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Sun stared down at the various papers scattered on the kitchen table.
“Our best chance to strike at Yakone is when he feels safe. His home is too risky; he’s bound to have nasty surprises in place for anyone stupid enough to attack him there.”
He sorted through the papers to find the blueprints Tarrlok had “borrowed” from City Hall. Yakone’s club still looked like the best target the three of them could focus on. Noatak had sketched the street and surrounding buildings, for reference and he pondered those sheets as well.
“His bloodbending offers an advantage we can’t counter. It’s like an earthbender reading the ground; he can tell when someone gets close to him. That means a night attack, when the moon is dark. His power will be weakest then. Of course, it means Noa and Tarrlok will be at their weakest, too. If I could just get close enough to chi-block him...”
Sun scowled down at the table, struggling to lay out a plan that had a chance of actually working. They would only get to do this once. If Yakone had solid proof that he was a target or, spirits forbid, he learned that his sons were no longer loyal, he would never drop his guard again.
“Would that wear him down? If he has to be vigilant for days or weeks, it would exhaust him. It might be possible to attack when his endurance is drained.”
Abandoning the table, Sun paced the length of the kitchen, hands clasped behind his back. This was his mission; he had dragged Noa and Tarrlok into it. He had to make a good plan. If he brought them into a fight without a hope of winning, anything that happened to them would be his fault.
Not that he would live to see what Yakone would do. He was the weakest link in their group; the only one who couldn’t bend. When the fight came, he would be vulnerable to Yakone’s bloodbending. Unlike the others, he didn’t even have a chance of resisting it. The crime lord could kill him easily, or worse, use his body to attack his friends.
Sun’s stomach twisted at the thought of someone reaching into his body and controlling his actions. Becoming the puppet of a madman was bad enough, but the idea of his hands being used to hurt his friends was the stuff of nightmares.
Things may have been simpler before Noatak told him the truth, but Sun couldn’t resent it. Knowing what kind of fight he’d gotten into was more important than his peace of mind.
“Toph Beifong had a suspicion that Yakone was a bloodbender. She tried to build a case against him, but it fell apart. There must be people who remember what she did. Is it possible for us to recruit help from her family? Zuko stepped down from his throne when Avatar Aang died. If we could reach him, he’d jump to help us. After all, Aang tried to stop Yakone too. How could we reach them to gain assistance?”
Sun shook his head. Getting help from anyone else was a dream. Anyone with half a brain would suspect that Yakone had passed his gifts down to his sons. Noa and Tarrlok would live the rest of their lives locked up or under a cloud of scrutiny and it would be Sun’s fault for exposing them. He couldn’t do that to the best people he had ever known.
“Sun, you’ve been talking to yourself for hours. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” Noatak asked from the doorway, startling Sun. His dark hair was messy from sleep, but those blue eyes were clear and direct.
“Talking to myself? I didn’t realize. Sorry for disturbing you.”
Sun wanted to sleep. His eyes burned and his body ached, but his mind kept racing no matter what he did to calm it. Plans chased each other through his thoughts, preventing even a trace of drowsiness.
“We’ve made it this far without confronting Yakone,” Noatak said. “He can wait a little longer. Come upstairs and get some sleep. We’ll keep planning afterward.”
Sun nodded, but he couldn’t bring himself to head for the stairs. There were still so many factors he needed to consider, like bodyguards and bystanders. The police were bound to notice if a prominent citizen was assaulted in the street, so they had to deal with Yakone before the metalbenders descended on them.
Sun’s thoughts cut off abruptly when Noatak stepped close and pressed a kiss to his forehead. His lips were warm and gentle, the arm he snaked around Sun’s waist strong. The scent of water clung to him, sweet and elusive, under the smell of soap and jasmine.
“Come on, Sun. I need you in the best shape possible. That means you can’t stay up all night brooding.”
Unable to make himself say anything, Sun numbly allowed Noatak to lead him up to the room they shared. His heart pounded wildly, sending heat flooding through him. For all the months he had known Noatak, the truth had hovered at the edge of his mind, never fully coming into his thoughts. It had stood behind him in every fight and hung in the comfortable silence of the rare mornings when Sun woke up when Noatak did.
Sun loved him. It was only now, when they were facing the greatest danger, that he really realized it.
“Brooding again?” Noatak teased as he shut the door behind them.
“No. I just realized something I hadn’t thought of before.”
He was already dressed for bed, so Sun climbed into his usual place. Rather than look at Noatak, he focused on making sure the blankets were smooth and free from wrinkles. It wasn’t until the mattress dipped beside him that Sun looked up.
Noatak smiled wryly at him, sitting propped against the headboard.
“Couldn’t help falling in love either, huh?”
“What?” Sun felt his cheeks flush from the inane question. He’d had a million conversations with Noa in this exact position, why was it so hard to act composed now?
“I’ve admired you for a long time. I think it started from the moment you broke in here and challenged me to suit my actions to my words. The night this Blue Spirit business started. I tried to tell myself not to, but that was when I started falling in love with you. The night you accepted who I am was when I couldn’t keep telling myself such ridiculous lies.”
A curious look of vulnerability crossed Noatak’s face. Seeing it made Sun impulsively reach out and cover the waterbender’s hand with his own. After a moment, Noatak turned his hand over and laced their fingers together.
“You put it all together a lot faster than I did,” Sun admitted. “But I do. Love you, that is. I’ve always felt something I couldn’t acknowledge to myself, which just hit me now. I can’t deny it anymore either.”
Noatak grinned. It erased the lines of worry and exhaustion that had been etching themselves deeper on his face from the demands Yakone placed on him. Sun wanted to keep seeing that smile for the rest of his life.
“Well, I’m glad. Now, you really need to sleep so that we can keep planning to get rid of Yakone. Once that’s over with, we can do the hard part and plan our life together.”
“Can’t you take anything seriously?” Sun scolded, struggling to hold back a smile. He liked the idea of planning a life with Noa.
“Staying serious would turn me into Tarrlok. No thank you, I won’t be having any of that. Good night, Sun.”
Noatak switched off the light, leaving Sun no choice but to settled down and relax enough to sleep. It helped that Noa didn’t let go of his hand. He drifted off to sleep, able to put aside plans until the morning came.