Author's Note: Sorry for the weird lengths of these chapters! And I'll probably be making minor edits after it's published, so just ignore any grammatical errors :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or its characters yada yada yada

They were arranged in a seemingly random order along the massive wall of ice that marked the outskirts of what must have been the capital city. Zuko stood solemnly, his hands chained and resting on his stomach, wondering what she would do to them. He had seen them earlier, the girl and her brother, who he could only guess were the Water Empire Princess and Prince. They looked ordinary enough. Both were dressed in uniforms that looked much warmer than what they, the prisoners, were wearing. Zuko was fortunate enough to have been captured in a long sleeve shirt and pants. Others were wearing only their underclothing or a ripped shirt and trousers, if they were lucky. No one had shoes, and the icy landscape cut Zuko's feet like frozen knives. Soon, he figured, he'd hardly be able to feel them at all.

The man he was standing next to—an elderly Earth Kingdom man with a long white beard and tired eyes—was only dressed in a threadbare shirt and cut-off pants. Zuko longed to help the old man, but right now he was barely strong enough to keep himself warm. They had run out of food the day before and many hadn't made it through the chilly night. Sickness and starvation had taken the weakest, mostly the elderly and young children. Zuko had watched in horror as a woman across the room held a child in her arms as he took his last breaths, and had heard her agonizing shrieks as she realized that her son was dead. He had forced himself to look away when the guards came in and took the babe from her arms and threw her to the ground, knocking her out. Perhaps that was more humane, for Zuko heard the splash outside the vessel minutes later that could only mean one thing.

They weren't bringing the deceased to land.

The man beside Zuko cleared his throat, which turned into a cough, which turned into violent hacking. His chest heaved and he doubled over.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked. The man tried to nod, but it only resulted in another coughing fit. Zuko patted the man's back until he managed to control himself and stand back up. Even so, old age had given him a hunched back, and it was obvious from his physique that he was not in good health.

But when he looked up at Zuko and smiled, he saw a lifetime of joy in his eyes. "Thank you, young man," he said in a crackling voice. "This old body isn't what it used to be." He chuckled and Zuko managed a small grin. There were so many people around him who wouldn't live through this night, and the Princess was making them stand out in the cold rather than getting them food and medical attention. His smile faltered. The Water Empire was truly full of monsters.

The Princess and her brother walked out in front of the crowd, then, and faced them. At this point Zuko didn't care if he was being insubordinate; he glared at her, wanting to burn her where she stood.

"Attention!" she called out, and it took the crowd a few moments to silence. She peered up and down the row of prisoners as if assessing them, and Zuko wondered what she was doing. He felt angry and hurt and cold and tired and hungry. They were all suffering, and she was gaping at them as if they were a herd of cow-swine she could purchase and sell to traders. "As you all know," she began once she could be heard, "you are refugees from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation, and have been brought here because you resisted arrest by the Water Empire."

Zuko ground his teeth. So that's what she's calling us to ease her guilty conscience: 'Refugees'.

The Princess continued. "This act alone is grounds for public execution here in the Water Empire."

At this there was an audible rumble from the prisoners, some of outrage, others of disbelief. Zuko couldn't say anything. He couldn't even move. He had assumed they would all be held in the capital, either in servitude or prison. And now everything he had worked for was about to be destroyed.

Distantly, he noticed the man next to him did not say anything. In fact, he didn't look surprised at all.

"This isn't my first time around the block," the man said suddenly and Zuko looked down at him. He wondered if he had unknowingly spoken out loud.

The old man continued. "I fought in the war many years ago, back when Emperor Toonu was still alive. Many of us didn't survive. I was one of the lucky ones." He laughed, but it was short and bitter. "Serves me right that I die here where I should have died so many years ago."

Zuko wanted to protest, to tell him that he would live, that they all would, but he couldn't. He simply didn't know, and he couldn't lie to the old man.

"However," the Princess continued, and began walking up and down the line, her eyes probing. "The Water Empire has decided that, as an act of amnesty, only half of you here will suffer that fate."

Zuko's eyes widened. There was a chance. A slim one, but still, it was there. Besides, he couldn't be so close to completing his mission and fail right at the finish line. The training, the planning, the waiting…all for nothing?

He wondered how they would decide who lived and who died. Probably the Earth Kingdom prisoners would live and the Fire Nation prisoners would die. It only made sense. The Fire Nation was the only stronghold left to face the Water Empire—surely they wouldn't allow him to live another day in opposition. He could practically feel the knife on his throat, the drip of his blood, the last ragged breath he would take before everything went dark. Or perhaps it would be the water whip piercing a hold through his heart, making him feel every ounce of pain as the life drained from him.

No, he realized with a dreadful certainty, they'll use bloodbending. Maybe they'll stop our hearts, or seep all the blood from our bodies. It would definitely make a statement. Prove their power. Zuko was thinking so deeply he didn't catch what the Princess was saying. He only started listening when he saw the old man beside him stiffen, and then sag in defeat.

"—to the bottom of that hill, and back," she finished.

"What? What'd she say?" he whispered to the old man in panic.

He looked up at Zuko and there was pity in his eyes. "Get to the bottom of the hill and back. The last 100 will die."

Zuko stared open-mouthed at the man who so flippantly described the mass death of 100 prisoners. Then he looked back at the Princess who had joined her brother to the side of the row of people. She was surveying them with an odd look that seemed half-excited, half-nervous.

Without warning, she shouted "Go!" and there was a flurry of movement all around him. Men, women, and children with whom he had shared a prison shoved past him. There were screams and cries as the slow and weak were trampled, and Zuko lost his own footing. Somehow the flow of people carried him forward and he was headed towards the hill. He had lost sight of the old man that he had stood beside, and he could only hope he had somehow made his way to the front of the pack.

The chains around his wrists were cumbersome, but Zuko finally got his footing and kept a steady pace with the people around him, a crowd of five or six thick. Only when he stole a glance behind him did he realize that he was towards the back of the group.

I'm going to die. The reality of it was paralyzing. He would not complete his mission. He would fail. He would be publicly executed, and his father would have two dead children.

As soon as the thought entered his mind, he knew it could not happen. He would not put his father through that pain again. His feet were pounding the ground, but he pushed them harder. His lungs were racing against his heartbeat and he briefly wondered which would give out first.

Gradually, but with agonizing slowness, he began to move farther up in the group. The sound of thundering feet grew louder with each footfall and the base of the hill came into view. People were already on their way back, colliding with those still running for the hill, and Zuko was spun around by a woman with wide, crazy eyes, sprinting back towards the Princess. When he reached the hill he saw there were guards there ensuring that everyone ran all the way to the base before turning back, which he did simultaneously with about 10 other people. His breath came in wet wheezes and his legs were no longer burning as they'd once been, but were numb. His body moved on its own now, without his say. All he could see was the line of people collapsed on the ground in front of him; the ones who had made it.

The ones who would live.