Iroh takes note of the scowl present on Zhao's face as the entire line of point ships at the head of the armada burn and continue to sink. This delay would set back the siege by hours if not days in order to maneuver the landing parties once they breach the walls. The muttonchop sporting admiral growls as he turns and stomps back to his quarters in the bridge leaving Iroh alone on the top deck. Once Iroh finds himself alone, a wide and proud smile grows on his face. Itd been a long time since he wore fatherly pride so openly on his face, but seeing just how powerful his so- nephew has become makes him a proud man. "You have become powerful, Prince Zuko. I'm proud of the man you are becoming, and I shall see you soon." His thoughts are stopped when the iron door behind him opens again.

"General Iroh, Admiral Zhao requests you inside the bridge." The voice of Lieutenant Jee calls out from the doorway. "He's rather unhappy with what Prince Zuko has done to the fleet."

"Let him be, it's late and I need my rest in my old age. Let him know that we can speak in the morning." Iroh responds giving an exaggerated yawn before walking towards the doorway where the lieutenant stands. "You will need your rest, Lieutenant, don't forget that."

"Yes, General Iroh." Jee responds with a slight bow as Iroh passes him and enters the corridor walking towards his quarters. As Jee closes the door to the frigid night air, he notices that Iroh had made a wrong turn instead of heading to the officer's quarters; he is heading to the lower parts of the ship. "He's probably heading to get some late night tea, it's best that I let the admiral know."

Iroh tucks his hands into his robes as he walks calmly through the halls of the admiral's flagship. Jee had assumed that the old general was headed to the galley to satiate a late night desire for tea or even a dessert but that isn't what Iroh is doing. Calmly he makes his way towards the hold of the warship, being careful to avoid any patrols or engineers that were nearby he continues down to the bowels of the warship. At the end of a lonely hallway he twists open the iron wheel that is the latch for the door, the slightly rusted iron creaking under the movements. As the door creaks open he quickly ducks inside the empty docking platform at the end of the massive phoenix class warship. Now alone he takes a deep sigh before turning his attention to the single manned lifeboat hung up on the side of the wall. The older man drags the metal lifeboat into position then rigs up the robes in order to lower it and himself into the water below. Once everything is in place, he climbs into the boat and clutches the lowering robes in both hands. Raising his hands up he begins to allow the ropes to extend and begin to lower him and the lifeboat into the waters. Silently he rows the boat through the calm water using the noise of the engines of the warships to cover his trail.

Zuko has his own conundrum to worry about, the cold air is extremely distracting, especially since the sun has dipped down below the horizon. The miniscule amount of heat that the sun provided this far north was comforting to him but the cold is far from it. Outside of the distractions of the cold the issue that Zuko is trying to work out is how to contact the spirit world to begin with. The only idea that he can think of is to meditate, something that Aang had him do on a regular basis during the early days of their training. He's been trying to meditate for the past several hours since the sun has set and he hasn't been successful. The constant bickering between the watertribe siblings and the random comments between Aang and Yue are proving to be just as distracting as the cold. The bubbling frustration comes to a head prompting him to lash out at his noisy companions, "Will you shut up! I'm trying to concentrate damnit!" he roars, causing the others to fall silent almost immediately. "It's impossible to try to meditate with you all making so much noise."

"Sorry Zuko." The four say in near unison as the young firebender huffs out a bit of frustration then gives up on trying to meditate, at least here that is.

"I need somewhere warmer, it's too cold for me to focus out here because I have to keep using my bending to warm myself up." Zuko complains as he stands to his full height. "I need somewhere more peaceful than this, it doesn't help that I can see the entire armada right now."

"Let's go to the spirit oasis then, it's probably the most spiritual place in the north pole so it will definitely help." Yue suggests before motioning for the group to follow her.

Part of him is happy to be returning to the spirit oasis, the warmth and serenity of the sacred place feels almost like his mother's embrace. The atmosphere around the oasis itself brings him back to a happy time in his childhood, spending time with his uncle on ember island and with his mother going to see the plays in their vacation home. Hurriedly he follows Yue along the pathway and through the chief's long house towards the oasis. The women and children of the northern watertribe are taking shelter in the long house and as the group passes through the icy fortress a young child rushes up to Zuko without fear. The little boy tugs on Zuko's jacket prompting the avatar to look the child in his icy blue eyes. "Avatar Zuko?" the child asks, his voice raspy from crying through the initial attack. "A-are you go-gonna save us?" He asks, staring into the scarred face of the avatar. Zuko bends down and picks up the little boy before returning him to his mother, he pats the child on the head before answering him. "You're going to be safe." Though Zuko himself thinks that that statement is a lie to reassure the child, he doesn't have the confidence to say for certain that he can do this. The child accepts Zuko's answer then huddles up with his mother trying to get any bit of rest tonight. Zuko takes a deep breath trying to steady his nerves before continuing to follow princess Yue through the palace and to the back gate that leads to the oasis. Pulling open the wooden door to the spirit oasis, the rush of comforting warmth hits him as he crawls through the small gate.

"Well we're here, any idea on how you're gonna contact the Moon and Ocean spirits?" Sokka asks as he squeezes through the small doorway into the oasis itself.

"The problem is that the last time he got there it was by accident, and both Aang and Sokka got sucked into it in the process." Katara responds, "At least it's warm here, but I'm still confused. How is this place like this?"

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in the entire north pole, the waters are affected by the spirits and they're warm to the touch. I used to come here as a little girl after I had a nightmare, it always felt tranquil and made me feel safe." Yue explains as Zuko takes a seat in the grass just on the shore of the small pond in the middle of the oasis.

"Any ideas on how you're gonna get to the spirit world?" Aang asks from on top of the torii gate in front of the small bamboo forest in the oasis.

"Meditation probably, so can you all be quiet so I can focus?" Zuko asks, asking nicely for things wasn't something he was an expert at but the others do know that he was trying to ask politely.

Zuko presses the knuckles of his fists together out in front of him before slowing his breathing, he tries for a moment to close his eyes and concentrate but something moving in the water draws his attention. Beneath the surface of the water a pair of circling koi fish swim in a perfect circle, clockwise around each other. One white and one black, the white koi with a black diamond shape on the top of its head, the other with white in the same spot. Zuko watches the koi fish swim in tandem with one another for a few moments before he sees something else about the two. Their coloration seems to blend together forming the Yin and Yang symbol in the water. The moment it clicks that the fish represent Yin and Yang his eyes widen and a bright glow emanates from his pupils. His eyes widen and glow with the brilliant radiant light of the avatar state but the powerful bending that comes with it doesn't manifest.

"Woah... ok that's new." Sokka says seeing Zuko's relaxed pose. "Is he gonna destroy the place now or?"

"He's crossed into the spirit world, it's not the same thing as the avatar state." Katara chastises her brother's stupid question.

"Should we help him?" Yue asks.

"He'll be fine, just don't touch him. For all we know we could trap him there if we move his body." Katara warns immediately prompting Sokka and Yue to take three steps backwards away from Zuko.

Meanwhile beneath the moonlight, Iroh continues his journey through the frigid waters. So far he's managed to slip by most of the firenation ships without being spotted by any of the soldiers, at least as far as he's aware. No one has set off any alarm whistles or signal flares since his nephew and his companions attacked the leading ships of the invasion fleet. He silently rides the current to the foot of the large wall protecting the city. The old general looks up at the patrols marching the walls, trying to sneak in through this method wouldn't work and he'd likely get caught... though that idea might just work. Thinking for a moment, he checks his bag to make sure that he has the things he needs then looks up at the guards one last time then raises his hand and creates a small candle sized flame on the top of his finger. The sudden appearance of a yellow and orange light against the bluish white sky catches the attention of the passing patrol almost the moment Iroh created the small flame. Iroh smirks to himself when he hears one of the men shout "We got another one!" before a group of four waterbenders jump off the side of the wall sliding themselves down it by liquifying the ice. Iroh holds up both of his hands over his head then puts them behind it submitting to the waterbenders. Getting down to where his small boat is drifting through the current the four benders immediately freeze Iroh's boat in place before raising ice spikes to point at him. "No tricks firebender, keep your hands were we can see them and get out of the boat." Lon'qu demands and Iroh does as ordered.

It doesn't take long for him to get carted off through the city towards the makeshift prison that the water tribesman have set up. A short boat ride on one of their kayaks and then a brief march towards the guard's barracks taking maybe an hour at most for them to get to the prison. Upon entering the barracks itself, Lon'qu announces their arrival: "We got another one Master Pakku, Chief Hakota. Probably a survivor from the Avatar's attack on the forward ships." Pakku himself walks out of a small meeting room in order to inspect the prisoner that the men have just brought in and has to hide an expression of shock seeing the dragon of the west at his door. The arched eyebrow look from Pakku poses an unspoken question that Iroh answers with a wink. "Take him to one of the empty cells, set it up with a bed and table. The firenation doesn't take prisoners, but we're better than them." Iroh smirks to Pakku before the guards continue to escort him through the barracks into the new cell that a few of the waterbenders are setting up for him. As he passes Pakku, Iroh makes sure to discreetly drop a white lotus tile from within his sleeve onto the pelt beneath his feet. The wooden tile catches Pakku's eye as it drops silently to the floor. The secret message between the old masters being all the conversation they need.

"If you'll excuse me, Chief Arnook, I'm going to interrogate the new prisoner for any more of their plans that the others have yet to give up." Pakku says as he excuses himself with a bow then follows the four guards that flank Iroh around the corner.

"Let me know if you learn anything useful." Arnook calls back before he too notices the Pai Sho tile that had fallen on the floor. "A pai sho tile?" He asks himself before picking up the wooden token and placing it on the table behind him. "Probably one of the old general's keepsakes." He chalks it up to.

"Leave us." Master Pakku orders the attending guards to exit upon locking Iroh within the cell. The four men bow before walking out of the room, not bothering to back talk the grandmaster. "You got a lot of guts taking a gambit like that, old friend." Pakku says as he creates a stool for himself from the ice that makes up the room.

"Before we start, just know that Zhao isn't using any of my tactics for this invasion. The only reason I came with him was to join back up with my nephew, he still has much to learn about firebending." Iroh responds before reaching into his sleeve and producing a rolled up Pai sho board. "Care for a game?"

"Of course." Pakku responds as he unclips a small bag from his belt. He unties the top of the pouch before digging his hand around it revealing a set of pai sho tiles that have been dyed blue. "The guest gets the first move." Pakku says knowing full well that Iroh is going to place the white lotus piece.

"I seem to have dropped my white lotus tile on the way in here. You wouldn't mind lending me an extra would you?" Iroh asks with a jolly grin on his face. Pakku stifles a laugh to himself before reaching into his bag and placing the white lotus in the center of the board. "You know me too well, old friend."

Zuko's eyes open sharply to a strange sight before him, the spirit world is nothing like how he thought it would look. The air here radiates with a strange feeling, though it was similar to the spirit oasis. The atmosphere is almost as hot as his homeland but it's muggy and the air is thick with moisture. Around him is a large swamp with strange plantlife and structures. He stands up noticing that the platform he is standing on is man or spirit made, carved from wood in a perfectly circular platform underneath another torii gate. He takes a quick look around trying to get his bearings, spotting another figure here. Across from him is a humanoid baboon sitting in a meditative pose humming a continuous tone to himself. "Ohm." He says out loud as Zuko approaches him. "Do you know where the ocean and moon spirits are?" Zuko asks, prompting the baboon spirit to open an eye to peek at him before briskly closing it and repeating his mantra. "The sooner you tell me, the faster you leave," Zuko says, prompting the baboon spirit to sigh before slouching. "Ocean and Moon spirits? Must be real old cause I've never heard of them, there might be other spirits around here that know of them. Maybe that one over there." the baboon says pointing towards a floating light nearby, without thanking him Zuko takes off chasing after the glowing light. "Finally." the baboon says to himself before returning to his meditation.

After a brief run after the glowing light spirit, Zuko quickly realizes that it's a lost cause, "Stupid Baboon, a liar just like Azula." Zuko complains as the light flies off and into the canopy of the strange trees. He kicks at the water defeatedly and in anger before staring at his reflection. "Why do I suck at being the avatar?" He shouts into the air. "Come on, you've learned more elements than I did. I'd say you're not too terrible of one compared to me." A deeper male voice like that of the earth itself responds to Zuko's self depreciation. "Greetings Zuko, It's a pleasure to meet my successor." Zuko looks around for a moment before looking down at the water, noticing his reflection has changed. The reflection staring back at him is a man in his mid forties with a moderate length beard, wide brimmed Earth bender's hat and Earth kingdom uniform. Most notably about the man staring back at Zuko is that his eyes are gray, dim and almost milky colored. "I am Avatar Jun Beifong." He introduces himself before emerging from the water beneath Zuko revealing his true form.

"Are you... Blind?" Zuko asks, prompting the other man to chuckle slightly.

"Not here in the spirit world, but in life I was born blind. Before we begin, I don't hold anything against you for being born a firebender."

"How did you manage to learn any of the elements while blind? That's impossible." Zuko responds, still trying to take in that fact.

"Not as impossible as one of our predecessors, Avatar Kazza being born without arms and going on to master the elements just the same as almost each of our past lives. But you didn't come here for a conversation now did you?" The older man asks immediately jogging Zuko's memory.

"I came here looking for the moon and ocean spirits, the northern watertribe is under attack and I need their help to fight off the invasion." Zuko responds, going straight to the point.

"The Moon and Ocean spirits are not here, they crossed over from the spirit world to the mortal world at the dawn of time. Though I do not know their identity, I can point you to someone who is old enough to have known them. I have to warn you, my successor, he is a very dangerous. His name is Koh, the face stealer and when dealing with him you cannot make any emotion at all." Zuko swallows a lump of anxiety in his throat when he hears this. "He is not far from here, and time in the spirit world is much different than in the mortal world. You can take as much as you need to compose yourself before speaking with him."

"Let's go." Zuko responds prompting Jun to nod before turning and walking in the direction of Koh's lair.

In the real world, dawn is peaking over the horizon and over the icy walls protecting the northern watertribe. The moment the heat of the morning sun touches the faces of the warriors taking point over the city, the attack resumes. Through the course of the night, the firenation had managed to inch forwards through the destroyed ships at the lead. It took the entire night but most of the survivors that weren't captured were retrieved and the invasion fleet has managed to navigate through the wreckage created by the avatar and his companions. "Lieutenant Jee, Do you know where General Iroh is?" Admiral Zhao asks as he looks out at the armada as the attack resumes.

"No sir, last I saw him he was heading to the galley last night." the lieutenant answers after snapping to attention. "He wasn't in his quarters this morning when the cooking staff was bringing up our meal."

"It seems we have a deserter on our hands. He will need to be made an example of, notify the men that once the walls fall to press the assault." Zhao commands.

"What of the full moon sir?" the lieutenant asks.

"You don't need to worry about the moon Lieutenant, I intend on removing it as a factor." Jee doesn't know what the admiral means by this statement but with his orders he heads inside the bridge to send out a messenger hawk.

Within the walls themselves, Iroh warms a cup of tea that Pakku had provided for him at his request. In front of them the pai sho mat that the old general had set up is dotted with their game tiles in the shape of a eight petaled lotus. "It'll be difficult to convince the men to allow me to let you out, much less get anywhere near where Avatar Zuko is. Sokka came by earlier to see what the commotion was about and he mentioned that Zuko has entered the spirit world in the spirit oasis." Pakku explains causing Iroh to stroke his beard in thought as he tries to devise a tactic in order to reunite with his nephew. "However, once night falls I can get you to him, however I'll need to speak with Chief Arnook about why you're here in the first place. Before we end this little chat of ours... what is Zhao planning? Zuko said that he knows we're stronger under the full moon so what is Zhao up to?"

"Before the siege started he explained that he was aware of the moon and intended to get rid of it. He told me that in his travels he learned of the Ocean and Moon spirits and where they are here at the north pole. He intends on killing the moon spirit." Pakku nearly spits out his tea when he hears Iroh say this, his crystal blue eyes opened wide and in abject horror.

"Is he completely insane?! The entire world relies on the moon! We use it for navigation, it brings us the tides, many animals rely on it to breed and to hunt! He'll doom the entire world if he kills the moon spirit!" Pakku exclaims, standing abruptly from his chair. "I need to speak to Chief Arnook about this, right now."

"Don't let me hold you up then, just be sure to put a good word in for me and ask the guards for more tea. It's quite delectable." Iroh says with a curt bow as Pakku hurries off to go and speak with the chief.

Zuko is partially convinced that the earth kingdom uses a different measurement system than the rest of the world, Jun saying that Koh's lair isn't far from where they were was a lie in Zuko's mind. It feels like they've been walking for days now but the sun hasn't moved from its spot just above twilight in the spirit world. His past life reassures him that they're finally getting close to Koh's lair but Zuko partly doesn't believe him. However he is proven wrong when Jun abruptly stops in front of the mouth of a cave. "Remember, show no fear, show no emotion at all." Jun says before turning and walking away from the cave. As he passes Zuko he pats him on the shoulder and continues walking. As Zuko turns to look at his past life, Jun has vanished into thin air leaving Zuko alone.

Timidly he makes his way into the cave, without bending he feels as vulnerable as a child in a den of wolves. Though he doesn't have long to think about this, part of him knows that he should announce his arrival and not just barge into the home of an ancient spirit but the other part is too scared to do so. "Hello?" Zuko asks into the cave and as his voice echoes off the walls a dark figure moves in the shadows catching Zuko's attention. He watches as a massive millipede-like spirit with a set of limbs over its mouth. It lunges towards him then stops a few centimeters from his face wearing the face of an elderly man.

"Greetings." Koh's loud voice echoes off the walls as he stares deeply into Zuko's expression, studying his face for the slightest expression or movement. "Ah... my old friend the avatar. How nice of you to visit me again, have you come to try to kill me in this life too?"

"We literally just met, how could I have tried to kill you?" Zuko asks incredulously as Koh backs off and closes his mouth over the face he was wearing. When it opens again it's the face of a blue oni spirit looking back at Zuko.

"Well not this you, but one of your past lives almost a millennia ago now." Koh responds as he moves about the room.

"Why did he or... I, try to kill you back then?" Zuko asks as he watches the massive body of Koh move nimbly around the cave.

"Oh it was something about... stealing the face of the woman you loved, but that's in the past. You've come to me now, with a new face and one with a story to tell." Koh says as his face changes to that of a beautiful long haired woman. As he's speaking he maneuvers one of the six mandibles over the stolen face on his mouth to touch Zuko's scar.

"The scar isn't interesting, it's the mark of the banished. It's a permanent reminder of what my father did to me just for speaking out against an insane plan that'd get people killed." Zuko declares, though his expression remains as stoic as ever.

"You might think it's a horrible disfigurement, and to most humans you'd be right but I see faces very differently than you do. Birthmarks, facial hair, freckles, eye colors, complections... scars. So many different things about a person's face tell a story and I feed on those faces, and stories that's what makes them so interesting. It builds character as mortals would say." Koh responds, "But you didn't come here to offer me your face did you? You came here for a different reason."

"I'm looking for the ocean and moon spirits, I thought that they'd still be in the spirit world but I learned that they're in the mortal world. I need their help." Zuko responds, watching as Koh switches his face again to the rather round and plump face of an owl.

"I find that ironic, you're not the one who needs their help, Avatar... it's actually the other way around." Koh responds as he turns his back on Zuko, abruptly he turns and gets as close as possible again with the face of a mime now. "Someone is going to kill them!" He bellows.

"Then how do I find them? If I protect them from Zhao then they'll help me right?" Zuko asks.

"Oh you've already met them, though you probably don't realize it. Their names are Tui and La though you mortals know them by a few names. Push and Pull, Order and Chaos... Yin and Yang." When Koh says this, it clicks in Zuko's mind as he has a brief flash back about the two koi fish swimming in the oasis appearing to look like the yin and yang symbol.

"Thank you for your help." Zuko says with a slight bow before turning to exit the cave.

"It's been a pleasure, Avatar. I'll see you again if not in this life then the next." Koh bids farewell as Zuko leaves the cave.