6

Tanya had a serious problem on her hands.

In some ways things between her and Zhao had not changed at all. Their day-to-day routine remained the same: he presented her with a mission that would free up nearby troops for reassignment, and she executed it flawlessly and without mercy. Every week missives were sent back to the homeland detailing their unbroken string of victories, and as a reward Zhao's claims to the troops they freed up were approved.

Yet in other ways things were completely different. No longer did Zhao pretend to be anything other than the ambitious, demanding taskmaster he truly was, and in turn Tanya showed all the emotion of a robot when in his presence. Their office culture had burned away in the flames of the execution platform, leaving only a cold, clinical relationship.

Tanya did not believe that Zhao had been bluffing when he threatened her with death. Despite the fact that she was perhaps one of the most skilled firebenders in the world, Zhao's pride would not let him back out of a threat he'd made. He would see it through if only to prove that he wasn't afraid to. This was, of course, a problem, as Tanya had no intention of dying by his hands or anyone else's.

There was no denying however that the sword of damocles was dangling perilously above her head. There were precious few choices she could make that didn't place her in mortal peril. Request a transfer, and Zhao would no doubt deny it and then send her on a suicide mission. Leave the military altogether, and she'd be hunted down by the Fire Nation as a traitor, unable to take refuge within the other nations thanks to having slaughtered so many of their troops. Stay, and whenever The Avatar next showed up she'd be executed if she didn't manage to catch the slippery bastard, which was not a gamble she was comfortable taking given her current track record.

If only she'd been more hesitant to trust Zhao right from the beginning. If she'd been able to establish her own method of communicating with the homeland outside of military channels she could have contacted Azula, and pulled on her connections to have Zhao brought before a military court. She had enough evidence against him to send Zhao to prison for a lifetime. And it was no secret that Firelord Ozai, who would doubtlessly preside over such a trial, favoured her. Sadly Zhao had all communication within his fleet closely monitored, and would no doubt personally read any letters she tried to send through official channels.

"When I'm in charge, I'll make sure proper procedures are put in place to prevent any other barbarians from abusing their position like this." She thought to herself as she marched through the corridors of Zhao's flagship, heading towards the helm whilst clutching a binder of papers close to her chest. She rapped sharply on the door when she arrived, and pushed her way in when Zhao's voice called for her to enter.

The helm was currently a neatly organised flood of maps, astral charts and other stacks of important-looking scrolls, all organised around a large map sprawled out across the central table that showed the most up-to-date layout of the Northern Water Tribe's capital city. Various arrows had been drawn in red, all representing potential paths for troops to take in order to reach vital areas, and a large black circle had been drawn around one area that appeared to be some kind of holy shrine in the middle of a lake. It was no great secret among the officers that Zhao was planning a siege of the North Pole, but the admiral had kept his strategy infuriatingly close to his chest. Tanya stepped inside just in time to see Zhao finish locking something within a heavy safe, and tuck the key hanging from a piece of string around his neck underneath his shirt.

"Admiral." She announced cooly, her face an emotionless mask as she snapped into a perfectly formal salute. "We've received another lead on The Avatar. A nearby town just reported that a young boy with airbending abilities disrupted their Fire Day Festival mere hours ago."

Zhao's grin was like a shark's: full of teeth and aggression, and as cold as the depths of the ocean. "Excellent. Fortune smiles upon us once again."

Fortune. Right. Nothing at all to do with the hours of complicated analysis Tanya had done since they received reports that The Avatar had been sighted in Makapu village and Mo Ce Abbey. Assuming that The Avatar was heading to the North Pole in search of a waterbending master, Tanya had predicted the route he would take and adjusted their own course to intercept. There was as much good fortune involved here as there was playing cards with aces hidden up your sleeve. Not that Zhao would care for her mentioning it.

"Gather my personal guard." Zhao declared. "There can be no mistakes this time. I'll see to the capture of The Avatar myself."

"So, the Avatar was here and you let him slip away?"

Zhao was not happy. Not in the slightest. Why was it that incompetency seemed to rife within the Fire Nation these days? To think that an entire town of soldiers had failed to capture one little boy who only knew how to blow air. Since when were children too much of a challenge for the Fire Nation's finest to handle?

"Yes, sir, but other than that the festival went off without a hitch!" The anxious leader of the town guard reported, just as a huge piece of burning wood crashed to the ground behind him. "No fights. Theft was way down."

"I don't care about your local crime rates!" Zhao spat. "Which way did they go?"

"They headed into the forest, up the river I suspect."

Not immediately north? Interesting. Witnesses had reported a hooded man throwing bombs had helped The Avatar escape, yet Tanya's reports had not mentioned any such figure present in his last two appearances. This smelled like an opportunity! With the cover of trees to hide them, they could ambush The Avatar before he had the chance to flee on that fat, flying cow of his!

He turned to his ever faithful right-hand woman, who stood woodenly at attention by his side. Tanya had been in a sulky mood ever since his little show of authority back at Pohuai Stronghold: speaking only when spoken to, and even then only ever in a curt, formal tone. It was like watching a child try to give someone the silent treatment, except that her position as his subordinate forced her to break said silence whenever he desired it. Frankly, Zhao didn't care. He'd had to rope Tanya along with kind words at first, but she was too tightly bound to him for that to matter anymore. She was under his power, and had no means of escaping before he could launch his invasion of the North Pole. He had no doubts that the moment they returned to the homeland she'd go snivelling to The Firelord about what he'd done to the sages, but by then The Firelord wouldn't care. He hated the sages anyway, and with the title of Moonslayer under his belt Zhao would be a hero beyond reproach. Any laws he'd broken along the way would be swept under the rug as ends justifying the means.

"Ready the river boats." He commanded, watching with satisfaction as Tanya quickly, but clearly reluctantly, saluted him in acknowledgement. "We're going after the Avatar."

For too long he'd trusted his subordinates to handle the task for him, but as the old adage said; if you want something done right, do it yourself. This time he'd see to the capture of The Avatar personally, and nobody, not even the Blue Spirit, would mess things up.

Jeong Jeong was not impressed when The Avatar returned to his cottage.

"What are you doing here? I did not tell you to stop!" He admonished the boy sternly. He had taken Aang up a nearby mountain with clear instructions to focus on his breathing: a vital skill for any firebender to properly learn. It had also been meant to teach the boy patience, but clearly that lesson had gone over the young nomad's head.

"I've been breathing for hours!" Aang protested.

"You want to stop breathing?"

"I want you to stop wasting my time! I already know how to squat and breathe and feel the sun!" The Avatar replied heatedly. "I wanna know how to shoot fire out of my fingertips!"

Oh the folly of youth. Pretty much every firebending child said those same things when they started their training. It was straight into the spectacle, the destruction, with little regard for the danger of the power they wielded. Once upon a time firebending children were forbidden from conjuring fire until they had undergone a trial to prove their understanding of the dangers of their element. Like many of the old traditions, it had quickly been thrown away when the great war started. Nowadays most children received nothing but military training, which went straight into how to shoot fire at their enemies from the very first lesson.

A gruff sigh escaped his lips as Jeong Jeong realised that a different approach would be needed to get this lesson through to Aang. He was a good kid really, far more empathetic than most his age, but the pressure put upon him to end this terrible war was bringing out the recklessness within him. Perhaps he could use that natural empathy to teach this lesson? He was not normally one to open up about his past, but these were extraordinary circumstances.

"I had a pupil once who had no interest in learning discipline." He said slowly, mind already turning to form the image of Zhao. Not the hardened killer he'd become, but as the fresh-faced young cadet he'd once been when Jeong Jeong had first met him: so curious, so eager to learn, so ambitious. "He was only concerned with the power of fire - how he could use it to destroy his opponents and wipe out the obstacles in his path. But fire is a horrible burden to bear. Its nature is to consume, and without control it destroys everything around it."

His greatest regret in life was how he'd failed to teach Zhao the importance of control; both over fire, and over himself. Because of his failure that sweet young boy had grown into a monster ruled by pride, and had slain dozens in his vain quest for glory. Worse was that he'd picked up an apprentice of his own, the infamous Devil of the South Sea, who had twice his thirst for blood if her rampage across the Earth Kingdom was any indication. Were his teachings destined to be passed down from monster to monster for generations to come, leaving a trail of bloodshed and bodies wherever they went? The thought of it made him sick to his very stomach.

"Learn restraint, or risk destroying yourself and everything you love." He whispered, feeling his breath hitch under the weight of his regret.

The Avatar seemed to grasp the seriousness of the matter if his silence was any indication. Without a word the young nomad got up and left, leaving Jeong Jeong to grieve in the candlelight for the apprentice he'd failed.

"Who were those men?" Tanya asked, looking back at the burning tree behind them. As they'd sailed up river a small band of men in tribal garments wielding rudimentary weapons had tried to ambush them, but Zhao had shown no mercy in unleashing powerful waves of flames that set the trees alight and forced them to retreat.

Zhao smiled mysteriously. "Friends of a man I did not expect to find here. I know now why The Avatar came. He seeks tuition from Jeong Jeong."

"Jeong Jeong the deserter?" Tanya asked, surprised by the revelation. Jeong Jeong was the only man to have deserted the Fire Nation army and escaped punishment. Well, except for another man called Chey, who now she thought about it matched the profile of the explosives expert who'd been reported to have made contact with The Avatar back in the village. If The Avatar had any intention of learning firebending, then Jeong Jeong might well be his only chance to do it. Every other firebender had been conscripted into military service.

"The very same." Zhao replied smugly. "And my old master."

Hold up, what? Zhao had been the student of the infamous Admiral Jeong? He'd certainly kept that little fact well hidden.

Zhao began chuckling to himself, a sound that Tanya had never before noticed sounded so dark and ominous. "This falls out better than I could devise. Jeong Jeong is an old fool bound by antiquated notions of what firebending should be. He won't have taught The Avatar so much as how to produce a spark until he's forced a hundred lessons about breathing down his throat. The Avatar had wasted his time here, and now I can capture not just him but my treacherous old master too! Who could deny that destiny is on my side?"

Who could indeed? It really did seem sometimes like whatever Zhao wanted just fell into his lap. The sentiment proved prophetically true not a few seconds later, as the boats rounded a corner to see Jeong Jeong and the water tribe girl who accompanied The Avatar kneeling at the river bank.

Zhao's grin grew so wide it seemed like it might rip his cheeks. "Tanya." He commanded, as if beckoning for a dog. "Attack!"

As much as it irritated her to be addressed like a tool, Tanya didn't really have much of a choice but to obey. She stepped casually into a stance and raised one arm, then brought it forward to unleash a powerful blast directly at the two targets.

It was a powerful opening attack, but not much good against a master firebender. Jeong Jeong leapt into a defensive stance and broke the blast around him and the girl, yelling for her to find her friends and flee. He settled deeper into his stance as the boats docked against the riverbank and Zhao's elite guard jumped ashore, and then raised both hands to create a wall of blazing flames blocking them from chasing after the girl.

"Don't worry, men. My old teacher gave up fighting a long time ago." Zhao declared as he disembarked his ship and strode forward confidently. The flaming wall parted around him as he used firebending to push his way through his teacher's technique. "Haven't you, Master Jeong Jeong?"

The wall of flames began to flicker and burn out, leaving a tense silence across the riverbank as former master and apprentice stared each other down.

"Look at you." Zhao sneered. "You were once so great. I can't believe my former master has become nothing more than a simple savage."

Jeong Jeong shook his head. "It is you who have embraced savagery, Zhao." He replied calmly.

"It's Admiral Zhao, now."

"That title will not help you against The Avatar. Do not try to fight him! You are no match!"

Zhao looked like he was struggling not to laugh. "I think I can handle a child."

"I have never seen such raw power." Jeong Jeong replied sagely, and all at once Zhao's smirk was replaced by a furious scowl. It didn't take Tanya long to read the subtext of the conversation. Had he perhaps once told Zhao the same thing? The last thing Zhao wanted to hear was anything that denied how special he thought he was.

"Jeong Jeong!"

That voice! Tanya's head whipped around, easily locating The Avatar from where he'd just emerged from the trees. The idiot hadn't run despite Jeong Jeong's instructions? He really was a fool!

"We'll see." Zhao hissed, turning towards The Avatar. "Men! Take the deserter!"

At his command, Zhao's troops surrounded and closed in on Jeong Jeong. Yet the former admiral only smirked and spun around, wrapping himself in a ball of flames that popped into a bright flash of light. When the light dissipated the old man was nowhere to be found.

"It's a trick!" Zhao screamed. "He's run off into the woods! Tanya, find him!"

"Yes admiral!" Tanya replied, flames bursting to life beneath her feet. Now that Zhao had mentioned it she could see freshly broken branches and other signs betraying the direction Jeong Jeong had run off in. She rocketed off into the forest, Zhao's soldiers running along behind her, and looked back just in time to see Zhao advancing on The Avatar.

"Let's find out what my old master has taught you." He snarled, settling into a firebending stance.

"Yes, let's find out indeed." Tanya thought to herself, the corner of her lips twitching into the beginnings of a smile as she turned back to the forest.

He was being followed.

Hurrying as fast as his old bones could manage, Jeong Jeong pushed his way through the undergrowth. He could feel a phantom heat on the back of his neck, and hear the crackle of burning trees not too far behind him. Nobody could accuse ex-admiral Jeong of being lazy: he worked hard every day to keep his body in peak physical condition. Yet the sad truth was that age had long since begun to rob him of the ferocious stamina that had made him a great warrior in his youth. Already he was tiring, while his pursuer was not.

"I cannot outrun them." He thought sadly. Although the Fire Nation had fallen from grace he knew better than most that many of the soldiers did not truly desire war, and he had not wished to harm anyone if it could be avoided. Yet if his pursuer was determined to chase him down it appeared he was left with little choice.

Taking a left turn, Jeong Jeong ducked his way through a bramble bush and emerged into a clearing. Casually he walked to the centre of the glade, listening to the calming sounds of nature around him. He could hear the twittering of birds, the chirping of insects, the rustling of the leaves as a calm breeze blew through them; all the sounds of the world in balance. A relaxed sigh escaped his lips as he breathed deeply, savouring the presence of nature and all the life within it around him.

How beautiful the world was when in harmony. And now misguided his countrymen were, that they were unable to see it.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

FWOOSH!

Behind him the bramble bush erupted into fire, and all at once the birds and insects flew away in panic, leaving the glade silent but for the hollow crackling of the flames. Jeong Jeong could not help the disappointed frown that crossed his face. Fire really did nothing but destroy the harmony of the world.

As the flames consumed it the bramble bush collapsed under its own weight, and his pursuer stepped out over it into the glade. Jeong Jeong noted her sunlight-gold hair with curiosity, then the trail of burning foliage left in her wake with disapproval. This was Zhao's apprentice then? The fearsome devil-child? She did not appear to be strong, but the fact that she had apparently flown through the forest after him using the jet propulsion spoke of immense skill. It could not have been easy to hone reactions quick enough to fly through trees.

"I was hoping we'd meet one day, student of my student." He began conversationally. "Though I admit, I had hoped for better circumstances. Tanya, isn't it?"

"It is." The girl replied in a sharp tone. "But I'm not Zhao's student."

"Oh? But you are The Sun Fairy, are you not?"

The girl's face warped into a nasty scowl. "I prefer The Devil of the South Sea."

How sad it was that a girl so young believed it better to be a devil than a fairy. "Then perhaps we should just stick to names. Please, call me Jeong."

"I think I'd rather call you traitor." Tanya hissed.

Jeong Jeong cocked his head to the side. "Are you sure you aren't Zhao's student? Those sound awfully like his words coming out of your mouth."

Tanya scowl deepened into a rictus of fury, and with a yell she hurled a quick fireball at him. Seems he'd struck a rather raw nerve there. With one hand Jeong Jeong slapped the fireball away, making sure to angle it up so that it wouldn't hit the forest, and tutted. "You lack control, just like he does."

"I have control!" Tanya spat.

"No, you have precision!" Jeong Jeong shot back. "You hone your fire into a sharp blade, but still you swing it only for the purpose of destruction! That is not control! Control lies is restraint: in knowing when to sheath your blade."

Tanya scoffed loudly. "What is this? A lecture from a tree-hugging hippie? What do you know about control? Firelord Ozai controls the Fire Nation, soon the entire world, yet I don't see him lounging around these woods smoking pond weed. In fact, ever since you deserted I'd say you don't have control of anything."

Jeong Jeong shook his head. "I speak of self-control, not using manipulation to control others."

"Well then shut up, because nobody wants to hear you."

Kids these days. When did they get so rude? Having said that, she hadn't attacked him yet, despite her world to the contrary. Perhaps it still wasn't too late to resolve this peacefully. "Tell me this then: do you feel in control?"

That seemed to make the young girl pause, staring at him for a moment as if she suspected she'd misheard him. "What?"

"It's a simple question. Do you feel like you are in control?"

The golden haired girl scowled. "Of what?"

"Of your life. Of your destiny. Of yourself."

Tanya shifted uncomfortably. It seemed he'd struck another nerve. "Of course I do!" She snapped unconvincingly.

"When was the last time that you made a decision for yourself?" Jeong pressed. "Did you want to join the military, or was it forced upon you? Do you fight because you want to, or because you are ordered to? Are you in control of your life, or is Zhao!"

"Shut up!" Tanya yelled, settling into a proper fighting stance. "I'll be free of Zhao soon enough!"

Jeong Jeong shook his head. "No child, you will not. You may free yourself of this Zhao, but you will always find someone else standing above you: trying to make you obey them, serve them, even worship them. As long as you lack control there will always be another Zhao."

It was impossible not to notice the way the girl visibly flinched at the word worship, and Jeong Jeong idly wondered what his old apprentice must have done to her to warrant such a reaction. "I understand what you feel, Tanya. You have been thrown into a war not of your own making, and others have turned your trust, fear and anger against you to make you into their puppet. But there is more to life than just fighting to survive! There is a greater purpose than giving your life to a cause that is not your own!" He took a step towards her, noting that she did not back away from him. "Let me show you. I can teach you how to control your inner fire, and in doing so control yourself. Nobody else will ever be able to manipulate you again. You will be free."

Tanya didn't reply, her expression wrestling between confusion and doubt. Jeong took another step forward, then another, until he was right in front of her. He placed one wizened hand on her shoulder…

And gasped in surprise as a flaming fist struck him square in the stomach.

Jeong Jeong darted backwards, just in time to avoid the follow-up kick that sent a blast of fire towards his head. Yet even that much movement caused a bolt of pure agony through his body. The burn was deep and raw, probably meant to kill.

"I can't believe you fell for that. You must think I'm some naive child, don't you?"

A grin had spread across Tanya's lips: wide and sharp, like a wolf that had smelled blood. It was such an unnaturally malicious expression to see on a young girl's face that Jeong Jeong took another step back in alarm.

"You think you can wave pretty words like freedom around and expect me to give up a lifetime of accomplishments? Ha! Get real!" Tanya continued, golden eyes burning like molten amber. Was it just his imagination, or was she starting to laugh? "Sure, there's always going to be someone above me telling me what to do, and some of those people are going to be tyrannical assholes like Zhao. But so what? Every good organisation needs rules."

She punctuated her point by bringing her hands together and unleashing a huge blast of flames that roared towards him like a giant serpent. Jeong sliced downwards, separating the fire blast in two around him, and winced at the pain it caused his fresh injury. To his horror the flames continued onwards even after being split, spilling out into the surrounding trees and setting a couple of the trees alight.

"I've met people like you before you know. People who whine and complain about the work their boss makes them do. People who moan about how unfairly the rules are, or how badly they believe they're treated." Tanya was striding forwards now, fireballs growing in both hands, and oh yes she was definitely laughing. "What they fail to comprehend is that if they truly want to make change, griping about it or quitting ain't gonna change shit!" She threw one fireball, which Jeong deflected with one hand with considerably more effort than he was comfortable with. "If you want to make a difference, you gotta earn the right to! You gotta claw and kick and fight your way up the greasy ladder of power until you're the one with the authority to do something about it!"

She threw her second fireball, and this time as Jeong Jeong made to deflect it he pulled on his wound badly, breaking his form as pain lanced through his side. The fireball struck him and knocked the old man to the ground.

"And believe me, I'm gonna do something about it!" Tanya declared, the light of the forest fire growing around them highlighting the madness in her features. "You think I'm going to just roll over and submit, to you, Zhao or anyone else? Fuck that! I'm heading straight to the top of the military, and I'll remove anyone who gets in my way! I'll help bring an end to this war in whatever way I deem appropriate! I'll be the one making the rules!"

She laughed: a high-pitched, childish sound drunk upon insanity, and at that moment Jeong Jeong finally realised his mistake. This was no misguided child he was dealing with; no impressionable youth being led astray down the wrong path.

This girl truly was a devil in human skin.

"You are ruled by your own pride." He spat, pushing himself to his feet and trying to ignore the way his knees wobbled with exertion. "You are spinning out of control. It will be your undoing."

"Well see about that." Tanya shot back.

She opened her hand and pushed it towards him in a palm-thrust motion, and a net of fire burst from it, widening as it flew towards him. Jeong Jeong brought his hand together in a prayer-like gesture, waiting until the net was right on top of him, and then slashed forwards, carving a hole in the net that allowed him to pass through unharmed. Yet again the flames carried onwards into the forest behind him, bolstering what was now a rapidly growing forest fire.

Tanya advanced, punching forward to unleash a steady stream of flames at him. Jeong ducked to the side and returned fire with a stream of his own, though his had a special trick to it. With his other hand he pointed two fingers to the right, and the stream began to twist in a clockwise direction like a horizontal hurricane.

Tanya skipped to the right to dodge the initial stream, grinning conceitedly, and then yelped in alarm as the stream began to twist and whip around towards her by itself, forcing her to jump farther to narrowly avoid it. The rushed movement led to a sloppy landing, and Jeong Jeong pressed his advantage when he noticed the girl's awkward footing. Three rapid punches created a trio of quick fireballs that soared towards her like diving birds.

Unable to properly dodge, Tanya was forced to conjure a shield of fire and tank the hits. The first she took well, only stumbling back a little as it collided with her shield, but the next two hit in unison, providing enough force to knock her off her feet.

Though not, it seemed, to the ground. Rather than resist the fall Tanya fell back into it like a diver. Flames erupted from her hands and feet, propelling her rapidly backwards just an inch or two from the ground and then up, until she was hovering in the sky just above the treeline.

Jeong Jeong had considered himself a master of the propulsion technique too, but even he had to reluctantly admit that he paled in comparison. The golden child of the Fire Nation pushed through the air with an ease none could ever hope to match, as if flying had been second nature to her from the moment she was born. No wonder they called her The Fairy. There were other firebending masters who could be considered stronger than her, but her overwhelming skill with this particular technique changed the very dimensions of combat to her advantage. He would be a fool to try and fight her in the air.

Instead Jeong Jeong settled into a deeper defensive stance. Like the turtle fighting the crane, he would take cover in his shell and let his foe tire itself. Opportunity would come when Tanya ran out of energy she needed to power her flight.

Yet to his surprise Tanya did not attack. Instead she grinned that wicked grin of hers, and shot fireballs into the surrounding forest. Was she mocking him by further destroying the nature he cared for? How dishonourable.

"You know I'm pleasantly surprised. I'd expected you to have run away by now." Tanya taunted.

"I am no coward." Jeong Jeong replied.

"No? You certainly could have fooled me. Running away from the war sure is an interesting way of proving your courage."

Jeong Jeong frowned. "Cowardice would have been to follow orders, pretending that it being for the sake of my nation absolved me of any guilt. True courage is found in walking your own path despite others telling you how you should live your life."

"I disagree. True courage would have been trying to convince others to share your path with you, even if they hated you for it." Tanya shot back. "You could have done more to end this war as an admiral than you can hiding in a forest."

Jeong opened his mouth to reply, when a sudden tightness gripped his chest. Each breath became heavy and musty, as if he couldn't get quite enough air no matter how hard he panted. One hand shot to the wound on his chest, yet despite the feverish heat about it that did not seem to be the cause of his plight.

"What's the matter old man? Out of breath already?"

Tanya's smug voice rained down from above, and the cruel delight on her expression removed any doubt as to whether she was responsible. "How?..." Jeong croaked.

Tanya nodded towards the forest fire spreading around them, encasing the glade in a ring of flames. "Fire needs oxygen to burn. Looks like the supply down there is running out fast."

Devious child! Jeong Jeong repositioned from his defensive stance, preparing to jet into the air himself, but was interrupted as a wave of fire washed out across the glade from the burning tree behind him. Quickly he spun and split a safe path through the flames, only for yet another wave to crash towards him from his right.

"You know, firebending really is much easier when there are existing sources nearby." Tanya remarked, swishing her arms to send a third fire wave his way. "No wonder those earth benders have proven so troublesome to get rid of."

Jeong carved his way through the waves again, but the tightness in his chest was growing alarmingly sharp. He had to escape the trap she'd caught him in! But how?

The answer came to him in a flash. She was not the only one who could make use of the forest fire.

Drawing his arms in, Jeong Jeong's mind returned to memories of the days he had spent with his dear friend Master Paku. The grandmasters of The White Lotus had all spent time in each other's homelands, teaching one another the history, philosophy and culture of their respective nations. Jeong Jeong had always wished to be a waterbender himself, and had studied some of Paku's techniques with great interest. One such study had born unexpected fruit.

Jeong Jeong's arms moved in twisting, serpentine motions; like ancient dragons coiling through the sky. The forest fires around him began to bend and writhe, reshaping themselves according to his will. Like the tendrils of a great leviathan, ten fiery tentacles, each as thick as tree trunks, snaked out of the forest and surrounded Tanya.

The devil-child looked around with wide eyes, taken aback by the unexpected technique. "Okay… never seen that one before…" He heard her murmur to herself.

Jeong snapped his arms towards Tanya, and the tendrils whipped at her from every direction.

It was like watching a hydra try to devour a housefly. Tanya bobbed and weaved with frightening agility, blasting herself in ever-shifting directions in a way that would have shaken Jeong's old bones apart. Yet while one tendril struck, the other nine circled around the area, ready to take their chance the moment she dodged in their direction. That the girl managed to dodge them all for so long spoke of reflexes honed sharply enough to split hairs on. Yet unlike most modern firebending techniques, Jeong's fire tendrils were not made to burn brightly but quickly. Again and again they came back, relentlessly pushing Tanya to the limits of her agility.

Eventually one tendril finally got lucky, scoring a direct hit on Tanya's shin that had her scream in agony. Down she went like a falling kite, crashing roughly back into the glade.

Most would have been defeated by such a great fall, and Jeong Jeong was silently impressed when the girl got back up again: covered in grass stains and bruises, and notably limping on her injured leg, but with unmistakable determination alight in her eyes. She would have made a fine student if only she would abandon the path she was on. A shame that the stakes were too high for him to risk trying to convince her again.

Jeong fought for breath, the edges of his vision starting to blur as the first signs of oxygen deprivation began to set in, and on the other side of the glade he noticed Tanya doing the same. Neither of them had much time left. This next exchange would settle it.

Extending both arms out, Jeong Jeong focused upon the chi energy within himself. He brought one arm sweeping low, funnelling his negative yin chi down it, then repeated the motion with the other arm, funnelling his positive yang chi into that. Then, with the utmost focus, he brought his arms back together, allowing the two energies to recollide and form crackling lightning with their union. One well aimed bolt of lightning would bring an end to this fight quickly and efficiently.

He had expected Tanya to try taking to the air again, or at least begin making some attempt to dodge even with a wounded leg, yet to his shock she didn't. Instead she stood her ground.

"I give you one last chance girl. Surrender." Jeong Jeong called out. "I do not wish to kill you."

Tanya did not answer. She only settled into a stance of her own, her face set in stone. The message was clear: there would be no surrender.

So be it.

Jeong Jeong extended two fingers forward, and from them roared a bolt of pure lightning that ripped through the air as it hurtled towards Tanya. Yet even as he had moved, so had Tanya.

Lightning was quick, precise and powerful. It was nearly impossible to avoid unless you were already out of the line of fire before it was launched. With that in mind it was impressive enough that Tanya almost avoided it. Bursts of flame so intense they seemed to glow white for a second erupted from her feet as she threw herself to the side, scorching the grass beneath her to a blackened pool of ash in the blink of an eye as she rocketed to the side. Yet still she was not quite quick enough. The lightning bolt that should have pierced straight through the middle of her chest instead speared through her left forearm, blasting a burning hole straight through it with contemptuous ease.

Yet even as her face contorted in pain, Tanya's eyes still flashed victoriously.

From her right hand a bolt of fire about the size of a baseball curved through the air, following back along the lightning's path. The sudden flash of light from his own attack had filled Jeong Jeong's old eyes with spots, and in the span of the two blinks it took to clear them the firebolt was too close to avoid. It smashed into his chest, right on top of the nasty burn Tanya had inflicted at the beginning of the fight, and melted through the weakened flesh like candle wax, carving a path through Jeong's organs and out of the other side.

Tanya collapsed on the ground, hissing profanities with agony as she clutched at her still-smoking arm. But to Jeong Jeong her words sounded oddly muted, like he was hearing them through a thick veil of wool. In fact all the sounds of the world around him, from the rustling leaves to the crackling fire, sounded distant and far away. The only noise he could hear clearly was the pumping of his blood in his ears, which grew weaker and weaker with each heartbeat.

This is the end.

The thought crossed his mind with a sense of calm certainty. An instinctive feeling deep within his soul which told him that his time had finally come. He'd always expected to feel regret gnawing away at him when death finally came to claim him, and was pleasantly surprised with himself to find that wasn't true. There were still things he would have liked to have said and done, but he felt no compulsion to feverishly cling to them. Like the airbenders of old he felt his spirit become untethered from his mortal concerns one by one, bringing lightness and freedom to his weary spirit.

A gentle darkness, like the lull of a deep sleep, began to roll in from the edges of his eyes. Jeong fell to his knees, then to the ground, letting the soft caress of the grass embrace him.

In his final moments, Jeong Jeong thought of Aang. The boy was young and sometimes impatient, yet he'd had the wisdom to recognise his mistakes and the courage to admit them. The boy would be quick to grow into the man that the world needed him to become by summer's end. Yes, Jeong could rest easy knowing that the world would be safe in The Avatar's hands.

And so, with one last breath, the old grandmaster closed his eyes, and let the darkness claim him.

Fire roared in uncontrolled joy across the decks of his boats, mocking him for his failure.

Zhao seethed with white-hot fury. He'd been tricked! Lured into destroying his own boats by a ten year old child! Humiliation fuelled his rage, urging him to lash out, but with proof of what such recklessness led to burning away in front of him he dared not. With no outlet for his surplus aggression he found himself paralysed by it: standing dumbly in the water as his body trembled with wild wrath.

The Avatar had beaten him! And hadn't even thrown a single punch to do it!

"No luck capturing The Avatar? Welcome to the club."

Zhao's spine stiffened. Who dared to speak to him that way! Slowly his head turned back to the riverbank, bloodshot eyes fixating on the blonde-haired girl who stood there, cradling one arm. Tanya!

"I hope, for your sake," he ground out between gnashed teeth, trying to force himself to stay calm. "Jeong Jeong is dead. Because I swear to Agni if you've failed me again, the very ground you stand on will be your grave."

"That old windbag?" Tanya snorted dismissively. "Tougher than I'd expected, but still no match for me. He's dead."

Dead. Master Jeong Jeong was dead. Since the moment he'd heard the news that his mentor had turned traitor, Zhao had longed to be the one to bring him to justice. He'd dreamed of how satisfying it must be to strike down the man who'd berated him with constant, wasteful lessons on restraint. Had restraint saved Jeong's life in the end? No, it hadn't. Restraint was for the weak, like Prince Zuko or his clown of an uncle. The strong did not pull their punches.

And yet, despite his expectations, Zhao did not feel happy to learn of his master's death as he'd expected to. Instead it left him feeling… oddly twisted up inside. "I- I see." He muttered, turning away to face the river. "Very good then. At least one threat to the Fire Nation has been taken care of."

"Oh please." Tanya scoffed. "Do you really think crowing on about killing a senile old man with be enough to distract The Fire Lord from tour yailure to capture The Avatar?"

Zhao's head snapped around like a whip, eyes so hot with rage it almost seemed like fire might shoot from them. All at once his impotent anger found a convenient target. "How dare you!" He hissed, striding forwards to Tanya. As he got close enough he raised one arm and struck, delivering a heavy back-handed slap right across her cheek. It only infuriated him all the more when Tanya didn't react to it at all.

"You DARE to imply that I am the failure here! ME!" He would not be seen as a failure! He refused! He would never allow for his reputation to be sullied! In the feverish madness of his anger, inspiration struck. "Why did YOU not capture The Avatar! YOU are the one who the task fell to!"

"Because you ordered me to chase your hobbling old master." Tanya sneered. "No doubt petty sentiment blinded you to what was truly important. I'll make sure The Firelord knows exactly what really happened here."

No. NO! The Firelord must NEVER discover the truth of what happened! If he lost The Firelord's approval now all his plans would fall apart! The fleet he'd been gathering to storm the North Pole would be disbanded in the blink of an eye!

There was only one way to stop the truth from getting out.

Zhao straightened, a steely coolness entering his eyes. "I warned you before that failing to capture The Avatar again would mean your execution." He growled.

Yet far from being intimidated, Tanya scoffed. "You won't kill me." She stated, with all the casual certainty of one remarking on the weather.

"Oh?" Zhao leaned in closer so that his eyes bored directly into hers. "And why, pray tell, is that?"

Tanya's eyes flickered to something over his shoulder, and her signature creepy smile spread across her lips. "Because without me, who is going to protect you from him?"

Zhao whirled around, body instinctively settling into a defensive stance to protect himself from an ambush! Someone had snuck up behind him! Who had she partnered with? Master Jeong? The Avatar? The Firelord?!

Yet there was nothing behind him but empty space.

BAM!

A hollow thud struck Zhao in the back, stealing his breath away in an instant, and bright orange light filled his vision. It was over as quickly as it had begun, leaving spots swimming across his eyes. What was that? What just happened? Numbly he looked down towards his chest, which felt strangely heavy.

Oh.

A large hole the size of a fist, outlined with blackened and charred flesh, loomed back at him from out of his own torso. He craned his head back to look at Tanya, who stood behind him with a smoking hand pressed against his back.

"You…" He managed to gasp out weakly, before his knees buckled. Strangely enough Tanya gripped his shoulders to stop him from falling and gravity claimed him, and lowered him gently backwards to lay in the shallow water of the riverbank.

"Ssshhh now, it's okay, don't fight it." She whispered soothingly as she set him down, like a nurse offering a facade of comfort to a patient as they unplugged their life support. Zhao's hands fumbled weakly towards her throat in a last attempt to strangle his treacherous subordinate, but she casually slapped them away.

Tanya knelt down in the river beside him, tiny waves lapping at her knees as she cradled Zhao's head to keep it just above water level. "You know, I really do regret that it had to end this way." She said with uncharacteristic gentleness. Idly she swept a lock of hair off of his face. "Things got rough between us at the end, but for most of the time I've known you, you've been the perfect superior. Nobody else would have promoted a girl as young and seemingly inexperienced as me all the way up through the ranks so quickly. They would have assumed I was untested, or too immature. But not you." A wicked gleam flashed across her eyes. "No, to you it didn't matter who I was or where I came from, so long as I could destroy your enemies. A perfect meritocrat. By staying in your shadow and fuelling your rise, I could rise myself without scrutiny."

"But you know…" Tanya trailed off, her lips turning down into a small, sad frown. "Your master Jeong Jeong helped me realise that we'd reached the end of that arrangement. Like any manager who rises upon the work of a skilled subordinate, you'd reached the top and wanted to keep me in your shadow forever in order to stay there. You'd become the final hurdle I needed to clear in order to fulfil my own ambitions. So in the end, what other choice do I have but to kill you? When given the choice between being a murderer or a slave, I'd pick murderer any time. I think you would too."

A gurgle of blood welled up in Zhao's throat, causing him to cough it up violently over his chin. Tanya tutted and wiped it away. "But don't worry Zhao. I know how much glory meant to you, and out of respect for everything you've done for me I'll make sure you still get it. The whole Fire Nation will know how, upon learning that your own treacherous master was teaching The Avatar firebending, you gallantly rushed here to confront them. How ferociously you fought The Avatar, who was drunk on the power of learning the superior element. How you would have won had The Avatar not grovelled before you in fake surrender, then struck you from behind like a coward the moment you turned your back."

Tanya leaned in closer, her golden yellow eyes locked on Zhao's like a bird of prey swooping towards its next meal. One of her hands reached down into his shirt and pulled out the key he wore around his neck. "But do you know what will be best of all? Once I lead the successful conquest of the North Pole, I capture The Avatar, and I am hailed as the greatest hero of the Fire Nation, I'll have a statue of you built. I'll tell everyone who'll listen the story of the wise mentor who spotted me as a diamond in the rough; how you gave me the guidance and opportunities to make something of myself in the military, and how right now, with your dying breath, you told me the secret to conquering the North." Tanya's smile would have seemed so sweet and innocent, had the blazing gold of her eyes not shone with cruel, violent glee. "You will attain the eternal glory you craved as an extension of my legend Zhao. Ironic, considering how you tried to make me an extension of yours."

Zhao croaked out a final, feeble attempt at an insult, but could barely muster the strength to lift his head. His body felt heavy and sluggish, like it was filled with lead, and darkness was rapidly creeping into the edges of his vision. As his eyelids grew heavy Tanya lowered him down into the water, smiling ghoulishly above his body like a demon waiting to claim his soul.

"Sleep now Zhao. I'll take care of the rest."

With a heart full of fear and regret Zhao's eyes fell closed for the last time, and the darkness swarmedin to swallow him up just as it had his master.

The crew of Azulon's Revenge stood at attention in deathly silence, ignoring the drizzle of rain dripping down their armour from the grey clouds above. Night had nearly come, but the large braziers that'd been set up across the deck blazed heartily enough to keep them warm.

Nobody dared utter a word, but a sense of uncertainty and trepidation hung over them like a thick shroud. Hours ago Zhao's raiding party had returned from their hunt for The Avatar on foot, and it hadn't taken long to notice that the tall, imposing man who should have been leading them had been replaced by the little girl with golden hair who inspired such awe and terror in equal measure. It hadn't taken ten minutes before urgent whispers had passed the news around the entire ship.

Admiral Zhao was dead.

With him gone, command of the crew fell to Commander Tanya, but that did little to ease the crew's minds. Everyone knew that the fleet of ships Zhao had been amassing was for some kind of huge invasion, but Zhao had been less than forthcoming about what exactly the plan was. With him gone the question of what would happen now hung on everyone's minds. If the fleet broke apart it would be a massive waste of the time and resources that had been put into assembling them. But what other choice was there? Who else could lead the invasion but Zhao?

No doubt Commander Tanya had called them here to answer those very questions.

As their golden haired leader walked up to a podium before them, rain dripping down her stoic face like teardrops and soaking the bandages sling covering one arm into a damp grey mess, none of the crew doubted that behind her indifferent expression Tanya must be grieving terribly. It was just like her to keep a strong face for their sake, but everyone knew how loyal she had been to Admiral Zhao. She had been his perfect soldier: following his orders dutifully and efficiently, and always by his side no matter how high up the ranks he climbed. Once news that she was an orphan had spread around the rumour mill, some had even theorised that she was secretly Zhao's daughter, and had joined the navy in order to get to know him.

"Soldiers of the Fire Nation!" Tanya yelled, her voice carrying across the deck with practised ease. Her tone, like her stance, gave away nothing about how she was feeling besides cold stoicism. "No doubt you have all heard the rumours, and I have come to confirm them. Earlier today Admiral Zhao did indeed lose his life in battle with The Avatar. Using cowardly firebending techniques learned at the foot of the traitor Jeong Jeong, The Avatar struck Admiral Zhao while his back was turned."

Outraged mutterings began to break out across the crowd, but Tanya silenced them immediately with a raised fist. "His sacrifice will not be forgotten, nor will The Avatar's dishonourable acts, but now is not the time for grieving. The Admiral assembled this fleet for the greatest military campaign our nation has embarked upon since the siege of Ba Sing Se, and in his dying breath he told me the secret to his invasion plan. A secret I will not allow to go to waste!"

Tanya straightened, and for a moment it seemed like she genuinely grew taller. The aura of authority that surrounded her demanded their absolute attention. "Under military procedures following the death of a high-ranking commanding officer, I hereby temporarily claim the rank of Acting Admiral until further orders are received from the homeland. And my first order, to be relayed across the entire fleet, is to continue amassing as per the late Admiral Zhao's instructions." She looked out across the crowd, silently daring anyone to refute her claim, and when nobody did so nodded approvingly. "Return to your posts and prepare yourself for further orders. Very soon you will all have a part to play in the most heroic battle this war has ever seen! Admiral Zhaos' death will not mean the end of the legacy he began! We will finish what he started!" She saluted, and was rewarded by a thousand soldiers saluting her back in thunderous unison. "For the glory of the Fire Nation!" She yelled.

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE FIRE NATION!" Thousands of voices echoed back.

With that Tanya turned and walked away, leaving the soldiers to go about their business as she stormed directly to the helm. The moment the door was closed behind her, the controlled expression on her face broke apart, sliding easily back into the wolfish grin she'd been struggling to keep off her face for hours. With a skip in her step Tanya strode over to the heavy safe in the corner of the room, took the key she'd stolen from Zhao out of her pocket, and inserted it into the lock.

Truth be told she had absolutely no idea what Zhao was planning, but as long as everyone else thought she did they'd never dare question her right to take command. It was Zhao's dubious promise of a great victory that was holding this fleet together, and as long as she appeared to be the only one left who could provide it, her position of Acting Admiral was secure. Not that she'd be merely an acting admiral for long after successfully conquering the North Pole. Bring a prize like that to The Firelord, and being formally granted the rank of Admiral would be the least of her rewards.

All she had no do now was actually conquer the north. Easier said than done, but if Zhao thought it possible he must have at least been sitting on some tasty information he intended to exploit. Information he likely kept within this very safe.

The safe door swung open, revealing a single scroll inside: dusty brown and old, like a relic from a museum. Carefully Tanya opened the scroll, staring curiously at the picture of two fish swimming in a circle around each other.

Two words were displayed below the picture in big, bold letters: 'Moon' and 'Ocean'.

As her eyes scanned the content of the scroll, the devilish grin on Tanya's face grew just a little sharper