꧁ chapter twelve ꧂
meiluna's not so secret admirer

✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚

"NOW WHAT'S SO big that Appa has to wait?" Sokka questioned impatiently.

"That" Aang pointed down.

Meiluna peered down from her position on the Outer Wall where she saw a large drill with the Fire Nation insignia branded on it.

"We made it to Ba Sing Se and we're still not safe. No one is!" Ying wailed despairingly as she huddled with her family.

"What are you people doing here? Civilians aren't allowed on the wall!" A guard called out to them.

Aang turned to face the man,

"I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever is in charge"

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"It is an honor to welcome you to the Outer Wall, young Avatar, but your help is not needed" General Sung addressed Aang.

"Not needed?" Aang looked at him in confusion.

"Not needed," The General repeated calmly, "I have the situation under control. I assure you the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall. Many have tried to break through it, but none have succeeded"

"What about the Dragon of the West? He got in" Toph countered.

"Well, uh, technically yes," The General stuttered, slightly taken aback, "But he was quickly expunged. Nevertheless, that is why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It's the impenetrable city"

"They don't call it Na Sing Se" He laughed before turning serious again,

"That means penetrable city"

"Yeah, thanks for the tour" Toph replied sarcastically, "But we still have a drill problem"

"Not for long. To stop it, I've sent an elite platoon of earthbenders called the Terra Team" The general explained.

"That's a good group name. Very catchy" Sokka said approvingly looking to Meiluna who nodded in agreement.

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"We're doomed!" General Sung flailed around in panic upon witnessing the defeat of the Terra Team.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" Sokka said, slapping him across the face.

"You're right, I'm sorry" The General apologised as he rubbed his cheek.

"Maybe you'd like the Avatar's help now?" Toph asked smugly.

"Yes, please" He answered meekly, standing before Aang.

"The question is, how are we going to stop that thing?" Aang asked aloud before everyone turned to Sokka.

"Why are you all looking at me?" Sokka asked looking at the others strangely.

"You're the idea guy!" Meiluna said as if it were obvious.

"So I'm the only one who can ever come up with a plan? That's a lot of pressure" Sokka whined.

"And also the complaining guy" Katara added.

"That part I don't mind"

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Meiluna kneeled by one of the Terra Team soldiers, attempting to heal him.

"What's wrong with him? He doesn't look injured" General Sung noticed.

"His chi is blocked," Meiluna stopped her healing for a moment, "Who did this to you?"

"Two girls ambushed us. One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away" The soldier explained.

Meiluna's eyes widened in realisation when she looked up seeing Katara share the same expression,

"Ty Lee"

"She's moves so fast, you barely have time to react before she gets to you," Meiluna told them, "Actually, it's pretty cool, it looks like she's dancing when she fights, she can do cartwheels and somersaults in the air, kind of like an acrobat or something"

Meiluna noticed the awkward silence following her accidental praise for Ty Lee.

"Never mind"

"She doesn't look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It's like she takes you down from the inside" Katara explained.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" Sokka bounced around excitedly.

"Yes?" Katara said looking at her brother.

"What you just said! That's how we're going to take down the drill! The same way Ty Lee took down all those big earthbenders"

"By hitting its pressure points" Toph registered.

"We'll take it down from the inside" Aang agreed with a determined look.

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The team of five were crouched together in one of the abandoned trenches of the Terra Team.

"Once I whip up some cover, you're not going to be able to see. So, stay close to me," Toph reminded before she stepped out of the trench with a powerful stomp, sending a mass of flying debris towards the drill, "Run!"

Meiluna took off as fast as she could, following her friends to the side of the drill.

"Everyone into the hole!" Toph yelled out, eartbending a hole into the ground.

Meiluna immediately jumped in after the others as Toph quickly closed the opening, making it pitch black in their underground tunnel.

"It's so dark down here, I can't see a thing!" Sokka complained.

"Oh no, what a nightmare!" Toph replied sarcastically.

"Sorry"

The group made their way to the surface underneath the drill when Sokka pointed out another opening,

"There!"

Aang leapt up to the bar hanging from the opening, hanging upside down from his legs as he hoisted up Meiluna, Katara and Sokka into the drill.

"Toph! Aren't you coming?" Meiluna yelled out, peeping her head out of the drill.

"No way am I going in that metal monster. I can't bend in there. I'll try to slow it down out here!" She reassured.

"Okay! Stay safe!" Meiluna said before she disappeared into the drill.

She got up and quickly followed Sokka through a tunnel of valves and pipes.

"I need a plan of this machine. Some schematics that show what the inside looks like. Then we can find it's weak points" Sokka commented.

"Where are we going to get something like that?" Aang asked incredulously when Sokka unexpectedly cut off a steam valve with his machete, "What are you doing? Someone's going to hear us!"

"That's the point. I figure a machine this big need engineers to run it. And when something breaks..." Sokka started.

"They come to fix it!" Katara completed his sentence.

Moments later, an engineer in a mask made his way down the misty hallway, when he saw Meiluna stand right in front of him.

Before he could register the intruder, she spoke,

"Sorry!"

Both her and Katara froze the mist, covering the engineer in a thin layer of ice while Sokka ran up to him to take the schematics out of his hand.

"This'll work" He said before turning away.

Meiluna patted the engineer on the head before whispering a small thank you. She turned around and rushed over to where Sokka studied the plan,

"It looks like the drill is made up of two main structures. There's the inner mechanism, where we are now, and the outer shell. The inner part and outer part are connected by these braces. If we cut through them, the entire thing will collapse"

The four looked at each other in agreement, before making their way to the interior.

"Wow, it looks a lot thicker in person than it does in the plans. We're going to have to work pretty hard to cut through that" Sokka said as he examined the massive steal beam.

"What's this 'we' stuff?" Katara asked as she crossed her arms, "Aang, Luna and I are going to have to do all the work"

"Look, I'm the plan guy. You three," Sokka explained as he started making rapid chopping gestures, "Are the cut stuff up with waterbending guys. Together, we're team Avatar!"

Sokka struck a heroic pose as Katara and Aang shared an awkward look. Meiluna raised her hand to speak,

"Can we take a vote on the team name?"

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"Come on team. Don't quit now! We're-" Sokka was cut off by Katara as she growled in frustration, pulling her water whip out to her brother, threatening to strike him. Sokka's eyes widened as he raised his hands in surrender,

"I mean, you're almost there"

Meiluna sighed while she tediously sent Katara's water whip towards the Avatar. Aang sent one last lash through the brace finally slicing through it. However, to the team's disappointment, it barely moved from its position.

"At this rate, we won't do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall" Katara panted out while Meiluna raised her hand to wipe the sheen of sweat from her forehead.

"I don't know how many more of those I have in me" Aang said in exhaustion when the sound of the drill creaking filled the air.

"Do you hear that? We took it down! We better get out of here fast!" Sokka cheered, leading the group to the door.

"Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!" A voice announced through the overhead speaking tubes.

Meiluna looked at the others with worry in her eyes,

"I think we have some more work to do"

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"Come on brace," Sokka groaned, pushing against the brace, "Budge!"

"This is bad," Katara said anxiously, "Really bad"

"We're putting everything we've got into busting these braces, but it's taking too long" Sokka cried out despairingly.

"Maybe we don't need to cut all the way through" Aang spoke, struck with realisation.

"Toph has been teaching me that you shouldn't give one hundred percent of your energy into any one strike," He stood up slowly, "Sokka, take a fighting stance. You've got to be quick and accurate. Hit a series of points and break your opponents stance"

He struck Sokka several times,

"And when he's reeling back, you deliver the final blow. His own weight becomes his downfall, literally" He finished, hitting Sokka on the head.

Sokka kneeled over in pain while Meiluna looked at the boy, rubbing his head softly.

"So, we just need to weaken the braces instead of cutting them all the way through?" Meiluna asked.

"Exactly," Aang nodded, "Then I'll go to the top of this thing and deliver the final blow"

"And boom! It all comes crashing down" Sokka spoke theatrically as he stood up.

"Everyone inside that wall. The whole world is counting on us" Aang added.

"The whole world minus the Fire Nation, that is" Sokka corrected with a grin.

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"Good work, Team Avatar! Now Aang just needs to," Sokka abruptly stopped as he glanced up in horror, "Duck!"

Aang evaded the blue fire blast sent his way just in time as Princess Azula ran to stand atop another brace.

"Wow, Azula, you were right! It is the Avatar!" Ty Lee observed in surprise, "And friends" She added with a flirtatious smile looking straight at Meiluna.

Meiluna waved awkwardly with a smile as Katara approached her, dragging her away.

Ty Lee swung herself forward towards Aang who used his airbending to push her away before the four of them escaped the scene, running through the drill's hallways.

As they approached an intersection, Aang paused,

"Guys, get out of here. I know what I need to do"

"Wait!" Katara called out throwing her pouch at Aang, "You need this water more than I do"

Aang caught the pouch before running off. Meiluna, Sokka and Katara took off in the other direction when Azula's voice echoed through the drill,

"Follow them! The Avatar's mine!"

The trio came to a halt as they reached the end of a hallway that seemed to have a closed off hatch.

"Slurry pipeline?" Katara read off the nearby sign, "What does that mean?"

Sokka managed to open the hatch, revealing a canal,

"It's rock and water mixed together. It means it's our way out!"

The two siblings quickly jumped in while Meiluna scrunched her nose, watching the sludge.

"I can't believe this" Meiluna mumbled before she jumped in.

As Meiluna slid out of the slurry, landing softly in the mud, Katara quickly used her waterbending to plug the back entrance of the drill, trapping Ty Lee.

"Why don't you try blocking my chi now, circus freak?" Katara taunted.

"Katara keep that up. The pressure will build up in the drill. Then when Aang delivers the final blow, it'll be ready to pop!" Sokka told her.

Katara continued to hold Ty Lee captive while Meiluna picked at the bits of mud in her hair, trying to clean herself.

It was really gross.

"Good technique, little sister! Keep it up! Don't forget to breathe!" Sokka encouraged.

"You know, I'm just about sick and tired of you telling me what to do all day! You're like a chattering hog-monkey!" Katara yelled irritatedly.

"Just bend the slurry, woman!" Sokka screamed back.

Frustrated, Katara bended a wave of slurry into her brother with her free hand, knocking him down into the muck, splashing Meiluna in the process.

"Ugh, Sokka!" She whined, wiping the mud off her face.

"You guys need some help?"

"Toph!" Meiluna called out happily.

Katara looked over at the two girls,
"Help me plug up this drain"

Meiluna stood up, standing beside Katara, all three of them used their bending to send Ty Lee farther into the drill, causing the pipes to expand under the pressure.

All of a sudden, the drill collapsed, releasing a torrent of slurry from the inside.

"Woohoo!" Sokka cheered.

"Here it comes!" Toph announced.

She used her earthbending to create a rock pillar to lift the four of them up, avoiding the flood of slurry just before it could touch them.

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Meiluna stood with her friends at the top of the Outer Wall, admiring the sunset, watching the pink and orange hues paint the sky above her. The slow disappearance of the sun served as a reminder of the night that was soon to follow, meaning that Meiluna was going to see Yue again. It happened every single day yet it brought a smile to her face every time.

"I just want to say, good effort out there today, Team Avatar!" Sokka congratulated.

"Enough with the Team Avatar stuff. No matter how many times you say it, it's not going to catch on" Katara spoke, looking unamused.

"Definitely not your best work, Sokka" Meiluna teased.

"How about," Sokka began as he pulled out his boomerang, "The Boomerang Squad! See it's good because it's got 'Aang' in it. Boomeraang"

"I kind of like that one" Aang said with a grin.

"Let's talk about this on our way into the city" Katara dismissed as she began walking away.

"The Aang Gang?" Sokka tried.

Meiluna looked at him, letting out a small laugh.

"The Fearsome Fivesome?"

"You're crazy" Toph shook her head, walking away with Katara.

"Why? We're fearsome!"

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