Chapter One:

Disclaimer and all that: I don't own da avatarness. But, as my cat as my witness, I WILL :D (Cat goes to sleep)

She saw the world unlike anyone else. Though her temper has to be desired; as well as her manners, and her womanly duties (as her village calls them, she calles them slave work.) Her name, is Mei Ying, and she is at that age in which she finds she must put the world to its knees; but it is harder than it seems. Yes, she is fifteen; and a waterbender. She lives in a village in the south; that is surrounded by a wall of ice. She always wounders what the outside world is like; the boys know her for her temper; and the elders know her for her constant questioning. What is the world like on the outside?

"Mei Ying." Scolded the eldest of the elders one afternoon while Mei Ying was slacking from her chores to ask the question again. "You must take your thoughts away from the outside; and keep them inside, if you do not focus on your womanly duties; how will you ever get a husband and bear sons for the war?" Mei Ying hardly had any want to get married and have sons; or any children at all for that matter. She wanted to stay collected to herself for a while; and think about that when the time comes.

"But I want to know!" She protested. "I want to know how much more there is outside these walls! There may be a whole nother world out there; and I want to see it!"

"Mei Ying; the only elder that has ever left the village-"

"I know! I know! He reported thousands of life-threatning creatures, and was nearly killed nearly 100 times. I know that old wives tale!" She pouted, her lack of manners and tolerance was starting to shine through. "Why don't you tell me anything new?"

"Because you don't need to know anything new. Now; go tend to your chores!"

Mei Ying hated her chores, she hated the elders, and she hated being bound to her village. Like a wild bird longing to be free from its cage; she wanted to know what she was missing. One of her chores was tending to the young children; so, she went to the day care igloo and sat with the youngsters. Their ages veried; and there was a pen in the back where they could run around, how vial. she thought to herself as she hearded the small children outside; like sheep being led to the pasture. They are not sheep to be herded; they are human beings! and I am not a caged bird, I want to be free.. But that was mearly a dream. The children stepped outside and started running around; sliding down the small slope on their behinds, and making ice men. A few children gatherd around her to hear her voice ring out through the ice village; wanting to hear a song.

"OK kids." She smiled.After she sang to them, the children clapped and giggled. Mei Ying watched them like she always did, and when the nursery keeper came back from her day of running errands, she hated to leave those children by themselfs with her; she treated them as if they were cattle; grazing in the snowy pasture, and later at snack time, they would be chewing on blubber bits like cows on their cud.

Mei Ying was greeted by her brother, Cong. He was just twelve years old; but as his name means, he is intelligant and clever. Far more than Mei Ying could ever hope to be.

"Mei Ying. The elders told me you've been slacking off again."

"so?" Mei Ying asked; crossing her arms. "I did the babysitting. You would never understand Cong; your a boy. All you have to worry about is being strong and marrying and having sons."

"I'm not a boy." He snapped. "I'm a man."

"Your a boy." She barked right back. "Why don't you boys have any chores? We wemon have them all!"

"Because we have to train to fight in the war!" He barked. "girls can't fight!"

"Your only twelve and I can't believe how sexist you are! I have to work my ass off to give you a living and you don't lift a god damn finger!"

"Your not much of a girl! You just scowl! your not well mannored and you couldn't cook or sew if your life depended on it!"

"So? I'm a hell of alot stronger than you!"

"I want someone else as a sister!" He screamed.

"Yeah? Well people in hell want water!" They growled at eachother and parted ways. Cong went off to warrior training; while Mei Ying went away from him.

It wasn't like she could leave, even if she could get out of the gates. They are on an ice island and the water is far to frigid to swim across; not that she could swim, she sinks like a rock. She sighed and gazed at the pond. She looked from side-to-side and then brought the water up and practiced with it. It was forbidden in her village for her to learn waterbending; but that didn't stop her. She practiced as long as no one was around; and she often got in trouble for it. But when she returned home; she saw Cong sharpining a spear. They were silent twords eachother as she started dinner; using a knife to peel the skin off the potatos; and chopped up the cabbages on a cutting board made of solid ice. She then put all the ingreidances into a pot and boiled it. She poured herself a bowl and slurped. Cong poured himself one as well; eating his with a spoon. A pearsing scream was heard across the way; they immeidatly let their bowels drop to the floor and ran out to see what the problem was. A giant steel ship had peirced the wall; and a young man was walking down the ramp. Cong went back for his spear, and started charging at the man. Mei Ying stopped him before he got there; and told him to stop.

"I can't! I have to protect everyone!" But she wouldn't let him go.

"You can't die Cong. I won't let you! your only twelve years old! you can't fight! I'll fight!"

"Don't be rediculas!" He barked right back. "Your a girl and you'll kill yourself!"

"Just let me do this." She didn't even take his spear; she just charged at the boy, readied a water-whip and smacked him right in the face.

"MEI YING!" she could hear Cong crying for her to stop; but she kept fighting. The young boy was a good fighter, and wasn't much older than her. Cong attacked him from behind, but ended up being burned severly. Mei Ying ran to his side and lifted him up from the snow.

"Cong..you dummy..you should have stayed out!" Thats when her fuze was set off; Cong was held by one of the day-care ladies; and Mei Ying fought almost soullessly; Zuko couldn't read her moves; she moved almost immencly.

Just like back when she was twelve, and Cong was nine; her parents were being killed; and when they were gone, she trained from sun up to sun down in the trench behind the temple; soon, she didn't eat, she barely slept, and eventually..she learned to fight in a state of half-contiousness. When it almost killed her; she promised Cong she'd never fight like that again, today, she broke the promise. But; as the battle looked decided, and as it seemed she would win, she went into a state of uncontiousness; her body gave out and collapsed onto the snow. Iroh joined Zuko outside; to see his nephew nearly defeted; a young boy's cheek burned, and a young lady; seeming half-dead.

"What did I miss?" Iroh asked his nephew; gazing down at the sight.

"Damned village." He cursed under his breath; as if hypnotically; the girl rose to her kness, and gazed at him. Her eyes no longer gray; but a cold hatered in them. An old man shook her out of her rage filled gaze, and when she looked up at him; he had the exact same look. Right then and there; infrount of the whole village, infrount of the fire nation, he scolded her harder than she had ever been scolded.

"Mei Ying! You've done nothing for this village but bring it burdon! you slack off from your chores and now, you were waterbending and you stopped a soldier from fufilling what he was born to do!"

"He is my little brother!" She scolded right back. "What am I suppost to do? Watch the only person I've got left in the whole world die? After our parents-"

"Quiet woman!" the elder struck her across the face, knocking her into the snow. "You brought shame apon our village, our culture, and your family. If a man is born to fight; that is what he will do, your brother was assinged a warrior from birth; you know that!" Mei Ying wanted to cry; but it was forbidden to cry infrount of an elder. "You do not know your place! You are a discrace! You will never bring honor to any man who could ever love a harpie like you! Your sons will be a discrace to any and all men." He paused; gazing down at the discraceful woman before him. She was holding back a world of crying. "Your banished. Gather what little things you have and get out. You will surely die out there in the cold; so I would worry not for the men of the world who are unlucky to know you." Zuko wanted to keep his ' I couldn't care less about whatever happends' apperance, but it was easier said than done; as the elder turned away from her, leaving her in the freezing snow, softly weeping at her losing her home, he saw more of himself in her, he too, had lost his home because of his tougne. She scrambled to her feet, put her brother on her back and carried him to the igloo; and layed him down on some animal hide as she wounderd what she had to take; she hadn't much, not even a family portrait; all of it was lost in the firenation raide.

"Excuse me." Mei Ying jumped and looked tword the entrance, Iroh stood there smiling. "But my nephew and I saw what happend; Since it was our fault, why not come with us? You were a strong water bender; and they had no right to do what-" But she had already bursted out into tears. Stairing down at her brother.

"I can't just leave him; but..." She had no where else to go.

"You can bring him along." Iroh offored. "You can protect him more easily this way." What else was she to do? she sighed; and nodded; picking her brother up on her back and carring him onto the ship with them; though the elder did not approve, she just walked onto the ship silently; whitout exchanging a glance with anyone. Iroh had given her a small room; big enough for just her and her brother; two beds, or at least there was after a cot was moved in there.

Mei Ying stayed up to treat her brother's wounds. She gave him the main bed and took the cot; she placed some creamy medicine made out of some weird herbs or whatever; and treated them carefully. Tears running down her face; this is what she did, she lost her home, and almost lost the only person in the world that she truely cared for, her baby brother. Iroh joined her, and she wiped away her tears.

"I know you must be upset." He started. "But our ship can be fun, You'll really fit in, and.." He saw he wasn't helping her at all. "My nephew went through the exact same thing." He struggled for a topic to discuss, but it was hard; because she didn't speak. He told her Zuko's story; but she was too worried about her brother. "He will be OK; the burn isn't so bad."

"Just leave me alone." She told him, emotionless. "I just want to be alone; I shouldn't have come at all."

My god yay I'm done :) OK, I got her name, and the name of this fic from the AVATAR game on :D such a fun game.