Sunburn

33

"Again!" She barked instructing him to firebend at her with all of her might. She was leaning on her knees breathing hard, pushing herself to her physical limits.

"Tsai, it's sunrise. We should stop, maybe take a break. Doze off for a few?" Mecha said wiping some sweat off his furrowed brow. It was then that a loud humming filled the air. Doves and birds flocked away from the rumbling and the siblings stopped and ran to the edge of the courtyard just to witness a handful of Fire Nation air zeppelins ready to attack.

The building shook violently making the girl lose her balance and lean on her brother.

The Resistance who were sleeping in the level below were shaken awake by the violent explosion.

Bombs were hurled through the air the scent of powder filled the air as it quickly became clouded with dark soot.

Aang wasted no time in diving inside of the temple's chamber and airbending the massive doors shut protecting everybody that inside. Bombs resounded exploding outside rocking the foundation of the temple to its core.

"Where are Tsai and Mecha?" Aang looked around swiftly when he noticed the two empty sleeping rolls on the ground.

There was no time to look. The ceiling had already begun to crack. It only took another bomb for a piece of it to be dislodged and collapse.

Upstairs the siblings looked at the fleet in horror.

"I'd bet anything the Princess is inside one of those!" Mecha growled out, his fists clenched at the sides in fury. He gave a handful of steps back his eyes reflecting nothing but hatred as he once again became that dark being that to his sister was a stranger. "Go downstairs Tsai! You have to warn others!"

She was about to protest that they probably didn't need a warning when he sprinted forward and blindly leapt to the air ship.

Tsai shouted after him stunned as she almost stumbled over the ledge. That reckless idiot!

She ran down the stairs to the first level of the courtyard dodging the fiery shards of bombs and rubble that seemed to collapse all around her. She stood before the abyss for a moment gazing down in hesitation and fear before leaping into the cloudy mist below. The wind whipped her hair and stung her body before she roughly and very ungracefully landed on her stomach a top of a massive airship.

She groaned as she painfully struggled to her feet. Her eyes adjusting to the thick mist until she saw an array of flames being blasted nearby.

"You never listen!" Her brother shouted loudly over the wind as he fought off several Fire Nation soldiers.

She looked up and saw a handful of soldiers rapidly climbing to the top of the airship. She looked from side to side and realized she was cornered. She opened her fingers and stretched them a little as she braced herself for what was coming.

She instinctively dodged a fire blast that was directed her way and ran towards a soldier lowering her body she quickly elbowed his jaw up and ducked dodging another blast and kicking the same soldier's legs from underneath making him slip off the zeppelin and fall into the misty abyss below. She looked down and swallowed thickly at the thought of her own demise.

There was no time for that. She turned to see a fistful of flames coming her way and using the momentum of the attack stepped behind the attacker and simply lead him off the airship. It was then that she heard a loud thud and turned to see Zuko land on the roof of the zeppelin a couple of feet away from her.

Their confused expressions mirroring each other as they said each other's names out loud.

"What are you doing here?" He asked blasting a ball of fire at an attacking soldier that stood behind the girl. He seemed to be the last one. Her eyes remained focused on him. "What are youdoing here?"