In Your Eyes (Prince Zuko LS)

Chapter 8: Siege Of The North 2

As the group flew up to the oasis, Luna froze. In front of the pond, there was a few Fire Nation soldiers standing behind a man who held up a small bag in his hand, which Luna assumed held the Moon Spirit. But that wasn't what mad her froze. The man she knew him. Flashes of that night came back to her. She looked into his cold, brown eyes as he held her mother in his grasp. 'You know, it's such a shame really. I wouldn't want to hurt such a precious gift but the Fire Lord didn't send us to capture you.' Words could not describe the anger she was feeling at that very moment. The very man who had murdered her parents stood tall and proud, not feeling any remorse for the girl's life that he had ruined. 'Control your anger. Channel it to your advantage,' she told herself in her head. She took a deep breath and fought the urge to rip him apart where he stood. Appa landed on the island and Luna was the first to jump off the bison. Momo flew up to the man and attacked his face, pulling on his hair and trying to stop him. "Get it off," the man yelled. Just as all the soldiers went to grab Momo, he flew away and landed on Aang's extended arm. The man finally noticed them, causing them to shift into their battle stances. All Luna wanted to do was attack. Make him feel the pain that he had caused but she held back. "Don't bother," he said and held up the bag, pointing his fist at it. The scene reminded Luna of that night and she was using every single fiber in her body to not attack then and there, in fear that the spirit will be harmed. All of them lowered their defenses. "Zhao! Don't!" Aang yelled as he dropped his staff and held his hands up in surrender. Zhao...So that was the name of her parents' murderer. "It's my destiny... to destroy the Moon... and the Water Tribe," Zhao declared. "Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone - including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world," Aang tried to reason. "He is right, Zhao," an unfamiliar voice said. All attention turned to an elderly man who stood on the bridge with his hands placed inside his sleeves. "General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao asked with a bored and lecturing tone. "I'm no traitor, Zhao," Iroh said and lowered his hood. "The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance," he stated. There was a pause as Zhao stared at Iroh, not looking phased. "Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold!" Iroh threatened, shifting into a firebending stance. "LET IT GO, NOW!" There was another pause as Zhao held Iroh's gaze, before his glare softened and he closed his eyes in defeat. He knelled down next to the pool and placed the fish in the pool once more. Without warning, Zhao cried out in anger and sent a slice of fire towards the fish. Everyone looked in horror as the flames shot through the pond. The world fell into darkness as the moon disappeared from the sky. Luna couldn't keep her anger at bay anymore. She stepped towards Zhao, her red orbs shining through the darkness. He looked up at her with his cold, brown eyes, which widened when he saw her. "You..." he said under his breath. She unleash all her fury on him as she sent a large fireball his way, which he easily blocked. All at once his men came at her. She used a combination of her martial arts skills and firebending to knock them all to the ground but when she looked up, Zhao was nowhere in sight. She wanted to go after him but all her anger disappeared when she saw the dead koi fish floating on top of the water. Her eyes went back to normal as she stepped towards the pool with the others. Iroh bent over and picked up the dead fish in his hands. "There's no hope now. It's over," Yue said on the verge of tears as she leaned into Sokka's arms. Aang's arrow tattoos started to glow as he shut his eyes. "No. It's not over." He spoke with what sounded like hundreds of voices all at once. When he opened his eyes they were glowing just like his tattoos. He stepped into the pond where the other koi fish swam around aimlessly without his companion. Katara tried to go after him but Iroh stopped her. Aang stood still in the middle of the pool and the other koi soon started to circle him. The koi started to glow as well, causing the whole pool to light up. Aang suddenly disappeared into the water and soon after, the water around the pool itself started to glow blue, veined with white. The blue glow spread all over the city, lighting up the colourless scenery. The water in the oasis rose into a huge wave, as if a giant creature was moving under it, and raised up high at the end of the oasis, forming a enormous fish-like creature. At the center of the water-creature's chest was a bubble where Aang could be seen bending the creature to his will. It started to wipe out every Fire Nation soldiers as it made it's way through the city, leaving the others behind in awe. Luna was the first to speak up. "I have to help." Yue looked at her concerned. "You can't-" she began but before anything else was said, Luna ran out of the oasis and through the colourless city. She saw red and orange flashes going of in the distance, basically drawing her in. She quickly ran to the source, blood boiling when she saw the very man she was looking for. He was fighting with someone who evaded Luna's view but she didn't care. All she could think about was the man who was the source of all her misery. She jumped down onto the bridge behind Zhao, her stance ready. The fight ceased when the two acknowledged her presence. Luna could now see that it was Zuko he was fighting and she took note that he had escaped from his binds that Sokka had put on him, which didn't surprise her since he was a firebender. "Come back for more, little girl," Zhao mocked when he turned a little to face her but still be able to defend himself if Zuko attacked. "You killed them! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!" Luna yelled. "I was just doing my job. But can you blame me? They were annoying me by not telling me where you were," he said with a evil smile. Luna clenched her fist, letting the anger take over. Her eyes turned a familiar red before she let out a cry of rage, sending countless fire blasts his way. Zuko soon joined in, sending his own fire blasts at Zhao. Not being able to block both their attacks, he fell to the ground. Luna looked up at the sky when a new light source shone from the sky and saw that the moon had returned to its place in the sky. "It can't be!" Zhao cried out in horror as he looked up at the moon. Luna looked down at the man, then hr eyes met Zuko's. All her anger melted away when she realized that what she was doing was not going to bring her parents back. Zhao was just a heartless, pathetic man who didn't even deserve her time. Her eyes went back to their baby blue colour as she continued to stare into Zuko's eyes. For some reason she couldn't look away. Their golden colour seemed to draw her in and even though her head was screaming at her that he was the enemy, she couldn't bring herself to believe it when she looked into his eyes. She could only see the pain they held and she, of all people, knew of pain. She tore her eyes away when the saw blue glow appeared above her. The creature's hands reached up out of the water and Luna dove out of the way just in time, as the hands grabbed for Zhao. Zuko tried to help but Zhao couldn't swallow his pride enough to accept his help, so he was dragged into the water. Zuko looked at the doorway just in time to see Luna run into the building and disappear from his sight. Something about her intrigued him. He had read about Elementals, because he was forced to hunt one, but what he had seen with his own eyes had no comparison to what he had read. She had way more power than anticipated and to see how her eyes changed like that was just...breathtaking. He shook his head clear of those thoughts. She was beautiful, he would admit that, but he will never allow those type of thoughts again. He is suppose to capture her in order to be accepted back into the Fire Nation and that's all. With one final glance to where she had disappeared, he turned around to make his way out of the city.

Luna stood next to Aang as they looked over the damaged ice city. It wouldn't take that long to fix with so many waterbenders but it was still awful to see such a beautiful city destroyed. "Luna. We never really talked about your ability," Aang said, breaking the silence. Luna let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, we were so busy that we never really discussed it," she said. "Why didn't you tell us," he asked, turning to fully face her. "I didn't want you to treat me any different, I guess." She paused and took a deep breath. "Zuko said that you were the Elemental. What does that mean?" Aang asked. "It means that I can bend all four elements," she let out a bitter chuckle. "Actually, it's more like they bend me." Aang raised a questioning brow at her statement. "Elementals are more cursed than gifted. One is born every 300 years. Our emotions set their powers off. As we get older, the power gets harder to control, to the point where it controls us. They begin to overwhelm us and if we don't learn how to bend all for elements in the order of the Avatar chicle by our 16th birthday..." she stopped and squeezed her eyes shut. Retelling everything made the reality set in once more. "What happens?" Aang asked, his voice urgent but scared. "Then the power overwhelms us and we die," she finished. "A-And when is your 16th birthday?" he asked, sounding if he was to frightened to know the answer. "At the end of summer." Aang's eyes widened in horror. "What?! Luna, why didn't you tell us?! Your life is on the line and we could help!" he yelled. "How?" she asked, her voice soft. He stayed silent as he had no answer. "You could come with us," another voice said from behind them. Luna turned around to see Katara standing behind them. "Katara, I can't-" "Yes, you can. Aang needs to learn the elements too. You could train together," she suggested. A tear ran down Luna's face that she had been holding in for so long. There was a chance that she could actually make it through this. Without a word, Katara went up to Luna and pulled her into a hug, Aang soon joining. The three pulled apart when they heard Momo at their feet. "You too, Momo," Aang said. The lemur immediately jumped onto Aang's extended arm. Sokka came up to them and placed a comforting hand on Luna's shoulder, letting her know that he was there for her too. The bison also felt the need to be close to them, so he flew up and hovered just next to where the group was standing. Knowing that these people actually cared enough to help her get through this made her heart warm up. They just stood there and stared at the beautiful sunrise that shone over the city.