82 Chapter 81

Time passed and training continued. Everyone was making good progress in whatever they were training. And by good I mean SWEET GOOGLY MOOGLY they shouldn't be able to catch up to me when I'm cheating. Sokka has made the least impressive progress 'only' picking up a solid martial foundation for several weapons. Ty Lee and Suki are now more than a match for any average bender. Azula can now easily generate and direct purple lighting to match her purple flames. Katara when trying to help gather some food realized a new use for life bending. She can now control and accelerate the growth of plant life. Aang is now adept at the four elements. As for Toph, no matter how high my opinion was of her talent it wasn't high enough. She asked me a few questions about the chakras and then the next day she has the biggest grin when she slowly melts a pebble into lava. Then not a week later she accidentally kicked a metal statue and in addition to the angry yells of pain added excited cheers. Toph hasn't shown anybody, but I'm pretty sure she just took the first step in metal bending. She hasn't made much progress in either field, but the fact that she is at all is terrifying. I felt a little left behind but honestly was still in a bit of a rut with my bending. However, my shape control with my quirk is about as precise as possible. I figured out how to do everything from complicated gearboxes to monomolecular blades. Being able to sprout claws that are as sharp as physically was a worth while final result.

We didn't spend our time only training tough. There was a lot of downtime where we all got closer together. I had been nervous about Katara, but she came around. One night tensions we're rising between them and then the next morning they were thick as thieves. I don't know what happened, but if I had to guess they either fought it out or bonded over personal tragedy. Besides the new friendships, there were also some deeper feelings going around. Suki and I were the most obviously together because we were actually a couple. Azula and Ty Lee were close to becoming an item. Then there were the more subtle pairs. Toph and Sokka both had some feelings for each other, but both were also completely oblivious to it. Finally, Aang likes Katara, but she's not nearly as interested . The whole thing between them is more awkward than anything else.

Despite having the least training progress, I think Sokka made the most progress in his personal goals. After a few days away from his planning, he was back at it better than ever. Coming up with all kinds of ideas for how to end the war. There were several parts and it required the group to split up so that we can get everything done. With all the time we spent together there were significantly fewer trust issues. He decided to work around trusting Azula. The final portion of the plan was to infiltrate the Fire Nation during the day of the black sun. During the infiltration, we would find and defeat the fire lord while installing Azula as his replacement. However, in order for that to actually work, we needed her reign to be accepted before she was crowned. That meant getting her support both inside and outside of the Fire Nation.

She had Aang's support, which was worth a fair bit. Sokka had originally thought about going to Ba Song Se to get the Earth King's support, but after learning about how convoluted current Earth Kingdom politics are, he decided we should stick with what we know. Aang, Katara, Toph, and Suki would be returning to Omashu in order to liberate it and get King Bumi's support. He had thought about all of us going there, but with Mai's family currently ruling the city, it was probably best that Ty Lee, Azula, and I not be there. That made him think of something for us to do, so he split the party. Aang, Katara, Suki, and Toph had a simple, but hard task. While Sokka, Azula, Ty Lee, and I had complicated and difficult tasks. First, we would find Sokka's father and Southern Water Tribe fleet. We would parley with them and then travel to the Northern Tribe with them. We would then discuss a peace settlement with both chiefs. Then using the leftover ships from the invasion we would assault the Boiling Rock prison freeing Ozai's political prisoners and hostages. By then it wouldn't be long before the eclipse. Both groups would discreetly meet back together at Agni Bay a small port town close to the capital. From there we would complete the final portion of the plan.

As he finished explaining the plan the others were silently contemplating the plan. Katara was the first to break the silence.

"Sokka this is crazy. There are so many things that can wrong."

"The only step that is crucial is the lasts step. The others are helpful but if they don't work or only work a little the plan should still be fine. No plan is pulled off perfectly."

"The last step isn't exactly foolproof. It's all relying on what Azula knows. What if their plans have been changed? What if Ozai finds out about Azula switching sides or the upcoming coup?" Toph calmly points out.

"There are only two places my father will be, the bunker or the throne room. He won't change plans or leave the capital it will make him look weak. That would weaken him in the eyes of the nation and it's against who he is as a person to ever willingly act weak. If he doesn't know about my betrayal he will be in the bunker. If he does then he will be in the throne room waiting to challenge me and the avatar. A victory like that would be everything my father ever wanted." Azula explained.

"So that means we can't be sure what location he'll be at" Ty Lee summarized.

"Then we'll just have to pick where we strike first and hope we get lucky," Sokka stated confidently.