Nothing much has changed since the invasion first started, except for the fact that Hakoda was badly hurt and Katara needed to stay behind with him. Sokka and i headed back to the battlefield to see that we're still in the same zone, our team still trying their best to take our enemies down, but more Fire Nation soldiers are appearing by the minute.
Sokka, Toph and i were hidden by a broken tank, trying to come up with a new plan since our leader was absent.
"Dad!" Sokka startled me. I looked into the direction he was concentrating on, seeing Katara and Hakoda making their way towards us. Hakoda was still in bad shape and Katara was helping him walk.
"You're on your feet again!" I exclaimed as the three of us approached them.
"Yes, thanks to Katara. I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe there's another way i can help." Hakoda gently sat down, Katara helping him.
"Everything is going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet." Sokka explained the situation to his father.
"Let's hope our luck holds out."
"Katara, you're distracted." I noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Yeah, is that Aang?" Katara looked up at the sky and squinted.
"What?" We all copied, seeing Aang return to us on his glider.
"Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord is a big wimp and you didn't need to eclipse to take him down." Sokka begged as Aang landed in front of us.
"He wasn't home, no one was. The entire palace city is abandoned." Aang informed us.
"Oh no, they knew." My face turned pale. Why didn't i expect this?
"The Fire Lord is probably long gone, far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse." Aang theorized.
"No, i think i know where he is." I gathered everyone's attention. "He's in a secret bunker, no doubt. But, i'm not too sure how to get there. Toph needs to help me and use her earthbending to find it."
"Okay, The Mechanist gave me this timing device. We have ten minutes until the eclipse." Sokka pulled out a small electronic from his pocket, taking a good look at it. "Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."
"We can still do this! We can still win the day." Aang's positive attitude returned, and it was affecting the rest of us.
"Wait, if they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. We should use the time we have left to get everyone out of here safely." Katara made a good point, making me rethink the plan.
"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. If there's still a chance and hope, i think they would want Aang to go for it." Hakoda stated his opinion.
"What do you think, Aang? You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord." Sokka put all of the pressure on Aang. "Whatever you decide, i'm with you."
"I've gotta try." Aang agreed to stay, making me feel hopeful, but also scared.
Next thing we knew, Aang, Toph, Sokka and i mounted Appa as he took us to the high spot of the volcano surrounding the palace ground, hoping there we can find a way into the Fire Lord's secret lair. Katara stayed behind to be with Hakoda and the two of them will take care of our team.
"Do you feel anything?" Aang questioned Toph as we dismounted the bison.
"Yup, natural tunnels crisscrossing through the inside of the volcano." Toph used her hand to feel the earth around her.
"Anything else? A structure somewhere?" Sokka wondered.
"There's something big, dense and made of metal in the heart of the volcano."
"Yeah, that has to be it. I wish my family had a secret bunker. That way, i could've ran away from them whenever they were being annoying." I joked, then turned over and noticed that my friends didn't think it was very funny.
"It's not the right time, Mo." Toph lectured me before using earthbending to create a path under the volcano.
"Sokka literally gets away with making jokes whenever he wants." I crossed my arms and blew a strand of hair out of my face.
"Yeah, but you're not me." Sokka winked at me then followed Toph into the volcano.
"Stay safe, we'll be back soon." Aang told our pets before following Sokka.
"And no fighting, Hawky. I love you, little guy." I blew a kiss towards my hawk then joined my friends underground, before Toph sealed the hole completely.
"This way, that way is a dead end." Toph stopped us from going left, and directed us to go right instead.
"What would we do without you?" Sokka praised the earthbender.
"Perish in burning hot magma." Toph smirked as she pulled Sokka away from the lava that he almost walked into.
"Yeah, pretty much." He awkwardly retaliated.
"Oh, great. Lava geysers." I sarcastically commented as we reached a pit filled with a bunch of ways for us to die.
"The tunnel continues and it leads right to the bunker." Toph stated.
"We'll have to be fast and careful." Sokka took a step forward, then almost got melted into an eruption of magma that flew out of a geyser. If it weren't for Toph again for pulling him back, he wouldn't have survived.
"How was that careful?" I almost wanted to hit him for scaring me like that.
"I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful, and lucky." Sokka started running, then we followed. Fortunately none of us got hit by a geyser, but once we reached the other side, we were faced with a new problem.
"There's no floor! It's just a river of lava!" Sokka cried.
"Thanks, captain obvious." I was still mad at him for his stunt back at the geysers.
"Climb aboard and hold on tight." Aang whipped out his glider, surprising me completely.
"No way!" I refused.
"Okay, stay here."
"Okay, fine!" I groaned and held onto Aang's glider, Sokka and Toph grabbing onto it as well. He then leaped into the air, making us scream out of fear that we would fall off. I closed my eyes, and then suddenly i was back on the ground. I opened my eyes and realized that we made it through alive.
We all kept on running towards the direction Toph guided us to, until we reached a gigantic metal door.
"That's some door!" Sokka's eyes went wide.
"Yeah, Ozai must be hiding in there." I calculated, feeling glad that we made it this far.
Toph approached the door and immediately broke through it using metalbending.
"I'm so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka cheered, then followed us into the room.
Suddenly, a man popped up out of nowhere and began to shake in fear when he saw the four of us. We all pulled out our weapons, attempting to be even more intimidating.
"The Fire Lord's chamber is down the hall and up the stairs, you can't miss it!" He spoke very quickly, giving us the information we needed.
"Thanks!" Aang thanked the man and we continued making our way through the tunnels.
"Okay, nevermind. This is where Ozai is hiding." I awkwardly corrected myself as we reached another door, only this one was fancier and contained the fire insignia on it.
"I'm ready to face the Fire Lord!" Aang shouted then busted the door open using airbending.
"So, you're alive after all." The one and only Azula was sitting on a throne in the middle of the chamber. Aang and Sokka had extremely shocking looks on their faces, as Toph and i kept our cool.
"I had a hunch that you survived, but it doesn't matter. I've known about the invasion for months." Azula stared at us creepily, an evil smile forming on her face.
"This is totally something you would do, and we fell right into it. Congratulations, Azula." I growled at her, but she kept on smiling.
"Hi, best friend!" She greeted me in a chirpy voice. "What did you do to your hair? It doesn't suit you."
"Enough! Where is Ozai?"
"You mean, i'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings."
"Stop wasting our time and give us the information we need." Sokka threatened and pointed his sword at Azula.
"You're powerless, Azula. The eclipse already started." I copied Sokka and pulled out my sword.
"Also, stick to the truth. I can tell when you're lying." Toph mentioned, even though nothing we said was affecting Azula at all.
"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar." Azula stood up from her seat and approached us slowly. "I am a four hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."
"Okay, you're good, i admit it." Toph clenched her fists, then used earthbending to create a trap against Azula so she couldn't move any further. "You might consider telling the truth anyways."
Suddenly, the trap Toph created around her crushed up and broke off, confusing us all. Azula just stood there, unbothered and brushed the dirt off of her shoulders.
"When i left Ba Sing Se, i brought home some souvenirs." Azula gave us a crooked smile once again. "Dai Li agents."
Two Dai Li agents jumped down from the ceiling, and landed beside her. Immediately, Aang sent a big gust of wind over to them but they dodged it using an earth wall they built up.
~
"For so long, all i ever wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that i wanted, but i was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a thirteen year old boy to an agni kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"
"It was to teach you respect!"
"It was cruel, and it was wrong!"
"Then you've learned nothing."
"No, i've learned everything and i've had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. Somehow, that the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified of the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us, and we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. If we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."
"Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"
"Yes, he has."
~
We continued to fight the Dai Li, but they were besting us. Toph was doing a greater job of taking care of them, since she's also an earthbender.
"You're going down, Azula!" I avoided the Dai Li as much as i could and charged at the princess while she was still helpless. Every time i attempted to get a hit on her with my sword, she would either dodge my attack or the Dai Li would get in my way. It's too bad i couldn't bend lightning right now. Then again, Azula can't either. She began to run away from us and entered the hallway and i quickly followed. I glanced behind me and noticed that Aang, Toph and Sokka were copying me, chasing Azula in the process.
"We can't pin her down, she's too quick!" Aang grunted as he ran.
"Everyone stop!" I raised my voice, making everyone in the scene pause what they've been doing. "I know what she's doing now. She's playing us, she's not even trying to win this fight."
"Not true, bestie. I'm giving it my all." Azula rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.
"You're trying to waste our time!" Toph acknowledged.
"Right, i think Motoko just said that, genius." Azula insulted Toph. "And since you can't see, i guess i should tell you i'm rolling my eyes."
"I'll roll your whole head!"
"She's just baiting you again." Sokka placed his hand on Toph's shoulder, calming her down. "Ignore her and let's keep moving."
"So, Sokka's your name right?" Azula gained Sokka's attention, making him glare at her. "My favourite prisoner used to mention you all the time. She was convinced you were going to rescue her. Of course, you never came, and she gave up!"
Sokka sprinted towards Azula and held her up by her neck. He was fuming with rage.
"Where is Suki?" Sokka demanded, but Azula didn't answer him.
~
"After i leave here, i'm gonna free Uncle Iroh from his prison, and i'm going to beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who's been a real father to me."
"That's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."
"But, i've come to an even more important decision."
...
"I'm going to join the avatar, show Motoko how much i love her, and i'm going to help them defeat you."
"Really? Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, and you've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?"
"Because i know my own destiny. Taking you down is the avatar's destiny. Goodbye."
~
"Answer me!" Sokka shouted in Azula's face, but no luck.
"She won't tell you, Sokka. It's all just a distraction and you know it." I tried to relax Sokka and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Where are you keeping her?" Sokka ignored me and continued to interrogate Azula.
"Oh! Sounds like the firebending is back on!" Azula escaped from Sokka's grip and blasted a flame of hot blue fire towards him, making me push him out of the way so it wouldn't touch him.
"Ouch!" The fire hit my stomach instead, making me fall back in pain.
"Mo!" Sokka sobbed and rushed over to me.
"I'm okay. It just hurts so much."
"I'm so sorry, Motoko."
"Dad's at the end of the hall, then down a stairway on the left. I'm sure he'd be more that happy to see you." Azula let out a large, evil laugh then ran away, leaving us all there, feeling like idiots.
"I can't believe i fell for it, i got Motoko hurt!" Sokka grabbed his head and panicked.
"I'm fine, just please, shut up." I whispered as i stood up, then felt a sharp pain on my stomach again.
"Let's see it." Aang ordered as he approached me.
I lifted up my robe, not even bothering to hide my undergarments. After all, this is a serious matter.
"Yeah, that's going to scar." Aang frowned, then gave me a sympathetic look.
"It'll go away, the pain is already decreasing." I reassured them, but i might have been lying. I'm hoping Toph won't call me out on that.
"This wasn't anyone's fault. Azula was ready for us and she had everything planned out." Toph stressed, then grabbed Sokka's arm, trying to make him feel better.
"I think i should face the Fire Lord anyway." Aang changed the topic, shocking us all.
"No, it's not happening Aang. It's not a good idea." I disapproved.
"What we need to do now, is go help our friends, Aang." Toph took my side.
"I guess you guys are right." Aang gave up.
"You'll have another chance, i know you will." I hugged Aang, then winced as my injured stomach touched him.
"That it, you're getting healed by Katara and i'm not taking no for an answer." Sokka snapped.
"I know, i don't have a choice." I silently whimpered.
~
Once we left the tunnels and joined everyone else, dozens of Fire Nation blimps destroyed our submarines completely so it was impossible for all of us to escape. Hakoda and the adults volunteered to stay behind and surrender, while the kids all mounted Appa so we could all leave in one piece together. Katara healed my stomach the first chance she got. The pain is gone, but i'm always going to have a mark down there. As of now, we are on our way to the Western Air Temple to hide out and stay safe for the next while.