Fire You Are (Zuko Love Story)

Lightning

The large gate of the Northern Water Tribe is just ahead. I stand at Iroh's right side and Admiral Zhao stands about a meter in front of us looking at the gate. We stand in silence; nothing needs to be said right now. We all know what's coming.

"Fire!" Zhao orders.

Catapults from the front line of the ships begin shooting at the gate. The catapults damage the gate but not too much, as it was to be expected. I've known for a long time that the Northern Water Tribe is the stronger of the tribes, and legend tells waterbenders can have immense skill and strength. It won't be easy for the Fire Navy to get in.

What seems strange is that Zhao doesn't order some different strategy. Apparently, he's going for a direct, head on attack strategy, with all the catapults firing relatively equally. It's as if he weren't thinking about anything other than the goal.

"You may want to try something else to get in," I say.

"I do not need advice from you," Zhao says bluntly.

"So you shoot down the gate from here," I say. "You're gonna have to transport your soldiers to the entrance. We're not that close; by the time you get them there, the waterbenders will have made a new line of defense."

"And why should I trust you?" 

"I want the Avatar too," I say. "I'm gonna get to him and I know how to."

Is he buying it? Yes, he's buying it. He looks over his shoulder at me and then back at the gate.

"That won't be necessary," he says after a moment.

"Why?" I ask.

He points out at the distance and I look closely at the direction. There, I see Aang flying in on his glider coming to take on the ships by himself.

Oh, Aang, no! Has he even seen how many ships there are? 

Every catapult available in the front lines changes their aim from the gate to the Avatar. If any of those hits him and knocks him out, he'll either die or be captured by Zhao, and I can't let either of them happen. It would be game over for everyone if it did. If it isn't Zuko to succeed in this, it won't be anybody.

I run to the top of the ship to keep better track of Aang, trying not to be too obvious to not raise any suspect. As I see Aang gliding and dodging the catapults' fire, I remember how he helped me when Zuko was unconscious. If anything, I owe him.

I see a fireball going toward Aang from behind him, which he probably hasn't seen. I subtly  bend the fire of it to make it go higher and miss Aang. I manage to do the same with another few bolts when I notice Aang facing the rest of the fleet behind us. He looks for a while and then he retreats, probably thinking it's too much. And it is, no one can expect him to take on an entire fleet on his own, not even himself.

I make my way back down to Iroh and Zhao.

"He retreated," I say.

"Yes, I can see that," Zhao says. "We'll move in then."

"Zhao, wait," Iroh says. "It is almost a full moon tonight, which means the waterbenders will be stronger than usual. It is unwise to go in during night time."

"You may be right," Zhao says.

"We must wait for dawn," Iroh says. "And even then, we must make sure we are finished before the night, when the full moon shines its brightest."

"I intend to take care of that," Zhao says. "General Iroh, in the past I have researched and found of the existence of the physical incarnation of the Ocean and Moon spirits."