꧁ chapter sixteen ꧂
the betrayal

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"LOOKS LIKE LONG Feng is long gone! Ha! Ah yeah, I've been waiting to use that one" Sokka laughed at his own joke while Meiluna giggled at the look Katara gave him.

"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools. And that makes me the king fool," The Earth King spoke full of shame, "We're at war. With the Fire Nation"

"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, your highness" Meiluna said politely.

"We think you can help us end the war" Sokka continued.

"We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer. It's energy will give the firebenders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable" Aang explained.

"But there is hope. Before the comet comes, we have a window of opportunity. A solar eclipse is coming. The sun will be completely blocked out by the moon, and the firebenders will be helpless" Sokka continued.

"What are you suggesting Sokka?" King Kuei asked.

"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation," Sokka answered, "The Day of the Black Sun"

"I don't know," The king spoke, sounding unsure, "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable"

"You're already vulnerable. The Fire Nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either wait for that to happen, or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance" Sokka pushed.

The King spent a moment to ponder what Sokka had said before replying,

"Very well, you have my support"

"Your majesty," A man walked up bowing to the king, "I apologise for the interruption"

"This is General How," The king introduced,
"He's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest ranking generals"

"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody" The general spoke addressing the team.

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"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids" The General explained.

"Secret files?" Aang repeated.

"Toph Beifong" The General read as he handed to scroll to Toph, who immediately handed it to Katara.

"It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city. And she wants to see you" Katara said, skimming over the letter.

Toph's eyes widened in shock,

"Long Feng intercepted our letters from home?" She shook her head, "That's just sad"

"Aang?" The general handed a scroll to the Avatar, "This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it"

Aang opened the scroll beginning to read its contents,

"It's from the Eastern Air Temple"

"Princess Meiluna" The General handed Meiluna a letter.

She accepted it and looked at it in confusion. She saw her name neatly printed on the top,

"Who's that from?" Aang asked curiously.

Meiluna unfolded the paper, her eyes quickly flitting to the bottom of the page to identify the sender.

"It's from Master Pakku" Meiluna mumbled, keeping her eyes on the page.

She felt a frown approach her lips. Master Pakku was able to write to her, but her own father hadn't found the time.

She was scared. Every moment upon leaving the North Pole, Meiluna had optimistically believed that her father would forgive her for making the right decision, now it seemed that he couldn't hate her more if he tried.

Her hands shook slightly, the feeling of regret and guilt eating away at her.

Dear Princess Meiluna,

I hope you're well.

Your father is still upset about your leaving. Don't be too concerned, you know he's just worried about you, he cares for you a lot. He may not know how to show it, but please remember he does.

Please return home safely,

Pakku

Meiluna cracked a small smile, grateful that she had received a letter at all.

"Is there a letter for me and Sokka by any chance?" Katara asked hopefully.

The general peered into the box,

"I'm afraid not," He replied, "But there is an intelligence report that might interest you" He handed a scroll to Katara.

"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships" Katara read.

"What? That could be dad!" Sokka spoke excitedly.

"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay led by Hakoda"

Katara and Sokka turned to each other full of excitement,

"It is dad!"

She turned to face the rest of the group,

"I hate to say it, but we have to split up"

"Split up? We just found Appa and got the family back together! Now you want us to separate?" Aang asked sadly.

"You have to meet this guru, Aang," Meiluna spoke up looking at him, "And Sokka, Katara and Toph need to be with their families" She smiled at the others.

Katara's smile fell,

"What about you Luna?"

Meiluna shrugged slightly. She had made her decision. If she was going to return home, she would only do so with a brand of success. Ending the war was the only way she could face her tribe, and most importantly, her father.

It was selfish, Meiluna knew that, to want to do this for the sense of gratification only her father could appease.

She couldn't help but think that Yue would have never been in a situation like this. She always knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. She was perfect and Meiluna felt as though she needed to somehow match that.

"Well, someone has to stay with the Earth King, right?" She asked rhetorically.

"I'll stay with you" Katara offered.

"You have to go see your dad, Katara, I'll be fine" She gave a reassuring smile as the team nodded and started to make their way outside.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys" Toph spoke sadly.

"Me too" Katara replied as she, Meiluna and Aang went up to wrap her in a tight hug.

Meiluna turned around seeing Sokka standing off to the side and rushed over to wrap him in a hug as the others joined in.

"Ah! Great. That's enough," Sokka pretended to be annoyed, "Okay, we love eachother," He patted Aang and Meiluna on the head,

"Seriously?"

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"General Fong's base will serve as the launching point for the attack. In exactly two months, the army and navy will invade the Fire Nation on the Day of the Black Sun" General How explained to Meiluna.

Momo then jumped on to the map, knocking over some of the pieces.

"Or we could send in Momo to do some damage," Meiluna laughed, watching the lemur, she turned her attention back to the Council of Five who remained unamused, "Cause, the-"

She looked down, feeling embarrassed,

"Sorry"

"All we need is the Earth King's seal in order to execute the plan" General How continued, handing Meiluna a scroll.

"I'll get these to him right away. Thank you General How" She bowed politely before heading out.

As she walked through the city with Momo on her on her shoulder, Meiluna's eyes flickered between all the shops she passed, admiring all the clothes, jewellery and accessories on display.

She then came across a tea shop, pausing in her spot as she noted the pleasant aromas surrounding the store.

"What do you say, Momo? A cup of tea before we get back to the king?" Meiluna turned to the lemur, who chittered happily in response.

She entered the Jasmine Dragon, observing the bustling crowd. As she entered, she walked over to an empty table nearby to take a seat and before she knew it Zuko stood at her table.

Meiluna looked up in surprise,
"You work here?"

"It's my uncle's tea shop," Zuko nodded as he answered.

"That's amazing" Meiluna spoke as she admired the interior,

"I'll have 2 lychee teas"

Zuko seemed to awaken from his daze, looking to her with confusion,
"Huh?"

"You're here to take my order aren't you," Meiluna but back her smile glancing down at his name tag, "Lee?"

"Right," Zuko felt his ears burn with shyness as he quickly wrote down her order, "Sorry"

He looked at her once again, watching her laugh lightly at his awkward behaviour, before heading back to the kitchen.

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Meiluna and Momo had finished their drinks, both of them getting up to leave. Just as Meiluna left the shop she heard the door open behind her. She turned around and saw Zuko standing there. She stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something.

He realised he had been staring for a while so he spoke the first the thing that came to his mind,

"How was the tea?"

"Perfect," She smiled, "As always"

An awkward silence filled the air again.

"I'll see you later" Meiluna waved.

"Oh," Zuko looked very self conscious as he sent her a half hearted wave back, "Okay"

Why couldn't he think of anything to say?

Before he knew it, she was bidding him farewell sending him a flying kiss,

"Goodbye!"

Meiluna turned around and continued her way to the Earth King.

When she and Momo had finally entered the palace, they were greeted by the Kyoshi warriors.

"Suki!" Meiluna greeted with a smile.

"You know, you should really be more careful when you spend time with little Zuzu, anyone could be watching"

The girl turned around revealing her sly smile and her golden eyes.

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"I'm sorry, but I can't let go of Katara" Aang said stubbornly.

"Aang, to master the Avatar State, you must open all the chakras. Surrender yourself" Guru Pathik explained.

"Okay," Aang agreed reluctantly, "I'll try"

"Now think of your attachments and let them go. Let the pure cosmic energy flow"

Aang closed his eyes, seeing an image of him letting Katara go and a bridge that would lead his to Avatar State mastery.

His image looked down, smiling at the bridge, and walked up to the Avatar Spirit, who was holding a ball of energy. Aang walked directly inside it, making his eyes and his tattoos glow. Right before he was able to completely open the final chakra he noticed a spirit come up to him,

"Yue?"

She remained silent, placing both of her hands on either side of his head.

He was then filled with a vision of Meiluna chained up, completely helpless.

Aang was taken out of the vision with Yue nowhere to be seen.

He jumped out of the energy sphere immediately and ran from the Avatar Spirit. The bridge that lead him there slowly vanished and fell from beneath him, causing him to plummet back to earth.

"Meiluna's in danger! I have to go!"

"No, Aang! By choosing attachment, you have locked the chakra! If you leave now, you won't be able to go into the Avatar State at all!"

Aang hesitated for a moment before he sped off, leaving to rescue Meiluna.

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Meiluna sat with her back against one of the walls in the catacombs she was dumped in when heard a voice.

"You've got company" A Dai Li guard spoke roughly before throwing a person inside the prison with her.

She stood up immediately,

"Prince Zuko?"

He sat up and looked her in the eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

He averted his gaze ground.

She crossed her arms staring at him,

"Is this a trap? Your Fire Nation friends are the ones who did this" She pointed a finger to his chest.

"I didn't have anything to do with this" He spoke in a low voice, grabbing her wrist and pulling it down.

She stared at him, noticing his unwavering stare. He didn't seem to shy away.

"I'm sorry," She apologised quietly, "I just-When I think of the Fire Nation, I think of you"

"Oh," His hand instinctively went to touch his scar, averting his gaze to the ground, "I see"

"No," She sighed walking up to him, pulling his wrist down, "I didn't mean it like that"

"It's okay," He paused to look her in the eye, "I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of a banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realised I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark"

"Maybe you could be free of it" Meiluna spoke softly.

"What?"

"This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties," She moved closer and gently placed a hand over Zuko's scar,

"I don't know if it would work but-"

"Meiluna!" She heard Katara call out.

Meiluna quickly retracted her hand and turned around, seeing her friend run up to hug her.

"Aang! Katara!" She smiled as she gave the Avatar a quick hug too.

Zuko embraced his uncle while he glared at the Avatar.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," Iroh paused to look at the three, "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you"

Meiluna went to follow Aang and Katara, giving Iroh a quick smile of acknowledgment before she left.

"We've got to find Sokka and Toph" Katara told Meiluna as they ran through the catacombs, led by Aang.

All of a sudden, an intense shot of blue fire attacked them from behind but Aang managed to stop it using his earthbending, the impact forcing him backwards a few steps.

Katara used her waterbending to stop another incoming attack from Azula, sending a wave at her. Azula quickly vaporised the water with her firebending. The mist allowing her to jump onto a crystal and firebend two blasts of blue fire.

Meiluna and Katara used their waterbending to stop the attack. Azula then jumped to a rock pillar as Aang used his eartbending to crumble the pillar beneath her.

She landed between the three of them, pointing one hand at Aang and another at Katara while she faced Meiluna.

An orange fire blast was sent in the middle of the standoff, Meiluna turned to the source seeing Prince Zuko standing before them. He looked from Azula to Meiluna, Aang and Katara.

He slowly turned to face Aang once again, shooting a blast of fire at him. Aang deflected the attack with his airbending.

Meiluna watched in shock, seeing him side with Azula.

She was mostly confused. After everything he told her just moments ago, he was willing to throw it all away. Her mind thought back to all the times she spent with him at the tea shop, how he'd shy away at the slightest touch of her hand, or how he'd smile when he thought she wasn't looking, or how she would notice the silent yawns that escaped him due to the late hour of the night.

She thought it was strange that he was so obviously tired but still stayed up for the few moments he got to spend with her.

She briefly glanced to Zuko, his arm still extended from the burst of fire he sent. She couldn't recognise him anymore.

She should never have given him a second chance.

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"There's too many," Aang said in despair before turning to face Katara, "I'm sorry, Katara"

He closed his eyes, earthbending a crystal shelter.

Meiluna watched in disbelief, as the shelter began to glow before breaking as Aang emerged from it in the Avatar state.

He flew higher into the sky when all of a sudden he got struck by lightning. Meiluna turned around feeling anger bubble deep inside her as she saw Azula's menacing smile.

She used her waterbending to create a cyclone of water sending it straight to the Fire Nation princess, causing her to fly backwards.

She jumped up narrowing her eyes at Meiluna but before she could attack, a blast of fire stopped her.

"You've got to get out of here!" Iroh had appeared, "I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

He shot another blast of fire at Azula and Zuko.

Katara lifted up Aang's body, tears streaming down her face. Meiluna felt conflicted, she looked to Iroh with a desperate look in her eye.

"Iroh-"

"Go!" He insisted.

Meiluna hesitated for a moment before running after Katara, who held Aang close to her body, using her waterbending to lift the three of them up a waterfall.

Meiluna's mind felt foggy. She was responsible for this. She let Zuko's presence in Ba Sing Se remain a secret.

And now the Avatar was dead.

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