Balance | Old Version

Chapter 85

Elua's POV.

"The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!" Aang shouts in shock as he stands up and looks at Sokka with a look of panic.
"No, it's great. It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore," Sokka tells him. "And even better, they won't expect you on the Day of Black Sun," He adds with a smile.
"No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!" Aang shouts as he puts his hands to his head and frowns in frustration.
"I told you he wouldn't take it well," I whisper over to Sokka. The sudden sound of a horn of another ship echos through the air, catching our attention. We look over and see another Fire Nation ship sailing towards us.

"I'll handle this. The Avatar is back!" Aang says as he opens his staff and grabs onto the front of the wings, flinching in pain as he does so and grabbing his side.
"Aang, wait. Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation," Katara tells him. Aang looks over to her and sighs as he reluctantly closes his glider.
"Everyone just stay calm. Bato and I will take care of this," Hakoda tells us as we all hide.
"I hate not being able to do anything," Aang whispers with a glare.
"Hopefully, you won't need to," Toph tells him. We all become quiet as the commander of the other ship walks aborad the one we're on.
"Commander, why are you off course? All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Ba Sing Se to support the occupation," The Fire Nation Commander tells Hakoda.

"Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo," Hakoda lies.
"Ah, Eastern Fleet," The Commander says, almost in disgust. "Well, nice of Admiral Chan to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way," He says in annoyance.
"I am sure Admiral Chan meant no disrespect, sir," Bato says.
"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?" He asks as he shakes his head.
"Next time, we'll send two hawks to be sure you get the message," Hakoda tells him. The Commander nods as he turns to walk back over to his ship. I frown as the soldiers by his side whispers something to him.

"Something's not right. They should've known that," I hear the Commander whisper back as they begin to walk across the metal bridge between the two ships. "I think this is a captured ship. Just stay quiet until we're safe across the ramp. Then we'll sink this ship!" He whispers to the soldiers by his side, I glare at them as I stand up.
"They know!" I shout as Toph metal bends the bridge they're on, breaking it and sending them falling into the water below. Katara bends a huge wave and pushes the ship away from us as we start to sail away from them. They send fireballs at us, rocking the ship and making us stumble.
"Load the Toph!" Toph shouts as Pipsqueak puts a rock in front of her.

 She starts to send earth disks at the other ship while Katara and I bend steam over us for some cover.
"How we doing?" Toph asks.
"Things couldn't get much worse," Sokka says. But, right as he says that the giant serpent from The Serpent's Pass bursts out of the water and screeches at us. "The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?!" He shouts.
"You make it so easy!" I tell him as the serpent looks down at us angrily. The other ship sends a fireball at the serpent, making it even more anger. But, it turns to the other ship, wraps itself around the ship, and attacks it instead of us.

"Thank you, The Universe!"

Later.

We had docked near a small village and were about to go get some food, but we wanted to go get Aang first. We all walk into Aang's room and see him sitting on his bed.
"Hey, Aang, we're going into town to find some dinner," Toph informs him.
"Well, I am pretty hungry. Maybe dinner's a good idea," Aang says with a smile as he stands up.
"Here, tie this around your head. It'll cover your arrow," Sokka says as he hands Aang a scarf.
"I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly," Aang says with a glare of anger. "And you shouldn't either. We're supposed to be proud of our tattoos," He tells me as he sits back down on his bed.
"I know, Aang. But, right now I'm the most wanted person in the Fire Nation. I can't risk it," I tell him with a small frown, he shakes his head and looks away from me.

"Aang, be practical," Sokka tells him, but he doesn't lookup. I sigh and turn to the others.
"You guys go ahead without us. We'll catch up with you," I tell them. Sokka looks unsure, but he nods and he and the others leave. Katara and I staying behind.
"I think I understand why being a secret bothers you so much. You don't want people to think you failed," Katara says as she sits down beside him.
"You're right, I don't. But the problem is, I did fail," Aang says as he rolls away from her.
"Aang, that's not true," I tell him, knowing how I felt and still feel about what happened to him.
"It is true," Aang says as he stands up.

"I was in Ba Sing Se. I was there, but I lost. And now, the Earth Kingdom has fallen for good," He says as he shakes his head.
"Remember, there's still an invasion plan," Katara reminds him.
"And I hate the invasion plan, too! I don't want you or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes," Aang says as he turns away from us. "I've always known that Elua and I would have to face the Fire Lord, but now, I know I need to do it alone," He tells us, we look at him shocked.
"Aang, I'm not letting you do that alone," I tell him.
"Please. Just go, please," Aang whispers. I sigh as Katara and I walk over to the door, but she turns back around.
"Is there anything you need?" Katara asks.

"I need to redeem myself. I need my honor back."

The Next Day.

We were now all on Appa flying over the dark ocean, worry swimming through all of us. Aang had left the ship, didn't tell anyone, and it was in the middle of a storm. It reminded me of the day he ran away, of the day we lost everything. We had been looking for him all night and now, the sun was beginning to rise.
"There!" I shout as I point down to an island, Aang laying on the beach. Appa quickly lands and we all run over to him.
"You're ok!" I exclaim as I kneel beside him and bring him into a hug, everyone else joining in.
"I have so much to do," Aang sighs.
"I know, but you'll have our help," I reassure him with a smile.

"You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?" Toph asks him with a smirk.
"What about the invasion?" Aang asks.
"We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse," Sokka tells him.
"Hey, what's...Oh," Toph says as she steps on something. "It's your glider," She states, handing Aang his now broken glider.
"That's okay," Aang says as he takes it from her and looks down at it. "If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive," He says as he walks over to some lava that is slowly coming out of the island. He puts the broken glider near the lava and it's slowly engulfed in flames.