Chapter 11: A Terrible Truth and the Blue Spirit Revealed

"What does he want?" Zuko spat out as Zhao's ship came towards them. Zuko hadn't told anyone, even his uncle of his whereabouts the few nights ago when he had rescued the avatar, even though it was almost impossible for Zhao to know and reveal his secret, Zuko couldn't help but feel his heart begin to race. When the two ships had come to a rest next to each other, a plank was lowered and the admiral walked onboard. By this time Iroh had come along and stood nest to his nephew, a smile plastered on his face as he walked towards them.

"Welcome, welcome Commander Zhao. To what do we owe this little visit?" Zhao walked the rest of the way haughtily, his chest puffed out and his head held high as he came to a stop before them.

"It's Admiral now, General Iroh." he corrected the old man.

"Of course, of course. I nearly forgot. You go through so many promotions that it is hard to keep track." he said simply, giving a smile of apology.

"I am strictly on business today. In case you didn't know, I had successfully caught the avatar a few days ago, but someone stole into the camp and helped him escape." Zuko's heart was racing harder than he had ever felt, but he kept a cool posture and tried to seem surprised and interested all at once. "I don't suppose you've heard anything about him." Zhao continued pulling out a new wanted poster of Zuko in his disguise, the top reading WANTED: THE BLUE SPIRIT. DEAD OR ALIVE. Iroh looked at it interestingly and read the description underneath the picture before shaking his head.

"Sorry, We haven't seen or heard of such a man, but are you sure he's real? He seems a bit supernatural to me."

"I'm know he's real and mark my words: when he's caught he will be sent to the Fire Lord and put to instant death." Zhao said in a menacing whisper, keeping his eyes on the prince to see if he would react to the threat. Much to his disappointment, Zhao was unable to read any emotions that Zuko's face betrayed, a lucky break for the prince.

"We will keep you informed if we hear of such a man again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am sure my tea is ready." Iroh said walking off and leaving the two rivals alone. Zhao turned back to his ship with a snort in anger and disappointment when Zuko stopped him.

" Zhao, I have things that belong to Tamara. Let me see her." Zhao turned around, a mask of sorrow over his hidden smile that had formed at the thought of her death.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Prince Zuko. The girl is no longer on my ship." He watched as Zuko looked surprised and confused all at once.

"What are you talking about, Zhao. Where is she?"

"We were in the middle of a storm a few days ago, the wind was terrible and water constantly washed on board." He paused and Zuko began to get angry, he was not telling

him anything he wanted to know.

"Where is Tamara!" he repeated again, his anger rising.

"Tamara was thrown over board by a huge wave." here he stopped and sighed. "We weren't able to save her. She drowned, Prince Zuko." Zhao's face held no emotion and his voice sounded very droll, almost bored, but his eyes danced and laughed with mirth as he watched the shock erase the anger from Zuko. He left him then without a second glance and began sailing away, leaving the smaller ship behind. Zuko couldn't believe it; she was really gone. He was in so much shock that he didn't hear his uncle coming up behind him.

"Where is Zhao, gone already? I wanted to ask him if he wanted to play a game of Pai-Sho with me." he chuckled as he walked to his nephew's side. The look on Zuko's face startled him and he put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, trying to snap him out of it.

"Prince Zuko? Prince Zuko, what happened to you?" Zuko looked over at his uncle, his face never relaxing and as he began to talk it felt like his throat was closing up.

"Zhao told me…" he choked out and then paused; he could not believe what words were going to come out of his mouth. "…that Tamara is …dead."

Tamara had made fast friends with Katara and Aang, but Sokka was a different story; he didn't trust her and she knew it, so she stayed away from him as much as possible. They sat on separate sides of the fire that night as they ate their meager dinner; Sokka a little more than everyone else so no one would have to hear him complain about being hungry later.

"Aang, there's something I've wanted to know." the bald monk stopped eating and looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. " Who was it that saved you from Zhao? Did you ever find out?"

"Yeah, it turned out to be Zuko." he said, still not believing that his savior was his biggest enemy.

"What! What happened to him, is he alright?" she asked. Tamara remembered how he had been struck with the arrow; it was not meant to kill him but you never knew with weapons and who was wielding them. The three kids stared up at her in shock, no one had expected her to react in that way and now they were unsure of who she really was. Aang was the first to break the silence and answered her.

"He's fine. After the arrow struck him, I took Zuko with me. Even if he is my enemy, I couldn't just leave him there after he saved me."

"What do you care what happens to him, I thought you were against other fire benders?" Sokka asked, sneering at her. His eyes were shining dangerously in the firelight as he stared at the girl.

"He's a friend of mine." she said, feeling the young warrior's gaze bore into her; if glares could kill, she would surely be dead by now. This news definitely had an impact on the small group and Tamara was trying to decide if it would be best to leave now when Katara broke the silence. Though it was hard to believe to be in the presence of a fire bender, let alone someone who called Zuko their friend, Katara liked the healer and wanted to know more about her before making a decision.

"I don't understand, if you're a friend of Zuko's, wouldn't you be with him? I mean- you knew so much about Aang's capture and of Zhao, but nothing of Zuko. Did something happen between you- were you separated or anything?"

"You could say that-there's a long story behind it though." After much persuasion from Katara, Tamara told them most of what happened the past two years; how she had been the one to help Zuko, how she had been forced into the war after disobeying the fire lord, everything that lead up to her fight with Zhao. Tamara thought they had a right to know the truth and she did not leave anything out except for details of the war and the part of what Zhao had almost accomplished with her. She had barely finished when Sokka jumped up in a fury.

"I knew it! You're a soldier for the Fire Nation! You're probably waiting for us to go to sleep and then bring us to Zhao, aren't you?" Sokka accused her, but did not get any further before Katara grabbed his ear and hauled him out of earshot of the other two.

"Sorry about that, Sokka's a bit on edge since you're… a fire bender." Aang said that last part slowly, hoping he wasn't saying the wrong thing.

"Don't worry about it, I understand." Tamara said, stopping him from apologizing any further.

"So, if you two are friends, can you tell me why he's always after me?" Aang asked after a moment's pause.

"Sorry, I don't know that much. Something happened between Prince Zuko and Fire Lord Ozai and now he's out to find you. We're not close friends since he's a prince and I'm just a simple healer, but I can tell you about Zhao. He's after you to not only beat Prince Zuko but to get on greater terms with the Fire Lord. Because of this, Aang, you must always be on your guard. Zhao, like most fire benders, is power hungry and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. You are the only thing that can prevent the Fire Nation from winning this war, and Zhao knows that if he catches you, he will be a hero in every fire benders' eyes. He wants to be known as the fire bender who won the war. From what I understand, I think that Zhao is a greater threat right now than Prince Zuko." Aang nodded his head in understanding.

Beyond their campsite, Katara and Sokka were arguing with each other.

"You are unbelievable, you know that? Tamara has done nothing wrong and you immediately accuse her just because she's from the Fire Nation!"

"Am I the only one who sees her for what she really is? She's a spy for Zhao!"

"No she isn't. She was forced under Zhao's command."

"You actually believed that story?" he scoffed. "Please, Katara. How do you know she didn't make the whole thing up?"

"How do you know she did?" she asked rhetorically. That shut him up- Sokka hadn't expected that.

"You need to go back and apologize. NOW!" Sokka stepped back in surprise but was immediately shoved back towards the camp by his sister. Aang and Tamara looked up as the two siblings barged through the bushes again, Sokka in front.

"I'm…sorry, Tamara." he forced out, though it wasn't very convincing. Tamara nodded her head and Sokka stomped off towards his sleeping parka. Deciding that it was getting late, everyone thought it was a good idea to turn in for the night. Tamara lay down where she was, but though she was tired sleep did not come quickly to her. When Katara and Sokka had left, Aang told her all the details of his last encounter with Prince Zuko, even the part of him offering friendship to the Fire Nation prince and how the world had been a hundred years ago. When Tamara said she did not understand, Aang explained that he was really a hundred and twelve years old due to being frozen in an iceberg.

'A hundred years ago, I had friends all over the world that I used to visit. One of my best friends was from the Fire Nation. Back then, all the nations got along and were friendly to one another; everything was so peaceful in those times.' She replayed the words of the avatar in her head. What must it have been like to live back then in times of peace? Tamara wondered to herself. She could not imagine a time when her nation was not at war, all the history books one could ever read from the Fire Nation only told of times a few years before it, but these only talked about the preparations and the predictions of the war. Even the elders never spoke of times of peace, only of the great victories they had witnessed or taken part in. It seemed like the Fire Nation never wanted to remember the times of peace and harmony, that they only wanted to remember the darker times of the past.

Again her mind wandered. What would happen if Aang wasn't able to defeat the Fire Lord? She shook her head to remove the disturbing thoughts that came to plague her. Letting out a tired yawn, the healer rolled over onto her side and was soon fast asleep. Everyone but Sokka was asleep; he had been awake the whole time watching the fire bender closely, but now that she was asleep he could relax as well. Holding his boomerang close to him in case he needed it, Sokka let his eyes close and he was soon snoring away.

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Well here you go, the eleventh chapter. Sorry it took so long to update, but college is starting to get a little hectic. I wanted to say thanks fresh air 9 and kidishcaresh for their reviews and this update was made especially for them. Please send in reviews, I love to read your comments and it helps to encourage me to update more. The 12th chapter should be up with in the next week or two, but I won't promise anything with school still being in session. Anyways, keep reviewing and reading and I'll talk to you all later.