Aang was on Appa's head, steering their course parallel to the land in the distance. Sokka was whittling something unidentifiable. Katara was mending her parka, which had been torn up at the battle. Zuko was brushing his hand against his scalp, where there was a fine fuzz: he must have forgotten to shave that morning. He took out his knife and began cutting it off.

He's going to cut himself. In three, two, one …

He was actually pretty good at it. She supposed he'd been doing it for three years.

"You know, you'd look better with hair," she said.

Silence.

"Ignore me if you want, I'm just saying."

He wanted to ignore her.

Aang leaned back to yell, "Turbulence!"

"Is that bad?" Katara asked.

Appa's smooth flight suddenly broke up, battered around by chaotic wind patterns, throwing them all around the saddle. Aang and Appa bent at the air, and it calmed down.

In the violent shaking, Katara had very nearly stabbed herself in the leg with her needle; Sokka had chopped his whatever-it-was in half; and Zuko was bleeding from the head, and now looked slightly more annoyed than usual.

Told you so.

"Zuko – you –"

He ran his hand over his scalp, saw his bloody fingers, and pressed his hand against the cut. There was a momentary smell of roasting meat, he wiped his fingers and knife clean, and went back to shaving.

Show-off.

"… are an idiot," she said, uncorking her waterskin. "I'm a healer, in case you forgot."

"It's nothing," he said, pushing her away.

She persisted. "Now you're burned instead of bleeding, that's not an improvement."

"It's not burned, it's sterilised."

"Setting yourself on fire is the most insane thing you've ever done. Let me heal it!"

"I'm a firebender," he snapped. "I know what I'm doing. Blood is fire."

"Sure, that's why I use my firebending on it whenever I heal. It's mostly water, you idiot."

"It bears heat and strength throughout the body. Of course it's fire."

"It's a liquid! In what fantasy world is blood not water?!"

Sokka, feeling left out, chose this moment to chime in with, "I think blood is boomerang."

There was a beat.

"Blood is not boomerang," Katara said, strained. Zuko looked like he wanted to strangle someone. "That's not even an element."

"Oh, yeah? Everything's supposed to be made of the four elements, right? Well, what's boomerang made of? It's not water, air, fire, or earth, none of you guys can bend it. Maybe it's a fifth element, you ever think of that?"

"That's not –" Zuko began, irate.

Sokka held up a finger, forestalling him. "And! When you throw a boomerang, it comes back, right? Well, the heart pumps blood. It goes out to your hands and feet. And then it _?"

"Don't say it," Katara said warningly. "Blood is not boomerang."

"Forget about firebending," Sokka said. "Once we're done with earthbending, I'll teach Aang the art of boomerangbending. Boomerangbending: because the greatest element will always come back."

Katara and Zuko slumped back against opposite sides of the saddle in defeat.

Why can't I ever meet anyone normal?

Is it me?

Aang rolled backward off Appa's head, where it was too windy to hear anything. "Hey," he said, "Sokka, can I borrow your spyglass?"

Sokka handed it over, and Aang peered through it into the distance. Smog choked the sky over the peninsula: the factories were probably working overtime to rebuild the fleet. "Aang, we've decided that I'm going to be your boomerangbending master."

"Okay," Aang said, giving back the spyglass. "But, like, can we do it later? Izumihanto's under attack."

Sokka stood up to get a better look, haggled with Appa over which part of his neck it was okay to stand on, and got a look for himself. He let out a whistle and gave the spyglass to Katara.

Her eye was drawn to a flickering mass of fire and rising clouds of smoke. The land bridge between Izumihanto and the mainland was maybe a hundred feet wide at its narrowest point, with steep cliffs on either side; Fire Nation soldiers had set up a makeshift wooden barricade just behind it, and were pouring all the firepower they had into the choke point. Two battleships flanked the land bridge, both badly damaged and one run aground, their catapults lobbing boulders. Some waterbenders were throwing iceballs, not very well in her opinion; more usefully, water-healers were working over a row of stretchers three hundred feet back, patching injured fighters up. Beyond this, harder for her to see, was a much larger Earth Kingdom army, a mass of earthbenders variously raising walls, lobbing boulders, or trying to make stone bridges to go around the barricade. Archers traded shots, and spearmen stood by to repel enemy charges, but both armies stood their ground, favouring bombardment over melee.

Katara offered the spyglass to Zuko, who pretended not to notice, so she took another look. "What do we do?"

Uncle Iroh stepped out from a hiding spot in the barricade, or rather it was General Iroh now, because he was in full armour, bruised and dusty, his hair loose. He needed only a moment to finish motions he'd begun from cover: he directed a beam of blinding white energy into where some earthbenders were pushing walls forward. Katara flinched and blinked spots out of her eye, and a few seconds later, there came a thunderclap. When she could see again, the entire Earth Kingdom front line had broken and scurried back, the walls reduced to puddles of molten glass.

"We stick to the plan and go around," Sokka said. "We haven't run into any patrol ships; if we bypass Izumihanto and fly overland, we can still get to the tunnel and then to Omashu without the Fire Nation even knowing we've left the North Pole. And we haven't done great with battles lately," he added, with a glance at Katara.

She handed the spyglass back and fidgeted with her phial of Spirit Oasis water. It'd be nice to go more than a day without needing this.

"People will get hurt," Aang said.

Zuko scowled at the sky.

"Welcome to the last hundred years," Sokka said.

"The last hundred years stink," Aang said. He snapped his staff into glider form and launched himself forward.

"Shoulda seen that one coming," Sokka said, resigned.

He checked his hatchet and boomerang. Katara readied her waterskin and checked their other skins of fresh water. Zuko's fists clenched tight enough to draw blood. He mouthed backward from ten, put on his Blue Spirit mask and gloves, and buckled his swords on.

Aang swooped around, angling for the no-man's land between the two armies, and hung in midair for a moment.

"Stop fighting!"

He let out a spherical airblast, deflecting boulders, fireballs, and arrows. Now with the attention of most of the soldiers on either side, he dropped to the ground. The biggest, best-armoured earthbender stomped, making the earth ripple around him, and his men ceased fire. Iroh raised his hand, and the Fire Nation soldiers held fire too. There was a final toccata of boulders smashing into makeshift barriers, then relative quiet.

"Avatar Aang!" called the earthbender. "Come join us, and push the ashmakers into the sea!"

"No-one's pushing anyone into the sea," Aang said firmly. It struck Katara that he was really, really good at projecting his voice. Another airbending trick? "Who are you?"

"General Fong. I serve in the direct name of the Earth King of Ba Sing Se himself."

"So why are you fighting each other?"

"Why – because we're at war." said Fong, his expression going from delight at seeing the Avatar to consternation that he wasn't more enthusiastic about fighting the Fire Nation.

"That's not a reason, that's a paraphrasal," Aang said. "Why are you fighting? Why can't you both just go home?"

Appa finally reached the battlefield and cruised to a stop. Katara and Zuko hopped off and hurried to Aang's side. Sokka stayed atop Appa's head, boomerang in hand, scanning both armies for threats.

"We heard Admiral Zhao lost his fleet at the North Pole," Fong said. "With the Fire Nation weakened, this could be our only opportunity to retake our rightful land from these invaders!"

Aang blinked. "I visited Izumihanto once – no, twice – before the war. Back then, everyone lived there. Air Nomads, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation. I thought it was supposed to be a meeting place, where anyone could live. What happened?"

"The Fire Nation happened," Fong said. "This was always Earth Kingdom land. But the Fire Nation sent troops before the war even began and seized it by force. Your previous incarnation, Avatar Roku, ordered the colony dismantled. But then Sozin murdered Roku and brought his colonists and fleets back."

"Sozin murdered Roku?" Aang repeated. He turned to Iroh. "Is this true? General Iroh, right?"

"It is," said Iroh. "Fire Lord Sozin claimed Izumihanto a hundred and thirty years ago. The Earth Kingdom petitioned Avatar Roku, who forced out the occupation force. The colonists were allowed to stay, but only under Earth Kingdom sovereignty, and they imposed harsh taxes. After Roku died, Sozin returned and annexed the area."

"The Fire Nation stole this land, and has been reaping the profits ever since!" Fong shouted. There was more angry muttering on both sides. "Would you reward their aggression?"

"Of course not," said Aang. To Iroh, "You have ships. You could evacuate these people to the Fire Nation mainland."

"I don't have enough to evacuate the entire city," Iroh said. "But even if I did, I wouldn't do it. This is their home."

"This is stolen land," Fong countered.

"Do you disagree with that?" Aang asked Iroh.

"Earth Kingdom custom may call it stolen," Iroh said. "But I am Fire Nation, and our custom says that it is unthinkable for a Prince to allow his people to be driven from their homes. These people have lived their entire lives here. If you truly want peace, you must convince General Fong to withdraw."

Katara looked more closely at the Fire Nation army. It wasn't really an army at all. Most of the fighters were women or old men or young boys; maybe a third had full armour; and there was almost no insignia. The professional soldiers had all gone up north: these were civilians.

"Peace?" Fong repeated incredulously. "The Fire Nation is burning our villages on a dozen other fronts! This very city has weapons factories! They helped outfit the ships you fought not a week ago!"

Aang scrunched up his face. "You both have points," he said. "Can we all back off, sit down somewhere, and talk this out?"

"I will parley as long as you like," Iroh said, "but it must be here. I can't allow the Avatar onto my territory, and I won't leave my people."

"Fire Nation reinforcements are probably steaming in as we speak," Fong said, angry now. "Wasting time is siding with the ashmakers!"

Fong couldn't see from his side of the barricade, but on the Fire Nation side, the water-healers hadn't stopped healing their patients; men were carrying furniture forward, ready to throw onto the barricade, or armour and weapons for the troops; and most of their fighters were exhausted and needed a breather, while the Earth Kingdom had plenty of fresh troops idling behind the choke point. Even if there weren't any steamers coming, Iroh was getting the better of the ceasefire.

He definitely has reinforcements coming. He's just playing for time.

"Let me think," Aang said. "The Air Nomads said way stations should always be open to all, but I have no idea how that's supposed to work when half of the people there want to fight the other half. The Earth Kingdom says it was stolen, the Fire Nation says it's their home now, and they're both telling the truth … Hey, Sokka, what would the Water Tribe say?"

Sokka started at being put on the spot. "I – I don't know! I'm not a chief! I'm fifteen!"

Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder. "I've been asking around about Izumihanto for a while now," she said. "So I have a bit of context. And I think we'd say it's complicated."

"No kidding." Aang gave a frustrated huff. "The Earth Kingdom has the stronger claim," he ruled, "but there's no way for them to advance without people getting hurt. Stand down, and after I fight the Fire Lord and we make a peace treaty, I'll include a term that the Fire Nation has to take all these people back and build them new homes in the Fire Nation islands."

Angry shouting broke out on both sides, louder on the Fire Nation side. Iroh raised his hand for quiet.

"I cannot speak for the Fire Lord," he said, "but the people of the Fire Nation will never accept those terms, and I will never accept those terms."

"The Earth Kingdom will never accept anything less," Fong shot back. "It would be a generous concession for me to not simply take it back today. Time wasted is time their factories build more warships to burn more villages."

"The fighting won't stop if you don't meet the Earth Kingdom halfway," Aang told Iroh. "Do you even want peace?"

"Do you?" Iroh replied.

"What sort of question is that?!"

"If I seem unwelcoming to you, Avatar Aang," said Iroh, "it's because I have heard the reports that, at the battle for Agna Qel'a, you personally executed tens of thousands of my countrymen."

Aang flinched. "That wasn't me. That was the Avatar State, and it merged with the Ocean Spirit, and …"

"And tens of thousands of people died," Iroh said. "And now you demand the displacement of an entire city, and more, if you extend your reasoning to the other colonies. I will never accept the authority of an Avatar who offers my people nothing but death and destitution."

The Fire Nation fighters cheered. A hill went down Katara's spine. She'd liked Iroh, in spite of herself, the last time she'd met him; but right now, it was too easy to picture him ordering a village burned.

"I'm not –!" Aang began. "You know what? Fine. This is a hard problem and I don't know what to do about it but I do know that violence is not the answer. So here's what will happen. The battle will stop, now. I will defeat the Fire Lord. And then we will all sit down and figure something out when we have time. And I give you all my word as Avatar that even if some of you aren't happy with what we decide, it'll be a whole lot better than this. Sound good?!"

Iroh and Fong stared each other down.

"If General Fong withdraws, I will not pursue," Iroh said. "If there are good faith negotiations, I will endorse them."

"You're in no position to attack my fortress anyway," Fong said. "You can't even defend this city."

"The Unbreakable Wall told me the same thing, once upon a time," Iroh said. "He was wrong, too."

"Guys," Aang said warningly.

Fong scowled. "I will withdraw," he said, "on condition that Avatar Aang visits my fortress and answers any questions I ask. I need to know your intentions."

"That's fair," Aang said. "General Iroh, do you want the same?"

"I judge men by their actions, not their words," Iroh said. "And I already told you that you would not set foot in Izumihanto."

"… Suit yourself," Aang said.


Katara was no soldier, but even she could tell that the Earth Kingdom army had very impressive fortifications.

There were massive, thick walls, studded with towers, hidden emplacements for archers or benders, and booby traps. Benders melted open gateways for them to enter through. Soldiers were everywhere, maintaining weapons, patrolling, or sitting around smoking. Aang and Fong took the lead, Katara and Sokka half a pace behind, the masked Zuko two paces behind them, practically vibrating with tension.

"Our friends from the Northern Water Tribe told us you'd be arriving soon," he said. "Brave Sokka, mighty Katara …"

Ooh.

Can we get an official title, that we can use the next time Zuko wants to be a jerk about his?

Dad's the Chief of Wolf Cove; technically Sokka and I are a prince and princess.

Very, very technically.

Rrgh. If Pakku had just pronounced us a master, we could at least be Sifu.

"… and they mentioned a third companion, but didn't give details," Fong said, making it a question.

"This is Lee," Aang said brightly. "He helped me escape from a Fire Nation prison. He doesn't like to speak or show his face. He was burned by a firebender when he was young."

Our cover stories are getting much smoother.

Nothing says we're growing as people like being able to lie without a guilt reflex.

Hush.

"Well, he's in good company here," said Fong. "Those –" he glanced at Aang "– hundan have burned more of my men than I can count."

"Those what?" Aang said.

"It means 'firebender'," Fong said.

Katara watched as Zuko wandered off to a group of camp followers. "Excuse me," she said, hurrying after him. She couldn't imagine the trouble he could cause if left alone in an Earth Kingdom base.

He made a beeline for a peddler who looked familiar somehow. Zuko fished out a coin and traded it for a head of cabbage.

"Finally, some good, honest business," the peddler said with a big smile. "I think my fortunes are finally turning around."

Katara raised her eyebrows at Zuko. "Since when does someone like you stoop to doing grocery shopping?"

He pointed at her, pointed north, and rubbed his belly.

"Okay, so Water Tribe cooking is a little heavy on meat sometimes," she conceded grudgingly. "It's an acquired taste."

He drew his finger across his throat.

"It's not going to kill you," she said with dignity, "we've lived on that diet for thousands of years. Anyway, we have more vegetables in the South. And at least we eat things other than just rice all the time! And we don't feed people poison, like that wasabi stuff you gave Sokka that one time. I've never seen him refuse food before."

He threw a punch, the sort she knew was usually accompanied by a fireball, and did a palms-up.

"I'll have you know that cooking meat breaks down a lot of vitamins," she said, wishing Sokka were within earshot to back her up with facts and figures. "If you're too snobbish to eat it raw, that's your lookout."

Zuko mimed hara-kiri.

"Come on," she said, turning away so he wouldn't see her smile in spite of herself. "The others must be waiting for us."


Katara and General Iroh knelt at a little desk he had laid out on his ship. He was fussing over his kettle, in some sort of ceremony she didn't quite understand.

"War's true cruelty lies not in what it does to us," he said, "but in what it makes us do to ourselves." He poured himself a cup, sipped, and indicated over the starboard bow.

Jet smirked in triumph, as flood waters crashed through Gaipan and tore the town to driftwood.

"The war put him in that position," Katara said, "but it was his choice to actually go ahead and do it."

"Would you have tried to stop him," Iroh asked, "if he had told you that that man was in the town?"

She burst into her igloo, found the remains of what had been her mother.

"We have the power to choose our own destinies," he said, "but sometimes, it isn't much of a choice."

A young, idealistic, handsome Zuko gave an impassioned speech about the value of life and protecting his people. A faceless Fire Lord backhanded him with a blast of flame that shrivelled him into a selfish, cynical bully who'd think nothing of threatening innocents to get what he wanted.

"Sometimes, the best we can do is help another choose a better destiny for himself."

A young, idealistic, handsome Aang gave an impassioned speech about the value of life and saving the whole world. General Fong pushed him until his tattoos began to glow, and he turned into something with the power to obliterate an entire city in moments, something without the faintest conception of mercy.

"NO!"

Everyone cut off what they were saying and stared at her.

Hours had passed: it was now late evening. They'd been put up in some of the nicer quarters, with proper beds. Aang and Sokka stared at her. Zuko stood in a corner, brooding as usual, his mask stuffed into his yoroi now that they were in private.

"What?" said Sokka, bemused.

"You can't do it! Aang, this isn't the right way!"

"You heard General Fong, Katara," Aang said miserably. "Soldiers are losing their lives every day. I'm the Avatar. I have to do something."

"Not this!"

"Why not?" Sokka asked practically. "I mean, there's an Avatar State for a reason, right? To help you fight. Well, we have a big fight coming up."

"You're not supposed to rely on it! It's a crutch! It's just supposed to protect you while you're still learning!"

"He is still learning. And even if he does somehow master another two elements in just a couple months, it'd be pretty stupid to fight the Fire Lord without using the big Avatar special power boost thing. If you're going to use it either way, why wait? He can always learn the other elements later on."

"Because! It's not …!"

While she searched for the words to express the epiphany she'd had in her daydream, Zuko spoke. "I don't see why not," he said, very quietly.

"See?" Sokka said. "Even Zuko thinks it's a good idea!"

Wait. Zuko's never quiet.

Oh no.

"Your entire journey's about getting better at hurting people," Zuko went on. "You could obliterate the entire Fire Nation capital with that sort of power."

Aang blanched.

"Zuko!" Katara exclaimed, scandalised. "How dare you! Aang's the gentlest –!"

Zuko body rolled off the wall and walked toward Aang. "Gentle? You had that power for all of zero seconds before you used it to slaughter every last Fire National, every last target you could find. It's too bad you're fighting us: you'd make general with that sort of … thoroughness."

"Zuko, you're out of line," Sokka said, moving between him and Aang. "That was a battle. Which the Fire Nation started!"

"And you finished it," Zuko said, his eyes fixed on Aang. He kept moving forward, bouncing Sokka off his chest without noticing. "No quarter offered, no prisoners taken. Except my sister and Zhao's bodyguard. Tell me, did you only leave them because you didn't realise they were still alive? Was that the only reason you left me?"

Katara wanted to refute this, but her tongue tripped over itself, and Aang took his turn instead.

"It wasn't me! The ocean spirit was in control then!"

"The spirit that you invited in, that you gave control to. Everything it did, it did because of you."

"What was he supposed to do, then?!" Katara half-yelled.

"Oh you did exactly what an Avatar is supposed to do. Why did you think Fire Lord Sozin attacked the Air Temples? He knew what you were, what you'd do. He knew all your pretty words about pacifism and nonviolence were exactly that, pretty words."

"I didn't know it would do that!" Aang shouted.

"Zuko, knock it off!" Sokka said, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"Then maybe you still have a lot to learn from the monks after all," Zuko pressed, still advancing on Aang. "Want to know how many lives they took at the Battle of Four Temples? I've read the casualty reports. And they didn't even have the excuse of pretending they might save anyone, for them it was, well, we could surrender, or we could turn a whole bunch of people into corpses –"

Katara's water whip smacked him across the room and into a wall.

"Go for a walk, Zuko," she said. "A long one."

The Fire Nation prince who'd threatened to burn down her village stared down his nose at her, then, silently, put his mask on, turned, and left.

I don't have a tenth of the words I need for that – that jerk!

Argh! Next time, I'll give him a scar of my own, that stupid, hypocritical, vicious –!

"Hey, Aang, buddy. Are you okay?"

She'd clipped Sokka with her water whip and tossed him almost as hard as Zuko, but he'd still recovered faster than her. He'd moved over to hug Aang, who was close to tears. He shook his head.

"Come on, Aang," said Sokka. "You're the guy who watches where he walks so he doesn't step on ant beetles. You have all these crazy Avatar powers, and out of all of us, you're the one who holds back the most to make sure you never hurt anyone."

"… Monk Gyatso," Aang said. "At the Southern Air Temple. When we found him, he was surrounded by firebenders."

"Well, yeah. If it's you or the other guy, of course you have to stand up for yourself. Pacifism doesn't mean you have to just take it. Same at Agna Qel'a. The Fire Nation attacked us, you don't get to pick a fight and cry when you lose it."

It didn't look like that worked. Sokka gave Katara a look: What are you doing?! Tag in, I'm dying here!

Katara pushed down her seething rage at Zuko and went over to Aang.

"It's like you said," she said. "The last hundred years stink. That's why we're here, to try to make the next hundred better. And there's no-one I'd rather have for that than you." She pulled him against her chest.

Even as she said it, she remembered the night at the Spirit Oasis. Aang saw the downed firebenders all around, saw Sokka and Zuko hurt, but it was when he saw her that he merged with the water spirit.

Where exactly does Aang end and the Avatar begin?

Who is he, really?

Who are any of us? You're the one who's talking to herself.

Mom said I shouldn't depend on the Avatar spirit, but I can depend on him. I trust her.

Mom also said I should depend on Zuko.

Ugh. What was he thinking?

Some way away, Zuko's long and meandering walk took him past a pair of sentries. He slipped past them, into the General's office, and lowered his mask.

"Uncle," he said.

Iroh was bent over a report, an ink brush in hand. He nodded, put the brush away, and turned around. He was clearly exhausted, but he had a broad smile.

"Nephew," he said. "I was beginning to worry you would go on without saying hello." He got up. "Oh! Your scar!"

Zuko was already pacing back and forth across the office, too agitated to let Iroh hug him. "Never mind that," he said. "I – I think I screwed up. Again. Badly. I don't know what to do."

"Ah," Iroh said, sitting back down. "Tea?"

'I don't want tea,' said Zuko's expression.

Iroh poured a cup anyway. "Zhao's freighters were running supplies up and wounded and prisoners out, standard orders. One of them reported a monstrous water apparition that destroyed the fleet. We didn't believe it at first, until more ships passed over and reported nothing but wreckage. We have others out looking for survivors, but …"

"It was the Avatar. I told him to get out before Zhao could encircle us, but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to fight. When they started losing, he went to the Spirit Oasis, and …"

"As I thought," Iroh said. "This is serious."

"Serious," Zuko repeated, stopping his pacing to round on Iroh. "Serious. Uncle, he merged with a greater spirit and killed fifty thousand people. It wasn't a battle, it was a massacre. And it's my fault. If I hadn't joined him, he never would have made it that far. I'm not just delaying his capture. I'm responsible for this."

Iroh sipped his tea.

"Zuko, I do not believe you are at fault, but that discussion is a luxury we can't afford. You must focus. A true Prince always fulfils his duty. Your people need you."

"To do what?"

"Protect them," said Iroh. "The Avatar denied culpability, which means that if he finds himself in the same situation again, he will take the same actions. You must stop him."

"By taking him down? Forget the bargain –"

"No. By teaching him. I think he was sincere in calling for peace, but –"

"Peace?! After that?!"

"If he truly wanted to destroy our people, he would have done as General Fong asked, and joined the battle," Iroh said. "He didn't, he stopped the battle. I judge men by their actions. However. If such a disaster happens again at his hand, peace will become impossible. It will already be difficult, even if he does defeat my brother. If he lives up to the Air Nomad ideals of peace and love for all life, he might be able to convince the Fire Nation people that this was an exception, and that he still has our best interests at heart."

"He thinks it's not his fault."

"And you think it's yours, and you are both fools," Iroh said, "to worry about something so unimportant. What is important is that if he ever takes another Fire Nation life, under any circumstances, he will convince our people that he is nothing but the butcher Fire Lord Sozin feared, and then … well. You must make him understand, by any means necessary."

So, basically, win a charm offensive against someone who adores Katara, who hates the Fire Nation unconditionally.

After telling him that the monks he looks up to so much were bloodthirsty maniacs.

And if you don't, the entire Fire Nation will be wiped off the map.

"… Are you sure I can't just fight him? I know I've never beat him before, but –"

"I'm sure," Iroh said firmly.

Zuko frowned. "Speaking of fights, what were you doing on the battlefield today? When we were sailing together, you never fought unless we were about to be overrun. And even then I usually had to yell at you."

"We were about to be overrun, and someone yelled at me," said Iroh. "I may be retired, but I meant what I said about protecting my people. Besides, you try telling a pretty young girl no about something like that."

Was there a world where I never caught up to the Avatar, was wandering aimlessly, heard about this, and came to help? Maybe thinking Father might forgive me if I helped save the town?

"Which reminds me," Iroh went on, very casually. "How is your training coming along? I told you to pay attention to that lovely young waterbender, didn't I?"

"Yes, and that's another thing," Zuko said, and suddenly an entire other bundle of frustration was pouring out. "That girl trained for a month, and she's better than me. I've trained all day every day under the greatest masters in the world since I could walk, and she's better than me! I went three rounds against her and couldn't touch her! And I watched her train, and none of it made any sense. She can't throw a punch or a kick, she can't augment, she hasn't the first idea of how to do an aerial, and she's better than me. It's not that waterbending's better than firebending, our troops held their own at the battle. Am I just –?"

Useless?

"Missing something?" Iroh asked. He took an annoyingly long sip and Aah. "Yes. You are. Did you by chance show her to the Spirit Oasis?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Where else would she be able to heal such a wound as your scar?" Iroh asked innocently. "It was her who healed it, wasn't it?"

"Fine. What am I missing?"

"Why don't you ask her? She knows better than anyone how to quickly improve at bending."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "Uncle, now is not the time –!"

"This is precisely the time," said Iroh, "for you to do as I said, and pay attention to her. She has everything you need to master firebending."

"No. You're wrong. I tried copying her moves, and it was pathetic. They don't work for a firebender."

"Hmm."

"Don't hmm me, it didn't work! I might not be a master, but I can tell the difference between a good move I can't do and a move that can't work! I trained alongside my sister, in case you forgot. And did you know she was at the battle?"

"What?! Azula?! Is she still alive?"

"She's fine. But she killed Zhao and knocked me out, before someone else captured her. I talked to her after. She said she was betraying Father."

"Do you think she was telling the truth?"

"It's Azula. What do you think?"

Iroh reached for his teacup, which was empty.

"I think she told you whatever she thought would get you to do whatever she wanted," he said, refilling it. "She surely thinks you are betraying him. As for Zhao … was he still attempting to capture the Avatar?"

"Yes. He wanted to kill the Moon Spirit, too. I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Teach me to take a holiday," Iroh undertoned. Aloud, "Admiral Zhao put his ambitions ahead of my brother's will –"

Huh?

"– so for my niece to dispose of him does not prove she is a traitor. Either way, you should mistrust everything she says."

"Good idea," Zuko said sarcastically, "I never would have thought of that."

"I wish I could come with you now," Iroh said. "Even if at a distance. Things are moving too fast. But I must remain here to defend the city. I'm the only officer above lieutenant here. And you must return to the Avatar, and convince him to stay out of the Avatar State."


In Zuko's experience, sentry duty was usually relegated to the worst soldiers. It made some sense, because it was about the dullest thing imaginable and you didn't want to 'reward' your good soldiers with it, but it made it far easier than it ought to be to sneak past them.

This time, if he were the CO of the Earth Kingdom fortress, he'd have the sentries dishonourably discharged if not court-martialled, because they weren't even trying. They didn't even have the excuse of it being too late: Iroh had insisted on putting him up for the night. He was grateful: he really needed some Zuko time after so much Gaang time.

He shimmied up the outer wall completely unmolested. Up there, he could see why the sentries were so slack: they were all watching the scene below, where Aang and Fong were fighting.

Did he refuse to use the Avatar State?

The courtyard was strewn with torn-up dirt and rocks, mud, and scraps of pulverised cabbage. Aang was blasting at Fong, but so obviously trying not to hurt him that Fong wasn't even bothering to counter it. Katara was trading shots with the soldiers, and Sokka had got himself stuck inside an earth disc off to one side. Fong gestured, and Katara sank into the earth up to her waist. She shrieked.

Without thinking, Zuko sprinted forward, kicked off against the inner parapet, somersaulted, combat rolled, drew his swords, and took a boulder to the side.

Standing off to one side of Fong was a wiry man Zuko vaguely recognised from his early days of searching for the Avatar, an earthbender called Ling. It had been the usual: Zuko had shown up at a village, chasing some rumour, and Ling had tried to chase him out. He had lieutenant's insignia now, which sounded about right: he'd put up a decent fight back then, for an amateur.

So? We've spent the past two years training under the Dragon of the West.

Zuko shook his arm out: not too bad. He feinted left, went right, ran forward, and Ling bent a wall out of nowhere and smacked him back. He rolled with it and back to his feet.

Come on, we could crush this peasant like a bug. Stop messing around and just blast him.

If we bend here, they'll go ballistic. We might still be able to talk our way out of this.

"Please!" Aang cried. "Let her go!"

"I wish I could," Fong replied. He made a fist, and Katara sank to her neck.

Next comes burying her alive. Remember that time that happened to us, like six months into our mission? No Uncle to bail her out, though.

Shut up. He has no reason to kill her. He'll let her out after a minute and lock her up.

"But you're not giving me that option," Fong went on to Aang. Zuko could barely hear him. He ran forward again, and again, Ling blocked him.

He probably thinks the same thing … except, that's an anti-firebender form. Breath constriction to prevent bending. But a waterbender's lungs wouldn't be as tough as a firebender's, no augmenting or breath exercises. At this rate, her ribs will give out.

Shut up. Fong's a general, he knows what he's doing.

"help me" Katara whispered.

Crunch time, Zuzu. Literally. What'll it be? Your way or my way?

Save her.

Heh heh heh. Showtime.

Prince Zuko stood straight, then dashed forward. Ling raised a wall to block him; Zuko leapt and kicked compressed fire, shattering it. The same attack punched straight through and blasted Ling against a wall; Zuko maintained momentum and did a controlled skid and tumble to flip around and behind General Fong. He stomped fire on Fong's bare feet, drew his swords, and pressed them against his neck. All this happened in the space of a heartbeat.

It was like kicking a wasp lion nest. Every single soldier lifted a chunk of rock and made ready to launch it forward, but with Zuko pressed right up against Fong, they couldn't shoot without hitting him too.

"No!" Aang yelled, panicking. He caught himself just before saying Zuko's name. "– Lee, what are you doing?!"

Zuko pointed to Katara with the tip of one blade, then flicked it upward.

Fong grunted in pain. His feet were too burned for him to bend. "An ashmaker assassin," he ground out. "No wonder you wouldn't help at Izumihanto. You're a traitor!"

"No!" Aang exclaimed. "I – Katara's a water-healer! She can fix that!"

Fong glared at him. "I'm a soldier," he said. "I'd die a thousand deaths, if that was what it took to stop a rogue Avatar."

"You've got it wrong! I want to fight the Fire Lord. Please, just let her go, and I'll do whatever you want! I'll use the Avatar State, anything! Lee, drop your swords!"

Zuko pointed at Katara and flicked his sword upward again.

"If you want to prove your loyalty," Fong said, "then destroy this assassin."

Aang hesitated. "I can't. But –!"

"That's what I thought," Fong said, and with a gesture, he buried Katara.

Zuko reacted first. He whipped one sword down and through Fong's thigh, and ran.

He and Aang made it to Katara at the same moment. Aang swung his staff to deflect four boulders coming at them from all directions; Zuko knife-handed through the stone ground, found Katara's wrist, and dragged her up and free. She coughed up dust and rocks, her eyes scrunched up. Zuko turned back-to-back from Aang: twenty elite earthbenders faced them, with more arriving. Fong was down and unconscious, bleeding badly.

"Everyone, stop fighting!" Aang yelled. "She's a water-healer! She can help!"

Ling was still down, but he pounded a fist, making earth ripple around him, and the soldiers held their fire. "Lee and Ping, see to the General. Han, fetch a surgeon. Ashmaker, one more move, and it'll be your last. Avatar, you're certain she can do it?"

"Yes. She's a genius! Katara, you can help him, right?"

She'd hacked up most of the dirt she'd inhaled and wiped her eyes clear. Shaking, she took a step toward Fong, bending a glove of healing water about her hand.

"Katara!"

It was Sokka, atop Appa, swooping low over a row of soldiers, who instinctively ducked. He must have sneaked off without anyone noticing and into the stables.

Katara looked from him back to Fong. Aang stood at one side, begging her to help; Zuko at her other, giving her nothing but the emotionless snarl of the Blue Spirit. The three of them stood there for a timeless moment while she made her choice. She let the water glove splash into the dirt and she turned away.

"Katara!" Aang yelled again, but she didn't respond. He cursed under his breath and ran to Fong, pulling water from a nearby trough.

"Stop her!" shouted Ling.

Zuko sheathed his swords, threw Katara over his shoulder, and leaped fifteen feet into Appa's saddle. Even before they landed, Sokka was taking them up. Boulders crunched against Appa's belly; he let out a defiant roar and shot upward. Sokka steered over the wall, and they were away.

See what we can accomplish when we take things seriously?

There's going to be hell to pay.

You live and burn, Prince. I'll see you the next time you want to burn bright.

He checked the land ahead – clear – the earthbenders – angry and milling around, but not chasing them effectively, and not attacking Aang, so that was nice – and Katara – who was hugging herself.

She needs someone. We should –

We should get the guy she matters as much to as we matter to Uncle.

He climbed onto Appa's head. Sokka glanced at him; he jerked his head toward Katara, and Sokka didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled back down and pulled her into a hug. Zuko's heart twanged, so he busied himself with Appa's reins.

Appa in fact didn't need a human to tell him to avoid the people who'd just shot him, so Zuko presently dropped the reins and took out his bloodied sword. The scabbard was ruined; he wiped as much blood as he could onto it and tossed it away. Almost casually, he took off his mask, leaned over the side, and threw up. Appa rumbled sympathy. Zuko leaned back, and, feeling sorry for himself, took his handkerchief and set to cleaning his sword.

I don't have mineral oil for this. I hope cooking oil is good enough.

He just managed to get the last of it off when Aang swooped up on his glider, covered in dried blood.

"What was that?!" he demanded. "You could've killed him!"

"So he survived?" Sokka asked coolly. "Shame."

Aang rounded on him. "What is wrong with you? He didn't really want to hurt Katara! It was just a stupid trick to try to get me to enter the Avatar State! If Zuko hadn't escalated, Fong would've let her go when it didn't work!"

"Yeah," Sokka said, "well, if that's his idea of a 'trick', then maybe I just don't get Earth Kingdom humour."

"I'm not a healer, Sokka. All I could do was waterbend his blood to keep him from bleeding too badly. He's going to have to heal the old-fashioned way. The surgeon said it could take months."

Zuko stared at the sky. Sokka folded his arms.

"Are you crazy? Zuko almost killed a man, and none of you cares!"

"Oh no, I care," Sokka said. "Zuko, remind me to buy you something nice at the next town. You want anything in particular?"

"New scabbard," said Zuko. To Aang, "No, blood loss almost killed Fong. Or we can stop playing dumb word games, and –"

"Stop it," said Katara. "All of you."

"Katara –" Sokka began.

"Stop it, and let's just keep moving." She hugged herself. "I want to get away from here. Please."

Aang wanted to keep arguing, but he went forward to urge Appa on.

Uncle wants me to teach him. I don't think this was a good start.

No.

And it's going to get out that the Blue Spirit is a firebender.

Yes.

Today was a lousy day.

His eyes flicked over to Katara. She was still spooked: she was normally finnicky about hygiene, but she hadn't washed the dirt off her clothes. Still, she was alive.

Could've been much worse.

True.

He leaned back and focused on his breathing, letting the sunlight warm his body properly for the first time in a month.


AN

In canon, Iroh, Zuko, and everyone else in the Fire Nation were all pretty chill about Aang wiping that fleet. I mean, yes you accept casualties when you deploy soldiers, but you also get upset if the enemy drops a tactical nuke on them. It presents a dilemma to me: ignore it, and they come off as kind of callous when you think about it; or make a Thing of it, and the story's suddenly a lot darker than I'd really like. I'll give you some fluff next time to make up for it.

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