Katara liked summer; she liked the clear sky and the bright sun because it meant she wouldn't need to use a coat to go outside her igloo to play with her friends and her brother Sokka. People also looked happier than usual during those warm days, even with a war going on, the warm season helped everyone in the tribe forget how awful and unstable the situation in the world was.

It's a bad sign, used to say some of the oldest people in the tribe, oh no dear, something is coming, one of these days.

No one listened, but old people knew.

That one day was Katara's eighth name day.

Sokka woke her up early that morning, rubbing snow on her cheek while he laughed; it's your name day, wake up. She instantly straightened up after feeling the cold and punched her brother in the arm, but the smile didn't erase from his face; it didn't surprise her either, she knew the reason of his excitement.

For her brother, turning eight was an important event. When someone turn eight in the water tribe, they teach them how to climb, hunt, fight, make weapons and fish with a lance, he used to tell her. Of course, Sokka also used to forget that that was only in case you were a boy. If you were a girl, it was way different, at the age of eight you were taught to sew, braid hair and cook. But Katara was an exception; she was also a waterbender, the last one of the southern water tribe so she spent most of her time trying to control her element. It wasn't an easy task considering she had no teacher or anyone to learn from, she was alone when it came to bending.

"Come with us today." Said Sokka during breakfast "Dad and me are going fishing so I thought you would like to join us."

"Really? Mom, can I join them too?" asked the girl looking at her mother with her puppy eyes making the woman laugh.

"Of course Katara" said Kya reassuring her daughter "Also try practicing your bending while you're out. Both of you, go and get ready, it also goes to you Hakoda." She told her husband. The man groaned playfully, making the woman laugh briefly and smack his head softly before kissing him.

Some minutes later, the two children and the adult were ready; Hakoda carried a big lance in one hand while Sokka carried a smaller one. I'll lend it to you if you want to catch a fish, her brother had told her, you don't need one though, you have your weird water magic. Before they kept going, Kya stopped her daughter.

"Before you go, I need to give you something Katara." Said the woman. It wasn't a common thing to receive gifts in the southern water tribe, other than one new coat per year, a fruit basket or a weapon (if you were a boy). With one of her hands, Kya held her brown hair and with the other she took off her necklace carefully. "This is for you."

Katara looked at the beautiful piece of jewelry in awe, but immediately tried to argue.

"B-but, you love that necklace…" she knew how her mother took care of it and how her gran gran Kanna did before her, it had become an important familiar relic. She didn't feel right receiving it "Won't you miss it? I-I mean, I can wait until I'm older…"

Those words made the woman smile sweetly at her.

"I love that necklace, but not as much as I love you" said Kya caressing her daughter's wavy hair "Your gran gran gave it to me when I married your father, and now I'm giving it to you because I think you're ready to have it, please accept it Katara."

The little girl took it in her hands, now looking at it with pride. She hugged her mother tightly, thanking her. Kya turned her around to put the necklace on her neck.

"It's done, I'm sure you are going to take good care of it sweetie. Now hurry up, your brother is calling for you." Said the woman laughing, while she pointed at Sokka, who was calling for his sister in the distance.

Katara ran into his direction after hugging her mother again, her brother was waiting for her beside the sea, alone.

"Dad went to get a canoe and a bigger basket for the fish." he said when she asked where Hakoda was "You know? Fishing is better in summer, there are more fish."

"And there's less ice" added Katara looking at the sea, it looked bigger now that the icebergs have melted "The canoe has fewer possibilities to crash if you're the one who lead."

"Shut up." He said offended "I know how to drive a canoe perfectly fine, with icebergs on the way and without them."

The girl was going to reply and a discussion was going to start again but it was interrupted by their father, who was placing the canoe near them. Both children forgot instantly about their fight and walked towards Hakoda, who helped them to hop in. The trip was quite long, so Katara had plenty of time to practice her bending. Even if Sokka kept saying that her water magic had scared the fish away, by the end of the afternoon, the canoe was full of it. It had been a beneficial fishing, so they were returning home.

On the way back, Katara was the first one to realize something wasn't right.

"Why is the sky so gray." She asked looking up with curiosity "My face is covered in gray now." The girl added with annoyance rubbing hey nose when a dark colored snow flake landed on her face.

None of them answered. When the canoe reached iced land, Hakoda helped his children to get off, just like he did in the morning. Now not only the sky was gray, also the snow and the sea. He bent down and carefully touched the gray dust. His eyes opened in fear. It wasn't snow; it was soot. The man took both of his children in his arms and ran in the direction of their tribe. The soot falling from the sky was blinding his sight, but it didn't stop him, nothing would, he wanted to see the situation of his tribe, the situation of his wife. He ran; fast, like their life depended on him.

And maybe they did.

The burning tents were the first thing Katara spotted when they arrived to their tribe. There was fire everywhere, women and children screaming and men fighting. She remembered that one word gran gran had taught her; chaotic. That word was the exact description of what was happening, she thought, everything was so chaotic.

"Dad, what's happening?" asked Sokka before she could. He was in the verge of tears; his voice was shaky, full of fear, it was something new for both of them, an experience they would never want to repeat. Sadly, many more were coming.

"The fire nation" Hakoda answered looking at the chaos "They're attacking again... Sokka, I need you to take care of your sister and get away from here until everything is safe again. I have to join the fight. Promise Sokka"

The boy nodded deadly serious, tears sliding down his cheeks. He took his sister's hand and pulled her near, walking away from his father to find a place to hide. Only Katara turned around.

"Will mom be alright?" she asked loudly, but Hakoda was now too far from them to listen. Sokka held her hand tighter, giving her support; he was as worried as her.

The siblings went straight to an ice mount where they used to play and slide with the penguins during their free time, but now there were no penguins, it was deadly quiet. Did the penguins know about the war? Which side would they take? Katara guessed, probably ours, she wasn't sure about that but still thought it would be funny to see a penguin's army. She snapped out of her daydream feeling a little dumb, she shouldn't be getting distracted, not in a moment like that. The girl took a look at the ice mountain; it seemed like a good place to hide. The place was surrounded by bigger ice mountains so it was impossible to be spotted from the distance, she knew, she tried many times to find it from Sokka's control tower and failed each time.

"Sokka, what will happen with mom and gran gran?" asked Katara.

"Dad is going to save them." He answered, completely sure.

"Who's going to save Niyok and Nutha then?"

Family was a priority now, but Katara couldn't stop herself into thinking about her friends.

"This is crazy but I'm going to see if they're okay." He said with his voice shaking again, he was scared.

"I'll go with you then, they're my friends too."

"No, you'll stay here." Katara complained, it wasn't fair, she also wanted to help; but her brother stood firm in his decision "I swear I'm going to bring them back with me but please, you've to promise you'll stay here, I have to keep you safe, just like dad said."

The girl wanted to complain again, but the desperate look on his brother's face made her say otherwise. The boy smiled when she promised she wouldn't move, and promise he was going to be back soon. None of them kept their promises. When he was gone, she thought of following him but it would mean giving him more trouble. The girl just sat on the snow and closed her eyes. There was no way to deny it, she was tired, yet, she didn't want to fall asleep. She started counting to keep herself awake.

"1… 2… 3…"

Why was the fire nation attacking? From what she had heard from her gran gran Kanna, the last attack had happened a long time ago, almost thirty years. Why now? She thought; they weren't even a threat compared to their armies. They had no advanced weapons, no big ships, and no bending.

"65… 66… 67…"

Well, they did have bending, an eight year old girl called Katara who couldn't fight or control her element decently. She could melt the snow, create little waves and levitate some water. But how was she supposed to turn an army down with that? Where was Sokka? She was getting nervous

"102… 103… 104…"

She heard someone's footsteps coming near. Was it Sokka? He had promised to bring Nutha and Niyok back with him so it couldn't be him; this stranger was alone. Katara opened her eyes and stood up from the snow prepared to run, but the stranger noticed her movements and held her down. The person covered her mouth with one hand and put the other arm around her neck, aiming to chock her, she could barely breathe with the pressure he put on her, and the air was quickly escaping from her lungs. She could see by the corner of her eye that her captor was an armored man, a fire nation soldier. Another man walked from behind the soldier holding her.

"I found a little girl, should I get rid of her, commander Yon Rha" asked the soldier a little uneasy. He was young; Katara realized when she heard his voice, this was probably his first time being part of a raid.

"I don't think so…" she barely heard the man say, the sounds were starting to sound muffled "You know how much noblemen love war trophies, specially exotic ones like her." The young soldier who held her lowered the pressure on her neck so she could breathe better, Katara appreciated that deeply. The commander bent in front of her, looking at her face intensely "She's a pretty one." He finally added "Put her to sleep, we're taking her, someone is definitely going to buy her as a servant or something else."

She looked at the young soldier nervous and confused, what did he meant by put her to sleep? He shot her an apologetic look before his knee collided with her stomach, making her fall unconscious.

When she opened her eyes, the young fire nation soldier was carrying her over his shoulder. Her body, specially her neck, now hurt like never before. But even now with this pain and her blurry vision, she could recognize the leftovers of her tribe. Gran gran's tent, like many others, had been burnt down to the ground. Is our igloo destroyed too?, she thought concerned, trying to spot it in between the burning tents. When she finally did, a little smile formed on her face; their igloo was one of the few that were still standing and weren't destroyed completely.

Some hope built inside her, they would be able to sleep that night and even help some friends who lost their tents. But when the soldier walked near it, her smile faded and her hope was shattered. Something was wrong, there was smoke coming out from the inside with a weird smell. It smelled like burnt meat.

"No."

Commander Yon Rha walked out of her hut, carrying a body, and without any care, threw it on the snow like it was some garbage he wanted to get rid of. It was a woman's body. Most of her flesh was black, completely burnt and unrecognizable. Her legs or arm no longer looked like limbs, and the clothes were gone, probably became ashes during the attack. But her face; Katara could see her face, and oh, she recognized it too.

She didn't scream, no words would come out, but felt something broke inside of her. With absolute horror and desperation, she took one last look at the burnt corpse that she had once called mother before closing her eyes.