Before I knew that I could,
I almost surrendered to never will

Chapter 20: The Battle

Anzha and Sokka raced on deck and were immediately thrown into the fray. Zhao's men were fighting only in fear of their admiral, and Ozai was having a hard time with only one arm. Anzha raced to her adopted father's side and Sokka fought soldiers away from Aang. Zhao was battling with Iroh, still unaware the Ozai was there as well.

Katara and Zuko fought the angry waves to stay afloat. Zuko swam to Katara and she wrapped an arm around him then used her bending to propel them to the ships.
Atilla and the Water Tribe warriors raced back to their own boats. Fire Nation soldiers or not, one of their own and one they had come to think of as their own had gone thoughtlessly to help them. They would not abandon them to possible torment and death. The Water Tribe ships were light and maneuverable, so they were quickly on their way.
Ozai managed to break away from the soldiers with Anzha by his side. He heard her command him to go below deck, but his eyes had caught on something in the water. Anzha was forced to turn as a group of soldiers leapt after her and Ozai.
Zuko pulled himself up the side of the ship. He looked down to see how Katara was doing, but in that moment, his grip, already challenged by the slick surface, was lost. He yelped and Katara cried out his name, and a hand caught his wrist. He looked up into a face he'd thought he'd never see again.

"Father…"

The Water Tribe ships pulled up along side the Fire Nation's, and as they boarded, they briefly did not know who to fight, until Atilla spotted Sokka and the orange clad air-bender fighting bravely alongside an older fire-bender, who, after a moment, Atilla recognized as the Dragon of the West. They rushed to his side.
Katara gasped below him, but Ozai just smiled and helped Zuko onto the deck. Zuko in turn pulled Katara onto the deck, and then just stared at his father, who waited a brief hesitant moment before pulling his only son into a one-armed embrace. Zuko clutched at his father, hiding his face in his shoulder. Ozai hugged him tighter.

"I'm sorry Zuko, I'm so sorry. I can't…"

"It's okay Daddy it's okay."

"I promised you I'd never leave you, and I won't, never again."

Katara saw Anzha holding the soldiers back and went to help her. Zuko looked up and remembered the battle. He stood and helped Ozai up, just noticing his broken arm.

"Dad, go inside."

Ozai shook his head. "No, I'm staying."

Zuko started to turn to fight him on the subject but his words were cut short by a huge fire blast that forced both Anzha and Katara back into the two men. Zuko and Ozai managed to catch the girls, but were forced back into the railing by the force of the blow.

Zhao walked nonchalantly through the burning corpses that used to be his men and viewed his four adversaries. His eyes narrowed on Zuko and Ozai.

"Didn't I kill you both once before?" Zuko grinned.

"I said one thousand deaths. I've got 999 more to go."

Katara drew up a water whip, and Anzha positioned her swords. Ozai tore the bandage from his arm and took up a bending stance, instantly copied by Zuko. Zhao took up a bending stance as well.

The battle began.

Sokka looked around anxiously for Anzha, but couldn't find her anywhere, and everywhere Zhao's soldiers blocked his path. He fought desperately, and just managed to get through with Aang and Atilla's help. They burst onto the scene at the back of the ship and were astonished.

Ozai was crumpled on the floor unconscious, and Katara was nearby, her arm badly burned. Zuko had an angry burn across his chest, and Anzha was missing a sword. Zhao was the only one who still looked unperturbed. Aang spun around and ran back to the front of the ship to where the two crews were battling. He leapt up onto the roof of the ship's inner chamber and shouted like the Avatar he was.

"The Fire Lord and the Crown Prince are alive! All those loyal to the Fire Nation will cease fighting and head to the stern to help defeat the traitor Zhao!"

Instantly, every man raced to the stern of the ship, Zhao and Zuko's crew alike. But Zhao heard the cry, and was far from unprepared. He raised a wall of flame, separating him, Anzha, and Zuko from everyone else on the ship. The soldiers tried futilely to bring the wall down, but it wouldn't even respond to Katara's water-bending.

Anzha and Zuko stood shoulder to shoulder, the heat from the firewall causing sweat to lace their bodies as they struggled to draw breath from the oxygen exhausted air. Zhao grinned, flames literally lit in his eyes and mouth.

"You were the best warriors of your age. Your only fault is your compassion, and your greatest weapon your Source. But now that I've tapped it, no one can defeat me!"

Zuko shook his head and Anzha's eyes danced. "You have no idea what you're doing Zhao! You see the Source as just one more thing for you to conquer! You don't understand it!"

Zhao glared at his former daughter.

"The Source gives me the power I need!" Zuko glared at him.

"The Source is a mirror image of the person in inhabits! It is no more powerful than you!"

Zhao's eyebrows rose in surprise. The books had always spoken of the Source as an item of unfathomable power. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and he looked away to think, summoning a firewall to prepare himself. Anzha took advantage of the moment.

"We have to merge with the Source, Zuko. He's too ultimately fused with it. If we can separate him from it, he'll be incapacitated long enough for us to take him out, but the effort could k…"

"I'll do it." Anzha stared at him.

"Zuko, it could kill you and you've never done this before." He frowned.

"But you're faster, and the less time I have to hold on the better."

She nodded.

Zhao looked up when he felt them merge with their Sources, and when he saw them, for the first time he felt afraid. They both looked one with their Source; he treated it as one more soldier under his command.

The two teenagers braced themselves, wanting and waiting for Zhao to make the first move. Zuko breathed deeply and steadily to calm his fluttering heart. Help me, show me what to do, and give me the strength to do it.

You don't need help, you know what to do, and the strength has always been within you. You can do this.

Zuko opened his eyes and met Zhao's angry gaze. Anzha angled her sword and bent her knees, preparing the spring. Zhao growled and measured the two threats.

Anzha lunged forward and Zhao sent a flaming arc at her, which she dodged easily, but the fire blast behind him threw her back. Yet even as she fell, she smiled. Her goal had been achieved.

Zuko's hand wrapped around Zhao's wrist, and instantly, he was aware of Zhao's Source as if it were his own. He could see the fragile ties between the two, and flung himself between the two consciousnesses. His own Source cheered him on.

Ozai jerked back into consciousness as a scream pierced the storm-ridden morning. It came from within the wall of flame, and the helpless soldiers watched on, unable to discern whose cry it was. By now, none could tell Fire Nation from Water, for they were all soaked through and covered in dirt, blood, and many other unknown substances. The young Water Tribe girl that had been with his son helped him to his feet when she saw that he was awake.

Katara looked anxiously towards the firewall, because the cry they heard was easily distinguishable as male.

The scream did not stop; merely rose in volume, and it drew all eyes. And then, a second scream joined it. Both screams were male.

Zuko heard the screams, not recognizing one as his own voice. He maintained contact on Zhao's wrist, but maintaining the barrier between the Source and its host was torture. It seemed as though he was being consumed by his own element and repetitively stabbed with red-hot daggers. He could practically feel the melted metal against his unprotected skin.

Anzha pulled herself to her feet, banishing the pain of her burns and sudden exhaustion from bending such a powerful burst of fire away from her. She heard Zhao and Zuko's screams and looked at them, wasting precious seconds. They were standing side by side, held immobile by the power coursing through them both, both arched as if an electrical current was passing through them. She lunged towards them, ready to do her part.

It all happened in an instant.

A burst of power sent Zuko flying through the air away from Zhao. He hit the firewall as if it were concrete, and slumped to the deck, unconscious.

Outside the firewall, they heard the screams stop and ripples radiated outward from the place where Zuko had struck. The men prepared to fight.
Anzha was thrown back against the firewall by an unexpected burst of fire. She groaned and fell to the deck unconscious.

The flames began to swirl and created a fire tornado with Zhao at the vortex. His crew was drawn up into it, and they returned to their ship, the tornado raging. Soon, the ship was on the horizon, sailing away from them quickly.

Katara ran to Zuko's side and Sokka to Anzha's as soon as they were visible. Ozai knelt by his son, and glanced up towards the retreating ship. A moment later, it was obvious why Zhao was speeding away.

He had the Avatar.

laughs evilly