Avatar: The Last Airbender

Part 38 (The Day of Black Sun p.2) [Book 3]

"This might be uncomfortable." You warned.

"I'm no stranger to being uncomfortable." Hakoda assured.

You breathed deeply, raising your hand. You began to bloodbend, stopping his wound from bleeding.

Hakoda winced.

You stopped and continued the regular healing process. "How are you doing?"

"Better. I think I can stand, now. I want to see Sokka."

You and Katara helped Hakoda to his feet, leading him out into the battlefield.

"Dad!" Sokka called happily upon spotting him. "You're on your feet again!"

You and Katara led Hakoda to an earth wall, Sokka and Toph joining you.

"Thanks to your friend. I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe there's some way I could help." Hakoda offered, sitting down on an earth pillar.

An explosion landed on the other side of the wall.

"Everything's going smoothly, and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in, yet." Sokka filled in, crouching down in front of his father.

"Let's hope our luck holds out."

Katara walked a few paces away, looking into the distance.

"Katara, you seem distracted. Something wrong?" Hakoda asked.

"Yeah. Is that- is that Aang?"

You spun around, trying to see if it was Aang. You could see him flying towards you with his glider.

"What?!" Sokka asked as Aang landed. "Please tell me you're here because the Firelord is a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down." He pleaded.

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

Sokka's eyes widened briefly before his eyebrows bent low. "They knew." He deduced.

Aang hung his head. "It's over. The Firelord 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 and be safe during the siege, but still be close enough to lead his nation."

You stood. "So, we find him."

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

Sokka reached into his pocket, pulling something out. "The mechanic gave me this time device. It looks like we've got ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Firelord."

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

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

Sokka looked down in thought.

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