Responses to Reviews:

Zigzagdoublezee: With great difficulty. He can't really appease both Mai and the Refugees.

RonaldM40196867: No. One was enough.

As Always, Please Review!

The next day dawned clear and bright, the air crisp and cool as Yue emerged from her room, her white clothes covered by a full set of leather armour. There was a knot in her stomach, and she had not slept well. For in only a short time, she knew she was going to be in battle.

A moment later, Sokka joined her. He had put his armour and war-paint back on, and he had his helmet tucked under his arm. For a moment, an awkward silence hung in the air between them.

Finally, Sokka broke it.

"Are you OK?" He asked.

"Fine," Yue responded. "You?"

"I'll be happier when it's over."

Outside, Rinzen was waiting for them, sitting on Gembul.

"We have to go," he told them. "Kya is waiting for us."

"Where is she?"

"On the docks. Just waiting to give a speech to the fleet."

"Is the fleet ready?"

"I hope so."

Katara joined them, by now also dressed in armour. Like Kya's, hers did not fit her well and she had modified it by attaching several waterskins to it. She shifted uncomfortably, pulling at a strap which had moved out of place.

"Are you going to be alright in that?" Sokka asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine," Katara grumbled. "I'm not sitting back and letting you fight for me."

Yue noticed bags under her eyes.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"No," Katara replied. "I've been studying the scrolls."

"And?" Yue asked, curiously.

"There's so much cool stuff!" Katara grinned.

"Look, are you coming or not?" Rinzen called.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Team Avatar scrambled onto Gembul and the bison took off. As he rose, the situation on the battlefield was revealed. The Water Tribe fleet sat in a long line outside the harbour, floating side by side waiting for the order to advance. Ahead of them, in pairs, sat the six ice ships, huge and bristling with weapons. They towered over everything else there. Their masts had been taken down to minimise the risk of burning; they would be relying on waterbending for propulsion in the coming battle.

Their hulls had been encased in ice, allowing their crews to leave their ships and walk to where a platform had been set up. Standing on it, flanked by masters, was Kya, still dressed in her husband's armour.

Icebergs had been manoeuvred to float in front of the fleet, obscuring the view of any Fire Nation scouts of their preparations.

Far away, in the distance, the Fire Nation fleet lay at anchor. The cloud of smog hanging over it did not seem as big as usual, and Yue wondered if that was because they weren't expecting a fight so their engines were not powered up.

There was an air of restlessness among the men as they crowded around the platform, waiting to hear what their acting Chief had to say. Gembul landed a short distance away and the group scrambled off, making their way towards the crowd. The men parted before them, most of them lowering their heads respectfully.

Kya greeted them on the platform.

"We were waiting for you," she said. "Their ultimatum expires soon. Then they'll start wondering what's going on."

Behind her, Yue saw that one of the masters was Pakku. He scowled at them.

"So what's the plan?" Yue asked.

"This."

Kya took a few steps forward until she was at the edge of the platform, and then she raised her voice.

"Men of the South!" She called. "Two months ago the North Pole was treacherously attacked!"

She paused for dramatic effect.

"My husband, your Chief, was caught in the attack, having travelled there in peace with our children. So too, were thousands of innocent people belonging to our Sister Tribe, including the Avatar."

She gestured to Yue.

"You have all heard the reports from the few survivors who managed to escape and make their way down here. You know how our enemies treat those they conquer, and how low they are willing to stoop to conquer them. But now, having taken the North, the Fire Nation have come south!"

She made a show of looking around, pride in her eyes.

"The Fire Nation thinks that we are weak. That because they have metal, and steam, and coal, and we do not, that makes them civilized. They belittle our culture, call us Snow Savages. But their conduct falls far short of that standard. This war began with a treacherous surprise attack, and has continued with attacks on refugees as a matter of policy, the regular use of human shields in battle, and countless other examples of inhumanity carried out by the Fire Nation. If it is that systemic, it is likely they have permission to do it right from the top. From Firelord Ozai himself. They have done this in the North, and in the Earth Kingdom. They will do it here too, if we let them!"

Kya stopped to let these words sink in.

"Their commander has promised us otherwise, but just look at the North Pole for what happens if you trust their word. If we die, we die now, we die here, proud and with a weapon in our hands, rather than shackled together and marched towards an Earth Kingdom army to protect their lives with our own."

There was total silence.

"But they have made a mistake. We may not have their metal, their coal or their steam but we do not need them. We are southerners, and these are our seas. We have our own tricks up our sleeves. Plus, of course, Avatar Yue herself has taken up arms in our defence."

She had the crowd's full attention. They looked up at her, rapt. A few looked at Yue, who wanted to wave awkwardly at the mention of her name but dare not.

"I lost my family to the Fire Nation. I was lucky enough to get them back again, thanks to the efforts of the Avatar and the Air Nomads, to whom we owe a debt of thanks. But we must fight. Fight for our Chief, taken by Fire Nation treachery. For yourselves, to avoid the fates so many others have already suffered. For your families, so that they may not have to live or die under the Fire Lord's tyranny, according to his monstrous whims. He knows he must defeat us or lose the war. If we can hold him off, then we keep the dream of a world free and at peace stays alive. But if we fail, the world will slip closer to the abyss, and humanity may never manage to claw its way back. Let the Spirits guide us, and they shall guide us through to righteous victory!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, the sailors and marines chanting Kya's, Hakoda's, and Yue's names.

"Get to your ships!" Kya shouted. "Man your stations! Do your duty to the Tribe!"

As the crowd dissipated, men rushing back across the ice to their ships, cheering, Kya turned back to them.

"I think that went well."

"What about us?" Yue asked.

"Are you sure you want to fight?"

"I have to," Yue nodded.

"I think we all do," Sokka added.

"Fine," Kya looked over, and pointed to one of the ice ships in the middle of the formation.

"There, that one," she said. "I think that's the Piqalujak."

"The what?" Rinzen asked.

"That's its name," Sokka hissed to him.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Pakku asked. "Those ships are going to be in the thick of it."

"Good point." Kya nodded thoughtfully. "You can go with them. Keep an eye on them. Katara especially."

"Really?" Katara asked.

"She's my daughter, and it would mean so much to me if you could keep her safe."

Pakku looked like he was chewing glass, but he nodded.

"As you wish."

"Go," Kya told them. "We have to hurry, the waterbenders will melt the ice in a minute to free our ships, and then the attack will begin."

She paused.

"Good luck," she said. "Stay safe. Come back to me."

"We will," Sokka promised. Katara nodded in agreement.

Then they were running, down the stairs and across the ice towards the towering shapes of the ice-ships ahead.