Sokka was ready to kill. Toph had enough sense not to make any comments to the furious young warrior as they sped back to the coast on Appa. And really, there wasn't anything she wanted to say; she was far too miserable. She felt even worse now than she had when they'd lost Appa in the desert and Aang had blamed her. Somehow, this was her fault too, for she had been the one to trust Zuko. And why shouldn't she? He had been truthful about everything, was so unhappy about what had happened between him and his sister and had genuinely been willing to help them fight the Dai Li. His sudden betrayal had her so confused that she merely hung her head and said nothing while Sokka vented his rage.
"I knew he couldn't be trusted! But does anyone ever listen to me? Oh no! I'm just Sokka, the stupid boomerang guy. We should have left him in that cell to rot."
Toph winced.
"What were you thinking anyway?" he shouted at her. "Why couldn't you just leave him behind? After all the things we told you about him, how could you just drag him along?!"
"I'm sorry," she mumbled miserably.
"Now, thanks to you, this whole ambush is going to fall apart! People are going to get hurt, maybe even…" but his rant was interrupted by a small sound next to him. What he saw when he glanced down took all the fire right out of him. Toph was crying. Bravely, quietly, but definitely crying.
"Toph," Sokka said remorsefully, "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean…"
"No," she interrupted, in a shaky voice trying very hard to sound matter-of-fact, "you're right. This is all my fault."
"No, it isn't," he replied gently. "You can't help it if he lied."
"But that's just it, he didn't lie!" she half-sobbed. "Everything he said was the truth, I'm sure of it," she finished weakly, wondering now if perhaps she had been wrong.
"Don't worry. We'll figure this out. We'll just modify the plan and we'll make it work," he said, wishing he could think of something to say to take back his earlier harsh words. Then he realized something. "Actually, it is a good thing you dragged him along." When she didn't answer, he continued.
"He's the one who told us about the attack in the first place."
"Thanks, Sokka," she said quietly, feeling only slightly better, and they continued on to the bay in silence.
Aang and Katara had only two ships left to build and were taking a break for lunch at the camp when Appa returned with Toph and Sokka. The first thing they both noticed was that Zuko wasn't with them, and Katara could tell by the look in her brother's eyes that he had bad news; very bad news.
"Where's…" Aang started, but stopped as soon as he saw Toph's face. Remembering that expression from the desert, his heart sank and his eyes widened in shock.
"What happened?" asked Katara in a quiet voice, but she already knew the answer.
"Zuko changed his mind again," replied Sokka darkly. "I think he really is schizophrenic."
By now, Iroh had come over to them, a look of worry on his face, and arrived just as Sokka had answered. He bowed his head with a defeated sigh.
"Our strategy is useless then," the old general stated sadly. "We will have to face them head on." Turning to Sokka he asked, "How much time do we have?"
"Toph managed to disable the engine. I figure we have until sunrise," stated Sokka. Iroh nodded.
"Then we should prepare ourselves for battle."
As the sky paled in the pre-light before dawn, a light fog hung over the bay making Sokka all the more bitter about how things had turned out.
"This so would have worked too," he grumbled to no one in particular. "Good strategy, cooperative weather; but oh no, Zuko has to play psychopath and throw a perfectly good battle plan right out the window!"
As the Dai Li ship rounded the last curve of the river canyon and came into view, he clenched his fists tightly. All the water tribe ships were at the mouth of the river, ready and waiting for battle. Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, Iroh, and the Earth King were gathered on the deck of Hakoda's ship. Through the light haze at the mouth of the river, they could make out nearly 50 figures on the deck of the war barge. Zuko was there also, backed by the Dai Li as though they were his own personal army.
The ship was closing in on the water tribe's position, and everyone waited for the barge to reach striking distance. Suddenly the war ship stopped and Zuko's voice could be heard across the water.
"Where is the Earth King?" he demanded as the ship drifted close enough for them to see all it's occupants clearly through mist. There was no reply.
"Where is he?" Zuko shouted again.
When the question was first posed, the Earth King had half a mind to slink below deck and hide. But when it was asked again, he stepped forward with a sudden burst of courage and called out with as much authority and bravery as he could muster.
"I am here!" he boomed, and surprised everyone, including himself, with how commanding his voice actually sounded in that moment.
What Zuko did next shocked everyone beyond the point of reaction. Locking his eyes on the Earth King, he knelt down on one knee with his head bowed, and as he did so, every single one of the Dai Li agents dropped to their knees as well, leaning their bodies out over their legs and clasping their hands in front of their heads in supplication to their sovereign.
"We are Your Majesty's humble servants," called the commanding officer of the Dai Li.
Every jaw on Hakoda's ship dropped in unison as Zuko looked up at them with a decidedly satisfied grin. The Earth King quickly snapped his mouth shut and blinked. Then, leaning back to where Iroh was standing next to him, whispered without looking over.
"I guess I won't be giving that speech then?" he asked uncertainly.
"Apparently not," replied a shocked Iroh, and then continued with obvious disappointment in his voice, "And it was such a fine speech too. The best I ever wrote."
Iroh and Toph had already gone back to the camp to have some tea, the Earth King was in conference with his now loyal Dai Li agents, working with Hakoda and Sokka on strategies for retaking Ba Sing Se, and Zuko stood at the front of the barge, his hands resting lightly on the railing as he looked out at the sun rising over the bay, burning off the fog and lighting the water with brilliant shades of orange, pink, and gold. He kept his eyes on the horizon as Aang walked up and stood next to him.
"That was really amazing." He said quietly. When Zuko made no reply, he looked up at his former enemy and asked, "How did you do it?" At first, Aang thought he wasn't going to get an answer, and was just about to give up on getting one when Zuko finally spoke.
"Azula would not have shown them any mercy. As soon as her troops got into Ba Sing Se, she would have no use for them, and would…dispose of them without a second thought, the same way she would dispose of her own family. I simply made sure theyunderstood that."
"So..." Aang started slowly, "does this mean you will be coming with us to…"
"Yes." Zuko cut him off before Aang could say the words; he didn't need to hear them. There was a minute of almost, but not quite, awkward silence before Zuko spoke again.
"So what are you still doing standing here?" He asked without looking down at Aang.
"Huh?"
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for a fire bending lesson?" inquired the ex-prince nonchalantly, and then turned his eyes down toward the young Avatar without moving his head. He held this glance until it was rewarded with a slow, beaming smile from Aang.
"You bet!" he crowed, whipping a ball of air beneath his feet as he replied and zipping off around the deck. Too late, he noticed Katara coming up from below and swerved to avoid a collision, sending himself flying off the side of the barge and into the water with a splash.
"Aang!" Cried a concerned Katara, rushing to the side of the ship and peering into the water where Aang landed.
"I'm ok!" he shouted merrily, and then bent a wave of water and started surfing it back to the shore. Katara just chuckled as she walked over to Zuko and leaned against the railing next to him, looking out at the sun rising over the bay.
"Traveling with him is going to be…interesting, isn't it?" He asked without taking his eyes off the sunrise. Katara laughed and shook her head.
"Zuko, you have no idea."
fin
Disclaimer: all characters in the preceding work of fan-fiction are the intellectual property of Nickelodeon and, as such, they reserve the right to remove this story at their sole discretion.