As I Fall: LOK

Chapter Twelve

The aircrafts were beginning to take off of the runways when the group had finally broken out of the cell.

Haitana balled her fist up enraged, while also trying to decipher a course of action to stop them. She could try to call iguana parrots to attack their line of view, but that would take too long. She could release the creeping slime she had kept in her bag all over the engine to stop it from propelling, but she didn't have her bag.

Before being able to rack her brain for other possibilities, that would most likely only result in indecisiveness, Iroh took action, running for the planes that were starting to suspend in the air.

"I'm going after those airplanes," he called out, full speed sprinting it after one of them up ahead.

Stomping her foot like a child, Haitana realized she waited too long and would now have to do this the hard way. Sucking in a deep breath, and letting her hat hang over her back, with the strap around her neck, she started running after another plane, getting ready to take it down.

Using jet propulsion to elevate her to one of the wings, she was overcome with a sense of deja vu as she had just done this the day prior. Kicking out a fire jet with her foot, she sent the pilot flying as she hijacked the controls.

Apparently, controlling an aircraft was a lot harder then she was lead to believe, and quickly she noticed it was dropping in altitude and heading straight for another plane. Shrugging, she jumped right before it made contact, firebending to the wing of another plane. Sure, she guess that worked.

Generating lightning, she caught a glimpse of the equalist who was steering the plane, as he widened his eyes in realization of what she was doing. Sending him a cheap, dime store smile, she shot the engine of the plane with high voltage lightening, causing the propeller to stop spinning, and the machine to take a nose dive.

Again, she hopped from the plane, catching herself with fire jets streaming from her hands and feet. Haitana looked around rapidly, trying to find a sign of another plane, or Iroh, but didn't see a way out until she looked down. Allowing the fire to sizzle out, she free-fell onto an aircraft traveling below her. Kicking the pilot out, she once again tried to direct the plane, barely doing better this time.

Pushing on the control lever, she steered it towards explosions, assuming that was where Iroh might have been, and lucky for her she flew below the commotion just in time for him to drop to the wing of the plane.

"Need a lift?" She joked laughing, humored with her own comment, to which he only rolled his eyes, holding onto the wing for dear life. A shadow cast over their moving machine, and Haitana looked up with a scared face. A bomb dropped on the back of the plane, and Iroh shot up a fire blast to wreck it, and stop them from doing further damage.

Trying to regain some steadiness, Haitana grasped at the controls wildly, but it was beeping like crazy and sending all the wrong signals. "Ummm," she let out a dry chuckle before looking to Iroh with a nervous grin. "I think we're going down."

Iroh looked in front of the out of control plane, seeing it was heading straight for the statue of Avatar Aang in Yue Bay. He propped himself up, yanking the girl by the arm to do the same and threw them off the plane before it made contact and blew them to pieces.

On a whim, he reached his free hand out, grabbing onto an equalist banner as it tore a little bit under the sheer weight of the two of them. With his other arm, he pulled Haitana toward him so she wouldn't fall into the water below. Hanging in mid air, she watches as the mask that hid the previous Avatar's face fell off under the impact, revealing its true identity.

"Thanks for looking out for me, Aang," Iroh whispered, holding the two of them steady on the banner.

Haitana cleared her throat awkwardly, not liking the idea of the two of them embracing each other so tightly, but also dreading the fall— a strange predicament indeed. "Well um," she started slowly, looking over to Iroh. "Thanks for saving me, I guess."

"No," he said suddenly, turning his head to look at her. "I'm the one who should be saying thank you... and sorry... I mean— I'm sorry about giving you a hard time and everything. I made assumptions I shouldn't have and undermined you, and that wasn't right of me," he began, but then noticed how close he was to her.

Now, clearing his throat too, he looked away with a sudden awkwardness. "Maybe we should hire you to guard the palace— it's seems like you're pretty good at saving me and my family," he joked, in a newfound kindness, a kind of respect she hadn't received from him previously.

"I assure you," Haitana let out a breath. "It's all just luck."

Feeling the banner tear a little more, threatening to release them into the air, Iroh gave a genuine smile— one she had never seen from him before. "I'm not so sure about that, Fauna," he replied, before letting go.

Haitana braced herself for the contact of the water, but it never came, as a sudden creature rose to catch the two on his back. It was the Unagi, the one she had deterred from attacking the Fire Nation ship weeks ago. He swooped up and let them slide onto his back with a somewhat graceful landing.

"Hey! It's you!" The girl said happily, recognizing the creature. They are loyal creatures to anyone willing to take the time to understand them, Haitana had all the time in the world. The Unagi let them down gently onto the base of the statue, nodding his head for a treat.

Subconsciously, she went to reach into her bag only to remember it wasn't in her possession anymore. "Sorry, big guy," she muttered. "I don't have any treats on me."

The animal gave a sad sound, before slithering back into the water begrudgingly. "Just plain luck, huh?" Iroh questioned her, a grin spreading in spite of himself. "You really are something else."