Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: I bloody hope not.

Zigzagdoublezee: Asami has had the worst day possibly of all time there, not that I'm trying to make light of it. She suffered a devastating military defeat, her new girlfriend is in a coma, her friend got blown up and then her father died.

As Always, Please Review!

Mako

Mako groaned and opened his eyes. For a moment, he was confused as to where he was. He was lying in a bed, staring up at a grey ceiling. There was a distant rumbling off in the distance.

He groaned, and a face appeared above him.

"Mako?" A woman's voice asked.

"Yes?" Mako replied. "What happened?"

The face suddenly looked uncomfortable, and Mako slowly took in that it belonged to a woman dressed in the uniform of a military nurse.

"You had a very lucky escape," she told him. "Don't you remember?"

Mako cast his mind back, and saw Hotaru's face ringed with purple light. He winced.

"The spirit laser..."

"You were lucky, you just got thrown into the sea," the nurse nodded. "We barely managed to pick you up in time."

Mako nodded. "Who's we?"

"Ah yes, I probably should have led with that," the nurse nodded. "My name is Nanurjuk. I'm a nurse with the navy. This is the United Republic warship, Sokka. We saw what happened and came to search for survivors. I'm not sure how many there were."

"Sokka... as in the Councilman?"

"Precisely."

Mako suddenly sat bolt upright.

"Where's the Princess?"

Nanurjuk didn't seem phased.

"Look to your left."

Mako did, and he saw her lying in the next bed along, her hair spread out over the pillow. She looked peaceful, too peaceful for someone who had just taken a direct hit from a spirit laser.

"Is she alright?"

"Don't worry, she's fine," the nurse replied. In fact, both of you seem to be. You'll be a bit bruised, probably suffer from a few aches and pains, but you have had a truly miraculous escape."

Mako briefly wondered how they hadn't drowned waiting for the other ship to reach them. Maybe Hotaru had stayed conscious for long enough to prevent that, but he also supposed that this ship carried waterbenders who could have helped.

"Thank Agni for that," he relaxed, and lay down on the bed again, closing his eyes. He was very tired. "How long has it been?"

Nurse Nanurjuk looked uncomfortable again.

"... three days."

"Three days?" Mako's eyes snapped open. "What happened in the meantime?"

"A lot, none of it good," the nurse supplied. "Kuvira destroyed several more ships. The Fire Nation admiral is dead. We tried to use flying machines. Only one scored a hit and it was destroyed straight afterwards, so we've retreated. We've been running ever since."

"Where is Kuvira now? Where's the Avatar? And my brother?"

"They're all fine," Nanurjuk told him. "As far as I know, anyway. They're on board one of the other ships. As for the enemy, we've left them behind. For some reason, they haven't tried very hard to catch up, so we've gained some time on them. I think we're going to need it."

"So do I," Mako grumbled.

"The cold wind blows from the north," Nanurjuk muttered.

"Pardon?"

"Just a saying among my people. The Northern Water Tribe. It's a reflection on misfortune." The nurse looked at him. "Do you have a plan?"

"No, not as yet," Mako shut his eyes. "I need to see my friends."

There was movement behind them and the door opened. A smartly dressed officer entered, and approached them.

"So the patient is awake then?" He enquired.

"Well, one of them is," Nanurjuk replied. "Why?"

"Well, we need to tell the rest of the fleet. We've arrived, and his friends will be worried."

"Arrived?" Mako asked. "Arrived where?"

Nanurjuk just reached above his head and opened a metal hatch there, to reveal a glass porthole. Natural light flooded through it, and Mako hauled himself up to look. He saw several other ships in the distance, and behind them a very familiar city skyline and bridge.

"We're back in Republic City?"

"Where else can we go?" The nurse asked. "It is our main naval base."

"But they'll be right behind us!"

"I know. But we have no choice."

The officer tried to sound upbeat.

"We do still outnumber them. We could try overwhelming them in Yue Bay!"

Mako had to resist the urge to scowl. That wasn't far off the allied battle strategy at the Battle of the Strait, and it hadn't worked then.

He threw off the covers and tried to get up. A stab of pain went up his leg as he tried to put some weight on it, but he gritted his teeth and leaned on Nanurjuk. The officer rushed to support his other side as he hobbled out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Nanurjuk grunted.

"I'm discharging myself."

"Yes, I got that," the nurse replied. "Where specifically?"

"Oh," Mako nodded. "The deck, I suppose."

The others nodded, and began to haul him up there. It was a long and painful journey, and Mako noted the mood of everyone they passed. Nobody even glanced at them. Everyone hurried past, their heads bowed, no words exchanged. Morale was clearly at rock bottom.

Finally a door was thrown open and they made their way out on deck. In front of them, the Sokka's forward fire cannon stood, pointing straight ahead. Nobody was manning it.

It was a beautiful sunny day. The waves of Yue Bay were calm, and the city stood proudly in the distance, seemingly untouched by war. The ships of the fleet that Mako could see seemed less fortunate. The two carriers looked fine, but most of the rest were carrying obvious battle damage, clearly listing, or belching far too much smoke. One was even clearly under tow by another. There were also far fewer of them than there had been when, in all their pomp and confidence, they had set out to stop Kuvira.

Instead, she was coming here.

Sky bison circled overhead, air nomads from Air Temple Island coming to welcome the fleet home, and knew they must be feeling shock at seeing the ships in such a state. He watched one of them dip lower and watched it begin to approach the ship, until it slammed into the deck with a grunt.

"Mako!" The rider hailed him. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Kai looked down at him, the young face full of concern.

"I'm fine," Mako told him. "But I think we just suffered a catastrophe."

"Oh not you too," Kai groaned, dismounting.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mako demanded.

"Come with me back to shore," Kai insisted. "The other nomads are picking up the others. I'll tell you on the way."

"Tell me what?"

Kai stopped. He grimaced.

"It's chaos. Kuvira destroyed the entire high command. She must have fired those cannons because Jinora fell into a coma. Tenzin's been stabbed, the Army is being attacked at the border, and they have Raiko."

He began moving again, preparing to lift Mako into the saddle using his airbending.

"But other than that, my week has been great! How about yours?"