"One other person who was alone with Zhao in that brief span of time his guards were away." Uncle downed his tea and set it down, his expression grave.
"I think we have to consider the possibility that the one who killed Zhao… was none other than Tanya herself."
...
Zuko very nearly spat out his tea, catching himself at the last minute as he remembered the guard waiting outside for any hint of trouble. "No! That can't be right!" Zuko hissed. !Tanya's known Zhao since she was a little girl! And she's the poster child of the perfect, loyal soldier! She'd never commit treason!"
Iroh began to slowly pour himself another cup of tea. "I've made a few friends among this fleet, and some of them shared some interesting news. Remember those Fire Sages back at the temple where The Avatar sought to contact Roku?
A few weeks ago Zhao had them executed in front of everyone, Tanya included." He sighed heavily at the pointless loss of life. "Few people remember these days, but before Tanya became your father's golden girl she was raised by the Fire Sages.
It is not impossible that she sought revenge for their unjust execution. And besides, she's always said she wanted to be an admiral. Zhao's death provided the opportunity to instantly achieve what might have taken her years otherwise."
Tanya was the killer! Though the thought was shocking, Zuko found that theory more plausible to his instincts than The Avatar being the culprit.
He felt somewhat ashamed to admit that, as Tanya was one of his sister's best friends and someone he had known since childhood, but equally it was because of that shared history that he knew how utterly ruthless she could be when pursuing something she wanted.
It wasn't that Tanya lacked morals, but that her moral compass had always pointed in a slightly different direction than most other people's. Zuko still wasn't quite sure what exactly she considered to be good and evil, but he was certain she didn't think that murder was in itself an evil act.
Sensing that Zuko was coming around to his line of thinking, Uncle continued. "What has Tanya told you her plan is?"
And so Zuko told him the plan Tanya had explained to him, beginning with the ancient scroll she'd set down in front of him. Uncle, normally so composed and carefree, looked downright panicked right from the start, and only became more horrified as the story continued.
Yet he listened silently as Zuko recited the plan, and only when he was finished did Uncle then lean over the table and calmly but firmly grasp him by the shoulders.
"Listen to me, Zuko." Uncle began, his voice slow and deliberate, yet with an underlying note of urgency that could not be ignored. His grasp kept Zuko's eyes locked on his.
"Tanya is trying to play with forces she does not understand. The actions she is trying to convince you to undertake will spell disaster not just for the Water Tribes, but The Fire Nation and the rest of the world as well! She is attempting to meddle with the very balance of nature itself! Please Zuko, if ever you have heeded my advice, let it be now! You must not do this!"
Zuko found himself taken aback by Uncle's insistence. He had never heard him speak so forcefully before.
"I-… I'll be careful, Uncle." He choked out. "But unless I go along with Tanya's plan, I'll miss the best chance I'll ever have to capture The Avatar. I cannot let that slip me by! And if I don't do it, she'll just send someone else in her fleet!"
A tired sign escaped Uncle's lips, and his downcast eyes turned to stare forlornly at his tea cup. "Someone who will not show the same care as you would. That is true. If she is so set upon this plan of hers, it would be better if you were in a position to influence its outcome than a stranger."
Setting his cup aside, Uncle clasped Zuko's hands between his own.
"I understand why you can't give this up, my nephew. But promise me this. If Tanya ever asks you to do something that you feel in your heart is wrong, do not do it. Your sense of honour is one of your greatest strengths. Trust in your heart."
"I will Uncle." Zuko replied, meaning every word. Uncle was the only family he had left that did not see him as a disappointment. He would not allow anything to change that.
...
Tanya strode to the balcony of the helm, looking out across the sea stretching endlessly into the midday horizon before her. At her back a fleet of hundreds of black iron ships stood primed and ready, waiting on her command to set sail.
The full moon would be arriving soon. How strange it was to think her entire future was wagered upon the outcome of one single night. Would it be known as her greatest triumph, or her greatest folly? Though she kept an iron expression up in front of her subordinates, Tanya could not help but feel a twinge of nervousness.
This strategy was the magnum opus of her military career, yet for all the backup plans she had devised to account for every possible situation, the fact remained that she had built her invasion around information found in some dusty old scroll that Zhao had dug up from who-knew-where.
If the identity of the ocean and moon spirits was incorrect after all, then the chances of her invasion succeeding plummeted drastically. And even assuming it was, there was no telling what The Avatar might have waiting in store to stop her.
Yes, it was no exaggeration in her mind to say that the outcome of that night would be decided by the actions of just three people: herself, The Avatar, and Zuko. Everyone else was just a pawn on the board, and she was willing to sacrifice every piece she had if that was what it took to put the North Pole in checkmate.
"The time is now." She announced, slowly raising one hand to point theatrically in the direction of the north pole.
"Set a course for The Northern Water Tribe."
...
"Wow, I can't believe you do this every day!"
In Sokka's eyes, life seemed just about perfect right now. Up on Appa's back, the troubles of the world below felt so far away. In the sky there was no war, no Fire Nation, and no duty to protect The Avatar. There was just him and Yue: the girl he couldn't stop thinking about since the moment he'd laid eyes upon her.
"Yeah, we pretty much live up here." He boasted, stretching in a way that he hoped seemed cool and casual. There hadn't been any girls in the Southern Water Tribes near to his age besides his sister, and despite his bravado Sokka was finding every moment he spent with Yue a little nerve wracking.
What if he put his foot in his mouth and said something stupid, like he so often did, that made Yue hate him? He still wasn't sure what it was that he'd said that'd made Yue cry and run away from him on the bridge a few days after they'd first arrived.
"Is it always this cold in the sky?"
A warmth settled against his side, and Sokka glanced over to see that Yue had scooted closer over towards him. Cold? It felt pretty hot up here to him! "Not when you're with someone." He stammered out.
Yue turned to look at him. It must have been the frosty sky air stinging her face, but Sokka could swear that she was blushing. "It's beautiful up here." She whispered.
"Yeah…" But not as beautiful as you. Spirits, what he wouldn't give to be able to say that out loud. But he knew that if he did, Yue would probably feel uncomfortable again and want to leave.
It was painful trying to keep the words he was desperate to say bottled up. Surely Yue deserved to know how incredible she was? Deserved to know that she was so funny, so wise and mature beyond her years, and so captivating when she smiled…
Sokka's eyes widened as he realised that, without thinking, his face had ended up a hair's breadth away from Yue's; his lips a second away from meeting hers.
But if he kissed her now, she'd only become filled with more confusion and doubt. And as much as he longed to kiss her, he also didn't want to give her any more reasons not to smile.
"Woo, yeah!" He all but yelled, jolting backwards and pretending to act cool. "Ahhh, good times, good times." Yue's face was as red as the wine he'd seen people in the Earth Kingdom drink, and he was pretty sure his wasn't much different. Yet to acknowledge that would be to acknowledge this… thing between them, and that would make Yue unhappy.
A flicker of black crossed his vision.
"Hmm?" Sokka looked around, noticing for the first time streaks of black that were beginning to fall around them. "Hey, look."
Snowflakes as black as coal were starting to drift lazily down from above: only a handful at first, but every time he blinked Sokka could swear that they multiplied. Within a span of just a few seconds the sky was stained with dark flecks.
Down below them the pristine white snow and rich blue water of the Northern Water Tribe was slowly but surely being dyed a murky grey. Yue raised a hand, catching one of the black flakes in her palm. It melted in a second, leaving behind a sooty grey stain. "What's happening?" She asked.
Sokka knew. It had been years since he'd last seen black snow falling from the sky, but he had never forgotten a single day when they had. Each time the black snow fell, members of his village would be gone the next morning. He flicked the reins, bringing Appa back down to land, and jumped off the saddle to scoop up a handful of the black-stained snow.
"Soot." He muttered, recognising the filth.
"What?" Yue asked.
"I've seen this before, right before my village was attacked." Sokka replied, standing up. "It's soot mixed with snow."
"But why?" Yue was looking back to her home with concern, unsettled by the palpable shadow that was being cast over it.
"It's the Fire Nation." Sokka answered. Just when he'd thought they'd found somewhere safe from those monsters. "They've closed in on the North Pole. And from the looks of this stuff, I'd say there's a lot of them."
...
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