Water. All around me I see water. I have no idea why I am sleeping in a wooden boat. The only things I do know, is that my name is Skaia, I am sixteen years old, I have long brown hair, that is currently in a pony tail, I have purple eyes, I'm terrified of the dark, and I love animals. Apparently, I love animals so much, that I have a tattoo of a red phoenix wrapped around my right ankle. I look over the edge of the boat and see some fish. I just stare at them for a few minutes, when they suddenly swim away. Before I know what's happening, my boat is being pulled by something. I look all around my boat, but all there is, is water. I look closely and realize that it's the water that's pulling me. I know it can't just be a current because there is a stick a few feet away from me, and it isn't moving at all. I'm scared of what's pulling me, so I take the only blanket I have for warmth and throw it over my curled up body. Eventually the pull of the boat makes me fall back asleep.

"Hey, are you okay? Lady?" I slowly wake up to hear someone talking. I'm blinded by the sun for a few seconds. "Hey, you're awake."

I nearly forgot about the person talking. I shoot up and see a boy. He looks about my age. He has black hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. "Who-Who are you?" I look around and see ice everywhere. "Where am I?" I look at him expectantly, but he doesn't say anything. "Why aren't you answering any of my questions?"

"Oh! Right, sorry. My name is Aaron, and you are in the Southern Water Tribe." He grabs my hand. "Come on, you have to meet my dad. He's the leader of our village." He runs with me trailing behind him. Forget that. I'm barely touching the ground with how fast he's running. I begin to see more and more homes the further we get into the village. He abruptly stops, and I nearly run into him. "Stay right here for a second, okay?" I nod, and he goes into the hut. I just realized how cold it was. I start shivering. How can you blame me? I'm not wearing much, just a brown dress with nothing covering my arms or anything below my knees. I don't even have any shoes. He comes back out and gestures for me to follow him. "Dad, this is-uh-what's your name?"

"My-My name is Skaia." I bow before the man in front of me. "I'm sorry to intrude upon your home like this." He just laughs at me.

I must look confused. "Don't look so scared. We won't hurt you here!" He is a little intimidating, but only because of his deep, booming voice. He has a really shaggy beard, brown hair, kind blue eyes, and he's wearing really warm looking blue robes. "It's nice to meet you, Skaia. I'm Chief Sokka." He reaches out his hand, and I shake it. "So, where are you from? I've never seen a girl around here with a phoenix tattoo on her ankle."

I look down at the floor. "I-I don't know, sir. The only things I remember are my name, my age, and all the things that have happened since I woke up this morning. I think I'm from somewhere warmer than this, though."

"I can see that. Aaron, take her to your mother." He nods in agreement and takes me to another hut.

"Mom?"

"Yes, what is it, darling?" A very pretty lady comes out. "Oh, my goodness! You must be freezing!" I sheepishly nod my head. "Here, come with me." She takes me into another room. "Huh, now where is it? Ah, there it is. Here, try this on." She ushers me behind the curtain. "My name's Suki, by the way. What's your name?"

"Skaia." I walk out from behind the curtain. "Is this the way it goes?" I'm in a purple long sleeve shirt, dark purple pants, white boots, white arm bands, a thick white sash around my waist, and a dark blue cloak. She nods at me. "Thanks, it's a lot warmer than my other clothes. Speaking of my clothes, you wouldn't happen to know where they came from, do you?"

She shakes her head. "Brown is used in the fire nation, earth kingdom, air temples, and for people who don't have much. Brown is a hard color to determine." She smiles softly at me and sits a chair in front of herself. "Sit down, your hair is a mess." I sit, and she begins to brush my hair. "You have really pretty hair. It reminds me of Sokka's sister." I look at her, but she just continues brushing my hair in silence. She puts it back in its original pony tail. "Just one more thing." She grabs a white choker and clasps it around my neck. "There, now let's go back to my husband, shall we?" I nod and we walk back to the other hut. It is considerably warmer now, with my new clothes.

Sokka motions for me to sit and just stares at me for a few minutes. I start squirming in my seat uncomfortably. "You aren't a fire nation spy, are you?"

"Sokka!" Suki slaps his arm with a golden fan, and I giggle a little. "I'm sorry about him, Skaia."

I wave my hands dismissively. "No, I understand the curiosity. However, may I ask a question? What is the fire nation?"

Sokka raises his hand to speak, but Suki dismisses him. "Maybe I should tell her." She turns, grabs a map from a jar, and places it on the table. She points to a giant red spot. "This is the fire nation, this is the earth kingdom, these are air temples, and these are water tribes. We are here, in the southern water tribe. The nations are separated by the benders that live there."

"What are benders, and why are they separated?"

"Benders are people who can use the elements around them. There are fire-benders, earth-benders, air-benders even though they are extinct, and water-benders, like my son, Aaron. They are most likely separated so that they may master their elements. The fire nation is the hottest, the water tribes the coldest, the earth kingdom has the most earth, and the air temples are built at the tops of extremely tall are the best places to learn the four elements; although, the Avatar is the only person who can master all four elements. The Avatar is our connection with the Spirit World. The Avatar can also access this thing called 'the Avatar State' where his or her powers become stronger. If the Avatar dies outside of the Avatar State, they will be reborn into the next element in the cycle. The cycle is air, water, earth, then fire. If the Avatar dies while in the Avatar State, the cycle will stop, and there will no longer be an Avatar."

"Why did Sokka ask if I was a fire nation spy? Why would the fire nation spy on you? You all seem like nice and peaceful people to me." Suki looks like she doesn't want to tell me. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You have to understand that it is extremely terrible. Many people have lost their lives, benders and non-benders."

"What is going on?"

"Well, there's a little bit of history that you need to know. A little over a hundred years ago, the fire nation started a war after the Avatar disappeared. The fire nation was cruel and threw all benders who didn't bend fire into prison. They also killed all of the air nomads. One hundred years after the war started, Sokka and his sister Katara discovered the Avatar in a giant block of ice. His name was Aang, and he was only twelve years old. He had become scared when he was told that he was the Avatar, so he had run away. He went on a journey with Katara and Sokka to stop the war. They met many friends and foes. Some of their foes even became their greatest allies. Aang stopped the fire lord when he tried to destroy the world and took away his bending. He accepted his role as Avatar and the fire lord's son succeeded him, bringing peace to the nation. Not long after, the new fire lord was attacked and killed, but when Aang came to help, he was killed also. Thankfully, he was not in the Avatar state, so the people will still have their Avatar. The fire nation is trying to conquer the world again, and we need the Avatar to return to stop them. Sokka asked if you were a spy, because the next element in the cycle is water. Because of that, there are entire armies of fire nation soldiers patrolling the seas looking for the next Avatar."

"May I say my opinion?" Suki nods. "First a question. How did the other nations treat the fire nation after the war had ended?"

Aaron steps up. "Well, we were all still a bit wary of them."

"Thank you. I believe that proves my point. I believe that the fire nation wanted to change with the rest of the nations, but they were still afraid and hateful towards the fire nation. It feels like the fire nation felt like outcasts. They wanted their lives back, but, sadly, that meant that they were going back to a war. I don't think they believe they can live without people being afraid of them."

"So, you're saying that you agree with them for killing thousands of innocent people!?" Sokka stands up and knocks the contents of the table to the ground.

In anger, I stand up too. "No! I would never agree with that! It is barbaric and wrong! I am simply saying that I can see where they are coming from! I am saying that, if that is what happened, that I feel sorry for them! It has to feel terrible to want to change, but no one will let you live down your countries past. What if the same thing happened with the water tribes? How do you think it would feel?" I sit down. "I don't know where I'm from, or even who I was. However, I do know that everyone deserves a second chance, even the fire nation." We hear screaming coming from outside. We all run outside to see what's wrong.

"What's going on!?" There are a group of boys slightly older than me running around Sokka. "One at a-" He looks up and a look of worry comes over his face. I look up to see dark snow begin to fall around us. He looks to me. "Well, you can tell them your opinion now."

"What is this from?"

"Fire Navy warships."