The Fifth Element

Zuko could hardly believe his eyes. The Avatar was here?! A frontal attack? Incredible. He was more than ready. Behind him, he could sense Taya back away from him. Good, he thought, he would be free to let loose. Distantly he wished she'd go below deck where it was safe, but he could not spare the attention to tell her. She was trained in Fire Nation tactics and she knew how to take care of herself. He began to weave a complex kata of fire towards the Avatar.

Aang spotted the ship from a great distance and closed the gap quickly. Every moment he spent fighting was a moment Katara might lose, a moment closer to their deaths. He knew he'd have to do this quickly. He wasn't prepared for the wall of fire to rise before him, but his powerful air bending caused the wall to spiral into oblivion quickly as Appa flew through the hole left behind. Aang leapt off his bison onto the deck and drew his staff.

Fire soldiers began to swarm the young Air Bender, but Aang had trained as hard as Zuko in the past year of his pursuit. Always being on guard had honed his instincts and abilities greatly and Zuko's sailors posed little more than a distraction from his goal. Only Zuko presented a true threat.

Aang knew he'd have to neutralize that quickly if he wanted to find this Life-bender. He deftly avoided a column of fire from Zuko and responded with a small vortex that caught the prince in it and threw him across the deck into the bulkhead. Before Zuko could recover his soldiers moved in again and this time Aang chose to deal with them all at once.

It was more efficient that way. Katara had taught him much about water-bending and it came naturally to him. He raised his hands and the ocean around the small ship became a rolling maelstrom. Waves crashed into the ship, over its decks, and sent sailors over the railing or to the deck to hold on tightly.

Luckily for the Avatar, the Life-bender had used this distraction to escape her cell, and was on deck.

Zuko's head spun from the impact against the bulkhead and he sat up to mentally force his body to react quicker. He stood back up and kept his balance even on the rolling deck. He prepared to bend enough fire to drive away all this water, when another wave crashed over the deck.

Exactly where Taya clung to the railing.

When the waters cleared again...she was gone, washed into the ocean.

Zuko looked around in panic and bolted to the edge. Taya couldn't swim.

Aang started to head towards the girl on the deck. That had to be her. The Life-bender. He'd rescue her and then she'd save Sokka and Katara. A wave washed over the deck and swept her away in it. Aang panicked as well. If he lost her now, he'd lose his family as well. So he dove into water after her, quickly. Unaware that Zuko was doing the exact same thing.

Unfortunately for Zuko, Aang was a water-bender and more at home in the water then the Fire native could ever be and Aang used his water control to find her first. She struggled to the surface, but the churning waves were too strong for her and she only got drug further and further under.

Taya felt herself start to lose consciousness. She could not reach the surface, and her shaping skills were the only thing that kept her alive right now but she knew she could not keep this up much longer. A young face swam before her own and she felt it take her hands. Suddenly she was caught in the center of a water vortex that propelled her up out of the ocean and into the night sky.

She screamed as the vortex dissipated and she fell freely through the sky for a brief moment before she landed gently on the back of a huge flying creature. Stunned she could only peer over its back at the water so far below her. The creature gained altitude faster then she'd have thought possible and she was able to glimpse Zuko's ship briefly before she lost sight of it against the dark ocean.

"...no."

"NOOOO!" Zuko bellowed his rage at the dark sky as he could only watch as Taya was taken away from him again, and this time by his greatest challenge. The young Prince cursed at the gods of fate for such a horrible joke. For the only family he had to be given and then taken away, and taken by the one he hunted and could not find. Even as he and his men were hauled from the now calm ocean, he seethed with anger and frustration.

Even Iroh did not give the Prince one of his usual sarcastic comments. He felt his prince's distress. It was all in Taya's hands now, all they could do was continue to follow the Avatar's faint trail.

Taya stared backwards then turned towards Aang with a glare. "Where are you taking me?" She demanded. So, this was the Avatar. There could be no mistake in that. She had seen this boy first bend the air, then bend the water. Could he bend Earth as well? Fire? Only one was capable of bending even two elements.

This was the world's only hope at peace.

She narrowed her eyes at this child. She was fully capable of slaying him before he could turn his powers on her. He would fall asleep and never wake up, her powers could ensure that. She could be back at Zuko's side by the sunrise...

But, that would rob Zuko of his chance to regain his honor in his father's eyes.

And it would rob the world of its only chance for freedom.

She could not do such a thing. So she sighed instead. "My name is Taya." She said simply.

Aang looked over at her eagerly. "I'm Aang. Are you the Life-bender?"

Taya blinked. She'd not been called by that name in a long time. "Y-yes, why have you taken me?" She stared at Aang closely. Could he not be the horrible enemy her parents taught her to hate? He looked so carefree, so innocent...so powerful. The old Earth-benders had taught her differently and she knew everything was about perception. Perhaps...perhaps Zuko's was wrong.

The avatar grinned. "You mean rescued you? Hey, anytime. Could you heal my friends?" His youthful, carefree expression turned quickly to one of desperate hope. "They don't have much time." Aang could only place his hope in this girl.

She could not look away from his honest plea, his heartfelt request of her. Taya had always been a softie and would not have refused his request in any case. She nodded "Take me to them."

If Taya could have bottled the look of relief on Aang's face just then, she could have restored hope to the world.

Appa flew swiftly through the sky back towards the tiny stricken village.