"I can't believe I lost him." Katara kneels by the pool.
"You did everything you could and now we need to do everything we can to get him back," Sokka reassures his sister. "Zuko can't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine."
"Okay." Katara stands and walks to Appa. Yue sits down in the sky bison's saddle, more prepared for balancing when he lifts off.
"It's all right. You stay here, Momo, in case Aang comes back." Momo purrs and lays down where Aang was sitting.
"Yip! Yip!" Appa launches into the air, anxious to find Aang. They soar up above the city and over the wasteland behind where the storm is as strong as ever. Yue leans over the side and scans the snow for any sign of life. Footprints would be erased in a heartbeat and Zuko's grey clothing would blend into the snow. Not a glimpse of orange monk clothes peaked out from behind a snow dune.
A/N: I don't know if snow dunes are a thing but I think it's funny and I don't wanna find out that they aren't a thing so the term is staying.
"I finally have you." Zuko stares out at the storm. "But I can't get you home because of this blizzard. There's always something. Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always... came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy — and everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born. I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong. It's made me who I am." Zuko clenches his fists at his sides as he thinks of his father. The Avatar is still unconscious, with tattoos glowing. In the Spirit World, if he heard the girl correctly. It would make sense. Hopefully, the boy was stuck there. It would be easier for both of them. Iroh might disagree, but his own experience would probably be much different than the avatar's, who was supposed to be part of that world. Zuko didn't want to fight him. It was all too likely he would lose, even if he didn't want to admit it. The Avatar takes a deep breath, despite being in the Spirit World. A gust of wind makes its way into the cave from the storm raging outside.
"Guess we'll be here a while."
"I don't need to remind you we have a time limit." Iroh stands next to Zhao on the observation deck of the Admirals ship. "If we don't defeat the Water Tribe before the full moon rises they will be undefeatable."
Zhao smiles. "I assure you I have everything under control. I intend to remove the moon as a factor." His grin broadens.
"Remove the moon!? How?" Iroh says incredulously, surely Zhao wasn't entirely mad?
Clunky steps sound behind them. "Admiral Choi! Prepare to meet your fate!" A young Water Tribe boy throws off a Fire Nation helmet and charges them with a spear. Iroh is surprised he made it this far. He shakes his head as the boy is gracefully thrown overboard by Zhao, unceremoniously splashing into the water below. He was part of the water tribe, he would be fine.
"As I was saying... years ago I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret... the identity of the Moon Spirit's mortal form," Zhao reveals to a shocked Iroh.
"What?"
"I was a young Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom... I discovered a hidden library, underground in fact. I tore through scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration and the words "Moon" and "Ocean." I knew then that these spirits could be found — and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so."
"Zhao, the Spirits are not to be trifled with!" Iroh is angered. How could Zhao not see the pure destruction this would cause? It would rain down on him, and Zhao would never see it coming.
"Yes, yes, I know you fear the Spirits, Iroh. I've heard rumours about your journey into the Spirit World. But the Ocean and Moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world — and now they will face the consequences!" Zhao patronizes Iroh, believing himself better, more powerful and strong. Believing himself powerful enough to slay the moon.
"Don't worry! Prince Zuko can't be getting too far in this weather." Yue reassures Katara. The cold was starting to get to Katara, her nose and ears were turning red. I hope Sokka is doing okay. But she doesn't ask, it would be too odd to ask, she thinks. The vast snow dunes seem to stretch forever and Yue can barely see the city behind them. She knows the expanse of the wasteland, having studied it well, and knows of how many people were found dead in the snow a stone's throw away from the help that they just couldn't see through the menacing weather.
"I'm not worried they'll get away in the blizzard. I'm worried that they won't." Katara voices her concern. Yue's hands nervously find each other and she begins to pick at her nails. There is a growing fear in her heart, though some of it is foreign like something else she couldn't name.
"They're not gonna die in this blizzard. If we know anything it's that Zuko never gives up. They'll survive — and we'll find them!" Sokka yells back. Zuko. The siblings had given her a brief description of the prince. He was a prince of the Fire Nation that was chasing Aang for some reason, always talking about "honour" and had found them several times but hadn't succeeded yet. What would a prince be doing searching for the Avatar so far from home? Yue would, in perhaps less war-like times, had gone to visit other nations for diplomatic missions as part of being a princess. Not for long, and definitely not doing something dangerous. Even if she was male, there would be significant protection around her. Definitely not searching for the Avatar with just one ship and seemingly never home. The Fire Nation was... different. Despite being the literal enemy, Yue found it hard to not try to be somewhat understanding and diplomatic concerning them.
A ball of light shoots across the sky, catching Yue's eye.
"Look! That's gotta be Aang!" Katara points at it. Sokka quickly yanks on Appa's reins and they speed ahead to where the light disappears into a cave. They hold their breath as Appa lands in the snow. Aang shoots out, bound by rope.
"Appa!" He shouts happily. Sokka and Katara quickly dismount. Yue stays behind. She doesn't know how to fight and she doesn't think her diplomacy skills will help.
"Here for a rematch?" The young man — Zuko— appears, taking a fighting stance. His ponytail blows in the breeze. His bare - waxed? - scalp must be cold.
"Trust me, Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match," Katara promises, already destroying a fireball he sends her way. She shifts her energy, raising him up in a wave of ice before dropping him onto the ground, hard. He doesn't move.
"Hey! This is some quality rope!" Sokka cuts Aang out of his bonds.
"We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!" Aang hops up onto Appa and takes the reins. Sokka climbs up as well, followed by Katara. Yue looks back at the young man in the snow, unconscious with injuries. But he would die, wouldn't he? She opened her mouth to protest but Aang beat her to it.
"Wait, we can't just leave him here."
"Sure we can. Let's go," Sokka says flippantly.
"No, if we leave him, he'll die." Aang jumps down and drags Zuko onto Appa. Yue grabs him and lays him down properly. His head should be elevated, she thinks and grabs the fur scarf she wears underneath her overcoat when it's cold out and places it under his head, wrapping some of the excess around his shoulders.
"Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!" Sokka complains and Yue frowns. Though, maybe she would feel differently if he had tried to kill her a few times.
Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong. My life— Yue clutches her head and groans. A kernel of her deep inside is wrong. Not gone or dead, but threatened. The odd feeling in her core has turned leaden and cold.
"Are you okay?" Sokka rushes to her.
"I feel faint." An image flashes in her mind. She reaches out to catch hold of it but the connection falters.
"I feel it too. The Moon Spirit is in trouble." Aang says, also clutching his head.
Yue looks up. "I owe the Moon Spirit my life."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born... but I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me... that night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry — and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon." She looks at her hands, rough and picked apart. What happens if we can't save the Moon Spirit? Yue shifts in her seat and adjusts the scarf under Zuko's head. A conclusion is settling in her mind.
When they reach the oasis, a man who proclaims himself as "Zhao the Moon Slayer" and "Zhao the Invincible" is holding the Moon Spirit in a sack. Yue feels the walls of the oasis press in around her. Like she's in that sack and about to be killed by a megalomaniac. She hardens her eyes. That fish will not die. Momo springs off of Aang and grabs onto Zhao, pulling on his face.
"Huh! Get it off!" The man shouts, swatting at the lemur. Momo returns to Aang's arm and the admiral and his men turn to face them.
"Don't bother!" Zhao shouts at his men. He holds a knife to the bag.
"Zhao! Don't!"
"It's my destiny... to destroy the Moon... and the Water Tribe."
"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone — including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world." Aang tries to reason with the man, who is utterly enthralled with his imagined glory-filled future.
"He is right, Zhao!" A voice rings out. A figure has approached them.
"General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" His tone shifts to one of forced boredness. General Iroh lowers his hood.
"I'm no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the Moon too. We all depend on the balance." He steps closer and deepens into a fighting stance. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold! LET IT GO, NOW!"
There's a tense moment and Zhao slowly lowers the bag. He kneels, and the Moon Spirit swims out of the bag back into the pond. Zhao quickly changes his mind, however, and blasts the pond with fire. Yue recoils with horror as the Moon disappears. Time slows.
A blast of fire is directed at Zhao from General Iroh, who quickly takes out Zhao's guards. Zhao runs and General Iroh lets him. Yue rushes to the pond, where the Moon Spirit floats, dead. Iroh kneels down and lifts the Spirit out of the water.
"There's no hope now. It's over." Yue sobs as Sokka places his hands on her shoulders.
"No, it's not over." A deep amalgamation of voices says, who Yue realizes is Aang, tattoos glowing. The boy stands and walks into the water. Katara goes to follow but the General motions for her to stop. Katara listens. Aang drops into the water and disappears. The pond is only a few feet deep.
"It's too late. It's dead," Katara says as Iroh places the Moon Spirit back into the water. Yue feels like she's dead, or missing.
"You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in you!" The old man looks up at Yue in wonderment.
"Yes, you're right. It gave me life." Yue feels her resolve steel. "Maybe I can give it back." She stands and walks to the pond's edge. The conclusion has settled and become part of her, of her story.
"No! You don't have to do that!"
"It's my duty, Sokka." She lets his hand go. The world goes.
"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!"
"I have to do this." Something echos through her words. Something old and powerful. Yue walks into the water and places her hands onto the Moon Spirits' wounds. They begin to glow, and Yue feels like she's become... bigger. More of herself. Her eyes close and she collapses into the water. She is gone to this world.