Mai peered out over the rail with both eyebrows raised. One normally didn't see scenes like the one that had caught her gaze, certainly not during a hundred-year war. But unless she had gone mad, it was there all right - a small boat, old and battered, sailing alongside them in the darkness. Lanterns were hung on wires around the outer deck. By the raucous laughter of the dozen or so inebriated men on board, it seemed they were on a pleasure trip. Three of them were swaying back and forth, singing a simple old song at the top of their lungs, without much hope at hitting any key.
"What is that awful noise?" Prince Zuko asked, scowling as he strode up beside her. "It sounds like an owlcat that needs to be put out of its misery."
"It's just a bunch of drunk fishermen," Mai related, matching his dark stare.
"Hey! Hey happy -hic - Fire Nation people!" one of them cried. "Sing with us!"
"Yeah! It goes like this! Winter, fall, spring…"
"No, that's not it, stupid! It's spring, fall, summer -"
"Winter, spring, summer and fall," Zuko said softly. His eyes bulged with comprehension. Impulsively, he cupped his hands and shouted, "Hey! Get it right! It's winter, spring, summer and fall!"
"Zuko, are you crazy? Don't talk to them," Mai hissed.
He ignored her advice and clasped the railing, peering across the night-darkened ocean. On the boat, one of the drunks, who was a rather heavy fellow wearing a hooded cloak, started singing, and the others joined in. "Winter, spring, summer and fall… winter, spring, summer and fall… Four seasons, four loves… four seasons, four loves."
Zuko's heart leapt. It's Uncle! He's on that boat!
The men on the little wooden craft erupted into laughter again. The one in the cloak laughed the hardest of all. Suddenly, without warning, the corpulent old man fell into the murky waters, his companions guffawing as his round body made a loud splash.
"No!" Zuko cried. Without thinking, he dove headfirst over the rail. Mai gave an uncharacteristic scream as the prince's body plummeted down into the water.
"Turn the ship around!" he thought he heard her command, her carrying voice scarcely above a whisper to his ears.
The water was cold. Zuko felt as though he'd been pricked all over like a pincushion. Still, he could see the old man's form bobbing up and down in front of him. Just a little further, he pushed himself, remembering that the water at the North Pole had been bone-chilling by comparison. After stroking for what seemed like an eternity he reached him, and pulled him towards the boat.
"Help us up!" Zuko cried to the others, who were certainly not drunk. Three of them quickly rushed to help pull their friend back up, and Zuko after him. Wet, cold and weary, the two of them collapsed on the deck, the stars twirling overhead.
"Uncle," Zuko said, rolling over and sitting above Iroh's prostrate form. His cold breath was a mist between them. "Uncle, are you all right?"
"Ha ha!" His uncle's cheeks spread with a wry smirk. "It worked!"
Zuko's look of concern tightened into a glower. "You crazy old man! What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that? You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I told you I learned things by watching the waterbenders," Iroh shrugged. "One of them was how to stay afloat in ocean waters. I could have been fine out there for hours."
Waterbenders… Katara! Zuko's stomach churned with dismay as he realized what he'd done. "Uncle, I have to get back to that ship."
Iroh's eyes were wide as saucers. "And you thought I was crazy? Why do you want to go back?"
Zuko glanced around, unsure he wanted to spill his secret in front of his uncle's White Lotus friends. Still, he saw no room for privacy aboard their tiny vessel. "The Water Tribe girl is on that ship. She's been taken prisoner."
Iroh gasped. "Zuko, what have you done? I know why you had to fight her in front of Azula, but to arrest her?"
"I didn't arrest her. Mai did."
"Mai!" Uncle exclaimed, his kindly face wrinkling with displeasure. "What is she doing here?"
"Azula sent her to spy on me and make sure I was on her side," Zuko grumbled. "I heard her give an order to bring the ship around. When it comes back, I have to go."
"So you would sacrifice your one chance at freedom to save this girl's life." When Zuko didn't respond, the wise old firebender arched a bushy eyebrow. "I think there's something you're not telling me, my nephew."
Zuko stared at the half-rotten plank boards of the boat, anything to distract himself. Absentmindedly he touched his face. "There is something you don't know. When Azula was holding us both prisoner… she said she would try to heal my scar."
"What?!" Iroh gasped, dumbfounded.
"It's not the first time she's offered to help us. When Azula knocked you unconscious in that deserted town, she wanted to heal you. I didn't trust her then."
"I'm surprised she trusted you," Iroh mused aloud.
"I still don't know why she did. She hates the Fire Nation, and with good reason." He paused, then met his uncle's eye with regret. "Fire Nation soldiers killed her mother."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Uncle murmured. "That must have been some talk the two of you had in that cave. I wondered when I saw you standing so close together. If I didn't know better…"
"That's why I have to go back," Zuko interrupted, standing up with almost zealous determination. "That ship is headed straight to Ba Sing Se and once it gets there, Azula will want to question her. You know what that means. Azula hesitated to kill you because you're a member of the royal family. She won't hesitate with Katara." His voice fell to a gritty whisper. "I don't want to lose her, Uncle. Please, help me."
Iroh's eyes twinkled with understanding. He stood and put a comforting hand on his nephew's shoulder. "Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Anything I ask of you, no matter how impossible it may seem?"
Zuko nodded sincerely. "Anything."
"Then the Blue Spirit must return to Ba Sing Se." At Zuko's confused look, Uncle expounded, "Azula has made a fatal mistake with the Dai Li. Before I left Ba Sing Se, I learned that she executed their leader, Long Feng. She blamed him for my escape."
"What?!"
"Mm-hmm. Azula has no real knowledge of how the Dai Li operate. And while they might not have respected Long Feng as a leader, I wonder how many of them will follow her orders now that she has killed one of their own. They will feel that their own lives are in danger…"
"And that's exactly how Azula won the coup," Zuko remembered. "By playing on the Dai Li's fears that they were threatened!"
Iroh nodded firmly. "Take care, my nephew. You are playing a lethal game, and your opponent has all the compassion of a spider-snake. You must not make any rash decisions based on your emotions. Do you remember what I taught you about keeping a level head?"
Zuko nodded. "It's the sign of a great leader."
"Precisely. If you are not in control of yourself, then Azula will control you, and you will lose everything you care so much about. Remember your failure with the lightning, Zuko. You must find a center of calm within yourself, and let go of your pride. Only then will you be strong enough to defeat Azula."
Zuko's eyes squinted shut. He understood the warning clearly: calculate his moves and keep his cool, or suffer the consequences. "I know, Uncle."
"The ship is coming back," Uncle noted then. "We have very little time left. For now, here is what I want you to do…"
ooo LL ooo
"Raahh! Stupid… girls!" Sokka swung his machete back and forth, almost as viciously as he had in the swamp. "Think they… know everything… urgh!"
The truth was, Toph had a right to be angry. Sokka treated the other girls in his life like… well, girls. Suki had taught him that girls could be warriors in their own right. The difference was that Toph had stepped on his manly pride. The blind earthbender had saved his life more than once, and her seeming determination to stick by his side and help him implied that he couldn't take care of himself. Or maybe, his conscience niggled within him, you do need help, but you're too proud to ask for it.
"That's ridiculous," Sokka growled, descending down a hill and deeper into the mist.
The Water Tribe warrior paused in midstep, looking, listening. Everything in every direction looked exactly the same. Momentarily panicking, he ran back up the hill he had just come down, casting a wide survey over the landscape.
Sokka's stomach lurched. He'd been so upset over Toph's diatribe that he hadn't been paying attention where he was going. Unpleasant as it was, he had to face the truth. He was lost.
"Toph!" he cried, his voice echoing back at him. "Appa!" But of course both were too far away to hear him. "Great," he mumbled, "just great. Toph, this is all your fault!"
Sokka came back down the hill, not certain of which direction he'd approached it from; even that wasn't clear in his mind. Grunting and cursing with every step, he could only hope he was getting closer to the high slope where he'd left Appa and Toph.
"Just wait," he said now, "Toph, you are gonna be so sorry when I - aaaaahhhh!"
Sokka gasped, finding himself waist-deep in a mud pit and slowly sinking. "Oh, not good, not good! Toph, Appa, where are you?"
ooo LL ooo
Mai ran to the side of the ship. Two Fire Nation soldiers were helping Prince Zuko up the ladder. The scarred youth was soaked to the bone, his black hair plastered to his face so that he looked almost wild. He choked hard, coughing up seawater, and the men had to hold him up.
"Prince Zuko?" she asked worriedly. "Are you all right?"
"I… I think I am, I…" His amber eyes fluttered as he collapsed against one of the guards.
Mai's brow furrowed. "You two, take him to his quarters and get him some dry clothes. I'll get the medic."
"Yes, Lady Mai, at once." The soldiers hurried away as she instructed, propping Zuko's body between them like a limp puppet.
"Zuko, you idiot," Mai whispered behind them. "No drunk old man is worth risking your life over. If you live, remind me to smack some sense into you… one way or another."
ooo LL ooo
After practicing a halfhearted routine of bending poses inside her cell, Katara stretched and sat back down on the cot. There wasn't much else she could do, except worry over her loved ones and pray they were all right. She pulled her knees to her chest and thought of Zuko, turning the sheathed pearl dagger in her fingers with care. She hoped he could figure out a way to free them before they reached the mainland. If he couldn't, she and the Kyoshi warriors would fall into the rock-gloved hands of the Dai Li. Katara shuddered. There was no way Zuko could help them then.
Night had fallen. As a waterbender, she could sense the pull of the moon and the swells of the ocean beneath the Fire Navy ship. She glanced at the crack beneath the cell door, expecting to see the shadows of the guards moving back and forth, but no one passed by. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't heard their thudding steps or the shuffling of their armor in some time. Katara stood and crept closer to the door. Something's not right, she thought, her senses heightening.
Barely but distinctly, she caught the sound of light, hustled footsteps. That sound had not come from one of the guards. Had one of the Kyoshi warriors escaped? She tucked the pearl dagger into her waistband, watched, and waited.
With a slight clinking noise, her cell door unlocked and parted just a crack. Katara edged warily towards the opening. She peered out into the dimly lit iron corridor but saw no one. She was about to leave her cell when, unexpectedly, a gloved hand reached through and grasped her wrist, yanking her through the doorway.
Katara gasped, and another gloved hand reached to cover her mouth. After a second, the hand at her wrist spun her around to face her rescuer. Her eyes widened. A blue noh mask concealed the man's identity. Two saracen swords were strapped to his back. He released his grip on her wrist and drew his hands cautiously back, holding them up in front of her to show he meant no harm.
The Blue Spirit. Chills raced up Katara's arms. She recognized his mask from a wanted poster she had seen outside a Fire Nation village. What was a freedom fighter like him doing here?
The Blue Spirit put a finger to the mask where his lips should be, indicating that she should stay silent. When Katara nodded, he motioned for her to follow him.
Katara crept after the stranger, wondering how it was that the guards who manned this corridor were conspicuously absent. Somehow, she got the feeling that the Blue Spirit had gotten them out of the way before he'd come to release her.
They made it to the side of the ship without incident. There, the Blue Spirit motioned over the rail. Bobbing in the dark, star-reflected water below was a rowboat. The Kyoshi warriors were huddled inside it. Mariko sat near the back, a sleeping Suki sprawled across her lap.
Mystified, Katara turned back to the Blue Spirit. He was outstretching an object towards her. My bending water! she recognized instantly. Gratefully, she tied the waterskin back into place on the side of her belt opposite Zuko's dagger. "Who are you?" she whispered, her breath misting in the night air. "Why are you helping us?"
The Blue Spirit shook his head.
Katara sighed, realizing that his identity would remain a mystery for now. She put a foot over the rail to climb down the ladder. Her rescuer held up a finger as if to say "One more thing." Then he pointed behind her, toward the southeast.
"Go that way?"
The Blue Spirit nodded. He glanced left and right, then started to move away.
"Wait!" Katara hissed, fortunately catching his attention. He came back to the top of the rail, meeting her gaze through the filmy black fabric that marked his eyes. "Even if you can't tell me who you are… please, don't hurt Prince Zuko. I know it must seem like he's the enemy, but he wants peace as much as we do. Promise me you won't hurt him?"
The Blue Spirit paused and looked away. Katara supposed he was considering that. It would be compelling for one's enemy to stand up for them. At last, the Blue Spirit turned back to her and gave a quick nod. Then he motioned his hands as if to shoo her on her way and disappeared from sight.
Katara felt relieved as she climbed the rest of the way down. If he's a freedom fighter from the Earth Kingdom, he might have been sent to assassinate Zuko. Oh, thank the spirits I was there to stop it!
"Katara, who was that man?" Mariko wondered, Suki's head lying in her arms. "Why did he help us?"
"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "Whoever he is, he's no friend of the Fire Nation. I feel sorry for anyone who gets in his way."
"We're indebted to him," Tenshi murmured. "He didn't just get us out. See?" She motioned towards two medium-sized sacks in the floor of the boat. "He got our fans back for us."
"And that other bag is full of food," Taiko added.
Katara blinked rapidly. It couldn't be Jet… but if not, then who was he? He was close to the same height… he even moved like him. She hastily shook off her daze, realizing that she needed to concentrate on getting as much distance as they could between them and the Fire Navy ship before the sun came up.
"Sayori, Yui, cut the ropes. Don't worry about rowing. Just try to keep the weight in the boat steady."
Obediently, the two girls sliced their war fans through the tie lines. The longboat dropped solidly into the water, swaying with the current. Katara moved to the back and spun her arms in wide circles like a windmill. Foggy Swamp style bending wasn't elegant, but knowing it certainly came in handy. The waterbenders there used it to propel their boats through the canals at breakneck speeds. Katara would use it tonight to get her friends to safety.
Half a second later, the boat took off like a shot towards the southeast. Huddled together in front of the master waterbender, the Kyoshi warriors watched in silence as the Fire Navy ship slowly shrank and disappeared from sight.
ooo LL ooo
Prince Zuko lay in his quarters. His eyes were closed, but inside he was quite awake, and more alive than he'd felt in a long time. Thank you, Uncle, he thought, recognizing the genius in General Iroh's plan. She'll be safe with you. They all will.
He snuggled into the covers, remembering Katara's desperate plea. She didn't know who I was. She thought the Blue Spirit had come for me. She wanted to protect me. Warmth flooded through his body as love stoked his inner fire. We'll have our time, Katara. Someday. I promise.
ooo LL ooo
It was just before sunrise when Iroh caught sight of the dinghy bearing the refugee Kyoshi warriors and the Water Tribe girl. Lowering his hood, he stepped to the edge of the boat, waving his arms in welcome.
Well done, nephew, he thought with a smile. Maybe there is some hope left in the world, after all.
ooo LL ooo
Katara couldn't believe her eyes. "Iroh? Is it really you?"
Chuckling warmly, the old firebender helped her up onto the deck. "Did you really think Azula could keep me in those dungeons forever?"
"We didn't know what had happened to you," she said honestly, catching him off-guard as she pulled him into a fierce hug. "I'm so glad you're all right."
Iroh was touched. He had recognized the girl's kindness before, but now he felt a bond of friendship truly existed between them. "I'm glad you and the Avatar made it safely away."
When she let him go, her eyes shone with gratitude. "We couldn't have done it without you. We'll never be able to thank you enough."
"No thanks are necessary," Iroh assured her. "How is the Avatar now?"
Katara's face fell. "Not good. He's barely alive and his wounds weren't responding to my waterbending. I sent him ahead to the South Pole. There are Northern Tribe benders there who have been practicing the healing arts for years. I'm hoping they'll be able to do more than I could."
"Your friend looks as though she's seen better days, too," the retired general said sympathetically, glancing back at where the White Lotus members were carefully placing Suki in a pallet of blankets.
The waterbender nodded sadly. "I made a mistake at the North Pole. I wanted to learn to fight so badly. I didn't realize that it was just important to learn to heal."
"It does no good to dwell on the past," Iroh replied gently. "You have done all you can for your friends and what you have done is admirable. No one could say it was not enough."
Tears filled Katara's eyes. She had needed to hear those words for a long time; no one knew the personal blame she had been feeling. Once again she leaned into Iroh's waiting arms, weeping for all that was lost, for finally being able to let go of the burden for her friends, for Zuko and his uncertain fate.
"There, there," he said at last when her tears dried and her sobs had dwindled into sniffles, "I think I know just what will help you. How about a nice cup of jasmine tea?"