Happy National Day of Spain to all my Spanish readers!

Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Well, I don't know really. None of them seem to have very happy lives. A lot of bad things happen. So none.

Zigzagdoublezee: Yue's going in!

As Always, Please Review!

Gembul soared high over the developing battle, and then began a shallow dive towards Zhao's fast boat. Yue held on to the saddle for dear life as he plunged downwards, the grey shape in the water growing larger and larger beneath them. Yue saw a shadow fall across the deck, and some of the soldiers looked up. Yue was now close enough that she could see their puzzled frowns turn to expressions of alarm.

And then Gembul was upon them, crashing onto the deck and tipping his gigantic body into a spin which slammed into the soldiers and sent them flying. It also knocked Yue off the saddle, but fortunately Rinzen reacted quickly enough to create a cushion of air which slowed her fall and set her gently down on the deck. He landed next to her a moment later.

The other soldiers on the deck shouted in alarm. Zhao spun around, and pointed at her.

"Avatar!" He called. "Come to die?"

"Thousands of tyrants through history have said the same," Yue replied. "And how did it go for them?"

Zhao did not reply, only grabbed Hakoda.

"Kill them," he told his crew.

They hesitated for a moment, and then charged. Yue created a water-whip and swiped it across the deck, knocking another one of them into the sea.

As she fought, Zhao shoved Hakoda into a wall, hard, and then began unscrewing a hatch on the deck.

Yue turned to the side and pulled again, causing a wave of water to slam into the front of the hull and sharply turning the ship to starboard. The sudden movement caused her attackers to stumble, and Rinzen, ever light on his feet, used his airbending to knock them over while they were struggling. The deck continued to pitch and roll, forcing Yue to grab the railing and hold on for dear life.

"Rinzen!" She called.

"What?"

"Get Hakoda!"

Rinzen nodded and sprinted forwards. Despite the constantly shifting deck, he remained surefooted as he rushed through the fallen firebenders, his airbending helping him to keep his feet as he danced through them, spinning and weaving to avoid the few weapons that were jabbed at him, or fireballs shot at him. He jumped on top of the catapult and balanced there for a moment, nearly losing his balance as his weight caused it to swing around. Then he tensed, and jumped, using his airbending to land behind Zhao, who was having tremendous difficulty staying upright.

He tapped him on the shoulder, and then ducked around him as Zhao turned around so he was still standing around him.

"Made you look!"

Then he rushed over, grabbed Hakoda, and began to run with him back towards Yue.

"Come on!" He urged.

"Who are you?" Hakoda asked.

"Run now, explain later!" Rinzen told him.

By now the effects of the wave were beginning to wear off, and the deck was beginning to stabilise. Rinzen and Hakoda were able to clear the last Firebenders and make it back to where Yue was stood just as the first of them managed to get up again.

"Avatar!" Hakoda greeted her happily. "How are my children?"

"They're fine," Yue gestured to the sky-bison. "I'll tell you more up there."

"Avatar Yue!" Zhao's voice rang across the deck. Yue turned her gaze away from Hakoda to where the commander was stood over the hatchway, his fist poised to punch down into it.

"Not one step further!" He called. "Or you burn! This whole ship is a floating bomb!

"Don't be stupid," Yue called back. "You'll die too!"

"Do you really think I hadn't thought of that?" Zhao sounded disappointed. "That's the idea. A glorious death ensuring the final victory of the Fire Nation. That is, unless you surrender."

Yue looked at Rinzen and Hakoda, desperately racking her brain for a way out of this. She would have to keep him talking until a distraction presented itself.

"Now, come towards me, and keep your hands where I can see them!" Zhao told them.

"What will you do with us?" Rinzen asked.

Zhao shrugged.

"First, I'll throw all this blasting jelly overboard. I won't pretend not to be glad to be rid of it. Then, who knows? Capturing the Avatar as well as the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe earns a man a lot of glory."

He grinned.

"And a lot of bargaining power."

"I think you'll need it," Hakoda spat.

"Why?"

"You lost your flagship. You look like you're on the way to losing your whole fleet, too. How do you think the Firelord will react to that?"

He gestured around them at the battle.

"I think you're getting ahead of yourselves," Zhao pointed out. "The battle is far from over. My captains have their orders, and they are all good at what they do. Whatever happens, they don't need me to win this."

He shrugged.

"Losing the flagship was... unfortunate, yes. But victory forgives many things. And if you don't see sense, the legend of the hero who lost his life at the moment of his greatest triumph would obscure that. My legend would live forever."

"As a villain," Rinzen added. "People won't forget why you're fighting."

Zhao just laughed.

"Don't try that. I'm not Jeong Jeong, I will not be persuaded to switch sides by flowery words and talk of peace. It's glory I want. So either you surrender, and I become a hero, or you don't, and I become a martyr. Either option is acceptable."

Yue's mind raced. She had promised herself never to surrender again, and she hated the idea of breaking it. She also wanted to bring Hakoda back to his family, which was the entire reason she had come here. She also hated the idea of failing to do that.

But he would blow up the ship if she didn't. And she didn't know what to do.

"Come on," Zhao chided. "Make your choice..."

Another wave hit the hull of the ship, causing the deck to roll under their feet, and crucially knocking Zhao off balance for a second. Rinzen leapt at the chance.

"Third option!" He called, as he launched a gale force wind at Zhao. The Admiral looked up, saw what was happening, and his eyes widened.

"Long live Firelord Ozai!" Zhao shouted. And then he blasted a fireball straight down the hatch a moment before he was knocked clean off his feet.

The last thing Yue thought was that this could not possibly end like this. Was the era of Avatar Yue truly going to be the shortest in history? She saw Sokka's face, and Katara, and her father, and a hundred other people she had known and loved during her life flash through her mind's eye. A familiar power, one she had only felt once before, began to stir within her.

And then the ship exploded, and Yue's vision went white.