I have been so amazed at the response to this story. How is it possible that my little story has so many readers? Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement. It means so much to me to get all the comments and engagement, more than you probably know.

More Than Blood Can Stand

Chapter 31: Regrouping

"Prince Zuko? Is it really you?"

He raised his blades a fraction of an inch, tensing his muscles and preparing for what would probably be a disastrous fight. Sure, one of the archers had lowered his bow, but there were still two arrows pointed directly at him and a knife at Linghua's throat.

And he wasn't going to say a thing. He didn't owe the Yuyan archers a response. They had killed Hinata. If he ever found himself Fire Lord after the dust settled, he would disband the entire division.

The archer who had spoken earlier again broke the silence. "Ha Joon, let the girl go."

He obeyed, and Linghua scrambled over the fallen rocks to stand behind Zuko.

"I am Lieutenant Julong. My men and I have orders to deliver the Blue Spirit to Princess Azula." Julong stared down his arrow at him as he spoke. "We are not allowed to return until we have accomplished this mission-"

"Get used to disappointment," Zuko ground out from behind his mask.

"-but we have no orders," he spoke loudly over him, "to capture Prince Zuko. I'm sure I speak for every man here that we have no intention of harming the Crown Prince. Lee?"

The archer who had lowered his bow nodded. "We are loyal to Prince Zuko."

"Ryu?"

The other archer nodded curtly.

"Ha Joon?"

"Your Royal Highness, if it's really you…" He trailed off, taking a step towards Zuko.

"Then what? Are you trying to tell me that Azula wants the Blue Spirit, but isn't after the prince?" He laughed harshly. "Tell that to Hinata, son of General Saito!"

"Hinata?" Ryu's bow lowered a fraction of an inch. "What about him?"

"He's dead!" The fire wanted release so badly his blades were beginning to steam. "Dead at the hands of Yuyan archers. Not that you care," he snarled.

"Hinata is my cousin," Ryu said faintly, his face twisted in pain. "Why would they kill him?"

"Because he was protecting Prince Zuko," said Julong, understanding flitting across his face. "Because he was protecting you." He fixed Zuko with his gaze. "It is you. The Water Tribe boy was right."

"Sokka?" That's right, he and Aang had been captured by the Yuyan archers. And apparently Sokka told them he was the Blue Spirit. Did anyone keep secrets anymore? "What did you do with him?"

"He asked me to give you a message: 'the only way to make an enemy into an ally is to treat them like one.'"

That was what he'd told Sokka back at the North Pole!

"Hinata thinks - and I agree - that she'll probably ask Mai to kill me at some point. That is, if she hasn't already."

"And you married her anyway? Do you have a death wish?"

"The only way to make an enemy into an ally is to treat them like one. My uncle taught me that."

Why had Sokka wanted to tell him that? Was he trying to get him and Mai back together? No, Sokka couldn't have known about their fight.

He looked at the archers again, and he suddenly understood. It hadn't been about Mai at all. Sokka had wanted him to trust them. He believed they would help him.

He brought a hand up to his mask and paused. There were still two arrows pointed at his heart. Sokka had better be right about this.

But, he reasoned to himself, the situation was already pretty bad. Without bothering to think things through anymore, he pulled off his mask.

The reaction of the four men would have been almost comical, if Zuko had been capable of enjoying humor.

"I thought-" Lee stammered, "But I didn't really-" His mouth opened and closed a few more times, then he shook his head. "Wow."

"It's really you," Ryu whispered, sitting down on a rock. "I can't believe it."

Ha Joon just stood in stunned silence, mouth hanging open.

"Prince Zuko," Julong began, sinking into a bow, but Zuko cut him off.

"Don't call me that." He turned to catch Linghua's eyes. "Any of you."

She shrank back meekly and nodded.

"Besides," he muttered to himself, "I'm not strictly a prince anymore."

"My sister wrote to me saying that you'd been crowned Fire Lord at the North Pole," Ha Joon blurted out. "Is that true?"

That's not what he'd meant, but the others looked at him in awed anticipation, obviously expecting an answer. What should he say? Yes, that was technically true, but what did it matter? With Father and Uncle both also still Fire Lords of a sort, what did an unofficial coronation in a foreign land matter now? Still, there was no need to bring up Uncle. He still wasn't sure he fully trusted them.

"Something like that."

Their response was not what he had expected.

Julong's face narrowed into a frown. "Then what are you doing running around as the Blue Spirit?"

"And with no guard!" Lee said.

Ha Joon folded his arms and scowled. "My Lord, that's not safe!"

He scowled right back. He didn't owe them an explanation. But then Ryu spoke up in a quiet voice.

"Hinata was your guard. That's why you're alone."

He couldn't have responded to that even if he'd wanted to. Something about the way Ryu had said the words had made his throat feel tight. He swallowed hard.

"Well," Julong said briskly, "you're not alone anymore. We will serve as your personal guard until you can be assigned a proper guard."

Zuko opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he looked away for a moment to collect himself.

When he looked back, they had all withdrawn their daggers from their scabbards and held them out to him, something that Hinata, Aki, and Yuto had done with their swords in the ceremony when they had become his guards.

"I don't want anyone else losing their lives for me," he managed to say.

"It's not your choice to make," said Ryu, and he walked forward and dropped his dagger at Zuko's feet. The others followed suit.

He stared at them for a long moment until he felt something by his side. It was Linghua, who had come to stand beside him. She looked up into his face and smiled.

"Isn't it nice to have help?" she said. And she bent over, picked up the daggers, and placed them in his hand.

Yes, it was nice to have help.

The sun was peeking into the tent from the crack in the flap, shining on Mai's closed eyelids and drawing her reluctantly from sleep.

With a soft noise of frustration, she rolled over out of the light and into the body next to hers. That was a surprise. Zuko was almost always up before the sun. What an unexpected treat. She snuggled closer to him, reveling in his body heat. A drowsy happiness bubbled up inside her as she hummed contentedly and buried her face in his side. "So warm."

He responded with a giggle.

A very feminine giggle.

She sat up quickly, wide awake, and to her horror looked down not at Zuko, but at Ty Lee's twinkling grey eyes.

That's right, she reminded herself. Zuko was off who-knows-where trying to get as far away from her as possible, and she was sharing Ty Lee's tent. It was designed for just one person, so the quarters were snug and their bedrolls barely fit side-by-side.

But had she really just… Her cheeks burned uncharacteristically bright as she mentally reviewed what she might have given away. Nothing too bad from after she woke up, but as she remembered the dream she'd had. She hoped she didn't talk in her sleep.

How was it fair that she could have perfect control over every facial expression, every word, every action when she was awake, only for it to fall apart when she wasn't fully conscious?

She could only be grateful that she shared a tent with Ty Lee and not Azula. Ty Lee would think it was cute. Azula would get ideas.

Dangerous ideas. Accurate ideas. Ideas that could get her killed.

She shivered, pulling the covers over her shoulders. Maybe Ty Lee hadn't noticed.

Ty Lee giggled again. "Missing Zuko?"

She was more perceptive than most people gave her credit for.

"Of course," she said, forcing a smirk. No sense denying it. The best lies contained a heavy dose of the truth. "Firebenders are the best bedfellows, especially on cold mornings."

"It's hardly a cold morning," Ty Lee winked, "but since I'm not a firebender, I suppose it evens out."

She put her hands over her head and back until they touched the ground and arched her body up. With a small sound of pleasure at the stretch, she flipped over and stood up.

"Let's go to breakfast."

One thing Mai has to give Azula was that she traveled in style. No bare bones meals for her. No, Azula brought a wagon loaded with food and her own personal chef. The breakfast of abalone jook was a comforting reminder of home. There certainly were perks to infiltrating the enemy's camp.

She sat down delicately and ate with perfect court manners as a soldier briefed them on the day's news.

"Soldiers have been dispatched to engage the Avatar and his companions, but so far they have not made contact."

Mai was barely paying attention. None of this was new. Her entire story hinged on the fact that the others didn't trust her enough to reveal where they would meet up, so all she'd been able to guess was their approximate direction. She was counting on being able to lead Azula's forces ever so slightly out of the way, so that they would have time to escape before a confrontation had to happen.

The soldier continued. "We also have news of the Blue Spirit."

That got her attention.

"He was spotted yesterday in Chin Village releasing a prisoner who was due for public punishment and inciting the town to rebellion. He injured the commanding officer of the town peace force. Three others were killed by the ensuing riot after he left the scene. He has not been located since."

Chin Village wasn't in the right direction at all. And inciting riots? That didn't sound like he was on his way to meet up with the others.

She took another bite of her jook and feigned her usual indifference.

Azula's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps we need to head south and pay the Blue Spirit a visit."

Mai's hand stilled for a fraction of a second, before she forced it back into the jook for another bite.

Act normal. This means nothing to you at all.

But inside, her heart was racing. She could think of no worse situation than for Azula's elite team to find Zuko without the Avatar and his crew to protect him. He was an excellent bender, no doubt, but Azula was on another level. Not to mention Ty Lee, who was twice as fast and limber as Zuko could hope to be. She hadn't seen much of Ling's abilities, but if Azula had hand picked him, he was sure to be more than capable.

She would not be able to protect him, except with her life. And maybe this made her a bad member of the White Lotus, or a bad wife, but she would much prefer to explore other options before she jumped directly into the line of fire.

She needed to speak up, to get Azula to abandon this plan to find Zuko. But she had to be careful about it. Push too hard and it would arouse suspicions. Don't push enough, and it wouldn't be effective.

The good news was that she had some time to think. The soldier continued his briefing, and as was her custom, Mai blocked it all out. But as soon as the soldier walked away, she went into action.

"I wonder how long Zuko and the Avatar are going to stay at the meetup location?" she asked, as if that were an idle thought passing through her brain. Predictably, neither Azula nor Ty Lee replied. But Ling took the bait.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged and took another bite of her jook before continuing. "I know where they're meeting. Zuko knows I tried to kill him. Eventually they're going to put two and two together and realize that I told Azula where to find them."

Ling leaned in closer. "What was their plan after that?"

"There was no plan. It was all some desperate attempt to rescue the Avatar and the Water Tribe boy, and it shouldn't even have worked." She let her lip curl in disgust. "Everything they manage to do is pure, unplanned luck. Zuko was a fool to align himself with them."

"But he is the Avatar," Ty Lee piped up. "He's really powerful in a fight, right?"

"Of course. Outside of a fight, though, he's just a dumb kid."

She stood up, leaving her bowl behind for one of the kitchen servants to clean up. Another thing she really didn't miss about traveling with the Avatar. She walked over to one of the carts on the edge of their camp, leaned against it, and began throwing knives at a nearby tree.

Ten minutes later, Azula came over to join her.

"You really don't know where they will go after they meet up?"

Ah, so Azula had been listening.

"No idea." Thud.

"Some spy you were," she scoffed. Then, after a pause, "They're supposed to get there the day after tomorrow?"

Mai paused mid-throw and turned to look at her. "You can't possibly think we can catch them."

Azula raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Zuko is the biggest threat to my father right now."

Thud. "We're at least three days away," she said with just a hint of incredulity. "The Blue Spirit is the one causing trouble right now, and he doesn't know we're coming."

For a second, Mai thought she'd said too much. But a crazed look had come into Azula's eyes, and Mai knew that she had won.

"We'll make it in three days. And I will make him pay."

The sun was pleasantly warm overhead, and Iroh sat down on a nearby rock, pulled his hood off his head, and closed his eyes for a moment to drink in the feeling. There had been precious little time to enjoy life's little pleasures the last few weeks.

A chittering from near his feet caused him to open his eyes, and he saw a chameleon robin who had landed a few feet in front of him, and who had turned the dusty brown color of the path. Other birds were chattering away in the trees - Earth Kingdom birds, whose songs he hadn't heard since his failed siege of Ba Sing Se and the loss of Lu Ten.

"I am a different man than I was then," he said to the robin, his voice genial and betraying none of his inner turmoil. "Although sometimes I wonder if I ought to have been more like you," he chuckled. "Adapting to the world instead of making the world adapt to me. Especially my nephew." That sobering thought wiped the smile from his face.

"But he was ready for the responsibility," he said quietly. "Piandao was right, as usual."

The bird squawked loudly, as if in reproach.

"He was!" Iroh insisted. "Every report I have received about him has made me more proud than the last. He has more than exceeded my expectations." He smiled again, though it wasn't as cheerful as before. "I should be able to meet with him again, soon. My friends are arranging the matter as we speak. It may only be another week or two."

The bird cocked its head at him, then hopped over to a patch of grass and pecked out a fat grub. He lifted his head to the sky and gulped it down.

"You are lucky to be so well-fed, my little friend. I have to reach my destination before I can have another meal." With a stretch and a groan, he stood up. "Which is why I should leave now, before I get too comfortable and want a nap."

The bird pecked the ground again, this time coming up with a spider worm. He spread out his wings and flew up into the trees, probably to bring back to a nest of hungry fledglings who were about to leave the nest forever.

Iroh watched the bird until he was too far away to be seen, and continued staring off into the forest for another full minute before starting off in the direction of his rendezvous point.

The meetup point had been deserted when they arrived.

Aang didn't know why he was disappointed. There were still two days before the planned date. Of course Mai and Zuko weren't here yet. But he had still wanted to see them, had needed to see with his own eyes what he couldn't quite believe: that Hinata was gone.

He shuddered thinking about it and buried himself in his sleeping pallet. The others were asleep, thankfully. He had tried his best to put on his cheerful front as they set up camp and had their dinner, but there was only so much pretending he could do. Katara, at least, had seemed to suspect something was wrong.

And something was wrong, had been wrong since the beginning. The big question was why it had taken him so long to figure it out.

He had known that there was a war, had known that Ozai wanted to kill him and Zuko, had known that Azula was on their trail, had known that it was his destiny to defeat the Fire Lord.

But the truth was that up until now it had all seemed so distant, so theoretical. Aside from the fight in Ba Sing Se, he and his friends had met very little resistance in their journeys. There had been no battles, no serious attempts at his life.

Now, suddenly, everything felt dire. This was a battle to the death, a struggle for life itself, and for the future of the world.

How was he going to do it? He felt a sudden, desperate need to talk to Roku again. What was it he had said? I am a part of you. When you need to talk to me again, you will find a way. Well, a fat lot of good that did for him. He felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, having only mastered waterbending and only barely started on earthbending. He needed guidance, and the only help he'd been given was that he would figure it out himself?

He groaned and pulled at his ears, squeezing his eyes tight against the rising stress. He needed help.

And maybe that was part of why he was so desperate for Mai and Zuko to hurry up and arrive. The one bit of useful advice Roku had given him was that his great-grandson was going to help him defeat Ozai. Though even that had been cloaked in secrecy, since Roku hadn't known who that was. His only chance at getting the help he needed was in finding that great-grandson, and Zuko and Mai - being Fire Nation themselves - would probably know how to find that information.

If something happened to them, and they never showed up… what was he supposed to do? How would he learn firebending? How would he find Roku's great-grandson? How would he put the rightful Fire Lord back on the throne?

You can't, a voice whispered in his mind, a persistent voice that refused to be silenced. You're going to lose. You're going to fail the world.

"No," he whispered, tears burning against his eyelids. "I won't fail again. I can't."

But he wasn't sure he believed it.