Chapter II: The Price of Mercy

Aang, Katara, and Sokka readied themselves for battle, Yue standing behind them nervously, as Zhao and his men marched into the Spirit Oasis unimpeded. It wasn't looking good for the Northern Water Tribe if they could have gotten to here of all places so easily, but that went unsaid.

"The Avatar," Zhao said with a stunned, yet somehow still arrogant, smile. "To think fate has awarded me two victories today. One over the Northern Water Tribe, and one over the greatest enemy of the Fire Nation." The last part was spoken with a condescension that Aang promptly ignored.

"Zhao, listen to me," Aang said. "I know what your goal is. If you kill the Moon Spirit, it won't just mean devastation for the Water Tribe. It would disrupt the very balance of nature. The Fire Nation wouldn't last a week."

"Do you think you can bluff your way out of this?" Zhao sneered. "After today, I will be known to the world as Zhao, the Moon-Slayer! Your inconsequential ties to the Spirit World won't be enough to talk me out of my destiny."

"Then you're going to have to make it through us," Katara said, knowing full well that he couldn't be reasoned with.

"You say that like it's a problem," Zhao said with a smirk. "Men, attack. The Avatar is mine."

Before the two sides could converge in an all out brawl, Zhao was struck from behind. A blaze of fire hit his back and sent him hurtling towards the wall, which he collided with painfully.

"That was a warning shot," Zuko stated, arm outstretched and fist clenched where he had shot the fireball.

"Was it though?" Sokka questioned, despite there being a distinct inflection in his voice that bordered on approval.

The soldiers broke out of their stunned stupor and rounded on Zuko, but one look at the aged General behind him had them pausing in their assault.

"I can't be! You're dead!" Zhao exclaimed. Although his armor had taken most of the heat, he could still feel his back blistering where the flames had burnt through. That would need treatment later, he grudgingly realized.

"Don't tell me you actually thought your little ploy with the pirates would work," Zuko openly mocked, causing the Admiral to seethe.

"Well, isn't this a sight to see. I knew you were a traitor, Prince Zuko, but to think General Iroh would fall this far as well."

"You tried to have my nephew killed, Zhao. The real question is why you'd expect my allegiance after that."

"I did what I had to," Zhao said, voice steeled. "Just like I'm doing now. What are you waiting for?" he shouted to his soldiers. Take them out!"

Before the Fire Nation troops could move to comply, Iroh was already upon them with an advanced firebending form that easily powered through their defenses despite his old age. Within seconds, the multitude of soldiers were unconscious on the ground.

Backed into a corner, Zhao gave into desperation, and lunged for the pond with fire ready in his hands. Iroh gave a shout of warning.

But Zuko was already there.

The scarred teenager attacked Zhao with such a tempered ferocity that none of the others even thought to intervene. The duel was so one sided that even Iroh could only stare in shock.

Zuko moved with a grace and fluidity that none had seen from him previously. His first barrage of fire was dispersed by Zhao. The second was significantly harder to deflect. The third elicited a pained grunt as it singed the Admiral's arms. The fourth and fifth, which came too soon for him to regain his bearings, knocked Zhao off balance. The sixth completely knocked him off his feet as he failed to divert it. The seventh collided with the ground next to him. An actual warning shot. Within less than ten seconds, the fight was over, with Zuko standing over a gasping Zhao.

"Yield," the prince commanded, unrelenting.

The defeated firebender met his eyes. "No." And he lunged again, with a growing fire ready in his palm.

Zuko grimaced as created a shield of fire around himself to ward off the assault. The instinctual defense also pushed Zhao back, burning him even more in the process. He let out a cry of pain as he was repelled.

"Stop, Zhao. You've lost. I don't want to kill you."

"Then you're the one who's lost!" Zhao snarled. "This is why your father banished you! You're weak, spineless, and incapable of getting the job done when it matters! Now your weakness reveals itself, Prince Zuko!"

"Don't," Zuko warned, but Zhao barely heeded his words as he charged forward again. Zuko could feel the searing heat from the attack from where he was standing, and knew it could kill him if he kept giving Zhao more leeway. Gritting his teeth, he tried his best to resolve himself for what he had to do.

Before Zhao reached him, he leapt over the Admiral's arm to dodge the fire blast. Spinning in mid air, he dispersed his opponent's flames before landing on the ground and bending a stream of fire towards Zhao at point blank range. The Admiral's screams of agony echoed through the oasis, and made Aang, Katara, and Sokka all take a step back as Iroh watched grimly. They soon died down, and left the oasis in silence once again.

Zuko's hands visibly trembled as he stared down at Zhao's charred corpse. Finally, Iroh broke the fragile silence. "We will relay the news of Zhao's death to the fleet. With their admiral felled in battle, the Fire Nation will have no choice but to discontinue the siege." Zuko absently realized that he wasn't speaking as Uncle Iroh, the happy tea loving old man, but General Iroh, the man who had besieged Ba Sing Se for 600 days. The aged man turned to the Princess Yue. "I think enough lives have been lost today."

The princess could only nod, still coming to terms with everything that had just happened.

"Let's go, Zuko," he said, breaking the prince out of his thoughts. Zuko began to follow before Aang's voice stopped him.

"You didn't have to kill him." The words cut deep into his core, because Zuko almost, for a span of time too short to rationalize, agreed wholeheartedly. But then, he only had to remember the reason he was here to discard the thought. Because Aang didn't understand, and possibly never would, even though he desperately needed to.

"You don't know Zhao like I do," Zuko said quietly. "He would have stopped at nothing."

"There still could have been another way," the boy insisted, and Zuko didn't know whether to smile or break down crying at his naivety.

"There was another way," he answered stiffly. "I gave him one, and he didn't take it. Most people like him don't." The prince turned back to meet Aang's innocent, defeated eyes. "You once asked if I thought we could be friends," he said, causing Aang's eyes to widen at the reminder. "I'm...glad now, that you asked," he admitted. "But that kind of kindness will cost you."

"So you're saying I shouldn't have offered?" Aang said, sounding offended.

"I'm saying that every person you try to spare is a gamble," Zuko corrected. "I'm saying I'm thankful that you offered. I'm also saying there's a price." Aang looked down, and Katara and Sokka traded shocked looks as they listened to the impossible conversation.

Never since his first arrival in the South Pole did Katara think she'd hear Prince Zuko sound this...wise. That, coupled with the unexpected truce he had offered, and the firebending prowess he had demonstrated just now, which completely eclipsed what he had shown when he fought her, had her wondering if this was really the same person.

If Katara was being honest with herself, Zuko seemed drastically different than when he had left her unconscious in the Spirit Oasis just hours ago. "I know you need to end this war," he said to Aang, his voice warped with an incomprehensible resolve that sent shivers down her spine. "I only hope that when the time comes, you'll do what needs to be done."

With that said, Zuko left the group in stunned silence as he departed along with Iroh, who was observing him with a curious gaze.

When Iroh relayed the message of Zhao's death and ordered the fleet to make a full retreat, he wasn't met with as much resistance as Zuko had anticipated. He supposed they all must have been as tired and battle weary as he was.

As the ship they had occupied pulled out of the North Pole, Zuko stared up at the setting sun and reflected on how differently things had gone.

"I'm impressed with the way you acted today, Zuko," his uncle's voice came from behind him. "You have grown in many ways in such a short time. You said you needed to talk to me, didn't you? And yet, I can't help but feel it should wait. You've been through much."

Zuko simply nodded, not having it in him to contradict the claim. "I'm tired," he admitted.

"Then you should rest," Iroh said.

Zuko let a small smile slip onto his face. "A man needs his rest," he echoed.

He didn't need to turn around to know that his uncle was smiling.