Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not for profit. Etc etc.
Influences are fairly obvious; once I get some more content up I'll work on my author notes. Peace out.
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The cold arctic winds blew relentlessly across the metal hull of the royal fire nation vessel. Katara sat with her legs over the sides soaking up the freezing whispers of her long forgotten youth. It had been over thirteen years since she had been here last.
The air was so different from the dry and humid breezes of the Fire Nation in which she was raised. Any memories that remained of these frozen lands were disconnected and vague, so close to the surface but unable to be seen in her mind's eye. The same harsh winds that cut at her fellow countrymen glided over her features, gently caressing her face as if trying to comfort her and welcome her home.
Behind closed eyes she heard the steady clang of approaching footsteps on the hard steel of the hull. The relaxed smile on her face shifts to a knowing grin. She recognises the rhythm, entitled and fierce.
"Nice weather we're having."
"I imagine you're going to continue taunting me as some kind of perverse revenge for never taking your whining about heat seriously."
"You speak in riddles your Majesty."
After a moments hesitation Prince Zuko seated himself beside his childhood friend, looking out over the barren frozen wasteland with a mild distaste.
"How anyone actually lives in this place is beyond me."
Katara's voice took on her standard high society tone, designed from a young age to mock her rigid and uptight tutors. "Silly barbarians, clearly unable to recognise the unquestionable superiority of long scorching days and humid nights." Katara's eyes were once again closed, her face alight with studied mischief.
The prince's face quickly hardened as he considered whether his friend's comments warranted allegations of treason- beside him Katara seemed to recognise that she had gone too far and quickly added "Well- soon enough we'll find the avatar, reclaim your honour and get back to the motherland in time for the new year's celebrations. Full of exploding fun, you fire benders love your exploding."
"Don't patronise me peasant." The prince had shifted out of his melancholy and in to a smile that could barely be seen by the untrained eye. Luckily enough Katara had long studied the restrained and hidden moods of the young prince.
"I would not dare to even dream of such a thing my liege." Ever since the banishment any comment that could be interpreted as criticism of the Fire Nation had caused violent outbursts from the prince. Katara comforted herself that his restraint showed at least some form of spiritual healing. She went back to letting the cool arctic winds sooth her nerves.
Zuko could see the peace on Katara's face, a serenity previously reserved for times when she was surrounded by the ocean, or a lake, or streams- the common theme as clear as day. But this seemed different, more intense- something beyond the joy of being emerged in ones element. Katara looked like she was home, it was worrying to the prince as it distanced her from him, made the fact that she was different all the more apparent.
Katara was not a firebender, she was not even born in the fire nation- she was a slave brought over because she could heal. She was brought up with the primary purpose of extending his own life. It was difficult to think of his childhood companion as a tool, raised from birth for him and him alone.
"You have your worry face on."
"I'm thinking..."
"Of?"
"The avatar."
Katara began to mock, her voice taking on an overdramatic flare. "You and your avatar, it's always avatar this- avatar that- by Agni-"
"Funny."
Katara turned to look at the prince. "Your uncle would be most cross with me for enabling your moods. Here we are at the South Pole where only a handful of firebenders have been brave enough..."
"Crazy enough..."
"...to go- and you're moping around yet again."
"I'm not moping." The prince taking on a petulant tone, and crossing his arms. Katara's smile beamed.
--- --- --- --- ---
Katara!
As her eyes fly open, the first thing she notices is the sharp snow and biting wind. Katara is stuck between the ripping cold of the floor that her body is pressed in to and the slicing fierceness of the wind when she attempts to lift herself up.
Instinct takes over and she desperately scrambles for a nearby snowbank. Using the wall to shield herself she bends the surrounding area in to a thick snowhut. Despite the respite from the wind she is still chilled to the bone. In the back of her mind she can't help but think that this is in some way a cruel cosmic joke in retribution for her earlier taunting at the expense of her fireblooded compatriots. At the more active frontal part of her brain- all she is thinking is that she hates the cold, hates it so much and she will never complain about hot summer nights ever- ever again.
--- --- --- --- ---
The fire nation vessel is being tossed and turned by the violent waves of the storm, lightning crashing all around. Katara stands in the centre of the ship's hull, face strained in determination as she moves in graceful strokes- pushing the waves away with all her might. Prince Zukoand the crew stand in a loose circle surrounding her, throwing firebolts at the thick ice that stands in their path- each attempt weaker than the last.
A particularly vicious wave hits the stern side of the vessel sending it violently against a nearby wall of ice and snow. The sky itself falls in on the ship, a deadly avalanche of white. The benders and the ship's crew all scatter as quickly as they canin any direction- desperately trying to escape
Katara!
Her eyes drift slowly open, and all she can see is white. Katara is cold, but not frozen- she gives silent thanks to whatever god would take recognition for the survival of a waterwoman living under the rule of the sun nation. Perhaps the earth spirit, variety is the spice of life after all.
A swift gliding of her palms opens her snow cacoon, allowing the morning sun to stream in. The air is strangely calm- for the first time since her arrival there was no wind at all- something that was both welcome and saddening to the waterbender.
"Halt! Who goes there? Raise your hands slowly." The voice came out of nowhere, the tone a strange combination of false bravado and relentless determination.
Katara turned around to see a teenager holding a crude hammer as if it were a two handed broadsword. His clothing reminded her early years, long forgotten.
"Kessa? What are you... where did you get those clothes?"
Katara raised both eyebrows in confusion and looked down at her clothes. Red and black shirt, with black pants- standard fire nation. In that moment the name the boy had called her finally struck her. Clearer memories of her childhood rushed back to her. In her mind's eye Katara saw her twin sister, and her big brother and knew who it was that stood before her.
"Sokka." The boys face scrunched up, obviously trying to figure out what kind of game his sister was playing on him and how to regain the upper hand that he was quickly beginning to think he had lost. An instant later his expression faded, replaced by neutrality and then slight cautiousness. Katara stiffened, her shoulders tensed.
"Katara?" it came out as a near whisper, like it was almost too absurd to be true. Suddenly the boy was sprinting towards her, Katara flinched- unsure of what to do and unable to clearly think of how to defend herself. She tried to remember her stances, her moves- years of training and she couldn't even remember a simple barrier formation.
Sokka grabbed his sister with both arms and crushed her in to a hug. Katara's body was rigid- awaiting death, but melted quickly as her instincts left her. Living in the fire nation had moulded Katara in to a being of strict custom and distanced respect- all physical contact being the result combat only. She readily forgot herself and reverted to the four year old girl who wanted nothing more than to be held by her family and told that everything would be all right- that everything would be okay.
Someone was crying, it might have been her.
--- --- --- --- ---
The small ice village came in to view as Katara and her brother came over the ridge. There were so few huts, and the ice walls that surrounded the village were worn- with small holes littering the perimeter.
As the pair approached they were greeted by the wary eyes of the villagers. The presence of Katara's red uniform seemed to frighten some of the younger children. Coming forward from the crowd was the mirror image of Katara, dressed in flowing blue.
"Kessa."
"Well- look what the walrus-cat dragged in." Kessa's voice was full of a wistful disbelief.
"I'd prefer polarbear-cat, thank you very much- walrus-cat gives the wrong impression" Sokka added.
"I thought you were dead." At this Katara furrowed her brow.
"Why would you think that?" It was Kessa's turn at brow furrowing, her arms came to rest on Katara's shoulders.
"We just assumed that the Fire Nation would have killed all the water benders once the treaty was broken."
Katara jerked out of her sister's hold. "When the what was what?!"
--- --- --- --- ---
Katara was fairly certain that she should be very angry. Her problem was that she just couldn't seem to pick an adequate target.
She was angry at her teachers for wasting hours upon hours of her life, to an even greater extent than what she originally expected, via endless history lessons that had apparently been as much fantasy as they were truth.
She was angry at her adapted father who had deviously made her aware that the Fire Nation might not be as bright and shiny as it would like to appear but had failed to artfully imply the extent. The joy that he would have gotten having seen her face somewhat distracted her from her fuming, Iroh's jolliness was counterproductive when one wanted to be bitter.
And she was angry at Zuko who had obviously led her all over the rest of the world so as to avoid, for as long as possible, risking the possibility that she may be confronted with the fact that her birthplace was currently at war with the country in which she was raised. Katara sometimes wondered what it would be like if acts of kindness for loved ones didn't involve blatantly manipulating them.
"Are you okay?" Kessa stood in the doorway of the igloo, leaning slightly and clutching her arm in an unconscious act of nervousness.
"I think it'll be a while before I'm able to process a lot of this."
"We missed you, we thought you were dead but we missed you all the same."
"We did- did we?"
"I missed you." Katara's face beamed at the revelation, despite having already assumed it- the words were nice to hear.
"...I forgot you all existed."
"Well that kind of wrecked the moment." Kessa's tone was half playful, with a touch of hurt.
"I just... I didn't mean it like that. I had my own family..." Katara's mind slipped into deep thought, family wasn't something she really thought about often. Despite not sharing blood she did think of Iroh as her father, Zuko as her... for all the leers and bitterness of some residents of the Fire Nation Katara had never felt wanting for closeness.
Even Azula acknowledged her existence after Katara pinned her to the wall with jagged icicles- out of the watchful eyes of any who might dob her in. Katara almost missed her arrogant slanty smile full of denigration with a hint of grudging respect, her brain must have been injured in the fall- no other explanation made sense.
Kessa's face had shifted towards wariness. "Sorry drifted off for a minute there. What I meant was that I wasn't over there in a fiery cell being hog-whipped praying to be returned home. I was happy."
"Oh." Kessa was looking increasingly closed off, Katara quickly assumed that nearly everything she just said had been in the wrong format or form. She'd need to work on her reassurances. Katara slipped on one of her sisters outfits, coloured a lighter blue and slimmer than the one currently worn by her sister. She realised that she had unconsciously picked the outfit best suited to fighting, and least suited to arctic warmth. While Katara was far better suited to the cold than her firebending friends she still made a dismal arctic survivalist when compared to her tribesmen.
An implacable bout of sadness settled upon Katara's shoulders, her emotions had begun to annoy her- she was far more used to subtle machinations and wary neutrality. Now she had to deal with emotions that came from nowhere and were as such impossible to press down- or even to deal with.
"I just don't want you guys to feel guilty- for leaving me over there. I'm strong- I had to be. I don't hold it..."
Kessa had wandered off, Katara's hand wandered up to the necklace that hung around her neck. The dark blue of her mother's betrothal necklace suited her new outfit, it had always looked out of place in a nation seemingly filled with nothing but red.
--- --- --- --- ---
"By the terms of the treaty of Tiansha we shall be selecting a proportion of your waterbenders to accompany us back to the Fire Nation. We thank you all for your cooperation."
The Fire Nation soldier rerolled the scroll that he was reading from and marched away. Behind him a large man with receding hair was being approached by a thinner man with a child clutched to his back leg partially hidden by his uniform.
"Captain Ji have you identified the child prophesised by the seers?"
"Yes General, here she is." The child popped her head from behind the Captain, staring up to the larger man's face with wide eyes.
"She fits the description?"
"Yes General Iroh, she has anidentical twin with no ability to waterbend."
The large man, crouched down to meet the child's eyes. "Hello there-don't be afraid. What's your name?"
The general's smile seemed to calm the child. "Katara."
"A lovely name for a lovely little girl.Katara, we need to go to a place far far away, but only the bravest and smartest people can go with us. You need to be brave Katara, brave like I know you are, because the place we are going is a wonderful place, full of green trees and flowing streams and when we get there I will get you the best and most rare tea in the whole world- Jasmin. Can you be brave Katara?"
"-Jassmin?"
--- --- --- --- ---
"...But the Fire Duke could not accept this, for he loved his betrothed with all his heart. And so the Duke said unto the dragon, 'No! Spirit- you shall not take her from me. If I must then I shall relinquish..."
"What's relinckwish?"
"Give up- no interrupting- this is the best part. 'I shall relinquish my title, and you shall have my province to do with as you please.' And on these words Lady Frina wept for to give up his power was to betray the people he was duty bound to protect-the worst of all sins. And for his selfishness the Fire Duke was set aflame..."
"I'm not sure this is age appropriate Katara."
"It has good morals and values. It's dripping with good morals and values."
"Monarchistic values by the sounds Katara." Sokka seemed to be both sympathetic and mocking at the same time.
"I give up, run along youngins..." Katara pulled in close and half whispered. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"
"Picked up a word or two since I was six-little sister."
"Yeah well..." Something seemed to pull Katara down, her shoulders slumping forward with her sentence falling off in to nothingness.
"So what was the end of your little dragon tale anyway?"
"Oh- Lady marries the prince who loves his country more than personal interests, dukedom is abolished and the royal line is given absolute power, everyone is happy, original guy burns for eternity in the sun."
"... How did the guy get in to the sun?"
"Dragon." As if that was an answer.
"Right... I think we'll need to teach you some more watertribe focused tales- less with the burning."
Sokka's eyes were purposefully not trying to bore in to Katara's skull, unfortunately the attempts only served to intensify the feeling for Katara who had spent a lifetime paying attention to only that which wasn't said, ignoring the fancy false niceties of royalty and the rich.
It had been going on for a while now, ever since Katara had explained the imminent presence of the Fire Nation ship which bore her to the icy shores of her birth. At first she thought it was fear of imminent attack, but such fears should be openly displayed and queries about her presence and being spared would be the first on people's minds. But no questions came- in fact the entire topic seemed to be purposefully avoided.
They were hiding something important from her, something that seemed to negate the need for reassurance. The problem was she couldn't really think of what it would be. Tired of the cat and mouse Katara decided to simply broach the subject herself hoping to, at best, wriggle some small trinket of information free that could better clue her in as to what was really going on.
"The ship will likely be here before tomorrow. It is very unlikely that it was sunk."
"We're at war Katara."
"You don't have any warriors." Katara only realised the slip a second after the words tumbled out of her mouth."
"No warriors..."
"I didn't mean... Sokka they aren't going to attack a village full of women, children and the elderly."
"Not with you here." Sokka's voice was cold, and dark but would be easily confused with nonchalant to anyone not paying close attention.
"Not anytime." Katara's tone allowed for no argument.
"You don't need to worry about us Katara, I'll defend this village with my life but I wouldn't throw it away when we've been handed a living breathing ceasefire."
" 'Living breathing ceasefire'- I've been called worse things."
--- --- --- --- ---
Katara noticed the pattern quickly enough, Sokka and Kessa were alternating shifts, running off somewhere else when not with her. Where ever they were going was outside of the village. At nightfall Katara turned in early and snuck out by using bending to give her temporary residence a back entrance.
Using sneaky skills- well honed by childhood raids on kitchens and gardens for moontime waterbending practice, Katara quietly followed her brother as he warily exited the camp and headed to whatever secret the camp had been keeping from her.
Sokka eventually came upon a cave mouth in the side of a large mountain of ice and snow- walking inside to the juicy secrets within. Katara's mind raced with the millions of possibilities, and was hoping for golden treasure- despite golden treasure stashed in an arctic ice-cave making no sense.
When she stood peeking in to the cave she saw her brother and twin sister, talking to a small boy with a shaved head and a gigantic polarbear-cat, or polarbear-lion, or flying bison... lying down in the cave was a flying bison- a supposably extinct companion to the Air Nomads.
All the pieces clicked in to place, Katara realised why this had been kept from her. The avatar was here in the arctic- and he had a son.
Instantly Katara spun around, certain that the avatar would be standing right behind her- waiting to strike. Her legs locked in to a lower bow position to add strength and swiftness to her attacks, her hands snapped forward and outwards causing the surrounding snow to blast both frontwards and sideways hurtling into a twirling cloud of icy destruction- but nothing was there.
"I spent two hours training lookouts, no one pays attention to me anymore." Sokka's tone is oddly uninterested for someone suddenly caught out.
"You knew I'd come." Katara said it almost unconsciously.
"You used to follow me everywhere, almost got eaten by a seal-cat once. I had a hunch."
The bald monk had somehow walked up to Katara without her realising. After asking a question of Sokka with his eyes, and receiving the answer that he seemed to of already assumed, his face was set in an overly large smile. "Hi- I'm Aang."
--- --- --- --- ---
Several minutes later the four teenagers had spread themselves out around the cave. Sokka and Kessa had taken seats on the floor, while Katara had drifted closer to the bison and was now gently reaching for its fur.
"It's okay- Appa won't bite." The monk had appeared at Katara's side again. Katara was beginning to understand the cryptic writings about the skills of air nomads. She was unsure whether the tricks were unnerving or impressive but the monks bright and bubbly attitude was quickly winning her over.
"So I assume from the tattoos that you're the Avatar?"
"Yep."
"You're a teenager."
"Frozen in a block of ice."
Katara eyed him strangely but Aang just smiled even harder. "Oh..."
"Why would the tattoos prove that I'm the avatar? All air nomads are given the same tattoos."
Katara only just realised the severity of the situation. She was about to tell someone even younger than herself that their entire race had been wiped out. "It's just that I assumed you were the son of the avatar. And hiding down in the South Pole would pretty much limit the availability of tattoo equipment."
"Hiding... because of the war. It's still new to me, can't really get my head around it. The last thing I remember was the Earth and Fire nations stopping travel between each other. I had to cancel a trip to visit my friend Kuzan in the Fire Nation."
Katara's neutral expression hid the ache that she felt for the boy. Very much disliking the cutting emotions that she was feeling- her first instinct was to attack. "So I suppose it was a good idea to keep this from me. We wouldn't want the enemy to know the avatar's location after all."
"That pretty much sums it up nicely." Kessa's tone was bitter and harsh, Katara had clearly misjudged how badly she had handled the reunion when it came to her sister.
"Kessa." Sokka chided his sister. "Katara we don't think that, we know you're not the enemy. But we knew that the Fire Nation was on our doorstep, and we were.. are confused about what to do. The less you knew the fewer complications there would be when they arrived."
"I know Sokka. I'm just..." Katara stared at the ground near her sister. Kessa had stormed away to the side of the cave and was absentmindedly playing with some snow near her feat. Playing with some snow without touching it. Kessa- her twin sister was waterbending.
Katara's face fully displayed the shock and rage that bubbled inside her. "Katara? Katara- what's wrong?"
Her feet slipped outwards, going in to a balanced stance. As her hands flowed around her the snow rose up, and then condensed in to sharp spikes of ice. With a frontal thrust the spikes hurtled towards Kessa. Aang quickly blasted them out of their path. Everyone just stood in place unsure as to what to do next.
"Are you insane?" Kessa spat the words.
"Oh I'm sorry, I thought that since you're a waterbender now you wouldn't mind a bit of ice being thrown around." Katara's imitation of Azula would have made anyone that knew the two of them very uneasy.
"What does Kessa being a waterbender have anything to do with anything?" Sokka was clearly holding himself back from making the situation worse.
"Half of twain... never mind."
"Never mind? Never mind- you tried to kill Kessa- Katara!"
Katara was wandering to the front of the cave. She saw the snow, the telltale signs. The black fog. She looked out the cave entrance and saw the smoking stacks of the Blue Dragon- Prince Zuko's private vessel of in the distance. It stood still with its bridge lowered upon the walls of the watertribe town. Unseen by all, peering through the thick black fog, Katara smiled.
With a swift twirl Katara made a block of ice to surround her feet and began racing towards the village. After a moment her siblings followed as quickly as they could, Kessa was throwing warnings and barbs telling Katara that revealing the location of the avatar would result in her imminent demise- Sokka remained strangely quiet unsure what to think- overwhelmed.
Katara pushed through the villagers, skidded to a halt in front of the approaching prince and his entourage. The men quickly moved to protect their prince, only at the last minute realising who it was that was hurtling towards them.
As she approached the prince's face showed signs indicating a deep relief- they had likely thought that she was dead. Katara and Prince Zuko exchanged a formal bow, the solemn intimacy would be lost on the watertribe but was very much appreciated by those raised in the fire nation.
"I thought you were dead." Zuko stated as if a simple fact.
"You should know that I cannot be gotten rid of so easily Prince Zuko."
"I should of. These are your people I assume?"
"They are the tribe into which I was born."
"You're likely annoyed then, treaties and such."
"Somewhat, but the joy of seeing the ship again makes up for it."
"The ship..."
"All my clothes are on it."
"Peasantwear suits you."
"And he wonders why I only miss the ship."
"Do they know anything about the avatar?"
Katara turned around to see her brother and sister shifting quickly to the front of the crowd. She turned back to the prince with a smile on her face. "I have more than anything, I have a location."
--- --- --- --- ---
"You are a very special girl Katara- for many reasons- most of all because you are like a daughter to me- but also because you have a destiny."
"What's a destiny papa Iroh?"
"Well- a destiny is something only truly special people have. A destiny is something that is going to happen that will help a whole lot of people."
"Do you have a destiny papa Iroh?"
"No- but..."
"But you help a lot of people, you're a hero."
"Yes, but you don't need a destiny to help people KataraHowever people with destinies have a responsibility to be strong, to be all that they can be."
"And I have a destiny papa Iroh?"
"Yes my dear. The seers told us a long time ago that a girl would be born in a place very very far away, do you remember where you were born Katara?"
"No."
"It was a very cold place, full of ice and snow."
"Whiteland, I see it in my dreams. So much white."
"Yes, full of white. And the seers told us that we had to bring this girl to the fire nation, because it was a part of her destiny to bring happiness and prosperity to all the people of the Fire Nation."
"And I'm that girl?"
"Yes Katara, you are."
"Why?"
"..Why?"
"How do you know- was I the only girl in whiteland?"
"Well no- the seers told us that the girl would be an identical twin, the only one that could waterbend. And you were the only twin in the whole of the faraway place, and you were the one who could waterbend."
"...Papa Iroh does destiny mean I need to leave?"
"Of course not Katara, you can stay with me for as long as you want to."
"I want to stay forever."
"And what about when you want to marry?"
"Ew, never- boys are icky."
--- --- --- --- ---
Prince Zuko's face contorted in a strange way afterwards, acceptable responses would be a proud smirk, an ecstatic 'wha-hoo', a gleaming smile, an 'I told you so' roundhouse grin to the crew- but instead the prince's face showed a partial relief- the expression made no sense to Katara who being a master of Zuko interpretation could not for the life of her figure out what the expression meant. Without any mental guidance or outside help her only course of action was to continue on with her original plan.
"The Avatar had been trapped here for 100 years in a block of ice. He left on a flying bison heading towards the northern air temple where he was raised- apparently there is an artefact there that he needs for his training."
"Northern Air Temple, quite a treck."
"Yes, but he is flying a gigantic white bison through the air, tracking him once we arrive shall be easy. We may even catch him before he even arrives- he will have no idea we are following him."
"You will always be my friend Katara."
"I... and I yours my Lord... but I don't..."
"I just need to say a few words and we will be on our way."
"Of course."
Prince Zuko took three strides forward, letting his cloak fall down- the wind carrying it away in to the icy oblivion. "People of the south, the location of the Avatar has become known to me-" the village gasped collectively, the faces of her siblings made Katara feel inwardly ill- but she knew the ruse was essential. "I mean this village no harm, but I need the Avatar to leave the cave that he is hiding in- and surrender himself to me." Katara's eyes flew wide open, her neck nearly snapped as it was fiercely jerked towards where Prince Zuko was standing. "Aim for the homes, avoid killing if possible."
At his words the entourage stepped forward and started firing at the village, explosions began to ring out across the small village- ice flew through the air. Prince Zuko walked past the soldiers and up to Katara- the waterbender was dazed and confused- looking frantic. "I..."
"It's okay- It's okay." Katara looked deep in to Zuko's eyes as the world seemed to slip away. There was so much conflict within her- nothing made sense- he couldn't have known- she didn't tell him- she didn't. She was brought back to reality as a white cloud of snow burst across the hills and towards the village. The airbender caught the group of Fire Nation soldiers by surprise and knocked the entire group down in one go.
"Hi." Aang had a way with words.
"Truth mixed with lies." Zuko muttered- clearly not meaning the words to be heard. "You are the avatar? The greatest threat to the Fire Nation is a child?"
"Leave now and you'll be spared my wrath." The words sounded thoroughly unconvincing coming from the boy.
"The avatar is only a threat when they have mastered all four elements, which takes decades. No- you are a simple airbender- avatar or not."
"Worth a try."
"If you come with me I will do no further harm to this village- resist and they will not be so lucky."
Aang looked back at the villagers. "I'll come."
As the fire nation soldiers took Aang by the arms, Kessa ran from the crowd. "Aang no!"
"I'll be okay." Aang almost sounded like he was telling the truth. Katara turned to walk away as Kessa's accusing face turned towards her with a glare.
The Blue Dragon retracted its boarding platform, and began to push out- back to the ocean.
--- --- --- --- ---
The cold arctic winds blew gently across the metal hull of the royal fire nation vessel. Katara sat with her legs over the sides purposefully ignoring the town where she was born as it disappeared behind her.
Behind closed eyes she heard the steady clang of approaching footsteps on the hard steel of the hull. The small frown on her face shifts in to a resigned smile. She knows without looking.
"Been awhile."
"To be honest loyalty to siblings is a foreign concept to me, but I'd decided not to hold it against you even if it had impaired your judgement."
"Spotted by lookouts?"
"Large flying white things in the sky tend to be seen- even by overtired and uninterested helmsmen."
"I'm sorry. I don't..."
As Prince Zuko knelt in order to sit down besides Katara a large crashing sound could be heard from behind them. The avatar rushed out at an amazing speed and with a swift twirl of a stick began to soar up in to the sky. Zuko cracked his hands downwards creating wisps of fire from each hand, and bringing them up and then down0- lashed out with long chains of fire towards the avatar. Using his flying stick to ward off the flames caused Aang to plunge back toward the ship- as he landed the contraption slid out of his reach.
As the avatar and Zuko battled, air against fire, Katara stood frozen near where she had been sitting. Her face hardened as she turned towards the water rushing past the ship and, assuming a stance and raising her arms, she commanded the sea below to rise up and swirl around her head ready for attack.
With a glance towards Zuko she saw the prince's attacks push the avatar to the ground. The avatar used his position to blast Zuko with air, throwing the prince towards the side, and used the distraction to rush to his flying stick. Katara used the water to grab the avatar's leg as he began to fly off, reeling him further and further back towards the ship.
Katara saw Zuko struggling to hold on to the icy sides of the ship. The waterwhip turned to ice and Katara flung the avatar in to the waves. She raced to the side to help the prince up. She didn't realise the glaring light that had appeared at the front of the ship until the waterspirals hit the ice embankments of the pass that the ship was going through that stood tall on both sides.
For the second time the sky was filled with ice and snow- an avalanche of white. "Oh- come- on..." All Katara could see was blue.
The avatar soared swiftly away on his flying bison.
--- --- --- --- ---
"Half of twain, blessed with control like no other, a girl shall bless her country with a golden age. Burdened by two- destiny fades- until only one path remains."
-Insane Vague Ramblings
--- --- --- --- ---
"Zuko..."
"Yes Katara."
"Ow." At this Prince Zuko tried in vain to hide a laugh.
"How long was I out?"
"A few hours- completely missed your chance at sympathy. You need at least a few days before that starts kicking in."
"Prince Zuko?"
"Yes?"
"The avatar cheated."
"I know, don't worry about it- my destiny is to catch the avatar."
"Sometimes destiny isn't all it's cracked up to be." Katara closed her eyes, all she could see was black.
--- --- --- --- ---