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Chapter 27

I used my bending to block an attack coming our way, sending it off to the side. 

"We're a man down. Where in tarnation is Hue?" Tho and Due launched a tank into the water. It was then crushed by a large sea monster, which turned out to be Hue. 

I looked up to see Appa carrying Sokka and his dad up to one of the towers they were firing down at us from. I threw a fireball up at another one of them, setting it aflame. 

Katara brought an injured Hakoda back down. He held his side as Katara used her water to heal it. "How does that feel, Dad?" 

" A... a little better." He sat up. "I need... to get back... to the troops." 

"You're hurt. Badly. You can't fight anymore." 

He winced. "Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission, Katara. I won't let them down." Hakoda tried standing up, failing as he fell back down. 

"Can't you heal him any faster?" Sokka asked. 

"I'm doing everything I can." 

Sokka sighed. "I'll do it." 

"No offense Sokka but you're not exactly Mr. Healing Hands." 

"No." Sokka stood up. "I'll lead the invasion force." 

"Don't be crazy, Sokka." 

"Maybe I am a little crazy but the eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano," he looked over at it, "by the time it does."

"You can do this. I'm proud of you, son." Hakoda gave him a small smile. 

"I still think you're crazy but I'm proud of you too." 

Sokka gave them a smile and put on his helmet. He mounted Appa and headed towards the front of the battle. I threw one of their projectiles to the side. Some blood dripped down from my nose.

We made it through the gate and I ran up joining Sokka at the front. The sky darkened as the moon began to slowly cover the sun. 

"...Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?" 

"Yeah... Is that... is that Aang?" I looked up to the sky, seeing Aang land down in front of us. 

"Please tell you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?" Sokka pleaded. 

"He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned." 

Sokka's eyes widened. "They knew." 

"It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse." 

"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation."

"If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it," Toph said. 

Sokka pulled out a small watch. "The Mechanist gave me this timing device. It looks like we've got about 10 minutes until the full eclipse. 10 minutes to find the Fire Lord." 

"We can still do this. We can still win the day." 

"Wait. If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely."

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Aang to go for it," Hakoda said. 

"What do you think?" Sokka asked him. "You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

Aang looked towards the battlefield. "I've got to try." 

"I'm coming with you, I won't be any more helpful when the eclipse happens." 

Aang took us to the palace using his glider. We all dropped down and Toph began searching. 

"Do you feel anything down there?" Aang asked. 

Toph held her hand to the ground. "Yep. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano." 

"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" 

She dug her hands into the ground. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano." 

"Sounds like a secret bunker to me." 

Toph created a hole in the side of the volcano for us to go through. 

"Stay safe. We'll be back soon," Aang said to Appa and Momo. We walked through the tunnel, following Toph through it. 

"This way! That one's a dead end," she said running down. I followed after her. 

"What would we do without you?" Sokka asked.

"Perish and burn in hot magma," she said.

We passed by a small stream of it. " Yeah, pretty much." 

We came to a cavern filled with lava vents. "The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker."  

"Can you do anything to help, Y/n?" Sokka asked me

"I can't bend lava. Even if I could I'd pass out." I looked at him, wiping away some more blood from my nose. 

"We'll have to be fast but careful." Sokka ran across, stopping as a vent exploded just in front of him. Aang swung his staff cooling it down. 

"How was that careful?"

"I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky." 

The four of us ran across the cavern, dodging the vents. The next area however was a river of lava. Aang took us across using his glider. We ran up to a large metal door. 

"That's some door!" 

Toph walked up to the door and placed her ear against it. She tapped it, producing a loud thud. "Not a problem." Toph took a step back and bashed her elbows into the door. She took another step back, kissed two of her fingers, and kicked a hole through. 

I stared, amazed. "Since when could you bend metal?" 

We continued running down the hall, passing by only one person who told us where to find the Fire Lord. We stood in front of the door. 

"Only 30 seconds until the total eclipse," Sokka said, checking his watch. 

"I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord."