Pre-reading note: as you may have read on my profile page, I'm changing the names of major characters in this story. The names are as follows: Mizumi = Sakari (meaning sweet), Rikoh = Rong (meaning harmonious), Harina = Sedna (mistress of the sea), Hioko = Balto, Hakko = Yukon (meaning river). These are more Inuit sounding names (or Chinese, in Rikoh/Rong's case), so therefore in my opinion more appropriate for the characters. I hope you'll understand this decision, also if you're already used to the old names. In case you stumble upon an old name, don't hesitate to warn me. Thank you.

Enjoy the story!

Chapter 1

The young firebender leaned over the handrail of the ship and sighed, deeply. The first buildings of the Northern Water Tribe were already visible at the horizon.

"The Northern Water Tribe," he muttered, taking off his mask. Brown, short hair was revealed now, as were his eyes, as brown as fresh-fallen chestnuts. "I've heard so many praising words about it… Why should we attempt to take it over? Haven't we already destroyed enough?"

"Did you say something, firebender?" a harsh voice sounded behind him.

He looked up, startled, but tried to hide the last thing. "No, admiral. I was just musing for a bit, nothing special."

"Alright, then. We will arrive tomorrow," the admiral said, "it won't be difficult – after all, the whole place is ice, and ice melts." A solacing tap on his shoulder, and then, the admiral left the handrail to check on the other firebenders.

The young man sighed again. "Why was I born with these skills?" he softly whispered, a bit more careful now to make sure he wasn't heard this time. "If I wasn't, I'd still have had the slightest change to escape the army.f But, so much for being ordinary – I'm a firebender, after all."

"Everyone got it, now?" the old Healer asked in a serious voice. "Healing burn marks is important nowadays with the Fire Nation being a threat, therefore the constant repetition. You must learn how to properly and skilfully… Sakari!"

The young student looked up with her innocent, water blue eyes. Some locks of her brown hair fell in front of her embarrassed smile. She hadn't been paying attention at all, and was playing around with the water she was supposed to be using for Healing. As a Northern Water Tribe girl, she wasn't allowed to use her skills for waterbending, merely for Healing. But Healing was easy for her – she wanted more of a challenge. She wanted to waterbend. She'd studied the male waterbenders in her spare time and picked up some moves, and practised them whenever she had the opportunity to. But this time, during Healing class, she was caught.

"But I already know how to heal burn marks," she quickly said, desperate as she was to hide her secret.

The older woman nodded now. "Fine – come show us, then. My cousin has burnt her hand the other day while making a fire."

The called cousin stood up now – Sakari's best friend, the sixteen year old Sedna.

Sakari sighed in a relieved way. Sedna wouldn't betray her even if she knew what she'd been doing; they were too close of friends for childish betrayal like that.

Sedna reached her hand to her friend now and revealed a red burn mark on her wrist. Sakari opened the bottle of water stuck on her waist, concentrated on the wound and directed the water straight to it. A few seconds later, the marks were gone, and Sakari stepped back. A deep sigh escaped her mouth – she'd done it again.

"Very well," the old Healer muttered, "I just hope you will know how to handle more severe wounds, too, if you keep refusing to pay attention. You can return to your place now, both of you."

And so the girls did, sharing looks with one another. Sakari's said 'thank you', Sedna's simply said 'any time'.

"Now you've all regained your seats, I'd like to say the following," the old Healer said. "In a week, you'll all be fully qualified Healers. I expect you to help our brave men who are out in the war now and Heal their wounds properly, as I attempted to tutor you. Also, as my personal wish, I hope that all of you who haven't turned sixteen yet, will become decent and caring housewives when they do."

Sakari and Sedna left the Healing Hut together, Sakari with a worried look on her face. "My sixteenth birthday is in three months," she remarked, "I can't believe that's around the same time span I'll have to get engaged!"

Sedna coughed as an answer, and gently touched the navy blue choker that was around her neck. A blue pendant was attached to it. "I… I'm already sixteen…"

"Yes, but…" Sakari now looked up, only to notice the pendant she'd never seen before. She could merely frown at her friend. "You are engaged! Why didn't you tell me so before? For how long, to whom?!"

Sedna chuckled. "Calm down, dad only gave him permission this morning," she said, "I got the pendant just before Healing lessons started for today. You didn't miss a thing."

"And?" Sakari said, pretty excited by now. "Who, who? Do I know him?"

"Calm down, I said! Yes, you know him," Sedna smiled, blushing now. "And I can't express how happy I am that he actually asked for my hand. Mine, of all the girls he could have chosen…"

Sakari didn't need more words to know whom she was talking about. Lately, Sedna had been seeing a young man known for his flirting behaviour. It wasn't exactly a secret he'd dated many of the Tribe's girls before Sedna. That he'd ask her to marry him now would certainly lead to many disappointed girls. But Sakari wasn't one of them, happy as she was for her friend. "Oh, Sedna! That's just great!"

"I never expected it," Sedna now admitted, "but in despite of his reputation, dad found him worthy enough to become my husband. Probably because of his waterbending and warrior skills, but I couldn't care less why exactly he accepted them, really."

"I totally understand, you're way too happy he actually did," Sakari smiled, hugging her friend. "Good luck to you!"

"Thank you… oh." Sedna let go of her now, and looked over her friend's shoulder. "There he is…"

Sakari turned around now and noticed a not unattractive young man was walking into their direction. She smiled. "Go, you!"

Sedna now ran towards him as fast as she could, fell in his arms.

Sakari watched as the two embraced each other warmly, and then walked off together. She shook her head with a smile. Her friend had been very lucky, but she doubted she'd have to same luck to find a man she could love ánd marry. If she was lucky enough, a pretty decent guy would ask her father for her hand, and she would be able to grow to love him over the years. Oh, well. She didn't complain and knew how to learn how to live with it – it was part of her Tribe's customs, after all.

"We will be at our most powerful if we attack now," the admiral called, "it's summer, the sun's out – we will be close to invincible against those waterbenders!"

The young firebender didn't even bother to look up anymore as the admiral passed him, while he was still leaning over the handrails. He'd stood there practically the whole night, with only a little break to sleep. Sleeping was hard, knowing he'd have his first fight in the army in a couple of hours. Looking at the horizon, more buildings of the Tribe were getting visible now. The more he saw of them, the more he felt the urge to leave the ship and get back home. Why take over such a beautiful place? Why not leaving it the way it was, and had been for who knows how many years? These people had tried their hardest to build their place, and they would only destroy it. He hated it to be Fire Nation. People would look away whenever he passed them, or shout names at him for destroying their homes. He wasn't one of those, but he couldn't prevent people saw him like that. And it bothered him to no end.

Sakari had barely arrived at home when her mother ran to her, in tears.

"Sakari, the Fire Nation is approaching us! Father has gone off to fight, and I'm so afraid he won't come back… So afraid…"

Sakari hugged her mother to comfort her, while anger was bubbling inside her. Why, why did they attack? They hadn't done anything wrong, just like their sister tribe in the south and the other two nations. She hated the war, which had been going on for as long as she could remember. Fifty years… did people actually remember the reason the war was started? For as far as she knew, the Fire Nation just wanted to rule the world.

As soon as she'd comforted her mother, Sakari left her home and went outside, to check on the coastline. Indeed, Fire Nation ships had arrived and were shooting fire balls to the city. Male waterbenders tried to stop them, but the Fire Nation had an advantage – it was daytime. Their powers were fortified by the rays of the sun, while the waterbenders drained powers from the moon. It didn't matter full moon was approaching: it wasn't in the sky as for now. The fire balls were stronger than the waterbenders' attacks, and several of her people were quickly wounded.

She couldn't just watch them getting hurt, she felt she had to do something. And thus, she did – but not as one would suspect from a Water Tribe girl. She wouldn't run to Heal the wounded ones, no. That was for the other girls to do. She, Sakari, ran forwards to fight the Fire Nation herself, no matter what they might say to her afterwards.

She summoned the water from the cold sea, directed it towards the ships and found she was actually able to blast away some firebenders up there. Excited by her sudden powers, she summoned more water and kept blasting, but it was of no use. Firebenders did come of the ship and attacked her people, and it would only be a matter of time before she herself would get hit.

And some more urgent business required her handling: little children had come out of their houses to watch what was going on, not realizing they were putting their lives on the line by coming outside in times of war. She started to collect the children and get them back, but some of them had recognized their fathers and brothers fighting and wanted to 'help' them. Sakari usually loved children, but this time, they were driving her to the edge of insanity. "Just listen to me! This is dangerous, you must go inside!"

But the children took it as a game and wandered around – until one of them was hit by a fire ball. "Mummy!"

Sakari picked up the child quickly and hushed it. "Calm down, let me look at it…" She ran to a safe spot with the child, forced it to expose its arm. It was a severe burn mark, and Sakari actually doubted it she would be able to heal it completely.

She's only just reached out her hand to grab her Healing water when the mother ran towards them, and she was not happy.

"You devilish child!" she screamed, grabbing back her child, "you must be possessed, to fight like a man! Don't you dare touching my only daughter!"

"But…" Sakari never got to say 'but I just wanted to help', since the mother ran off as quickly as she possibly could. She sighed, deeply, unsure of what to do now. If a random woman of her Tribe would accuse her of being possessed, then she was truly wondered what the leaders might think of her waterbending. Maybe she should just use it for as long as she still could.

She left her hiding spot again, and faced a firebender. Judging by his appearance, he wasn't very old yet – probably a teenager. He seemed hesitant to attack her, and as far as she could see, he actually tried to prevent the other firebenders from hurting little children.

Was he like her? Was he against the war, but forced to join it anyway? She had heard it was possible. Of course, not all people of the Fire Nation automatically agreed with the war.

She looked at him for a long while, insecure and immobile. What should she do? Attack him, or give him the benefit of the doubt? She couldn't decide. Hatred against firebenders felt so natural, that feeling sympathy for an individual one had simply never occurred to her as a possibility. But now…

Just before she could make up her mind, the young firebender fell in front of her feet. "What the…" She looked down, and noticed the huge burn mark on his back that had gone right through his military uniform. Another firebender had hit him? Was it an accident? It practically had to be, because why else would they be attacking one of their own? But when she carefully looked around the corner, she noticed that an accident was out of the question. From the point the nearest firebender was standing, only the firebender at her feet would have been a possible target to actually hit. She, no matter how inexperienced in war, could only draw one conclusion out all of this – he had deliberately been attacked. Why was another matter, and she couldn't care about that now. He was most likely attacked for disobeying the Fire Nation, and every one disobeying them was a friend of hers. And this new 'friend' was in desperate need of help.

His back ached. Badly. That was the first thing he noticed once he had regained consciousness, plus the fact his mask had been removed. What had happened? He vaguely remembered refusing to attack innocent children, trying to bring them into safety and hearing the admiral calling that he was 'begging for a punishment'. Then, he had bumped into a Water Tribe girl – he'd barely seen her because of his mask, though, that blurred his vision. The next moment, he'd felt a burning sting in his back… So he had been punished for his endeavour to rescue the innocent ones. He hated war now more than ever.

Slowly, he opened his eyes now, a bit disorientated. It was rather cold, though he was inside a house. On the other hand, what could he have expected from the North Pole? He was lying on his chest on a warm pelt. Half-naked. What on earth was going on?! He moaned a bit out of pain, felt around him to find the top part of his uniform and his mask. Just when he thought he'd found them, a hand was laid on his.

"Sorry about that." It was a female voice, with a high sound. The owner couldn't be too old. "I had to take off parts of your uniform to get to your wounds. They're pretty bad, so you'd better lie still like that. I'm trying to Heal you as well as I can."

Heal – so she was Water Tribe. Then again, what other female could he have expected? He sighed and decided to lie still as she'd more or less commanded. He shivered as something cold touched his burnt back. "Cold…"

"It should ease the pain," the voice smiled, "it's water I use for Healing. I'm not the best Healer of the Tribe, but the others are already… helping our own men."

For some reason, he didn't entirely believe her – her little hesitations told him something else than what she was saying. As if she was the only one willing, not available, to help him. "Thank you," he muttered. He wondered if a simple 'thank you' would be enough to express his true gratitude. If she hadn't helped him, he'd have probably frozen to death by now.

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, the pain in his back decreased, and it wasn't so hard anymore to withstand.

"You could try lying on your side or back by now," the voice said. "The wound isn't gone yet, but I think it's more endurable now."

He carefully nodded, rolled on his back now. She was right, it had become easier to endure, but it was still uncomfortable. He looked up now, to finally see the face of his saviour for the first time. She was indeed a Water Tribe girl, obviously, with eyes the colour of the sea, a tan skin and long, brown hair, bearing a blue hair band that matched with the rest of her clothes. She couldn't be older than sixteen – he knew enough about the Water Tribe to know that the girls were betrothed at age sixteen. And this girl bore no sign of engagement or marriage.

He suddenly noticed she was staring at him, and she blushed as she saw his inquiring look.

"Sorry, but this is the first time I get to see your face," she confessed, "I rolled you on your chest before taking of your mask, you see. My, you're young… Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Rong," he introduced himself. It was remarkably easy to speak – maybe due to the fact his mask had been removed.

The girl smiled. "That's a nice name," she now remarked. "Mine is Sakari."

He smiled back at her, but he was still not so sure about this situation. "You're Water Tribe… why did you save me, a firebender?"

"Because I saw you weren't hit by accident," she simply said, "and you tried to save our children. I just can't get myself to believe you're behind this war, firebender or not."

His jaw nearly dropped as she'd told him that. The naivety! She was lucky this time it was him and not someone who'd take advantage of this situation. "You shouldn't suggest that," he thus commented, "that's dangerous."

"But I'm right about you, aren't I?"

He couldn't help himself but smile as he saw her confident, radiating face. She was naïve, but cute too. "Well, yes. But you have to take my word for it, as I have no way to proof it."

"I believe you," she smiled. She now stood up, grabbed a blanket and covered him with it. "There. I take it you're not used to the cold climate here, being Fire Nation and all."

"Thank you…"

She stood up again and walked to the door now, an idea he certainly didn't like.

"Are you leaving?"

"I must meet with the leaders of my Tribe," she said, "I will back as soon as possible. I promise."

He watched her leaving, confused yet relieved. He felt she was sincere, and that he was safe in her care. He wondered though why she was summoned to meet with the leaders. Had she gotten into trouble because of him? She seemed to be impulsive enough to him to accomplish that. It flattered him, but he was worried about her too. Strange, actually, as he barely knew her.

"Sakari, you know women from the Water Tribe aren't allowed to learn the art of waterbending in the use of fights."

"I know, sir," Sakari whispered, bending her head in shame.

"Then how come you showed such an advanced skill level of waterbending against the Fire Nation's warriors?"

She looked up in surprise: since when were girls complimented with their skills in waterbending if those weren't used for Healing? She answered in truth, but a bit hesitant. Who knew, this could be a trick. "I watched the male waterbenders and taught myself their techniques." It was a quick, yet sincere answer, and she surely hadn't expected the uproar that she suddenly found around her.

"What? She taught herself?"

"How is that possible?"

She was surprised, she couldn't hide it. Why were people so astonished by the fact no-one except for her herself had been teaching her? What did they expect, one of the men betraying their Tribe's customs? The only man who might have been doing that would be her father – it wasn't exactly a secret he was very fond of his only child. But everyone also knew how loyal he was to the Tribe's customs.

Eventually, the leader of the Tribe stood up and looked at her. "For once, we will forgive your behaviour because you've earned our respect for it," he said, calmly. "But I will remind you of it that this was the first and the last time you could act like you wish. The next time, punishment will follow."

Walking back to her home, she breathed out, completely relieved. That didn't go half as bad as she'd expected! She whirled her braid around her finger, the braid she'd quickly made with her hair before going to the Tribe's leaders. Girls never wore their hair down, but Sakari liked it that way and loosened her braid whenever she had the chance to. And now she had enough chances, since no-one at home would see her. Sadly, her father had gotten injured in fighting, and he was in the sickbay now. Her mother was there too, taking care of him. She was all alone, but was perfectly able to handle it.

She had arrived at her house now, but just before she opened the door, she let go of it in shock. That was true, Rong was still in there! She could only pray and hope no-one had gotten here before her…

She chuckled softly as she'd opened the door. Rong was still there, unharmed, and fast asleep.

He woke up as he heard the door shrieking: someone was entering. He rose and looked up, but it was luckily merely Sakari. Merely… Who was he kidding? He had fallen asleep thinking of her, despite of the fact he didn't even know who she truly was. She was almost the opposite of what he'd always been told people of the Water Tribe were like, and therefore, she intrigued him.

Big was his surprise as she entered the room with her hair braided. He'd liked her with her hair down and just a hair band to keep it together. "What did you do to your hair?" was thus the first question he asked as soon as she'd reached him.

She smiled. "I braided it, can't you see?"

"Of course, but why?" he couldn't help asking. He couldn't imagine someone on her way out told her to braid it and that she actually listened to that.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I can't show up in front of the leaders with my hair down, that'd be way too informal."

He looked up at her face, smiled. "I don't mind looking at you with your hair down, you know."

It was, as he'd expected, a sign for her to immediately reach to her hair and untie her braid. She sighed happily. "I'm glad. My head aches whenever I braid it because my hair is so heavy."

"I noticed that." He could slam himself against his head by now. They were talking about nothing, while she saved his life out there – he never even thanked her for it. "Sakari, listen, I…"

"Yes, I know – your back, right?" she said, "I was just about to continue healing it, don't worry."

Before he could protest, she'd rolled him on his chest and in seconds, he felt the cold water on his burn mark again. Was she really that naïve to think all he cared about was to get rid of his pain, or did she just refuse to be thanked? Or was it something else? "Sakari, that wasn't what I was about to say."

"I know that, too." Her voice was suddenly more distant, and she was losing control of the water for a moment – it splashed on his back before she quickly put it up again. "But I don't need to hear how much I'm protesting against my Tribe's customs, okay? I hear that all the time, from everyone… I can't help it I don't want to accept certain things, it's not like I'm against every single custom!" She was about to lose self-control, and her voice was trembling as she continued. "I'm proud to be Water Tribe, I'm proud of our customs! It's just that I don't like each and every aspect of it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one!"

A warm drop fell on his back, confirming his suspicions that she wasn't angry, but saddened. He quickly turned over and discovered she was indeed in tears, yet trying to hide them. "I wasn't going to say that, either," he gently remarked, grabbing her hand. To his surprise, she didn't resist by tearing herself loose from him. "Sakari, I was going to thank you for saving my life, that was all. I was certainly not going to lecture you about your rebelling against those customs, whether I think you are or not."

She dried her tears, looked up at him. "I'm glad," she now whispered, "and… any time." It took her a while to dry all her tears, but then, she could smile again. "Any time, Rong."