The Last Waterbender

Book 3 Chapter 3: The Western Air Temple Pt 2

Disclaimer: All rights belong to Nickelodeon, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, and all the men and women that created the A:TLA show, books, and comics. I take no credit, and I do not mean to break any copyright rules. This is simply a work of fiction made for enjoyment. No money is being made. The lyrics are from the song "Battlefield" by Svrcina

Rating: General Audiences. Warning: some scenes contain dark themes and minor violence

Chapter 3: The Western Air Temple Part 2

We carry on through the storm

Tired soldiers in this war

Remember what we're fighting for

Meet me on the battlefield

"This is bad," Sokka says. "Really bad."

Katara, Suki, Sokka, Aang, and Teo stand on one of the bridges connecting the wings of the Western Air Temple together. The wind has turned icy, but Katara isn't just shivering from the cold.

"How are we going to fend off the Fire Nation?" Suki asks. "It's just us, a depressed inventor, and a couple dozen innocent inhabitants. Maybe if I had all my warriors with me, but this is just suicide."

If even Suki is expressing concern, then Katara knows the situation is bad. "You don't have to stay here," she says. "Appa can take whoever doesn't want to be involved away to safety. But I have to stay and fight. I'm the reason the Fire Nation is coming."

Suki shakes her head. "No way I'm leaving. I haven't crossed the world just to abandon the Avatar when she needs me the most."

Sokka puts his arm around her. "I'm not leaving, either."

Katara looks over at Aang, who is staring at her with fierce determination. "I promised you I'd stick with you," he says. "No matter what."

"This is my home," Teo says. "I have to protect it."

She nods, a little warmth filling her up again. "Good. But now we need a plan. What advantages do we have?"

"We have the air on our side," Aang declares. "We control the sky. That's something the Fire Nation can't do. We can win!"

They all watch the gliders in the air. Those people have no idea the battle that's about to happen. Their entire home is at stake. Katara hopes they have it in them to fight back.

"I want to help."

They all turn to see the mechanic approaching. He looks a bit sheepish but also convicted.

Katara looks over to see Teo smiling proudly at his father.

"Good," she says. "We'll need it."

-

They head inside to the mechanic's office, where he clears off a large table and lays out a map of the Western Air Temple. Some of the other people also gather in, ready for instructions on how to defend their home.

"We finally got the war balloon working, thanks to Sokka here," the mechanic announces. "This kid is a genius!"

Sokka's face turns red under the praise. Suki bumps into his side and smiles at him.

He picks up the model and a candle. "The problem with the old war balloon is that you could get it air borne, but once you did, it just kept going. You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question was, how do you control the hot air? Well, putting a lid on it!"

Katara and Aang exchange glances and laugh a bit. Sokka ignores them. "If you control the air, you control the war balloon," he continues.

"That's pretty smart," Aang admits.