The Journey of the Winter Moon

Chapter 2: The Invasion (Seiryu's Moon, Part 2)

Kuei stared out over the dark sea from the deck of his warship. The waters seemed unnervingly calm and still, more like a lake than the ocean. From what he knew of seafaring, it was sometimes the calm surfaces that concealed the treacherous currents underneath. He supposed it reflected the anticipation of the soldiers in their fleet, going off to meet the Water Nation in war in their own domain with the second moon only days away.

Kuei reminded himself they were just the distraction. Ba Sing Se's greatest, in their weakest environment. Just meant to hold the bulk of Hakoda's forces at bay off the coast of the southern Earth Kingdom so the smaller invasion force could slip into Aniak'to. They only had to hold out long enough for Aang to win.

General Yo Gan Jin stood with him as they observed the storm clouds to the south. Kuei was about to speak when a deep blue light pierced the darkness. The ship rocked as the tides shifted.

"My word," said Yo Gan Jin, in a breathless gasp. "Seiryu's Moon… how is this possible?"


Compared to flying on Appa, the war balloons felt like they went at a crawl. Despite that, though, Sokka thought that the beginning of the battle happened far too quickly.

The first wave of balloons reached the city walls, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko among them. Zuko dropped a string of blast powder explosives on the walls, spreading the shrapnel of watch towers and mounted catapults. Men fell from the walls into the snow but others used their enhanced waterbending to surf down to safety and hurl massive ice spikes at the balloons. Unprepared for their strengthened assault, several balloons went down the moment they were pierced.

At Zuko's side, Sokka felt the second moon's power coursing through him, utilizing it as much as he wanted to curse it instead. Even from his height, he could grasp the snow and ice far below them, sending it coursing through the fields in a ripple that struck the walls and made them quake. Ice cracked with the sound of thunderbolts as gouts of water erupted from the concealed Frostmirror Lake. Katara joined her power to his and they moved in tandem. Sokka paid little mind to the ice spikes launched at his and the closest balloons – he dulled their bites without any effort. The harpoon guns were a bigger issue.

From his vantage point, even with the balloon swaying dangerously in the wind, he could see them all on the southwest wall. The cold moon was good for casting everything in a blue light that otherwise would have been in dim, stormy murk.

"Qin, bring us higher," Sokka said to the fourth occupant of their balloon, a scrawny old soldier under Ozai with a knack for machinery. With Zuko's help, he fed more fire into the engine and brought them higher. The other balloons followed their lead.

"How is this possible?" Zuko asked, staring up at the blue moon. Seiryu's Moon loomed above them, far more massive than the normal moon had ever appeared in the sky. Its smaller sister hung full in the sky next to it. Sokka had no answer for him. He hadn't thought something like making the moon come earlier would be within his father's means, but he didn't know what to believe anymore. In the unlikely event it was something Hakoda could do, did that mean he wasn't in the city anymore? The invasion counted on attacking before Hakoda could begin his own invasion.

They'd known, from Azula, that Hakoda expected their invasion three days before the second moon arrived. If anything, Sokka thought his father would be more prepared for them in terms of his defenses – scouts, or a bulwark to the north where they originally planned to invade from. General Zhang had expected him to be taken by surprise with their force routing him from the south, thanks to Aang's trick with the Spirit World. But now that Seiryu's Moon had come early, Sokka had no idea what to expect.

Their ground forces advanced despite the setback of enemy waterbenders. Pakku led the charge atop a massive water spout, clearing the snow to expose the hard, bare earth for their earthbenders. Toph and Bumi came in right behind them. Sokka tried not to worry about them; though their numbers were larger than those of the aerial assault, they faced the greater threat of waterbenders completely surrounded by their element. He could see Katara out of the corner of his eye looking down below, as if itching to join the thick of the fighting.

More ice spikes appeared over the wall, but these materialized from thin air, pointing downward. They fell like icicles, dropping on the harpoon guns and exploding into thousands of tiny ice shards. He looked to his right to see his grandmother in one of the other war balloons, her arms spread wide. Sokka followed her lead and pulled more moisture out of the air as ammunition for his attacks – he never knew it was possible to draw so much water this way. Katara, on the other hand, lowered herself back down to the floor of the gondola. They agreed that she should conserve her strength for now, as much as she could.

He kept scanning the horizon, hoping for signs of a flying bison. "Ugh, what's taking Aang so long? He has to be on his way back now that the moon's here. At least the dark spirits are being kept away."

"Maybe he chickened out," Katara suggested, shrugging. "Oh well. Despite all of your fancy words during the eclipse, it looks like this will be a family affair after all. Now can this thing go any faster?"

"He'll be back," said Zuko, a bit brusquely. He threw one of Sokka's own handmade stink bombs over the edge.

Sokka didn't doubt that; he just didn't know if Aang would make it in time. He didn't want to fight his father without Aang's help. Even with Zuko, Katara, and his grandmother, he knew they would be hard-pressed to face Hakoda and all of his warriors in the palace. He wondered if they could hold off Hakoda until Aang arrived. Sokka couldn't be the one to deliver justice – he truly believed everything he had said back to Katara, Azula, and Hakoda during the eclipse. Defeating Hakoda was Aang's destiny.

"What's that over the wall?" Sokka asked. It looked to be a dome of hard-packed snow.

Their balloon passed the boundary of the wall into the city first. More harpoons launched past them, just barely missing. Looking over the edge at the buildings below, Sokka's eye widened. He expected warriors to be lining up behind the walls, carrying weapons to the wall and their wounded comrades away from it. He dreaded the sight of families rushing for the relative safety of the palace. He thought craftsmen and artisans would be taking up arms to defend their city.

Instead, the whole city appeared to be covered in a shelter of ice, a conglomeration of dozens of domes concealing everything beneath them. He didn't expect it to be particularly sturdy or protective. Suspended on pillars, it had to have gone up as soon as the moon appeared, especially if Iroh, Toph, and Sangmu knew nothing of it.

"What is that?" Zuko asked, just as stunned.

"I have no idea," Sokka said, gripping the side of the gondola. Aside from the walls, only the palace was tall enough to remain uncovered. "What is my father planning?"

"Some desperate, last ditch defense method?" Zuko suggested, looking at him with a frown.

It's not strong, but it's effective, said the other Sokka. He's gotta be counting on the fact that your invasion force wouldn't want to damage the buildings and hurt innocent people. If you attack that ice shelter, you'll make pieces of it crash down on the whole city.

It's sick, Sokka thought, scowling. "He's using his own people as a shield."

"But it doesn't make sense," Zuko said, backing almost into Qin. With four of them on the gondola and Katara on the floor, it felt crowded. "If we were really planning to damage the city, didn't he just make it easier for us? How'd he know we'd be attacking from the air?"

"I think he was just counting on us taking the moral high ground," Sokka said. But he didn't have an answer for Zuko's second question, and that scared him.

The sound of air rushing out of another balloon brought Sokka back to the task at hand. The balloon crashed down against the giant lumpy ice shield. Sokka worried for its occupants; they'd be behind enemy lines completely alone. But they all knew what they were getting into, the mission they had to complete.

Winter's Heaven loomed ahead, a shadowed silhouette against the giant moon behind it.

The closer they approached, the more the attacks came. Harpoons and arrows sailed through the air toward them, making their advance even more perilous. Sokka noted how they shot with reckless abandon; perhaps the shield over town also had the function of protecting it from stray attacks. Another balloon went down. Sokka waved his arm and a rain of sharp hail fell upon their attackers, but the nonbenders raised their shields to defend. Qin aimed their balloon toward the top of Winter's Heaven – Sokka hoped it would be easier to find his father up there rather than in the main palace below. He would want to be surrounded by ice, especially during this once in a lifetime event.

Only one other balloon made it to Winter's Heaven with them – the one bearing Kanna and Piandao. Qin brought them right to a balcony overlooking the city, and for a moment they had respite from all of the attacks.

"I'll wait up high!" Qin exclaimed, pumping the bellows to heat the engine. Sokka could only hope he'd be far enough away from the danger, but he pushed the old engineer from his mind. The balloon that had carried his grandmother and Piandao joined Qin's.

"Things are proceeding too smoothly," said Kanna. Only she could make that observation after just two balloons made it to the palace. Some still hovered above the city, raining explosives and arrows down on the walls to aid the main fighting force outside, but they had lost most of their air force.

"It's likely we're heading straight into a trap," said Piandao, his sword drawn.

Bereft of her sled, Katara used a combination of a fishbone cane and her bloodbending to keep herself upright. Even so, she looked no less fierce. "Let's do this. We'll force our way through any traps and tricks he tries to throw at us."

"Don't get reckless now, Katara," Kanna scolded her, as Sokka led the way. Katara made a face at that but let her grandmother take up the rear.

As Sokka expected, Winter's Heaven was relatively scarce of warriors. Few had any reason to be up here with all the fighting below and outside the city. Still, it was quieter than he wanted it to be. So many things didn't add up about this whole invasion and he racked his brains trying to find the answer; he felt that he was missing something obvious.

Spearmen came at them from two different halls; an ambush from both sides. Sokka and Kanna both took apart the wall to force them away in a torrent of water that flooded both hallways completely, opening up rooms and simultaneously making a more direct path to the throne room for them. Sokka felt powerful enough to take down the entirety of Winter's Heaven by himself. Just a wave of his arm and the ice would all come tumbling down.

Sokka led the way, sliding across the ice and water that flowed with him through the remains of the halls. He came across the hall with the throne room so suddenly that he almost sped past it, and only just recognized the ornate details of an underwater vista carved into the ice. He was rarely allowed up in Winter's Heaven as a child, but he would remember that door anywhere. He paused in front of it just long enough, staring up at it, wishing for the final time that Aang was here so they could face Hakoda together. It didn't feel right after how far they'd come. The five of them would have to hold him off until Aang did show up.

And then…

If he's even here…

"Stop being dramatic, Sokka," said Katara, tapping her cane with irritation. "Just open the door so we can finish this."

Sokka melted part of the door away – just enough for them to go through – and halted when he took in the empty chamber with only a single occupant sitting on the dais with the throne.

A woman he didn't recognize sat on the step, her head hung low and her shoulders slackened. "Who's that?" Sokka asked, lowering his sword.

"Dad's not here," said Katara, scowling. "That's Malina."


"What're you doing here, Aang?" Haru asked.

"Did you start the invasion yet?" asked Ty Lee.

Jet took a step forward. "What did we miss? Have you heard from the rest of my crew?"

"We banished the darkness from the North Pole," said Yue, looking up at the flow of energy swirling around and between both portals now that both had been opened. It didn't quite connect them, and it wasn't a solid stream, but Aang thought it akin to water and oil pouring into a jar to fill it at the same time. "But much of it still lingers, as it does here. Perhaps the Nightseer retreated into the Spirit World, or something?"

Aang didn't even know who the Nightseer was. But he didn't have time for that, nor for all of their questions. "I'm sorry," he said. "The invasion is beginning soon. But we came here to find the last lion-turtle."

Vaatu rumbled from within the Tree of Time. "THE NIGHTSEER CANNOT BE VANQUISHED. TO DO SO WOULD BE TO CONQUER DEATH ITSELF."

"Um, what is that?" Suki asked, eyes wide as she pointed at him.

"Progenitor of dark spirits, ultimate incarnation of chaos and destruction," said Azula, almost conversationally. She focused more on scanning the horizon for signs of the lion-turtle.

"More or less the Avatar's equal and opposite," said Sangmu, knuckles white as she held her hands together. "He can't hurt us right now. I think."

"Right," said Suki, blinking in surprise. "We'll leave all this to you. I think we'd rather head to the invasion. Everyone?"

"Totally," said Ty Lee, arms locked at her side.

"No complaints here," said Ghashiun, grimacing.

"Back on the geese?" Haru asked, his face almost green as he regarded the strange spirits.

Raava spoke for the first time since everyone from the north appeared. When she did, Jet, Suki, and Haru looked startled, as if they hadn't even noticed her there.

"The Spirit World faces an upheaval of cataclysmic proportions," she said. "And the two poles are not in balance. Darkness floods over both. Wan, it is not within your ability to settle the Everstorm in the south with the worlds in their current state. But the plague rotting the north may yet be healed."

Aang furrowed his brow. It felt natural for her to call him Wan, no matter how far apart he was from that life. "Will that help?" he asked.

"I cannot be certain," said Raava. "But if there is anything that can be done to help restore balance, and it is within your power, then you must."

"It feels like no matter what I do, I'm trying to fix the imbalance between worlds," Aang said with a sigh. "It's an endless back and forth. Defeat Koh. Cleanse the Foggy Swamp. Stop Xai Bau. Ultimately I know the only way to fix it for good is to go back to my world… or choose this one."

"Problems will always keep coming," said Mai, shrugging. "You can fix some, but that's life, I suppose."

"I agree with Mai," said Azula. "All you can do is keep working at them. Keep fighting, no matter what. You helped me learn that, Aang."

"Even if you think it may not be worth it to heal the north with everything else going on… they're still my people who need help," said Yue, clutching both hands to her staff. "They've been living in that darkness for years now. With the Nightseer gone, they can finally come to see the light again."

Aang nodded to all three of them. "I know. Thanks for the reminder. No matter what, if there are people to save, I want to try to do everything I can to save them. But… I also need to defeat Hakoda right now. I can't be everywhere at once."

"Let me go," said Sangmu, almost hesitantly. "I can do it. I can use air-spiritbending. I'll cleanse the darkness from the North Pole while you fight in the south."

Aang's eyes widened. "But it's too dangerous. And you haven't really learned it yet." And if anything happened to her, he didn't know if he could handle being the last airbender again. He didn't want to lose anyone this time.

"What would you do, Aang?" she asked, frowning. Sabi skittered to the top of her glider staff, chattering as if in support of her words. "I learned the concept of air-spiritbending from you. And you said it yourself – you can't be everywhere at once. I… I think I'd rather do that than fight in the invasion. I'm sorry, but it's true. If I can do something to help, I think that's where I'm supposed to be. I can do this."

He could tell from the resolute look in her eyes that there would be no dissuading her. A warzone was no place for an airbender – it was no place for him, either, but he had his duty, and she had found hers. He nodded to her in defeat. Momo jumped onto his shoulder, looking through Aang's robes for snacks. "Okay… take Momo and Sabi with you. Keep them safe."

"Of course," she said. She hugged him tight with her free hand, and then Azula as well before waving to Mai and the others. Momo flapped from Aang's shoulder to hers, as if understanding their words. "Well, it was nice meeting all of you. Everyone, good luck. We'll come back together later, and I'll make fruit pies for everyone in celebration!"

After she disappeared through the portal, Jet punched a hand into his palm in a gesture that reminded Aang of Toph. "All right, so it's invasion time? This is perfect! We're all here to help!"

"Will she be okay on her own?" Haru asked. "Yue told me that air-spiritbending is good for cleansing places with high spiritual activity, but earth-spiritbending is the one that helps to purify unbalanced people. I already finished at the monastery, but maybe I could…?"

"Sangmu will be okay," Aang said, just as much to himself as to the rest of them. "That's her battle, and ours is in the south."

"Is it a battle we'll be fighting together?" Azula asked, with a significant look at Suki and Ghashiun.

"Oh, we're all friends now," said Ty Lee, hooking her arms around Suki and Ghashiun's necks and beaming. Both gave distinctly uncomfortable grins, but didn't deny it.

"Glad to hear it," Aang said, offering a smile. He still didn't know Ghashiun in this world, but if he was someone Nagi cared about, then that was good enough for him. Suki, on the other hand, was a dear friend that he missed a great deal.

The apprehension on Suki's face softened just a little. "I wonder what Katara will think…"

"She's helping us too," said Azula, crossing her arms. "More out of necessity than anything, though."

"If this invasion's about to happen, what are you guys doing here?" Mai asked. "I doubt it was to wait around for us to pop out of that portal. Before we left, we learned from Hahn that most of the northern navy has already departed from Agna Qel'a to begin their invasion of the Golden City. On Hakoda's orders. So it's not like there's a ton of time left."

"Yeah, they decided to take their sweet time telling us that," said Ty Lee, putting her hands on her hips. "We just found out."

Aang didn't find that too surprising – Hakoda had started putting his pieces into place, and the northern navy alone would take days to travel from the North Pole. He just hoped Hakoda himself didn't depart Aniak'to yet. He shook his head and was about to voice his thoughts, but then the ground rumbled. Far beyond the Tree of Time, a mountain moved.

"He is here," said Raava, as the mountain came closer. "The last lion-turtle, Xuanwu. And he has a gift for you, Wan."

Ghashiun lowered his scarf, staring at the approaching mountain with unmasked awe. "Our people called it Ao, or Akupāra. The Turtle Who Gave Us the World." When Jet and Haru looked at him in surprise, he shrugged. "What? I picked up some things from my sister."

"The monks had a name for it, too: Shengui," said Aang. He turned to Azula. "Can you please bring everyone to Aniak'to? I think this is something I need to do by myself."

He knew she wanted to stay at his side. He wanted that too. But looking into her eyes, he also knew that she understood. "Avatar stuff," she said. "Got it. I just hope this doesn't mean you'll be fighting Hakoda alone."

Aang shook his head. "I'll be right behind you."

She cupped his face with her hand, pressed her forehead to his, and kissed him. The moment she pulled away, he saw Ty Lee's face right behind her with an expression of shock, then with her fists clenched in what looked like victorious elation.

"Just in case," Azula whispered to him. "I don't want some kind of Avatar nonsense to happen and I'll end up not seeing you until everything is over."

Aang smiled. "It won't."

As they all mounted their geese spirits to leave, Aang heard Ty Lee questioning Azula. "Was that the first kiss? Did I miss it? Ohh, why did all the juicy stuff happen while I was gone? Azula, you have to tell me everything!"

Lowering his head to hide his intense blushing, Aang turned back to the mountain as it approached. The earth parted in a grinding of rock and dust, quakes rippling through the terrain. It really was fully the size of a mountain; a whole forest grew on its back, wild spirits disturbed by its movement and the swirling storm clouds overhead. Aang found himself between Raava and Vaatu, all three of them watching the colossal, ancient being unearth itself. Both of its front paws stretched and braced against the ground, extending arms thicker than even the massive eye-trees in the Spirit World. Its face resembled a stone carving of a fierce deity, wisdom in its eyes and war in its bared teeth, with a mane like a dragon's beard.

Aang had never felt so humbled. He bowed, as if to a master.

"Equilibrium has been lost." Even Xuanwu's voice sounded ancient, a deep yawn of caverns underneath mountains and seas. "Spirits suffer. Humanity suffers. Exalted light and sacred darkness have been unbound and unraveled, where they once kept each other in check. Wars waged and destruction wrought across the mortal worlds have weakened bonds and collapsed civilizations. But you can heal this."

"I know," Aang said. "I was told that by going home, that would fix everything."

"Have you made your decision?"

"I have."

"Then know this: before the time of the elements, we bent the energy within ourselves. It is the power of both stasis and change, light and darkness, the astral and the umbral. You were meant to learn this once, but you were lost."

Aang stared down at his hands. "I've found myself again."

When he looked back up, he felt a rush of wind as the massive claw of the lion-turtle reached toward him. Unflinching, he let it press against his forehead, while the other touched the center of his chest. "Then with this power, you will heal. The worlds will be woven back together, and it will guide you home."

He saw gold. He saw himself standing above the sea, calling in the tides to stifle flames. He saw Ozai. He and the lion-turtle had done this once before, in another world and another life, and he saw the way things were supposed to be. Time is an illusion, and so is death. But the greatest illusion in this world is the illusion of separation.

Before the vision faded, he saw Hakoda. An iceberg – Aang's iceberg – emerged from the water and a light shone into the clear sky, and he knew where he would face the emperor. It seemed only fitting.

"Seek him," said Xuanwu, backing away from Aang. Aside from gentle wisdom, Aang could also see kindness in the lion-turtle's eyes. "And set things right."

With every blink, the lion-turtle descended further and further into the ground, the mountain shrinking, until it vanished like it had never been there in the first place.

He didn't know how or why, but he felt different. He felt ready. He turned to Raava. "It's time," he said. "I have to leave now, and face Hakoda."

"Things have shifted in the outside world while you were here," she said. "Time, as ever, eludes us."

"DO YOU SEE NOW, BEARER OF LIGHT?" Vaatu rumbled from within the Tree. "AS LONG AS WAR AND CONFLICT EXIST, DARKNESS WILL THRIVE."

"I know," said Aang, turning to face him. "You only do what is in your nature. The worlds unraveling like they are is my fault as much as yours, but it also happened outside of both of our control. I'll fix it, though." For the first time, he considered the possibility of becoming a being like the lion-turtles. A being in complete equilibrium with light and darkness. If he took Vaatu and his darkness inside himself, as Wan once did with Raava… what would he become?

A honk echoed, answered by Appa's startled roar, and when Aang turned around to face the source of the sound he saw Azula flying back in on a goose spirit. "Aang!" she called.

Something was wrong. He could see it on her face. "What is it?"

"You have to come outside – Seiryu's Moon is here!"


"Where is he?" Sokka asked from the entrance of the throne room. He couldn't keep the aggression and urgency out of his voice despite how defeated Malina looked, hugging herself as she sat on the stairs of the dais. "Is he down in the city, fighting our forces?"

Malina was completely alone. Not even guards had been left with her to protect her. "I was supposed to watch him," she said, though it appeared she mostly spoke to herself. "I had no idea… How could I have missed it?"

Zuko watched their backs for approaching warriors with Piandao, but looked over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Answer us," said Katara. "I don't care what you were supposed to do. Just tell us where my father is."

"He's already gone," said Malina, finally staring up at them. "The main fleet is sailing to the north. To my home – where Hakoda intends to purge it."

Kanna, Piandao, and Zuko all gasped. Katara stepped forward, almost threatening. "That doesn't even make sense. We know he was in the city just days ago – it's not possible that he made it all the way up there in time for Seiryu's Moon."

"He isn't with them," Malina said, shaking her head. Sokka noticed that she cradled a dagger against her breast, an Earth Kingdom weapon forged of iron instead of carved from whalebone. "His main fleet is going to attack Agna Qel'a while it is undefended because the northern fleet was sent to use the moon's power against the Fire Nation."

Sokka almost dropped his sword in surprise but he felt the cogs in his brain turning. "He wanted to misdirect us, didn't he? Dad himself is bringing a token force to the Fire Nation, or fighting somewhere else – I don't know, it doesn't matter. But… I think that's just to keep us focused away from the North Pole."

"But why?" Zuko asked. "It doesn't make any sense. Why would he attack his own people? Did he leave this city undefended? No wonder it was so easy to get here…"

Piandao scratched his chin. "His defenses do seem lacking. Perhaps he is directing his attention to the North Pole because we would have no tactical reasons to stop him."

Sokka looked at Kanna, who gazed at Malina with something like pity. He remembered then that his grandmother was also a northern woman. "Gran? What do you think?"

"Arnook considered there could one day be a betrayal, didn't he?" she asked Malina, staring at her dagger. "That's why you're here. You were to assassinate Hakoda if he ever raised a hand against the north."

"Not just the north," Malina said, her head hanging low. "The Nightseer, too. But I failed to take action in time. Hakoda has my brother, Maliq. He's a taboo-breaker now just for trying to protect me from marrying him. My husband said he'd deal with us later."

Sokka had no idea what the 'Nightseer' was. Many things still didn't add up; all he knew was that they had even less time than they thought. "We need to get out of here," Sokka said. "All of us. This invasion was just meant to make us waste time."

"Where did he go?" Katara asked again. "Just tell us! I don't care about the north."

Malina didn't look at her. "It doesn't matter. Your invasion force fell for his trap. You won't make it out of this city in time."

"If we can help save lives, we must," said Kanna, turning to her grandchildren and Zuko. "Sokka's right. We need to leave... that mention of the Nightseer concerns me." She glanced back at Malina one last time before departing the throne room with Piandao at her side.

Katara grunted in pain as she left without another word. Zuko stopped long enough to exchange a glance with Sokka. "Do we just leave her here?" he asked.

"Malina is no threat to us," Sokka said. He realized she was as much a victim of his father's machinations as any of them. He lingered only long enough for parting words. "You're my stepmom now, huh? Get somewhere safe. Wait it all out. We'll find a way to protect your home."

She said nothing as Sokka ran out of the room, her gaze forlorn. Maybe she saw through Sokka's empty words and weightless promises – the truth was, he had no idea how they'd protect the city on the other side of the world.

By the time Sokka, Zuko, and Katara made it back to the balcony where they had entered, Kanna and Piandao had already boarded their balloon and Qin's descended to pick up the rest of them. Just as it reached the balcony, Sokka's stomach lurched as the floor fell out from under them, turning to water.

As he fell, he watched Qin's war balloon burst into flames.


Water and snow slammed against their forces with such high velocity that it tore through their defenses of stone. Sometimes it came in bullets that broke through shields and bone, sometimes in a massive torrent that carried away Ozai's handful of metal tanks. Toph could barely keep her footing, much less protect the people around her or push an advance toward the city walls. Water swept over the bare earth she managed to uncover along with Bumi and Pakku for the other earthbenders in their forces, freezing solid instantly to bar them from their element. She was hesitant to burrow underground, too; she was liable to drown that way.

She found herself alongside Nagi, Smellerbee, and Longshot, taking shelter behind stone and snow. Toph kept their defenses solid while Longshot sniped the enemy warriors from afar and Nagi favored precision over power by locking down the waterbenders' limbs with Dai Li rock cuffs. Whenever Nagi disabled the waterbenders, Toph and Smellerbee struck to incapacitate them.

"Feels good to fight alongside you again, Bandit," Smellerbee said, pressing her back against Toph's. "Knocking waterbender heads just like the good old days."

Toph grinned, but focused on the incoming roar of frigid water headed their way. She shifted the earth beneath the offending waterbender, disrupting his root so that his water spilled into other directions. Other waterbenders across the battlefield moved in tandem to continue his attack, but Bumi skated by with quakes following in his wake. Not about to be outdone, Toph lifted the pieces of a destroyed tank and hurled them at the warriors trying to advance on them.

"No idea what you mean," Toph said, though she had been about to say the same thing. "This is a lot crazier than the old days!"

"Their numbers are thinning out," Nagi announced. "It seems some of them are retreating into the city?"

Prickles is right. Now's your chance! Just make sure it's not a trap or something.

Scoffing at the warning from her other self, she cast out her senses as they moved closer to the walls of Aniak'to. Just outside the city's perimeter, she felt a line of clay pots buried in the snow. Before any of their soldiers could trigger them, she pulled them all up at once like massive flower buds.

Smellerbee pointed at them and shouted. "It's their sticky sludge bombs from Ba Sing Se!"

"Consider this trap sprung," Toph said, stomping her feet and launching them high into the air. From the tops of the walls, she heard shouts as the foul-smelling sludge struck true. With any luck, she had disabled the remaining harpoon guns and archers.

She heard a distant voice that she recognized as belonging to Lu Ten. "Push onward, toward the city!"

Someone – likely Pakku – had torn down part of the southern wall, allowing them to penetrate the city's defenses. Toph could feel the massive ice pillars holding up some kind of cover overhead, but she couldn't tell how far it reached. Within the walls, the assaults came less frequently, but the men were harder to pinpoint since they hid inside and between the buildings. That was no problem for Toph, but she could only do so much to alert the others to the presence of an ambush, especially since the charge that led the way into the city did not stay together.

Nagi seemed to share her thought process. "Most of our forces are still outside," she said, pressing her back against the side of an empty stall to catch her breath. "They didn't make it in before another wave of waterbenders resumed their attacks."

Smellerbee crept alongside Toph, her knife clutched in a reverse grip as if ready for anyone to jump out at her. "I don't like this," she said. "This giant dome over the city is eerie. It almost feels too quiet, like anyone could jump out at us at any second. And as bad as that second moon is, it at least provided light."

Longshot nodded as if saying that was exactly what could happen.

"It's not quiet to me," Toph said with a grunt. The ice dome over the city amplified the distant echoes of explosions and ring of steel, disorienting her. She furrowed her brow in an attempt to focus on the occupants of the buildings around them, but with all of the noises she found it more difficult than usual. Few of them stood empty – most felt to be noncombatant women or children. "Hakoda didn't even evacuate his people," she said in disgust.

Some men – fathers or brothers – rushed out from their homes, with waterbending or not, shouting at them to leave their families alone. Cursing them. Calling them invaders. Toph wanted to call them hypocrites. All were warriors, but their numbers were fewer than outside the walls.

"He's a monster," Nagi said. "What kind of ruler ignores the safety of his own people?" She slid her foot across the ground and shoved a man into one of the giant metal tanks scattered around the city; parts of the system that pumped hot water for use in their homes and saunas, which Sangmu explained to Toph when they came just days before. The force of his body dented the metal, releasing a stronger hiss of steam into the air.

Toph missed a warrior, somehow. He came at them with a spear from above, but Smellerbee was fast enough to avoid the blow and strike back with her own. The distant clamor felt louder, like bells pounding inside her skull.

"We have to… secure the city," said Nagi. Her words sounded almost slurred, like she'd become drowsy. "This is… too easy. It's like… Hakoda is handing it over to us."

Toph felt sluggish. "Around the corner," she said, but she barely understood her own words. It sounded like she was mumbling. "Men coming. Something… smells nice, like… jasmine?" The floral scent hurled her into a vivid sense of nostalgia that made her think of her mother. Did she use jasmine oil?

"I see them," said Smellerbee. "Undyed leathers. Are those the Wolf's Skulls? …Nagi? Bandit? What's wrong with you two? I don't smell anything."

Stay alert! What's going on? Even her other self sounded fuzzy.

Overcome with exhaustion, Toph stumbled against the wall. More warriors found them in their alley, but Longshot held his ground.

"My arms just feel heavy," said Nagi. "I need… just a moment. Hee hee… Other me says you look funny, Toph."

Toph tugged on Nagi's cheeks, and then her own. Her face felt numb. "Well… tell your other self I think she looks funny too," she said, but then she laughed. "Wait, I forgot. I can't see her!" Then she laughed harder. How absurd – she forgot about her own blindness. Something told her Sokka would get a kick out of that. "I didn't even know you had another you!"

Smellerbee said something, but then the water came.


Aang could barely tear his gaze away from the sky as they flew back to aid the invasion. He felt the cold moon's power filling him as it did all waterbenders and sensed its impact on the tides the world over. Which parts of the world would flood even without the influence of waterbenders? Wherever that happened, those were people he couldn't help. He would have to trust them to help themselves.

Outside the city walls, Aang and the others descended on the command tent erected on the outskirts of battle. It also served as a medic station. Aang felt a pang of regret when he thought of all the people who had already been wounded in the fighting, or worse – he knew he should have been here, but he also accepted that his departure ended up being more beneficial than he could have imagined.

Once they landed, the Astronomer was the first to greet them, lamenting the early arrival of Seiryu's Moon despite all of her painstaking calculations. Spriggy the herbalist looked after the wounded along with a team of healers and physicians.

"Their numbers are few, but it's hard to compete with the power of the moon," said Zhu Zhang with a grunt. "I hope you found what you were looking for, Avatar. We need all the help we can get."

"Learned a lot," Aang said, frowning. "Mainly that Hakoda isn't even here."

Huu looked up from the soldier he had been healing. Aang was not surprised to see him in the healers' tent, despite his own power boost. He didn't seem too perturbed, as usual. "Huh? Then we have to withdraw, don't we?"

Jeong Jeong, Lo, Li, and Bumi pushed into the tent. "Kanna and Piandao have returned from the palace," said Jeong Jeong, his expression grave. "Their balloon barely made it across the city. Apparently things have taken a turn for the worse."

Aang and the others went back outside where Iroh helped Kanna and Piandao down from the gondola. Kanna in particular looked more distressed than Aang had ever seen her. "Sokka and Katara's balloon went down," she said, staring back at the city. "The firebender you call the 'Combustion Man' appeared along with the Wolf's Skulls and opened fire. We only barely managed to escape."

"I did see the balcony dissipate before they boarded the balloon," said Piandao. "So at the very least, it is unlikely they were caught in the blast. They fell, but they are two master waterbenders under Seiryu's Moon, and I'm sure they would let no harm come to Zuko and Qin either."

"Who's Qin?" Azula asked. She pinched the bridge of her nose in a way that reminded Aang of Zuko. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'm sure they're fine. Zhang and my father need to give the order to withdraw."

Kanna shook her head. "Did you learn Hakoda isn't here, as well?"

"This isn't good," said Iroh. "If that is true, then we must withdraw. But it appears Hakoda meant to deceive us. He knew he was outnumbered, so he schemed to trap our invasion force in the city. Reports from my brother's soldiers tell us that there is something in the air that disables earth and firebending, weakens them so that they're mostly defenseless."

"He means to hold us here long enough so that they can conquer Agna Qel'a in the north," Kanna continued. "All he wanted to do is divert us. And we fell for it."

Aang and Yue both drew back in surprise. "Agna Qel'a?" Yue asked, gaping. "Why?"

"I believe it has to do with the Nightseer," Kanna said, pressing her mitts together. "The protector spirit of the north. My son has always looked upon the powerful spirits unfavorably, and they're certainly quite… devout up there, to say the least."

"But she's gone from the North Pole, isn't she?" Suki asked, brow furrowed in concern. "It would be a wasted effort. We already beat her. Maybe he just doesn't know that yet?"

Yue put her knuckles to her lips, thinking. "But like we said earlier, her darkness still lingers there. Maybe he knows she can't really be defeated. It's possible she can form again, and take control. Does he think by wiping it out completely she won't be able to return?"

"I don't know, but Sangmu just went there by herself," Aang said, feeling a sick twist in his stomach. "What do I do? I can't be in all these places at once. I know where Hakoda is, but all the people in Aniak'to and Agna Qel'a need help." Hakoda really did find a way to be as far-reaching as water itself.

"He had this all planned somehow," said Lo.

"Even the early arrival of the moon," Li added.

Mai crossed her arms. "The portal can take some of our forces to the North Pole," she said. "Instantly."

"We don't have enough to spare," Zhang grunted. "We can barely keep up with the waterbenders just in Aniak'to."

Bumi patted his chest. "Then leave Agna Qel'a to us old folks! Aang, Emperor Hakoda is all yours."

"What about the benders trapped in the city?" Haru asked. "How do we help them?"

Spriggy spoke up, shaking a pair of vials between her fingers. "Sounds to me like old Thod and the Alchemical Institute figured out the particulars of their little Aromatherapy Project," she said. "That explains the ice domes over the city. They released a colorless, odorless gas that directly targets the chakra of whoever breathes it in. Sort of like a widespread chi blocking that saps the strength of the afflicted. The domes help to keep it concentrated and contained."

"And waterbenders and nonbenders are immune?" Piandao asked, scratching his beard.

"That was the biggest obstacle they had, but it appears they solved it," Spriggy continued, giving a chuckle that sounded more than a little appreciative. "There is a way to protect yourself against it, but I assume most of those remedies are within the Institute."

"So we need to get there and spread the cure so our soldiers can leave safely," said Ty Lee, clenching her fist.

Spriggy clinked her two vials together. "I can put together a concoction with some of the ingredients I have," she said. "It should give a couple of our benders their firepower back."

"So we've all got our objectives. But will that be enough?" Azula asked, frowning. "With Aang and I leaving…"

"Azula," Aang said, dreading his own words – he didn't want this, but knew it would be for the best. Hakoda was Aang's fight, and it was always meant to be. "I think you should stay here and help. Zuko and the others need you."

She stood perfectly still, watching him, almost weighing him in the calculating way she used to before they knew each other as well as they did now. For a moment, he thought she would dismiss his suggestion. But then she let out a sigh, her posture loosening. "I know I said all that before about fighting at your side… but I suppose I wouldn't be much help against a superpowered waterbender after all. I have to make sure my dum-dum brother is okay. Be safe," she said. "And give it your all."

They embraced one last time, careful not to say goodbye. They had only one goodbye left, and this wouldn't be it. "Same to you," he said. He still had so many things he wanted to talk about, but there was never enough time. Fire Lord Azula still lived behind her eyes and he had to save her from that. Red lights streaked through the stormy sky behind her in swirling lines, carving patterns in the clouds. As always, she looked beautiful. He didn't want to forget this moment for as long as he lived.

After he tore his gaze away from Azula, he turned to Kanna. "Since I don't have Sokka or Katara to help…"

She shook her head before he could finish. "I'm afraid I won't be able to join you, Aang," she said. "History would remember this as a personal conflict within our family, soiling Sokka's reign in blood before it even begins. Only the Avatar, impartial and balanced, has the power to set the stage for change like this. I once told you that this was a destiny you had taken from another, but I was wrong – this is a destiny you have chosen for yourself. I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for being here to save our world."

Thank you. Two simple words he didn't expect, and didn't think he needed or earned. He had only been doing his job as the Avatar, fighting to save a world full of people who had become so important to him. But it struck him at this moment in a way he couldn't describe. Unable to find words in response to that, he could only stammer. "So, uh… Sokka will take the throne, then? You really think so?"

Kanna smiled. "If he so chooses. We may have to ask him."

Behind them, Haru gestured to the odd assortment of spirits clustered outside the tent. A perplexed Bumi stood with him, scratching his head. "These geese are all yours, King Bumi," Haru said. "I'm happy to hand them over."


Zuko barely had time to react to Qin's inexplicable absence on the war balloon as the explosion rocked it. The floor underneath him turning instantly into water protected him from the blast as his stomach leapt to his throat. Falling through open air with water splashing around him like rain, he floundered, attempting to right himself even though there'd be no way they could survive a drop from the balcony's height.

The water swirled around him and solidified once more into ice; a ramp that formed in midair. He didn't know if it was Prince Zuko's reflexes or his own, but he managed to keep his footing when his boots touched the ice and he slid down in a spiraling descent that formed just ahead of his feet. It felt like less than a second later that he reached the roof of the palace below, somersaulting with the momentum to come to a safe stop. Sokka and Katara came down a moment after him, the water coiling around their bodies.

Sokka slumped over with relief when he landed. "Phew. Never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for the moon."

"Thanks for the save," Zuko said. "Do you think that explosion came from the Combustion Man? Is Qin all right?"

"Bet you he was taken," Katara said, her eyes fixed on the sky. From their angle closer to the ground, the Combustion Man's blasts couldn't reach them. "Grandmother looks like she got away."

A harpoon cut through the air like an oversized dart, gouging the roof of the palace just inches away from Sokka, who yelped in a panic. A rain of arrows followed suit, which Sokka and Katara both deflected with a shield of ice. When the shield fell away, a pair of waterbenders and an old warrior joined them on the rooftop.

Sokka's eye narrowed. "You two go on ahead," he said to Zuko and Katara. "This is one of our grandfather's old friends – I've got a score to settle."

Katara rolled her eyes. "You do? Please. I'd take Gilak down myself if he was worth my time."

Gilak? Zuko wondered. He knew that name. One of Hakoda's inner circle, he was supposed to have departed the city before the eclipse to protect his lands from the Wolverine-Skunk Clan, according to Azula. Based on Sokka's calculating expression, he must have known it, too. The longer they lingered, the bigger chance they had of getting the entire invasion force caught in Hakoda's trap. For that reason alone, Zuko nodded to Sokka and followed Katara to the edge of the roof.

"You've been a disgrace to our nation ever since your ice dodging embarrassment, boy," said Gilak, as they departed. He threw his voice, likely so Katara would hear his next words. "And your sister was always a waste and a failure! Kvichak knew it, too!"

Katara didn't hesitate as she leapt down an ice ramp going off of the roof, surprising Zuko both for her lack of a reaction and that she was considerate enough to leave it for him to go down safely, too. When they landed on the snowy ground, he took a moment to look back and worry for Sokka. "You weren't going to stay and beat that guy up for what he said?"

"I already mentioned he's not worth my time," she responded. "Gilak is an old pigheaded idiot and a relic. He's not even a bender. I'd rather go and find my dad since your little bald friend still hasn't shown up yet."

Zuko frowned and was about to retort when ice spikes from the walls surrounding the city shot toward them, followed by a torrent of water from the direction of the palace. It pushed them downhill toward the city proper, but Katara turned and held out her fishbone cane to divert the flow around them. While it kept them both from getting flooded, the force of the attacks from distant waterbenders outnumbered even Katara, herding them toward the ice domes.

"They don't want me going over the wall," Katara noted with a hint of amusement. "Fine, into the city it is."

When they passed into the shadow of the domes, it seemed to contain all of the sound within the city. Rather than the roar of water outside, here he heard the ringing echoes of weapons, faraway shouts, bombs going off, and the clatter of wood as the half-constructed buildings and scaffolding fell apart. Zuko kept to the shadows as they advanced, but Katara rendered his efforts moot by openly walking the streets. Whenever they came upon enemies, she overpowered them with a single dismissive wave of her hand.

Zuko's chest pounded. He didn't know if it was the strain of constant movement or the anxiety of battle, but he felt increasingly out of breath as they progressed. When one warrior got the drop on him, Zuko took in a rattling breath and the flame that came out of his fists sputtered. He had to grudgingly admit to himself that if Katara wasn't there, that warrior would have taken him out.

She's good to have at your back.

Maybe the Katara you know. Being alone with her makes me nervous. I feel like she's going to turn around and stab me any second.

"Will you hurry it up?" she called back to him. "I'm walking with a cane and bloodbending and every step causes more and more pain, and I'm still going faster than you."

"Something's wrong," he said, his breaths coming heavier. He sucked in deeper breaths but none of them brought relief. He braced one arm against the inside of an arch supported by whalebone, doubling over. It felt like the sea of chi within his stomach had run dry. He tried summoning flames in his palm, but with each attempt it flickered and smoked. "I think… I think the alchemists did something." Niyok and Nutha told him they had created a concoction that could release vapors to disable bending, but they said it had to be held under the nose of the afflicted in order for it to work.

Dread settled into his stomach where his chi had been. Was this the trap? Did they somehow spread those vapors around the whole city?

"Well I feel fine," she said, walking forward with no concern whatsoever. "I'll leave you behind if I have to, I really don't care."

He heard a voice above them. "Zuko?"

His eyes widened. Was it air deprivation, or did that voice really sound like…? He looked up just as the figure jumped down toward him, her deep purple cloak fanning out almost like wings. "Mai?"

She lowered her hood, lips quirking into a smile. Without hesitating, she ducked under his arm and draped it across her shoulders, supporting him into a standing position. He really wished he looked more dignified right about now. "You look like you need some help," she said. She cupped his chin, sealing shut his dumbfounded, open mouth with hers in a kiss.

"What's going on?" he asked, once she pulled away. He couldn't afford to have more breath taken away, but he would have given it all for even more of that. "How are you here?"

She led him around another corner to an open square, where he saw more faces he didn't expect to see. "It's a long story."

Katara was already with them, frozen with what he could only assume was surprise as Suki and Yue threw their arms around her. Opposite to Katara, he saw Ty Lee and Azula, too. Mai helped him over to his sister.

"Azula?" he asked, gasping for breath. "If you're here, then Aang's…?"

"Calm down, brother," said Azula, putting a hand on her hip. She seemed completely unaffected by the alchemical gas in the air. "I know you're excited to see Mai, but you should really stop and catch your breath."

He scowled. "How are you okay? We've fallen for a trap!"

"Old news, we heard it from Kanna. That herbalist lady made us a remedy," she explained, almost tauntingly, in that way only little sisters could. "But sadly she could only make enough for Ghashiun and myself. Sorry, Zuzu – we'll have to get you out of the city."

"Hi, Zuko!" Ty Lee said, waving. "Aang flew off to go face the emperor, so we're here to save you!"

"An extraction mission," said Mai, lowering Zuko to a bench. "To get the whole allied force out of Aniak'to safely." She stood up straight, knives fanning out between her fingers. She looked ahead at one of the intersecting streets as about a dozen warriors and waterbenders began appearing in the square.

"C'mon, girls," Katara said, taking point while Suki and Yue fell into place behind her. "We need to deal with these guys for cutting our reunion short."

"Oh, I missed this," said Suki. "You're really not mad at us, Katara?"

"Why would I be? You didn't betray me. Just our nation, I guess."

"We've got so much to catch up on," said Yue, unsheathing her blade.

Zuko watched. Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee stood apart from Katara, Suki, and Yue, but he saw glances passing between them. And then the fighting began.

He knew Yue had befriended Toph and Aang, but based on the way they all fought together it was as if her and Suki had been friends with everyone forever. Suki dispersed the firebending of a Wolf's Skull with her fans while Ty Lee cartwheeled in to disable him. Mai hurled her knives at a distant warrior but when a fighter with a spear came at her, Yue stood in front of her and cut his weapon in half. Mai covered Ty Lee from afar while Suki and Yue surrounded an earthbender up close. The four nonbenders worked as if they were herding all of their enemies into a circle between them, dancing around their attacks and covering each other, while Azula went in and finished the ones caught in the center with a flying leap and a rain of fireballs.

Just outside their circle, Katara fought off the waterbenders. Walls of water and snow pushed down the city street, but she redirected the flow around the square. Zuko pressed as far away from the whitewater flow as he could – getting swept up in that would make him crash and break all of his bones, if he didn't drown first. Between Katara and the other three waterbenders, they bent enough water to swallow entire buildings, clearing the ground of snow or conjuring it from the air. It seemed their only limitation was the sheer absence of more water to bend.

Azula distracted one of the waterbenders with a barrage of blue flames, but he snuffed them out with a shield of water. He gestured to retaliate with a slicing motion, but before he could finish, Mai pinned his arms to the nearby metal steam tank with a loud clang. Ty Lee rolled in to finish him with two quick jabs to his shoulders and another to his lower back. On the other side of the street, Katara blocked the bullets of water from the other bender. Suki disarmed him of his machete while Yue struck him in the stomach with the hilt of her blade, and then pulled an unusual white birch staff from her back to knock him unconscious while he was doubled over.

"You all right, Zuko?" Mai asked him once it was all over.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at the metal tank as it belched more steam, remembering another fact he learned during his time at the Institute. His words came out in wheezy gasps. "It's those tanks," he said. "Their main purpose is to spread hot water throughout the city using underground pipes." Sokka had shown pride in the ingenuity of his people when Niyok and Nutha explained that to Zuko and Sangmu.

"Yeah, they let me enjoy my hot yoga and saunas," Katara said. "What's your point?"

"The pipes originate in the Institute," Zuko said, hunched over. "The hot water comes from there, with a solution mixed in to keep them from freezing. I think that's how they're disabling bending on such a wide scale. We're inhaling something that makes us feel this way… and somehow it only works on firebenders and earthbenders."

"Wow, that's so scary that they can take bending away!" said Ty Lee, her hands clasped together with her eyes wide. Everyone paused and looked at her with varying levels of exasperation. "What?" she asked.

Suki made a fist. "So should we break all of their tanks?"

Zuko shook his head. "I'm not sure that'll work. There are too many, and it's already in the air." He looked up at the dome casting a shadow on them all. "Think of it like a heavy fog. The domes are to help hold it in, and keep the wind from blowing it all away. It's not to protect the city from an aerial attack at all."

"So what we need to do is turn it off right at the source, don't we?" said Mai. "Once we do that, our people will be able to fight back and get out of the city more easily."

The sound of footsteps coming toward them made them turn down the street, but they all lowered their weapons when Jet and Ghashiun entered the square.

"Next street over is getting overrun with waterbenders," Jet announced, panting. "We should get moving."

"Jet!" Zuko called, more relieved to see him than he expected.

"Not a bad idea," said Katara. "Let's go."

Jet glared, his eyebrows knitting together with the hard lines of his face, all pure disgust. "Wait, she's here, too?" He pointed one of his hook swords at Katara.

"What, did none of you tell him I'm on your side now?" Katara asked, rolling her eyes.

"I'm still not sure how true that is," said Azula, rolling them right back. Zuko wasn't sure if they noticed they wore the same expression. "Besides, there were more important things to go over. I mentioned it earlier but you were apparently too battle-hungry to listen, Jet."

"She tortured me!"

"That's all in the past, can't we avoid getting all emotional and let bygones be bygones?" said Katara, waving a hand dismissively. "The moon's here. I'd advise you not to get on my bad side."

Ty Lee frowned at Katara. "Wait, torture?"

"I played a part in that, too, if you remember," said Ghashiun, shuffling his feet. "Perhaps later is when Katara and I can make amends. But right now there's a greater danger afoot, and we need everyone's help."

Both Jet and Katara scoffed, looking away from each other.

Mai helped Zuko get between them to defuse the situation. "Katara, you keep on going through the city to rescue whoever you can," Zuko said. "Jet, everyone else – let's head to the Institute."

Katara crossed her arms. "I don't take orders."

Ghashiun started walking in that direction first. "Hopefully we'll run into my sister that way."

"Wasn't Sokka with you?" Suki asked Zuko.

"He's back at the palace," Zuko answered. "We left him facing Gilak on the rooftop."

"Thanks. I'm going to go help him," she said, disappearing in that direction. Zuko couldn't help but notice Katara's peeved expression at her departure, but he ignored it.

In the end, they decided that Azula and Yue would join Katara while the rest of them made their way to the Institute to disable the steam tanks. Before they parted, however, a horn blasted from somewhere to the north, just outside of the city. Another blared from the east, and then a third from the northwest. All Water Tribe horns.

"Sounds like the Wolverine-Skunks couldn't – or didn't want to – hold off my dad's closest allies for long enough," Katara said, clutching the head of her cane. "We should have known, since Gilak was already here. Now Aniak'to is surrounded."


"You're just trying to delay me."

Sokka clutched his sword while Gilak wielded his own, a whalebone Water Tribe blade somewhere between a scimitar and a machete with a single edge and jagged teeth on its other side. He held a bone shield in his other hand, but the far greater threat were the two waterbenders who flanked him and the archers up on the higher eaves of the palace rooftop. Sokka faced them alone, glad that Zuko and Katara managed to descend into the city.

Hey, I take offense to you disregarding him as a threat just 'cause he can't bend!

"Of course I am," said Gilak, spreading his arms. "Can't have a waterbender traitor going to help the invaders during Seiryu's Moon. You'd be too much of an advantage. What a shame, since you were always such a liability to your own people. At least once you exiled yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, the genius son lecture," Sokka said, scowling. "I had an 'auspicious future' ahead despite the ice-dodging failure until I threw it all away to go and prove myself. Heard it all already." He knew Gilak was only trying to bait him, but it wasn't like he could go anywhere while they had him like this.

"Your father was proud of you, back then," Gilak said with a skeptical grunt. "Once upon a time. Imagine how disappointed he was when you left for three years to travel the world and chase girls."

Sokka swung his sword and the snow coalesced to an arc of water almost as tall as the palace walls. It smashed into the stone, carving into it with a cracking noise that made everything rumble, but Gilak leapt out of the way as his two waterbender cronies diverted the flows around them. The archers above scrambled, their shots careening out wide as their balance wavered. Both waterbenders retaliated with drilling torpedoes, but instead of trying to redirect it Sokka coiled the snow underneath his feet and propelled himself high above them.

From the air, he formed ice spears with his breath and caught his fall with a snow spout, unrelenting in his attack against the waterbenders and archers. He froze the bowstrings from a distance, disabling them with only the effort of concentration as their weapons snapped. When he plummeted back down to the roof, Gilak came at him with more speed and ferocity than he expected from the old warrior.

"The disappointment came long before my ice-dodging trial," Sokka said, hefting his meteorite blade to block Gilak's strike. Gilak's attack against his sword made Sokka's arms rattle, and when Gilak held the lock Sokka found himself sliding away to break it. He shook out his arms. "And I didn't go to meet girls!"

"Look at you," Gilak said, on top of him again with just a few short strides. "Siding with the enemy. Using a foreigner's sword. Is that the way of things now? Maybe your father will appreciate you more than you'd think."

This was already going on longer than Sokka intended. He'd thought this would be quick. "I don't care!" he exclaimed with a shout, focusing more on avoiding being skewered than coming up with a witty retort. Water rushed at him from the two benders he'd nearly forgotten, forcing him to stand his ground and stomp his feet to block the water bullets head-on. When it splashed back toward his assailants, Gilak took advantage of Sokka's distraction by bashing him with his shield.

The blow knocked him skyward. Sokka crashed down hard on the stony roof of the palace, the wind gone from his lungs. The waterbenders held more water coiling around their hands, holding back for reasons he couldn't say, and now that he looked at them more closely he recognized them as Gilak's clansmen. He cautiously rose to his feet, gulping in frigid, lung-burning breaths, and glared at Gilak. "What did you do?" he asked. Something wasn't right about the way Gilak moved and fought. There were old war stories about his prowess in battle, but that had been years ago. "How are you this strong? This fast?"

"Like it?" he asked, spreading his arms again as if taunting. "It's as if I'm in my prime again, and better. Normally I'm not a fan of Thod's potions and tricks, but I couldn't turn this one down. Our nonbenders had to keep up somehow. Though, of course, not everyone volunteered to try it."

Some kind of enhancement? The alchemists can do that?

I don't wanna say 'I told you so' about underestimating nonbenders, since I know it's not the time, but…

It isn't the time!

Closer to the edge of the rooftop, he summoned a wall of snow from the ground below and it rose behind him, a tidal wave crashing over them all. Predictably, the other waterbenders avoided it, but it swept over the archers scrambling to their feet and Gilak himself. Sokka didn't wait for the waterbenders to retaliate; first he froze the water to the rooftop and skated over the top, hurling a series of ice boomerangs that looked like an entire flock of birds with enough force that they crashed down on the ice and snow and made geysers. That finished off one of the waterbenders, but the other skated further away.

Gilak's breaking out!

I know, I know, I saw it – I can do without the commentary, you know!

I'm just trying to help!

The ice where he had imprisoned Gilak cracked. He'd thought it would be thick enough to hold him, but he broke through with surprising ease and rejoined the battle as if it hadn't winded him at all. Sokka battered his shield with a massive block of ice shaped like a battering ram, but like everything else that barely did anything to deter him.

"You don't feel any pain, do you?" Sokka asked, frowning. "There's no way any human could fight like this. Whatever Thod gave you, it's got to have drawbacks! Gilak, it's eventually going to wear off – I don't think your body can handle what you're doing to it!"

Gilak lunged toward him, closing the space between them in a blink. "What do you care? We're no kin. You betrayed your nation and all the people in it."

Sokka kept his distance this time, coiling the water around himself to avoid both Gilak and the other waterbender, who surrounded Sokka with jet streams. Sokka pulled out his club and spun between the attacks, deflecting them with both of his weapons and swinging at the waterbender with bludgeoned and cutting strikes. He finally managed to strike the waterbender, bursting through his defenses, and the attack launched him across the roof where he slid to a stop just inches away from the edge. The cutting attack went toward Gilak, who didn't hide behind his shield in time to prevent slices across his arms and legs.

"Of course I care!" Sokka shouted down at him. "I'm trying to save our nation, you idiot!"

Gilak's blood splattered onto the snow, vividly scarlet in the sapphire moonlight. It didn't faze him in the slightest. Even with no waterbenders to support him, Gilak didn't back down. "You have a funny way of saving it," he said, scowling. "Aniak'to is the heart of the Water Tribe, and your people are invading it."

Sokka didn't miss the way Gilak grouped him in with the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation invaders. From high above, Sokka only had pity for him. "How are you so set in your ways?" he asked. "Our element is the element of change. Of adaptability and innovation. The Water Tribes still have room for people like you, you know. Even in a world at peace."

"I do adapt," he said. "I do whatever I must to adapt and overcome. To survive. But even I have my limits. You want us to keel over and surrender to these invaders? I'll never have it. I have no desire to see a world where the Water Tribes are diluted into nothing, weak and cowering again at the edges of the world."

Sokka lowered himself back to the roof of the palace, the water spout around his feet slowing. He didn't take a fighting stance, but the moment he touched the ground Gilak came charging at him with his blade raised. Before Gilak could reach him, Sokka splayed out the fingers on both of his hands and the old warrior stopped short.

"You just don't see," Sokka said, holding his hands out. "You can't look past your own beliefs to see that we can live in peace while keeping our identity. Our pride. Our nation has so much to offer the world."

"Let me go!" Gilak roared, straining against Sokka's bloodbending hold. "You coward! Weakling! Fight me like a man!"

Sokka shook his head, sighing. "I don't want to fight you anymore. There's no need, because it won't accomplish anything." If there was one thing bloodbending was good for, he figured it was this. Not too long ago, he would have fought in an attempt to prove himself.

Then he heard the war horns, far in the distance. Closing in on the city from the snowfields.

Gilak spat. "It doesn't matter. Your invasion force fell for your father's little schemes. Once the traitorous Wolverine-Skunks stopped their raids, all of the southern clans were free to come to the Wolf's aid again. Most went to the North Pole weeks ago, but we don't need them all to crush you here. All of the Empire's enemies in one place." He grinned. "Suppose I gotta hand it to your father. Using the moon to get rid of his enemies rather than prioritizing conquest? Not something I would have thought of."

Sokka narrowed his eye. "That's why you're back here? The invasion force was to be trapped inside the city while you all closed in on us?"

"The Avatar's greatest allies, weakened and defenseless in our own city. A token fleet headed by Hakoda is sailing to the Earth Kingdom to fight those who we thought were coming to invade us, originally a misdirection but even that is a threat to your people with the moon. Then our strongest fleet against the North. And the North itself against the Golden City, oblivious to Hakoda's plans. It's genius, really." Gilak choked, grimacing in pain. Sokka released him in a hurry and kept his guard up, but there was no need – Gilak fell to the ground with his hand clutching his chest. Worried that it had to do with the bloodbending, Sokka took a step forward in concern, prepared to heal him. But the moment his water started glowing, Gilak let out a yell and swung his blade, warding Sokka away from him. He could barely hold himself up on his knee. "Was never a fan of… schemes and tricks, though," he said, his breaths coming heavy.

Sokka felt ice in his stomach. "Thod's elixirs. They're wearing off, aren't they?"

"Didn't last as long as I'd hoped," he said. "Like I said… not many volunteers."

Oh, no… The price is his life, isn't it? There was no way his body could keep up, moving like he did in his old age, said the voice of his other self. He sounded sad. Sokka supposed he must have known Gilak in that other world.

"Let me help you," Sokka said, crouching down. He didn't have time for this. He knew it. But he couldn't leave Gilak to die.

"No," he said. "I'm going to die as I have lived. A proud tribesman. I want no place in your world." His breaths came shorter and more rapid, wincing as he continued to clutch his chest. "Y'know, you're more like your father than you realize. The machinations. You've both got… grand dreams for the future." He laughed, and Sokka realized he meant it as an insult. An accusation. And he knew Gilak had made his decision.

"My father is a cruel man," Sokka said, shaking his head. "He'd watch you die without feeling a thing. I could save you, but in a way, that would be cruel, too. Instead, I… I'll remember you, and the people like you."

Gilak looked up at him one last time, staring Sokka right in the eye, and released his last breath before collapsing into the snow.

Sokka left him there. Maybe he did have some things in common with his father, but not where it mattered. And he was fine with that.

When he slid down from the roof on an ice ramp, he kept his momentum going down the slope toward the city. But he almost lost his balance when Suki, of all people, crossed his path.

He slid to a stop, snow scattering from the harsh movement. "Suki!" he exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"

He felt his breath leave him when he took her in, gaping slack-jawed at her in full makeup and armor. Had she always been so pretty? Did he really miss her that much? He felt compelled to run up and hug her but he told himself that these were the feelings of the other Sokka surging up inside of him. Well, he supposed maybe his other self was right about a couple of things. Especially her eyes.

"It's a long story," she said, looking sheepish. "Like, really long. I guess you don't need help anymore, huh?"

Despite everything going on, they just stood there. For the other Sokka, nothing else mattered. And part of him wanted to let his counterpart have this moment. "You… came to help me?"

"Yeah, against Gilak, right? We ran into Katara and the firebender boy in town. Zuko?" She shrugged. "Well, listen… I'm glad you're okay. I wanted to apologize, for, well… for Ba Sing Se."

Sokka frowned. "What could you possibly have to apologize for?"

"After those spirits attacked and we thought something happened to you and Katara, and we lost Yue, I just… ran away from it all," she said, rubbing her arm. "I should have come to find you guys. I had no real idea if you were even okay."

Sokka shook his head. "No, no. I'm the one who needs to apologize. For everything my people did to you." Everything came pouring out, all the things he'd been holding in ever since going to Kyoshi Island. "I met Mizuka, your old master. And she told me all about her time in the palace, how it was terrible for her, and she felt like a hostage. Well, because she was a hostage! And when I ran into her at Kyoshi Island we helped bring back the unagi and I wanted her to train me but she said she was the last real Kyoshi Warrior because she never completed your training, and she told me the things I needed to tell you about how Kyoshi – the Avatar, not the island itself, that would be weird – founded them so women could protect each other. And the golden threads symbolize your bonds, and the green is the blood in your veins." His face screwed up in thought. "Oh, no, the other way around. That doesn't make sense."

She gripped him by both of his arms, cutting him short. "Sokka, you talk too much," she said.

I sure do.

"I sure do," he said, echoing his other self.

"Not too long ago, I had to confront some, um… 'inner darkness' I didn't realize I had been carrying with me, I guess. I had so many fears about growing up here, but it made me realize I never really hated my time in the palace overall," she said, bunching up her shoulders. "And a lot of that had to do with you."

"Me?" he asked, stunned.

She grinned. "I was the outsider, but you picked on me when we were kids just like you did anyone else."

A sludge bomb rolled from the palace toward them, but Sokka encased it in ice before it exploded. "Okay, now we're both talking too much. Let's go find the others!"

She unfurled her fans, smiling as she fought alongside him. "Yes, let's!"


When Sangmu emerged from the northern spirit portal on the other side of the world, she found herself at a loss for where to go. She was supposed to find the source of darkness here, but all she had was an unusual goose spirit to ferry her around.

"Momo, Sabi," she said to the two lemurs in her robes. "I said I'd do this, but where do I even start?"

She sat down in a lotus position and meditated. Back at the Western Air Temple, she'd read about monks and nuns who would meditate to contemplate blessed or cursed objects and places. They spoke of sensing the flows of energy around them, the attunement to their highest Self, and walking the path of enlightenment with the aid of these places. The first airbender to find this enlightenment did so under a great tree, so all tried to follow his example.

Her mind wandered, and then she found herself at a pool of water. Grass amidst the snow, life amidst the barren cold. But it felt heavy, with spirits mourning as if they attended a funeral. Dark spirits infested this place when once she thought it must have been beautiful.

She flew up high, noticing the city of ice sprawled out beneath her. Then came the realization that she lacked her body – and even more shocking, Seiryu's Moon journeyed through the night sky.


Mai ran alongside Zuko as they made their way to the Alchemical Institute. They trailed behind Ty Lee, Jet, and Ghashiun, since Zuko still struggled to breathe and run on his own. But she was not about to leave him behind. On the way, she wondered if spiritbending could remove whatever impurity afflicted him, but she no longer had that ability. Even so, she told him about it, the one and only time in her life she managed a feat of bending.

"That isn't the only miracle you are capable of."

She stopped short when the voice, melodious and calming, resounded through her head. It felt familiar. It warmed her at her core, like the scarlet and gold fire amidst the gloom of darkness when the Nightseer tried to claim her. And she knew its identity as surely as she knew herself.

You're Suza, she thought.

"I am reborn within you. Reborn into this world. And because you have found your reason to fight, now you have given me the chance to atone for the ruination I have brought to other worlds. You have my life. And I, yours."

And thus were they reborn, among stardust and ashes.


Author's Notes: Please review, and tell me what you think! The final chapters will be out next week!