Chapter Twenty

The Northern Water Tribe Council, Zuko, Katara and Sokka gathered together the following morning on the fortified, outer wall that served as the gate to the city. Out on the horizon, the acrid pillars of rancid smoke poured from the Fire Nation steamers and gradually filled the sky like an expanding storm cloud, blotting out the tawny light of sunrise. In the harsh illumination of daybreak, Chief Arnook could clearly see that it wasn't only a few ships headed their way as he'd first hoped, but an armada.

"This is very bad," Sokka muttered direly. He had known the night before when the black snow began to fall that danger loomed on the horizon. Back home in his village, the snow had always served as a sign that a Fire Nation raid was imminent. Sokka had gone to Chief Arnook immediately, but it wasn't until the next morning that the Water Tribe chief and his Council had a clear indication of what they were dealing with.

"What is our course of action?" Pakku asked Arnook.

"Defend our home, of course," the chief replied without reserve.

"Can you stand against so many ships?" Katara wondered anxiously.

"A better question would be, 'can they stand against us?'" Pakku countered. "This battle belongs to us. We have the home advantage. Our element surrounds us on all four sides. If the Fire Nation wants to take our home, they won't have an easy time of it."

"I had prayed that it would not need to come to this," Chief Arnook murmured to himself. But the moment of lamentation was brief. An instant later, he squared his shoulders, his features becoming hard with resolve as he stared out at the horizon. "No matter," he said, "They've come to fight. Then we'll give them one they'll never forget." He traded a meaningful glance with Master Pakku. "We will fight until the last man falls."

"I can fly out to sea and do a little reconnaissance," Zuko volunteered, already snapping his glider open. "That way we can know exactly what we're up against."

"Zuko, you can't go out there alone! It's too dangerous!" Katara burst out, speaking to him directly for the first time in nearly twenty hours. "What if they see you?"

"I'm probably the only one who can get close enough without being shot down before I do," Zuko told her, "It's the only option we have."

"I'm going with you," Katara determined, ready to bend down a shelf of ice so that she could go after Appa.

Zuko caught her arm. "No," he said firmly. "I'm only going to check things out. Let me do what I have to do." When she still appeared uneasy over the prospect, he promised with soft fervency, "Katara, I'll be back. I'll be careful." The two exchanged terse nods of acknowledgement before Zuko squared his shoulders and took flight.

It took him nearly an hour to reach the steamers and when he did, what Zuko saw stole his breath. The fleet stretched on for miles and miles. There were so many ships that it was impossible to even glimpse the sea beyond them. This was no ordinary raid, Zuko determined. The Fire Nation had come to destroy.

Zuko hadn't even begun to mentally digest the magnitude of the situation before he found himself mired in a network of flaming boulders. They blazed past him with alarming speed, giving him little choice but to pull up and back. He wound his way through the fiery onslaught, taking advantage of an opening in the fiery barrage. Using an upward current of air, he guided his glider above the attack. He had never flown so high before. The altitude made him a little dizzy, but he managed to maintain control of himself and the glider.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to pat himself on the back over that new accomplishment because the Fire Nation, having readjusted their trajectory, was renewing their attack. Zuko took one assault at a time, frantically searching for an escape through the ring of fire. He sailed through, upside down, darting sideways when yet another group of boulders came at him. Determined, he meandered his way through, up and down, left and right, the heat of the attacks grazing his body and the delicate wings of his glider. After five terrifying minutes, he managed to fly himself clear of the attack and headed back for the Water Tribe gates as quickly as he could. It only vaguely registered to Zuko that surviving the attack meant his airbending had improved greatly.

By the time he returned to the wall, Chief Arnook and Master Pakku had already gone to begin mobilizing their forces, but Katara and Sokka were still loitering on the wall, obviously worried. "Well?" Sokka pressed anxiously the moment Zuko landed.

"It's bad," the young Avatar confirmed, "There are so many of them…so many I couldn't even count."

"Oh no…" Katara groaned.

"This is no ordinary attack," Zuko said. "They had to know I was here. When they saw me… It was just too crazy."

"They saw you?" Sokka burst out.

"They did everything they could to shoot me out of the sky," Zuko confirmed, "I know I'm the reason they're here. Why else would they gather so many ships? It's my fault that this is happening. I ruin everything I touch."

"Zuko, you can't know that," Katara reasoned softly, "From what I've been told, the Fire Nation has tried numerous times to defeat the North Tribe and failed numerous times. This is just another one of those times."

"Either way, the Fire Nation is headed here and they mean business. Chief Arnook needs to know what's ahead of him," Sokka interjected, "I'm going to let him know what's going on."

"We'll come with you," Zuko volunteered.

Katara snagged hold of him before he could follow Sokka in his descent down the wall. "Are you okay?" she pressed worriedly.

Zuko brushed away her hand, barely looking at her when he replied, "I thought you weren't talking to me."

"Considering the circumstances, our fight seems rather petty now," Katara mumbled. "Besides, I don't want us to go into battle mad at each other. Do you?"

"I'm not mad at you, Katara," Zuko replied lightly, "Not anymore. But you need to figure out why you came with me on this journey. Was it to help me…or yourself?" With that, he snapped open his glider and sailed off the wall, leaving Katara to stare after him in with a mixture of anger, frustration and regret.

****

"The mission before you will be perilous," Arnook intoned to the crowd of warriors gathered before him, "It will require great skill and courage. It will require sacrifice. You must ask yourself…am I up for the task? Am I ready?"

Arnook surveyed the surfeit of men before him, carefully studying their somber countenances. Flanked by his daughter and Sokka on his left side and two of his closest aides on his right, a ceremonial bowl which held the sacred anointing ink blessed by the Ocean and Moon Spirits themselves pressed between his hands, Arnook was acutely aware of the monumental undertaking ahead of them all. With the ink within that bowl he would mark the men who came forward and, in doing so; he would rewrite the very course of their lives.

"Some of you will be hailed as heroes amongst your fellow Tribesmen," Arnook went on gravely, "And some of you will be commemorated as martyrs. However, all of you will be remembered as warriors. If this is acceptable to you, come forward now and receive your mark from me."

In unison, every man present rose to their feet and began to form a line in front of Arnook, each one prepared to face their individual destinies. Sokka, too, started to step forward, but when he did, Yue forgot that she was to be poised and silent. She hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Your father needs as much help as he can get," he replied in a low tone, painfully aware of the crowd pressed around them.

Yue, too, was conscious of keeping up appearances, but she was obviously distressed by his response. For a minute, she completely disregarded the circumstances and burst out, "That doesn't mean you have to do it!"

Sokka shushed her gently before answering. "It means exactly that."

"You heard my father, Sokka! This mission will be dangerous," Yue expressed as discreetly as she could, "What if you don't come back?"

He regarded her for a long time without reply before finally lifting his shoulders in an apathetic shrug. "I'm willing to take that chance," he murmured.

However, as he tried to sidle past her, Yue caught hold of his sleeve. Though subtle, her hold was impossibly tight, white-knuckled in its desperation. Their eyes collided in a telling stare. "If…if this is about last night…" she began thickly, "You know it's not because I don't have feelings for you, Sokka. But I have a responsibility, to my father and to my people. I'm trying to do my duty."

Sokka gently, but firmly tugged his arm from her grasp, full of regret and respect at her reply. "Then you should understand my decision, Yue," he whispered sadly, "I'm trying to do my duty as well." When he stepped forward to receive his mark, Yue made no further attempts to stop him. Instead, she averted her face completely as he went to stand before her father, silent tears tracking her flawless cheeks.

****

Little more than thirty miles from landfall, Zhao watched tentacles of white mist roll over the surface of the water like slow, creeping vines and smiled. "It seems our presence here has been detected," he observed calmly. He snapped to a nearby crewman. "Alert the other ships. Tell them to prepare for attack."

However, his general serenity over the matter was not shared by his second in command. The thought of engaging Waterbenders on their own turf seemed like a disastrous and foolhardy decision in his opinion. "Sir," he addressed Zhao carefully, "should we be concerned? We're on the open sea, after all. Their element is all around us, not to mention that there's to be a full moon to—,"

"—Are you doubting my ability to succeed in this mission, Commander?" Zhao interrupted in a silky tone.

The commander gulped. "Of course not, sir."

"Good," Zhao replied after a deeply penetrating stare. "We have traveled hundreds of miles to bring the Northern Water Tribe to its knees. We will not leave…we will not stop until that task has been completed. Do you understand me, Commander?"

"B-But the m-moon…" the commander stumbled, "With all due respect, we'll be demolished."

"Don't you concern yourself with the moon, Commander," Zhao said, "I have things well in hand."

"Of course, sir. Yes, sir," the commander mumbled respectfully, though it was impossible to ignore the thickening mist gathering around them. In gradual stages, the dense fog began to swallow up the fleet, seriously impairing visibility. It was growing increasing difficult even to see the neighboring ship. The Commander regarded Admiral Zhao with an anxious glance. "Should we be concerned about that?" he asked nervously.

"Not at all," Zhao returned. "We know they're going to attack. We need only be ready for them."

Mere moments after he made the statement, a stiff creaking began to sound beneath the ships and, very slowly, the slicing speed of the advancing ships was stopped completely. "What's going on?" the commander demanded of the nearest officer. "Why have we stopped?"

"I don't know, sir," the officer replied diffidently, "The ship seems to be…ah…stuck!"

"Stuck?" the commander parroted dubiously.

"Stuck," Zhao confirmed without a hint of concern, "In ice, no doubt. I hope you're ready, Commander."

Almost the instant he voiced the words, the low hiss of a multitude of grappling hooks sizzled through the fog, punctuated by the telltale clank of metal embedding into the wood on the ship's starboard side. For a moment, there was an eerie pause of complete tranquility, the settling of a peculiar silence before the deck of Zhao's ship exploded with deafening war cries. Water Tribe warriors swarmed the deck. Similar scenes played out on neighboring ships, with most of the Fire Nation crewman caught unawares because they were too busy trying to discover the reason their vessels had stopped moving.

Admiral Zhao, however, was not caught unaware and the deck of his ship became a full blown battleground as his crewman stood ready to meet enemy assault. Above the grunts and growls, he gave the command to open fire. Moments later, a hail of heavy fire boulders went barreling straight for the northern gates. Several other ships followed his lead. Flaming chunks of earth crushed snow and ice, scattering the Waterbenders who were protecting the wall. While they scrambled to keep the Firebenders from breaching the city, Zhao and his crew fought to maintain control of his ship.

Below them, a multitude of Fire Nation soldiers had began pouring from the bowels of their crafts to engage the Water Tribe warriors and Waterbenders waiting there on the ice. The sudden influx of Firebenders alarmed Sokka. He was momentarily caught off guard, having expected, like his comrades, that the battle would be primarily confined to the ships' decks. They had anticipated facing off with stragglers, but not with an entire battalion. The raids on Sokka's village paled in comparison to what he faced right then. Yet, despite his fear, he remained undaunted. Adrenaline racing, he ran forward with the throng of his fellow warriors, club at the ready.

Zuko flew on Appa's back, high above the combat taking place on the decks and the ice surface. From his vantage point, he could clearly see that the Fire Nation had already managed to create sizable chunks in the outer wall. In addition, the impetus behind the steel heavy steamers was beginning to crack the ice that imprisoned them. It broke off in large chunks, upsetting the balance of the men who fought atop of it. The hulls of a few ships were breached by the icy shards, but in their foundering they laid a path for their sister ships to gain freedom. Recognizing the potential threat in the advancing fleet, Zuko knew he needed to disable the ships' fire power.

Under the cover of thick fog, he and Appa took them one by one, skirting through the chaos on deck to sabotage the catapults and render them useless. Some he dismantled completely and others he merely damaged, so that, rather than hitting the desired target, sister ships found themselves under friendly fire instead. As he did his dirty work, Appa put his tail to work, blowing off all who attempted to impede him. Yet, after hindering more than a dozen ships, Zuko hadn't even made a small dent in the Fire Nation fleet. Furthermore, he was gradually becoming exhausted with his efforts, not only from the work involved in taking apart the heavy machinery, but also from having to fight for his life as he did it.

He took to the air again, scanning through the smoke and fog for a glimpse of Sokka. A few minutes later he managed to spot him, locked in serious combat with a Firebender. Zuko gave his bison the order to fly back to the city and then glided down towards Sokka. Upon landing, he struck out a gust of wind to knock back the Firebender with whom his friend had been grappling.

"I had that under control, you know," Sokka said crossly.

Zuko ignored his surliness to address more pressing issues. "We have a problem," he told Sokka, "The Firebenders are gaining momentum!" Their conversation was stilted, punctuated by counter moves and defensive maneuvering. "The outer wall has been breached and the ships have already started to break out of the ice."

"What should we do?"

"Tell everyone to fall back to the wall!" Zuko said. "We have to do everything we can to keep the Fire Nation from breaking it down completely!"

****

Once their defenses were concentrated on shore, Pakku's Waterbenders formed a united effort to bend back the incoming tide, so that the sea flowed out instead of rolling in. The task was grueling, especially because they were battling the very force of nature, but their efforts paid off in holding the Fire Nation at bay. Their heavy ships were pitched violently on the churning waters so that most of the Fire Nation's attention was preoccupied with staying afloat rather than attacking the Northern Water Tribe.

By dusk, more than fifty Fire Nation vessels had been disabled or sunk altogether. While there were gaping holes in the outer wall of the Water Tribe's gates, it still stood and what damage had been inflicted was already being repaired and refortified by Katara and her fellow Waterbenders. With the approaching moonlight, their bending was heightened and strengthened and there was little doubt they would crush the Firebenders completely if the attack continued.

Aboard his ship, which was limping along, but still seaworthy, Zhao calmly gave the order to ceasefire. "Moonlight will be upon us soon," he told his commander, "We will halt our assault…for now."

"Shall I inform the men that we shall resume at daybreak?" the commander asked.

"Yes," Zhao granted, "For now."

The commander's brows furrowed. "For now?"

"When the time comes to attack again, you'll know it," Zhao told him.

"I don't understand."

"You will," the Admiral promised. "Come back to me after you've completed your orders. There are arrangements to be made."

"What kind of arrangements?" the commander asked suspiciously.

Zhao's mouth stretched into a contented smile. "You're going to help me cross over into enemy territory."

****

"Sokka!" Yue threw her arms about his neck, seemingly impervious to her father who was standing less than three feet away or the congregated men who stood before him.

Fortunately, Chief Arnook was too preoccupied with defending himself to Zuko to notice how his daughter fell all over the Southern Water Tribe warrior with grateful hugs and kisses. "It is not our way!" Arnook argued loudly, "That is how the Fire Nation does things. Attacking them now would make us no better than they were for attacking us!"

"Does it really have to come down to a matter of honor and battle etiquette?" Zuko cried. "This is the Fire Nation! They've terrorized the entire world…destroyed my people, destroyed your sister tribe! Have you forgotten? They deserve no mercy!" Chief Arnook shook his head at the reasoning, but Zuko pressed on in spite of the Water Tribe chief's disagreement. "The moon gives you unbelievable strength. At least a fourth of the Firelord's force is sitting less than 20 miles from your shores. You could destroy them all and end the threat towards your people tonight!"

"They've called a ceasefire," Chief Arnook reminded him patiently, "We won't attack them when they've laid down arms."

"But they attacked you first!" Zuko reasoned, "You have no obligation to treat them with honor when they have behaved dishonorably!"

"You make a valid argument," Arnook acknowledged quietly, "And don't think for a moment that I don't feel as you do, that it hasn't crossed my mind to finish them off as they sit out there, trespassing on our waters and plotting to destroy us. I have thought of it. I know what they're aim is, just as I know why they called the ceasefire…because they knew we would crush them otherwise. But the fact cannot be ignored…they laid down arms. If I were to ignore that, I would be doing what they have done all these years. I would become the thing I despise and there is no victory in that, Avatar Zuko."

Though Zuko had heard the argument before, especially pertaining to himself, he deliberately closed his ears to it. He was frustrated that so many opportunities could arise to destroy the Fire Nation and yet no one seemed willing to do what needed to be done. If there were some way for Zuko to summon forth the Avatar Spirit at will so that he could annihilate the Fire Nation once and for all, he would not hesitate. He would obliterate them all…and without regret.

Arnook easily read the young man's dark thoughts in the flickering emotions that played across his countenance. He placed a reassuring hand on Zuko's shoulder. "You are still young and haven't yet learned that not everything is black and white…but you will." When Zuko failed to acknowledge a word he said, the chief emitted a heavy sigh and turned to address the throng of warriors and Waterbenders waiting to hear him speak. "We will rest tonight," he told them all, "and tomorrow we will fight another day." A cheer rose up amongst the warriors before they all dispersed to catch a good night's rest for the next morning.

Zuko bounced a frustrated glance between Chief Arnook's retreating back and the silent ships floating on the water just outside the city. He clenched his teeth, his jaw knotting with frustration and anger. Sensing the powder keg of emotions simmering beneath the surface, Katara placed a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"Chief Arnook is right, you know?" she whispered softly, "What's the use of winning if you lose yourself and what you stand for in the process?"

"Why does it matter?" Zuko grated harshly, jerking from beneath her touch. "If you lose yourself…if you become unrecognizable, isn't it worth it to end this war?" He released a low, dissatisfied growl before whipping to face Katara, Sokka and Yue with an imploring stare. "What is wrong with all of you? Has everyone forgotten who we're dealing with here? This is the Fire Nation! They don't care about etiquette or honor! They won't acknowledge the courtesy that's been paid to them tonight. Tomorrow your mercy will be forgotten and they will demolish your homes!

"My people lived by Chief Arnook's philosophy and they're gone," he recounted softly, "Aang lived by that philosophy too…and he's gone. Do you guys really want to stand here and watch the same thing happen to the Northern Water Tribe?"

"What do you want us to do, Zuko?" Sokka asked, torn between agreeing with his friend's sentiments and questioning his 'by any means necessary' methods.

"Surely I'm not the only one who feels this way!" Zuko burst out. "We should strike now while we have the opportunity!"

"Zuko," Yue interrupted gently, "all we have left is our honor. The Fire Nation has stolen everything else. Nothing is as it once was. But who we are as individuals, what makes us good people…those things still remain. And no one can destroy that. The Fire Nation can't destroy that unless we let them."

"Great," Zuko replied glumly, "You'll die with honor then."

Katara automatically started after him as he turned to walk away, but Sokka halted her efforts. "Let him go," he advised, "He needs to sort it out for himself."

"He's hurting, Sokka," Katara argued, "We shouldn't just let him go off alone!"

"You know Zuko," he replied, "He needs to be by himself. If you go after him now, you'll make it worse. Stop hovering, Katara. Let him do it on his own."

"Fine," she huffed, snapping her arm from his grasp, "Whatever."

Sokka watched her leave with a despondent shake of his head, grumbling under his breath, "Wow, that went well."

"It can't be easy for you," Yue murmured sympathetically, "being stuck in the middle. I didn't realize the Avatar was so conflicted and in so much pain."

"Yeah, he is," Sokka confirmed thickly. All too soon, however, he remembered the circumstances between them and his self-protective wall immediately went up. "It's nothing for you to concern yourself with, Yue."

"Sokka, don't do that!" she entreated when he turned away with the apparent intention of going after his sister. "Just because everything is so…so confusing doesn't mean I stopped caring about you, because I didn't!"

"It doesn't matter," he dismissed with a sigh. "You made your choice and I made mine."

"What was I supposed to do?" Yue cried. "Leave my people? They need me!"

"Yue, your father is more than capable," Sokka argued.

"And if Katara was more than capable of taking care of the Avatar, would you stay behind to be with me?" she countered. Not surprisingly, he was left without an answer to that, but Yue felt no satisfaction in being right. "You see?" she murmured, "We're not so different."

"I know we're not," he choked, "That's why it hurts. To feel the way I feel about you, to know we can never be together, but even worse…to know you'll be with someone else…"

"I won't," Yue refuted hoarsely.

"What?"

"He…he was killed in action this afternoon," she clarified stiffly, "It's probably the shortest engagement on record." She closed her eyes, swallowing her teary, ironic laugh. "It was so awful because, when my father told me, all I could feel was…relief. A man was dead and I was relieved…because I didn't have to marry him…because it wasn't you who had died, Sokka—,"

She didn't even finish the sentence before he was cradling her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers. Yue kissed him back, her salty tears meandering between their lips and turning the kiss bittersweet. "This changes everything," Sokka breathed emphatically, "Now there's nothing to keep us apart, Yue…now we can be together."

Yue allowed herself all consuming joy of being held in his arms before she shrugged out of his embrace completely. "This changes nothing," she whispered. "Many men were lost in my tribe today. My people need me. I still have an obligation to them."

"And what about me?" Sokka wondered, "What's your obligation to me?"

With his anguished question, Yue lost the battle to keep her tears at bay. "Do you know what it feels like to have your heart torn in two?" she asked Sokka. "Do you know what it feels like to choose between duty and desire? No matter what choice I make, it's the wrong one."

"What do you want from me, Yue?"

"Walk away from me, Sokka," she said, "because I'm not sure I can walk away from you." He lingered, making it obvious that her request was tearing him to emotional pieces. "Please," she begged.

With a guttural moan of pain, he turned to walk away quickly, retreating into the night, swallowed by the falling snow. However, Yue had little time to mourn his departure. No sooner had her tears begun to fall than a hand suddenly clamped hard over her mouth, stifling her startled screams. She struggled, but to no avail, finding herself manacled in her captor's iron grip.

"Maybe you should have tried to walk away," Zhao whispered in her ear, "It might have worked out better for you, Princess."