Chapter 18

As the faint shadow of his ship disappeared into the cloud of smoke, Zuko let out a shaky breath. He had to keep a strong face in front of his crew, in front of Uncle, but now that he was alone the stony expression he'd become so practised at wearing began to slip a little.

I won't fail again. Not this time.

The words were half-promise, half-reassurance. It was hard to forget that power The Avatar had displayed back at the South Pole; power enough to cast dozens of soldiers off into the freezing ocean with an effortless wave of the hand.

And all that was from an Avatar who'd only mastered one Zuko would not allow himself to be deterred. No matter how strong the enemy, true strength lay in not backing down. He would not allow fear to dictate his actions.

"I won't fail." He spoke aloud, feeling for a moment like saying the words would help make it real. "I refuse to fail."

"That's the spirit, Zuko."

An icy bolt of dread writhed down his spine, the facade of calm and focus he'd so painstakingly built shattering at a word. No! Not her! Even his luck couldn't be that bad, could it? Yet as he turned around, Zuko remembered that he should never underestimate the spirit's love for making him suffer.

For it was none other than Tanya, the Devil of the South Sea herself, who stood there upon the deck of his boat as if she owned it.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Tanya quoted, a nostalgic smile across her face. Though it seemed gentle, Zuko could picture with perfect clarity how easily it would stretch back into a manic grin when the scent of blood was in the air.

"The first words I ever said to you, remember? It feels like that day was so long ago. You've really grown up since then. I know many fully grown men who would envy your resolve."

All pretences of informality suddenly drained from Tanya's face, leaving it the perfect mask of professionalism.

"However, as much as I hate to break it to you Zuko, this is bigger than you. Bigger than your pride. A fully realised Avatar is quite possibly the only thing capable of turning the tides of this war.

The Fire Nation cannot afford to leave it to one teeneger, who has yet to even fully master one element himself, to be solely responsible for his capture." She stepped forward, eyes softening slightly in what could almost be mistaken for genuine concern.

"Be reasonable Zuko. Zhao has the resources and men needed to capture The Avatar while it's still possible to do so, and together with your experience and knowledge we'd have him in custody before sunrise tomorrow. The Fire Lord will still honour you for being a part of his capture. There's no need to fight this battle all by yourself."

She extended an open hand towards him. An offer of peace. "Please Zuko, this feud is pointless. Come and work with us. Work with your homeland."

That was just another of Tanya's talents. She had a way of making everything seem so clear, so logical, when she made a speech, and knew how to inject just the right level of emotional blackmail into her words to make not agreeing with her feel like being pointlessly petty.

Zuko had to admit that a lot of her argument made sense. However he also knew how to spot the gaping hole in her reasoning, no matter how many sweet words she tried to cover it with.

"Zhao would never share glory." Zuko stated defiantly. The moment The Avatar was in custody he'd turn on him too, and weave lie after lie about how he'd caught them both single handedly.

A harsh frown sunk across Tanya's face. "You underestimate him."

"No, you overestimate him."

Tanya stood silently for a moment, yellow eyes boring into his. Then with deliberate slowness she retracted her hand. "So that's how it has to be is it?"

For perhaps the first time in his life, Zuko held her gaze head on. He would not allow fear to rule him ever again; be that fear of The Avatar, Azula, or even Tanya. "It is."

"I see." Tanya's neutral expression betrayed nothing about what she was feeling. "I suppose that means that we're enemies now, doesn't it?

Zuko tensed, preparing for a fight. "I suppose it does."

"Very well then." Tanya stood a little straighter, eyes glassy and unfocused for just a fraction of a second, before they morphed into a piercing glare.

"Then I suppose, in the interest of being a good sport, I should mention that your little deception has failed. I've dropped Admiral Zhao a message to let him know just where The Avatar is headed." A sly smirk slithered across her lips.

"I wonder who will catch him first? You? Zhao? Or me?"

"No!" Zuko leapt forward, realising what was about to happen, but it was already too late. With a blast of flames beneath each foot Tanya took to the sky, rocketing off in the direction of the Fire Temple.

"Better hurry up Zuko!" Tanya called back as she raced off into the distance. "Time certainly isn't on your side!"

"Damn it!" Zuko yelled, racing back to the ship's engine and turning it to full power. Damn the spirits for throwing obstacle after obstacle in his way! Damn Tanya for sabotaging his plan! And damn himself for not being careful enough to realise it! Now he not only had to catch The Avatar before Tanya, who had a head start, but also keep him from Zhao, who would only be a few minutes behind!

It would be tricky; impossible even, some would say. But he refused to give up! No matter the odds stacked against him he would not fail!

Not this time!

...

"… that stupid, arrogant, hot-headed jerk."

Tanya was still in a foul mood by the time her feet touched down on Crescent Island, right in front of the doors of the fire temple. She felt like she had every right to be mad, all things considered.

Why was Zuko so set on acting like a short-sighted, angsty maverick? He wouldn't see good sense if it paraded around in front of him dressed like a clown!

Well fine. If he was so determined to capture The Avatar alone, then he'd have nobody but himself to blame when she and Zhao beat him to it. Perhaps another couple of years exiled at sea would teach him to be a team player?

With an angry shove Tanya pushed open the heavy doors of the fire temple, and was utterly unsurprised by what she found inside. Fire sages ran here and there like ants, worriedly chattering about The Avatar and searching in random directions.

It was painfully obvious that not only was The Avatar here, but that the fire sages were completely disorganised in their efforts to apprehend him. They hadn't even noticed her walk in for pity's sake!

A stomp of her foot, accompanied by a bright flash of fire, soon put a stop to that. All eyes turned to her in a heartbeat, conversations drying up like water in the desert, and a flicker of satisfaction sparked through Tanya as she noticed how the sage's eyes widened at the sight of her golden hair.

Even here at Crescent Island everyone recognised the golden child of the high temple at a glance.

"What…" Tanya began with deliberate slowness, pacing her words out at just the right speed to command their attention. "... A shameful display. The Avatar arrives, and what do you do?" She cast a critical eye across the crowd, noting how many of the sages looked down when her eyes met theirs.

"You panic. You blunder. You charge around like disorganised rabble, providing exactly the chaos The Avatar needs to slip through your temple unseen. Have you no leader? No common sense?"

It must have been a surreal sight to any onlookers, watching a tiny girl just entering her teenage years talk down to a room of shamefaced old men.

Eventually one of the older sages, dressed in the ceremonial robes that Tanya knew denoted him as the high sage of this temple, stepped forward.

"Lady Tanya, please understand. When The Avatar arrived we had him cornered, and yet somehow he was able to vanish into thin air!"

Tanya fixed her gaze on the elderly man until he looked away nervously. "What is your name?" She eventually asked.

"High Sage Rafike."

"And tell me, high sage," Tanya continued. "Have you been able to ascertain why The Avatar has shown up here?"

Rafike nodded quickly, desperate to show some worth.

"We believe he is attempting to contact Avatar Roku. Past Avatars have been able to learn rare, forgotten techniques by communicating with and studying under their own past lives. We believe Avatar Roku may be attempting to impart a technique onto the new Avatar that will help him slay The Firelord."

Okay, that did sound worrying. In her first life she would have laughed in the face of anyone stupid enough to believe in reincarnation, spirits or any of that mystical mumbo-jumbo. However, that was before she met Being X.

Tanya believed in the spirits. A group of intangible, otherworldly beings of dubious moral character that took great pleasure in meddling with the affairs of another world and demanding its inhabitants worship them? Yep, it sounded rather familiar actually. She had also decided long ago that the lot of them could go fuck themselves.

What right did the spirits have to demand worship from humans? To claim areas like forest and mountains as their holy territory, when they themselves were foreigners to the world of man?

Historically the actions they were credited for seemed suspiciously to Tanya like attempts to curtail humanities attempts to make industrial progress.

And why wouldn't they: after all her first world was evidence enough that as science and industry grew, the need to worship spirits or other such beings as gods plummeted.

...

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