Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Azula. She's the one who's most willing to play dirty to win.

Zigzagdoublezee: Maybe, but Iroh is no slouch himself. I think it would be interesting to see what a Kuvira born 70 years sooner would have done in the war though.

As Always, Please Review!

The convoy rattled down the road, engines spewing ash into the air as the trucks made their way towards the frontline. They were laden with food, supplies, and weapons, and guarded by soldiers riding on the front armed with spears or just their own firebending.

From the treeline, Yue watched them pass, crouched in the shadows. Next to her, Sokka slowly drew his club, and Suki her sword. They had accompanied Jet and a force of Freedom Fighters as they had worked their way around the enemy army, and moved into position to attack their supply lines.

"Ready?" The Prince of the South asked.

"Not yet," Jet steadied them. He was crouching on Yue's other side, his hook swords lying in the dirt just in front of him so they could be easily grabbed but would not glint and give his position away. "We must stay here until the trap is sprung."

He seemed to tense a little.

"Any moment now..." he muttered. "Any moment..."

An explosion sounded just up the road from them.

"Or we go now," Jet picked up his weapons.

"Attack!" He hollered.

All around them, figures in white emerged from the trees, drew their weapons, and charged, as the road turned to mud and swallowed tyres. Vehicles crawled to a stop, stuck fast in the suddenly liquid earth, and surprised Fire Nation soldiers jumped down and prepared to fight.

In the event, it was over quite quickly. The soldiers were outnumbered, and spread out too thinly to protect the convoy properly. It was obvious that they had not been expecting an attack here. Soon they had been driven back, and the trucks lay abandoned in the road.

"I don't think we have long," Jet warned. Then he grinned.

"Good job everyone! Take what we need and let's get out of here!"

The rest of Team Avatar filed over to join them as Yue watched a mass of white begin to rifle through the Fire Nation's stuff, smashing locks with their earthbending and presenting their findings to Jet. There were boxes full of weapons and armour, which Jet ordered to be sent back to the camp for later redistribution. There were also stashes of money among the loot; presumably, this was the money with which the local Fire Nation commander was paying his soldiers.

"Oh, this is great," Jet smirked as he looked at it. "I wonder how they'll react when their week's wages don't turn up. Send it back to camp, we'll divide it up later."

A few uniforms were recovered, which Jet also took. They could be bleached white to turn them into Freedom Fighter uniforms, or just used as disguises in case they needed to infiltrate anywhere. But perhaps most importantly of all, the convoy turned out to have been carrying rations. Truck after truck was laden down with sacks full of rice, ingredients for bread to be baked at the front and distributed to the troops, salted meats, and other foods. The smell of the meat made Yue's mouth water.

Jet decreed that the food also be taken back to camp to be distributed among his followers, although some would also be taken to be given to the villagers who lived under his protection.

"It's better we have all this than they do," he said. Yue couldn't help but agree.

There was a shout from further down the convoy. One of the men in white was standing on top of a truck, gesturing furiously at them.

"Prisoners!" He called.

"Uh-oh," Jet acknowledged the wave and began jogging towards the truck. "That can't be good."

More soldiers had also been attracted by the shout, and began to swarm around the vehicle. Yue could hear the sound of chains snapping, and then figures were being helped down, stumbling slightly as their feet made contact with solid earth.

Yue screeched to a halt in shock. For the figures were wearing tunics which were dirty and grimy but unmistakably the dark blue of her people. Of the North.

The rest noticed it too, and all turned to look at her.

"It's northerners!" Sokka exclaimed excitedly. "It's your people!"

Yue didn't say anything, stepping closer until she could make out their faces. Seven men and four women, and none of them had been with the Fire Nation Prince who had attacked them at the Fortune-teller's village. Judging by their condition, they didn't look like traitors.

She watched as Jet reached them, and bowed to introduce himself. He said something to them, and then gestured in her direction.

All of them turned and saw her. A moment later there were gasps as they rushed towards her and knelt in front of her gratefully, all of them rushing to say how thankful they were for her rescuing them.

Yue smiled, happy to see familiar faces who were not traitors after so long.

"Please, there's no need to kneel," she said kindly. "I am not Princess any more."

Slowly, struggling a little, they did. Yue recognised ugly red patches of skin on their wrists and ankles, and narrowed her eyes.

"Are you alright?" She asked. "What did they do to you?"

The prisoners explained how they had come to be here. After the night the Fire Nation had taken the North Pole, the war had begun and Yue had been forced to flee south, they had been captured along with the rest of the city's population. Leaders had been separated, and then they had been deported to prison camps on the eastern coasts and islands of the Fire Nation. However then they had been picked out and sent on a ship here.

"What would the Fire Nation want with you?" Yue asked them, concerned.

But they only shrugged.

"We don't know," one of them said apologetically.

"Probably nothing good," Sokka said darkly. "Remember what their generals were doing to prisoners at that fortress?"

Yue remembered the human shields forced to walk in front of advancing Fire Nation infantry all too well. But Katara shook her head.

"I'm not sure about that," she said. "Why would they only bring eleven people for that?"

"Maybe they were planning to pick up local villagers," Suki suggested helpfully.

"Then why bring these people at all?" Rinzen asked.

"Unless they needed them for something else," Yue realised. "Are you waterbenders?"

All of them looked at one another, and nodded.

"That might be what they were after then," Yue looked at her friends. "They needed waterbending for something."

"Why would they use prisoners?" Suki asked. "They have traitors they could use in their own ranks."

"Maybe they don't have enough? Maybe they don't have clearance from their bosses to use the traitors," Katara spat. Yue frowned at the mention of them.

Then she turned back to see the shocked expressions on the faces of the prisoners.

"Traitors?" One of them asked, horrified.

"Ah, they don't know, do they?" Sokka asked. He stepped forwards.

"Well, long story..."