"Child of the Gods, why do you die every night only to be reborn during the day?"

"Because, Sister Moon, I cannot shine eternal."

-Inscription from the tomb of Fire Lord Zuko

A loud sound booms through the ship hull like a massive gong. I hear metal creak above me, and I instinctively look up at the metal ceiling of my room. The ceiling does not give way, and after a few seconds I hear the shouts and cries of men and women in combat. Training exercise?

I hear the faint gurgle of water flowing, and I realize that Waterbenders are on the deck of the ship.

We are under attack.

The door to my room bursts open, and Master Marcian enters with three Imperial Firebenders behind her. Her robe and hands are glowing bright purple, and I shade my eyes.

"Princess!" Master Marcian exclaims.

"Are we under attack?" I ask.

"A Waterbender submarine just boarded the ship." Master Marcian says in her rough voice. "We need to get you to safety."

I roll off my bed and push the sheets off me. I grab my armor from where it unceremoniously lays on the floor and begin to put it on. Without waiting for me to ask, two Imperial Firebenders hurry over to assist me. One holds my chestplate up against my body while the other ties the knots to keep it in place.

"Princess!" Master Marcian's voice is surprised, and her light intensifies. It casts an eerie aura around the room with its purple mist. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help," I state plainly. The Imperial Firebenders put my plateskirt on my legs and hips, and continue putting on and tightening the rest of my armor.

"You need to stay safe!" Master Marcian says. "Away from the Waterbenders!"

I calmly wait until my armor is completely on. When it is, I turn to face the Energybending Master. "You," I say in my most regal voice. "Serve the Royal Family of the Fire Nation. You are a paid soldier, and you do not have the right to challenge my authority."

Master Marcian's light flares for a moment, but I maintain my stare into her silver eyes. Go ahead, I dare her. Challenge me again.

Then her light dims significantly, but it still leaves spots in the corners of my vision. She smiles and tilts her head to one side. "Of course," her lips say softly. "Princess Cathra."

I brush past her and take the stairs up to the conning tower. I hear metal footsteps behind me. My Firebenders are staying close to me, which is good. Chances are, I won't be able to fight the Waterbenders off the ship myself. Also, one day I'm going to be Fire Lord, so the troops need to watch me fight besides them.

I make it to the deck of the ship and try not to burst out laughing. A huge metal fish lies on top of the deck, and Waterbenders are dropping out of large windows in its sides. A few Firebenders are already fighting them as they come out, but to little use.

I throw five quick fireballs towards the Waterbenders. They wear fish scale armor that covers their entire bodies, and it gleams strangely in the firelight. A group of Waterbenders launches a massive stream of water at me, but two Imperial Firebenders come up from behind me and raise a large wall of fire to block.

Over the hiss and crackle of the water hitting the burning shield, I hear the whowhowho of a chain spinning through the air. I hear a sickening crunch, and then the chain resumes it's spinning noise. I do not know where the noise is coming from, but I truly hope it's on our side of the fight.

The Imperial Firebenders lower the wall of fire on top of the Waterbenders. The Waterbenders split to either side of the wall, and return fire in the form of a combination of water whips and icicles. I dodge the waterwhips and break the icicles against my metal gauntlets, but my Firebenders are not as lucky. They dodge some of the assault, but icicles pierce the neck of one and a water whip stuns the other.

All of the Waterbenders are now focused on me. They advance on me slowly, arms ready to cast water whips. I put my arms up in a fighting stance and try to find some weak point in the Waterbenders' formation.

A purple light illuminates the metal fish's scales from behind me. Flurries of small purple stars zoom past my left side and pierce the chest of one of the Waterbenders. I do not need to turn around to see that Master Marcian has joined the fight.

Using the dying Waterbender's cries as a distraction, I project a large blaze of fire towards the right side of the Waterbending formation. I hit one in the chest, and he takes a few steps back while swatting at his chest. My fire doesn't seem to be as effective as Master Marcian's energy.

Two Waterbenders throw icicles at me. I raise my arms above my head and embrace myself in a cocoon of fire. The fire licks my face longingly, and I feel a few beads of sweat run down my cheeks.

I release the cocoon by slamming my hands against the metal decking of the ship. The fire around me strikes out in all directions, and the force of it knock three Waterbenders off of their feet. I form a fire whip with a flick of my wrist and lash at another Waterbender. He catches the strike on a scaly arm, and doesn't react at all.

It dawns on me that the armor is fire-resistant and heat proof. Smart.

The Waterbender crouches, spins his legs like a break-dancer, and whips a hailstorm of icicles at me. I raise a hand, shoot a large blaze of fire, and melt the icicles. I hear the clinkclinkclink of water freezing, and I see the Waterbender sliding down a wall of ice towards my right side.

I feel heat building inside my chest. Without a second thought, I let out a massive breath of fire right in the face of the Waterbender. I hear him scream, and he clutches his burning eye sockets. I kick him on his back with a simple snap kick, and then finish him with a heavy axe kick to his helmet with my metal boot.

I turn around to see Master Marcian fighting the last of the Waterbenders. The others lie on the deck of the ship, blood pouring out of their pockmarked armor. I see one Waterbender with a hole the size of his head in his chest, and I gulp. The moonlight reflects calmly out of the pool of blood around him.

With a swift burst of light, Master Marcian knocks the last Waterbender off his feet.

The silence that remains engulfs the ship. For a few moments, all I can hear is my breathing, my pounding chest, and the waves striking the sides of the ship.

Master Marcian turns to look at me. "Are you alright, Princess Cathra?"

It takes me a few moments until I can find the breath to respond. "Yes, Master Marcian."

A Firebender rushes up to kneel in front of me. "Princess Cathra!" He exclaims. I recognize his golden piping on the top of his crimson helmet as belonging to the Captain of the Imperial Guard. "I offer my life as punishment for allowing this to happen. We should have kept a guard rotation on the deck, but I grew complacent, and I thought that we were safe…" He bows his head and pulls a long black dagger out of a sheath on his hip. He offers it to me.

I look at him for a few moments. The calm moon twinkles along the blade in his outstretched hands. I grab the blade, and the man lowers his helmet so as to allow me to strike him in the throat.

"Rise, Captain," I order.

The Captain looks up at me. Even though I can't see his eyes, I know that they are wide with surprise. "Princess!" He says. "I carelessly put your life in danger!"

I nod. "And that's why I'm keeping the knife."

Another silence covers the ship.

I hear a loud bang come from the direction of the Waterbenders' submarine. I snap my head to look at the fish-sub, and Master Marcian raises her hands. The Captain gets up off his knees and launches a huge wave of fire at the direction of the sound.

I hear a deep voice shout "Bloody hell!" A bright white light bursts into existence, and the fire collides against it.

When my eyes readjust to the light, I see Aelius unwrapping a silver chain from around one of the top fins of the sub. "Just the thanks I deserve," I hear him mutter. He wraps the chain around his shoulder, and I see a palm-sized silver sphere dangle from both ends of the chain. He slides down off the top of the fish, muttering all the while. "For saving your damned life again."

I hear a shout from above. I turn around and look up, and I see a dark silhouette leaning over the balcony of the conning tower. "Two more submarines surfacing starboard side!"

Another shadow pushes the silhouette out of the way. I can barely hear the shadow saying "Less shouting, more fighting!" The voice is old, but the swift circular motion it's owner makes is swift and precise. Blue electricity crackles from the balcony, and then it shoots in the direction of the surfacing submarines.

I see Admiral Sozin, his old age, smiling in the blue lightning-light.

I grin back, and look in the direction of the rising submarines. I see Aelius running forward, and Master Marcian following close behind.

"Boy!" She shouts. "Stop playing with your toys and fight like an Energybender."

I see Aelius square his shoulders. I come up behind the two Energybenders, but I stop when I sense someone coming up behind me.

I turn around, and see that it is not just one person, but two people. One is Iulia, who is wearing her normal silver circlet. The other is the Waterbending girl, Terumi. Terumi's hair is braided and lies on her right shoulder. In the moonlight, I have to admit that both girls are prettier than I will ever be.

Iulia rolls her white sleeves up. I see that her arms are covered with scars, but in the dark light I cannot tell how what kind. Her gem in the center of her circlet glows purple. "I guess girl-time is over, Teru."

The Waterbender pushes her braid behind her head and sighs. "And I just did my nails, too…"

Without another word, the Waterbender sprints and dives overboard. I look at Iulia questioningly. She shrugs.

"Nice girl. Don't see why you don't like her."

I see a massive pillar of water rise out of the ocean, and I can barely make out a human torso sticking out of the top. My mouth begins to drop, but I close it before anyone can notice.