Blue Spirit // An ATLA AU

Chapter 22

Zuko sat down next to Toph---who was still attached to him. The Freedom Fighters all eventually introduced themselves, so Zuko now knew all of their names. Had taken off on their own, saying they wanted to get back to Ba Sing Se by themselves, like Gemini said she wanted to. Aang was having his reunion with Appa, for like the fifth time, and Sokka came walking over with Yue. To where Zuko was sitting on the ground, with Toph giving him a side-hug---which the assassin was partially returning, and Katara was standing behind him.

"Look, we escaped from the Dai Li, got Appa and Zuko back," Sokka said, giving his soulmate a small smile, before looking away continuing his little speech. "I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a roll."

"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll," Katara argued.

"We can build on it," Zuko responded, as he stood up. Everyone looked at him. "Two things, the Dai Li already sees us as enemies, and we are more than likely wanted. They'll catch us like they caught me, by taking us by surprise. So I don't see the harm in invading the palace so we can try and talk to the Earth King ahead of schedule. But if we do want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we do need the Earth King's support. So it's either we go out trying to get the Earth King's assistance, or we go out just getting captured in secret."
"What makes you think we'll get it?" Toph asked, holding her hands in front of her ankles. She was looking down at the ground, as Zuko looked down at her. "I don't know if you noticed, but things don't usually go that smoothly for our little Gang."

"You're not wrong Toph," Yue said, as she looked down at the youngest member of Team Avatar. "But Zuko's right. We're wanted, so there's no point in trying to do it the proper way now if they want to arrest us."
"Besides, I've got a good feeling about this!" Sokka exclaimed, as he jumped in front of Yue. "This time it'll be different."
"Sokka, Zuko, Long Feng is in control of the city. His conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful," Katara argued, looking at her brother and his soulmate. "I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us."
"I'm with sweetness," Toph responded, nodding her head back towards Katara. "I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se. And I can't even see!" She threw her arms above her head, as Yue scoffed and muttered, "Bet you haven't seen enough of that girlfriend of yours, what's her name, Gemini?"
Toph moved her foot slightly, which resulted in Yue getting spun around. Zuko caught her as Aang jumped onto the ground in front of them. Jumping into the argument, starting it up again. "But now that we have Appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth. About the conspiracy and the war."
"See Aang's with me," Sokka said, bringing an arm around the Airbender, smiling while doing so. Zuko and Yue stood behind him, and the Princess added on, "The war is the whole reason we came here in the first place, we have to try."
"Well, I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change," Katara agreed, though she still sounded reluctant about the idea, as Toph stood up, saying, "I don't trust the new positive Sokka." She pointed at him yelling, "Long Feng brainwashed you, didn't he!"
"Nope, he just got happier because he has his soulmate back!" Aang exclaimed, before running to the edge of the cliff. Everyone besides Toph joined him over there, seeing a bunch of ships sailing on the surface of Lake Laogai.

Zuko shook his head, before saying, "That's probably the Dai Li searching for us."

He glanced over at Katara, who looked up at him giving him a smile. "Let's fly."

***

Everyone was on Appa's back, as they flew through the sky. Holding onto Appa like the Freedom Fighters were previously. Toph freaked out when they first started flying like this. So now he was on top of her making it so she had a lesser chance of flying off of Appa and into open air. But she was still terrified.