Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Personally, I like the canon couples, so I don't really think about making up new ones. Although that does leave the question, Sokka and Yue or Sokka and Suki? Both are possible.

Zigzagdoublezee: A very lucky escape. Azula and Ty Lee, even without Mai, are a force to be reckoned with.

As Always, Please Review!

In the end, it took about ten minutes for feeling and movement to return, and Yue was helped gratefully to her feet by Suki, who herself had recovered just before. She stood up and stretched languidly, before flicking the water out of her clothes and hair with a movement of her hand. Gembul lumbered over and began lapping up the puddle that was created. Katara had thrown the rest of the water over the side, so the deck was now relatively dry.

Once she was dry again, she looked around her.

The ship was still moving forwards, but now the lights on the side which told other ships where they were had been extinguished; this would help them slip away in the fog which still hung over the bay. Several pairs of lights were still visible behind them, including one pair which was closer than any of them, presumably the ship that was picking up Azula.

But now the prison ship was picking up speed, nearly past the bonfires which marked the entrance to the bay and out into the open sea. Then, they would be free.

Not that Yue could enjoy it.

"What was that?" She asked, turning to Suki and Sokka. A moment later, she realised they were still both soaked too, and with a wave of her hands she dried them off. They gasped at the strange sensation.

"That Ty Lee," she fumed. "She's dangerous."

"I don't think Azula would have brought her along if she wasn't," Suki reasoned.

"She was going to let you drown!"

Suki did not say anything else for a long moment. Then she sighed.

"I don't think we've seen the last of her," she said, "and we must be ready when we do. We absolutely cannot let her get close to us."

"Those... punches," Sokka remembered. "I didn't know that was possible."

Just then, Katara walked over, having been busy healing prisoners.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

The three of them nodded.

"Just a little shaken," Yue told her.

"I don't blame you," Katara said. "What did that girl do to you?"

"We were just wondering that ourselves," Yue said. "It was really strange. She punched us, and we could not move."

Katara considered this.

"Could it have something to do with Chi?" She asked. Everyone looked at her. Yue knew what Chi was, of course. It was the energy which flowed through every living thing, and was the source of the ability to bend.

"Well, I've trained as a healer for years," she explained. "Which is all about Chi. I manipulate it to help people, but if it can be disrupted..."

"You get things like this."

"Exactly," Katara nodded. "Temporary paralysis. If it is disrupting Chi, it could even temporarily remove bending."

"Like I said," Suki said grimly. "We have to keep her at arm's length then."

"Preferably quite a lot more than that," Yue agreed. She was still feeling a little down after the fight. It wasn't because she had lost, that was an occupational hazard in a fight, and she knew she wasn't that experienced in the art of combat yet. It was how powerless she had felt, stripped of the ability to move and propped up like a sack of potatoes. It was a particular humiliation, full on insult to injury stuff.

"...Yue?"

She realised everyone was staring at her.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Katara asked.

"... Fine," She said, between gritted teeth. Katara stared at her for a couple more seconds, and then gestured to where one of the prisoners was kneeling in the water in front of her.

"Hi! Sorry!" Yue spoke to him apologetically. "I was just in my own world for a moment. You don't have to kneel."

The man stood up, bowing awkwardly.

"I was just asking about what we should do next."

"What happened to the crew?" Yue asked.

"Locked in the cells," Katara replied. "Including the captain. We have full control over the ship."

"Go south," Yue told them. "Follow the coast. When you see Earth Kingdom banners, go ashore. They'll look after you."

"And what if we can't do that?" The man asked.

"Go south. You'll find Kyoshi Island, or the Southern Air Temple, or the Southern Water Tribe. The Fire Navy isn't in the Southern Sea anymore, you'll find a safe haven there."

The man nodded, but raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds cold. But I think we'll manage."

He bowed again.

"Thank you, Avatar. I think we owe you our lives. Certainly our freedom."

"You're welcome," Yue told him, although she didn't feel like she had done much. "What's your name?"

"Ji."

"Pleased to meet you, Ji," Yue bowed herself. "What happened to you?"

Ji scowled.

"We were attacked," he said. "We were living in a small village by the river. We thought we were still safe, we were behind the front lines, we'd have time to run if the Fire Nation closed in."

"But you didn't."

"They must have infiltrated in somehow. They surrounded our village in the middle of the night and attacked us. They rounded everyone up, loaded them into the boats, and then burned our homes."

He was quivering with rage.

"What did we do to them?"

"The entire world has been asking that question," Suki frowned. "I know I did."

"I am sorry for what you went through," Yue told him comfortingly. "And I'm sorry you can't go home."

"I know it wouldn't be safe," Ji replied. Yue nodded.

"Then I wish you good luck for your journey."

"Thank you again," Ji said. "I thought-"

Then he stopped.

"What about you?" He asked. "What's next for you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Yue shrugged. "All I know is the rest of your country still needs us."

"Then good luck," Ji bowed. "Now, I think my people need me."

He wandered off. Team Avatar- the Yuad, as Sokka had taken to calling them- watched him go.

"He seems nice," Sokka remarked.

"He does," Yue agreed. "But we can't stay."

"I agree," Suki said. "So what do we do, just fly back the way we came?"

"Something like that," Yue nodded. "Back into free territory. After that, I'm sure we'll find something to do. The Fire Nation will keep us busy."

And we do still need to find an earthbending master, she knew. Today had been bruising, but she knew she had to do what she had been doing since the day this war had begun.

Keep going. No matter what.