Aang opened his eyes with a gasp as his spirit merged back with his body. He suddenly became aware of something tight restricting his arms and legs, and he wriggled uncomfortably, feeling the burn of rope dig into his skin. That was when he noticed the boy standing opposite him in the cave, watching him through pale gold eyes.

"Zuko!" he exclaimed.

"Welcome back," Zuko said calmly.

Aang stared, torn between relief and dismay. Relief because now he knew for certain that Zuko was alive, even if the teen did look a little worse for wear. However, Aang was also tied up and had a feeling that Zuko wasn't going to allow him to leave anytime soon. Still, Aang had to try. The Moon and Ocean Spirits were depending on him.

"Zuko, you have to let me go back to the Spirit Oasis," Aang said, struggling into a sitting position. "The spirits are in danger and—"

"You're not going anywhere."

"But you don't understand. Koh told me that—"

"Enough!" Zuko's hands balled into smoking fists. "I didn't go through all of that trouble to capture you to then just let you walk out of here simply because you asked me nicely. You're staying right where you are, and when this blizzard has passed I'm going to take you back to my uncle, and then we're going to get the hell out of this freezing dump so I can go home!"

"But—"

"No!" Zuko yelled, slashing his hand through the air. "I don't care what you say! I don't care how many spirits are in danger! I've had enough! I finally have a chance to take you back to my father and I am not going to waste it, so you are just going to sit there and keep your stupid mouth shut until we leave! Got it?"

Aang shook his head. "I can't do that. As the Avatar, it's my duty to keep balance in the world. That balance is about to be broken. Please, Zuko, you have to let me go. I'm the only one who can protect the Moon and Ocean Spirits. If I'm not there—"

"Enough," Zuko repeated, though his voice was much softer this time.

"But—"

"I'm not letting you leave."

Aang's shoulders slumped. "We've helped each other before," he said in a small voice. "What makes it so different this time?"

Zuko laughed bitterly. "You really are just a naïve child, aren't you?"

A crease formed on Aang's brow. He didn't understand. When he said as much, Zuko crossed over to the cave opening and looked out into the blizzard, keeping his back turned.

"What do you think will happen if I let you go now?" Zuko asked after a moment.

Aang paused to consider the matter. "Well, I don't know, but at least no one would be able to kill the Moon or Ocean Spirits."

"Right, but then what happens afterwards?"

"I—"

"You've just saved your precious spirits and then what?" Zuko persisted in a hard voice, turning around to face Aang. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that you're just going to wrap yourself up in those ropes again and come back to the Fire Nation with me?"

"Well, uh ..."

"Of course you're not going to! That's what you don't understand! All those times I let you go, all those times I helped you, as you put it—none of that did any good for me! My task for almost three years has been to capture you! You, the Avatar." He let out another bitter laugh. "But I let you go. I thought I could be honourable." His mouth twisted around the last word, as if it were something physically painful to speak.

Aang felt a stab of sympathy go through him. "Zuko—"

"Well, I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. I told you at the river that I wouldn't show you mercy the next time we met, and I meant it. You shouldn't have trusted that Water Tribe peasant to protect you if you hadn't wanted to be caught. Now it's too late."

Aang chewed on his bottom lip. "You know, your father might have asked you to capture me, but it doesn't have to be this way. You can still—"

Zuko let out a growl of frustration. "You just don't get it, do you? I can't stop! I can't just ignore my father's orders! If I let you go again today, that's it! I'm finished!"

"I don't unde—"

"Of course you don't understand! How could you ever understand? You're an Air Nomad! You don't have a real home or family, but I—" he broke off and averted his face, hiding his expression from view. "It's been almost three years. I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation and I can't even step one foot on my country's soil unless I capture you." His hands trembled slightly and his voice softened to the barest whisper. "I just want to go home."

Aang let out a small breath, shocked by the vulnerability of that quiet confession. If he hadn't witnessed it for himself, he would not have believed it to be possible from the normally fierce prince. Before Aang could say anything, however, a jet of water flashed past him and struck Zuko in the chest, shoving the teen hard against the wall. There was an awful gasp. Aang's eyes widened as he realised the sound had come from Zuko, the same boy who had never once made a sound of pain during all of their fights together. Suddenly, Katara was standing beside Aang with a fresh water whip forming in her hand.

"No, stop!" Aang cried. "Can't you see he's hurt?"

But Katara wasn't listening and was already following up with a second attack. There was a thump, another awful gasp, and then Zuko slumped face-first to the ground where he lay very still. Aang's eyes widened. He started wriggling more frantically, desperate to get free of his bonds. Someone—probably Sokka—knelt beside him and cut his ropes. Aang rushed over to where Zuko had fallen and rolled him onto his back. He almost recoiled when he saw just how badly bruised and cut Zuko's face was; he hated to think what the rest of Zuko looked like.

"Come on, Aang," Sokka called, sheathing his knife and appropriating the discarded rope. "We need to get out of here."

"You're right," Aang agreed, remembering what Koh had told him. "The spirits are in danger. We need to get to the Spirit Oasis!"

Bending down, he looped Zuko's arms around his neck and stood to his feet, supporting as much of the prince's weight as he could manage. Sokka's eyes bugged open.

"Uh, Aang, why are you carrying the Angry Jerk on your back?"

"Because he's coming with us," Aang said firmly.

"What?" Katara exclaimed.

"Are you crazy?" Sokka demanded, staring at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"He's hurt! I'm not just going to leave him here!"

"Right," Sokka said sarcastically, "because it makes so much more sense to bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us."

Aang ignored this remark and began half-dragging, half-carrying Zuko towards the cave mouth. Katara stepped forward, blocking his path.

"Aang," she tried to reason, "Zuko just captured you and probably would have already handed you over to the Fire Nation by now if it weren't for this blizzard. I don't think—"

"I don't care!" Aang interrupted. "He's hurt and has no one to help him. If we leave him here, he'll die!"

Without waiting for a response, Aang stepped around her and headed over to where Appa was waiting with Princess Yue outside the cave.

"What happened?" Yue gasped. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, he's fine," Sokka responded, coming up behind Aang with his sister in tow. "Unless you count the fact that he's gone completely insane."

When Yue looked confused, Sokka jerked a thumb at the unconscious figure draped over Aang's back. "He wants to take Prince Jerkbender over there back with us on Appa."

A crease formed on Yue's brow. "Oh."

Aang ignored this exchange and created a small gust of air to raise him, along with Zuko, up into the saddle. Carefully, he tried to ease the older boy off his back, knowing it probably wouldn't be a good idea to just let Zuko drop. This was easier said than done, but then another pair of hands reached out to grasp Zuko by the shoulders.

"Here," Katara said, taking on some of Zuko's deadweight. "Let me help you."

Aang smiled gratefully and, together, they lowered him onto his back. A rope was tossed in front of them.

"What's this for?" Katara asked, glancing over to look at her brother, who was now seated at the reins.

"I'd rather not be toasted to a crisp just because Aang decided to have one of his peace-loving airbender moments," Sokka remarked dryly. "If you all insist on being crazy and bringing Zuko back with us, you can at least tie him up."

"Fine," Aang agreed.

Sokka nodded and then urged Appa to fly with a gritted "yip, yip". Aang picked up the rope and started to wrap it around Zuko's chest, pinning his arms close to his side. Zuko's breathing sharpened from the pressure.

"What's wrong with him?" Yue asked, peering around the two to examine the unconscious boy.

"I'm not sure," Katara admitted. "I know I hit him hard, but I didn't hit him that hard."

Aang's heart clenched as he remembered the awful feelings he had got, the ones Roku had told him meant that Zuko had been in mortal danger. "I think Zuko was already injured," he offered quietly. "Katara probably just made it worse."

Katara folded her arms across her chest. "Hey, don't blame me that he's like this. I never told him to come into the Spirit Oasis and kidnap you. It's his own problem if he's hurt now."

Aang frowned but didn't say anything. That was when the moon turned red.

"Ugh," Yue groaned, clutching her head.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked, glancing over his shoulder at her.

She squeezed her eyes shut in pain. "I feel faint."

"I feel it too," Aang murmured, touching a hand to his temple with a wince. He looked up at the blood-red moon. "The Moon Spirit is in trouble. We have to hurry!"

"Right!" Sokka gave a flick of the reins. "Yip, yip, Appa!"

The bison rumbled and increased his speed. As they flew, Yue told them of how the Moon Spirit had saved her life. She explained that she had been very sick when she was born, so her parents had taken her to the Spirit Oasis and laid her in the water, begging the Moon Spirit to heal her. Then her dark hair had turned white and she had begun to cry; the Moon Spirit had granted her parents' wish.

"That's amazing," Katara said, once Yue was finished.

Yue nodded her head. "I just hope we can get to the oasis in time to save the Moon Spirit."

"We will," Aang said grimly.

It was his duty to maintain balance in the world. He was not about to let the Fire Nation destroy that.

"Hey, I think I see it!" Sokka exclaimed, and then he paled. "Oh no."

"What?" Katara asked, peering over the edge of the saddle. "What is it?"

Aang followed the direction of Sokka's gaze only to see a familiar firebender with large side-whiskers standing in front of the sacred pool. His eyes narrowed. "It's Admiral Zhao."

oOo

The moon was red. Zuko blinked and tried to make sense of what he was seeing, but all he could think was that his head was throbbing and that he hurt all over, especially in his chest. Vaguely, he was aware of a group of people talking not far from him. Someone was saying something about destroying the moon. The voice sounded familiar. Too familiar.

Zhao, his mind supplied.

Yes, it was Zhao who was talking. And trying to destroy the Moon Spirit. Idiot. Then someone else started speaking—someone a lot younger and who seemed to be trying to persuade Zhao to do otherwise. That had to be the Avatar; only he would blabber on about balance and chaos.

"He is right, Zhao."

Zuko froze. Now that was a voice he knew, but what was his uncle doing here?

"General Iroh," Zhao greeted in his usual arrogant drawl. "Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"

Zuko's heart quickened as he listened to the exchange, especially when his uncle started making threats. This was not going to end well. Zhao would not back down; he knew that, and he was quite certain that his uncle did as well.

Definitely awake now, Zuko glanced to his left and saw the girl with white hair sitting with her back to him. Good. She was too busy watching the others to pay attention to what he was doing. As silently as possible, he brought himself up into a sitting position and then took a small breath. There was the usual stab of pain in his chest, but he ignored that and instead focussed on the heat he could feel flickering inside him. Once he was certain that he had the intensity right, he exhaled and watched as tiny plumes of fire licked through the ropes keeping his arms pinned to his sides. Bit by bit the rope fragmented until it finally unravelled altogether and dropped free. Zuko flexed his arms, getting the blood flowing again.

That was when the moon disappeared.

Iroh didn't hesitate. One moment everyone was staring up at the empty black sky, and then Zuko saw his uncle perform some of the most powerful bending he had seen in a while: a series of quick fire jabs that had all four firebenders down in seconds. Then Zuko noticed Zhao trying to flee and his eyes narrowed.

Oh, no you don't! Zuko thought, clenching his hands into fists.

He had not been able to capture the Avatar, but he would at least get his revenge on Zhao. That bastard would pay for hiring those pirates to kill him.

oOo

Zuko stared at the black surface of the water, searching for any hint of life. There was no sign of Zhao or the creature that had snatched the defeated admiral up into its grasp and dragged him under. "No," Zuko murmured, dropping his hand back to his side.

He had never liked Zhao, but no one should have to die like that. Not by some—some thing. As Zuko gazed out into the distance, he realised it wasn't just Zhao who had fallen victim to the monstrous spirit. The ocean had become a graveyard of sinking ships and bodies, and every single one was Fire Nation. The entire navy had been wiped out in a single blow.

Feeling suddenly sick, Zuko collapsed to his knees and tried to resist the urge to vomit. All those men and women. All his old crew. Lieutenant Jee, Tomoki, Kan—damn it, even the cook—they were all dead. All of them. Gone, just like that. Some of them had been with him from the beginning of his banishment and he'd never even said goodbye to them when they'd left. He'd just got angry and sulked in his room.

Something hot rolled down his cheek. He swallowed against the lump in his throat and buried his face in his knees. In that moment he was just so bitter and angry, so furious with himself and with the Avatar, who he knew had somehow played a part in bringing about this destruction. Right then, Zuko wanted nothing more than to go back to the Spirit Oasis and hit the stupid kid over and over again if only to make him see just how utterly wrong this whole situation was.

But Zuko was also exhausted. The adrenaline had worn off and now there was nothing to disguise the pain he could feel pressing down on every inch of his body. He had pushed himself too hard, ignored his injuries for too long, and now it was all accumulating in one overwhelming onslaught of weariness and agony. That was why he did not notice when the two Water Tribe warriors crept up from behind him. Unfortunately, he did notice when he got pulled into a choke hold and struck to the head, but by then it was too late.