XIV.

A month later, Iroh approached the water bender's cell again. During this time, Lenara had meditated on how she would go about assembling the items for her mission. She had almost everything figured out. She hoped Ang wasn't too worried about her. The Prince didn't seem to know that the Avatar had turned around and headed back to the North Pole because the ship was still pushing top speed. The Avatar was now probably trailing a few dozen miles behind the Fire Navy ship. The hunter had become the hunted. The irony was not lost on her.

General Iroh cleared his throat.

"Prince Zuko requested your presence at tonight's practice." He unlocked the cell. Lenara remained seated.

"Not interested." Iroh shrugged.

"It could be the chance to reclaim your victory. You don't have to hold back this time." Lenara guarded her surprise. 'So, he knew I threw the fight,' she thought. 'At least he doesn't know why'.

"Is this going to be another one of your games where you let me out and the Prince and I go at each other's throats? If so, piss off. I'm not in the mood." Iroh remained passive.

"What game?"

"That bit about the candle? That was just some excuse to plant me in front of the dining chamber, wasn't it? You could have brought the candle down here, so why did you need me to go with you? Are you trying to make me despise you or do you have some other agenda?" Iroh smiled in spite of himself. 'Well, she caught on to that fast'. He leaned against the bars, turning to speak to her.

"What do you think?"

"I think I'm tired of playing games, General Iroh. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a Fire Prince's butt to kick." Lenara stood up, lightheaded from the lack of food and walked past three weeks worth of stale bread. She mounted the metal stairs and made her way to the door that opened onto the deck. Torches had been set up at the bow of the ship, their flames rippled in the North wind. She drank it all in, not knowing when she would feel the North wind on her arms again.

Prince Zuko stood between the torches, his profile silvered by faint stars that shone stubbornly in the cool night sky. In spite of the cold, Zuko had removed his shirt. Lenara stopped just beyond the door, shadowed by the helmsman's tower. She folded her arms and watched. Zuko stood still, concentrating for several minutes, then a disciplined shout broke the silence and an arc of fire fanned out in front of Zuko. He kicked again, a simple roundhouse move with a flame trail following his foot. Lenara realized now why he was training at night-he could study the shape and position of the flame better in the dark. Clever.

Zuko ran through his basic set, then moved on to a more advanced set of techniques his uncle had shown him but a few weeks ago. Lenara stepped from beyond the shadow and crossed the ship's vast deck to the bow, her footsteps hollow on the old and worn steel. Zuko turned at the sound of an approaching person, still on he guard from training.

"Calm down. It's just me." She stopped a few feet from him. He gave her an evil smile.

"So, you can follow orders."

"I don't do 'orders'. I just came out for a rematch." Zuko's smile disappeared.

"What's the point? You promised anything if I won last time and yet you refuse to locate the Avatar for me," he smiled again, smug, "are you ready to find him now? Bread and water only taste good for so long."

Lenara answered by rolling up her right sleeve, then the left. She strode past Zuko, her copper hair snapped and flowed behind her in the sharp wind. She faced the dark sea, concentrated, then bent down and placed her palms flat on the steel deck. She rolled upwards, pushing her feet skyward in a handstand. She removed her left hand from the deck, stretching it to the side of her body, facing the Fire Prince, her eyes closed, to focus on her balance. She shook from the weight and the ship's swell and fall from the sea, but held her position. Quick as a shot of lightning, she hopped from the right hand to the left, her feet wavered slightly, then regained control. Sweat formed on her forehead. Zuko walked around her, intrigued, watching her wince slightly under the pressure. Being watched by Zuko didn't help.

Lenara rolled her body backwards and landed on her feet. She reached forward with her left arm, her right leg extended behind her and she bent at the waste. Her movements were fluid and graceful like water itself.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked.

"Warming up."

"I'm not going to fight you again."

"Look, you were right. I made a promise and I should keep it. But I didn't fight fair…"

"I'll say," Zuko muttered. Lenara shook her head.

"Not that. I held back. I wanted to lose."

"What?" Zuko walked to Lenara and stopped inches from her, inviting himself into her personal space, "First the…improvised move and now this? Do you deal in nothing but lies?" Lenara was about to launch another insult at him, but stopped and thought about what Zuko said. She really didn't need to have his trust. She had a mission to accomplish and no one, especially this haughty, stubborn Prince of the Fire nation would stand in her way. But her father had always taught her to deal in honor, and her first exchange with Zuko had been anything but that. She owed her father that much.

"You're right. My father would have wanted me be honest, and I haven't been. That's why I want a fair fight this time, so that if, for some universally demented reason, I lose, I will keep my promise, even if it means revealing the whereabouts of the Avatar. But," she said with a smile, "I doubt I'll lose." Zuko felt himself smile. It was getting harder to dislike this girl. He folded his arms.

"Winner take all?"

"Sure."

"For the Avatar?" Lenara nodded.

"For the Avatar."

"Then show me what you've got, water-sucker." Zuko stepped back from Lenara, ready to fight. Lenara cupped one fist in her other hand and bowed. He blinked, surprised at the show of respect, and returned the bow.

"May as well start this the honorable way," Lenara explained. Zuko nodded and moved into the Agni-kai fighting stance. His scar twanged, ghost heat from the past running across his face. Honor and fighting seemed to run the gamut of his life. He longed for something different, something that made him whole, instead of a scarred shell of a boy.

"Bending only. No…improvisions."

"Fair enough. One moment, though," Lenara paused, scanning the dark sky. The clouds parted. The moon revealed itself, full and bright. The sea swelled in response.

"There it is. Okay, now I'm ready."

"Great," muttered Zuko, "a full moon. The perfect end to a rotten day." He took up his Agni-kai stance. Lenara moved her arm across her body towards the sea, calling the water up over the deck.

The two battled hard and fast, gritty attacks smoothed by graceful gestures. Zuko proved to be quicker to attack, but Lenara was more accurate and relentless. Zuko ran past Lenara as she leaped at him. Fire met water in the air and sparked out. They both paused, catching their breath, which fogged in the cool air.

"Not giving up, are you?" Zuko taunted. A curl of flame appeared again in her eyes. Something flashed in her memory. 'What are you hiding?' Zuko wondered.

"I gave up once. I'll never do it again. We finish this…now." Lenara charged at Zuko, water catapulting up in large streams from both sides of the ship, crashing on the deck, making shallow dents in the metal. Zuko dodged the first barrage, but the second pounded him to the deck and washed over him like a typhoon. Lenara swept a ball of water from the deck and shaped it into an icy sword. Zuko rolled to his feet, summoning fire and they both struck out at each other, his right hand held to her neck, engulfed in flame, her blade at his throat.

"Anger makes you stronger, doesn't it?" Zuko murmured. The ice blade melted where it touched his skin, but still was sharp.

"No, anger is a useless distraction," Lenara replied, solemn. The flame was already gone from her eyes. The two stared each other down, neither giving way. Lenara could feel the fire through his skin as their shoulders touched. 'No wonder the cold doesn't bother him', she thought. He smelled of sandalwood. 'Too close,' Lenara warned herself. She lowered her blade, letting it melt to water in her hands. She closed her eyes, focused on controlling the sudden anger. As she regained control she found Prince Zuko staring at her, a scrutinizing look on his face. He snatched her right hand up at the wrist, forcing the sleeve down, exposing the soft part of her lower arm.

"I knew that mark looked familiar," he said under his breath. Lenara tried to pull her wrist back, but Zuko's grip was strong.

"Let go."

"No."

"Seriously, Zuko, please let go." He searched her face. She was hiding something, but there was shame in the liquid green of her eyes, and he knew that feeling all too well. He released her and she stepped back.

"That's a mark of the Hün-dai family-a Fire Nation symbol given to…"

"…infants during the first sun rise of their lives. I know," she looked to the sea.

"How are you familiar with Fire Nation customs?"She remained silent.

"Why do you carry a Fire Nation family's mark on your wrist?" She turned away from Zuko. He stepped towards her and roughly grabbed her shoulders.

"Who are you? Tell me the truth!" Lenara flicked her eyes up to his and he caught the unmistakable pain in her face from an unspeakable past.

"Something haunts you." His grip softened, but she didn't pull away.

"It doesn't merely haunt me; it consumes me," Lenara answered bitterly. Zuko knew the feeling-he was all but bent on finding the Avatar.

"That's why I meditate. To deal with the past."

"To learn from it, so it won't be repeated again," Zuko replied, his voice hollow. Lenara felt her knees tremor. Three weeks without food was starting to take its toll. She watched his eye in his ragged scar narrow.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Her knees gave way and she dropped to the deck, bracing her shaking body with her hands. Zuko bent down beside her.

"Did you even eat the bread?" She shook her head, then stopped. It made her dizzy.

"Fool. A dead water bender is no good to me." He couldn't hide the concern in his voice. Zuko stared at the mark on Lenara's arm. 'There's more to this water bender than what's on the surface,' he thought, 'she's too stubborn to tell me outright what happened and too crafty to trust. Perhaps a bargin is in order…'

"If you tell me about that fire-mark," Zuko said, leaning closer towards Lenara, "I'll tell you how I got this." He pointed to his scar. Lenara's first impulse was to refuse. She hardly knew the Prince and he was arrogant and impatient. She had never told anyone completely about her past. Even the water tribe didn't know all of it. Still, Zuko didn't seem the type to tell his past to anyone-no one on the ship besides Iroh might know about that scar. Her father always told her to know her enemies' past to understand their present. Something in her wanted very much to know about that scar, to perhaps let her fingers slip down the line of his jaw…he clouded her judgment. She cleared her thoughts and made up her mind.

"Fine. But no questions. I don't like revisiting the past."

"Same goes for me," Zuko said. He held out a hand to help her stand, but she brushed him off and stood on her own. He liked that.

"One week."

"Two," Lenara tucked a strand of her hair absentmindedly behind her ear, "It's not easy for me." Zuko nodded.

"In the meantime, you will remain in your cell."

"Don't worry, Prince Zuko, escape's not part of the plan." Zuko raised his eyebrow.

"You have a plan?" Lenara answered with a wry smile.

"So that's why you wanted to lose," Zuko said, more to himself than to the water bender. He glanced at Lenara, who stood with her arms crossed.

"You're pretty tricky."

"Better than being easily tricked." Zuko signaled the night guard and instructed him to escort Lenara back to her cell.

"And for the love of Roku, eat something!" he yelled over his shoulder at the girl. Zuko stood alone in the cold air. The moon escaped back into the cover of the clouds. The sea calmed itself. He stared at the dark waves. He was bargaining his past to gain her trust. If he had that, perhaps he could persuade her to tell him where the Avatar was. Not bloody likely. She had 'plans' and knowing this girl, she'll keep on protecting the Avatar. If it wasn't so frustrating, it would be admirable. So, if he knew she wasn't going to help him anyway, why reveal the most painful thing that had ever happened to him? Was it time to let someone in? Should it be this girl with a Fire Nation mark on her arm and the curl of flame in her eye? This was going to be a long two weeks.

XV.

Aang left the village on Appa shortly after the sun rose and stretched its purple shadows across the snow. Sokka scanned the blue waters ahead of them, watching for the Fire Navy ship's wake. Katara sat down near Aang, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"She's fine. You'd know if she wasn't." Aang nodded, bothered by what Lenara had said when he asked if they would meet again.

I don't know, Aang. I hope so.

Aang was also bothered about Lenara's mysterious plan. She told the villagers to hide away from the village so they wouldn't be hurt. No, so they couldn't witness something. She was facing Zuko alone…her plan…they captured her…so they wouldn't interfere…

"She wanted to be captured," Aang said aloud.

"What?" Sokka turned around to face Aang and Katara. Aang explained.

"It may have seemed like she didn't want her people to get hurt, but she really wanted them away from the village so they wouldn't interfere. She wanted the Fire soldiers to capture her and take her on their ship…but why?"

"And how?" Katara mused, "Did she try to escape? She seems too clever for that. Maybe she pretended she wanted to help the Fire Nation capture you, Aang, to gain access to the Fire Nation. She said she never had a chance to put an observation post out there."

"Ah, c'mon, Katara," Sokka waved her off, "Zuko may be a weenie, but he's not stupid. He's too suspicious. She must have tricked him somehow..."

"The fight!"' Katara gasped, "She threw the fight!"

"What are you babbling about?" Sokka muttered, resting his chin in his hand.

"I noticed tracks in the snow! Two sets of footprints. I don't know who started it, but they had an Agni-kai!"

"A what?" Aang asked.

"Agni-kai. Fire duel. And of those prints, one was smaller than the other. There were bare feet on both at one point…"Katara closed her eyes, picturing the ground by the shore, scrambling to remember scrapes and prints in the snow.

"Why would a water bender have a fire duel?" Aang asked Sokka.

"Beats me. To throw them off their guard?" Sokka shrugged. "It's not like she can bend fire. Hey 'all-knowing guru of the Agni-kai'! Who'd she fight?"

Katara ignored her brother. She stared at Appa's snowy white fur. Snow. A large outline was left in the snow by a fallen warrior. No blood marred the white ground; at least that was a good sign. But there was something red in the snow…a scrap of dark red cloth. Katara's eyes snapped up to meet Aang's. Only one fire bender wore the royal colors.

"Zuko," she breathed, "She fought Zuko. And lost."

"But Katara, you said she threw the fight. Of course she lost!" Sokka argued.

"Yeah, but she lost her freedom in exchange for…"

"…her plan." Aang finished. He glanced at Katara.

"Lenara's got another plan. I mean, besides the one to get on the Fire Navy ship."

"Well, what is it, Aang?"

"I don't know," Aang sighed. He saw smoke on the distant horizon. Smoke from a ship. Aang glared.

"But we're gonna find out."