Konno let out a breath of relief as Hakoda finally stood up. He leaned against Katara for support, so Konno stepped under his other arm to help as well. Her eyes flicked over at the battle, trying to find Sokka in the fray. Even though she was worried about Hakoda, she was more worried about Sokka. She wouldn't know what to do if he didn't make it. That would probably be the thing that killed her. Thinking about him dying made tears prick her eyes. She couldn't imagine a life without him now.
"We can't move any faster, Dad," Katara said. "Stop trying to push yourself."
"I'm fine," Hakoda said. He winced in pain, and the three of them had to stop walking. Earlier, Konno suggested that they should get back to the main battalion so they wouldn't be sitting ducks.
"You're not fine," Konno told him. "You have to take it easy right now. You're not fully healed."
Hakoda sighed. He hung his head and said, "I do not like this at all. I'm normally the one who helps others, not the one being helped."
"Life is full of new things," Konno said. She thought about all that had happened in her life - all the good and bad things. They made her who she was, even if they nearly destroyed her in the end. Yet she survived everything that was thrown at her. She would continue to survive until she could take matters into her own hands. "Whether you like it or not, you have to live with the changes."
Katara looked over at Konno with a proud look on her face. "Trust her on that, Dad."
"I feel like I'm missing something," he said, chuckling, "but okay."
The three of them walked slowly toward where she thought their mission base was. She wasn't really sure, but Hakoda seemed to know where he was guiding them. She trusted him. As hard as it was for her to trust before, she didn't have any trouble trusting him. Maybe it was because the Girl was falling faster than it had before. When she let go of most of her fears, the Girl started crumbling at a quicker rate than what it was doing before. Konno wasn't going to protect herself from these people who would never purposefully hurt her. She didn't need to.
"Dad!" Sokka yelled once they made it through the plaza's large doorways. Toph and Sokka ran toward them as Katara and Konno helped Hakoda sit down. "You're on your feet again."
"Thanks to your sister," Hakoda said with a nod. "I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help."
Konno stood by Sokka's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer just so he could press a quick kiss to the top of her head. Relief spread through her chest at the sight of him without a single scratch on him. He was okay. Of course he was. Yue wouldn't let anything happen to him.
"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," Sokka said. He sounded hopeful that things were finally going to go right. She hoped he was right.
"Let's hope our luck holds out," Hakoda said, mirroring her very own thoughts. His eyes focused on Katara who had a confused look on her face as she stared out into the distance. She took a few steps forward. "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," Katara said. Her voice seemed distant, like she was thinking about something else. "Is that . . . is that Aang?"
"What?" Sokka asked.
Both him and Konno took a step forward. She squinted at the bright sky and saw Aang gliding toward them. He kept dodging numerous fireballs. A quick blast of air hit them as he landed in front of them. There was something in eyes gray eyes that didn't sit well with Konno. She knew something was wrong.
"Please tell me you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp," Sokka said hopefully, "and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?"
"He wasn't home. No one was," Aang said. He turned around and viewed the Fire Nation Palace with wide eyes. "The entire palace city is abandoned."
Konno would have fallen down if Sokka weren't holding onto her shoulders. When things seemed to be going right, everything had to fall into the deep end of the rushing water. If Aang was right, she wouldn't be able to go home tomorrow with Sokka. The war wouldn't be over, and they would have to go back to step one.
"They knew," Sokka said. All trace of hope was gone from his voice now.
"It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone," Aang said, throwing up his arms. He ran a hand over his bald head, almost like he forgot that he didn't have hair anymore. "Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."
"No." Sokka surprised her. She didn't think that he would say that, but he stood his ground. "My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."
"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it," Toph said, jumping into the conversation. Konno's insides twisted when she saw the young girl, but she ignored it. She definitely didn't want to be mad at her right now; she didn't need to be.
Sokka slipped his arm off of her shoulders before pulling out a small device from his pocket. It ticked softly in his hand. There was a dial with notches on one section of it. "What is that?" Konno asked him.
"The Mechanist gave me this timing device," Sokka explained. "It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."
"We can still do this," Aang said. The defeated look on his face slowly morphed into determination. "We can still win the day."
Konno didn't really agree. All the hope in her chest bottomed out, leaving her drowning in her doubts. "It could be a trap," Konno said uneasily.
"That's what I was thinking," Katara said, sharing a worried look with Konno. "Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely." Those words sent a shiver down Konno's spine. She had a feeling that their whole group wouldn't be able to get away in time.
"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission," Hakoda said from where he was sitting. "They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it."
"What do you think? You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord," Sokka said, facing Aang. "Whatever you decide, I'm with you."
Aang faced the battlefield. "I've got to try."
While Aang and Toph busied themselves with getting some supplies and getting Appa ready, Sokka turned to Konno. He took her hands in his and asked, "Are you going to come with us, or are you going to stay with Katara?"
Konno didn't know what to say. Her mind was telling her to stay with Katara, but her heart was telling her to go with Sokka. Something deep in her soul pushed her toward him more, so she quickly said, "I'll come with you."
"Okay. Do you still have your knife?"
"Uh, no," she said, chuckling to herself. "I used it to blow up the catapult."
"She can take my club," Hakoda called, making her and Sokka turn to face him. He held up the club with a soft smile on his face. "I obviously don't need it now."
"Oh, I can't take that," Konno said awkwardly. "I'll be fine."
"I'd rather you have it," Sokka said. "I want you to be able to defend yourself."
"Sokka is right," Hakoda agreed.
Konno reached out and took the club from Hakoda. She quickly threw her arms around him before she could talk herself out of it. He gave her a one-armed hug because of his injured side. "You two be careful," he said once she pulled away. "Take care of each other, okay?"
"We always do," Sokka said. His gaze never left Konno's. "And we always will."
The two of them turned around to find Katara waiting behind them. She hugged Sokka tightly, whispering something to him. He whispered something back to her. Konno couldn't really hear what they were saying, and she didn't want to. It was between the two of them.
"Konno," Katara said, pulling her into a hug, "please be safe."
"I'll try my best."
The two clung to each other. Konno didn't know why, but she felt like this would be the last time she would hug Katara in a long time. Katara was her best friend, and she couldn't ever thank her enough for being there for her.
"I love you," Konno said once she pulled away. "I'll see you in a little bit."
"I love you, too," Katara said. Her eyes shone in the sunlight. "I'll see you two soon."
Sokka and Konno ran over to Appa, climbing onto him. Aang and Toph were already in the saddle, waiting for the two of them. Appa immediately launched himself into the air, flying to a destination that was unknown to Konno. They kept going up and up toward the top of the volcano where the Fire Nation capital was. She remembered reading about the Fire Nation capital in the scrolls back home and how it was found in the crater of the volcano. When she was younger, she thought that was ridiculous, but now that she was older and trying to infiltrate it, she knew it was a great idea. It would be hard to infiltrate it without a flying bison since it was so far away from regular civilization.
Appa landed on the side of the volcano. The four of them jumped off of him, landing on the ground with ease. Konno had learned how to do that easily in the time she had spent with them. She had done a lot of different things with them that she normally never would have done back home.
Home. That word sent her heart into overdrive. It missed home so much. It missed the simplicity of life back there. It missed her parents dearly. It missed her little cove. She could picture that cove just like she was hovering above the water. She could also picture a boy standing in the cove. Liquid covered his cheeks, but before she could see anything else, Aang pulled her out of her thoughts by saying, "Do you feel anything down there?"
Konno blinked hard. There was something so familiar about what she had seen. She couldn't really think that much about it, though, because it slowly drifted away from her mind on a strong wave.
"Yep," Toph said, drawing Konno's eyes to the small girl. She was crouched down, her hand on the ground. "There are natural tunnels crisscrossing through the inside of the volcano."
"Anything else?" Sokka asked, his voice hardened and steely. Konno tightened her grip around the handle of the club, feeling her own sort of anxiety. "Is there a structure somewhere?"
Toph extended her hand to both sides before plunging them into the ground. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."
"Sounds like a secret bunker to me," Sokka said with a nod.
Toph thrust her hands forward. She bended a hole into the side of the volcano. Konno wasn't sure if she wanted to go into the tunnel, but there was no stopping now. Besides, she didn't want to leave Sokka's side ever again.
"Stay safe," Aang said to Appa. "We'll be back soon."
Toph went first down the dark tunnel. Sokka pushed Konno to follow her, so she slipped her hand into his. She didn't want to let go of him because she definitely didn't want to get lost down here. Toph bent down to the ground before running down one side of the tunnel.
"This way!" she shouted. "That one's a dead end."
"What would we do without you?" Sokka asked behind Konno.
"Perish and burn in hot magma," Toph answered.
They had to slow down because a small stream of lava flowed through the wall right next to them. Konno pressed herself against the opposite wall and muttered, "Yeah, pretty much."
The tunnel walls dripped with the bright orange lava. It created a dim light for Konno to see. Toph was ahead of her, bending her way through the earthen walls. The tunnel was on the smaller side, probably because Toph was smaller than her and Sokka. The air around them was hot and stuffy, making it hard to breath. Or maybe that was because of the anxiety coursing through Konno's body. She wasn't really sure.
Toph suddenly stopped, and Konno had to stop before she ran into her. However, Sokka didn't seem to notice that the two of them stopped, and he accidentally ran right into Konno's back, who, in turn, fell against Toph. Konno's eyes widened when she saw a cavern filled with active lava vents all over the ground. She didn't want Toph to fall into that, even if they weren't on speaking terms. At least Toph didn't fall into it; she created a small platform for her to land on before she fell in.
"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker," Toph explained, her voice snappy. She whirled around and glared Konno, like it was her fault.
"We'll have to be fast but careful," Sokka said with a nod. He attempted to run across the cavern but couldn't because one of the vents erupted in front of his face.
Fear rose up in Konno's heart, so she pulled him back to her. Aang swung his staff at the vent, bending a gust of wind and cooling down the lava. Sokka let out a breath as he clung to Konno.
"How was that careful?" Aang asked him.
"I was wrong," Sokka said, his eyes wide.
"Yes, you were," Konno said angrily. She slapped his arm and said, "What were you thinking? Oh, that's right. You never think about the consequences of what you do. You could've gotten hurt, Sokka."
"I wasn't thinking because we only have a limited time!" Sokka said, taking a step away from her. "We need to hurry, but be careful as well."
"Okay, lovebirds, stop fighting," Toph said, her voice echoing in the cavern. Konno could hear a gleeful tone in her voice, making her even angrier. "Let's just follow Twinkle Toes so he can cool down whatever gets shot up at us."
Aang led the four of them across the cavern. They carefully dodged the steam and lava coming up from the vents. Konno held tightly onto Sokka's hand even though they had argued. He gave her hand a quick squeeze, telling her that he wasn't angry with her. Tensions were just running high right now because they desperately wanted to win this battle.
Slowly, a red glow appeared in her line of sight. Aang slowed down as they neared the red glow that bathed the walls around them. Konno peered over the edge and gasped. They were standing an a small cliff above a large river of lava.
"There's no floor!" Sokka said, surprised. "It's just a river of lava."
Aand spun his staff and extended the glider wings. "I don't think this will hold everyone," he said, glancing at each of them. "I will fly each of you across." Aang looked at Konno first and said, "Climb aboard and hold on tight."
Konno gave Aang a weird look but climbed on top of the glider. She secured her grip around the glider and said, "I'm ready."
Before she could do or say anything else, Aang launched the two of them into the air. A scream worked its way into her throat, but Konno clenched her mouth shut so that she wouldn't scream. The fly across the lava was short, but it felt like forever.
Konno crashed into the ground, her breath knocked out of her chest. She remained on the ground as Aang flew back across. That flight was worse than flying on Appa. She sucked in a breath and let it out slowly.
She hadn't ever imagined her life ending up like this. She always thought she was meant to sit still and be quiet at the Northern Water Tribe. But here she was, aiding in the hopeful end of the war that plagued their world for a hundred years. Konno wouldn't ever go back to being the submissive girl she was back home. She was ready to fight for the stifled people, the ones who didn't have a voice. And she was ready to fight for herself. After everything that happened in her life, she finally learned that running away from her problems wouldn't always work out. Now she was ready to fight.