Poor Judgement of Character?

Entering a beautiful area with a lot of greenery in the area, Aang and Katara couldn't help but stop to take a moment and enjoy the view.

The instant he entered this room, Aang could instantly feel the energy in the air and the tranquility it carries.

Ffff!

Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Aang just felt like he could fly. He walked over to the center of all this calming energy and arrived before a pond where two fish were swimming calmingly without a care in the world.

"Ahh… this place is just awesome," muttered Aang in amazement.

Without wasting a single second, Aang closed his eyes and instantly felt calm. Using this calm feeling, Aang tried to enter the Spirit World.

Katara looked at Aang for a second before looking around the room and also enjoying the feeling of the spirituality in the surroundings.

"This place is amazing," said Katara as she turned to look at Yue in amazement.

Yue smiled and nodded her head as a form of thanks.

"This place is the center of all spiritual energy in our land."

Katara raised her eyebrows in awe and couldn't help but feel incredulous.

Just as Katara was about to say something else, she suddenly saw Aang from the corner of her eye meditating. It caught her attention and she instantly walked over to Yue who was also intrigued as to how someone enters the Spirit World.

Curiously, the both looked at Aang and began to whisper amongst themselves, wondering if Aang had entered the Spirit World yet or not.

Aang's eyebrows twitched and his eyes opened in irritation. Just as he was about to turn to yell at the girls to have them quiet down, Aang noticed something peculiar.

The two fishes he had seen earlier, a white koi fish with a black circle on it's head and a black koi fish with a white circle.

Their colors were opposites, but yet they complemented each other.

The weird thing about them that caught Aang's attention however, was that they were circling each other. At that moment, Aang suddenly felt like he had seen something and by the time he realized it, he was sitting down on a platform somewhere within a forest.

"Wow…"

***

1 Hour Ago

Appearing within a drainage system, Zuko finally managed to infiltrate the Northern Water Tribe.

Looking around from within the drainage system, Zuko noticed that the surroundings were still very quiet, besides the sound of the flowing water of the city.

Without wasting any more time, Zuko began to move out.

'Zhao still hasn't launched his attack. I can still capture the Avatar before he can lay his eyes on him,' thought Zuko as he quickly moved out and went to an area where he quickly managed to find his target.

'The Avatar…' thought Zuko as he carefully watched Aang from afar.

At this point of time, Aang was alone and resting on the floor next to Appa.

Debating whether to make a move or not, Zuko instantly regretted his belated answer as he saw another person appear.

'Who is she?' Zuko asked himself as he looked at Yue from afar.

He witnessed their conversation for a couple of minutes when Katara also joined in on the conversation.

'The waterbender,' thought Zuko as he frowned.

Time passed and once Zuko saw Aang and the rest move, he began to tail behind them secretly. Following their every movement, Zuko eventually found himself standing before a small wooden and circular door.

Aang and the rest had already entered and Zuko took a deep breath before entering with a firm look on his face. One hand ready for any surprise attack that may come out.

"..."

Once he entered and saw nothing to be wary of, Zuko moved forward but refused to lower his guard.

Soon, he encountered Aang and the rest within the Spirit Oasis.

'This place…'

Looking around, Zuko admired the place for a very short time before focusing his gaze on Aang who was meditating.

Refusing to move out until Aang successfully entered the Spirit World, Zuko stayed on watch and kept an eye on both Yue and Katara.

!!

Suddenly seeing a blinding light, Zuko lifted a hand and blocked the light from directly hitting him, but the light was gone as quick as it came.

Remaining in the place where the light came from, was Aang and his glowing blue arrows.

"It's time…" muttered Zuko as he looked at Aang before turning to look at Katara with a light smile on his face. "This should be easy…"

Jumping out, Zuko slowly made his way over to Katara and Yue with a confident stride as he heard her from afar.

"... We are enough to protect him…"

"Oh? You two are big girls now, eh?" ridiculed Zuko as he made his presence known to both Katara and Yue due to his overconfidence.

"Zuko…" muttered Katara in annoyance as she turned to look at Zuko.

She narrowed her eyes and prepared herself to fight against Zuko with her newfound confidence in her bending skills.

It wasn't just Katara who made a move, Yue stood next to Katara proudly and got into a similar stance to Katara.

"Hmph…"

Zuko didn't think much of it and quickly dashed forward whilst fire generated in his right hand as he prepared to thrust it forward to attack Katara.

Unflusturedly, both Yue and Katara moved in unison and swiftly moved their hands as they drew in water from the pond behind them.

Splash!

"AAH-AAHH!"

With great force and the strength of two capable and talented waterbenders, Yue and Katara manage to easily defeat Zuko. Pinning to the wall with ice, both women looked at each other with smiles on their faces before turning to focus on Aang.

…

Pinned to the wall in an instant, Zuko was shocked to say the least.

'What just happened?'

Zuko looked at Yue and Katara for a second before frowning and feeling angry. To think he had been defeated in an instant without being able to put up at least a bit of struggle.

It infuriated him, but he could do nothing about it at this point.

He could just wait and bide his time for the sun to rise and make another move.

'After this, I will train harder than before and make sure not to be defeated so quickly again,' thought Zuko as he closed his eyes and decided to rest in the meantime.

…

Katara and Yue approached Aang and stood a couple of feet away, protecting his body whilst Aang's spirit was within the Spirit World.

"Chieftess Yue!"

Suddenly hearing a shout, both Yue and Katara stood up in alert and turned to look at the source of the voice with hostility.

"Hm?"

Seeing clearly who the source of the voice was, Yue lowered her hands and approached the old man with a small smile on her face.

Katara saw Yue relax and decided to do the same. She recognized the man as well, but in this time of chaos, Katara decided to be a bit cautious, something she decided to do since she no longer had her brother Sokka to depend on.

"Pakku, what are you doing here?" asked Yue as she looked at Pakku with a bit of worry for the outside. "Did something terrible happen to the city?!"

Pakku's eyes widened a bit, not expecting Yue's first worry to be the city. Since it hasn't been long since she had attained the role of leading the Northern Water Tribe, Pakku expected her to be a bit… different.

"Yes, the Fire Nation managed to sneak into the city and is now launching an attack," said Pakku with indignation as he thought about the Fire Nation. 'Those cowards!'

Yue got angry after hearing Pakku and glared at Zuko.

In a fit of anger, Yue stomped over to Zuko and stood right in front of the resting Zuko.

Feeling something off, Zuko opened his eyes and found Yue standing before him with hate in her eyes.

"Call off your troops!" angrily said Yue.

She just couldn't take it anymore. Yue just didn't wish to see her people dying left and right under the hands of various cruel Fire Nation Soldiers.

Zuko frowned and was about to ask 'what troops' when he remembered Zhao.

Shaking his head with a look of anger on his face, Zuko said, "I have no control over them."

The anger and hate Zuko had for Zhao seemed to have increased at this point as he remembered how Zhao almost killed him before.

'Zhao… I will make sure that whatever your planning will be ruined once more,' thought Zuko as he remembered how he had saved Aang before in order to prevent Zhao from giving him to his father, the Fire Lord. 'Even if it means giving up the avatar one more time, I will stop your plan from succeeding.'

Zuko just couldn't help but lose himself in his thoughts at this point.

Yue's frown deepened after hearing Zuko's reply.

With a move of her hand, Yue shot a blast of water towards Zuko's face with great force, making his head hit the ice wall behind him.

Bam!

Zuko winced in pain and shot Yue a weird look.

'I answered you truthfully, why did you attack me like this?' thought Zuko as he felt wronged.

"Call of the attack!" said Yue once more, this time more angrily.

Yue was scared and stressed.

At this point, her personality was fierce in order to push away her scared and stressed feelings. She wished to be a capable leader who can properly lead her tribe and even lead them to a better future, including victories in fights against other nations if need be.

She was feeling threatened as she feared for her city and her people.

The smiling faces of various people flashed within her head and Yue couldn't help but feel her eyes turn watery as she fell to the ground on her knees and sobbing quietly.

Pakku, who was standing a couple of feet away, shook his head in disappointment. His view and admiration for Yue had instantly vanished.

Standing next to Aang's body, Katara was looking at Yue with worry. She wished to tell her something, anything, to help her, but she had nothing to say and could only watch from afar.

"..."

Quietly looking at Yue in front of him sobbing, Zuko feel weird inside.

He… felt pity for Yue, sympathizing with her.

Zuko had felt something similar to Yue, seeing something they had worked hard for slowly fall apart and become destroyed right before their eyes.

Closing his eyes, Zuko reminisced about the past as he tried to remember the fun times he was with his father. However, nothing ever sprang up to mind and the only thing that did, was a moment Zuko wished to forget.

The day his face was burnt and he was exiled.

Just as he was about to wallow into his sad feelings, Zuko suddenly thought about his Uncle Iroh.

Crack!

Suddenly, Zuko felt something within him crack and he could only open his eyes in bewilderment before focusing on Yue's sobbing once more.

However, this time there was something different about Zuko's eyes.

There… seemed to be a gentle light shining within them now.

"I… I would've helped you if I could," muttered Zuko, surprising everyone in the Spirit Oasis, especially Katara.

Katara had already experienced Zuko's countless pursuits for the Avatar already. She knew that Zuko would try his utmost best to try and capture the Avatar.

Raising her head, Yue looked at Zuko whilst hearing Katara whisper to her, "Be careful…"

"Zhao is a despicable man and he had almost killed me a couple of days ago," mentioned Zuko. "Rather than capturing the Avatar right now, I would rather wish to see Zhao fall and lose everything."

Katara gasped and her feelings of suspicion slowly starting to slip away.

Looking at Zuko with a reproachful look on her tear stained face, Yue decided to trust Zuko. She wiped away the tears on her face and lifted her hands before slowly removing the ice on Zuko.