The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 3: Earth, Chapter 3: Return to Omashu

"I can't believe it..." Aang murmured as he stared at the dark plumes of smoke rising from the city on the horizon. "I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed... untouchable."

"Up until now, it was," Sokka said, folding his arms. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great stronghold left."

"I knew it was a bad sign that there were so many Fire Nation soldiers this close to the city..." Zuko muttered.

"The Fire Nation has tried and failed to take the city for decades," Iroh mused, shaking his head slowly. "We'd all but given up on it. Taking control of Ba Sing Se was deemed a more realistic victory..."

"Now's probably not the best time for a Fire Nation military history lesson, uncle," Zuko admonished.

Aang couldn't help but agree.

"This is horrible," Katara said, walking up next to him. "But we have to move on."

Aang frowned. "No. I'm going in to find Bumi."

"It's too dangerous," Zuko argued, his brow furrowing. "Katara's right. We shouldn't stay here. The entire surrounding area is probably crawling with Fire Nation troops."

"I don't care!" Aang snapped angrily in reply.

While he felt slightly guilty when the Fire Prince flinched in response to his outburst, he shook his head and turned to flick his glider open.

"Aang, stop," Sokka interjected just as he crouched down to prepare for takeoff. "We don't even know if Bumi is still..."

"What?" Aang demanded, whipping back around. "If he's still what?"

"...A–around," Sokka finished unsurely, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I do believe there's a chance Bumi is still alive," Iroh interjected, placing his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Though there's no way to be certain if they kept him in the city... On one hand, it might make sense for them to keep him here if they want to get information out of him, but on the other hand, his presence makes things that much more risky if he were to escape."

"Uncle, you're not helping," Zuko grumbled.

"If there's even a small a chance he's in there, I have to try to find him," Aang urged desperately.

"I know you had your heart set on Bumi," Katara said kindly, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "But there are other people who can teach you earthbending."

He narrowed his eyes at the waterbender and pulled his shoulder out of her grip. "This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend."

*****

Despite several more attempts to deter Aang from attempting to break into the city to rescue the mad king, the airbender's stubbornness refused to wane. Thus, Zuko decided it was better to go with him than let him go by himself. Everyone else seemed to feel similarly.

"There," Aang said. "That's how we're gonna get in."

Zuko peered over the edge of the saddle to see that they were swooping down towards the edge of a narrow cliff, where a round, metal door was protruding from the earth.

As he, Katara, Sokka, and Iroh donned their hooded cloaks, Aang hopped onto the top of the door and began attempting to pry it open with his staff.

"A secret passage?" Sokka asked as they each dismounted. "Why didn't we just use this last time?"