Chapter 28

"Admiral Zhao, now that the spirits have been contained, I want you to finish overseeing the capture of the waterbenders. Kill anyone who resists," Zuko ordered. "I'll finish things up in here."

"Yes, Prince Zuko," the man replied before turning to rejoin his men on the battlefield.

"Captain, bring me the crates," Zuko ordered the leader of his Imperial Firebenders. The man stepped beside his prince and placed two small metal boxes—six inches wide and four inches deep—on the ground. He then opened the tops of them. "Put some water in them. Not too much." He did as commanded, pouring water from his waterskin until there was an inch of liquid in each.

"Good," Zuko said with a nod. He then dropped each koi fish from their pouches into separate crates. The fish flopped on their sides, trying to gather oxygen from the water into their starved gills. The prince watched them for a moment, satisfied, before closing the lids. His eyes glanced up to meet Ty Lee's for a moment. "Relax, Ty Lee," he said with a dark chuckle. The girl offered him a weak smile in return.

Zuko then tucked the boxes into his small pack, which he swung underneath his black cloak. Just as he came to stand, the roar of a sky bison echoed in the chamber of the spirit oasis. He and his entourage looked up to see Aang on the head of Appa, who came down on the left landing.

"Well, well. I was beginning to wonder if you would show up, Avatar," Zuko said to the airbender with a smirk. "I thought maybe you had run away again."

Aang's face hardened as he jumped off Appa's head. "I'm not running," he said, as his friends climbed down after him.

Up on the saddle, Azula lay on her side, struggling against her bonds and out of sight from those on the ground. She was tired and run down, but her only thought was of the immediate need to free herself from the ropes that bound her wrists. She managed to generate a small flame in her palm, which slowly burned through the rope.

Down on the ground, Sokka stood protectively in front of Yue and Katara, who still could not bend. Momo, who had been in hiding since the arrival of the troops, jumped up on the waterbender's shoulder. She scratched him behind the ears in an attempt to not only reassure the lemur, but calm her own nerves.

Aang took a few steps over the bridge and looked over at the pond only to find it empty. "Where are the Moon and the Ocean?" Aang asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.

"They're alive," Zuko replied. "For now."

Aang tensed. "What have you done with them?"

Zuko smirked. "Prepared them for their end. They made a mistake crossing over into the mortal world, and not only will they pay the price for that decision—so will the Water Tribe."

"Please don't," Aang pleaded. "If you kill the Moon and the Ocean, it won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt the Fire Nation too."

Zuko appeared to consider his words. "Tell you what," he said. "I'll spare their lives if you surrender. Otherwise, I will kill them."

Aang glared at the prince. It was a lose-lose situation. Sokka, Katara, and Yue knew it too.

"Fine," he agreed with a heavy heart, offering himself.

"Aang, no!" Katara yelled out, the fear of losing her friend causing her to call out to him. Knowing there was nothing she could do tore at her.

"This is the only way," he said, glancing back at his friends sadly. "I'll be okay." He shared a significant look with all three of them—a profound sadness filling them all.

"There's no hope now," Yue whispered, grabbing onto Sokka's arm. He wished there was something he could say that would prove otherwise, but it appeared that the girl was right.

Zuko smiled as he reached out to grab the boy, who didn't put up a struggle. His eyes then caught movement behind the bison. "What is that?" he thought. A moment later, he recognized the unmistakable form of his younger sister coming out from the shadows. "What is she doing here?" From the way she walked, it was obvious to him that she was far from one hundred percent. His attention then turned back to his captive.

Azula, who had heard every word exchanged between Zuko and Aang as she escaped her bonds, looked across the landing. She saw Ty Lee standing off to the side, her attention locked on the scene before her. Her friend had not spotted her, but she appeared to be okay. Any relief that would have come with that realization was completely erased by the sight of her brother taking hold of chains from his captain to bind the Avatar.

"No…" she whispered angrily to herself. Despite knowing that she was in the boy's debt, he was still her only chance to regain her honor—and that chance was now slipping from her. She couldn't bear the thought of living in exile for the rest of her life.

"Looks like the glory will be mine, Azula," Zuko said suddenly, his golden eyes finding his sisters' as his lips curved into a smirk.

"What glory?" she gritted out. "You said yourself that Father wanted Fire Nation soldiers doing much more important things than hunting the Avatar. You even called Zhao off the chase!"

Aang looked at Zuko in confusion. Ty Lee, surprised to see Azula in the oasis, looked between the siblings worriedly.

"I lied," he said with a shrug, a cold glint in his eyes. Azula felt her temper flare. Suddenly, it became painfully clear to her what Zuko had been gunning for all along. "Of course, my primary goal was to conquer the Northern Water Tribe," Zuko continued, enjoying the reaction he was getting out of his sister, "but the Avatar is still public enemy number one in the Fire Nation. And now he's mine. Looks like you're never coming home." The prince turned to fasten the shackles he was holding around Aang's wrists.

Azula's eyes narrowed at her brother's form as she clenched her jaw. Desperation flooded her, and the anger that had been rising up in Azula exploded then—the stress and emotions of everything that had happened in the last few weeks finally spilling over. Acting out of pure rage, she let loose a stream of fire at Zuko's back.

The prince felt the heat of Azula's blue flames coming toward him, and turned to block the attack. He absorbed the fire, but the force of the girl's attack sent him stumbling back into Aang, who fell toward Ty Lee. He had yet to be chained up, and Zuko wasn't about to leave anything to chance.

"Hold onto him and block his chi!" he barked out to the acrobat, as he angrily pushed himself up to his feet, glaring at his sister.

Acting on instinct, she did as she was told, wrapping one of her powerful arms around Aang and delivering two swift strikes to his back, paralyzing the boy. He let out a soft cry as his dead weight collapsed into her completely. Ty Lee then looked up to see Azula charging her brother from across the bridge, only to be cut off by a dozen of Zuko's guards. She was immediately met by a stream of fire from the firebenders. Worry didn't even begin to describe what Ty Lee felt at that moment. She knew almost nothing good was going to come of this.

Azula threw up a wall of flame, absorbing the attacks of the firebenders. Her emotion fueled her bending, which would have otherwise been too weak to take on firebenders of such a high caliber. Even so, she was outnumbered, but that didn't register with her. For Azula, there was only rage and fire. At that moment, she wanted to make her brother hurt like she had been forced to.


Chief Arnook and his wife stood together at the top of the palace steps with a group of two dozen Water Tribe warriors standing before them, offering what little protection they could. Looking across the citadel, the chief was filled with hopelessness as he watched his proud warriors, now weakened, ruthlessly slaughtered on the battlefield by Admiral Zhao and his soldiers. They were not going down without a fight. The waterbenders, completely unable to bend, were easily overpowered and chained up. They were marched out of the citadel and onto the Fire Nation warships.

"Chief Arnook," one of the head warriors attempting to protect him called out. "You must find a way out of here."

"I am not leaving my tribe," he said.

"What about Yue?" his wife asked worriedly.

"Sokka will protect her," he said, hoping that he would be able to do it and get her to safety.


Shooting off a firebomb at the guard immediately before her, Azula landed a hit at the man's chest, knocking him back into the pond. She kicked her leg out, releasing an arc of flame at the legs of the next two men in her path, sweeping them out from under their feet. Another guard shot off a fireball at her head. Azula ducked and the blazing ball missed, landing on the wooden bridge behind her.

The bridge caught on fire, filling the oasis with smoke. Ty Lee dragged Aang backwards away from the fray and the smoke, praying that somehow Azula would be the victor.

Knowing that Aang was Azula's only chance to ever return to the Fire Nation—although at this point, even she was beginning to wonder the wisdom in such a desire—Ty Lee whispered discreetly to the boy, "You have to get out of here. Zuko's not going to kill the spirits. He knows what will happen to the world if he does. He was just bluffing in order to capture you."

Something in Ty Lee's tone made Aang want to believe her. He couldn't think of any reason why the girl would lie to her, and he got the sense that she was in tune with the spirits. Unable to move his body due to the paralysis, he replied quietly. "Okay."

"Everyone's distracted. Get your friends to attack me, and I can let you go."

The three Water Tribe teens had been moving toward the back of the chamber, trying to avoid breathing in the smoke. As they moved along, Sokka spotted Ty Lee standing with Aang in her arms. They were both looking pointedly at them. "Come on," he said quietly, grabbing onto Yue and Katara's hands and moving closer to where Ty Lee was.

"Attack me," Ty Lee said.

"What?" Sokka asked, confused.

"Just do it, Sokka," Aang urged him. "Now."

Raising his club, Sokka landed a hit on Ty Lee's upper arm. She let out a yelp, momentarily drawing Zuko's attention. Azula heard it, but couldn't afford to look away. She had to stay completely focused on the men she was fighting.

The prince saw Sokka grab Aang before landing a kick to Ty Lee's gut as she made an attempt to stop the warrior. The acrobat fell back, clutching at her stomach as the Water Tribe teens ran toward Appa with Aang in tow.

Zuko growled in irritation, but as far as he was concerned, Ty Lee had done nothing wrong. She had only been beaten by that warrior. "Stop them!" he shouted to his guards. "I'll take care of the traitor myself," he finished, turning his gaze onto Azula and removing his cloak.

Now, it was just brother and sister.


The guards gave pursuit to the group of teens, who were now climbing up onto the sky bison. As the firebenders came into firing range, Appa growled and exhaled a large gust of air, sending them flying into the pool behind them, which soaked them.

"Yip! Yip!" Sokka called out as Katara and Yue laid Aang down in the saddle, and the bison lifted himself up into the sky.

Momo chittered sadly as he looked down at Aang. "Are you alright?" Katara asked him.

"No," Aang said, sadness filling his voice. "But at least the spirits are safe. Ty Lee told me Zuko never intended to kill them," he explained. "But there's nothing I can do to help the Water Tribe. I can't bend. I can't even move." A tear slipped down his face.

"We have to find my father," Yue said tearfully.

Sokka spurred Appa on toward the palace, hoping there was something that could be done.


"I'm not a traitor, Zuko," Azula spat.

"You attacked me from behind as I was taking the number one enemy into custody. I'd say that's treason," he retorted.

Zuko then jabbed his fist out, releasing a fireball. Azula blocked it with her forearm and countered with a fireball of her own. He met it with a blast, causing Azula's flames to harmlessly dissipate. They went back and forth like this for several minutes, matching each other fireball for firbeall, neither gaining the upper hand.

Azula grit her teeth, pushing through the fatigue that was starting to settle in, and tried to up her attack. She began to volley firebombs at her brother. He ran toward her then, dropping to the ground just before the flames were about to hit him. As he went to the ground, he thrust his legs out, send a huge wave of flame toward her.

Azula watched the fire coming toward her, but her legs felt heavy. She tried to jump out of the way, but it was too late and not enough to avoid the attack. The flames struck her, licking up her legs and knocking her to the ground.

Before she could recover, Zuko was upon her, fire dagger to her throat. Zuko's guards had finally pulled themselves out of the water and surrounded the siblings, ready to strike the girl down if necessary. "Guess you will be coming home after all," Zuko said with a cruel smile before raising his fist and striking the side of Azula's head, knocking her unconscious.


As they approached the tops of the palace steps, the gang was able to make out the carnage that had taken place within the city. Katara felt sickened at the sight as Yue buried her head in her hands. Sokka did his best to maintain his composure—to be strong for the group. Aang knew from their reactions that the situation in the city was grim.

"Chief Arnook," Sokka called out to the man as they made landing.

"Sokka, where is my daughter?" he asked, running to meet them with his wife right behind him.

"She's here," he replied as Yue looked down at her parents.

"Thank the spirits," he said. "Where is the Avatar?"

"He's here too," Katara said. "He's been paralyzed, but otherwise he's unharmed."

The chief nodded. "Listen, you must leave the North Pole with the Avatar immediately. This battle has been lost. Live to fight another day and keep our Princess safe."

"But what about you?" Yue cried out.

"We will stay here with our tribe."

"No! You can't stay. You'll die."

Arnook didn't say anything for a moment. He felt the emotion welling up in him, thinking it would get the better of him. He shook his head. "Perhaps, but you still must leave. Fly to General Fong's base in the Earth Kingdom. There you will be safe."


Ty Lee watched broken hearted, as an unconscious Azula was dragged out of the spirit oasis in chains by two of Zuko's Imperial Firebenders. She wanted so badly to stop it from happening—to take down Zuko and his guards and get Azula out of there. But even if she were to get Azula away from them, there was nowhere to take her—not in the cold, unforgiving tundra of the North Pole.

"Ty Lee," Zuko said, looking pointedly at the girl. She turned to look at him, swallowing the lump in her throat to suppress the tears that threatened to fall. "I suggest you remember where your loyalties lie. Azula is now a traitor to the Fire Nation."

The acrobat nodded, but her feeling of distress only grew.


Dawn had arrived, and Zuko and the Fire Nation had finally laid claim over the Northern Water Tribe. All the waterbenders had been shackled and locked into the holding cells within the warships. The women and children had also been captured. Most of the warriors had been killed—although a few key ones, namely Chief Arnook and the teen who had tried to lead a failed assassination attempt on the prince, had been captured as well. Zuko was looking forward to delivering the chief to his father. And of course, there was his traitor sister.

With victory in hand and Arnook as his insurance—literally using the man as a shield—Zuko released the two koi fish back to the pond of the oasis, causing the moon to reappear in the sky and the ocean waters to move once more. The spirits were greatly displeased by what had happened, but could not retaliate without inadvertently harming the people of the Water Tribe as well.

Making his way to his ship, Zuko smiled smugly to himself. At the brink of the broken fortress wall, the prince met his troops.

"This siege has been a testament to the greatness of the Fire Nation! We are the greatest nation in the world!" he declared. "Today, the Northern Water Tribe has finally fallen!"

The soldiers cheered loudly in celebration, and in the distant sky—miles away—a sky bison flew, carrying the last free waterbenders left in the world.