Chapter Ten

Yue thought sleep would come easy to her on her first night back at the base. Her room was not exactly a luxurious den of comfort, but it was hers, her little private space. There wasn't much more than a bed and chest to store what few spare clothes she had. But as befitting her status, the floorboards were covered with a reed mat and there was a window with a shutter she could open if she wanted fresh air. Her bedroll was comfortable and the war constantly waged against small insects was largely in her favor - she rarely woke covered in bug bites when she slept here, even after she had been away a long time. Someone kept the bedding fresh on a regular basis. She could hang her boomerang on the hook by the door and know she didn't need to sleep with it close by.

All of these things meant that she usually slept well here. Except tonight she found herself tossing and turning. The meeting with the council hadn't been a happy one. Mei Ling, the master earthbender who recently joined her forces to their rebellion, had been vocal in her resistance to extending sanctuary to General Iroh and Zuko. Years ago, she had led troops against the general, and Master Mei Ling refused to believe that such a man as that could ever become an ally. It was clear from her attitude that Yue's arguments otherwise were foolish, the words of a girl too charmed by her rescuers to question their true motives. Even Master Pakku speaking on Iroh's behalf could not sway her.

Unfortunately, placating the woman was necessary. She was too influential a member of the council to be ignored. And she wasn't the only one voicing loud suspicions.

It had taken everything Yue had had to stop them from ordering General Iroh's execution for war crimes. And Zuko's too, though that was an afterthought. Aang was already safe enough. While she gave lip service to Aang as the exiled royals' firebending ward (probably the bastard child of a soldier and some Earth Kingdom woman), the council did agree that even if his firebending was a mark against him, he was still a boy and not at fault. Small mercies.

Of course, Yue knew that if Iroh were taken, it wouldn't matter if they didn't plan to kill Zuko. He'd attack anyway, without thought for his own safety. He might hold himself back for Aang's sake, but given Aang's own likely reaction, it would be a nasty battle. All for nothing, too, because these people had trouble seeing what a resource she had brought. Didn't they realize what an alliance with Zuko could mean?

Yes, he was a member of the royal family - that was the point! There existed a chance, however slight that it was, for him and Iroh to not only help them, but to bring other firebenders over to the cause. She was the one who was out there, trying to contact any splinter rebel groups that she could and draw them together under one banner. There were rumors, good ones, of Fire Nation citizens, both on the continent and back among their native islands, who were angry with the Phoenix King. Who had found the great future he'd promised them full of lies, because there was still death and destruction at every step, made all the worse when one could not even be granted rest after death.

Yue had pondered for the past few years the potential benefits of investigating those rumors and perhaps joining with whatever rebellious elements there were in the Fire Nation. Such thoughts had not gone very far, because she had doubted the willingness of her own people and these hypothetical Fire Nation rebels to build a strong alliance. All of that was before she had met Zuko and Iroh, two men who could surely exert more influence in that area than she could. General Iroh had almost been Fire Lord, for Spirits' sake. And Zuko, too, had taken a turn as the designated heir.

Mei Ling had dismissed those arguments in an instant. Yue had wanted to scream - she'd been very tempted to add in the final detail, that the boy who traveled with those two men was the Avatar. Did Mei Ling want to ruin the goodwill of the one being they could all agree was dedicated to making things right? But she had promised Aang, and instead spoke of his return only in terms of rumors, albeit extremely accurate ones. That, at least, had served as distracting enough news to convince the council to grant the firebenders a safe stay.

How to deal with the impending attack from the Flaming Fist hadn't even been touched on. Yue feared that tomorrow would be more of the same - debate about Iroh and Zuko going on forever instead of discussing the new threat. The Fire Nation's previous failures had made the Rebellion too complacent in the protections the swamp afforded them. Oh, they acknowledged that the news of another airfleet was valuable intelligence, but faith in the protection of the swamp made the immediacy of the threat pass most of the council by.

But Yue knew the enemy was close, and that they needed to plan for attack. She would not rely only on the swamp to keep them safe, not when everything she had worked for was at stake. For every warrior here, there were two civilians. Yue did not doubt those untrained men and women would fight to protect their home, but it wouldn't be enough. What could they do from the ground, when the enemy came from above? Where could they send the children to be safe?

All these thoughts and more kept whirling through her head. Yue gave up on sleep and stepped out of her room. If she was going to do nothing but worry, she was going to do it while moving. Perhaps a walk would clear her head.

She walked down the corridor, heading towards the door that led outside. Like everything in the base, the dormitory she lived in had been built over the past few years. The swampbenders hadn't been ones for large buildings, favoring instead shelters built for individual families. Those huts were still the standard, but the newcomers, herself included, had arranged for other structures to be built.

As welcoming as her distant cousins had been, Yue sometimes felt guilty for the upheaval she and her people had caused in their lives. Given the protections of the swamp, if the Northern Water Tribe hadn't come here, and in turn, if they hadn't based the rebellion here, the swampbenders would have been able to maintain the safety of their isolation. Been able to keep to their traditions and ways without outsiders coming in and changing things. Wasn't that one of the crimes laid at the Fire Nation's feet, the imposing of their culture over those they conquered?

But there had had nowhere else to go. Yue remembered what her father had once told her, when she had questioned one of his decisions as chief. That sometimes there was no right choice, only a series of bad ones: when that happened, what a leader owed her people was to choose what caused the least harm – and regardless of her choosing, to see the consequences through to the best of her ability.

Yue meditated on this as she walked through the night. She passed by Master Pakku's door, noting the light that crept out through the cracks. She heard quiet voices within. It appeared he'd managed to have General Iroh as his guest. She was only a little surprised to see no guards by the doors. Gen would have insisted, she knew, but if Pakku didn't want them there, he'd be able to out-stubborn anything Gen no matter how he argued. Losing his bending hadn't deprived Master Pakku of his willpower - or made him any less dangerous. Any waterbender as trained as he could handle himself in battle with and without bending. He still made periodic complaints at the number of women serving as warriors in the army, but it didn't stop him from teaching what he knew to recruits regardless of gender. Pakku was ruthless and pragmatic. Yue liked to think that even if things had been different, she would have found him a wise ally and a good friend.

She lingered by his door a moment, considering whether or not to knock. A conversation with a pair of wise old men like Pakku and Iroh would go a long way in dealing with the numerous problems that buzzed in her mind. Likely those were the same concerns they were trading information about. She raised one hand to knock, cocking her head to the side in order to better hear what was going on within. If they were occupied, she would leave.

"Does she know?"

She? Yue dropped her hand and listened.

"She does not. Though she is aware, on some level. It was her confidences that brought me to consider the possibility."

It was a few moments before Pakku responded. "If you are right, the balance of this war will shift greatly in our favor. It's an advantage we're going to need soon."

"Too soon," came Iroh's quiet response. "The attack could come any day now. Unless Princess Yue becomes the Moon Spirit before the fleet arrives, everyone here is doomed."

Yue staggered back from the door, trying to process what she had just overheard. She started to retreat down the hall, away from this insane speculation – but she'd barely gone more than a few feet before she steeled herself and spun around. She would not tolerate a discussion like that going on without her. She needed to know. Yue shoved the door to Master Pakku's room open.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, uncaring of the sharp look Pakku shot her way when she burst into his room. He and the general were sitting cross-legged on the floor, a low table resting between them. On top of it was a pai sho board, the battered ivory tiles with their faded paint scattered about in a half finished game. Similarly abandoned tea cups rested by each man, a few swallows left in each cup. Iroh made to speak, but Yue cut him off before he could. "The Moon Spirit. Explain."

"There's a reason why it is ill-advised to be listening at another's conversation," Pakku snapped as he glared up at her.

Yue didn't back down. She ignored Iroh's gesture for her to sit, preferring to keep the advantage of height. "I do intelligence work, Master Pakku. I listen at a lot of keyholes. So tell me. What. About. The Moon Spirit."

"The fact that the Moon Spirit healed you as an infant means that you might carry a piece of its spiritual essence within you. Even in the light of the dead moon your eyes shine with power," answered Iroh. He, at least, realized she was serious. There was no trace of his jolly old man persona in his voice when he spoke to her. "We were discussing whether it means you could restore that imbalance, taking its place."

"It's only a small chance," Pakku added. "Very unlikely. If you did possess such a power, it should have manifested years ago, after Tui first died."

A small chance. Unlikely. But still a chance. A living moon could change so much for the better. Return power to the waterbenders. Soothe an agitated and angry ocean. Maybe even offer some peace to the restless dead. Such a thing would heal at least a fraction of what Zhao had destroyed.

It would grant the rebellion a fighting chance to face the Fire Nation on equal terms, as well. Her people fought, and fought well, but Yue knew that as matters stood, even with the might of the Avatar behind them, they were still outmatched by the armies of the Fire Nation. A change would be needed on an incredible scale for the world to be restored to what it had once been. A change as big as the resurrection of a fundamental aspect of the balance.

That change, if it were true, would come from her.

When Iroh told her to sit down a second time, Yue obeyed, slumping to her knees with a lack of royal grace. A thought crossed her mind - a selfish thought. Compared against what they stood to gain, a horrible and selfish thought.

"What would happen to me?" she whispered.

Pakku shrugged. His eyes were not uncaring, but neither were they empathetic. If there was any way to restore the Water Tribe, he would do it, whatever the price, and he expected the same from her. She had fought by his side for ten years. She knew where his priorities lay. They had been the same as hers, except for that one time years before when she had tried to carve out an escape just for herself. But she had come to her senses and returned to the cause.

"You must understand, Princess, that we are speaking in hypotheticals," said Iroh. When this response didn't placate her, he sighed and continued speaking. "For certain Yue the mortal woman will cease to be. Whether the original Moon Spirit, Tui, emerges from you and return to her place in the heavens, or if an aspect of you will do the same, that is a question for someone wiser in the ways of the Spirit World than I. What we are discussing is unprecedented."

Unprecedented. What a distant way to talk about the matter, about whether she would live or die. No, her death was certain. Iroh was right. He was right about all of this. The revelation of her true nature could not be denied. It explained the Avatar's word's and her own vision of Tui from before. She had always wondered how she could repay the Moon Spirit for the gift of her life and it turned out the answer was just that - to return the life she had been given.

Every breath she had taken since the first one lying in the Spirit Oasis had been due to Tui's gift. Yue knew what she had to do – knew that there was no question of her not doing it. She had always known she would give her life for the cause, for the pursuit of freedom for all. And this would be a greater and more meaningful end than dying in battle.

She swallowed and spoke in an even and steady voice. "Have you two honored gentlemen determined how this can be done?"

Pakku's answer was as to the point as always. "No."

"It is a matter that requires further consideration," said Iroh. "Thankfully, we are in a place of great spiritual import. I hope that if the opportunity arises, the way will be made known to you."

Yue managed a regal nod and carefully rose to her feet. "I thank you for this information. My apologies for interrupting your game. I must - " She broke off, unable to finish the sentence.

Neither man commented as she fled the room. She was grateful for that. Yue had come to them hoping for answers to her problems, and instead discovered a far greater problem that belonged to her alone.

She stumbled into her quarters, gripping the door frame for support. Her hand brushed against something hard, and it clattered to the floor. She stooped to pick up her boomerang and barely made it to her pallet before collapsing. She traced the edge of the weapon she held in her hands, feeling the cool touch of the ivory beneath her fingertips. In her more wistful moments, she had dreamed of the day she would reunite with Sokka. He'd forgive her for leaving and she'd forgive him for not following and together they'd build a new life. It would be after the war, of course, once she had won and peace was restored, and it was a beautiful dream. She'd never thought it would happen, but she had been able to pretend. Now even that dream was lost to her.

She hung her boomerang back on the door, and carefully lay down on her pallet. She'd seek out Huu tomorrow – he'd know the best way to contact the Spirits in the swamp. Everything would be made right. It had to be, to be worth it.

Azula watched the ground fly beneath her. They were traveling overland at speeds even the fastest Fire Nation ship in the days before the moon's death would have envied. Perhaps this display of force would end that pathetic rebellion once and for all. She doubted it, though. Even when you exterminated a nest, pigeonrats still found a way to spawn.

"Impressive isn't it, my lord?" remarked Zhao as he joined her by the observation window. "The Flaming Fist is the finest the fleet has to offer. And to think, she is but the first of many."

He had a point, but the gloating was annoying. Azula brushed at an errant strand of hair while she studied the airship with care. "It is adequate, I suppose. Of course, the fuel requirements do have some limitations. I hear that we lose half of these ships in crashes once the coal runs out."

"The same risk any steamer runs," he riposted.

"But a ship at sea can still float," Azula pointed out. "I don't believe it works the same way up here."

"Yet here you are."

She smiled thinly. The point went to him. For now. "Here I am. Tell me, admiral, how soon until we reach our target?"

"Our passage has been exceptionally smooth. We will be in position in two and a half days." Zhao returned her smile. "How does the thought of a forest on fire at night sound to you?"

"Delightful." Azula returned her gaze to the passing green below. "Perfectly delightful."

Zuko woke up to the sound of people arguing. Aang and someone else were having at it, angry and loud. He struggled to get up, worried to hear the kid making them yet another enemy. An abortive attempt to stand sent him sprawling across the wooden floor of the hut with a grunt. His feet were all tangled up in blankets and he had to twist and kick to free them before trying once more. Staggering to his feet, Zuko lurched towards the entrance and shoved away the woven reed covering. In the dimness of early dawn, or, Zuko thought as he blinked at the sky, early dusk (how long had be been asleep?), Aang and Yue were apparently having a shouting match. The kid's arms were crossed and he was turned resolutely away from the princess, as she went on a tirade about her duty.

"Aang, I'm not asking you to be happy about this. I'm asking you to accept that I will do whatever I can for my people. For everyone. You of all people should be able to understand - "

"Well, maybe I don't want to understand!"

Zuko raised his left hand to brace himself against the doorway. He decided that as long as Aang wasn't making any new enemies, he wasn't going to bother with this until he had figured out what the hell had happened last night. He'd say he felt hungover, but he didn't remember drinking anything. Just Aang picking a fight with Bao, them getting knocked into the swamp, meeting up with his mother – Zuko's stomach lurched at the memory of that horrible creature speaking in his mother's voice – and after that, everything was fuzzy.

"Wake-up juice?"

Zuko turned to face the new voice, and for a second almost wished he hadn't. The man was naked. Well, not naked. He had on an ornamental collar and a green loincloth that spared Zuko the worst, but that was still more than Zuko ever wanted to see. He thrust a clay cup into Zuko's free hand. "Best thing for surviving the attacks of angry spirits. The heart needs to remember that it's alive."

"Huh?" Zuko asked, raising the cup to his lips. The instant his tongue touched the liquid, he regretted the motion. He'd drunk a lot of nasty things, including his own tea, but this put even his efforts to shame. He gagged. "What the hell is this?"

"Wake-up juice," said the stranger. His hair was gray and stuck out in wild tufts. "Take another sip. It grows on you."

Zuko desperately hoped he was being metaphorical, because he was relatively sure there were things growing on this man. "That's strong enough to wake the dead, not just help you survive them," said Zuko, holding the cup as far away as possible.

The man shrugged. "The dead don't need help with that."

Aang broke off in his rebuttal to Yue – something about not leaving – and bounded over to Zuko. "You're awake!" he exclaimed. "We were getting worried."

Zuko eased himself down onto a conveniently placed log. "You were?"

"You've slept through an entire day," said Yue. Her clothes were different from what she had worn earlier – still in faded blues, but less formal and more suited to the humidity. Her hair was pulled back in a single simple braid that hung limply in the heat. She stood before him and bowed slightly. "On behalf of the council, I apologize for what happened. Bao should never have put you in such danger, and he is going to be disciplined."

"Well that makes everything all right, doesn't it?" Zuko set the cup down on the ground. "Why do you even put up with such a loose cannon?"

"We can't afford to be picky when it comes to benders as powerful as Bao," she said. "He wasn't always like this. But his wife died when the Exterminator attacked us …" Yue gave a half shrug. "It doesn't matter that Lin Hua knew the risks. He loved her very much. But once he calmed down, he did lead the search party into the swamp. Except you'd both disappeared."

Zuko stared at the patterns of mud and moss beneath his feet. "Aang ran off first," he muttered.

"I didn't run off!" protested Aang. "Unlike some people, I don't abandon my friends." He followed that remark with a glare at the princess, who returned it with her own sharp look. He turned back to Zuko. "But the swamp … it called to me. Huu can explain it better."

The stranger, Huu, nodded "It recognizes one such as the – uff!"

"One such as a monk like me!" finished Aang, acting as if he hadn't just stepped on Huu's foot. Zuko frowned at him – he knew Aang didn't like being referred to as a firebender, but there was no reason to be rude when it was the truth. "And there's something in there about time as an illusion. And pants," he babbled on. "Because we're all connected, you know? Like you're always telling me, about the fire and how it can be both life and death. The swamp is alive, but it's full of so much life it's also full of death, especially now that all those ghosts are around, and now the swamp is sick and infested with ghosts and that's why it told me where to find you, because when the ghosts stop haunting and start killing that makes the swamp sad, because that goes against the balance between life and death."

"Which is why - " broke in Yue, only for Aang to cut her off.

"Which is why nobody is going to be dying here," he said. "It would make the swamp sad."

The two started up again. It seemed Yue did not care if the swamp was going to be sad, because the balance needed to be restored and then even if the swamp would be sad, it would be happy, a statement Aang disagreed with and Zuko - Zuko had no idea what the swamp's potential emotional state had to do with anything.

Huu's only contribution to the debate was that, "Life and death are but two points on the same circle. Who's to say where death ends and life begins?"

Zuko understood that even less than what Aang and Yue were talking about. It sounded like Aang thought Yue was leaving him, or dying, or both, but he sounded far too wounded about it for the dying part to be true. Fed up, Zuko intervened.

"Would everyone just be quiet?" Nothing happened. He repeated himself, this time punctuating with a flash of fire. That got their attention. Now for some questions answered.

"First," he started. "What attacked me? It looked like - " his voice broke a moment, then recovered, "it looked like my mother."

"It wasn't," said Huu. "Spirits change form to draw in their prey. The undead are always seeking to connect with the living, and they are often confused. They reach out to anyone who reminds them of what they lost. A ghost who lost her child will accept any child, and since the dead cannot be with the living, will seek to kill that child."

Zuko nodded once. Whatever had happened to his mother, last night was no proof that it had been a fatal. And speaking of fatal -

"Now that's explained, would you tell me what the hell is going on with you two?" he asked Yue and Aang.

Yue pressed her lips together firmly. "Some information has come to light that could help the rebellion greatly. But Aang … is being stubborn about the best course of action. Not that I need his permission."

"Huu says you do," said Aang. "And I'm saying no."

"Strange roads are best walked with one who knows the way," Huu said.

"Exactly," Aang said with a nod. "So we're going to figure something else out."

"Figure what out?" demanded Zuko.

"It is likely I possess the last remnant of the Moon Spirit's power," said Yue bluntly. "We hope to use the spiritual nexus of the swamp to allow Tui to return, righting the balance and bringing waterbending back to the world. As … a monk, Aang would ideally be able to help me transition to the Spirit World in order to complete my task."

Zuko blinked. If Yue was telling the truth, that would easily be the greatest blessing the world had been given since Zhao's greed had destroyed Tui ten years ago. "And Aang is against this because..."

"Because Yue will die!"

"We don't know that."

"Yes, we do. You said you only have the moon spirit because Tui let you live when you were a baby," argued Aang. "No spirit, no Yue."

"No moon, no rebellion," snapped back Yue. "No balance."

Yue had a very good point. The loss of the moon had been catastrophic. He'd been at sea when it had happened. A quarter of his men had been lost, and they'd barely made it back to shore. And that had only been the beginning.

"She's right," he said slowly. "However this works, it has to be tried. You're too young to remember how it started. We were beyond fortunate when you started sailing with me, Aang. If the moon stays gone any longer, I have no idea how much more damage will be done."

Aang scowled. "I don't care! Yue is our friend. We saved her. Which is why we're not going to let you just give up."

"This isn't about giving up. This is about the exact opposite. This is about the cause I've devoted my entire life to." Yue paused. "Some of us recognize that we can't keep running away from our responsibilities."

Aang flinched. "It's not running away. It's waiting until you're ready!"

"And I'm ready," said Yue. Her face was tense and her hands clenched into fists, but her voice didn't waver. "Are you ready to help me?"

Aang was about to respond when a messenger ran into the clearing. Zuko vaguely recognized that half-shaven head and topknot as one of the guards that brought them into the camp. "Princess Yue," the runner began. "Our scouts have spotted airships in the distance. The council has begun evacuating nonessential personnel, and wishes you to accompany them to the rendezvous point."

Zuko swallowed hard. It was too soon. Yue seemed equally distressed, but she tamped down her response. "Are those your only orders, Yahi?"

"Master Pakku told me that if you were prepared, to escort you to the great tree." Yahi frowned. "Do you know what he means, princess?"

Yue nodded. "And I'm as prepared as I can be. Let's do this before those monsters burn our home down around our ears."

"Princess?"

She ignored the confused messenger and turned to Aang. "Will you help me?"

The kid bit his lip. "I don't know if I can."

Huu reached out and rested a hand on Aang's shoulder. The kid took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll try."

"I'll join you," said Zuko, getting to his feet. Was it his imagination, or could he already hear the bombs falling from the sky?

Yue shook her head. "Wherever we're going, I doubt you can follow. If you can assist in the defense, that would be much more reassuring." She quirked her lips at Huu. "If we succeed, I'm certain you will be able to help."

Yahi shifted his weight uneasily. "Princess, we need to move."

She nodded. Before they left, Zuko called out to her. He had no idea what to say. She could be walking into her death. Or nothing at all. Or something else he couldn't even conceive. "Um," he began. "Good luck. And … my uncle always tells me that even if the road we walk is hard, if the destination gives us peace, then it was a path well-traveled." He struggled to remember a phrase he'd heard Water Tribesmen in the wharves say. "Safe journey, Princess Yue. May the currents guide you home."

She smiled at him sadly. "Ours is the duty, ours is the honor," she quoted - the words of the first Fire Lord. "Thank you for helping us, Prince Zuko."

And then they were off.