Speckled brown hands light a wooden splint. The flame is shakily transferred to a candle's wick and in the bobbing warm light, an aged face is cast in shadows. It is none other than Katara, waterbender, and healer of the Southern Water Tribe, wife to the belated Avatar Aang, and mother of the new generation of airbenders. She sighs as she slips off her robes. The cool south pole air gives her a chill and she slowly descends into a steaming and bubbling pool of spring water. She sighs and lays her head back on the wooden ledge as the water begins to glow, first dim then brighter and brighter. It hums and pulses around her.

"Take that, you creaky old bones." She smiles, eyes still closed.

"Uh, Gram-Gram?"

One heavily hooded eye lifts open. Katara's lips are pursed as the opened eye looks her eldest granddaughter up and down. "It's usually polite to knock, Jinora."

Jinora's fair complexion slightly reddens and she nods sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but I was in a hurry. Word came…from the Fire Nation." She unrolls a scroll before her. "It sounds important."

"Alright then, let's hear it."

"To the immediate attention of Lady Katara, Grand Lotus, ambassador of peace, Master waterbender and healer-"

Katara smirks, "Wow."

"Ahem- At your earliest convenience, Fire Lord Izumi has a ship manned and readied for departure for your arrival to the Fire Nation c-c-capital…?"

Jinora blinks profusely at Kataras now bewildered expression. Katara inches closer to the side of her healing pool, the water is no longer glowing. "Keep reading."

"Right. Uh, shipmannedandready…FireNationcapital… okay, the nature of the visit cannot be explicitly detailed within this scroll. As an issue of sensitivity, we hope you understand. Although cryptic, our need for your services is most pertinent. Truly yours, Fire Lord Izumi."

The tension in the room is thick. If not for the bubbling spring water you'd have heard a pin drop. Jinora, visibly uncomfortable, shifts her weight foot to foot before bluntly offering the scroll to Katara who waves her hand away. She motions to her robe that Jinora clammers to retrieve for her. As Katara stands, the water waves and claps. Jinora, clearly mortified, holds the garment in front of her face to hide her bug-eyed grimace. Unfazed, Katara shoulders the blue robe and untucks her white hair from the back. "It has been quite a while since I have received personal correspondence from the Fire Nation. It's been even longer since I've traveled there." Jinora holds Katara's arm as she crosses the room to sit on the edge of her bed. "I'm not quite sure what to make of it." The two make brief eye contact. Katara chuckles. "Well, if I don't know what to make of it I'm sure you don't either. Please send a response on my behalf asking for whatever more clarification they can give me."

"Well, about that -"

A heavy knock sounds at the door. Katara suspiciously nods for Jinora to answer. Two brawny Fire Nation soldiers stand in the doorway, the candlelight bouncing off their black armor in the most familiar way. Katara glances between both their pale faces and cups her chin in her hand. "Two men in my chambers. Now that's a first."

Katara, comfortably bundled in a dark blue coat adorned with white furs, comes to meet with young General Iroh at the docks. His obnoxious black ship blocks the sun and the flags of the Fire Nation billow in the wind. The South Pole air is bitingly cold. They've received more snowfall and lower temperatures than what was estimated this year which has made an issue of trade. The sea until recently had been nearly impossible to navigate on account of the abundance of icebergs. And yet, here they are. She looks from ship to flags, to the general, with a sharp arch in her fuzzy white brow.

"The Fire Nation always has known how to make their presence known."

General Iroh clears his throat and bows his head respectfully. "I know this is a peculiar set of circumstances…I wish I had more to tell you. My sole duty is to bring you back to the capitol. That is a direct order from my mother, the Fire Lord herself."

She smiles faintly. "I am an old woman, General. I have done more traveling than most could ever fathom…"

"Yes, that is certainly recognized by the Fire Lord. She…" he falters. "She is calling it a favor… for an old friend." His golden eyes meet hers but she can't quite read him. He has been in the military long enough to know how to conceal the cards he's holding.

Katara looks back at Jinora who is fidgeting with her hands beneath her fur hand muff. All the potential possibilities are tumbling through her mind at the same time. Although talented and quite valued throughout the years, it has been a long time since she had been summoned to another nation. She is elderly. For the past several years her primary services have been to the young Avatar Korra, to her own family, and to the people of her tribe. All the adventures, secret missions, and political affairs have been assumed by younger generations. What purpose could she serve at the Fire Nation capitol? Especially one that can't be disclosed? She feels a flicker of intrigue.

"My granddaughter is to accompany me on this… mystery voyage. Your men will be sure to grab our bags from my room. They've already been acquainted with the layout."

Katara confidently sweeps past the general and his men and ascends to the upper deck. Jinora, clearly bewildered by this announcement, flounders to match Kataras pace. General Iroh's expression softens as they disappear from view where he then nods to his men who take off back to the village. The fire nation flags begin to flap as the wind picks up and dark clouds begin to roll forward on the horizon.

Katara sits on the cabins' bed and feels a small pang of guilt as Jinora drops a small orange knapsack to the floor. She folds her hands in her lap.

"I know this isn't the visit you expected. I'm sure you thought-"

"That I'd be bored out of my mind all season?"

"I-"

"I've read all the books I brought. My lessons on Southern Water Tribe history and folklore are becoming redundant…I'm actually pretty excited we're going on an adventure."

"An adventure…" Katara muses. Jinora, fair, tall, and slender might not resemble Katara in the most conventional way. But here she was, with all her bookish charms, on an adventure. Not unlike Katara at her age at all. "I understand you are supposed to meet your siblings back at Air Temple Island in about two months time. I'll be sure to honor that."

"Well, I'm just glad you didn't leave me behind Gram-Gram." Jinora smiles. "Besides, it's been a long time since I've been to the Fire Nation! They have an amazing library and their garden is nice for meditating."

"I can't say I've had the pleasure in indulging in either. In fact, I think you've been to visit the Fire Nation capitol more recently than I have!"

Jinora blinks. "Really? How long has it been?"

"Oh, I don't know. We had a White Lotus meeting there soon after Avatar Korra was discovered, but that was such a short visit. It had been decades before then."

Her granddaughter seems baffled by this. She takes a seat on the edge of the bed. "That's a long time. I thought you and Fire Lord Zuko were friends?"

"We were. But aside from working together in the White Lotus, we had obligations to our different nations and to our families. Your grandfather visited frequently, but traveling to the Fire Nation was came to be unnecessary for me. I'm sure it's changed quite a bit since my time there."

Jinora takes a few moments to ponder this. She had studied Fire Nation history quite extensively but had never heard a first-person account of it. "What was it like, Gram-Gram? When you were a girl?"

"Whew," Katara sighs and rubs her chin thoughtfully, "I can tell you I didn't have the best first impression."

The first time Katara set foot on Fire Nation soil it was so hot. And smelly. The air was polluted by factory smoke and smog. It was in the Fire Nation that the war had finally come to a head and she and her friends had a grim duty to fulfill. For a long time, memories of the Fire Nation were tainted by their fiercest high stake battles, the unbearable heat, the smells, smoke, and smog. It took a long time to go back. They'd had so much healing to do elsewhere, after all. But when they'd finally returned they found the Fire Nation in much different shape than it had previously been. Zuko had assumed the throne officially but the fallout after the war's end was disastrous for the Fire Nation. Poverty was at an all-time high. There was no more smog in the air because all the factories had closed. Katara had never seen so many people living on the streets. Whole blocks were solely tents. That was a time of turmoil for her friends to be sure. A different kind than Aang facing Fire Lord Ozai - it was a messy grey area of political turmoil the group was inexperienced with. A lot of disagreements ensued from that particular stay.

It wasn't until Bumi had been born that she'd traveled there again. She had been married for three years, with a two-year-old at her knee. They were celebrating ten years of peace. In which time the Fire Nation had been reborn. Trade had become an integral part of their economy; metal works, as it turned out, were desired by everyone and technological advances began to surge. It also was becoming a major tourist spot. Many people from The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes alike spent their winters on the beautiful beaches of the Fire Nation. Fire Lord Zuko had turned a desolate situation into a booming economy without much help at all. When Katara and her growing family had arrived back to the Fire Nation after all those years, it was like exploring a brand new land. The skies were bright and clear, the markets were flourishing, the people were happy. Since then, it is still reportedly prosperous and progressive the way Zuko had always intended.

"On our last night, I remember the fireworks—"

The boat rocks aggressively. Jinora, startled, looks to Katara in earnest. The faint yells and scuttling of crewmen could be heard from above. Another intense rocking puts Katara on her feet. The turbulence continues steadily.

"Jinora, you stay here."

"No wait, I can hel-"

Katara shoots her a look over her shoulder. Jinora's face falls.

A hard cascade of freezing rain pelts Katara in the face as she slings her coat around herself. She holds up an arm and searches the deck for General Iroh but he's nowhere to be found. A grueling winter storm surges around them, black water crashes and floods over the ship's starboard as the wind blusters above. A young crewman slips into the swell and cries out for help as he is pulled towards the ships edge. Katara wastes no time. She takes one powerful lunge forward with her left leg and lifts both arms above her head. The ocean water responds accordingly. With the stealth not expected of an old woman, Katara does a full rotation pivot, pulling her fists into her chest, then releasing her palms outward. The ocean water is expunged from the deck like the blast of a canon. When she reaches the young man to help him up he thanks her profusely.

"Get me to the crows nest."

He nods affirmatively.

Realizing that Katara would not be capable of making it completely up the ladder, the crewman fashions a pulley to assist her. She uses her hands to pull herself up each rung of the ladder, thankful for the additional assistance of the pulley, and finally reaches the top. Katara can't help her eyes widen at the sight of the brutal storm before her. Furious black swells carry large chunks of ice dangerously close. Then, furrowing her brow in indignation, she plants her feet raising arms in front. The rain suddenly stops falling on her like there's an invisible umbrella. Her limp wrists turn upwards and rigid before flying out to her sides. The main objective is to remove the floating ice from their path as it could cause the most damage while redirecting as many waves as she can.

"Lady Katara!"

General Iroh calls up to her from below, but she pretends not to hear. His eyes widen as he watches her pivot side to side; arms rolling, rotating, swinging, and pushing. This was a dance he had not often seen and found mesmerizing. He turns to view the open sea, an unnatural movement of the water and ice disturbs and intrigues him. He smiles as the waves begin to roll and crash in the opposite direction of his ship and large masses of ice bob out of the way of their course.

"I need all hands! All hands!" He shouts.

The wind shrieks through the sails as several crewmen struggle to keep their ship on course. General Iroh helps hold down a wily rope and takes one final look at Katara in the crows nest, steadily and masterfully bending against the roguish sea. Jinora, who had been standing in an open doorway, slowly turns and descends back down to their quarters.

Katara limps into her bedroom with the help of General Iroh. Jinora leaps to her feet and crosses the room to assist.

"Bath." Katara croaks. "I need a bath drawn."

She clutches her fists to opposite shoulders in pain. Jinora exchanges a worried look with the General before he turns to run the bathwater. Once satisfied he stands and faces Katara.

"You certainly earned the title of a master. Thank you for what you did tonight."

Katara makes meaningful eye contact and nods. He exits and Jinora assists in helping Katara into her bath, this time without the slightest hint of a grimace. Katara leans back and shudders before the water around her begins to glow and alleviate her pain. Jinora watches the light pulsate in awe. Kataras' pained expression melts into contentment as the moments' tick by.

After a significant amount of time passes, Katara says, "I…I'm the not woman I used to be."

Jinora, who had been sitting on the edge of her seat, looks up quickly. "What?"

"I'm old." Sighs Katara. She contemplates a moment and changes her tone entirely. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept you for so long, Jinora. You can get some sleep in your own room now."

Jinora stares intently but Katara does not meet her gaze. She throws her knapsack over her shoulder and slinks out of the room. The glow of the bath eventually dims.

There is a certain recovery period after some intense exertion for someone of her age. Needless to say, Katara spent quite more time in her cabin than out and about socializing. But it's not long before the air becomes warm and humid letting her know that reaching their destination was very near. One morning, in particular, it is downright excruciating in her cabin! She had extinguished the lights and opened the door to no avail - it was HOT. Instead of sweating like a dog, Katara opts for a short-sleeved tunic and decides to head up to where (hopefully) some kind of breeze awaits her.

The glaring sun beats down radiating waves of heat of the ships metal exterior. She fans herself with her hand before noticing Jinora bounding up to her in rust-colored shorts and a tunic. Naturally, a book was tucked under her arm. Katara smiles at the fresh freckles spread across the bridge of her granddaughter's nose. She looked especially youthful.

"Gram-Gram! You made it!"

Katara wraps her arm around Jinora's shoulders and takes a deep breath, the salty air hangs in the back of her throat. "I was in need of some fresh air. Oh-" she exclaims, "I didn't realize we were so close!" On the horizon, there is a blurry formation of land.

General Iroh steps up beside the pair, hands clasped behind his back. "It won't be long now. My only hope is that your stay will be worthwhile."

Katara looks onward, deep in thought as Jinora watches her face intently. "Is there really nothing you can tell me? The Fire Lord herself summons me out of the blue and nobody knows why…I just don't know what I should be preparing for."

General Iroh shakes his head. "Anything I have to offer you is pure speculation, Lady Katara. I'm sorry. But just know, if the Fire Lord intended so much on your being here that she sent me, it is as important as it can get."

The shoreline creeps closer and closer into view. Uncertainty hangs in the air just as heavy as the heat itself.

Thanks everyone for tuning into Chapter 1. It's important to note that there are some easter eggs in this chapter that will be relevant in future chapters! I hope I can clear up some of the mystery in the next couple of days.

Next time: Katara and Jinora are welcomed into the Fire Nation. When Fire Lord Izumi's intentions are brought to light - will it send Katara packing? Spoiler: We'll see Zuko.