Avatar: The Last Airbender, AU "Fighting the Phoenix" Book 1

Chapter 37 "Combustion Attack"

Team Avatar, now including Jet, Azula, Suki, Ty Lee, Lu Ten and his girlfriend, Chit Sang and Hakado were now landing on in the old valley of the Western Air Temple.

Katara and Toph heard the familiar roar of App. The two girls ran to Sky Bison and stood in front of the flying animal as Aang, and Sokka hoped off.

Katara notice Sokka's bandages. "I though you were going on a fishing trip?" Katara asked to her brother.

Sokka smiled sheepishly and said, "I was a on crazy fishing trip."

"Did you at least get some good meat?" Toph asked.

Sokka smiled again but this time more happy. "I did. The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood." Sokka pointed to Appa.

Mai, Suki and Hakoda disembark from Appa. Chit Sang, Jet, Lu Ten, Tia, Azula, and Ty Lee appears shortly behind them.

Katara looked in shock at the sight of seeing her father again. "Dad." Katara said as tears flooded her eyes. She ran towards her Father.
Hakoda looked down at his daughter with a smile on face. "Hi, Katara." The Water Tribe Chieftain greeted his daughter.

Katara smiled back and embraced her Dad.

"How are you here? What is going on?" She looks at her brother with a suspicious glare "Where did you go?" Katara asked her brother.

"I... kind of went to help Zuko hoping dad was there." Sokka answered.

Katara's gloved hand grabbed Sokka by his arm  hugged him to. The siblings embracing

Suddenly the moment was interrupted when Toph asked "Seriously, you guys didn't find any meat?"

Everyone just laughed instead of answered her question.

"Alright guys." Aang said.

"What?" Jet asked.

"What do we do now?" Aang asked the group.

Lu Ten came up from behind and placed a hand on the Avatar's shoulder and said, "It's time you learn fire bending."

Suddenly out of nowhere the ground right behind Aang and Lu Ten exploded. Both got knocked from the blast.

"Fire Nation!" Jet shouted as he ran to a nearby pillar.

Everyone did the same and went to the old pillars to use as a defense. Toph and Azula ran inside a room to find the others. Out of the corner of Sokka's eye, he saw that Aang had been thrown back by the force of the explosion – but he had summoned a cushion of air even as he had been flung away, and was now righting himself, preparing to fight.

"It's Combustion Man!"

He glanced down at the scene around him for a brief second before snapping his eyes away to look for – there! Zuko had moved to shield Mai from the blast and had been knocked down. He was pulling himself to his feet, but the way he moved indicated that he was still stunned and recovering from the blast.

Feeling the reassuring grasp of the boomerang in his hand, he looked around and spotted a dark shape moving through the higher levels.

'Aw man, there's no way I can get a good read on his position from here!' Sokka thought.

He felt rather than saw the air heating up again and he quickly threw himself behind a large chunk of stone. What the original inhabitants of the temple had built it for Sokka had no earthly idea, but at that moment he was just glad for the cover it granted.

There was a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye, and Sokka suddenly realized he had company.

It just had to be these two, didn't it? Sokka glanced over at Mai, who managed to look an impressive combination of bored and grumpy, and then at Zuko, who was peering cautiously over the edge of the stonework.