''And then he ate it!'' I laughed along with the small tavern.

It was surprisingly easy to sneak into the Ba Sing Se, so called impregnable city.

Of course, that was proven false just some time ago.

When I came here, everybody was panicked and scared. Everybody heard the noises of the gigantic drill that almost succeeded in its objective, going through the walls.

Everybody's practically worshipping the avatar thanks to it, since you know, he saved them. The drill would have gone through the walls if he didn't stop it.

I can't help but feel a little bit sad over it. I could preach my way into their hearts with my heroism so easily if I did that instead of the avatar. Well, can't cry over spilled milk.

Anyways, as the good guy I am, I took it upon myself to cheer them up.

'I wonder if I changed anything from the normal timeline...'

Zuko probably won't betray the avatar now, so the cave battle would be much different.

Does that mean Azula will be defeated?

Oh shit.

Because Zuko turned over a new leaf much sooner and has Iroh's full support, he probably won't even be at the cave battle.

'Does that mean all the things that happened in the original canon will happen again?'

Aang is a little bit stronger since he knows firebending now, but is that enough for them to defeat Azula and her friends?

''Kurumi''

''Huh?''

''Ya like caves?''

------------------

Katara sent out a water tentacle with her right hand to capture Azula's hand.

Azula, instead of attacking and turning the water into steam like she normally would, dodged to the side.

'Maybe I should thank that library guy.' she thought to herself in amusement.

After some days of thinking, she could see her mistakes clearly. She knew she was better than him. She was just caught off-guard because before that, she had never met someone her age that could match her.

She was too confident. There was nothing wrong with being confident, but sometimes it would come back and bite you back in the ass. She had to control it.

'If I attacked like normal, she could have captured my hand.'

Katara swung another tentacle with her other hand, aiming for Azula's hand.

Azula dodged with a backflip while sending a fire blade with her feet in the air, forcing Katara to block it with all the water she had on her hands.

Seeing Katara at loss, Aang quickly covered himself in crystals and rushed towards Azula.

Azula sent out a casual fireball to Katara before even she could protect herself by gathering more water from her surroundings, putting her off the fight.

Aang frowned in worry and anger as Azula smirked into his face.

He bent the earth around him and sprinted towards Azula with his crystal-clad body.

Azula's smirk widened as she did the same, her majestic blue fire after her.

Just meters before they were about to clash head on, Azula stopped in her tracks, sending the blue fire gathered behind her to Aang, instantly destroying the crystals around him and sending him back in pain.

''Ugh!''

He crashed into the wall of the cave.

A satisfied smirk painted Azula's beautiful face as she looked at him disappear into the dirt.

Seconds later, the very ground beneath them started to rumble and Aang with his rare angry face jumped up from the place he was trapped in.

Dropping down to the ground, he immediately rushed to Azula with all his might.

Azula was about to send fire blades to cut apart his ball of earth, but someone intervened.

Dai Li came to their owner's rescue.

An earthbender jumped down and disrupted Aang's earthbending, sending him flying above in scream as his momentum shifted.

When he raised his tired eyes above, he saw them.

Dai Li, probably the most terrifying force of the Earth Kingdom.

They had already surrounded Katara, and he was their next target.

His eyes gained their determined light again as he assumed a firebending stance, looking for his best chance.

Azula stood against him with her ever-present smirk with dozens of Dai Li agents behind her, standing protectively.

'I don't have water near me, if I use earthbending, Dai Li could easily cancel it. Firebending is out of the question, I have to admit how skilled Azula is... Am I down to airbending again?'

He assessed his chances.

Soon, his eyes lost their fire and gained a desperate look, an old man's voice echoing inside his head.

''The only way is to let her go.''

He would have to let go of all of his feelings to open his chakras and gain access to his avatar form. That was the only way, and he understood that.

He squinted his eyes. ''I'm sorry Katara.''

Not a second later, he was surrounded by green crystals, protecting him from any harm for as long as they could.

He sat down in a meditative position.

Azula's straight eyebrows furrowed.

'What's he planning?'

She was about to attack as she didn't want to let him execute whatever plan he had, but before even she could materialize some flame, the small green crystal dome started shining.

Some of the Dai Li retreated a few steps in confusion and caution.

'What are you scared of? You're all elite earthbenders!' she wanted to scream at them for their incompetence, but it wasn't the time so she bit her tongue in anger and refocused on the dome.

The top of the dome broke as light through the roof of it.

Strong gales blew as everyone covered themselves.

Seconds later, Aang- no, the Avatar came out, flying in a meditation position like a deity. His tattoos and eyes shined bright blue as he rose through the bright light.

Everybody's eyes were on him, watching as the rumored deity ascended. Dai Li shivered in fright as hope shined in Katara's eyes.

*Fzzjst*

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning passed through the air, making its way to the Avatar.

'That's what happens if you show off like that.' thought with a smirk.

But before anybody could react to it, one of the Dai Li jumped up in impossible speed, with lightning cruising through his body and slapped away the bolt of lightning before even it could touch the Avatar.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Some looked around in confusion, but most had seen it.

Their shocked eyes landed on the Dai Li agent.

He slowly removed his hat to reveal a handsome face with an amused smile on it.

----------------------------

P@treon/Lowkeygoodstuff for more of the good stuff heh.

Thanks for reading.