A Soldier's Promise

-Damian Cross-

Chapter Nine: The Cover

Mistress Isara was waiting for them. She stood beneath the branches of a giant tree, her face hidden within its shadows. The square was almost deserted, but they could sense faces behind the windows, all peering out at them.

"It's too soon," Isara said softly.

Zuko nodded, dusting off his clothes as he stepped down from the carriage. "Much," he agreed.

Isara sighed. "But we have no choice?"

"I don't. You and your people have many others."

"We, the people of Western Island, never go back on our word," she said firmly, "we will do as you order. That was part of the agreement we signed."

Kyoko carried in her hands a folder wrapped in waterproof oilskin. With everyone's eyes on her, she carefully set it down and unravelled its wrappings. Out tumbled a roll of parchment tied with a single black ribbon.

Zuko picked it up and untied it, letting the ribbon be snatched up by the wind. "This is the treaty I signed with you," he said.

"Yes," Isara was confused, as he knew she would be. "But why did you bring it?"

He drew his finger around the edges, and a sliver of smoke crept towards the centre, blackening the ink and biting holes into the woven words. A few moments later, he unclenched his fist and the ashes followed the ribbon, scattering with the breeze.

"Western Island is no longer bound by this treaty," Zuko announced, raising his voice, "The weapons you wish to produce belong to its people and not the military."

"Colonel-"

He cut her off. "It's possible that I will not survive this battle. Should the treaty fall into the next person appointed by Central to govern this island's hands, it would prove treacherous for everybody involved. If I do fail, that means that Central will have lost one of its most precious resource in Minami. They will turn here next, and you will need to be ready."

Katara had hung back, sensing that the meeting was one that she should not intrude upon, but Isara saw her and beckoned for her to come out.

"You look exactly like how your brother described you to be," Isara said. "He didn't quite capture your true beauty in his drawings though. I was given the impression that you had rather large ears."

At this, Zuko and Katara held their breaths, trying not to giggle and ruin the seriousness of the meeting.

"His art skills are in dire need of improvement," Katara agreed, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mistress Isara."

"Likewise," the older woman's eyes flashed to Zuko, "don't let her go."

He quirked an eyebrow, and smiled his crooked smile, "I don't intend to."

"I hope that you have come up with a plan to at least heighten your chances of triumph?"

Kyoko nodded. "We have an idea."

Isara looked at the ashes that had fluttered to the ground. "I suppose you'll need help, then."

"We'll just need an answer by the end of the week," Zuko said hastily, "Talk it through with the village elders, and-"

Isara held up a hand. "No need. This treaty was merely a formality. Friends should not have to beg friends."

"Then-"

"Yes. It will take time though," she warned, "unless you wish to call upon your friends at the South Pole and the Earth Kingdom-"

"-No," Zuko said firmly, "those are for getting back the Avatar, not for me. How many weapons do you have here now?"

"Not enough to supply even a single troop," Isara admitted, "We have a few that haven't been sold, but the quality-"

"-If you let those be kept in storage, they would be perfectly capable," Zuko assured her, "anything less than that and you would have destroyed them already."

Isara smiled, "you know me too well." She looked back at the mountain, "we'll work day and night until you have what you need, and more."

"Thank you," they bowed at each other, Zuko deeper than hers, and he stepped back up into the carriage. Kyoko and Katara followed behind.

Isara was still standing there when they rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

"She's younger than I thought she was," Katara said thoughtfully.

"They all are," Zuko murmured.

The day Zuko and his men were getting ready for sail was the day the entire fleet of Central's ships was destroyed in the Minami port. It was only through the quick thinking of one particular Captain stationed in Minami, that Zuko was informed of this incident.

"The entire port has been taken," Zuko traced the outline upon the map spread out before them. "Before we hoped to be updated by Central's army, to formulate a more detailed plan, but now they are trapped between the actual city and the port. Their supplies and routes of retreat are cut off. Therefore our first priority is to win back the port."

"Easier said than done," Tzu muttered, "Central has the best ships. How the hell did they fall so easily?"

"Minami made them," Kyoko reminded him, "they'll know of the weaknesses. That, or they planted them in there in the first place."

"If that is true," Katara murmured, "that means the rebellion has been brewing for quite some time. What's your plan, Lt. Colonel?"

Zuko glanced at her. "Why do you think I have one?"

She folded her arms, "why else would you have called only us three in here?"

He inclined his head, hiding his smile. "Western Island isn't known for its military prowess," he started, pacing around. "Our reputation on putting seafood as its priority makes our army seem weak. Also, the person in charge- me- is a comparatively low ranked official who was 'planted' there by the High General, furthering our reputation as being useless. We can work that to our advantage. Minami doesn't have access to the Archives, as it is a city that primarily serves to create weaponry only, and the base there is mostly unoccupied by military officials except for monthly inspections. That means they don't have information about Western Island. They don't know our numbers, nor do they know how well equipped we are, or how strong our soldiers are."

"You mean we appear weak at first, then overwhelm them?" Kyoko sounded dubious, "that might work for a small skirmish, but not on a scale as large as this one. To have toppled Central into chaos requires a well organized team and a fine leader. They won't be intimidated for long."

"I mean to say that we employ the same tactics," Zuko replied, "distraction. Back in Western Island, seafood was our cover for weaponry factories. We need to take back the port with a similar cover."

Tzu was nodding, "it has to be one big enough to cause such a diversion their attention is dragged away from the port. But how? They know that we would aim there first, since we cannot land and aid Central without it. They will be expecting us."

"They'll be expecting me," Zuko emphasized, "they will be expecting fire nation soldiers."

"Yes," Kyoko said slowly, "but that doesn't-oh…" she smiled, "I see."

"Indeed," Zuko smiled, "now I've got the the main frame of the plan, but I need your help in filling in the details…"

Minami was indeed a fortress. Jutting out like a shark's fin, its impenetrable walls encircled a gagging mass of gigantic stone buildings, each one taller than the other. Atop a hill, it claimed unhindered views of the land around the city, and every little movement was scrutinized, analyzed, and dealt with even before the enemy knew they had been seen.

The leader of the rebellion was a remarkably young man- barely in his thirties, sporting a thinnish goatee and an unkempt mop of hair. He was brilliant in every sense of the word. By age three he'd been reciting the Hundred Seasons poems like a fish breathing water, while his friends of similar ages were still struggling to remember that a circle block did not fit into a square hole. Anything he took a fancy to- sword arts, crafting explosives, swimming, calligraphy- he excelled and mastered within a few months without any apparent effort. He was a prodigy, and was hailed as such.

However, the triumph of the ports was not his doing, but one of his sub-ordinates. But knowing which cards to deal out to which hand also requires careful thinking and plotting, and so, really, he could lay claim to the win as well.

"You are sure the port is secure?" He asked, stroking his sad little beard.

"Very," the man was still flushed from giving news about his triumph. "I have organized a barrier of ships blocking every possible way to the port."

"How many?"

"Fourteen, sir. The rest of the ships are still docked but ready to use at any time. Our men at the port are on rotation, so that a well rested crew is always on board."

The leader nodded his approval. "And the lighthouses?"

"Currently being rebuilt, sir. We have two ships serving as temporary lighthouses for now, fully supplied with flares, lanterns, and long-range communication kits."

The leader considered this, "take a small team and set up guard around these two ships. It is unlikely that the battered Central has the energy to try and reclaim the port by using explosives, but it doesn't hurt to be safe."

"Understood."

Sensing that the man had more to report, the leader gestured for him to speak freely.

"There was a messenger hawk seen, flying away. We assume that Central has asked for further aid."

"Even if they didn't fail, Central would have sent in reinforcements anyway if their troops did not return soon enough. Be prepared for an attack, and notify me immediately if you see any ships on the horizon, or balloons in the air."

"Yes, sir."

When the man left, the leader turned back to the scrolls laid out in front of him. He considered first Central, then the Eastern Islands, and then lastly, Western Island. He jabbed at the plot on the map. Central would definitely be sending them first, as it was no secret about the enmity between the High General and the deposed Fire Lord. Central expected Western Island to fall at Minami's hands, and then swoop in when Minami appeared to have its hands tied with Western Island. The leader smirked a little. Their ploys may have worked if they were facing a lesser man.

Fire Lord Zuko… the name conjured up images of a strutting, arrogant teenager. Impressionable. Malleable. Perhaps even gullible.

"Yes," the leader muttered, "yes, dear Zuko… you'll serve quite nicely. Dance for me while I wait for the bigger fish to sink its teeth into my hook, won't you dearie?"

He did, after all, get bored oh so very easily.

Their numbers seemed pitifully small. Zuko stood facing them, trying not to wince at how spectacularly the plan might fail just because they didn't have enough of anything.

"Right," he said, "right. So everybody is clear about their positions? If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask now. We cannot tolerate misses during the actual operation."

One man raised his hand. Zuko nodded at him. "Shouldn't we… test them out first?"

Good question, Zuko thought, very good question.

"We should," he agreed, "but we don't have time. We can't travel any slower, or else Central might start asking questions, and those suspicions may reach Minami's ears."

He looked at the sundial on the deck. It was just about time.

"To your positions," he shouted, sending flame into the air, "We should be reaching Opal Island very soon."

Tobe clambered to his designated position and gulped as he looked around him. Zuko had placed an enormous amount of trust onto him, one that he simultaneously revelled and feared in. He rubbed his palms together, generating warmth and getting ready.

Western Island, a prominent fishing island, had many ships. Unfortunately, most of them were used for hauling in fish and didn't have much of the necessary accessories the military ships boasted, such as hardened sides to deflect flaming arrows, or inbuilt catapults, or even an airtight room that stocked weapons. The one Tobe was on right now, as the one Zuko was on, was a simple fisherman's boat hastily refurbished to simply look like a military ship. Zuko's idea was to not let the opposition know just how forlorn their resources actually were.

Kyoko captained one proper ship, and Tzu another. They led their fleet over the boundary that marked the ocean belonging to Opal Island, in a V-shaped pattern reminiscent of the flight pattern of migrating birds. For signaling they employed fire blasts. Each ship had at least one fire bender who understood and could translate the bursts of flame to the captains. They could have used other means, or the military standard signals, but Zuko had insisted they use an entirely different code, one that he was sure Minami couldn't know and crack-at least until they won the first battle. The downside was that only a handful of people was able to memorize and utilize the new code fluently. Most were still stuck on the basics, and many still mixed up the difference between two short blasts, and one long one.

Tobe cast a look behind him, looking longingly at the endless stretch of water. He was onboard the ship behind Kyoko's, just as Zuko was in a similar position behind Tzu's ship. The last two ships were captained by other officers. Aside from Kyoko's and Tzu's the rest were all fishing ships.

"The blockade!" A soldier shouted from above, "Fourteen ships! All armed! They've seen us!"

"Ready the catapults!" The captain on Tobe's ship roared, "and fire on my command!"

Tobe turned to face his own group. They looked at him with a mixture of graveness and excitement that was no doubt reflected on his own face. "Get ready," Tobe said, feeling a little odd considering he was the most junior of the lot. But the others just nodded and readied the balloon.

"Fire!" All at once, catapults snapped loudly as they launched a stinking mess of smoky flames towards the ships that blocked their way. Still far away, they landed into the water way ahead of their targets.

"Keep firing!"

All of the ships were stocked with the smoking seaweed. They let out pungent fumes and blackened the sky, being used to the smell of stinking fish though, the Western Island army need only to worry about sight.

Tobe rubbed his palms together once more. He crouched down and opened the cover, waiting.

There was three short blasts of orange fire, following by two long ones.

The signal.

"Hold on!" Tobe yelled, then sent a roar of flames into the burner.

"They're here," the leader got up from his chair, looking out the window like a child gazing longingly at candy.

His secretary- well, really his sister- read off from the report given by Gao who was in charge of the port. "Six ships. They've launched explosives, but none have hit."

"Six?" The leader frowned, "Six only?"

She nodded, "They've doubled checked but it seems to be so. Also, our engineers have informed us that only two of the six ships are military grade. The rest are simply shells trying to fool us."

The leader tapped a finger against the window pane. "Interesting," he murmured, "what little game are you playing at, Zuko?"

"Gao informs us that they'll clear the attackers within the hour, and that you shouldn't worry myself."

The leader turned around. "The fact that we can estimate Zuko's defeat to within an hour is what worries me. Be on the look out for anything… different. Tell Gao to not go easy on the opponent just because of the difference in numbers. Destroy them at once if they deviate from their current pattern."

"Yes, sir," she bowed respectfully-they all do to him- and left the room to send his message.

"Even from up here I can see the smoke they bleed into my air," the leader murmured, "if this is your solution, Zuko, I think I'm a little disappointed. Smoke screens can only hide so much."

He considered calling his sister back to warn Gao about keeping his eyes open, and not just on the sea, but decided not to in the end. If Gao fell into Zuko's trap, then he was unworthy to be part of his team anyway.

The leader sat back into his chair and faced the window once more. The wind was in Zuko's favor today, blowing the smoke from their explosives straight into their enemies' eyes. Gao's blockade had not yet launched a single cannonball, which the leader approved. No use in wasting precious resources just yet. Wait until the enemy is within range, then fire.

He imagined the glorious sound they would make, the sounds of the bombs exploding, the screams of the sailors as they toppled to their deaths, the wretched sounds of ships being torn apart. Glorious, indeed.

He laughed a little.

Gao was not brilliant, like his leader, but he was smart. He was a keen observer and was one of those people who recorded every single detail meticulously, even if it was as mundane as a person's toilet break schedule. Everything, he claimed, every little thing always built up to a more meaningful one. There's patterns in details that reveal more than was intended.

The ships coming towards him on the horizon bore flags that marked them from the Western Island territory. Known for its delicious seafood and rich ocean life, Gao had been expecting more ships than the mere six that appeared. He noted his suspicions down in the little notebook he carried with him always, along with three different brushes and two bottles of ink.

"What is that horrible smell?" He choked out, fanning the air in front of him.

"Burnt seaweed and-animal- oils," his second-in-command answered, gagging a little himself.

Gao winced at the way he said 'animal', trying not to think what, exactly, the man had meant, and threw back a canteen of water down his parched throat. Though the explosives had not struck its target, the smoke certainly did, creeping into his crew's lungs and making their minds become befuddled and limbs heavy.

Poison? He thought, then immediately brushed the idea away. It might be a poison, but not one that would kill. It was just the headiness of the smoke that made them queasy, an effect of the mind rather than an actual symptom.

Gao drew out his handkerchief, drenched it in fresh water, and tied it around his nose and mouth. It was now easier to breathe, easier to think. The other members of his ship followed suit, and they were well trained enough to continue to have one hand on their weapon even as they tied their masks around their face.

The enemy was still firing, one after the other. Gao had counted at least fifty shots from each ship, each one landing in the sea uselessly. There was only so much room on each ship, and they would soon run out. Surely the ex Fire Lord (for who else would be leading this motley crew?) was not foolish enough to waste his resources like this. Gao had his city with its factories. Zuko only had that which was on his ships.

Was it possible… Gao licked his lips, scanning the sky. He caught a glimpse of-of something, but he wasn't sure what. A shadow gliding behind the grayish clouds. Gao scrambled for his eyepiece.

"Archers!" He roared, "Archers! I want every archer aiming at the sky. Fire at will! Cannon, aim at the ships, fire only when they are in range!"

The crew efficiently carried out his orders, and his second-in-command was relaying the orders to the other ships. The air was soon bathed in arrows and flames.

Gao smiled triumphantly as the ballon was punctured and began its descent. It dropped into view, just below the smoke. It was a sorry sight- fabric torn to pieces, the metal basket melting, the fiery flames flickered into useless smoke and ashes. But-

"-Where are the people?" His second-in-command asked, looking at the balloon also. "Surely somebody was piloting it?"

There was a cry of urgency on another ship.

"A balloon!" The captain on that ship yelled out into his speaker that connected to theirs, "that one was a diversion! The actual one managed to pass by!"

Gao swore, "Ship 4D," he punched in the code, and the receiver was picked up immediately, "Turn around immediately. Continue to fire. I want that balloon down. Signal to the ships at port to fire at the sky at will."

"Roger that," came a tinny voice. Gao paused long enough to ensure that the ship was turning around quickly enough to still have the balloon in range, and resumed focusing his attention back to the ships.

It was abnormally quiet.

"They've… stopped firing?" He asked, stunned.

"Yes, and they've stopped as well. Just out of range. It seems," the second-in-command licked his lips, "that the objective was to distract us with the explosives, use the smoke to cover their balloons, and send that dummy one beforehand to draw our attention away-"

"-I know that!" Gao snapped. He bit his thumbnail, thinking, calculating. Fourteen ships in the sea as the blockade. One facing away. Twenty-two more docked at the port. He could spare a few more ships.

"4A, 4C, 4E," he spoke into the speakerphone, "Continue onwards and engage battle with the enemy ships. The rest of the ships, spread out. I want chains between each ship, is that understood? An impenetrable gate, just like our Minami's walls."

Gao was in command of 4B, and watched as his ship raised the chains and cast a net with the neighboring ships. Not even a little slimy fish could pass through now. And the six ships must have exhausted its explosives, if they had ceased their attack. Three ships was more than enough to pick them off and sink them.

"I want status on the balloon," he jabbed furiously at the earpiece connecting to 4D.

There was a brief silence.

"What?" Gao nearly screamed. "Tell me!"

"There's two, sir," the captain replied, almost whispering. "The one that passed by us, and another one that was right behind the first one we shot down. Both-both-"

"-You got them? Please, Agni, please tell you got them?"

The captain didn't answer.

"TWO BLOODY BALLOONS," Gao exploded. "How in the world did you miss them?"

"Er, we- that is- they weren't the threat anymore, sir."

Gao froze. "What do you mean?"

The captain hesitated once more before speaking. "The two balloons launched explosives towards the two ships acting as the lighthouse…"

Gao swore again. All those flares and explosives…

"The other ships?" He demanded, "the other twenty?"

"They are all in one piece," the captain was careful to say.

Gao breathed a sigh of relief. So Zuko's plan was simply to destroy their main supply of signal flares. Little matter. They could make more.

"So what of the two balloons now?"

"They flew outwards immediately after the explosives, sir, arcing out of reach and returning to their own fleet."

Gao frowned. The balloons had the opportunity to fly straight into the heart of Minami's walls. To open the gates from within. Why hadn't Zuko taken the chance? Why send in the dummy balloon to distract him in the first place, if the objective was simply to destroy the lighthouse-ships?

Unless… he thought carefully about what the captain had just told him.

"You said that the other twenty ships were in one piece?"

The captain spoke an affirmative. It was not a pleasant sort of yes. More like a reluctant sigh of defeat.

"What did you mean, exactly, by that?"

"Sir-"

But he was interrupted by his second-in-command.

"What?" Gao said angrily, "what now?"

"The enemy ships, sir- they've-they've parted."

Gao whirled around, grabbing his eyepiece. Indeed, the ships had broken their V-shaped formation and was now drifting further and further away from each other. The three ships he had sent after them was acting on his orders, and was continuing to fire away, but as a result of chasing the enemy, they too, had broken formation. The two balloons floating in the air seemed to jeer at Gao at his stupidity. But Gao still couldn't figure out what and why they were laughing at him.

"Their plan is to split us up, so to minimize their damages," Gao reasoned, "They aren't firing back, so their weapons are used up." I hope, "we must maintain our blockade here, no matter what. 4A, C, E," He barked, "go around the ships and herd them to the middle, then fire at will. Catch them like sheep," he seethed, "I want no evidence of them having even set foot in my ocean."

"4F, H," he switched frequencies, "aim at the two balloons. If they so much as flutter towards us, fire. I don't care if they aren't in range. One shot might get lucky. The wind is turning."

And it was. The smoke from before was being blown away, and the fumes were slowly purging from his system. In a few more minutes, what was out of range will now be an easy target to reach. The wind was strong, after all, and-

-His eyes widened at the realization. The explosives never hit his ships because they were never meant to. The enemy ships had been out of his range because of the wind, but surely at this distance, at least one of the explosives from them should have struct its target?

But why? Gao nibbled on his thumb once more. Why? Why the balloons? Why the smoke screen and not actual attacks? Just to destroy some disposable flares and two of the smallest ships?

"-Sir," Gao jerked to attention once more. It was the captain from 4D, he'd almost forgotten about him.

"Yes?"

"I meant that the ships were in one piece, but they've-they've turned."

Gao's blood froze, "turned?"

He could hear the man gulp. "All twenty ships have their cannon aimed."

"Yes," Gao snapped impatiently, "I told them to hit the balloons, didn't I?"

"No, sir, I meant that they have their cannons aimed at us."

"Impossible," Gao breathed, "impossible. Nobody could have passed through our chains undetected. Do we have a mutiny on our hands?"

"No," the captain of 4D replied, "I've just received a hawk, sir, from the port. They've surrendered to Western Island."

Gao slumped down. "Impossible," he repeated, "impossible."

The captain continued reading the letter, "A group of Western Island soldiers managed to claim the biggest ship, and threatened to turn it against the others. They had with them a sort of explosive weapon, which they had strapped onto every single ship in the port, and said that if we did not surrender, they would blow all the ships up and the people on it."

Gao closed his eyes, "what of our men now?"

"They have been herded onto one ship, sir. They tried to contact with us, but the lighthouses were-"

"-destroyed," Gao sighed, "Our only long-distance communication devices, destroyed. How utterly humiliating for me to think that they were of little importance."

"Sir?"

"You still have the hawk?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send a message to the leader, we need reinforcements."

When the captain hung up, Gao stood back up again. The port may have surrendered, but the blockade was strong- he just needed to figure out how that enemy group managed to pass by without him noticing. He just needed to buy some more time before more people came to aid him.

"FIRE!"

The wind had turned, and the command given could be heard as clearly as if she was standing right next to him. Gao stood and watched helplessly as the cannon from each of the twenty ships at port started firing at him. Most hit their marks, and the ships trembled dangerously, rocking to and fro. His own ship was not struck, but the chains connected made sure that each tremor was transmitted to all the other ships.

He couldn't turn around. Not with the chains. In keeping the enemy out, he had locked his own movements.

His only hope lay in the three ships that were still unbound, attacking the main of the enemy fleet.

"More ships!" his second-in-command gasped, thrusting the eyepiece into his commander's hands. "More ships on the horizon! Ship ships!"

The enemy had not parted to break formation, to minimize any potential damages. They had parted for their real fleet.

The smoke had been the cover.

"Mistress Isara sends her greetings, and her apologies for being late," a soldier signaled Zuko with fire blasts.

Zuko stopped firing into the burner, and let the balloon descent gracefully onto one of the ships. He signaled for Tobe, in the other balloon, to do the same.

As soon as the balloons landed gently onto the deck, Kyoko's and Tzu's ships began loading the catapults with explosives. Actual explosives this time, not foul smelling oil rags designed to give off abnormal amounts of mere smoke. The three enemy ships had stopped upon seeing Isara's gifts-and there was something to be complimented about their courage in that they did not balk and retreat immediately.

Fifty fully armed military grade ships emerged, breaking through the smoke that had blown their way. Like silent, deadly sharks, they swam swiftly through the water, purposeful, and elegant in their bloodlust.

"Isara outdoes herself," Zuko murmured, appraising the thick hull of the ships, the gleaming cannons, and the speed at which they travelled.

He raised an eyepiece and looked out towards the blockade, which was strangely silent. Katara must have succeeded then.

Zuko beckoned for a hawk, and writing essentials. He wrote a short note and let the hawk snatch it up with its powerful talons. He watched as it soared towards the middle ship of the blockade and into the hands of a beaten man.

Admit defeat. No harm if no resistance.

It was short. No lacy embellishments, no further clarifications or threats. Gao looked at the ships- past the fishing boats dressed in military costume, past the two clunky, rusty ships that had been firing smoke bombs at them- and to the new, shiny, well-oiled ships, its formation clear in its leader's meaning- we will attack if necessary.

He scanned the sky behind, waiting. Another hawk soon descended and dropped another letter into his waiting arms.

This note too, was short.

We will reclaim it another time. Allow the enemy to stake its mark for now.

Gao bowed his head. If the leader willed it, then let it be so.

He arranged for several men to raise the white flag- and they did so with trembling hands. As much as they were willing to fight, to rebel, and to resist, none of them could deny that it was safer to wait and live through a smaller battle in which they had no hope to win, to regain their spirits to fight in another war.

The cannons were rolled back, the catapults dissembled, the crew gathered onto the top deck. Chains strung between the ships were dropped and hauled back into the ship to be stored away. It was the act of the defeated, one that Gao was sorry to be the main character of.

The ex Fire Lord himself greeted Gao, traveling by the balloon and accompanied only by a few men. They landed beside him, and Zuko looked over at the ships that once formed a tremendous blockade.

"Good fight," Zuko said.

Gao disagreed, "we never had a chance."

Zuko tilted his head to one side, then nodded after a while, "yes, I suppose you're right. It was already over when my group reached your shores."

Gao let his hands be bound, knowing that aside from having a great head for seafood business, the Lieutenant Colonel Zuko also had a reputation for being honorable and just. If the man said he would not harm them if they did not resist, then he would not so much as pinch him. Not for the first time since the battle, he wondered what it was like serving under Zuko, who fought his own battles instead of hiding inside a castle.

"May I ask… how?"

Zuko considered the man. "I can't reveal everything," he said with a small smile playing on his lips, "After all, the battle of the port is over, but not the war. I will tell you this though, Minami should not underestimate Western Island, especially our numbers. Small island that we are, we have a surprising large population of well trained and seasoned soldiers."

A boy had glanced at his superior officer at the comment, as if to question why he would give away an advantage like that. Gao just shrugged. Zuko had revealed one hand, but kept many others hidden. He had more up his sleeve.

Fire Lord Zuko, Gao thought, suits him more than Lt. Colonel Zuko. Then he shook his head in shame, because, really, the boy must have done something wrong for him to be deposed. The Council of Five was not perfect, but if the populace tolerated the Five more than Zuko, then the boy must have surely been truly incompetent.

The man the boy grew up to be though… now that was a leader.

Katara was waiting for them on the port. She saluted Zuko as soon as he came into view.

"No problems?" he asked, stopping before her.

Her hands were covered with ashes, and her hair was flying in all sorts of directions. She grinned at him. "None that were unforeseen, sir."

He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling ever so slightly, "good job, Corporal Ahn-Jii."

She stepped aside, "what should we do with the surrendered men, sir?"

Zuko just shrugged, "out of my hands. Central still has the main say here. We will hand the men over to them."

"You will," Katara said, almost slyly, "may I be there to witness it?"

He frowned down at her-he was at least a head taller than her- and relented with a small sigh, "I won't be able to stop you, even if I try."

Katara smiled rather wickedly.

The exchange was seen by Kyoko, and she gave them both the same look she had given to Katara that day in the training yard. What it meant, Zuko didn't know. Kyoko was strangely, and infuriatingly at times, difficult to understand.

Zuko surveyed the room inside the ship. Katara, Emi, and Suzuka, the leaders of the little group, had been extremely thorough. All weapons had been stripped from every person, and locked in a separate room. Every captive had their feet and hands bound, but was allowed to talk to one another. On closer inspection, he realized the knots weren't even remotely secure.

Not the true enemy, he could almost hear Katara whisper to him. They are all your people.

He waited until he had their full attention before telling the captives of their fate. "I cannot tell you what is going to happen to you all, except that you will be handed to Central and dealt with there. I must warn you though," and his voice darkened, "they don't particularly like rebels."

Katara shivered a little at the ice in his words. Everyone at Central was a rebel.

The people were given enough food and water to sustain them until the Central army could be contacted. From Gao, they learned that Central was forced to retreat to a valley that divided the hill and the sea. It was an easy spot for them to be picked off like flies in a spiderweb, but they had no other choice. Now that the port was reclaimed, however, they could import more resources without the fear of them being intercepted by the enemy.

Zuko had ordered the fifty ships from Isara to not venture into Opal Island's waters. They were the last resort. The idea had been to intimidate, and as Kyoko had pointed out, it only worked with small battles.

Tobe had almost given away their weakness, but luckily Gao had interpreted it as something else. Western Island had next to no men. Only the six original ships had full crews. The other fifty ships were manned by fishermen: untrained, unseasoned men who were meant to be deliverers, not soldiers. If one of them was so much as harmed, Isara would have his head.

He had not taken the entirety of Western Island's army with him to Opal Island, as that would leave it bare for Central to take over. He had taken only a mere quarter of his men, but he had assured them that he would only fight if they had a great chance of winning. It all came down to careful planning, and thinking things through, just like his uncle Iroh told him when he was young.

After Central sent the hawk back, saying they'll meet him at the port in a few hours' time, Zuko set up camp. He helped hammer the pegs for the tents into the sand, gathered firewood, and drew water from a nearby stream. He even went fishing, letting Gao's men have a portion of his catch around the fire pit. If it wasn't for their bound feet, it would have looked like a merry camping trip. Western Island was used to the eccentricity of its leader, but Minami was not. They were stuck between contempt for how the leader had sunk to the level of a follower, and admiration for his tactical prowess. They harbored no particular enmity to him, since they rebelled against Central, and not the peaceful Western Island, and the fact that Zuko had won the battle without killing a single man was something they wished their own leader was able to do.

Katara, Emi, Suzuka, Tobe, Kyoko, Tzu and Zuko gathered in his tent after dinner was cleared away. They discussed Katara's groups mission, the difficulties they faced, the chinks in the plan that they had not taken into account beforehand. They revised and reviewed until they knew that if a similar situation ever arose, they could triumph in less than an hour.

"Was there even a chance that they found out about your abilities?" Zuko asked Katara.

She shook her head. "No chance at all. I made sure to emerge from the sea under a cover of a ship. If someone did see, they probably just thought we swam."

"Dry clothes though," Kyoko murmured, "that would rise suspicions."

Emi scowled, "we were drenched. When it was shallow enough, Katara did make us swim."

Zuko approved of the idea with another of his rare crooked smiles. "I tried to slow the ships down, I hope there was still enough time?"

Suzuka nodded, "plenty. Although they raised the chains sooner than expected. We were already onshore by then, though."

"Good," Zuko murmured. "I'm glad your experiments went well."

Kyoko shrugged gracefully, as only she could do, "smoke screens are simple enough."

"That thick? With that smell?" Zuko raised an eyebrow, "quite a feat."

Suzuka wasn't that impressed with herself, "the bombs latched onto the ships would not have worked, I didn't factor in the humidity caused by the ocean vapor."

Kyoko just patted her shoulder, "we'll remember that next time."

"It's good that they didn't call for a demonstration," Katara sighed, "I don't think I would have gone through with it, if lives were in danger. If only we had a little chi-blocking machine that could duplicate Emi's movements exactly."

Emi blushed, "I just knocked out a few," she said, "Katara helped."

Zuko immediately glanced at Katara, who looked disgruntled at his scrutiny. "I didn't bend," she retorted, "I know how to kick and punch, and use the odd weapon lying around, thank you very much."

"And chi-block," he said.

"Occasionally," she agreed.

He eyed her, and she looked back positively glowing with innocence.

"You must be tired," he directed the question to everybody, but his eyes remained fixed on her face.

"A little," she admitted.

"Get some sleep. Central's people will be coming down here all too soon."

They made to get up, but not before Zuko said, rather loudly, "Today is a victory for Western Island, thanks to all of you. Warrant Officer Kyoko, Privates Tzu, Tobe, Emi, and Suzuka. And Corporal Ahn-Jii."

All of them accepted his thanks with a nod, and acknowledged the warning. Ahn-Jii. Not Katara.

Zuko's tent was rather large for just one person. After everybody filed out, he stood in the middle, trying to determine which place was best to place his pallet. Towards the back, or to one side? Either way, without other people, the chill would seep into his body no matter what he tried.

Life at the top is rather lonely, he mused, finally just dumping it in the middle. No wonder uncle preferred his little tea shop.

As sleep drew over him, closing his heavy lids and lulling him gently into a dream's embrace, a small chuckle was let loose as he recalled how utterly savage Katara had looked when he saw her after their victory. She might preach about peace and working together, the importance of tidiness and cleaning behind your ears, but deep down, Zuko suspected she enjoyed pulling up her sleeves and rolling around in the mud more than any of them.

Agni, his sleepy self thought as he rolled over and tugged his blanket further up beneath his chin, was it truly more than an entire decade ago that he saw her smile at him for the first time? And that laugh that afternoon…could that have been her first after Aang and Toph? Every time he felt even a little bit tired or drained during battle, he only needed to close his eyes briefly and listen to that rumbling, kind-hearted laugh and the heaviness would lift, leaving him strangely refreshed.

And that look Kyoko kept giving them. She seemed a little exasperated, now that he thought about it. Could it be she thought he…? No, impossible. Utterly absurd. Katara was just- she was only-

"You're a Fire Nation Army Corporal, and I'm the commanding officer here."

How strange that hearing his own words twisted his gut in such a wrenching way.

He rolled back onto his other side. Now is not the time to dwell on such personal matters, he scolded himself. You have a war to win.

The leader set down his tea cup after a noisy slurp.

Yes, the failure at the ports was a little humiliating, but not because the stupid, incompetent Gao had fallen right into Zuko's trap, but he was annoyed at the fact that the hole-ridden trap actually managed to work.

He tapped his fingers onto his desk impatiently. There had been too many ifs. Too many problems. If he had been in command, the port would still be his. It would have been Zuko who was defeated and shamed. It was a hand-clapping worthy attempt, of course, but the man was obviously in a level far inferior to himself.

The smoke screen wasn't used to cover the group creeping onto the shore- the timing wasn't right. The smoke screen had been used to cover up the fifty ships that had arrived after the initial six. Fifty ships, against a mere thirty-odd, Zuko should've shown his hand without the showy balloons and smoke and smashed the entire blockade and the ships at port at once.

No, the smoke screen was used to hide his weakness. Why else did he keep the fifty ships of the most powerful build in reserve? Why else did he resort to using only six ships so the enemy underestimated them?

The leader considered the battle again. He closed his eyes and imagined himself on ship 4B.

Six ships. That was suspicious at the start. The leader would have increased the size of the blockade. He would have kept five ships in reserve at the port, just in case, he would have sent the rest to join the blockade, and slowly advance towards the enemy. He would have fired ceaselessly, closing in the distance. The six ships would have fell, along with the balloons. Five ships-including the lighthouse ships- would have been taken, but that was of little matter once the six ships fell. He could have spared ten to turn back to port and reclaim it. The bombs latched onto the five ships- the sacrifice of merely five ships- would have been of little importance to the overall picture.

And the smoke…

It was used as a cover, if fifty ships had been seen in the first place, no doubt Gao would have employed the same tactics as the leader. He would have sent in the entire force, and the little group would have crawled all the way onshore for nothing. They would not have leverage. The men there would have subdued them quickly enough. The battle would've been tough, thirty odd ships against fifty, but it was possible they could've won, especially since they were familiar with the waters here, and the enemy was not.

But before the smoke, there was clearly only six ships…

Ah, the leader smirked, I see how it is. The fifty ships were not only late, they were useless. If Gao had the guts to resist, he would have triumphed in the end. The reports was that the ships were still just out of zone, perfectly out of his territory. Either the ships themselves were useless, or the men onboard were. A blade could kill, but in another's hand, it could only sting. Western Island couldn't have had a force large enough to fully crew up fifty six ships. The ships there were simply decorations, large hulking creatures that could do nothing but bark from afar.

He raised his cup once more, silently toasting Zuko.

"I wanted you to dance, dearie, not crawl. You've disappointed me."

The delicate cup crushed under his grip.

"Such a disappointment."