Chapter 22: Masquerade

"Well Jade…what is it going to be? Your secret or your precious prince and his crew?"

"Does it look like I have a choice?"

"Oh but you do have a choice. One just happens to have a terrible consequence if you choose it"

That-That-slimy-dishonourable-

Prince Zuko wasn't known for having a cool head in most normal situations. Indeed his temper was considered quite short fused even when compared to the other hot headed fire-benders of his nation.

Therefore it was nothing short of an absolute miracle that he kept both stock still and silent in the shadows as he watched Admiral Zhao tower menacingly over his frightened niece.

How dare he?!

Zuko's fist clenched tightly over the hilt of one of his swords on his back as he caught sight of Jade wincing a little with pain as her wrists were slowly crushed in her uncle's grip above her head.

He couldn't help it. His heart was already racing horribly in his chest, his hot gut performing somersaults as he looked at her eyes, two green orbs of fear…just like when Akan attacked her.

But unlike before he couldn't just jump out and help her…not when to do so would mean endangering her and his crew in the long run.

But then if I don't find some way to help she'll be-

His thoughts were interrupted by the shaky sound of Jade's shuddering breath.

"If I say yes…will you swear on the sacred fire that you will not hurt anyone of my crew or my family"

Even through the haze of anger, Zuko couldn't help but admire the bright gleam of determination he saw flash over her eyes. It was only a slight glimmer, the last vestiges of courage she seemed to be able to summon that evening. But nonetheless it eased the hidden prince's heart ever so slightly just to see it.

I keep forgetting she's stronger than she looks…

Too bad Zhao was too blind to see it or to care.

"Of course. But only if you behave yourself and keep your pretty little mouth shut. Rest assured if I get wind that you have let out one peep of our deal, then who knows…my tongue might just slip when I have drinks with the other admirals one night."

There was a small silence and then, Jade gave a timid little nod.

I'm sorry Jade…

Zuko shut his eyes unable to bear watching as she was dragged away by a victoriously sneering Zhao.

But I have a mission to fulfill…

The small figure of a twelve year old boy with a blue tattoo of an arrow on his bald head, struggled hard against the chains that bound him to the metal pillars beside him.

Come on metal budge!

Aang puffed, wishing desperately that he knew Katara's water freezing breath technique, but it wouldn't have mattered. The air around him was too dry.

But speaking of freezing things...

The young Avatar jumped and squirmed as many small things with webbed limbs and slimy cold bodies began to wriggle out of his clothing.

"What? No! Don't leave, frogs! My friends are sick and they need you! Please go back to being frozen!" he yelled but too late,

The half-thawed badger frogs were already hopping or crawling their way back to the door of the cell.

Great! Now my frogs are gone and I'm stuck in this-

Aang stopped struggling at once and looked around curiously. Had it just been his imagination, or had something thudded outside his cell door.

He stilled as he heard the tinkling and clicking of a key fitting into a lock.

The door opened slowly.

Please don't be Zhao! Please don't be Zhao!

It wasn't.

Prince Zuko could have almost laughed at the sight that greeted him as he entered the cell. There was the Avatar, standing there stock still in chains, his jaw hanging in absolute shock.

But Zuko did not laugh, nor did he crack a smile under his mask.

He just grabbed his swords and charged.

He ignored Aang's cries of terror, and was swift to swing his twin swords down upon the chains, which broke cleanly before he broke them off without even a sound.

There was a silence as he dealt another quick cut to the younger boys feet, cutting off the shackles on his ankles before making to stalk back off to the door.

"Wait-Who are you? What's going on?" Aang called after him eyes wide "Are you here to rescue me?"

But Zuko only waved a hand roughly as he opened the door and stepped through.

"I'll take that as a yes" Aang gulped as he hurried to follow, his feet barely making a sound on the floor. His footsteps were so quiet that even Zuko with his sharp hearing had difficulty picking up the sound.

Man, he's really light on his feet? Must be an airbender thing.

Zuko rolled his eyes only to stop in his tracks as he heard a small cry of:

"My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!"

Frogs?

Zuko narrowed his eyes as he strode back to the desperate boy, who had stopped before a corridor and was trying to reach out to small half frozen frogs crawling on the ground.

Oh you've got to be kidding me?

His eyes rolling behind the mask Zuko grabbed Aang hard by the scruff of his orange collar and dragged him from the corridor, all the while willing himself not to strangle the kid as he cried out loudly:

"Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs! Hey-mph!"

Aang squeaked as a large gloved hand clamped tight over his mouth.

He glanced up with fear, gulping as he met the masked face of his mysterious saviour who put a finger to his lips. He didn't need to see his face to know that he was most likely scowling dangerously.

Quickly the young Avatar shut his mouth and gave a small nod.

Finally!

Zuko mentally groaned in relief as he released his hand from his charge, whose lips were now pursed tight in a small pout of his own.

"Ok! Ok! I'll stay quiet" he grumbled softly folding his arms. "You don't have to be a jerk about-" He stopped mid-sentence.

Oh crap!

Zuko gulped, his grip tightening on his swords as the Avatar's eyes widened with sudden comprehension.

"It's you…" He breathed pointing up to the mask, behind which the disguised prince was shutting his eyes in dismay.

"She said you would come."

She?

Zuko tilted his head curiously to one side to voice his question, to which the Avatar scratched the back of his head nervously:

"Just before Zhao interrogated me he brought a girl with him. She had brown hair and nice green eyes, just like jade- oh yeah Jade! That's right! Her name's Jade! Do you know her?"

Zuko blinked in astonishment.

The boy was looking up at him, not with fear or with animosity, but with a wide hopeful grin and shining grey eyes.

Slowly the masked prince nodded and was rewarded with an even bigger grin.

"Then it's you isn't it? You're the friend she said would help me get out?"

Zuko nodded silently again, not that he could've made a sound in any case. His brain had momentarily gone blank as stone. And all he could do was listen blankly as the younger boy made to prattle excitedly on about their mutual ally. "-I first met her on Prince Zuko's ship, and then my friends met her on Crescent Island, but they say she escaped with Zuko and is with him which is strange because she's not like the other firebenders. She's good, or well at least she's nicer than everyone else. I mean I only met her once but she doesn't seem to like Zhao who I think is somehow related to her or something which is weird because they are absolutely nothing like one another and-"

Oh for spirits sake!

Zuko rolled his eyes and with a swift movement his hand was clamped over the younger boy's mouth.

"Sorry" Aang whispered sheepishly, feeling rather than seeing the glare from behind the white mask as Zuko scowled darkly.

Man, for someone who was a hundred and twelve years old, the Avatar sure was a chatterbox.

Their movement down the building pretty quiet and much smoother after that. But even as the Avatar and the fire prince managed to slip their way down to the basement sewerage levels of the fortress, Zuko couldn't help but think about everything the younger boy said.

From the words spoken Jade it sounded like she was more the Avatar's friend than she'd ever been with him.

She's helping him. she wants to help him…

The sly voice of his sister hissed in his head, only to be drowned out by his own mental voice shouting:

No! You're wrong! She was only nice to him to get him to trust you! She's helping you like she's done before!

Like when she let him escape in the South Pole? The sly voice sneered.

She-she- his mental voice spluttered before crying out -She was surprised! She said so herself! Plus how could she have kept him down there on her own when a whole ship full of firebenders couldn't?

Yeah-yeah! Keep telling yourself that Zuzu!

The sly voice in his head chuckled so scathingly that Zuko actually had to shut his eyes for a moment, sucking in a sharp deep breath as he chanted in his head.

Azula always lies! Azula always lies!

"Um…hey…are you ok?" a small voice mumbled worriedly.

Zuko turned sharply and was quick to swat away the Avatar's small hand as it tried to tap his shoulder.

No! What was he doing? He was supposed to be focusing on his mission. The last thing he needed was the Avatar of all people worrying about him?

But why was the Avatar even worrying about him? They barely knew one another.

Strange kid…

He rolled his eyes as both he and the twelve year old boy made to sidle quietly under the feet of several guards on patrol.

But even as they both made to pause he couldn't help but snort a little to himself.

A bit like her.

To say that Admiral Zhao Shi was feeling very pleased of himself at this moment in time would be the biggest understatement of the hundred year war.

He was so swollen with pride with himself that even the meek elderly scribe that followed him was surprised he hadn't inflated and floated up to the ceiling as he made to prattle on about his various orders.

"I want a full transcription of my speech sent to the Fire Lord, along with glowing testimonials from all of the ranking officers present, and-"

A loud moan of pain cut across the Admiral in his track's much to his irritation.

He wheeled about to the source of the noise and his eyes widened in shock.

There hanging from the ceiling by their feet or slumped on the floor, were ten guards, all of them groaning loudly as they began to stir into consciousness.

No…it can't be…

Not even bothering to look at any of the guards again, Zhao stormed towards the door they had all been supposed to be guarding and shoved it open.

There in the centre of the steel covered room sitting in the midst of broken chains… was a small badger-frog.

The small amphibian blinked up at him, croaking loudly into the admiral face, unaware of the steaming coming from the human's hands as he snarled.

That-that-little light-footed bastard! HOW COULD HE HAVE GOTTEN OUT!

And with that Zhao turned on his heel and dashed from the rooms, not heeding his scribe who was squeaking behind him.

"Sir, should I hold off sending that speech to the Fire Lord?"

"SHUT UP OLD MAN! GUARDS! GUARDS! SOUND THE ALERT!" Zhao all but roared as he ran helter skelter back to the balcony from where just barely an hour ago he had delivered his speech.

"Admiral Zhao sir? what's-" one of the guards tried to say only to wince and cringe back as Zhao made to yell loudly over the ornate railings.

"The Avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!"

Barely seconds later bells were ringing loudly, soldiers were yelling orders to their subordinates and the rushing sounds of many feet could be heard thundering from below on the ground.

"Look on the wall!" One of the balcony guards called as he peered through a small telescope, which Zhao snatched from him quickly.

And sure enough the guard was right. There was a little twelve year old boy with blue arrow tattoos, airbending his way through several spear wielding soldiers.

But he was not alone for there on the wall beside him was a dark figure with a white blue mask.

"So…it seems the Avatar has a little friend does he? YOU LOT COME WITH ME!"

Zhao shoved the telescope back into the guard's hands before storming down through the fortress.

I can't let him escape! I can't let either of them escape.

His mind was such a whir of anger that his hands had actually begun to steam and sizzle as he stormed out of the fortress doors.

"Sir he's made it to the main gate!" a soldier yelled from the top of one of the inner gates as it opened to admit him and his guards.

"Keep it shut! The Avatar and his accomplice are not to escape!" Zhao yelled now running as hard and as fast as he could towards the source of loud yells of pain and battle.

Come on-come on!

He was through the second gate, and could finally see his adversaries up. There was the boy Avatar standing behind a dark figure with two swords and a grotesque blue and white mask over his face.

That mask…why does it look familiar?

Zhao couldn't help but wonder as he ran up to the scene, only to skid to a halt as several firebenders made to blast fireballs at the Masked figure.

"NO!"

But before the flames could even hit, the Avatar jumped before his friend and swirled his arms. At once a great ball of air surrounded him and his companion, snuffing out all the fireballs in an instant.

"Hold your fire!" Zhao yelled "The Avatar must be captured alive!"

But no sooner had the words left Zhao's mouth, then the Blue masked figure suddenly slip behind the Avatar and hold his swords to the young boys throat.

Zhao stared at the strange figure, eyes narrowing as he tried to piece together what he had just seen.

There was something about the way this "thief" had moved that seemed …familiar…

"Open the gates" the admiral hissed ignoring the protests of his men behind him "Let them out now"

There was a great clanking sound as the last outermost gates to the fortress keep were opened, but otherwise all were silent as everyone just stood and watched the masked swordsman drag the boy Avatar away.

Once the pair were a good distance away, one of the lieutenants closest to Zhao hissed furiously.

"How could you let them go?"

"A situation like this requires…precision"

Good…now I just have to keep going slowly…

In later days and years, Zuko would come to count this as one of the most nerve racking moments of his life. After all it wasn't every day that you held an Avatar to ransom before an entire fortress full of well-trained fire-benders.

He was just hoping that the said Avatar couldn't feel or hear the hammering of his heart. Luckily for him, Aang was just too terrified to even do anything besides stare and breathe as he was forced backwards away from the fortress.

Just a little further…

Zuko's grip on his swords tightened as something glimmered faintly from the great gate wall before them.

Was it just him or had that been something metallic on the-

Zuko barely had time to blink as something whooshed towards them…something that hit the side of his head hard…and made his vision go black.

Aang gasped as he felt the cold sharp blades disappear from his neck and turned just in time to see his saviour (or was it his captor?) fall backwards to the ground and lie still.

But it wasn't the stillness that was worrying to the young Avatar.

No… it was the scar he could see as the mask slipped ever so slightly from the figures face…a burn over the left eye…

No way…

Yes!

Zhao all but hissed victoriously in his head as he watched a cloud of dust emerge from where the Avatar and his friend had just been.

"Quick! Recover the Avatar!"

"Yes sir!"

"Right away sir!" the men around him yelled.

But Zhao paid them no heed, his eyes only hungry for the sight of a bald head with a blue tattoo somewhere in the distance as the dust cloud began to clear.

Come on…come on…almost-

But even as he watched, the poof of dust and sand fell back to earth only to reveal nothing in its midst save for a pair of two small footprints.

"NO!"

The roar from the Admiral was so loud and so furious that even the badger-frog that sat on a nearby railing leapt off in fright.

Zhao however didn't care as he made to lash his arm out, a tongue of flame narrowly missing his soldiers who all quickly backed away from him.

NO! how could this be? how could the Avatar have escaped? How could've one thief snuck him out?

He must have had inside help.

Zhao's teeth gritted tight.

Someone must be a leak, or a mole. A bribe must have been exchanged.

But who would have taken the bribe, He wondered to himself as he suspiciously glanced up to his now frightened soldiers who were all keeping a safe distance.

No…what was he thinking? These men were just as in the dark as he was.

Besides he knew for a fact that were at their posts; he had received no reports thus far of any unusual activities. No one had been noticed to have been out of place and all people soldiers and civilians had been accounted f-

"S-sir…" a commander gulped timidly as he and his fellows watched the face of their leader turn from scathing hot to calm and cold in one second.

"Commander…" Zhao hissed, his voice cutting through the air like a fine steel blade "fetch me a messenger hawk"

"Sir?"

"A hawk you twit. And send it to my office." Zhao snapped before turning back to glare at the fields outside the gate door.

"It's time I called in an old favor"

Dear Diary,

It's been a few hours since I left the Pohuai Stronghold with my father and brother and arrived back on board the ship.

Most of the crew (my family included) are now sleeping soundly and peacefully (I hope), even Dango's having a lazy sleep in this morning (though that may be because he still is recovering from a hangover from last night).

However for some reason no matter how hard I try just can't shut my eyes for more than one hour at a time.

Because every time I do I keep seeing Zuko's face looking at me.

Oh diary, I know I don't want him to capture the Avatar, but I still can't help but worry about letting him get captured by my crazy uncle Zhao.

For all his moodiness and grouchy behaviour, Zuko is not a bad person. Just a desperate one, though that might just be as bad. After all desperate people often have tendencies to make mistakes and bite off more than they can chew, and when you add this to the prince's track record of reckless behaviour…

Well…let's just say that if Zhao caught him skulking and infiltrating his base in that mask, being imprisoned would be the least of all our worries.

Zhao…

I can't believe he's known my secret all this time. But then again it would make sense, seeing as father was disowned for marrying my mother. It stands to reason Zhao wouldn't want his growing fame and reputation tarnished by such scandalous "tainted blood" in his family tree.

But what he said…about exposing me… it's just…disgusting!

To think you could stoop so low as to threaten your own family! however the more I keep thinking about his threat, the more I feel that he's just saying that to scare me. Alright yes I was scared when he had cornered me (but then again which girl wouldn't be freaked out by her creep of an uncle) but honestly diary how can he keep an eye on me when I'm halfway over the ocean?

Unless he'd send someone on board to spy on me?

The ink brush above the journal page hovered for a moment, the green eyes watching its progress widening ever so slightly.

Then after a seconds pause and then Jade shook her head and rolled her eyes to herself.

Spirits! Look at me! Getting all antsy and paranoid about something so small.

Just forget it diary. Forget it. I've probably just got to get some sleep for tomorrow and then everything will be fine.

"And that's the end of that" Jade muttered to herself. Quickly she blew over the page before tapping the last few words. Only a drop of ink stained her index finger, but otherwise it was all dr-

There was a sharp knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" She asked, or rather squeaked, quickly snapping her journal shut and tucking it under her pillow as a familiar voice answered her.

"It's me Iroh. May I speak with you, it's quite urgent I fear."

Jade almost felt her heart drop in her chest as thoughts began to swirl fast through her mind.

Oh no…is it Zuko, has he been caught? And what about Aang? Is he too caught? Or worse what if they're-

But as Jade opened her room door she was surprised to see Lord Iroh standing there with a small sheepish smile on his face.

"I'm sorry to disturb you my dear, but a new soldier just came in this morning requesting to join our crew. Seeing as it is usually time for the morning meal right about now I invited him to join me for breakfast so I could interview him. Now I know that you and Dango have the morning off, so I offered to cook for him instead and I was just wondering if you by chance had the keys to the-"

"No!" Jade bleated over the top of him much to his surprise "I-I mean. I can come down and cook if you want."

And avoid another New Year's catastrophe!

She added in her head, simultaneously wondering how a man so good at brewing tea, could be so bad at cooking, or at least cooking anything else other than Juke.

She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes fondly as the old lord tried his best to insist.

"Oh but Jade I couldn't ask you. It's your morning off-"

"And I can choose what I can do with it" Jade smiled warmly "Besides I was feeling like going down and cooking myself some breakfast. I have just one question-"

"Yes my dear?"

"This new guy…what's he like?"

"He's quiet, intelligent. He's pretty tall too. Quite strong, very well disciplined from what I have seen. Brown hair, brown eyes. And a Non-Bender" Iroh added before tilting his head questioningly. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just curious about the new hungry mouth I have to feed." Jade smiled quickly, though it did not quite reach her fervent green eyes. "I shall come down in a moment after I get my uniform on"

"Of course, thank you my dear girl" Iroh bowed low giving her a warm fatherly smile, completely missing how the colour drained almost completely out of the young girls face as she shut the door behind him.

It's just a coincidence Jade. Just a coincidence…Or is it?

She glanced up at the door and bit her lip.

So much for being lucky.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

i'll just leave you all there shall i?

so yeah finally "The Blue Spirit" arc is almost over. it was really interesting writing from Zuko's, Aang's and Zhao's point of views.

either way i hope you enjoyed and keep R&Ring for more