The Girl They Won't Forget

The Promise, Part 7

"You have a message from the Kyoshi Warrior," Hung informed me. A messenger hawk was perched on his forearm as Hung held out a sheet of paper.

"Did you read it?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Hung responded in offense, then broke his poorly portrayed facade. "Yes... Saki, do you honestly think that this is a good idea? The Fire Lord won't be happy." After years of being an insufferably bitter middle-aged man, Hung had become a slightly more tolerable bitter middle-aged man by the time I was mobile again. His worn eyes were no longer filled with spite or annoyance when he looked at me.

"I wish everyone would stop asking me that," I groaned. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do you?" Hung asked nervously. "Fire Lord Zuko is expecting you to be by his side through this whole thing."

"And I will be."

"How?!" His voice cracked. "How can you possibly be in two places at once?"

"Don't you worry about it," I told him. "I've got everything handled."

He grumbled to himself, probably expressing his doubts, and turned away. I merely rolled my eyes and joined the others on deck. While Zuko was barking orders to his men, I kept myself quiet. I looked up at the sky and spotted a silent vessel above us.

Good, I thought with a nod. Everything was going according to plan.

I watched the balloon for a moment, then brought my gaze back to Zuko and the others. If I was lucky, Zuko's mind would be focused on this mission of his and forget about me in the chaos. If not, I suppose I would simply have to explain my disappearance.

I took a breath, hand over my forming protrusion, then ran for the edge of the ship. I leapt up and boosting myself off of the railing with my foot, then bent the water below me to carry me up to the hot air balloon.

With as much grace as an acrobatic prodigy, I landed in the basket of the balloon and smiled at the three faces in front of me.

"Right on time," Suki smiled back.

"Saki!" Sokka cried out with arms opened wide. "You're here! What are you doing here?"

Toph rolled her eyes. "Weren't you listening, meathead?" She asked. "Suki just said that she would be joining us soon." She gave her usual sly smile. "Good to see you again." She paused. "Wait... Why do I sense two people?"

Sokka watched me curiously, then looked the little earthbender. "Uh, Toph? I think your feet should get their eyes checked. Saki is the only one that joined us."

I laughed softly. "Actually," I said, catching his attention, "Toph isn't wrong." I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. As if knowing exactly what to do, the small baby squirmed at his touch. His eyes widened, a mix of emotions swimming around in those blue orbs of his.

"Congratulations." Toph nodded.

I smiled, releasing Sokka's hand and looking down at Zuko's ship. "Now, enough of this," I said. "We've got to stop Zuko before he starts an all-out war."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked. "What's Zuko up to?"

Suki frowned. "See for yourself."

With that, Sokka looked over the edge. Below us, Zuko and his army was marching to the village. Sokka gasped at the sight. Zuko was mounted on his Komodo rhino, leading his battalion of tanks and soldiers to Yu Dao.

"He's defending the Colony from the Earth King and his men," I explained.  "We have to stop this before it escalates any more."

"How are we gonna do that?" Toph asked.

Looking away from the parade of fighters, I met each questioning gaze. "What?" I asked. "Don't ask me; I'm never the idea person. Sokka is the idea guy."

Sokka brought his hand to his chin as he thought — and, just like that, we watched as a plan hatched in his mind.

We were crouched behind rocks on a ledge above the valley, the balloon deflating behind us. The parade of Fire Nation soldiers marched through just below us. As we waited for the time to take action, Suki explained what caused this entire situation.

"Quiet," I commanded, hushed. "It's time."

"Do you really think we can stop an entire army?" Sokka asked.

Suki nodded. "Hey, we stopped an entire air fleet before, haven't we?"

Sokka looked at me with an uncertain expression. Looking into his eyes, I could see that same horror that'd been there when I clung to his hand as I dangled over the sea. The same horror that consumed him as I let go.

"Forget about that moment," I told him. "I'm okay now, and you took down the fleet. That's what matters."

Sokka smiled weakly, pushing away whatever he was thinking and wanted to say. "Alright, step one: Toph, can you get us into one of those tanks undetected?"

"Not a problem," Toph responded. She stamped her foot into the dirt and rose her hands, making the ground shake beneath us. As she lifted a chunk of the earth and tossing it aside, we all looked into the new hole.

"What is that?" I asked.

"An underground slide that'll take us directly under Zuko's army!" Toph said, leaping into the hole and disappearing into the darkness. Her voice echoed as she called out, "Come on!"

Without a second thought, I hopped in behind her. Then came Sokka, and Suki behind him. We slid through the pitch black of the tunnel. Sokka's shrieks echoed behind me, and were interrupted by an Oof! when we landed at the bottom and he ran into me from behind.

"You've really been into slides lately," Sokka said as I helped him to his feet.

Toph snickered. "I enjoy hearing your girlish scream."

"That was Saki."

If I was able to see, I would have glared at him. Instead, I only said, "Hey!"

"It's so dark down here," Suki sighed. "I can hardly see anything!"

"Shush!" Sokka hissed. "Toph is really touchy about that!"

The ground around rumbled, catching our attention. "Quiet," Toph said, "all of you." She reached up, making a small hole in the dirt. Seconds later, she thrusted herself upward and pulled herself into the tank above us. Light and crumbling dirt spilled in. I cringed from the sudden sunlight and shielded my eyes as dust and dirt rained down on us.

Suki and Sokka pulled themselves through the new hole, then pulled me out. The tank in front of us was halted. It shook as Toph did whatever she was doing inside.

Suddenly, I was hunched over, hand over my stomach while the other covered my mouth. I wretched and gagged, eventually vomiting into the hole. Only six months left, I reminded myself. You can do this.

"Are you okay?" Suki asked, worried.

I took a few breaths and closed my eyes. "I'll be fine," I assured her. "It'll pass." I straightened myself again as Toph shouted for us to hurry. I inhaled deeply and ran for the tank, climbing in through the hatch.

"Now what?"

"Oh," Sokka frowned as we squeezed into the tank, "so just because I'm the idea guy, I need to have an idea?"

"Actually, I have one," I said. "Toph, how close do you have to be to metalbend something small?"

Toph thought for a moment. "If we're close enough for you to see it, we're close enough for me to bend it."

"Perfect," I said with a grin. "Suki, catch us up with the tanks, one at a time."

Sokka looked at me in amazement. "Whoa," he gawked, "I've never seen you take charge like that. What do you have in mind?"

"A lot," I answered. "Zuko won't know what hit him."