So it has been a very long time since i have updated this story much less logged into fanfiction haha. OMG the Legend of Korra is almost here that's how long its been haha well i have decided to rewrite the story to include aspects from the Legend of Korra but it's still a Zutara pairing because I love them together. So this chapter is a mesh up of chapter one and chapter two with a new twist. I hope you enjoy this new rewrite.
I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender.
Chapter One: The Avatar's New Teacher
Earth. Fire. Air. Water. When I was old enough to understand my mother told me the story of how she and her friends heroically ended the Hundred Years War. Together my father, Fire Lord Zuko, and Avatar Aang promised to return the Nations to harmony. Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko started to transform the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, a society where benders and non-benders from all over the world, could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. They named the capital of this great land, Republic City. Avatar Aang accomplished remarkable things in his life but all too soon his life came to an end, and he did not live to see the completion of Republic City. The cycle of the Avatar began anew and the Avatar was reborn into the next Nation in the cycle.
Northern Water Tribe…
Rapid pounding on the door startled Kala, she knew who it was, the White Lotus sentries. She opened the door and wasn't surprised by the look of frustration on their faces.
"Where's Arlyn?" she asked.
"Slacking off." Kala sighed, Arlyn wasn't progressing in his training at all. "He's not responding to our training methods and frankly none of our masters are willing to put up with him any longer."
"What does this mean for Arlyn?" Kala asked, she knew that being the mother of the Avatar was going to be difficult but she never imagined that it would be this difficult.
"We're bringing a master from the Southern Water Tribe up here."
"Do you think that will work?" Kala asked skeptically.
"We're hoping, she did train Avatar Aang after all."
Southern Water Tribe…
Her ocean blue eyes dropped down to the box of unopened letters from her father and brother, her eyes flickered over to the new letter on her bedside table. She picked it up and tossed it into the box along with the others. She returned the box to its spot under her bed.
"Kailee we need to get going." Her grandfather called from the hallway. Her uncle had called a meeting that they all needed to attend, he even excused her from teaching her class. "Sokka said that this meeting was very important."
"I kind of got that." Kailee said with a smile as she joined her grandfather in the hallway.
They walked to the palace silently, their faces twisted into ones of confusion when they saw White Lotus sentries standing in front of the doors to the palace. Kailee looked at her grandfather, he didn't look like her kind grandfather he looked like the warrior and chief he had been.
"Excuse me but what is going on here?" Hakoda asked.
"Chief Hakoda now that you and the princess are here we can get started." The two sentries led the way into the palace as if Kailee and Hakoda were visiting the palace for the first time.
They followed the sentries to the war room. Hakoda took a seat beside Sokka raising his eyebrows as he made his way over. Kailee took her seat beside her cousin Judai. The sentries took their seats opposite Sokka and Hakoda.
"You all know that the training of the Avatar was left to us by the request of Avatar Aang." The older of the sentries said. They all nodded not knowing where this was going. "Well the masters in charge of teaching the Avatar have not had any luck with advancing in his training. He has yet to master waterbending and we are afraid that at the rate he is going he won't master the four elements anytime soon."
"How is the Avatar supposed to master the four elements if there is no one to teach him airbending?" Kailee asked unable to control her curiosity. The sentries gave her a look that made her regret asking. She mumbled, "Sorry."
"We have that taken care off Miss Kailee." The younger of the two sentries said in a clipped tone.
"It's Master Kailee or Princess Kailee." Kailee mumbled quietly so only Judai could hear her.
"We came here with the hope of getting Master Katara to agree to travel to the North Pole and train the Avatar." The older sentry said.
Kailee broke her intense glaring contest with the younger sentry at the mention of her mother, she dropped her gaze to her feet. The war room grew uncomfortably quiet and the sentries had no idea why the royal family of the Southern Tribe had nothing to say about one of their members. Hakoda and Sokka exchanged looks before nodding.
"About a year ago we were raided by members of the rebellion and we lost several of our masters one of them being Katara." Hakoda said sadly.
Kailee raised her head and scowled at the face of sympathy the younger sentry was giving her, she hated it when people felt sorry for her, her mother wasn't dead she was just in the hands of the rebellion. He flinched at her scowl and then shot her a scowl of his own.
"Are there any masters you recommend?" he asked Hakoda and Sokka.
"We can take you down to the academy and you can see them for yourselves." Sokka said his eyes flashing slightly toward Kailee.
"Hiro follow Chief Sokka to the academy, I need to speak to Hakoda." The older sentry said.
Kailee stood up with Sokka and Hiro. Hakoda's head snapped in Kailee's direction, he wasn't sure that Kailee was emotionally ready to do something that reminded her of her mother. "Where are you going missy?"
"I'm going to the academy." Kailee said in a 'duh' tone.
"We need a master." Hiro snapped.
"I am a master." Kailee snapped back.
"You're like twelve." Hiro said his light blue eyes narrowing.
Kailee walked up to Hiro and poked at his chest as she said, "I'm fifteen and I can pin you with my eyes closed."
"She's just like Katara and Zuko." Hakoda sighed. He looked at the older sentry who nodded. "Alright you can go."
oOo
Kailee dropped down into the chair beside her grandfather, her Aunt Suki had invited them over for dinner. Kya and Yue were staring at Kailee waiting for her to tell them what happened at the academy. Kailee flashed her cousins a satisfied smile, she was tired after spending the entire day sparring against every master in the South Pole and couldn't wait to tell them how she swept the floor with everyone.
"So what did Hiro think of you?" Hakoda asked after Suki had served them all dinner. "That boy isn't impressed easily."
"He had a scowl on his face during the whole thing but I have a feeling that it's a permanent feature on his face." Kailee said.
"So are you going to train the Avatar?" Judai asked before stuffing his face.
"Toku and Hiro have varying opinions. Toku thinks that young masters like you, Ryuu, and Misaki should train the Avatar. Hiro thinks that elder masters should train the Avatar." Hakoda said taking a sip of his drink.
"Hiro is very stuffy for a twenty-seven year old." Sokka said. "Tell them niece, what stuffy old Hiro said to you."
"He said that I have the honor of training Avatar Arlyn in waterbending." Kailee said with a smile. "He wished me luck."
"When are we leaving for the North Pole?" Judai asked excitedly.
"You're not going anywhere." Kailee and Suki said together. Judai pointed to his father and grandfather putting them on the spot when they weren't ready to face Kailee and Suki. "What did you two decide without talking about it with us?"
"Judai is going with Kailee to the North Pole, he's going to take care of Kai." Hakoda said firmly.
"Grandfather I can take care of myself." Kailee whined uncharacteristically.
"Judai will accompany you or you will not go." Hakoda said firmly.
"You're not my father." Kailee said.
"I may not be your father but you are under my care so I decide what's best for you." Hakoda said. "You will go to the North Pole with your cousin but before you go you will go to the Fire Nation and see your father."
oOo
The ten or so waterbenders stood in silence, not knowing what to do without their teacher. A couple of them sat in the snow while others began to pace around the arena. Most of them thought about leaving but it was only a thought. All of the other classes had already started and their class usually started before the appointed time.
"What in La's name are you all doing just standing around like that?" Kailee asked as she ran into the arena.
"Why in Tui's name were you late?" Kailee froze at the sound of Pakku's voice, she hadn't seen him sitting in the stands. Slowly she turned her body to where his voice had come from. "Explain later, teach now."
She nodded and waited for him to exit the arena before turning to her class. She offered them a tentative smile before pulling her parka over her head and tossing it aside. She pulled her long wavy black hair up into a ponytail and pulled her hair loops back so they weren't in her face.
"Alright start warming up," she said. The class scrambled knowing that they were being punished. "You don't need me to warm up, you're not going to get far in your training if you don't show some initiative. You all say you want to be masters but I don't see it, you need your own motivation."
Kailee felt like she had given this lecture many times before, which she had. Every time her class complained about how hard she worked them she'd revert back to this lecture, which in all honesty she believed in. After all she was only fourteen and she was considered a master class bender, her grandfather often said that she was skilled to the level of an Avatar raised in the Water Tribe. Both her mother and father had told her and Ryuu that if you want to achieve something then you have to put forth all of your effort because no one was going to hand you what you want on a silver platter.
Her ocean blue eyes narrowed on a boy at the far end of the arena, his stance was wrong. She walked over to him and folded her arms across her chest when she saw who it was. He looked up at her and smiled a smile that promised trouble.
"You seriously look like you want to gut me right now, Master." he said, amusement evident in his ocean blue eyes. "Your angry face is really frightening."
"Remember next time you decide to mess with me, Arden." she froze him to the ground and circled him. "I could correct your stance or I could make you practice like this, what do you have to say?"
"I say you let me go and laugh, I'm obviously one of the better students in this class." he said running a hand through his dark brown hair.
"Which is why your stance is unacceptable, stay like that for a while." she said. She began to walk away when he called her name. "Yes."
"Everyone can tell you're different." she raised her eyebrows, they've had this conversation before only now it seemed serious. "I'm not talking about how you changed after the raid. You're different from us, from the tribe, your skin is lighter then ours, you have black hair, and there are gold flakes in your eyes."
"When we stand side by side we are different, when we stand facing each other we are the same, I just have the upper hand. Now shut your trap and fix your stance." she released him from her hold. "You and Yuki will demonstrate for the class your progress."
She ushered the rest of the class up into the front row of the stands. Yuki and Arden both pulled their parkas off handing them to her before walking over to their side of the arena. Kailee picked up her parka on her way up to join the class.
"Your objective is to pin your opponent down three times. All you have for a weapon is your bending and what you have learned." she said down to the two of them who nodded. She turned to the rest of the class. "Your assignment is to find flaws in their performance, evaluate them because you will be the ones grading them as they will when it is your turn."
"This wasn't what you had planned today," Kailee turned around, standing at the top of the stands was Sho, the young master who would be taking over her class when she left. He descended the stairs and took a seat next to her. "If I'm not mistaken, you had planned a field trip, what happened to that plan?"
"Arden showed that they weren't deserving of a field trip," she said turning back to the arena where the two students were waiting for the go ahead. "Begin."
"One student talked you out of your plans." Sho said shaking his head.
"All of them kind of did, they weren't showing me that they were serious about this. So I cancelled the field trip and decided to spend my last few days watching how they preform." she said keeping a close eye on Yuki, who she knew had Arden beat from the moment she paired them together.
"His stance is spot on." Sho muttered, he glanced over to Yuki who had successfully shielded herself behind the Octopus. "Hers is better."
"I can see the flaws in both, as I'm sure you can."
"Yes I see where they need improvement. Princess, what level class is this?"
"Intermediate, it really doesn't feel like it sometimes. Don't call me, princess," she said playfully smacking his shoulder. He stuck his tongue at her, for a twenty year old he was as mature as Judai. "Seriously I don't like it."
"That's what you are though." he said.
"Not here."
"That little detail doesn't matter, Kai, you're royalty regardless of where you are."
"Whatever."
oOo
Kailee exited Pakku's office with a deep frown on her face, just because she's his family doesn't mean he could treat her specially, his words exactly. She explained about the field trip to the beachside cliff where the penguins lived and how to celebrate her last day they were going to go penguin sledding like she and Judai had done the weekend before. He scoffed and sentenced her to the healing huts for a lesson, he knew she was no good at healing. It wasn't that she didn't know how to heal she just preferred to fight, something that Pakku said she got from her mother.
As she exited the school building she found Arden sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up when the doors closed, his eyes were full of something Kailee couldn't identify. She sat beside him and stared out at the city, she loved the way the buildings were all different heights, the bridges and how they each had the seal of the tribe, and she loved the twists and turns of the canals.
"Do you know what I love about this place?" she asked.
"No, what?"
"The way the buildings look when the sun rises and sets. The way they seem to shine." she said. She turned to look at him. "So what is it that you need to say to me?"
"I was way out of line earlier," he said looking straight into her eyes. "And I would like to apologize for what I said."
"There's no need to apologize because what you said is true, I am different. My father is the Fire Lord and my mother was a Southern Water Tribe Princess, my brother and I are children of two nations but we're still just people of the world," she said looking up at the darkening sky. "My mother and I moved here strictly so I could learn waterbending, that was when I was ten. I didn't mind being here because I had her but now that she's not here I don't have anyone. Sure I have family but they're not the same as my dad and brother."
"You're leaving." It was a statement not a question. She nodded and it was his turn to look up at the sky. "When you were ten and I was eleven, you were already in the master class and I was starting warrior training. When I was fourteen and you were thirteen, I was a beginner and you were teaching the class ahead of mine. I always knew you were half-and-half and that made me mad, you who weren't fully a member of the Water Tribe were so much better then those of us who were."
"When did you get over that, because now we're such great friends?" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"The day of the raid when I saw you do everything you could to defend the tribe," he said. "That day I was a warrior not a bender, I've always been a better warrior then bender, but that day I saw what it meant to be a true bender."
"I see, well you've come far since then and I'm glad that I get to be the one to pass you on to the advanced level of training." she said standing up. "You're a bit rough around the edges but the dedication and determination is there, I just hope my new pupil will be the same."
"Do you really mean that after I lost to Yuki?" he said standing up and walking beside her.
"Yeah, Arden it's not always about winning or losing. It's about how you perform in the game and you performed well above what I expected. Now if you excuse me I have to make my way over to the healing huts for a lesson," she groaned. "We're going penguin sledding tomorrow, don't tell anyone."
"I won't." he said watching her as she entered on of the huts there was something about the Fire Nation Princess that he was attracted too but he couldn't bring himself to confess his attraction to her.
oOo
Kailee was sad as she walked back to her grandfather's house, her last day with her class had been more emotional than she thought it would have been. She was a bit nervous about going home to see her father, she knew he blamed her for losing her mother, but at the same time she couldn't wait to go home, it had been a long time since she'd seen her family or stepped foot on a Fire Nation beach.
Fire Nation
Zuko and Ursa watched as Ryuu and Ayumu sparred. Ayumu had come far in his training, his nephew had finally decided to train as a firebender only a couple years ago. Ayumu's biggest fear was that he'd wind up as crazy and power hungry as his mother and father, he had been six years old when Aang died and prior to Aang's death Ayumu asked if Aang could remove his bending. Both Zuko and Aang convinced him that he wasn't anything like his parents. It took Zuko and Iroh fourteen years to convince Ayumu to start training.
"He's really come a long way for only starting his training two years ago." Ursa said as she watched her two grandsons throw fire at each other. "Has Kai replied to your letter?"
"She hasn't replied to a single one of my letters in over a year, I don't know why I keep sending them." Zuko said shaking his head. He looked over at his son and nephew. "Alright your training for today is done, you may go."
"You write the letters because you love your daughter and are worried about her." Ursa said putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "You should have just brought her home after Katara was captured."
"She would have just been miserable all day here, at least in the South Pole she has something to take her mind off of Katara." Zuko said. He hadn't told his son that his sister was coming home for a couple of days but he couldn't keep it from his mother. "Kailee and Judai will be here in a couple of days."
To be continued…
So I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review I really want your feedback.
So here's a list of characters in this chapter and who they are.
Kailee "Kai"- Princess of the Fire Nation, Zuko and Katara's daughter, she's a waterbender, 15 years old.
Ryuu- Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko and Katara's son, he's a firebender, 16 years old.
Judai "Jude"- Sokka and Suki's son, Prince of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 17 years old.
Kya- Sokka and Suki's daughter, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 12 years old.
Yue- Sokka and Suki's daughter, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 7 years old.
Ayumu- Zuko's nephew, Captain in the Fire Nation Navy, 22 years old.
Arden- Southern Water Tribe warrior, a waterbender, 16 years old.
Arlyn- The Avatar from the Northern Water Tribe, 17 years old.
Please review (: