Nightfall

Thirty Four

It was silent as her and Lu Ten made their way through the field full of varying lengths of tall grasses. Not a single animal was making a sound. They seemed to know what was going to happen that night; they must have been preparing for war.

Katara had no idea where they were right now. They were supposed to be on their way to the control tower just outside the Capital. For all she knew, Lu Ten could have been leading her to her death. He wouldn't, of course, but she didn't know, and she didn't like not knowing. 

About an hour ago, Lu Ten and Katara left the main group to get a map of the Capital to make it easier to sneak in. They also had to put in a tape so the guards that came back to the control tower would see the regular thing they always saw: empty streets and courtyards. If they made it on time, they wouldn't encounter any guards because they were going to be in the middle of switching out with different guards. The plan seemed flawless on paper, but there was a small sliver of doubt in Katara's mind. Something could go horribly wrong, and then the whole thing would fall apart. She knew the others wouldn't blame her for the plan failing, but she'd blame herself until the day she died. 

"We're almost there," Lu Ten whispered. His voice cut through the dark shadows in her mind. "In a few minutes, we'll be there, so we should go over our plan."

"Okay."

"When we get there, the guards will be switching out, which will give us about two minutes to get in and out of the control tower," he said. "I will switch out the tapes while you find the map. Once we do that, we get out as quickly as we can."

"Got it."

"After we get out, we have to head to the big community garden at the back of the city," Lu Ten continued. "That's where we are meeting the others. Once we get there, we will infiltrate the palace using the tunnels."

"We're going underground again?"

"Unfortunately." He glanced back at her. His grave face was lit up in the slim moonlight. "And when we infiltrate the palace, we will fight for what we deserve: our freedom."

Katara nodded. She had no idea what else to say to him. She didn't want to break the hopeful feeling in her chest. If she did, she would probably back out of the operation. Her head would begin to tell her lies that she wasn't strong enough to do this or wasn't worthy enough to do this. She didn't want to listen to those lies, not if Aang wasn't with her. He helped quell those lies and doubts, but he wasn't with her right now.

"After we win this battle, we will create a better country for everyone," Lu Ten said softly. Even in this dim moonlight she could see him clench his fists. A deep sense of sadness pervaded around the two of them, and it wasn't her this time. It was him who had created that feeling. "Maybe that way we could all finally live in peace together."

"Yeah."

Up ahead, a tall stone wall rose out of the ground. "The control tower is just inside those walls," Lu Ten whispered to her. He glanced at the watch on his wrist and let out a curse. "We have about a minute to get in and get out."

The two of them peered around the corner of the wall. There was an open gate to the left of them that they could get through. From where she was standing, it looked like there weren't any guards there yet. That was a good thing. They could at least get to the control tower without any trouble; getting out would be more difficult, but she knew they could do it.

"Katara!" Lu Ten hissed. He grabbed onto her arm before she could sprint to the control tower. "There's a guard coming around the corner!"

Her breath got caught in her throat at the sight of the guard. She almost ran that way and would have gotten killed because of it. The guard seemed to be on the lookout for something -- probably them. He had his hand on the hilt of his sword while he was chatting into a radio.