Chapter Twenty five

Ty lee's joy at seeing her old friend Mai was cut unceremoniously short as everyone drew their weapons and prepared to fight. She slowly took her battle stance and watched as each group eyed the other with scrutiny and caution, neither one making the first move, afraid they may cause themselves to be open for an attack.

All except for Iroh, who merely breathed in deeply and smiled warmly to everyone in the avatar's party.

"Well, if this isn't a surprise. It is good to see you are all doing so well" he spoke kindly, as if he were their grandfather welcoming them back after a long journey. The look Mai shot him was just as sharp and dangerous as if she cast one of her daggers at him.

"They are the enemy Iroh. Prove your worth and assist in their capture, unless you want Yusen to see you for who you really are" she spoke, her voice thick with malicious intent, causing Ty Lee to ponder why she would threaten an ally like that.

"Patience Mai, I believe I have a solution to our situation that is less violent and use less of our resources" he spoke, moving between the two groups and waiting patiently. Looking back toward Sokka and his allies, Iroh bowed humbly.

"It is an honor to meet you again, Avatar, though you seem to now be a person I have seen a time long ago. Mysterious are the ways of the world, are they not?" he spoke directly to him. Sokka seemed a little unsure of how to react to Iroh, but still managed a meek nod.

"If you would listen to my request, I would be honored and there will be no need for violence that will get your friends and these villagers involved" Iroh spoke, causing Sokka to look back to all his friends, including Ty Lee. It was the first time in days that he looked her in the eyes, and she couldn't help but catch her breath at how different his attitude seemed to change when the thought of them in danger came to his mind, like he was a different person. Ty Lee could feel what was going through his heart, how he was afraid to involve them and risk them becoming hurt, afraid to lose anyone else important to him again.

"We are listening" Sokka spoke, his sword still drawn but now slightly lowered.

"Very well, what I propose is this, a duel between you and Yusen here. If you win, you go free and we walk away. If we win, you come with us to the fire lord" he stated, catching the attention of the boy near him. He was lean and muscular with yellow eyes and black hair, and even though he was dressed as a noble, she never saw him before. He must have been new royalty or some such.

"Iroh, I don't think that would be-" he began to argue when Mai spoke up.

"No, I believe it's perfect. You need to prove your worth and I see no better way than to face off directly with the avatar one on one. Even if you lose, you will have a good estimate of our opponents power for the future in a safe and controlled battle" she spoke, almost sounding like she was expecting him to lose. Ty lee couldn't help but wonder why she would want her own side to lose, but she wasn't going to question this stroke of luck.

"Then it looks like our side finds the battle agreeable. How about all of you?" Iroh asked Sokka's group. Everyone looked to Sokka, though they already knew what he was going to say.

"I accept your terms" he said and stepped forward, sword at the ready.

"Excellent" Iroh spoke as he made way for the boy at his side to come forward and face each other before they fought.

Ty lee felt a pit in her stomach wondering what they would do if Sokka lost.

*************

Yusen's stomach was filled with butterflies yet also rocks at the same time. Iroh had apparently enough faith in him to suggest such a match, but Yusen lacked the confidence in himself to win. This was the Avatar, the living embodiment of the humans and spirit world being connected. How could he hope to defeat such a man? As he looked toward the Avatar, he could see the determination in his eyes, the will not to lose or give in no matter what. Yusen felt his stomach begin to twist into knots at this point.

"The rules are simple, no killing or maiming blows, no outside help, and no harming the innocent in the crossfire" Iroh stated, laying down the ground rules. Both combatants nodded their heads solemnly. Yusen also noticed that the villagers were starting to gather and watch the duel, an uneasy thought crossing his mind that he might accidentally hurt one or two if his techniques went awry.

"Then…begin!" said Iroh, launching the two at each other. Yusen propelled several balls of flame in an attempt to pepper him with some shots to slow him down, but the avatar merely used his water bending to form a barrier that caught the flames and caused them to hiss into steam. Lunging forward, the avatar began to swing his sword with expert skill, giving Yusen barely any time to dodge and roll away, being mere inches from the razor sharp blade.

Yusen suddenly wreathed his entire body in flames, his most powerful technique, causing the entire area near him to suddenly grow in heat to unbearable temperatures. Retreating several feet, the avatar waited and watched, letting the two enter a standstill of sorts. Yusen desperately ran through his mind, looking for some sort of weakness he could exploit, some crack in his defense that he could break through. He saw no opening, no way to cut through and achieve victory. It was almost hopeless.

"Remember our Pai Sho match Yusen! Remember what you learned" Iroh called to him. What he learned? All he learned than was that showing restraint could…

Could trick your opponent into showing a weakness.

Dropping his flame aura, the temperature visibly reduced in temperature, waves of heat no longer rolling off of the ground. Yusen began to circle the avatar as he mirrored him, hoping to look for an opening. Creating two hand daggers of fire, Yusen lunged forward brazenly. A wave of dread struck him as he stepped into a puddle, suddenly realizing that the Avatar maneuvered him into running over a source of bendable material. As if on cue, the avatar froze the water, causing Yusen to slip and stumble forward, barely maintaining his balance but losing the force of his momentum, though the avatar expertly placed a kick under his jaw, sending him spiraling into the air to land onto his back. Barely maintaining consciousness, Yusen made out the form of the Avatar walking over and pointing his sword down to his throat, convinced of his victory. Yusen had only one option left, though through the intense pain, it was going to be difficult.

Focusing all his will into his next strike, he erupted the ground all around him in fire, causing the Avatar to withdraw a step, just as Yusen sprang to life, performing a leg sweep, catching the Avatar's legs in his and felling him like a tree and losing his grip on his sword. Jumping to his feet and catching the blade in one fluid motion, Yusen lunged in close and pressed the edge of the blade onto the avatars throat so closely, a thin red line was already forming. He could see the fear in his eyes, desperately looking for a way out of the situation, seeing no opening where he wouldn't cut his own head off.

"You lost Avatar, and you are now our prisoner" Yusen said calmly, swelling with pride as he looked to Iroh who beamed a wide smile at him and then to Mai who seemed shocked that he won. So enwrapped with the victory he had, he failed to notice the earth open beneath the avatar and swallow him up, right out from under Yusen's nose as he reappeared with his entourage, just as a column of earth erupt forth and take hold of the sword, returning it to its rightful master. Turning around, he saw the girl next to the Avatar, a girl no older than him with blind eyes performing the earth bending to retrieve him and then launch a rolling wave of earth in their direction to keep them at bay as they suddenly mounted on nearby animals and ran down the road.

Yusen's victory, so close at hand, was suddenly snatched away in a cruel twist of fate.

*************

Iroh sighed contently, walking over to pat Yusen's shoulder approvingly.

"You did well Yusen, no one could have foreseen such an occurrence as this. You fought bravely and ferociously" he said, causing Yusen to turn his way and stare at him straight in the eyes. Iroh could tell he was shamed that he could not stop the escape, but Iroh knew Yusen performed his best and no one could fault him for that.

Well…perhaps Mai would.

"He's right Yusen, there is no shame in this, only pride that you were able to defeat the Avatar in one on one combat and force them to cowardly retreat in dishonor" she spoke loudly enough so all the observers could hear. Mai knew that wars could be won with words alone, and this display of the avatar's willingness to abandon his word would aid them more than a thousand soldiers.

"You are right Mai…I will… I will train harder so that next time, I will be able to defeat them all" he spoke, his pride shining in his eyes that not only Mai approved, that his idol did as well.

"Good then, now I think it is time we stopped for some Jasmine Tea" he spoke, pushing Yusen along forward past the spot he stood. A call from one of the soldiers under their command to him did get his attention though.

"Iroh, don't forget your shoes" he spoke, lifting the pair of sandals he left discarded at the side. Smiling inwardly to himself, iroh turned around and took the pair warmly.

"Thank you young man, I don't know how they could have fallen off my feet" he spoke, simultaneously using his foot to wipe away any hint of the scrawling on the ground he had written.

Author Notes:

ok, im not sure how many of yall have heard, but they are making a live action avatar movie. Now, everyone who is still young and unaware of the world is probably going "oh wow, thats going to be so cool!", while the rest of us older gents and ladies are going "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!". I, for one, am going to hold out hope that the movie wont suck. I prefer to hope and pray that this wont totally destroy what i know and love in a giant puff of smoke since even if it does suck, i'll still probably be the first in line in MD with a huge grin on my face, hoping rather naively it will be incredible. I looked up a little bit about the cast and anyone of my friends will tell you i despise Twilight with a passion, and well...Sokka's being played by one of those actors. I instantly tried to gouge my eyes out with my keys, so as you can see, things are not looking up for me and my optimistic ways.

Moving on, this chapter was a little hard for me to write since my action sequences always seem to me to be extremely short lived. I hope i wrote it all correctly and conveyed what i was trying to get across, but i look to the reviews to let me know if i was doing good or bad. Anyway, thank you for reading, please review, and join me in a prayer for the movie to not suck.

Jalein Foxkin