Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Probably Aang finding out about the fate of the other Air Nomads.

Zigzagdoublezee: After Azula had a go a few chapters ago, now it's Lu Ten's turn to try to capture the Avatar!

As Always, Please Review!

Yue's eyes widened, and, completely caught by surprise, she would have taken the fireball right in the chest if Wu hadn't shoved her at the last moment. She fell to the floor, winded and shocked. The firebender lunged at her, yelling incoherently, only to be intercepted by Sokka swinging his boomerang. He backed up, and the waterbenders closed ranks around him.

"You," Katara growled. "You're the ones who attacked Chin Village."

"Yes they are," the firebender said. "I imagine there's going to be a massive fight now."

"It looks like it," Suki growled.

"Or you could just turn around and leave," Rinzen tried. "It's not too late."

"I have a proposal," the firebender said, holding his hands up in a conciliatory way. "Just... hear me out, please?"

Yue got to her feet and stared at him, shock giving way to rage at his companions. The traitors!

"My name is Lu Ten," the man said. "I am the nephew of Firelord Ozai."

"I would say we're pleased to meet you," Sokka quipped, "But I don't feel like lying today."

"The Firelord has set a competition," Lu Ten ignored him. "The one who brings you to him gets to be Firelord."

"You and who?"

"My cousin, Princess Azula," Lu Ten said. "She will be a terrible Firelord if she wins."

"Don't worry, she won't," Katara nodded.

"You don't know her, she might," Lu Ten told her. "So my proposal is this; surrender. I will win the competition, and become heir. My cousin is a tyrant in the making, and would cause untold suffering and destruction, but I make this pledge to you now: I will be a just and kind ruler. The Fire Empire will be a much better place under my rule than hers."

Yue regarded him for a couple of seconds, noting the absurdly hopeful expression on his face. Then she burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is priceless," she chortled. "You expect me to just hand myself over so some man I don't know can win a competition?"

One finger swiped the lid off the waterskin at her hip.

"Here's my answer."

And it was Lu Ten's turn to be taken by surprise. He yelped as a blast of water took him in the chin and he went sprawling to the floor. Even if the Fire Nation had not made a habit of bad faith agreements, she was not going to help this man if she could at all help it.

The waterbenders fanned out and began to encircle them, before attacking. Suki drew her weapon and rolled under a water whip, coming up in time to chop at a neck; but a second water whip wrapped around her sword and brought it to a stop before it could find its mark.

Yue turned to find Yura advancing on her, a hunting knife in his hand.

"Traitors," she spat. "All of you."

"You don't realise," Yura retorted, swinging the weapon at her. Yue jumped backwards, and it whistled past her chest. He advanced, continuing to swing the blade wildly at her as anger took over from good sense. "You abandoned us. All of us. You ran off that night and left us with them!"

"And so you jumped into bed with them?" Yue retorted as she froze her water and launched it at his head. It slammed into him, and his body went limp.

"You think I wanted this? I didn't want any of this to happen! They would have killed me!" She yelled at his feebly twitching form, angrily.

A moment later another one was charging at her, a snarl twisting his features. As the water came out of his pouch and flew at her, it suddenly stopped in mid-air as Katara appeared next to her. She struggled for control of the water for a moment, the ball of liquid visibly vibrating as the two of them fought for control, and then ultimately won, wrenching it free from his grip. This caused the waterbender to rethink his options and retreat.

Lu Ten struggled to his feet, rubbing his jaw. He glared at Yue.

"I gave you the courtesy of asking nicely," he said, "but if you're choosing the hard way, so be it."

A fire burst into life in his palm and he launched it at Katara, who had turned her back to deal with a waterbender who was menacing Rinzen. Yue managed to jump in the way and use her water to block it, a hiss of steam rising into the air in front of her. She grabbed it wifh her bending and floated the steam cloud towards him. He winced in pain, but rolled and managed to avoid the worst of it.

But looking around, it was obvious the rest of the fight was not going so well. Katara was nearby, desperately trying to hold three of the traitors off single-handedly, while the rest were closing in on Sokka and Suki, aiming water-whip after water-whip at them from long range so they didn't have the chance to close the gap and use their melee weapons. Yue tried to run to their aid, but a fireball slammed into the ground by her feet.

"You're not going anywhere!" Lu Ten told her firmly.

The Prince of the Fire Nation straightened up, settled into a bending stance, and was just about to say something else when a horn blew from nearby. Everyone turned to find a line of ostrich-horses at the far end of the main street, ridden by men who were obviously soldiers.

Each man was wearing glittering blue and white armour, had a banner strapped to his back, and was carrying a long lance, the tip of which glimmered in the sun. They wore helmets with masks which covered their faces. Even the ostrich-horses themselves were armoured, covered with a sheet of metal scales which covered their entire body and hung down around their ankles to protect their legs. Another horn blast and they began to advance, lowering their lances until they were pointing down towards the fight. They began to pick up speed.

Yue and Lu Ten recognised the incoming cavalry charge at the same time.

"Fall back!" Lu Ten called. The other waterbenders looked around, saw the approaching cavalry, and immediately bolted. He scowled at Yue.

"You were lucky," he told her, reaching down to pick up the traitor Yura's unconscious body. "You won't be next time."

Yue gave him her most sarcastic wave goodbye.

He turned and ran, following his men.

Yue fell to her knees as the cavalrymen arrived on the scene. Their leader embedded his lance in the ground and then pulled off his helmet, revealing a young man with long hair.

Yue looked up at him.

"Hello," she said.

"Were those guys bothering you?" The man asked. "I take it you're the ones I was sent here for."

"You were sent here for us?"

"The boss got a message, saying the Avatar was in this town about two days ago," the man nodded. "He sent us to find you."

"But we've only been here about two hours?" Sokka asked. Then he stopped, and turned to Wu, who waved at him.

"You don't look like the Earth army," Suki frowned. "But you don't look like waterbenders either."

It was then that Yue got a good look at the flag on the man's back for the first time. It was a background of plain white, but the symbol was what caught her eye; a deep blue crescent moon, with crossed hook-swords underneath it.

"We're not the Earth army, no," the man said proudly. "We made our own."

Yue suddenly had a pretty good idea about who had sent these men. She stood up, trying to hide her shock and anger at the betrayal she had just suffered.

"Does this mean we get to say it?" Sokka asked eagerly.

"Say what?" Katara frowned. Yue turned back to the man and cleared her throat.

"Take us to your leader."

Sokka pouted.

"I wanted to say that!"