Chapter 9

Appa landed on a hill overlooking Chameleon Bay. I climbed down, glanced at the Water Tribe encampment below, and immediately felt nauseated. I didn’t think I’d be so nervous seeing Dad again.

“You haven’t seen your dad in more than two years,” Aang said as he got ready to leave. “You must be so excited!”

“I know I should be, but I just feel sick to my stomach.”

“Don’t be nervous. He’s going to be so happy to see you.”

I nodded, even though in my heart I wasn’t sure. I watched as Aang flew away. “See you in a week!” he said. Then I was alone. I took a deep breath and started down the hill toward the camp.

I entered the camp and passed by some Water Tribe warriors.

I felt a little uncomfortable—they were staring at me like I didn’t belong. … No, that wasn’t it—they’re staring at me because they recognized who I was. Then they came over to shake my hand!

Wow. I never expected a greeting like that! Maybe they heard about what I had been doing, or maybe it was just because of who my father is, but it sure felt good to be welcomed. One warrior pointed to a tent up ahead. Dad must be in there. If only he’s as glad to see me as they were … well, here goes.

I stuck my head into the tent. Dad was there with his best friend, Bato, looking over a battle map. When Dad turned to look at me, his hard gaze met mine and I once again felt the power of his presence. Then his tough warrior’s face softened and he smiled.

“Sokka,” he said warmly.

He WAS glad to see me. I did make the right decision to come to him. “Hi, Dad!” I dashed across the tent and hugged him. And he hugged me back like neither one of us ever wanted to let go.

Over the next few days Dad helped me fit right in, just like I was one of the warriors who had left for battle with him all those years ago. I could see now that he was right to leave me behind at that time. I wasn’t ready then, but I am now. Everything I have been through with Aang has made me the warrior I’ve become.

I got right to work helping Dad and his men set up a series of tangle mines along the bay to stop Fire Nation ships from getting to Ba Sing Se.

“The mines are filled with skunkfish and seaweed,” Dad explained. “When a ship detonates the mine, the seaweed tangles up the propellers and the foul fish smell forces the crew to abandon ship. I call it the stink ’n’ sink.”

“Good one, Dad!” Stink ’n’ sink! I can definitely see where I got my sense of humor!

Suddenly a warrior ran up to us. “Our scouts have spotted four Fire Nation ships.”

“Bato, get these mines loaded up,” Dad ordered. “The rest of you men, prepare for battle!”

What should I do? Should I go with the other men? I mean, even though I considered myself a warrior, I wasn’t sure I was a warrior in Dad’s eyes. Did he still see me as a little kid and expect me to stay behind? I didn’t want to do the wrong thing. “Uh, what should I do, Dad?”

“Aren’t you listening?” he said sternly. “I just said ‘the rest of you men, prepare for battle!’”

He thinks I’m a man! I’m one of his warriors! I hurried to join the others, applied wolf battle paint to my face, strapped on my machete, and grabbed a war club.

“Ready to go knock some Fire Nation heads?” Dad asked.

“You don’t know how much this means to me, Dad. I’ll make you proud. And I’ll finally prove to you what a great warrior I am.”

Dad grasped my shoulder and squeezed gently. He looked right into my eyes and smiled. “Sokka, you don’t have to prove anything to me. I’m already proud of you, and I’ve always known you’re a great warrior.”

“Really?”

“Why do you think I trusted you to look after our tribe when I left?”

Could this day get any better? I felt so proud—and so ready to fight the Fire Nation, right next to my father.

That’s when Appa swooped down into our camp. And Aang’s face said it all: the day had just turned bad. “This can’t be good news,” I said.

“Katara’s in trouble,” Aang said. “She needs our help.”

I didn’t need to hear any more. I hugged Dad tightly, then scrambled onto Appa’s back and flew off. Looking down I could see the love in Dad’s eyes as he watched me fly away. Then he turned and joined the other warriors on the Water Tribe ships setting out for battle. It felt good to know that he would have been proud to have me beside him on his ship.

“So what kind of trouble is Katara in?” I asked when the Water Tribe ships had faded from view.

“I don’t know. In my vision I just knew she needed help.”

Well, there was nothing to do but get back to Ba Sing Se as fast as Appa could fly us.

Along the way we spotted Toph riding an Earthbending wave. We swooped down and picked her up.

“It was so great seeing my Dad again,” I told her. “He treated me like a man, not a kid.”

“I had a breakthrough myself,” Toph told us. “I figured out how to bend metal.”

“That’s amazing, Toph! What about you, Aang?”

“I completely mastered the Avatar state.”

It sounded like we’d all had pretty successful breaks—all except for Katara, apparently. I really hoped she was all right.

We landed in Ba Sing Se and hurried to the king’s throne room.

“Katara’s fine,” the king told us. “She went off with the Kyoshi warriors.”

Nothing to worry about—she’s with Suki. But when we got back to our house we found Momo there by himself. He was agitated, jumping all over the place. She wasn’t there. Maybe she really was in trouble.

Someone knocked at the door. When Toph went to open it, I was shocked to see Zuko’s uncle Iroh standing in the doorway!

“He’s an old friend of mine,” Toph said, before inviting him in.

I grabbed my war club. “I’m warning you. If you make one false move—”

“Princess Azula is in Ba Sing Se,” Iroh said.

That’s some really bad news.

“She must have Katara!” Aang said.

“She has captured my nephew as well.”

“Then we’ll have to work together to save Katara and Zuko,” Aang announced.

Hold on—did I just hear Aang say we would work with Iroh to help save Zuko? That is SO wrong!

We then learned several things from a Dai Li agent Iroh had captured. “Azula is plotting to overthrow the Earth King,” he told us. “And Katara and Zuko are in the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, beneath the palace.”

We hurried out to a courtyard near the palace, where Toph Earthbended a tunnel leading down.

We had two problems: We needed to rescue Katara—and also that angry jerk Zuko—and we needed to warn the Earth King about Azula’s coup. “I think we should split up,” I said.

So Aang and Iroh headed down the tunnel while Toph and I went to warn the king. We spotted General How just in time to see a bunch of Dai Li agents surround and arrest him. “The coup has already started. We’ve got to get to the king right now!” I told Toph.

We burst into the throne room. There was the king surrounded by the Kyoshi warriors.

“Thank goodness we’re in time!” I said. But something didn’t feel right. I didn’t recognize any of the girls. Where’s Suki?

Then Ty Lee stepped forward and started flirting with me. While it was flattering and all, my heart was with Suki and—wait a second! What’s going on?

“These aren’t the real Kyoshi warriors!” Toph cried.

Ty Lee tried to block my chi but I managed to duck out of the way. That’s when I saw that Azula was right next to the Earth King, ready to strike him with a Firebending move. We had no choice. We had to surrender or risk losing the king. The Dai Li hauled us away.

They locked Toph and me in an underground prison cell. The cell was made of metal, which they thought made it “Earthbender proof.” But they had no idea that Toph had learned to bend metal. … Hey, if you’re going to be locked in a metal prison cell, it’s a good idea to have a Metalbender with you.

“See any Dai Li agents nearby?” Toph asked.

“Nope,” I whispered. “All clear.”

Toph bent open the metal bars of the cell and we stepped right through. After knocking down a few Dai Li guards, we hurried to the Earth King’s cell. Toph did her Metalbending thing again and freed the king. “Come on, we’ve got to get you to safety!” I told him.

We rushed back through the tunnels and ran into Katara. In her arms she held Aang. His eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.

“Oh, no.” What happened to Aang? He had to be all right. All of this meant nothing if Aang wasn’t okay.

I had a million questions for Katara, but I knew that getting out of Ba Sing Se was more important right then.

We returned to the surface and found Appa. Then Katara, Aang, Toph, the Earth King, and I took off. Once we were safely in the air, Katara used her Waterbending healing ability to help Aang. He opened his eyes and, although he was weak and groggy, it looked like he was going to be okay.

As we flew over the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, soaring away from the city, the Earth King looked down and said, “The Earth Kingdom has fallen.”

Until that very moment it hadn’t really hit me. The Earth King was leaving his city. Azula’s coup attempt was successful. The Fire Nation now had control of Ba Sing Se, and with it, the entire Earth Kingdom.

We failed. I failed. What good is our information about the Fire Nation now? How in the world can we stop them? Will I ever see Dad again? Will anything ever go back to being normal? I wish I knew, but at the moment, I just don’t have a clue.