"Zuko... Zuko we need to go back..." I said as loud as I could through the loud winds. "This blizzard is just going to get stronger and we're not going to survive this without shelter." I added, but Zuko continued moving forward. "Zuko please! I don't want to lose you and Aang! And I definitely don't want to die by freezing to death!" "You won't freeze to death." Zuko finally said as he continued walking. "I promise." He said and tightened his hold around me.
But like always, karma was listening to us and jinxed us. Because the second Zuko placed one of his feet down, the ice under him started cracking. Zuko froze as he and I looked down with wide worried eyes. "Oh no..." I said before Zuko tightened his hold even more around me and started running. The ice started cracking more and started to cave in as well. "Hold on!" Zuko cried out to as one arm held me and the other held on the Aang on his back.
Zuko speeded up his running before he jumped. Instead of landing on his feet, Zuko tripped and the three of us rolled down in the snow. Both Zuko and I breathed deeply as we looked over to the caved in ice. "That was to close." I said through deep breaths. Zuko nodded and crawled over to me. "Are you okay?" He asked me while checking me. "I think so... you?" I answered and asked as I looked up to him. "Yeah..." He answered before looking in a distance.
Before I could question what he was looking at, Zuko sighed in relief and picked me up. "Shelter." He said in relief before picking Aang up as well. I looked over to where he was looking and saw a cave, making me sigh in relief immediately. "Thank goodness!" I said as Zuko walked over to the cave and entered inside. He placed both Aang and I down before he took the rope around his body off and started tying Aang up.
"Is that really necessary?" I asked as I watched my boyfriend tie up my brother, while I myself was still tied up. "Yes." Zuko answered without even looking to me. "Can you at least untie me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, getting him to look over to me. "No." He answered before standing up and started making a fire. "You and I both know you will attack me the second I release you." He said as he worked with the fire. "You know me so well." I said with a half smirk.
"So, what's the plan now?" I asked Zuko and looked over to him, but he was at the cave entrance, staring in a distance. I sighed and rested my head on the cave wall behind me. "You don't have a plan do you?" I asked without even looking at him. Instead of getting an answer, I was met with silence, making quietly groan. "Of coarse." I sighed before closing my eyes for a moment.
Closing my eyes for a moment caused me to fall asleep, because when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was laying down on the ground, next to Aang. Zuko must have moved me here when he saw me sleeping. "I finally have you," I suddenly heard Zuko say. I slightly frowned at his comment but stayed quiet. "But I can't get you home because of this blizzard." He continued speaking before standing up and stood at the entrance of the cave. "There's always something."
I quickly realized that Zuko was talking to Aang and not me, and that Zuko didn't know that I was awake. Before I could tell him I was awake, he continued speaking to Aang. "Not that you would understand. You're like my sister." My eyes widen in shock when I heard that. I didn't know Zuko has a sister. "Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy, and everyone adores her." Zuko continued, his voice full with annoyance and hurt.
"My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born." I silently gasped when I heard his words. I already knew that the Fire Lord doesn't love his son, but saying that to Zuko even before he got burned, just tells me how hard Zuko's life was in the Fire Nation. "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 finished before turning his back to the cave entrance.
Waiting for a second to see if he's going to say anything else, I took a deep breath before I made my presence known. "We didn't have it easy to, you know?" I said as I sat up straight, catching Zuko by surprise. "Asami!" He exclaimed in surprise and looked over to me with wide eyes when he realized that I was awake. "How... how much did you hear?" He asked me carefully. I stayed quiet for a moment before answering him. "Everything."
Zuko groaned before looking back at me. "I don't want your pity." He said with a small glare, but I just shrugged. "I won't." I said as I tried into a more comfortable position, but it's hard because I'm still tied up. After getting in a more comfortable position, I looked over to Zuko and gave him a small smile. "Another thing we have in common." I said with a silently huff. "We both have a younger sibling." Zuko hmphed before sitting down next to me.
"Yeah, but you and Aang get along, Azula hates me." Zuko said as he rested his arms on his knees. "We fight all the time." "I'm sure its not that bad." I said but Zuko just shook his head at me. "No, it is." He said, sighing before he continued speaking. "She's evil and crazy. She actually cheered and smiled when I got burned and banished." I gasped in shock, but Zuko looked down at his feet with a neutral expression.
"While my mother and I fed the turtle-ducklings bread, Azula would pick up rocks and throw them at the birds." He continued, making me sigh softly. "When Uncle Iroh brought us gifts from Ba Sing Se, she would burn her gifts and try and take mine." My eyes widen before shaking my head in disbelief. "She seems like the female version of your father." I said, getting a hmphed of agreement from Zuko without him looking up.
Before we continued speaking, Aang, who was laying next to me, took a deep breath through his nose and released it through the nose. Both Zuko and I looked down at Aang for a moment before Zuko looked to the entrance of the cave. "Guess we'll be here awhile." Zuko said when he saw the blizzard getting stronger outside. "A long while." I said before shuffling myself closer to him and laid my head down on his shoulder.
Zuko wrapped his arm around me and laid his head down on mine. "I 'm still mad at you for tying me up and capturing Aang." I said without moving my head. "I know." He said as his thumb rubbed my shoulder up and down. We stayed like this for a moment before I spoke again. "We can't keep doing this Zuko." I said without moving away. "Sooner or later, you will have to choose. Love or honor." I said, getting a sigh from Zuko.
Instead of saying something, Zuko removed his arm from me and stood up. "Fire's dead, need to get it back on again." He muttered and walked over to the now dead fire. But before he get it back alive again, a bright light came inside the cave. It glowed for a second before it disappeared into Aang. I looked down to Aang and saw that his tattoos wasn't glowing anymore. Aang's eyes slowly opened before he gasped when he saw where he was.
He tried to get up, but he soon realized he was tied up and tried to break out of it. "It's no use trying." I said, getting his attention. "He used good quality rope and lots of knots." "Asami!" Aang cheered and sat up with a smile. But his smile soon disappeared when he saw I was tied up as well. "Welcome back." Zuko said, getting Aang's attention. Aang looked over to Zuko and glared at him. "It's good to be back." Aang said with a glare.
Aang then took a deep breath and blew it at Zuko, shooting Zuko into the cave wall while shooting himself out of the cave. "That was smart and stupid at the same time." I said as I watched Aang wriggle like a worm as he tried to get away. "I'm surprised you haven't tried it yet." Zuko said as he stood back up on his feet. "I would've if I wasn't tied up." I said and nodded to my ropes. "Wriggling like a worm is not my thing."
Zuko hmphed at me before exiting the cave, walking over to Aang and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "That won't be enough to escape." Zuko said as he glared down at Aang. "Yeah, but this will!" I exclaimed as I run out of the cave and shot air at Zuko, sending him to the ground after he dropped Aang. Zuko groaned before he looked up to me in surprise. "How did you get out of your ropes?" "I'm the Avatar's Protector. I was taught how to get out of ropes when I was eight." I answered as I walked over to them.
"How come you didn't get out earlier?" He asked as he stood back up on his feet. "I didn't say it was easy." I said as I crossed my arms. "It takes time and patience." "Of coarse." Zuko said with his usual glare and got in battle stance, along with me. But we soon drop our stances when we heard Aang cry out excitedly. "Appa!"
We both looked up and sure enough Appa flew over our heads before landing next to us. Katara immediately jumped down from the saddle and got in battle stance. "Here for a rematch?" Zuko asked her as he got in battle stance again. "Trust me Zuko, it's not going to be much of a match." Katara said confidently as she blocked Zuko's fire ball with water. She then used her waterbending to send Zuko in the air before dropping him straight to the ground, knocking him out instantly.
"Way the go Katara!" I said as I smiled to the waterbender in pride. "Asami!" Katara called out as she run over to me and hugged me tight. As she hugged me, Sokka run over to Aang and cut the ropes with his boomerang. "Hey, this is some quality rope!" Sokka said as he held up the ropes. "Told you!" I said and send a wink to Aang, who smiled back to me, before his expression suddenly dropped into destress.
"We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!" He exclaimed and run over to Appa. "Wait, what!?" I exclaimed in shock before Sokka grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me along to Appa. "Sokka!" I cried out while he pulled me up onto Appa. "Hey Asami! Nice to see you again!" He said with a half smirk half smile. I send him a half glare before looking over to Aang, who took the reins and was about to order Appa to fly.
"Wait, Aang!" I called out to him and moved over to him. Aang looked over his shoulder at me, but I wasn't looking at him, I was looking down at a unconscious Zuko. "Wait, we can't just leave him here." Aang said once he realized why I stopped him. "Sure we can. Let's go." Sokka said, with no care in his voice, earning him a glare from me. "No! I'm not leaving without him." I said before airbending myself to the ground and walked over to Zuko.
"Are you crazy Asami?" Sokka asked as he looked down at me with a frown. "This guy is nothing but trouble! Leave him while we still have the chance!" He added, earning another glare from me. "No, if we leave him he'll die." Aang said before airbending himself down and walked over to, helping me to pick Zuko up. "Thank you Aang." I said quietly as we walked back to Appa. "Anytime." He said with a smile, which I returned.
But my smile soon disappeared when I heard Sokka's voice. "Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us." Sokka said as Aang and I airbended ourselves up with Zuko and landed on Appa's saddle. "Shut up Sokka!" I exclaimed at him before grabbing the ropes from his hand and started tying Zuko up.
"Appa, yip yip!" Aang ordered our sky bison. Appa groaned and immediately jumped up to the air, heading straight back to the oasis. "I still say we just him overboard." Sokka said as he crossed his arms. I shot him a death glare before I noticed a girl with white hair next to him. From the way she was looking at him and how close Sokka was sitting next to her, it was obvious that they have feelings for each other.
"One more comment out of your mouth, and I'll tell your girlfriend over there how Zuko kicked your butt back in the South Pole." I said, making both Sokka and the girl's eyes widen, while Katara and Aang giggled at my comment. "You wouldn't." Sokka said while the girl quickly said, "I'm not his girlfriend!" which made me chuckle. "I would." I said as I pointed to Sokka before looking to the girl. "Good thing you're not his girlfriend. You can do some much better." I said with a playful smile.
"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed at me with a glare, while Aang and Katara laughed full heartedly, while the girl giggle. "I'm Princess Yue." The girl, Yue, said to me with a kind smile. "Asami." I said, returning a kind smile back. "I know, you're Aang's sister as well as the Avatar's Protector." She said with a smile. "How do you know that?" I asked with a small frown. "They told me." She answered and looked to the other three people on Appa.
"Is that so?" I said with a smile before shaking my head. She smiled back before her smiled disappeared when the full moon above us suddenly turned red. "What the hell?" I said in confusion as I looked up to the moon with a frown. Yue softly groans in pain and grabbed her head. "Are you okay?" Sokka asked her as he moved over to her and placed his hand on her back. "I feel faint." She answered without opening her eyes.
"I feel it, too." Aang said from over Appa's head, also holding his head with one hand before looking up to the moon. "The Moon Spirit is in trouble." He said, making me sigh in worry. "I owe the Moon Spirit my life." Yue said after Sokka moved back to his place. "What do you mean?" Sokka asked while we all looked to her curiously before she started telling us her story.
"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 was 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."
Not long after Yue told us her story, we arrived at the oasis and silently landed. As we climbed down from Appa, we watched Zhao brag while he held the Moon Spirit in a bag. "I am a legend, now! The Fire Nation will, for generations, tell stories about the great Zhao, who darkened the moon. They will call me, Zhao the Conqueror, Zhao the Moon Slayer, Zhao the Invincible!" I death glared at Zhao as he spoke.
I lifted my hand up, about to shoot a blast of air at him when Momo, Aang's flying lemur jumped on his head. "Ugh! Get it off! Get it off!" He yelled while waving his hands around while his soldiers tried to get Momo off while the lemur pulled Zhao's hair and face. Before the soldiers could grab Momo, Momo jumped up and flew over to us and landed on Aang's arm.
The second the soldiers saw us, they got in battle stance, along with us. "Don't bother." Zhao said with a death glare before lifting the bag up and held his fist close to it, indicating that he will shoot fire at the spiritual koi fish. I took a step closer to stop him, but Aang stopped me before placing his staff down in surrender. "Zhao, don't!" Aang said as he held his hands up in surrender.
"It's my destiny, to destroy the moon and the Water Tribe." Zhao said with a glare before his eyes flickered over to me. "Asami?" He said in shock with a frown of confusion and surprise. "Put the fish back Zhao." I said as I stayed in battle stance before Ang started talking again. "Destroying the moon won't hurt just 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."
"He is right Zhao." Iroh said as he entered the oasis with a hood on and with Kai on his shoulder. "General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao said as he looked over to Iroh with a glare. "Watch your words Zhao!" I warned him, but he ignored me. "I'm no traitor, Zhao." Iroh said as he took his hood off, before placing a hand on Kai to make sure he's okay before he continue talking. "The Fire Nation needs the moon, too. We all depend on the balance."
But Zhao just kept glaring at Iroh, making me tightened my hands into fist from anger. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold. Let it go, now!" Iroh exclaimed in warning and anger as he got in battle stance. Seeing that Zhao wasn't going to release the Moon Spirit, I decided to take matters into my own hands, which was expected from the Avatar's Protector. I took a deep breath and got into airbending stance.
Zhao glare immediately turned into a look of destress when he felt pain in his lungs and realized that he couldn't get air in or out his lungs. "Let the Moon Spirit go." I ordered as I controlled the air in his body. "What are you doing to me?" Zhao asked as he tried to breath but I took the air around him away. "My job as the Protector." I answered with a glare before bending more air away from him while keeping the air in his lungs locked inside.
Everyone's eyes widen in surprise, fear and worry when they realized what I was doing, while the soldiers gasped in surprise when they heard that I am the Avatar's Protector. Aang immediately grabbed onto my arm and tried the break my stance, but I stood strong and continued airbending. "Asami stop! You're going to kill him!" He exclaimed and started shaking me, but I just shrugged him off and continued bending the air away from Zhao.
"Rather him than the Moon Spirit." I said with a glare as I watched Zhao gasp for air. "Asami, this isn't you!" Aang said as he looked up to me with wide eyes. If only he knew what the monks taught me to do as the Protector. "Trust me Aang, what I'm doing now nothing compared to what the Protector should do." I said without moving my eyes away from Zhao. "Asami..." Iroh said gently as he looked over to me with Kai still on his shoulder.
"This is not the road for you to walk down. Let him go before you do something you will forever regret." I looked over to him with my eyes before looking back to Zhao. "I'll stop once he places the Moon Spirit back in the pond, where it belongs." I said, giving a daring glare to Zhao to try and argue. Zhao shot me a death glare before finally opening the bag and released the Moon Spirit back into the pond. True to my word, I stopped airbending the air away and released Zhao from my hold.
Zhao took a deep breath as he sat on his knees. He continued taking deep breaths before looking up to me with a death glare, which I returned, before he looked back down the koi fish, swimming together in a circle, forming a yin yang symbol with their bodies, for one was white with a black spot and the other black with a white spot.
Zhao's glared deepened before he stood up and cried out in anger while raising his hand up before bringing it down and shot a fire slice at the Moon Spirit. "NO!" I yelled while everybody's eyes widen in shock, but it was too late, the Moon Spirit was dead. We all looked up and saw the once beautiful full moon turn into black, and we were all surrounded by darkness.
Not a second later, Iroh run over to Zhao and started shooting fire at him and his soldiers. Kai jumped off Iroh's shoulder and hid in one of the bushes. While Iroh fought them, I run over with a battle cry and started fighting as well with my bending along side Iroh. As I fought with Iroh against the soldiers, I saw Zhao sneaking away before running out of the oasis. "Oh no you don't Zhao!" I screamed and run after him.
Running as I could without using my bending, I shot an air blast at Zhao, but he was unfortunately able dodge the attack while he run away. He turn around for a moment and shot a fire blast at me before turning around again and continued running away. I quickly dodged the fire and continued running after him. Zhao was about to jump onto a bridge when a shot of fire blocked him. I stopped running and looked to the direction where the fire came from.
"Zuko..." I said softly when I saw him standing on a bridge above us. Zhao stopped running after the blast and looked up as well and saw Zuko. "You're alive?" Zhao said shocked when he saw the scarred prince. "You tried to have me and Asami killed!" Zuko exclaimed in anger and started shooting fire at Zhao. Zhao quickly dodged the attack while Zuko jumped down and stood next to me.
"Yes I did. You're the Blue Spirit, an enemy of the Fire Nation! You freed the Avatar." Zhao said as we all got in battle stance. My eyes widen in shock for a moment when I heard Zhao's words. Zuko is the Blue Spirit? He freed Aang from Zhao? Why didn't he take Aang for himself then? I thought to myself without breaking my stance. "I had no choice." Zuko exclaimed as he punched and kicked fire at Zhao, but he just blocked the fire.
"You should have chosen to accept your failure, you're a disgrace. Then, at least, you could have lived!" Zhao said before he started attack Zuko. Before he could lay a hit on Zuko, I jumped in and killed the fire by taking the air away. Zhao was caught by surprise for a moment before he glared at me. "I should have known that you're an airbender the second I saw your tattoos!" He exclaimed as shot a fireball at me, but Zuko blocked it before I could.
"I can't believe you had the Avatar's Protector with you this whole time and you just let her walk around freely!" Zhao exclaimed at Zuko, making both Zuko and I glare at him before I shot a blast of air at him, making Zhao fall down on his back before jumped back onto his feet with a death glare. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!" He exclaimed and kicked a blast of fire at me. I quickly reflected the fire away before jumping up and kicked air at him, which he dodged.
"You never had a chance Zhao!" I exclaimed before both Zuko and I each shot a blast of our elements at Zhao. He was able to block Zuko's attack, but was caught by surprise from my attack and fell down. Unfortunately, he got back up again and shot two more blasts at us. Zuko blocked the attack while I redirected the fire back to its previous owner.
Zhao quickly blocked his own fire blast before glared at us with gritted teeth. He went in to attack again, but Zuko and I shot our own attacks back. This went on and until Zuko and I got the upper hand and shot multiple shots at Zhao, making him lose his footing and fell right onto his back. The second Zhao fell, I realized that we were not surrounded by darkness anymore.
I looked up and saw the moon shining bright in the sky. "Yue..." I muttered softly, realizing that Princess Yue gave up her life to save the Moon Spirit. The Moon Spirit saved her life when she was a baby, meaning that some of its life is in her. She gave back its life for her people and the world. I can't even imagine how Sokka feels right now.
"It can't be!" Zhao screamed in both shock and anger. I glared down at Zhao and took a slight step closer. He's the reason why Yue had to sacrifice herself to save the Moon in the first place! I was about to attack him again when bright glowing water surrounded us. Zuko quickly grabbed me and flipped rolled us away from the glowing water that was forming into a hand.
Zhao tried to run away from it with us, but the hand grabbed him and started pulling Zhao off the bridge. Zuko quickly stood up and run over to Zhao and the water glowing hand. "Take my hand!" Zuko exclaimed and held up his hand to Zhao to grab. I watched with wide eyes as Zhao went to grab Zuko's hand but his pride pulled in and he drew his hand back before the hand pulled him into the water, disappearing instantly.
I stood up from my spot and walked over to Zuko, who was looking down at the water in both shock and shame. "He would rather die than accept help from me..." He said as I slowly wrapped my arms around him. "It's not your fault," I said as I laid my head against his chest. "He made his own choice." I said as Zuko wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight.
"Come on," I said after a few moments and pulled out of the hug. "We need to go find Iroh and get out of here before the waterbenders show up." I said and started pulling Zuko to follow me, but he stood still on his spot, staring at me in shock. "Zuko, come on! We need to leave!" I said and tried to snap the scarred prince out of it, but he just continued staring at me. "You want to leave with me?" He finally asked as he stared at me in shock.
"Of coarse I want to go with you!" I said as I took a step closer to him and cupped his right cheek with my left hand and placed my other hand on his shoulder. "Why wouldn't I?" I asked him with a small frown. "Your brother is here, you can leave and be with him. You can make sure that he's save and that he finishes his training." Zuko answered as he looked me deep in the eye. After hearing him, I couldn't help but smile.
"Zuko," I started off as I stepped closer and placed my forehead against his. "Aang is save. Sokka and Katara is making sure of that, as well as making sure that he learns how to bend the other elements. He's in good hands." I said with a smile before looking him deep in the eyes, to make sure he sees how honest I'm about to be. "Today the Avatar doesn't have to come first, I can choose between him or you... I choose you."
Zuko blinked at me a few times before grabbing my face and crashed his lips against mine. I immediately kissed him back with the same amount of passion he was giving as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled away for a moment and took deep breaths before he questioned me. "You sure you won't regret coming with me?" "Never." I answered immediately and tightened my arms around him.
He smiled brightly at me and kissed my forehead before pulling back and took my hand in his. "You sure?" He asked and looked me deep in the eye with his golden eyes. "Absolutely." I answered without looking away from his eyes. Zuko smiled and gently squeezed my hand before he started moving and pulled me along with him. "Then let's go find my Uncle before its too late." He said as he moved, pulling me along with him.
It wasn't long until we found Iroh, who was standing next to a raft with Kai on his shoulder. The second Kai saw me, he jumped off Iroh and run over to me. "Kai!" I exclaimed in relief as I hugged him close to my chest after he jumped into my arms. "Thank goodness your save!" I said while he rubbed his head against my cheek.
"He was in good hands." Iroh said as he smiled to me warmly. "Thank you Uncle!" I said as I walked over to him and hugged him with one arm, while my other arm still held Kai. Zuko walked over to us after Iroh and I pulled out of the hug and scratched Kai behind the ear before looking up to us. "We need to move." He said to us, earning a nod from both of us.
We all got onto the raft and pushed ourselves away from the ledge and floated into the open seas. As we floated away, I saw my bag and staff laying on the floor. "You got my bag and staff?" I said in surprise to Iroh, who smiled warmly to me as he got the sail ready. I smiled back before looking over to Zuko who was standing there, deep in thought. Iroh looked over to him as well, as he continued working with the sail.
"I'm surprised Prince Zuko," Iroh started saying after finishing with the sail. "Surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar." He said as he looked to his nephew. "I'm tired." Zuko said as he stared into the distance. Iroh smiled and walked over to Zuko before laying gently his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Then you should rest." He said with a fatherly smile to Zuko. "A man needs his rest."
Without question him or objecting, Zuko just sat down and then laid down. I moved over to Zuko and laid down next to him, while holding a sleeping Kai in my arms. The second I laid down, Zuko wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him, making me rest my head on his chest as he laid on his back. Before closing my eyes, I saw Iroh looking at us with a proud smile before turning back to work on the sail before my eyes closed from exhaustion and let sleep over come me.