fire & lightning

chapter thirty-one

"During the meeting, i was the perfect prince, the son my father wanted. But, i wasn't me."

~

Four days ago, Aang had a bad case of insomnia. No matter how hard he tried to sleep, it was impossible. He was worrying too much about the invasion, and apparently he had nightmares about us losing. Instead of going to bed, he would train extra hard at night to make sure he was ready, but that was very unhealthy. He began to hallucinate, and he wasn't himself. We were all deeply worried about him. Katara tried yoga, Sokka tried therapy, Toph tried to pound his back with rocks, and i tried surrounding him with animals because that always worked for me whenever i got really stressed out. Unfortunately, none of it worked. But last night, it turned out that all Aang needed was our support and encouragement. We reminded him of all the great things he's accomplished, and how truly amazing he is. Before we knew it, he fell asleep.

So, today is the day. It feels like only yesterday we were planning this invasion, and now the time has come. I can't exactly describe this feeling, but it sure is weird. I'm invading my homeland and everything i grew up in. There's a part of me that strongly believes in Aang, but i'm also very paranoid. As much as i miss Zuko, i don't want to see him. Now that i think about it, he's not much of a problem. Azula is the one we should look out for. But overall, i've been praying that we all get out of this alive.

"Good morning!" Aang approached our gang in a very cheerful mood.

"Did you sleep well?" I handed him a cup of tea.

"Yeah, like a baby."

"So, what's your strategy for taking the Fire Lord down?" Toph turned to face Aang. "Get your glow on and hit him with avatar state action?"

"I can't." Aang's mood dropped. "When Azula shot me with lightning, my seventh chakra was blocked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the universe."

"All i heard was spiritual mumbo-jumbo."

"Oh no! Sokka, do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" Katara acknowledged the fog in the water below the cliff we were standing on.

"No, that is the invasion!" Sokka exclaimed as Watertribe ships came out from the fog, revealing that Sokka and Katara's father was here, along with his tribe.

We all jumped down to their level, and Aang and Toph began to make docks for the ships using earthbending.

"You made it!" Katara rushed over to her father as he exited his boat, Sokka following.

"Did you locate everyone i told you to find?" Sokka asked Hakoda.

"I did, but i'm a little worried. Some men aren't exactly the warrior type." He pointed towards our old friends from the swamp who were walking up to us.

"What do you think that is, Tho?" Due examined a rock in the water. "Some sort of Fire Nation exploding trap?"

"Hey, guys!" I called out to them. "Also, it's just a rock."

"Is it just me, or are those fellows loose in the leaf hat?" Hakoda whispered to his kids, but loud enough for me to hear.

"I just wish they would wear pants." Bato complained as he walked past us.

"Hey, Katara." A teenager i didn't recognize walked up to the waterbender and gave her a hug. He was dressed in traditional Earth Kingdom clothing and had long brown hair.

"Haru! It's so good to see you." Katara smiled at the boy.

"Toph, Motoko, this is Haru. His town was controlled by the Fire Nation, so he had to hide his earthbending." Aang introduced us to their friend.