A/N: Lowkey hate this chapter but oh well. I kinda wish I'd gone with the other option for this chapter but it's done now and we all have to deal with it ig
. . .
Aang, Sokka and Katara continued their flight to the Water Tribe Camp.
"You haven't seen your dad in over two years. You must be so excited!" the Avatar exclaimed, turning to the siblings with a grin.
Sokka clutched his stomach, looking to be on the verge of throwing up. "I know I should be, but I just feel sick to my stomach."
"I know what you mean," Katara agreed, a grim expression on her face. "I haven't been this nervous since Y/n tried to do a flip off that cliff..."
"Hey, you've got nothing to be worried about. He's going to be so happy to see you!" Aang gave them a bright smile, which they weakly managed to return.
"So, what about you?" Sokka asked, partially because he was interested and partially because he wanted a distraction from his nausea. "Are you nervous to meet this guru?"
"Not at all. I'm ready to master the Avatar State. I'll do whatever it takes."
Katara smiled. "I'm sure it'll go great, Aang."
"Yeah, you got this."
"Thanks." The three of them embraced before the siblings hopped off Appa. Aang grinned, shooting them a wave. "See you in a week. Yip yip!"
The pair watched them fly off into the distance until they were nothing more than a speck in the open sky. Katara turned to her brother, gently nudging him in the side.
"You ready for this?"
"Not in the slightest," he replied, taking a deep breath. "Let's go."
They walked into the camp where the warriors gave them warm greetings.
"Sokka, Katara!" a man exclaimed, a smile splitting his face. "It's good to see you."
As they passed, they received several waves and smiles, welcoming words, and a few teasing remarks. At last, they made it to the main tent; their father's tent.
When Sokka froze, staring at the tent with wide eyes, Katara stepped forwards to pull the tarp aside. Inside, they saw Hakoda studying a map with more warriors, including Bato, who had new scars on his arm.
Bato noticed them first and he smiled, giving Hakoda a nudge. He turned, and his face immediately brightened upon seeing his children.
"Sokka. Katara," he whispered, sounding slightly breathless. There was a glimmer in his eyes, like he was trying to stop himself from welling up with emotion. Both Sokka and Katara found themselves blinking back tears.
"Hi, Dad," Sokka said, voice cracking in spite of his best efforts to sound as manly as possible. But he soon discovered that he didn't really care.
Hakoda closed the distance between them quickly, and the next thing they knew, the siblings were wrapped up in their father's arms. They squeezed him back just as tightly.
"I've missed you two so much..."
. . .
Back at the Earth King's palace, the 'Kyoshi Warriors', who were actually Azula, Mai and Ty Lee in disguise, knelt before King Kuei.
"Look Bosco! The Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us! Aren't you excited?" Bosco yawned. "It's been a difficult week for me. My most trusted adviser, Long Feng, and his Dai Li agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se from me."
"It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you," Azula said.
"But there is good news. As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer, on the day of a solar eclipse."
For a second, the princess' eyes slightly widened in shock and worry, but she was quick to hide it again.
"Really? Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan."
The three girls exchanged concerned glances.
. . .
You sat around a tactics table at the Council of Five meeting, with Momo perched on your shoulder, discussing the invasion plan.
"General Fong's base will serve as the launching point for the attack," General How explained. "In exactly two months, the army and navy will invade the Fire Nation on the Day of the Black Sun."
You startled slightly, causing Momo to fall from your shoulder and knock over some of the pieces on the board. "General Fong?!"
General How raised an eyebrow at your outburst and you sheepishly picked Momo up, standing the fallen pieces back up.
"Yes. You know him?"
"Yeah, we've met," you replied bitterly. You thought back to when he tried to force Aang into the Avatar State and sank Katara into the ground. "You're really sending the Kingdom's finest on this mission, huh?"
"Is there going to be a problem?" How asked, catching on to your sarcasm.
"Not unless he starts one."
"Then it's settled." General How sent the scroll across the table to you. "All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan."
You barely managed to suppress an eye roll as you picked up the parchment. You were a warrior, not a mailman.
"Right. I'll get these scrolls to him immediately," you said, rising to your feet and walking out the door. You sighed in frustration once you were out. You were not going to survive a whole week in this palace without your friends...
. . .
Azula, Mai and Ty Lee were stationed in a small building in the Upper Ring. Mai and Ty Lee were removing their make-up. A smiling Ty Lee looked in a mirror, wiping the last traces of her Kyoshi makeup from her face. Mai was seated next to Ty Lee, still working on her own face.
"We have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity, girls," Azula said.
"Mai finally gets to wear make-up that's not totally depressing?" Ty Lee suggested.
"Ha, ha," Mai said sarcastically, with large, dark splotches of black makeup dripping down her eyes.
"I'm talking about conquering the whole Earth Kingdom," Azula said as casually as one would say they're going to get tea. The two girls looked at her in shock. "For one hundred years, the Fire Nation has hammered away at Ba Sing Se from the outside. But now we're on the inside, and we can take it by ourselves."
"Gosh, you're so confident," Ty Lee said. "I really admire that about you."
"From the inside, we're in perfect position to organise a coup and overthrow the Earth King. The key is the Dai Li. Whoever controls the Dai Li controls Ba Sing Se."
. . .
"You mean to tell me you challenged a waterbending master to a fight?" Hakoda asked, looking at his daughter in disbelief. She smiled sheepishly.
"And she nearly won," Sokka said proudly. "Pakku kinda beat her in the end, but he eventually agreed to teach her."
"You and the Avatar trained under this Master Pakku together? My daughter. Learning alongside the Avatar..." Hakoda mused, practically oozing with pride.
"Well, not exactly," Katara said, slightly bashful. "After a few lessons, Master Pakku said I was his best student and that I had learned pretty much everything he had to teach me. He passed Aang's training off to me. He wasn't having a lot of luck teaching him anyway."
"Wait, so you're the Avatar's waterbending master?"
"Well, technically... yes."
"Incredible..." Hakoda breathed. "I always knew you were talented, Katara, but to become a master so young..."
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm there yet," she said, laughing awkwardly, unsure of how to react to her father's praise. She smiled and grabbed Sokka. "But have you heard about what this guy's done? He invented a giant air balloon!"
Hakoda turned to his son in shock. "I've seen sketches of this new airship... You invented that?"
"Well, I can't take all the credit," Sokka said, but there was a proud smile on his face. "But I worked out the hard part. The trick was to put a lid on it so air could be released to control how you move up and down..."
Hakoda laughed heartily, clapping Sokka on the back. "I always knew you would grow to be a genius, Sokka. Just like your father."
The boy grinned. "Well, I did learn from the best."
"Bato told me there was another boy who travelled with you," Hakoda said, thoughtful. "I believe his name was... W/n?"
"It's Y/n," Sokka corrected, turning to his sister with a sly smile. "And I think I'll let Katara tell you all about him."
The waterbender turned to her brother in alarm, and Hakoda looked between them with a raised eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hakoda inquired, although he had a pretty good idea. "Has this boy caught your eye, Katara?"
"Oh my God, Sokka, you're literally the worst," Katara grumbled, burying her face in her hands as Sokka cackled evilly. This was not how she wanted her dad to find out about her crush. "I didn't out your thing with Suki."
Sokka suddenly stopped laughing, his father's attention now on him. "Oh? Have you got yourself a girlfriend, son?"
He gulped loudly, nervously tugging on his collar. "Well, you see─"
"Hakoda, I'm sorry to interrupt," a warrior cut in, bursting into their tent. "But our scouts just spotted four Fire Nation ships!"
The siblings didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed by the interruption. Their father rose to his feet, all hints of a smile gone.
"Get our mines loaded up and tell the rest of the men to prepare for battle!" he ordered. The warrior nodded and sped out to relay the command.
"Uhh... what should we do, Dad?" Sokka asked.
"Aren't you listening? I said, 'The rest of you men, get ready for battle'." Hakoda turned to his daughter, whose head had dropped dejectedly. "You too, Katara. I can't wait to see a waterbending master in action."
Both children's faces lit up at once and they nodded before departing. Hakoda watched them go with a proud smile.
. . .
Back at the palace, two Dai Li agents hid on two pillars and secretly spied on a conversation between Mai and Ty Lee. The former was sitting on the stairs and the latter was practicing chi-blocking and acrobatics.
Mai sighed. "I'm tired of wearing this girly disguise. I don't know how anyone could fight in this."
"Maybe that's why it was so easy to beat the Kyoshi Warriors and take their clothes," Ty Lee said. She punched the air, imitating her chi-blocking.
"How much longer do we have to serve the Earth King? If I have to clean up one more pile of bear poop, I'm going to throw up."
Ty Lee walked on her hands. "Princess Azula promised we would go back to the Fire Nation as soon as we captured the Avatar. We just have to be patient."
Mai suddenly stood up. "Shush up! Do you want the whole palace to know we're Fire Nation?"
"Sorry!"
The agents smiled and climbed away. Azula, who was hiding behind another pillar, walked up to them.
"Good work, girls," she praised. "I'm sure the Dai Li will deliver the message."
. . .
You walked through the streets of Ba Sing Se with Momo by your side, grumbling to yourself.
"Can't believe they've got me running errands..." you mumbled in annoyance and Momo chittered in agreement. You suddenly paused when you caught a strong whiff of tea, and looked over to see a small shop called the Jasmine Dragon. "That smells good... Eh, what the hell? The King will have to wait a little longer for his messenger pigeon."
You walked into the shop, but immediately froze when you heard familiar voices shouting to each other.
"Uncle!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Prince Zuko yelled. "I need two jasmine, one green, and one lychee!"
"I'm brewing as fast as I can!" Iroh called back. Your eyes widened in surprise and you staggered backwards before turning and running away from the shop.
The Fire Nation were in the city.
. . .
At the top of the temple, Aang sat with Guru Pathik.
"This is the last chakra, isn't it?" Aang asked the old man.
"Yes. Once you open this chakra, you will be able to go in and out of the Avatar State at will and when you are in the Avatar State, you will have complete control and awareness of all your actions."
Aang smiled and nodded, determined. "Let's do this."
"The Thought Chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world." Images of Aang having fun with his friends appeared before him. "Now, let all of those attachments go. Let them flow down the river, forgotten."
Aang came out of his meditation. "What? Why would I let go of my friends? I... I love them!"
"Learn to let them go, or you cannot let the pure cosmic energy flow in from the universe."
"Why would I choose cosmic energy over my family?" he demanded, throwing his hands up. "How could it be a bad thing that I feel an attachment to them? Three chakras ago that was a good thing!"
"You must learn to let go."
Aang worriedly contemplated the old man's words.
. . .
You arrived back at the palace, the invasion plan hidden securely underneath your shirt. On your way to see the Earth King, you saw the Kyoshi Warriors. Your face lit up, and you were about to approach them, when two Dai Li agents suddenly showed up and led Suki away. Your eyes narrowed and you began to stealthily follow them, sticking to the shadows.
The Dai Li agents led Azula into the palace's prison. She was taken to Long Feng's cell. You pressed your back against the wall a few cells down from them, curious and confused, and stayed quiet as you listened.
"What is this about?" Suki asked. She sounded different from how you remembered her. Maybe she had a fever? "Your agents show up in the middle of the night and drag me down here? You will not treat a Kyoshi Warrior this way!"
Long Feng stood up. "But you're not a Kyoshi Warrior, are you, Princess Azula of the Fire Nation?"
Your eyes widened in shock. Princess Azula was here too? How? Why? Why was she impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors? What happened to Suki and the real warriors?!
"What do you want?" Azula demanded.
"I want to make a deal. It's time that I regain control of Ba Sing Se and you have something I need."
"Oh?"
"The Earth King's trust."
"Why should I help you?" Azula inquired sceptically.
"Because I can get you the Avatar."
Azula smirked. "I'm listening..."
And so were you, but nobody knew that. You listened with growing horror as Long Feng explained his plan to overthrow the Earth King by taking out him and the Council of Five simultaneously. You only became more troubled when you heard that he would temporarily be handing control of the Dai Li over to the princess.
When Azula finally left, escorted by two Dai Li agents, you ducked into an empty cell and hid in the corner of the room, out of sight. Your mind was racing as you tried to figure out what to do.
Logically, you knew you should warn the Earth King and the Council what they were planning. But even if you did do that, what would it accomplish? They had no power, no influence, no nothing. The Dai Li were loyal to Long Feng. The best way to put a pin in their plans would be to eliminate him.
And you'd be lying if you said you weren't still hungry for revenge.
You closed your eyes and concentrated, feeling for any heat signatures. You felt two Dai Li agents stationed outside Long Feng's cell. The Dai Li clearly weren't worried about him escaping, knowing that he was just biding his time.
You crept out of your hiding place, staying close to the wall as you approached the nearest guard. You wrapped your arms around his neck from behind, covering his mouth with your hand to muffle his screams. You violently jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck, and he went silent. Unfortunately, the crack alerted the other guard of your presence. He earthbent a rock fist at you, but you weaved out of the way, drawing your sword and slashing him across the chest. He cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground holding his wounded chest. It didn't take long for him to bleed out, and you quickly hauled the men's bodies into an empty cell. You took the keys to the prison before covering their bodies with a blanket from the bed.
Then you walked up to Long Feng's cell. The man was holding onto the metal bars, trying to see what the commotion was all about. The moment you came into view, his eyes widened in horrified recognition, then narrowed into a glare.
"You," he sneered.
"Me," you snarled. You shoved the keys into the lock and threw the cell door open, stepping inside. As you got closer, Long Feng moved backwards.
"I don't suppose you're here to free me, are you?"
Your scowl deepened. "No. You don't get to walk free when my people don't."
"I don't understand why you are so hung up on their deaths. You are strong, much stronger than they ever were, ever could be. Why waste your time thinking about weaklings?"
You suddenly lunged towards him, gripping his throat in your hand and squeezing. You heated up your hand and he cried out in pain as he was burned.
"You're the weak one," you hissed angrily. "You're so weak that you had to murder innocent people to feel better about yourself, to convince yourself that you were doing something. And now, you hide behind your army of agents, tell yourself that you're some great puppetmaster, but that's a lie. You're just a pawn yourself. Your fate is in my hands now."
All Long Feng could do was wheeze. You snarled, tightening your grip on his throat. The stench of burning flesh filled the room.
"You're pathetic," you spat. "You called my people weak, but what does that make you? Who's weak now, Long Feng?"
"You..." He managed to choke out, his hands desperately clawing at your wrist. "Will... Pay..."
"The only person who's going to pay is you," you said, releasing your grip on him and shoving him backwards. He landed roughly on the floor and descended into a violent coughing fit, clutching his burnt throat. "And the only payment I will accept is your life."
And with that, you swung your sword, slicing Long Feng's head clean off. Blood sprayed out of his severed neck as his body fell limply to the side. His head rolled across the ground. You watched as red pooled around his lifeless form, and tried to convince yourself this wasn't a mistake.
He killed your people, you reminded yourself. He killed hundreds of innocent people and didn't feel even an ounce of guilt or regret. He gave the order that killed them all, and then had the audacity to call them weak. He said dying was the most meaningful thing they could have done. He didn't deserve to live when they didn't. He deserved to die.
Now, your people had finally been avenged.
And yet, you felt nothing. Not satisfaction or relief or even remorse. Just... nothing.
Stoically, you knelt down beside the puddle of blood surrounding Long Feng's decapitated body. You smeared some of his blood on your fingers, then stood and approached the cell wall, and began to paint.
. . .
You walked hastily through the palace, trying to get to the Earth King. Now that your mind wasn't so clouded by a desire for revenge, and you were thinking more clearly, you'd realised that it was a mistake not warning him about the coup straight away. He might not have any power over the Dai Li, but he was still the King, and you still needed to protect him. Or at the very least, get him the hell out of here because anything could happen.
Unfortunately, you were halted in your tracks by the last people you wanted to see; the fake Kyoshi Warriors.
"Oh Y/n, there you are!" Princess Azula exclaimed in a terrible impression of your friend. "We were just looking for you. We were hoping you could fill us in on the invasion plan."
You turned around to face her, forcing a smile of your own. "Of course. But first, I was hoping you could tell me something."
"What is it?"
You walk closer to her, your happy expression falling with each step. "What the hell did you do to Suki?"
Surprise flashed across Azula's face for a moment. Then she smirked. "So, you're not quite as dull as you initially appear."
"Oh, you haven't heard nothing yet," you said, glaring at her. "I know what you're planning, princess. But I'm not going to let you overthrow the Earth King. I don't know where Zuko fits into all of this yet, but when I figure it out, I swear I'll─"
"Zuzu is in the city?" Azula interjected, shocked.
You blinked, faltering slightly. "You... didn't know that?"
Azula didn't respond. Instead, she looked at one of the other Kyoshi Warrior impersonators with a plait, who immediately lunged towards you. Ty Lee was fast, but so were you, and you knocked aside the arm that went to jab at your shoulder.
"Shit," you muttered under your breath as you raised your hands in a defensive posture. You'd really fucked up this time. You and your big fucking mouth.
Azula blasted searing blue fire at you, which you dodged, before being forced to roll out of the way of an incoming knife. You rose to your feet, exchanging swift blows with Ty Lee before you managed to kick her away.
You shot flames at Azula, recognising her as the biggest threat. She nimbly dodged and you ran towards her, but were forced to stop when a line of stilettos were suddenly hurled at you. You somersaulted out of the way and landed in a crouching position before charging again, this time aiming for Mai. She drew back her arm, preparing to throw another blade at you, but you caught her wrist and twisted, causing the weapon to clatter to the ground.
You were forced to release your grip on her and jump back as an arc of blue flames was shot between you. Mai gave Azula a withering look as she narrowly dodged the blast, but didn't say anything.
The trio surrounded you. Azula got into a firebending stance, Mai drew another knife and Ty Lee raised her fists. All at once they prepared to attack, and you grit your teeth. Just as they moved to strike, you raised your arms and engulfed yourself in a cocoon of flames. Azula's fire blast dissipated harmlessly against it, Mai's knife melted and Ty Lee was forced to flip backwards to avoid being burned.
When the flames finally fizzled out, you were gone.
Azula's eyes went wide for a brief moment, but her surprised expression quickly crumpled into a scowl. "Find him! We can't let him inform the Earth King of what we're planning!"
The girls split up to search for you. You held your breath from where you hid behind a large pillar. You stayed perfectly still until the sound of footsteps faded away. You looked at Momo, who was perched on your shoulder, and quickly took the invasion plan out of your shirt and tied it around Momo.
"Get this as far away from the palace as possible, okay?" you whispered to the flying lemur. "Quickly. Go!"
Momo squawked and then hopped off your shoulder and flew away. You watched him until he was out of sight, and whilst you were distracted, you didn't notice that the girls had circled back around and were coming up behind you.
You ran out from behind your hiding spot, but almost immediately staggered back as a wall of fire suddenly shot up in front of you, and you whirled around to see Azula standing behind you with a smug smile on her face. You scowled before turning back around and pushing your hands apart, creating a gap in the wall for you to escape through.
But you didn't make it far as you were immediately met by Mai and Ty Lee, the latter of which hit you with several quick jabs to your back and arms. You immediately lost feeling in your upper limbs as they went limp at your side.
You grit your teeth, leaping into the air and kicking waves of fire at the nonbenders, forcing them back. You shakily landed back on your feet, struggling to keep your balance without the use of your arms. Ty Lee charged again, jabbing at you, and you wildly jerked your body to the sides to avoid the strikes.
A foot suddenly swept your legs out from under you, causing you to tumble to the floor. You attempted to push yourself up without your arms, but a weight on your back pinned you down.
"You're not going anywhere," Azula sneered from above you. You grunted in frustration, but you couldn't retaliate. You couldn't move any of your body.
"Sorry about this, cutie," Ty Lee apologised. "I love the new hair, by the way. It really suits you."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Ty Lee."
"Right. He's our enemy. Sorry."
Azula smirked, pushing her foot harder against your back, your cheek pressing against the cold ground. "So, Zuzu's in the city, too? I think it's time for a family reunion."
Ty Lee grabbed your arms and Mai took hold of your legs, lifting your limp body up off the ground. You were completely helpless as they began to drag you to who knew where.
"Princess Azula," a male voice suddenly intervened. The girls all turned to see a Dai Li agent approaching.
"What is it?" she snapped. "I thought we agreed to meet tomorrow."
"I'm afraid there's been a change of plans, princess. Long Feng is dead," he revealed, and all three girls looked dumbfounded. The man ducked down to bow to her. "The Dai Li are now completely loyal to you. We are at your service, princess."
Azula recovered from her initial shock, a slow smirk appearing on her painted lips. "Excellent."
Yeah, you really fucked up.
. . .
"I'm sorry," Aang apologised to Guru Pathik. "But I can't let go of my friends. They're everything to me."
"Aang, to master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras. Surrender yourself."
Aang frowned... then relented. "Okay. I'll try."
"Now think of your attachments and let them go. Let the pure cosmic energy flow."
Aang saw an image of him letting everyone go, and a bridge that would lead him to Avatar State mastery. His image looked down, smiled at the bridge, and walked up to the Avatar Spirit, which was an enlarged image of himself in the Avatar State. The Avatar Spirit held a ball of energy, and Aang walked directly inside of it. As he did so, his tattoos glowed, and he shut his eyes.
But right before he was able to completely open the final chakra and master the Avatar State, he heard an angry yell and saw a vision of you in chains.
At this, he jumped out of the energy sphere and ran away from the Avatar Spirit. The energy bridge that led him there slowly vanished behind him until it caught up and fell from underneath him, causing his image to plummet towards Earth. This cut his connection to the Avatar State, which forced him back to reality.
"Y/n's in danger!" he exclaimed, panicked. "I have to go!"
"No, Aang! By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"
Aang hesitated for a moment... then he left anyway, leaving Pathik concerned and disappointed.
. . .
Aang appeared above the Water Tribe camp just as Sokka, Katara and their father were preparing to board their ship to attack the Fire Nation. He touched down on the ground, a clear look of concern on his face.
"This can't be good," Sokka muttered as he approached them.
"What is it, Aang?" Katara asked, worried by his silence.
"It's Y/n," he answered grimly. "He's in trouble."
Katara eyes widened and she lunged forwards to grab Aang by the shoulders, shaking him frantically. "What happened? How do you know? Where is he? Who's hurting him?!"
"I don't know! But I saw a vision of him in chains, and─" That was all Katara needed to hear. She marched towards Appa, but then paused, glancing back at her father apologetically.
Hakoda just smiled in understanding. "Go and save your friend. I want a chance to meet the boy who's managed to win my little girl's heart."
Katara's cheeks flushed and she nodded, running back to give her father one last hug. Sokka did the same, before they both climbed atop Appa.
They had a friend to save.