บท 48: Chapter 48
With a sharp gasp of breath, Aang's eyes snapped open.
"Aang!" Katara cried, rushing over to his side with Yue and Sokka right behind her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Aang replied, shaking off the quick bout of dizziness that came from re-entering his body. "There's no time! We have to hurry! The moon spirit is in dange-... oh no!"
"In danger?" Sokka quipped sarcastically. "Yeah, we guessed that."
The moon up above shone with an unnatural, bloody red light. Even if he'd been blind, Aang could have sensed the feeling of pain and anguish radiating from it. "What happened?" he whispered.
"It's all my fault." Katara sobbed, leaning into Yue as the silver-haired princess hugged her. "After you crossed into the spirit world, Zuko appeared. I fought him, but I let myself get overconfident and he beat me. I- I thought he was coming to take you away, but then he walked right past you and took-..."
"The koi fish." Aang breathed.
"That's right." Katara sniffled, bewilderment settling across her expression. "As soon as he did the moon turned red, and all of a sudden my waterbending just stopped. Aang, what's happening?"
"Those fish aren't regular fish." Aang explained, standing up hurriedly. "I met someone in the spirit world who told me that the ocean and moon spirits had to give up their immortality in order to become a part of our world, and that they took on the forms of those two koi.
But they need to exist in a constant state of push and pull with each other. If Zuko has separated the two fish, then the balance between them is broken!"
"Which means no more waterbending." Sokka summarised. "But what I don't get is Zuko. He's been obsessed with capturing you before, but now he gives up his best chance at you yet in exchange for the ocean and moon spirits? How did he even know about them anyway?"
"I don't think he's acting alone this time. I think he's following orders." Aang replied. "And there's one person who benefits from this more than anyone else. Without waterbenders, who's going to stop the invasion?"
Katara gasped as the realisation dawned on her. "Zuko is working for Tanya?"
Sokka hummed thoughtfully. "If that's true, then Zuko is probably trying to bring the spirits to her. Assuming she's somewhere near the battlefield, he'll have to sneak through the city to reach her. We might still be able to catch him and free the spirits before he reaches the safety of the Fire Nation fleet."
"Then that's what we'll do!" Aang declared, blowing his bison whistle. Appa appeared a few seconds later, and the gang wasted no time climbing onto his back. "Yip yip! We've got spirits to save!"
...
Zuko ran through the streets of Agna Qel'a, fear hastening his steps. But no matter where he went there was no escaping the red moonlight. It reflected off the glistening white buildings, taunting him at every turn.
He hadn't realised it would be like this! To hear Tanya describe it, the waterbender's powers would have simply stopped, but otherwise everything else should have been fine. Had she known what effect their actions would have on the moon? No, she couldn't have. Right?
No! Focus! Zuko mentally slapped himself. There was no time for thinking like this! He couldn't let himself get distracted while he was so close! Whatever was happening to the moon was only temporary.
As soon as The Avatar turned himself in and the Northern Water Tribe surrendered he could bring his captive fish back together again, and everything would go back to normal. He had to remember what was important: regaining his honour!
He sprinted past another house, trying his best to ignore the terrified wailing of the children sheltering within.
Stealth was no longer needed. Whatever soldiers had been left behind to patrol the city were either too distracted or too slow to catch him as he ran by. The only one who could stop him now was The Avatar, and so Zuko kept a wary eye up to the sky in case that lumbering white bison showed up.
And show up it eventually did, just as Zuko arrived at the inner gates. It was still far away enough that he couldn't make out who exactly was on its back, but gut instincts told him that The Avatar must be there. The sky bison roared as it stopped him, and Zuko put all his energy into one final dash across the open courtyard towards the battleground. He knew how fast that beast could be in a pinch.
The sounds of screams and the whooshing of fire grew loud enough to drown out the sound of his own heavy breathing as Zuko charged towards the battlefield. There, waiting for him before it, was a familiar shade of blonde hair. He was so close now! Just a little further.
A bestial groan erupted from behind him, and Zuko looked back to see that the sky bison was nearly upon him. On its back, cloaked in the traditional orange garb of his people, was The Avatar, looking right at him with fierce determination. "Zuko! Stop!"
Zuko did not stop. Instead he pushed himself to run harder. Damn it, he was so close and yet still too far! He wasn't going to make it…
A jet of orange light exploded forth from in front of him, narrowly missing Zuko's head and singing his hair. Tanya had opened fire! With a panicked grunt the sky bison swerved away to avoid being hit by the blast, allowing Zuko to make the final dash to the meeting point.
Said meeting point was an unremarkable stretch of ice a dozen or so feet away from the line of firebender who'd sprung up behind the waterbenders after their charge, blocking their escape back to Agna Qel'a.
Six firebenders had been pulled away from the slaughter to form a wide line, and two of the metal tanks that'd been buried under snow during the initial assault had been melted free and detached from their carriages in order to be moved to the end of each point.
Standing in the middle and slightly in front of the formation was Tanya, looking as calm and unflappable as ever despite the chaos taking place behind her.
"You have them both?" Tanya asked as Zuko came to a stop in front of her. Zuko nodded, his panting too heavy to form coherent words, but held aloft the two wriggling bags. The wide, wolfish smile that never ceased to spike fear into Zuko's heart spread across Tanya's lips.
"Excellent!"
Another beastial cry sounded behind him, and Zuko turned to see the sky bison coming in to land a few feet behind him. The soldiers tensed into firebending stances, preparing to shoot at it, but paused as Tanya held up a hand in a halting gesture.
Zuko twisted around and conjured a fireball in his hand, holding in warningly just a little bit below the bags that held the captured spirits as The Avatar and his companions dismounted.
"Stop this!" Cried The Avatar desperately, raising his staff into a fighting stance. "You don't understand what you're doing! You're putting the balance of the entire world in danger!"
"I am? Oh my, how careless of me." Tanya replied sarcastically, staring back at him unfazed. "Well, it's a good thing that you're here then, isn't it? After all, protecting the balance of the world is your duty. I'm sure you'll do whatever it takes to ensure no harm befalls the ocean and moon spirits, right?"
Sensing his cue, Zuko raised his held fireball just a little higher, letting the flames lick the underside of the bags warningly.
"Truth be told, I'd rather not hurt the spirits unnecessarily." Tanya continued blithely. "But if you make any aggressive moves I'm afraid I'll be forced to. There are two of them after all: I can afford to execute one to prove that I'm serious if you test me." Her tone took on a hard edge as her eyes steeled over.
"Lower your weapon, Avatar. That's an order."
The Avatar grit his teeth, struggling to decide what to do, and the Fire Nation soldiers tensed as his hands gripped tighter around his staff. Then, as if the fight had suddenly spilled out of him, The Avatar lowered his staff, his body turning slumped and listless as he accepted his defeat.
"I-... I surrender." He whispered, his broken tone coming out as a lifeless echo on the voice of one so young.
"Aang, no!" Katara cried, but her plea went ignored. Her brother held her back, while the silver haired girl watched on silently with eyes brimming with tears.
...
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