Xiaodan used a hand to shade her eyes as she peered up at the sun, and the moon that was gradually moving in front of it. Around her, she could hear the sounds of the battle raging on. The Fire Nation army was trying to shoot the Earthbender tanks, but they were too powerful for them to overcome, especially when Earthbenders were running around, launching boulders to counterattack the Fire Nation's soldiers attacks.

"If we move this squadron over here, we can weaken their defense even further."

Xiaodan looked away from the sky and down at Sokka, who was kneeling behind a stationary tank with Bato and one of the Earthbenders. She flinched slightly when one of the fireballs being launched from the Fire Nation catapults landed forcefully near where she was standing behind Sokka, who also cringed at the sound of the resulting explosion.

She looked up just in time to see Katara with Hakoda leaning heavily against her climb through the hole in the wall. Reaching down, Xiaodan touched Sokka's shoulder and gestured towards his sister and father when he looked up at her.

"Dad!" Sokka's expression brightened considerably when he caught sight of his father. He quickly jumped to his feet and rushed over to Katara and Hakoda with Xiaodan following him, "You're on your feet again."

"Thanks to your sister." Hakoda praised with a slight smile as he sat down weakly with Katara's help, "I'm in no shape to fight, but maybe there's some way I can help."

"Everything's going pretty smoothly." Xiaodan commented as she turned slightly to survey what she could see of the battle.

"Yeah," Sokka agreed with a grin, "And the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet!"

Xiaodan frowned suddenly and took a step forward when she caught sight of something in the distance. On the other side of Sokka, Katara made a similar motion, her brow furrowing as she stared at the sky.

"Let's hope our luck holds out." Hakoda stated with a small grimace then he frowned when he noticed the distracted look on his daughter's face, "Katara, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah..." Katara murmured in reply with a quizzical expression, "Is that...is that Aang?"

"It is." Xiaodan replied worriedly, "This can't be good."

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed and he whirled around just in time to see Aang dodge several fire balls and land in front of him. Sokka stared at the younger boy pleadingly, "Please tell me 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."

"He wasn't home." Aang replied wearily as he kneeled in front of Sokka, Katara, and Xiaodan, "No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned."

Sokka's eyes widened and his expression turned into one of dismay, "They knew."

Xiaodan clenched her fists against her thighs, "Azula... King Kuei must've said something while she and her little friends were posing as Kyoshi Warriors! That conniving, horrible, evil..." She cut herself off with a growl and punched the ground angrily.

Aang shook his head and rubbed his fingers along the ground with a dismayed expression, "It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long-gone by now. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."

"No..." Sokka stated slowly and he cupped his chin thoughtfully, "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."

Toph stepped forward with a smirk, "If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for," Her smirk widened and she pointed at herself, "I'm just the girl to find it."

"The mechanist gave me this timing device." Sokka explained as he pulled out a round mechanism, "It looks like we're got about ten minutes until the full eclipse. Ten minutes to find the Fire Lord."

Aang lifted his head and stared at his friends determinedly, "We can still do this. We can still win the day."

"Yeah we can!" Xiaodan stated with a smirk, "With Toph, we'll be able to find that bunker easily."

"Wait!" Katara said hurriedly and she looked at the others with worry, "If they knew we were coming it could all be trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure we all get out of here safely."

"Oh, it's most definitely a trap if Azula's behind this." Xiaodan commented drily.

"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission." Hakoda said calmly as he looked at his children and their friends, "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."

"What do you think?" Sokka asked as he turned to face Aang, "You're the one that has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide. I'm with you."

Aang stood and turned to face the volcano with a determined expression, "I've gotta try."

Xiaodan rose as well and moved to stand beside her brother, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Then we try."

Appa growled lowly as he landed on the side of the volcano, Xiaodan, Aang, Sokka, and Toph leaping off his back a moment later. Aang looked over at Toph, "Do you feel anything down there?"

The blind Earthbender slammed her hand on the ground, "Yep. There are natural tunnels crisscrossing through the inside of the volcano.

"Anything else?" Sokka asked hurriedly, "Is there a structure somewhere?"

Toph straightened then dug her fingers into the side of the volcano, "There is something big, dense and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."

"Sounds like a secret bunker to me." Sokka said with a grin.

Xiaodan rolled her eyes slightly, "You're observational skills are astounding, Sokka."

Toph snorted a laugh and quickly earthbended a hole in the side of the volcano, blowing up a cloud of dust. She dropped down into the tunnel the hole led to with Sokka following right behind her, followed by Xiaodan. Aang turned to address Appa and Momo, "Stay safe. We'll be back soon."

Aang dropped down into the tunnel and landed beside Xiaodan while Toph was leaning over and surveying the area using her seismic sense.

"This way!" She called out, running down the left hand side of the tunnel, "That one's a dead-end!"

"What would we do without you?" Sokka exclaimed as he, Aang and Xiaodan followed the Earthbender.

"Perish in burning hot magma." Toph quipped sassily as the foursome moved past several magma channels.

Sokka eyes one of the channels and blushed slightly, "Yeah, pretty much."

They arrived at a chamber where magma erupted from several geysers in the ground. Toph pointed towards the other side of the chamber, "The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker."

"We'll have to be fast but careful." Sokka said and he took a step forward. A geyser of magma erupted in front of him and would have hit him if Aang and Xiaodan hadn't used airbending to cool and solidify the gush of lava.

"How is that careful?" Aang demanded as he lowered his arm and leg.

"I was wrong." Sokka muttered as he straightened, "We need to be fast, careful, and lucky."

"Okay, on three." Xiaodan said and she took a deep breath then shouted, "Three!"

The four friends leapt forward and raced through the chamber, narrowly avoid the magma geysers. Feet from the other side of the tunnel, Xiaodan spun on the ball of her foot and shoved Sokka out of the chamber with a blast of air then she swung her arm out, blasting the gush of magma that had just erupted with a stream of air. She skidded to a stop beside him, just as Aang and Toph joined them on the tunnel on the side of the chamber.

Sokka gave a nervous laugh, "Thanks, Xia."

"No problem, Sokka." She replied with a smirk, "Let's go. I doubt we have much time left."

The four rushed down the tunnel and skidded to a stop on a rock ledge that was completely surrounded by lava.

"There's no floor." Sokka squeaked as he stared at the lava, "It's just a river of lava."

Aang spun his staff open, "Climb aboard and hold on tight."

Sokka swallowed thickly but quickly did as Aang instructed while Toph climbed onto Xiaodan's glider. With a blast of air, the two Airbenders launched themselves off the rock ledge, Sokka and Toph screaming in fear as they clung to gliders like their lives depended on it. Xiaodan and Aang soared swiftly over the river of lava, using airbending to propel themselves to the other side faster.

Toph sighed in relief when Xiaodan finally landed on the other side of the river of lava with the Aang and Sokka landed beside them moments later. Nodding to each other, the four ran further down the tunnel until they entered another large chamber with a large metal, dome-like structure with a huge door on the other side.

"Whoa..." Xiaodan muttered as she stared up at the massive door in amazement.

"That's some door." Sokka stated with an impressed expression.

Toph sauntered towards the door and rapped it with her fist then she smirked, "Not a problem."

Aang, Xiaodan, and Sokka watched as Toph slammed her elbows against the door several times, creating cracks and dents in the metal. The blind metalbender backed up several feet, kissed her fingers, and charged forward, slamming her fingers into the metal. She quickly kicked the bottom of the door, splitting it wide open, then she pushed the metal further apart. Stepping inside the interior, Toph calmly pointed in the right direction while Aang and Xiaodan followed after her.

"I am so glad we added you to the group!" Sokka exclaimed as he followed the three benders into the bunker with a deliriously happy grin on his face.

As the invasion force continued to steadily advance up the volcano, the Fire Nation fell back, unsuccessfully trying to deflect the attacks directed at them. Still, the battlements continued to launch fire balls at the small invading army, so the Hippo and the Boulder stormed over to the cliff side, using earthbending to create landslides that collapsed several of the battlements.

"Retreat! Everyone move to secondary defensive position! Retreat!" One of the Fire Nation captains shouted loudly to his soldiers when he noticed the moon beginning to overshadow the sun.

Bato, having heard the Fire Nation captain's orders, stood atop a large boulder beside one of the invasion's tanks, "The eclipse is only minutes away! We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished."

The invasion force cheered gruffly and continued to press on towards the capital, their faces set with grim determination.

Katara, who was helping her father walk after the other soldiers, stopped beside one of the tanks to let him rest for a moment, "We can wait here if you want."

"No." Hakoda replied with determination, grimacing slightly as he held his wounded side, "I wanna press forward with the others."

Katara nodded once and slipped her arm back around her father's waist to support some of his weight as they continued on up the hill.

Xiaodan ran down the tunnel right behind Toph with Aang behind her and Sokka bringing up the rear. They had just passed a cleft in the tunnel when a loud gasp grabbed Xiaodan's attention and she whirled around, her staff raised threateningly. Her orange eyes narrowed dangerously when she saw the war minister Qin standing behind them.

Lunging forward quickly, Xiaodan pressed her staff against the war minster's throat. Qin threw his hands in the air submissively as Aang, Sokka and Toph stood on either side of Xiaodan, effectively cornering him against the wall.

"The Fire Lord's chamber is that way, down the hall, to the left," He squeaked fearfully and made climbing motions with his fingers quickly, "And up the stairs, you can't miss it!"

Aang eyed the man suspiciously then grinned widely, "Thanks!"

Xiaodan smirked at the terrified man and spun on her heel racing down the hallway he'd indicated with Toph, Aang, and Sokka hot on her heels.

"Sokka, how much time do we have?" The dualbender called over her shoulder as they raced down the tunnel, Toph now in the lead again.

Sokka pulled out his timing device and looked at it quickly, "Only thirty seconds until the total eclipse."

"Perfect timing." Xiaodan quipped as the foursome approached a set of large metal doors with the Fire Nation symbol at the top. She looked over at her brother, "You ready, little brother?"

Aang took a deep, cleansing breath then stared at the unwaveringly, "I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord." Xiaodan nodded once and adjusted her grip on her staff as Aang swung his own and blasted the doors down with a powerful gust of air.

"So, you are alive after all."

Aang gaped at Azula in shock as they stepped into the room and saw her sitting calmly on a throne at the other end of the room. Xiaodan snarled and would have lunged forward if Sokka hadn't grabbed her shoulder. Orange eyes narrowed and she glared furiously at the princess, as if hoping to burn her with her eyes.

Azula smiled cruelly at the foursome as she addressed Aang, "I had a hunch that you survived. But it doesn't matter." She tossed her head proudly and looked down her nose at them, "I've known about the invasion for months."

"Knew it." Xiaodan muttered under her breath and she shrugged Sokka's hand from her shoulder, glaring at the princess with intense dislike while her brother and two friends stared at Azula in surprise and horror.

Zuko stared at the small metal door with two torches on either side and closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as he bowed his head, "I'm ready to face you."

He opened the door and stood in the entrance, staring at his father with determination. Ozai paused as he was about to take a sip of tea when he noticed his son standing in the opening doorway. Slowly, he set his teacup down in front of him and addressed his son, "Prince Zuko? What are you doing here?"

Zuko narrowed his eyes and stepped fully into the room, the door sliding closed behind him.

"The eclipse is starting!" The mechanist called out as the invasion force marched up the side of the volcano. He quickly removed his monocle and pulled out the specialized eyewear he'd invented for just this purpose, slipping them onto his face, "Put on your eclipse glasses!"

The warriors stopped around him and thrust the ends of their weapons in the ground, putting on their eclipse glasses quickly before continuing to march on towards the capital city. Near the back of the invading army, Hakoda and Katara stopped walking and turned to look up at the sky, watching as the moon fully blocked out the sun.

Ozai eyed his son coolly, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to tell the truth."

"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse." Ozai sneered slightly then he flicked his wrist towards his guards, "This should be interesting."

Zuko watched impassively as the guards filed out of the room as one, the doors closing behind them, then he addressed his father, "First of all, in Ba Sing Se, it was Azula who took down the Avatar, not me."

"Why would she lie to me about that?"

Zuko smirked slightly, "Because the Avatar's not dead. He survived."

"What?!" The Fire Lord snarled, shocked and slightly horrified at the news. He glared furiously at his son, who continued speaking as if he hadn't interrupted.

"In fact, he's probably leading this invasion. He could be on his way here right now."

"Get out!" Ozai roared in fury as he stood from his seat and pointed towards the door, "Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"

"That's another thing." Zuko stated calmly as he stared his father down, "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

Ozai glared down at his son angrily and growled slowly, "You will obey me, or this defiant breath will be your last!"

"Think again." Zuko snapped back and he unsheathed his swords, holding them out in front of him as his father started walking down the steps of the dais, "I am going to speak my mind, and you going to listen."

Ozai narrowed his eyes and slowly sat back down on his floor pillow, lips pursed angrily.

"Where is he?" Aang demanded as he stood in a fighting stance beside his friends, "Where's the Fire Lord?"

"Hmm." Azula hummed as she rose from the throne, "You mean I'm not good enough for you?" She pretended to be hurt, "You're hurting my feelings."

Xiaodan scoffed, "Like you have feelings. Now stop wasting our time! Where is the Fire Lord?"

"You're powerless right now." Sokka added and he pointed his sword at her threateningly, "You're in no position to refuse."

"And stick to the truth." Toph barked, stepping forward and clenching her fist, "I'll be able to tell if you're lying?"

"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar." Azula quipped smugly and she walked a few steps forward. Wiping her face completely of any expression, she intoned flatly, "I am a four-hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."

Toph faltered and frowned, "Okay, you're good. I admit it." She thrust her hands forward and trapped the princess in rock, "But you ought to consider telling the truth anyway!"

Without warning the earth surrounding the princess began to crumble and break, before completely shattering. Xiaodan, Aang, Toph, and Sokka stared in surprise as Azula calmly brushed the dust from her shoulder.

"When I left Ba Sing Se, I brought home some souvenirs." She smirked at the foursome, "Dai Li agents!"

Two Dai Li agents descended from the roof and landed in front of the princess. Aang narrowed his eyes and swung his staff, sending an air swipe at the two agents. The two Dai Li agents reacted quickly, earthbending a rock wall in front of the them that blocked the attack.

"Surround the periphery!" Bato instructed and he raised his spear as he stood on the rim of the volcano, the rest of the army following him, "We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over! Otherwise we'll be in for the fight of our lives."

The invasion force cheered loudly and surged towards the city. Tyro and his squadron came upon several of the Fire Nation soldiers and he took a bending stance.

"Stop!" Tyro barked at the soldiers, "Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you!"

"We'll never surrender!" One of the soldiers shouted and he made several frenzied motions with his hands then leapt forward, thrusting his palm towards Tyro, a small puff of smoke coming from his palm. The soldier blanched and back down, "Okay, we surrender."

Back on the rim, Hakoda leaned against Katara's shoulders as they stared down at the invasion force rushing through the city.

"There it is," Hakoda said happily, "The Fire Nation Royal Palace. We've come so far."

Katara eyed the city doubtfully, "It's not over yet."

"For so long, all I wanted was for you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor I wanted, but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turning." Zuko snapped angrily and he pointed one of his dao blades at his father, "My father, who challenged me, a thirteen year old boy, to an Agni Kai! How could you possibly justify a duel with a child!?"

"It was to teach you respect!" Ozai retorted scornfully, an angry sneer pulling at his features.

"It was cruel!" The prince shouted back, "And it was wrong."

"Then you have learned nothing!"

Zuko shook his head, "No, I've learned everything! And I've had to learn it on my own!" He lowered his swords and stared at his father distastefully, "Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history. And somehow, the War was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was." He scowled at Ozai, "The people of the world are terrified of the Fire Nation. They don't see our greatness. They hate us! And we deserve it!"

"We've created an era of fear in the world." Zuko said passionately, "And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness."

Ozai laughed mockingly, "Your uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"

"Yes, he has." Zuko replied as he closed his eyes for a moment then he smiled proudly as he thought of his uncle. His thoughts drifted to another person that had also helped his revelation, "And he's not the only one."

Ozai's eyes flashed angrily and he frowned in disapproval.

Xiaodan charged towards the earthen wall with her fist pulled back, air beginning to swirl around her hand. She slammed her fist into the earthen wall, shattering it with the air punch. Aang quickly leapt over her head and ran towards the Dai Li agents, Sokka, Toph, and Xiaodan hot on his heels. The agents bended a massive wall towards Aang, who nimbly dodged it by leaping up and pushing off one of the metal support beams in the room, flipping forward.

The Dai Li agents bended two slabs of rock from the ground and flung them at Aang, but he deflected them easily by kicking them away. Toph suddenly burst through the stone wall behind Aang, creating a massive hole in it. She landed between the two agents and slammed her hands down, bending two diagonal pillars of stone up from beneath them and pushing them both towards the walls.

Xiaodan leapt through the hole Toph created and swung her staff at one of the agents, forcing him to leap away from the wall. The agent thrust his hands towards the dualbender, bending a pillar of rock beneath her feet, but Xiaodan merely used it like a spring-board. She swung her leg around and sent an air slice at the Dai Li agent, knocking him back.

While his comrade was distracted by the female Airbender, other Dai Li agent pressed his feet against the wall and earthbended a pillar of rock from it down at Toph. The blind Earthbender swung her arm towards the pillar and blocked the attack by bending a stone wall up from the floor. Thrusting her hands forward, Toph bended a stream of earth at Azula, the stream of earth pushing the princess up into air.

Azula quickly backflipped off the attack and flew back towards the throne, smirking as she landed lightly on her feet. Aang charged forward then, the Dai Li agent that had attacked Toph running after him. A grinding noise reached Aang's ears and he stopped, turning to stare at the wall just as the Dai Li agent slid over the side of the wall and past him.

The agent flung himself off the wall and landed in front of Aang, putting himself protectively in front of the Azula. The agent earthbended a large, diagonal wall of stone up from the floor as Aang continued running towards him. Leaping high into the air, Aang flipped forward and burst through the wall feet first, landing behind the Dai Li agent. Without turning, he popped the agent into the air with a small pillar of stone then knocked him away with a larger one.

Aang spun his staff above his head, letting go of it as he turned forward and swung his arms around his body, shooting a powerful blast of air at Azula with one hand. Scowling slightly, Azula grabbed onto the arms of the throne and cartwheeled away just before the throne was completely destroyed by the air blast. She quickly ran off the dais as Aang jumped onto it, swinging his staff and sending an air slice at her.

Azula ran between two metal support beams and jumped over the air slice, pushing off one of the beams. She backflipped towards the second one and pushed off it towards the first again, landing on the side, only to leap away a moment later as another air blade barely missed her.

The Fire Nation princess spun through the air and landed in a crouch, quickly lunging upright and darting away from Aang, who immediately gave chase. She dodged behind the metal support beams, jumping onto then off a metal beam to avoid another blade of air Aang launched at her. Continuing to run forward, she bounced between the wall and the support beams before hopping up to the stone beam the Dai Li agent had attacked Toph with earlier.

Aang quickly did a small pole vault with his staff, kicking a blast of air at Azula, but she had already scrambled onto the stone beam. Smirking, Azula slid down the beam and jumped off the stone wall Toph had earthbended to block the Dai Li's earlier attack, backflipping off it and landing on the ground.

Azula leapt up into the just in time to avoid another air blade and she swung around, gold eyes narrowing in on the girl with white hair. Xiaodan twirled her staff above her head then brought it down, blasting the princess with a powerful wave of air. Azula backflipped over the attack, twisting midair and landing on one foot. She smirked when she saw Aang running towards her. Spinning on her heel, she raced towards the large stone wall in the middle of the room with Aang, Toph, and Xiaodan hot on her heels.

The Dai Li agent Xiaodan had been fighting slid down the stone beam towards the floor and Azula, landing behind her. He earthbended a pillar up from beneath her, sending her up into the air towards the hole Toph had created in the wall.

Sokka yelped and flattened him down in the hole he'd just barely managed to climb up too, staring at Azula with wide eyes as she passed just inches above his face. Azula smirked down at him, relishing in the fearfully expression on his face as she landed on the other side of the wall, executing a perfect barrel roll. She rolled to her feet and ran towards the exit.

Sokka growled to himself as he tried to quickly climb down from the hole in the wall, only to timidly duck down as the Dai Li agent, Toph, Xiaodan, and Aang jumped over him and through the hole, one at a time. The Water Tribe boy groaned and wiggled around until he dropped down from the hole, rushing after the others as quickly as he could.

"I can't pin her down." Aang shouted as he ran between Toph and Xiaodan after Azula, "She's too quick."

Toph gave a quick nod and veered to the side quickly just as Azula ran out the door with her Dai Li agent right behind her. The agent slid to a stop outside the door and thrust his hands upward, bending a large stone up from the ground to block the entrance then he slid over the ground after the princess.

Xiaodan growled when she saw the boulder blocking the entrance and, with a quick burst of speed, she leapt forward and slammed her feet against the boulder, blowing it out of the doorway. Aang rushed out of the room right behind and chased after Azula and the Dai Li agent, Xiaodan and Sokka right behind him.

Suddenly, the Dai Li agent was knocked to the side by a stone pillar ejecting out of the side of the tunnel wall. A hole opened up in the tunnel wall and Toph jumped out of it with a smirk, landing in front of the agent. She shoved him into the groove of a metal support beam, smashing his stone gloves into dust and knocking his hands away when he tried to attack. She grabbed both sides of the support beam's grooves and pulled them inward, trapping the agent inside.

Stepping back, Toph admired her work with a smirk. She turned her head slightly when Aang and Xiaodan raced past her and quickly followed them.

"Wait!" Sokka shouted suddenly as he finally caught up to this three friends, "Aang, Toph, Xia, stop attacking!"

Xiaodan skidded to a halt beside Aang and spun on her heel to stare at Sokka incredulously, "Why?!"

"Don't you see what she's doing?" He asked hurriedly, eyeing the Fire Nation princess as she stared at the four in amusement, "She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"

"Not true," Azula drawled sarcastically and she put her hands on her hips with a smirk, "I'm giving it my all."

Toph whirled around and pointed accusingly at the princess, "You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!"

"Um, right. I think your friend just said that, genius." Azula scoffed and she rolled her eyes dramatically, "And since you can't see, I should tell you, I'm rolling my eyes."

"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph shouted angrily and she took a threatening step forward.

"Toph, don't." Xiaodan said, quickly grabbing the younger girl by the shoulder, "She's just baiting you."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Aang asked Sokka with a confused expression, "Just ignore her?"

Sokka nodded in the affirmative, "We don't have a choice. We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow."

"Alright, let's go." Xiaodan instructed and she turned her back on the Fire Nation princess, walking back down the tunnel with Sokka, Toph, and Aang following her.

"It's a trap." Azula called out helpfully, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Toph and Aang paused and turned towards Azula for a moment, but Sokka and Xiaodan kept walking, even though the dualbender's shoulders had tensed considerably. Sokka waved one arm over his head in a dismissive gesture, "Ignore!"

The two younger benders hesitated a moment then continued walking after Sokka and Xiaodan.

"So..." Azula drawled in a slightly bored tone as she watched the foursome's retreating forms, "Sokka's your name right? My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time." She smirked when Sokka stopped and turned to face her with a dark look on his face, "She was convinced that you were going to come rescue her. Of course, you never came and she gave up on you."

"Sokka..." Xiaodan said lowly when she saw tears fill his eyes. She stepped forward, but before she could do anything else, Sokka gave a furious cry and rushed at Azula, "Sokka, don't!"

Azula smirked smugly and murmured under her breath as she slipped a blade from her sleeve into her hand, "Come and get it..."

Toph tensed and turned her head slightly towards the princess, sensing the weapon. Quickly, she raised her knee, bending a slab of stone from the ground, then she shot it towards Azula with a thrust of her hands. Azula grunted in pain as the stone enclosed around her wrist and she was slammed into the tunnel wall, the blade falling from her grasp.

Sokka skidded to a stop in front of the princess and grabbed her by the shoulder, pushing her up against the wall with a furious glare, "Where. Is. Suki?!"

Azula smirked at him triumphantly and remained silent.

Zuko stared at his father calmly, "After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Iroh from his prison and I'm going to beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who's been a real father to me."

"Oh, that's just beautiful." Ozai chuckled sarcastically then he smiled cruelly, "Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."

"But I've come to an even more important decision." Zuko continued as if his father hadn't spoken. He paused for a moment then smiled slightly, "I'm going to join the Avatar. And I'm going to help him defeat you."

"Oh really?" Fire Lord Ozai drawled with a sly smile, "Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, you've got your swords. Why don't you just do it now?"

"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny." Zuko replied softly and he sheathed his swords. He turned his back on his father and began walking towards the door, "Goodbye."

Ozai narrowed his eyes and stood abruptly from his seat, "Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me, but you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you any real courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes out." A slow, cruel smile spread across his face as he stared at his son's back, "Don't you want to know what happened to your mother?"

Zuko froze in front of the door and turned to face his father slowly, who grinned at him venomously. He took a step forward, "What happened that night?"

"My father, Fire Lord Azulon, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son." Ozai replied silkily, "And I was going to do it. Your mother found out and swore she would protect you at any costs. She knew I wanted to throne and she proposed a plan, a plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared."

Zuko clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, his head bowed slightly as he listened to his father's words.

"Where's Suki?" Sokka shouted furiously as he glared into Azula's amused eyes, "Answer me!"

"Sokka, stop!" Xiaodan begged as she grabbed her friend's shoulder, "She's not going to say anything! Please, let's just go!"

He hesitated a moment then he scowled and turned back towards Azula, "Where are you keeping her?!"

Azula smirked silently and glanced over his shoulder, her golden eyes meeting Xiaodan's orange ones, "So, you must be the Xia that had dear Zuzu in such a fit."

Xiaodan's eyes narrowed and her grip on her staff tightened, her knuckles turning white. Azula continued to smirk and, ignoring the confused expression that had appeared on Sokka's face, she addressed the dualbender, "You should have seen him. He appearedso guilty after what happened in Ba Sing Se."

She shrugged delicate, "At least until he and Mai got together. They make such a lovely couple."

Aang dove forward and grabbed his sister by the shoulders when she lunged towards the bound princess, a furious snarl on her face.

"Oh," Azula cooed mockingly with an innocent smile, "Did I strike a nerve?"

Sokka glanced between Xiaodan and Azula with a confused expression before forcing his questions to the back of his mind and returning his attention to the matter at hand. He slammed his hand against the wall beside Azula's head and glared furiously at her, "Tell me where she is!"

"Your mother did vicious, treasonous things that night." Ozai commented darkly with a cruel smirk, "She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."

A tear slipped down Zuko's cheek, "So she's alive."

"Perhaps." Ozai replied flippantly with an elegant shrug then he sneered, "Now I realize that banishment is far to merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."

The Fire Lord closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as he felt his firebending return. He snapped his eyes open and snarled, stepping forward and swinging his arms out. Two arcs of lightning danced from his fingertips and he thrust his hands towards his son, firing a powerful lightning bolt at him.

Zuko gritted his teeth as he caught the lightning with the tips of his own fingers, his feet sliding backwards several paces from the force of the attack. The lightning swirled around his body and his hair stood on end, but Zuko ignored it as he lowered his body slightly and pulled his arms inward, the electricity running through his body. Quickly, he thrust his other hand forward, redirecting the lightning back at Ozai.

The bolt struck the ground just in front of the Fire Lord, creating a massive explosion that threw him back against the wall and into the tapestry behind him. Ozai struggled into an upright position with a low grunt, his hair falling over his face as he straightened fully. The tapestry behind him fell to the ground and began to burn around him. When the smoke cleared, his expression darkened when he saw the Zuko had disappeared.

Xiaodan watched Azula warily as she tilted her head back slightly then she smirked as she looked back down at Sokka.

"Oh, sounds like the firebending's back on." She kicked her leg upward and bended an arc of blue flame from her foot, forcing Sokka to jump back in surprise. Smirking cruelly, she thrust her foot forward and shot a fireball at Sokka, who yelped then grunted when Toph tackled him out of the way.

Azula flipped up and pressed her feet against the wall, straining against the rock binding her arms. She grinned maliciously as the rock trapping her to the wall exploded in a rush of blue fire then she pushed off the wall towards Aang.

Xiaodan gave a wordless cry and shoved Aang out of the way, a yell of pain escaping her when Azula's fiery heel connected with her right shoulder and forced her to her knees. The blue fire burned through her tunic and scorched the skin underneath and Xiaodan cried out as she grasped the younger girl's ankle, forcefully shoving Azula away from her with another pain-filled shout.

"Xia!" Aang shouted and he thrust his hands towards the princess, forcing her to leap backwards and further away from the injured dualbender. Aang rushed forward and used another, gentler blast of air to put out the fire still dancing around his sister's tunic then he helped Xiaodan to her feet, watching Azula warily while Toph and Sokka took defensive stances on either side of the of him and Xiaodan.

Azula straightened from her crouch and smirked at the foursome, "Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to see you now."

They four watched as she spun on her heel and raced down the tunnel away from them. Sokka slapped his forehead in self loathing, "I fell for it! I used up all our time!"

"It's not your fault, Sokka." Toph said comfortingly and she put her hand on the older boy's shoulder, "Azula was ready for us. She had every move planned out."

"And now it's too late." Sokka muttered hopelessly.

"Maybe it's not too late." Aang said slowly and he carefully shifted Xiaodan over to Sokka, "The eclipse is over but I can face the Fire Lord anyway."

"Aang, no." Xiaodan protested and she made to take a step towards him, hissing as her burned shoulder throbbed.

"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea." Sokka stated as he stopped Xiaodan from moving towards Aang.

"But I'm ready!" Aang exclaimed as he whirled around to face his sister and two friends, "I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me."

"The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't." Toph said patiently as she moved to stand on Xiaodan's other side, "What we need to do now is go help our friends and get Xia to Katara for healing."

Aang glanced down the tunnel then looked back at his friends and sister, his gaze resting on Xiaodan who was clutching at her burned shoulder with a grimace on her face, "You're right. Let's go."

Sokka placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry, you'll have another chance. I know you will."

Aang nodded once then the foursome quickly made their way down the tunnel, heading towards the surface.

Katara leaned her father against one of the Earthbender tanks and they removed their eclipse glasses.

"What should we do, Hakoda?" Bato asked concernedly as he ran up to his friend, "Shouldn't something have happened by now?"

"I don't know." Hakoda replied, his brow furrowing with his own concern, "But now that the eclipse is over, I expect we're going to see some Firebenders any minute."

Bato opened his mouth to reply, but something in the sky caught his attention and he stared up at in shock. Katara frowned slightly and turned to look in the same direction, her heart leaping into her throat when she saw five Fire Nation war balloons ascend into the air.

"My own invention!" The mechanist exclaimed in dismay as he stared up at the war balloons, "Oh this is terrible!"

Teo silently placed a comforting hand on his father's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. The rest of the invasion force watched with mounting horror as a massive zeppelin ascended into the sky behind one of the war balloons, followed by four more. Katara turned away from the sight and gasped when she saw Appa's familiar form flying towards them.

"They're back!" She exclaimed and she ran forward as the sky bison drew closer.

Perched on Appa's head, Aang stared at the mounting zeppelins with a worried expression before he turned back around and directed Appa to land just as Katara ran up to them. He looked down at the dark-haired Waterbender with an uneasy and saddened expression. Katara bit her lip and glanced over at Toph, Sokka, and Xiaodan sitting in the saddle, similar grim expressions on their faces. Sokka quickly helped Xiaodan out of the saddle and off of Appa's back, leading her towards Katara.

"What happened?" Katara asked in alarm when she saw the angry burn on traversing Xiaodan's shoulder.

"Azula." Xiaodan grunted as Katara approached, bending the water from her canteen and covering the burn on her shoulder with it.

"It was all a trap." Sokka explained loudly as his sister healed Xiaodan while Toph climbed down from the saddle behind him, "Azula knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move! We've got to get to the beach as fast as we can." He turned to face his father as he approached, "If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."

Aang suddenly stood up on Appa's head and snapped his glider open, "They've got air power, but so do I! I'm gonna do what I can to slow them down." He tossed his glider into the air and took off, Momo following close behind him.

Katara hesitated and stared after him worriedly. She jumped slightly when Xiaodan covered her hand with her own.

"Go." The dualbender said quietly and she nodded towards Appa, "He's gonna need all the help he can get."

"But you're burn-"

"I'll be fine until you get back." Xiaodan cut her off quickly and accidentally shrugged her burned shoulder, grimacing slightly, "It's not as bad as it looks. Now go."

Katara nodded once and hurried over to Appa, "C'mon Appa, we can help too."

Sokka and Xiaodan watched as Appa flew after Aang, catching up to him quickly, then Sokka turned to address the rest of the invasion force.

"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" He grasped Xiaodan's left hand and held it tightly as they ran back towards the beach with the others following after him.

Aang soared quickly towards one of the war balloons with Katara on Appa flying after him. One of the soldiers operating the balloon spotted him and shot a fireball at him. Aang quickly twisted around and dodged several more fireballs as he flew closer to the war balloon. Snapping his glider shut, he soared straight through the balloon, cutting through it easily. The balloon began to fall rapidly towards the ground as it lost air.

Appa quickly approached another war balloon and Katara stood upright in the saddle, bending the water from her canteen. She spun around once and swung the water towards the balloon, slicing through it cleanly. The top portion of the balloon drifted upward while the rest fell towards the earth.

Aang grimaced when he saw the fleet still heading towards the retreating invasion force. He gave a wordless shout when several fireballs struck Appa's armor and the sky bison grunted. Katara, thinking quickly, bending the water into shields to deflect the attacks.

"We can't keep them all back!" She shouted to Aang as he flew above her, "There's too many of them!"

"Let's join the others!" Aang instructed, dodging another fireball as they headed back towards the invasion force.

Zuko raced towards the prison, throwing open the door and darting inside. He ignored the guard lying on the floor, who winced and cowered as he passed him. Running down the hall towards his uncle's cell, Zuko skidded to a stop in front of the open door.

"Uncle!" He shouted only to stare in surprise at the large hole in the cage, the surrounding bars bent outwards. He noticed Warden Poon lying in a dazed state on the floor and he hurried towards him, grabbing him by the collar and holding him up, "Where is my Uncle?"

"He's gone." Poon mumbled still in shock and awe, "He busted himself out. I...I've never seen anything like it! He was like a one man army!"

Zuko scowled and released the warden, running out of the prison as fast as he could.

Xiaodan grunted in surprise when Sokka abruptly stopped running down the slope towards the plaza below and she nearly crashed into his back. He turned slightly and looked up, his eyes widening when he saw the zeppelins slowly making their way towards them.

"Try and find cover!" He shouted out to everyone when he noticed the bottom part of a zeppelin opening. He looked over at Katara and Aang as they landed behind him, Toph, and Xiaodan, "I think we're about to see some bombs!"

Everyone quickly huddled together as Toph bended a large slab of stone above their heads, the other Earthbenders doing the same. Xiaodan flinched every time one of the bombs struck the slab of rock above her and exploded. She sucked in a sharp breath when the stone slab cracked and began to fall, but sighed in relief when Toph bended two stone supports up from the ground to keep it upright.

When the bombs stopped, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Xiaodan stepped out from under the rock slab and watched the zeppelins continue towards the beach.

"Why aren't they around to attack us again?" Katara asked in confusion.

"They're head for the beach." Aang said slowly and his eyes widened with realization, "They're going to destroy the submarines!"

Sokka stared at the zeppelins in dismay, "How are we all gonna escape?"

"We're not."

The five friends turned towards Hakoda and Sokka frowned in determination. He punched a fist into his palm, "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win!"

"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win, on another day." Hakoda moved away from Bato and stepped towards his children, "You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Appa together."

"What?" Katara demanded in shock and she grabbed her father's forearms, "We can't leave you behind. We won't leave anyone behind!"

"You're our only chance in the long run. You and Sokka have to go with Aang somewhere safe." Hakoda explained patiently, watching as his daughter looked back at Sokka, Aang, and Xiaodan sorrowfully, "It's the only way to keep hope alive."

Bato turned to address the rest of the invasion force, "The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners, but we'll all survive this battle."

"I've got some experience with Fire Nation prisons." Tyro said as he approached the group, "It's not going to be easy, but we'll get by."

Xiaodan glanced over her shoulder and sucked in a sharp breath when she the zeppelins were already at the beach, "Look!"

"They're at the beach already!" Sokka exclaimed and they all watched helplessly as the zeppelins dropped more bombs, the swampbenders who had remained at the beach no doubt trying to defend the submarines. One by one, the submarines exploded and were completely destroyed.

"Oh no..." Xiaodan whispered and closed her eyes in despair, leaning heavily against Aang.

Sokka swallowed thickly then closed his eyes, his expression grim as he begrudgingly accepted the turn of events that had just taken place. Opening his eyes, he turned towards his father and nodded his head in acceptance.

Hakoda nodded back and straightened as best he could, turning to address the invasion force around, "Quickly, gather the youngest in our group and bring them down to Appa as fast as you can."

Xiaodan leaned heavily against the back of Appa's saddle, watching with sad eyes as Toph and the mechanist, carrying Teo in his arms, rose up to Appa's back on a platform of rock that Toph was bending. The blind Earthbender hopped into the saddle and the mechanist carefully placed Teo down in it, hugging him tightly.

"Bye, son."

"Bye, Dad." Teo whispered back sadly, "I'm really proud of you."

The mechanist gave his son a wobbly smile and waved slightly as Toph lowered him back to the ground. Brushing the stray tears from her cheeks, Xiaodan shuffled over to the of the saddle, leaning over it. She smiled slightly when she saw the Duke trying to scramble up the large sky bison's side with little success. Pipsqueak caught the young boy before he fell and lifted him up. Xiaodan grasped the young boy's arms and pulled him up the rest of the way, smiling down at Pipsqueak's grateful look.

"I'll miss you, Pipsqueak." The Duke sniffled as he turned to face his friend.

Pipsqueak reached up and patted the Duke's hand, "Take care, the Duke."

The Duke sniffled once and Xiaodan gently guided him over to where Toph was sitting. She dropped down beside the boy so he was sitting between her and Toph, her arm resting around his shoulders comfortingly.

Back on the ground, Haru and Tyro embraced tightly. Haru pulled away and looked at his father seriously, "I'll be back for you, Dad."

Tyro smiled at his son, "If we don't escape on our own first."

Haru put his fist against his palm and bowed respectfully to his father then made his way over to Appa, passing Katara, Sokka and Hakoda on his way. Hakoda looked at both his children proudly.

"We lost today, but we've never been this close. We tasted victory and that counts for something."

Katara sniffled, "We'll miss you, Dad."

Hakoda nodded and embraced his two children tightly one last time. Sokka exhaled heavily, "Bye, Dad. We won't be apart for too long this time I promise."

Aang bowed his head and cried silently as he sat on Appa's head. He looked up at Katara when she placed her hand on his shoulder, a soft smile on her face. He looked away and wiped his eyes then stood up, addressing the rest of the invasion force.

"Thank you all for being so brace and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you."

Katara smiled at him again then jumped into the saddle as Aang sat down on Appa's head, Momo climbing onto his shoulder. Appa rumbled lowly as he took leapt into the air and flew away from the Fire Nation capital, the adults watching them go sadly.

"Should we follow them, Princess?"

Azula smirked as she stood on the gondola of her zeppelin, watching the Avatar's bison fly away through the window. She tilted her head towards the zeppelin's captain as she replied, "No. They're too fast. It doesn't matter though, they'll be back."

Xiaodan stared at the zeppelin along with the others, her lips pursed. She touched her burned shoulder gently before dropping her hand when she caught Katara's stern look.

"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while." Aang called back to them from Appa's head. He exhaled heavily, "The Western Air Temple."

Unbeknownst to the group, a single war balloon flew after them. Zuko stood in the balloon's basket, holding onto the ropes, and stared at the sky bison's retreating form determinedly.