we all want love/we all want honor

Part 8: did you grow up a little too fast

"Is it everything you thought?"

- Carlie Hanson, "WYA"

After nearly losing him, Lady Toph had been loath to let him go anywhere without her, but she'd freely admitted she'd be all but useless at the North Pole.

"Sure, I could hide on Zhao's ship," had been her assessment of the situation, "But then what? I remember what it was like when we went to the South Pole, and I spent the entire time huddled up in my room. I can't imagine I'll be able to do much more this time. I can't even see on ice."

So, reluctantly, she'd agreed to stay behind. They'd made plans to reunite in Yu Dao in a month's time, and she'd disappeared before Uncle could even finish offering to escort her into town.

"Have fun, and beat Zhao up for me," was her parting remark.

Sneaking onto Zhao's ship was way too easy. Zuko was mildly concerned about the efficiency of Fire Nation naval security if anyone in a mask could just walk on board. What was stopping Earth Kingdom rebels with stolen uniforms from doing the same?

Worry about that later. For now, he was just grateful he hadn't been caught.

He didn't have an actual plan yet. How could he? He had no idea what the situation in the North would be like, so how could he prepare for it? He knew what he had to do.

Find the Avatar. Get him out of here. (And, if possible, take out Zhao.) Simple enough, right?

(Uncle didn't think so. But that was just Uncle being a worried mother turtleduck. Zuko would be fine.)

How hard could it be?

The answer, apparently, was very.

He'd gotten his little rowboat up to the outside of the Water Fortress. After that, it was just a matter of following the turtleseals. (No one had warned him that turtleseals could hold their breath for hours. Thank the spirits for Uncle and his lessons.)

Finding the Avatar was a little trickier, but he heard someone talking about a Spirit Oasis. Sounds like the kind of place the Avatar would hide.

The hard part was once he actually found the boy.

Growing up with Azula (not to mention all that time around Lady Toph) had instilled a healthy respect for young, prodigious, female benders. He'd never underestimated the Avatar's little waterbender.

But her skills had taken a serious boost since the last time they'd met.

Of course. The Northern Water Tribe. They hadn't come here just for the Avatar. He'd seen the Southern Tribe- just a tiny little fishing village. They couldn't have too many skilled benders there. But here...

"You little peasant," he said. "You've found a master, haven't you?"

He kept fighting, but there wasn't much use. He was weak and injured, while she was stronger and had a field advantage. Within moments, he was frozen to a wall, unable to move.

But Lady Toph had taught him the power of waiting for the right moment to strike. He could be patient.

As the sun rose above the horizon, he slipped away, the Avatar in tow.

Which, of course, since the universe just loved to mess with him, was when the blizzard decided to hit.

Zuko slogged through the snow. He was tired, weak, injured, and hungry, and carrying a person (however tiny) was exhausting.

Could this get any worse?

Apparently he hadn't learnt his lesson about tempting fate, because that was when the ice split open.

What now? He looked around, searching for some kind of-

"Shelter!" He dragged the Avatar into the cave and pulled out some rope to tie him up with.

He was stuck in this cave while the storm raged outside. It was so frustrating. The Avatar was right there and Zuko couldn't get him home.

I wish Lady Toph were here. He didn't know where that thought had come from. It wasn't as though she'd be any help in this situation. She'd be even worse off than he was. Still, it might be nice to have someone to talk to.

He looked over at the Avatar. The boy was his unconscious prisoner. They weren't friends. (Not that he and Lady Toph were really friends, either.)

Before he could think about what he was doing, Zuko found himself ranting aloud.

Ah well, it's not like he can hear me.

Aang opened his eyes, taking in the scene around him. Ropes. Zuko!

"Welcome back," the scarred prince said. (Had he gotten more injuries since the last time they'd met?)

"It's good to be back," Aang replied. He looked around. "Is she here, too?"

"She?" Zuko seemed puzzled.

"You know, that friend of yours," Aang said. "She called herself the, uh, 'Blind Bandit'?"

Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you dare talk about her." Alright, time to get out of here.

With a gust of airbending, Aang propelled himself out of the cave. Zuko caught up with him, of course, but not before Appa- along with Katara and Sokka- spotted them. (Was that the princess with them? What was she doing here?)

Sokka wanted to leave Zuko behind, but Aang looked down at the teenager in the snow and thought of the face of the tiny girl he'd seen on the ship. The 'bandit' who'd clearly cared about the prince. She'll be devastated if he dies here. And the two of them had saved his life.

(Not to mention the old man, who clearly also cared for his young nephew.)

"If we leave him, he'll die," Aang said, jumping down into the snow and dragging Zuko onto Appa's saddle.

Another thing Zuko had learned from Lady Toph was how to act like he couldn't hear what was going on around him. He'd only been dazed by the waterbender's blow, but he'd known there was no point in trying to fight her.

(He hadn't been expecting them to want to save him.)

He kept his eyes closed on the bison, but he could sense something odd. He opened them a little just in time to see the sky turn red.

What is this?

"The Moon Spirit is in trouble," he heard the Avatar say.

Well, that clears things up. Not.

He listened to the white haired girl (he wasn't sure who she was, or why she was here) as she told the tale of how the moon spirit had saved her life.

She's... like me. He'd never been blessed by a spirit, of course, but he'd also been born weak, with little hope for survival. However, his father would never have begged like that for him. (Your sister was born lucky. You were lucky to be born.)

When they reached the oasis and heard Zhao's plan, Zuko was in shock.

Is this man an idiot? You couldn't just kill the moon. Zuko had spent three years at sea. Everyone relied on the moon. Especially sailors.

Carefully, while the Avatar and his companions had their backs to him, he started trying to pry himself free.

Uncle?

Zuko hopped behind the bison, waiting to see what would happen. (Sometimes, Sparky, you just gotta wait and listen. That's the trick to being a good earthbender, but it's also true for other people. Don't jump into a situation until you see the right moment.) Uncle started fighting the other firebenders, but Zhao managed to get away. Zuko followed him. Uncle should be able to deal with the Avatar.

As he fought with Zhao, he noticed some kind of spirit-looking, glowing thing going on with the water. He ignored it. (One battle at a time, nephew.) At one point, Zhao looked up at the sky and gasped.

The moon is back. Interesting.

Suddenly, giant glowing hands reached around the bridge they were fighting on. Zuko jumped away, but the spirit-creature only seemed interested in Zhao.

Zuko had no love for the admiral. The man had tried to have him killed. In fact, Zuko had been planning on ending the old fool himself.

But he'd read up on the spirits enough to know that they wouldn't just let Zhao die peacefully for what he'd done. Zuko wouldn't doom his worst enemy to that kind of fate. He reached out.

"Take my hand!" But in the end, Zhao's stubborn pride wouldn't let him accept help from a worthless, banished prince.

Goodbye, Zhao. I hope you don't suffer too much. He had a feeling that prayer was in vain.

"I'm tired, Uncle," he said, afterwards. Let's just get out of this place.

"Then you should rest."

"Hey, guys," Aang said as they stood there, watching the moon, "Did Zuko come alone?"

"Uh, did you miss the giant invading Fire Nation navy?" Sokka looked at him like he was nuts.

"Sokka, that was Zhao's fleet," Katara said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know about you, but I kind of got the impression those two don't really get along. I think Zuko came with his uncle. Why do you ask, Aang?"

"Anyone else?"

"Like his crew?" Katara considered this. "No, I think it was just the two of them."

"Oh," Aang said, looking down at the sea.

"Were you expecting to see anyone else?" Sokka said.

"Well, I thought he might have brought that girl along..."

"Girl? What girl?" Katara was looking at him kind of oddly.

"You mean you guys don't remember?" Aang turned to face his friends. "The girl? She's like our age, we've seen her on Zuko's ship a couple times? You know who I'm talking about, right Katara?" She shook her head, bewildered.

"Are you telling me," Sokka said, staring at him in horror, "That Zuko has a girlfriend?"

"Uncle," Zuko said that night, as he looked up at the sky. "What happened to the moon?"

"Zhao, in his arrogance, killed the Moon Spirit's mortal form," the old general explained. "Yue, the Northern Tribe's princess, gave her life to restore it."

Yue? He recalled the white haired girl from the bison. So that was the princess...

Then realized what his uncle had said. She gave up her life... That was right, Yue had told them she'd been blessed by the Moon Spirit. He knew from his research that a spirit-blessing contained a part of the spirit's life-force. If she gave it back, that might have saved it. But she'd died.

Zhao. Yue. How many other lives were lost?

He shook his head, not wanting to think about it.

"When did we tell Lady Toph we'd meet up with her again?"

"Not for another three weeks, Prince Zuko," Uncle said.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Zuko said, sitting up slowly.

"I don't see why not," Iroh replied. "Don't worry, nephew. We'll see her again soon."

"If you did, you can always go back."

- Carlie Hanson, "WYA"