A/N; Okay uh this was supposed to be a normal chapter and somehow ended up being 7,272 words long - not including this A/N, by the way.

I need help. (Kinda like Appa does at the end of this chapter.)

...that was in really bad taste, I'm sorry ;-;

Azami P.o.V.

"This is great and all, but don't we have more important things to worry about? We need to make plans!"

Azami crossed her arms in frustration. "We did make plans, ponytail. We're all picking mini-vacations."

With Aang's earthbending well underway, the gaang had decided to take some much needed break time before he started on training on his final element - fire. Truth be told, Azami wasn't entirely sure how she wanted to approach teaching him after how disastrous his previous attempt was, but she'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

"There's no time for vacations," Sokka insisted.

Aang paused in playing his flute, much to Momo's disappointment as the groundhogs stopped popping out of their holes for him to chase. "I'm learning the elements as fast as I can," he complained. "I practice hard every day with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with having a little fun in our downtime?" Katara asked her brother.

Sokka glanced down at the young Avatar, scowling. "Even if you do master all the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the Fire Nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Firelord's house? Knock knock, hello mister-"

"Uh, Sokka," Azami interrupted, glaring at him slightly. "Did you forget I spent the first fourteen years of my life living there? I really don't think we need a map."

To her surprise, Sokka didn't back down but instead turned his glare towards her. "Maybe a hundred years ago, but a lot can change in that time. I'm not saying your knowledge is useless, but we need some real intelligence if we're gonna win this war. Besides, it would be helpful to actually have a physical image we can look at."

"Fine," the firebender muttered before turning to address the others. "We'll finish our vacations first, then we can go look for Sokka's intelligence." The water tribe boy glared at her again as the other benders laughed, and she just sent a sly wink back in response. Just because we're friends again doesn't mean I have to stroke his ego the way he does.

Reluctantly, Aang got up and pulled out his map of the central Earth kingdom, which was covered by about five towns and a whole lot of sand. "Where would you like to go on your mini vacation, Katara?" he asked the waterbender.

"Hmm," she wondered. With a smile, she pointed at a town right near the edge of the massive desert. "How about this? The misty palms oasis, that sounds relaxing."

Aang grinned as he looked at what Katara was pointing to. "Oh, yeah, I've been there! It's a pristine natural ice spring, and I usually don't use the word pristine. It's one of nature's wonders."

Yeah... when they got there, it was a whole bunch of sweaty guys wrapped head to toe in bandages and one dried up pond with a small chunk of ice in the middle. Not exactly what Azami would classify as an oasis. Or relaxing.

"Must have... changed ownership since i was here," Aang chuckled nervously as he headed on in. As soon as they crossed the village threshold, the welcome sign behind them crashed into the ground, its support having given out. Lovely.

While walking through the town, Azami couldn't help but start feeling a little defensive at the way the villagers were watching them. Even with most of their faces, including their eyes, covered, she got the sense that they were prey walking into a lion's den. No one said anything to them, but as she and Sokka went to go enter a bar behind the others, one of the men leaning against the wall spat on the sand at their feet.

Azami snarled as she summoned a flame into her palm, but before she had the chance to do anything Sokka hurriedly pulled her into the bar. "I get that was rude, but you can't just attack someone out of nowhere for it," he hissed.

She sighed, recognizing he was right, and put out the fire in her palm. She glanced down at her hand with a frown - when did this happen? A handful of months ago, Sokka gave her an equally cold reception on their first meeting, but she didn't attack him - instead, she tried to de-escalate the situation. When did she start reacting with such violence?

"I don't see anything wrong with having one of those... fruity... beverages..." Sokka breathed out, waking Azami from her reverie. She followed his gaze in surprise to see a young man with an ice glass filled with some sort of smoothie. "While we plan our strategy, of course. Excuse me!" Sokka exclaimed as he raced up to the counter.

The others followed him over, but within a second Aang managed to barrel straight into the young man, whose drink got knocked straight into the airbender's robes. "No worries," Aang quickly assured the man, even though Azami thought he ought to be the one apologizing. "I clean up easy."

Proving his point, he slapped his hands together right in front of his chest, creating a gust of air that expanded away from him, drying his shirt, and the young man gasped in shock. "You're a living relic!" he exclaimed. "An air nomad, right in front of me. You must be the Avatar!"

"Sure am," Aang smiled.

The man eagerly stuck out his hand to shake Aang's. "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se university," he introduced himself. "And if you're here, that must mean..." The professor's eyes searched the gaang for a moment before he met Azami's confused gaze, and his smile widened. "You must be Princess Azami then, I take it?"

Azami hesitantly nodded, feeling a little more uncomfortable with this guy than Aang was. He stuck his hand out again, and she hesitantly reached out to shake it - only, much to her surprise, he instead went ultra-formal and leaned down to kiss the top of her hand. Beside her, she saw Sokka reach up slightly for his boomerang while the firebender's face flushed in embarrasment.

"It's an honor to meet you," the professor said warmly, ignoring Azami's flustered expression. He reached back over to Aang, taking one of his arms and examining it closely, almost as if the airbender were a rare artifact rather than a person. "Tell me - which of the air temples do you hail from?"

Now Aang started looking uncomfortable too, pulling his arm back rather quickly from the professor's grasp. "The southern temple," he replied nervously.

"Oh, splendid!" the professor cried before he took out some weird tool to measure... Aang's head? Okay, this guy seriously needs to learn about boundaries, Azami thought privately. "Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people?"

In the past minute, Aang's expression had gone from warm and welcoming to now completely bewildered. "Uh... are fruit pies an agricultural product?" he wondered.

"Truly fascinating," Zei muttered. "That is one for the journal. Now, as for you, your highness, I must ask-"

"So, professor, you're obviously a well-traveled guy," Sokka cut in, looking strangely... protective, almost? Azami wasn't really sure how to feel about that. "Do you have a more current map? Ours seems to be a little dated."

After taking a moment to write in his journal, the professor smiled warmly as he responded. "Certainly," he replied as he pulled out a scroll and handed it over.

Sokka was quick to grab the map and spread it down on the table, but much to the gaang's disappointment, it still only showed the Earth Kingdom. "What, no Fire Nation?" he complained. "Doesn't anybody have a good map of that place?" Azami opened her mouth to reply, but Sokka quickly held up his index finger towards her in a 'shushing' gesture. "Besides you."

Azami smirked before leaning down over the map, taking in all the strange dotted lines leading into the vast sands. "You've made a lot of trips into the desert," she commented.

"All in vain, I'm afraid," the professor explained in a rather defeated tone. "I've found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, but I haven't managed to find the crown jewel - Wan Shi Tong's library."

Toph, who was now sat comfortably on two chairs with her legs kicked up on the far one, scoffed slightly at that statement. "You've spent years searching through the desert? To find some guy's library?"

"This library is more valuable than gold, little lady," the professor argued. "It is said to contain a vast collection of knowledge... and knowledge, is priceless. According to legend, it was created by the great spirit Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers."

Sokka smirked. "Oh, so the spirit has attractive assistants, huh?"

For the first time in a few weeks now, Azami once again had the pleasure of smacking the back of his head, and he whined in pain slightly as she glared at him. "I think he means they look like actual foxes, Sokka."

"You're both right," Zei smiled at them. "Handsome little creatures. Wan Shi Tong and his knowledge seekers collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read, so that we might better ourselves."

Sokka appeared thoughtful as the gaang all stared down at the map - save Toph, of course. "If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation? A map, maybe?"

"I wouldn't know," Zei admitted. "But if such a thing exists, it's in Wan Shi Tong's library." He paused for a moment, before looking back up at Sokka in confusion. "Why would you need such information, though? I would've thought a princess of the Fire Nation would already be able to tell you everything you need to know."

Azami smirked at Sokka, who was now blushing slightly himself. "That's a great question, professor," she agreed, before sighing softly. "That being said, though, it's true I don't know everything about the nation. A lot can change in a century, and there may be useful knowledge for other things as well."

"Then it's settled," Sokka declared with a proud look. "Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation... AT THE LIBRARY!" Silence filled the room for a bit, with basically everyone deadpanning at Sokka. "What?"

Toph then waved a hand in the air, grabbing everyone's attention. "Uh, hey, what about me? When do I get to pick?"

"Don't worry, Toph," Azami assured her, cutting Sokka off before he could make any sort of snarky comment. "I haven't gone yet either, so you can pick after me, okay?"

The earthbender grumbled slightly to herself, slamming her drink on the table in frustration.

Professor Zei's expression fell slightly as he started pondering their plan, however. "Of course, there's the matter of finding it," he despaired. "I've made several trips into the Si Wong desert and almost died each time. I'm afraid that desert's impossible to cross."

Sokka and Aang shared a look, and Azami groaned internally - it was never a good thing when those two planned alone. "Professor, would you like to see our sky bison?"

Sokka P.o.V.

Needless to say, the professor was ecstatic and almost chased the gaang out the door in his rush to see Appa. Though when they actually came in sight of the bison, he was surrounded by several of those shady men from outside the bar earlier.

"Sandbenders, shoo!" the professor yelled at them. "Away from the bison!"

Reluctantly, Sokka could tell, they backed away - but even with their face covered he still didn't like the feeling he was getting from them. No doubt, they probably saw Appa as some high-value trade, and he wasn't going to let that happen. They needed Appa more than anything now.

Soon enough, though, all thoughts of the sandbenders left his mind as they soared out into the endless desert. The sun was unbearably hot, forcing him to take his shirt off and wear it as a hat. On more than one occasion, he could've sworn he felt a pair of eyes watching him, but whenever he looked at the others they all appeared bored and distracted.

Hours upon hours passed by, and the building was still nowhere in sight - which was definitely a bit odd. Checking the drawing again, Sokka came to the conclusion that the building had to be at least two hundred feet tall - meaning that from the air, it should be easy to find. Much to his dismay, though, they still couldn't find anything.

"There it is!" Toph suddenly called out to them, and everyone excitedly raced to look where she was pointing - wait. Toph can't see. Everyone just glared at her as she returned to a pouty expression. "That's what it'll sound like when one of you spots it," she muttered before grinning at them, waving a hand in front of her face to remind them of her blindness.

Turns out, though, she wasn't entirely wrong, as Sokka soon spotted a fairly large tower poking out of the desert nearby. "Down there!" he called out, and Aang quickly lowered Appa to land next to it.

"Forget it," Katara sighed as they looked up at the tower. It was impressive, but definitely not the library. "It's obviously not what we're looking for. The building in this drawing is enormous." Right as she said that, a flash of movement caught Sokka's eye, and he looked over in shock to see a fox. It blinked once at them before racing up and into the tower, vanishing into its depths.

"Lemme see that," Azami quickly asked before taking the drawing.

Professor Zei looked ecstatic at the sight of the fox. "That must have been one of the knowledge seekers! Oh, the library must be nearby!"

"No, this is the library," Azami announced, and Sokka looked over in shock as she gestured from the top of the drawing to the tower before them.

His gut sank as the truth hit him - he now knew why Professor Zei could never find the library. "It's completely buried."

Fortunately for them, though, the library was completely intact. Somehow it had been buried with no damage whatsoever, and without filling to the brim with sand. The gaang - except for Toph, who stayed behind with Appa - all climbed down from the tower's opening and landed on a small platform inside the library.

As soon as they landed, however, a rustling sound echoed from behind them, and they all quickly raced to hide behind pillars on the far side of the platform. Hopefully, they were out of sight of whatever that thing-

"I know you're back there," a weird voice called out to them, sounding as though it was speaking from multiple sources at once.

Nevermind.

A part of Sokka wanted to call out 'no we're not', but he decided now probably wasn't the best time. Instead, he could only watch in horror as Professor Zei ran out and greeted - what is that? Sokka had seen a lot of weird stuff, but an owl the size of Appa probably took the cake.

He tuned out the conversation slightly as he took in the owl's appearance - completely black plumage, save for his face, which was white, and pitch black eyes that did not seem in the slightest bit friendly. This was then corroborated by the owl speaking to the professor. "You should leave, unless you wish to become a stuffed head of anthropology."

Swallowing nervously, Sokka forced himself to walk out of hiding along with the others. "Are you the spirit who brought this library to the physical world?"

"Indeed," the spirit agreed. "I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. And you are obviously humans, which by the way are no longer permitted in my study. Humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, seeking to destroy his enemies. So..." the owl leered down, coming much to close to Sokka's face, and he instantly flinched back slightly. "Who are you looking to destroy?"

"What?" he wondered aloud in a fake voice. "No, no destroying here! We're not into that - I've got the Avatar here, he'll vouch!"

Desperately, Sokka pulled the young Avatar in front of him as proof - and, he had to admit, as a slight body shield. "Uh... yeah, I'll vouch," Aang muttered nervously. "We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word."

"Hm... while that one is clearly filled with lies, I shall hold you to that," the spirit hummed. "However, as proof of your worth as scholars, you must contribute some worthwhile knowledge to my collection."

While the others all gathered up a book or parchment of sorts, Sokka scrambled about, trying to find anything to use - but he came up emptyhanded. What knowledge could he provide that the library didn't - Oh! I got it.

Eagerly, he pulled out a string and created one of his own personally designed knots, holding it out just in time for the owl to come seeking his offering. The spirit deadpanned at him, not moving an inch. "It's a special knot of my own making, see?" Sokka encouraged.

"You're not very bright, are you?" the owl asked in a disappointed tone.

Sokka grumbled to himself as the owl took his very special and unique knot, but he didn't comment. If he wanted to fool this spirit into thinking he wasn't looking for an edge on the Fire Nation, he had to get it to be - at least in part - on his side.

"Enjoy the library," the spirit muttered, though not moving an inch.

Azami then came up from beside Sokka, pulling out her wanted scroll. "Excuse me, spirit? I'm afraid you didn't get my offer-"

"You are not welcome here," Wan Shi Tong snapped, and Azami flinched back in shock. "I've had enough dealings with you firebenders to be sure of that. Unless you wish to join my stuffed collection, I strongly suggest you leave at once."

Hestiantly, Sokka took a step forward, wary of the owl's anger. "Um, great spirit, sir? Azami isn't like other firebenders, and she's on-"

"I don't care," the spirit stated flatly.

Whatever was left of Sokka's confidence nearly crumbled then and there, but to his surprise Azami stepped beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he passed. "It's okay, guys," she assured them. "You go on ahead, there's some things I want to talk to Wan about anyways. Plus, we probably shouldn't keep Toph and Appa waiting."

Sokka stared at her in shock, but before he could even ask if she was sure, he saw a curious look cross over her - it was almost like she was begging him silently to trust her. Sighing, he nodded before trying to put on a brave face. "Well, if you're sure... come on, guys."

Reluctantly, he and the others left Azami and the owl spirit behind, heading off into the library - and he knew just where he wanted to look. It was time to actually have some proper intel on the Fire Nation.

Azami P.o.V.

"Well?"

Azami bowed her head, trying to think of everything possible to make sure she got out of here - preferably without her head cut off and stuffed. "Great Spirit, I come here seeking not just the library's knowledge, but yours as well, and only for personal use. I have no desire to use your knowledge to bring harm to anyone else."

The owl hummed slightly, as though pondering her request. "Your brother came here once, promising the same." Azami couldn't help the soft gasp that left her at that news - her brother was here? When? And why? What was he looking for?

"He insisted to me that my knowledge would only be for his peace of mind," Wan Shi Tong continued. "Whether that was true or not, he was soon followed by another of your kind, who destroyed part of my collection. I've had to learn at great personal cost that your kind, despite what stories would have me believe, are nothing but vicious, power-hungry beasts."

Azami dropped to both knees and bowed her head even more, trying to placate the spirit's anger. "Please believe me. I wish only to speak with you, then I shall leave your library in peace."

The spirit sighed, as though resigning himself to an unpleasent fate. "Oh, very well. There are several rules you must follow while here, though-"

"No firebending and no touching anything?" Azami prompted as she met the owl's gaze, who simply stared at her in shock for a moment before nodding his giant head. He extended a massive wing, gesturing in a direction away from the others, and she swallowed nervously before heading down the path.

The library proved to be even larger than Azami could've ever predicted. After having descended what felt like dozens of flights of stairs, she and Wan Shi Tong had arrived in a massive open hall, with paths leading in every direction out of it and a huge doorway on the far side.

"This was once where I welcomed scholars," the spirit reminisced. "Where they could request any individual volumes of their choosing, provide their own knowledge - it was truly special."

Azami's instincts were still screaming at her to get away from the terrifying creature beside her, but she still had questions that needed answers - so for now, at least, she had to play nice. "If I may ask, what happened to this place? Why did you bury it, if spreading your knowledge to others was so important to you?"

"Time buried it," the spirit explained. "Over generations of your human lives, the dunes have warped and shifted with the changes of the world, and this library was only one of thousands that have fallen prey to its power. I did not bury this place any more than your ancestors turned their own homes to ruin."

Not waiting for her response, Wan Shi Tong turned down a nearby hallway, and Azami had to sprint to keep up with him. It didn't continue very far until they arrived at a rather empty room with a ceiling so high she could barely make it out. The only things she could see within the space were chairs, benches and desks.

"Here, the great scholars of your kind and I would come spend hours upon hours indulging in our thirst for knowledge," the spirit explained as he stopped moving and pulled a chair out for Azami to sit in. "It is only here where we shall discuss, so my collection may be safe from your fire."

Forcing down her unease, Azami sat down across from the spirit, feeling herself much like a foolish child, completely out of her depth. "Thank you, I- well..." she trailed off, grappling with her nerves to try and calm down. "I came to seek your wisdom and advice on two matters. The first, being about the nature of firebending-"

"And the second about your brother," the spirit finished for her as she nodded. "I figured as much. But first, I have a request of you. May I see your fire?" Azami went to create a small flame but hesitated, looking to the spirit for permission. "Here, you may use your bending carefully, lest I be forced to restrain you myself."

Not waiting another second, she anxiously summoned a small flame in her palm which she held out to the spirit - the same feeling of bitterness swelling in her at the sight of its stubbornly blue tone. "I was informed that your flames were white, not blue," the spirit remarked.

"They were," Azami muttered resentfully. "Ever since Aang and I came out of that stupid iceberg, though, they've been like this." And now, the reason I'm still here. "Do you have any idea why? Or how I can get the white flames back?"

Wan Shi Tong shook his massive head, and Azami's spirits whithered with it. "As you are - or at least, were the only bender in history with white flames, it pains me to say I do not know. Even I, the Spirit of Knowledge, can only know so many things, and I cannot speak on a subject of which I know nothing."

"Wonderful," the firebender sighed. So much for that. If even an all-knowing spirit couldn't help her on this, then she probably wasn't getting it back ever again. It really was a pity, too - though she hadn't given it much thought lately, being far more focused on... other things, she still missed them a lot.

The silence stretched out for a while as both she and the spirit seemed lost in thought, until the owl chose to finally break it. "I may, however, be able to explain your blue fire."

Azami's head snapped up instantly, a tiny spark of hope flaring inside her again.

Sokka P.o.V.

So far, this library wasn't proving all that useful. Aang found a sketch of some weird lion turtles and he'd found a few interesting scrolls, but nothing on the Fire Nation.

He continued wandering aimlessly, until he finally came across a burnt piece of parchment encased beneath a sheet of glass. "The darkest day in Fire Nation history," he read aloud, his curiosity instantly piqued. In the corner, the date read;

Twelve thousand two hundred eighty seventh day of the Era of Kuruk.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Sokka carefully pulled out his machete and wedged the glass up, allowing him to pull the parchment out and roll it up. If the Fire Nation had a 'darkest day', perhaps there was a weakness he could exploit.

Maybe, just maybe, this could give them the chance to win the war.

As he raced through the library searching for the Fire Nation section, Sokka felt then that he had to admit the truth - he didn't think they would win. He was confident in Aang's abilities, but they were going up against an entire nation, and right now they were doing it alone. With no army to back them up.

"Sokka!" Aang's voice called out to him as he sprinted past. "Where are you going?"

He paused briefly, holding out the rolled up parchment to show to the others. "I want to know what happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day," he explained. "This could be promising."

It didn't take long for them to find the Fire Nation collection. As soon as the doorway lined with a red banner appeared, Sokka couldn't help the confident smile that crossed his face - finally, they would know what they were actually up against. He eagerly walked in, anticipating the hoard of knowledge awaiting him.

Instead, he was met with nothing but dust and ashes.

"Firebenders," Aang muttered.

Katara appeared almost defeated as she entered beside Sokka. "They destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation."

"That's so unfair!" Sokka cried, collapsing to his knees. "Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation it turns out they beat us here a long time ago." This can't be it, he thought bitterly. "I need to know what happened on the darkest day." Maybe Azami would know the answer, but by the time he saw her again they would've already left the library behind. The information would be useless then.

Behind him, he heard a soft squeaking noise, and he looked over his shoulder in shock to see one of the fox knowledge seekers standing at the doorway. "Hello," Sokka squeaked out. "Little, weird fox guy."

As soon as he acknowledged it, the fox turned around and stood on three of it's legs, not moving an inch as it waited. "Seems it's trying to assist you," Professor Zei commented.

"Um... sure," Sokka agreed, getting back up. "I... guess, I'll follow you?"

Without waiting another second, the fox took off into the library, the gaang all racing behind it to keep up. The thing was fast, too - by the time they arrived at the massive round door it had led them too it was already crawling into a small hole in the wall. 

A few clicking sounds later and the door rolled open, revealing... something beyond. Sokka couldn't really make heads or tails out of it at first, but when the fox hit a switch and the room started to light up, it made more sense. The room showed the sky, rotating between day and night.

"Uh, this room is beautiful, but how is it helpful?" Sokka wondered.

Katara gestured to the pedastal in the center, which had dozens of numbers scribbled into it in concentric rings. "Maybe these dials represent dates and times," she offered. "Sokka, try entering that date from the parchment you took."

"Shhhh, Katara!" he whispered loudly at her, gesturing over to the fox. "Not in front of the fox, he's with the owl!"

In response, the fox simply pouted as it sat there. Sorry little guy, but it's the truth.

Pulling out the parchment, Sokka entered the date in question, then pushed the lever again. The room shifted dozens of times between day and night, before eventually settling on a darkened sky, but still with the daytime appearance. Looking up, he saw that the Sun was risen, but blocked out. Almost like-

"Great, you must've broken it," Aang remarked.

No... not broken. It had been a long time, but he recognized what he was looking at. "It's not broken," Sokka explained. "The sun is behind the moon, it's a solar eclipse! It's literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history, now I get it! Something awful happened on that day, I don't know what, but I do know why - firebenders lose their bending during a solar eclipse!"

He grinned, throwing his hands up in success. Best. Vacation. Ever.

Azami P.o.V.

For an all-knowing spirit, Azami really thought this owl would actually understand what good tea tastes like. Alas, no - the leaf soup she was handed was appalling at best. Still, she appreciated the gesture, and it did help calm her slightly, although it was hard to ignore the gigantic, murderous owl towering over her.

After having spent nearly an hour discussing firebending, the two hadn't really come to a conclusion on much of anything. Wan Shi Tong proposed the idea that a few rare firebenders could change their fire's color through their emotions, but that didn't really explain much of what she was looking for. Instead, it only affirmed her sureity that her now-blue fire sucked.

So, instead, she decided to ask something else that was bothering her - that had bothered her for months now. "You mentioned my brother had come here before," she started slowly, wanting all the details possible. "Did he say why?"

"Openly, he only said that he searched for peace of mind," the owl explained. "That he wished to free himself of a burden he had carried for years."

Gee, I wonder what it was, Azami thought bitterly as she again thought about the suffering she'd caused. "What of the books he read, if any? Did that explain anything?"

Wan Shi Tong appeared thoughtful as he took a moment to reply. "As I recall, he was looking for a means by which to contact a spirit. That, and he also read several books on the essence of mortality-"

The great owl was cut off by one of the library's little foxes running into their room, yipping urgently. Azami didn't understand anything, but whatever it was seemed to infuriate the spirit beside her. "So," he hissed out, and she flinched back at the venom in his tone, falling out of her chair before scrambling back to her feet as all of her apprehension came rushing back in an instant. "You thought you could keep me occupied while your friends upstairs use my knowledge for war."

"N-no!" she squeaked out, her voice more shrill than it had gone in years. "I-I swear I only w-wanted to get y-your help-"

Clearly, the owl was having none of it as he lashed out at her with a clawed foot. She desperately tried to back up, but to no avail - the owl's talons wrapped around her shoulders and pinned her back to the ground, the spirit's massive head leaning down menacingly.

"S-spirit, please believe me!" she begged, the owl's beak mere inches from her face. She knew this thing could easily tell if she lied, so she'd have to bend the truth slightly. "I swear to you I came seeking only your wisdom, not to distract you!"

The spirit hummed slightly as its beak widened, leaning in to place Azami's neck directly in between. She couldn't help the massive sigh of relief that left her as the spirit leaned back up, but the threat was clear as day. "Perhaps," he agreed. "Despite my judgment telling me you knew of this treachery, I can sense no lies from you. Leave now, while I still allow it."

Wan Shi Tong then flew off to the room's entrance, Azami panting heavily from the stress as soon as the crushing weight left her. Before the owl left, he quickly looked back at her one last time. "Do not presume to enter my library ever again. I feel compelled to mention that even if I let you leave, your friends must still pay for their acts. Interfere, and I shall not show you mercy again."

Her eyes widened as she realized the danger the others were in, but before she could try and reason with the spirit, he took off into the main hall, leaving Azami pale and sweating like crazy as she tried to control her thoughts. Despite her usual tendency to pick fight over flight, she'd never quite felt like a frightened rabbit wanting to flee to its den more than she did just now.

Great vacation choice, Sokka.

Sokka P.o.V.

"The firelord is going down!"

For once, Sokka felt excited about their prospects. All they had to do was find out when the next eclipse happened, invade the Fire Nation while they're helpless, and bam! The war could be over before that comet even arrived. This was surprisingly easy, he thought cheerfully.

Which, of course, meant that everything had to go wrong.

"Mortals are so predictable," a familiar echoey voice said from behind him. Oh shit, Sokka thought as a massive shadow grew around him. Whipping himself around, he saw the massive owl spirit looming over him. "And such terrible liars. You betrayed my trust. From the beginning, you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes."

Evil purposes!? This was about stopping the world FROM evil purposes! "You don't understand!" Sokka protested. "If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library, they're destructive and dangerous." All except Azami, of course, he added privately. "We need this information!"

"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified?" the owl spat. Can owls spit, Sokka's mind wondered. "Countless others before you have come here, seeking weapons, or weaknesses, or battle strategies!"

Aang spoke up next, and hopefully the great spirit bridge would work his magic, as usual. "We had no choice! Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love."

The great owl spread his wings, glaring down at all of them. "And now, I am going to protect what I love."

As he started to flap his wings even more, the room around them - no, the entire library started to rumble. He's going to bury us, Sokka realized with a sense of horror. "I'm taking my knowledge back!" the spirit cried. "No one will ever abuse it again!"

"We've gotta get out of here!" Katara exclaimed, but before they could even start running the spirit started to tower over them.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," Wan Shi Tong stated bluntly. "You already know too much."

Screaming in terror, Sokka jumped back as the owl's beak planted itself right where he'd been a second prior. Deciding that his life was just a little more important than his plans, he and the others all raced out into the library, yelling and screaming as Wan Shi Tong barreled after them. Professor Zei tried desperately to get the spirit to stop, but Aang was only just able to pull him away in time to save his life.

Thankfully, they weren't completely helpless themselves, and Aang blasted the giant spirit away with a gust from his staff, sending the creature spiraling into the library's depths below.

"You guys are alive!" a familiar voice cried from behind them, and Sokka whipped around with a smile as he saw Azami racing towards them, panting and clearly out of breath. "I thought- owl said- war stuff-"

He raced to catch her as she sagged against him, and he still couldn't get used to the fact that she didn't even try to flinch away anymore. It was nice. "What are you still doing in here?" Sokka asked her.

"Private chat with owl," she wheezed out, though she seemed to be recovering quickly. "Long story. Plan?"

Sokka glanced over at his sister, who seemed desperate to leave, but a thought hit him - this was their chance. His chance, to actually do something that mattered to the team - but more importantly, to maybe end the war. Everyone knew the Earth Kingdom was losing, and this could tip the scales.

But he didn't know when, or even if, a solar eclipse would hit before the comet.

"We need to find out when that solar eclipse is," Sokka declared.

Katara looked at him like he was insane. "Sokka, we need to go! We'll find out when it is later!"

"No, we won't," Sokka stated bluntly. "If we leave this place, we'll never get that information." He turned to the girl who was now standing beside him. "You good?" Azami nodded, and he turned back to the others. "Azami and I will go find that date. Aang, Katara, you guys take Momo and get out of here!"

His sister tried to argue, but before she got the chance Wan Shi Tong broke through a wall right next to them and started chasing her and Aang, who were running for their lives. "Come on, we need to go," he told Azami, and the two raced off to the planetarium.

"So I figure you heard about our darkest day, huh?" the firebender asked as they were checking the dates between now and the comet.

Sokka nodded while remaining fixated on his work. "I figured that if all firebenders lose their powers on that day, it makes for a perfect opportunity to invade the Fire Nation."

"Even so," she countered, pulling the lever again to search for the next date. "That still isn't a whole lot of time to work with. You get minutes, Sokka. Depending on the scale, invasions usually take months."

He winced slightly at that fact, but tried to brush it aside. "If we were trying to take the whole Fire Nation, then yes. But if we head straight for capitol with no detours and everything we've got, it could be doable. Assuming we can get past the gates of Azulon, of course."

Azami choked slightly at that statement, and Sokka realized that probably hit harder than he imagined. "Sorry, I sometimes forget you missed a century," he admitted.

"It's fine," she muttered. "It still takes some getting used to though."

He nodded his head in agreement, unsurprised by that. "I'd be shocked if it didn't. One time I actually slept an entire day, and when I woke up the following it was the weirdest thing, I-"

"That's it!" Azami exclaimed, cutting him off as she pointed at the diagram of the eclipse.

Sokka's heart leaped into his throat, and he felt a surging swell of pride - he'd found a weakness. He had an edge on the Fire Nation now.

They could win.

He eagerly wrote down the date on a nearby piece of parchment, timed almost a month before the comet was due. They would still have enough time to organize an assault. As soon as he was finished, he rolled up the parchment and tucked it away with all the others he'd 'borrowed' from the library. "Come on, let's get out of here," he smiled at Azami.

The two raced back into the main area, heading for the rope they entered on in the first place. They passed by several more destroyed shelves and claw marks - though fortunately no stuffed benders or lemurs. At least they're still alive, Sokka tried reassuring himself.

"...won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern and Southern styles of waterbending, along with foggy swamp style," the spirit monologued as he towered over Aang and Katara, who were waiting by the rope. "And Nothern, Southern, Eastern and Western styles of airbending."

Thinking quickly, Azami grabbed Sokka and launched them both into the air with her bending before tossing him towards the owl. He eagerly raised his club and landed it straight on the spirit's forehead with a satisfying -clunk- sound. "That's called Sokka style," he smirked at the dazed spirit. "Learn it."

Sokka, Katara and Azami then all eagerly started climbing the rope while Aang circled them on his glider - but someone was missing. Glancing around, Sokka quickly found professor Zei sitting comfortably among a stack of books. "Professor! Let's go!"

"I'm not leaving," the man insisted. "I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on earth. I... I could spend an eternity in here."

Sokka looked down, meeting his sister's and Azami's gaze for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Just go!" Katara cried, and he wasted no more time before beginning to climb again.

As they did so, the rope started flailing around with them on it. Wan Shi Tong had grabbed hold of it and was trying to shake them off - which he managed to do, but Aang was able to catch all of them in the nick of time. They started flying straight up, the spirit heading straight for them - but Azami, who was at the bottom of their conga line, kicked down with her foot, sending a jet of flame straight into the spirit's face.

The owl shrieked in pain as the fire seared his feathers, giving him a mark almost similar to Zuko's, which Sokka only barely noticed before they crossed out of the library and back into daylight. Aang dropped them all on the sand rather unceremoniosly, but he didn't care - they'd succeeded.

"We got it!" Sokka cried as he pulled out the parchment with the next eclipse's date and time. "There's a solar eclipse coming!" He and Katara eagerly embraced, ready to be free from this war at last. "The Fire Nation's in trouble now!"

As they pulled apart, Sokka looked around happily, until his mood started to dwindle - someone was missing. "Where's Appa?" Aang asked nervously as he walked up to Toph, who was sitting in the sand with her head in her hands.

The earthbender merely shook her head in response, and that's when Sokka knew what happened. Or the result of it, anyways.

Appa was gone.