Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Our grandmother used to tell us stories about the old days- a time of peace, when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him the most… he vanished. A hundred years passed, and the Fire Nation neared victory, but then, everything changed again. My sister and I found a kid, frozen in an iceberg. His name is Aang, and he's an airbender. But not just any airbender- he's the very last one. And not only that… he's the Avatar. Now, I know what you're thinking: Him? That goofy kid? He's the Avatar? Believe me, I thought the exact same thing when I first found out. But he really is. Me, Aang, and my sister Katara travelled over the world so Aang could master the four elements and defeat the Fire Lord. And he did, four months ago. But even though the Fire Lord is gone, we still have a lot of work to do before things can get back to normal.

Initiates

By: Proteus-92

Chapter I: Confession

"Going somewhere?"

Sokka yelped in surprise, the machete he had been holding falling to the floor with a clatter. He slowly turned to the doorway behind him, trying in vain to make the burning in his face go away. Suki leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, a stern look on her face. She straightened and walked toward him, wiping off her war paint on the sleeve of her uniform. She frowned pitifully and asked, "And you weren't even going to say goodbye to me?"

Sokka looked away. He saw through her act right away. She was trying to make him feel guilty and tell her what was going on. He hated when Suki did this. But the only thing he hated more was lying to her. He replied sheepishly, "I didn't think I'd have to."

Suki raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And why not?"

"Well…" He hesitated. There was absolutely no way he could justify himself, but he still had to say something. "…I'd only be gone for a few weeks."

"Doing what?"

Sokka sighed; he might as well come clean now. "…I want to go look for Space Sword."

"That's it?" She held her hand up to her chest and feigned a sigh of relief. "For a minute there I was worried you were going to do something dangerous." She stopped in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "How about I come with you?" He asked defensively, "Is this about my leg? Katara told me she fixed it up! I'll be fine!"

"If you'd been listening, she also said not to overexert yourself. Your leg still needs a few months to fully heal."

"You think I can't handle myself?"

Suki's only reply was a smirk- even with the end of the war four months prior, Sokka still hadn't been able to avoid the occasional spot of trouble. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut. "So, what do you say?"

Sokka sighed. "Okay. You can come." Suki leaned in and kissed him. "I'm glad you see things my way." She sat down at the edge of Sokka's bed. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, I lost Space Sword up in the Wulong Forest. So, I was gonna head there and see if I could find it."

"That reminds me… you lost Boomerang too, didn't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Hey, maybe if we're lucky, we'll find Boomerang too."

"Yeah… maybe we can!" Sokka gave her a wide smile. She smiled back and replied, "I knew that'd make you feel better. Now, start packing."

Sokka bent down, picked up his machete, and slid it into its sheath. He then laid it down next to his bag and said, "Okay, I'm done."

Suki stood up. "Okay, now come on and help me pack."


The next morning came. Suki, like always, woke up first. She got dressed, left her room and crossed the hall to Sokka's room. She peered inside; he, of course, was still sleeping. She crept over to his bed as quietly as she could; when she was next to it, she leaned over to him and whispered, "Hey, Sokka… wake up. Sokka. Sokka." He didn't stir. She had an idea, and said to Sokka in her best impression of Toph, "Hey, uh… Snoozles! Wake up!" Sokka turned away from her and mumbled, "Nng… go away Toph. Too early." Suki was slightly disappointed, but then an evil smile crept across her face. She snuck out of the room and returned a few minutes later with an apple; she knew he preferred meat, but it was the only food she could find in the house. She returned to his bedside and waved the apple over his face.

Immediately, he sniffed. Still sleeping, his arm slowly lifted to grab the apple. Slowly, she moved it so it was just out of his grasp. He continued to reach for the apple, eventually sitting up. Perfect, Suki thought to herself as she moved the apple toward the edge of the bed. Sokka got up on his hands and knees and crawled toward the apple, one arm still groping for it. She suppressed a giggle. Almost there. Finally he reached the edge of the bed; he tried to crawl forward, but his hand met only empty air, and he tumbled out of bed and crashed to the floor. At this point Suki lost control and burst out laughing.

"Ugh, you know, that wasn't very funny," Sokka grumbled at her. Suki dropped the apple, and Sokka's arm shot out to catch it. As he ravenously devoured the apple, Suki said to him, "Get dressed, Sokka. And don't forget your bag. I need to tell everyone that we're going."

Ten minutes later, Sokka and Suki climbed the hill up to the dojo. As was the new custom, everyone was waiting outside for them. However, the other Kyoshi Warriors weren't the only ones waiting for them- a few of the younger men from the Southern and Northern Water Tribe waited there as well.

About two months after the war ended, and after the Southern Water Tribe had been rebuilt, Sokka's father Hakoda and grandfather Pakku asked Suki to train warriors from the two Water Tribes. After a bit of persuasion, she agreed, on the condition that they would only stay for a few months and leave when their training was complete; a few weeks later, the first group sailed to Kyoshi Island to begin training. On the first day, as Suki was introducing herself, one of the older boys had made the very bad mistake of saying out loud, "A woman? What will we learn from her, how to run away from a fight?"

Suki stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Who said that?"

The boy stepped forward confidently. "I did."

A few of the Kyoshi Warriors waiting nearby, and Sokka, began to rise, but Suki held out her arm to stop them. She smiled pleasantly at the boy and said, "Come here."

The boy approached. As soon as he was close, in one swift motion, she kicked out her leg, knocking the boy off his feet, grabbed his arm, slammed him facedown against the ground, and pinned the boy's arm behind his back. "Let me make something perfectly clear to you: You will not disrespect me. You will not disrespect any of the other Kyoshi Warriors. And if you do… do you really want to find out?"

The boy frantically shook his head, and Suki released him. "That goes for the rest of you, too. If you give any of my girls any problems… what's left of you will be going home. Do I make myself clear?" A few nodded, but most were too terrified to move. "Good. Tomorrow, I'll be pairing each of you with a Kyoshi Warrior. Make sure to be here early. Now if you don't have any questions, get out of my sight."

Before they had even come up the slope, a small boy rushed over to Suki. "Master Suki!" he said excitedly to her. "I finally did it! I finally figured out that knife throwing thing!"

"You did? That's great! Can you show me?" Without hesitating, he pulled a small knife from his belt and snapped out his arm; the knife flew through the air, almost completely invisible, before embedding itself in a nearby tree.

Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Not bad at all, kid."

"Excellent work, Chao. You've definitely improved that since you last showed me that. Now, why don't you get your knife and sit with the others? I have an announcement to make." The boy hurried off to retrieve his knife before joining the others. "Don't you think it's kind of dangerous to give a kid a knife like that?" Sokka asked.

"Don't worry, Sokka. Chao's probably more responsible than anyone else here. I'm the one who teaches him after all."

"W-wait, that was Chao? Really?"

"Yeah. But we'll talk about that later." She walked toward the dojo's entrance, where everyone had gathered, and said loudly, "Okay everyone, gather round. I have an announcement." Everyone moved closer so they could hear what Suki had to say. "Well, as a lot of you know, Sokka and I know the Avatar. Now a few days ago, we got a letter asking us to go see him, so we'll be gone for a few weeks. We'll be back as soon as we can, but in the meantime…" Suki pointed towards one particular Kyoshi Warrior, one with long brown hair tied in a braid and big gray eyes. "Ty Lee, you're in charge until Sokka and I get back." All eyes immediately fell on Ty Lee, who looked back at them nervously. Trying to shake off her nerves, she cartwheeled over to Suki and asked, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure." Ty Lee quickly pulled Suki a short distance and said, "Suki, I don't really think I'm cut out to lead the Kyoshi Warriors."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm new, and I sort of… well… I don't really know how to lead people."

"Ty Lee, don't worry. You'll do just fine. The others like you and they'll help you out if you need it, okay?"

Ty Lee nodded. "Okay." Suki handed her the headdress that marked her as the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. "Here. And one more thing- since I'll be gone, you'll have to train Chao for me."

"Chao…?"

"The little kid over there, on the left side." Suki indicated over to him.

"Oh! Okay. So… what should we do today?"

"Just… go with the same thing we did yesterday." She walked to Sokka's side. "Okay, Sokka and I need to get going."

"Okay. Bye Suki! Bye Sokka! See you in a few weeks!" She waved excitedly to them. The others waved and said their goodbyes as well. Suki turned and was about to descend the slope when she felt something cling to her leg. She looked down. "Chao," she said, "please let go of me."

He looked up and shook his head. "Please don't go. You're my master. I need you."

She pushed him away. "Chao, Aang needs us. And we can't keep him waiting. It might be important." He immediately grabbed onto his leg again. "Then take me with you!"

"Chao, please. We'll only be gone for a few weeks. And Ty Lee will be training you, okay?"

He looked up at her, tears rolling down his face. "Please don't leave. You're my master. You're all I have left."

Suki, with some difficulty, lifted up the small boy and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Come on Chao. I won't leave forever. I'll be back, okay?" She put him down. "Now don't make me pick you up like that again. You're too heavy." He wiped away his tears and replied, "Okay master," before returning to the others.

Sokka asked, "So, is that it? Is there anything else we need to do?"

"No, that's all," Suki replied.

He turned away from the dojo, and began to walk down the road back to the village. "So, what next?"

"Well, first, we should find a boat, then ride it for as long as we can so we can get as close to the Wulong Forest as possible."

"Alright, sounds like a plan."