The commandeered airship soared in the skies while chaos was underway in the bowels of the airship.
Sokka and Aang were seated a distance away from Katara while they watched with fury in their eyes as Katara released a sorrowful cry while they treated her maimed arm.
"They are going to pay for this!" Sokka yelled out with tears in his eyes while the monk placed a calming hand on his shoulder.
"Please, Sokka. I am just as angry as you. But we need to try to stay calm right now. For Katara!" Aang reasoned with tears in his own eyes while his friend hid in the palm of his hand.
"I know, Aang. But it's not that easy." Sokka mumbled with a hand over his face while Aang nodded in agreement.
'I have failed once again! Toph is missing! Iroh lost an eye! And...and Katara! I swore on Bumi's name that I would stop the Fire Nation! I can't...I can't let this girl prevent me from defeating Azula and the Fire Lord! There must be something I can do to defeat her!' Aang thought with his palms clasped in his lap while his fretful eyes stared down at his feet.
All the while Pakku sat across from them watching the scene with pain-stricken eyes.
After many weeks of Zoi's torture, he wanted nothing more to pass out in a warm bed.
But he couldn't!
Not until he knew that his granddaughter would be okay!
The medical team worked furiously at their task while Zuko gazed in from the glass window with enraged golden eyes.
His disabled arm was now in a bandaged sling and he could only clench his fist in his anger at the sight before him.
'Azula! If you hadn't had struck Katara in the shoulder, she wouldn't been torn apart by the landmine!' Zuko thought with his fists tightening at his hip before turning to storm down the hall.
Mere moments later he come to a stop before another room to see his uncle seated on the floor with a bandage wrapped around the left side of his face.
"Uncle...are you..." Zuko trailed off with the words dying in his throat while Iroh turned to smile back at him.
And seated before the wounded man was two steaming cups of tea.
"I will be fine, Zuko. It's just only an eye." Iroh assured only for his nephew to stare at him incredulously.
"Just an eye!" Zuko shouted with flames burning at the fingertips of his good hand while the older man reached out to grasp his cup of tea.
"Look at the bright side. Now we share the same location for our battle scars." Iroh stated before taking a sip of his tea while his nephew glowered down at him.
"You are quite carefree. Considering that Azula now has the power to not only rival Aang...but completely neutralize him whenever that girl is in her presence! On top of that we now have to deal with Azula's bloodhound Zoi chasing us everywhere we go! And that isn't even getting into what she did to Katara!" Zuko exclaimed in a furious voice with his fist balling up in his anger while Iroh now gazed down solemnly into his tea.
"I...am aware of the gravity of our situation. I am just...relieved to see have you back." Iroh commented in a softer voice while Zuko stared down at him with guilt ridden golden eyes.
"I...apologize, Uncle. Both for losing my temper now and...before." Zuko muttered with shame in his eyes once more.
"And I will say once more that there is nothing to forgive." Iroh assured while he stared at his nephew taking a seat opposite of him.
"Once my father realizes what that girl can do..." Zuko spoke in an unnerved voice while Iroh nodded glumly.
"There will be no stopping my brother then." Iroh agreed with a heavy sigh before taking another calming drink of his tea.
"Where...did she come from? Why would such a power reappear now after over a thousand years? It's...like she just popped out of nowhere!" Zuko lamented with frustration in his voice while his uncle gazed into his tea.
"It does certainly seem that way. I have a hunch...that the only person who would know of her origins would be your sister." Iroh replied with another sigh while his nephew scowled at the steel flooring.
"And now that Azula is aware of it. You can bet that she is going to keep that girl by her side at all times. There won't be a single chance to remove her from her side." Zuko spoke with a sliver of fear in his eyes before he found himself reaching out for the spare cup of tea.
"From the sound of it...this Elle has already spent a great deal of time with Azula...much more than most would care for." Iroh remarked with a frown while Zuko nodded in agreement.
"Toph told us that she met her a few weeks ago...wandering on Capital Island. And then we saw her again that village without Azula. After this...Azula won't allow her to walk free anymore." Zuko grunted before taking a relieving drink of the tea.
At the mere mention of Toph the two gazed down into their teacups with worried expressions on both of their faces.
"Uncle...about Toph.... how will we...?" Zuko inquired with a tilt of his head while Iroh met his gaze.
"Appa left in search of her just moments ago. It's far too risky for us to attempt to approach the island when we're all this injured. We can't fight another battle. Not today." Iroh declared in a serious voice.
"Now that Zoi survived...what is going to happen to Mai?" Zuko pressed with urgent concern for his former fiancé.
"One can only hope that Azula cares enough for her to protect her from Zoi." Iroh answered with a flinch while Zuko stared at him for what seemed like an eternity.
"Azula? Care about anyone, but herself and Father? That's a good one." Zuko scoffed with his injured arm falling into his lap while he glared down into his drink.
Although he won't deny that it almost seemed as if Azula felt something for Elle.
But...that couldn't be!
He scowled while he shook his head all the while reminding himself that Azula always lies.
That girl was astoundingly naïve.
His sister has been manipulating her for quite some time now.
Azula put her claws in deep and removing them will be almost impossible.
But maybe...if he gets another chance to talk to Elle without Azula around...
There may be a chance that he can convince her to stand against Azula.
He was snapped out of his musings when he heard his uncle hum thoughtfully with a contemplative countenance.
"I recall the first...and only time where I heard of this 'Component'." Iroh began with a thoughtful look in his remaining eye.
"Where...did you hear of it, Uncle?" Zuko asked in an increasingly entranced voice while his uncle developed a thoughtful expression.
"The spirit of knowledge...Wan Shi Tong once spoke of it. I went to speak to him...after the death of Lu Ten in search of greater enlightenment and the Avatar as well several years before Aang was found in his iceberg." Iroh confessed to the astonishment of Zuko who now gazed at him with surprised golden eyes.
"What...did he say?" Zuko pondered with inquisitive golden eyes while Iroh's amber eye turned to him grimly.
"He did not say much. He said that the Avatar's purpose is to balance the Spirit World. He claimed that the Avatar would return in time...and he was not wrong." Iroh explained to his entranced nephew.
He took a deep breath before gazing up from his cup of tea into his nephew's curious yet concerned eyes.
"He claimed that there was once a force that existed in opposition to the Avatar, and the Spirit World...that existed over a thousand years ago. This power...was called the Component. The Component's purpose as far as I know was to serve as a protector against any being from the otherworldly plane, and I suppose that includes the Avatar as well, that sought to bring harm to the physical world." Iroh informed with his eye gazing back at Zuko's stunned face.
In a strange way Zuko supposed it made sense for there to be a force that served as a protector against otherworldly beings that sought to harm the physical world.
And even the Avatar as well to an extent.
But Aang!
Aang was not a tyrant!
That was the part that didn't make sense to him.
His father and his sister are the very thing that the holder of this power should seek to stop.
And yet this girl was now seemingly going to assist his sister in conquering the world!
"You see, Zuko. The Avatar's power comes from the Spirit World...and according to the spirit I spoke to. The Component's purpose is negation...the holder of this power possessed the ability to tear through the spiritual plane." Iroh revealed with a grave countenance while Zuko sunk bank after hearing those words.
"Tear...through the spiritual plane." Zuko repeated with unnerved golden eyes gazing down in rapidly rising alarm.
This was horrible!
Never in a million years should Azula ever be in possession of such a power!
And even more horrifying.
Elle didn't even seem to understand the nature of what she held in her very hands!
His sister will effortlessly shape and mold her to her will!
This poor girl was naively in love with his selfish sister who was quite clearly toying with her emotions.
She was literally putty in Azula's hands!
"It is a grim, grim day. But there is good news." Iroh sighed while his nephew stared at him in disbelief.
"I find that hard to believe." Zuko snorted with his tea cup in hand while Iroh set his empty cup down.
"The girl is young, very young. She doesn't seem to know her own power yet. This gives us time...to come up with a plan." Iroh explained while the younger man numbly nodded in agreement.
"She may not know it yet. But I can guarantee that it won't take long for Azula to decipher it." Zuko insisted with a glower on his scarred face while his uncle turned to face him once more.
"All true. But for now. Let's handle one problem at a time. For now, let us not worry about your sister, my brother, or this young girl. Let us...focus on Zoi." Iroh began with a hardened countenance while Zuko's eyes still lingered on his bandaged face.
"I will defeat her...somehow. I swear I'll make her regret all of the people that she killed today." Zuko growled with his fists clenching once more in his rage.
"To do that...you're going to have to alter your fighting style." Iroh spoke with a hand on his bandaged cheek while he cringed from the pain.
"Alter my fighting style?" Zuko pondered in an attentive voice with his blood beginning to boil once more while he watched his uncle hold his head in pain.
"She truly is deserving of her reputation. I...must admit that I underestimated her. Her fighting style is incredibly deceptive...ingenious even." Iroh responded with a frown while Zuko listened in closely.
"She doesn't fight like most firebenders do." Zuko muttered in understanding while Iroh nodded gravely.
"She uses tools that one wouldn't expect of most firebenders. Bombs, grappling line, and swords. Before witnessing her in combat one, might think that she is compensating from a lack of skill in firebending. But that couldn't be farther from the truth!" Iroh exclaimed while leaning forward with his hands on his knees.
"Obviously. Only a fool would think otherwise." Zuko scoffed with a scowl still gracing his lips.
"You would think, Zuko, but she attacks rapidly, and without warning. In terms of strictly hand to hand combat, she may well be even more dangerous than your sister. And as you have seen by the time her enemies realize just how dangerous she really is. It is already too late." Iroh lamented while they vividly recalled the men that Zoi cut down in her vicious boarding of the airship.
"That tool of hers...it's not something I've seen before." Zuko commented before taking another drink of his tea.
"That's because it was likely custom made for her own use. And therein lies the problem. She is purposefully conserving the use of her chi by using every tool that she can to fight without her bending. I suspect that her firebending is no doubt stronger than what we saw. She wants her enemies to think that she is nothing without her weapons." Iroh remarked with his back against his seat while his nephew nodded grimly.
"She is...hiding the true power in her bending." Zuko breathed with his hands trembling in his fury.
"Precisely. This way if she should ever be stripped of her weapons...her enemies will let their guard down." Iroh concluded with a sigh while his hand slid down from his face.
"So...what do we do?" Zuko asked in a frustrated voice while Iroh held a thoughtful finger to his chin.
"There is only one person who may possess the solution we need." Iroh replied with a small grin on his lips.
"Who?" Zuko questioned in a curious voice while he gazed at his uncle's smile in bafflement.
But as strange as it may be. It relieved him to see his uncle returning to his usual self.
"Her former instructor...who just so happens to be your former teacher as well." Iroh stated slyly while Zuko stared back at him with surprised golden eyes.
"You mean...that she is a student of..." Zuko trailed off with realization in his voice.
His mind was already flashing back to the days when he first learned how to use his dual broadswords!
"Yes. We must consult my old friend...Piandao." Iroh admitted with resolve in his voice while he raised his eye to meet his nephew's speechless gaze.
"I...can't believe that he taught her." Zuko murmured while his uncle nodded in agreement while they gazed back at one another.
Iroh certainly could not blame his nephew for his shock.
He himself to this day could not understand what his old friend saw in Zoi to deem her worth his teachings.
He honestly did not have the faintest idea.
And he likely never will.