Chapter 2: Revelation of Power

Being knocked out is never fun. What's worse is waking up after being out for a while. Your brain tries to latch onto the last thing you remember, which could be any number of things. Then there is the trying to match those memories to where you currently are. If you have been moved, there is confusion, uncertainty, and fear. Fortunately for Sokka, he was more concerned with figuring out where he was then getting scared. When all of his senses reported in, a few important facts were made known. He was laying down on something hard, he hands and legs had something smooth and cold on them, there were sports on his chest that felt unusually warm, and he was naked. While the first three were useful, the last was the most alarming. One did not get naked very often in the south pole. Normally, the only time he was ever uncovered was when he was changing clothes. While his mind focused on trying to figure out what all these clues meant, his body started to twitch nervously.

"Please lay still, I'm trying to help you." A calming voice asked politely. Sokka's mind categorized it as a female's voice. His eyes shot open and a girl came into focus. Her eyes were closed and her hands were hovering over his chest. Sokka's first thought was that she was very cute. His second that she probably had seen him naked. Embarrassed, he stared to blush, His body moving to try and maintain his modesty. He heard the metallic clink of chains which he realized held his arms and legs, making it impossible for him to move.

Reaching down, the girl grabbed for some stones that had been placed on Sokka's chest. They were sliding off due to his fighting. "Don't be embarrassed." The girl said, smiling slightly. "I've seen many people naked in my time as a healer." For some reason, that calmed Sokka down. His body was already tired and the small movements had exhausted him. He just laid there as the girl replaced the stones on his chest. "These stones help me open your chi pathways, which in turn helps heal your body." She calmly explained. "My master really roughed you up, fractured a few ribs, bruised some of your organs, gave you a nasty concussion. You'll live, but you'll be sore and tired for a few days while your body repairs the damage."

"Your master?" Sokka croaked out, barely able to gather the energy to move his lips.

"Colonel Zuren, the man you fought. He saved my life when solders attacked my home and killed my parents. Since then, he's been protecting me and I return his generosity by serving him."

"Oh." Sokka replied, at a loss of what to do next. He laid there, his mind going over the last few hours of his life. That morning, what he thought was an otherwise normal morning, had turned into an annoyance by midday and a nightmare by evening. He failed to keep the village secret, the cover story Ranma and he thought up was flimsy at best, and Katara was now on her own as the leader of the tribe. He went from chief to prisoner in only a few hours. This was all that kid's fault. If they never found him, he's still be home, with his family. Not tied down to a table waiting for who knows what.

After a while, the girl relaxed and started picking up the stones, returning them to small bags that sat on the table. "There is no more I can do now. Your body will continue to repair the damage on it's own." She then collected her bag and stood. Sokka realizing that he was only a short distance above the ground. Moving calmly, the girl went to the only door in the room and knocked. A slit in it opened, the guard looking in for a moment. The slit then shut and the door was slid opened sideways, enough to let the girl leave, then closing loudly behind her.

Looking around the room, Sokka took stock of anything that may help him. The room was completely empty, the only furniture was the low table he was laying on. Sokka tired to think up with a plan, but nothing came to mind. Thinking loudly he called out to Ranma, his absence more discomforting then anything else. For the last five years, Ranma had been a constant companion to him. He had gotten used to his sometimes annoying presence. Without him, Sokka was lost and alone, unsure what was going to happen next.

After what seemed like hours, the door lock unbolted and the door slid open fully. A number of men wearing some kind of metal mask came in, each carrying a number of pieces of metal. Quietly, they constructed a table and pair of crude arm chairs, all bolted to the metal floor. After a few moments of work, then men filed out of the room, the door remaining open when they left. A few moments later a pair of warriors, in full armor, walked calmly in and unhooked the chains that held him to the table and picked him up. Moving him easily to the chair and reattaching his chains, locking him to the chair. Sokka, in his tired state, didn't struggle with the move. Once done, they filed out of the room without a word. Again, Sokka waited a few moments, the door remaining open. Then, a man walked in, the door sliding shut behind him solidly. Sokka watched as the man came and sat at the second chair. He brought his hands forward to rest on the table and Sokka noticed that the man was missing a few fingers.

"My name is Sergeant First Class Baku. I'm going to ask you a number of questions." The man calmly asked, seeming like he has asked these types of questions before. "Do you have any health conditions that you want let us know about? Are there any food limitations that you have?"

"Why am I a prisoner? And naked?" Sokka asked, trying to seem as demanding as possible.

"All you questions will be answered at the appropriate times. We need to first get these minor questions out of the way before we proceed." Baku explained. "I want to make sure we are not neglecting your body in ways that may make you sick."

"Why should it matter to you? The Fire Nation killed my family, what's one more person?"

The man paused, letting silence hang in the air before asking, "All you questions will be answered at the appropriate times. First, do you have any health conditions that you want let us know about? Are there any food limitations that you have?"

"Answer my question!" Sokka demanded, yelling this time.

Again the man paused, quietly staring down Sokka. After a time he repeated. "All you questions will be answered at the appropriate times. First, do you have any..."

"No!" Sokka blurted out, "Stop repeating yourself so damned much!"

"Thank you for answering that." He stated, pulling out a scroll and opening it up slightly. "Can you tell me what your normal diet consists of?"

Sokka glared at the man, refusing to answer the question. Looking up from the scroll, the man repeated himself, "Can you tell me what your normal diet consists of?" Again, the man waited patiently for a response. When Sokka didn't respond, he asked two more times before Sokka finally answered.

"Cooked or smoked fish and sea vegetables normally made into a stew. What's with all the questions about food? Isn't this an interrogation?"

Baku put down the scroll gently. "You misunderstand my intentions here, Sokka. This is not an interrogation, I just need to ask you a few questions so we can make sure you stay healthy during your time with us. May I continue?"

Sokka sighed, looking away, "Fine. You'd just repeat the question if I don't answer until we both grow old and grew."

"Thank you for cooperating. Please answer the questions as best you can." Baku stated, picking back up the scroll. "Have you ever been outside of your homeland?"

"No."

"Have you ever encountered anyone who was affected by sickness that had a fatality of someone under the same condition?"

"No."

"Do you exercise regularly?"

"Yes"

"Have you gone for more then two days without food before?"

"Yes"

"Is it a common occurrence?"

"No"

"Have you ever come in contact with any rabid or sick animals?"

"No."

"Have you ever come in contact with someone else's body fluid?"

"No."

"Have you ever had to handle a dead body?"

"No."

"Did your mother survive giving birth to you?"

"Yes."

"Are you or anyone in your family a bender?"

Sokka opened his mouth to answer but paused at the last minute. He was just about to tell him about his sister. The simple questions lulling him into not thinking of the answer. Baku looked up, seeing if Sokka would answer. "Yes, my mother was." He stated, before hastily adding. "I'm not."

Baku just raised an eyebrow slightly, before continuing. "She was a water bender?"

"Yes."

"One last question, have you ever met a Fire Nation citizen before today?"

"No." Sokka spat back angrily. "And I never wanted to!"

Baku closed the scroll and stood. "Thank you for your cooperation." He said simply, walking to the door and knocking on it. After the guard checked his identity, Baku was allowed to leave the room.

Again, Sokka was left alone to think about his first "session" of interrogation. He really had no idea what to expect anymore. He had no idea if the village was safe, how Katara was doing, or where Ranma was through all of this. In the past, Sokka had tried to take off the bracers he found so many years ago. He could never find the straps that were there when he found them. Now more the ever, he wished that Ranma's slightly mocking voice would chime in, giving him some guidance on what he should do.

Sokka's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened again. This time, Sokka immediately recognized the man who stepped through. Sokka opened his mouth to say something insulting when he noticed the girl from before walking in behind him, carrying a tray of some type of food. His mouth closed as he watched the door close and the pair move across the room. Zuren sat in the chair, and the girl kneeled on the floor a few feet away. Her eyes were downcast, not looking up to either of them.

After a moment Zuren spoke. "I'm please to say that Ling here believes that you will soon recover from the injuries of our recent match." he said warmly.

Sokka glanced at the girl for a moment before speaking. "That's great and all, but why am I still naked?" Once Sokka got over the initial embarrassment, he had resolved himself to the fact that he had no control over his current dress.

Zuren chuckled a bit before continuing. "Feeling a little exposed?" He asked rhetorically. "I assure you that your current state of undress is to make healing you easier. Though I would think a boy your age would jump at the chance to show off your physique to a pretty girl like Ling here."

Sokka colored for a moment, looking away from the pair. "Assuming I even wanted to do that, I'm tied to a chair. I doubt a girl would want anything to do with someone in that position."

This time, Zuren let out a full laugh. "My word Sokka, you are just full of surprises." Zuren said, trying to control his mirth. After a moment, he regained control. "Though that isn't why I'm here. As per the terms of our challenge, you are honor bound to tell me where our mutual acquaintance ran off to."

"Once I do that, what happens to me?" Sokka asked, "You do to me what your people did to my family?"

Zuren's eyes narrowed and his tone become even more controlled, "The fire nation is many things, but we are not heartless butchers. What happens to you all depends on if your information checks out. So tell me what you know, I have many other responsibilities that I must attend to."

Sokka took a moment to weigh his options. He had given his word to tell them what he knew about Aang. The only problem was that he really didn't know anything. He only wanted Aang to leave, he didn't care where the kid went, only that it wasn't here. Of course, he couldn't say that to Zuren, they'd probably kill him. What he needed was some place that was far enough away that he could have time to attempt an escape, but one that would make sense. Katara and Aang's earlier conversations sprang into his mind. It was an obvious choice, he just hoped that they would buy it. "He said he was going home, to the southern air temple. He didn't say where it was."

Zuren seemed to accept the answer and he stood. "Very well, it's not that far away. It shouldn't take that long to check it out. Ling will see to your meals and has dinner for you."

"What about the restraints? How long are you going to chain me to this chair?" Sokka asked as Zuren headed towards the door.

"Until I feel that it is safe to let you go." Zuren called over his shoulder, waiting for the door to open. Once he was out, the door slid closed and the girl called Ling stood, bringing the tray over and setting it at the end of the table.

"How are you holding up?" Ling asked quietly, "Do you hurt anywhere?"
"No, I'm fine." Sokka replied, "Though I have to admit, this is not what I expected."

Ling smiled as she uncovered a bowl of what looked like lumpy paste. "What did you expect?" she asked, taking a spoon and scooping out a small amount.

"I honestly don't know. I've never been a prisoner before." Sokka admitted.

Holding up the spoon, Ling asked, "Please try this, I hope it is to your liking." Sokka opened his mouth to allow the mush into his mouth and was surprised that it tasted like fish. The cook probably made normal fish and then smashed it into a paste. It was actually rather good. Turning back to get another scoop, Ling continued. "My master is an unconventional man, I have never met anyone like him."

"What can you tell me about him?" Sokka asked, accepting the single scoops of food and sips of water that Ling would give him.

"He's strong yet gentle, cautious yet brave, skillful but not arrogant. I've never seen another fighter that could best him in single combat. He's one of the youngest fire nation officers to reach the rank of Colonel." Ling paused before asking, "What about you? My master usually delegates interrogations to his subordinates. He never takes a personal hand in these things. I wonder why that is?"

"I don't know," Sokka replied, "maybe he was impressed with our match. Has he ever fought a water tribe warrior before?"

"He spent most of his carrier fighting in the earth kingdom, there aren't many water tribe warriors there." Ling had emptied the bowl and sat on the edge of the table to chat friendly with Sokka. "He does try to learn of any new school of martial arts he can. What school do you practice? Maybe it's one he doesn't know."

"It's the Anything Goes school of Indiscriminate Grappling." Sokka stated, trying to sound impressive.

Ling giggled lightly, putting a hand in front of her mouth. "What a strange name for a school. I've definitely never heard of that one before. I would have remembered something like that."

"Yea, it is a silly name, but it's the best you'll ever find."

"The founder must have been quite a strange person. I would love to be able to meet 'em if he's still alive." Ling idly noted.

Chuckling lightly Sokka shook his head. "I'd doubt it. From what my teacher told me, the founder was, and I quote, 'the worlds biggest pervert'. Though my teacher told me that it was good workout to chase after him. jumping from rooftop to rooftop, while he avoided the mob of angry women chasing after him."

"I guess that's one way to train. How about you? I don't think there are many roofs to jump between in the south pole. How do you train in the ice and snow? I would think all the sweat from running around would freeze."

"Us water tribe warriors have been living on the ice for generations. Our clothes don't get soaked easily and you always keep another pair to switch into when needed. Just because we're on the ice doesn't mean it's always cold. During the summer months, it's generally warm enough to run around with only a single coat on."

Both of them fell silent, not sure of what to say next. After a moment, Ling slid off the table and picked up the tray. "I have other duties to attend to, I hope you enjoyed the meal." Ling said, moving to the door.

"It was surprisingly good." Sokka admitted. "Thank you."

Ling knocked on the door, then turned to face Sokka, smiling. "I'm glad you liked it. I'll talk to you again at breakfast time." She then waited for the door to open and walked out, the door slamming closed behind her. Sokka watched her leave, for some reason, he suddenly felt a lot more warm. Once she was gone, Sokka was left to his own thoughts. He wondered how long it would be before the next "interrogation". So far, they didn't seem so bad.

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In another part of the ship, Zuren sat in his room. He was hunched over his desk, working on a report of the last few days. It was a habit he got into from his time in the regular army. He used it to help remember things and to keep a record. While in the field, it was critical to keep track of certain things like casualty rates and food supplies. When battles blended together into a long campaign. It was essential that he kept track of what maneuvers were attempted and how well his men performed. It was one of the reasons he became such a successful field commander. Where others would behave in the same way for any battle, he was able to adapt his strategy to out maneuver the enemy.

Of course now that he was guarding the prince, there was less combat and more mundane things in his report. They would need to start thinking about restocking their fresh water supply. It was hard enough keeping everyone fed under normal conditions. Since they were way outside the normal fire nation supply lines, finding food and water was extra challenging. It was good creative exercise that kept his mind off the fact that he was babysitting a child instead of bringing an end to this war.

Suddenly, the door to his cabin burst open, an angry Zuko stomping in.

"Speak of the devil." He mumbled to himself before stating, "Zuzu, to what do I own the honor of your royal presence in my bed chambers?"

"You're taking too long getting what we want from the prisoner. We need answers and you are being too soft on him."

Zuren took a moment to collect his papers and to file them away. "And what would you have me do your highness? Beat the answers out of him?"

"Just give me a few minutes with him and I'll have him telling us everything we want to know."

Chuckling lightly, Zuren shook his head sadly. "Zuko, you've never interrogated a prisoner before. These things can't be rushed. You go in there now, and all you will do is strengthen his resolve to say nothing. Gutting him like a chicken-goat and reading his entrails will give us more useful information then threatening him into talking. He has already given us a lead, let's see where it goes before we resort to more harsh methods."

"Grrr. I hate this!" Zuko complained. "After all this time, I've been waiting to come across the avatar. Now that we have a glimpse of him, I have to keep waiting. I'm tired of waiting. I want to do something!"

"Then practice. Let me worry about getting you to the avatar, you're going to have to capture him. He's had 100 years to master all the elements. You'll need to get a lot better if you hope to beat him."

"But uncle won't teach me the more advanced techniques until I am 'ready'." Zuko complained.

"Then try to figure out moves on your own. Bending and Martial Arts are similar in the fact that every move was thought up by someone. Even a basic fire blast had to be figured out by the first fire benders. If you took the breath you use to complain and applied it towards becoming a bender, you'd be a lot better."

Zuko opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't have any idea how to come back to what Zuren had said. He was a terrible bender. The worst in his family. The only people he was better then was non-benders, and they didn't count. Slumping his shoulders. Zuko let out a dejected sigh. "You're right. I'm just going crazy waiting to face the avatar." Zuko admitted.

"Then you should focus on preparing your body and mind to face him. If you try to take on the avatar right now, he's going to wipe the floor with you. Before you enter battle, you must be focused and all worries must be pushed from your mind. An unfocused solder is doomed to have defeat sprung unexpectedly upon him."

"I know that." Zuko spat out, trying to get his anger under control. "Why does everyone always feel the need to lecture me on things I already know? It's irritating."

Shrugging, Zuren stood. "We all worry about you prince Zuko. Being banished from home and sent on a fools errand can wear on anyone. You've handled it better then expected so far. Have patience, you will regain your honor and take your rightful place as heir to the throne. The Avatar can only run for so long. Eventually, we will catch up and you will have your chance."

Zuko crossed his arms and looked away, dejected. "Fine." He grumbled. "I'll let you continue, but if it turns out he was lying about where the avatar went, I will show how unhappy I am with him." Pausing to let the threat sink in, Zuko stalked out.

When Zuko was gone, Zuren let out a sigh or relief. He really hoped this air bender really was the Avatar. While Zuko did not have much of an imagination when it came to showing displeasure, Zuren had sickening memories of what some fire nation warriors did with prisoners. If Zuko started down that path, he may never escape the ugly fate that seem to haunt those who do. Zuren's duty was to the people of the fire nation, he needed to make sure their future leader was still worthy of the honor when this adventure ended. He didn't want to think about what would be required of him if Zuko was found wanting.

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A few miles away, and several thousand feet up, Aang was having second thoughts about helping Katara find her brother. She was not what you would call a natural flyer. Appa was going to need a bath after they find him some food. He was currently holding onto Katara to prevent her from falling out of the saddle that she was slumped over the edge. For the last few minutes, she had been puking her guts out, thankfully not in the saddle.

"You gonna be okay?" Aang asked.

"I think... Urp..." Katara started when her stomach rebelled and she leaned more over the edge, more fluid shooting out her mouth. After a few dry heaves, she thankfully stopped. "Oog... I hope that's it." the mumbled miserably.

"Just hang in there Katara, we'll be landing soon." Aang said, trying to keep her mood positive.

Katara just nodded, trying to make her stomach settle on force of will alone. She was fine with the idea of flying when they first started, but as they gained altitude, she started getting sick. Something about being so high made her queasy. When she tried to meditate like Aang suggested, queasy turned into sick, which made her dizzy, which then turned her stomach into a cannon, shooting the contents of her stomach violently back the way the entered.

Thinking about it made her dry heave a few more times. "I don't think there is anything left in my stomach to loose." She stated once the heaving stopped. She took a swig of her water skin, rinsed her mouth and spit the water out, trying to not have it land on Appa. "I should be good for now." Rolling backwards, Katara laid down, and then rolled to her side. "Just get us to something solid."

"Okay! One solid something, coming right up!" Aang joked, leaping back to the reins and directing Appa to slowly descend. As they broke the clouds, Aang spotted some small islands a short distance away. He gently banked towards the islands, trying his best not to make Katara any more sick then what she was.

As they descended, Katara's stomach settled, and she started to recover. By the time they got close to the ground, Katara felt well enough to sit up and watch as Appa came in to land. The island was a good sized, big enough that it would take a few days to cross on foot. Snow covered most of the island, but clumps of trees stubbornly sprouted up through the snow. As soon as they touched down, Aang turned and hopped back into the saddle.

"You need help getting down?" Aang asked, concerned.

Katara just shook her head and hopped down to the ground. "I'll be fine Aang, go get Appa fed so we can track down my brother." She found a snowbank that looked comfortable and sat down, leaning against the slope.

"Ok Katara, be back before you know it." Aang called, hopping back on top of Appa and heading inland. He hoped to find some shrubs or winter fruit that Appa could load up on. It didn't take much to feed Appa, which was good since the plants this far south were not that tasty. He made a promise to find something better once they got further north.

Katara watched as Appa lumbered away slowly. The more that she sat on solid ice and snow, the better she felt. It was nice to take a break from the breakneck speed that her life had taken today. This morning, she had thought it was going to be another normal day in a long chain of normal days. Today was anything but normal. She was almost crushed by ice, marooned in the middle of the ocean, found a new friend close to her own age, and almost lost her brother, all before midday. "Sokka.." She sighed wistfully. Earlier in the day, she had told him that she didn't want to see him again during an argument. She didn't really mean it at the time. She missed her brother terribly, and it had only been a few hours. To be honest, she had no idea what she was going to do once she caught up to whoever had captured him.

All her life, Sokka was there, being bossy and telling her what to do. She hated it most of the time, but there was a strange comfort in not having to make decisions. That all you had to worry about was the day to day activities. That someone else would give her instructions of what to do. On her own, Katara didn't really have any idea on what to do. She had to wait for Appa and Aang to eat. She had rations in her pack, that she would eat once her stomach decided it would cooperate. The only thing to do was sit around, by herself. There was no one to talk other then the snow and the ocean. She was completely alone.

Katara sat there stunned as another though came thundering into her skull. The only reason she couldn't practice bending was because she was worried about hurting someone. Well no one else was here, it was the perfect time to see what she could do. Jumping to her feet, Katara moved closer to the ocean. Thinking back to earlier in the day, she tried to recall how she shot that water blast that freed Aang from the glacier. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax and reach out to the water. She could feel it moving, chaotically moving about with only minor direction. She strained her memory, trying her best to recall how the water flowed and how she moved her hands. As she focused, the water near her stilled, as if sensing that something was about to happen. Raising her hands, Katara tried to mimic her earlier moves. The water responded by shooting a column strait upwards for a few feet before falling back into the waves.

"That was close." Katara said to herself. "I need it to go up and then sideways. Maybe I can force it to twist." Closing her eyes, Katara made a motion with her hands and the water responded. This time, shooting up into the air, curving slightly to the side, and then falling back to the ground. Growling slightly, Katara tried again, and again, and again. Each time, the water only shooting up, not sideways. Each failure made Katara just a little more irritated. After her tenth failure, she cried out and threw her arms into the air before turning away and crossing her arms angrily, fed up with the lack of progress.

This time, the water responded to her anger with a massive wave rising out of the ocean and shooting forward, twisting around her body and crashing into a ground in a half circle. The wave soaked everything, some of it splashing backwards and landing on Katara. Taking a deep breath, Katara growled for moment, before yelling out, "now you cooperate!" She unconsciously wiped off her clothes and froze mid motion. The water that was falling to the ground, paused for a half moment as well, before continuing to fall to the ground. That was the second time that she just scooped water off of her clothes. Before she was just trying to force the water to move how she wanted. Maybe she had to push and pull the water around.

Taking a wide stance, Katara looked out into the ocean. She pushed her hands away from her, and then pulled them back, making a wave motion with her hands. The water responded by mirroring her hand motions, flowing away and then back. Smiling, Katara was filled with happiness, finally getting the hang of it. As she worked, the waves grew in size. When she felt the wave got large enough she waited for when the wave was rushing towards her. She twisted her body, bringing her arms wide to guide the water into a horizontal blast. She imagined the wave twisting into a stream and shooting inland.

Behind her, the water seemed to suddenly tremble for a moment before some of it broke away to form a water blast. The rest continued flowing inland, with predicable results, knocking Katara to the ground as the wave of water slammed into her. The wave drug her along the snow, again soaking her clothes. Once the wave collapsed against the ground, it slowly flowed back to the ocean.

Picking herself up, Katara thought, "Well maybe that was a little too much water." She idly squeezed the water out of her hair as she thought of what to do differently. As she thought, she unconsciously shivered, the cold ocean water chilling her. After a moment, she shook her body like a lion-seal, water flying away from her body in all directions. As it flew away, it turned to ice before shattering on the ice that was forming on the rock. After Katara finished, she was completely dry and warm.

For the next hour, Katara kept working on separating a small stream of water from the ocean. It was tough work, but after a time, she was finally able to coax the water to mostly behave the way she wanted it to. While it didn't go exactly where she wanted it to, it would flow in the general direction she wanted it to. Deciding to take a break, Katara sat down and looked out to the sea, she was quite proud of herself. Without anyone telling her what to do, she was finally able to practice her bending without getting yelled at. It was a great feeling that she couldn't help but smile at.

As she sat there, it started to snow. At first, Katara happily sat, basking in her own success, but something felt off. Katara looked around and spotted some black flakes falling to the ground. "Fire Nation." She stated coldly, "I have to find Aang." Jumping to her feet, Katara began running in the direction that she thought Aang and Appa had went. They needed to stay hidden, if they were lucky, this would be the ship Sokka was on.

How many fire nation ships could there be in the south pole. He had to be on it. Katara didn't have a plan in case it wasn't.

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Sokka found that he was wrong before. Being a prisoner really was as bad as he thought. As he worked to just get air into his lungs, he glanced over at the current person making his life hell. Zuren stood across the room in a loose combat stance. Giving Sokka the courtesy to get back to his feet before continuing the fight.

"Don't mind me," Zuren taunted sarcastically, "it's not like I have other things to do then kick you around. Just give up and we can be done with this little duel."

The room had stopped spinning so Sokka slowly got to his feet. He didn't know what he was thinking when he challenged Zuren for his release. During the latest "interrogation" Zuren was asking questions about his fighting style and who his master was. After a few choice insults, Sokka had enough and demanded the right to be free. Zuren simply stated that if Sokka could beat him in a fight, he would let him go. Sokka knew it was a bad idea to start with but not that it would hurt this much.

Sokka took pride in the face that there was a rather telling bruise spreading across Zuren's face. It was the best strike he had landed this fight. Sokka himself had bruises all over his body. The fact that he was still naked was annoying at first, but that annoyance soon faded as that naked skin was soon covered in bruises.

What confused Sokka the most about his opponent was Zuren's twisted sense of fairness. Since Sokka was fighting naked, Zuren was as well. "It was only fair" he said while undressing. It was surprising at first to see all the scars that crisscrossed Zuren's body, but after a few rounds of combat, Sokka had gotten used to the idea of fighting this way. His skin was slippery with sweat, making throws and holds almost impossible. This limited some of the maneuvers he could try, but Sokka had never really been able to practice throws and holds. He never had anyone to practice them on.

"I won't give up." Sokka defiantly stated, "I'll find a way to beat you."

Shrugging slightly, Zuren stated, "You're loss, kid. Guess we do this the hard way." Leaping forward, Zuren began another attack. He always seemed to open with the same move, a simple forward punch to Sokka's face. It was easily blocked and Sokka counterattacked. His punches were blocked and the attacks continued. Each attempting to exploit what they could. Sokka tried to keep up with Zuren's pace, but he had already been exhausted to the point to where his arms soon felt almost too heavy to move.

He was just a hair to slow getting up a block, and that was when Zuren struck in earnest. The initial strike just glanced of Sokka's shoulder, but it was enough to knock him off balance. To his credit, Sokka was able to just barely stop Zuren's other fist from crashing into his gut. The following knee to the side, punch to the face, and leg sweep, has Sokka heading for the floor again. Since he was going down, Zuren's arm wound up and delivered a vicious punch to Sokka's chin. Sokka saw stars for a split second before landing on the floor unconscious.

He didn't know how long he was out, but he woke with a start. Twitching slightly, he felt a collection of stones shift and a familiar voice. "Please try to lay still Sokka. My master fractured another one of your ribs. You really should be more careful when fighting. I won't be able to patch you up forever."

Sokka smiled, his head still pounding. "Well if your master followed the plan in my head, he'd be the one you'd be patching up and I'd be free. He's a stubborn one, your master."

Ling just shook her head and smiled, "That he is." She replied, her eyes remained closed and she continued to focus on the stones placed across Sokka's chest. The stones continued to softly glow as silence fell between them. It would take a while to get Sokka to a point where he wasn't in danger of puncturing a lung accidentally.

"You know," Sokka started, "I've been wondering." When Ling didn't interrupt he continued. "You said that Zuren saved your life when your parents died, why would you decide to stay with him when you could return to your own people? I wouldn't think the fire nation would allow an earth bender to roam relatively free in their army."

"You don't know much about the Earth Kingdom then." Ling replied sadly. "Women are expected to have kids and manage the home, while the men work in the fields and go to war. Those women who are unlucky enough to become benders are ostracized from the rest of the community. Because earth benders have to be a little head strong, few men want one as a wife. Those who don't hide their bending abilities usually don't get married. My master is not your usual fire nation warrior. He appreciates my skills and what I contribute to his platoon."

"Which is?"

"I assist the platoon medic who looks after the men. I also sing on music night, which everyone enjoys. The men don't see me as an outsider, they don't care that I'm not fire nation. They think of me as a little sister, even those old enough to be my father. Truth be told, they treat me better then my own family did."

"You don't mind that they're the enemy of your people?" Sokka angrily asked, not believing what he was hearing. "That they've killed hundreds, if not thousands of people?"
"Of course I mind!" Ling angrily shouted back, her eyes snapping open. "But Zuren isn't like that! He's trying to end the war by finding the avatar."

"The avatar?" Sokka asked, "Everyone knows that he's gone. If he didn't disappear, then he would have stopped the fire nation from starting this war. The avatar cycle is broken, he's not coming back."

"It's possible, but the fire nation needs the Avatar as much as the rest of the world. You have no idea what this war has done to the people of the fire nation. There has been so much death and killing on both sides. Zuren wants to bring an end to the conflict as much as anyone else. Finding the avatar is the only way to do that. Zuren believes that a number of air nomads escaped the attack on the air temples. The avatar must have been one of them. It was rumored that the avatar was not yet of age to even be told of his heritage."

Sokka fell silent thinking about what Ling had said. If Aang really was the avatar, it would explain the ice cocoon that they found him in. Who knows what kind of crazy powers the avatar could have. The only details he ever got was that he was the master of all the elements. It would make sense though, Aang had an innocence about him that he's never seen before. Even the children of his own tribe knew of fear and strife. If Aang disappeared before the fall of the air temples, then he would have no idea how fractured the world was. Didn't he say that he had friends all over the world? Wouldn't that include the fire nation?

"So let say, for the sake of argument, that you're right. If the avatar escaped the fall of the air temples he would be over a hundred years old by now. Don't you think he would have made an appearance to try and stop the war by now? So unless the Avatar has the power to make himself younger, I think Zuren is in for a real disappointment."

"We'll see," Ling said, trying to keep a neutral face. "I have faith in my master's plan. In the years that I've known him, he's never let me down." She reached down and started picking up the stones that she had placed across Sokka's chest. "You'll see, things tend to work out when my master takes a personal interest in it." She then stood and walked to the door. "Be careful not to damage your chest again, there is a limit to what I can fix." She stated over her shoulder.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ling. Thanks." Sokka said.

As the door opened, Ling turned to look at Sokka. "You're welcome." she replied, smiling sweetly. Then, she was gone, the door sliding shut behind her.

Sokka laid there for a few minutes thinking about what he just learned. Things didn't seem as black and white as they did in the village. The fire nation were not a bunch of heartless butchers. Zuren was actually a very reasonable person to talk to. Polite, even when trying to pull information out of him. There was a strange duality in his jailer. On on hand, he spoke softly to Sokka, being respectful and not condescending. Sokka was treated as some type of quasi-guest. Sure he was confined to this room, and still naked for some reason, but he was still treated with respect. On the other hand, Zuren was ruthless in combat. When Sokka challenged Zuren for his freedom, it was as if a completely different person took over. One that gave no quarter. Falling just barely short of delivering a killing blow.

Sitting up, Sokka rubbed his aching ribs absently. He could still feel some of the blows that Zuren delivered. The fight could have gone better, but Sokka knew that next time he faced Zuren, he'd do better. There were some predictable patterns in his forms that Sokka could exploit next time. Ranma always said that you never really loose a fight until you're dead. Every defeat is an opportunity to determine where improvement is needed. He could match Zuren in speed and power, but Zuren's experience and high pain threshold gave him the advantage. The only way Sokka could think of to improve in those areas was to fight more. He only hoped that Zuren wouldn't outright kill him in the next match, but first he needed to recover from this fight.

Looking around, Sokka spotted a thin pad in the corner that looked more comfortable then the hard metal floor he was currently sitting on. His body protested crawling to the mat, but as soon as he laid down on the mat, it stopped complaining. It wasn't much, but it was enough to quickly slip into a deep sleep.

Sokka hoped Katara was doing better then he was.

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High above the fire navy ship, Katara silently watched the small metal speck that floated across the ocean below. Now that she had something to focus on, her stomach didn't bother her as much as before. At first, when the black snow began to fall, Katara thought that another fire nation patrol had spotted them. Instead, it just passed by their small island without incident. Now that Appa and Aang had found some food, they were able to follow the boat, hoping for a sign that Sokka was on board. Using the clouds as cover, they had spent the last day wondering where this boat might be headed.

"So where do you think they're going?" Aang asked when he couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"Back to the Fire nation I would think." Katara replied.

"I don't think so, they are heading north east, towards the Earth Kingdom. If what you say is true, and Fire nation is at war, maybe it's heading to a military base."

"Well wherever they are going, they haven't changed course. Aang, you said that you've traveled all over the world, is there a harbor to the north east?"

Aang took a moment to think, "I'm not sure, let me check my map." He said, jumping off Appa's head and leaping back into the saddle. He quickly dug through his gear before pulling out a big scroll. He then jumped back to Katara and rolled open to show a map of the world. "Okay, I think we're somewhere around here." He said, pointing to a collection of circles at the bottom of the page. "If we look to the northeast..." He traced his finger along the page, to another land mass, "we'll be heading towards Qaniit island. They will probably pass the eastern edge of the Patola Mountain Range."

"What about Whale Tail Island? I think I remember Gran-gran telling me that it was once a water tribe trading hub. It was lost after the re..." Katara paused, not wanting to talk about the most bloody battle in water tribe history, "umm... I mean it was abandoned to escape the fire nation navy." She knew that Aang was a little too sensitive to talk about the red sea disaster, where almost the entire water tribe navy was wiped out. So many people died that the ocean turned red with the blood of those who died. Gran-gran only told the story once to them when they were younger, the way she told it gave her nightmares for a week afterward.

Asking about Whale Tail Island sparked old memories of Aang's tour of the air temples. He didn't really hear the rest of Katara's explanation. "I remember stopping there on the way to the western air temple." His voice hollow as he remembered simpler times. "We had so much fun wave riding with my friend Suluk. She was the best wave rider on the whole island, even I couldn't keep up with her."

Katara immediately recognized the melancholy in Aang's voice. She reached out and but a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I know it's tough, being trapped in ice all that time, but you're not alone. I'm here for you and as soon as we rescue Sokka, you'll have another friend to keep you company."

"Your brother didn't seem to like me very much from before." Aang countered morosely.

"Oh Sokka's just a grump when he's playing leader. He's a lot more fun to be around when he's not being over protective. Once you save him again, he'll warm up to you, you'll see."

"If you say so." Aang replied, not really believing Katara's optimistic view.

"Now let's put our head's together and figure out a plan to bust him out for that ship."

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On the ship in question, Zuren was again stepping onto the observation deck. He ignored the biting cold as he met with one of his men.

"Baku, report." He commanded the man that was standing, watching the skys.

The man snapped to attention and saluted, his eyes never leaving the sky. "Sir, I believe that we are being followed. I've spotted a suspicious cloud that's been moving in a strange way. Instead of moving with the wind, it jumps from cloud to cloud. It's been following us for a while now."

"So this could be the avatar?" Zuren asked aloud. "There are stories that air nomads once drifted across the land on the backs of clouds. Whatever is following us probably has an interest in our guest."

"It would be a logical assumption, sir."

"Bah," Zuren scoffed, "I hate assumptions. Keep watching that cloud and send a runner if it changes behavior. I want to keep this confidential for now. There is no telling what our beloved prince would do if he thought the avatar was following us."

Baku saluted again, still keeping his eyes on the sky. "Yes sir." He replied as Zuren walked inside.

"Captain Taro, a word if you may." Zuren requested, moving to the navigation table. As he approached, the navigation officer looked up from his work and quickly came to attention. "At ease Lieutenant, I just need to borrow the table for a few minutes. Go take a walk, I promise not to move any of your papers."

"Of course sir," The man complied, quickly putting a few weighted blocks on top of the maps he was working on. He then quickly shuffled out out of the room, pausing to salute the captain who was walking back to meet Zuren. As he entered to room, he pulled closed the metal door.

"Don't bother to cover the observation window, this will only take a few moments." Zuren called out, stopping the captain from pulling closed the metal shutters. The navigation room was one of the many new additions to fire navy ships in the last few years. In smaller ships, where space was limited, the traditional practice of placing the navigation table in the middle of the bridge or in the captain's quarters was still followed. On the larger war ships, where seceret orders were not always shared with the crew, a place for private discussion was created. The room itself was small, only designed to house no more then ten men, clustered around the table. The different maps of the world were all stored in the the locking wall compartments. The room itself had a number of security features to prevent the theft of maps and other logistical information. While having a secure room is useful to hold secret meetings, every crew member knew about it, making it not always the best place to hold every secret meeting.

"What do you wish to speak to me about, sir?" The captain calmly asked.

"Two things. First, I noticed that we are begging to run low of fresh water. I want you to find a suitable location to resupply, preferably a place with a protected harbor. Secondly, I want you to prepare the scouting ship for an extended trip. Our beloved prince will be traveling ahead to hopefully catch up to the avatar while we restock."

"It will be done as you command, sir." The man replied, "Though what of the prisoner? With most of the men ashore collecting water, I fear we will not have enough guards to keep him from escaping."

"I will remain behind to entertain our guest. I want every able hand ashore to assist in the water collection."

"But sir!" The captain protested, "That will leave the ship unguarded. It's tactically a poor position."

"I am aware of the danger to the ship. My orders still stand. It is more for the safety of the crew then anything else. I will have a handful of my best men on alert in case something happens. We need the restock to happen as quickly as possible."

"Very well, I will inform the crew." He then moved quickly to the door and opened it back up, passing by the navigation officer who was waiting outside to get back to work. Zuren stood there for only a moment before leaving the room. As he left the bridge he spotted his second in command idly leaning against the wall by the door to the bridge. While five years his senior, Captain Kenzo has been with Zuren since the start of his military career. As the son of a moderately powerful noble family, he was able to slowly climb the ranks of the army. His career had stalled somewhat in the last few years. While he was a brilliant squad commander and an excellent second in command, he had trouble thinking of more then the battle at hand.

"So what's this I hear about a secret meeting with the captain?" Kenzo asked arrogantly, slowly pushing off from the wall to stand near Zuren. "The rumors are already spreading across the crew. Though since it was such a short meeting, I doubt they will be anything too drastic."

Zuren just smiled and waved for Kenzo to follow him. "We are running low on water so I asked the captain to find an appropriate location to go ashore and restock."

Kenzo just laughed, "After all this time, I'm getting to know how you think. You didn't need to hold a private meeting to tell the Captain to stop and get some water. What's really going on?"

"I guess my brilliance is rubbing off on you." Zuren mock-arrogantly stated, "You're getting smarter every day. If fact, I have an important task for you. One that must not fail at all costs."

"That's just what I wanted to hear." Kenzo eagerly replied. He always liked a good fight, and Zuren was the only man that could beat him in single combat. "What dangerous task do you need me to do? There's nothing I can't handle."

"I'm putting you in command of an expedition to the southern air temple. We have reason to believe that an air nomad, possibly the avatar, is moving about in this part of the world. We need to make sure that he is not using the temple as a base to organize an insurgency. Just because no one has seen an air nomad, doesn't mean they are all dead. They could be hiding, waiting for the avatar to return."

"A scouting mission?" Kenzo asked, disappointed. "We have plenty of scouts who could do this who find that kind of work way more interesting then I do. Give me something to fight and I'm your man."

"No." Zuren said calmly. "I need you to handle this personally since Prince Zuko will be going with you. There is no one else I can trust with keeping him safe." His tone suddenly lowered to a whisper. "Unless you have forgotten about all the assassins we have come across in the last few years. I have other things to attend to here on the ship so I can't watch him."

Sighing loudly, Kenzo grumbled out a reply. "Fine, I'll babysit the kid. You owe me for this, sir. At least two drinks at the next tavern."

Zuren laughed, as Kenzo broke a smile. "It's a deal, Kenzo. Just keep Zuko safe or I'll take those drinks out of your hide." He joked.

"Yes sir!" Kenzo barked out, giving a lazy salute. He changed direction, heading to go prepare the men.

Zuren continued walking quickly making his way outside and onto the deck. As he stepped out, he spotted General Iroh standing watch over what passed for fire bending practice for his cousin. While Zuko had the same raw power that every bender in the family had, he lacked the finesse that all seasoned warriors had. Zuko would run through basic fire stances and maneuvers, then face off against some of the few benders that were on the ship. Their sparring sessions, if you could call them that, was akin to two slingers lobbing rice balls at the prince. Zuko would either dodge of punch though the attack and throw a fireball or two at the benders. The benders would deflect or dissipate the attack, much more gracefully he might add, and wait for the prince to try the move again. While Zuren found the whole process a waste of time, he was not Zuko's teacher.

"General Iroh," Zuren started, coming to a stop next to Zuko's teacher, "I have news that I must bring to my cousin's attention."

Iroh did not respond at first, he silently watched Zuko go through a few more training sets. When Zuren opened his mouth to speak again, Iroh suddenly spoke up. "So formal today nephew, it must be important. So important that it would interrupt your cousin's practice session."

"It is, though I would rather not repeat myself."

Iroh sighed, "Very well." He waited for a set to finish before he called out. "Zuko, that's enough for now." When Zuko stopped and looked towards them, Iroh continued. "Your cousin has news."

Stalking angrily over Zuko stated, "This better be good. If I am to defeat the Avatar, I must push myself to my limit. I don't have time for your interruptions."

"I'm well aware of what you must do." Zuren responded. "I have been informed of a rather major supply problem." He paused, waiting to see if Zuko would interrupt before continuing. "We are running dangerously low on fresh water. I'm afraid we'll have to stop to resupply."

"Water?" Zuko asked, his tone quickly becoming angry. "You interrupt me for this? We're in the middle of the ocean, how can we be out of water? We're surrounded by water!"

A stunned silence fell over the deck, everyone heard Zuko's yelling, it was hard not to. Zuko noticed the silence rather quickly. He glanced around, the entire crew was staring with him, most with unbelieving looks on their face.

"WHAT!?" Zuko screamed. Knocking the crew out of their daze and prompting them to go back to their business.

"Calm down Zuzu." Zuren started, "No reason to take out your anger on the crew."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Zuko yelled, turning back to glare at Zuren.

"Well when you are acting like a big dumb-dumb, I'll call you whatever I like." Zuren said, "Don't you know anything? You can't drink ocean water, it just makes you sick. What in the world did they teach you at Fire Academy?"

"They taught me enough." Zuko spat back, dismissing the question. "My mission is to capture the Avatar. To do that, I have to become stronger. Nothing else matters." Zuko spoke with such a hard conviction, Zuren didn't immediately respond.

"Well if it's that important to you, I guess we could start rationing the water. That would mean no baths, raw rice, and absolutely no tea."

"NO TEA!?" Iroh, who had been silent until now, suddenly sputtered. "That's just... just..." he stammered, trying to find the words, "...inhumane! Isn't there another option? Something that wouldn't deprive an old man one of his few joys left in this world."

Zuren thought about this for a moment before speaking. "Well, there is the scout boat. It could get you to Tomo's landing, from there you could take Hakatsu trail all the way to the temple. The only problem is that we don't have enough storage space to supply more then six people for such a lengthy journey. I don't feel comfortable sending you off with such little protection."

"I wouldn't worry about that." Iroh added, "I will accompany your cousin on his mission. We have been to the southern air temple before, it was deserted then. It probably hasn't changed."

Both men fell silent as they turned to Zuko to see if he would complain. "Just get me to the Avatar before he leaves the temple." He stated, annoyed at the fact everyone else was making the plan, "I can handle the weeds and lemurs that still live there."

"Then you best prepare." Zuren commanded, "The boat will be ready to leave shortly."

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Sokka felt good. He was lazing about on a pile of furs, a bowl of tasty meats on his stomach. Above him, he quietly watched as the celestial lights danced across the sky. It was a real shame that this was only a dream. It was simple here. Without pain and suffering, only rest and relaxation. There was no worrying about bi-polar fire nation interrogators. No metal prison. Here he was safe, here he was calm.

That is, until a familiar face came into view. "Of all the dreams you could be having," Ranma started, his blue eyes full of merriment, "I'm surprised you picked something so mundane. I was half expecting you to be ankle deep in defeated fire benders by now."

Sokka shrugged as he tried his best to ignore his teacher as the boy sat down next to Sokka, the furs expanding to accommodate both of them. They sat there in silence for a moment before Sokka finally poke. "It's nice of you to finally show up," he stated, his voice full of sarcasm, "I really could have use your help."

"Well it wasn't by choice, they took off your bracers. I can't communicate with you without them connected to you."

"So how were they able to remove them when the straps disappeared the moment I put them on?" Sokka asked angrily. "I've tried multiple times to take them off and get some relief from you, but I could never find the straps."

"That's because I couldn't risk you throwing me away. I've been trying to prepare you for what is to come over the last few years." Ranma explained, a little annoyed. "Something that you didn't make easy I might add. Though we have been lucky so far..."

"Lucky?!" Sokka interrupted, ignoring the cold wind that started to blow across the dream scape. "How is anything about my situation lucky? I'm a prisoner to the fire nation. Once they figure out that the kid isn't at the air temple, I'm not going to be around much longer. The only reason I'm still alive is that they think I have information."

"True, but things are looking up. I'm here to help make a plan for escape. I'm sure we can come up with some way to get away. Our last planned worked out rather well."

"You call becoming a prisoner a good plan? I didn't like it to begin with and after what I've gone though, I like it even less!" The celestial lights dimmed as Sokka spoke, the surroundings losing focus and fading into a haze.

Ranma waved dismissively, trying to downplay that point. "Your family escaped, that was what's important. You also should note that you are still alive. Beaten up, but still alive. So you should count your blessing and find a way to get off this boat. Now that I'm here, things will be better. I promise."

Sokka opened his mouth to reply when the dream scape suddenly bloomed into a blinding light.

Gasping as he was shocked awake, he took a moment to look around. "How is this better!?" Sokka asked himself angrily. When he went to sleep, he was tucked below deck, in a warm metal prison. Now, for some reason, he was dangling over the edge of the boat, a rope restrained him and held him to a metal arm that looked like it was used to move cargo. As he twisted around, trying to free his arms he heard a voice call out to him.

"Glad of you to finally join us Sokka. You should really work on not sleeping so deeply, you never know what terrible things others will do to you while you are unconscious." He paused for a moment as Sokka tried his best to twist so he could look at who was talking. "Though I am slightly annoyed that you cost me a good stack of gold."

"Well you're welcome, anything I can do to help." Sokka spat back sarcastically. He was really getting tired of not being able to control what way he was facing. Twisting to face the deck only made him spin more.

"I would have thought you'd appreciate the chance to get out of your cell. To breath in the fresh sea air. I know how stale those cells can get."

"Being used as a fishing lure is not what I had in mind!" Sokka yelled back.

"But now I have your attention." Zuren stated. "I'm done playing games with you Sokka. You've been dancing around my questions since you became our guest. So I ask you, are you going to cooperate or should I get rid of you? I'm sure there the sea creatures would enjoy you more then I have. The southern water tribe is extinct, wiped out by the southern raiders. One of my men was there. He watched as the last of your kind was struck down. Yet here you are, years later and very much alive. Explain that to me."

"It's not so difficult to understand, fire-brains! I wasn't there to be butchered." Sokka had been able to slow his twisting to where he could now face the deck.

Zuren mulled over the response for a moment before he nodded to the man controlling the crane. "Wrong answer!" He called out, obviously enjoying this. The rope suddenly slackened and Sokka found himself falling. Letting out a surprised yelp, Sokka watched as the freezing ocean came rushing up at him, the last few days flashed through his mind. He knew that his chances of surviving were slim when he decided to stay behind to delay the fire nation. He was even surprised that he had lasted this long, not expecting to be taken prisoner. That still confused him, the fire nation only took water benders prisoner for some reason. Warriors like him were killed, because they protected the water benders.

His father believed that the fire nation wanted the benders of the tribe for some reason. Even though becoming a bender meant a life of hardship in the south, it was still considered a gift from the spirits. Benders were special, precious. That was why the fire nation captured them, because of their abilities. Sokka wasn't a bender he wasn't special in that way. The only thing special thing about him was that he found Ranma's bracers.

At this point, Sokka was just about to do a massive belly flop into the ocean. At the last moment, the rope tightened, halting Sokka's waist above the water. The momentum of his fall caused Sokka to fold around the rope. His face and feet crashing into the frozen water. One of the greatest fear of any person living on the ice was falling in. Arctic air and wet clothes did not mix, Sokka was well experienced in this fact, and immediately jerked his body out of the water. He quickly shook as much water from his face, but not enough to prevent the biting arctic air from stealing all of the warmth from his face.

At first, he panicked, trying in vain to get his arms free. Adrenaline poured into his veins, attempting to give him enough strength to break his bindings. It was useless though, the rope was too strong, the knots too expertly tied. His head burned, he knew that it wasn't long before the tips of his ears would begin to freeze. As the initial shock wore off, the more rational part of his brain kicked in. A recent memory filtered through his mind of the last time he fell into freezing water. Letting out a calming breath, Sokka focused again on the warm ball of energy that was inside of him. Where it was difficult to move the energy before, this time it leapt to his command. Soon, the burning feeling faded, and the ice that had started to form melted. By the time Zuren had raised him back to deck level, his face was warmed enough to prevent damage.

The arm shifted again, bringing Sokka within arms reach of Zuren who reached out with a cloth rag and wiped the water off of his face. "Look Sokka, I really don't want to be your enemy. I feel we are kindred spirits, both proud warriors who only want to protect our friends and family. This air bender can help our nation is ways you couldn't possibly understand. This war has been terrible for all sides, and must end."

"Humph." Sokka scoffed, "The only thing the fire nation want is to dominate the world. You could stop the war and go home right now and everyone would be better off."

"Just that simple?" Zuren shot back mockingly, "We just pack up and go home? And what is to stop the earth king from sending his armies after us to 'take revenge on those fire nation devils'?"

"They wouldn't do that!" Sokka shot back defiantly, "They would rebuild their homes that you destroyed."

Zuren just sighed and turned away, and Sokka found himself plummeting towards the sea again. He tried his best to make his screams as manly as possible as the water rushed up to him. This time, he stopped before he came close to hitting the waves. He didn't stay there long and was quickly pulled back up towards the deck. "What's the big idea!?" Sokka demanded as he was raised to the deck level. The crane arm turned and Sokka swung back onto the deck. Once he was well onto the deck, Zuren stepped forward with his hands on a sheathed sword. Before Sokka could attempt to protest, Zuren swept out his sword almost too fast to follow. Tuning the unsheathing of his sword into an attack, he sliced above Sokka's head, severing the rope that suspended Sokka.

The sudden appearance of a sword shocked Sokka, until now, Zuren had only fought unarmed. He numbly tumbled to the deck, where some guards quickly picked him up. As he was pushed back to the cell Zuren spoke up. "You know nothing of how the world works Sokka." His tone with only a hint of sadness. "If you knew anything of the history of the four nations, you would understand why we can't simply stop." The guards, who had paused to allow Zuren to speak, continued walking. Easily lifting Sokka by the rope that still bound his arms.

As he was carried into the ship, Sokka heard Ranma echo in the back of his mind. "Way to go Sokka, that went better then expected."

"That could have gone better." Zuren stated aloud, watching as his men came onto the deck from the hold. They were all ready for battle, each armed with a bow in their hands and swords strapped to heir hips. They took position along the edge of the ship, taking a moment to tie themselves to the chain that had been recently strung along the deck and anchored at regular intervals. He smiled as everything was prepared without issue. Making a note to commend Captain Yori, the man he put in charge of organizing this troop movement. From his position on the deck, Yori quickly waved a quick hand signal to let Zuren know the troops were ready. He just smiled and took his position on the middle of the deck.

All his pieces were in play. The only think left to do was focus on victory.

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High above, Katara watched as Sokka was taken back into the ship using her brother's spyglass. She didn't want to admit that she was enjoying using one of Sokka's treasures. After dad left, Sokka had a special bag that he dubbed his "leader-bag". I apparently held special "chief's only" items. No matter how nicely she asked, or angrily she yelled, he would never let her see what was inside. Now that she was the village chieftain, though she technically wasn't at the village, she felt justified to finally see what the fuss was about. She expected the knifes and the pouch of jerky, though the metal tools and small books inside a wooden box were a surprise. She had no idea what the tools and books were for, but she had seen Sokka use the spyglass before. It took a while to get the hang of it, she now was able to easily watch the ship.

"It looks like Sokka is okay, they are taking him back inside the ship. Are you sure you want to try this?" She asked, putting down the spyglass for a moment to look at Aang.

"It's out best opportunity to rescue him. Appa drops me off on the deck and I follow Sokka into the ship. I'll just air blast the guards to knock them out and then grab Sokka and come back onto the deck where you'll have Appa pick us up. Shouldn't be too difficult." They were getting close now. Aang thought up this plan the first moment they spotted Sokka. While being held in the ship, Aang would have to search each room and hope to stumble across Sokka. With him on the deck, he could just swoop in and grab him. At least that was the plan as they flew as low as possible, approaching the ship from behind to avoid detection.

Aang pulled back the reins, directing Appa to ascend, and prepared to jump off as soon as they rose above the desk.

Being slightly higher on Appa's back, Katara saw the troops first. "Aang wait!" she yelled out, "It's a trap!"

Relaxing slightly, Aang took in the scene on the deck. At least 50 solders were waiting for him, armed with bows and ready to fire. In most cases, Aang could easily just bend the air and make the arrows miss their mark. If he jumped onto the deck now, Katara and Appa would be sitting ducks. Sokka would have to wait. "Oh monkey-feathers..." he cursed, watching the solders who watched him fly by.

"What do we do now?" Katara asked.

"There's not much to do, we follow them and hope we can find another opportunity to save your brother." With one last look back at the solders, Aang sat down and flew away from the ship. While he was one for heroics, even he knew there was just no way to get Sokka right now.

As the bison sped away, Zuren breathed a sigh of relief. His hasty plan to protect his men from an air bender was untested. He had expected a fully realized avatar to come blasting in, scattering his troops and pushing many overboard. Now that he had gotten a good look at the air bender, he realized that he was still a child. That should have been impossible since the avatar was an young air bender before the war started. There was no way that he could have died four times to bring the cycle around again without someone finding him. Doubt started creeping into Zuren's mind. Maybe this air bender wasn't the avatar. A more likely explanation is that the kid didn't even know he was the avatar. Historically, avatars started training the other elements when they turned sixteen. This changed everything. Zuren had only guesses and assumptions to work with, all of them expecting someone over a hundred years old. Now that the last known air bender wasn't even old enough to be considered a teenager, he needed to re-evaluate the situation.

Zuren smiled as he signaled his men to stand down. He would instruct the captain to make best speed to Qaniit Island. They have given Zuko enough of a head start to make it to the air temple by now. From the limited supplies that he spotted on the back of the flying beast, he figured that they would have to resupply soon. The southern air temple would be the logical choice for their first stop once they rescue Sokka. All he had to do was get them to rescue him without sacrificing any of his men.

As he walked onto the bridge he had a plan formed. It was time for him to have a little heart to heart with the air bender. He had the bait, now all he needed was to prepare a proper trap.

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Aang was bored out of his mind. After the aborted attempt to save Sokka, he had been at a loss of what to do. They had spent the next few days monitoring the ship as it slowly made it's way north. They stopped to sleep and give Appa a rest when needed. During this time,Aang tried to cheer Katara up, but the dread and anxiety of not knowing if Sokka was still alive hung over them like storm clouds. She didn't smile and laugh at his jokes, instead she always had either a serious or sad look on her face. Even only seeing it a few times he missed her smile. Aang would sometimes watch Katara practice her bending while Appa rested. Having seen some of the best water benders in the world before being trapped in the iceberg Aang was able to tell that Katara was a raw beginner. Katara's moves was nowhere near as graceful, or effective, but she didn't quit though. Every free moment she was at the ocean's edge. When he asked if she wanted to explore the island or see something cool she would always decline.

He didn't want to admit it, but his body still felt groggy from his time in the ice burg. So he really wasn't trying that hard to show off, but resting was boring. His mind wanted to do something, but his body didn't. As the days passed, his body recovered, but he was still bored. If was a lot harder to have fun all by yourself, and Aang didn't really feel like being that far away from his friends. On the bright side, Katara was quickly getting better after every session. Aang did like watching her, but he wanted something to do that was bit more exciting.

So when they came within sight of the protected harbor of Qaniit Island, Aang perked up. The ship looked like it was heading strait for land. They might be stopping for a while, which would give them another chance to save Sokka. While the boat was moving, he could only approach from the air. If the boat was stationary, he could swim out to the boat and quietly slip on board. If he was lucky, he could avoid the guards and find where the holding cells were. Getting Sokka back was a sure fire way of cheering Katara up.

Once he rescued Sokka, things would get better.

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Inside the cargo hold, Zuren was addressing his squad commanders. "We've spotted Qaniit Island today and will be soon making land fall. Our main mission is to resupply our dangerously low water reserves. We will use the assault ramp to offload the majority of our ground squads and our two pieces of mechanized armor."

"Finally!" Lieutenant Kenta exclaimed happily, "My boys have been itching for some riding time." He was the one of the few benders that were attached to Zuren's platoon. Compared to other fire benders, Kenta was almost dead last in the ranking. He was good at basic fire blasts, but was completely incompetent when it came to hand to hand combat. Inside a tank was where his true talent lay. At the siege of Ba Sing Se, his armored platoon had been the first to break the earth kingdom's lines. Once split, Iroh's reinforcements widened the gap and gained access to a large portion of the great wall. After a week of fierce battle, the mining teams had dug far enough into the wall to set blasting charges and take down a large portion of the great wall.

"Good," Zuren acknowledged, "you will be transporting the majority of the water to and from the fresh water lake that is a few miles inland. I'm assigning five squads to your command to assist in gathering the water. The rest will be unloading all of our supplies and performing a complete inventory. I want the ship empty of all supplies when I do the prisoner exchange in case the air bender really is the avatar and decides to destroy the ship after getting his friend back."

"You don't really think that will happen?" Captain Yori asked "We all saw that the air bender is just a kid."

"The air bender is still a big unknown for us. We don't really know if he is a danger or not. We didn't send the landing craft with Prince Zuko so in case the ship is destroyed, we can still send a team to request assistance from the fire navy. I'm also expecting us to reach a major port soon, and I want to know what we are low on."

"What about the crew?" Ship Captain Taro asked, "What would you have us do while this is going on?"

"Once everything in unloaded, we will move the ship to the center of the harbor and drop anchor. I want you to take the boilers offline and do the maintenance that we're been putting off. When we rendezvous with the prince, I have feeling we won't have many more opportunities for repairs. Our enemy today is not another army or navy, it's not even the world itself. Complacency is our opponent. For many of us, it has been years since our last combat mission, so I want you to be extra careful. We are a long way from home, and small mistakes can be fatal. We still have a job to do, and I won't take death as an excuse for not getting it done. Prepare your squads, I want to move out as soon as we possible, dismissed."

The men all saluted as one before moving out of the hold to prepare. Sure there were no enemies to fight, but it has been a while since they have been able to practice their tactical skills on solid ground. It would be good practice if they ever returned from this quest and rejoined the war.

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Aang had always loved the skys. To him, nothing was more fun then flying. With the wind blowing in his face, racing and twisting around and through clouds, performing loops and daredevil dives. The ground was just something to push off of as you floated into the air. Today was different though. Today he was perfectly happy to lazily sit in a tree, listening to the forest noise. Being here meant not going crazy up in the air, slowly following a metal monstrosity. Doing so sucked all the fun out of flying. Air was dynamic, twisting and turning at seemingly random points. The last few days was flying in a strait line, without any real change of scenery. Even cloud watching was getting boring.

He glanced down to Katara who was quietly sitting in some nearby bushes. She had that accursed spyglass out again. She would spend hours stating at the fire nation ship, completely ignoring the world around him. The few times she had tried to do something to break the mood and get her to smile, she would just ignore him and say that's nice.

"Hey Aang, it looks like the ship is coming into the harbor." Katara yelled up.

"That's great." Aang halfheartedly stated. He was tired of waiting and wanted to try something. The only positive of all this waiting around was that Appa had a chance to eat. He had lost a bit of weight when they ware trapped in the iceberg. The rich summer grasses and other edible plans were really doing a wonder for his health. He'd be back to a normal weight in no time. Then they could fly longer and further without the many breaks they had to take during the day.

With nothing else to do, Aang began to watch the ship come into port. Without the spyglass, he could only barely make out any real detail. The sound was easy enough to hear. The clanging of metal of the front of the ship lowering and the strange metal wagons moving down that ramp echoed across the harbor. The wagons were moving away from them, so they were in no danger in being discovered.

"It looks like they are unloading a bunch of barrels onto the shore for some reason." Katara noted, the spyglass giving her a better view of what was going on. "We might be able to slip onto the ship while everyone is distracted unloading."

"I actually was thinking about that." Aang admitted, flipping down from the branches. "I can use my air scooter to cross the harbor and slip onto the ship without them noticing. Then I can run through the ship and find Sokka. With most of the troops off the ship for some reason it should be easy to search the ship. Then I bust him out and we make a break for it while you wait with Appa and pick us up once we get off the ship."

"So you do all the dangerous stuff while I wait safely tucked away? I can help too, you know." Katara stated, annoyed that she would be relatively useless in saving Sokka.

"They'd spot Appa before we could get close enough to get you onto the ship. We have to do this as quick as possible, that calls for an air bender."

"Fine..." Katara grumbled, "But we should change your clothes, bright orange is not a color for sneaking around."

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Sokka was in agony. Every fiber of his being burned as he twisted and turned. Everything hurt, his fingers tingled, and he didn't think he could feel his toes anymore. His mussels shook with fatigue and his breath was ragged. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on.

"And release" Ranma commanded.

With a gasp of relief, Sokka came out of his one legged stance that was almost impossible hold. His mussels finally giving out, he tumbled to the floor taking in deep, calming breaths. He had lost track of how long he had been down here alone after his little trip overboard. From the moment the door closed, Ranma had pushed him to workout.

"Remind me why I agreed to do this again?" Sokka asked aloud.

Ranma bent over Sokka and smirked that "I know everything" smirk that he hated at times like these. "Because it was either this or I pester you until you do. Besides, it's good for you. You can match Zuren on pure skill, but he has a lot more power and is a lot more durable then you are. We'll deal with your toughness once we get out of here, but you need to be a lot more stronger."

Sokka just groaned and put an arm over his face. "I hate it when you are right. It means nothing but pain for me. I can barely move as it is."

Ranma just laughed in response. "If you can barely move, then we can continue working out."

Sokka winced as he knew what was coming next.

"The path of a true martial artist is fraught with peril." Ranma stated dramatically.

"Sure, only replace peril with pain and suffering in this case." Sokka grumbled, sitting up stiffly. When Ranma didn't respond to his quip he opened his mouth to ask if he agreed when Ranma shushed him.

"Don't talk and listen. Something is different." Sokka paused, straining his ears. He really couldn't hear anything. It quiet, which was odd. There was always a quiet hum in the background. Ranma explained that it was the steam engine. That you could hear it on almost all points of the ship. His cell was relatively close to the engine room and that noise had been a constant during him time here. He had gotten used to that noise. "They shut down the broilers. That only happens when they come into dock for a long stay. Get dressed, we might have visitors soon."

Sokka happily moved to wipe off his sweat covered body with some rags that Ling had left for him. He quickly dressed in his underclothes and lower layer, leaving his parka off since it was so warm inside. Using the parka as a pillow, Sokka laid down are waited. It wasn't long before the door to his cell rattled open. As with the last times, a smiling Zuren walked into the room. This time, he was accompanied by two guards. He had yet to determine their names, but he recognized them as the same guards that always followed Zuren to their "meetings". He wondered what they wanted this time.

"Good news!" Zuren happily stated, "Your time as our guest has come to an end. Your friends will be arriving shortly and I want to make sure they have a warm welcome. We need to get you ready."

"My friends?" Sokka asked, sitting up. "You're going to use me as bait for a trap and your 'warm welcome' is probably a fire blast. Why not just kill me and get it over with. They aren't dumb enough to fall into such an obvious trap."

"Of course you're bait," Zuren replied, suddenly springing into action. He reached forward and grasped the front of Sokka's shirt. Before Sokka knew what was going on, he was pulled up, into the air for a moment, and then slammed into the deck. His exhausted body screaming again in agony. "but not in the way you are thinking." Zuren finished, as if there was no break to his conversation. "I'm actually rather excited to finally meet this air bender. His people were wiped off the face of the earth before I was born." Zuren quickly bound Sokka's arms behind his back. The knots in the rope tighter then what Sokka was used to. Once done, Zuren hauled Sokka to his feet and pushed him for the door. "Cheer up Sokka! By the end of the day, you'll either be dead, which would be a shame, or with your friends. Either way, you'll be out of here. I know how much you dislike being our guest."

"Oh goody," Sokka dead paned, "you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm about being used as bait."

"But you are so good at it." Zuren stated. "Your friends have been following us for days. You must be important to them."

They walked in silence up to ship's deck. Sokka having some difficulty moving after such a long workout session with Ranma. It didn't help that he couldn't use his arms to balance himself. Once they reached the deck, Sokka was momentarily taken aback by what was setup. The first thing he noticed was the catapult, ready to fire, with a pillow below the swing arm. What was weird was that it was pointed towards the stern, where if fired, it would almost certainly hit the bridge of the ship. What confused Sokka more was the small table setup a short distance away. He wasn't quite sure what all the different *dishes* were for, but was sure it was all part of Zuren's nefarious plan.

The guards moved Sokka to where the cushion sat and forced him to sit down. "I see you noticed the trebuchet setup on the deck. It's quite the ingenious siege engine. You put a heavy weight on one end, and a lighter projectile attached to the other. That is the end you will be attached to." As Zuren talked, his men brought a length of chain, that was attached to the long arm, and secured it around Sokka's neck, locking it into place. "Now normally, we would rig up a release mechanism to prevent the projectile from slamming into the deck, but for you... I think the deck can take it."

"Isn't that a rather elaborate way to kill me? Am I not good enough for a simple sword or spear? It'd be much simpler."

"True, but I've never killed anyone like this before." Zuren stated rather plainly. "I have a bet going with my second in command. He thinks the impact on the deck will kill you, I think the initial pull off the ground will snap your neck. If it turns out that we have to kill you, could you try to kick your legs... for science that is."

Sokka just glared at Zuren, not sure what else to do. This was a side of Zuren that he never saw in their "interrogations". He always dismissed any talk of Sokka's torture or death. Acting like it was a rather barbaric subject, yet here he was, thinking up a new and interesting way to kill him. Acting like it was as plain as the rising sun.

"I'll take that as a 'I'll see what I can do'." Zuren stated. One of the guards then began to put a gag on Sokka as the other held his head. "You'll have to excuse my men. I don't want you to interrupt my meeting. Wish me luck." Turning away, Zuren walked to the small table and sat on one of the two cushions set out.

As if timed a blue streak flew from the ocean and landed on the deck. In what looked like one of Katara's spare parkas, the kid that Sokka only just met, landed a few paces away. Sliding to a stop as he took in the scene in front of him.

"So," Zuren drawled, acting casually calm, "the elusive air bender finally decides to join us. I would think the boredom of following us from the clouds would have encouraged you to try something sooner."

"I demand that you return Sokka!" Aang yelled out. Trying his best to be intimidating.

"Of course," Zuren replied, "though I can't guarantee that he'll still be able to breath when he does. It all depends on you."

"Me?" Aang's intimidating stance cracked, confusion settling onto his face.

"Rumor speculates that an air bender from the southern temple was the avatar. Since you are the only living air bender from that temple, you must know where the avatar is."

"I am not the last air bender!" Aang denied, anger seeping into his voice.

"Hmmm... well, I have never properly met an air bender, would you honor me by sharing a cup of tea?" Zuren asked, motioning to the teapot and small snacks he had arranged in front of him.

This gave Aang pause for a moment. He was expecting to have a daring chase through the ship and then an amazing escape. Not a calm request to sit and enjoy a cup of tea. He glanced over at Sokka, he had a good idea how catapults worked and knew that if that guard pulled even a little on the release handle, Sokka was in for a world of hurt.

"Oh don't worry about your friend." Zuren called out, noticing where Aang was looking. "He is here to make sure you don't try anything uncivilized. I'll give him back once we have a chance to talk."

"You promise?" Aang asked, not sure what to do.

"On my honor as a marital artist." Zuren plainly stated. Even though his words didn't seem to reassure Aang, the young boy did walk forward and sat at the small table.

"Alright, I'm here. So talk." Aang commanded, clearly unhappy.

"Thank you for cooperating... Tea?" Zuren asked. When Aang didn't respond, Zuren shrugged and took the metal kettle off a small oil burner and poured the hot water into a smaller porcelain teapot. "I have to admit that I feared that you would have attacked the ship the moment you first caught up to us. I was expecting a hundred year old master of all the elements to rip my ship in two and take what he wanted."

Aang tried to hide a grimace, but remained silent.

"But you are not a master of all elements now, are you?" Zuren asked rhetorically, reaching into bin of water and pulling out a pair of cups that had been submerged. Taking a clean piece of cloth, he gently dried the cups, setting them in the middle of the table. "Though you might one day, assuming you actually are the avatar and not some lucky survivor."

"What difference does it make?" Aang asked, finally breaking Zuren's monologue. "I just want my friend back."

"Your friend is quite the interesting boy." Taking the porcelain teapot, Zuren pured two cups of tea before setting down the kettle. "While still rough, he'll become a great warrior one day. He may even grow to become an obstacle to the fire nation, and obstacles are for killing. If given the chance, he would be quite the valuable addition to any army that he joined. Sokka tells me that he lives alone, without family or friends to help him survive the harsh winter of the south pole. It's my belief that it would be best for him to stay under my protection. Here he would have people to look after him an make sure he lived a good life."

"How could being a prisoner be considered a good life? People are meant to be free to make their own choices. Sokka deserves to be released."

Zuren paused, picking up a cup of tea and blowing on it gently to cool it a little. "Sokka is my guest. He may resent the fact that he doesn't have free reign of the ship now, but it's as much for his protection as ours. The world is not kind to children on their own. Sokka would not be the first child that I took in and protected. What would you have him do if I gave him back? Take him south and drop him off at the first big iceberg?"

"Well... No..." Aang murmured. He was unsure what his plans were going to be for himself, let alone Sokka. He hadn't thought that far ahead. "I was kinda thinking he could travel with me."

"You?" Zuren asked skeptically, "You're younger then he is. How could a child protect him from the world? From the war? The avatar could easily take refuge in the various earth kingdom villages, but they wouldn't give a bunch of kids a second glance. People don't help strangers out of the kindness of their hearts." Letting out a breath to calm down, Zuren waited for a response. He took a few sips of his tea, watching the young boy in front of him. He had to give the kid some credit. His tough facade lasted longer then Zuren expected. Now the kid was nervously staring at his tea cup, obviously trying to think up something, anything to say.

"I see this distresses you, maybe we should change topics. Since you are an air bender, maybe you could tell me what happened to the avatar."

Aang looked up, not expecting that question either. "I don't know..." He nervously said, "I didn't know the avatar... I knew people who knew him, but I didn't."

It took all Zuren had to keep his face calm. The kid was a terrible liar, he obviously knew something. Maybe it was time to force the answer out of him. "That is a pity." Zuren said sadly. "Like I said, I would be willing to release Sokka to the Avatar, but not a simple air bender. I will honor my promise to return him to you, but he is a threat to my people. I hope you understand."

Aang thought he was confused before, but now he had no idea what was going on. He opened his mouth to ask what Zuren meant when he was interrupted.

"Sergent!" Zuren called out, the guard at the release perking up. "Fire the catapult."

"Wait!" Aang called out, alarmed that the realization that Sokka was about to be killed. Zuren raised his hand and turned back to Aang.

"You going to try that again with the truth this time?"

Aang wilted and slowly mumbled quietly but still loud enough for Zuren to hear him, "I'm the Avatar. Please don't kill him."

Zuren made a hand signal and smiled, "Excellent. Now we can have a civilized conversation. I am Colonel Zuren of the 44nd limited army company." He stated, bowing his head respectfully.

After a moment, Aang realized he was waiting for him to introduce himself. "I'm Aang of the southern air temple." He stated nervously, unaccustomed to giving formal greetings.

"I'll get directly to the point, the fire lord has tasked me to assist in finding and capturing the avatar, bringing him back to the Fire Nation." He watched as Aang glanced around the deck, expecting someone to leap out at him. "I said assist, it is not me who must complete this task. It is my cousin, Prince Zuko who must capture you."

"Why tell me this?" Aang asked. Still jumpy from almost loosing Sokka.

"Zuko was given this task because it was assumed to be impossible, but now that you have returned, he will be determined to catch you. He is still young and idealistic, clinging to the old ways of honor and a offering fair fight. If you were older, you would understand why I would ask a favor of you."

"A favor? Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I would return your friend as payment to this favor. My cousin is important to the survival of my people and there is only so much I can do to keep him safe. When he enters into battle with you, he will not try to kill you or your friends, I ask that you do the same for him."

"Wait... you want me to not kill someone? That's crazy! Why would I want to kill anybody?"

"If is not just you that would be bound to this promise, but your friends as well as my allies. Sokka is Water Tribe, his people are known for their ruthlessness. He has the skills to kill, but has not had a target until now. My men are all veterans fighting the earth nation armies, they are no strangers to death. Without a civil agreement between our two forces, I'm afraid that Sokka is too dangerous to be released. I will not jeopardize the lives of those under my command that way."

"Well... If it means that you let Sokka go... then yes, we have an agreement. Can we go now?"

Zuren nodded, "Sergent, please release our guest." He commanded while standing up. The guard quickly removed the chain around Sokka's neck. "You must excuse me master avatar." Zuren stated, bowing, "I have other duties to attend to. I'm sure you can find your own way off the ship."

Aang watched for a moment as both Zuren and the guard walked into the ship. The bulkhead slamming behind them. Aang sighed once the men were out of sight. Once he admitted to being the avatar the conversation wrapped up rather unexpectedly. He didn't think it would be so easy to get Sokka back. This was not the kind of rescue he was expecting. Aang got up and signaled Katara to come pick them up. He then worked on loosening Sokka's bindings. He worked silently, feeling uncomfortable speaking at first. The last time they spoke, Sokka had threatened to attack him.

"Hey..." Sokka started nervously, "Umm... I know you didn't need to come get me, but... thanks."

"Your welcome." Aang replied. "It was the least I could do. I didn't mean to bring trouble to your family."

Sokka signed, "I know, you're just some goofy kid. Which is why you need someone like me around, to keep you out of trouble."

"Really?!"

"Well someone's gotta do it. Besides, I still have a score to settle with mister fancy pants. I didn't hear what you two talked about, but I know that he's going to be chasing after you. If I stick around with you, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to take him down a peg or two."

"Well, I guess that's as good of a reason as any..." Aang murmured.

"So..." Sokka asked after another moment of silence. "You have a plan to get us out of here, or do we have to swim to shore?"

"Of course..." Aang stated, "I know the fastest way to travel..." As the words left his mouth Appa came swooping onto deck, landing a few feet away. "...my flying bison!" He ended dramatically.

"Huh... he can fly." Sokka stated dumbly distracted by the fact that such a large animal could even get off the ground. He was do distracted that he missed his sister barrelling down on him, until she almost bowled him over with a crushing hug.

"Sokka! Thank goodness you're okay. I was so worried we weren't going to get you back."

"I takes more then a whole platoon of fire nation solders to keep me down." Sokka arrogantly stated, returning the hug. "But we should really get out of here. You never know what crazy thing these guys might try next."

Katara broke the hug and the three of them climbed aboard. Aang taking the reigns and directing Appa to take off and fly away. Feeling better the further he got away from the cold hearted Zuren and that metal monstrosity. They had gotten Sokka back, which was supposed to be a victory, but it didn't feel like it. That whole conversation made him uneasy. The way Zuren calmly expected him to destroy the ship looking for Sokka, and how easily he gave the command to kill Sokka was troubling. Zuren spoke of death like it was an everyday occurrence. People in his time were never so ruthless.

How had the world become so screwed up?

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On the bridge, Zuren watched as the bison flew away. He actually felt a bit of sadness that Sokka was no longer on board. That kid was still rough, but given enough time, he would probably be quite the formidable opponent. It had been many years since Zuren found anyone that even had a chance to challenge him. The best fighters left home to fight and die in the war. Those that survived, by either choice or injury, were rarely willing to fight unless absolutely necessary. There were few artisans left, mainly stuffy old men who would rather sip tea all day then spar. Sokka was someone different, his fighting forms didn't have the mechanical blandness that professional solders have. So few train without a sword or spear and those fights usually end when one kills another. There was no beauty in war and brutality. You had to be one step ahead of your enemy and have more friends to back you up when you fight to survive. There were no fair fights in war, no honor duels.

Zuren came out of his musings as Baku walked onto the bridge. "Sir, engineering reports that repairs are proceeding on schedule and we will be ready to fire the main broiler by daybreak tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sergent. Is there anything else?"

"Only a question, why did you let the avatar escape with Sokka so easily? We could have waited for him to board the ship and then trap him between bulkheads. The ship is designed to defend against boarding parties by separating them. Then we could all go home and prince Zuko would regain his honor."

"Perhaps," Zuren mused, "but catching the Avatar is my cousin's task. If we did it for him, then the honor would be ours and not his. It was also too risky, the avatar is not one to be taken lightly."

"But he's just a kid, what harm could he do?"

"His age is the problem. The avatar is power personified. If cornered, he may tap into that bottomless wellspring of power. I doubt he's had time to train how to control how much he uses so if he looses control, then all bets are off. I wouldn't be surprised if that kid could rip this ship apart and flatten or drown every one of us without breaking a sweat. We need more information before we even attempt a capture. The only way to do that is follow and watch. We'll only get one shot to get this right, and if we screw it up, we're not getting a second one."

"Understood, sir." Baku replied.

"Thank you for the status report, you are dismissed."

Baku saluted and then left the bridge, leaving Zuren alone again. Glancing out the window, Zuren noted that the bison was now too far away to be seen. He remained there, plotting his next move. Chasing the avatar would be like chasing the wind. The bison was faster then their ship, but it had to stop and rest where he could rotate the crew. He also outnumbered them substantially, but that wouldn't mean anything in a head to head fight. They had nothing to gain by staying in the fight and could easily escape his conventional solders.

Zuren had a feeling that life was going to a lot more interesting from here on out.

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"How's he doing?" Aang asked once they were a good distance away from the ship.

"Sleeping for now. He seems okay, but totally exhausted. I don't know what they did to him, but he seems okay for now." Sitting at the front of the saddle, she rested her chin on the edge. Letting out a tired sigh, she tried to relax. She had been barely able to get any sleep and it was catching up to her.

"I guess I should head south." Aang stated sadly. "Take you back home."

"You could," Katara stated, "but I've been thinking. If I ever want master water bending, I'll need to find a teacher. There isn't anyone in the south pole who can help, but maybe in the North there is. If you and Appa would take me, I can find a master."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Aang happily exclaimed. "I was thinking of heading there anyway so we might as well travel together."

"Then it's decided." Katara said tiredly. "Though if we are going to travel that far, we'll need more supplies."

"That's not a problem, we can just head to the southern air temple. I'm sure we can get plenty of traveling gear from the monks there. I can show you around the temple as well. It's a beautiful place this time of year."

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High in the mountains, Kenzo had only one thought on his mind. "I hate how depressing this temple is." He grumbled quietly.

"I have to agree with you, Captain." Iroh stated quietly. "Though it seems that it has improved since last we were here."

Eyeing the brush that grew anywhere it could take root, Kenzo sighed. "That's only because we burned the dead last time we were here. It was horrifying when there were skeletons everywhere, but now it's just spooky."

"A great sorrow occurred here, it is only natural that the land weeps. Take heart that the land will one day recover."

Kenzo opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by one of his men. "Captain! You're going to want to take a look at this."

"By your leave, general." Kenzo excused himself bowing slightly.

Watching the Captain run off, Iroh decided to go looking for this nephew. They reached the temple a few hours ago and Zuko immediately wanted to go looking for a good place to ambush the Avatar. They had explored a large portion of the temple the last time they were here. The first thing Zuko did when he was banished was go to each of the air temples. This was the last place they went and it was the worst. Where the other temples were basically deserted, this temple was different. There were bodies everywhere, both air nomad and fire nation. Everyone, even Zuren's more hardened solders were horrified at the battlefield. Giving the dead an honorable end was the least they could do.

Iroh had read the action reports and knew that it was a costly campaign, one that weakened the army for years. The rumors that the Avatar was at the southern air temple caused Sozin himself to lead the attack on the temple. That was the only detail he could find other then they won and many men were lost. It was an obvious instance of someone preventing the details of the battle from getting out. Iroh could only speculate on what actually happened here a hundred years ago.

Iroh found Zuko at one of the higher courtyards. He sat looking out into the distance, watching the sun beginning to dip past the clouds. As he walked up, Zuko glanced behind him and sighed. "This place is depressing." He stated simply.

"As it was the last time we were here."

"It's not that... It's the fact that this place has doorways but no doors, open windows, and lots of openings. There's no good ground to attack the avatar on, everywhere is too spacious, with too many places to escape. It's as if these people didn't care about their own privacy." Zuko fell silent, staring out into horizon. After so long without a solid lead, Zuko just wanted to get this over with. Either he could defeat the Avatar or not. He would regain his honor or he would die trying. Zuren had drilled into his brain that you should never fight on even ground. That you should always find an advantage over the enemy. Here, there was no advantage to be had, it was just too open.

"Nephew, if the avatar runs, you have not lost." Iroh stated, breaking Zuko from his thoughts. "It's not winning the first battle that is important, it's gaining victory in the end. We know almost nothing about the avatar, and an unknown enemies are the most difficult to defeat. Take this opportunity to learn what you can, so you can win when on more favorable ground."

Zuko signed again, staring off into space. He knew that Iroh was trying to be helpful, but Zuko didn't want to be cheered up. This whole situation was hopeless. Every possible scenario he could think up ended with the avatar escaping or the avatar blasting him off the mountain. He needed a place to contain the fight, somewhere dark to set a trap.

"Prince Zuko! General Iroh!" Zuko glanced over as one of the solders came running up.

Turning to face the man, Iroh spoke, "What is it Captain?"

"We found something down in the lower levels that might interest you."

"What could that be?" Zuko asked sarcastically, "Another empty storeroom? We explored every room and corridor in this place last time we were here. What wasn't empty had 100 year old trash in it."

The captain just smiled, "Why don't you come and take a look. I'm betting it would make your day."

Zuko thought about it for a moment before getting up and dusting himself off. "We'll see about that captain. Just show me what you found."

A short walk down a few levels later, they came upon a break in the corridor. It was literally a hole in the wall. A perfectly circular tunnel that traveled into the center of the mountain.

"This is earth bender work." Iroh commented, running a finger along the edge of the opening. "Relatively recent, maybe in the last year."

"Grave robbers most likely, sir." Captain Kenzo surmised. "Must have been looking for a treasure vault or something."

"I don't think so," Zuko stated. "air benders have no need for excessive wealth. They only used gold when they needed to trade with other nations. These were monks more interested in sitting around, meditating then collecting things. Why would an earth bender make the effort to come all the way here? I'm sure there are easier places to rob from."

"This was no common thug that dug this tunnel." Iroh commented. "The edges are smooth and perfectly circular. A novice would just punch through the wall, possibly damaging anything on the other side."

"Well whoever did this is long gone." Kenzo commented, unhooking the small candle lantern he had on his belt. "We might as well take a look. General, could you give me a light?" He held up the lantern. Iroh reached in and snapped his fingers, leaving a small flame on the candle. Once lit, Kenzo brushed past Zuko, heading into the tunnel. "I'll head in first in case they left traps behind." He mentioned over his shoulder, moving slowly.

Zuko opened his mouth to protest, but Iroh cut him off. "Nephew, let the man do his job." He stated quietly.

"I don't need a babysitter. I know how to avoid traps." He spat back, annoyed at the insult.

"True," Iroh agreed, putting a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder. "but you're not invincible, and one can never be too careful around the unknown."

Zuko shrugged off Iroh's hand and walked into the tunnel, grumbling as a small flame sprung into life in his hand. Iroh decided to give Zuko some space and followed. After a good distance, the tunnel curved upwards and opened into a large cavern. As soon as Iroh entered, he knew what this room was, the sanctuary. It was the most private place in the air temple accessible only by master air benders. Here is where the monks could meditate without distraction.

As Zuko and Iroh started to explore the room, Captain Kenzo called over. "You'll want to look at this, I think I know who was here before us." The pair walked over to look at another break in the wall. There was a large slab of rock carefully laying a short distance away. It looked like it had been carefully removed to expose a honeycomb of empty slots dug into the wall.

"Well? Who was it?" Zuko asked.

"The worst kind of thief there is. Ones that not only take the gold, but every useless knickknack and trinket they could find. Some of them will even steal the dead... I'm talking about the most despicable people of all...Archaeologists." Kenzo stated boldly. Zuko shot him a confused look. Kenzo continued more seriously. "This was obviously a hidden wall that could hold hundreds of scrolls. Like the entryway, this wall was removed without damaging anything. The slab was even laid face up to allow someone to study the mosaic. Grave robbers look only for gold, archaeologists look for historical artifacts. A wall full of scrolls about a now extinct people would be the find of a lifetime."

"It would explain why someone went though the trouble of coming up here." Iroh mused.

"And how does that little gem of information help?" Zuko asked.

"Damned if I know." Kenzo shrugged. "But this is the only enclosed room in the whole mountain..."

"Which means we might finally have a chance of catching the avatar." Zuko finished for him. His voice then took on a more commanding tone. "Captain, gather the men. I want a lookout on the highest point watching for any approach. We have work to do."

Kenzo just smiled as he came left to gather their supplies. Finally, the prince was taking charge. This was going to get interesting.

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Sokka awoke as Appa landed for the night, rested and felling a million times better then he had before he escaped from the fire nation. He untied the rope that held him to the saddle and prevented him from rolling around.

"How you feeling?" Katara asked, walking across the saddle.

Sokka stretched and crawled out of the sleeping roll. "Better then I did yesterday." Katara shot him a worried look, "I mean I'm feeling great. No need to worry. It's not like they tortured me or anything."

"So what did happen? Why did they kidnap you?"

Sokka noticed Aang starting to unhook the saddle and motioned Katara to follow him as he slid off to the ground. "I needed to give the village more time to escape so I challenged their leader to a duel."

"A duel? Are you insane?" Katara exclaimed. "You're not a warrior like dad is."

"Relax sis, I'm not helpless you know. Besides, they were more interesting in finding Aang then chasing after the village. I was useful to their plan. When I served my purpose of getting Aang onto the boat, they let me go."

"But if you were bait for a trap, why didn't they try to capture Aang when he got there."

Sokka shrugged, "Dunno, they wanted to talk with him about something. I was too far away to hear."

"He wanted to make a deal." Aang spoke while unsaddling Appa. "He said some guy named Zuko is going to try and capture me and had me promise not to kill him before he would let you go. I don't even know why he wanted a promise, it's not like I'd intentionally hurt anyone. It makes me sick just thinking about it."

"They want to capture you?" Katara spoke up. "Why?"

"Who cares why." Sokka stated, "What's important is that we get as far away from that boat full of crazy people as possible. As water tribe, it is our duty to mess up any fire nation plot we come across. If that means keeping Aang from this Zuko guy, then that's what we're going to do."

Katara nodded, agreeing with Sokka's plan. The north pole was about as far away as they could get from here.

"For now, you two should get some sleep. I'll keep watch in case they found a way to follow us."

Aang and Katara nodded and got ready for bed. After a while, the pair were settled and quickly went to sleep. The stressful day quickly catching up with them. Once Sokka was sure they were asleep, he quietly slipped out of the camp and went looking for a place that he could train without disturbing the others. He had all night to kill and Ranma would bother him constantly if he just sat around in camp. It's not like he needed much incentive to train. His multiple losses to Zuren and the helplessness of being a prisoner was something he didn't want to repeat.

"This place seems good." Ranma's voice echoed in his head. "For now, we're just going to do something light. Katara only packed enough food for a few days at the most. You're going to have to ration if you want it to last."

Sokka nodded, eager to get started.

As the sky lightened in the pre-dawn. Ranma finally let him stop. The night was full of holding difficult poses, and extreme stretches. His already normally flexible muscles felt rubbery and sore. He was barely able to wash off the sweat from a nearby river and return to camp before the sun came up. He sat down, munching on some of the rations he saved for dinner and waited for Katara and Aang to wake up. Aang was first, springing up as the first rays of sun brunched his face. Katara awoke and soon they were both getting ready for the day.

Soon, Appa was packed and they were flying through the sky. Sokka took this opportunity to tie himself once again to the saddle and sleep. Trying his best to ignore the idle chatter between his sister and Aang. As soon as he drifted off, he was greeted by Ranma, ready for round two. Sokka just groaned and took up a fighting stance. He knew arguing wasn't going to get anywhere and he needed the training. Sokka finished in the afternoon and was then finally able to relax for a little while when he woke up.

This cycle continued for a few days, with Sokka working out at night, training while he slept in the air, and then relaxing for a little while before they landed for the evening. He really didn't know where they were going other then north and he really didn't care. He was too focused on getting better to let little things like a destination bother him. Katara knew they needed supplies, and she assured him that Aang and her had it covered. It wasn't that they touched down on the third day that Sokka realized where they were going.

"You brought us to the air temple?" Sokka explained groggily, "What are you, stupid or something?"

"Hey!" Katara squawked, coming to Aang's defense.

"No. Don't start, this is a bad idea. They know Aang's an air bender and it doesn't take a genius to guess that you'll want to come back. It would be a perfect place to setup an ambush. This place could be crawling with fire benders all waiting to shower us with fireballs."

Aang didn't seem bothered by these facts. "Don't worry about it Sokka. The only people who can get to an air temple is by flying bison. Besides, Appa is way faster then that metal boat. Even if they could climb the mountain, we'd be long gone before they even got close. We're just getting some supplies, like a bed roll for you, and then we'll go."

Sokka sighed, "Fine. One quick tour of the air temple, then we're leaving."

Aang smiled, and grabbed Katara's hand, "Comon! The temple won't tour itself."

As the pair ran off, Sokka pulled out his sword and hooked it onto his belt. There was something spooky about this place. It was so still and quiet, like the entire temple was dead. Following the sounds of Aang's excited explanation of the different parts of the temple, Sokka caught up to them in an orchard.

"And this is were the monks grew the fruit for pies. Monk Gyatso was the greatest baker in the temple."

"Gyatso?" Katara asked.

"He was my mentor." As Aang stated, it his face fell, seemingly lost in a memory.

Katara noticed after a moment and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

Breaking out of the memory, Aang nodded, wiping tears from his face. "It's just that this place has changed so much. This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now, it's just empty."

Nearby, Sokka was sampling the low hanging fruit. "We'll at least you're not alone." He stated.

"Sokka's right, there may not be any air benders around, but we're not going to abandon you." Aang turned and the pair just looked at each other, sharing a moment. Sokka was just about to break it up when one of the nearby bushes rustled loudly.

Dropping the fruit that Sokka had in his hands, he ducked behind on of the trees. He glanced over and saw that both Aang and Katara had done the same. He knew this was a bad idea. He loosened his blade, ready to fight off any fire benders that would make themselves known. Time seemed to slow down as they all focused on rustling bush. Suddenly, a furry white head popped out of the bush and chirped curiously. Before Sokka knew what was going on. Aang was chasing after the little creature. Saying something about this lemur was going to be his new friend.

"Aang! Don't run off on your own!" Sokka called out. When Aang didn't stop he cursed. "Damn it... Katara, let's follow him, I don't want him off on his own."

Katara nodded and the pair started chasing after their wayward friend. It wasn't that hard to do so, Aang was making a lot of noise as he ran. He sounded like he was enjoying himself. Traveling through courtyards and a few corridors. The soon found Aang stopped by a statue of a sitting monk. His new friend forgotten.

Once they got closer, Aang started talking. "When I got caught in that iceberg, I was terrified. I had flown into the middle of a terrible storm. The wind was so strong that knocked Appa out of the sky. It was second scariest thing I had ever experienced. You see, the monks were going to send me away, to one of the other temples. Gyatso wasn't just my mentor, he was the closest thing to a family I had. I was terrified that I was going to loose him so I ran away to show that the elder monks couldn't tell me what to do. Now I just don't know what to do anymore. He could deal with anything, and I feel lost without his guidance."

"He sounds like a great man." Katara said. "I'm sure he knew how you felt. He would have wanted you to keep moving forward, to find your own way."

Aang nodded and started to walk past the statue. "If I make my own path, then it's time I met someone. No more waiting."

Katara glanced back to Sokka, confused about what Aang meant. Shrugging, Sokka just followed after. "We might as well..."

After a short walk into the deeper parts of the temple, they came across a massive door. It was decorated with a swirl of pipes, with two big horns on either side of the door.

"What is this?" Sokka asked.

"This is the door to the air temple sanctuary. Only accessible by a master air bender. Monk Gyatso said that there was someone here that could help me."

"I don't think anyone could have survived all of this time alone in there." Katara said.

"We came all this way, might as well." Sokka said, motioning to Aang. "If you would do the honors."

Taking a deep breath, Aang pushed out with both hands. Two sustained air blasts shot into the pipes. Deep tones sounded, announcing to the world that the sanctuary was being revealed. The lock unhooked, and the doors swung open. The hinges groaning after years of not being used. Without a second thought, Aang walked into the sanctuary, followed closely by Katara. Sokka took a few steps forward and froze, a chill running up his spine. Something felt off, that nagging feeling he had since he got here was blaring in the back of his mind. He surveyed the darkness, trying to piece the veil that obscured a majority of the room. He was just about ready to voice a warning when the room dissolved into chaos.

From the darkness a half dozen men in black cloth leaped out, casting out nets before Aang and Katara realized what had happened. Sokka watched, dumbfounded as the silent warriors subdued his friends. He was just about ready to go charging in to help when Ranma's voice echoed through his head. "Don't be stupid Sokka, you can't take them all on at once."

"But they need my help." Sokka furiously thought, dashing to cover beside the doorway.

"And running in there now will just make things worst. You need a plan." Sokka just glared as Ranma faded into view. "Remember what Aang said, they want to capture him. You can't capture someone who is dead. They are going to have to transport him down the mountain. You need to surprise them, knock them off balance, and get him and Katara out of here. What resources do you have? Where can you ambush them?"

Sokka thought for a moment before a smile flickered across his face. He quietly snuck away, a plan quickly forming in his mind. He knew the perfect place to ambush them. "Ranma, tell me what you know of the fall of the southern air temple."

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Back in the sanctuary, Zuko's men finished securing their new prisoners.

"You're fire nation," Aang stated after recovering from the ambush. "How'd you beat us here? There's no way you could travel by boat faster then air bison."

"It doesn't matter how we got here." Zuko spat out, his voice filled with contempt. "You are my prisoner now. I don't have to explain myself to you."

"But I didn't do anything to you." Aang complained, the guards finishing the knots that held his arms tight. They left his legs free to walk, but a long length of rope connected to his chest, acting as a leach that one of the guards held.

"It doesn't matter, the fire nation has been hunting the avatar for a hundred years. We know he hasn't been killed and reborn into the water tribes. You're the last air bender, so you must be the avatar."

"I'm not the last air bender!" Aang screamed, the air whipping around, matching his anger.

"I'll let my father be the judge of that." Zuko stated darkly. "Let's get moving, I want to be away from this forsaken temple as soon as possible."

"What of the boy that was with them?" One of the men asked, "He escaped while we caught these two."

"He's not a bender, he's no threat to us. He can stay here for all I care."

The guards followed their orders and hauled their new prisoners to their feet. Pushing them out of the sanctuary. They walked in silence while they left. Katara tried to be stoic, but she knew they were in trouble. Sokka couldn't take on a half dozen solders on his own, and there was that old man who just stood back and watched. He seemed to radiate a power that she had never felt before, if the solders were waves, he was a tsunami. She found it distracting and tried her best not to stare, instead focusing on Aang who had fallen into melancholy. She tried to catch his eye to give a supportive smile, but his eyes were downcast, staring at nothing.

Soon, they reached the courtyard that had the statue of monk Gyatso. As they passed the statue, Katara caught the faint sound of a familiar boomerang rocketing towards them. She glanced to the side and watched as the boomerang flew into view. At the same time, the guards at the front were pelted with fruit. Zuko sensed the attack and ducked under a flying peach, retaliating with a flame blast in the direction the fruit came from. The solders ignored the boomerang crashing into the ground with a clatter, skidding to a halt by Katara's feet.

"Hey sulfur brains!" Sokka stated, popping from cover a short distance from where the fruit was thrown from. "I'm only going to say this once, let my sister go and none of you get hurt."

"We are not giving up the Avatar!" Zuko called back.

"The kid? Why would I want him back. He's just some goofy monk who was able to escape the fire nation torching his home and killing his family."

Most of the solders were taken aback by the boys words. He traveled with the avatar, surely he was an ally.

"Sokka you jerk!" Katara yelled out. "Aang's our friend and you're just going to abandon him? How could you be so cruel?"

"Don't start now Katara, this is for your own good. Family comes before homeless refugees. If Aang wants to give up instead of getting revenge against the people who killed Gyatso, that's his problem."

"What?!" Aang exclaimed, his head snapping up.

"Oh, they didn't tell you? Fire Lord Sozin used the comet to wipe out all the benders here looking for the Avatar. The battle was the ting of nightmares, who knew monks could put up a good fight. By the time the dust settled, almost everyone on both sides were dead. The mountain littered with bodies. It's said that Sozin barely had enough troops to fill a small boat by the time all was done. He just left, leaving the bodies to rot in the sun." As Sokka spoke, most of the guards looked uneasy, remembering the sight of all the bodies that strewn the ground last time they were here. "Though I wonder where all the bodies are now, you can barely smell the death, feel the suffering."

"Enough!" Zuko yelled out. "Those men fought and died honorably in the service of the fire nation, I will not have you disrespecting their sacrifice. I was going to let you go, but now you've pissed me off."

As Zuko stepped forward, flames danging around his clenched hands, Sokka stepped forward, drawing his sword. "Bring it, jerky-face."

No one was paying attention to the crying Air bender. It had finally hit home that everyone he knew really was gone. He knew something was wrong with his home when he first arrived, but he didn't want to believe it. The shame of running away returned full force. It was his fault the world fell apart, his fault that Gyatso died. He abandoned them when they needed him. Now he was captured by the very people who destroyed his home. Sokka was probably going to get himself killed, and who knew what would happen to Katara. He was truly alone now, with no one to help him now. As he sunk deeper into depression something deep inside stirred. Something old and primal. He only noticed it for a moment before it came rocketing out from the dark recesses of his mind. His people had been wronged, the world has been wronged, and it was time to make them pay. It only took a moment for his feeling to take over his entire being. It was then that Aang's world went white.

Nearby, Sokka was hyped to take on a fire bender. He had hopefully pissed this guy off enough to get him to chase him when he disengaged. Sokka's plan was to split them up so Katara could use the unnoticed boomerang he landed at their feet to cut their bonds and escape. He was just about ready to jump into action when a chill ran up his spine. It was like the biggest killer whale-wolf had just stepped into the area, hungry to feed. He glanced around, the solders were all watching their impending fight, Katara was trying to comfort Aang, and Aang was... "Oh crap." Sokka cursed quietly. Ranma had taught him how to see battle auras, to see the energy that radiated from everyone. He still totally sucked at it, but he could see the faint swirl of energy around Aang. He had stopped crying and Sokka's instincts told him that he needed to be somewhere else.

Forgetting the fight, Sokka shifted and sprinted away, diving behind the cover of a nearby wall.

Zuko, confused, started to follow Sokka.

Iroh noticed the sudden pressure in the air and glanced to the boy. His aura was glowing like a torch in his spirit sense. Instantly recognizing the danger he called out a warning. "Zuko!"

That was when the mountain exploded in light.

The initial flash of energy blinded everyone and the shock wave knocked everyone off their feet. Zuko twisted into a roll, springing back to his feet before he could crash into a wall. He glanced back to the air bender, whose tattoos glowed an unearthly blue. Zuko was stunned, the kid was so easily taken down, he really didn't give it a second thought. He was angry that the person he had been chasing for years was such a push over. There was no honor in capturing a kid, even if he was the avatar. He watched in mute amazement as the kid breathed out a stream of flame, instantly catching the rope that bound him on fire. Strangely, the fire did not burn his clothes and the rope was soon broken. That was when the boy lifted his gaze towards Zuko. In a split second, Zuko knew he was going to die. The amount of raw power pushing to be released behind those eyes rooted Zuko to the ground. He didn't know how the boy would decide to end his life, but he knew that it was going to be a massive display of power.

The boy wound up his attack, and paused for a half second before turning and shooting up his hands. A wall of rock shot up and Zuko could hear the sound of arrows crashing into the new barrier. Now the kids eyes were off of him and Zuko let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The boy then kicked outwards, sending the rock wall rocketing towards his men who were scrambling out of the way. One man was almost crushed as the wall flew by with only inches to spare. This kid was playing for keeps, and his men wouldn't stand a chance against such a powerful bender.

Zuko breathed in to let loose a fire blast and was tackled from the side. "You idiot, don't piss it off!" Yelled out Captain Kenzo, "That kid is too powerful for you to take head on." Zuko was about to yell back that he was trying to help when a massive fire blast, bigger then anything he could muster right now, flew towards the air bender. Zuko watched dumbfounded as the the kid effortlessly swatted the blast into the sky, returning with a powerful air blast in the direction that the blast came from. Iroh had already moved and was firing from another location.

"Don't watch, run!" Kenzo commanded, half dragging Zuko behind him. "You want to get blasted off the mountain?" They were out of the court yard and out of view of the battle before Zuko knew it. He was so disoriented that he wasn't sure why he was still on his feet.

"I... I need to go back... and help Uncle." Zuko protested weekly. The fire blasts were still flying, being deflected into the sky. He watched as the other guards fled down the hill, zigzagging to make a difficult target.

"No way, no how." Kenzo stated. "That's the unbeatable Avatar State. He has the power and knowledge of all his past lives now. You'd just be getting in the way. General Iroh knows what he's doing and I have orders to keep you safe." Just then, the air pressure suddenly dropped and the wind kicked up. Dust and plant material shot past, being sucked towards the glowing tornado that loomed over the courtyard.

Zuko glanced back and watched in horror as his uncle was sucked off the ground and into the glowing mass. "Uncle!" He screamed out as Kenzo tackled him again. "Let go! Uncle's in trouble."

Kenzo quietly held the struggling teen below him as he watched a massive bolder rocket up from the ground, most likely head right for the general. It suddenly stopped as the general came sliding around the edge of the tornado. The wind died down as Iroh twisted in way a man of his bulk should have found impossible and touched down on the hovering stone. With a mighty leap and a fire blast at his feet, he shot out of the tornado and relatively free from danger. The tornado was dieing down and he watched quietly as Iroh fell towards the earth. Twisting again in air, Iroh fired twin blasts at the ground, slowing his decent. He then passed out of sight of the pair, falling to a lower part of the mountain.

Hopping off Zuko, Kenzo helped him to his feet. The pair took off, heading strait to where general Iroh disappeared over the horizon.

Back at the top of the mountain, Sokka peaked out from his hiding place. Ranma had told him to stay put and he was inclined to agree with him. He felt more then anything the battle that took place in the courtyard. The roar of fire and whoosh of air keep him rooted to the spot. He only hoped that Aang had enough sense to protect his sister. If he went out there, he would have be alternately incinerated or blown off the mountain the moment he left cover. In the middle of the courtyard, he was relieved to see his sister unharmed. She was currently holding what looked like an unconscious Aang in her arms. He pushed down his brotherly over protectiveness and instead let his tactical mind take over. The fire nation was probably on the run, but they'd be back. They needed to get out of here and fast.

As if called by magic, he heard the deep growl of Appa coming in for a landing. He broke cover, sprinting for the pair. They both looked exhausted. "Break time's over, we need to move." He called out as Appa touched down next to Aang. Katara only nodded and let Sokka help them up. After a few moments of stumbling up the back of Appa, they were aboard and Sokka jumped to the front to take the reins as they took off. He only glanced back once to check for fire blasts before turning north. He wanted to get as far away from this place as possible, as quickly as possible. As he flew, he listened to the conversation going on behind him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were that Avatar?" Katara asked.

"It's because I never wanted to be. People always treated me differently when they found out and I really like you guys."

"But the world needs you Aang. We need you."

"My people needed me a hundred year ago!" Aang angrily retorted. "If I didn't run away, I could have been there to help save my people from the fire nation."

"You can't know that. You could have been killed with the rest of your people." Katara paused before adding. "You can't change what happened in the past."

Sokka decided to add his thoughts. "Aww, cheer up Aang. You're people didn't die for nothing. I'll have you know that after the siege of the air temples, the fire nation army was so weakened that they couldn't launch any major offensives for almost thirty years. By then, the rest of the world had mobilized and were ready to protect their land. The monks gave their lives so that others could live. It was a heroic thing to do."

"Heroic!" Aang spat out, "I was taught that all life is sacred. How could you treat the death of so many as a good thing?"

"Calm down, Aang. I didn't mean their death was good, but that something good came from it. The monks realized that sometimes you have to do terrible things for the good of the world. If they didn't do what they did, we'd all be under the rule of a fire nation tyrant by now."

"I guess you're right." Aang wearily stated, totally drained of energy to argue. "I just can't believe that me and Appa are all that's left of the air nomads."

Sokka smiled and pointed to one of the food bags. "I wouldn't be to sure about that. Take a look."

Confused, Aang crawled over to the pack and pulled it open. With a screech, a white furry critter jumped out of the bag and spun around Aang's head before diving into his shirt. Aang couldn't help himself, he started to laugh as the furry critter ticked him while it shifted around. It then came to a stop, poking it's head out of the neck of the shirt.

"I found him when I was gathering fruit to throw at the solders. He seemed friendly enough and I thought you might like a familiar face from the past."

Aang petted the lemur, his eyes full of tears. "Thanks Sokka, you have no idea what this means to me. What should we call him?"

"It's your lemur, you should do the honors."

Aang thought for a bit trying to think up of something appropriate. As he thought, a peach rolled out of the pack and across the saddle. The lemur immediately leaped out of Aang's shirt and snatched the fruit up before it could roll out of the saddle, stuffing his face with it like it was the last piece of fruit in the world.

"Momo, we'll call him Momo."

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Back on the mountain, Zuko's party was clustered together on one of the lower courtyards where Iroh had touched down after his fight with the avatar.

"Your Uncle is resting. Aiko and Shoji were roughed up but are otherwise able to move. Juro's leg is mangled rather badly. My men are tending to him and preparing him for travel. What are your orders prince Zuko?" Captain Kenzo stood behind the prince who was calmly sitting away from the troops. He was looking into the sky, staring into space, seemingly lost in thought. Kenzo stood there, waiting for the prince to speak.

After a time, Zuko spoke. "For years I've been chasing after a myth, a legend. I had dreamed of what I would do when I finally met him, of what I would say and how I would defeat him. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would be so young, and that I would be so unprepared. How could someone hope to beat something so powerful." He sighed and fell silent, brooding over what had happened today.

"Sir?"

Zuko glanced back, finally taking notice of the man behind him. "Prepare private Juro for transport and gather our supplies. We'll leave as soon as Uncle has recovered enough to move. I'd like to be down most of the mountain before my cousin's search parties find us."

Knowing he was dismissed Kenzo saluted, "Yes sir." He then walked away, leaving Zuko with his thoughts.

"You surprised me this time." Zuko thought to himself, looking to where the avatar escaped to. "Next time, I'll be ready to take you down."

End of chapter 2

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Authors note:

Whew... This was a tough chapter to write. Where I spent little over a year working on the first chapter, this one only took a couple of months. My normal pre-reader is slower then molasses and I kinda like how things stand right now. I feel that I rushed through a few parts of this 25,000 word monstrosity so I hope you still enjoyed it. Reading back over it makes me realize that my characterizations are not always consistent and I hope they will settle down once I get further into story. It's my hope that you enjoyed this chapter even with it's weaknesses. I'll probably do another major edit/revision once I finish the third chapter. I find that it helps to re-read previous chapters before I do my fist edit on the new chapter. Which I hope helped smooth some of the rough-ness of this rough draft.

Up next: The warriors of Kiyoshi. Now that Sokka is a little more experienced of a fighter, how will a village full of proud warrior women handle someone like Sokka? Join us and find out in : For love of art.

As always, feel free to leave comments or reviews. Praise will be relished, corrections or suggestions will be considered, and flames will be used to heat my home.

Until next time.