Four weeks later

She felt the weight of the water around her, its inertia and its fluidity, how easy it was to separate. She twisted it into braids and swirled them around her, a little bit of her focus on each, keeping them coherent and stable. With them pointing in all directions, she could feel delicate eddies of chi in the air.

"Well done."

At first, she'd thought Pakku didn't like her because he almost never praised her, but gradually she realised he never praised anyone. Really, she was probably a bit of a teacher's pet: he liked her the way every teacher likes their only student who consistently listens to what they have to say. Right now, he'd called her out in front of the entire class. Then again, it wasn't so much to praise her as to complain about his other students.

"Thank you," he said, "for showing us all that it doesn't have to take years to master the octopus form."

Tulok, the nineteen-year-old who this was directed at, turned red. "That's not fair! She communed with the spirits!"

"The spirits communed with her," Pakku said, "because they knew she'd pay attention to them."

Tulok sputtered.

You're in no position to be indignant about that, Tulok: you spend as much time staring at our butt as listening to Pakku.

"After all," Pakku added irritably, "the Avatar is the bridge between the mortal world and the spirit, and he hasn't got it either."

"Hm?" Aang said, snapping out of his meditation-turned-nap. "Oh, wow! Great going, Katara! That's a great octopus form!"

"It's just a matter of hard work," she said, too delighted to be getting really good at something to care much about being modest.

"Welp," he said, "I still haven't got it, so …"

He folded his hands under his armpits and started flapping and zooming around.

"I'm a chicken I'm a chicken I'm a chicken I'm a –"

The other students tittered. Pakku's unimpressed stare slid from Aang to Katara, who fidgeted.

"We had a bet," she said. "About who'd get the octopus form first."

He stared her down.

That's an 'I want a better explanation than that' glare.

Okay, but what else is there to say?

"So he's a chicken now," she elaborated.

Nailed it.

Pakku pressed a hand to his temple. "Do you know, I used to expect the saviour of the world would have some dignity," he said.

"– I'm a chicken I'm a chicken –"

Me too, Sifu.

I expected it, but now that I've met him, I prefer it this way. I like Aang, and I like that the Avatar is a normal, happy kid, instead of some serious, joyless, honour-obsessed …

She had a mental image of Zuko with an airbender arrow on his head.

yeah this way's better.

"I have some errands to run," Pakku said. "Everyone, this is a half day. If you have any errands of your own, I suggest you catch up on them now. Or, most of you could use some extra meditation."

Katara sat back, trying not to grin.

She'd worked more or less nonstop ever since he'd taken her on, and the results were impressive, if she said so herself. It had never felt like work, exactly, in the way that it had been work taking care of her boys. It was hard going and tiring, but not like a chore she had to do, it was becoming who she was meant to be. Learning to waterbend was more like remembering something she'd once known and had since been dancing at the edges of her memory, driving her mad when she didn't know it, but like coming home when she did. It was satisfying.

Speaking of work, we should offer to help out at the kitchens. We haven't once since we've been training.

We're a warrior now; if Sokka can get away with leaving all the domestics to us because he hunts, then we should be able to when we're training at waterbending.

Someone has to leave a good impression on the locals, and Aang's busy being a chicken, Sokka's possibly-probably seducing the princess who's supposed to be in an arranged marriage for the sake of the entire city, and Zuko's Zuko. And the work has to get done.

True. Still, you just brought up another errand that we really should have done a month ago, and the cooking isn't urgent.

That one isn't urgent either.

No, but … come on.

She got to her feet. Aang stopped being a chicken and bounced over.

"I was going to go for a walk," she said.

"I'll come with you," he immediately offered.

"Uh – you don't have to …"

"I want to," he said. "… Unless you don't want me to come?"

"Don't be silly. It's just, I was going to visit Zuko."

Aang considered this.

"I'll come with you," he said again.

"Oh …"

Oh what?

You know what I mean. Zuko's our responsibility. Aang trusted him right after that time when we were sick, even after all the times he attacked us. And he was wrong: Zuko would have double-crossed us at the first opportunity, at Izumihanto, if his uncle hadn't talked him out of it. He might be helpful sometimes, and yes it's complicated, but don't forget, he's still sworn to deliver Aang to the Fire Lord. Sokka understands that better, but even he doesn't get him, not like we do. We're the only one who can handle him.

Who are you trying to protect here? Aang? Zuko? Yourself?

"Great," she smiled, and she and Aang set off out of the city.

The sky was lined with dark grey clouds, promising a nasty snowfall soon. For now, the ground was packed and firm, but soon it would be treacherous, slow and hard going. There might even be blizzard. She made a mental note to nag Zuko to come back to the city, because the last thing she needed was for him to get sick and her to have to nurse him back to health again.

"I feel like I haven't seen much of you lately," Aang said.

"What?" she laughed. "You see me all day every day in class."

"I know, but, you always work so hard. And then I take steam with the other boys, and did you even meet Nanouq or Yura or Ikiaq? We went down to the harbour market a few days ago."

Who are they? I don't even know if those are boys or girls. I don't think they're from class. How does he make friends so easily?

Did he ask me to come along? He would have, but I don't remember it.

"Maybe I've been a little preoccupied," she admitted. "But I've wanted this my entire life, and I've finally found a teacher. I can't waste it."

"I know. But …"

But I was the first person you saw in a hundred years, and you're the person who took me here and who's going to save the world.

"We'll do something special together after this, just the two of us," she promised. "We still have half a day, right?" He perked up.

So much for the kitchens.

We could ask him along. Cooking's not so bad if other people are pitching in.

You want to set a vegetarian to gutting fish?

He can be in charge of the vegetables.

Zuko was where he always was, their old valley outside town, by now a twisted landscape of ridges and gullies where he'd melted ice in his katas. At present, he was kneeling in meditation, maintaining four small bonfires around himself without fuel. They flared and receded with his breathing.

"Hi Zuko!" Aang chirped. "I'm a chicken!" He flapped to demonstrate.

Zuko let his fires die down and twisted around, his expression deadpan.

"He's a chicken now," Katara affirmed.

'I lost to this kid,' Zuko's expression said. 'Multiple times. I'm an elite Fire Nation warrior-prince, I've spent my entire life training at firebending and the art of war, and I lost to a chicken.'

"Katara just figured out the octopus form," Aang clucked. "Want to see?"

"…" Zuko said.

Come on, Aang. He doesn't care about our culture. I know you like to make like he's your friend, but at some point you have to stop poking the grouchy firebender.

"You know what?" Zuko said. "Yes I would."

Huh.

"You're gonna love this," Aang bubbled. "Katara?"

Zuko was staring at her like she was the only other person in the world, his eyes drinking in every detail of her body like there was some life or death clue hidden there. She had the weirdest sensation like he was reading her mind. That, or he could see through her parka. She fought back the urge to fold her arms.

"Katara?" Aang asked.

Zuko sat back and frowned. Well?

Ngh. I wish we could read him.

Forget him. Just do the move, like he's not even there.

She sank into the stance, felt the presence of ice all around her, and teased at it. It responded to her call, melted and swirled around her. She pushed at it, moving it where it needed to be. Without even looking, she felt it split into the tendrils of the octopus form, and they weaved around her, defending her against attacks from every direction.

"Isn't she amazing?" Aang said, watching raptly.

"Hmm," said Zuko.

He wasn't looking at the water, he was still staring at her. She was pretty sure he hadn't blinked once.

"What?" she asked, letting the water fall down.

Zuko blinked and sat back, her spell apparently broken somehow. "You were showing me the octopus form," he said blandly. "It looks very … pretty."

How does he make 'pretty' into an insult?

"It's one of the most advanced waterbending forms," she said, bristling.

Aang glanced at her, worried. He liked to try to take Zuko's words at face value and ignore his sarcastic or disparaging undertones, whereas she flat-out refused to take any of his attitude.

"I see," Zuko said, sounding disappointed.

"You wanted to help me learn waterbending," she said. "Aren't you pleased?"

"It's not what I was expecting," he said.

"What were you expecting, then? Why did you help me back then, with the Spirit Oasis and the great spirits?"

His inscrutable golden-brown eyes bored into hers: one healthy, one seared almost shut.

"Tell you what," he said. "I'll answer that if you beat me in a duel. First to three knock downs."

"Uh," Aang said apprehensively, very aware that both of them routinely used attacks that could kill in a single hit, and that neither was very inclined to hold back against the other.

"Unless you're scared," Zuko added.

Scared? We've spent the past month training, and I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I've wanted to punch him in the face since the first time I saw him.

Well, he's been training his entire life, and I bet he communed with the fire spirits years ago. He's probably still good enough to beat us.

Maybe. He never beat Aang, and I think we'd at least match him, at least as he was when he was only an airbender. Aang was always a brilliant bender, but he's not into fighting.

"You're on," Katara said. "And if you win?"

Zuko shrugged. "You get the cooks here to make me something other than salted blubber or blubbered salt for a change."

She narrowed her eyes and would have objected to this, had breakfast not been stewed blubber and the previous dinner salted fish.

"Wait, is that an option?" Aang asked, perking up.

Katara gave him a betrayed look.

"The only vegetable here is raw seaweed," he said. "When I asked if they knew how to make it any more interesting, they said sure, have some kidneys with it and let us marinate it in meat juice. It's like that time Sokka did the cooking," he added with a thousand-yard stare.

"I'll figure something out," she promised him, although she wasn't sure exactly what. Her only cooking he could eat was actually recipes she'd learned at Kyoshi Village, which relied on herbs and spices that didn't grow in the poles. Possibly there were spice traders at the marketplace.

"Fine," Zuko said. He rolled to his feet and into a martial arts stance. "Ready?"

Aang backed off, eyeing them nervously.

Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. She swirled the surrounding snow and ice around herself, a halo ready for offence or defence. "When you are."

Zuko launched into an attack, chaining kicks from the side, front, and side again. She blocked, blocked again, then stepped into it, sweeping his legs and flipping him back. He crunched into the snow, hard; she swept it up and down, into shackles about his wrists.

"That's one," said Aang. Katara nodded, pleased.

Zuko snorted fire, melting the shackles, and punched low; she lifted a column of ice, angled to push herself back. He roared and axe kicked it, shattering it; she did a controlled tumble, sweeping up tendrils of water, and smacked him back and down.

"Two," said Aang.

Zuko did that spinning kick from prone move he liked so much; she blocked, and it washed off her ice shield. He held back, panting, trying to catch his breath. She took the cue to launch into her own attack, bending up a dozen ice discs to send spinning at him rapid-fire. He dodged, blocked, blasted one out of the sky, and took a hit square to the chest. She swept the snow out from under him and pinned him with a chunk of ice over his chest.

"And that's three," Aang said.

"I win!" Katara crowed, sashaying over. Zuko lay there, panting, expression unreadable, ignoring her happy dance.

Three nil. He can't have been really trying, can he? Even if we are better now and even with the terrain advantage, he should've put up a better fight than that.

I think he wanted to talk, but he was bored and wanted a fight first? Who knows what goes on in his head.

"So what gives?" she asked, unfreezing him. "Why did you show me to the Spirit Oasis?"

He caught his breath and sat up. "Because of Uncle," he said. "At Izumihanto, he said … a lot of things. One was that he thought you'd be a strong bender, and that a firebender can learn from waterbenders." Katara frowned. "I know, but he's smarter than he looks. And I don't have anything better to be doing. I figured it was worth a shot. But you didn't know anything. So I thought, maybe I could get you started, at least with the martial arts."

"How would you learn anything that way?" Katara asked. "I'd only know what you'd already taught me."

"," said Zuko. "… You might have figured something out. Maybe there's some water-y way of doing martial arts differently?"

Katara gave him a look.

"I'm not a waterbender," he said defensively. "That's the whole point. And neither were you. So I had to give you a nudge. And when I realised how far you'd go, I gave you another one. And now, I hoped you'd have … something … that would … fill the holes in my technique. But there isn't. Fire and water are opposites; there's no way to adapt your moves so I could use them. Uncle was wrong."

"Why me?" she asked. "There have to be a thousand benders around here who'd be happy to fight you. Starting with Aang, who you already knew was a strong bender."

"The Avatar's no good," Zuko said flatly. "He doesn't have the same limits as people like us. It had to be you because … Have you ever heard of Harmonic Convergence?"

"No, what is it?"

"This isn't just a war between the four nations. It's also a war between the spirits. They use benders as proxy soldiers for their own ends. But, they can only give bending to children of the right nation. Normally, this doesn't matter, but if one nation becomes too depopulated, they can't make enough benders. And then they put their fingers on the scales."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked. "They might … bring the Air Nomads back?"

"Nothing so dramatic. They'd do something like raising fertility rates. If ever you have kids, I'd bet they'd be twins. Or even something like septuplets."

"Septuplets?!" Katara repeated, her voice momentarily cracking. She'd helped deliver babies back home, and on one occasion twins. She extrapolated that to five more, and her mind locked up.

"It could happen," Zuko said vaguely.

"What does this have to do with helping Katara?" Aang asked. "Are you saying she'll have septuplets?"

Her eyes widened.

Please say no please say no please say no please say no

"No, that's how the spirits cheat when the population is too low, and there are plenty of Water Tribespeople."

Whew.

"Her problem is that there aren't any teachers left, at least in the south. So maybe they'd cheat by helping their favourite little bender find one. Maybe by helping her find the Avatar, just before he decided to go find a teacher for himself."

"I always thought it had to be destiny that you found me, that day," Aang said to Katara. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"Maybe you were both just born lucky," Zuko said, with a touch of resentment. "Either way, luck or destiny like that means you" to Katara "were probably blessed by one of the greatest water spirits. You weren't just a bender, you'd be a natural, with the instinct and drive to become a master. You'd be the sort of person worth learning from."

She was touched.

"Like how Aang's a natural," she said.

Zuko frowned. "No-one's like the Avatar except the Avatar," he said.

"Like you, then."

"No," he said sharply. "I'm the opposite. I have no natural talent. I worked harder than anyone to get where I am. I had to."

Come to think of it, he's been out here meditating or training all day every day too, hasn't he?

The clouds finally broke, and snow began falling. It took just a moment to realise that it was stained black. Their eyes widened; in unison, they got up and set off toward the city, walking fast.

"Zhao's guessed we're here," Katara said.

"Zhao's been told," Zuko said. "This much soot must mean a fleet, and he doesn't have the authority to open a new front just on the hunch that the Avatar might be here. There are informants here. I should've known."

Once they got to the city, they followed the movements of curious Water Tribesfolk to the palace, where Hahn and his men had formed an important-looking cordon, keeping people out. Zuko's eyes flicked to the roof; before he could try to climb the sheer walls, Katara bent them all up on pillars of ice, then bent small holes to eavesdrop on the meeting room below.

Chief Arnook and six of the seven other Councillors sat at one end of the high Council chamber. At the other was a Fire Nation officer she didn't recognise, flanked by two armoured firebenders, one with a hefty treasure chest at his feet.

"… success in all your undertakings," said the officer. Her impression of him was curly facial hair and a mellifluous voice that just begged to be transcribed by florid calligraphy. He probably recited poetry as a hobby.

"On behalf of the Northern Water Tribe," Arnook said, with the uninterested lack of inflection of someone going through formalities, "I greet you, Captain Akira, and your masters, Admiral Zhao and the Fire Lord. We of the Water Tribe value directness, so take it as a sign of respect when I ask you: why are you here? The agreement between our peoples acknowledged these waters as our territory, not to be encroached by ship or soldier."

"I welcome your respect, o Chieftain," Captain Akira said with a bow. "And may I reciprocate by saying: my masters fear the agreement has already been dishonoured. For it was premised upon the Water Tribe's neutrality regarding the affairs of the central and southern continents, and this has not been upheld."

"My men haven't trespassed on your territory or attacked your people," Arnook said. "If that's what you're saying."

"Indeed not, Chieftain, but, regrettably, that is not the entirety of neutrality. Another term is that a nation may not host soldiers who fight in the war. The Fire Nation's position is not so secure, alas, that we can permit our enemies to strike at us and then flee with impunity to the bosom of otherwise honourably neutral parties."

"And you believe that we have done this."

"The Avatar," said Captain Akira, "two Southern Water Tribe siblings, and … another … arrived here some thirty-three days ago, if I have not been misinformed." He paused a moment, as though to allow an objection. "All have taken part in hostilities against our great Nation. The siblings and the fourth, my masters are graciously willing to overlook as a gesture of goodwill, but the Avatar is the greatest threat this world has ever known to the security of the progress and prosperity of the last hundred years, and my masters cannot ignore his actions, here and abroad."

Katara clenched a fist. You slimy, lying little –

"You think the Avatar is here, and you want us to turn him over," Arnook summarised.

Akira bowed again. "Your wisdom shines, great Chieftain. Under the terms of our agreement, you would be within your rights to merely turn him out. However, to turn him over would be to contribute greatly to the Fire Nation's endeavour, and such an action would not go unrewarded."

His bodyguard opened the treasure chest. Katara couldn't see very well from this angle, but she caught the glow of gold.

Arnook was silent for a long time.

"The Northern Water Tribe," he finally said, "made that agreement so that our sovereignty would be assured. We don't take orders from you about who we let in, and our honour and hospitality aren't for sale."

Akira paused, collecting his composure, and bowed again.

"I must reiterate," he said, "the threat posed by the Avatar. For as great as is my masters' respect for your people and their value for your goodwill, both are dwarfed by the imperative for security from the Avatar. They anticipated difficulty containing an entity of such power, and their precautions will undoubtedly prove equally effective against any misguided enough to stand in our way."

"Is that a threat?" Arnook asked.

"We hold no ill will to you or your people, Chieftain, despite your … unfortunate oversight, regarding your obligations. I make no threats. But my masters will consider themselves unbound by the terms of our agreement, should the Avatar remain in your protection. And it is a fact, I think, not a threat, that we have here three times the men needed to take him by force, should force prove needed."

"The Northern Water Tribe is strong. We fear no firebenders in a land of ice. Tell your masters to get out of our territory before we line the seabed with his fleet."

"As you wish," said Akira. He motioned to his guard, who closed the chest and hefted it over one shoulder, even though it must have weighed more than Katara. Akira hesitated. "Oh, one last thing, of perhaps more interest to your associates than to yourself. Even now, the Fire Nation has nothing but utmost respect for the people of the North. No matter what unfortunate events might befall it, we wish no unnecessary suffering. I can guarantee the safety of all who leave this city before dawn tomorrow. Not only that, but my masters will wish to ensure a smooth continuation of power, and will happily support the ambitions of whichever Tribe is most intact after security is restored."

Arnook stood, furious now. "Get. Out."

Akira bowed one last time, and he and his men left.

"Arnook," began one Councillor, "why do –"

"Save it," Arnook said. "Someone, bring the Avatar here. Get Master Pakku and that firebender, too. We have until dawn to come up with a plan."

Katara filled her peepholes, and she, Zuko, and Aang skittered down the roof. They managed to look nonchalant when Hahn and two of his men hurried round the corner. They slowed, looking from Aang to Zuko to Katara and back to Zuko again and finally Aang.

"The Council wants to see you," Hahn said.

"Sure," said Aang, and they stepped forward.

Hahn moved to block Katara. "They didn't ask for you."

Wait. Shoot. They didn't, did they?

"This affects me too," she said.

"The Fire Nation's here, it affects the entire city," Hahn said, exasperated. "You haven't been invited, kuluk. Besides, girls aren't allowed in the Council chambers."

Before Katara could tell Hahn precisely what she thought of rules about where girls could and could not go, Aang said, "If she doesn't get to come, I won't come either."

Hahn pursed his lips. "I'm not the one who decides this. It's Tribe law."

"We need to work together," Aang said, frustrated. "All of us! The Fire Nation aren't pushovers!"

"Debatably," Hahn said, eyeing Zuko.

"We could just leave," Zuko said. "If the octopus form is one of the most advanced techniques and you have that already, we don't need these people any more. We might still have time to get out before we're encircled. Let Zhao waste his time here while we find your earthbending teacher."

"Yeah," said Hahn, "or we could throw you in prison."

"No, you couldn't," Zuko said.

"Hey," Hahn said, walking forward to poke Zuko in the chest, "I think we both remember how it went last ti–"

Zuko caught his hand, and suddenly Hahn doubled over, his face tight with pain, scrabbling to get his hand free.

"If you were going to say, 'last time we fought'," Zuko said, "I don't, because the only person I've fought here was Pakku."

"Zuko, don't break his hand," Aang said, brandishing his staff.

"Don't worry, this technique doesn't break bones. It only dislocates them."

"Zuko!"

"As you wish."

He released Hahn, who clenched a fist and tried to massage feeling back into it. His men fingered their weapons, but he didn't give an order. Aang gave Zuko a reproachful look, who gave him a cool one back.

"Come on," Katara said, and the three of them went past and into the palace.

Despite the fact that they had less than a day before Zhao's fleet arrived, they were made to wait. Katara yelled at the guards and paced like a caged animal. Aang tapped his foot impatiently. Zuko stood with his arms folded, pretending he didn't care, but she could see lines of tension in his jaw and posture.

Eventually, Hahn arrived with Pakku and a dirty look at Zuko, and they were finally let in. A guard tried to stop Katara, until Pakku and Aang both gave him quelling looks.

Inside, the Councillors looked harried. She would have bet that they'd been arguing at length. A few glared at her; she glared right back.

"Welcome, all," Arnook said, looking tired. At least he didn't care that a girl was there. "As I'm sure you know by now, the Fire Nation fleet is nearby. They mean to attack us, and capture the Avatar. We have decided" not all the Councillors looked happy about this "to oppose them. Avatar. Will you help us defend ourselves?"

"Yes," Aang said, without hesitation. Katara felt a momentary swell of pride. Once upon a time, he'd run away from his responsibilities as Avatar. She didn't think he ever would again.

Arnook nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Will the rest of you help us, too?"

Pakku raised his chin. "Of course."

"Yes," said Katara. It's what I've been training for since I got here.

Zuko said nothing.

"Prince Zuko," said Arnook. "I do not ask you to turn against your own countrymen. However, we have taken you in. Would you at least answer our questions?"

"Within reason," Zuko said.

Some of the Councillors exchanged dark looks. Aang gave Katara a worried one.

He helped me. Is he good now? But he said he did it for himself. Is he still evil?

Well, he's still a terrible liar, so either way, he can't do much damage here.

"Have you encountered Captain Akira or Admiral Zhao before?" asked Arnook.

"Zhao yes," said Zuko. "He's a skilled and ruthless officer. Akira no. Princes don't meet junior officers unless we're working together."

"I see. Do you believe Admiral Zhao will attack?"

"It's not a bluff, if that's what you mean," Zuko said without hesitation. "He has more than enough troops to take this city."

"Does he," Arnook said. "You've been in correspondence with him, then?"

"No, but I've met him. He's ambitious and calculating. He wants the Avatar more than anything, and he's not stupid enough to pick a fight he isn't sure he can win. He would have asked for as many men as he needs to be absolutely certain, and the Fire Lord would have given them. The Avatar's the only real threat to him left. I'm guessing the only reason he wasn't here weeks ago was that he was massing his army."

"If you haven't been in contact, how does he know how many men he needs?" said one Councillor, a lawyer presenting a gotcha to the opposing witness.

Zuko raised his eyebrow.

"'Agna Qel'a has a population of twelve thousand'," he said, with the air of a schoolboy reciting rote lessons. "'We assume a maximum of four thousand combat-ready defenders, with another thousand in outlying settlements available for reinforcement, perhaps forty percent being benders. Waterbenders are not to be underestimated over ice, but we have superior artillery, equipment, and coordination. We estimate that one flotilla would suffice to defeat them in open battle over the high seas; that two flotillas would suffice in an extended siege; and that three would be needed if an outright assault on a fortified position should prove necessary.' That dossier's three years out of date, but I'm guessing the numbers haven't changed much. Zhao's would be up to date."

The Councillors looked alarmed. Katara hadn't ever asked the population and had no context for whether that was big or small, other than that it dwarfed her home village, but judging by the Councillors' expressions, Zuko was exactly right.

"How many men are in a flotilla?" asked one of the Councillors. "And how many do you have?"

"Six thousand men, nominal strength," Zuko said promptly. "We had two outfitted for polar water, the Southern Raiders and the Northern Sentinels. Although I think both were under-strength. The Raiders have experience fighting waterbenders: Zhao definitely would have requisitioned them."

Katara's eyes widened. Southern? Are they the ones who –?

"How many we have now," Zuko continued, "if he's been using the factories to retrofit ships all this time …" He did some mental arithmetic. "Six to ten flotillas, probably. Full strength. Knowing Zhao, I'd guess he'd want a nice round number like fifty thousand men, so call it eight."

"Rubbish," Hahn snapped. "Fifty thousand warriors? Just feeding them would be impossible."

Zuko visibly restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Concentrating forces is how we've been beating the Earth Kingdom for the past hundred years. Fifty thousand men is nothing, with steamer technology. We sent five times as many to Ba Sing Se."

The Councillors exchanged worried glances.

"Then, in your opinion," said Arnook, "our strategy should be to bait his forces into a frontal assault?"

"No," Zuko said flatly. "Not unless you have ten thousand more men I don't know about. The walls won't be enough to counter his numbers advantage, and the city will be destroyed that way."

"Then what, if you were in our position, would you do?"

"… Avatar. You can bend clouds, can't you?"

"Sure," said Aang, remembering the time at Aunt Wu's village.

"Can you bend them thick enough around your bison to hide him? And make it large enough that artillerymen shooting blind into it wouldn't hit him?"

"I think so, with Katara's help," Aang said, interested. "Are you thinking we should try to sneak up on Zhao's ship and capture him?"

"No," said Zuko, "I'm thinking we should sneak past him and get you back to the Earth Kingdom."

Everyone looked at him, appalled.

"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed, scandalised. "I thought you were joking before! These people took us in and they need our help! We can't just leave them!"

"This is the best way to help them," he said. "Think about it. The Avatar's going to fight the Fire Lord in a few months. If the Avatar wins, it doesn't matter if the Fire Nation controls this city: he can just tell whatever puppet ruler he puts in the Fire Lord's place to give it back as part of the peace treaty. And if my father wins, it still doesn't matter whether the Fire Nation controls the city, because with no Avatar, the Earth Kingdom will fall, and then there'll be nothing to stop him from outfitting the entire fleet for arctic conditions and flattening this place. You won't win the battle, and a lot of your men will die if you try, and it won't change anything even if you do somehow win. It makes no sense. You should just surrender."

One of the Councillors cleared his throat. "You expect us to submit to Fire Nation rule," he said, "based on the word of a Fire Nation prince? And to rely on promises of liberation sometime in the future? We are a proud people, ashmaker. We will never bow to foreign occupiers."

"This is the spiritual centre of the North Pole," Pakku said. "I can't accept a course of action that compromises it."

"The reason people want to help the Avatar," Katara said angrily, "is that he helps them. He doesn't just run away! I thought you'd understand that by now!"

"The last time I put off my responsibilities as Avatar," said Aang, "I lost all my friends and my people, and there was a hundred years of war. I already lost the Northern Air Temple to Zhao. I won't run away again."

Zuko looked around at the rows of unfriendly faces.

"Yes, you will," he said. "The only question is how many people you get killed in an unnecessary battle first. Again."

There was shocked silence.

"I think it would be best," Pakku said, "if you remained in your quarters during the upcoming battle, Fire Prince."

Zuko folded his arms and glared. "You don't give me orders."

"No, but I do," said Arnook, "while I remain Chief of this city. Hahn, escort him to his quarters."

'When I'm Fire Lord, I'm coming back here and melting this filthy village into the ocean,' said Zuko's expression, but he let Hahn grab his bicep and manhandle him out of the chamber.

Katara watched him go, dismayed.

I thought he'd changed.

Did you really? Or did you just hope?

"We need every warrior we can get," Arnook said. "Rally the men, and send runners to the outlying villages. We have until dawn."


Sokka was waiting outside. He shoved aside a couple of gawking on-lookers and fell in step with them.

"They're coming, aren't they," he said.

Katara nodded.

"We can stop them," Aang said. "Are you going to help fight?"

"Of course," Sokka nodded, patting his boomerang. "What about Zuko?"

"He's not interested," said Katara.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "The one time I'd actually want him around. Classic Zuko." Katara nodded.

"So what's your plan?" Aang asked.

"My plan?"

"Your plan. To stop the invasion. You're the ideas guy, aren't you?"

"Uh. We hit them with our oosik clubs until they give up and go home?"

They gave him a look.

"What? It's one thing to trick a single commander or take out a patrol, but they're bringing an entire fleet. Even if we, like, blow up a ship's engines or something, they'll have twenty other ships take point while it's repaired. It's like I always say: sometimes the best way to use your head is a head-butt."

You've never said that once in your life.

"That explains a lot, really," Aang remarked.

"It does," Sokka said. "… Hey, Katara? I've got a bad feeling about this. You shouldn't be on the front lines."

"Why, because I'm a girl?" she asked wearily, anticipating the same argument she'd had a thousand times with Pakku's students.

"No. Well, actually, kind of. You're the only girl fighter here, and Zhao must know Aang was travelling with a waterbender girl. He's smart enough to put two and two together. He might target you."

She set her jaw. "Then that's one other warrior he can't target."

"I know. But, still. I've got a really bad feeling. And, y'know, we're probably going to need healers, too."

"Healers won't win a battle," she said. "If Zuko's numbers are right, we'll need every fighter we can get."

"Well, at least our intel comes from a trustworthy source."

"Sokka. We always knew the Fire Nation would come for Aang. And we always promised we'd be there to stop them. Do you trust me?"

Sokka ran a hand through his hair. "I know you know how to bend now," he said. "But anyone can get unlucky. One good hit, and …"

"You know, I don't like the thought of you fighting either. Or Aang. Or Dad."

He let out a sigh of defeat. "Aang, you'll watch her, right?"

"Of course. But, won't you be there too?"

"Hopefully, but first, I have to go back and convince Yue to evacuate," said Sokka. "And that might take a while. She thinks it'd be cowardly of her to run while the men stay behind to protect her."

"Well, it kind of would be," Aang said.

"Yes! I know!" He threw his hands up. "I'm not some all-powerful Avatar or master bender, okay? I'm just a guy with a boomerang. What am I going to do, sarcasm the Fire Nation to death? This is my plan, try to get just one person out. It didn't work with Katara, but maybe I can talk Yue into it."

"She'll be fine," Katara said. "It's like Aang said. We can stop them."

Do you really believe that? Or do you just hope?


"Warriors of the Water Tribe! Today, we are menaced by a foe unlike any we have ever fought before. One that has laid waste to the Air Nomads, to the Earth Kingdom, to our southern kin, for nothing but the crime of existing. And now, they come to add the North Pole to their empire.

"This is an enemy that cannot be bargained with, that hates peace, that will never accept anything short of total world dominion. But it is an enemy that can be defeated. For we are the Northern Water Tribe, and we will defend our homes to the last man. Their fury and hatred will break against our courage and determination, like waves against the shores. Today, we hold the line! Today, we show the world that the Fire Nation can be stopped! Today, brave warriors of the Water Tribe, we become heroes!"

Five thousand spearmen and waterbenders cheered and rattled their weapons. Behind them, women hurried about, readying their medicines, sweeping sooty snow into the ocean, and bringing up spare weapons and supplies for the men.


"Soldiers of the Fire Nation! Before us stands a great enemy, the Northern Water Tribe. A hundred years they've defied us. But today, they fall, like the Air Nomads and the Earth Kingdom. Today, we make history. For they are tribes, divided and weak, whereas we are one nation, the Fire Nation, and we stand united and strong. When we speak, we speak with –"

Fifty thousand men and women pumped a fist and shouted in unison, every firebender, marine, engineer, coal trimmer, and cook: "Ten thousand voices!"

"When they challenge our courage, they challenge –"

"Ten thousand hearts!"

"And when we strike back, we strike with –"

"Ten thousand fists!"

"Hoo-ah!"

17