Katara emphasized. They were to launch a small scale attack on the Fire nation during a solar eclipse, the Day of the Black Sun. It was a time period when the fire benders would lose their bending powers as long as the sun was covered. This meant that the royal family would be defenceless, and utterly at the mercy of the rebels, or so they hoped.

"It will only be us, our friends, family, and closest allies from around the Earth Kingdom. See we even ran into Pipsqueak and the Duke," Sokka mentioned, pointing them out.

"Hey, Aang," Pipsqueak drawled out in a low voice. Aang just gave him a small unsure smile.

"And best of all," Sokka looked around as if he were to share a big secret, "we have you!"

Aang looked at him perplexed.

"The whole world thinks you're dead! How great is that!" Sokka exclaimed in joy, not looking at the way Aang's eyes widened, shock taking over the features in his face as the information settled in.

This was bad. Everyone thought he was dead. They all thought that the world's last hope for peace was no more!

Aang voiced his thoughts as he started panicking. All the people who had kept their hopes on him, waiting for him to save them. What a pathetic avatar he was. Sokka tried to calm him as he explained exactly why this was to their advantage. Aang wasn't having any of it. Just then a Fire Nation ship blew its horn drawing all attention to itself. Aang unfurled his glider, "I'll handle this, they'll know then that the Avatar is back!"

"No Aang, they don't know we are not Fire Nation," Katara reasoned.

"Yeah, you'll only be doing more damage," Sokka commented.

Aang closed his glider with rage, the movement causing him to groan in pain.

Hakoda put on his helmet, motioning for another water tribe man to do the same. "Bato and I will handle this."

Despite their quick thinking during their encounter, the ship from the Western fleet realized something wasn't right and whispered of sinking the ship right after they got onto their own. Unfortunately for them, Toph, who was in close proximity, heard everything.

"They know!" She yelled as she grabbed the metal crossing plank and crushed it with her bending. The three envoys fell in the water along with the plank. Katara ran up to the side of the ship and summoned a huge wave, pushing it against the enemy ship to create distance and give them a head start as they sailed off.

That had been a close call.

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"Quack!"

A little turtle-duck chirped as Zuko tried to coax it to take the piece of bread from his hand. The mother watched from a distance, slowly swimming nearer, unsure of whether or not to trust her little one with an unknown stranger. Just as it took a little step out of the water, a giant shadow loomed above.

The little turtle-duck fell backwards into the water in shock. It's mother rushing over to take her baby back.

"Why do you look so downcast Zuko?" Azula drawled lazily, as she peered down at her older brother. A sense of déjà vu hit her. She remembered another time, another pond, other turtle-ducks, when she too had joined the woman and a scarless boy in feeding the little creatures. It had only taken her a few minutes before she had shot fire at a nearby plant as none of the animals had approached her, unlike her brother who had had them eating right out of his hand. She had then proceeded to shoot a flame at him and the animals. Her mom had reprimanded her as she had held Zuko's little hands as tears had run down his face.