Hey, guys! I'm going to upload the last two chapters of Maya! I'll be uploading the first chapter of the next book pretty soon. I'll give you more details about that at the end of chapter forty-nine. Enjoy! - Fira

Forty-eight

"No!" Maya screamed, as the sky blackened.

In the same moment, she saw bursts of fire come from over where Uncle was standing. And then another, and another. In the short moments in which the fire flared, she could see what was happening. Uncle had taken it upon himself to single-handedly kill every guard surrounding Zhao so that he could get to him.

Maya ran over to help, but by the time she got there, all the guards were down and Zhao had already disappeared. "Coward!" Maya yelled into the night.

Uncle placed a hand on her shoulder, and they went slowly over to the pond. Uncle bent down and gently scooped up the white fish into his hands. It was dead.

"There's no hope now," Yuwe said, her voice thick with tears. "It's over."

Suddenly, Aang began to glow. "No," he said, and within his voice, Maya could hear a thousand voices. "It's not over." He went forward, and stepped into the pond. There he stood, eyes and tattoos aglow, as the Ocean Spirit, the black koi fish, circled him. And then, it stopped, and began to glow as well. Aang and the fish seemed to be looking at each other, and then suddenly Aang disappeared into the water.

Maya gasped. The pond began to glow with a bright white light, and the light spread outward from it. Maya realized with a shock that the water was moving as if it were alive, lifting itself out of the outer pond that surrounded the smaller one, and moving onto dry land. It began assembling itself into a blob-like shape, and then the blob-like shape became… a fish. A giant fish. Maya squinted. She could see that somewhere in the middle of the Fish was Aang. He was controlling it.

Maya and the others stared open-mouthed as the Fish began walking through the city, fighting off the Fire Nation soldiers. Maya ran to follow it, and then stopped. She turned, looking around for Zuko. And she saw that he was not with them. She ran over to Appa and climbed onto his saddle. Zuko was not there.

She ran back to Uncle. "Uncle!" she said, but stopped. He was kneeling beside the pond. He lowered the fish back into the water.

"It's too late," Katara said quietly. "It's dead."

Uncle sighed, keeping hold of the koi, and looked down. And then he turned his head slightly and caught sight of Yuwe. Maya wasn't quite sure what clued him in. She guessed it was her white hair. But, whatever it was, he said, "You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in you."

Yuwe looked up. "Yes. You're right. It gave me life." She paused, and looked down, as if deciding something. Then she looked up again, and Maya could see resolve in her eyes. "Maybe I can give it back." She stood up.

But before she could take a step, Sokka grabbed her hand. "No!" he said. "You don't have to do that."

"It's my duty, Sokka," she said quietly, not looking at him.

"I won't let you," he said. "Your father told me to protect you!"

"I have to do this," she said.

Maya turned away slightly, feeling as if she were intruding. After a moment, she looked again.

Yuwe's hands were on the fish. Her eyes glowed for a second, and then they closed and she sighed and fell.

"No!" Sokka said, for the second time. He caught her as she fell and held her body close to his. "She's gone," he said quietly. "She's gone." He hugged her.

Maya felt tears sting her eyes, though she wasn't sure why. She didn't even know Yuwe.

But then something strange happened. Yuwe's body disappeared, and the koi fish in Uncle's hands began to glow. It had worked. Uncle quickly lowered the fish back into the water, and they all watched as the water glowed. The glow lifted itself up out of the water and materialized into a translucent image of Yuwe.

She came forward and looked at Sokka. "Goodbye Sokka," she said. Her voice echoed. "I'll always be with you." They kissed for a moment, and then Yuwe disappeared again, and Sokka was left staring into the sky at the place where she used to be.

Everyone looked up and smiled as the Moon returned to the sky, lighting up the world once more.