CHAPTER NINETEEN
( THE SEIGE OF THE NORTH )

WARRIORS, BENDERS AND NON-BENDERS alike, stood on top of the large ice wall. Beside the men, Aang sat on Appa's head, and Flo stood on the other side of Appa with Katara and Sokka on her right. No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone kept their eyes on the horizon.

The tiny shape of a ship appeared far out into the distance. Nothing happened for a split second, and then a fireball was coming straight at them.

It hit the wall right under where they stood. It sent everyone flying, shouts being let out at the impact.

Flo landed with a thud on a pile of snow, and more fell on top of her. It wasn't enough to keep her down, but she did struggle to get it off and sit up. She did so just in time to see the tail end of another fireball pass above, the fireball itself landing further inside the city. Immediately after, a third hit the wall for a second time.

She stood and looked around, pushing her hair out of her face; the fall had dislodged her hair from the braid Katara did the day before. Aang flew off on Appa with a, "Yip, yip!" Warriors all around were pulling themselves and each other from underneath snow. Flo helped a few nearby after seeing Sokka help Katara out from a pile of snow, then went over to her friends as fast as she could on the uneven surface.

"Are you two okay?" she asked when she got to them.

They both nodded.

"We're okay," said Katara.

Two more fireballs flew overhead.

"Are you?" Sokka asked.

Flo nodded. "Yeah."

Katara looked where Appa had been moments before. "Where's Aang?"

"I saw him head toward the ship on Appa," Flo told her. Right after she said that, a fireball hit the glacier cliff by the wall. They looked over in that direction. "I think he's doing fine."

"I need to go with the other warriors," said Sokka. "Chief Arnook hasn't given our mission yet."

Flo eyed the growing destruction around them, only half noticing Katara's worried yet serious look grow at her brother's words. "We should leave, too. Staying here won't help anything. We will just be in the way, and it's too dangerous to stay."

As if the universe was trying to prove her right, a fireball hit far too close for comfort. The area around them shook with the impact, and dislodged snow went everywhere. They all moved closer together with a shout and helped steady each other on their feet, eyes wide as they took in the extinguished, smoking ball and the sizzling and melting snow around it.

"Okay, yeah, let's go," Sokka spoke quickly, voice high with nerves. He began to run with his hands gripping the girls' sleeves, and only let go once they were all moving.

+++

It wasn't until the sun began to set when Aang flew back with Appa, the same point in time when the Fire Nation's fleet of ships stopped throwing flaming balls of fire.

Between then and now, Flo remained antsy. She wanted to do something to help fight against the Fire Nation, but there was no plausible way for her to. She was stuck doing nothing. All she could do was stay close by Katara and Princess Yue, who they met up with earlier after Sokka's went to the other warriors.

She hated it. She hated not doing anything. She hated that the Fire Nation was here. She hated that innocent lives were now in danger. She hated that Sokka was going to go on a dangerous mission, and that Aang was out there by himself even more.

So, when Aang came back, partial relief flooded her.

"Aang!" Katara shouted. She was the first to run over, even before Appa landed. Flo was right behind her, and Princess Yue followed them both.

Aang slid off of Appa's head and down his leg. He didn't move to stand. He sat there, staff at his side and his hands on his head. "I can't do it," he said. "I can't do it..."

"What happened?!" Katara asked as she ran up.

Flo passed her by sliding down the railing of the stairs, and crouched down on one knee beside Aang when she got to him. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head. "No. I must've taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them." He dropped his arms and looked at them helplessly as the other two walked up. "I can't fight them all."

"But you have to," said Princess Yue. "You're the Avatar."

"I'm just one kid." Aang hurried his face in his arms and knees.

Katara came over and kneeled on his other side. She placed a hand on his shoulder. She and Flo shared a look over his head.

She clenched her jaw, brows lowering. As Flo quickly stood, both Princess Yue and Katara watched her. She paced a few times before coming to a stop, eyes on the horizon where lines and lines of Fire Navy ships were anchored. "We should attack while they aren't firing," she said. "They won't be expecting it. It will give us an advantage."

"That wouldn't be right," said Aang. "They stopped attacking, so we do, too."

"And what? We wait here like sitting turtle ducks?" she snapped.

"Flo," Katara tried, but went ignored.

"In fact, they are the ones who are sitting turtle ducks!" she turned and thrusted an arm out towards the navy. They were all staring at her; Aang and Katara now stood. "We are surrounded by ice and water. An attack against them now would be a good thing!"

"They have ceased their fire, and so will we," said Princess Yue. "It's only fair."

"Nothing is fair in a war! Do you think the soldiers are going to play fair when they get through your walls?"

Princess Yue lowered her eyes. "No. I suppose not..."

Aang walked up to her. "Flo, there's too many of them," he said in that some tone from earlier. "You should've seen it. It's one of the biggest fleets I've ever seen! If the Water Tribe attacked now, they could lose a good portion of their warriors out there, and the Fire Nation would take the chance to start their attack on city again. It's best to wait them out right now."

Flo saw their reasoning. She knew they were right. She did. If warriors went out now and attacked, there was a high chance the Fire Navy would take advantage of the less protected city and attack. That didn't mean she liked it, though.

"I hate that you're right," she mumbled. Flo ran a hand through her hair, careful to not mess up the half-up topknot she just put her hair in right before Aang came back. She sighed.

Princess Yue said, "You are right, too, you know. Nothing is fair in war... But I think that's why we should be fair when we can." Her lips turned into a tiny smile. "Don't you think so?"

As Aang nodded and agreed, Flo stayed quiet. Her mouth formed a thin line and her brows lowered. Those were Fire Nation soldiers on those ships. She didn't really see the point in being fair to them since they were the ones waging an attack on the Northern Water Tribe.

Flo didn't reply. She headed to the stairs, and walked away.

+++

The moon hung high in the sky. It was nearly full, and peaked out from behind the clouds from time to time. Occasionally a few stars shone through little gaps, as well.

Flo stared up at them from where she leaned against the ice railing on a bridge. No one was around. Usually she liked it that way, but right now all her mind could focus on were the Fire Navy ships and how many Aang said there were, how they couldn't do anything right now, the dangerous mission Chief Arnook had for the warriors, how he said there were going to be ones who didn't come back, how Aang was just a kid, Aunt Wu's words...

And a bird that just flew across the sky.

Her eyes narrowed. Other than the puffin penguins she saw with Aang when he dragged her to explore, and Sleemo who seemed to hardly ever want to leave the hood of her parka, she didn't see any birds during all the days they have been here. Immediately, Flo went to follow it. She kept her distance as to not spook it or alert it of her presence.

What she found had her anger from before returning.

A messenger hawk from the Fire Nation was perched on Akiko's shoulder. The teen held a small, pale flame in her palm as she read a letter.

From where she stood on a roof some buildings away, Flo pinned the letter to a barrel of fish. Sleemo jumped from her hood and dived down to the messenger hawk in a blink of an eye. Two arrows whizzed through the air and pinned Akiko to the wall behind her by the fabric covering both shoulders; her flame extinguished. Two more did the same by her elbows, wrists, knees, and feet.

Flo jumped from one building to the next on quiet feet, then jumped down right in front of Akiko. Nearby, Sleemo had the messenger hawk pinned into the snow.

Akiko stopped struggling. Dark blue eyes stared at her, wide and fearful. "It's not what it looks like."

"Really." Flo took a step closer. She used her taller stature to her advantage. It was only a couple or so inches, but it was enough to do its job.

Akiko attempted to shrink back, pressed her body more against the wall. She nodded rapidly.

"Because it looks like you just got a letter from a messenger hawk from the Fire Nation."

"Flo, I promise–"

"A promise doesn't mean much from people like you," Flo interrupted. "I should've brought you to Chief Arnook when I first saw you. This was your mom's plan, wasn't it? Play the long game, infiltrate the Water Tribe and gain their trust, then help destroy these people from the inside."

Akiko jerked. The fear in her eyes became covered by her own anger. "Don't talk about my mom like that. She's nothing like the rest of them! She left the Fire Nation to keep me safe, and to leave behind a man she was forced to marry and to find my dad instead. That's it." When she realized Flo still didn't believe her, she continued, "I swear on my own life, I am speaking the truth. The letter... I have two brothers. I barely remember them. Mom's ex-husband didn't allow her to bring them when he caught her trying to leave, or else he was either going to get her arrested or all of us killed. Or both.

"The letter is from my half-brother. It's a warning, that is it. The hawk is his. He says in the letter that it's trained to only do work for him. Not even his dad, or any other soldier."

Flo raised an eyebrow. "A warning? Of what, the incoming siege? Because that has come a bit late."

Akiko shook her head. "No. Something else." Her eyes lifted up. Flo looked up as well. The moon was peaking out from behind a cloud. She looked back at the other girl, expressionless. Akiko took in a steadying breath. Dark brown met dark blue. "The Moon Spirit... She's in danger."

A heavy silence hung in the air.

Now, Flo knew next to nothing about spirits and whatnot. She only knew what she's learned from traveling with Aang, and that still wasn't much. But she was pretty sure spirits could protect themselves, if Hei-Bai was anything to go by.

"That makes no sense."

"Most spirits are in the spirit realm," Akiko said. "But the Moon and Ocean Spirits are in our world. They have physical bodies that can be hurt and killed, which will happen if you don't let me go to warn the Avatar and Yue."

At first, Flo was hesitant to believe her. But the way Akiko spoke and acted in this moment had Flo believing her anyway. Dread began to wash over her. "Do you know where the spirits are?"

She nodded quickly. "Yue visits them sometimes, and I go with her when I can."

Flo pulled out the arrows that were keeping Akiko pinned. "We are finding Princess Yue and Aang, and then you're taking us there. Now." She yanked the arrow out of the barrel of fish, and Akiko grabbed the letter. Flo grabbed the front of her parka in a fist before she could step away. "But if this turns out to be some sort of trick, I am going to make you regret everything that led to this moment. That's a promise."

She rapidly nodded again. "Understood."

Flo roughly let go. "Good. Which way do we go?"

As Akiko ran to lead the way, Sleemo got off of the hawk and followed suit.

+++

Turned out, they didn't need to search for long, because Princess Yue came running toward them after only a short time of looking. Pure panic covered her features.

"Flo! Akiko!"

"Yue!" Akiko got to her first. The two shared a quick embrace, then Akiko backed up. "Yue, I–"

"There's a firebender is the Spirit Oasis," Princess Yue interrupted quickly. Her eyes went to Flo. "He wants Avatar Aang but he's passed into the spirit realm, and Katara is fighting him right now."

"Bald except for a ponytail, and has a giant scar on his face?" Flo questioned.

"Yes."

Zuko. Of course he somehow found a way here. "You two, go get Sokka," she ordered. "I will help Katara."

"You?" asked Akiko. "But you aren't a bender."

"And you have never fought a firebender, but I have," Flo said. "Now, go get Sokka. Which way is it?" The question was aimed at Princess Yue, and she told Flo the directions. She didn't waste a second to head that way, and hoped the other two listened to her and left to get Sokka.

By the time she made it to a small, circular wooden door, dusk came. The sun began to rise above the horizon. Flo entered the Spirit Oasis just in time to see Katara get pushed backward into a wooden arch by Zuko's flames, consequently knocking her out.

"You rise with the moon," he said. "I rise with the–"

Flo aimed an arrow at the hand that held an unconscious Aang, tattoos glowing. The arrow skimmed his fingers, making a cut across each of them and causing Zuko to let go. Another arrow kept a foot pinned to the grass, and yet another to the fabric around his knee when he bent to yank the first out. Zuko fell forward, the injured hand flat on the ground to keep him from face planting. An arrow landed right next to his wrist, once again pinning the fabric down.

He twisted as best as he could to face her. Smoke came out of his nostril when he huffed. Then, with a shout, shot fire at her with his free hand.

Flo ran forward. She fell purposefully and slid on her side under the flame on the icy path to the bridge and grassy patch. It unfortunately gave him enough time to yank one arrow out, and when she popped up back on her feet, both hands were free to aim fire at her.

She dodged, shot another arrow. But a blast of fire turned it to ash before it made its mark. As more flames (paired with angry shouts) came for her, she kept her distance, and climbed to the top of the wooden arch. She crouched, perfectly balanced.

"What, too pig chicken to come any closer?" Prince Zuko taunted. "Afraid you will get burned?"

Flo raised an eyebrow. "I don't think I am the one who needs to worry about burns, Prince Zuko."

His face went blank for just a split second, then twisted into the angriest scowl she'd seen on him yet. "Argh!" He yanked the other arrows out. A large ball of flames came straight for her.

She dropped down, but grabbed the top of the arch. She used her own momentum to swing forward, and kicked Prince Zuko in the chest as he came rushing at her. She landed on her feet. She did a spin kick, her foot coming in contact with the side of his head. He fell to the ground, only to regain his composure faster than she thought he would and kicked his legs out in a circle, fire surrounding him.

Flo gasped and jumped back, but tripped over her own feet in the sudden panic to get away. Prince Zuko came and stood over her (and for a split second she was back in her nightmare, with the Dragon of the West there instead–), and punched flames in the space in between her and Aang to prevent her from rolling in that direction. Flo gritted her teeth as she went the other way.

Jumping to her feet, she was ready to dodge more fire.

Not a fist.

Her eyes widened and, too stunned at the lack of bending, didn't move fast enough. His fist slammed into her nose and she stumbled backward. A kick to the gut followed. She tripped and fell again. Only this time, she hit the pole of the wooden arch, the back of her head bouncing against it.

The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes to a whole different scene. Her vision was filled with Sokka's worried face. Blue eyes were wide with concern and his brows were furrowed. Sleemo was directly beside him, head tilted as she sat on his shoulder.

Flo shut her eyes again and groaned. "If that asshole knocks me one more time," she threatened to no one in particular.

Sokka breathed heavy with relief. "Oh, good, you're okay."

He helped her sit up. Flo tried to breathe in through her nose but it was stuffy, and when she went to prod at it she hissed. Her glove came away with blood. A copper taste filled her mouth. She grimaced and turned to spit out the saliva and blood in the grass. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, but accidentally hit her nose in the process and hissed in pain again.

"Careful," Katara cautioned from her other side.

"Yeah, I think he broke your nose," said Sokka. "On the bright side, you look badass." He grinned as she glanced at him with a raised brow.

"I thought you said you could fight firebenders," Akiko's voice accused. It wasn't spoken in a mean way, but it annoyed her regardless.

Flo glared at her; beside her, Sokka's expression was one of pure annoyance, and he looked over the shoulder that Sleemo wasn't on with a frown. Akiko's eyes widened and her brows rose, and she took half a step back and moved slightly behind Princess Yue.

"I wasn't expecting a bender to punch me," Flo snapped. Katara pulled water from her pouch. "I saw he knocked you out, too."

"I'm okay," Katara said quietly.

As she got to work on healing her nose, Flo noticed the lack of one particular person. "Where's Aang?"

Katara's eyes shined with unshed tears. She said, "Zuko got away with him." Her hands fell to her lap once she finished. "It's all my fault. He took him right out from under me..." The tears were close to falling. "I can't believe I lost him."

"If it's yours, then it's mine, too," Flo told her. Knowing Prince Zuko got Aang spiked her anxiety and inner panic and worry, but she didn't show it too much for Katara's sake. "We did what we could, Katara." And she hated that it wasn't enough, but she was more angry at herself for not expecting a punch than having any thoughts at all of faulting Katara in any way.

"Flo's right. You both did everything you could," said Sokka. "And now we need to do everything we can to get him back." He moved to his feet, and helped Flo stand when she moved to do the same. Katara stayed seated on her knees; Sleemo moved to sit by Momo next to the pond. "Zuko can't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine."

Katara looked up at them both. Then, blinking away the tears, she stood with Flo's help. "Okay."

As she, Sokka, and Yue went to climb on Appa, Flo stayed back. Her eyes went to Akiko. "Are you staying?" At her responding nod, she said, "Then I am, too."

"What?" Katara and Sokka chorused. Both of their brows were raised in disbelief and confusion.

"You don't want to hunt down Zuko with us?" asked Sokka.

Oh she definitely did. But she didn't trust Akiko all that much anymore, even if what she said about the letter and the Moon Spirit were true. Flo shrugged one shoulder. "Someone should stay here in case Aang comes back," she said.

"That is a smart idea," Katara relented.

Sokka frowned from where he now sat on Appa's head. "If you're sure..."

She wasn't. "I am. Go. We will see each other later."

He nodded but clearly wasn't happy, and Katara and Yue waved at her and Akiko. They waved back, and then Appa flew off with a groan once Sokka said, "Yip, yip."

Momo chittered sadly.

"It's alright, buddy," Flo found herself saying. She crouched to scratch the space between his ears. "Aang will be back." Flo refused to accept anything else other than that to happen. She straightened and pinned Akiko with a look. "So. The Moon Spirit."

Akiko nodded. "Yes, Tui." She pointed in the pond to the white fish with a black dot on its head. Then, to the black fish with a white dot on its head. They circled each other, never once diverging to a different path. "That's La, the Ocean Spirit."

Flo blinked. "They're fish?"

"Yeah. Makes sense, doesn't it? After all, they are at the Northern Water Tribe. What else would they be?" Akiko walked over to Flo and handed her the letter. Flo took it, and stared blankly at it. There was only one word on there she sort of recognized, because Aang took it upon himself to try and teach her at least one word over these last few weeks. It was 'moon'. How ironic. "My half-brother says Admiral Zhao found out about the spirits' location years ago. He plans on doing something to Tui now that he's here. My guess is to kill it."

She frowned and handed back the letter. "Why?"

"To get rid of waterbending? I don't know. Nothing good, that's for sure."

"I feel like it will mess up a lot more than just waterbending if Tui dies," Flo said, and Akiko nodded emphatically.

"And Yue..."

"What about her?"

Akiko crossed her arms, hands holding onto her elbows. She watched the fish circle each other time and time again. "Tui saved Yue as a baby. Because of that, Yue has a part of Tui within her, and if something happens to Tui, who knows what will happen to Yue. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like finding out."

Neither did Flo, now that she had that information. If Tui got hurt or worse, the same possibly might happen to the princess, someone she sort of saw as a friend now. The thought of that happening did not help any of her already anxious thoughts and feelings. It also made her angry, though, what Zhao had planned. She focused on that instead.

"Then we better make sure no one gets in here."

Akiko's shoulders loosened with relief. She smiled at Flo. "Thank you."

As she walked to the wooden door, Flo didn't even spare her a glance. "Yeah, well, I'm not doing this for you."

+++

While Sleemo and Momo stayed inside the Spirit Oasis near the pond, Akiko and Flo stood as self appointed sentinels right outside the wooden door. There was a court-like area, with large vases lined against the left and right walls. Shingles lined the top of the walls. Across from the wooden door, was the Chief's temple, multi-storied and blocking a lot of the view of the rest of the city.

The Fire Nation's fleet of ships made it to the wall, and now soldiers were invading the city. Flo wanted to so badly jump in the fight. But protecting the Moon Spirit was the priority right now, and that meant staying put no matter how much she didn't want to.

From where she stood with Akiko, pillars of smoke were visible behind the temple before them. High in the sky. Darkening in color. Growing in number. Fireballs were still being aimed and catapulted into the city. They just added to the destruction, and although they couldn't see all of them, they could certainly hear them hit and occasionally feel them. The sounds of fighting from both sides filled the air.

The hours dragged on. Flo went back and forth from watching the growing smoke from the destruction of the Northern Water Tribe, to watching the sky for any signs of Appa. The longer it took, the more worried she got; the bigger the columns of smoke grew, the more she wanted to leave and actually fight.

Part of her began to think that Akiko was lying, tricking her for some unknown reason. But she didn't think anyone was able to fake that much genuine worry and concern that Akiko had for both the Moon Spirit and Yue.

Nothing exciting happened until the moon began to rise again.

Flo had climbed the top of the wall to see the rest of the city better. She walked back and forth on it to see different areas, then went to the temple and balanced on the ledges. She got high enough to see the Spirit Oasis from that distance to check on Momo and Sleemo; the two were curled around one another, sleeping next to the pond. A cute sight among all the fighting.

Akiko sat crisscross on the ground in front of the wooden door; it looked like she was meditating. She didn't look as relaxed as she did all those other times, though.

They both startled when thundering steps of large animals grew close.

Flo bent to one knee and knocked an arrow, ready to draw back and shoot at any moment. Akiko jumped to feet in one swift movement. A decently sized group of komodo rhinos and Fire Nation soldiers tore through the temple and into the court area. From behind them all, Flo didn't recognize any of the soldiers at first. Then, she saw large, ugly sideburns on one man and vaguely remembered what happened on Crescent Island. It was the same man who attacked Joeng Joeng's camp. Zhao.

Flo's eyes drifted to Akiko. The firebender's expression held pure hatred and anger. It was somewhat of a shock to see.

"Admiral Zhao," Akiko greeted in an even tone.

"Ah, you've already heard about me," the man said. Flo could hear his smirk. "Excellent. Then you must know what I am capable of."

"If you mean abusing your ex-wife so much that she left, and then threatening to kill her children if she tried to leave with all of them, then, yes. I do know what you are capable of."

Flo's mouth parted in surprise. That asshole was the former husband of Akiko's mom?

"So, Nina did make here," Zhao said. "That's a shame... That must mean you're the waterbending spawn of that awful Water Tribe peasant."

Akiko's eyes narrowed. "The shameful thing here are those sideburns of yours. Looks like you're trying to compensate for something."

Zhao sneered, "You should be careful of who you speak to like that, young lady."

"I will speak to whoever I want, however I want."

"Seems like you need to be taught a lesson, then."

Without warning, Zhao shot fire at Akiko. She luckily dodged it, but barely. A fight broke out and Flo jumped into the fold immediately. She shot a few arrows, knocking out two soldiers and injuring a rhino. She jumped down and landed on one rhino, and used her bow to choke the soldier from behind.

The soldier shot fire at her face, which made her duck and lean to the side to avoid getting burned. Then, before she could even process it, the soldier grabbed her forearms and threw her off. She went flying, and crashed right into Akiko. They crumpled to the ground in a small heap.

Flo regained her bearings first. She stood, and stayed in front of Akiko as she did the same.

The fight momentarily paused as Zhao, who was no longer on his komodo rhino, bent down and picked up one of Flo's arrows. A few had fallen out of the quiver when she got thrown. Something in her told Flo that things were about to get worse. That expression on Zhao's face made her uneasy, but she refused to show it.

"An archer," Zhao commented. He smirked, twisting the arrow between two fingers. "One with arrows very similar to a certain hunter. I believe it wouldn't be a stretch to say you have impeccable aim, as well.

Her gut twisted uncomfortably. "I don't know what you're talking about. But try to hurt Akiko again and you won't be talking for much longer."

He ignored her threat. Zhao looked directly at her. "The Fire Hunter is a wanted criminal. A murderer. A woman archer who hunts Fire Nation soldiers for sport. Her arrows were used to down a few of my men who had previously captured a hawk-cat, an endangered species with feathers identical to the ones the Fire Hunter uses as fletchings on her arrows."

...Shit.

"There is a warrant out for her capture, and as of the attack on my men," his smirk grew dangerously and the arrow in his hand bursted into flames and fell from his hand as ash, "the Fire Lord has no care if we bring her back alive or dead."

"You need to go," Akiko whispered.

Flo felt her hand against her back, as if ready to push her, but she stayed put. She was not leaving the door to the Spirit Oasis willingly. She was not going to give Zhao the satisfaction of knowing that she was scared.

Zhao grinned, an evil thing that made her skin crawl. "Koda?"

The soldier on the left startled and looked to Zhao. "Yes, sir?"

"Arrest the Fire Hunter and take her back to the ship by any means necessary. Either way, that prize will be mine. And while you do that, I have some fishing to do."

Nothing happened. The soldier, Koda, didn't move.

"Koda!" Zhao barked as he looked back at the soldier. "Now. We don't have time for your disobedience tonight."

A beat of silence went by. "...No."

The only sounds were distant fighting the others' armor shifting as they all looked at him.

Zhao fully turned to Koda and sneered. "Excuse me?"

Koda took off the helmet of his armor and dropped it. Flo's brows shot up involuntarily. He looked a lot like Akiko; same color hair, except his was pulled into a high ponytail; same skin tone, too. His eyes were brown, though. There was also something familiar about him other than that, that had Flo trying to think back if she had ever seen him before.

"I said no," Koda said.

A flame formed in Zhao's palm. Koda moved his arms and a block of a jagged ice hit the man square in the chest and sent him flying back a few feet.

Everything stilled.

Zhao shot fire at Koda from he lay on the ground.

The fighting returned instantaneously.

Akiko pushed Flo to the side and redirected flames that were aimed at them both from another soldier. Flo knocked three arrows, and downed three soldiers at once. She was pretty sure at least one would live.

"You need to get out of here!" Akiko yelled at her over the sounds of fighting.

Flo ducked to avoid more fire, and then whacked the end of her bow into a soldier's head when he ran at her. "No way! I'm staying here to protect the Spirit Oasis with you."

"And risk getting captured and killed?!" Akiko asked in disbelief.

She didn't respond right away. What was she supposed to do about that? Run, and risk the Moon Spirit's life and potentially Yue's? No way. "Tui and Yue are more important than I am," Flo found herself saying.

Akiko turned to look at her, probably incredulously but Flo didn't get a chance to find out. A blast of fire separated them, knocking the two girls away from one another.

Flo landed on her back and skidded to a stop – right at Zhao's feet. Her eyes widened involuntarily, and she grabbed an arrow and sliced at his shin when he reached for her. It gave her enough time to jump to her feet. She kicked him the chest. He stumbled backwards, but recovered quickly.

More fire was shot at her and she rolled to the right to avoid it. When she straightened, moving to knock another arrow, the tail of one of the komodo rhinos slammed into her back, sending her back in Zhao's direction. It knocked the breath out of her; she heard a vague crack and now had searing pain in her chest.

A hand snatched ahold of her wrist. Immediately, the grip was hot and burning, and Flo struggled to rip her wrist away as it intensified by the second.

Zhao yanked her close. "Let's see how well you shoot those arrows with only one working hand, shall we?"

The pain became unbearable. Flo clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut. She ended up biting her lip to keep herself from screaming, refusing to give him that satisfaction, and breathed heavily as the taste of copper touched her tongue.

Flo snapped her eyes opened. She also refused to let this asshole win against her.

She took a step back, then used all her strength to move forward. She jumped, using Zhao's chest to push off of with one foot and lean backwards. She flipped, and kicked him in the chin with her other foot as she did so. The move finally got her wrist out of his grasp.

She landed awkwardly – in a way that twisted her ankle again. Flo ignored that pain, and held her wrist close to her chest, trying not to cry. She picked up her bow with her other hand, and just barely moved time when a rhino charged at her. She stepped behind one of the large pots, grabbed the lid, and chucked it at the head of the nearest soldier.

With no one coming at her, Flo climbed back to the top of the wall, which ended up being more of a struggle than she anticipated. Once she got there, she shot more arrows – up until Zhao shot a large fireball at her and sent her falling backwards.

Flo's shout was cut off as she landed on her back on the ground. The snow softened the landed, but not by much. If a rib or two wasn't broken before, they definitely were now.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the time to dwell on that or even properly catch her breath that got knocked out her lungs. A few Fire Nation soldiers were climbing over the wall to follow, and more surrounded the area.

"Catch her!" One shouted, as Flo pushed herself to her feet. "It's the Fire Hunter!"

She cursed under her breath, and knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to go back up there, took off into a run.

A spear was thrown at her. It cut her leg, but otherwise she dodged it successfully. She continued to run, ignoring the pain in her torso all the while. Also the pain in her ankle. And in her wrist. And in her lip.

Out of nowhere, the thick tail of a komodo rhino swung right into her gut. She went flying backwards. Flo rolled to her side and wheezed. She coughed, trying to catch her breath from having the air knocked out of her lungs again. Her eyes squeezed shut and she pressed her forehead into the snow.

Stupid fucking rhinos.

She gritted her teeth together.

Fine. If they wanted the Fire Hunter so bad, then they were going to get the damn Fire Hunter.

Flo pushed herself up to her hands and knees. When she opened her eyes, she saw one of the spears from the Fire Nation. She lunged for it, and the next time she got to her feet, she rammed it in the eye of the rhino when it charged at her.

As the animal fell, she used to spear as leverage to jump and kick the soldier out of the saddle. She landed on it in a low crouch, then as she rolled to the side when the soldier fired at her, she knocked an arrow and met her mark the moment she was crouched again. The soldier crumpled into the snow.

Flo rose to her feet and hopped off the fallen komodo rhino.

Other soldiers began to surround her. She yanked the spear out of the rhino and threw it, hitting its intended target and sending the soldier into the canal behind him. Arrows were knocked on her bow within milliseconds, and a few more soldiers were downed.

More soldiers rushed at her, much too close for her to use her how fast enough. Flo got ready to fight back, dagger in hand.

A wall of ice grew right in front of the soldiers. They ran into it, inadvertently knocking themselves out.

Flo turned, ready to thank one of the Tribe's warriors, but her words got stuck in her throat at seeing Koda instead. The moves were ones for firebending, but he was moving the snow and ice instead, freezing the people who he was supposed to be fighting with and pushing them into the nearby canal.

He paused shortly when he saw Flo watching him. "Told you I wasn't a firebender."

Her brows furrowed. That tickled a very faint memory.

Crescent Island. Prince Zuko knocking her out the first time. Being chained to a pillar with a bad head wound, and someone coming up to bandage it with the promise they weren't–

Her mouth parted in surprise. "Wait. You–"

And that was it, because her face almost got burned off.

Nothing else was said between them.

Having no choice but to push all of that to the back of her mind, they fought together. Flo shot arrows, and used her dagger when needed. Occasionally she picked up a weapon from a fallen soldier, and used it instead. Koda fought with his fists and feet and attacked the soldiers with ice, and never even touched the spear he had on his back. Things were going well until another komodo rhino hit her, with its front horn this time. She went flying into a wall, and then fell to the ground.

That same moment, everything went red.

Koda cursed. Flo looked at him just in time to see the water he was bending fall to the ground. She rolled onto her back, and only got a split second to see the red moon before a soldier shot more fire at her.

She didn't move out of the way fast enough that time.

Pain encompassed the side of her torso. The fire didn't let up. She screamed, though at first she tried not to, and only recognized her own tears and cries few seconds later. A large splash disrupted the canal nearby. She couldn't focus enough on everything around her to figure out what it was, but the flames had gone away.

Flo gritted her teeth and rolled onto her stomach. She couldn't hold back the sobs. Through her tears, she spotted her bow half buried in the snow. She reached for it. Flames got there before her hand did. She jerked away.

Everything returned to normal for only a second, and this time, instead of red, everything was entirely black and white.

Something happened to the moon.

Flo crawled to a block of ice. She used it to help herself get to her knees, then to her feet. A few soldiers that remained noticed her. Taking in deep, choppy breathes, Flo glared at them.

Everything hurt. She had no idea where Koda went. Aunt Wu's words began to echo in her head and for the first time in days, she pushed them aside and refused to even acknowledge those thoughts.

She gripped her dagger.

She wasn't going to give up. Not now, not when something happened to Tui. Not when something definitely happened to Akiko. Not when Yue was in as much danger as Tui, and when she had no idea if Aang and Katara and Sokka were okay.

The soldiers glanced at each other.

And Flo was back to fighting.

It was all a blur. She definitely took more hits. But so did the soldiers.

A blast of fire knocked her into an icy wall. Somewhere within the last few seconds she lost her dagger and was now weaponless. One soldier was down, and two before her remained.

Flo struggled to stand. She was tired, and in pain, and... And, truth be told, she was scared.

The soldiers paused as something bright, large, and blue grew near where the Spirit Oasis was. Flo wondered if she was suffering an hallucination from blood loss or something, because no way was there a giant koi fish made out of glowing water making its way through the Northern Water Tribe.

As the koi fish continued its path, the fighting died down. Fire Nation soldiers disappeared into its...hand? fin? The two soldiers left her where she was as it came closer, and went to attack the giant fish like they would be able to do anything to it. They ended up just like the others.

Flo's feet gave out from under her. She slid down against the wall and grunted. Her breathing picked up as more pain registered, and she shut her eyes.

The giant koi fish could handle everything else.

***

A/N— :)