Woot! 10 chapters peoples!

Thanks to everyone who has read this. And a special thanks to those of you who have reviewed!

This is the last chapter of book 1; I'll be moving on to book II next.

If there's anything you'd like to see, just let me know!

So sorry for this being so late! Got swamped with school work!

Chapter 10: Moonlit Battlefield

Shio and Aang watched, amazed, as Katara easily defeated every challenger to face her in the sparring ring.

"Wow," said Aang, "She's really good!"

"Yeah," said Shio, "All of you have gotten much better at fighting since I met you. All those drills and sparring matches I put you guys through on the way here have helped a lot."

"Yeah, thanks for that." said Aang gratefully.

"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you," the swordsman replied, "Before I met you guys, I was headed down a dark, violent path, you turned me around. You made me promise you that I wouldn't kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. True, I did have to radically change my fighting style, but I have kept my promise to date."

"Uh, you're welcome I guess." said Aang.

Aang looked back to Katara as she finished off yet another of Master Pakku's pupils; he soon acquired a rather dreamy look in his eye.

"She's really something, isn't she?" said Shio, noticing where Aang was staring.

"Yeah," said Aang happily, but then his face drooped, "I don't think I have a chance with her though; I mean there are so many other guys out there! There's Haru, Jet, heck maybe even you!"

"Me? Ha! As if…" laughed Shio, "No way; as I said she is attractive, but I don't see myself ever having a…relationship with her…It'd be too weird."

"Why?"

"Well," Shio faltered, wracking his brain for a plausible excuse (See his real reason in Ch 8: Friends), "I guess I'm just a little too old, it would be like you dating a ten year old or something. It'd be really awkward."

"Oh," said Aang trying to sound neutral, but in his head he was celebrating.

"Maybe in another few years you'll be ready to fight a sea sponge," said Master Pakku as he berated the latest student to fall to Katara. "Anyone else want to step into the sparring ring?"

There was silence for a few moments, then "I will,"

Shio stood up and grabbed the two wooden sparring swords he had carved a while back. "I want to see how good you've really gotten." he said slowly twirling his swords.

Katara smiled and dropped back into a fighting stance.

Shio made the first move, somersaulting over her and aiming a blow at her head as he passed over; she blocked this with a sheet of ice and countered with a rain of icicles, all of which Shio either dodged or blocked.

The battle continued for quite some time; the other students watched with awe as the sword master and the waterbending prodigy sparred. After about ten minutes neither had scored a hit on the other.

"Truce?" asked Shio as they stood across from each other, breathing hard.

"Truce." she agreed.

"You're a whole lot better from when I first met you."

"So have you," she said, "You're using a lot more defensive maneuvers than you used to."

"I guess I ha-" Shio broke off in mid sentence and sniffed the air.

"What?" asked Katara concerned.

"I don't know, something's off…"

At that moment black snow began to fall from the sky.

"Uh-oh" said Shio, "They've found us."

"Who's found us?" asked Katara.

"The Fire Nation, they finally decided to take on the Northern Tribe."

Aang, Katara, and Master Pakku quickly ran to the palace to warn everyone while Shio ran to their quarters to grab his real weapons. By the time he arrived at the palace there were already warriors beating on the village war drums. The village gathered in the palace and Chief Arnook asked for the aid of the Moon and Ocean spirits; The Chief then asked for volunteers for a special mission. Sokka eagerly volunteered.

"What are you doing?" asked Shio, "You've got nothing to prove to us…" the other two nodded in agreement.

"No, But I have something to prove to her." He said indicating Princess Yue, and walked up to receive the chief's mark.

Later, the group gathered on the giant wall defending the Tribe. They were all scanning the horizon, looking for the first Fire Navy ship.

"I have a contact," said Shio, "Just coming over the horizon now."

"I see it," said Sokka, "But what the hell is that glowing thing?"

"Oh, Fu-"

Luckily for the rating of this story, Shio was interrupted as the first flaming projectile smashed into the wall, sending them all tumbling. As the rest of the group dug themselves out from under the debris, Aang jumped on Appa and went to take out the lead Fire Navy ship.

The rest could do nothing but watch as Aang took on the troops on the ship. After a few minutes, several boats of waterbenders sailed out and froze the boat in the water.

"Uh-oh…" said Shio.

"What?" asked Katara.

"Look at the horizon, against the ash clouds."

"Oh…" she said as she saw the rest of the Fire Navy arrive behind the scout ship. "What can we do?"

"Nothing," Shio replied, "all we can do is wait."

Later, towards sunset, the Fire Nation ships ceased launching fireballs and dropped anchor for the night.

Aang returned on Appa and slid down one of the bison's massive forelegs, exhausted. "I can't do it!" he said the strain of the day showing in his voice as Shio, Katara, and Yue gathered around, "I must have taken out a dozen warships, but they just keep coming! I can't do this!"

"You have to!" exclaimed Yue, "You're the Avatar!"

"I'm just a kid." Aang replied quietly.

"Come on," said Katara helping Aang to his feet, "You need to relax."

Suddenly they all heard a commotion from the warrior's barracks.

"I'll see what's up." said Shio, "You guys go on ahead."

He walked in just as Chief Arnook was breaking up a fight between Sokka and Hahn, the leader of the special mission.

"Sokka, you're off the mission!" the chief said.

Soon everyone left the barracks, leaving Sokka and Shio alone.

"What happened?" asked Shio, crossing his arms.

"That was the guy who's going to marry Yue!" said Sokka angrily, "He said a few choice words about me so I punched him. Yue deserves better than him."

Shio sighed, "I told you when we got here Sokka: they have odd customs here; and as long as we choose to accept their hospitality, we have to abide by them."

"But he's such an ass-hole! And the weird thing is she actually wants to marry him! But not because she likes him, it's for the good of her people!"

"If you really love her," said Shio putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder, "You'll respect her wishes."

Sokka opened his mouth as if to say something, and then shut it and sighed deeply.

Just then Chief Arnook came back and assigned Sokka to guard his daughter during the rest of the invasion.

"She's with Katara right now," said Shio standing up, "Let's go find them."

They searched for a couple hours but had no luck finding them. They were just about to give up when Yue ran up to them.

"Katara's in trouble!" she exclaimed breathlessly, She told them that a boy with a scar had burst in on Aang when he was in the spirit world, and started fighting Katara. "I ran as soon as it started," she said, "I don't know what ended up happening."

"We're near the stables," Sokka said, "We'll grab Appa and drop in from above."

They arrived to find Katara picking herself up off the ground; there was no sign of Aang or Zuko.

"Zuko took him," she exclaimed franticly, "We have to go after him!"

"Well he can't have gotten far," said Shio, "you guys go look for him; I want to stay here and help out the troops fighting the ground forces."

Sokka nodded, "Good luck."

"You too."

As the rest of the group took off, Shio raced down to where the Water Tribe warriors were gathering. He was assigned to a special commando unit; their job was to render aid wherever they thought necessary. They did their best to stop the Fire Nation advance: Shio dropped stun explosives into tanks, they sabotaged some catapults, and they snuck behind enemy lines and took out several squads before having to retreat.

The battle was still raging as the full moon rose; this gave the waterbenders the advantage they needed to push the Fire Nation back and Shio was able to take off his glasses now that it was dark. Shio saw a large group of Fire Nation spearmen rushing a smaller group of warriors. Quickly he stepped in front of them as the enemy approached' once they were in range he signaled to one of the waterbenders in his squad.

"Seal me up!" he shouted.

Instantly a giant dome of ice sprang up around the swordsman and the Fire Nation troops, sealing all of them inside. Just enough light for Shio to see penetrated the walls; but the soldiers were left in the dark.

"Tell me boys…" he said doing his best impression of a demon, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

Five minutes later, he cut his way out of the dome and his squad mate took down the dome to reveal a bunch of severely wounded soldiers.

"Hey!" said the waterbender that had erected the dome, "I just saw Zhao go that way, Towards the Spirit Oasis!"

Without a word Shio turned and started sprinting to where the man who had caused all this destruction was waiting.

As he neared the Oasis the world went read as a crimson veil covered the moon. He saw Appa fly into the oasis from above. As he entered the sacred place, Zhao was holding a bag with something wriggling in it.

"They will call me Zhao…The Invincible!"

Suddenly Momo came out of nowhere and attacked Zhao, who threw the lemur off after a few seconds.

"Drop it Zhao." said Aang.

Zhao looked up and saw that he had an Airbending staff, a broadsword, a boomerang and a sphere of water all aimed at him.

"No!" he shouted, aiming his flame covered fist at the wriggling bag, "It is my destiny to destroy the moon!"

"Don't do it Zhao!" yelled Iroh, suddenly appearing across the chamber, "Anything you do to that spirit I will unleash on you tenfold!"

Zhao seemed to consider this; then placed the fish back in the water; suddenly his face contorted in anger, and he sent a blazing slash of fire across the small pond.

"No!" yelled Yue, running towards the water as the world was suddenly drained of color.

Iroh launched himself at Zhao, but was blocked by firebenders Zhao had brought along. He defeated the benders in a matter of seconds, but it was too late: Zhao was gone.

They all knelt by the pond and Iroh picked up the pure white fish's limp form.

"It's gone…" he said shaking his head sadly.

"Damn…" said Shio slamming his fist on the ground half-heartedly.

"It's over…" said Yue hopelessly.

"NO, it is NOT over." said Aang in a voice that sent chills down everyone's spines.

They all looked at him and saw he was in the Avatar State. He walked over to the pond and stood in the center and the ocean spirit, La, circled around his legs. Suddenly Aang was sucked under and glowing ripples of water spread from the spot and formed itself into a massive Koi Fish.

Shio suddenly put a hand on the hilt of his broadsword, "Never done that before…" he muttered.

"What?" asked Katara.

"As soon as he entered the Avatar state," Shio said pointing at the Koi fish that was wiping out all the Fire Nation troops in the city, "My sword started to vibrate."

"That's really weird," said Sokka, "Why do you think it's doing that?"

"It's only a theory, but legend has it that a previous incarnation of the Avatar forged this sword."

"But how does that help us now?" asked Yue, "The world will tear itself to pieces if the Moon spirit isn't restored!"

"Uh, Yue?" asked Shio staring at the distraught princess, "Your eyes are glowing."

Iroh looked over, "You've been touched by the Moon Spirit," he said, "Some of its life is in you."

"Yes," she said, "It gave me life, maybe I can give it back."

"No!" said Sokka grabbing her hand, "I won't let you!"

"It's my duty, Sokka." She replied almost emotionlessly.

"Your father told me to protect you!" he protested.

"I have to do this." She pulled out of his grasp and placed her hands on the fish. The fish glowed under her touch; she closed her eyes and moments later crumpled to the ground.

"No!" yelled Sokka, cradling her limp body, "She's gone…"

Suddenly, her body glowed briefly and vanished; Iroh placed the fish back in the water and it immediately swam to join its partner.

The surface of the water began to glow and a ghostly image of Yue appeared above its surface. She was wearing a long, flowing white dress that seemed to billow all on its own, even though there was no wind. She was the most beautiful thing that Sokka had ever seen.

"Goodbye Sokka," she said in an unearthly voice, "I'll always be with you." Then she drew him in and kissed him before fading out.

Just then the moon's light bathed the landscape once more.

"Hey," said Shio, "My sword's not vibrating anymore." They all rushed to the door and peered out at the city.

"Yes! They're retreating!" said Katara spotting the fleeing Fire Nation ships on the horizon, "But why do I see firebending in that direction?" She asked pointing to a bridge in the distance.

"Probably just some Waterbenders taking care of the last of the firebenders." said Shio dismissing the bright flashes, "We should help the wounded." he said, and the group walked down to the village.

They carried the wounded and buried the dead until morning broke. They finally took some time to rest; Sokka was talking with a very sad looking chief Arnook. Aang was looking out at the setting moon, when Katara walked up behind him. They looked at each other, and then hugged wordlessly, glad to be alive. Shio and Sokka came up to the group and stood next to the others; together they looked out at the expanse of water and wondered what was in store for them next…

Well that's it for Book I! I'm going to take a couple-week break and write an addition to my first story; then I'll pick it up again at Azula's first appearance in season two!

Thanks again for reading and please leave a review! I love to hear from my readers!

Until next time!