Tale Of Two Avatars

The Day Of The Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse

Midway through our way back to the Fire Nation capital, I decided to apologise for what I did after contemplating my actions. "Aang." The young airbender turns to look at me curiously. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened just now. I guess I do let my emotions get the better of me sometimes and I know I have to change that."

"It's okay, I understand Suzume," Aang reassured. "Don't worry too much about it, we bring balance to each other after all and it's my job to make sure you don't do anything too crazy. And I love you Suzume, so I wouldn't want to hurt you."

"Gee, you make it sound like you're my babysitter," I joked.

"No no, I never meant to make it sound that way," Aang quickly denied, averting his eyes from me. "You're great at taking care of yourself Suzume, I didn'-" I cut him off to dispel any of the fears he had earlier.

"Aang, calm down. I was just joking," I reassured.

"Oh," Aang breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to get angry at me again."

"Of course not, Aang. I'm a perfectly calm person now," I reminded. "I shall not get angered over small things."

"Great!" Aang smiled. We see the Fire Nation capital overhead, where all the commotion and chaos was taking place, fireballs were flying everywhere and there were battles raging on between Fire Nation soldiers and our invasion forces. We spot our group below us with Katara and Akemi standing by the side of a seemingly injured Hakoda and healing him. After evading several large fireballs in the air, we land beside Sokka, who looks at us anxiously. "Please tell me both of you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down."

"He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned," Aang informed.

"They somehow knew about the invasion beforehand!" I added.

"It's over," Aang frowned sadly. "The Fire Lord is probably long-gone; far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

Sokka ponders this before shaking his head. "No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker; somewhere he could go and be safe during the siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."

"It's worth a shot," I nodded. "And it does sound logical."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for," Toph points to herself confidently. "I'm just the girl to find it."

Sokka takes out some sort of contraption. "The mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."

Aang's features visibly brighten at this. "We can still do this. We can still win the day."

"Wait! If they knew we were coming it could all be a trap." Katara gazes out at the battlefield pensively. "Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang and Suzume to go for it," Hakoda countered.

"What do you two think?" Sokka looks at Aang and I. "You both have to face the Fire Lord so whatever you two decide, I'm with you guys."

Aang and I exchange glances, already dead set on what we wanted to do. "We'll give it our best shot."

"Katara, you can go with them. I can heal your father," Akemi reassured. 

"No," Katara shook her head slowly, remaining by Hakoda's side and continuing to heal him.
I have to stay with him. His injury is serious and I can't risk losing him."