The Trouble with Fire

Ch.10: Battle at the North Pole Pt.2

Zuko X OC

disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender. I own my OC


"I assure you... I have everything under control. I intend to remove the moon as a factor.", Zhao stated. Fang's eyes widened. Remove the moon? What on earth was he talking about? He couldn't do that... it would throw off the balance for everyone... not just the water tribe.

"Remove the moon? How?", Iroh asked, surprised by his answer. "Years ago.. I stumbled upon a great and powerful secret. The identity of the moon spirits mortal form.", Zhao said, a smirk still plastered on his face. "What?!", Iroh asked and yelled in surprise. Fang couldn't believe it.

The moon spirit had a mortal form? ...And Zhao knew what it was? It was only a matter of time before he killed the moon spirit. Fang looked pleadingly at Iroh. They had to stop him. Nothing could happen to the moon spirit.

"I was a young Lieutenant serving under General Shu in the Earth Kingdom. I discovered a hidden library underground. I tore through scroll after scroll after scroll. One of them contained a detailed illustration with the words 'ocean' and 'moon'. I knew then that these spirits could be found...and killed. And that it was my destiny to do so.", Zhao boasted.

"Zhao! The spirits are not to be trifled with!", Iroh yelled. Fang nodded her head in agreement. "Yes.. yes.. I know you fear the spirits, Iroh. I've heard rumors of your journey into the spirit world but the ocean and moon gave up their immortality to become a part of our world. And now they will face the consequences.", Zhao stated. Fang shook her head.

"Admiral Zhao, there must be balance in this world. If you kill the moon spirit.. you will disrupt the balance, permanently.", Fang stated, frowning a lot. Zhao's eyes flashed toward her. "As I said, I assure you I have everything under control. War is not something to be discussed by a Lady.", Zhao rudely sneered.

Fang felt anger rising up but she held it back down at of respect. She couldn't say too much right now.. but either way... she would stop Zhao no matter what. How though? He even had a map to get to the location. His attitude was something that she just hated. He was arrogant and conceded, two qualities she hated in men. "Ready the rhino's, we're about to disembark.", Zhao ordered to the two guards. Fang turned her head and quickly followed them.

Unfortunately, she would have to figure out how to stop Zhao on their way to the shrine. It was getting dark and that meant the water benders were start to gain their power. Perhaps they would have the power to fend off Zhao's army now that the moon was up and full. Her eyes fell on the round sphere in the sky. She could only pray to the moon spirit that it would be enough to save the water benders.. if not... this would be the end of their tribe.


Fang stepped into the round doorway, pulling her coat closer to her neck. She could feel the tranquility and the spirituality in the room. It was so.. peaceful. Her eyes fell on the small oasis in the middle of a man-made lake.

Two large waterfalls pooled water into the lake. Her feet crunched the grass underneath her as she walked toward the waterfalls. The sound of the rushing water filled her ears as the misty air sprayed at her face.

It sent a chill down her spine, she had never gotten use to the cold and it wasn't going to change now. Her eyes fell on the two koi fish that were swimming around in a circle. She smiled as she watched them form yin and yang.

Her eyes widened. Had the spirits chosen their mortal form to be a koi fish? The moon and the ocean spirits were koi? Her eyes flashed toward Iroh, she wanted to signal that she had figured out who the spirits were but it seemed Iroh had already figured it out.

Zhao was fast approaching toward them and Fang desperately wanted to step in front of him and protect the spirits but she didn't have time before Zhao reached into the water and wrenched the spirit out the water. The white koi wiggled in his grasp as he placed it into a brown bag and held it up in triumph.

Fang turned and looked at Iroh again, he seemed just as distressed as she was but didn't have time to say anything before she noticed the moon starting to turn red. Her eyes widened. She had never seen anything like this before. The water benders had absolutely no power now. They could not defend against the fire benders any longer.

"I am.. a legend! The fire nation for generations will tell stories of about the great Zhao who darkened the moon. They will call me Zhao the conquered, Zhao the moon slayer!", Zhao boasted as he held up the brown bag. Suddenly a lemur hopped onto Zhao's head and tried to get the bag from him but Zhao held on tightly to it.

Fang watched as he swatted it away but a smile came to her face as she saw the avatar standing in front of them. He was in an offensive position. With the avatar showing up Fang would be able to think of something. Her eyes followed to the Avatar's bison. Her eyes widened as she saw Zuko tied up, lying in the saddle. However it looked like Zhao didn't even notice, he was preoccupied by the spirit he held in his hands. Zhao smirked and help up his fist toward the bag. "Don't bother. I will kill the spirit right now, right here.", he threatened.

The young boys eyes widened and he quickly put down his staff. "Zhao! Don't!", he begged. Zhao smirked again. "It's my destiny... to destroy the moon and the water tribe.", Zhao answered. The Avatar quickly held up his arms in a surrendering motion.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt 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.", the Avatar stated.

Iroh suddenly stepped forward and pointed at the moon spirit in the bag. "He is right, Zhao.", Iroh agreed. "General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?", Zhao asked rhetorically. This was her opportunity. Fang quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Zhao, protecting the ocean spirit. "No more.", she whispered.

Zhao eyed her out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm no traitor, Zhao. Fire benders need the moon too. We all depend on the balance of the world. Whatever you do to that spirit.. I will unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!", Iroh threatened back. Fang held out her hand, ready to strike Zhao at any moment.

"Please let the spirit go.", she pleaded, watching him intently. Zhao frowned and slowly knelt down, letting the moon spirit go back into the water. The moon returned to it's regular blue color and the suffocating feeling that had been hanging in the air finally started to go away. Fang slowly let her guard down but her eyes widened when she saw Zhao send a fireball right into the pond that the spirits were in.

She gasped and looked up at the sky as the moon completely disappeared. Iroh leaped forward and shot fire towards Zhao who quickly dodged it. Fang turned to the spirit that was in the water, the poor fish hung limp in the water, a large gash across it's back. Fang watched as one of the water tribe woman gently grabbed the fish with tears in her eyes.

"No..", she whispered as she gently reached out and ran her fingers slowly over the spirit. Her eyes then traveled to the Avatar. She could see the anger that was in him. Her eyes met his. "Where is Zuko..?", she asked. The Avatar turned quickly to his flying bison but frowned when he saw that the ropes he had used to tie Zuko up with had been broken.

He must have escaped. Fang eyed them too and nodded. She was just relived to know that he was alright. The water tribe girl started to cry as she held the fish. "There's no hope. It's over now...", she whimpered. A strong breeze hit all of them as Fang turned to look at the Avatar. His eyes glowed a bright white as he stepped into the water.

He stepped toward the side of the ocean spirit and then slipped down into the water. Blue veins of energy filled the pond as the water rose high into the air. Fang watched amazed as the Avatar showed off his true power, standing tall into the form of a fish. Fang smiled. She wasn't needed anymore. The Avatar would find a way to fix this. He would bring balance to the world.

Fang turned to Iroh. "I am going to go look for Zuko.", she whispered to him. He nodded slowly and watched as she disappeared back up the steps. Fang slowly crawled through the round door they had entered into. Zuko shouldn't have gotten too far. Out of the corner of her eye watched as the Avatar made large waterfalls, completely making the Fire Nation fleet retreat.

She smiled big as she watched all of them starting to run for the ships. The water tribe was going to live, they won. Fang quickly held herself against the wall as she hid from the other soldiers. Where on earth had Zuko gone?

She made her way down a corridor but frowned as she realized it was a dead-end. Fang turned to run the other direction but was stopped by two hands that grabbed both of her wrists. She looked up to see Zhao holding onto her making her glare at him.

"Going somewhere, Milady?", he asked, a smirk forming on his lips. Fang tried to pull her wrists away from Zhao but he didn't budge. "Let go of me.", she stated, still trying to pull her wrists from him. Zhao quickly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall, he held her wrists in one of his hands above her head.

Zhao's hand came up to caress her cheek but she turned her head away from him. "I always though you were beautiful.", he whispered. Fang's eyes turned back to look at Zhao. "Why you chose Zuko out of any other man that you could have had, will never make sense to me. He's such a child.", he said, still smirking.

"My husband is more of a man then you will ever be, Zhao.", Fang hissed at him still trying to get away. Respect was thrown at the window, he would have no title as long as he continued to hold her against her will. "I sincerely doubt that.", Zhao said as roughly kissed her.

Fang desperately tried to get her arms free of him as she felt his other hand pull her cloth blouse roughly, trying to rip it off. Fang bit Zhao's lip roughly making him wince away in pain. Fang took the opportunity to try to get away but an arm snaked around her waist pulling her back. Instinctively she shot a fireball out toward her captor but Zhao was quick and blocked the fireball.

"Don't even try to fight me. You are no match for me, Fang. You are helpless.", Zhao said as he ripped her shirt open and tried to pin her hands behind her back. She could feel Zhao's lips running along her neck and shoulder.

Suddenly a fireball came from behind Zhao that made him let go of Fang. "Zhao!", Fang heard Zuko's voice. She was so relieved to hear her husbands voice. She tried placed her back against the wall, her breathing ragged. Zuko lunged as Zhao, shooting a furry of fireballs at him.

She could see the anger in his eyes. Relief came over Fang as she clutched her shirt closer to her, trying to cover herself up. The cold night air nipping at her bare skin. Zhao turned and looked up at him in disbelief. "You're alive?!", he yelled, not half believing what he was seeing. Zuko jumped down and looked at Fang out of the corner of his eye making sure she was okay. Zuko glared at Zhao.

"You tried to have me killed and then you assault my wife!?", Zuko yelled, shooting a fireball towards Zhao who dodged it. A smirk appeared on Zhao's face but he said nothing. "You're the blue spirit... an enemy of the Fire Nation. You freed the Avatar.", Zhao announced.

"I had no choice!", Zuko answered back, shooting a large fire blast as Zhao. Fang was still trying to catch her breath as she watched both of them duel. "You should have chosen to accept your failure. You're a disgrace... then at least you could have lived.", Zhao retorted taking off his cape.

He leaped forward and shot a large fireball at the ground where Zuko's feet were but Zuko was one step ahead of him. He was able to shoot a fireball toward Zhao that Zhao was not able to block. He stumbled and fell on his back.

As the two men dueled, Fang could see the Avatar off in the distance that the Avatar was towering over the Fire Nation ships, destroying many of them with one swipe of his arm. The ships tried to retreat but the Avatar was already on them, making huge tidal waves to push back the ships.

Suddenly the moon formed back into the sky. Fang's eyes stared in disbelief as it shined brightly in the sky. The moon had come back. Perhaps Iroh and the avatar's companions had figured out a way to revive the spirit. Zhao stared in disbelief at the moon.

"It can't be!", he yelled, his mouth hanging open. Zuko took the opportunity to hit Zhao with another blast of fire. He didn't have time to block it and Fang closed her eyes as she heard the familiar scream and smell of skin burning.

Fang could see the water around her glowing blue as she watched claws come up from the water, wrapping around Zhao and Zuko. Zuko backed away and quickly rolled to escape the grip of the spirit. Zhao tried to crawl away but was too slow.

The spirit had him in a strong grip which brought a small smile to her face. It served him right, you never made the spirits angry. It would come back to haunt you. Fang watched as the spirit dragged him into the water, drowning Zhao.

Fang's adrenaline was slowly starting to return back to normal when Zuko turned to her. He quickly walked to her and held her shirt closed with his hands. "Did he hurt you? I'm sorry I didn't come sooner.", he whispered.

Fang's eyes welled up with tears but she slowly shook her head. "He didn't get far...", she whispered back to him. Zuko wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head. Fang rested her head against his shoulder, she had never felt so safe and protected in his arms. "I missed you..", Fang sadly stated. Zuko wrapped his arms around her tighter.

He slowly let go of her and placed a hand on her back, leading her away from the corridor and toward the gate to the north pole. "Where's my uncle?", he asked. "He was in the sanctuary when I last saw him.", she answered back.

Zuko nodded and picked up the pace. "We need to leave quickly before the water tribe still realizes we are here.", he said. Fang pointed to a red blotch that was quickly approaching them. They waited as the Iroh ran up to them, panting heavily and holding his chest.

"Zuko, Fang, lets leave quickly.", Iroh stated, still trying to catch his breath. Iroh's eyes fell toward Fang's ripped shirt making him frown but he didn't say anything, he would ask Zuko later what had happened. He could see she was shook-up and didn't want to make her anymore upset.

"There's a raft that we can use to sail away.", Iroh stated. As they walked Fang turned to Iroh. "The moon? How did it come back?", she asked him. Iroh smiled and pointed to his hair. "The water tribe girl with the white hair, she turned herself into the moon spirit.", Iroh answered with a smile. Fang nodded and looked up to see the sun starting to come up.

At least they didn't have to sail in the dark. Zuko helped Fang onto the raft and then quickly followed her, standing toward the corner. Fang's eyes traveled around, broken wreckage of Fire Nation ships floated in the water.

The Avatar had certainly won the battle for the water tribe. Iroh slowly kicked the raft away from the shore and started to let go of the sails. "I'm surprised Zuko. I'm surprised that at this moment you're not trying to capture the Avatar.", Iroh said, tying a knot around a wood plank.

"I'm tired.", he whispered. Fang placed a hand on her husbands shoulder. "You need your rest.", Iroh answered back. Zuko slowly laid down on the raft. Fang sat on the ground next to him, letting him rest his head in her lap. She smiled softly and gently caressed his neck and shoulder as the raft slowly floated away from the water tribe. At least for now, they could rest and be at peace.


End of Ch.10