VII.

The first thing Iroh noticed was how small the water chief was. She couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. Yet she seemed to carry the weight of a dark past on her young but weary face.

The second thing he noticed was her patience, something Zuko lacked entirely.

Zuko delivered the first blow, blasting a shot of fire at the young girl. She stood near the shore, letting the water flow up around her bare ankles and pushed it vertically into a shield. With a small exhale, the water froze just as the fire slammed into it. The shield held, but now sported a large dent that melted around the edges. Zuko tried again, kicking the ground with a fast moving fireball. Lenara watched, hands still working the water upwards on the wall. The impact shook the shield, fractures spider-webbing the surface. Iroh scratched his beard. 'She is trying to wear him down', he thought.

"Are you going to fight or just hide behind your shield?" Zuko taunted. Lenara nodded to herself. Time to show this guy what a water bender could do.

The shield shattered, sending ice shards scattering across the snow. Out of the debris came Lenara, a scoop of water in each hand. As she tossed the water in front of her, the patch froze. She continued to freeze the ground smooth as glass as she advanced, her strides becoming long graceful strokes across the ice. She lapped Zuko, causing him to turn quickly. He slipped and fell to his knees. Fire benders were never very good on ice.

Lenara scraped around a corner and headed back to Zuko, picking up speed. She threw a couple of icicles at Zuko on her first pass, the sharp ends nailing his pant-legs to the ground. She made a second pass, this time a stream of water under the ice racing with her. As it reached the Fire Prince, it burst through the space between his hands and froze, locking his hands to the ice. Lenara stood above Zuko, frowning.

"Hardly a challenge."

"Very clever," Iroh murmured. But ice never held fire for very long. Zuko let out an angry shout and the ice covering his hands evaporated in the flames around his fists. Stomping off the icicles, he stood and kicked off his boots. To Lenara's surprise, he stepped onto the ice- and she watched in shock as the ice melted under his foot.

Zuko smirked. Lenara returned the grin. Finally, he was starting to think like a mad genius. The two raced towards each other, fire quelled by water, ice melted by flame.

Suddenly, Zuko's hand shot out and grabbed Lenara's wrist. As she struggled in his iron grip, Zuko snatched the other wrist and pulled her close to him. His sinister grin burned into her like hot coals.

"Now, what are you going to do without your hands?" Lenara's face clouded, scrambling for a plan, then suddenly, her green eyes flashed. It was a long shot…

"I'll improvise," she replied and watched the smile fade from Zuko's face as she quickly shot up on her toes, closed her eyes, and kissed the Prince of the Fire Nation.

Iroh blinked. The soldiers gasped as one. Time stopped….

Zuko lost his concentration, an electric heat tearing through his veins. He felt his eyes start to close, his body leaning slightly towards her, succumbing to this soul that dared to approach his scarred and twisted face…

…he relaxed his grip and it was all over. Lenara pushed him back with a blast of water and jumped back to gain some distance.

"Well, never saw that in Agni-kai before," Iroh said to the soldier beside him, whose eyes were still wide with shock. Zuko stood stunned, his emotions shaken. Lenara watched him, silent and a little crestfallen. Whatever had happened, there was still a fight to be won. Zuko's lip curled in a snarl. He had been tricked, caught off his guard, made a fool of in front of his uncle and his soldiers. It would not happen again.

Zuko ran at Lenara, released a fire stream, then kicked her legs out from under her when she dodged the fire. Lenara swept Zuko back with a quick whip of water. As she struggled to stand, Zuko leapt into the air, his face bent on nothing but victory. Lenara's hand readied a counterattack on instinct.

As his nephew neared the girl, Iroh's watchful eye saw her hand raise, stop, and slowly, discretely lower to her side. Zuko release a fireball. Lenara rolled out of the way and found the Fire Prince above her, his fist but a thumb's length from her face. She felt the heat on her face, sparks popping beside her ears. Her voice was steady, but her hands shook.

"You going to give me a scar as ugly as that one?" Zuko narrowed his eyes in rage, then paused. Something stirred in his good eye. A shadow of the past flashed across his memory. He lowered his hand and the flame winked out.

"Well done, Prince Zuko," Iroh announced, approaching his nephew with the Prince's discarded clothes.

"What are your orders, sir? Burn down the village?" Zuko pulled on his tunic and shoved his boots onto his feet. Two soldiers had already pulled Lenara to her feet and held her firmly by the arm. She glanced at the huts behind her, her jaw trembled, but she held it in.

"No," Zuko said, buckling on his armor, "leave the village. It's of no use to us." The two soldiers restraining Lenara released her and began to walk back to the ship. This wasn't in the plan. All that effort for nothing! Lenara was about to open her mouth to speak.

"However," Zuko murmured as an afterthought, "bring the Water chief with us. If she can track the Avatar, then we won't have to destroy her village in the future." The two guards back-stepped and bound Lenara's hands together. She shifted into a puddle of water, turning to watch the Fire Prince walk back to his ship. She lifted her eyes to the Water Tribe village. It would be a long time before she saw it again.

The Fire soldiers pushed Lenara towards the ship. The never noticed the puddle she was standing in had disappeared. They didn't notice her satisfied smile, either.

VIII.

Aang, Katara, and Sokka watched a fireball rise above the glaciers. Sokka turned to his sister and the Avatar.

"We need to go back and help her."

"What good would that do, Sokka? She sent us away from the North Pole to protect Aang. We can't show up against her word," Katara argued. Aang watched the horizon silently, worried for the kind water bender they had left behind.

"Yeah, but we can't abandon her to face Zuko! What if he…"

"Look, I'm worried too, but she's an accomplished water bender, Sokka. I think she can handle one Fire Navy ship…" An explosion of snow and flames erupted beyond the glacier line. The effect threw everything into harsh lights and shadows.

Aang stood up on Appa's shoulders, the wind snapping his poncho back.

"We're going back."

"Aang, Lenara told us to…"

"I know she sent me away, Katara. But she told me that I was lucky to have you and Sokka with me on this journey, that previous Avatars were alone with their burdens. Well, I won't leave her to face the Fire Nation alone."

"Yeah, let's do it!" Sokka said, rolling up his sleeve. Katara stared at her brother.

"Why are you so anxious to go back there?" Sokka blinked.

"You're kidding, right? This is my chance to kick some Fire bender butt!" Appa turned around and soared back to the village.