This is my longest chapter yet, so there could be a few mistakes in them. Read and let me know if I made any!
Chapter 9: Siege of the North
Mako stood alone in an open area, when he heard the shouts of Fire nation soldiers. They came bursting through the wall opposite to him. When they saw the lone waterbender, they formed a line and prepared to attack.
When the soldiers lined up, Mako saw that there were 5 soldiers with spears and 2 that stood in the back. He believed he could take the non-benders, the 2 in the back would be the real problem.
Mako had the advantage, being surrounded by water, so he decided to attack first and take a few guys out. First bending a couple of ice balls, he knocked 2 soldiers out cold. The remaining 3 reacted quickly and charged for him. Knowing they would had too much momentum to come to a full stop, he lifted himself up by creating a pillar. As predicted, the soldiers slammed into the pillar and fell in a heap on top of each other.
It was quite a comical sight, and Mako had a hard time not to laugh at the soldiers. While he was distracted, he felt a heat coming towards him. He turned his head towards the 2 soldiers in the back, and saw they had bend a stream of fire towards his body. Mako swiftly jumped off of the pillar, and saw that it instantly melted when the fire impacted.
When Mako stood on even ground with the 2 firebenders, he had to swallow the lump in his throat. He never fought someone of the other elements before, not to mention 2 at the same time.
The firebenders moved their arms in circles and fire began to come alive in their hands. Mako saw the massive fireball that was thrown at him and tried to deflect it with a ball of water. The two elements met, but the fire was stronger and overpowered the water. Mako tried to evade the attack, but he was a fraction too late and got struck in his left shoulder.
Gripping his shoulder in agony, Mako tried to stand up and move into a defensive stance. Now that he was restricted to only one arm, his chances of survival were next to none. One firebender signaled the other to finish the job, so he stepped forward and raised his fist to blast fire at the injured waterbender.
In a flash, the firebender flew across the area and slammed into a wall of ice. Mako looked around confused and saw Pakku standing on his far left. "Get out of here Mako! Go to the oasis and protect the avatar!" Pakku shouted at him while fighting the remaining firebender.
Mako didn't want to leave his master behind and tried to react, "But master…." he was immediately cut off by Pakku.
"Now Mako!" Pakku didn't have the time to argue with him, there were soldiers coming in from everywhere.
Mako didn't like it but he left his master and went to the oasis as fast as he could with his injured shoulder.
When he arrived at the door to the oasis, he saw Sokka and Yue fly over on that furry beast. Quickly stepping through the door, he panicked when he saw the unmoving body of Katara lying at the pond with the koi fish. He sprinted for her body and immediately felt if she was still alive. Luckily she had a strong pulse and not long after she woke up with her eyes wide.
"Aang!" she gasped the boys name the moment she opened her eyes.
"Shh, don't move too fast just yet. You were knocked out cold. What happened, Katara?" he already guessed that the firebender defeated her and took Aang away.
Her vision focused when she heard her name, and saw that Mako was holding her in his arms. Her face was turning red when she realized she was in the arms of a man. Then she remembered why she was lying there. "Zuko took Aang!" she sat up in a flash and was looking around to see if he really was gone.
"Who's Zuko?" Mako asked, not knowing who she was talking about.
"He's the banished Prince of the Fire nation and wants to capture Aang so he can regain his honor…". Katara noticed the wound on his shoulder when she turned around to better explain who their enemy was. "…you're bleeding!"
"Oh it's nothing, it looks worse than it feels." Mako lied, not wanting to further worry the girl.
Katara knew that he was lying, so she smacked him on the back of the head and scoffed. "I know you're lying, I'm not Sokka. Now let me take a look." She left no room for discussion and Mako thought he better do what she said.
He walked up to her and saw the concern in her eyes. She ordered him to take his underparka off, so she could examine the wound better. He grunted while taking the piece of clothing off. The wound had already crusted, so threads of the parka opened the wound back up.
While Katara was tending to Mako's injuries, Sokka and Yue arrived at the oasis on Appa. They saw Mako's wound and raced over to check if he was alright.
"Don't worry Sokka, I'll be fine. I thought you'd be here long before me. Ran into some trouble too?" Mako figured they had, judging from their late arrival.
"Yeah, a few soldiers. No biggy…" Looking around, Sokka noticed Aang was missing. "..Where's Aang?"
Katara was looking at her feet when she informed Sokka of what had happened, she was ashamed to admit having lost Aang to Zuko.
"Prince Zuko took him." Mako saw Katara's face and wanted to spare her from informing her brother.
Sokka turned to his sister and tried to make her feel less guilty. "You did everything you could. And now we need to do everything we can to get him back…" Katara started to get tears in her eyes from the guilt that was consuming her.
Mako was sitting next to her and slung an arm around her shoulder, wanting to keep her from crying. She looked up and smiled beautifully at him. "…Zuko couldn't have gotten far, we'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine." Sokka finished in a determined voice. Mako only hoped that Sokka's trust wasn't misplaced.
They were flying through the blizzard when Yue suddenly spoke. "Don't worry, Prince Zuko can't be getting too far in this weather."
"I'm not worried they'll get away in the blizzard, I'm worried that they won't." the concern was clearly audible in Katara's voice.
Then Sokka wanted to reassure everybody that everyone would be alright after this. "They're not gonna die in this blizzard, if we know anything it's that Zuko never gives up. They'll survive and we'll find them." He was so sure that Mako himself was starting to believe it'd be possible they'd find him.
People stayed quiet for a while and kept to their inner thoughts, but Mako saw Katara frown and he didn't like it one bit. "You're much more beautiful when you smile, you know." Mako whispered. He didn't want Sokka to hear that comment about his sister.
Katara was startled to hear that a man found her attractive when she smiled. "Oh… well I'm worried about Aang." she said while blushing from the compliment.
"Oh, he'll be fine. He's the avatar after all…" he scooted closer to Katara and took her face in his hands in a gentle gesture. "… we'll find him and get him back from Zuko."
Katara saw the determined glint in his eyes, and felt reassured once more by Mako. "You're right, I have to believe in him." she started to blush again when she felt him brush away the residual moisture on her cheeks with his thumb. Feeling empowered by a feeling unknown to her, she grabbed Mako's parka and slowly pulled him closer to her lips. He knew what she was trying to do, so he closed his eyes and waited for her to kiss him.
Suddenly there was a bright white light in the sky, landing a few 100 meters into a cavern. Katara stopped what she was doing and immediately knew what it was. "Look! That's got to be Aang! Appa, yip yip!" Katara yelled from the saddle to her brother.
Appa landed near the cavern, where they saw a figure looming over a tied up Aang. Katara immediately jumped down and went into a waterbending stance. Mako did the same and moved to stand in front of Katara, wanting to protect her from the frowning firebender. She didn't allow him to fight her battles though, so she stopped him before he could.
"No Mako, I need to finish this." She didn't even look at him when she said it, her glare stayed on Zuko the entire time.
"Here for a rematch?" Zuko was confident when he went into an offensive stance.
Katara's glare intensified when she heard the smugness in his voice, "Trust me Zuko, it won't be much of a rematch." she responded with a scoff.
Zuko threw a fireball at her, which she quickly doused with a ball of water. Next she encased Zuko in a pillar of ice and lifted him in the air. To finish the fight, she made Zuko slam into the ground by bending the pillar back to the ground at an incredible speed.
Zuko was instantly knocked out and Sokka ran over to Aang to free him from the ropes constricting him. Aang was saying something about the ocean and moon spirits that were in danger, so everyone got back on Appa.
Aang went to sit on Appa's head, but looked back at Zuko's unmoving form and said that he didn't want to leave him behind. Sokka protested and didn't want to take someone with him who was trying to kill them all the time.
Sokka kept complaining while Aang jumped up on Appa with Zuko on his back. While they were flying back, the moon suddenly went blood red. Mako instantly felt weakened and looked over at Katara to see if she felt it too. She looked at the moon with a rather frightened look.
"I feel weaker for some reason." Mako informed the group how he physically felt.
"I feel it too. It's like I'm incomplete." Katara agreed, feeling the same emptiness that Mako felt.
Sitting on top of Appa's head, Aan0g was completely serious when he spoke. "The moon spirit is in trouble."
Yue was grabbing her head like she had a severe headache. Sokka was worried and quickly moved up next to her and asked if she was alright. She started telling the tale that was known throughout the north pole. The moon spirit saved her life when she was a sick baby, making her hair turn white.
They were coming close to the oasis and saw a group of fire benders standing near the pond. There was a man in a cape standing in front of the group holding up a sack in his hand. "That's Zhao!", Sokka yelled from the front of the saddle.
When they landed, the Gaang, except for Yue, immediately went into an offensive stance. The firebenders did the same while Zhao held up the sack with his right hand and positioned his left fist directly behind it, threatening to kill it's content. "Don't even bother…" Zhao mockingly said to the group of children in front of him.
Aang quickly lowered his staff, afraid that Zhao would go through with his threat if he made the wrong move. "Zhao! Don't!"
Zhao went on talking about that it was his destiny to destroy the last of the water tribes. While he said that, Mako felt his rage boiling up and he wanted to take a step forward to fight the man who was threatening his home. Katara however stopped him by taking his arm and whispering "don't, he's not worth it.". Mako turned to her and immediately felt his anger dissipate. He felt Katara loosening up his hand so she could slip her own in it. Feeling her squeeze his hand, he nearly forgot about the Fire nation besieging his home.
Suddenly he heard a threatening voice coming from his left. It was an old man who was standing in a firebending position, shouting at Zhao. Mako was confused that a firebender was opposing his general for the sake of a watertribe spirit. "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, now!" He was kind of awe inspiring when he saw the old man threatening the general, Mako wouldn't want to get on the man's bad side.
Surprisingly, Zhao relented and let the moon spirit fall back into the water of the pond. But the sighs of relief were soon replaced by gasps of dread when Zhao, with a shout, shot a stream of fire directly at the two koi fish. When the fire dissipated, everybody noticed that everything was pitch black. Mako looked up into the sky, but couldn't locate the moon anywhere in the heavens.
When everybody was looking up at the disappearing moon, the old man attacked the group of firebenders. He was fairly quick in disposing of Zhao's guards, but Zhao already fled the scene when he saw the old man's powers.
Mako gaped at the firebenders skills, when Katara informed him of the man's identity. "That's general Iroh, he's Zuko's uncle." Knowing enough already, Mako moved into a defensive stance.
Katara noticed his reaction and was quick to further explain. "Oh no, he's not like Zuko. You don't need to worry about him." Mako still had his reservations, but decided to trust Katara.
Mako watched as Iroh picked up the body of the moon spirit, when the group went over to stand around the man.
"There's no hope now… it's over." Princess Yue said, sounding defeated with tears in her eyes.
Suddenly there was a glow coming from Mako's right, where the avatar's tattoo's and eyes were glowing. "No, it's not over!" he suddenly went into the pond, with Katara reaching out for him. Mako didn't want Katara to get hurt when the avatar was in this unpredictable state, so he put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She turned around and saw the concern in Mako's eyes, so she let the avatar go and do whatever he needed to do.
"I'm worried, Mako. He isn't in control when he's in the avatar state, he might get hurt." She voiced the concern that was hidden beneath those deep blue eyes.
Mako looked deep into those azure orbs and believed that he would drown if he stared at them any longer. He reached a hand up to her face and gently placed it on her cheek. Feeling her leaning in to his touch, Mako knew he had her distracted from everything that was going on.
While they were so caught up in the moment, they barely noticed Aang submerging into the water and becoming one with the ocean spirit. The giant koi fish moved towards the fire nation ships and took out all soldiers that were on its path.
Back at the spirit oasis, Katara, Mako, Iroh, Sokka and Yue were all sitting around the body of the dead moon spirit. Sokka had his arm around Yue in an effort to comfort her, when Katara said what everybody thought. "It's too late… It's dead." She broke the silence in a sad tone.
Mako hated hearing Katara talk in such a sad tone. So he mimicked Sokka and placed his arm around Katara's shoulder, pulling her closer to him.
When Iroh suggested that Yue had some of the moon spirit's life in her, she immediately wanted to give up her own life to save the moon. Sokka protested vehemently but Yue was too stubborn. When she laid her hands on the fish's body, her lifeless body fell into Sokka's arms who had tears in his eyes when he announced that she had died.
Mako felt Katara completely turning to him and hugging his form tightly, while sobbing harder and harder in his chest. Mako held her in his arms, when Yue's body suddenly vanished and out of thin air a form of a beautiful girl appeared. Quickly recognizing that it was Yue, she talked to Sokka and kissed him lovingly on his lips. When she vanished again, he looked back at Katara who was looking up at him in a sad expression. He reached up to her face and wiped away the tear marks that were on her face.
"Maybe we should leave Sokka alone for a moment." Mako whispered at Katara.
"Yeah…" Katara was sad to see her brother hurt so much, but also because she wouldn't be able to hug Mako anymore. After a moment they broke their embrace and walked away from the oasis, giving Sokka the space he needed to process what just happened.
When Mako walked Katara home after the whole ordeal, the urge to hold her hand was overwhelming. But he was too embarrassed to do it, plus he didn't believe that it'd be the right time for him to try something with her.
When they reached her house, they stopped and turned towards each other. "Mako… thank you for helping us. We're in your debt." Katara spoke first, wanting to break the awkward tension that was hanging in the air.
"You don't need to thank me Katara. I'm always glad to help you out." Mako blushed, saying 'you' instead of 'you guys'.
Katara noticed the reddening in his cheeks, as well as his little slip-up. She liked seeing him getting all embarrassed.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked hesitantly, when she didn't reply.
Katara almost forgot that today was the last day she would be at the north pole. "Oh, I almost forgot. Tomorrow we head off towards the Earth Kingdom… so I guess you won't be seeing me anymore." She was getting rather depressed when she realized she would never see the blonde waterbender again.
The hopeful smile on Mako's face disappeared as soon as she said this, instead it was replaced by a disappointed look. "Oh… that… sucks."
"Yeah…" Katara suddenly came up with an idea that made her smile like there was no tomorrow. "Couldn't you come with us?" she asked very excitedly.
Mako was startled by the invitation, but soon found him smiling from ear to ear while already nodding. He looked at Katara's expression and believed she wanted him to say yes as badly as himself. "I'll have to inform my family, but otherwise… yes, Katara I would love to accompany you on your journey."
Katara was nearly jumping up and down in pure bliss, when she heard him say yes. "Oh great, we're gonna have so much fun!" she was almost clapping her hands, that's how happy she was.
Mako felt butterflies in his stomach, when he saw her so content with his answer. "Of course… But I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow though." He grabbed her by the shoulders to plant a kiss on her cheek, but was surprised when he felt something moist and warm pressing up against his lips.
Opening his eyes, he saw that Katara moved her head so that their lips met halfway. Neither wanted to let the pleasurable feeling go, so they stood there for a few seconds. When they broke the kiss, they were looking at each other with loving eyes.
"That was… amazing." They were still connected by their foreheads when Mako spoke.
"Yeah… it was." Katara was smiling when she heard his delightful remark.
Mako hated to ruin the moment, but he needed to check up on his family. "I'll see you tomorrow in front of the palace at dawn, 'kay?" staring into Katara's eyes, he almost didn't feel her nod.
Finally being able to tear himself away from Katara, he walked away while turning around after a couple steps to see her watching him with a smile. He smiled back and waved, before he turned around and made his way back home. All the while almost skipping from pure happiness.
AN: You guys know what to do... use that review button!